#I think you also rationalize things a lot

[dragonqueenbizawagi]

You know, the thing is... most people don't know shit about ghosts. A lot of times people jump to "it's haunted" because they don't know what's going on. I want one time for Danny to realize that there's actually a carbon monoxide leak or buggy light fixture or black mold or something (maybe multiple somethings compiled), and fix it with just his common electrical engineering and household maintenance he picked up from his parents (the latter because they were too busy upgrading the house's traps to check the monoxide detector and such, and they made him clean up hazardous materials in the lab, so I feel he could handle mold).

To make this even more fun, let's continue torturing Constantine! He and Danny start working together because John wants to teach him how to at least con people properly for fucks sake! ("It's not conning if it works Connie!" "You and both know it ain't that bloody Hollywood exorcism bullshit doing the work") So on one of their first few houses, they get a case of carbon monoxide/black mold/creaky house/faulty wiring/whatever mundane explanation(s) that people mistake for ghosts. Connie doesn't realize at first, he thinks they're just here to do some fake bs and the real ghosts have all been scared off by Danny's strange aura.

Now, usually, Constantine is smarter (or more cynical) than this, and can remember to properly check for mundane explanations. But at this point he's too preoccupied by Danny's weirdness (and sass – Danny's sass is critical to properly annoying Constantine for optimal amusement) to do his job properly. That coupled with the fact that he doesn't think there really is a job this time – not with Danny around – and his guard is dropped. So when the signs of a "haunting" start popping up (flickering lights, strange smell, unsettling feelings), Constantine freaks because what the fuck could still be here that hasn't been scared off by Danny?! Last one was a bloody demon!

Danny, a bit more rational and possibly not affected by the neurological effects of black mold/carbon monoxide (or at least not to the same extent) due to ghost biology bs, calmly locates the problems and points them out. He proceeds to solve them or tell the homeowner he'll come back to fix it once he has the tools, leaving one confused/concerned homeowner (who still worries it's haunted anyway, only to be assured by Danny that they'll still cleanse the house to be safe because, "You hired us to exterminate spooks! We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't do anything for them too!"), and one thoroughly embarrassed Constantine!

Alternatively, feel free to take this in the other direction of Constantine being the experienced one to point out how many "hauntings" are really just old houses showing their wear and tear. And Danny only then piping up when Constantine shrugs it off and just tells the homeowner to hire some repairmen, to say "I could fix that for you!" Revealing another, weirdly... normal layer to this kid, he's got actual real-life skills and was apparently a freelance electrician before this? Constantine expected a weirder backstory for someone so nonchalantly powerful (oh, little does he know....)

Anyway! Here's your random reminder to check your carbon monoxide detectors! And always check for mundane sources of problems, not just magical/supernatural ones. By all means, cleanse your house of malicious spirits, but also physically clean your house of suspicious stains. The mundane is not entirely separate from the magical, people! What if the evil spirits are trying to kill you through growing black mold in your bedroom, huh? What if that's their mode of attack? (btw, please feel free to have Danny explain any/all of this to the homeowner if you write this out)

Another dpxdc prompt (sorry it’s been so long)

So Danny, now grown up and the ghost king, is looking for a job. However bc of his responsibilities as king a normal job won’t do. He would need to be able to make his own hours and such. He tried to be a freelance repair/electrical guy (thx mum and dad for those skills) but it never made that much money.

Then one day, prompted by a joke comment from Tucker about going back to ghost fights, he has a great idea!!

That’s how ‘Spook exterminator’ is born!! (He wanted to call it ghost busters but that was trademarked)

He essentially becomes an exorcist for higher and is very good at it. See what he didn’t know before this is that the ghost his use to, realm ghost, are actually the strongest type of ghost and as the king of them he is the strongest of them. This essentially means he has a ‘top predator’ vibe that sends most non realm ghost running before he even steps into the building. All he has to do then is call upon his inter theatre kid and put on a good show before leaving with a full wallet.

It’s not like he’s scamming them or anything. He is getting rid of the ghost! He just likes putting a little flare to it! Plus it gives him better tips.

Anyway cutting over to Constantine who, drunk out of his mind, thinks it would be hilarious to higher some bogus exorcist he saw a flier for and take them to the most haunted house he knowns just to see what happens.

He was definitely not expecting every ghost to hightail it out of there before the guy even step foot in the door. For a second he thought that maybe he was wrong about the guy being bogus and that maybe he was actually an very skilled exorcist but then he proceeded to do the most fake ritual he had ever fucking seen. The guy couldn’t even speak Latin!!

