#here's why the science is clear that masks work

[2bpoliticallycurious]

This is an important rebuttal to the recent serious misinterpretation of data from a Cochrane review of mask use. This is a gift link, so anyone who wants to read the entire article can do so, even if they do not subscribe to The New York Times.  Here is a summary of some of the problems with the studies in the review and with their interpretation: 

While the review assessed 78 studies, only 10 of those focused on what happens when people wear masks versus when they don’t, and a further five looked at how effective different types of masks were at blocking transmission, usually for health care workers. The remainder involved other measures aimed at lowering transmission, like hand washing or disinfection, while a few studies also considered masks in combination with other measures. Of those 10 studies that looked at masking, the two done since the start of the Covid pandemic both found that masks helped. [emphasis added]

Below are some more highlights of the article.

Now the organization, Cochrane, says that the way it summarized the review was unclear and imprecise, and that the way some people interpreted it was wrong.

“Many commentators have claimed that a recently updated Cochrane review shows that ‘masks don’t work,’ which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation,” Karla Soares-Weiser, the editor in chief of the Cochrane Library, said in a statement. [...] She said that “this wording was open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize,” and that Cochrane would revise the summary.

Soares-Weiser also said, though, that one of the lead authors of the review even more seriously misinterpreted its finding on masks by saying in an interview that it proved “there is just no evidence that they make any difference.” In fact, Soares-Weiser said, “that statement is not an accurate representation of what the review found.” [...] So what we learn from the Cochrane review is that, especially before the pandemic, distributing masks didn’t lead people to wear them, which is why their effect on transmission couldn’t be confidently evaluated.

[emphasis added]

[See more highlights from the article under the cut.]

To use randomized trials to study whether masks reduce a virus’s spread by keeping infected people from transmitting a pathogen, we need randomized comparisons of large groups, like having people in one city assigned to wear masks and those in another to not wear them. As ethically and logistically difficult as that might seem, there was one study during the pandemic in which masks were distributed, but not mandated, in some Bangladeshi villages and not others before masks were widely used in the country. Mask use increased to 40 percent from 10 percent over a two-month period in the villages where free masks were distributed. Researchers found an 11 percent reduction in Covid cases in the villages given surgical masks, with a 35 percent reduction for people over age 60.

Another pandemic study randomly distributed masks to people in Denmark over a month. About half the participants wore the masks as recommended. Of those assigned to wear masks, 1.8 percent became infected, compared with 2.1 percent in the no-mask group — a 14 percent reduction. But researchers could not reach a firm conclusion about whether masks were protective because there were few infections in either group and fewer than half the people assigned masks wore them. [...] Lab studies, many of which were done during the pandemic, show that masks, particularly N95 respirators, can block viral particles. Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist who has long studied airborne viral transmission, told me even cloth masks that fit well and use appropriate materials can help.

Real-life data can be complicated by variables that aren’t controlled for, but it’s worth examining even if studying it isn’t conclusive.

Japan, which emphasized wearing masks and mitigating airborne transmission, had a remarkably low death rate in 2020 even though it did not have any shutdowns and rarely tested and traced widely outside of clusters.

David Lazer, a political scientist at Northeastern University, calculated that before vaccines were available, U.S. states without mask mandates had 30 percent higher Covid death rates than those with mandates.

Perhaps the best evidence comes from natural experiments, which study how things change after an event or intervention.

Researchers at Mass General Brigham, one of Harvard’s teaching hospital groups, found that in early 2020, before mask mandates were introduced, the infection rate among health care workers doubled every 3.6 days and rose to 21.3 percent. After universal masking was required, the rate stopped increasing, and then quickly declined to 11.4 percent.

In Germany, 401 regions introduced mask mandates at various times over three months in the spring of 2020. By carefully comparing otherwise similar places before and after mask mandates, researchers concluded that “face masks reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by around 47 percent,” with the effect more pronounced in large cities and among older people. [...] Masks are a tool, not a talisman or a magic wand. They have a role to play when used appropriately and consistently at the right times. They should not be dismissed or demonized.

[emphasis added]

These are just some highlights from the article. I recommend using the gift link and reading the whole article. From everything I’ve read (in this article and elsewhere) high quality masks that were appropriately worn helped save lives during the pandemic. The spread of misinformation about masks by people who are politically motivated, could well lead to unnecessary deaths when the next pandemic arrives.

[atlafan]

This is the teacher that kids either love or hate, there’s no in between. Mr. Styles has his quirks, and according to your niece, you either get him or you don’t. The annoying thing is, Mr. Styles teaches all of the science electives like astronomy, astrophysics, forensic science, marine science, zoology, and meteorology. These aren’t required courses, but they’re only a semester long. After completing biology, students can either take a full year of chemistry and a full year of physics, or they can do a full year of chemistry or physics, and two science electives. Or they can do four science electives.

Mr. Styles also is the only AP Chemistry and AP Physics teacher. There’s really no avoiding him. Some students accept this, and others continue to live in denial.

Many students know their strengths and passions. They were made to be scientists. Your niece, who loves science, is taking as many courses as possible to help herself out for college later on. She’s in AP Chemistry with Mr. Styles, as well as forensic science. Your niece loved Mr. Styles until he gave her an F for missing an exam. She had been out sick. She had a note from her doctor and everything! Your niece blubbered to you about it.

You know Mr. Styles. You work at the same school as Mr. Styles. You’re the music teacher. You typically avoid Mr. Styles. You’re in a completely different area of the school. Many students complain about him, but just as many praise him. But this time it’s personal. He made your niece cry, at school! You told her she could stay in your office for a bit to calm down. You were marching your way to Mr. Styles’ classroom. You didn’t care if he was teaching. You were going to barge in.

When you get to his door, you see him sitting at his desk through the little window. It’s a prep period. When you giggle the handle of the door, it doesn’t turn. So, you pound on the door with your fist while Mr. Styles takes his sweet time coming to open it.

“Miss-“

“Don’t even address me right now, I’m too mad.”

“I don’t think I know you well enough for you to be venting to me about something.” He says as he closes the door. “But I guess I can listen since I have time.”

“I’m here because you’re being an asshole to my niece. She missed school because she was sick and you wouldn’t let her makeup a test. That’s against school policy.”

“Not with AP courses.” He crosses his arms over his chest. You can’t help but feel frazzled at his attire. The dichotomy of him wearing a Disney shirt about love while he’s scowling is is almost comical. “If a student is sick on the day of the exam, then that’s it. They fail. They don’t get to try again.”

“How is she going to get into a good school if she has an F on her transcript?!”

“She’s not going to fail the class. She knew I had a strict policy. Also, I put out exam dates well in advance. She knew what day it was going to be.”

“She was sick!”

“Was she vomiting uncontrollably? Was she coughing up blood? Was she bed ridden? If the answer is no to any of those, then she could have come in to take the exam.”

“Right, so then she could get all of the other kids sick?”

“Masks are a thing. Plenty of students still wear them in the classroom. She could have come in for the exam and then left afterwards. Why do you care so much? You’re not her legal guardian. Her parents haven’t emailed or called to complain. At the mandatory parents meeting I run at the beginning of the school, I make it clear to the parents that I am strict for a reason.”

“My sister and brother-in-law haven’t called to complain because they don’t know about any of this. She came crying to me because she has no idea how to tell them because she knows she’s going to be asked if she knew it was an exam day. Which she completely forgot because she was sick and her brain was foggy.”

“She’ll have opportunities to make up her grade. Her participation counts for a lot and she’s always participating.”

“You don’t understand mental instability these overachievers have. I’ve seen that girl cry over an A-. Shooting her in the stomach would hurt less than getting a bad grade. Do you get off on being a dick?”

“You know what? This is my prep period, and I was busy.”

“Yeah, your door was locked.” You scoff.

“I always lock it. I don’t like when people filter in and out during my prep.”

“What if a student had an emergency and needed you?! Why are you even a teacher if you don’t care about students?! Do you have any idea how hard these kids have it? They don’t even teach them how to use computers anymore! No one knows how to touch type! Everyone assumes they have it easy, but they don’t. A lot of kids come to school because it’s better than being at home. You making it worse for them is a real turn off. I know you have students that adore you, but you also have students that would love the opportunity to spit in your food.”

“Are you done?”

“That depends, do you understand the points I’ve made?”

“Yes. You were very clear.”

“Are you going to take what I said into consideration as you’re teaching?”

“No.”

“You’re a fucking prick.”

“And you’re…” His eyes go up and down, checking her out. “It’s a good thing your room is on the other side of the school.” He shakes his head.

“Why? Afraid I’ll spit in your food?”

“No, in fact, I’d welcome your spit. I’d like it preferably in my mouth, but beggars can’t be choosers.” He shrugs and sits down at his desk.

Your mouth is agape. Did he really just say that to you?

“Are you serious?”

“Very.” He stands back up and saunters over to her. “If you’d like to cuss me out some more, could we do it over dinner?”

“I…”

“You never gave me a chance to take you out a few years ago. Remember that night we were both at that bar?”

“I do.” You nod as you blush. “But that was a mistake. I had a boyfriend…”

“Do you still?”

“No.”

“Alright, well, I would love to be in your presence again while you’re all fired up. Are you free Saturday night?”

“Pick me up at seven.”

“I’ll make a reservation somewhere I know we’ll be secluded so you can yell at me some more.”

“Stop talking before I change my mind.” You say and storm out of his classroom.

While you were teaching your sixth period choral class, Harry was teaching his forensic science class. Your niece got there a few minutes early to talk to Mr. Styles as he stood outside the class to greet the other students coming in.

“So…did it work?” She asked quietly.

“Like a charm.”

“She said yes?!”

“Mhm.” He grinned. “You must have put on quite the performance. She was really angry.”

“If you thought that made her angry, wait until she inevitably finds out that we worked together to trick her.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

[a-little-ray-of-fantasy]

CherriSnake, as a couple, most likely wasn't in the plans, if you only saw the pilot, but honestly, I personally really enjoyed their dynamic in the show, regardless.

There's a reason why people shipped Cherri Bomb and Sir Pentious all these years: rivals to lovers is always a win. Plus, the confident, spunky powerhouse and the battle oriented, dorky edgelord? It really made sense!

So let's talk about them in the series proper!

Cherri Bomb was never against the idea of dating Sir Pentious. Maybe unimpressed by his awkward attempts, but never really rebuffed them.

If anything she kinda pokes fun at him for trying so hard with her: you say you're my arch nemesis, but then you try to flirt with me?

What, YOU want to make sex with me? Care to explain why?

They've been rivals for years by now, Cherri KNOWS Pentious tends to put up a front to impress, and most likely would've given him a chance if he had the confidence to be true about his intentions.

Sadly, this is Sir Pentious we're talking about: a very insecure man who struggles with socializing and pleasing others. So he blunders his own attempts at flirting to avoid being rejected by buying everyone drinks or wanting to have sex with everyone.

Speaking of that, Sir Pentious, of all people, wanting to have sex? It's really not him, it's not something he'd do under normal circumstances, but he's drunk, all his previous attempts have failed, so he might as well be bold. But even then you can tell by the way he says "Do a sex with me." that he has NO idea what he's talking about.

And she's quick to call him out. Again, not with annoyance but with humor.

Sir Pentious was completely out of his element here, and, being the insecure man he is, instead of going with his strengths (which we're going to talk about in a minute), he went for what HE believed Cherri wanted, and he payed the price: she wasn't impressed, he lost his chance.

Also, I totally believe that the reason behind his struggles to come to terms with his crush is also linked to the fact that... he's a man of science, war and machines! He just can't get a crush, it doesn't work like that! So of course he'd try to mask it!

Of course he engages with Cherri Bomb: she's his arch nemesis! Nothing more! He would never buy drinks for her specifically! ...except nobody will ever buy his lie, and he wouldn't notice how obvious he is.

Next time, we see Pentious trying, and fail once again, to confess to Cherri, but something has changed. He talked to Charlie about it. And while we don't see WHAT they've said to each other, we know for a fact that Charlie totally encouraged him to be himself and confess his feelings.

Heck, if you watch closely, Vaggie even puts a hand on Pentious' own as if to wish him good luck! She's really come to trust him, aw!

And this time, while Sir Pentious still is too nervous to fully confess his feelings, he still goes about it by actually sticking to his strengths, the reason why he fell for Cherri in the first place.

