#all she will do is maintain the status quo which I’m not sure if anyone’s noticed….but it’s shit

[ohello0]

One of the last tweets Refaat Alareer wrote was a quote tweet telling Kamala Harris that the president and her “democratic” party are responsible for the ongoing genocide in Palestine, a genocide that he was assassinated in three days later. I cannot and will not cheer for a Harris presidency, she is just as complicit as biden

[mangacupcake]

Bridgerton Au- The Ashengrotto Family

The Secret Keepers of the Upperclass

The Ashengrotto family has been rumored to be descended from the great sea witch.

Now they serve as information brokers and help keep the peace of the upper class even working with the worst of the worst to maintain the status quo.

Azul’s mother worked hard in bringing the “family business ” to land and found success bymarrying a wealthy lawyer from the surface.

Since then she’s stepped aside in most matters and let Azul become the head of the family. Who is feared for his wish granting contracts, and his eel bodyguards.

He is also rumored to have a “demon maid” that will get rid of any problem you have for a Hefty sum or a very restrictive contract. What’s unique is that she will take requests regardless of your social status. However that’s just a rumor… or is it?

Azul has a sister, Drusilla Ashengrotto. Who’s has seldom been seen by anyone. She’s coming of age and just in time!

With her secret heiress now known to the public and the all the fortune hunters out there and the up coming social season Lilith Crewel called in a favor.

It was rare sunny day when the carriage arrived at the Crewel Estate. A gathering was quickly arranged and both parties met in the drawing room. Isabella tried not to fidget as Lilith took her hands “ trust me pup.”

The three moved gracefully, “Lady Lilith, my brother expresses his regret in not attending this meeting in person but some business came up in the coral seas that he had to oversee.”

The girl looked no older than herself, but she moved and spoke with all the elegance and grace as her adoptive grandmother. “You must be Isabella. I’m Drusilla Ashengrotto, These two are my families bodyguards. This one on left is Jade leech.”

“Charmed.” Jade placed a chaste kiss on her hand, “the one on lady Drusilla’s right is my twin brother Floyd.”

Instead of a kiss on the hand or a polite bow Floyd opted to pull Isabella in a bone crushing hug, “what a cute lil shrimpy!”

Jade removed him from Isabella with ease “please don’t be offended that’s how Floyd expresses his affections.”

“I know they can be a bit much. But I promise they have nothing but the best of intentions.”

Floyd’s laugh made the hair on Isabella’s neck stand up. Drusilla saw the fear in Isabella’s eyes and took her hands, “ please don’t be scared. I know he’s… a bit much. But he’s means well. We all do. And you’ll find his mannerism charming soon enough.”

“Uh why?”

“I’m sure you know or know of the Ashengrotto family. And I’m sure you’ve heard of the roumors, I’ll spare you of that ridiculous chatter. But to put it simply we’re are both young women from prominent families, the social season is almost here. And it’s better to have a friend.”

Drews smile was warm. “I’m here to be your friend and to potentially find a match as well. Starting today I’ll be moving in and I do hope we’ll be friends. As a start please call me Drew. I’ve only really been called Drusilla in formal situations but I’m fine with either-”

Drew was caught off guard by The little heiress pulling her into a hug “I’m so excited! I can’t wait to show you the dogs. You’ll love Horace and Jasper! Oh no wait I need to show you the rose garden! Oh um, sorry I got excited, um forgive me, Grandmother maybe I show the library, please?’

Lilith chuckled, “your both dismissed. Dearest please make your friend feel at home.’

Once the girls were out of sight Lilith held her cigar out to be lit which Jade generously did with his fire magic “that demon maid lives up to rumors, especially the price. I don’t mind of course. She’s a worthy investment. I know she’ll do a good job.”

Jade hummed “Indeed. What a time Azul’s darling sister coming of age just as your heir is. What a hell of family we all are.”

Lilith knew she’d be gettin an earful from Marcus and her son but when it comes to Isabella she’d do anything to protect that girl. Even chasing in favors with some questionable businessmen…

@adrianasunderworld @marrondrawsalot @heiress-has-retired @the-weirdos-mind @anxious-twisted-vampire @yukii0nna

[davekat-sucks]

Related to that anon who didn’t like trans Vriska, I’m okay with trans Vriska, even if I don’t share that headcanon, but its existence in pesterquest perplexes me.

I feel like it’s another case of projecting human customs on an alien race because how does gender even work for trolls? I can understand gender dysphoria and not feeling like you belong in your body, and troll sexual dimorphism exists… exclusively at the breasts. Female trolls have boobs and nipples, male trolls are flat chested.

So I guess Vriska’s ideal dreamself/ post transition body’s one difference is chest bumps.

This only is in matters of Vriska’s personal physical transition, another thing is social customs. Alternian gender roles are nonexistent. The nuclear family or any form of human household doesn’t exist, they’re bug-children raised by animals that dragged them out of a cave that they had to compete for survival in immediately after hatching.

All male and female trolls are soldiers when they reach 9 sweeps, the only difference in their job is how they cull their opponents.

So Vriska, being a troll, wouldn’t have to do anything to change her social behavior to be more accepted as her transitioned gender, respect only comes to her from her aggression and blood caste.

And Vriska has a complicated relationship where she feels bad for killing Tavros and feels empty even for all the customs of Alternian culture she follows (not feeling comfortable following societal norms or roles is a very trans thing) while also worshipping her ancestor and exerting her independent will, especially on others to maintain her position of power in the status quo (which is a very uh, politically Conservative thing)

Third is her ancestor. Vriska wanting to be her ideal “girl self” by looking up to mindfang seems like a really cool angle to do a trans story! Being uncomfortable with yourself and told down about who you are but you have this role model you want to be so badly and “wouldn’t it be cool if I was a girl” or something or other.

But the thing is mindfang is Vriska’s ancestor who is almost 100% genetically identical to Vriska. There are a few minor distinctions between Vriska and Aranea, but being a different sex would not be a minor generic difference, it’s a whole chromosome apart.

So either both Vriska and Aranea are cis women or both trans women who in each of their timelines looked up to their ancestor and transitioned to look more like them. If anyone headcanons the latter go ahead but I think I vibe more with the former.

Overall trans Vriska doesn’t work for me because people are imposing a human identity onto a bug person. Being transgender as a troll doesn’t work the way a trans human does. Mostly I can see trans Vriska being for a power fantasy of a confident cocky trans girl who knows who she is and is proud of it. Sure she kills people and manipulates her friends, but as many Briska apologists have said before: “she didn’t choose to be that way, she was forced to be a murdering psychopath by an empire of murdering psychopaths. Also she’s a minor.”

Mostly people pick and choose the parts of Vriska that are cool and punk over the manipulative and self-destructive parts of Vriska so trans female Vriska fans can feel empowered and independent.

People projecting onto Vriska, want that same confidence of being a badass bitch and being able to do whatever the fuck she wants. That's why they want the trans label slapped onto her. If a character that represents that has much pride, that means they can motivate themselves too with it. Same applies to any character. They can like the personality, actions, and motives...but if they aren't one-to-one in terms of appearance, for some reason, they can't relate. Like let's say someone looks up to Superman. They like his heroism, personality, lore, etc. But they feel uncomfortable to dress up as him because he is not white or Kryptonian. So instead, they blackwash so then they can get that boost of good feeling about themselves to enjoy the character again. And even if a dark skin character DOES exist within a series, they always get criticized for either A. being a stereotype even when they aren't most of the time or B. they aren't the main main fan fave popular character (ex: Stardust Crusaders has 6 members with one of them being a dark skinned character, but people prefer Jotaro or Kakyoin and would blackwash them instead). They can't realize they can be just like Spanish community that doesn't need Spanish rep and love Goku from Dragonball Z as he is. Light skinned Saiyan and all. That the characters don't have to be EXACTLY the same as the audience. When it comes to headcanons onto bad guys or villains, in this recent times, it's been a double-edged sword because if people slap that label onto some big bad, whether it is from the creator or fanon, they get accused of being something horrible because it is X minority doing a bad thing, so they are either racist/homophobia/etc. And if they don't get that label, they are still accuse of them as that and say that even minority groups can still be bad guys too. Nobody knows what the fuck they want anymore. Too many people play it too safe these days.

[beethebisblog]

I had to watch the episode in short bursts, because people kept needing me for things.

I’m gonna ramble about everything that happened for each character but first I just want to say that I loved hearing more of Tricia’s singing voice this episode, she has been underutilized so far.

-Susan

At the beginning of the show, Susan was very quickly cast as the pretty but mean popular girl jealous that her ex-boyfriend moved on. Then slowly, they did this thing that I REALLY love, where they gave her more depth, more complexity, and more dimension. They have shown us perfect Susan who works hard to maintain the status quo and please her mother (who is encouraging unhealthy relationships with food and slutshaming her daughter, seriously Mrs. St Clair can suck a rock). And now they’ve shown us another level to Susan, acknowledging that rich white families will ALWAYS do whatever it takes to protect their reputations. Her mother holds this over her head, but it was clearly a very traumatic, very difficult thing for her to do in secret without the support of anyone. Sure her parents made it so that she could get the abortion, but based on how we’ve seen her mother treat her, we know Susan doesn’t get any real support and it makes her actions that much more heartbreaking. When she tries to stand up to her mother, and Olivia (who is neither right nor wrong in her reactions) doesn’t want to believe she’s changed, you can see that she accepts that. It isn’t until Olivia is a steps a little too over the line that she reveals the truth about what she witnessed. Susan is 16-17 and she’s hurt and she’s scared and she’s sad and I love her.

-Dot

I don’t have much to say on her, except that she really is a sweetheart who deserves better friends. Honestly, sometimes a pity date with the bad boy of the school is way better than sitting there alone while your friends all have dates. She’s so cute. Her poor nose and eye :(

-Hazel & Wally

Doing them together because they were together in all of their scenes. Hazel was giving Cinderella vibes. I appreciate the fact that while Wally doesn’t understand some of her Hazel-ness, he really seems genuinely interested in learning about her interests and getting her to at least attempt to enjoy his too. I loved their duet. I love that during the utter chaos that was the rest of the episode, they got to be in their little bubble where everyone pointed out that they are seemingly perfect for one another. I don’t normally trust media when it says stuff like that, but I actually really like them together.

-Nancy

I love her so so so much. It’s entirely relatable the way a crush can feel all consuming and irritating all at once. Her (and Cynthia’s) song was very much a highlight of the episode. I love that Nancy is just an all in type of person and she doesn’t really stop to hear a no for the answer. I do wish they would give her a little more depth. They’ve done a good job with Susan and Jane and Olivia and Richie and Buddy. All we really know about Nancy is that she is incredibly headstrong, a very talented seamstress/ designer, the daughter of the owners of the frosty palace who may or may not be an only child, a Buddhist who’s not a fan of reading, “scary” and although she hasn’t had much of a romantic life in the past, she has a big crush on Potato. Which is valid, because he‘s great. But still, I want to see a new dimension of Nancy with this new conflict within the Pink Ladies.

-Cynthia

She is in the “shit I am gay but no one can know, especially not the person who made me realize it’s true” phase where she fights it HARD. Compulsive heterosexuality hurts. She needs someone to talk to, before she implodes further. That moment with Lydia made me so so sad, but that’s just a real part of quiet culture for someone. Cynthia is hurting, and that doesn’t give her a free pass to hurt Shy Guy like she did, but I understand it. She’s gonna have to apologize bug time, when she comes around. Also, as always, I loved Ari’s part in the duet.

-Olivia

I’ve decided that if her and Richie are twins, she’s the older one for sure. The ages are so hazy, or at least their grade levels, and I’m kinda confused. So my head cannon is that she’s the older twin. Which would explain her protectiveness over the Pink Ladies, without factoring in the slightly homosexual overtures to hers and Jane’s friendship that is not present with the other PLs. Olivia hates Susan, and she does have reason for it. But that really doesn’t explain why she wouldn’t let Jane explain. Because people can change, and they can learn. But Olivia does NOT have forgive Susan, but she should’ve given her so-called best friend a chance to explain. No matter what Susan said, Olivia had NO right to do what she did. She knows what the school is like once they realize you are a “slut” and she knew that the consequences always land on the girl (does she not remember the extent of the conversation at Dot’s party??). Sorry that just made me so mad. And then to tell Richie what happened between Buddy and Jane :/Her moments with Gil were really sweet. But her going back to her abuser does not send a good message at all and I hope this is addressed before the season is over.

-Jane

She did the right thing not going with either guy to the dance. She was unsure of her feelings for either and did not want to lead them on or hurt them by choosing too soon, and that was a mature decision. Her budding friendship with Susan is interesting and kind of ironic. Her accidentally confirming Olivia and Mr. Daniels is unfortunate, but also something that would reasonably happen to me because I am bad at de-escalation techniques. Jane is very much people pleaser, even after everything, so it makes sense that she would sort of defend Susan. Her coming home to Olivia’s jacket already on her porch (which like, hello Flash because how did she get there before Jane) was almost the opposite of the scene where Olivia brings Jane’s jacket to her house. She did not even really register what Richie told her about Buddy and the election results (which like, how did he find out?)

