#he's also the only parrot i like... i feel guilty for that but it was just a nickname since nobody was giving him a real name

[coffeeworldsasaki]

I need to start naming the things I'm crocheting because everyone gives them names to sell them and their patterns but I'm so bad with names. Please propose some names for this little guy, I'm writing its pattern and I need something for the title, like "'whatever name' the octopus"

[non-stick-pansexual]

ugh. one of my friends today told me that they were upset that Neal Shusterman, a Jewish and Ukrainian YA dystopian author (who I happen to quite like due to the themes explored in his work), supports Israel, and that they stopped reading a book halfway through and would donate all their books by him. Which just makes me so upset and angry for multiple reasons.

First and most importantly, Neal has NOT expressly stated his support for Israel!! From everything I can find, all he’s guilty of is saying that people are too quick to have a simple mindset for a complex issue (which I agree with) and that everyone, Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and Muslim, deserves empathy (which I also agree with). And he said this IN A PRIVATE NEWSLETTER!! They’re acting like he’s some Kahanist, genocidal colonizer, or whatever. At MOST, he doesn’t think that Israel should be destroyed. Apparently a controversial opinion for a public figure to have, I guess.

Second— if I were to guess, they probably got their ‘Neal Shusterman is a Zionist’ idea from one of those idiotic “Zionist authors/artists list”, which tend to be lists of almost just Jewish artists, most of whom have done little to nothing to outwardly display their zionist beliefs, if they even have them! This makes me even more upset, because if they don’t consume media from Neal Shusterman, I can only imagine that they’re also blocking out a bunch of other Jewish authors and artists, which just makes me sad and angry.

It’s SO easy to find out Neal’s stated beliefs on Israel and Palestine because it’s the FIRST THING that comes up when you google it, and he’s only ever said 1 thing about it. I’m so mad at my friend for their gullibility, their blind parroting of antisemitic notions. I expected better, but I guess I probably shouldn’t have. They’re one of my closest friends, and I haven’t talked to them about this but I hardly think I can change their opinion.

I don’t know how to describe how I feel. Idk if I’m allowed to be as upset as I am. I don’t want to be this upset at someone this close to me over a passing comment, but it’s so FRUSTRATING.

Sorry, all— I know this isn’t a big deal for most of you~ this happens all the time, but I just weirdly thought I was immune, or something. Just hit a little too close to home is all.

[aceof-stars]

Manfred von Karma!

Thank you for the ask <3 (to every else who sent me a character ask, I'm working on it :)

First impression

I actually never hated him or had strong feelings about him. I was introduced to AA through narumitsu fanfic but I knew I wanted to play the games so I avoided everything with spoilers, including everything Manfred. I guess I just thought of him vaguely as a villain and Miles' mentor/father figure.

Impression now

He's one of my favorite Ace Attorney characters. I have him at 4th but honestly, maybe he's 3rd now?? I have developed an attachment to this ridiculous evil man. I love him so much. I wish there was more canon content of him, but I think he's an interesting character with a lot of room for nuance.

Favorite moment

He doesn't really have many canon moments (and I haven't played AAI). But probably when he gloated Phoenix into cross-examining Polly the parrot and it's implied that he witness-coached a parrot. Manfred, you are an insane person.

Idea for a story

I just want to see a story where Manfred is force-fed a redemption arc. Like for example a no DL-6 AU where Gregory manages to get a Manfred properly investigated for forging evidence. But to ensure he doesn't get another penalty, Manfred tries to frame another prosecutor to throw Gregory off his trail.

Only, Manfred finds out that the person he is framing is actually guilty of forging evidence. Manfred has to follow through with his plan and gets dragged into working with Gregory. Gregory is surprised but grateful that Manfred has been so helpful in weeding out corruption in the prosecutor's office, and wants to befriend/ally with Manfred. Manfred is seething with hatred. (Oh and eventual Shingou :)

Unpopular opinion

Manfred as a character deserves a lot more nuance. There's... a lot to talk about but these are the three main things I have a strong opinion on:

1) He was a flawed parent and I think it's more interesting to explore those flaws than to just label him abusive for the sake of villainizing him.

2) It does not makes sense for Manfred to be sexist/homophobic/etc. Simply because I don't think he cares enough to hate a group of people like that. He is very rational, efficient, and his perfectionism is focused on his prosecuting career. If anything, he discriminates against defense attorneys (lmao).

3) Manfred didn't brainwash or force Miles into becoming a prosecutor. I'm sure Manfred was influential but Miles had his own reason to be a prosecutor that stemmed from DL-6. Miles was also always a perfectionist (the paper cranes thing) and the von Karma family brand of perfectionism just amplified it.

Favorite relationship

Shingou!! <3 (Gregory Edgeworth/Manfred von Karma)

Defense attorney/prosecutor ship, toxic enemies to lovers, doomed romance, or super slowburn (if no DL-6 AU), bitter courtroom rivals turned bickering old married couple (who still duke it out in court), co-parenting Miles and Franziska (before officially getting together).

Favorite headcanon

Manfred did love Franziska and Miles (in his own way). Regarding Miles, Manfred saw him as a symbol of his failures (the penalty Gregory gave him and the shot in his shoulder). So Manfred struggled a lot when he began to actually care about Miles. When Miles's perfect record was broken, Manfred saw it as a threat to his own perfection. (I hope that makes sense. I do need to think about this more to solidify the headcanon. I just love complicated von Karma family dynamics)

[cardentist]

(Note I'm seeing this through lens of being horribly ill and struggling with health providers rn but)

I never saw it as an addiction metaphor I saw but how disabled people are denied aid and stuff because its 'wrong' and you 'should just be able to exist without it'.

