#even if they weren't seen clearly in america

[vanessagillings]

I’m posting the ever-so-rare photo of myself alongside one of my characters based on my childhood because today is World Autism Acceptance Day, and I wanted to show my little corner of the internet who this particular autistic person is:  

I was officially diagnosed in February, at age 38 (I’m now 39). A lot of people thought I couldn’t be autistic.  Some people who know me in real life still don’t.  And until around 10 years ago, I didn’t think I could be either, because I was nothing like the stereotype media portrays. I was told that autistics lacked empathy (untrue), and never played make-believe (also often untrue) and only enjoyed STEM.  I was — and am — an empathetic artist -- and make believe?  I can spend days sketching finely bedecked bears brewing tea or carefully choosing the right words to weave tapestries of fiction — though perhaps my hyper focus was a bit of a red flag.  Even so, how could autism describe me?  I was a good student.  I got straight A's. I didn’t act out in class.  I can make eye contact…if I must.  And lots of girls hate having their hair brushed with an unholy passion, right?  Clearly I swim in sarcasm like a fish, so autism couldn't be why I was so anxious all the time, could it?

If someone had told me when I was younger what autism ACTUALLY is — instead of the nonsense I’d seen on screens — I would have seen myself in it.  I didn’t hear that autistics have sensory issues until I was in my mid-twenties, which is when I first began to really research autism symptoms, and I had almost all of them:  sensitivity to light, smells, fabrics, temperatures, textures, and certain touches, all of which make me feel anxious, I fidget (stim), I never know what the hell to do with my hands or where to look, I talk too little or too much, I have special interests, I have entire animated movies memorized shot-by-shot and can remember the first time and place I saw every movie I've ever seen but I often forget what I'm trying to say mid-sentence, I echo movies and tv shows (my husband and I have a whole repertoire of shared echolalias, making up about 20% of our conversations), I was in speech therapy as a kid, I have issues with dysnomia and verbal fluency, I toe-walk, I can't multitask to save my life, I like things just-so, I’m deeply introverted but not shy, I need to recover from all social interaction — even social interaction I enjoy — and I find stupid, every day things like grocery shopping, driving and making appointments overwhelming and intensely stressful, sometimes to the point where I struggle to speak.  It turns out, I am definitely autistic. My results weren't borderline. Not even close. And while these aren’t all of my challenges, and not everyone with these symptoms is autistic, it’s definitely something to look into if you present with all of these things at once. 

So why did it take me so long to get diagnosed? The same bias that exists in media threads through the medical community as well, and because I'm a woman who can discuss the weather while smiling on cue, few people thought I was worth looking into. Even after I was fairly certain I was autistic, receiving an official diagnosis in the US is unnecessarily difficult and expensive, and in my case, completely uncovered by my insurance.  It cost me over $4000, and I could only afford it because my husband makes more money than I do as a freelance illustrator — a job I fell into largely because it didn’t require in-person work; like many autists, I have been chronically underemployed and underpaid, in part due to physical illness in my twenties, which is a topic for another day.  But it shouldn’t be like this.  It shouldn’t be so hard for adults to receive diagnoses and it shouldn’t be so hard for people to see themselves in this condition to begin with due to misinformation and stereotypes. Like many issues in America, these barriers are even higher for marginalized groups with multiple intersectionalities. 

It’s commonly said that if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.  This is why it’s called a spectrum, not because there’s a linear progression of severity (someone who appears to have low support needs like myself might need more than it seems, and vice versa), but because every autistic person has their own strengths and weaknesses, challenges and experiences, opinions and needs.  No two people on the spectrum present in the same way.  And that’s a good thing!  No way of being autistic is inherently any better than any other, and even if someone on the spectrum struggles with things I don’t — or can do things I can’t — doesn’t make them more or less deserving of respect and human dignity.

But speaking solely for myself, the more I learn about autism, the happier I am to be autistic.  I struggle to find words and exert fine motor control, but my deep passion and fixation has made me good at art and storytelling anyway.  I find more joy watching dogs and studying leaf shapes on my walks than most people do in an entire day.  More often than not, the barriers I’ve faced weren’t due to my autism directly, but due to society being overly rigid about what it considers a valid way of existing.  My hope in writing this today is that maybe one person will realize that autism isn’t what they thought — and that being different is not the same as being less than. My hope with my fiction is to give autistic children mirrors with which to see themselves, and everyone else windows through which to see us as we actually are.

If you’re interested in learning more about autism or think you might be autistic, too, I recommend the Autism Self Advocacy Network  autisticadvocacy.org and the following books:

What I Mean When I Say I’m Autistic by Annie Kotowicz

We're Not Broken by Eric Garcia

Knowing Why edited by Elizabeth Bartmess

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, PhD

Loud Hands edited by Julia Bascom

Neurotribes by Steve Silberman

(trigger warning: the last two contain quite a lot of upsetting material involving institutionalized child abuse, but I think it’s important for people to know how often autistic children were — and are — abused simply for being neurodivergent).

Thanks for reading 💛

[writinginpinkpink]

The Price of Life. [0.1]

homelander x fem!reader

summary: Homelander saved you and gave you life, but with one rule: be utterly loyal to him. Despite this, you went beyond mere obedience and provided him with what he needed most: love.

warnings: homelander, violence, swearing, smut (eventually), a bit of stockholm syndrome?

masterlist | requests open! | next

You didn't expect this mission to be your last. It wasn't like this was your first time stealing Temp-V for Butcher. But something clearly went wrong as the last thing your eyes could register before your mind went blank was a Cape with the American fucking flag on it.

You felt your body give up, as if you could actually feel the life draining out of you, until a stinging sensation surged through you. Suddenly, everything felt painfully alive. Every nerve burned, and you felt everything. Your muscles relaxed and contracted, your heart pumped with such force it felt like it was going to burst out of your chest.

Your eyes slowly opened, only to find a pair of intense blue eyes staring at you. The man was holding your head close to his chest. When he realized you were awake, he gave you an eerie smile, laughing to himself. Only now did you notice that the sleeve of his shirt was rolled up, blood dripping from his arm.

And only after noticing him did you see the needle still attached to your arm. You instantly got up, realizing what he had done.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" you yelled, even though you already knew the answer. You wanted to hear him say it.

"What about a 'thank you, Homelander! You saved my life' first?" he said, rising as well. You noticed the floor around you was covered in blood—your blood.

"For what? You tried to kill me just to save me?" you screamed, knowing that shouting at him was dangerous, but with his blood circulating through your veins, you felt every emotion sharply. "I tried to kill you? Believe me, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. I made you. I gave you life. I'm fucking Jesus to you. The Butcher didn’t save you, Starlight didn’t save you, not even fucking Hughie. And now you are blood of my blood, you are my family now, do you understand? It wasn't rhetorical. Answer it."

He yelled, getting closer with each sentence until you hit the wall. His hands found their way to your neck, squeezing it just hard enough to send a message, but not to kill you. You struggled to nod.

"Exactly. You are now mine, and I will carry you around. We will be the fucking face of America. You and me. We are the example this country wants. I'm your hero, and now you will dedicate your life to me." You weren't surprised by his words. Since you joined the Seven, Homelander had seemed infatuated with you, for whatever reason.

"I hope you understand that I gave you life and, with the same ease, I can take it from you." He said, releasing your neck and kissing your cheek, as if he genuinely believed the twisted couple dynamic he had created in his mind.

"Go take a shower," he demanded, pointing to the bathroom. Still confused about what this new relationship meant, you complied, your burning throat serving as a stark reminder to avoid angering him again.

As you showered, you tried to connect the dots. What did he mean by "suicide mission"? Hadn’t Butcher and Starlight tried to save you? You weren’t sure if it was his blood making you feel this way, but resentment began to grow in your chest. It always annoyed you how Butcher bossed you around and treated everyone as though they were merely stepping stones to his goals.

Besides, you couldn’t deny that Starlight pissed you off a bit. She constantly forced you into the role of her shadow, making you the supportive friend rather than the protagonist. Every autograph you signed was alongside hers, and if her popularity faltered, so did yours. You tried not to let it bother you, as people enjoyed seeing your friendship, but it infuriated you that you were seen as the weakest female member. You knew you could break Tinker Bell in half if you wanted to, especially now that you felt stronger than ever.

As you dried yourself off before leaving the shower, you realized that this relationship with Homelander might not be the worst deal. You would finally receive the recognition you deserved and maybe even inspire some young girls to be like you. Besides, Homelander did save your life—he didn’t just keep you alive, but he made you stronger.

[astonmartinii]

big time rush | lando norris social media au

pairing: lando norris x albon!reader so how is alex albon and sorority rush connected? how is lando involved? and will the grid ever understand the greek system? [so, it's rush season, also known as my favourite time to be judgemental on social media (after the met gala of course), but like i have been bombarded with so much rush content and made a couple friends in the summer who go to alabama that my english ass needed to write something about it]

masterlist tips x

yourusername

liked by landonorris, alexalbon and 301,774 others

yourusername: it's the most wonderful time of the year !!! first year as president of theta 🩷

view all comments

user1: i get whiplash every time she posts back in america

user2: like??? how is that alex albon's sister

yourusername: we have the same mum and dad, hope this helps 👍

user3: okay yeah her and alex are the same people

alexalbon: posting this like you didn't BALL UR EYES OUT AT THE AIRPORT AGAIN

yourusername: i didn't cry because i was gonna miss ur ugly ass, i miss horsey and otto :(

albon_pets: we miss you too 🐈

user4: i personally love watching y/n's two personalities usa v uk she's like my batman

lilymunhe: don't have too much fun babe, remember to study too

yourusername: have some faith in me PLEASE

lilymunhe: i sat with you for a whole week individually rhinestoning shirts for work week i think i understand your priorities

yourusername: work week is very important lily and at least i know we'll all slay the diamonds are a girls best friend theme !!!!!

alexalbon: i'm still finding gems in all of my shoes and bags so they better

user5: i don't really understand sororities but you can bet i CHECK IN when it's y/n

user6: the way her brother is a whole ass f1 driver but she's more famous to me being the fucking PRESIDENT of theta at ALABAMA the girlies just don't get how big a deal that is

georgerussel63: any way we can get this rhinestone treatment for some merc merch

yourusername: if you wanted rhinestone merch you shouldn't have jumped ship from williams but thanks for the seat xoxo

georgerussell63: crikey can't a guy ask for sequins without being attacked these days

yourusername: all jokes georgie, but if you want rhinestones you'll have to rep theta

alexalbon

liked by landonorris, yourusername and 603,450 others

tagged: yourusername

alexalbon: enjoy your semester president, you're lucky i didn't get any photos of you ugly crying with horsey before you left. always love summer with you, even if you kept ditching us for your super secret boyfriend you thought we didn't know about ;)

view all comments

user7: the albons are so insane i love them

lilymunhe: you said we weren't gonna tell her to see how far she goes to cover it up !!!

