#and we deserve to be treated with respect

[biancadoes1]

The most mind boggling thing to me is that people place Nic on a pedestal and then hate Luke. Nic is not a perfect person because nobody is. If you truly love one then you should love the other because their love for each other says more than we will ever know.

Bianca, I know you have some trolls, so I’m gonna give them something that they can get pissed about. I know that this statement will break some people’s hearts:

You. Do. Not. Personally. Know. These. People.

Get that through your thick skulls, you ugly trolls. They’re human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. If you don’t like them, don’t say shit. Nobody cares what your no good, lonely, jealous ass thinks about Luke and Nic. Once you start living your OWN life and stop living through Nicola, I promise you people will not be such toxic bitches. And just a couple more statements for the road:

You. Are. Not. Nicola. Coughlan.

Luke N wouldn’t look at you twice on the street (because you’re not Nic). Even if June 13th had gone differently, it wouldn’t change the fact he doesn’t want you.

Nic-solo stans 🤝 Luke antis:

Just know that Nic is the president of the Lukey Newts fan club since 2019. She would HATE you for hating him. I stand by that because even though I know that I don’t know Nic, she defends him everytime.

Jakolas 🤝 Luke antis:

The same group that attacked Luke and A are now trying to be high and mighty. No, just say you hate Luke.

Call a spade, a spade, you just hate Luke because of a made up story in your head that was reinforced by stupid people on the internet. Leave these people alone!

Anon ate with this one ☝️

If anyone thinks Nicola would appreciate these people praising her and hating on Luke, someone she’s said she loves repeatedly in interviews for the masses to consume, they’re fried and can’t be helped.

[bestworstcase]

the teacup mirror symbolism is about apostasy btw ->

exhibit a: blake

"we were being treated like equals, but not out of respect; out of fear. so i left."

exhibit b: ozma

"this curse was bestowed upon me by the gods because i failed to stop salem"

exhibit c: salem

"we could become the gods of this world: our powers surpass all others. our souls transcend death."

& exhibit d: ruby

"how did it all get like this?"

<- this is a conversation.

adam is to blake as the god of light is to ozma; blake rejects adam's vision of domination through fear and flees the white fang into what she perceives as the moral sanctuary of the huntsmen academies--noble warriors, pure and good.

but those academies are merely the most recent permutation of ozma's god-fearing zealotry, an institution built on a foundation of his terrified acceptance of the premise that humankind as it is now does not deserve to exist, and must submissively repent or else be annihilated. deep down he knows this--until the end, "the enemy was right" and so forth--so he lies, casting himself as the failure cursed to discipline his defeat at salem's hands.

but salem, pressed on what she truly believes, outlines the case against divine rule in succinct terms: the brothers are not the highest power, and they failed utterly to achieve their ends--they couldn't even kill humankind in a way that mattered, because people were reborn phoenix-like from the ashes--and so remnant and its people owe them nothing at all. it is our world now, she says. we could become more than the old gods could ever be.

how did it all get like this? ruby asks. and the answer is thousands upon thousands of years of ozma's fearful obedience to a god who sent him here to contort remnant into an inescapable saw trap for the apostate scapegoat, who is fighting now to escape by any means necessary.

grips you. when ruby drinks the tea and meets the blacksmith and the blacksmith says "what if you could be anyone?"--ruby is offered ozma's curse exactly, what if you could slip into any like-minded soul, someone who is you but isn't, who is you but Better, would that fix you? and the rhetorical point that the blacksmith intends to make and succeeds in making is that the only person who can be ruby rose is ruby rose. this is what we might call sledgehammer foreshadowing with regard to ozma and how ozma's desperation to be anyone else but ozma (hey man why were you suicidal before you met salem. what broke you, the first time) informs his resignation to the curse that forcibly breaks and remakes him into anyone else, and what needs to happen before he can escape the false-ascension inflicted upon him

[miffy-00]

who said loser!jean I DIDDDD (+ @jeansboo)

little bit of context it’s your 4 month anniversary woop woop !

this is how you guys met btw (also 82 notes TYSMMM)

“happy 4 months baby!!” you wrap your arms around his waist and rest your head on his back. “what are you making, hm? it smells good.”

you and jean have been together month and you’ve never felt happier. yes, jean was awkward, very awkward, but he was one of the only guys who treated you respect. you didn’t want him to be nonchalant and indifferent about his or your emotions. you loved how he noticed everything, you didn’t even need to say anything and he would ask “what’s going on in your pretty little head, huh ? i didn’t do something wrong…did i??” you loved how he was just happy doing nothing with you, happy looking into your eyes and admiring your beauty.

