#as in a link and not just a straight up post

[moodlesmain]

Hey op you should credit the photographer and link to the source (edited into the original post so everyone sees) OR just straight up delete the post 🔫

Grackle with Chip

[celaenaeiln]

are you still doing the post where you explain the ranking?? don’t mean to be impatient i was just wondering! (take your time) <3

@imperatrice21

Hey y'all! You asked and I deliver ;)

Alrighty let's get to it!!

So in THIS POST which is being referred to, I had created a ranking of Bruce's favorites in order from most to least.

And this was the ranking:

Dick

Damian

Cass

Jason/Tim (tie)

Tim/Jason (tie)

Steph

Now lets get into why.

Dick

I don't want to rehash why Dick is the favorite because I went into a lengthy explanation in the referred post as to why. It's not even close, and it's really explicitly stated that Dick's the one that Bruce likes the most. If you haven't read the post or want a refresher, I've already linked it but here it is again - OG POST

Infinite Crisis Issue #3

and also

JLA (1997) Issue #73

"The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."

When something happens to Bruce, he only tells or trusts Dick with the information of what happened.

Batman and Robin Eternal Issue #1

His only message was addressed to Dick. Like I could go on and on about this, but I feel my other Dick and Bruce posts give a pretty good idea on how Dick is special to Bruce.

And that's where we will leave the blatant adoration for Dick by Bruce and move on to the next person, cause really, 'nuff said.

Damian > Cass > Tim/Jason > Steph

Dami!! I also explained a bit of why Damian is so loved by Bruce through the comparison of Bruce's reaction to Damian death vs Bruce's reaction to Jason's death in the referenced post, but I never talked about why he's the next in line for favoritism.

Rather, it's a process of elimination of who does Bruce not like the least which we can find through how Bruce treats each member of the batfam and reacts to traumatic passings.

6. Stephanie

The least favorite is, unfortunately, very obvious and it's Stephanie.

Why is it obvious? Because Bruce treats Stephanie like utter shit. I have never seen him act so callously to a member of the bat crew aside from Stephanie. He literally didn't even care that Stephanie died in the War Games arc.

He didn't even want Stephanie in the first place, only using her to manipulate Tim back into being Robin because he knew Tim care about her and knew the dangers of being Robin so he wouldn't want her getting her.

Robin (1993) Issue #92

And so she becomes Robin, eventually.

But Bruce and Stephanie have an extremely strenuous relationship. Stephanie is very independent but Bruce like obedience. A long time ago he would have appreciated independence but not anymore, not when the result is death.

On the final mission of Stephanie being robin, Batman gives her repeated orders that she disobeys.

Robin (1993) Issue #128

Bruce becomes completely fed up with her and fires her.

Long story short, Stephanie steals one of Batman's plans for the city that involved Matches Malone. Steph doesn't know that this is one of Bruce's identities and the whole thing quickly goes way out of control and sets off a city-wide bloody war - AKA War Games. Stephanie gets caught by Black Mask who tortures her and she dies from her injuries in Leslie's Clinic when she escapes. But -

Batman (1940) Issue #633

And after this happens, this bitch sits down has a drink with Dick, who woke up from coma or something I can't remember (he was dealing with the aftermath of Tarantula which is why he wasn't around. Also Alfred threatened to kneecap him if he didn't get back on the bed) asks Bruce what he's gonna do -

And what does he do?

Batman (1940) Issue #634

Bitch. This is the only time (the War Games) Dick walked out on him after Bruce asks for help. Fun fact, Leslie intentionally let Stephanie die even though she could have saved her. She let her die to teach Batman a lesson about making kids Robins. It was later retconned that Leslie secretly saved her life but in the original, Stephanie was gone. And Batman straight up did not care.

He didn't care about Stephanie as a person and ignored her passing, completely unaffected.

So that's why Stephanie's 6th on the list.

5. & 4. Tim and Jason (Tie)

I don't want to rehash this again because I truly do not believe I can go into more detail about why they're a tie and who Bruce loves more.

THIS POST I made for anon who asked about the tie will be the answer. But I want to highlight @canthandlethishit 's reblog because in my post had said I didn't know why it feels like Tim was slightly less even though Bruce treated him better.

This line: "there’s a saying “the kid who cries gets the candy/milk” and sometimes being too easy to raise makes a kid receive less love & attention from their parents"

EXCELLENT! Fantastic analysis!!

