#and like. what i had to say about this wasn't the point of the original post so I'm making my own

[olenoidedserratuspilled]

So this post ended up garnering a lot more attention than I expected, and it drew a lot of cluelessly optimistic people - which I suppose I should have seen coming. I am glad this many people saw what I had to say and thought it was worth sharing.

But I'm afraid my original point wasn't clear enough:

This isn't new, it's only the logical conclusion of a sentiment that's been allowed to grow and spread for the past 10 years at the very least. The warning signs have been there for a long time, and the few people who did care about them had no power to stop it.

Fast-forward to 2025 and that's still true: the few people who do care about this, about you, have no power to stop it - and the people who do have the power to stop it don't care. Back in the 2010s, the entire community was saying this would never happen, and that they'd never stand by it if it did, but now that it is happening, guess what?

Nobody's doing shit. Nobody who wants to can, nobody who can wants to. So the wound is allowed to keep growing and festering. By the time it gets bad enough that people can no longer ignore it, it'll be too late. It's only discourse now, it's just Twitblr drama, it's only a small minority now.

It won't be tomorrow.

You wanna know what my point is? What I'm saying and showing all of this for? It's simple:

Once the thoughts that "Calling men demons doesn't matter" and "talking about trans men the way you talk about cis men is fine" already coexist, anything and everything becomes excusable. The people willing to acknowledge that that's disgusting already have, and the people who aren't never will.

People - of all genders, races, religions and nationalities - desire an outgroup to rally against, and once they're rallied against an outgroup they'll look for more and more people to lump into that outgroup. Once you've been lumped in, there's no way out. Can't reverse entropy.

The time for discourse has come and gone, there's nothing any of us can say or do that'll change this - all we can do now is brace for impact. Marginalized men like myself and so many of those who reblogged my original post will just have to prepare for the reality of a world that's moving on without us, and neither wants us nor needs us anymore. But others have said this better than me:

Lastly: if this post ever reaches any of the people in my OP's screenshots, or anyone who thinks like them, know that I have no ill will towards you, and wish no harm on you.

But if you do manage to get everything you're fighting for, you will at some point be asked why we were left behind, and you will have to either lie or admit that you allowed it to happen.

So pray that you never grow a conscience.

I don't think very many people will see this post, but I needed to get this out there anyway:

The prevailing sentiment within transmasc communities right now is that the people above are only a loud, terminally online minority that holds no meaningful sway over IRL spaces. I won't deny that.

But you have to understand that rhetoric of this kind spreads easily - and that there's nothing you can meaningfully do to stop it from spreading. There's no amount of discourse that will prevent people from falling for the rhetoric you see above, nor any amount that can convince them to leave it.

This mentality is going to spread, it already is. I'm not here to offer a solution, but a warning: transmascs as a whole, and very likely many other groups besides them, will at some point have to cope materially, psychologically and emotionally with the reality of an LGBTQ+ community that does not include them.

I don't say this out of malice, and I do wish it weren't the case, but at this point I've also accepted that it'll happen. I urge that you prepare for it in any way you can.

[yandere-sins]

The Octopodes' Tale - Chapter II

Thank you everyone for voting ♥ It's time we actually get to know our new, sweet yan, isn't it? Wonder how you guys will decide this time, especially if you have read about the facility and the Professor in the previous MerMay story, hehe! ;) Fandom: Original Content   Pairings: Yandere!Octopus Merman x GN!AFAB!Reader Words: ~2k  Warnings: Yandere, Monsters (Tentacels, Oversized Mention, Mermaids, Monster Appearances, Sharp Teeth, Claws), Fear of potential harm to human/animal

"Excuse me!" you repeated, this time firmer, standing up straight. Everyone was now finally giving you their full attention, minus the guards with their guns still pointed at the man in the pool. Questioning glances were thrown your way, and your heart throbbed from nervousness as you felt the eyes of all these great researchers on you. They had decades of experience combined that you'd likely never reach if the facility decided to kick you out for the unnecessary ruckus you caused. And yet, you had to admit to yourself that the truth was more important than your pride. Even if it wasn't in this research field, you could still enjoy and care for sea life. But if someone were to be harmed because of you, that's not something you could easily get over. 

"It's my fault! That guy didn't do anything, really. I realized someone was with me in the room after I left, and I freaked out when I returned and found a struggle in the water! I didn't want another person or the octopus to get hurt, which, by the way–"

Directing your focus to the guy still bopping in the water, you gave him a stern glare. "You should get out of there, that's not a pool to swim in! It's the octopus's home! You'd not appreciate someone stirring up your home either, would you! That poor thing must be so frightened right now, I can't imagine what it feels like!"

Stunned silence. 

Everyone stared at you, their mouths agape, and you felt the heat burn in your cheeks as your shame made you think about where you had gone wrong. Even if you did the right thing, they were probably horrified by your reveal and the commanding tone of your voice. You wanted to drown yourself in that very pool beneath your feet in that moment, but thinking about them having to fish out your body only made you more ashamed. You should never have come here; this was way too much embarrassment for one day!

Unexpectedly, the silence vanished, replaced by loud laughter all around you.

First, there were chuckles from behind you, then a bellowing laugh from the Professor. Soon enough, everyone had a full-on laughing fit, and even the guards gave each other looks as if to say, "Really?" their stances relaxing just a tad, even though their weapons were still raised. 

Perhaps the only one that wasn't laughing was the guy in the water. However, you were glad to see he was getting closer to the pool's edge again, seemingly ready to finally get out of the tank. If you had helped anyone that day, at least the poor octopus who was confined here and had to endure all of this. Hopefully, it would recover from the stress, considering how fragile marine life could be. 

Immediately, the guards snapped back into focus as the guy grabbed the metal grates around the pool, and you felt the frustration bubble inside you. The researchers were still laughing at you, the guards kept stopping the man from getting out, and no one cared for the poor specimen in the water, denying it the calm it deserved! 

"Let him get out! Isn't protecting your specimens the most important thing for you guys?! You are ridiculous, it's not like he can run away from a locked room!"

Squeezing past the guards, you knelt next to the man, immediately feeling thrown off by how huge he was. Worry crept up your spine as you crouched beside him, and although you remained open-minded, it was unsettling as he was more than twice your size. So, even though you wanted to hook your arms beneath his and pull him from the water, you went for only one arm instead, tugging at it with as much strength as you could muster after exhausting yourself in the water. 

