#again based on personal experience

[feverflushed]

A suffers from migraines that leave them temporarily blind.

One day they're out of the house with B, and the migraine hits them out of nowhere.

It starts with a little static-like spot in the middle of their field of vision, which quickly spreads, leaving them nearly completely blind. B has to step in, leading their temporarily-out-of-order loved one to a safe, dark place where they can recover.

Bonus if B is a bit clumsy and ends up being a terrible guide. Steps and curbs? A ends up tripping on every single one. Walls? B nearly sends poor A crashing at every corner they turn. Puddles? B doesn't notice them and A ends up soaking their socks.

[dumplingsjinson]

List of “stuff that happened between us which will forever live in my mind rent free” prompts

“I’m happy that you’re happy.” (DEWLKLDEWDSWL,SDL, FUCKKK)

Character A repeatedly kissing Character B’s lips, both giggling softly when they pull away from each other. (YUMI’S CELLS SEASON 2 I’M THANKING YOU FOR THIS KSKSKS) 

“You’ll always be beautiful in my eyes no matter what,” Character B murmurs after Character A tells them how insecure they are over their body. (Him reassuring me when I was spilling my guts to him and everything was everything I didn’t know I needed until now ajskks 😭 And him saying he doesn't judge lksefnklewn)

“I’m scared you’ll leave me once you see everything,” Character A murmurs, face buried in Character B’s chest. “Why would you think that?” Character B questions, a frown heard in the tone of their voice without Character A needing to look up at them; as if they think it’s ludicrous that Character A would even think they’d leave them for something like that.  (NaHH THE WAY HE SOUNDED DISAPPOINTED WHEN I SAID THAT, for even thinking that he’d leave me for that, and then trying to comfort me after, I feel so bad for doubting him omg 😭😭😭)

“Touch yourself for me, yeah?” Character B murmurs into Character A’s ear; watches as a flustered looking Character A slowly does as they’re told. (HOLY FUCKING SHITBALLS HELLOOOOOOOOO- IT’S THE FACT THAT HE ADDED THE “FOR ME” PART THAT MADE ME BECOME SO FUCKING FLUSTERED even though I did suggest it when we met last week and he was like “only if you want to” sAURR LIKE… was this invitation on his mind for a whole week LMFAOO. AND WHEN HE KEPT TELLING ME “good girl” or “that’s my baby girl” WHILE I WAS- JWKCKAS AHHHHH)

“You’re doing such a good job. That’s my baby girl/boy.” 

Character B slowly undressing Character A, at the request of Character A, because Character A is too shy to undress themselves in front of them. (PLEASE THE WAY HE JUST SLOWLY AJFKAKFK HELPPPPPPPP EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS SO TENDER??? LIKE DAMN)

“I don’t like the way my calves look. They’re too bulky, you know?” Character A sighs. “Well, I think it’s fine,” Character B says. “How’s it fine?” Character A whines. Character B chuckles in an abashed manner, then says, “It makes them squishier, after all.” (And then he proceeded to say he doesn’t like how his own calves look just to make me feel better, god I fucking LOVE HIM)

Character A being extremely vulnerable with Character B, and Character B listening attentively and reassuring them as much as they can.

“I’m sorry for ruining the mood,” Character A murmurs, face buried on their chest, and Character B chuckles softly. “It’s fine, don’t apologise,” Character B murmurs, stroking their fingers through their hair. “I’m here for you after all. I’m here to listen.”

“You’re so pretty, you know?” Character B mumbles, brushing a strand of hair behind Character A’s ear. (Him saying that while I was being vulnerable melted my heart TT TT AND ALSOOO WHEN HE WAS SAYING THAT WHILE I WAS ON TOP OF HIM HHWHEWHH) 

Character B littering kisses on Character A’s bare chest and saying, “You’re so soft.” (I just.. need a MOMENT)

Sloppy kisses while dry humping. (I mean I enjoyed them, and what of it??) 

“I’ve seen everything. And I’ve tasted everything. Literally,” Character B says with a chuckle as they surface from the sheets and from between Character A’s thighs to snuggle with Character A, and Character A groans, hiding their face behind their hands in utter embarrassment. (Yep. He’s seen literally everything AND had a taste by now and I’m SO FUCKING LWKENFLKWEFNLKENWFW—)

“I’m so embarrassed,” Character A groans as Character B holds them to them. “Don’t be embarrassed,” Character B says with a chuckle. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s just you and me, after all.” 

“Fuck, I wanna feel you against me,” Character A murmurs. (I said that, sir, yes I did. And what aBOUT IT—)

Character B kissing Character A on the cheek during one of those self-service photo booth sessions, which catches Character A off-guard. (AND WHEN I UPLOAD THE PIC- jk) 

Character B pressing kisses against Character A’s forehead while they’re fucking. (We weren’t technically fucking, but it was close lmfao) 

Character A clenching Character’s A’s head between their thighs as Character B eats them out, fingers going in and out of them sporadically. (The finger AND TONGUE COMBO PLEASEEE) 

Character A repeatedly apologising for dumping their feelings and vulnerabilities on Character B every time they see each other and Character B telling them it’s fine and that they’ll always be here to listen to them. (Please, I love this man so much) 

Character B slapping Character A’s ass while they’re using their phone, ass high up in the air. “What was that for?!” Character A whines, turning to glare at Character B. “That’s revenge for you doing that to me,” Character B says with a triumphant grin. (Yes we are at tHAT level of comfort with each other and YES I like slapping his ass. And don’t ask me why I was looking at my phone while in that position, it’s difficult to explain-)

Character B calling Character A cute and adorable while they’re messing around, because apparently Character A will always be adorable to them no matter what they do. 