3. Cass

Cass is tricky because because Bruce doesn't actually have a reason for liking her. He just does. I think what Bruce really loves about her is her dedication to making Gotham good.

Batgirl (2000) Issue #50

Batman & the Outsiders (2019) Issue #17

I think the reason Batman treats her so well is because she acts like a daughter to him. None of his children are so open with wanting affection as Cass is, ironically. And Bruce appreciates that. He's a dad and some part of him, behind all his walls, wants to be needed as dad which Cass does for him. She understands what he wants because she's good at that and loves him because she wants it too. Cass is Bruce's only daughter. So it's a combination of dedication to faith that Gotham City can be better as well as the fact that she's ready to genuinely be a daughter for him.

2. Damian

A big part of it is that he's Bruce's blood son. I know we make jokes about being wanted vs forced or whatever with Damian but Damian's arguments in those jokes do hold.

Aside from Dick, Bruce doesn't react to anyone as strongly as he reacts to Damian. When Damian was dying and died, he lost it. I would provide panels but it's basically the entirety of Batman and Robin (2011).

A part of it, is also that Bruce actually raised Damain. He and Dami struggled with each other for the longest time and still do, but that's his son.

Batman Incorporated (2012) Issue #10

The following panels of Bruce going crazy are, as you probably guess it, in the OG Post and the Eldest Daughter Syndrome Post where I talk a little about the effect Damian's death has on Batman.

[whomstress]

Bunnydoll Boxer au chapter Final Chapter

Decided I'm just going to post the link and then my fic in the undercut from now on but anyway go read there or here! Au once again by @burrotello

“What the hell is wrong with you? Jax, put me down now!” Ragatha had been yelling at him non-stop since he took her over his shoulder from the gym going God knows where. "Jax, are you even listening to me? Let me go!”

She’s settled, just kicking her legs, as she is now less over his shoulder and more being swinged by her legs upside down, and the more she struggles, the more he lowers her. Ragatha, on her part, has yelled every threat over her shoulder, but with him practically running, she’s mostly just trying to keep from getting a concussion from being shaken and hit around like a sack of potatoes.

She notices a familiar hallway giving up halfway through and just trying to balance herself. Her hand slides through the thick hair on the back of his leg, and she hears him grunt. Her constant care for others overwhelms her by saying “sorry” and soothing the area lightly with her fingers, forgetting for a moment she was angry.

But she instantly regrets it because as soon as she pressed her fingers through the fur and pressed soothing circles where she scratched, he stopped still knocking the air out of her with the sudden movement and straightened his back. All the hair on his body pricked up like a porcupine, and he repositioned her so her waist was back over his shoulder and looked at her straight from that position, eyes dark and an unreadable face. “NEVER do that again, Ragatha.��� This more shocks her than anything, so she nods out of politeness, unsure what to say with him looking this intense inches away.

He looks at her a little longer, and she could swear he almost moves closer, but then his eyes quickly dart around, and as if he finds what he’s suspected, his eyes go harsh. She follows them to one of the many cameras in the fight club. The only place that didn’t have them were the rooms. 

Wait. She looked around and noticed they were on suite floors. The big purple jerk took the stairs, she thought, so he could purposely bump her head around. Which, to be fair, was probably a big reason as well, but the stairs were also one of the only areas not bypassed by a key. Some places you had to be a certain rank or start a minigame first to enter, but stairs could also be used for training, so they were free access for anyone. Which also meant bypassing certain locks.

He wasn’t taking her to the champions suite, was he? Only new and past Champions were allowed in there! This was against the rules! She looked at a door the size of the hall, covered in plush red and outlined with gold. "Hey, hey, hey! I can’t go in there, you know that!”

“So?” He says, waving his hand, and the door opens. 

"Jax, let me go. I could lose my minigame privileges, and oooooh, you get a cheese fountain!?” 

Ragatha temporarily stops trying to kick a dent into his chest and eyes the room five times the size of hers. Everything top-notch C&A brand. There’s a table just full of food, all diet-specific; he must be on a protein load right now from the look of it. It all looks and smells amazing. Every water is bubbling, and he has a huge sofa and TV for himself, and there is not a speck of dust anywhere. "Woah,” Ragatha says in pure wonder.

