#The kid I can understand because they're a kid

[spiderace]

Today a Tumblrite helpfully described a human behavior that sketches me out severely and has since I was around 10. Because like. You HAVE to regulate your emotions much more strictly around little kids and dogs. They're not equipped to understand an adult's emotions like an adult is. Obviously OP is correct about this.

The problem comes when someone else decides this is a life hack for dealing with older kids and other adults, too. Then they achieve just enough authority in life that the people they're using it on can't tell them they're obvious and creepy and insincere. The person under such authority just has to toe the line until they

move up out of Mrs. H's class in 1996

Modify their behavior so they can stop going to the counselor

gain enough masking skills to hide their autism

are able to escape the situation.

I want to apologize to my friends and family who have children for low key treating their kids like dogs but the standard methods for training dogs are even more effective of them because they actually understand language and are better at reasoning.

Positive reinforcement is amazingly effective, like I saw my nephew poking their cat so I sternly told him no, he stopped and I immediately changed my demeanor and cheerfully told him thank you and how happy I was that he listened to me instead of staying angry at him and he got this strange “Oh…It actually does make a difference wether I’m naughty or not” and later my sister in law asked why he’s so polite around me.

That’s literally what works best on dogs. Let them know when you don’t like what they’re doing but also let them know when you’re happy with them even if that means changing your demeanor on a dime (and even if you’re still a bit mad at them for doing it in the first place).

Oh and little treats. I skipped the aunt phase and is already turning into a grandma who has candy in her pockets for the kiddos for good behavior.

[witherby]

I really want to see Littlest Wayne having more interactions with the justice league, especially Hal! That bit of him getting emotional after the baby says his name was adorable 😭

You don't have to tell me twice. Get ready to get a lot of uncles and aunts 🤭 featuring more Bruce x Hal because I'm shameless

Slightly spoilerly warning: ⚠️ Emetophobia ⚠️

The Littlest Wayne: Meet the Team

Masterlist is Here!

"Oh! No. No, I don't — I'm good, actually. No thanks."

Clark gives Hal a curious look, but doesn't try to pass you over to him after that initial rejection. He smiles down at you and goes back to gently tracing the tip of his finger up and down the bridge of your nose. Your eyes droop almost immediately, then you're asleep a minute later.

"They're beautiful, Bruce," Diana says, clapping a hand against his back. Bruce, to his credit, barely stumbles.

"No names in costume," he says.

"You literally brought us your infant child to coo at," Barry chimes in, cracking open a bag of chips. "They're in a Cookie Monster onesie. I think we can let it slide just the once."

"Hnn," Bruce mutters. He lets the edges of his cape fall over his chest, cloaking his limbs and torso until he looks like one, solid shape. "Only the once."

Barry grins, zipping past him to stand in front of Clark and gush over your snoozing form. Oliver held you for a minute when Bruce first showed up to introduce you to the team, then Dinah stole you from him and peppered kisses all over your face until you were squealing with laughter. J'onn carefully held you how he was instructed and told everyone you were thinking about how colorful they each looked. Arthur jokingly asked if Bruce wanted him to baptize you. Arthur swiftly lost his baby privileges. Then Diana held you kind of like someone weighing a ham, nodded once, called you "phenomenal," and handed you off to Clark, where you currently remain.

It was a little curious to see Hal so vehemently refuse to hold you when, as far as Bruce can see, he hasn't taken his eyes off you the whole time you've been in the Watchtower. Even more curiously, before Clark did that little nose trick to get you to sleep, you'd been staring right back at him.

Bruce could go Full Investigation Mode on this, but he understands that it might be a bit much to do to someone he's only been seeing for, like, ten weeks. They haven't even talked about labels yet.

So he does a small guilt trip instead.

Just a small one. Microscopic, really.

Completely harmless.

When he holds out his arms for you, Clark reluctantly surrenders, and you snuggle up to your father with a soft huff. Bruce delicately thumbs over your cheek, taking a moment to admire you, then carries you over to Hal and puts his very harmless plan into motion.

"It's a shame you hate my baby."

Hal looks like he got shot. Guilt Trip Plan: 6/10, too traumatizing. Refine for future use.

"I'm kidding," Bruce says, trying to cushion the blow. "Calm down."

"Jesus, Spooky," Hal mutters, rubbing his temples, "do you ever just ask normal questions outright?"

"Of course I do," Bruce says. "Last night, when we were both free, I asked you if you were interested in having se—"

"Okay!" He waves his hands, glancing at you with panicked eyes, which Bruce finds absurd. You're barely old enough to comprehend the fact that you have a body, let alone the ability to start processing language. You don't even know your name. You do kind of recognize Bruce's voice, but mainly when he's changing or feeding you, and only by his tone. It's all just senseless noise for you, otherwise, stimuli you allow to wash over you without putting conscious thought to it.

Bruce sighs and takes a smaller step closer to Hal. Hal takes a step back.

"I'm very curious about where this is coming from," Bruce says, choosing to be blunt. "You're fantastic with children, in and out of costume."

He takes another step forward. Hal takes another step back.

"Yeah, sure — kids and stuff — not babies," Hal says. "Kids can walk and talk and aren't...y'know, breakable."

"The baby isn't made of glass, Lantern."

One step forward. One step back.

"I know that! But they're also, y'know...just there. Kids are just tiny people. Babies are babies."

One step forward. One step back.

"I feel obligated to inform you that babies are also classified as people. They have social security numbers, birth certificates —"

One step forward. One step back.

"You know what I meant, don't get smart with me."

"I'm trying to know what you mean, actually. It's not like you don't want to hold them, I can see in your face that you do. The question is why you won't."

One step forward. One step back.

"Bruce, I need you to turn that gorgeous detective brain off for ten seconds and realize how intense you're being. I'm literally being backed into a corner."

Bruce stops walking. Hal can't walk back anymore because he's flush against the wall. Oops.

He acquiesces with a step back and turns his focus back on you. Your eyes are twitching under the lids. He wonders what you're dreaming about.

"This child is mine," Bruce says quietly. "I'm not asking you to step up and play stepfather, Hal, but this is a package deal. Them, and my boys. If that's too much...if that's a deal breaker —"

"Oh," Hal says, "no. Hey, no, of course it isn't! I'm not like that, B, I'm just — I've never — ugh."

