#but she's always seen her as an adult when she was also a child raising jess

[yuseirra]

I was wondering: what's your opinion about teen parents like age 15? Western critics usually don't like it due to health issues, while my opinion has always been that it's perfectly normal nowadays. Don't have anything against young love, in fact, your feedback might be helpful for a project I'm working on...

To be short, it's not perfectly normal...

I'm a bit baffled if you believe it's something that simple. And I'm genuinely curious on how you believe it is perfectly normal, it's actually concerning to my eyes, in fact, how did you come to believe in the idea? Do you live in a society where many people live in such a way? Have you seen a lot of examples where it works out really well?

It could have been the norm in some societies like a hundred years ago, in classic literature we have Juliet's mother saying she had Juliet when she was her age and all, but even then, having a child at that age was still considered very early. I doubt it's been considered as desirable even then.

Love is love and people have their circumstances, and of course people can date and love each other at that age and younger than that too. However?? I feel giving birth is something that needs a lot of support and consideration

The fact that I sympathize with Ai and Hikaru's situation doesn't actually equate to the idea that it is ideal or that it's a good situation. What I want to express would be that: they still can be great parents and make the best out of the situation they are in. What happened to them was unplanned and that can happen to people. I just want to wish the best for people who find themselves in various different situations and believe they can find their happiness in it but this doesn't mean I'm all for teen parents and marriages,

Before anything, let's ask this question: Would you be able to raise your children well if you have kids in age 15? People can do that but a lot of sacrifices would have to be made and let's be practical, what about school? education? How are you going to get a job and support your family? It's not only your life you'd have to take care of from that point on. And 15 is still an age in a modern society that is considered quite underage, there is a reason why we have age standards where we set the age of adults and children.

You brought the idea of health issues, there is that, too. There IS certainly that.

Why do you think Ai left Hikaru? Why do you think she felt the need to do it when she clearly cared for him so much and actually wished to be forever with him? It was for HIS sake. She didn't want to be a burden to him. She, who's also a really young girl who was only a year older than him, got really worried for his sake because she realized that having kids would definitely put the both of them in a tough situation. He wanted to raise them he said, but she thought the idea wasn't realistic and she should keep it a secret. And that is a pretty fair idea she's had because the situation they were in isn't what's really what's deemed as desirable or common in the modern era. Why would that be so? I hope you think about that if you haven't. It's not because it's evil or morally wrong to do it, but...it's for both the potential parents and children's sake. It's already happened to them so Ai tried to make the best out of it but I think we could all agree she'd have been in a much comfortable and better spot if the babies came along when she was much older and had a stable environment.

This is written on the spot and I'm sure what I have here isn't the best answer one can give,

But what I feel I can say is that it's not about being against young love that people believe you should wait till becoming adults till you get married and have children. Those are different subjects. However, there are people who do end up being that way and if that happens, they should be given a chance to live a fulfilling life too, that's what I think.

[jessiebites]

thinking about how jessie's an unreliable narrator because she sees ppl through rose colored glasses. all her talk about how wonderful and full of life her ex fiancée was and how she was such a light and that she made everything for jess better meanwhile she had addiction problems, liked to ghost jess and often times would use her for her medication. there was still love there but not to the extremes that jess makes it seem .

same with her brother and how woody would basically leave her for dead at the hands of their father whilst in her head he would save her

[jasmines-library]

Would it be too much to request a batsis oneshot, about her knowing how to cook😆 like whenever Alfred is not available he leaves her in charge to help ensure the other family members are eating without buring down the house🤭 also a lil thing u could add is she often visits the manor just to cook cuz Alfred always keeps the kitchen fully stocked with ingredients which means she can cook pretty much anything she desires💜 I just thought it'd be cute to have Bruce be envious of his daughters cooking skills whereas he lacks them🤭

Kitchen Antics

Thanks for requesting! This was cute to write!

Word Count: 1k

⛤ BATFAM MASTERLIST ⛤

“I still don’t think this is very fair.” Bruce pouted as you slid the plate in front of him.

“Hm?”

“This.” He gestured to the plate that you had served to him, piled to the brim. It had taken you hours to prepare, especially without Alfred’s help, but it was well worth it. “How come Alfred lets you cook and not me. I’m a fully grown adult. I should be allowed to cook a meal for my family.”

“Maybe it’s because you can’t actually cook.” You threw over your shoulder with a smug grin. 

That earnt a snort from Damian which he hid poorly behind a hand. Bruce shot him an unamused look. 

“Can too.” Bruce said. This time you raised a brow as you slid into your seat.

“Oh yeah, because the last time you cooked it turned out great.” Jason rolled his eyes. 

You remember it distinctly. It was one of the first times Alfred was away and had reluctantly let Bruce use the kitchen. He had regretted it the moment he returned because his kitchen was hardly recognisable. And the food Bruce had cooked was less so. If you could even count it as food. It was the furthest thing from edible. Somehow undercooked and burnt to a crisp around the edges at the same time. Even Alfred wasn’t sure how he managed to do that, and he had seen almost everything when baking with the rest of your brothers. It was safe to say that Bruce was no longer allowed in the kitchen after that. So, the responsibility turned to you. 

Alfred had always said you had a natural talent for cooking, though you swore it was because you had the best teacher: You had spent countless hours helping him when you were younger and you were the only person he didn’t seem to physically wince at when you walked into the kitchen. So, naturally when he announced he was leaving this week he entrusted you to make sure the family were fed without the entire manor being burnt down, or being filled with takeout boxes.

Your brothers had tried countless times to worm their way into the kitchen, but you ushered them out every time. They were just as bad as Bruce when it came to cooking. There was one time Damian and Dick had tried to bake a cake to surprise Bruce on his birthday. And it did…when the fire they had started nearly set the whole kitchen alight. Luckily Alfred had smelt it before any real damage could happen, but the pair of adults were far from happy. Jason had never shown much interest in cooking. He would usually just grab himself a snack from one of the cupboards instead of actually cooking himself something, so he had never really been an issue to keep out. Though, often he would try to sabotage your work just to wind you up. As for Tim, he was the best out of the four boys. By no means a master at work, it was often slightly bland but he was the only one who hadn’t tried to kill everyone with his cooking so he got bonus points for that. 

“That was one time.” Bruce turned his head away, pouting like a small child.

“Tt. Father, I think you’ve tried to poison us every time you’ve gone near the kitchen.” Damian jested through a mouthful of food. “Perhaps you should ask Joker to try it. Might take a villain off of our hands.”

Tim stifled a laugh. “This is lovely, Y/N. Thank you.”

You smiled. “Thank you.”

The six of you fell into a comfortable silence as you ate, before Bruce finally spoke up again. Cutting through the sound of cutlery scraping against china plates.

“Is my cooking really that bad?”

He was answered with silence. And a lot of smirks.

“...Are you jealous of Y/N, Father?” Dick grinned.

“Psh…No.”

Bruce was a terrible liar. 

~

“Do you need any assistance, Miss Y/N?” Alfred poked his head around the kitchen door. He had returned from his trip not too long ago, glad to see that everyone had been well fed and that the house was still in one piece. 

Glancing up from the bowl of ingredients you were whisking, you met Alfred’s proud glance. “No thank you, Alfred. You already have everything I need.”

Alfred smiled up at you. It was nice for you to stop by once in a while to see them. He enjoyed seeing you cook. Better yet he enjoyed tasting your new creations each week so he kept everything stocked, even if he knew he wouldn’t need it himself. The shelves were lined with all sorts of spices, flours, sugars and ingredients for you to create something new so that if you ever decided to stop by (which you liked to do at least once a week) he would have everything  you could ever need.

Your brothers loved it when you would bring over food to them too. Most of it would be gone in minutes and they would turn to you asking for more. Bruce would do the same too, although he would still have that look of teasing jealousy on his face. But he was proud really. And glad that at least one of his children had enough common sense to not set the entire manor alight when baking a cake. 

BATFAM TAGLIST:

@aestheticdaisies

@hell-o-kittys

@xxrougefangxx

@mamapucket

@hearts4robs

@harleycao

[hurthermore]

Hi,dear!i really really love your writings like a lot! Can i maybe request a human alastor x reader who's a sister in a church,but also a killer like him?if that's okay for sure! have a good day/night:)

»»------► 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚞𝚗

Pairing:  𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚡 𝙽𝚞𝚗!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Warnings: 𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝙰𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍

A/N: 𝙰𝙲𝙺𝙺𝙺 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 >.< 𝙰𝚗 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚗𝚒𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚗𝚞𝚗𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍!

𝚁𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗!

Ever since Alastor was a child, his mother made it compulsory for him to attend mass every sunday, which he always did with a fabricated smile on his face; just to make his mother happy. It was a boring occurrence that Alastor found redundant; he was partial to the practice of voodoo, and therefore preferred not to partake in the catholic religion, especially once he started to grow into his adult years.

Even when Alastor began his career in the broadcasting profession, and moved out of his family home, his mother demanded that he was still to attend mass with her; she didn’t care if they rota’d him in for sunday, he was to decline performing his broadcasts that morning of the week, or he’d have his ear shouted off. And Alastor was, and never had been the type of man to let his beloved mother down, even if it were something as mundane as church. He’d attend for her.

On one particular attendance, he noticed there was one more nun designated among the monastics of the church. She stuck out like a sore thumb due to the almost sinister way her smile etched upwards on the beautiful features of her face. He’d only seen that type of smile on one other person; himself. And he’d be a fool not to be intrigued by it.

He found himself thinking more and more about the secrets hidden behind that stretching smile as the weeks passed by, his glances against her only intensified the more he attended church. He often contemplated approaching her, but she never left the stage where the pastor spoke passages from the bible, and once the sermons ended, she was always gone in the blink of an eye.

