#can confirm it will not go mass murder though because

[aheathen-conceivably]

Unless she commits mass murder then I'm sticking to my statement. I believe in women's wrongs 🥰 - LGL

Ah! Okay okay so one murder, chill? Mass murder, not chill?

[luveline]

Hii

Whenever you have time could you please do more single dad!Spencer. It’s just too cute and it really warms my heart how you write it.

tysm ♡ dad!spencer and his daughter amanda find their reunion unexpectedly interrupted when you need a place to stay the night. fem!reader, 3.4k

Spencer doesn't mind how tactile Amanda is. If anything, he loves it, content to have her sitting in his lap or on his hip, anywhere he goes and anywhere she wants to be. He tries to get in as much affectionate time with her as he can when he's home to make up for his days away. 

He doesn't like missing her, but he loves coming home. Amy sits on his stomach while Spencer lays on the couch, using his thighs as a backboard while they both fail to pay attention to the kids cartoons on their TV. 

"Were you good for Mrs. Gomorrah?" he asks, though he knows she was. He had to live through the agony that was teaching Mrs. Gomorrah how to text on a cell phone he bought for her years ago, but it was worth it to get those incremental updates that he relies on every day to get to the next without catching a flight home.

Amy had pizza 

Amy misses you. She said she is kissing you through my phone

Wants a new dress for school party tonight, emergency money OK to use? said she loves you 

Aaskkk k k o 

Sorry, accidentally texted you, Amanda made dinner tonight [photo]

The text messages help being far away feel less like torture. Spencer loves his job but he wonders if he should love it less, sometimes, when Mrs. Gomorrah remembers how to send photos, or when he can make it back to the hotel before bed time and call Amy.

But here she is in the flesh. Spencer doesn't worry about work when she's holding his hand. 

"I was good," she confirms, wiping hair from her face with a blue sleeve. She's in her pyjamas at three thirty. Spencer's in his matching set, blue long sleeve t-shirts with two dogs —a grown up and a puppy, seemingly a dad dog and his daughter— on the shirt and miniature dogs on the pants. "Promise. We did fruit kebabs last night." 

Spencer saw photos, but he still says, "Yeah? What fruits did you have? You know, strawberries will be extra yummy again soon because they're back in season." 

"We had strawberries, and bananas, and the green one, kiwi." She puts one of her feet up on his chest. He makes wide eyes at it to hear her giggle. "And with chocolate and maple syrup, it was really yummy." 

"We should make Tanghulu." 

This is a new word for Amy. "Tanghulu?" 

"It started with a berry called Chinese hawthorn, but now people use lots of different fruits. You make a fruit kebab, but instead of chocolate, you dip the fruit into hot sugar and it goes hard as it cools like rock candy, and you have good strong teeth, so you could eat it no problem." 

"It turns the fruit into candy?" she asks, wiggling her toes. 

"Kind of." Spencer covers her foot with his hand unthinkingly. She looks tired already though it's only the afternoon. She gets very tired when Spencer comes home, like she'd been waiting. "Do you want to have a nap with me, sweetpea?" 

"No, I don't think so."

Spencer made a mistake when she was younger. He thought leaving while she was sleeping would make it easier to say goodbye. It was for him, but Amy didn't sleep or eat right for days, and Spencer had to come home before the case was over to stop her from making herself sick. They've worked on it, Spencer never ever leaves without saying goodbye, but she still gets scared to sleep when they're together sometimes. 

He ushers her forward. "Come here," he says, "quick, give me a hug." She flops forward and Spencer arranges her into a cuddle, hand against her hair, his nose pressed to her forehead. "I missed you." 

"Missed you more," she says. 

"Not true. I missed you so much." 

"Don't go away again for a day," she says. 

"I'm staying home for a whole week. Maybe longer, okay? But I promise you, seven whole days no matter what." And he means it. The only thing that could change his mind is a mass murder situation, but otherwise, they'll have to make it work without him. He hates to say that kind of thing, but he has to say it, because Amy is his first priority. 

She relaxes into his arms. "Okay." 

His phone rings, because of course it does. Amy frowns her displeasure with tears shining silver in her eyes. Spencer shakes his head at her, "I'm not going, Ames. I promised. I won't answer anybody, this week is just going to be me and you." 

She glares at the phone and rests her chubby cheek on his chest. Spencer wonders if it's uncomfortable considering his lack of padding and sits up with an arm behind her seatbelting her to his front. "Let's go watch TV in bed." 

Her hands grab at the back of his shirt. "Bring your phone, dad," she says. 

Spencer kisses the side of her head. "No, I told you already, I'm not going." 

"What if Mrs. Gomorrah wants to come for dinner?" she asks, her voice smaller, sleepy. She rubs her face into his front. 

It's a good point. Spencer picks up his phone to check if it was her and frowns at the missed call. It's you. You've texted him too. 

"It's Y/N," he says. 

Amy knows you because whenever he's had to bring her with him (not often, but occasionally on regular work days when there's school reset days), you're very, very kind to her. You're not sure of yourself around kids but it doesn't matter, you let Amy sit with you if she wants to and you always talk to her with care, offer her snacks, anything that you can share. 

It's why he calls you back. That, and you're a nice friend. 

— 

You're feeling about as ashamed and sheepish as a girl can be as you take the elevator up to Spencer's floor. You don't want to impose on anybody, but you'd rather have died than ask Hotch, JJ's taking a vacation in Santa Monica, Penelope's on a conference with Kevin, Emily chose to use her week on an undisclosed trip, and Morgan was similarly off the radar. 

And you know Spencer has Amanda, you know they've been apart for longer than they've been together this month, and you hate interrupting their time together, but… you couldn't stay home no matter how badly you wanted to. Stupid landlord. Stupid cockroaches and stupid fumigation tents.

You carry your go bag with nothing but a week's worth of dirty clothes and your wallet. Your phone is about to die and you'd really wanted, more than anything, to crawl into bed and sleep the daytime away. 

You've never been to Spencer's apartment despite knowing him well, and liking him more. You knock on the door, apartment 305B. You're dead on your feet at this point, exhausted by the jet ride home, the commute to your apartment, the subsequent ten minutes spent crying on the sidewalk, and the next half hour debating if you could bother Spencer. Maybe you should've got a hotel, but it was already getting late and you just needed something familiar. Selfishly, you needed someone you knew after such a shitty case. 

"Hello," Spencer says, opening the door with a familiar girl held in his arms, "don't mind my jacket." 

Amy's clearly sleeping, tiny snores echoing from near his neck. It's cute, but it makes you feel much worse. "I'm sorry–" 

He doesn't let you apologise, "Are you kidding? What were you gonna do? We're excited to have you." He's kind of talking to you like Amy's still awake, enthusiastic whisper-shouting as he pulls you inside. 

"It's just for tonight, I promise. They said I'll be able to  back in by evening tomorrow," you say, holding your bag to your chest. You blink at him as you follow him to the kitchen. "Are you wearing matching pyjamas?" 

"You came over last minute!" he defends with a laugh. 

Spencer opens his hand for your bag and puts it behind a steaming bowl of soup. "Oh, were you guys eating dinner?" you ask. 

"No, that's for you. I'm gonna put Amy in bed and then I can do your laundry. Did you need a hug?" 

"What?" 

Spencer smiles at you. "I thought maybe you're having a bad day." He offers his empty arm and you don't know how to say no, don't want to, careful not to bump into Amy as you curl your arm behind his back. "We're happy to have you. You could stay all week and that would be fine. Did they really give you no warning?" 

"I called my landlord and he laughed and then kind of got quiet. I think he forgets that I live there." 

Spencer pulls away and puts a hand on Amy's back. She's very slight like Spencer but if she were any older he'd struggle to carry her for as long as he has. You can see the fatigue trembling in his left arm. "It's not legal for him to leave you with nowhere to stay, and without any notice. You could ask Hotch–" 

"It's okay." You gesture to Amy's face. "She's getting so big." 

"And heavy. Be back in a few. Eat on the couch if you want to." 

You wouldn't. Spencer takes Amy into one room off of the main room, and then comes back to grab your laundry before disappearing into another. His apartment is a fun but odd layout, the door leading into a living room slash kitchen with a dining table, then opening out left and right, bedrooms toward the back of the apartment and a bathroom behind. It reminds you of a flower, that central hub of life and the petals curling outward. 

You pick up your spoon cautiously. He definitely said the food was for you, but it's so strange to be greeted with a meal, you can't remember the last time someone made sure you had something to eat. 

Spencer doesn't attract your attention until he's pulling up a chair next to you with two glasses set on the table. "I put your pyjamas on quick wash. And your, uh, your grey bag." 

Your grey bag is a little net bag full of delicates. You try to be adult about it, but it's so super awkward that you end up laughing aloud, "Oh, shit, I'm sorry." 

"Don't be. It doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you. I just put the entire bag in, like, intact." 

You believe that, but you infer from the tightness of his voice that he's worried you'll think he's weird. Honestly, he's just nice, even if it's awkward. Everybody wears underwear. "That's what it's for," you say. 

"Do you think they make those in a bigger size? Amy's vests get tangled sometimes because the straps are skinny, that would be useful." 

"I'm sure they do," you say, toying with your spoon. "I… really don't know how to say thank you. I know we're friends, but it's different. To let me stay."

"When I was a kid I didn't have many friends. By high school I didn't have one. So I never got to have sleepovers until Amanda. And she's my best friend, but she's six, so…" 

You both laugh suddenly, beaming at one another in your wrinkled, mismatched clothes. 

You finish your meal through lighthearted conversation. Spencer takes your dish for the sink and you both move to the couch to watch TV. 

Clifford the Big Red Dog plays on mute. "I know you're thrilled to watch something this intellectually tantalising, but maybe we should watch a movie. There's a guide under the cushion," Spencer says. 

You dig for the guide but wherever he thinks it is, it isn't. 

"Doesn't matter. Mrs. Gomorrah will have one, I'll take her some dinner at the same time. Would you keep your ear on Amy? She might wake up."

He makes a tray for Mrs. Gomorrah, a neighbour and good friend of his. You've met her once when she brought Amy into the office, an Italian-American woman who's black and silver hair bounced when she talked. Beside his mother living in a sanitarium in Nevada, and his small daughter, Mrs. Gomorrah is Spencer's only family. He treats her accordingly. 

The washing machine starts to beep a few minutes after he's left. You spring from the couch and track down his washer and dryer, transferring your damp wash into the dryer and frowning at the machine's strange settings.

"Daddy?" a small voice calls. Sharper, unhappy, "Daddy?" 

"Amy!" you say, moving from your crouch to stand in the doorway. "Hi, honey! Your dad just went to give Mrs. Gomorrah some dinner." 