Character B showering Character A with compliments and praises which flusters Character A every single goddamn time, and Character A telling Character B to shut up every time they compliment them because they don’t know how to take compliments. 

“God, I’m so wet/hard.” “And I don’t see a problem with that?” “Uhhh, no, there’s no problem but it is your fault that this is happening.” (FUCKING TEASE- IOEWFEKLKEWN) 

“Tell me when you want me to stop, okay?” Character B murmurs, glancing up at Character A from between their thighs, and something about that sight will forever remain etched in Character A’s mind. 

“As I’ve always said, we have all the time in the world, and I want you to be comfortable.” (HE IS AN ANGEL, PLSSS) 

“I’m happy you got out of your comfort zone,” Character B murmurs, cuddling Character A close to their chest. (ThE SWEETEST BOYFRIEND I’M TELLING YOU) 

Character B covering Character A with a blanket, knowing that they’re still feeling a little self-conscious over having their body exposed like this. (And him draping the blanket over us both as he cuddled close to me welkfnekwn I’m fiNISHED) 

Character B taking their time with Character A, going at a pace that Character A’s comfortable with. (He was so attentive the whole time TT TT)

Character B brushing Character A’s hair behind their ears to unhide their face; just so they could take a better look at them. (It’s even more EWLFKNEWFKN when he does it while we’re messing around, because I’m covering my face with my hair on purpose because I’m self-conscious as fuck, while he wants to see my face lmfaooo) 

[egophiliac]

I saw comments that the new butler from Ridekamens look like Sebek

He...kinda does

I wasn't gonna say it, but. that was kind of my first thought when he was revealed. :') maybe this is what Sebek's older brother is doing these days? he ran off to buttle for secret agents at a superhero cafe? actually wait that would be rad as heck, I'll accept this headcanon

[flowerakatsuka]

" just know that i'm always here for you, okay? "

i'm finally finishing up my s2 rewatch and getting to the 24th episode awoke a beast in me. so i wanted to make a fake screenshot based on some of their lore that takes place during that episode. i think they'd end up having a heart-to-heart moment since kuroba went through similar struggles after their grandfather's own hospitalization...

also have a bonus doodle bc i need to even out the balance between serious & goofy with these two.

[timothyslucy]

[midnight1nk]

cutely sits on your askbox. Not breaking anything this time! Anyways, seen your rb my silly hitshow poll (I'm in some way surprised and not surprised with the results so far, which is a good thing, I LOVE NUMBERS!!) but I'm here for something different. I don't remember how much you actually talked about them, but maybe that's just a headache talking (usually when it rains I get headaches and it is indeed raining right now) but I wonder how you exactly feel about them? And also what you voted for :3. I've already voted myself, and I'm actually an (obviously) before movie but also bc of potential- I think they have a lot so. Yeah, that's why I'm asking you cuz I see that you're actually extra based about redemption stuff too (thank you so much, my love and tears goes out to you it feels so nice to not be alone about it I'm not kidding) so that only makes me more interested!

At least I don't have to patch up another hole in the waiting room, hope you enjoyed the froggy chairs. come on in to my pillow fort!

Gotta love the poll, but no, I didn't get a chance to actually talk about hitshow (puzzles x wpnz) 🤔 I probably should lol

When the fanart first came (as in before the movie) into the smg4 tag, I saw it and I was like "huh, that's a fun idea ^^ also that's good art" (<- is this a sign of me being on the ace spectrum? idk you tell me) but it clicked for me in the next second, "hold up, this actually has potential? we might be cooking". That's why in the poll, I chose the fanart option bc I wouldn't have that realization otherwise:

Fanart was technically first, a few seconds faster than potential haha

And ofc the movie and the meme recreation of the official account happened.... istg are we still sharing a shared delusion? it still doesn't feel real lmao. Well, now that we have: full speed ahead, chat!

Fr tho, they do have potential. NOT that they will be canon or anything, we barely just got a scene with them. But definitely the type of ship where I'm like "I'm gonna need fics and fanart to fulfill my quota :)" (but if the team does make them canon, we could have the first villain pairing maybeeee? 👀) And since we are talking about them, I do have a rant, that may be a doozy one so bear with me:

(1) I've seen some people calling the "you look lonely" render as queerbait and that made me physically wince, so I thought I voice my thoughts to the people. This is NOT queerbaiting. This is the Team simply recreating a popular meme, in response to SO many fans connecting it to the scene in the movie. Think of queerbaiting as a carrot on the stick. It wouldn't be like the Team to make false promises just so they could have more viewers/targeting the LGBTQ+ audience, that's not them. Just another meme recreation for the silly meme show, like they've always done, for the shits and giggles. Besides, like I said, we only had a scene with them; we didn't even scratch the surface. (I'll get to the whole OG bladerunner meaning in a sec)

(2) I've also seen people wanting Karen to go back with WPNZ and accept him back into the family. Or that WPNZ/Puzzles don't deserve to have a redemption arc. I'm going to go back to my redemption talk again for this: redemption ≠ forgiveness ≠ remembering. As much as these correlate to each other, they're not the same.