It became an agitating occurrence as the want to converse with her, to discover what type of person she was seemed almost impossible. But eventually, he finally found a chance to finally introduce himself when the church hosted a function for the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. as she stood among the attendees, handing out beverages; still attiring the same smile she always did. 

Yet before he could approach her, his mother dragged him in another direction, telling him he had to greet the pastor before he dabbled in the crowd. So he obeyed, slightly irritated, but complied with his mother’s demands. As he greeted and made small talk with the Pastor, he couldn’t help but overhear a group of nuns gossiping behind him.

“Why has the Pastor put her on the beverage stand?”

“A menace to society that girl, I can’t believe he’d allow her to prattle among the votaries.”

“I know, especially with the rumours about her burning her last church down too; I swear he’s going to get us all killed.”

Alastor couldn’t help how his eyebrows raised in interest as he focused on the tittle-tattle behind him. It made him wonder; was this girl like him? Did she also have the same refined tastes for murder? With how the only reported murders in New Orleans being his own, he was doubtful of the prospect. 

As he continued to attempt to approach the woman throughout the event, person after person kept interrupting his goal. His sense of murder was becoming heightened. People were always vermin, always in the way. And by the time he finally advanced toward the place he last saw her, she had been replaced with another nun. Turning his head in different directions, he attempted to find her among the crowd; but she was nowhere to be seen. Most likely confined to the bedding area of the church.

It was as if God himself was preventing him from acquainting her.

Grunting to himself, he made his way toward his mother, informing her that he was going to get some fresh air before he made his way outside. Plucking a cigarette from his pocket, he lit it up with a match as he rested his back against the outer walls of the church.

He was pissed to say the least; furious how the numerous sacks of living meat kept disturbing his plans.

All he wanted was to acquaint himself with that god forsaken beautiful smile.

As a puff of smoke vacated his lips, he perched as he heard rustling from the heavily wooded area to his right; eerily similar to how a caught rabbit would struggle as it attempted to leave the confines of its new found prison. Squinting his eyes, Alastor began to make his way into the wooded area to investigate the noise.

The further he moved through the forage and trunks of trees, the louder the rustling became; he swore he could start to hear grunts and strangled coughs. Pausing as he finally came across a sight to behold, his eyes landed on the nun that had been consuming his mind for months now. Her robes and apostolnik were covered in splatters of dark red blood as another nun laid underneath her; her neck sliced almost in half, clearly done moments before he had arrived due to the small amount of blood that squirted from her open neck; saturating the two women in red.

As he looked at the face of the corpse, he noticed it was one of the nuns from earlier that had whispered tales of the subject of his thoughts. Offering a smile, he made his presence known to the murderous nun who had caught his attention long before; taking a heavier step than usual as a way to alert her.

Her face fully faced him, and his smile only stretched in glee as he witnessed her blood soaked face attire that same smile she always did. If she was interesting before, then she was absolutely fascinating now. As the nun gazed at him, she didn’t attempt to run or attack him, only watching his movements.

“Can I help you?”

That voice. Alastor couldn’t help but adore how angelic her tone was; a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. Just like him. Taking step after step toward her, Alastor offered her his hand as she sat atop the limp corpse. Placing her bloodied palm in his, he pulled her up to stand, kissing the back of her hand before she could pull away.

“Perhaps, but first, let’s get you clean, dear.”

»»------► 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛��𝚒𝚜𝚝

[rayroseu]

I have this theory that Prince Levan and Yuu are similar.

Don't you think their traits so far matches? Kind, patient, able to traverse through adversities (for now its just raging Draconias lol), aspires to resolve conflicts between oppositions, doesn't possess any bias (maybe because they prefer peaceful options).

There is also a scene that matched well with what we know of Prince Levan with Yuu --

• Prince Levan dealing with Malenoa's tantrum safely -> Yuu telling Malleus to calm down and Malleus actually listening (during their trip kn GloMas)

• Prince Levan manages the foreign affairs of Land of Briar, he is negotiating to stop ravaging their land -> Yuu is assigned as the Prefect of NRC, they deal with the trouble ensuing in every dorm and striving to make its members work together.

• Prince Levan is Malenoa's informant and seems to be on the frontlines while Malenoa's the strategist -> Yuu is always tasked as the record keepers or watcher of events (even in main story) by Crowley, and sometimes if there's actual trouble, Yuu tells Crowley about it, providing Crowley some stand-in in dealing with NRC troubles rather than himself.

• If we assume that all Draconias are similar, perhaps its safe to assume that Malenoa was also interested with Levan because he treated her normally (because like Malleus she was also revered too much and didnt experience much normality).

It mirrors similarly to the dynamic of Malleus and Yuu in the present, how Yuu is not afraid of him and in turn, makes Malleus feel like a normal person.

• Lilia mentions him, Malenoa, and Levan are childhood friends. So, it means that Levan and Malenoa probably met when they were children. Malleus is only 178 out of 1000 years adult age, Lilia stated him as a child. Plus, if we refer to the past ages of official Yuu's (Yuuken and Yuuka are 17), they are children -growing up as well. (At least I think so-- 17 is really young for me lol) Anyways, we see that Malleus and Yuu got to know each other in their developing years or something--

• This is kind of a theory but Levan and Yuu have the traits of a beasttamer- Lilia states that Draconias are montrous (but they're still faes.) Yuu was dubbed as beasttamer by Crowley because of how they took care of Grim. Grim is a monster. And, both Yuu and Levan, like stated before, deals with "their monster's rages."

• Both Malleus and Malenoa seems to get attracted by Levan and Yuu because of their compassion to them. (Malenoa views Levan as "he's the only one she can depend on" and he cooked for her so we can believe that Levan was kind to Malenoa.) In contrast, Draconias are always seen as "ruthless villains" "cruel" and "terrifying."

• As the game repeatedly tells us, Draconias exceeds so much from the average. They are seemingly evil, powerful and ruthless to people, even when Malleus was raised by Lilia to be "a gentle fairy" he struggles still. And, because of the normality/kindness of Yuu and Levan, that they are most interesting to Draconias. Since all those traits (being normal) are essentially their unknown and the impossible---

• I think Draconias are also fascinated by the "weakness" and braveness of Yuu/Levan. (Levan was pitiful during the time where he, Lilia and Malenoa got lost while Malenoa just had a fun time out of it). Malleus teases Yuu about is he scary now since we always seem fearless to him- I wonder if Malenoa treated Levan this way as well... (because all Draconias seems to have same personalities lol i.e Malenoa has a habit of being talkative at unusual hours too much like how Malleus visits us to talk in the night)

• This is a reach, but Levan didn't get any silouette despite the fact he was explained many times by Lilia, just like how Yuu never gets revealed in game.

• The fact that Levan seems to be referenced from the two events: Glorious Masquerade and Halloween. These events have involved Yuu importantly instead of them just being on the sidelines-

Glorious Masquerade because it seems like he's Diablo-inspired and Malleus' outfit in that event has feathers of a raven. And, the fact Levan's Name is spelled like Raven. Plus, his outfit was designed to resemble royalty Briar Valley clothing and Levan IS a Briar Valley royalty (the princess' husband.)

Halloween Event because of Levan's title containing Long/Dragon Prince Levan. Malleus' Halloween costume was a Long/Chinese Dragon. Plus, the event highlighted the difference between Western and Eastern Dragon when Malleus info-dumped Vil about it so it holds significance that Eastern Dragons exists.

• There's also this parallel of Levan and Yuu being the one who goes and never returns. It seems that Malenoa sent Levan as her messenger to the Silver Owls to stop ravaging their land-- and now she is searching for him since he hasn't returned. Maybe we can assume Malenoa is regretting it because Levan's abscene is alarming that she is sending Lilia to find him. I think the act of "sending away" can be related to how Malleus accepted immediately that we're leaving to go back home despite his fear of losing us.

In conclusion, Malleyuu is generational OR In every Draconia heir there is a Yuu for them in the Yuuniverse population😂🐉🦐

Also, correct me if any of the info mentioned are amiss 😭 sometimes my mind just rolls and makes stuff up and I'm convinced it was real LOL

sorry if i didnt add sufficient screenshots, i didnt want to reach the photo limit lol and most of the things i mentioned about Malleus (for me) seems to be basic facts in the fandom so i thought it unnecessary.

credits to gasmask01 on YT and @/081314 for the translations

[jaidenk-nox]

Elizabeth midford

Shitty 2AM rant on the Misogyny that Lizzy has faced since the very start but it's the perspective of someone who has witnessed the horrors of Misogyny in Spanish speaking fandom

I should mention that English is not my first language and I'm not very good with it either, so most of this was done with Google Translate and I tried to correct what I could, I hope it's at least readable

I've never seen enough people point out the fact that Elizabeth midford character also defies the "Girlboss" archetype, she is definitely physically strong and can protect herself, but she is A 15 YEAR OLD GIRL, who manages her emotions like someone her age would and also exhibits many neurodivergent traits. I have always been bothered by the way physical strength is misunderstood as a "girlboss" trait, the simplest example I can think of is Ran Mao, she possesses brutal and superhuman strength. but it doesn't make her a girlboss, in case anyone forgets Ran is a girl who barely reaches 18 years old and is exploited by an opium trader who also seems to be involved in human trafficking (implied in the manga). Is she really a girlboss? girlboss when her physical strength is more of a requirement to SURVIVE while working as an assassin and sometimes seductress (which u can tell she doesn't enjoy much)? Obviously Ranmao's social reality is very different as she is a woman of color from the underworld, unlike Elizabeth, who is a white woman from the nobility. However, her physical strength has always been a double-edged sword for herself. Lizzy longs to get married, like any other girl her age, she longs to be protected but says goodbye to it the moment Ociel returns.

