#but want as many people included as possible!

[im-da-bronx]

This absolutely.

But I just want to say, as someone whos family currently gets the majority of their groceries from a food pantry:

Grocery stores work with local food banks and pantries. A good percentage of our food isn’t donated by people, but by grocery stores. If the grocery store throws out food, it’s because it wasn’t safe to give to the food pantry. Trust me. We get so many foods with “Sell by” dates on the day we get it.

Grocery stores aren’t throwing out food that could be given away. They are throwing out food that has the possibility of making someone sick. Sure, a lot of the food is probably ok to eat, but when it comes to food poisoning, it’s better to be extra safe than sorry, especially when food poisoning can cause lifelong chronic illnesses and death.

Some supermarkets work with local farmers in an effort to minimize food waste. Anything designated “unfit for human consumption” but not completely inedible will be used as food for livestock, and any completely inedible food that can will be composted. (This is the part where I remind you that consumers are the largest single contributor to food waste at 43%, and while businesses do contribute to 40% of food waste, this includes restaurants and food service companies alongside grocery stores).

The biggest reasons grocery stores limit what they donate are liability and logistics. Stores think that they can be sued if someone gets sick from food they donate, which means they tend to be overly cautious when throwing food away (as I stated earlier). However, the US has the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, which legally protects donors (such as major chain grocery stores) so long as they meet certain criteria when donating food.

The second issue is logistics, meaning that grocery stores and food pantries might lack the ability to safely transport or store donable food, which leads to food being discarded when it would have been donated. This can mean they don't have enough refrigerated trucks, they don't have enough drivers, they have a limited amount of cold storage at the food pantry, or even that they simply don't have enough volunteers to help load or unload food.

It is important to keep in mind that there are a lot of people who recognize a problem, that just don't talk about the problem. Sometimes its because they don't care or don't know what to do, but a lot of the time the reason they're not talking about the problem is because they're actively working to fix or circumvent the problem. If you are concerned about how much food grocery stores throw away, volunteer with a food pantry to help transport food safely. And if you're wondering why you don't hear about this on the news, its because 1) most news agencies have some kind of agenda, and 2) there is a sense of shame at being unable to provide for your family, even if you're working full time. It's not something that people really talk about, which is a tragedy, because if you don't talk about it, how will you know where to go for help?

Anyway, TL;DR: while there are many things that our country meets with unnecessary violence, grocery stores donating to food pantries is not one of them.

I think it's stupid when people say political violence has no place in this country when our government uses violence against poor people every day. Why does a person sleep outside in the cold when the car dealership is heated all night? Why do people go hungry when grocery stores pack dumpsters with perfectly edible food? Because of the threat of violence. Because someone with a gun will show up if you even try it.

[genderkoolaid]

While 4B has been a topic of conversation online for a few years, sporadically gaining popularity among U.S. TikTok users in moments like the “I chose the bear” trend, Trump’s reelection brought it front and center again. In the days following Trump’s win, online searches for the 4B Movement saw an unprecedented spiked. Across social media, women are posting that they need to divest from men, amassing hundreds of thousands of likes and millions of views. But the conversation about 4B in the U.S. is rife with misconceptions about the movement, including false assertions that 4B accounts for the majority of feminist thought in South Korea. It’s important to note that despite the global attention, 4B is a fringe movement in South Korea, and Han says the vast majority of South Korean feminists do not abide by it. “I just want to make sure that people understand that 4B does not speak for Korean feminism,” Han tells Them. “4B is not representative of Korean feminist politics. A lot of us see something a lot more diverse and a lot more intersectional than what 4B calls for.” Though the 4B movement is quickly gaining wind in the U.S., this is far from the first time American feminists have called for a divestment from men to combat misogyny. In the 1960s, political lesbianism emerged from the second-wave feminist movement as a means of decentering men from the lives of women. Like 4B, political lesbians aimed to divest from dating and having sex with men. They asserted that any feminist can be a lesbian, defining lesbian as any woman who did not have sex with men. “We call it 4B now, but it's political lesbianism,” Han says. “Essentially it's the same thing too, but the one aspect of being a political lesbian was you may or may not [actually be a lesbian], and sometimes you really didn't have sex with other women, but [instead lived by] the idea that you prioritize your relationships with other women, that you prioritize your solidarity with other women.” But with the 4B movement both in South Korea and the U.S., Han says this isn’t the case, as men still find themselves front and center in the discourse. She adds, “I've never heard so much discussion of straight men. Can we just decenter them?” [...] Han says that they hope this blip in interest about 4B fades into the next news cycle, as there are so many other forms of intersectional South Korean feminism that do include queer and trans people. Ultimately, many of the current discussions about 4B are coming from a place of privilege that queer people don’t have the luxury of accessing. “Queer and trans folks know that isolation or imagining a life ‘just on our own’ — that's not our reality,” Han says. “That's not our vision. In many ways, I think our experiences tell us that we have to live with people who hate us. We have to work with and against and fight folks who mean to harm us and simply disavowing them or refusing to interact with them or somehow running away and keeping to ourselves, that's never been possible.”

[a-bottle-of-tyelenol]

people are, of course, allowed to have their opinions and dislike whatever they please but a lot of criticism I see about epic not being a good adaptation boils down to people not realizing that 1) it’s a retelling BASED on the odyssey and was never actually meant to be an adaption, let alone a faithful one

and 2) even if it was, that’s just the nature of how adaptions and retellings work. there will NEVER be a totally good and faithful adaption or retelling of the odyssey (movie, musical, ect) because there will ALWAYS be constraints of some kind.

so much shit happens in the odyssey and there isn’t a valid musical length that could go over it all. Jay cut out a lot and he STILL has issues with time (that’s why you see so many people criticizing the fact that we don’t spend enough time with the crew before they die or calypso before odysseus leaves). Jay has spoken at length about all the things he TRIED to include but couldn’t because there wasn’t time to do them or because it didn’t narratively feel satisfying (the laestrygonians, for example, originally had a much bigger part, as did the lotus eaters).

which leads to my next point— Jay prioritizes a satisfying and clear cut narrative over one that is authentic to the original story (which again is how MOST retellings go about it especially when their goal is to share the story with a wider audience!). Like I’m sorry I love the odyssey and the Iliad but they aren’t a satisfying story/conclusion to me. and that doesn’t make them bad or worse; it makes sense that they feel this way considering they’re PARTS of an overarching story that we’re missing crucial pieces of and, more importantly, ITS NOT A MODERN STORY AND THEREFORE IS NOT HELD UNDER THE WAY MODERN PEOPLE VIEW SATISFYING ARCS AND NARRATIVES!!! The odyssey is fantastic but it would literally never work as a modern musical and epic wouldn’t be enjoyable at all if Jay tried to be as accurate as possible.

Jay was inspired to tell a story about grief and what it means to be human interacting with that grief. obviously he’d have odysseus reveal his name to the cyclops because he’s angry and grieving instead of being prideful. obviously he’d have it so odysseus had to choose who died to zeus immediately after the cow was slain. obviously he’d make it so odysseus’ primary motivations surround his survivor’s guilt and missing his home over the more complicated and harder to express themes and motivations of odyssey!odysseus.

like I do understand the frustration of never getting an “authentic adaptation” but if you want something authentic then… read the odyssey? you will never get something that is 100% authentic or scene to scene otherwise. you might get close, I’ll definitely give you that, but SOMETHING has to give. a perfect adaptation to you will be missing something crucial to someone else and that will always be how it is.

life is so much more fun when you’re willing to enjoy art that has “based on” disclaimers literally everywhere as something separate (or you are just willing to enjoy adaptations/retellings separately to the source material in general). epic was NEVER intended on being seen as an accurate portrayal of odysseus and Jay never claimed it was. It really does feel like y’all are setting it up for failure by seeing it as something it was never meant to be and then getting upset that it isn’t accurate when no one ever said it would be.

maybe it’s just a me thing because I’ve never had any issue separating media from their adaptions/retellings, even my favorite ones, but idk it just sucks seeing people say they have a ton of issues with epic and their issues are all just,,, it’s not accurate enough.

