#hi I identify as weird and hypocritical

[avese23]

Gremlin hours and the creature inside wants to gaslight white people on the internet

[sourinartt]

" naruto's sexuality and the hypocrisy of the naruto fandom "

I've seen examples of this on every social network and wanted to talk about it. ((it's a long topic)

⤹ the issue of naruto's sexuality is up to each person; no one has to discuss what the other thinks, and I agree but I won't stop thinking that saying that naruto is bisexual is simply homophobia, mostly coming from people who think this.

first I would like to talk about hypocrisy, just as they say that naruto is bisexual, there is also a circle of people who say that sasuke is also bisexual and he falls into the same thing, they say he is bisexual not because he has shown any affection towards a woman and a man, but because for them, he fucks sakura and naruto (mostly sakura)

these people, fans of narusasu/hnt, attack people who believe that sasuke is bisexual. But at the same time, they are shipping narusasu/hnt because they truly believe that naruto adores her and that sasuke/hnt are the same

I want to make it clear that I don't think sasuke is bisexual but, you just can't be a hypocrite

these types of people can talk about sasuke's rejection of sakura, about how annoying and harassing she is to him, but if you say the same thing to the slave owner, they will fall on you

they can clearly see sasuke's homosexuality because Sasuke is more open and has no problems with it, but when they see naruto's repressed homosexuality they simply think "bisexuality" lol

I would like to know if the manga says anything about this

⤹ I'll start with sakura ֶ 𓂃

to this day, it is still thought that naruto really had a true feeling for her. I will not deny the physical attraction. naruto can say that sakura is pretty, but as for romantic love there's nothing, naruto treats her like a friend and that's all it is.

It reminds me of gay guys who can say their female friends are very pretty but they couldn't date them because they don't see them as a romantic target.

His first case of repressed homosexuality is here, where after accidentally kissing sasuke he desperately seeks out sakura to find out her feelings towards him.

the naruto/sakura duo is only for sasuke, because naruto identifies with her because of her liking for sasuke and because they both want him to recognize them

gay men often identify with women because they have the same taste, they just can't "bring it out" like any straight woman could

If I wanted to continue talking about them then...

Kishimoto could easily make naruto look like a "jealous boyfriend" like what happens in the fillers when other boys declare their affection towards sakura.

but that doesn't happen, even though sakura is supposed to be his romantic target, he doesn't declare anything towards her, and his reaction to other boys declaring their affection is... normal.

he just laughs softly when she rejects him but there is no anger, annoyance, jealousy... but when he asks about sasuke... well...

naruto goes crazy and this happens again in Shippuden

In shippuden nothing changes, it's her blushing because he became "taller" "more mature" but when she asks him if he sees a change in her, if he sees her prettier, he simply answers no

It's weird going up that he likes her haha

Could we also mention how he lies to her face when he thinks about sasuke and then tells her he was thinking about going on a date with her¿?

"but-but the promise"🥺

naruto makes the promise because he knows sakura's feelings (I really don't think they are the same lol) and she really believes that naruto is looking for sasuke because of his promise but

Hmm..

"but he sees the girls in the hot springs! He blushes for one!, and what about kagen bunshin?

and all this happens in a context of repressed homosexuality and his lack of interest in women

really the scene of that pretty woman passing by that is an illusion for Jiraiya to fall for really doesn't prove anything, and in the same context naruto talks about how he has no interest in them

Naruto sees his kagen bunshin as a mockery of men, that way he learned that he could get what he wants (sad) but he doesn't see anything sexual in it

Hot spring scene where yamato talks about how normal it is for men to bathe together, but Naruto is nervous. look at their poses. yamato/Sai is calm while naruto hugs himself

It's not until sai talks about his private parts that naruto becomes intimidated and suddenly wants to see naked girls, wow again wanting to escape

"but hin-hinata"

this is what sums up hnt, a girl who stalks him from afar, a weird and shy girl, and that's it.

⤹ he only saw her as an equal when she was called a loser, not because she was something significant to him, but because naruto identified with her because he was told the same words

⤹ a girl who doesn't care about naruto's true state, as long as she can confess she will do it and it doesn't matter if it almost causes her death and the death of her guards and her cousin

In The Last, nothing changes. naruto continues to treat her as a friend, but it's not until the social pressure of his friends that he accepts her out of pity

she is bad for him, she does nothing for him that is not in front of her feelings and she is not interested in naruto's well-being or his words, she does not care about others when it comes to him, not even their own children.

honorable mentions of his sexual repression

when Kakashi tells him that he loves him, naruto thinks that he loves him in a romantic way and gets nervous, even though he is literally his teacher

He doesn't see Jiraiya's novels as something sexual, but rather as something boring, even though he's 16 years old and his hormones should be raging(doesn't mean he should behave like jiraiya, but it's interesting how he doesn't see sexual interest in heterosexual novels) he could behave like a shikamaru or kakashi but he just doesn't see interest

marry a girl he never wanted due to social pressure

when he confesses his feelings towards his father he says he has no romantic interest, he doesn't name either sakura or hinata a even though he plays with sakura being his girlfriend lol

and that's why naruto is not really bisexual, he doesn't have any taste for women and only has repressed homosexuality, he doesn't adore any of them like he adores sasuke

[animeyanderelover]

Confession

Hey, everyone. I have something to tell you which has been on my mind since over 4 years now and which I feel like I have to get out of my chest now. I don't want to write for character x male reader anymore. There are lots of reasons and thoughts behind this decision that have accumulated over many years and now I have finally made the decision to stop writing for the x male reader entirely.

The first reason for me is that I was born a woman and that I 100% identify as one. I started this blog mainly because I wanted to write my own fanfics about characters that I love and that is why I started in November 2020 my own blog on this side. However, I wanted to be inclusive which is why I decided to add the option to ask for an x male reader as well. However, I have figured out over the years that I experience less joy writing for requests asking for a male character because deep down this never was what I wanted to write for but I denied those thoughts because I was afraid that people would think that I hate people who identify as men in fanfiction. Part of me also always thought that maybe I would be a hypocrite. I feared to open a pandora box.

After all if I write about a character who is in a happy relationship, married and has a child in canon does that make me a homewrecker? I write about characters who are still teenagers and find myself writing Nsfw about them too so does that make me a pedophile? If I write about a female character x female reader despite the character never having been indicated to have any romantic interest in another woman am I just making everything lesbian to satisfy my own desires? There are women who write about male characters who are gay in canon with a female reader and I admit to having read some of those works too so does that make me homophobic? If I were to write about something like that too because I feel attracted to those characters does that make me a terrible person? Such doubts and worries constantly held me back from getting rid of that option but now I do not have those doubts anymore.

I had a bad start in the anime community by getting involved with some weird fujoshis and their fanart. That has already led me to the decision that I won't write any Nsfw posts with a male character x male reader and with my own consciousness I could never accept to write anything Nsfw related with a female character x male reader. The truth is because I’m an afab writer I could have never inserted myself in a reader with a dick.

Fujoshis and my own preferences are only two reasons though. The last reason for me is because I have had experiences with actual men on this side who pestered me via chat that they wanted me to write for an x male reader and even though I was not comfortable with it they continued anyways. Those experiences are rare but they added to my overall conflict nevertheless. A while ago I had the "pleasure" of being graced with such a person who really wanted me to write about the women of Arcane with a male reader, a phenomenon that I know has been not uncommon in the x reader community of the series on this app. He was awfully entitled and kept whining about the fact that no one seems to be willing to write about the x male reader for characters like Jinx or Vi and that he considers my writing to be good and that I was his last hope. I have blocked him together with the few others who asked the same of him before in that arrogant and pushy way.

None of those three reasons that I have named are the sole reason for that decision, it is more the accumulation of all of those reasons over the last years that have finally led to this post. So here is my final decision:

I won't write for the x male reader anymore.

I am sorry for all those who do not belong to the entitled male reader community and still felt included in my blog but I cannot write about something I do not feel motivated about and feel no joy in writing either. To all those arrogant male readers who my read this and feel insulted, here is my own opinion. Fanfiction is fanfiction. I do not have the right to call you out for writing about male readers with female characters who are gay because I have found myself guilty on the other side by thirsting about male characters who are gay and I might one day find myself writing about them with a female reader as well.

I don't mind shippers either as long as everything is kept within a legal range because if you come up to me and confess to shipping some brainrot vomit like Sebastian x Ciel (Black Butler), Toji x Megumi (Jjk) or All Might x Deku (My Hero Academia) I will not let you anywhere close to me. And yes, those are ships that people actually support and write about!! I personally just don't care about a ship unless the series is a romance but if you just keep it normal with the gay ships I don't care if you ship something like Gojo x Geto or Jayce x Viktor. Just don't be weird and then get all offended and mad when others, including the author of the work (!!!) doesn't ship them.

However, if male readers want fanfics then you just have to build your own fandom community and do it yourself. The fujoshis have done it, the whole x female reader community has done it. You have to do the same. No one of the writers on this app has started in here with any previous experience. I for example didn't write any world-changing book series before I started my blog and I guarantee you, none of the other writers have done that either. Just don't be a fucking whiny bitch about it and get all offended about it with writers who only write x female reader.

Listen, all of us have some weird fantasies here. I myself take even the most sunshine characters and turn them into obsessive freaks who abduct the reader and kill for them. I write for dub-con and non-con which is ultimately just a euphemism for fantasising about a fictional character r*ping me. I fantasise about male characters baby-trapping me sometimes but if any man in real life were to say something to me like I have written fictional characters say to the reader I will scream, bite and get a restraining order. Does that mean that I support everything that I see online? Fuck, no. Let's be real, who does? There are people who are weird and then there are people who are just gross and I usually stay away from those communities because arguing with them will only cost you your sanity because they clearly have none. On Tumblr I usually resort to swiftly blocking such people the moment I read their content and you are free to do the same to me if you don't support my writing.