-Richie

He is a good guy. He respects Jane’s space; he saw that Dot was devastated about her going dateless to the dance (which also sorta implies she’s never been if they previously had to have a date to register a ticket and she said her friends always had dates but not her). He was very kind to go with her, and go along with her quirks. Teenage jealously makes a person unsteady, and I am just glad someone told Jane the truth about Dick Aldridge.

-Buddy

I am still not his biggest fan, but man was he sad this episode. It seems like everyone is moving forward except him, which is expected when you realize most of your life is a lie. He needs a slap in the face and a hug.

-The others (Shy Guy, Potato, Mr. Daniels)

As for the rest: Potato remains one of my top guys; Shy Guy and Cynthia in the kitchen actually made me cringe because I know she feels nothing what he feels for her; and the predator needs to be imprisoned. I can’t believe he is trying to suck her back in :(

I need my girls back together. I need some proper communication to happen between Lydia and Cynthia.

Also episode 8 comes out the day before my birthday so I hope it’s a good one (they have not let me down so far).

[cosmic-gemstone]

A drabble I wrote back in June, and never posted. Sort of a post-Earth battle for Qessyn’s Oracle verse. It’s been ages since I watched the series, so I’m sure there are details wrong. Meh.

“His body…it’s here, is it not?”

“Er…yes ma’am.”

“May I see him?”

“Well…you’re the Oracle, so I guess there’s no harm. Right this way, ma’am.”

Qessyn entered the morgue, in full Oracle regalia, seeing the large covered body on the slab. Her face was impassive, and she was silent for several ticks. She turned to the human guard. “May I have a few moments?”

“Of course, ma’am. I’ll be right outside.”

Now left alone with the body, she approached, quietly pulling back the sheet. Sendak, Zarkon’s Right Hand, Commander of the 3rd Fleet, Leader of the Fire of Purification…

So many accolades. And now look where he was.

She let out a soft sigh. “Sendak…I used to look up to you in my childhood. You were a hero to me. To all Galra. And then…then I saw the truth. The brutality. The violence. The coldness.”

Delicate fingers reached out, tracing the line of his jaw. He was long since cold and stiff. “I met you. The younger you. The young knight from Daibazaal. The more time I spent with him, the more I wondered what happened to you. When did the stars leave your eyes, Sendak? I wish we could have spoken.”

She shook her head. “You and so many others were so desperate to preserve the status quo. To maintain your superiority. To gain power. But nothing lasts forever, Sendak. Even stars must one day die.”

“There were many factors involved. But it wasn’t just Zarkon’s lust for power. Or yours. Or anyone else’s. No…I believe it was our people’s unwillingness to embrace new ideas, that poisoned us. Our stagnation. We were as unyielding as steel. But you failed to realize that which does not bend can only break.”

A soft sigh. “It’s almost funny. I peeked past the veil, attempting to track your movements. What would happen if you succeeded. Yet each reality I looked in, I saw only one outcome for you; failure. I wondered why constantly. And I wanted to ask what drove you. Why this was the only constant. Yet it is now, when you can no longer tell me, that I believe I have my answer.”

She looked at the ceiling. “Your fate was the same, no matter what you did at this point in time. Because your fate was already sealed, ten thousand deca-phoebs ago. The moment you chose vengeance over honor, you were doomed. No matter how long it took.”

“I’ve been learning about our history. The real history. Not the Empire’s version of events. There was so much promise. We reached so high. Only to fall. But I see the Coalition. They’re trying again. Trying to do what we did.”

Finally, Qessyn gave a soft smile. “Their eyes are so full of light, Sendak. So full of hope. And so I’ve made my choice; I say we let the younger species give it a go. It is time we embraced change. Change that is ten thousand deca-phoebs overdue.”

She stroked his still face gently, placing a soft kiss on his forehead, then let out a sigh, covering him back up with the sheet, then resting her hand on his chest. “Fare thee well, Sendak. May you find the peace you were denied in life.”

[cookie-de-baunilha]

DG's trapped him in a narrative where he just emotionally stagnated at age 25 (or younger, frankly) and devoted herself to trying to gaslight us into finding it tragically romantic.

YESSS exactly!!

Honestly, it’s a shame that we, as fans, seem to have a better comprehension of the character’s issues than the author herself. The fact that Diana wrote all of this complexity into him (maybe unknowingly?) but doesn’t know how to deal with it is such a waste of a good character. It shows how uninterested she is in giving John an actual development.

Your analysis of John’s character, his feelings for Jamie and his relationship with Percy is spot-on.

how alike John and Jamie are, and how by choosing someone so like himself as a talisman for his own emotions he's just choosing to maintain the status quo and thus never truly challenge himself to grow as a person, here

Yep! Diana actually talked about the similarities between John, Jamie and Stephan before. I found these old screenshots of Diana commenting on the matter in that forum she used to engage with the fans before the litforum:

(ugh, have I said how much I hate Diana for laying a perfectly complex groundwork — and proceeding to talk about it on forums! — and then throwing it all away in the trash? yeah well, I’m saying it again now 😓)

That’s the reason why John loving Percy is so fantastic to me, and why it is so refreshing to him: Percy is different from literally every man in John’s life (and from the amount of information we are given, I suppose we can include Hector in the Jamie/Stephan category as well).

And answering the question she poses at the end: yes, it was enough for John; no, it wasn’t enough for Percy.

It was enough for John, but he couldn’t accept it because he was afraid of stepping out of his comfort zone and taking a chance. He’s scared of love, so he runs away from it — it’s easier. Clinging onto Jamie is easier.

It wasn’t enough for Percy, because how could it be? John loved him but never told him. John wasn’t honest about his feelings for Percy — again, because he is afraid of it.

That probably made a mess of Percy’s head. Imagine this: you are in a relationship with someone, and the two of you seem to share a level of closeness and intimacy neither of you had ever experienced before. You believe the two of you have something special and serious, so you realize you are in love with them and think that they love you back… until you ask them about it and they say they can’t love you because there’s already “someone else”. They say the two of you are basically really good friends with benefits. They act like they love you, but their words contradict that.

Now, some people will say: demonstrating love is more important than words! Well, yes, but no. It’s not that simple. Sure, words are meaningless if there’s no real action, but the opposite is just as bad. Would you be with someone that refuses to tell you they love you and commit to a more serious thing, even when their actions contradict all of that?

Well, Percy’s desperate need for love made him do just that. He struggles with low self-esteem and a sense of unworthiness, and he really loved John, so it was easy for him to accept those terms.

(this is also the reason why I compared Percy to Marianne from Normal People in a recent post)

But this contradictory behavior fucks with anyone’s mind. That is what bothers me so much about they way Diana conducted the whole thing: she doesn’t believe John did Percy wrong too.

It seems like her line of thinking mingles with John’s. That’s really bad because we have an author that cannot disassociate from her character’s beliefs, which makes it really hard to call the character out for his flaws and mistakes. Diana is not impartial at all.

She also calls Percy “deeply fractured”, but she doesn’t seem to think John is fractured too — in a different way, but still. Even though she very much left room for the readers to interpret it in this light. Damn, Diana literally wrote all of the shit we are analyzing here, but she seems to be unaware of it, since she doesn’t believe that John pining for Jamie is an unhealthy thing for John.

And more fascinating yet to me is the way that John and Percy's dynamic both reflects, and yet distinctly differs, from the tone of the other two relationships. While John occupies the position of the elder and more experienced (at least in some quarters), in contrast Percy doesn't hold him on some idealized pedestal.

Certainly there is a great deal of admiration for John on Percy's part, but at the same time he also quite clearly sees John's flaws.

Perfectly put! Their dynamic is so freaking interesting. I don’t think Diana meant for this to happen, but if we take Bees out of the equation, John and Percy are actually the best written couple in the whole Outlander universe... *coughs* after Jamie and Claire — well, personally, I find them way more interesting and well-written than J&C, but J&C are still the main characters/couple and obviously have a lot more space to be developed (and won’t ever get ruined by DG lmao). So maybe this is me just giving the credit where the credit is due, even if it doesn’t do it for me. I guess that’s a matter of personal opinion in the end of the day.

Then he and Percy could've continued to grow together, with the push and pull between them being the very thing that would've stimulated that personal growth. And through Percy's eyes John would also come to see himself and his own worth as he really is - as he's been all along - his own True North.

Exactly! Back in 2012 in that old forum, Diana said something about the worth of the loved person to the lover, and how a relationship can help shape someone — which fits this idea of stimulating personal growth that you mentioned.

But this is where Diana loses me, because stimulating personal growth and shaping someone through personal exchange =/= defining someone else as the North of your life.

She doesn’t seem to believe that John considering Jamie his “True North”, or as someone whose mere existence helps him define his own existence, is a problem to him. Even in this post she commented on it in a more positive light:

First of all, they don’t even have a romantic relationship. But even if they did, it would still be a complicated thing to say. Yes, relationships (of all kinds, really) shape us, but being shaped by interpersonal experiences is not the same as letting someone’s existence define your own. 

It seems like I’m just being picky about semantics here, but the way I see it, those are two different things and giving someone else that much power over your life is very problematic.

If John said the same thing about Percy I would be concerned too, that’s why I never wanted John to swing his “True North” from Jamie to Percy. Now, like you said, a relationship with someone like Percy, who challenges him, could make John realize that he (John) is his “True North”. Which is a much healthier dynamic and a much more positive way of influencing someone’s life (since we are talking about giving something to a lover).

So yeah, that “True North” bullshit with Jamie could never be positive. For a multitude of reasons. The fact that John holds himself back from living real experiences to the fullest because of it should be enough proof.

The last paragraph of Diana’s comment poses the question: “So in what direction might loving Percy again swing him?”, which suggests to me that, at some point, Diana might have considered following that path. It’s hard to tell though, since she took a completely different road in Bees. And even if she had decided to make John love Percy again, there are no guarantees that she would do so by addressing all of the issues we brought up regarding John’s problems and his unhealthy dynamic with Jamie, since she seems to be oblivious about the level of complexity she wrote into her own story (about this specific matter).

Either way, it seems like she changed her mind about it whilst writing the book.

john/percy making me come back to tumblr in 2023 lmao

[annoyed-at-things]

A ML Rant

I’m getting this out of the way right now - I dropped Miraculous Ladybug a long time ago. I still look at fan content, but most of it is salt. I think looking at the show with everything people have brought up helps me appreciate the fans who actually make content better than whatever is going on. 

Which is why I hate that I have implied in my story that Adrienette is going to be canon, because whatever has happened has thoroughly soured the way I view the ship and I cannot see it as anything but toxic at this point. I am just doing this because Recklessness focuses on salting on Alya specifically, but I will get this out of the way right now before I upload the rest of the fic: I do not like Adrien Agreste and the way the show treats Marinette, but I need a good idea for an Adrien salt fic if I want to write that in the future. 

More specifically, I do not like how the women in this show are constantly treated badly so that the story which claims to ‘empower’ them can push whatever agenda they have. (More under the cut which I just learned how to add to my posts)

(Also I identify as he/him but gender is fluid so I’m not sure about that, but I’m sorry if I offend anyone at any point since I might not have the same worldview and experiences as anyone else, especially those who identify as women since this leans heavily into sexism and misogyny, but I’m willing to listen and learn so please feel free to tell me if I’m wrong at any point :D)

I have actually made a Powerpoint Presentation on why Adrien is a terrible hero but I stopped at Silencer because it was so frustrating for me to watch this show with a critical eye on a character which is never called out for their bullshit. 

I am not saying Marinette is perfect and there are certainly some moments which really make her come off as weird, but I want you to look back and see how many of these moments are driven by her ‘love’ of Adrien. I’m not going to list them because I have not touched the actual show since the trailer for Dearest Family dropped and my information might not be the most accurate because of it, but here are a few moments which I can list off the top of my head:

1) She gives up an opportunity to learn with one with one of the greatest fashion designers so her bully who makes a habit of akumatizing a large portion of the population of Paris could stay, so that Adrien can be happy.

2) She goes all the way to China, not so she can learn about her own culture and heritage, but for a white boy. 

3) She stalks Adrien and Lila in Onii-Chan because she ‘loves’ him. 

There are plenty of other degrading character moments which are thrown in because of Marinette’s love for Adrien which ends up hurting the story so much more. But even with these moments, Marinette is still shown to care. Yes, Animaestro was a mess, but with Frozer, Loveater and Mr Pigeon 72 she’s shown to be caring about Kagami’s relationship with Adrien even though she likes him. 

And that’s not talking about all the times where Marinette has to apologize and take the fall for Adrien’s mistakes and lies. Adrien doesn’t actually say sorry much, while Marinette does a lot (Link here). Marinette also faces consequences for a lot of things, even if she wasn’t in the wrong (Link here). 