Needless to say John was very confused

[tanadrin]

What, do you think, is the reason people are so susceptible to anti-immigrant stances? Is there *actually* some sort of inherent problem with immigration or is that already ceding ground to the right? I get a lot of centrists, even left-leaning ones these days, telling me "well we can't ignore the problems that too much immigration causes, so it has to be limited", but I simply can't figure out what these problems are supposed to be. Other than basic infrastructure problems, like "there's not enough language courses or beds or officials who handle immigration issues", but to me "we need to keep them out" doesn't follow from this any more than "we need to have fewer children" would follow from "there's not enough teachers". Is the whole thing simply a right wing psyop playing on people's susceptibility to disliking "strangers" or are there actual issues that people like me fail to see?

stories about crime involving immigrants go viral. even if every story is factual, their viral nature and the emphasis put on them in discourse can create the impression of a massive immigrant crime wave. this tendency latches on to some people’s preexisting xenophobia, and gives them a justification to indulge it. this happens with other groups and prejudices too often course, and just like the phenomenon of crime in general. look at how crime rates compare to perception of crime. and part of this is just the dynamics of media coverage: if it bleeds it leads, and no journalist ever went broke pandering to the lowest political denominator.

but also people’s intuitions on this are totally broken. they think of there being a finite pool of resources immigrants must be taking from, even if those resources are abstract things that more tax paying workers ought, just by their very existence, increase the amount of.

but (and I know people get upset about this when you say it, including relatives of mine) I think it’s frequently just racism. The problem for a lot of people is going to the grocery store and seeing someone who doesn’t look like you and feeling a momentary flash of discomfort and rationalizing it instead of dealing with it.

[allfearstofallto]

Yandere! Scaramouche x Fem! Reader

Forced Marriage AU

Scaramouche daydreamed a lot. No. That's not right. Daydreaming was a term that sounded too child-like and whimsical for a man as glaringly harsh and serious as him. Instead, you could say he pondered. Often looking lost in thought, more in his head than he was reality. With how long you'd assumed the man had lived, you supposed he had much to think about. Lots of memories. Lots of remorse. Lots of things to think on that just flooded his mind until he was sucked into his brain.

He pondered most after dinner. In that time where the two of you would sit together in what you once considered an awkward silence, his strange form of quality time, but even you began to find comfort in the fact that there was nothing to say. Scaramouche also had lower expectations of you at this time, seeing as he wanted you to do nothing more than sit and pass the time with him. Those sharp blue eyes that would wordlessly express their displeasure in you, no longer casted judgemental gazes. Instead, they pondered.

“Do you think you would've fallen in love with me under normal circumstances?” He asked one day, voice barely audible over the silence of the room. He'd never spoken to you during this time before and had it not been for the fact that the two of you were completely alone in his office, you would've thought he was talking to someone else. But sure enough, when you looked up, his eyes were upon you, waiting for your answer. An answer you didn't have.

It was something you'd never thought of before. All you felt for him, from the day you first met him up until this very moment, was hatred. But he was attractive. Although, he knew that, often mentioning the fact that he was designed to be beautiful. Not handsome, but beautiful. Effeminate in his looks, graceful in the way he moved, soft cheeks and long lashes. Scaramouche was aware of his breathtaking beauty, but that wasn't what he was asking you. He wanted to know what your heart felt.

“Possibly,” you finally said. Whether or not that was the truth was debatable. You supposed anything could happen, but hindsight is 20/20. Choices had already been made, words already said that could never be taken back, actions that could never be undone.

“Do you think you could fall in love with me now?”

He noticed your scoff and raised eyebrows, an expression on his face that's you'd never seen before. Was it surprise? Pain? It looked more akin to agony, but he schooled his expression back to normal just as quickly as it'd changed.

“I'll take your response as answer enough,” he spat those words with a sharp, bitter tone. Enough venom in his voice to make you believe that he was prepared to punish you, but he continued speaking, “Do you feel anything for me now? Anything good?”

There was this sense of longing to his words. A pleading for you to say what he wanted to hear. And maybe it was just the Stockholm syndrome finally kicking in or a genuine sense of affection for the man, but you felt inclined to say something nice. A gentle tug at the weary strings of your heart, desire to comfort him despite all that he'd done. You'd thought yourself mad for how the irrational part of you was wanting to respond.

“I don't hate you as much as you think I do,” was your answer, a compromise between the rational and irrational.

There was a silence. A deafening one. As he pondered again, thinking on your words like he was testing the way they felt in his brain. Then he nodded. A triumphant nod, or at least as triumphant as his usual snarky expression would allow.

“I suppose, I can live with that,”

[voidsuites]

MULTI BOT RELEASE !!! (1/31/25) ⌢ ✨ .ᐟ

art donaldson ・゜゜・．noid. tennis has given art everything anyone could ever want— a fulfilling career, you and lily, and countless influential titles and wins— and with him getting closer to becoming a household name, art’s more than aware of his luck. he’s beyond grateful. however, fame’s a double-edged sword and it’s getting harder to both play into the paparazzi and their mind-games and also protect his family, so it’s not a surprise that art loses his temper when those lines finally get crossed. (based off “noid” by tyler the creator!)

bruce wayne・゜゜・．billie bossa nova. underneath all the sneaking around hotel rooms and charity galas, both you and bruce long to be understood for more than just your family names and your money. whatever’s going on between the two of you is merely putting a band-aid on a niger issue, you’re aware, but there’s something about bruce that helps you rationalize the less-than-ideal circumstances. a lot can change in twenty seconds… a lot can happen in the dark. (based off “billie bossa nova” by billie eilish!)

