#but in doing so it backfires because they have no context when shit blows up

[aceyanaheim]

Obssessed with how many of the Gallaguers fights and dysfunction comes from just how little they know of each other WHILE being the main people in each other’s lives/the people who know each other the best.

[starry-bi-sky]

honestly your dpxdc clone au gives me life, its adorable as all hell and im a sucker for found family but with that being said, its so freaking hysterical to me that Danny is going full feral liminal menace at Wes any time hes near and Wes himself is still 100% into it the freak (affectionate) and thats not even pointing out the paralles it could possible create since danny and dames gives massive parallels to dick and damian and dick does have a thing for redheads.

yeesSSSSS! I was planning on hoarding this to myself but i can't not reply. and i'll be able to find this again with the clone^2 tag so win WIN. i'm so glad you are as delighted by this as me. It's so hilarious to me that Danny just becomes a complete freak whenever he spots Wes, and I'm the one who wrote it into existence. Like- like i don't know how to explain my vision in words but like, its like Danny sees Wes and immediately goes 'what can I do to make his day worse'. And then he goes and does it.

(honorary read more because i talk a lot)

He's relatively normal around his friends too, which makes him going full-fledged unhinged around Wes even funnier to me. Like, Danny will spout weird shit sometimes to Sam and Tucker, but usually its prefaced with him talking about patrol or there would be context before he said anything. With Wes? Though?? he will just. say anything, completely unprompted. Slings an arm around his shoulder like they've been buddies since primary school and then spits out a weird new fun fact he learned about the bodily anatomy while researching his latest cold case. All vaguely-threatening but utterly insane things to say as way to start a conversation.

And sometimes its not even that, he'll walk up to Wes and ask him if he saw the latest daytime fight between Phantom and Skulker. And then he'll say "yeah i missed it myself but I saw clips of it being posted online" and then watch Wes mentally explode him with his mind. or he'll disparage Phantom for having such a young partner with him, "Can you believe he'd let a kid fight ghosts with him? I'd never let my brother ghosthunt with me if I was Phantom."

All of this with such a deceptive look on his face but the most delighted, shit-eating gleam in his eyes. Wes is chewing glass and he wants to yell that he does let his brother fight ghosts with him. Also you told him yourself that nothing would've stopped your demonic (Wes' words) little brother from joining you.

Damian gets in on the fuckery occasionally, but since he's not around often with Wes about, it doesn't happen nearly as often as it does between Wes and Danny. Sam and Tucker know he's screwing with him too, and both of them are a little wary about him being careless with his secret id. But he's been doing this since he was 14-ish and it hasn't backfired yet. So. They're not actively stopping him.

Danny walks back to his lunch table after terrorizing Wes and Tucker just asks him what he said, because Wes was about as red as a tomato when he walked away. Danny offhandedly sighs and innocently says he tried to have a conversation about Phantom with him. Wes didn't seem to like it all that much. Weird.

And yes, yes. Wes is totally into it and is slightly enraged about this fact, because not even he knows why he's into it. The freak (affectionate). Danny gives him this troublemaker smirk, and i did say smirk, and Wes doesn't know whether or not if he wants to smack him or kiss him. Or both. Like, yeah, pine, white boy, pine.

(And this is a dramatized image but I'm also highly entertained by the idea that Wes keeps getting routine dirty looks from various peers because they, too, have a crush on Fenton. Except Fenton doesn't talk to anyone else unless its his friends and sometimes Valerie, and Weston, the guy who keeps accusing him of being the local vigilante, is somehow routinely having conversations with him?? And BLOWING IT?? Like everyone else thinks he's fumbling so bad, and yet fenton keeps tALKING to him.)

And yes!! i'm always so pleased whenever someone brings up the parallels D+D have to Dick and Damian, because that was lowkey my intention when I was making the solo clone damian au. Although it was supposed to be more implied since I don't really know much about Damian and Dick other than they're very close and Dick was Damian's Batman for a year. And then of course the very smaller parallel (??) 'what if' between Bruce and Damian and D+D in clone^2 considering who they are both clones of.

And man this just makes me want to talk about when batfam meet D+D because I just want them to see D+D be so brotherly towards each other. Like I want them to see Bby Dames wearing his goofy fun fact shirts and stealing Danny's hoodies/flannels/etc and blatantly lying about it when Danny asks. Only for Danny to then throw him over his shoulder like Tadashi from BH3 and jump around.

And also. I do not know what Damian Wayne's (DW as I'll call him) stance on being called "Dami" is - the general consensus I've seen is that its usually used as a playful nickname in order to get a rise out of him, and he doesn't really like it.

But baby Dames being called that freely, and often, and its sometimes used to get a rise out of him but thats typically what nicknames do. Its used as easily as his full name is with the same amount of affection. And its like his main go-to nickname. "Dami" and "Dames" with the occasional "Bud/Buddy", "Squirt", "Little man", etc. Not once is he ever called 'demon-spawn'

(which i know is a fanon nickname but its a relatively popular nickname)

but yeah, uhhh. i think thats all of my thoughts on the matter. for now lmAO

[staytheb]

You Live Here, Too?

Pairing: GOT7′s Mark x OC [Linna] Genre: slice of life, slight fluff, slight angst Word Count: 2,050 Summary: It’s been two years since Linna and Mark last saw one another after their breakup. They meet again when Linna tries to enter her apartment, but it’s really Mark’s in her slightly tipsy state.

Warning: semi-proofread. curse words. lol

hello! this piece is actually a re-work from my other side blog with NPC’s Yanjun titled Nice To Meet You. i re-did it for my own piece of mind and to re-do things from that side blog to fit this current blog. anyways, this is like a sequel to LA Confidential, but you don’t really have to read that one to get this one. also, to each their own on how they do their relationship, this was just fitting for me to end it on a better term than what i had previously... plus my sister has been wanting a part two and this one came through lol but yeah, i’m terrible with titles, too. okay happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Linna staggered down the hallway of her apartment floor after stepping out of the elevator. She normally didn't get drunk unless she knew that one of her friends would take care of her, but tonight she needed a drink and had one too many. Her friends made sure she arrived into her complex safely and that she was coherent enough to make it the rest of the way up on her own. Feeling the slight headache coming on, Linna clumsily, but hurried down the long hallway until she reached her apartment's door. She pressed the four digit code, but it didn't work. Believing it to be her drunken state, Linna tried again, but the code failed.

"I know the code can't be wrong unless Serena changed it and forgot to tell me." Linna muttered in frustration.

Linna recently moved into the building with her sister after securing a place together a month ago. She just didn't get why she was having issues now as Linna dialed Serena's number and waited for her sister to pickup. Just as Linna heard Serena's voice, the sound cut off soon afterwards. Linna frowned while gazing at her phone and seeing that the battery ran out. She double checked and sighed in agitation that her phone had to die on her at this crucial time. Inhaling slowly and exhaling a moment later, Linna steadily stared at the nine-numbered key pad. She slowly, but surely pressed the right buttons. The pass-code failed once again.

"Seriously? What the fuck, man?"

Linna groaned angrily as she could feel hot tears build up. She bang against the door in hopes that Serena was home. Feeling a bit woozy, Linna leaned her body against the cool surface and rested her head sleepily onto the door. She hoped that her sister would open the door soon. A moment later the door opened and Linna fell in to the arms that didn't belong to Serena. It was her ex-boyfriend, Mark, she hadn't seen in nearly two years after their breakup due to his infidelity. Mark instinctively caught Linna in his arms as his eyes widened upon their unexpected situation. Linna hadn't taken notice of his presence and just stayed like that unaware of her situation.