Sir Pentious is an inventor, a warrior, he works with machines. He has engaged in turf wars against Cherri for years and by now he knows her: she's destructive, unpredictable, and unstoppable. She most likely often beat him too, but both gave their all in the battle. And Sir Pentious definitely was impressed by that.

He's not blind, of course he finds Cherri pretty (and let's face it, she is!). But that's the reason he fell for her, something on his league he could recognize and actively engage in: her prowess in battle, her creativity with her explosives, and her determination. And he fully told her that, with clear admiration in his voice.

And this time, Cherri, while still a bit confused on how he's still being awkward about it, this time shows a positive response: she thanks him, she smiles, she genuinely appreciates his compliments.

Reminder that Cherri is much more upfront about, uhm, going out with people. She has slept around, did quick things, and if lore is still the same for her, her love life wasn't a happy one. She's used to have people wanting her for her body, or having surface level attraction to her.

But this is her long time rival, the one man she often faced in turf wars, the edgelord who always put up a front of a grandiose villain when he really was an awkward nerd from the Victorian times that was easy to rattle. And maybe she didn't develop feelings for him the same way he did for her, but it's clear she never held animosity against him. She does care for this lovable loser, deep down, so his compliments are genuinely appreciated.

So when the battle begins, and Adam has started showing the big guns, Sir Pentious gives a quick glance at his blimp, knowing what has to be done, and with the feeling there's a high chance he won't make it.

And so he does the one thing he's always been afraid to do. It's now or never: if he has to go down, he shall do it with no regrets. To heck with fears and insecurities: he loves Cherri, and this time he will show it the way he knows how.

An awkward but completely sweet kiss in the middle of the battle, as her bomb goes off in the background. A gesture that REALLY represents their bond.

Sadly it's short lived. Sir Pentious finally declares his love and runs away to save the day, but still emotional about what happened: the only request he has for her before the deed is simply to remember him.

And I'm positive Cherri will definitely remember this. Him, the kiss, the battle. Everything.

[honey-words]

spider boy’s partner — spider-man!midoriya izuku x reader

synopsis: now that you know what midoriya has been up to as spider-man, you offer to help him with his latest mission. [part 4/5 - series masterlist]

wc: 2.7k 

author’s note: idk why monoma is the richboy douche in this he just is ok 

The club you were in happened to be the university’s student-run newspaper—and you happened to be one of the writers on the science side of the paper. You were pretty well acquainted with the STEM professors, at least those willing to be interviewed and featured. You didn’t believe in fate much, but after Midoriya told you everything he knew, you started to think Destiny was giggling and kicking her feet somewhere at the little web of connections she’d made with this one. 

Because you also happened to know one of Kyudai’s lab assistants, recognizing his name when Midoriya had shown you the list. 

Monoma had been your partner in your freshman writing class. Begrudgingly, you’d bonded with him over the agonies of writing, and sharing your writing in a small group setting. You still greeted him around campus if you ever saw him. 

When you tell Midoriya your plan, he insists on finding more information before you act on anything. You laugh when he suggests the possibility of Monoma being in on it; sure he was a bit pompous and annoying, but you don’t think a rich kid like him would go through that much trouble to make some extra cash. But Midoriya’s lips don’t even twitch to try and hide a smile, and you know he’s serious. 

He comes back late one night when you’re still up doing homework. You don’t even jump when he slides your window open anymore, so used to it. Moony meows a greeting from her place next to you on the couch before going back to her grooming. 

“All clear?” you asked, glancing up from your laptop briefly. He tugs his mask off and nods.

“Don’t even ask how I know.”

“Oh come on, you’re no fun.”

The next day, you pitch the idea to your editor. 

“Another profile? Of course, go for it,” Momo beamed at you. She’s surrounded by piles of paper and has three different screens in front of her—you don’t know how she looks so cheerful. “Whenever you get it done is fine, I trust you’ll do great as always! Jiro should be able to help with photos.”

The next step in your plan is simple because you knew from the beginning that Monoma would be thrilled at the possibility of being featured. And you were right. Midoriya scoffs at how quickly Monoma replies to your text, agreeing to your proposition to meet up and discuss a project for the newspaper. Two days later, you meet up with him for coffee. 

“Kyudai’s hardly around much anymore, we practically run everything,” he said. You’d let him choose the cafe, and you have to agree it’s pretty nice. If there was not a risk of running into him again here, you’d come back and make it a regular study spot. “He meets with us once a week, I’ll ask him then. He should say yes, he’s done a few of these in the past.”

You thank him profusely. To make sure he showed up, you offered to treat Monoma to a drink.  You winced at his complicated order and regretted your decision when you saw the pained look on the barista’s face, but you pasted a smile on your face and treated him to it nonetheless. Never mind the fact that his backpack alone was worth almost as much as your laptop. It was more of a symbolic gesture, you both understood that.

As carefully as possible, you ask more questions about Kyudai, hoping to get as much information out of Monoma as possible. “Wow, you run the study? Why isn’t Kyudai around as much anymore? Is it another study? Where’s his lab?” 

Monoma is oblivious to your prodding and answers your questions happily. He has a vague understanding of where Kyudai goes when he’s not at the lab or in lecture, and you hope it’s enough for Midoriya to work with. 

Spider boy is sitting a table over, behind Monoma, and facing you, wearing a disguise you picked out for him (a dark outfit you thrifted for him, one of your old baseball caps, necklaces that he never wore—he’d refused the fake piercing, much to your dismay). It’s hard to hide your smile when you make eye contact with him. 

Unfortunately, Monoma seemed to think you were agreeing with whatever he was talking about. Belatedly you realize he’s ranting about humanities majors.

“You know I’m not a STEM major, right?” you shut him down firmly, taking an angry sip of your latte. 

This doesn’t seem to deter him, and if you hadn’t made a quick excuse to leave and end the interview formally you’re sure he would’ve happily taken on the challenge of trying to convert you, or god forbid, ask you out for dinner. Because your smiles at Midoriya may have been misinterpreted in that regard, too. 

“He’s nice,” Midoriya teased when you met up with him a block away from your apartment, as planned. You’d insisted on all the sneaking around because it added a flair of fun to the situation. Plus, any excuse to dress him up. You eyed the outfit you’d picked out for him and decided he could keep the necklaces you’d let him borrow. 

You snorted and rolled your eyes. “The things I do for the mission.” 

He laughed as you entered your apartment. “Are you my sidekick now or something?”

You huffed indiginantly, calling for Moony who immediately came running, meowing loudly in protest for being left alone for two hours. “Please, where would you be without this plan? I’m obviously the mastermind behind Spider-Man.”

“So you’re my person in the chair?”

“See, I’m more of an agent, because I go into the field—”

“Okay, okay,” he placated you, scooping Moony up in his arms to spoil her with kisses before setting her down again just as quickly, knowing how fussy she can be. “Anyway, he was totally flirting with you.”

“Monoma?” you asked, aghast. You tossed him a soda from your fridge, smiling despite yourself at how he caught it without even looking up from his phone at the kitchen table. You like testing his spidey senses whenever you can, knowing they’ve never failed. 

“Yes, who else?” he laughed. You glare at him halfheartedly. “Did you not notice his advances?”

“No!” you said, wracking your brain and laughing at Midoriya’s phrasing. You only remembered getting what you needed and trying very hard not to laugh whenever you met Midoriya’s gaze, or to stare at him too hard when he wasn’t looking. 

“Y/N, I just work so hard as a research assistant,” Midoriya said in a high, nasally impression of Monoma. “But here I am, gracing you with my presence. You should be honored.”

“Oh my god, he did not say that!”

Midoriya laughed, amused by your reaction and his impression. “He might as well have! But anyway, thanks again for helping me with this.”

“I’m your agent in the field, your mastermind—”

“Okay, okay!”

——— * * * ———

You spend the next week prepping after Monoma texts you to confirm Kyudai is willing to be interviewed on this day and this time, which you agree to. Thankfully, Jiro is able to tag along to take pictures for the newspaper. 

You hadn’t felt nervous about one of these since you did your first piece three years ago. You blurted it out to Midoriya, which had been a mistake. 

“You can cancel,” he said. You were both leaving the library after a productive study session, and he was just about to leave for his chemistry lab. “Do you want me to go with you to cancel?”

“No,” you insisted, smiling at how earnestly he was on your side. “I can do this. We can do this, spider boy.”

He’d squeezed you into a hug goodbye before leaving for lab, with a promise to meet up with you later for a late-night snack. 

It turned out you had nothing to worry about because when the day came, you were the perfect picture of professionalism. And you actually found the research interesting, so you did not have to fake the smiles and nods of acknowledgment, even when Monoma was talking. It was all focused on cells, and though you don’t quite understand all of it completely, you know its impressive. 

And you can’t help but wonder if what he’s doing in his other lab is scarier and more impressive than this. 

Your smile almost falters before you remember the earnest look in Midoriya’s eyes when he talks about his professor and how determined he looks every time he goes out to patrol. You take a deep breath and grip your phone tighter, straightening your arm to make sure you’re recording everything Monoma is saying. 

After Jiro is satisfied with the pictures she’s been taking periodically and you’ve asked most of your questions, you all move outside to continue talking, so as to not to disturb some of the other students that have started to trickle into the space to do their own work. You’re just helping Jiro arrange everyone on a bench for a group photo when Kyudai’s phone starts to ring. 

“My apologies, let me silence that—” it rings again just as he manages to get it out of his pocket, and you see the way his eyes widen behind his glasses when he sees the caller ID. 

“How about a short break everyone? We can meet back here in five.” 

Kyudai scurries away at that, too far away for you to even try and eavesdrop. 

You say goodbye to Jiro, who explains the first group photo she got is more than enough. Monoma and his research partners are all chatting, so you’re left alone to check your phone. 

Three texts from Midoriya, which you immediately tap on to open up, fearing the worst. He had promised to be stealthy, in and out. Take some pictures, see what the operation was about. Submit to the police afterwards. 

From: spider boy 

6:43 pm - Okay, don’t be mad

6:43 pm - but I had to call the cops in like ASAP

6:44 pm - so end your interview fast and go home!!!!!

You turn around, hoping your urgency to end this isn’t written all over your face, only to almost run over Kyudai standing right in front of you. 

“I’m terribly sorry to cut this short,” he laments. “But I do have to run now. Please feel free to email me with any followups, and thank you for featuring our work.”

You assure him it’s fine, you only have a couple of questions for his assistants, and he’s off, not quite running but also not walking. 

You finish your questions as quickly as you can and then leave, trying not to run back to your apartment, almost laughing out loud remembering Kyudai was dashing off in a very similar way. 

Expecting to see Midoriya waiting for you on your couch you practically throw the door open, Moony meowing at you in surprise from her favorite kitchen table chair. He’s not there.

You turn your small TV to the local channel, waiting for the evening news to start, or the breaking news segment you thought would already be airing, and pull up your Spidey News tab on your laptop. The little livestream banner is the first thing you notice at the top of the page, because you’ve never seen it actually active before. 

The livestream loads just as the breaking news segment starts, both of your screens showing off slightly different angles of Spider-Man perched on a high building, a dozen police cars down below him. You recognize the buildings as the ones downtown, near the train station. 

A reporter appears, interrupting the live feed of Spider-Man in favor of quickly running through the events that have seemingly just transpired as quickly as possible as more police cars arrive behind her. Your mouth falls open when you see biohazard-suited people arrive seconds later, pushing the curious gathering crowd back. 

On the Spidey News live stream, Spider-Man is looking down from his spot on the roof, sitting perfectly still. You almost laugh, knowing how often he likes to hang his legs over the edge to dangle or do handstands for people waving below. But today, he’s the perfect image of solemnity. 

The reporter raises her voice in surprise as a small car arrives, parting the crowd behind her, and Kyudai jumps out. He looks like he’s crying as the cameraman is quick to zoom in on his face, trying to frantically offer up any explanations as the cops are on him in seconds, blocking him from the view of the cameras and taking him away before the reporter can get her mic close enough. 

After that, things start to slow down. 

The reporters don’t have the full picture, you quickly realize. “Officers are telling us that this is a biohazard situation, but it is now under control, and the streets are opening back up, and the trains are running again. This is a heavily populated area, primarily by students, so officials used an abundance of caution to ensure no one was put at risk.” 

Every time a variation of this is repeated, the camera pans to find Spider-Man again (he was dangling his legs over the edge of the building earlier) and a vague comment is made about his presence before panning back to the reporter. You furrow your eyebrows and glance back at your livestream tab, only to see that it's ended.  