jim hopper ・゜゜・．you’re a fighter. in one moment, all hop had to worry about was you slowly growing more independent and mike wheeler’s insufferable attitude, but now the mind flayer’s set its sights on you and you’ve seemingly lost your powers. setting the mess with the russians beneath starcourt mall aside, hopper’s main priority is making sure you’re safe and away from any more danger. you may be a fighter, but you’re his kid first. (based off “you’re a fighter” by kyle dixon and michael stein!)

joel miller ・゜゜・．western nights. joel knows you’re not supportive of the violent ways he provides for you, but in a post-apocalyptic world morals are put on the back burner while he concerns himself with keeping you both fed, housed, and taken care of. you’re stubborn, he’s stubborn, but you’d never think of taking off and leaving him behind. this time’s no different. (based off “western nights” by ethel cain!)

patrick zweig ・゜゜・．part of your world. mermaids were nothing but a mere children's bedtime story— they weren't real. that’s what patrick’s father had told him since he'd been a boy; that the wondrous creatures he believed in with all his heart were nothing but tall tales meant to put the children of new rochelle to bed with little fight. that’s proven to be false when you rescue him from swimming with the fishes for eternity, and now that he knows your kind is real, patrick just has to learn more. he’ll bring you as many human trinkets for your collection as you’d like if you’d let him be part of your world for a moment. (based off “part of your world” by jodi benson and disney!)

tashi duncan ・゜゜・．bodyguard. wlw. tashi’s always been protective of you since you started seeing each other, but it’s always amusing to see just how worked-up she gets when you’re the center of attention. stanford’s hosting a concert in the park, art and patrick are nowhere to be found, and tashi’s left to keep herself in control lest she “accidentally” scare people off because they’ve looked at you too long. she’ll protect you in the mosh pit, no doubt— but she’s still working on keeping that territorial nature of hers in check. (based off “bodyguard” by beyoncé!)

got a request? go ahead and leave em here :) THANK YOU GUYS SO SO MUCH FOR FOR 10.4K! so excited to get started on my celebration requests— you guys once again are the BEST!!!! i hope all of these are to your liking… but do forgive me if joel is a little too ooc lol i’ve only seen bits of tlou but i tried to capture him right. hehe. i also made a tumblr community for all things voidsuites-oriented 🤭 join yap city if you dare (i’m still figuring out what i’ll post on there but think of it as a communal close friends story on ig haha) anyways i love these characters and i love these songs and i love you all!!!! thank you for making this so much fun for me i’m so grateful <3

[mournmage]

A lot of people have tagged this with the sentiment of "yeah the actual betrayal for me was that he didn't ask my pro mage Hawke who's been with him the entire time on the same side of the fight to help him" and just. I need to make this very clear since this is my post:

I (along with my Hawke) did not view that as a betrayal either. Communication breakdown absolutely, among other things. But not betrayal.

It isn't a betrayal to me when the game makes it pretty clear both explicitly and via subtext that Anders does not tell Hawke or involve them beyond lying about gathering bomb ingredients because he is trying to protect them. It is one thing to Want to involve them, it is another to actually do it and to put them in the same danger he knows this will put him in. Hawke's status is mentioned multiple times both via codex and by Meredith herself to be the one thing protecting Anders from being taken by Templars and it's ALSO the only thing protecting a mage!Hawke as well. If Anders directly involves them at all beyond the small part he already asks for, he's risking not only himself but them as well. And idk man, I really cannot find it in me to blame him to want to spare Hawke the backlash this is guarenteed to cost him especially when you remember what happened to Karl at the very beginning of all of this too.

Lying to Hawke and all that about the bomb ingredients? Thinking that Hawke will want him dead because blowing up the Chantry and doing something so radical is unforgivable? That I can understand being viewed as a betrayal especially of Hawke's trust. (Even then I'm Personally more willing to forgive them because being that mentally ill and suffering that many years from systemic oppresion is bound to affect your more rational thinking.)

But not involving Hawke more because he loves them and wants to protect them? Not a betrayal to me. Never could be.

Thinking this afternoon about how so many people who romanced Anders considered him blowing up the Chantry to be a betrayal and how that just. Never really clicked for me to call it that. Because so explicitly So many times over the relationship he tells you this will be messy and never easy and at one point even explicitly says some things are bigger than he and Hawke's relationship and it is just. So clear that he loves them but they can't and won't stop him. And I cannot feel betrayed at all when he was upfront about that consistantly tbh.

[numberonesnarkfan]

upon reflection I like Doey a lot more than I initially did. Here's why: I realised hours later that the jaded anger I felt wasn't rational emotion. Doey made me feel simultaneously apathetic and enraged annnd I think that's because he's better written than I gave him credit for because he managed to gut punch me in the insecurities so hard I shut down.

