#and he never admitted to being wrong

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[frostgnawdraws]

failure and futility

for day 2 of campfire fest! prompt: third eye (and i guess could also count for explosion, or a lack thereof lol) @outerwilds-events

[autoauthor]

Sex is a Senju Conspiracy

So, if you read the tags on my post about Tobirama being a, "well, actually" kind of person, you already knew about this idea of mine.

Here's how it would play out:

Tobirama and Izuna are fighting against some sort of third party. Allied by circumstance but not by choice. They're distracted by flirting insulting each other and the enemy shinobi gets frustrated that they're still losing and insists the two of them just bang already and get over it.

Izuna, rolling his eyes, chastises this person for actually believing sex at their age. (Maybe they escape in the confusion or maybe Tobirama deals the finishing blow so he can address the actual problem properly idk they don't matter) Tobirama is distracted from fighting his longtime rival with his intrinsic need to correct people.

First, he tries to verbally convince Izuna that sex is a real thing. Izuna claims that Tobirama is a Senju and cannot be trusted and probably has an ulterior motive. They argue in circles for a while - neither of them gets anywhere.

Then Izuna finally demands that, if sex IS real, Tobirama should prove it! Tobirama takes him up on the challenge. Cue fade to black.

Next we see the two on the battlefield and Izuna charges at Tobirama. He is pissed off because he's learned that sex is supposedly something you have to be married to do which means he'll have to marry Tobirama! He's not quiet about this confrontation which means that both their families now know that they've done the deed.

Tobirama now has to face his own clan disapproving of him sleeping with a Uchiha AND the Uchiha's disapproving of him sleeping with Izuna. He takes the only out he can see and claims that, actually, they didn't have sex as there was no penetration.

This does not actually help things. Both clans are still reeling and now Izuna is once more claiming he lied about sex being real.

(Look, Izuna may actually be that sheltered by his family. Or he could be taking the piss. OR this could be some convoluted revenge against Madara for treating him like a baby. The point is that it's left 100% ambiguous.)

[moeblob]

Shockingly I named some OCs recently and fleshed out the deity lore a bit for my "guess i'll marry the demon lord?" plot.

Solei has existed since near the start but Mehra and Valdas are new to the concept and all three? Petty. They're technically the Trio of Peace cause that's kinda their goal and duty to their world but really, Trio of Pettiness is suitable as well.

[cheese-n-crackerjacks]

I wanna see Scout after he’s taken time to overcome his internalized homophobia. Like before, if anyone made some kind of comment he’d adamantly defend himself like “I’m not gay! I like girls!” But after some much needed thinking and advice from close friends, now he just beats the shit out of any homophobe he meets. Like if the team was in public and heavy and medic share a quick tender moment, anyone who would dare even look at them wrong would get a face full of Scout’s bat

“You got a problem? Wanna mess with my friends, huh? What, ya hate love or somethin?? Get back ‘ere!!”

[arceeapprentice]

since damian doesn’t really have his own green lantern, i decided to create one: tala >:3 more information can be found here about her but a very basic summary can be found here.

tldr version: tala is a 13-15 filo-american that uses her green lantern abilities to be a magical girl bc she’s a HUGE anime fan. with damian also being an anime fan… u can imagine the chaos that ensues

damian & tala hcs

hal jordan is her mentor, so you can imagine the amount of annoyance damian holds for her. much like her mentor, she’s impulsive and acts before she thinks. but she has a big heart and always aim to do the Right Thing. much like batman, damian often insults her but unlike her mentor… she never really catches it. if she does, she’s left unbothered

damian follows her tumblr + ao3 acc. he did it to figure out her secret identity but she all she does is post about anime & write precure fanfiction. he does NOT find anything useful except what she believes is the Correct Ships for sailor moon

they discuss anime together. while tala leans more to the magical show genre, she enjoys shoujo. and with a lot magical anime girls being apart of the shoujo genre they are able to bond >:3 she makes damian watch anime and unlike hal, he’s able to follow up with what’s going on. she gets so excited about that and declares him as her “best friend” (he refuses the title but can’t help but feel warm and fuzzy inside)

being the youngest in the family… they complain about older siblings. while tala only has one, that one is equal to damian’s 5… her sister makes fun of her interest in anime (despite watching it with her in the past. so, if anything, her sister is a hypocrite)

damian actually enjoys some of the fanfiction she wrote. he actually makes fanart for her works. and when they get older & tala needs a job… she becomes an author and damian (who wants an outlet for his superhero work bc that shit is stressful!) is an illustrator for her works

i imagine they’d meet thru being apart of a team together, all with heroes their own age and NOT friends with damian’s other family members bc i’m tired of him being friends with characters that were initially the other batfamily’s teams (kory for jason, raven for damian, etc)

it’s great for both of them because neither have worked with a team before outside of their own mentors (hal jordan or bruce wayne/dick grayson) with other members they’re challenged to work with new ppl (which u often deal with in life threatening emergencies) + learn from each other

[mxtxfanatic]

Hello!

