#does it make ANY sense?? i don't know :-) BUT HERE WE ARE--

[jehadkhaled]

Help my family in Gaza, I'm begging you 💔‼️🙏

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #538)

✅️ Vetted by @90-ghost here

Dear merciful souls before everything I'm now writing to you and my kids are so hungry we don't know what to eat because everything running out and the cross borders were closed for three months so please read my story to the end 🥺🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Hello, I am full of hope and hope that you will read my message with love and that you will enjoy abundant health and well-being.

I come to you with an appeal that is heavy on my heart and that I had never imagined.

I look at you from under the war and the constant bombing of us in all its forms that the human or animal soul cannot comprehend

I am Jehad Kassab , a lawyer and legal consultant from Gaza City - Palestine. I hold a bachelor’s degree in law and many legal experiences. I have been working in the legal profession for a long time and I had a good work , which have become meaningless before this world, to stop the machine of war and destruction that has befallen us ،I had a private law office after the Israeli planes completely destroyed it and everything in it, after I built it with all its beauty after many years of toil, and it is my only source of livelihood.

I have a beautiful family that loves life as you love it and lives it in all its details. My family consists of (my wife, a nurse, and my son Khaled, a year and a half old, who has not seen life in all its details and does not know what it is yet, and my second daughter is now 11 months her age as the age of this bad war.

Our house was completely destroyed at the beginning of the war on Gaza with everything, and we did not even take anything out of it, not even the clothes, in the hope that we would return to it before it was bombed by Israeli warplanes

We were briefly displaced to southern Gaza and stayed in tents until this moment. We lived and are still living the harshest types of genocide in the full sense of the word: displacement, destruction, coming out from under bombardment, pollution, epidemics, and the difficulty of sleeping due to the sound of planes and the bombing that did not leave for a single second. Has the world become desolate or are we not fit to improve? For life or what? We do not know Khaled who started pronouncing the word bombing, and I am afraid.

I am not begging you or listing all the details, because an entire newspaper will not be enough. Television screens and social networking sites are enough to tell you about us, and no matter how much you try to say, what we feel will not reach you because we do not wish anyone to live as we live.

We are victims of conflicts and conflicts. We love life as long as we can. We do not like any form of war. We want a future like the rest of humanity for ourselves and our children.

In this moment of despair, I reach out to you, not just as a stranger, but as a human being, connected by our common humanity and the belief that compassion knows no bounds. Your support, no matter how small, can make an immeasurable difference in the lives of those struggling to find hope amidst the rubble.

We desperately need your support to rebuild my family's life that was destroyed by the war on Gaza and there is literally nothing left ، provide us with a glimmer of hope for a better life after we were fine before October 7th last year. Your support could mean everything to us ، If you are unable to support, please consider sharing our case. Every bit of support helps.

We also evacuated many times and the two baby were sick alot because of the bad environment

and you know there's no hospitals or medicin or even healthy food

and the rest of the.money will be used for the living expenses

We appreciate your help, even if it is just a little

Thank you all

You can share or donate this ‼️🙏🥺

[strangebiology]

I watched your deer slaughter video and I think I big part of what's getting people is that they probably genuinely don't realize how quickly it's "lights out" for the animal. Looking at the eyes and respiration, that deer was probably dead damn near instantly, the leg motion displayed is likely the result of residual nerve twitches.

People are really, really unfamiliar with death, I've found. So many people performing slaughter for the first time want to eat the meat imediately, for example... But that's how you get tough, near unusable meat. Why? Rigor mortis. The beef you get in the store was rested for about 10 days before it got to you just to let the muscles relax - it takes that long for your muscles to stop muscling.

You'll even see strangr post-mortem movements in human corpses, part of the origen of zombies. My own grandmother even did a full Lazarus sign, which was admittedly horrifying since we were very certain she was very dead and we didn't expect it.

I know I am preaching the choir here, mostly just wanting to back you up.

That makes sense. Interesting stuff.

Just speculating here, but I wonder if there is a psychological/cultural aspect to people's misunderstanding of how things die. Death is as scary as it is inevitable, so we tell ourselves and our children that it's just a sudden, peaceful, painless sleep, or there's an afterlife. To protect our minds from the incomprehensible concept of eternal nothingness--for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the animals, especially the ones we kill.

Or, maybe it's an industry thing that has set a standard that's wrong, with the hopes that the public in general would not actually see how things die?

I think about the number of people who say, "Oh my uncle kills deer/cattle/etc, and when he does it, it's instant!" Even though the reindeer and other livestock, when stunned/shot/bolted in the brain, do stop feeling near-instantly (ideally,) and the people making these claims never saw their uncle kill the deer/cattle/etc.

In fact, the uncle may have never said that their animals died instantly, and maybe the people making the claims just wanted to believe "Uncle Joe is so nice, he must do something nicer than killing in a way that involves pain or blood!"

One memorable comment on that video was someone bashing this Indigenous Sami reindeer herder because "Native Americans have a way to kill them instantly!" I asked them to show me a video of this amazing insta-death method that is apparently employed by everyone in their imagined monolith of Native America, if this claim is so real. They sent me a video...of someone who is not Native American talking to the camera about Native Americans, and never so much as mentioning any method of slaughter, let alone showing it. It was just a bunch of nice words.

So, I wonder if people just think "that person I know/that group of people are great and perfect, and that means that if they kill animals, it must be perfect and nice and somehow painless and bloodless and pretty!"

And, when they see real death, which isn't so pretty, they insist, "But there must be something wrong with that one!"

I don't know, just speculating.

[creatingblackcharacters]

I have a question about coding non-human characters as Black-- is it okay to have a fantasy race (so more like a species, really, like mermaids or elves) where some characters of that fantasy species are coded Black (in terms of things like features and hair, sometimes skintone byt not always if they have fantasy skintones) and others aren't?

I thought it was alright and made sense because the fantasy 'races' are more like species, so it would make sense to give them as much diversity as humans, but also from a worldbuilding and I guess science (?) standpoint someone pointed out to me that if they all evolved alongside each other it's not super realistic for them to have features that historically are different due to evolving in different climates.