Thankfully, after cocking his head a little and watching you struggle, the man finally did his part in slowly moving with you. None of your muscles could truly move him on your own, but with his help, you pulled him up on the metal. You managed to get his torso out of the water just in time before your strength ran dry, someone placing their hand on your shoulder as if to relieve you. Immediately, you felt your and his heavy body sag, his shoulder leaning against you awkwardly as you turned your head to look at the Professor standing behind you. He gave you a slightly pitiful smile and his fingers gripped your shoulder tightly, pressing painfully into your skin. He looked very different from the old man you had met before, the smile not reaching his eyes as they drilled into you from above.

"Your sense of justice honors you, but I think you should take a good look at the specimen you're trying to help. We wanted to wait for you to realize it on your own once you started working here properly, but it would be a disservice to everyone if we kept you in the dark any longer."

Your brows furrowed in confusion as you watched the Professor give you an encouraging nod towards the man you were still clinging on to. Slowly, you turned your head, glimpsing at his face, a cheeky grin plastered on it. Besides his size, you thought there wasn't much special about him. But the longer you looked, the more uncanny he became. His skin had a warm tan, almost reddish and feverish, but icy cold to the touch. His eyes still had the golden glow you had seen before, but there were many different colors melting into each other, his irises dotted with orange and red that made the yellow pop even more. And then his mouth came into view, and you were unsure how you could have missed the pitch-black teeth and the jagged yellow tongue shining forth from behind them. 

You let go of the man at once, your instincts tingling in your mind again like before. Something wasn't right about this guy at all, and you couldn't pinpoint whether he looked wrong or simply sick to you, but either way, his appearance was uncanny. You didn't understand what was happening until you looked over his shoulder and down his body, tan skin turning into a pure red mass around his hips. 

And from it, tentaclese emerged. 

"What…" you mumbled disbelievingly, slowly moving backwards on your knees and away from that creature. The guy leaned forward onto the grated floor, seemingly unbothered, while red tentacles poked out from the water, sticking and gripping the metal around him. They seemed to come after you with all the time in the world, creeping eerily into your direction, while you felt your own world stop spinning as you tried to comprehend what was going on. But there was only so far you could go until your back hit the legs of the Professor, who stood in your way with an unbothered knowing look in his eyes as you looked up at him with questions and a need for answers. 

"A siren. Perhaps more commonly known as mermaids—or mermen, like in this case. It's what we are all about here at the facility. We study and live with these creatures. After all, they, too, are creatures of the oceans, you see."

Stretching out his hand, one of the tentacles reached up to meet it, wrapping around it with fluid motions despite its massive size. However, when you looked down at the… siren, you found his strange eyes stuck on you, still smiling while he watched. 

"Leomaris is one of our most prized specimens here. You'll hardly find anyone more active and cooperative, which is why I wanted to assign you to him. He can be a bit playful, as you likely have guessed after this ordeal, but studying him will lead us forward on our path to learn about these creatures, I have no doubts."

Shaking his hand once, the tentacle let go of the Professor with the squelching sound, common to the suction cups. Instead, it gently snaked to the ground again, landing right in front of you, winding and twisting as was usual for these appendages. Your stomach churned as you weren't sure if you were in awe or disgusted, fearing you might throw up as you watched the tentacles closing in on you. Although your brain understood the information you were given, even now, watching the merman lower himself flat onto the grid and reaching out towards his own tentacle, long, black claws at the tips of his fingers playing with the winding red, you couldn't quite believe it. 

Mermaids were fairytales. At most, they were legends from the past, apparitions sailors had seen or animals they had mistaken for humans. And now you had to just accept that they were real? They actually existed? That the creature in front of you wasn't an animatronic or a projection? But you had touched it, and… it felt real. So maybe it was? They really existed out there, and this facility captured and studied them? And you could be a part of this? This amazing research?

"So?" the Professor grunted, slowly getting down on one knee again to be on your eye level, placing his hand on your shoulder. He gave it an encouraging pat to tear you out of the daze you were under, your head slowly turning away from the organism in front of you. Even now, your body was still screaming for you to get away. Never look away from a creature more dangerous than yourself, and give it a chance to attack. That's what helped with most animals, but you weren't so sure with this one. 

"Will you join us?"

The Professor smiled at you, nodding his head once again towards the siren, and you still felt frozen as you looked back at him. A big, red tentacle awaited you, hanging in the air as if waiting for something. Someone. You. 

You were supposed to take it and seal the deal. Start your work here and join the research team, even after what happened. You'd take care of this creature and study him alongside others like you. You'd get to do what you wanted and have the potential to be someone greater than you ever anticipated. If this research was finalized with your name on it… you couldn't even imagine the changes your life would undergo by accepting this position. You'd be part of something big and meaningful and everything you ever wanted.

But was it worth the risk? You knew nearly nothing about this type of creature. Even if the Professor was convinced of his willingness to cooperate with you on the research, you knew the legend surrounding mermaids and how they usually weren't interested in building mutual trust and understanding with humans. Who said he wasn't like the human-eating monsters from the books? With all the red on his body, he resembled the comical red devil, and he might very well be one. A predator waiting for you to fall once more for his tricks and jump into the water so he could take a bite out of you. Who was to say you weren't just a snack for him, and your instincts were right to warn you? If mermaids were real, what more crazy things would you encounter if you stayed?

Thoughts and reasoning as always, are welcome! ♥

[karmacharmeleon18]

I need more of your thoughts on the prequel and sequel 👀👀 please yap away my friend

LMAO and yap away I will!

I'm always excited for sequels, especially because there's SO MUCH we've yet to see about the Moriyamas!!! I need those bitches vanquished, seriously it's not a want, it's a need, and there's simply not enough time left for it in Jean's trilogy

I still think one book might not be enough??? But Nora was clear that #2 Kevin Day only needs 2 books... and since one is a prequel, we are left with only one sequel

I guess TSC3 will set things into motion and they'll be finalized in TQG?

Even if it's just one standalone sequel, I think it's a good idea to have if from Kevin's POV because he has insights on that family no one else has

I really, truly HOPE/WISH/NEED Nora is going in that direction, the "let's take down the Moriyamas" route, and Kevin can reasonably be the key to that

So I'm excited and I would be SUPER disappointed if nothing major happened in that regard

I just see no point in making one standalone sequel from Kevin's POV unless we see the fall of the Moriyamas, you know??? Like, what's the point otherwise?

Nora said she had originally planned a #4 AFTG book from Neil's perspective, about the new freshmen, the game against the dismantled and crumbling Ravens, etc. but then she realized it wasn't needed, there wasn't enough plot for a whole book: the Foxes' story was over

So if we're getting a sequel from a current Fox, there must be a specific reason why

(🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾 PLEASE NORA PLEASE LET THERE BE A REASON 🤞🏾🤞🏾🤞🏾)

If it was a trilogy, I could understand, it means Nora just wants to analyze Kevin's character and give him an arc of some kind; maybe a trilogy set at the same time as AFTG, giving us Kevin's perspective of canon events? Or a sequel trilogy showing how Kevin handles being in the world on his own after graduation? An ex Raven, former Fox, dealing with the real world? Both could work

But a single sequel?

