#i also just love the idea of wealthy kids going into a life of crime so joining the Thieves Guild will be such an easy decision for her

[wiisagi-maiingan]

I love watching youtube videos about tiktok and influencer drama, mainly because I'm completely disconnected from stuff like that (I have never watched an influencer video in my life) so it gives me the thrill of true crime without the tragedy exploitation aspect, but sometimes I also feel completely disconnected from the youtubers too?

Like every youtuber has to offer up a million disclaimers about how they aren't judging influencers or whatever and that's usually fine but like. I do feel that there ARE points where people need to be judged for the content they're sharing and promoting and profiting off of!

"I'm not judging tradwives or saying their content is bad—" I am!! I am absolutely judging tradwives! Extremely harshly! Because the entire "tradwife" movement is conservative propaganda based on misogynistic and patriarchal ideas about history with no basis in reality or in our modern world! And tradwife influencers explicitly target young women and especially teen girls and try to convince them to put their entire lives in the hands of their husbands, which is a horrific recipe for domestic abuse!

These women making hundreds of thousands of dollars off tiktok videos (and often coming from extremely wealthy families) are out here telling young girls that they don't need an education, that they don't need their own income, that if they're just pretty enough and obedient enough then they'll find a rich husband and never have to worry about anything ever and it's fucking scary! And I don't know why we are tolerating it!

We know what happens when people, especially women, give up complete control to their partners. We know what that leads to, resentment and extreme control and total lack of options when things go from totally fine to constant arguing to violence. These influencers, who ARE making extremely significant personal incomes from their jobs as influencers online, lie through their fucking teeth about how perfect it is that their husbands do everything for them and all they have to do is take care of the kids and home (with the help of nannies and housekeepers and personal chefs off-screen. . .) and about how they've escaped from capitalism, meanwhile the people actually in those situations who AREN'T making all that extra cash are either already in abusive relationships or they're in incredibly precarious positions where they could end up abused or thrown out with nothing in an instant.

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to be a homemaker or stay-at-home parent. I don't think it's wrong to not want to go to college or have a 9-5.

But you NEED options. You need full access to your own money that can't be monitored or controlled by a partner. You need access to a vehicle. You need a life outside of your home and family, especially friends who are willing and able to help you if needed. You need the ability to survive on your own in some way. Because if and when things go wrong in the relationship, THOSE are the things that will save your life.

Also remember that again, these tradwives DO have jobs and their jobs involve selling a fake lifestyle and fake ideals. They are getting paid BIG TIME for the shit they peddle to you, whether that's through the millions of views they get (both from genuine fans and from haters, the algorithm doesn't know or care about the difference) or the many sponsorships they get, they have incomes that they are not disclosing. They have help that they are not disclosing. Many of them started out with extreme wealth but lie through their teeth and cosplay as fucking homesteading peasants. It's all a lie to sell shit to you. Don't buy it.

Disclaimer: Please do not nitpick this post, it's very late and I'm ranting and if this leaves my circle of followers I will regret it deeply. Be nice. Tradwives dni, you're all annoying.

[idefendthecrimes]

Time in life when it was simple yet never the best of us.

@imagoodcop

Time in life when it was simple yet never the best of us. 

Wesley Evers, the guy that defended the crimes that he felt weren’t committed. He was also the wealthy lawyer that refused to allow his mother to help him out. Growing up he never saw everyone in black and white. In school he purposely tried to disappoint his mother, he wanted to be the black sheep. He never understood the concept of well income families being better than the lower. He never cared about the money, he never wanted a career the best law program, the best lawyer company based on who his family was. He wanted to earn his spot on his own merits. A concept his family never understood. When I graduated I purposely picked the farthest school from my family, I honestly considered changing the last name but too much effort. 

Wesley was a defense attorney he was based in LA, he was one of the defense lawyers the Wilshire station used when a cop got themselves into a sticky situation. Wesley had those cops on speed dial it helped his reputation. Grey knew he was able to call day or night, and I’d hope out of bed and be restless and do my job. Being in LA the last few years; Wesley had reinvaded his life. He came off a broken engagement; purposely. He was guilty for the fallout; he was guilty for hurting Monica, for forcing her to end it. Truth was instead of being honest with myself, about how I didn’t love her enough to say I do, I felt like she liked the name Evers, what my family’s money the last name could do for her. Which is why I opt from allowing any of my dates from knowing who I am, the evers name. It opens doors but at what cost? 

I cheated why? Because I knew it would be the straw that broke her; force her hand to toss the diamond in my direction. Wesley liked helping people but when it came to dating he was a massive mess. Wesley decided his energy was best put into his career, he was just stepping out of his car, the expensive one, the only black expensive car he wanted in his life; but he did buy on his own. He had his briefcase in hand as he was preparing for a debriefing here at the station, a kid was wrongly accused of stealing, when it shows it was only because the manager of the store was unwilling to work with him, give him the money he owed the young idiot. He was near the food trucks where the cops of LAPD tended to hang out on their off shifts or a lunch break, when he barely felt the movement. “ Greg” He called as he felt the way my case fell, and I felt wobbly on my feet. My own client was the one what I felt ambushed me. As I got a handle on myself; Wesley spotted the boy running away with his flies; his case. Panic arose as he glanced to the two cops. 

“ Help, he just took my flies.” My flies, eyeing the younger male as he already had his hand on the gun and made a beeline after my idiot client. Stressful on my part. As for the brunette; she felt familiar yet I had no idea how. She wasn’t a client right? Brows pushed together; as he eyed her. “ Are you just gonna stand on your ass or will you do your damn job?” I asked more so out of annoyance; or was I about to go man hunting for my own client.

[dovelyanon]

So I was thinking and I realized I don’t know why Teach me how to sing is named teach me how to sing. How’d you come up with that title?

Omg, you asked! I was wondering if anyone was ever going to ask. Warning: I'm about to ex-theatre kid nerd out.

I hope you don't regret this, @rahabrios

The Similarities between Adrien Agreste and Johanna Barker

"Teach me how to sing" is a lyric from 'Green Finch and Linnet Bird'- the damsel's song in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In it, Johanna- the play's damsel in distress- is locked in her room. She looks to the songbirds in their cages and wonders how they can sing in these conditions. Feeling powerless, she wishes to learn how to be content despite her circumstances hence the lyric "teach me how to sing". I thought it mirrored Adrien's constant struggle in the fic- between his desire for freedom and his desire to remain and be the perfect son, to make his father happy. Johanna never finds happiness in these circumstances and neither does Adrien.

I had a few titles in mind when I started the fic, but what sold me on "Teach Me how to Sing' was all the fun parallels between the story/Miraculous in general and Sweeney Todd. Here are just a few I remember finding amusing (Light Spoilers for Sweeney Todd ahead):

Judge Turpin and Gabriel Agreste. Judge Turpin is Johanna's guardian, a wealthy man with political power who was obsessed with Johanna's mother. After he drove her mother to her demise, he took charge of Johanna and keeps her locked away under tight surveillance. He ultimately has darker intentions toward her and, when she refuses, he labels her insane and tries to have her committed.

Sweeney Todd and Gabriel/Hawkmoth. Johanna's actual father is Sweeney Todd- a man so consumed with vengeance for his family that he is terrorizing all of London and sinking ever deeper into madness. He knows Johanna is alive, but kind of just... doesn't bother to try and talk to her and isn't urgent about freeing her? He is more occupied with taking revenge on Judge Turpin and lamenting losing his perfect family and wife. He does not try to have a relationship with his daughter because she'd probably "look too much like her (his wife)" and they'd "never be the way we were".

Mrs. Lovett and Nathalie. Mrs. Lovett is Sweeney Todd's dedicated partner in crime. She's arguably more capable and more intelligent than him. She comes up with the bright ideas while he whines and she takes the brunt of his mood swings. But she's head over heels for him despite the fact that he is stingy at best and manipulative at worst with his affections and largely emotionally unavailable to her due to his fixation on his lost wife. He uses the hell out of her anyway. He is ultimately responsible for her demise.

Anthony and Marinette. Anthony is the optimistic and hopeful pauper charming who drops into Johanna's life and helps her to escape from her gilded cage, fighting retaliation by Judge Turpin each step of the way. He is also notorious for having one of the most stalkerish love songs by his archetype in musical history.

Some notable lyrics:

"I'll steal you, Johanna."

"Do they think that walls can hide you?"

"Even now I'm at your window."

He is the well-intentioned but slightly creepy love interest. But we're rooting for them anyway.

Well, yeah. There were a few more, but that's the gist of it. Sorry I turned your ask into a photo essay, @rahabrios

I didn't expect anyone to ask me this and thought the nerding would stay safely locked inside. I guess not. Welp... I recommend Sweeney Todd for anyone who likes musicals and dark themes! The original play with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury is great, but I'm also a big fan of the 2007 movie with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter <3 Thanks for reading my rambles.

[stawscweam]

I’m doing it. I’m finally creating my Khajiit Dragonborn.

[forestlingincorporated]

I wanna talk about Janet Drake

I’m not against exaggeratedly evil versions of Tim’s parents, tbh. It’s fanfiction, if we can depict an Exaggeratedly Good version of Bruce (which we can, and I do, and I love) then we can depict the Drakes as Exaggeratedly Bad. As someone who personally identifies with Tim, and his brand of complicated parental abuse in particular, I find it cathartic to uncomplicate that abuse and rescue him from the Obviously Evil Bad People. 

That said, since much of comics lore is passed down word of mouth, the oral tradition surrounding Tim has developed this idea of Janet as The Worse Parent between her and Jack that was never really present in the comics. We see much LESS of Janet, and we have 20 years worth of comics depicting Jack as a neglectful hotheaded idiot who ultimate does love his son. More importantly, Jack isn’t very much LIKE Tim, so there is a habit to attribute Tim’s traits to his mother... and, as someone who really really identifies with Tim, Tim has... some negative traits. Tim can be a bitch sometimes. He’s fiercely intelligent and sweet and kind, with a strong sense of justice, but he can be cold and judgmental and unthinking - he fights those traits, but he does have them. 

And it is perfectly fine to depict Janet that way. I’ve enjoyed depictions of Cold Calculating Janet Drake, but it’s not the ONLY option, and I want to challenge fans to consider different avenues. Tim could pick up these traits from anywhere: a nanny, Mrs. Mc Ilvaine (”Mrs. Mac”), a teacher, tv, Sherlock Holmes novels, Bruce Wayne himself. Tim is capable of not being like EITHER parent. 

So, what do we KNOW about Janet? (I’ll also touch on Jack, but only in scenes he appears with Janet.) 

When Janet was first introduced she was depicted as a gentle but “modern” woman. This was written in 1989, told by a 13 year old Tim, so this theoretically was meant to take place in 1979. I’m not here to give a lecture on the history of sex discrimination in the united states, but much of the legislation protecting women in the workforce or surrounding women’s bodily autonomy would have been very very new in this initial depiction. 

Here, Janet is shown to be encouraging, emotional, maternal, and projects her own feelings onto Tim. Jack is shown to be slightly sexist, possibly discouraging, but not overbearing. And the artist is shown not to know how to draw children. 

To insert some speculation, I think it’s important to note all the Drakes witnessed a terrible murder/accident that day. I point this out, because this is the last time Jack and Janet are depicted this way. It’s possible they changed as a result of this event specifically. 

However, this is also a story being told by Tim. It’s also possible these events aren’t really “real” at all, and Tim is misremembering what his parents were like as a three-year-old, possibly projecting a more palatable version of his parents into the narrative. This is entirely up to personal interpretation. 