He wills the domino mask away so he can rub his eyes, groaning, then shakes his head.

"They always puke!"

Bruce pauses. Thinks. Comes up empty. "Elaborate."

"Babies! Every time I hold a baby, they vomit on me. It's like some horrible magic trick or something, but I swear to you, I've never held a baby and it be able to keep its formula down."

Hal looks very distressed as he admits this, gesturing emphatically to get his point across. Bruce finds it endearing.

"Babies are the most adorable things on the planet. You think I don't wanna take them from you and snuggle up on the couch all day? I do! But they're gonna hurl about it!"

"Okay."

"I swear I'm not lyi— okay?"

"Okay," Bruce says. "I don't want you to get puked on, and I don't want to clean up more baby vomit than I have to. It stains absolutely everything it touches. It's a nightmare." He shifts his weight, rocking you slowly when you start to fuss. Is it a bad dream, or do you feel stuffy in the onesie? He'll take you home and get you down in the crib, soon. "But that's good to know. We'll figure something out."

"We will?" Hal says. "You aren't upset?"

"No. In fact, thank you for admitting it. I would have been pissed if you made my baby spit up and didn't warn me ahead of time."

Hal snorts. Bruce cracks a small smile, looking back down at your sleeping form. You seem to be settling again.

"So you'll have to wait a little longer to say hi to uncle Hal," he murmurs. "That's fine."

"Sorry for eavesdropping, but if he's Uncle Hal, can I be Uncle Clark?" The Kryptonian asks, almost shyly as he floats over. "Also, I didn't make the baby spit up. Can I hold 'em again?"

"We get to be uncles?? Hell yesssss," Barry says, pumping his fist.

"I will be the most impressive uncle among you," Diana declares, cracking her knuckles. "How do we battle for such a title?"

"You're an Auntie, Di."

"Then I will be the most impressive auntie among you."

"I think we're all just gonna let you have that one. You win."

Diana smiles, triumphant.

[rookflower]

a lot of "why are we hating on fernsong he's a good boy :(" energy pops up whenever people start getting more critical or petty about ivyfern but it's like. no i truly get it. he is her personalityless nothingburger heteronormative husband she was unceremoniously slapped together with for next gen kids, and the fandom LOVES him because of one scene that implies the bare minimum of decent fatherhood (not even shown on screen. doesnt come to fruition) that suddenly means their offscreen relationship is queering up gender norms or whatever and the best leap for feminism in the series. if i was an ivypool stan id be bitter about that too wtf

[liketolaugh-writes]

I know I focus a lot on Danny's complicated relationship with his parents, but there's really not enough on how messy his relationship with his friends can be.

Because in some ways, they are the best friends. They're amazing. There is no amount of crazy, no amount of terrifying, no amount of danger that can make them abandon him. They are ride or die to the end.

But they are also such teenagers.

And that's fine! They're allowed to be! It doesn't make them bad people or even bad friends. But God, these two are Danny's only support system, and emotionally speaking, they can be... kind of unreliable.

Because both of them? Are constantly trampling on Danny's feelings. Which Danny has a lot of, all the time, because his life is awful, and Sam and Tucker... don't really seem to respect that. (Again, perfectly understandable! They're teenagers and they've become used to this as their new normal.)

Every time Danny breaks down from the stress (WHICH HAPPENS A LOT) Sam and Tucker bitch about it, and his behavior, and how rude he's being. Whenever he's in a bad mood, he's a buzzkill, he's belligerent. When he's doing something just for himself, he's abandoning them, he's irresponsible. A lot of times, during intensely traumatic events, they openly blame him for what's happening.

(In fact, Sam and Tucker are a big part of why I hold 'struggles to assert himself' as a cornerstone of Danny's character.)

And they're kids, it's not their job to be Danny's therapists or his emotional sponge, and they should absolutely not be his sole source of support... but it's also so, so bad for him. Have I mentioned that Danny's life is a nightmare of abuse conditioning? Because it is.

And this is of course not the only or even the most important aspect of their friendship! But it's such a recurring theme (both with them and in Danny's life in general) that I'd love to address it at some point.

[mirrorcatcreditcard]

Things I think the fandom just willfully ignores or has no idea about that would be super easy to slip into your fanfiction if you want to be inclusive and try out new things.

Lucifer just likes shibari, nawajutsu, or some form of rope tying art, and there's nothing inherently sexual about the excitement it brings him. He's a sadist too, but attraction to the other party would only add to the experience, not be necessary or a byproduct.

Belphegor could age regress and nobody would really be the wiser because of his position as coddled/spoiled youngest child. Even if they were, it doesn't change anything, really.

Beelzebub can fuck. He's also a cannibal. Do I need to say the vore word for you to understand how underutilized food/gore as a love language would be with him? No, it doesn't need to be sexual either, but goddamn so many keep treating him like UwU baby when he kills demons in cold blood because he hungy

Asmodeus is any gender or sexuality you want him to be. Lust ≠ attraction, and you can make him asexual. He's pretty free with how he presents. Also, his fans are so desperate for nice content on him that they'll take anything too. Nobody is going to kill you over this.

Mammon's greed can also be depicted as someone who wants to monopolize your time and/or affections. He attempts plenty of times in canon.

Barbatos' strongest attachment is Diavolo, but he does care about other beings. As long as they're not getting in the way of Diavolo, he's allowed to show care in his own way goddamnit. He's not an ice statue.

Mammon is allowed to be a non-sexual masochist. I don't know why people think all kinks are sexual, BUT HE'S ALLOWED.

I just want to take a moment to acknowledge bloodlust counting as a lust.

Luke is a genuinely deep character with a compelling story and important appearances, and you will be doing better than 99% of the fandom if you just acknowledge that he's more than just a kid who tags along and whines when he's scared (like all kids do when they're his age btw). Kicking him to the side is just another child discrimination case, and you can just say you don't understand him...

Almost everyone if not everyone has had a 1-on-1 in this series, and you're allowed to write about that scenario that "seems ooc" because there's someone out there who wishes that they could write who wants to see them interact, and they haven't found you because you haven't made yourself known.

