#Is this the reason I have barely any money….

[nortism]

I wanted to talk about @pilferingapples ‘s autistic Fantine headcanon that has been brought up in the Les Mis Letters server because it has rewired my brain and the more I think about it the more I can see my own experiences as an autistic woman reflected in Fantine’s story.

Fantine is introduced as being an outsider amongst the other grisettes. I think Hugo’s intention here was to paint her as innocent and virtuous in comparison to them but the way it reads to me is that she is someone who just can’t quite connect with her peers. She is described as being dreamy and “always having a queer look about her” in the words of Favourite.

The way Fantine is treated by the other girls rings very true to me as an autistic woman in my experience with friendship. She does consider the other grisettes her friends yet they speak cruelly about her behind her back (Favourite saying she puts on airs) and to her face (Dahlia mocking her for crying over a dead horse). Yet she offers no resistance, in fact she barely seems to acknowledge these things as offensive, because that’s just what being friends is.

The friendship between the four grisettes is shown to be truly shallow when after Tholomyes’ “prank”, they all go their separate ways, with Hugo saying it was like they’d never been friends in the first place. Realistically, one of the few examples of female friendship in the brick being portrayed as shallow and catty is most likely down to some lingering misogyny on Hugo’s part but it is something I find relatable as someone who has allowed myself to be treated poorly by others because I thought that’s how friendship was supposed to be. I’m sure a lot of other autistic people can relate to this as well.

Additionally, I think it’s interesting how the other grisettes criticisms of Fantine come down to her not acting in the expected way and fitting in with group. Favourite accuses her of putting on airs because she won’t swing like the other girls (therefore let the men look up her skirt). Dahlia laughs at her for getting emotional over the dead horse because her emotions are tainting the happy outing they’re all having. Fantine being empathetic towards animals isn’t an inherently autistic trait by itself but her inability to suppress her emotions or just go along with what everyone else is doing is something I think a lot of neurodivergent people can relate to.

Her relationship with Tholomyes is probably the biggest example of Fantine not understanding unspoken social rules. I’m no history expert and people have definitely written more in depth posts on the relationships between upper class men and working class women in France in this period but from what I’ve gathered it was understood that these relationships were purely transactional. The men got sex and attention and the women got gifts and nice days out to places they couldn’t afford by themselves. There’s more nuance than that I’m sure but that’s the gist.

We know the other three grisettes are aware of this aspect of the relationship. They are eager to receive a “surprise”, an expensive gift they could later sell on. Favourite flatters her lover to his face and says all the things he expects of her but confesses to the other girls that she doesn’t like him because he isn’t playing his role of spending money on her.

Fantine is seemingly oblivious to all of this. Maybe it’s her ostracisation from the other girls that is keeping her ignorant or maybe she knows how it is for them but genuinely believes she and Tholomyes are different. Either way it’s clear to me that her and Tholomyes have very different ideas about their relationship and that subtext has not been picked up by Fantine. For the record, this is completely on Tholomyes, even if he’s supposed to be playing the expected role, leaving his mistress without any financial aid for their child together is bad even by the standards of the time. However Fantine is definitely naïve.

Also if you read Fantine as autistic, her reasons for being in love with Tholomyes make a lot more sense. From Hugo’s description, it doesn’t seem like Tholomyes has many redeeming features: he’s balding and missing teeth, he’s a student in his thirties and he is in poor health. Yet he pays attention to Fantine, he flatters her and spends money to keep her in a nice apartment.

If we assume that Fantine is autistic and has spent her life being an outsider, this onslaught of affection would lead her to let her guard down and believe that this is what love should look like. Even without the autism, Fantine was an orphan, she didn’t have any examples of what a marriage was supposed to look like growing up so how could she possibly resist a man who seems to be doing and saying all the right things?

I think my conclusion is it doesn’t really matter if you want to read Fantine as being autistic or not. I think all the factors I’ve outlined in this post can be explained by her upbringing and her still being very young during her relationship with Tholomyes rather than having to be neurodivergence. However, I think looking at Fantine through an autistic lense has given me a new appreciation for the character and being an outsider in society, a big theme in Les Mis, is generally a relatable sentiment for neurodivergent people and I think it’s interesting to explore that in the context of Fantine.

[fakecrfan]

The Wickham Rule

If there was one piece of social advice I could make everyone on tumblr follow, it would be the social rule that I personally call "The Wickham Rule."

I codified this rule for myself after reading Pride and Prejudice and mulling over the character of George Wickham. Wickham, in the novel, is a man who immediately presents himself to the heroine with a sob story about how terribly he's been mistreated by Mr. Darcy.

