#as you can see we are very normal human beings

[tou-dai]

There are people who keep doing fucked up things

Like rape, abuse, being a nazi etc

If you want them to live among people "like normal", I totally respect that

I think everyone should be safe, healthy, and free

I don't remember what quote it was tho. Something like, "your freedom ends where mine begins"?

I've had 8 concussions so you'll have to excuse me (one of them being from my abusive ex wife, a relationship in which i was .. damn. Only a victim of a crime/series of crimes)

Anyway

Point is i think people saying "separate these people from us in a humane a way as possible" is very reasonable

Considering some of these people do not want to be reformed

I think anyone who is compassionate and considerate of the consequences -- one way or another -- would much rather these people (no matter their demographic) be treated kindly

To be given what they need

But also: do not allow them to hurt others!!!

This is harm reduction!

I think the issue people have

Why they clutch their pearls

Is because we've all done fucked up things

Perhaps for extended periods, knowing, being in our emotions or whatever

Maybe just being ignorant and/or unwell

So we don't want to be exiled or put in jail!

And no one should have their safety, health, and freedom fucked with!!!

But now what?? It's 2025 and you have some of the worst human beings to have existed to be at the helm

Why?

Not only that: but there are people who support and relate to them, no matter what evil shit they do!!

Yall

We need to have a truly real conversation about our acceptance of intolerance and fucked up behavior in various forms

And where we draw the line

Because humanity is going to keep having this happen until we do

Edit bc I think this needs to be said, too:

There are people who want to abuse and people who want to be abused

Just like that old song (which i love ngl)

And i think everyone has a place or inherent worth

It's just our world is not designed to bring the best out of people or nurture them well

But people are also disingenuous about stuff -- they lie to themselves and others about things

Like how good or bad they are. Whether there is such a thing. Where the bar is. When it's appropriate to talk about it etc

Like many many people would say Elon/Trump need to just die

But there are many others who support them and fascism

Exactly what do you propose we do with such people?

With their votes?

How can we help them?

There are disabled minorities, like myself, who are seen as degenerates or useless

But we have many talents and ideas which are amazing

We are not afforded the opportunity to be who and what we are

Yet these assholes are at the helm

What to make of this?

We are fighting.

Who is fighting and how hard? Doesn't that depend on circumstances and constitution?

If you gave me 1 million dollars, I'd keep 100k and give the rest away.

How many could say that?

But people would judge those like me, who have destroyed themselves, body mind and soul

Just to survive

Or to be seen as human

..

I guess we'll have to see how this goes

venmo: @torchport

cashapp: $onepeaceman

"so youre saying we should just allow rapists and abusers to remain in society?" where else would they go ⁉️😭🙏 so confused can you show me this place outside of society

[orchiid-fields]

*ೃ༄ [ notes: for my mutual. who i made really love thundercracker. smiles like a normal person. i love writing for him though he's so fun!! also his g1 art looks a little funny here!! love this guy ]

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*ೃ༄ [ content notes: gn!reader; humanoid!reader; yearner thundercracker; robot romanticism we love big metal beings ]

*ೃ༄ [ word count: 860 ]

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odd. liking organics is odd. he gets looks all the time. from the other decepticons. from other humans. but it’s a risk he doesn’t seem to care too much about. at first sight, he was enamored by you. he initially didn’t care too much, or at least proclaimed as much, but there was no mistaking that obvious intrigue in his expression. i suppose liking another planet’s inhabitants isn’t too far fetched…most people tend to cower or attempt to fight the decepticons, so there’s got to be at least some curiosity on your end?

initially meeting, you were startled. very reasonably, might i add! it is a perfectly normal and expected reaction to cower in fear and/or bolt away at the speed of light when you see a massive robot as tall as a building. it’s extremely overwhelming and a little doom-impending! but alas, every being has stamina, and you find yourself attempting to hide. thundercracker’s curious of you, but how are you supposed to know that? though you suppose when he opts to cautiously kneel before you, like when humans examine bugs, he’s not as big of a threat as you thought. at least, not to you…

and that’s just about how it goes for origins. actually dating thundercracker is…an experience? not a bad one, but he’s definitely a little. smug. flamboyant. cheeky. there’s a lot of words you have for him. dare you say he can even be a little knuckleheaded, or stubborn, or sarcastic. did you think a robot was capable of these things? not particularly. but you also came to learn that he and his whole robotic species are all technically aliens, so…you suppose him feeling things just as you do isn’t too out there. he’s simply a mechanical being.

navigating a relationship with thundercracker was strange. you figure you’d experience a sliver of joy with another human, and yet, you find yourself more enraptured at being in one of his massive palms—servos, as he refers to his hands…learning the anatomical language was an entire can of worms on both ends—and stargazing, or hell, simply being in each other’s presence, to be the best part. you’ll occasionally catch glimpses of sheepish smiles, adoring looks, the way his optics seem to subtly follow your every action. if you imagine him with irises, then it becomes even more obvious.

dating thundercracker means you get to learn more about his reactions. I mean, sure, he has similar reactions to you (humans), but it’s displayed differently in some aspects. One moment in particular that you recall is your first time giving him affection. You placed your lips just where you’d expect a cheekbone to be, and pulled back as if it were no biggie. Nevermind that your head was spinning thereafter. you expected thundercracker to not even feel your little gesture, but he did. by god he did. because there was a sudden loud ass whirring, as if fans were at full blast, loud and blowing wind. you had a hunch. plus the warmth on his faceplate too, i guess…

thundercracker is exceptionally fond of loving on you however he can. he’s aware of the size difference, so he’s always very cautious of how to handle you. he’d mindful of how he holds you in his hands, careful when he presses his lips to the top of your head to give you kisses. gives you blankets and lets you lay on top of him, even when he’s traveling, he’ll make sure you’re safe and cozy. thundercracker is also fond of letting you rest in the cockpit of his jet form, and it’s surprisingly warm. if you ever need to rest, he’s letting you inside in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

i love to think that thundercracker adores showing off for you!! you know when planes are in the sky and they make out cool little things with their trails? i think thundercracker does that for you. hearts, stars, a beautiful “i love you” painted in the sky with your name beside it. not even just that, thundercracker struts his form for you. flaunts those beautiful wings of his just for you to see. takes every opportunity to tell the stories of the “scars” (scratches, cracks, dents in his form) he wears. he just loves it when you adore him.