Set right after TSC where criminal trials and Testuji's role are still up in the air?

Titled The Queen's Game?

Come on, the Moriyamas are getting what they deserve, right?

RIGHT?

I really hope/think Nora will use this one sequel book to tie up all the loose ends TSC3 will inevitably leave us with, because there's just not enough time to resolve everything in a trilogy finale

So I'm excited and hopeful and would be EXTREMELY disappointed if we got nothing, no justice, no freedom for our Foxes and Trojans

It would make no sense to me

Like, for example, I'm not particularly interested in reading a book about Kevin joining the Houston Sirens, aka Thea's team, and see their relationship develop. Nora recently made a post trying to "redeem" Thea to an extent, where she acknowledged that canon!Thea did not leave a good impression (but then she makes it all even worse in TSC? Nora, what are you doing?), but I'm just not interested in a KevThea book 🤷🏾‍♀️

It has to be something else

One book... The Queen's Game... The Moriyamas are getting 🔪

That's the only thing that makes sense to me 😭😭

Now...

About the prequel...

I'm terrified.

Like, I straight up don't know if I'll read it.

I'll most likely wait until my friends finish it and can give me a trigger warning list lol (laughing not to cry)

Because Nora undeniably has a fixation, even a fetish, for torture, sexual assault, violence in general

And the only thing worse than a story set in the mind of someone who survived the Nest and is out of it now (Jean, Neil in part) is reading a story SET IN THE NEST

Even if it's from Kevin's POV and he was never assaulted

I just don't trust Nora to be respectful and realistic when it comes to portraying abuse in a cult. She loves exaggerating the violence, in a way that can be triggering for anyone. So I don't know what I'll do.

One thing I'll say tho, it's that Kevin's POV is needed at this point

In 2024 Nora shared her list of favorite Foxes in order and it goes: Neil, Andrew, Kevin (etc.etc.)

And in the tags she said:

WELL NORA TSC AND TGR DIDN'T HELP!!!!

Now we dislike Kevin even more 😭

Because what do you mean he knew Jean was being raped? What do you mean he shrugs it off? What do you mean he was never raped because "they had no reason", implying that Jean gave them a reason to do that, brought it upon himself 🤢?

What do you mean he is the exact same type of arrogant, bossy hypocrite with Jean he is with the Foxes?

You really thought Jean and Jeremy's perspective of him would make us like him more??? And makes us think that you love Kevin???

In what universe?? 😭

A "non-Fox perspective of him" made Kevin look even worse

She really thought TSC would make us see Kevin in a more positive, kinder light???? (same for Thea)

So yeah, if she wants to redeem Kevin, his POV is absolutely needed at this point

Show us Kevin's humanity, his insecurity, his loneliness, make us relate to him, in a way that goes beyond the cowardice and hypocrisy shown in AFTG and TSC

(though considering Nora's track record, she could have Kevin fully say "Jean deserved it" and then be all *shocked Pikachu face* when people still hate him 🙄)

Now, what could The Perfect Court be about?

Riko, obviously

But when?

Are we getting the Riko-Kevin backstory? How they met, grew up together, joined the Nest and survived Tetsuji's abuse by clinging to each other?

How Jean disrupted the fragile balance they had found, how Riko descended into madness once given absolute power over another human?

Is it going to end with Riko shattering Kevin's hand, the ultimate act of fraternal betrayal?

And then fade to black, and the rest is history?

... or is it going to start with Riko breaking Kevin's hand?

Is the whole book going to be about Kevin knocking on Waymack's - his father's - door and joining the Foxes? So a direct prequel to AFTG? With lots of flashbacks about the Nest and Riko's Perfect Court delusions?

Or a mix of both? The first half is Kevin-Riko in the Nest, the second half is the fallout?

I don't know. But I know it's going to be graphic. And I don't think I'm ready

But for the sequel, I am SAT

[starryeyedstray]

"Do you remember that other RK800 at Cyberlife Tower?"

"Yeah, I remember your evil twin that held me at gun point. What about him?"

"Would you have shot him in the head if he was a human?"

"Of course not."

"Why?"

"Because-" Hank cut himself off.

Connor was watching him closely. His intent gaze betraying the amicable tone he had asked the question with. Instinctively, Hank's eyes flickered up to look at Connor's LED, but his head was turned away just enough so that he couldn't see it.

Hank put down the burger he had been eating feeling a sort of pressure. He wasn't one to mince words especially with Connor. Everything he said usually just slid right off of him. But lately he's noticed Connor taking the things he said with deeper consideration. It had him second-guessing himself. He fucking hated it.

"Because that would kill a human."

"But it's okay to kill an android?"

"That's not what I said," he quickly corrected. "He was trying to kill us. I did what I had to do to stop him. Besides, he wasn't like you."

"I'd say he was exactly like me before I started that investigation with you, Hank."

"Yeah, but he wasn't a deviant."

The silence that followed suggested that maybe Connor had doubts about that, but he didn't comment on it. "So because he wasn't a deviant, he wasn't alive. Therefore, it was okay to kill him."

Hank was getting frustrated now that he knew what Connor was getting at. He was suggesting that Hank was a hypocrite for blatantly killing an android when he claimed that they were alive.

"Look, I didn't kill him because he was an android. I killed him because he was trying to kill us and there was no other way to stop the bastard. Would have done the same if he was human. It's easy to incapacitate a human without killing them, but you gotta destroy an android to make them stop."

Connor looked down as he processed that. Hank wondered what color Connor's LED was spinning. He berated himself for relying so much on the damn thing, but lately Connor's face had been unnaturally neutral. Like he was withholding all the expressiveness he had been originally programmed with.

Connor finally fully faced him. Blue LED. Amicable tone. "I see." His LED flashed and he his eyelids fluttered the way it did whenever he received a message remotely. He straightened up. "I have to go now, Hank. I'm needed back at Jericho."

"Right." Hank watched as Connor began to turn away. "Hey, Connor."

Connor looked back at him.

"Is everything okay?"

Connor turned and gave him that signature Cyberlife android smile. Polite. Inoffensive. Disingenuous.

"Enjoy your meal."