"Are you okay?" Mark simply asked a second later wondering what he should do.

Unfortunately for Mark the innocent question opened a dam and Linna burst with all of her pent up tears and emotions exploding.

"No, I'm not okay!" She cried before ranting.

"Nothing's fucking okay. Life sucks. The owner of my job is a fuckin' dick and a cheapskate who gives two shit for his employees and just worries about financial aspects. My general manager is a two-face bitch who won't hesitate to throw someone under the bus to save her own ass, but yet she'll take all the credit for something she did not do. All of my colleagues can't do shit without being told to do something, especially the upper management who are all supposed to work with me and not against me."

Linna let out a heavy sigh before finishing out her rant.

"I hate being an assistant general manager that they still treat like a regular worker, but still expect so much things from me even though they micro-manage me. Like I know so much more than they do and still know how to keep things professional, but they see me as nothing more than some lower employee they can do whatever with. Ugh, all these motherfuckin' idiots think it's easy being in my position and that I don't do shit, but yet always depend on me to handle their fuck ups without actually thinking."

Linna comfortably leaned against Mark, but had still not recognized her current situation. Mark just let his ex-girlfriend rant and do her thing not really sure how to go about their current situation.

"Damn, do I hate stupid people." Linna complained while speaking in a tired tone. "I really wanna quit, but I need the job to make money. I wished they would realize that I'm important individual with feelings and have so much potential to offer. I just wished they realized that without me they wouldn't be where they are right now because they still can't fuckin' operate the system on their own without blowing up my phone left and right to answer obvious questions."

Linna positioned her face against Mark's chest and let the tears continued to run.

"Why can't they use their own brains to actually assess the situation or make sure of it themselves? Or to just look it up on their own without bugging me beforehand?"

Mark wrapped his arms around Linna's body and soothingly rubbed her back in comfort. Although they had broken up and that he was the one at fault, but to this day Mark still cared for Linna. Seeing his ex-girlfriend in her current state reminded him that her work place was still shitty and her co-workers were even more annoying than before their breakup. Mark wanted to comfort her with words, but nothing came to mind. He was even more shocked that she lived in the same apartment complex as him now. He moved in about two years ago after the lease of their shared apartment was up shortly after their breakup. Mark honestly believed that he and Linna would never cross paths again.

"Now I can't even enter my apartment because the code doesn't work, my phone died, and you smell like my ex-boyfriend."

Just as Linna inhaled the familiar scent did her mind snapped her back to reality and to her senses of what she had just said. She instantly backed up and out of Mark's embrace to stare at the person before her. A small gasp escaped her as Linna stared at her ex-boyfriend with widened eyes. Seeing Mark standing there sobered Linna quickly, but the headache remained. She wasn't sure if it was due to the alcohol or the fact that her ex-boyfriend lived in the same complex as her and that she may have mistaken his place for her own.

"You live here, too?" Linna asked rhetorically while checking the number plate to make sure she was at the right place.

She wasn't. The first number she was staring at was for the seventh floor. She lived on the fourth floor, but realized that they both lived in the eighth apartment. Linna didn't understand how that could've happened except that she may have clumsily hit the 'seven' button instead of the 'four' button when she got into the elevator. She softly groaned before slowly fixing her eyes onto Mark while wiping away the stray tears from her face.

"Um, I'm sorry, Mark. I'm just gonna go."

"Linna, wait."

"Hmm?"

"Um..."

So many thoughts crossed Mark's mind as to what he wanted to say to his ex-girlfriend, but none of it sounded right to say at that moment. A 'sorry' seemed too pathetic and just worst to bring up even after two years. A 'how are you' would probably backfire like 'are you okay' from earlier. He wanted to tell her that she looked good despite her tear-stained and red face, but that just may come out wrong and out of context. Mark sighed and resorted to just looking at Linna speechless. Linna could see that her ex-boyfriend wanted to say something to her and so waited. She wasn't sure why she stayed, but she did. Neither said anything as they continued to gaze at each other. It wasn't until a third, much younger voice, interrupted them.

"Uncle Mark."

The duo turned their attention to Mark's niece, Leah, that Linna hadn't seen since their break up. The little girl stood beside Mark and pulled on the hem of his shirt.

"I had a nightmare. I woke up and you weren't there." Leah said while sleepily rubbing at her eyes.

Leah turned her attention onto Linna to see who her uncle was talking to. Her face lit up upon seeing Linna and recognizing her.

"Auntie Linna. Hi."

Leah moved closer to hug Linna's lower body. Linna hugged the child back while casting Mark an unsure look. Mark softly cast her a small smile with a shrug.

"I missed you. Where did you? Did Uncle Mark make you cry again? Is that why you haven't visited me?"

Leah's questions brought tears to Linna's face, but for a different reason. Mark frowned upon hearing his niece's questions.

"I didn't make Auntie Linna cry, Leah."

Leah turned to face her uncle with a pointed look.

"But why didn't she come see me like before?"

Mark couldn't answer his niece honestly and so didn't reply. Linna took this opportunity to do it for him.

"Leah, sweetie," Linna called for the little girl's attention while crouching down to eye level with the child, "Your uncle and I just had to take some time apart. That's why I couldn't come see you."

Leah's facial expression turned to one of hopefulness.

"But you can come see me now, right?"

Linna briefly glanced at Mark who's facial expression didn't reveal much, but she could see in his eyes that he wanted to rekindle what they had two years ago. If she had to be honest with herself, then Linna wasn't sure if she had moved on from Mark. Sure he did her wrong, but they didn't really have any sort of closure. They just broke up without talking about anything and now here they were where she ranted to him about her work life. He comforted her in his own way even though he didn't have to. Linna inwardly sighed that being an adult was too complicated and that being child-like was much simpler back then. Her attention was brought back onto Leah.

"Auntie Linna."

"Hmm?"

"You didn't answer me."

"I dunno, Leah. It's late. Auntie has to go home."

Linna avoided answering the question fully and shot the little girl a soft look.

"It's very late, Leah. We all need to be in bed."

"C'mon, Leah. Let's let Auntie Linna go home now." Mark softly urged his niece while walking over to place his hands on his niece's shoulders to lead her back inside the apartment.

Leah wasn't giving up so easily as she took a hold of Linna's hand.

"Can you come over for breakfast?" She asked hopefully.

"Uncle Mark and me are going to make pancakes, but I know auntie like waffles so I want to make waffles with auntie. Please?"

Linna glanced at Leah's hopeful expression before looking over at Mark unsure, but his only response was to shrug his shoulders with an aloof expression and leaving it up to her if she wanted to accept or not.

"Please?" Leah repeated as she tightly held onto Linna's hand.

Linna wasn't sure if it was just Leah's way of uniting them again or if it was just fate bringing her and Mark's paths to cross one another again, but she would let it be to see where it would go. A lot could happen in two years and although it doesn't change the past it could set something else towards the future by living in the present.

"Okay, Leah. I'll join you for breakfast." Linna agreed with a small smile.

"Yay!" Leah cheered as she happily jumped up and down.

Leah let go of Linna's hand as she went to hold her uncle's instead and tried pulling him further inside the apartment.

"C'mon, Uncle Mark. We have to sleep so that Auntie Linna can come over faster."

"Okay, okay." Mark responded with a chuckle before casting Linna a smile with a small wave.

"See you later, Linna."

"See you later, Mark."

