#This instance feels so DIFFERENT??????????

[yourreddancer]

For the past decade, as Donald Trump has risen in political stature, I have waited for that precarious but inevitable moment when his well-documented liabilities would end his political ascendancy, when it would all finally be too much. I waited through scandalous allegations about affairs and payoffs, and misogynistic and violent talk about grabbing women. There were the sexual abuse allegations for which he was found liable in one instance, dozens of felony convictions and even more outstanding indictments, flagrantly racist statements and unrepentant xenophobia.

There have been so many occasions when I thought finally, we have reached the apex. Finally, he has revealed too much of what lies behind the mask. Finally, this country will stand up and draw an unbreachable line in the sand. Finally, Americans will say this is not who we are and actually mean it.

That time hasn’t come.

Mr. Trump’s election demonstrates how American tolerance for the unacceptable is nearly infinite. There are hundreds of absolutely mind-boggling things I could point to from the past decade — the suggestion of bleach injections to potentially treat the coronavirus and the wild QAnon conspiracy theories infecting millions of Americans, including politicians, and insulting veterans and making fun of the disabled. But three elections in a row, Mr. Trump has been a viable presidential candidate and our democracy has few guardrails to protect the country from the clear and present dangers he and his political appointees will continue to confer upon us.

Clearly, Mr. Trump is successful because of his faults, not despite them, because we do not live in a just world.

Toward the end of the 2024 election cycle, the candidates made their closing arguments. Kamala Harris articulated a hopeful vision, a way forward for a fractured country. She positioned herself as a moderate, a leader willing to work with her political opponents, one who embraces diversity and cares about the middle class and recognizes that many people are struggling in one way or another and want those struggles acknowledged. They want solutions for their problems, and Ms. Harris promised she and her administration would work with Congress to better all our lives. Clearly, those promises were unconvincing.

Mr. Trump painted the United States as a dark and foreboding place, festering with immigrants and criminality. A place where good, “normal” Americans have been forgotten as unchecked progress reshapes the world they want — a white, middle-class, heterosexual world — into something inhospitable and unrecognizable. Mr. Trump lacks vision because he lacks imagination and empathy. He cares about himself and leads accordingly, surrounding himself with people who will enthusiastically stroke his ego and make him feel like the king he clearly wishes to be.

In the final, critical moments of the election cycle — during a Madison Square Garden rally featuring all of the bigotry to which we have become accustomed — I needed to believe we had, at long last, reached a point beyond which we could escape from the black hole of Mr. Trump’s terrible politics. Because if he were to be elected again despite all of this, if enough Americans remained obdurate in their willingness to embrace Republican extremism, it would be catastrophic.

And now Republicans will control the executive branch, the Senate and the House of Representatives. There will be few checks and balances.

Mistakes were made in the Harris campaign because mistakes are always made in presidential campaigns. Democrats are now reflecting on those mistakes and figuring out how to manifest a different outcome next time, if there is a next time. The recriminations have been numerous — too many celebrities, echo chambers, ignoring the economy, no alternative to the conservative media ecosystem, too much embracing of conservative politicians, too much identity politics, too big a tent, the price of eggs.

But to suggest we should yield even a little to Mr. Trump’s odious politics, to suggest we should compromise on the rights of trans people, for instance, and all of the other critical issues we care most about, is unacceptable. It is shameful and cowardly. We cannot abandon the most vulnerable communities to assuage the most powerful. Even if we did, it would never be enough. The goal posts would keep moving until progressive politics became indistinguishable from conservative politics. We’re halfway there already.

Mr. Trump’s voters are granted a level of care and coddling that defies credulity and that is afforded to no other voting bloc. Many of them believe the most ludicrous things: babies being aborted after birth and children going to school as one gender and returning home surgically altered as another gender even though these things simply do not happen. Time and again, we hear the wild lies these voters believe and we act as if they are sharing the same reality as ours, as if they are making informed decisions about legitimate issues. We act as if they get to dictate the terms of political engagement on a foundation of fevered mendacity.

We must refuse to participate in a mass delusion. We must refuse to accept that the ignorance on display is a congenital condition rather than a choice. All of us should refuse to pretend that any of this is normal and that these voters are just woefully misunderstood and that if only the Democrats addressed their economic anxiety, they might vote differently. While they are numerous, that does not make them right.

These are adults, so let us treat them like adults. Let us acknowledge that they want to believe nonsense and conjecture. They want to believe anything that affirms their worldview. They want to celebrate a leader who allows them to nurture their basest beliefs about others. The biggest challenge of our lifetime will be figuring out how to combat the American willingness to embrace flagrant misinformation and bigotry.

As Mr. Trump assembles his cabinet of loyalists and outlines the alarming policies he means to enact, it’s hard not to imagine the worst, not out of paranoia but as a means of preparation. The incoming president has clearly articulated that he may dismantle the Department of Education and appears to be giving the wealthiest man in the world unfettered access to the Oval Office. He plans to begin mass deportations immediately and has announced his pick of a Fox News host as the defense secretary — the list goes on, each promise more appalling than the last.

We would like to believe that many of the ideas on Mr. Trump’s demented wish list won’t actually come to fruition and that our democracy can once more withstand the new president and the people with whom he surrounds himself. But that is just desperate, wishful thinking. As of yet, there is nothing that will break the iron grip Mr. Trump has on his base, and Vice President-elect JD Vance is young enough to carry the mantle going forward for political cycles to come.

Absolutely anything is possible, and we must acknowledge this, not out of surrender, but as a means of readying ourselves for the impossible fights ahead.

“Mr. Trump’s voters are granted a level of care and coddling that defies credulity and that is afforded to no other voting bloc. Many of them believe the most ludicrous things: babies being aborted after birth and children going to school as one gender and returning home surgically altered as another gender even though these things simply do not happen. Time and again, we hear the wild lies these voters believe and we act as if they are sharing the same reality as ours, as if they are making informed decisions about legitimate issues. We act as if they get to dictate the terms of political engagement on a foundation of fevered mendacity. We must refuse to participate in a mass delusion. We must refuse to accept that the ignorance on display is a congenital condition rather than a choice. All of us should refuse to pretend that any of this is normal and that these voters are just woefully misunderstood and that if only the Democrats addressed their economic anxiety, they might vote differently. While they are numerous, that does not make them right.”

— A NYT opinion column that nails it.

[kisakis-boyfriend]

🎃 please!

Celebrating the Halloween holiday with Poe and Atsushi (separately) by plowing into them? Imagine the variant of Halloween sex toys that could be used

Pairings: Atsushi, Edgar Allen Poe x male reader (separately)

Warnings: Male!reader, dom/top!reader, sub/bottom!characters, sex toys (fleshlight, butt plug, gag), edging, fingering (Poe)

Atsushi sat restlessly on the end of the bed, stark naked except for a little collar handpicked especially for him — it was appropriately adorned with an orange and black pumpkin pattern, for this special day.

His gaze remained fixated on the door, waiting for you to return. When you did, you carried in your arms a small box—the contents of which, Atsushi couldn't make out.

“Miss me? I brought some… special things to try out.” you explain, tracing your fingers along the open flaps of the box. All the while, your little tiger gulps, thinking back through the week and wondering if this is some punishment for breaking a rule.

But when your lips capture his in a gentle kiss, his shoulders relax; perhaps there's nothing to worry about after all.