Idk if this makes sense or not but I’m just rambling. like what you like, dislike what you dislike. I’m not saying anyone is wrong or anything in how they feel or their preferences. I just think we should all be more open minded about these things idk

[weeping-statue]

Oml I love your work sm, I’ve been reading you’re blog for a while and I’m obsessed 😭

If you end up having the time, may I request Naib, Ithaqua, Joseph and Richard—or just the first two if that’s too many! 🤍—with a s/o who was almost fatally injured in their matches and sort of comatose but eventually woke up? Feel free to ignore this if this is too much, thank you for your time~

Aww thank you so much my love<3 you’re so sweet!!! I didn’t really think that many people liked my stuff so it’s amazing to hear that they do! I try my best on these things and I hate when it takes me years to post something out.

I’m working on another fic that’s similar to this for naib so he won’t be included but I hope you’ll take Norton instead

Ithaqua, Joseph, Richard, and Norton with a fatally injured reader who finally wakes up!

———————————————————————

Basic background first before the good stuff<3

You were supposed be decoding, out of the way, and out of danger.

You weren’t supposed to take the hit. You weren’t supposed to be here.

It wasn’t fair when your body fell to the ground, blood splattering out underneath you into a pool of crimson liquid.

It wasn’t fair when he called out to you, and you didn’t answer, only to feel your pulse fading.

It wasn’t fair that he had to carry your limp body to Emily’s office in a panic, begging her to help.

And it wasn’t fair when she had said you might not wake up.

Ithaqua

He couldn’t sit by you the entire time you were in bed. It just reminded him of his mother.

He didn’t want to put himself through more with those terrible memories.

He’d visit you in the morning and at night.

Kissing you goodnight and kissing you good morning

Like some strange routine.

When he got the news you were awake he had dropped everything, but he didn’t run, he just had to make himself believe you were okay first.

He had to make sure this wasn’t some sick joke, and that he’d wake up in his bed only to be told you didn’t make it.

Stopping in the doorway, looking at you who seemed to be looking back at him with those surprised eyes, that beautiful smile he loved etched onto your face.

He knew after a blow like that there would be some damage, a large scar going from the side of your cheek and up to your forehead would forever be a reminder of his fuck up.

He feels terrible and sometimes it’s hard to look at you without guilt seeping in.

He doesn’t want to be like this but it’s his way of working through it.

He loves you a lot, he has dreams of marrying you and building a home far away. But now those dreams are plagued with the possibility that he’ll accidentally become the monster he tried to tell himself he wasn’t.

Joseph

Alcohol.

A lot of it.

Bottles and bottles of it by your bed side.

He refused to leave you. He couldn’t live with the fact he might of killed the only person he loved more than anything.

The only person that made this bearable. And they might be gone.

He would drink himself to sleep and he would drink the moment he opened his eyes.

Not a lot of people ever saw him cry, but now? Everyone did.

When he had a moment of soberness he’d look over and break down.

Joseph would barely shower, having to be dragged away from you and told to clean himself up, only to repeat that process.

During one of the times he was forced to bathe, he had stumbled back in, bottle in hand, only to be met with your disappointed gaze.

He knows how much you hated when drinks, and because of that barely touched liquor anymore.

“You said you’d cut back on drinking.” Your voice broke the silence.

Joseph rushed over to your side, falling onto his knees and sobbing. “Stop it. Now’s no time for lecturing. I thought I had killed you. I thought you weren’t going to make it. I thought you’d be like Claud, and leave me all alone again.”

Your hand makes its way to his cheek, “I’m okay. I’d never leave you alone, I promise. These things were bound to happen. But I’ll be more careful.”

He nodded leaning into your touch.

Richard

He’s fuming mad. And of course concerned.

He was made to do one thing, protect, and he couldn’t even save the one he loves?

“What bullshit.” He’d say through gritted teeth. Watching over your body, breathing raggedly. His hands smoothing out your hair to look nice with a not so gentle hand. He’s holding himself back.

He believes this is partially your fault. You should have been out of the way. Doing your job and letting him rescue.

But no, you had to disobey, you just couldn’t listen.

He’ll look like he doesn’t want to be there when his facade slips around the others, but he really does. He hates the fact that you have a terrible possibility over your head.

And he can’t control it.

He’d make sure you look stunning even in your condition. He’d brush your hair, and make sure you’re somewhat clean. Because when you wake up he’s going to want to kiss you, remind you of the way it should be.

When he’s informed by Emily that you’ve made a recovery, hes immediately speed walking towards your room.

He wanted to be the first thing you saw, but oh well. He’ll have you back in tip top shape soon.

“Richard!” You exclaimed, reaching your hand out to him.

He takes it, kissing the back, “___, my dear. You gave me quite the scare.”

“I know.. I shouldn’t have been so foolish but-”

His lips are against yours before you can finish. It’s passionate and deep with his feelings. You can tell how much he missed you, how worried he was.

“Foolish or not, you’re still here, with me. And that’s all that matters.” He says softly, loving yet serious eyes looking into yours.

Norton

Out of everyone, him and Joseph are the two absolute messes.

Joseph might be a bit worse with his drinking but Norton becomes violent and agitated.

He’s freaking out, shoving people out of the way with more strength than necessary just to get to you.

He wasn’t there to help, maybe, if he was you’d be okay.

The possibility’s are running through his head and causing him to become anxious and angry.

Fools gold is right there behind him. Sitting in a corner silently waiting for you to awake.

Fools golds matches are either quick surrenders or he’s chairing everyone immediately.

Norton doesn’t know how to comfort himself and doesn’t particularly want his hunter version to even touch him let alone tell him nice things so he’s just suffering until you wake up.

This man actually wouldn’t leave you, even if he was dirty because he’s been like this before. It doesn’t bother him.

He had watched you wake up, your eyes being blinded by the bright light of day.

He was silent until you noticed him,

“Norton-?” You began, but the minute you spoke he jumped on you. Holding you tightly.

“Don’t you pull this shit again. You.. don’t know how worried I was.” He mumbled into your neck.

A lot of apologies were given that day and fools gold was right behind you when Norton had to go.

He may not have liked his other self but he shared the same love for you like he did. And if playing guard dog for a bit would ensure everyone to be happy and safe, then sure.

———————————————————————

I fear I only like Richard’s..

[feral-renaissance-cat]

This happened with my cousins where they were raised with as little sugar as possible, including no soda. One of my cousins got so overwhelmed by curiosity that she chugged a soda at a friend’s house and really liked it but was immediately overloaded and got sick. As with many things, the more parents say “You absolutely may not” with no further explanation or flexibility, the more likely a kid is to either try it in secret and possibly harm them out of ignorance or to turn their jealousy of people without that restriction into resentment and lash out. You have to at least sit your kid down and discuss the risks and WHY you don’t want them eating junk food or staying out past curfew or watching R-rated movies. From there you can give them a little leeway to build trust. “Okay you can go out trick-or-treating with your friends, but if a house has healthy options please take that instead of the candy.” “Okay you can come home an hour late, but please call me when you’re on your way.” “Okay we can watch that movie, but please feel free to ask me about anything that makes you uncomfortable or that you don’t understand.” It’s so easy to teach your kid to make better choices, the problem is that you have to give up a little control to do it.