to close this off because i know i will keep going on and on and not stop and someone can request a part two or whatever, thundercracker adores you. like so, so much. he’s willing to put his life on the line from other bots or any harm that could come your way. you’ve brought so much light into his life and you make him feel so, so happy. if the other seekers even dared to comment on you negatively, even if he himself can be snarky and a little playful, he wouldn’t appreciate it if they got mean. you’re such an important person to him— and with each “i love you” said to you, every greeting and goodbye, every wake and rest, it shows with each amount of dedication he has for you. thundercracker just feels so happy with you!!!

[thegarageafterdark]

Recognition(Optimus x Reader) SFW

Being an adult sucked. There was no argument there, and honestly everyone felt that way. Very few actually were enjoying the roller coaster we were all on.

You tried to not let things get to you, though it all seemed to pile up despite your best efforts. So when your car decided it was just done on the way home all you could do was limp it to the shoulder and park it. Staring at the steering wheel before just thunking your head to it. At some point someone must have noticed, a deep horn honk that somehow sounded tentative came from behind. Definitely spent to much time with the mechs that you were identifying tones to horns. But it made sense when you looked into your rear view to see a familiar truck grill.  Either Optimus had been on patrol, or he'd gotten concerned and did a loop of your normal route. Holo flickering to life in the drivers seat before it exited the cab, it was always surreal seeing how Optimus portrayed a human avatar. The mechs holo came to your window, expression concerned.  Your windows worked at least, though otherwise you were dead in the water. "Are you alright? This highways a bit dangerous to stop and sit here." Which it was, the shoulder was a suggestion. Your sidemirror was almost kissing the guard rail, and you knew your tires were just on the line marker for the lane. Someone distracted enough could easily hit you, so likely was a blessing the big mech had parked behind with his hazards. "Cars dead, I think the transmission just gave out." A thoughtful noise escaped him before he motioned you to get out. "Lets leave it here and I'll get someone to take it to base. Wheeljack and Ratchet can look it over. But it's not safe for you to sit here on the shoulder."  Wincing when a car passed just close enough that you felt your car rock by them blowing by, you decided he likely was right. Following his holo to get over the guard rail then walk back to his frame your steps faltered. You'd never ridden with him now that you thought of it. For some reason it felt different, his passenger door opening for you as you climbed up the steps. Hell you'd never been in a big rig like him before either, so it was a novel experience. The autobot leaders field felt like a warm blanket once you'd gotten settled and belted in. Merging back onto the highway as you took a moment to just soak in the novel feeling of safe. Like hiding with an adult when you were scared as a kid.  The stress of the day, hell the past week caught up and the strange relief as your car got further in the side mirror finally registered as you sniffled tearing up.  "I know things are hard, but for what it's worth I'm proud of how you've been handling things. " The gentle tone with the words caught you off guard, feeling the held back tears rolling freely as if he'd given permission. "I-" Choking up you made yourself pause, taking a second to force the denial of the gentle praise. Taking a deep breath. "Thank you."

[acourtofthought]

"Elain has no interest in Lucien"

But that's where the story lies, isn't it? Because you couldn't really say that in ACOWAR. She was a little salty towards him during their first meeting but she quickly followed that up with sharing a very emotional confession with him. Even though she was in love with Graysen and wanted to return to Graysen, she stared at Lucien on a few occasions. She made sure that she went to see him as he departed for the human lands / continent to search for Vassa. She chose to leave her father's grave to walk with both Feyre and Lucien, peering up at Lucien. She was standing close to Lucien at the meeting after the war and did not pull away. Elain only stared at him for a long moment. Before that dark wind sept in, Lucien looked back. Not to me, I realized - to someone behind me. Pale and thin, Elain stood atop the stairs. Their gazes locked and held. And when Lucien turned to signal to Rhys to go...He did not glance back at Elain. Did not see the half step she took towards the stairs - as if she'd speak to him. Stop him. Letting my sisters decide to follow or remain - if they wanted a moment alone with that burnt grass. Elain came. Nesta stated. Elain fell into step beside me, peering at Lucien.

Lucien now stood in the sitting room, close to Elain's side.

Then...... Elain, at least, would be too polite to send Lucien away when he wanted to help. She was too polite to send him away on a normal day. She just ignored him or barely spoke to him until he got the hint and left. As far as I knew, he hadn't come within touching distance since the aftermath of that final battle. So in one book, we have Elain choosing to walk beside Lucien, peer up at Lucien, stand beside Lucien. And in the next, with absolutely no reason given as to why, we have Lucien no longer coming within touching distance of Elain (though he stood close to her after the war), and Elain now ignoring him. For a best selling author, it would be pretty poor writing for her to write them the way she did in ACOWAR then expect us to just accept this complete 180 with absolutely no reason given as to why that's happened and we're just supposed to move on with the story with no questions asked. The fact that there are still lingering questions as to what caused this abrupt change from the end of ACOWAR means there is still a story there. Readers still want to know why Elain suddenly began ignoring Lucien after ACOWAR left them on a positive / hopeful note. We saw something similar to happen between Nesta and Cassian, from ACOWAR to ACOFAS and we were given those answers in Nesta's book so I'm not sure why people would think anyone is delusional for thinking this best selling author is going to give readers the same resolution in Elain's book. The story has always been and will always be about Elain and Lucien's bond and the many ups and downs to a HEA. We had a little glimpse of that possibility in ACOWAR then Sarah snatched it away, which one can use logic to realize it's because she's only biding her time until she's ready to write Elain's story. Nesta's downward spiral was what kept she and Cassian apart in the novella until Sarah was ready to write their journey and for Elain she went the "I don't want a mate so I'll instead fixate on the only eligible guy in my orbit who isn't my mate!" route. But none of those obstacles were things that would prevent the end result Sarah always envisioned for these characters, and in Elain's case it's the fact that she took Sarah and Lucien by surprise by being the one for him.