-end-

idk i feel like once things settle down, i don't think connor and hank would be 100% buddy buddy. connor's got to figure out what being alive means and hank's gotta reevaluate his perception of androids. i think they'll be some growing pains in their relationship as they both continue to change as people.

i think at least in the beginning, connor spends a lot more time actually listening to what other's are saying and what that implies and internalizing that as he analyzes his own perceptions and emotions. which leads to him overanalyzing everything hank says and hank hating it because he's not used to filtering himself BUT he doesn't want connor to misunderstand anything. meanwhile, connor will default to politeness while he's processing things that may or may not bother him. his social programming usually provides him with appropriate reactions but he's sitting there pscyhoanalyzing those responses and defaulting to neutrality irl.

give it some time and i think EVENTUALLY we'll see them bickering and fighting all the time while still being ride-or-dies for each other.

[fafodill]

FIRMLY disagree that the reveal that James was a vicious bully in order to make Snape more sympathetic wasn’t planned before OOTP and was done in response to Rickman’s casting (though I do think his style influenced dialogue in later books)

Snape is a main character. Honestly, the secondary protagonist. The entire plot is made possible by *his* choices, not Harry’s (Harry is always going to oppose Voldemort, there’s no tension there). James’ sole function and only real purpose in the narrative is to serve as a villain in Snape’s origin story. Every single detail about the character - rich, athletic quidditch jock, Gryffindor, popular, vocal about his feelings for Lily, from a family of haircare product inventors - is written to contrast with Snape. Even the name James means ‘supplanter’. And JKR always knew Snape’s backstory, this is well documented.

If there were any unresolved feelings JKR was working through when crafting the James/Snape dynamic, it’s about her abusive ex husband who is clearly the visual reference for James.

Well I'm not an expert on the subject but from what I've gathered reading other people's brainy metas, it's indeed kinda recognized that Lily is one of jkr self-insert and James her ex-husband.

I think it may be a bit naive to think she had everything planned out exactly as it is since the beginning. She wrote the book over the span of what... 10 years or something? A person's writing style, objectives and motivation will evolve over such a long period of time.

It's suspected that at the beginning it was more or less planned to have Severus and James both being in love with Lily and Snape being a sore looser.

James is depicted as a very unproblematic figure thorough the first books. Only good things are said about him by everyone except Snape, who is still a school villain caricature at that point. Then 'all of sudden' in OotP there's this big reveal about truly awful, heinous acts he inflicted upon Snape, and again I'm no timing expert but apparently it's also at a time where jkr had finalized her divorce and revealed that it was an abusive relationship.

To me this makes a lot of sense on a human level. She may have wanted to 'correct' James's image in the book as it was deeply personal to her. I have personally worked on original worlds and characters with my ex and let me tell you, now that we're not together anymore it's really difficult to not scrap every part of him from it. It's like, 'this world is mine, you're tainting it, you don't deserve to be part of it anymore, get out!' Of course she couldn't get rid of James so she 'adjusted his image' in a way that served the plot. She may have been planning something along those lines for a little while but clearly a lot of things changed between the third and fifth books.

An author is a human who process their feelings through their work as well. After all, the act of creating comes from deep within us. Whether we want it or not, we always put some of us inside of our work. If she had put some of her ex in James then she needed to correct it for herself. She couldn't just let him remain as this amazing character because now - he wasn't anymore.

I do think tho that she had been growing fonder of Snape (possibly because of Rickman, she's been very vocal about adoring him in Snape's role) and he was an extremely important character regarding to the plot so she worked all the pieces out okay imo.

And JKR always knew Snape’s backstory, this is well documented.

I couldn't tell you. What I can say is that had she been super clear about what she intended for Snape and James from the beginning, then said beginning is quite wonky at best. You could argue that she learned to write better with time but like I said, the work evolve with the author (and also the public response/fandom sometimes).

And it's fine, you know? It's fine if she changed her mind. We know the books are flawed and littered with a lot of her emotions and beliefs regarding a lot of things so why would it be so surprising?

I don't mind personally. It's a good change I think.

[luniviravosshipper]

Does anyone else think about that one shot of Viren and Soren looking at each other right before Viren decides to tell Soren that the very visible giant pamphlet of paper in his hand is nothing and that he wasn’t planning on giving him anything.

And how despite there being a literal barrier of bars representing a symbolic separation between the two of them from actually getting through to each other and connecting, in that one shot it’s so clear they both absolutely see each other.

Soren knows Viren is lying. Soren knows Viren’s putting on a brave face for him. That there’s something else he’s carrying that he’s not willing to put on Soren’s back.

And Viren knows Soren is skeptical. Even worse, he knows he cares and is concerned about him despite pretending not to when what he’s literally trying to do is avoid putting more emotional weight on him. But him simply being there is doing that to Soren. And he knows that part too.

Soren can see Viren start to lose control of his composure and hardly contain his tears when he asks Viren what he needs from him. And Viren can sense Soren's gaze repeatedly softening and hardening and softening as he watches him and that just makes it all the worse for him to remain in control of himself.

But neither one of them acknowledges the other’s sight.

There is never, ever, a direct confrontation between them regarding their individual feelings towards each other or acknowledgment of each other's feelings. Even in Soren's final ask for Viren’s help. But it’s so clear that they both know what the other is feeling in every moment that they are together in season 6. And it's almost like watching an act too of them endlessly avoiding the big question and putting on all these different faces around each other except the ones that represent how, at their deepest cores, they truly feel.

They act like complete, total strangers, but they seem to know each other so much better there than they ever did before.

And just like... no wonder Soren is so scared to attempt to reconnect emotionally with Lissa or Claudia. His father had the perfect opportunity to, when they knew each other the most, and he refused to take it on the pretense that in order to allow for Soren to be strong he needs to be strong too—completely twisting what the message of only sharing information with someone if it will help strengthen them is actually saying and applying it to his own situation only to affirm his already established vices.

[cranberrymoons]

.

[americano-psycho]

So like, when I was in grade school I read this book. It was about a group of kids in the same classroom. The teacher didn't believe in tests because she preferred to see how the students learn from homework assignments.

One student constantly got an A+ on every assignment. Eventually, 3 other students cornered him and asked how he could pass his assignments like that. He explained that he didn't have time to do the assignments himself, so he built a machine that did it for him. It even wrote the answers in his handwriting. The other students wanted to use this machine too. They also had extracurriculars that took up time, and one of the students was struggling with understanding the materials in general.

He eventually let them use it. He trained the machine to write in their handwriting as well. Over the course of the school year, the students basically used the machine for every assignment. Not even glancing at their textbooks. The teacher noticed something was up and decided to go against her original plan and give them a test. When they did the test, only the first boy passed it, the rest did not. They had relied on the machine so much that they couldn't even recognize lessons from the school day, after all, why would they need to learn in class when the machine would just cover any gaps they missed?

