#I swear no one who has ever been bullied has made one of those anti bullying videos

[prismatales]

Bakugo With a quirkless Sibling

I accidently deleted this one the other day, and took advantage to edit them some more.

WARNING: Mentions of bullying, swearing attempted suicide, angst with a happy ending

• By the time Bakugo was in his last year of middle school his sister was still a toddler, barely three years old so there was barely any interactions between the two of them.

• Since the day (Y/N) was born he would be on babysitting duty when their parents couldn't find a babysitter, he wasn't a bad brother, he was distant but responsible, always making sure his sister was well-fed, clean and busy, other than that he wouldn't actually pay attention to them, too busy studying and training to be a hero. so their relationship wasn't that close to begin with.

• Their parents would often come home to find little (Y/N) sleeping on the baby seat or busy with some toy, and her brother doing his homework on the coffe table.

• When Bakugo moved into the school dorms (Y/N) was almost five years old, and when her quirk never appeared their parents realized their youngest child was quirkless. They tried to comfort the little girl who was awfully quiet as tears ran down their tiny face.

• The day after the fight with Deku, Bakugo found out (Y/N) was quirkless, he appeared calm on the outside, but when he was alone on his room the guilt he felt on the inside was immense, it was karma wasn't it? all the times he kept bullying Deku came to mind.

• He remembers that time his "friends" came home for a group project, how they had been talking shit about the boy and he didn't realize (Y/N) was listening until one of the guys pointed out the "brat" looking at them from the stairs, he quickly went to take (Y/N) to her room, not before glaring at his classmates, nobody insults his sister and gets away with it.

• He wanted to go home and talk to her, he knew what this meant, children can be cruel, but he couldn't leave school grounds because of the suspension, if he did Aizawa would extend it. he could only hope things would be fine at home.

• Bakugo was wrong.

• (Y/N)'s birthday was coming, she always got excited for her birthday, but this year was different, she barely came out of her room and wouldn't talk to their parents, somehow the other children had found out she was quirkless and wouldn't stop making fun of her, some went as far as to rip their birthday invitation in front of her as they laughed.

• Mitsuki was furious, so was Masaru, they had talked to the principal about the situation and were told the teacher was trying to make the kids stop, but there was little they could do, some of them just wouldn't listen, they had tried talking to the parents or other family members as well to no avail.

• Bakugo was desperate to see his sister, when he got the call from his parents his worry was beginning to grow even bigger. One day things just got worse.

• It was his turn to take out the trash when he ran into someone he never thought he'd see again, one of his ex-clasmates from middle school, one of his so called friends, the smug look on his face made him wary, Bakugo had a bad feeling and he didn't like it one bit. Specially when the bastard mentioned (Y/N).

• "Have they tried jumping out of a roof already?" Smoke was starting to come out of Bakugo's hands "What did you just say?!" the guy just started checking out his nails nonchalantly "Oh nothing really, i'm just saying I would check on them if I were you, I may have had a little talk with them this morning and told them what their dear brother said to one of his quirkless classmates"

• That moment nothing mattered to Bakugo, he was seeing red, this fucking extra was trying to kill a child, HIS little sister to make it worse, he didn't realize he had thrown a punch until he heard the bastard screaming in pain, he was laying on the floor holding his face, Bakugo had definitely broken his nose, that same moment Deku came looking for him, when he saw who was in the floor he was surprised.

• "kacchan, what happened?! what's he doing here?" "This! This bastard went and told (Y/N) to kill herself!" he was furiously holding the guy's shirt in a death-grip. Then he remembered one thing he said.

• I would check on them if i were you

• His cellphone snapped him out of his thought, it was his Father.

• (Y/N) had locked herself in her room and wouldn't stop crying, she wouldn't stop screaming Katsuki would hate them too, just like everyone else in school

• His heart stopped for a second, he felt his soul leaving his body from the panic he was feeling, Bakugo couldn't stay and do nothing anymore, screw the detention! (Y/N) was in danger!

• He shoved the guy towards Deku and told him not to let him get away.

• "W-wait, Kacchan! Where are you going?!" "I have to see (Y/N)'s safe!" he ran off as fast a he could.

• Meanwhile said guy was trying to run away, just for a hand to catch his shoulder and start squeezing so hard he could almost feel his shoulder was about to break, Deku had a murderous aura on him, the last time someone tried to harm a child was when he saved Eri-chan, he wouldn't let that happen again, not on his watch.

• Bakugo ran home as fast as he could, he didn't care if he was suspended or even expelled for punching a civilian, all he cared about what saving his sister, he would make sure she was safe, he promised himself to protect her.

• By the time Bakugo had arrived at his house there was a police car outside, he went pale thinking the worst, what happened?! was (Y/N) ok!? was he too late?!

• he slammed the door open to be met with the sight of two police officers, his father was trying to comfort his crying mother...

• and his little sister was in her arms, eyes and face all red and puffy from crying, but she was safe and sound.

• the weight on his shoulders disappeared, he didn't realized he was holding his breath until he let out a sigh of relief, once the adults noticed the teen's presence his parents were surprised. Mitsuki loosened her hold on (Y/N), who looked a this brother with a fear of rejection.

• "Katsuki? what are you doing here?"

• He didn't pay any attention to his Mother, quickly running up to his parents and taking his sister from his mother's hold and into one of the tightest hugs he's ever given them in all his life as he dropped on his knees. He couldn't stop the tears as he apologized to them over and over again, voice breaking as he cradled them.

• The officers explained the child had been trying to jump out of their window, and while his parents were trying to talk sense into them one of the officers was outside distracting them, the other officer had to break down the door and quickly snatched the kid away from the window and into their parent's arms.

• In a crying fit (Y/N) told the officers how the cousin of one of his classmates told them how Bakugo hated quirkless people, how he would always bully Deku in class, even telling him to jump off a roof. He told them that they should save his brother the trouble of dealing with an useless brat like them and to jump from a roof themselves. It was the guy he had punched, he had been friends with Bakugo and had been clearly jealous he couldn't enter U.A.

• Bakugo told them he had actually run into the guy and what he said to him about his sibling with little to no remorse, he also told them about the punch and that he should be in U.A. where he left him with a classmate. After taking his declaration the officers went to U.A. to take the guy in. He was going to get charges for endangering and verbally harassing a child.

• Once the officers left his parents had a talk with him, he told them the truth about the things he said and how he regreted what he said and did to Deku that day, they were angry, specially his father, and while nothing happened to Deku he would still be grounded. Bakugo couldn't disagree.

• Aizawa was furious when Midoriya came up to him dragging the bloody teen and explained what Bakugo did, the teacher was seriously considering expelling Bakugo when the police arrived and told him about the situation, hearing the circumstances made him change his mind, specially when they told him about the things the guy said to a child, once they took the screaming asshole away the teacher talked to the principal, and after some arrangements they called Bakugo's house.

• The school allowed Bakugo to stay for a few day at home, but he was still suspended, he didn't mind.

• During that time Bakugo became a totally different person towards his sister. he stopped being the distant brother he used to be and became an over-protective brother instead, (Y/N) wanted to go to the park? he would take them to the park, they wanted to play with him?, he would make sure to play with her until she got tired out. Their playtime sessions would vary from roughhousing to tea parties, Mitsuki had plenty of picture of his son sporting a tiara and sitting on the floor playing with (Y/N).

• He made sure (Y/N) was happy during her birthday party, even if most of their classmates didn't show up, he told her not to care about those extras.

• His parents decided to pull (Name) from their old school and enroll them into one where the staff had a strict anti-bullying policy, they wouldn't tolerate their kid going through more bullying.

• have you seen that video where a dad is carrying his daughter as they sing "girls like you" in the bathroom? Masaru has a video where Bakugo's doing the same thing with (Y/N).

• Once Bakugo goes back to class some of his classmates asked him about his sister, he's ready to kill Deku thinking the snitched, turns out the case made it to the news due to the severity of the situation, (Y/N)'s previous school tried to wash their hands and blame the guy, just to have proof of previous stances of bullying shoved down their throats, his sister was just one of many cases.

• He just told them (Y/N) was fine while looking at his phone, this time Mitsuki had caught her husband copying your guy's video and sent it to her son, he was trying to hold back his laughter.

• When the school festival was close his friends told him to bring (Name) so the whole classroom could meet her, he was against the idea, first because the festival was school-only, second he claimed they would be a nothing but bad influences for (Y/N). It took a lot of convincing but he ended up saying yes and got permission to bring his sister to the festival, but the moment she started saying anything remotely close to swear words he would kill them all.

• "Wait, you mean you never swear around her?" "Of course not, what kind of brother do you take me for you shitty hair?!" "who are you and what have you done to Bakugo?!" "Ah?!"

• The day of the festival everyone was waiting for Bakugo to show up with a gremlin, they didn't expect a sweet little girl so adorable that it was like you were looking at another Eri-chan. They didn't expect to see her sitting on Bakugo's shoulders either.

• "Are they adopted?" "no, why?" "cause they're nothing like you at all" "you fu--dgy Pikachu!"

• All of his classmates were clearly dotting on her, Mina and Hagakure wouldn't stop poking her cheeks, Koda was showing her his pet bunny, (Y/N) was having the time of their live hanging from Shoji's arms.

• Bakugo actually laughed when Deku tried to greet her, (Y/N) just gave him a look and ran to hide behind her brother's legs, she was hissing at him like a cat. The poor guy went into a corner.

• His over-protectiveness went off the moment (Y/N) saw Todoroki, a light blush adorning her tiny face, he just picked her pick and walked away muttering "oh no no no no no, don't even think about it"

• During the concert (Y/N) stayed with Mirio and Eri, both girls quickly became friends. They were both sitting on Mirio's shoulders and yelling joyfully during the whole show.

• (Y/N) became an honorary member of the Bakusquad. Bakugo was glad his little sister was having the time of her life and getting along with his classmates.

• Until she gave him her own nickname.

• When (Y/N) heard Deku calling her brother "Kacchan" she looked up at her brother with a confused look. Kirishima mentioned it was a nickname he gave his brother, the little girl was thinking for a moment before shaking her head.

• "I don't like it!" "oh? you don't like your brother's nickname?" (Y/N) shook her head while pouting "Then what would you like to call him?" she was silent or a minute before looking at her brother again.

• "Bakago!"

• There was a minute of silence, Bakugo fell face down on the floor, everyone burst out laughing at his new nickname. "Bakago" became his new nickname from then on.

• The day (Y/N) found out Deku called him "Bakago" once she started calling him "Bakatsuki" instead.

• Bakugo just crouched in front of her to pinch her cheeks "You're lucky you're cute (Y/N)".

[faunusrights]

Citrus Summers (GWS AU)

just had this idea nip into my head... i really wanna do more with menagerie and the scarlatina fam but for now have this lil snapshot of velvet growing up :)

great weiss shark au, weiss's pronouns are she/her, velvet's pronouns are she/they

###

"So, what was your hometown like?"

Velvet's used to Weiss's interest in her life; they come from two radically different ends of some bonkers spectrum of lifestyles, where one end (Velvet's) is radical self-acceptance, anti-cop sentiment, and a Scroll full to bursting with communist memes, whilst the other end (Weiss's) is... well, to be honest, Velvet doesn't like to think about what that end entails, exactly. All she knows is that it was exactly what a young shark Faunus without any clue as to her heritage didn't need. So, Velvet entertains her with stories of growing up in the deserts of Menagerie, of her time running along the trash-strewn beaches of Kuo Kuana, of her years shooting up like a weed under the relentless freckling kisses of the bright and vibrant sun.

Sometimes Velvet can tell she can't quite wrap her head around how different their lives are, yet have somehow ended up on such an intersection as to be able to call each other friends. Velvet just goes with the flow about it all.

"Well, we didn't have a hometown, really," Velvet starts, attention half-drawn to sets of plans scattered about her desk in her dorm. She's got big plans to improve Anesidora's projector and fix the information compression problems; drawing a flat 2D image into a 3D projection has always been a sticking point, but she's nearly got it down to the extent that her wireframe tests very nearly reveal the dents and dings and imperfections that it'd previously ironed out by mistake. Accuracy is key, and she crawls ever closer to a perfect 1-to-1 copy each and every day. It's just really boring work, is all. "We lived outside of the nearest town by a couple of miles, but we went there pretty regularly, so I guess you could call it that."

Weiss hums, letting herself fall back onto Velvet's unmade bed, the handwoven blankets of orange and black brought straight over from the homeland and still gritty with red dirt to prove it. "What's it called?"

"Desert Sands. Very original, I know."

"You know a lot of the people there?"

"Shit, they trade us meat and gas for potatoes and carrots and tomatoes, not to mention almost everyone there immigrated in a group with my grandparents. I know that town like my own family."

"What's your favourite thing there?"

That pulls Velvet up short, and she worries at her bottom lip as she stares as a variety of absolutely godawful equations. Thank the maidens Weiss has given her something meaty to say, because she can't bear the idea of redoing all this horrible maths. "Uh, probably the inn, as everyone else who lives there would say. Can't go wrong with a good old fashioned pint and a few rounds of pool."

"Even as a kid?" Weiss says, and Velvet can hear the raised brow even though she can't quite see it.

"Even as a kid," Velvet agrees. "My mam had a couple of pints and my da flirted with the guys and I'd go out with my siblings to meet our friends and raise a little hell. Not very often, but often enough."

Weiss goes sort of quiet, in a way that Velvet recognises as an intensive processing of what she's just heard. She wonders, briefly, if Weiss can even imagine that sort of freedom after a childhood spent locked in the same old rooms of the same old house--even when it's as big as the Schnee manor--and then pushes that thought away. If Weiss wants to ever get into all that, it'll be in her own time.

