#With the support system she has (something he didn't have) she would either: Be too powerful or crack under pressure

[miisfits-toys]

Edin thought she was a morning person until she met Him.

(She doesn't even need to drink, neither know why she's preparing a mug.) (Half of his anecdotes are probably lies anyways.) (At least, they sound like they are.) (You did what with those substances?)

[bsd-elle]

Thoughts on Buddy Daddies Episode 9

I have so many thoughts about this episode and it all stems from P.A works' fantastic SUBTLE writing choices.

This episode, on paper, sounds like a pretty cliche sports day episode, but they somehow managed to show us the character progression and the relationship progression between the characters.

The biggest progress we can blatantly see is Rei taking an effort to help Kazuki more.

And we can see that Kazuki reacts accordingly.

Kazuki is surprised by this development, and voices his concern.

Rei was genuinely impacted by the events in episode 7, realizing that he was pretty 'useless' when it came to raising Miri, and has taken the initiative to give a helping hand.

And what I love about that is, we know that Rei had absolutely no clue how to work a microwave or any basic cooking, so for him to automatically suggest and start making onigiri shows that either he had previously asked Kazuki how to make simple items, or two, he was more observant when Kazuki was cooking, because he wanted to be able to do more, do anything to make his little girl smile.

And it's so wonderful to see them actually bring up this plot point and continue it, rather than letting it be a one-off plot point.

They pick up on his interest to be more involved and we see him actually trying.

Knowing the unfortunate circumstances of his childhood, it's not that Rei doesn't want to help out or get into Miri's activities, but rather that he simply doesn't KNOW what to do. Doesn't know what's right.

His hesitance throughout the Episode is evidence of that, his hesitance to give Miri his riceballs.

He genuinely looks so sad, feeling like he can't compete with Kazuki's sheer talent with cooking.

His hesitance to even cheer for Miri.

Growing up in a family full of espionage and assassination, quietness and taking up little to no space must've been embedded into his system, into his psyche, and the fact that he's actively trying to be loud, to draw attention to himself, just shows the effort he's putting into taking care and raising Miri, something his father never attempted to try.

And both Kazuki and Miri appreciate his efforts.

They understand that he's trying and are so enthusiastic and receptive to his attempts.

Which is why he takes it to heart that Miri fell down because he was 'loud'.

I think, in that moment, he thought that he failed, that failure is never acceptable.

But, that final reassurance from Miri (in the cutest way possible), that he didn't fail, he didn't do anything wrong, and Miri considers them all to be a family, something he never had, something he's never known, that's all he needed to realize that, yes, maybe he'll fail, but at the end of the day, Miri is happy, and there's nothing else that matters.

The other one I wanted to talk about, which is definitely more subtle, but the progression of Kazuki and Rei's relationship is truly so beautiful.

Kazuki treasures the help Rei attempts and supports him in every way possible.

When Rei said that he wanted to make riceballs and was worried if Miri would like it, Kazuki instantly reassures him that Miri would love it.

In fact, he proudly proclaims to Miri that Rei would be making onigiri. And I'm sure that if he hadn't, there might be a chance that Miri wouldn't have been able to eat it, while Rei was clouded by his doubt.

When Miri says that she likes the onigiri and she thanks Rei, Kazuki immediately tells him, "hey, you did good, look our daughter agrees too. You're doing good and trying, and we both see that".

When Rei is drowning in his self-loathing about potentially causing Miri to lose the gold medal, Kazuki tries to reassure him and tell him that he didn't do anything wrong.

Finally, when they're walking back, Kazuki tells him that he's proud of him, that he worked hard, and you can tell that Rei really appreciated that, to know that his efforts were being accepted.

And that's why their relationship grows in such an organic manner, Rei puts in the effort, tries his best to help out to the best of his abilities, and Kazuki reassures him, let's him know about things that he would have no idea about, and vocally supports him.

And Miri, my sweet angel, with her bright personality and even brighter smile, constantly comforts both Kazuki and Rei, that she's happy, that they ARE a family.

The reason they are a family is because each one of them helps each other, is an equal part in the group.

And at the end of the day, they're just all trying their best, taking one step at a time, while the others, cheer them on.

(And this picture is the perfect symbolism of that sentiment, Rei awkwardly trying his best to smile, and Kazuki physically trying to bring him closer into the picture).

[live-laugh-lenney]

loving the dad george content but what would arthur be like as a dad??

i was waiting for this to come in, hahaha. :')) we need to go into more detail on this trope like we did with girl-dad!george. i think it's a desperate need, too... i can already feel my mind racing with ideas...

"how?"

"arthur, for god sake, do you really need me to answer that?"

he gulps back the thick lump in his throat that sat low, head aching and he felt constricted and tight with the headphones that hung around his neck, the main channel video he was editing going long forgotten about on his screen. and she can see the colour of his cheeks vanish. and she was thankful he was sat down because she was certain he would have passed out once she told him the news.

she didn't want to take the test at his place... but it was a burden on her mind as the pregnancy test box sat in her handbag, hanging on the back of the chair tucked underneath his desk in his bedroom, and she just needed an answer. having felt sick for the last few weeks, waking up feeling nauseous and unable to keep her breakfast down her, it was either a serious matter of needing a doctor to take a look at her or she had fallen pregnant... she wanted it to be the former but she had a gut feeling it was the latter.

"but-"

"i know. we were careful."

and they always were.

he had a stack of condoms in his bedside table for when they got a little carried away. she was on the pill.

except that one night, coming home from a party thrown to celebrate a birthday, where they stumbled into his flat drunk and desperate for each other, ripping off their clothes and leaving a trail right up to his bedroom door. it was quick, lust-filled, drunk. neither one of them in the mood for foreplay. she didn't remember reaching for protection, she didn't remember him taking a moment to wrap himself up, she didn't remember sliding it on for him or watching him take it off... so she wholeheartedly trusted her own protection to save her.

she knew it had to have been that night.

the dates matched.

"we clearly weren't that night," she adds, "arthur-"

"i don't- i- yn, i don't know how to be a dad."

"and you think i know how to be a mum? arthur, in case it didn't occur to you but, i don't have kids. i've never been a parent before either," she hisses at him from his office doorway and he digs the heels of his hands into his eyes, "christ, i'm just as scared as you right now. and i think i deserve to be-"

"it's a two person situation, yn," he claims, sticking two fingers up in her direction and she frowns, "i don't deserve to be scared?"

"yeah but you're not the one who has to go through the chances, are you? you'll still remain you where i'll look like i've stolen a watermelon from the supermarket," she grumbles lowly and he lets out a slight snicker; the light tension that was building had seemingly fizzled out, the initial shock still lingering in the air but it was something he could ignore, "it's not funny!"

"a watermelon?"

"it's the first thing that came to mind," she sighs heavily and puffs out a long breath from within her chest, "you're not going to throw up at any given moment because a smell puts you off. you're not going to have hormone changes and cry at stupid things. you won't get fat or start to waddle because you can't walk properly. you don't even have to push them out of a tight hole that's not big enough."

he sets his hands down on the arms of his chair and pushes himself out from underneath his desk, standing to his feet with his arms stretched out in her direction, and he takes her hands tightly in his own.

"i get that, i do," he hums softly, stroking a knuckle with his thumb and using his other hand to pull her into his chest, "but that doesn't mean my feels are invalid. i'm a support system for you in a situation that i've never had to deal with before."

she wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face into the tee draping down his chest, the smell soothing the butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach - the one thing she panicked would happen never did and it put her mind at ease.

"yeah, okay, but you won't get fat, arthur," she grumbles.