[cazort]

Thank you for this thoughtful and thorough response, you have added another dimension I hadn't thought about thoroughly. I think I am more-or-less in agreement with you.

I agree with you 100% about other people not necessarily seeing gender the way I do, and that being okay. I agree about gender being personal. I am not saying "we need to be casual about the gender(s) people identify as" but rather "we need to normalize a broader range of language in casual usage so that we remove the sexist disparity in casually-gendered references."

I tend to see a big difference between formal speech and casual speech. In English, it may be a more blurry boundary than in languages like Japanese with the formality more built into it, but the distinction is still there.

In typical usage, words like "woman" and "man", which are more formal, are unambiguous. This is where it is generally agreed-on as offensive, and as misgendering, when we refer to someone with the wrong term.

However the word "guys" is ambiguous, usually meaning a group of male humans but also referring to a mixed-gender group.

Your original post astutely pointed out sexism and double standards in the way words like "guys" as well as "dude(s)" or "bro(s)" are used in these casual, ambiguous ways, but female-coded words are not used in corresponding ways. And this is related to the sexism in our society, how male is considered as the "default", which is closely intertwined with patriarchy.

I think it is entirely reasonable to assert boundaries about being referred to as a woman or man in more formal settings. It makes sense you would object more strongly to "bro" as that term is less commonly used to refer to women. And, also, anyone I know, if someone says "I don't want to be called such-and-such, please don't call me that." I will defer to them just out of respect, even if I find their request a little bit weird. It's like I'll change how I bake if someone has an allergy, I'll change how I talk if someone has trauma. Someone doesn't need to give me a reason, they can just say "please don't do that".

But...I think there is a point at which requests can be taken too far, especially when it comes to policing the use of casual language in a general setting. This may not have been your intent. I apologize if I misinterpreted your post in this way.

Where I was coming from, I have encountered MANY people who try very hard to police everyone's use of language. I.e. they're not just asserting "Hey, can you please not refer to me this way?" but they're making a prescriptive statement like: "We shouldn't refer to people this way."

I think this is taking it too far. I see a danger in asserting "this is my gender, therefore I want you to refrain from referring to me with such-and-such (casual) terms" in casual settings especially with people you don't know well.

Gender is already a bit of a minefield in society. Strictly-enforced gender roles hurt people of all genders. And people, especially people not familiar with more progressive views of gender, can be really worn down by coming into a new setting and suddenly have people get offended by their use of language. I find it difficult as a nonbinary person deep in subcultures that question and try to change language, so I'd imagine it could be even tougher for people less familiar with these subcultures, especially older people, and people with less free mental bandwidth to take these things on.

I am a strong believer in picking and choosing your battles, and as someone who deals with a great deal of backlash directed at me, resulting from other people who have been chastised, sometimes harshly and disrespectfully, by other people policing their language coming from a progressive perspective, I am acutely aware that wide-scale harm can come from "reaching for too much" in how we try to police other people's language.

So I wanted to make sure that your post was not intended (or interpreted by others) as advocating for this more aggressive sort of policing of language (i.e. "Don't call people dude/bro unless you know for sure they're comfortable with it!"). And it seems this was not your intent so I want to apologize for the misinterpretation and thank you for your clarification.

Is this making sense? This stuff is subtle. But I do think it is important!

yeah you're up on all of the latest preferred queer terminology but do you respond normally when a woman asks you not to call her Bro, Bruh, Dude, Guy, etc.?

[ghoulz4foolz]

Drift Playlist

It's been A While, but I completely revamped by Drift playlist. It's in chronological order from Dead End to the end of the events of Lost Light and broken up by time periods/major events. I have lots of notes and explanations for almost every single song under the cut (fair warning it is LONG, so only look at the stuff under the cut if you're interested or you'll be scrolling for a while). Please feel free to chat w me about any of it bc I am so very passionate. Cover art is also mine!

PRE-WAR/DEAD END 1. Bug Like an Angel - Mitski 2. Junkie Church - AJJ 3. Cocaine Jesus - RKS -honestly can also double for when Drift is in exile. I feel like it's super applicable thinking about his friends from Dead End and his general situation, but also later after he leaves the LL and is thinking about Rodimus 4. Camisado - P!ATD -who tf is caring about the guttermechs? Again, this would also be a good Deadlock song 5. Runs in the Family - Amanda Palmer (sorry ik I also hate her) 6. Brand New City - Mitski -what can I say, Megatron gave him purpose DRIFT, MEET RATCHET 7. Wretch - Autoheart -Specifically when Drift meets Ratchet in the Dead End clinic on Rodion 8. Underground - Cody Fry 9. Back To Life - Mother Mother -This feels very.... mmm Dead End to me. Very "fuck you, I'll do what I want" 10. Arms Tonite - Mother Mother 11. LIE WITH WOLVES - The Dogs on Shepard Street -”I’ll see you in my brothers, I’ll see you in the end” -”lie with dogs and you’ll get fleas. Lie with wolves and you’ll get teeth” DECEPTICON DEADLOCK 12. The Killing Type - Amanda Palmer (sorry againnnn) -I know he didn't exactly feel... bad? while he was first joined up. Just indulge me here 13. Cirice - Ghost -Megatron is Very Convincing. I'd revolt too. 14. Washing Machine Heart - Mitski -unfortunately, I read a great fic where Deadlock and Megatron kinda had smth going during the earlier war days and this song just feels Right. -Additionally, fitting for post-exile abt Roddy 15. Nicotine - P!ATD -see above 16. War Pigs/Luke’s Wall - Black Sabbath -”Politicians hide themselves away. They only started the war, why should they go out and fight?” 17. King For A Day - Pierce The Veil 18. Black Sheep - Dorothy 19. Girl is a Gun - Halsey -also one of my Starscream songs 20. Damonisch - TUYU -perfect fast-paced slasher 21. Set Me On Fire - Flyleaf 22. Cocoa Hooves - Glass Animals -cross-faction romance? on my playlist? -"You never fight back"... oh like a Medic? Who's job is healing regardless of alignment? 23. Lay All Your Love On Me - ABBA -see above 24. Headlock - Imogen Heap -”got your heart in a [Dead]lock”? Sorry that was SO cheesy 25. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Set It Off 26. Punk Tactics - Joey Valence & Brae 27. Centuries - FoB -oooooh the DJD wants you so bad 28. Little Pistol - Mother Mother -maybe having little change of heart? perhaps getting stuck with the Circle of Light?