But 'it hurts me to see you using cane/meds/wheelchair'

So it made sense to me that yeah he'd feel great using it but also feel horrible guilty

Context: [Link]

I didn't get into this in the original post because I was worried I wouldn't be able to word it right (in part because I haven't finished my relisten, and in part because this is More than just meta about a story I like and I didn't want to say anything ignorant).

BUT I'm absolutely glad that you're bringing this up.

because the truth is that my Other problem with the discussion about monsterhood in the magnus archives as addiction (in holding characters morally accountable for being monsters because they "should" be able to just Choose not to do monstrous things if they were good people) is that it Is accurate to how people treat addicts, and that's a bad thing when people parrot it without realizing that.

because the truth is, addicts often Do need their addiction to survive. medically, emotionally, or just. You Know. because addiction often means you can't just cut cold turkey without major consequences (consequences that, to be clear, Can Kill You). and they Are often treated poorly by the people around them for not just being able to Do Better as if anyone could be expected to do "better" in their situation.

when ""better"" means being in pain, when ""better"" is unlivable without the necessary support to Make it bearable.

and this Absolutely crosses over with ableism. in real life And in the show.

you don't Need to be an addict for someone to treat you like you're immoral for needing aid they don't. though I think it'd be a mistake to talk about it without Also keeping addiction in the conversation, because it's not right when people do it to addicts either.

needing aid to survive And being an addict aren't mutually exclusive, and that's what I meant when I said my last post was In Conversation with the addiction metaphor.

jon's situation being a mirror (in many ways, it's not an exact one to one of course) with addiction doesn't mean that he's Less deserving of compassion or that his situation was somehow his own fault, it means that we should be taking that compassion and understanding of his situation and Apply That to the real people who are also deserving of those things.

we Watched jon be stripped of his own agency and forced into a position where he could Only be a monster or die, and in response many people have said that he should've just Chosen not to be, as if the choice is Reasonable. as if asking him to starve or die is Reasonable.

and of course, I'm not qualified to speak about addiction in detail, but it's just something that's sat wrong with me for years. the Show's use of addiction as a metaphor works for me because of the empathy and humanity it's Meant to show to addiction. but the fandom's reception to that messaging isn't. always stellar.

and I don't think people necessarily do it on purpose, but I Do wish there was more of an awareness of it. how it might come across, you know?

[galactic-rhea]

I know it's mostly about the funsies and jokes and all of that, but I actually have some thoguhts about DookuxPalpatine (or how I like to call it, Tyratine), and it's that there's no much of romance at all, it's all about power play between the both of them, so it's not really one sided in that sense.

But beyond that, I think it has also a lot to do with normalcy and ironically enough, safety and comfort; because for Dooku, who's pretty much aware of doing Evil (tm), it probably makes him feel less guilty about being himself when his 'partner'/friend/master is just so much worse, he doesn't have to think too much about it because he knows the way of the sith is to murder each other anyways, he doesn't have to feel too guilty about planning the murder of someone he's comfortable with because that person is planning to murder him anyway.

And on Palpatine's behalf there's no guilt at all, but the normalcy comes from the fact that he knew Dooku when he wasn't thaaaaat awful yet, and they pretty much agreed on things, he didn't have to manipulate Dooku that much, he doesn't have to put up much work at pretending at all with Dooku because Dooku knows he's awful and he also knows Dooku is his own kind of awful,so I suppose is kinda relaxing for him in a way, like falling easily into a routine. He does view Dooku as an asset and his personal thing, but a low maintinance one that doesn't stress him that much, so the only leeway he gives Dooku is that Dooku doesn't get forced to fall into line with fear and torture that much compared to Palpatine's other apprentices (which,,,,is a lot for Palpatine, guys, that's like wow, how kind of you to no torture your apprentice too much),

Like Palpatine will be like "ah yes, the kid i'm planning to make a monster and i'm planning all the awful ways to torture him, he's 10 btw" and Dooku would just roll his eyes a bit, and that's....nice, for him at least?????? Palpatine just wants someone he can ramble all his evil plans to without little to no shock.

And Palpatine probably enjoys the fact Dooku has a lot of pride and carries himself with some actual self-esteem, if Maul and Vader are kicked and beaten dogs, Dooku is a fancy parrot that learned some good speech and some power play and bsdm there and here.

So there's a little amount of respect and comfort and commodity between them, the evil toxic man yaoi that are constantly planning the murder of the other and all of that; the fact they know the other is planning the murder is actually a comforting thought for their fucked-ness, somehow.

[fenharels-teeth]

i must be god’s strongest soldier for being able to love and find empathy for mythal because everyone is being so horrible to a woman who did the best with what she had to protect her people. god forbid women aren’t perfect lmao. anyway they could never make me hate you mythal. i can’t even associate myself with most solavellans anymore both on twitter and tumblr, and especially reddit (as if i would interact with anyone on that cesspool anyway) because the masks have finally come off and all i see is a bunch of jealous harpies who jump to use misogynistic language and can’t even make an unbiased analysis of mythal as a character because they feel possessive of their pixel boyfriend. she’s not a bad person. she is good at the core of her heart. morrigan tells us mythal was a spirit of benevolence, she was naturally good and kind but like all spirits she was sometimes twisted into the antithesis of that. i’ve seen people say she’s as bad as the other evanuris and that’s a straight up lie. there’s a codex in dav that tells us that the people no longer serve the other evanuris willingly and that they are now forced. as this comes to pass mythal gathers her people and basically tells them not follow her mindlessly or parrot her virtues, that they must not follow the wise, but seek the wisdom they sought. the people go on to ask themselves how they serve a god who rebukes submissiveness and unexamined divinity. when solas said she was the best of them he was absolutely correct. they were cruel tyrants and she ruled with a fair hand. she showed kindness and protected the innocent but she would also bring retribution to the guilty. yes mythal isn’t perfect im not saying she is! she should have listened to solas multiple times, but she didn’t do it because she craved power! it came from a place of love for her people and the desire to create a safe place for them. she was the only thing standing between the other evanuris and complete disaster. i do understand her reasoning for not leaving the evanuris. solas said elgar’nan would have ruled alone with an iron fist had mythal not forced him to share his power. she essentially was the only thing stopping them all from destroying the world and then she was murdered for standing against them when it mattered. so im sorry but you will never catch me hating this woman! i will always be her #1 defender!

