#and also not many ppl voted lol

[jailwithonlyboys]

*not all of their singles, i condensed to my top 12 to fit in one poll

[paigemathews]

Continuing our battle royale for s4!

[littleseasalt]

I've been inactive lately because I got sick on friday and it got. worse throughout the days, but this person on twitter basically sums up my whole thought about the whole president debacle

[divine-construct]

had a very short relationship talk with one of my alloroallo cishet friends bc he was talking abt his first date so i asked him if he’s ever dated anyone and then he asked me if i did n when i said yes he asked ‘‘did you ask him out or did he?’’ and when i said ‘‘i asked HER out’’ he just went ‘‘oh!’’ and i explained that my ex is now genderfluid n uses any/all pronouns and. he simply said ‘‘they’re liquid?? lol’’ and. actually that was a good reaction. he told me that there’s between 60 n 80 neopronouns and i told him it’s p much an infinte amount of neos bc of noun prns n that i think they’re funky. we agreed on not agreeing on whether they’re funky or not. all in all he used to be lowkey homophobic n highkey transphobic last year so. nice devlopment i think

[gu6chan]

i fucking hate american """left-wingers""" man

[averiix]

he can be ur psycho too comrade I give u the pass 💙

[theorahsart]

Please enlighten me about the french revolution

Here's 5 key things I see people most commonly not consider that I think greatly impacts how they interpret events:

-There was much 'state sanctioned' violence in France long before The Revolution started. The early clashes in the Revolution (ie. Storming of Bastille) didn't just come out of nowhere. People were genuinely fearing for their lives and felt they had no other choice. This same fear and anxiety haunted the rest of the Revolution.

-The Monarchy wasn't just killed for purely idealogical reasons. Louis and Antoinette essentially started a war against their own country. They posed a very real danger to people's lives, and even then the choice to kill Louis was a long deliberated one. The country was at war, people felt they had no choice.

-It's right to acknowledge that the amount of suspicion going around during The Terror was excessive, and it became arguably too easy to accuse and arrest people. It's wrong to assume people were accused purely on basis that they 'didn't share the same opinions' as those in power. The country was at war. Rightly or wrongly, most people were arrested because they were suspected of threatening the safety of France, not because the Jacobins simply wanted to eradicate anyone who didn't share their values.

-There were many, many events over several years that justified people becoming so overwhelmingly concerned with stamping out counter-revolution and being excessively suspicious. Such as: Aristocrats gathering personal armies and sending open threats about destroying the Revolutionaries, or once trusted heroes surprising everyone with secret betrayals (see Lafayette or Mirabeau for good examples), and all of these threats and spies and assassinations happening whilst the country was at war.

-THE COUNTRY WAS AT WAR. Every reductive criticism I've seen of the Revolution seems to dismiss that everyone was making choices against the very real fear that at any minute their hard fought for human rights and democracy could be taken away if they lose one more battle to a neighbouring country. It was basically 'kill the enemy or lose an entire country to war and oppression', that's the mindset politicians were in at that time.

One rly basic thing that I have to explain all the tie (just cos I'm making a comic about him so I get many comments on him specifically lol):

-Robespierre was only one person and didn't control the entire country lol Evidence generally points to him actively avoiding having any power as much as possible. The only executive power he had was in the last year of his life, and he still shared that with 11 other ppl, who had a chance to vote each other out of their committee every month. There wasn't some long term plan to take him down after he'd ravaged the country for a year. It happened very suddenly in an atmosphere of paranoia and extreme anxiety, when he made a bad speech that set off alarm bells. He was then *accused* of tyranny/conspiracy/etc etc. That didnt mean he actually was a tyrant. Loads of politicians across the years had similar accusations used against them. Robespierre was as much a victim of the irrational suspicion and anxiety of The Terror as anyone else at the time.

One final long note:

Every bad moment in the Revolution was A Group Project, it's naive and reductive to put the blame on any single person. I also think its naive and reductive to try frame The Revolution as being a failure or a success. We take for granted all the freedom, protections and choices we have today. Those things never existed back then, it was all entirely new and scary and no one knew wtf they were doing, or if it would last. History doesn't seem to ever have neat tidy success or failures when so many people are involved.

Perhaps the one tangible aspect of the Revolution is it's undeniable impact on modern day human rights and political systems. For me personally, I would want people to focus on this aspect of Frev and how they created those things, alongside all the violence that was frankly, very normal across many European countries during that time.

Like, people go on about how monstrous and vengeful the Guillotine was, either romanticising it or demonising it. But the kind of capital punishment that existed pre-Guillotine was much more barbaric. The kind of capital punishment that exists in modern day USA is much more barbaric (a death that was over in seconds is more humane than pumping someone with chemicals that burn your insides slowly and paralyse you so that you don't cry out in pain in front of whoever is watching you die. In case you hadn't guessed I'm very very against the capital punishment laws in USA =_=)

I went to a UK museum recently and read an article in a Bath newspaper from 1790s. Two boys were publicly hanged for stealing some food.

