#but ppl have to be willing to help themselves and at this time he is not

[lezbrarian]

i think moments where people realize maybe they should not have said that are SO important and critical. for example i was telling a coworker i was v excited to have my parents come visit me bc i hadn't seen them in years. she said "why don't you visit them where they live? you should try to visit them more often." and I said "well my sibling lives with them and we don't talk" and she replied with something that made it clear she still thought i was being harsh and cruel. so i replied "well he's emotionally abusive and manipulative to us and has been in and out of jail and drug centers, and it's just not a good time for me right now to talk to or see him." and that seemed to shut her up real quick. like ppl need to remember not every family is like theirs. <3

[luffyvace]

Hey there brook! I hope u having a nice day! Can I ask for a luffy x heroic fem reader headcanon? by heroic I mean that she completely dedicated her life to help and save ppl and that her purpose in life, she's strong and seems cold but when u get to know her she has empathy more than anyone else, I feel like this is the perfect character that luffy would fall in love with, pure kindness hiding behind a tough facade, she doesn't even like being called a hero, yet she is willing to do anything for those in need, slaves, poor villages, she goes against anything unjust without any fear, cause thats her purpose in life (sorry if that was too long 💀)

Hi anon <33 (it makes me so happy that someone finally addressed me as that💗)

today was a very chill day 😊 thank you! How’s yours?

Reader sounds so genuine with such a good background for a op character!!

(Don’t worry it’s not too long—I love to read:3)

Ngl luffy subconsciously sees a little bit of himself in you!!

like your hearts are so similar—gold!

of course he doesn’t directly think that way- but he feels the connection!

which is through helping!

you two never turn your backs on those who have never wronged you

its not even about if they’re on your side or not, as long as they haven’t wrong you? and they need help?

the both of you are on it 🤜🤛👍

you wanting to save others becomes admirable to more than just him, to all of the straw hats—chopper and usopp especially!

I’m gonna go ahead and say it here and now you remind both Jinbe and luffy of whitebeard and fishman island type thing

LIKE THAT’S HOW IT IS!!

Y/n is just her tbh 🤷‍♀️

and if the ops don’t like that? 🤨

🤜💥

how you like that? >:)

your strength may or may not be hereditary but either way if you don’t continue training or working out your gonna loose that strength eventually

which shows just how hard you train everyday!!

bro works harder than zoro 🗿

and we all know he don’t sleep on workin out

so y/n is a gorilla the og

its no wonder you be cookin the ops like breakfast👩‍🍳👍

this is literally turning into a rant about me being (name)’s biggest fan ok let’s move on

luffy saw you cold exterior and was like

😍😍😘🥰😘💍💋💋💋

LOLOLOL no but fr he looked straight past that

he always does- he ignored law’s and zoro’s why wouldn’t he with you-

and once he sees your true kindness???

Locked in like a booty hole 🔗

(ANYWAY I HAD TO🧍‍♀️)

yeah he pretty much busts right through that

he pretty much instantly demands you already are is nakama after that

Your empathy is what really swoops him off his feet tho

like luffy has a good sense of empathy so much so he can hear the voice of all things

and you probably can too! It’s highly likely!

(y/n could have her own anime at this point 🤷‍♀️😚)

But seriously the way he can just feel the way you long for others when they’re in pain just gets him right at the heartstrings you know?! 🥺❤️‍🩹

you comfort them so assuredly and keep your promise to win every time !!

luffy would admire himself more than he would know if he realized how alike the two of you are

tbh you probably admire luffy!!

like it’s a mutual thing, where you pretty much don’t see your own coolness you only see the other’s

so you admire each other unaware that your the same 😂💗

he absolutely adores and admires that empathetic part of you thoo!

he loves how your kind and tough

he wholeheartedly believes the strong should protect the weak, cuz that’s what a man does.

especially with nakama.

so he definitely understands your need to protect those who can’t do it for themselves

there are many times he can recall where he had to rely on others

so he loves that your the one who does that for people

and you don’t do it for the money or fame!

you don’t even view yourself as the hero and savior that bystanders see you as!

that’s so cool to him!

you background/past might’ve caused it! Like maybe you had no superhero! So you decided to become one!

he kinda looks up to you in a way 🤩

as someone who has also helped slaves and the poor he completely understands where you come from in your kindness

and it’s even cooler that you charge head on into battle for others without a second thought

that’s just how tough you are ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

not an ounce of fear in your eyes as you walk up to someone 20x the size of you to simply get back the bread they stole from a poor little child

LIKE HOW COOL IS THAT?! 💥💥

your a super hero!! Dundun duh-duuuuuun!!

🦸‍♀️‼️🤩

you have a goal just like him!! He wants to be the king of pirates and you wanna help others!

With the type of pirate he is?, those things go hand in hand 🤝

”STRAW HAT LUFFY AND PIRATE HERO (NAME) IS HERE!! RUN AWAY!!”

says the pirates who know they’ve done wrong doing!! 😎

also excuse (name)’s lame pirate alias i couldn’t think of one 😊💖

(Name) is so cool 😎 I admire her 💓

hope you enjoyed your hcs anon!! *super heroes away🦸‍♀️🚀*

[inchidentally]

@ the anons I’ve accrued over this year who brought up Oscar not being embraced by the media team I’m still not going to post the asks bc there’s a lot of doom etc in there but like…

(and even tho it’s easy to find out who it is I’m not including who posted it bc do NOT want hate or anything in their comments and fandom issues =/= relevance to real life teams and their jobs)

“carland0 won the McLaren constructors… Oscar was there ig anyway remember when I staged a puppet show to commemorate carland0” LIKE SHSBSBVSBSBD

and I get that to a media person the subjects are mostly valuable for how good they are on camera bc even Andrea only gets a passing mention in this post compared to a bromance and he’s the actual architect that Lando himself says is behind this win - but he’s also famously deer in the headlights when a camera is on him.

it does possibly explain why the quality and quantity of McLaren content took a sudden nosedive not long after Oscar joined. (side note that Joe also moved on from McLaren early this year who was on the media team and spent a lot of social time with Oscar and posted him more) it’s a lil sad bc if you watch any of Oscar’s Prema content where he feels comfortable and friendly with the people behind the cameras he’s hilarious and willing to “dance” and yap and be silly. even in Alpine he was actually known by broadcast teams for being funny and a sardonic yapper and meme guy. but I think the McLaren ppl mistook Oscar coming into the team in the worst possible way PR wise and clamming up as a result as that being his real personality. Nicole saying how she wanted more people to see his real personality and ironically Carlos himself warming so much to Oscar despite the on track rivalry and not rly hanging out like… I hope the media team maybe start this next season fresh and realize that people who aren’t naturals on camera are still worth putting in effort to help them relax and be themselves. and if one of the people who’s been there for so many years put in that effort then it would have a big ripple effect !!