Miraculous Ladybug as a show claims to empower women, but the only people they seem to empower are the men. They reduce so many of the female characters to bad caricatures of themselves and have no issue villainizing most of them. 

Chloe is seen as a mean girl with absolutely no character development at any point of time who continues to enjoy hurting people on purpose. But she did have character development and learnt how to be a better person. Unfortunately the ‘status quo’ needs to be maintained, so that can’t happen. 

Lila is a malicious liar who wants to see Ladybug defeated because she embarrassed her in front of a guy. First off, no. That’s such a terrible character choice and I’m pretty sure she was only introduced to make Chloe look better (Which she did, considering that most Lila salt fics include a Chloe redemption). 

Let me reiterate this: a teenage girl willingly works with a terrorist to get revenge on someone else who called her out for putting herself in danger so that she could impress a slice of bread. 

Audrey is seen as an uncaring parent who had no issue leaving her child. Yet they refuse to acknowledge that the Mayor, who was more present in her life, could have added to how Chloe ended up. They even refuse to acknowledge that how her parents treated her could be why Chloe is the monster the show makes her to be, writing her off as just a mean girl even as she tries to become better?

Sabrina is essentially Chloe’s slave, but that’s fine. She enjoys being friends with Chloe. 

And the show plays a lot of these degrading moments as jokes!

Hey! Marinette is under a large amount of stress and pressure! Marinette experiences a large amount of anxiety! Isn’t that just hilarious! 

And we’re supposed to feel sad when Adrien risks the safety of Paris time and time again when he chooses to goof off - or give up - in the middle of a fight because isn’t that so sad? Ladybug doesn’t love him, which gives him the perfect excuse to lead everyone on. He doesn’t get to see Ladybug often, so we have to be upset when no one is getting manipulated by a villain who doesn't care if the world ends as long as he gets what he wants. 

There is so much gaslighting and victim blaming in the show it’s not even funny.

Let’s make it clear: it is not Marinette’s job to cater to his emotions. Marinette is a superhero whose job it is to save Paris and keep them safe from a megalomaniac who has no sense of fashion. Marinette can realistically just show up to fights, win and then leave, but she doesn’t. She stays and she cares. And her caring doesn’t mean that she should become a pushover for a guy who doesn’t understand the concept of boundaries.

I do not care that Adrien is ‘sheltered’ and ‘innocent.’ Adrien was friends with Chloe since he was young. Adrien knows what she was doing was wrong. But Adrien didn’t do anything to stop her, only encouraging her behavior by laughing when she made Mylene cry at the end of Despair Bear. Adrien grew up around people as a model. And Adrien has been in school for a while, and by now he should have some sort of idea that the world does not revolve around him. 

Heck, even the costumes are less detailed for the women. Most of them wear skin-tight suits which can be color swapped to fit any other hero, while the male costumes have more detail. Ladybug is a 14 year old in a skin-tight costume. Ladybug, whose civilian persona is a fashion designer. 

I read a summary for Kuro Neko and any chance of me touching the main series again was thrown out of the window, because seriously? Marinette finally gets the partner she wants - someone who cares for Paris and focuses on the job and she suddenly gets ‘distracted’ because he’s ‘too perfect?’ Kuro Neko has shown that Chat Noir could have been a good hero at any time but chooses not to. 

And seriously Plagg? You blame her for Chat Noir giving up his Miraculous? Because she doesn’t pay enough attention to him? They both always showed up when there was an akuma before, but all of a sudden when she gives out the Miraculous that’s not something he does. 

Adrien has, on multiple occasions, made Marinette uncomfortable but that’s seen as a Marinette problem. Astr*c is so obsessed with Adrien - a white, straight, cis male - being ‘perfect’ that he doesn’t give a damn about his flaws and instead chooses to blame Marinette for every problem Adrien puts himself into and forces on others. 

And yes, I also cannot believe that I went through this whole post without mentioning Chameleon, but for all you salt writers out there please note that Adrien, who knows that Lila lies and who is supposed to stand for justice, looks at Marinette with disgust as she’s pushed to the back without any proof of Lila’s disability or any say in the decision to change her seats. (I know it’s really not okay for her to just accuse someone of faking a disability, but I’m not trying to justify that. I just feel like as the elected class representative she should be involved in a class decision, and her feedback should be acknowledged since they chose her to be the one in charge of class decisions. Also Damocles and Bustier suck.)

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 309: Gotta Go My Own Way

Previously on BnHA: Muscular was all “well if it isn’t the protagonist on his solo journey of self-discovery, for some reason I’m unironically glad I get to fight you!” Deku was all “hey Muscular before I finish kicking your ass would you please take a moment to answer these two survey questions? Question one, do you regret being a total piece of shit? And question two, if you could do anything at all in the world other than being a total piece of shit, would you?” Muscular was all, “pfft, no and no.” Deku was all, “thanks buddy, your feedback helps make me a better hero, here’s a coupon for fifteen percent off your next ass-whooping.” Then he whooped his ass.

Today on BnHA: Deku is all “what up All Might can you believe you’ve been here this entire time?” All Might is all “I sure can since that’s literally my catch phrase, anyway how are your magic movie 1 gauntlets holding up?” Deku is all “they’re holding up fine, how are Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist doing?” Hawks, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist are all “we, your fellow co-conspirators, are also doing fine, thanks for asking!” Flashback!Deku is all “anyway so I secretly have All Might’s quirk and the most dangerous people in the world are after me, so sorry mom but that’s why I’m dropping out of school.” Inko is all “I CAN’T ACCEPT THAT” while totally accepting it. All Might is all “I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH IT SINCE I DON’T FEEL LIKE TRYING TO STOP HIM.” Hawks, Jeanist, and Endeavor, as previously mentioned, are all “yeah that sounds like a good plan”, and Gran is all “see ya kid, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” So basically everyone in the entire world has suddenly teamed up with Deku to defeat AFO, except for the one person whose entire foreshadowed endgame is “teaming up with Deku to defeat AFO.” O Kacchan where art thou.

dear tumblr image limit: okay look. you don’t like me, and I don’t like you. but just as an experiment, I’m gonna try writing this recap with as few images as possible and we’ll see how it goes

(ETA: spoilers for how it went: it didn’t, lol.)

oh my god WHY ARE WE OPENING WITH MORE KETSUBUTSU ACADEMY KIDS.ffs we’d better at least finally get some Ms. Joke content out of this

(ETA: seriously who do I have to bribe.)

so these two KB kids who no one cares about are watching Deku leap away from the scene after dispatching Muscular. but more importantly wtf is this chapter title omg. “I can’t stay being a child” so that’s how it is huh. we’re gonna have feels and we’re going to like them. well then

oh my god he’s hauling Muscular away dhfksklfkh okay this is gonna have to be our first image because I can’t fucking help myself. look at this

just. Deku is so tiny and he’s carting away this massive unconscious lump of a man like it’s nothing why is this so funny to me. it’s like when people buy furniture, and they don’t want to pay extra for delivery and so they’re like, “I can definitely fit this king-sized mattress in the back of my compact sedan if I fold the fucking seat down, idk.” and they refuse to be talked out of it, and the next thing you know you’re watching them drive home with their open trunk door haphazardly tied down with bungee cords, and somehow it fucking works. because it turns out the compact sedan has super strength

anyway for SOME REASON now Horikoshi is all “have fun with that Deku, meanwhile we now return you to your regularly scheduled SHINDOU CONTENT” whyyyyyy

look at this. we’re really using up a whole fucking entire page on everyone arguing over who gets the honor of carrying Shindou

love how the civilians are all, “shit lol is this actually our fault?? quick, how do we play this off all casual like we were the reasonable parties here all along”

turns out all it took to finally get them to listen was making them watch while a kid got his insides ground into a pulp because of their stupidity!! what a heartwarming conclusion to this little standoff

anyways THANK GOD we’re cutting back to Deku now!! well actually we’re cutting back to Muscular who is being dropped off at the police precinct, good bye and good riddance lol

so Deku’s leaving him there and bounding away and okjdlSKFJLKJDSL OH MY GOD

no fucking way. no fucking way this little jaunt is All Might-sanctioned and approved. are you serious?? then who else is in on this?? what the hell is going on

so All Might is just WAITING FOR HIM IN AN ALLEY FFF WHO ARE YOU, JIM GORDON. or would Alfred be a better analogy here?? but like, Alfred if he ditched the suit for a moto jacket and shades

this new ensemble of All Might’s may or may not severely impact my ability to take this forthcoming conversation seriously; please stand by

also, quite the spectacular landing there, Deku. seriously lol what was that

“HOW ARE YOUR LIMBS” “THANKS TO YOU THEY’RE COMPLETELY FINE” I’M SORRY WHAT

LOL WHAT. “THANKS TO THE POWER OF THESE MAGIC GLOVES” OH I SEE THAT EXPLAINS IT

are these the same gauntlets from the first movie, then? well that’s all well and good, except that now there’s going to be more Deku Discourse than fucking ever lol. so if it’s all the same to you guys, I’m gonna once again go ahead and declare this week’s post a discourse-free zone, at least when it comes to the specific discourse of Deku’s merits as a MC, and the impact that him kicking ass and having working arms has on said merits. this has been something of a low mental energy week for me, so I’d rather reserve the energy I do have for more fun topics, such as All Might’s bitchin’ leather jacket

anyway so All Might’s saying that the gauntlets will help reinforce Deku’s arms, but they can’t withstand OFA at 100%. so basically it’s a support item designed to maintain the status quo lol. we’re basically in the same situation we were before, arm-capability-wise

homg All Might’s getting a call. time to see who else is in on Operation: Deku Alone?? or not so alone for that matter

omg

HI HAWKS, WHERE ARE YOUR WINGS

(ETA: seriously are they really gone for good?? why would he even be back on active duty then?? does he have his own American ex-boyfriend who can hook him up with exclusive support items?? dammit Horikoshi we want answers.)

looks like Jeanist and Endeavor are teaming up as well, just like they said they would. I would gladly follow this trio around all day long tbh

is this the same giant villain from the very first chapter??

looks like it to me, and it would tie in with that callback from the end of chapter 306. we all thought that was Muscular, but maybe it was this guy, and Deku left these three to deal with him while he ran off to take Muscular down

oh my god now Deku is running off again just like that

kids these days

ffffff I have not had nearly enough sleep to follow along with whatever tf Hawks is talking about here sob

like, is he trying to say that All Might is keeping Deku’s whereabouts unknown to anyone except for him?? in order to keep him safe?? but Hawks is pointing out that that’s a bad strategy and probably won’t do shit against AFO and it’s better if he lets Deku work with the rest of them?

(ETA: so @hanashimas​’ translation makes a lot more sense -- it’s not All Might who’s being overprotective, but Deku. in other words he’s trying not to drag All Might into his battles. and in addition Hawks is saying that their strategy is to take the offensive and go after AFO themselves rather than wait for him to come to them. which I’m not too sure about myself, but that’s another topic for another day.)

btw I can’t help thinking how much better this entire conversation would be if All Might was still wearing his sunglasses. put them back on my dude. it’s not too late. embrace your inner badass

DKLJSLDKFJL FLASHBACK ALERT, FUCKING FINALLY

“turns out, we were just trying to scare you straight. fuck lot of good that did though lol”

also what is this. one true love: the hospital bed. is that a scanlator joke or is Horikoshi actually that funny omg

SKLJDFLJLK

ITSA ME!! omg I love this hospital so much. though it’s sure not helping me in my quest to try and keep this post below ten images. I’m already up to eleven haha r.i.p. to me if tumblr doesn’t get its shit together

whaaaaaat, so he’s saying that Deku’s injuries were external (i.e. Tomura beating the shit out of him) rather than internal this time?? whaaaaat. excuse me but that’s some bullshit lmao. believe me, I was there

okay now he’s going on to explain that Deku’s “internal structure” seems to have been protected from the inside and out, and the corresponding panel seems to be implying that using Blackwhip as a brace paid off. huh

and also that his body is just stronger now?? so I guess he’s better able to withstand the quirk after an additional year of training?? I’M NOT SURE IF I BUY ANY OF THIS LOL but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief

OH MY GOD RED ALERT, INKO IS ASKING ALL MIGHT TO EXPLAIN WTAF DEKU’S QUIRK IS, IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGG

SO HE’S EXPLAINING IT TO HER OFF-SCREEN, AND INKO IS JUST LIKE

I GUESS THAT’S FAIR LOL. IT’S TRUE INKO I’M SO SORRY, YOUR SON IS A PROGATONIST R.I.P.