Amy squints at you. "Miss Y/N?" 

"Hi," you say tentatively. "My house is kind of broken for a bit and I asked your dad if I can stay the night." You bend to meet her eyes properly. "Would that be okay with you?" 

"Yeah," she says, smiling. "Yeah, please stay. Daddy's friends never come over." 

"Did you need something, honey? I can help." 

"No… You're sure he's at Mrs. Gomorrah's?" 

"Definitely one hundred percent positive. He can't go to work without me, can he?" 

Amy shrugs little shoulders. "I guess not." 

You can't help laughing at her. With the sound of the dryer bumping behind you, you meet Amy near the dining table and touch her shoulder gently to prompt her toward the couch. She jumps up onto the seat with the most cushions and you sit beside her. You and Spencer never managed to pick a movie, so the kids channel still plays on mute. 

"How do you turn it up?" you ask, offering her the remote hopelessly. 

Amy sidles against your side and points. You click the small white speaker button, greeted by the barks of another episode of Clifford. 

"Is this one okay?" you ask. 

"I love Clifford."

It can't be two minutes before she rests her head against your arm, her hand locking over the crook of your elbow. 

You're not sure what to do. She's Spencer's kid, so she probably does. "Do you want a cuddle?" you ask her. You'd be happy to give her one, but you don't know what's okay with her. 

"Please." 

You hang your arm across her shoulders and behind her back, stroking a tentative and short line into her arm, just once. "These are nice pyjamas, Amy. I saw your dad has the same ones." They're soft under your arm. Her hair brushes your wrist as she turns her head to crinkle her nose at you. 

"Thank you. Me and dad have all matching pyjamas," she says proudly. 

"All?" 

"Well, maybe not all. But lots." 

She hums and shuffles closer to your chest. It felt odd at first —although Amy has sat in your lap at your desk at work, and even given you a hug on her birthday to say thank you for the books and candies, you're not used to children or the things that they want. But it feels less foreign the longer she sits there, and you find yourself relaxing for the first time that day. 

Spencer comes back with a shiny TV Guide Magazine and a bundle of Amy's clothes under his arm. His eyes light up as her head peeks over the back of the couch. 

"Sorry, I was just at Mrs. Gomorrah's," he says, quickly putting everything down to take her into his arms. 

"I know," Amy says into his shirt. 

He kisses her head. You almost miss it, the affection quiet and swift. "Was your nap okay? Or do you need another one?" 

"Dad! Y/N's here." 

"Y/N doesn't care that you take naps, she takes naps too." Snoozing up against his shoulder with drool running down your chin. 

"No, I can't sleep because we're having a slumber party!" 

"We are?" he asks. 

"But she needs matching jammies." 

"Well, I don't have anything matching, but it won't be long for all my clothes to dry. I can wear jammies, then, at least," you assure her, sending Spencer a squinting smile that says, She's the cutest thing on planet Earth. 

He smiles back, as if to say, She really is. "Maybe Y/N wants a nap." 

Amy's concern lands on you. She climbs out of Spencer's arms, pressing her hand to your shoulder. "Please don't nap, I want to play games." 

"I'll play games, babe," you say. "Any game you want." 

"Yes! And, and maybe we can make, um–" Puzzled, Amy quirks her mouth into a frown and bounds back to Spencer. He rounds the couch and leans down at her gesturing. "What's it called, the fruit candy?" she whispers.

"From earlier?" he whispers back. "It's tanghulu. Tang-who-loo." 

She whispers a sweet thank you, spinning on the spot with her hands held behind her back. "We can make tanghulu, it's fruit kebabs turned to candy! Do you want to?"

Spencer smooths her hair back from her face. "You don't have to," he mouths, already squeezing her arm like he's prepared to talk her down. 

"Well, if it's okay with your dad I'd love to."

She gasps happily, jumping down off the sofa to race into the bathroom. "I'll wash my hands!" 

Spencer snorts and sits on the couch arm. "Notice how she didn't even ask me?" 

"You know that's a good thing." Spencer's probably read every parenting book there is. "She's so smart, Spencer. So smart, it's incredible. You're amazing." 

He scratches the collar of his sleep shirt, his curls moving as though woken by a gentle breeze as he nods to one side, "She shows some signs of an eidetic memory. Not like mine, but most children who have eidetic memories don't have them like I do. I can't take the credit for that, you know, beyond genetics." 

"Of course you can, someone had to teach her these things for her to remember them. You're never as nice to yourself as you should be, Spence. Everybody knows you're a great dad." You slouch back into the couch. "And I'm not just saying that because you're letting me stay for free." 

"There's no version of this situation where I would ever charge you. Thank you, Y/N. Having her by myself has been hard– it's hard. She's easy and I love her and she's better for me than she probably should be." He winces, his talking rushed, like he's listing statistics. "I haven't really been by myself. Mrs. Gomorrah. The team. We've known each other for a year but you act like Amy's family whenever you see her, and that means a lot to me. That's why I'm glad you called. You can always call me if you need help." 

"You can always call me," you murmur back. 

Spencer bumps your thigh with his knuckles. "I'm glad we're friends. Are you sure you're not too tired? Tanghulu isn't easy if you've never made it." 

"Says who?" 

"East Asian Eating, issue 78. We have to find the sugar, water, glucose syrup sweet spot or the candy doesn't harden."

"We can do it. You're the smartest guy I know, and I've been known to be resourceful. Plus, we have a world class assistant." 

Spencer stands up and offers you his hand to help you come with him, his fingers brushing yours for a moment that seems to stretch for minutes. "Just curious," he says softly, to your heart's clear delight, "when was your last check up at the dentist?" 

Right. He isn't about to tell you something you want to hear. This is Spencer —you should've guessed an odd question was on the horizon. 

"I'll have to think about it," you say.  

Amy bounds out of the bathroom and paints a trail of water droplets from the table to the kitchen. "He thinks you have weak teeth!" she explains. 

"That is not what I think." 

[vashtijoy]

why everybody is wrong about the unlock date for akechi's rank 6 (and why it matters)

So It Is Known that Akechi's rank 6 unlocks on 9/3, right? That's the first day he'll show up in Leblanc to go to the bathhouse and tell you about his sad backstory (again). That is his unlock date. R...ight?

Game says no.

This is the function that (usually) tests Akechi's rank 6 time lock, SUB_COOP_TIME_[L]OCK6(). What does it do? It sets a bit, 0x1 831, if we fail the check. Which we will unfailingly do on every single day within a specified date range. And what is that range?

That range is between 4/1 and 8/28.

Read that again. Not 9/2, the day before 9/3. 8/28.

The same 8/28 we all know and love for, uh, some reasons:

That's right. The reason Akechi's confidant is locked until 9/3, the reason he has not one but two "let me tell you about my backstory" events inside of a week, is that one triggers the other.

Akechi shows up at Leblanc on 8/28. He finds a listening ear, and a shoulder to cry on—because, remember, we're smack in the middle of Akechi Hate Month:

This kid, who is so desperate for attention and approval that he's become a mass-murderer over it, is now in the middle of a public hate storm. And on 8/28, you listen to him. You make him welcome. You accept him for who he is—at least, for a little part of who he is.

And so he comes back less than a week later. On 9/3.

if he unlocks on 8/29, why 9/3?

Akechi's availability is often quite limited. Between 8/28 and 9/3, he's only available on one day, 8/30—though if you're already at rank 5, you can't do anything with him then.

Why doesn't he come to Leblanc on 8/30?

The Leblanc field (areas in P5 are technically known as fields) calls a very long, very unedifying function called NPC_FLAG_SELECTOR(), to see which NPCs it should load when. In short? It does this by testing the day of the week.

GET_DAYOFWEEK() returns a number between 0 (Sunday) and 6 (Saturday). So, because Akechi will only come to Leblanc if GET_DAYOFWEEK() returns 6, Akechi will only ever come to Leblanc on Saturdays.

And the first Saturday after 8/29? It is, of course, 9/3.

why does this matter?

Does this change anything? In practical terms, no. Akechi is still always going to be inaccessible for rank 6 until 9/3. But does it confirm anything about him? Well, yeah.

Akechi's rank 7 unlock really is on 11/2, the morning he tells you "I was working last night, so I'm tired today"—that time lock terminates on 11/1. His skill checks (Knowledge and Charm) are all exactly what you think. He even has a hidden lock for rank 8 (still called a time lock by the code) which verifies that he's currently a team member and won't let you proceed otherwise; that, too, acts exactly as you'd expect.

It's rank 6 which turns out to have this secret, to truly be as closely connected to 8/28 as it always appeared. Akechi comes to Leblanc in his hour of need, and he finds something—and then, the next day, he wants more.

And so he comes back—the very next evening he can get away to spend time in Yongen-jaya.

(Incidentally, I'm pretty sure Akechi lives in Kichijoji, and this kind of backs that up. It's the sort of super-trendy place he'd make a show of liking, and in fairness, he clearly does like it. He can only come to Yongen on Saturday nights because it's a lot of travel, close to an hour each way in the early evenings. But Kichijoji? He can hang out there far more often—because it's right on his doorstep.)

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/12/26)—first posted.

[blood-sucking-freaks]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Facts

-was originally supposed to be about a town full of cannibals instead of just the Sawyer family. This version was to be titled "Beyond the Valley of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Bubba Sawyer and Sally Hardesty were to return. Nubbins Sawyer would've survived, been left paralyzed, and tied to a tree by the Sawyer family.

-Bill Mosely was cast as Chop Top because he splayed Nubbins in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre parody called 'The Texas Chainsaw Manicure'.

-Bill Mosely played Chop Top as the vocalist in an avant-garde metal band formed in 1995 called The Cornbugs with Bucket Head, Pinchface, and Travis Dickerson. The band released five albums and two DVDs before their 2007 breakup. Their songs were heavily inspired by TCM and TCM2.

-Gunnar Hansen was offered to return as Bubba, though he turned down the role because the offer was too low.

-Dennis Hopper, Lefty Enright's actor, celebrated his 50th birthday on set and cut his birthday cake with a chainsaw.

-Tobe Hooper's son William Hooper tried to bring Bill Mosely back as Chop Top in a TCM short film. It would have been titled 'All American Massacre' and was supposed to be both a prequel and sequel to TCM2. It would have followed Chop Top's origins and his breakout from prison to embark on his own massacre. The project died out when William Hooper ran out of money to complete the film during post-production. Eventually a trailer for the film was leaked and can be watched on youtube.

-Edwin Neal, Nubbins actor in TCM confirmed that the reason Nubbins wasn't sent to war while Chop Top was was because Nubbins was too crazy.