again I am not gonna post those asks bc a)do NOT support any harassment (however well intentioned) of employees just doing their jobs and b)in the grand scheme of things socmed does not matter and c)Oscar thankfully is blissfully unaware and/or does NOT care. he brings up Carlos and Daniel and carland0 totally on his own and he is utterly free of ego about his perception or presence in McLaren media.

and while it definitely means less Oscar and therefore landoscar content per capita or whatever the phrase is, the whole landoscar dynamic is that it’s so completely not slick fun millennial YouTuber ready PR content and they’re funny and cute and have their own unique chemistry even in the under 2 minutes allowed them for each video. and ofc Oscar has his own social media to put his dry humor and chronically online references <3

but as I saw in comments on a different post, Oscar might take longer to win over the media people but the people who matter most like Andrea and the ppl in the garage and factory and crucially !! the women working directly with him all utterly utterly adore him. he’s quietly there just being a hard worker and proving himself <3

and ultimately ofc the people who don’t like that Lando said he’s decided to not joke or perform as much for media (and saying he picked up from Oscar to just be himself and relax more) can always go back to the old content! and since Carlos creates the same fun bromance atmosphere with all his teammates I mean we all know Team Torque is about to become one of the best parts of race week media. Williams media team is going to eat him UPPPP

anyway yea none of it is deep it just got me thinking about how Oscar post alpinegate withdrew so much and so many ppl haven’t looked up who he was before to realize what a fun silly chatty kitten he is and that ofc he must be bc Lando holds him in his hand lovingly for a reason - and I do think when the ppl who got used to the Carlos and Daniel school of media warm up to Oscar and learn him more we’ll get that high res DSLR filmed content again instead of portrait iPhone instagram <3

(side note the whole thing if Unboxed dropping bc of DTS got debunked. DTS hasn’t stopped any other teams content and if it were true then Lando wouldn’t be allowed to make Landologs. this was definitely a media team decision made midway thru 2023)

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I’m going to send emails out soon to finally try to find a willing rabbi to guide me in the conversion process. I’ve said I wanted to convert in December but was thinking about it even before then (that’s just when I told people). But I’m worried about not being Jewish enough. Like I want to convert ‘orthodox’ Sephardic, which ik is kind of redundant bc most sephardic ppl just say sephardic and aren’t rlly divided into orthodox, conservative, reform either due to historical reason, but like what if I turn out being not so orthodox after? Like I love the idea of being observant, but I know that I’m not someone to wear modest dress 24/7 (rn I only wear shorts like a handful of times of year but I’ll also wear leggings, and tights pants or v neck shirts that show cleavage). And I’m not a virgin and don’t really want to be celibate. Idk I just feel like if I go through the process of converting and being observant, I will be expectant to be fully observant and idk if that’s an expectation I can’t hold. Are there any other ppl that converted only to become ‘less’ observant after? And idk observance is a personal things, but many ppl will still look at you as less observant if you don’t follow every interpretation they do

I want to preface this by saying I hope you are able to find a rabbi who you feel safe to discuss this with. Oftentimes, you'll find that they themselves can empathize with you, even if they themselves are born jews. Jewish identity for all is complex. I also hope that, in answering this further, you might find comfort and know that you are worthy of converting.

I am in a mixed Ashki and Sephardi conservative shul, and my sponsoring rabbi is himself not conservative (I'm in a unique position). When he and when other rabbis ask about observance goals, I have noticed it is so they can anticipate how they can best help you. I myself want to be a 'typical' conservative jewish man, so I find some level of empathy with you! It's hard! And you're in what can feel like a raw and vulnerable space, one where judaism feels just out of reach, something you want or need. Trust me when I say I absolutely get it.

I felt the exact same as you before I joined my shul and later again when I found my rabbi. I worried about the fact that I didn't know how to daven, when to bow, the fact that the siddur is transliterated differently than what we say. It was overwhelming! But then... my community privileged me and truly put such an astounding effort in supporting my journey. It is by no means over, but they treat me the same as any other jew in the congregation. I'd feel weird if I pulled by phone out during shabbos because they hold me in the same light as them. All of this is to say that it is just as likely that you will find a community with whom you feel embraces you through this entire wonderful journey. It is entirely possible to marry your goals with judaism - it has been done before. How could a culture, a religion, a people have survived millenniums without someone like you having made a similar journey and made it as a jew? There will always be people like you, like me, who have made this journey and made it work for them, with others who loved them as a comrade, lover, friend, and confidant.

And when it comes to a varying of practice once you are jewish? It is only natural if that happens. A conversion is not an ever-lasting contract to stay stagnant in your practice - it is, essentially, formalizing that you are part of this people. I have been following plenty of jews who have converted and who have both become more observant and less observant. In fact, a ruling about this which has truly comforted me is from Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, a Sephardi chief rabbi who made a ruling about this:

You are human, and there are 613 mitzvot. Hardly any of us consistently follow them all - especially when many require the temple! We can only expect you to do your best, to live jewishly under your terms and readiness! It takes some of us years to work up to certain observances, and that is regardless of jewish status. It would be unfair to expect you to take on more than you are ready for, regardless of if you have immersed yet or not. Heck, I only feel comfortable observing a select amount of mitzvot because I want to understand all of them before doing them. I want my soul to yearn for an aspect of observance, because my personal goal is to fall hopelessly and madly in love with jewish life, judaism, and this wonderful people. I want to emphasize that we all come at judaism with a unique, interesting, and worthy background. Yours is no exception.

I hope that, maybe, you got something out of this rambling. You are worth it to convert if you have decided this is your desire, want, or need. I for one welcome you here, and hope that our paths continue to cross. Please don't hesitate to talk anytime - judaism is a communal practice. It is not something you can wholly do alone.

