#and even for people who actually have these issues there are ways to address and mitigate them

[patricia-taxxon]

Have you ever considered doing a video responding to, like, the harrassment campaign against you? I keep running into an issue with recommending your content publically where there will be some guy on reddit or whatever, like, parroting ridiculous talking points about you like you being a pedophile because you wore a t shirt of an album in a video once and like, I think having a comprehensive video where you address the allegations could actually be helpful to you in the long run in that regard. If not that's fine though like, I don't think most people actually think that about you, from what I've seen it's like a very vocal minority of people so it may also be useful to just like, ignore it.

I've considered it, but the issue is that I'd be aiming at a moving target. Usually I link my statement to people who ask, and it usually gets across the issue to most reasonable people, but sometimes I just get "well, that doesn't address this and this and this" and none of the additional things are even recognizable to me, I don't know where I'd begin. The callout is a living franchise of random shit and any response would be out of date within weeks, the buyer's market thing seemed to just come out of nowhere as this new exclusive scoop that apparently proved that I was a secret child rapist, and my response was immediately screenshotted and archived. people who have wrapped part of their self worth in defeating me will always find a way to grow the corpus.

I'm not a teenager anymore, and I'm starting to realize how objectively stupid this looks from the outside, and my existential fear is mostly just a trauma response. The older my friends are, the more bewildered and bemused they are by what's happening. I'm starting to see things from their point of view.

[obsidian-pages777]

What makes you Intimidating to your Enemies? Your godforsaken Opps.[Warrior Women theme]

Top Left to Right = Pile 1->Pile 2. Bottom Left to Right= Pile 3->Pile 4

Introduction

This Reading is exclusively for people who have that survivor vibe to them. If you have any Godforsaken Opps that truly should have no place in your life given all the good that you have been doing. This is for you. Got Inspired to make this Since reading some articles on the Feminine Archetype of The Warrior Woman.

================================================================================================

1st Pile : Strength

You exude inner power and confidence, which intimidates others. Your ability to remain calm and composed, even under pressure, demonstrates control and resilience. Enemies may find it challenging to undermine you because of your unshakeable resolve and self-assurance.

Intuitively I feel that you always have a game plan against your enemies. You have immense inner strength that allows you to endure more than any simple challenge. The fact that you can think on your feet and find ways to face your challenges in a way that it matches your intricate plans is how you are a reckoning force. If this is not the energy you are in right now, you will get there soon. You fall into the man with the plan category. You are using your logic for this game. You are succeeding way more than they would like you too, They themselves do not trust that they win this war against you. Your Opps are sure to fail since you are Following the correct guidance.

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2nd Pile : The Emperor (Upright)

You are seen as a figure of authority and structure. Your enemies may fear your ability to organize, strategize, and command respect. You project stability and a no-nonsense attitude, making it hard for others to outmaneuver or challenge your dominance.

Intuitively i actually feel like you not only have the plan but you are in the middle stages of dealing with your opps. You might get there soon if not. I feel like you have found for yourself given you intrinsic confidence represented by the Emperor you are or you already have manifested powerful allies. If not allies, they are people who will work in your favor in order to defeat your Opps. Cool game. Keep it up.

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3rd Pile : The Tower (Upright)

Your unpredictability and willingness to disrupt the status quo can be intimidating. You have the power to dismantle false structures or illusions, leaving your enemies exposed. This capacity for sudden and transformative action makes others wary of crossing you.

You are as i intuitively feel happens to be one of the stronger forces to be reckoned with. You head in to challenges almost impulsively. This is you acting based on your most primitive intrinsic gut feelings. This makes you an unpredictable sort of a threat. This makes your enemies shiver in their little spines since i sense that your opps do not have much backbone.

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4th Pile: Queen of Swords (Upright)

You possess sharp intellect and clear judgment. Your ability to see through deception and articulate your thoughts with precision can be unnerving. Enemies may fear your wit, as you have a talent for cutting through lies and addressing issues with brutal honesty.

I can intuitively sense that you are completely grounded and have a clear plan and in fact you have multiple plans if plan A does not work out then Plan B if not Plan C and so on. You are using your intuitive senses and logic and visionary abilities the right way. If you get any of your Opps communicating with you it is a sign that you served them some of their own medicine in a way that suited them and they are throwing a fit already. You ate and left no Crumbs. They might have to get a Harvard Graduated Mastermind to come defeat you. But what if they start liking you too huh? Now that's a crazy story line for your life story. I love this for you guys.

================================================

[gossippool]

firstly, let's address your tags and the things you've said in your reply.

i've already talked about this--and the issue of drawing style--in my other reblogs. also, "there's the twink behaviour (because twink is a behavioural stereotype, too)" i'm sorry but did you miss my point completely? yes it is a behavioural stereotype. that is what i'm saying. it's the fact that the original and only definition for twink is purely about physical characteristics, but by association of feminine mannerisms to some heteronormative stereotype of women having slender figures, effeminate behaviour has become synonymous with the word "twink". and also the heteronormative stereotype of a more feminine person having to be with a more masculine man. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M CALLING OUT. because it is a harmful assumption to make. because it's reductive and homophobic and misogynistic. half of what you're even saying--he's drawn more muscular next to slimmer characters in team ups, and smaller when he's "submissive"--that is all part of this point i'm making.

the point is that there shouldn't be this type of division. and like i said in another reblog, official art is not immune to this, so they should not be the foundation on which we work off of. why do artists draw characters smaller when they're in a, as you say, submissive role? or when they're paired up with more traditionally masculine characters???? i feel like i'm repeating myself here

and you bringing up power is exactly what i mean by implicit bias. the fact that you associate being a "twink" with being weaker and being attracted to people who are more powerful, especially in these scenarios where actual superpowers come into play and so can't be equated to each other?? shiklah is an Actual Monster btw, she could kill a million muscular men in a second. so i don't know what argument you're trying to make here.

secondly, i said in my original tags that if you can find me a comic that draws wade consistently twinkish throughout even ONE issue i would rescind my statement. and since you kindly gave me examples, let's do this one at a time.

1. the decoy (2010), which is a single issue comic. this is how he looks in the rest of the comic:

2. deadpool (2012), the good, the bad and the ugly run. the artist is declan shalvey. here are panels from the same issue:

3. cable & deadpool (2004) #34. the penciller is reilly brown. here are panels from this issue, from the same page even.