"you won't be fat though," he assures her, pressing a kiss to her head, "you'll be carrying a baby. our baby. making sure they're growing and that they're healthy. you're a home, keeping them safe, looking after them."

they stand there in silence, swaying from side to side, seconds going by and she truly felt like they could work everything out together. as a team.

"you're not upset?"

he pulls away and looks down at her, shaking his head, "why on earth would i be upset?"

"because we never spoke about this. we're not even married. we don't live together," she looks up at him and makes eye contact with him, "i know it's not ideal and-"

"i'm scared, i'm not upset," he interrupted and smiles down at her, "we've got nine months to figure everything out. i'd say that's enough time."

and, of course, he spent nine months reading all the baby books and reading things online. buying book after book from amazon and creating a good pile on his bedside table that he read before they went to bed, reading out different facts and important things so that he could involve yn in his learning. asking all the right questions at their midwife appointments. asking his mum and his step-mum all the right things to understand what could happen during her labour and what he could do to make things easier. and he's so proud to talk about it when people ask him. xx

[darkonekrisrewrite]

Emily from Hazbin Hotel would be infinitely better at Deku's job (narratively and literally) than he is. For the simple fact that when she finds out about Heaven's dark secret, the exterminations, she is horrified and goes this is not okay, it's not okay that this is happening, I am not going to be quiet about this. If we are judging people off of one moment and are refusing to look at the context, or improvement, while allowing our people to get away with this, than this entire system is a lie. We get this in one episode, fuck it, a song

Deku meanwhile in 400+ chapters finds out horrifying truth after horrifying truth about hero society, and doesn't care, half the time it doesn't even occur that this is fucked up, and should not be happening. He is bullied for years based on his quirk status, especially by Bakugou 'well he's going to be a hero so this shouldn't be taken seriously' He learns that the number 2 hero bought his wife, neglected his not perfect quirk babies and abused all of them, and was already an ass before that, 'theres no need to bring this up to All Might, or the principal, or do anything about that, I just need to get this victim to be cool with his quirk' (this also goes for Bakugou the easedropper). His upperclassman stops him from saving a six year old in blatant danger, and both that top upperclassman, their boss, and his past mentor outwardly state/ agree with it would be bad publicity if they didn't arrest all the Yakuza at once, and that they barely care about that child after learning see was the ingredient to the weapon they were making, 'well were saving her now'. Lady Nagant was and Hawks is the personal assassin for the commission against whoever they want without trial or due process, 'Hawks is going to make a great new president of the commission'. Rody Soul was forced to support his younger siblings as a child, was assaulted by adults, was forced to turn to crime, while heroes did nothing, 'well I'm helping now (because it goes along with a larger case) so it's all good'

After all this Deku is a fucking bootlicker who is mentally so fucking lazy he has never questioned this shit ass system after all this, his values are empty because he only cares to look at the titles and not reality, he has gotten worse, not better, at this over the course of the series. Meanwhile Emily wasn't tolerating this shit day one of finding out, and she was working within this system too

Yeah pretty much true.

People say that hazbin hotel rushes things because of it's short episode count/runtime but at least it always gets to the point without going in circles for years, dragging out the characters finally understanding the message.

When something obviously wrong and counter to everything they believe in, is shoved in a character's face, there should be a reaction equal to the importance of the 'idea/theme' in verse.

In theory, it doesn't matter if their reaction is good or bad/for better or worse, because either way it should be an understood event that causes a blow to their way of thinking, based on the importance of the revelation.

Deku did that all of 1 time.

And that's putting it generously, in him mildly calling out Endeavor at the sports festival, way back at the beginning of the series.

This never happened again, not towards anything related to heroes or hero society.

It should have been a very big deal for Deku to realize that the number 2 hero was able to buy another human being as part of a eugenics goal to make a more powerful hero.

He at least should have considered telling an authority figure (All-might or Nedzu) about it, just in case there was anything else that may have been going on with Endeavor.

It should have been a very big revelation for Deku that his upperclassmen was willing to let a very clearly injured (wearing bandages) and terrified little girl go back with the guy who was obviously implied to be responsible for doing it to her.

Mirio could have beaten or at least stalled overhaul until backup arrived while Deku took Eri and ran.

(He definitely could have too, as he was able to fight against overhaul in a confined space while quirkless, for a fair amount of time.)

But until everyone knew exactly what was going on with Eri, Mirio was fine with putting the mission above a little girl's life, letting her go with someone who they knew was a dangerous Yakuza.

Gigantic red flag regarding what the heroes prioritize when the situation isn't ideal.

It ties back into hero society abandoning those who are inconvenient perfectly, leaving them to suffer and eventually become villains or die.

Looking back Deku should have realized that but because he got the approval of the system to go back and save the girl as part of the mission, everything's cool...

And this does show that he has gotten worse as the series goes on, as he's not even willing to bark back at the hero system.

Deku has called out villains all the time (Dabi, Flecturn, toga and Shigaraki), he knows how to talk back, so it's not that he CAN'T.

But whenever it's something that's got to do with hero's flaws, nothing.

It's that he WON'T talk back to heroes.

And if he really is just a kid who can't even talk back to his bosses or peers, or the "innocent" people who are responsible for (at least) half of the villains in bnha -

With the idea that they are responsible for the villain's current lives, showing how their callousness and cruelty drove the villains to that point.

-Then what the hell have we been following him all this time for?

Izuku has only temporarily saved their society, like Mirio said: "Setting things at Zero".

Is that it? The best to hope for?

Setting things back to Zero with no idea of improvement? Because it's "Impossible"??

[crossdressingdeath]

I finally figured out why Vivienne rubs me the wrong way. To paraphrase she is a lottery winner telling the underpaid workers that capitalism works.

As throughout the Dragon Age series we see how circle fails mages (In Orgins there is books about blood magic in hopes of catching desperate mage in the act of a crime, Awakenings the templars setting a entrapment for Anders despite being a grey warden and then there is Kirkwall).

Then in the game in which mage independence is a big issue our only circle mage perspection that is a main character is Vivienne who is fine with the current system. As Vivienne will tell us the player that while the system has flaws overall is fine. Which is really ridiculous considering the last game.

What Dragon Age Inquisition needed was a Kirkwall mage who saw the worst of the circles to be a counter argument that the circles are flawed

And what I mean by Vivienne being a lottery winner is that her position is almost a miracle. As while a young mage in the circle she had to be powerful enough to be allowed to do her harrowing but also not too powerful to make the templars afraid (as I believe it is implied that mages that are too powerful are nipped in the bud in Orgins), then in a party she is charming enough that a noble takes a fancy to her which then allows her to charm the Empress and gain political power.

All of these aspects feels like sheer luck. So when Vivienne tells me the circle works I want to eat my face in frustration as I remember Jowan and Anders and Hawke's parents desperately trying not to be in the circle.

(Sorry for the rant)

I think Vivienne is ultimately a very notable victim of a lot of DAI's poor writing choices. Both in terms of character writing and in terms of the overall themes.

See, DAI doesn't want us to get any perspective that doesn't prop up the Circle and the Chantry. It doesn't want us questioning the necessity of either institution. It's not just Vivienne; think back on the mage characters we see in DAI, the ones that aren't in the Circle mostly just don't talk about it. Not even Quiz, and if Quiz tries to argue that the Circles aren't great the Circle mages go "Well you're wrong because it was great for me" and Quiz isn't allowed to say anything back. See also Minaeve going "Well the Dalish are shit and the Circle is great because the Dalish threw me away and the Templars rescued me and that doesn't contradict anything in the preexisting lore and also it definitely doesn't say anything about the Chantry that my clan couldn't support an additional mage in their life on the run and also I'm just going to blindly assume the Tempalrs were telling the truth" while Lavellan is forced to just stand there, smiling and nodding and not arguing back at all even though they logically would. DAI needed a counterargument to the "Circles are good" argument, it needed a character who'd seen the worst they had to offer, but we were never going to get that because DAI didn't want it to be a debate. It wants us to blindly agree that the Circles are good and mages wanting freedom is bad. Which is a wildly stupid decision but someone made it anyway!