[peepee-magee]

The more I think about the legend behind the house of lamentation the more Im sure the servant absolutely did that shit- one person expected to shadow 9 ppl n simultaneously clean a three story home by themselves in a time period where quitting wasn’t an option cuz your considered a lesser person for being the help? Id kill them to. When the post guy saw them arguing they were prob fighting about the oldest refusing/being unable to hire more help. The oldest would’ve had to of taken over the estate sooner rather than later n would’ve been the only person able to advocate to father about it if he hadn’t yet. N the gun was prob just left behind in the house n an easy weapon of opportunity cuz who just walks around with a whole brand new ass rifle in 1700 England? Asking to get mugged or cornered by the constable for sure.

That paired with the fact the oldest lived in that house till his dying days, presumably empty after his death (thus never marrying/making a family) since the story ends with shadow figures in the night n ghostly arguments. He prob was telling the truth n just couldn’t move on due to the extreme grief. Cuz if he’d just found a way to get more help, or had been willing to let the help they did have go with good recommendations his whole family would’ve survived.

Reading it again a few years off really puts into perspective the parallels between the brothers n the OG family. Just one bad day - MC could snap n take them all out. It’s honestly a miracle they haven’t already, n if I’m honest I’d like to be given a yearly event where at least once we get the option to be sick of them cuz never has there ever been a person who wouldn’t snap at least once with all the nonsense that happens in that house. No one, not even Jesus himself, is that chill.

[antspaul]

director's cut! sharpen your teeth/sink into me plsssssssss ❤️

(sharpen your teeth) sink into me

charlos, 10k, rated e

The first time Charles hooks up with Carlos, it’s good, and that’s the problem, actually.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING DANI (and elle). 🥰🥰🥰 <- to both of you

Fair warning that this got long! I just love talking about my writing process omg.

First I must say I’ve been delighted by the love that fic has gotten!! For the last few years I’ve mostly written somewhat niche fic & forgot how it felt to have people I don’t already know truly engage with something I’ve written. It feels good! So thank you 🥰🥰🥰

The premise and tone of the fic was a bit out of my comfort zone, honestly. Usually my fics skew towards heavy angst and character study with a focus on backstory. That, or I really sink my teeth into a specific time and place. This fic is kind of silly and mostly sweet and, like, purposefully not set in a specific time and place. It needed to rely on comedy to build suspension of disbelief and honestly I don’t consider myself an incredibly funny person via text. So all muscles I’m not used to flexing!

I sort of expected to lose steam halfway through and for the writing to start to feel like pulling teeth. But that didn’t happen! I had a few moments of light frustration but after a few brief conversations, first with Fletcher @twinkboimler and then with Elle @gayferrari, it came quite easily! And I had SO much fun omg.

In particular it was interesting to get inside Charles’s mind! Or at least a somewhat silly version of him. I wouldn’t say I’m a Charles first girlie but SO many ppl in my orbit are, and I wanted to get him right!! I knew I had accomplished what I had hoped to with his perspective when Elle said “NO REALLY ITS' SO GOOD, YES THEY LOVE EACH OTHER BUT CHARLES IS SO. ANNOYING.” Charles IS annoying all of my blorbos are and that’s why I love them!!

That being said he was a little exhausting at times omg. Like, can he stop thinking so fast and catastrophizing omg 😭😭😭

The kinkmeme prompt this fic is based on shaped most of the plot, obviously. I wrote the first ~3-4K without an ending in mind, because (1) I wasn’t sure exactly how to get to where I wanted to go without the pacing getting really fucking weird and (2) I didn’t want to overcommit to more plot than I would be willing to write if the story started to give me grief.

After I wrote the scene where Charles first talks to Pierre about Carlos, I stopped and considered where I wanted to go. The two options, as I saw it, were:

use the scene with Pierre and one short scene afterward as a sort of resolution, in which Charles changed his perspective on sex, and tried again with Carlos without the expectation of perfection. This route would have had only one more sex scene, maybe with some comedy about it going poorly and them deciding to enjoy themselves anyways.

write closer to what the prompt specified: then slowly figuring things out and finally having decent sex after a lot of effort.

(1) felt like a cop out — I knew at that point I was willing to write quite a bit more than I already had, and worried that one scene might drag on before it hit all of the beats it needed to hit. and (2) felt a bit nebulous and like it might drag on as well, as I have a tendency to be too verbose.

After talking it through with Fletcher, I decided to combine the two options: to have a middle section made of shorter vignettes of Charles and Carlos trying on purpose to have more informed gay sex, followed by a scene of them finally having “real” sex and dealing with a roadblock in a way that doesn’t ruin the whole experience.

I’m not sure I stuck the landing exactly as I had pictured it before writing, but I’m decently happy with how it turned out!

Elle suggested a scene where Pierre brings up Charles’s “girlfriend” in front of Carlos, and that helped IMMENSELY as I was able to consolidate a few character beats. Also I think it’s always good to have a LITTLE variation in setting and side characters. I was talking the other day with Fletcher about a fic we’d read where all the characters seemed to do was sit down in different rooms in the same house and have conservations about the same things with the same people. So I think that scene helped flesh the world out a bit :)

Some line specific commentary:

Letting girls down easy comes naturally to Charles. He leaves their dignity intact and never has to feel bad about it the next day or wonder if he should have done more. Sometimes women are easier than men. Charles is not nearly so graceful on the other side of rejection.

I think a less charitable but more interesting interpretation of Charles’s likability is that he can be a bit manipulative without necessarily meaning to be. It’s not that he’s totally fake all the time but he’s so naturally charming that he gets away with a lot. And I think that failing at something in front of someone else puts him into a position that feels quite vulnerable and disorienting for a character who usually feels completely in control of what other people think of him.

“Um,” Carlos starts, sounding a bit hesitant, looking only a little less lost than Charles feels, “I’ve never—with another guy.” […] “Oh,” Charles says, perched on the edge of the mattress next to Carlos. “Well, for me it’s been a while. But it can still be fun, yes?”

To me. They have the same exact amount of gay sex experience. But Carlos has no-homo’d those early encounters away from the realm of what he finds meaningful. Charles is a bit more pragmatic about his sexuality, and uses his limited experience as a way to claim the upper hand in the moment. Which means that in a lot of ways he has just preemptively claimed responsibility for an encounter that, unbeknownst to him, is about to go south. Whoopsie! That’s part of the reason why Charles takes their relative lack of success in bed so personally.

“It’s easy to be his teammate,” Charles says. “Well, he makes it easy.”

What Charles means here is that Carlos makes it easy to want to be at his best, that they push each other to be better, and that Carlos does that while also making the offtrack duties much more seamless.

