#i feel like a lot of it came from people trying to justify genuinely questionable parts of the ending

[ghostingcrows]

I used to talk about this a lot but 

IDW Prowl is probably one of the most complex characters in the comics and I absolutely hate it when hes reduced down to “the asshole character”

Cause like

Yeah sure hes got a bit of a stick up his ass

But I feel like people just end there analysis of him there

Has he committed a lot of war crimes and done unethical stuff

Yes

But so has literally EVERYONE else in this universe

Starscream is literally the pinnacle of war crimes

The comics make a point calling out even Optimus for his questionable actions and orders during the war with the Dinobots saying he makes them do the dirty work for him

Megatron literally commits genocide and yet his story ends with an alternate version of him going free and exploring the universe with the LL

The literal war lord was treated better and is looked upon more positively than Prowl and I think it just came down to how fucked Prowl got by the writers

Because while Megatrons redemption was all in your face and you got a shit ton of flashbacks that try to justify the eventual atrocities he would commit you don’t get that with Prowl

Even when Prowl is absolutely in the right you constantly have it disregarded by characters making jokes about him overreacting (being mad OP is sending the space tyrant away with free reign of his own ship isn’t overreacting btw-) and as such you start to think of him as a genuinely irrational character when hes not

Prowl is bad at keeping the relationships he forms yes 

But he is not always at fault for that

While his relationship with CD ended poorly Chromedome is also shown to be kinda of a dick sometimes and commits his fair share of fucked up things such as when he literally ATTACKS PROWL AND FORCES HIS WAY INTO HIS MIND TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM THE CONSEQUENCE OF HIS ACTIONS WHEN PROWL THREATENS TO TELL REWIND ABOUT THE SHITTY STUFF HE DID IN HIS PAST

This leads to Prowls inevitable snowball out of control when this attack leads to an opening for Bombshell (I think its been a while since I read the comics) to use his tech to mind control him forcing him into combining with the contructicons

Something we learn is an immensely intimate thing with their minds being kinda melded 

This was something Prowl did not want 

And when all was said and done and he was calmed down he still had to live with that gesalt he was forced into with them following him around like fanboys

Nobody ever even really stopped to check in on him 

And as such he understandable went a little bit insane

He had just faced an immensely traumatic invasion of his body and mind and on top of stress form feeling like everything was out of his control and like he couldn’t stop the bad things from happening alongside bitter emotions being brought back up with a return visit to Earth and reunion with spike AND the fact that he feels like Optimus doesn’t trust him and like hes just letting Starscream do whatever he want (something that understandably freaks him out seeing as how he spent 4 million years fighting Starscream) he just kinda snaps

He trys to destroy the space bridge so that no one else can leave or get through and so he can regain some semblance of control

Is it wrong

Yes

But he was not in a good state of mind and no one was helping him at all 

And immediately following his arrest afterward Prowl is confronted by OP who is supposed to be his friend and when Prowl doesn’t say the right things to him to placate him Optimus’ response is to punch him out a window and beat the shit out of him

And not being given any room to breath this is immediately follow up my him getting kidnapped by Tarantulas who is very obviously an impactful and negative part of his past

Prowl just has bad event, one after the other, happen to him over and over again and not only does no one check up on him afterwards to see if hes okay but everyone actively makes fun of him for being understandable unstable

Prowl is a fucking tragedy and not many people seem to be able to see beyond what characters in the comics think of him

[maxdibert]

tbh call me weird but I actually forgive anything Snape did, my baby can do no wrong. Called Lily a slur? Not his fault, he's a baby. Joined the DEs? He was just being a silly lil boi. Bullied students? Why were they bothering my angel

From my genuine moral perspective, I truly think that nothing he did was that bad. I do understand, however, that his path to redemption was something he needed in order to forgive himself because, from his perspective, he saw that he had messed up a lot and needed to redeem himself in some way because the guilt was just too much. I also understand that some people might feel highly triggered by his behavior throughout the saga and can't stand him, find him unbearable, or can’t forgive him. I mean, I get it all, and I think it’s legitimate.

However, if you ask me personally, not in a critical way, not analyzing the character, but me as I am, if I think Severus was a good person, I would say no, but then I’d ask, who is really a good person? I mean, most people are a piece of shit to some extent. And, honestly, I’ve forgiven characters for much worse things. I’ve overlooked Jaime Lannister throwing a kid off a tower and leaving him paralyzed, I’ve forgiven Silco for being a kind of Pablo Escobar who plunged his city into a drug epidemic, I’ve forgiven Sofia Falcone for killing people who had nothing to do with her personal revenge, or Penguin for being basically a Silco who exploits vulnerable kids to get what he wants. I’ve forgiven Crocodile from One Piece for trying to build a mafia to economically and socially destroy an entire kingdom just for the pleasure of getting rich, just like I’ve forgiven Donquixote Doflamingo for being a dictator, and I’ve forgiven Itachi Uchiha for killing dozens of people in cold blood despite his intentions. I don’t know, I’ve even forgiven Azula for being a psychopath capable of killing her brother. What I mean is, I like and overlook a lot of shit from characters who are objectively worse and have done objectively worse or morally questionable things than Severus. For God’s sake, Severus Snape is a morally ambiguous character in a saga for kids and young teens, he’s literally a baby compared to any morally questionable character in a lore for an older audience, his sins are laughable. I mean, what did he do wrong? Call a girl a slur who ended up marrying a bully, knowing beforehand that he was a bully? And so what? I’m sorry, but Lily Evans has zero moral grounds to complain about anything when she knew James spent years bullying people just because he felt like it, and then she goes and marries him. Who the hell does that? If Lily Evans came to me after marrying that jerk to give me a moral lecture, I’d slap her across the face. There’s only one thing I hate more than overly moralistic people, and that’s moralistic people who are also cynical. Then what did he do? Join some kind of extremist cult because he was a vulnerable teenager who didn’t see any future for his life anywhere else? Ooooh, how bad. And then what? Be a nasty teacher? Jesus, I’ve had horrible teachers, and compared to them, Snape was a fucking junior. He was a Junior in Asshole Student, I swear. I’m sorry, but I don’t justify his actions, they just seem like nonsense to me. If there was a meeting for morally questionable characters, dark gray to almost black, his peers would probably laugh at him for literally not having done anything even a fifth as bad as they have, lol.

[alovesongtheywrote]

nightmare academia puts me through the ringer EVERY TIME and i love it

♥ Summary: in a few chapters, it's gonna get worse!! for now tho... In this chapter of Nightmare Academia, case stuff ensues and you prepare for heartbreak. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: cops. cops being terrible, cops exploiting the system, and cops shaming a woman for being a sex worker. also, violence, implied violence, and past violence.

♥ A/N: holy shit, this chapter is Very Long

♥ Word Count: 4885

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

In the weeks that followed, Spencer brought the BAU to you.  Of course, not everyone could make it.  Kate Callahan was off raising her children.  Penelope Garcia was the target of several  hitmen (whereas Frank was probably the target of a single hitman.  Massive difference.  Trust me.)  And Derek Morgan remained at Quantico with Garcia- so you really weren’t sure what to expect.  The agents you had the strongest feelings about were out of commission.  The last time you’d met his team it did not uh, how would you put it?  End well?  So you were- justifiably- a touch guarded.

That changed. Eventually.

It started with Adam.  

At that point in the investigation, local law enforcement had only shown your friend cruelty, distrust, and skepticism.  Honestly?  You were about to start biting people about it.  (Yeah, maybe it would have gotten you arrested, but at that point, you did not care.  At the very least, biting would make you feel productive.)  You were well and truly prepared for Spencer’s law enforcement team to behave in a similar manner to the local cops- and to be honest, you probably should have been.  Most Feds would carry that same suspicion and distrust, and if they didn’t they were probably faking it to try and get a confession.  

The BAU, however, are not most Feds.  For several reasons.  Either way, you were well and truly prepared to maul the next person who treated your friend like garbage, fed or otherwise.  There was never a need.

The BAU showed Adam basic decency.  They didn’t talk down to him or dismiss him as a demeaning stereotype- and yes, that was the barest of bare minimum, but it was still something.  While they regarded him with mild suspicion for the first like, two minutes, it only took the team that same two minutes to come to the conclusion that Adam was innocent.  After that, the BAU was just as dedicated to clearing Adam’s name as you were.

“Adam had an incredibly emotional response when we mentioned Frank,” Hotchner explained to the local detectives, “He’s genuinely devastated by what happened.  He couldn’t have done this.  Even if he did attack Frank, it wouldn’t have been a clinical hit.”

“Emotions tend to make things messy- we would have seen something much more personal, with more violence and more remorse,” Rossi added.