“Worried about me?”

You scream at the same time Moony meows in surprise, both of you turning to see Midoriya standing by your window, mask in his left hand. Moony curls back up into a loaf to resume her nap and you do your best to glare at Midoriya from your spot on the couch. 

“You little shit! How’d it go?”

“We got him!” 

You jump up to finally hug him and he laughs, hands sliding around your waist as you slip your fingers into his hair. As though you always do this, as though hugging is a totally normal occurrence and not making you blush and your heart speed pick up. 

“Let’s celebrate!” you declare as soon as you break away, hurrying into the kitchen to hide your embarrassed expression. “Get changed and you can tell me all about it.”

He hums a response and you hear your door open and close as you open and close cupboards around your kitchen, setting things down on the counter. By the time he gets back, you’re staring intently at a recipe on your phone. 

“Okay, let’s do this.”

You launch into the recipe and he starts telling you all about it, as promised. 

“The lab was totally empty, no one was there. So I knew I had to call it in and get some proof.” He tells you he’d texted his friend at the police station as soon as he could. 

“And I even found a lead on Professor Yagi,” he said, in a more subdued tone. “Kyudai owns more property further downtown…I made sure to let Tsukauchi know about it. He said he’d text me if they found anything.”

“Has he texted?” You stop in your mixing, hands twitching to reach forward and grab his hand. But you refrain.

Midoriya shakes his head. “There were like five properties on the list. He has to get enough personnel to hit them all at once. I’m assuming they’re doing it right now.”

“And you couldn’t go yourself because you didn’t want him to recognize you,” you said in realization. “Oh Midoriya, why didn’t you tell me?”

“We got him,” he shrugged, though you can see his eyes are glassy with tears, going back to mixing your batter. You look down at your own bowl and realize this is a lot of batter. 

“Plus, I got a good feeling.” He gives you a watery smile and you feel more at ease. 

You make idle conversation after that. You do your best to keep Midoriya in high spirits, and you both scramble for your phones at every single notification. 

The cookies are when the oven when the text comes. 

You both reach his phone at the same time, the screen lit up with the text. 

From: Tsukachi

Sorry for the late reply. Yagi is safe.

Midoriya sags against the table, laughing in relief. 

“Your spidey senses were right,” you smile at him, gently shaking his shoulders and smiling wide. 

He nods, grinning up at you, breathless with relieved laughter and eyes shining. “Thank god.”

taglist: @yoonights @justxiao @nonhon @koreluvsspring @orangetappe @shokomilks @froggybich @dekuloveshotcheetos (to be added leave a comment!)

masterlist

[southparkthetwosidesofacard]

I am listening! I am invested! Please yap about your au idea!!

AHHHHHHHHHIIWJHDIEHDIANRRUFIFBFIEBF HFHDB I GET TO YAP ABOUT THIS YAYYYYYY

ok so, I honestly don’t have much of an idea as to where exactly this would go, but just for the basics (which I’m mostly coming up with on the fly, I’ll be honest) here we go:

(this ended up being quite long so everything else is under the break, sorry!)

obviously, ford and bill were not always… separated, as it were. growing up and into his teens and early twenties it was just stanford pines, no “alter egos” or masks or anything of the sort (much as he would’ve loved to be able to hide who he was).

then, when he moved up to gravity falls and began his research, he began to realize that there were so many things that he wanted to do, couldn’t do, because of his reputation. he needed to keep his record clean because if he didn’t, he could easily have his grant money revoked, and any future opportunities in the pursuit of science dashed due to one small slip up. so, he began to look into, well, changing who he was, splitting himself, so to speak, as to be not one but two at the same time.

eventually, it worked somehow (probably through a potion, as jekyll uses in the original book), and he found himself as not just one, but seemingly two people in one body. there was the stanford pines most people knew, the eccentric, odd mad scientist that lived in the woods at the edge of town, and then there was another, completely new facade. bill cipher, named for his often frustratingly vague double speak and extreme use of overly complicated metaphors (yes I’m giving bill’s name a reason, it sort of annoys me that theres no reasoning for hyde’s name in the book but thats a rant for another day).

to begin with, bill seems content with simply switching back and forth at ford’s will, being the way for ford to kick back and let loose with no fear of the repercussions. at least, until ford begins to have trouble getting back to himself. thats when he begins to doubt the true intent of his other self, of bill. its around this time he calls fiddleford. the man may have studied engineering, but in this world he also knows a little something about psychology, and paired with his brilliant mind, ford’s very precise notes of the situation (ahem the journals ahem), and the fact that hes basically ford’s only friend, it felt like the best course of action.

of course, in actual gravity falls, ford does his best to hide bill from fidds but here bill is exactly why ford called him. anyone else would’ve called him crazy, tried to experiment on him or worse, but fiddeford would never do any of that and ford knows it (just to be clear, I do think that if I ever wrote anything for this au college fiddauthor would be heavily implied here).

fidds does his best to help but when bill goes on a rampage one night, going so far as to kill the heir to the northwest family, preston northwest, he knows ford is beyond fucked (just a heads up, the person bill kills being preston may change but idk, we’ll see if I ever actually come back to this au haha). the reason fiddleford originally makes the memory gun in this au isnt for himself, its actually to try and erase the memories of what bill has down from the townspeople’s minds. the only problem is that the next time they see bill all of the memories return and everyone is back at square one. its just too much for fidds, and he begins to turn the memory gun on himself in an attempt to get rid of the fear, pain, failure, and regret that helping his friend brought him.

ford on the hand is mortified by what hes done. I highly doubt that there would be a confrontation type scene, it would be closer to how the book goes, where ford quickly begins to be unable to switch between stanford pines and bill cipher. the au would probably “end” (as in if I turned this into a fanfic/comic/whatever the story would end there) with ford figuring out where stan is, calling and begging him to come up to gravity falls and help him, before ultimately turning the memory gun on himself and ridding himself of “bill” once and for all.

the only problem is that in order to remove bill, he has to remove stanford pines and all that he is as well. now, we all know how this goes in both the show and most aus; stan or ford or whoever it is that is possessed by bill erases themselves/has someone erase them, is weirdly blank for a bit but ultimately regains their memories. well here it… wouldnt work like that. bill(/hyde) is an integral part of ford(/jekyll), to remove bill(hyde) is to remove stanford pines (jekyll), theres no way around that. so, ford sort of ends up in that “blank slate” state for the rest of his life. he called stan prior to erasing himself because he knew stan would take care of him no matter what, and he was right. for the rest of their lives, stan takes care of his brother to the best of his abilities, and while they never get to sail the seas together, and some nights bring unimaginable sorrow for stan, knowing he’ll never speak to his brother again, despite the fact that very man sleeps just a few doors down the hall, they make it work. ford (or, well, whats left behind when you remove everything that makes a person who they are) sees that his blankness hurt stan but he cant do anything about it, and to begin with almost avoids stan, at least before they finally have a talk in which stan reassures “ford” that he’s sure whatever reason ford may have had for erasing himself, it was worth it.

as for fidds, well it mostly works out in a similar way to canon, he does eventually regain most memories but of course some bits are still fuzzy. the fuzzy bits are never fully recovered, as the one person who may have been able to fill in the blanks no longer exists, but fidds is still mostly alright.

the journals… sort of exist? but not in the way that they do in the show, and what does exist stan had from the very beginning. ofc the twins still have to deal with monsters and spooks and whatnot in gravity falls, just not anything that has to do with bill (which means that, of course, weirdmageddon physically cannot happen). at some point, dipper begins to insinuate that the weirdness of gravity falls might have something to do with “ford’s”… situation, which is when stan finally fully comes clean with all he knows about the situation. its not until fiddleford begins to regain his memory, however, that any of them learn the truth of what was going on.

oh yikes, I wrote a lot more for this than I meant to, whoops!

oh yeah, I’m naming this au the “Dr. Pines/Mr. Cipher” au for now, but if anyone has any better ideas or if thats already been used for something else, please let me know!

also, @aaabatteryy I LOVE MARINEFLAMES’ CONFRONTATION ANIMATIC, THAT WAS ACTUALLY WHAT I WAS REFERENCING WHEN I MENTIONED OTHER ANIMATIONS USING A SIMILAR CONCEPT TO THIS AU

oh, and I just want to say that I’ve never watched the musical so thats why this doesnt (intentionally) incorporate any elements of that.

[lilikitsune18]

Officer it’s this one right here he crashed my drawing program and refused to cooperate

@neodracunyan here’s the criminal the one who broke my drawing program so bad I’m going to have to archive everything and clear its data again and it hasn’t even been 3 months since I last did that for spring cleaning. I love how he came out in the end but he crashed my program 5 times while I was working on him and has caused it to lag and crash constantly ever since. I adore this boi but I will always have hard feelings for his reference sheet. He looks so smug about it too.

Below the cut is my usual ramble as well as the sketches and shape study for this one. (He has taught me many things completely on accident)

So let’s talk about this.

I started by sketching up a kickin that will never see the light of day fate just looking up my reference images and eyeballing it.

That kickin was really really ugly.

I know saying these things about one’s own art can seem degrading and derogatory but believe me when I say I got a second opinion and they agreed that chicken was ugly.

And they didn’t even know I was showing them my own art so I know it’s true.

So then I did the shape study and figured out why this wasn’t working the same as the others.

Then came a lot of trial and error of pushing different combinations of these shapes and builds together until I got a siluette that seemed to work (this was the one I used for the final version of kickin)

Then came the face which was also a matter with which I struggled but eventually figured out.

Despite all of these setbacks I do really like how kickin came out in the end (especially the side profile view) and once all of the struggles were through I really really ended up liking how he came out .

So let’s actually talk about this design now shall we?

Let’s start with the kickin hawk design. This design benefited from the fact that I knew who kickins partner is before choosing colors so I decided to make his grey clothing pieces blue toned in the same shade as bubba. It’s not super noticeable in the reference sheet because it’s surrounded by its complimentary and cross-complimentary colors (orange and yellow) making it look far more desaturated than it actually is. My intent is for the rest of the dark critters to have this same partnering motif from here on out in their color palettes (bubba will get kickins yellow, Bobby will get craftys cyan/teal color, and picky will get something green for hoppy) this will add a sort of visual synergy between each partner set making it more clear when they’re together as a group who the usual pairs are. (Instead of redoing catnap and dogday to fit this rule lets just say that their synergy thing is the red smoke bc when I designed them I didn’t know they were going to be put together as an individual pair instead of being with the rest of the critters as a group.) the idea for how kickin hawks weapons work is that they’re magnetic (either the holsters or a specific point on the weapon itself) and depending on which weapon it is will attach to a different point on his belt (think like polarity the nunchucks won’t attach to the spot where the guns go because the poles in its magnets don’t match the ones for the guns to attach to. This also means that if an enemy has a huge magnet they are guaranteed to never get all of kickins weapons because some of them will have opposing polarity and be repelled by the magnet instead of attracted to it a.k.a science is cool sometimes) The mask is for similar reasons to dogdays because of the fact that bubba uses lots of chemicals and gases similar to catnaps when fighting and kickin doesn’t want to deal with the loose gases effects (at that moment at least I feel like kickin would absolutely be bubba Guinea pig whenever he has a new variation to test) I also dyed some of his feathers with streaks of the reddish orange color because I feel like the moment he got the freedom to choose his appearance he’d go and change it. And uh yeah that’s about it for kickins ramble but if you have questions about the design choices feel free to ask ( while some of these guys may bite I won’t!)

[arachnicas]

Spider & Spot Dynamic Headcanons 1/?

Based off of my post >>> here

-) The multi-verse collapses and Miles is thrown back in time to the day he defeated Kingpin. Determined not to repeat the future, Miles decides to seek out the Spot and end his villainy before it can begin. However, he does not eradicate or contain his nemesis. No, Miles takes a leap of faith and decides to help him.

-) Miles uses his big brain to find a way to permanently cure Dr. Johnathon Ohnn of his spotty appearance with a serum. However, Johnathon still retains his abilities, and his eyes are an eerie void black color, a reminder of what he is and what he is capable of. Still, he's back to looking like a human being again and is immensely grateful to this wonderful, genius kid for helping him in his time of need.

-) In fact, he's so happy that he immediately declares himself Spider-Man's partner, and Miles cannot reject the man. His former friends are in their respective dimensions safe now that the collider is destroyed, and if the future becomes anything like Miles remembers, he won't see them for a long while. It would be nice to have a friend on his side.