I may seem a bit exaggerated, but the way your sociocultural background affects the way you perceive and treat a character has me slightly traumatized, I wish I could give proof of the horrible and degrading treatment that Lizzy has received from the Spanish-speaking fandom.

I am a trans boy of color who grew up watching my female relatives being encouraged to rip their hearts out of their chest from the moment they turned 8yo for the simple goal of caring for and protecting my cis male relatives. household chores, cooking for them, washing their clothes, taking accountability for their actions. Their freedom and childhood as little girls were taken away from them. but none of that was ever valued, I never saw anyone recognize it as sacrifice.

Elizabeth is not a woman of color, nor does she have those demands as a woman of nobility, but she SACRIFICED stuff to try to protect Ciel on her own way, I have seen many people underestimate her backstory in book of Atlantic because "High heeled shoes aren't reason to cry." Everything Lizzy has done for Ciel is devalued, all her suffering has been minimized. losing so many family members in such a short time, losing the boy you were raised to marry your entire life. People truly forget that lizzy is still just a child, that she has the right to mourn everything she lost that day. She had to mourn publicly as a noble girl,she probably heard that she would never be able to get married or would never achieve happiness, I've never seen any adult to stop and think about how heartbreaking and soul shattering that must have been as a 11yo

I have seen how EVERY thing Lizzy does is judged. how her behavior, personality and temperament are criticized. but other characters like Soma just get a pass while doing the same stuff, but this does not just stop at gender, but also at age. people HATE girls and afabs who act like children when they are literally CHILDREN.

How is it possible that Lizzy has faced such harsh judgment from the fandom when there are other characters like Maam red, Lau, Grell, Undertaker who are universally ADORED or atleast respected in the fandom.

I love u Elizabeth midford but ur character makes me violently ill omfg

[melrosing]

What do you think of the Sansa bullied Arya take if you don’t mind me asking (just don’t answer if you don’t want to haha)

per my usual practice on Controversial Topics im putting this under a cut

At the real risk of that lot showing up in my notes again, I think this ‘Sansa bullies Arya’ pins their pre AGOT dynamic squarely on Sansa herself, rather than the way they are both being raised by the adults around them to behave towards one another. Sure, Sansa is mean to Arya sometimes during their childhood! We don’t have a lot of examples besides the oft-mentioned ‘horseface’ insults, but I think it’s fair to assume that more often than not, Sansa was looking down on Arya. Meanwhile, Arya herself feels inadequate and like she just can’t do anything right. She resents Sansa, but also worries that Sansa’s opinion of her may be true.

Fine. But where has Sansa’s opinion of Arya come from? Is it her cold black heart? Fucking no, it’s come from Septa Mordane, Catelyn, and whoever else surrounds them growing up. The men don’t seem to really give much of a shit how Arya acts because it’s not their business and she’s just a kid anyhow, but the women pointedly give many shits. In our first scene with Arya, Septa Mordane scolds her for not being good at ‘women’s work’, and there’s plenty to suggest that this is just another day in the life for Arya. Meanwhile, Sansa gets the carrot for excelling. Both Arya and Sansa are learning their own worth in this chapter, and the worth of one another. Sansa internalises the praise whilst learning that Arya is bad, and everything she mustn’t be. Arya internalises the criticisms whilst learning that Sansa is good, and everything she can never be.

They’ll be getting this from Catelyn as well. Catelyn clearly adores both her daughters, and will move heaven and earth to get them back in ACOK. But one good adjective for Catelyn is ‘dutiful’ - it’s in her house words, and it’s how she’s lived her life up to AGOT. Doing as she’s told, even when it pains her. She expects the same of her daughters, and finds those expectations satisfied in Sansa’s case, and apparently flouted in Arya’s. So again, from their own mother, Sansa internalises that Arya is bad, and that she, Sansa, is good. Arya internalises the same. If societal standards were reversed, perhaps it would be Arya lording over Sansa, but such as it is, it’s Sansa over Arya. 

Now, Sansa is a child. When children are told over and over that X is good and Y is bad, they generally don’t question it, at least until they're older and more experienced in the world. They will also parrot what they hear, often in graceless ways. Because they’re children. Sansa is told that Arya wilfully misbehaves because she’s bad, and so Sansa thinks: then I should look down on Arya. It sounds like Sansa mostly keeps her distance from her sister pre AGOT. Not always - they play together sometimes - but a lot of the time. She has internalised the teaching that Arya is an aberration, and as she herself knows the adults value obedience in girls, and she wants to please them so badly, the distance between her and Arya demonstrates to them just how good she is - she won’t descend to Arya’s behaviour. 

When Sansa does interact with Arya (pre Darry), we see her being a bit bossy - telling Arya what to do, etc. Sansa is replicating what she has seen the adults do with Arya, and is mimicking them to assert her own position as the good, obedient child. If Arya ever doesn’t want to do something, it can only be because she’s bad. 

[sidenote, it all really reminds me of these short stories me and my sister used to get read a lot as kids, called My Naughty Little Sister (lmao) by Dorothy Edwards. They're pretty old and I don’t think they ever got major circulation outside Britain, but for anyone unfamiliar, you can probably guess how these stories go. There’s an elder sister, good and obedient, who narrates short tales of her ‘naughty little sister’ doing terrible things like idk, making a terrible mess etc, and going ‘now I’m sure you [the child audience] wouldn’t do a thing like that!’ They’re supposed to be short morality tales for the children, and amuse the parent reading them aloud, who recognises the mischievous behaviour of the younger and is charmed by the haughtiness of the elder sister, who you can hear is narrating the incidents of her sister’s mischief with the disdain that she’s heard the adults do so, and is asserting her own good behaviour over said sister. And the whole fucking reason we were read these stories was because my younger sister was precisely the kind of kid who got up to all kinds of shit as a little kid (which now all of us find hilarious but DIDN’T AT THE TIME), and I was the elder sister like ‘my goodness how could she do such things as these!!’ (e.g. paint an entire bookcase with grout). It amused us both to see ourselves in the stories. You could say this was life imitating art, but I think this is simply an age old dynamic, familiar to many people with siblings: you would see how the adults spoke to another child in your family, and replicate their manner in an effort to come across as an adult. Except you weren’t an adult, so you weren’t always as graceful about it as they were. That is pre AGOT Sansa, to a T. And I’m sure that’s what GRRM, a child of three who had two sisters of his own, is replicating here.]

But I think there’s also a loneliness in being the ‘obedient child’. Doing as you’re told all the time can be boring, and living up to expectations is a lot of pressure. Sansa wants a companion in all that, but Arya has no interest in sharing in it. Arya is offering friendship, but from a place Sansa believes she can’t reach her sister - Sansa thinks she’d have to ‘descend to Arya’s level’ to accept it, and she can’t do that. You get a sense of Sansa thrilling in trying Arya’s ‘misbehaviours’ for herself when she quietly delights in behaving ‘as wicked as Arya’, but you see in this that she has to condemn such behaviours and herself for exhibiting them, all in the same breath. And in the end, I can easily imagine Sansa resents that Arya has more fun with their brothers than she ever does with Sansa herself: that the one sister she has is one she has nothing in common with. Sansa can’t find a like mind amongst her siblings, and so clings to Jeyne Poole, and the praise of the adults around her.

So with all that in mind, YES! Sansa is sometimes mean to Arya, and calls her horseface. That is because Sansa is a child, nobody is correcting her behaviour, and she understands that Arya is bad, and the way she behaves is frustrating to Sansa herself, so really what does it matter if she’s a little mean sometimes? She knows that she is good, because everyone says so. Even if she calls her sister a name now and then, she’s still the good child. 

AND THEN we get to Darry. And Sansa starts to see that society isn’t a song, and sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are, horrible things can happen to you anyway. But she doesn’t want to believe that, because it would turn her world upside down, and her future would look a lot darker, too - Ned has not ended her engagement to Joffrey, and Sansa has to live for the foreseeable in KL. So when Arya doing the thing she ‘wasn’t supposed to’ (playing with Mycah) snowballs into a terrible miscarriage of justice where Sansa’s wolf is killed, Sansa rejects the notion that the songs could be wrong about beautiful princes, and shifts the blame onto Arya for that original 'misdemeanour'. The grief at losing Lady is terrible too (the wolves are meant to have a soul deep bond with the Stark children), and so the target of that grief likewise becomes Arya. What was previously a normal, childishly complicated sibling relationship gets twisted into something else.

This is where I think Sansa becomes different level of unpleasant towards her sister. She’s cruel about Arya’s loss of Mycah, tells Arya she wishes she were dead instead of Lady, etc etc. Arya is not giving as good as she gets here - she even tries to make amends with Sansa, but Sansa throws the offer in her face.

The reasons for Sansa’s behaviour are complicated, but not that complicated. She’s been raised to slot perfectly into this world, without ever being told what that world is really like. And when abruptly it turns out that what she’s being raised for is essentially the slaughter, she rejects it. She can’t see Joffrey as he truly is: she’s been told that princes are charming, that Kings are just, Queens are kind, and she herself will be a Queen. Sansa is going to be handed over to the Lannisters, and she’s going to live the song of her dreams, and the only thing between Sansa and the realisation of those is the thing that’s always been wrong: Bad Arya. Because again, if Arya isn't bad, then everything else is, and Sansa is in terrible danger.

No one is sitting Sansa down and explaining to her that Arya is not bad, just different from her, and that they should love one another - that there are dark forces here far stronger than them that could tear them apart, that the Lannisters are the greatest of them, and they have to fight together, not each other. Arya gets this talk, funnily enough, but not Sansa. Arya is asked to understand that Sansa is different from her, but Sansa is only ever taught to abhor that her sister as different from her. Where Arya is told to be wary of the court of King’s Landing, Ned leaves Sansa to continue her fantasies, and then, when he abruptly tries to put an end to them, he doesn’t bother to explain why. I’m not saying this is unforgivable on Ned’s part - he has a lot on his mind lol - but it’s quite obviously a major failing. Ned leaves Sansa in a fantasy world. It’s fucking Joffrey who has to step in and clarify for Sansa that actually, she’s been dreaming.