"Describe it to me?" Weiss asks in a very little voice after a few seconds, and Velvet nods. She can do that. She remembers those halcyon days like they were yesterday.

###

"Trench, I swear, if you don't repaint those window sills I'm gonna sneak down here and do it myself, asshole."

This was about as typical an entry as Taffeta Scarlatina could ever make, shouldering open the dark wood door into the Desert Sands Inn with a grin on her face and children in tow, Ash bringing up the rear and trying to pretend he couldn't see everyone turn in their seats to look to the new arrivals. It was one of those establishments with a big boxy interior and just a handful of rooms to the side, where the only three doors led into the toilets and the kitchens and the stairwell to the rooms above, and much like everything else on Menagerie, nothing ever matched; the doors had been collected from a variety of sources, the floorboards uneven and scratched and recut, the paint on the walls patchy with mismatched shades and covered with picture frames in some last-ditch attempt to hide it. No two stools matched, no three tables carved by the same hand, but that was the price of the community effort--everything you ever needed, maybe just not in the way you always expected.

"Taffeta," Trench greeted from behind the bar, turning to fetch a pair of glasses without prompting whilst making sure not to jostle the hanging bottles overhead with his great buffalo horns, split like a strange middle parting on the top of his head. "You're welcome to it, to be frank; Cinna doesn't have a clue where she's put the paint, last we saw it."

Taffeta rolled her eyes, letting go of Velvet's hand to pat her between her ears instead, the ten year old quick to laugh and duck away. "I'm sure. Not at all like I said I have some lying around the last three times I was here. You really that scared of scraping all that flaking paint off?"

"Well," Trench said after a moment, leaning under the bar for a second. "I did get some in my eyes last time, and boy, that hurted. You want your usual?"

"Pint of porter for me, and something weak for my pretty boy, lest he forget which way is up," Taffeta agreed, shooting a wink Ash's way and cackling when he blushed. "And some juice boxes for the kids?"

Trench didn't even pause, turning about to fish out a variety of colourful cartons adorned with a collection of cartoon characters, and Taffeta lifted Velvet up to plop her onto one of the few cushioned stools, Chiffon quick to use her older, longer limbs to scramble her own way up. Trench offered the drinks out freely, letting them decide between orange and passionfruit flavours, before noticing the new addition on Ash's hip. "Oh? This the newest Scarlatina?"

Satin--hardly a year old--was clinging to her da's loose shirt, dark eyes looking about in wonder, and Taffeta smiled before reaching over to brush her loose, light hair out of her eyeline. "Sure is. Gettin' real big already, so we thought it was high time to meet the folks around here. She won't be the last, though." At that, Taffeta leant across the bar, dropping her voice low. "Would you believe me if I said Ash is already askin' for the next one?"

"Slander," Ash shot back, face still pink. "I just said four is a rounder number than three."

Trench made a face, glancing pointedly away. "My girl woulda mounted my horns on the wall for that one. We had just the one and she swore off the rest before I could even consider it. Count yourself lucky."

"Cinnamon's a good kid," Ash offered, rearranging Satin to sit a little nicer in his lap. "I think that all worked out in the end."

Taffeta rolled her eyes, watching as Velvet picked the orange juice for herself, leaving the eldest to the passionfruit. "Doesn't that imply we have so many 'cause you don't think just one was good enough? Chiff's a darling, if a bit of a pain in my ass, huh, baby?"

Chiffon ignored them both to instead help Velvet punch the straw into the carton, and Ash grinned. "Just one was perfect, but you told me yourself that you don't think I know when to fold."

"You don't," Trench interjected, pouring out a pint of something dark and bitter enough to linger on the tongue. "When we played poker last year... phew. Thank the maidens it was a couple's night, else you woulda been walking home absolutely stark--"

"--drunk," Taffeta quickly interrupted, glancing towards the kids who stared back with wide eyes. "Been walking home absolutely stark... trashed. Wasted. Uh, Trench, what's on the menu today, whilst it's on my mind?"

As they discussed the menu (Taffeta eager to point out the contributions of the family crops, asking, overly sweetly, and who traded you those lovely chickens? they must have been very generous), Chiffon turned to Ash in her seat, legs swinging freely, bumping into the overly-varnished wood of the bar. "Da? Can me 'n Velv go out and play?"

"Sure can, kiddo," Ash said, though he was quick to grab Chiffon's arm before she could throw herself off the stool with the straw still in her mouth. "Woah, take that out first before you end up swallowing it. You remember the rules?"

Chiffon nodded, face cast all seriously. "Don't go outta town. Be back before dark. If someone tries to bully us, punch 'em in the nose."

"And?" Ash added, drawing his brows together.

Velvet chirped up. "Cops aren't friends!"

At that, Ash broke out into a grin, as bright as Velvet's and twice as toothy. "That's right. You go have fun, and don't eat too many snacks; we're having dinner here before we go home."

Chiffon slid free of her stool, turning about to help Velvet down too, and then the pair scampered towards the door with a harmonised yes da! before pulling it open to the main road outside, the sunlight blisteringly bright, the sky an endless, cloudless blue overhead. The paint on the windowsill peeled off and flecked away, and under their shoes, the ground crunched.

Everything tasted of oranges.

###

Weiss sits silently.

"Did you get back before dark?"

Velvet snorts, sitting back in her chair until it creaks dangerously below. "Just about, though my mam didn't look all that impressed. Still, can't do much about it; we didn't even have, like, landline calls back then, let alone Scrolls and shit."

Weiss laughs to herself, rolling over and tucking her legs up onto Velvet's bed until she's curled atop the blankets, running a thumb over the wool quietly, repetitively. Truth is, they still smell of Menagerie, of home; Velvet could wash it a thousand times, but the earthy scent of hot summers and prickling scrublands sticks like its own aura.

"I'm jealous," Weiss says simply, and then she draws the blankets up to partly cocoon herself, tight across the ribs, loose about the ankles. "Will I... would you show me it, sometime? If I went there?"

It's sweet. Velvet wishes she could travel through time and show it to Weiss from the start; she wishes she could have told her what she would have, in the future. Look, see? This is real. You can have this too. Happiness doesn't only exist for people far away; you get to feel this, too.

"Of course," Velvet says with a smile, instead. "Bold if you to think my parents don't demand they meet every single last one of my friends."

Weiss grins back, all shark-toothed and sharp, and Velvet likes how it looks on her face. It took her team months to eek it out of her more often than every couple of weeks, but now, it's practically daily. "I'm afraid the offer doesn't extend back to you."

"Thanks the maidens," Velvet says, very seriously. "Because if I ever meet your dad, I'm setting his car alight."

[poisonedapples]

Roman Gets Help 1/5: Bad Nights

Part One: Virgil

Part Summary: Roman is always trying to make his anxiety more manageable with a bunch of different tactics. But a disorder is a disorder, and some days are worse than others. But at least his best friend Virgil is around to help.

Part of the Service Dog AU!

Pairings: Platonic Prinxiety

Warnings: Past panic attacks, medication, anxiety, Remus making poop jokes because he’s Remus, swearing and food mentions

Word Count: 2,751

Taglist: @hold-our-destiny @pricklyfish777 @romansleftshoulderpad

Notes: Cornybird on Ao3 deserves Many Squishmallows for editing so much of my stuff, including this. So send visual squishmallow vibes to her, she deserves it

Virgil really should have known something was weird when Roman didn’t text back.

The two had made plans during lunch to meet up at Roman’s house so he could help with Virgil’s Spanish homework. Roman was infinitely better with language stuff than Virgil could ever dream to be, and even when the work was done, it was always nice to hang out in his room and get away from his wild parents every once in a while. But since Roman left school early and Virgil had to stay after for band practice, he hadn’t heard or seen Roman in a while.

That in itself wasn’t weird, though. What was weird was that when Virgil texted him that he was on his way, Roman didn’t respond. Not even with an emoji reaction or a simple ‘okay’. But even then, what was even weirder was that Virgil was right outside his door, texting Roman to open it for him, and he still wasn’t responding.

Virgil checked the last three messages he sent to Roman’s phone. All of them were marked as delivered but not read, which was also very concerning. What could Roman be doing that he hadn’t checked his phone in thirty minutes? Virgil got anxious when he didn’t read messages immediately, let alone waiting half an hour.

Virgil sent him one last text before putting his phone away. You there? I’m outside.

No response. Virgil knocked on the door and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting and shifting on his feet for someone to open the door. After a couple minutes, he started to think Roman had just forgotten.

However, a slight spark of hope rose up in him at the sound of the front door opening. But when Virgil looked up from his shoes to the person at the door, he felt his shoulders sag.

It wasn’t Roman who had opened the door. There was no shy and apologetic smile with Princess right under his feet. Instead, it was his bastard brother in ripped jeans and a green tank top, blowing bubblegum like a bully in a 90s Nickelodeon show.

“Well if it isn’t my favorite emo! What brings you here, Raven Way?” Remus asked, leaning on the door frame with a cocky smile.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “You’ve already used that one.”

“It’s my favorite nickname for you. It’s the perfect brand of insulting. It has spice to it.”

“I’m glad you’re entertained then. Is Roman out somewhere?”

Remus cocked an eyebrow. “No, he’s been up in his room. Last I checked he was as passed out as a corpse.”

“Okay...can I come in then?”

Remus smiled and opened the door for Virgil, taking a bow as he stepped inside. Virgil rolled his eyes again. This guy is so fucking weird. “You know where his room and the shitter is. Just follow the trail of dog hair to his royal highness.”

“You terrify me, Remus.”

“Good! That’s the aesthetic I’m going for. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a bigass thing of chili dip in the fridge that may or may not be expired. We’ll see!” Virgil’s eyes narrowed as Remus skipped back to the kitchen and right to the fridge, but he really didn’t want to be around for that mess. Instead, Virgil went upstairs and turned left to Roman’s room, the colorful Disney decorations covering his door. Virgil knocked twice, but when met with no answer, he came inside anyway.

The first thing Virgil noticed was the lights. The windows and blinds were shut tight so no sunlight could get through while Roman’s fairy lights around his room were turned on. The soft twinkling gave the room a feeling of calmness, but the sight on the bed was more concerning than tranquil. Princess was sat down on top of the bed comforter with two arms wrapped around her, Roman blending in with the sheets he was under as he shoved his face in his dog’s fur. At least she didn’t seem to mind.

Roman looked up at the sound of the door opening. Virgil felt his heart sink when he saw the tear streaks down his face and his messed up hair, but Roman tried his best to respond to Virgil anyway. “Hey…”

Virgil took off his shoes and threw his backpack onto the floor next to the door. “Hey, dude. You look like shit.”

Roman made a strange huff sound, probably meant to be a laugh. “Thanks.”

He buried his face back into Princess’ fur, and Virgil felt that pang of worry grow stronger. He moved to the other side of the bed, sitting alongside Roman and his pile of blankets and pillows. “You okay?”

Roman shrugged. “I’m doing better.”

“What happened?”

“Panic attack.”

Virgil sucked the air through his teeth as a way to say yikes. “Seems like it was a pretty bad one.”

Princess rolled over onto Roman’s chest, and Roman cuddled even closer than what Virgil thought was possible. He looked so small when he did that. “Worse than usual.”

“Do you know what caused it?”

“No. Sometimes it just happens.” Roman kissed the top of Princess’ head. “Anxiety just...does that.”

“Yeah, I get it. Trust me, out of everyone you know, I’d probably be the one to understand it the most.”

“...Yeah.”

An awkward silence fell between the two of them. Virgil didn’t actually know what to do when Roman was like this. He’s stopped him from having panic attacks in the past, but he’d never seen him look this bad. Roman was curled in on himself under the covers, gripping onto Princess for dear life in an attempt to soothe himself. His pile of stuffed animals usually spread around the bed were now in a giant pile around his body, and his weighted blanket poked out from under the comforter too. It looked like he was trying his hardest to get comfortable, and Virgil didn’t know what else he could do. A distraction? A nap?

Well, only one way to find out.

Virgil took a deep breath in. “...Is there any way I can help?”

Roman shrugged again. “Not that I know.”

“Did you take a nap? That usually helps me the most.”

“I just woke up. My meds knocked me out.”

“Your meds?”

Roman took a pill bottle from his nightstand and showed it to Virgil. He read the confusing label that all medicine bottles have, but the name of the pills was long and unfamiliar in Virgil’s mind. Roman placed them back once Virgil got a good look and curled in on himself more. “Panic attack meds. They help you calm down really quick when you’re having an attack. They always put me to sleep after. Remus likes to call them my tranquilizer dart.”

Virgil snorted. “I mean...accurate name. I’ve just never seen you with those before.”

“I only take them on bad days. My therapist warned me about how I shouldn’t take them after every panic attack, because then I’ll never learn how to deal with them on my own, and I might get addicted. Which I’d rather not.”

“Yeah, I know about the addiction thing. I used to be on anti-anxiety until last year.”

Roman tilted his head up to look at Virgil for the first time. “Really?”

“Yup. I got eased off them after a while, though. Now I just take an antidepressant, which honestly isn’t much. I think everyone in our friend group is on some kind of meds.”

“...Patton?” Roman asked.

“Patton’s one depressed mother fucker. I say that out of love, but yes, he’s also on antidepressants.”

“And Logan?”

“...Dude. Epilepsy.”

Roman let out a silent oh. “...I forgot you take meds for that.”

“Our brains are fucked up and we accept this.”

Roman flashed a small smile but didn’t respond. After that, the two had fell silent as Virgil awkwardly patted a beat on his leg to put his nervous fidgeting to use.