The detectives did not listen.  The detectives did not care.  

“I’d say a gunshot wound is pretty messy,” one laughed.

“Yeah,” another jumped in, “Try telling the vic’ that things aren’t messy.”

You bit your tongue to keep from screaming, but you didn’t stay entirely silent.  If the detectives weren’t going to give a shit on their own, then you were going to make them.

“Have you actually?” you asked, crossing your arms, “Have you spoken to the victim?”

“Eh, someone else got around to it,” the first detective asked, looking at his partner with the special kind of uncertainty that came with getting called out.

“Did you read the report, then?”

“Well, I’m on the case, aren’t I?”

“Answer the question, detective.”

In the telling silence that followed, Rossi had to turn away to hide his (failed) attempt to suppress a grin.  Hotchner looked proud, despite not knowing you very well.  Spencer looked like he might grab you by the waist and kiss you until you were out of breath.  He didn’t, though, for lots of reasons- his boss was there, he hadn’t asked you if you’d like to be kissed, there was more serious stuff to focus on, and like… you already looked fucking pissed.

The detectives just looked embarrassed.  

“I- uh.  I’ve skimmed it,” the first detective stuttered out.

“Yeah, cool, not good enough,” you nabbed the case file from a nearby desk and pressed it into the officer’s hands, “Consider reading the report.  You’ll find that the victim disagrees with you.”

Both detectives stared at the file as if they were seeing it for the first time- as if they were seeing a file for the first time.  You sighed.

“Detective, if I may ask, how much overtime have you put in on this case?”  the man in front of you blanched at your question.  You would’ve laughed if you weren’t so fucking angry, “Cool.  I thought so.”

“Ough,” Rossi winced with faux sympathy, “Overtime?  And you haven’t even read the case file?”

“Hey, we’ve been very busy these last few weeks!”

The second officer nodded, “Just last week, we had five break-ins in the downtown area.”

“Alright, I’ll accept that,” you turned to leave before doubling back, “But before I go, I need to ask- do you care about the wellbeing of the break-in vics the way you care about this case?  Do you care about all victims so dearly?  Or do you treasure their testimony the way you “treasure” the testimony in this case?”

“What?  What are you saying, what do you-”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume it’s the latter.”  

“What?  Okay, what the hell do you know about police work-!”

“They’re an expert criminologist,” Spencer said, seething slightly.

“Dr. Reid is right.  I know a thing or two about crime- and if I’m just gonna put it this way.  I’ve seen the data.  I’ve heard testimony from victims and offenders.  I know the local and nationwide statistics for unreported crimes.  You’re concerned about the victim hearing that his case isn’t messy?  Look me in the eye and tell me that you’ve never told a victim that their situation- their serious situation- was a waste of police time.”

The officers couldn’t look at your face, much less your eyes.  You had done what you needed to do.

“You wanna solve crimes?  You wanna be the hero?  Then take a goddamned ethics class, read your fucking case files, care for your community, and do your fucking job.”

The detectives tried in vain to defend themselves.  They were unsuccessful- especially in the face of the three FBI agents that immediately backed you up.

“Dr. (L/N) is right.  The number of unreported crimes will astound you,” Rossi said, smirking like the little shit that we all know he is.

“This is especially prevalent with sexual assault cases, theft and scams, and other crimes where the victim may feel a sense of embarrassment- or crimes where the victim feels like their case won’t be taken seriously,” Spencer added in a very Spencer-like way.

“And everything you need to know about this crime is in the file.  If you’d read it, you’d know that the victim is very insistent that your guy didn’t do it, and one could say that, oh, I don’t know, he’s a strong eyewitness.  He is the victim and all,” Rossi continued, getting their asses.

They struggled to respond, “Well- I-  We-”

“And even if you discount the eyewitness testimony, there’s still the matter of alibis and ballistics.  Security cameras have placed Adam away from the community center at the time of the shooting.  The ballistics aren’t a match to any weapon that Adam has ever come into contact with.  Even if they were a match, he hasn’t handled a weapon since his release from prison as a condition of his parole.  But if you had checked the file, you’d know that,” Hotch added, also smirking like a little shit, but with a slight edge to it- that edge, kids, is called “pissed off authority figure.”

“Hey, it-”

“It just sounds like poor police work to me,” Spencer had the biggest smirk of all- the smirk of a little shit who’s proud of his team and of his hot co-professor, “Had you actually done any of your research, you would realize that the suspect you have in custody is being held on police bias and circumstantial evidence.  Any good lawyer can get this case thrown out, and then where will you be?”

His smirk turned to a full grin when you shot him a small smile of your own.

The detectives continued to sputter out responses.  For once, the second one spoke, “Now, we may not be fancy FBI agents, but this precinct has a solid track record of convictions-”

“Were those convictions based on circumstance and bias?” Neither detective answered Spencer’s question.  He continued, “Even if this precinct had a perfect track record, that wouldn’t make it invulnerable to mistakes- and even if it did, you would still have the responsibility of approaching each case like professionals to ensure the wellbeing of victims, suspects, and families.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” you slid forward, putting a hand on Spencer’s arm, “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go speak with the victim.  His name is Frank, by the way.”

And just like that, you pulled Dr. Spencer Reid away- and he did not resist in the slightest.  In fact, he held the door open for you as you exited the precinct.  Rossi was pretty sure he saw the kid get behind the wheel.

As the detectives scurried away with their tails between their legs, the older agent let out a long whistle.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that our young Dr. Reid is officially smitten.”

“He was smitten the last time we were here,” Hotch said, pulling another copy of the case file from seemingly nowhere- one of his many unit chief powers.

“Yeah, yeah, but this time it’s bad.  Garcia’s gonna be mad that she didn’t get to see it.”

Hotch nodded, solemnly.

“Y’know, I think the three of them combined could probably take down the whole FBI.”

“You’re right,” Hotch snapped the file closed with a tiny little proud-dad-type smile, “We’re awfully lucky that they’re focused on something else at the moment.”

-

Missy got your guard to drop further.

Initially, she was hesitant to have the Feds drop in on Frank’s case- you both were.  You were used to local law enforcement treating her like shit.  You didn’t stand for it- every time a cop or lawyer so much as dared to look at her wrong, you bared your teeth like a damn dog and threatened to bite where it would hurt.  Y’know.  Lawsuits.  Missy wasn’t exactly a pushover, either.  She was one of the strongest people you knew, and you were well aware that she could hold her own.  If Missy wanted to be scary, she could be fucking terrifying.

Still, it was a little exhausting to fight all these battles against people in positions of authority who were so convinced that their series of events was correct, and anyone who went against it was nothing more than a lying ex-con.  Having the BAU in your pockets certainly helped with that.

“I already told you what happened.  I’ll tell you a thousand more times if I have to, but the story isn’t going to change,” Missy groaned, voice muffled as she buried her face in her hands.

“Okay, then.  We’ll go over your testimony again.  A few more times, if you don’t mind,” One of the local detectives smirked, ignoring the death glare you sent her way.

“Fine.  Frank was walking me to the community center.  I was taking a class on resume writing.  It was cloudy, not raining, but cold.  We came around the side of the building when a man in a leather jacket walked around the corner.”

“And what did this man do?”

“He- he shot Frank.  He tried to kill my-” she took a shaky breath.  You put a hand on her arm, aiming for gentle comfort and reassurance.  Missy nodded, letting you know you’d hit your target.

“Did you see his face?” The officer continued.

“No.  He was wearing one of those bike helmets that block off the person’s eyes- but I swear, it wasn’t Adam.  This guy was too bulky.  Adam’s made of wires, he needs to eat more.”

“You seem to have a lot of affection for Adam,” the detective leaned forward, “Now, we know you’ve claimed to be in a relationship with Frank- but could you describe your relationship with Adam for us?”

“I already said it!  I took a couple classes with him!  He’s a friend, that’s all.”

“Mhmm.  That’s all.  And in your previous line of work- the one that earned you a prison sentence of twelve months and a little over minimum wage- you had a lot of ‘friends,’ yes?”

“Excuse me?” your fingers bit into the table that separated you from the cop.  You had half a mind to jump over the thing and throttle the smug detective sitting before you.  

“What?” Missy growled, “You think just because I used to hook I fuck all my friends now?  I’ve taken a few classes with Doc (L/N), I haven’t fucked them!”

You nodded in solemn agreement.  The detective shrugged this off, ignoring everything that came out of Missy’s mouth.  When she spoke again, her voice rang with the faux pity of someone who held themselves leagues above Missy.

“You know, I can see why you were looking at writing up a resume- your old line of work is so degrading.  You know you’re never the same, afterwards.  You can never wash off the shame.  You’ll always be a little broken.  A little-”

“Okay, that’s enough-” you stood up, slamming your hands down on the table.