So as long as they’re together, Sansa is never able to come to terms with the fact that Arya was not the aberration, but rather, everything else was. In the absence of one another, they cannot reconcile over that fact. So yes, GRRM says they’ll have deep issues to sort through when they meet again, but those aren’t going to be the times that Sansa called her ‘horseface’ - they’re going to be about what happened since they left Winterfell, when their relationship was twisted by forces much darker than Septa Mordane. 

So no, I think the ‘Sansa is a bully’ diatribes are seriously tedious, because even if you want to insist that calling your sister ‘horseface’ a few times even qualifies, you can still accept such wrongs without deciding that that makes Sansa a fundamentally unkind person who cannot be reconciled with Arya and doesn’t deserve to be. It is on the page that the two of them miss each other. Like I genuinely cannot imagine going through everything Arya does in the story and then, upon reuniting with a sister I thought lost forever, deciding I’m actually still mad about the things she got wrong as a child that she herself has paid dearly for, both physically and emotionally. Like jesus fucking christ man. By all means let them talk about it!! But who do you think Arya is lmao

Tl;dr: Sansa is a kid in a society. She is not the arbiter of Arya’s place in society. She is not mean because she’s cruel, but because she has internalised the exact same things that Arya has, based on the example of the adults surrounding them. It just happens that those things were a carrot for Sansa and a stick for Arya. But then in the end, they weren’t a carrot for Sansa either.

tl;dr 2: clarifying once again - i am a jaime stan. i find the stark sister relationship interesting bc I have experience of a similar sisterly dynamic and find it interesting to see a version of that explored on the page. so if you think one has to be a sansa stan to observe all this then that kind of just demonstrates how dichotomous you've become on this issue lol like if I'm talking about takes I dislike re JB I don't generally feel the need to attribute them to JC fandom. let's all grow up x

tl;dr 3: no i don't hate sansa or arya, since i know these are both conclusions various people reach whenever i even mention these two. in fact i think they are both great girls! imagine

[tenderleavesbob]

It was amazing that someone so beautiful could come from something so ugly.

Link rocked the baby in his arms, unable to look away from his soft, sleeping face. He was so small. Link wasn't a big man, but his hand completely covered the baby's tiny head.

A baby. His son. Link's eyes burned. He held the baby closer and hummed a lullaby his mother used his hum to him so long ago.

Lana watched him, her anxiety and hope clear on her face. Link had been angry at her during the war for keeping her secret for so long and he often felt edgy around her. She made it clear what she wanted from him, but unlike Cia, she had never forced it. It was painful but it was something in her favor. Link had felt uncomfortable and stressed but until today, he had never hated her. The brighter the hope shone in her eyes, the more that pain and rage and hate grew, no matter how much Link wished he could control it.

His son's tiny left hand was empty. Clean. Link rubbed it between his fingers. His thumb covered the back of his son's hand.

"Link," Lana said quietly.

"Does anyone else know?" Link cut off. He didn't want to hear it.

Lana hunched in on herself. Her gaze remained fixed on him. "Volga might know," she admitted. "No one else. She kept it hidden."

It felt hard to breathe. Link just wanted to sit in the corner and curl around the innocent baby in his arms. He wanted to hold him close and block out the world. He wanted to grab his horse and flee with his son.

Further up his son's left arm, just by the armpit, there was a small, heart-shaped mark. It was appropriate. Just looking at it was breaking Link's heart.

"And you," Link said. The threat was clear in his voice. He took no satisfaction when Lana flinched.

"And me," Lana agreed. Her voice wavered before her awful hope rose again. "This baby... He's your son. And Cia's. Which means --"

Link cut her off again. If he didn't, it would be his sword and not his words silencing her. "Which means he can't stay here."

Lana faltered. He knew what she wanted. He knew what she was going to say, and he didn't hate many people but right then, he hated her. "I don't. I don't understand."

Link recognized that birthmark. Years ago, he had washed mud and other things off a squirming, complaining gremlin of a child. He had seen it then. He had seen it when he helped that child change and helped bandage his wounds and when he helped wash him after too many adventures. He had seen it later when that child stood before him as a man, helping bandage his wounds again and again.

He had thought he knew pain. He was wrong.

"He can't stay here," Link said. "If he stays in this era, the truth of his birth will become known, and survivors of the war will hunt him. He'll be hunted by Hylians and Ganondorf's forces alike."

"But --" Lana tried again.

Link tenderly kissed his son's head. How strange that he knew his son first as a child, then an adult, and now a baby. During the war, people had teased them and called them father and son. If only they knew.

"But nothing," Link said quietly. "Open a portal. You know where he must go."

To the Lost Woods centuries in the past. To be raised by the Great Deku Tree.

Link knew his baby would meet him again, but he would never know what Link was to him. He would never know how deeply he was loved.

"If you ever breathe a word about this," Link continued, "I will kill you. No one will ever find your body. No one will ever know what happened to you. Do you understand me?"

The hope was gone from Lana's eyes. Link took no satisfaction from that, either. "I understand."

Link nodded and kissed his son again. How strange that Cia's obsession with the spirit of the hero gave birth to one of the greatest heroes of all.

It was also terribly fitting that the legendary Hero of Time would become a hero in a time not his own.

"I love you, Link," he said softly. "I'll always love you. Good-bye."

[angelynmoon]

So, eldritch monster Steve...

Part 1

-

Steve who was born in the Upside down long before El and Hawkins lab discovered it, before it was called the Upside Down, who may even have come into being at the same time as the Upside Down formed.

Steve who escaped when Dr. Brenner first began his expeiments, Dr. Brenner who opened a crack that let him slip through long before El was old enough to understand just what had been released, who didn't recognize Steve as Other the way she would come to recognize the creatures that also escaped into the Right Side Up.

El who doesn't know that Steve isn't human, doesn't know he escaped the Down Below because he was lonely.

Steve who spent years lurking in the woods surrounding Hawkins, practicing and learning, (those first few years may have been spent digging through garbage cans, and maybe a small Eddie Munson, still carrying bruises, a buzz cut and a distrust of adults, may have left left overs by the trash for him, thinking him a stray cat or dog, hoping to lure him close enough to pet, but that's a different story, that's Eddie's story, Eddie who called his stray, the one that was too scared of people to show itself, Steve, and Steve who liked the way a tiny Eddie whispered it so preciously that he kept it) Steve who spent time learning to mimic the way humans looked and spoke until he felt confident enough to join them.

Steve who knew that Mrs. Harrington longed for a child so much that she didn't question the one that walked out of the woods one day to splash around in her pool and called her Mother.

And their family was fine, Mr. Harrington accepting that he had an Heir now and not questioning why he'd never seen the boy before, children should not be seen or heard unless they were called on. And it was fine, right up until the moment that Mr. Harrington raised his hand to the small boy that was neither his son nor human.

Mr. Harrington learned that day what fear was and he took his wife, let her give adultery as an escuse for her travelling with him, anything was better than saying a monster live in their home.

And they left the creature the house and focused on their business, everywhere but Hawkins, and Mr. Harrington walked with a limp from that moment on.

Carol and Tommy were part of his mask at first but Steve really did come to care for them, as much as he could being what he was, so even after Tommy threatened him, even after Carol turned her nose up at him, he let them live, they had been his for so long, and part of him would always think of them as his, they were marked as such, nothing from the Down Below would touch them, not the real monsters from the Down Below at least.

Billy though, well, Billy had been marked the moment that he put his hands on Lucas with intent to hurt him, when he threatened Max, and Dustin, and Mike, those kids were Steve's and even if he couldn't stop them from fucking around with the Down Below, he could at least make sure nothing ate them, they were his in a way that Tommy and Carol never were, in a way even Nancy wasn't, not really, she might have been, Steve might even have been able to learn to love her deeply and completely, but she had ruined that when she came to him smelling of Jonathan and guilt, when she had gotten drunk and called him bullshit, she still had his protection but it wasn't the same after they broke up.

And Robin, when she helped him hold the door in a Russion Bunker to protect his kids he knew he'd never let anything from the Down Below touch her, she was his on a level that even the children would never touch, and he was hers in a way he never knew he could be. She was the one person he considered telling, but he was afraid, what if she was afraid of him after, he liked her, parts of him might even love her.

She was his other half, his humanity, his moral compass, if she liked boys Steve would have made her his everything, instead he settled for soulmate, Platonic with a capital P, as she told Dustin when he said they should date.

Robin was his, always and wholey.

And Steve was so angry when he found out Henry was targeting Max, that he had taken Chrissy in front of Eddie, Eddie who had fed him portions of his own dinner before Steve went to the Harringtons, Eddie, who Steve had never wanted involved in the Down Below.

And Steve supposed that it might just be time to remind the Down Below, the place that Steve was born in, that he had lived in and survived in, long before he was Steve, before he had been taken in by a rag tag group of nerds, time to show Henry just who was in charge here.

It was time to show Vecna just who the big boss of this game was, it certainly wasn't Vecna.

Steve wondered what kind of Dinosaurs and Dustpans name the kids would give him when he showed them what he really was.

@cats-ate-all-of-my-pasta

[translatemunson]

devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes • ttfd

chapter one of the tortured firefighters department

masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, description of clothes, mentions of food, mentions of alcohol, proofread by my bye-lingual ass (let me know if i forgot anything)

You knocked on the white door again, not sure why you feel nervous about all of this. It’s just a small get-together at one of your coworker’s houses. For sure it’s better than spending another night in the library, writing your thesis, but it kinda makes you nervous.