You pull away, and swipe Atsushi's bottom lip with your thumb, smiling at his flushed cheeks. “Now, how about parting those pretty legs for me, sweetheart?”

He complies, albeit a bit shyly. “Aww, look at how excited he is already!” you chirp, running your index finger along the vein on the underside of Atsushi's dick. He turns his head to the side, whining at the way you tease him. “Let's try something a little different this time~”

Before Atsushi can say anything, you've already pulled something out of that box — a fleshlight… but… this one looks different…? After you're done pouring some lube on the entrance, Atsushi gets a good look at this "special" toy–

“What-?! Why does it look like… like that?!” he jolts before you can insert his dick into it. You tilt your head, and Atsushi gestures at the toy again. Ah, you get it now.

“Oh, this? It's supposed to be a vampire mouth—hence the fangs and… well, the whole thing being a mouth.” Atsushi cannot believe that such a toy even exists. Or why you paid money for one, for that matter!

You give him zero time to argue, sinking the toy down and burying his cock all the way to the base after a few shorter strokes to lube it up. The effect is instant — this "vampire mouth" has your partner almost falling backwards on the bed from how good it's sucking him in.

Atsushi swallows the lump in his throat, watching you control every instance of his pleasure as you move the toy however you please. Switching the pace up to constantly keep him on his toes, never letting the moment dull or drag on. As the toy works his tip and shaft, you pick up the slack by caressing his thighs, occasionally squeezing them, fondling his balls and massaging them, and teasing his ass just to watch his eyes widen for a split second.

You manage to edge him for some time, tugging on his cute collar to remind him of who's in charge. The thought of not being your good boy is enough to give Atsushi the strength to hold his orgasm back… for now.

“Don't look so sad, love. Doesn't this feel nice?” the loud squelching sounds as the fleshlight swallows every inch of Atsushi's dick fill the room, and your little tiger boy feels so flustered listening to them during every pause in the conversation.

“It does! I mean… I-I… gnngh-!!” Atsushi sucks in through his teeth, squeezing his eyes tightly when you switch to slow, deep strokes—plunging his cock fully inside to be massaged by the toy's squishy walls.

At his limit, Atsushi bargains with his adoring partner; “Aren't I your good boy? Don't you… mmph! aAaHH-! D-don't you want to see me f-finish?” his words are so carefully chosen, it's hard not to applaud him for his smarts.

“Hmm~ You're so right, lovely, I do. Won't you cum for me? Be my bestest boy in the whole world, and thrust those pretty hips into this toy for me?”

Atsushi exclaims over and over again, using your permission to wildly fuck the toy still in your hands. His thrusts are so powerful that you nearly drop the toy once—but you manage to keep your grip, and soon you watch your pretty boy bury his cock, filling it with creamy cum.

You let him linger for a bit, allowing Atsushi a minute to recover, then slide the toy off of his cock — using your mouth to lick his pretty dick clean while he leans back on his hands, breathing heavily.

“Th-thank you… for allowing me to… c-cum…” he whispers the last word shyly. How adorable; your obedient pet still acts like a simple virgin sometimes.

He will admit, this whole scene is quite romantic; candles sat atop the furniture and filled the space with the scent of pumpkins, cinnamon, and cloves. The window was cracked slightly to let in the cool, autumn breeze and make the candlelight sway to its rhythm. All of this was set up especially for him too.

“I know this is kind of sudden, but I just… really wanted to spoil you today, my love.” you whisper, wrapping your arms around him to hug him from behind.

Poe sinks into the hug, unsure of what to even say as he takes in the atmosphere a little longer. A startled gasp falls from his lips as you unbutton a few buttons on his shirt and slide it off of one shoulder. “Now, let's get you undressed and onto that table, hm?”

This isn't the first time you've seen his body, but Poe can't help feeling shy as his entire being is laid bare before you. Even after you sensually undress him, everything feels so exposed and raw now that he's lying on his stomach — your partner can sense your lingering gaze on his rear… and it's a bit embarrassing.

“My, my, you're so tense…” you comment, running your warm hands up and down Poe's back and shoulders — gently squeezing his muscles and finding knots in several places. “You work too hard sometimes, do I need to come find you and whisk you away for a break myself?”

It's hard for Poe to think about your question when the unfamiliar sensation of massage oil touches his back. The substance absorbs into his skin with ease, and once it reaches his shoulders, the scent truly hits him; some sort of autumnal blend, evoking the memories of sitting by a fireplace and sipping hot cider.

“How's this feel?” you ask, pressing your thumbs into the knots in Poe's shoulders, circling your thumbs as you work his tissue and muscles into a less tense state. In return, all you get are groans of approval as your lover melts into the massage table.

When you slide the towel that was once covering his lower body away, Poe tenses right back up, and you have to ease him back into a state of relaxation. He whines, but ultimately allows you to continue after you kiss the top of his head, then move down to his legs and lower back.

“Relax—I can't neglect any part of your body if I'm supposed to be spoiling you, now can I?” Firmly applying pressure in all the right places, your massage continues. Your lover is all relaxed again until your fingers slide a little too far upwards, to a place that makes him flush red.

Poe squirms as you begin rubbing his entrance, teasing the poor thing without mercy. “I should have kn-known that you were up to something…” Poe laments. “Mm~ Oo-ooohh~”

“Edgar, if you don't want the neighbors to hear you, you'd best reign yourself in.” you tease.

“H-how can I when you're– gaAaAH–!!” His voice cracks as you finally slip a finger inside, sending a wave of tingles all down his spine.

“Perhaps this will help?” you say, dangling a cute new ball gag off of one finger — the plastic in the center is orange and designed to resemble a pumpkin, fitting for the season!

Poe arches his back in time with a curl of your fingers, and his head lifts up just enough to catch a glimpse of the item in question. “Wh-where did you… get that…?”

“I know a place~ Now open wide, pumpkin~ ” you fasten the gag around your partner's head, then return to fucking his pretty hole just with your fingers. It's easy to make him lose his mind — all you have to do is find his prostate and bully it while denying Poe his orgasm~

Adorable whimpers fall from your lover's lips like a symphony, and his hands grasp at the table he's lying on while you mess his insides up. But, that doesn't last much longer, since you bring Poe right to the cusp of his climax and then pull your fingers out without warning.

Muffled cries and protests are thrown at you, all of which are ignored as you pull out yet another toy—a small butt plug with an orange gem on the end, and a little green stem to make it a pumpkin—and push it into his aching hole.

“I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but I wasn't done with your massage yet–” you coo, raking your fingers through his curly hair. “Now, flip over for me and I'll message the rest of you. I promised not to neglect any part, did I not~?”

[drdemonprince]

do you have any advice on navigating a friendship with a former abuser? they are pretty open about their past when asked although not incredibly initially forthcoming about it, which I think is understandable if maybe not the most,, idk,, straightforward I guess. But I do truly believe they’ve mended their ways and try really hard to do right by themselves and other people, but they’ve garnered a lot of vitriol from their former community (and with reason!!) but that community tries to, rightfully, make sure everyone knows about this person’s past, and I have a lot of guilt around being friends with them even though I do believe that they’re different now, I wouldn’t be friends with them if I didn’t believe that. Anyways, I guess im curious if you have any advice or experience with how to navigate any kind of relationship with someone who has done a lot of prior harm, while also trying to honor and respect the people who they have harmed?