-) After some trial and error, Johnathon can easily control his abilities, using his holes to warp villains into Miles' webs or transporting himself and Miles away from dangers when dealing with particularly deadly villains. With their combined skills and hilarious wit, the duo instantly becomes Brooklyn's darlings almost overnight.

-) Johnathon's costume is based on his former spotty appearance. When Miles asked why, he grinned and said, "Makes for a superb intimidation factor, kiddo. Gets the baddies shaking in their little boots when they see me."

-) Johnathon and Miles both know each other's secret identities. Johnathon made it clear to Miles that if their partnership should work, he should at least see the face of the hero he's working with. No secrets. No lies. Miles agreed and slid off his mask.

-) Needless to say, Johnathon was appalled, concerned, and maybe even a little impressed that Spider-Man is a thirteen-year-old kid. "I mean, when you threw that bagel at me, I knew you were young, but holy cow, you're just a little guy! You should be in school doing your homework and hanging out with your friends, not running the streets fighting bad guys!"

-) Knowing that Spider-Man is just a kid made Johnathon even more sure of his decision to be his partner. Miles will need a stable adult to look out for him and somebody to make damn sure that he comes home alive. It's the least he can do for the kid who helped him get his life back on track. Plus, he's grown fond of Miles and enjoys fighting alongside him. This superhero gig isn't so bad after all.

-) Over time, the two developed a pseudo-uncle-nephew familial relationship, and while Johnathon isn't Uncle Aaron, Miles finds that they have a lot in common and will often spend hours talking about quantum physics, math, etc. They even built an underground lair where they go to rest up, work on science projects, and make neat little gizmos. Miles proudly called it "The Web," but after losing a game of rock paper scissors to Uncle Johnathon, it was renamed The Void Sanctum.

-) Helping Miles with his science homework pushed Johnathon into getting a job at Visions Academy as a science teacher because, damn it, what kind of weak-ass science is that school teaching his nephew?! No, he will become a goddamn teacher and teach these kids REAL science. And this way, he can finally distance himself from Alchemax and get a job doing something he loves. Teaching.

-) Johnathon wanted to make an excellent first impression on his first day at Visions and showed up to work in a tweed suit, squeaky shoes, and a lab coat. The students cracking jokes about his clothes were to be expected, and Miles was starting to get annoyed with them for their constant needling, but all laughter died when Mr. Ohnn made something explode. From then on, he was the school's most revered science teacher.

-) Visions loves him so much that they don't even ask why he wears sunglasses that hide his scary inky black eyes that sometimes leak dark matter. Nah, they don't need to see what's behind the glasses.

-) Johnathon uses his powers to travel across different dimensions with Miles, where they get into all sorts of whacky adventures. It's the most fun they've ever had, and the pair bring back all kinds of trinkets and decorations from their travels to hang up in their super cool lair.

"Miles, is that an alien head encased in ice?"

"Oh, yeah! Uncle Johnathon and I found this bad boy in some creepy desert dimension! I don't think we were supposed to take it, but Unc wanted to turn it into a new decoration for his desk."

"Miles, that thing just blinked."

"Yeah, it does that sometimes."

-) The walls in Miles' room are decorated with colorful equations done by Johnathon, and Johnathon's office space has drawings Miles gifted to him. Maybe he's not an artist like his nephew, but he's proud of the kid's works and will always show visitors what Miles drew.

-) Having learned from his past mistakes, Miles decided to reveal himself as Spider-Man to his parents, and as expected there were tears, ultimatums, more tears, and finally acceptance. Jeff and Rio were also told about Johnathon, and after some hesitation and promises to keep them informed about their son, they permitted the duo to keep working together...so long as Johnathon stopped by every Sunday for family dinners and continued to help Miles stay on top of his studies.

-) Their dimension travels have caused them to meet certain members of the Spider Society much earlier, but that's a story for another day.

[skyward-floored]

Very curious about the Legend/Marin/Windfish??? Situation in the incredibles au. Does Marin figure out the hero identity and gets her mind wiped? Does she die??????

There are just so many avenues you can go down and I'd love to hear what you've come up with

Sorry I’ve been sitting on this for a few days anon, it was mostly because I couldn’t quite decide which way to go XD

The big problem is I haven’t totally decided what I’m doing with Marin. I have several ideas, and this fic is one of them, but I’m not sure if I’m going to stick with this particular idea or tweak things or do something entirely different in the end, so this is in with the ambiguously canon works.

Scene from the second movie, hehe.

———

“Why did we drive clear across town to have dinner again?” Legend asked, his arms crossed over his middle as he waited for his brothers to all sit at their table. “Couldn’t we have just stayed home?”

“Yeah, what’s so great about the... the Windfish Eatery?” Wind asked in confusion.

“Ha! Windfish!” Wild laughed, and pointed to the flying whale on the menu. “Look Wind, it’s you!”

“I just thought we’d try somewhere a little different,” Time said as Wind threw a pepper shaker at Wild’s face, making Hyrule sneeze as pepper went flying. “Aren’t you kids sick of drive-in food?”

“I like drive-in food,” Legend muttered, and Time held back a sigh.

His son was still mad that Impa had erased all memory of him from his crush’s mind. Marin had seen Legend in his super hero costume without his mask, and Time had told Impa as a precaution, but selective mind wiping was... not an exact science.

It was now like Marin had never met Legend at all, and Legend was, understandably, rather upset she no longer knew he existed. They’d even had a date planned that she’d entirely forgotten about, and Time felt horribly responsible for the entire thing.

Which was why he’d decided eating dinner at Marin’s family’s restaurant was what they were doing tonight.

He hadn’t fully thought it out, but he had to do something— the guilt was eating him up, and Legend only grew more and more moody. It probably would have been wise of him to call Malon and just admit to her all of the problems their sons were having that he was dealing with, but he’d told her he could handle things while she was away.

So that’s what Time was doing. Handling it.

“Do they serve anything here that doesn’t have mushrooms in it?” Hyrule asked as he looked at the menu, a wrinkle to his brow.

“Try the back,” Twilight suggested, and Hyrule perked up as he saw the list of desserts.

“Since this isn’t drive-in, do we have to have vegetables?” Four asked with a frown, and Time nodded as the same person who’d handed them their menus came by and poured them all some water.

“It does. You don’t have to get peppers, but something green would be preferable,” Time said, and more than one of his sons groaned.

“I wish we could’ve had take-out again,” Wind grumbled.

“I’m sick of take-out, and drive-in,” Twilight said, looking eagerly at the menu. “Look, they have meat that isn’t hamburgers!”

They all began to chatter about hamburgers and junk food and the other items on the menu, but Legend merely put a hand on his cheek and stared out the window with a foul look on his face.

Time sighed to himself as Four asked Legend a question, and Legend took a large sip of water to avoid answering.

“Good evening everyone, may I take your orders?” a musical voice asked, and they Time glanced over to see that Marin herself was their waitress for the evening.

Legend looked up at her, and water spewed out of his nose.

“Ew, gross!” Wind yelped as he dodged the water, and Legend began to cough, cheeks flaming as he tried to stop choking on his drink.

Twilight immediately started thwacking him on the back, and Time grabbed a handful of napkins, drying off the water rapidly spreading across the table.

“Are you okay?” Marin asked in concern, and Legend looked away from her, coughing harshly into his arm.

“Legend, are you okay?" Time repeated, and his son's cheeks darkened even more.

"Fine, nothing to see here," Legend half-growled, still coughing into his arm.

The rest of the boys finished mopping up the water, Marin handing them more napkins, and Legend's coughing finally waned, his cheeks still bright red.

"Would you gentlemen like more water?" Marin asked once the mess was entirely cleaned, and Time cleared his throat.

"That would be nice, thank you. This is my son here," he said, jumping right in as he gestured to Legend. "Who I'm... sure you must know," he said a bit haltingly. "From... school. Since you seem the same age."

"Wow dad, smooth," Twilight whispered, and Time just barely held himself back from giving his son a look. Inwardly though, he was wincing at his own words.

Why couldn't romance ever be easy?

"Oh, hi," Marin said politely, and Legend's face somehow turned even redder.

"His real name is Link, but most of us call him Legend," Wild added helpfully, and Marin blinked over at him.

"Hello Legend," she greeted again, and Legend looked like he wanted to crawl under the table and die.

"Legend," Time prompted, "say hello to—"

"Don't push it, Dad," Legend bit out.

"I'm Wind, I'm his brother!" Wind said with a grin, and leaned across the table to shake Marin's hand. "These guys are the rest of his brothers too. There's a lot of us, and actually all our names are Link because one time mom sneezed when they were filling the birth certificate and—"

"Nice to meet you," Twilight interrupted, kicking Wind under the table.

"Hello," Marin said to the rest of them when they waved. She looked rather confused by the entire encounter, and Time felt the situation getting rapidly out of his control.

"This is good water, it's really refreshing," Four suddenly piped up, eyes a bit purple. "is it spring water?"

"Oh, I think it's tap," Marin said a bit apologetically, but Four just shrugged.

"Well I think it's really good," Four said, and Wind nodded.

"Excellent tap," he said in a posh accent, and clinked his cup with Hyrule's.

That was Legend's last straw.

"Excuse me," he bit out, sliding past his brothers and nearly running from the table, Time's stomach sinking as he disappeared from view.

"Well, nice to meet you," Marin said in the sudden awkward pause, then walked away as another table called for service.

"Where'd Legend go?" Wild asked, leaning across the table.

"Hm. Probably to find a good place to be angry," Twilight said, and Time sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose as a sudden headache throbbed behind his eyes.

Maybe calling Malon wouldn't be the end of the world.

[songmingisthighs]

Ignominy

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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ch. lxxviii - private matter

hybrid!san × human!reader

buy me coffee ?

everyone wants to belong, it's basic human need to connect with people around them. what happens when you're responsible for someone who belongs to two worlds but at the same time belongs to neither ? worst part is, what happens when it's your ex ?

It was odd for Seungcheol to see the work floor so empty. Usually, the science department never took a day off when there were no public holidays. But knowing that the company was in a rather dire situation, Seungcheol didn't think much about it and just went in as he usually would.

It had been a while since he worked at the company for his own company's gain and frankly, he liked the vibe in High Breed. Truly, an inspiration as to how he wants his own company to be. He was sure he could achieve it and he was sure that if anyone were to achieve it, he would be able to do it. The proof is in the pudding, he had managed to save a company that was two and a half weeks away from official bankruptcy and even get enough money to buy his uncle out. Seungcheol was a born businessman and it was a true testimony of what the Choi's nature and nurture can do.

"Took you a while,"

Seungcheol jolted slightly as he opened the lab door, not expecting to see his cousin San to be sitting on the supervisor's chair whilst twiddling his thumb. "Fuck, you scared me," Seungcheol huffed, closing the door and standing in the middle of the room, "What are you doing here? I thought you were on administrative leave indefinitely?" San's ear twitched at the mention of him being put on administrative leave and he had to fight off the urge to smirk and immediately punch the guy down to the ground. But he held it in. For now.

San shook his head and sighed, leaning back into the rather comfortable chair, "Technically I'm... Working from home, administrative leave is just something the HR director put on my file to appease the investigators, making it seem like I won't interfere which I intend to do until this whole damn shit blows over." At the mention of the HR director and his file, Seungcheol visibly stiffen and he even tried to mask it by turning his back on San and pretending to check the nearby file which upon inspection, was not even a work file whatsoever as he saw it was a doodle someone (most likely Yunho) made of a monkey riding a dog like a horse. Though usually, Seunghceol wouldn't care much about random doodles anywhere and whatever it is, San's presence made him want to have a full-blown thesis defence. But of course, that was not why San came in the first place.

"But to answer your question, I actually came here because I have some things I want to ask you," San stood up from his seat and walked over to Seungcheol, "Something I think you know concerning the current issue at hand." Seungcheol started getting nervous and the closer San gets, the more Seungcheol tried to move away to avoid being in near proximity. "Have you... Noticed anything weird about my employees?" San asked, casually trapping Seungcheol in a position where if he move more, San would DEFINITELY know something was up. Well, little did he know. "Employees?" Seunghceol raised an eyebrow at his younger cousin, "Can't say I do because I only worked with a few of them for my project and even then, I can't say I'm that close as to know what constitutes as... 'weird'." Now San knows his cousin quite well and when he rambles like that, he got him cornered. "Well, what about Yunho and Yeosang? You've seen them a handful of times at gigantic family events before and they're in your team. How have they been?" Seungcheol cleared his throat and pretended to fix and organize some things, completely avoiding eye contact but still responding to San. "Like I said, I don't really pay much attention," in Seungcheol's mind, he was trying to find ways to rush the conversation but not because he was afraid of getting caught. No, he just wanted to finish the conversation so he could go back to pretending like he knew and did nothing.