First - general well wishes on your birthday month and onward.🎉😊🌸

Second - what things do you enjoy about Mu Qing's character? And kind of expanding on that - what things do you enjoy about the Xianle trio in general?

Third - I am so tempted to read MDZS after seeing your WWX's appreciation posts last month. I didn't read all the posts in depth but just seeing them pop up was so wholesome and sweet. Like, this is a well loved character for you and others and it showed in all the fun and thoughtful posts that were shared last month. 🌸 In my head I am like, I want to get on this and read it now. 👍🏾😊

Thank you, thank you!

On Mu Qing: I like that he sticks by his convictions but also can (eventually) take an L. For better or worse (because some of them are actually terrible), Mu Qing stays consistent with his opinions and morality for the 800 years that we see him, including being A-ok with sacrificing innocent lives for the safety and comfort of his loved ones. But while this would typically make him a villain—and he does spend a good chunk of the novel as an antagonist—the thing that redeems him is his willingness to change. At the end of the day, Mu Qing doesn’t want to be a villain and, thus, changes his beliefs and behaviors to match being a decent fucking person, which is something that 95% of all mxtx villains and antagonists are simply unwilling to do.

The lava pit apology is the perfect encapsulation of this: Mu Qing spent 800 years trying to convince himself that Xie Lian is just a hypocritical version of him, then another few months of the present timeline trying to gather proof of this, and when he no longer can deny that fact that he’s been in the wrong the whole time, he fucking apologizes. He gets over himself! He admits he’s wrong! He confesses that what he wanted was not to be superior but to be a friend! And that’s what I love and why his stans piss me off so much about how they discuss his character.

On the reread: thank you! Admittedly, I had to skip some of the things I probably would’ve loved to go more in-depth about from this reread because it wasn’t on-theme and also character embargo, but I’ve saved those threads for December ☺️

[wyrmwhispers]

On the idea of “is Paul lying about this being the best path” my interpretation is no, he's not. At the very least not purposefully lying, although it may not be the actual truth. And by that i mean that there's no future where all the Harkonnens die miserable painful deaths and then yippee the Fremen rule Arrakis and Paul is there living happily ever after with Chani, that he sees. but what i do think is true is that the path Paul chooses is the one that allows him to meet all his goals which, in relative order of priority I'll say are:

revenge on the harkonnens

keep the people he loves alive (jessica, chani, alia)

free the fremen from harkonnen control (maybe, if it's convenient or if he has time)

and the really shitty thing about this list is that number three is extremely convenient and helpful for number one but not in a good way and number one is really non-negotiable for him. Like from his perspective he needs revenge against the Harkonnens, that's why he joins the fedaykin because fighting against the Harkonnens like that feels like revenge. But the idea of taking it all the way to the top and getting revenge not just against the Harkonnens but also the emperor for killing his family and the entire imperium for standing by and doing nothing is too tempting for him to ignore. And he caveat on the second point is that the people he loves being happy isn't necessary just that they're alive. (*cough cough* Chani in the movies *cough cough*)

So i think that the future Paul picks, the narrow way through is the one that satisfies all those best and you'll notice that “do right by the oppressed indigenous people” and “don't murder 62 billion people” aren't really on there. not because he doesn't care about those but… he doesn't really in comparison to the aforementioned goals. Post-water of life, he sees "the best path through" where he gets everything he wants and sees the jihad as an acceptable price and reasons it as "inevitable" whether or not it actually was.

all of this means that yeah, to him there very well may only be one way and yeah the one that he chooses is the best one from his perspective even if you've read the books you'll know that he kind of fails at point number two in trying to protect both Chani and Alia.

Lastly, in the later books Leto II talks about the Golden Path and that its the only way to save humanity and blah blah blah. Frank Herbert pretends like he mentioned it in Dune and Dune Messiah but he didn't. Although I do believe he had some ideas about it in Messiah but it wasn't fully formed until Children of Dune. How I always interpreted that in retrospect is that Paul saw the Golden Path but wasn't willing to make the sacrifices necessary (becoming a sentient sandworm god, living for four thousand years, etc. which... fair) and tried to half walk the Golden Path without ever fully committing to it and fucks it up and leaves it to Leto II. All of which to say, the Golden Path isn't a thing in the original book so the "narrow way through" is not the Golden Path because Frank Herbert hadn't made it up yet and its not what I'm talking about.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello love, how are you?