-The family photo used in the advertisements, posters, and covers was a spoof of The Breakfast Club.

-In the original version, Stretch was going to be Lefty's illegitimate daughter.

-Lefty is Sally and Franklin's uncle.

-When Lefty is buying his chainsaws, Bubba's TCM chainsaw model, a Poulan 245A, can be seen on the wall.

-Chop Top's real name is Robert. His and Drayton's are the only two known real first names of the Sawyers.

-during filming, the main set caught on fire and when firefighters showed up, they thought they had stumbled upon a mass murderers body stash

[gretchensinister]

Babylon 5 rewatch, S1 E5: The Parliament of Dreams

Oh, I'm glad they explained right away why there was someone coming to a 2-year old space station for a pilgrimage type thing

G'Kar this is Babylon 5 you're not going to have a peaceful dinner

Pre-recorded murder message (said like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Na'Toth! I'll be paying attention to try to see if they mention what happened to the other aide.

NAKED CENTAURI STATUE SPOTTED

😬how long ago was this Zan history...?

I would drink with Lando. I would. Against my better judgement

Aside from the on-again-off-again thing, there's an interesting worldbuilding note--humans have a "Birth Number" which can apparently be used to get in contact with someone

Oh shit Ko'Dath DIED. Man, they could have written her out less fatally. Also the Narn are apparently an Assassin's Guild-having kind of people

Alienfucker G'Kar confirmed (and well-known enough that his aide of 2 days references it lmao)

LENNIER! Baby boy. Baby.

Did they send like a baby monk into the middle of Babylon 5???

Bug bug bug bug bug (I'm so glad of this practical effect creature)

Sinclair at the Minbari ceremony--very important to remember for later developments 👀

I'm sad that Catherine and Sinclair seem to have the kind of relationship that can't mellow out

Of course it was the courier as soon as he said "the danger is closer than you think"

Measuring in feet among aliens because This is Mass Market Television (I totally understand this and agree with it to a large extent because it's important for the audience to understand what's going on right away)

G'Kar can throw hands! (As can Na'Toth! Fun 3rd day on the job, beating your boss.)

Sinclair isn't Minbari-married though, it's actually much weirder

As a kid I really enjoyed this last scene (and I appreciate that the writers didn't assert that in the 23rd century there would be a single dominant religion/non-religion among humans), but it does raise the sci-fi issue where non-human aliens are often presented as having singular cultures while obviously humans have a lot. I'm not going to get angry about it, but it is something that I'm always going to keep in mind if/when I write my own multi-species science fiction

[pb-dot]

Film Friday: It Follows

Horror is an interesting genre to work with because so much of it is about making the irrational fears of the human mind at least partially rational. Why be scared of the dark? There might be monsters. Why be wary around the dead? They may not stay dead, and so on. Most horror go through some layers of interpretation to get there, I.E it's not the fear of disease and foreigners, it's Vampires, and so on. Today's film, It Follows is interesting in part because it kind of foregoes all that, and just makes a movie that's The Most about Anxiety.

Our story follows Jay, a young woman whose date with the handsome, if not somewhat twitchy, young man goes all the way awry after the two have sex. From this point onward, she is pursued by... something, and it's up to her and her friends to figure out exactly what is going on and what, if, anything can be done to save her from the fate that approaches her at a slow, but inexorable pace.

This synopsis is very vague, but it's honestly the fairest way of describing the plot. There's no proper nouns here, and exactly what the it of It Follows is left purposefully ambigious. We know that only those that it pursues can see it, we can safely assume it has some sort of physical mass at least some of the time, it transfers targets through sexual contact and follows the line of lays downstream if it's not passed on before murdering it's current target. Other than that, I couldn't tell you a damn thing. Is it a magic thing? A curse? A ghost? A crack team of murderous and stealthy squirrels with an agenda? Your guess is as good as mine.

The movie is in other words quite content with leaving you guessing as to its own lore, which is honestly admirable on it's own in the current ruling thought being "no story only Lore," but that's not the only reason it's brilliant. By never coming down with a name for the thing, or confirming whether the protagonists' understanding of the thing is correct or not, the movie keeps us guessing. It could be that their final confrontation with the thing actually worked, or it could be all Jay and her remaining friends managed to do is buy some time, and that a premature death from a spooky scary sex ghost is still inevitable.

There's a dreamlike quality to the whole thing, often shown in how it's basically impossible to decide when the movie's supposed to be set. It feels 80s-ish, but the cars are either modern or from the 50's, and a very modern-looking e-reader in a very 80s-inspired clamshell design only further confuses things. It's a quite fascinating mix of set design used with purpose, and it helps sell the strange dream logic of the main plot.

My favorite thing, though, is how the movie plays with your mind through framing and composition. So many shots in this movie is centered on the subject, which does lead to disorientation, as it has been standard operating procedure to use framing and shot composition to tell the audience where characters are in realationship to each other and upcoming events that its absence leaves a modern film watcher dizzy. It also feeds into the unprecitability of the story and the vulnerability of the characters. They don't know from what angle It will come at them, and neither do we, the viewers, get to know in advance. It leads to this delirious paranoid watching state where you find yourself restlessly scanning extras in the background to see if anyone walks in the protagonist's direction with anything that might resemble purpose.

It all comes together to create the most powerful simulacra of anxiety I've ever seen. You know something is coming to GET you, and you have no idea where it'll come from but you know it's coming, and you can't explain what it is because it's just a thing, a presence, as inevitable as it is impossible to describe. Of course, in most cases these Anxiety Presences aren't a real tangible threat, but that's a small allowance for making a movie that gets it as hard as It Follow does.

In closing, I want to talk about an observation about the movie that I've made. I'm not sure it's a theory or implies anything, I just find it interesting. So, my observation is that the It in It Follows hunt in the same way that humans used to hunt back in prehistory. Now, humans, as you may have observed, are neither the fastest nor the strongest creatures in the animal kingdom. It has been opined that we're the smartest, and while I think that fact is debatable, it is probably true. What is definitely true, though, is that humans have incredibly high endurance compared to most other animals one could compare us with. Sweating, for one, is an evolutionary advantage that allows the human body to dump heat from repeated muscle movement faster than most any other animal, and while we're not fast, we can (under ideal conditions) keep jogging for a good long while. Thus, our strategy back before our brains had helped us much, was to start hunting a prey animal and just never give it time to rest until it collapsed from exhaustion.

Now, do I mean to imply that the It in It Follows is the ghost of an incel neolithic hunter on the warpath? No, not really, but it is perhaps the most human thing about the It. It appears in human guises yes, but this feels an awful lot like some sort of camoflague, it doesn't really act like a human, except that it just keeps hunting at a steady pace. Now this primal behavior can perhaps be read as a sign that the It has been among us for a long time, or it could mean that it's meant to be a comment or a critique of humanity, or it could be something so simple as that the relentless pursuit of an enemy that just will not tire is a novel way of scaring the shit out of people, who am I to say?

[warpweighted]

midnight mass is hggggnsndnd. hfmsnd. everyone watch the Biz Barclay video "the art of religious interpretation (midnight mass vs. God's not dead)" bc frankly they put it way better than I can but there is a reason, okay, there is a reason that I the Known Not-Crier will weep for minimum thirty minutes every single fucking time I watch episode seven and its gonna involve kinda a lot of my #exchristianbaggage so

anyways Lutherans do confirmation training (sunday school classes for induction as a full member of the church) around ages 12-13 which is frankly too young but whatever. whatevsies. you go through the greatest hits and discuss what they actually mean. what does it mean to commit adultery? let the Adultery Tango (someday I will find that youtube video I swear) and also the chewed up piece of gum metaphor tell you. you learn about the protestant reformation and you scrapbook Genesis and you spend a sunday morning on Abraham and Isaac.

and like. if there is any proof positive that under Christianity free will is not actually a thing and that Christian morality is utterly arbitrary it is the predominant Christian interpretation of that story. either Abraham chose wrong when he obeyed God's commandment to kill his son (not the predominant Christian interpretation), or personal accountability does not matter and murdering your beloved child is right because God told you to do it.

and dont give me the "god would never make you kill your child, look he sent a ram up as a sacrifice instead and stopped him at the last moment" shit. I do not accept that it's about trusting that God always has a plan or whatever. because God didnt make Abraham kill his son, but God made Abraham choose to kill his son. God made Abraham tie Isaac down and hold a knife to his throat. God made Abraham do something horrible in His name, and lo it was righteous.

theres a destiel fanfiction (I'm sorry) where Cas says that, after the mountain, Isaac always flinched from his father. and theres a confirmation class Lego comic strip where the last panel is Abraham and Isaac descending the mountain, and Isaac is looking at his father in sort of shell-shocked horror. my teacher liked that panel a lot, but not enough to change the way she taught us that story.

that panel stuck with me, even though at twelve I didnt know how to poke at the cognitive dissonance. it didnt unravel my faith, but its fundamental to why I'm never going back. what do you do if God is wrong?

[anemoi-i]

I don’t think it will be the Archons so much as Celestia and the Heavenly Principles that is in the wrong (but even then…), which the Archons are just as much subject to as anyone else. Though I’m sure the Archons took part in mass murder, I’m pretty convinced that by the time they were called to step in it was more of a mercy kill/necessary to stop something from spreading (which it was widespread, seeing as Inazuma, Mondstat (via Durin), and the Chasm were all under attack at the time of the cataclysm). Which, not great, but still not the same as pointless slaughter. But of COURSE the victims of something terrible like that will despise who did it, no matter why. Like if a zombie plague started in your hometown and then it was nuked to stop it from spreading, you probably wouldn’t like the people who nuked your home and family no matter why. Like why didn’t they try to help? Why didn’t they look for another option? No one likes being the ‘the price’ for the greater good.

Though several of the Archons are technically complicit in whatever the Cryo Archon is up to, even if they aren’t directly involved. Most of them did just hand over their Gnosis either to clean their hands of fault if it goes under, the Fatui are actually that big of a threat and they don’t want to be targets (unlikely), they don’t care and also don’t like Celestia, or because they backup what ever her end goal is (if maybe not the means, seeing as the means /are/ severely messed up).

I don’t think it will be the Archons so much as Celestia and the Heavenly Principles that is in the wrong (but even then…), which the Archons are just as much subject to as anyone else. Though I’m sure the Archons took part in mass murder, I’m pretty convinced that by the time they were called to step in it was more of a mercy kill/necessary to stop something from spreading (which it was widespread, seeing as Inazuma, Mondstadt (via Durin), and the Chasm were all under attack at the time of the cataclysm). Which, not great, but still not the same as pointless slaughter.