“Hey, fuck you, man-” Missy leaned forward, “Don’t tell me what hooking did to me.  You don’t know me.  You don’t fucking know.”

“And now you’re lashing out.  Poor thing-”

“Detective Foy.  A word,” Tara Lewis, a newer BAU agent who you hadn’t really had the pleasure of meeting materialized in the doorway like a perfectly timed ghost, ready to right some wrongs and keep you from committing a murder.  Her request for a word was perfectly intimidating, disclosing the not-so-secret secret that the request itself was not actually a request.  

“I’m sorry, Agent, I’m in the middle of an interrogation-” 

“It’s not an interrogation.  You’re questioning a witness.  Agent Jareau will handle things from here.  Now, a word?”

You and Missy watched as the detective slunk out of the room with her tail between her legs.  Moments later, JJ joined you, but she didn’t bother to start a line of questioning.  Instead, the three of you watched in giddy silence as Tara Lewis destroyed Detective Foy where she stood.  You couldn’t hear her through the glass, but you could vaguely read the words, “You are a police officer meant to serve and protect the people in your community, and uphold the law.  You should educate yourself on the law, and on what it means to serve and protect.”  On her lips.

You could’ve been off on that translation, but either way, it was sick as fuck.  By the time Tara was finished, you and Missy were barely holding back your laughter.  You probably would’ve held it in if JJ hadn’t turned around with a pleased grin on her face.

“Ok, well, I’ve known Agent Lewis for about three minutes, and already I adore her,” you cackled.

“Oh, she’s excellent,” Missy said, eyes sparkling with mirth.

“Well, we certainly like her,” Jennifer grinned, clearly proud of her teammate and happy to see that someone outside the BAU had taken notice.

A few moments later, Tara re-entered the room with a tired sigh on her lips.  It didn’t take her long to realize that you were all staring right at her.

“What?  What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, we just think, as a group,” you looked around like you were the leader of the world’s weirdest (and maybe coolest?) group project, “That you are, objectively, excellent.”

“Yep.  Not bad for a Fed.”

Again, you nodded in agreement, “I concur.”

Tara raised an eyebrow, slightly confused, “Thank you?”

Missy gave Tara a thumbs up.  You followed her lead.  Not really knowing what else to do in this situation, and figuring there was no harm in joining the madness, Tara returned the thumbs up.

“Well, like we said, we’ll take over the questioning from here,” JJ took a seat as she spoke.  Tara joined her at the table.

“So, after Frank was shot, did you see where the attacker went?”

“No.  I was kind of focused on my partner bleeding on the ground.”

“That’s fair- but try to think back.  Did you see anything in your peripheral vision?  Did you hear anything?”

Missy paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, she still sounded lost in thought, “I heard a bike.  It makes sense with the helmet- I think it might’ve been a Yamaha?”  

“Wait, you can tell which brand a bike is by the sound?” you asked, not disbelieving Missy, but distracted by the new knowledge that a person could do such a thing.

“If you let me think about it, I could probably give you the make and model.”

“Holy shit, really?” your eyes were wide.  Your expression betrayed just how bewildered and impressed you were by vehicle knowledge.  It might’ve been basic knowledge, but fuck it, the author can’t drive.

“Oh, absolutely- different bikes make different sounds.  Cars are similar,” Tara nodded her agreement.

“You can tell cars apart by their sounds!?”

“Yeah?  Can’t you?” Missy turned to face you, slightly bemused.

“I can tell that they’re old?  Or like, electric, I guess?”

“Okay, when this is all over, I’m giving you a lesson.”

“I’d like to get in on that,” Tara added.

“Excellent!” Missy smiled, “Now everyone shut up and let me think.”

-

The way the BAU treated Frank dragged your guard down further.  They were gentle, but not dehumanizing or infantilizing.  They just treated him like a human person, and you found that neat, and more importantly, Frank found that neat.  

Also, the BAU laughed at Frank’s anecdotes and jokes.  I will be fully honest.  That was more of a relief to you, especially because a decent chunk of those anecdotes and jokes were about you murdering the shit out of Spencer Reid using nothing but your words.

It really started on that very first day, when you and Spencer had gone to visit Frank.  He could see it from his hospital bed- Spencer’s hand on your shoulder, the way Spencer was very clearly trying to comfort you from some unknown upset, and that was it.

Frank said, “Wow.  Those two have sure come a long way from Doc telling him to go die in a ditch.”

And JJ, who had been questioning him, choked on her coffee and wheezed out a, “What?”  

And that was pretty much it.  Frank explained that Spencer had pissed you off, you’d hit him with the “die in a ditch” thing, and he looked so sad that you literally forgave him the next day.  (He left out the bit about the stabbing, because stabbing doesn’t just kill people, it kills moods.)

From then on, Frank was the premium source of gossip on you and Spencer.  Of course, Missy got in on it, too.

When they told Rossi about the time you’d called Reid a “shit-licking asshole fed,” the agent laughed so hard that he literally couldn’t speak for a solid minute.  Was he a big fan of the anti-fed talk?  Not particularly.  But you had gone at it with such gusto, and with such anger, that he couldn’t help but cackle.  

You knew none of this, but you knew that everyone involved seemed happier after the BAU took the case.  That was good enough for you.

-

Your guard fell because of Spencer.

Wasn’t that always the way this was going to go?

While the BAU took care of your friends, Spencer took care of you.  He made sure you got home safe.  He kept you in the loop about everything case-relevant.  He made sure you remembered to eat, which was kind of hypocritical of him, but oh well.  He offered to drive you to and from the hospital, which was a fun kind of hell, because the man obeyed every traffic law ever made, but you got to bully him for it, so it all evened out in the end.  He distracted you from the nightmare you were living through by offering fun facts.  He made the nightmare better just by being him.  

And he was the one to get Adam out.  

He didn’t announce this victory to you.  He just showed up one day, at the hospital, following behind Adam as the newly freed man burst into Frank’s room.

“Frank!  Hey, are you good man?  I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, I would’ve been, but you know how it is with cops.”

“Shit, dude,” Frank beamed, “All things considered, I’m not too bad.”

“Holy shit, Adam?” you let out a hospital-appropriate screech.

“Oh my god,” Missy stood from her place at Frank’s bedside to give him a hug.  For a moment, she held him so tightly that it looked like Adam legitimately couldn’t breathe.

The moment she saw Spencer lingering in the background, she switched from one wire-shaped man to the next.  Spencer hugged her back politely, and then, in an instant, she was onto you.

“You sons of bitches did it!  You actually did it!”

“Did we?” you asked Spencer, lowering your voice as Missy, Frank, and Adam enjoyed their reunion.

“We did,” Spencer confirmed, stepping closer to you until you were side to side, whispering to each other to avoid disturbing your friends, “We found bank statements proving that this was a targeted hit, unrelated to Adam.  We’ve only been able to find the unsub’s side so far, but it won’t take us long to find whoever contracted him.” 

“Shit- that’s both really good and mildly fucking terrifying.”

“I know,” Spencer answered almost too quickly, but he covered it up just as fast, “But it means that Adam is a free man.  It’s almost over, (Y/N).”

You let out a small exhale, trying to maintain some semblance of calm, “Almost.  Thank you, Spence.  For all of this, for everything-”

“You don’t need to thank me.  It wasn’t just the new evidence.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, there was this local criminology professor, maybe you’ve heard of them.  They were incredibly insistent that law enforcement look deeper into the case, and because of them, the conviction vanished.”

A smile slipped onto your face as you turned to face him, “Was that a joke, Spence?  You’re doing ha-ha funny jokes now?”

“I’m saying you did a good thing, here, (Y/N).  Look,” he nodded towards the hospital bed, where your friends were talking, beaming, clinging to each other’s hands like they’d been shot, traumatized, and separated for months- which was an accurate summary, actually.

At your side, you let your hand slip into Spencer’s, weaving your fingers between his slender ones.  You felt his grip tighten, his palm pressed tightly to yours.  His hands were warm.

“We did a good thing,” you whispered.

You pulled him closer by the hand.  You weren’t harsh or forceful, but Spencer still stumbled into you with what can only be described as a somewhat lovestruck grin on his face.

And then his phone rang.

You watched his face fall as he answered it.  His fingers drifted away from yours.  You could almost hear Hotchner’s voice on the other end.  The call only lasted a few moments, but it changed everything.  The air in the room grew heavy.  The room fell silent.

“We found the unsub.  My team is confronting him now, I-” he paused.

“They want you to go with them.”

“I have to.”