4. the rollerblading panel is from deadpool (2008) by daniel way, famously the worst deadpool run in existence with terrible writing. this is from issue 15, penciller paco medina. here are panels from this exact issue:

so yeah i don't want to argue about this anymore because i feel like my point has been misconstrued. kay and i did elaborate on all this in the reblogs where i covered pretty much all the points i mentioned here

no one's gonna stop you from making wade a twink but just know that it has never been canon ever, and also maybe think about why you want him to be a twink so bad. is it just because he acts more effeminate and so you think he should have the stereotypical body to match? are there implicit biases and assumptions forced on your labelling of people as twinks? is it just because you want him to be more personally appealing to you? <3

[acourtofthought]

*Disclaimer - This post will possibly upset anyone who is not fully onboard the Elain and Lucien are ready to have a book train. It does not mean that I think they're definitely getting the next book because I have no idea what Sarah's 5 year plan looks like and what future she has planned for this series. However it is for the people who believe that the characters of Elain and Lucien are beyond ready to have a book and could upset anyone who is on board the "Gwynriel is definitely next" train. So out of respect for my Gwynriel mutuals I wanted to give forewarning that this post may not be for you.

I have been seeing certain takes make their rounds again. "Elain is not yet developed enough to have a book." "Elain and Lucien need more time before dealing with their bond".

First, I think Gwynriel is happening. I think the seeds have been scattered, I think just as the Nessian bonus in MAF left hints for their bond, the Azriel bonus left us crumbs for his bond with Gwyn. With that said, we were given only crumbs for both of those pairings in their bonus and that did not mean Nessian was ready to accept their bond in the very next book which means Gwynriel may also not be ready to accept their bond in the very next book. Nessian had nearly two years on their timeline to cook and as the SF bonus happened in December and the book ended April, with Az and Gwyn only sharing a few moments here and there in training, their path to one another is still in the baby stages. Gwynriel shared a moment on Solstice but Elucien shared many moments in ACOWAR which proves a moment still does not mean two characters are ready to end up together.

So when people say that Elain and Lucien, after over two years of having a confirmed bond that needs dealt with, aren't ready to deal with it, I feel frustrated.

If after over two years Elain and Lucien are not ready to address their bond, something that is an issue for every single person around them, then why would Az and Gwyn be ready to deal with a bond neither even seems aware of? When none of their friends are aware of it? Feyre began using Lucien's bond against him in MAF, Eris has been talking about the Elucien bond since ACOWAR, Cassian asked Lucien about Elain in SF, he felt sadness over Lucien's disappointment at Solstice, Rhys and Az got into a fight over Elucien's bond, Nesta thought Elain was a wretch for sitting far away from her mate at Solstice, Feyre was worried about Elain and Lucien in FAS, encouraging Elain to get to know him, and so on. The Elucien bond has been a major plot point in this series since the end of book 2. If they're not ready after 3 books then how are Gwynriel ready after barely 1?

If Lucien, after spending centuries mourning the loss of who he thought was his mate only to now have struggled for over 2 years with an unfulfilled bond with his actual mate isn't ready to have resolution than why would Az be ready to receive a mate that he's not even aware of and hasn't suffered for? That's not to say he didn't suffer over the years of pining for Mor but he hasn't suffered for Gwyn the way Rhys suffered for Feyre, the way Cassian suffered for Nesta, the way Lucien is suffering for Elain?

I'm not sure if people are expecting Elain to "soften" towards Lucien before her book but that doesn't make a lot of sense when you think of where Rhys and Feyre started in MAF and where Nesta and Cassian started in SF. Elain ignoring Lucien puts them in the perfect position to begin their book.

As far as Elain not being ready to have a book, did she not offer to search for the Trove in SF when even Nesta was too afraid? Was she not confirmed to have shown teeth? Did she not insist that she'd go to the Court of Nightmares when it's known that cruelty bothers her? Is she not out and about on her own traveling through Velaris to help others?

To say Elain is not ready for her own book but Gwyn is makes no sense. Gwyn has still not voluntarily chosen to leave the library beyond visiting the safety of a friends house and for training in a safe environment. She did not actively choose to put herself into danger (she was forced into the Rite). Was she brilliant in the Rite? Absolutely! But Elain was brilliant in a war that took place over a year ago and where we stand on the current timeline is Gwyn was not even sure she'd attend Nesta's mating ceremony ("Gwyn had said she might leave for Nesta and Cassian's mating ceremony in three days") and Elain is offering to help the NC do whatever is necessary ("Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that was a part of this court - and would do whatever was needed")

Could Sarah still write a Gwynriel book and make Gwyn ready to tackle whatever she wants her too! 100%. That's not the point I'm making. The point is that the text in SF literally proves Elain is ready to take on more, that she volunteered to take on more even when it involves something possibly dangerous while the text still showed some slight hesitation on Gwyn's part to even go to Nesta's wedding, so anyone claiming Gwyn is ready while Elain is not baffles me.

Gwyn leaving the library for the first time in two years only to end up mated to Az within the same year seems less likely to me than Elain finally resolving her bond with Lucien after over 2 years.

Again, that doesn't mean Sarah can't go that route if that's what she wants but for anyone to claim Gwyn is ready while Elain is not seems to be ignoring everything Sarah has written about Elain.

[nnmmxnxmxmx]

my long thoughts on this shit take of a reddit post, going basically line by line, as a previous inniter and a dream hater:

1. If dream was just expressing confusion on double standard rules i would understand, no it’s not fair (as much as i hate him) that he’s getting called slurs online- the issue is he seems to never address this, if this is something he dislikes why hasn’t he decided to quote tweet these posts he’s talking about? instead he attacks Tommyinnit fans because they… don’t like a trumpie okay weird choice.

2. further more- if Dream understands the hurt from using slurs without caution/ as an insult, surely that would have crossed his mind before posting? surely it would have an impact on his actions? i’m not doubting he’s felt hurt by being called rude names online, but if it’s actually something he takes a moral stance against i can’t fathom why he would decide to use them in retaliation.

3. “Obviously it's the internet being disingenuous, but that doesn't completely invalidate anyone that might be upset by it.” honestly asking here if anyone can explain what he means by this? cant work it out

4. Again, this post would be fine if dream was just expressing discomfort at being called slurs online- if he was actually involved in the drama before inserting himself and Tommys fans had been attacking him with derogatory language this would make sense. But Dream is the one who decided to call a group of millions the R slur, and as much as he’s trying to argue he’s autistic and therefor thought it was okay i just don’t buy that. He’s trying to paint himself as a victim of circumstance- “people called me a rude name, and because i’m apart of the group that name targets i thought i could use it back” but that’s not how “reclaiming” works. You’re just firing back with the same hateful language that you claim to know what it feels like to be hurt by.