DAI also does not like character growth. Not in the slightest. The most DAI's companions get is their character growth popping in all at once in Trespasser after a full game of them being completely static. Just like how Sera refuses to acknowledge how awful she's being to Lavellan until Trespasser where she suddenly asks how they're feeling about the Evanuris stuff without using it to make them feel like there's something wrong with them for having non-Andrastian beliefs or how Dorian defends slavery and then that's quietly never acknowledged again until he mentions in Tevinter Nights that "someone he met in the south" changed his mind on the subject or how Cullen... is Cullen, you're never allowed to challenge Vivienne on her beliefs because if you did that then she might change and grow as a person and DAI does not want to deal with that. Especially not when challenging Vivienne means challenging the argument that the Circles are The Best Option. Poor Vivienne gets hit hard by DAI's refusal to accept that the Chantry's bad and the fandom does not want to side with them, she's probably the single biggest piece of collateral damage to DAI's bad choices.

And the thing is it's not that Vivienne doesn't know she's lucky! It's not that she doesn't know the Circles fail people! She recognizes there's a lot of flaws, and she does genuinely want to improve things for her fellow mages! Her intentions are good! Plus honestly if you work to get her approval up she's actually one of the better companions in terms of how she treats Quiz (seriously, look at some of her high approval conversations, she cares so damn much) and she'll defend even companions she doesn't like from unjust attacks (she's got a very good banter with romanced Dorian about how she got a letter from a magister she knows somehow about how disgusting Dorian and Quiz's relationship is and basically told him to fuck off with that). Vivienne really does care and really does want to make things better, she's just been so poisoned by her life in a world very heavily controlled by the Chantry and the Templars that she can't see past their way of doing things. The problem isn't that she doesn't see how lucky she is; she knows she got a lucky break that a lot of mages don't get (although it's important to note that she didn't just get lucky, Vivienne absolutely worked her ass off to get to where she is), and she knows that not everyone could get to where she is even if they'd gotten as lucky as she did. What she misses is that you need to be insanely lucky just to be more or less content in the Circle, never mind happy or powerful. Lucky enough to escape the worst of the Templars' abuses, lucky enough to be in a decent Circle, lucky enough not to be too weak or too powerful, lucky enough to get a manageable demon in your Harrowing, lucky enough to be the sort of person who won't be completely miserable trapped in one building your whole life... The thing Vivienne misses is that she got out, she doesn't have to spend her whole life in the Circle praying the Templars are good to her, and that's not an opportunity a lot of mages get no matter how smart or skilled they are. It drives me nuts, because if we were just allowed to push her to see that her story would immediately be so much better. As it is it's a lot of potential and a strong start that never really get paid off.

[wilcze-kudly]

Currently reading "A World Apart" (memoir about his time in the Soviet łagrs by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński) is making me consider an AU where Kuvira actually does suceed in sending Bolin to that re-education camp lol

It would be a hella dark storyline ofc, but interesting both from the perspective of looking at the Earth Empire and at Bolin as a character.

Like Kuvira supporters say that the main reason she was placed in power was to clear out the shocking amount of bandits in the Earth Kingdom. But we never really learn what she did with them. Like yeah she made some of them join her (absolutely wild that we don't talk about that either like girl wtf) but I'm sure there were bandits who didn't? So I assume those got sent to the camps.

I imagine they'd probably play a role similar to the irl urkas, criminals who would often be sent to the łagrs multiple times and were the "ruling caste" between the prisoners, being more used and prone to violence and immoral acts than political prisoners (note here that "political" is used loosely because you really could get sent there for anything.).

Presumably the civilians of the lower rings who raided Ba Sing Se also got sent there, or at least their leaders did. And others who disagreed, expressed any opposition to Kuvira's regime. Of course, Water tribe and Fire nation people would be there too, though they might be sent to camps more forcused on extermination than labour, since ethnic clensing is more into the Nazi part of Kuvira's inspirations.

It would be interesting, but very dark to see how these people are treated by Kuvira because going "oh Kuvira has camps where she puts those who disagree with her and also people of different nationality" and them barely mentioning it again is... well it certainly is a choice.

And the concept of Bolin being put in an environment like that would be a very interesting, if not absolutely horrific storyline.

It was actually surprising common for Soviet loyalists to get placed in the camps, after a minor fuckup or if they're getting blamed for something for example so it wouldn't be out of the question for Bolin a high ranking Earth empire officer to be placed in the camps with literal criminals and victims of the system.

It would be especially interesting because Bolin is semi used to similar environments, like starvation and being surrounded by dangerous people, but he previously had Mako to at least somewhat shield him. But this time Bolin has to go at it alone. And I think that would be fascinating, because Bolin usually does have someone he can trust and follow. But in this AU he would lack that safety net and have to make his own choices about how he handles this difficult situation.

Bolin is also a very kind person, and I think it would hard for him to see the injustice around him. I think this could be a very good "standing up for what he believes in" storyline that tlok tried to have in B4, which it kinda fell flat.

Also of course Bolin would be dealing with the guilt from helping Kuvira build an empire that facilitates this. And also the betrayal from Kuvira manipulating him for so long.

There's so much to work with here, even though it would a very difficult plotline to implement in a show marketed to kids (cowards)

Ah, Things to consider for that tlok rewerite I keep talking about but will probably never actually do

And yeah if you're interested in learning about the łagry I really do recommend "A world Apart" it's beautifully written and very heartwrenching. And it was pretty controversial when it was published due to the outrageous number of Soviet sympathisers at the time, so it's worth to see. I will warn that the book is incredibly heavy though. Like incredibly.

[boozenboze]

Some Sunny Day

Summary: We all know Captain Price and how he is described to be a crotchety soldier who has been through a lot. So what would the loss of someone special to him effect him Side Note- This occurs before Task Force 141 is formed and when Price was a lieutenant. Warning: Angst

Females, She/Her She/They DNI Being in the Military is a job that will cause pain, loss, camaraderie, and friendships that may at some point be broken. Price is a well versed man in this category, having been in the Military for 18 years of his life. He has watched many of his brothers and sister fall on the field, and it melded him into the man he is now. During his upbringing, there was one person that had been strong enough, one person that he had known when he first enlisted in the Military. C/n, also known as M/n L/n, had joined the Military around the same time period of Price. They've grown a lot from the time they had first joined, and they've been by each others side for years. Through high and low they comforted, defended, supported, and overall cared for one another.

When they were given time off, they would use that time off to find solace in one another's presence. Price would read a book, enjoying the peace and quiet of the room while M/n would lean his head on his shoulder, either falling asleep or reading the book along with Price. They would also have a specific time, 8:37 p.m exact, to be able to enjoy a cup of tea together at the end of a long day. The way his h/c hair framed his face was something that never failed to captivate Price, and the way he never failed to lighten the mood also drawn Price to him. The two men, when on leave from the base, usually go to the beach or just stay at a hotel for more...private time.

When on the field, Price would be keeping a lookout for any dangers that could potentially harm his comrades, and especially M/n. Even when knowing M/n was a tough cookie and could handle himself he never failed to call out for him on the radios, just to ensure he was alright. Even when the s/c skinned male got injured, he always smiled through the pain, as a way to give reassurance that he'd be fine. Their relationship was something that a lot of people would dream of having.