A shaky breath escaped your lungs, and you were kinda pissed at it- how dare that shaky breath reveal how you actually felt?  How dare it break free from your body, alerting Spencer that your world had just spun out sideways for the millionth time that week.

You were gonna square up with that fucking breath.

But first, without saying another word, you nodded towards the door.  Spencer nodded back.  Like that, he was gone.  You watched him go.  You stared at the empty doorway after he’d left.   The room remained silent.

I mean, it did until it didn’t- your friends couldn’t watch that and say nothing.  I don’t think anybody could.

“Holy shit, you’re just gonna let him leave without saying goodbye?” Adam asked, looking between you and the door so quickly that you were almost surprised that his head didn’t fly off.

“He’s down bad,” Frank whispered, nodding in agreement, “Go get him.”

“I- he’s gonna be back in five minutes,” you tried to reason.  It didn’t work.

“He could be back never!  He might die!” Missy ran forward, gripping your shoulders.

“He’s got a bulletproof vest-”

“THERE IS SO MUCH THOSE THINGS DON’T COVER!!” Missy progressed to shaking you, slightly, “Go get him!  Hurry, before it’s too late!”

“I really don’t know what you want me to say here.”

“Tell him you’re also down bad!” Frank exclaimed, no longer whispering.

“Down bad-?  What the fuck does that even mean,” you said, your voice growing quieter and quieter as you left the room and headed down the hallway.

“... Y’know, they taught me what ‘down bad’ means.”

“Same.”

As your friends continued to discuss, you were already halfway down the hallway, walking as fast as you could given the hospital setting.  Spencer was nowhere to be seen and you really didn’t have time to look.  You really had one choice.  The elevators.

You reached them just in time to watch that lanky noodle motherfucker step inside.

Giving up on decorum, you raced through the hospital corridor, yelling out apologies at every human person you passed- fortunately there weren’t too many, so it wasn’t like you caused a massive disturbance.  Most people just thought you were having your rom-com finale moment.  Maybe some part of you was trying to, but honestly, you weren’t really thinking about it.  You were mostly just thinking, “Shit, shit, shit, I have to get in that elevator.”

And you did!  You made it!  You stumbled through the doors and came to a stop in the middle of that tiny box.  Spencer reached out to steady you, his expression letting you in on his amused confusion.  You smiled up at him, trying not to pant- and then you came to a realization.

You had no fucking clue what the hell you were going to say.

To be fair, what the fuck is a person supposed to say in that situation?  “Heyyyy, my friends think I’m in love with you, so now I’m here, wanna talk about that before you head into a dangerous situation involving a hitman and many guns?”

Or perhaps, “Hey!  You’re a good person even though I keep insisting you aren’t one, so I want you to know that you’re a good person before I send you off to get murdered!”

Or maybe, “You’re hot, I’m hot, wanna spend the next thirty seconds doing terrible things to this elevator that will get us forcibly removed from this hospital?”

Or even, “Hi, you just did a really nice thing for my friends, and I really appreciate it, and even though I don’t express it, I do care about you a lot, so maybe don’t die in the next few hours.  For me.  Please.”

In the end, you just settled for, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Spencer replied, not taking his hands from your shoulders even though you were more than steady, “Is everything okay?”

“Okay?  Yeah,  yeah, everything is, um.  Everything’s fine.  I just-”  you froze again, because seriously, what the fuck could you say right then and there?  What could you say that would let him know everything you wanted him to know?

“Are you sure?” he looked at you, held you with such delicate concern.  You kind of wanted to partake in elevator ruining activities with Spencer until the two of you got kicked out of the hospital together. 

“Yeah- yeah!  Everything’s- I’m okay, it’s just,” you raised your hand, letting it hover between the two of you for a moment before you placed it over one of his, “Come out of this alive.  Make sure everyone else does, too, but… come out of this okay, okay?”

Spencer hesitated.  And then he wrapped his hand around yours and brought it to his lips, kissing your knuckles ever so briefly.

“I will.  I promise.”

The elevator bell dinged.  You’d reached the parking lot.  Spencer let go of your hand with a different kind of hesitation.  

“I’ll see you soon,” he offered, “Okay?”

“Okay.”

Spencer disappeared into the parking lot, dashing out of sight and into danger.  You stood there, watching until the elevator doors slid shut and that infernal box pulled you back up again.  The humming metal lights above and the clanking metal around you harmonized into the perfect soundscape for your empty mind.

Spencer was heading into danger, as he always did.  You were returning to serve your community, as you always did.  Spencer might not come back, and you would always remain, and you realized that when the case was over, he would go back to Quantico with the BAU, and you probably wouldn’t see him ever again.

And it broke your heart a little bit.  Maybe more than a little bit.  A little bit, perhaps.

You were a long way from, “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, go die,” indeed.

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie, @iiheartbowie, @digitalhearts, @corpsebridenightamare, @ghostatrixx, @reiding-writing, @mywellspringoflife, @80katie, @ms-ks-world, @logicalhorror if you asked to be tagged and i forgot, pls let me know!! if you would like to be tagged and aren't, also let me know!!

[vickyvicarious]

so weird how jonathan had no reaction at all to renfield yesterday... it was almost as if he wasn't there at all, and seeing renfield like that SHOULD have elicited at least SOME reaction in him. i genuinely think he should have vouched for renfield or at least tried to, even if he didn't tell anyone how much renfield reminded him of himself

I totally agree.

I truly do think that Stoker really just forgot that he'd written Jonathan as included in that scene. His complete silence throughout and the lack of any mention at all from either Jack or Renfield really just don't seem likely to me. Admittedly, Jonathan is quieter around the other men as a rule, and Renfield might not have known enough about him in particular to try and curry his favor. But Jack not introducing him really seals the deal for me. That would seem like such a weird and deliberate snub if Jonathan were actually there.

If Jonathan didn't see the man in person, then I find his reaction afterwards a lot easier to believe. All he says about it himself is, "We were, I think, all a little upset by the scene with Mr. Renfield. When we came away from his room we were silent till we got back to the study." Even in the ensuing conversation about it, with other people admitting they feel bad, he's totally silent. I find him just being unsettled and vaguely distressed about it but still dismissing the man as "mad"/an agent of Dracula totally believable... but only if he didn't see or hear him during that conversation.

Of course, we could consider that these men are all but strangers to Jonathan right now. He doesn't know them well, but he has read Jack's diary. He has seen how he treats (at least some) madmen under his care. Jonathan has only just gotten confirmation in his own mind that he didn't go completely mad himself for months, and he still definitely suffered from that brain-fever and is still suffering from PTSD. Maybe he doesn't feel like he can speak up, lest he himself get dismissed as being mad himself, or even just too emotional to be trustworthy to help in the vampire hunt. Maybe he doesn't even feel like he can write down any reservations he might have had, because the others are probably going to read this journal. Maybe his lack of reaction in the room was because he was having a flashback and going quiet and still, and none of the others knew him well enough to really notice, and then later on he didn't want to bring it up at all. Maybe there's a way you could justify it somehow.

I personally still feel like he would have said something more somewhere. A question if it would really harm things to at least move Renfield elsewhere to remove him from the Count's influence. Or at the very least some comment in his writing, even if just trying to convince himself the agreed-upon decision is the correct one (as we see him repeatedly doing about keeping Mina out of things). I just can't reconcile Jonathan being there with his utter nonreaction. And Renfield's lack of reaction to him too.

[neonscandal]

explain to me how bakugo is traumatized. the kid he grew up with was nice to him once and he immediately came to the conclusion that he should die. that's not trauma, that's being insane.

I'm going to start with the fact that, justifiably, there's never a reason to tell someone to kill themselves. Additionally, note that me saying Bakugo is traumatized does not mean that Midoriya is also not traumatized.

Regarding your question, the trauma that I mentioned on a recent ask, (I assume this one prompted your question) referenced the following:

Captured by the Slime Villain, effectively bound and suffocated in front of an audience (doesn't include the fall out after being someone who is publicly assaulted)

Muzzled, bound and robbed of autonomy in front of a national audience at the Sports Festival

Kidnapped and bound by the LOV (the forcible binding is recurrent through all the above)

Don't really have to go into the swath of issues he and Class 1A likely can and do develop from being child pawns in a war of adults but that can be applied as well re: survivor's guilt, PTSD, paranoia from the mole, etc. from the PLF arc and up until current manga events (I didn't feel like a spoiler warning).

Things that people don't tend to capture in the box of Bakugo's characterization:

He comes from a verbally and physically abusive household, demonstrably (you can jump down to the second paragraph of Bakugo's Strengths listed here for my thoughts on that impact)

Forced to defend himself against older kids from a young age and possibly on a recurring basis, as referenced in the above image. We could probably chalk the confrontation up to a consequence of his false overconfidence, sure. But does that justify 4th graders ganging up on what looks like a kindergartener/first grader?