Considering that 1790s France was a) dealing out a style of public execution that was less painful/quicker than hangings and b) working very hard in attempts to ensure that boys such as that had free education, a right to vote, and protection of rights, so that they'd never have to be arrested for stealing bread to begin with- which of these countries is more barbaric at that time? Why do we frame the Revolution as barbaric and not the wider culture it was clumsily attempting to evolve from?

That was rly long lol But those are the things I want everyone to consider first before they begin any of the more nuanced opinions/discussions I'd LOVE to be having with strangers on Instagram.

FYI Im NOT an expert so I might still be wrong about any of these points nad I will VERY HAPPILY accept that, if any awesome respectable well read ppl call me out. And thats the last thing rly, just trust that it's an endless journey and you're always gonna be learning new things all the time when it comes to history.

[booliuu]

★ Bloody painter headcanons!! ★

ꪆৎ 𝙰/𝙽 : I did a pole couple of days ago and it looks like helen ( bloody painter ) has the most votes! dw though ^^ i’ll make sure to do hc’s for the other characters..it will take quite a bit of time for me to get all the characters done but ill try to post as frequent as i can. aside from that, i don’t have much to say except TvT anyways enjoy reading my favorite pookie.

➣ btw most of hc’s are based on his recent dating sim that recently came out ( you should totally check it out! it’s so so good..!!) and his updated wiki page! also added my personal takes on him as well … so yea if your wondering lol.

my inbox is open for asks & requests!! if you like my content don’t forget to like , comment , & reblog ❤️.

pictures i’m using: pinterest 💙

🩸. . . He’s known as the bloody painter in his crime documents but real his name is Helen Otis.

🩸. . . doesn’t like be called his first name he prefers Otis or bp.

🩸. . . he’s called bloody painter because when the police caught him and were searching his home for his crimes, they found many painting that contains his victims blood . ppl who’ve been missing hanged on the walls particularly blooding out, numerous human limbs scattered around his house that resembles sculptures in a way. <— (this all took place in 2003^^ after he left the psychiatric hospital ).

🩸. . . His birthday: October 1st , 1980 ( canonly he’s around his 40’s by now.. but i believe in the dating sim game he’s 26 ( i could be wrong ToT ) .

🩸. . . he goes by any pronouns. will straight up tell you he doesn’t care about which pronouns you addressed by. sticks with anything because he likes freedom and flexibility.

🩸. . . He’s a libra ♎️ .

🩸. . . korean and a quarter chinese. his parents are korean. both sides have chinese roots. ^^

🩸. . . Height: 178 cm ( 5 ‘ 10 i think) .

🩸. . . favorite color: blue💙.

🩸. . . his main catch phrase is : “ No need to excite yourself over tomorrow anymore… “

🩸. . . i’d say his build is lean but has hints of muscles on him. he’s VERY PALE since he stays indoors most of the time , unbrushed short black hair ( has a little curls ) , long thin hands from painting all day & to add to that his arms has some visible vains . lastly his gorgeous bright blue eyes that could honestly hypnotize anybody if your asking me .

🩸. . . it’s canon that he’s agender! which means he doesn’t identify himself with a specific gender.

🩸. . . this is just my personal hc of mine …. i think he’s pansexual, he really doesn’t gaf who he dates.

🩸. . . has sexual feelings but mostly reserved it , because it scares him to be close to anybody emotionally speaking… it’s hard for him to even think about a relationship with someone.

🩸. . . personality wise though, he’s awkward , shy , closed off ( not cute shy but he growing up he didn’t have the nicest people surrounding him so he has many walls builded up over the years. not to mention he lacks social skills and he’s not very good with his words… ) .

🩸. . . to add on to that he’s an introvert. polite mannerisms ; speaks when he wants to prefers to listen anyway. ( when he does speak he’s very soft spoken and his grammer is always on point!) he’s has calm and quiet exterior … but might i mention he has a REALLY bad rbf 😭.

🩸. . . his flaws are being that he’s very petty and selfish. has a very BIG ego and thinks he’s above people a lot of the time. however secretly lives for ppl’s praising his art work…

🩸. . . he’s very intelligent. knows endless knowledge about almost anything not just art.

🩸. . . be careful though! just because he keeps a calm composure doesn’t mean has a violent mind.

🩸. . . known to be the quiet artist in the mansion. but sometimes ppl will pick up a fight with him. he may look weak but he has some strength in him and knows how to use it. lets just say they take a quick visit to ej’s office from how brutal the fight was …

🩸. . . i think he’s also the type of person where he’s unintentionally funny. he could say something in a serious tone, and other creep’s will laugh or chuckle on how he phrases his sentences . he’s very confused af by it.

🩸. . . doesn’t care for the other ppl living in the mansion but very few creeps manage to become his friend or acquaintance. i’d say he don’t mind creeps such as ej , liu, toby , dina ( hc they never dated but rlly close friends! ) , nina , and puppeteer.