Although

Nothing can truly last forever

//////

It was chaos, the smell of smoke and the sound of gunfire was the only thing that filled M/n's senses as he hid behind a low wall. He was in the main building that The mission went terribly wrong, leading to buildings being destroyed, soldiers on both sides being KIA, and smoke making it hard to breath. M/n had been injured, badly, due to the fact that he was in the middle of the crossfire.

He sustained 2 gunshot wounds, one being in the leg and the other being in his side. He reloaded his sniper rifle and fired it again, despite the nasty feeling of his own blood oozing from his side, making him feel dizzy. He could hear the sound of Price's voice cutting through on the comms system, but due too all the noise going on around him plus the feeling of slowly drifting away didn't help. His grip on his weapon faltered as his body began to give into the exhaustion and pain.

//////

Price could be heard barking orders, his comrades all retreating and about to depart from the field when he realized. M/n was still in the collapsing building, so in a rush he began to yell into his radio, calling for his fellow soldier, his friend....., his lover....He could hear the sound of static coming through on his radio, an ounce of hope filling him.

He moved so quick on his feet, knowing he was short on time to find M/n and get out of the area safely. There was fire, the crackles drowning out the sound of enemy soldiers footsteps as he stumbled into a room.

There he was, laying lifeless on the ground. Price had has his fair share of times when his blood went cold, but this was on another level. He took one, then two, three steps before dropping to his knees and frantically cradling M/n's body. He felt for a pulse, and there was one.....a very weak one.

"Come on sergeant we're getting outta here!" Price ordered, his tone serious and seemingly unaffected but his expression said otherwise. He began to pick M/n up but the sound the e/c eyed male let out made his heart ache, the other man was in pain and that was clear. He gently set him down again, thoughts racing as he tried to think of how he could get M/n out safely. The sound of an pained cry alerted the remaining enemy soldiers, making them go in the direction where M/n and Price were. M/n, in his barely conscious state was able to hear the footsteps, and used whatever strength he had left to push himself up against some crates behind him.

"P-price...you need to go.." M/n said, looking at Price who had a look of perseverance on his face. He knelt down next to M/n, cupping his face.

"I'm not leaving you muppet, we're gettin' out of this to-" Price was cut off, M/n's voice cutting through his words

"No....no, there's not enough time." M/n croaked, undoing his dog-tag and holding it out for Price to take, a smile on his face as blood came from his mouth. "You need to go, love, go..."

Price stared at M/n's weakened form, the chains of his dog tag dangling from the openings of his fingers, the smile he was giving. His heart was breaking, his breathing becoming labored as he shakily took M/n's hand, taking his dog-tag, and holding the males hand tight. He didn't want to let go, not yet, not ever, but it seems that the world was against him like every other time. He slowly brought M/n hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss upon it before resting the males hand down gently, watching as his breathing began to slow.

He couldn't watch, and as the enemy began to approach Price ran for it, didn't look back despite how much it hurt not too. He gripped the dog tag, regrouping with the remainder team. Inside the truck, Price kept his gaze to the floor, gently tracing the writing graved into M/n's dog tag. He stayed silent, not saying a word.

//////(Present day)//////

Price was in his office, looking through files, signing paperwork, overall doing his usual duties as captain. He was tired, still carrying a lot of hurt and guilt on his shoulders after all that.s happen during his upbringing in the military. Though there was one thing that kept him going, that made him not give up.

After finishing up his work, Price got up to make a cup of tea. He boiled some water in a kettle, grabbed his favorite tea, and tea-cup. He then poured the hot water into the cup, unwrapping and placing the tea bag inside. He watched the tea leaves stain the water a cool brown color, before adding some lemon and a tad bit of sugar. He brought the cup to his lips, sipping the drink slowly, savoring the taste and smell. Small things like this never failed to bring back memories, which caused him to sigh, a brief chuckle leaving his lips as his hand went to grip M/n's dog tag. He pulled it out of his shirt, eyes softening as he gently traced the letters of M/n's name. Gaz and Soap were always nosy, pestering Price about why he has two dog-tags ever since he first got seen with it. He wouldn't get specific, but he would say it belonged to someone very..very special to him. He wore it for comfort, for reassurance, for hope. Hope that some day, he and his true love would finally meet again, some sunny day....

//////

A/n: Hi 🙂

[puhpandas]

things I consider canon to my flashlight duo universe:

gregory and Evan move in together when they're adults. evan runs to live with the fazbears as soon as he turns 18 and they go from there. whether it's college or just an apartment

gregory is what introduces Evan to drawing and he loves it. they both keep up with the hobby when they're older as well. gregory likes drawing comics and maybe becomes a graphic novelist and I think Evan would like painting

Evan eventually meets vanessa when hes about 14 and she becomes the older sibling he always wanted. he always felt intimidated by her idea because shes Gregory's actual biological sibling and Evan holds that to a high honor because he wants to be. but they get along and vanessa being there for Evan makes him feel like part of the family even more

Roxy and evan are close. roxy kinda takes Evan under her wing because although its not the same experience because roxy had a support system her whole life, she wants to help him through what she also went through. she helps him learn an outlet to control his emotions more to be more manageable and is a calm shoulder to lean on for evan.

in the event that the bite happens (it doesnt usually), I think after Evan heals and recovers he and bonnie would bond over their scars and bonnie would make him feel better about them

evan meets cassidy later on when hes mellowed out some. I dont think she would have liked him a lot before but when hes healed more and gotten better with his sensitivity they get along pretty good. I think cassidy wouldnt have many friends and probably be considered a troublemaker because of her anger issues and her lashing out and Evan uses what hes learned with his emotions to help her. I'll say they're both teens here

freddy and the other adults wanted nothing more than to march over to the Aftons and declare that they're taking Evan forever but they couldnt. I think that they wanted to actually go through a process of adoption and taking custody but that would have affected Michael too and I'm not sure if they thought it was worth it. especially when Evan says hes alright with the fact that things arent perfect and that he already practically spends his whole life there anyway with how he spends the night.

I imagine william isnt the best cook and Michael probably has other means of getting food on top of not minding eating frozen dinners. but I imagine Evan probably didn't like a lot of foods (hes a kid and also. neurodivergent) and didnt have many things he enjoyed. so I think chica saw this and introduced evan to different foods and tried to help him figure out what he likes so he can eat better and enjoy it at the same time

Gregory and Evan are avid claw machine players

off screen when they're not having a moment with eachother every 5 seconds they play games like roblox and minecraft since they're in the modern day. I think Gregory gave Evan one of his older phones that still worked since he didnt have his own (theres nothing wrong with it, just an older model and maybe a little slow) and he plays on that.

gregory will draw during sleepovers and then give it to Evan to color in. gregory always keeps them and hangs them up or puts them somewhere for safe keeping because Evan doesnt want something to happen to them at his house

gregory hates pickles and Evan loves them

evan is an avid sweater wearer and the Fazbears buy him more when he only has like 1 or 2 and his other clothes are starting to get too small. he keeps sweaters at Gregory's house because he basically lives there already

theres a movie night every saturday while everyone is available at the Fazbears

michael starts to lay off a bit after a little while (think a couple years) just because Evan isnt even around as much for him to terrorize. Michael doesn't like being at home either and since they dont see eachother as much bullying Evan isnt in his minds eye as often. it just doesnt come to mind to do as much at that point

because of genes and chica helping him eat good, evan grows to be taller than Michael

evan experiments with gender later in life as a young adult and is lowkey surprised to learn that Gregory has been transgender this whole time

evan develops huge holiday spirit and for the rest of his days loves to decorate and do holiday-ey things for the season

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Have you read "change your mind" by somecaveats?. If so, how oo you think the aftermath might unfold? Like how jason and tim's friends would react. Or how tim new vigilante persona could be.