What do you do for someone getting out of a panic attack? It was obvious Roman wasn’t in a talking mood, but it was killing him inside to just...sit there while he looked so helpless. But he’d never had to deal with this with a friend before. The worst he’d dealt with were Patton’s bad depression days, and those had nothing on how horrible Roman looked right now. And if he already took a nap...what else were you supposed to do after a panic attack?

Virgil thought back to his own experiences. Of course, Virgil’s anxiety was nothing compared to Roman’s, but it was better than nothing. And comfort worked no matter how bad you felt, even if it was only a little.

He thought back to his own parents. How his mom would hold him and let him cry into his shoulder if he needed to, but that was too awkward for him to do with Roman. His dad would let him curl up and watch him play games on the console, which could maybe work…

...Then Virgil remembered another thing his mom did once after one of his worst panic attacks. It might be a bit embarrassing because of intimacy, but it would help Roman feel better. And that’s all that matters.

“I’m gonna go get some stuff, okay?” Virgil said, “You stay right here.”

Roman hummed. “Wasn’t planning on going anywhere, but okay.”

With that, Virgil hopped out of Roman’s bed and left the bedroom.

First, he needed a water bottle. Roman probably had some water when he took his meds, but it likely wasn’t enough to stop a headache after all the crying. Virgil went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. While he was there, he looked through the rest of the fridge and noticed that there was no container of chili dip in there anymore. Gross.

Expired chili dip aside, he would need a face rag as well. Virgil went through a hallway on the first floor to the older bathroom downstairs, looking through the drawers for a decent cloth. A small one was hidden in the back of the drawer with some bottles of face wash and lotion, so Virgil grabbed that and took a mental note to put it back later. He stood in front of the faucet and stared at it for a while.

Was cold or hot water better for getting tears off someone’s face? Warm water seemed like it’d be more comfortable, but cold water could also be more refreshing. He thought about the possibilities for a while and settled on warm based on his own preferences, turning the hot and cold handles to where the water was only slightly warm, wetting a side of the cloth then turning the faucet off.

Before he left the bathroom, Virgil grabbed a couple squares of toilet paper and then headed out the door. He was back in Roman’s room not even five minutes later, setting his stuff on the nightstand for a second as he grabbed his DS from his bag and turned it on. Roman glanced up from the bed with a confused look, but didn’t say anything. Virgil came back next to the bed and motioned for Roman to move to the middle. Reluctantly, and with some shifting of Princess still at his side, Roman did so.

Virgil sat in Roman’s old spot and grabbed the wad of toilet paper. “Here, sit up and blow your nose. The last thing you need right now is more breathing problems.”

Roman grunted as she shimmied out from under his weighted blanket to sit up against the headboard of his bed. He took the toilet paper from Virgil and blew. “...Thanks.”

“No problem. Now just stick with me for this next part, because I’m not good with touchy-touchy shit, so this’ll be a little awkward.”

Roman gave Virgil a confused look, but he didn’t say anything. He grabbed the damp cloth and silently tilted Roman’s head to face him. Virgil tentatively lifted the cloth to his face and wiped the tears from under his eyes, the gesture mixed with the warm water making Roman hum in content. Virgil didn’t acknowledge what was happening, he just wiped off his friend’s face, flipping to the dry part of the cloth to dry him off after.

“There. That should help you feel less gross, anyway.”

“Thanks...it helped.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Virgil set the cloth to the side and handed Roman the water bottle. “And drink this, it’ll help with that nasty headache you probably have.”

Roman twisted the cap open and chugged the bottle, finishing half of it in record speed before putting it down again. Virgil could tell by how fast he chugged it that his head was probably throbbing.

“Feeling a little better now?” Roman nodded. “Wanna watch me play Harvest Moon until you probably pass out again?”

He nodded again, Virgil scooting closer to him so Roman could place his head on his shoulder as he watched. His hand combed through Princess’ fur as Princess trapped the other under her paw to lick. Most people would think it was gross, but considering licking was one of her grounding techniques, he was desensitized to it by now. “Which one do you have?”

“A New Beginning. I’ll show you all my cows because they’re bomb as fuck. My first cow is named Oven and I have a baby one named Chaos.”

Roman laughed as Virgil started up the game. “Awesome. You play it often?”

“Eh, sometimes. It’s not my favorite game, but I carry it with me because it’s good for calming anxiety down. All I gotta do is feed my animals and mine and shit. Nothing else matters, you know?”

Roman nodded as best he could from Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil loaded up his save file and started to show Roman around his farm, mostly skipping the crops and going straight to the pets and farm animals with the most ridiculous names Virgil could get away with using only six letters. Virgil chatted away about his game and read all the speech bubbles out loud, showing off his wife who he swears he married platonically since his character was obviously gay and talking about his rivalry with the hair stylist. Roman wasn’t responding much, just a few hums and little laughs here and there, but Virgil didn’t mind. So long as his friend was feeling better, that was all that mattered.

A while later, Virgil was baking desserts for a contest being held in town when he spoke up again. “I’m shit at cooking good stuff in this game, but I can make some neat pancakes, apparently. I’m gonna make this contest my bitch.”

There was no response. That wasn’t very strange in itself, but usually when Virgil sweared, Roman at least made a small huff of a laugh from his shoulder. But this time, he was completely quiet. Virgil looked over at his shoulder when he almost awwww’ed out loud.

Roman had fallen back asleep, his mouth open slightly with his arms cuddling Princess extra close as she seemed to relax alongside him. He was adorable, and in a moment of softness that Virgil would deny to the end of his days, he helped Roman to lay back in bed and brushed the hair out of his face. Roman still clung slightly to him even as he slept, so Virgil accepted his fate and moved to curl up alongside him, continuing his game with a smile on his face.

“Your sleep schedule is gonna be absolutely fucked, dude.” Virgil said. There was no response, obviously, and Virgil didn’t talk to his sleeping friend after that. He just took a mental note to tell his parents he was staying the night before it got too late and kept caring for his farm.

Maybe later he’d wake Roman up and get him some dinner, letting him recharge and take a shower before they actually had to go to bed. He’d be too awake to actually sleep at first, but the company of his friend and the comfort of his dog would keep him calm through that, even when Roman hated being awake past eleven. Patton may even find out and tease Virgil about having a heart after all, which Virgil would deny until the end of his days. But his edgy reputation wasn’t what mattered right now.

Instead, Virgil smiled and cuddled closer as Roman slept peacefully.

[angelofthequeers]

hi! So I have being thinking (or observing) lately, how people prefer lu//ka over ni//no (I mean lu//ka is shoved everywhere but thats not the point). Like lu//ka is praised for being chill, akumatized for someone else, being 'musical', protective, etc (honestly ni//no has more qualities unlike... Yeah). And it just bothers me so much idk. I mean pocs are always side eyed in favour of white characters that's not new but I guess the is-ni//no-actually-lu//ka (though a v fun crack idea) (1/n)

Not at all! I’ve also noticed how Nino is increasingly shoved to the side to make room for Luka, aka a generic “rebellious” white boy who looks like he never showers and his mum dresses him and whose interest in a younger girl is so creepy that he had to be retconned to be her age. And I don’t get it, because Nino has an actual fleshed-out personality considering his lack of screentime:

he’s impulsive and super protective of those he loves, to the point where he jumps into battle repeatedly against a literal supervillain who could crush him into a paper ball without effort if she really wanted to

but he can also be stubborn and drag his heels in, like in ‘Horrificator’ over the kiss scene that Alya didn’t include

he also got akumatised over his impulsiveness because he was so angry for his best friend

and yes, that’s different to Luka getting angry for Marinette in ‘Silencer’ because

he didn’t give a flying damn about the rest of the band, just the girl whose pants he wanted in

he didn’t actually??? Confront XY and Roth directly??? He just stood there trying to get Marinette to leave and then when she was threatened, he just stood there and stewed. Compare that to Nino, who actively went on the attack at Gabriel to try and fight for Adrien and damn the consequences

he’s got varied interests and personality outside of his DJing. He loves filmmaking, he’s goofy (think ‘Puppeteer 2’), he gets flustered easily, he parkours with Alya in their free time, he loves Just Dance...there’s so much more to him than just ‘plays an instrument and makes fun of a pretty girl for stuttering’

his self-worth issues! He didn’t think he was worthy of being a superhero, that he could defend Alya in an arm wrestle... I don’t know what Luka thinks of himself. I don’t even know if he thinks

he’s so selfless and loyal! Remember ‘Zombizou’, where he stayed behind so Alya wouldn’t be a zombie alone even though she wouldn’t have a clue once everything was fixed? Where he went in to bat for Adrien in ‘Bubbler’ even knowing he could be making an enemy out of a powerful and influential man? Where he stuck by Adrien in ‘Jackady’ and made sure he was safe? What has Luka done in comparison? And before people insist that he’s barely had any screentime, they also insist that Nino has no personality because he’s hardly ever on screen too and yet I can pick all of this about Nino, so they can’t have it both ways

And you’re bang-on with characters of colour being shoved aside for white ones. You see it in how Chloé replaces Alya as Marinette’s best friend despite being a literal horrific bully while Alya has been there for Marinette through thick and thin and is the literal reason why Marinette became Ladybug not just once but twice. You see it in the colourism (preferring lighter skin shades and features over darker ones) where Kagami has all but replaced Alya as a love interest for Marinette and sometimes even as her best friend because Alya is Lila’s new bestie. And that’s not to say that Kagaminette ship and friendship are bad! I love love LOVE them to bits and Kagami is one of my favourite characters of all time. But I hardly ever see Alyanette anymore in favour of Kagaminette, and even just Alya and Marinette best friend stuff because Kagami has essentially replaced Alya. And that’s also a common salt thing too; if it’s not Chloé replacing Alya, it’s Kagami.

Don’t get me wrong, Kagami is very much a POC. She’s faced a hell of a lot of undeserved backlash and awful treatment for being the “bitchy ice queen” and even fetishisation (don’t get me started please or I won’t shut up but some of the stuff I’ve seen has made me physically nauseous at the Asian fetishisation). But at the end of the day, I’ve personally seen her treated “better” than Alya...if by “better” you mean fetishised, which is a large part of why I don’t trust 90% of other Adrigaminette and Kagaminette fans. The way she’s treated compared to Alya looks more positive but it’s still fetishism and racism. She’s just not outright bashed as much as Alya because colourism and specifically anti-Black racism, as subconscious as it might sometimes be.

And that racism and colourism (which I most definitely had a point with I swear) is something that ties into the Luka and Nino thing, where people with lighter features are preferred over people with darker features. Luka has 1/100 the personality that Nino does and get he gets 100 times the love that Nino does. He also has people gushing over his appearance and how he’s a “hot bad boy” but I never see people loving Nino for his dark skin, for his brown eyes, for his prominent nose...for anything, really.

(Not to get personal but as a fellow Arab who also has brown eyes and a nose that’s not thin and dainty and is very obviously non-white and something I hated for years, that shit hurts)

Like, if someone doesn’t like Kagami, most of the time she’s just ignored as a character and the author/artist doesn’t touch on her. But if someone doesn’t like Alya? Instead of just having her be friends with other girls instead or just naturally drift apart from Marinette (which uh is still not cool), they go wild on her, turning her into an aggressive bitch who’s obsessed with her scoops and getting Adrien and Marinette together even at the cost of Marinette’s happiness. They take her flaws and wildly exaggerate them to justify hating her (don’t ask about the sheer vitriol I saw in the aftermath of ‘Feast’ over a mistake that Luka would just be coddled for). And while it’s not as prominent, because Alya is at the intersection of being a girl and a POC - especially a Black girl - and cops double the crap, I’ve also seen Nino demonised into a spineless idiot who just stands by and lets things happen instead of...you know, the boy who literally rushed a spider supervillain to save his girlfriend, knowing he could die very easily.

I just want some wholesome Adrino 😔 There’s all this “Luka would show Adrien how to rebel and just gets how he feels” and blah but like...Adrien already knows how to rebel. He just does it in little safe ways because he’s an abused kid, rather than doing what the salters think he should do and turning into a generic copy of Luka without a thought for the consequences that Gabriel can inflict on him because he’s still a kid under his parent’s “care”. And Nino already gets how Adrien feels! He’s Adrien’s best friend! He knows what to say to Adrien and how to be there for him without having to resort to strumming a guitar and telling Adrien how he feels like Luka does to Marinette.

Nino was Adrien’s first friend. Nino’s been there for Adrien through thick and thin, through having an arse of a parent who forces him to be flaky and unreliable with hangouts. Nino is physically affectionate with Adrien without throwing himself all over him like Chloé and Lila do. Nino’s actions as an akuma were to make his best friend happy. And yet people still seem to think that Luka both loves Adrien more and is a better choice for him. Why??? All Luka would do is sit there and play his guitar. Luka is his music and nothing else but Nino...Nino has so much more to him than just his DJing.

I feel like part of it is not wanting to break up DJWiFi, which...okay, valid. That’s one of my favourite ships of all time because they’re so darn happy and cute together and it makes me melt to see two POC happy together. I personally would turn to polyamory because I want massive cuddle piles. But if you don’t want that and you’re deadset on Lukadrien (😬) then just...don’t shove Nino to the side. Continue to include Nino as Adrien’s best friend and give him appropriate screentime and character growth outside of being a cardboard cutout friend. It’s not an either-or thing like so many people seem to think, and platonic friendships are just as important as romantic relationships.