I think that people in that situation are in really desperate need of community, most of the time. It is very difficult to work on yourself when pressure to excise you from every social group follows you everywhere you go, and the stories of what you've done have morphed into an entity that exists entirely outside of you, your victims, or anyone who was actually privy to the abuse that you committed.

It's very reasonable for people affected by the abuse & their allies to want nothing to do with such a person, of course. But there sometimes becomes a broader community norm of penalizing anyone who associates with the abusive person in any way whatsoever, and when you're already struggling with entitlement, boundary issues, loneliness, impulsivity, and self-hatred, as so many abusers do, it's hard not to spiral out further from being rendered that radioactive.

I think by being friends with this person you're doing something important. It is far easier for people to grow when they have social incentives to do so and emotional support. In the care of other people, we see our worth reflected. We learn more about who we are and who we *can* be through the interplay of ours' and others' various selves.

I think the best thing that you can do is to offer a space to this person in your life, if you continue wanting to, and building small spaces for them to find connection with people who are okay with that and feel comfortable doing so. Bring the person along with you into new spaces where they can help people and receive help in turn, without constantly being defined by their most horrible actions. Bring this person along with you to somewhere they've never been, with people who have no issue with them -- do a shift together at the local mutual kitchen or community garden, for instance, or a book club, or include them in a cultural practice that you participate in, and share that with them. Do jail support together, or mail books to prisoners. Take both of you outside of your everyday social context and allow them to exist in a new way, in new relations to others -- including people who, like them, have experienced social ostracism and struggle.

While you're doing that, observe them and see how they're doing. Talk with them afterward about how they feel, and anything they're finding difficult. I will trust your judgement here that the person seems fundamentally changed. Just being there and involved in activities alongside them will help you be on the lookout for any red flags, and I do think there is a degree of responsibility on your part to ensure you're not putting anyone else in danger by being around them, but you can do this in a light, nonjudgmental way, and let them grow into that trust that you're offering.

I have witnessed firsthand how healing it is for people like your friend to slowly realize that suddenly there are people that like them, now, and open up to them, when everybody shied away from them or hated them before. I do think that if someone is committed to no longer being abusive or boundary violating around others, they eventually do need to feel that they are accepted by some community, and seen as on par with anybody else. They can't be treated as lesser or more suspect for their entire lives in every social context. The communities they've already harmed shouldn't have to provide them with that acceptance and room to grow. But I think somebody should.

As always, keep an eye on your own feelings and make sure that this isn't too exhausting for you. By keeping the formerly abusive person separate from the groups they've harmed, you should be able to minimize the blowback you get for spending time with them. Not all of our friends need to be friends with one another, and not every social group in our lives has to make contact. It's okay to include your friend in a running group with a few other people you met volunteering but then keep their name off the guest list for your birthday party because associates of their victims will be there. If your friend is truly contrite over their actions, they will understand and respect that some people will never want to be around them -- and most reasonable community members should understand that who you associate with independently of them is not their business.

There may be some people who take a really hard line stance and expect everyone to ostracize the former abuser no matter what, and so you might be criticized or lose friendships with such people. But so long as you are helping to give the former abuser some social connection that is separate from anybody they've hurt, and you're not pressuring anyone to be around them or doing any apologism for them (which it sounds like you have no interest in doing), then you are not doing a thing wrong, and I think it's beautiful to give someone that space in your life. Navigating this stuff with grace, respect, and compassion is a skill that a lot more of us will eventually have to develop than we realize, I think. Life is long, and over the course of it, people change a great deal and do a great many things they regret. We need to be able to move through these things together somehow.

[angel---eater]

i truly have no tolerance for this fandom shittin on random fans personal trans headcanons. someone saw themselves and their experience in this character, isnt that beautiful? why dont you mind your business and focus on your own fan stuff? wouldnt that make you happier? someones headcanon doesnt negate yours. what the fuck is wrong with yall. its playing make believe x2. its just a headcanon. real life trans folks are in active danger right now and some of yall are wasting all your energy abusing others over which pronoun set figments of someone elses imagination 'should' be using

[meamiki]

okay here is the original ramble under the cut here! mainly doing these to the ones with associated textposts for different tagging systems tbh LOL

vvv

TLDR - The Universe keeps fucking with Loop and they are not really happy about it, regardless of timing.

While I haven't decided anything 100% concrete for Loop, the idea of a reverse isekaied Loop in general is interesting to me, so I'll be exploring that a bit here. Especially in terms of timing on when Loop gets taken out of their timeline. At least in terms of immediate outlook within this AU. So, for now, have a couple of those thoughts! 

---

The two main points in time I am currently considering are the following:

1. From when they gave up their original wish and made a new one.

In this instance, I feel like their arc would play a bit similar to in game

Seeing this new world as different & peaceful

Since they don’t have to deal with the loops anymore, just watch whatever happens.

Be a lil silly for funsies! The chaos that can ensue with a star being existing within a modern world! 

Even though it hurts to see Siffrin’s team hanging around, they really don’t have anywhere to go at the moment (hard to hide a star being in this type of world)

To a slow realization of how unfair this whole situation is. In comparison to all of the horrors they went through, this Siffrin has it so easy.

This Siffrin gets to live an idyllic life, free from the world calamity of being frozen & the literal time loop.

This Siffrin gets to freely hang around their family team, with no foreseeable "end" to being with them in sight.

This Siffrin had their original wish, the wish Loop wanted granted, handed to them on a silver platter. 

This Siffrin, nor anyone in this world, would ever be able to come close to understanding what Loop went through; Loop would never truly be seen in this world, not fully anyway.

What does The Universe have against them, to put them into this world and make them witness all of this?

It should have been them, with this carefree type of life, given all they went through.

2. AFTER the fight with Siffrin.

This leans a bit more lighthearted than the last, since Loop would have gone through all the development from the game via convos + the talk at the very end with Siffrin, and has a bit more peace about their whole deal.

Perhaps they would still see the same conclusions as above, since healing from the horrors would not happen all at once, if ever, with additional flavor

Underlying bitterness in why the script is still going. 

Why is The Universe asking for them to continue into a new world and role?

Haven’t they had enough, once making them witness another Siffrin’s loops and perfect ending, and now a completely idyllic Siffrin’s life from the get go?

However, there is also a bit of hope in the entire situation. Since if The Universe keeps deciding to fuck with them (as in, sending them to different world lines) there is still, technically, the chance of going backward as well.

To their original timeline and to their family.

Once could have been a one-off, but twice?

Perhaps three world jumps might be the minimum to go back, following standard wishing rituals?

More hope in this one from the get-go, with that thought in mind.

---

Though there are probably other points in time that would be interesting too! 

Another one I was considering was RIGHT BEFORE the fight with Siffrin, perhaps even mid-fight. However, I don't think that makes much sense for this particular AU ASAFASFASDAS. Can you imagine if Loop just spawned into this world, doesn't realize this is a completely different Siffrin, and attacks on sight?????

Honestly the idea of a reverse-isekaied Loop into different AU's in general is neat, would love to see other people's takes on it!!  Especially cuz of the various reactions/conclusions Loop could have/make based on the scenario/circumstances would be interesting, if that makes sense. At least I think there is something in that thought? I dunno!

I feel like I am missing some characterization bits in here, but that was the main gist of it for now since I cannot remember LMAO.

Mumblings over, thanks for reading my silly thoughts if you got this far!!!

a star being appeared in your apartment, wdyd?