FACTIONLESS ON EARTH/WRECKERS TIME 29. Liquid Smooth - Mitski 30. Hungover in the City of Dust - Autoheart 31. Clean - Woolbright 32. Impostor Syndrome - Sidney Gish -I really like the idea he learned a lot abt human culture and racing etc. on Earth. It was probably lonely, but he got a fresh start. 33. Being so Normal - Peach Pit  -Still, it must be hard being so far removed from the settings you've known all your life 34. Daniel In The Den - Bastille -maybe both sides are flawed and people are complicated 35. The Distance - Cake -specifically about his drag racing days, ik it’s a little out of place, but it fits well w the songs after DRIFT DEFECTS/AUTOBOT DRIFT/MTMTE 36. Crusader - Stevie Howie -mmmm yes some good rock 37. Diary of Jane - Breaking Benjamin 38. This Is Why We Fight - The Decemberists 39. Allies or Enemies - The Crane Wives -certainly, he has some conflicting feelings about his new “allies” DRATCHET MTMTE 40. Oxford Blood - Autoheart -ESPECIALLY early Dratchet where they weren't quite together, but they were close pre-EOS 41. Body Terror Song - AJJ -look, ik Drift takes care of himself Now, but he certainly didn't always and I'm sure there was some lasting damage -I also like to hc he kept his 'con claws as a reminder of who he was before. I assume Autbots wouldn't look upon that too favorably 42. A Sadness Runs Through Him - The Hoosier -ooooh Ratchet wants to fix him so bad 43. The Soldiering Life - The Decemberists - I have a LOT to say about this. I know Drift and Ratchet didn't exactly serve together (except kinda in All Hail Megatron). Still, just listen to it and you will Understand. EXILE 44. Which Witch - Florence + The Machine -”I’m on trial, waiting ‘til the beat comes out” -”Who’s a heretic now?” -It's Perfect. you just Know he was mad even with all the other mixed emotions 45. Sucker’s Prayer - The Decemberists -it’s really perfect for this period of time -”I was not ready for the road. I was so discontent to wear that heavy load” -”I wanna love somebody, but I don’t know how” 46. Losing my Religion - REM -oh Boy. Self explainatory. 47. Drop the Guillotine - Peach Pit -thinkin' about how Rodimus sold him out as a scapegoat. Was being captain that important? 48. Working for the Knife - Mitski 49. Cleopatra - The Lumineers -Drift realizing just how much he really liked Ratchet, how they practically started the Conjunx Ritus before he left without even realizing. -Insert Specralist guilt here 50. A Pearl - Mitski 51. Mr. Loverman - Ricky Montgomery

EMPIRE OF STONE 52. Heartbreaker - Autoheart -I'd be pretty emotional too if the person I loved most in the world, who I never confessed to, travelled across space to come bring me back home. Even more so when my Amica didn't even consider it. 53. Drop in the Ocean - Ron Pope 54. Someone To Stay - Vancouver Sleep Clinic 55. Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men 56. Sleep On The Floor - The Lumineers -"leave a note on your bed, let your mother know you're safe" that of write the new CMO a note and go get your soon-to-be husband 57. The Sailor Song -this is my CD/Rewind song, but it belongs here too. 58. Drops of Jupiter - Train -honestly, this is more about Ratchet than Drift, but it felt fitting 59. Fast Car - Tracy Chapman -"Anyplace is better; starting from 0 we got nothin to lose" 60. World War Me - Kind and Queen of the Losers -"so tell me, baby- will you love me if I lose? Will you love me even if I lose?" 61. G.I.N.A.S.F.S. - FoB 62. We Can Build A Fire - Autoheart -”Who in your right mind did you think you’d find- your guardian angel?” -this one was rly hard to place bc it could go so many places POST EOS DRATCHET 63. Benjamin Alphabet - Super Whatevr -healing together takes time and energy! 64. You are the Moon - The Hush Sound 65. Me and My Husband - Mitski -with a positive interpretation, minimal angst intended -even when your best friend writes you off, you'll still always have your grumpy husband 66. Soul Meets Body - Death Cab for Cutie -the Dratchet song ever 67. Sunlight -Spending thousands of years on a war that did nothing but cause pain and suffering really makes a person think about how valuable enduring love and devotion are 68. Female Doctor - Miniature Tigers 69. I’ll Rust With You - Steam Powered Giraffe 70. Laughter Lines - Bastille -this will make me SOB if I think about it too long. GEN/LOST LIGHT 71. Calamity Song - The Decemberists 72. Angel With a Shotgun - The Cab -see Lost Light #1 73. How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty 74. Moscow - Autoheart -my Lost Light anthem!! 75. In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars -"at least the war is over" 76. I'm Still Standing - Elton John -boy isn't he 77. I Know The End - Phoebe Bridgers 78. Life Eternal - Ghost -yeah. all of this. 79. Bitter Water - The Oh Hellos

[spookyyew59]

long rambling about Kevin smh, but this thoughts been bothering me for a bit, sorry if it’s unorganized.