[heroicvilliansometimes]

Band of Brothers High school au part1

Note:Also here's a pic of Speirs because he's my husbando

Richard "Dick" Winters

-Is a senior and yes he does know what college he wants to go to and yes he has his life figured out

-Swim team captain and yes he has a leatherman jacket but he doesn't usually wear it sadly

-I feel like he was on the golf team but realize he couldn't concentrate on his grades and he wanted to dedicate his entire time to swimming so he quit in his sophomore year

-Is an A+ student but he won't brag about it infact he stays after school to help students raise their grades up in classes they have trouble with

-Yes he is dating Lewis "secretly" but really no one's fooled like really who's going to believe you spend your entire off period in the bathroom like what

Lewis Nixon

-He does drink alcohol and yes he is 18 but who are you going to tell that cares enough to do something I mean his dad is the mayor

-Is a C- student I swear he's smarter it's just if people knew that he would constantly be getting texts asking for help and Lewis is to drunk to help or even care

-Yes he has the most up-to-date technology but he won't brag infact he breaks them any chance he gets like damn Lew calm down

-Yes he made the school have a Dog appreciation club and yes he is the president of it what are you gonna do about it

-Dick tells him to keep their Relationship a secret but Dick bro we're seniors who cares

Carwood Lipton

-Also is an A+ and yes he also helps the students after school heck I'll dare say even more than Dick

-Senior and yes he does have a car but please don't take advantage of him because if you ask him to drive you around he he will never tell you no

-Has never skipped class not even when Speirs asks him to yeah I know brave

-I feel like Lipton helps the librarians so much that they gave him an authorized key from the office to lock or unlock the library if necessary

-Yes he dates Speirs and yes he's even more "secretive" than Dick but like again we are not idiots Lip it's a small town we see you guys eating out at restaurants together

Ronald "Sparky" Speirs

-Is a Senior and is an A- student and doesn't mind if you ask him for help just don't do it in front of people ok he has a tough guy persona to uphold got it

-No debating about this but he wears a leather jacket and has a motorcycle that Lip disapproves of and refuses to ride

-He drinks and he smokes on and off school campus he doesn't care and he also skips class but the reason he hasn't been caught yet is because nobody can find where he is and when you do you better be good friends because he does not like his alone time to be interrupted

-Is actually a really nice guy and will kick any bullies ass he also is the one who has been putting up those mysterious anti bully posters but sshhh don't tell anyone

-I mean he doesn't care who knows about his relationship with Lip but he loves Lip so he won't tell anybody but if you find out about it he won't deny it

Lynn "Buck" Compton

-Is your all American Boy ok

-Plays football, flirts with the cheerleaders, has highschool parties, drinks, lifts weights, proudly wears a Leatherman jacket, and other jock stereotypes you can think about

-But he isn't an idiot ok he gets A's and like Speirs will kick a bully's ass if you tell him that you are getting harassed

-Is also a Senior and is not afraid to flaunt it like if someone a grade below him is talking smack he'll just pat their head and say something like be quiet youngster you haven't lived your life yet

-I'm a just say it if he's interested in you better be prepared to be sought after because when this guy like really loves someone he will do anything for them and I mean he will do anything even accept the fact that they don't love him like that so please be careful with his heart

Johnny Martin

-Is a Junior but for some reason is respected by all the Seniors even Speirs respects him I said respect not feared though so don't get it twisted

-Is a A student but is striving to be more so don't ask him to help you because the answer will be no however to get his help you would have to actually be like struggling I mean F- as your grade because then will he reluctantly help you

-Is dating Bull but it's so casual that if you didn't know and someone told you you wouldn't be surprised

-Yes he smokes and no he will not share but believe me when I say if he is jokingly flirting with you he will pretend like he's about to give you a cigarette but when you reach for it he'll blow smoke in your face and kiss your cheek

-Goes to the school's book club on Saturdays and everytime he is disappointed to see Webster show up

Denver "Bull" Randleman

-Is a B+ student and I mean he tries but he's to busy playing basketball to care

-Is another Junior the Seniors respect but this time there's a reason and it's because all the Seniors made a bet with a rival school cough cough The Pacific cough cough and the bet was who ever won the up coming basketball game will be given the title best school in town and will be allowed to claim the Salt and Pepper diner (yes John Mulaney reference) as their hangout spot and as you expected Bull had won that game for them earning him the nickname Bull actually for his amazing defence

-Does have a Leatherman jacket but unlike Dick is not afraid to wear it around and will be mad if you touch it or I wouldn't advise it though wear it at least not without his permission however he will graciously give/force the person he holds close enough to his heart to wear it wither it be Johnny or um reader

-instead of cigars he has weed and he gets it from George who by the way still refuses to tell him where he gets it from so it's a first come first serve kind of thing and he will be pissed if you make him miss his chance to get his bag of weed

-He has a truck that be loves more than Johnny and if you scratch it he will find out and he will kick your ass

Harry Welsh

-He's a Junior but he hangs around the Seniors cough Dick and Lew cough so much at first glance you wouldn't believe he was a Junior

-Ok their is a rumor going around school that he is the weed guru (which is true) however he won't say because then the police will get involved and he refuses to shut down his business like how else will he pamper kitty with gifts and still get to smoke weed at the same time

-For some damn reason he is an A+ student and yes he doesn't cheat like those are authentic grades he earned with his smarts yes I know surprising

-He used to run track but now he just sells weed and worships Kitty but if you think for a second he isn't fast then you better be careful because if you ever bet anything valuable and ask to race him you can kiss that item good bye real quick

-Did I mention he worships Kitty well then if talking to him you better be prepared to listen to him brag about Kitty all day and night because this man loves him some Kitty and he will kick anyone's ass if they flirt or insult her in front of him or behind his back

[goliath-de-senfina-sango]

Jazz was struggling to process the weird things going on in her life. While she was far more interested in psychology than parapsychology, she /did/ offer a ghost a bit of therapy now and then and he seemed to be doing better for it. That was all the ghostly interaction she really needed. the giant hornet in school apparently disagrees with her on that. It truly amazed Jazz what the mind could conjure up during stressful events. For instance, it occurred to her right this very second how odd it had been to cool even slightly down from the argument days before over ghosts with her parents only for the ghost of the infamous Sydney Poindexter to show up in the library seeking comfort and a safe person to vent to. The topic of Sydney’s guilt had been hard to stay objective about, but between his clear and honest regret, his admitted decades of hell in a replica of Casper in the Infinite Realms (and wow, she shouldn’t be surprised that ghosts had a name for the world they manifest in but there she was) and the fact that Danny had befriended him led her to feel Sydney was, while not at all justified in what he’d done, not as bad a person as he’d been making himself out to be. When she asked questions he responded much more clearly than when he spoke unprompted, she’d noted, and so she’d asked right away if there was even one person he could remember who didn’t hurt him. The green and sepia bleeding into his form nearly vanished as his older brother, his little sister, and the school nurse came to mind. His brother hardly cared about the things that he was being bullied over, doing his best to keep Sydney looking toward the future and making amazing things to lift his spirits. Apparently, he was a genius like Tucker and Danny, a compliment that made Jazz smile at the time. His little sister didn’t know enough to really understand it all but she was unerringly sweet and a source of sunshine that he never ever mentioned at school. The nurse, however, had been the brightest of those three lights in the dark for him, as the nurse wasn’t family and had no pre-established reason to be nice to and patch up the gross, nerdy queer kid that everyone else had shown nothing but contempt for. She did it anyway though, and he’d aspired to be a nurse like her one day. This aspiration led to more bullying, of course, but Jazz suggested he try learning how to heal people up the same way that nurse had him, and a look of realization and hope crossed his face before he hugged her, waved, and flew off. That had been a very good ghostly encounter. The giant hornet casting a sinister green glow over the hallways as a long, slimy black tongue curled around her entire skull and sharp mandibles the size of said skull extended to their most open was distinctly not. Jazz would never look at bugs the same way again. Before she could even manage to get a scream out of her though, the whining charge of one of her parents’ weapons filled her ears and the hornet jerked back with a sound that could’ve been pain, could’ve been fury, and mixed the kind of clicking hissing one expects from a bug with a very human voice. There was a burn mark on its center dripping ectoplasm that smelled awful , and it turned big black eyes to the same ghost boy she’d seen before. But now Jazz knew he was dangerous because that was a Fenton Plasma Rifle in his hands and his eyes were torches, hair flicking between cloudy wisps and crackling flames. “ Did someone call for an exterminator? “ “Oh, you think you’re funny!” The fucking hornet said, starling Jazz into motion - backing away slowly so as to not draw its attention. It flew like a blur at the boy, stinger cutting a gash in his suit and up his arm that leaked a thick green fluid and the rest of it’s lower half crashed into him with enough force to slam the boy into a few lockers with a bang. “Swat this , big boy.” “ Buzz off ,” the boy growled and the lights flared up brighter around them. He swung the rifle at the bug and the green ectoplasm shone a blinding white as it fired, burning a hole straight through the hornet and drilling it through the wall between the school and its yard. The boy flew after it and Jazz took a deep breath. There were ghosts fighting in her school, one with her parents’ weaponry. That one had saved her though and Jazz also had Fenton weaponry on her. She rushed outside to help, determined to keep her savior from being skewered by a hornet. Jazz poked her head out from the hole that the boy had made and froze. He was smacked out of the air by one of the long hairy legs of the hornet and into a tree and his head cracked loudly against bark. As he slid down his body was enveloped in light that retreated inward to his center and left behind Black hair, tan skin, a nyan cat hoodie- “Danny?” Her whisper went unnoticed in the face of a green ray piercing the hornet’s left wing. Bleeding ectoplasm in three places, it curled in on itself into a mass of green goop that dove into the ground and everything was still. Danny looked around with bright green eyes as he clutched his head, before growling and punching the tree. He stood up slowly, closed his eyes and grew difficult to look at, to even see as the light within a foot of him grew intense like a halo. He let out a breath and slumped against Tucker when the other boy made it to him, checking him over. Jazz stepped back away from the hole and took deep, shaky breaths. My brother is a ghost. That thought played over and over in her head even as a teacher gently guided her to her feet (when had she sat down among the debris?) and to the nurse’s office. It was only when Danny appeared in the nurse’s office, wrapping her up tight in a hug and rambling a mile a minute to ask if she was ok in every way he possibly could that her brain shifted focus even slightly. “Well, I didn’t get stung. Just licked by a dad sized hornet and saved by a ghostly teenager.” She hugged Danny back just as tightly, and tears began to flow as his argument to their parents before he blacked out in the hospital bed came back to mind. If the portal accident had killed me, would you have comforted your child or attacked the ghost in your lab? Danny’s arms went slack for a moment but Jazz clung tight to him. “I just. I just need a moment. Please?” Instead of pulling away and cracking jokes about gross sibling feelings her blessed baby brother hugged her back again and nodded into her neck. “Of course, Jazz.” “I swear to every star that listens,” Danny said behind his bedroom door where Jazz really shouldn’t be listening in. “Next I see of that smart-mouthed, rancid piece of protoplasmic filth I’m going to turn him into a smear and burn him.” That certainly sounded more like Dad than Danny. “At least save me a little bit to beat up,” Sam’s voice called through the speakers of his newly upgraded laptop. “I just commissioned your Mom for a ghost fighting melee weapon and Sydney’s healing me up pretty fast.” So Sydney knew about all of this. “There’ll be some of Spectra left to beat up with that once the Peeler has finished its work.” What?! “Probably. Maybe. It’s made to weaken the target not kill them.” The scoff she heard was definitely Tucker and definitely in the room. “Yeah, you’ll leave a scrap of shadow that none of us can distinguish from our own shadows, that’s something Sam can beat up.” Shadows? “I think the ectoplasm is enhancing your emotional response.” “You’re right Tuck, if someone threatened Jazz’s life normally I wouldn’t try to shoot them into a pile of goo. I’d only beat them up with the gun.” Jazz would normally admonish such a violent reaction, and aloud she might if she was in there and not eavesdropping. But truly, if someone hurt Danny they’d find out what a 1st degree blackbelt can do to them. “I think Sam will be good to go either tomorrow or the day after.” Sydney’s voice crackled over the speakers like static. “I think your healing powers mesh better with living beings than mine can since you’re halfa human.” Danny sighed and Jazz moved back into her room, sitting down to process. She pulled out her notebook and set it on her desk, mechanical pencil already in hand. “Organize all my thoughts and maybe it’ll make sense. What information do I have?” Danny was in an accident involving the ghost portal and it changed him. Danny was vehemently against their parents’ anti ghost genocide plan The ghost boy she’d seen at school the other day was clearly the one that had attacked the hornet thing when it attacked her Danny had all the access to the Fenton Armory as she did with their porta pockets, which was effectively full access. Danny was too smart to give any unknown entity their only model of plasma rifle Danny had directed Sydney Poindexter of all people to her Sydney knew Danny on a personal level that he wasn’t willing to fully disclose to her. Sydney had called Danny half-human and Danny hadn’t corrected him, nor had Tucker nor Sam. Jazz saw the mystery ghost boy transform in a flash of light into her brother, who proceeded to hug her and act much the same he had since the portal accident. Her conclusion? Danny had died in the portal when it turned on, and now he was a ghost, fighting off ghost robots and giant bugs with their parents’ weaponry. Sam and Tucker knew about it, and he had befriended at least one ghost. This was, of course, the most ridiculous thought to cross Jasmine Dana Fenton’s mind in her entire life. But then, her parents had opened a portal to the afterlife and she’d just been attacked by a giant glowing green hornet. “Ok, Danny is a ghost. He didn’t tell me that, but for obvious reasons,” she muttered to herself. “That must be what he was going to tell Mom and Dad before and now he doesn’t have the courage to try again. Oh god Danny died. �� Jazz picked up Bearbert Einstein and hugged him close, deciding right then that she was going to hug Danny a lot more from now on. Just to make sure he was still there. That was a silly thought, but she needed to be sure.

[logantheanimal]

Values

I am SO DAMN TIRED of this Chick-fil-A kerfuffle. I’ve been hearing about it for years and now, because nearly all of my family are intolerable conservatives and half of my friends (including those who are LGBT) have moved to the right, it is currently the only damn thing they’re all talking about.