When I decided I would be creating certain non-human characters who I coded as Black who live alongside other members of their species who may not be, I kind of just thought it would be a nice touch in terms of diversity in character design, but what that person said kind of made me think that maybe it wasn't a good idea to code non-human characters as Black when I wouldn't really be able to work their Blackness into the narrative due to their fantasy species not having dynamics based off of that sort of thing. (And it's fanfiction, not my own world, so idk if I can add them?)

I'm sorry if this question comes off as kind of disjointed and hard to read, but yeah. I know you did do a lesson about Black coding but in there I couldn't really find an answer to this specific question. Would it be better to simply not code certain members of a fantasy species as Black (when others are not) if I'm unable to address their Blackness due to them I guess not technically being Black (as we humans see Blackness) because they're elves or mermaids or whatever? Because I would also feel bad having a cast full entirely of non-humans, none of whom have any Black features at all.

(Also, thank you so much for your help with Lydriia the other day! I commissioned some new art of her recently and I'm so in love with it aaahhh)

IF YOU WANT BLACK VERSIONS OF YOUR FANTASY SPECIES THEN MAKE THEM!

You could have that species live all around your fantasy world. They can travel, trade, intermingle, start families and communities amongst one another. Or, tbh, it's a FANTASY WORLD, I don't think we'll all die if you don't apply real world population genetics. Mermaids aren't real and yet here they are. So. Just give them a community so they're not the only Black one.

As for your story, if they're humanoid enough to describe, then you can describe the same things on them as you would with a regular human Black person. Hair texture, nose, lips, hair styles, style influence, etc. If you paint them, we know who we're looking at, and so does everyone else (it's why Black elves and dwarves make them mad).

[witchpassing]

sorry i don't know where else to ask this so i just arbitrarily picked someone out of the tag who has anonymous asks on (i do not want to make a post on my main about it). is empty spaces explicitly a yuri tag, or is it just popular among lesbians? i don't want to crosstag by accident, so i have been trying to find an answer to this without asking anyone because i know it's probably a stupid question. haven't been able to find anything, though.

i am also not a trans woman, so my second question is about whether empty spaces (or in a more general sense, identifying with some of the ideas presented) is 'culturally closed' as it were. if it is supposed to be a space for trans women, i do not want to intrude into that.

i get that these are probably incredibly stupid questions, and my only excuse is that i am a bit stupid and bad at demographic research. i am aware that the fact i do not already know the answers to these questions may indicate that i should not be asking them, but i don't know this for sure either. i am not looking for any specific answer, and with regards to my second question, if i should not be engaging with the tag, i will promptly add it to my filter list. i only ask because i feel like some of my thoughts might be of interest to the tag's residents; if not, i am perfectly capable of having those thoughts in a more appropriate space, or discarding them entirely if no appropriate space exists.

thank you for your patience. you are under no obligation to answer, and i'm very sorry for wasting your time.

good day, anonymous, and thank you for your question. i'll preface my answer by stating that empty spaces, especially in its contemporary form, is many things to many people*; i can only speak here on my personal understanding of it and my preferred approach thereto.

to address your first question first: no, ES is not an intrinsically lesbian subgenre. there has always been a strong orientation towards f/f, yuri, whatever one might like to call it, but it is not a hard rule. there are no hard rules; except, perhaps, 'we'll know empty spaces is dead when someone makes a wiki.'

to your second question, the roots of the movement are in the exploration of themes of disposability, identity, and abuse through a transfeminine lens; in what i consider to be the most valuable fruits of the movement, the dolls and the witches and all the rest are a troupe of archetypes, a flash-fiction sicko's commedia dell'arte, through which these bitter, wrenching feelings may be articulated in sharp relief. does this constitute a closed space, a transfeminine closed practice? if it was, could we hold such a line against those outside it? can i hold it against you, in any way that matters?

plainly, no, i cannot. perhaps it was possible, once, before subculture became subgenre and ES spilled and shattered a thousand ways, but what is to be gained by playing at purity now? i will neither forbid you nor permit you entrance. speak, and see who listens.

[lorewarden]

How did Dedra and Syril get together? My theory:

I'm basing this scenario on the assumption that she's not simply using him and that the feelings are genuine. Considering the lengths the show has gone to in order to humanize Dedra, I do actually believe this to be the case, and I'll be focusing on her point of view here.

Now, let's rewind to the Ferrix riot for a moment. She has completely lost control of the situation, all hell is breaking loose around her, and then she finds herself with a blaster muzzle at her back and an unknown assailant commanding her to move. Dazed, in a trance, she follows his instructions until they're indoors, where the adrenaline kicks in - she grabs the nearest weapon she can find, to fight off the threat or die in the attempt. Then she recognizes him, a few words are exchanged... Her assailant is, in fact, a rescuer. She's shaking from head to toe, looking at Syril up and down, trying to rapidly process the last few minutes.

"I should..." She doesn't know how to finish that sentence, between sheer terror, outrage, and gratitude. "I should say thank you." When has she ever been rescued, after all? So, as distressed as she is by the fact that she needed rescuing in the first place - that she allowed things to get so far out of hand - Syril is the most important person in her world at that particular moment.

Once they're both back on Coruscant, there's undoubtedly an investigation going on. Syril himself would have likely been questioned. And Dedra herself would have been put on ice for a few weeks, if not months. She is humiliated, wondering if her career will ever recover from the incident, and, with nothing better to do, she would likely spend the days pacing her apartment, puzzling out what precisely had gone wrong, committing every single detail to memory. During this time, Syril reaches out to inquire about her well-being... And she is NOT happy about it. She doesn't like to be reminded of her vulnerability. She would agree to meet him for drinks - to determine if he's gonna blab about it, she tells herself - but there is a lingering sense of gratitude there. On some level, she might feel compelled to indulge him as a thank you for saving her.

They might end up awkwardly bonding over their respective career-breaking mistakes on Ferrix. Partagaz had once mentioned that "Dedra came from enforcement" - was she a cop prior to joining the ISB? And with Syril having been a corporate cop on Morlana, I can definitely see this coming up. Despite appearances, Syril is rather observant and analytical, and Dedra would notice these qualities in their conversation.