AHHKKJH DEKU ANGST IS IT FINALLY THAT TIME OMGGGGGG

what is this soft pop beat that’s suddenly being pumped in over the speakers. I’VE GOT TO MOVE ON~ AND BE WHO~ I~ AM~~~, I JUST DON’T BELONG HERE, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAAAAAAAND. also, follow-up question, when is Kacchan finally going to come back so he can jump in with the “WHAT ABOUT US~~~” bridge, huh. come the fuck on, Horikoshi

lmao All Might jesus christ

but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision...

anyway, yes!! finally that sweet, sweet “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger” angst!!

mmm that’s good angst Brent. Kacchan with center panel honors as usual, you love to see it. anyways though who do I have to yell at to get Deku a goddamn HUG around here seriously

so Inko is of course reacting with panic, and sensibly saying that she doesn’t approve of Deku’s “RUN AWAY AND FIGHT THE BAD GUYS ALL ON MY OWN, DON’T WORRY MOM I’LL JUST GET STRONGER, EASY AS PIE, IT’S A FOOLPROOF STRATEGY” plan

son of a bitch this manipulative green asshole is really gonna sit here and smile fondly at his mom and try to convince her that he’s Not A Little Kid Anymore. the hell you’re not mister

y'all are really just gonna sit there and let him talk you into this?? surely it can’t be that easy??

OH MY GOD

THE FEELS oh my god oh my god. BUT ALSO YOU’RE SERIOUSLY JUST GOING TO COLLAPSE INTO HIS ARMS SOBBING AND LET HIM DO WHATEVER THE FUCK HE WANTS LKJLJLFK. WHERE ARE ALL THE STRICT PARENTS AT?? AIZAWA, GANG ORCA, MITSUKI, SOMEONE PLEASE COME AND TELL DEKU TO SIT HIS ASS THE FUCK DOWN. NOW LISTEN HERE YOUNG MAN!!

“EVEN IF I TRY TO STOP YOU YOU’LL STILL LEAVE” WELL SURE, IF BY “TRY TO STOP HIM” YOU MEAN POLITELY TRY TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT FOR THREE SECONDS. HE’S SIXTEEN WTF WHEN DID HE BECOME THE BOSS OF YOU ALL. SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME AND TELL HIM HE’S GROUNDED

anyway sob so that’s the story of how Deku talked his parents into letting him drop out of school, and even convinced All Might to be his own personal Guy In The Chair. holy shit. this kid really went and rolled a nat 20 and the rest of them had no choice but to fold without argument

meanwhile here’s a panel of Best Jeanist trying to braid his phone into his hair just cuz

I’m dying to know which part of his language he considers to be crude here. you literally didn’t even use a contraction my guy

so now flashback!Deku is talking to Gran in the dark, and Gran is all “can you believe I’m not fucking dead yet lol that’s too funny. anyway, you sure I can’t interest you in killing Tomura after all?? no?? okay then here’s my cape.” truly a heartwarming scene

I’m kind of torn here tbh. on the one hand, my adhd ass wasn’t all that interested in sitting down and having an extended scene between these two when there’s so much else that I want to get to. but on the other hand, even I can admit that cramming this entire reunion into a single page seems just a BIT rushed. idk. like maybe someone can let Horikoshi know it’s a marathon and not a race. Deku didn’t even get any dialogue here, some of us want to know his thoughts!! but anyway

AND JUST LIKE THAT?!

how did all four of them let him con them into this. I literally just watched it happen and I still can’t figure out how. “I GUESS THIS SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT IS OUR LEADER NOW” ffflfjf. when Aizawa finds out he’s gonna go apeshit. AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON BAKUGOU KATSUKI, WHO I HAVE BEEN ASSURED DOES IN FACT STILL EXIST. WHAT ABOUT USSSSS, WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN THROUGH. WHAT ABOUT TRUST???! YOU KNOW I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOUUUUU

btw lol don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying this, and I’m honestly glad Deku’s not alone because that would suck for him! but that said, Hawks and Jeanist have lost any credibility they might have once had as far as being The Responsible Ones, and as for All Might and Endeavor, fucking hell lol. everyone just deposited all of their fucks in a bank somewhere for safekeeping and decided to never look back. godspeed you mad lads

[flowerslut]

Okay, so I’m catching up on your podcast - fucking LOVE btw - but I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ALICE’S BIRTHDAY SHOULD BE!!! Like what is this girls sign/energy??

this is the greatest question you could have ever possibly asked me I just need you to know I am absolutely delighted right now

not god nor the devil nor smeyer can take air sign alice away from me 🔪😠

if I’m not mistaken smeyer once said somewhere in the guide (or maybe it was an interview) that alice was born earlier in the year than edward. edward’s birthday is june 20th which would imply that alice was born in 1901 prior to june. but I reject this fully. I have a love/hate relationship with the damn official guide anyways because it’s full of contradictions and I hate rectons about my favs so goddamn much (anyone else remember back in the day when jasper used to be 20? and then over the years he somehow became 19? because I fucking do)

anyways. that would mean that alice is probably an aquarius. now, I refuse to believe that alice is anything other than an air sign for reasons that should be obvious but if they aren’t: here you go. now, I don’t hate the idea of aquarius alice. like yeah she sure is an eccentric artistic little weirdo (affectionate) so it does check out but I’m so halfhearted with that assignment.

if we ignore the guide I would say that alice is absolutely a libra. an october libra though, not a september one. I don’t see her getting too deep into october although she (and I admit this so begrudgingly) does seem like she could be more of a scorpio cusp than a virgo one, so really you could put that girl pretty deep into october if you so desired. I simply Do Not.

and honestly I don't think alice has much water in her at all so making her a libra with a scorpio cusp is as much as I'm fucking willing to budge here. that girl's chart is probably dry as a desert or nearly there—jasper is the one that brings all the water to that damn relationship (and you can't tell me that edward isn't a cancer moon/mars, but enough about that bitch)—so she probably has a hefty mix of earth/wind and then fire for ✨flair✨

in fic I usually place her birthday on october 1st because that’s just the random one I selected back in the day but I think any october date on the libra side is chefs kiss perfect

anyways TO WRAP THIS UP, like I said before:

I see her as having mostly earth and air in her chart with a fire placement or three. alice is—and I don't want anyone to argue with me on this one so if you're reading this and feel inclined: save yourself the trouble— absolutely not an emotion-driven character, nor does her characterization really allow for it. she's a conniving little manipulative realist who is so grounded in the world around her because she has to be. she does things for the aesthetic, she does what she has to do to get her way, she's fiercely determined to maintain the status quo (and she also decides what the status quo gets so be), and if she throws some dramatics in here and there than thats! just! her! right! 💅

heres a fun post from 2019 where I bitch more about each characters sign and make my declarations known. I could probably budge on a few of these old placements but overall it still holds up pretty well for me lmfao. also thank you for this message i am now in love with you

[smells-like-mettaton]

soriel, 1 (chocolate) for the ask game?

Like a Box of Chocolates

Rating: G Word Count: 2734 Read on AO3: here

---

"Ok. I brought a few choices," Sans said while sitting with his back to the door. He pulled a plastic sack full of chocolate and chocolate-adjacent treats out from under his shirt.

"Oh, you did not have to do that." The voice behind the door sounded embarrassed.

"It's no big deal." He shrugged instinctively, though she wouldn't be able to see it. "Not like I candy things like this for you very often."

The lady laughed, even though the pun was a stretch. She was a great audience like that.

"I cannot argue with that. After all, it is the choco-thought that counts."

Sans let out a wheeze. Man, she had him beat in the bad jokes department. He needed to up his game.

"What can I say, I'm a sweet guy." That joke would work better if she could see his wink.

"You certainly are, my friend."

Sans blinked. He hadn't been prepared for the genuine warmth in her voice. Now he felt something like a melted chocolate himself.

"Uh. You'd better wait and make sure I didn't pick out garbage before you say that." He chuckled nervously and spread out the chocolates in the snow.

"Alright. Hit me with your best choco-shot."

He laughed out loud at that one too. She could really squeeze some mileage out of chocolate puns.

"First off we have the MTT-Brand Chocolate Mettaton. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Chocolate in the shape of everyone's favorite robot superstar." He scanned the back of the wrapper. "Contains sequins and glitter, but it's still monster food, so probably won't cause any more indigestion than Temmie Flakes. Still, wouldn't blame ya if you passed on that."

The lady laughed. "I do not know this 'Mettaton,' but he sounds like someone…"

Her voice trailed off, the way it always did when she neared a personal topic. It seemed to be happening more and more often lately. Sans didn't know if that was a good sign, or if he needed to do a better job of distracting her.

"Someone I know would have liked that," she finished clumsily.

"Welp. It's yours, then." He attempted to slide it under the door.

Attempted. The thick block of chocolate wouldn't fit through the narrow space.

"What are my other options?" The lady asked, not seeming to hear his failure.

(Or just ignoring it. The way they always ignored things they didn't want to acknowledge.)

Oh well. He'd deal with that later, if she wanted to.

He picked up the next box and rattled it. It looked thin enough to fit under the door.

"I think this one's called, uh, pocket?” He couldn’t tell for sure, since the box was labeled in a language he didn’t recognize. Where did Alphys get this stuff? “A pal gave it to me. They’re like chocolate-covered sticks, I think."

"Not precisely what I was looking for, but I would love to try it regardless," she said. "If I am allowed to have both options, I mean. If not, I should probably stick with the Em-Tee-Tee."

Sans bit back a snort. So she hadn't heard after all. That made this a lot more awkward.

"Do you wanna hear the other options first? Wouldn't want ya to have any regrets."

"Oh! There are more?"

She sounded as surprised as a kid finding an extra fry in the bottom of their Grillby's bag. He couldn't help grinning.

"Yup. Next up is a chocolate spider donut—”

“Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders?” The voice seemed on the verge of laughter again.

His eyesockets widened. “Uh… welp. Guess you don’t need the whole spiel, huh?”

“There is a spider bakesale right around the corner from my home,” the lady explained. “I believe they are saving for a… ‘heated limo’? To travel safely through Snowdin. I wish I could help them, but I did not think to take much gold when I…”

Another dead end. That was fine, Sans could piece together enough. Not that her personal life was any of his business, anyway.

“If it makes ya feel any better, they really raked me over the coals for this one.”

“It does not!” came her quick reply. “I only asked for a chocolate bar. Not for you to spend money that you need on me.”

Geez, this lady was too good for him. As if Sans ever really went out of his way for anyone.

Except Papyrus, but he was family. And sometimes Grillby, if he felt bad about failing to pay his tab for too long. And Alphys, but he owed her for screwing off after space-time blew up in their faces.

And now, the lady behind the door. The lady he didn’t owe anything to, except a few good laughs.

Who was he kidding? Those laughs were more important to him than anything.

“Eh, it just cost me one day of selling ‘dogs. Donut worry about it.”

“Very well. Since it was for a good cause, I will not grill you any further. But please tell me that was the last chocolate you purchased for me.”

“It’s the last one I purchased.” He grinned. While she couldn’t see his expression, she must have heard the but in his voice.

“Please tell me you did not steal any chocolate for me.”

“Geez, lady, what do you take me for? I’d never commit petty thievery.”

“Well, that is reassuring.”

“Yep. Gotta save room for the real high-dollar crimes. Like the illegal hot dog stand.”

The voice behind the door went silent. He wished he could see her face now more than ever. His own grin slowly slid from his skull.

“Everyone knows about it,” he reassured her. “If the King really wanted to shut me down, he’d have done it a long time ago.”

“Oh, I am not judging you for that. I am sure the law is rigged against you if the King has any say in it.” Her voice was surprisingly bitter.

His real problem was that he couldn’t ever find the necessary documents to get licensed in food preparation. His birth certificate was presumably in whatever alternate dimension his old man had blasted them out of.

“You are judging me for something, though,” he realized. The chill of the snow seeped into his bones, but he didn’t dare adjust his position. Somehow he felt that if he moved, she would disappear.

“I am not. I was only thinking about…” She sighed. “It is complicated. There was a time when I could have helped you, but it is long past.”

“Help me? Look, lady, the ‘dog stand is fine. Promise. Better than fine, since I don’t gotta pay taxes on it.”

She chuckled at that.

“Very well. Forgive a silly old lady for worrying.”

“Done.” He smiled, settling back against the door more comfortably.

He should’ve known she’d have a problem with his illegal activities, though. She was a classy lady, and he was… him. Why had he even brought it up? It wasn’t a great joke. Did he really just want her to know?

Eh, whatever. She wasn’t mad, so no harm done, right?

“I would like to know how you acquired this other chocolate, if it was not through your sticky fingers.” She sounded like she was grinning.

“Huh? Oh.” He blinked and dug out the last chocolate of the bunch. Blue dusted his cheeks. “QC—that’s the lady who runs the shop in town—gave ‘em to me for free. They’re called, uh, kisses.”

QC had a knowing look in her eyes when she’d offered the bag of chocolates to him. It was his own fault for implying they were for a girl. Everyone already thought he screwed around in the woods on his shifts, and with the way gossip travelled in a small town, everyone at Grillby’s would be asking about his girlfriend tonight.

“Kisses,” the lady behind the door echoed. “This is not one of your jokes, is it?”

“Not this time. Sorry to disappoint.” His grin felt too tight. “They’re, uh, tiny chocolates. Kinda cone-shaped? QC makes ‘em herself, so they’ve gotta be good.”