In fact, the Drakes are shown in Legend of the Dark Knight attending Haly’s Circus, and the artist knows what a toddler looks like and they’re depicted as already having a slightly strained relationship. Jack is clearly on the defensive, and Janet seems to be passive-aggressive, though she could just be attempting to explain the situation to her toddler honestly. The intended tone isn’t especially clear. 

I do want to point out, in this depiction, Tim isn’t being carried like he was in the previous one. He’s walking ahead of his parents, which isn’t a terrible horrible crime, but could be dangerous in a crowded place like the circus. Might be a subtle hint to his parents overall neglect. 

Back to A Lonely Place of Dying, in Tim’s memories of the night he discovered Robin and Dick Grayson were the same person at nine-years-old, his parents are home, and watching TV together while Tim played... trucks, idk, in the living room with them. (This is semi-interesting, because you could say “oh, Tim liked vehicle toys as a kid” or you could extrapolate that this is another subtle indication of Jack’s sexism, providing Tim with appropriately “boy toys.” Either interpretation is valid. If Tim was assigned female at birth, would they have been given “girl toys,” or allowed to play with whatever they wanted?) 

This is, to my knowledge, the only panel of the Drakes when Tim is between ages 3 and 13. They’re all together, which might indicate that the Drakes were home more often when Tim was 9, only later going on business trips when Tim was “old enough” but... 

This is Tim’s boarding school when he’s 13. While most boarding schools in the US are for grades 9-12, Tim is clearly not a freshman at age 13; look how much younger the other kids in this panel are. In the US, the youngest you can attend most boarding schools is 7. 

That means Tim could have begun going to boarding school anytime between 7 and 13. He most likely spent all of middle school in boarding school, at least. There are an almost infinite number of possible ways the Drakes handled having a business that required lots of international travel, an archeology hobby, AND a very young child. Janet staying home until Tim was 7, 11, 13, is equally possible as the Drakes having a nanny until 7, 11, 13. Tim just doesn’t talk about that period of his life very much.

(”What about Mrs. Mac?” - it is unclear when Mrs. Mac begins working for the Drakes. We only see her when Jack comes out of his coma. She could either be a long standing staff member, or a recent hire.) 

Note: I’ve seen it said that it’s canon that “According to Tim, when his parents were home, they made a point to try and include him in their activities, bringing him along to events that were normally adults only.” I have never seen this panel, or I don’t remember it, so I cannot confirm, but I also cannot debunk this because... comics. 

By the time Tim is 13, Jack and Janet are away on business trips a lot, with limited communication, and no firm return date. If I’m feeling generous, I’d say it was harder to communicate internationally in 1990 than it is today. If I’m not feeling generous, I’d say the Drakes are extremely wealthy, and international communication was easier than ever before in the 80s and 90s. They’re not even going home to see Tim in a week or two, they’re going home and calling Tim at boarding school in a week or two. 

Even Bruce thinks its weird, though he doesn’t say so to Tim’s face. It’s written almost as if Tim’s parents’ neglect was meant to be a plot point that just got forgotten about. 

Tim’s parents are fighting at this point (their poor assistant), but Janet still goes with Jack on these business trips. And she’s clearly involved in the business, somehow, but the comics never SAY what Janet’s JOB is. We’re told Jack is the exec, but Janet is ONLY ever referred to as Jack’s wife, though they’re later described as the “heads” of the company, plural. 

Just to be clear, this is Jack’s business. There’s a perception that Jack is a bad business man because he and Janet fight over company decisions, and Jack looses the business after Janet dies, but Jack looses the company YEARS after Janet dies, and maintains it for about a year after No Man’s Land at that. We’re not told how Jack looses the business, but he’s got to be doing something right. Janet isn’t necessarily the “real brains” of Drake Industries. 

And I’m not... gonna... touch the... exploitation and racism because... I’m not qualified to do that. But, here’s the panel. The Drakes sure seem exploitative and racist in their business decisions. Someone else can... analyze that with more nuance. 

Regardless how how long they’ve been fighting, when their lives are in danger, the Drakes fall back into a loving husband and wife. Their marriage may be falling apart, but they do care about each other. 

I want to show these panels because it shows that Tim and Jack do have things in common. They’re both level headed in a crisis and can be somewhat cold in their practicality. Janet meanwhile and silent. Jack is later willing rant and rave at their captors, but Janet remains silent. 

That is, until they’re alone, and she finally lets herself fall apart. 

God, Jack can be obnoxious. Janet just looks miserable and resigned. I actually think Tim takes after his parents in this respect in equal measure. Tim can have a temper, but he can also be fairly melancholy and defeatist. 

Jack keeps reminding Janet to be strong and in control, which could be period typical sexism? But Jack seems so practiced and ready with the words of encouragement, and with Tim’s history with depression, I wonder if Janet has an inclination towards it as well. 

As the end approaches, when Jack brings up Tim, Janet seems to have a lot of regret. She talks about “wasting” the good things, and I don’t think it’s too big of a stretch to assume she’s talking about time spent with her only child. 

From this point on, Janet is at times spoken of, but not seen. Like here, when Jack says Janet wouldn’t approve of him and Tim being so “far apart.” He says this after he tells him he takes back his threat to send him back to boarding school, which might imply Janet was against the idea of boarding school? Though she obviously lost that argument when she was alive. 

Jack will of course renege on this later, but that’s Jack Drake for you. 

Or here in Tim’s illness induced dream, where he gets everything he wants. Though, since this is a fantasy of Tim’s, where his father and girlfriend are both more accepting and understanding than they are in real life, I would take this depiction of Janet with a grain of salt. 

After loosing Drake Industries, Jack thinks about Janet (though, they call her Catherine/Cathy for some fucking reason) during his depressive episode. And... uh... 

Hallucinates a Valkyrie???? Is this symbolic of suicidal thoughts, or is she... real? Or is he seriously hallucinating? 

Anyway, we’re not here to discuss Jack’s mental state, the fact that he forgot Tim’s birthday, or that concerning “I was going to knock some sense into you but you’re still bigger than me” statement from Tim, we’re here to talk about Janet. And even though this entire arc is about Jack mourning his first wife, they don’t SAY anything about Janet herself at all. I mean, they don’t even get her name right, so I guess what was I expecting. 

Then there’s Origins and Omens, which also doesn’t say anything about Janet, except that Tim’s memory of her is faulty - Janet was poisoned, her assistant Jeremy’s throat was slit on television, but Tim seems to have conflated the death he did see with the death he didn’t. 

The only piece of canon to suggest that Janet might be cold, is Tim compares her to Thalia. And even then, he’s really just saying Janet was protective of him. It’s kind of a scary look to make at your kid, but Bruce does the same thing, so. 

I do want to say... it’s not 100% clear if Tim is even talking about Janet. He could be talking about Dana. Dana was observably protective of Tim, though I don’t think he’s ever called her mom. He PROBABLY means Janet. 

And finally we have Tim visiting his mother’s grave (in a duel Christian/Jewish cemetery, make of that what you will), where Tim says she was “a little religious.”

And that’s it! That is all we know about Janet Drake in New Earth. Hardly the Mom From Hell, but she isn’t perfect. I’d be interested in seeing some alternate depictions of her within the fandom. 

I’m still gonna eat up Terrible Parents From Hell like a starving puppy dog, though. Just some food for creative thought. 

[ot-hoe-me]

OC: Margaret Sheppard

For IF: @devilscreekballad​

Mrs. Niall Sheppard nee Margaret Tarkani, known as Maggie to friends and loved ones. 

Backstory: Widowed young when her husband was murdered, Maggie started her life of crime by seeking revenge. She met Charlie after he was recommended to her for his spiritual services in order to contact her deceased husband hoping that he perhaps knew who his killer was so she could avenge his death. However, by the time she was able to track the perpetrator down, he was already dead before she could do the deed herself. (Sorry this isn’t more specific, I’m just indecisive on the details lmao.) Anyway, Charlie went along with her on that endeavour because they got on straight away, and he wanted to be there to prevent her from doing something stupid (also on Niall’s request.) This somehow leads until where they are today and Maggie views Charlie as an older brother, and the only family she’s got left. (She’s also grown a soft spot for Finley in the short time she’s known him. But that’s a different topic altogether though.)

To backtrack a little though, her father once worked as a stablehand/groom for a minor nobleman in England, which is how he met her mother, as she was that nobleman’s daughter and they ran away to the US to get married since her family disapproved. Once he got hired to a wealthy man’s stable again he worked his way up to head groom and that’s how Maggie has her outrider background, since she learned everything she knows about riding and horses from her dad. 

Also, she named her horse Ciarán since that’s what she and Niall were going to name their son if they had one, but since they didn’t get the chance to have any kids her horse gets the name. (How she got such a rare horse colour though I have NO IDEA lmao.)   

Ethnicity: Half Caucasian (English) Half Indian (Actual India, the part that will eventually become Pakistan though.)

LI(s): The Man in Black Preacher, Isaac Delgado? (Maybe)

(Stats as of the end of the public demo.)

A similar example of an outfit Maggie might wear when she is trying to look like A Respectable American Citizen TM.

[insufferableflannels]

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘-𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋: Before the VDL gang & General Headcannons ☕️ (slight TW for emotional abuse?)

Marybeth is one of the only characters I’ve ever been able to relate to & is extremely underdeveloped so i figured I’d delve a bit into her past.

Early Years

-Marybeth never cared for her mother, in fact they had a very rough relationship overall. It’s a part of the reason she doesn’t talk about her past often or at all. Her mother wasn’t inherently “bad” just a very desperate woman. She worked several jobs, met many men, & was constantly moving around with her daughter. She’d tell the same sob story, take what she could, & move on to the next man. Mary-Beth always had to be prim & proper in front of the men her mom would take from. If she wasn’t, it resulted in being slapped or being yelled at, just overly strict discipline.

-The only good thing her mother taught her was how to write & read at a fairly young age. Although she only dived into the world of writing & literature as a late teen out spite.

-Mary-Beth joined the VDL gang in 1894 at around 17 years old. (This part is technically canon but anyway) After her mother died to typhoid she was sent to an orphanage. During Mary-Beth’s time in the orphanage, she helped to take care of the younger kids & became like an older sister to them. When she got the chance, she’d sneak out in the night to steal toys for the kids & books for herself—somehow rarely getting caught.

-Eventually she escaped after being caught a few too many times with very little money to her name, a few books, & a stolen revolver underneath her skirt. She never used the gun & promised herself that she’d only use it in an emergency. So she began a life of crime since prostitution was out of the question for Mary-Beth. Of course, a life of an outlaw wasn’t necessarily ideal either.

-Her crimes were nothing terrible. She’d pickpocket strangers in wealthy towns, & steal women’s clothes while they were bathing—sometimes disguising herself as a prostitute. She would get towels, soap, doing whatever she could to “help,” meanwhile stealing jewelry & valuables when they weren’t looking. It was certainly risky, but how could anyone expect that it was a girl as sweet as her?

-Naturally, things didn’t always go according to plan. People sometimes caught on to her plans & she would barely get away by the skin of her teeth. Almost every couple of days, she’d sneak on to a train to another town, looking for opportunities. Whatever happened, happened with that kind of life. So when she mentioned to Arthur at the Shady Belle camp, “If you’re a girl without means in this world, life is very scary.” She wasn’t just saying it to sound intelligent, she knew from experience.