But at the awareness of how evasive he was being, Seungcheol looked up and unlike before, stared at San dead in the eyes, "Do you think they have something to do with your employees accessing files by hacking into stuff?"

San didn't think it would be that easy to catch Seungcheol in the act. For a guy who has been mining company secrets through illegal tapping for the past several weeks, he sure does get sloppy when he cockily thinks he's going to get away with it. "How'd you know we were hacked?"

Fuck.

It didn't occur to him that San hadn't said anything about hacking. Seungcheol's eyes widened and he replied with the first thing that popped into his head with a dismissive laugh as his eyes once again drop to the desk, "Please, you talking about this issue to me personally? I can only imagine Yunho and Yeosang were involved," San raised an eyebrow challengingly at his cousin, "How'd you know Yunho and Yeosang were involved?" he challengingly asked. Seungcheol had to force his breathing to slow down to not panic at San's retort. "I mean they're your friends, I'm just saying their names as a representation of your whole friend group," he shrugged. "Really? Are you sure it's not because you know exactly what happened because you have something to do with it?"

Seungcheol didn't like the tone of San's voice. It was (rightfully) accusatory and judging. "What is that supposed to mean?" the older man scoffed in disbelief. San rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Oh, come on hyung, let's not debase ourselves by pretending you don't know what exactly I'm talking about. You're smart enough to know I've caught you and you're smart enough to know that I have all the proof I needed." Any normal person would be sweating, getting scared or nervous over how relaxed San was considering what they did was something of a criminal offence. But no, as a wolf hybrid, especially as a Choi, Seungcheol has a significantly higher pride.

They both stared each other down; San challengingly wanting to get to the bottom of the issue and Seungcheol wanting to uphold his pride. For a moment, that was all they did. Until a smirk broke on Seungcheol's face, surprising San slightly as his facial expression faltered momentarily. "God, you really are such a goody-goody, aren't you?" he said mockingly. It was San's turn to not like Seungcheol's tone and he showed it, his chest puffed up and he stood straighter, shoulders squaring and eyes narrowing. "You found out I did something bad and you just HAD to swoop in heroically as if to make a point," Seungcheol scoffed. San stared at his older cousin in disbelief, "You leaked my private information to the press and made BASELESS accusations of my company whilst working in it for your own gain," San said matter-of-factly. "Rhetorics," San's fists balled at how easily Seungcheol waved the fact that he was so close to ruining someone's entire livelihood, "Point is, I want to show the world, and especially to Grandpa, how you're handling the company that you were oh so graciously given for absolutely no reason at all."

At the mention of their grandpa, San's furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes that showed the intensity of his anger and frustration melted into one of confusion. "What does Grandpa have to do with this?" he asked. "What doesn't he have to do with this? He made the wrong choice by giving the company to you because it's obvious that you don't have what it takes, you don't know what you're doing and obviously, under your care, your company is crumbling." With each word spoken, Seungcheol's voice got louder and with each passing moment it became obvious that Seungcheol had a lot pent up. San was about to reply but Seungcheol just kept going on and on with his rant. "I really don't get why Grandpa would just give you a position like that at his company. And not just you, our other cousins too. You all barely did anything and you were all just being handed everything on a silver platter without considering anyone else. I don't get why I, one of the oldest, cousins, had to work my ass off developing a failed company from the ground up and even then I got nothing, not even an acknowledgement or even scorn from Grandpa."

It took San a moment to completely comprehend what Seungcheol was saying because he was sure that he had somehow misheard him or something. Surely his cousin couldn't be this stupid, could he? The cousin had just stated that because their Grandpa had said nothing about his work to him directly, he was so hellbent on ruining his entire life. How can he not account for the fact that in the family, he's the cousin that's known to be such a huge success for being able to salvage a whole company with almost nothing?

"You have to be the stupidest person ever." Seungcheol's neck tensed and without sparing a moment, he pushed a nearby chair so hard to the floor that it made such a huge noise and one of the legs bent. "What the fuck did you just say?" "You have to be the stupidest person ever because you know so little about general knowledge for a person who knew how to be such a great success." The initial anger after San called him stupid dissipated and turned into confusion and he did nothing but stood on his spot, confused. "Hyung, you're one of the pride and joy of our family and even Grandpa said it, just not in front of you because he thinks complimenting anyone in front of them will just inflate their ego and then they will let themselves go because they received even just the tiniest bit of compliment. Trust me, I myself have never heard him compliment me to my face unless it's in front of non-family members to make a show. And for the record, Grandpa didn't give me my position because High Breed doesn't belong to Grandpa, it belongs to my parents so he didn't get a say in it. He only has 3 main companies and its subsidiaries but High Breed isn't one of them. So our cousins got their position and achievements here based on their merits, they were given the exact same treatment as any other employees and maybe even slightly worse because scrutiny is obviously needed so really, all of the crap you pulled were absolutely baseless. You thought you knew something and you ran with it, jumping into conclusions and pulling the trigger so quick, things just turned to shit. Things that weren't supposed to happen, happened because of you and it damn near ruined someone. You're already so successful in your own field in your own way, so this? What you've been doing to me? Is completely unnecessary and it will end up just hurting you."

Seungcheol was left stunned.

Embarrassment coursed through his body and he felt dread. It was true, he hadn't taken into account the possibility that maybe, just MAYBE, the situation isn't what it seemed and that he was wrong about what he initially thought he knew. Surely, he could've gone straight to his cousin or even talked to the other cousins be it San or not San. The thoughts running through Seungcheol's head seemed visible to San as his posture relaxed as he let out a long sigh, "I used to look up to you hyung. But when you started taking over for your current company and tore yourself away from us, I saw nothing but someone who is bitter and jealous despite his own magnificent achievements. It was as if your own self-acceptance wasn't enough, as if you did what you did so other people will give you recognition and frankly it's sad, hyung. It's sad for such a successful person to need affirmation from people he viewed as less than." he stated, leaving his older cousin speechless.

Though San got the answer he was looking for, he realized that it didn't feel as good as he hoped it would. Sure, questions were answered, but he was just disappointed that the situation got so out of hand for such a stupid reason. Maybe there was even a smidge of disappointment after he realized that his hyung could've come to him for help or to talk it out. San was not a perfect person, obviously, but he sure would have tried to do something. Granted, he wasn't completely himself a while ago, but still.

Before any of them could talk, San decided that he was done with the interaction and turned his body around to leave after letting Seungcheol hear what he was going to do next. "I'm gonna need you to clear your physical stuff in an hour or else the security will escort you out. Whatever files you have in our database will be sent over but I, as a representative of High Breed, retract our aid for your MFDS application and the progress of said application to MFDS will be retracted immediately pending legal involvement and a decision as to how this situation will be handled. And don't even try to do anything stupid, we have CCTV everywhere and there's a 24-hour automatic camera recording of activities in this lab."

"You're right," Seungcheol added suddenly, halting San in his steps just before he could get out of the room, "What I did was stupid." San was torn between turning around and giving his full attention to his cousin or just ignoring him completely, refusing whatever he had to say which he assumed was an excuse for his behaviour. So San stayed in his position, hoping it would pass soon enough and he could go conclude the mess that was still growing bigger. "But how could you talk to me about jumping the gun and creating a mess that should've never existed after what you did to (y/n)?" Seungcheol smirked.

Chills ran down San's back and his head whipped so hard and fast, he swore he got a whiplash as an impact. It was Seungcheol's turn to look cocky after seeing the look on San's face, visibly seeing the realization sinking into his brain. "Didn't you start your punishment on her that led to her resigning before you even realized what was going on?"

With shaky hands, San pointed at his hyung, trying to figure out what to say to him as he was left rather dumbfounded. As hard as he tried, San couldn't seem to get the exact words out. His bottom lip trembled and his throat felt dry, he wanted to defend himself for what he did but even he knew that it was no use, his action was inexcusable and frankly rather pathetic after realizing the truth.

"Get the fuck out before the hour ends," was all San said before rushing out, leaving Seungcheol who looked so satisfied despite everything, alone to clear out. His feet took him to the elevator back to his office as quickly as they can, he couldn't even remember if he pressed the button or not but it didn't matter, not really anyways. When the door shut, San had to brace himself on the railing, the realization of his action weighed heavily in his mind as if anchoring him down to the ground. A sudden wave of nausea passed and he couldn't help but punch a dent into the elevator wall before pressing his forehead to the cold surface, closing his eyes in hopes that he could calm himself down.

"Good fucking grief, Choi San, what have you done again?"

taglist :

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[schrijverr]

Mustang's Pain in the Ass

Team Mustang is surprised when Ed comes into the office in perfect uniform, playing the perfect soldier. Though it becomes clear there is something more at hand when a general follows. The whole thing reveals how much Ed secretly cares about the military unit he’s a part of.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~~~

Edward hates the Amestrian military uniform and he makes no secret out of it. He thinks the whole military is shit and while he is smart enough to keep that opinion a little closer to his chest, his distaste for the blue fatigues the soldiers wear is well known.

It’s one of the first battles he had with Mustang when he just joined the military ranks. Mustang had insisted he’d wear it and Ed had insisted he doesn’t.

The argument had lasted for a full week.

Mustang wanted Ed to wear it to reflect back on the military and therefore Mustang. It was one of the reasons he took Ed in and he wanted it to pay off. Having Ed doing great things in a military uniform, meant the military was doing great things.

Ed, on the other hand, knew what those uniforms inspired in certain circles. Hell, most of the people he knows from his childhood hate the military and wouldn’t hesitate to snub someone, because they were wearing Amestrian blue. If he wanted to talk to people, he couldn’t be seen in that horrid uniform.

In the end, Mustang had threatened to court martial him for insubordination if he didn’t listen to him and Ed had threatened to quit, but not before exposing that Mustang helped cover up their human transmutation.

Both of them had known it was an empty threat, since Ed would never risk Al becoming a lab rat over something as stupid as a uniform. However, the fact that he had actually threatened it, made Mustang realize how serious Ed was about it, so he dropped it. For the time being at least.

Over the course of the first year of Ed’s military career, Mustang had brought it up a few more times, but Ed remained steadfast.

By the time that first year was over, the red coat and braid had become such a staple of The People’s Alchemist, that taking it away and forcing Ed into a military uniform became counterproductive to Mustang’s goal of having Ed’s work recognized and making him look good.

So, the argument had faded over time, though no one really forgot how explosive it had been. The first time the team was properly exposed to the fire in Ed.

Which is why it’s such a shock to all of them when Ed comes in that day to report while sporting his uniform, correctly done up and everything.

It isn’t the first odd thing about his arrival, no that would be him not kicking open the door, but respectfully opening it without Al in tow. He saluted back to their instinctive salutes as he announced: “Major Elric, here to report to colonel Mustang.”

“Chief?” Havoc asks, obviously showing his confusion as he dropped the salute alongside Ed.

Ed doesn’t acknowledge him and just turns to Hawkeye, who quickly slaps on her usual mask of professionalism as she says: “The colonel is in, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Ed nods, before going over to the door to Mustang’s office, ignoring the way he’s being ogled like a failed science experiment as he knocks.

“Come in,” Mustang calls out and Ed opens the door.

Again he salutes, ignoring how Mustang’s eyes threaten to fall out of his skull, as he announces himself once more: “Major Elric, reporting, sir.”

“Fullmetal?” Mustang asks, like he needs to check if what he’s seeing is correct.

“Yes, sir,” Ed replies, not dropping his salute, because Mustang hasn’t saluted yet.

“Are you playing a prank on me? Did someone set you up for this? What’s going on, short-stack?” Mustang practically interrogates him, not that Ed can blame the man.

Though, a vein pops out on his forehead when Mustang calls him short-stack, he doesn’t burst out into anger like he normally would. He needs Mustang to treat this like it is normal. All he does instead is say: “I’m reporting in after my mission, sir. As you ordered, remember, sir?”