(aka loop getting reverse isekaied into the modern office au)

also there are some scattered mumblings on loop in this AU under the cut actually in an rb now link right here if anyone's interested (spoilers for all of ISAT, including 2hats!)

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Staking a claim

Summary: Shen Qingqiu and the terrible plague of everybody flirting with his husband.

Shen Qingqiu had long become used to people gravitating towards Luo Binghe - of course, he was the protagonist, after all, and his exceedingly good looks, incredible martial and cultivation prowess as well as his imposing presence attracted attention and admiration in equal parts as they did envy and contempt.

It had been a main feature of Proud Immortal Demon Way for women to fall hopelessly and devotedly in love with him from as little as a brief glance their way, after which they were ready to offer themselves up for him in the most perverted ways Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky could conceive - however, though Shen Qingqiu's alternate version of Binghe was not attracted to women anymore, it seemed that many still flushed red in his presence and even attempted to flirt with him regardless.

This was not a problem for Shen Qingqiu. Luo Binghe had openly and frequently declared that he would sooner throw himself into the Abyss again a thousand times over than cheat on his beloved Shizun, and they both knew those were not just empty words. Man or woman, none would tempt him, because Binghe's heart belonged only to his husband - a confession that had Shen Qingqiu turn so red that he felt like he would catch on fire!

But regardless of how many times Luo Binghe turned down the flirtatious women and told them in no uncertain terms that he was happily married and decidedly unwilling to part from his beloved unless death itself took him away, not all seemed to be willing to accept it. It was pitiful, and Shen Qingqiu did not feel jealous as much as he felt sorry for them.

The situation was slightly different when it came to men, however. Since, apparently, Binghe had somehow turned gay in this strange alternative universe of Shen Qingqiu's making, it was often that men fell victim to Binghe's unintentional charm and enticing protagonist halo even more than women did - and it gave quite the number of them the courage to try to pursue him.

Whereas Shen Qingqiu was perfectly and securely trusting of Luo Binghe, seeing all of these men flirt with him every occasion they could irked him greatly. Sure, though Luo Binghe had always refused every single offer - sometimes politely, other times coldly and every now and again, violently - the constant batting of eyelashes and veiled innunendos were starting to test Shen Qingqiu's patience.

Back in the modern world, Shen Yuan hadn't been a jealous or possessive person in the least - he had lived by the motto that one should not hold too tightly onto those they love, and let them flee freely without judgement if they wanted to.

But now that he had fully come into the role of Shen Qingqiu and had married Luo Binghe, it seemed more and more clear to him that, perhaps, his lack of territorial instincts had come from the fact that he had never had anything as precious as Binghe's glass heart to protect and keep.

Which was why Shen Qingqiu was starting to become more and more familiar with the feeling of jealousy blooming like a wretched thorn in his stomach. The constant flirting and coquetting around were making Shen Qingqiu feel angrier every time.

There were two reasons for this, he realized. One, the fact that, though secretly a poser, Shen Qingqiu was a great peak lord, and having his marriage disrespected by random NPCs felt like quite an insult to both himself and his sect.

He couldn't imagine others flirting with Mobei-Jun, for instance, because it was common knowledge he had married the An Ding Peak Lord a.k.a the "Great Master" Airplane (though to be fair, Mobei-Jun wasn't the protagonist, and the respect for An Ding Peak had not increased at all, especially since Shang Qinghua began publishing some of his terribly perverted writing without even using a fake name!)

Regardless, the point was that the constant flirting was an affront to Qing Jing Peak, if not to the whole Cang Qiong Mountain!

Secondly, Shen Qingqiu's pride as a man was constantly being tested. Though the tips of his ears still dusted pink when he said it out loud, Luo Binghe was his husband and he did not like anybody trying to sway him, even if he knew they would fail miserably. Whilst he could not stop people from admiring his Binghe or lusting after him, to have them openly hit on him was very upsetting. Luo Binghe was his, and they had no business being so audaciously flirty!

(If Binghe were to know these things, Shen Qingqiu was sure he would not allow him to leave the bed for three days and three nights!)

So, Shen Qingqiu had not intervened in any of these situations, letting Luo Binghe deal with them as he saw fit. Partly because he did not want to sour his mood, partly because having his husband reaffirm his love was satisfying.

That, until one day.

Shen Qingqiu's patience had always been plenty, but not infinite. And the limit of it had been reached when, after a long day of travelling, the inn that they had chosen to spend the night in had a far too audacious clerk working the desk. The man was in his late youth, not quite old enough to be mature but having long abandoned the appearance of boyhood, and he seemed particularly starry eyed about Luo Binghe.

That would not have been out of the question, but to see the man bite his lip and stare up at Luo Binghe in a thinly veiled expression of subservience and desire had miffed Shen Qingqiu to the point that he sent the man a glare so cold he faltered for a moment.

But the peace was short lived.

As the man (whose name Shen Qingqiu obstinately refused to remember) led them to their room, for a very split second, his hand had "brushed" against Luo Binghe's lower back, a gesture that had definitely not been unintended.

But Shen Qingqiu had noticed it and nimbly smacked the back of the man's hand with his fan right as it was about to "brush" a bit lower. Binghe did not have time to so much as realize what had happened before the man yelped in pain.

"Luo-shixiong, your shizun is too cruel!" The man whimpered, so pathetic that one would have believed he had his hand cut clean off.

"One should know when to keep their hands to themselves." Shen Qingqiu replied, opening his fan, upturning his nose and closing his eyes not unlike how the original Shen Jiu would have done. "Don't you know it is impolite to lay your hands on somebody without their consent? Especially somebody that has already told you they are married and uninterested."

Luo Binghe's eyes watched his shizun with a mix of shock, surprize, joy and excitement, but he dared not intervene. That was too good to ruin - Shen Qingqiu had never said anything to Binghe's many suitors before, and though Binghe was happy Shizun trusted him, he had indeed wanted some kind of possessive reaction from him... and now, he had received it!

The inn clerk pouted further, looking even more pathetic. "I had not intended to do anything uncouth... I was simply discussing sword forms with Luo-xiong..."

"If you are interested in the martial arts, I could refer you to Bai Zhan Peak." Shen Qingqiu interrupted, in that same harsh, arrogant, "needles hidden in silk" tone. "Though I doubt Liu-shidi would willingly take in a new disciple that seems so terribly unpromising."

Binghe barely suppressed a laugh at that as the inn clerk's expression soured. He did not dare say anything else, not when Binghe himself sent him a meaningful, dark glance.

The room they had rented had indeed been beautiful, cozy with an air of elegance. If this particular man was terribly irritating, at least the inn did not reflect that same poor character.

"Should I bring my esteemed guests anything before I retreat?" The inn clerk asked, some of his saccharine sweetness dissipated into placid politeness.

Binghe began, "No, I-"

"Yes." Shen Qingqiu interrupted, placing his fan on the table with just enough force for a small click to reverberate as the wood of the handle met the tabletop. "The finest wine you have."

Luo Binghe's eyes glinted so brightly that Shen Qingqiu felt blinded for a moment. But his mood had indeed soured too much, and his expression did not soften. The severity in his eyes made goosebumps raise on his disciple's skin, a pleasant shiver down his spine.

"Hurry now. I have much to...discuss with my husband tonight and I do not wish to waste any more time." Shen Qingqiu spoke again, his tone still icy.

The inn clerk could only obey as he scurried out of the door, his face both pale and red all the same.