5. “internet police” is interesting when Dream is the one getting involved in other people’s drama

6. Additionally, calling tommy “poor tommy” just feels mean- he’s trying to prop himself up as a victim and Tommy as someone who manipulates himself into being perceived as one. But this doesn’t make sense because even during peak dsmp no one got more shit that Tommyinnit- he was getting cancelled every week! There’s never been a time on the internet where people have perceived him as someone to treat with Kid gloves

7. Also adding the “lmao” on the end of seeing he never meant to be ableist feels very inauthentic, hard to believe someone feels remorse for fucking up when they are actively laughing at the idea that they fucked up

8. As a previous Tommyinnit stan- and someone who currently enjoys his tweets on my tl from time to time i KNOW we were, and i’m sure some still are, annoying. Tommy stans had poor standards when it came to boundaries and would harass streamers about Tommy constantly. That said, having your defence of calling a whole group of people the R slur being that.. they were annoying? that’s strange.

9. i just don’t care that Tommyinnit is promoting stand up while bullying bad people. sorry.

10. Last line is probably the scariest in it’s implications, i made a post before but it really feels like this is a gateway into some semi alt-right shit making its way into Dreams community. The seeds are there with him talking about how unreasonable twitter is, and lamenting how they are taking his joke too seriously. Just saying if we see a Kick deal in the future i wouldn’t be suprised

[hermanoga]

Cause I got nothing to lose : Xia Fei, my new hero in Link Click

before any serious shit wrecks havoc I want to ramble a bit

oh my god, I love xia fei. I mean I knew I would love him but that was for a different reason. He is probably gonna die in the near future, probably lu guang's action triggering his death (or he may not die at all! maybe he survives in this timeline, changing a major node! I hope, I hope), he is already a struggling student economically helpless abroad, his 'Emma' vibes are strong, he assures his worrying mother even though he goes through financial hardships. He is smart enough to know he is being exploited (and tbh the theme of surveillance and making him the 'morbid' object of gaze, I say morbid because in the last scene of his pv, it's a dead shot, his eyes look so dead, the camera's battery is dead. But yk what remains? his face card. The like button continually popping with likes made me very uncomfortable. The cinematography, symbolism and metaphor- link click's visual storytelling just never ceases to amaze.) Also how him being a model is not due to his passion, he desperately needs this money to survive (sounds familiar?)

But really...link click was really link clicking when we got xia fei's first appearance. Subtle social commentary at its finest. Not a woman, but a man is being made fun of for his astronomical career growth in exchange for supposed 'sexual favours'. Those ladies were not, in fact, subtle about it. I'll dive deeper into Xia Fei's psychology later but this encounter shows the harsh reality of the entertainment industries, mostly for those who did not join for passion but rather who had no choice.

Also the scene where his roommate. Man. It's important to address how 'casually' harassment can happen and an AMAB person can be a victim too. Anyway when the roommate tells him about ' the gig that pays quick money and they would like a hottie like you!' I couldn't help but flinch, I understand his rage. Of course, it's again insinuated to be something sexual. That's the first impression Xia Fei also has.

His pv is translated as 'lending body' or 'lending skin', ik it may have multiple meanings but one of them is very prominent.

Selling your face. Or maybe selling your body.

The way the camera fixes its gaze on Xia Fei continually, it's not really for fanservice merely. He is this object people ogle at. (and the way liu xiao and vein ogle at him in his pv makes me sick nvm). Even though it's his own body and beauty that makes him famous, he has no autonomy whatsoever. He realises it. That's why he says

Cause I have got nothing to loose

I don't really think link click is about time traveling. It's that archtexual exercise that constantly subverts genres at its level best. You know what, defamiliarise, many people do not like uncool stuff, for example : issues struggling young people actually face in real life, in this late stage capitalism. That's why link click should not reach that demographic of people. I hope it never does. I hope it gets famous within a community who actually understand and resonate with this show.

Also Xia Fei's story talks about another important theme of the donghua; photo! How photos taken in private spheres are meant to preserve memories of the loved ones, loved encounters. How you capture someone you love in that still image, alive with the emotion you associate with them, giving it an afterlife. The photo becomes the literal and metaphorical medium through which Lu Guang can rewrite history. Forget-me-not, remembrance. It empowers him.

On the contrary, for Xia Fei, it is the panopticon seizing his life and rendering it absurd. The emotive power and affect for lu guang changes into viscous institutionalised power politics for Xia Fei. Brilliant! 😭

I can't help but quote a few lines from a poem by Ama Codjoe

On Seeing and Being Seen

I am touching the photograph of my last seduction. It is as slick as a magazine page, as dark as a street darkened by rain.

When I want to remember something beautiful, instead of taking a photograph, I close my eyes. Desire made you beautiful. I closed my eyes.

.... Tonight, I am alone in my tenderness. There is nothing in my hand except a certain grasping. In my mind’s eye, I am stroking your hair with damp fingertips. This is exactly how it happened. On the lit-up hotel bed, I remember thinking, My body is a lens I can look through with my mind.

Lmao I didn't want to write all of this I'm so sorry 😭

So yeah, that was all the impressions hmph before yingdu ep 3. Now.

I want Xia Fei to be my bestie and go with me on friendship dates. Don't get me wrong, I love Cheng Xiaoshi, but he personally feels to be more like a brother to me, who is infuriating at times and that dumb bitch I'll protect at all costs. I want to befriend Xia Fei and it's serious 😭.

Also I would want, in another timeline, Cheng Xiaoshi and him being complete besties, two dumb twinks twinking with each other. Dumb gays basically. We have got INTJ nerd in Lu Guang, it's refreshing to see ENFP nerd in Xia Fei. Xia Fei could effortlessly be the best regular visitor of the time photo studio. I do not want to tear up thinking about him right now but I really want him to be happy...in another timeline. Blooming with happiness, close to his friends and loved ones, content and safe...

talking about loved ones...

I want an AU where he

fixes this mf

I want Vein to experience at least 1/5th of Lu Guang's anguish and melancholy for Xia Fei. I know, I know maybe Vein will kill Xia Fei when he defects, he is just using him from the very beginning but my love, that's what I am saying! In that AU, they will start off all toxic yaoi shit but at the end it will be...he was a cannibal and he was just a guy, their inter-timeline love will change your perception of love!

I mean no sorry, Xia Fei deserves to be loved and why Vein? because that's his punishment. Melancholic love can be the greatest punishment for someone who goes like a vendor and asks random people " would you like some punishment?" no, sir, thank you sir, would YOU like some sincere human emotions that chomp on your conscience? It's called love, it's limited edition but I'll arrange some for you!