The purposeful stress in his tone must have finally tipped Mustang off, thank fuck, because a neutral expression comes over his face as he relaxes back into his chair, a tension still clear to those that know him, but not to outsiders. “Of course. At ease, major. I didn’t expect you back so soon. Anything particular to report?”

“No, sir,” Ed lies, knowing the colonel has already gotten property damage reports that speak to the contrary. He drops the salute for a more normal stance and goes on: “There was nothing of interest in the town. Only a few local thugs that were disposed off. I’ve written everything in my report, sir.”

Mustang is about to ask for the report when the door opens again. Doors don’t usually open without a knock unless Ed is kicking one in or someone of a higher rank, who relishes in the authority, comes barging in.

This time it is the latter and the door opens to reveal general Baringer. A general who Mustang remembers well from when he was still working in Central. The man has always had it out for him, not liking how quickly he climbed the ranks, always seeing if he can find something to prevent his next promotion. Mustang doesn’t know what he’s doing here, but he instantly hates it.

Ed snaps to attention first, since Mustang is distracted by the hit of displeasure. However, he quickly follows, greeting: “General Baringer, sir. What can I help you with, sir?”

General Baringer looks torn between being delighted by the respect and resentful that there is nothing nefarious happening in Mustangs office.

“At ease,” he tells them after a moment, having drawn out the moment of respect to his own satisfaction. “I just heard the Fullmetal Alchemist was reporting and I was hoping to hear what the Hero of the People has been up to.”

The way he says it sounds too pleasant and it sets Mustangs teeth on edge. However, he’s been playing this game longer than that, so there is nothing on his face that could give away his displeasure at the turn of events.

“Of course, sir. You’re in luck, major Elric just got here to give his report,” Mustang tells him with a smile, gesturing towards where Ed is standing in perfect parade pose.

Baringer turns back to see Ed. For a split second, it seems like he’s surprised at who he sees, as if he recognizes Ed, then he shakes his head to himself, a gesture he quickly hides behind another one of his smiles.

“Ah, so this is the famous Fullmetal Alchemist,” Baringer exclaims, putting so much fake cheer in his voice that Mustang has to fight the urge to cringe. That urge grows when Baringer adds: “I thought you would be taller, not so shrimp-y.”

In that moment, Mustang is sure that whatever Ed is playing at here will come crashing down. He is just bracing himself for the explosion that is sure to come. But it doesn’t. Ed stays quiet.

Nothing has scared Mustang more.

Sure, earlier he ignored Mustang’s short-stack, but that’s basically kid’s play coming from the colonel. He has said worse and Ed has let worse slide. Not very happily, but when the moment calls for it, he has. Not from someone else though. Whatever Ed is playing at, it’s clear he thinks it important.

So, yeah, Mustang is on guard as he watches Ed robotically reply: “Sorry for the disappointment, sir.”

That causes Baringer to let out a loud laugh as he slaps Ed on the back, nearly sending the small boy flying to the ground. Mentally, Ed wants to murder Baringer, but he doesn’t let it show on his face, just grits his teeth and takes it as Baringer bellows: “No need for that, Edward,” claiming a false friendliness.

“Do you have your written report ready, Fullmetal,” Mustang interrupts the display. He is now aware Ed is trying to keep something under wraps, but there is only so much the kid can take before he blows a fuse. Best to be a distraction.

Written reports aren’t mandatory, though preferred when first reporting back after a mission. Ed’s are usually a mess, so Mustang hopes that if the kid is playing at something, he’ll lie and say no.

This of course means that Ed has to surprise him and answer: “Yes, sir,” while producing a neat sheet of paper.

As stated before, Ed’s reports are always a mess, so it’s doubly shocking when Mustang accepts the neat paper. His eyes flick down again, just to confirm what he’s seeing. And indeed, there are no weird stains, no crumpled edges, no smudges, but – more importantly – not Ed’s handwriting. The kid’s script is chicken scratch, born from either having to use his left hand or the less dexterous automail one.

If any other thing about this wasn’t already suspicious, this would have been it. Some part of him knows that Ed must have planned some of this, since he showed up in a uniform, but Mustang knows he’s skilled enough to whip that up on the fly, but this report… He asked someone else to write it and brought it here. On time too. Early even.

He doesn’t let any of those thoughts show on his face though, instead quickly scanning through the neat text as if this is common.

Protocol commands him to ask for a verbal report now, but there is a general there and an obvious agenda going on. So, instead he asks: “Do you just want to read the report, sir. Or did you want to listen to the verbal report too, sir?”

“Paperwork is always so boring,” Baringer says jovially. “I’d much prefer to hear Edward here tell of his exploits.”

Ed is doing a creepy impersonation of a perfect soldier, still standing and waiting for further orders, ignoring how Baringer – who didn’t even know what he looked like before entering this office – is pretending that they’re friendly.

Still, if Ed is playing along, so is Mustang. So, he simply orders: “Report, major.”

“Yes, sir,” Ed replies in perfect order. Then he quickly and efficiently briefs both of them a completely made up version of what has happened. Mustang has the damage report somewhere in the stacks on his desk and both the property damage and Al are glaringly absent from Ed’s tale.

But what general Baringer doesn’t know won’t hurt him and, therefore, no words are dirtied with the work of revealing anything unnecessary.

When Ed is done, Baringer speaks up before Mustang can, praising Ed on his work. He jokes: “I could use more staff like you, Mustang is one lucky man.”

However, the joking tone can’t hide how much the man means it and Mustang starts to put together why the man is here. It would seem unnecessarily petty for the man to travel here all the way from Central on the off chance that he catches Mustang slacking.

But Ed’s insubordination is practically legendary at eastern command. If he were to snag Mustang’s greatest subordinate career-boosting-wise coming in late, without uniform and with a sloppy report, then he doesn’t just push Mustang down a peg, he also creates an opening for boosting his own esteem and influence by usurping Ed into his own unit.

It’s a plan with a small chance of success, since Ed isn’t likely to leave Mustang’s protection with all that he knows about both him, his brother and their past.

Yet, if he had come in on any other day with Ed spitting profanities at him, behaving in his usual brash manner with high disregard for any protocol the military tried to uphold… Well, then Baringer would have had a leg to stand on when calling Mustang unfit to have Ed as a subordinate and his plan might have become reality.

It dawns on Mustang that Ed somehow must have known this sneak attack was coming. He must have known where Mustang’s spy network hadn’t. And he had acted accordingly.

Mustang is a little impressed with the kid. Not just how he stepped in, but how much of an actor he can be, because he’s sure it’s killing him when he replies: “I am the lucky one, sir. Colonel Mustang has been a great support in my career and I am happy with his oversight, sir.”

There is a tightness around Baringer’s mouth at the reply. A clear disappointment about how today has gone. He’s never been great at hiding that. And the man probably knows it, because he makes a hasty exit after realizing this is a bust.

“That is good to hear, my boy,” Baringer lies through his teeth. “Now, I have an appointment to make, but I do hope to see you around, Edward. I would love to hear more of your exploits.”

“Thank you, sir,” Ed replies politely.

The two of them watch as Baringer leaves the office, a quiet falling over them until both are sure he’s out of hearing range. Then Ed sags as he exclaims: “Thank fucking Truth that slimy motherfucker is gone.”

“Been holding that in, shorty?” Mustang teases, feeling soothed to have Ed explode at him again instead of the polite puppet he had been earlier.

After Ed has calmed down, Mustang leans on his desk, before observing: “You clean up better than I expected. With all the fuss, I assumed you must have looked very stupid in the uniform for you to not want to wear it.”

“I do look stupid in this monkey suit,” Ed scowls. “Everyone looks stupid in it. It’s a stupid fucking uniform.”

Mustang honestly doesn’t feel like rehashing that fight, so he swiftly changes the subject. “How did you know general Baringer was coming?”

“The guy’s a fucking moron,” Ed shrugs. “If I had evil plans to overthrow someone in the government or sabotage them, I wouldn’t be stupid enough openly talk about them in the train. I mean, those compartments aren’t sound proof, no matter how much your fancy ass paid to be in first class.”

How Ed would hear that, Mustang isn’t sure. He knows the brat never pays enough to travel first class, but then again, Ed is prone to walking into conspiracies. So, Mustang wouldn’t put it past him to just stumble upon it.

So, Mustang doesn’t ask more questions about the how of it all. He just accepts it as truth and moves on. “So, you decided to take it upon yourself to be a good little soldier for a change. If I had known you were capable of such subordination, I would have demanded it a long time ago, Fullmetal.”

“I’m not capable of anything,” Ed scowls deeper. “Don’t expect anything other than the usual from me next time, bastard. You’re never seeing me in this bullshit again.”

“Ahww, after all you went through for me, you scorn me like this? I was just starting to feel special,” Mustang pouts as he teases Ed.

He expects Ed to get angry again, to play their usual script of barbs and insults. But today Ed is full of surprises, because he doesn’t meet Mustang’s eyes as he shrugs: “Well, I mean, I may be a pain in the ass, but I’m your pain in the ass. And I’d like to keep it that way.”

It’s a rare moment of vulnerability and Mustang knows it’s a sign of trust. This whole thing was.

Ed doesn’t like to show how much he cares, especially not about anyone in the military. Mustang knows how much Ed resents being here and how much he doesn’t want to help the military in any way. This is a big show for him. Mustang won’t mess with it.

However, he’s aware of how short Ed’s fuse is, especially around things involving his own emotions. So, he simply says: “Thank you, Ed, I appreciate it.” Before swiftly giving him an out of the conversation by asking: “So, who wrote the report?”

“Oh, a nice lady on the train me and Al befriended,” Ed shrugs easily, like befriending random people is something everyone does and not just Ed. “She wants to become a writer. I think she enjoyed the mental exercise.”

“So, how much of this is true?” Mustang asks, fondness in his exasperation.

“Not a word,” Ed grins, producing a crumpled mess of a report from his coat. It usually bothers him when Ed hands in sloppy reports, because it’s then his problem to do something about it. But now he’s almost relieved to take it.

As he tries to decipher Ed’s chicken scratch, the teen sprawls over his couch, looking very much like himself despite the uniform. The others have obviously been listening in, because they float by to congratulate Ed on his performance while Ed smirks.

Edward might hate the Amestrian military uniform and the military at large, but he is smart enough to keep those opinions to a little closer to his chest when necessary.

~~

A/N:

I believe that Ed is fully capable of being a good little soldier, he just refuses on principle lmao

[chaos0pikachu]

Hi chaos,

I don't know if you've heard of the Ohm-Nanon fans going to Nanon's concert wearing Ohm masks but it happened? (I don't know how to end that sentence.) (Sorry, English isn't my first language.)

You have written about parasocial relationships so I wanted to ask why are people still involved in Ohm-Nanon? Bad Buddy ended so long ago and they are still doing all this. What makes Ohm-Nanon so special? We haven't see such huge bad behaviour from other pair brands.

Please never ever apologize for how you sound in English which is a dumb broken language anyway lol fr you're English is great

anyways um, what in the fucking purge?? lmao sorry the masks thing is just taking me out I'm imagining it and the image in my head is giving kdrama to the max with the discord music and everything lmaoooo

I had not heard of that b/c I don't follow actors like that at all this is very much Brand New Information.gif for me whew wow

Soft disclaimer here I am not an expert behavioral science or anything related so like, anything I say in regards to this is based only on what I've read, can link to from experts in the field, and speculation.

I don't think OhmNanon are necessarily "special" tbh like this behavior is extreme but I wouldn't call it "new".

In western fandom you had or still have fans behaving like this we just call them "tinhats".

Like, take Larries for instance, Louis just spoke about it in an interview that nothing he can say will deter the conspiracies theorists so he's kinda stuck. This article from VOX is old (2016) but it features a pretty clear cut timeline of the theories, and obsession tinhats have with Larry. Even before Larry there was J2 (Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki from Supernatural):

I want to note that One Direction stopped being an active band in 2016, almost 8 years ago. And neither Harry nor Louis have been spotted like, hanging out~~ in public for almost that entire time. Meanwhile Jared and Jensen have been been married to their wives since 2010, almost 15 years.

To play fair, Caitríona Mary Balfe (best known for Outlander) is also at the root of a tinhat conspiracy with her costar Sam Heughan. Caitriona has been married since 2019.

Western fandom likes to pretend this environment of fan entitlement, and obsessing over costars relationships is an East Asian entertainment only thing. I thoroughly disagree, and I'm sure the people involved in these various tinhat conspiracies, many who have been thoroughly and ruthlessly harassed along with their spouses, family, friends, and anyone else caught in the crossfire would also disagree.