First, redemption. It's not if a particular character deserves it or not; if they choose to change, that's their choice. The question is, are they willing to take the time and effort to change? If the answer is yes, then they could have a chance at redemption. If not, that's their choice. Again, there's a difference between "I have to change" and "I want to change", and it takes guts to do it. Not that it will be an easy battle, but whatever the motivation may be, it might be worth it in the end.

Now, do I think redemption is possible for WPNZ or Puzzles? I think it's possible. I think that deep down, they want things to change for the better, that they wish they weren't so alone. Unfortunately, a lot of things blinded them into doing the actions they've done, almost like they didn't know how to redeem themselves. Change is recognizing what is wrong or misguided by what's truly wanted, which ultimately ends up hurting oneself and others.

The people (or lack thereof) in their lives growing up didn't help, and being locked away in solitary confinement made things way worse. Hell, WPNZ actually wanted to change for the better, but with how he was growing up and whatever HItman Inc. implemented in him, it's not easy to "forget"/"undo" the mindset he's been living with his whole life. Born and forced to be a weapon, expendable by the corporation that took him "under their wing", needed to be strong and brave in a high-risk job, the only companion and relationship he ever had was his partner-in-crime. It's why he saw the kids as weapons, needing them to be strong in the mission/get impatient when they're joking around, and misinterprets Karen's hostility towards him as nostalgic thrill. This is basically all he knows, what was constantly told to him. And I don't think he realized how fucked up his life actually was or how much effort is truly needed to learn how to change.

Second, forgiveness. Unlike redemption where someone has a choice, forgiveness is earned by others. Even if a character chooses to redeem themselves, not every person affected by their past actions is going to forgive them. And that's normal, it's fine. When it comes to redemption, you are not supposed to expect something in return, the redemption is for you and you alone. Even if you change and say your sorry's, people don't owe you forgiveness. It's not bc it wasn't sincere or anything, but those past actions could affect differently from person to person, more than realized. We have to accept that regardless of the outcome. An apology is accepting oneself's actions are wrong, forgiveness is the other person letting go of what was hurt/affected. Which ties in with the third, remembering. Just bc you forgive someone, it doesn't mean it automatically makes you forget whatever happened between the two of you. You can see someone's redemption, apologize to you in the most sincere way possible, but you can't forgive them. Or maybe do forgive them, to give yourself peace of mind, but you can't forget how hurt you were by all of it. Some things, those that hurt, can only stay in the past. You can't be "unaffected" by it with a flick of a switch, trauma and injury. How do you want to move forward, that's a leap of faith. Cooling down the hate and grudges, or even letting go.

Redemption is a choice for the person who hurted, forgiveness is a choice for the people affected by said hurt. It's their choice, and they don't owe that to anyone else. With sincerity, honesty, and courage, it can be done if you want to move forward, even if some things will still be remembered. It's literally the conversation Karen and WPNZ had in the movie:

Karen: "Fancy words don't change what you did to me, what you did to my kids." WPNZ: "I know that doesn't change anything, doesn't make up for what I did. But I'm sorry, Karen." Karen: "You've grown alot for the better, but there are some things that just can't be forgiven."

Like I said, redemption was extremely close for WPNZ. The problem was that stopped him stemmed from the loneliness he had, it's why he tracked them down in the first place. He didn't go to them bc he saw how terrible being in Hitman Inc. actually was, but bc he missed the thrill of having Karen (or Katana) around. The missions weren't the same without her. When the kids were upset during the mission, he didn't take responsibility bc he didn't understand that these were kids scared for literally being thrown in a dangerous situation, but bc Karen sheltered them from their so-called roots that the kids need to train to be stronger. Pretty confident that he was recruited by Hitman Inc. at a young age, and he had to deal with what the kids did and be strong too. He didn't want to be alone but he couldn't identify what the true problem was, and therefore stuck with the mindset he had.

Same goes with Puzzles. Truly, the only thing he had in his life growing up was a TV. He didn't have friends. His dad was a narcissistic, neglectful asshole. His mom is implied(???) to be abusive to him, otherwise she's out of the picture completely. He literally locked himself in his room and didn't come out for years. When Puzzles eventually did come out of her room, she went on to cut her head off. You'd think that a parent would be worried for their child and rip the door off its hinges just to know if they're ok from the start. But no, it didn't happen. And the mindset she has, Puzzles thinks that by achieving her dreams to absolute perfection would make her happy, that being popular would "help" her loneliness, that she can prove that her whether-or-not-living father that she proved him wrong. It's why he made Puzzlevision or Puzzle Park.

And for the first time in her life, when someone did care, she got very attached to Leggy, upset when the Crew "took" Leggy away, so much so that he made Leggy 2.0.

