#and he also has the time to hate the rich on principle of them being scummy

[2manyflannels]

Thank the lord that Benoit Blanc is a detective with compassion and kindness and cares while also being a genius detective because the two don’t need to be exclusive

[dukeofankh]

Almost everybody has at least a *little* bit of a point.

Yeah. Even them. And being wrong about everything else doesn't actually change that. They might not know how that point should actually be interpreted, they might come to foolish or even actively harmful conclusions from that point. They might radically overstate how prevalent or important the point is. But don't fall into the trap of refusing to acknowledge things that are true just because a bad person says them.

I cannot tell you how many times I've seen someone from a group I belong to dunking on someone from some outgroup, even a very harmful outgroup, and in doing so, denying basically true things that we would absolutely agree with if we were talking about them in private.

I dunno. Maybe it bugs me for neurodivergent reasons. Maybe I'm a pedantic ass.

The other day I got into a massive fight online with a guy in a feminist group because he was squabbling with a bit of a dipshit who pointed out that men are under a lot of pressure to become financially successful, and that's why they do stupid shit like get into crypto.

And like... rather than say "yeah, men are still expected under hegemonic masculinity to be breadwinners, despite the advances of women into the workforce, the economy being in shambles and the middle class having been whittled to a toothpick at this point. We need to work as feminists to challenge that gendered expectation, and as leftists to rebuild the power of labour to allow everyone, both men and women, to have a living wage that can allow for a family and a dignified life." This other feminist guy decided instead that, since the concept of men being pressured to be economic providers was being used in a way that sounded like it was suggesting that women only want to date rich men, it was redpill propaganda and, therefore, fascist misinformation. He went with, "what are you talking about, Gen X killed the concept of corporate success as marker of personal worth, everyone agrees that being a workaholic is bad and unattractive now. The idea that you think you'll be judged for being poor is a lie spread by the right to radicalize you into hating women." He did not react well when I pointed out that he was just as wrong as the other guy was. More wrong, actually.

And like...you can build multiple arguments from the same data point. Some are well reasoned, some aren't. Someone can feel pressure and assume it's much more widespread than it is, or that it takes a much more extreme form than it really does. But if you're going to coherently argue against an idea, you have to honestly appraise the situation and figure out what grains of truth it has in it. You have to acknowledge that core root of truth and show them how it means something else.

If, instead of doing that, you just deny the true thing because the other person's argument is built on it and you want to stamp it out? Because, hey, they interpreted it wrong, it's not like they really believe something true? You act as though a fact used to support a lie is also a lie. And if you do that, and argue against the facts because their conclusions are stupid, you construct a little world where, in refusing to accept both their flawed argument AND the fact it's based on, you become more wrong than they are. And you make the deeply foolish choice of picking a fight in that world. And if it's on the internet, that little world can become pretty big. Tactically, it's about the dumbest thing you could do. It ensures that they will keep fighting you because...you're fucking obviously wrong? It radicalizes people, because suddenly the only people who will acknowledge the truth on this thing they care about are other terrible people. It makes your side look dogmatic and ignorant. And apart from all of that...it gets things completely backwards.

Your principles are what you want to use to change the world for the better. You believe them because you honestly believe that following your principles improves things, because they are based on a solid grasp of how the world works. Your beliefs follow from what is true. If you flip it so that whether something is true is based on whether it supports your beliefs...that's a bad road to go down.

[littlefankingdom]

Instead of calling Bruce Wayne a capitalist, just say you have never read a Batman comic.

Or that you don't know words' meaning.

Bruce is a privileged white man, born rich and the heir to a fortune and a company. That doesn't make him a capitalist, that makes him a privileged man. Being a privileged rich man who owns a company in a capitalist society also doesn't make him a capitalist (it's the fucking meme again.) He has no power over this, he couldn't choose who he will be born as or where. He is a nepo baby, but that doesn't make him a capitalist.

The correct definition of a capitalist is: a person who uses their wealth to invest in trade and industry for profit in accordance with the principles of capitalism.

Bruce Wayne is literally famous for not doing that, because he invests his wealth in healthcare, housing, education... Literally anything Gotham needs and the gov cannot pay for. Literally nothing that he can make profit from. He doesn't care about profit AT ALL. Investing??? That's not in his vocabulary. And, btw, Bruce doesn't believe it should be a private company doing this. I'm going to use Future State: Dark Detective again, but in it, he states clearly that he thinks rich people should pay their big taxes instead of having lavishing lifestyles (he pays his, btw, and I'm sure he doesn't use the charity to pay less), and the gov should use this money to make everything better for others. And that's not the only time he says that stuff.

"But, if not capitalist, why Bruce keeps WE and money? Why doesn't he change the system?" For the latter, Bruce is one man, he cannot change the system on his own, but also, if he was able to change the evil capitalist way of the USA, the story would be over. It's just like how whatever he does, Gotham never gets better: the story would end. For the former, he keeps WE for two reasons. 1, it's his parents' legacy, that's explained multiple times, and he feels like he would disappoint them if he gives it up. 2, because he knows other rich people don't care and don't use their money for nobody but themselves, and if he gives WE up, all that money and power would end in the hands of an asshole. With him and his kids, he can trust that money to go to the people.

I don't have the energy to demonstrate again how Bruce hates rich people, just look up my posts about Bruce. I have used examples.

If you tell Bruce Wayne "The rich should be dry out, and their money should go to help people and make society better", he would say "Hell yes". That's that he CANONICALLY wants.

When you call Bruce Wayne capitalist, you are showing, at best, that you have so little reading comprehension skill that you cannot understand comic books, at worst, that you don't know shit about our economic and politic hellscape you lived in and the words you use.

Yes, this is because of that fucking panel from Boy Wonder where Ra's Al Ghul calls Bruce a capitalist dog.

[metalomagnetic]

What is Voldemort's favorite and least favorite thing about each of his partners?

Sirius: Voldemort would have a very hard time picking one favourite thing. He values Sirius' loyalty, his bravery, his wild nature; he is fascinated by the dual nature of Sirius, how he can be a perfect, well mannered, high society man, yet he can also be a cruel, vicious dog (and not just when he transforms into Padfoot). How Sirius can be kind and selfless one moment, and then turn around and bully someone just because he can. He likes Sirius' sense of humour, and he is blown away by how fearless he is, how reckless, even in the face of death, something Voldemort fears so much. Sirius is the type to live in the moment, make the most of it, something Voldemort never learned how to do. I think what gets to Voldemort the most is that Sirius is, at his core, a good man (at least by Voldemort's standards) but he's not 'stupidly' good or kind, he's not preachy about it, he's not self righteous. Voldemort can experience being around a good man, probably for the first time...ever, but not as 'good' as to hate Voldemort on principle alone. Voldemort is made of darkness, and he's attracted to Sirius' light, and yet he's also in understanding with Sirius' darker side, which allows them to at least have some morals, or lack of morals, in common, enough to have a foundation for a relationship.