Ease is also definitely a motif of this fic (and also of the last fic I published lol). At first Charles hooks up with Carlos because it’s easy and relatively simple. But then it gets more complex and difficult, and when it comes to relationships (to ME) Charles is the type of person to ditch when things don’t go his way. Obviously he’s not a quitter, but if he senses that he’s not wanted, or if he can’t easily impress someone, he’s not wasting his energy there, not when he has a lot of other people who want him around. You know?

Another relevant line here:

“I can assure you, Carlos, that if you meant nothing to me then I would have completely given up a long time ago,” he says. “I’m not meaning to be rude but, I mean really, I have much easier options.”

So it’s important that Charles chooses the difficult route here. He knows women like him, he finds those relationships simple and comfortable. But he CHOOSES Carlos, because he likes Carlos. Which — to echo a point I made earlier — makes him feel quite vulnerable!!!

Train their bodies, if necessary. The two of them are high performance athletes. They have overcome physical obstacles far trickier than learning the intricacies of gay sex, and they have done so through listening to the experts and pushing their bodies beyond the boundary of what felt natural.

I had an idea (ultimately abandoned) of them buying an anal training kit LOL. Maybe in another, kinkier fic.

More internal still: perhaps something intangible has shifted inside Charles, turning him into the kind of person who can receive what Carlos has to give without complaint.

In my head a lot of the difference is that Charles is literally, like, well-rested and relaxed and not in race weekend mode lol. Earlier when Carlos says that he thinks that Charles is tired (the night Charles can’t get it up) he’s literally right LOL

Lando chooses that moment to enter the conversation. “The blame always seems to fall on us when things go poorly, doesn’t it.”

I promise I’m not a complete Lando hater. I just think he’d be the type of person to overcompensate by saying something way too harsh when people around him are complaining. And I think it’s FUNNY how much Charles would NOT want him there.

Pierre cackles loudly, a sound that carries and echoes off the court. “Do you hear how stupid he sounds? He likes her so much he forgot how to fuck!”

From this conversation with Elle:

Ignore the timestamp. I get off work late ok :/

ANYWAYS! That’s about all I have to say. To anyone who read all of this: thank you I love you I owe you my LIFE. More to come from me for sure!!!

[tau1tvec]

I am forever surprised at just how unfathomably stupid the American public truly is. Most of the people I know voted for trump because they think he'll make the economy good. But if I asked them what specifically he's going to do to make it good, they won't be able to answer. Republicans continue to win tax cuts for the wealthy, the privatization of social programs, benefiting the wealthy, all on the backs of the average person and yet they can win control over all three branches of government. Absurd

Not to mention all the terrible human rights abuses, but in my experience the average republican doesn't care about them. Until it happens to them anyways

That last bit, sadly it’s something I’ve seen that probably blurs partisan lines atp, but the way our country works, or how a lotta countries work, is that it relies a lot on us ignoring injustice, and inequality for our own convenience and prosperity. We do it everyday with what we consume, and how much we consume it with very little regard as to how it gets put in our hands. We get pissed at Amazon drivers for running behind, knowing full well they’re probably working ridiculous hours, with very little breaks, or off time, and for even less money, but since we don’t see it with our own eyes, and have our own piss poor jobs taking advantage of us while we struggle to pay for food, we kinda just take our frustrations out on each-other anyway. Which is essentially what this election turned out to be.

Empathy is in short supply, to put it simply. Not bc it’s something humans struggle with, we’re still likely to donate money to others in need when we can, or stop and help someone with a flat on the side of the road, we’re just feeling less compelled to do it as often as we probably should.

I know a lotta ppl will say we live in an individualist society now, and perhaps we do, and I’d argue we have for a long, long time, but a lot of the time we’re doing it against our will bc it benefits someone at the top, and it’s getting crowded up there.

Did you know millionaires are literally being priced out of the Alps ??? Yeah, there’s that many multi-millionaires and billionaires now, that they’re pricing out millionaires. Their airport is just a private plane storage facility atp.

I don’t want to absolve what Trump voters did, I very much can’t stand them personally, bc as you said they’re willing to just cherry pick certain things he says and promises, and even straight up misinterpret them ( oh conservative christians are so so so good at this ). Promises he will likely not even keep, or be able to keep, at the expense of ignoring all of the truly fascistic shit he says on the daily, and lives he will ruin bc of it. But a buncha “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” ass ppl wanted a way to get themselves out of their own personal turmoil, and took the path of least resistance to do it, whilst selling out their most vulnerable neighbors in the process.

United States of America, my ass.

[my-pjo-stuff]

(ask no. 8)

What are your thoughts on Luke's fatal flaw?

How would you write Kronos's possession of Luke?

With your ideas about European demigods, what would be different in the system? For example, would they interact better with mythical being since Europe has a lot of old folklore?

Thanks a lot for the asks anon! NGL I love it when ppl share their stuff with me, y'all make my day <33. Let's get into the questions! So starting off, I think Luke's fatal flaw (wrath) is....eh. I mean I can get where it comes from. Wrath in small amounts allows someone to have a drive of justice, to feel wronged by someone and to want to make it right. But in large amounts it leads you to be violent and not be able to let go. But tbh? In my opinion there were more fitting sings, as wrath being Luke's fatal flaw sort of implies that him being angry at the gods and wanting revenge is somehow "bad". Personally, I think it should have been something like Determination. Or Willingness to Sacrifise. Luke was very determined to achieve his goal of overthrowing the gods, which lead him down a path of "the ends justify the means". It wouldn't be condemned his justified anger at the gods like "Wrath" does. With Willingness to Sacrifise, we can again go criticise his "the ends justify the means" mentality, as he is willing to sacrifise his loved ones and himself for his goals.