I think over 75% of the cast has what humans would call a trauma disorder, and you guys have got to stop ignoring the fact that Solmare usually just brushes over stuff that genuinely affects them to keep the plot going. They've done it since the beginning, even before the cursed lesson 16.

Non-character-specific stuff under the cut:

You can headcanon and write any character that you want to as aromantic or on the spectrum. Also, news flash: familial, platonic, romantic, and sexual are not the only relationship labels to exist. Go look up "alterous attraction" if you wanna do something that would line up with, you know, emotions that aren't all centered around how our society depicts stuff.

If they're all built like that and inherently different from humans, neurodivergence may not exist to demons but have fun with the headcanons anyways. The world is your oyster.

[parkerloves]

THE SWIFT THEOREM || JMM21 x Teammate!GN!Reader

paring: pepe marti x teammate!gn!reader

type: fluff

request?: yess based on this one

summary: Campos decides to test if his two Formula 2 drivers are able to distinguish between Taylor Swift and Shakespeare and after seeing the horrible knowledge that your teammate has about your favorite singer you decide to take him to one of her concerts to educate him a little bit

word count: 1.3 K

fc; n/a

warnings: bullying towards pepe because he doesn't what he's saying, some spanish and nickname, it turns romantic after y/n post

[masterlist]

Campos had not long ago decided to join the small trend of putting their drivers to do different challenges so that the fans could see more of them even outside the track.

That day it was you and Pepe's turn, you two arrived at the filming set talking casually and without having any idea about what you were going to have to do that day, so after taking over the large chair in the room, you looked at the camera.

“So what are we doing today?” you asked as Pepe sat down on the chair next to you after bringing it close enough for his knee to gently bump into you. 

“You're going to have to guess whether these quotes we're giving you are from a Taylor Swift song or a Shakespeare play” Your pr manager explained, laughing softly as she saw your excitement at the mention on behalf of the British singer. 

“That's not fair! Y/n is like Taylor's biggest fan!”

“Say it right, it's called being a swiftie” You corrected him simply to annoy him, causing him to stick his tongue out at you like a little kid to which you did the same laughing.

It didn't take long for the crew to nag you to get serious and start shooting the video, but they had gotten themselves into it by getting you to shoot together, after all you had been inseparable since the beginning of the season.

When they finally got you to focus on the day's task, they gave you a few seconds before letting you know you could talk.

“Hi guys, welcome to a new Youtube video! I'm Y/n Y/l/n” You introduced yourself as you did every time it was your turn to record.

“And I'm Pepe Marti” The boy followed you almost immediately. "And today we're going to play Shakespeare or Taylor Swift” He said, holding up the small papers he had in his hand.

“Basically in these cards there are some lyrics or words and we have to guess if it’s from Taylor o Shakespeare”

“I think it's going to be quite easy” Pepe said, reading the first card to himself “So first one... Give me no compasses, gave me no signs.”

You quickly identified that it was from a Taylor song, but let your partner give his opinion first.

“So any guesses?” 

“It sounds old, especially the word compasses... So Shakespeare?” he guessed tilting his head to the side before looking to know your verdict.

“Nope, that's from invisible string, definitely.”

Pepe just nodded slowly as he always did when he really didn't understand what you were saying.

“It's from the album Folklore” You tried to explain although you knew from his face that he still didn't know what you were talking about '“Let's go with the next one” You took the next piece of paper from him reading it out loud “They say she was seen on occasion, Pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea” You looked at him waiting for his opinion on this lyrics

“Okay now that has to be shakespeare, it's way too long to be a line of a song” He stated with his own deduction, though seeing your frown he quickly changed his mind “I mean is definitely Taylor”

“So as you can see they're making me work with a cheater” You said looking at the camera after giving him a little whack on the head with the papers.

“sush you love me” He blew you a kiss to which you rolled your eyes as he took the next sentence out of your hands '“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind” He read again, and very slowly, as if that would help him understand the phrase better “love equals Taylor, definitely”.

“Nah that's Shakespeare, I don't recognize that”

“This doesn't make sense like at all” He wrinkled his nose looking at the other one of paper, tossing it aside

“Stop crying come on” You pushed him gently laughing before reading the next “I do love nothing in the world so well as you.”

“If that's not Shakespeare i'm quitting”

“As far as i now...” You spoke to give a little mystery to the subject “That's correct?” You said looking at the people behind the camera, and when they confirmed yes you couldn't help laughing at Pepe's celebration.

“Now i'm on fire, give me the next one” Pepe took the rest of the papers from you.

“You just got one ri-”

“Shhh” He covered your mouth before clearing his throat so he could continue with the video ‘Everyone we know understands why it's meant to be’ He decided to play it cool and pretend to think about it ‘This is my friend Shakespeare again’ He said a little too confidently 

“Pretty sure that's Tortured Poets Department”

“Wasn't that film called Dead Poets algo?” You had no choice but to judge him with your eyes before you scolded him.

“You're talking about something else, what i told you is one of Taylor's albums” You denied to which Pepe gave you a little sneer before you threatened him with your eyes.

“ Okay sorry sorry, don't kill me” He laughed raising both hands.

“Next one,Though she be but little, she is fierce.” You read out loud looking at him for him to answer first as usual.

“Really? I thought i had it, god sake” He jerked back in the most dramatic way possible making you laugh once again.

“That gives me Taylor vibes, the fierce part at least.”

“I don't remember that song”

You threw the next piece of paper in his face to get him to concentrate again on what you were doing.

“Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits” He recited still lying down and as he slowly sat up ”Yeah this is not coming from a man in th s. xix”

For that comment it didn't take long for him to be scolded while you laughed at his screw up next to him, knowing that clip wouldn't make it into the video.

“I mean” He cleared his throat as you went back to recording ”That sounds like Shakespeare because…” He got a menacing look from his manager again “I say so”

“Wow, two out of seven” You said with a little chuckle ”You completely suck"

You took the last part so you could finish the video at once.

“And finally” You did a drum roll on your teammate's leg which besides giving you the opportunity to beat him up for the barbarities he had said throughout the video ”The course of true love never did run smooth.”