Y’all can we stop reducing Kevin as a single celled organism 💔, he’s his own character with numerous traits, why do people reduce him to “Kevin boy failure!!! So cutie patootie skunkle-bob skinny twink man!!!!! He’s absolutely die if we was by himself!!”, like vro what 😭

I haven’t done a full character analysis on Kevin, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I very much do NOT believe that “he’d kill skid and pump if given the chance!” Like what??? No he?? Wouldn’t??? He’s a normal man??

Kevin is a human being, not a monster. He doesn’t hate them (not a lot anyways, I assume), he gets very irritated with them and it’s very understandable why he does.

Skid and Pump, in all honesty, need to learn basic manners and like, not cause several crimes. You can say that “they’re just kids! They don’t know any better!” But I don’t know anyone who had a childhood where it involves messing up several stores, causing problems for the employees, committing damage to private property, and assault (if you’re counting when they got possessed by Moloch.)

But back to the main thing, Kevin would NOT kill them! He’s tired of working and I get that, he’s tired and most likely underpaid, being the only one to work there at the CandyClub each day so he’s tired, underpaid, and Skid and Pump make his job and mental health worse. He’s not some “twink” who would kill two kids, he’s probably in his mid 20’s trying to get a date somewhere while also trying to pay his rent, afford food, afford clothes, and pay for all his entertainment needs (streaming services, WiFi, etc). He wants to be happy just like anyone else, and he wants to get money the LEGAL way.

He wants to be happy, and despite people saying “he’d kill skid and pump!” he DOES care about them. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have asked that question in episode 6, “and why is an old dude hanging around kids?”, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have asked. Kevin cares about those kids, like he cares about anyone else, even though it was his first day in the shirt and he snapped at them, I don’t entirely blame him for it.

Two kids came into your store on your first day, asked you for free things and when you declined they mess it up so you end up giving them free stuff anyways. I understand why he snapped, and me personally, I would have too. But that doesn’t mean he hates the kids, it was his first day and he just didn’t wanna be fired!

I also gotta love how society sees a man interested in more than one gender and go like “OOOOOOO YESSS. Let’s get rid of his ENTIRE character traits and EVERY theory, and lets mold his character into ONE singular shape and lets only use him for bad angst and shipping purposes!!”

Kevin is MORE than a side character used for shipping purposes, the man’s had a prophetic dream of all things and you all are focused on the fact that he’s into every gender possible?? Can we get some theories about this man? Cause where are those at??? I don’t see anything about that, and it all depends on where the timeline is for the Kevin short.

“I had nightmares you two!”, was a line he said in episode 5, so if everything they’ve done was true, shouldn’t he technically be able to guess what happens to himself and the town? And possibly the WORLD???

You all can have your headcanons and see Kevin in your own eyes, but we need to STOP reducing cool characters as a single celled organism who revolves around “twinks twinks twinks twinks. Ooo gay men. Twink twink twinks.”

[aihoshiino]

The thing about me is that I am a bit of a freak when it comes to the way characters refer to each other, especially when it’s my blorbos. So I have basically a mental chart of how ai calls others and how others call her.

I find it fascinating that in akane’s ai performance, she changes how she addresses others. Going from ‘aqua-kun’ to just ‘aqua’ and ‘yuki-chan’ to ‘yuki’. (Side note: when I was double checking the og jp text, I was surprised by how much aikane borrowed from yuki.)

Professor of ai, do you think this aspect of aikane is accurate to the real ai? What do you make of aikane in general?

If I remember correctly, ai is yobisute with a couple of people, aqua and ruby(obviously), watanabe and takamine in 45510, we never see ai call hikaru by name (a fact I am very normal about) but in 15YL they are yobisute with each other.

I think Aikane is pretty interesting as like... an in-universe reflection of what Ai's 'public' self was understood to be. On the one hand, the fact that Akane was able to get such a good read on Ai just through examining publicly available information is an early reflection/indication of the fact that 'Ai of B-Komachi' really isn't that different from the supposed "real" Ai and that she contains enough of Ai's authentic self for Akane to replicate it, at least in part.

On the other hand, she is ultimately only a recreation of Ai's public self, and whatever the manga might try and tell us... Akane doesn't really know who Ai is. She knows things about Ai, but that doesn't mean she understands her as a person. I think Akane, for better or worse, kind of just sees Ai like any other role she plays - a fictional character for her to come up with fun headcanons about so she can playact as her better as opposed to a real human being.

This is something season 2 of the anime supports with some interesting imagery, however accidentally;

Not only is Akane's image of Ai incomplete, but it's an image of Ai of B-Komachi, Ai's overly polished public self - and she's pictured alongside Sayahime, an entirely unreal fictional character. In Akane's mind, these two 'roles' are the same in form and weight.

I do definitely agree that Aikane borrows a LOT from Yuki, though! That was something that always seemed quite implicit to me, so I was always surprised that other people never really talk about it. Aikane is particularly forward and flirtatious and pushy in a way that even Ai of B-Komachi is not, but very much does reflect the version of herself that Yuki was playing on the show. And given that Aikane is born out of (among other things, obvs) Akane's sense of rivalry with Yuki and admiration of her, I think that makes a lot of sense.

(Yuki is also one of those Secretly Ai characters we see pop up in the first half of the manga, imo, which drives this home even further.)

Because of this, I think the terms of address thing is something Akane cribbed from Yuki rather than Ai - past a certain point (or perhaps when she's in Work Mode), Yuki calls Akane by her first name with no honorifics. I... don't remember if she does it for anybody else, off the top of my head? But at the very least, that's how she speaks to Akane.

ACTUALLY: Quick addendum to this while it's in my queue, but I suddenly remembered these two clearly paralleled lines:

The TL obscures this a teeny bit, but these lines are even more obviously and deliberately mirrored in Japanese:

「茜わ私のこと、嫌い？」 Akane wa watashi no koto kirai? 「ゆきわこう言う私、嫌い?」 Yuki wa kouiu watashi kirai?

The anime takes this a step further and has Aikane use the exact same inflection and even deliberate pacing of her speaking when she delivers this line. So definitely an indication to me that Aikane borrows just as much from Yuki as she does from the real Ai.