But to be even more honest? I think the whole concept of fatal flaws is rather stupid as it is and doesn't really add anything to the story overall. I can live with Luke's Fatal Flaw being Wrath, but I'd prefer if the concept wasn't a thing overall. I'd write the Kronos possession of Luke mostly the same tbh, but with Luke showing more signs of him "breaking through" in more major things. Especially when Kronos wants to hurt people Luke would care about. Maybe have Kronos mention that Luke disagrees with his menthods and attempts to stop him before ridiculing the effort. My main reason for that is to build Annabeth breaking through to him in TLO more so it doesn't look like Rick not knowing how to reasonably kill Kronos anymore. I'm ngl, that headcanon abt european demigods was just a lotta crack. Most just live normal lives if they ever even find out about their heritage. They generally try to avoid anything mythical tbh since they lack the training- although I could imagine Europe maybe getting a sort of "Camp Halfblood" for themselves after TLO and the gods' promise. I'd say they'd props just have one of these for the continent tho, props in greece bc, well, they are greek. In that case the Camp would probably pose as a highly respected and specialized school for kids with ADHD and dyslexia. Mostly because europe has just a LOT of diffrent systems and consists of many diffrent countries and cultures, so we'd need a bit more of a reason for parents to send their kids to another country for a considerable amount of time.

In that case would European demigods probably come in contact with lots of other cultures, and I do think there'd be a good pro-EU sentiment as the open borders and friendly relations help a LOT with getting demigods to and from the school. IDK tho, like I said I didn't think too deep into it.

[the-s1lly-corner]

spot that meets a autistic reader, that is talkative to themselves, but has poor social skills because (lack of good parenting + bullys, but is very smart and loves art and engineering, and dreams to be a scientist one day.. it could began as the reader first feared him over an awkward moment? to opening up about themselves and the reader's obsessive fascination over him. two very talented ppl that only wants to be appreciated, respected and loved...💔

idk is it to much?? bruh I'm trying to be creative😭 I'd be happy with whatever happens!. aNd TaKe yO tiME!! On irl things and beloved spotty <3

Spot w/ an autistic reader!

Rubs my autistic little hands

Feeling a lil drowsy but I wanna chuck this out before I fall asleep for (possibly) the next 7 hours :3

Not proof read we die like Peter Parker <\\3 we are sleepy and tumblr wont let me save drafts for asks <\3

Obligatory "I like this character so I'm hcing him to be ND like me" touch

He gets it

Anyways

I think to help make the whole thing less jarring, or whatever, is that you may have known each other vaguely before the collider incident

You weren't a scientist at alchemax, more like.

Well shoot I just forgot the term but like, you work there, but you dont do hands on experiments, not experienced enough yet

Intern?

Maybe, idk

Obviously you don't work there anymore after the collider blowing up, so... you're looking for a new job

You knew about Jonathan, but you weren't friends

You had also heard rumors about what happened to him but you kinda dismissed it as cruel rumors surrounding his death.. I mean no one could've survived that explosion.. right?

So imagine your surprise when you end up almost getting robbed by spot

Can you blame him? He hasnt found another job since the accident and hes probably living off of pity handouts; likely homeless

Now hand over the wallet!!/j

No but on the semi likely chance that you manage to defuse the situation, given Spot sucks as a criminal, you just bluntly ask if the whole

Rumor thing is true

I mean obviously it is but confirmation is important

After a few more chance encounters, you guys both finally decide to properly sit down and talk

Its tense and awkward at first since 1. How does one even act around someone like spot? He's vulnerable but also trying to do the whole. Revenge thing... And 2. Hes desperate for human interaction and it SHOWS, it's almost uncomfortable actually

But you both trudge past it and make it work

One meet up turns into two then three; then you discover how much hes struggling and

Now you're roomates

Oh my god they were roommates/ref

Anyways, that's the set up!! It kinda felt wrong to just. Jump into it without some explanation on how yall end up in the same area consistently

Doesnt mind that you mumble to yourself, he probably does the same thing. From muttering things to keep his train of thought to having a personal monologue, I wholeheartedly believe he does the same thing

Hs understands how it feels to be. Not treated very good, he likely wasnt the most respected in alchemax so it's not uncommon for the two of you to have vent sessions where you both let it all out

You ask him about his journey to becoming a scientist and not so subtly ask for advice on how to get into the field; and touching onto the whole human interaction thing, hes more than willing to talk your ear off about his entire career history

On the chance you dont want to do physics stuff, and you wanna do another branch of science he's all ears on listening to you ramble, may even lend a hand in getting you to where you need to be career wise

Yall do at home experiments as bonding stuff

Look if spot can make a mini collider in some building then I can only imagine the type of shit yall get up to at home

Oh? You're still curious about.. him? Of all things, him?

He never thought anyone would look at him with interest; usually its disgust or fear, or both

Hes hesitant at first because what if you discover something that'll totally change your view of him?

Takes (some, a little) coaxing

Bro caves fast, he misses physical touch

"So like, these holes-" you proceed to just. Dip your entire fist into a hole and watch said fist pop out from another hole

The demons are telling me to make reader like

Make it a game to try to throw stuff through his holes but I feel like that would be really mean, no one likes stuff getting thrown at them

Please dont throw stuff through his holes :(

Random but like

Idk if this happens with yall but

If someone stims do yall. Like stim back

Like I have vocal stims and mess with my hands; and sometimes my friend will be prompted to stim if I stim??

Idk but yall do that

OHOH before I post this if you're both comfy with physical touch please please please hold him, it's been so so long since someone has hugged him and he really really needs it :(

[cozzzynook]

spicy megarod drabble idea lmaooo

this is gonna sound pretty basic but i was think of like going from butting heads to having san awkward kiss then from there a sexual tension builds that both are too shy to admit

its starts one day when they get lost on an abandon planet and the ship leaves them behind. the experience forces them to not fight for one moment and get along and survive until they can get the ship to come back since their comms r down

they do actually for once get along and help each other out and figure out a way to get contact with the ship, the ship had went into hyperdrive before realizing they forgot them so it was gonna be a few days, while they waited they stationed themselves somewhere hidden until help arrived, on the final night berore rescue they were huddled up hugging each other for warmth. chatting it up and getting to know each other learning alot about one another and then roddy laid eyes on megs and both of them just gave in at the same moment and kissed. immediately they stopped and looked away from each other the rest of the night until they went into recharge to save energy.

thankfully drift, ratchet and magnus with the rest of the crew found them stranded in a cave somewhere and brought them back and gave them medical check ups to make sure they were okay and cleared for duty.

the next couple week ppl do notice they arent fighting as much and are actually nice and civil to each other. what they arent noticing tho is that that both of them would sometimes share glances or one would look at the other while they were busy and vice versa. wanting to say something obviously about the kiss and other things but being too shy to. but honestly everyone is just surprised to see them getting along even magnus but hes also glad they arent fighting and things are running a bit smoother, with roddy being a bit more helpful which was shocking all on its own to Magnus

they even started having meeting at roddys place and actually discussing plans for the following day after every shift. it gave roddy the opportunity to also expose megs to more earth media like video games, with megs managing to beat roddy score on burnout revenge after playing three times.