I have and I really like it! It's a delightful premise and the POV it's written from is really quite charming. In fact I shall give a link to the fic and a wave hello to the author @de-vespertiliones :3

First of all, I think Jason and Tim would have an enormous amount of fun "killing each other off". It's schemes and explosives with relatively low stakes, meaning it's low stress and high creativity and that's just not something either of them get very often! Cherished memories to make :3

I also think they'd definitely continue working together, there's waaaaay too much for them to each adjust to and need to ask each other about to just leave each other alone now that they're getting along ("Jason, why the hell arent any of these painkillers working???" "Oh you're taking like half the dose I usually do, also remember how I mentioned the nerve damage? Yeah you need a whole different set of medications for that shit.")

I do think that although Jason tossed the Red Robin costume once before, he'd keep it this time. Better circumstances and an actual support system will do wonders for a guy's inclination to stick with a thing lol

Probably Lady Shiva would be the first villain to realize that Red Robin was a different person now. Even if Jason could act out knowing her perfectly and knew the context to every comment she could think to make - she trained Tim; she knows him too well and it would be very obvious to her that someone new was in the driver's seat.

I can imagine her coming to try to fight Red Robin for a rematch pretty early on after the switch and making the connection. Then mysteriously disappearing with a note saying that she'll be back once he's finished adjusting to the new body and is properly at his peak fighting abilities. A good fighter is a good fighter after all!

I have absolutely no idea what Tim would go for as to a new identity. Funnily enough I think Jason has a way more to work with here than Tim does. Like, Tim has way more people, way more friends and teammates but like... even the RED bit at the front of Robin didn't stick!

It'd be very funny if he went for Drake again lmao, and I think at least one person would suggest he go for Mr. Sarcastic, but I really don't have any serious answers.

Jason might offer him one of the alternatives he considered during pre-crisis before Dick formally passed on the mantle of Robin? "Since you can't come up with jack shit on your own, here's another one of mine" kinda thing? But that of course requires some way to incorporate those ideas into this timeline.

Wyvern could be quite cool, however, I'm always going to associate that with arrows, since that's what the Wyvern organization in City of Heroes uses. They mixed together the ideas of Batman and Green Arrow into the character Manticore, and Wyvern are his volunteer army of bowmen. Actually that kinda makes it really fit? Still would be weird to me to see any version of that using something that's not a bow tho

No matter what I figure he'd stick with either a bird or something winged

Final thought: They definitely forget to tell someone lmao, like, there's a whole lot of people who'd have a right to know but also a whole lot of people who weren't supposed to know and every time they think they've finally covered giving explanations to all their friends another one pops up going "You did what? With WHO?!" and it is a whole ass production every time

Thank you for ask anon :3 !

[quitealotofsodapop]

Unless somebody's asked this before, what's would the swk's (minus 2023/netflix) react to Lin?

They probably think she's a really cool kid! Netflix/Cherry brings Lin around to a Wukongverse meeting (somehow), and the others SWK's are like "Oh thank Buddha, it's his one braincell besides the Stick."

Lin is rather confused, but figures that she should be used to it by now. Her monkey has dragged her along to different Realms before, whats a different dimrnsion compared to Hell?

She ends up hanging out with the other kids like MK, Mei, and HiB!Liuer, with the younger SWKs and LEMs chilling with her too.

Revelations occur when the other monkeys have questions...

Peach: "How do you know Lin exactly? Is she your tudi, or are you guys just good friends?" Cherry: "We're friends but its... complicated." Other SWKs: *sounds of interest/encouragement* Cherry: "So like... she's the first person to show me geniune empathy and kindness, buuuut she also sentenced me under the mountain. Soooo bummer." *cricket noises* Smokey: "What." Cherry: "Yeah it was kinda weird. I think I was power-drunk or something cus all I remember is that she became the voice of Buddha and did the Leap from my Palm trick. Then cue the mountain. She said bye though, so that was cool." *more shocked silence* Dasheng: "...thats not normal." Starfruit: "YEAH. Mortals don't just do that." Peach: "Wait... is Lin your monk?" Cherry: "No, I have a Tripitaka. He showed up like 500 years later." All the SWK who understand reincarnation: *deep inhales* Ace: "Your friend is a Golden Cicada. " Cherry: "A what now?" Smokey: "Seriously!? Don't you know any Buddhist lore?!" Cherry: "No. I was never taught it." Sugar: "Didn't your Master Subodhi ever teach you inbetween lessons on the Dao?" Cherry: "...my who teaching me what now?"

This is how the rest of the monkeys indirectly find out that Netflix!SWK/Cherry; 1: Was never trained for his power, 2: Has no idea about the chinese pantheon, and 3: Was never in the furnance?? Like??? Those are big details in a lot of their stories!

The SWKs who went through these trials feel really frustrated that Cherry hasn't felt the same pain they have, but also recognise his tale as being an equally tragic story of hubris/innocent ambition. Also this monkey had zero friends - no stalwarts, no brotherhood, no LEM likely, so he had no support system/something to fight for beyond himself.

Lin, meanwhile is hanging out with the LMK gang (canon and/or au) like;

MK, telling his origin story: "...So I lifted the Staff and boom! I have the Monkey King's powers!" *poses dramatically on table with his staff* Lin, clapping: "Thats pretty cool! Does your staff talk like Stick does, or it that an oddity just of my world?" Tang: "Your world, sadly. Imagine the tales those Staffs could tell..." Pigsy: "You have the monkeys, Tang." Tang: "The monkeys like to exaggerate and bend details." Lin: "Stick is not really that much better..." MK: *staff falls out of hand onto floor* "Dang it." Lin: "Don't worry! I'll get it!" MK: "Uh yeah, thats not possible-" Lin: *lifts the staff with some effort* The LMK Crew: (ʘᗩʘ’) Hib!Liuer: (◕▿◕) Lin: "...what?"

Lin has her own freak-out moment when the gang tell her that the Ruyi Jingu Bang/Staff is supposed to be over 17,550 lbs/7,960 kg(!!). Aka "girl how are you lifting a whole ass flat-bed truck with your hands"-heavy.

Cus I need to remind yall that Lin *can lift the Staff*, so either Stick deliberately makes itself lighter so she can move it, OR Lin has a major divine Strength buff.

Tang declares Lin his 2nd favorite Monk (first place taken by Liuer). Lin starts freaking out cus Netflix!Tripitaka basically tells her that she's dead in his time/one of his previous lifes as well.

[warsamongthestars]

FREEDOM VS SERVICE

In the Bad Batch show, and I didn't even notice until the Finale, there is this odd idea.

"You are free to follow your own path" vs "This is our purpose, Good Soldiers follower Orders."

And, its there...?

... but you can't see it.

Because the show does, nothing with it.

The main proprietor of the Freedom is Hunter. He's the one who says "You are free to follow your own path" and shows this by uh... leaving people to the Empire, letting Echo is just go out of the blue, and saying "Omega wants to be with us, thus she is one of us".

... And then generally not getting involved in anything.

Like uh... yeah, that uh, that Freedom argument is, err, Solid, I fucking guess.

Meanwhile on otherside, you have the minor arguer, Cid, who keeps the Batch in blackmailed employment, or the Empire, who serves as the greater overarching villian, with Service and Higher Purpose.

And the villains make their case pretty well. Serve us, or Else. Its easy for a villain to do that, especially if you can make the excuse that they can be as bad as they want.

With the ultimate challenge being the Chip. Can you really say you can do what you want, if something else has a grasp on your mind and sense of reality, and can psychologically and fundamentally change you as a person?

And you can see, immediately, how this falls on its face so hard, that you can't even notice its there, its head is so deep in the sand.

That its attempt to push "Oh now we can chose what we want!", falls short, doesn't even ring.