This is a controversial take that everyone will hate but it's one thing to feed your kid better, more wholesome food than twinkies and hot pockets daily, it's another thing to force them to adhere to a crunchy granola beige colored diet where they cant share the snacks their peers are eating or have a normal childhood or have fun. None of you were raised like that and if you were you know what im talking about.

[lawofangie]

hello! I need some advice. I've seen numerous success stories and many blogs claiming that you can manifest seemingly illogical and unrealistic things. I want to manifest a completely different desired face, probably similar to looking like a celebrity. Although many people say it's possible and some even claim to have achieved it, I still have doubts that it's true and worry that I just might be wasting my time. I think part of this is from the lack of success stories with photos that show they changed there appearance and look like a whole different person. I really don’t want to have these doubts because they stop me from trying my hardest, but I can't help feeling this way. I’m really scared i’m just wasting my time and even if I continue to assume that i have my df in imagination nothing will change or i’ll just get very tiny differences but end up not looking exactly like my df or that it could just be a placebo and i’m just completely wasting my time. I hope i’m not bothering but thank you for taking the time to read this! ❤️

there's definitely a lot to unpack here. first off, i have seen many success stories on this app and twitter of people manifesting various things, including appearance changes (with and without photo evidence). i've done this myself with various things (i mention them in another post. i haven't touched my face though). the law works, appearance changes are real. if they weren't, nobody would have any reason to say they were. i think it is very obvious when people collectively disagree on something.

second, i think this doubt and lack of faith in the law is due to the fact that so many people are misinformed and misinform other people. the point of the law of assumption is to make assumptions. an assumption is believing something without proof. there is a quote that says "an assumption, though false, if persisted in, will harden into fact." manifesting is just assuming, people literally just have a way of rewording and misconstruing things like usual.

but anyways, you make assumptions on a daily basis, you believe things without proof on a daily basis. it's nothing new. you're just being informed that your assumptions affect your reality, and since they do, and you have the ability to assume absolutely whatever you want, you should just do so in your favor. not because you need to, or anyone's forcing you to, but simply because it's in your best interest to do so.

this is why you affirm "i have ___" or you visualize yourself having ___ or you script about having ___, because assuming you have it now is how you get it. you're literally just being told that you can use this ability to assume to obtain whatever you want, that's all.

third, there is no "trying". you either have your manifestation or you don't. i'm not sure exactly what you're doing, but if the point of the law is to assume, what do you think "trying" implies? obviously, it means you're working to get something, which means you don't have it yet. the point of making an assumption is to believe something without proof. in this context, you're being told to accept you have it now without waiting for proof. you're being told "if you accept this as true without proof, it will materialize in your reality."

i personally don't really care for the "imagination" stuff anymore, i understand what the concept means, but honestly all these concepts get unnecessary at some point. i feel like if you take it the wrong way, it implies some kind of separation between the 3d and 4d (your imagination), when there really isn't any. believing you have it "in imagination" just doesn't sound right to me. i would rather just accept my assumption as the reality and take whatever the 3d is showing me as false.. which is again, literally what assuming is.

like, i have it, no matter what i see, it's still there. i think about my desires the same way i remember i have a bed when i'm not home. you know it's there at home, even if you can't see it, even if you can't feel it. you know it's yours. you may even imagine yourself laying in it sometimes, tired from a long day and being excited to finally go home and sleep.

this is all that's required of you, believe you have it. you don't need to make something appear, you don't need to try and force something to happen. just decide it's yours, like you're being told to.

you have to literally treat your assumption as the proof, like how you would do with the 3d. you have to genuinely believe your assumption, then the 3d will follow. waiting to be validated by the 3d will never work. you will always fail.

also, i think your ability to stay true to your own beliefs about wasting your time and none of it being real perfectly shows how easy it is to accept something as true despite what you're being shown, how able you are to make an assumption. because honestly, why would anyone be preaching the law if it didn't work? there's no logical reason to not practice something you preach or just admit that the law of assumption is not real.

if the law happened to be some sort of scam, it would be obvious. people would clearly be asking you for money, leading you on with all sorts of rules and twists and turns, they would overprice the hell out of their services, etc. but people like me are literally running blogs to help people for free. (most) people literally run these blogs for fun, nothing more. the motivation behind my account at least, is entertainment. talking to and helping people is entertaining. i have no ulterior motive, hardly anyone does.

people have lives, they don't have time to waste hoping something happens. if the law didn't work, so many people wouldn't be telling you it did. it's irrational to think every single person in the community is simply making claims that may be true or false, someone's had to have done it before.

also, you shouldn't need your manifestation validated by the internet. i can understand maybe seeing if someone's manifested one or two more "challenging" things (things being difficult or easy to manifest is completely up to you. no manifestation is different from the others unless you decide it is or attach some meaning to it.) like, to me that would be some like grades or hair texture. but to you, that's an appearance change.

the point i'm making here is that your opinion is different than mine, we find different things difficult. if everybody can have differing opinions and find different things more challenging than others, then it is not up to the object or specific person, but ourselves. if everything can have different levels of difficulty to different people, then these objects and people are inherently neutral, until you add your own assumptions or meanings to them and the way they operate for you.

so, proof, while i understand you want to be validated, is useless. there is tons of it out there, if not on tumblr then on twitter, but i think having photo proof of something not specific works just fine as proof too. you're already told that you can manifest anything, that no manifestation is too big or small, everything is neutral, you are limitless.. so what's the point? everything inherently has an equal value until we as people decide to change that with our assumptions. if you truly need to believe, then prove it to yourself. obviously no amount of internet success stories will help you, they just make you anxious and paranoid.

often times, we think external things are the cause of our problems, so we try to achieve a goal or make a change without changing ourselves first. for instance, i used to think that certain things would make me happy. like finally getting good grades, having my desired body, my desired weight, my desired friends and whatnot. while all of that was nice, i still felt depressed, obviously my life quality changed, so it wasn't exactly as bad as it used to be, but i still felt the way i did because i still needed to do the internal work.

its your perception of things, the way you choose to react, your decisions, etc. that shape your reality. its all you. it will always be all you, because this is YOUR life. the cause of your doubts and worries is you.

getting partial results can't be a thing when manifesting if manifesting is literally just about making assumptions. if you're assuming something to be true, then it's going to be true.. if you think the law magically won't work for you, that's your belief. if you believe that to be true (also without proof because this is purely paranoia), you cannot be surprised that it happened. that's literally the singular rule of the law of assumption, make an assumption, no matter what you decide to assume, it will be true. WE are the ones suggesting you assume in your favor.

and honestly the more i read these asks (no offense to you), the more i wonder what you guys think manifestation is. do you just say a bunch of words, create a bunch of images in your head, etc, and wait for something to happen? i mean, who or what exactly do you think is "giving you" your manifestation in the first place? why are you receiving anything? is it a reward for affirming enough? for visualizing enough? for scripting enough?

your inability to answer this question correctly is most likely the reason why you have so many doubts. you clearly think someone or something outside of you dictates what you do or don't get.. which doesn't make any sense, neither do the questions i asked. the law of assumption does not work that way.

you aren't receiving anything for doing a good job. there isn't some god or higher being giving you anything or dictating anything regarding your manifestations. it's you. the point of making the assumption is that your assumptions create your reality. whatever you believe to be true materializes. you're just being shown a way to use your ability to assume to your advantage.

i would suggest you build faith, maybe put that manifestation aside for now and at least manifest something with less significance to you, but still specific. something that you can use to help prove manifestation to yourself. then maybe come back to this desire when you feel more confident in your manifestation abilities.

this is really all i can say because there is no way of getting around the way the law works. in order to have favorable things happen to you, you have to assume in your favor. that's really it. however you practice and get the hang of manifesting is up to you. still, this is the only rule and you have to use it to your advantage if you want manifesting to work for you.