“Sweet, right?” He says all the pride puffing straight from his chest, but he is still moving forward, keeping Ragatha in the corner of his eye. It’s been a while since he’s seen her genuinely this excited. He forgot how she practically glows when she’s happy like this. Maybe he’ll let her stay after his business is done. If she begs, “Oh right, begging!”

“Huh?” Ragatha snaps out of it, and she’s brought what’s clearly the bedroom of the suit; his clothes are all around, and there’s trash on the floor. She sees a huge circular satin sheet-covered bed, and he’s getting closer to it, and danger sirens start going off in her head. Her mind starts to race. Beg? What does that mean? And what does that have to do with his room? With his bed!?

Her face explodes into red as he tosses her on the bed and moves to tower over her. He wouldn’t…? No, this is Jax. Her mind is going a mile a minute, and she doesn't know how to process anything, as this seems like the exact scene from one of her ahem, spicer books. Where the protagonist is cornered by the monster and taken into the night.

His eyebrow hitches, and he laughs, "Wow, you look like the little white lamb caught by the big bad wolf. Well, too bad after that little stunt today you’re going to regret what I have in store for you. I’m going to make you scream.”

He leans closer to her, and her body reacts before she can think logically about it; she screams like a girl in a horror movie and kicks Jax straight in the face, sending him flying back into his dresser. “F#CK!”

Jax was holding his face in his hands and groaning while Ragatha huddled to the back of the bed, holding up a pillow as if it were a weapon. “Stay back, you pervert! I’ll kill you with this! And make it look like an accident!”

Jax spits out blood, and Ragatha would normally be concerned if he hadn’t driven her partly insane already by all today’s antics. “Whose exactly a pervert here? The girl is screaming like a princess while kicking me harder than I’ve ever been in the face over with whatever is in your sick little head. Or the person that didn’t actually do anything.” He rubbed his face and gave her a hard glare. “News flash, sweetheart, can’t be a damsel in distress while also sending me flying like an actual monster.”

Ragatha huffed and crawled toward the edge of the bed and pointed at him with the pillow, “Me? The monster? You’re the one who threw me over your shoulder and carried me to your BED and said you were going to make me scream like, like, like some animal!”

Jax lets out a groan louder than her yell with what she’d say was the eye roll of the century. Really, she thinks his eyes actually went to the back of his head for a second. “I was talking about the bet you stupid boar!”

"Boar!?"

"Yeah, boar hits like a train, stubborn as a bull, dirty-minded little pig?”

“SHUT UP JAX!” Ragatha was angrily blushing, now sensing her mistake but not in the mood to be the bigger person. Maybe she needed to stop reading vampire novels, but it’s not like she was going to tell him that.

“But you know, Ragatha, it’s interesting that such a strong girl like you wants to be taken over by a big bad man.” Ragatha scoffed hard in disgust, and he moved forward again, brushing a loose lock behind her ear and pushing her buttons further as he teases her, “If you wanted someone to ravage you in the night, you only should’ve asked.”

In Ragatha’s seething anger, she doesn’t even try to hide the hate in her voice as she leans closer to him. "Sure, Jax. Give me his number if you find him. It might even make you less of a whining little baby seeing what a real man looks like.”

Even Ragatha is shocked by what just came out, but she keeps a hard glare at him, and he keeps his until a dark chuckle escapes him and he smiles at her like a manic. She crosses her arms to show she’s not impressed. He turns around, and she wonders what he’s up to before a kick lands straight to her face, knocking her back.

Her teeth clatter when she hits the floor and she gets up. “Are you insane!?”

"Oh, I’m sorry, Dolly! Is it suddenly not okay to kick people in the face out of nowhere because it’s you?” He does a couple stretches as he moves closer to her, and Ragatha kicks aside some of the clothes on the ground for room, getting ready in perfect fighting stance. It’s not the ideal place for a fight, but she was just as much of the fight club as anyone else, and the best way to let off some steam was a flurry of fists and kicks, and the way they were both past the boiling point, it’s a wonder the sprinklers hadn’t gone off.

There’s not a second after he reaches her; he throws a jab, and she avoids it, and he quickly pivots and goes for a hook to the head. She blocks it with a smirk and a huff of a laugh. He frowns, and where his fist is still hard against his block, he opens his hand and yanks at a handful of her hair. “HEY!” Ragatha calls out, but he won’t let up laughing his ass off at her squirming to get out of his freakishly long fingered grasp. Seriously, he’s got to have half of her scalp. 