Having all but established that Dedra does not have a social life - I can hardly see her spending any time with Heert outside of work, let alone with anyone else - she might discover that having some company isn't all that unpleasant. So she and Syril keep meeting, form a sort of friendship.

Now, we don't know exactly how long Dedra might've been on ice, but it's clear that by the time s2 rolls around that her career is fully back on track. Once back in ISB HQ, it would've taken Dedra a bit of time to regain her confidence, especially considering she's surrounded by colleagues oh-so-eager to see her humiliated. During this, Syril would likely be trying to encourage her in his own clumsy way. Dedra would be making a show of not needing his (or anyone's) validation, but she does hear his words and is appreciative of the support. Syril is smart enough to see through it and he probably knows her well enough by this point. As well as anyone could claim to know Dedra, at any rate.

At this point, Dedra feels some manner of affection for him. Assuming she'd had few to no romantic relationships - or friendships - she has no point of reference for the nature of her feelings for Syril. She would have no idea how to label them.

Syril, on the other hand, knows full well that he's in love with Dedra. It is likely that for the first few months of their friendship, he would simply be grateful for her attention and company, so he probably wouldn't be pushing her towards romance too overtly... But all the signs would be there.

Until he finally does make The Move, and Dedra chooses to accept his love... After all, he's the only one who's ever stuck his neck out for her, who's stood by her... and it does make sense with all the time they're spending together and this intimacy they've found, doesn't it? She might not know how to label it, but he does, so... Why not give in? Why should she be alone?

That's my interpretation of what went on during the time skip between seasons - a part of the time skip, at least. I have more thoughts, of course, but this is long enough as it is. I'm probably going to write a separate post on what can be inferred from their interactions in season 2 so far (that being episodes 1-6).

[eveningspirit]

ETA: Caveat. I don't go to twitter, that instagram discussion app, or any other forum things (reddit, it's called reddit). Or tik-tok. Regarding fandom I only see what's here on tumblr. So, if someone is talking about infantilizing Mel in reaction to things said over there, we are probably talking about different things.

Read this with a grain of salt (or pepper) if that's the case.

(now the actual post:)

I do not, can not understand, why people say that headcanoning Mel King as asexual is infantilizing her.

Isn't it you, people saying that, who are infantilizing asexual people?

Hello. Having physical, sexual attraction to another person is not a mark of maturity. It's not what defines adulthood.

Melissa King is a competent, confident doctor. A sole caregiver to her sister. A person self-aware enough to know when she needs to take a break and look at the lava lamp app on her phone, or listen to ambient noises. She knows how to self-regulate. She knows when she likes another person. She knows that she has to mask to be accepted by her peers, even if she can't find that user manual on "how to be normal" that everybody else most people have read somehow (don't @ me, that's how I feel in this world and damn, even in this fandom). She longs for people with whom she wouldn't have to mask, and sometimes she chooses to let go of the mask and just be herself, all opinions be damned. She does her chores. She knows what makes her happy.

She doesn't need to be sexually active to be an adult. She can be, sure. You may write / enjoy reading / make all kind of art about her being sexually active. I don't mind that at all, you do you.

But think twice, before you say that people headcanoning her as asexual are infantilizing her, because it says more about you, than about us.

(Same goes for romantic attraction btw. I headcanon Mel as aro-ace. And trust me, nowhere am I infantilizing this smart, strong, vulnerable when she can and with a very unique sense of humor, beautiful woman)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I know that Malleus is a sensitive topic here. Even though, he has his weaknesses (which is made very apparent in the canon material); he also has his strengths. One of the things I could immediately think of revolves around his familial attitude towards his family (Lilia, Silver, Sebek). Malleus cherishes his family very much. After all, his fears of losing Lilia was so immense that it ultimately lead him to the overblot. At the core of his character, I see him as someone who is fundamentally familial at heart. Most of his actions in Book 7 are rooted in this aspect of his character. This contrasts his tendency towards self-isolation and enriches his story.

Hey, I want to clarify that Malleus is only a sensitive topic if an ask's tone is aggressive or pushy to begin with. For example, I've previously been spammed with demands to explain why I dislike him + reasons why I should change my mind, told I was "hate criming" him (gross misuse of the term, by the way) for expressing those opinions (I would link to the post, but I actually never publicly responded to this ask or really talked about this publicly), and accused of "[wanting and expecting]" the worst out of him". It's a loud minority that has made me wary when Malleus is brought up. I can't help it, it's sort of gut reflex at this point/j But I'm generally fine with people wanting to discuss him, gush about him, critique him, whatever, so long as things stay civil and open-minded.

I also want to make it clear that even if someone personally dislikes a character, that is not the same as them disregarding the character's positive traits or claiming that the character has no positive traits to begin with. Malleus is certainly no exception to this. (I have a post going over some of the things I enjoy about him, although please keep in mind that it's not meant to be an exhaustive list of his good points.) Personally disliking a character also doesn't mean that you're automatically flagging a character as flat or poorly written. A character could be the best written thing in the entire world or the most complex character ever and people could still dislike them for any reason. Design, vibes, whatever.

That being said, I don't think "familial" is an adjective I've ever personally associated with Malleus? I definitely get those vibes when I browse romantic Malleus fandom works (it's very common to see him being portrayed as a loving, protective father and husband), but not that much with canon content. That's not me claiming Malleus feels nothing toward his Diasomnia members (he definitely DOES care for them), but I don't get the sense that he views them as family or that he’s overtly warm towards them??? At best, I see him perhaps viewing Lilia as a guardian or father figure, especially since it was the fear of losing Lilia that kicked off the major conflict in book 7 + his grandmother seemed too busy with royal duties to raise him. Furthermore, we see that Malleus hatched because of Lilia's magic and how excited he is to see Lilia in multiple flashbacks to Malleus's childhood. He clearly respects Lilia a lot and associates him with the few genuinely happy parts of his childhood. However, I don't see him breaching professional boundaries with Sebek and Silver and skirting into familial territory. (I discuss this more in detail in an older post, so I'd suggest taking a look if you're interested!) Lilia does refer Diasomnia as “not related by blood [but] we are still family", and I believe even their VAs referred to Lilia as a father and Malleus and Silver as brothers. Problem is, I don’t see this reflected in Malleus himself and how he behaves.