His least favourite thing about Sirius is that he cares too much about people that aren't Voldemort, has strong, impossible to break bonds to so many other people.

Albus: Voldemort's favourite thing about Albus is his genius and nerdiness. He is not one to be easily impressed by intelligence, since Voldemort himself is a genius, but Albus is his equal in this regard. Same goes for his magical skill. They truly are equals, and no one else can match them. And they both experience a type of loneliness that only men like them would know, because they are so different from everyone around them, no one can possible relate to such---beings made of big brains and magic.

His least favourite thing about Albus is what he perceives as hypocrisy. That, and Albus' determination to do the right thing, to protect everyone he can.

Gellert: His ambition and willingness to do whatever it takes to get ahead. The 'eyes on the prize' mentality. He's also attracted by Gellert's power and understanding of dark magic.

His least favourite thing is the regret Gellert sometimes exhibits.

Abraxas: he's beautiful and rich, and a young Tom Riddle likes both those things. He's fascinated with Abraxas' inherited status, with the power and influence he carries just because he was born with the right name. Tom hates Abraxas for it, is deeply jealous, but at the same time, having Abraxas is like touching those things himself, in a way. He likes that Abraxas, who could have anyone, who could have a pureblood with a name as ancient as his own, wants no-one Tom Riddle, obsessively so.

He detests Abraxas' cowardice most of all.

Bella: While she's pretty much perfect all around, Voldemort values her unflinching loyalty, her complete devotion to him, her lack of fear and her extreme bravery.

He finds no fault in her.

[scuderia-hamilton]

listen i don't like Daniel, that's a fact, but what's been happening to him during the course of this weekend has been nothing but cruel, unfair and frankly, disrespectful (even if the rumours turn out to be false). i hate nothing more in this sport than teams just dropping drivers in the middle of the season, with little to no warning whatsoever, if they didn't perform to the expectations. these people made and are still making so many sacrifices to be able to be in this sport, they work so fucking hard and i just hate seeing it go to waste like that. it's simply not fair.

you can come up with the regular excuses of it being a cutthroat sport, them being rich, white, privileged men, Daniel performing poorly, i do not care. yes, he hasn't been performing the way the team expected him to do so, but at the end of the day, he's still human and no one deserves that kind of treatment. rbr has been fucking over their drivers left and right and i absolutely despise that more teams are starting to do the same.

sending him out there to give interviews and answer questions about his own future in the sport, when he doesn't even know what it will be, is honestly the lowest of the low. they know exactly how nasty and rude f1 media is and a team putting their own driver in that position is something that should not be normalized. seeing his post race interview made my heart ache for him, he was literally a second away from crying then and there.

just as i've been upset about Nyk De Vries and Logan Sargeant being dropped in the same way, i feel the same for Daniel. it's not about whether you like a driver or not, it's about the principle. this is their dream, the thing they've been working for since they were literal toddlers and seeing it ripped away from them, without even giving them a proper shot is just inhumanely cruel.

i know that Daniel has been around for a while and he got to live his dream, but i still think it's unfair. rbr has been promising him this and that since he replaced De Vries last summer, just to (allegedly) drop him the next season with six more races left. even if they really want to replace him, then let him finish this season. he deserves that much.

i'm excited about the possibility of Liam finally getting a real shot, don't get me wrong and if he really ends up replacing Daniel, i'm happy for him, but i would like him to come into the sport under different circumstances. i also think that hating the driver who replaces another one, is pointless and frankly, stupid. this is not their decision, they obviously take the opportunity, cause getting into f1 is nearly impossible.

this is basically just to say that maybe we should remember from time to time, that they're not just athletes, but real people with feelings and we should always stay kind and compassionate. i've already seen so many hate posts about him, which shouldn't surprise me, but it did. this fandom likes to just jump on a person who's an easy target at the moment or pick and choose who they don't like at that time and all hell breaks loose.

the same thing happened when there were rumours about Daniel replacing Checo and all of a sudden, everyone had an issue with Checo's performance, him as a person, his actions and everyone thought that he deserved to be replaced. you don't have to like all of them, but at least be consistent with your opinions and know where the line is. you can't be upset about one driver being replaced mid-season, then turn around and wish that to happen to a different driver. that's hypocritical.

[bethanydelleman]

Catherine Morland: She’s Naive Not Stupid

Catherine seems to get hate because she comes off as unintelligent and because she marries a very intelligent man. Kind of an odd angle for me to take in character defence, but Catherine is worthy of Henry Tilney and this is why:

Catherine tells the truth, even when it is painful to her. It’s easy to tell the truth when it helps you (like explaining why you missed a country walk) but Catherine does not lie even when it makes her look bad or even lie by omission. She was walking around Mrs. Tilney’s room, imagining that she had been murdered by her husband, and when Henry finds her she tells the whole, mortifying truth. Given that Henry lives with two people who pathologically lie (General and Captain Tilney), it would be pretty refreshing to have Catherine in his life.

Catherine believes the best of people until proved wrong. (very Jane B., but Catherine’s also younger). She tries to believe the best of John Thorpe but quickly realises she doesn’t like him and that he must be lying. Isabella Thorpe is harder because Catherine likes her, but she does understand her character by the end. General Tilney is harder still, because he is much better at disguising the truth about himself. The suspicion that he killed his wife seems ridiculous, but Catherine is trying to fit the General into her understanding of the world. She cannot see how someone can have the appearance of goodness and yet be so bad. Given that the perceptive Elizabeth Bennet fell into a similar trap, I am inclined to give Catherine a pass.

Catherine stands on her principles. She thinks it is wrong to lie to Eleanor about having a prior plan and she resists her friend and her brother to set it right. Mr. Allen suggests that riding in an open carriage isn’t wise; she says no. It seems minor because she is only resisting peer pressure, but we can’t expect everyone to have the fortitude of Fanny Price.

Catherine is loyal in her affection, which I think would be attractive to a younger son like Tilney. When Catherine sees Captain T for the first time, she accept that he is hot, but has not a single thought of going after him, “She looked at him with great admiration, and even supposed it possible that some people might think him handsomer than his brother, though, in her eyes, his air was more assuming, and his countenance less prepossessing.” (Ch 16). I wonder how many times in his twenty-six years Henry has had a girl interested in him, only for her to go all Isabella Thorpe and try to use him as a stepping stone to his brother. Catherine never even considers it and unlike everyone else, she doesn’t seem to ask or care about Henry or his brother being rich. She is disinterested, not mercenary, and that seems like a hard trait to find (unless you’re an Austen heroine).

Catherine is a quick learner, she’s going to catch up. She has gone from living with a family that are, “plain, matter-of-fact people who seldom aimed at wit of any kind; her father, at the utmost, being contented with a pun, and her mother with a proverb; they were not in the habit therefore of telling lies to increase their importance, or of asserting at one moment what they would contradict the next” (Ch 9), to Henry Tilney, one of the funniest characters in Jane Austen’s collected works. But still she’s not lost! She is intelligent enough to find him amusing.