Back to the real Ai herself tho, this isn't really reflective of her own speech patterns. It can be easy to miss because the setup of the series is such that the Venn diagram of "characters Ai addresses by name" and "characters Ai addresses without honorifics" is almost a single circle lol but she's pretty polite with her honorifics usage and doesn't really jump to yobisute very fast, at least not with people's real names - we can infer that all the gen 1 B-Komachi girls only ever addressed each other by their stage names, for example, so Ai leaving off their honorifics can be understood as her addressing them by title instead, in the same way she calls Ichigo "President" and Gorou "Sensei".

Another thing that differentiates Ai from Aikane is that Aikane almost seems to go out of her way to use people's names, probably as a way of coming off as more forward and confident. By contrast, Ai herself does the opposite - Kyun mentions in POV B (i gotta start getting used to not calling it viewpoint b) that Ai tends to avoid using people's names because she often gets them wrong when she does (some combo of autism faceblindness & her low literacy meaning she struggles to correctly read name kanji probably) and doesn't want to get in trouble.

All this combined makes me feel pretty sure that Aikane is just a portrayal of the ideal of Ai in all senses of the word. Akane assembles her from all the prettiest, shiniest parts of Ai and Yuki and plays her as an effortlessly perfect, flirtatious and confident girl... which we all know the real Ai very much was not.

[snobgoblin]

here's another "I wanted this to be a comic and then it seemed too daunting to draw every panel so now it's just a fic" thing anyway summary: Reise gets hungry so Valdemar takes them to the market where they are tormented (hyperbole) slice of life... slice of death even... slow paced

Of course the child would have to have his needs met eventually. These fleshy beings always do. Children are more fickle, though, more picky. He refused everything he was offered! Even that delicious heart!

So, to the market it was. Valdemar had their mask on, they couldn't stand the stench of the living. And so many of them! It reminded them of a colony of ants in terms of density and rapid movement. They tried to stay on the outskirts of it, and gently pushed the child forward.

"Ah, here we are, then. I suppose you'll be needing some money. Open your hands" Reise obeyed, and Valdemars hands hovered above his, and the gold coins seemed to come out of nowhere, spilling into his hands, and when there was no room, down onto the floor. "That should be plenty." Though, they didn't know that for sure. It had been so long since they had to buy food, they had forgotten what the prices were. "Go on, now. I'll be right here." They stood with their fingers interlaced. They had plenty of time to wait.

Reise just looked as uncomfortable as Valdemar felt. But why? He didn't run off like Valdemar had expected them to. Normally he was so talkative.

"What's this?" They kneeled, examining him. Turning his head from side to side. "Are you feeling unwell? Please, do be detailed for my documentation." It was... almost touching? They were concerned in their own fucked up way.

"Can you come with me?"

They tsked. "Of course not, silly. I have supplied you with everything you will need. You will be fine. I will be here when you are finished. Do be quick! We have work to do."

Why are his eyes watering. Euch. They do this when they're upset, don't they?

"Ah. I see." They thought they understood. They never liked these sorts of places, either. The sounds, the smells, it's much too much for them. A good cover for luring victims, though. "Seeing as how your emotions are rendering you completely useless, I suppose I will have to assist you more personally so we can get back to work." Valdemar picked him up, and he seemed to brighten up instantly.

It was... An experience for them. The thin cloth over their mouth and nose can only do so much for the strong scents, especially with their heightened senses. They didn't quite know what to do, either, which stands to go to. But Reise did eventually shout when they spotted an apple merchant, offering clarity in the jumbled mess. At last, a clear objective.

With the purchase concluded, (with a generous sum of gold given), they were seen off with a strange phrase. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!" HA! Like a simple fruit could ever frighten them. In any case, the child had obtained one of the fruits impaled on a stick, covered in some odd, sickly-sweet smelling goop. So now, they could get back to work. At last!

As they walked back to the palace, both relaxed. Reise was less upset having a full stomach, and Valdemar was just glad to be away from that disgusting congregation of humans. On second thought they should have used the opportunity to stock up their lab... but, no matter. That was enough of that for one day. This child was already putting enough of a wrench in their routine! Perhaps they should start keeping their preferred sustenance in the lab to prevent this from happening again.

Their train of thought was interrupted by the child waving the stick at them. The half eaten, sticky mess.

They grimaced, as much as they could, anyway. "Do keep that contained, if you please." They politely continued walking.

"Try it."

"Try it? Of course not." They sounded offended at the very prospect. Like it was beneath them.

"It's good!" But Reise had a feeling that wouldn't be enough. "Think of it like an experiment. Don't you wanna know what's in it?"

"Not particularly."

Lightbulb. "They said it keeps doctors away. I guess they were right."

"WHAT! That's completely silly. Even if that were true, I am no ordinary doctor. I will not be done in so easily. Bring it here."

Bingo.

Valdemar lowered their mask and bit the top of the apple, unintentionally taking in some of the core and the stick impaling it in one sharp bite. Reise could've sworn their jaw unhinged.

They couldn't remember the last time they had something like this.

It wasn't thick and warm and metallic like blood.

It wasn't tough like an organ.

It wasn't splintery, like a bone.

No, it was hard, but gave in easily. Crunchy, but there was a softness to it. It was bitter, acidic. But sticky and sweet. It was completely new to them.

...And, completely revolting. They coughed it up, and a strange black liquid covered the piece and dissolved the ground around it.

"Maybe it does keep doctors away..." Reise looked at the stick with a newfound appreciation for the apples power.

"It would keep anyone away!" They hissed "I don't know how you humans can stand that complete junk. Let's get going."

But. The taste never quite left their mouth. They still didn't know if they liked that or not.

[midnightshindig]

allen x human reader hc’s?

Allen x Reader hcs

Probably my last one for today, apologies if it's a bit short!

I love this prompt and I love Allen ughhgfdaofjdgfof shout out s3e4 for literally having me foaming at the mouth

No S3 spoilers for this one!