He had a feeling that there would be many complaints of improper noises disturbing the rest of his inn's patrons!

[myuniverseinabox]

Dude I have to know... what are your thoughts about what's come out sofar about the live action HTTYD remake 😭 since I know you're passionate about the franchise

Sighssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Ever since I heard that they were planning to make a live action remake of this movie I have been very disappointed, as I'm sure most were. I intentionally didn't look at anything about it - I didn't wanna know, I didn't wanna see. Over time though I became at least curious to see how they would design the dragons, but that's about it.

Now come the actual teaser- yeah maybe I took a gander at it.

And yeah I hate everything about it.

Now let me preface this with the fact that I don't think live action remakes or remakes in general are inherently bad. Its the intention behind these things that make them awful.

Money. I'm talking about money.

Every movie is going to be motivated by that in some sense because capitalism... but every so often we get real passion making it through. Giving us films like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, for instance. So sure there's some very slim chance it could be at least semi decent, but, we all know why this film is being made, so I do not care.

Httyd did not need a 'live action remake' as much as any other PERFECTLY GOOD animated movie did. Its just another instance of film company's squeezing every last drop of money they can get from their original movies.

I would have been -okay- with it if they at least made something new out of it. Like as in a new twist on the story, for instance giving it a darker tone ...like if there was actual creative passion behind it and reason to tell a different story. But no, it looks like all the other live action slop where its legit a shot for shot remake with probably some unneeded additional dialogue that misses the point and maybe an added scene so they can pad the run time. And ofc I'm sure they'll remove certain things for no reason as well.

Likeee for instance, the small flinch that toothless does before letting hiccup touch his nose. From the teaser it looks like they just removed that entirely and it feels SO FORCED.

Also not to mention how all the colours are so dulled in this live action version. Look at that gorgeous pink lighting in the og!

The guy who plays hiccup also just looks away like he knows he's meant to and not like he's fucking nervous about it and like oo okay what if I do this.

It's so... devoid of character.

It may sound like I'm nitpicking, and that's because I am, but these small details amount to a lot. Especially in stories that are so... I dunno, character focused??

I also do not like how toothless looks. It coulda been worse but. Ah... they got rid of his markings (as expected) and he kinda just looks like the og version but with 'extra detail'

his head also looks oddly bulbous from the front.

Now look at this babi in all his glorious pink lighting:

SO. In conclusion, yeah. I don't like it.

[andaum]

A ramble + theory about xpapyrus (0.8 spoilers)

First off

theory, I think xgaster has an effect on xpapyrus (and honestly the others aswell, all to different extents). Based on the purple glint in his his and the other's eyes.

And his outburst is genuine anger but he's not all there, it's just the anger and spite and everything else is muted.

also, the whole smile and "try me" line:

doesn't this feel more like a xgaster move?

(buuuut it could also just be xpapyrus since it is a version of himself that's talking and let's be honest, they both are a little competitive and snarky and plus xpapyrus was raised by that xgaster, so maybe he picked that up)

Anyways, I'm basing this theory off the general vibes xpapyrus gives.

Like he never struck me as the character to enjoy this and much rather just be used as a pawn and so would only want to feel the expected anger and spite.

(On the other hand, it could just be him because preforming a takeover of a universe is serious business, one should act serious and for that one instance it was a slip. I'm looking at classic papyrus in contrast XD)

Can't wait to see if I'm wrong or right lol

-------------------------------

On another note,

Here's xPapyrus' "Hell nah, you did not just say footsteps of hate to me" faces.

(hes so cool!!! oh my gosh!!)

I meeean, its a reasonable reaction, the last things his murderer said to him was this:

He ain't ever gonna be taken seriously,

not even by himself😔

XDD

All imges from Jakei's cool works

[chaoortu]

listen i know i yap a lot about nick and neurodiversity in my fics but it's like. every time i reread heartstopper it really jumps out at me and i'll probably reblog this again with more thoughts as i continue my reread but like.

it strikes me as interesting that despite the fact that nick gets called a chav pretty early on by tao, we never actually see nick acting that way on page. i think the show does a good job at showing how nick has sort of chameleoned himself and stuffed his real personality down but the show is a topic for a different post. in the webcomic we see it once when charlie is teasing him about being laddish and nick decides to act that way for a laugh. on one hand, i chalk this up to most of the early webcomic/heartstopper in general being in Charlie's pov. he wouldn't have noticed these things about Nick because they didn't really notice each other until their meet cute, which is realistic. I think it also speaks well to Charlie's character that he takes who Nick is at face value and challenges Tao's opinion of him. but what jumps out at me is that in harry's birthday party we sort of see the first instance of nick's "meaner" side and it's in the context of defending Charlie. Still! The first instance of this really sunshiney character taking quite a big turn!

But notice how the dig isn't personal? These are all observations about Harry that can be deduced in the context of the material before it. That is to say, despite being friends with Harry since he was like 11, Nick keeps it simple. It reminds me a lot of how you correct a dog's behavior in the moment and I can go on for ages about Nick and dogs but again-- that'll be another post. What follows this really intense moment is another really intense moment when he and Charlie are alone and like yeah, they're teenagers, being teenaged is intense enough. But after their kiss, we have this panel and my God is it one of my favs:

I really love how Nick is framed with flowers in this scene because it really feels like it's him blossoming into himself in this moment where it's just him and Charlie. Charlie is shown over and over again to be Nick's safe person in comic and while they are obviously falling in love way before this, I still feel like this is the moment where Nick decides it's safe to love Charlie (I mean duh, they kiss a LOT in this episode), or rather, to hand Charlie his emotions and feel like they won't be fucked with or used against him. And that's huge! Nick wears all his feelings on his sleeves, he's not even slick about it either-- the fact that Christian, Sai, and Otis pick up on the fact that Nick has a thing for Charlie before he does speaks a lot to the fact that Nick doesn't seem very aware of how much of himself he gives away on the regular. Which again, in juxtaposition with the fact that he's perceived as a judgmental rugby lad by Tao (which, grain of salt here. I love Tao a lot but he's also quite judgmental in his own ways so this is a pot and kettle situation), and the fact that his own mother comments on the fact that he's much more himself since befriending Charlie? That's MASSIVE. I dunno. I could be projecting here but as an autistic teenager who did everything in my power to be like my peers and lowkey hated myself for it, I find this incredibly relatable. We see Nick starting to realize that a lot of his friends are dicks several times before he and Charlie kiss for the first time, and that's also relatable. It took me so long and still takes me so long to realize that people I thought were friends are actually quite shit. Again, I could be projecting but it reads very neurodivergent to me that it takes Nick being exposed to someone who is actually kind to him (Charlie) to realize that his friends aren't kind people. Insane tbh! Something else that got me is that we see Nick struggle with the fact that he really likes Charlie and wants to stay with him vs. the responsibility he feels to regroup with his friends. I don't actually think it's responsibility. I read it as Nick putting his mask back on and resuming the expectations he's been bearing since before he met Charlie and it's a visible struggle for him.

Nick, while pretty unaware of the fact that he can be read like a book, is also incredibly aware of the role he plays in his own friend group and the ways in which he has to perform. But he doesn't like it now. His early love for Charlie really puts things in perspective for him that he doesn't have to accept where he's at currently if he's unhappy and we get that moment of regret where we see that he knows he fucked up by leaving Charlie.