It's obvious that Malleus seeks companionship, but that he doesn't realize this about himself without outside help (he couldn't even identify that he was lonely until Yuu pointed it out to him early in book 7). He's so enabled he has become used to the isolation that comes with being at the top and never really thought to question it. This comes through in many of his behaviors: he becomes upset at being left out or uninvited to ceremonies and meetings, when his grandmother (his only living relative) fails to spend time with him despite promising to, and constantly faces struggles connecting with his peers (he tries to, but usually fails in these attempts). And because he fears being left behind, he tries to stop everyone from leaving him. Malleus is also pretty emotionally stunted and awkward due to his growing up alone. This could be a matter of our individual POVs differing, but I think Malleus's loneliness and longing to be with others--despite being raised in relative isolation--is being conflated with being familial?? I genuinely do not recall any standout moments in which Malleus acts familial towards Silver or Sebek, or even towards other peers (though if you can think of any, please share). The only thing that comes to my mind is when Malleus helped Lilia with raising baby!Silver... but even then, I sort of wonder how much of that was intentionally arranged by Lilia to expose Malleus to humans + combat the bigoted worldview he might otherwise develop. Their current day relationship dynamics just don't read as familial to me.

But also 💦 “familial” is a pretty vague term and could mean different things to different people. I think it assumes that families have amicable dynamics within themselves, and I don’t think that’s always the case. Maybe our definitions are entirely different and that’s also contributing to our conclusions looking nothing alike.

[skeletonh0e]

oh i saw the ace hcs so i could ask for the boys (platonic) with a lesbian reader who was really obvious they were a lesbian? just short hcs like the ace one hehe

reader: ok fine i’m a homosexual

all sanses gave this a Yeah.

Oh sweet! First platonic ask! So the route I'm assuming this is meant to take was the reader was closeted but like very poorly hiding? Got you!

Fem Reader with she/her pronouns obviously but otherwise no specific indication of gender identity

The Boys & A Lesbian Reader

Classic Sans:

Lesbe honest here, he probably knew the moment he looked at you

Between Undyne and Alphys gaydar is at peak, he knew even before you two were officially friends

He's happy you told him obviously but it's painfully clear this is a non issue for him

Might occasionally help wingman in his own Sans way with the ladies but yeah

You got his support boo

Underswap Sans:

Y/N: "Blue, I'm lesbian."

Blue: "I thought you were human???"

It'll click in a bit once you explain a bit which then it's just an "oooooh I knew that!"

Yeah you ain't slick you might as well have told him you need oxygen to breath

Now, stop thinking about girls and help him with this sick puzzle he's making!

Underfell Sans:

"no fuckin' shit."

Literally anytime he checked out some hot babes you were right there with him

Doesn't take a mind reader

And he probably would have hit on you at least once by now if you weren't cuz again this man is sleazy

Otherwise just expect a lot of "eating out" and pussy related jokes, but they're all in good fun

Underlust Sans:

You like girls? Sweet. He does too

Let's get some lattes and talk about them

He's not gay but he has some gay best friend energy for sure, so he's glad you figured it out but boo what took you so long?

Either way, he's definitely your wingman 100%

With his help you'll be a chick magnet in no time

Horrortale Sans:

Cool.

What do you want for dinner?

Zero fucks given, probably knew for a long ass time but he doesn't give any indication about that

Admittedly even in a platonic sense he's a little protective though

Any girl breaks your heart, let him know alright?

Fresh Sans:

The only one here that didn't figure it out!

He's kind of oblivious to sexuality in general, it applies to everyone really. So after a brief explain

"sweeeeet! wanna go skateboard?"

And that's that

Might get the occasional "is that your girrrrlfrriiiiieeend?" type teasing cuz this man is hella immature

Killer Sans:

"Explains why all your other friends are pussies then huh?"

Smack him he deserves it

Lowkey a toxic friend, why do you like him? Did you expect him to treat this with any form seriousness?

The jokes Classic and Red make are amplified here combined with the preschool teasing Fresh does

Do not let any future girlfriends meet him you will end up loveless

Dust Sans:

Shrugs

Literally has no reaction

Y/N: "You're not surprised?"

Dust: *proceeding to give you the most 'are you fr?' look possible*

But yeah this changes nothing, might get a little protective in a "Don't break my friends heart vein" but less intense than Axe is about it

Nightmare Sans:

Y/N: "I like women and only women."

Nightmare: "And I had sexual relations with Killer."

Y/N: ".....what?"

Nightmare: "Were we not stating the obvious?"

Unclear how serious he's being or if he's one hundred percent messing with you, otherwise just pats your head and goes off about his business

[camcamino]

As High Crocodiles playing Sudokus by the Lakes we will Eat Stereos

The first thing that hit me was the 'Eat Stereos' because, what does that mean? It's the only part that could have different meanings in my brain, so I started thinking about it and gave different meanings to the whole sentence based on the specific meaning I gave to 'Eat Stereos' alone.

In my brain, 'Eat Stereos' could refer to: a) eating (as in ingesting) steroids, meaning they're addicts OR, considering sex hormones, meaning they don't give a shit about conforming to society standards and the "you're a man cuz you have high androgen levels" and "you're a woman cuz you have high estrogen levels" bullshit; b) eat (as in consume) stereos (as a synecdoche for music/CDs), hence they will make music; c) eat (as in smash) stereos (as in stereotypes); d) it's actually a nonsense activity.

The High Crocodiles, in my head, are the conservatives and traditionalists. The ones who dictate rules and condemn you if you're not conforming to them. The High Crocodiles are the ones who support patriarchy, binarism, cisgender and heterosexuality as the only way, sex as finalized only to conceive, society as a set of rules you must respect and never question, money and consumerism as things to idolize etc. And it's fun to call them High Crocodiles because: a) they're high as in they rule from the upper level, they're on the top of the social pyramid and have power; b) they're high as in they're actually high, drugged; not necessarily because they have been using any kind of drug actually, but maybe because of the Sudokus they're playing by the Lakes! They are high on those Sudokus.