🩸. . . typically wears his usual blue suit jacket attached it’s has his signature smiley face pin , black shirt, black trousers and black dress shoes. from time to time wears black turtle neck ^^. he will which to more casual clothing but that happens once in a blue moon …

🩸. . . smells like cheap cologne. hiding the fact he’s dealing with dead b*odies all day.

🩸. . . he’s a clean freak. perhaps to get rid of evidence ... or just a habit from his childhood.

🩸. . . walks very slowly and silently. calculating each of his footsteps. almost like a cat you could say! like ppl dont know when he’s approaching and has spooked numerous residents in the mansion lmaoooo

🩸. . . Has a sweet tooth! absolutely loves chocolate or anything chocolate flavored. makes BOMB hot chocolate! ( Spoiliers of the dating sim if you haven’t played it yet! ) fun fact 🤯!! in the dating sim while he’s talking you, he’s sitting on the couch and there’s a beverage on the table near him , you thinks coffee but it’s actually hot cocoa ☕️🍫 .. c:

🩸. . . if he’s drinking coffee though , hates the bitter taste of it so he’s the type of person that will add TONS of sugar , syrup , milk/or creamer to hide the flavor. probably prefers lattes just bc it’s just milk.

🩸. . . didn’t have the greatest childhood. his parents were expecting a girl but it’s turns out to be a boy. kept his feminine name and dress him as one as well. during his school years they had to dress him more masculine because they didn’t want him to get bullied.

🩸. . . he has a great passion for arts at a young age but his parents were really against him from doing that so quite frankly forced him to participate in masculine activities for there own benefit. :(

➯ approaching heavier topics … mostly talking about his past . ( tw‼️ bullying, sh, and m*rder . )

🩸. . . heavily bullied because of his feminine name, he got really depressed. he didn’t have an outlet from his torment so he would (TW!) self harm. will come home pretty beaten up from his bullies, and his parents grown concerned yet he didn’t speak up about the harassment.

🩸. . . the bullying gotten pretty bad when he entered high school.

🩸. . . made just one friend from all the years of school . it was Tom. they were inseparable. pretty much talk every single day.

🩸. . . one day, tom put a girls watch in his bag. left and people suspected helen did it. of course helen was confused by this action because he doesn’t remember do that at all. nevertheless he gotten pretty beaten up from something he didn’t cause.

🩸. . . tom couldn’t stay silent forever obviously . so when helen approached him that day he gave in and admitted everything. this riled up helen pretty badly. it resulted into a argument. got really physical to the point tom fell from the school roof.

🩸. . . police didn’t to much about it since there wasn’t to much evidence to prove anything.

🩸. . . the bullying continued, hates to admit it but under all the hatred he felt at that time .. he’s secretly sadden over his best friend death. tom was the only person that understood him. now.. he’s alone again.

🩸. . . before a halloween party , he snapped tired from his classmates mistreating him. and a massive massacre took place at his school’s dormitory . arrested the morning after at his home .

🩸. . . the judge blamed it on “ poor mental heath” and send him to a psychiatric hospital.

🩸. . . stayed at a mental hospital for treatment for a long while. until he was released and had to find jobs to earn a living.

🩸. . . through out the time he was back in society , heavily resents his mother so much. as well as his father too, he pretty much not even there during his youth . basically absent . now that he’s an adult he detests being controlled and manipulated . probably has a huge inferiority complex too.

🩸. . . he learned his parents cut contact with him. and for the first time he felt… happy and free. being away from his parents mental shackles felt like breath of fresh air…

🩸. . . after his release he did k*lled and k*dnapped more people after that he left no traces and his whereabouts are a mystery. you could have guessed that slender took him in a matter of time…

🩸. . . has faded scars.. from his childhood.

⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂ ⠂⠄⠄⠂☆

🩸. . . while he’s painting he listens to mostly classical music. but i think he’s pretty open to any kind of genre. he gives me nirvana , mitski , and radiohead type of vibe idk.

🩸. . . i feel like he owns a record player. likes having music in background while he’s painting. owns so manyyyy vinyls that are neatly stored in shelves.

🩸. . . Loves cats! pets them whenever he sees them.

🩸. . . in his youth he had a hand full of artist he looked up too.

🩸. . . mostly paints that consist of themes being harsh and disarranged. knows how to make it beautiful and eye catching though. from time to time he’ll create renaissance paintings. or portraits of various creeps in the mansion.

- “ there isn’t a perfect shade of red… except bl*od..” - helen otis

( not sure if i remember that from a previous fanart i saw or if he actually said that lol. )

🩸. . . his art inspiration perhaps came from underground artist that barely has attention. he really admires there work so much. tries to mimic there brush strokes or there style there going for. adores renaissance paintings as well.

🩸. . . god forbid he visits a art museum, if something catches his eye could get lost in his own thoughts for a long period of time. will stand there with arms behind his back and tilting his head up to admiring a painting from a artist long ago.

- until someone walks up to him and gently pokes his shoulder saying there about to close soon. -

🩸. . . or perhaps he’s been through so much trauma through out his life, it’s a coping mechanisms. turns c*rspes into sculptures , using there bl*od as paint . basically trying to show everyone what he’s been through without saying much.