Linna returned the same gestured as Leah happily waved at her while bidding her a good night and Mark closing the door shortly afterwards. Linna inhaled deeply before exhaling a moment later. As she made her way back to the elevator a small smile graced her face as she felt relieved of stress and worries for the first time in a long while. When she get back home Linna knew that she was gonna definitely have to vent to Serena about earlier, but that she ran into her ex-boyfriend again and that their current status may change.

[the-madame21]

Reiji and Beatrix

Ok so I’m hella rusty here because I haven’t done analysis in a while. But I started thinking about this because I remember a post a long time ago that called Reiji weak for hiring a vampire hunter to kill his mother. And that’s stuck with me for a long while. 

I know we talk about all of the trauma and pain all these boys have a lot but I feel like Reiji gets glossed over a lot simply because he’s really good at hiding that pain for the most part. 

But when it comes out it’s glaring. He’s screaming for attention and appreciation as loudly and desperately as all of the other brothers. 

Because here’s the thing, hiring a vampire hunter to kill his mother isn’t as weak as it is calculating. Everything Reiji does is so painfully calculated. 

Reiji is ignored his whole life. We know that. He is the most neglected Sakamaki, which directly correlates to his standards of perfection. The more the neglect, the more he strives for perfection. All of the other brothers had some sort of recognition, regardless of how batshit it was. Reiji got nothing. Growing up it was as if he didn’t exist. 

What Reiji wants most is recognition. 

Shu is such a huge sore spot because Shu shadows all possibility for Reiji to get recognition. It’s why when Yui comes back with Shu’s scent (even though all she did was talk to him) Reiji reacts as strongly as he does, and whips her through the night. He resorts to physical lashing--to something that will scar over so that there will be a permanent reminder on her body that he exists. So that Yui will be forced to recognize Reiji, so that even if she doesn’t see him, she feels his pain. She knows he exists. 

It’s the equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum for attention. Look at me. Focus on me. Hear me. See me. He desperately wants/needs to make himself known, but he does it in a way that assumes false composure. He is the living breathing definition of “fake it till you make it.” 

So then looking at the whipping scene. Yui thinks to herself something along the lines of “are these scars the ones on Reiji’s heart? Maybe that’s too convenient...” but I don’t think it’s convenient at all. I think that’s precisely it. Reiji can lash out at Yui. Can leave his mark on her. He couldn’t do the same to Beatrix.

Lowkey starting to sound like Laito

Here’s where the vampire hunter comes in. I think a lot of people struggle with the concept because if Reiji hated Beatrix so much, why not just kill her himself? Why not own the entirety of the whole process? What’s the point? 

To answer the first question, I don’t believe Reiji really hated Beatrix. I think he resented her. Heavily. But I don’t think he hated her. Above all he revered her for a very long time. And when he finally realized he’d never be recognized for going above and beyond her expectations, that’s where he had to shift gears. If he wouldn’t be noticed for his perfection, then he’d be noticed for his strength/power.  

Ok, so with that in mind, it doesn’t make sense to hire someone to do the job for you, right? But I’d argue that it’s precisely because he didn’t hate her that he couldn’t bring himself to kill her the way the triplets kill their mom. Because quick aside, the triplets fucking hate their mom.

In my opinion, Reiji’s thought process was hire the vampire hunter so that Beatrix can suffer, so that she can feel pain and torment the way Reiji has all these years. And then, just before she dies, he reveals himself to be the mastermind who orchestrated it all. Beatrix then feels the ultimate betrayal of being killed by her son, and dies in anguish being forced to finally face Reiji and see him for who he is. Maybe even with a sprinkle of regret for neglecting him.

All of that backfires on him, however, because instead of feeling betrayed, Beatrix smiles, tells Reiji she was glad it was him who killed her, and dies in peace.

All his plans have fallen to shambles, cue the dramatic break-down.

Before I get to said breakdown, let’s take a moment to think about what killing means to vampires. For anyone new here, killing for vampires is the ultimate declaration of love. Previously I’ve analyzed Reiji wanting to kill his mom as a way of owning her, so that she’ll always belong to him. Similar-but-different to why Laito wants to kill Cordelia. 

HOWEVER.

I think I’m going to amend that. Because I think this further explains why Reiji might have hired a vampire hunter. He hired the hunter, sure, but he didn’t directly kill Beatrix. He only orchestrated her demise. Showed up at the end so that he could have the satisfaction of seeing her take her last breath. So that he could look down at her. So that when/if she asked for his help, he could deny her of that. In other words, by hiring a vampire hunter, it’s the ultimate I don’t love you/fuck you. 

He wants Beatrix to hurt. He wants her to feel that same rejection that he’s felt from her. He wants to be able to reject her in the same way she’s rejected him.

But. It doesn’t. Work. Because this bitch really dies with a smile on her face!!!

Okay so now we’re at his mini mental breakdown. All of the boys react to displeasing situations in different ways/have various coping mechanisms. Shu sleeps things off, Laito has sex, Kanato screams/goes to his doll room, Ayato challenges people/blows off steam and Subaru obviously resorts to violence/destroying things. 

Reiji is interesting because he strives for solutions. He becomes engrossed in fixing whatever it might be that he found “unpleasant” or “disagreeable.”

In this case, obviously, he feels as though his mom died in the wrong way. 

So he’s just gonna kill her again the right way. All he has to do is come up with a potion that will bring people back to life. No big deal. 

People gloss over this a lot, I think. Like oh, Reiji just made a freaking revival potion in two days cuz he’s smart or whatever. He’s always brewing something anyway, how is this any different?

But guys. He’s been working on this shit for YEARS. Beatrix dies before Cordelia does, which means that he’s been trying to make this potion work since before Yui is born. That is 16+ years AT LEAST. 

SIXTEEN. YEARS??? Who?? Has the patience for that??? It’s his life project. Bringing his mother back literally is his everything. He is consumed by the need to make her “die the right way,” to exact his revenge and make her suffer the way he’d originally intended. 

So now imagine you’re Reiji. Imagine you’re chilling after hours of research for your life’s work that you’re so close to completing. And then this tiny little human comes in and READS YOUR DAMN PAPERS. Is it any wonder he nearly kills Yui in that scene??

People tend to not understand or act like he’s overreacting but that resurrection drug is literally all Reiji has. That’s his coping mechanism. It’s all he’s got left to hold on to. 

It would have been the equivalent of Yui trying to hold Teddy. 

And so Reiji loses it. Rightfully so. Which, I will agree, at first glance seems super out of character for his usual stoic demeanor, but now that I’m looking at it I think it was beautifully done and it really reveals a lot about him when you take the time to put it into context of everything else he’s been dealing with. 

So yeah lol. I never know how to end these. This got a lot longer than I thought it would though lmao. TLDR; Reiji is hurting. Just as much--if not more than--his brothers. Not all mommy issues are created equal and Reiji doesn’t deserve such strong backlash all the time. But maybe that’s just my bias speaking :x

[moadeep]

The thread is cool. The problem is the quote tweet is an outright lie. Not a misunderstanding, a lie. The person in the "blurred" screenshot (on Twitter it's not blurred, it's just really long) didn't say SHIT about chili lady being ableist. In fact, they repeatedly said she did nothing wrong. But they saw a tiny bit of discourse tangentially related (it was an allegory iirc) that raised a thought that they wanted to analyze. Being autistic and real fucking wordy, they did so with excessive nuance.

Okay excessive is just my opinion, i find them to have a lot of valuable perspectives (even if I don't always agree) but in their effort to be fair and balanced they write massive threads.

So why was this account known for nuanced discourse accused of initiating and leading a harassment campaign? Accused of 'scamming' people because... they're on disability and ask for mutual aid sometimes? And being held up as "proof" that disabled people claim everything is ableist? All of these being things I have personally seen tweeted about this person and the situation.