It looks like he's disassociating here. That, or his mind is still in that room with Charlie. It's a battle of expectations vs. what Nick wants. And Nick's wants are never Nick's first priority. He's a pathological people pleaser after all. And despite the fact that he just fully made out with another boy despite barely having figured out that he likes guys and the ethics on Charlie kissing him without asking (teenage stuff, I'm not arguing about it rn especially because this doesn't bother Nick in canon. idk why this discourse exists but maybe i was just making out too much as a teenager) The next day, Nick clears the air. Literally runs to Charlie's in the rain so they can talk it out and so he can be understood properly. He's desperate to make things right with him because 1) he's in love and 2) he cares a lot about Charlie's feelings to the point of putting them above his own later in the story. But the way he does it and the way he sort of overexplains his feelings almost constantly really strike me as neurodivergent. Nick goes above and beyond explaining how he feels to make sure nothing can be misconstrued and that really gives me the sense that Nick is... somewhat aware of the fact that people assume how he feels? Granted, this is coming off the heels of everyone saying he was in love with Tara, so maybe he felt the need to explain himself more since some people think one pre-teen kiss = fairytale love. (ignore the fact that Nick's fairytale kiss with the flowers totally equaled fairytale levels of love for him, lol.)

He literally explodes! Charlie is physically taken aback by his words. This happens right after Charlie has his big "I shouldn't have kissed you this was all my fault" etc. explosion. Which! The fact that Charlie explains how he feels down to feeling at fault and sharing that with Nick, who is very much like no.. no nO WAIT. I LIKED IT. (so much that he kisses Charlie to get him to understand that pre-explosion). And again, we sort of see Nick trying to bottle and be a bit more normal about it immediately before when Charlie tells him he's getting mixed-signals. Nick's response was to unmix the signal and then cry about it because THIS. IS. A . LOT.

For a cis-male character who is involved in a very masculine sport, surrounded by masculine people who are not nearly as emotional as he is(on page at least) the fact that Nick goes above and beyond in this moment where he's so vulnerable to ensure Charlie understands him is hugely neurodivergent to me. He's making sure Charlie gets that Nick loves him, he's making sure he gets that he's not mad about the kiss, and he makes sure Charlie knows he feels bad for leaving him behind. His bases are covered! There's no room to make assumptions about how he feels and I imagine for Charlie, a chronic overthinker, the fact that Nick is so blunt about his feelings all the time must be fucking incredible. He can actually take Nick at face value (at least at this point in the story ). But especially after Ben's gaslighting shit? Like fuck! I'd want to jump into a relationship too if the guy I've been crushing on for like two months ran to me house in the rain, kissed me, cleared the air, and then cried in my arms. I love emotional honesty! It's also interesting to me that it seems like his confusion towards his sexuality bothers him a LOT more than his feelings for Charlie do. He likes being in love with Charlie, that much obvious, but it's this conflict within himself that bugs him. And idk, I could be projecting again but I just can't see a neurotypical teenager reacting like that. To me, it really reads as Nick going. "Okay, I like kissing Charlie and being around Charlie. I'm in love, this is good. Check." but then his sexuality is a huge gray area until he does more research on bisexuality and decides that's the label he wants to use and I think the not knowing is what really bothers him. There's a lot of pressure in queer spaces especially nowadays to be labeled and for Nick, a character who buried his personality to be accepted by others, to specifically be upset at being confused about his identity reads as neurodivergent to me. Nick, by all accounts, doesn't seem to really care about his sexuality except for the way it challenges who he believed himself to be up until this point and what that means to the people around him who think he's just some straight laddish dude, you know? Largely, he also seems rather apathetic towards sexuality and gender in general except when he has to confront his sexuality and how other people will perceive him if they knew what his sexuality is-- hence keeping things between him and Charlie a secret despite the fact that he's never ever been shown to be ashamed of the fact that he loves Charlie.

Anyway, this post got way too long. Enjoy one of my favorite OCD/AUDHD moments between Nick and Charlie. THEY LITERALLY KISSED LIKE TEN MINUTES BEFORE THIS MOMENT... INSANE BEHAVIOR... I love them. The sillies.

[whentherewerebicycles]

ok and now some thoughts about my early experience of parenting.

it kinda rocks... i really like it. i will definitely have a second kid if finances and biology work out. my life is so much better with this little guy in it. the sacrifices so far are mostly minor and are much more logistical than personal. i have to work more hours than i'd ideally want to because there's only one paycheck. i have to try to cobble together more sleep than i used to because i am pretty tired at the end of the day. i can't go to the gym or run an errand or go write at a coffeeshop for a few hours without hiring a sitter or asking my friends to help out. but the tradeoff is i get to be this little kid's mom. he thinks i'm pretty funny and he's interested in everything i do and he calls to me to get me to come over to his mat and talk to him and he likes to grab my face and hold it still so he can study it real intently and when he's upset he wants me to snuggle him until he feels better. i would pick that over getting to run into a store without the stroller a million times over.

i remember reading this book years ago where someone (paulo freire? someone influenced by freire's pedagogy?) recommended that all teachers, no matter how long they'd been teaching, carve out time every six months to reflect on their teaching practices and consider whether those practices were aligned with their core/guiding values as educators. i obviously love this idea because i was born to engage in sustained reflective journaling about my values lol. but also: i do think there's value in setting aside time at regular intervals to check in with yourself about the way you are living, or about whatever you are practicing, whether it's teaching or your work with others or, in this case, parenting. so idk i might try using his birthday and half birthday as time to journal both about my kid and about my own practice of parenting.

do i have a practice of parenting?? that sounds too fancy for someone who is only six months in lol. but i do enjoy thinking about what i'm doing and i like trying to connect the day-to-day choices i'm making to larger principles. i have written about this before but idk i think i am somebody who derives a strong sense of security and groundedness from having a loose framework of guiding values i can refer to when making decisions. and i guess in this first round of reflective journaling i will try to articulate what some of those emerging values/principles are. here we go:

I am making a conscious effort to not sweat the small stuff. there are one million things you can be worried or stressed about in parenting. and there are one million ways you can fall into the trap of thinking that if you just control every single variable nothing bad will happen to your kid. i am trying, inasmuch as i can, to avoid at least a few ways of falling into that trap. i have worked really hard to choose flexibility instead of rigidity when it comes to, for instance, letting other people care for my kid. it's okay if people do things differently than i would - as long as he's safe, he can only benefit from being exposed to different caretaking styles and adapting to different people's ways of engaging with him. i also made a decision early on to not engage with any parenting content on social media (this means ignoring the dozens of insta reels my mom sends me every week lol) and that has been really healthy/good for me. there is TOO MUCH information out there. it is way too overwhelming. you could spend your whole life worrying and i want to spend my life doing other things, like funny accents and comedy bits for the baby.

i am working hard to not interpret other people's parenting choices as a judgment of my own. i really believe that there are lots of different ways to raise healthy, well-adjusted kids. we can make different choices (small and big choices!) and still arrive at the same outcomes. i just really don't want to be the kind of person who takes it personally when people do something differently than i would've! i want to be secure enough in my choices to be able to accept and appreciate a whole range of other parenting styles. i also want to be humble enough to realize that i don't have it all figured out and might learn something from reflecting on someone else's parenting choices. anyway this has been a challenging one as i sometimes DO feel quite judged or shamed by other people's choices. but i also think it's ok to feel that reaction as long as i can keep making space for myself to take a deep breath and think through why i feel like that. idk! work in progress but i've only had six months of practice lol.