“morning angel” he turns off the stove, “i’m making your favourite” he turns round to face you and curls his arms round your waist. he was so tall and he would lean he head on yours. he was rubbing circles on your waist softly and slowly, just how you liked it.

“jean, stop ! it’s ticklish” you giggle when squirming in his hands. he loved how you felt in his hands. you put your hand on his neck to bring his lips close to yours. because he is SOOOO tall you still have to go on your tipetoes and you give him a gentle mwah! and you giggle when you how red his cheeks are. you loved how cute and pathetic he was anytime you showed affection towards him. he was still getting used to him being so physical with him, as you would always explain, “you’re just so cute baby, i can’t keep my hands off you !” and he would hide his face in your neck, whilst you could feel the heat radiating off his cheeks.

“okay, i’m going to get ready” you say whilst walking off and singing happily. jean smiling as your hips sway side to side. whilst you made yourself look good for the rest of your anniversary, jean finished making your pancakes.

fast forward jean messed up your reservation for dinner and he’s so upset and get at himself. “i’m so sorry angel, i should have made sure everything was perfect, i just..didn’t think. i’m such a fucking idiot.” and he’s running his hands through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck, “are you mad at me? i don’t mind if you are, i just..please don’t be? just straight up rambling for 10 minutes straight until you’re like “jean, baby ? it’s okay i just wanted to spend time with you. i don’t mind where we are” and you intertwine your fingers with him and go on your tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. and he’s just so happy you’re with him and you just look so beautiful. you’re wearing his favourite colour, the jewellery he bought you makes you look like a literal star, shimmering just for him. how did you look so beautiful all the time?

so you guys ordered food and you’re on bundled up on the couch with blankets over you both. a random movie in the back. you turn to see jean poking at his food with a forced smile on his face. you lean in closer to try catch his attention. but he seems lost in his own world. “jean, jeannnn, jeannnnnn?” you wave your hand over his face. he smiles sadly, not quite reaching his eyes.

“mhm, sorry angel i’m here now.” his voice is quiet, laced with same sadness hes been carrying since he fucked tonight up. you reach his cheek and caress it softly. someone was up with him, you knew it. he was always so warm and caring towards you and he deserved the same . “do you remember our first date?” you asked, grinning softly, hoping to alleviate your boyfriends pain. “of course i do..how could i not” his smile grows a bit, his warm brown eyes alight at the thought.

flashbackkkkk

“hi jean, is everything okay? call me when you get this okay?”

“jeannn, you good ? let me know if you’re okay”

“i think they might kick me out soon…but it’s okay i just wanna know if you’re okay alright ?”

safe to say your first date didn’t go that well… jean got the dates mixed up and didn’t realise it was today and when he saw a combination of your mixed calls and texts he realised..

”oh shit.”

he didn’t even have time to run things past connie or eren. he didn’t have time to even get in his head about you not liking him because he was definitely sure he fucked things up. even though you were doing charity even giving him a chance after how badly he fucked up. so, he got ready so quickly everything was like a blur “listen i’m really sorry, i thought..fuck…i got the days all messed up it’s my fault i’m sorry..can you just..wait?” he’s running so fast he nearly gets ran over 😭😭

he sees you in the quiet cafe. you look so sad. jean entesr the cafe, you look up as the bell chimes and it’s jean (finally). he’s rushing towards you, heaving, red in the face. “listen i’m so so so fucking sorry okay. just let make it up to you, alright?” and i mean how could you mad at him. you sigh, “well first we have to go on a proper date, don’t we?” you tilt your head to the side, chin on your palm, playful eyes. “yeah..YEAH of course.” he slides into the booth with you and he’s still shocked that you liked him and you still wanted to try something out with him.

“you should get something for yourself, they’re open till late.” jean looks up from the table. “huh? oh yeah, so, uh what do you recommend, if um anything at all? or is it all bad? well you’re drinking something so..not too bad? unless..ha..” he’s really fucking things up oh my gosh 😭 you simply just point to chocolate brownie and smile cheekily. so jean goes up and buys one.

chocolate brownie in hand he sets it into thee table. two spoons and a bunch of napkins, he’s going to make today perfect. convo is a bit slow at first, he’s talking about the weather, which is a choice ! but you can tell he wants to make you happy. agreeing and doing anything you say. he was like a bobble head with how much his head was shaking up and down. you’re down to the last bit of the brownie. “you can have it, i’m not even that hungry and you um…deserve something as sweet as you…?” he pushes to bowl towards you and he is cringing so.hard. why would he say that? he wasn’t thinking straight. you try to keep a straight face but you burst in the laughter accompanied with jeans groaning. you don’t even care that everyone is watching your booth because it feels like you’re slowly seeing jean relaxed and not trying to impress you all the time side. “jean you’re too much, thank you i will enjoy it, because i’m sooo sweet” you break out into giggles again and all jean can think is, you’re laughing, not a pity laugh or a awkward laugh a geniune laugh. after he heard it it’s all he wants to do and that’s when he realises that he needs it to be you.