🩸. . . doesn’t really like popular modern artist that much. keeps a lot of his opinions to himself, cause he knows his reasonings are quite harsh.

🩸. . . it’s not just paintings that he’s passionate about. but also hobbies such as sculpturing , reading and photography he takes part in.

🩸. . . keeps all his art works in his bedroom/art studio.

🩸. . . he’s really good at cooking! saves a lot of money to make gourmet dishes . will make something for you if he likes you, he a picky eater too.

🩸. . . that or … he forgets to eat because how hyper focused he is.

🩸. . . i have a feeling he’s really good with money and by that i mean he doesn’t spend willy nilly mostly saves them for important stuff. such as art supplies-

🩸. . . as much as he wants to hang out at the mansion. he hangs out sometimes at local parks, art stores or museums . this is after the police stop focusing on his case …

🩸. . . loves horror movies to the max . secretly every time he watches a film he takes note how the antagonist k*lls victims … perhaps will use them next time he stalks somebody.🤔

🩸. . . hangs out in his room/art studio majority of the time. he doesn’t care what’s happening in the mansion . there could be a massive fight somewhere and he wouldn’t budge from his stool . his main focus is his canvas duh. won’t think nothing of the commotion happening , will just continue working on art piece he yet to finish.

🩸. . . when he doesn’t ask people to look at his work or ask what there opinions are , hates with when people bother him. likes to left alone in his own space unless asked .

🩸. . . if they don’t go away he will push them away a few times , mumble under his breath he wants them away. his last straw is literally give them a death blank glare. his patience runs thin as you can tell …

🩸. . . his room i suppose is a organized mess :,D.

🩸. . . art supplies messy piled in corner. while the other spaces are occupied with already finished art work , wip’s, empty canvas, untouched sketchbooks, empty paint bottles scattered , expensive unopened art materials… ect .. ect.

🩸. . . hates harsh lighting from his large bedroom window so he covers it up with large beige blank tapestry. so candles and lamps will do.

🩸. . . loves candles scents such as floral ( rose , jasmine , stuff like that..) , chocolate, vanilla, citrus.

🩸. . . he loves tiramisu. this guy can finish it in one sitting .

𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚜: @/ thecutestgrotto .

ꪆৎ 𝙰/𝙽 : to be honest i’m so glad he got the most votes from the pole because 1# he’s like one my favorite pasta’s and i’m so glad he getting more attention now!! he’s such a underrated pasta😔. 2# i’ve been obsessed with silly guy since high school or even.. middle school idkkk☠️ it’s hard to keep track.

this man has been rattling in my head rent free ever since i got my hands on the dating sim game. played it until i got all of the endings😭. i want his merch so BAD but gurl is so broke . there’s even a petition for a bp doll…. guys plsss sign it i need the doll so bad bsfrrr .

btw next hc’s will be homicidal liu!

oh and also how could i forget —

yeah.

feedback is always welcome. if you like my content please don’t forget to like , reblog , and comment ^^.

liuuboo2025 ♡ﾟ

[burntheedges]

I know this feels like the weirdest time to be doing this but I'm wondering if u have any advice for getting off anon and starting to interact w ppl u follow? I feel like lately the one-sided anon relationship is making me sad, and so many cool ppl have been leaving and I'm bummed I never got the chance to talk to them. But also I'm scared lol. Do I slide into ppls dm's? I'm realizing I'm just asking you how to make friends but dammit maybe that's what I need!

Hi anon! I don’t think this is a weird time, I think it’s always a good time to try and reach out or try something new! I love that you want to, this is lovely 🧡🧡🧡

I was a wallflower in various fandoms for a looooong time so I hear you. It is more fun (I think) to interact, though. And I get that it’s scary! New things always are. I think one thing to remember is it’s like anything else - when you’re learning a new thing you don’t hit a 100% success rate. You try stuff, see how it goes, see how it feels for you. I thought up some tips on the train today:

Try a couple different things — I think one nice thing about tumblr’s current silly UI is you do have multiple ways to interact. I feel like commenting under a post is pretty chill and low pressure, but maybe you don’t. So I’d say try a few things and see — comment under a post, reblog with your comments in the tags, reblog with actual comments in the post. I can honestly tell you that I ALWAYS read the comments people leave in tags and I love them so, so much. And yes, try sending DMs or non-anon asks! But check their profile first, they might have a note about DMs or asks there.

But what to say? I hear you. It doesn’t have to be long or intense. Try commenting on a fic or art or moodboard with something simple like LOVED IT or “this was great!” Same thing with the tags and reblog comments. You could send an ask that says the same thing or play along when someone is doing ask games. Even just leaving an emoji as a comment is great (I am an overuser of the eyes 👀 on wip Wednesday posts but I am LOOKING). I often stream of consciousness my fic replies and that works well for me, lol. Oh or just copy and paste a line you loved and then like emojis after or a scream, lol. Or a gif comment! On anything!