alexalbon: this is so much more fun though i heard her scream from the other side of departures

yourusername: so i could've just used the front door rather than doing parkour out my window?

alexalbon: you going to fess up to who it is yet?

yourusername: no i don't think i will

lilymunhe: not even to me :(

yourusername: clearly you can't be trusted

lilymunhe: no babe it's not like that i swear

yourusername: i can't hear you i have a 12 hour flight

user8: the state of this comment section

user9: wait so y/n has a bf? i think i just heard the entirety of greek row fall to their knees

user10: like they had a chance babe

liked by yourusername and landonorris

landonorris: i've seen you cry your eyes out on face time to your cat

alexalbon: his name is horsey and it was a very emotional day

yourusername: you also face timed me crying with the pets that you missed me

alexalbon: stop ganging up on me this is my post and LANDO THIS IS FAMILY BUSINESS

landonorris: hmmmmm 🤨

f1wagsupdates

liked by user13, user14 and 3,205 others

f1wagsupdates: lando norris has flown into america a week early for the austin grand prix. lando flew into alabama and was reportedly picked up by a girl. is he off the market?

view all comments

user15: i’m sorry my little heart can’t take y/n and lando getting into relationships this year

user16: call me crazy but maybe lando and y/n are together?

user17: how did you come to this conclusion?

user16: so like when alex revealed he knew about y/n’s bf lando was weirdly all up in that comment section and now he's early to austin but flew into alabama where y/n goes to college and a brunette girl picked him up (also a healthy dose of delusion)

user18: no but why does this make sense though

user19: i once again implore you guys to understand that men and women can be friends, not all women in a 5 miles radius of a man is in love with him

user20: i would love for this to be y/n simply for the alex meltdown that'll follow

user21: he already said he's not overprotective just annoyed that he couldn't figure out who it is, so if it's one of his best friends i think he'll lose his mind

user22: imagine being a pledge and walking into the house to see LANDO NORRIS?

user23: trying to imagine lando of all people in sweet home alabama is killing me someone save my guy

yourusername

liked by landonorris, alexalbon and 359,0344 others

yourusername: first week of classes and i'm missing my cats

view all comments

user24: A MAN? i knew she had a man but that's. A MAN

albon_pets: we miss you too big sis, can't wait for thanksgiving

yourusername: have a nandos on me tonight babes xx

albon_pets: this is why you're our favourite sibling

alexalbon: i'm right here guys

user25: we've lost her to the soft launch

user26: literally like show me his face so i can stalk him

alexalbon: agreed

lilymunhe: pretty girl, we miss youuuuuu !! can't wait to see you in austin

yourusername: literally counting down the days

lilymunhe: will the mystery man be there?

yourusername: he may ...

alexalbon: i hope he's ready for the interrogation

landonorris: alex mate you're about as intimidating as a tumbleweed

alexalbon: you're in albon business an awful lot lately norris 🤨

user27: the alex meltdown is starting

landonorris

liked by alexalbon, yourusername and 1,302,778 others

tagged: yourusername

view all comments

landonorris: two dummies, one car, and an attempt to get into the cota paddock

view all comments

user28: OMFG

yourusername: i can only drive stick, this is known. and so many fans, i didn't want to run anyone over

user29: it was a close call but you did nearly hit me, i appreciate the swerve

yourusername: MY BAD OMG as you can all tell, alex got all of the good driving genes in the family

landonorris: don't worry babe, i won't make you drive again

yourusername: thank you baby, i was born to be a passenger princess

alexalbon: BABE? BABY? PASSENGER PRINCESS? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?

yourusername: surprise?

alexalbon: you were doing parkour to see LANDO?

landonorris: i don't appreciate your tone alex i am a catch

yourusername: you are a catch

alexalbon: can a man not have a breakdown in peace anymore without you people flirting underneath it

lilymunhe: you guys are kinda cute, i'm seeing the vision

alexalbon: am i joke to you?

yourusername: alex please be happy for me, i'm so so happy with lando, he's the best for me

landonorris: i promise i love y/n, i won't hurt her

alexalbon: i know, but give me three business days to process and NO MCLAREN MERCH

yourusername

liked by alexalbon, landonorris and 502,300 others

tagged: landonorris, alexalbon

yourusername: lando on the podium and alex in the points, you know what that means? took my best boys to their first frat party (they didn't fare well)

view all comments

user32: the grid at a frat party is something i thought i'd never see

user33: waiting for old men to say that americans are ruining the sport

landonorris: why were people on the roof? why was i on the roof?

yourusername: lets not announce that baby, i don't want zak brown to sue me

landonorris: i'm never drinking again... you do this every weekend?

yourusername: you are literally an f1 driver, you have much harder weekends

landonorris: well at least after this i got cuddles

lilymunhe: based on how late you were to brunch, i guess it was a lot of cuddles

landonorris: i am clingy, let me live

yourusername: i like clingy lando don't worry baby

alexalbon: you need to drop out immediatelt that was terrifying

yourusername: LOL

alexalbon: why were they all so loud and why did they all insist on drinking upside down? this place is so unserious

yourusername: just say you miss me alex

alexalbon: fine, i miss you (also now we know about you and lando, he did nothing but complain about missing you the whole flight home)

user34: alex already sick of lando's shit they crack me up

landonorris

liked by georgerussell63, yourusername and 1,023,400 others

tagged: yourusername

landonorris: cosplayed as a theta sister for the week with the love of my life

view all comments

user35: this is the cross over i could never see coming but am not angry about

user36: so does someone on the grid finally get the greek system?

landonorris: no ❤️

yourusername: the prettiest sister ever (anyone from the house ready this, he doesn't count don't worry)

landonorris: i am the prettiest sister regardless sorry not sorry

yourusername: they just warmed up to you :(

landonorris: they warmed up to me the minute i doordashed chipotle for the whole house

yourusername: true

landonorris: also miss president, why is that a full time job? i really don't get greek life

user37: the image of a whole house of sorority sisters and then just lando is so funny to me

user38: he's the president's bf so i doubt anyone had a real problem

yourusername: he's also unbelievable levels of girlypop

landonorris: it's my greatest asset

yourusername: i can think of another one ;)

alexalbon: HAVE SOME SHAME PEOPLE

yourusername: HIS PERSONALITY

landonorris: and something else ;)

alexalbon: STOP PLEASE OR I'LL REVOKE MY APPROVAL

user38: i need a relationship like this stat

user39: omg when y/n graduates i can't wait for her to be back with alex and lando full time ... the chaos will be crazy

note: please enjoy this little one!! gonna start going through any requests now xx

[halcyone-of-the-sea]

super duper congratulations on 5k, you absolutely deserve each and every one lovely ! i’m sure you’ve got a ton already, but at the suspiciously low number of soap requests, may i ask for an enemies to lovers ? perhaps in a ‘constantly-butting-heads-to-the-point-where-everyone-around-them-is-bashing-their-skull-in-from-annoyance’ to lovers sense. and maybe a dash of forced proximity? i know he’s a literal ball of sunshine, but i will enemies to lovers-fy any character i can get my hands on and you do the trope justice every! time!! of course, only if you would like to, sending love! <3 xx

—A Song of Gnashing Teeth

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 5k Drabble Masterlist ࿐ྂ

╰┈➤ ❝ [There was never a day where the two of you weren't butting heads - everyone was at their wit's end. Of course, you would both be forced to cooperate at some point.] ❞

“Stop moving,” the command comes in from your right ear, fizzling in and out as the connection pops. The comms were spotty in the higher altitudes, and even as the sweat stuck to your skin and the bugs buzzed, it still tried its best to come through. 

Just as you were trying your best not to snap.

“I’m not moving, Captain MacTavish,” you ease out. “I’m lined up.” 

Sniping in South America was the mission for the next two months—targets lined up with terrorist connections that needed to be six feet under per Shepherd’s orders ASAP. Two teams had been sent out, but only to work together for this instance. Yours, obviously, and the second belonging to a man you’d not seen in years.

The taste was still bitter in your mouth when you were around him, though.

“Don’t lie to me, Dearie—scope’s shakin’ more than a drunk after his sixth bottle.” Your eyes glare ahead, a sneer building slowly over your lips.

“You’re one to talk?” You scoff, dense foliage swaying as you focus on the head of one of your targets. Your men listen intently over the line as the two Captains bicker—all in the town below waiting to do a snatch-and-grab of one of the individuals you would need to interrogate. “Moscow, Russia, five years ago,” you speak in clipped sentences. “Target in her penthouse. White curtains swaying in the breeze. What do you do, Soap? Oh, that’s right,” you growl, “you shoot the damn marble statue thinking it was her after two bottles of shit wine.”

There’s a click of a tongue over the line. A smirk easily heard that leaves you fuming.“I remember I happened to be a bit distracted that day, Hen. Not as much as you, though, aye?”

“Only thing I was distracted by,” you flick off your sniper rifle’s safety, undisturbed by the blatant insinuation. “Was your ability to not fucking see clearly.” 

A low grumble wafts out, cutting the line a few times. 

Your joined unit all seem to try and stop their hands from slapping their faces in annoyance—the connection heavy with tension and anticipation. Whoever decided it was smart to put the two of you together either thought it would be funny, or they hoped you could both get past your own egos for the sake of the mission. 

As if. 

“I’m taking the shot,” you sigh. “Team One—get ready to intercept the second target on my go.” 

For once, the Scot seems to agree with you, voice coming back to that serious gruff bark. “Two, keep the area locked down; no need to let the others get too excited and pop off shots. Save our arses the trouble.”

You let your finger slip down to the trigger, eye open and stance relaxed—taking into account distance and wind as you level to notch three. 

“On my go,” you say again, the comms lighting up with affirmatives. “Three…two…” Your finger squeezes just as, “Go,” is muttered into the air. 

In the scope, you watch the head of your target explode into a mess of blood in black and white, the spray flying into the air like rain only to fall once more as the body drops. 

The conjoined teams do as they’re told, moving in the middle of chaos to grab at the second mark—one needle to the neck later, and it’s a limp form that they drag into the back of an awaiting van. 