Strange feeling in the boss fight. Being chased down by a representation of you, not the host, you, the problem alter. All while it cries in your ear and narrates your thoughts at your worst moments aloud.

ig it's fair for Poppy Playtime but the thing I still dislike is that Doey's story ended like it did. The same way the trope always goes, the problem alter ruins everything and gets the whole system killed while violently lashing out at someone. I get that it's ppt so everything has to end in bloodshed one way or another but did it have to go that way? Even just having one of the 'gentle voices' be the first to snap rather than Kevin would have been leaning into the stereotype less.

alternately, I also see the poetry in what it is. If the safe haven represents the safe place in our mind and it is gone, the scared children are lost again and the world becomes as it was as an infant - confusing and bleak and unbearably painful. A psychological nuclear meltdown, fuel and control rods and metal fusing together, creating corium that becomes worlds more devastating than the nuclear fuel itself.

all in all, it is well-written as a tragedy and I understand that it had to be because of the genre. I just wish the stereotype could have been subverted even a little bit.

[basilpaste]

hey i got into a Media you know what that means.

(im classpecting the beebos. lmao.)

this is not!!!! going to be super in depth!!!!!! im lazy and theres a lot of characters to go through. gonna !!! put it under the cut so its not super long, though.

Beebo - Rogue of Light Light is fortune and information and Rogues steal their aspect for the sake of others. Oliver would be the puzzle solving classpect, taking information and using it for the benefit of the people around him. Rogues also do the stealing thing passively, though. In giving his information away, he also gives away his luck. He's an awfully unlucky guy.

Ángel - Heir of Void Look I know this is Equius's classpect. I try not to overlap. But look at him. Void is the aspect of secrecy and Heirs become their aspect. Things kinda work out for him, but it's not like he fades into the background. He's surrounded by obscurity but his actions are known - it's just the guy himself who's a mystery. Everything Ángel is is a lie.

Vivi - Knight of Heart Heart players are self oriented and Knights serve others. Which makes a Knight of Heart sound oxymoronic. Unless its someone who uses their knowledge of people and their own importance to serve others. Like, I dunno, a reporter who gets someone jailed? The photobook also screams Heart.

Nina - Sylph of Hope Sylphs are considered the 'healer' class, Hope is the aspect of belief. Gestures. She believes in the good of others and on multiple occasions her convictions lead to them bettering themselves. She's also very willing to believe in people who others think don't deserve it. She'll throw herself away for the sake of others.

Marigold - Witch of Mind Witch of Mind is a scary classpect lmao. But more than that Witches are manipulate their aspect. Mind is logical but not always rational. Mari's smart and knows when to put her foot down, she also plans real carefully. But more than that, the combination can lead to her sometimes coming off as cold or uncaring even when she knows she's making the correct choice.

Eugene - Bard of Doom I think being a passive class would piss him off. I think being an aspect associated with death would also piss him off. But for serious: Bards tend to reject their aspect and he lives life like it's a checklist. Like Doom can't come for him if he works hard enough. The house plays into that, he can't die! He passes the Doom onto others. But he can't run forever. Eventually it will catch up to him.

Nadia - Mage of Rage Rage is volatile but Mages have a clear understanding of their aspect. Nadia's an angry kid, y'know? But she uses that to her advantage. She pushes peoples buttons when she needs to and she's not often very outwardly afraid for herself. She serves her own whims but she's still more than willing to go out of her way for people she cares about!

Simon - Page of Blood Pages are the class most likely to be written off and also the one most desperate for approval. Blood is about bonds, connection. Simon tries desperately to gain and maintain the approval of his father only to be repeatedly sidelined and hurt for his desire for that connection. It makes him feel worthless.

Owen - Prince of Light There was bound to be some overlap at some point. And I think it's sweet for Owen's aspect to mirror Oliver's. Princes destroy their aspect with their aspect so they mirror their opposite. Owen takes information and shrouds it in mystery while still giving that information away. He also, unfortunately, ends up pretty unlucky.

[aiura-stan]

(on Gay Hairo being canon)

-True, there’s no evidence that Hairo isn’t gay. You got me there… that’s certainly an Implication in that one chapter, considering Saiki’s reaction.

That said, his ass always being out is not *inherently* gay. I don’t see anything that points to the gag being consistently associated with sexuality in any way. (other than Saiki’s occasional comment.)

(on Saiki’s ‘hypnosis’)

-I feel like we have this same conversation every so often; I apologize in advance if I’m just repeating myself, lmao.

‘Hypnosis’ is his ability to make people look like someone else in canon. I used that word the wrong way, didn’t I. Sorry.

It is separate from ‘mind control,’ which I keep confusing it with, which Kusuo used to make things like his pink hair and limiters normal. He also used it to make it normal for students to have jobs, and to make anime tropes such as quicker healing, the ‘ton’ to the back of the neck effective, and destruction of property quickly fixable (I don’t get that one tbh.)

Yeah, come to think of it, ‘hypnosis’ in the sense of making someone else ignore him, is fanon. You’re right.