For me the only arguable difference between like MewGulf and Larry is MewGulf played up skinship as a means of capital and for work, while Louis and Harry were just two dudes in a band.

[I even watched the old school MewGulf videos of them during Peak Fanservice Era and I gotta say it's all so obviously hilarious fake and played up I would have never taken them seriously as a true blue couple. They reminded me more of Adam Lambert making out with his bassist during his FYE tour (Tommy, who from what I remember is straight but idk 100%) for the fun and rock n roll of it all.]

I'm getting off track, I don't think OhmNanon are "special" by-the-by because I've seen this entitled and obsessive behavior with other tinhat ships. The length of time doesn't really matter, what matters is sunk cost fallacy:

"the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial."

Fans have invested time, love, and literal money into Ohm and Nanon, therefore giving them up - and thus giving up the "community" they've build with other Ohm and Nanon fans - is unthinkable and painful.

Combine that with general fan entitlement towards public figures, the para-sociality of believe you, individually, know what's "best" for this person - aka this STRANGER - and there's a belief that you can change or force an outcome that suits your needs and wants.

There's a lot of dehumanization involved in fan entitlement, ppl stop viewing public figures - especially actors and musicians - as products rather than people. And with a product if you leave a bad review, and enough bad reviews the company will fix and change the product.

But people aren't products, and you can't force them to do what you want or be who you want them to be just because it upsets YOU individually.

So at the end of the day, what's gonna happen with Ohm and Nanon? Well, they'll probably just keeping doing what they do. Filming their individual shows, maybe one of them will do another BL - I think Ohm already has one in the works? - and try to move on with their lives. They're coworkers and from what I've seen seem fine being coworkers. I'm not interested in speculating what their relationship is, or was, publicly, they've said they're fine with each other so I'm very es lo que es about it.

For fans, well they're probably slowly taper off eventually with only a core group of "true believers" or whatever like some MewGulf, BrightWin and others have. As fans I think the only thing we can do is discourage the behavior, and be empathetic towards the people being harassed.

Now I'm gonna leave you with my favorite debunk of a tinhat post:

[pergerinerabbit]

Right so I've been sick in bed all day; and as some of you may know, outside of my business, as in when you're not thinking of the person who runs this shop as a mippy itty bitty brand entity, I'm kind of a Massive Non-traditional Horror Fan? So I finally watched a playthrough oh and picked around the files of Indigo Park Chapter One. And this post will very much contain spoilers for that as I pick it apart in the same way I suck the marrow out of the bones of a roast chicken; but the tldr is that:

1- I feel like game theory is... *mostly* wrong, but they always are. Sensationalist and nuts, for views and in turn, money

2- UNIQUEGEESE IF YOU EVER NEED A MERCH ARTIST *PLEASE* HIT ME UP MY SCHEDULE IS SO WIDE OPEN AND THIS IS A PROJECT I WOULD KILL AND DIE TO WORK ON,,,

3- Rambley Raccoon scratches the same itch in my brain as Ralsei Deltarune, which if you Additionally know anything about me or my shop, you'd know that means that he is My Son Who Can Do Very Little Wrong and I Will Commit Attrocities for Him

So, we Know Isaac Indigo, if he's meant to be a direct parallel of Walt Disney Himself- Must be an absolute Stark-Raving Lunatic. Anyone who likes Disney beyond its brainwashing mouse-eared nonsense knows this. and You CAN in fact, like Disney's body of work and know the guy was just as insane as John Harvey Kellogg.

So i am. Thinking there may be some stuff that alludes to the "Disney wanted to live forever"/"Cryogenically Frozen Head" Theory? It's clear that he's picking animals that are easy to obtain and raise from a very early age, if you happen to be a deranged madman with a ton of extra cash and a clear kind of unethical science-experiment hell center under your theme park. In addition to blood, we do see sparks fly off of Mollie in that decapitation cutscene, so. It very well may be a combination of organic being and cybernetic nonsense, as well as the good ol "placing everyone you love into your mascots/ai so they can live forever" thing (Eat your heart out, GLaDOS!) the creator did say that they were a MASSIVE fan of Shipwrecked64 (aka, the game I affectionately call "Shit-rekt-my-pants, 64 times." I would have appreciated it more if the shock and surprise horror elements werent so heavy-handed. the giovanni goose death scene lives in my nightmares rent free, not inclusive of how much havoc that game's jumpscare-only layers wreaked on my heart condition.) so it would not surprise me that these mascots are human and animal experimentation gone so wildly wrong it warrants a horror title. I definitely CAN appreciate that these critters are actually slightly cutesy and not... gross 80s rubber mask mascot being piloted by a morbidly deformed and genetically altered human, but also I can Appreciate if that's the angle and its just more palpable to the viewer as a sort of fursuit thing... ah, but that's always the surprise/plot of mascot horror-- "what the fuck is wrong with them and why do they act Like That." Rambley is Very Obviously Not The Villain, he comes across more like Ricky from My Friendly Neighborhood. And also he also comes across like a more verbally comprehensible Donald Duck who actually DID take the spotlight over Mickey Mouse, or in our case, Lloyd. He really DOES just want all his pals okay and to not be forgotten about. Also im going to put him in the pear wiggler. Next chapter is DEFINITELY going to focus on the Submechanophobia elements, no doubt. Really love the lil eeyore guy. I think Salem will also get a chapter, but it's really really clear that they're a kind of "bug in the code" here. For whatever reason, Rambley can't form a functional statement about them, and all their traces either disappear or blow up. Its clear the other mascots do not want them there, re: why their shit's just annihilated.. I can imagine that the other mascots aren't okay with humans (their first instinct is to run and hide, not attack. to approach first with curiousity and THEN murderous intent.) Its really clear to me that lloyd is driven off NOT by some noise your cuff makes, but by Mollie mimicking some high-pitched noise she once heard to make Lloyd get away. The other theory im entertaining is that these mascots are Mostly Harmless and the park is Not Actually Abandoned, but something inside them (like an AI chip) is going nutso and telling them to kill and maim. either way Salem isn't the bad guy either, outside of the cartoons themselves, and mioght be something like a "we don't talk about Failures to the Process" kind of thing. I'm betting money that the True Bad Guy is Indigo's Lunatic Hubris and Corporate cash giving him access to tech levels of a Mad scientist. it's said that Ed's full name is a reference to something extremely niche, and I'm going to be so real its probably a reference to some yet unknown by me Theme Park Urban Explorers thing or, my funniest and favorite theory I have ever come up with, its a Reference to Crashbox's Eddie Bull. God I hope its a Reference to Eddie Bull.

[the-bunny-burrow-archives]

Ok, it is time I actually get to this, so uh um here's the first book review for "The Bunny Burrow Archives"!!!! Mlem mlem mlem mlem mlem.

I will warn it's been a bit since I've done a book review, so if you have any critiques like ever over how I do my book reviews, please do not hesitate. I can take criticism. Unless like said criticism is like "fuck you that made no sense and it's just bad"

Anyway, here is the cover of the book that I very much enjoyed!

Please note that I am going to be using the words science and medicine interchangeably because I am unsure which is the more appropriate term.

Personally, Dr. John S. Tregoning, in my opinion, has written one of the best books over medicine and pathogens I've ever read. Mostly because it is the first book I've ever read over those topics, unless you count science textbooks from like school, but meh. Honestly, the material taught in this book is worth so much more than my schooling ever gave me. Not only because Tregoning had incredibly crystal clear explanations for stuff I have next to no understanding for. But also how well it structured and laid out.

Before getting into the main topic of the book "Pathogens and How We Fight Them," Tregoning ensures the reader has enough of an understanding of the topics before getting into them. Thankfully, he has a sense of humor and doesn't write it out to sound like some boring math lesson or a book review >_< He goes over so much that I am surprised he is able to fit it all in 340 pages. Given how much information there was, I honestly should read it a second time to ensure I have a clear understanding of everything buuuut meh.

Infectious mentions all forms of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungie, and parasites. Whilst giving the science lesson of a life (better than like crash course science on YouTube), he also gives a detailed history of how far medicine and science have come. Including mentioning the stupidity of some doctors from the dark ages. I feel it's kinda of a more well-known fun fact that doctors used to not wash their hands cause they couldn't explain why it helped, so they didn't bother with such a basic task. But did you know that apparently some doctors used to wear blood stains on their aprons kinda of like a show of pride, thinking that having a bunch of blood splashes on it meant you were a good doctor. Honestly, hearing that was like wtf how could they think something so barbaric, but then again, this was before many of the advancements in the field of medicine, and also in the dark ages of medicine.

I will say I do really like chapter 14 because it offers a doctors very detailed explanation as to why anti vaxxers exist. Like 20 pages worth of an explanation better than any 3 page article on some news or whatever site. And I especially appreciated the new insult for people who can't wear a mask properly <i>Maskentrottel</i> or, in other words, a mask idiot in German.

Since this book was being written during covid, it does mention it a fair bit. Along with an explanation to the question, "How did covid get a vaccine so fast when it took longer for every other vaccine in history?" (Imagine me saying this in a mimimimi voice). Other than the obvious of hello, the whole world was working on it in a collective effort, and the fact that science and medicine constantly get more advanced. It also mentions the breakthrough that lead to a vaccine.

I honestly don't know how to structure this review mainly because there is so much to talk about. Whether it be mentioning how poop influences our microbiomes at birth which goes to determine how our immune systems are formed all the way. Up to how to know whether or not a scientific study or science paper is trustworthy. There was so much.

I will say I kinda wished I would've seen a mention of the unreliability for the studies done during the AIDs scare/pandemic saying ONLY gay men get it. Mainly because straight people wouldn't bother with STD testing or anything of the sort at the time in fear of being called gay, and maybe also due to them having a less care about sexual health at the time. But then again, he did do an amazing job covering it, and that's kinda just me being picky about that. Please do not mistake me for being like mad or disappointed it wasn't mentioned I'm just using this as a way to say, "Did you know?"

The biggest critique I have is that with the amount of information within this book, I felt it to be a little cramped and sometimes hard to keep up with everything. Maybe it would've been best to have it like a two part book or just make it bigger, cause I like my books thick anyway. But regardless, I still very much enjoy this and highly recommend it because it's a great read.

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

what do you think about the convergence designs?

Hey there Anon, my general thoughts I mentioned on my general art blog: https://www.tumblr.com/ikleyvey/721851451454980096/what-do-you-think-about-the-face-reveal-of-viktor?source=share

In more detail:

I downloaded and saved all parts of the Convergence, I really like comics and I value this one as well. I like the colours especially I think.

I love them, I want a bunch of content with them they're so dear to me! But we're not here for beauty. We're here for darkness.

I think we should all have expected bullshit technology that definitely cannot work. Like when sci-fi works slap "quantum" onto anything and think it makes it sound cool and science-y.

No, a severed head bolted onto a thin metal neck connected to the body is not going to be able to live. Riot, stop with putting mechanical parts between organic ones. Stop it. Bad Riot. Just like they wrote in a story about Zaun a woman with mechanical elbows. Her lower arms would rot away!! This is very logical!! And excuses such as "this is fantasy" don't work because the tech level doesn't match super sci-fi. And even in super sci-fi nobody would make such designs because they're impractical.

Their designs do not fit Viktor's aesthetic at all. They're much more like quickly pulled from Warhammer 40K Mechanicus, and not even that.

Case in point, all designs are not thought-through much. It's first draft stuff.

What are these augments?? What are these legs?? Triple faces and spindly arms? No, I want to base my stuff on real stuff...

I heard tracing maybe(?) helps speed things up, and commissioned comics are so often on very tight deadlines and not paid well, thankfully I'm not forced to trace.

We do not need another Dr. Doom copied element. Believe me. Not another one. I don't agree with Viktor having a scarred face, that's Dr. Doom's thing. Riot is using this as a cop-out. It's much better to have him use the mask as a symbol of his ideology, and a metaphor for him hiding his vulnerability in a very obvious way. THIS is why he's physically "perfect" in my version because that characteristic I believe enhances his main traits.

So is he WideViktor, or is he the skinny sickly Viktor from Arcane? Nobody knows, the authors don't know, and I'm sure as hell Riot didn't give clear instructions on that either lolol

^ Best Viktor art bits in the comic imo, even if I don't like the new mask design. (original mask ftw!)