He's surprisingly normal for an alien

Like, he brushes his teeth, showers, goes on dates, etc

but there's some cool things you get to introduce him to:

Concerts, are a big one, live entertainment isn't really feasible where he's from

But he looooves movies, and shows you all the best alien movies he grew up on

If you're a superhero, he loves training with you

We know Allen, he likes em strong

if not, he probably joins you on your preferred mode of exercise, if you do a sport or something, he'll get into it

You guys take couples boxing lessons together, and he picks it up really quickly

Now that he's on Earth and doesn't have to worry about a fear of PDA, and so he's alllll over that shit

he likes to hold your hand all the time like literally all the time HOLD THIS MANS HAND

that being said, he's also very gestural, so he's holding your hand with one hand and gesturing as he speaks with the other

it works fine enough for him

He loves to carry you, you humans are so lightweight!

Doesn't matter how big you are this guy is just throwing you around for fun

super sad to find out you can't breathe in space

so he settles for taking you flying within Earths limits

He's a big cuddler

takes up like your entire bed and has you lay on top of him

he enjoys it very much

likes to kiss the top of your head as you rest on him

there's something about your rythymic breathing that lulls his own body to sleep

Lots of human stuff is intriguing to him, like, for example: you dream?

He's never known another species to dream

And when you ask, you can't really explain why you dream, just that you do

So he gets like, really into dreams

he wants to analyze them and predict things with them he finds them FASCINATING

in the same way no Viltrumite would think of flying as a superpower- it's just how all Viltrumites work-- Humans don't think of dreaming as a power, just as a bodily function.

and he's sooooo intruiged

maybe a little jealous

so you start making up dreams and narrating them to him while he lays with his eyes closed, head in your lap

It's difficult to look good in photos with him

you know, because he's orange?

But you guys find good color combos and make it work

You guys look great <3

Meeting your parents is hilariously unhinged

Your mom is a little worried about the.... logistics.... of it all

while your dad tries so hard to treat him like a normal human it loops back into being rude

"So.... Allen.... have you considered how you'll have children?"

"MOMWHATTHEFUCK"

Allen can literally only laugh and cover his face with a hand in embarrassment "I mean- Unopans are compatible with a lot of species, I think if that's what Y/n and I wanna do, then it'll be fine"

oh my god this is so embarrassing

and your dad just gives Allen shrimp with the tail on, not explaining you have to take the tail off-

or maybe not bc he's just crunching those fuckers up oh my god

and everyone's a little grossed out

but it goes well, and they like him, and you guys have their approval

hooray

Allen sometimes feels bad that you plan all the dates (you don't mind, really) so he tries to plan you a date

back with the confederation, he was a pretty good cook

so he picks a recipe off the internet and makes it for you

But like. He can kind of eat anything

and it doesn't occur to him that eating raw meat could be.... bad for you?

So he gives you food poisoning and you have to go to the ER

but it's okayyyy you're alright, he feels terrible about it though

You guys are all in all a pretty low-key couple

You go to lunch at a diner together, stay home and see a movie, big cuddling people for sure

Allen Is SO Funny

but in that casual way where he cracks you up while folding laundry

like who cares that he's an alien this is peak domestic bliss

and he wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world

[donaviolet]

I was at school break today and one of my friends was playing Honkai Star Rail on her phone instead of talking to us and we started joking that she was being controlled by the Evil Brick of Globalization (her phone) full of Homosexual Cowboys (Boothill) and that the Church (us) was against it

Then I simply said ✨I cast Divine Punishment✨ while making magic-like gestures and one of her characters died at the exact same moment

[trauma-bot]

patron saint of never growing old

[apollos-olives]

"go to palestine and see how they treat you" okay. i did. they treated me like normal. i'm palestinian and queer and they treated me just fine. but you know where i was treated like shit for being queer??? the u.s. of fucking a.

[wolpatinga]

in this case, i'm referring to the idea that a mature self like jekyll tends to come about after an indulgent protective self like hyde

i'm a fan of IFS, internal family systems. its a philosophy/therapy technique that says everyone, not just traumagenic systems, have parts. that's the default state of humanity, every toddler is a system, but that as the brain develops under healthy, normal circumstances, the parts blend together to form one self. parts can unblend and manifest as reckless urges, but they were always there and they always act to try to protect the Self

some parts get suppressed and abused, as jekyll describes hyde in his confession. these parts remain trapped in a younger state of mind. its common for these parts to be trapped in a much younger state because of suppression. that is literally what happens in j&h, and those who have undergone IFS have reported meeting more destructive parts and learning that they're the Self as a child

honestly, this is something TGS does very very well. in that, we clearly see that hyde is how jekyll acted as a young man, but that he learned to "hyde" that part of himself. hyde came first as a personality, but jekyll matured and hid him

in the novella, jekyll laments that he had to essentially kill hyde and his boyish whimsy and become a stone-faced gentleman. i guess the potion can be compared to an alt account, but hyde was always there. jekyll in the novella explicitly states that hyde doesn't dissipate when the potion wears off, he just blends back into Self. to hyde, this feels like suicide, but he doesn't stop existing. he never stopped existing

i am tired of hyde being treated with disrespect. he is what we call a firefighter and he is responding to the loneliness and hurt in jekyll's life with drastic action, like a firefighter breaking down a door with an axe to save a person in a burning building. hyde cares not if he must ruin the nice things inside, he sees himself as saving a life. and jekyll the same when he creates the potion

basically, i'm not happy with the alt account metaphor as someone else phrased it because i detest the idea that hyde is not a separate person with his own needs. people treating him like a drag persona or an alt account for jekyll to be mean on removes hyde's personhood and would not help jekyll heal if he were real

if jekyll were real today and told his experiences to a therapist, he would be directed to IFS and to treat hyde like a person with his own needs, regardless of traumagenic or endogenic or whatever labels you want to put on there. yes i get that people are joking but these are real issues people face and i'm tired of any take that treats hyde like a curse jekyll didn't intend to have or like jekyll is a "bad person" who needs to continue repressing hyde

people joke that "jekyll, you would love therapy" and then don't acknowledge the therapy techniques he would be directed towards. it's insulting to me

hyde isn't a monster, he's a person. jekyll loves him as a son, verbatim from the novella. and if anyone went to jekyll and said "that's just your alt account, lol", hyde would protect jekyll and force them to run away, or if that wasn't an option, fight you, just like in the incident at the window in the novella

jekyll is the sideblog talking about academia or whatever that accidentally becomes more popular than the main blog

and then people discover the hyde acct that's the REAL account. the first one. the personal blog in all its bizarreness and jekyll gets cancelled for defending the hyde account

if you're going to talk about them, get it right

[lyxchen]