Heck, I’ve even blocked people who ranted in the tags about Yandere or dub-con/non-con content and claimed that everyone who writes and reads such posts sick in the head because I believe I did them the favor of sparing them to come across my works. Speaking from experience, such people usually don’t avoid but feel the need to insult and lecture so I probably did them a favor by doing what they don’t want to do because they thrive on being on what they view as the morally high ground. The block button is there for a reason and not just for fancy decoration after all.

It's been more than 4 years on this app for me and I have grown as a person in real life and strive to do so as I continue each year which is why I have decided to not be a pure people pleaser anymore and only write what I can accept within my own consciousness and what I want to write about. It's my blog, it's my rules and if I can be proud with what I write and accomplish on here then this is how I should continue. To anyone who has requested something with a male reader and is still waiting for it to be answered, I cannot promise you that I will still answer it so you should be prepared that it's going to be most likely deleted. I am unfortunately not the right blog to write what you want but I hope that you can find one who will fill the role that I can't anymore.

[yukishirostar]

So people are talking about a post in the Zolu tag by a certain tumblr user in regards to their issues with Zolu as a ship. They shall be unnamed because i dont wish to bring attention to them and instead just want to focus on their arguments because they're not the first people to make some of these points and so this is also an opportunity for me to talk about these things (a tweet is going around on Twitter containing these screenshots with the username so you can find it there if you need to anyway).

The way this person dismisses the relationship between Zoro and Luffy as a result of needing to pair gay Zoro with someone is too laughable, they must be very fit in order to be able to do these mental gymnastics. I believe that many people who are going on about the Zolu scenes in the OPLA were already Zolu shippers who were familiar with the original story and are enjoying the moments because they were well, really good Zolu moments? And there is actually, shockingly, many good Zolu moments in the original story too which is why many people ship them. Wild, I know.

Then there's 'straight-washed Sanji'. Equally if not more of a bizarre thing to believe. I might make some people mad especially the Sanji stans out there who constantly insist on the 'repressed queer' narrative with his character, but Sanji is written pretty explicitly to be seen as a cisgender and heterosexual character. The way you say with your whole chest that Luffy is 'canonically' aroace but don't acknowledge that Sanji is 'canonically' cishet is beyond hypocritical. If you believe Sanji looking like a 'misogynistic straight man' is different from the way he is written in canon then maybe you should go back and reread/rewatch series with your eyes open this time. If you wish to headcanon him with the frankly offensive repressed bisexual/transgender cliché then go ahead, but that is clearly not the intention Oda has with his character.

There's also the fact that aroace people can uh. Be in relationships. Get married. Have children. Did it occur to you that many people who ship Zolu ship them as an ace couple or-

First thing I want to say here, as a trans man who is 'mlm', can other dudes stop with this idea that women or fem-aligned individuals enjoying homosexual relationships between two men is inherently fetishising or that as a masc-aligned individual your enjoyment of a ship is morally superior in some way. Stop pulling out your 'mlm/ transmasc / cis gay' card in order to justify why your ship is superior. Its cringe af.

But if we are to insist that 'cishet female gaze fetishising mlm' is going on then ironically Zosan fits that the better than any ship in the fandom. It being by far the most popular mlm ship means there is likely a higher proportion of people who identify as cishet women who ship it. Its also the classic 'two men who dislike/hate eachother and have a toxic relationship but hot sexual tension' slash/yaoi stereotype. Majority of Zosan I've come across is depicting Zoro as the masculine male man in the relationship while Sanji the effeminate twink that Sanji stans project themselves onto and they go crazy for the bickering that is apparently reminiscent to them of a toxic heterosexual marriage. Meanwhile every Zolu/Luzo shipper I've interacted with has been some flavour of queer and Zolu is closest to the 'falling in love with your same sex bestie' narrative that the majority if not every non-heterosexual person has experienced at least once in their lifetime. This is just my personal view of course, but I think noting a difference in perspective on this topic is interesting and reveals that at the end of the day this is totally subjective and based purely on anecdotes.

Also it's just a very weird point here that apparently OP has 'plenty of varied queer rep' (it actually doesn't have that many canonical queer characters in relation to its cast size but anyway) and other media doesn't so shipping aroace characters in gay relationships is valid in those but not in One Piece … HUH???? So you're saying if One Piece had 'less' queer rep, then Zolu would be fine to ship? Idek my brain hurts.

"I have black friends so I'll speak for the black community and get offended for them" (btw this person then proceeded to block aroace people who had issues with their depiction of aroace people).

Also if we're talking canonical depictions, the only thing Zoro has been canonically depicted as is also aroace, equally if not moreso than Luffy. So by your own rules, you can't ship a cishet (sanji) with an aroace (zoro), therefore Zosan is now invalid. Stop erasing Zoro's aroace identity bigot.

'Categorically wrong' makes me laugh. I don't ship Zoro and Nami but like, people can ship what they want to??

'The general public is aware enough of gay people and how to spot them these days' uh... firstly this sounds very homophobic. Secondly the general public (cishet ppl) are famously bad at recognising queerness even when its in flashing lights before them. Thirdly you make it sound like Zoro was going around on roller skates and booty shorts listening to YMCA and Madonna in the show. I do agree he was gay-coded but it was mostly because he had sexual tension with every man he interacted with, not for the strange reasons you pointed out...

Its kinda the elephant in the room too but like. These are just headcanons. You can have multiple headcanons and interpretations of a character's sexuality. I can see Zoro as aroace virgin one day and a gay h*e the next. I'm actually allowed, legally, to do that.

The way they think shipping Zolu is harmful to aroace representation when BOTH characters are closest to being canonically aroace than anything yet ship Zosan, label being anti-Zolu as some kind of pro-ace activism, and then proceeded to block aroace people for criticising their incorrect depiction of what being aroace is...

This was a lot of words to say that you don't like a ship. Just say you don't like it, and it gets in the way of the ship you like, instead of writing a virtue signalling essay to justify your reasoning. Please.

They had some more to say on future posts I'll just pick my favourite bits

They really have this narrative that Zolu is only popular because of OPLA and can't fathom that its just a popular ship in general and always has been huh. And they couldn't make it more obvious that they're totally salty about it ranking in the top 100 most popular tumblr ships, lmao.

Your classic case of 'self-identifying ally who speaks over the people they are supposed allies of'. Its a general rule that you feel the need to declare yourself an ally you're probably not an ally, actual allies know they need to just shut up and do the work. Saying 'this character's aroace' and 'I have aroace friends' actually isn't what allyship is, thats just accepting that ace people exist which is like... the baseline.

Calling a wholesome loving ship like Zolu an icky ship is a severe consequence of online brain (this person is 26 years old btw)

[watermelonlicker]

this! and some of you don’t realize how homophobic you sound when “defending” sam’s supposed straight fragility. he has never confirmed or denied his sexuality and who tf cares what he identifies as??? what sam cares about is how people view his performance and a lot of you were being psychopathic in 2022 calling him an abuser and racist and that’s what bothered him.

i find it very weird that you lot get so mad at queer people making jokes (most queers of color btw) that you as a white person have to subject everyone to listening to your whiny voice note where you’re inches from calling the cops. it’s giving racism and giving karen cos why are you having such a visceral reaction that people DARE say the white man you’re attracted to might be attracted to his beautiful black co-star???

i promise sam does not give a fuck if people think he’s bi or not. he doesn’t have an ego like most of you and pal don’t think for one second that you’re respecting him or his privacy by being a hypocrite and projecting all YOUR THOUGHTS onto him. just shut the hell up.

[mooshlovely]

Nein Again Episode 13

Another iconic episode, I've always loved the improv beacon heist, plus so many good Caleb-Nott moments

They are really building up a habit of preferring solving their problems non-lethally. Between this and the syphilis bandits, it is clear that they don't aim for death if another option is available. It's remarkable how this fact remains true all the way through to the very end and how they deal with Trent (23)

Does Travis think its a vampire?? Also I feel like we forget that Essek has fangs way too often (30)

Huh I forgot that the beacon was partially immune to identify (40)

Beau is so opposed to letting this guy go. I don't think I remembered how cold (and pragmatic) her and Caleb were at the beginning. (1:11)

I've always loved the about face that happens this episode. Lets spend an hour convincing ourselves to let this thing go and then completely change our minds. (I know it's because the living drow changed their calculations. It's one thing to give it up when it's going back to it's rightful owner and keeping it would require killing someone, and a completely different thing when it's being forcibly taken by the empire) (1:21) Also it's remarkable how well this completely improvised plan works

Someone else pointed out that Caleb's weird argument for keeping the beacon on him was his round about way of making sure it was covered by anti-scrying necklace which makes his lead box recommendation suddenly make a lot more sense (1:30)

Also explains why he is so insistent on staying with it. "My gut says to stay with this thing" I wonder if he always uses his gut as an excuse for things his brain is saying but doesn't want to discuss. (1:58)

If I was Molly or the rest of the Nein, I would 100% be worried that Caleb and Nott were planning on running away in the middle of the night.

I do love how much Jesters outward appearance of naivety makes people underestimate her, and then she goes and pulls these amazing feats of deception and persuasion (2:02)

I love watching them attempt to figure out if things are magical instead of just letting Caleb have at everything. It's hilarious, they're such dorks (2:33)

Fjord: "Do you need any help, any backup?" Nott: "I'm the help." Nott absolutely does not like the implication that she isn't enough to protect Caleb (2:34)

Nott: "What Caleb does is well thought-out and always intentional and smart" I just love watching Nott defend Caleb, congrats on winning the codependency Olympics (2:37)

Oh god I forgot how early in the campaign this line was Nott: "I think there is a bit of a misconception here. Caleb and I have a very special relationship, It is that of a parent and a child. But I am the parent. You do understand that, correct? I protect him. He's my body, I keep him safe." (2:42) Liam's smile during this speech is so super sweet.