“Oh.” Oddly, the voice did sound disappointed. Sans couldn’t imagine why. Not like he could kiss her through the door, even if he had lips. And even if there was some unlikely timeline where she wanted a kiss from him.

He wanted to thump his skull back against the door, but there was no point in worrying her like that.

“In that case, I will take the kisses. They will be perfect for…”

He was sure she would leave it at that. Cover up with some non sequitur.

So his eyesockets went wide when she said, “for the anniversary of my child’s passing.”

“Oh.” He let out a strangled little laugh. “I—geez, I’m sorry. If I’d known—”

“You would have what? Spent even more money on this silly old lady, who cannot even leave to buy her child’s favorite chocolate?” Her voice was firm. “No. I thought you deserved to know, after the trouble you went to, and because you shared your own secret with me today.”

“My ‘dog stand is hardly a secret,” he said, still feeling a little shaky. She had a kid? A dead kid?

Well, who in the Underground didn’t have skeletons in their closet? Metaphorically or literally. She was still his best friend. If she wanted his pity, she would’ve said something sooner.

“Regardless,” she said. “It is in the past. Forget it, if you wish. But please do not treat me any differently.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said sincerely. If there was one thing he was good at, it was maintaining the status quo. “So, uh. These chocolates. I kind of wanted you to have all of ‘em, if that’s alright with you.”

“It would be rude to refuse a gift, would it not?” She sounded like she was smiling again, to his relief.

“There’s just one problem. Uh. Don’t think they’re all gonna fit under the door.” He rapped on the stone surface with his knuckle for emphasis.

“I did not assume they would. The recipe I gave you before hardly passed through.”

Sans blinked. “Then you—huh?”

“I will open the door just a fraction. It can only be done from the inside.” She paused, like she was gathering a breath. “I would ask that you do not look. I promise I will not peek, either.”

Sans’s ribcage tightened. She was going to open the door. She would be right there, with no stone between them.

The thought opened a desperate floodgate within him. He hadn’t realized just how badly he wanted to see her, to know her, to live off of more than just scraps and unfinished sentences.

She once had a child. She had some kind of beef against the King. She wanted to give charity to spiders, but didn’t have enough money. All these facts he filed away, tucking them into the grooves in his ribcage.

It would be enough. He’d duct tape those gates shut again, if he had to. He wasn’t going to betray the trust she’d shown him.

“Got it. You don’t wanna be smitten by my good looks, I understand,” he joked.

(He had a feeling it would be the other way around, if anything. Not that quality of jokes translated to quality of appearance—he would know. If it did, he’d have biceps like his brother.)

“It would be tragic. Much too high a price for you to handsome chocolate to me.”

“Heh, I’m sure you’re a door-able too. But I’ll keep my sockets shut, since our friendship hinges on it.”

That got a raucous laugh out of her, the kind that started off high-pitched and quickly became something of a snorting bleat. That sound was sweeter than chocolate to him.

...Man, his pals at Grilby’s would be right to dunk on him. He was a massive dork.

“Alright,” she said once she caught her breath, “if you are ready, my friend…”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Better choco-late than never, huh?”

That one only got a snort, but he wasn’t sure if that was because the pun fell flat, or because she was nervous. As far as he knew, she hadn’t been outside of the Ruins in years. And here she was, trusting a sentry—someone whose job it was to keep a look out—to turn a blind eye.

It was a good thing he’d never been good at his job.

Stone ground against stone with a dramatic rumble. His eyesockets stayed shut. Warmth emanated from somewhere near his shoulder, and he lifted the bag of chocolates.

His small hand brushed a large fur-covered one. A shiver trailed down his spine. One small touch shouldn’t have done so much to him, but—but she was real. She was more than just a voice behind a door. Which he knew, but knowing and feeling could be worlds apart at times.

She took the bag, and the moment was over. But the door didn’t close.

“My dear friend,” she whispered, her voice sounding closer than ever. “Would it be presumptuous to ask another favor of you?”

“‘Course not. Glad to do a favor for my favor-ite person.” He kept his tone light, unaffected by the swirling emotions inside him.

“If I could… oh, dear, this is embarrassing.”

He resisted the urge to open his eyes, to see what look might be on her face.

“It has simply been so long… may I hold your hand a moment longer?”

He felt the marrow heating within his bones.

“That all? I gotta hand it to ya, you made me think you needed an arm and a leg.”

She chuckled before awkwardly fumbling to grasp his hand again.

Heat poured from her palm into his phalanges. Aside from the fur, there were several spots of soft skin—probably paw pads. Was she a dog monster, like the Canine Unit in town? She didn’t make nearly enough dog jokes for that to be the case. Her laugh sounded more like a goat’s, but she obviously didn’t have hooves. Maybe she was some kind of chimera? You didn’t see those often nowadays, but then again, no one saw monsters from the Ruins, either.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice as soft as the snow that began to drift around him.

“Not disappointed?” He asked, only half-joking. “My hand can’t be as comfy as yours.”

“Ah, but it is all your bone. And that is wonderful to me.”

“Geez, old lady.” He was grateful she couldn’t see his blush. “You’re pretty fur-fect yourself.”

When she laughed, her body shook all the way down to her hand. The feeling more than made up for all the G he’d spent on chocolate and donuts.

Suddenly his hand was being lifted up, and then something soft pressed against his knuckles. His soul flared erratically, and his eyes nearly flew open. If they had, he was sure his left eyelight would have been blue from shock.

“A kiss for a kiss,” she said slyly. “It is only fair.”

“Heh heh…” His voice shook with more than laughter. “Technically, that was one kiss for a bag of kisses. Pretty sure that math doesn’t square up.”

“Oh, you are quite right! One day we will have to circle back and rectify that.”

He practically had to cast gravity magic on himself to keep his eyes from flying open.

“You—huh?” He said intelligently.

“Perhaps not soon,” she clarified. “This has all been… a lot, for me. But thanks to you, my dear friend, this day has not been so bitter as I am used to.”

“Uh, no problem, then. With all that chocolate, I hope it’s sweet.”

Sweet as the anniversary of a death could be, anyway. He grimaced. Maybe that joke was too soon, but she just squeezed his hand before finally letting go.

“I do think it will be,” she said softly. “I will look forward to hearing more of your punny jokes tomorrow.”

The door scraped shut, and he hesitantly opened his eyes. He couldn't help inspecting the door to see if anything changed. Pressing his still-warm hand against the smooth stone.

“Heh. Good luck getting rid of me now.” He grinned.

Then he tucked his hands in his pockets, where her kiss remained like a tattoo on his bone.

[aro-is-gay-af]

Slavic Names in Twilight | Meta

This post is going to be long, so if you don’t have time, I advise you to come back here later (or not come back at all, up to you).

Honestly, I have no words for Smeyer anymore. I, probably like most of us, read the books while being an adolescent. When I was 12 I didn’t see a lot of things that happened to be in the books and were:  a) misogynistic  b) sexist c) abusive d) racist and that the story itself was bound to Mormons (sick!). 

If you want to read about it a little bit more I strongly recommend this post by @stregoni-benefici​ and @carlislesscarf​ 

This post isn’t going to be about how Smeyer treated The Quileute Tribe, indigenous people, people of color or women. This post is going to be about how lazy Smeyer exactly was while creating this story and how her prejudices influenced and created false image of yet another culture. 

Why am I making such a fuss because of this? A few days ago I was reading something about Garrett on Twilight Wiki page. By sheer luck, I clicked on Kate’s character and, what I saw there, outraged me to the point where I needed a little while to calm myself. 

I was 12 when I first read the books. I never bought official twilight guide, I only used Twilight Wiki to keep myself up to date. I clicked on Kate’s character and saw that she hails from Slovakia. Forgive my utter confusion, when I remembered other sisters’ names. Tanya and Irina. Also, Kate was created by Sasha, who also created Vasilli (an immortal child), which is why she was executed in the first place. 

While the story is charming, WHY THE FUCK DO THEY HAVE SUCH NAMES?! 

To understand my rage, I need to elucidate the matter a little bit for all of you. This will be the historical part. 

According to Twilight Wiki, Sasha was changed before 1000 AD. Then, she created Tanya, and not very long after, Kate and Irina. And now. What were the historical odds while it happened? 

Before 1000 AD, Slovakia wasn’t Slovakia but Great Moravia. Great Moravia lasted about a century - the time span here is approximately circa 820 AD to 906 AD. When Great Moravia no longer existed, territory was taken by Hungarians (Magyar tribes also referred to as Hungarian clans) and the development of future Kingdom of Hungary began. Then, around 1000-1001, King Stephan was crowned as the first King of Hungary. Some elements from the former Great Moravia were acquired by The Kingdom of Hungary. 

King Stephen managed to establish eight counties within his kingdom. Around 1015 some territories of today-Slovakia were acquired by Boleslav I of Poland (later king of Poland), however, King Stephen managed to recapture the territories in 1018. Wikipedia isn’t consistent here - while on History of Slovakia we have these information, the History of Poland during the Piast dynasty says: 

From 1003 to 1004, Bolesław intervened militarily in Czech dynastic conflicts. After his forces were removed from Bohemia in 1018, Bolesław retained Moravia. 

and:

[translation here is mine as the site is in Polish] Between 1003 and 1025/1031 the lands of today's Slovakia were part of the Kingdom of Poland after being conquered by Bolesław Chrobry. The Polish-Hungarian Chronicle described that "The Polish borders stretched as far as the banks of the Danube, to the town of Ostříhomia, then to the town of Eger, and further to the river called Ciepla [Topl'a] as far as the town of Salis, and there the borders between Hungarians, Ruthenians and Poles ended". 

Than, probably around 1031 AD the territories were acquired back. King Stephen died and his kingdom fell into internal conflicts. Soon, in 1042 AD emperor Henry III mingled to acquire some lands for himself (he was the Holy Roman Emperor). Anyway, then came 1048 AD and that’s what happened: 

In 1048, King Andrew I of Hungary conceded one-third of his kingdom (Tercia pars regni) in appanage to his brother, Duke Béla. [...] During the following 60 years, the Tercia pars regni were governed separately by members of the Árpád dynasty. [...] The dukes accepted the kings' supremacy, but some of them (Béla, Géza and Álmos) rebelled against the king in order to acquire the crown and allied themselves with the rulers of the neighbouring countries (e.g., the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia).

The history of the Tercia pars regni ended in 1107, when King Coloman of Hungary occupied its territories taking advantage of the pilgrimage of Duke Álmos (his brother) to the Holy Land. Although, Duke Álmos, when returned to the kingdom, tried to reoccupy his former duchy with the military assistance of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, but he failed and was obliged to accept the status quo. 

Source for the two quotes above. 

You may ask, why on Earth did I just present to you part of history of Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. Because I want you to understand how completely ridiculous and simultaneously offending are the names of characters that Smeyer gave within this coven.

History shows us that, even though, these times weren’t exactly peaceful, there wasn’t an ongoing war. We have Hungarian tribes and the part, when some territories were acquired by a Polish king. What I mean by that, is that probably names around 1000 AD varied as to where your family lived, what was your social status, and probably were influenced by newly adopted Christianity. It is more likely that people on this lands were named with names of Hungarian origin than Russian. And I still think the majority of names were of Slavic origin, only with some local variations going on. 

Now, a little bit of common knowledge. People who descend from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary are best buddies for life, even if they never saw each other. We have mutual respect for these countries and for ourselves, as our history brought us together multiple times (bad times and good ones). Russia IS NOT a part of this “mutual respect pact”. Mostly due to events that happened during both World Wars (i.e. Katyń Massacre), as well as other ones (Partitions of Poland, Eastern Bloc - communism). 

Most of the names used by Smeyer are of Russian (or Greek, or Hebrew) origin. Not Slavic origin. And while Russia is also the part of Slavic languages, there’s a significant distinction between West Slavic Languages (Slovakian, Czech, Polish language), East Slavic Languages (Belarusian, Russian, Ukainian) and South Slavic Languages (i.e. Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian). 

It makes difference to the point that if I go to Slovakia or Czech Republic I'm able to communicate with people in my native language (Polish) while they can answer me in their native language. Not everything is going to be the same but you're able to maintain a conversation mostly about every topic that you'd like to discuss. It isn't impossible to do so with Russian or Ukrainian but it's much harder and there are more differences, and sometimes you aren’t able to communicate this way. The same goes with i.e. Croatian or Bulgarian.

Don’t get me wrong, dear friends from Russia (if anyone from Russia will ever read this). I’m pissed off because even though Smeyer created not one, but four characters with SLOVAKIAN origin, she didn't use at least one name which fully originated in that territories (and probably was used) around 1000 AD. She went for Russian names because, sure, let's do that, there's no big difference anyway and it’s easier. To add to that, Smeyer used Russian names which are widely used NOWADAYS, not ones which were probably popular (or just used) thousand years ago. 

Now, quick briefing on very popular names from that time (c. 1000 AD) in Slovakia and Czech Republic. 