I know you have done a couple of this already, but may i ask for one where Thena is suffering because of her period and Gil is being a good boyfriend and taking care of her, pretty please.

Also thank you for all your works they are amazing 🩷🤍.

"Thena?"

He didn't get any response as he cracked the door open even further. Which, he wouldn't under any normal circumstance. But not only was this bathroom at an end of the school that no one ever used, he had gotten an inside tip.

"Babe, I know you're in here," he broached carefully. She wasn't in here for no reason.

"Get out."

There she was. But it didn't have her usual sharpness. Plenty of acerbic distaste, certainly, but it had a kind of morose undertone to it.

Gil pressed the door closed behind him, "come on, sweetheart. Sersi sent me."

There was a stall door between them, but he could hear the look of betrayal on her face. "That little-"

"Hey," he assuaged, pressing his palm to the painted steel. "She's at the mall with Dane--who I know damn well you wouldn't want knowing about this, too."

"Whom," she corrected him, although even that lacked her usual gusto. "And that doesn't mean you were the acceptable alternative."

"Thena," he attempted in a sweeter voice. He looked down at the feet under the stall's gap. He had some sympathy; he didn't think of it as nearly so big a deal, but there were probably few things more personal to a girl than this. "Is it bad?"

She took her sweet time answering him, and even when she did, it came out as a miserable little warble. "I can see it a little."

A little would be enough. Especially if she was wearing white jeans.

"Do you know when it started?" he asked, in he thought was a pretty calm and cool way--logical, as his girlfriend would most appreciate.

She sighed (heavily). "After, or maybe even during practice. I managed to slip away from the team."

Gil frowned. Wasn't it, like, girl code not to leave one of their own in this state of distress? "You didn't wanna ask one of them-"

"I wouldn't say I'm that close with any of them," Thena spat. He didn't think she had any real dislike for them, either. But then again, his girlfriend didn't excel at vulnerability, and maybe this was too much for her to even turn to her fellow woman.

She had texted Sersi in blind hopes that her sister was close at hand.

"Okay, here," Gil sighed, pulling up the bag he had with him. He looked up, and then down, "do these doors have hooks on the inside?"

"You think our school has the luxury of something like that?"

Okay, yeah, she had a point. He huffed, "well, I dunno, so you don't have to put your bag or purse or whatever on the floor?"

"I'm not saying it's not a good idea, Gil, but no, they don't have that."

She really was feeling like absolute shit.

"Okay," he gave in easily. He set the bag on the ground and used his foot to slide it in to her. She did snatch it away from his gaze eagerly. "Sersi didn't say which one you liked, so I got a little pack of both, and-"

"Thank you--out."

He sighed again, but there wasn't much more he could do for her at this point. "Okay, okay, but I'm gonna be right outside the door."

"You don't have to, Gil."

He made a face at the stall door again, not that she could appreciate it. "I'm not gonna leave you like this."

"You could, though."

He didn't even really have anything he could compare it to--what she must be feeling at the moment. And for someone who struggled to talk about her own discomfort like she did... "I'm sorry, Thena."

It was so, so quiet. But he caught it--the little sniffle. The telltale sign that her misery was not just mere anger or frustration.

"There's no need, Gil," she tried to dissuade him again, more genuinely and less angrily this time.

"Babe, you know I've eaten you out, right," he commented rather dryly, "it's not like I can get freaked out by your period."

"That's-!" For however strong it started, it gave way to her misery not a second later, finishing in a whimper, "different."

She was right, it was different. But he was trying! He just wanted to make her feel better.

"I'll be outside," he reaffirmed to her door, pressing himself to it as if she would know he was trying to comfort her like that. "And I'm not leaving without you, so don't even try it."

"Fine."

Gil pulled himself away from the door slowly. He lingered, in case she was going to change her mind and tell him to stay. But she made not even a sound, which wasn't even that easy to do with the crinkly plastic pharmacy bag he'd brought in.

He had even had the wherewithal to ask them to double bag it, for privacy reasons! He thought that was a pretty smart move, on his part. He had gotten both tampons and pads, which maybe was a little overkill. But he didn't want her to get stuck with one if she was more comfortable with the other. And he'd thrown in some pain meds and some chocolate, just for good measure.