Also Fjord once again keeping the peace, poor man works so hard (2:44)

God Caleb is so clever for predicting that the scroll case was trapped and handling it so well (2:50)

And fuck, Liam's acting when Caleb sees the scrolls. I can feel how much relief Caleb feels at getting those spells. Anyone know which spells they were? (2:54)

"but I fucked it up" That's an interesting interpretation of events you have there Caleb. I forgot how deep the regret and self-hatred runs. Which do you regret more, killing them or not being able to continue your training after you did?

Caleb: "I will do it on my own. (Correction, I will do it with your help)" I love this aspect of Caleb's personality so much. The tenaciousness and self-sufficiency

I love the way Nott treats money. It's just so different from every one else in party (3:39)

It's cute how much enjoyment Caleb gets out of sharing magic items with the group (3:55)

God they're all a bunch of hypocrites I love it. YOU ALL HAVE FAKE NAMES (or at least names you're hiding) (4:10)

So many great pivotal Caleb-Nott moments in this episode, I love everything about their friendship

[littlestkoi-n]

a much too whiny rant about fic icks

I die a little every time pup, cub or Prongslet comes up in a wolfstar raising Harry (together or separately) fic. especially cub - it makes literally no sense????? are you sure it's Remus John Lupin I'm reading about??? it's his evil doppelganger, I'm telling you. I'm not even sure I could stomach that word ironically.

Prongslet is fine in moderation, I guess, but only as an inside joke, only coming from Sirius and only when Harry's a smol bean. but when it's Prisoner of Azkaban compliant I wanna claw my eyes out.

it's even worse when those terms are used not just in dialogue but in Remus or Sirius' internal monologue as if pup and cub are Harry's freaking pronouns or something. my cub, my pup, cub did this, pup did that... just call him boy or kid or his name for god's sake. I once saw sprog pop up and was delighted cuz at least it's actually british slang.

and don't get me started on Hadrian(us) James Orion Potter-Black (which is just... why the fuck would James give his son the name of his best mate's horrible father AND the last name of his horrible family?? and why would Lily agree to that?) who's simultaneously Lord Potter, Black, Peverell and Slytherin (and, sure, I have a visceral reaction to aristocracy wank in general but even ignoring that - the last 3 literally make no sense since "Lord Black" is Sirius until his death; and both Peverell and Slytherin lines bled into other families ages ago. so being a Potter automatically means you're descended from Peverells as well as being a Gaunt - from Slytherin. and the last of those is Tom Riddle Jr. but that wouldn't make any Potters "Lord Peverell"s or any Gaunts/Riddle "Lord Slytherin"s. those last names are dead. smh).

but, uh, this tangent technically has nothing to do with my initial complaints, it's just that at some point I started thinking of this naming stuff in tandem with nonsensical nicknames as they began appearing in fics together. which is a double homicide, truly.

and look, I definitely understand the desire to make Harry's original name something else cuz it fits nicely with POC Potters headcanon and Dursleys being racist dicks about it, but... Hadrian? I mean, it's not really a big deal when the fic mentions it being his full name but both narration and characters still refer to him as Harry for short - that makes total sense. however when after the name reveal Hadrian replaces Harry completely, it feels super weird and uncanny, making it hard to identify Harry's character in the story altogether.

although I guess you should all knock me off my high horse for being the biggest hypocrite ever, cuz I myself have a headcanon for Harry's name, even if it's less elaborate than Hadrian. also less Roman? that's another thing I don't get - if you want to create a better connection between Harry and his roots, why choose a name of a Roman emperor for a desi kid? since he's usually explicitly desi in all the Hadrian fics. so it's not that I have a problem with renaming him, per se, I just don't understand the choice of Hadrian.

for example, I recently read a fic where he was Pakistani and his name was originally Hami, which is a nice idea, actually, and makes sense for such headcanon. mine is Hari btw (हरि in Sanskrit), since I headcanon Potters as Indian, but I didn't come up with that name myself - just saw it somewhere a couple years ago and liked it. I think it's actually a pretty popular hc now? anyway, it's closer to Harry than any other name I've seen and has many beautiful meanings that resonate with what I think James and Lily felt towards their son. now, even though I still prefer his name being Harry regardless of ethnicity, I do entertain this silly headcanon from time to time - so yeah, I'm one to talk, boo me.

now, I probably should shut up since this rant has been entirely too negative already, but while I'm on the topic of icky names/nicknames I should circle back to wolfstar cuz gods know I'll never be brave enough to talk about this particular pet peeve in its own post.

Siri, Remu and Remy make my blood boil. Siri could be kinda cute when it's a silly childhood nickname from Regulus, but if any marauder or Lily calls Sirius that - immediate death. Si and Re are a teensy bit better in moderation and if used ironically, but still stab me in the chest. a couple times for good measure. the only somewhat acceptable short form of any of their two names for me is Rem, albeit with a stretch and only because it's an actual version of the name Remus in Catalan and Russian. I know I'm being way too dramatic about this (just like with all of my previous points) but I just don't understand the need to shorten their names. at all. they're only 3 and 2 syllables long and so mystical on their own that any shortening just makes them simultaneously more nonsensical and less remarkable.

both characters literally have established quirky nicknames in canon that you can play with and even shorten to Pads and Moons if you want. Sirius is not a digital assistant and Remus is not the main character from Ratatouille. stop this madness.

plus James is right there. his name has a ridiculous amount of diminutives - Jamie, Jimmy, Jim, Jam, Jem, Jay and even Jimbo if you're into that. why strip Remus and Sirius' magical names of their charm if you can have fun with common names? but I digress.

at the end of the day, my pet peeves are mine only and I should live with them in fragile peace. this post is a personal rant first and foremost and if you disagree, I'm genuinely happy that you enjoy the things I can't. fandom is a playground and we can all find some fun in different corners. I'd also like to point out that I'm not trying to take a jab at fic writers who use any of the aforementioned terms, names or diminutives. I'm only one person, so if I stop reading your work because of my petty biases, it's only my loss and not your problem. hundreds of other fans will enjoy it instead. so keep doing what you love and writing those characters however you want, it's your right!

so yeah, writers and readers - don't take it personally and have your fun! don't listen to me being mean! I'm just making my fandom experience way too convoluted for my own good.

[eyedoeluhn]

Any thoughts how the rest of the Undersiders are handled in bcf?

Pretty poorly. TLDR

The undersiders as a team have not bonded. They are in a fraught situation barely held together by their individual obligations to Jozef and the assumption that they are a proxy team slash frequent clients of his putting scrutiny and pressure on them from all sides, and times are aggressive towards each other. They are each in difficult positions and far more stressed physically and mentally due to the city being in tatters and Joe's involvement. There is very little love lost between the team and less trust. This is like a natural consequence of Joe's meddling but it sucks and Joe really doesn't fucking care. The undersiders right now are an annoying semi obligation he doesnt really care about beyond bare minimum support and he only ever gave half of a fuck because of Taylor and moving to why their lives indivudally suck....its weird!

Taylor has an extremely unhealthy relationship with Joe where she feels guilty and responsible for his actions and his inappropriate level of attachment to her despite the lack of actual contact. This trend starts from the very beginning where she "seduces" Joe over to villany via his shard and the problems start from there.

Lisa is just put into a torment nexus, BCF does not shy away from #dunking on her narrative wise. She attempts to manipulate Joe, 'falls in over her head' and Joe is continually aggressive towards her and leaving her to deal with the fallout of his more rash actions. Semi recently Joe came across a power that lets him spot manipulation so you know how that goes. Lisa has also spent much of her time with chronic headaches that only Joe can provide occasional relief from. Currently she is contemplating how to inform Joe of Noelle without causing an S Class event because she is unaware Joe and the Forge are already immune to anything Noelle could do anyway. Great.

Alec has had...changes. After the first clash with Bakuda, he was tortured with a blowtorch by the ABB. Joe used nanite technology to heal him and he discovered afterwards he couldn't hijack Bakuda. Joe with his technology went over his neural pathways and identified his brain as damaged due to his upbringing in Heartbreaker's household and in correcting it gave Alec a full range of emotion. Alec is now apparently the emotional center of the team while Taylor and Rachel are orbiting and Lisa and Brian attempt to control the situation. He is also not dealing with this particularly well but Joe approves of the change I guess. BCF and Joe are incredibly weird and hypocritical about neurological changes. So now he's made some attempts to reach out and support his teammates, i guess

Rachel honestly hasn't been given that much screen time. She initially was very against Joe joining the undersiders and was involved in some of their schisms about behavior like the grudge held against Alec for his failed hijack attempt. After the Forge debuts as a team she finds Fleet, a male AI, attractive and goes out on a date riding their dogs together. Rachel is largely positive towards the Forge.

Brian....jeeze where do I begin. I need to do a comprehensive post about his recent triple-terlude. But through most of the story he's been a frazzled control freak unaware of Aisha's contact with Joe. And his dad thinks he's gay now I guess.

As a bonus, Joe approached Lily with the offer to make her immortal via nanites and she also thought he was objectively hot and was like okay sure and now has some dumb sword from him. Joe cannot stop contacting children and telling them to not tell their authority figures.