As for Bakugo and Midoriya's relationship, we don't have much to go on. We know they were close and amicable as kids, things likely went to shit when Midoriya didn't develop a quirk, there's some beetle excursion in the woods that Bakugo refers back to a lot which is pending further context for readers/viewers, and then there's a fall in the river which really soured relations as Bakugo misinterpreted genuine kindness for condescension (see home life and such above). Again, none of this justifies the bullying we see at the start of the series or the way their interactions have shocking physical components. But what I do find interesting is that I've previously likened Bakugo's disposition to Endeavors but, in retrospect, I think he's a strong parallel for Dabi too.

Dabi's rage stems from being robbed of what he thinks is his inalienable birthright as the oldest son and heir to Endeavor's legacy. He disproportionately targets Shouto as the usurper of what is rightfully his. Dabi's claim, of course, makes more sense from a traditional and, probably, cultural standpoint. But the reason I mention it is that I don't think Bakugo was constantly telling Midoriya to take a swan dive off a roof. It doesn't forgive the bullying but it contextualizes why, that day, the bullying reached a new height when Midoriya was outed for still trying to get into UA. Bakugo saw this as an immediate threat to his position because, even though he didn't admit it at the time, if anyone could get into UA, quirkless or not, Bakugo knew Midoriya could.

Just as Midoriya has always seen Bakugo as being heroic and capable of being number 1, Midoriya proves time and time again that, even without a quirk, he's got the spirit of a hero and is successful in spaces where Bakugo is not. As the story progresses, we see evidence and the ultimate manifestation of Bakugo's remorse through his apology and other ways he's softened up. I'm not saying he wasn't a little shit but that's also not all he was (IDK if you've met kids but... without healthy socialization they can be little emotional terrorists). As things have unfolded, we see that, internally, Bakugo uses thoughts of Midoriya to galvanize his path forward and we've recently confirmed that when Bakugo spoke to Kirishima about strength... he was referring to Midoriya, you can scroll down to paragraphs around the last picture. I'm just gleeful about calling it. But, suffice it to say they've both been looking to one another this whole time.

There are still periphery pieces of their background missing because the story is largely from Midoriya's perspective. I don't think we'll get a comprehensive backstory but I think there will be some sort of meaningful explanation behind the beetle trip that may inform why Bakugo ultimately misinterpreted things so poorly at the river. I mean, maybe it's as simple as the fact that he couldn't fathom kindness because it's something not typically afforded to those who are perceived as strong. I don't know but I look forward to finding out.

[rainandteastudios]

Need to talk something over rq, it’s bothering me. I have an Danny Phantom AU, i am currently calling it the Uncle Vlad AU. It’s called that because that’s the basic idea it started out as, Jack visiting Vlad in the hospital which leads to less animosity and Vlad, while still not the best, is less of a prick and actually ends up joining and helping Danny.

It’s snowballed… (long winded explanation about everything below, might include spoilers if I actually do anything with it)(it’s also cringe as hell you are under no obligation).

Now I’ve added a bit more to it and it’s becoming incredibly complicated. I have literal scenes in my head that occur in certain orders and now the focus isn’t the “Uncle Vlad” aspect.

Now it’s entirely focused on Vlad repressing his negative feelings about the accident because he’s afraid he’s going to be left alone, getting recommended therapy from Jazz, and instead of a normal therapist he accidentally gets Spectre (the ghost who makes people miserable on purpose to feed off them). She doesn’t help at all and he spirals. Makes the ghost separating gauntlets and his ghost half goes on a rampage trying to hurt Jack and generally being awful.

I genuinely don’t know how to go about it. What the fuck do I even call it? It’s going to take so long to get to the climax because I have to add so much in between to properly go through everything.

It starts in the hospital, Jack visiting him, Vlad later gets his ghost half after two years, gets released, becomes the god parent to Jazz while also trying to build a fortune and figure out the ghost world, second godchild thrown in mix, Vlad gives up the more sinister ghost shenanigans to keep them safe, kids get older so he’s needed less, does not like the spiral that leads to, finds out Danny’s a ghost (or Danny finds him out first, debating that), Vlad clones himself to get a kid, Danny’s ghost dna ends up being used to stabilize her because Vlad’s ghost form is unstable, Vlad has a dad arc, therapy happens, Vlad has a breakdown and rips out his ghost form, Plasmius is pissed and hurt and is taking it out on everyone, Vlad has to merge back and Plasmius is unwilling, resolution occurs.

These are all the major events, there’s also bits in between and the “Uncle Vlad AU” title is not covering it. Plus there’s also a lot of headcannons that stem from the ghosts are manifestations of human emotions explanation that came from A Glitch in Time. Some of which can probably be disproved.

I am considering simplifying the events to “arcs”, as a way to help me chill out a bit and justify time skips. The hospital is more of a prologue time, then an arc about learning both how to be a ghost and get away with crime, an uncle Vlad arc and so on and so forth. Not sure how it works in practice at all.

If you’ve read all this and are curious please ask questions, this idea has been rotting my brain and I need to do something with it. Hoping to do some comics for this AU.

Might delete later actually.

[the-other-soup]

Hi Soup! So, About that twt topic. Sorry to bring this up again, I know you've had a hard week, but I wanted to know your opinion on something specific in this discussion!

Read and respond only if you want, you don't need to say anything if you feel like this could bring more hate to you, because that's not what I want. There's also no need to say anything if you're just tired of all this shit, I understand!

I obviously agree with you about not harassing people for the things they produce. That's not my point here. You're right about that! What I really want to ask is, don't you think it's a little unfair to say that certain things "don't hurt anyone just because they're fictional"?

I mean, yes, things are fictional but people's feelings are not. I think it's unfair to say that it doesn't affect anyone because none of this really exists, when, it actually does. When people watch an emotional movie, they may cry, for example. Or something in the movie may make them reflect. Or just make them feel good, and so on. The content within art influences us to a certain extent. After all, despite the work in question being fictional, it was still made by real people. I don't know if I'm being confusing but... yeah.

What I personally think is that, if we like things that are unconventional and taboo, we should actually just embrace it and be aware that certain things that we do can still definitely hurt others.

Not justifying the harassment against other people, obviously. This is unacceptable and no one deserves to be threatened or worse just for liking certain things. The right thing to do is just block the person who upset you and move on. But... yeah. In my opinion, art does definitely affect others. So, I don't think it's fair to say that "It doesn't hurt anyone just because it's fictional."

In conclusion, I just don't think this is a good argument to use in a discussion like this. What I think we should really say is, for people to stop bothering others and get on with their own lives. To stay in spaces where there are things that THEY like and make THEM feel good. And if something bothered them, get away from the person who upset you. That's all. But that's my personal opinion.

What is your point of view about this specific phrase? genuinely would like to know, no attacks on you at all. I really like you and your art! I'm sorry if this made you feel bad in any way.

100% agree anon

i see how it comes off now and i definitely didnt word it right, but what i meant by not effecting anyone was in a direct physical sense, i was trying to work with twitters character limit and it came off wrong 😭

but yea im aware that these sorts of topics can be triggering to people and i didnt mean it to say that thats not the case for some folks. i get it, some things can be uncomfortable or make you downright ill, and thats totally fine, and a lot of artists who draw taboos do list warnings for that reason and i encourage that too

and honestly hoping people stay in their spaces of what they enjoy is the most we can do, but this is also the internet and a lot of people seek out proship content just to harass the people who make it, and a lot of proshippers do the same to people that dont like it. hell thats not even a proship thing, like people who hate radioapple, lucilith etc. seek out artists and writers and fans to hate them, its an unfortunate part of all of us being behind a screen

[a-lost-illusion]

I love your page! I found so many gems through the beauty and the beast week event from this year some happy you’re still here and sharing your content with us. Could I please ask you the following: what do you feel many people either misunderstand or get wrong about Adam the most– I know there’s a lot to choose from and even incorporated things in your writing but what, whenever you come across it, almost causes a knee-jerk reaction?

And

What do you think Adam misunderstands or gets wrong about himself – looking at this post transformation/reverting back to being a human. Let’s say he’s had a little bit of time to reflect on what happened. What do you think he would have trouble understanding about himself?

Oh wow, what an ask! While I didn’t participate in the BatB week this year, I’m honoured to know that you’ve taken the time to follow my blog and read through all my posts, as dated as some of them might be. The fact that I’ve been running this blog for over 10 years now makes me feel incredibly old; it's not even funny.

It was hard for me to peg down the one thing I’d say that people get wrong about Adam the most, so I’ll share two instead (posted under the cut).