-When she did join the gang, it was relieving. She didn’t have to worry about being bound by societies laws, she could live somewhat as an equal & never have to be held back by anyone ever again. She wholeheartedly believed in Dutch’s “promises.”

General Headcannons

-Mary-Beth has always been a terrible nail biter, it’s a stress reliever & a nervous habit.

-When she was little, she always stole her Mom’s coffee & it quickly became one of her favorite things.

-The name Leslie was actually the name of her friend she met at the orphanage.

-If she’s bored, she’ll write scenarios about certain camp members & change their names to make them seem more “character esc.”

-She’s always had a bit of a crush on Arthur being a hopeless romantic. He was strong, protective of the people he cared about, & good man— he reminded her of the love interests she read about in her books. In the end, she never mentioned her crush to him out of fear of being rejected. It also wasn’t the best idea to have a crush on someone who’s life was constantly in danger.

-Mary-Beth got her nickname, “The Sweetest Outlaw in the West,” After her first encounter with Arthur, Dutch, & Hosea.

-During the first couple years of her time in the gang, Hosea taught her & Tilly an abundance of skills & the two grew close. Jenny & Karen joining the group not long after.

-The reason she always keeps a pocket mirror on her is because she’s very careful of her appearance. Usually trying to make sure they’re isn’t a noticeable speck of dirt on her face, or that her curls aren’t too frizzy. Especially since her mom was always so picky about it.

-Mary-Beth initially offered to exchange writings with Molly in attempt to possibly grow closer since they had a few things in common—although, Molly (in classic Molly fashion) said it would be childish to do so.

-Grimshaw’s confrontations (to say the least) remind her of her mother. The slaps, the yelling, it really strikes a nerve. So a part of her really does despise Grimshaw.

-Her favorite flowers are Violet Snowdrops & her favorite smell is spring rain.

Okay I was up way too late working on this gn

Photo Credit: @gaz97_vp on Instagram

[pandaponderart]

Underrated Anime Part 1:

Hello my fellow Weebs, I’m back for some more Anime blogging, this time to talk about so not so well known ones. Some that have got forgotten with time, some that new Anime fans have maybe never heard of and the ones that I feel deserve more love and recognition. I’ve been watching Anime for about 13 years so I’ve seen a lot so this will be in at least 3 parts, so hopefully you like this and look forward to more. Til then enjoy, hope you can find some new anime you’ve never heard of thanks for reading and look forward to part 2!.

1. Azumanga Daioh(2002)

Starting off with an older Anime, and one of the best and earlier comedy, slice of life Anime that paved the way for a lot of other Anime in the same genre like Nichijou and Daily Lives of High School Boys. Off the wall and highly unrealistic, this comedy is completely over the top in the best way possible. it’s old but gold and should be crowned as one of the best comedy Anime to exist.

With the most lovable cast, you have Chiyo the 5th grader who is so crazy smart she gets placed in a high school class, then there’s Osaka, who’a real name is Ayumu Kasuga who’s named that because she‘s from Osaka. Osaka isn’t the smartest and neither is her other classmate Tomo Takino who will do anything to avoid studying. Then to balance out the cast is Koyomi Mizuhara aka Yomi, the smart one who keeps everyone in line and Kagura the sporty one. Then of course can’t forget to mention the teachers Yukari Sensei who is anything but the normal responsible teacher and to balance her out Minamo Sensei the responsible one. There’s no real plot with Azumanga Daioh but there’s not meant to be it’s just an over the top comedy slice of life, with moments that will make you laugh from your gut. It’s all about the characters and the ridiculous situations their put in and each one is a lovable idiot that really drives the show. Give this one a shot if you want a show that will put a big smile on your face the whole way through.

2. Eden of The East (2009)

Another older Anime, not everything on this list will be older Anime but there’s so many good ones like this!. Eden of The East is an action, mystery with elements of romance with one of the most unique stories I’ve seen in Anime. It’s a short watch being only eleven episodes with two movies following after which I recommend watching because they continue the story. I’m really surprised not more people know or talk about this show but it need to be talked about more!.

With one of the funniest and most bizarre starts to an Anime, our lead charcter Saki is on a trip to Washington D.C, when she gets in trouble for throwing a coin in the White House’s fountain she’s saved by a naked man who claims to be a terrorist. Not only is this mysterious man naked and claims to be a terrorist, he also has amnesia and is carrying a phone with 8.2 million dollars. Saki befriends this strange man and throughout the story they try to uncover more of his past, his involvment in an incident called careless monday and a dangerous death game with other players. They must also spend all of the money as instucted by the mysterious voice in the phone Juiz as well as try to save the world.

3. R.O.D The TV( 2003)

Ok I know I said this list wouldn’t only be older Anime but I guess the older Anime just has my heart and this one has a special place in mine. One of my all time favorites and one of the earliest Anime I saw and it still holds up to me til this day. It is hands down probably the most underrated show on this entire list and if you only watch one of these Anime please make it this one. The story is completely original, the characters are complex and endearing, there’s action, heartwarming moments, comedy and mystery, I wish there was more Anime like it, it deserves to be a classic.

It‘s a one of a kind show about the paper sisters Michelle, the oldest bubbly bookworm, Maggie the seemingly intimidating quiet giant. Then you have the youngest sister Anita who unlike her sisters hates books, she’s a bit rough around the edges but loves her sisters. Although they aren’t actually sisters they have a detective agency to help find lost books to help pay for rent while also doing odd jobs like being body guards. Their first assignment is to protect the author, Nenene Sumiragawa who is being threatened to be killed at her book signing. The paper sisters aren’t called that just because of their love of books, they can turn paper into weapons and whatever else they please, but each having their speciality. Nenene finds out they‘re paper sisters just like her friend who ‘s missing, Yomiko Readman and asks them for help finding her. They try to help Nenene find her friend, while solving other cases and saving the world with the power of paper.

4. Baccano(2007)

Probably the most well known but also I think one of the most under appreciated Anime, from Durarara’s creator, Baccano. I feel like most newer Anime fans won’t know this one and although it’s a beloved series by many, I still feel it’s underrated. Also another bias opinion shocker, it’s one of my absolute favorites but that’s why it’s here. It’s once again a shorter anime with only 13 episodes but it somehow manages to combine all of the storylines cohesively, it’s a wild ride full of mystery, murder, and magic that will keep you on board the entire time trying to piece everything together. Also warning it jumps around a lot so make sure to pay attention everything pieces together!.

Based in the 1930’s in the prohibition era you have several stories involving different characters going on but they‘re all connected to one thing the transcontinental train, the flying pussyfoot. Yes that’s actually the name of the train, why, still no idea but all these characters from different walks of life end up here somehow. Now to introduce some of these crazy characters, first off the goofy thieves in love Isaac and Miria, who aren’t the brightest but can steal just about anything. Lad Russo the sadistic hit man who loves to see people die, including fantasizing about killing his fiancé one day. Then you have the ones involved in gangs, all In different ones, but nonetheless involved in some sort of crime. First there’s Firo, the youngest of the Martello family and one of the immortals in the show, then there’s Jacuzzi Splot and his partner Nice, Jacuzzi is a big wimp and crybaby but will protect his loved ones with all he’s got and Nice is a bomb expert and his childhood food. Those are some of the main characters it’s such a large cast it’s hard to name and explain them all. This one is a must watch especially if you liked Durarara, jump on the hype train of this wild show.

5. Black Cat (2005)

Now quick disclaimer before I begin talking about this one, I haven’t watched this in years so it may not hold up as well as I’m remembering but when I watched it I really enjoyed it so that’s why it’s here. This was one of the earlier Anime I watched I’m pretty sure my friend showed me it but it caught my interest from the beginning. It’s not the most groundbreaking show to exist and I’ve heard that the manga is apparently better but that’s for almost every show. It’s got cool action, funny moments and a great cast of characters, plus not gonna lie I had a crush on train when I was younger. its just a fun show and definitely worth giving a watch!

Train Heartnett is an infamous cold blooded assassin who works for the organization Chronos, and because of his lack of empathy for killing he’s named Black Cat. But after a chance encounter with a bou hunter named Saya Minatsuki, they become friends and Train decided he wants to leave Chronos to pursue an honest living as a bounty Hunter. However chronos and particular his fellow member Creed Diskenth are not pleased with this and try to get Train to rejoin Chronos. Along the way Train teams up with fellow bounty hunter on the brink of broke Sven, the bio mech weapon and little girl Eve and master thief and seductress Rinslet Walker. Together they try to escape from Chronos and get enough money for their next .

6. Arakawa Under The Bridge(2010)

Where do I begin with this one first off, this is one of the weirdest Anime I’ve ever seen but just like Azumanga Daioh that’s what make it so good. Beautifully animated by Studio Shaft with some of the most colorful and visually appealing animation I’ve seen, it’s pure eye candy. it’s equally as strange as it is hilarious and it’s just a fun time that’s not meant to be taken seriously. So if you want a good laugh and something thats truly one of a kind in story and characters give this crazy show a shot.

The show begins with one of our main characters Kou Ichinomiya getting stuck by his underwear on a bridge by some kids, he falls into the river and is saved by a mysterious girl. Kou is the son of a wealthy businessman and his life motto is to not be indebted to anyone, so when he’s saved by this girl he asks what he can do. He finds out that her name is Nino and what she wants is to fall in love, so she asks Kou to be her boyfriend. At first Nino seems like a regular girl but she claims to be an alien from Venus and lives in a box under the bridge, not wanting to be in debt Kou agrees and begins living under the bridge with Nino. However Nino isn’t the only one who lives under the bridge there are many other strange characters like hoshi, the aspiring musician who wears a star on his head, and the captain who’s a human in a kappa suit. I highly suggest watching this strange sci-fi romantic comedy for something different and fun to watch.

7. 91 Days (2016)

The newest Anime on this list so far, see I told you it wouldn’t be only old ones!, this is also the darkest Anime on this list so far. This has been highly overlooked since it’s release in 2016, it reminds me of baccano and in parts like death note. If you like mafia movies or just a dark gritty story with some light hearted moments, it s short show but nothing is rushed and it’s solid from front to back and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Just like Baccano, 91 Days takes place in the prohibition era in a town called Lawless where crime is rampant and illegal alcohol sales are thriving. In this town our protagonist Aviicio‘s family is killed by one of the mafia families, The Vanetti Family. He receives a mysterious anonymous letter telling him to return to lawless to infiltrate The Vanetti Family. He tries to befriend the families son Nero, to find an opportunity for revenge, the story keep you constantly guessing if they’ve truly become friends or if he’ll kill him. Please watch this wonderful mafia crime drama of friend vs foe.

8. Yamada Kun and The Seven Witches (2015)

This is one of the ones that I still really want to read the manga for because I just couldn’t get enough of it! i’m still hoping for a sequel one day! The premise of body swapping has been done many times in Anime and cinema as a whole but this one adds a unique enough of a twist to keep it fresh and interesting. I looked forward to watching this weekly each week meeting a learning about each new witch and learning what power they had.

Ryuu Yamada is a high school delinquent who wants a fresh start at a new school, despite the intention to start with a clean slate he soon falls into old habits of laziness and getting into fights. One day he trips on the stairs which leads to an accidental kiss with fellow student Urarara Shiraishi which causes them to switch bodies. Another student Toranosuke Miyamura learns that they can switch bodies and recruits them to his Supernatural Studies club. There they learn about the other seven witches that all have different powers

9. Arslan Senki (2015-2016)

The second to last of the list comes from the creator of my all time favorite Anime Fullmetal Alchemist, while it’s a very different series and not quite as good as FMA it’s still deserves a spot on this list and deserves your time. It’s hard not to compare it to FMA but it really is it’s own thing, and it actually came out before Fullmetal, it’s a historical drama about war and strategy and a character growing into his potential. Just as Hiromu Arakawa is known for there’s still some comedic moments and some great character development and a well done story, Plus if you like this there’s two seasons so there more to enjoy.