after lots of giggling from you, jean both voluntarily and involuntarily making a fool out of himself. you guys are walking in the late night. the cafe had to kick the two of you out for firstly being too loud and secondly they were shutting. but that was okay, jean had really transformed this date. you saw the amount of effort he had put in and you saw how much he cared for you. so although he started things off horribly. you wanted to give him a chance. “jean?” you stop in your tracks and look up to meet his eyes. “uh..yeah?” worried he says it did something wrong. “calm down” you giggle “i just want to say that i had a good time, you’re really fun to be around” you lean in to give him a hug your head nestled in his chest, his arms keeping you close to him, holding you like he won’t let go. YOU NEED THAT BOY BAD.

back to presenttt

“what im trying to say is, fucking things up, being awkward, all that shit is just your thing, baby !” you’re stroking his hair as he lies on your chest. his slow breathing feels cold on your skin. bodies intertwined with eachother. “jean? are you even awake?” you look down to see his half lidded eyes fluttering open and close again. “yes angel.” he shifts to bring you closer to him (as if the gap between you hadn’t already been shut😭) “i just hope you don’t feel shitty about everything still?” finally he lifts his head up and shakes it “if you’re happy then i am, you put up with me even though i act like an idiot 25/8, how can i be sad?…i don’t call you angel for no reason..” after saying something so sweet and heartfelt he’s back to sleep again !

but it’s okay. although it wasn’t the traditional anniversary jean wanted for you guys he was happy. he’s been happy ever since you looked his way at the party. happy since you gave him a second chance. happy cause he can lie on your chest at all times, any times. happy because he’s the one that is making you smile.

a/n: THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS IVE HAD WITH THIS. but i’m just glad i got it out !! it was keeping me sane during exam szn which doesn’t finish till next week :(( after that i will making emmy way through the drafts I AM SO EXCITED ++don’t be scared to share your opinions in it i would love to hear !!

[thestorycontinues]

I work at a shelter for domestic violence victims. One of the things we sometimes do for kids, is (with parental permission) give them a simple chore to do... so we can tell them what a great job they did! "Hey, AdultClient ABC! Just so you know, KidClientXYZ had the front hall tidied up in, like, ten minutes! I don't know how they did it so fast and so good, but that was pretty amazing!" "Oh, KidClientMNO? Thanks for sweeping the floor so well, there was grass everywhere from the back yard! Now it's perfectly clean-- great work, there!" "Whoa, wait-- TeenKidClientQRS, you made muffins for everyone for breakfast? Holy. Cow. That's incredible, thank you so much! Guys, hey, guys-- listen up, you get blueberry muffins, made by QRS!" Our intent is to remind kids (and adults, of course) that, no matter what the abuser said, they are NOT useless, worthless, a burden, etc. They. Are. People. And they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect.

for the love of god, do not use chores to punish your kids!!!! it's just going to make them struggle deeply to keep their houses tidy as adults since you made them associate necessary chores with punishment and suffering, and it's going to take years of therapy to undo. don't use chores as punishments!!!

[wrenaspun]

Lamen body swap AU

Anon, I just want you to know that you’ve well and truly spooked a groupchat I’m in where we discussed bodyswap AUs and their potential / appeal at length quite recently, and everyone swears it wasn’t them who sent this ask. Be honest!!!! Did you hack us -

Damen was fuming when he came into Laurent’s chambers that night, obvious even when he was doing it in Laurent’s body. Something about the set to his mouth, the furrow between his eyebrows, the round-shouldered stomping way he walked in was entirely Damen, a far bigger presence to him than Laurent’s smaller body could quite accommodate. Laurent pursed his lips and shifted where he was sitting, rather more bulkily than he was used to, in front of his fireplace.

“Does the Veretian court always treat you like this?” Damen demanded, before he had even sat down. His arms — Laurent’s arms — were folded tightly across his chest, as though to hold in his fury. His expression was horribly transparent. It made Laurent twitch just to see it on his own face, the open anger, confusion, resentment.

“Like what?” asked Laurent. It was still strange to hear his voice come out sounding so deep.

“Like,” said Damen. Pressed his lips tightly together. And then, like the words were being dragged out of him: “Lacking. In the respect that is due to you.”

“What respect?” asked Laurent. “I’m the bookish second son, remember.”