I swear, if I hear “they bent the knee,” “they caved to the LGBT Nazis,” or “boycott now” one more damn time I swear I’m gonna lose my shit.

I don’t get what the problem is. I really don’t. For a long time, right-wing Christians have praised CFA for their so-called “bravery” in refusing to stop donations to “bible-based” organizations that espouse anti-LGBT policies and practices. Then CFA promised to stop, but they didn’t after all, and that made the RWCs whoop and holler in joy. LGBT groups protested to the point that some cities refused to approve permits for CFA to open stores, including the San Antonio Airport.

Last week, CFA finally announced that they were stopping their current contributions to the remaining groups on that list. Now the RWCs are losing their ever-loving minds, saying that CFA has caved to bullying from the gay left and are now giving money to support “the gay agenda”. Dinesh D’Souza was more honest and just said, “the gays”. At least he has the balls to own his bigotry and say what he really means.

These same people wanna sit there and say they’re not homophobic or transphobic. Like...what? Are you people serious right now?

I’m going to reference Robert Gagnon over at The Federalist, who wrote about recipient Covenant House this way: “Every one of its 16 U.S. and Canadian Covenant House programs has undergone the assessment of Cyndi Lauper’s LGBT-fascist ‘True Colors’ to insure they are fully on board with the entire homosexual and transgender agendas.” His headline and the body of his article clashed - he claimed in the headline that CFA caved before writing at length about the fact that CFA has acetually been giving to LGBT-affirming groups and events for several years. He calls the donations to Covenant House and other similar groups “a sin tax”.

Let’s ignore the fact that the Salvation Army has fires employees for being LGBT and turned away same-sex couples who needed food and shelter. Let’s forget that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes denounces homosexuality in their founding documents. Let’s just wave off the disgusting claims by the Paul Anderson Youth House that homosexuality among boys and men is “exploding” because of abuse in the home and pushes ex-gay groups as an alternative. Then again, RWCs think that’s perfectly acceptable because SIN!

I grew up in Evangelical Christianity. I know what their arguments are, and I know their excuses why, yet I still have to ask: what the hell is your major malfunction? What drives you to deny someone basic needs, a job, or even common decency for being LGBT? How the hell do you think you’re standing for Jesus by persecuting a group that you have determined to be Very, Very Bad™️? You talk about the gay agenda, but I don’t think even *you* know what that means - you’re just a bunch of angry bigots who deny their own fear, yet that fear exhibits itself when you attack a company that decides to make their charitable donations more useful?

Oh, right, I forgot. You have your good Christian values. The Old Testament says that teh gayz should be put to death, and you completely ignore Jesus’ words and actions to push your own narrative, one based entirely upon pride and arrogance. Lemme ask y’all this...when He fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, did Jesus ask anyone whether they were prostitutes or tax collectors? When He healed people, did He ask if they got leprosy from their illegitimate lover? No, He didn’t care. He saw human suffering and He helped. He didn’t ask anyone to prove that they were worthy of it.

AND EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU WEAR WWJD SHIT.

What’s more is that you spit insults at people like me for calling you out on your mess, you support President Man-Child and praise him for his locker-room antics, wear shirts that say “fuck your feelings”, and tell me that I’m angry and you really do care. Horseshit. You are all about your own pride and anger, and you wanna call yourselves “righteous”. You wanna talk about G-d’s judgment. I think you should spend some time reading Matthew 7 and give some serious consideration to your own behavior before you try to fix everyone else.

Don’t you dare sit there and tell me that you advocate freedoms when you’re really about forcing everyone to live the way you think they should. Hypocrite.

[spikeymarshmallows]

characterisations

...I swear this will tie back to TUA...

So I was reading a fic lately. And it was a damn good fic. But the characterisation [of Klaus for those who are interested lol] was entirely different to the direction I’d have taken. This wasn’t to say it was wrong. In fact, I could entirely see where the author had gotten these ideas from, and they made perfect sense to me, and were very in character.

But it got me thinking about characterisation in fandom. This is something we’ve discussed a lot in Stucky fandom, particularly in light of Endgame.

Like, there are things that are just quintessentially a character. It’ll be something everyone [or... almost everyone??] across fandom agrees with is Steve Rogers. It’s generally his FIGHT and his FIGHT FOR WHATS RIGHT and FREEDOM OVER FEAR. There’s a lot of other nuances to Steve, and how that manifests is different. But there are always these core traits. Now, what you do with them... changes things.

Frx, in ‘spaces on the wall’, I had Steve as a father. Now, typical Steve Rogers would be the kind to jump into a fight if defending someone, or taking down a bully. But Steve Rogers, as a father, doesn’t have the luxury of getting into a fight and risking being thrown in jail, and leaving his daughter alone. Steve Rogers is in his late 30′s now, and his FIGHT has simmered down into a different kind of righteousness.

On the other hand, in ‘something to bind my hands’, it manifested out in how Steve had difficulties navigating a complex, trauma-based relationship. How could he align his morals, his sense of what was right, with the complex relationship in front of him? In fact, his strong sense of what is good and right actually fucks things up temporarily. He has to re-calibrate that in order to avoid further damage.

Anyone who has read these knows that they are two different Steve’s. I won’t pretend to be an expert on Steve Rogers... But it’s an example. They’re both very different... but the core traits are the same.

*

So that brings me to TUA. I’m the opposite of an expert on this show, and in this fandom. Others have been around a lot longer than I have. But I still get real excited about exploring things that are core characteristics of a character, and what are author-based. Like, we all watch the same show, but notice different details. We pull little things out, and mull them over, and run them through the filter of our own experiences, and what we end up with is a very different character each time, that is also the same.

And there are also things that, if we did with the characters, others would scratch their heads over and be “yeah, no, that’s... that’s no X”.

Like, if you had Klaus be just “I hate any and all drugs, and I would never even think of touching them”, one might argue that that isn’t an accurate representation of the character. Klaus might hate drugs, yes [reference: Luther asking him for drugs, and Klaus being all “:( you don’t want that, trust me :(”]. Klaus might have a complicated relationship with drugs. But I cannot picture a Klaus Hargreeves that would ever stand there and preach anti-drug rhetoric and how he’s never touched them and never would.

Or Diego... Who also has these complicated relationships, who deeply loves and respects his Mom, who harbours a bitter fury towards his father, who holds onto the past, who has issues with anger and authority. 

And then we have the places where individuals differ. For me, Klaus is someone with agency, with difficulties with impulse control, and emotional regulation. He’s empathetic, and he can be incredibly kind, but he also fucks up, and doesn’t really own it.

Another place I see fandom disagree is the sheer amount of Klaus whump. Or sibling cruelty. I personally see the siblings as being competitive, and disliking each other... But it’s a very “only I can say shit about my family--I will fucking come for you if you say a single bad word against them”. I can’t see them, say, pushing Vanya over, or having the siblings outright beat Klaus up.

It’s also really fun and interesting when you take these things and... change the setting.

So I’m working on an AU right now, and the siblings aren’t siblings, and grew up without Reginald. And holy shit, thinking about them growing up without these traumas has been an experience. What do their relationships look like when they’ve grown up without that kind of trauma? How do their responses to things change? What stays the same?

*

In some ways, I’m like “bish, you overthink things” but also, I am cripplingly depressed, and this fandom is my only source of joy rn, and also, thinking about characters makes me happy, and I love finding other nerds I can be all “okay, these are core things, talk to me about all your nuances and we’ll compare notes, and see what happens!”

TLDR: there are some things that are core traits of a character. There are some things that we see the exact same thing of--but when run through the filter of our own experiences, it manifests in entirely different ways. And those ways are always really cool and interesting to see.

So. Like. Tell me things that are core for you. And things that aren’t. And. And. Just. Talk to me about dem boys.

[tinamaetales]

Anti-human?!

Thirteenth K Drama: I am not a robot

They said that no man is an island but what if a person chooses to live in seclusion because of his allergy to his fellow human? Is that really possible for someone to survive just by himself? Is it possible for a human to have an allergy by having even the slightest human contact?  And what triggers such allergy? I am not a Robot is a romantic comedy drama that tells us the story of Kim Min Kyu, the Director of KM Financial Corporation, who lived 15 years of his life in seclusion – avoiding human contact at all cost.  Until, he met a robot that looks exactly like a human, AJI 3. With AJI 3, he was able to interact with her as if she’s a human and his allergy is not being triggered because he knows that it is just a robot and not a human. But what if the AJI 3 that he knows is actually not a robot?

Synopsis

For a successful man like Kim Min Kyu, Director of KM Financial Corporation, you would think that he has it all in life. Sure, he’s rich, good looking and intelligent but if there’s one thing weird about him is that he’s not fond of being near with people. And by that I mean, you’re not literally allowed to have even a slightest contact with him for there would be an extreme allergic reaction on his body. Despite being the chairman of a large corporation, Min Kyu is seldom seen in their office and when he shows up, everyone’s instructed to hide and is not allowed to go near him. Although he never told anyone about it, it has become the norm in their office. He’s always fully clothed and even wears gloves no matter the weather and he also carries a “baton” which gained him the title “three part baton”. What people around him don’t know is that the reason why he behaves that way is because he has an extreme allergy with human contact. Ever since his parents died, he lives alone in their mansion (although he has a butler but he lives in a different house). He doesn’t trust anyone for at such a young age he already experiences betrayal and that traumatized him so bad that even a slight touch would cause for an extreme allergic reaction. And then, he met the Santa Maria Team. They are a group of scientists who specializes in creating the most advanced robot. They introduced Min Kyu to AJI 3; AJI 3 is a super advanced AI robot that functions and look exactly like a human but is more intelligent than an average human. Seems like an answered prayer for Min Kyu who’s been living his life in seclusion however, before they can even get the chance to send AJI 3 to Min Kyu it encounters a problem. Out of desperation, they seek the help of Jo Ji A, the human that AJI 3 was modeled after. They made Ji A pretend as AJI 3 until they fix the real robot. What will happen now that the AJI 3 that Min Kyu knows is actually NOT a robot?

Okay, I know this is another drama that would make me say “I can relate so much to the main character” but I swear this time it is on a whole different level of connection. Early this year, I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder and the name itself is already the clue that it has something to do with being around people. Actually, I can tolerate people when they’re about a kilometer (I’m bad at this measurement thing, sorry) away from me and they’re minding their own businesses. But once I get myself in a crowd and people starts being noisy and if bad luck would have it, they will strike a conversation with me, I will start having panic attacks. It will start with having difficulty in breathing, then my heart would feel like it beats faster than normal which will then led to the feeling of my chest tightening and then the rest of my body would be numb. I would have this paranoia that those people would hurt me. Most of the time I will run to the nearest bathroom but sometimes if I’m lucky enough to have a brown bag, I would inhale through it. When I started taking my meds for my anxiety disorder, the attacks lessened and somewhat become milder. So there are days wherein I would be confident enough to not take the meds at all – some days are good because I get to have zero attacks but there are days wherein I would have at least 2-3 attacks. The worst part is that, I work outside Cavite and has to take public transportation. The work that I have is related to frontline services so imagine the kind of suffering I have to endure for months before my former boss decided to transfer me to the back-end operations office (God Bless her, she’s the best!) Now that I’m not in the frontline, I can say that I’ve calmed down already. However, there are still series of attacks. I guess it will really take time – maybe years, before I can recover. I’m not rushing into things but sometimes I feel so bad about it – it makes me feel like I’m not normal and will never be. In Min Kyu’s case, it was more visible physically. A slight contact with another human would result to him having severe allergic reaction in which his body will be covered with rashes and he will also have difficulty in breathing. It was somehow deadly. His doctor pointed out that it was being triggered psychologically since Min Kyu doesn’t trust anyone. So, his body would definitely react when another human, whom he doesn’t trust, would make a contact with him. The root cause was the betrayal he experienced when he was still younger. After that, he doesn’t have the ability to trust anyone anymore. Who could blame him, though? Humans tend to do that all the time – betrayal, even though you’ve shown them nothing but kindness. I truly understand why Min Kyu chooses to live in seclusion. Most of the time, it is better to just be alone than be with people who will turn their backs on you once they’ve realized that the benefits they’re gaining from associating their selves with you ran out. What makes this story unique is that it shows the journey of Min Kyu’s healing and the romance aspect is a beautiful addition to that. Its theme might be rom-com but there really is more to it.

Picking up the broken pieces

As they say, pain changes people and I truly believe that. Min Kyu’s life changed drastically after his parents died and at such a young age he was forced to face the world by himself. He chose to live in seclusion as to not get hurt anymore. He ended up being a bit arrogant because of that. As I’ve said earlier, I can truly understand where he is coming from. Most of the time, dealing with people is stressful. I’ve experienced a lot of horrible things with people too, especially at school wherein bullying is common and sometimes can’t be helped. Once you’ve experienced betrayal, trusting people again would be a challenge. Min Kyu kept his guard up as to not experience the same kind of pain he’d been through when he was young. However, even though he won’t admit it, he’s lonely. Having that kind of medical condition didn’t only affect him physically but also morally and psychologically. He can’t even enlist himself in the military and fulfill his obligation as a citizen of his country because of it. But I guess fate is on his side because he gets to meet the Sta. Maria Team who are developing the most advanced AI robot. With AJI3 by his side, he slowly learns how to face the world again. It was as if AJI3 gives him the confidence and assurance that despite the craziness of the world, if you have at least one person by your side that you can trust, then life is bearable.

Nobody’s perfect

I’ve read this phrase somewhere online before and I couldn’t agree more to it: We are very good judges with the mistakes or others but are also very good lawyers with our own. And, I can pretty much relate it to Min Kyu’s situation, somehow.