“Mission success. Pack it up and let's get goin’.” John’s voice breaks you out of your focus, letting you blink at the disappearing van before you shift your head away entirely, taking a low breath. “Shepherd’ll have new orders.”

“‘Course he will,” you grunt, moving to push up into your knees and crack your back. 

It’s only after a moderate hike back into the woods that you see him waiting, having trekked back from his perch as well, through bugs and branches. The rifle is slung over your back, just as his is loosely held in front of him. 

“John,” you mutter in greeting, slapping away a mosquito. Blue eyes glance your way, scar moving as a smirk meets your eyes. He never changed—even that mohawk is still the same. A disheveled dog down to the bone in his mouth.

“Dearie,” a firm nod is leveled. “Nice shot, then.”

“Ironic,” your head tilts, slowing as you meet him a few feet separated. A silence settles like steel to the hard floor, the long pause that draws on tension as a tight cord. 

John clears his throat, watching you as your eyes narrow, brow twitching. 

He steps once more towards you with one foot, leaning in.

“I suppose this is where I wait for you to slap me,” he tilts his head, still smirking. 

“I’m thinking about it,” you draw, blinking slowly. “Don’t tempt me, MacTavish. I don’t need disorderly conduct and assault on my record.” 

“Done worse.” You scowl.

“You’re acting like you want me to do it, damn freak.”

“I’m just saying I’d be expecting it, is all.” Smooth chuckles waft out as your hand waves in exasperation, walking forward. It’s only after you’re about to move into the trees and disappear from view that he calls once more to you. 

Your feet slow, but don’t stop.

“I really did miss you.” Eyelids moving just a tiny bit wider, your lips thinned out. Boots shuffle in the grass from behind you. “Thought you’d come back eventually, aye?” 

You stay silent, body still near the sentinels of old tree trunks. 

The parting of the two of you could have gone better—there were some things that couldn’t be fixed. You’d always be at each other’s throats, needless of missions or personal matters. 

You look over your shoulder to lock with digging blues—the structure of John’s face always seared into your mind so much so you could draw it even if years had passed.

“You never gave me a reason to stay.” 

He blinks in surprise, but you’ve already shifted away, heart pinched. 

“Good working with you, Captain,”  you say, already gone. Memories linger in the air, suffocating you. Your eyes close tightly, and you grit your teeth. “Call me if you need me.”

A shout echoes above the yells from the town far into the distance, meeting your ears. 

“I plan on it!”

You huff under your breath, but your skipping heart betrays you.

[dcdreamblog]

Question.

I have heard people assert that the current bearer of the heroic identy of the Guardian is a clone of the original. I have also seen photos of The Guardian working with the Titans, and...he's very clearly a Black man.

So, um. I have questions, because you would think the newspapers back in the '30s would have... mentioned this, especially given how he was reported to have campaigned hard to ease ethnic tensions in the poorer parts of Depression-era Metropolis, denouncing those who exploited or exacerbated those tensions as being friends of crime and enemies of America's ideals even before the War started?

Ok so, we're crossing a lot of streams here and I want to you to know that that's normal. These sorts of things are opaque and confusing and that is why we HAVE people like my in the first place. You are thinking of 3 different men right now. In order:

Guardian I, AKA James Jacob "Jim" Harper

(Sketch of Harper and his wards the "Newsboy Legion" signed by the legendary pop artist and correspondent Jack Kirby)

Harper was indeed born and raised as an orphan in the Metropolis neighborhood known as Suicide Slum (the name has stuck but I can tell you, in the 21st century it's as clean and safe as the rest of Metropolis, mostly to Black Lightning's credit). During the depression it was infamous for a reason, flush with organized crime, poverty and corruption.

Harper originally attempted to serve his community as a police officer but found that the police department was half or more of what was wrong with the neighborhood in the first place. After being assaulted by some gangsters he cobbled a costume together from a nearby shop (which he still paid for, incidentally). Bursting into a nearby pool hall his attackers frequented, he actually ended up busting open a rather high profile kidnapping case.

Eventually he became the legal guardian of a group of young delinquents called the Newsboy Legion and helped to turn them toward the path of righteousness. He joined up with the All Star Squadron early, served with distinction during and after the war. (We have an exhibit here all about him, the costume and shield are reproductions of course because both are still in use more or less, even if they weren't they're rightfully in the hands of his next of kin)

He was cloned under vile circumstances by the equally vile Project Cadmus, who were up to all kinds of immoral and unethical genetic experiments. When Harper attempted to put a stop to it, he was killed by Cadmus' head of security.

The murder was uncovered and prosecuted through the combined work of Superboy, the clone of Harper and Cadmus' secretly enslaved workforce the Genomorphs. Who are a subject all of their own but, if any should be reading this, I hope you are thriving.

The cloned Harper is still active as a superhero in the modern day. One can assume under an assumed name but variants of "Jim Harper" wouldn't jump out at people even if he was going by it day to day. Out of respect for his privacy I'm not going to speculate any further into his personal life, one can assume he has been through MORE than enough.

Now the other man you spoke about is VERY mysterious indeed...

(The 3rd Guardian alongside Bumblebee in battle against The Ant, unknown photographer, posted online) You are right in that he is very clearly a black man and that is basically ALL I can say about him. He seems to come and go, always in the company of the Teen Titans, is in some manner of romantic relationship to mainstay member Bumblebee and he just up and vanishes for long stretches of time. (This was put together by clips captured of them in combat. Referring to Bumblebee as "baby", "dear" or "my girl". And being referred to as "babe", "lover" and "man of mine")

Theories, of course, abound with the most popular one being that he is the romantic partner/husband/whatever of Bumblebee in their civilian identities and while not a superhero by trade he will take up this identity when needed. A "friend of the family" I guess you could say who hops in when the Titans need an extra pair of hands.

He's competent in combat and seems to be trusted implicitly by the Titans themselves so who the hell am I to judge?

[schraubd]

Nothing Else Like It

In one sense, what we're going through in America is highly reminiscent of other countries which have recently gone through authoritarian regresses. Hungary, India, Israel, the Philippines, and Brazil, to name a few, all have seen liberal democratic institutions decay in the face of far-right populist demagogues. I've found this weirdly comforting -- not because what's happened in those countries hasn't been awful, but because somehow knowing this sort of thing doesn't stand outside history is reassuring. It's not the end of time, it is a thing happening in time. Yet even this reassurance is, I fear, somewhat misleading. Because while it may be true that Hungary, India, Israel, etc. have gone through this before; and even true that (some of) these countries have or will come out the other side, what we have not ever seen is a global hegemon going through this sort of regression. Without understating the havoc that a recklessly authoritarian India or Israel can wreak on a local or even regional scale, they're unlikely to take down the entire international order with them. An out-of-control America could tank the global economy, could cause anarchic chaos to break out all over the planet, could set off a literal World War III. There's literally been nothing like it. And domestically, with the possible exception of the Redemption-era South, we haven't in American history seen as rapid an authoritarian rollback of democratic equality and rule of law as what the Trump administration has inaugurated in its first week(!) in office. Every aspect of our constitutional order feels like it under attack, all at once, and nobody really knows how to respond. This uncertainty, unfortunately, is sometimes paired with a strangely confident certainty that purports to know exactly how to respond -- which is to say, "something not what we're doing now." At one level, I understand where this frustration is coming from -- "what we're doing now" can't be the right response, because it's not stopping things that need to be stopped. At another level, it really does elide the brute reality that nobody knows exactly what the most effective response is to Trump's blitzkrieg fascism. For example, I saw a report that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was taking the stance that Democrats should ignore Trump's "flood the zone" tactics and focus, laser-like, on the economic damage he was wreaking. I also saw many panning this tactic as leaving many critical issues unaddressed while missing opportunities to make hay out of massively unpopular oversteps that weren't clearly economic. I certainly see the weight of this critique, but I also understand the other side -- that trying to cover everything will inevitably result in an unfocused, chaotic response that lacks a clear narrative and just reinforces a "Dems in disarray" sensibility. How do I resolve that tension? I'm not sure -- and to be blunt, I think most people are unsure too. My best proposal is this: the important thing is to keep fighting. The where or when or how is far less important than that it happens at all. This means I do agree wholeheartedly with the stance that Democrats' job is to be the opposition party and not give any free inches to Republican policies. But beyond that, I'm not sure the best use of our energy is engaging in internal sniping regarding who is prioritizing what messaging or narrative point best. Is that a possible line to hold? I don't know. Is it even the best line to hold? I don't know! We're in new territory here. There's been nothing else like it. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/QpsJeGa

[oacest]

New bands can be extremely delicate. Some local chancers had decided they weren't ready for press (in the Manchester Evening News? Oh, perr-leeze), leaving me with no lead feature. The pub beckoned. On the way, I bumped into one of my neighbours. I'd seen his band recently, and asked what he was up to.

"Guess what happened in Glasgow last night?" he replied. It was Noel Gallagher, and the band were Oasis. Noel told me how Alan McGee had barged backstage after their now-legendary gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, and signed them on the spot. I threatened him with battery if he was lying. I interviewed a still-reeling Noel that day, alongside an admittedly unpredictable but otherwise sweet and pleasant Liam, who tempered his obvious glee by striding around in a show of brash, comedy bravado.

There were no fraternal fisticuffs, just some genial ribbing, as Noel – clearly in control and articulate as ever – reined in the overexcited Liam. I remember Noel's exquisite but compact music collection, including the Stones (Noel used a photo of a young Mick Jagger on his backstage photo-pass and nobody noticed) and early REM (I don't remember seeing any Beatles). The result was the first full article on Oasis to run anywhere.

The signs were already there. A friend rented the rehearsal room next door. He'd hear a massive Gallagher bust-up, sullen silence, and then they'd play I Am the Walrus ad infinitum.

I witnessed their live debut. No matter what you think of them, they had the tunes, and even for an audience of roughly 25, Liam exhibited that trademark swagger, as if he was headlining Glastonbury, not the Boardwalk. Geoff Travis of Rough Trade checked out the long-forgotten support band, leaving soon after. My snippet in the MEN was headlined: "Oasis Are Going Places". They were, and they did.

Everything got silly. I sent a mutual friend in America the ridiculous Oasis Xmas wrapping paper, free with the NME. Liam became red-top gossip fodder. Previously, I'd seen him at the Hacienda, already targeted by several adventurous ladies. Noel's then girlfriend (who apparently said: "Your music's shite/ It keeps me up all night.") whispered, "That boy's heading for trouble - Noel's warned him."