[fandom-puzzle-peaces]

Just a Thought About Cale Part 2

It hath been requested, so here is a sort of continuation from my last post. Today I am gonna talk more about what I believe Cale embodies:

HOPE & LOVE

In my first post I already talked about hope a bit, and ya’ll can read that if you want my full take on this, but I will continue where I left off. Last time, I mentioned that something was missing when I listed out what it is exactly that Cale hopes to have in his “slacker life.” Said list is:

A nice house

A peaceful place to have said house in

A ton of money

After looking at this you may be wondering what is missing, since it looks like everything Cale has stated time again to want is already there. However, we all know how unreliable of a narrator he is and that he never actually fully says what he wants unless it’s money. What is missing is his hope of having a family living there with him in that nice peaceful house.

It’s so obvious that he misses having others around him, regardless of how many times he denies it. He’s just scared of losing them again, and for a time I do genuinely believe he had given up on that hope of having loved ones. But over the course of his new life as Cale Henituse you can slowly but surely see that hope being rekindled. It also helps when he learns that the “curse” that was accidentally placed on him due to white star shenanigans is now gone.

So now he actually has a chance to be able to keep his new family around, and you better believe he will do anything in his power to do so. We have already seen plenty of his self-sacrificial stunts to know this fact already. Cale’s list of hopes, of course, has continued to grow from just those beginning 3 that encompass his “slacker life,” and most likely will as time goes on to most likely include the simpler pleasures of life he can indulge in with his family.

A true family man I would say!

Now, regardless of how many hopes he has (or how small they may seem), Cale is someone who is full of hope and in turn fills others with it as well. So where does Love fit into our beloved idiot you may ask? Look at all of the people he has surrounded himself with and how he interacts with them. He may say he's "trashy" and a "bad person," but we all know he isn't with how he acts. Cale is highly perceptive of his family’s condition, their wants and needs. He goes out of his way, all the time, to make them happy:

He gives the children sweets and cuddles all the time

He gave Raon his name

He gives Rosalyn whatever she needs for her research and is helping her become the Magic Tower Master

He visits Alberu all the time and just hangs out, which must be such a relief to shed the royal persona (even if Cale does steal his cookies)

He lets Ron mess with him even though he hates it and helps him take back his ancestral home

Always eats everything Beacrox gives him and compliments it (probably also gives him new kitchen tools and ingredients to mess with as well)

He gave Eruhaben a reason to live longer and extended the dragon’s lifespan—and went through one hell of trial to do it—so he could do so (said reason being to live with them for as long as possible)

He gave Mary the world to experience and explore to her heart's content

Took in Lock and his siblings and just lets them be kids, albeit very violent ones

He got Choi Han a new sword (which he treasures), as well as a new home and family (which he treasures even more)

That's not even counting all he does for the others and his allies. But most of all, Cale protects them:

He never puts the kids in a situation where they can be hurt

Even when one of them was in harm’s way (Raon), he bodily shielded them not once but twice

He carried Rosalyn (with his weak noodle arms) when she couldn't stand out of harm’s way

He keeps Alberu's heritage a secret and helps him politically

He literally blew up an island for Ron

I don't think he's had a big moment for Beacrox yet, but he has saved him from the fate of living in a world without his father

Has shielded Eruhaben before from the White Star

Like the kids, Mary is almost always out of harm's way and he also protects her politically

Has shielded Lock during the Battle at the Gorge of Death

He protected Choi Han from completely losing it, as the biggest danger to Choi Han is Choi Han himself

Cale loves his newfound family so much he speedran the war with White Star in UNDER A YEAR!! And that's just for his family! You cannot tell me he hasn't also fallen in love with his new (well what was supposed to be his really) home world. He is literally tracking down and annihilating the Hunters who are in other worlds because they keep going after his in part 2. Don't tell me that isn't love! It also doesn't help that, no matter how much he denies it, Cale gets attached fairly easily. He wants people around him to love who love him in return.

GIVE THIS MAN SOME HUGS!

Anyways, I think I have rambled long enough. Hope ya’ll enjoyed this!

Brief interest check: how would ya’ll feel if I posted some creative prompts for writing, drawing, etc.? Lemme know however you want.

@elaemae hope you liked it!

[austenpoppy]

Okay so this to me is a clear misrepresentation of what happened.

He did have a "will they, won't they" kind of relationship with Babs before "No Man's Land" in which he was the one trying to get closer, but every time he did try to get closer Babs firmly made it clear it wasn't going to happen.

But I also think people underestimate how much Dick was also looking for his friendship back with her. They were really close when they were young, but never dated, and never admitted they may have feelings for each other. Then when Babs got shot and lost the use of her legs she pushed everyone away, and everything that reminded her of her old life, including Dick.

This is a huge point of contention in their relationship in general. Dick was the one who wanted their old closeness back, but this very closeness was a painful reminder for Babs of everything she'd lost. This is what she admitted to Dick in their open conversation in "No Man's Land".

And you'll notice Dick wasn't even really suggesting they have a relationship before that conversation. They were having a meal together, and he was saying he could get used to this - them sitting together, eating and talking, before Babs left the room. And that's because to him it was about the emotional connection they'd shared before.

When they kiss a bit after that, they actually look a bit surprised right before they do - because they'd never once acknowledged there might be something between them. It was all in subtext.

So before "No Man's Land", he had that "will they, won't they" kind of relationship with Babs, which was as much about the gap between friendship and romance than it was about the gap between an idealized past closeness and a complicated present, and not once before "No man's Land" was it ever really said there might be something romantic between them.

So if you roll back to the beginning of "Nightwing: volume 2", Dick, freshly arrived in Blüdhaven, had just got out of a very complicated period of his life that included getting raped by Mirage, a failed wedding with a woman he'd considered to be the love of his life, losing many of his friends, getting off the team he once led, not being chosen by Bruce to be the one to replace him... And he was incredibly lonely.

He met Clancy right away because she was his super, and though he was attracted to her because of her Irish accent, he immediately dismissed the possibility of a relationship with her and they became fast friends.

I won't talk about the Emily Washburn situation and how messed up it was that Bruce suggested he basically seduce that woman to see if she was a murderer after what happened with Kory (yet he never slept with her !), and go straight to Helena. So you have a Dick who was very clearly lonely. Helena saw it, Dick admitted it to her, and she used it. There's no turning around the bush around it : Helena admitted as much at the end of the Nightwing and Huntress series - she said she'd felt left out of the "Batclan" and had wanted to get close to Dick to be included.

They had a one-night stand, a unique one-night stand, and that was something Dick had trouble processing. He'd said it to Roy once : he couldn't see himself sleeping with someone he didn't really love. And he said it to Helena after he told her he didn't do casual once their one-night stand was over, expecting them to have a relationship.