Lastly, Catherine is interested in improving herself. She doesn’t like reading history, but she wishes she liked it. She misunderstands people so she seeks help in comprehending their motives. She doesn’t resent people who are smarter than her, she is attracted to them. She’s only seventeen for most of this novel, she’ll never be as intelligent as say, Anne Elliot, but she’s not Harriet Smith either.

Also a quick comparison to the Mr. and Mrs. Bennet marriage, because this comes up a lot online. Catherine is nothing like Mrs. Bennet. When Catherine is told she is being thrown out of the Abbey, she asks if she has offended the General, tells Eleanor not to be so unhappy, and then assures her that she will be ready at an early hour. She doesn’t cry until Eleanor leaves the room. Can you imagine what even a younger Mrs. Bennet would have done? It would have been nothing like that, it would have been all nerves and wailing. Because Catherine and Mrs. Bennet have entirely different personalities.

Catherine Morland: She has many first rate qualities!

[ladybug-love-square-enthusiast]

So enemies reverse villain AU where super villain Toxinelle faces off against super hero Chat Nior

Marinette is the daughter and heiress of the Agreste fashion empire. Gabriel married Sabine, oldest daughter of the Chang corporation, in hopes of expansion the brand in Asia. Meanwhile Adrien is the one born to a happy normal family from Emily and her husband, but Marinette absolutely hates Adrien since her father is pining for Emily and would prefer to adopt Adrien than to properly raise her.

FYI I was totally inspired by this song Cristina Vee sang:

Marinette grows up under the strict schedules and expectations of both her parents, she's much more cold and comes off as a bit demure (very mindful very demure jkjk) to the public. She knows that what she wants, thinks, and feels is not important in her household, as long as she keeps up appearances and can compete against her other cousins successes between her hyper competitive two faced relatives on the Chang side of her family.

(minor aside: NGL as someone coming from an Chinese immigrant household, the cannon Chinese Chang-family dynamics are Hella unrealistic IMO, what I could guess of Toxinelle's version seems more realistic and goddamnit I'm exploring that in this AU idea)

She became super closed off and selective and calculative of her words because of how careful she had to be around her relatives, one mis spoken phrase or word and she would be ripped to shreds, note: she was also forced to be perfectly fluent in Mandarin as well. With cultural differences, and especially as both a "foreigner" and the daughter of a daughter, the Chang family pretty much dismisses and cuts off Sabine and Marinette. The rest of the relatives view Sabine as someone who threw away their culture to move to the west/France, who thinks she's too good for the rest of them who choose to stay in China, and they view Marinette as being spoilt (which is rich (heh rich) coming from them since they're all second generation rich kids) for being brought up living the "cushy" life abroad.

Meanwhile on the Agreste side, she and Sabine were never really accepted since obviously neither of them have the classic Agreste family resemblance and her parents marriage was for political/business reasons. Gabriel meanwhile also doesn't really care or do anything about that. (Not really sure what to make of the relationship dynamic between Marinette and Felix?)

Marinette absolutely hates Gabriel, she thinks he's cheating on Sabine, with his old flame Emily. (Reality is that Gabriel tried to but Emily was having none of it, he choose his business plans over her and she certainly was not going to lower herself to become someone's mistress and a homewrecker even if it was a loveless political/business marriage. Honestly this is worse because Gabriels would be a cheating scumbag if Emily weren't so firm) Even though she has a rocky relationship with Sabine in this AU and she knows her mother doesn't care, it's the principles and disrespect to the family and the humiliation it brings on both her and her mother that pisses her off (the tabloids have a field day every time and it certainly doesn't help their standing in the Chang family).

Gabriel also doesn't care to hide his anger issues in front of either her or Sabine (since he never loved either of them, he's always regretted leaving Emily, and they're both just a reminder of the bed he made himself and had to lie in). Marinette hates it but she knows deep inside that she's terrified of him. She freezes up on the inside but tries to play it off as if she doesn't care and is blank faced. The blank face mask works for a while but it actually further infuriates Gabriel and he keeps going untill he does manage to make her crack. Sabine does fight argue back but never comforts Marinette more than telling Marinette that Gabriel tooootallly cares about her underneath it all and that she under no circumstances should rebel against him

Marinette's plan is to pretend to stay as the doll-like heiress and continue doing as both parents/families dictate while she secretly takes over more of the Agreste empire (she starts with modelling, she expands into creating her own side fashion design brand and tries to cut off control from the main brand/her father, one route is to have her take over the main line using hers if it's possible in the future) (she has no chance with the Chang family, they're all but outcasts). But she's also too nervous deep down inside to make major moves currently.

Tldr: she's scared trapped and angry but has learnt to be calculating and has an ice queen mask thanks to her shitty family

(Note: I don't want to make her self pitying, I think she would know that she has a super comfortable life in terms of superficial materialistic means, and since she has never known what it's like to have real meaningful connections that aren't toxic there's not anything to make her miss that, but that doesn't stop her from all the negative emotions she has including hating her relatives, father and herself for being weak)

In this AU Adrien is still the son of Emily but between her and another normal guy (whom she loves, she was healthy and moved on unlike Gabriel). His family are pretty well off and does run in some of the same circles as the Agreste family (which is how Emily and Gabriel still know eachother) but they're relatively a normal and loving family (compared to the Agreste-Chang household). The only issue is Gabriel, which has caused a couple arguments between Emily and her husband but in the end her husband trusts her and the three of them weather the paparazzi shit storms together. There has been a few times where Gabriel tries to barge in and get to know Emily's son, but Adrien hates him and Emily is pissed off about this and tries to stop those whenever she can.

This has the knock on effect of Marinette absolutely hating Adrien out of jealousy (even though she doesn't want her father's approval actually but it's the principle of the situation). Adrien feels sorry for Marinette but they're not close at all (in the same course at university but that's it) so he doesn't say anything to her (he thinks it probably would come off as weird). He's also a bit intimidated by her stone face and cold facade, and he's put off by how she's friends with Chloe

(slight Chloenette agenda coming in)

Chloe ends up trying to suck up to Marinette and tells everyone they're besties. Marinette doesn't care for Chloe much as she thinks it's to use her, and it was at first but then Chloe actually came to admire her (for her poise, calm calculating nature, and for all the things she works for like the modelling and her business) and became sincere in trying, in her awful fucked up spoilt rich kid way, to be real friends. Chloe is a friend simp for Marinette

Meanwhile, with superhero/villain side of the AU:

This AU Gabriel is still after the miraculous but this time to rewind time to get back Emily. (Gabriel big incel dumbass energy)

Marinette (as Toxinelle, could be another name but I'll go for that for now) doesn't know this is the goal, she's just forced to in the situation, and is against her will Akumatised (but still has some of her consciousness) to do as Gabriel commands.