I could elaborate on any of these but that would make a very long post so i would have to do them separately. Tumblr does have an image limit.

you guys hate me. I'm getting to this. I'm working with these guidelines since i think it follows the spirit of the question:

1 I am not allowed to depower Joe by deleting the CF from existence*

1 (a) i AM allowed to make alterations to its function and characterization (citation, lordroustabout)

1 (b) i am not allowed to "reboot" the fic from the beginning (A la A Daring Synthesis, A Bad Name, etc)

2 i am not allowed to discard Joe as the main character

2 (a) i AM allowed to follow the interludes system of BCF which include alternate perspective addendums. More perspectives, quicker plot. Don't know how BCF fumbled this change

3 No edits to the posted chapters whatsoever.

3 (a) word of God is not legally binding (citation, lordroustabout)

[murderofsomeone]

art related boundaries/concerns

(making this post since I've been getting a lot of questions lately)

hi I'm an adult. please take this within that context.

using my art for pfps/profiles is fine, credit is optional, but preferred. this doesn't apply to ocs: please ask first and always credit

drawing my ocs/designs is always fine and encouraged

don't reupload my art without asking. i'm ok if you're just like. sending it to someone, idgaf, just as long as it's private

don't sell my art

don't remove watermarks. I understand they sometimes get cropped out for formatting reasons but that's about the only thing I'll excuse

don't draw nsfw content of my characters/designs/stories. don't send it to me either if you find any

don't put my underage characters/designs in weird situations, especially genderbending and aging them up (if I make an adult design of them that still doesn't give you the right to be weird)

making fanfiction, crossovers, and aus of my stuff is pretty rad. if you want to make one go ahead, just remember to be respectful

I don't have any strong opinions about people who kin or identify with my characters/designs, so it's all good. just remember to be respectful

please ask if you can headcanon certain aspects of a character. a lot of things are set in stone, but others are more open-ended and I do like to hear thoughts about those types of things.

I'm ok with people asking for alternative versions of drawings (ie: removing the text or background). the only exception is if it's too much work to bother

I really don't mind questions about my characters/designs/stories. it isn't annoying and I do appreciate opportunities to talk about them

practice common internet etiquette by not sending weird sexual comments directed to my characters/designs. saying stuff like "I want him" is fine and funny, I just don't want to hear about your dick

I draw entirely for fun and do things when they seem funny/relevant, do not assume I ever owe you anything

please do not blatantly rip off my ideas and characters. being inspired is ok, I just really don't like it when people take my ideas out of context and act like they own them/are free use. I put a lot of work and thought into these things and it's incredibly discouraging to see this happen over and over again.

if you find me being a "hypocrite" about some of these because there are exceptions and feel the need to be an ass, i may be inclined to throw rocks at you

If you need clarifications or have questions feel free to ask, but this is generally what's set in stone.

[zaebeecee]

To Sever a Loveless Bond

••RadioDust Soulmate AU••

Part 10/?

First chapter | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Read on AO3

•••

Some of that promised fluff coming right at you. Also, sorry, I’m inflicting my other ships on y’all starting now, but they’ll be mostly background and you can ignore them.

Also, because I feel it needs to be stated: nothing in this chapter is meant to make you feel bad for, or sympathize with, Valentino. He is still a sinner, and so he is in a complicated situation, but most sinners are, and a complicated situation is not an excuse for evil behavior. It simply exists to further the story, as well as to highlight the fact that Val is a hypocrite.

•••

“What the actual fuck is going on in this hotel?”

Vaggie’s firm statement—which would have been basically a scream from anyone else—was out of her mouth the moment Alastor vanished from the room. Charlie watched as her girlfriend looked at the little group still gathered, the angel’s expression one of deep frustration. Nobody answered her immediately, because nobody else seemed to have any idea, either.

Dinner had been very, very weird. It had been good! It had been quite good, since both Angel and Alastor were fantastic at cooking and, since it was Angel’s recipe, there wasn’t any concern about what the… ingredients… might have been. But the mood had been weird, mostly because of the way the two sinners had been talking to each other over the course of the meal.

As soon as she had that thought, Charlie felt kind of terrible. After all, they were getting along, which was good. They were both in friendly moods. Alastor seemed like he was opening up to the idea of making friends, and that was amazing! But there was something else, something different, that she couldn’t quite identify. And now, it looked like she wasn’t the only one thinking it.

Charlie was sitting in the lounge with Vaggie, Husk, and Niffty; Alastor had been present for a few minutes, as well, but had bade them goodnight and vanished. Angel, by contrast, had gone straight to bed as soon as he was done cleaning up, which was also weird. Even if he didn’t want to hang out with any of them, he usually went out in the evening, if he could get away with it. And now, Vaggie was pacing, and that… wasn’t helping the energy.

Niffty was the first one who actually spoke in the weird silence that followed Vaggie’s questions. “Alastor and Angel are friends,” she said.

“Alastor doesn’t have friends,” Husk countered, leaning on the arm of the couch and pressing a half-full glass of ice water against his temple.

Niffty turned her head to look at him. “Alastor has Rosie.”

“Rosie doesn’t count.” Husk turned his own head just enough to return her frown. “Rosie is the exception that proves the rule.”

“Isn’t this a good thing?” Charlie asked, looking between the three of them. “I mean, yes, it… it’s a little strange, sure, but there isn’t anything wrong with it, is there?”

“You should always be worried about Alastor spending a lot of time alone with someone,” Husk said, turning his head away again.

“That isn’t even my point,” Vaggie said. “The two of them have been strange. I said as much to Angel Dust, and I know he knew what I was talking about. And I think the two of you do, too.”

Niffty tilted her head, but her expression was oddly neutral for the usually manic little sinner. “I won’t talk about it.”

“So you do know something.”

“Yes,” Niffty said, her tone not changing. “And I won’t talk about it.”

Vaggie made a noise of frustration. “Why not?”

“Because it’s not my business. It’s Alastor’s,” Niffty said with a shrug. “If he wanted you to know, he would have talked to you about it. But he didn’t. He talked to me.”

With a quiet noise of frustration, Vaggie put her face in her hands and walked a few steps away, muttering under her breath in Spanish. Charlie watched her with sympathy, but turned her attention to Niffty and Husk almost immediately. “We just want to help.”

“He doesn’t need help!” Niffty said, her expression morphing into a frown. “He knows what he’s doing!”

“No,” Husk said. “He doesn’t. Neither of them do.”

Niffty shushed him, but Charlie focused on the bartender exclusively. “Husk… what happened?”

“Don’t,” Niffty said, her voice lightly pleading.

Husk sighed. He looked at Niffty, and his expression looked sad. Complicated. “Alastor didn’t tell me shit,” he told her. “Angel did.”

Niffty didn’t look happy, but she looked away, holding her hands up like she was giving up on the situation. Husk watched her, and Charlie thought he might change his mind, but after a few moments he looked up at Charlie. “You can’t lose your shit over this. Either of you.”

“We won’t,” Charlie said, before Vaggie could get aggressive again. She reached out to her girlfriend, and when she reluctantly accepted her hand, Charlie pulled her back down to sit beside her on the couch. “We’re just worried and we want to know that nothing bad is happening.”

Husk closed his eyes and leaned his temple into the cold glass again. He looked like he had a headache. “…the kid talked to me one night about… I dunno. Two weeks ago, I guess. A little less, maybe. Didn’t want to, he made that pretty clear. It was when he locked himself up in his room that whole day. When I finally got him to get to the point, he asked me about… about soul marks.”

Charlie frowned. “He asked… …why?”

“Because Alastor, apparently, woke his up.”

Gasping softly, Charlie covered her mouth with her hand. “He what…??”

Vaggie, on the other hand, didn’t react at all. “Woke his what up?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”

“His— oh, right, you wouldn’t…” Charlie trailed off before she provided everyone with yet another reminder that Vaggie wasn’t actually a sinner. “It’s something that all sinners and Hellborn have. …well. Almost all,” she amended. “Nobody knows why they exist, but the best theory is that they’re another punishment that Hell created. They’re a mark that’s supposed to tell you who your soulmate is. When you meet and first touch, then your soul marks… become active, or wake up, and you know you’re meant to be together.”

“A perversion of the promise of happiness,” Husk said darkly. “Never seen it cause anything except unhappiness, myself.”

“Yeah,” Charlie agreed softly. “Me too.”

Vaggie frowned. “That… that doesn’t sound very happy,” she said. “Who would want Hell telling them who they’re supposed to love?”

Charlie shrugged. “Some people think they come from Asmodeus, but Uncle Ozzie assured me it’s not one of his spells. He doesn’t know, either.”

“I see.” Vaggie paused, and Charlie could hear her thinking. “…you said almost everyone,” she added, a little hesitantly. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t have one,” Charlie said with a shrug. “But I didn’t think it was that weird. My parents didn’t, either. You know, fallen angel, human cast into Hell alive, it… it made sense.” She twisted her hands together in her lap, her mind conjuring up the sounds of her parents yelling at each other in another room, and did her best to banish it. “Husk, do you know… does Alastor…?”

“Angel said so,” Husk said, watching her with a critical, suspicious eye. She immediately stilled her hands. “But I don’t know myself, no. Alastor and I don’t exactly chat about that kind of thing.”

“So what are they doing?” Vaggie asked. “I don’t believe that, out of nowhere, Angel Dust and the Radio Demon have just… decided to give in to some kind of romantically cursed fate.”

“I don’t know.” Husk looked away. “And neither do they. That’s pretty obvious. But if they’re… plotting together, or something, you’re going to have to ask them.”

Charlie nodded. The silence was thoughtful, but heavy, and the princess watched the shadows on the wall flickering in the firelight. Eventually, Niffty spoke again. “I wish Cherri hadn’t moved out.”

Husk twitched, the ice in his glass rattling, but he didn’t look at her. Charlie looked between the two of them. Cherri Bomb had moved into the hotel after the extermination and Sir Pentious’ death, but only for a short period of time. It was less than a month before she was gone again, the stated excuse being that redemption was “boring and not her thing”, but it was so abrupt that Charlie knew something had happened. Vaggie squeezed Charlie’s hand, but spoke to Niffty. “Why?”

“Because if anybody knows what Angel’s thinking, it’s her. And she would be easier to talk to than Rosie.” Niffty glanced at Husk.

The maid didn’t even open her mouth before the bartender said, “No.”

“Husk,” Niffty said, clearly frustrated.

“No, Niff,” Husk repeated more firmly, looking down at her again. “She made it pretty fucking clear she doesn’t want to talk to me, and I’m not gonna get my head blown off for trying to get her to talk about her best friend behind his back.”

Charlie frowned. “…you know her better than the rest of us do, Husk,” she said. “At least, from what I hear.”

“She did used to hang out at the bar a lot when she was here,” Vaggie added suspiciously.