So this is what life looks like when away from the screens that raised you?

From the East Coast all the way to LA to get your PhD, the city of angels was no more than a stranger on the window. Before moving, you had worked on the 9-1-1 call center for your region because the shift’s schedule could actually fit your undergrad and master’s schedule — also the money was enough to survive, and you could check your notes on slow shifts. But once after a massive power outage, your superior thought your desk was too small for your brain.

Not that you were a bad dispatcher — your responses and action times were above average, actually —, but he’d seen how you managed the data influx, pinning all the accidents, teams on call and reported issues on the white board and shouting directions for quicker routes and delay problems. After that, you’d spend more time helping fixing turnaround times and implementing some sort of algorithm and protocols for when the next disaster hits. At some point, they transferred you to Florida during the hurricane season because of your reputation — that spread like a wildfire, believe you or not.

You lasted enough to finish your master’s degree and hop on a plane to LA, for your PhD in dynamical systems theory. You had a job offer, leaving your 9-1-1 days behind for some small desk and endless boring demands. It didn’t last much, though, because, after eight months, it made you miss the adrenaline rush and large income of data from the 9-1-1.

That’s how you ended up at the Los Angeles 9-1-1 call center in Metro, always happy to jump on some calls and help other dispatchers with logistics and patterns. Nobody warned you about tsunamis or earthquakes, but you knew you could manage them just like a pro — if they ever happened again, which was a matter of time.

“Hey! I was starting to think you would bail on me!” Maddie opened the door, the genuine happiness glow irradiating and making her smile almost unbearable. “Please, come in.”

“Got caught up in traffic. Who knew the logistics mastermind would be stuck in a casual traffic jam?” You gave her the flowers you bought and held the brownie pan with both hands. “Hope I’m not too late.”

“Oh no, you arrived just in time! Here, let me take care of this,” she took the pan from your hands and motioned to the living room. “Make yourself at home. And thanks for the flowers!”

“Our last guest, finally!” Howard, aka Chim, Maddie’s boyfriend, left his place on the counter to greet you. “It’s nice to finally put a face to the voice!”

“Hope I didn’t disappoint you.” You hugged him, your extroverted persona finally happy to be in a room with real people, and not just some endless phone calls and work talk. “Sorry I’m late.”

“That’s ok, those guys are too busy with their games to notice we are a little behind schedule. But Jee is getting hangry” He pointed to the couch, where three adults, one child and one baby were too busy with the TV screen to notice your arrival.

“I guess the kid’s table is full tonight.”

“Hey, we’ve heard that!” One of them screamed from the couch, not bothering to look in your direction. He raised his arm, the tattoos across his skin showing against his white skin, in protest.

“Nice crowd.” You followed Maddie into the kitchen, Chim’s voice in the background saying it was the last race.

“I’m so glad you’re here. Water, juice or some alcohol?” She offered while reaching for the glasses. “Oh, Chim made some Margaritas.”

“I’d love one of those, thank you.” You fixed your green dress, somehow feeling overdressed. Not exactly your fault, when Maddie invited you for dinner, you visualized all the scenarios in your mind. Afraid of looking lazy, you went for a flowy green dress and a batch of brownies, to show some appreciation.

Between Margarita sips and after work gossip — because, nowadays, your work schedules mostly were off sync —, you helped Maddie setting the table and dishes. And, as expected, one race became four, with Chim playing the commentator. Maddie took the chance to show you the houses they were applying for, making good use of Jee’s quiet bedroom to talk.

“Are the others not good enough or just too expensive?” She had been talking about house scouting for weeks, and even helped you find a new place while doing so.

“You’d be impressed to see the final price of those houses once you track all the problems.” She played with her hair. “How’ve you been doing?”

“My thesis is starting to follow me like an unwanted ghost, and work has been— no, not gonna jinx it. Moving has been a pain in the ass, but thanks for telling me about that loft. The rent is actually acceptable and the view is amazing!”

“Glad it worked for you! And don’t thank me, actually it was—”

“Hey, Mads, we’re just waiting for you two.” The tall blue eyed guy stood in the hallway and gave the door a weak tap. Oh, tattoo guy, you noticed. “Chim is destroying the dumplings Albert made and Jee is not happy with being left out of the girls reunion. You better hurry up.”

“We are right behind you, Buck.” She said, bringing you with her to the dining table.

After some quick introductions — Albert, Chim’s half-brother; Eddie and his son Christopher, and Buck, Maddie’s little brother —, you indulged in some dumplings and pork ramen. Albert was experimenting with Korean cuisine, talking about opening a restaurant and finally having enough money to move out to his own place.

“Well, I think you should do it. I’d be happy to order this every day,” you said, pointing your chopsticks to the almost empty bowl.

“Thanks– sorry, what is your name again?”

“Everyone just call me Brains.” The nickname stuck since your first major catastrophe at the call center job — and maybe a little because of your bachelor.

“Wait, I think I’ve met you before.” Eddie announced and looked at Chris. “You went to his school a few weeks ago to talk about pursuing math in college, right?”

“I did a small presentation, yeah. My professor asked me for a favor since his kids are students there, but he had a full schedule. I had a nice time with the kiddos.”

“She is super smart!” Chris shared, in his own words, a little about your presentation. Talking to the younger ones about advanced math proved to be a challenge, but once you showed them all the cool things math made possible, you had their attention.

“Why are you working on the 9-1-1 instead of, I don’t know, teaching in college?” Buck inquired, beer in hand.

“Would you believe me if I said I have an adrenaline addiction and I can’t stay away from trouble?” You pressed your lips together and shook your head.

“Oh, he would, because he was addicted to—”

Maddie slapped Chimney on the arm. “Hey, there’s two kids in the room.” 

And all eyes were on Chris, who was too busy with his noodles to notice, and Jee, playing with her bites of veggies. You laughed, leaving your empty cup on the table, and reaching for the last dumpling.

“I guess we are all addicted to something,” you stared at Buck's blue eyes and took a bite. “Maybe once I get my PhD, I’ll go full professor and find some adrenaline on handing out really hard exams. But the chances are very low.”

“You should try being part of LAFD, you might like it,” Albert suggested.

“I can barely carry my boxes upstairs, being that physical isn’t for me.” The admission made you shyly smile, because you were definitely hinting that firefighters were strong. “Math, on the other hand…”

“Please, don’t give her any more ideas! Since Brains started working with us, the dispatching process changed for the better.” Maddie brought her hands together and begged in a joking tone.

A few Margaritas and some dessert later, you were helping Maddie with the dishes while Albert played with Christopher, and Buck was holding Jee so she wouldn’t throw a tantrum. Chim asked Eddie to help with a few construction questions, feeling like he was missing some important topics while house scouting.

“I think I’m done for the night,” you told her as you closed the cabinet door. “Thanks for the invite, Maddie. You were right, I needed a break.”

“I know when I see someone on the verge of burnout.” You looked at her, the tequila making the simple action of laughing much more easier. “Let me know when you’re settled at your new place so I can get you a housewarming gift.”

“Oh please, don’t bother, Maddie. I’m sure you’re too busy with Jee and moving matters.”

“Sure you don’t want some ramen for tomorrow? Albert may be a good cook, but he has no idea of the measurements.”

“You’re sick of the smell, right?”

“A little.” She smirked.

“I guess I won’t have to worry about lunch tomorrow.” 

“Make two, Mads!” Buck approached the kitchen counter. “Leaving already, Brains?”

“Yeah, gonna finish moving to my new place tomorrow.” Maddie left the blue tupperware in front of you. “Thanks, I’ll bring it to you next wednesday.”

“Can I get more brownies?”

“Anything for my favorite dispatcher.” You looked around, opting for a quick goodbye. “It was nice to meet y’all. Again, thanks for the invite, Maddie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Brains,” Buck said, getting closer. “Hope to speak to you soon, dispatcher Brains.”

“I hope we don’t, firefighter Buckley.” You teased him. “Have a good night, guys.”

You left Maddie’s place, drove to your new place, opened the door for an empty apartment, stored the ramen in the fridge, climbed up the stairs and fell face first into your bed, shoes and all. 

If you didn’t know Maddie, you’d say she had second intentions with that dinner. 

author's note: hi guys! chapters will be short because it helps me keep the momentum with the writing (and keep the impostor's syndrome away from my efforts). also yeah i'm using TTFD as an acronym bc i choose a whole ass long title for the fic. huge shout out to my love my bestie my soulmate @munsonsreputation for always supporting me (love you kaaaay). also hi casey welcome to the 9-1-1 fandom, thank you for the endless edits on tiktok haha. i guess i see y'all next week...

[live-fast-pet-frogs]

Helluva Dads, and why Blitzø is better than Stolas

This post is not a Stolas hate post in any way, I think this is just an interesting perspective on the main characters of Helluva boss as parents, mainly Blitzø and Stolas. If you want to avoid spoilers please skip.

The latest episode has brought up some speculations on how the trailer snippet from this seasons (meant for the next episode) will be about Octavia growing resentful of Stolas and thinking that he has abandoned her.

I have seen some posts claiming that Via is a spoiled rich kid and that she is demanding so much from her father, some posts even going as far as saying she is exactly like Stella. I disagree with these takes heavily because Stella is a one dimensional villain, portrayed to have no other function than to be Stolas' abuser. Octavia is actually extremely valid in her feelings and she has more than enough reason to resent Stolas.

If you noticed, every single Octavia centric episode portrays the same conflict between father and daughter: Octavia feeling like an afterthought and worrying that Stolas will leave her for Blitzø.