“You are a member of the royal family!” Damen flared up. “It’s your work and co-ordination that gets half the laws passed in this court, and that’s without taking into account your work with the city council of Arles —”

Laurent’s hands — Damen’s hands — twitched once, violently, in his lap, before he repressed the movement. He hadn’t realised Damen knew about that.

“I think you’d better tell me what happened,” he said.

The flow of Damen’s words stopped. “I don’t,” he said. Stopped again. And then, bursting out of him: “Lord Vaucluse tried to touch you — your —”

“Ah,” said Laurent. They looked at each, gazes locked. “What did you do?”

Damen looked torn between righteous indignance and sheepishness. “I broke his wrist,” he said, landing on defiance. “He deserved it. I’m sorry if it ruined some — plan of yours. I was surprised.”

“You were surprised,” Laurent repeated. “Do you always break men’s wrists when you are surprised?”

“When it’s your body they’re touching, yes.” Damen was scowling. His tone was obstinate. Laurent ignored the long, slow, stupid somersault of his stomach.

“I think you mean, the body you are inhabiting,” he said.

Damen’s scowl deepened. “No,” he said. “I meant your body.”

Laurent pressed his legs together. Some things were the same in both bodies. He could feel himself warming and softening, like clay in the hands of a master. “I see,” he said.

Damen paced closer, eyes fixed on Laurent’s face. “You shouldn’t let them get away with it,” he said.

“It can be useful,” said Laurent. “To be underestimated.”

“There’s being underestimated, and there’s letting yourself be harassed —”

“I know,” said Laurent. “I know. I’ve no doubt he deserved it.” And he let himself say, “I wish I’d been there to see it. Did he howl?”

“He howled,” said Damen. Finally, satisfaction began to overtake the leashed anger in his expression. “He won’t come near you again.”

He was close enough now to reach out and touch, their eyes locked to each other. Damen was watching Laurent carefully.

“It’s all right?” he asked. “I didn’t spoil some long-running plan of yours?” Calmer now, he sat down, close enough that Laurent could feel the warmth of his body.

“Nothing that can’t be worked around,” said Laurent. Still looking at Damen: “You feel very strongly about this.” It was so clear in Damen’s expression, the open indignance in his face.

“Yes,” said Damen. “Nobody should make you uncomfortable. To lay hands on you —” He didn’t have the words for it, apparently.

Laurent felt almost drunk on the force of his presence. “What if I wanted it?”

Damen’s glare was fiery. Laurent’s whole body felt hot underneath it. “You did not,” he said, “want Lord Vaucluse.”

“No,” said Laurent. “I’m thinking of someone else now.”

[plurapony]

Are Systems Oppressed?

This is a little bit of a hot topic at the moment, that whether or not someone is oppressed just because they are a system.

Systems aren't a marginalized group nor are they necessarily oppressed, however! they do fall victim to the ableism present in our society regarding mental disorders. But, 100 years ago they would have locked you up and thrown away the key, or given you a lobotomy or both! And whilst it's true that the treatment regarding mental disorders has progressed significantly in the last century - it still has problems and it's still not perfect.

There are certain expectations and recurring motifs when it comes to mental illness. Terms like "crazy" & "psycho" are SOO overused either as an insult or to refer to people who have done bad things. If you have a mental disorder people view you as broken, as something that needs to be fixed. You can't possibly achieve happiness otherwise! If you have a mental illness and you're not fixed yet? Then you need to be hush hush about it, you should be ashamed of it and you've ever had to be hospitalized because of it? Oh god don't EVER let anyone know about that - you'll be ruined!

And absolutely systems aren't the only ones affected by this - those with mood disorders, personality disorders, psychotic disorders, they're all affected by the stigma, stereotypes and all around negative opinions surrounding mental illness.

Systems however, our identities are structured around our disorder. To put it simply, we can't be ourselves without letting others know, and with that can come great consequences. In media systems are portrayed as evil and used as a plot device in shitty horror films, they gain popularity and introduce people who had previously never heard about DID to a completely inaccurate representation. And the internet isn't any better, systems are a spectacle either they're an insane crazy person that should be locked up or they're a cringy teenager faking a serious disorder. People see a system online and they forget how to treat people with human decency, they forget that all of us are deserving of kindness and respect.

So no, I wouldn't say systems are oppressed. But they are subjected to prejudice in society because of what they can't control. Whilst it's not exactly oppression it is a problem and it can lead to systems feeling outcast and isolated. So if you see a system saying that they feel oppressed for being a system, there's probably a reason for that! If someone's genuinely upset about an experience they had, is it really the right time to correct the word they used?

So my advice? Treat systems as you would treat any other person. They're not a spectacle. They're not something that exists for you to make fun of. They're not evil, they're not scary. They're not weird for existing. Just be normal about systems. We are humans too, you don't have to be overly nice to us or anything just treat us like humans.