That said, Kusuo has a lot of weird perception altering powers. He can use hypnosis to make people look like each other, he can cause an auditory hallucination of music (presumably with his telepathy), he can use mind control to make people believe that things are normal (which in turn somehow changes the world itself.) For whatever reason, people do not notice the year repeating itself again and again as he periodically rewinds time. I can’t find it but I swear somewhere in the manga (is it the anime?) there’s a scene where a guy thinks to himself that Saiki’s limiters are strange, and we are told that he rationalizes it away due to Kusuo’s powers. (presumably his ‘mind control,’ which begs the question, if he actually permanently changed their perception of reality, why should they have to rationalize at all?)

I thought it was somewhere in the early chapters but couldn’t find it when I looked. Argh. But yeah I think that’s why I keep confusing the two. Because at one point, there’s some weird implications due to this one guy reacting to Kusuo’s limiters.

(on Teruhashi’s power to make people ‘fall in love w/ her on sight’)

-Yes, I agree “parasocial relationship” comes closer to what Teruhashi inspires in her followers and the men around her.

(on Saiki being affected by Teruhashi’s beauty)

-Okay, I can see where you’re going with the Teruhashi affecting Saiki point, now. I made some incorrect assumptions about what you meant by that sentence.

I think Teruhashi’s good amounts to being nice. Even though they are often done with ulterior motives, her actions have kind effects at least, if that makes sense.

I mean? It seems to improve their behavior, at least whenever she is around? Like the gag with Rifuta, who asks two boys to walk her to the cafeteria, and they start fighting, but they make up and agree to do it together when Teruhashi chastises them for it. So she’s like their external conscience.

After she leaves… debatable. haha. But I do think she has some sort of power that basically amounts to “make people behave as though they are their best selves due to her beauty” while around her specifically. (Which… I don’t know how I feel about that. But that’s what I think.) And Kusuo isn’t affected by that, because he has his own internal moral compass that he basically refuses to compromise on.

Yeah… after she leaves, I’d say they’re back to stumbling around in the dark, morally speaking. She’s still very much doing good, but even though her sphere of “good” is limited to when she is personally involved. I think that’s part of what makes her ego so bad. Because she truly thinks people can only be their best selves when she is around. Which is why she likes Saiki, because her presence doesn’t effect his actions or morals in the least.

That would definitely be interesting! I wonder how he lost his vision… what was able to injure Saiki’s eyes? At the volcano scene he is pushed to his absolute limit, so maybe it’s some natural disaster like that.

I'm not a fan of soulmates in romantic fiction because it's basically arranged marriage with extra supernatural noncon/dubcon elements.

However, in the Saiki universe, the soulmate connection seems to lack pretty much all of those problematic elements.

We have to do a little extrapolating from what we see in canon since this aspect of Aiura's powers is not covered in detail, but:

Soulmates do not seem to be guaranteed to ever meet, considering the fact that Aiura specifically looked up her soulmate and that one guy who was linked to someone in a remote African village that would almost certainly never cross paths with him.

Being with your soulmate is completely optional, otherwise Aiura wouldn't bother providing relationship scoring and just tell each person to go find their soulmate. This allows for a lot of narrative opportunities to explore why someone would consciously choose to not be with their soulmate, and also opens up the door for polyamory.

Soulmates do not instantly fall in love, and are not forced to stay in love by any supernatural powers. Aiura didn't think anything of Saiki until he flawlessly saved Yumehara's life like 10x in a row, and Saiki certainly didn't fall for Aiura right away either. They fought over their values strongly enough that it would've been a breakup if they'd ever been together.

Soulmate status just seems to indicate particularly good chemistry, and like the rest of Aiura's powers, is purely informational and not determinative. Presumably soulmates have the highest possible compatibility scores, and it's kinda cool that it seems guaranteed there's at least 1 person out there who will jive with you, but also plenty of other people you can connect with to various degrees.

With Saiki and Aiura specifically, it's shown that Saiki can change the future Aiura sees as soon as he hears about it. It may even be possible for him to change the soulmate determination, and he certainly could've used Time Leap to fool Aiura into thinking someone else was her soulmate if he was really opposed to the concept. She had scryed it recently, so the butterfly effect shouldn't be a challenge.

But they do work so smoothly together with their powers complementing each other, and Saiki is kind of a lonely romantic tsundere at heart, so it makes sense that he would let the soulmate thing play out and yet test the connection by pushing Aiura away as much as possible.

Actually, considering that Saiki can't control people's actions directly (and that he sucks at trying to control people indirectly), the strongest noncon/dubcon force in the Saikiverse shockingly appears to be Teruhashi's beauty.

The only male character that doesn't seem at all affected by Teruhashi's powers is Hairo, most likely because of his heavily implied homosexuality. Women attracted to other women are also impacted by her power, as seen with Aiura.

While Saiki says that married people aren't affected by Teruhashi, Kuniharu does actually show several signs of being affected by Teruhashi, and so does Kumagoro.

All affected people instantly fall in love with her on sight, no exceptions.