It is already a given fact that in this world, people has the ability to hurt and disappoint us whether it be intentional or not and that’s okay because it is part of our journey and character development. What we often forget is that everyone makes mistakes for nobody’s perfect – something that Min Kyu seems to be struggling with. He tend to get mad at the slightest mistake of his employees without thinking that most of the time he is being too much; he is already hurting people. Sending AJI 3 to him is actually a good step towards “transforming” him to become and live like a normal human being should be however due to the circumstances, the Santa Maria Team has to do something out of desperation, a “detour”

 Letting go

Someone once told me that in order for me to live better, I must let go of all the negative emotions that I am carrying – anger, pain, resentment. It is not easy but once you’ve done it, you will feel better – as if something heavy has been lifted off your chest. It is when you learn that the world is cruel yet you can make it become less of it that can make you feel more at ease – acceptance is the key.

Min Kyu is not anti-human, he’s just protecting himself from the pain he once experienced that’s why he ended up that way and I totally get where he is coming from when he gets mad at the Santa Maria Team and Ji A for manipulating him. Although their intention’s a bit good, what they’ve done is dangerous and lies, no matter how big or small, are still lies and they are not good. What Min Kyu has to learn, the hard way though, is that there will always be people who would hurt you and betray you but that’s okay because what they do and/or say actually says more about them than you. And even him, he can also hurt people, may it be unintentional or not but what’s important is you know how to accept mistakes and learn from it. After all, a single mistake should not define who a person is. People change, they do it all the time so we should be ready to forgive because despite the cruelties in this world, there are still a lot of people who are willing to learn from their mistakes and make up for it. Sometimes we do things that can hurt people that we never intended to and it sucks that we can’t just go back in time to change it, we only have the present to make up for the mistakes of the past and I strongly believe that we all deserve a second chance. At the end of the day, the good will always outweigh the bad.

It is when he decided to let go of all the anger, resentment and grief that he’s been carrying on his shoulders ever since he was young that he finally opened himself to love – self love. It is when he realized that people make mistakes but that doesn’t mean that they won’t learn from them and change for the better that he was able to open his heart to accept people in his life again. Of course there would still be people who will try to take advantage of him but upon realizing that those people can be outnumbered and overpowered by those who truly care for him, then life is still worth fighting for. Min Kyu’s journey towards healing is a great inspiration. This drama is really something else. There are a lot of life lessons that we can get from it. Give it a chance, go watch it I promise you won’t regret it.

x,

TinaMae

for more of my kdrama review, click here: https://tinamaetales.tumblr.com/tagged/k-drama

PS, I have so much backlog with my kdrama review/reflection posts (the ones I am posting so far are the kdramas I’ve watched in 2018! ) because I just recently recovered my tumblr account wew

[rkwxnb]

shout out to rookies!

This is going to be short. At least now that I’m typing this I hope it would be since I’m a few seconds from knocking out. On top of that, I know I’m going to forget really important people for the same reason of why I hope this would be short... also because as always, I am doing this last minute. ( peace!! ) 

Rookies as the great Miss Grande once said. “One taught me love. One taught me patience. And One taught me pain.” I hope you all feel me when I say that’s all on you, RK! --- “Thank you, -- my stay tune for my next muse.” 

Now that cringe moment is over with. I wanna do a roll-call at my special people! For those who stuck with me during the times, I was in rookies and while I was out doing god-knows-what.

RKCAP: This asswhole muse of mine who got into scandals and ruined one friendship after another, found his family ( by bond and friendship ) though this rp. Even until now I have to say he is the strongest muse in my whole rp-history. Having played him over at least two-years, before dropping his booty from wanting to become an idol, and evidently out of rookies. Outcast by his own family, with the help of the bro/anti-squad ( @aronrk - strawberry bruh! @rkkangjoon - lover joon! @rkgray - co-parenting daddy bruh + @rkxminhee - little minx min @rkwendy calm and collected sis @borark my get out of jail free card ) Not to mention, his little shit brother @rkohsehun NODDLEBOY! you’re all fam and I don’t have to tell you how many times I wish I can bring this boy back because of you lot! 

Special shout-out to his ladies Jieun- ( @yujurk ) and Elly ( @hyunark ) them girls are his solid. Soulmates and Lovers. They are the core reason that he is still sane. One can say, they are his everything. 

Yo seriously, Maddy you are by far one of the coolest people I’ve met. You’re insanely solid, my utmost respect to you. Shinobi-- the one-third of IwaBoKuro, see we’re even an ot3 in real life! You’re extremely dedicated to your muses, much like how you are with your friendships, never change bruhski! Saaaammmiiiieee!!! You are by far one of the kindest people I have ever come across, thank you for being you! Clara... gurl wait till Toshi’s turn uwu  Em, you’ve made me such a happy puppy by coming back to rookies! I wish you and baby girl the best in life!

To my first child, Stef, sana okay ka na babybear! I’ve known you since why before rookies and in fact, I remember suggesting you play Sehun when Minsoo’s fc was still Chanyeol’s so we can have exo bruhs! Pero despite all that, I’m seriously proud of how much you’ve grown, you are one of my precious people. Though we don’t speak that much any more, alam I’m always here for you!

To my child, Nana, fix yourself before you wreck yourself! I miss you lots crazy and I hope we get to talk soon. I really wanna hear what's happening with life and how you’re surviving uni. What’s more is we both know that Hyo-Min is actually the IT soulmates, and the whole of Rookies know it. ( if you’re a new mun and you’re reading this... It’s true, believe me uwu ) I hope we have muses with that much of a strong connection again! Love you my mad child! 

To my co-parenting mom, Jen, girl what you doing with your life?! We’ve had our ups and down, despite all that bullshit we’re at it again. To a degree, it’ll never be the same but I do wish if anything, our friendship will grow stronger instead. Your muses played as my muses lover, twin and admirer, but in real life, you once told me that you believe people have seven soulmates, though you’re a little shit that believes Yoongi is one of them. You did mention I maybe have taken a spot to, so no take-backs asshole. You’re stuck with me now. Peace!

RKTOSHI: This boy was Minho- then Dean... Then Yuto, heck back to Minho, then finally his sorry ass became Jisoo. He is one of the most complex and interesting muses I have ever played. The shit show he was a part of had been insane, from being a part of the Yakuza to being shot and finally a part of Nova ( like this hoe-man actually got signed! ) Aside from Soyeon ( sit your ass down Jen I already called you out ) he was a part of the Mensa-Squad with his @rkxkjd daddy-D ( KATIE LEE SIGN MY D ) and his @rkjohnny forever-hubby ( that now has his very own princess ). To the only women that kept him on a leash @rkyooa the one that got away and @dahyexrkarchive proxy grandma. Thanks to him joining the mgas he met his adoptive ma @rkjei! 

Yurim!! DADDY-DAE! You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, especially in real life. I utterly respect you from moving away from home and following your dreams. You’re an a-class writer; I wish you the all the best for your endeavors! 

Claraaaa ‘te~ The leader of rkpinoy squad-- seriously, even Johnny boy if from the Philippines. You’ve kept me sane and has been the voice of reason to many, including myself and my shit show muse. We once had an almost ship with Toshi and Wendy, but somehow I’m glad it didn’t work out because DANG LOOK AT YOU AND HUGO! Sana happy ka sa work and I’m always looking forward to your sports commentary be it figure staking, basketball, volleyball and cheerleading, Lab you sis! 

Bun, the 2nd-third of IwaBoKuro--!! Man, I love the fact that we embody our muses even outside the roleplay. Still completely in touch irrespective of the fact that you’re no longer in this rp. You still the best! Much like Dahye kicks Toshi’s ass ( literally and figuratively ) you do the same with me, except more in the game-mode xP Whenever you wanna come back, I’ll be sure to have another mess of a muse to latch on to yours like a leech. 

Nic, you angel. Even though we’ve only just gotten closer this year, I swear to God I am truly blessed for having you in my life. You’re one of my persons. You’re exceptionally strong and amazingly kind and considerate. I am sorry for all the bullshit you had to go through here and I’m hella proud you didn’t let those get you down and give up on your muses! 

Roe, my true soulmate. Holy shit. I reckon its more than five years since we’ve known each other. You’re muse almost married mine. Heck, we have plans to platonically get married ( because we gonna cheat the system ). I absolutely cannot imagine my life without you. You are my ultimate person. As you rightly said in your post, my ride and die. The strongest and fiercest of people, both in the real world and rp. You take no shit from anybody and would fight for what you believe is right, especially stand up to those who are getting bullied. Without being anymore sappy, I do love you with all of me and I am always gonna be here for you. Just because you are amazing and worth it all. 

RKNAEUN + RKAVERY: My two latest muses ( actually the ones currently in rookies ) I never imagine there would be a time where I would have only female muses in rookies. Considering my strongest muses here were the boys. But keeping you both and actually maintaining your arc ( plus organizing your points properly ) is something I’m actually proud of myself of. Since Avery is still relatively new ( her strongest bonds have yet to fully form, but one of them is definitely Hoby! ) I’mma focus on Naeun’s friendships! From the chaebol-childhood friends to fam @rkchaeyoung her idol unnie to @rksunwoo best oppa sunwoo. her dancing queen leader @rkhyojeong and her best friend 4eva @rkleeflix . I want to thank all of you for being her inspiration! 

Special shoutout to Amy we too old for optimism but I shit you know if I know anyone who’s going to make it through all this, it’ll be you! You are the most real person that I know. Oddly enough we got closer when I came back in rookies then my first time around here. You’ve been there for me in the toughest times, even though I know you were going through you’re own worries. I’m eternally grateful for that. With everything said and done, I hope I can return even slightest bit of happiness and comfort you’ve given me, because I know I can’t match all the times you’ve had to deal with me.Thank you loads for everything, me hearts you!

Thank you rkmods/admins. Without you, I would not have met all these precious people. Thank you for tirelessly listening to all of us whine about how unfair everything is and still remain here. Thank you for giving us your time and efforts to keep our escape from the real world alive. Most importantly, thank you for being the backbone of all this glorious foundation. You all is amazing. Happy RKFIFTH and I hope many more to come! 

Yours,  ( Lyn | @rkavery + @rkxsnn ) 

P.S. I lied this wasn’t short at all. [ sorry for the grammatic/spelling errors... lets be real if this post didn’t have those, then you can all speculate that I didn’t actually write it. 

[doomedandstoned]

Bloodnut Rips You Limb From Limb, Grinning Ear to Ear

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Them Ginger Boys are back and up to no good. Not that New Zealand's BLOODNUT ever really disappeared. Since the release of their debut, 'Blues From The Red Sons' (2016), Auckland’s favorite Vikings have been crashing parties, raiding kegs, and trying to stay out of random bar fights (ok, I made all that up, but one can easily imagine it so). Now we're confronted with a new album that's being described as "raw, visceral, and tuned even lower than their first offering." What's more, singer/bassist Doug McFarlane and drummer Ty Boniface and doubling the firepower, bringing in guitarists Nick Smith and Kyle Wetton to level the playing field of blondes and brunettes. Two-percenters, rise!

The trademark cheekiness endures in 'St. Ranga' (2017) -- "ranga" being yet another exotic slang word for "red-haired person." Not sure if Bloodnut intended it so, but the album's title appears to be a clever play of words on Metallica's most popular album of all time. Coincidences aside, there's no mistaking this one is a bit darker, though, as it "endeavors to cover the darker side of what it means to be red of hair." I'm always looking for a good cause to back, so bring it on, fellas.

St. Ranga releases here on August 1st, but this weekend Doomed & Stoned is giving you your first listen to its opening number (which also happened to be my favorite). It's called "The Space Orangutan," one of six tracks you can anticipate from the new record. You've got to hear the story behind this one in my interview with frontman McFarlane below. The song is fun, irreverent, and hints at the brutality that will fully manifest as the record spins along, especially in numbers like "Mark That Outcast" and "Burning Boosh." Fans of the Melvins and Red Fang school of crazy making, give ear...

A Fireside Chat with Bloodnut Ruckus-Raiser Doug McHardlane

Tell us what's transpired between the two albums that impacted the direction of the sound, the subject matter of the songs, and the overall attitude of the band.

Some lineup changes happened in between. At that time, our guitarist Nick was leaving and training up Kyle to take over, so for St. Ranga we actually had a rare four-piece Bloodnut. Nick wrote a lot of the riffs, but Kyle was on hand to lend some awesome solos, too, as we recorded the whole thing over one weekend garage-style in an actual garage.

Are you going to be performing live with that four-piece?

Nobody ever leaves Bloodnut. they just become a legacy member. Doug Robertson is the new blood, but Kyle and Nick, who played on St. Ranga, could be called up at any time to play, too. Nick does live way down the bottom of New Zealand now, though, so he jumps on when we get down that way.

How does 'St. Ranga' compare to 'Blues From The Red Sons'?

St Ranga is more raw and visceral than Blues From The Red Sons -- both in recording style and in the writing of the songs. We also went drop A for these songs. We were drop C in the first.

Thoughts on the first track, the one we're debuting? How'd it come to be, musically and lyrically?

"The Space Orangutan" is kind of an anti-religion song poking fun at religious beliefs by making up a ginger deity that watches over the red of hair. It's also the reason the album is called St. Ranga, other than the fun reference therein.

What can listeners anticipate from the remainder of the album?

The rest of the album has some fun. but also goes a little dark on you at times. It hasn't all been rosy fun for us rangas throughout the ages. There are also themes that return from the first album. The Fire Giant returns in "A Song of Fire and Ice," which is about the stories that the Vikings came up with to explain volcanic activity.