Ok, I have got another fic to write 😭

returning to this post because @whispersoflullaby and I were discussing Xia Fei's body dysmorphia which seems specific to AFAB people and queer people. He isn't someone who is proud of his 'beauty', welp, that's odd for a typical handsome cishet person? His 'beauty' is turned against him. Ngl he reminds me of Ash Lynx a bit. You might say that he had a history of abuse and that's why he assumed the 'gig' his roommate mentioned as sex work. But there is more to it. He is definitely not a typical cishet boy, he is not projected to be one either. Even in the short span of ep 3, it's established that Xia Fei has some intimate connections to Vein, irrespective of whether Vein is using him or not. His anger at his roommate's remark feels very close to violating his identity as a queer person. The assumption that queer people are naturally 'lecherous', and they have no morality or anything whatsoever. But when Xia Fei is well established in the industry, this body politics is slightly changed. Money talks in the entertainment industry and money is the power in capitalist business. So those girls gossiping about the rumour that Xia Fei sleeps with the director for his career growth doesn't bother him like before. The most important thing is, he doesn't deny any rumours. He straight up says "Unlike some people, I always go for the best, whether it's a project or connection, isn't it right, boss?" His reply actually reinforces those speculations...it's giving " Yes I am a sugar baby, but ykw I can cry in my Tesla when you can't afford therapy". It's funny how at the end he says, "Right, boss?" to Vein! Link click...when I get you Link Click... *kowtows*

Also, I really wanna know what exactly did Vein say through the phone to get this reaction out of Xia Fei and cancel his plans to return home.

he is pleasantly shocked! You can see his eyes...that's some sincere emotions and then after the shock subsides, a soft look overcomes his expression. He softy sighs.

And also, idk if I am hallucinating but there is a little blush visible near his eyes (it's no longer there when he sighs)...I want to know what Vein said to him 😭 that interaction is shot in a very *jabsjksksdjnd* way, you can't deny it's intimate.

[biff-adventurer]

I strongly feel the need to share a story about this, because I feel it demonstrates the problems inherent in these expectations, too. Just preaching to the choir, I s'pose.

So, for the longest time, I didn't mod any of my characters. I still don't, but that's not really important. What is, however, is that I did not have the Moon Goggles until six months ago. I'm from Aether, and many of my RP friends are from Crystal. The group I'd found did heavily use mods, but also accepted that people didn't use mods.

HOWEVER. Not purposely, of course, but there was a strong bias toward people who could see the mods, versus those who couldn't. Because I couldn't see, a lot of my experience was compromised until I could. And when I could, everyone was excited to share things with me. Prior to that, they were kind enough to show me screenshots of their modded characters so I would know.

Anyway, one of my friends started playing another character who was heavily modded, mostly because they were a cross-over character from another piece of media. So they come to our venue on Aether, where we don't use a lot of mods in RP spaces (because the RP spaces are still pretty insular, outside of open venues including cafes and nightclubs, which not every kind of character will be attracted to).

That night, my friend was MORTIFIED that almost nobody was in our synchshell. Hell, we didn't even bother mentioning we had one. My friend just sort of expected that we did. But no one at the bar was bothered with mods, because the few who did had corresponding vanilla mods, and the ones who didn't, were reliant on text-based RP.

My friend freaked out that no one could see her "correctly". She's a descriptive writer, would not have needed mods. Her character was "close enough". But she was overwhelmed with the thought of not being perceived the way she specifically wanted to be perceived upon immediate sight. I struggled to explain that it's not a huge deal to us, but it didn't go very well. We are still friends and worked through the talk, but it didn't address the issue of modding versus not modding.

The reason why we're still friends is that her feelings were rooted in an insecurity like performance anxiety. Needing to be perfectly executed, lest people not understand what's happening. I found this so sad. This idea that people won't care unless they see what your aesthetic is, instantly. Obviously, that's a ridiculous standard.

Especially when the focus should be on us all making fun stories together. That's how we all grow closes to each other, that's how characters bond over years and years.

The other thing is that it takes time to get to know people. It takes conflict to understand yourself and others. There's not a real way to avoid conflict between people, so mods shouldn't be relied upon as a short-cut to understanding the others around you.

Too often, roleplayers will read replies only enough to respond to the other character. In practice, this is like that old joke from 90's sitcoms: "Haha, I only listen to my wife long enough to know what to say next." If you want to connect with someone, you've gotta listen to them actively. That means engaging with their text in a way that reflects you have received the information, even just with a tiny prosaic mention.

It actually really hurt my feelings when I tried to explain this and I was told, "but you're the Warrior of Light." I wasn't always this character. I have other characters who aren't fully captured in the game, too. Hell, the scars available to use in customization are not in the right places for this character. They never were. The right voice is not there, the way the hair color works, for my headcanon, is not completely right, the shape of my character's body is drastically different. I had to wait to get the stubble face for a long time. I had to wait to get the right hair. Just like everyone else. It hurts to be told 'but you don't share in this struggle' when, in fact, you have for quite a while.

I feel like part of this is "instant gratification" and another part is "social anxiety" feeding into the problem of prioritizing aesthetic over story. One satisfies the need for roleplay quicker than playing out a roleplay and the other prevents people from approaching one another without the confidence of mods behind them. It's not wrong to enjoy aesthetic, not one bit! But when you want a roleplay connection, you have to exercise some level of patience and put in some level of effort to connect with other people regardless of what could happen. And, without your writing to provide context to it, your aesthetic can be misinterpreted just as easily as anything else about you.

Social anxiety and other neurodivergent conditions are serious, yes. But if you're suffering from loneliness because you're too afraid to reach out to others, then you might be letting your condition control you to an unhealthy extent. Lots of people are unmedicated, and I get that. I was unmedicated for a long fucking time, too. But if you don't try to reach for happiness, you won't ever have to chance to reach it.

I wish that emphasis could be placed back on story, but there are so many problems outside of the fandom affecting our culture and social behaviours. Critical thinking is not well taught. Social etiquette has not been well taught. The great majority of corporation funded media is driven by the need to grab money while people are excited--so, as long as they create things attractive and indulgent enough, fuck what it means about the world. Fear is gripping the hearts of many, such that they are afraid to say what they really think. And fear is feeding into the fury of mobs online, who then punish people for asking genuine questions about topics they don't know. As a result, good faith interpretations are no longer the norm. People often assume the worst when they are uncomfortable. It's really sad. I'm a woman of color, so I'm really used to not being heard. I know what I say won't make much of an impact. I haven't said things in the kindest, gentlest way that it could possibly be said. But I don't want to be someone who couches the truth in sweet words. I don't want to feed into the idea that the truth must be comfortable, or that people's feelings must be comfortable to be heard. It's not a fair standard for anyone trying to express their honest feelings.

I'm just so tired. I want the practice of kindness and patience to spread wide, so we can discuss issues with nuance, without starting a fandom wide storm about things. I hope we can show more empathy toward one another in the future.