This argument does not work, inspite of TBBshow's attempts, because it never shows any real conflict. The heroes get argued with by the villains, and the villains bring up points, but the heroes never do.

And when it comes to the heroes to show off why their idea of Freedom and Choice is better--its... either taken for granted, or they come off as assholes.

The idea of freedom instead becomes the idea of guiltless abandonment. Cody leaves without say so. Echo leaves without say so. Crosshair is repeatedly left behind, and says left behind.

The idea of choice becomes "We can leave and hurt as many people as we want because we're choosing this, and not someone else!"

And those aren't morals for heroes. It might be for protagonists, as a way to explore that idea of thinking.

... But they didn't explore anything. TBBshow explicitly avoids writing conversation or exploration of thought, refuses to develop the characters to that point.

(and banks on us, the audience to impress on the characters our own ideas... and that's not story telling, that's commercialization. )

To make the Freedom and Choice vs Service and Purpose work, you have to explore both sides of the equation, good and bad. That means showing it to the audience, that means Conversation, that means having Character.

( That doesn't mean "Oh throw Omegawd at it" )

Even in tough situations, freedom and choice can be found. Small things in conflicts. This can be shown in finding Mantella Mix.

But you also need real conversation, showing that the characters actually enjoy each others company, even in hardship. You see characters consider each other's desires and goals, and even in small ways, work to accomplish them. Talk to each other and work through internal conflict to mitigate suffering.

Freedom and Choice... only works with Support. Which is perfect for clone troopers, who are characters written to be a naturally support system. Vode An.

In this sense, freedom and choice only work if when all are capable of supporting, or servicing, each other.

Choosing purpose and the freedom to serve.

On the flipside, the antagonistic Service and Purpose, deals in those who would use you to their own ends and make you believe you are serving higher purpose.

Culminating the Chip, which is a cross between a tumor and a perma-roofy.

( Someone also brought up Cult Mentality, or the BITE system, and that works perfectly too. )

Both the Empire and the Republic are guilty of this.

But there are positive aspects.

While there are purposes that affect a greater whole to serve, such as facing down the Empire--there is the positive side of greater purpose: like the Rebellion.

Yes, you are sacrificing yourself, your comfort and even your choices for a Higher Purpose, but you are ensuring that others can have those capabilities, and that's the higher purpose.

( Its the barest most positive definition of what military service is intended to be. Which makes Rex being the head of the Rebellion work that much better. )

There are positive and negative definitions to both arguments. And while this battle is seemingly in TBBshow... its never shown, its never explored, and the message it tries to push in the Finales, the first episode and the last episode...

... falls flat, because they didn't work to make it matter, and in fact, actively refuse to dedicate time to it, and even removed pieces from it.

( Hell, they cannot even write a character conversation that doesn't involve authoritarian conflict, or a monster popping in. )

So when the " They are free to choose their own path" comes up...

... I can't take it seriously, and I want to deck Hunter in the face, because he's Never Written to try anything, he falls flat on his face in conversation, and he's a character written with cowardly intentions.

Which is a far cry from the man in TCWshow, who while gets antsy and shy, still follows through with the mission and succeeds.

[ussjellyfish]

Beverly Crusher and Tilly for the character ask?

Beverly Crusher

How I feel about this character

Beverly was a formative part of my youth and my Star Trek watching. She was intimidating when I was a child because she was so pretty and she knew so many things. I don't think she got enough screen time or character development on TNG (no one really did other than Data and Picard). I wish she had more episodes. When she has something to do, she is so interesting. I love how smart she is, how kind she is (it made doctors less intimidating when I was a kid), how she has hobbies in theater and dance, and she's a great mom.

I adore her. She's one of my favorite characters ever because she has flaws and she works through them and Gates plays her so well.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Kathryn Janeway!! They've met now (thanks Prodigy!) and they'd be adorable. They're both so dedicated and also such cute dorks in their free time. They'd love holonovels and dancing together, and also be really adorable power admirals together. I particularly love them getting together in the Prodigy/Picard timeline because there's something really lovely about finding love later in life and that contentment.

Also Jean-Luc Picard, sometimes, he often annoys me (especially in ST: Picard) and then I struggle with my shipper googles. They had this really gorgeous trust in each other and comfort in TNG, where they loved each other, and maybe it wasn't romantic, but they were there for each other. I don't like what ST Picard did to their relationship.

I have a soft spot for Deanna Troi and Beverly too, they're just so lovely together.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Will Riker. I love how they're so supportive of each other. They seem to really get each other, and there's a great trust there. (might be the actors, they're not given much to work with).

My unpopular opinion about this character

I feel like the writers did her a disservice in ST Picard. I don't know if anyone in the writers room had ever been a single parent, but it is very very hard, especially without any support system. I can sort of work with Beverly didn't want to tell Jean-Luc about Jack (I think this name is so bizarre, but okay) but cutting out everyone, Will and Deanna especially doesn't make sense to me. She didn't get to meet their kids, and help with with Thaddeus, or even experience that grief together, and she didn't get to meet Geordi's wife or his kids, and she went through so much alone.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Beverly and Kathryn get together and raise Jack together. That sounds fun. They had really great chemistry in their two minutes together.

———————-

Sylvia Tilly

How I feel about this character

She loves math! She's a teacher!! She's so smart and funny and goofy and she's a teacher. I love that for her. I adore her and the journey she's been on and she's just a glorious being.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

No one really? I understand where the Tilly/Michael and Tilly/Rayner shippers are coming from, but I don't really ship either pairing.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Michael! Her relationships with Michael is so lovely and deep and it grows and changes, they're so good for each other. I adore their friendship so much.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I love her being a teacher. (I don't know if that's unpopular). It's such a nice move for her, and when she wanted to be a cpatain, I was all for it, but guiding others is something she's so good at. I love seeing her with the cadets and Adira and I'm so excited to get more of her in the Academy show.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I'd like to have someone I ship her with. (Ideally a woman because I love femslash, but anyone would be fun).

[attackofopportunity]

You there! American Leftist! Vote for Harris!

Note: This is non-comprehensive and probably either won't go anywhere, will make people mad, or both. And yet.

Vote for Harris! Doing so is not only compatible with your political goals, but furthers them. Look, you already know about project 2025, and about the kind of president Trump intends to be if he wins. House Republicans are teeing up to try to repeal the ACA again. They probably won't be able to, but if they have enough people, they will make it a priority. Trump has pledged to appoint RFK Jr in a public health role, which will mean that vaccinations will be even more endangered. Our health care system sucks. Their goal is to take away the few assurances we have. You don't actually want Trump to be president. You are hoping Harris wins.

"But I hate the two-party system!"

So do I. However:

1) it's increasingly clear that on a federal level, both parties are effectively coalition parties. You only need to look at the tussle over the Speaker of the House over the last couple years to see that.

2) More importantly, if only the Republican party gets popular support, then we have a one-party system. It is harder to expand from a one-party system than from a two-party system.

Trump has already appointed one-third of the Supreme Court. If he wins, there is every chance he will get to appoint two more justices, presumably with hyper-conservatives in their thirties who will make everyone miserable for another forty years.

"Democrats never get anything done! They make too many compromises."

Republicans block them from doing a lot of the things they try to do. This is part of the standard push-and-pull of politics/government. It has gotten worse since Obama was elected, because conservatives were so freaked out by a Black president that they decided to start filibustering everything. That didn't used to be standard, but now it is. The specific Republican ploy is to block Democrats from doing things and then use that as proof that government doesn't work. The Obama and Biden administrations have still accomplished a lot in spite of this, even though both have fallen short of their goals.

It has been frustrating to see lofty goals get whittled down, but a bill that does something positive that gets passed is better than a bill that does everything well and never makes it out of committee.