Here’s the full article on Slavic names.  

While some of these names are used today, some of them aren’t at all or are used in a different, more evolved form. 

Now, to the names of our characters. The most explainable and justified name here is Kate’s name. In Twilight Wiki we can find that her actual name was Katrina and that her preferable name now is Kate. Let’s see the origins of the name Kate. 

Full article here. 

While we can read that variations of that name in Czech are: “ Katka, Kateřina, Kačka, Káťa, Kačenka, Káča, Kačí, Kačena” and in Slovakian “Katka, Katarína” still the origins aren’t Slavic. 

Next, Irina. 

As Wikipedia says:

Irina is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is derived from Eirene (Ancient Greek: Εἰρήνη), an ancient Greek goddess, personification of peace.

Diminutive forms in Slavic languages include Ira, Irinka, Irinushka, Irisha, Irka, Irochka, Irinochka.

Here, we also don’t have Slavic origin. While it’s better than with Kate’s name because origins here seem to hugely blend, the proper origin of Irina’s name is Ancient Greek. I will never believe that a peasant girl from around 1000 AD was named Irina.

Here’s the full article. 

Next, Vasilli. 

Wikipedia doesn’t say much, except it’s a RUSSIAN NAME with Greek origin.

Full article here. 

Now, finally, we’ve two names left. First, Sasha. 

Finally, first one, which has Slavic origin. And while this name has many variations in many languages, I don’t believe that anyone in Slovakia prior to 1000 AD would name their child Sasha. This name gained popularity in 1970s, and I believe that it would be used rather as diminutive of a name in 1000 AD than a name itself. 

Full article here. 

Last, but not least, Tanya. 

Here, also, it isn’t a full name. Full name is Tatiana, and Tanya, especially in Slavic it is used as a nickname implying intimacy with the person OR used for baby talk. 

Full article here. 

What’s my point here? Even though two of these five names are partially Slavic in origin, they sound like Russian names. Not Eastern Slavic in one fucking bit. Sure, Smeyer could do a simplification and say that, yeah, girls acquired other names as centuries passed. Agreed, even strongly. 

BUT

Smeyer never said anything like this. Also, I’m under the impression that this names were meant to sound Russian. And, people, don’t get me wrong, I really hold nothing against Russians, but because of doing such thing Smeyer has perpetuated certain patterns and beliefs that have become firmly established in US culture and West culture in general by now. 

No wonder why some people never distinguish between Russia, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic or Ukraine, or other countries from Easter Bloc. How can they, where in majority of mass media they’re taught that IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME THING. Why should they bother? 

I have many friends among Slovakian people. Slovakia is like a second home to me. I also have a few friends from Czech Republic. And before, I’ve never been bothered by this name thing because I was a child. Today I couldn’t be silent about it. 

It’s sad that another culture and fantastic history was just blended in with Russia because why not. I don’t understand why in Western movies or books all people from former Eastern Bloc need to be Russian. 

I am Polish and to me it’s just extremely sad. We (and I think I can count in here Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, but also Croatia or Serbia) have fantastic culture and very long, eventful history. People from these countries are welcoming and share great hospitality. 

I don’t know why Smeyer did something like this, but I suppose it’s just a thing she does to everyone. Rip away their culture and pretend she didn’t do it. 

I am grateful that this fandom is a lot wiser than the creator of the books. This is what I said in the beginning of this post. Smeyer could’ve gone to library and read a little about the history and the names. I mean, If she didn’t found it on the Internet, because it was 2006, I believe, so she could research it. If there was nothing on the Internet, I’m sure a library would do. 

She did a poor research or didn’t do it at all. And that’s what happened. Was it worth it? I don’t think so. 

***

Everyone, please, comment, but be kind to each other (and to me xd). I wrote what I felt. As I’ve told you already, I’m Polish and I really felt that I should write this meta/disclaimer from a point of view of a person who lives in Slavic-origined country and has many Slavic-origined friends.

I still feel triggered because of this. Reblog this so others could see and say what they think. 

[spade-riddles]

Submission: Adjusting expectations

Okay, guys. Wading in here where it’s possible no-one wants me, but … here goes. 

We - Kaylors - are in a hard place right now. People feel hurt, they feel hopeless. They feel like they were led on by the likes of Spade. I’m not here to invalidate any of the feelings that come from seeing Karlie and Taylor play out this charade.  

But I think we (collectively, as a fandom) need to take a breath and ask if any of this is really as bad or unfixable as we think it is. Because, for me, the recent stunting is hard to stomach but not truly surprising. On some level this is how I expected Karlie and Taylor to handle both the birth of the baby and the launch of the rerecorded albums. As much I wanted to believe in the idea of spring breaking loose and bringing with it a fervent revolution … I could see the pieces still in play on the board and I doubted it was coming. 

I think the problem is that there was a split between the optimist and pragmatist sides of the fandom, over the last year or so. To be clear - I’m not judging the optimist side of the fandom. Not at all. Taylor has pulled wildcard moves before, and emotions run so high in all this, especially with a baby involved now, that I don’t blame people for wanting to believe the best. But it reached a stage where some of the things people were trying to talk themselves into were just wildly unrealistic. And when that happens, of course you’re going to get hurt. It’s inevitable. 

But let’s really look at this for a second. We should have known that neither Karlie nor Taylor was going to be shaving her beard in March. Ditching Jerk right after or just before the birth would have been too soon for Karlie. It’s not unusual for a celeb marriage to fizzle out within a year of the birth, but before the baby even arrives? That would be weird, and would draw attention just when it seems Kaylor don’t want it. They just had a baby. That’s an adjustment in itself, and Karlie is suffering enough social media hate on top of that. I wouldn’t blame her for just wanting to take a break and lie low during this difficult time. And unfortunately, for Karlie, that means maintaining the status quo of the situation she put herself in with Jerk. She may be doing the bare minimum to maintain it, but if she wants to avoid attention, she has to make it seem like everything between her and her “husband” is normal. And that she’s trying to make it work, which I believe will be important later. Good people try to make it work, even in bad relationships. 

Toe wasn’t going anywhere either. Taylor had relied on him so heavily during the promotion of Folklore, with the William Bowery narrative, that she was almost backed into a corner. She had to give some allusion to his air quotes “creative input” and their so-called happy relationship, or her failure to do so would have become the story and overshadowed her night. The headlines would have either been break-up speculation or complaints that she didn’t give him his due. We think the cutesy coverage after she named him in her acceptance speech was bad, but negative headlines have a far longer shelf life and can take on a life of their own. They would have been worse. Whatever we might think of Taylor’s actions, Folklore is one of her best albums and she deserved to have her night. 

So, on to the announcement of the birth. This is a tricky one, and again, I completely understand why people reacted so badly against it. It was everything we as a fandom said we didn’t want. It was Jerk using the baby for personal good PR. But I have to be honest here. I always thought we were kidding ourselves believing he would NEVER be seen with the baby or implied to be the father. I do believe Karlie is doing her damnedest to minimize the digital footprint of his involvement and keep her actual baby out of it. But he was always going to get to bask in the glow of playing daddy for a while. It’s the trade off Kaylor made when they used him to shore up their closet. 

This is also why I increasingly suspect the timing of the announcement got the green light from Kaylor too. If Jerk was always going to be assumed to be the father of Karlie’s baby, then there was always going to have to be a birth announcement that incorporated him somehow - unless the girls were ready to answer awkward questions, and it doesn’t seem like we’re there yet. So the best way to minimize the damage is to have his moment of glory overshadowed by a bigger win for Taylor. It worked pretty well actually. Even on Kaylor blogs the stunt was mostly buried by Taylor content.

I know a lot of fans feel gaslit by all the hints, but I do think there’s a possibility Taylor really didn’t grasp how hurt Kaylors would be. From her perspective, she “fed” fans three times over that night. She gave us a beautiful performance, a gorgeous red carpet moment, and a win to celebrate. I think it’s possible she really didn’t realize the double whammy of stunting that night would make it all feel worthless for many.

Taylor is in an awkward position. As a consequence of Kaylor retreating into the closet, the support base for them has shrunk. (When I use the words “Kaylor fandom”, I refer to this support base.) I would say Kaylor fandom consists of two parts. There is a silent portion, who observe events and comment anonymously, but don’t say anything “on main”. And then there are the small corps of true believers, who think Karlie and Taylor are still together and the baby is theirs. This latter group do most of the actual talking about Kaylor, but they tend to be pretty battle-hardened. They’ve been around for years, they never believe any of the stunts and their capacity to be hurt by them is, as a result, pretty limited. These Kaylors criticize sometimes, but they tend to fall back in line eventually and mostly adopt a “let’s wait and see how this all shakes out” approach. The problem is that I would say these “chilled” Kaylors are the minority. For their own sanity they curate their blog experience and often don’t post the more negative anons they get. Which is fine, but if you were looking at it from the outside, I could see how it might create an impression that the fandom as a whole can roll with the punches. And for a lot of the silent majority, that’s not the case. 

But again, I can see how Taylor might not necessarily know that. She went quiet after the Grammys, when I might have expected more celebratory posts from her. If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t expect the backlash. I’m especially noticing a backlash against her for allowing Karlie to take so many hits while her own reputation has never been better. And I can’t defend her on that one, except to say I hope she has a plan. But I understand where people are coming from when they say the songs aren’t enough and actions speak louder than words. It’s tough to watch. 

Still, we’re in a position we should realistically have been able to see coming. We should have known Jerk wasn’t going to be out of the picture immediately after the birth. This is one of those things nobody likes, but maybe we all just have to be patient on. I don’t see Karlie busting out of the closet to admit her marriage was a fake, or testifying to the FBI. I think she’ll just let her marriage quietly fall apart, as many real marriages did during the pandemic. And for that to work, she needs to make it look like didn’t throw away a family unit lightly. Hence the “I tried” post, the social media break, and the suggestions of spending time with Jerk’s family. All of this can be spun later into a narrative of Karlie having tried to make it work, only to never really be accepted. The hate online affected her mental health and she gradually realized how unhappy she’d become and decided she needed to break free and find her old self again for her baby’s sake. This is the most likely narrative for Karlie’s freedom and it’s one that could work - but it’s going to take time to unfold. Personally, I’m giving it a year. If we don’t see a separation by then, and definitive moves to a reunited Kaylor, I’ll be bowing out. I’ll still know what I believe the truth to be, but I won’t see the need to devote my energy to defending it. ,

Meanwhile, the masters rerecords are about to be released, and Taylor has invested a lot in their success. Because of this, I can’t envision her coming out until at least the big three (Fearless, 1989, and Red) have dropped. She might drop hints, but I don’t expect anything earth-shattering. Even the order of the album releases seems to confirm this. She’s breaking out the big guns first. 

I’ve seen people speculate that because Rep can’t be rerecorded until 2022, Taylor will hold off on any coming out until then. And I’m not so sure of that. Yes, people listening to the album for clues would give Scott and Scooter money, but if we’re being honest, a fair amount of people are probably listening to those albums already, regardless of the drama. Those sleazeballs are profiting from Rep, full stop. But if Taylor profits more, from her bigger albums, she still wins. And she can still put out a Taylor’s version of Rep with vault tracks and collabs, to seduce people away from the Big Machine version in early 2022. Honestly, I think there’s a good chance Taylor would consider this is a worthwhile trade-off anyway, if it meant she got to live a more open life with Karlie - and most crucially, begin to repair Karlie’s reputation. As children get older and the world begins to leave the pandemic behind, it becomes harder to live behind closed doors. I guess we’ll find out how Taylor finds the reality of such a life, and what she considers worth sacrificing to step away from it. 

All this to say: I can’t predict the future more than anyone else, but I don’t think the situation we’re in now is irreparable, and if we’re being really objective, I don’t think it’s even surprising. I do think Taylor should give us something, if she wants to keep us around. No-one can live on a complete absence of hope, and as I’ve stated, letting the fandom dwindle to this extent has its own dangers. But I think we also need to keep our time frames realistic, even if it means rejecting lifelines like the Spade riddles. We shouldn’t expect Karlie to be free of Jerk for around a year, and we shouldn’t expect Taylor to do anything much beyond general music promo until at least the big three have dropped. Sucks to say it, I know. But at least this way we won’t be disappointed, and if Kaylor do pull a wild card and move towards freedom, we can be pleasantly surprised. 

Just my two cents. 

___________________

Well written and fair arguments on our reactions and expectations. I had typed up more, but I will let others post their comments before I chime in.