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Robb doesn't have his own pov chapters but it's obvious through various other pov chapters that he truly loves his brother and best friend, Jon.

There was a time, when he parroted his mother's hamful words towards his brother (something that it's not unusual for little kids to do)

That morning he called it first. "I'm Lord of Winterfell!" he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, "You can't be Lord of Winterfell, you're bastard-born. My lady mother says you can't ever be the Lord of Winterfell."

His older version we meet at the beginning of AGOT, would never say something like this. In fact, he's aware of the unjust treatment his brother gets by his mother and he shows his empathetic side on the matter:

Robb knew something was wrong. "My mother …" "She was … very kind," Jon told him

I do wonder at which age Robb realised that the way his mother treated his brother was not okay. Did he remember that he once also hurt his brother by repeating his mother's poisonus words? I can't say for sure because both boys were too young and Jon only remembers this incident bc it was a very painful one, while for Robb was just another day they played as kids. But if he in fact, remember the incident, I believe that older Robb would feel guilty about it. Just like he feels worried that his mother once again mistreated his brother on the quote I shared above.

I know that Jon had it far worse as he was the one who received emotional abuse by an adult and he couldn't feel safe on his own home. However, thinking about Robb and the Catelyn-Jon situation, I realized that he was also in a tough position (although, in a far better one than his brother).

Robb loved his mother and how could he not? When Catelyn was a doting mother and always there for him. But he also loved his brother, they were inseparable at Winterfell and he knew that his brother was a kind soul. He also knew that his mother was awful to his brother for something that wasn't Jon's fault (the circumstances of his birth). It's not easy loving two people, who are very important family members to you, while knowing that one of them is awful to the other. That's why I believe that he was in a tough spot. Idk, I have a lot of feels about Robb...

[owllamb]

wyll pirate au

a continuation of one of my other posts, just a big dump of ideas i had

-wyll had a very adventurous spirit as a kid, specifically as it relates to the sea (he almost drowned trying to find mermaids in the harbour, etc.) and always had this dream in the back of his mind of leaving baldurs gate and adventuring all across faerun

-despite daydreaming of adventure free from obligation, he accepts that he has a duty to his father and city as its Grand Duke, which would require similar degrees of travel (i think?) anyways

-when he gets disowned by his father, wyll joins an exploring voyage, partially out of complete loss of other ideas, he's spent his whole life training to succeed his father

-the ship gets ambushed by pirates!!!!!!!!!!! yarrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-young wyll gets captured, spared, accepted into the crew by the pirate captain dread-pirate-roberts style, and fucking flourishes, since he's agile, can swashbuckle, has dramatic flair, etc. and bonds really well with the crew and captain

-also, he hides his sending stone eye, a symbol of his connection with mizora, which he can't get out, with a sick eyepatch (yarrr!!!!)

-he gets the position of captain, as the former, who wants to retire, made a really good living pirating and wyll inherits the title of the blade of high seas, scourge of the sword coast (or smth like that), dread-pirate-roberts style again

-also maybe they have like a found-father-son sword fight as a ceremonial thing of him inheriting it

-'the blade' is a really notorious name in the pirating world, with few knowing their true identity, only that they've had a LONG and storied career, and rumors float around about them being all kinds of things, a mask wyll can hide behind easily

-he cares deeply for his crew, but is still controlled to mizora to a degree. so, she uses them as leverage against him to get him to take out the odd enemy of hers when the ship reaches port

-he also tries to conceal signs of his pact, trying not to use warlock powers unless he needs to, covering the eye, etc. (his horns aren't there yet, unless he refuses to kill someone for mizora, which would make the horns a warning sign before bringing harm to his crew)

-he feels horrifically guilty about that, and tries to make up for it by being a sort of gentleman pirate figure in faerun, stealing and pillaging only from the deserving, but with great ruthlessness

-him and his crew are very notorious, to the point where they're equal parts criminal and celebrity (kinda), sort of inspirational robin hood figures if you get my drift

-if we're going by the main bg3 game storyline, his ship would encounter the mind flayer airship, and wyll would be snatched away in the middle of the storm, having to search for members/news of his crew along with his father, with tav/others discovering that he's a pirate, a warlock, the blade, and THE SON OF THE GRAND DUKE in that order

-otherwhise, the tadpole gang each get recruited or board the ship individually for some other reason idk i didnt think about this that much

other cool stuff:

-the ship has a merperson (maybe w/ horns? idk) as a figurehead

-wyll has a little pet dragon instead of a parrot

-romantic swordfight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-he 'secretly' loves dancing/ cheesy romance novels but tries to hide it from his crew so they think he's tough (they totally know but won't say anything bc they want him to have his fun)

-also long hair. this is a very important detail.

[lets-all-calm-down-a-bit]

This is my full analysis of Butters and misogyny, because I just felt the need to have it out there...

Whether you headcanon Butters as queer or not, there's no denying that he is very misogynistic. Some people stop there, then just label him as a bad person, but I'd like to talk about the why.

Before we get into things, we have to remember that he is 9 years old. Some things that Butters (and the other boys) engage in may not be misogyny, but the simple petty rivalry that commonly emerges at that age between boys and girls. I do say some, because there are definitely some things Butters has said or done that can't be passed off under that label.

The first thing we need to think about is Butters home life. Even in a toxic household, kids have a deep attachment to their parents. Often times this is because the parental figure will act perfectly fine at some points, while off the hook at others. If the kid ever starts to question how they're being treated, they feel guilty because they feel like they're being ungrateful to the nice guy who takes them out for ice cream and goes on bike rides with them.