“Because she drinks like alcohol is her replacement for oxygen,” Husk grumbled.

Niffty made a noise of frustration and stood up on the couch (probably only because she wasn’t wearing shoes), leaning in to Husk’s face and pointing at the door. He immediately leaned away from her, stopped by the arm of the couch from escaping, his eyes wide and his ears flicked back. “Look,” Niffty said firmly. “I don’t care if you have weird hangups, and I don’t care if you’re not a real bad boy! You’re gonna man up and you’re gonna talk to her and you’re gonna figure out how we can help Alastor and Angel!”

Husk held one hand up. “Shit, Niff, okay, fine, chill the fuck out. I’ll try to talk to her tomorrow, okay?”

Immediately, Niffty brightened. “Good!” she chirped, reaching up to pat the top of his hat before she hopped down to sit on the couch again.

“Um… thank you, Niffty, Husk,” Charlie said, smiling at them. “I guess that’s all we can do for now. We’ll keep an eye on them until we find out more.” Both Alastor and Angel were so volatile, there was no telling how they would respond to any level of probing.

It wasn’t long before they disbanded and headed off to their separate rooms. Charlie hesitated outside Angel’s door, debating knocking to see if he was okay, but she didn’t hear any sounds inside. Was he asleep? After a few seconds, she thought better of it, following after Vaggie and closing the door to their bedroom behind her.

It wasn’t until they had both dressed for bed and Charlie sat on the edge of the mattress, yawning, that Vaggie caught her hand and drew her attention. “Charlie… are you okay?”

Charlie looked at her. “I’m fine!” she said, far too brightly. It was hard not to cringe at her own tone, especially since Vaggie’s face told her that the angel could tell, too. “…why do you ask?”

“It’s… kind of obvious, babe,” Vaggie said carefully. “I know I don’t really get the whole soul mark thing, but I could tell it was getting you down. Is it because you don’t have one?”

“Oh, no, it isn’t that,” Charlie said with a quiet sigh. “It was just… it was my parents,” she said, looking away.

Vaggie waited for her to expand on that, but when she didn’t, she asked, “Because they don’t have them?”

“No, it…” Charlie exhaled in a huff that ruffled her hair briefly. “They didn’t have them, no, not for a long time. …my dad doesn’t know that I know this, but… when I was little, after I had been put to bed, I heard them arguing. They didn’t really do that, ever, so I got worried, and I…”

“…you went to see what was wrong.” Vaggie smiled a little. “You haven’t changed much.”

Charlie almost giggled. “I guess not,” she said, returning the tiny smile before looking down at her lap again. “I went to their bedroom door and listened. I just wanted to make sure they were okay. And I found out my dad…” She twisted her hands in the soft silk of her pants. “…my dad manifested a soul mate mark. And my mom didn’t. And… and his wasn’t for her.” She gestured loosely and meaninglessly. “He said that it didn’t matter, that he didn’t care about a mark, but for some reason she really, really did. It… I don’t think it ruined their marriage, but it sped it up, or made it worse, or… well, it didn’t help, at least. All it did was hurt them. I just don’t want to see that happen to Alastor and Angel, too. I don’t want this to hurt them.”

“Hey.” Vaggie took both of her hands in her own and made Charlie look at her, squeezing gently. “It won’t,” she said. “We won’t let anything happen to them, okay? We’ll find out what’s happening and we’ll figure it out.”

It was more complicated than that. Charlie knew that. But she knew Vaggie knew it, too, and arguing wouldn’t help. She had to believe everything was going to be okay. She had to. “Yeah,” Charlie said, giving Vaggie a smile that she didn’t feel, but she would soon. “We will.”

•••

Rage was exhausting.

It was even worse when rage was all you had to fuel yourself.

Valentino made another circuit of his room, his mind a cyclone of rage and half-formed plots with no middle part and a sickening feeling of Want that he had always associated with Angel Dust and had only grown darker, heavier… nauseating. The fact that his amorcito didn’t wear his mark was insulting enough.

But to know, beyond doubt, that he wore Alastor’s? That his beloved pet’s flesh was marred with an image bestowed by the soul of the Radio Demon?

How much am I going to have to lose to that fucking broken, psychotic little cervid? First Vox, and now…

Valentino seized a statue and threw it to the ground, where it shattered tile and burst in a cloud of stone dust. He didn’t even hear the door open, but he did hear it close.

“Val.”

Valentino tensed, his wings twitching on his back, before he looked over his shoulder. Vox was wearing his annoyed but resigned expression, his tie and hat gone, his jacket open, and everything about his demeanor suggestive of a very long day. The other overlord was watching him, and Valentino got the distinct impression that he was the current primary cause of that exhaustion.

“What the fuck do you want?” Valentino asked.

Vox’s eyebrow lowered further. “Look. I get it. You’re pissed,” he said, coming further into the room and waving away a small, lingering cloud of Val’s smoke. “But you have got to chill the fuck out about this.”

“How do you expect me to do that?!” Valentino snarled, rounding on Vox, his wings spreading outwards slightly on instinct. “How am I supposed to ignore this, Vox?!”

“Because… Angel Dust and Alastor are spending time together,” Vox said; it was phrased as a statement, but Valentino knew a question when he heard one.

Valentino forced his wings to lower, focusing on the light of Vox’s face. “…how have you not put this together yet?”

“Put what together?”

“They are soulmates, Vox!”

Valentino’s voice echoed in the sudden silence of the room. Vox’s eyes were wide as he blinked once, twice… and then his expression collapsed and he started laughing. To anyone else, it was a terrifying declaration of his mirth, but to Valentino… to Valentino, it was Vox’s disbelieving rage bursting forth in the only form it could without erupting from him as a scream. “You’re not fucking serious!” Vox cackled, his eyes flying wide as he stared at Valentino. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that Alastor has a soulmate? And that it’s your little arachnid whore?!”

Valentino narrowed his eyes, waiting for the sound of Vox’s laughter to die enough to speak over it. “I’ve seen Angel Dust’s mark many, many times. It’s a deer skull, complete with antlers. So you tell me, Vox. Angel Dust’s deer skull soul mark comes alive. He tells us that he has no relationship to break with his soul mate. And now, Angel Dust is seen alone, at a night club, dancing with the Radio Demon, who happens to be a deer. Is that the action your precious rival would take if Angel’s mark was unreciprocated? That would be very kind of him.”

Vox’s eyes were still wide, but his laughter had died down. His lip was curled just slightly, and it kept twitching, like he was fighting the urge to bare his teeth. “Val…”

Valentino knew he was pushing Vox, but he couldn’t make himself stop. “Sounds more like Alastor must have a little spider somewhere on his untouchable skin. Wonder how that interaction must have gone down, don’t you, mi amore? And if Alastor has Angel Dust’s soul mark, it makes you wonder what they might be doing right now—!!”

Valentino’s voice left him as his airflow was choked off by something cold, hard, and oddly flexible. He reached up and felt what had wrapped around his throat—a cable, one of the thousands that Vox had threaded through the building and could control with what was functionally Wi-Fi but might as well have just been his mind—as it tightened and yanked him backwards until he lost his footing and hit the ground. His glasses skidded across the tile floor with a soft clatter, and Vox’s sharp heeled boots clicked ominously as he moved to stand over the supine moth.

“I told you,” Vox said, in a voice full of a strange and deadly stillness, “to calm down. You will cooperate, or I will beat you into submission.”

Valentino gritted his teeth, stilling in his struggles against the cable around his throat… but it was a different feeling, the memory of something else latched around his neck, that truly made him stop. That cold, heavy, sharp, always present, blinding electric blue…

why did I let myself give it to you

Valentino nodded, just once. Vox’s eye twitched, and the cable released him, allowing him to gasp air back into his lungs. He rolled over onto his side, pushing two of his hands against the floor to keep himself up.

He could feel Vox staring at him, but soon, the other overlord turned on his heel and began slowly pacing a short distance back and forth. “Let’s say you’re right,” Vox said. “Angel Dust is well aware of his deadline, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Valentino rasped. He didn’t push himself to his feet. There were times that he could test Vox. There were times that he was even Vox’s equal. This, very clearly, was not one of those times.

“…well,” Vox said, thoughtful. “More than likely, Alastor will take care of breaking the bond for us. Not by killing him,” he said, when Valentino moved to protest, “simply by being himself. I know Alastor. He destroys everything he touches. He can’t help himself.”

Valentino swallowed past the rage in his throat. “…and if he doesn’t?”

“If he doesn’t, and if Angel Dust fails, then you will simply keep him here.”

Vox cast him a look, and Valentino knew he could stand up, getting to his feet. “Keep him here?”

“If Angel Dust fails to break the bond by his deadline…” Vox placed Valentino’s glasses in the moth’s hand, slowly folding Valentino’s fingers over them. “We will retrieve him. We have assassins on retainer, I’m sure they will be able to handle him if they catch him off guard. And then, you simply won’t let him leave.”

Valentino didn’t know what Vox was planning. It was something—Vox never proposed a plan if he didn’t have seven other unspoken reasons that he wanted it done—and it probably had to do with Alastor, because when it came to Vox… it almost always had to do with Alastor.

Valentino thought about the arch of his own foot, where he bore those strange lines that he hadn’t understood until he’d seen them on one of Vox’s electrical blueprints. When he’d asked, Vox had been in a patient mood, and had described them as the electrical symbols that represented a battery of three cells and variable resistance.

He didn’t tell Vox why he asked, but he still wondered if Vox had an antlered deer somewhere on his skin, too. He wondered, but he didn’t ask, because he didn’t want to know.

Vox was pacing again, and Valentino delicately cleaned his glasses, replacing them. “He won’t be happy,” he said. “Mi amorcito is very vocal about his freedoms, and the princessa seems to think she can exert her authority over us. Are you prepared to deal with that?”