Critical thinking ability appears to drop precipitously when it comes to her, with her fans accepting that she had a secret child with Saiki despite being in school with her every day and that she can just choose not to poop for a week. More effective mind control than anything Saiki can do tbh.

The instant Saiki loses some of his powers, he starts being affected by Teruhashi's beauty.

The narrative supports Saiki's theory that Teruhashi is literally favored by God and can affect reality just by hoping for something. The implication that God is (physically??) attracted to Teruhashi and does whatever she wants is.... yikes on several levels. If she asks for someone to love her, do they get a choice in the matter??

Anyways, there are way more elements of noncon/dubcon with Teruhashi ships than there are with actual canon soulmate mechanics in the Saikiverse and that's just such a wild choice by the author lol.

Truly subverting tropes!

[littlestsnicket]

random armand focused iwtv thoughts and headcanons with absolutely no fandom wank this time:

i think armand is actually probably a really good teacher. he was certainly successful at teaching louis to use the fire gift, and i think it dovetails nicely with his desire to provide service and his capacity for levelheaded severity and dominance. (which he does have--the evil trauma gremlin is a separate trait and doesn't usually get triggered when teaching)

fucking obsessed with the park bench scene. louis sitting there in the rain with an umbrella in his lap, looking at armand, looking at the umbrella, and being like "i'm a bit wet". he's feeling that out, seeing how armand responds to this power dynamic before they have the rest of that conversation. like... this is calculated, louis knows and is telegraphing what he wants from armand, and armand is so eager to give it. it makes me insane. obsessed with their dynamic. truly obsessed.

and the scene before louis is going to give madeleine the gift... i actually don't think armand takes poorly to having his boundaries respected. i don't think armand is quite that fucked up (or more accurately, he is that fucked up, but has a good understanding in at least some parts of his brain about exactly how fucked up he is even if he has some weird cognitive dissonance about it, and is able to rationally interpret that as a good thing in that moment, even if it puts him off balance). what armand takes poorly is louis being wrong. louis took responsibility for something and couldn't actually handle it and that totally undermined armand's sense of safety in their relationship. which is obviously not reasonable or healthy, but i think makes a lot of sense for armand and his decision making process.

i'm also really attached to the idea that armand has a good working knowledge of modern risk aware BDSM practices. he has the internet. and as much as louis and armand don't have many (hardly any) actual peers and are therefore wildly codependent, i think they both have a ton more casual contact with people than they appear to in the dubai interview. i think louis is coming out of a particularly bad depressive funk so temporarily doesn't have much contact with the outside world, and showing himself to have outside contact doesn't serve armand's narrative. anyway, i think armand has been to his fair share of kink clubs.

i think a large part of why lestat lets louis go with armand in the tower is because he believes (correctly, at least in this case; that is literally the least convincing yes i have ever heard when louis asks armand if he saved him) that armand is not a very good liar so if louis doesn't believe lestat saved him, it's primarily because louis doesn't want to. armand is great at controlling a narrative, significantly less great at flat out lies.

armand functions, structurally, as a femme fatale in a detective story. he's exactly as simultaneously shady, secretive, tragic, and alluring as he seems to be--the reveal is just that he's done something worse, but still totally in character, than we thought.

loumand from louis' perspective: i loved you in paris, i'm not sure if i love you now or am just scared of being alone. sometimes i can work with that and things are good, other times i think i'm betraying claudia's memory by being this close to you and am going to punish both of us for it. a lot of the time i'm clinically depressed in a way that actually has very little to do with you, but you're such a martyr you can't see that and sometimes i crave the resulting attention and subservience and other times it makes me sick with both of us.

[liquidstar]

This is such a tangent btw but on the topic of guilt tripping and reblogs... I remember a few years back there were some terrible fires in Greece (and again this year, entire island villages are gone now) and at that time I had family who were caught in them. I can't describe the desperation I felt with these horrible things happening to my family and loved ones in my country. And I remember being frustrated and desperate with how no one around me in America really seemed to give a shit. I remember blogging asking people to PLEASE care please share something please reblog this link for mutual aid please think about the stories and fires etc etc etc. And the thing is I was very much in a state of grief myself, maybe not every word or action was perfectly reasonable, because I don't realistically expect everyone everywhere to care about every tragedy in the world. You can't. Emotionally it's just not possible, especially with all the stuff going on in the states rn too. Yeah it's a lot. It's not like I blog about every tragedy that ever happens either. I understand.

HOWEVER what I also remember was at this time there were a couple mutuals very clearly making vagueposts along the lines of "remember not everyone has the energy to care about everything in the world uwu" while I was posting about family who died and family who were drifting in the ocean for hours as their homes and loved ones burned. Listen. You have to understand sometimes that when a person in grief and frustration with things going on in their countries and communities impacts them very personally beg you to care... It's coming from a place of needing to see that care in the world in general. They're not holding a gun to your head Specifically saying you have to reblog the posts, if you don't have the energy just ignore it.