Butters has respect for his parents, even if it's not deserved. Growing up in a strict religious (christian) household myself, I can say that there are some pretty rancid ideals that you are taught from a young age under the excuse of "gods will." Religion almost becomes a scapegoat for any controversial opinion your parents have that they don't have justification for. Butters was fed this stuff all his life. I can tell you that I personally didn't learn the absurdity of these ideals until I was nearing the end of 6th grade. Butters is right at the age where every question he asks his parents is new information that must be shared with the world. Because why would his parents be wrong?

So now that we've established this kid is pretty fucked up from the get-go, let's talk about femininity. Not only is Butters most likely parroting every misogynistic thing he hears from his parent because he assumes them to be fact, but he also has the issue of subconscious negative association. His dad stamps out/ridicules any feminine thing Butters does because of his own fragile ego. This is where I see the similarities with my Brother and Father's relationship.

When we were younger, my dad would yell at him and put a stop to anything remotely feminine. That led to him having an automatic association between feminine things, and getting in trouble. As he got older, he rebelled more and was more aware of how ridiculous my dad was being. However, he still had it in the back of his mind that feminine = bad. I see the same dynamic in Butters and his parents.

So yeah, he's really fucked up. How's he going to deal with it? Well, I can tell you right now that at 9 years old it sure as hell isn't going to be healthy. Like my brother, he's got this shit bottled up. He's going to have outbursts where he acts irrational and, well, offensive. In episodes where you see Butters behaving more aggressively than usual, or having angry outbursts, he may be angry about something else, but he's inadvertently releasing pressure from that bottle of everything he's internalized. My brother went through the same thing. He feels really fucking guilty when he looks back on it.

So yeah, these are some of the thoughts I have on his character regarding internalized misogyny.

[jellycreamjammedart]

Lost and Found (Super)Stars

PT. 3 (index/parts) (Tag: desktop/mobile)

FNAF Security Breach Ruin, post-"betrayal" elevator ending hurt/comfort, Found Family, something I like to call "Hopeful Horror"

Summary: Having had her kindness stomped on then spat back at her, betrayed by who she thought was her friend, and now stuck at the ruined remains of Freddy Fazbear's Mega PizzaPlex, Cassie tries to find the slightest bit of meaning and worth in all of this.

Everything was foggy at the seams, colors blurring together, but Cassie could make out a birthday cake before her (carrot cake, her favorite,) with a familiar wolf and bear as they both sung her a birthday song, a boy clapping along to the tune. She can feel her own face beaming with a wide smile before she blows the candles on the cake, somehow blowing everything and everyone around her as if everything was smoke of several colors, the singing fading away.

-

Cassie opens her eyes and blinks, looking up to see Roxy looking down at her with what she could imagine was a worried expression if she still had her facial features. She could feel the wolf's hand on her back, likely to stop her from being flat on the floor. "Huh... what happened?" She asks, bringing a hand to rub her eyes with her thumb and index.

Roxy's ears gave a light twitch, glad to hear the girl's voice. "It looks like you suffered a dizzy spell. From hitting your head in that elevator, I assume." It wouldn't be a stretch, given Cassie clearly had blood trickling down her head every now and then.

"Dizzy spell?" Cassie parroted, trying to sit herself more upright. "How long?"

"Not long. Around two minutes." Roxy, being a robot, could be sharply precise at counting time, but rounding it up seemed far more useful. "How are you feeling now?"

Cassie, took her hand away from her face, blinking her eyes a few times as she contemplates Roxy's concern. "... better. I think the dizziness passed." She looks down, seeing the V.A.N.N.I mask resting on her lap. Wordlessly, she puts it back on, immediately getting greeted by not only Helpi, but M.X.E.S as well, as the two digital beings look down at her along with Roxy.

"Oh, hey! You're finally awake!" Helpi exclaims, his blue eyes twinkling in relief and joy. "You had us worried there!" He glances back at the cybernetic rabbit. "Isn't that right?"

M.X.E.S rolls its eyes, crossing its arms as it glanced away. It didn't refute Helpi, however.

Helpi just chuckles slightly, winking at Cassie. "Don't mind them! They just need to get used to sharing the V.A.N.N.I system with me!"

Cassie blinks at the little bear. Sharing the V.A.N.N.I system? Helpi seemed to sense her inquisition. "When you configured the mask into a security node for them, it allowed them integration into the V.A.N.N.I system, just like me!" He paused to give Cassie a bemused smile. "It sure is something I've never considered possible, or considered at all! No one thought of this before. But perhaps it is good that you did." Helpi goes a little more serious, despite his adorable looks. "... their integration into the system appears to have expelled something else from the system." From serious, the tiny bear also expresses remorse, his smile fading a little. "... if I ever said or did anything that misled you and contributed to your plight, I am terribly sorry. That... might not have been truly me."

For an AI programmed to be just a work tool full of that soulless corporate talk, Helpi really does look like he feels guilty for unwittingly setting Cassie up, even though it's likely that he either didn't notice something was wrong or had no say in it. With M.X.E.S integrated into the V.A.N.N.I system, it seems the rabbit turned into an extra protection for the system including Helpi's AI. "I don't remember those moments really, though; it seems that in the process of securing my AI from further interception, my memories from those moments got corrupt. They might be repairable, but I don't see it happening anytime soon."

Well, bummer, if he could remember, he could pinpoint exactly when that thing intervened to lie to Cassie, but perhaps it's the price to pay for a more secure system thanks to M.X.E.S. The rabbit was single-handedly keeping both their minds safer.