31 Aug 2009

[mammalsofaction]

Wedding Adventure, PART 1

Rating: T (swear words)

Ship: Heinz Doofenshmirtz/Perry the Platypus

Add tags: Human Perry, mute Perry, rewrite of Candace's Big Day, established relationship Perryshmirtz, marriage fic baybee, this was fun to write, all the Flynn-Fletchers and most of the Doofenshmirtzes are here.

Part 2 coming soon. (subscribe to this post)

A/N: The family knows they are OWCA agents, this is an AU where OWCA isn't a secret organisation, or at least not to family and loved ones. Heinz and Perry are both established OWCA agents, though Heinz still used to be an evil scientist. Perry's lore complies to the lore post I've made on him before.

---

"-weren't too angry about it, but a monkey was a monkey, and we are henceforth completely blacklisted from attending another political wedding in South India ever again."

The Flynn-Fletchers make appropriate ooh-and-ahhing noises, and Perry closes their large scrapbook album with some satisfying thump of finality, leaning back against the couch's backrest into his Heinz's embrace as Linda engages him in lighthearted discussions of grandeur wedding traditions and cultural holidays. Ferb struggles a bit with trying to properly peep the the front cover of the album from where he's standing on the carpet facing Perry, so Lawrence picks him up to put him on his lap, and Perry angles the book so the boy could enjoy touching it and appreciating all the details. He appreciates the boy's clear admiration; Perry deeply enjoys scrapbooking, and the album is a point of pride.

“Wow, Uncle Perry,” Phineas gushes, where he's practically sitting on Heinz's foot to for a closer look at the photos. “You and Dr. D has had so many cool adventures together!”

I know, huh? Perry signed, and ruffling the boy's hair. Ferb had boldly taken it upon himself to flip through the pages of the album to admire all the photos they had been showing before. He points a photo taken ground camera angle, looking up as they were jumping off a plane.

He remembers that one. Heinz had somehow gotten his parachute lines tangled then, jumping down the side of an active Volcano line in Indonesia. They reached the ground in one piece though, generally speaking.

“Yeah, you liked that one, kid?” Heinz asked, smiling. He always tried to be attentive to the boys' interests as possible, not least because he saw a lot of himself in them, and the childhood he could have had, had his own insatiable curiosity and intelligence was humored instead of scorned. Perry couldn't help himself from planting a kiss on his cheek, as Heinz turned the page to show them both the least blurry photo they could keep of a video as they escaped from man-eating piranha plants in the amazon.

Candace sighed wistfully at the sight. ”You guys are so cute together. I wish me and Jeremy are gonna grow up as close and affectionate you guys still are even after 5 years.”

Phineas clearly disagreed, at least from the confused scrunch of his nose by their blatant display of PDA, but he's way too polite-and distracted- to comment. Perry chortles, and ruffles his hair.

He wonders if their neighbour's kid from across the street- what was her name? Isabelle? -still had the blatant crush she had on Phineas since he had last seen her. Linda's boy still clearly had other priorities in mind, poor girl.

Ferb flips over to the back of the scrapbook to reveal empty pages, at which point he turns to face the both of them inquisitively.

“Ferb's right, Uncle Perry,” Phineas verbally agrees. “There's still some empty pages in your scrapbook. So many more adventures!”

“Good point, boys. Any plans for the rest of summer?” Lawrence asked.

”Well, we are going to go to the Galapagos tomorrow,“ Heinz muses, sending Perry a meaningful look. Perry blushes. "But we'll be back in America by Saturday for the reception."

”Reception?“ Linda asked in surprise. ”Who's gotten married?“

Perry and Heinz smile, and -as one- reveal the golden rings, hanging by subtle, durable chains around each their necks that had been hidden by the necklines of their shirts. The family gasps, the meaning of the gesture unmistakable; but Candace so loved putting it into words.

”You're engaged?“ She shrieks.

“Apparently it's why your uncle had been so insistent we come home between missions.” Heinz laughed, bumping into Perry's shoulder teasingly. Perry responds by rolling his eyes, and reaching for his fiance's hand, planting a sweet kiss on titanium knuckles. “He had this whole elaborate treasure hunt proposal planned by walking us through all our most meaningful locations of our first meeting, right here in Danville.”

Candace squealed. Perry started signing, picking up where Heinz had left off. We would have stayed to plan a full wedding too, and I really wanted the whole family to be there, but the Galapagos mission is a time-sensitive emergency. I managed to talk my boss into staying another night over so we could break the news to you, as well as Vanessa and Charlene, in person.

Linda coo-ed. "Oh, Perry this is so wonderful. I am so happy for you two. You're fantastic together."

"Does this mean you're going to have a wedding in the Galapagos?" Phineas asked.

Perry shrugs helplessly, then shakes his head.

"We might not have the time," Heinz elaborates regretfully. "Time-sensitive missions don't really give us much space for wedding planning, so we're planning to sign some documents, maybe find a church so we could at least be legally bound when we land, though neither of us are, hah, particularly religious…,“

"Like an elopement?" Linda blurts, surprised. Her husband chides her with a gentle “Honey-,”

“Well, not really.” Heinz says, scratching the back of his head. He tends to fidget, when he's nervous. “I mean-,”

“ELOPE?” Candace yelled, outraged. She's gotten to her feet, a look of wild panic in her eyes. Perry blinks. “Elope? No! You can't elope! That's so quick! Weddings are supposed to be this big, special thing! It's supposed to be the biggest, most momentous thing in your life, and you can't throw that away for some-some-,” she sputters. “Time-sensitive, life or death emergency on the other side of the globe!”

Perry and Heinz shares a quick, panicked look by her outburst. Candace, dear, Perry tries to sign, but she wasn't listening. She seemed to be on an absolute roll.

”Besides!“ She yells. ”Uncle Perry, if you get married in some church in the Galapagos, I can't be there!“ She stomps her foot for emphasis. ”When I was little, you promised me that I was going to be your bridesmaid. I can't be there in the Galapagos! What about my needs?!“

This time, Heinz throws away all pretence of subtlety, and turns to face Perry with a brief, but pointed, stare. Linda and Lawrence gasps. “Candace!” Her mother exclaims, scandalised.

“But mom-!”

Perry meets his fiance's gaze, embarrassed, but instead of something stern, Heinz has a calculating look in his eye, that thousand-yard stare he does when he's about to do something impulsive. He checks in with Perry just the once, a quick blink of his eyes full of meaning. Perry hesitates, but nods.

Heinz turns to the side, an uncharacteristically gentle touch to the back of Linda's hand that stops her as she is about to scold her daughter for her inappropriate outburst. “She's right, Linda,” he says quickly, with a chuckle. “I mean, for all our sins even Charlene and I had a proper wedding, for all the good that did. It's meant to signify something special, and I would love that for Perry and I.”

Heinz reached over to squeeze his hand, and Perry takes a deep breath as he turns towards his niece. Candace, I really am sorry. I know I made you a promise, but there's only so much we can do with the time we have, and what with how dangerous each of our missions are, Dr. D and I have long agreed to take every chance together we could get, and we want to start our very next mission and the next step of our lives living our truth. As spouses. Perry squeezes Heinz's hand right back, and the man smiles encouragingly as Candace visibly calms.

"We could go to the courthouse before we leave-,” Heinz suggests kindly, before he is once more interrupted.

“No! We need to have a real wedding!” She reiterates, then started to beam. Perry didn't trust that beam. “We could have it in the backyard!”

”What?“ said Heinz.

”What?“ Said Lawrence.

”Great idea, sis!“ Phineas enthused.

Linda pinches the bridge of her nose, likely keeping in mind that she was entertaining guests. Perry wants to give her a hug. She looks like she needs it. "Candace," she says delicately. "We can't plan a real wedding in a day.”

”Oh, duh.“ She says, before rushing up the stairs, presumeably to her own room. There is some loud noises of bumping, stumbling and rummaging as the rest of the family are left downstairs in various baffled emotional states.

“Boy,” Heinz muses, smacking his lips. “You weren't kidding when you told me she was high-strung.”

Perry really hadn't been, but he wasn't given the chance to respond. Candace returns in a rush, suddenly dressed in a beautiful layered purple tulled gown, and a delicate face of make-up. Her slippers match. She's got a tiara. She's also holding her own tome of a scrapbook, bursting at the seams with paper cut-outs and brochures, and filling Perry with the cold, creeping feeling of dread.

“I've been planning this since I was ten.” She chirps excitedly. Lawrence blinks. “I can set up a perfect wedding so that you two can marry in a way that you'll never forget, and-,” She pauses importantly, stepping forward to approach Perry and Heinz to flip open her own scrapbook and show them its contents. Heinz raises a brow in respect. "Still have you two on the plane straight to the Galapagos with time to spare."

Once again, Perry and Heinz turn to look at each other, this time to non-verbally communicate their stunned surprise. But the boys had gotten to their feet in excitement, and everything was happening so fast. Candace hands Perry and Lawrence a magazine cutout for an ad for a local tailor's, with a penmarked address, and begins pulling them to their feet, pushing them towards the front door. “Uncle Perry, you and Dad are going to go into town to get suits and fresh haircuts, while Mom and I are going to the Salon to get manicures and matching bridesmaid outfits. Dr D, I've called Vanessa over, and she's gonna bring Miss Charlene so you guys can discuss and arrange for friends and family contacts for the guest list, so long as it's under the 50-person range with a plus one limit, as well as find another pair of wedding rings.”

Heinz sputters, likely to the very last part. Their engagement rings are made with re-forged parts of old Inators, and likely he'll want their wedding rings to be made with much the same sentiment. But Candace was on a mission, and there was nought to stop her.

“Can we help?” Phineas asked excitedly. Ferb was vibrating on his feet.

Candace groans. “Fine, you can help me plan the grand entrance. But no funny business!”

Perry hears Phineas turn to his brother saying half of his usual catchphrase (“Ferb, I know what we're going to-,”) before the door is slammed shut behind him, leaving him and Lawrence standing confused on the front porch of the house and only partly dressed for town. Lawrence managed to grab his keys and wallet, at least, which was a small mercy.

“Well,” Lawrence says. “I suppose we're getting suits, eh, little brother?”

Perry was only Lawrence's brother through legal means, and he detests being called little. Lawrence knows this, the little shit, but Perry doesn't have the energy to fight him on this one. He sighs. Let's just leave before Vanessa and Charlene-

A beautifully sleek dark green and black Mercedes screeches to a halt in front of their house, and Perry hears Charlene scream for her daughter to be careful as the teenager lets herself out the passenger side door, manic and dishevelled. From the middle of the road, she stares and points at them, screaming: “You're getting married?”