Ok I promise from this point forward I won‘t say anything more about Fullmetal Alchemist this is about Arslan Senki, here’s the story. In the year 320 the Kingdom of Pars is at war with the neighboring kingdom Lusitania. Pars is ruled by the ruthless king Andrangoras III who has a son who’s the complete opposite of him Arslan. Although he doesn’t know how to fight Arslan tries to prove his worth by joining the battle, but things take a turn for the worst when one of the kings officials betrays him. The once prosperous Kingdom of Pars is seized, and since Arslan is the kings son he must flee to avoid capture. So he sets off with his loyal bodyguard Daryun to find allies to help take back the kingdom. Knowing that Arslan is still alive he is still faced with pursuers from other kingdoms and the head of the Lusitania army, a mysterious man with a silver mask who knows a secret that could jeopardize Arslan‘s succession to the throne. Arslan is a gentle, kind person that doesn’t enjoy fighting, he must learn to fight and protect himself and gain the courage to lead an army to regain his home.

10. Shingeki No Bahamut: Genesis (Rage of Bahamut) (2014)

Leaving one of the best for last, not to be confused with the popular series with a similar name Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) this show is just as good. One of the first shows from one of my favorite Anime studios, Studio Mappa. I had low expectations when I heard this was a card game adaptation from a new anime studio but I decided to check it out despite that and it was the best decision. This has all the elements of a great anime, the beautiful animation, the unique characters and the compelling story and all the cool action scenes are just a plus. There is a second season too but I’ll leave that for another time, ok time to stop gushing about this wonderful show, time for the story!.

Years and years ago the ancient powerful dragon Bahamut reeked havoc on Mistarcia, a land where gods and demons lived harmoniously with humans. The gods and demons manage to seal away Bahamut with the god key and agree to split it to keep him sealed. Now that the the peace has been restored we meet the main characters and one of my favorites the orange Afro haired bounty hunters Favaro Leone. Favaro is constantly on the run from his adversary and fellow bounty hunter Kaiser Lidfard who‘s main purpose in life is to get revenge on him. One day both of their lives are thrown into chaos when they meet the mysterious girl Amira who holds half of the god key sealing Bahamut and wants help reaching the land of Helheim. I also can’t forget to mention my other favorite character and the fourth member of this unlikely crew Rita the zombie necromancer little girl she is just the definition of cool. Then there’s the characters that want to steal the god key the demon Azazel and the knight Jean D’Arc who are constantly in the characters way but you’ll find out more about them in the show. These unlikely heroes must face the threat of the battle of gods and demons, the pursuers of the god key and incoming threat of Bahamut awakening.

[aliceinteyvat]

Genshin Impact Idol AU ideas

So we all know the groups Veechu made with 4nemo, DCKZ, L/yue and, TVT DREAM however, I thought it was a crime the actual idol Barbara wasn’t in a group so, I made my own! I do not have the skills to draw this so, I will be including concept photos by actual groups(older and newer as well as the time in those examples i think suits them just for an example bts run era - dope era for a boy group) for the general vibe. Click on their names for a link to the kpop wiki about them. I also won’t include Lumine because many fans have made their own headcanons for that I like.

Feel free to use the ideas I added to this in fanworks just please credit me for the idea of the groups I made myself if you do. All will be under the read more so mobile users don’t break their fingers trying to scroll past. Wiki links are included for each real world inspiration. If looking for a specific character use ctrl+f on PC to search for them to make your life easier.

Note: their stories can be changed if you would like to make it different for your art/writing/whatever. I just think a bit of drama makes them feel more real. None of the stories are 100% based on any real group even their inspirations aren’t direct copies. As new characters are released/shown in stories I will be adding onto existing groups I made up or, making new ones so if you like my ideas save this and come back to it.

                             7evelUp! [pronounced Level Up!]

A rookie girl group created from the top seven trainees(voted by judges & public vote) in a survival show that quickly gained international fame from their debut single and, performance. No one doubts their talents however, some question how legitimate the voting/ranking was in the show.  No one blames the girls themselves for this and, there is no real evidence to prove this. All of the members believe the show to be real due to their own experiences too although, a few of them due to their low self-esteem believe other trainees would’ve been better suited in the group even if they are thankful for the support. It will take a while for all of them to adjust and, have it all feel real. Will they rise to super stardom or, crack under the immense pressure?

- Members

Amber (leader, main dancer) 3rd place(got the leader position because she is the one who brought every team she was in together to usually win the challenges showing her leadership skills not from ranking)

Barbara (main vocalist,maknae,center) 1st place

Noelle (lead dancer,visual) 6th place

Sucrose (lead vocalist) 7th place

Xiangling (lead dancer, lead rapper)  5th place

Yanfei (main rapper,oldest) 2nd place

Yoimiya (lead rapper, vocalist) 4th place

- Real World Inspirations

Weeekly(Tag Me era - 7Days Tension era)

Girls’ Generation(Into the New World era-Gee era)

TWICE(Like Ooh Aah era - Heart Shaker era)

                                                                                                         SYZYGY

An unconventional girl group with a unique sound. Despite their enormous amount of talent/skill , they haven’t been as successful as their small company had hoped. However, they continue to invest everything they can into this group much to the displeasure of the other idols under the company. Will their burning hot passion find success with the masses or, will they disband early leaving their company in complete ruin?

- Members

Hu Tao (leader, main rapper, vocalist)

Fischl (lead vocalist, lead rapper, maknae)

Mona (lead dancer, vocalist, visual)

Rosaria (main dancer, vocalist, rapper, oldest)

Xinyan (main vocalist, dancer,center)

- Real World Inspirations

Dreamcatcher (Chase Me era - Odd Eye era)

1NB (Stalker era - Once again, Winter era)

                                    1MP@CT [prounced Impact]

A previously underrated boy group that seemingly appeared out of thin air on the #1 spots of all major top music charts. Most attribute their overnight success to their newest song going viral on social media but, some who work within their company secretly wonder if it has anything to do with the CEO’s private life and, the new anonymous investors. Regardless, they have made a name for themselves. They have a work ethic like no other and, will do whatever necessary to rise to the top. Even though fans are starting to worry their agency is pushing them too far. Will they become legendary performers the kind that future generations remember by name or, will their boss’ dirty little secrets make them guilty by association to the press when/if the time comes?

- Members     

Baizhu (leader, lead vocalist, lead dancer)

Dainsleif (main rapper, lead dancer, maknae)

Scaramouche (main dancer, lead rapper, oldest, center)

Albedo (main vocalist,visual)

- Real World Inspirations

Big Bang (Fantastic Baby era - Bang Bang Bang era)

ATEEZ (Wonderland era - Fireworks era)

B.A.P (Badman era - Hands Up era)

                                                    DoDoCo

A junior girl group for kids/tweens made(and managed) by Alice to promote her daughter Klee and, have her gain experience for her dream of being a real idol. Although they perform, act, model and, release music similar older groups they still are children so, their concepts are always wholesome feel-good things to appeal to kid’s even younger their age or, younger. They also don’t have the same restrictions or, work hours due to their age. This group is very popular with Elementary schoolers and, sometimes even their families but, can be annoying to anyone older due to how cheesy it all is.

(Note: I don’t personally agree with kids being idols irl especially some I’ve seen that look like older teen/adult idols it’s scary. However, since it is a thing that exists and, this is a fictional head canon let’s pretend this is a world where none of them get hurt and can live pretty normal lives during & after their time as idols if they choose to do so. I just didn’t want to leave a playable character/important story character out of the AU entirely. Also, Sayu would be here but since she’s not officially released yet and, we don’t know any story about her I think it’s best for her to join later.)

- Members

Klee (leader, main dancer, vocalist, maknae,center)

Diona (main rapper, dancer)

Qiqi (vocalist, oldest)

Yaoyao (main vocalist, rapper)

- Real World Inspirations

RE:KIDS ANGEL (Ocean era) note: also their only era so far it seems but, apparently RE:KIDS is a larger thing with many other kids kpop groups so I assume others would have a similar concept.

CutieL (Debut era - Jungle Journey era)

                                                Dandelion

A girl group that has stayed at the top for the past 7 years known for their elegant concepts although, they have had other concepts in the past(sexy, cute, etc.). Not only is Dandelion super famous but, each member has their own solo careers just as successful. Outside of the group Jean is known for her solo albums and, charity work. Lisa is known for her modelling career and, secretly is a successful author under a pen name. Eula is known for her many wins on dancing contest shows and, the many important roles she plays in dramas. Since this year marks the dreaded 7 year curse fans worry they might disband or, go on a permanent hiatus. Before this year they seemed inseparable to fans but, something happened during their last tour. Jean and, Lisa who were known to be best friends suddenly won’t even sit next to each other. Eula who was usually more reserved during interviews is having to do most of the work since they’re just awkwardly sitting on the opposite sides of her. Eula has never been the best at public speaking and, her blunt responses are causing antis to go on huge smear campaigns on social media. Jean who previously wanted to renew her contract is thinking about starting her own company. Lisa who previously wanted to renew her contract now wants to leave and, join a modelling agency. Eula still wants to renew her contract but, she doesn’t want to be solo yet. She is trying her hardest to get the group back together but, her harsh personality is only making the problem worse she feels. Will they stay together or, will they split? And if they stay together, will it be the same Dandelion fans fell in love with or, are some bridges burned forever?

- Members

Jean (leader, main vocalist, center, dancer)

Lisa (main rapper, visual, sub vocalist, oldest)

Eula (main dancer, vocalist, maknae)

- Real World Inspirations

IZ*ONE (Violeta era - Panorama era)

GFRIEND (Sunrise era - Mago era)

TWICE (Fancy era - Alcohol Free era)

Solo Idols

- Ayaka

From a wealthy Inazuman family Kamisato Ayaka (known as Ayaka) shocked the entire nation when she decided to stop pursuing traditional dance(which she had earned many honors and, was famous for since she was a small child) and, instead go overseas to become an idol. Due to her connections it wasn’t long after becoming a trainee that she was put on the same survival show that formed 7evelUp!. However, her good luck ran out when after filming she got into an accident in her company’s car on the way to her company’s trainee dorms. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured but, she sustained an injury to her ankle that made her unable to perform for the rest of the show and, therefore was disqualified. She was a fan favorite and, everyone was heartbroken that she couldn’t compete. Due to her popularity, her company decided that if she could prove she was able to work after being healed they would let her have a solo debut. She far surpassed their expectations being even better than she was before, resulting in her debuting the same time 7evelUp! did. She doesn’t have any negative feelings towards those girls but, she views them as her rivals. She is quickly gaining popularity for her insane talent in singing, dancing, acting, modelling and, song-writing. She is known to the media as “The Idol Princess” for her family’s wealth, her talent and, her graceful demeanor. Don’t put her into a box though, she can pull off any concept with ease. The question is though, will her company allow her the freedom to express herself to the fullest?