St. Ranga (2017)

The Space Orangutan

Mark Of The Outcast

That Fire Inside

Burning Bush

Red Dead Riders

A Song Of Fire And Ice

Was this recorded and mastered by the same bunch as the first LP?

This album was recorded and mixed by Elliot Lawless, a fellow ginger from a stoner-psych band from down here called Green Fog. So it has a much sludgier stoner metal vibe to it. It was mastered by the Nich Cunningham, who did the first album, too.

You're a pretty fun bunch of guys with a legendary sense of humor. Do you find it harder to maintain that in these incredibly uncertain and topsy-turvy times?

The world has gotten a bit...doomier...I suppose, but we aim to face that doom with a bit of fun, anyway. Might as well have some fun on the way out.

Where does your indefatigable (was looking for an excuse to use that word) sense of humor come from: mum or dad, life experiences?

The folks, child of divorce, childhood ginger-related bullying. (laughs) You either develop a sense of humor or learn martial arts or something. As a chubby ginger kid with glasses, I chose humor.

Last one, I swear. What milestones has the band reached since Blues and what can you tell us about plans in the works for the year on into 2018?

Since the last album, we have supported Windhand, Cough, Black Tusk, Acid King, and Brant Bjork on our thin little islands in the South Pacific, but we will soon be jumping over to our closest continent to play a couple of shows in Melbourne. The ultimate aim, though, is to get on the radar of one of the bigger festivals in the States or Europe and get to play them one day. We also already have about six new songs on the burner, so we'll have to get those recorded, too.

Right on. Can't wait! Anything else for the good of the order?

Oh, and we're giving 10% of all album sales to Melanoma New Zealand, 'cause we got the ozone hole down here and skin cancer ain't no joke for us pasty gingers.

Follow The Band.

Get Their Music.

[demondisco999]

okay short little rant so

i'm 900% sure that i won't be able to post this on my finsta without getting some opinions i don't fucking care to know so i'm gonna post it here. i really just wanna do my thing right now about all the shit that's recently went down and I NEED SUPPORT. and by that i mean. -I don't need a recap of what happened -i get that it sucked -it's not abusive -im not "anti feminist" and this isn't a "power of women" issue (((the only reason i'm using quotes is because i'm extremely for both if those and it's actually influenced who i am as a person A LOT))) -this isn't me being lonely, codependent, or wanting anything easy -actually this isn't easy. nothing about the relationship was easy in a way that i don't have to think about it. i wasn't on auto pilot because i strived to always make the relationship better and him happier. -seriously i don't need a recap of the events -this isn't him getting off easy -he's still getting shit for this. and not just from me. -you aren't gonna be in the relationship yourself if there is one -it isn't your job to hate him or "expose" him if it doesn't pertain to THIS. EXACT. SITUATION. -don't bring his friends into this? they aren't really giving him back pats and praising him. - okay to believe it or not. i was there. i know what happened. actually i may know it better than you due to my first hand experience!! so give me that recap and i swear to god helen i will break your fucking fingers -why are you making this about you. this isn't about you step back -if you think i'm being ignorant by defending him when you say something false or out of line...you realize i'm defending why you're saying that to him...right? -yes i get that i should hate him. i get it. but considering we were separated for a year and i had to actively remind myself to hate him. there may be a reason for that. -i actually may love him so that's probably the reasoning for ^^ -why preach being kind and anti bullying and then turn around on that. if you have ever been bullied then why would you bring things like appearance which is completely uncalled for. to finish this out. i have ALWAYS let the people in my life influence my decisions. and whenever something like this, or any situation whether it be bigger or smaller, i take every opinion into consideration. this has been a habit my entire life and because if this habit everyone's input was always out above my own. i have made so many choices in my life that have had so little of me in them because of that....and not that many people know this because i've almost got a completely new friend group that were pretty toxic but i literally lost a relationship because i was afraid to do what i thought was right for me. i know that you have my best interest in mind and a lot of people have probably tried to tell me this before and are pissed this is the thing i'm trying to trust my instincts on. but i need you to support me. i don't need you to love my decision or become best friends with him. i need you support me. i've told a total of 5 people about my choice and i've probably cried or come pretty close because i'm afraid to tell them. it's not super healthy for me. also in not being reckless in this decision. im not forgetting and im damn sure not forgiving yet. to quote literally one of the greatest girls ever (s/o maggie) "just saying that i knew it all along isn't helping you or making you love him any less" to quote another one of my fave girls (s/o lanie) "of course people reacting like that is hurting your feelings they're openly mocking your decision". also just real quick s/o to three more of my badass babes britney, bella, and taryn. ily guys so much and thank you all for having my fucking back and just being plain nice to me. go finish this out-- showing your support for your hatred of him doesn't show ANY solidarity with me. get that straight. don't advocate for hate.

[omegangrins]

Attack the Block - The Hulk Deconstructs the Modern Hero

The full movie:

Rewatching this movie because of our new love of Jodie Whittaker, and I was reminded of this review from the Hulk. It's strangely worded but takes a refreshing perspective on the idea of a protagonist. This is what he says about John Boyega's character Moses, and heroic characters overall.

My favorite bit is from the end though:

**OKAY NOW FOR WHAT MOST SPECIAL OF ALL: ATTACK THE BLOCK DONE SOMETHING THAT HULK CAN NO REMEMBER A SINGLE OTHER FILM.

IT GOT MOSES RIGHT.

TO CLARIFY, HULK NOT TALKING ABOUT THE COMMANDMENT GUY, BUT INSTEAD THE LEAD CHARACTER OF ATTACK THE BLOCK AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE KIND OF CHARACTER HE IS AND WHY IT SO IMPORTANT.

HULK NOTICING THAT SOME FOLKS SORT NOT REALLY GETTING WHAT MAKE MOSES GREAT. THEY CERTAINLY GET THE FEELING AND UNDERCURRENT OF WHAT OCCUR (IT SO WONDERFULLY ENGAGING IT HARD NOT TO), BUT THE COLLECTIVE SUMMARY OF MOSES’ CHARACTER’S JOURNEY SEEM TO BE MORE OF A “HE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY NOW!” KIND OF THING… AND THAT TOTALLY FAIR BECAUSE HULK NOT ENTIRELY SURE IT OBVIOUS:

MOSES IS AND ALWAYS WAS THE KIND OF PERSON WHO WOULD RISK HIS LIFE FOR SOMEONE ELSE. AND IN REAL LIFE, THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE EXTREMELY COMPLICATED.

LET’S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT. MOST SCREENWRITERS HAVE A PRETTY SHITTY CONCEPT OF HOW HEROES WORK.

1) MOST OF THE TIMES THE AUDIENCE IS TREATED TO AN ENDLESSLY REGURGITATED JOSEPH CAMPBELL VERSION, WITH THE SAME PAINT BY NUMBERS ANSWERING THE CALL BULLSHIT WE SEE TIME AND TIME AGAIN. HULK TOO THOUGHT IT A NOBEL CONCEPT ONCE… IN 8TH GRADE. ANYONE WHO CITES THAT STUFF AS GOOD STORYTELLING HAS TO TAKE SCREENWRITING 102 NOW. YES, IT A HANDY ARCHETYPE AND UNDERCURRENT OF ALL HEROES (EVEN MOSES), BUT SOLE DEPENDENCE ON IT FOR STORYTELLING WILL RENDER ANYTHING YOU TRYING TO DO COMPLETELY ROTE AND POINTLESS. STAY AWAY WRITERS. STAY AWAY.

2) MOST REAL LIFE HEROES ARE ALPHA PERSONALITIES. MOST SCREENWRITERS ARE BETA PERSONALITIES. A.K.A. PEOPLE WHO POSSIBLY SPENT THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS BEING TERRORIZED BY ALPHA PERSONALITIES.

TO COMBAT THIS OBVIOUS PROBLEM HEROES ARE WRITTEN BY BETA PERSONALITES IN SEVERAL WAYS:

A) THE BETA BECOMES THE PASSIVE HERO, WHO MEANT TO REFLECT DECENCY AND EVENTUALLY GET THE GIRL JUST BY BEING DECENT GUY! (HINT: THIS ACTUALLY NOT HOW IT WORKS AND SAID HERO WHO THINK THEY DECENT GUY NOT ACTUALLY A DECENT GUY. JUST UNDERDEVELOPED AND LIKELY WILL TURN INTO BITTER ASSHOLE ONCE THEY ENCOUNTER THE TERRIFYING EQUALITY OF ADULTHOOD). OH AND ALL THE WHILE THEY TERRORIZED BY IDIOTIC ALPHA PERSONALITY VILLAINS. THEY WILL LIKELY BE RICH OR FOOTBALL PLAYERS. HULK JUST DESCRIBED 99% OF 80S MOVIES. MOVING ON…

B) THE BETA IMAGINES A HERO NOT BASED ON HEROIC QUALITIES BUT INSTEAD JUST THE ANTITHESIS OF ALL THEIR WEAKNESSES. PERFECT EXAMPLE? JAMES BOND. THE IMPOSSIBLY SUAVE GUN-TOTING LADY-FUCKER EXTRAORDINAIRE WHO NEARLY NEED TO SLAP A GIRLS BUT TO SHOW HER WHAT’S WHAT… HULK KNOW LOTS ABOUT BOND. AND NEEDLESS TO SAY THERE PROBLEMS WITH THE CONCEPT.

C) IGNORE ALL THIS AND CREATE YOUR HERO CENTERED AROUND A LARGER SOCIAL CONCEPT. IT CAN BE ANYTHING FROM FEMALE EMPOWERMENT TO CIVIL RIGHTS TO WHATEVER. POPULAR IN COMICS, DISNEY FILMS, BLAXPLOITATION AND OTHER STUFF.

AND D) THE MUCH MORE INTERESTING AND SUCCESSFUL RECENT SOLUTION HAS BEEN THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE MODERN ANTI-HERO. AT BEST THEY REPRESENT THE HUMANE AND UN-PERFECT QUALITY OF THE SEMI-HEROIC FIGURE THE AUDIENCE INVESTS IN… AT WORST THEY REFLECT THE BETA WRITER’S OWN SHORTCOMINGS, BUT WITH BETTER LINES THEY WISH THEY SAID IN REAL LIFE AND A FORCED AUDIENCE TO ROOT FOR THEM… HULK PRETTY SURE WOODY ALLEN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER DID THIS WELL (BTW, HULK KNOW A LOT ABOUT ALPHA AND BETA PERSONALITIES. WHY? CAUSE HULK THE FUCKING HULK. HE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS BANNER/BIG GREEN GUY SHIT FOR LIFE. SO HULK GOT IT DOWN).

BUT WOULDN’T YOU KNOW IT? THERE’S ACTUALLY THAT RARE ANSWER E)… ONE SO IMPOSSIBLY RARE HULK CAN ONLY ACCOUNT THE HANDFUL OF TIMES HULK SEEN IT.

THE ACTUAL, REAL HERO.

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO PICK UP A GUN, SWORD, WHATEVER THE HELL, AND RUN OUT IN FRONT TO DEFEND YOUR FRIENDS? TO LEGITIMATELY SACRIFICE YOURSELF.

… THINK ABOUT IT.

IT SOMETHING PEOPLE SEE TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN MOVIES AND YET IT SOMETHING WE NEVER REALLY QUESTION WITH OUR OWN LIVES. WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO DEFEND YOUR FRIENDS? THE MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE IS THE MILITARY. GRANTED, THE MILITARY AND THE REASONS FOR JOINING OFTEN PAINTED IN ROSES. IN BRUTAL HONESTY, LOTS JOIN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO KILL STUFF, IT WAS FORCED ON THEM, OR MOST OFTEN THEY JUST NEED THE MONEY. BUT LOST IN THESE CYNICAL REASONS ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MEN AND WOMEN FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO JOIN TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES. IT’S HEADY, HONORABLE STUFF. SOMETHING THAT THE POSH, LIBERALLY MINDED WORLD OF HULK AND EVERYONE ELSE FORGET. SACRIFICE = REAL. BUT IF OFTEN TAKE A FLAWED, INTERESTING, AND DEEPLY WOUNDED KIND OF PERSONALITY TO GET TO THAT PLACE OF SACRIFICE. IT RARELY A WHOLLY NOBLE PURSUIT.

AND HULK HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT YOU ALSO MEET A LOT OF THESE HEROIC PERSONALITIES IN INNER CITIES.

AND OFTEN THEY IN GANGS.

THIS ALL SOUND VERY COUNTER INTUITIVE HULK KNOW, BUT HEAR HULK OUT. THERE ARE INNER CITY ALPHA MALES BUILT UP AROUND POMP, CIRCUMSTANCE, AND POSTURE (THIS ALPHA MALE WELL REPRESENTED BY THE LEAD, BAD DRUG CHARACTER IN THE FILM). THE OTHER ALPHA MALE IS EQUALLY COMPLICATED. BUT THEIR PERCEIVED STRENGTH COMES NOT FROM FEAR, BUT SURVIVAL INSTINCT. THAT BECAUSE THIS KIND OF ALPHA MALE OFTEN BROKEN BY HOME LIFE. THEY ARE OFTEN ABUSED. AS SUCH, THEY WILL LIKELY BULLY OUTSIDERS. THEY WILL OFTEN GET INTO SELLING DRUGS. THEY DON’T HAVE THE SOCIAL TOOLS FOR EDUCATION AND SCHOOL. THEIR PAIN OFTEN BROUGHT ON THEMSELVES AS MUCH AS IT IS DEALT TO THEM. IT CYCLICAL.