i am also trying not to interpret other people's anxieties as anything other than them working through their own stuff. to give one example: i love my mom so much but she is just, like, vibrating out of her skin with anxiety at all times about literally everything. and she has really found an outlet for that anxiety in grandparenting. i get dozens of texts a week about what exercises i should be doing with him and what experiences i should be making sure he has and where i should be taking him and what i should be saying to him and what i should be asking the doctor about and so on and so forth. this obviously could be pretty stressful, and i know that my brother and SIL find it so stressful that it is kind of negatively impacting their relationship with her. but idk i feel like with my mom i spent a lot of my life taking her anxieties personally, thinking that she thought i was incompetent/incapable/irresponsible/whatever. and then at some point in the last few years i was just like oh... this isn't about me at all, is it? this has absolutely nothing to do with me. this is just her fear and her terror of doing things wrong and her overwhelming need to avoid shame, and all of that emotional stuff just happens to be playing out in this relationship because we are close enough that she can lets her emotional walls down and let me see the churning river of anxiety that runs through the heart of her life. i wish that she didn't feel like that. but it's also not something i can fix or change. the only thing that is within my control is the choice not to take it personally, which in turn helps me put some guardrails around it so that it doesn't impact our relationship. idk i think this will probably be an ongoing thing i have to sort through for myself. but also she is who she is and i love her and it is important to me that she be a big part of owen's life. so we will figure it out.

I refuse to optimize my parenting because i refuse to see my child as a thing that needs to be optimized. this is in some ways hard for me because in many respects i am all-in on the very american philosophy that everything can be improved endlessly, including yourself and your family, if you just work harder and care more and give endlessly of yourself to the work. but nope! nope. not for parenting. not for my kid. i want him to have experiences and be exposed to new things, but not so he can "get ahead" or excel in things. i want him to be curious, engaged, interested, flexible, alive to the world, open to new things. i do not care if he is bilingual by age four or has a STEM curriculum at his daycare or goes to a top college or whatever. and i want the choices i make about what we do together and how we spend our time to reflect that. idk he's still so little that this is not super relevant yet but i can feel some of it creeping in.

lastly: i am trying to approach all aspects of parenting with the fundamental belief that i am and will be a good parent. i feel like our culture wants women in particular to spend all their time feeling guilty and inadequate as mothers. we also don't get a lot of external feedback on whether or not we're doing a good job as parents, which i think can make us frantic for validation and riddled with self-doubt over whether we are doing Enough. but i want to just like, try to cut some of that out and just answer it for myself. i'm doing a great job. i'm a great mom. i love my kid and my kid loves me. as i learn more about my child and myself as a parent i will undoubtedly adjust my approach to parenting many times, but making adjustments doesn't mean i was doing something "wrong" or "bad" before. it just means i want to try something new or shift gears a little bit. idk maybe this sounds dumb but i actually think it is proving kind of powerful so far as a strategy for managing parenting anxiety. i just assume that my parenting instincts are reasonably good and will guide me to make reasonably good choices, and if something turns out not to work, i assume i am a good enough parent to figure it out and adapt accordingly.

ok!! good journaling session and now it's time for bed!!

[saxandviolins77]

I have a feeling most people don't actually care for Bonecrusher's character, so I made a little post talking about what I find interesting about him.

Enjoy 😙.

I know for a fact that Hook, Mixmaster, and Scavenger are the most popular out of the Constructicons and that's fine, but I feel most people don't really KNOW what makes Bonecrusher interesting as a character.

OK, I'll be fair here and say that most of his substantial character traits come from obscure stuff or are not developed, but his most obscure bio is used on his TFwiki description... so... Not that hidden.

Take his Sunbow writer's guide page, for instance. It establishes that he is destructive and brutish, but more importantly than that, his job is a performance to him, an art form if we can put it this way. That already paints a whole different picture of him. Yes, he is violent, but he's also a self-proclaimed artist.

Even in the cartoon, Bonecrusher doesn't act like a thug (I hate this word), as most people and IDW2019 portray him. He's surprisingly stoic (yeah, I didn't take it from nowhere). He's violent, sure, but he's also dedicated to the task at hand. Take G1's "The Autobot Run", an episode that feels like the writer was faithful to the guides. In said episode, while Long Haul is the one wanting to fight directly, Bonecrusher comes and admonishes him, talking about how the device they are building will "wreck those Autobots good," as he puts it. (Bonecrusher has sparingly appearances and lines in G1, but most of those lines are of him being violent or him just going about his work day.)

This for me is the cream of the crumb of Bonecrusher's canonical characterizations, directly from Transformers: The Ultimate Guide by Simon Furman himself. Aside from that, this book has some pretty innovative things for the Constructicons; the fact that this was written by the same person who wrote the Dreamwave bios makes it feel like a natural expansion of what's already established. Though, for whatever reason, Furman focuses a lot on the "survival of the fittest" part of Boner, like, I know... '86 Movie! But C'mon!

(The Dreamwave bio was omitted due to redundancy.)

Now, in my personal opinion, you can see a pretty interesting base for a character. A perfectionist who expresses his desire for perfection by violently destroying everything he considers flawed. A performance artist in his own right.

The only thing I outright reject from Canon is the fact that he has a 3 in intelligence and a meager 6 in skill. Well, color me fucking surprised! He must be a very shitty DEMOLITIONS SPECIALIST. I sound petty, but I simply feel he shouldn't be dumb as bricks ( I also don't need him to be Hook levels of smart.) Keep him a brute, but a competent brute who actually does his job well. (take this with a grain of salt; I have a very weak suspension of disbelief when it comes to jobs not being portrayed accurately.)

Either way, I just wanted to shine a light on what I like about the Boner guy. Have a fine day/evening/night. 🥱

[satsuha]

ace attorney sibling stats

i like the aa siblings and i like compiling useless data so here's a few charts of the different kinds of sibling relationships in the series 👍 beware of spoilers if you haven't played all the games!

a few things to note:

no PLvsAA just because i haven't played it yet and don't want to see any spoilers. i don't even know if the game has siblings? if it does i might update this once i play it

i counted each sibling pair differently since there isn't a single case of more than 2 siblings that have the same relationship, e.g. pearl's relation with dahlia and iris is counted separately from dahlia and iris', because the former is a half-sisters relationship and the latter isn't

starting off with this chart because i want to mention that every instance of adopted siblings isn't explicitly stated as such in canon (edgeworth and franziska, nahyuta and apollo, kazuma and susato) but i wanted to include them anyway... this is MY post and i do what i want!! the only other instance of non-blood related siblings is valerie and dahlia, who are also the only step-siblings

again, sibling pairs are separated so nahyuta shows up in this chart twice (with apollo and with rayfa). i expected there to be a lot more sisters but you'll see why later on in the post

this chart counts when the siblings were revealed as siblings, e.g. pearl being dahlia and iris' half-sister counts as an aa3 debut. i didn't even realise aai didn't introduce any siblings even amongst the minor characters... i didn't count calisto and cece yew since that was. a lie. with aa6 and aa2 being the highest in this chart is it any wonder why they're my favourite games o<-<

below are the same charts but excluding minor characters (those that are only relevant in one case and/or don't have much plot relevance)

since all the instances of "adopted" siblings involves main characters they're a lot more prominent in this chart...

i feel the need to point out that 5 of the 7 sister pairs are the feys... the other 2 being amara/ga'ran and lana/ema. a lot of the brothers are one-off witnesses so no wonder i thought there'd be more sisters... all of the older brother + younger sister pairs also involve main characters so that category is more prominent here too. aura/simon is the only older sister + younger brother pair here!

not much to say about this one... aa3 and aa6 being the spirit channeling family drama games checks out

here's all the data i used since i didn't know how else to display the age differences... over half of the known age differences are 7 or more years which is frankly... a lot!!!

anyway i hope this is interesting to anyone else out there i got inspired to do this because i saw someone say that the only brothers in the aa series are the gavins and the van zieks which is... kinda true since they're the only blood-related ones involving major characters?? but it definitely makes sense why it feels like there are so many more sister relationships

[silentmouthpiece]

I hate to say it, but i might as well.