Harris has a lot of goals that would be objectively good for most people and that fit in with leftist goals. She wants to raise the minimum wage, and has specific goals for expanding social services by taxing the capital gains of the incredibly wealthy. These things are good. I do not know whether, if elected, she will manage to do all or any of them. I would rather have her try to do that than have Trump cut social services and cut taxes on the incredibly wealthy. It is better to have a little of something good than a lot of something bad.

"Government aid is unreliable. We need to just focus on supporting each other through mutual aid."

That is a great thing to do! However, mutual aid works better when we don't have to give each other everything. If the public pushes the government toward even slightly more robust social services, it will allow mutual aid networks to go further.

"Voting isn't enough. I engage in direct action."

That's great! But if the direct action you're engaging in doesn't take up every hour of November 5, you can also vote. These things are not mutually exclusive.

"I'm a single-issue voter, and that issue is Palestine. Any political cost is worth it to stop the war."

In October, Trump spoke on the phone with Netanyahu congratulating him on expanding the war into Lebanon. He has told him to "do what you need to do," and has encouraged him to hold fast against calls for a ceasefire. He will not stop the war. Harris, meanwhile, has emphasized that her goal is a permanent ceasefire and a release of hostages and political prisoners.

"The Democrats could have stopped the war already."

The US does not have an "off button" for any other country. The administration is continuing its ongoing aid to Israel, which has crossed both parties and many administrations, while trying to broker a treaty. Biden's calculation is that the second the US stops that aid, the Israeli government will stop speaking with him at all and kick Blinken and other diplomats out of the area. I do not know whether keeping diplomats in Gaza is helping, but I absolutely believe that Netanyahu will stop communicating with anyone in the US if the aid stops, given that he's essentially threatened so. I do not think that the war would stop if we stopped providing aid - Israel has its own military, and despite that story that Tumblr passes around about Reagan, calling Netanyahu and yelling at him over the phone will not make him stop doing what he's doing.

I do not know how or when this will end, but I do know that Harris is the only presidential candidate who intends to contribute to any outcome other than "Netanyahu crushes all his enemies while ignoring anything his own people actually need or want."

"Jill Stein will stop the war."

Jill Stein will not be president. Jill Stein also does not have an "off button" for any other country.

"Punishing Democrats for their actions up until this point is more important than doing anything else."

Then your single issue is not Palestine; it's punishing Democrats.

"I don't want to legitimize this country or this system by supporting it or engaging with it."

The thing is, we all legitimize this system every day just by living in it. We pay taxes. We live in the framework of the laws. Our money points guns at our neighbors and at the rest of the world. It sucks, but it's true. Not voting doesn't mean you aren't involved with this country. We all are.

Please, let's all do what we can to try to make the future a slightly better place.

[tigerbears]

Ok, going to add to the "Trans Noelle antlers" discourse.

First, disclaimer this is all just for fun and stuff not telling you that Noelle is or is not trans, just had some thoughts after thinking what causes antlers to grow.

Let's go through the debate cycle again.

"Noelle is trans because she has antlers." "Noelle is a reindeer and both male and female reindeer have antlers." "Male and Female reindeer loose their antlers at different times"

I want to add another step to that cycle.

"Would HRT affect when Noelle sheds her antlers?"

From this paper, testosterone lowers when male reindeer are about to lose their antlers, but those that are castrated (and thus dont have any T in their system) actually keep their antlers over the winter in the long run. The study also shows that hormones like estradiol are likely what lets female reindeer keep their antlers into spring.

Now this can mean many things for Noelle. If Noelle is on HRT, she would likely have a similar Antler cycle to IRL female reindeers if she like cycled her hormones or something.

(Basically similar to how some folks try and change their hormone doses to match a menstrual cycle, except for Noelle this would be a yearly cycle and not monthly.)

Or, maybe Noelle doesn't cycle her HRT, and in that case idk what would happen. Maybe she'd lose her antlers later then male reindeer, but earlier then female ones. Maybe if its high enough it would keep her antlers for longer, or prevent them from shedding or something? Idk I just skimmed the article and I feel like I'm already doing to much to research a lesbian deer girl from a video game.

Even if Noelle was on puberty blockers, then she'd at least keep her antlers for the winter, like male reindeer without testosterone.

(Also, if Noelle was a deer and not a reindeer, then hormones/blockers would likely prevent her antlers to grow in the first-place once they've been shed.)

I have only just learned (in April) that this is inaccurate for deer. If Noelle was a deer and started blockers before growing antlers, the above is correct. If she started blockers after developing antlers, she'd still grow antlers, it's just they wouldn't leave the velvet stage and wouldn't naturally shed.

I have no clue what HRT would do though because I don't think scientists have injected male deer with estrogen. (COME ON SCIENTISTS DO IT FOR SCIENCE!)

Now I guess there's one more question, if Noelle is trans, would she be able to access HRT or puberty blockers?

Well, Rudy at least supports her identity, so he likely wouldn't have any problem with Noelle medically transitioning.

If Mayor Holiday was transphobic, and had the authority to keep Noelle from gender affirming care like Hormones or blockers, you would think she'd also put her hoof down on her daughter presenting femme too. (and Rudy might have something to say if his transphobic wife tried to prevent his daughter from transitioning.)

Money likely wouldn't be an issue seeing as Noelle's mom's the mayor, (and has been for awhile) and even then the large ornate gate at their house makes me think that Holiday's are on the richer side.

Only way I could see Noelle being trans and not on Hormones or Blockers is either if she for some reason didn't want them, or if Hometown is located in some transphobic country or municipality that banned trans-kids from accessing gender affirming care, and the latter honestly seems a little too depressingly real for a Toby Fox game.

(Insert something plagiarized from Shadow of Roserade's video on UT/DR's queer joy.)

Now, dispute all this arguing and stuff I think there's one factor we're ignoring here; we're assuming that reindeer monster biology and IRL reindeer biology are analogous.

We don't know how monster reindeer antlers work. Maybe all reindeer monsters have them, but they don't shed them so we cant use antlers to determine if Noelle is trans. Maybe AMAB reindeer monsters grow antlers, their permanent, and Noelle got hers before medically transitioning meaning she'd need like "antler reduction surgery" or something to remove them when she's older.

All the above theorizing means is that if Noelle has a similar antler cycle to IRL female reindeer, it doesn't mean she's cis because HRT can affect that.

There's no way to confirm if Noelle is or is not trans unless like more concrete evidence shows up in later chapters, like estradiol tablets in Noelle's room or something.

The most we've got is unused sprites for Noelle's room in queen's mansion that show pill bottles (Shown earlier in this post). This is still not enough as we don't know what these pill bottles are. They could be anything from anti-depressants to medicine for Rudy! (also the fact the sprites we're never used.)

TL;DR, there's no way to tell if Noelle's trans or cis, and trying to track when her antlers shed is futile as HRT would likely effect that.

I'm still going to pretend she's trans though as I love the headcanon for no particular reason. (spoiler alert, the reason is I'm trans!)

[lavender-bundle-blithe]

I Died and Reincarnated as a Tiger Prince?! | BSD!AU

( . . . ) I've been watching too much isekai/slice of life/fantasy anime lately, so I'm just gonna put some random stuff here and just- tackle it later, I don't know what's become of my brain- (Welcome to my brain, I am sorry in advance)

Right out of the park: Atsushi ends up dying in the orphanage.

The next thing he knows, he wakes up to an otherworldly universe that's full on fantasy; I mean "Dahlia in Bloom", "By The Grace of the Gods", HELL EVEN "Snow White with the Red Hair" too.

We have magic, guilds, monsters, mystical beasts, you name it!