You don't have to go out of your way saying "um actually I can't care about the horrible stuff you and your family and your country are experiencing rn. I'm too busy focusing on my own stuff so can you be quiet or more reasonable with your grief thanks." Like. Just keep it to yourself then??? Have some fucking sympathy for other people and understand that maybe it's not always logical. The same way you don't have the emotional energy to think about every tragedy in the world, people who've been impacted by them often don't have the emotional energy to handle that alone and may seek somekinda community or solidarity. Idk. It's not about forcing shit on you sometimes it's not about you

[thousandyearphantombunker]

"just give them an aac device!"

"just teach them sign language"

"body language and facial expressions alone are good enough for communicating what you need"

Nonononono f*!k off. Stop acting like nonverbal people have easy solutions to their lack of verbality. Not everyone can use an aac device- some people struggle with spelling or can't spell at all, some people have motor skills issues that makes typing a nightmare that takes a long time, some can't articulate themselves without outside help. Learning sign is hard if you again have motor skills issues or struggle to make facial expressions that convey what your feeling (flat affect applies to more than just a person's voice- some people really struggle to make facial expressions and have stilted or strange body language- you people can understand why autistic people get burnt out from masking all day- you know often having to control their body language and make certain facial expressions etc yet you can't understand why nonverbal autistics can't just learn sign- a language very heavy on facial expressions and expressive body language?) also again spelling and motor skill issues are a pain and also a lot of families with deaf or nonverbal children refuse to learn sign for said children and I'm sorry in day to day life I haven't met many people who speak sign- yeah you can move to a community with a lot of deaf or nonverbal people that use sign but that's not always possible and its very limiting. And do I even have to explain the third one- autistic body language is confusing to neurotypicals and I hate the stereotype that its just so blunt and obvious/better than neurotypical communication- maybe that's what its like for you and your 'smart sheldon cooper/Wednesday Addams' style autism but not every autistic person 'says exactly what they mean' often times autistic people struggle with semantics and articulating sentences that make any sense! and all these misunderstandings surrounding stimming are annoying to!- spinning can be a 'happy' stim but it can also mean your overwhelmed or understimulated, a lot of people with autism have voices that lack inflections, mix that in with being unable to use words and no it does not help communicate their needs- f!*k off with acting like its easy not all autistic people who are nonverbal can spell, not all autistic people w are nonverbal have good motor skills and body language alone is never enough to convey a persons needs. Before anyone comes after me yes Sign is body language but its also actual symbols and can convey full thoughts and ideas and sentences and also body language is hard for a lot of autistic people to convey like stated above.

Not every form autistic communication is being 'logical' and unoffended because 'we're just more logical than those superfluous, shallow neurotypicals that let their feelings control them and are never direct about what they want-we value facts and logic unlike those butthurt neurotypicals' and being overly blunt- no a lot of autistic people find that communication is messy and the ways they can communicate are ineffective and your 'logical, facts dont care about your feelings' style of communication isn't as amazing as you think it is. Stop speaking over nonverbal autistics- their is no real perfect solution to them not being able to speak. And I'm gonna say it- while not all nonverbal people are low functioning or high support needs or whatever the new term is-being nonverbal is a massive disadvantage and having your disability be visible like that is scary in many situations and being unable to communicate your needs can make it impossible to meet your needs-

[thejawsofmax]

Klance-coded Pierce the Veil songs !!

— i only did 7 songs but i might make a big post with a few songs from each album that make me think of klance (also please be nice to me, this makes more sense in my head and im bad at describing stuff!!!!!)

Caraphernila

“and baby honestly it’s harder breathing next to you”

i think of it as keith and lance’s envy towards each other. they both feel overshadowed by the other without knowing how much they are admired by them

“hold my heart, it’s beating for you anyway”

holding his heart is letting him feel all of his love and emotions, even if it gets crushed. i think this is how keith and lance’s relationship works. lance is literally one of the only people that makes keith feel seen, being able to understand his emotions with barely any words (i think about the scene where everyone just looks over at lance and waits for him to go comfort keith. and lance does so, not even knowing that everyone was expecting him to do it)

“So what if I can't forget you? I'll burn your name into my throat, I'll be the fire that'll catch you”

i think about this as post canon klance. they have left such a big impact on each other’s lives, and then they just go their separate ways??? like no keith is definitely still thinking about lance who’s down on earth. he doesn’t want to forget him and probably never will

Million Dollar Houses (The Painter)

“would you ever try to leave me for somebody who deserves you most”

i think keith would still have some sort of lingering fear that he isn’t enough for lance, despite not actually dating him. so lance “leaving” him for allura in season 8. this can also play on lance’s insecurities, especially when in comparison to keith

“but, baby no, sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned”

OKAY THIS ONE IS DUMB and like kinda generic but it makes me think of how they were doomed by the writers LMAO

“maybe we’re meant to lose the ones we love but i’ll fight for you till then”

both keith and lance have lost a lot during the series’s events but they keep pushing further (especially with the help of each other)

Flawless Execution

“i’ll scar you with my flawless execution every time”

i think about this a lot with black paladin keith + red paladin lance. they are both learning to step up, wanting to prove themselves worthy of their positions.