WPNZ and Puzzles did the things they did because they were alone. Bc of the mindset constantly being reminded to them, they're blinded to the actual true problem. Believing that some things, like revenge and pushing boundaries, could potentially "solve" mistakes. Shifting blame without acknowledging any fault they've done themselves. Even after their defeat, they simply can't let go of the past, WPNZ with the kids and Puzzles with Leggy. They believed they moved on, and though it's true in some parts, they're still stuck in the past. All dealt with in an unhealthy way.

And now with each other. Realistically, they won't know much of each other's past but slowly, some things may start to come up and eventually, they believe that they're probably the only ones who understand each other. Not that it would be true, but it's likely what they're going to believe, again in a very unhealthy way. A level of understanding that they only know.

This is where the OG bladerunner scene comes in (see? I told you it would)! Based on what I know, and hopefully I got some points right, is that the announcement for the holographic companion (Joi) is persuading the protagonist (K) by forming itself to look like K's ex from a previous romantic relationship. The fact that Cube tweeted this meme in the middle of the hitman arc without context, the movie literally having an eerily similar scene, and then the Team ACTUALLY recreating the meme into a render, this was intentional. Fr explain to me why did the Team chose to use that (bisexual) lighting when they could've chosen any other colors? Why did they decide to recreate the meme at all?

The details they chose are intentional but not in the way most think (hitshow). With the original context in mind, the reality is that WPNZ is being persuaded with the ideal life, one where WPNZ could be with his kids and ex-wife. That his problems could be "fixed" with what's essentially a toxic option. After all, he was left broken and betrayed in the streets, still stuck in his mindset. Karen literally destroyed him limb to limb. Hitman Inc.? WPNZ was an expendable asset, they don't give a shit about him.

And yet, it seemed like someone did. She was there. Perhaps he can be fixed up again, everything could be fixed. The life just as he wants it to be, if he takes her deal. But like the bladerunner scene, it's not real. What they thought would truly make them happy, it's not what they really want. And even then, what else can they do when they only have each other? If what was done to them is done? If they believe there's no choice otherwise?

There's no such thing as "fixing", but healing. That's what they don't see.

That's the potential I basically see. Oh, it's going to be toxic as hell, no doubt about it, but it sure will be an interesting dynamic to see in the show! It's just so fascinating to me, and it doesn't necessarily mean it's meant to be viewed as romantic.

I might be hearing an angry mob with pitchforks coming my way for what I said, but do ask yourselves: is there a chance, no matter how small, for WPNZ and/or Puzzles to have a redemption arc? Not what the Team plans, not what other people think. Not if they deserve it, bc it wouldn't be classified as redemption.

Is there a chance at redemption?

Probability-wise, yes. There is a chance. They would just have to recognize their own faults, that their childhoods were fucked-up, and that the mindset constantly reminded them isn't right or healthy for them. Once again, redemption is their choice. If they let themselves see past the fog, there's a way. Forgiveness (and remembering) are other things that most people usually get stuck on and possibly confuse it with redemption. If WPNZ redeems himself in the future, it's Karen's choice to forgive him. If Meggy or even 4 chooses to forgive Puzzles after a redemption, that's their choice. Not everyone's willing to forgive, and that's fine. It's real. At the end of the day, it's their choice that they have to come to their own terms. Not even the audience could force them to make a decision. Like Karen said, some things aren't unforgivable. Some things we can't forget. We ourselves have made thousands of mistakes, probably done things that unintentionally hurt others. You've done them, I have too. We are human, they are too. All of them.

It doesn't necessarily mean they're justifiable, but understandable. That's why 3's redemption is also so fascinating to me. He's done terrible things for an understandable motive, and he chooses to change for himself, not for anyone else. From greedy desires to acts of selflessness, though he doesn't outright admit it, he does care. I've already praised the Team SO many times about design details, but the progression of 3's model from blue to purple to represent his change to be his own person, it's absolutely brilliant.

The only difference is that while the Crew has each other for support, WPNZ and Puzzles don't. We know why that is, we're shown why that is. But they could, if they let themselves. Not that they have to join the Crew, they can go on with a better way of life. There's simply a chance to change, it just takes time and effort to find it.

.......I do hope it didn't sound like me going around in circles. I just think a WPNZ and Puzzles team-up would be cool to see. I know hitshow's not gonna be canon (it's not, guys, I'm pretty sure) but like. that's the whole point of shipping? As long as there's no harm, it's fine. welp, fuck it, I'm calling hitshow toxic yuri now.

...but WPNZ isn't.....?

WPNZ can be fem now, or I can label WPNZ as honorary lesbian. People are already coming for my head for the whole redemption thing, so I might as well pick my poison. You can always call it toxic love for gender neutral anyway. I ain't going to change to say "they don't deserve redemption" or something like that, I'll die on this hill.

Some people change, good for them. And some don't, and that's okay too! But don't deny that chance!

Plus, I do wanna see fics and fanart of them acting like a bickering old married couple. And maybe they kiss as a treat. Anyway, friend, you already said so much about WPNZ/Puzzles/hitshow, and I love reading your posts, but I did wanna to say a few things not only about what I see in hitshow but to also support you! "extra based", I'm pretty sure I'm not but thanks anyway, that's really touching to know that you feel heard. Here, bud, have some hugs 🫂💙 /very pos /gen

And to everyone else, stories are grounded in reality. While it's a "silly meme show", the Team does take some real issues into the show. Not ALL but some, and I appreciate that. I just hope yall could understand things aren't always black and white, or an easy path. There can be a change.