BUT IN THAT NEED TO SURVIVE, THEY WILL BE WHOLLY TERRITORIAL. THEY WILL DEFEND THEIR FRIENDS TO THE DEATH. AND THEY WILL DO SO IN THE MOST HEROIC TERMS THAT TOTALLY INCONCEIVABLE TO YOU AND HULK. THEY WILL DEAL WITH ADULT CONCEPTS OF RESPONSIBILITY OFTEN BY AGE 8 OR 9. THEY TAKE THE WEAKER UNDER THEIR WING. THEY WILL POSSESS A STRENGTH AND A WILL SO BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE AS TO ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS SOLDIERLY; ONE THAT IS OFTEN UNCHECKED, UNREGULATED, AND UNCARED FOR AS TO RENDER THE VERY CONCEPT OF SUCH A PERSON TO BE TERRIFYING.

THEY ARE THE HEROIC ALPHA MALE, JUST NOT WHAT WE ENVISION. THEY ARE THE MOST EXTREME VERSION OF THE SAME PSYCHOLOGY THAT CAUSE SOMEONE TO JOIN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OR THE ARMY… IT JUST IN THE HAZE OF TRUE, HORRIBLE PEOPLE THAT GET INVOLVED IN THE INNER CITY NIGHTMARE, WE OFTEN HAVE HARD TIME SEEING THE GOOD PEOPLE WHO JUST DOING BAD THINGS.

WHY HULK KNOW ALL THIS SHIT? WHY HULK FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT IT? HULK’S FAMILY SPENT THEIR LIFE DEALING WITH IT. IT THE SUBJECT OF MAMA AND PAPA HULK’S LIFE WORK. HULK KNEW DOZENS OF MOSES’ (MOSII?). THEY IN EVERY CITY, ALMOST EVERY GROUP OF FRIENDS LIKE THIS. THEY NOT UNDESERVING OF OUR ATTENTION OR OUR COMPASSION. THEY OFTEN DO ALL KINDS OF WRONG, BUT THEIR PLIGHT FUCKING MATTERS. THEY MAY NOT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT ABOUT YOU, OR I, OR ANYONE WHO TRY TO HELP THEM. BUT THEY WILL MAKE A FAMILY IN THEIR MIND. AND THEY WILL PROTECT IT TO THE DAY THEY DAY. WHICH WILL LIKELY BE AT A VERY YOUNG AGE.

AND HULK SITTING HERE, RACKING BRAIN, TRYING TO THINK OF ANOTHER MOVIE THAT UNDERSTAND THE MOSES’ OF THE WORLD (THERE PROBABLY ONE. IN TELEVISION THERE THE CHARACTER OF MICHAEL FROM THE WIRE… THAT ALL HULK GOT). AND WHY THEY MATTER MORE THAN ANYTHING TO PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY. HULK LOOK BACK AT ATTACK THE BLOCK AND IT BRINGS TEARS TO HULK’S EYES. TRULY. IT SOUND IMPOSSIBLY DUMB, BUT HULK SWEAR. IT NOT DUMB. THE MOVIE AND CHARACTER OF MOSES COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AND PSYCHOLOGY THEY TALKING ABOUT. JOE CORNISH BRILLIANTLY USE THE OUTWARD ALIEN THREAT THEY EXPLORE THE HEART AND STRANGE HEROISM OF THESE CONCEPTS. AND THE YOUNG ACTOR, JOHN BOYEGA SO TOTALLY BRING HIM TO LIFE. HE HAVE THIS AMAZING STOIC SCREEN PRESENCE THAT JUST GRAB YOU.

SO WHY THE STRANGE TITLE ATTACK THE BLOCK? BECAUSE THIS A FILM ABOUT TERRITORY. AND TERRITORY BEST MEANS “HOME” AND “COMMUNITY” IN THIS CASE; BEST EXPLORED THROUGH THAT SINGLE, AMAZING CHARACTER.

HULK SIMPLY CANNOT BELIEVE SOMEONE MADE A MOVIE ABOUT MOSES."

And the final, and best, scene of the movies.

[ladykeane]

...they either want to make John [Watson] into a sort of cute little toy, or me into a cute toy, or we’re fucking in space on a bed, chained together.” Cumberbatch is referring to the rapacious slash fiction community that has turned his chilly, acerbic, and distinctly asexual Sherlock into a lustful cock monster. “It’s always, like, one of them is tired, one comes back from work, the other is horny, a lump appears in his trousers, and then they’re at it,” he says. “It’s usually me getting it — I’m biting Watson’s dog tags.” Perhaps, I suggest, making Holmes and Watson gay is a way to remove other women from the picture. “Yes, yes,” he replies enthusiastically. “I think it’s about burgeoning sexuality in adolescence, because you don’t necessarily know how to operate that. And I think it’s a way of neutralizing the threat, so this person is sort of removed from them as somebody who could break their heart.”

http://www.out.com/entertainment/movies/2014/10/14/sherlock-star-benedict-cumberbatch-poised-make-alan-turing-his-own-imitation-game

This really, really bothers me. The bulk of this interview addresses the nature of celebrity and LGBT+ experiences, particularly to do with academic institutions. For the most part it’s pretty interesting. But Christ, even OUT magazine has to take the heterogeneous and layered experience of young artists creating slash fiction & art and reduce it to a sordid and infantile caricature of itself.

My guess is because not only is slash an LGBT+ experience, but one largely participated in by younger women and non-binary people, and most importantly an experience of social media and on-line communities, that it somehow takes away its importance as a vehicle for self-expression and validation in a community of like minds. It makes slash an easy target for smarmy journalists looking to make themselves seem insightful by taking an easy pot shot. If the journalist who wrote this had dared to insert the word ‘millenials’ anywhere in this article I swear I would currently be hunting him down to punch him in the nose. Why is this creative endeavour somehow less sacred and more justifiable to bully people over than wealthy white cis boys experimenting in boarding schools?

I suppose the semi-public sharing of sexually explicit content encourages people to reflexively get on a puritanical high horse: ‘Porn is bad and sinful and you should feel bad about it’. Except the worst aspects of mainstream commerical porn are its commodification and commercialisation of human sexuality, at its core it is ultimately something very cookie-cutter, anti-humanistic and cynical. Even the smuttiest, kinkiest fanworks do not fall under this - they are sincere and organic, and are not focused on the acquisition of profit.

Other fans have said this before - if we wanted to simply watch two men fuck meaninglessly, all we would need is to enter a few simple search words into Redtube or Pornhub to come up with millions of results. The core essence of slash has never been about that. How irksome that a publication like OUT should reduce this particular permutation of gay love down to *insert sleazy voice here* animalistic SEX. This is something I have heard many LGBT+ activists lament and accuse heterosexual culture of doing. As if love (and artistic endeavour) had nothing to do with it. One thing I have noticed when older males cite slash in mainstream media (see Stephen Colbert and Graham Norton for other instances), they always seek out the smuttiest examples they can possibly show, providing audiences with an incomplete, out-of-context snapshot of this art form and its communities. Have you ever seen them highlight a story or piece of art that focuses primarily on the romance, the intimacy, the sense of validation and belonging that is so often featured in these works?

I don’t blame Benedict, he has his own obligations in working on Sherlock and therefore can’t really afford to delve too deeply into the fandom or its culture when he has to focus on getting the show made. It’s the journalist who was directing the conversation, responsible for its tone and material, and also responsible for researching the topics covered. It’s really a shame because the rest of the article is quite sensitive and nuanced in its approach. I suppose it’s just one instance of the larger systemic problem that young + queer + female/nb + online community = pariah who deserves to be caricatured and scorned. These kinds of harsh reprimands and critiques should be leveled at those with power and influence, not those with none.

I really don’t appreciate having to bear this kind of derision in the light of everything that has happened recently, both within fandoms and without. 

@outofficial

[actingnt]

This is a story of the fastest falling out I have ever experienced or been witness to. Even the Art of Autism was not this petty. This all started in January of 2017; as I write this call-out, the date is January 8th, 2017.

The campaign began as a Facebook page, the brainchild and New Year’s Resolution of one person, who sought to normalize mental illness, through a coming out process akin to that codified by the queer community. The concept was that mentally ill people will use the badges - simple images of bold text with a background color - to label themselves, in the eyes of their social networks, with a hashtagged message to “end the stigma”, and a second tag telling readers, who are also mentally ill but unable to come out, that they’re not alone.

The term “stigma” has a sullied history in disability activism. First of all, there are far more people writing and sharing books, articles, videos, and social media posts, which talk about there being a stigma around mental illness, than there are people doing anything about it. Even people who do at least claim to be combating stigma are mostly doing the opposite, i.e. perpetuating the very stigma they refer to. As it turns out, this “badge” campaign is NOT the exemplary shining beacon where someone finally does it right. It’s just another case study of disabled people being assholes to other disabled people.

The campaign picked up popularity very quickly: The Facebook page was “liked” thirty thousand (30,000) times within a week. As a result, the page’s founder decided to recruit a team of admins and moderators, to handle the immense wave of comments, messages, and new badge requests. Initially, I was one of those admins. I am no longer. These are my insights from that period.

Although my activist origins are within the Neurodiversity Movement, and this campaign is more aligned with Mad Pride (though I hesitate to say so, potentially an insulting comparison for true Mad Pride activists), fundamental irreconcilable disagreements are not the reason I left, or rather not the reason I was abruptly and rudely kicked out. In fact, I recognized the differences between movements immediately and was quite deft in towing the party line and finding compromises. For example, when a bipolar admin insisted that bipolarity IS in fact an illness and should be referred to as “bipolar disorder”, I, a non-bipolar person, yielded to standpoint theory and dropped the argument immediately.

If the founder and/or other admins choose to respond to this call-out, they will surely claim that I was being “argumentative”, hostile, insulting other team members, and that I acted like a rogue agent, intentionally defying clear agreements made among the team. Anything to deny, rather than confront, their own prejudices. It is no different from a business deciding that their disabled employee is too much trouble, but then claiming the person was fired due to “excessive lateness” or something similarly generic to avoid lawsuits.

The real reason they kicked me out was in reaction to a certain message found in my Facebook profile picture, conveyed using international sign language: That message is colloquially known as “flipping the bird” and customarily interpreted into English as “fuck you.” We talked about the picture within the team’s secret Facebook group, where I made it clear that it was not directed at anyone in the group. I even agreed to change it, as soon as I had a campaign-related picture to replace it. Still, the team was not satisfied, because their prejudicial feelings had already fermented, pegging me as an enemy in their minds.

That is the gist of the falling out story, but not a complete summary of why this campaign is problematic. The rest I feel is best suited for a top ten (10) list:

The admin team has an irrational prejudice (or another way you could say that is a STIGMA) against words like “fucking” and signs like the middle finger handshape. They refuse to post badges that contain words on their personal “swear word” lists (without even offering any copies of those lists, of course), thus preventing “mentally ill” people from talking about “mental illness” in their own preferred language. They specifically deleted a fan-requested badge that said “I am a fucking survivor.”

They made an album of “Neurodiversity Badges”, allegedly recognizing the perspective of neurodiversity activists who don’t necessarily accept the concept of mental illness, yet this album includes, said in these exact ways: “Nonverbal Learning Disorder”, “Oppositional Defiance Disorder”, PDDNOS (both as an initialism and spelled out), “I have autism”, “I am a person with autism”, and “I have ASD” (in fairness there is at least a separate “I am Autistic” badge). The album also briefly included “I have bipolar disorder” (not “I am bipolar”) before it was deleted.

Within the admin team, there are no explicitly written rules, guidelines, or boundaries, only loose tentative agreements made in a fast-paced Facebook chat in multiple timezones. Despite this, lower-level team members (founder at the top, then “core” admins, then admins, then moderators) are held accountable for breaking these unwritten rules.

They explicitly decided NOT to include LGBTQ-related badges, because in context those badges could wind up supporting, rather than combating, the stigma against queer identities, since a big part of that stigma is comparing queerness to illness. That makes sense on its own, but they apparently DON’T mind making badges for things like autism and ADD, where the exact same danger exists. They even explicitly reference autism and ADD as part of the neurodiversity movement (whose core founding principle is that neurodivergent people should NOT be labeled as mentally ill) but include them in a “mental health” campaign anyway.

They made a set of “Badges for Men”, but then kicked out their only transgender team member.

They attacked me on the grounds that I was “taking too much credit” based on a post which acknowledges me as a team member, written by another person who is not me.

Speaking of the neurodiversity perspective, “end the stigma around mental illness” is a self-contradictory statement. Calling neurodivergent people “mentally ill” is inherently stigmatizing. So this campaign was already flawed in its premise. This problem was actually brought to my attention by other people, I thought it was a valid concern and brought it to the admin group. Nothing was done, because they can’t take criticism.

Their ultimatum offered for not kicking me out was that they needed me “to monitor comments and bring any concerns to us. NOTHING MORE”. In other words, my opinions are not valued, nor even permitted. After I was doing a perfectly fine job of not just monitoring comments but also responding to them appropriately.

They use weasel words (not blatant lies, but essentially lies) when interacting with public comments. For example, they said in the team chat that there won’t be any abortion or miscarriage badges because the conversation would be too difficult to moderate, but to the person who first suggested one, the public response is just “we will discuss it.”

Once again, they gaslight and bully their thankless unpaid team members when one of them expresses a disagreement.

In conclusion, I first would like to allow a reminder, that problematic does not mean there are no positives to be found. Some of the badges are accomplishing legitimate anti-stigma work. The Facebook page also features lists of crisis hotlines - attracting people to those is a good thing. But for every anti-stigma action from the team running the campaign, they have also taken an equally pro-stigma action (insert your Newton’s law of motion joke here). Taken as a whole, this campaign is NOT a welcome addition to disability activism. If there are any attempts to monetize the campaign, I will be the first to declare that I boycott them, and will encourage you to do the same.