Perry sighs again, and bumps Lawrence's shoulder.

“Yup, that's our cue.” He agrees. “First to the car gets the radio?”

Perry beats him to the station wagon, but he doesn't let Perry change the station anyway. Prick.

[latent-thoughts]

The Jews weren't the first natives in that region. The Canaanites were there before the Jews showed up to violently erase them from existence for the terrible crime of not being of Yahweh's choosen people. All Jews know this. It is literally in the fucking book. You know this.

Don't lie in order to defend the idea that Israel is a thing that absolutely must exist. It's fine that you believe that idea, but what's getting irksome is this underlying insistence that "Israel must exist" is an obvious conclusion to the region's problems and anyone who has a modicum of moral fiber in their soul can clearly see that. Your religion isn't true to the people who aren't you. I do not recognize the Jews as a chosen, special sort of people and I shouldn't be expected to. And, yes, I can tell when it's expected because they'll get annoyed when I mention the Canaanites. Yeah, I've seen the eye-rolls, the "history's a complex mess so I'm justified in picking and choosing what events humanity should give a shit about based on how recent they are and how much the directly affect MY culture" bullshit, the accusations of antisemitism despite the fact that I would be completely fine with the existence of Israel if the people who made it didn't, well, slaughter the families of Canaanites in order to do so. Also, Israel isn't a person or a type of person, it's a state, it's completely fine to hate and isn't synonymous with hating Jews. If you think that it is, I'm going to remind you that people who aren't Jewish exist and they don't need to necessarily have the values Jews want them to in order to good people.

If the foundation of your state is built on moving into land that isn't yours and erasing the people that your god doesn't want there, it's completely reasonable to expect that other states might just return that favor in kind. After all, you set the precedent, right? And then constantly referred to it in your holy texts like it was the best, most necessary thing that ever needed to happen. That kind of zeal certainly won't spread.

Oh boy, I'm going to say it. I think that all of the states that have ever engaged in and justified (I'm going to say it) genocidal behavior aren't really... y'know worth defending? Worth giving a shit about? And yeah, saying "God needed us to do it! We are the chosen people! HOLY LAND!" is a shitty justification. Objectively shitty. Jewish people aren't the chosen people to anyone else besides other Jewish people. Nothing really wrong with that, but... nothing really that right with it either. It kinda cancels itself out.

Long ask, I know. Whatever. Stop lying. The Canaanites were there before the Jews. The Jews killed them all then called the land they stole from them "Israel". See? There are perfectly good reasons to hate Israel that have nothing to do with Palestine.

C'mon, the Americas had fucking slavery. England tried to take over the world. Hell, Germany tried to kill all of you! Israel is another shitty place. It isn't special.

I vow to ignore Israel from now on, achieving everlasting peace and making the entire Middle East envious of me.

Oh, and to be absolutely clear in the most awkward manner possible, I don't hate the Jews. I just find their bullshit to be really fucking annoying.

If the Jews killed them all, how is it that their DNA is still dominant in modern day Jews (plus Palestinians and other populations of Levant)?

The truth is that both Jews and Palestinians were part of the same people at some point in time, who also mixed with Canaanites and settled in the region that is modern day Israel+Levant. And Canaanites' ancestors had actually arrived in that region from further East.

So by your logic, then, even the Canaanites weren't the natives of that land.

(There may have been tribal wars, as was common in that era, but it's pretty clear that no one wiped out anyone.)

We can keep going back in time to disprove the indigeneity of people till we arrive in Africa. Which is kind of moronic, TBH.

Personally, I'm not denying the indigeneity of either Jews or Palestinians. Only you are trying to justify your hatred for Jews and denying that they have a right to live in their homeland. Just by saying that you don't hate Jews doesn't veil your anti-semitism.

Both Jews and Palestinians deserve to live there. A two state solution is one way for it. Terrorism by Hamas isn't.

Furthermore, if you know your history (which I'm having doubts about), you know that Jews were persecuted and driven out of almost all the countries and kingdoms they had moved to over the centuries. There were Jews in the Middle Eastern countries, African countries, Europe, etc.. Tell me what happened to them. If you can't, you don't understand why Jews wanted a country of their own, in their native homeland.

With the exception of India, they were either killed, forcefully converted, or driven out of these countries at some point in time. The Holocaust is just one such instance over the centuries, and it was a big deal. The present day rising anti-semitism only strengthens their belief that they're never fully accepted in other places. Hence their need for self determination and separate state of their own (which they already have, btw).

Also, I know you didn't bother to check before coming in my inbox to spew venom, but I'm not Jewish. I'm not even from that region. But I understand what it means to have a history that's full of massacres and genocide of my people.

Plus, I'm someone who likes to stay informed, someone who's against anti-semitism. I don't need to be a Jew to understand where they're coming from.

[homunculus-argument]

Also hey I got my first Spooky Camping Experience the other night:

It's still so warm out there at night and it wasn't going to rain, so we didn't put up the whole tent - we just had the mosquito net over our bedding and sleeping bags. That way we could still see the whole surrounding forest quite clearly, with wild blueberry and other pine barren undershrub growing all around us, and pine branches reaching above us over the sky. It's still light enough at night in Finland at this time of the year that even if it hadn't been cloudy, we would have seen no stars.

Our campsite was beside a clearing on a rocky hill, covered mostly by moss, lichen and whatever trees find the cracks in the bedrock to be a fit place to grow, and the path there was exposed bedrock itself, formed to where the moss, lichen and undershrub had been worn down by the feet of more animals than people. We could see the clearing from the tent with ease. Neither of us were used to sleeping in the wild - my partner had not done so for a long time, and I had never done so at all - so we didn't sleep well. Around two or three AM I turned around to the clearing and saw a tiny, faint light.

The night wasn't dark, but still dim, and the view was obscured somewhat by the black mosquito net, but the light was still clearly there. Smaller than the flame of a candle, colourless but not white, hovering perfectly still exactly in place, in a position above the bedrock footpath. Whatever the source was, it made no sound. I sat up in the tent, moved around somewhat to better assess where it was, and it did, indeed, stay perfectly still in a place above the ground. In my travels to America I had seen their yellow-green fireflies before, and though at the time I had never seen anything like them before, I knew they weren't native to Finland and whatever the source of that light was, it wasn't flying.

It was perfectly still, as if suspended in the air, hovering exactly in place above the ground. A tiny dot of light, as if a pin prick on the fabric of reality itself, puncturing the darkness.

My partner was drifting in and out of poor sleep as well, and I asked him if he could see it, too. I have never had a hallucination or psychotic symptom in my life but I had to make sure. He agreed that it was there, he saw the faint light too. So I got up to investigate, weaseled out of the tent in my underwear and clumsily put my boots on outside to go see what it was. I feared the light would disappear before I got to it, and we would never know the truth. But it didn't, it kept glowing just as clear, distinct and yet tiny, as I approached.

I had been right in my assessment that it was above ground level, at knee level above the bedrock path, but it wasn't suspended in the air as I had thought. It was sitting on a stump that I hadn't seen in the darkness. It was some kind of a bug, glowing faintly green in the darkness, just chilling there, either unaware or at least entirely indifferent to the fact that I was staring at it as closely as I could in the dim light. I couldn't make out any more detail of what it was, but I was only marginally less surprised to learn that there even are bioluminescent insects in Finland than I would have been to discover proof of the existence of the supernatural.

Making my way back to the tent, I stumbled while taking off my boots, stepping on the corner of the tent and breaking off the loop by which we had suspended the tent to a nearby tree. We slept the rest of the night - poorly - in a broken mosquito net tent, and headed back home a few hours later. I'll have to repair the tent later at some point before we can go out into the woods again.

But for a moment there, I had spent several minutes sitting in my sleeping bag on the undershrub forest floor, in the perfectly quiet and peaceful finnish wilderness, staring at a faint light the like of which I had never seen before and could not explain, wondering that perhaps there really was a chance that the fair folk of the forest truly do exist, and what surprised me the most was that I still felt perfectly safe.

[talvin-muircastle]

Your Mission: First, Take Care Of YOU

This has been simmering in my head for a bit, so time to get it out and onto your screens. I warn that this will run a little long and get into some unhappy topics. It's important. It is important for you. We are heading into some rough seas, and there are some things you need to think about going forward.

I am going to lead off with a cautionary tale from, oh, about thirty years ago. It's not the main topic of this post, but it illustrates it quite well:

At that time, the Internet was still a wild frontier, in ways those of you in Gen Z just can't even imagine. Some of you Millenials will remember it, of course. The Law had not really woken up to what was happening, and most people were not on the Internet. Where I lived, many people did not own a personal computer. They used one at school or work, but didn't have one at home, and laptops were rare and expensive things (and HEAVY), and smartphones just weren't.

So, those of us who got onto the Internet in a serious way were, by definition, not in the mainstream, for the most part. I was college-age, and an admin on a MU*. Some of you may need to look that up, but basically, imagine something sorta like Minecraft, but it's all text-based, and you created the world around you as you went.

A number of kids did find their way onto the 'Net: more and more people were getting computers, and America OnLine was sending everybody in America a CD-ROM, and so were other companies whose names I can barely remember now. So teenagers and even younger kids were coming into our MU*. Banning them was impossible: they'd just lie about their age. So, instead, I took on an extra role of "KidWiz" (admins were "Wizards") and met them where they were. Adult areas and activities were clearly marked as offlimits, and we told them that if we caught them there, they would be in trouble. We worked to make the place welcoming to them.

Of course, this soon attracted predators. There was a rumor at the time that "Talvin" had some sort of AI monitoring chat (please, we can't get AI to work right now, nevermind in the mid-90s!), because they learned that I, or one of the others, would show up very quickly to kick them off. And we did send one to prison. There was no AI: I gained the trust of the teens, and even recruited a few of the older and more responsible ones to the Staff that handled things in areas they could access, and they were sick of being stalked like that, so as soon as somebody showed up looking for "jailbait", one of us Adults heard from one of the kids and BAM! To the moon!

As I had gained their trust, they started bringing things to me. Then, as now, the adage was, "If something happens, tell an adult" but, sadly, our little corner of the early 'Net was one of the few places the Adults would actually listen. There are more options, now, and better ones, but it's still a problem. I could go on, but that's a different post.