Okay so I've heard this said a bunch of times and I'm gonna admit I thought like that too for a while but no, Gi-hun did not win the games because he was lucky. A lot of people think that's how he won because he never killed anybody but that's really not the point. Gi-hun won the games because a) he's smart and is able to look at things from a different angle, b) because he is a good and kind person who also believes in others and c) because of the goodness and care get got back from other people.

In the first game he survived because Ali saved him and that wasn't luck, that was Ali being a good person and helping somebody not get killed. Ali could've not caught him, let him die, he didn't even know Gi-hun at all at that point and he put himself in more danger too by having to hold on to a person while standing completely still but he still saved Gi-hun because Ali is a good person.

In the Dalgona game he quite literally Was Not Lucky. He decided to go with the umbrella which is the worst shape to pick and he probably would have died if he hadn't looked at the game in a different way and decided to change his strategy. Gi-hun is smart. He is also optimistic and so he tried something new and found a different way to beat that game.

In the third game he survived because he was smart and kind enough to listen to Il-nam. The other people in their group dismissed him as just an old man speaking but Gi-hun didn't and that way they had a good strategy to beat the other team. The same goes for him listening to Sang-woo's idea of running three steps and then stopping, which ultimately was what saved them. His group also chose him as their leader (who, as Il-nam said, needs to not seem weak or loose hope because then the whole team is doomed). His team trusted in him and his optimism and they were right to do so.

In the marbles game he won because he was once again kind and decided to team up with Il-nam and also because in the end Il-nam decided to "sacrifice himself" for Gi-hun because he showed him kindness before. Yes Il-nam didn't actually die but he also knew that Gi-hun had cheated and still let him continue on to the next game, probably because Gi-hun had been good and kind and caring towards him before, even though he really didn't have to be. Gi-hun also didn't know this but by teaming up with Il-nam he inadvertently ensured that Il-nam had a lot more fun in the games than he would have had, had everybody just ignored to "old, fragile man". Gi-hun was good to Il-nam throughout all the games and it ended up saving him in the marbles game.

In the fifth game it's only some small moments as Gi-hun isn't really involved in the game because he's the last number but still it wasn't just luck. First of all he was kind enough to give the number 1 to the player that asked him for it. Yes, that number was bad but he didn't know that and had he been selfish enough to say no to that other player he wouldn't have survived. Being the last to play in any game can end up being bad for you, still he decided to give up the number he picked because the other player asked him to. Secondly he also survived that game because Sae-byeok was kind enough to remind him of which glass tile to step on after he had forgotten which one it was. It's only small but she didn't have to tell him and still she did. Sae-byeok btw is also good to him because before that he was good to her and protected her (even though he was angry at her at first) and that way he was able to gain her trust.

Lastly he won the Squid Game because Gi-hun was kind to Sang-woo and because Sang-woo deep down was still a good person. There were probably many reasons as to why Sang-woo decided to kill himself in the end but part of it, I'm sure, was also because Gi-hun was a good friend to him. I mean Gi-hun was even willing to give up all the money and go back home with nothing gained if it meant that Sang-woo didn't have to die and would be able to come home with him. Gi-hun deserved that win and that money and in the end Sang-woo knew that. He also knew that Gi-hun would make sure to take care of Sang-woo's mother and that he wouldn't just take all the money for himself because Sang-woo knew that Gi-hun is a good person. (Gi-hun technically also won the Squid Game because he was good at it which is also him being smart)

So in conclusion and I hope y'all haven't stopped reading yet: Gi-hun didn't win the games because he was lucky. He didn't just sit around doing nothing and won anyways. He won because he was smart but even more importantly he won because of the kindness and goodness that exists in humans and that is especially present in him. He won because he had empathy, because people trusted him, because he got back from them what he gave to them first. He never killed anyone and we can clearly see that he Could Never kill anyone in those games but that's not his weakness. Just because he didn't let himself get corrupted and turned into what the games wanted him to turn into doesn't mean he won because of luck. Him not playing by those subtle, hidden rules that are made to force him to be bad, to not care about others and to give up his kindness actually means he was better than the games. He won because he didn't let them turn him into a monster. They tried really hard and they failed and that's how he won!! But also on top of that he also won because he isn't the only good person in this show. He also won because other people helped him, were kind to him and gave a shit about him. Each and every person that helped Gi-hun didn't have to do that. They all could have not helped him, Ali could have not caught him, Sae-byeok could have not told him which one was the correct glass tile, hell, she could have Lied to him about it and the only difference it would have made for the other players would have been them being one more dead person closer to winning all that money. But that's really not how humans are and act which is why all these people helped Gi-hun, helped each other in small or big ways and in the end his own kindness and the kindness that exists in other people is what lead to Gi-hun winning. That's not luck. That humans being good

[alxastrx]

When you're one of the most selfish mc who only saves people because it's part of a job you never wanted and did not get to chose or you would've died, who took your co-workers' morals and ideals because you didn't have any and desperately wanted to fit in somewhere, be it with the heroes or the villains, who's activelly haunted by one the most tragic past to have been created and suffer from a psychosis so bad (dare I say schizophrenia) that even your enemies acknowledged that you are mentally ill and objectively flawed in your judgement, never hesitated to try to kill anyone and has the most egoistic reason to be a good person but the fandom still thinks you're just a kind crybaby "I don't know what a gun is" homosexual twink.