Playerscope, modding and the hunt for aesthetic: why you should be more upset about mods and community expectations than you already are.

I love that this sounds like an academic paper but HONESTLYYYY. I need to put my thoughts to paper in regards to my burnout with xiv, otherwise I think I'll go insane. This is a controversial yet brave post. I am well aware that I partake in some of the things I'm going to be critiquing; aka, "thank you, dinklebottom, we live in a society." I'm also not critiquing mods from a space of offering more accessibility to people and/or facilitating representation not currently offered within the context of the game. There is nuance to every discussion and I'm coming at this from an overarching view around mods and community expectations/standards rather than player joy. I hope this makes sense. I'm also predominately writing from a roleplay perspective, though I'm sure a lot of what I end up saying can reflect in the art party/social space. Just know if I haven't mentioned the latter it's because that's not my scene and I don't pretend to know otherwise.

Anyway. For those who don't know, there's a new mod that's causing some strife in the xiv community called Playerscope. Here is the reddit thread about it. I'm not going to be talking too much about the mod in general because that's not the point of this post, but seeing discussion around it today just made me feel more exhausted than I already am when it comes to modding and the xiv community around it. It made me realise... I'm actually really sick to death of mods. I'm sick to death of what they're doing to the community when it comes to gatekeeping, policing and in general the interactions we have with each other in the community.

Let me explain: I wrote a post about the roleplay mod on bsky that kind of articulates at a surface level what I mean.

I think what makes me sad, which I'm sure is echoed by a lot of people, is that mods feel like the standard now rather than an option and that there's a certain expectation for people to have them if they want to engage with facets of the community—whether intentional or not.

Unlike XIV, WoW has a supported mod scene (within reason) and TRP 2 and the like have been accepted for years now. In a space where people can't slap on an RP tag, having that tool readily identifies you as a writer/roleplayer and you can include as much or as little of your character as you like. The general idea is if you have one of these tools enabled, you're a roleplayer to some capacity. You can dress up the profile to a certain degree, you can add links and supported pictures, but you're mostly reliant on what you put to paper in regards to your character. Even then, I find filling out what my character is doing currently and marking the rest as a WIP doesn't necessarily exclude me from roleplay if I want to find it. A lot of people will do that and a super simple description to incite interest around their oc.

These days in XIV... I don't know. I do think communities have gotten more insular—it's why I'm so pedantic about trying to find them for the Compendium—but I also think mods and, to a certain extent, the 'nightclub' scene have gotten in the way of it as well. My argument is such.

I want to go to an event (for example sake, I'll call it Seascape). In order to fully participate, I may need:

Their discord.

A roleplay addon.

A carrd/google site/etc.

Their synchshell (including mods, mare and everything else)

Potentially a mod of some description so people know I can see theirs (and vice versa).

Also that your mod isn't made by a shitty person.

Appropriate understanding of the scene/social space.

Some luck and a prayer that it's an inclusive space and not a closed rp group advertising as being open and/or a mod showcase advertising itself as something different.

Like??? Holy shit you guys. If you are someone who doesn't want to mod because you're worried about repercussions it really just feels like a big 'fuck you, good luck'.

And let me be clear, not every community is like this. I'm incredibly lucky to have found fantastic roleplay within my own rp event/community, I have great friends who run awesome, inclusive events for people of any skill (writing or otherwise) and I do fully believe you can just enable the rp tag and find fun, fulfilling roleplay. But I've also found the above a lot of times, too. I've had people point-blank get mad at my partner because he won't install mods and try to exclude and/or circumvent him in spaces. It's weird. I've been to events where the only time I felt like I got proper interaction(s) was when I joined the aforementioned, even if I have my character's profile linked in my about. It's weird.

Honestly, no wonder new roleplayers feel overwhelmed. Not only do they have to learn roleplay etiquette, they have to be a mod expert overnight? It feels less about what someone can bring to the table as far as a story but what mods they can install to either look cool or pass an unspoken social barrier. As much as I'm down bad for aesthetic and looking the part, I hate it being at the cost of accessibility and fun for someone else.

Arguably it's the same for gposing and the like as well, which contributes to my exhaustion alongside all the graphical changes and I just. I'm gnawing at the bars of my cage.

I don't think it's going to change and arguably it's more of a Twitter/X issue than a Tumblr, one but Tumblr lets me write mini essays and Twitter will tell me to kms.

Ergo, I'll go with the essay-writing platform.

Anyway, I guess this is just a reminder that you don't need 4596419651 mods to be in the community and that people should be more vigilant on including people who don't have them for whatever reason, provided they operate in good-faith and want to contribute. I think we're careening to a slippery slope of expectation for something unsupported and I don't like it.

[caitas-cooing]

All those how to be successful in work and school courses are all the same and none of them are actually that helpful imho

[cultivating-wildflowers]

🌩

[beemovieerotica]

struggling with how to word this, but putting it out there anyway:

i can fully understand the posts on here from a lot of americans being tired of "vote blue no matter who" posts when the #1 thing that people are constantly (and sometimes only?) addressing is how the republican party is going treat trans/queer people if elected.

it's part of an unfortunate pattern of prioritizing the effects on a demographic that includes white + upper class people, when people of color and those in the global south are actively and currently being killed or relegated to circumstances in which their survival is very unlikely

it is genuinely exhausting to witness this, and i was also on the fence about even participating in voting because i a) felt like it didn't matter and b) every time i voiced being frustrated with the current state of the country, white queer people would immediately step in with "but what about trans people!" -> (i am mixed race trans man)

and i say this with unending patience toward people who do this, because i know that it's not something they actively think about. but everyone already knows how the republican party is going to treat queer people. you are probably talking to another queer person when you bring up project 2025. the issue is that, for those of us who aren't white, or for those of us who are but who are conscious of ongoing struggles for people of color worldwide, the safety of people around the world feels more urgent than our own. that is the calculation that's being made.

you're not going to win votes for the democratic party by dismissing or minimizing these realities and by continually centering (white) queer people.

very few people on here and twitter are actually talking about issues beyond queer rights that concern people of color, or how the two administrations differ on these issues instead of constantly circling back to single-issue politics. this isn't an exhaustive list. but these are the issues that have actually altered my perspective and motivated me to the point of committing to casting a vote

the biden administration has been engaged in a years-long fight to allow new applicants to DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program that allows undocumented individuals who arrived as children to remain in the country) after the Trump administration attempted to terminate it. the program is in limbo currently because of the actions of Trump-backed judges, with those who applied before the ruling being allowed to stay, but no new applications are being processed. Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of just deporting the 1.8 million people, but he continues to change his mind depending on whatever the fuck goes on in his head. he cannot be relied on to be sympathetic toward people of hispanic descent or to guarantee that DREAMers will be allowed stay in the country. biden + a democratic controlled congress will allow legal challenges to the DACA moratorium to gain ground.