“Please tell me that's Taylor”

“Sorry darling, wrong again” You laughed softly before looking at the camera in case you had gotten confused, but confirming that you hadn't, you proceeded to say goodbye ”Well here ends this constant stab for me, because i thought i had taught him better”

“I wasn't that bad”

“Yeah it was, but don't worry people, i'll teach him properly”

A few days passed since the publication of that video, and the joke was still quite present between the two of you, and especially among your fans, so your new publication during the summer break, despite catching you by surprise, was very welcome.

yourusername has posted!

liked by pepemartiofficial, yourbff and 10,754,475

yourusername: he's learing the hard way now

tagged: pepemartiofficial

pepemartioffical: dios, thanks for making her not let this go

user1: WE NEEDED THIS, SHUT UPP user2: my fav duo stoppp user3: i just love themmm

camposracing: love seeing more pepy/n content!!

user4: same here admin, same here

yourbff: just kiss already

user5: listen to themm!!!

Pepe as soon as he saw you with the phone he took it out of your hands, after all he was there for you, and to avoid you to start complaining, he silenced anything you could say kissing you, which used to be his secret weapon, the problem is that you still could not say that you were together, so he had to endure all your criticism in his direction, although it was not so bad to see how you laughed at his expense if he could see you happy.

"will you stop bullying me?"

"maybe" you chuckled against his lips "don't think so tho"

[winterchestnut]

My opinion of you based on your main love interest, but this time, it's personal. (Post Jan. 10 live stream)

Xavier mains: Hello, my neurodivergent pookie. Have you taken your meds today? You have dyslexia, autism, ADHD, or some mixture of the three. You have niche interests, which not a lot of people can understand or get into. And it all makes you feel alone. You are kind and friendly to everyone, but does anyone reciprocate?¿ 🤨

Zayne mains: The burnt out gifted kid. You're tired of taking care of everyone else and just want someone else to take care of you now. Possibly the oldest daughter of the family.

Rafayel mains: Also burnt out gifted kid. But you don't want to be taken care of. It's the rest of the world that needs to be taken care of after you've stormed through it. You were deeply hurt by something in the past, leading you to be the rebellious, chaotic bitch you are today. You want someone to burn the world to the ground with you.

Sylus mains: I'm going to hold your hand when I say this, "Cut them out of your life. Family gets on your nerves sometimes, but they're not supposed to treat you like that." Also applies if you've had an abusive ex. You've been treated so badly by others that you feel undeserving of love and that your existence is "wrong." So to feel valued, you want someone "worse" than you who will love you unconditionally. You want someone to burn the world to the ground for you.

Future Caleb mains: Welcome back, WINTER SOLDIER. (You guys are the only ones to get a photo.)

Patient. And I highly respect that. You saw him on Day 1 and have been waiting a whole ass year for him to become date-able. With all the heavy hinting and implications of him arriving, how does it feel to finally get your wish? You also have an easier time embracing the "childhood friends living together" theme than the rest of the fandom. And, honestly, pop off, girlie. Congratulations are in order, which you probably like considering your man is in uniform. Also, will you show me your savings? It can be Deepspace wishes, Exp bottles, or protocores. I'm just curious because I know people esp. F2P will SAVE and stock up on materials for their favorite characters in other gacha games. The most saved pulls I'd ever seen was ~900 for Eula in Genshin Impact.

From a Rafayel main

[haru-kuneko]

From my understanding, people are allowed to express discomfort no matter where they are as long as they communicate in a non-aggressive manner. You can't just demand I leave the group or place like "If you can't stand someone smelling like rotten cheese, being messy or talking loudly, why don't you just scram?"

In cases like I have to work and live in a place far from home, you can't expect me to just move out and instantly find a place where I get to be around people I could jive with. I can't just leave Tumblr all because I struggle to communicate with the weird kid who's having a meltdown. This is also the only place where I get to keep touch with some of my friends and gain attention on my projects. I have nowhere else to go!

Because other people exist and you need to be mindful of how you're coming off to others. It's important we communicate our differences in a civil manner.

Don't be offended if someone tells you not to flap your arms, yell in public, play music on loudspeaker, and leave your things all over the place. Don't take it the wrong way when we suggest you take a break from social media and stop posting concerning stuff after a terrible meltdown. It's an act of concern so you don't end up hurting yourself and those around you.

If you're one of those people who had to tell the odd kid off, avoid any insults or personal attacks. Don't quickly shut them down and tell them to scram otherwise you're just gonna make them act worse. Try asking what's wrong. Avoid raising your voice at them when you know they're throwing a fit, refrain from judging them (ie. "Can you tell me why you act so childish and annoying?") and please, for the love of God, don't spam report their account or call the police when they're in distress. Take them to a safe, quiet place where you can talk to them in private.

asking people to be mindful of others when sharing a communal space (especially one you cannot just up and leave from) is not selfish or misanthropic. come on now

[gayofthefae]

Honestly recently coming to terms with that I think this is more straight shipping than I thought it was.

I knew a girl who would talk shit about Byler and the things I loved about the show in general (not friends with her anymore) and she related to El deeply for trauma reasons and that is to be validated of course even in talking about her anonymously but I cannot overlook that one of her defense points in explaining why she didn't like season 4 is that she thought Mike was cute when the show came out when she was a kid.

And I don't see that as loving a relationship. I see that as projecting your trauma (valid asf and what you're supposed to do with trauma rep I'd argue) and projecting your attraction as separate events.

I also find it common that people will project on a character for plenty of valid personal reasons and then just of their own accord in their own lives want romance so use that connection to the character to live vicariously through a romance. But that character doesn't always need romance in their lives, and sometimes it's more important that they DON'T have it, though I understand that can be disappointing. But living vicariously through a character because you understand a different aspect of them and understanding their romantic aspect are not the same things.

For me, I project queer trauma, not attraction. And in my case, that has been written to require their relationship as a unit. But if the show was way longer and could successfully be executed with BOTH OF THEM QUEER and happy, I would be happy. I don't need them to get together, I just need to believe that they're happy. It's the Duffers who made that implausible without each other.

[madam-miss-fortune]

Just a silly little blurb hc idea. An albino kryptonian. Sent to Earth because he would have been killed on Krypton for having a deformity, and also cuz Kryptonians worship the sun, and an albino kid is a seriously bad omen cuz they can't stand sunlight easily.