Elizabeth is naturally inclined to be sympathetic to him, for a variety of social reasons. But it turns out to be bullshit. Wickham has left out the key detail that he tried to groom and elope with Darcy's 15 year old sister.

Wickham's social strategy here is clear in hindsight.

He identifies an audience and group that will be inclined to be receptive.

He frontloads his first impression with the image of being victimized, so that his target will feel sorry for him (and thus will feel bad if they are suspicious. "Poor Mr. Wickham! He doesn't deserve people questioning him on top of everything else!")

He poisons the well against previous people who might have (truthful!) bad things to say about him.

Wickham later pulls a similar trick with Elizabeth's 16 year old sister that he did with Darcy's, sleeping with her and then extorting money before he marries her.

So what is the rule, then? Well, it's simply this.

Don't automatically trust people who frontload their sob story at you.

I am serious. People will try to weaponize sympathy to get things from you. Not everyone who tells you a sob story is doing this, but when someone you barely know does it right away, you should ask yourself a few things.

Is this an appropriate time and place for them to bring this up?

Is there a valid reason for them to bring this up? Were they asked? Or did they start to go off about it without a launching point?

Is there something they have to gain by bringing this up?

Does this story require another person who can't easily defend themselves to be the bad guy?

Special note: they may be autistic or have bad social skills. This does not mean they are not trying to manipulate you. Autistic people or other people with bad social acuity will, on occasion, still try to manipulate people to get things, same as any other person. And they might be better at it than you expect.

Now of course, even if the answer is yes to all of these questions it doesn't mean they're lying or trying to get something from you. But it's something you should keep in mind as a possibility.

It also doesn't mean you should immediately act hostile or suspicious! The appropriate response to this sort of behavior is something like "That sounds rough, I am so sorry," without investing your automatic trust or belief into this person.

[changbinsboobs]

Now I’m invested 🥱 who do u think is ideal type of each members from what u acquired by your readings and perspectives you have of them

Skz ideal types examples

(Not entirely tarot confirmed)

Well for chan i did one already + megan fox is SOOO his type🤌🏻👏🏻 i also think he likes salma hayek.

For Lee know - i can't think of any idol that would be his ideal type physically cuz tbh i don't remember anymore what it was, but personality wise i think he would be into someone like suga, soyeon and...thats about the people i can think off😅 sadly i don't really watch much variety shows and know barely anything about anyones personalities aside from skz and maybe a bit of bts cuz i used to be really i to them years ago.

Changbin - chaewon (le sserafim), sophia kataeye, tzuyu, most aoa members, he really likes jimin i think he might've had a crush on her or something, her and chaewons cards were the only ones showing crush vibes, not just ideal type. He also really likes Chanmi, other honorable mentions are hyejeong, seolhyun, yuna, min...wait...i think he likes all of them now that i properly look at it again. Cuz now i see he really liked choa too but he seemed out of reach or something? Like he didn't have a chance with her? (As if he did with the others🥲) (don't come at me i think he was just a teen when he liked them) (and yes his is long i did like 10 readings on him deal with it) oh and surprisingly the itzy girls are also very much his type as well apart from yeji. Ryujin fits with him a lot personality wise, he has fantasized about chaeryong some time (probably in the past), he likes lia's sassiness ( he likes sassy bossy classy women, im seeing slavic russian trophy wife vibes) he likes yuna overall, probably especially physically, and for yeji there's not much, he's just unsure about her, doesn't really grab him, isnt really his style.

Also honorable mentions that i didn't read on but assume for him are: go minsi, kristine froseth & lucy hale in pll, also maybe satah hyland, alexa damie

Hyunjin - for him the ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE ideal type im seeing is HUNTER SCHAEFER!!!!!! I think she's the PERFECT!!! Example. She just looks aethereal, classy, beautiful, tall and slender just georgous! When i think of his ideal type this is what pops up in my head. Also dome honorable mentions are: esther exposito (before her new face), rachel mcaddams, kristine froseth, grace van dien, maybe that model that was in every movie a decade ago. I forgot her name she was the witch in suicide squat and in paper towns. Or that other model that was very popular back then, i think she was an angel and her name had something like taylor, or turner in it??? Ugh sry cant rememebr.

Han - not really seeing much there as i havent really picked up on his type too but for some reason i imagine japanese people in a rock band or something of that sort😂 also tell me why im thinking of alice in birderland😂 maybe he really likes the series or likes someone from there. ...oh...ok...nvm. Moving on!