the biden administration is open to returning and protecting portions of culturally important indigenous land in a way that the trump administration absolutely does not give a fuck. as of may 2024, they have established seven national monuments with plans to expand the San Gabriel Monument where the Gabrielino, Kizh / Tongva, the Chumash, Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Tataviam reside. the Berryessa Snow Mountain is also on the list, as a sacred region to the Patwin.

i'm recognizing that the US's plans for clean energy have often come into conflict with tribal sovereignty, and the biden administration could absolutely do better in navigating this. but the unfortunate dichotomy is that there would be zero commitment or investment in clean energy under a trump-led government, which poses an astounding existential threat and destabilizing force to the global south beyond any human-to-human conflict. climate change has caused and will continue to cause resource shortages, greater natural disasters, and near-lethal living conditions for those in the tropics - and the actions of the highest energy consumers (US) are to blame. biden has funneled billions of dollars into climate change mitigation and clean energy generation - trump does not believe that any of it matters.

i may circle back to this and add more as it comes up, but i'm hoping that those who are skeptical / discouraged / tired of the white queer-centric discourse on tumblr and twitter can at least process some of this. please feel free to add more articles + points but i'm asking for the sake of this post to please focus on issues that affect people of color.

[trainsinanime]

I've seen a number of people worried and concerned about this language on Ao3s current "agree to these terms of service" page. The short version is:

Don't worry. This isn't anything bad. Checking that box just means you forgive them for being US American.

Long version: This text makes perfect sense if you're familiar with the issues around GDPR and in particular the uncertainty about Privacy Shield and SCCs after Schrems II. But I suspect most people aren't, so let's get into it, with the caveat that this is a Eurocentric (and in particular EU centric) view of this.

The basic outline is that Europeans in the EU have a right to privacy under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU directive (let's simplify things and call it an EU law) that regulates how various entities, including companies and the government, may acquire, store and process data about you.

The list of what counts as data about you is enormous. It includes things like your name and birthday, but also your email address, your computers IP address, user names, whatever. If an advertiser could want it, it's on the list.

The general rule is that they can't, unless you give explicit permission, or it's for one of a number of enumerated reasons (not all of which are as clear as would be desirable, but that's another topic). You have a right to request a copy of the data, you have a right to force them to delete their data and so on. It's not quite on the level of constitutional rights, but it is a pretty big deal.

In contrast, the US, home of most of the world's internet companies, has no such right at a federal level. If someone has your data, it is fundamentally theirs. American police, FBI, CIA and so on also have far more rights to request your data than the ones in Europe.

So how can an American website provide services to persons in the EU? Well… Honestly, there's an argument to be made that they can't.

US websites can promise in their terms and conditions that they will keep your data as safe as a European site would. In fact, they have to, unless they start specifically excluding Europeans. The EU even provides Standard Contract Clauses (SCCs) that they can use for this.

However, e.g. Facebook's T&Cs can't bind the US government. Facebook can't promise that it'll keep your data as secure as it is in the EU even if they wanted to (which they absolutely don't), because the US government can get to it easily, and EU citizens can't even sue the US government over it.

Despite the importance that US companies have in Europe, this is not a theoretical concern at all. There have been two successive international agreements between the US and the EU about this, and both were struck down by the EU court as being in violation of EU law, in the Schrems I and Schrems II decisions (named after Max Schrems, an Austrian privacy activist who sued in both cases).

A third international agreement is currently being prepared, and in the meantime the previous agreement (known as "Privacy Shield") remains tentatively in place. The problem is that the US government does not want to offer EU citizens equivalent protection as they have under EU law; they don't even want to offer US citizens these protections. They just love spying on foreigners too much. The previous agreements tried to hide that under flowery language, but couldn't actually solve it. It's unclear and in my opinion unlikely that they'll manage to get a version that survives judicial review this time. Max Schrems is waiting.

So what is a site like Ao3 to do? They're arguably not part of the problem, Max Schrems keeps suing Meta, not the OTW, but they are subject to the rules because they process stuff like your email address.

Their solution is this checkbox. You agree that they can process your data even though they're in the US, and they can't guarantee you that the US government won't spy on you in ways that would be illegal for the government of e.g. Belgium. Is that legal under EU law? …probably as legal as fan fiction in general, I suppose, which is to say let's hope nobody sues to try and find out.

But what's important is that nothing changed, just the language. Ao3 has always stored your user name and email address on servers in the US, subject to whatever the FBI, CIA, NSA and FRA may want to do it. They're just making it more clear now.

[mayspicer]

Ok, the boss is no more! There were some super stressful moments but surprisingly we all survived o:

My animal companion got hit with disintegrate, but we had hero points to make him avoid it. I would cry actually, because disintegrate means no resurrection x_x

The war is prevented! At least this one, because Cayden's party is right at the center of a much bigger one just starting. Today we saved the country. Cayden is trying to not even save the whole world, just maybe slow the whole thing down and save as much people as possible...

[medicinemane]

The problem with people who are "right" because they insist they're right, and the only way to be right is to simply perfectly follow their every dictation on the subject unquestioningly is this...

Ok, let's just take it as a given that you're right... the problem here is that if that's what's right I'm afraid I have to dig my heels into being wrong. If you are as righteous and just as you insist you are then I've got no choice but to be the villain because I can't stand what you're saying I'd have to do to be good

Shockingly I even think it's wrong, which is odd because we've already defined it that you're inherently and unassailably right... yet here we are

Worst part is there's a lot of these things where I'm not even full stop against it, I actually might be on their side if they could stop and address a couple of issues I consider kind of important... but they won't, because they're morally right and don't have time for addressing nonexistent issues I'm clearly just dreaming up

Undoubtedly right they are, the defect must surely be my own... and yet here we are. Vile and wicked as it might make me, I still can't just go along with you

[getvalentined]

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed*. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

*The final results of the poll, after 24 hours:

136,635 votes breaks down thusly:

An algorithm based feed where I get "the best of tumblr." @ 1.3% (roughly 1,776 votes)

Chronological feed that only features blogs I follow. @ 95.2% (roughly 130,077 votes)

This doesn't affect me personally. @ 3.5% (roughly 4,782 votes)

[weirdmageddon]

i was thinking about this since i posted earlier about us needing to address the trend of gen z men being pulled into alt-right pipelines might have contributed to the outcome of this election.