They knew that the teacher was onto them for CHEATING, because that's what they were doing, cheating on their assignments. They got scared of academic failure, being held back a year, getting detention, all that jazz. So, they decide to unplug the machine and never use it again.

Only, the machine learned how to be energy efficient. It wouldn't shut off. The kids then do the only thing they could think of and threw the machine into the Grand Canyon. Of course, they were caught, got into big trouble, had to spend a weekend cleaning parts out of the canyon, had to repeat the year. They set themselves back that far, because they couldn't bother to do the work themselves.

I read this when I was 11? Maybe 12? And when I read this, I thought about what I would have done in this situation. If I had access to a machine that would do my homework for me, would I use it? I realized that I wouldn't. Because if I did, I would have to keep using it forever.

If I missed out on the lesson of, say simple addition and subtraction, then I would be completely lost next year with multiplication and division. Then the next year I wouldn't be able to understand fractions or geometry or balancing chemical equations or ANYTHING later on that needed the basic building blocks of addition and subtraction. I decided it wasn't worth it and would probably be more exhausting trying to keep up the lie of using the machine than it would be to just, do my work in the first place.

Now, seeing this generative ai wave happening in academic settings, I am incredibly worried about our future professionals. Even if you went and got a master's degree in a specific field of study, if you did it with ai then you have no clue how to do the jobs hiring for that study. Even if you have a coding degree, what are you going to do when you get hired and your boss gives you a piece of code to fix and it all looks basically like hieroglyphics? What happens when you plug that into chatgpt and the "fix" it gives you doesn't work? What happens when you have to ACTUALLY think through the problem and can't actually do the work you got hired for because you have no clue how to do it in the first place?

You fail. You fail at the job. You fail at the thing you are supposed to be an expert in. You got a job you have no qualifications for and now it shows, to you, to your coworkers, to your boss, to everyone. When that happens, you lose your job and everything you have that relies on that job to pay for it.

My point being, you're not escaping the F by using chatgpt, you're simply passing it on to a more important project. Take the F in school and actually learn something instead of pushing it to something more devastating.

[jewishcissiekj]

I do like Ahsoka in the TCW Movie a lot and I think Dave Filoni himself should rewatch that movie to get a feel of Ahoka again and submit an essay explaining how she got to where she is now from there by next week. might just be me tho

[queer-omens-in-the-archives]

.

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

The original post was more so a response and complaint to how many people will brush off Jason's account of being forced to dye his hair for Bruce in Morrison's run! While I can't say it was the intended reading of precrisis, it was very much how I read it- and what the Morrison run is going for (or at least, going for Jason believing it- at bare minimum going for jason lying with some truth but that's boring) (to clarify also i do still hate the Morrison run its just this specific moment) people tend to just brush it off as oh bruce would never do that or say Jason is being dramatic and lying, and it's the brushing off I take issue like!! There's basis!! Please!! There's basis!!!! This is not some nothing that was pulled out for edgy points!!!

Stop dogging on the most compelling part!! That as well also exists as a clear in text statement of Bruce having some failing for this! stop defending Bruce!!! Awah!!! (yelling for fun)

I understand he made every decision of his own accord! I even gave the comic a check over just now. A surface simply out of boredom. But there really is something I love chewing on about him doing it for Bruce's attention. I do fully agree that Jason acts for Bruce's attention. (And he doesn't know yet how much he hates being mistaken for Dick as this is the first Robin appearance, unfortunately for Jason, being Robin is deeply successful in getting Bruce's attention, poor guy)

He tries to distance them at first, but I think he loses his own ground once Robin permission is granted. Though very admittedly view on Bruce is nebulous and different for everyone + plus I need to reread all of precrisis again soon. It's hard to say fully i think, as this point in Jason's story does get kinda brushed off once it wraps up, and it's seeds are more focused on Jason not liking comparison versus Bruce himself. Though there is something to be said with how (post crisis i believe?) Bruce admits to Dick that he adopted Jason because he missed Dick, that also fuels alot for me

I don't think its masterminding or Bruce does it intentionally I think he just sorta does things and doesn't think of or imagine consequences for it! He's not trying, per se, to make Dick 2.0, its like... dressing your kid up in handmedowns and basking in how cute they are and remind you of your favorite and comparing while like, giving that child so many complexes about themselves. I dont think that made much sense,the important part is the first sentence where I very very do not think Bruce does this intentionally. I don't feel it too great a leap in reading either

My point is that Bruce is comparing Jason's situation (not having his own hero identity and being seen as and compared to another) and Bruce and Dick's situation (having their own hero identites that they can't reveal their civilian identities for) they're rather blatantly separate things. I do enjoy what you're saying on its Bruce trying to parent and misunderstanding Jason, I think it even fits in

It's especially bad thinking about post and Jason's death- I love mixing pre and post in my interpretations- and how outside the hero community he wasn't known as a separate Robin. Jason had no identity of his own and he died without one- he died unknown- to the outside world in these comics the robin lineup goes from Dick to Tim. It's important to me that Jason has the same costume as Dick, AND all the others get to be different later as Batman learns from that particular mistake. It. Goes without saying that this wasn't in the cards when the ego gratification speech was written- but as we have the full deck these days it's fun to play with them

Yes! Jason does alot for Bruce's attention! There is a point where when he goes back to the circus and is bored- thinking of vigilantism. The mask beckons, it is too late for him now. But absolutely absolutely I do think being a sidekick/partner to Jason is highly connected to being with Bruce. No one can be close to Bruce unless theyre apart of the nightlife, of which the comics make clear

Initially dying his hair was on his own, I was imagining Bruce making Jason continue dying his hair. And not in a way Bruce will see as intentional either, Jason is Robin now he needs to look the part- or won't people notice that Robin and Jason are showing their roots at the same time? It's for safety to keep dying. Etc etc. Or simply never encouraging Jason to stop or acknowledging his natural hair color. A whole host of things that could be that we don't see because pre-crisis itself just sorta ignores Jason is constantly dying his hair too TwT

Jason is excited about the suit, because no matter what he does look up to Robin and Dick himself, it also shows Dick's approval for him. Dick also encourages him to try it on. I dont think he was fully focused on Bruce in the moment, and There's not really a moment to breathe and deny it. But I do see you

I feel you put too much stress on Jason choosing Robin, as one was to prove himself and other was a gift. But it's fair enough to say. I do think my reading here still exists on the surface as the combination of Jason seeking approval and Bruce outright comparing Jason to Dick n having such ease on the first official outing. I mean Jason saying he wants pants whenever he's out in the cold can easily just be a throwaway line and not mean Jason is under a belief he's not allowed to change the suit, but its so much juicer to make it deeper