Don’t worry about over commenting on fic or art - I’ve seen this worry around tumblr, that people think they’re leaving spam comments? I don’t even know what that would mean, lol. I don’t care if 3 people in a row leave me a keyboard smash comment, I treasure every single one.

Interacting beyond fic and art comments - this is probably the next thing, right? It sounds like you want to have conversations with people! I think just sharing your thoughts is a great way to start. Like if someone shared a wip post, tell them how excited you are and what it makes you think about. Or if someone shares a new gifset or art tell them why you love it. Or for a poll, explain your vote! And for an ask game, ask about an answer or share when you would pick the same thing.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a response every time — this is a hard one, I know. But people aren’t on tumblr all the time, and plenty of other reasons! That’s why I’m suggesting trying more than one thing, and also keep it up! It gets easier with practice and once you start you’ll find new ways to interact, too. But not everyone clicks and that’s just the truth. There are oodles of people in this fandom though, you know?

I totally get that interacting is daunting. But you don’t have to do everything at once. Just try things out and give yourself permission to have feelings about it. Remember you can choose how you respond, too! And putting a bit of info in your own blog header can make it easier to connect, for the people who want to reply to you. (what you’d like to be called, etc.)

I definitely made friends here by just becoming one of their steady commenters, or people who commented a lot on my posts. You get to know each other! Which is very fun.

I hope this gives you some courage! Be kind to yourself! And please feel free to send me more messages, any time. 🧡

Anyone else have any tips? 👀

[oarfishing]

hi, Very Passionate Bug Lover here. if your method of killing insects involves going out of your way to cause them pain, a long death, or suffering, yes you are TA. mosquito bit your leg? Smack it, that's fine. It's a) directly harming you, b) its death is quick, and c) you are not targeting its entire species just because you think they're ugly/have no purpose/annoying. Spider is living in the corner of your room so you decide to drown it in shampoo? that is a) cruel, b) the spider never hurt you, and c) go to hell forever.

Every time one of those "aita for killing insects in this very particular way" posts pops out of queue, I get ever-increasingly esoteric submissions about bug extermination. Eager to see where we end up

[jewish-vents]

My grandpa was a mossad agent in the 70's

He was part of the group smuggling jewish kids out of iran during the revolution

He was later a headmaster and a teacher in a youth village where he raised his daughters and many other kids who had no one else.

After that he became an ambassador i wont say where to not dox myself further but yeah

He was a writer mostly. a poet and playwright also worte a few novels.

He came to Israel as a child after his mother saved him and his brothers by taking them by foot out of their country during the holocaust after his father was captured for working with the resistance forging documents.

His father was sent to a death camp.

He was very much a zionist. loved his country wrote songs about it. He was also a leftist and truly a beliver in peace. heck in the last election he got he voted for the "united list" (the arab and jewish solidarity party) lol

He was an incredible person a people lover. A beliver in peace and honor and fair debate and a zionist who loved his country.

The reson im writing this is because...

im glad he died when he did...

The goverment trying to eliminate democracy and absolutely splliting the ppl...

I belive he would protest with us against the goverment but i also belive it could have broken his marrige.

It would have broken his heart to see the country he loved so much being attacked by its government.

Seeing october 7th would have shattered his world view.

He truly deeply belived and worked towards peace in everything he did.

He sacrificed, his mother sacrificed, so much, to come to this country. Where they will be safe from pogroms and hate.

Knowing his own granddaughter experienced a pogrom. IN ISRAEL. IN 2023.

Would have shattered him.

And seeing what became of the world after, would have killed him.

He died in 2020. Idk what he wouldve done had he didnt.

אני מצטערת סבא אני אוהבת אותך ומתגעגעת אלייך.

הייתי צריכה לקרוא את הספר שלך כשעוד היית פה.

יהי זכרו ברוך.

.

[moistvonlipwig]

🔥 for Lena Luthor? :)

anon also asked for this, so here u go anon!

hm this is a tough one...i think i've already covered some of my unpopular opinions about her in other posts, such as - she did actually love james (is this an 'opinion'. it's canon lol), she's not a conservative (many rich libertarian-adjacent ppl still vote democrat, and also, if people tried to assassinate you every 3 months you'd have a different perspective on gun ownership too), and people exaggerate her 'one-strike policy' (the only people she actually cut off after only one strike were andrea, who betrayed her at a particularly bad time in her life, and eve, who spied on her for literal years and shot her boyfriend and tied her up, which, really, should count as multiple strikes).

so i guess what i'll say this time is that i think a huge part of the reason she works so well as a character is directly because she spent so much of the show separate from the superfriends. i definitely agree with other lena fans that the constant will-she-turn-evil teasing was deeply tiring, and that she should've gotten to spend more time with the other main characters individually -- nia and kelly especially -- and that from an in-universe perspective, kara & the superfriends keeping her at arms' length while still being happy to use her expertise was, shall we say, uncool. so i understand why some people would come to the conclusion that the show should've integrated her into the superfriends earlier and had her learn kara's secret earlier. but i think the truth is that on a storytelling level this would've hurt her character, at least in the context of how arrowverse shows and their characters tend to be written.