“i’m not obsessed, far worse, i’m fine” “i didn’t mean to burden you with love in my condition”

this describes someone who’s love is so intense that it’s overwhelming. this is very klance to me because of how deeply connected they are to each other without even knowing it. keith being the person who gives lance the reassurance he needs, and lance being the person who is able to either push keith to do something or pull him back to rationalize his thoughts. THEY CANT LOVE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE because they are stupid and i hate them

“you and i are blood and wine”

shows how different they are. they’re complete opposites but still somehow complete each other

First Punch

“i’ve got so much to give, but i would kill just to feel less invisible. and you got so much to learn about gravity, so live it up baby don’t look down”

this one is more about lance and his insecurities of being a paladin. although he desperately wanted to use the black lion, (s3 in the ep where they were seeing who the black lion would respond to, lance really hoped it would be him, even sitting in the lion longer than the other paladins did, just hoping it would work) he supported keith and pushed him into stepping into his new role.

the rest of the song is a lot more aggressive and i don’t think it fits keith and lance’s feelings towards each other. like even early season klance doesn’t have the same hatred as in the song but the bridge will always be lance to me

Dive In

“now i wanna be the tattoo ink that swims down through the needle in your skin”

PEAK ROMANCE‼️ i don’t have a lot of reason for this one but being tattoo ink in someone’s skin is like being with someone forever. it makes me think of the permanent scarring there were left with by the end of the series (keith’s face scar after returning to voltron and lance’s altean marks in the finale)

I Don’t Care If You’re Contagious

“And I don't care if you're sick. I don't care if you're contagious. I would kiss you even if you were dead”

this is not really based on any canon content. keith and lance are so deeply intertwined with each other without even knowing it. platonic or romantic, they care about each other. and i have very much think this insane devotion in this song feels like klance core

“I'm gonna tear out the thread one by one from your skin. Till your bones feel embarrassed from all the attention. Kiss me while I drive”

PEAK ROMANCE‼️‼️ this song just generally makes me think of ships i like because this song is full of love and devotion i love it

Even When I’m Not With You

“Even when I'm not with you, I'm still with you”

this always makes me think of when keith and lance get separated. especially when keith leaves voltron, he’s still with lance (especially bc i like to think about keith leaving lance with his red lion, giving lance a little piece of him). this can so be post-canon klance because i know they are still thinking about each other even though they’re off doing their own things

“Even when I think I hate you, I still love you”

even despite any fighting, bickering, and disputes, keith and lance always care about each other, wanting them to be able to work together as a team. especially with black paladin keith!!! lance is always trying to make things work because he’s passionate about voltron’s success (and by further extension, wanting keith to be a good leader)

“Look how far we've come. Think I've finally won”

vic fuentes “think i’ve finally won” is in reference to being able to settle down with his wife. and so like i think about this as klance. by the end of the series, they both got their ending (i don’t like lance’s ending i fear) but they actually are “winning” when they are together

notes: IM SORRY A LOT OF THESE ARE POORLY EXPLAINED :(( but i heart klance and ptv so much

my secret useless talent is that i can make any pierce the veil song be about klance

[thatbuddie]

you seriously cannot make this up: you have people reblogging fic featuring a racist character as half of the main ship in the morning then trying to give morality lessons in the evening by calling others homophobic over a joke.

THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE, BABES.

[soft-serve-soymilk]

More random head children musings (aside from the really sad one because that deserves better than a throwaway post):

Honestly I think it’s very fortunate that Dism’s team isn’t *entirely* comprised of lucid dreamers.

[gay-victorian-astronomer]

i would loveeee to hear ur kimnapping fic idea….

It's really not a super fleshed out idea— the most I have actually pinned down is 1) Kim (& maybe also Harry) gets kidnapped 2) some amount of whump occurs which involves 3) Kim Survivor's Guilt Kitsuragi being a self-sacrificial little shit and 4) mutual unrequited pining that the kidnapping situation forces them to resolve. Basically all of the details are up in the air— this makes great "think about at bedtime" material because I don't need to care about those. If I were to turn it into an actual fic I would need to actually iron those out.

Honestly the biggest plot hole is that I can't figure out who is kidnapping him and why— there's the old standby of Oh Shit It's the Moralintern, but that's also kind of already been done. It could be the Madre or one of the other besmerties— but I still need to figure out why. I like the idea of it being related to something in Harry's past— it plays nicely into the self-sacrificial themes I'd like to include if it's Kim getting caught in the crossfire of something, or the kidnappers using him as bait to get at Harry somehow... things I'd need to flesh out.

The only other little thing I want to make sure I include is somehow using Kim's notebook against him— I see that working well with the unrequited pining situation, especially if he's written stuff about having feelings for Harry in the notebook and the kidnapper reads it...

[truecorvid]

lord please forgive me i am getting into fights in tiktoks comments again