Felix - chaeyoung from twice, barbie fererra from euphoria, maybe hyuna?, hwasa, halsey?, grimes, avril lavigne, bebe rhexa, the bug empath girl from guardians of the galaxy. Ik those are all so random...but people kept popping up into my head i thought i should put it in here, i don't think its all that random at all.

Seungmin - Wonyeong! Nana, anna hathaway, also suddenly im thinking of sandra bullock😂, seo yeji

I.n - arin from singles inferno 4! Absolutely😤, iu, son yejin, tokyo from money heist (both korean and spanish ones, and of course someone that gives sugar mommy vibes but i can't think of anyone like that right now.

[mayasaurusss]

Trigger warning ⚠️ sorry if you don’t feel comfortable writing this, you can just ignore it but can you do jinx hurt/comfort & or smut with a fem reader who has s/h scars that she sees for the first time. Comfort and praise please thank you

Contents: self harm. A/N: hello anon! I decided to make this a sfw story, because I didn't feel to comfortable intermixing smut with self harm. Ps. I know that ending is corny as hell, but it felt cute to add😂.

"Come on, just let me help you" Jinx pleads with you, begging for you to just listen to her. She had been trying for the past minutes to medicate those bruises that an enforcer had so generously left you, but you, as stubborn as ever, had always turned her down, not allowing any room for challenge. You had been avoiding her, obsessivley clenching your arm and hiding it from her. "I'd rather you not..." you mumble, desperate to get Jinx's attention off of you.

"What? Got something to hide, toots?" you make an effort to not look in her eyes as she asks that.

Now, Jinx knows herself to be a pretty stressed person, always overthinking everything in her life. So, she had made herself the promise to relax a bit, just so, you know, she wouldn't look like an overbearing asshole. But her sixth sense tingles the moment you don't answer to her right away. Did you really had something to hide?

She was already about to make another one of those comments of hers, when she notices the look in your eyes. You seem sad, stressed and almost... embarassed? With a saddned look in her eyes, Jinx approaches you, taking your hands in hers. "Hey, just so you know, whatever it is, you don't have to tell me" she says, hoping that your mood will change. "No, no. You were bound to see it eventually". You take a moment to breathe, before exposing your skin to the bluenette. Jinx wathces memersized as you peel off your sweater, expecting to see purple bruises. Well, she does see them, but she didn't expect to see a streak of red lines running orizzontally on your wrist. It doesn't hit her immediatley that what she's watching are scars. She takes your forearm with her figners, pushing it closer to her so she can see better. "I... I didn't know" her voice is barely audible, you don't know wether from regret or pain. "How could you?" you answer truthfully. There is no way she could have known any of this. You had purpousefully hid your arms from her, turned down any attempt of hers to see more of you.

"I... why?" and there comes the question. Why? "There was no reason for it. It just... felt right, when I did it". Pain, mostly, you think that's the answer.

Jinx lets go of your arm, trying to distract herself by looking at the chipped paint coming off of her nails, digging their borders into her skin. "Are you ok now?" you almost couldn't hear her. "Maybe, I am not sure" it's the truth. You don't know if you are okay, but surely with her-. Before you can even see her, Jinx has you in her arms, tightening her hold on you with such strenght that you might choke. One of her ear is pressed against your ribcage, listening to your heartbeat. She snuggles closer to you, then moves so that her head is firmly placed in the crook of your neck. "I-I am sorry. I'll always be here for you" she says, her words as warmas a gentle candle's fire. You can feel your eyes wet with tears and fight them back, but they simply slide off of your cheeks as you try to hide them in Jinx's hair. "I know you will, Jinx". You stay like that for a while, basking in eachother's presence, before you hear Jinx huff out. She moves away from your arms. "Well, I think you earned yourself something nice to drink. Let's go". Go? Where? "But... I don't have any money" she laughs a bit, gathering some stuff from her desk. You don't miss to see her gun, carefully tucked in her pants. "Oh come on toots. We don't need 'em. I always get free stuff!".

"And how do you do that?". The bluenette turns around witht hat dumb smile of hers, winking at you. "I am Jinx".

[ahyperactivehero]

☢☢☢

(hello there friend! since you were the only one so far to request a fallout snippet you get a bit of a longer one!)

X

Edwin tried to run, but Simon and his friends were faster. Hands gripped him– his arms, his shoulders, even his legs as they lifted him up, up, up. He could hear them cackling, a crazed, keyed-up laugh that he could only associate with young boys being as cruel as they could be.

A door whooshed open, compressed air filling Edwin’s ears for a moment before he was airborne. His flight came to an abrupt end as he slammed into the ground, the metal flooring biting into his elbows and knees.

With another whoosh the door closed, locking him in. 