This has been featured in "Loo Loo Land" where Octavia is exasperated by the fact that even when Stolas plans a whole day for the two of them to spend time together (even by disregarding Via's feelings about the theme park), he still spends most of his time flirting with Blitz, whom he invited along just for the sake of it as there has been zero need for them. At the end of the episode, Stolas apologies for not hearing Via out, promises that he won't ever abandon her and the two head home with their conflict resolved.

Or not....

In "Seeing Stars" Octavia runs away to the human world because Stolas forgot about their promise to watch a meteor shower that they have been looking forward to seeing since she was a toddler. Stolas spends his day arguing with Stella over their divorce and ignoring his daughter. I just want to say it's not Stolas' fault that he is stressed because of his divorce and his ex wife is making the whole process harder for him but ultimately his daughter should take priority over anything else in his life. A parent should put their child first, always.

Enter Blitzø:

He has his fair share of faults, and he infantalises Loona often but at the end of the day, she know he will be there for her and she will be there for him. She knows Blitz cares for her a lot, and she never doubts that or expresses feeling neglected (i mean also because of her background).

Blitzø also puts his daughter even before Stolas, as seen in Western Energy. He has to take Loona to her doctors appointment and even though Loona is a grown adult at this point, he knows she gets super anxious around shots so he insists on accompanying her, even when Stolas tells him that he has been kidnapped. Blitz sends M&M in his stead, because Loona takes priority.

The main difference between Loona and Octavia is how much their parents wanted them.

Both Stolas and Blitzø love their daughters and want the best for them. However I can't help but think that the main reason in how they are treated is the fact that one of them was unwanted.

Stolas loves his daughter, that is undeniable and before Blitz re-entered his life Octavia was probably the only person in his life who made him happy. But he didn't want her. Everything in Stolas' life until the main plot has been decided for him, and he has done everything he did out of obligation: his job, his marriage and his heir. Paimon has decided that he will marry Stella when Stolas was a small child, and they were expected to produce an heir as soon as possible. Stolas most likely became a father against his will at an age where he was barely an adult and unprepared to raise a child. And that is not even mentioning the fact that he is gay.

This is not his fault, again. But it is the main reason why he always tries to escape his life and obsesses over Blitzø, ultimately including Octavia in the multitude of things he is running away from. Via is extremely entangled in the "list of chores" Stolas has to do, while Blitzø represents the freedom of choice for him.

Even so, it feels like Stolas is running the same circles around his daughter throughout the story, which is: Stolas neglects Via, Via feels sad and abandoned, they have a wholesome discussion that Stolas won't ever abandon Via and he loves her a lot, 2 seconds later Stolas is off chasing cock.

At the end of Mastermind, Via is seen visibly upset, probably thinking that his father left her behind for Blitzø again. She feels betrayed by him over and over again, and she is right because Stolas, despite making promises still disregards Via's thoughts and feelings at the end of the day.

Stolas is absolutely devastated when he realises that he might not see his daughter again, that he has lost custody over her. But it's too little too late, and while in this particular case it was completely justified that he went to save Blitzø from literally being executed, maybe Via would be taking it better if she wasn't left behind by Stolas over and over again.

Meanwhile Blitzø finally manages to connect with Loona on a deeper level by proving to her that he will always prioritise her safety and will die for her if it comes to that. It was the last push for Loona to completely lower her guard and actually allow herself to express outward affection towards her father.

And I think this progress could only happen because Blitzø has never given Loona a reason to feel left behind. This can also be a reason of introspection on Blitz' part as he adoped Loona after seeing himself in her. They had similar childhoods, full of abuse and neglect, and he was determined to make sure Loona won't have to feel that way with him around.

Unfortunately Stolas has suffered so badly from his depression and loneliness that even by trying his best he has subjected Octavia to the same loneliness he is desperately trying to escape. I hope that instead of resentment, he can learn from Blitzø on how to be a better parent, and also to take care of himself as well. I hope he and Octavia can reunite at some point, but Stolas will need to work more consciously on being there for his daughter.

[userautumn]

this fandom is annoying me so i'm going to say this once and then fuck off back to my shows.

on the topic of eddie's parents: helena has always treated eddie like he is an unfit parent. both of his parents have, but helena especially has led that charge. yes, his parents love him. i do not doubt that. but i said some weeks ago that i think helena/ramon would have been much happier raising eddie and chris as siblings rather than letting eddie be a father, and i stand by that. throughout the narrative, they have indicated time and time again that they think his choices are wrong—from their unwillingness to accept shannon fully, to coming outright and saying they think eddie is on a downward spiral and that he's going to crash and burn and take christopher with him. this is not an "Evil Parents" buddie conspiracy theory, this is a canon fact.

at every opportunity, helena especially has been trying to pry christopher away from his father. this is also a canon fact. in 2x18, after shannon's funeral, she tried to get eddie to bring chris (and himself, but eddie was most definitely the afterthought in that conversation) back to texas. in 4x14, eddie says to buck that his parents will fight for custody. and while eddie's relationship with his father has changed since the early seasons, this is still very much so a recurring theme in their dynamic.

so it stands to reason that helena would feel gleeful, or satisfied, or maybe even triumphant over the fact that she's finally gotten what she wanted. again, this isn't a headcanon, this is just common sense. she's been wanting chris back in texas for years, and now she's finally gotten her wish. i mentioned earlier that eddie himself is an afterthought in the conversation of the diaz boys' return to texas, and this remains true. helena favors christopher over her own son. this is also a canon fact. in 8x1, she sees her son sitting on camera at the saddest looking birthday party anyone's ever seen, and her response is "oh well! better luck next time! bye!" she doesn't offer to call him back later. she doesn't even look sad that he's sad. she simply continues about her day like her child is not suffering.

now, i still firmly believe that helena diaz loves her son. but if she has empathy for her him and the struggles he's facing—and has faced—she has yet to express it. this is also, unfortunately, canon.

having said that.

christopher is a teenager. he is not a little boy anymore. it was cute when he took an uber to buck's house because his dad made him mad, but this is quite a different situation. we've talked ad nauseam about the kim/shannon of it all because the trauma and betrayal of that is significant. but there are layers here. because it's not just that christopher thought his mom was back from the dead, it's also that eddie did what he (in christopher's mind) does best—he messed up a good thing right as christopher was getting to enjoy it.

9-1-1 is designed so that we, the viewers, are able to empathize with eddie's struggles. we're adults so, on average, we know why he makes the choices he makes and we can, on some levels, relate to them. even if we don't agree, we can understand the logic behind these choices. but christopher does not have the luxury of adulthood. and, if you put yourself in his shoes, his entire life since coming to los angeles has been extraordinarily unstable. some of these things were obviously outside of eddie's control, such as the tsunami and his dad getting shot. but they still happened.

so now, he is this fourteen year old kid who has lived through trauma after trauma, all the while witnessing his dad try to put himself back together after a lifetime of pain. and one of those ways eddie tries to put himself back together is by dating again. first, he dates ana and, objectively, ana was the perfect choice. she was smart. she was beautiful. she was good with kids. she was latina, which his parents/dad would have approved of, and christopher liked her very much. but then, just as it's getting good and looking real, eddie breaks up with her. again, we, the viewers, know why he did what he did. he was having panic attacks at the mere thought of being with her. but if you're christopher it looks like dad is pulling the plug on a good thing for no reason.

same as when eddie leaves the 118. we, adults, know eddie is struggling. hell, even christopher knows eddie is struggling. but we can understand the depths of the layers here. christopher didn't/doesn't. all he knew/knows is that, not only did his dad leave behind his job/his family/his stability, he did all that and cited him as the reason for that decision. which is why christopher said, "i never asked you to [leave the 118]." so now we fast forward to the present and we have eddie and this thing with marisol. they go on family outings, she moves in, and all these things start to feel like permanence. they start to feel like eddie has finally maybe gotten himself on solid ground and can start to enjoy his life again, or maybe for the first time.

and then he goes and cheats on marisol. with christopher's dead mom.

so we can see the multiple layers of this situation.

eddie loves his son, christopher loves his dad, and eddie diaz is a good parent. i will stand by that to the day i die, and all of these things are overwhelmingly evident. but that doesn't change the fact that the most stable home christopher has ever known is the home he lived in with his grandparents. which is sad. it's really sad to say, because we know eddie has tried so hard for that boy in so many ways. as a single parent, raising his kid to the best of his ability was so much more a full-time job than he was prepared for. but he did it. he strapped in and did the work of two people and, in doing so, it became imperative that, above all else, he gave his son a safe place to land and didn't give him reasons not to trust him because, at the end of the day, eddie is the only parent christopher has.

but eddie's broken that trust. and now, he has to live with the consequences. but let's be clear, the consequences in question are christopher's absence. helena's satisfaction over having chris in texas is an enormous insult to painful injury that must be addressed by the narrative if they ever want me to like her or believe she has eddie's best interests at heart. but this situation, in typical 9-1-1 fashion, is one in which multiple things can be, and are, true at the same time.

but relative to the matter of christopher and what he's "allowed" to do? eddie's lucky his son is even taking his calls, and he knows that. so he's going to continue to do the work to earn that trust back because he's never done anything but put in 1000% for his son. and that is also a canon fact.