I wasn't very much older than they, but I had had similar experiences, and I did what I could. I listened, I advised, I found resources (toll-free phone numbers, they didn't have live internet chat and texting then), and I have to say my Tortured Young Geniuses (as I called them) tended to turn into adults to be proud of. One of them, I have a collection of his published works on my shelf.

Now we come to the cautionary part of this tale. I know, I took a bit to get here. Context really matters.

One evening I got an alert that we had a New Kid. I went out to meet and greet (and watch for telltale signs this was an adult trying to pretend to be a kid to get access to kids, they usually gave themselves away).

A short while later, I was on the Staff channel begging for someone to please come take this kid off my hands. That led to an All-Hands-On-Deck situation. They had seen me deal with kids dealing with abuse, kids talking to us as they were *in the process of* committing grievous self-harm, kids with situations that would make you sick to hear about it. If I was that panicked and out of my depth, this must be bad. Talvin?! What's wrong?

I had a meltdown. This was...a normal young teen. She wasn't here looking for help, she wasn't struggling with her orientation or identity, she wasn't depressed and looking for understanding, she was a "normal", healthy kid who just heard about us and came to see what we were all about. Get her away from me before I break her or something, I have nothing in common with this kid and I have no idea what to do with her!

One of the young adults took over and showed her around, made introductions, while the rest of the Staff cornered Talvin and had an Intervention!

I had gotten so focused on my "mission", my activism and the good I was trying to do in the world that I had ignored my most valuable resource: me.

We weren't using the phrase "touch grass" back then, but the idea is much older than our language: Talvin really, really needed to go outside and touch some grass.

I got more help, after that. I got told to go spend some time doing the things I had come there to do originally. To have fun. I was not abandoning my responsibilities--or rather, I had abandoned other responsibilities. A responsibility to myself.

I have not stopped being a mentor to young people in the thirty years since, though that MU* is long gone. I have gotten wiser, there are more and better resources, and of course the world has changed. Some for the better, some for the worse, some just different. But I have not forgotten the lesson of that night, though I am ashamed to say it was not the last time I ignored that wall and ran face-first into it.

We live in troubled times. There are a lot of things that will need to be done, that will need people with courage and empathy to face them. We have to take care of each other. Just do not forget to take care of yourselves.

Don't believe the tropes about Heroism. Don't throw yourself on a (metaphorical) grenade. Movies and historical narratives are full of stories about heroes who threw themselves on a grenade to save the team. Here's a bitter pill to swallow: almost always, if someone is throwing themselves on a grenade, it is because nobody planned properly for how to deal with grenades. And they knew there were going to be grenades. Put up netting, dig a trench to kick the grenades into, maybe this battle wasn't a good one to fight then and there.

Grenades are cheap, and people are expensive. If you throw yourself on a grenade, you are wasting yourself, traumatizing those around you, and telling the other side they just need to keep chucking in grenades until your side has nothing left. Too often, that sort of heroism is when somebody was stupid and somebody else got the movie rights.

You have a right and an obligation to take care of yourself first. Don't spend every minute of your time in the battlefield. You are not betraying the cause if you go watch a movie you love, or spend time playing a game with your little toy robots, or go to a live show with a DJ spinning Jazz tunes from across the decades, or whatever works for you. You are taking care of yourself, that you can better take care of others.

You not only do not have to be a grim soldier stereotype, you are failing if you do. I have known, I have lived with, people who were in the military Special Ops community. Hollywood wants you to think that they are all stern-faced John Waynes. Truth: most of them have low and evil senses of humor and a love of puns that rivals my own. One of them sat me down around the same time as that story and told me that if I didn't develop a sense of humor, the cops were going to be sniping me out of a clock tower someday. Yes: Talvin used to be known as someone with no sense of humor. If that sounds scary, well, you don't know the half of it. You would not have liked me back then, and that's fair: I didn't like me either.

You can laugh. You should laugh. In times such as these, Joy can be an act of Defiance. The man who played his cello in Sarajevo, the Auschwitz survivor who danced in the gates to the camp, they refused to allow their joy in living to be defeated. That is not abandoning responsibility or failing to show solidarity: it is a victory. Pride started as a riot, but it continued as a celebration of joy and pride. No one is defeated until you break their spirit. Laugh. Dance. Play. These things, too, are part of the fight, and they renew our spirits. And those who are wavering on which side to support will see the side that is spewing Hate, and the side that is proudly and defiantly spreading Joy, and how shall they choose between them?

Continue the fight for justice, and equality, and a good and decent world for us all. That will require some sacrifices, but don't make pointless sacrifices. Virtue signaling doesn't work: or rather, it does, but not for your side.

Please, take it from someone who has been there: if all you can see is the fight, you are not seeing the big picture, and you are not taking care of yourself. Step away, get some R&R. Take care of yourself.

We love you, and we need you. And you need you too.

[shuuuuush]

Hello!! I’ve seen your one shots and there absolutely amazing, your very underrated and I love your work. I was wondering if you could do a scenario where the beta squad members reject you and regret it afterwards like maybe you confess your feelings and there having a bad day and maybe reject you or they don’t really pay attention to your confession and you distance yourself and afterwards they regret it and basically apologize just an angst to fluff scenario and you can change it however you want but I would love that, thank you! It’s okay if you don’t wanna do it just don’t stop writing for the beta squad because your work is absolutely amazing!!!

Rejection and Regret [Beta Squad Scenarios]

Warnings: none

A/N: Aww, thank you so much! Sorry it took a while. I was trying to figure out how they might react because honestly, I don't think any of them would take confessions lightly, but I hope you enjoy it!

*** ***

*** ***

You were excited as you had previously planned a fun day to hang out with Niko. Today, at the end of it, you were going to confess your feelings to him.

You drove to his house to pick him up, staying in the car for a bit. You called his phone number,

"Hello?" Niko answered. He sounded a bit confused to receive your call.

"Hi Niko, I'm here at your house to pick you up now." Responding to him with an excited tone, knowing all the things you planned for the both of you would definitely raise his spirits up.

"Oh shoot," Niko sighed. You could hear that he rubbed a hand over his face, "Y/N, I'm so sorry I completely forgot about that."

He forgot?

"Well you can just prepare, no worries I can wait out here!" You hoped, a little disappointment tinging your voice as you tried to stay positive.

"No Y/N, I'm not at my house, I'm not even in England right now. I'm on a plane to America. California to be exact."

Now it was your turn to be shocked, couldn't he have told you this before you made plans?

"California!? Why are you going there?" You were perplexed and hurt at the suddenness of it all.

"I'm filming a video with the guys, for the beta squad channel."

Of course he was.

"Y/N, I'm sorry, we can hang out another time? It's not that important right?" Niko said, you could hear chatter over the phone someone calling out to Niko, probably Kenny. "I have to go, sorry again, see you Y/N." And he hung up the phone.

You blinked in disbelief, and stared at your phone for a solid minute just processing what happened. He was in California filming a video? And he just so happened to forget to let you know about that, on the day you made plans to tell him your feelings.

Clearly it didn't really matter to him, he could've let you know beforehand and you would have understood and changed it to a different day. But this felt like you got stood up on a date, which technically it was.

You were really gutted by his actions, driving home you decided to scrap the idea all together. Maybe he doesn't even like you at all.

A week went by and you didn't call ot text him at all. Others can call it selfish but that hurt you, that day was all planned out and important to you and perhaps the both of you if he did like you back.

You were sitting at your couch, watching TV while wallowing in your own self pity as your friends would call it. Mindlessly scrolling just trying to not let it get to you too much.

Your door bell rang, and you just called out to the door saying it was open. You were expecting one of your friends to come over so you thought it was her.

"Y/N."

You stopped everything you were doing. That was the voice you wished you couldn't hear at the moment. But also the same one you longed to have. Turning around slowly, the same tall figure you loved. Niko.

He stood there, wearing a thick jacket and even had a bag on, you assumed he had just come from the airport. Swiftly walking towards you, a phone in his hand.

"Why weren't you responding to my calls? And why did you just leave your door open like that? You are really an idiot."

You stared up at him, still in shock. Did he really just come straight from the airport to you? And did he say he called you? Everything was spinning right now in your head.

"Y/N? Are you OK?" Niko asked, removing his bag and jacket and coming over to you on the couch and putting a hand on your shoulder.

Then it hit you. Maybe he did care about you? Maybe he was here to tell you? Maybe you would never get another chance again. So you just blurted all your thoughts out without thinking straight.

"Niko, I really like you, okay? That's why I wasn't responding to your calls and texts because I was hurt that you told me you were in a whole different country, when I had this whole day planned out for us and I was gonna confess to you at the end and I thought you didn't like me."

And then he kissed you, with just one kiss, it confirmed to you that he didn't hate you at all. That was all you needed to know.

Pulling away to hold your face in his hands, "Y/N, I'm so sorry I missed that day. I didn't mean to hurt you like that, I hope you can forgive me, because I really like you too."

Sharky wasn't sure how to react when you confessed to him. He was having mixed feelings, honestly. He didn't know whether or not he liked you.

So when he told you he didn't accept your confession right now, he meant that he needed some time to figure out his own feelings for you.

You did end up distancing yourself from him. Yes, you were hurt, but you understood. Especially since you felt like that at the start, but then one kind act from Sharky was all it took to confirm your love for him.

You decided to spend some time with your good old friend, Harry Pinero. He thought you would be up to spend some time together to get your mind off it.

Harry always knew a way to cheer you up, whether that would be food or just some time spilling all the tea to him, and he inhaled all the gossip like air. Harry knew your feelings for Sharky, and he had hoped it would have gone well for you.

But when you told him, Sharky declined and said he had to figure himself out first. He was ready to connect his fist to the Somali's face. You stopped him obviously, but he didn't hide the fact that he was annoyed you two didn't get together. He definitely was your number one shipper of you both.

You were at a party with Harry as he invited you and said it would be good to cool off there, what you didn't know was that he had a plan. He invited Sharky too.

You were standing beside the food table and just enjoying your time there, you almost forgot about being rejected for a moment there.

Until you saw a certain someone walk through the door, the very person you tried to not get upset over, Sharky.

You tried not to let him see you, so you went up to talk to Harry and tell him that you saw Sharky. You didn't see the evil smirk on his face when you looked back at the door.

"Well, Y/N. You could just stay here with good old Harry you know?" He laughed and wrapped one arm around your shoulder, he whispered to you, "Don't worry about it, just calm down and you got this."