But his height advantage and grip on her head gave him leverage to shake her around like a child trying to get the last quarter from his piggy bank. ”Not so tough now, are you little lady?”

He was obviously having fun shaking her around, and in her annoyance, she spots his arm moved directly in front of her face, and she does something so childish and low that only Jax could ever make her do so. She jumps forward and takes a large lick out of his furry, sweaty arm, and he snaps back, tossing her like she just stabbed him. His face is completely flabergasted looking at her like she lost her mind. “Did you LICK me? What are you, 5!?”

"Worked, didn’t it?” She said laughing, and he just stood staring at her in awe, but before he could make further sense of anything, she kicked him hard enough in the shin that he went down to grab it in pain.

She took the opportunity to jump over him, showing off her parkour minigame skills, and book it for the door. She turns back to stick her tongue out at him, and he physically growls; that’s a new one she quickly notes as he chases her. Ragatha’s almost at the door, jumping over the couch, but her giddiness comes too early as something hits her on the back, knocking her down granting her a face full of high end carpet.

“What the?” Ragatha sits up from landing on her face to see what hit her; it was a folded piece of cloth, and when she opened it up, it had a picture of him winking and shirtless with his stage name on the bottom. Her face turns to disgust and she looks at him smugly holding a t-shirt gun, humming happily to himself. 

“Is this supposed to be merchandise? Who in there right mind would want this?” Ragatha asks incredulously. 

Jax smirks, “I’ll have you know all my fans love this shirt. Tell you what you can keep it; it’d look good on you! Nice sleek black, so it goes well with anything. Or nothing at all.” He winks at her before firing another shirt directly at her face.

"Ugh, will you stop that?" She throws one of his 5 million fancy bubbly waters at him, which he easily dodges. She completely forgets leaving as she starts circling the room with him throwing all of his stupid champion perks at him and him dodging and taunting her the whole time.

“Will you-” She throws a bubbling water, “stay,” then a candle piece too nice for him to appreciate, "still,” and finally part of the couch cushion. He’s laughing at her the whole time, only making her more angry. When she grabs something and watches him freeze, like she just reached in and grabbed his heart straight from his chest or something. She looks down at her hand and feels the hard metal in her hand. It’s a champion belt, but an old one. They redesigned the code for it years ago, so it doesn’t even look like this on any posters anymore.

It looks like the ones Kinger used to own. She rubs a thumb over the old logo. It was calmer then. Less fighters. Less code. Things weren’t all money hungry and all for one. Jax still got this by cheating for sure, but it’s probably the one the least. He only started getting so obsessed with staying on top once he won his first championship.

When he got this belt, he was different. This whole place was different. But he always said he hated that, so why have this here? Why not get rid of it like he did his old costumes and anything that reminded of him back when he wasn’t the raining champ? What made this so important?

Ragatha noticed him approaching her from the corner of her eye as she continued looking over the date belt. They were fighting a moment ago but almost like it’s natural thing with him things changed in an instant. Childish anger snuffed out in a moment of somberness she and him were clearly not prepared for. She feels hollow looking at it in a way she can’t explain. “I remember when you got this. First one right?”

Jax nods slowly as if he says something stupid; now she’ll rip it to shreds. Ragatha thinks she should know better of her, but does he really? Yes, they’ve known each other for yeats, but how close are they actually? He watches her as she stares hard at the belt, running her fingers over where the peels are curved like someone had run soothing circles into the old leather until it couldn’t hold up anymore. “It really has been years hasn’t it?”

Everything in the fight club is constantly updated, but a few things. And they were hard to find. Her favorite gym being one of them. Run down and beat down from years of use. If things weren’t specifically asked to be kept the same, they’d change whether they liked it or not.

Old and torn never fit into the aesthetic of the fight club. She looks out the window, and like always, the sky was always dark with a glitter of stars mathematically spaced apart to create the most perfectly even night sky. Things that aged in general didn’t fit in a digital world. So having something old was a luxury I couldn’t understand. 

“What did you forget?” He asks what should be sarcastic, but when she looks at him, he has a serious face.

“Yeah, a little bit.” She chuckles sadly but hands it to him, and she sees him physically calm a bit.