[bloodbenderz]

humaniterations (dot) net/2014/10/13/an-anarchist-perspective-on-the-red-lotus/ this article from oct 2014 is very dense — truly, a lot to unpack here, but I feel like you would find this piece interesting. I would love it if you shared your thoughts on the points that stood out to you, whether you agree or disagree. you obv don’t have to respond to it tho, but I’m sending it as an ask jic you feel like penning (and sharing) a magnificent essay, as is your wont 💕

article

i know this took me forever 2 answer SORRY but i just checked off all the things on my to do list for the first time in days today so. Essay incoming ladies!

ok im SO glad u sent me this bc it’s so so good. it’s a genuinely thoughtful criticism of the politics in legend of korra (altho i think its sometimes a little mean to korra unnecessarily like there’s no reason to call her a “petulant brat��� or say that she throws tantrums but i do understand their point about her being an immature and reactionary hero, which i’ll get back to) and i think the author has a good balance between acknowledging like Yeah the lok writers were american liberals and wrote their show accordingly and Also writing a thorough analysis of lok’s politics that felt relevant and interesting without throwing their hands up and saying this is all useless liberal bullshit (which i will admit that i tend to do).

this article essentially argues that the red lotus antagonists of s3 were right. And that’s not an uncommon opinion i think but this gives it serious weight. Like, everything that zaheer’s gang did was, in context, fully understandable. of course the red lotus would be invested in making sure that the physically and spiritually and politically most powerful person in the world ISNT raised by world leaders and a secret society of elites that’s completely unaccountable to the people! of course the red lotus wants to bring down tyrannical governments and allow communities to form and self govern organically! and the writers dismiss all of that out of hand by 1. consistently framing the red lotus as insane and murderous (korra never actually gives zaheer’s ideas a chance or truly considers integrating them into her own approach) 2. representing the death of the earth queen as not just something that’s not necessarily popular (what was with mako’s bootlicker grandma, i’d love to know) but as something that causes unbelievable violence and chaos in ba sing se (which, like, a lot of history and research will tell you that people in disasters tend towards prosocial behaviors). so the way the story frames each of these characters and ideologies is fascinating because like. if you wanted to write season 3 of legend of korra with zaheer as the protagonist and korra as the antagonist, you wouldn’t actually have to change the sequence of events at all, really. these writers in particular and liberal writers in general LOVE writing morally-gray-but-ultimately-sympathetic characters (like, almost EVERY SINGLE fire nation character in the first series, who were full on violent colonizers but all to a degree were rehabilitated in the eyes of the viewer) but instead of framing the red lotus as good people who are devoted to justice and freedom and sometimes behave cruelly to get where theyre trying to go, they frame them as psychopaths and murderers who have good intentions don’t really understand how to make the world a better place.

and the interesting thing about all this, about the fact that the red lotus acted in most cases exactly as it should have in context and the only reason its relegated to villain status is bc the show is written by liberals, is that the red lotus actually points out really glaring sociopolitical issues in universe! like, watching the show, u think well why the fuck HASN’T korra done anything about the earth queen oppressing her subjects? why DOESN’T korra do anything about the worse than useless republic president? why the hell are so many people living in poverty while our mains live cushy well fed lives? how come earth kingdom land only seems to belong to various monarchs and settler colonists, instead of the people who are actually indigenous to it? the show does not want to answer these questions, because american liberal capitalism literally survives on the reality of oppressive governments and worse than useless presidents and people living in poverty while the middle/upper class eats and indigenous land being stolen. if the show were to answer these questions honestly, the answer would be that the status quo in real life (and the one on the show that mirrors real life) Has To Change.

So they avoid answering these questions honestly in order for the thesis statement to be that the status quo is good. and the only way for the show to escape answering these questions is for them to individualize all these broad social problems down into Good people and Bad people. so while we have obvious bad ones like the earth queen we also have all these capitalists and monarchs and politicians who are actually very nice and lovely people who would never hurt anyone! which is just such an absurd take and it’s liberal propaganda at its best. holding a position of incredible political/economic power in an unjust society is inherently unethical and maintaining that position of power requires violence against the people you have power over. which is literally social justice 101. but there’s literally no normal, average, not-politically-powerful person on the show. so when leftist anarchism is presented and says that destroying systems that enforce extreme power differentials is the only way to bring peace and freedom to all, the show has already set us up to think, hey, fuck you, top cop lin beifong and ford motor ceo asami sato are good people and good people like them exist! and all we have to do to move forward and progress as a society is to make sure we have enough good individuals in enough powerful positions (like zuko as the fire lord ending the war, or wu as the earth king ending the monarchy)! which is of course complete fiction. liberal reform doesn’t work. but by pretending that it could work by saying that the SYSTEM isnt rotten it’s just that the people running it suck and we just need to replace those people, it automatically delegitimizes any radical movements that actually seek to change things.

and that’s the most interesting thing about this article to me is that it posits that the avatar...might actually be a negative presence in the world. the avatar is the exact same thing: it’s a position of immense political and physical power bestowed completely randomly, and depending on the moral character and various actions of who fills that position at any given time, millions of people will or won’t suffer. like kyoshi, who created the fascist dai li, like roku, who refused to remove a genocidal dictator from power, like aang, who facilitated the establishment of a settler colonial state on earth kingdom land. like korra! she’s an incredibly immature avatar and a generally reactionary lead. i’ve talked about this at length before but she never actually gets in touch with the needs of the people. she’s constantly running in elite circles, exposed only to the needs and squabbles of the upper class! how the hell is she supposed to understand the complexities of oppression and privilege when she was raised by a chess club with inordinate amounts of power and associates almost exclusively with politicians and billionaires?? from day 1 we see that she tends to see things in very black and white ways which is FINE if you’re a privileged 17 yr old girl seeing the world for the first time but NOT FINE if you’re the single most powerful person in the world! Yeah, korra thinks the world is probably mostly fine and just needs a little whipping into shape every couple years, because all she has ever known is a mostly fine world! in s1 when mako mentions that he as a homeless impoverished teenager worked for a gang (which is. Not weird. Impoverished people of every background are ALWAYS more likely to resort to socially unacceptable ways of making money) korra is like “you guys are criminals?????!!!!!” she was raised in perfect luxury by a conservative institution and just never developed beyond that. So sure, if the red lotus raised her anarchist, probably a lot would’ve been different/better, but....they didn’t. and korra ended up being a reactionary and conservative avatar who protected monarchs and colonialist politicians. The avatar as a position is completely subject to the whims of whoever is currently the avatar. and not only does that suck for everyone who is not the avatar, not only is it totally unfair to whatever kid who grows up knowing the fate of the world is squarely on their shoulders, but it as a concept is a highly individualist product of the authors’ own western liberal ideas of progress! the idea that one good leader can fix the world (or should even try) based on their own inherent superiority to everyone else is unbelievably flawed and ignores the fact that all real progress is brought about as a result of COMMUNITY work, as a result of normal people working for themselves and their neighbors!

the broader analysis of bending was really interesting to me too, but im honestly not sure i Totally agree with it. the article pretty much accepts the show’s assertion that bending is a privilege (and frankly backs it up much better than the original show did, but whatever), and i don’t think that’s NECESSARILY untrue since it is, like, a physical advantage (the author compares it to, for example, the fact that some people are born athletically gifted and others are born with extreme physical limitations), but i DO think that it discounts the in universe racialization of bending. in any sequel to atla that made sense, bending as a race making fact would have been explored ALONGSIDE the physical advantages it bestows on people. colonialism and its aftermath is generally ignored in this article which is its major weakness i think, especially in conjunction with bending. you can bring up the ideas the author did about individual vs community oriented progress in the avatar universe while safely ignoring the colonialism, but you can’t not bring up race and colonialism when you discuss bending. especially once you get to thinking about how water/earth/airbenders were imprisoned and killed specifically because bending was a physical advantage, and that physical advantage was something that would have given colonized populations a means of resistance and that the fire nation wanted to keep to itself.

i think that’s the best lens thru which to analyze bending tbh! like in the avatar universe bending is a tool that different ethnic groups tend to use in different ways. at its best, bending actually doesn’t represent social power differences (despite representing a physical power difference) because it’s used to represent/maintain community solidarity. like, take the water tribe. katara being the last waterbender, in some way, makes her the last of a part of swt CULTURE. the implication is that when there were a lot of waterbenders in the south, they dedicated their talents to building community and helping their neighbors, because this was something incredibly culturally important and important to the water tribe as a community. the swt as a COLLECTIVE values bending for what it can do for the entire tribe, which counts for basically every other talent a person can have (strength, creativity, etc). the fire nation, by contrast, distorts the community value of bending by racializing it: anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is inherently NOT fire nation (and therefore inherently inferior) and, because of the physical power that bending confers, anyone who bends an element that isn’t fire is a threat to fire nation hegemony. and in THAT framework of bending, it’s something that intrinsically assigns worth and reifies race in a way that’s conveniently beneficial to the oppressor.

it IS worth talking about how using Element as a way to categorize people reifies nations, borders, and race in a way that is VERY characteristic of white american liberals. i tried to be conscious of that (and the way that elements/bending can act in DIFFERENT ways, depending on cultural context) but i think it’s pretty clear that the writers did intend for element to unequivocally signify nation (and, by extension, race), which is part of why they screwed up mixed families so bad in lok. when they’ve locked themselves into this idea that element=nation=race, they end up with sets of siblings like mako and bolin or kya tenzin and bumi, who all “take” after only one parent based on the element that they bend. which is just completely stupid but very indicative of how the writers actually INTENDED element/bending to be a race making process. and its both fucked up and interesting that the writers display the same framework of race analysis that the canonical antagonists of atla do.

anyway that’s a few thoughts! thank u again for sending the article i really loved it and i had a lot of fun writing this <3

[madame-forget-me-not-lo-fic]

Fertility Goddesses

So in the most recent chapter, we got a few new insights as to what it means to be a fertility goddess - or, more accurately, the supposed influence and power one might have.

Obviously, Zeus was pretty freaked out by this, and it seemed as though he would prefer to be in denial. Beyond that, he was just grateful no new bloods really seemed to know what it meant (I’m assuming anyone beyond the 6 Traitors, honestly). 

There have been quite a few theories tossed around about the fertility goddess issue, so I’m just going to try to put in something a bit newer here. I want to figure out societal implications and where Hera’s backstory comes into play.

For this theory to work, I am running under the assumption that fertility gods and goddesses are much rarer than in actual Greek mythology. This seemed to be backed up by how “valuable” being a fertility goddess is (f*ck you, Apollo) and how infrequently they are born (Ares mentioning one hadn’t been born for centuries). Now, if you happen to know your Greek lore, you know that there are tons of fertility deities, but it seems as though in Rachel’s canon, she is ignoring that (totally her choice, and I’m not dissing it).

Fertility goddess have been born before, but Zeus doesn’t show panic over them. I think this goes primarily along with how much control Zeus has over the goddesses in question.

Regarding Hera, I believe she is one of those fertility goddesses. Beyond actual mythology supporting that, I would look to her monologue going on about how, prior to her marriage, she was limitless. I think part of that had to do with her being young and her powers still developing and being untethered to another person, but also that her powers were much greater than we see them now (though I would argue she is actually much more powerful than most of the pantheon). Then Zeus, greedy and ambitious, had her marry him (whether it was by choice or not has yet to be addressed, but I sense there was some reluctance on her part). So, Hera’s power would be more constrained, Zeus would have control over her, and she’s queen of the gods - problem solved. 

As for the other fertility goddesses (I’m thinking probably Demeter and Aphrodite, but I’m not sure of anyone else), I have vague ideas, but my thought would be that they weren’t powerful enough or ambitious enough to be a real threat. For lack of a better phrase, they were about as old as Zeus and stayed in their lanes, so he didn’t worry.

Then along comes Persephone. She’s very young, her powers are still developing, but she’s just a pretty village girl for his brother to show interest in, right? lol nah. Girl has several gods and goddesses backing her up very quickly just due to her sweet personality and natural charisma. So, she has influence. Not too bad still - Zeus isn’t aware of that yet, and he still thinks she’s going to be a nice little toy for his brother to enjoy. 

But, then he gets the story from the three troublemakers. Persephone is now a threat. She has Olympian friends, Hades backing her, and apparently a significant amount of power, more than the average god or goddess. 

With all this, Zeus is threatened most of all because he can’t control her right now. The other fertility goddesses, he could either control through marriage or might. As of right now, he has lost a great amount of respect from the other gods, he can’t try to force her to do what he says without potentially bringing war between Olympus and the Underworld, and it seems as though her power would be frightening for him to face anyway.

Why does this matter?

I think that is why being a fertility goddess matters, why Demeter tried to hide her daughter and protect her through TGOEM, and why Hades (knowing about fertility goddesses already) wasn’t shocked by the events that took place before she went to Olympus.

We know Zeus is one of the most arrogant, controlling deities. He doesn’t accept challenges to his authority without severe punishment for the offending party. He is all about maintaining the status quo which keeps him on top. If he is saying he needs to punish Persephone to maintain the status quo, I believe that means that her power could challenge his reign, or at least the social structure of the gods as a whole.

[sykilik101]

Moments With You

There's no such thing as coincidence. I don't believe for a second anyone else besides her was supposed to be there that day. Fishing and owning a bike that just happened to have a Pikachu-sized basket?

We were meant to meet.

xxxxx

"Sorry I'm late!"