Yes! I do fully believe that the Archons had to either do what they did at the Cataclysm or face the wrath of Celestia. We know from Sal Vindagnyr, Enkanomiya, Chasm, etc, what happens when Celestia feels threatened. Again, Ei's circumstances fully support the whole fear of the Heavenly Principles + Celestia.

And you're right, there isn't anything we can say here to condone the fact that there was a mass murder + the cursing of Khaenri'ans (but the latter is Celestia's doing, not the Archons) and it could be as you say, a coup de grace from further suffering.

But of COURSE the victims of something terrible like that will despise who did it, no matter why. Like if a zombie plague started in your hometown and then it was nuked to stop it from spreading, you probably wouldn’t like the people who nuked your home and family no matter why. Like why didn’t they try to help? Why didn’t they look for another option? No one likes being the ‘the price’ for the greater good.

Yup, and the new Archon Quest Interlude confirms this (I'd go into detail on this but spoilers. Perhaps I'll come back to it when we're deeper into the new update). The Archons must bear the weight basically for something that was not their decision. Perhaps there was "another option" but Celestia wasn't having it, especially in a godless nation.

Though several of the Archons are technically complicit in whatever the Cryo Archon is up to, even if they aren’t directly involved. Most of them did just hand over their Gnosis either to clean their hands of fault if it goes under, the Fatui are actually that big of a threat and they don’t want to be targets (unlikely), they don’t care and also don’t like Celestia, or because they backup what ever her end goal is (if maybe not the means, seeing as the means /are/ severely messed up).

The Gnosis situation confuses me. On one hand, you had Venti's ripped out by force by Signora (and therein, the countless theories that Venti let it happen, which is an entire post in itself), but then the other Archons give it up freely (as freely as a contract, bargain to save the Traveler's life and an exchange for knowledge is...) as if it will not cause them pain. We don't see the Archons weakened by this (and if someone believes Venti saying he's the weakest, well, that again is an entire post in itself because Barbatos is... an enigma...) and they're not... angry about it.

The Fatui's means is why I cannot support the whole "the Fatui are actually the good guys" theory, because why do things like Osial in Liyue, incite war in Inazuma, the incident at Tatarasuna, etc? It doesn't make sense to me. I have a theory myself about these incidents that stem more on the lines of trying to deviate from the Cryo Archon's actual goal, which is the Gnosis. Perhaps these events serve to be out in the open while the taking of the Gnosis goes unnoticed except by the Traveler and close companions to the Archons (like Yae is to Ei). Perhaps Celestia will focus more on the Fatui's actions rather than realizing the true reasons behind them.

Between the attempt to make Scara a God, that's one thing that should have definitely alerted Celestia, but it didn't. I can think of other instances where Celestia would have been alerted or should have which again, is why the Gnosis stuff confuses me.

The Traveler & those companions know what the Gnosis are, but not the people of each Archon's nation, if that makes sense. Still, if there is some truth to that, it's still barbaric to cause such events.

[kitsunesfandomtime]

His Escape From Hell - Ch 3

Characters: Yoichi Shigaraki, Second One for all User, Third One for all user, All for One (Hisashi Shigaraki), Original Characters

Relationship: All for One & Yoichi, Minor Second User / Yoichi

Warnings: Hallucination, Distrust, Acts of Violence

Summary: Sequel to Treasure Vault. Yoichi has escaped the vault with the help of these rebel forces but he is still suffering the trauma and effects of the vault. He refuses to let that stop him, one way or another even if no one on his side. He has a goal he wishes to achieve.

Among the vigilantes there was a stir.

It was bound to become an issue the moment some of their men figured out who Yoichi was. It started with whispers, hush words, no actual confirmation because no one truly knows this fact. They are desperate for a scapegoat to fulfill their desires for closure as the man they wish to strike at is too far to take down. Though what was not expected were the drastic changes that occurred to speed up the duress.

Because it seems while many could have sympathy none could be alarmed with what was happening around Japan. Along with the knowledge of the very trigger living among those that could be trusted with this fact.

"I didn't know we were flirting with DEATH here," a young woman shouts usually a calm and collected lady who was a valuable member. A spy who knew how to charm and dazzle even the most hard headed fool. Her hair was a bright purple as flowers seemed to blossom from her hair. A trait she only showed when agitated and something she had kept hidden despite her odd colors until it happened.

She had lost her family in the crossfires and became disillusioned with society with a burning hatred for All for One. "I know you guys can be softies but why the hell would you try to pretend you didn't make us an even bigger target then the government!? He isn't some RANDOM ass refugee he is that monster's brother!"

Gearshift wasn't at all surprised by this as his second in command, Fa Jin, was clearly trying to get her to calm down.

"Iris, we know this is very risky but we can't just throw him out into the streets you didn't see the state he was in. Also you're sprouting again," Fa Jin points out knowing that if she doesn't stop now there's going to be enough for a bouquet if not a whole garden.

The rebel leader watched as she very quickly tries to yank the flowers out of her hair. Annoyance is clear on her face as she takes a sharp breath trying to regain her composure. Her hand moving to press her index and thumb to the bridge of her nose.

"Oh sure, you guys are suddenly super heroes now when it comes to the ONE guy that is likely going to be the death of us," she hisses and Gearshift can admit that it likely seemed suicidal to take in this one. There have been many times they have taken lives but this was different.

"So we should just kill everyone that happens to have once been affiliated with All for One? Have we stooped that low?" Gearshift questions with an almost cold demeanor watching her tense a bit. Her red eyes looked at him with anger at saying such things but someone needed to. They needed to draw a line.

"That's not- Look. I'm not saying kill him or something, but clearly by taking him in something has gone very wrong," she speaks as she takes out something from her bag. Dropping a stack of papers and photos making sure to spread it out to show exactly what needed to be seen.

"I saw the bastard suddenly buddying up with some government officials at a bar. We also have intel that he stopped casually mass murdering and is having his men take ours alive. I shudder to know why. SOMETHING is going on and this all happened after you took HIM in," she points out. As it was a drastic change everything wasn't at all like All for One at all and the two actually glanced at each other.

"We would have been fine if it seemed like he didn't care about the guy but clearly it was enough to become a completely different person," she reiterates. They all had assumed that All for One wouldn't give a shit about Yoichi. After finding Yoichi in the state he was in many would have assumed he wouldn't care if he died.

"It definitely seems like a trigger," Fa Jin noted as they can't claim it's a coincidence. As the man who was once was prancing about all kind's of evil and debauchery was now changing from swaths of evil to truly showing a terrifying level of intelligence.

Though they have no idea what the man could possibly be doing working with the government or taking their men in. It was disturbing to think of what such a twisted person was thinking.

"It mean's he's taking us seriously and is trying to make sure no one interferes," Gearshift finally spoke up. His eyes narrowed thinking carefully knowing there was no going back as they were always going to end up in conflict with him. Though to think could so drastically change his mindset...

Another of the members that came to them finally began to speak up. A demure mouse like quirked fellow, Reigan, who is always their ear to the wall. Unlike Iris who talked to those that are above he listened to those in the streets, "If we use him as bait then we could have the advantage..."

Impossible to even consider.

"We took a risk once with negotiations with all he wanted was for us to submit like I said. It's why we went with planting a bug on him and it how we got all our weapon cache," Gearshifts speaks firmly knowing the man likely thinks if he plays too boldly his brother will die. Thus why is playing coy it wasn't a threat just yet, "We aren't giving up the only thing we have that will give him pause nor are we using him. He's our ally that's final, and make sure to keep this knowledge to only us."

It would be a disaster if more people learned who he is as Yoichi hasn't exactly told them any good information to help convince others that he is on their side. They only accept it because they think he's an AFO refugee that changed his ways rather then someone of that importance.

There is likely a much deeper issue between the brothers despite Yoichi seeming earnest. But even still having good faith is in limited supply and there are many who might want to settle for hurting All for One's brother.

People can't help but misdirect their anger at the closest thing.

Despite the small group not seeming content with his answer they did leave them be. Fa Jin waited until they were gone and the door closed to give them privacy he loudly groans. As this honestly was a mess.

"I'm sorry since when did the mass murdering psychopath decid teaming up with the GOVERNMENT was worth it!? And I'm horrified to imagine what he is doing to our men in this very moment," he speaks as while stayed calm this honestly was not the expected result. Their men were willing to die for their cause not whatever THIS is.

"Regardless, we already chosen this path and eventually he was going to see us as a threat. We just didn't anticipate him working with those he hated the most," he admits. If they had killed Yoichi then he imagines they would have gotten the erratic and more violent outburst they expected.

It was a premeditated strategy to take advantage of a man who pretends to have no weakness. Many had lost their families to him and it only natural they learned the hypocrite was hiding his own they would attack. To destabilize him as he learns of the grief that he has inflicted on so many others.

However, they had expected some spoiled brat living in luxury not someone trapped in a jail cell looking like he wished for death. They may have killed but they had no intentions of murdering those in need of help.

"Hey leader focus," Fa Jin speaks up firmly with a snap of his finger to make Gearshift straighten up. "We probably can't leave him alone though he's recovering he's basically a twig and easy target. Especially if he wants to train who knows who might just jump to association even with no confirmed identity."

Right. They said he was allowed to train with the rebels however if the other members were to learn not only that they did obtain All For One's brother but that he's here not as a hostage but recruit. It will not end well even if they explain having Yoichi dead would be worse then him staying alive.

"I'll keep a personal eye on him," Gearshift knows no one would try anything with him around. "He's still seems to be suffering nightmares and jumping at shadows. Might do him good not to be left alone anyway at least for a little while."

A snort escaped his second in command the way the other was grinning seemed almost mischievous, "Wow, he's getting special treatment? Maybe we have gone soft if our leader willing to do babysitting duty."

This earned him a harsh punch in the arm. "OW! Why!? It was a joke and that actually hurt you, bastard!"

He didn't even entertain a response as he knows why though he did enjoy the reaction. It's something you can only do with someone you trust.

"I'll go meet with him now then," Gearshift is assuming the other was fine with this arrangement. It was just until they are sure Yoichi can fend for himself and right now he should be getting checked by the doctor to see what he can do.

-----

Yoichi hated check ups.

It reminded him of the many doctors visits he had to do when he was young. Constant prodding and all the adults always had these worried expressions as if he would die any second.

Though he is more then aware this doctor is completely voluntary because of his condition its only with gritted teeth he can even tolerate any touch.

"Your blood pressure is still quite high but you finally gained enough weight that some light workout could do you some good now," the doctor noted. Yoichi can't even look at the man's face still rubbing the arm the pressure band had been on.

"There are other concerning factors tho-" As the doctor was about to talk about the condition he already knew Yoichi cuts him off.