Helpi shakes his head at himself, trying to switch back to his more peppy self. "But enough feeling bad! We have work to do, and you've proved to be cut for the job with your thinking outside the box! You'd make an excellent Faz-technician, if you were old enough Fazbear Entertainment would hire you on the spot!" Okay, that's a bit of the corporate talk junk, but beggars can't be choosers.

But either way Helpi was right: they have work to do.

"Think you can stand up?" Roxy asks cautiously as she felt Cassie stirring, keeping her hand on the child's back just in case. The girl lets out a positive hum in response.

"Yeah, I don't feel dizzy anymore."

"Good!"

But Cassie was careful anyways as she stood up to her feet. She looks from Roxy in her holographically reconstructed self, to Helpi, then to M.X.E.S, before briefly glancing to the bunny's server now up and running okay... then to that Glamrock Freddy backpack close to a collapsed vent. She picks it up in her hands, staring down at it. "It is Gregory's."

The name prompts a very low growl from Roxy somewhere behind Cassie but she doesn't say anything. She stares rather intently at the little nametag close to the bottom of the backpack, before her gaze shifted to what looked like muddy smudges from the vent. "I'm pretty sure this is his, too." She pulls out the Freddy-talk from her pocket, which she had collected from the other room before Roxy saved them both from being flattened by a boulder. The same Freddy-talk that thing used to lure her in.

Her grip on the cute little device tightened, her hand shaking slightly with a feeling of bitterness.

It's Gregory's fault that all this happened in the first place.

He was so careless in not only leaving his Freddy-talk behind but also his entire backpack. This carelessness was what gave that old thing an opening to reach her.

Why does Gregory get to commit such mistake and get away with it, but she has to be punished not only for hers but his as well? Why does she have to pay for what was his slip-up so that he can wash his hands at her expense!?

It's not fair.

The longer Cassie stared at the nametag, the more it was as if she was looking at the most insulting word in the entire vocabulary. "He was never my friend." She mutters out bitterly.

She would've thrown the Freddy-talk to the floor in frustration, but couldn't bring herself to do it due to Glamrock Freddy's image. Instead she tucks it back into her pocket to free her hand, then she tugs the tip of Gregory's nametag with her nail until she can pull it, ripping the adhesive off the backpack like a nasty bandaid. She crumples the little tape into a fist and tosses it away, before glancing back at the other three. "Finders keepers."

That seems to amuse Roxy, who barely suppresses a snort. "Hah! It's just too bad it's not a backpack with my face." She says mostly jokingly. But otherwise pays it no mind; Truth be told, she does miss the bookish bear, along with all the good times of the PizzaPlex. "Either way, that will sure come in handy. You're risking losing things from those tiny pockets of yours." Seriously, why are pockets in female clothes borderline unusable?

Cassie opens the backpack, and proceeds to tuck in both the Freddy and Roxy-talkies, then her Faz-Wrench and flashlight, as well as anything else she may have found along the way, then things she had shoved at the bottom of her pockets, which turned out to be a little bunch of cereal bars; Hey, she had prepared a little for what she thought would be a straightforward rescue mission!

Roxy's ears perk up at the sight of the treats; Those kinds of snacks might be the only things in the PizzaPlex that are still safe for human consumption... if they find any more of it. That's something the wolf keeps in the backburner; Cassie certainly will need to eat at some point, being human and all.

"So," Cassie turns to fully face Roxy, as well as Helpi and M.X.E.S, tucking her arms through the backpack's straps to carry it on her back. "- are we ready for that race, after all?"

Roxy's torn up chest emulates a puff forward in pride towards her twice number 1's initiative. "I thought you'd never ask." She gathers Cassie up into her arms then onto her back. "Hang in there, it's a bit of a bump road ahead!" She heeds, leaving the basement room through the hole back into the earth tunnels up which led back to the remains of the old pizzeria. Cassie had to slide the mask up off her face since that area was out of the V.A.N.N.I network zone, but she knew Helpi and M.X.E.S weren't far off.

To Be Continued...

[crimsonhobbit]

It's always been about HER feelings.

This morning I woke up to a message from my brother. My mother wanted to know if she could send the kids birthday cards and Christmas cards. I shut it down, telling him I don't want them to learn to accept things from people that have hurt them. He was like 'oh', and told me that this is hurting her, but he understands.

My entire life has been about making sure HER feelings aren't hurt. I'm not even joking.

One of my earliest memories was when my mother was getting ready to marry my step-father. I pleaded with her to not 'marry the mean man'. Did that even make her blink? NOPE. I'm not saying she should have run with the request of a 6(ish) year old. I AM saying that would cause me pause to step back and evaluate what's going on, to see what would make my 6yo feel so strongly about it, and take in the emotions in her voice/on her face. My pain wasn't even a concern to her.

Fast forward a couple-ish years. I'd been trying to get out of going to her house for my every other weekend visits for a bit. This time it was Halloween weekend, which I have always loved. I played sick so I could stay home. That's right. Those weekends were so bad to me that I opted to try to stay home, laying on the couch, instead of participating in my favorite holiday. Candy? Didn't care. Dressing up? Didn't change my mind. I never got out of those weekends, not even that one. Why? Because my mother would "miss" me, and it "made her sad". It didn't matter how I acted, what I sad, or how clearly distraut I was. I STILL was forced to go. And 99% of those weekends? I spent time with the tv. She never was like "I made her come, let me spend quality time with her!".

Around that same time, I got lice. Now, I have some VERY VERY thick hair. We did everything in our power to get rid of it and nothing worked. I had long hair, well past the bottom of my shoulder blades. We had to chop it all off. I sat outside while my uncle took the clippers to my hair and I sobbed. Everyone kept trying to assure me that it was 'cute'. Until we realized my mother and stepfather was on their way over. The adults knew she would lose her shit. Instead of making her act like an adult, they whisked me away. That's right. She is such a child about her emotions that rather than make her realize how upsetting this was for ME, they coddled her.