Why is this happening? Because the person behind Orange Union Cat has a personal grudge. Why? Because this same disabled autistic person tried to break down for people why "Jorts" was being called in over tweets, back in October. It was not an attack, it was initially a caring call-in that got, imo, an asshole response. And the nuanced explanation was real fucking long, with multiple threads that they consolidated to try and retain every millilitre of context. Because that is how they are. That is how their brain works. "Jorts" took it real personal and when given an opportunity sicced their internet mob on them with, again, outright lies.

A lot of interesting conversation has come about because of it. But there's currently a disabled person scared that the less than 800USD a month they get via SSI & SSDI is at risk because some asshole on the internet with a grudge doesn't like that they have an ABLE account that people (with US bank accounts) contribute to when they can. And has called it scamming. Which it isn't, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABLE_account . They can't blow that money on hookers and blow. It's just a way they can get help without risking their benefits.

Do I think they handled everything perfectly? No. They had tunnel vision and had great difficulty understanding why someone was telling them this was maybe not the right time to have that particular discourse about disability and gift-giving. Because of the abuse being shoveled on Nice Chili Lady. From my memory they reacted defensively to that, imo because of all the context and nuance they are known for. They couldn't understand why being honest and extra-communicative might backfire. They later reacted defensively and with confusion when they became the new target. It wasn't a completely awful reaction, but when people have decided you're some sort of evil landlord (still do NOT know where that one came from) out to destroy the Nice Chili Lady...anything said or misread will be weaponized.

In summary, "Jorts" is an asshole. But because it's an internet cat account, they get babied, they get reassured, and somehow the person they directly targeted is being falsely accused of everything "Jorts" actually did. Set off a targeted campaign of harassment. Lying stands in for scamming. Oh, and irony of ironies, the Monarch of Nuance is being accused of removing nuance, of "context collapse"...aka the thing that was done to them.

(ETA: Apparently Chili Lady has a history of encouraging harassment of a black transfem who got vile death threats. Apparently there were antisemitic incidents as well, but the harassment seems very...pertinent to this conversation and is what i was sent the most info on privately. ) Instead one has left Twitter and left behind friends who are now targeting the wrong person (ETA: a pattern). Who had to lock down their account. Who, when followers were comforting them, boosted crowdfunding for OTHER people they felt contributed a LOT more to disability and labor activism. What a terrible awful no-good scammer /s.

thought this was neat

[metalempire]

The Agarthans Did Nothing Wrong: A defence of the villains of Three Houses and also Edelgard

Spoilers ahead for Fire Emblem Three Houses, obviously.

The point of this post boils down to fuck the church it’s bad and stop calling Edelgard a fascist when that’s not what fascism it you braindead idiots please use google and basic reading comprehension for once in your lives. It also covers the wider ideas of the world of Fodlan and bigger picture political impacts and social structure with a historical viewpoint applied to it. Obviously, the villains do bad shit to achieve their goals, but the actual goals far outweigh the price paid to obtain them. 

The whole thing will be long and thus under a readmore. 

So after playing all the routes and nabbing all the lore and then looking back on the Crimson Flower route I ended up concluding that the villains weren’t actually the villains so much as they were the people killing the most amount of other people at any given time and thus villains by proxy. The actual villain is Rhea, or rather Sothis, kind of. To dive into that we need the basic backstory of Rhea and Sothis, which is given in Verdand Wind. The rough summary is Sothis breathed life into Fodlan, and her children, the Nabateans, a race of immortal dragon people (basically manaketes) ruled over the land. This included the human race, and eventually enough humans are said to have seen themselves as gods and challenged Sothis and the Nabateans in a war that humanity ultimately lost. Those humans were the Agarthans, better known as Those Who Slither In the Dark or TWSITD for short. They retreated underground and created Shambhala, which would become an advanced civilisation and their base. Meanwhile Sothis rests, and the surviving Nabateans live in Zanado with her. Nemesis comes along, kills Sothis in her sleep, drinks her blood and makes the Sword of The Creator from her bones and then massacres the Nabataeans with the 10 Elites to make the other Crests and Hero’s Relics from their bodies. The survivors of this are Rhea, now known as Seiros, and the 4 Saints, who go on to create the Adrestian Empire, beat Nemesis and 10 Elites and create the Church of Serios. The rest of the lore plays out as we know it. However, Nemesis wasn’t a hero, but a level 99 kickass bandit who was working with the Agarthans to get back at Sothis, which is why they recovered his body and that of the 10 Elites. The King of Liberation is the name they gave to him, more on the meaning of that later. 

Edelgard also reveals that the Empire and the Church pretty much exist to control humanity, with the Church as the religious and social control and the Empire with the political and legislative control.  Though Kingdom and Alliance came to be, so long as they had the national religion be Seiros, then they were under church influence all the same. So long as the church controls human culture and belief, it doesn’t really matter. The nobility system is also put in place by Seiros, using the crests created from her fallen brethren that humanity now has, in order to have a pseudo-Nabataean rule vicariously lived through them, which is why the nobles hold power in all regions, and why the Crests have the myth perpetuated as gifts from the goddess alongside their weapons. The church has its’ approved houses all naturally be pious on some level (see: one of Lorenz’s dialogue options earlygame in the monastery where he asks if you come to pray, even though he isn’t highly religious, he explains all nobles must be pious on some level) in order to instill the faith in the ruling powers, and thus, their ideologies and social practices will endure. 

The Insurrection of Seven is very important to all this, since Hanneman reveals that the Emperor was trying to take power away from the nobles so he could control the Empire himself. On the outside this looks like a dictator kind of move, yet in context of the world of Fodlan, this is hum trying to regain power of the Church to be able to determine the fate of the Empire without the Church. The nobles won and the Emperor lost power, yet the Empire does not collapse because regardless, the Church has control thanks to the instilled ways the nobles operate originating from the interests of the Church. 

Now that we know all this, it can be quite obvious that the Church, ruled by the last surviving Nabataeans, namely Rhea, is the continuation of the original social order. Dragons controlling humanity, albeit less overtly this time. With this in mind, the Agarthans didn’t think themselves as gods, but, considering the name they gave to Nemesis, they were simply humans who wanted to decide their own fates, to govern and rule themselves. In Hubert’s A Support, we hear him echo their very sentiments, in which he expresses the importance of humanity for humans, and how inhuman creatures with incredibly long lifespans can’t possibly have enough humanity to know what is best for humankind. Personally I’m inclined to agree with him here, since it’s a very logical point to make. Humankind needs to make advancements in science, culture, medicine, architecture, politics, language, agriculture and technology in order to survive. Living beings need to advance over time and evolve, which is what happened in our world, we developed civilisations and technologies and slowly improved everything over time to reach the point we’re at now. Immortal dragons have far less of a need to make all this progress, their lives aren’t short and limited, the future of their kind depends not on progress, but on stagnant peace “How lovely it would be for this moment to last forever. To hold on to this stolen time, for you and I to create a world without end.”- Rhea, after you complete Chapter 10. The best way to illustrate this is the compare Shambhala with the rest of Fodlan. Shambhala is a much more advanced city, with glowing walls and electricity flowing through it, with magical technology and powerful animated titans, as well as missiles that they use in Verdant Wind, controlled by magic, but clearly made of technology. The Agarthans made advancements in magic and technology when absent of the control of the Nabataeans, of the church, while Fodlan is forever stuck in the middle ages, with no changes made in the thousand years of history, forever a medieval world. With the Nabataeans in power, with the church in power, humankind is forever stuck in stagnancy, never advancing.A great example of this backfiring is when Faerghus experiences a plague that almost ends them all, yet they’re saved by Cornelia. When Cornelia is fought as a boss, she uses Agarthan technology, and is either one of them, or an ally to the Agarthans, as Thales mentions her importance in Crimson Flower, and punishes Edelgard for killing her by blowing up Arianrod with a missile. Cornelia used the advancements in technology, and likely medicine, to be able to beat the plague, which wouldn’t be possible in the stagnant world the Church preserves. 