Ultimately, the choice is yours.

thanks for the ask!

[therentyoupay]

im completely feral over all your jelsa stories!!!!!! do you ever write established relationship jelsa or have any headcanons about what they would be like together in a serious relationship or marriage????

THANK YOU SO MUCH. 😭😭😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕🙏 thank you thank you nonny for this super sweet ask and this really lovely question and all of your love and support!! 💕💕💕💕💕

i have... never actually written established!relationship (in any fandom), now that i'm thinking about it? that said, i guess i can come up with a quick list of some headcanons, maybe? 😂 i will have to think about this more, but for now, here's a quick drop:

elsa is an early riser; elsa helps jack create more sustainable sleeping patterns and habit formations 😂

when jack gets Impetuous Urges to Do Something Rash and Impractically Spontaneous, elsa will ground jack, reminding him to think before acting. (he occasionally Still Does It, anyway.) elsa knows what she signed up for, lol.

jack loves to play Harmless(!) Pranks, just to watch elsa’s reaction. (he is no longer allowed to sneak up on her after The Incident).

they also quibble over the definition of "harmless" and the specific logistical implications of that; for a while, jack was banned from further pranking, but then he got more creative at showing elsa that pranks could be wholesome and genuine, in which they could both be in on the joke. however, due to elsa's deeply-rooted Need to Excel and her (Not-so)Secret Competitive AF Streak, her retaliation in escalating the Cleverness Prank War quickly resulted in jack's prompt implementation of the Prank-Free Zones and Time Periods. (no, he was not scared.)

elsa, usually reserved, has learned to let her playful side show more often with jack. she might still pretend to be exasperated by his antics, but sometimes it's part of the game (or habit).

elsa sill struggles with opening up emotionally sometimes, but she progressively feels safe enough to share her innermost thoughts and fears. with time, she confides in him more about her worries. she still never likes the idea that jack sees her Imperfect Parts, but at least she can tolerate the discomfort (and, yes, take comfort in it) now

(jack loves elsa's Imperfect Parts, and jack admits that he is Weirdly Proud and Competitively Honored to be one of the only people, even including anna, who gets to see them. he also is strangely Comforted and Validated that elsa is, in fact, not perfect because for a while there, he was pretty freaked out and intimidated by how fancy she is.)

until he realized that no one ever let her actually be a Weirdo before, and once he realizes the Truth of Elsa Also Being a Secret (albeit perhaps more Subdued) Weirdo, the Universe Aligns.

jack listens to elsa's Big Conversations intently, activating varying levels of Serious Mode.

jack is getting better at recognizing the moments when elsa needs him to play and needs him to listen or Give His Opinion or any combination of those things.

jack learns that it's not always about Saying the Right Thing (which he is not very good at, anyway, or so our Serially Unreliable Narrator thinks), but rather being able to read elsa's mood and anticipate what she might need (even if she is not aware of it herself yet).

elsa is meticulous about planning and preparing for special occasions.

elsa likes traditions! jack likes tradition only because elsa likes them, lol, and hey, okay, these are more fun than he thought?? (who knew fun could be organized??!!?)

so he really wants to show (off to) her by pulling off Incredible Planning Feats in her honor, too (they do not go as smoothly, lol).

jack will often go out of his way to spontaneously create something meaningful, a moment or a gift or a gesture, that reminds elsa that he cares. he is big on words of affirmation, gift giving (but like, souvenirs that he collects on adventures like, "i saw this rock and it reminded me of your cousin olaf, we should put it on the window after we paint his face on it"), and acts of service, as well as physical touch and quality time. HE WANTS LOVE. he wants TO BE LOVED. he wants to prove that he is worthy of being loved.

(and elsa has to get him to Chill Out sometimes, remind him that he doesn't have to Do Things For Her/Anyone in order to be deserving of care; he is more than what he provides for other people.)

(jack gets its, and appreciates it, but also, the Urge to Provide and Protect is still strong, even after so much time, and sometimes Old Habits Die Hard.)

i get the sense that he'd be the type to he wake elsa up in the middle of the night to take her on a surprise adventure, or convince her to Do a Fun Thing without any preparation (/warning).

and she would Be Alarmed at the Lack of Plan (especially if/when jack Did Not Think This Through), but he also took precautions to ward off Concerns by pacifying her with tea, or reassurances that yes, he did call ahead to make sure the restaurant was open before they left the house, of course he did, he would never just leave home without double-checking beforehand (and frantically googles it two minutes later when he thinks she's not looking; she is, naturally, and even occasionally pretends not to be).

elsa approaches conflict with a desire to resolve things Calmly and Logically. she tries to understand jack’s perspective, even when she disagrees, and she’s careful with her words, not wanting to escalate the situation.

however, she can sometimes withdraw emotionally, fearing that she might say something hurtful if she’s too overwhelmed.

jack was initially (and, honestly, still is, even though he understands more now) hurt by her tendency to shut down when she Feels Too Much, and understands (although it's still hard) that elsa needs time to process her feelings and organize her thoughts.