She only became a super villain under Gabriel/Hawkmoth's direction. She has no choice and she knows who it is. He choose her since he can easily sense the crazy insane amount of negative emotions around her and it's perfect because she's his most powerful minion. Marinette hates it because it's just another way she's trapped, but is slightly apathetic to what she's actually doing since she's only seen the worst in people so far in life and there's no real friends to show her that not everyone is like that.

Chat Nior has no partner in this world and usually faces off against Toxinelle. He hates her because she's harming people, but Toxinelle doesn't really care about Chat Nior since she's just here because she has to. Slowly Chat realises she doesn't want to do it but they he gets frustrated that she doesn't try to break free from Hawkmoth, he doesn't understand. That annoys Toxinelle because she doesn't want to listen to his preaching and prying, she prefers when they don't speak to eachother and just tried to kill eachother

Toxinelle + Adrien: Uses him as hostage or something one day (trying to test out a plan against Gabriel) and is very aggressive against him. He gets suspicious, asks if she knows him (maybe she lets slip something only close people know about him as well? Bit it's mostly just how weirdly personally she seems to hate him?). She retorts that she's cruel to everyone, she's a supervillain for crying out loud. But inside she tries to talk to him less since she doesn't want to give him clues. Because of this Adrien becomes more talkative trying to weedle out any information he can from his enemy (her goal, if he can convert her).

They meet more. Either she ends up make a couple of visits to Adrien to test things for her plans or it's whenever he detransforms after a scuffle and he "bumps" into her. She realises she enjoys the banter a bit but doesn't like that since she still hates him. She's forced to put up with him because she wants to use him in her plan against Gabriel, and Adrien realises she's holding back for some reason and takes advantage of that. He teases her saying he noticed how she hasn't torn his head from his shoulders yet, could it be the nastiest supervillain in Paris fell for his charms. Toxinelle tells him there's still time for her to change her mind. Their banter goes from trading barbs to more friendly teasing (as friendly as Toxinelle gets at least).

Wayyyy later when they become friends (not that they admit it believe it themselves, and it's still super complicated for Toxinelle), they both feel bad about using eachother (Adrien for information on her, Toxinelle for her future plans)

Marinette + Chat Nior: When Marinette detransforms Chat thinks she's caught up in the aftermath and tries to make sure she's okay (he feels guilty towards her so is try to keep an eye out for her). Marinette has to be cordial to not give away her identity and through that ends up enjoying talking with Chat when they're not fighting. She likes Chat more than Adrien at this point so she's more open to talking.

Maybe Chat comes to regularly check in on her later on (since she keeps getting caught up in the aftermath for some reason haha how unlucky), and after a while Marinette thinks they would've been good friends in another world where they weren't enemies.

After a very long time, she admits that Chat is the closest friend she has.

(Pleae ignore my smooth brain moment where I called Sabine Sabrina and probably didn't catch all the mistakes)

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Naegami Fluff and/or Shenanigans 14

Yet another post about Byakuya and his pet peeves though my gosh does he have so many. Might as well give him a several diaries and fill them up with these dang pet peeves of his. Even then it STILL won't be enough! Ahem. Anyway, Byakuya doesn't like slow walkers, especially in places like sidewalks but most definitely hallways in Hopes Peak. Or just any hallway, even in his old school. It definitely ticks him off more in Hopes Peak though. He's got places to go, important business to attend. The heir doesn't want useless fools slowing him down because they're socializing. Besides, they can socialize elsewhere instead of being literally road blocks! It doesn't help that Byakuya's all about efficiency and doing things in a timely manner. He is just in a perpetual state of speed walking no matter what. And it's the inconsiderate kind of speed walking too. He doesn't shove people though. He's a complete expert at the dodge and weave tactic in the hallways. The only ways he slows down is if he's injured, in an area in which he literally can't walk fast like a very populated area or he's just physically unwell to a noticeable extent. The heir physically cannot move slow out of principle and just because his long legs just move like that. And hell, even when he IS slowed down that way, it also just irks him physiologically too. In his mind, there is just always a clock and a schedule and alarms and reminders. Constantly. And that's not even talking about his REAL alarm and schedules he has set up for business meetings and alone time reading or studying in the library. Basically he's got that speedrunner brain without knowing he has that speedrunner brain. Like, this is just what's in his peripherals 90% of the time.

But, anyway, where Makoto fits in is that Makoto doesn't usually walk fast. When going to class, he only really moves faster if he has to like almost being late or something. So, Makoto basically prefers to take is time when he has time during the moments where he didn't forget something at the last minute and has to dash about to get stuff. Then again, he's kinda guaranteed to be late in those circumstanced in which those usually are a coinflip to when they happen Therefore, Makoto, usually or just in casual settings, fits into the "slow walker" category. A category Byakuya hates. Rich, peasant, some Eldridge deity? It doesn't matter for him with this though slow peasants are just the WORST. Which gives him a dilemma because Makoto's technically a slow peasant at times. He likes taking his time 9/10 and doesn't like being rushed. And Byakuya has that New York City rush hour brain 9/10. So yeah, these two tend to clash at times. Not that they WANT to. It just happens since they're just wired differently. Like, even during leasuire time, Byakuya's STILL in that mindset and can barely turn it off. Like, if the two are walking in a part somewhere, he's still speed walking while Makoto struggles to catch up cus he doesn't possess long speed walking legs like Byakuya nor does he want to. Surgery's expensive anyway/j The two have gotten into some stupid arguments about this too with Byakuya complaining that Makoto's too slow and he needs to walk faster while Makoto's telling Byakuya that he's tired from trying to catch up which is only making him fall further behind. They find a compromise eventually though: a middle ground of some sorts that they figure out on a calmer day where they can be more rational about it. Because, yeah. Byakuya wants efficiency, but he does it to an obsessive degree at times that tears him down. Meanwhile, Makoto just has shit endurance so Byakuya tries (and kinda fails) to help him with that. And this does go on a while with the two trying to help each other though it DOES get a bit on that line of "trying to help their partner change to better themselves to "trying to make their partner change because they don't like this part of them and they want it gone. It does eventually hit the two though that they shouldn't be trying to change the other to fit what they wish they would do and trying to find yet another middle ground for this dilemma. Cus, yeah. Makoto walks slow; Byakuya walks fast. However, no matter the problems that arise, the two care about one another which is what really counts.

[raisedbythetv89]

Rob thomas logic:

The ultra rich elites are bad

Me: cool yeah we agree

RT: Great! Our heroine and her dad will proceed to shit on them every single chance they get while also simultaneously always having Veronica want her “old life” back amongst the 09ers with Duncan and her dad will be pushing her at every single possible opportunity to not be working class and go to school and get a job amongst the elites

Me:

like I know theoretically Veronica wants her life back to when her mom didn’t leave, her dad didn’t get fired, she didn’t get dumped/ghosted, and lily didn’t get murdered but apart of that was being in with the 09ers and hanging out at a billionaires house all the time??? And she makes references to “is it that easy? Say I was sorry and get my old life back?”Aka IN with the IN crowd of rich kids again as obviously saying sorry doesn’t fix ANYTHING else except being a social pariah

This inconsistency It is SO FRUSTRATING BRO 😭 like she’s like UGH the 09ers are the WORST 🥺 and they used to be my friends 🥺 huh??????? Making all of her distane for the rich not on actual principles but based completely in jealousy and personal vendetta while always monologuing about all the harm the rich cause to the community??