That’s where Edelgard comes into all this. As the Flame Emperor, she is given the power of two crests, the Crest of Flames no less, after the prototype experiments on Lysithea were a success, in order to have enough power to rival Rhea, and to reshape the world with the power of the progenitor god, the same power Byleth has. Edelgard endured the torment because of two factors; Agarthan desires and the Insurrection of Seven. With her uncle Arudnel being Thales, it was clear he planned on using her, and had infiltrated the royal family, but with the insurrection, it meant the nobles had made it unsafe for her to be in Enbarr. Everything lined up for her to be experimented on and to become the Flame Emperor. She had witnesses her father be defeated by the corrupt nobles of the Church, and she had seen her family die because of the importance of Crests. And so, rather than grow an eyepatch and cry about it, she takes her trauma and pain, and resolves to carry on the Agarthan legacy, but as she states, “There will be no salvation for you and your kind.”, Edelgard has no intention of letting them go free, even though they want the same thing, to liberate humanity from the control of the Nabateans, to allow life itself to move forward, she cannot forgive what they’ve done, and turns on them in the Epilogue of Crimson Flower for all that they did to get here. This is arguably hypocritical of her, but in the end it does also help to make right her own wrongs. It will never absolve her of starting a war that claims lives, but as far as history in the far future she creates is concerned, she took the fight to the right people to kill, and then did it again. History doesn’t care for the people and places lost in the past as much if the future they died to create is a good one. If human progress becomes a reality, then it is considered worth it in the end by those who live in a better age. Edelgard wiped out the Alliance and the Kingdom, and unified Fodlan, all to break the hold of the Church. She took a hard stance and presented an ultimatum, either renounce the Church or die. In her mind, and on a larger scale perspective, the Church is very much like a disease, an infestation that takes hold of the mind and the beliefs. If she compromises, the nobility system will endure and cause pain to people like her, MIklan, Sylvain, Ingrid, Marianne, Lysithea and so many more. 

Interestingly, Edelgard doesn’t oppose religion. When fighting Rhea in chapter 12, she states she has not made an enemy of the goddess, only of the church. What this means is Edelgard allows religion as a belief, and is fine with Sothis worship on a personal level, but has clearly drawn the line with the church, which exists to control people on a sociopolitical level, and is ruled by a literal dragon, not a human with human interests in mind. For her, religion as a belief is fine, but as an institution, it has too much power over the world, and has not been used for the benefit of humanity,  but of the Nabataeans. This is further reinforced by the fact that Rhea used humankind for her own ends, using Byleth and those who came before them to try and resurrect Sothis, and have her mother rule the world once more. For Edelgard, this would create further disparity, where a literal god would rule the world, rather than humankind, and so things would only stagnate further, and possibly degrade. Due to their belief system of worship, people would be subservient to a resurrected Sothis, never rebelling or complaining, becoming like slaves and ultimately never advancing as a species. Edelgard had to destroy the church, wipe out the remaining Nabateans (you actually miss two of them on Crimson Flower lol so she didn’t even manage to make them go extinct) and give humanity’s destiny back to itself, shattering Rhea’s ambitions and allowing the world to move forward. Her path is very similar to Emperor Rudolf’s from Shadows of Valentia, starting a war in order to ultimately have events play out that have old gods of the world, who were degenerating into madness, die out and give the land back to humankind. Edelgard does much the same, using a war to liberate humanity as a collective whole from the reign of the Nabateans, crushing their institutions of power and setting her own in place instead. Whether or not this creates a better future is unknown, but the potential for that future can exist now, whereas under the rule of the Church, it could never be possible. 

Edelgard and Agarthans brought death and suffering to many people, but in a world ruled by people instead of stagnant gods, an even greater number of people could be living in a world far better in every way to one that came before it. In the end, it’s a question of if the means justify the ends. Is it worth war and bloodshed, for the sake of freedom from the control of institutions that are self concerned and perpetuate social and political misery and stagnancy? Only the people of a future Fodlan can answer that question, but honestly, I think it’s worth taking a chance on a better future for all humankind, even if it means alot of people won’t live to see it, because in the end, our future is the only thing we have as a species, and it shouldn’t be in the hands of those who could never understand what it means to live and die, and to move forward through time. 

Also turns out all of this is pointless anyway cos Verdant Wind is a better outcome anyway thank god for Claude Von Ending Racism for proving everyone is colossal idiot. 

[surflove808]

All things “queerbait”, “so gay”, cranky shippers, etc ad infinitum.  Here’s my long-ass essay on why I think it’s destructive to this show and fandom mentality in general.  Part 1 :D

This is going to be sooo long.  Because I am sooo fed up with the bullshit I keep seeing on here.  So, I am going to break this into 2 parts.  Part 1 deals with the show and its FICTIONAL characters.  Part 2 will deal with the actual actors involved in making this show.  I'm pissed because what could have just been supposition and discussion among fans took a wrong turn somewhere, and turned into a forum for bullying and scandalizing the actors/show.  And seeing that even when they try to have a sense of humor about it, or be ingratiating to the fans about it, it always backfires on them....and ultimately, something that should be harmless (a ship) has become a toxic force of nature.

I'm going to give my 2 cents on the most annoyingly common misconceptions that I've seen being used as more can(n)on fodder because if I post and get this reblogged enough, maybe, just maybe... more people can be exposed to a more balanced interpretation.  

My problem is not with the possibility of Dean being gay/bi. My problem is not with Dean and Cas possibly exploring a romantic relationship.  Not at all.   My problem is with the dedicated and rabid group of people that have gone over the top with their harassment on public forums regarding these characters sexuality, and linking it to the real, live human beings that portray them.  Both crossing and blurring lines in a very destructive way, on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, you name it... This show has so many incredible themes and messages regarding friendship, love, loyalty, trust, perseverance and family and THAT'S your takeaway?   An unhealthy obsession with Dean's sexual preference??

Dean, by virtue of his looks, charisma and personality, has chemistry with almost EVERYONE.  Have you noticed??  The character of Dean is written and portrayed as a naturally charismatic, flirtatious and sensual person.  He wholeheartedly dives into anything that he enjoys.  Eating, hunting, fucking, drinking.  He doesn't seem to really appreciate boundaries or restrictions.  So, what's stopping him from exploring his sexuality with men?  

As far as I can see, the character of Dean as originally conceptualized and executed brilliantly by his frigging creator, Eric Kripke, was then, as you see him now, many things.  But also hetero. He's also accepting, scarred, goofy, resilient, co-dependent, loving, protective, the list goes on and on.  