"I don't care. Just let me be cleared so I can be useful," Yoichi speaks firmly as honestly despite initially being rattled he was starting to get comfortable again. The leaders may be a bit cautious about giving their names but if he can just show them-

The doctor sighs interrupting Yoichi's thoughts as the man takes off his glasses and looks at him intently.

"I'll give you the clear if you promise to pace yourself. We can't have you dropping dead because you pushed yourself too far," he speaks firmly. "I'm someone that swore an oath to help people its why I'm risking my life throwing my lot with them. Not to slap a bandaid and claim you're fine with a open wound even if you can't see it yourself."

Yoichi almost wants to snap that he doesn't give a crap about some stupid oath the other made. He has already been told enough about what he can and can't do his teeth clenched tight to will himself not to speak. He hates being a burden unable to do anything when people are getting hurt.

"So what I'm hearing is he's available to start some training?" A voice emerges behind him and Yoichi jumps to his feet with a start. Just in time to see Gearshift standing at the door entrance. Does he just always lean against doorframes to look cool?

"Technically yes, but it will have to be a very light work out. His bones lost quite a bit of density honestly it's amazing he isn't worst then he is from the starvation and isolation," the doctor notes as he goes on his computer not seeming interested in arguing anymore. Yoichi wished he had that kind of influence everyone just seems to listen to the man without a thought. Just like everyone listened to Hisashi.

No, don't think about him not now.

But he ain't looking a gift horse in the mouth if that means he can do something willing to accept this help. He can already feel his brother hovering behind him as if to ask why he accepts this man's help but not his own brother's. Ignore it he isn't real.

"If that's all then Yoichi lets get you some work out attire," Gearshift was quick to cut to the chase and Yoichi was quick to stand up. It was kind of exciting that he was going to work with the very hero that saved his life. They really did bond quite a bit last night though the other's demeanor today seemed a bit different.

Now that he thinks about it despite them talking about things like comics and all that he never got the others name. At this point he must be trusted enough to at least get that much. So likely he just forgot.

"Hey," Yoichi was quick to walk to Gearshift's side straightening himself up as he walked with him. Noticing some odd looks from some of the rebels who seemed to be on edge. He tries to ignore them they weren't important.

"You know my name but you never gave me yours. So what is it?" Yoichi points out as he moves in just a hint closer as they walk together. Able to easily ignore the vigilantes looks as they walked to the supply closet.

"You must be in a better mood if this chatty today," the leader noted but it was said in a much more amusing tone. Clearly enjoying the fact wasn't a shaky and paranoid mess. Though he has himself to thank for that since he did his hardest to make sure Yoichi was comfortable.

"Are you avoiding the question?" Yoichi reiterates with a small smile though the others expression turns away as he goes to grab some clothing from the closet.

"It's not really all that important if anything your brother probably already knows it by now," Gearshifts noted making Yoichi tense just a hint at the mention of his brother knowing it. A part of him was about to ask then why he kept it secret only for the other to continue, "Call me Kaiji."

Yoichi decided maybe it wasn't worth it to question the others caution unsure if that is the others real name or just throwing him a bone. After all, Yoichi still can't bring himself to fully sell out his own brothers identities.

"Kaiji... That's an odd name," Yoichi muses earning a baffled look from the rebel leader who clearly wants to ask what he means. But he snatches the uniform from the others hand once he has grabbed it with a cheerful chime in his voice. "Let's get to training, my hero."

They both decided in that moment that it was probably best not to ask for the things in their minds.

---------

Unfortunately, hidden truths can't keep you safe forever.

Though he had been training with Gearshift he very quickly realized this was 'special' treatment. As others had a much more intense regime under the second in command, whose names he still hasn't received. It was easy to ignore the occasional odd looks thankfully. It was something he learned when he used to not be a prisoner of his brother. Hold your head high and act like you belong.

However, he never suspected the hatred they would feel for him until he left to explore outside the base and ended up being seen by a vigilante.

"So he DOES exist! And here I thought the man recused was a ghost story," It was a loud voice before suddenly someone stepped in front of him blocking his path. Yoichi doesn't look up just letting out a sigh wondering what he wanted as the man continued, "The hell kind of quirk you have to make our leader protect your scrawny ass?"

Yoichi isn't exactly sure why it was such a big deal to this guy but knew better then to show fear. Even if was a bit startled at this man coming out of no where to bother him. Already feeling himself getting defensive even if was honestly just trying to mediate.

"Does it matter? I'm part of the rebels like you are I mean no harm," he speaks as if has no idea about his own affiliation with All for One. Even he wasn't so stupid as to think every one of the Vigilantes would be alright with him. Though he's sure the other doesn't know who he is.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Turns out some people don't need to know who you are to make assumptions about you.

He's going to kill you.

Those words suddenly snapped him out of his defense as he looked up at the man finally. A large scar was over the man's expression twisted into a sneer and a special kind of hatred.

He did not have time to correct his mistake. Only able to let out a harsh wheeze when he was slammed hard against the wall.

"You look a lot like that bastard," the man sneered proving that despite never revealing himself the other had suspicion. Burns was all over the side of this man's head crawling to his arm burnt and still looking mishappen, "Are you looking down on me? All for One burned half my face and left me alive as a warning, telling me to crawl back here. And yet they are keeping you here rent free!"

Did you really think the rebels would all think you're a victim like those soft touched leaders? Oh poor foolish Yoichi...

His brother was there. Just watching him as if wanting Yoichi to beg to be saved but he isn't there. He knows he isn't, and even as he can feel his gaze on him he tries to ignore him. His own hands grasping at this man's grip as he can see his assailant about to rev up another punch.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Don't apologize to others, you haven't done a thing.

SHUT UP. Yoichi curses in his own head as he shuts his eyes already expecting the punch able to see the man just about too. Only to feel the hold on his shirt being yanked off making him fall on his ass. Making him hiss in pain as he wondered what had just happened.

"F-Fa Jin! It's not what it looked like-!" It took a minute but Yoichi looked up just in time to see the second in command stepping between him. Able to just barely see the man was holding the guys arm in a frankly painful looking manner.

"So it didn't look like you were about to misdirect your anger on a fellow refugee of All for One? Because we haven't got the big man?" He speaks with sarcasm clearly not buying what was said as he shoves the man away. Making sure to emphasize his words, "Look we are all on edge but taking it out on him because he's an easy target isn't going to make it better only more difficult. We still have a chance just trust that."

Once again Yoichi needed someone else to save him, some hero he is.

As the man grits his teeth he turns to look at Yoichi clearly still wanting to do more but eventually knowing it wasn't worth it. Wondering since when did his brother start maiming people so personally as a threat. Knowing he usually just killed his enemies with a power or made other people 'do it' for him while claiming has no control.

Has his brother gotten worse?

It's only to be expected when you abandon someone. What's the point in caring now?

His brother's voice sounded almost like his own. Was there actually something he should have done before he left? What is happening now that he is gone? Was his brother truly gone? It's so hard to breath

"Yo, Yoichi snap out of it! You're hyperventalating!" A voice snaps him out as he feels hands on his shoulder forcing him to stare up at the second in command. Whose grip wasn't as tight as expected clearly just trying to get him to focus. "Breathe or if needed maybe stand up."

It was clear the other had no idea how to handle whatever the hell was happening to Yoichi.

"What... What is happening with my brother?" His voice was weak as he tries to get his breathing under control. Concern and worry clear on his face wanting to know exactly what other atrocities his brother has committed. He can't pretend he needs to know what is happening.

There is a flash of guilt on the man's face as he rubs the back of his neck. His eyes looking away clearly realizing he couldn't keep this secret.

"Guess it was bound to become apparent especially if serious about helping us," he mutters. Standing up he holds out his hand for Yoichi to take and Yoichi stares at it memories of his brother and the second holding out that hand merged in his mind. But he swallows it as he takes it.

"Please, I need to know."

Even if he might not like the answer.

------------------

The pictures of his brother were like staring at a stranger. The smile with a hint of joy and the coat he wore with such joy was gone. He recognized that suit when his brother worked in a company, day in and day out. Went from orphans on the street to forging documents to find a good decent job that he despised. Miserable, tired, almost broke every day before finally he changed suddenly.

Yoichi isn't sure when his brother started his criminal activity only that he began to smile and declare he was free. And the weird coincidence that the company he worked for eventually seemed to have mysteriously caught on fire...

A suit that seemed to hold him in place, his hair had been cut short, shaking hands with the very government he despised with a smile that was hollow. The death tolls were no longer massive instead it seemed as if he was absorbing them. As if somehow is able to convince the rebels he captures to sell them out.

But it was Hisashi's eyes that he focused on.

There was no joy. It was the same eyes he'd seen after his brother worked a job he despised from the bottom of his heart. Yet plastered on with a smile that might as well be baring his teeth mistaken as cordial.

"We were planning to tell you since it does involve you," they had gotten Kaiji here for this meeting. The tension with the rebels was becoming palatable. So they had no intention of hiding but they didn't expect how quickly it would become a problem.

"Do you have any idea what he is doing? He went from never wanting to deal with the government to now being seen making deals and having beer with them like it a afternoon buisiness drink," Fa Jin was once again asking for Yoichi to tell them something. Anything about his brother as now it was becoming something serious and they are still in the dark.

Yoichi clenches his fist as he grabs one of the pictures into his hand shaking just a bit as he tries to match the picture he was seeing with the brother in his head. But he knew his brother was always capable of it and he had always called him out on it. That he didn't have to go the death and destruction route but now it seemed he was listening.

"Ha..." A small broken laugh escaped Yoichi as he looked at the picture, "...He's treating it like a serious buisiness now planning to expand and make sure the rebels are killed off or converted to put pressure on you guys. He's doing this so you guys will be forced to betray, throw me out or use me as a bargaining chip."

It was cruel. Because the worst part of this... Yoichi has no way of trusting that they could actually keep him around.

"So you're telling me. The guy who threw you in a vault, starved you, and mentally tortured you- Is that willing to work with his worse enemies to get you?"

If Yoichi is honest he's just more surprised at how quickly his brother changed in that short time frame. He hates the way his brother looks knowing his brother hated being the businessman even if he was great at it. He had been happy despite being a nut case despite Yoichi not wishing to admit it but this, this was terrifyingly wrong.

"You do realize that means by joining us you will have the biggest target on your head right?" They were worried about him, "We can train you but if he plans a specific assault and we are unprepared we might not be able to protect you-"

Yoichi had to cut him off as if he needed to defend his honor. Did they think he was scared of his brother!? Because he sure as hell isn't, "I don't care! I refuse to submit to that bastard like some dog with my tail between my legs!"