Also her still wanting and missing duncan a whole year after he just stopped talking to her when she’s supposed to be the queen of revenge girl STAND UP JESUS CHRIST

None of this is a criticism of Veronica but of Rob creating and ENTIRELY different narrative than what many of her behaviors tell us because I think he is writing completely from his own perspective of hating the rich and powerful but because he’s jealous and not for all the reasons the show gives for how harmful the rich can be and the unfair advantages they have over everyone else

Like he has all these ideological reasons to back up his feelings that come from a deeply unhealed petty place that doesn’t allow you to actually stand on principles or have real values or boundaries

[f0point5]

would love to hear more of your takes on the wags fashion senses!! i think you bring a great perspective

Aw thanks 😊 I’m so not qualified though I don’t know anything about the principles of fashion or aesthetics at all so keep that in mind lol

Alexandra - I have to say her style is slowly becoming my favourite. I feel like she has a really consistent style and she dresses for her body type. I do think she is quite a shy person and the reason I think that shows up in her fashion is because there’s such a stark difference between “race weekend” casual and actual casual for her. Like around Monaco or in pictures when she on holiday with friends you see her in more trousers, even jeans, whereas on race weeks even while travelling it’s a lot more float dresses that I think are designed to look more out together. No shade, she looks great either way, but i feel like it’s noticeable. That said she does have a stylist and I think that plays into it a bit. I don’t always love what she wears but it’s always soothing that I would associate with her, which I just love. I love when people dress in a way that is recognisable as “their” style. Also, She gets wayyy too much hate for wearing affordable/gifted clothing though. People are so deluded if they think even wealthy people only wear couture all the time in their early 20s. It’s not true. Find me one person from the age of 16-26 who is rich who doesn’t have at least 5 items of high street clothing in their closet. Yes they may be able to afford nicer things and appreciate quality but it’s really not that deep. Sometimes you just see a Zara jacket you like. No one cares if it’s not Chanel. Also if you’re gifted clothes, why would you not wear them? Brand deal or no brand deal if someone gives me a voucher to get something from their website and I like it? Hell yeah I’ll wear it to a race to promote the brand. Why not? They’re kinder to me than everyone on the internet complaining about me all the time anyway.

Rebecca - oof. She’s hit or Miss for me. The misses are infrequent, but there have been a couple of appearance where I’m like girl why and it’s an extreme why. The curly hair thing was a why. The outfit she wore on Saturday in Miami was a shy.. I actually generally like her style, I like that she wears a lot of neutrals. For me she epitomises the original aesthetic of Ralph Lauren, which I believe he based on his own wife. Elegant, simple, effortlessly sexy, and I actually think that fits her so well because her face matches the vibe. People have a lot to say about her surgeries and her previous jobs but purely from the looking at her I think she has the most “wealthy” aesthetic, in the face and the style. Also, she so clearly has learnt from being a model how to dress herself and put herself together well. Also that simplicity is something you learn from modelling because you’re so often made to go to casting in the bare minimum of make up and clothing and somehow you still have to make that work for you, which she does.

Carmen - She Calls her stylist too often, methinks. I love a curated and recognisable style, I do. But her and George are almost too curated, especially because I do think they take the “old money” cosplay too far. I actually dress quite similar to hear a lot of the time, but I also feel like if you are going to wear wide leg trousers and a blouse without fail all the time, you do need to add more spice sometimes. Like she could benefit from a colourful mini Kelly to go with an outfit, or maybe a pattern silk shirt, sort of Versace style, to go with the trousers once in a while. Look, even Lydia Millen (who I think of when I see Carmen because of the cosplay) adds different colours and prints in sometimes. And maybe this is going to sound harsh, but because she looks so much older than she is, I wouldn’t style her like I would style Susie Wolff. You can tell exactly when Carmen completely revamped her style, it is a very simple picture essay. I just feel like she decided on this particular aesthetic but she’s not living in it enough to be comfortable enough to have fun with, and infuse her own personality into it. So yeah while I like her outfits, I think she adheres too rigidly to the aesthetic.

Kelly - Controversial, but I don’t actual hate everything she wears. As I said, I think she really appreciates the art of fashion, and she is very excited to have access to all of it, but she gets lost in the shuffle. Contrary to popular belief I don’t actually think Kelly is a very strong character, I think she uses her clothes to make herself seen in a lot of situations where she would otherwise not feel confident, and that’s why her clothes always look like they’re wearing her. I really like her style when she is not “being seen” such as the outfit she wore when yacht shopping with Max, or the outfits she wore in Paris and Melbourne when outfit with Penelope. Or at the Longines horse show. That style is more similar to Rebecca’s which I think suits both of them. I think she looks good in Louis Vuitton, they’ve dressed her for the Monaco GP the last two years and both outfits suited her. I think she just uses the clothes as a crutch sometimes and she really doesn’t have to.

Lily M - No notes. Perfection. I love her outfits, she always looks so put together. I think she’s a bit of a foil for Kelly because she also experiments sometimes with colour and has a more mature style than say, Alexandra or Kika, but Lily always seems so at home in her clothes, they never overshadow her. I don’t love everything she wears all the time but I always think what she wears suits her.

Lily Z -Has upped her style game from last year that’s for sure. Her style is pretty unique amongst wags, but pretty…normal? Relatively affordable, not too dressy, not too attention grabbing. I do notice that she seems to put a bit more effort in now, I guess she’s more aware of being watched. But still definitely keeping herself low-key and isn’t falling into the influencer trap at all, which makes sense considering once she finishes her engineering course she is looking to work in motorsport. Sorry to say but she won’t be taken as seriously if there’s pictures of her dressed like Kika.

Kika - Dresses like every other girl her age would if they had her body. She’s gorgeous but the style to me is very a la mode.

Hope you enjoyed my style rundown 🫣

[felixravinstills]

for the ask thing!! artemisia and felix (ik he isn't technically an oc but he could be atp) 2, 6 and 12!

ask game

thanks for the ask!

(spoilers for any fic with Artemisia. also content warning in the tags for Artemisia's backstory)

Artemisia Click

What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

Besides the people in her immediate friend group/Felix and Festus, she lowkey resents everyone in the Capitol. Maybe even hates them (maybe not the people she grew up with, but the adults for sure).

She's often crying as a defense mechanism to make herself seem weaker and get her father to stop hitting her, but she's also just imagining killing people in her mind. Just so much resentment inside her.

How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

You know... This might be surprising, but I don't think Artemisia has a solid moral compass. She'll do what is what's good for herself and the people she loves. The reason that she kind of develops one in All That You Can Do is that Brandy's own resentment and unfair life gets Artemisia to identify with the Districts. To her, trying to tear the Capitol down from the inside and make life better in the Districts is not really even about the people in the Districts. It's about her. (not to say her empathy isn't a good thing, but her good deeds start from a self-centered place rather than morality)

Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways?