[flagellant]

imagine you're born and your parents love you but youre born wrong. not anyones fault. sometimes it happens. except it doesnt matter whose fault it is, you were born wrong, and your parents love you but the world hates and fears you. even as a child. you grow up in this world which sees you as disgusting and evil and a bad omen and you have no one around who can tell you otherwise in any meaningful way. your parents try and help but they cant imagine the things you're going through. you're like a deep-sea fish to them. completely foreign. utterly alien.

this whole world wants you dead and so you say, fine, if i can never be seen as anything but evil then i will choose to embrace it rather than fight it. except you're just a teenager. and you aren't evil. so what you end up doing is hating yourself for being evil (you aren't) and anyway you're terrified that the world wants you and everyone like you dead so you begin finding some comfort in the dead. you learn necromancy both as armor and weapon. finally you feel like you aren't powerless but you're still so lonely.

so your parents couldnt help but youve heard so many stories and legends of your grandmother who also knows magic and you hope beyond hope that maybe if you go to her she can understand you and help you except you meet her and she's angry and mean and grumbling about how her son raised you badly. the only times you hear her praise you is when you discover that despite all your wishes, you are actually extremely good at separating men's ghosts from their bodies. you kill people well and get praised for it and nobody seems to notice or maybe not care that you aren't exactly okay with this and aren't doing well.

rephrase: one guy notices. and he is the nicest guy you have ever met. perhaps even the nicest guy on the whole planet. just the most terrifyingly nicest guy. and he keeps calling you his friend and being nice to you and you're cringing away from him like a dog thats been hit too many times because there is no way that this is actually who he is. real people don't act like he does. real people aren't always nice like he is. it's a trick and you won't fall for it, and anyway, even if he is actually this nice, you don't know how to deal with that even a little bit because if people like him exist then where were they? where were they when you were a child, where were they when you were a teenager? nice things don't get to happen to people like you. you aren't going to fall for it, because if people could be really as nice as you, they would have come before you were this badly wounded. how dare you come to me when i am this and all.

anyway then you try to save a nine year old who was born wrong like you from an adult tormenting and torturing her. and you fail and the nine year old dies and after going through shock you raise her corpse to speak with it and you just confirm to yourself that yeah. yeah, no, you don't get to have nice things. you're only good at one thing and it's death, not life. because if you're good at anything other than death then that just means you werent good enough at life when it actually mattered most.

anyway this was session one for my new bg3 boy and oh boy its all going downhill in the most luscious of ways!

[torasplanet]

Hellooo! I'm new to your page and to the Blue Lock Fandom. I was wondering if I could get some headcannons on what boys you think would have a black gf and how they would interact with her and her family. I hope this is okay! I haven't been able to fully check the rules yet, so I understand if it's not something you want to do. I love your page ✨️

❝𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐆𝐅.ᐟ❞

BLLK. MEN + BLACK! F. READER

𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 ; blue lock boys with a black gf and meeting her family !!

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨; fluff, skin color is not mentioned but black reader, that mean ass auntie everyone has in chigiris and i think sae’s , that’s it i think and ignore how every scenario has something to do with food, i’m a fatass

YOICHI ISAGI

come on now… ik y’all saw this one coming

i feel like isagi is that boyfriend that loves soul foodddd, like i’m talking he will beg you for it everytime you cook

he could eat an entire pan of cornbread after a rough practice i’m telling you and maybe a lil chili on the side

everytime you get your hair done, he always looks at you like he’s never seen you before and you were light itself

“wow that’s so good! i saw this one style on instagram, you should get it.”

when it comes to meeting your parents, he’s literally shitting himself and on top of that, you chose to bring him to meet your family during easter so that means all your family was there

and they all saw him being so fucking competitive with the little kids to get the eggs, it started as a game but then the little kids started calling him poop head and he cannot let that go

speaking of, he is a baby magnet. all your little cousins wanted to play with him

“hi…i’m yoichi.” isagi muttered while standing beside you nervously with a red solo cup in his hand full of a caprison, he didn’t know if he was allowed to get the sodas. your baby cousin told him only for adults.

your mom smiled at him with a laugh “nice to meet you, i hear good things about you.” she says and isagi nods while trying not to seem too nervous as your dad hasn’t said anything yet. “yeah, nice to meet you man.” your father says raising a fist for a fist bump.

isagi smiled non-nervously for the first time and returned the fist bump. you leaned on his side comfortingly but the conversation was cut short when your baby cousin ran up and tapped your boyfriend’s leg. “play with me! help me find eggs!” she yelled jumping up and down and isagi looked at you for approval and you nodded before watching the two scurry away toward the yard.

“better start cooking, he’s gonna work up an appetite.” your mom said to your dad with a laugh making a deep belly chuckle come from him while you sweat-dropped. isagi could be really competitive when he wanted to and lord knows that those little kids took this egg hunt seriously. he was gonna be the designated babysitter for the rest of his life.

and wouldn’t ya know it? five minutes later, all you hear is isagi screaming with your younger cousin at all the other ones “move you little shit. it’s mine.” he grumbled pushing a 7 year old to the ground to get the egg but when they tried snatching it out his hand, he picked them up and started to threaten them to their face.

“yoichi!” you yelled from the porch glaring at him to tone it down and he sighed and dropped the child but only whispered his threats now. ever since then isagi loved going to your family gatherings, he likes the children games.

SAE ITOSHI

sae is a traveling man, he’s all over the world so he’s vaguely familiar with dating women of all different races

he likes taking you on dates and spending hella fucking money on you

that being said, he likes to pay for all the things you want. he likes to pay for your hair, the products, your clothes, if you want your nails done, he’ll drop a band right there for whatever design you want

sae kind of has a fascination with your body also, like whenever you get out the shower he likes to rub lotion and whatever other products you use on you but not in a sexual way

that’s just a gen hc but whatever

sae really likes to watch you do your hair, not because he doesn’t know anything about it, he just really likes to watch. it’s also good for you because whenever you get too frustrated he just calms you down and says he can get someone to do it if u want

really bad at doing your hair and not just curly hair, any type of hair. straight, kinky, wavy, it’s doesn’t matter bc the most he can do it probably a ponytail

anyways he’s probably very chill about meeting parents, he’s a very classy guy so he has nothing to worry about especially bc he met them during christmas, so he bought hella gifts

that being said, he’s also not going to let any disrespect to you slide

sae stacked two plates with macaroni and cheese, turkey, greens and other foods he knew that you liked as he occasionally said hi to the people that passed by him in the kitchen. once he was finished he trodded over to the living room where you sat chatting among your family while trying to avoid the children running around.

he swiftly dodged one of the soccer balls he got one of your nieces as a gift and made his way to you and your mom. “here baby.” sae muttered handing you your plate and then your mother hers. you thanked him with a smile but the smile didn’t last long when you heard the huff of your aunt beside your mom.

“honey, i feel so bad for you. you had to make her plate.” your aunt said with a small chuckle as the boy sat next to you with a confused look on his face. “why is that a bad thing?” he asked already not liking where this conversation was going. the entire car ride, you were complaining about this aunt and how annoying she was toward you but how you never said anything.

you grabbed his hand to tell him to just let it go but you should’ve known better, if you weren’t going to do something, he was going to do it. “well you’re the man, she’s supposed to be serving you.” sae rolled his eyes very obviously with a ‘ugh’ leaving his throat.

“if i’m the man i should be serving her. she shouldn’t have to move an inch.” he muttered glaring at your aunt and looking her up and down with disgust and that’s when you decided to stop it. you put your hand on the side of his face and turned it toward you to whisper in his ear. “be quiet.” you muttered and he only rolled his eyes again.

you took a spoonful of food and shoved it in his mouth before kissing his cheek to thank him for standing up for you. “you’re annoying.” sae said beneath his breath and you just told him “thank you.”

RYUSEI SHIDOU

idk how to explain it but i don’t think you being black would change how he acts in the relationship

he buys you things, clothes, food, anything you’d like

doesn’t care much for your hair and not in a disrespectful way it’s just he wouldn’t get it if you said it looks bad when it looks perfectly fine to him??

does like watching you do your makeup and commenting that your concealer shade is so much lighter than you and laughing about it (he barely understands shit abt makeup unless it’s eye makeup)

when meeting your parents, he was not nervous but you warned him that he needs to tone it down just a bit afterall this is the first time they’re meeting him

he didn’t want to do it but he did because you asked him to although despite this, he still fits right in with your uncles

and not the sports fanatic uncles, the uncles that try and upstage each other during every family gathering

you watched as shidou laughed with your uncles in the backyard, all of them with a drink in their hand due to new years just coming around merely minutes ago. “you play soccer right? must be flexible as hell.” one of your uncles asked shidou as they lightly punched him on his shoulders while he laughed.

this was shidou’s opportunity to show out. to show how flexible and amazing he was and of course, he’ll never miss an opportunity to show off his talents. “hell yeah i am! watch this.” he mutters making motions for everyone to make room for him and they did. seconds later, shidou began to do a backflip that just turned into him doing other flips until he felt like stopping.

“wooo!” “damn man!” the men whistled as they gathered around your dear boyfriend who just laughed extremely loud. then his stomach started to growl and he immediately looked over to you who watched the entire ordeal “babydoll!” the tanned man shouted immediately gaining your attention. “can you get my plate please?” he asked still yelling. usually you would’ve told him no and that he can get it himself but he was having so much fun, so you nodded and went inside to get his plate

when you came back from retrieving his plate, he was sitting at the table on the porch waiting for you breathing heavily. “you have fun over there?” you asked sitting next to him and he nodded with a laugh “yeah and now i’m hungry, feed me.” shidou said with his words coming out as a jokingly beastly sound making you grin.

“nah, you have hands.” you said pushing the plate toward him but he let out a groan as he threw his head back. “my bones hurt.” you sighed at his pleading and picked up the fork before scooping mac and cheese on it and of course, shidou had to give you instructions. “get some of the barbecue from the ribs on it.”

RENSUKE KUNIGAMI

pretty much a combination of everyone on this post

child magnet, parents love him, uncles love him, just really loved by your family overall

he likes soul food but mainly the desserts, he loves that shit

kunigami doesn’t really know how to do your hair but he tries his best but he’s really good at doing your edges for some reason…

knows so much about you that he can go into the beauty supply store and they recognize him and already have all your skin stuff ready

unlike everyone else on this list, he met your family when they came to one of his things and even tho he talked to them for only a few minutes, he managed to make them accept him into the family already

kunigami sat in the empty locker room drinking out of his water bottle with heavy breaths leaving his throat. the game was very stressful but it was fine because he saw you in the stands cheering for him like always with the addition of your parents.

his attention turned to the door when he heard it opening and he saw you and your parents standing there with smiles on your faces, you had on one of his extra jerseys with a corny smile. “you did so good!” you screeched hugging him as your parents laughed at how excited you were.