It was about to escalate. Fa Jin's face turned red with frustration as if Yoichi wasn't really understanding the risks he was about to take. Only for Kaiji to finally step in by just standing up making them both look at him.

"Sanzou that's enough leave us for a minute," it was unexpected when Yoichi heard an actual name instead of the man's quirk. His green eyes widened as he looked at 'Sanzou' the expression of concern on the man's face said it all. Kaiji was going to say something Yoichi wasn't going to like.

"Kaiji. I know you like him you don't have to ruin that. I am ok with being the bad guy you don't-" he speaks as if Yoichi was being interrogated. One that needed to be handled with a good cop and bad cop manner.

"Go." It seemed the leader was done being soft toward him.

Sanzou looked between Yoichi then at Kaiji clearly unsure about leaving but after a few moments. He groans looking almost frustrated.

"Fine. Whatever you handle this but reel in yourself!" he shouts before leaving glancing back for a second only to receive a glare from Kaiji. Yoichi suddenly felt a strong sense of dread as he tenses himself up for what is to come.

"Yoichi, what I'm about to ask you will likely seem cruel but it something we need to know if going to let you join," The others red eyes stared him down making Yoichi feel so small as he lets the silence hang in the air. Yoichi refuses to back down straightening himself up to meet the others gaze. He wasn't a victim.

He can handle this.

"Will you be capable of killing All for One?" And yet those words still hit him like he had been shoved under cold water. It was like this light air of brief joy Yoichi had obtained came crumbling down. Those red eyes staring intently into his own as it asks these questions that they likely knew.

That Yoichi has already answered once even as the voice in his head exclaimed him a liar.

"No," those words hung heavily in the air as Yoichi stared him down, "I want to save him because he isn't a monster yet I still have a chance."

And Yoichi knows he is a fool for it. Able to see his heroes expression shift to something else and he knew...

"There is no saving that man, no one has that kind of power."

That his desires were not for reality.

[masschase]

for the ask meme (for matt and casey): general - 8, love - 9, domestic - 9

Ship ask meme

General - 8- Who gets jealous easier?

So this is one of the things where we see some serious character development in Casey with regards to the two different points in time I write her in my fic. In 2016 she seems a little jealous of Matt and Viola (she has no clue Viola is a lesbian) and extremely jealous of her future self, with regards to the way Matt talks about her/has to go back to her but also everything else she believes is right in her future self's life. 2022 Casey is internally even more jealous as her feelings towards Matt are a lot stronger than the past self that's been fooling around with him for a few days. But she's much better at controlling it so she doesn't seem as bad.

There's also a slightly different dynamic when we look at when Matt was involved with Asha. It's a running plot point that Casey gets uncomfortable around things she can't have, hence the frequency of teasing, making vomit noises etc. despite the assurance she hopes it all works out for them. When you look at how enthusiastically she cheers on other couples, it's clear something is different.

Matt, too, acts casual about it but confirms that he does get quite jealous when he sees the way she dances with Pierce and so on. But he has this firm "she's not mine" mentality so he's a little more chill about it.

I think once they're in a relationship, he'd have far more instances of slight jealousy due to the way people interact with her, but she'd feel far more jealous if she had cause to, so overall I'd say that makes her the jealous one.

Love - 9- What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

God they're terrible for this 🤣

Casey consistently calls Matt "Matty" from that moment I've discussed before onwards where he assures her about how it kind of heals his trauma around Killbane. Before they're in a relationship that's only really when they're alone. Once they're together she uses it more freely in front of the others as well as the standard sweetie and baby. She uses all three of these a lot because she has that tendency to use people's names a lot when she's talking to them.

She will sometimes call him Miller when trying to keep things professional or when they have a work dispute and he will call her Boss/Emperor for the same reasons. Sometimes she straight up calls him Matt Miller usually in a vaguely alluring tone. Nyte Blayde is even more effective.

He's one of few people allowed to call her Cassandra (she just likes how it sounds in a British accent) and if he's using it teasingly she will often call him Matthew in return.

His main nickname for her is Cass and he doesn't use pet names as frequently as she does  but he uses a wider array of terms of endearment than she does. Babe/baby, sweetie, my darling, love/my love, cutest little mass murderer ever, blondie. Oh and princess but only in the bedroom...

In deliberately cheesy moments, the words "cyber god" and "gang boss goddess" may have been used 🤦🏼

Basically, anything *but* thier usual names will suffice 🤣

Domestic - 9- Who’s the better cook?

Matt by a fucking mile, and he's not even like *amazing*, he's just standard level can make half-decent pasta, burgers, quesadillas, shepherd's pie etc. but Casey is laughably bad in the kitchen so to her he's amazing. Even before they were together she called his pasta "That Italian restaurant shit.'. He definitely teaches her some stuff once they're together but for the most part he cooks and she cleans up afterwards.

I do still think it's super cute (some would say contrived but these "some" sound like haters to me) that pecan pie, the one thing Casey can cook thanks to her sister's very simple recipe and the fact it doesn't matter too much if it's burnt, just so happens to be Matt's favourite pie though. He's not really one for baking but I'm sure in time he'll learn to whip up a good lemon meringue in return. :)

[blue-howlite]

Right so now we rambling on Fyodor because that bitch really is something else.

I need to put order in my head but it's not easy when all I have is parallels between Dostoevskij's books and BSD Fyodor's actions.

Let's start by the latter.

So, one of the latest chapters basically confirmed that he can't kill ability users and so his ability only allows him to kill 'normal' people. This alone contains probably the biggest reference to the book Crime and Punishment, where the protagonist believes in a separation between people: the super humans and the mass, the insects. Super humans' actions are always justified (one example of super human the protagonist proposed was Napoleone Bonaparte, someone everyone in Europe at the time knew about) even when they involve killing. In particular the protagonist tries to find out if he's one of the super humans by killing someone he determined was from the mass, an old woman he defines a "pest".

So you can clearly see the parallel here: Fyodor's ability can't kill other 'superhumans' but he can kill 'insects'.

But what were Dostoevskij's thoughts on this idea, the concept of super humans?

As someone who read some of his books I can say: he didn't believe in that.

Every time a character from Dostoevskij's stories tries to be above others, they end up badly. Crime and Punishment is the clearest example, but The brothers Karamazov can also be considered an example of that (Ivan suggests that in a world with no God everything is allowed, which is basically putting humans above divinity; then one of his brothers thinks of putting his idea into action and things go not so well for him, not just as punishment for a murder but also, if you will, as a punishment for thinking he was above the person he killed and had the right to do so; this might sound like a stretch but once you rotate the idea in your head for a bit you'll see what I'm talking about). In The Idiot, the protagonist, even though in a positive way, acts and behaves in a way that puts him above others, and if you read the story you know it doesn't end well. Even in White nights (is that the English title? I hope so) the protagonist isolates himself by daydreaming and says things that make you understand that he puts himself on a different plane from others; again, he doesn't have his happy ending.

So Dostoevskij really didn't believe in the idea of someone being above others.

We, in Bungou Stray Dogs, find this concept in Fyodor's desire to rid the world of abilities. It might seem like an action dictated by his god complex (and it probably is), but it's in fact how Fyodor thinks things should be. Even if it means not having his ability as an advantage against normal humans, Fyodor wants a world where no human is born superior to others, where no super humans exist. Super humans in fact don't exist in his vision and he wants to make that vision effective.

Of course this is also a plot device to make Atsushi (we keep forgetting he is the protagonist) think about his ability once again and the possibility to get rid of it. Because come on that's where this is pointing plot wise.

[arale2126]

[Analysis] Elle (2016)

WARNING: This analysis contains spoilers. 

Elle is directed by Paul Verhoeven, based on the French novel Oh by Philippe Dijan, starring Isabelle Huppert. Watching the film gives the feeling of listening to an atonal piece of music. You may think you can predict where the piece would go but then it does not. The same can be said about Elle. It bamboozles the audience with swerve after swerve of genre: it starts as a thriller, which then gives space for a familial comedy; at a later point, more elements of a detective mystery are written in; sandwiched in between are a psycho-sexual drama and a melodramatic slice-of-life. This film could easily become a convoluted mess but it does not since at the center holding everything together is Michèle, the film's charismatic main character. 

Even though the film incorporates plenty of genres, the film still has a central theme: without the masks they put on to seem well-adjusted in front of others, humans are all monsters - a gorgeously misanthropic outlook on human nature. Indeed, the film spends most of its runtime exploring the monstrous, shameful things every character does underneath the facade they put on. A snippet of a conversation between Michèle and her mother, Irène, sums up the movie’s theme really well:

Irène: He’s just a man. (about Michèle’s father, who is a mass murderer)

Michèle: Who happens to be a monster.

As the film's main character, Michèle is the one who helps the theme transpire. Michèle is a fascinating multi-dimensional character and Huppert embodies her effortlessly. She manages to bring out the contradictory aspects of the character with a breeze. Huppert’s Michèle is full of flaws and shameless but at the same time, charismatic and fascinating. Although she first appears powerless, throughout the film, she exudes nothing but control and power. Her actions make the audience gasp due to its controversial nature but they cannot help being captivated by her, admiring her and as the result, rooting for her. You can love her or hate her but one thing for sure, she will keep you interested from beginning to end.

It can be said that Elle is a character-driven film. It keeps the audience hooked not by the story, but rather, the larger-than-life personality of its main character. They have to keep asking: What will this woman do next? How will she fascinate us next? Therefore, to understand the film, one must analyze its main character, Michèle. Her personality is shown through her interactions with other characters. Towards men and her mother, she showcases her dominance over them and distrust in them. She treats them with quiet exasperated toleration. With the men around her, she has the extra task of handling their emotional needs and fragility. In return to being the shepherd for others, Michèle treats them as objects, to be manipulated and exploited for her own good. 

Irène: What would you say if I remarried?

Michèle: It’s simple, I’d kill you. No need to think.

 In Michèle’s eyes, Irène - her mother, is a burden. Her mother uses Michèle’s money to give them to her lovers and plastic surgery. She also sees Irène as an emotionally manipulative person, and distrusts her as Irène used to dramatize things for attention. When Irène actually has a stroke, only until Michèle hears the confirmation from the doctor does she believe her mother is not faking it and actually faces death. In addition, Irène disregards Michèle’s thoughts and feelings. Michèle only tolerates Irène because it is her mother. Overall, the relationship between the two women is tense. 