The Sudokus made me think it as a metaphor for playing by the rules, as well as not admitting any other possibility. Among the many activities of a typical puzzle book, Sudokus are the most schematic, analytical, and logic-oriented ones. They don't require any practical knowledge beside knowing numbers from 1 to 9 — contrarily to other activities like crosswords that actually are mostly knowledge-based, as you have to know stuff to be able to solve them. So it really made sense to associate playing Sudokus with the favorite leisure activity of the High Crocodiles.

'By the Lakes' adds a sense of passivity to it. Unless you are Taylor Swift or any kind of Tortured Poet, people generally go to the lake as they'd go on vacation, as a short leisure outing. And the fact that it's not one lake but it's the lakeS makes me think that playing Sudokus is something the High Crocodiles would do on any and every vacation, it's a habit, an inner trait.

In conclusion, the first part (“High Crocodiles playing Sudokus by the Lakes”) makes me think of the Typical Man who's embraced a oligarchical, profit-oriented life style which damages minorities and the poor. Specifically, it makes me think of how this mindset is so deep-rooted in their being, how it's such a solid part of them that they've never questioned, to the point it's not only the person they are when they work, but it's got to constitute their whole personality. You usually wanna forget about work, about making profit, about getting the work done, about the best way to interact with X so that you will get Y — you usually leave behind all these things when you go on vacation. Apparently, they don't.

The conjunction of the two sentences, though, makes me think of two ways to interpret the whole thing:

A) We will Eat Stereos while the High Crocodiles are playing Sudokus by the Lakes

B) We will Eat Stereos the way (with the same effort and also the same easiness as it's deep-rooted in us) High Crocodiles play Sudokus by the Lakes

And it's honestly very interesting, mind-blowing, and poetic in my opinion.

Going back to the four interpretations of 'Eat Stereos', here's the four interpretations I have of the whole sentence:

Stereos as a metaphor for people who do not conform to societal standards -> “we will stay revolutionary while you're too busy playing by the rules and exploiting people for your sick gain” or “we will stay revolutionary with the same confidence, intensity, determination that you keep exploiting people”

Stereos as in a synecdoche for music -> “we will make music, art, we will raise our voice and speak to the ones who wanna hear us and who are like us meanwhile (or, the same way) you are making the most of the people you hire and underpay so that you get richer without bothering to realize the people who work for you are, in fact, people and not machines” (like, you are doing your sick job, and we are doing ours. We're doing the same thing, but at the same time we are doing opposite things. What about that now, huh?)

Stereos as in stereotypes -> “we are smashing stereotypes while you are promoting your sick stereotype-oriented society” or “we are smashing stereotypes with the same effortlessness you encourage them because you have them in yourselves the same way we don't have them in ourselves”

Stereos as a nonsense -> “we are engaging in nonsense while you are preparing the world for its end” (hence, what's the point of everything? It's too sick to be cured. The meaning is lost) or “we are engaging in nonsense the same way you are sending the world to its end” (meaning, we are putting exactly the same effort into the things we are doing. But it only takes so much effort to engage in nonsense, implying that sending the world to its end is something you're doing mindlessly, which is also very scary because you people have no idea you're doing that or you just don't wanna see it)

Alright, that's my interpretation. This is me discussing how much I loved that line, that song title, hoping you don't mind me breaking it down word by word and telling you what it all meant to me, hoping it doesn't sound disrespectful or pretentious to like give you my interpretation of what you wrote. And also hoping that in the meanwhile you haven't answered my other question telling me that you chose the title for fun and that it doesn't mean anything really :)

RIA OH MY FUCKING FUCKING GOD

THIS IS SICK AND I'M SO IN LOVE WITH THIS I'M NOT EXAGGERATING WHEN I SAY I'M ON THE FLOOR SHAKING WHICH IS ACTUALLY WHAT I AM DOING RIGHT NOW

I LOVE THIS INTERPRETATIONS I'M GETTING ON ONE KNEE FOR YOU PLEASE MARRY ME IN A PLATONIC QUEER WAY PLEASE

I DO NOT HAVE WORDS THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER READ TODAY I WANT IT PRINTED ON MY WALL TO READ IT EVERYDAY IT'S GONNA BE LINKED IN MY WRITING INTRO POST BECAUSE WOAH YOU OPENED MY BRAIN IN A WAY I'D NEVER EVER IMAGINE I LOVE YOU PLEASE

this is me reading this all, I'm rereading it endlessly wow wow just wow i do not have enough words woa

[gudfornuthin]

The Baker and the Ballerina

Chapter seven

Pairing: Frank Castle x fem!reader (au)

Summary: Frank can’t sleep. Y/N can’t either.

Word count: 1.5k

Series warnings: slow burn, cliché tropes, mentions of PTSD, mentions of abusive relationships, (eventual) smut, violence

A/N: I’m getting worse at summarising these chapters I swear lmao. I also kinda hate this chapter but after this we’ll finally be getting predominantly Frank and reader interactions. Thank you for reading and feedback is always appreciated :)

A barren land with crumbling buildings surround Frank. The sun is glaring as he travels slowly in between the brown structures. He's tired, his body is screaming out to rest, and he's covered in blood and bruises. In spite of it all, he keeps walking through the area. The quiet puts him on edge. He's not used to it, and he knows it's not a good thing. He lost sight of his squad a few miles back and is far too vulnerable at the moment to start a fight with anyone. Unfortunately, that isn't his decision to make.

As Frank continues to walk through the desolate area, a noise puts him on high alert. A whistle. More specifically, a coded whistle. One of his squad mates making him aware that they're nearby. He looks around, hoping to spot them. He does, poking they're head out of a window from a building a few stories up. Frank isn't the only one who spots them though.

Gunshots ricochet from every angle, as Frank ducks for cover. He's able to move behind a wall that is somehow still intact, as he readies his gun to start fighting back. He peaks over the wall, firing a few random shots and hoping some of them hit.