“We’ll fuck.” He says securely, putting on the belt, flopping on the huge chair next to her, and picking up the remote angrily. “Then we’ll never figure a way out if here. Kinger and Gangle’s lost it in seven different ways to heaven, and Zooble doesn’t even know what they're fighting for anymore. You’re supposed to be the one holding on to hope or whatever. You gonna let me down too?” Her eyes shoot up to him, but he doesn’t have a readable expression. He’s looking at the TV but also a million miles away. If she hadn’t just seen his mouth move, she would’ve thought she heard something. She knows that look, and for a second time today, in what seemed like forever with him, he looks so human.

And then it clicks why he has this and why she has her nasty gym. They’re the only proof in this entire place that time has passed by. That things are changing; they are moving forward. Moving towards what? Who the hell knows? But even if it’s stupid, worn out, and gross, it’s something to hold on to that’s real. That reminds them they're humans, and there’s a world out there waiting for them to get out. One she promised him and everyone else she’d stay by their side until they figured out how to get there. And right now she’s letting him down.

She straightens her back and stands right in front of him, and he raises his brow but says nothing. “Hey, you know what I learned today?”

"No, but I figure from the girl's power stance you're going to tell me.” Jax said, sighing.

“You’re a real piece of work.”

"Wooow, figure that one out all by yourself, huh? Took you long enough. Now move my show’s on.” He said shooing her to the side.

“Cocky, conceded, disrespectful, a notorious cheater, pigheaded, sloppy, lazy." She starts pacing back and forth. “Annoying, ungrateful-”

“Devilishly handsome,” He pipes into her ranting, but this only causes her to focus straight on him. 

“DELIOUSINAL, stubborn as a mule and twice as dumb! Like seriously, were you dropped on your head as a baby or born stupid?” His eye twitches at that one, and she smirks, only causing him to get more annoyed.

“You done, yet?”

“No.” She smiles sweetly. “I also realized I’m better than you! No one even likes you! Hell, I don’t even like you!”

“That’s it!” He’s foot slams on the floor, and he moves to get up, but she kicks him back in his seat, leaning her whole body pressure where her foot meets his chest, and he growls at her again.

She throws a punch so hard next to head her brace knuckles sink into the high-quality martial arts and wood and leans forward until she’s inches above his face, completely locking him in place with her body, so the best he can do is struggle and snarl at her, which she gives 100% back.

“But as much as you infuriate me!” She says, grabbing his face with her other hand and shoveling it back, and for a moment he thinks he’s actually driven her insane enough to murder. Which is pretty impressive considering it’s Ragatha and hey not the worst way to go. But then her face then softens, and she lightly brushes an old scar on his chin, once again making his hair stand up. “If there’s anything you can count on in this circus, it’s that we humans stick together. And I will always have your back. Got it?"

She’s looking at him with her stupid button eye and her warm brown one that always piss him off, and they still should. But the firm promise of her words is in them as she waits for him to respond, creating a flood of relief in his chest; he didn't realize needed to be released until that moment. Suddenly his mouth feels full of cotton, and he doesn’t like the space he’s in, but he nods a “got it,” none the less.

“Good!” Ragatha smiles her stupid brighter than the sun and yanks her fist out of the furniture using her leg that was trapping his chest to knock him and the entire couch over and walk backwards back into a fighting stance. “Now get off your ass. Fighting never stops here, you know that! C’mon Jack Rabbit, I’m not done with you yet.”

She motions for him to come over with a fire in her eyes that gets him out of his stupor and sends his blood straight to boil. That fire that kept them all going. This is what it’s all about; this he liked! Jax wipes off the dust of his ruined chair, and his smile splits devilishly. “That’s my girl!”

[shsl-box-worshipper]

Merry christmas, Kaula! @princess-kaulise

I was your gifter. New to the fandom but still fucking love giving gifts! Hope you enjoy it! I made it based off of most of your notes, with a little dash of found family for good measure

[raycatzdraws]

Wolfie and Four friendship appreciation doodles! They're shared secrets besties! I hope Four's distrust of the shadow crystal doesn't drive anything between them. Wild found his way into this compilation with a force. It seems I can't draw Wolfie and not include him too!