Gil leaned against the wall outside the bathroom door. They were at the very end of the hall, by the door that led straight to the fields. Now that all the practices were over, no one would be down here until teachers left or cleaning staff came to do their thing.

His heart ached for his poor Thena, imagining her discovering the blood and too uncomfortable around her teammates to ask for help with it. He wasn't entirely sure where her ire with them started, or if it was for Thena reasons or something else. But the fact that she had slipped away from them to endure the misery for herself spoke to how solitary a creature she really was.

He stood up straight as the door opened and Thena emerged with the bag in the crook of her elbow. She was staring straight down at the ground. "How do you feel?"

"Humiliated."

Gil smiled down at the top of her head as she headbutted him right in the chest. He didn't mind. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her hair.

His first instinct was to say something to lighten her mood, maybe a joke or something. But he felt the faint but real little spots of warmth in the cotton of his t-shirt. He rubbed her back, "it's okay."

Thena had never, ever, cried in front of him. Not even when she told him about Ikaris laughing at her for being a virgin. He was still determined to kick that guy's ass one day.

She pulled away, rubbing her eyes to erase the last of her woes for herself. "Thank you."

"Of course," he frowned. Like he was doing some great thing by helping her out with this? It was pretty basic boyfriend stuff, he was pretty sure. "You know I mean that, right?"

"I know," she grumbled, and there was some of his Thena starting to emerge. She stepped away from him, her arms wrapped around herself.

"You want me to, uh," he tilted his head, "check if you're good?"

"I would rather die."

He chuckled; now that was his Thena.

"Just," she mumbled out, embarrassment written all over her. "Give me your sweater.

He did so in an instant, pulling his black hoodie off his shoulders and wrapping it around her. She extended her arms on her own, threading them through the sleeves smoothly. He made sure it sat on her shoulders and then gave the bottom a tug to verify that it did indeed cover well beyond her (cute) butt.

She looked at him as she started pushing the sleeves up.

"Lookin' good," he grinned at her with a wink.

She rolled her eyes at him, but the way she let him take her hand told him she was still feeling a little shitty about everything. "Take me home?"

"You got it," he assured as gently as he could. As much as he wanted to offer to take her out and do something fun, it wasn't about what he wanted. And if she wanted to wallow in her misery for the night he would ask and beg and plead to join her in that misery. "You know-"

Thena didn't even turn her head, just gave him one hell of a side eye.

But he smiled, braving on for the love of his young life. "As I keep reminding you, I am in this for real, babe. Like, real deal, long haul-"

"Yes, yes, you have said," she sighed, although he could see her starting to smile again.

He gave her hand a squeeze. "It's not like I was never gonna be around for...something like this."

It showed on Thena's face just how much she appreciated his delicacy with it, even after the fact.

"It's not a big deal--not to me, at least," he shrugged, hoping he was saying the right thing. All he could hope was that she was really hearing him and getting how much he meant it. "And if you ever needed help like this again--just call me, okay? Text me, email me if you have to."

She laughed at the suggestion, but all he needed to see was that cute smile, showing off her teeth. She had a cute laugh, too.

"I'll be there, Thena," he finished, pouring his heart into it. "In a heartbeat."

"I know, Gil." Well, that was the end of that. It wasn't up for discussion anymore, and he would be pushing his luck to try and continue it.

But he happily let her release his hand, only so she could wrap her arms around his one and press her face into his t-shirt sleeve. "You gonna let me carry that bag for you?"

"No."

"Okay, fine," he chuckled. Whatever she wanted--needed. Anything at all. He looked down at her as they continued down the hall, taking their good, sweet time. "Thena, I-"

"I hope," she prefaced, giving his arm an extra squeeze, "you're not about to say something I wouldn't want to hear on arguably the worst day of my life."

Okay, so not the time for an I-Love-You. Their first, he had to keep reminding himself, no matter how many times he had already imagined saying it to her.

"Yeah, no, totally," he mumbled, resigning himself to keeping it in again.

"Just-" Thena pressed herself even closer to him. "Just wait a little longer."

He looked down at the top of her head again (since she wasn't up to looking at him yet, apparently). But she didn't have to ask; he was going to wait for her until the day he died, he had already decided.

It wasn't even really up to him. Somewhere along the way, he had fallen beyond the point of no return, and he would do anything - literally anything! - for her.

Thena let him kiss her forehead as they continued shuffling along, the hum of the fluorescents and the crinkling of the bag offering a soundtrack to their quiet moment.