Dick had trouble processing that unique one-night stand (not regular hook-ups !!) because he just doesn't sleep with people without forming, or having, a deep emotional connection with them. That's why Dick, after that episode, was portrayed consistently as having a clear, if complicated, attachment to Helena. But yeah, a possible relationship between them was over before it began - which I'm glad because "sleeping with you to get close to your Dad" is wayyy too reminiscent of what went on with Liu and also a very toxic basis for a relationship.

So after that, Dick was busy working in Blüdhaven. Clancy kept wanting to hang out with him (though it was implied she was looking for something more than friendship), but he couldn't because of his vigilante activities. Dick was clear he only saw them as friends though (see his conversation with Tim when they went train-surfing). Dick felt guilty about refusing all her propositions to hang out, and thought he should indeed take her out to avoid having a social life like Bruce's.

The Quake happened, Dick bought the building his flat was in to avoid the building being demolished, and paid for the tenants and his super to get rooms in a hotel while it was being rebuilt (though they didn't know it). Dick's first outing with Clancy happened or rather started right after that, though it wasn't completely clear whether it was romantic or not. Clancy wanted to know what Dick's room in the hotel was, Dick dodged the question. Clancy asked whether they were going to a place that was romantic, Dick dismissed the implication with something along the lines of "well if you think big lobsters are romantic...", then this was interrupted by Babs calling, and Dick had to leave to save Tad Ryerstad.

Clancy and Dick had a couple more times hanging out after this, still as friends, though Dick was getting more and more interested in a potential romantic relationship with her. The line was a bit blurry, but was never crossed. And Dick disappeared in the middle of one of their hang-outs.

In the middle of this Helena came to Blüdhaven for a case. They ended up on top of one another in one of those "I did this to save you from gunfire" moments, and Dick made it clear right away their one hook-up had been a mistake, because her brand of justice was different from his. Helena said she'd thought he understood, Dick replied that he did but did not condone her actions. Helena told him to shut up and they kissed, but I wouldn't even be surprised if she was the one who kissed him because she'll make a habit of it later ("No Man's Land", then when Bane "joined" the family in Gotham Knights).

An hour or two later Helena asked whether he saw a future for them. Dick reiterated that he never should've slept with her, and that they couldn't be together because she let her anger and hatred be her sole motivator for trying to be a vigilante. He said that he wished he could help her but couldn't, that she wanted revenge instead of justice. Helena angrily asked him what the difference was, and Dick told her the fact that she couldn't see the difference was exactly the problem.

Then Clancy and Dick had their first official date - and this time the intent was clear because Clancy asked the question to clarify ("Is this a real date date ?") and Dick confirmed it. Dick wanted to take her to a restaurant, but they ended up eating at Hogan's Alley because all restaurants were full. Clancy cried on Dick's shoulder because of the financial problems they were dealing with, and after that Clancy told Dick she'd had a dream when she was a little girl but that if she told Dick he'd laugh. She told him she'd wanted to be a surgeon, Dick was impressed, Clancy was mad because his optimism/awe reminded her that her dream was unreachable in her eyes (because of her not having enough money).

The next day their financial problems were resolved, and Clancy apologized for lashing out at him. Dick told her that to make up for it, all she had to do was to apply for a Wayne scholarship and pursue her dream (he's so great oh my God). There you go : Dick didn't recommend her for a scholarship because they were in any kind of serious relationship. He did it because he'd kind like that and thought Clancy was a great person. That's it.

And after that one official date that didn't even end well, Dick joined the police academy - so he barely saw Clancy, and they didn't interact during that time. It's also unclear whether that official date happened before or after the start of "No Man's Land", when he could barely interact with Babs.

And then "No Man's Land" happened. So to remind you, Dick wanted to be close again to Babs but even he had barely acknowledged up until that point that he wanted to have a romantic relationship with her; he'd had one hook-up with Helena when he was lonely and she wanted to be included that ended with him getting attached because he can't sleep with people and not get attached but he also regretted it and explicitely said they couldn't be together because of what she thought justice was; and he was friends with Clancy up until they started to hang out more, he got interested, they had one date and it ended in an argument that got solved the next day by Dick telling her to pursue her dream.

So Dick did end up having this conversation with Babs I was talking about in the beginning, which was about why Babs got closed off every time Dick wanted them to be closer. Babs admitted she'd had to/had given up on a lot of things when she'd got shot, including Dick, and when Dick asked Babs what she needed Babs asked for time. They kissed a while later, but I want to remind everyone once again that there was zero open and clear-cut acknowledgement of romantic feelings during that conversation, and that right before they kissed they both looked surprised/like it wasn't something they intended to do.

The Clocktower got attacked ten minutes later, and among the attackers was Helena (calling Dick "lover" among other things... Helena please stop impersonating Talia will you ?). When they got attacked, Dick told Babs that it always ended up that way with them, that something kept getting in the way when they got closer, and it's the first time either of them acknowledged they had "a thing" for the other - right after Dick said their timing was always off/that something happened when they got closer ! Helena did end up helping them when she realized Petit wasn't quite the good guy she thought he was, and kissed Dick - Dick wasn't seen reciprocating.

A bit after that Helena nearly died in front of Dick trying to save babies from the Joker, and Dick was besides himself with worry.

And you've also got to understand something : the moment after Dick entered "No Man's Land" at Bruce's command, so before he was sent to get back Blackgate and before his conversation with Babs, Bruce had used Dick to berate Helena. Helena'd been sent by Bruce on a nearly impossible mission and she'd disobeyed his orders by not dying to save a piece of land giving up and "failing". So Bruce had to know Dick'd slept with Helena or that Helena'd tried to use Dick to get closer to him, and he ordered asked Dick to come with him to talk to Helena, only to tell Helena she wasn't good enough/not morally upright enough to be part of their team. He used Dick to reject her, as a symbol of what she wouldn't be and wouldn't have. Dick tried to comfort her, to no avail. He told Bruce that rejecting her like that would make her go rogue. She did go rogue, but went back on that decision and saved both Dick and Babs in the Clocktower, then Dick told her he was glad she'd made the right choice.

And then Helena nearly died in front of Dick, and it had to mess with Dick's head - worry because he'd already lost so many people, his attachment to her despite her manipulations that bad to be revived after she kissed him, his guilt at having been used to tell her she wasn't good enough because she'd given up and at having told her she'd made the right choice after only to see her dying trying to be a heroin. So he offered her flowers on New Year's eve and they kissed, and then their "story" was over for good.

And to go on a bit after that, Dick went back to Blüdhaven to finish his training. During that time, as neither of them had really talked through their feelings or discussed what they wanted, Babs was the one who was coming to terms with her relationship with her ex (Jason Bard) - and refused to tell Dick who he was after he asked who the guy was (he'd met Jason when he was repairing things for Babs because of the damage inflicted to her stuff during "No Man's Land"), plus was flirting with Ted Kord.

Dick, meanwhile, saw Clancy again during his graduation party, they were close the whole time, and shared one kiss after this was over. Dick finally had that long conversation with Babs a day or two after this, they decided to have a relationship, Clancy made a more serious move on Dick, Dick told her that he'd just got serious with someone and that was it, though they remained good friends.

See this always gets me because Dick isn't at all "a slut" - he's a prude who values emotional connections. His one-night stand with Huntress astonished Donna (Titans 1999 #1) because of how out of character it was for Dick - and Dick was like "I know, but she called it "agreeable indiscretion" and it seemed like a good idea at the time" (which tells you everything you need to know about Dick being lost and innocent about how those things work).