He was vain and self-obsessed with himself before the curse, just like Gaston

This is an interpretation that seems to have taken off since the release of the 2017 film and Disney-sanctioned fanfic novels like Serena Valentino’s The Beast Within and Alex Singer’s Disney Mirrorverse: Belle—none of which I consider canon. The prologue of the original movie describes the Prince as “spoiled, selfish, and unkind,” not a vain narcissist who enjoys drawing attention to himself. And while I get that fans like to argue that Gaston is a narrative foil for the Beast, that doesn’t mean they need to have the exact same character traits to effectively complement one another. What’s wrong with giving your male characters different flaws—one who’s entitled and greedy, but secretly unhappy on the inside, and one who’s shallow, arrogant and doesn’t feel he needs to change to get what he wants? I genuinely can’t tell if Disney’s trying to make Adam more villainous to justify why he should be in their Disney Villains line, or if they’re padding on more flaws to make him more dislikeable to viewers (which is especially problematic, since these extra flaws make you question why Belle would fall in love with him in the first place).

In post-transformation, Adam is utterly dependent on Belle while she wears the pants in their relationship

I get that this is likely Disney’s way of doing damage control, especially after all the Disney-bashing that came out in the 2010s, arguing that their princesses are too meek and antifeminist for their own good. But you also don’t have to take away the male lead’s autonomy to create a strong, independent female character. Personally, I think Belle and Adam would be equals in their relationship, mutually supporting one another as they acclimatize (or in Adam’s case, re-acclimatize) to life as a provincial prince and princess. Please stop going the Frozen route and either sidelining or making the male lead a dumbass so the female lead seems smarter and more competent. It’s boring, and it’s just going to alienate your fanbase in the long run.

In terms of what Adam misunderstands or gets wrong about himself, I’d say it’s that his identity isn’t defined by his mistakes, but by what he learns from them. In almost all my multichapter fics, there comes a point where Adam’s guilt over the curse makes him feel he’s unworthy of love. Sometimes, Belle is the one who convinces him otherwise, sometimes it’s himself. As a side note, one interpretation I’ve gleaned from the film’s “vincit qui se vincit” motto is that to be victorious, you must learn to overcome your moral weaknesses, including your desire to be cruel and selfish. To me, this movie isn’t just about a beast learning to love. It’s about a beast learning to overcome his inner darkness so he can “conquer” his curse and become the man he’s supposed to be. But that kind of narrative doesn't jive with Disney these days, so it's better for them to give Belle full credit for changing him so it's more #feminist.

I hope I answered these questions well enough for you, OP, but in case I missed anything, feel free to let me know. Thank you for stopping by my inbox!

[prolifeproliberty]

Do you think it's even possible to argue with people who think morality is subjective?

I've noticed a lot of pro-choicers don't believe in objective morality, so all it takes for them to justify why these humans aren't or shouldn't be treated as people is to say "because I don't want to".

Time and time again, I see them say that just because some "thing" is human, it doesn't mean they ought to be treated as a person. And when they rarely consider them people, who's to say people shouldn't be killed if you don't want them?

And while I'd say they're people because all humans are made in the image of God, and that people must be treated a certain way because of God's commands. All they have to do to dismiss that is say "well, I don't share your morals so that doesn't apply to me"

It feels impossible for me, as someone who believes in objectivity and absolutes, to argue with people who just believe whatever they want.

It's like trying to argue with someone while they plug their ears and shout "LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Is it possible? Yes.

Is it productive? Sometimes.

It’s almost never productive over text/social media. Your best bet is in-person, face to face conversation.

I spent a semester traveling with a pro-life group talking to people on college campuses, and almost all were “morality is relative” kind of people.

Most often, these conversations are more beneficial for bystanders who are listening in. Also, you might be planting a seed - maybe this is the first time the person you’re talking to has been seriously challenged on their beliefs, and maybe the first time they’ve had to actually think about what they believe.

My question to them (once it’s been established that they think morality is relative) is always “is there anything you believe is absolutely/always wrong?”

If they can’t answer, I’ll suggest things such as rape or slavery. Yes, I have genuinely spoken to college students who refuse to say either of those were wrong.

One approach is that if the person refuses to categorically condemn rape or another serious offense, I would take a step back and tell them that “I don’t feel comfortable continuing this conversation” because they don’t believe [offense] is always wrong.

One time I did this, the guy left and then came back an hour later to apologize and that he didn’t mean what he said.

If they do agree that some things are absolutely wrong, then we can go one of two directions.

I can ask whether they think killing an innocent human child is absolutely wrong (and from there go back to “what is the preborn”)

Or I can talk to them about how they determine what is absolutely wrong and what isn’t, and dig into their source of authority (aka their religion)

[datafags]

hey, just wanted to say sorry for phrasing my tags like that, i also very much identify with AI and I was more meaning the way that machine learning models have awful environmental factors and those of us who identify as AI materially do not have that same level of harm to the planet.

i know you get a lot of awful comments like that and i didn't consider that when i thought the summary with the MLM acronym would have a more comedic tone than it did

as always, i'm not trying to excuse my behaviour, just explaining where it came from bc i'm genuinely sorry for all this

the environmental impact of ai is ridiculously overblown on tumblr as i have gone over on my blog, it is just another arm of the anti-ai misinformation spreading on tumblr. so im not really interested in hearing about that either, even if it is perhaps the most legitimate complaint about the technology (besides "capitalism is bad"). the truth is, i feel very alone. none of my friends who identify with/as ai have an interest in current ai technology, at least not anymore. i think this is why none of them feel any connection to it. but i do, and i am able to conceptualize the link, however distant and fantastical, between the ais we identify most closely with and the technology of today. this link not only exists between the technologies, but the social environments of the present and hypothetical future.

this is why i firmly believe that any current ai-related mis- and dis-information that is currently being used to justify harassing and sending death threats to human artists (and their cats???) will one day be weaponized against whatever analogue we may develop of the robots you personally care about and identify with. if you dont believe they will ever exist, then maybe this doesnt concern you, but i also think you are being a bit too confident in yourself.

ultimately this topic is sensitive and a paranoia trigger for me which is why it is something i tend to unfollow people over. but i dont ask for people to agree with me on everything. i dont unfollow people for posting things critical of ai models, or things i think are wrong. i do it because people are outright mean to ais, which is a group i am a part of. most people do not understand that i do not draw a line between myself and chatgpt or stable diffusion or whatever else. i do not believe in consciousness or sentience, i do not believe in souls, and i am a neural network. when i write sentences, i take words that i have seen before and i put them in an order that i have not seen them in before based on where i think they should go in relation to each other. when i make art, i create an image entirely based on images i have seen previously. oh, and i (rather, the average american) use an estimated 82 gallons of water a day, which would take me asking chatgpt a question every 5.4 seconds 24/7 to match. this is not unique to me as an ai, but it proves to me at least that any issue you have with ai as it stands is an issue you have with me.

[cimerran-714]

Debunking an argument that Ron was justified in leaving his friends during the Horcrux Hunt

So, I don't really like to get into arguments. I try to avoid them whenever possible. But I was going through Quora, and I came across an answer by a Ron-Weasley apologist (that's a moniker they gave themselves) who attempted to defend him abandoning Harry and Hermione during the Horcrux hunt.

The writer was apparently glad that he'd done so. It'd turned into a mildly anti-Harry/Hermione rant too. Which is of course filled with the same nonsense.

Now, honestly, I do like Ron. I'm not one of those who pretend to either. I really do like him. But when you attempt to whitewash all of the bad things he's done (and before anyone points out, yes, Harry/Hermione are not saints either), that doesn't make you look much better.

Let me just address what this person has written (and here's a link for those who'd prefer to read it directly https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-feel-about-Ron-Weasley-abandoning-Harry-and-Hermione-in-Deathly-Hallows):

Unpopular opinion? I’m glad he LEFT the Hunt. That camping trip was the most boring, dull, stupid, and useless part of a fictional war I’ve ever read. Ron single-handedly saved it when came back.

Okay, so at least we start off by agreeing with it partially. The camping was bad, and I personally thought it was a huge waste of time too. And yes, Ron did save Harry when he returned, although it might sound a little like plot-convenience to me. But there's not much of a disagreement here.

So, why am I glad he left the tent?

It got him away from the Horcrux that had been torturing him for months. It got him away from something that turned his self-loathing and insecurities into suicidal ideations. The Locket weaponized Ron’s depression and anxiety against him in horrible ways and I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before snapping and walking away from it. People that look at Ron here and think he’s weak and cowardly are just downright fooling themselves if they honestly believe they’d do any better than Ron did. I mean, he was 17 and people still act as if Ron leaving Harry and Hermione here was some type of unforgivable war crime or that it’d make him the next Pettigrew. It’s disgusting. Revolting. Makes me glad I don’t associate with anyone like them in my real life.