So anyway, this kid gets blasted off to Earth maybe a couple years before Clark.

His name is Kor-Van. His name means he who is without sunlight. (Kor meaning 'he who is without' and Van meaning sunlight)

He grows up on Earth. He has no idea he's not human, or maybe he does, and he has his own pod and a fortress of solitude (maybe called the sanctum of seclusion or smth dumb) but he doesn't believe he is kryptonian because he doesn't have the powers. After all, he's albino and can't process sunlight. He was a bad omen on Krypton.

And he also looks just like Superman. Like, almost eerily similar. It's just that Kor, or wtv his human name is, has albinism and so has white hair, pale skin, and pink/red eyes. His eyes are a strange colour, not like normal albino people. His eyes are a shade of eery crimson.

(Did I also mention that Clark's bio mom was named Lara Lor-Van? Who knows, maybe Kor-Van is related to her....)

And then he meets a mysterious woman. Her name is Kym Jones (K'hym J'onzz) and she has amnesia. They are both very different from humans. They understand being different from humans, even if they aren't very alike themselves.

They fall in love. They have children. And those kids are...strange. They have green skin, white hair, and red eyes. (Are their eyes from their dad or mom? Who can tell) They can shapeshift. They can fly. They're super strong. They're everything else both Martians and Kryptonians can be.

And eventually, this family ends up on the Justice League's radar.

(The Vans and the Els have always known each other. They're sworn kin, and when Lara Lor-Van married into the Els, they became blood.

The Vans have a family mark, just like the Els. A golden V-shape within a stylized golden square across a purple background. The V stands for Victory.)

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 61

It's back to those two guys.

Before this, the only hint to what Kabru's life under his foster mother was a single panel in chapter 55 showing him being a bit annoyed at her hugging him. He commented that things will get tiresome if he has to ask for her help.

Honestly, it's always difficult for a parent to realize their children are growing up. It's probably even harder for elves since their children grow much slower. So an elf raising a non-elf would probably struggle to realize how quickly their kid is growing. It's probably a similar vibe to having a dog all their life and still thinking of them as a baby even when they're old.

This shot made sure you noticed all the scars on her arms.

Over the entire page this panel is in, her arms became more visible as Kabru kept talking about wanting to go into the dungeons and asking her to train him to fight.

Even if she is strong, she didn't walk out of dungeons unharmed. No matter how strong you are, death is always a possibility when it comes to the dungeons.

I almost feel like she trained Kabru wrong on purpose. As I've pointed out before, Kabru's fighting style is better suited to assassination than monster hunting. And the only glimpse we see of his training was him fighting her and her dolls. She wanted to make him give up on swordsmanship. But if that failed, not giving him the skills needed to actually explore a dungeon might discourage him as well.

Mithrun is pragmatic. Even if he might have any negative feelings about what Kabru pulled, it's not like he can get through the dungeon alone, especially since they ended up all the way down the sixth floor.

I do have to question how they ended up in the sixth floor specifically. I can understand ending up all the way down to the fifth floor since the subterranean graveyard stretches wider than the second through fourth floors, but the sixth floor is entirely underground.

The fall was entirely due to Thistle's magic, so he probably just erased everything directly below the area that collapsed, leaving an opening to the sixth floor.

Kabru confirmed a few things about the Canaries. The ear notches indicate the criminals in the group. Meanwhile Pattadol and Mithrun are nobles in charge of them. Do only guards have those fairy companions?

Kabru's notes on Mithrun mention black eyes are rare for an elf. Since his eyes seem to change color when he strongly emotes, there's probably something to that.

And of course Kabru doesn't find Mithrun interesting. Mithrun has no personality to speak of.

Got excited to see another shapeshifter. I really wish we got more recurring monsters throughout this series. Most of them just appear for one chapter, get eaten, and then never appear again.

And shapeshifter is its actual name since Mithrun called it that. When Laios's team encountered it, "shapeshifter" seemed to be a generic term for monsters like certain types of slime, succubi, or magic mirrors that use mimicry or illusions to infiltrate a group.

Mithrun has totally used his teammates as projectiles in the past.

While the fake Mithrun might look and behave exactly like the real one, there's no way it has the same information the real one has. When Laios's party encountered the shapeshifter, only the real Laios could explain what was happening. And the party identified his fakes because they couldn't chime in at all.

Since Kabru didn't know what a shapeshifter was, I'm inclined to believe the Mithrun on the right is the real one. He led the discussion on shapeshifters, and Kabru could have filled in the blanks allowing the left Mithrun to say what he said.

The Mithrun who suggested they leave to dispel the illusion, the one who contacted the canaries, and the one who was generally in the forefront of each group shot is also likely the real one.

Meanwhile, I can't tell for the life of me which one is the real Kabru.

This will be fun to see animated. I think the fairy switched between Fleki, Otta, and the guy who turns into a wolf. Fleki's name got dropped in the conversation.

Mithrun couldn't tell which Kabru was the real one.

Despite being a guard and (presumably) being second-in-command, Pattadol does not get much respect in the group. Cithis seems to be the real second-in-command.

Cithis said it will take about a week before they can come for the captain. On Laios's side, seven or eight days have passed since he parted ways with Kabru. So the Canaries likely are already deep in the dungeon when the Winged Lion warned Laios about them last chapter.

Love seeing how much psychic damage Laios has caused Kabru. This looks like the poster of a cheap B horror movie from the 1950s.

Haven't seen anything this poor in nutrition since Falin's skeleton.

Kabru is trying so hard to cozy up to someone who doesn't care at all.

He's treating Mithrun the same way his foster mother treated him at the start of the chapter.

Kabru is manipulative and always tries to see through people to figure out who they really are underneath. Ironically, Laios has given him an entirely wrong impression by just acting like himself and willingly sharing his bizarre interests.

From a physics perspective, this works and makes sense and I kind of hate that it does.

Since things like momentum and velocity are kept when teleporting, a falling object that is teleported in place but flipped upside-down would still keep its relative velocity. This would probably make for an interesting physics problem. "An object falling at terminal velocity is suddenly teleported upside-down causing its velocity to now go upward. How many seconds will the object move upward and how long does it take for it to return to falling at the same speed before it was teleported?"