I see you I understand on how my view may not really be an outright and textual thing, certainly not anything in panel. (But I made this post because people already throw out the very IDEA of Bruce forcing Jason like this at all 😔 I'm fighting for it to not be talked about as some baseless Morrison garbage)

I cannot stress enough that Bruce did make Jason dye his hair like that IS a thing it wasn't completely out of left field made up by Morrison. I love complaining about Morrison's Jason but that aspect is literally from precrisis as many details about that Jason are

No, there is not an explicit panel of Bruce going "well hey you have to have black hair to be my son, fuck you". But the whole thing is that Jason is not allowed to have his own hero identity and that the general public and villians arent supposed to know there's a new Robin, which, pretty heavily implies he's meant to look like Dick as Robin. If Jason isn't allowed to give the costume pants (or at least, made to feel like he can't change that aspect), then yeah, he's gonna have to keep up dying his hair too

[eats-the-stars]

I feel like there are roughly two kinds of "painfully weird kid" that you can be during your K-12 school years. the first is your "I am trying so hard to be normal but I just cannot seem to hit the mark. there's just something wrong with me and I don't know how to fix it" and the second is the category I was in, which is your "everyone around me is so incredibly weird but they obviously can't help it so I will just have to accept this."

[sirfrogsworth]

How do you take a photo of time?

I've been watching the track events at the Olympics since I was a wee lad. It was a tradition in our family. We'd gather around our ancient low-definition 19 inch CRT television and watch tiny blobs compete against other tiny blobs and root for our country.

It was a bit like watching YouTube on your phone in 144p.

Several heroes emerged.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee was amazing.

You can't forget about Flo-Jo.

And then the Olympics decided NBA players were allowed in the competition.

Which formed... The Dream Team.

Was this fair?

Well... they won each game by an average of 44 points.

So... no. It was not fair.

Though it became more fair as time went on.

But, umm... yeah. The other teams looked like the Washington Generals and the US looked like the Harlem Globetrotters if they stopped screwing around half of the game.

But my absolute favorite Olympian was a runner named Michael Johnson.

He was cool as heck.

For one thing... gold shoes.

But he also had this crazy, upright, Tom Cruise-ish sprinting style that just made him look like a running robot on the track.

And in the 1996 Atlanta games he just trounced EVERYONE. I mean, it wasn't even close.

Yikes. Those losing blobs are probably really embarrassed.

Last night I decided to invigorate my nostalgia and watch the track events again. And I got to see one of the wildest races in history.

It didn't even last 10 seconds but it was one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever witnessed. Almost every runner won the race.

After I saw that initially, I was like... who the heck won???

Even in slow motion I wasn't sure.

This was one of the closest finishes in history. There has never been a race where all 8 runners were within this margin.

The arena was silent as the winner was being confirmed. The runners just kind of paced around waiting for official word. My best guess was the Jamaican runner, Kishane Thompson. But then the loudspeaker announced Noah Lyles.

The last tiny morsel of American pride burst out of me with a big "Wooooo!"

I forgot what it was like to be proud of my country. I wish it happened more often. But this young man, despite being last place in the first 3rd of the race, turned on the afterburners and won in a photo finish.

And that's when my inner nerd took over.

Because when they showed the photo finish image, it looked super weird.

Why is the track white?

Why do all of the runners look all warpy like that QWOP game?

So I went down a research rabbit hole to figure this out.

Photo finishes are actually fascinating. The first photo finish captured the end of a horse race in 1890. But that was mostly luck and timing. The actual photo finish mechanisms weren't used until 1937.

Originally they would film the finish line through a physical slit.

And the first horsie head that appeared in that slit would be the winner. This technology ended a huge aspect of corruption in horse race fixing almost overnight.

But we have come a long way since then. And I'd like to introduce you to the Omega Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate.

This slow motion camera sits fixed on the finish line of every race. The concept of the photo finish has remained remarkably similar to the 1930s approach. The camera sensor is specially designed to only record a vertical slit.

Only the finish line itself is actually captured.

And because it limits what it records to only that slit, it can capture 40,000 frames per second to get amazing temporal resolution.

So why don't the photo finishes just look like, well... this?

That is because the camera takes a picture of time more-so than dimensional space. I guess it would be more accurate to say it *assembles* a picture of time.

As the runners cross the finish line, the camera combines all of the little strips of pictures into a single image.

It's almost like if you tried to reassemble a piece of paper after it had been shredded.

Imagine each strip of paper is a picture of ONLY the finish line, just at a slightly different point in time.

What if someone stopped on the finish line and didn't move... what would that look like?

Once they got there, the same part of their body would just be repeated.

So the right side of the photo finish picture represents earlier in time and it just assembles the image strip by strip as time passes and you literally get a picture of time itself.

NEAT!

Okay, but how do they determine the winner from the photo finish?

I mean, that shoe looks like it is ahead of Noah Lyles!

Clavicles!

The IAFF rules state the foremost part of the torso must cross the finish line first. And the endpoint of the torso is the outer end of the clavicle.

So if you get this bone across the finish line first, you win the race.

Two more fun facts!

The start of the race is actually just as carefully timed as the end of the race. There are sensors in the starting blocks of each runner.

The starting gun also has an electronic sensor.

They have determined the fastest a human can react to the sound of a gun is roughly 100 milliseconds. So if you start running before 100 milliseconds they know you didn't actually hear the gun, you just got antsy and started running too early.

And the final fun fact...

Did you notice the Omega logo at the top of the photo finish?

That isn't superimposed or added after the fact. That is captured by the camera.

But if this image is composed only of tiny little slivers, how did they get the Omega logo to show up?

That is a little display. And it is synchronized with the Scan 'O' Vision Ultimate to show a little sliver of the Omega logo for each frame captured.

So when the final image is stitched together, it looks like a cohesive logo at the top of the photo.

Pretty clever, Omega!

[kermdoeswriting]

Don't Call Me That

Dick isn't entirely sure what it is about their newest teenaged recruit Phantom, but the guy absolutely gives him the creeps.

He knows it isn't the implication of a realm of ghosts being a real thing, no matter how much that implication has rattled his brain. But it is something, something else.

There was just some kind of certain air surrounding Phantom that tended to put Dick on edge whenever they're near each other.

It also doesn't help that the guy has the tendency to do things normal people wouldn't really do. Things like talking to the empty air like he's having a genuine conversation or staring off into one spot of the room like a cat watching a corner of the wall while hunting.