[i-am-not-a-who-i-am-a-what]

so about the header that proceeded today's statement:

Viability as agent: Low

Viability as subject: None

Viability as catalyst: Medium

i didn't know what to think of this part of the entry at first, but the longer the statement went on... was the institute in this universe trying to manufacture avatars?

the dice can't do anything without someone to use them, they can't be an "agent" by themselves, but might be capable of manipulation, so in that aspect their viability is "low."

the dice could be a "subject" in the sense that they could use further studying, but the statement itself was a very thorough investigation of their workings, so in that aspect their viability is "none."

the dice seem to influence their holder to roll them, or at least find more victims to roll them, and could therefore be described as a "catalyst" for someone's becoming. but, as seen in the statement, their owner can give the dice to someone else (albeit not without consequences), so in that aspect their viability is only "medium."

so what about the line following all this, what does "Recommend referral to Catalytics for Enrichment applicability assessment" mean? if we go by this interpretation, i'd say it could mean the institute wanted to find a way to make the dice even more potent as an artifact, maybe even remove that pesky ability for their owner to reject them.

imho all of this this brings a whole new level of context to the events of episode seven, of unknown violent agents going after an influx of objects that seemed straight out of artifact storage. was that the nature of the titular "magnus protocol" first mentioned in episode four, the one that involved the starkwall group? containing or destroying potential artifacts before the institute could get their hands on them?

it also makes their "gifted kids program," and sam's link to it as one of the kids being studied, all the more horrifying to think about. was it not just avatars in general they were after, but child avatars specifically? no wonder gertrude got so defensive over the possibility of sam and celia dragging gerry back into the institute's business last episode, we all picked up on her clearly knowing more than she's letting on but now we might know the shape of that information a bit better.

and one final bit of food for thought... this statement had a lot of familiar themes, didn't it? free will or the illusion of it, gambling and not-so-random chance, the statement giver being done in by one final hit from what feels like a bit of an addition... all hallmarks of a certain mother of puppets. doesn't it seem fitting that "chester" would use this kind of statement to warn sam about what harm pursuing the magnus institute could bring to him, considering the one his voice might draw from? and doesn't it seem so painfully ironic that his warning seems to have only driven sam further into that web?

[cerealmonster15]

jamiazu / ashenviper week day 5: alternate universe

can i offer u a farm fresh egg in this trying time 😐😐🥚

i almost forgot and skipped this day's theme jdksfjsdkl i was head in the clouds plotting ahead for the other two...

anyway ummm this is from one of my assorted twst farming sim au plots lol... most notably this one with jamil imagined as like the 'silent protagonist' harvest moon style, and azul as one of the potential marriage candidates [like mermaid leia from hmds lol]

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

Guys oh my god.

So this image showcases the notable bits of symbolism associated with each character. most of these bits have, in some way, been featured within the MVs even in minor ways. Which is why my eyes widened significantly when I saw Mahiru associated with what looks to be, a praying mantis

I'm sure you're aware of what a lot of female praying mantis do to their partners during or after they have sex with them.

(x) Mahiru's Trial 3 MV is just gonna be this

[deoidesign]

Someone killed my boss last night and he sent me this I'm so fired

god I can't wait to make this comic.

[jula483]

!!!!!!

[faaun]

do you believe that pretty privilege exists?

yes ! there's been a lot of research on this !

each word is a different article :) always do ur own research; some are just lit reviews, some not controlled/randomised, i haven't read them all (mostly skimmed abstracts), but the general consensus is yes ! here are some things i gathered (again, i skimmed, always fact-check things urself!!)

1) children perceived by teachers as more beautiful get better results in school

2) more attractive people have more occupational and economic success

3) less attractive rape victims are held more responsible for their assault (?? can we start society over . please) . bias stronger for male observers than female observers .

4) thinner women (well, lower waist to hip ratio) were more likely to be believed about being assaulted

5) the bystander effect was likely to impact people witnessing the harassment/assault of more conventionally feminine women

6) in some cases, attractiveness bias is shown to be reversed in same-sex individuals in a professional setting, in some cases, the opposite is true . either way, the combination of attractiveness and sex seems to have an impact

7) people are more likely to make eye contact with physically attractive faces . effect stronger for women's faces than men's.