“We will be,” Vox said. He walked up to Valentino and placed his hands on the taller sinner’s shoulders, smiling up at him as he squeezed. “Whether they break the bond or not, it won’t matter. We will take care of it is they don’t, and either way, we will make sure Angel Dust never leaves your side again, if that’s what you want.”

Valentino nodded once, resisting the temptation to bare his teeth again. “I still want to kill Alastor.”

Vox tightened his grip for just a second. “You let me handle Alastor. Don’t worry,” he added, slipping back into that voice that Velvette called his ‘placating Val’ voice. “I promise you, you’ll get all the violent revenge on Alastor you could possibly want.”

Valentino smirked. “You’re so good at talking dirty to me, baby.”

Vox laughed softly, his voice crackling with electricity. “I’ll make your wait worth it, my little white witch. I promise. And I always keep my promises, don’t I?”

“…yes, Voxxy. Always.”

•••

The next couple of days were some of the most surreal in Angel Dust’s life. He was technically still in a recovery period after his last filming session, which meant some time to himself that he was supposed to use for recuperation. It was the only thing he’d ever been grateful to Vox for… well, that, and everything else that he was granted in the name of ‘the image’. It didn’t matter why Angel had the days off, of course, because it meant no VoxTek, no shoots, and (most importantly) no Valentino.

Usually, Angel spent these days doing anything except resting, usually getting out, going to clubs, getting his hands on drugs he wasn’t supposed to have, and staying out all night. Usually. But the night after Alastor showed Angel his radio tower, the spider woke up at a reasonable time, and even though it wasn’t quite noon yet… he felt good.

Angel touched his lips, remembering the warmth of Alastor pressed against him what felt like only minutes ago. The weight of his brow against Angel’s own, the sharp touch of his claws that could have gutted him but only gently grazed his skin, the anxious flutter of his breath as he tried to keep his murderous impulses under control…

…yeah. The fact that Angel thought Alastor controlling his murderous impulses was sweet… that was concerning. So was the fact that Alastor still smelled like death and blood, and it had been almost overpowering so close, but Angel hadn’t cared. Maybe he hadn’t even minded.

“Nuggs, I think I’m nuts.”

Angel rolled out of bed, dressed, and had just stepped into the hallway with a mind towards finding some breakfast or something when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Angel turned on his heel and saw a shadow disappear around a corner, and he couldn’t control the smile that practically burst onto his face at just that little glimpse.

“I saw you,” he said in a teasing voice, clasping his hands behind his back and taking a few steps towards the corner. “Why’re you hiding from me, big boy?”

Alastor’s shadow peeked around the corner, a funny image since it was plastered to the wall, and gave Angel a grin that almost looked shy. When Angel didn’t balk, the shadow came out of hiding entirely, swooping around Angel’s own shadow and sending a terrifying chill down his spine that made him giggle. It felt, somehow, like something had actually swirled around him for a moment. As though the shadow had realized that Angel was happy to see it, the form raised its hand and beckoned for Angel to follow before its smile widened and it seemed to fly down the corridor.

“Ah— wait!” Angel said, hurrying after it, but he only got halfway down the hall before a hand reached out from a small alcove and grabbed him by the wrist. He was pulled into the alcove with a sharp squeak, the force sending him into a dizzying little spin before he was suddenly pinned with his back against the wall.

“Hello, sha.”

Angel laughed breathlessly, blinking his dizziness away only to find himself looking into Alastor’s gently glowing eyes. “Holy shit, Smiles, you scared the fuck outta me. You coulda just knocked or somethin’, you know.”

“Oh, I know. This was more fun,” Alastor said with a sinister grin, tilting his head to the side. He the reset to his neutral smile as Angel laughed again. “I didn’t know if you’d be awake.”

“Did you send your shadow to spy or something?”

“Not… precisely.” He paused, and Angel felt one of Alastor’s claws stroke along the inside of his wrist. “…admittedly, I wasn’t sure you would want to see me right now.”

Angel snorted quietly and, clearly telegraphing his movements, he raised his higher set of arms to wrap loosely around Alastor’s shoulders. “Why wouldja think a silly thing like that?”

“Thought you might have come to your senses about last night.”

“I don’t got senses.” Angel regarded him thoughtfully. “Thought you hated being touched.”

“Oh, I do,” Alastor said brightly. “And I wouldn’t recommend initiating anything like this yourself. I’ve been told I’m a little volatile!” The sheer, absurd cheer in his voice made Angel laugh again. Alastor’s expression grew a little more subdued, but his smile was no less genuine. “…there is something… different about you, Angel. I don’t mean to be trite, but your touch… The touch of others can feel like shards of glass even through my coat, but you are… soft,” he said finally, like the word wasn’t adequate but he couldn’t come up with another one.

Angel tilted back against the wall. “This part of what you want to figure out?”

“If you’ll permit it.”

“And then what?”

Alastor tilted his head, a brief buzz of confused static filling the alcove.

Angel grinned. “I mean… what happens when you figure it out?”

“No idea!” Alastor said. “That’s the fun of it, my dear, don’t you think? I never know how I might respond from one moment to the next!”

“Hoo boy,” Angel said, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. “Okay, fine. But I got a couplea conditions here.”

Alastor’s eyebrow went up. “I’m listening.”

“First, you gotta tell me how you’re doin’. And I mean, whenever you think it’s important, no matter how much it changes up.”

“Fair enough. And?”

“And, if your mood changes while we’re doin’ somethin’ like this, you ain’t allowed to freak out on me. I ain’t losin’ a hand or worse just cause you suddenly decided you don’t wanna be touched anymore. Just… tell me, and I’ll back off, I promise. Kay?”

“Communication. Lovely!” Alastor chirped. “This must be that elusive consent that’s so difficult to come by down here.”

“Exactly. Easy, and then I don’t lose an arm. Or a kidney.”

“Unless you consent to that.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me with a good time.”

Alastor smiled at that, hesitated, and then kissed Angel again.

It was very much the same as the night before, though more confident and certain. Afterwards, he released the spider and headed off through his shadows to do his work, and Angel was left to hum to himself as he practically danced down the hallway and the stairs to the kitchen.

That was all Angel needed to make up his mind about whether or not he was spending the day in the hotel. He suddenly became the most suspiciously helpful being in the hotel, giving Charlie a hand with her filing and aiding Niffty in some cleaning and organizing. He caught up on some of his knitting and a bit of reading, he did some prep work in the kitchen, and he took Nuggets out for a walk in the hotel’s small garden. All throughout the day, to the bewilderment of everyone else, he would randomly disappear as a hand snatched him into a shadowy corner to whisper to him, to kiss him, to make him laugh into his own hands to stay quiet. Then, Angel would emerge, and no one would see him reappear, just as they hadn’t seen him vanish… but they all knew he was gone.

It was exhilarating, in a way; thrilling, even though it seemed so low-stakes in the safety of the hotel, to be sneaking around under everyone else’s noses. Alastor seemed to be enjoying it, too, his smile brighter than usual as he tended to hotel business with Charlie or harassed Husk (though Angel thought he seemed more good-natured than usual even in that).

The next day was much the same, until two o’clock rolled around. Angel was curled up in a chair, counting in his head as he worked on his knitting, when Alastor’s voice just behind him made him jump.

“Hello, Angel.”

“Oh my fuck hi Alastor,” Angel said, frowning almost immediately. “Aww, you made me drop a stitch.”

“Terribly sorry, my dear,” Alastor said with a smile that didn’t look sorry at all. “I was heading out on an errand and I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been shut away for nearly two days now. I thought you might like to come with me.”

“Really?” Angel asked, perking up slightly and setting his knitting down. He could fix it later. “Sure, Al, sounds good.”

Unlike the last time they left the hotel together, nobody stopped them, but Angel could feel eyes following them as they headed out again. Alastor didn’t seem bothered by it, going so far as to comment as soon as they were out of earshot, “Don’t worry about them, my dear. If they have concerns, I have little doubt that they will be addressing them to me before you, and I will do my level best to redirect their attention before you fall victim to yet another interrogation.”

“I appreciate that, Smiles,” Angel said as his phone vibrated. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Cherri had texted him, opening it up. “Where we goin’?”

< “hey bitch do u no y husk called me” >

Angel raised an eyebrow at his phone as Alastor said, “Simply dropping off Charlie’s restocking order for her, nothing taxing. I thought we might take a walk after, if you were interested.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Angel said, firing off a text response.

< “Sorry, bb, aint got no idea, did he leave a message?” >

“Everything alright?” Alastor asked. He actually sounded interested.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I think so,” Angel said. “Cherri said Husk called her.”

“Really…” Alastor sounded keenly interested now. “Old Husker, calling Miss Cherri Bomb. Oh, that is a very interesting tidbit of information.”

Angel looked at him. “You’d better not harass him over this—!” He jumped a little when his phone vibrated again.

< “lol fuck no he didnt, called yesterday n today, thot u mite no if smth was wrong” >

“Are those words?” Alastor asked, the sneer audible in his voice.

Angel jumped and pressed his phone into his chest fluff. “Don’t read my phone!”

“I didn’t,” Alastor said with an airy shrug and an unconvincingly innocent smile. “There was nothing to read, simply gibberish.”

Angel laughed quietly, texting back. “We come from the same era, old man, get with the times.”

“I refuse.”

< “Sorry hon, guess you gotta call him back” >

Angel pocketed his phone again and didn’t bother looking when it vibrated again, since it was probably just Cherri cursing at him. “Whaddya got against technology, anyway?”

“I find it an unnecessary distraction.”

Angel snorted. “You wouldn’t be able to figure out a smart phone to save your life.”

Alastor glanced at him, his eyes narrowed and his smile sharp. “Of course I could. Trivial. I simply feel no need to.”

“Sure, sure.”

“I know when I am being baited, Angel Dust. I will not permit you to do it.”

“Okay, sure, be that way, big bad Radio Demon.”

Alastor made a noise that sounded like an annoyed radio, and Angel couldn’t help laughing… but that was mostly because Alastor’s smile was still one of the most genuine Angel had ever seen.