But what he is NOT and has NEVER been written as, is gay or bi.  And if you have a problem with that, that’s not a flaw in the program you’re watching.  That’s your problem.  If he undergoes character development that radically redefines not only how he sees himself, but how the viewer sees him, after 12 years?  That's a delicate task that I don't envy the writers having to undertake, considering, the only reason they would do that so late in the game, is because they caved to pressure from the "fandom".  And I use quotation marks there because, if you want an iconic character to represent your views?  Write them yourself.  Create them.  But don't try to bully your way into another persons creation.   Here's the kicker.  Out of 264 episodes that have aired so far, and countless canon instances of Dean being hetero.... here are the handful of examples that certain people have latched onto as gospel:

1. Dean and the Siren, season 4, episode 14, Sex and Violence:  I can't tell you how many times I've seen some Jr. detective go "A-HA!  Deans siren was a MAN!  Therefore, he is GAY!"  If you use just a smidge of deductive reasoning and pay attention to the season leading up to this episode, and the description of a siren that was helpfully included in the episode, you could easily and reasonably deduce that because a siren's powers of seduction come from the ability to be ANYTHING to ANYONE and be that persons greatest desire.... that it makes sense for the siren to take the form of a cool, non-judgemental, trustworthy younger brother-type who has the same taste in and love for music that Dean has.  Someone he can relate to.  A peer.

What do you get the man who can have almost any woman that he wants?  

Not a stripper, folks.  

And what does Dean really want?  At this point, he wants a brother who trusts his experience and instincts.  A  brother that he can trust.  A brother who doesn't feel like a complete stranger.  A friend, for fucks sake.  It's not implied.  It's not a theory.  It's literally written and discussed IN THE EPISODE, people.  Move on.

2.  Dean and Gunnar Lawless, season 11, episode 15, Beyond the Mat: If you know any guys who are into sports or bands, and have never seen them go batshit fanboy over one of their sports or music heroes...then you just haven't spent enough time with them on their turf.  

3.  Deans "gay thing", season 8, episode 13, Everybody Hates Hitler: If you've never been hit on when you weren't expecting it, especially by someone you weren't expecting it from, I could see why you couldn't comprehend his behavior.  If you HAVE, you were probably flustered by it. Probably didn't react as smoothly as you thought you would, amiright?  I know I haven’t.

It seemed he was flattered, but didn't know what to do with himself.  If he were bi/gay, and attracted to the possibility of a no-strings hookup with a willing and  anonymous stranger... a blow-and-go in the mens room, for example... I think Dean could/would have easily pursued it, based on his hit rate thus far.  The one area in which he has 100% confidence and zero shame, is sexual conquests. Sam wasn't around.  There was nothing holding him back.  So, aside from being uncertain of how to extricate himself from an awkward situation, and being flustered, I got nothin’.

4.  Dean and Dr.  Sexy, season 5, episode 8, Changing Channels:  Not much to say here.  Dean clearly had a man crush on Dr. Sexy.  Would he have boned him if given the chance?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Ask a guy friend who idolizes Aaron Rogers or Eddie Vedder (for example) if he'd let them stick it in his pooper based on principle alone.  Chances are, that guy friend would probably say "Hall pass!"  If the situation actually presented itself though?  He might just gush over the guy and call it a day.  Who knows?  WE don't.

5.  Dean and Crowley: Again, ask a guy friend if he would share a room and triplets with a buddy if there were no consequences (girlfriend, things getting "weird, etc), and see what he says.  The answer may surprise you.  Maybe I just know a lot of uninhibited, sexy bastards!

6.  Dean and Benny:  Brothers in arms who go through intense combat together can and more often than not, DO form close bonds.  There was nothing in this friendship that even intimated at these two having any sexual or romantic designs on each other, yet.... people still try to make it work.  Bless their hearts.

7.  The Big One:  Dean and Cas:  Dean has had countless opportunities over the years to make a move.  And I DO believe he loves Cas, very much.  Cas clearly loves and admires Dean.  They have been through some serious shit together since day one, that neither Sam nor anyone else can compete with. But some very good advice I heard once, applies here (and this is why the 10-year crush turning into romance in rom-coms is such bullshit):  If someone likes you - you WILL know.  They will make a move.  Or you will.  And neither of you will take 10 + years to do it if there are no barriers (significant other).  And if a move is made and not reciprocated?  It's not because they or you is holding something back.  That's just a lie we tell ourselves.  SOMEONE is just not interested.  

Though I love their dynamic, I'm not a Destiel shipper, but I'm willing to go either way with this one.  I will say, I don't by any stretch of the imagination think the writers, actors or directors are 'queerbaiting", though.  That's like accusing a crush of leading you on when it was really in your head the whole time. Their chemistry is incredible.  But from what I've seen with my eyes, in the actual episodes, his relationship with Cas does not say unrequited love, sexual attraction or romance.  However, if I went by the slowed-down, out-of-context gifs that are prevalent on Tumblr, I could see where people get the idea.  And because these are two men who love, admire and respect each other and sometimes bicker like an old married couple, I suppose that makes them different than us and our best friends, somehow?  This makes me sad, because this is a unique show, in that it deeply explores mens relationships with one another (because they're human beings too), and they just can't do that without a group of immature people giggling behind their backs in the hallways because intimacy is so intimidating that it must be mitigated by making fun of it or spreading nonsensical theories about it.  Right?

Small wonder that heteronormative men, as a general rule, have so much social conditioning and shame to wade through when it comes to expressing love and care for their same-sex friends and family.  (Yes, men have problems too.  Not as many as us, by a long shot.  But this is one of them) 

You see, menfolk are expected to behave in a manfolk way, and if their behavior isn’t within the traditional and narrowly defined parameters as “hetero male”, they face the perceived stigma that accompanies “coming out”, which involves the very real fears of supposition, persecution, politicizing, backlash, gossip, undermining. etc.

This show has taken many chances.  And they’re not afraid to write for and represent LGBTQ characters.  But Chuck forbid that emotionally resonant, well-written, vulnerable and emotional male characters exist AND allow them to be straight.  Unthinkable!  And that snarky, gossipy, “tee-hee” mentality is just what enforces rigid gender roles on men and women in the 1st place.  Every post I see that giggles about Cas and Dean being gay for each other because....gifs...just throws us back 50 years.  Your words do have meaning, people.

If you want to know what you can do to pave the way for LGBTQ representation in entertainment and the world at large?  Take the small step of acknowledging that same sex characters can feel the same range of emotions that you do for your same sex friends.  Can have sustained eye contact.  Can love one another, and can tenderly care for one another without you sexualizing it, fantasizing about it and policing it.  I’m asking you to think about this, because this way of thinking affects everyone.  Gay, straight, etc. 

Season 1 Sam and Dean:  Hetero.  Sam in an LTR at beginning, Dean with potential to re-enter his relationship with Cassie.  

This show was marketed towards males in the 18-24 demographic, but curiously, more women are interested in these boys and their story.  Because they’re allowed to care without judgement.  Ahem.

 *As seasons go by...*  Clearly, judging by the polls and hate mail...neither brother can ever have or sustain a romantic relationship with a woman.  EVER again!*  And it as been widely acknowledged by the cast and producers that the fans don’t want to see the Winchesters spend too much time with what they deem as a threatening female.

Why do you think Castiel was even allowed to make it this far?  Sure, he’s an amazing character.  But if it were Anna who dragged Dean from Hell and ultimately stuck around?  Yeah, no.  That was never gonna happen.  

Basically, these fuckers can’t win.  If they’re hetero and stay hetero, that’s a bad thing.  If their characters do a 180 to please the most vocal (unfortunately) fans - then they’re caving in to pressure.

Either way, I think it's safe to say, us fans are ultimately invested (I hope) in these characters achieving happiness, wherever they find it.  And personally, I'll be happy either way.  But seeing this hyperbolic, over the top bullshit online that this crew are queerbaiting, etc...and that "If Destiel isn't made canon, I'm gonna do X,Y,Z..." is disgusting to me.  