We'd already been traveling together for a few months now, and I'd gotten a pretty good idea of who Misty was. Quick to anger, an unwavering sense of right and wrong, and a love of water Pokémon that even I couldn't hope to match. We were past the point of simple acquaintances and could now be considered friends, but there were sides to Misty I had yet to learn about.

One of those was her with her hair down.

Her voice pulled me from my PokéDex, a speechlessness overtaking me as Pikachu's gleeful exclamation blended with the music and crowd. Everything in the background was blurry from the lantern smoke and lights, but Misty standing in her pink kimono, fan in hand, was immediately seared into my mind. For a second I was reminded of when I'd seen Giselle at that Pokémon Tech place we'd visited; she was pretty in that "make my face warm" way. I'd never gotten that feeling from Misty before, but now-

"Come on, Ash, let's dance!"

Her hand found its way into mine, and a dizzying warmth accompanied the softness of her fingers. My voice trembled a bit as I agreed, and with her extended invitation to Pikachu I couldn't help but laugh. She pulled me onto the dance floor with an infectious jubilance that suited her better than I could have thought. It was the first time that the two of us, together, whittled the hours away in the company of food, dancing, and a budding best friendship.

That was also the first time I felt soon-to-be-familiar nerves in my stomach around her.

xxxxx

"Okay."

"Right."

Traveling through a foggy forest towards a town that was supposedly home to ghost Pokémon didn't have the same energy as "summer festival," but at least I was holding Misty's hand again. It was Brock's idea, which was the perfect excuse for me to hold hers for longer than a few seconds. Even with my glove in the way, the tips of my fingers pressed into her skin, and I felt an abnormal heat surge through my cheeks. I wondered if I could convince the others that we should come through this forest on the way back.

I'd held out my hand to Brock so he wouldn't get lost; leave it to him to grab Pikachu's tail and ruin the moment.

xxxxx

"What are you two doing here?"

At this stage of our friendship, it was easier to hide any displays of enamorment behind a curt answer or a crude decision. I'd had enough practice with starting arguments after being caught staring, but I still hadn't gotten many opportunities to compliment her while maintaining plausible deniability. It was next to impossible to say something like "Your eyes are pretty" inconspicuously, so any chance I could get to say something about her, even hidden behind sarcasm or jokes, was something I wouldn't let go to waste.

I wasn't sure why Misty even agreed to help Melvin out in the first place. Misty's not an especially kind person, so agreeing to be some magician's assistant, in a Goldeen dress of all things, would definitely be high on my "things Misty would never do" list. Despite that, I couldn't help but think that she looked really...really pretty. Like, "the Maiden's Peak festival" pretty, but this time, I wanted to tell her. Hiding a compliment behind an annoying tone sounded like a good idea, and since starting an argument with her was easiest when she was in a flustered state, this was the perfect cover for me to say-

"That's a real cute outfit, Misty."

Surprisingly, I managed to keep a straight face and not stutter my words, despite inexperience threatening to wipe away the snarky tone I was going for. I was ready for the verbal retaliation she was famous for, but the sudden complaints of the audience demanding a show was a welcomed distraction. Taking a front row seat I savored the feeling of victory at having been able to call Misty cute and not end up with her mallet on my head.

It's too bad she didn't put her hair down for the outfit, though...

xxxxx

Every story I've heard of mermaids says that they're always extremely beautiful. Mermaids probably aren't real, but I think Misty is making me a believer.

xxxxx

"Careful, Ash, all that food can make your belly as big as your head."

I like that we're now at the point where her teasing comments are all in good fun. Of course, even if it wasn't, nothing was gonna bring my mood down. I'd already won my first two rounds, and I even got to eat for free thanks to a fan of mine. After having not had a meal for the entire day, all Pikachu and I wanted was to dig in.

Misty's company wasn't unwelcomed, either.

I wanted to answer her, but she happened to catch me mid-chew. My response was automatic and ready, but before I swallowed, a thought came to me. It was a nickname I'd thought about before, and I'd never found the right moment (or courage) to try it out. However, my post-battle elation made my worries feel insignificant, and I figured even if she didn't like it, I could brush it off as me just being too happy about my success to care.

"Thanks, Mist, but I can't help it! I got all this food for free! That's 'cause she happens to be a big fan of mine!"

Mist. I like the way it sounds, and the fact that she didn't immediately get that Misty eye twitch means she didn't dislike it. Although, maybe it's 'cause I'm so used to calling her Misty, but Mist feels a bit...awkward. Almost like how you'd call your girlfriend a cute nickname.

...Misty as my girlfriend...

"Ash, everybody in the Pokémon League gets to eat here for free."

So much for the fan of mine. I think, maybe, I'll keep Mist in my back pocket for future use, when it feels right to give her such a cute nickname.

xxxxx

"You're crazy!"

"Crazy is right! Never in a million years!"

She didn't have to deny it that hard...

xxxxx

"You and I will be married someday, too."

"Mhm…"

I didn't really register what Misty had said right away. My thoughts were more focused on how we were going to stay overnight in this park and hearing this girl - Temacu, was it? - talk about marrying Brock. For some reason I half-expected Brock to be going along with her imagination; after all, wasn't he always talking about cute girls and how he'd want to be with them? Did he not consider Temacu cute? Maybe he just doesn't want to marry her right after meeting her. I guess that makes sense. It would be kinda weird to want to marry someone if you're not in-

...wait, her and I, married?

"Huh?!"

I recognized that look in her eyes. Throughout our travels, anytime Misty messed up or said something she didn't mean to, her eyes always did that same thing; I could practically hear her screaming "I didn't say anything!" in her head.

The thing is, she did say it, and my brain started spinning all sorts of ideas on what she was implying by that. She could have just meant, in the future, I'd be married and she'd be married, but not to each other. That'd probably be just what she'd say if I brought it up. But...what if she was actually thinking that her and I would be married to each other? Was that something Misty thought about? Would she want to marry me?

Temacu's dad showed up, and after some talking we were invited to stay at their house instead of the park. I should have been more excited at being able to sleep in a bed instead of my sleeping bag, but Misty's response kept replaying in my mind. Even if her words hadn't registered to me right away, her voice had been calm with a bit of that daydreamy tone she used once in a while. I couldn't remember her sounding like that when talking about me.

Having packed our camping gear back up, our group began heading into the town. Brock and Temacu lead the way, with her dad shortly behind, and Misty and I bringing up the rear. As we walked I stole a glance at her from the corner of my eye. She seemed lost in a thought, her hands absentmindedly rocking Togepi to and fro as the little Pokémon looked on the brink of a nap. Eventually her gaze caught mine and she turned towards me.

"Is something the matter, Ash?"

I could ask her right now. With the others ahead of us, we had the privacy to have such a conversation. It wasn't a hard question at all. Were you really thinking about us two being married together? My mouth started to open, but something about the way she looked at me held my voice back. If I was wrong, it would just end in another argument, which would fit the status quo between her and I like usual.

But, deep down, I think I couldn't handle the idea of us fighting about marrying each other.

I needed more time to see how she felt about me. I'd spent enough time with an erratic heartbeat around her to know where I stood, but something about not knowing how she felt about this scared me enough to close my mouth, turning back towards the others.

"It's nothing."

Maybe her and I would be married someday. First, however, I needed to find out if she even liked me the way I liked her.

xxxxx

"Will I...see you again?"

"You will. I swear."

The dirt was quieter now, disturbed by two feet rather than six. The road from Viridian City to Pallet Town was familiar to me; the loneliness wasn't. The tears had subsided, but the ache in my chest was still as strong as ever as I slowly trekked down the dusty road.

I'd been ready to tell her. The mood had been perfect, if a bit more somber than I would have hoped for. Shades of purple and orange painted the sky, the sunset burning to match her hair. There was no hint of teasing or malice in the air, and the bike stationed by her side felt nostalgic; it made me think of how far we'd come since the first time I'd taken it from her. That time together, however, had come to an end, as a phone call from her sisters had sent us our separate ways.

However, it wouldn't last forever.

The handkerchief felt soft in my hands, wrapped around the bento Brock had given me. The corners were tied up perfect and sweetly, as if she'd done this for me a million times before. Her fingers had moved so effortlessly to fold the cloth, knot it tightly before offering it to me. What she'd really given me wasn't just tangible, and I think we both knew that. I know I can be a little dense, and I usually let my optimism take over when I'm unsure of something, but I think I got the message pretty clearly this time. In that moment, I could see exactly what I was looking for in Misty's eyes. Even if I hadn't said anything, I felt like she knew what I wanted to tell her.

There was something she wanted to tell me, too.

My heart, still deflated, skipped as a flush clawed its way up my face. I could be crazy and wrong on a million levels, but I'm pretty sure she feels the same way. Even if I'm either, or both...I can tell her now. Maybe I don't need a perfect moment or the right words, but I'll be ready when I see her again. She'd found her way into my life once before, and she'll do it again.

After all, there's no such thing as coincidence.

______________________________________________________

I gave myself permission to be less “strict” about trying to write Ash in character, deciding I’d let myself kinda run wild with maybe using words or descriptions you might not expect from him. This was fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it.

[bottlecapbaby]

As much as I love the F4 companions, I've always wished there was more with the Nuka World Raider Bosses. Do you have any headcanons for Mason, Mags, William, and Nisha?

I wasn’t sure if you meant general or relationship so I did a bit of both!

Also I don’t know all the lore so apologies if there’s incorrect stuff here

Mason

Despite the Pack appearing as a bunch of lawless animals, Mason is actually probably the leader in Nuka-World who takes their position the most seriously. This is probably because of how hard he had to fight to get there, and to maintain the hierarchy.

There are plenty of people around to meet his baser needs, but he actually does believe in having a mate for life when he finds the right person (Sole) and is fiercely loyal

Also contradictory to what you might expect from the nature of the pack, he actually baths rather often. Judging from the mustache, the haircut, and the facepaint? He’s actually very into preening.

Hygiene and preening are also the practices that Mason considers most intimate. With him, he’ll be insistent upon you letting him wash your back and your hair, and he’s very gentle. When you and him are established as mates he’d actually like it if you would shave his facial hair (and that takes serious trust)

He actually gets along with more of Sole’s friends than Gage does. He’s got respect for anyone with enough spirit, and Sole often attracts those types of people. In the right circumstances? He’s even kinda afraid of Piper.

Mason doesn’t like having to put down other pack members. He doesn’t take pleasure in killing the people who challenge him for his position, though he thinks it is necessary to maintain order. To him, they’re people who, though they made a stupid mistake in thinking they could best him, were admirable in that they were brave enough to challenge the status quo. He’s probably actually the least sadistic of Nuka-World’s leaders

Mags and William Black

Mags and William were actually born in a large, city-like settlement to parents who were successful caravan company owners. This is where their taste for sophistication comes from.

Mags is actually the most sadistic of the leaders. While yes, Nisha loves blood, death, and pain, she views them as only that. Mags views those things as tools and vehicles of retribution, maybe even a twisted sort of justice. It’s all very personal to her.

I personally don’t think Mags and William are fucking. But would they be against a threesome with the Overboss? Absolutely not.

Mags and William are known for their attempts at sleeping into people’s good graces. They did it with Colter, they’ll do it with the Overboss. They can actually get a little competitive over it, but they also coordinate their efforts based on their observations of what the Boss likes. They compare notes.

I’m gonna say it. William is a lot better at the whole aftercare thing than Mags. So you’ll probably get cuddles from him while she goes out to have a smoke

They do have a sort of familial love which comes with the length of their relationship, but in the right circumstances it could easily be ignored by either one. They are raiders, after all. They won’t tolerate the other keeping secrets.

Nisha

She’s cold, but she isn’t totally unfeeling. She just has a very strict personal code which tends to dominate her emotional responses. She’s not without joys or generosity in the right circumstances

Her usual emotions range from lust to bloodlust, but it wouldn’t be impossible to bring forth other things. She definitely has a sense of humor.

She’s actually less emotionally stunted than Gage. She’s fine at expressing and accepting her emotions, she just doesn’t experience so many of them.

She is the leader who is least likely to try to fuck the Overboss for the purpose of preferential treatment. But will she still go for it? Yes. Nisha is actually a very curious person by nature. So any relationship with her will began as one of her many little tests

She’s also surprisingly the most parental of the leaders, she has to be, considering so many of her flock are honestly people who are very desperately trying to substitute cruelty for any personality

She’s the oldest of the Disciples, and thus, the most tired of shit

Nisha: Savoy I’m gonna need you to stop saying weird shit all the time

Dixie: so how did you sleep last night?

Savoy: I don’t sleep. I only dream.

I’m gonna be honest. The time it would take, psychologically, to make Nisha into someone who can have a relationship with 100% trust is more time than we have. So she’s never gonna reach 100% certainty you’re not going to stab her while she’s sleeping, and you should never have 100% certainty she isn’t going to stab you while she’s sleeping

But: she won’t lie to you pretty much ever. Even if the truth would destroy you.