8) even university students show employability bias for more attractive students (it's not necessarily a matter of education)

9) attractive political candidates are viewed more favourably by voters than non-attractive candidates

10) adults believed infants 48 hour old, 3 month old and 9 month old infants they viewed as more beautiful were more likeable, smart, "better babies," and conversely "low attractiveness" babies were seen as causing more problems

again, look at everything critically ! i haven't fully read all of these !! lmk if u need links for anything specifically :)

[oldmanffucker]

hilson piss fic is live 🫶🏼 2.8k words of maybe the hottest thing I’ve written yet.

love you so bad

[weaponsdrawn]

"Flippy. I'm sorry for trying to kill you, and for killing the neighbors along the way, when you tried to keep me grounded. It wasn't right. I know I haven't done a good job of keeping you safe, and we're trying to live peaceful lives. ...Flippy? What are you doing?"

The screenshots I referenced, and full page are under the cut!

also HI yes this is a series im going to be trying to do where I do like redraws of creepypasta/retakes/just general scary internet things but like with my blorbos or whatever. i initially got the idea when fliqpy's icon in like the flipped out mod reminded me of the iconic max and ruby 004 eyes thing, and then that spiraled into a whole "hey what if flippy just gave up and tried to off himself into dormancy and it fucked up fliq" type of idea/concept. esp bc i am a huge fan of the idea of fliq undergoing some kind of "Fucked Up Evil Protector Experiences Remorse" YES I consider it to be a system, and YES I think a lot about the whole "seeing everyone as an enemy soldier" thing. like personally I hc he existed pre-war as a protector, and like ok i know double whammy has them fight but I feel like he does gen want flippy to well. BE ok/he cares about that little goober. its just The War absolutely decimated the system in multiple ways and thats how we get like ZERO communication between them, fliq seemingly only fronting/acting on trauma responses ALONE and doing shit like brute forcing fronting whenever theres any sort of trauma/ptsd related trigger, and flippy just trying rlly hard to live a normal life. shit like the dipping fries in blood like its ketchup thing i just chalk it up to htf being a funny goofy series bc i find it funny when absurd shit like that happens . wow this turned into a huge rant that i honestly rushed bc i wanna get lunch anyhow

[mirai-desu]

I agree with this article 💯, as Rachael New et al. are now undermining the entire premise of the show, and I want to highlight and comment on a few parts of this excellent take:

We're losing a central character whose emotional journey we were invested in and a vital piece of the primary reason we were told to watch Miss Scarlet & The Duke in the first place. Whether you want William and Eliza together romantically or not, the show was always predicated on and grounded in their relationship, and to pretend otherwise is to deny the original premise behind its very existence.

Exactly this. "Miss Scarlet" might be considered more lead than him, but he was still a titular character, and we were invested in his journey as well as hers. Their bond is the foundation of the show. The teenage flashback episode in particular proves this to us--and proves William’s importance to the greater story. But even before that, it's been there all along:

And, honestly, the official description of Season 1 is blunt about what’s happening: “Eliza and The Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship that will crackle and smolder with sexual tension as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880’s London.” So let’s say it as plainly as possible: No one planned to tune in to this new program simply because it promised a crime drama in period dress. The series’ hook, apparent from its first marketing materials, was this unique relationship at the show’s center. The real story of Miss Scarlet and the Duke has always been just that: Miss Scarlet and the Duke. 

While RN et al. can dig in their heels and claim that the story has always just been Eliza's, but we know better than that. Since Day 1, the promotion and the interviews all catered towards the UST. As time wore on, Stuart really began championing the romance in earnest, and it was a logical next step. He was not wrong to do so. What was actually happening on screen was heading that way, as part of a beautiful slow burn.

After literally years of dancing around the rarely mentioned but blatantly obvious feelings between them, this season finally pushed their relationship forward. We got a whole flashback episode dedicated to how they first met! There was a kiss! William said the L-word! The genuine forward relationship progress that so many fans had been waiting for was finally happening! [...] What makes this even more painful is that Season 4 finally felt like the show was moving forward, at last, at least where its central relationship was concerned. Yes, William left, but it was for a good reason: to give Eliza the space and opportunity to decide what she wanted from their relationship on her own terms. (That, as the kids say, is growth.) But if he was never coming back, why bother with most of Season 4?