- Real World Inspirations

Note: I am not saying she would be super similar to these artist’s work but, I am saying she has the range and, the potential to reach this level of fame. Since I can’t pinpoint a single solo artist that has what I think she would do I’ll put the ones I think have the insane talent and fame I think she would have as well as a similar feeling although it will take a while for her to get to their level

- IU

- Taeyeon

That was all of the Genshin Impact characters that I know enough about currently to feel comfortable making headcanons for them! Let me know what you think and if you make fanfic of or fanart of these ideas please credit me for these specifically and veechu for the idea of the idol au in general! Feel free to spread this post around if you want to or repost it too with credit. I also would love it if you tagged me if it’s on here or would be kind enough to send me a link to your work/work you find of it.

[morporkian-cryptid]

I'm curious as to how you think the first kiss would go between Lup and Jigen in the childhood friends AU -- is it when they're still young? When they're older doing crimes together? THE PEOPLE WISH TO KNOW

AND THE PEOPLE SHALL KNOW!

I really like the idea of them being childhood sweethearts, but also as the previous anon pointed out, it's unrealistic in that historical context, sooooo... you're getting TWO scenarios!!

[fifteen minutes later] I've been going through kissing prompts and now I am Yearning. Help

This response has left headcanon territory and is trying to become a fanfic of its own.

Case one: self-indulgent childhood sweethearts scenario. Lup and Jig are both trans boys, Lup presents as a boy because his father lets him, Jigen is still in the closet, only out to Lupin.

Lupin and Jigen are in their early teens - twelve or thirteen - and they've known each other for a few years already. Lupin's visits to New York are not anything regular, but he'll be damned if he doesn't see his best friend at least once a year. This time, all the Lupin family is here, and Nisei is attending a fancy party thrown by a wealthy business man he's intending to rob blind. Nisei managed to get his son invited (this is part of mini-Sansei's training), and the invite said to bring a plus-one, so Lupin pestered Jigen until he agreed to come along. (Jigen really wanted to, he just thought it would be a terrible idea and everyone could see he wasn't part of the Wealthy People).

Because they're kids (and because this is my self-indulgent headcanon), Jigen is allowed to present as a guy at the party (which is an argument Lup used to convince him). Lupin is a bit star-struck when he sees his best friend emerging from the dressing room, donned in a fitted tux and with his hair slicked back, looking for all the world like he was born to walk among the high society. Jigen pokes fun at him for his reaction.

For a while now, Lupin has been playfully flirting with Jigen - nothing major, just the occasional teasing, and gifts that could be seen as a token of friendship. Jigen dismissed it as Lupin being an incorrigible lady's man and still seeing a girl in him. But this evening, Jigen is a boy, and Lupin is going all out with the suave gentleman persona, bowing to his partner and asking "May I have this dance?", kissing his knuckles when Jigen bashfully says "yes", making him waltz around the room and holding him close when the slow dances come on.

Jigen is at loss for words; he doesn't know what game Lupin is playing, and he feels like this is wrong, this should be wrong, but he's enjoying himself too much to break away from his friend. There's a small part of him screaming that Lupin has found out about Jigen's feelings for him and is playing a cruel joke; or that he's practicing on Jigen before he tries to woo a lady; or that he's just flirting for the heck of it, because Lupin doesn't need a reason to do crazy things.

To be fair, for all his act of self-confidence and suaveness, Lupin is just as nervous as Jigen is. This is the first time he's had feelings for a boy, and he doesn't know if Jigen sees him as anything other than a friend, or if he might take offense at Lupin's attempt at romance. But he wouldn't be Lupin the Third if he never took any risks, and this evening was enough to turn his burgeoning infatuation into sheer adoration for the beautiful blushing boy in his arms. He's fallen hard, and he can't turn back now.

The slow dance ends, and Jigen, with stars in his eyes and his heart racing, is about to tug his friend towards a quiet hallway outside of the ballroom, when an explosion goes off. Nisei has chosen this exact moment to put his plan into action, and the crowd is now running around in a panic. Lupin grabs Jigen's hand, heading towards the ballroom balcony where Nisei has told him to wait, watch and learn as he performs the heist; but in the chaos, the two are separated, and Lupin has no choice but to follow his father's instructions, leaving his friend behind.

They don't see each other again for several months, and Jigen spends that time convincing himself that he imagined the soft smile on Lupin's lips, the twinkle in his eyes whenever he looked at him, the euphoria of dancing with his crush best friend, of being allowed to be himself for one evening and still being liked that way. Lupin may be his best friend, the person who knows him the best in the world and the one he trusts the most, he's not the person in Jigen's dreams. Because all these fantasies can't happen in real life.

The next time Jigen sees Lupin, it's in the middle of the night, after the young thief climbed up the gutter of his apartment building and insistently knocked on his (third floor) bedroom window until it woke Jigen up. Lupin beckons his friend outside, and they climb the fire escape up to the roof. There, under the half-moon and the yellow lights of the street lamps below, Lupin puts on his most charming smile to hide the frantic beating of his heart, as he hands Jigen a small bouquet of roses he stole from the florist down the street. There is a few seconds of baffled silence, before Jigen shakily takes the bouquet from Lupin's hands, and works up the courage to give his friend a quick peck on the cheek. This was all Lupin needed to know that his offering was accepted, before he leans and returns Jigen's kiss - on his lips. It is quick, and hesitant, and leaves them both frozen in the uncertainty of what the other will do; until Jigen moves away, head bashfully bowed down so his hair will hide his eyes, but there is no mistaking the love-struck smile that he can't fight off his face.

The next times they meet, the exhilarating freedom of their strange friendship had taken new colors, and although their meetings are few and far between, and although they keep it secret, it's the best thing in both of their lives.

---

WELP, this got way out of hand. This post is already long enough, so I'll write the second scenario in a reblog when I come up with an idea. I hope you enjoyed reading this, because I sure did writing it.

Thank you for enabling me!

[transman-badass]

hi i have no idea if you take asks like this buT you’re big in sci fi prompts (love em btw!) and i need a tad bit of help with a story :0 can you think of any crimes fitting a sci fi setting that would be interesting for a Mostly Good main character to have committed? as in. the kind of crime an audience sympathizes with, like sad murder or crimes of existing, yknow. does that make sense lol

anyway if you don’t take asks like these then disregard all that, love your blog, have a wonderful day!!

I absolutely do take asks like this! I'm flattered you sent this, actually. I didn't realize I'm big in scifi prompts though. I don't really think about that stuff, I just kinda write what comes to mind and let it free for others to have fun with...

Anyway! Sympathetic crimes in a sci-fi setting

Generally speaking, if the hero kills a bad guy, the audience will understand. For example, an abusive person - a selfish scam artist preying on the weak for their own gain and going very far with it - anyone who's hurt a child in any way on purpose - that kind of thing.

Robin Hood style crimes - robbing the rich via hacking, for example, or stealing from banks, to help others. Crimes done for a good reason towards villainous targets are always appreciated and people can get a feeling that justice will be done in life, one way or another, which is very nice

Protecting children: kidnapping a child from an abusive home and taking them somewhere safe, for example. Though you have to make sure you really make it clear that there's no other way to help the kid either at all or in the moment

Leaking hidden information about or being a whistleblower exposing corruption, illegal activities, crimes, etc. Depending on your setting, it may be illegal or at least extremely dangerous to your career to call out corruption in governments or big businesses. By doing it anyway, you show heroism and a solid moral compass in contrast to whatever you're exposing to the public

Tbh any crime can be seen as heroic so long as it's being aimed at an appropriate target. This can be used for good or evil - once upon a time, people would applaud hate crimes happening to various minorities. But in this case, if your main character is going after banks (most people in the present, at least in America, don't like banks), massive corporations, corrupt governments, and worse criminals than them, people will think their hearts are in the right place. But you gotta make sure the punishment fits the crime, or your hero is now gonna be the villain. A random scam artist on the street, or a pickpocket, maybe deserves a black eye. They may even need help themselves. But the wealthy politician who stole money that should've gone to helping people, and does bad things to women on the side? Write that bastard right and people will cheer if the hero kills him.

Also? Crimes to try and stay alive are sympathetic. Have to steal food from a grocery store because you're too young to get a job, or you've got a family to feed? The audience sympathizes. Break into an abandoned building because it's raining and you're homeless and can't get to a shelter if they're even safe? The audience understands. Accidentally kill a guy while trying to escape mortal danger you didn't cause? The audience might've done the same thing.

Mmm, I don't know if any of this helps or answers your question but I did the best I could. I hope that even if this doesn't do what you wanted it to, you find some inspiration here. Hey, followers? If you see this, maybe you can suggest some sympathetic crimes you've seen in fiction so anon can get some ideas? I know that Leverage (tv show) has the Robin Hood angle, and Aladdin is the poster boy for the 'street rat' who steals to survive, but what examples can you think of? Reblog this post or leave a note if anything comes to mind, thank you!

[diadoodledump]

I feel like Jason is the most under-utilized Robin

okay hear me out, i don’t read DC’s comics too often because they’re kinda a dumpster fire. but if i see one that kinda interests me i pick it up(so keep that in mind :) (oh also stephanie is not really mentioned here and it’s not because i don’t love her, cause I adore here and she’s also not super utilized.) this is basically my ramblings of ideas for how jason could be included in more batman media(and some common jason tropes that keep showing up that i hate).

 I love the pre crisis street kid jason so much, he’s baby.

(ifeel like the comic Under the Red hood(and the movie) are the only media since that have been faithful to who jason was(some day i’ll talk about this i swear)

i would love to see jason as robin included in way more stuff instead of skipping over his robin years and going straight to the post resurection shinanigans. i understand why they do this, Jason as the red hood is some spicy hot tea, but i feel like there’s so much potential with his carreer as robin.

CHILDHOOD IMPLACATIONS: 

he has a very diffrent childhood than any of the other robins, not that the other robins haven’t been through some shit(because they have), but i feel like the implications of their childhood are way more explored during their Robinship.

Dick was born into a loving family and even though they didn’t have a ton of money(as far as i can tell) he really didn’t have to worry about adult things, 

Tim came from a wealthy family so money was never an issue, his parents where negligent(i think he had a stronger relationship with his mom then his dad) but aside from emotional needs not being met(which again is important) Tim didn’t have to worry about basic servival needs

Damian was raised to be a killer, and leader of a cult of assasins. sooooo homelife was not great(massive understatement), but from what i can tell, he was never hungry, he never had to worry about shelter or running water etc. 

now let’s take a look at jason. his dad was a criminal who was always in and out of jail, mom was a herion addict, and probably had various pimps and drug dealer in and out of their house(who probably abused him), he came from poverty, he resorted to stealing to keep him mom alive, and when that was no longer an option it was to keep her comfortable, and then when she was gone it was just to keep himself fed, or weather he had clean enough water to drink, he had to worry about being warm enough when he went to sleep, always looking over his shoulder, hiding from the child trafficers and rapists who probably lurked about crime alley. 

jason grew up only able to rely on himself(which is something that anyone with unstable parents can relate to) and i hate that his anger is dismissed as him just being angsty, like, that anger is what kept him alive his whole life!

his issues with authority? he literally grew up being able to rely on ONLY himself, thats a hard adjustment for a kid to make(and why a lot of foster kids struggle settleing anywhere),

 his tendancies towards violence? again he probably grew up knowing that if you didn’t finish them off they’d come back for you. 

i feel like there are so many oportunities to write Jason well and explore these things, but NOPE DC needs their token “bad kid”. im super disapointed with how Titans explores his character, i hate that he’s just shoehorned into other Batman stories with no build up for a cheap twist, looking at you Young Justice, and Arkham Knight.

i also think there’s a lot of weird bias in western media that shys away from potraying actual american poverty??? which is weird because it’s definantly a thing, and i’d really like to see it done well and think jason’s a really good cahracter to explore the implications of that. moving on.