i think contrapoints is really smart, and from what i’ve seen, has been way more effective at getting people out of harmful ideological pipelines than i’ve seen from the majority of leftists online who instead berate and drive a greater wedge of antipathy (though i understand why! and it can be very hard to have empathy for the people who see you as a threat). that antipathy makes the right more radicalized because they don’t feel like they can talk about anything without the “crazy lefties” who won’t even engage with them. where did these issues come from?

what i’ve noticed, and i’m even guilty of this, is that people don’t interact with groups of people whom they refuse talk to, which makes realities more hypothetical in the minds of their opponent since they aren’t open to seeing reality from their perspective. this is true on both sides. from what i’ve observed, it seems to originate from hypothetical perception of the opponent, but when people treat those perceptions as though they are real, it becomes real with their actions, which then makes the antipathy justified to someone. again, on both sides.

what makes contrapoints so successful at breaking this down is that is that she creates these socratic dialogue skits that represent real people and ideologies, has a sense of humor, isn’t afraid to discuss these things, reframes how we see these things by introducing nuance to both sides. she’s a leftist, but she also knows how to engage without ripening division, of meeting someone halfway and being completely humble about it. she is able to soften extremes.

she is able to get into the mind of people who aren’t aligned with her views, understand the nuance and rationales from a realistic perspective, breaking down a big block of “this is all bad” into “ok, some of this makes sense…”, what this does is create a space for self-reflection that doesn’t feel ham-fisted (which could otherwise cause people to double down on their beliefs instead of opening up to other perspectives outside of their bubble). while also being entertaining and well-produced on top of it.

what she is doing is creating these scenarios and socratic discussions that SHOULD be happening in real life but aren’t in this polarized social climate.

i graduated from new college of florida this spring, the small liberal arts college that was in headlines across the country for ron desantis’s board of trustees hostile takeover and exodus of professors.

new students and student athletes from conservative walks of life were being basically incentivized to go there who were taught to fear the lgbt boogeyman growing up in their conservative communities. but once they actually interacted with lgbt students there, many of them they felt like they understood them, and they weren’t as bad as they were told they would be. new college of florida was also famous for getting derek black (child of the man who created stormfront, and godchild of the kkk grand wizard david duke) out of white nationalism. their peers at NCF called them out but also interacted with them, invited them to dinner. black wrote a book about it.

now of course some people are too far gone and you shouldn’t waste your time with them, like derek’s family for example. but i also think a lot of people who voted for trump are not informed, are operating off of emotion and knee-jerk mentality because it’s easier than thinking, and they are not seeing the discussions that need to be had to change their mind because fuckin…nobody is doing them.

and we feel this visceral disgust to people of the opposing party because of its associations. i just want to know how it happened and how we got to be like this. i think social media is partly to blame and also the algorithms that take people down dangerous pipelines and sharpen them, insulate them.

i myself understand the vitriol you might have for anyone that voted for trump. i feel so disappointed that half the people of this country voted against our collective benefit. and i’ve seen a lot of sentiment from the left today saying “every single person who voted for trump is dead to me. i disowned you”.

you can see the reality of trump’s demagoguery, and it’s so obvious, but what i want to know is: what do they see? why did they vote for him? emotion and entertainment travel faster and have more reach than reason. and it’s that’s why i think contrapoints’s videos are exemplary at tackling this ideological divide. this is something i’ve been thinking about for months before today and i thought now was a better time than ever to give my two cents on it.

[obsessedwrhys]

hi baby, you can make an hcs of the characters from The Boys with a Harley Quinn! readers?? With all characters including Soldier Boy

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ THE BOYS X HARLEY QUINN!READER

ᯓ★ looots of goofy shit, dark humour, gore, sensitive topics (abuse, toxic relationships, etc), toxicity, reader is fem!!

ᯓ★ Characters included (I couldn't do everyone so I just did these guys, I know yer kind missy 👴): Homelander, Black Noir (Old and New), Butcher, Soldier Boy

HOMELANDER

He's honestly so fed up with you.

Sure he loves watching you mess with people but he does not like it when YOU DO IT TO HIM!!!

"Quinn!" He'd shout for your name and you'd open the door to see him standing outside your room. You laugh when you see him covered in ketchup. One of your many pranks.

"What?? You needed the upgrade for the suit cupcake" You smiled all innocently.

That being said you LOVE pulling pranks on him.

Whether if it's putting hair dye in his shampoo or stealing his suit so he wakes up searching for it.

It's just your favourite thing to do.

There have been times he's tried to kill you due to his rage but it takes every cell in his body to stop himself because he knows that he's not able to do that.

Because why? Because he thinks you don't even deserve to be killed by him directly.

You disgust him that much.

He just wishes that you weren't such a pain in his ass.

If the pranks weren't bad enough that it had him double checking every item he uses, AKA worsening his trust issues. You've also came up with nicknames to mock his superhero status.

"If it ain't the flying dick!" You'd address his entrance to everybody the moment he walked in the meeting room.

Just imagine him suddenly stop and standing at the door like 🧍‍♂️

If you wanna know more nicknames, we've got captain narcissist, america's buttplug and sperm cell.

Trust you are never sent on safely planned missions, only the ones he knows are highly dangerous in hopes of you dying...

There was this one time he sent you on a suicide mission and he was all proud of himself, but just as he thought he finally got rid of you, the elevator door slides open to reveal you, some fabrics of your clothes were ripped and there were bruises all over your body but it didn't seem to bother you.

"What's up toots?" You'd smile even though your nose was bleeding. That's when he looked down to see the head of the guy he asked for you to assassinate.

Who also happened to be one of the most protected men in the nations by the way.

Like how the fuck did you do it?

You're not even an ACTUAL supe!!

Regardless, he has his respects for you but really why WONT YOU LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE.

PLEASE STOP FLIRTING WITH HIM SO CASUALLY ITS WEIRD??!???!?

ALSO DONT PINCH HIS BUTT!!!

You once did that during a meeting and the sight of him yelping as his body jumps was unforgettable!!

You're JUST like a bee addicted to its pollen. P.S, he's the pollen.

BLACK NOIR (OLD)

He.. doesn't... understand you??

Why do you enjoy showering him with love??

You say it's in your nature but why do you always ask to be carried around the tower??

And why does he obliges each time??

Apparently how your mindset works is that you find extremely deadly things to be adorable.

In this case, he's the extremely deadly thing.

With his silent nature, you just NEEDED to get a reaction out of him.

You tried tickling him or making him sneeze but he always just stares at you in confusion.

You can't see his face but you can tell he's giving you the "What are you doing?" Face.

That's when your bright ass thought of a plan.

A dumb and reckless idea... but hey! You have suicidal tendencies so this is fine!