[luckycharming]

Not trying to be messy or bitchy on main, but why don't y'all review fanfics anymore? Why don't y'all comment on the stories y'all have read and liked? Like, deadass, as a writer/creator myself, if I slave away and put my whole ass pussy into creating and crafting these really good stories, and nobody reviews them, what's my incentive to keep creating?

And I've heard it be said thousands of times that you should do it for fun! You should do it because blah blah blah! And I get it! I really! It's not good to create solely because of x, y, and z and that's valid, but! I'm also doing this shit for free. Like, fanfic authors bust their asses writing for free. This is a free consumption, and I'm just saying, if you like or love the stories written, why can't y'all let it be known? Why can't y'all comment and review it? It literally doesn't take even a third of the effort it took the writers themselves to write the damn shit.

I remember when I first got into fanfiction and I was in awe, okay? There were so many wonderful stories and authors and you bet your right testicle I made sure I left reviews. Hell, I would even PM them and let them know that hey, I really loved that fic you wrote! This is what it meant to me and thank you so much for not only writing it, but being brave enough to share it with the world because regardless of the ship/fandom/etc., that takes guts!

And y'all won't even do the bare minimum. And then have the nerve to wonder why the quality of writing is shit or why people are leaving the fandom spaces. It makes no sense that stories that are so horribly written and out of character have hundreds, if not thousands of reviews, but the actual good shit barely has fifty, and that's me being generous.

I'm just tired of putting all this effort into shit that I'm not getting anything back from because it's not enough to love what you do. Like, why is it bad that I want people to leave long or nice comments on my work? Why is that me being greedy to want some positive engagement on my content? Or unless I write for popular ships, people won't read my shit? Which isn't bad, because if I like a ship, regardless of if it's popular or canon or so on and so forth, I'm gonna ship it, but still.

And not even that's a guarantee that people will read it, and I don't like don't gimmicky shit. I don't like feeling like I have to dim the quality of my work to get people to fuck with my shit, and it's not me being insecure in my writing because I'm a damn good writer. I know what I bring to the fucking table, but how are we supposed to keep the fandom spaces alive if nobody's engaging with shit anymore?

[bogleech]

So I said in tags that I actually read this webcomic in my teens and that it had some strong worldbuilding, in particular its take on the seven deadly sins as demons, but that somebody would have to ask before I go infodumping again about such a hot mess.

OKAY here we go, I'm just gonna go over the sin demons because they're where all the imagination was concentrated and they sum up the setting in themselves really

Wrath: the sin demons in this are actually the damned souls guiltiest of their respective deadly sin in all of history (past or future because hell exists outside of time and all that) and Jack, the title character, is Wrath because he was Furry Hitler. Not literally Adolf Hitler in a furry timeline mind you, but a furry who became a genocidal dictator with a bunch of awkward Hitler parallels. He canonically genocided all humans, because at some point humans create furries only to treat them as slaves or something.

Anyway the sin of Wrath is also the Grim Reaper in this universe, and his punishment is that all memory of his evil deeds and why he did them were taken away from him, except for the factual knowledge of who he is. So this makes him a completely different, kinder person tormented by the act having to reap every death there will ever be, but he does know who he was and why this is his fate. I think you can see why people bothered to read such a fucked up messy comic because that's a pretty damn strong hook, for a character or story at all. Like imagine being your regular self but knowing you were someone as bad as hitler, and now you have to be the one who witnesses every death there is and rip families apart a million times a day. Would you deserve punishment at all for deeds that have been wiped from your mind? Are they still "your" sins in that scenario? These and other compelling questions raised by this premise.... would never actually be explored, as far as I can recall. All it really amounts to is the same as any sad antihero, and kind of a direct ripoff of Todd Mcfarlane's Spawn.

So then there's Greed, who was some kind of religious cult leader who built like a whole brutal Roman style empire, or something, until he was turned on and mutilated by his followers? He's the least interesting really, and his backstory, along with many other backstories in the series, completely contradicts Jack's backstory where humans invent furries through biotechnology. Other characters were definitely already furries during historical events centuries before then.

9/11 even happens during the events of the comic, but the world was already all furries at the time. By the way one of the towers themselves goes to heaven with all the good people who died in 9/11 and the other one goes to hell with all the bad people. This was not meant to be funny at the time but it is obviously VERY funny. Writing this has forced me to remember that I did do this infodump before. Oh no. I don't remember when. I just remember that I did. JUST LIKE JACK!!!!!!!!!