during their after shift meeting, they were meeting at megs quarters this times, going over a report for repairs, they both lock eyes agsin and this time they give in completely,  roddy getting onto of megs lap straddling him and exploring megatrons mouth, megs doing the same. the kiss immediately becomes very heavy, with megs exploring roddys body with his servos and learning in the process that he likes his spoiler touched, and that in certain situations grabbing it works like an automatic lever that opens his valve cover snd spike cover. His panel is opened and he starts rubbing his anterior node against megatrons closed panel whimpering and moaning about how good it feels and hows hes been fantasizing about him but was a bit too shy about bringing it up. megs also happened to have been having fantasies about rodimus but chose not to say anything, not knowing if he should. which is exactly what he told him with Rodimus smiling into the kiss starting rhythm to catch his first of a handful of overloads. Megatron's honestly just in awe of how beautiful Rodimus was in ecstasy. Megatron with giver as much as he was a receiver in the berth but he very much got turned on by giving to his partners, just watching how they move and what sounds they make when you touch there and suck there. hes definitely had times where he overloaded many times from making someone else overload. megatron rested his hands on roddys hips helping roddy with his rhythm and Rodimus had his arms wrapped around megs helm. both megs and roddys moans were mixing in with each other through their makeout sessions while Roddy sat on Megatron's lap and rubbed himself against him with megs encouraging and whispering into his finials about how breathtaking he looks.

hes honestly willing to let him go for as long he wants until hes a whimpering, sensitive mess.

also this is is gon be random but i have a little wierd megarod/megop headcannon that when Megatron's interfacing with Roddy he sometimes might think about orion/optimus bc the both act very similar in the berth and megs noticed it one day and kinda honestly liked it alot. he never brings it up to Roddy but there are random occasions when he's fragging Rodimus and some of his noises just sound so similar to Orion/Op and megs gets a bit of deja vu but like a horny deja vu that turn him on even more.

yeah im really high and this is what my brain came up with i hope you like it 🥺😭😭 and please add to it if you would like im not that good with expansion  so if you have anything to add please doo!!!!

I do love this idea thank you so much for sharing

[pedropascalunofficial]

Why aren't you speaking up about the vile fans that are harassing Pedro, his friends and family. I am devastated that no one has put these fake fans in their place. I thought you of all people would.

I must preface this by mentioning that I'm Irish. We're biased on this issue. We have had help to find relative peace after years of division and terrorism. We are all too aware of how lucky we now are.

Why arent I speaking about the "vile fans" that are harrassing Pedro?

I report the twats in this fandom who he can't see pulling bullshit that affects his and his friends' personal lives so they can better protect themselves from it. I only call them out publicly when their bullshit over flows into my life.

Fans asking Pedro to call for a ceasefire are not pulling bullshit.

They're commenting on his replies to posts because they are frustrated by his silence on an issue that WILL affect all of our lives, and their passion is showing in disruptive ways that aren't to everyones taste. Replying to his comments is futile, but please don't shame people for trying to act in a time of desperation. Do I like it? No. Will it change his opinion? Probably not.

Their timelines are full of images of dead children, injured children being pulled from rubble to be labelled WCNSF (Wounded child. No surviving family), kidnapped people or murdered families. They're willing him to call out the same issues that the United Nations and many other governments are because people have lost their humanity.

We all know he used to love sounding off about political issues in support of the underdog but Pedro has been quiet since the Gina episode. Whether he would be in the right or not on political issues, Disney and Lucasfilm will not take kindly to him creating any controversy.

However much I would love to see him asking for a ceasefire, it isn't going to happen for a multitude of reasons. He's not going to be the person we tell him to be. He has free will. We must respect that. We need to manage our expectations with regards to what we see as the role of celebrities in political issues. It isn't in their job description and they usually fuck it up and the noise caused from that drowns out the credible sources trying to break through.

And yes, I've noticed how fake some of the fans are. The phrase "you're doing great girl" comes to mind. (Bless that man's sassy interactions with fair weather fans) Some are posting about his sexuality in the same cycle of stories as calls for him to denounce war crimes. It's completely fucked up.

Oh, and holding his fucking stalkers up as if they're the beacons of hope around here?! Those delusional psychos only posted saying they wouldn't talk about the gala AFTER ppl threatened to call them out if they posted about it. Never fall for their clout chasing bullshit! Their only motivation is social engagement, not the future of humanity. You can tell coz when they aren't virtue signalling, they're dehumanising a man for likes.

Since you've read this far..... if Pedro can't/won't speak, we can. Share international news outlets! Share factual information from countries who aren't financially supporting the war! Seek it out. Share it. Some people still haven't seen the full story. Some are choosing to pretend there aren't humans involved on both sides. Some are keeping quiet for personal reasons. Some because their employer will fire them or sue them for speaking out.

If any fans have questions around the issue of asking for a ceasefire and denouncing the current war crimes before the whole world descends in to a sea of international incidents of domestic terrorism at the request of Hezbollah and Iran, supported by Russian government, giving China the opportunity to fucking go to town, please feel free to educate yourselves below.

THE UNITED NATIONS HAS CALLED FOR A CEASEFIRE

BASIC BREAKDOWN OF STATISTICS (Nov 7, 2023)

PODCASTS THAT EXPLAIN THE IMPLICATIONS AND HISTORY OF THIS CONFLICT

NEWS OUTLETS

An IG account that gives me hope

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jewish Voice for Peace (@jewishvoiceforpeace)

[resident-cake-anon]

hi luna !! do u have any ideas/info abt golden petals in other aus, like modern aus? 🤔 id love to hear abt them!!

HIHI CLARA!! I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS <33 this ended up being a really long post im sorry.. im a professional yapper

MODERN/COLLEGE AU

❦. i see them as being college kids w their academy selves

❦. catalina is always really pushing herself in her studies, maybe she would even be double majored so she ends up doing LONG study sessions in the library

❦. claude is there to check up on her though ofc, ryan put the idea in my head that he would come see her in the library between classes to give her food and a kiss and it rotates in my mind CONSTANTLY

❦. claude’s always posting cati on his socials, ppl are kind of sick of it but they’re too cute for them to say anything

❦. BUILD LEGO FLOWER SETS TOGETHER.. not a doubt in my mind that they do that as a sleepover activity while watching a movie they take an hour to decide on

❦. i see claude as being involved in a lot of clubs maybe a leader of one (my gut says chess) and catalina always makes time in her busy schedule to show up at their events to support him!!