It's not so much about Dick being "a slut" and more about Dick being entangled in a web of complicated relationships where the timing is off for most of them but they all mix anyway, things get in the way of all of them, he isn't sure where he stands most of the time, and on top of that there's history of manipulation in one of them (yes Helena I'm looking at you), which is triple bad because Dick'd had a history of being used romantically and sexually (Liu, Mirage).

(I'm not saying Helena is as bad as Liu or Mirage, right, I do like Helena, but I am saying her behaviour with Dick was toxic).

So it's more :

1. Dick has a "will they, won't they with Babs" in which Babs closes off everytime he wants to get closer.

2. He arrives in Blüdhaven, meets Clancy, they become friends.

3. He gets in a fake relationship to investigate a series of murders at Bruce's "suggestion".

4. Extremely lonely, he sleeps with Helena, expects them to have a relationship, she rejects him and later admits she slept with him to get included in the Batclan.

5. Feeling guilty about always refusing Clancy's suggestions to hang out and wanting to have a social life, he accepts. She's clearly interested in him, he isn't sure whether he is.

6. He gets more and more interested in Clancy as a possible romantic partner, Helena comes in Blüdhaven. He saves her arse, he tells her them sleeping together was a mistake, that they can't be together because they're too different. They kiss/She kisses him in the danger zone, he reiterates after they're not compatible because she wants revenge and is full of hatred.

7. He has a romantic date with Clancy that ends in an argument because of Clancy being insecure of her dreams not being with her reach. The next day they make up, Dick tells her to pursue her dream.

8. Dick gets in the police academy, he has minimal contact with Clancy, Babs and Helena. Bruce sends Dick back to Blüdhaven, uses Dick to berate Helena about her not being good enough to be part of the club.

9. Dick nearly dies taking back Blackgate on his own, he finally has a conversation with Babs about why she closes off when he tries to get closer to her. Babs asks for time. They get caught in the moment when Babs shaves him, they kiss. They get attacked, Dick tells Babs things always get in the way between them.

10. Helena saves Dick and Babs, Dick tells Helena he's glad she made the right choice, Helena kisses Dick.

11. Helena nearly dies in front of Dick, Dick is mad with worry, comes with "weeds" at Helena's bedside and they kiss one last time.

12. Dick goes back to Blüdhaven to complete his training. Things are back to "will they, won't they" with Babs. Dick goes to Gotham to help Babs, meets Jason Bard. Babs had to get closure with Jason Bard, and on her hand she's also interested in Ted Kord.

13. Dick graduates police academy, is very close to Clancy, they kiss.

14. Dick finally has a conversation with Babs, they sort out their feelings and decide to get in a relationship.

15. Dick rejects Clancy.

The worst things Dick did in this was kissing Clancy before having that full conversation with Babs, and having that kiss with Helena in "No Man's Land" knowing full well it was going nowhere - and even then I can barely blame him considering the circumstances, the way the relationship started, and the way he was used by both Helena and Bruce. And if you want to be really harsh, you can say he should never have taken Clancy on a real date before having sorted out his feelings for Babs once and for all but that's not how real life works plus Babs closed off every time he did want to have that conversation.

But Dick doesn't have "a problem", and he's not "a slut". Really crazy that at the same time Dick had that one kiss with Clancy, Babs was flirting with Ted Kord and sorting out her past with Jason Bard, but no one gets on her case because people understand relationships are messy and complicated.

Even crazier that Dick is so often considered a playboy when among the Titans you have Roy, early Wally and Gar. It's almost part of Roy's characterization that he sleeps around (though how much of this is a façade for abandonment issues is up to debate), sometimes at the same time (he was sleeping with other women while having this friends-with-benefits thing with Donna for God's sake). Early Wally was also sleeping around, to the point that he thought his model girlfriend was great because they still could see other people, and that when he asked Piper, his gay friend, about AIDS, Piper was the one who asked him whether he used protection (because Piper was responsible but Wally wasn't). And Gar flirts with everybody because he wants to be loved and appreciated though it's all a façade as well.

Let's say it once and for all : Dick doesn't sleep around and isn't a womanizer at all, and when he has a hook-up it's because he's desperate for an emotional connection (yes even in Grayson which is another continuity with a flirtier Dick).

like on the one hand "Dick Grayson is a slut lmao" is an oversimplification but on the other hand I cannot stop thinking about his insane No Man's Land-era situation in which he was on the ground begging pleading crying throwing up at every opportunity begging Babs to date him but was also seeing his own landlord Clancy seriously enough that he got Wayne Industries to pay for her to go to med school but also he was also semi-regularly hooking up with Helena and having Feelings about it. genuinely what's his problem.

[moniquill]

You’ve dealt with your share of Evangelical Christians on this website, and you tend to be right about things, so can you give me your thoughts on a pet hypothesis I have on Christians (particularly Evangelicals) and lack of empathy?

My theory is like this: Christians believe that anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord (anyone who is a Christian) goes to Heaven, and everyone else goes to Hell. This means that good non-Christians, including people they interact with every day, will be tortured forever in the afterlife. This is distressing for most people, because they naturally empathize with non-Christian people who they have positive interactions with. Most people can extrapolate these good interactions to the billions of strangers in the world who aren’t Christians. If they have empathy for these people, they can put themselves in their shoes, and the pain of their eventual torture in the afterlife weighs on them.

This pain that is caused by empathy can be resolved in two ways: either the Christian dedicates the rest of their life to evangelism to save as many souls from the fires of Hell as possible, or they just cut off empathy to non-Christians so they can stop feeling this pain. Most Christians aren’t missionaries, so they just stop caring about other people. This doesn’t mean that they necessarily become cruel or impolite to other people, they just stop putting themselves in other people’s shoes/imagining life from another perspective, because that would be painful.

Once you’ve cut of empathy to a group of people for one reason (religious differences), it’s easier to cut off empathy for other reasons, or even to become bad at empathy through lack of practice.

Anyway, that’s just my hypothesis from being raised Evangelical. And I want to emphasize that this hypothesis is about empathy, not compassion, though they are related.

This all follows logically, and may apply to some individuals, but I don't think it can be relied upon in a diagnostic sense, if you get me?

The 'why' of what's going on in any given person's head doesn't matter to me unless that person is a close and personal part of my life, someone confiding in me because they want to better understand themselves and/or want to change and grow. I don't really feel motivated, personally, to explain the motivations and rationale of another person's bad behavior - I care about making the behavior stop and preventing it from happening again.

The only value in understanding why someone arrives at a place of diminished humanity (because that's what Evangelical Christianity does, really) is in either helping them regain it (applicable only in close personal relationships) or if it in some way guides a policy that prevents their diminished humanity from hurting others.

"You told Sally she's going to hell; we do not do that here. If you do that again, you will not be welcome here. Sally is not required to associate with you or accept an apology even if you want to give one."

is more important to me than

"You told Sally she's going to hell; why did you do that?"

The above is useful in understanding, as a person who's been hurt, why those people hurt you. It's a self-healing technique and entirely valid for that.

It's not useful for fixing the problem of evangelicals who think this way or preventing them from doing harm.

[scriptlgbt]

Hello, hope you are doing well. I am currently trying to make an Aromantic Asexual character that is a sociopath. I believe there is a negative stereotype around these two parties that they are cold and unloving and would like to try portray and show people that hey they are human and are capable of love. However, I'm slightly hesitant to do so since I don't want to play into the stereotype. Please send advice! ( Also have a fantastic day)

This advice is going to lean on the "sociopath" term a bit because I have more advice to give on the topic, and it's also not something we've explored in this way before on the blog.