Yeah. Her self-destruction is that she doesn't want to ask people for things but she doesn't want to risk rejection (face any possibility that the people she's closest to her maybe don't care as much as she'd want). If she just told Felix that her father was physically abusive, and she needed to get out of her house. Felix probably would have worked it out with his great-uncle, and there wouldn't have been this weird Felix dates her reluctantly (they both fall in love after they start dating but don't really realize it that well because of their really weird start), half-year breakup, and oh wait, I think we're both in love with our other best friend-> throuple. They probably could have stayed friends caught feels and worked their way to the throuple scenario faster and less convoluted.

Also, she's self-destructive in that she'd let rage and revenge consume and blind her (see her reaction to Close Your Eyes! Felix's death).

Felix Ravinstill (My Honorary OC)

What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

I mean I've talked about Felix being insecure so much on my blog, but I think to most people in Panem, they would not assume that he is. He's got that haughty, confident rich guy facade. Maybe a little quieter than most haughty, confident rich guys at times, but no one who knows him at a surface-level is like "I bet Felix lies awake at night wondering why he isn't living up to the rest of his family."

How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

If someone's really important to him, then I think it would talk some conversations. He'd have to see why this person needs something amoral to happen, but if someone he cares for is in trouble or it's really important (as in someone he cares for while fundamentally break who they are to not have the thing happen), then he'll fold.

There is actually a conversation that has to happen, and it could take weeks or months depending on how pressing the thing is. Felix can be surprisingly principled. Unfortunately, his moral compass is the ideal he set for his family, and when they go against that ideal, it's easier for him to excuse them doing bad stuff (but he'll try and keep his hands clean... and probably fail.)

Is your OC self-destructive? In what ways?

A big thing for me about Felix and Artemisia is that they're actually pretty similar once you get down to the core of them. They self-destruct in similar ways.

I have also given Felix the opportunity to let rage and revenge consume him (It's Still You), but while Artemisia's problem is she strangely doesn't like imposing herself on her loved ones at the risk of rejection. Felix has a willingness to be imposed upon to a fault. He will try and change himself for his family and others to accept him, and it's not good for him (I don't think it can be good for anyone). Artemisia forces herself to compromise her desires and wants. Felix, fully confuses other people's desires and wants for his own. (And I think Felix does work through that a bit as he gets older, but the tragedy of him is that he never fully gets to come into his own). Both of them are so willing to sacrifice so much of themselves :( (for not even good reasons!)

...

I hope this makes sense! I'm typing this out as I work on other stuff, so I'm a little distracted!

[distort-opia]

Besides superficial similarities, what would be the points of equality between Cherik and Batjokes? I mean, I think the main difference between them is that in Cherik, Charles and Erik are much more open and see the other's point of view compared to Batman and Joker. I would like to see your opinion on both 😊👀

Mm, that's a good question. They're obviously both pairings between two comic-based characters who are nemeses, but they're quite different when examined in depth. Like you mention, Charles and Erik are much more open to reconciliation, and that's kind of the crux of the matter. Charles and Erik were friends before the rift-- there's something to reconcile to begin with. They agreed that something needed to be done about the survival of mutantkind, they cared about the same goals, but ultimately their ideals and methods differed too much, as a result of their life experiences. Meanwhile, in Batjokes there wasn't ever a time in which they weren't at war. Moreso, the essential difference in principles between Batman and Joker isn't about... others, the way it is in Cherik. Charles and Erik both ultimately care about mutants like them, with Erik being willing to kill to protect the people he cares about. Joker's whole thing is that he doesn't care, while Batman's thing is that he does. Magneto destroys believing it is to protect; Joker destroys for the sake of destruction. The differences in way of thinking between Batman and Joker are fundamental, while Charles and Erik still have enough shared goals that they've worked together more than once. And I could go on when it comes to contrasts between the pairings... finding more in-depth similarities between them is a lot more difficult. However, I do see a couple.

I see a lot of parallels between Charles and Bruce, essentially. As people, and when it comes to the ways they relate to Erik and Joker, respectively. They're both very rich individuals who ended up "adopting" other young people and creating a family-like structure (Charles has the school, Bruce has the Family). They're both the "hero", but they're also much more conflicted and complex than they appear. While striving to do good and avoid killing, both of them are struggling with a need for control and a terrifying capacity for destruction, a certain kind of arrogance and self-righteousness. And their counterpart... serves to keep that in check.

In Erik's case, the very straightforward element that represents this is the helmet. Charles can't control Erik, because he can't reach his mind. Simple as that. The less straightforward element is that, even in the absence of the helmet, Charles wants Erik to want him, and if he uses his powers... Erik joining him would be a lie. Charles wants it to be out of Erik's own volition. And Bruce can't control Joker, he's never been able to. He doesn't fully understand or know Joker, no matter how hard he's tried; he can't predict Joker, who's more or less chaos incarnate. Essentially, in both Charles and Bruce's case, there's the "unstoppable force meets an immovable object" component-- the equality between two individuals who are otherwise unmatched, and alone in that. In both Cherik and Batjokes, there's an understanding that they would always stop each other if they went too far; that they'd always be there to keep the other in balance.

There's also the "I can fix him" instinct... which Charles and Bruce both have (to different degrees). But where does "I can fix him" come from? We joke about it a lot, but what causes this drive in people? There's multiple elements to it (including the simple need to help another), but relevant to this discussion are three things: avoiding fixing yourself, loneliness, and a painful mix of insecurity and self-hating tendencies. Both Charles and Bruce have... problems, when it comes to how they relate to themselves and others. They're proud individuals, but they also hate some aspects of themselves; and ironically, a lot of those parts they would rather not deal with in themselves, are mirrored in their counterpart. Why attempt to fix yourself when you can try to fix the other, and yourself by proxy? Deep down you know you'll most likely fail, and use that to blame yourself some more-- but it's safer to fail with the other, and not yourself. And if you fix the other person, they'll stop fighting you. They'll stay with you because they agree with you, and you won't be alone anymore.

Oof, got quite long. Hope this was fun to read through, Anon! Both these pairings are very complex, there's a lot to say. But yeah, personally I see the points of equality between Batjokes and Cherik when it comes to their deep-seated sense of loneliness and the need for an equal, most of all.