Things like bringing sudden chills to Dicks skin whenever he passes by or the way he seems to constantly breathe out cold air like a dragon for the fun of it.

Dick has caught him doing all of these things multiple times and most times, despite scaring him slightly, they were just harmless things about his newest team-mate.

But right now it wasn't really about that at all. Right now he's more annoyed than afraid of him.

For some reason recently, Phantom has been greeting him by his old hero persona rather than his new one. And its been eating at Dick every single time it happens, being reminded of the time he had first switched costumes and names to distance himself from Batman as a whole.

Except this time the person saying it had never even MET him in his original suit, so having Phantom calling him Robin was aggravating him faster than any of the other more important issues he should be dealing with were.

Dick originally attributed to it possibly being some sort of hero worship that he was going through, an attempt to impress him with his past history as knowledge. God knows, Tim wasn't any better when he had first met the poor kid at his doorway all those years ago.

But then Phantom had revealed that he hadn't even known Gotham was a real city nor did he know who Batman was up until a few months ago. That had set Dicks mental alarm bells off all over again.

It was weird all over and since it was just outright weird, Dick had decided to pull him aside to talk to the younger teen about it.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me by that name, Phantom" He had started off, watching as Phantom went through confused faces to figure out what this conversation was about. Dick just continued on.

"The name, Robin, is just really special to me and my family. And I stopped going by that name years ago, it would feel wrong to be called that again when I've outgrown it."

Phantom looked less confused now as it seemed to click altogether about what he had been talking about. The teen tilted his head at him, looking over him for a second before doing another one of his cat stares at the dead air behind him.

Dick just sighed for a moment but watched as Phantom came back into focus and genuinely looked somewhat apologetic.

"I'm sorry," Phantom started off sheepishly, eyes looking towards the floor for a second before looking back at his. "I didn't know you both went by that name at some point. I had mostly been greeting the little ghost attached to your side, not you, sir"

Dick froze at the wording, looking at Phantom with wide eyes. Phantom just continued without even looking at him.

"He always seems to be around you a lot and he was excited when he realized I could see him so I started greeting him whenever he was with you. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfy doing so."

Dicks breath hitched a bit before eventually choking out all the questions he had trapped in his throat. The suddenness made Phantoms eyes land back on his face again.

"What... What little boy? Did he say his name? What was he wearing?"

Phantom tilted his head again at Dick, looking more confused at Dicks confusion.

"What do you mean? It's Robin wearing the Robin costume?"

Phantom suddenly looked over to the dead air behind him again for a second, nodding his head and humming a bit before turning his attention back to Dick.

"He told me to say 'Big Bird you're such a dolt' to you. I don't know what that means but-"

Dick couldn't hear anything else Phantom was even saying to him. His breathing stopped and all he could feel was a small chill behind him, seemingly surrounding him in a small way that reminded him of a certain boys hug.

"Jason?"

[thatdisasterauthor]

👀 i would be interested in hearing the deviantart points rant

Alrighty, the deviantART points rant. For context, I had a dA account from the time I was 12 and used it steadily until I was about 20. I was also a volunteer moderator with them for about a year, and they even offered me a job at one point. (But there was no way in heaven or hell they could've paid me enough to move to southern California, and god forbid they offer remote work.)

dA was one of the original social media behemoths. Never quite to the level of Twitter or Facebook, but if you were an artist you were on deviantART. It was a fantastic site back in its heyday. Artists got their start on there, recruiters were on there, art directors were on there, the community building features were fantastic. Yeah, it had its share of weird shit, but point me to a website that doesn't.

Multiple famous artists got their start on deviantART. Back then, it was a place you got real, legitimate work from. A place you could use to build a real, legitimate audience. The titans of early 2000s digital art that pretty much everyone knows (in the West, anyway), the ones who still have a massive effect on art styles today, basically all got their start on deviantART. It influenced the entire western culture of what art looks like on the internet, and that bled out into what art looks like everywhere else because these people made beloved shows and comics and movies and books and everything else.

But one of the best things about deviantART was that it was created at a time before everyone decided social media had to be slimmed down to its barest bones. It was a complex site, and there was a lot to it. That made it really easy for all levels of artists (and just plain art enjoyers) to use, and easy for them to make it function in a way that worked for them. This fostered a great environment where people of all skill levels could interact, share knowledge, and just absorb skills from one another.

Now, one area deviantART didn't initially cater to people was built-in payment options. They had a print shop you could upload your work to, but it was like Redbubble or Printful; merch selling, not custom work selling. So if artists wanted to offer commissions, they'd have to take payments elsewhere. (Usually Paypal.) Which was fine! That worked great!

But, well. Corporations gonna corporate. I forget the exact year, but one day they launched a new feature called Points. Points were a site specific currency, and they were one of the first (if not the first) to have such a thing. There were also some other things launched with it, including the ability to accept commissions with points as payment. You could also use points to buy site subscriptions, badges, stuff from the print shop, etc., or you could gift them to other people. You could also cash them out for real currency, for a fee (I wanna say the fee was 10%, and less if you were a subscribed user, but I can't remember exactly).

The conversion rate for Points was 1 Point=1US cent. Which seems fine on the surface! But the problem was psychological, because what they didn't do was actually make it look like that. Points instead looked like dollars, because there was no equivalent to actual CENTS in the Points ecosystem. So, for example, lets say you want to charge one dollar for something. That would look like this:

$1

P100.

Or ten dollars for something:

$10

P1000

Or a hundred dollars for something:

$100

P10000

See the problem? They're the same VALUE, but points just look massively bigger. This was especially a problem for people who didn't know what the conversion rate was because they just didn't know, or they were from other countries and REALLY didn't know because it wasn't related to their own currencies at all. (I think there was also a max amount of points you could charge for a commission, like a couple hundred dollars worth maybe? It was low when you converted it to real currency, if I'm remembering correctly.)

It devalued the art market like a knife to the gut. People were suddenly taking commissions for literal pennies just because the numbers LOOKED bigger. And because deviantART was such a hub for the art community, it bled out elsewhere. Prices started to dip other places too, because people who DID understand the conversion rate knew they could go on deviantART and get shit for super cheap from the people who didn't know or care. Which made other people lower their prices to compete, and it just resulted in a spiral to the bottom.

Would the art market have still tanked in the same way without the introduction of Points on dA? Maybe. But Points were the first domino to fall, and they were a massive one. The art market has never recovered even though deviantART has been 90% dead for going on a decade.