“i’m not a huge soccer guy but you are good.” your dad said walking over and putting his back comfortingly making kunigami smile. then came your mom with a styrofoam box in her hand. she practically forced it into his hands “here, i thought you’d need it after allat running.” she said and your boyfriend smiled not overwhelmed one bit with all the attention.

kunigami opened the box and ate a spoonful of one of the food portions and immediately hummed in delight. “mhm! this is so good. you either have to give me the recipe or make me my own tray.” the ginger boy said with a hearty smile on his visage.

you kissed his cheek “okay we’ll leave you to get dressed, see you after.” you said with a smile before you and your parents walked away with kunigami bidding his goodbyes to the both of you. safe to say, they loved him.

HYOMA CHIGIRI

just like he’s obsessed with his hair, he’s obsessed with yours

like obsessed obsessed, if he didn’t know how to do your type of hair before, he learned how to like he might as well be your hair stylist because he can do whatever style

silk press, ponytail, simple straightening, literally you name it and he can do it. certain hairstyles he can’t exactly do well like box braids and shit, you’re better off going to someone else but still

if you wear wigs, he knows how to lay that shit DOWN. and by this i mean he watched so many tutorials and can only glue it. so don’t expect him to do the whole thing

beauty supply store knows him by name, he’s always in there buying stuff for you (and him) like he knows everything you need and use. mielle, carols daughter, he knows it all

he also likes when you do his hair, he really likes when his hair smells like yours because of the oil but don’t fw his shampoo. he got that routine down.

he wasn’t nervous meeting your parents, he didn’t really care too much for it so he went there and acted like his usual self. his pretty princess self.

“c’mon get on that grill, show us whatcha got.” your dad said slapping a hand on chigiri’s back that hurt a lot more that he’d anticipated. he looked at your dad and your uncles standing around him unaware of you watching from the porch.

kids ran around wanting to light the fireworks for fourth of july already as you sat next to your aunt. “when are you going to get a man? it’s been years [y/n]?” she asked turning toward you and you looked at her confused while trying to figure out what she meant by that.

“he’s right there, what are you talking about?” you asked tilting your head and your aunt merely scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “please, he looks like a girl and can’t grill nuthin’.” your aunt said a little too confident for someone that’s been single since you were little. “he doesn’t cook with his hair down.” you said with your nose scrunched up irritated as if he was the devil, chigiri appeared in front of you with a sheepish smile.

“hey babe, hope i’m not interrupting anything.” the redhead said looking between you and the older woman and you gave her a passive aggressive smile before turning back to your boyfriend. “not at all, what’s up?” chigiri smiled and turned around with his back facing you.

“can you put my hair up? i’m gonna cook.” chigiri asked and you hummed in response before beginning to put his luscious locks into a high ponytail with the hair tie on your wrist. “thanks babe, come over with me. i miss you.” chigiri said turning around and kissing your cheek. the whole reason he was asking you to come over there was because he could clearly see your hatred for your aunt in this moment.

plus he really did miss you. “okay, bye.” you said waving to your aunt not even looking at her before you and chigiri walked off the porch and to the grill. your aunt did not like him but after he cooked the food, your dad did.

©torasplanet .ᐟ reblogs and likes are very appreciated! pls do not repost!!

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/766158904164024320/this-is-might-end-up-being-super-edgy-or-smth-but?source=share

I know everyone has already said this, but as a transsexual man I did NOT experience a "formative female upbringing". I experienced a formative trans male upbringing. My memories start at age three and I knew deep down at that age that I should have been a boy, but when I said I wished I was a boy I was told that that just wasn't a thing, I was girl because of my body and that was that. This is not an experience I share with cis girls. I know what it's like to grow up as a cis girl because my cis friends have told me, not because I lived it myself.

Some things that happened to me because I am was a trans boy also happened to gender noncomforming cis girls; I was forced to wear girl's clothes that I hated, I was both punished for and encourage to have boyish interests and tastes with no real logic behind what was seen as admirable and what was wrong, I expected to be better at certain things and worse at others because of my AFAB status; but it's not the same experiences.

It's something I've talked about with some of my cis woman friends; they explain how being told told "you are a girl and that's why you are bad at math" hurts because it devalues their gender, it tells them that they are lesser because they are girls, they want to prove that girls are just as good at math as boys are and they want to be valued and respected as girls.

This is a common experience among cis girls (it's not always math, but there's always *something* they've been told they suck at because they're girls). I never had this experience. When I was told that being a girl was why I was bad at math, my response was simply "am not!" as in, am not a girl, not am not bad at math.

It hurt because I was being told I was a girl, not because my girlhood (which I did not have) was being devalued. I never wanted to be respected and valued as a girl, I wanted to be recognised as the boy I knew I was.

And this isn't because I was out at a child or anything. I was sheltered and "protected" from LGBT knowledge and didn't learn about trans people until I was in my twenties.

I felt deep down that I "should have been" or "wished I was" a boy from a very early age, but I did not attempt to transition in any way as a child.

According to all the adults who were shoving me into female roles, I was no different from any other little girl. I complained but I wore the dresses, people called me a girl's name and used she/her pronouns and I did not try to get people to call me something different, I just secretly wished I could.

I transitioned "later in life" (mid-twenties socially, early thirties medically), and according to this anon I have been socialised female and should have innate female traits and culture. But womanhood and girlhood are foreign to me, I dont' understand them from the inside out, I can't understand them that way because I never lived them, I was never able to live them despite a quarter of a century spent desperately trying to.

My experience is not unique, different people come out at different times and their coming out and their gender non-normative behaviors before that are met with various levels of acceptance, but my formative years as a closeted trans person shaped me in ways that I share with other trans people (trans men, women, and nonbinary folks) and NOT with cis women.

Anon's reassurance that a childhood I never had doesn't make me any less of a man is not reassurance. It's blatant transphobia.

And just like how I never had a cis female childhood, trans women had childhoods as trans girls and did not have the same cis male childhood that the cis boys they were raised alongside had.

--

[eldest-of-katts]

okay because people have shown up in my dms talking smack I'm going to make one blanket statement on the 1000 year loli chilchuck thing.

yes, there has been a problem with young girls being put in suggestive positions in anime with the "uhmmm she's actually a bajillion years old" excuse. yes, other characters don't treat chilchuck like an adult. yes, he is short with big eyes.

However, chilchuck consistently acts like a grown man. he- in both the manga and the anime- straight up just is an adult. He looks like an adult when he is any other race during the swaps in the manga. When the other characters get turned into half-foots they look similar to chilchuck. He is explicitly stated to have more dungeon and general life experience than laios, and he acts like it.

The 1000 year loli trope explicitly functions as an excuse to prey on people who are inexperienced and unable to advocate for themselves. Chilchuck is a parent, is a union organizer, has explicit boundaries that he enforces rigidly, and he is treated as an adult man by everyone who doesn't have a fantasy racism-focused character arc/issue.

I can see how if you haven't read the manga and seen that he has an established life that he later reveals (and haven't paid attention to him in the anime lol) you could get a mistaken impression about him. Marcielle does too in the source material! It's part of her character at the start of her arc that she has issues with longevity!

The thing that irks me a little about this interpretation is that it leans into the child-coded discourse that was prominent a while ago (she's short!!!!! but has boob???? ILLEGAL!!1!) and it does a disservice to the themes of infantilization as a policy maneuver hurting the working class.

I saw chilchuck and his labor advocacy for half-foots both as a metaphor for racism (obvious take ik) and for ageism.

The working gen z as a cohort are being infantilized and pushed out of job markets due to infantilization, similar to half-foots in the show. gen z is being maliciously portrayed as too young to vote, enter office, know themselves, know their rights, and take advantage of their resources. Simultaneously, child labor protections and protections against workplace abuse are being rolled back in the US. In Japan, young people are being worked to the bone for nothing and are becoming disenfranchised as a generation while simultaneously expected to be the labor faction that supports the postwar generations in their old age.

Chilchuck's being treated poorly I saw as a clever commentary on the ways infantilization allows for protections to be stripped away under the guise that "oh it's just a job for teenagers- they don't need more than minimum wage" or "let the kids rescue the economy! they're always complaining about that job market!" while simultaneously stripping away rights under the guise of protection- "We can't have that on the internet! think of the children!" "to protect these young people we must raise the age of medical consent for hormones/reproductive health decisions!"

Kui's work with this series spoke to me on many levels, and specifically, the infantilization issue touched me in a way that few other pieces of media have. The struggle to be taken seriously in a stem field as someone young, as someone female, and as someone who had a high-pitched voice to the point I did years of voice training to be taken seriously, chilchuck's character resonated. I (kinda) understand your instinct to think "SHORT! CHILD! RALLY THE MASSES AND KILL THE PEDOS!!1!" but in this case, it's misdirected- mostly because the author was trying to use this misdirection to prove something to you, the reader.

Kui consistently makes cutting commentary on modern issues, the show's take on food neutrality as its headliner, but also the author's takes on cultural issues and the environment (with a focus on our place in the food web as animals). I feel that reducing chilchuck's very conscious position as a tradesman and an activist discounted due to his apparent age down to "1000 year loli ewwww let's send this random tumblr user suicide bait" just displays a lack of critical analysis of the show and a level of disrespect towards Kui and the work as a whole.

TL:DR- stop sending me kys messages I'm fucking that old man