Kabru and Mithrun have apparently found the Touden party's lost gear before they did. So they're only several hours ahead of the party at this point. I bet the shapeshifter from earlier is the same one Laios's party encounters.

The dungeon will provide various necessities when anyone in it wishes for them. Mithrun said to not wish often though. The dungeon is feeding off desires so it probably becomes stronger every time someone looks for a place to rest.

Big bombshell reveal.

So Mithrun probably was trying to be sympathetic to Thistle during their fight. Mithrun was also a dungeon lord and he may have been trying to convince Thistle to give up his title before whatever happened to Mithrun and his unit happens to Thistle.

Mithrun is stoic and unemotive, so him making these faces and these dramatic gestures while talking about being a dungeon lord means whatever happened was serious.

back

[battlefrankies]

saw ur tags, wanted to give some context because you do bring up some interesting points!

newkama as a term is a combination of okama (a reclaimed pejorative that refers to drag queens/transvestites, who don't always identify as women) and newhalf (a term some trans women celebrities used to refer to themselves in the 90s, but today i've seen most trans women prefer to just be called women) (and the word for trans people in japan today is just english loanwords, literally just 'trans' and 'transgender', so the terminology has evolved)

the newkama and especially iva-chan's impel down group see themselves not as specifically drag queens or trans women, but as people who've transcended the restrictions of gender entirely. they do tap into that campy drag aesthetic though, like you can clearly see the rocky horror influence on ivankov's designs. i think it's a mistake to try and apply concrete labels that we see constantly online to this group (and also, lgbt people in general). oda isn't on twitter reading about how gen Z kids on tiktok want to be portrayed, he's talking to real-life people he meets, but also mostly he's drawing one piece and playing gacha games.

even on momoiro island when they were trying to put sanji in a dress, i think it's important to point out that sanji agreed to that training regimen and discussed it with iva-chan in order to get stronger; he could've left at any time. imo the optics for that section weren't ideal, but it emphasizes the freedom of expression for the newkama who live on that island. there's no pressure to conform to rigid standards of femininity when they're safe and comfortable having body hair and square jaws, but they just wanna wear a frilly dress too. ivankov could (and would) physically alter anyone's body at any point they wanted, but the newkama of the kamabakka kingdom felt no need for that.

are there better ways to portray that? for sure! i'm not mad about oda imperfectly supporting the lgbt community in a time & media environment that was either dismissive or downright hostile to trans people though. it was, again, head and shoulders above pretty much any shonen that was being published at the time. personally, i like that there's such a diversity of trans experiences being depicted in the series with so much affection, to the point where each time sanji said or did anything transphobic, he'd get punished for it. you can truly tell that oda thinks it's dope as fuck that people can just trans their genders, and to me that matters more than optically perfect trans women.

giselle gewelle from bleach, for example, being a really cute trans girl who is also evil, and whose trans identity is openly insulted by a protagonist and also she dies, in 2013. oda having the newkama not just be empowered, heroic characters but also living and thriving on their own island was basically unheard of at a time when 'bury your gays' was so prevalent it's got a tvtropes page. and it's not just that these heroic characters happen to be trans, their establishment of a supportive community in impel down is the REASON luffy could be saved.

i think a lot of people criticize the trans representation in OP in bad faith without context or any intention of trying to understand the context, but i don't take them seriously. the reason we're even talking about the supportive but flawed 2009 trans rep in one piece is because OP has so much staying power and influence in the cultural consciousness. i think it's fair to be uncomfortable with aspects of it, and that speaks to how far we've come since then, which is a good thing. i think the intent of these characters & oda's stance on trans rights couldn't be more clear though.

the trans representation in one piece is phenomenal actually

[graylinesspam]

The clone language

I will stand by the fact that the vast majority of clones speak Mando'a, but and this is a big but. They do not do it well.

The Commandos are the only ones that speak Mando'a well, including pronouncing it correctly and using the right grammatical structure. The rest of them are simply absorbing words and phrases and using them wrong.

Mando'a is not exactly a closed language but is very rare to be spoken by a non mandalorian anywhere other than the planet Mandalore. But I do think that in their language training the Kaminoans would have offered like an entry level class which consisted mostly of flashcards with translations. The big two languages of the galaxy, Basic and Huttesse, are the only ones that they are taught extensively. There are several other languages they have access to beginners courses for like the Twi'lek and Togruta language, ect. But that's all voluntary learning/extra credit.

The reason Mando'a sticks more is because their trainers speak it. Whether just absorbing the language through osmosis or learning it voluntarily to listen in on the trainers conversations, some pick up a lot of words and phrases. Then those phrases are explained and poorly translated to the rest of the clones. And not just translated in one language. This is a bunch of bored bilingual kids trying to explain a new language to each other. They play fast and loose with the line between basic and huttesse. A lot of phrases are straight up translated into an entirely different grammatical structure, which mixes up the words and swaps some for words from other languages.

Now this is where the generational divide comes in, because the older clones had a lot more time and motivation to learn half way proper Mando'a than the younger ones. They also had time to spend with their generals at the beginning of the war and absorbed a lot form their respective languages. Especially the jedi sayings.

Think about the way that Jedi speak. Super cryptic responses to straight forward questions. Poetic observations, Flowery language. But then sterilized by military formality.

That leads to a lot of the older, especially high ranking clones to develope a formal yet vague way of speaking, kinda like office languages that says nothing with too many words.

The younger men do not understand this at all. They're blunter. Less well socialized by the Kaminoans and more internally minded socially. The elder clones assume they're being perceived at all times and behave according. The younger figure if they're incomprehensible enough, they can't get in trouble for what they say.

The result of which is slang.

The elder clones slang evolved from multiple languages and sayings getting mistranslated. It includes a lot of shortened words from the reg manuals, quotes from the training videos, and jedi sayings they've heard repeated too many times. Sometimes interjected with a pessimistic sense of humor. Eg, "They're on the planet" becomes "they're planetside" becomes "they're dirtside."