Gluttony is two characters, a husband and wife couple who were serial killer cannibals. They are also some sort of dinosaur or pterosaur that was brought back in furry form by furry society's biotechnology, but in furry society everyone of a carnivorous species lives on lab-grown meat, and these two couldn't stand that because it didn't satisfy their hunting instinct, or something. PERSONALLY I feel like this should not really count as the most sinful possible gluttony, I mean, these predatory lizard birds didn't ask to come back into existence and be cursed with unnatural sapience. Just feels kind of bullshit to me. They are the coolest concept design-wise for any of these sins though, and they fuse together into one body when they eat, with one of them becoming a face on the crotch like some of those old medieval depictions of devils.

Envy looks like a big fucked up Todd Mcfarlane Orangutan but is actually supposed to have been the last surviving human and was like, a mad geneticist or something. The artist could not draw humans, hence the plot about them being extinct and the only human character being warped into a demonic ape. If I'm remembering correctly (I could just check a wiki but I don't feel like it sorry) he's Envy because he hated furries for taking over our society even though most of them had nothing to do with the genocide and were just freed slaves and whatnot, and one thing I do remember clearly is that he engineers a furry zombie apocalypse that ends the furry world further in the future.

Vanity/pride I don't think was ever fully explained but she wears a cloak because she's skinless, and she goes around skinning other damned she thinks are beautiful to wear the pelts until they rot.

Sloth was revealed many years after I stopped paying attention to this series, but turns out to be the entire ground of hell, with a malformed tree as his seat of consciousness, making it impossible to get a moment's peace or rest. That's a neat concept but apparently no backstory happened before the comic stopped so we're left wondering how someone was as bad all these various Hitlers through slothfulness. I guess someone who could have easily prevented a bunch of suffering and didn't care enough to bother maybe.

So the last one is Lust, and Lust is a giant rat (who looks nothing at all like a rat) named "Drip" who was a violent misogynistic sexual predator, the worst one that would ever exist in our whole reality for him to be the demon of lust. This was the first piece of fiction I ever saw where Lust was someone like this instead of a Sexy Seductive Lady demon, which makes a shitload more sense yet it still isn't common.

Anyway this guy is the biggest reason why you may not want to go looking for this comic because the kind of shit he does is fully shown, and it's played for horror, yes, and it's also just drawn too sloppy to come across as the author's fetish, but for some time this character was supposedly the author's main "Fursona" he roleplayed as. His wife actually mentions the character by name in the MTV call. I'm not writing a callout here or anything, I mean this was like 20 years ago, I don't know him and haven't heard anything recent about him, these just aren't details you can rightfully leave out about this character.

Edited to add that Drip is also supposedly the father (without knowing it?) of what was the focal character in the beginning of the comic, the soul of an aborted fetus, who ends up wandering hell but protected from it up until Drip does something to him (thankfully off screen) that leads Jack to shred Drip into a million pieces and leave him as a screaming tortured severed head which I do believe Drip never recovers from before the comic stopped updating. I could be wrong? There is obviously a lot to unpack in all that, including the fact that, in a setting where an aborted fetus becomes a sapient child forced to wander hell, God was still written as a completely righteous entity and specifically a cute child-size lamb furry we were supposed to find endearing. In its heyday Jack was treated like a "culturally important" webcomic, like, hailed as proof that webcomics were a serious adult medium, which is also very funny on multiple levels in our current online culture. I know it was a big big deal in some furry circles, but I was introduced to it by just horror fandom at the time. It ran from before I ever even owned a computer to sometime in the 2010's, I think it was actually published at one point and it influenced a bunch of other webcomics to varying degrees of success.

So yeah, it IS internet history and I'm sure there's video essays and stuff about it if you want to know more because I still probably only ever saw a third to half of it at best.

[fiona-fififi]

Call me homophobic, but I don't actually think it's great representation to stick a complex, dynamic, newly-realized bisexual character permanently with a flat, boring, underdeveloped love interest just because that was the first guy who showed interest.

[mxtxfanatic]

Been inundated with posts about the character descriptions in the 7seas mxtx releases, and I just wanna say that I find it the highest level of disrespect how a publisher treated someone’s serious writing that they bought the publishing rights for as a little jokey joke that’s lead to so many people’s misconceptions about said book. Tell me: why do these character sheets include publisher/translator opinions on the characters? Why do these character sheets directly go against what the actual text has to say about these characters? Why do these novels need character sheets?

[uncanny-tranny]

Part of my experience with abuse is hoping I get a kid like me so I can know how easy it can be to love them, how easy it is to not treat them how I was treated, and breaking that cycle. It was only hard for them to love me as a child because they didn't love me in the first place. They wished for me to know the hate they had, and I refuse to carry their water for them like that. It was never hard to love me.