You were about to question what he meant by that when suddenly Sharky approached the two of you.

"Uh, hey Harry." He waved at the taller man, and then looked at you, and nodded. "Y/N."

"Hey Sharky. What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I was about to ask the same to you." Sharky replied, "anyways since you're here, I actually wanted to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Yeah, Sharky, what about?" Harry repeated your question, earning an annoyed look from the both of you. Harry ended up excusing himself from this as he could tell it was a private conversation.

"Well, what did you want to talk abou-"

"I love you, Y/N." Looking earnestly into your eyes, "I figured out that I love you, I actually love you so much I would do anything for you. And I was such an idiot to have rejected you like that."

Your eyes softened as you observed the man in front of you, beating himself up over the fact that he almost lost you. Even thinking that you would fall out of love with him so fast is stupid. You loved him and you always will.

"When I saw you hanging out with Harry the past few days, I won't lie. I was a bit jealous. And I realised it was because I loved you. And I want to be with you, Y/N. If you'll still have me." He looked up at you, a scared hope filling in his eyes.

How could you ever say no to him?

Later, you found out that Harry had called Sharky to attend and talked about both of your feelings, helping him realise that he truly did love you. You definitely owe the old man one.

You were invited to Kenny's family event, and you decided this would be a good time to let him know of your feelings. You felt as if he reciprocated them, so you weren't too anxious to let him know, but still, you were nervous.

After the meal, everyone went to the main room as there was a dance floor and music. Before you headed there, you discreetly pulled him to the side and asked if you could speak to him.

He led you out to a garden place that was quiet and a bit away from all the people.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asked, curious as to what you wanted to say.

"Ok, well, I've been thinking a lot about this, and I was hoping you feel the same way," looking down to the floor and fiddling with your fingers.

"I really like you, Kenny, and I wanted to ask-"

"No." Came out of his mouth, cutting you off from your sentence. He stood there with an annoyed look on his face, shocking you as you thought he felt the same way.

Did he not like you that way? Or were you just fantasising that he did? So you had to ask.

"What do you mean no??" Pleading with your eyes that you heard it wrong or you misunderstood what he meant.

"No, because I was supposed to tell you my feelings first." He said, shaking his head, but forming a small smile, "I was supposed to ask you out, but here you are beating me to it. I'm just annoyed that I didn't get to say it first."

Scratching the back of his neck with a small pout on his face as you gazed at him. Reassured that it wasn't a rejection, you started to laugh.

His face grew to an even bigger frown at your laughing figure. But then he started to laugh with you.

"Seriously Ken?" Still laughing but calming down a bit. "Ok, I'll let you start this time and confess to me instead." You definitely will remember this moment forever.

A huge smile was put on the man you loved so much. Clearing his throat, he grabbed the nearest flower and held it out towards you.

"Y/N, I love you. Will you go out with me?"

You have never felt happier, and you best believe you told him yes.

This wasn't the best day for Chunkz. Filming fake employee videos was one he hated the most. He'll be honest. Everything that happened afterwards pissed him off, His car wouldn't work. The boys were extremely annoying to him today and much more.

And when you told him you liked him all out of the blue, that was the last straw. He can't handle all this new information at once. So he told you to leave, he just needed a day's peace by himself with no one around to annoy him further.

At first, you were hurt, wondering why he just treated your feelings like rubbish thrown into the bin. Wondering what you could've possibly done that would've made him so mad.

You thought that news you brought him would have cheered him up, but apparently not. The thing is, you knew Chunkz had bad days, and this was one of them. He'll get around to you and respond back because to him, certain things shouldn't just be left off like that.

And that's what happened, The next morning, you got a call from Chunkz.

"Hey, what's up?" You answered, yawning as you were still sleepy as you just woke up.

"First off, I wanted to say I'm sorry about yesterday, I was having a really bad day, and I just couldn't comprehend everything all at once."

You smiled behind the phone, you knew it.

"I was such a idiot towards you, my darlin, and I'm sorry about that. I like you a lot too."

You were completely awake now, and you laughed in relief, and you were so glad he felt the same. It would have absolutely crushed you if he actually meant how he treated you yesterday. "I'm so glad you feel the same way."

"Oh, and don't tell the mandem I got mad at you yesterday... They will probably smoke me if they find out I was an annoyed bastard when you confessed."

You most certainly will tell them, though you will just make it seem they found out from another source. ;)

"I know it's early in the morning, so I'll let you go back to sleep, my darlin. Though later I'll pick you up at 2 so don't forget." Then he hung up the call, leaving you smiling to yourself.

How could you go back to sleep now?

When you confessed to AJ that you liked him, he legit laughed. You were both in his sitting room because you had previously told him that you wanted to talk to him privately.

He thought it was something super important, but he never thought you would be one to joke around. So he laughed when you told him.

"You like me?" He laughed, putting a hand over your shoulder to try and calm down his laughter, taking deep breaths, "Hah, Y/N, I never thought you'd be a joke man, that's a good one."

"Aj, I'm not joking right now, I'm serious." You responded in disbelief at his reaction.

"Sure you are." He said with his voice clearly laced with sarcasm, "But if you "were," I wouldn't accept anyway. You're not good enough for me." He winked and started to giggle again but stifled his laughter.

At this point, you felt as if AJ thought everything you did was a prank to him. Spending time with him was so much fun, and you loved every minute of it. But you knew he wasn't taking you seriously, and so you stood up and left.

You could hear him call after you, asking where you were going, but you couldn't let him see you so upset like this, holding back your tears. You confessed your feelings to him, and he thought it was a prank? Insane.

On the drive back home, you kept hearing your phone go off and buzzing but you just put it on silent. You knew it was probably Aj, but you didn't want to answer him right now.

How could he treat you like that? Laughing off at your feelings like that. Even when you told him that your feelings were real.

I'm not good enough for you?

Thinking about it, though, he was a famous youtuber known all over many parts of the world, and you were just you. Of course, he thought you weren't good enough for him.

Arriving home, you decided not to eat dinner at the moment and just try and go to sleep. You didn't even reach your bedroom door yet until you broke down crying. Your heart hurt even more because, for once, you genuinely liked someone and told him, but just dismissed your feelings off as a joke.

Suddenly, you heard a knock at the door, but you didn't have the energy to open it, until you heard a soft voice speak.

"Y/N, I know you're in there, could you please let me in? Can I talk to you please?"

Knowing it was Aj, you won't lie and say you weren't upset, but you decided you'd at least give him the chance to talk to you, so you went and unlocked the door. Opening it, you saw him holding a bag full of your favourite food and snacks. Once he saw your face, you could instantly see the guilt he felt as it showed in his eyes.

Holding the door open, you motioned to let him enter. He went and put the food in the kitchen table and after he did he instantly came up and inveloped you into a tight hug.

Physical touch was one thing Aj didn't like, but seeing you so upset, he was willing to try with you.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were actually being serious, and you weren't responding to my texts or calls so I knew you actually meant what you said and I know you're hurt and I'm genuinely sorry about this." He rambled on nonstop, "And I even brought you some food to cheer you up because I know those are your favouri-"

You put a finger to his mouth to shush him and lightly giggle to yourself. "Aj, calm down and tell me calmly, I can't understand most of your rambling." Calming down, he took both of your hands and looked you straight in the eye, guilt in there, but you saw something else too, love enveloped over it, consuming his eyes.

"I thought you were pranking me, and I didn't want to be hurt if I did tell you I liked you and you actually didn't reciprocate my feelings." He looked down a bit in thought, and then took a deep breath as he looked back up at you,

"What I'm saying here is ... I really like you too, Y/N."

Taglist: @b4tasquad, @p3drii, @n1kodl, @elora-k, @slutforpablogavi

[vasito-de-leche]

Hi, I just wanted to tell you that your r1999 ocs are pretty and I love their designs too! Especially people in the fandom are pretty creative for making their r1999 ocs and I was wondering if do you have a tips for making an r1999 oc? I'm quite hard time making an oc from r1999.

Do you need them to make an oc based them irl people, history, myth or perhaps a fiction characters from another story? (For example, baby blue is based from Alice in the wonderland in the book, ig?)

Some characters are pretty unknown who their based of, for example like X, Pavia, Click and the other characters.

OH!! OH OKAY OKAY I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THIS OKAY

As far as I've seen, not EVERY character is based on a single actual figure, whether fictional or historical.

Yes, we have John Titor who is. John Titor. But some characters have PLENTY of different people that they reference in relation to their themes, others represent broad groups, movements or genres like horror, the hippie movement. You have Dikke who has many, many different references to figures of justice. Mondlicht, who seems to represent all three characters from Little Red Riding Hood--the girl, the wolf and the hunter. You have Blonney and Horropedia who reference a shitload of different things and actors and works within the horror genre.

With the examples you've given, X does not seem to reference a person but the concept of Rube Goldberg Machines. Pavia seems to reference the Werewolf of Pavia. Click? No clue actually, I haven't looked into him much, so I don't know what else he could reference beyond WWII.

Baby Blue is indeed a reference to Alice in Wonderland, but her 01 Story "Fantasy is in Vogue" clearly state that Baby Blue is NOT the Alice that discovered Wonderland. The rest of her lore and i2 Garment also imply that Baby Blue is more akin to the figure of the Red Queen as opposed to Alice.

My point is: if you'd like to make a character then you shouldn't feel like you have to pick a single historical figure. You can pick ANYTHING that interests you and to have your OC embody and represent--mythology, folklore, fantasy, artistic movements, music, architecture, history... LITERALLY ANYTHING. OR LITERALLY NOTHING!

The whole point of the characters in R1999 is that they're a small piece that represents the era they come from. That's why they're considered art pieces to be preserved by UTTU Magazine. This is why we have Sweetheart, who is based on Marylin Monroe but is also a biting critique on Hollywood.

And you can even take this a step further and toy with this idea, like I did with my own OCs!

Spina Venatores is meant to represent the people that are truly left behind and displaced, people that you once knew but weren't lucky enough to meet Vertin nor the Foundation, to drive home the idea that Vertin cannot save everyone no matter how hard she tries.

The vulnerable that were taken advantage of by Manus Vindictae, a group that represents extreme isolation and supremacy, who lack any meaningful connections other than their own elitist groups. So I wanted my OCs to feel extremely disconnected--that's why all of them don't look like they belong in any single era but straight out of a different game, why they lack details that could connect them to their original times, and why the themes and concepts they reference are vague and timeless. I'm also big on bones and dark topics, so I shoved a SHIT ton of those into them, easy!