Georges Le Blanc is Michèle’s father. He is a mass murder who went on a killing spree in the neighborhood, murdering 27 people. Afterwards, he returned home and burnt everything with Michèle, who was 10 years old at the time. In the aftermath, reporters snapped a photo of Michèle with empty eyes and ever since, she was considered a psychopath, just like her father. Michèle considers her father “a monster” and herself as a victim of Georges. She has spent her entire life fearing him and getting away from his haunting shadow. One of her fears is becoming like her father so she puts great efforts in distancing herself from him, both physically and mentally. She is not much of a Catholic. She cares for her son and does not treat him like how her father treated her. She does not resort to killing people uncontrollably even though she can injure them gravely. 

However, as the curse of blood goes, she still takes after her father’s lurking violence and immorality. She would do whatever to please herself, even if it was at the expense of others. She seduces her married neighbor and sleeps with her best friend’s husband. She is abrasive towards other people and has a tendency to treat them as disposable; however, at the same time, she is possessive of them, be it her ex-husband, her son or her best friend. This contrast creates a really toxic dynamic in which Michèle tosses and turns others as she pleases. 

The relationship between Michèle and her parents provides an explanation and insights into Michèle’s personality. It seems that her nonchalant facade and closed-off personality are her defense mechanisms for self-preservation due to the actions of her parents. The two figures who should be the ones to protect betrays her, only bringing her trauma and problems. Because of her father’s murders and its aftermath, Michèle grows to distrust authority, police, reporters in particular and people in general. She builds a wall around herself to hide everything about her, her light-hearted side, her dark impulses, and especially her vulnerability. She is obsessed with being in control because she needs to build herself up after the tragedies brought upon her. 

There is a discrepancy of empathy for Georges between Irène and Michèle. Irène still regards him as a human while Michèle sees him as a monster. Her mother continuously pressures Michèle to go visit Georges as he grows old and ill, completely refusing to see things from Michèle’s point of view. Eventually, Michèle decides to go visit her father in prison. However, against her mother’s wishes, it is not to forgive and reconcile with him but to “spit him in the face”. She also prepares nine bullet points to talk to him and given their relationship, those words cannot be nice. At the prison, the warden tells her that her father had committed suicide and Michèle asks him when he was told about her visit. The answer reveals that he killed himself because he knew his daughter would come. The last thing Michèle says to her father’s body is: “I killed you by coming here.” She delivers the line with her usual nonchalance yet it is filled with quiet triumph. At the end of the film, Michèle does not erase the profanity on her father’s plaque and only puts flowers on her mother’s. This shows that she does not forgive and forget. 

To other men in Michèle’s life, she is the one who takes care of their emotional needs and fragility, as well as material needs. However, given that the one who takes care of you is who has power over you, she still asserts domination over them. It can be said that through caring for others, Michèle dictates their lives. This dominion gives Michèle free range to treat people as disposable and toys to play with, knowing no matter how badly she treats them, they still need her. At the same time, Michèle is also really possessive to those same people. It is like how a tyrant needs subjects to rule over. 

The first example is Richard, Michèle’s ex-husband. He is a writer with a lack of self-esteem and in need of validation. The film hints that Michèle has a background in publishing, which means that she must have helped Richard with his career. Later in the film, Michèle also appoints an employee to hear Richard’s pitch of a new game. Although they are divorced due to Richard hitting her, Michèle is still jealous of his new relationship and seeks revenge by putting a toothpick inside his new girlfriend’s food. 

The second example is Michèle’s male staff. Michèle is the head of a game company with a majority of male staff. They are intimidated by her and prone to be defiant to her criticism due to her being a woman in a male-dominated field. One of them, Kurt, hates Michèle because she constantly and mercilessly criticizes him, even if she was right. He casts doubt upon Michèle’s professionalism in game design even though her company has released successful games before. Kevin, another employee, insults Michèle in front of the entire company even though he shows his likeness to her. The male staff, whether they love her or hate her, still harms Michèle in one way or another. However, with a simple compliment, she keeps Kurt under her thumb. It is only that vindictive after being berated so often. Kevin is allowed to stay but only when he agrees to submit to Michèle’s authority. As mentioned, no matter how badly she treats them, they still need her. 

Nowhere does this duality of carer - controller more clearly shown than the relationship between Michèle and her son, Vincent. She is the one who pays for his expenses such as rent, car, and so on, as well as giving him jobs. She still has to placate Vincent’s irresponsibility and childishness. However, she is obviously not happy doing so. She tolerates her son like she tolerates her mother - he is a nuisance that she cannot shrug off. 

Michèle: You realize having a child is all about suffering. Vincent’s birth was sheer hell. Torture. Three hours of agony. 

Michèle is not maternal towards Vincent. She views motherhood as neither joyful nor meaningful. She does not pretend that it brings her happiness or fulfillment. Michèle openly despises Vincent, criticizing him to his face, sometimes in front of others. He is the summation of everything she dislikes. Vincent is a retail worker who has dubious work ethics while Michèle is the head of a successful game company. He is rather dumb and an airhead while Michèle is cunning and calculating. He is a carpet for people to trample on while Michèle dictates and makes people submit, him included. 

Though Michèle berates Vincent often, she is still possessive of him. When Vincent was born, Anna - Michèle’s best friend, also gave birth to her own child. However, Anna’s child died at birth. Anna then asked to breastfeed Vincent and Michèle agreed. As he grows up, Vincent has a better relationship with Anna, which makes Michèle jealous. She harbors that jealousy then as she does now. 

It seems that Michèle savors how Vincent always runs back to her, no matter how harsh she is towards him. A lot of reviewers only focus on how incompetent Vincent is but in the end, he is actually the one who saves Michèle. The relationship between Michèle and Vincent mirrors that of Michèle and Irène; though Michèle is harsh to her mother, she does not abandon Irène when the latter is ill. It is true, as Irène says, “Some bonds never break.”

Michèle’s duality of carer - controller is taken to a satirical extreme in her relationship with her and Patrick - at first, the married neighbor whom Michèle wants to seduce and later revealed, the masked rapist at the beginning of the film. The depiction of this relationship is the most controversial aspect about Elle. Taking it as literal, it is easy to label the film misogynistic. However, that claim stands up to a lot of challenges. 

The first counterpoint is that men are not depicted favorably in Elle. The film shows that, “See, all men are rapists.” All the male characters in the film are under suspicion for the crime shown at the beginning of the film. All of them are shown as the potential perpetrator because they have motive to do so to Michèle. The men around Michèle are either pathetic, fragile and childish like Kurt, Kevin, Richard, Vincent or downright monsters, like Patrick and Georges. They are all just disappointment and Michèle treats them all like disposable trash. They are only allowed to benefit from her so long as they submit to and serve Michèle.

The second counterpoint is that the dynamic scale of the relationship between Michèle and Patrick tips to the former flavor. After Michèle is raped, she remains composed and resumes with her everyday life as if that incident did not matter, was a mere trivial inconvenience. She does not let it define her or dictate how she would live her life. Michèle is completely nonchalant. 

Later, Michèle buys a bottle of pepper spray, an axe and later a gun to protect herself. She is also determined to find who the rapist is, even using illegal means. She is out to seek vengeance and this is the closest to anger she shows.

Michèle then enters a cat-and-mouse game of seduction with Patrick. It is critical to remember that Michèle already has eyes on Patrick before discovering that he is the rapist she is looking for. Her continuing with the game despite the revelation of Patrick’s true identity shows that she may be surprised and accept that she is rather fascinated by someone who can usurp her sexually, something which many of her lovers fail to do. Even so, in this game, Michèle still holds the knife. 

Michèle manipulates Patrick into recreating the rape. When she successfully baits him and shows her willingness, Patrick instantly wilts. He does not know what to do with a woman who owns her sexuality. 

Later, when Michèle gets into an accident, she calls Patrick for help. This shows that he has no power over her whatsoever, despite what he has done. 

Near the end, Michèle has an epiphany: there may be other victims of Patrick. She considers going to the police and puts an end to their relationship. 

When Vincent kills Patrick, Michèle covers her son with the police, not disclosing the cat-and-mouse game they played. In her eyes, a piece of trash is swept out. 

The third counterpoint against the misogynistic claim is that Michèle preserves her bright side for another female character - Anna, her best friend. Anna is the only one who can tease a smile out of her. When Anna finds out that Michèle slept with her husband, she dumps him and remains best friends with Michèle. Their relationship is intact and the ending implies that it may turn romantic. 

Overall, Elle is an intricate film. The more you think about it, the more fascinating it becomes. Tinged with cynical satire and worldview, it is brilliantly acted and compelling. Different genres are seamlessly sewn together and do not clash or become convoluted, an impressive feat. 

[sweetest-devotion]

I genuinely think what Yemen is doing to try and end the Genocide and occupation in Palestine is genuinely beyond the comprehension of the western political and media class. Because it embodies concepts they don't even know the meaning of — real sacrifice, honour, solidarity, community and commitment to a higher cause.

Also fuck the demonizing western Brown Arab Men are Barbaric Terrorists narratives. Fuck your faith in the power of western hegemony, fuck your normalization of the status quo and your demonization of armed resistance. God bless Yemen. God bless the Palestinian resistance. I just don't think enough of us are truly truly grasping the level of unconscionable depravity the non-western world is up against. Shelling a country (without authorization from Congress after stealing tax money to do the same thing) to protect arms supplies to a country (a settler colony) committing Mass Murder and Genocide. This attack just yet confirms that Imperialist nations will mobilize their military might to support Israel’s ongoing Genocide, protect the flow of capitalism AT ALL COSTS and punish any nation that dares to defend Palestine and challenge imperialism.

But hey, they bomb San'aa and then a million show out!!! A milli!!! You can't fuck with people who are running on faith and live with no fear! Glory to Yemen and death to settler regimes! We stand with the fierce open hearted people of Yemen. AmeriKKKanism and Zionism will crumble. Settler colonisers and their empires will crumble.

I just can't enough of them chanting "We don't care, we don't care, we don't care, make it a major world war. We will defend you palestine with our blood and soul" can't get over Yemen saying "Now we are relieved, because we are being bombed like Gaza. We were ashamed of the Palestinian people that they are being bombed and we are not" Can't get over Yemen vowing to continue it's blockage in support of Gaza no matter what. Can't get over Yemen saying "Threatening us with war is like threatening the sick with health" Can't get over them saying "Our morale is stronger and firmer than steel"

Yemen is steadfast. Yemen is heart opened Yemen is love. Bombs? Sanctions? It will only make Yemen more resilient and determined. You can’t defeat this. This is Love in action right here. Heart cracked open brave sacred warriors of peace.