[yardsards]

this next part is just me bitching but. the main interaction that lead to me making this post (combined with just. all of the incidents of me saying my current job and whoever i'm talking to goving me wayyy too much kudos for just Doing This Job and me feeling sooo weirded out bc like bruh it's not community service it is a Job that i am getting paid for. and this job is easier and pays better than my past job as a cashier but no one gave me kudos for being a cashier.):

during a work holiday party me and a couple coworkers were talking about this pair of clients we shared

and someone brought up how the husband was nice but the wife was a grouch (in my case, she was a little sour to me at first but actually became quite sweet once she got to know me. apparently she had not similarly warmed up to any of my coworkers. which, by the end of this conversation, i realized Exactly Why). no screaming or hitting or any other kind of abuse, not even direct insults, just generally being a bit impatient and condescending and grumpy.

and then my (already least favourite, lol) coworker was like "i straightup told her she couldn't be talking to me like that. that i was there to provide help and if she was gonna treat me like that then i wasn't gonna help her anymore."

and all of our coworkers there, INCLUDING OUR SUPERVISOR, were congratulating her for "standing up for herself" or whatever???

and like see if she was a cashier or housekeeper or whatever i would've been like "hell yeah, get their ass, demand respect on the job" but in the context of this job it really just rubbed me the wrong way because like.

1: we have a significant power over our patients that most other professions don't have over their customers

2: i question if she would have said that to a customer if she was a cashier or housekeeper, or if she only felt emboldened to do this/deserving of a certain degree of respect BECAUSE of the power we have over our patients

3: while we absolutely shouldn't tolerate outright *mistreatment* on the job (as i said above, we're employees, not fucking martyrs), i think we need to be a little more discerning over what constitutes mistreatment than many other professions do. like we gotta be able to think "yeah this woman is in constant physical pain, knows death isn't far away, and now has to pay money to have total fucking strangers coming into her house to do tasks for her that she used to be able to do by herself. it's actually pretty understandable for her to be huffing and eyerolling here and it's not a personal attack on my ego"

4: the way my coworker talked about being there to help like she was providing a FAVOUR rather than just... doing the job that she is getting PAID to

AND THEN this mf had the gall to be like "it's funny that she's planning on checking herself into a home in the next few months. they aren't gonna tolerate being talked to like that there and she's not gonna be in charge there like she is at her house." and like??? idk man i just don't think we should be treating losing power via institutionalization as a justified punishment

i wish i could say that i had some eloquent retort about disability rights and whatnot to stand up for that lady but i was just too fuckin dumbfounded to say anything

i think i've said it before but. as a professional caregiver it rubs me the wrong way how our field (and pretty much any field that involves caring for vulnerable people) is venerated

like don't get me wrong i am all for appreciating blue collar type professions, employees that are underpaid and overworked and vital for how our society functions

but it's a specific flavour of treating us like martyrs that doesn't show up when people appreciate construction workers or garbage truck drivers or janitors or fry cooks or whatnot.

it's a specific flavour of acting like we're doing a huge selfless favour for our clients that doesn't show up when people appreciate customer service workers or housekeepers or whatnot.

what's really ironic there is caregivers have far more power over their clients than customer service workers or housekeepers have over their clients.

and it just leads to so much shittiness in the industry. it's bad for patients cuz they don't feel like they can speak out when a caretaker is mistreating them (or even just doing something they don't like, even on accident), cuz they're expected to feel grateful for what the caregiver is doing for them. and it enables some shitty caregivers to get a complex about how their patients owe them gratitude for doing their jobs. isn't good for non-shitty caregivers too cuz sometimes the good ones then feel obligated to overextend and sacrifice themselves to be worthy of that gratitude.

just like yeah idk appreciate us but don't appreciate us any differently than you should appreciate any other worker i guess idk

[gloriousburden]

i think they should make a movie where the writers actually like thor and loki

[holyguardian]

Aerith wasn't often vulnerable. She lived a privileged life, behind walls, guards, and impossibly intricate dresses. It was easy to feel untouchable when one's entire life was carefully built to be that way — but when Somnus fully turned to her after she questioned him, she suddenly felt touchable.

Yesterday she knew his honest answer. Given the freedom of choice, hers would have been the same.

But that was then and this was now.

How much had changed over the course of one morning. Had she asked her question at the very start of this day, his rejection would have no sharp edges. Now, she found herself quietly clinging onto a hope.

His amusement was met by bated breath. Head tilted, smiling, he put her silly little fear to rest so gently. The weight of his duty... he would have agreed even if she had been awful to him. But hearing him say that he would without any bitterness in his tone? She was able to exhale a breath of relief, and she nodded.

"Thankyou." she quietly replied, glancing away to briefly watch the last fragments of his magic dancing on the wind. Maybe... they could work together. It wasn't the same as a marriage between lovers, however they could be on the same side.