[jeremy-queere]

im actually gonna liveblog my own thoughts about those last few chaps of my fic, which are basically always going to be "i'm hilarious actually" but yknow. specific lines. minor spoilers ig

>be jeremy >tell rich about how you fixed the giant issue where yelling at a squip can turn off every squip in the network >by telling him this aloud, you just alerted the squips to this security flaw >mfw i destroyed the easiest way to save the world without a second thought: :) >still smilling at rich, ready for praise >rich short circuits.

plus with the shutdown that christine mentioned this chapter. it's almost like ? jeremy isn't coming at this from a perspective of wanting to turn squips off???? and never even bothered researching that option??? 😂 bonkers. who'd have thought

i fully recognize that having a coder POV say "The bugs, miraculously, became rarer and smaller" is the biggest ask in the fic in terms of suspension of disbelief. maybe when jeremy is better at this they'll realize they were wrong about that. not in a "this update is secretly a time bomb" way but in a "holy shit i can't believe i used to think this was good programming" way

i still think it's funny whenever i reference jeremy muting themself after the FIRST TIME it came up where jeremy acknowledged that "muting themself wasn't any different from a human just choosing not to speak." i love my weird robot child.

i still like the "C-c-c-c'mon, Jeremy, can't you see, we've got a date, so concentrate! We'll start with us, just me and you, some deja vu, and then ensue: your microchip plus our friendship-" implying "the squip" being sung in the same lovestruck voice as the chorus usually sings "christine."

^ i usually pick a song to write the summary from based solely on vibes and character focus. the fact that this was from Upgrade rather than two player game was a dead giveaway regarding michael's intentions btw.

writing michael after that last mall scene has been so weird. on purpose. but like everything he says is a catchy line ending on a discordant note. the sudden pivot from slowburn to joking about having sex and humanity = romance. every time michael interrupts or talks over jeremy instead of going out of his way to set a good example, i wince lol. encouraging them to stop thinking so much. ignoring every one of jeremy's soft "no"s because they're inconvenient. Here Are Our Stereotypical Nerd Spots and Here Is Your Mandated Giant Teddy Bear and Here Is My Secret Condom. (jeremy sprinted into the sunset before we got to that part and we all thank them for it.) jeremy never once having indicated that they wanted to actually have sex any time soon but michael did everything in his power to make sure the date would end that way without a single worry about what jeremy told them about chloe.

i don't think it's spoilers to clarify that michael was in the driver's seat for all of that, but was in a situation where he was very incentivized to listen to the SQUIP. and jeremy looooves squips so obviously the SQUIP is the expert on this, not michael :P

madeline offscreen: constant orgies, pretending to be from paris, scheming femme fatale madeline for the 2.3 seconds she was onscreen: i swear quebec is better than people give it credit for wait don't go-

jeremy's definition of breaking up with someone is, consistently, running away from an emotionally charged moment and convincing themself that they hate them. lol.

christine accusing jeremy of talking at her was also a direct response to the author trying to get on their wikipedia-level-of-philosophy-knowledge soapbox again. btw on that note, observation selection effect seems to only be mentioned in places as a synonym for the anthropic principle. it is more specific than how jeremy defines it, being an existential thing about how "the range of possible observations that could be made about the universe is limited by the fact that observations could happen only in a universe capable of developing intelligent life" (~ wikipedia <3). i get away with a lot of bullshit claims, some of them even intentionally bullshit, bc the character making those claims is reading even less of the wikipedia article than i am.

but that was transparently just a nod to the book being one of the many parallel universes that are foundational to how the squip works in canon

speaking of references that delight me and me alone, in-character phantom of the opera reference re: pageboy

i think all the main/supporting cast all think they're the main characters. except jeremy! not because of jeremy 1.0's insistence that he's not a leading man, but because they have been so busy with observing themself that they haven't even considered anyone else observing them and coming to different conclusions. (see: the PA system joke with michael which alerted the ENTIRE SCHOOOOooool 🎶 to their situation, which in jeremy's narrative, was just a gag as part of a longer fun flirty convo with michael, brought up for laughs and then forgotten.) (it's not like it's plot relevant as in that it doomed them or anything, but just a signal that not everyone perceives the fic events like jeremy does!!)

they're trying to learn to be less self-absorbed (and i'm not saying that as an insult so much as an accurate description of their default thought patterns) but it IS a learning curve. for all their self-reflection, i would describe them as a very reactive person, which is also probably why they (along with jeremy 1.0 and keanu squip) constantly struggle/d with needing a sense of control

im aware that despite christine's in-character criticism of the narrative i wrote 🙃 that she's here for exposition and emotional closure. she knows and she's not happy about it. it's a consequence of writing the story i wanted to tell but that doesn't make it immune from criticism. it's a good question for me, that the story i wanted to tell DID involve removing her agency so much. but i don't see that as a question that needs a direct answer or for me to defend so much as something to reflect on after it's over. in the meantime christine ma'am i'll give you something good in the epilogue i prommy, and i'll add something about this to my notes now that i think about it.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

speed reading or skipping paragraphs is a thing both me and my mom

(amazing person) (had me so late i only knew her as cool old lady) (the only reason me and my half siblings and technically not related at all but fuck that siblings got to grow up as family bc she fought tooth and nail with her exes for it) (and by fought i mean gritted her teeth and was polite to the vindictive assholes bc her exs had money and legal status and connections and an education that translated properly so they could have white color jobs while she was being a single mom below the poverty line working part time jobs still somehow making her kids feel like they lived in a magical wonderland and she was the dragon who'd eat anyone that tried hurting us)

had in common

(she died almost a year ago the first anniversary is coming up this is fine)

she grew up also poor af in her home country but her parents sent her to a RICH GIRLS PRIVATE SCHOOL bc her grades were good and this nuclear scientist Doctor Doctor -insert name here- who couldn't do the most simple everyday things (her husband was the same) and was in actual awe of my grandma (who cleaned for them) 's ability to figure out how to hang a picture straight or fix the plumbing

(grandma led her catatonic older sister across an active war zone as a teen and also told stories to my mom about mice who came out at night to read scraps of newspaper she left on the floor for them, she was legally blind and still walking a mile to the local store when i knew her, didn't care a fuck that i didn't know her language and i actually learned several family stories from her somehow)

the Doctor Doctor was convinced my mom would be stifled in a normal school, hence the Everybody Else Here Own A Pony And A Summer House Meanwhile We're Living On The Shack By The House My Dad Is Building For Someone Else situation with mom in rich girls school because of her scores

But

the thing is, my mom was kinda shit at school

(she almost failed one class bc the professor got pissed she wouldn't treat him like a god as a good student should so she refused to do anything in his class except fight with him and he DID fail her, but the other teachers and principle had her do a test and whoops turns out she'd learned his class better on her own than most of his students hehheheh fifty years later she was still gloating about it)

and this has to do with speed reading and skipping because, in one class, you were supposed to take turns reading out of a book and then later pick a topic to write a paper on

well my mom's turn would come, and bc she was like me, she wouldn't actually read the words. She'd see the shape of the sentence, scan the first letter of every line down the page, add that to the topic at hand, and kinda just FEEEL what the section was about

you'd think someone would notice she wasn't reading it right but she was So Confident and Casual about it i guess everyone just went "well i must be reading it wrong her version sounds right"

this worked for her!

until the paper came due, and she was asked to read hers in front of the class

well she hadn't written anything, turns out.