RELATIONSHIPS: 

i also think it’s weird that jason is so removed from everything else in DC, like Dick didn’t know him very well before he died, he wasn’t involved with the titans or the justice league Etc. and that’s super weird to me

imagine how much more impactfull his death would be if jason meant something to the other characters, can you imagine if Dick actually cared about and loved Jason like a little brother, and then you can take that away by having him dying, DC that’s good shit right there do it!! i think he would be one of the most down to earth heros in DC, i would love to watch him work through his trama with the other hero’s, i would love to watch he laugh and bond with them,  watch them learn about the darker side of life through him, 

Please DC write Jason todd as Robin and do it well, no more bullshit “bad kid” stuff because, jason is not a bad kid, he’s a child that’s been through hell and survived it, he’s a kid who’s is trying to adjust to a life where he’s not constantly in survival mode, and he can do that, with help and suport(from other teen hero’s) let us watch him grow, watch him start to heal

then you can kill him

and boy howdy it’ll hurt

[quietlysomethingalso]

Ive read a lot of your opinions on Jesse and Nacho and I just don't agree with your, it's your opinion and its fine, but I have never found Jesse to be this big moral character. He is just as bad and flawed as Nacho, if not more. I don't think Nacho had to die as away of paying for his crimes (why should Jesse not have died too?) Nacho suffered every bit as much as Jesse and I personally think he deserves more sympathy then Jesse.

Circumstances:

First there is there circumstances. Its true that Nacho "got in with both eyes open", but so did Jesse and I'll argue that Nacho was almost doomed from the start while Jesse was not. Jesse is white and privileged. He comes from a wealthy, two parent home, in a nice neighborhood with parents who care about him. He is lazy and entitled and didn't apply himself in school, does drugs and got into the drug world to make easy money for himself so he can hang out playing video games and doing drugs all day with his friends instead of pursing higher education or a job.

I don't know everything about Nacho's childhood, but what we see gives us a pretty good idea. Nacho is a visible minority. The son of an emigrant, raised by a single parent, his Dad. His mother is presumably dead and has been for some time. His family is not wealthy and struggles. His Dad works hard to support them. There neighborhood looks poor and unsafe. Nacho probably grew up in poverty, most defiantly surrounded by the drug world and had many risk factors white privilege Jesse never had to face. His father even knows the Salamanca name, while Jesse's parents in their nice neighborhood are completely obvious to the drug world. Nacho presumably got caught up in the cartel world very young and while he mentions to his Dad that he's working for the cartel again, as if he could have got out, but didn't, this is likely a lie. He probably could never get out and was just lying to his father to spare him. He made a mistake and got in over his head, so did Jesse, but Nacho had a lot more risk factors while Jesse had everything going for him.

Motive/Relationships:

Nacho most likely had better motive then Jesse too. We see him spending his off time from the cartel working in his Dad's shop. I think it's safe to assume that Nacho was using some of his money to help his fathers business. He mentions his Aunt and mothers family in one episode, implying that his Father helps them out, his family really needs the money and this would be a big motivation to a poor kid to join the cartel. Nacho's family is really important to him, he does not seem to want money just for himself. In the begging of the series he drives a crummy van and still live with his father, only after their falling out does he buy the fancy car and house of the latter seasons, but they bring him no joy. His relationship with his father is really beautiful. He does everything to keep him safe. He loves his father and ends up dying for him in the end, he never seeks revenge for all the things that were done for him, instead he dies for love.

Jesse's relationship with his parents is pretty terrible. Everybody loves to demonize them (because poor victim Jesse) but Jesse is responsible for their poor relationship. His parents tried to help him and continuously beg him to change his life around. There's only so much they can do, and letting him go to suffer the consequences of his choices is really the best thing for him, but Jesse acts like they are somehow betraying him or that he is entailed to his Aunts house. There is no deep love and respect there like Nacho has for his dad. Jesse even scams them out of a the house. He also appears Jealous of his little brother.

Murders/crimes:

All though Nacho's involvement with cartel and the drug world him indirectly involved in peoples deaths (same for Jesse). He only ever directly killed two people, both of them in gun battles where is was either kill or be killed. Jesse's direct kills are much more horrible.

Jesse out right shoots a man in the face. Although he didn't want to kill Gale and was put in a position where he had to kill to save Walt and his own life he still pulls the trigger. It was even his fault in the first place, because Walt had to kill Gus's men to save Jesse after Jesse own stupid choices (stealing from Gus and planing on killing some of Gus's man). He is also directly responsible for Jane's death. Jesse (and the fandom) love to blame Walt for Jane's death (as well as all of Jesse's choices). The fact is, she was dead the moment Jesse got her back onto drugs. She was clean until she met him. Even if Walt didn't happen to break in and see her overdosing (choosing not to help) she would have still died. If not then, then another night. She was doomed the moment Jesse got her (a recovering drug addict) but onto drugs. Jesse was so mad when he found out Walt didn't preform CPR he tried to but Walt's house down which punishes his innocent family, but Jesse doesn't care about that.

Personal reason I like Nacho more:

Nacho is smart, cleaver, capable, quiet, soft spoken and very skilled. He often figures out when his is being tricked and is able to get himself out of deadly situations all on his own. His relationship with his dad is sweet, and sad. He loves and respects his Dad so much and would do anything to protect him. He knows his Dad is disappointed in him, but isn't mad or defensive. Everything he does is to protect him.

Jesse is whiny, loud, rude, disrespectful, lazy, entitled, privileged, immature, never takes responsibility, blames others, and is a poser. He is much harder to sympathize with on a second view of the series. He has no relationship with his family and often only thinks of himself. He feels sorry for himself a lot, while Nacho doesn't blame other for his situation.

Nacho is just as much deserving of sympathy and a good ending as Jesse was. Nacho did not deserve to die for his crimes any more then Jesse did. They both suffered and and were sorry for the life they chose. The BOTH deserved a second chance, and I hate that Nacho didn't get one or people think he needed to die to atone or whatever, but Jesse just got to drive away, evading the police and responsibility and his crimes. Jesse is NOT more moral then Nacho, just because he cries all the time, while Nacho hides his emotions better. Jesse is not a more MORAL character period.

Just my opinion. Sorry for the long rant, its been bugging me for some time.

You are entitled to your opinion! But no, I don’t agree with your take. I think it is pretty clear that the arc of Breaking Bad is that Walt loses his conscience and becomes pretty monstrous at the same time Jesse develops a conscience and grows from a jerk kid into a decent human being.

Reads to me like a lot of this take is based on Jesse at the beginning of his arc; IE he’s just some lazy teenager selling meth. But if you don’t agree that Walt manipulated him into doing things he didn’t want to, I don’t know what to tell you. I think it’s pretty clearly laid out in the show. As for a moral comparison between Nacho and Jesse, Jesse is repeatedly shown to worry for the safety of children while the first thing Nacho does is intentionally endanger children so he can rip off their parents.

It’s not that Nacho is an evil character though or that I think he “doesn’t deserve” a happy ending or whatever. Or that Jesse is meant to be a superhero. When people make comparisons like that, they are talking about how those characters are framed in the narrative. The thing is that Jesse’s character development is centered around his guilt and his desire to be better. He wants out, he wants to do something honest, he wants to make boxes (IE create something he can be proud of). He throws his money away and sees it as blood money. It’s simply not Nacho. Guilt for the people he has hurt in the cartel is not an aspect of Nacho’s character. I mean, absolutely there is an argument to be made that he probably is a victim of poverty and, how much of a choice to get into the game does someone in that situation have, and I think if Kim Wexler knew his story she would want him to have a good lawyer. But when I say Nacho got in with both eyes open, what I mean is, he knew fully well the kind of violence he would commit for money, and made his peace with it.

You say Nacho did everything for his father but I think you are missing the point. Nacho did fall down the rabbit hole by trying to kill Hector, which he did for his father, but he wasn’t the kind of person he was for his father. He didn’t live his lifestyle for his father. His father specifically says he got *back* with the cartel, suggesting he was out and went back to make money. Nacho had a heart and ultimately he was willing to make sacrifices for someone he loved—but he didn’t do it *all* for his father, that was his draw toward his humanity, and the fact that he had it made him more vulnerable. Better Call Saul is all about the moral stuff of the characters. About what makes someone “good” or “bad”. Nacho is a monkey wrench because he is bad in almost every way, but the good side of him is the thing that he suffers for in the end. He’s a great character, and I love how much empathy he generates. He gets to be in a morally superior position to both Gus and Hector because he is framed as a victim to them both. When people say it fits that his death was sacrificial, I don’t think that is a moral judgment of his character, like he was BAD and therefore should DIE; certainly not if I have said that. It’s about his role in a meta sense, it was narratively appropriate for his arc to end the way it did.

I do think you are extremely hard on Jesse as far as responsibility for what he’s done (I mean, blaming him for Jane’s death, really? That is a pretty cruel take) but it’s not that I think Jesse is supposed to be some innocent kitten either. It’s just that his character resolves in exactly the same of moral crisis that Nacho’s father has: this shit is horrible, I feel tainted by this, I need to go to the police. That is what Jesse does and the price he pays for it is to be sold out by the man he trusted was looking out for his best interests and literally enslaved to keep him in the game. That’s why it fits narratively for Jesse’s arc to resolve in freedom.

In the end I think something is lost by taking these two nuanced characters and just making some kind of evaluation of “who is more EVIL? Who DESERVES to DIE?” It’s just that they serve different roles in their respective narratives. Jesse is the main moral counterpoint to Walt, the main protagonist of his show. Nacho is a piece of his show’s complex moral jigsaw puzzle of Mike, Jimmy, Gus, Hector, Kim, Chuck, Howard, Lalo… and I think the takeaway from him is the way his conscience and love affected the trajectory of what was an otherwise pretty heartless existence. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul have some overlapping themes, but they are not the same, and the differing roles of Jesse and Nacho are, I think, evidence of that.

[freddyjoncs]

fox e. jones — ❝  Nobody move, there's blood on the floor and I can't find my heart ❞

full name: fox everett jones

city of birth: manhattan, new york.

date of birth: august 25.

zodiac sign: virgo

parents: fred and daphne jones

siblings: january jones

sexuality: bisexual

nicknames: n/a

face claim: manu rios ( voice: ryan philippe )

personality.