Anyways- he wakes up in what looks to be an infirmary, but it was... different. For one thing, there was a nurse and someone else there.

They introduce themselves as the royal doctor, Yosano Akiko, and the royal captain guard, Byakko, who she claims to be his mother though the difference between her and Atsushi were evident; she was a pure shapeshifter but human, and Atsushi is a white tiger half-human.

They kept it vague but explained that he was now safe, and would be living with the royal family in the mountains, where they are now currently. He doesn't have to worry about what happened before, but he has a hunch it's something similar to the orphanage, though he never brought it up.

Byakko teaches Atsushi all she knows about this world, their home practically converted into a big library. Which he didn't mind, he adored reading as much as he did back in the orphanage. Although his new features are still something he needs to get used to.

He becomes acquainted with the people in the castle; their staff, the administration, and the royal family. But the most he found himself staying close to was his mother when she does guard training or the bandaged brunet prince and his begrudging advisor who is half/half wanting to strangle said prince. But if either were busy, he would hole himself in the castle library or befriend the people that live in the castle besides the royal family.

As he grows, Atsushi learns about combat and magic to the point he's mastered even his mother's magic besides his own (that being turning into a tiger) and especially how the world works. But never once has he left the castle, only ever staring at the castle walls and into the town on the mountain with them. Because even then, the mental scar from the orphanage still haunt him that the outside world was dangerous.

News spread quickly of the royal family gaining a new member, a white tiger human with unique colored hair and eyes to boot. Atsushi thought that it was normal as people can be born half-human. But apparently not as rare as a white tiger half-human. Nevertheless, that hasn't stopped him from living a life that he wished for years.

By the age of 18, a royal family from the coast came to visit for some kind of business; an alliance of sorts. They have been neighbors, but things have always been neutral but it has for as long as history reads, so they may as well start an alliance supported by a trade system and something else.

At first, they were thinking of a marriage proposal between their gingerheaded guard captain and the bandaged brunet, but it seemed the news of the new tiger prince reached them, and suggested a second marriage proposal; this time with either half-human black dragon siblings and Atsushi.

(A/N: Damn, this really happened because I'm got invested in slice-of-life-isekai-fantasy anime, christ. This post was supposed to be vague bullet points on an idea that seemed interesting [hell I even did the cheesy name title and everything] but the more I got to typing this and visualizing it in my head, the more it became fleshed out and- hhhhhh T~T"" | aaaaaaaaaaa yeah I don't know what else to say other than it'll be a while until I flesh this out entirely, and yes I made this entirely because I've been watching By the Grace of the Gods and just- yes- I don't know what else to say on that- | Atsushi getting to know everyone is-like- season 1. The marriage proposals and surprise surprise SSKK is season 2.)

[natureboy96]

The Case of Tamlin: Bad Person, or Bad Actions?

(most of this post was a response to a comment in which Tamlin was seen as a bad man, and Feyre's actions were not manipulative because of it.)  Anyone who has read the Court of Thorns and Roses story has had to assess the choices and actions of different characters, and Tamlin is one who is often debated the most. Whether you like or hate him, it's impossible to deny that some of his choices and actions caused harm to people that he cared about. For some people this is the end of the discussion regarding Tamlin's inherent goodness; He is a bad person, because he has done bad things. Other actions afterwards cannot and will not affect the assessment of his character because his harmful actions have decided it. Below, I would outline my argument for a different take; Tamlin is not a good or bad person, but a person who has done good or bad things and deserves to be seen for all of his choices and motivations for them, and why understanding is more important than judgement. I also take a moment to criticize and address the choices of other characters along the same lines, seeing their motivations and the effects they have on others.

I fully grasp the concept that there are negative ways in which trauma presents itself, in one's thoughts, actions and most importantly reactions. A person who reacts negatively to trauma, though, is not a bad person, they are a person who has done bad things. The former is reductive, boiling down everything they are to one, horrible act. the latter is acknowledging that they are a person first, and that they have done something that has harmed themselves or others. A person who has sexually abused someone as a response to their own trauma of abuse as a child has done a horrible thing. The person who they harmed has every right to not forgive them or interact with them, or press charges. That does not mean they aren't still a person who needs help, and we as human beings with empathy should be able to recognize that trauma is incredibly complex and won't always come out in positive ways. It doesn't mean excusing behavior that's harmed someone. It means understanding the behavior and wanting them to get better.

Every person has their own reaction to trauma. a large part of PTSD is unconscious reactions to triggers of your trauma. Not everyone with severe trauma has negative reactions because not everyone's trauma appears in the same way. Feyre voiced twice that Tamlin's actions were causing her harm, both times at the end of emotionally charged and stressful arguments tied to both of their trauma, which triggered his ptsd response of losing what thin layer of control he was holding on to. I think that he didn't intend to harm her matters in looking at his actions and the actions immediately after, but I can also see how that would be besides the point, because he still did cause her harm. How Tamlin treated and abused her was wrong, whether he intended to hurt her or not.

I, to be clear, do not blame Feyre for Tamlin being unable to process his trauma, or for only speaking at emotionally charged moments, because she was just as traumatized herself. Where Tamlin became hypervigilant, barely holding on to his control and triggered by strong emotions of panic or anxiety, Feyre was the opposite, gone passive and numb until the stress was too much to keep silent or she had a panic attack. Neither of them could talk to each other about their shared trauma and that sucks. The only support system either of them had were Lucien and Ianthe, and we know the latter had no interest in helping either of them. That leaves Lucien, and I do wish he had tried more, said more, to help Tamlin, he is only one person and technically a subordinate. Tamlin needed someone to tell him, to show him what he clearly couldn't see, that the person he loved was wasting away in his arms, that he was so afraid to lose her that he was losing her anyway because of how tightly he was holding on to her. But he didn't have that help, and it sucks. Just as much as it's not fair to blame Feyre for not speaking up because she was dealing with trauma, it's not fair for Tamlin to be villainized for not seeing how his choices were affecting Feyre because he was dealing with trauma.

I can understand Feyre's motivation for wanting revenge on Tamlin after what she thinks happened, and what she thinks is currently happening with Hybern at the start of ACOWAR (though she really should've read their minds at some point to find out what was up, but that's a plothole and a sidebar) Whether or not it's understandable, it is still manipulative to knowingly use someone's unresolved trauma to create situations in which they or other people will act or react in the way you want or expect them to. It is manipulative to push someone with PTSD to the point of a breakdown in order to manufacture a situation that would make them look bad, or to pretend to have a nightmare, go to your friend's room (who again, has had issues with women pushing themselves onto you) and hug them, knowing it would put a strain between him and his only reliable support system. 

I don't think Feyre's actions were good, especially because they affected far more than the person she wanted to hurt, but they are understandable, because she saw her family get hurt and believed Tamlin responsible for that and her own abuse. I don't think Tamlin's actions leading up to this were good, but they are understandable, because Tamlin saw the woman he loved, who he sacrificed his whole world for and was struggling to keep protecting, taken from him again by the man who worked for the woman who killed her, and who for the past 500 ish years had made a name for himself as an evil mind controller. 

Tamlin has not always a good man, no. But he's not a bad man, either, and he has been good and beloved before. He is a person (in so much as a character in a book can be a 'person) who has done bad things, including abuse, and good things, including saving Feyre's, Azriel's, Elain's, Briar's and Rhysand's lives personally. 

I don't think he needs redemption, in my opinion he earned it by letting Feyre go at the end of ACOWAR, and showing it by bringing Rhysand, the person she left him for, back to life, when he could easily have chosen not to, and no one would have been surprised if he hadn't. I think he needs healing. 

He definitely doesn't need to be beaten into the dirt and baited into suicide by that same person whose life he saved...