in most arrowverse shows (especially in the 'big 3' of arrow, supergirl, and the flash), there are a few broad character archetypes that basically all main characters have to fit into. let's take the flash and supergirl as our main examples. you have the hero (barry/kara). you have the love interest (iris/s1 james, s2&3 mon-el). you have the older mentor figure (joe/j'onn). you have the hero's sidekicks who are themselves superheroes of a kind but basically all follow the main hero's lead (caitlin, cisco, ralph, allegra, chester, cecile/winn, s2-4 james, alex, kelly, nia, brainy). and of course you have various villains. occasionally you may have people who don't quite fit these archetypes, like cat grant -- who is very much an archetypal character, but belongs more to the rom-com genre a la devil wears prada -- or some of the wellses like HR (the best wells) or nash, both of whom are a little more unpredictable and trickster-esque. but broadly speaking the characters are going to fit into these archetypes, and if they stop fitting into one archetype -- like james post-s1, when they abandoned the kara/james romance -- then they will be slotted into another, hence the guardian storyline. it didn't make a ton of sense for james's character, but what else do you do with an arrowverse love interest who is no longer a love interest? carve out a new niche for them? hell no, that's hard. just give 'em a suit and a vigilante name and maybe sprinkle in some powers and call it a day.

what made lena interesting right off the bat was that she did not fit neatly into any of these archetypes. she was kara's friend who helped her out, but she wasn't part of her superhero team; she had her own agenda and her own perspective on things. she was morally gray, and her trustworthiness was initially questionable, and even after it was clear she was trustworthy she still made errors in judgment, but she was not a villain. because she wasn't entirely integrated into kara's life -- or should i say subsumed by it -- she had her own line-up of characters to enhance her story: lex, lillian, andrea, sam, jack. because she was A Luthor, and the writers were (for all their faults) smart enough to know that capitalizing on the super/luthor tension like smallville did was a good idea, her scenes & storylines had more tension and subtext. yes, some of that tension was the frustrating teasing of 'will she go evil because of her Luthor Genes? ohoho! tune in to find out!' but the advantage of that is that she wasn't so often stuck in scenes where her only purpose was to give exposition.

the truth is that both team flash and the superfriends were kind of like black holes that sucked its members in and slowly made them more same-y. by the end of both shows, almost everyone had powers and/or an alter ego and was firmly in the main character's corner, and virtually no one seemed to have any kind of meaningful relationships outside of their little hero squadron. by keeping lena at a distance from the superfriends through kara's secret, supergirl spared lena this fate for many more seasons than everyone else.

yes, in s6 she did kind of become just another superfriend -- as evinced most clearly by them randomly making her a witch lmao sorry i just remembered they made her a witch. why'd they do that. someone free katie mcgrath from the making her be a witch industrial complex -- but even then she stood out as the character who most frequently challenged kara and told her not to do stuff like eat the sun. none of the other superfriends had a developed enough sense of morality (storytelling-wise, i mean) separate from kara's to be in that position. imo it is only because lena spent so long being developed as her own character that they were able to preserve her identity to the extent that they did in s6. and even then i would argue she is a less interesting character in that season than she was in s2-4. (we don't talk about s5 okay.)

but she still made it out of the show a more compelling character with a clearer character journey, backstory, and psychology than pretty much anyone else. and i do think that's because, for various reasons good and bad, they kept her away from the superfriend black hole event horizon for so many years, and that allowed them to develop her as a unique character in the arrowverse who couldn't be slotted easily into one of the typical, tired superhero-show archetypes. so yes, while i certainly understand why a lot of lena fans were frustrated with the show's insistence on keeping her in the dark and constantly teasing a villain arc for her and having everyone treat her Like That, i ultimately think that the choice to keep her as a character separate from the superfriends who was doing her own thing and having her own conflicts and making her own moral choices was hugely beneficial to her character's development, and is a major reason why she is such a popular, beloved, and enduring character.

[golbrocklovely]

since i did day one's fits, i might as well do day two's as well lol

let's get into how i would change these fits lol

starting with sam…

the fit itself is… not the worst, but not the best either. i think the neon bowling shirt is a choice, not one i would make personally, but i can see it going with the festival theme since it's neon and ppl typically wear neon during festival season.

i usually don't like yellow on him (bc i think it washes him out) but the neon lemon yellow works for me. the pop of green (and orange/red on the back) is nice.

personally what i would change about the shirt is instead of having it buttoned up, i would have him have it open, with a white tank underneath (or no shirt at all if he was feeling spicy lol). i think the shirt completely buttoned up is a bit too boxy and big for his frame, so having it open would look better.

the pants…. i don't love them with this fit. i think my issue is the patches that are on it don't really match the shirt whatsoever. if anything the patches seem to be trying to fight with the shirt over who can speak first (and the shirt is winning). i would have gone with a pair of just plain black jeans.