The musings, wishful thinking and conspiracy theories are one thing.  And that's perfectly fine.  I’ve got nothin but love for fanficiton writers!  But drawing parallels and conclusions from some of the flimsiest crumbs available, and using that limited intel to cajole, threaten, bash and attempt to shame the actors, the crew, and the producers who work their asses off to bring us this amazing show, is pretty fucking shitty in my opinion.

These aren't public servants, guys.  We're not paying them to make this show.  If you want to know how a show on the CW gets funded and made - google it.  If you want to know how much of a time crunch/pressure cooker situation the writers are working in, not to mention the entire team in order to produce 23 episodes per season....again, google it.   And then tell me how they're able to not only craft compelling episodes and cram so much storyline, exposition, dialogue, character development, arc support, scheduling, casting, art direction, stunt coordination, set design, etc ad infinitum into each and every week, and STILL have time to drop easter eggs, and "queerbait"....

Just.  To.  Fuck.  With.  You.  And undermine LGBTQ efforts at representation? They are very kind and loyal to their fans.  And we DON'T OWN THEM.  If you don't like what you're seeing, don't watch.  But for fucks sake - do the fandom and yourselves a favor and direct your crusade towards ACTUAL threats to LBGTQ freedoms and rights.

Here's a list of places to lend support (to name a few): Family Equality Council Human Rights Campaign GLAD PFLAG Transgender Law Center Your local congressman, FFS

Rant over.  If you made it this far, thank you.  I owe you a fruit basket!  And feel free to engage, put me on blast if you want.  Let's have a discussion.  But if you agree with me at all, please reblog this.... just to give some folks another point of view.  

Blanket statement for those who are offended and have already called me an “asshole”, etc on their own tags:

1.  This is NOT by any stretch of the imagination an anti-shipper or anti-Destiel post.  I clearly stated that I don't have a problem with either.  And if it happened organically in the show, as opposed to under pressure?  More power to them.  And I do adore Castiel.

2.  This is NOT an anti-LGBTQ post.  Again, clearly stated throughout the post.

3.  This is NOT and never was anti-headcanon post.  We all have headcanons to some degree.   And If anyone wants to step up and tell me not to support an organization that's doing good work, just because I sunk their battleship... they can suck it.  I also belong to some of these organizations, and I'm pretty sure they're not as invested in your headcanon as you are.  And thejabberwock, I still admire your insights and posts, but am bummed that you missed the damn point of mine entirely.  Per your request, I have removed your association from the original post.

4.  This IS an anti-harassment post, directed at individuals who have taken this ship so far, that they've tainted the word and the concept for almost everyone else with their shitty, pushy behavior.  If this describes you?   I'm happy to have offended you.

5.  This IS an anti-ignorance post, directed at individuals who are presented with facts and reliable data from the writers, the actors and the episodes themselves, yet refuse to acknowledge anything out of their own headcanon.  Who insist on "knowing the truth" and using that arrogance to try to *Out* the characters, *Out* the actors and use threats and insults towards anyone who disagrees.  If you thought I was talking to you directly, after reading that?  I probably was.

6.  This IS an anti-misinformation campaign post aimed at clearing up some common misconceptions.

Lastly, reading comprehension is really crucial here.  I know it was a lot to read, I apologize for that. But if you're skimming through and picking and choosing something to be offended over, and continuing to feel personally persecuted regardless of whether or not that's the reality... rather than reading and understanding the entire message?  Well, there's nothing more I can say or do.  

[bartsugsy]

Apologies if you've already answered this somewhere but- when do you think Robert first Fell In Love TM with Aaron? My flatmate and I have debated this v serious issue for a month now

shit i think i change my mind on this CONSTANTLY

i think (and i may have mentioned this before) that doing a full and very careful rewatch (for my break up guides) at this point in time has made me realise that when i go and rewatch earlier/affair era scenes with the hindsight of things like ssw and everything since - in the context of them having now had all of these desperately and epically romantic scenes together - it’s actually coloured my view on robert in his earlier, shadier days a lot.

when i first watched their storyline, i literally did not trust robert’s word or motivations towards aaron at all, i didn’t believe robert when he said “i love you”, i didn’t believe that anything robert was doing was motivated by anything other than what robert wanted (and i loved him for that - he fascinated me). i didn’t believe that robert really loved aaron until the lodge scenes, when he basically had a whole break down over his feelings for aaron and how much they had, in retrospect, entirely derailed every plan he had for his life.

now i watch, knowing that robert’s love is real and lasting and knowing the way their relationship works and where everything is heading, and i believe robert a lot more. particularly around the time of the fallout fromkatie’s death, when aaron was struggling and robert put himself on the line to help?

i used to see those actions as incredibly manipulative, a complicated but effective way to get aaron to keep quiet, but now with hindsight behind me, without even thinking about it too much, i read it as robert taking a risk by telling aaron the truth because in that moment aaron’s well-being meant more to him than his own.

it’s funny how much stuff like that can affect how you view a scene.

anyways, back to your actual question - i’m pretty unsure. i think it’s difficult because you can sort of separate it into three different questions: when did robert fall in love with aaron, when did robert recognise it as love for aaron, when did robert accept that he was in love with aaron

and i think these three things all happened months and months apart. the fact that robert possibly didn’t know and certainly didn’t accept that he was in love with aaron to begin with makes it all very debatable, i think.

i’ve always always subscribed to the idea that robert basically awoke from his coma after being shot, suddenly understanding that the most important thing in his life, more than money or power or people believing he was straight, was aaron.

of course, then he wakes up to the news that everyone thinks aaron shot him, so that puts a bit of a dampener on his little revelation - but the second he knows it wasn’t aaron and is able to get aaron out, he does and he gets immediately back to trying to insinuate himself into aaron’s life and spend time with him and it all sort of backfires until he accidentally times it perfectly and saves aaron’s life.

moving backwards, to when robert knew he was in love with aaron, i can never quite decide. i don’t think he knew how much he was in love with aaron until the lodge. i think that’s when it became pretty crystal clear, as much as he didn’t want it. i think he knew before that though - knew enough that he spent months trying to act like he had no interest, spent a week playing house with him at home farm, recognised and was concerned about his running and how much he was falling apart. my current headcanon is he sort of started to have a clue around his wedding day to chrissie - when he’s faced with the idea of calling it off altogether, after he and aaron have been playing games of one-upmanship and then aaron’s there, telling him he loves him and constantly talking him back into this affair that’s destined to blow up in his face. maybe he wasn’t ready to properly even acknowledge it to himself, but i think at that time he was sort of starting to understand that aaron is not a person who robert wants to let go from his life at all.

i think he fell in love before that. they spent so much time breaking up and making up and robert literally found it impossible to stay away. they went from getting it out of their systems in a garage, to angry wall sex and then immediately jumped into a full blown affair. immediately. aaron calls robert out on the fact that he hadn’t done this before (and we know he boned rebecca a handful of times but actually, canon sort of implies (to me?) that it was more regular before chrissie became a serious thing and then a small handful of times afterwards - nothing quite like aaron demanding robert meet him at the barn and robert making it happen to keep aaron satisfied, the two of them meeting regularly, making plans, robert essentially juggling two relationships. they skipped straight from angry spontaneous sex to what was basically a relationship very, very quickly.

i think they both started feeling feelings for each other around christmas time (which was less than a month after they first kissed). and that was kind of it. from that point onwards they started to, wittingly or not, put the relationship they shared with one another above a lot of other things and people in their lives - something which led to a very dark turn of events and then a series of increasingly terrible disasters.