"Castle," a voice sounds from his right.

He looks over and sees one of his squad mates crouched behind a building, signalling for him to get over to where he is. More gunshots and Frank fires back with rage.

"We gotta get out of here," the man to his right says, the agitation in his words evident.

Frank shakes his head. "Not letting them get away this time."

"Castle, there's too many of them we need to back off and figure out a plan."

Frank chooses to ignore him, reloading his gun and shooting without another thought.

His friend steps closer, brow furrowed. "God damnit Frank, don't be a hero."

Frank grunts. "Not trying to be."

Another shot is heard, much closer to the pair of men than before.

Frank turns around and spots someone, not one of theirs, stalking over.

Before he has the chance to react, the man raises his gun and fires. The bullet hits Frank's squad mate in the side of the head, along with another one in the chest. The man goes to aim again, but Frank stops him short, putting multiple bullets in every part of his body.

He looks over to his squad mate, the man laid out on the floor, blood pooling around him. Frank yells out in anguish. And wakes up.

He's gasping for breath and sweating profusely. He takes in his surroundings, noting the soft bed beneath him and the quiet night life spilling in through the open window. He's in his bedroom. He's safe. Everything is okay. He rubs a hand over his matted hair, feeling tired but knowing he won't go back to sleep now.

Another restless night overwhelmed by the same bad dreams. It's always the same. A warzone. Enemies around every corner. Blood. So much blood. Frank's used to it now. That doesn't mean it gets any easier.

Now wide awake, Frank gets out of bed and heads for the kitchen to get some water. His living space is small, considering he's right above the bakery. When he decided to buy Bakehouse 31, the apartment just so happened to also be available. It made sense, and maybe it wasn't the best idea to have work so close to home, but Frank liked that. Any time he felt like baking or came up with a new idea, he had everything he needed right downstairs.

Frank stands by the sink, drinking water and trying to slow his heartrate. He looks out the window in front of him, the dark building opposite staring back. All curtains are closed and emitting little to no light. Except for one. Y/N's studio.

He notices the tiniest amount of movement. A stretched-out arm, then a leg with the foot pointed perfectly. Then finally, she comes into full view. Appearing to wear a simple baggy shirt, and sweatpants, she twists and bends and contorts her body in ways Frank couldn't believe a person could do. He's curious to know whether there's music playing or if she's simply dancing along to a melody in her head. Either way, she's in a world of her own, and Frank is captivated by it.

He quickly heads to his bedroom, grabbing his phone and walking back into the kitchen. He stands by the window again, scrolling through his contacts until he gets to her name. Frank smiles slightly and hits the call button, looking out to where she continues to practice her ballet.

The first ring goes through, and he sees her stop abruptly, most likely confused as to why someone is calling her at this time. She goes over to her phone and sees Frank's name flashing on the screen. Definitely confused, but not unhappy as she answers immediately.

"Hi Frank, everything alright?"

He keeps looking at her as she stands by the window shifting from side to side. "Yeah, no I'm good. Just really enjoying the show."

Y/N furrows her brow. "Show?"

Frank hums. "You'll have to teach me some of those moves."

She stops moving, her eyes going wide. She glances around the room, as if the man is going to magically appear out of nowhere. Her eyes land on the window, and she walks over. There she sees Frank, phone in one hand as he waves with the other. She laughs in amusement, and slight embarrassment, waving back at him.

“I have a leotard and pink tutu, just say the word.”

Frank shakes his head and chuckles. “Eh, don’t think I got the legs to pull it off.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah right, thick and muscular legs look terrible in tight fitting clothes.”

“You think about my legs in that much detail often?”

Y/N feels her face heat up, stuttering over her words as she tries to play off what she just said along with Frank’s teasing tone. Instead, she decides to change the subject before embarrassing herself further.

"Can't sleep?" she asks, already knowing the answer.

"Nah," Frank replies in a rough voice. "Glad though, if I get to see more of you dancing. How come you're up?"

She shrugs, moving to lean against the windowsill while still looking at Frank. "I like the quiet. It's the most peaceful time to practice. You?"

Frank thinks back to the memory that woke him up. The horrifying details still playing through his head. He can't bear the thought of sharing that with her, at least not in so much detail. Another time perhaps.

He huffs. "Same old same old. Bad dream."

"I'm sorry," she mumbles back. "You get them often?"

Frank rolls his eyes. "Let's just say the last time I slept through the night was right before I got shipped out. And that was a long time ago."

A brief silence, then Y/N speaks up. "Well, you ever need someone to talk to. About your bad dreams or anything else, I don't mind staying awake with you."

Frank appreciates this, even though he doesn't say it. “You keeping your friend up to date with our interactions?”

She rubs her eyes in dismay. “Please, most of the conversations I have with Farah revolve around you, or my feelings for you, or if she can come by the studio to gawk at you from the window.”

“And I’m guessing you don’t stand with her and gawk?”

“No,” Y/N argues back. “I don’t. Unlike her I have my dignity.”

“And what about your feelings for me?”

She regrets saying that, knowing he would pick up on it. “Well, like I said. I have my dignity, and if I were to answer you honestly I fear I wouldn’t have much of it left.”

Frank knows they’re just messing with each other, although there is part of him that wishes she would open up to him slightly more. Whatever “feelings” she may be harbouring, and knowing she’s attracted to him there’s definitely some, he hopes at some point she can be honest about it. He’s not willing to add pressure to the situation, accepting that it will take time. And deep down he knows she’s worth the wait.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to your performance." She laughs at that. "It's a slow day at the bakehouse tomorrow, so if you want, I can come by to look at what work I need to do."

"That'd be great."

"Maybe I'll bring some takeout like I promised?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to that."

"And we're not calling it a date."

Y/N smiles at his words, breezing over his not-so-subtle hints. "Have a good night, Frank."

"You too, sweetheart."