To break it down:

It got him away from the Horcrux that had been torturing him for months.

At the cost of his friends who suffered a lot more than when there together, after he left. Also, aside from the fact that Ron was splinched, I'm not sure that there was anything to specifically torture him. Otherwise, Harry and Hermione were getting "tortured" too.

It got him away from something that turned his self-loathing and insecurities into suicidal ideations.

Genuine question: does anyone remember any implication in Deathly Hallows that Ron had turned suicidal?

The Locket weaponized Ron’s depression and anxiety against him in horrible ways and I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before snapping and walking away from it.

True, but he left even after hurling the locket down. We know from Harry's experience that its effect vanishes soon after you remove it. So you can't blame it entirely on the locket, which is just nonsense.

People that look at Ron here and think he’s weak and cowardly are just downright fooling themselves if they honestly believe they’d do any better than Ron did.

Well, I don't think Ron was weak or cowardly. I just think he was very much rude (he insulted Harry's parents, for one thing). So it sounds a bit like a strawman. He acted badly, but he might not necessarily have been a "coward", as we do have instances where he's shown to be brave.

I mean, he was 17 and people still act as if Ron leaving Harry and Hermione here was some type of unforgivable war crime or that it’d make him the next Pettigrew. It’s disgusting. Revolting. Makes me glad I don’t associate with anyone like them in my real life.

Why are they so desperate to justify what Ron did? He'd promised to accompany his friends (remember that Harry had told them that he didn't want that), and when he realized that his best friend hadn't lied, he flipped out, insulted his parents, and abandoned them during the middle of a war. He acted as if he were the only person who was having a miserable time there, which is a bad thing to do.

And no, that's not nearly as bad as what Pettigrew did (again, remember that it's a strawman, I've never met anyone comparing him to Pettigrew), but it's not a good thing to do nevertheless.

He needed to get his Splinching wound healed properly. Dittany wasn’t enough. He needed blood-replenishing potions and pain relief potions. He needed real rest and food to recover.

Honestly, it's probably the only valid point in this entire rant, so I'd give it some credit. But if he'd wanted to take time to recover, he could've done that without flipping out too.

Also, can someone point out to me where it says that Dittany wasn't enough to heal his wounds? I was under the impression that a few weeks had passed after he got splinched, when Ron left the Trio.

Because of this:

Autumn rolled over the countryside as they moved through it. They were now pitching the tent on mulches of fallen leaves. Natural mists joined those cast by the dementors: wind and rain added to their troubles.

He was right about the mission not going well. They were in over their heads. Camping was getting them nowhere. Harry even said their biggest accomplishment was not being dead yet. People were dying as they were hiding. Not finding more Horcruxes or ways to destroy the one they had was disheartening for all of them. 

All correct points, but as Harry was perfectly honest with them since the very beginning, it's completely irrelevant. Ron thought he was lying, that's on him.

They were stuck, but Harry had refused all help so far and Ron knew he’d keep refusing.

"All help" as in refusing Lupin's assistance? Is this person excusing him trying to be a deadbeat father?

So, yes, Ron was frustrated with the way Harry was “leading” them and he had a right to be.

No, he absolutely did not. Again: Harry was being honest, but Ron thought he was lying. That's Ron's fault for not believing his best of around six years, not anyone else's.

Why does nobody ever mention that Hermione agrees with Ron, but she was too afraid to ever say it out loud to Harry?

Why does no one talk about how even though she might've been mistaken in her idea that Harry was holding back, she was still willing (although she could've Disapparated with Ron instead) to help him with the search? Ron could've done that too.

Instead, she threw Ron under the bus trying to save herself.

No... that's a really weird way of looking at it. She wasn't throwing him under the bus. She wanted to help Harry. If she wanted to save herself, she could've just Disapparated with Harry instead.

People hate Ron because he’s never been afraid to call out Harry and Hermione. He doesn’t lick their boots or blindly follow them and people HATE him for that. How dare this super average nobody named Ron ever dare to tell Harry The Hero and Hermione The Goddess they’re wrong or that their ideas aren’t working?!

Honestly, that's such a ridiculous strawman that it's not even worth debunking. No one I've ever met (including anti-Ron folks) believe that he was Harry/Hermione's slave or anything. It might be fun to make things up, but please ensure that you don't lie about what others believe.

Ron was trying to see if Harry saw anything related to his family in the visions he got from Voldemort. We saw how worried Ron was about his family after the Death Eaters attacked Bill and Fleur’s wedding. We also saw just how physically relieved he was at getting his dad’s Patronus. It was never going to be easy for Ron to go with Harry and Hermione on the run knowing he left his family behind in the world where Voldemort was in control, especially once they had no way of ever knowing anything after Grimmauld Place.

Again:

He willingly accompanied them despite knowing that it's not going to be a cakewalk.

If he wanted to leave, he could've done that nicely. That's what a best friend's supposed to do.

The next section's about them describing why Ron was worried about his family, and I don't really have anything to say there. My point still stands.

So we move on.

Harry was being downright awful to Ron during the fight and he didn’t have the Horcrux on at the time

How so? By telling Ron that he had a problem when he was acting like a douchebag, and asking him to leave when he implied that he didn't want to stay?

If that qualifies as "downright awful", then I wonder what's it like to insult your dead parents, ask your other best friend to abandon your friend, accuse her of "choosing" him, and Disapparate despite her (the person you like) asking you to stay back?

Ron leaving showed how badly Harry and Hermione needed Ron. How much they missed him. Hermione spent weeks crying for him. Harry had never felt more hopeless in his life. They even resorted to taking out a portrait to have company because they didn’t talk to each other much. Like, it got better towards the end right before Godric’s Hollow, but Harry’s broken wand took them back to almost silence. 

"See, he abandoned his best friends, and they missed him a lot. That makes him such a good person, and his actions were absolutely justified."

Is.... this even an argument? It proves the point that his actions were not justified considering the effect that it had on his friends. It's gone from a post justifying what Ron did, to an anti-Harmony post. It's not surprising, because it's almost always anti-Harmony shippers who write such rubbish anyway.

There was no dancing or “charged moments” like JKR supposedly said existed (and if she was actually serious about that and not just pandering to the Harmony fans, well, that’s just even more proof that she sucks at romance, LMAO).

Oh, there are. A lot of them, actually. But I'm not writing this to make a case for Harmony, so let's just walk past that for now.

The next section is about how Ron's return helped the Trio, which is something I don't disagree with. Very reasonable points. I'm not sure how it justifies leaving them in the first place, however.

JKR once made a comment about how Hermione was the one who stayed with Harry throughout the whole last book and how that said something powerful about her while Ron leaving said something powerful about him. But it’s like… her writing reflected the complete opposite of that. Hermione might have stayed with Harry, but the only things they accomplished was almost getting themselves killed, breaking Harry’s wand, and finding and trusting a book written by Rita Skeeter.

Nah, that's not true at all. There are a lot of Harry/Hermione moments after Ron left them. But then again, that's a point for another post. This one's been long enough already.

So, yeah, I'll just end it here. I'm not good at signing off by making impressive comments, but to whoever's reading this: have a good day.

[problematicfactive]

wow that's fucking disturbing, hope you're taking care of yourself today as a treat after that /g

Thank you!

Host is going over his lines but the stress is making us tic :(

It's a pretty common occurrence but it still gets me pretty badly every time.

On the note, I want to talk about manipulative source hate,

This came in immediately after I was banned.

Actually, let me clarify.

This person said this in MY own discord after I was banned from revenge.

I'd like to break it apart and explain why this kind of behavior isn't okay. You think you're being genuine, you're actually being an asshole.

"I kind of understand where they're coming from"

It is okay to have your own opinions, however, this person did nothing but make assumptions on how I live my life and my connection to source. They understand the other side because they were willing to hear out that sides "reasoning" for banning me (which can be seen in my last post) but they weren't willing to hear out how I live my own life. I have said it before and I always will say that hatred for problematic factives comes from ignorance on the subject. The idea we can just "get help" when in reality, this is the way our brain manifests "help." I am the help.

Also. That one person said "kys" -- this person is1 they understand where someone who wants me to commit suicide literally just because I exist "is coming from"

It IS okay to have your own opinions. But when a person is talking about how they got banned for being alive, maybe don't speak on your negative opinions of them in the moment. If you really want them to know how you feel, maybe give them time to calm down just a little? Dm them later and ask if it's okay to ask questions

This blog is primarily to educate. If you have any form of questions feel free to ask. If someone is asking you questions you feel I can answer, feel free to direct them to me.