+, natural-born leader, calculating, collected -, cruel, arrogant, self-loathing

the bio below touches on many triggering topics. reader discretion is advised. *

background information.

fox jones is the perfect mix of foolish daydreams starring bad boys with twisted smiles and wicked laughs and old-style shotguns and nectar-burnt lungs. on the outside he’s presents the perfect image. one that the jones could be proud of. a golden son that daphne could dote on and a son to take the mantle of mystery inc from freddy as time had passed. To the outside world Fox is perfect but it’s far from the truth. Below the surface there’s a hurt person. someone who chooses to inflict pain on others to silence his own.

fox was born into the world of the underground crime scene. his father was a powerful mob boss in the streets of new york by night and a powerful lawyer by day. the graves his father had filled were unmatched. from young age fox was taught that people were disposable. they were just pawns to further yourself in the game of life. he was taught that he was disposable. his parents weren’t the kindest. his mother was a socialite by day, rubbing elbows with the high class women of society to get into their good graces ( and resources ) and at night she was just as awful and heartless as his father, pushing her kids past their limits and degrading them when failure struck. and the devil himself? well he had kids just to have a legacy. someone to do his biddings and maybe take over once he finally kicked the bucket. fox was just another one of his little pawns. if he didn’t live up to the expectation that were placed upon him there were plenty of others who could replace him. so fox worked hard to be the best, better than his brother and sisters. he refused to be thrown to the wayside. he was going to prove himself useless to his father one way or another.

in a way, fox believed if he was the best then his parents would pay attention to him. maybe they’d even love him. he’d be worth loving if he held value. 

he trained hard in martial arts & firearms. although, a knife was much more desirable to fox. he earned himself the name ‘lucky’ because whenever he was around deals ended in his father’s favor. which meant fox was kept around and closer. his siblings soon picked up on how their parents operated life as a business and progressed. they became just as deadly as fox. ruthless and terrifying. 

but fox? fox was pretty. a pretty bird that no one could ever be scared of. even with how deadly he was people would laugh whenever he entered the room of negotiations or interrogations. how could such an angelic face ever strike fear? he couldn’t -  not without a snide remark or a pass. so fox was put to use elsewhere. his skills and body were used in a way fox never imagined they would be but he did for the business. to be taken seriously and to be a good son in his father’s deck. i mean, his family had already taken advantage of him. why not others?

so he allowed himself to be used. if it meant it’d further his family’s success. his nickname still came through for his family time and time again every deal closing perfectly, and while the success was good it wasn’t enough for fox. he was tired of sitting being pretty with grabby hand old men who complained about their loveless marriages to their wives. he wanted to be part of it - not on the sidelines. 

he had overheard his father talking about a big deal that was going to take place in two days time. it was very much so a make it or break it moment for foxes family. it was also the perfect chance to show he was useful. if his plan went south and the deal failed it would end miserably but if it succeeded? Fox could only imagine the glory. he was able to pull a few strings to get himself into the door before his father. of course when fox stepped in he wasn’t taken seriously. why would they send in someone like him? Fox wasn’t as stupid as they dubbed him to be. he came to a drug deal with the goods to pay. the others decided to pull the tough gangster routine on him. insults were thrown and before they could pull the wool over fox’s eyes he had one upped them. they were all dead within seconds. underestimating fox was their biggest mistake. he was just about to finish off the big boss when a different gun shot off and killed the man before him. fox didn’t need to turn around to know it was his father holding the gun. he also didn’t need to turn around to know he was absolutely livid. 

the car ride home was silent, unsettling even. fox could only imagine how his father was going to reprimand him but when they stopped at a warehouse fox was left confused as to why they were brought here and not home. of course he was taught not to question so fox got out without a word. perhaps he should have questioned why they were here because before he knew it he felt a white hot pain on his back. He managed to get a small glimpse of his father beating him with a crowbar before all went black. He had gone against his father’s wishes and now he was paying for it. the fact he wasn’t dead was sympathy on it’s own but fox was left for dead in that warehouse. He didn’t know how long he was there for but after some time he mustered up enough course to try and seek out help.

wondering the streets of new york looking like he did wasn’t the smartest idea but it garnered the attention of fred jones. when asked if he was okay fox looked the man dead in the eyes and retorted ‘what do you think?’ and when asked if he had a home near by fox went silent.

he had no home anymore. no family. nothing. that alone was enough to have fred take him home. the man saw a lot of himself in the young boy before him: angry and afraid. fox protested and insisted he only stay a day or two until he figured something out. he didn’t need any handouts from strangers. even if they were wealthy strangers. but two days soon turned to a week, to five months and before he knew it fox was adopted into the jones family. it took him quite some time to adjust to a real family. fox was hesitant at first, brash and heinous towards them. it wasn’t until he spent alone time with daphne did fox feel like he belonged. there was no ploy, no gimmick, they actually cared for him. it was a feeling he wasn’t used to. he allowed himself to be loved and for the first time loved in returned. maybe not love, but he cared for the jones’ and saw them as his real family. it took some time but even his relationship with fred has come around. 

currently, fox is the new leader of the next generation of mystery inc. after spending time with his parents their love of the paranormal rubbed off on him. the fact fred wanted to pass the baton down to his son was a honor in it’s own. they trusted him. it’s not something fox took for granted. he also did modeling as well thanks to january. daphne’s love of fashion did indeed rub off on him. you’ll never catch him in a dull outfit. Compared to the life he used to live Fox was now in paradise. he was happy to let the old him die and be reborn into someone new. ( although the new him wasn’t so great either ). the last he heard of them it was that they were in jail. without his so called luck on their side they were finally caught but being incarcerated wasn’t enough for fox. no he wanted them to suffer the way they intended he did but that’s a whole bag of trauma fox refuses to acknowledge among other feelings he’s repressed. 

he was happy with his life, happy with his family and of course happy to make people miserable. his life was perfect until stefan mcqueen decided they would be friends. fox didn’t do friends but he found himself growing attached to the idiot. and of course when marcus teague decided to punch him in the face it left fox to develop something towards him. the anger and hatred he felt melted into something else. something that fox wishes would go away because he can’t like marcus.

let alone be in love with him.

but hey, it’s just another feeling getting shoved into a box never to see the light of day. 

social media.

[ latest tweet ] @foxjones: good morning [ image url ]

[ last outgoing text ] text to january god doesn’t respond why should i

[ most played song ] judas by lady gaga

connections.

mystery inc kids: he tolerates them. ( he loves them rly )

marcus teague: enemies to lovers tea

stefan mcqueen: they’re friends. he won’t admit it.

hadrian foxworth: actual enemy. hates him v much. memo to self to destroy him later

connections: hmu

his pinterest board // playlist

[hopeymchope]

Anon here who was bullied as a kid and leans conservative. Asking completely sincerely, what do you mean by the love of bullies/abusers in media being tied to modern conservtism.?Admittedly I'm moreso a moderate who happens to agree with several conservative outlooks than a full conservative. Unless you meant the ties to Trump, which I'd argue is seperate from actual conservatism. (Just to be clear again, this isn't anon hate or anything. I just want to understand where you were coming from.)

Oh god, okay, I’ll go ahead and open this can of worms. :)

You accurately guessed that when I say "modern conservatism," I really meant the post-Trump "modern American conservatism.” The entire conservative movement has been deeply co-opted by Trump and his ilk over the past six or seven years. Conservative Republicans and Fox News and the like in the U.S. have fallen over themselves to get in line with his views to the point where it now seems clear that his believers are no longer outliers to conservatism (which still seemed to be true even as recently as 2015); they're the majority of the movement. It's like when we passed that tipping point where the opposite of "literally" became an accepted definition of the word; Trump his cronies have gone from odd extremists that were doing it wrong to becoming so successful that they created the modern definition of American conservatism, IMO. 

But I do think that the building blocks of Trump-era bullying were already present in pre-Trump American conservatism, too. You see it in how they argued for decades against gay rights and trans rights (and in fact, the latter fight remains a particularly hot topic). It’s pure discrimination against those who already have life harder in our society. I could also extend this to many years of lies about illegal immigrants supposedly causing/increasing crime rates, which helps fuel racism against Latinos. Unlike many American conservative viewpoints, that one hasn’t been unique to Republicans; just look at Clinton’s anti-immigrant policies in the ‘90s. 

Furthermore, Trump’s modern version of conservatism, with all its celebration of bullying and cruelty, rose to prominence after corporations were legally emboldened in how they use their money to purchase political ads for their views and buy influence with candidates and even began to surreptitiously insert their views and beliefs into hundreds of local news programs across the nation. These are yet more ways in which the few who are wealthy use their power to ensure the rank-and-file of the lower classes will latch onto views that are against their own interests. Even this aspect of pre-Trump conservatism is, in my opinion, “bullying” at is core.

But let me step back and explain what I mean by that. Why are conservative views against the interests of the poor? I’m talking about the fact that conservatives in America have, for decades now, promoted the idea of slashing funding for social assistance programs such as welfare and food stamps and disability benefits and Medicaid. This is often argued by claiming that there are widespread liars who are cheating the system. (In reality, the last time we got an official reported number of Americans who were on government assistance, it was 52,200,000 as of 2015. In the same year, there were 71,003 cases of potential fraud reported to the government in 2020, and out of those reports, only 682 fraud offenders were identified; that’s 0.013% of recipients) At the same time, conservatives have long advocated tax cuts for the wealthy as a means of supposedly creating “trickle-down” benefits for either lower classes or, in more recent incarnations, their direct employees. (Nevermind that studies have repeatedly shown that trickle-down economics don’t work.) 

Handing out monetary gifts for those in power while taking food and necessary income from the weak and downtrodden; it’s pure bullying to me, writ large.

But these are all, admittedly, just some aspects of pre-Trump conservatism in America. There are some aspects that I don’t take issue with. There’s the desire to have more localized government and less federal governmen. There’s “peace through strength” — the conservative argument for a large and powerful military presence so as to engender fear from outside nations, scaring them away from ever attacking us. It’s another one of those views you see in both of the major political parties, and that use of intimidation could be argued to be a form of bullying. But I think that’s open to interpretation, because we could theoretically have such a military without exercising the interventionalist policies that made America into the boogeyman for so many countries. 

Finally, JUST IN CASE someone reading this would like me to justify why I’d qualify Trump as a “bully,” I guess I’ll go off on that tangent, too. But I’ll keep it under this cut. Because it seems pretty obvious?

We know Trump is a bully from how he gives belittling nicknames to anyone he considers his enemy (i.e., anyone who dares to question him, like “LIttle Marco” Rubio and “Wee Mike” Bloomberg) and celebrates and encourages violence against anyone who disagrees with him. He’s also much, much worse than a bully in that he forces his staff to sign “loyalty oaths” to him and him alone, boasts about his sexual assaults, and embraces horrific treatment of minorities and/or non-citizens, including ripping their children from their families, performing medical abuse, keeping them in concentration camps, etc. He's also a spoiled brat who claims that everything is "rigged" if he doesn't get his way. To say nothing of how 67% of his statements while in office were easily proven lies. If any of this sounds fake to you, feel free to Google it, because it doesn’t take much time to prove that it’s all true. The point is that all of these things are excused and, in many cases, gleefully embraced by his followers, who now even have an increasingly popular cable TV station dedicated to reinforcing their alternate reality.

[rigmarolling]

Top 5 Things That Will Kill You In the Victorian Era

If you’ve ever spent more than two seconds with me, you know that I live and breathe the fog-choked air of Victorian London. All day. Every day of my life. 

See, in many ways, the Victorians were the first version of us--overwhelmed by rapidly-changing technology (and its awful effect on the climate); dealing with incredible wealth gaps; grappling with rising crime and faster travel and out-of-control media and the whole, “God is dead, oh no” thing. 

Also, everything was trying to kill you.

Like, literally almost everything.

From your clothes to your doctor to your canned food, here are the top five things that will kill you in the Victorian era.

5. Other Victorians

If the rise of penny dreadfuls (cheap magazines stuffed with horror stories for us morbidly-inclined goth types) was any indication, Victorians loved them some true crime. 

And there was no shortage of subject matter to choose from: depending on where you ventured in London, at least, you could be subject to anything from pickpocketing to mugging to violent assault and, of course, murder. 