Aerith's attention shifted back to him when his voice gently picked the conversation back up again. She stood a little taller, hadn't expected for him to give voice to the topic further, and yet he did just that and more.

Somnus wasn't afraid to confront their situation head on. He didn't dance around the topic, he spoke clearly, decisively, as though he had given it as much easy thought as he had their game of chess. It brought a smaller smile to her face, one that was laced with a small amount of sadness.

"... you're not a disappointment at all, Somnus. This cannot be easy for you either. One day you were preparing a polite hello for your brother's arranged wife, plotting how soon after receiving the royal family that you could sneak away to something more interesting. And on that same day you were being forced to say that polite hello along with a vow." His life had been completely flipped in the upheaval too. "No more political games with you. I promise you that. Even if we aren't to be married and our fates drastically change, I will treat you with the respect you deserve. I would be lucky to have a husband whose half the man you are."

He would have to learn more about the Cetran heritage, especially now. Sure, he had gotten his fair share of education and lessons on neighbouring kingdoms and their customs. But it would be entirely different now… if all these talks went through, then he would have a wife of Cetran blood. It was the bare minimum respect to know her culture by heart then. And with how Aerith was… it did not seem like work now anymore.

She was kind. She was strong. She was smart. She had wit. She was undeniably beautiful. And… she seemed to like what he could do.

 Watching her interact with his magic, how she commented on it and complimented him… it stroked his ego, of course. But it also made something in his chest feel… warmer. As if a vessel was filled with that warm milk and honey she seemed to favour so much.

He was not powerful. And neither was he popular. One day she would notice. But at the moment, she seemed to think he was both. And the way she looked at him…

Somnus turned to her fully. The sword in his hand vanishing alongside all the circling weapons so only a blue shimmering hue was remaining in the air around them, swirling like the tendrils of her Lifestream.

Aerith asked a question that… he was not prepared to answer. Not fully. There were so many things happening at once in the past two days. Less than that, if he was being honest.

 As royals, of course an arranged marriage had been at the horizon. But Somnus had thought he would have more time. And maybe a little luck like her parents had. That was rare, though. Marriage was political in their standings. And while there surely were a lot of loveless and barely tolerable marriages among the rulers of this world… maybe, just maybe they both could have had it worse.

So far she had given him no reason to dread a future with her. Not at all… quite the opposite.

The little amused noise coming from him was a gentle one. Softer than his usual demeanour, mustering her with a tilted head and a smile playing around one corner of his mouth.

“I would.”

It was that simple, wasn’t it?

Could he imagine them? Standing there, in the circle of many others. With a priest at their side. They would both wear finer clothes than even last evening’s attire. But quite simple in their own way. Pure whites and the colors of their lands. Surely Aerith would weave flowers into her hair and wear golden bracelets. He would have a wreath of his own, made from the olive twigs of Lucis’ gardens.

He could imagine taking her hands and saying yes.

But that fantasy seemed so unreal still. And so far away. A little too hopefully maybe. And a little too dreamy. This was an arranged marriage, right? So he should handle it with the demanded respect and care. The futures of two lands depended on that.

“… listen, Aerith. I know you hoped for something different. You told me, that you hoped you could marry out of love like your mother did. The talks that now happen without us present, the decisions that were made yesterday did not happen like you wished. Even before that, you came here to marry a stranger man. Now it is not my brother, but me. I hope that is not too much of a disappointment. And I do not know what the future brings… maybe I can not offer you that marriage proposal coming from a secret lover after months of knowing and loving each other. But I will do my best to ensure you have a good life. And I hope one filled with happiness. That I can swear.”

[reverienco]

Have you thought of N getting his revenge on J for all the years he has been builled by her?

i don't think he ever would. N is a naturally very nice and forgiving person, specially so to a fault. i really don't think he holds/held a grudge against her or V for the way they've treated him prior to his meeting with uzi. the most negative we've gotten was his "J, you're sometimes kinda mean to me and I wish you weren't. Just some constructive criticism!" but even then, it was prompted by uzi and he did say "constructive criticism" lol

other than that, he has THANKED HER when she stepped on him, called him worthless and terrible and she'd kill him if company allowed it; when she LITERALLY almost kills him and never complained about her bullying in the manor. he stopped uzi from throwing (presumably) an insult towards eldritch J's appearance, was completely chill when she came back as a clone????

bottom line is, N doesn't seem like the type to hold grudges or plan revenge against anyone, even if they've actively hurt him for so long. he's always willing to give everyone even a little bit of a benefit of the doubt

[capinejghafa]

One day, someone will realize Inej's dad value in her story... not today, though 😔