Meanwhile the younger clones slang develops in more of a throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks fashion. Way less of a logical evolution path and more of a whatever gets a laugh mindset. Eg, taking a piss could be "off gassing" or "Going past the perimeter" or "getting fresh" or "flipping his belt" or "finding a tree" ect. There are too many options, it truly becomes a language at this point. A specific dialect that you have to be taught to keep up with.

There is a bit of a language barrier between the generations. It isn't too bad. Run of the mill "youths and their slang today" kinda stuff. The youngins absolutely use it for evil. Gossiping and joking around in front of the COs without getting in trouble.

Their incorporation of Mando'a follows this pattern as well.

An older clone might say something like "Better one big enemy." referencing the Mandalorian saying "Better one big enemy you can see, than many small ones you can't"

where as a the younger generation might here a phrase like "Hukaat'kama" literally cover my kama, more broadly watch my back/6 and translate it to something like. "your my six", "On me", "Watch my ass", "get on my ass", "you're my ass", "cover me", ...Which is a lot less clear than previous... They might also say something like "my kama" but translate it to mean something more like "Watch this"(boastful) or "watch me"(defiant) or "Watch me"(accepting a challenge). Which is just a blatant mistranslation of the phrase. Or the phrase could evolve past a call to action and turn into an insult. like calling someone a "Hukaat" or a "watcher" for staying in the back all the time. or calling them a "kama" insinuating they're only good for covering. Or saying "loose my kama," to tell them to fuck off. which could also turn into "loose the kama," when theyr'e acting too big for their britches as a kama is usually a sign of rank.

Basically language evolves as it is used. If it's used by more formal people in a more formal context then that is the pattern it takes on. If it's used primarily for mischief and shit talking, that's the form it'll take.

But either way, as fascinating as the clone language can seem to us, it's still a bastardization at heart.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I wonder if Americans have like.. a very different view of maturity than the rest of the wolrd. I can't help jut think that whenever the whole "no 14 year old girl would go for a 12 year old", like, i admit that i never saw that happening in my country, but i do still remember a fair amount of my teenage years and frankly, 12 and 14 years old aren't really that apart in emotional maturity, they were around the same. So whenever they bring that about Kataang it just confuses me ans why the whole "she acts like mom to him" never made any sense to me, i guest that it could just be looking their past with rose tinted glasses.

From what I've seen, americans are weird about age in general, that's why they latched onto that bullshit "Your brain is not fully developed until you're 25" research so fast so they can treat 20 year olds as babies, AND why is so common for parents to just fucking kick their kids out of the house the second they turn 18, regardless of if they're in any way ready for that and will be able to provide for themselves because "you're grown now."

Aang likes to goof off? That means he's a toddler that doesn't take anything seriously and is "too pure" to understand the concept of sex, nevermind that he's constantly forcing himself to cope with unbelievable grief and trauma for the sake of properly doing his job to save the world, and he's literally at the stage where the hormones are SCREAMING.

Katara is nurturing and a GIRL? Clearly she's an adult. That's totally a mother right there. Can't be a mother without being an adult. She's practically 40, Aang is too young for her.

Unlike Zuko. You know, 'cause he's angry and bitter? And thinks he can fix every problem through war? That's adult behavior, right? That's totally not poor coping mechanisms and a result of literal propaganda, right? You've seen the movies, everything can be magically fixed by a bomb.

Again, PAINFULLY american. "Pacifism is a naive, childish idea. War is the ONLY way, that's how REAL men solve problems." Literal cold-war propaganda/logic.

[thetreetopinn]

My ADD Medication Journey - Mar 15, 16 & 17, 2024

Oops... got distracted by other things (visiting the parents over the weekend). Forgot to make an entry here.

Friday, March 15th

Slept a little better then the previous night. I'd guess I managed somewhere between 4 and 6 hours. Not quite enough for my liking but it was sufficient to get me through the day.

I had taken a sleep aid--some over the counter antihistamines repackaged and rebranded as a sleep aid--and put on some soothing stuff to listen to while I lay in bed. It seemed to do the trick. I hope I don't have to keep taking the antihistamines every night I've taken my ADD medication.

Woke up feeling tired, but I'm used to that. Took my medication as soon as I was able to get something to drink--around 8:30am.

Work wasn't terrible, not as productive as I might have liked, but I did get enough done to still feel accomplished. The workload has eased down substantially now that A) we've kind of streamlined the process a bit and B) the backlog is effectively gone.

There's still some older stuff sitting there waiting for me to tackle it, but it's not super critical, and I've got other matters to address.

Tremors weren't as bad as the previous day, but still enough to notice.

I was able to focus enough on the things that mattered such that the most important things got taken care of.

I left to go see my parents immediately after work. For a not small stretch of the night, mom sat with me to go over my taxes so that we could both be reasonably sure I hadn't missed anything. I'm not super fond of the tax preparation services, and my state doesn't offer a proper free-filing method... because... well... fuck this state.

I got notice that I've been approved for my new apartment, and had to deal with some paperwork with that. More will be coming soon.

Went to bed later than I would have liked, but such is life.

Saturday, March 16th

Had trouble sleeping, but I got something like 5 or 6 hours of sleep I think. I always have trouble sleeping in a new bed, even if it's one I've slept in before, just not in a while.

Not taking my medication on the weekend so that I can guarantee a good night's sleep.

Got up early enough to eat breakfast with dad at a local place. Came back in time for him to go with others to go see a movie while mom and I babysat. That kid has waaay too much energy for me to keep up with.

Energy level was markedly lower than the last couple of days, but not low enough to make me need to nap as hard as I had during the weekends while on the previous run of medication.

Ended up napping anyway, but not for very long.

Finally came back home later than I would have liked but oh well. It didn't take long for me to start feeling drowsy enough to want to crawl into bed. Fell asleep fairly quickly.

Sunday, March 17th

Slept pretty well. Got more than 8 hours, which helped with the sleep debt from the week.

Took the day pretty slow and lazy, didn't have a lot I needed to get done, but of the things I should liked to tackle, I only got some of it done--such is life with ADHD and you don't take your meds.

I ended up feeling pretty tired at about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, to the point where I fell asleep in my computer chair for a little while.

I don't know if it's specifically the sleep debt thing because of the medication, or if it's also a function of just getting older.