So my mom (who outside of school drifted between wearing boys clothes to scare off her friends exes or leather mini skirts with fishnet stockings and no undies depending on her mood) she picked up a BLANK piece of paper, stood up, and read out the Best, Most Well Thought Out And Insightful Paper her professor had heard all day

good, right? easy peasy pass grade. cheato completo

unfortunately the professor liked it Too much

and they asked. for a copy

So my poor mom had to admit that not only was her brilliant little paper an imaginary thing that didn't exist, she ALSO had to cop to all the OTHER times she hadn't been reading from the book, just to prove to her teacher that her paper WAS fake

(my mom had a real strong if weird sense of integrity. she'd bend the rules into a pretzel, but she hated the idea of being thought of as a Liar, when it was just for personal selfish reasons)

(lying to help someone else was another thing zero fucking hesitation there only gleeful dramatics)

now im not anywhere near my mom in coolness levels, but i also have the thing of skipping around when reading and going by shape and recreating what it might say based on other clues instead of just, seeing each word individually

a lot of the times it works!

it's also why I Can't Get A Driver's License

Reading Manuals Doesn't Work For Me And There's No School Or Instructor Place In Reach So My Can't Drive I'm Gay Credential Is Permanent! It's enforced! I've been assigned pedestrian by whatever the hell seemingly inheritable trait it is that made me and my mom find books in the library via size, color, geographic location and anything OTHER than the gods-damned TITLE!!

(thnx mom) (had to hold the instructions for instant mac and cheese physically in front of my face the entire time it cooked) (you'd have laughed) (i laughed instead tho don't worry) (miss you <3)

[fierceawakening]

Re hp discourse:

I heard someone in the audience of a lecture comment that 'Harry Potter is right wing now'.

Now I know that the charitable reading of that statement is 'yeah, a rich heir kills someone upsetting the status quo and becomes an FBI agent' but their use of the word now connotes the author's transphobia.

But I feel like that association is very obscure relative to the size of the books' readership globally. Which makes the comment seem badly mistaken.

Yeah, like, the old coworker I follow on FB who posted about liking it... I was disappointed to see it, but not SURPRISED. His thing the whole time I knew him was playing Hogwarts the Whatever mobile games on every lunch break beginning to end regardless of quality, because that was his fandom and his thing.

Do I wonder if he might secretly be right wing? I mean, I guess he could be, but he's a super muscley gay guy who really didn't seem to me to not realize straight society would find him kind of weird and cartoonish.

So I would guess that if he has heard about it, it was something like "JKR turned out to hate trans people, fuck that but I love my wizards."

Which, I mean, I could get tied up in knots over it, but I could also be like "you know? Tumblr is kind of a politics petri dish. Are we sure everyone who plays this game is as aware as we are? Are we sure ignoring the creator's well known transphobia translates to BEING transphobic? Are we sure ignoring the creator's well known transphobia... translates to... hating Jews... because of some alt-right connections... that most people said were gone... when a game dev left?"

I guess for me it's... talk to your friends. Ask them why they're doing things. Nine times out of ten people aren't being intentionally malicious, or going "my principles are less shiny than Hogwarts."

I dunno, it feels to me like the revival of 2000's SJ stuff, where you were assumed to endorse anything you didn't vocally oppose.

I'd hoped we might be past that, kinda.

[mangosimoothie]

1 22 and 24 for ryan and atty <3

Eeee yay I'm glad I'm getting more of these! Ty for asking :)

What do they think of each other's family? And how does the family feel?

Ryan is definitely a little intimidated by Atticus's family. I mean they're The Winthorpe Lineage, one of the most revered and known families in the vampire community. His mom and dad are much more traditional/conservative than Atticus, and it makes Ryan uncomfortable when they mention their thralls/familiars or talk about mortals like food. But he does think Atticus's mom is charismatic and intelligent and charming in a lot of the ways Atticus is - the two of them get along. Atticus's dad is a little standoffish but so is Ryan so he doesn't take it personally. Atticus's parents (even dad) really love Ryan. They know that he's not a born vampire and that Atticus turned him, but they've come to accept that and are impressed with the work Ryan's done to master his new powers. Imperia (mom) especially has a soft spot for him. She thinks he's adorable. Like "I could just eat him up!" (figuratively. unless...) Atticus's sister HATES Ryan though, on principle. He's a turned and doesn't deserve the Winthorpe name. He still smells mortal. Ryan is mostly just creeped out and kinda afraid of her lmao Ryan is pretty estranged from his parents and doesn't have a lot of contact with them. They know about Atticus but haven't met him and definitely don't know he's a vampire . Atticus is curious about them and a part of him wants to meet them, but he won't push Ryan about it. He knows it's a sore spot for Ryan, and doesn't take it personally.

22. What's different about their backgrounds? Do those differences affect the relationship?

A LOT. Atticus: white, filthy rich socialite vampire family who are extremely loyal to the Lineage. Atticus was pitted against his sister so they would be competitive and work harder to become more powerful. It worked but gave them an Azula and Zuko type relationship lmao. Ryan: POC working class mortal family with pretty hands off parents who blatantly liked his brother more than they liked him. His brother is his absolute best friend in the world.

It affects a lot of their values. How they feel about work (Atticus: working is pointless; don't do anything unless you love it. vs Ryan: working hard is a necessary evil to survive under capitalism and I take pride in what I've accomplished through working hard at it and being dedicated to that), money (Atticus: literally does not know how much money he has because of infinite generations of generational wealth. vs Ryan: weird about letting Atticus support him financially, much more frugal) and even their aesthetics (Atticus: MAXIMALIST. Loves STUFF and THINGS and ITEMS vs Ryan: Minimalist. Only wants what he needs) Class and race and upbringing are huge. I think there are just some things that Atticus will not be able to understand because of that, but he does try his best.

24. How did they fall for eachother?

If you want the full story 👀

A "brief" summary: They were both contestants on The Bachelorette, and well...they lost the plot. It started off a simple arrangement--Atticus needed a source of fresh blood because blood bags weren't cutting it, and Ryan had a type of blood cancer that essentially gives you too much blood lmao. Kind of a no brainer that they'd meet up to help each other out. The more time they spent together, the more the tension built. There's something inherently intimate about feeding on someone. They also got to know each other on a deeper level. They'd found a blindspot from the cameras and so they could talk at length about whatever they wanted without it being recorded. Atticus was immediately smitten with Ryan. He found him dark and fascinating and easily saw through his prickly exterior to the loving, soft, broken man that was underneath. Ryan saw that Atticus saw him. They were able to bond. But Ryan's internalized homophobia and jealousy about Atticus getting on so well with Aja soured things before anyone could say how they felt. Atticus chose to leave the show, thinking Ryan wanted to be with Aja and not him. But then he came back for Ryan, confessed how he felt, and they both realized what a stupid misunderstanding the whole thing had been. It was a dumb, twisty love story that could've been a lot easier if one of them was just like "hey I think you're cute" but that's not how either of these idiots do things.

If you’re reading this send me some numbers from this prompt 💕