It would be so easy to become a Jimmy. Hell, there are Jimmy's everywhere, but no one wants to admit or even realize that it would be easy to be just like them.

A problem we have as a people is that as soon as someone commits a horrible or unforgivable act we dehumanize them call them monsters. I'm guilty of it as well. It makes it easier to separate them from us, to believe that no real human could commit such acts. The thing is...they are human. They are like us and we are like them.

Jimmy is human. A severely fucked up one who's gone unchecked to the point of catastrophe, but he's human like us. He sounds and acts like a human, and his actions are very fucking human. His issues that spiraled so out of control are so very human that when I look at them in a certain way I see my reflection in the mirror. I see Jimmy in the ways some people walk and how they talk, but no one ever wants to see Jimmy within themselves. I wish I could say I'm nothing like Jimmy, but I can see all the ways I'd turn out like him if just a few things were different.

If I were a man, would I have absord the toxic masculinity of the fathers and guy friends in my life and all that entails? If I was less empathetic, would I let my resentment at the state of my life control me to the point I can only see the worst in others instead of force myself to maintain a sliver of compassion and optimism? If I wasn't desperate to be self-aware, would my crippling fear of failure and lack of self-worth blind me to the reality that I allowed them to hollow me out and leave me with nothing to be proud of? If a younger me didn't convince myself that I can only punish myself for anything that happens, would I have turned my anger and listlessness into a blade that cuts others instead of turn it inwards or share it with my friends? Would I inflict pain on others once I realized I could fullfil a need by doing so? I could go on.

I am also ashamed to admit that one of my knee-jerk reactions to hurting someone badly (albiet unintentionally) or realizing I was increadibly wrong about something is denial. It doesn't last forever but I will obsess over it for a long time afterwards. It's a nasty feeling and it's an instinct that literally feels like a chain yanking my brain to follow it. Primal fear feels like that as well, and it rears it's ugly head when I'm faced with confronted with reality and consequences of my actions.

I want to go back to college, but whenever my mother brings it up I get locked into a state of primal fear, insecurity and hopelessness because I crafted a reality where I have no skills, goals or ability to pursue a higher education or a life that suits me. Confronting that reality sends me spiraling down a very strong wave of depression that often debilitates me, though I've gotten better at climbing out of it so I can at least focus on my job. It still feels like I'm being compelled to enforce that reality, and that instinct overrides all better senses. It's an unchecked issue that controls my actions.

When I talk to my friends all I can see is that they have something they're skilled at or passionate about, and that they're doing what I told myself I can't. I never thought I was a jealous or envious person, but I think that's because I never resented anyone for what they had. However, I see so many instances and depictions of resentful and malicous envy/jealousy that I know they are typically linked. In a world that's more competitive than I ever was, these emotions drive people to harm each other all the time for any reason one could think of. The worst part is those people can also happen to be friends and family who love each other deep down. It's so damn common that it must be human.

I don't understand the need to force myself on anyone for pleasure or control, so I can't relate or speak on that. It's happened often enough that others can speak on it and that's terrifying, and what I see is so beyond my ability to comprehend as an actual thought process or mentality but it's still very real and human. Animals do it to and humans are animals, but we're not talking about that. I suppose the closest I can get is the callousness I can feel sometimes when I'm absolutely out of patience with someone.

All that to say is... I think I get Jimmy and his inability to accept responsibility and the cognitive dissonance of wanting to be seen as good and capable as he destroys everything and everyone he touches. I get his resentment and jealousy of Curly and that it's so tied deeply with his love for him that it twists into something noxious and all-consuming. I get how his warped perception of others didn't stop him from caring for others (mostly the guys), but it affected how and how much he cares for them. I get the casual cruelty he can dish out and I understand being locked in the worst mental autopilot to avoid the fallout of your reality that you made because couldn't accept yourself.

I hope that all made sense. Jimmy really got me thinking.

[runes-menagerie]

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about it. I just wanted to clarify since while it did state that the position involved working with Hextech, it wasn't explained what that meant. I simply thought it was because you wanted to keep the details secret until the interviews so you could decide what to tell potential applicants to prevent your work from being copied or stolen." Sky explained quickly, blushing just as much as he was.

She got up to look over the board while listening attentively to his words. She didn't understand all of it since she had only been able to access the limited information they made public before now. She would have some catching up to do still but she was confident that she could learn enough to be useful at least. Already she thought she spotted something.

"This rune.... You gave it a different meaning in these those patterns didn't you?" She asked with a thoughtful frown as she pointed to what she meant. "The first one instance has the same meaning as the notes you made public but this second one.... It feels... off? Wrong? Like it doesn't belong in that pattern."

He nodded along as she spoke when appropriate. Internally, he felt he had already made his mind up. Not really the wisest decision, and Viktor wasn't about to expose it to anyone. But Jayce had trusted who he chose, so...why not someone he already knew? Someone Viktor could trust. Of course he still would interview the others, just in case his mind was changed... But Viktor was a stubborn man, and changing his mind was an incredible feat.

"Hm?" He blinked a couple of times, eyes darting downward slightly as if trying to recall exactly what he had written in the invitations. It was ridiculously late and he was incredibly tired at the same. A terrible oversight... No wonder only two had written back thus far. "Oh- Oh!" It was his turn to be rather bashful. "Well that's incredibly embarrassing. Seems I got a little carried away there, I'm not usually so...uh, anyway-"

Clearing his throat, hoping the heat to his cheeks wasn't as obvious to see then it was to feel as he scrambled for the crutch again, making his way to the chalkboard and spinning it on its axis to reveal what he and Jayce had been working on here and there. It was a jumble of runes, diagrams, paper notes stuck around the edges and elongated mathematical problems.

"Working on Hextech, you need to be as fluid and changeable as the runes themselves. Because of that, it's often a rush to keep up. Jayce and I would need help not just with organising notes but, frankly, keeping us on track. There may be cause to solve the tangents for us so we can all better understand the main problem. This means forming your own equations, formulas, diagrams. Studying the runes and trying to decipher them. Note taking, especially if something is missing. Basically, we'll need fresh eyes - a different perspective. We're learning a new language here, trying to make sense of the senseless. It won't be easy. ...Are you still interested?"

[saltpepperbeard]

why would david be suddenly ramping up his activity on social media...

why would so much of it be related to the show...

why would he not be stopping the clown train from leaving the station...

why would it be happening so close to october...

why would the cast and crew also seemingly be in on it...

why would it be intensifying and getting more and more suspicious with every passing post...

...if there was NOTHING behind it.

[framblebee]

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE 1x2 | 1x3 | 1x4