Also if you need further proof that Palestine's liberation is an ARMED STRUGGLE, it's the fact that global "powers" would immediately condemn, attack and sanction you for resisting and defending Palestine, yet are allowing South Africa to take this case to the the International Court of Justice.. They want you to continue relying on their white colonial systems. (even though the ICJ is a great historical powerful move and one more nail in Israel's coffin) They want you to have "faith" in their process and systems they can easily penetrate and manipulate, not the resistance and not your own sovereignty. That's not justice or liberation. It's called mind control and going in circles. Stay sovereign. Stay principled. Support armed resistance. And have faith in liberation at all costs.

A million people marched in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa today, in solidarity with the people of Palestine and in protest against the US-UK strikes on the Yemeni people.

[newnitz]

October 7th Evidence

GENERAL CONTENT WARNING FOR V******E & D**TH. DON'T READ THE SPECIFIC CWS IF YOU'RE TRIGGERED BY MENTIONS RELATED TO THESE. CONTENT WARNING FOR ALL ISRAELI AND JEWISH VIEWERS, WE'VE SEEN THESE TOO MANY TIMES ALREADY.

IF YOU'RE TRIGGERED BUT DOUBT ISRAELI CLAIMS, YOU'VE LOST THE RIGHT TO. SORRY NOT SORRY. WE'VE BEEN TRIGGERED HERE FOR A MONTH STRAIGHT, HAVE WAKING NIGHTMARES AND CAN'T FUNCTION, SO IF YOU CAN'T SO MUCH AS CHECK OUR CLAIMS BEFORE DISMISSING THEM, SHUT UP.

SPECIFIC CONTENT WARNING FOR EXTREME SEXUAL ABUSE(SA), DEATH OF CHILDREN, MUTILATION AND MUTILATION OF CHILDREN AND MASS MURDER.

I'm sick of hearing about the "disinformation". I'm sick of people bringing up the decapitated babies over and over as if it's a lie.

So here are links, all of them to NEUTRAL sources, because you'll all call me a propaganda mouthpiece if I link even a single Israeli article, though honestly, you'll probably call me that anyway, because for most of you, the humanity of Israelis and Jews doesn't exist outside of propaganda.

Source(noted: in light of recent discoveries, Reuters might have pro-Palestinian bias, keep it in mind when reading the news).

FORENSIC EVIDENCE FOR THE DECAPITATED AND BURNT ALIVE BABIES, HERE YOU FUCKING GO.

As for 40? The source of the "rumor" stands by her words, and has something to say.

So it's not just Israeli "propaganda" sources that can confirm the babies were decapitated.

The article goes into depth about what sort of evidence for rape and mutilation they found. TheMediaLine source posted above corroborates these claims in grisly detail, so dismissal is no longer an option.

The video I won't screenshot, as I don't want to push Tumblr's TOS too far, but suffice to say it shows clear evidence of a hostage having survived rape.

And if you doubt more claims on sexual torture and infanticide, here's your proof.

If they were aiming to end the "occupation army", why did they ambush a rave?(title below)

Oh! And as for your claim that it was all the IDF making a false flag operation? Boy, do I have news for you!

Not only did they also hurt Muslim Arabs in Israel, many who qualify as Palestinian themselves, but they also committed another war crime.

I'm sure that once this is all over, there will be plenty of evidence catalogued and available to anyone with a strong enough stomach. We've been using the evidence of our murderers - just as we did with the Holocaust. The Nazis wrote down everything and Hamas filmed themselves, both equally proud of their actions. And just like the Holocaust, you cannot bury it for long. Not in the current information age. We won't let you bury it.

So if you walk away from this, if you ignore this post's existence, whether you merely stumbled upon it or got it linked, you are no better than a Holocaust denier. And yes, I am calling you a Nazi, and I am doing so shamelessly. Because you are using their tactics, their dehumanization, their effort to silence Jewish voices lest people realize we're human beings who were subjected to a crime against humanity.

Oh, and one last parting gift:

Think of that when you demand a unilateral ceasefire.

[spacedace]

Honestly feel like Jason would go for St. Olga for a confirmation name, not because of what she's the Saint of officially (officially I don't think she has an official Thing she's a Patron St. Of) but because of just her general vibe.

I highly recommend looking her up (History Puppet Time has a great vid on her) but for a quick and dirty overview:

Olga was a Norse queen of Kiev in the 900s CE who took bloody, bloody revenge upon a group called the Drevlians after they very gruesomly murdered her husband.l and then had the gaul to try and get her to marry their prince (who ordered the husband murder).

Olga's revenge highlights include:

- burying alive the matchmakers sent to try & convince her to marry the guy who killed her husband

- sending a message saying "totally on board, just need to see your best men, send em over" theb barricade said best men in the bath house and burning them alive

- sending another message saying "wedding totally on, but we gotta have a funeral feast for my dead husband first, can we have it at your place?" & when the poor fools sakd yes, brought her whole crew (vast army) with her where they all sat & watched everyone get smashed & then went ahead and started a teeny tiny lil murder frenzy that turned into a year long beige war

- offered them the chance to just give her tribute and they could call it even after a year, which the Drevlians (rightly) were wary that she would do another brutal murder on em, she convinced them they were square & sweetened the pot by saying she'd be cool with a tribute as small as a sparrow and piece of sulfer from every house as the seige had to be rough on them

-upon receiving the Birds and suffering she had her army tie the sulfur to the birds and the light it on fire so that all the panicked birds would fly back to their roosts...which was in the city.

Anyway feel like fresh from the pit and ready for revenge Jadon Todd would absolutely get a confirmation name in honor of the clear (unofficial as she may be) Patron Saint of Revenge

(Also sadly don't think he could be an official Saint himself. No one can be put forward for consideration until at least 5 years after their death and even then there are specific requirements that someone has to meet to be considered. That being said though, thr Catholic church would have to have some kind of feelings about Red Hood apparently being brought back from the dead seemingly by godly miracle and depending on things the Pope could feasibly pull a "earthly voice of god" and say that Jason is a Saint now which I feel like would only fuck our boy up even more with the Catholic guilt)

Unofficial St. Robin of the Alley though 👀👀👀

Like, Robin II with his Crime Alley accent and his Good Catholic Boy (TM) vibes, showing up for midnight mass in his Robin uniform and confessing the wildest sins the father has ever heard and always lits a votive every night at the end of his patrol?

The one they know is gone because Batman starts being seen instead, lighting two candles - one for whoever Robin always lit one for, another for the boy himself- and looking so broken despite the face hiding cowl he wears?

The Vatican might not canonize that boy as a Saint, but Gotham's never bothered playing by anyone else's rules and Crime Alley even less so. They have no qualms at all adding a statue of their lost Robin to the Votive altar, of invoking the name of their martyred Saint for strength or guidance, no one tells the kids getting their confirmation that Robin can't be their confirmed name. That's Crime Alley's Patron Saint right there, and no one is going to say shit about it if they wanna keep their knees - and that includes the Pope and God himself.

Maybe I've just missed it, but I feel like there's not enough discussion on Catholic Jason Todd and his feelings on being seemingly resurrected by God Jeesie-Chreesie style.

Like, we as the readers know that it was a reality bending punch from Superboy Prime that brought Jason back, but in canon no one has any explanation at all for how that happened.

The Lazarus Pit fixed him, but he was already alive (just in super bad shape) to be fixed. He woke up in his own coffin and had to claw out of his own grave and no one in-universe can explain how or why it happened.

And that alone would fuck someone up, but add in Catholic Guilt (TM) and references to the resurrection floating around every Easter and Jason's gotta wonder at least a little bit if the Big G brought him back and if so has to absolutely agonize over what he's done with his big second chance.

I just wanna read 100k words of Jason's complicated feelings on his death, rebirth (resurrection?), Red Hood, God, Bruce and what it all means, if anyone's got any recs please share them I'm begging 😭

[love-toxin]

(1) Demon Eddie au-

There is a legend in Hawkins- about a serial killer who used dark magic or was possessed by a demon. What he did to his victims was so horrific, that he went down in history. Now, you’ve moved to this small, dumpy town and you’re eager to leave it all behind.

Insert Eddie the Freak, who resides in the upside down and cannot stay in normal reality for too long. He goes in and out- ageless and invincible, practically. All of his friends have died, and here he is- living, or surviving- barely.

N-NOT DEMON EDDIE IM-

hnghhhhh…..imagine…..it's been years since all those strange happenings in that tiny town in Indiana. you're a pretty young thing approaching the turn of the century in crappy old 1996 Hawkins, filled with little to nothing save for a couple farms, downtown, a new mall built in place of the one that burned a decade ago, and a bunch of oldies. not the way you wanted to spend the summer of your 18th year.

the only thing that differentiates Hawkins from any other small town in America is its storied past. news articles filled with crazy accidents line the local library–mysterious deaths, crooked lab shutdowns, missing persons reports, mass deaths, a serial killer, and alien theories. it's all bull as far as you're concerned, even though you're now one of very few young people populating Hawkins, since so many families have moved away to save their poor, innocent children from aliens and boogeymen.

surprisingly, though, you're tempted to believe one of those stories. one that you might be able to confirm yourself, because you've seen it. him. out in the woods.

some guy with long, greasy hair, and a worn out denim jacket over a stained white shirt and jeans. you first thought he was some creep coming to spy on anyone that came to make out at the picnic table behind the high school, but he was too….cautious. shifting his weight from foot to foot, humming along to some song and tapping the rhythm out on his leg with fidgety fingers. since you first saw him, you put your finger on the melody. an old Metallica song. interesting choice.

and because you see him more than once, and you're too curious to let it go, you take a look at some of those old newspapers. find the articles detailing how he murdered a cheerleader in his trailer and some kid out near the highway, his missing person's photo, some pictures you almost gloss over of him posing together with a bunch of kids for the Hawkins' Hellfire club group photo. 1986. that's the most recent year you can find photos from, the year that he died.

but you know it's him. this isn't some copycat or lookalike–he's wearing the Hellfire shirt, the same one from that photo, and the next time you see him he doesn't just watch you from the treeline. he comes up to the picnic table with a smile, asks if he can take a seat with you. you know his name, don't you? but he'll introduce himself anyways. Eddie the Freak. the name rolls off his tongue like he hasn't said it in a while.

and thus starts a new friendship….or something along those lines. there's been plenty of misinformation floating around the details of Hawkins' dark history, and Eddie turns out to actually be really sweet–and he's alive, or kind of, which is crazy in itself–so it doesn't make you hesitate in thinking that those stories aren't true. he just seems like a guy that was down on his luck and suffered some even worse misfortune upon trying to do the right thing.

oh, how naïve you are. you don't even realize what he's doing, how he's luring you in, making you safe and comfortable with him, even nurturing a romance with you, just to make it easier. easier to finally pull you into the upside down with him when it's time, and keeping you there with him forever, where he can have you all to himself for the rest of all eternity. how romantic, isn't it?