When I was 16, she "left" my stepdad. Moved us to Michiganfrom Pennsylvania. My best friend's mom didn't want me to go, had a gut feeling. BEGGED my mom to give her custody of me. "But I want her with me". Refused, in spite of the fact that at my bffs house? I had a stable enviornment. Didn't matter. Not even 3 months after ripping me from my friends,...she took my stepdad back. I only agreed to go because I stupidly believed that she was finally leaving him for good, and that I was away from his abuse.

I learned quickly "don't upset her, she will cry, and you will feel guilty". That's her hat trick. She has the emotional regulation of a wet sock.

When were my feelings supposed to be taken into account? How about my kids feelings? I'm supposed to care that SHE is hurt that I cut her off?

I cut her off for years, I let her back in our lives. And SHE is now suffering the consequences of her own actions. SHE decided to disrespect my kids. SHE decided to make me feel as if my interests and thoughts don't matter. I WARNED her many times over the past like 5 years. She didn't listen. She proceeded to make my kids feel like complete shit. She held them to a standard that she couldn't even reach herself.

She fucked around, found out, and is now whining to my baby brother about how SHE hurts. I've hurt for 35 years that my mom was a fucking child who threw tantrums when she didn't get her way. I've hurt for 35 years seeing other mothers and daughters together knowing I'll never have that.

Do I feel for her when it comes to my step-dad also treating her like shit? I DID. Until she started parroting him to my fucking kids. She sat back, knew what was happening, and didn't say anything. I got older and thought "oh, it's because she's being abused, too". Nope. That wasn't it. She just happened to believe the same shit he did and didn't realize the damage it was doing to me. Then I had kids, and she parroted it at them. Didn't care the damage it would do to them, even knowing how badly it fucked me up.

So no, I no longer feel for her.

[blubushie]

My fucking mate (love u bb) got me hooked on Epic: The Musical because my primary school arse was pretty big on Greek mythology (not in a Percy Jackson way, in a "I literally read the entirety of The Odyssey over the summer break when I was 14" way).

Anyway my favourite song so far is Ruthlessness. Also Just a Man because it strikes home in ways I don't wanna discuss. Also also, Monster. For the same reasons as Just a Man. And Get in the Water. Besides Odysseus, who I heavily sympathise with, my favourite character in the musical is Poseidon (compared to The Odyssey, in which case it's Athena).

I was talking about it in Blucord yesterday even!!

Something also that I hadn't pointed out is that Poseidon actually is angry about what happened to his son, but he's angrier that Odysseus didn't kill Polyphemus but instead dishonoured the son of a god by leaving him forever blinded and dependent on his brothers. If he'd killed Polyphemus, and even better gone to the effort of giving him a burial (which would've shown him proper respect as a worthy opponent) then none of this would've happened.

Also on the same vein as #5, when Poseidon says "If only you'd killed my son," further in the song he says:

And now it is finally time to say goodbye, today you die Unless, of course, you apologise For my son's pain and all his cries

(Which Odysseus doesn't do, by the way--he just gives excuse after excuse. Not once does he actually express regret and apologise. He only attempts to justify his actions to Poseidon, who is not having it.)

When Poseidon says "pain" he doesn't mean the pain Polyphemus felt in the moment of losing his eye, he specifically means the entire life of pain and hardship Polyphemus will now have coupled with him being a burden upon his family--the pain of someone who was denied a good death and honourable burial. When he says "cries," he doesn't mean Polyphemus' cries about the loss of his eye, but specifically Polyphemus' cries to his father Poseidon, asking for him to enact vengeance on his behalf.

In this song it's quite literally Poseidon reminding Odysseus that he is a warrior of Greece, that Greek war is a matter of cunning but also honour, and that this is something that Odysseus has forgotten despite Athena trying to teach him. This is Poseidon telling Odysseus that he is going to teach him a lesson the literal goddess of war failed to teach him about honour in battle. This is Poseidon being very pissed off that he had to come settle petty mortal bullshit because Odysseus was feeling guilty and didn't kill his son so his son came crying to him about it, and furthermore that he heckled him about it from his ship.

So as punishment, Poseidon does the same thing Odysseus did--he scuttles his fleet at sea, he permanently cripples him emotionally and spiritually, dishonoured and denied a warrior's death this time. He leaves him with only 43 men left out of the original 600. Can you imagine how Odysseus felt? He brought 600 men into Troy, brought 600 out--didn't lose a soul in battle--only to lose 6 men to a cyclops, then piss off a god by his own hubris (going against the warnings of the literal god of wisdom) and lose 551 more of his men to a raging sea.

And furthermore, when Odysseus escapes using the bag of winds, Poseidon looms in the distance and watches him leave, choosing not to pursue for now. But he parrots Odysseus' last words to Polyphemus: I am your darkest moment. Remember me.

Polyphemus pleaded of Poseidon that he chase him like a hound across the sea. That Odysseus be cursed to return to Ithaca alone, that he lose all 600 of his men on his journey, and that he return after many years only to find his kingdom in turmoil. And Poseidon complied.

[rosehippiefield]

For the fandom ask game: 3, 13, and 15? (Yttd and/or ace attorney)

I'll do yttd first and then ace attorney

3. a character that fandom has helped you appreciate

It's certainly Midori. I didn't really get his appeal initially but several posts along with some YouTubers convinced me that his character is interesting. For me he's the mad sadistic scientist combined with childish desire to play, except he plays with people. Not in normal way but like with toys. I used to think he's not that intimidating or scary but looking back to how he made everyone sign the contract and how he influenced Shin Midori can be terrifying. The fanarts really capture his playful madness or his unhealthy obsession with Shin. Overall I feel like I have a better grasp on his personality though of course I still can be wrong about him

(I also really hated Shin at first but that's due to my peculiar style of experiencing yttd where at first I thought he was Midori and I didn't watch playthroughs fully so I actually had little idea what was going on in this game. It was fun being so wrong. But analysis of many people showed me that not only he wasn't with kidnappers, he had reasons I could get behind. So hatred was very short-lived)

13. your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc)

I really love the draw it in your style events! Everyone makes their own spin on the original art so the little details here and there from different people are fun to notice. Everyone, absolutely everyone adds something interesting, something that makes their fanart unique, while capturing the initial idea. And I like your fanarts there too of course!