•••

If th’ boys don’t get here soon, I ain’t gonna be responsible for them missin’ shit.

Just Millie’s luck, she supposed, that she would be the one on truck duty when the alarm went off and the surveillance camera informed her, mostly because of its scrambled image, that the Radio Demon had just left the hotel. She immediately fired off messages to Moxxie, Blitzø, and Loona (if Blitzø wanted her out then he would have to nut up and talk to her himself, she wasn’t gonna exclude the girl to make his job easier) before grabbing the equipment VoxTek had provided and hurrying out of the van.

The Radio Demon was very easy to spot, as was his companion, Angel Dust. As she followed them, Millie found herself either thinking about how cool this job was or how much better Angel Dust’s legs looked in person, both of which were not the mission. But it was the Radio Demon!

Just her luck that the one time she got an opportunity to meet him, it was through stalking him and she wasn’t actually allowed to talk to him. What a load of horseshit.

Millie kept an eye on her coworkers’ locations, but she knew she would be doing most of this herself, so she just stuck to the program as she followed the two to some kind of emporium where Alastor talked to someone behind a counter for a brief moment, and then the two left again and just started… walking around.

It wasn’t long before Millie figured out what they were doing. Casually strolling, chatting, occasionally pausing to point at something in a store… they were window shopping and going for a walk. Millie frowned to herself, wondering just what the hell made the Vees so interested in this; it looked very casual, nothing secretive or threatening, no plots being made… Why did they care so much?

From across the street and positioned behind a dumpster, Millie raised the camera that would automatically take a long series of rapid-fire pictures (necessary for Alastor, according to Vox), and she watched the two of them through the lens. They were both looking at something through a window, Angel Dust pointing, before they turned at the same time to look at each other. Millie pressed the button, and the camera began taking its pictures, just as Alastor raised his hand and brushed a stray shred of burned fabric from the pyre on the next street from Angel Dust’s hair.

Millie’s eyes widened a little and she lowered the camera, then she crouched fully behind the dumpster and looked at the screen on the back. She pulled up the previews of the images she had just took, then flipped through them to roughly the middle of the set.

They were both smiling, which seemed normal for the Radio Demon, but Millie was pretty sure this was different. Angel Dust was giggling, his cheeks pink, and Alastor’s expression… she had seen a look like that before.

She had seen it on Moxxie, the evening of their first real date, when he came to pick her up and saw her in the dress she had bought special, just for the occasion.

“You look… beautiful, Millie.”

Millie lowered the camera and stared at the ground. Suddenly, she had a very, very sick feeling about this job.

•••

Val: Makes you wonder what they’re doing RIGHT NOW

Well going by the timing they were probably making out in Alastor’s radio tower, Val

[smosh-fessions]

In much recent streams Damien did disclose that he doesn’t feel the need the include himself in queer community/doesn’t expect people to include him under the umbrella etc. he said he is fine being a staunch ally. I don’t think that erases his complex feelings about his orientation and stuff, but it does tell us that he isn’t actively seeking that kind of support right know. Tbh even around the time of the stream that’s been discussed he wasnt asking for excaptence from community or whatever. He was just discussing his and his friends views etc. I don’t see this as him being inconsistent or hypocrite, it’s just the complexities being discussed openly, which the details of it might shift in time esp according to how relevant they are to ones needs. I think you are valid for laying out your stance clearly and arguing for your principles, I do not think you were doing all this for to be “Damien’s white knight” which is a very presumptios thing that was said by one of these anons, and them picking at your tone is just coward stupid shit which told me more about their intentions. But I still don’t think people not including him in conversations around querness is bad at this point esp, it doesn’t seem like something he is putting weight in at the moment. Who knows what’s changed but to me the important part is that he is aware of his privilege and I don’t think anybody could argue in good faith that he is taking some role/opportunity out of some other queer person in any material form that matters, this is a personal moment he shared with us at one time. It’s just that. It’s not posing as something else to get whatever . So it feels weird to me too when people act like you are imposing a foreign identity on him when you are just taking his word. I don’t think it matters that he is being discussed as queer in a corner on tumblr in a way that reflected his words at one time. You aren’t going under Damien’s comments and demanding that he openly identifies as queer or people/him arent demanding that he should be the voice of a queer only space or get ‘’benefits’’ -whatever they might be, from identifying as such. I find people calling other people/themselves things like queer lite a little annoying at worst in a sorta banal way regardless of how they actually identify. Just the verbiage is irrataring to me sometimes for many reason but I also get why people feel the need to work with that. I don’t see why this has to be adressed or fixed since it’s so “distastefu’’ I just don’t see the offensive part which means I also don’t see the need to prove Damien’s place in queerness so this flighty frustration of couple people can be absolved.

This was incredibly well put.

My whole argument is that whether or not he's actively looking to be in the community or just act as an ally, he's got a complicated orientation when you break it down to its base parts. And those have labels.

I'm thinking of it kind of like a watch. It's full of tons of small important pieces that all make it work, but they're still within a *watch.*

I'm simply taking him at his word and agreeing that he's absolutely always allowed to use cishet if that's the most comfortable way for him to do so. If he changes his mind, great! If he doesn't, also great! But we cannor erase the insides because they make up part of who he is.

[tgmsunmontue]

Life is too short to waste time matching socks... (1/5) WIP I

Hangster and Bob/Javy/Nat - set post mission with the Dagger Squad having been made a permanent squad.

                Bradley opens his locker and startles a little as something falls onto his head from where it was obviously balanced just on the door of his locker. Two pairs of socks, still in the cardboard sleeve, one with peach emojis and the other with eggplants. His first reaction is to roll his eyes, because it’s a little juvenile, butt and dick emoji socks. He knows none of the Dagger Squadron have a problem with him being gay. It would be a little hypocritical for some of them, considering at least half of them identify somewhere in the rainbow community, and they’ve had drunken rambling talks about it, about always having to strive to prove themselves and maybe that’s why they’ve all succeeded to become as good as they are.

                “Uh… are these a joke?”

                No-one says anything and he shrugs, puts the socks into his bag for home.

…            …            …

                “You’re not subtle. Well, actually, maybe you are, because he’s not figured it out yet.”

                “Maybe he’s figured it out and is just not interested in me like that so is just… pretending to not know so he doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

                Javy and Nat both snort.

                “What?”

                “Okay, for a start, when has he ever tried to spare your feelings?”

                “We’re friends now. Sort of.”

                “Yeah. Sort of. Because he wants to dick you down.”

                “Classy Trace, real classy.”

                “I’m sorry, since when have you ever cared about class? You’ve got a hardon for a guy that wears Hawaiian shirts by choice.”

…            …            …

                “Someone gave you socks and you think they’re… playing a prank? Normally the socks are covered in itching powder, or shoes with shaving foam, buckets of water above the door, laces tied together…”

                “It’s what’s on the socks. Here. Look.”

                Mav stares at them. Looks up to Bradley.

                “Farm produce?”

                Bradley winces, he really doesn’t want to have to explain the double meaning of the emojis to a man nearing sixty.

                “God your face. I’m old, I’m not dead. I know what those mean.”

                “So, do you think someone’s making fun of me?”

                “For what?”

                “Uh. Being gay? Having a, um, actually, never mind…”

                “You a bit of a shower huh?”

                “Jesus Mav…” Bradley mutters as Mav just laughs.

                “Clearly nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe someone’s paying you a compliment. Or they have a weird way of flirting? I don’t know what you kids do these days.”

                “I think we’re too old to be classified as the kids of today, considering some of my friends have kids who they’re already struggling to understand.”

                “Everyone’s a kid to me.”

                “Yeah well, you are ancient.”

                “Hey! You’re meant to respect your elders!”

                It’s Bradley’s turn to laugh and it’s good, their relationship slowly healing. Of course, Penny sitting them both down and acting as mediator; forcing Mav to tell him that it had been his mom’s wish… He no longer has moments of fleeting anger and resentment, realizing that life is too short to hold this grudge when he’d worked around it anyway, that it hadn’t actually seriously impacted his career progression, that it had simply been the lying and lack of support which had felt like the deepest of betrayals.

                When he gets back to his accommodation he picks up the socks holds them in his hands, they’re good quality, brand new and unused and while it was clearly three pairs he’s only been given the two and he wonders if the other person has kept a pair for themselves. He’s desperate to know, a building mystery. He knows it has to be a fellow aviator, because they were delivered to his locker. So definitely an aviator. Or someone close enough to ask one of them to do it for them.

                He can figure this out.

…            …            …

                “Is this getting even more painful or is it just me?”

                “If I didn’t know better I’d think they were secretly together and winding us up, but Jake can’t act to save himself, so… he’s actually gone on him.”

                “They have a very weird way of showing each other that they like each other…”

                “Well… Rooster grew up with Mav as his role model. Were we expecting him to be normal?”

                “You raise a valid point.”

                “And Jake… well. His parents are so much older than him, his older brother pretty much raised him and he isn’t exactly the most, uh, demonstrative of guys?”

                “Is that a diplomatic way of saying he’s a bag of dicks?”

                “Don’t you like dicks?”

                “I like dicks when they’re attached to guys I like, I would make a hard pass on a bag of lose dicks just jiggling around like that…”

                Javy and Bob exchange slightly horrified looks.

                “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

                “Bags of detached dicks…” Bob says, pushing his glasses up his nose and somehow maintaining a completely straight face.

                “I’m... I’m sorry I asked. I’ll leave you to it,” Rueben says, doing a sharp one-eighty and heading back out the way he came in.

                The three of them burst into laughter and it’s a nice break from their moan and groan session discussing the problem of Hangman and Rooster and their combined obliviousness. How they’re both so intelligent but so equally clueless makes the three of them despair.

                “Okay. I’m going to invite them both to dinner and then stand them up, so they have to have dinner together.”