I always suggest that people grab their favorite character from the game and connect their OC to them, makes it easier to establish a connection within the universe and find themes to start with. You like Druvis III? Easy, your OC could be a childhood friend she had in her homeland before she and her family moved to America. Or a noble from a family that had business with the Weyerhaeuser company. You like Madame Z? How about an OC who is an assistant for her?

If people are too shy to make direct connections like this with a canon character, then you have plenty of organizations and groups--Zeno, Laplace, the Foundation, the School of Discipline, Manus Vindictae, Apeiron, and who knows what else is out there.

You can even study the lore and find places to fill in with your OCs. That one tidbit from a few days ago that revealed theres a few other terrorist organizations aside from Manus Vindictae? Make your own terrorist organization! Have you seen the white and red enemies from the Mintage stages? The Rock City enemies and Little Finger Peter? Make an OC that belongs there!

It always helps to have a solid starting point if you can't pick an era or anything to use as a base for your OC! And don't be discouraged if you come up with something and R1999 suddenly drops a character with similar or near identical themes--take advantage of that! Your OC has the same arcanum skills as another character? Make them fight about it, make them study buddies, find ways to engrave your OC and make them relevant to the world in their own ways.

It happened to me with Pavia! So I just made my OC and Pavia be insufferable and hate each other! Easy!

If you're looking for resources, I have a post here--it's a little outdated since I know there's a lot more new things to add, but it's a good place to start! It also helps to study the characters you like and pick them apart to understand how to better make an OC!

[cupcake-torture]

Things people (and canon) seem to forget about Captain America (Steve Rogers) (an old ass man)

Facts

• Dude was born in 1918

• Time alive (not including ice bucket challenge) = 1918-1943 [INSERT 68 YEAR GAP] 2011-2023

What he missed

• The atom bomb

• The cold war

• Civil rights movement

• Anything space travel

• Women's rights

• Lgbt rights

• Really anything to do with a computer and the internet

• Rise of neo-nazis

Based on this. He is like your grandfather's father. Imagine teaching that old bugger the new world WITHOUT him seeing its evolution.

Based on the list above he would (at least for a good long while after being out of the ice.)

Be racist

• Black and coloured people did not have rights when he was iced. Them having rights would at the VERY LEAST confuse the fuck outta him

• The N-word was commonly used before the civil rights movement. It was not known to be a bad thing to say. It was more a statement of fact.

• Also black people were not seen to really be PEOPLE during the time so take that as you will.

Be sexist

• Women didn't have rights at this time. Sure they had more than black people but at the time when Steve got iced they were still fighting for the right to vote.

• It would be almost natural for Steve to not take women seriously. (Although I imagine Peggy took some of this out of him, but we're being realistic).

• He would also probably be very Victorian man being shown an ankle about how women can dress today. (God imagine him seeing a bikini for the first time)

• He also wasn't around for the lobotomy so I like to imagine him being fucking repulsed about the medical negligence and endangerment of American lobotomies (shokingly European ones weren't as bad. I REPEAT: WERENT *AS BAD*)

be homophobic

gay people didn't really 'exist' at this point in time so I doubt steve would be all the knowledgeable in all of it

that is to say, he is Christian, being gay is quite openly a sin in most Christian interpretations, and my boy wants to do right by God.

he also wouldn't get all this gender stuff. it was never a thing for him. at least 'queer' was a word when he was around.

be fucking useless with technology

I can clearly envision steve giving tony multiple aneurysms as he shows him his inevitably virus-filled computer ("HOW? HOW DO YOU HAVE MORE VIRUSES THAN ACTUAL PROGRAMS???" "but this man said he needed to fix my email...")

the most this man used was a typewriter (so he would be infinitely better at typing on a computer than a phone)

he also was iced before modern calculators, so he would have used an adding machine at most

yet again this man is 100 and missed most of technology being made. this is not his fault, but it will still happen.

not be all that book smart

so this guy would've been... *counts on fingers* 11 when the great depression hit. so maybe 5-6 years of schooling before he would have dropped out to work because great depression

also anything he learnt in school would probably be false by now (even maths has changed since then)

I am NOT saying he's not smart. i know he's smart with military stuff and all that, but he's more a wisdom guy than an intelligence guy y'know?

would not swear

swearing wasn't really a thing in the '20s - '30s so yeah...

he would have some weird ass slang tho, and I do not doubt that tony would give him all the shit for it

(from knowledge acquired by reading the great gatsby) he would use the words probably, but more literal (like 'bitch' for female dog)

honestly be shamed for america allowing nazis to continue to exist

half of dude's life in the military was punching hitler. i think this would be pretty self-explanatory.

i think he would like how germany goes about having it all be against the law tho. he'd support that 100%.

I WANT TO SAY THIS JUST IN CASE ANYONE MISUNDERSTOOD ME. i do not believe that steve would be a bad person on purpose. he is simply a product of his time. i thoroughly believe that when pointed out, he would do his best to become better, to learn more, and to be accepting. what I am saying is that it will take time, and many trip ups, and honestly, I think that would have been a really cool thing to bring up about how much culture has changes in less than 100 years. the MCU really only brought up the technological differences and I think it would have been cool to explore this. (I am aware some things can't happen because slurs are age restricted, but still, cool concept.)

anyways, if you got this far, thanks for reading this unintentional essay. have a nice day.

[quoththeowl31]

Tea Time

(Post-Manor AU)

Melly Plinius poured honey into her favorite tea, orange blossom, ignoring the look of ire directed at her from Martha Bahamfil. The latter had yet to touch her own cup that Melly had generously offered when she had stormed onto the Plinius estate, upset and irritated.

"Your tea is getting cold. Would you like some honey? It's from my personal apiary."

"Why did you tell Mr. Campbell Alice was leaving?" Martha demanded. No longer wearing her veil or mask, Martha could clearly see the raised eyebrow on her host's face.

"Ah so that's what this is about." Mell sipped her tea, once again offering the jar of honey. Martha reluctantly accepted it, making an obvious eye roll.

"Of course that's what this is about. What else would it be about?"

Melly hummed.

"It wasn't obvious, you stomped onto my property demanding a word with me. No polite greeting and no "how are you." She took another sip of tea. "To answer your question though, it was a mistake on my part. I let slip that Miss DeRoss was leaving. He started moping around my estate for a few days; it disrupted my own work and brought down the mood, so I let him know she didn't leave yet and let him know where to find her. He left that afternoon for the next train to London." If Melly were being honest with herself, even with the limp, she had never seen someone move as fast as he did to catch the train. She was worried that he'd injure himself again just by running.

Martha still looked irritated though, now she had to try and help forge a new identity for him too for the boat to America. And the scar was not going to make it easy; sure make-up would helpful but only from a distance. Him sticking with Alice was a huge risk to her safety; the people behind the Manor games, they were many and they were powerful. They were going to be looking for all of them, Alice especially.

"He's going to compromise her safety. He's too identifiable; our goal is to cover our tracks before They find us." Martha retorted, angrily taking a sip of her tea.

"I believe that's where you're wrong," Melly leaned forward resting her chin on her hands. "Mr. Campbell may be someone who could provide an extra layer of cover. He's cautious and observant; when we were in that game, his quick thinking threw Orpheus off."

"He punched you in the face." Martha retorted.

"Only because Orpheus was watching from a distance. We had to do what we could to survive him. We needed him to believe we weren't working together."

"But he's...he's greedy and rude and what if he hurts her?"

Melly smiled a warm smile.

"You care very deeply for Alice." Martha looked down at her cold tea, reminiscing on their shared past.

"Of course I do. She's been through hell and back. She's the one who gave me the courage to choose my own path and I don't want her to lose any potential for a happier life."

"I think she'll be ok," Melly offered Martha a refill of tea. "Besides, any man who gives off that much of a puppy-dog look at the thought of never seeing someone again is going to follow that person to the ends of the Earth."

They sat in silence for awhile, Martha taking it all in.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked. Melly leaned back.

"I think maybe it's time to take my studies to a few new places for awhile. I'm thinking maybe the Amazon or Africa."

[kmp78]

I'm not sure what was so off the rails about the America documentary? That was normal Leto back then. I miss that energy honestly.

Omg where to even start... 🤦🏼‍♀️

First off the whole set-up was chaotic! Announcing this mammoth docu a day or two before it's meant to be happening and expecting people to whip up usable content just like that. 🙄

AND knowing he himself was going to be tied up filming his own content and coordinating those 60 other camera crews in each and every state while also having to throw a gig in fucking KAZAKSTAN the day before. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Yeah that's not called bad planning AT ALL. 🙄

There's no danger of you half-assing both assignments instead of properly focusing on just one at a time. 🙄

Then there was the mad dash to get back in time cos, again, Kazakstan. 🙄

(Also notice the complete absence of both SL and TM in that Live he did... almost as if they weren't even on the same plane... but whatever. 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Then let's review the absolute turdfest that Hivers put on on Mars socials... 😂

They polluted EVERY even remotely famous trash-ho on IG with pleas to take part in this little project...

... and in their hysterical frenzy to get the word out they even begged JARED LETO to take part... 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

Amazing professionalism once again. 👍

Oh and speaking of professionalism: asking people to film themselves popping their 🍒 was just 👌.

Also ACTUALLY READING THE QUESTION BEFORE ANSWERING might be a way to go or not. 🤷🏼‍♀️👇

And then of course there was the fact that even he had NO FUCKING PLAN OR CLUE WHATSOEVER as to what this thing is and how/where it's going to come out.

From 4:00 onward.

NOT A DAMN IDEA. 🤷🏼‍♀️

But props to that lady for mentioning MSCL. 😂

Deep breaths, babe. 😮‍💨

And after all this nonsense was done and dusted...

Nothing happened.

NOT A DAMN THING. 🦗

The album which was meant to be "A COMPANION PIECE" to this thing came out 9 months later and not a single frame of this amazing docu was seen by anyone anywhere. 🤷🏼‍♀️

In fact, it would take AN ENTIRE YEAR MORE for that docu to see the light of day at Tribeca and by that point no one cared. 😴

And when I say no one, I really mean NO ONE.

As seen and heard painfully clearly here:

Please try to reign in that enthusiasm, sir! 🫣

And as if all that wasn't messy enough, they still had one more nugget of turd left: as it turned out, THEY DID NOT USE A SINGLE CLIP THAT THEY HAD SPENT ALL THAT TIME BEGGING PEOPLE TO SEND IN. 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

Quite the fitting ending. 😂🙌