I don't want to dunk on other artists, but movement and anatomy can be improved. Heck, my anatomy needs to be improved as well! But if problems are noticeable in our art, then they definitely should be improved. I mean this as positive encouragement so that art would be even better. (Also lol did they paint my character in pink? I joke)

It was HILARIOUS to watch official content regurgitate what I identified and portrayed as incorrect and very simplistic interpretation of lore back in two-thousand-fucking-fourteen:

I was like 19 or something, never had a single job in my life, had gotten only one commission by then, I was a literal 0. But I always say, believe me when I point out something. BELIEVE ME. Very few people do. And what happens? I end up being right! I'm always happy to talk about stuff though.

I'll make a companion piece to this post specifically about the NARRATIVE of the Convergence comic. Also if anyone wants my opinion on a specific frame from the Convergence comic, send it to me I have open submissions!

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Replanting the Amazon could slow global warming. Here’s why it’s hard

Milton da Costa Junior nosed his pickup through a remote stretch of the western Brazilian Amazon to check on his babies. The nonprofit organization he works for, Rioterra, has planted millions of young trees in the rainforest as part of an effort to reforest woodland decimated by illegal logging and ranching in the area.

As the Toyota lumbered towards a ramshackle wooden bridge on the way back to the town of Machadinho d’Oeste in Rondônia state, Da Costa said two masked men on motorcycles sped past him, then blocked his way.

One of the men drew a revolver, Da Costa said, and delivered a message: Stop planting trees.

Local authorities said the September 2021 incident, which Da Costa outlined in a police report that was reviewed by Reuters, is being investigated. No suspects have been identified.

Threats are just one of the challenges facing Rioterra and other environmental groups around the world pursuing a seemingly simple fix for the climate crisis: replanting denuded forests. These projects, science suggests, could help slow global warming by trapping carbon dioxide in living trees. Such efforts also could restore wildlife habitats and help protect threatened species. In the Amazon, it would also safeguard the atmospheric moisture that rolls off the rainforest and carries showers to faraway fields and reservoirs.

But in Brazil, many farmers who have carved livelihoods out of the rainforest fear that environmental groups want to push them out. Tree-planting groups, meanwhile, have struggled to cultivate some native trees on a mass scale. Seasonal flooding, fires – even arson – are perpetual worries.

Then there is money. Ecologists hope to protect the Amazon from a so-called tipping point – when so much land is cleared that the ecosystem can no longer sustain itself as rainforest and dries out into a degraded savanna. To do that, forest restoration needs to occur over a jungle area twice the size of Germany, according to Carlos Nobre, one of Brazil’s most prominent climate scientists. The price tag: more than $20 billion, he estimates.

Replanting efforts in Brazil so far are modest operations, albeit rapidly growing ones, led mainly by nonprofits. Out of dozens of reforestation initiatives in the country, Rioterra and The Black Jaguar Foundation, a Brazilian-European group, are among the largest. Rioterra has reforested Amazon land approaching the size of Manhattan over the past decade and plans to more than double that by 2030, said Alexis Bastos, who manages the nonprofit’s reforestation efforts and was one of its founders. Rioterra spends about 12 million reais ($2.4 million) annually on reforestation, he said.

Black Jaguar is even more ambitious: It hopes to spend at least $3.7 billion in the next 20 years restoring a forest area the size of Lebanon. Through corporate and private donors, it has raised just 0.2% of that sum so far and planted just 0.03% of its goal.

Meanwhile, Amazon destruction continues at a furious pace. Government data show that about three soccer fields’ worth of virgin forest was cleared every minute in 2022. Illegal invaders destroy in hours what it takes Rioterra or Black Jaguar a year to plant.

Continue reading.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Heather Mac Donald

Published: May 9, 2024

The female voices rose high-pitched and shrill above the crowd:

“Five, six, seven, eight, Israel is a terrorist state.”

“We don’t want no Zionists here, say it loud, say it clear.”

“Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

The voices that answered them were also overwhelmingly female, emanating from hundreds of students chanting and marching around tents pitched in front of Columbia University’s neoclassical Butler Library, part of an effort in late April to prevent the university from uprooting the encampment.

The female tilt among anti-Israel student protesters is an underappreciated aspect of the pro-Hamas campus hysteria. True, when activists need muscle (to echo University of Missouri professor Melissa Click’s immortal call during the 2015 Black Lives Matter protests), males are mobilized to smash windows and doors or hurl projectiles at the police, for example. But the faces behind the masks and before the cameras are disproportionately female, as seen in this recent gem from the Princeton demonstrations.

Why the apparent gender gap? One possible reason is that women constitute majorities of both student bodies and the metastasizing student-services bureaucracies that cater to them. Another is the sex skew in majors. The hard sciences and economics, whose students are less likely to take days or weeks out from their classes to party (correction: “stand against genocide”) in cool North Face tents, are still majority male. The humanities and soft social sciences, the fields where you might even get extra credit for your intersectional activism, are majority female. (Not surprisingly, males have spearheaded recent efforts to guard the American flag against desecration.) In progressive movements, the default assumption now may be to elevate females ahead of males as leaders and spokesmen. But most important, the victim ideology that drives much of academia today, with its explicit enmity to objectivity and reason as white male constructs, has a female character.

Student protests have always been hilariously self-dramatizing, but the current outbreak is particularly maudlin, in keeping with female self-pity. “The university would rather see us dead than divest,” said a member of the all-female press representatives of UCLA’s solidarity encampment on X. The university police and the Los Angeles Police Department “would rather watch us be killed than protect us.” (The academic Left, including these anti-Zionists, opposes police presence on campus; UCLA chancellor Gene Block apologized in June 2020 after the LAPD lawfully mustered on university property during the George Floyd race riots.) Command of language is not a strong point of these student emissaries. “There needs to be an addressment (sic) of U.S. imperialism and its ties to the [University of California] system,” said another UCLA encampment spokeswoman.

It was not too long ago when administrators started bringing in therapy dogs to campus libraries and dining halls to help a female-heavy student body cope with psychic distress, especially after the election of Donald Trump. “Trigger warnings” were implemented to protect female students from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and other great works of literature. Campus discourse and its media echo chamber rang with accounts of the mental-health crisis on campus, whose alleged sufferers were overwhelmingly female.

Par for the course, then, when the editors at the Columbia Law Review (majority female) adopted the rhetoric of trauma in demanding that Columbia Law School hand out a universal pass for Spring 2024 coursework. A May 1 action by the New York Police Department to evict violent trespassers from an administration building had left them, they wrote,  “highly emotional,” “irrevocably shaken,” “unwell,” and “unable to focus”—in other words, displaying all the symptoms of Victorian neurasthenia.

It was not too long ago when a predominantly female professoriate, student population, and bureaucratic apparatus embraced the idea that students’ “safety” should be protected against the “hate speech” that allegedly jeopardized it. (Males, by contrast, place greater emphasis on academic freedom and truth-seeking, regardless of the alleged emotional consequences of intellectual inquiry.) Examples of dangerous speech included arguments that racial disparities are not caused by racism and that human beings cannot change their sex by proclamation.

Now, while still asserting their own unsafety, the pro-Hamas protesters have done an about-face when it comes to political disagreement and “safety,” at least where pro-Israel students are concerned. Nas Issa, a Palestinian alumna of Columbia University, told the New York Times that she saw a difference between feeling uncomfortable and feeling that you are in danger. Challenges to your identity or political ideology “can be personally affecting,” said Issa. “But I think the conflation between that and safety—it can be a bit misleading.”

It was also not too long ago when college campuses were shutting down or locking students in their dorms as an anti-Covid policy, notwithstanding overwhelming evidence showing that adolescents faced virtually no chance of serious Covid complications. This zero-risk policy, in its inability to balance costs and benefits rationally, was quintessentially female. It is fitting, therefore, that N95 masks have been repurposed as go-to accessories for the most up-to-date anti-settler-colonialist look. Females at the Columbia rally in front of Butler Library passed out the masks to the few participants not already wrapped up like mummies. When asked what the point was, one distributor answered, “to protect against Covid”—an answer that, sadly, could as easily be sincere as duplicitous.

Assuming the latter to be the case, hiding one’s face to escape accountability for one’s actions is the antithesis of manly virtue. The swaddled students would say that they have been forced into such precautions by the risk of “doxing.” But while a home address is properly private and should not be disclosed without permission, a face is public, and participation in public protest fair game for political accountability. The muffled freedom fighters are also aping Third World terrorists, of course, but the worst that might befall these revolutionary wannabes is rejection from their favored investment or consulting firm, not execution.

The dead white males emblazoned on the frieze of Columbia’s Butler Library would not have been surprised by the scene below them. Homer, Herodotus, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, and Virgil knew a thing or two about herd behavior and the irrationality of the mob, even if the students knew nothing about the great minds etched above. Our classical forebears developed philosophy, history, and the arts of persuasion to overcome the mind-numbing conformity on display at the greensward.

The founders of Columbia University would have been alarmed, however, to see students illegally colonizing campus grounds and vandalizing college buildings. They would have been dumbfounded to learn that university administrators were meekly negotiating with the vandals and that faculty in neon vests were protecting the trespassers. The idea that student demands should set the school’s agenda would have struck any nineteenth-century academic as surreal.

Universities now assume that students have the right (some would say the duty) to disrupt the system; they bow before students’ every whim. The pro-Hamas protests have unleashed a wave of 1960s nostalgia. They remind Serge Schmemann, a member of the New York Times editorial board, of those “stormy, fateful and thrilling days” of 1968, when Columbia students took control of campus buildings and held an administrator hostage for 26 hours. A front-page Times article on campus activism claimed that college protesters bring “fresh thinking . . . to the world’s most difficult questions.”

Actually, the pro-Hamas encampments have little to do with “thinking,” fresh or otherwise. Like the spread of trans identity among young females, the tent eruptions are a case of social contagion. No change in Israel’s tactics in the Gaza Strip over the last two months explains the ubiquity of encampments now. Rather, they are copy-cat behavior, like the early 1960s hula-hoop craze among teenyboppers—accelerated by the fact, so galling for the participants, that they are about to lose their sympathetic administrative foils come summer vacation.

Schmemann enthuses that disruptive student protests are an “extension of education by other means.” If so, that education now means refusing to engage with contrary viewpoints. At the April 29 protest at Columbia, a masked marcher was wearing a “Fags for Falestine” (not a typo) t-shirt. Asked how far he thought he would get organizing a gay-pride demonstration in Gaza, he stormed off and declined to answer. Every other question posed to the zombie file, such as whether a black protester knew anything about the long history of Arabs enslaving black Africans—a practice ended only by Britain’s naval vigilance—or was aware of current racial views among Arabs, was met with a similar stony silence.

Two days before the march, Iraq passed a law imposing up to 15 years’ imprisonment for gay sex. One of the chants whined out by Columbia’s female chant-callers was:

Hands off Iran, hands of Iraq and the Middle East; We want justice, we want peace.

The protesters’ demands for LGBTQ justice extend only to docile Western powers. They give their Middle Eastern idols’ overt homophobia a free pass—if they even know about it.

Theater requires the willing suspension of disbelief. But to take seriously the narcissistic melodramas played out on campus quads today requires active commitment to untruth—the untruth that the students know enough about the world to deserve attention from adults; the untruth that they are engaged in heroic behavior, when their brightly colored tents resemble nothing so much as childhood forts, well provisioned with cookies and comic books; the untruth that the trespassers and vandals possess any bargaining leverage independent of what the university voluntarily confers on them; the untruth that an American college could have any effect on Middle East politics. These mediagenic morality plays are well-rehearsed; they spring from hundreds of such theatrical interactions over the last several decades between self-involved students proclaiming various forms of victimhood and co-dependent student-services bureaucrats who need performative conflict to justify their jobs.

But while the “uprisings” will have no effect on the Middle East, administrators’ prolonged paralysis in dealing with them, only now cracking up here and there, will confirm their participants’ self-importance—what Schmemann calls the “frightening and beautiful . . . faith that mere students could do something about what’s wrong with the world.” Graduates will take this self-importance with them into what used to be called the real world, now being remade in the image of intersectional theory, with the same teary, excitable females leading the way.

--

This is indicative of the female shift to the far-left, as well as the ideological infiltration of the Humanities. The mere presence of corrupt domains such as "Palestine Studies" proves this.

We're looking at live-action Gender Studies in real time.