- - -

Taglist: @nialhero-blog @luvrgirlsworld @britt217 @solstararis @legit9thlunaticwarrior

[midnight-motorist-arcade]

I really wish we had a concrete answer on at what point Michael found out about William's crimes. I've seen so many different interpretations, it could be at almost any point during the story assuming his SL custom night speech to be the first concrete evidence of him being aware of what William did. You can read that speech as implying that he had known for a while given how unphased he is about the robots being haunted and just what he says to William in general, but in classic fnaf fashion it's hard to tell for sure what the intention is. Did he learn of what happened while he was there? Did he find out it was worse than he thought? Or did he just confirm what he already knew? It would make sense for knowing about the murders to be the reason he starts working at Freddy's in the first place but it doesn't have to be and I don't think there's really any super solid evidence that points to any answer for this beyond maybe subtle implications here and there. The ffps poster shows Michael to be William's puppet, but what does that imply? How far does that go? Was he somehow involved in William's crimes or simply doing his bidding without knowing the true scope of the situation? We don't know how he found out either. Was it the bite? Elizabeth's death? Charlie's? Something that happened at one of the locations? Did he witness something? Did William himself do or say something? Had he known something was going on or was it a complete shock to him? I WANT TO KNOW SO BAD

[userautumn]

the dead kid arc is genuinely fucking cruel

I've mentioned before that there's an aspect of mutual parasocialism between Tim and this fandom; that, for as much as we (the collective) have a parasocial relationship with him, he has one with us. It's inherent when the lines between two "sides" get blurred (i.e. communicating with fans on socials, digging through ao3/fan theories and dropping nuggets in the canon text, etc). So I don't think it's wrong or irrational to say that the handling of this death feels intensely hateful and personal. Going back over the events leading up to this—the fake script, the Hotshots shtick with the guy about to jump off his bridge because his "comfort captain" was killed off, and now the dead-not-dead baby—it all feels mean in a way I'm not used to 9-1-1 being. And that's a hard pill to swallow. It's so hard for me to imagine this show that felt made of love and made with love could be so cruel, so intentionally hurtful, but that's where I am right now. I don't know how to un-stick myself from this place.

I think about the discourse that unfolds in this fandom space, the resentment that lives and breathes here, and I wonder how much of that bleeds over. If we have resentment for Tim—for no B/uddie canon, for any list of complaints amassed over the years—does it not make sense that he, at some point, wouldn't develop resentment for us? Is it not rational to imagine that, just in the same way we as a fandom nip and bite and draw blood from each other, that he could intentionally do the same with us?

I'm so grieved by this loss. So grieved I can't even articulate it. I'm so angry by Eddie's absences. Yes, I understand that the character is not in California right now. I also understand that Bobby could have been killed off when he was back in town. I also understand that there are ways to include him in this narrative without being shoved in. I also understand that Eddie is a main character and his absence is a gaping, festering wound. Now, more than ever, so many of us are desperate to see the 118 together as a semi-whole (because they'll never be whole without Bobby) version of the family and, these days, that seems like a lot to ask. I am so at a loss as to how to reconcile the current version of this show with my show, the one that's been keeping me company and holding my hand through all the rough shit for... jesus christ... almost half a decade. Five years. It's been almost five years with this show.

I don't know how to breakup with it. I also don't know how to stomach another season of heartbreak and cruelty. I don't know how to do it. Maybe someone else does. Maybe they can show me. IDK.

[maestergerardys]

...how have i literally never seen this take on how the griff plotline/dany's involvement might play out before???

(JK, i know exactly why, it's bc everybody saw the fuckass bells scene and immediately went “yeah sure ofc book dany's gonna do that Somehow”, despite it being a Glaringly Obvious possibility that d&d looked at whatever rough outline of major events grrm gave them, saw that KL needed to be wrecked at some point and that he'd involved bells in that 'for some reason', then they were looking around for characters they could make do that after they'd already scrapped team faegon, and realized they had the opportunity to throw a Villainous Event onto the shoulders of the FMC they didn't like)

ANYWAYS my point is that if you actually accept that the show was literally just doing Some Bullshit and look only at actual book events then i'd say that yeah, there's about as much evidence pointing to this being the resolution of the young griff plotline as there is pointing to a dany-vs-griff conflict

also idk that either op or prev will actually read this whole thing lmao but if they do, i'd love to hear what they think abt how this would play into dany's current view of the actions taken by recent targaryens! IIRC both of y'all (like me) have mixed views on rhaegar but ultimately do not believe that grrm is planning to *portray* him as a villain — he was always going to end the series being understood (at least by the main characters) as ultimately a tragic (though definitely flawed) hero.

but i'm bringing this up bc running w that presents us with a opportunity for faegon, in this scenario, to help complete a really interesting addition to dany's many sets of 3: her view of the legacies of 3 targ men and their flawed kingships. i mean, the fandom already mostly agrees that dany is having to reconcile her intense longing for family with the recent targaryen legacy as represented by aerys and viserys:

1) aerys — an actual targ king; held the power and almost all the right symbolism (fire obsession‚ incest‚ actually having the IT‚ etc.). she grew up thinking of him as the last rightful king‚ betrayed‚ but she's going to have to accept that her own father was a tyrant who was rightfully hated by the realm, and she's almost definitely going to have to publicly renounce his memory in order to have any hope of the nobles following her

2) viserys — a self-proclaimed targ king‚ but really only a “beggar king”; had all the talk but none of the walk; had the looks and lineage, but none of the support to conquer that could actually make him a king, nor any sort of motivation to help his subjects that could make him a good king. she's raised to respect him as the current rightful king, but is forced to confront the fact that he is neither a good king, nor a person who could ever even become a good king one day, and eventually she has to publicly renounce him for her own safety and future.

and now, let's just assume for a moment that when dany makes it back to meereen, tyrion informs her of young griff — and she likes what she hears, she's on-board!! (sidenote: people also tend to run with tyrion's prediction that a woman so accomplished and powerful in her own right is not going to like young griff's immediate marriage and consortship offer — and though it does make sense, i feel like people also kind of forget that this is tyrion at his absolute lowest and most pessimistic abt the world around him, and that it's clear he's highly skeptical abt how well-intentioned even dany's freeing of slaves can possibly be. i honestly don't think we can be 100% certain that he's predicted dany's feelings on this correctly!)