jack also helps elsa actually Feel her Feelings, instead of just trying to intellectualize and analyze them. (she hates it, BUT sees the value. jack lives for these moments in which he realizes that he's actually contributing positively to her life and helping her in some way, rather than just being a burden or a nuisance, as was/is his fear.)

his initial reaction might be to push for a resolution quickly, but he’s also deeply afraid of Creating Distance between them, so after the first few fights, he really makes an effort to find the right balance between Pushing Hard Enough and Not Pushing Too hard, so that he doesn't drive a wedge between them as they work things out.

jack FEELS intensely, and can be so stubborn. he does not always have the most precise vocabulary or tools to describe his thoughts and feelings, or identify the root causes of what is actually going on inside him; sometimes elsa asks a lot of insightful and guiding questions that help jack come to the conclusions himself, and other times, she Puts Into Words the very thing that he had been thinking or feeling, but could not name, and it is very reassuring to have someone who understands him well enough to be able to do that.

after conflicts or arguments, they take time to Decompress and reassure one another (especially if at least one of them, if not both, was Overthinking again).

when they argue (and healthy couples do, remember!), it’s a dance of patience and understanding: elsa might need a moment to Collect Herself, and jack learns to give her that Space while also making it clear that he’s ready to talk whenever she is, and that he is going to try very hard to be Rational and Patient About It.

in the end, they both prioritize their relationship over any disagreement, always finding a way back to each other.

[zakiyah]

.

[the-bat-bros]

Anxious! Tim Drake

Have some angst head cannons

Anxious! Tim Drake who assumes that if anyone is upset near him, it’s his fault

Anxious! Tim Drake who hides in his room when his family is arguing, and stares at the wall, trying to make out what is being said a few doors down

Anxious! Tim Drake who dissociates whenever he is in trouble

Anxious! Tim Drake who gets aggravated the first time Dick tries to help him through a panic attack

“I said I’m fine”

“Tim I can see that you aren’t fine, and that’s okay. Please talk to me, tell me what’s going on. Let me help-”

“I said I’m fine!”

Anxious! Tim Drake who feels bad about shoving people away who are just trying to help him. But he doesn’t need help. They’re only pitying him anyway. They don’t actually care.

Anxious! Tim Drake who bounces his knee, taps his fingertips together, or twirls a pen to help get some of his anxieties out

Anxious! Tim Drake who absolutely breaks down on the floor in the bathroom when a mission went wrong. It was his fault. He didn’t do enough. He should have done more. He needs to prove himself. He needs to do better.

Anxious! Tim Drake who is up all night because his mind won’t shut up, going over every tiny little detail of the day and what he could have done differently. He’s such a failure. He doesn’t deserve to be part of this family. He needs to be better. They’re probably still upset about that thing from three years ago. Oh god why did he sound so silly talking to Bernard last week? Why didn’t he offer to help Damian with his homework is he a bad brother? Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god.

Anxious! Tim Drake who finally accepts help from Jason. Jay links Tim up with his therapist. Therapy sucks but Jason was right, it’s helping

Anxious! Tim Drake who learns to journal. Writing down what he think he did wrong and then writing why it was okay underneath that. He feels so silly when he does this, but it helps

Anxious! Tim Drake who gets a little better every day. It will take time. Healing isn’t linear. But he isn’t a failure. He is doing the best that he can. And that’s enough.

[fayesemblemring]

Lately because of my job I have to reluctantly use Gemini for the sake of testing it (for context I work as a mobile QA tester. Not gonna say any more than that because I'm a big fan of not doxxing myself) and after having to repeatedly try it for days I started noticing a couple of things.

First things first: When critics say genAI is basically just a fancy autocomplete, that is a huge understatement.

Since my tests consist of giving it various prompts and making sure the answers are correct, I had to look closely at the answers. And aside from bugs like it randomly coughing up words in Russian which I mean, that's what I'm there to help fix, I started noticing quickly that a lot of the responses are basically identical.

Sure, the context may vary depending on what exactly I ask it, but the phrases? The ways of speech? They're basically the same. Hell, sometimes it reuses entire paragraphs.

And to be clear, it's not like tendencies or patterns of an actual human writer. Rather it's like it takes a preexisting module of the response and just adds the appropriate words to make it make sense.

And sure, bugs aside it's technically correct, but at the same time it's eerily uncanny because no human genuinely writes like this all the time. Again, it's a fancy autocomplete, nothing more. It's like writing an essay by picking the suggested words from the phone and have it just happen to make sense somehow.

When you realize what genAI actually is and recognize the patterns... well, that's a hell of a lot less impressive than what all the techbros make it out to be, right?

Which leads to my second point- Ironically, now that I've been forced to use it repeatedly, I'm not afraid of genAI replacing writers and artists. Not anymore.

I've heard a few people say that there is no genuine threat of genAI replacing authors and essays or students passing by submitted works generated with it because genAI... can't actually write.

I was skeptical of this at first- after all, capitalism loves prioritizing cutting costs over quality (nevermind the sheer amount of electricity this thing wastes but I digress), so why would companies care as long as it's passable?

But honestly, I think I get it now.