❦. they go on dates to the closest boba shop, especially when cati needs a break from her study sessions

❦. catalina gets the same drink every time while claude always tries something new (he lets catalina have a sip hoping she can widen her palette) + he gets a snack that they can share

❦. catalina insists that she pays but claude always seems to trick her into letting him do it, she always feels guilty but claude doesn’t care, he has the money to spend

TANGLED AU

❦. rapunzel and flynn fit these two SO much there’s a reason why i see the light is on the golden petals playlist

❦. catalina basically lives the rapunzel story in fe3h, basically locked away in the monastery unable to leave all that much and wanting to explore the world

❦. also rapunzel being born from a flower??? yea. iconic. and so catalina coded..

❦. the power to heal, all the flowers in her braid, her generally excitable nature, the overwhelming GUILT of leaving home idk so much lines up

❦. also flynn rider is literally the blueprint that defines all f/os i have/will have in the future.. i have a type and it is DEEP-SEATED in my love for flynn rider

❦. fake aliases, rouge-ish but charming personality, being seen as an outsider or weak as a child and turning to putting up fences as a defense mechanism??? sign me up apparently,,

❦. but most of all i think the way the two’s relationship develops in the movie is so perfect and reflects how golden petals would grow closer, learning to trust each other and eventually willing to sacrifice themselves for the other

WONDERLAND AU

❦. IVE WANTED TO MAKE CONTENT FOR THEM FOR SO LONG..

❦. i love alice in wonderland so much and golden petals fits into the story pretty well too!!

❦. catalina is so similar to alice aaa her imagining up a whole world like wonderland bc the rules and regulations of sophisticated society bore her is just so fitting

❦. in this au ofc alice wouldn’t be a child i could definitely see catalina in wonderland as her academy self bc she uses escapism as a coping mechanism sm

❦. also catalina and the scene of alice singing w the flowers… love it sm

❦. in wonderland, catalina would then meet claude as the cheshire cat!! i think he would be more helpful than the original cheshire cat but still mischievous in his own way

❦. i think he would often mess w the others they find along their travels in wonderland to get a laugh out of cati, pulling a prank on lorenz as the mad hatter always seems to do the trick

❦. at the end of their story, i believe catalina would be woken up by her classmate, khalid, ig she dozed off during class…

SLEEPING BEAUTY AU

❦. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY AU.. RULER OF MY HEART…..

❦. this au exists only bc im an actual sicko over sleeping beauty not bc i think their roles fit, this one is just for ME

❦. i actually made sleeping beauty au art before golden petals.. was called golden petals so the love runs deep

❦. bucket assigned the three good fairies to hilda, heather, and marianne and who am i to disagree!! it think they’re quite perfect actually hehe

❦. instead of them being aunts to briar rose they would more likely be like older cousins

❦. catalina as briar rose would definitely want to explore outside the woodcutter’s cottage and the forest and so meeting claude was sort of the perfect gateway!!

❦. claude as prince philip is so nice too.. i wholeheartedly believe that he would throw away his royal title to run away to be w this girl he met in the woods over someone he’s been betrothed to since birth.. it makes sense to me

❦. also white wyvern -> white horse that he bickers with.. love it

TY FOR THE ASK CLARA I <3 YOU AND IM SORRY

[viktormaru]

So it stands this ideia i have that Viper is the one closest to understanding Omen’s condition and yet the one to most easily dehumanize him for it. Does it come from a place of fear? A guilt that demands control of the situation ? Like, this time she won't let things get out of hand.

Shes looking out for him, regardless of his input on it, because he's unstable, and she is a scientist.

cause maybe she’s right. Maybe only she can guess what omen’s truly capable of and its terrible, and thats why shed be willing to go the necessary lengths to stop it. Still... pretty fucked up... Just another day with Omen having little agency over his fate and body aahhhh...

And its coming from a place of anguish! Omen is getting closer to figuring out what happened to him and that's been his only life mission ever since coming back from the dead empty and hurt. To say that him having to face his trauma (aka dying in agony and losing his memories in the process) is dangerous to others is... cold... I sincerely hope Viper is wrong, mostly bcs this portrayal of traumatized ppl has become very tiresome in media, but also because Omen has shown he also thinks of himself like that, as something dangerous. I mean, narratively speaking Omen going full on Monster Mode would look pretty fucking cool most likely and is fitting for the action genre that VALORANT is.... But also, it would be cool to have a nuanced little take abt how ppl with mental health problems often hurt themselves much more than they can ever hurt others....... Not expecting that from val but gonna be thinking abt it for fics regardless

Maybe it is bcs Viper knows what happened though, that she knows that him knowing what happened wouldnt help him at all... But then, is that her choice to make? is this about his past at all or is she really just thinking he should move on already? I dont know! Ive wrote a fic abt this part here bcs it intrigues me.

Anyway this is me rambling cause im very excited we're FINALLY getting the real Omen crumbs.... I cant wait to see where this will lead, and hopefully it is to something cool

[nicki0kaye]

Thoughts on wtf is going on with Zeb;

Didn’t he retire? 

yeah, like. Five years ago. To spend his days with Kallus who is a fucking workaholic. Have you met ‘retired’ workaholics? They don’t know how to let the world turn without them. Plus we don’t know how involved the rest of the Spectres are with the New Republic. As much as I wanted those motherfuckers to go and RELAX, it does make sense that they’d be sucked back into ‘protecting the galaxy’ either from family influence or general restlessness. The dredges of the Empire are still out there, after all. The war ended, but people still need protection.

it makes a lot of sense that they’d be keeping to the Outer Rim rather than taking more prestigious positions in the Core. I’d like to think they’re hanging around Lothal while Ezra is gone, looking after it for him. 