While we know that in part we got some of the romantic moments in S4 due to Stuart's requests, but I think ultimately, RN's reluctance to move things forward with Wiliza is what put Stuart at odds with her, as she likely did not take too kindly to him suggesting his own input (even when he became an EP) and perhaps felt like he was telling her what to do with her own show. And her goal is to keep it stuck in a cynical pattern; one that William wanted to resolve, and one that Stuart had to remove himself from, because RN favors rinsing and repeating, versus actually diving deep into longer character arcs. That's how she think she can keep the "longevity" of her show, or so she thinks.

Because look, I love Eliza. But I realize it's really because of the potential of who she could be. William never returning prolongs her characterization being stuck. She was supposed to spend the year thinking about what changes she needs to make so they could be together. If he never returns, then what's the point? The catalyst for change is gone. William staying on the show should have actually forced her to grow, not kept her stuck. Removing William entirely reinforces the patterns versus ending the cycle. Especially if he is just replaced with a new love interest, who just flirts with Eliza to keep a "will they / won't they angle" that's never moved forward.

Any writer worth their salt would have Eliza grow in interim and have major development upon William return. But that would end the "put them together / pull them apart." Which is not what RN wants, hence why she refused to put them together. She thinks these patterns are what maintains the show vs spending time on actual storytelling. And this is also why I cannot believe the party line, and truly feel that we haven't gotten the whole truth on why Stuart's exiting.

Thinking about the scenes in the flashback episode of William and Henry, and how important they were, it makes me sad that apparently in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter to RN. And it's sad they keep trying to paint it that the two most important people to Eliza were “overshadowing” her all the time.

I fear is that this new retooled version will just ignore and erase the importance that William has had on her life. At least in the S4 finale we saw how his words still affected her, even when he wasn’t there, encouraging to reopen her own agency. But I can’t see them continuing that, when clearly they want to reboot the show without him.

I had been working on my post S4 fanfic before the news of Stuart's departure hit, and I looked back on how I was developing Eliza from where we left off and how I wrote William's return. When I was outlining it, I was thinking about how RN only just barely has touched the surface of Eliza's psyche. I wrote her as torn up about William leaving--and how he left not long after he almost died. Eliza should have grown from the trauma of almost losing him and we seemed to be on that path in the show, with her at his bedside, and having him recover in her home. We could have dived into how the lost of her mother at a young age affected her, and how Henry's death still was painful. At her father's funeral (which mind you, is in the very first episode) she talked about being alone, and William wiped her tears away. And now... Eliza has lost another person close to her. Literally, it's not William's existence stopping Eliza's development--it's RN's lack of talent, I'm afraid. And who knows, maybe that statement that she cannot be developed while he is around is just a cover to explain his exit, as it's clearly not an actual reason.

Likewise with William, in addition to dealing with his feelings for Eliza, there's so much they could done with him leaving Scotland Yard and the trauma he survived. He didn't have to have PTSD, but he's already had a pretty traumatic life and survived so much (which again… why show all that in the flashback if they were ditching his character - Ben, not RN, wrote that episode so maybe that was a sign). But he held onto the identity of being part of the police, because of how he came get that job (i.e. Henry) and get off the street, and they could have explored what would it be like to shift away from that identity. There just was so much potential and so much richness that could have been written, for a man who came from nothing, but wanted to belong, and wanted to be loved. And maybe Stuart was just so very aware that the show was refusing it take it there. He took William as far he was allowed to, but not as far as the character could have gone, if written by the right people.

Frankly, both William and Eliza deserve better. Stuart deserves better, and we the Wiliza fans do as well. Ultimately, regardless of what (and at what point in time it) really went down between Stuart and RN, the series should have ended with S4, but with a happy conclusion. All signs pointed to William joining Eliza at her detective agency, but now we just have to imagine them there, working together as equals and in love.

[tea-cat-arts]

I'm willing to at least hear out most of the "xyz plot point is heavily tied to abc cultural context" brands of posts but the "wwx isn't meant to be read as morally gray" and "the western fandom made up Sizhui being wangxian's son" brands of post make me feel like my cultural ignorance is being used to gaslight me

[quick-catton]

SORRY I'VE BEEN MIA i did NOT just finish compiling barry's whole filmography masterlist. i definitely did not find a source for EVERY SINGLE FILM aside from his earliest three. i absolutely do not need advice on where to safely post the masterlist so it doesn't get sus'd and so anyone who wants to can easily access it.

until i figure that out, i sure hope no one messages me and lets me know if they're looking for a specific film/tv show/short of his! that wouldn't be good at all! :^)