Remember, I noticed entire paragraphs and sections being practically copypasted, and this is only after a few short responses. And I haven't study a thing about academic writing or linguistics, most I've done is write fanfiction whenever the planets happen to align.

Can you imagine having Gemini, ChatGPT or whatever write a book or heck, even an entire novel and trying to get it published into mainstream? It'd immediately get clocked out and laughed at like it rightfully deserves.

Now, I'm not naive. Again, capitalism. Companies will keep shoving genAI down our throats as long as they can get away with it (especially since they now have employees "correct" the generated works which is more work than having them make it from scratch. Best possible system amirite?)... but at the same time the fact they keep pushing it this aggressively says a lot, doesn't it?

genAI is already starting to cannibalizing itself. Ironically, by now plagiarizing those works it already made by plagiarizing actual artists and writers and now pollute the Internet. And considering how much electricity it costs to keep these things running...

Well. I'm no financial expert, but all these aggressive tactics sure sound like sunken cost fallacy, don't they?

Just saying. If this was a thing people actually wanted or used, every tech company under the sun wouldn't practically force us to use it (always opt-out of course, never opt-in) with increasingly hidden buttons to turn it off. Microsoft wouldn't passive-aggressively announce Edge now having genAI features with "Resistance is futile". Musk wouldn't feel the need to slap a button under every art post on Twitter to plagiarize it with its genAI and then pretend those original works were also generated with it.

It'd be a feature like any other, with no need to push it so aggressively. This reads more like "please, please you HAVE to use our genAI, we wasted millions on this", because just like NFTs, they've always been a pyramid scheme. This one was just better at hiding it and appeal to the average person. Ironically, I think they of all people know they can't push this for long the most.

I still despise genAI for everything it represents- the wastefulness and disregard for the environment, the confusing buzzwords of the techbros who are in love with it and most of all, the utter contempt and lack of respect society has for artists, writers and anyone who has done any kind of creative work- and I truly think it can't die soon enough.

But having to use it so much for work ironically gave me confidence it will die someday. It's not even a hope, more like the logical conclusion.

Because genAI is not the future, is not an exciting new technology, is not revolutionary and most importantly is not a replacement for artists and writers.

It's just a fancy autocomplete.

[palmettoshenanigans]

What's your craziest headcanon about aftg?

Dunno if I'd call it crazy but it's that Neil has OSDD and that the whole Nathaniel/Neil situation doesn't get laid to rest in Baltimore but rather comes back for some nice Trauma Healing but that's mostly projection tbh

[iam93percentstardust]

On Plagiarism and Academia

Welp, I watched hbomberguy's new video (just like everyone else). And... I loved it! (Go figure) It's a great video, he's genuinely funny and presents the information in an engaging way (I barely even noticed it had been four hours), and we need the information he presented very badly to remind us to independently verify the things we're listening to. But something that he said really struck me because it's something that I'm dealing with in my offline life right now. Disclaimer: this is a hypothesis generated from my own personal observations and experiences and isn't meant to be a sweeping statement of every single academic institution across the entire world.

He seemed really surprised that no one (or very few people) noticed that the Youtubers he was calling out were plagiarizing other people. Like. Really surprised. And at one point, he made the argument that maybe that was because plagiarism was viewed only as a problem in academia, so people assumed it wasn't a problem online and weren't looking for it.

And that hit a chord because the thing is, at least in my small corner of the world, I don't think that plagiarism is a problem in academia. Or, rather, I don't think academia views plagiarism as a problem anymore.

So, if you've been following me for a while, you know I have a whole tag about my struggles in grad school. I've been a grad student for the last six years at [insert major university here], and because my lab doesn't have any funding to pay me, I've been employed as a TA all six years to pay my salary. At this school, in my department, TAs are expected to proctor exams--every single exam for the course and frequently one additional exam from another class.

If we see cheating, we're not supposed to call it out in the middle of the exam. Instead, at the end of the exam, we're supposed to take the student's scantron and hand it over to the professor and give them an estimate on how certain we are the student was cheating so they can pass it on to the university, which, in every syllabus of every class, states they take a hardline stance on cheating and plagiarism. (Yes, I know I'm talking about cheating on exams, which isn't the same thing as plagiarism, but I swear I'll loop back around to it in a minute.)

During the first exam I ever proctored during my first semester of my first year in 2018 (this was three weeks into the semester), I caught a student cheating. Like. Blatantly cheating. Cheating so badly that over a dozen separate people came up to me at the end of the exam to tell me that she was cheating, just in case I hadn't seen it myself. I did exactly what I was supposed to.

I took the student's scantron.

I turned it into the professor and told her that I was 100% certain and had witnesses to back me up.

She gave it to the university.

...And the university came back and said that they weren't going to do an investigation and were just going to let the student take the exam again, this time with a different proctor because they felt I was biased against this student because of the "very serious accusations [she] had leveled against [me] of singling her out for her race." (Newsflash: the student cheated again with that different proctor and got away with it again)

During that first year that I spent as a TA, I reported eight different instances of cheating across six separate exams. Every single one, I was 100% positive that the student had been cheating, and on five of the occasions, I had student witnesses to support my accusation. The university tossed every single accusation out without even a cursory investigation or even filing a report. Oh yeah, really hardline stance there, university.