Where is your husband, sir? 

as much as I hate to say it, it makes sense Kallus isn’t there. Zeb and Kallus have very different skillsets. If they’re lending their time to the Republic as either full on employees or contractors, they’d be regulated to very different sectors. This dovetails into why the fuck is Zeb in a pilot’s suit? It’s likely bc that’s his new position. His strength is as a mechanic and gunner, his place is in a hanger working on ships. And this is, like, an official government now and stuff. You gotta wear the uniform. Along with that, you can’t fly a civilian ship for government duties. They aren’t gonna be OKing the Glimmer for missions, which means the boys can’t ‘work from home’, which means they aren’t likely to be working together on the regular. Kallus’ place is in data analysis and logistics. Poor fuck is likely chained to a desk somewhere (ideally on Lothal) while Zeb goes where ever ppl need an extra hand. Which sucks. It’s clear Kallus chose to be part of the naval division of the ISB bc he LIKES being on the front lines. Now, well. It’s not just peace time, there’s also (hopefully) limits on what they’re willing to give to this New Republic. They’ll both help, but they won’t sell their souls. No career positions, no politics, just good honest work to keep this sector of the universe running smoothly. Unfortunately, not getting too involved probably means desk job for info boy.

Also, Kallus could have been a huge asset to the Amnesty Program, but you know what? It probably would have been triggering as fuck to police other ‘ex-imps’, and also when it was in the planning stages, he was likely tRYING to be legit retired. 

honestly, I’m hoping to see both him and Zeb as fairly critical of the New Republic, knowing they can do the most good (and with the least friction) within the system but skeptically waiting for it to fuck everyone over, while always keeping an eye out for the remnants of the Empire. Its safer for them to play with the New Republic, too. It gets them easy(er) access to NR resources and keeps them in the know about coming dangers. Its a marriage of convenience, built on an understanding that they should never fully place their trust in anyone but themselves, bc the Core doesn’t give a shit and is always busy huffing its own farts

[ca-suffit]

going to be honest, i don't even think jacob "despises loumand to a comical degree" as some fans claim, as much as he's more willing to be upfront about its flaws and hold armand accountable for his behavior. which is understandable given how these season puts loumand in the spotlight with many of its ups and downs. while at the same time he did not deny that in their whole relationship, there was love and a willingness from louis to have armand as a calmer, gentler and alternative to his more explosive relationship with lestat (even if it unfortunately was abuse, just in a different way). he even said armand is not without complication but nowhere near as messy as lestat, which is pretty funny given what armand is capable of.

i think it's more that people have been seeing him talk very favorably about loustat in comparison, but not enough of its toxicity. the fans saying that are also not entirely comfortable with that either since loustat also has its own issues. there was another interview in which jacob and sam agree that louis is the problem in his relationships (which... i don't agree with but that's their opinion, said jokingly or not).

at the end of the day, i don't really read too much into how cast members talk about their these pairings and sometimes they even contradict themselves "it's more than a rebound, it is a rebound" and all that. i don't want an actor having a preferred pairing to be used as a reason to throw hate at that actor or for fans to justify why actor opinion is the reason pairing A is better than pairing B. it's kind of ridiculous.

I definitely aim to not have any kind of tunnel vision about anything here. I do my best to remind ppl that there's layers to all of this and simplifying things down to "this relationship / character / actor is the worst / best" is rly juvenile. fandoms love doing this tho bcuz fandom has normalized extreme thinking, extreme abuse, extreme everything. conversations are not being had so much as ppl just want to look good / "right" and live in drama as a distraction to their lives otherwise.

I think it's def a difficult thing to put these stories into a tv series and then a) try to "sell" the show where it is while b) also looking at the big picture and c) navigating both ppl who have read the books and not. it's a big fucking challenge tbh. not to mention the race changes now and how that will also influence ppl's opinions on which relationships are shown in what light, no matter what "the books" say or not. the fandom also refusing to incorporate racial elements into most discussions also doesn't help this.

it is *such* a clusterfuck. but anyways. ya. thank u for ur comment!

[bugsbenefit]

mike apparently has more trauma then el will and max to some of you let’s be real you guys keep creating problems for that kid to have. Hell some of you give their problems to HIM like what’s up with all the father abuse shit, we don’t know anything about Ted only that he’s an absent father. He’s not abusive like Lonnie is mike is not getting abused. Mike also didn’t go through upside down shit he’s just the side character helping el and Will since s2 let’s be fr. “Has connections to all the characters” so does hopper. Sure his character arc needs to be done but he’s not gonna be as important as el and will or heck max because she’s literally in a coma and we don’t know her fate.

I can still watch the show and not care about this guy it’s very easy to do the duffers made him unlikable anyway. If byler does happen im okay with it because it’s what Will deserves but if I were to write the show mike would not be with him. He would be with a less annoying person. But going back to him just not being as important it’s literally true I remember the fandom hating on mike when season 4 just finished but ppl have deluded themselves so hard they made him 100000 issues to uwufy him so they could excuse all the weird shit he’s done. “Hes seen wills body come out of the water” so did all his friends why are we always focusing on this kid when Will has other friends.

If I were to write the show Will would also be interacting with all the rest of the characters instead of being glued to mikes side. But that’s just me haaha

i swear is this all the same person??? what's in the water today?

and holy shit can someone finally tell me where the people are hiding that "steal" other characters plots? Mike has more trauma than anyone else... who ever said that. where are the Ted is physcially abusive people i've never seen them... have you considered just unfollowing accounts that say things that annoy you? because i've never seen any of these takes, only people complaining about them, and i'm doing great vibing on my dash

and please do tell me how Hopper has connections to all the characters, i'd love to hear your reasoning for this. Hopper has never interacted with Lucas, Dustin or Max. also none of the teens like Nancy or Jonathan. if i wanted to make the argument that Anyone else could somehow have as many on screen relationships as Mike (there isn't anyone) Hopper would be one of the last people i'd go for because he only exists in direct relation to the Byers and El plots. he doesn't get involved with anyone outside of those

nothing of what you're saying is even worth arguing with at this point, you're just really mad about a character existing and trying to rationalize how that character won't be important for the finale despite that being where the story is headed. Mike isn't going to "steal" anyone's plots or traumas i don't know why you even think that. he's a separate character with individual experiences and unique trauma. he's not going to take anything away from other characters

"why are we focusing on Mike" have you heard of cinematography before? ask the show why we're constantly getting close ups of Mike crying in these situations instead of Will's other friends. i'm not sitting here zooming in on Mike's face anytime something happens to Will or El. the show is nice and already blast the close up right over our screens because shockingly Mike's reactions seem to matter here somehow

but anyway explaining all of this to someone who just wants to complain is probably a waste of time. but as you already pointed out yourself, you're not the one writing the show so what you would do is thankfully irrelevant