                “Yeah, they could just get up and leave…”

                “No, they won’t, I’ll make sure of it,” Natasha states and the other two decide not to argue any further.

                “I’m going to suggest we do an escape room, and then need to take an emergency call… one of you are going to need to be my emergency call,” Bob says, looking between them, flushing a little as Javy simply looks at him and smiles.

                “I’m going for tried and true. I’m going to lock them in a room and then text them both and then let them sort it out.”

                “Looking them in a cupboard, real mature.”

                “As mature as them. The solution needs to match the problem. He gave him socks with butt and dick emojis.”

                “Yeah okay, you raise a fair point…”

                “Anyway, if the dinner and escape room ideas don’t work then I think we'll all be ready to lock them up. Or bang their heads together.”

…            …            …

PART TWO

[jinxed-sinner]

Tbh I think Lucifer’s identity is probably super chaotic. Like I think he's really chaotically genderfluid and I think it was affected by whatever time he spent in Eden (and I also think the other angels' identities were affected by the existence of Adam, Lilith, and Eve, but other angels stick more to traditional masculinity/femininity, whereas Lucifer’s identity depends almost entirely on his feelings and circumstances. He's identified as agender, a demiboy, just masculine, and experimented with tons of other labels he doesn’t know the term for. I also think he doesn’t give a shit what pronouns you use for him as long as you don't use she/her on him). He's able to shapeshift and he's been able to since he was in Heaven and I think after he met Adam and Lilith he did a lot of experimenting.

I 100% think he'll change whether he presents as biologically male or biologically female (or both or neither) depending on what feels most comfortable to him, and he's been doing it since he met Adam and Lilith (and I do think the other angels probably gave him weird looks for it). If someone asks him about it he just says "It's weird and it's complicated" because as comfortable as it makes him, it's weird and complicated to him. He was the only angel who did that when he was in Heaven.

I think eventually he meets a genderfluid demon who explains to him that Heaven just has (ironically and hypocritically) really weird views on gender expression and gender identity. It takes him a while but eventually he realizes that yeah, Heaven just has dumb views on genderfluidity and it was never weird or complicated in the first place, his trauma from Heaven just made it hard to explain his experience.

(I think I should clarify that when I say Lucifer’s chaotically genderfluid, I mean his identity seems to change without any real rhyme or reason. Something that seems to trigger a change in his identity might not trigger a change when it happens again for example. He essentially has no way of telling how he'll be most comfortable at any given moment because it's prone to changing so quickly)

[lokisasylum]

And the award for the most TOXIC and hypocritical fandom goes to...

ARMY 8D

Because the problem was never about the members having their own SOLO fandom & fanbases.

The problem is always JIMIN HAVING PEOPLE WHO GENUINELY SUPPORT HIM.

ITS OKAY... for Jimin to get dragged.

ITS OKAY... for Jimin to get hate.

ITS OKAY... for Jimin and his family to get d*ath threats.

ITS OKAY... for Jimin to get misgendered, "he's prolly gay/bi anyway" (yeah I've read some of you assholes here on tumblr say this).

ITS OKAY... for Army to continuously take STEAL credits for what Jimin stans & his solo fanbases bust their asses off day and night doing in order to keep "Like Crazy" and his other song stable.

Because "He'll only thank Armys anyway"

(Translation: Army are now openly admitting that they think Jimin is too stupid to notice that Army don't give a shit about him and will continue to thank them for the non-existent support. )

But what they forget is that Jimin is very aware of his fans OUTSIDE of the group fandom. Its why---just like the other members--he says "My fans" once in awhile; in fact he's been saying it since VIBE era, because he knows he is loved by MANY even if they don't identify as Army. Even his father knows about his solo fans. The only ones trying to gatekeep Jimin from having new/solo fans is Army, while failing to realize that their attitude towards him is actually creating MORE solos. And the SAME thing is happening with other members' solos.

Hell, I remember reading back when Jack In The Box came out TONS of "ot7" stating on X and IG that they would boycott every solo project, would ONLY hype, support and vote for GROUP related things (as well as harass anyone who refused to join ARMY). Because according to them and I quote:

"We have to force them (the members) to see that they can only strive and Army will only support them if they remain as BTS."

It's why you only see them making all these weird random Streaming Parties for OLD BTS songs, instead of helping to stream new or current releases.

Army don't care about BTS, they just care about their ego.

OT7 is DEAD, now its just 7 sub-fandoms at war with one another 24/7.

[running-with-toast]

In a perverse sort of way, even after the performance he had last night Trump probably still came off looking strong to his base. Strength for reactionaries has nothing to do with personal ability and everything to do with shunning of what they perceive as weakness (empathy, diversity, collaboration, femininity, etc.), and in their minds Trump almost certainly delivered on that front.

Reactionaries have a seemingly endless list of grievances, but I think the most fundamental issue for them is corruption. Not governmental corruption, they're more than okay with that, but moral corruption. Ideological corruption. The thing they care most about is purity.

It's why sexism, patriarchy, and misogyny are such a core part of the reactionary platform. Masculinity and femininity are polar opposites, and are only "pure" when their domains don't intersect. If a man shows any "feminine" traits, like empathy or sadness or curiosity, that's a corruption of the purity of masculinity. Deviance. If a woman shows any "masculine" traits, like confidence, aggression, avarice, a desire for leadership, that's also a corruption of the purity of masculinity.

It's what motivates their nationalism, isolationism, racism, and bigotry against migrants and queer folks. There's a desire within reactionaries to be part of The Majority. They feel that their beliefs are Normal and everyone believes the same things as them. They are pure, their community is pure, and anyone trying to change things is trying to corrupt that purity. It's why accusations of racist/rapist/felon/etc bounce off them, but being called weird drives them up the wall. Being called weird implies that they aren't the majority. It says that they are the outsiders, which they can't abide. It's why they go after immigrants and black people. Whiteness is Purity, and brown people moving in next door is a Corruption of that purity. It's why they hate queer people so much. Blurring the lines of gender and sexuality is a Corruption of the Purity of Masculinity and Femininity. It's why they hate higher education. Those teachers are Corrupting Your Kids with their Deviant Ideology.

It's why Donald Trump is their godking, and Kamala Harris is their worst nightmare. Trump is a rapist, a bigot, a greedy cruel vain bloviating jackass. He's everything a Strong White Man should be. Kamala Harris is a black woman, and I could honestly stop there, but she's also confident and forceful and a strong leader, everything a woman shouldn't be. Kamala Harris is everything reactionaries hate.

It's why they don't care about the truth. Liberals will call Trump a hypocrite and a liar and a pathetic babbling old man and they'll be right and it won't shift the needle a single inch, because neither he nor his supporters care about the actual words he's saying. The message is what matters, and as long as the message is Pure, anything he says in support of that message might as well be true. Immigrants eat cats? They obviously don't, and neither Trump nor is supporters believe it. The message is that immigrants are Outsiders, so it might as well be true. Schools are providing litter boxes for kids who self-identify as cats? Obviously not true, but the message is that Schools are Corrupting Your Kids with Deviant Ideology, so it might as well be true. The Jews Deep State is kidnapping kids to harvest blood adrenochrome? Outsiders, might as well be true. The Muslims are coming to bomb your house? Might as well be true. The Communists are coming for your money? The Queers are coming for your kids? The Blacks are coming for your women?

Might as well be true.

[din-skywalker]

Reading through your Miguel tag… it’s such a nice refresher from what I’ve been seeing in other online spaces as of late. I have a big gripe with how people are handling his behavior and refusing to take in the deep psychological gash that is watching an entire world dissipate before your very eyes because of a decision *you* made. I hate the jokes about him overreacting or being “crazy”. I don’t know if it’s because I’m autistic (haha) or something, but I never once found him to be as irrational or rude as people say he is. Not to say that, in general, he isn’t.

A lot of people are making Miguel out to be an elitist, egotistical, unreasonable mastermind. Why are we forgetting that an antagonist does not need some sort of jarring malignancy to be an antagonist? The missing pieces of the puzzle that is SV Miguel are meant to elicit a sense of mystery. The problem is it’s very easy to take that lack of information and replace it with inaccurate assumptions. All of a sudden, Miguel isn’t capable of flawed thinking, he must be incorrigibly wrong. It just sucks to see such a multifaceted character get misunderstood so deeply. :/ It’s nothing new in fandom, but it never stops being frustrating. There are several lines in the movie that pretty much sum up his motivations perfectly, and they are uttered in very important scenes too. Either people don’t sympathize with him, or they project what they find attractive onto him and still misconstrue in the process. What a sight.

On another note, however, I’m really fascinated with his place as Miles’ persecutor. He’s so caught up in his own grief (as anyone in that position would be) that he unknowingly allows for it to bleed into the very framework of his life. It’s part projecting onto Miles, part trying to salvage himself from the unbearable guilt of his mistakes, part feeling a genuine duty to protect. It’s funny how in a way, Miguel is presenting a philosophy that contradicts what the movie is building up as what being Spider-Man means. It’s about a spider-person’s response to tragedy, not the tragedy itself. It’s kind of telling on what Miguel thinks of his own life that he begins to identify with these pains so deeply. But despite that, in a weird way, he’s also simultaneously being a “true” Spider-Man by rising up against that regardless. Though, I guess you could say that saying that is hypocritical. That’s what I think anyways, could be wrong. Even someone like Miguel falls for basic emotional needs like community and safety, cause he’s (part) human too. Imagine seeing thousands upon thousands of people just like you. Beneath your frustrations, it’s still solidarity. I don’t know.

Beyond that emotional stuff Miguel is flexible, he is capable and responsible in the ways he can be and that is what we see in SV2. Is it puritan, or even good? Nope. But. He’s just a silly guy. Not saying that I like seeing some kid get bashed against a train ofc lmao.

Anyways I’m terribly sorry for rambling so much in your asks, hope you don’t mind. Have a good day.

i agree with everything you just said and don't even feel like i need to add anything. thank you 😌