“This isn’t funny!” Edwin said, immediately racing for the door. He banged his fists against the solid metal as he stared at Simon through the tiny window. It was barely bigger than his face. “Let me out!” They were all going to be in very serious trouble if anyone found them fooling around like this.

His cruel smile only grew as Simon waved, clearly intent on leaving him here.

Edwin didn’t even know where here was. It was clearly some sort of holding cell, although what RobCo Industries needed with a holding cell he was unsure. 

Then again, they had been partnering more and more with the military. That was part of the reason he and Simon’s families had been invited to tour the facility in the first place. Military and money, that was all it took for RobCo to open their doors. Who cared if it was British money, they could be allies as long as they were willing to shell out.

“Simon,” Edwin said, pleading for him one last time. 

For a moment, Edwin thought he might open the door. A sympathetic look came over his face, one that was quickly replaced when a group of scientists started to approach.

“What are you boys doing down here?” a man asked, his voice scratchy and angry. 

Their excuses came out in a splutter of sorry and we’ll go now. Unescorted guests should cause a full lock down, the whole place should shutter itself tight until they figured out who and where the boys had come from.

It would seem the man was merciful. 

“Get out of my sight,” he said and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Edwin’s peers practically tripped over themselves in their haste to get away.

Edwin froze as the man turned towards him and checked out his clipboard. “Get the prisoner ready for surgery,” he said to the Mr. Handy floating next to him. “We’re already behind schedule.”

Prisoner? 

The Mr. Handy moved towards Edwin’s cell, its floating limbs twisting and rotating until a needle was selected and ready. It gave a small test squirt, some sort of liquid spraying out from it as it approached his door.

“Wait, please,” Edwin said. “I am not a prisoner. I’m not!” He backed away from the door, as if that might stop either one of them from getting any closer. “You have the wrong person!”

The door opened and the Mr. Handy filled the entryway. He thought about making a run for it, but he hadn’t even been able to outrun Simon. What hope did he have against this robot assistant?

The man sighed and folded his arms behind his. Sa’al was printed on his nametag and Edwin wondered if that was his real name or if it were a misprint. “That’s what they all say, kid. Sorry.”

X

Make Me Write Game

[blondphobic]

in celebration of my 1st anniversary as a lads player, i’m sharing my ranking of the current love interests and some random thoughts on them, not that anybody asked or care about

1st place of course comes Rafayel, I wouldn’t be exaggerating saying he’s everything I like in a otome character, he’s SO charismatic, caring, funny, passionate, a switch (jeez who wrote that?), endearing and more, he caught my eye the moment I started playing the game, I adore his dynamic with mc, I’m very fond of flirty banter and they delivered.

he’s so complex and by coincidence I wrote this quite-long-but-not-as-long-as-the-original-draft post yesterday about how people simplify his character’s internal conflict and that he’s much MUCH more than most fans seems to give him credit, I didn’t even know today was gonna be my 1st anniversary, I found out because they sent me celebrative messages, I wrote that just because I fucking love Rafayel. I love you, Rafayel!

2nd place comes Xavier, I’ve been in a Xav phase recently, I can’t really say why because I actually don’t know, I’m just in a Xavier mood, I like his personality and his interactions with MC, he’s very tender, friendly and sweet, I really like that, the jealousy thing kinda activates my fight or flight but I chose to overlook it since he isn’t my main and another LIs gonna step into the 2nd place next month anyway.

3rd place is Zayne, I almost put him on 2nd because I really really like Zayne but it’s more in a “we’re besties” way, love his personality, he’s very kind and considerate, I unaronically think he’s really funny and he’s such a sweetheart with MC, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ love this guy.

4th place’s Sylus, he was actually 2nd place for some months but somehow ended in 4th here, proving that except for Rafa, my ranking changes constantly, I really appreciate him tho, he’s a very charismatic character. like Zayne he just wouldn’t work for me at long term, he’s too daddy dom archetype for my personal taste, every time he calls MC “kitten” I get the ick.

5th place and surprising no one, comes Caleb for a bunch of reasons (but not the reasons people imagine I would have), not only he just got added to the game and we barely got time to grow attached to him yet but because being honest (and controversial), I find him kinda boring.

I’m not very fond of childhood friends to lovers so this end up influencing my opinion on him, I dislike how this trope relies on fake nostalgia over moments the characters shared together and forget the fact that I, the real person playing the game, wasn’t there and therefore have no emotional connection to this character. He always going “remember when you did that?” “remember how we use to do that?” no, I don’t.