I also adore the whiteboards! They create a special, warm sense of unity where you can contribute too. And you can stay anonymous if you want to. I even drew Kanna and Nao once, though as I drew with touchpad of all things it was kinda difficult

15. the character that always makes you smile

Sometimes it's Kanna because she's so sweet and innocent and kind I just want her to be happy. And I kinda relate to her.

Also, maybe not always but quite often Shin can really brighten my mood. Not only do I relate to him in many ways, he became my inspiration to become better. Like I don't know if I sound melodramatic but one time I was thinking about his infamous zero and why he, the smart guy, had no chance to survive. I thought how he manifested his zero into life by believing in it while not believing in himself. I thought about how if he would have been more confident he could have avoided the mess he created at least partially. If only he loved himself more... Suddenly it occurred to me that it was exactly what *I* needed. To not bring myself down, to not overthink what I did wrong, to not compare myself with others. To respect myself for who I am. I imagined that Shin was saying to me "don't hate yourself" and "love yourself" and it hit me. This guy has been my comfort character ever since

The ace attorney ones:

3. It's probably von Karma and Sholmes. I don't really like irredeemable villains but once again he seems so entertaining. On the second rewatch I really appreciated his unapologetic evilness. The guy caused it all for the most petty reason imaginable. And he's perfect to the point where expects Phoenix to cross-examine the parrot. He also has been carrying a bullet in his shoulder for fifteen years. Really what a character. One certain channel (RPG gamer? I forgor how it's named) certainly helps with iconic "what can I say except you're guilty".

As for Sholmes, he didn't feel like original Sherlock Holmes with his enthusiasm but in the end he is your reliable ally that wants to help you. His that one dance is 20/10 and his relationship with Iris is super sweet. I didn't read a lot of fanfics but in the great ace detective his other side is explored, which helped me realise he makes such obvious mistakes due to raising a child, so he uses same method of teaching with Ryuno.

13. I'm not active in ace attorney fandom now but I loved the music competition on Reddit. People took their time to explain in details why they either disliked a soundtrack or defended it. The battle was intense as hell. Shame I don't remember the results

15. I absolutely love Edgeworth and his smug swag, his character arc fascinated me. At the time I thought that his character was literally perfect with balance of flaws and good qualities. Some may say he's too kind in AA2 but I love how he comforts Sebastian too much to care. Maybe there's some plot holes in Rise from the Ashes but still not terrible enough (or they are explainable even, I don't remember). For me he's the example of good writing and I enjoy his journey to the point where I like the first investigation game too

[pinktie]

Old People Showdown (there's also Shinichi and Shiho with Professor Agasa Hiroshi but but that can wait until they have reason to meet Jii and Baaya) would be interesting, I love the headcanon that Shikibe was in the armed forces or an MI6 agent - maybe she has canon relevance knowing Akai Tsutomu and Sera Mary - plus the Hakuba Family can afford to arm her with gadgets and give her special training. Jii absolutely would know how to act as a bodyguard when needed - he refuses to be a burden and has already lost one master, whichever side of the law they are on he can handle most people, I like him as a sniper too (cover of looking after a celebrity family and breaking up bar fights, plus his mysterious past). I feel like Saguru's love for Baaya is well-known to his friends, so Kaito respects her a lot before even meeting her and Saguru's talked of him fondly (she definitely prefers him dealing with Kid than assassins). On Jii's end he sees his role as the older, wiser, more experienced and mature part of his and Kaito's Kid partnership to be on the lookout for danger, he knows the Hakuba family would only hire the best of the best for their Young Master and that Saguru suspects Kaito but doesn't have enough to arrest him and has more interest in Kid's motive and befriending Kaito - his Young Master needs more friends Jii just wishes they weren't all potential threats. Shikibe heard from Saguru that Jii and Kaito know each other via him being the family butler and his father's assistant but they fell out of touch for the most part after his master died and Jii failed to prevent it (I assume as his assistant he'd feel guilty and assume responsibility), She also knows that his reappearance into Kaito's life coincided with Kid appearing and they spend lots of alone time together presumably as accomplices/partners in crime plotting heists - mostly at Blue Parrot a bar. She sees Saguru as her own son so can't imagine why Jii would leave Kaito for years and has Opinions on Jii letting him be Kid. Yes, Saguru is also a teenager but at least he operates with help from law enforcement and his family's considerable power, her job is to ensure he can do as he pleases safely. She doesn't mind the bar aspect when she learns it's very age appropriate and understands not to alienate Jii as he's seemingly the head of Kid's henchmen and the teenager's main available family/ally/confidant to help with his double life until Saguru can help him like his other criminal contacts from past cases (her Young Master is so kind and she simply supports him).

Oh, I love reading this.

Badass Old Lady, let's go!

This makes her character so more interesting. Remind me of Ms. Beakly in Ducktale (the reboot)

[butters-flower-mom]

what is pepper's relationship with the m4?

Because Pepper's so shy and has a hard time making friends she tends to not interact much with anyone besides Butters. For the most part, she's like a background character to the main four boys: just kinda there filling in a seat in the classroom.