"Y'know, I heard baths are good for cramps. We could-"

"Not a chance, Gil."

[gayofthefae]

Found a new, concise way of putting it that I'm gonna try and remember so I can reuse it:

To say, as a straight person, that a queer character's queerness is out of the blue or unrealistic is to claim that they understand the queer experience to be able to identify inaccurate representation of it.

To call a character's queerness out of the blue as a straight person is to claim full understanding of the queer experience.

[polar534]

You know what isn't talked about enough? Bellara's companion questline. And just how devastating it is. Do me a favor and really think about it. Think about a person in your life that has effected you greatly. That maybe influenced you more than you've realized.  

I think we all have someone who could fit that bill.  

Now imagine that person left your life. Uncontrollable circumstances, or maybe they were controllable. Maybe it was something you did wrong. Or maybe it wasn't. Either way, they're not in your life anymore. He's not in your life anymore. Not like you'll ever have a chance to ask him. Or that you'll ever get a chance to be forgiven... 

You try and keep moving forward but you've attached so much of yourself to this person that it feels like with every step forward you're being torn in two. Will you even recognize the person you might be when you get to the other side? When you turn back and see the tattered remains of yourself lying in a trail left behind?  

Nobody seems to fill the hole left where he once was. The tear that is slowly destroying you down the middle. Others just don't understand. They'll never understand, they didn't know him like you did. They'll never know you like he did. 

You try and live for what you think he would've wanted. The idea you've created of who he was. Maybe you can keep him around just a little longer by continuing to search for what you both searched for together. Living on so you might never let anything slip by you ever again. Because that has to be the answer. That has to be what fixes what's broken inside of you without him. 

And then, that thing you were searching for? That he was searching for all those years? You find it. Against all odds, you find it. It falls right into your lap. And then it breaks. But that's ok, that's good news actually. Because it's longer you get to keep him around. Working on fixing it, late into the night, it feels like he is back with you, even for a moment. Every late night, aching back, aching hands. It keeps you focused. It keeps you grounded.  

It keeps him with you.   

The small family and life you've built up in the wake of his disappearance is under attack, so you do what you've always done and go to fix it. To triple check that they'll be safe. That you don't lose anyone else. But there's a dreadful feeling to this rescue. A familiar feeling. If it's familiar, if it... him, why does it feel so wrong? It's impossible that it's him. It's impossible that he would be tied to the horrors that are around you. So it's not him. He can't come back after all. He's gone.  

Then the impossible becomes reality. He returns.  

And he's come back wrong. 

Suddenly your entire world shatters all over again. Those crippling doubts return. Can I fix this? Do I fix this? What went wrong?  

The torn parts of who you are after he left separate further. Why does part of you want to stop him? Isn't being together what you've always wanted at the end of the day? If he's always been the one who knows you best, why don't you trust him in the way he is begging you to? If he loved you as much as you thought he did, why doesn't he trust you that this is all wrong?  

Why does accepting that he's back, that the thing you have wanted for so long, come at the cost of the world he left you alone to rebuild yourself in? 

You are Bellara Lutare and in a world full of gods and demons, dragons and nugs, your story feels so overwhelmingly human. 

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

The New Titans #55 (1989)

Batman (2010-) #641

…

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016-) #6

…

…

…

Batman and Red Hood (2011-) #20

…

Batman (2016-) #138

They sure do bAT&Tman. They sure as hell do.

Yet Jason never thought this way about you.

[olasketches]

the hate yuta is getting right now really reminds me of this one csm post

link to the og post

[birdricks]

honestly beth and jerry have maybe my second favourite relationship in the entire show just for how interesting and tragic it is. like its brushed aside a lot in favour of other stuff but they were really both just kids... and the saddest part about them is that they maybe do love each other but its always in some way artificial

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Ignore all logistical considerations of "would they ever meet each other under these circumstances". If you don't think Jules Bashir would have chosen to join Starfleet, imagine he is on the station for some other reason, or they meet in some other location.

I wanted to make this poll because I've seen various fics where Garak reassures Julian that far from being upset over him being augmented, Garak is grateful for it, either explicitly because (he thinks) they wouldn't be able to have their usual conversations if it weren't for the augmentations, or simply because he likes Julian "just the way he is" and wouldn't want him to be "different". I disagree that Garak would think like this (or at the very least, I think Julian would react negatively if he did, rather than be reassured), so I wanted to hear everyone else's thoughts.

[ra9in3z]

geppetto couldnt have been bothered to show any love for either of his sons 💀