Caleb was on scream for like 5 minutes then fucking exploded now he’s back acting psycho, Infold is giving me zero to none time to build any fondness for him so for me he’s just a rando who’s trying to kidnap me, I get he went through some brainwashing shit but since I don’t know him his betrayal just doesn’t hit like it suppose to hit. I didn’t felt betrayed, I felt disgusted.

also I can’t lie, overprotective men aren’t for me, even before being brainwashed Caleb was already too much for my liking, I already have enough people in my real life who think they know what is best for me more than I do, I don’t need this energy in my silly lil hot men game, if I wake up one day feeling like spending time with a man who’s overprotective to the point of being overbearing I can just hang out with my dad.

that being said I don’t hate him, my heart is forgiven when it come to characters if they’re well-written, Infold made a good job with all of them to this point so there still hope for Caleb, Sylus was lowkey a cunt in the beginning too and everyone seems to have forgotten by now

as a bonus, my expectations to the 6th LI: I want him to be related to Ever but I don’t want him to be a ceo because that would be very boring, there’s nothing sexy about making money by exploiting workers and Sylus kinda already fill the ceo archetype, I would prefer a guy who is/was a scientist working for Ever but he discovered things he didn’t suppose to discover and now wants to leave, something along those lines, we also need a sub character because the girlies who aren’t into the dom daddies are clearly in disadvantage, give us someone even more needy than Rafayel, give us a man who’s so pathetic. He having colored hair would be cool too.

also I want to propose we start referring to the LIs as “the lads” because refereeing to them as “LIs” sounds cold to me and calling them lads is goofy so it’s makes me laugh

[3dogbones]

Wrong Organ should come out with a jimmy plushy so I can drown it in my sink and then throw it around my walls. They would get so much money from people just buying it to TORTURE JIMMY.

I also kinda want a Daisuke shirt. THAT WOULD BE SO COOL OH WRONG ORGAN PLEASE ON MY HANDS AND KNEES PRAYING MAKE MERCH PLEASE

[icewindandboringhorror]

... why he sit like this

[sybbi]

"If enough of us vote third party for president, we could actually GET somewhere with our policy goals!"

Baby girl you can't even get a majority of third party/independents in a single state legislature. In the past 30 years there have been seven independent/third party state governors, and of those, only three were genuinely independent. The rest either got elected as a R/D and switched mid-term when they alienated themselves from their state party, got elected as I and then switched to R/D during their terms (with some of them having served the R/D parties before), or served as proxy candidates with heavy backing and support from one of the major two parties. Even VERMONT, a relative stronghold for independent/third party candidates -- the place that brought you Bernie Sanders -- doesn't have a majority of third party candidates. And when I call them a stronghold, I mean they are the only state (I know of) that consistently elects (less than a handful of) Independent candidates to the state legislature; the place is still dominated by Ds and Rs.

"The highest power in the land can't actually be voted on so there's no reason to vote for the democrats"

Hey princess here are some high school civics question for you: How are Supreme Court judges nominated? :) By what process are they appointed? Who starts that process? :) Why is the Supreme Court considered reflective of who has won the presidency? :)

[lovelesslittleloser]

People should be more afraid of asexuals, because they’re the only people that are immune to one of the seven deadly sins

[m00ngbin]

I'm trying to pick a major that I would be the most interested in just because it would make my life so much easier and right now I have like three ideas and they all have a million problems

[jimalim]

There are so so many reasons I've decided I'll be phasing out my etsy in the new year, but one that's very high atop my list is when customers who buy a single sticker ask me if there's tracking information cause "it's been a while" and they haven't gotten it.

1. As stated in my store policies. All FREE SHIPPING items mail in a self addressed stamped envelope. Unless you want me to have to charge an extra 5 dollars (cause yeah that's how much it would cost to send a mailer) there's no tracking.

2. The USPS is running on fumes due to government underfunding, cuts to employees as well as service centers etc. It's gonna be slow any time of the year, ESPECIALLY so around the holidays.

3. I'm not Amazon. I can't guarantee 2 day shipping, and send out free replacements anytime it isn't delivered ASAP. Have some damn patience.

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

thinking about nora again

[rosicheeks]

I hope your days aren't as heavy and dark, I am sending all the positive thoughts your way. You deserve the best, fairy princess. <3

😭

[highraccoon]

it's so fun when the people who took everything from you claim to be the real victims. like, y'all want to dump a years-long friendship in a dumpster fire just cause you're in a romantic relationship and that's the only thing that matters to you, go fucking ahead. but don't pretend to be the victim when you were the one who destroyed it.

you don't get to take literally everything from me and claim that you were the real victim when the only thing you didn't take was the skin off my bones.

[airsigh]

.