I have some biases here because I have a Cluster B personality disorder (a cluster which includes disorders that are often labelled as "sociopath"). The term sociopath is generally considered outdated at best and derogatory at worst, with people mainly only using the term to harken to a legacy of criminalizing and institutionalizing people who don't express care for others in a way that is legible to others, or whose care is not expressed in a healthy way.

Based on your wording here, I'm assuming that you are using the term in an earnest way to describe a neurodivergent experience, and do not believe in these ableist assumptions yourself.

Because of this, I would recommend determining more specifically what you mean by "sociopath," and then dropping the term. Do you mean low/no empathy? Do you mean a specific disorder (and which one)? What does this look like for them, and what does their emotional and mental experience feel like for them? There are resources out there for learning more about what these things feel like for people who have low/no empathy, or who have disorders that are categorized this way, but I think if it is not a thing that you experience, I would tread with a lot of caution and find a beta reader or sensitivity reader with these experiences who is comfortable talking about this with you.

Re: Aroace - there are people who are asexual and aromantic who have had pretty much every experience and identity alongside this. What makes a stereotype harmful is when:

They are the only representation.

They are not written as 3-dimensional characters with feelings and thoughts, identities and experiences that transcend these labels.

These can be countered by having more characters of the same identity who vary from the character you are concerned with, and making the characters all as multi-faceted as possible. You may not be able to explore every character's whole lives in depth in front of the reader, but to a reader, it still matters that this intricate life they have is implied and hinted at within the context.

But that is generally good writing advice, in my opinion. So many authors have characters that are written to fit a role within the life of the protagonist. Best friends are there to fawn over them and be supportive, but don't have hobbies or interests or an unrelated life thing going on offscreen. When you write, ask yourself, could someone feel inspired to write fanfiction of this character? Is there enough that they could put them in an AU and they would still be recognizably them? Or do they only exist by their relationship to the protagonist?

mod nat

[57sfinest]

calling harry a “can opener” was SUCH a good play for so many reasons i think about it every day.

in the context of his work, it makes him a tool. as many people have pointed out, including martin luiga, part of the hdb tragedy is that he simply cannot leave the force, and his superiors know that and are using it to their advantage. no matter what happens, even if harry hated every nanosecond of every bit of the work and wanted to leave, he can’t and won’t leave. they can leverage anything they want against him and then reel him back in with a facade of kindness when they “allow” him to keep his job, as long as he does what they want him to. the 41st knows he has this inexplicable talent with people and they use him for it. he’s a cop: that talent can be used in so many awful ways, to push so many different agendas. and they won’t even be his own. a can opener has no particular desire to open a can, aside from maybe the satisfaction of fulfilling a purpose. a can opener has no agency, it’s just a tool for someone else to use to get what they want. and he’s learned to be okay with being used as long as it means he gets to stay. his complacency with this system makes him guilty even if he’s also being harmed by it.

but in the context of his personal life you kind of... flip it. the people around him are going to be opened up whether they want to be or not, and it’s terrible for his relationships. it’s shown that the questions, the prying- the can-opening- it’s become inextricable from who he is as a person. it’s like he doesn’t know how else to communicate, except it’s hardly communication when you’re just ripping people open. he’s invasive as all hell, although whether he means to be is debatable. he’s the kind of person that wants to take things apart to see what makes them tick. he dissects people, but really that’s too delicate of a word for what he does; if he doesn’t get what he wants right up front, he’ll abandon all subtlety and go for brute force. if he can’t get your screws loose he’ll just smash you on the ground and pick through your pieces until he’s satisfied, and if what he did to you isn’t fixable? oh well, there are other cans to open. 

and he’ll use it for personal gain: we already know he is (was?) manipulative. once he knows how you operate, he knows how to make you keep him. he can yell or he can cry; he can threaten you or he can threaten himself; he can be completely suffocating or he can withdraw completely; he can be an incorrigible liar or brutally honest; he can present himself as a threat or a joke or a talent. he’s a chimera- that’s why he’s got this inexplicable magnetism, even when people know they shouldn’t like or trust him. fidelity of character means nothing to him. he’ll be whatever he needs to be as long as it gets him what he wants. the can-opening is just his way in.

[feroluce]

Belobog was my fave main quest but a lot of it is so. Contradictory. It's like they had multiple groups doing different shit and none of them checked in with each other for consistency. And you see this so much in Gepard's profile.

So in the main quest, they made him unfailingly, unquestionably loyal to Cocolia. Gepard's character arc is him learning to question authority etc etc. And this isn't even a bad thing; that's a story worth telling! It makes good conflict between him and Serval! And I love that we got Gepard as a boss battle and I get to see him all the time in SU!

But then you look at his character stories and it's like. The complete opposite.

According to his profile, Gepard has already HAD this awakening, long before the Astral Express, and he'd already decided Cocolia sucks. Even outside of his stories, there's a pretty damning readable between him and Pela.

He even disobeyed direct orders right in front of her- he has been disobeying orders for a while now!

So I've decided I'm marrying the two different sides of this into a 1.5k fic-ish thingy, because I think there's some fun potential there with Gepard not trusting Cocolia, but still having to pretend to be a good obedient little soldier.

Anyway. I love to think of it as like. Gepard knows Cocolia has sunk into her apathy. He can see it in her eyes every time he looks at her. She doesn't care. Not about him, not about Pela, not about all his soldiers on the frontlines giving their lives to protect the citizens. And that's... It makes him bristle a bit, but ok. Gepard can deal with this. Even if Cocolia no longer cares, as long as she does her job then it's fine. Having compassion behind an action doesn't matter as much as the action itself. If Cocolia's heart is no longer swayed, then he'll just have to care twice as hard to pick up the slack. He considers it part of his duty as a captain of the guard anyway. It's fine. Gepard can deal with it.

And then, Cocolia starts coming down to the restricted zone. Issuing direct orders.

And Gepard realizes he is in way over his head.

Because Cocolia orders him to stay back and issue commands from the ramparts, away from all his comrades, away from where he can protect them.

Gepard had thought nothing could be as bad as watching a fellow guard die right next to him. But the first time he watches someone struck by a killing blow, so far away, it hurts. Every defensive scar across his arms itches, his fingers curl in want of a weapon, the cold cannot numb his hands enough as they desperately ache for his shield. It hurts.

Gepard tries to find any reason to stay. Because surely... He knows Cocolia has lost her love for her people, but surely... She wouldn't...

One day, Cocolia orders for their gunners to advance 20 yards. There are no survivors. She almost looks like she smiles.

Gepard doesn't sleep that night.

Pela brings him the report at the end of the first month; and then the month after that, and the month after that. A significant uptick in losses, and all of it started on that first day Cocolia started overriding his authority and issuing her own orders. The ends of Gepard's pens have all been nearly chewed off. Pela outright calls Cocolia an idiot, and Gepard corrects her. Cocolia isn't an idiot. Gepard had known her through Serval, knew her through all her college years and then some, and he knows how intelligent she is. It's not that she's stupid, and it's not that she's inexperienced, it's nothing of the sort.

Cocolia knows exactly what she's doing.

She must, there's no way she could make such a horrible mess of things so badly by accident. And Pela, quick as a whip, sharp as a tack, always too smart for her own good, catches onto the meaning behind Gepard's correction without any further prompting. The tent goes deathly quiet, nothing but the wind howling outside.

"...She's trying to kill us," Pela whispers, her voice swiftly suffocated by the silence.