You'd put yourself in danger on purpose just for him to always come rescuing you. He has lost many body parts when doing so but you could care less, you would give him those heart eyes as he carried you back to Vought in bridal style...

Just for the managers to lock you up in a small prison cell to prevent you from pulling more of these stunts.

Though they were never enough to hold you back.

Naturally there would be rumours in the industry if you two were dating and you never hesitate to push those rumours even more.

Imagine for a premiere for your movie, you'd walk on the red carpet in a dress with Noir beside you, still in his signature suit.

"You're looking real good tonight, handsome. I'm liking what I see" You'd say with your arm wrapped around his. He looks at you as you winked at him seductively.

Someone save this poor boy from your endless flirting.

Jokes aside, there has been times he's seen you in your lowest, like that time you trashed your room with your makeup melted from your tears.

Apparently you got rejected from a movie role you wanted to get so badly. Which was Mario but stupid Chris fucking Pratt got it instead.

Seeing the state you were in, he'd grab you by the shoulders firmly and make you sit down, then putting a blanket around you. He'd leave the room for a couple of minutes... to come back with a bucket of ice cream for you to happily snack on as you rest your head on his shoulder.

BLACK NOIR (NEW)

"EW!! Get this mo'fuckin' bastard away from me!" Literally your words when you heard about the replacement.

Is a bit hurt by your disgust towards him??

But that just means he knows what he's doing right or wrong with this new role.

No because seriously everything he does, he would stop to watch for your reaction, most of the time you are never impressed.

Like how he killed those homelander fans to frame the starlighters. He'd hold the bat, his mask all bloody as he turned to see you, arms crossed, no reaction to his performance.

UNTIL at the end of season 4 where he began killing people within the company, that was what got you to start growing interest in his character.

Even though you're fine with him, for now, you really don't like it when he pushes things.

As in trying too hard to replace the old Black Noir. You just don't fw it 😡

"Hey! Hey! Harley wait up!" He'd call out for you while you ignored him and decided to speed walk away. Anyways, he manages to catch up with you.

"The team wants us to attend the premiere of your next movie together.. since.... y'know... we're rumoured to be dating??" He said and you had to stop walking to put your entire energy into giving him the most NASTIEST look. The second he sees you take a deep breath, he knew it was over.

"I ain't yer GODDAMN babysitter, and don't you think that for a second that wearin' the suit makes you my damn boyfriend, alright? I ain't here to hold yer hand and coddle you. I got better things to do than listen to yer constant whining and need for attention. So knock it off, ya copy-cat!" You'd point at him before walking off, hand on your hip.

You can bet that he asks Deep for advices on how to win your heart.

BRO IS TOO INVESTED IN HIS CHARACTER 😭

That's why he thinks making you fall for him is one of Noir's characteristics.

You love mysterious and threatening looking people? Okay gotcha.

You want hyenas for pets? Cha-Ching! Got it!

But seriously someone please tell him to stop before he gets his ass beat. He does not want that Brooklyn smoke.

BILLY BUTCHER

Ah great another crazy chick.

The only possibility to why you'd be apart of the boys is if someone vouched for you.

50/50 it's either Hughie or Frenchie.

Though surprisingly enough, you were the first to notice the symptoms of his virus. Like he could be fidgeting at the office and you'd point it out so casually that everybody turns to look at you in confusion.

Everybody thought you were crazy at first, it's to be expected, but the second his virus was confirmed to be lethal. Everybody has started to take you a bit more seriously.

Read carefully. A bit.

He finds your weapons fascinating though. Like how your gun has words engraved in it, your initials being the biggest. Not to mention the designs being the inspiration of poker cards.

"That must make you the clown" He once said when you whipped it out to shoot someone. You smile mischievously at his remark.

"Oh you'd better watch your tongue before I make you the punchline of my next joke!"

He likes you.

ONLY if you don't fuck anything up.

Sure you guys do argue a lot but theres also strange moments of understanding between you two.

There was this one time he found you alone in the office, your legs placed on the table and you were literally downing a bottle of alcohol. It was when he came closer that he noticed the bruises on your body.

"What the hell happened to you?" He said and you sniffed as you quickly wipe away the tears in your eyes.

"Oh, I'm just peachy, tough guy... Can't you see I'm having a little cry-fest over here after a lover's spat with my oh-so-darling ex-boyfriend. Yeah, he just looooves to use me as his personal punchin' bag, y'know? But don't worry 'bout me. I'll be back to my ol' crazy self in no time. Just need a minute to let the tears dry and the bruises heal"

For the rest of the night he'd stay to talk about how shitty both your lives are. You guys actually BOND over your past traumas.

The booze just making the conversation ever more fun.

Will go out of his way to take you to places for shopping or eating at a restaurant to make you feel better.

After understanding you better, he realised you're just a once normal person who became a psychotic sociopath after whatever the supes did to wrong you.

He may not show it to you but he really cares about you and would not hesitate to protect you despite how much he says he wish you'd just fuck off.

SOLDIER BOY

You have to be some kind of masochist right??

He says the most disrespectful shit to you and you just squeal in excitement from it.

It's starting to weird him out.

Everything he does or say, you love to mock him, like he could be giving orders and you'd be at the back using your hands to mimic his talking like a puppet as you mouthed along and made faces.

But he has to say, he finds your insanity amusing. Because deep down, he sees a tiny bit of himself in you.

He calls you Looney Tunes. Why exactly? Nobody knows its for his own entertainment.

He's into older women but that doesn't stop you from flirting with him. He finds your efforts interesting.

"You're a tough nut to crack, Soldier Boy, but I'll get you to crack a smile eventually" You'd say and it'll be enough to have him grinning at you.

"You gonna tickle me?" He'd say, returning the same energy.

But that doesn't mean he's interested in you, he's just toying with you.

AND YOU KNOW IT. But apparently red flags just look like a go flag to you 🤷‍♀️

Despite that, if any other guy did the things he did to you, he would be fast to knock out the fucker. That's because he knows you value loyalty and he does too.

Everything aside, he really appreciates it when at the end where everybody turned against him you stayed by his side. Just imagine him driving the car while you're in the passenger seat singing your heart out to Cherry Bomb by The Runaways.

He'd simply shake his head with a smile on his face.

But the more relationship develops, he'd actually start to show you his softer side. Not soft side. Soft-er side.

Will literally lecture you into standing up more for yourself and stop being a doormat for every man in your life.

How ironic huh?

"You might act all tough and macho, but I see that big, marshmallow heart under there, sweetheart" You'd boop him on the nose that has him rolling his eyes with a smirk.

"You already said that. Are you a broken record or just dim?" He said.

If you stay obedient and don't push the wrong buttons, he might just keep you around.