There were a few reasons for this:

For one thing, the population in London alone increased by millions in the 19th century, and approximately no one was prepared for that. So, to accommodate the rapidly-booming population, the wealthy folks in charge reached out and lovingly ensured the masses of the disenfranchised poor were taken care of by redistributing resources and education and access to opportunities that improved lives on a both a personal and social level.

Lol, no, I’m totally kidding; they shoved them into slums and tenement buildings and pretended they didn’t exist.

So of course, there was a rise in crime, because if you have five kids and you can’t find gainful employment and your family will starve if you don’t steal that basket of food over there, or that purse that lady left sitting over THERE, what are you going to do? You’re going to steal the food and the purse to survive, Jean Valjean, I understand, I do.

Except the powers that be did NOT understand, and instead routinely espoused the idea that if people were poor, it was because they were morally bankrupt, or inherently bad, somehow, and the “criminal classes,” as they came to be known by the growing Victorian middle and upper-middle classes, were simply considered genetically bad to the bone and therefore undeserving of assistance.

Basically:

So ANYWAY.

Crime was on the rise and there were multiple efforts to stop it with varying degrees of success, but big city usually = big crime, especially when there’s a massive gap between the one percent-ers and THE REST OF US, WASHINGTON.

Ahem.

All that crime? The booming news industry loved it. The press ate it up and then spit it back out in salacious headlines that never even bothered with journalistic objectivity, like this gem:

I mean. Full disclosure: I, too, agree that cutting off a woman’s head, arms, and legs and then burning them is “awful, inhuman, & barbarous” but just...maybe...maybe tone it down? Just a bit?

No? Okay.

See, here’s the thing: crime sells. It always has. And papers went nuts with full illustrated spreads about the latest brutal murders so you could sit in your parlor and get anxiety poops thinking about how the butcher down the street looked at you funny the other day and oh, God, you’re probably next, oh God.

The most famous murderer of the era, was, of course, Jack the Ripper, which was just the orchestral climax of a hideously corrupted society that had bubbled into naught but a festering carbuncle, an ulcer upon the very soul of man, trussed up as a city of industry, but which is merely Salome, dancing with the Lamb’s head upon a platter and sending us all tumbling into a fiery pit.

....Ahem, again.

Some popular ways your fellow Victorians could kill you included: dueling (with swords but usually with revolvers), stabbing, garroting, and, probably the most popular method of the era, poisoning.

Speaking of which...

4. Anything dyed that hip shade of green

In 1775, a guy named Carl Wilhelm Scheele invented a new shade of green, cleverly called Scheele’s green, and it instantly became a hit. Pretty soon, manufacturers and tailors were dyeing everything this color. 

Look at it. Bright, airy. Calls to mind a fresh, spring meadow. (What’s that, you ask? Well, before the Industrial Revolution belched out black smoke onto absolutely everything, there were these things called plants and grass and they were all over the place and you could frolic through them and it was very nice for your serotonin levels.)

I mean, listen, this isn’t really my color because anything vaguely yellow-ish makes my already yellow-ish skin look especially jaundiced, but it’s a lovely shade:

Besides using it to create beautiful dresses and tasteful waistcoats, they used it inside book covers:

And it was a super popular wallpaper color:

They had green candles and green cups and green kitchenwares and green paint.

But while Carl Wilhelm Scheele didn’t exactly murder anyone (even though he has three names like every serial killer ever), he sort of, accidentally, indirectly, kinda...did.

Because that springy dye contained every Victorian black widow’s favorite method to dispose of a troublesome husband: arsenic.

Scheele, of course, had no idea--no one did--so I’m fully exonerating him here, but the poison nonetheless started to take its toll.

Reports began to surface of kids getting sicker and sicker and then dying in their green wallpapered rooms; of fashionable ladies rocking those green dresses at balls and then ALSO getting sicker and sicker and breaking out in horrible sores before dying. 

They even used this stuff to dye food green, so of course, anybody who tucked into Victorian green eggs and ham also, you know. Died.

And if they DIDN’T die, they got cancer, because if arsenic doesn’t kill you, it will give you cancer. And then kill you.

Eventually, as science advanced and went, “HEYO, there’s literal poison in this stuff,” consumers were like, “Well, shoot, this summer’s hottest beach shade just killed an entire boarding school,” and Scheele’s green finally fell out of favor.

It was, however, used as a pesticide up through the 1930s, so...way to use the...leftovers? I guess?

3. Your canned food

Hey, now that we’re on the topic of deadly chemicals being where they absolutely should not be, let’s talk about canned food. 

In the Victorian era, it was the new Hot Thing (next to arsenic green). You mean I can can my food now? Like? Forever? Oh, only for a few months. Okay, cool. Still cool. 

Above: Road trip snax.

Food preservation methods had existed long before canned meats and veggies and soups, but canned everything really started to gain traction around the middle of the 19th century, and people were stoked. Remember, the population exploded; people needed new methods of obtaining cheap food that didn’t spoil immediately. So: cans to the rescue! 

Recycling hadn’t really been invented, though, so today, archaeologists constantly find giant Victorian trash pits filled with empty cans.

You know what also hadn’t been invented? Consumer health and safety boards.

So guess what was in the tin cans themselves? 

No, no, don’t worry, it wasn’t arsenic.

It was lead.

Which, in case you weren’t aware, is also very, very bad for you.

So bad, in fact, that today, scientists are pretty sure lead-lined tins of canned food were partially responsible for the deaths on the disastrous Franklin Expedition, an ultimately futile trip to discover the Northwest Passage lead by Sir John Franklin in 1845. Every single man on board the two ships stranded in the Arctic died, and in the 1980s, when scientists discovered perfectly mummified bodies (GRAPHIC, if you don’t like that sort of thing, but awesome if you do) of some of the sailors, one of the mummies contained insane amounts of lead. They later tested the cans found scattered across the wreck site and whoops, they also contained insane amounts of lead.

Above: Some of the tin cans from the Franklin Expedition, which contained items like salted beef, vegetables, tea, lethal amounts of lead, and Chicken of the Sea.

Granted, other factors contributed to the Franklin deaths, like, you know, being stranded in the Arctic and starving to death, and also tuberculosis, but lead-lined canned food certainly didn’t help things along.

2. Your doctor

Here’s my advice if you’re in the Victorian era and you’re starting to feel sick: do not get sick. Just don’t. Because then that means you’ll have to go to the doctor. Which probably means you will die.

Hospitals in the 19th century were deadly. Often even more deadly than just staying at home, according to Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art. Nobody knew how to treat anything, really, because medical understanding of biology was in its infancy and antibiotics didn’t exist yet, so you were absolutely, definitely going to get some kind of infection the second you stepped foot in a Victorian hospital.

Above: The surgery, where nobody has any idea what they are doing, ever.

Doctors weren’t trying to kill you on purpose--they just didn’t know any better. And it super duper didn’t help that common treatments for everything from the common cold to tuberculosis included taking mercury (which kills you) and blood-letting, (which can also kill you) the tools for which are shown below:

Those might look like fun doodads for your astronomy class at Hogwarts, but they’re actually vials and a really, really sharp needle that pricks you until you bleed out a critically dangerous amount of blood into those vials. 

The (ancient) school of thought behind blood-letting was that draining patients of “bad” blood would rebalance their “humours” and get rid of the icky thing that was making them sick. We might laugh at it now, but if you don’t know any better, logically, it makes sense.

Medically, oh my God, it’s the worst.

So if Doc didn’t bleed you to death, he might try surgery--done without anesthesia or antibiotics (until good old Dr. Lister came along--read The Butchering Art!), and then ship you and your amputated stump leg off to the hospital ward where, instead of healing, you’d get wheeled through hallways stained with every bodily fluid imaginable into rooms filled with people coughing up every bodily fluid imaginable, some of which would get into your leg stump, infect it, and then kill you dead.

“But what about medicine?” you ask. “Can’t I just take medicine?”

Sure! Just be aware that it definitely contains morphine and probably contains cocaine, or mercury, or arsenic, or sulfur, or pulverized bits of ancient Egyptian mummies (I am not kidding. True, the latter had started to fall out of favor in the 19th century, but, like. Stop).

Above: Hard drugs, but just for you.

You think I’m joking?

Above: PARTY TIME.

Sometimes, a doctor would just advise that you move to a “more temperate climate” like Rome or Spain if you were feeling chronically ill, which might help you get a tan and COULD help if you had sucky lungs, but eventually, you’d just die anyway, because what you really needed was a strong antibiotic or antiviral medication and the closest you were gonna get was Mrs. Hopplebopple’s Temperance Tonic, which was probably filled with ground up baby bones and just so much heroin.

And don’t even get me started on Victorian surgical tools:

Open wide.

1. Water

There are three rules in this life: don’t watch any Adam Sandler movies except for maybe Anger Management, don’t eat the yellow snow, and do not, ever, for any reason, ever drink water in Victorian England.

That’s because it was about as clean as a Victorian hospital. 

Meaning it wasn’t. At all.

Victorian water--of the Thames variety--contained:

Cholera, one of the deadliest killers of the era and bad water’s favorite roommate.

Poop, human and otherwise, because a functioning sewer system? I don’t know her. (At least, not until the 1860s.)

Pee, human and otherwise, because nothing says, “Jolly Old England” like an open trench of piss rolling through the city.

Dead things, like animals, fish (which are animals, so why am I listing them as a separate thing?), and, occasionally, humans.

Chemicals, which spewed forth from the great factories in billowing, bubbling, belching rivers of sludge. (Ha! Omg, yes, I was an English major!)

The Thames was so filthy that Londoners called it “Monster Soup.”

Above: Same.

In 1855, scientist Michael Faraday (who was also kind of hot; tell me I’m wrong), wrote a letter to the Times about the disgusting state of the river:

"Near the bridges the feculence rolled up in clouds so dense that they were visible at the surface, even in water of this kind. ... The smell was very bad, and common to the whole of the water; it was the same as that which now comes up from the gully-holes in the streets; the whole river was for the time a real sewer."

Tl;dr: “It smelled like ass.”

In fact, it got so bad, so putrid, so horrifically clogged with every disgusting thing your mind and your butthole can possibly conjure up, that it lead to one of my favorite things to read about in the world: The Great Stink of 1858.

Yes, that’s the real name. I did not make that up. History is incredible.

Above: Summer vacation, 1858.

The summer of 1858 was miserably hot in London. And the Thames was miserably clogged with poop, and pee, and chemicals, and dead things, and, uh oh, cholera. During July and August that year, the smell wafting from the river was so offensive that Parliament was actually adjourned because everybody kept throwing up. Cholera devastated the city. The water was killing London.

Faced with either the prospect of living with a city-wide vomit-and-diarrhea smell for the rest of forever OR finally cleaning things up, the government actually did something right and chose the latter. They contracted civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette to overhaul the city’s sewer, to which Bazalgette, pinching his nose, responded, “FINALLY.” 

Above: Joesph Bazalgette, savior of the London sewers and purveyor of a truly beautiful mustache.

Bazalgette proceeded to build the London sewer system still in use today. His efforts greatly reduced the number of cholera deaths, cleared the Thames of its Cronenberg-esque muck, and ensured that poop goes where it’s supposed to: way the hell out of HERE and way the hell under THERE.

Water sanitation still had a long way to go, though, which meant you either had to boil your water to kill the bacteria in it, or you could just drink alcohol instead, which was the safer option but which would also leave you very dehydrated and also, if imbibed excessively, would leave you very dead.

So really, you were doomed in some way no matter what you did, and if that isn’t the moral of the entire Victorian story, then I don’t know what is.