for the bandana (idk why they are wearing bandanas with every fit but… okay) i would have either a, had it as pocket square or b, do multiple bandanas tied together and make that into a belt as a pop of color around his waist. also it goes without saying, but the bandana would also have to MATCH the green on his shirt.

also i need to add: what i find funny about sam is that i think last year he was talking about the previous fits he used to wear to coachella and said how bad they were and i'm just like…….. first off, you think this is better?? and secondly, how is this any different than what you would have worn if your clothes were chosen by kat? lmao

i know i didn't rate the previous outfits, but those get like a 0/5 from me. this one is like… a 3/5. it's not the worst, but it certainly isn't the best lol

now onto colby... *sigh*

imma be honest, i'm confused by this fit

i cannot tell if he's wearing a tank, a buttoned shirt, and then the kimono or if it's just a tank and kimono with buttons. either way… too many layers

also i cannot stop looking at this fit and thinking he looks like the goth kid of vacation with his family. that's all i see lol i don't think there's anything wrong with wearing all black, obviously since that's half my fucking wardrobe but like… it's the desert and you're wearing like six layers. how are you not dying of heat stroke???

i don't mind the kimono. i think the silky texture is a nice contrast to the outfit. personally i would have just done that alone with the shorts (which i def have opinions on lol). i just feel like the top part is a bit busy. i think (again) a muscle shirt with some form of a design would have been nice. either as the pop of color or just a white design. or like i suggested no shirt would have been fine too lol

then the shorts… good god the shorts. in the video he showed of himself walking around, they are ripped up. i'm talking there are flowing pieces of fabric. it looks like he got stranded on a desert island and this is what his clothes look like after a month. at this point, just wear short shorts. you have decent enough legs to wear something like that, and i wouldn't have to sit thru the awfulness that is these shorts sksksks

would like to also add a silk short would have looked nice to match the kimono

i feel like he needs some pop of color. honestly a red bandana, like a dark red, would have looked cool. or a purple. something vibrant but not too crazy.

voting wise, imma give this a 2/5. like….. it's not the worst thing ever. but i also don't like it.

i think overall she made their outfits too busy, somehow. idk how you do that with someone wearing just the color black, but she did it. so, props i guess lol

[pursued-by-the-squid]

NUMBER 457???? YOURE JOKING. and the 120 cameo i could scream rn my shaylaaaaa :3 “And so you trusted us and volunteered to participate according to your own free will” WRONG. 457 was stalked and kidnapped </3 also the sheer amount of panic gihun must’ve felt when he saw u in there. i could scream. the immediate hugging and the needing to touch him SCREAM. okay gihun immediately pissed me off. too emotional for his own good and much like a man, will not let reader Speak. did he just completely miss how reader said they were grabbed LOL GIHUN STOP. and let’s not talk about how he just pinned u to the bed cuz then i won’t be able to think for the rest of the day. reader just like me fr id only be thinking about kissing gihun atp. okay the gihun tooth bit..yeah i will be thinking about that all day. ALL DAY. “why not allow him to witness your destruction firsthand?” okay chills what. inho’s perspective was super interesting bc we see that he rlly does care about reader but he cares more about taking gihun down. and reader clinging to gihun ???? yes please. “passing u along like a piece of bread” im going to pretend like that didn’t have some type of effect on me. and reader not being able to see 001’s face just yet OH ITS GONNA GET JUICY!!! so glad we finally reached the games! great read as always -a.a

😏😏😏 oooooohhh so it begins, my friend, so it begins

i was trying to decide which player number would best suit the reader and idk, that just made the most sense. bc really, you're a combination of desires from both men. they each hold a part of your heart. so when you combine them both, what do you get? homosexuality you! adfjaksdjfgkjhg but in all seriousness, it's also a great way for in-ho to play more mind games with gi-hun. gi-hun expects everything to be the same (the idiot really thinks they're gonna do dalgona again?? dude, come on), so by changing the $$ the players and then dragging his closest friends in, in-ho has a greater chance of destabilizing him

also yes, hyun-ju my eternally beloved!!!!!! she will be coming back into the story later, don't u worry!! i figured the reader had to make a friend or two and there isn't anyone i'd wanna be closer to except for her. (@ourbonesmccoy made this really cute meme about it too asdfjhaksdjf)

LOVEEEEE your reaction to their reunion omg. i guess yeah, gi-hun was kind of an asshole huh? but slamming you up against the bedframe makes up for it 🤭 i'm sure i can always fit more of that in sometime. same with the tooth scene. just had to add in some pathetic gi-hun for all my girly pops out there 🫦

and !!!!!!!!!! thank you for enjoying the in-ho insights! in(ho)sights, if u will. that was all inspired by you, bestie, you gave me so many great ideas to mull over and really dig into, so a good half of that scene is thanks to you 💕 !!

the voting scene was sm fun to write too!! (except when it wasn't asdjfhaklsdhf) just bc you can already see how priorities are shifting. everyone came into the games with an end goal and already, things are happening to disrupt that. you've just been ripped from your home and are now participating in death games instead of attending class and pining over a potentially dead gi-hun. gi-hun is trying to save lives and has p much been eager to die trying the entire time, only now the 2 most important ppl in his life are also stuck with him and he has to balance his savior complex, his suicidal ideation, and his own desires/longing. in-ho wants gi-hun destroyed. he also wants you but he hates that he wants you, so he's telling himself that he doesn't want you. and now he's joining the games, which was never his true intention. and none of you have a single fucking clue about the shitstorm that's brewing because of it

[cainightfics]

hello.