Feeling a normal amount of tired as I'm looking at going to bed here in just a minute. Hoping to have a normal night's sleep.

[brionysea]

#i'm never getting over Max being the only one defending Mike in early S3#even his best friends since childhood are fed up but she's still defending him and saying it's not that bad#max wants to be his friend so bad#and then.#she met El and got on a feminist side quest because she convinced herself he's actually a raging misogynist#i love them<3#they're so fucking stupid#sometimes you need that sidequest to become truly close friends and it's beautiful#also yes to the caption (I got sidetracked)#people need to stop putting words in Mike's mouth and just stay on his level#platonic madwheeler#mike wheeler#max mayfield

you get me @stranger-feathers. I also got distracted by max's feminist side quest in my tags before going 'no, stay on topic' and deleting them, but it's interesting, actually!

the only context s2 max had was how sad mike was (which these two have their own understanding of, while the rest of the group seems to struggle with knowing how to deal with them) and how it was because of el - survivor's guilt, the trauma from seeing a girl turn to dust in front of you to save you, whatever

that, combined with the wheelers home life being - while not like max's, Not Fun - is how mike ended up driving hopper nuts by hanging out in the cabin for 6 months straight. mike missing el + mike not wanting to be at home + mike feeling comfortable talking back to hopper the way he isn't with his parents + mike feeling the pressure to be in a romantic relationship with el but not knowing how to do that = mike and el making out for months on end and only rarely having a real conversation

el, as always, doesn't really have the context to know how things work and is just going along with it until max tells her she gets a say. when el was living with hopper, she missed mike so much it became a point of conflict (as a cover for el's lack of autonomy, which mike never really did to her; when el was living in mike's basement, she wandered around all the time, and in s3 mike was only repeating HOPPER'S words of el not being 'allowed' to go shopping; hopper recently locked mike in a car and went off on him, of course mike thinks max is insane for breaking his rules), so el would listen to mike more than hopper during a petty disagreement. mike treated her better; he never sold her out to brenner, for a start. even when el DID listen to hopper and stay hidden, she ended up hitchhiking to new york or wherever to go against his rules, because she didn't think breaking them made her stupid

so the set up is a whole lot of mike's feelings crashing together and influencing his actions. hopper, by virtue of mike's talent for being so annoying, forgets about that (despite the s2 scene where hopper saw mike's feelings finally explode, precluded by the two of them arguing over el) until hopper interacts with mike's parents at the end of s3 and sees that they have NO IDEA where their son is, in contrast to joyce freaking out trying to find the kids while hopper made fun of her. then the whole time the kids actually were in danger and joyce was right, as usual, which seems to make hopper chill out. max, who spent s2 trying to get mike to talk about his feelings so they could be friends, also seems to forget that he has any the second el gets involved

which, let me be clear: el definitely needed feminism. her friendship with max, which el initially refused because of jealousy over mike, was so needed. el keeps getting hidden away and controlled by men (brenner, mike, the boys, hopper); sometimes for her safety, sometimes that's just a thing they say while not realising or caring about how they're also suppressing her autonomy, and not questioning their patriarchal need to control women and girls, but in s3 that doesn't seem to be an issue anymore. because of the tone shift, it's not really addressed, but the best I can figure is that el's safety was no longer a problem because nancy burned down the lab and ran them out of hawkins (look at that! legitimate feminism! solidarity among girls - barb's justice - improving el's quality of life!!! I love it here)

I think mike, by virtue of living in a sexist society, WAS sexist. not to the extent that the fandom makes it out where he's the bane of all evil, but he was so caught up in the emotion and fear of losing el again that he wasn't questioning whether his need to keep el tucked away and safe from the world was fair to her until max raised the issue. before that, while mike was trying to be straight, he was kind of infected with the more blatant heterosexism, because that's 'normal' (think billy being such a ladies man that max knows what happy screams are, but also calling women 'cows' and 'bitches'; lucas and mike calling women 'a different species' is like Baby's First Dehumanization)

before that, when it actually seemed like an organic character flaw rather than mike conforming, you see it the most with max - 'this is the boys room' 'yeah, so?' 'so you should go home' comes to mind. max was probably making it a bigger issue than it is, the way mike's SHE'S CONSPIRING AGAINST ME comes across (she kind of was though lmao - like, sexism is definitely a real problem that max isn't making up and people taking that kind of challenge as a personal attack when it's not is really common, but max DID seem to be making Girls vs. Sexist Mike a whole thing), but it wasn't a baseless accusation. probably, max just can't stand up for herself when people are sexist towards her and was using el as a buffer. in s2 max only asked lucas if they weren't including her because she's a girl, even though mike was the one to make the weird boys room comment and max argued with him about other stuff 2 seconds later, and she didn't do more than roll her eyes at billy

remember how mike mouthed off to hopper because he can't mouth off to his parents? max does the same thing to mike because she can't with billy. hopper and mike are emotionally and physically safe to engage with, and the show spending a lot of time trying to convince you otherwise (hopper is legitimately scary at times, like when he threw the door of el's room open thinking mike was in there again but it was really MAX, the girl with a violent home life, which must include things like violently slamming doors open as a precursor to more direct violence) without anything actually HAPPENING proves it. they're not safe because they were born with no moral impurities, they're safe because they put the active effort in to be safe. they could be just like everyone else, which s3 puts a lot of emphasis on, but they ultimately choose not to be. nobody is born a feminist. women tend to get there faster because we're directly harmed by misogyny, but after their argument, both mike and max do listen to each other. mike apologises to el for acting so controlling and jealous, and max works with mike to protect el (from flayed!billy) in starcourt

mike could so easily be Not Our Mike. his family has money and a nice house, unlike will. mike has white privilege and never has to deal with racism, unlike lucas. mike doesn't have a visible disability like dustin. he's not a girl like max and el. mike could EASILY slide under the radar as that wheeler kid with the big house without having to deal with any of this, but he feels more at home with the outcasts of society instead. the mike we initially meet is so lovable because he'd been choosing to be true to himself rather than taking the easy route for years. or in mike's words, I guess, asking will to be his friend was the best thing he's ever done

max defending mike and choosing the words he uses to defends himself with is actually something that can be so personal