so consider: if tyrion sees something in dany that he likes enough to decide he's going to actually back her and do his best to advise her towards success, then he's going to tell her his honest analysis of and opinion on what he's seen of YG. and here's what dany might hear: there's a boy who says he's her dead brother's son/the rightful targaryen heir, who looks the part and whose identity is vouched for by a close companion of her dead brother that had fought for him, who has an actual army and plan to take the IT, and who wants to ally with her. he's somewhat impatient, and reckless, but has experienced something of a less luxurious life in his youth like she has, and did clearly personally expressed a favorable opinion of her and her accomplishments (...so kind of similar to daario, her favored companion, in temperament, but of a social position where she could tie herself to him, and he also actively wants them to be tied together).

maybe dany simply sends YG's party a messenger expressing her willingness to consider an alliance, maybe she actually flies to meet him and is pleased enough with what she finds: a boy of a similar age to her, who genuinely does think she's his aunt and treats her accordingly, whose valyrian-blooded presence is likely at least grudgingly tolerated by drogon, who cares about continuing their apparent shared familial legacy (including being eager for the chance to bond with dragon, of course), and expresses a personal romantic desire towards her that's clearly not just political. but he's intent on reclaiming the iron throne as soon as possible, a feeling which dany can certainly relate to, so she agrees that she'll return to meereen, finish cutting the loose strings there, mobilize her combined dothraki/unsullied forces, and come to join him in westeros, this time with viserion and rhaegal, of whom hopefully one will be interested in bonding with him.

...and then, of course, he simply gets too impatient, doesn't wait for his backup, and most likely gets wrecked in Battle of the Bells II: Electric Boogaloo. cue dany finally getting to westeros, only to be met with a wrecked ghost-town of a capitol city, and then be told that it's not just the lannisters who did it — nope, it's at least partly her last chance at family, actually-maybe-not-even-her-real-family-after-all's fault too. which gives us:

3) young griff/faegon — the final last-minute targaryen contender for the throne that dany could support; has the aesthetic, the power to back him up, and even an assurance that he would theoretically be a good benevolent king who'd care about his people... but in the end it might have all just been built on lies. she comes to believe that he will be westeros's next rightful targaryen king, but in the end, even setting aside the debate over whether he really was her nephew or not, she arrives to a wreckage proving that his quest for kingship, however inadvertently, actually left westeros/KL even worse off than how he found it.

and now, dany's left to grapple with the idea that 3 consecutive targaryen men, (ostensibly) relatives of hers, have tried to claim the role of kingship for themselves, and the people around them have always suffered for it.

oh, wait, also: (a) viserys always told her that aerys's dethronement was her fault because if she'd been born sooner then she would have been rhaegar's bride, (b) she believes that viserys's death is at least partly her fault because she allowed it to happen, and (c) now one last targaryen man has died while fighting for his right to rule, and she didn't reach him in time to provide her material support. what kind of horrible combined guilt complex/imposter syndrome does that give her?

idk— i think when talking abt how the ideals/justice dany personally stands for conflicts with the recent targaryen legacy, people generally contrast her with aerys, rhaegar, and viserys; and i'm not saying that that doesn't make any sense, but given that i personally see dany as closer to being "rhaegar come again", or a version of him that fulfills everything he could have been but didn't quite manage to be, i'm really starting to like the idea that the three men whose legacies' she's working against are aerys, viserys, and faegon.

(and then, of course, there's the final targ man left standing: the one who dany initially has no reason to think of as family, who in fact proudly claims to be of the opposing family, but who so clearly embodies the behavior that she wants to see in a good king in every other way. the one who shares no legacy, no familial memories (i love him dearly but just forget abt maester aemon for a moment shhhh), not even physical features with her — but all the same principles, the same belief that all their people are equal, and that they as leaders are meant to protect all their people. but maybe that's just my shipper heart talking lmao)

Smiling, he seized his dragon, flew it across the board. "I hope Your Grace will pardon me. Your king is trapped. Death in four." The prince stared at the playing board. "My dragon—" "—is too far away to save you. You should have moved her to the center of the battle." "But you said—" "I lied. Trust no one. And keep your dragon close."

isn't this saying young griff's going to die in westeros because he didn't wait for her and that he's specifically going to die before she reaches the continent. why do people speak of the dany/young griff plot as a conflict in which dany will want griff dead, that feels like a baseless assumption. what i'm getting here is that she won't be able to save young griff because he's going to be too far out of her reach ("...is above all a rescuer"). which is the OPPOSITE of widely accepted fandom speculation, like, why are you lying. stop that

[fortune-maiden]

I've always liked this line of dialogue from SQX, because it does feel like at the end of the day, no matter how much SQX says he can't stand PM, he does still have a decent grasp of his character.

And on the other side of this, these words are just especially pointed towards Pei Xiu, who does have a good relationship with his boss/ancestor, and also going off his backstory, Pei Ming may well have been the first person in his life to acknowledge him and his talents.

So the whole thing just feels extra sad.

[aeolianblues]

I'm not an extrovert. At all. In everyday life, I'm a yapper, sure, but I need someone to first assure me I am okay to yap, so I don't start conversations, even when I really want to join in sometimes! It's just the social anxiety acting up. God knows where from and why I lose a lot of my inhibitions when it comes to talking to people about music. I don't know where the confidence has suddenly sprung from. I've made a crazy amount of friends in musical circles, either just talking to people about common music or (since it is after all in music circles) talking to bands about their own music. I let out a sigh of relief any time an interaction goes well, because in truth it's going against my every instinct. I wish I could do that in everyday life

[uncanny-tranny]

On the "darker" side of being comforted by one's immortality (not in the physical, but metaphorical), I've always been comforted by bone needles.

The idea that even after death, you've still been remembered by how you are used. No, bone needles probably weren't used with human bones, but it's a reminder that you aren't just going to... disappear. I'm comforted in the knowledge that I don't end in a "me" but in a "we," in nature. Everything about me is reused material so much more ancient than I am, and knowing that, I feel so much closer to the world.