…….but i’ll probably have an entirely different set of opinions in like 3 days, because honestly. i can never make up my mind.

[latoyarubalcava3546]

White House Says No, Donald Trump Doesn't Have 'Proof' — And Refuses To Deny Disrespectful Quote To Soldier's Widow

Donald Trump is such a sleaze.

In case you haven't been following this story, the POTUS made a point on Tuesday -- after erroneously claiming other presidents didn't call families of soldiers -- of calling the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago.

He also apparently planned to make a media coup of the moment as Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who is a friend of the family, says reporters were waiting at the airport (when their limousine arrived to greet the coffin) to ask them about the call.

Related: Gretchen Carlson Showed Trump's Access Hollywood Tape To Her Kids!

But that backfired when he reportedly failed to remember Johnson's name, and even told Myeshia Johnson her husband "knew what he signed up for."

The President then angrily tweeted on Wednesday that Wilson -- whose account was backed by grieving mother Cowanda Jones-Johnson btw -- was a liar, and that he had proof.

Naturally, a reporter asked Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders what proof that was exactly? Were there recordings? Sanders said:

"No, but there were several people in the room from the administration that were on the call, including the Chief Of Staff, General John Kelly."

Her response is typical of what we've come to expect from her position under Trump: general vague support of the president that stops short of ever saying he was being truthful or accurate.

Because they can't. Because LIES!

Video: John McCain Strikes A Blow On 'Half-Baked' Nationalism & 'Absent' U.S. Leadership

We wrote down some of Sanders' vague, shifty answers for ya, along with our best shot at translating them into plainspeak.

Did Trump actually call the families of all the fallen soldiers since he's been President as he claimed?

"The president's made contact with all of the families that have been presented to him through the White House military office... "

Translation: No, the military liaisons don't trust him with comforting parents and widows.

What about all the families that have come forward saying they haven't been contacted at all?

"All of the individuals that the president has been presented with through the proper protocol have been contacted through that process."

Translation: It wasn't Trump's fault. It probably happened but was someone else's fault. Maybe the bereaved?

So is the President denying he said the soldier "knew what he signed up for"? Is anyone willing to even deny that?

"The president's call as accounted by multiple people in the room believed that the president was completely respectful, very sympathetic, and expressed the condolences of himself and the rest of the country, and thanked the family for their service and commended them for having an American hero in their family. And I don't know how you could take it any other way."

Translation: Nope, no denial. He said that shit.

Frankly, the press gave Sanders every opportunity when they explicitly asked if Trump just thought the words were taken out of context. It would have been so easy for her to say, "Yes. He said those words, but not in the way it sounds."

She didn't do that. Instead, she said:

"I'm not get into the back and forth. The sentiment of the president very clear. He took the time to make a call to express his condolences, to thank the family for this individual's service. And it, frankly is a disgrace for the media to try to portray an act of kindness like that, and that gesture, and try to make it into something it isn't."

What about him not knowing Sgt. Johnson's name, only referring to him during the call as "your guy"?

"Just because the president said ‘your guy' I don't think that means he doesn't know his name. As president, the hardest job he has is making calls like that. It is appalling what the congresswoman done, politicizing this issue. This was a president who loves our country very much, who has the greatest level of respect for men and women in uniform, and wanted to call and offer condolences to the family. And to try and create something from that, that the congresswoman is doing is frankly appalling and disgusting."

Translation: Trump actually did his job for once, who cares if he did it poorly? How dare you cover Trump's failed publicity stunt and accurately portray him as the horrible, empathy-lacking dolt, unable to even comfort a widow, that he obviously is?

We may have overdone it on that one, but the point is the White House can't deny the claims. It obviously happened. So they've reverted to the strategy of saying the media is being cruel for covering it.

When you can't say Fake News, just go with Inappropriate News we guess.

And the beat goes on.

See the whole press conference and interpret for yourself (below):

[Image via WH.gov.]

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White House Says No, Donald Trump Doesn't Have 'Proof' — And Refuses To Deny Disrespectful Quote To Soldier's Widow

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Donald Trump is such a sleaze.

In case you haven't been following this story, the POTUS made a point on Tuesday -- after erroneously claiming other presidents didn't call families of soldiers -- of calling the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago.

He also apparently planned to make a media coup of the moment as Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who is a friend of the family, says reporters were waiting at the airport (when their limousine arrived to greet the coffin) to ask them about the call.

Related: Gretchen Carlson Showed Trump's Access Hollywood Tape To Her Kids!

But that backfired when he reportedly failed to remember Johnson's name, and even told Myeshia Johnson her husband "knew what he signed up for."

The President then angrily tweeted on Wednesday that Wilson -- whose account was backed by grieving mother Cowanda Jones-Johnson btw -- was a liar, and that he had proof.

Naturally, a reporter asked Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders what proof that was exactly? Were there recordings? Sanders said:

"No, but there were several people in the room from the administration that were on the call, including the Chief Of Staff, General John Kelly."

Her response is typical of what we've come to expect from her position under Trump: general vague support of the president that stops short of ever saying he was being truthful or accurate.

Because they can't. Because LIES!

Video: John McCain Strikes A Blow On 'Half-Baked' Nationalism & 'Absent' U.S. Leadership

We wrote down some of Sanders' vague, shifty answers for ya, along with our best shot at translating them into plainspeak.

Did Trump actually call the families of all the fallen soldiers since he's been President as he claimed?

"The president's made contact with all of the families that have been presented to him through the White House military office... "

Translation: No, the military liaisons don't trust him with comforting parents and widows.

What about all the families that have come forward saying they haven't been contacted at all?

"All of the individuals that the president has been presented with through the proper protocol have been contacted through that process."

Translation: It wasn't Trump's fault. It probably happened but was someone else's fault. Maybe the bereaved?

So is the President denying he said the soldier "knew what he signed up for"? Is anyone willing to even deny that?

"The president's call as accounted by multiple people in the room believed that the president was completely respectful, very sympathetic, and expressed the condolences of himself and the rest of the country, and thanked the family for their service and commended them for having an American hero in their family. And I don't know how you could take it any other way."

Translation: Nope, no denial. He said that shit.

Frankly, the press gave Sanders every opportunity when they explicitly asked if Trump just thought the words were taken out of context. It would have been so easy for her to say, "Yes. He said those words, but not in the way it sounds."

She didn't do that. Instead, she said:

"I'm not get into the back and forth. The sentiment of the president very clear. He took the time to make a call to express his condolences, to thank the family for this individual's service. And it, frankly is a disgrace for the media to try to portray an act of kindness like that, and that gesture, and try to make it into something it isn't."

What about him not knowing Sgt. Johnson's name, only referring to him during the call as "your guy"?

"Just because the president said ‘your guy' I don't think that means he doesn't know his name. As president, the hardest job he has is making calls like that. It is appalling what the congresswoman done, politicizing this issue. This was a president who loves our country very much, who has the greatest level of respect for men and women in uniform, and wanted to call and offer condolences to the family. And to try and create something from that, that the congresswoman is doing is frankly appalling and disgusting."

Translation: Trump actually did his job for once, who cares if he did it poorly? How dare you cover Trump's failed publicity stunt and accurately portray him as the horrible, empathy-lacking dolt, unable to even comfort a widow, that he obviously is?

We may have overdone it on that one, but the point is the White House can't deny the claims. It obviously happened. So they've reverted to the strategy of saying the media is being cruel for covering it.

When you can't say Fake News, just go with Inappropriate News we guess.

And the beat goes on.

See the whole press conference and interpret for yourself (below):

[Image via WH.gov.]

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