Hope u r doing well! I love ur fics!

In one of ur asks u mentioned that you read Manga for fun. So any mangas u like or recommend ( besides berserk, already read it)?

thank u! hope ur doing well too

i haven't been reading "good" manga much recently. i read random yaoi for a laugh or easy entertainment, same with fic, but it's been a while since ive really dug into something. a lot of this has to do with grad school killing my creativity, tbh....

but to answer ur question, i really like naoki urasawa, i think hes written the most "literary" manga out there. everybody knows about monster, but 20th/21st century boys and pluto are also worth checking out. urasawa has the most consistently good body of work ive encountered from a mangaka. like, i would say fullmetal alchemist probably has my vote for manga that remains strong throughout and is just undeniably a classic, but urasawa has so much breadth across his body of work. there's shit in monster and 20th century boys i still think about, and i read them like 13 years ago.

i am keeping up with the summer hikaru died, though the plot is at a bit of a lull and i get the sense the author isn't completely sure what to do with their own success. i absolutely love the concept nonetheless though, and think the first few chapters are great on their own.

a lesser known, cult favourite of mine is homunculus. really really different than most manga you've probably read already. can't say much more than that without spoiling.

i think vagabond is worth checking out, even though the story is probably akin to many things youve already read, and it remains unfinished. same with the climber. not super unique stories or themes, but generally well executed.

my guilty pleasure manga is kuroshitsuji lol. its my opinion that yana toboso is kind of a genius but.isnt even really aware of it bc shes cursed with gooner mentality. the story really really sucks right now and has for the past 2 arcs lol but i could write an entire thesis on my various marxist readings of kuroshitsuji. and im not even joking. it's sooooo stupid but it's fascinating to me bc yana is making this like insane pastiche of victorian literary conventions AND contemporary victorian anachronisms that is honestly really camp and interesting but it's just like. FULL of her weird fetishes. not even the obvious pedo stuff but like once you get into it you start seeing her vomit fetish and foot fetish and dollification fetish and it's just really interesting to analyze 😭 like i wanna put her in a lab and study her idk. a little known fact to u all about me is im like obsessed with ppl who are weirdly horny and i conduct what i call "goonvestigations" on them and to me yana toboso is like a top tier gooner to investigate. omg notice how this is already the longest paragraph in this reply... i wouldn't say i recommend reading it lmfao i just think it may be hilariously shocking to you all that i follow that slop. not even just follow. i read the LEAKS 😭

anyways. i would also say oyasumi punpun and blood on the tracks (moreso the beginning bits, it does kinda fall off) are things u might like if you were into the "darker" aspects of berserk (and im not talking the shitty rape scenes, moreso the emotional toxic entanglement of fucked up characters). obviously ya gotta read junji ito too.

i also read saiki k, one punch man, and mob psycho 100 for fun. i think when you read enough of the same thing, eventually you get to the point where all you wanna read is parodies of the genre lol. i read sooooo much manga when i was younger that now its all the same to me, and i just wanna see people make fun of it. that's kinda where im at with manga lately... none of the new stuff interests me unless it's self reflective satire of its own principles. this is why i like mr robot too btw. it functions as satire of both online political movements and their material impotence, and how they are shaped by 90s american capitalism-critical media like american psycho, the sopranos, fight club etc that are about protagonists essentially so caught up in themselves their worldviews totally occlude reality. but don't get me going about mr robot or ill go on forever...

[hugheses]

yhis might sound strange and idk if you can relate or not but sometimes I genuinely worry that jacks a trump supporter😭 like I love hockey sm and I've loved the devils for yearsss and jack is my fav player but there is just no way that I could continue to support him if I found out he likes trump. I swear I don't have a parasocial relationship w him or anything lol its just that I really hope that jacks actually good person. I've just been thinking Ab this a lot today because of the inauguration and finding out that soooo many ppl love trump (especially hockey players) I just hope jack isn't one of them so I can continue to route for him

i get it… i can’t promise you he’s a truly good person (and i would advise against saying so for any hockey player) but if he does love trump i can tell you he doesn’t love him enough to actually vote for him 😭 he is friends with a lot of trumpies tho which is :/ unfortunate :/ but also kinda unavoidable for a hockey player. his beloved mommy is a confirmed lib so hopefully she taught her boys SOME sense. but my speculation (based on the facts i do have) is that the 3 boys are pretty apolitical and “low information” as the pundits would say. they’re at least pr savvy enough to not make their political views obvious.