For the most part (and partially because of distance learning), I stopped reporting cheating, but I tried one more time this past spring to report two cheaters and got back the same result that I did my first year: not even an investigation to see if there was any merit into my claim because they're "busy."

I don't report cheating to the university anymore. They've more than shown me that they don't actually take cheating seriously even when I have more than a dozen people supporting me. Even when I have students half out of their chairs to see what the person in front of them is writing. Even when I have students with their phones out on the desks, looking things up. The university doesn't care, so why should the students?

So how do I loop this back into the discussion on plagiarism? Well, yesterday, while grading my students' final papers, I ran one of them through a plagiarism checker, and it pinged the radar. Two sentences were a direct quote and hadn't been listed in quotations or been cited in the body of the text. If I scrolled through the (long) list of citations at the bottom of the paper, I could find the source, but if it hadn't pinged the checker, I would never have known that those two sentences weren't their own.

The lack of the quotations and the source after the quote is what kicks this over the line into plagiarism, regardless of the source in the later bibliography (the same thing that got Illuminaughtii in trouble on hbomberguy's video). But I was willing to assume it was an honest mistake, and so I emailed the student to ask them to please add the proper citation and resubmit the paper.

This should have taken the student maybe--at most--five minutes to fix. Literally, all it needed was a set of quotation marks and a parenthetical aside with the author's name and year.

Instead, I got a response from the student telling me that they were very busy, it was finals week, and they weren't sure when they could get to it. Oh, and by the way, what grade would they get on the assignment if they didn't fix the source?

It was a stunning lack of regard for the error they'd made on their original submission, and now, because I'd brought it to their attention, if it wasn't fixed, it was willful plagiarism--and we both knew that! They can't claim ignorance or an accidental mistake anymore. We both know that they're passing off someone else's words as their own!

I emailed them back and told them if it wasn't fixed, it would be a 0, and then I messaged the instructor and asked her what happens now? Her response was as disheartening as my previous experience with the university's response to cheating: they'll dismiss it, regardless of their supposed hardline stance, and nothing will happen. Don't even bother reporting it; the most we can do is give the student the 0 I'd already threatened.

So there you have it. This particular university doesn't care if you cheat or plagiarize. Academic dishonesty doesn't mean anything to them--and the students know it. Every year the topic of cheating comes up with my students during my office hours, and every time, the students complain about how their sorority sisters and football team members and fellow classmates get away with cheating over and over and over again because they know the university won't do anything about it, so why should they bother maintaining any kind of integrity? I even asked them if they reported it to their proctors and instructors, and while I got back a few yeses, I got even more why bothers. What's the point of reporting it if nothing is going to happen?

To loop this back into hbomberguy's video, I don't think as few people noticed the plagiarism as he thinks. I think quite a few people noticed (and looking through the comments on the various videos of the James Somerton scandal, not just hbomberguy's, I do see more than a couple comments along those lines). The thing is, I think they kept that to themselves. And though I do think that part of that has to do with the mob mentality of fandoms on the internet and the fear of getting attacked for pointing out something shitty that someone else is doing, I think a lot of it also comes down to this: plagiarism is thought to be an academia problem, therefore the way the academics respond to plagiarism should be what we look to to deal with the same problem elsewhere. But if the way the academics respond to plagiarism is to ignore it and sweep the reports under the rug, then why would we ever think that Youtube, of all places, would deal with it any better?

[coldercreation]

I'm not normally one to do anything more than lurk on social media. But 2 days ago I got properly introduced to omegaverse content after being to intimidated for a while, yesterday I discovered Let Me Try, and now I am tearing through LINK content like a rabid dog.

So uh

Thanks?

I still wanted to ask some questions if thats okay.

What are canon ages of the boys at the time of Close your Eyes and Lock Me In?

Do you have an idea of a time gap between those two stories? They seem to be the main points of reference of the timeline

Hello! Yayy, LINK's caught another one!! You're very welcomee heheh<3

Like all the other specifics for the stories, their ages / locations / accents etc. are a bit vague on purpose. I like to leave the room for everyone’s own imagination based on what they’re familiar with. It makes things a bit fuzzy for the timeline sometimes, but I just prefer having the blurred reality instead of basing it on real places and tracking a firm timeline.

But generally, I eyeball the gap between CYE and LMT to be maybe a couple of years.

The later on in the timeline we get with the newer published parts, I’ve been thinking that Kizzy, as the oldest of the four, are now getting closer to the mid-twenties mark and maybe over. 

The age order is: Isac as the oldest (by two critical weeks🤺), then Kit, Liam’s a year younger, and then Nathan. -> Nat’s age difference to the others & the gap between the stories could technically vary +/- an extra year or so, depending on whatever length of uni you’d want to imagine.

So basically, the canon is vague and they are all twenty-ish something in CYE and LMT xx

[sn0wbat]

baby's first binder ♡

[jamandjazz]

Johnnys always tense and once Sodapop tried to give him a back massage and freaked the fuck out because WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR BACK?!?

[thepoisonroom]

lit grad programs are NOT sending their best why did some guy just confidently tell me that there's "far too much emphasis on amateur reading and communicating with non-experts"