The one she interacts with most is Cartman simply because he's the one Butters unfortunately hangs out with most. Pepper has some complex feelings about Cartman. She hates him for how he treats people, especially Butters (and she doesn't even know half of what he's done to Butters in the past), but she also feels sorry for him. She believes he's so mean because deep down he's lonely and can't admit it. She also knows there's something good in him because once she lost Baxter and Cartman found and returned him to her, though he intended to pull a "finders, keepers" before seeing how upset she was. Having had some very close stuffed animal friends himself, he actually felt guilty for keeping Baxter and gave him back. Pepper is also very jealous of Cartman because of all the time Butters spends with him. He often pulls Butters away, saying Pepper can't join in what they're doing because it's "bros only". Cartman knows Pepper is jealous and uses it to his advantage, telling Butters to ignore her when she tries to tell him what Cartman wants him to do might get him hurt or in trouble because she's supposedly only saying that because she's jealous of all the fun they're gonna have without her. Because Pepper is a lot more forgiving then Cartman, Butters tends to side with him.

Pepper, unfortunately, started out not having a good opinion of Kyle. Butters parroted a lot of nasty things about Kyle to her that Cartman told him which lead to Pepper being afraid of Kyle. The two of them got paired up for a school project that involved them needing to work together after school and Pepper was terrified to be alone in the same room as him. Kyle assumed it was just because she's so shy and tried his best to be as gentle and patient with her as he could, knowing she'd much rather be working with Butters and that he'd admittedly much rather be working with Stan. As Pepper was forced to work with him so neither would fail the assignment, she started seeing Kyle was nothing like what Butters said about him and now she's not really sure how she's supposed to feel about him.

I haven't really thought up interactions between Pepper and Stan or Kenny. If Pepper ever were to interact with Kenny, I think she'd get along with him. Kenny's pretty quiet and laid back which would help Pepper feel at ease around him. She wouldn't like any sexual jokes or remarks he'd make, but he'd stop making them around her if he knew they were making her uncomfortable. I think she'd probably get along best with Kenny out of the main four if I could ever think of a reason for them to interact.

As for Stan, all Pepper really knows about him is he's Kyle's best friend and Wendy's boyfriend. She's heard Wendy both gush about him like he's the best thing ever and rant about him like he's absolutely horrible so Pepper isn't sure what to make of him.

[elfdragon12]

I know I've spoken about this before, but the morality grandstanding of the first few volumes in IDW1's Robots in Disguise is really grating to me.

Prowl, who is constantly being criticized for how how he's handling things... Is the only one actually doing anything to try to get things under control. Bumblebee is crumbling under the weight of expectations and responsibility. Metalhawk and Starscream are too busy trying to manipulate the narrative and public opinion (Metalhawk is just as guilty as Starscream in this). Yet the feeling I'm getting from the narrative because nearly every character is parroting it is that I'm supposed to not like what Prowl is doing... But, again, he's the only one trying to do anything!

Metalhawk, like many badly written fictional pacifists, is less "standing up for peace" and more "justifying inaction". The situation with Needlenose and Horri-bull beating the NAIL is a perfect example. Bee is in a state where he cannot physically fend the two Decepticons off of the NAIL and neither of them are cowed by his threats. Metalhawk is in a perfect position to use the power of pacifism to talk down the Decepticons, but, rather than choosing to do that, is more focused on judging Bee.

Continuing about Metalhawk, the continual pedestal he's put on despite being a massive hypocrite. Oh, holding grudges against Decepticons is bad! ... Unless it's one that personally wronged him. Then kill him. It's also quite strange how characters have noted more than once that he is actively manipulating NAIL perception of the Autobots, but... No one actually addresses it?? He goes completely unchallenged. Because he's a ~pacifist~ and pacifists will be seen as morally superior.

*Dirge*! In the middle of Megatron's attack and Devastator 2.0 is rampaging, Bumblebee is trying to focus on taking out Megatron, head of the snake and all that. Metalhawk goes on about needing to save Starscream. Dirge, in all of this, tells Bumblebee this is why his government didn't work--he wants revenge on a Decepticon while Metalhawk wants to save a Cybertronian! Excuse me while I bang my head against the wall. This is clearly not about revenge, but stopping an active threat destroying one of the only safe places on Cybertron! Stop Megatron and you save not only Starscream but every other Cybertronian! How blind can you be?!

Further on Dirge, his whole thing about how Prowl killed Bombshell and the Constructicons in cold blood!!11!1! This is a part of the narrative that makes very little sense when you actually think about it. Because, from Dirge's viewpoint, he was a witness to a violent crime and then subjected to a Cerebro-shell. Which Prowl removes. Then Prowl tracks and finds Bombshell and the Constructicons. Now! The Cerebro-shell was already removed, so why Dirge believes Prowl killed them "in cold blood!!!" is confusing to me because... These are mechs hurting people and have victimized him. Now, I could understand Dirge having complex feelings about former allies, but that's never expressed. (Also why he thought they were dead at all when it didn't happen? I don't know, that whole thing didn't make a lot of sense to me.)

The continual comments about Prowl doing things in "cold blood" or being "cold and calculating" when... He's just having to make hard decisions and, because he's a leader, he can't show doubt. (Also suffering from his own trauma that he's shoved down and never been able to address.) Now! In fairness, because of the art, you can tell Prowl hates when people say this about him, but it's never challenged, even by Arcee who has a better perspective on his actions (granted, she's not particularly popular herself at the time either).

Why is anyone upset Ratbat was ~assassinated~? He was actively planning a new fight that would have ruined everything. "It's not the Autobot way"... Um, the Wrecker team, anyone? Mnemosurgery performed by Autobots on Decepticon POWs? Assassination is not worse than mnemosurgery. Y'all really bury your heads in the sand, huh? It's a bit late in the continuity to act like you have real high ground on this kinda thing.

Sideswipe is super gungho to fight and kill Decepticons, but oh no! Arcee killed Ratbat! Someone like you shouldn't be let in to see Bumblebee!

But yeah! Morality in this continuity is pretty screwed up!