Gepard swallows. He can't bring himself to correct her this time. There is nothing he could say that he would actually mean.

His gaze drops, back down to his desk and the reports on it. The names aren't listed, just the numbers, but Gepard knows them, knew them, and there must be something wrong, something he's missing, because why, why would she-? What could this possibly accomplish-?

“Gepard! Focus!” Something snaps right under his nose, and Gepard startles, eyes instantly honing in on Pela's irritated face as she leans over his desk. She holds his gaze for a moment before she huffs and begins to pace, wedges a knuckle between her teeth and bites like Gepard hasn't seen her do since cadet school.

Pela angrily strides from one end of his tent to the other, words hissed between her grit teeth. “What are we going to do?” In the dim lighting, Gepard can just barely see the damp spot of blood weeping under her gloves. “We need a plan.”

“A plan?”

“Wh- Yes, a plan! Unless you want more people to die!” Pela rounds on him then, all the wrath of a blizzard, winds roaring and snow sharp enough to cut.

“We don't even know-”

“What does it matter?! She killed-!!” Pela cuts off with a garbled noise when Gepard leaps up from his desk, hastily shoves his hand over her mouth. The prosthetic, not the flesh one, because he knows better than to assume Pela won't seize the opportunity to leave teeth marks in his skin.

“You're right. I'm sorry, I'm sorry; you're right. But you need to keep quiet.” Pela quirks an eyebrow at him and Gepard can read the question in her face. “Because we both saw what she did to Serval,” he hisses.

It's amazing the snow plains haven't thawed out yet, the amount of heat Pela can put behind a glare. The mere mention of Serval, and the smoking ruins Cocolia had made of her life and career, have her bristling up like a riled cat. The sudden hot breath she takes fans fog across his metal skin, and Gepard wisely keeps it in place until Pela finally sighs and reaches up, taps her fingertips against the back of his hand.

The second she's free, Pela bats him away and then her knuckle is right back between her teeth again, Gepard leaning back against his desk with his arms crossed to watch her resume her pacing. “If we spread the word, she'll have us discharged and make sure we can't even touch the frontlines,” Pela's voice seethes like an open sore. Gepard nods but keeps his silence. He knows better than to get in her way.

“And if you and I are both out of the picture, Belobog is fucked.” A little harsher than how he would have put it, but there's no denying that they're both important to the city's survival. Pela has the restricted zone running as efficiently as ever, and Gepard had become the youngest captain on record for a reason. “We need to keep this tight under wraps, at least for now… It can't leak to anyone higher up the chain.” Another nod. “Serval might know other discontents…” Another n-

Gepard's head snaps up. “No.”

“No what?”

“No. We're not involving Serval in this.”

Somehow, even the same tone that leaves entire squadrons shaking in their boots has never worked on her. “You're not deciding that for her, Gepard.”

Pela hadn't seen the worst of it, though, back when his sister had just been banned from the Architects. Serval's pride hadn't allowed it. Pela wasn't the one to find her passed out bottle still in hand, hadn't been the one to wash the sick out of her hair or carry her to bed. 

Serval still has trouble thinking clearly when it comes to Cocolia, still can't quite bring herself to be objective. And Gepard maybe doesn't want her to be purely objective- but he would worry a lot less if she thought twice before she acted more often.

“At least let me be the one to bring it up to her.”

“Whatever, fine,” Pela gestures affirmatively at him as she paces past, and Gepard sighs. Good, at least that's one thing he can help.

From there, it's a lot of hemming and hawing and frustration. Cocolia has them under her boot, and Gepard and Pela both know it. Even with the way she's been cracking down on freedoms lately, Cocolia is still, overall, liked by the people. It's unlikely anyone would believe them. They don't even have solid proof, because most people don't know Cocolia as well as they do and won't see the clues in the same light. 

The Fragmentum has been ramping up in recent years, too. Everyone is struggling just to survive as is, they can't afford a fight on two fronts. Gepard is a damn good captain, one of the best for that matter. But they're at a massive disadvantage, his experience is narrowed to fighting a defensive battle against monsters, that's all he's ever done. That's all anyone there has ever done. He has no way of finding first-hand knowledge for taking the offensive against a human opponent, and if he goes at this blind, there's no way he'll get everyone out unscathed. He's going to lose people. He's going to lose a lot of people.

He'd never thought before that Cocolia would have it in her to have someone killed. And with this new knowledge, he has no guarantee she won't go after Serval or Lynx if she decides to retaliate.

Gepard has to remind himself to breathe when he realizes this.

Pela writes down every name the two of them can come up with. Lists and lists of names and groups and anyone they can think of who might be an ally in all of this. They memorize every bit of it, make their plans of who to talk to and when. Gepard watches the sparks reflect off Pela's glasses as they burn the evidence together.

Pela finally leaves, far too late to make it home, but says she wants to stay in the restricted zone anyway to investigate. Gepard watches her make her way in the direction of Dunn's tent, watches her back until she's out of his sight and squashes down the urge to follow and keep an eye on her. His tent feels empty.

In the morning, Gepard is up before the wake up bells. He drags himself out of bed, leads his soldiers through their morning training. The same people gravitate to each other everyday. Friend groups and training partners. There's an ongoing rivalry between a few squadrons that everyone bets on. Some of them have lockets around their necks, keepsakes, mementos. Some of them wear wedding rings.

Gepard is suddenly, painfully aware of something acidic clawing at the inside of his throat, of a heavy weight low in his chest that blooms, takes up room until it threatens to spread his ribs. His mouth tastes of bile and blood.

He rearranges the schedules. Puts himself down for every open patrol into the Fragmentum, makes sure he'll be on the frontlines every single time Cocolia visits.

He only hopes that it's enough.

[carlottastudios]

Every day I get closer to making an unhinged behemoth of a post listing all of the things about Kaeya and his possible connections to mythology & stuff that I notice but NOBODY ELSE SEEMS TO BRING UP IN THEIR THEORIES

(edit: OMG I reached the tag limit I'm so sorry)

[corpsentry]

at the asian american studies sponsored movie screening i run out of my seat to press a button for the presenter and you look away, not in shame, but in anger

go make your own movie.

One where you’re the star

and everything’s my fault

the way you want it to be. I know, it’s easy

to let someone else hold this grief

and sit in the bathtub,

all dressed up to go to the party.

Maybe in this movie it’s your party

and I the party crasher,

holding cymbals and a baseball bat, et cetera.

But we don’t stop getting older when we’re angry

and you’re only twenty,

can’t listen to lullabies at night,

can’t sleep without a blanket

over your head like you’re scared

of your own shadow. God, go

write your own movie.

You could do it,

you’re still

pretty. Angry? Me too.

The bathtub’s overflowing,

the bathroom’s flooding

with whatever you couldn’t say

to the poet with their palms glued shut

in a cheap simulacrum of prayer.

Didn’t you say you were tired? Angry? Me too.

Upset? Unhappy? Me too. Hungry? Lonely? Me too. Me too.

Standing barefoot in the grass

I remembered the month of bad weather.

How I parted the fog with broken hands each night,

looking for your voice.

Oh, I will not forgive you.

Not like this.

With your fingers splayed

against the brute February sky,

lips cracked open like windows,

waiting, like you always are, for me to say the first word.

[chillingandtoxic]

Goth creek, if u even care

[engagemythrusters]

“Neurospicy” lends itself to those who are able to be viewed as “quirky” by society. By using it as a replacement for “neurodivergent,” you are alienating a large population of the people who fall under that category.