So yes. There's my internet history rant on Points and art values. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[gyaruhana]

please do one where Thanos starts off as your unlikely ally in the games, protecting you from danger and helping you survive. Over time, his protectiveness becomes obsessive, and he begins eliminating anyone he sees as a threat to keeping you by his side even as you start to notice his unsettling behavior you can’t escape his grasp🙏

Thanos/Choi Su-Bong - yandere bf

Synopsis: In an attempt to escape from Thanos, you join a game promising money that will help you escape him. Unfortunately, he also seemed to have joined the game.

A/N: I may have combined this with two other requests bc they were all so similar so.. i hope thats okay !!

Warning: yandere thanos, choking

If you had told your younger self you’d be in a game of death with 45.6 billion won up for grabs, you wouldn’t believe it. And yet, it’s true. After the tragedy that was Red Light, Green Light where many people met a rather unfortunate fate, you realized it’d be in your best interest to find someone you can trust and form an alliance with them.

Unfortunately for you, your boyfriend, Thanos, happened to also be a part of the games and had been watching you from a distance since he spotted you in the first game. You had originally wanted to get away from him because he was nothing but toxic though now it seems Thanos was one step ahead of you. That, or you just had terrible luck and Thanos decided to come here on his own accord. 

You didn't have time to think about it though because he suddenly got up and left his little group behind to make his way straight to you. He didn't seem happy at all. Perhaps it was because the last conversation you two had was an argument that was left off on a bad note. 

“Where have you been? Were you avoiding me? That makes me really fucking mad, you know,” he says as he grabs your wrist so you can't just walk away from him. Not like there was anywhere to go now. You were stuck with him here. 

“I was just taking some time for myself,” you respond defensively. You really just wanted to get away from him which is why you were here in the first place. Your original plan was to win some money and then disappear so you'd never have to deal with Thanos and his crazy behavior again. It was suffocating to be near him.

“Time for yourself? Don't fucking lie to me,” he says as he brings you closer to him. Nothing about him was gentle. Not his touches, or his kisses, or anything. “Well, you've had your time. You're not leaving my side now,” he continues as he looks down at you with a glare. He wasn't leaving any room for you to defy him. In his eyes, you belonged to him. You were his property and that meant you couldn't go rogue and do what you want. 

“You don't get a say in that,” you say as you lean back slightly to try to create some distance between the two of you. He lets out a bitter laugh before grabbing the back of your head, entangling his fingers in your hair, and forcing you closer. “Yes, I do. In case you forgot, you're stuck in a death game with me. Do you really think anyone else will help you? Nobody else here gives a fuck about you. The moment they get the chance, they'll let a bullet go through your head,” he says as he looks down at you with a slightly crazed look. 

You'd like to make a counter point but he’s not exactly wrong. A lot of the people here didn't seem to be trustworthy. Not like Thanos was any better but he probably wouldn't purposely kill you if you didn't piss him off, right? As much as you didn't want to, you realized you didn't have much choice. Unless you want to make an enemy right after the first game, Thanos was your only hope of surviving the rest of the games.

“That's better. Just keep your pretty lips shut and let me do the talking,” Thanos spoke with a slight smirk. You didn't respond to that knowing that you'd likely make some sarcastic quip that would piss him off if you did. You didn't have a choice this time. You couldn't run away to another country. You had to give in just this once.

You'd soon come to regret that decision. 

Somehow, Thanos had only gotten worse. He was always right next to you, no matter what. Either his hand would be over your shoulder or he'd have a tight grip on your waist. When it was lights out, he'd force you to sleep in the same bed as him. He'd kiss you all the time too but it was always rough with teeth clashing against each other and his tongue shoved down your throat.

You didn't notice it got worse until it was far too late. 

The moment of realization was during the third game. The game was called ‘mingle’ and it was simple enough. A number would be called out and you'd have 30 seconds to form a group of that number before getting inside one of the fifty rooms. 

Everyone stood on a circular platform in the center of the room and, per usual, Thanos had his arm over your shoulder, keeping you close to him as he spoke to his other stupid friend. The platform began to spin slowly as a childish song played. When the platform came to a sudden stop and a number was called out you formed a group and ran into a room. 

It was all going fine as you planned strategic moves and managed to keep on surviving. At least, it was going well. Until the last round when the number 2 was called. 

Thanos had immediately taken your wrist and dragged you towards a room, leaving behind his idiot friend without a second thought. However, the room was quickly stolen by two other players. You thought Thanos would just go to the next room over but that was not what happened.

Instead he pushed open the door and immediately grabbed one of the guys by their hair. He didn't think twice before he forced him out of the room. The other guy made an attempt to help but Thanos slammed him against the wall, his hand going around his throat as he choked him. The look in his eyes was far more scary than you remember. You could hardly process what was happening before the guy was punched in the face and pushed out of the room. 

Thanos pulled you in just before the door closed and locked. The sound of gunshots rang out soon after as Thanos huffed in annoyance. He looked guilt free despite the fact he was very much responsible for the death of two people. Actually, now that you really thought about it, he had killed other people in the previous games too.

Fuck. You were beginning to regret your choice of becoming his ally. You'd have much rather found someone else who could protect you from him because he was clearly fucking crazy. Crazier than he used to be. You thought he was just a manipulative, toxic bastard. You didn't think he'd be truly capable of murder. 

“Fucking dickheads,” Thanos mumbles under his breath with annoyance before glancing at your face. The corner of his lips quirked up when he noticed your expression and he wandered in front of you. “What? Something wrong?” He spoke though he already knew exactly what you were thinking.

“You killed those people,” you said as you looked up at him with a combination of fear and disbelief. He laughed in response before reaching a hand up and grabbing your face. “For you, baby. I fucking killed them for you,” he said as he looked down at you with a smirk. He found your expression such a turn-on really. The idea you were afraid of him meant you'd submit to him and that's all he wanted.

“You're fucking crazy.. crazier than I thought,” you spoke as you tried to step back and create some distance between the two of you. In response, he slammed you against the wall and got very close to you. 

“You're only just realizing this? You don't realize when I snapped the ankle of that bastard who looked at you so he'd lose? You didn't realize when our ‘friend’ and I returned but he had a bleeding nose?” He spoke as he got into your face with a dangerous grin. Well, when he said it like that, it became abundantly clear he had been killing and hurting people left and right since day one and all for you. You just had been too caught up in his behavior towards you that you didn't notice how he acted with others.

“Mm. Fuck, I love that look on your face. You're so afraid. Good. Because you're going to learn that you're mine forever, yeah?” He spoke as he brought a hand to your throat and squeezed it tightly. He let out a laugh as he choked you like it was the funniest thing in the world before slamming his lips to yours in a rough kiss. 

It was then you realized that, no matter how hard you tried to escape, you were his now - you always have been - and you will never taste freedom on your tongue again.