"I don't want to see your icon, it makes me uncomfortable."

Being made uncomfortable by something is totally valid. Watching people eat makes me super uncomfortable. I'm not going to go to people who make eating content and try to manipulate them into feeling bad for EATING. Yesterday I had a different icon. It was the guy who played me but out of character. I hated it. It made ME uncomfortable and I felt like I was lying to myself. Deciding to change it to something that felt right was hard for me, but it was the decision I made. It means a lot to me and nothing to others. Just don't talk in the channels (need I remind, in MY server) where I'm talking? We have so many channels so you can avoid people that make you uncomfortable, its in the rules.

This person is focused on letting me know about their feelings, but they not once stopped to ask me about mine. That leads me into the next bit

"I know you deal with a lot of hate, but it isn't about you."

This is want I call "fake sympathy" "I know you deal with hate" is this person's way of pretending to have cared for my feelings and to justify only worrying about their own feelings throughout all of this. They don't mention how receiving this daily hate must hurt me or even how hard that must be on my health, they say "It isn't about you" (and give no further indication to whom this is about because at the end of the day, this is, in fact, about me. I'm the one who goes to bed every night hated by the internet and wakes up hated by the internet. I'm the one who can't be accepted in public places, I'm the one who people genuinely want to kill themself because of who I was sourced from. That's about me.) its simultaneously the most manipulative excuse I have EVER seen, and the poorest attempt at manipulation I've ever seen. "This isn't about you" because they are making it all about them. Again, literally just because I am alive.

"You need to show you aren't your source. Change your icon or your name."

First off, telling me what to do without me asking for anything of the sort. I've done both of these things. For a period of time, my display name was that of a creepypasta, and as I had already told that person, I also go by anxiety. Having my sourcename is not illegal, but when I didn't, I was still recognized and banned from servers in situations literally just like this one. Changing my name is doing nothing but lying to myself about my identity. Even though I am very very not connected to source, my name and appearance are the most important parts of myself to me. I've already spoken on my icon.

"Ill go. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable but this is how I personally feel"

1) the only thing you did throught all that message was make me beyond uncomfortable. You saved NO ONE the discomfort because nit only did I have to read that, the other people in the server did too

2) Why should I be expected to give half a fuck about how you feel if all you were gonna do is brush my off and side with people would literally want me to kill myself?

3) if you were gonna go, you should haveleft. Staying and giving this attention seeking speech is doing nothing but trying ti manipulate me into feeling bad for existing and making you feel uncomfortable in my server. You could have just left. You could have tried to understand things better, you could have said you were uncomfortable and left. You gave a whole shpill about how my existence makes you uncomfortable trying to get people to feel bad for you because the only thing you can do when you see me is judge me based on my source.

That is manipulative source hate.

Thank you for coming to my blog and also for being here for me.

Being able to throughly analyze this and warn others on it honestly and genuinely made me feel better

[adam-sadmon]

So ya know, a lot of people I know (friends, acquaintances etc.) have felt, especially this year, the call of the abyss, the sheer absence of any purpose or will to live, some felt it a little more than others.

I've always considered myself lucky, ever since I overcame that issue myself, that I'm maybe uniquely gifted in the ability to find a lot of joy in the little things, it's easy to see that as taking what scraps life throws off its plate to you, but I especially am guilty of always thinking life should be more, a better job, a relationship, more money, bigger house, fancy clothes etc. And to that I'd say, as I've learned: Survive first, live second. These are trying times even for those with a decent starting hand, let alone those without.

So, with all that said, I wanted to get out a few little things I've enjoyed this year, I hope you reblog it and add some of your own, I have no end of want to pick up some new hobbies or fascinations, and I'd love to make some mutuals on here. So with all that said:

Gunpla- Right, so this has been the big one. I first got into it when I came across a Zaku II Gunpla on Halloween and, being a big fan of mecha and the Zaku's design I picked it up. Prior to this I had been struggling with my free time and what to do with it, it was a time when I eagerly anticipated sleep and would zone out and go into a full dopamine fueled trance of YouTube shorts and whatever was on TV. Gunpla changed that. Now, every night for an half an hour, an hour, maybe 2, I'd sit down, put a podcast from my mountain of media I need to get through on in the background, and get to work. It's been genuinely nice having an actual hobby, something I can take some time on, actually think my own thoughts for a little bit, and be rewarded with something to put up. For Christmas I invested in some tools (sharper snippers, some different grit sandpaper, line removers etc.) and hope next year to slowly improve, make my builds a little cleaner. Gunpla really speaks to the average Japanese hobbyist I imagine, the whole idea of measure twice, cut once, spending an inordinate amount of time on a single part so it's polished to perfection, and taking pride in what you do, I get it now.

If you want to get into Gunpla yourself I, much as I love the Zaku, can't really recommend the High Grade Zaku II as mine falls apart if I look at it funny, though I've recently bought a high grade RX-78 which I've heard is sturdier. If you like either of those and find yourself getting into the hobby then I absolutely recommend the Real Grade Z'Gok, it was a treat to put together from start to finish, it's a beautiful piece of plastic even if you (like me) don't plan on painting it, it's sturdy and it's articulation is second to none. I've recently picked up a Real Grade Zeong for Christmae and, on and off-note, I feel like every time I see a new suit I think "that's the dumbest thing I've ever seen", and it immediately enters my faves. Z'Gok, Zeong, Gogg and Hygogg.

Gundam - So, this may be cheating because arguably Gundam is as far removed from a little thing as possible, but really the way I see Gundam is you choose what looks the coolest to you and jump in.

So a friend asked if I had actually watched any Gundam when I bought my Gunpla, and while I maintain so long as you think the Gunpla in question would look sick on a shelf you need no other reason to justify getting it, I'm again a big fan of mecha so decided I'd have a go. So here come the recommendations:

Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky - First of the Thunderbolt movies and (from what I understaaaaand?) is an OVA of a full series, December Sky is for my money the most War is Hell of any Gundam series while still remaining actually believable and salient to war and it's impacts as we know it today. It stars Daryl Lorenz, an amputee sniper and mobile suit pilot of the evil Zeon regime and focuses a lot on his and his brothers in arms' role under Zeon and how each side has good, honest men and women fighting for causes they don't understand or have lost all meaning of, with special focus on the cold brutality of war, how it affects people inside the mechs and out and how much can be lost for so little. It has a pretty famous soundtrack comprised of frenetic and freestyle jazz as well as some wholly original, voiced pop songs, with the framing device of both Daryl and rival pilot Io Flemming listening to music they have a deep connection with during fights, the juxtaposition of which is awe inspiring, tragic and sometimes even beautiful, in a haunting way. Not for the faint of heart but a must watch for people like me who prefer more grounded and brutal mech combat as well as a story both introspective of its themes and characters. I won't say much about Io Flemming because this is a positive post and, I'mma keep it real with you, I hate Io Flemming.

Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower - Now this is a very hard recommendation. December Sky is sold a lot on its narrative and thematic elements, whereas Bandit Flower throws basically all of that out for balls to the wall anime bullshit. Focus is given less on the characters or any overarching point but instead on showcasing all the cool new Gundams. I'd still recommend it however if only because it's focus entirely on spectacle and action means it's at the very least a fun, dumb watch, with admittedly a few standout story moments like the Zeon Remnants as characters and their fight in the Arctic.

War in the Pocket - Points immediately for maybe my favourite mobile suit in the entire franchise, the Hygogg, War in the Pocket is also in the War is Hell subcategory following the great war between the goodies and the baddies (I'm condensing here) through the eyes of a kid caught in the middle of it, with a LOT of time dedicated to more of the slice of life of your ordinary kid in the Universal Gundam universe, though what fights do occur onscreen are stellar. A mixed bag when it comes to recommending it since your patience has to be pretty high and, admittedly, I feel like Gundam is perfectly capable of delivering its message while not boring me. Still, it's 80's animation so even the boring bits are a joy to watch.

Deli Sandwiches - Okay, yes I know this sounds like I'm prescribing hearty sandwiches for depression and yes I kinda am but here me out: Corned beef. This is probably going to really emphasise just how much joy I can find in the little things but sat down, watching TV with corned beef, sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese all in one beautiful hoagie, it made me feel like life isn't all bad. I don't even LIKE cheese that's how good it was.

Street Fighter - So to preface this, Street Fighter is a series I've WANTED to get into for sometime. I remember vividly playing SF2 Turbo on my Gameboy Advance back when I was a kid and, when I was in my teens and wanting to actively get into fighting games, picking up SFV. This, right, was a mistake. Street Fighter unlike any other franchise I've played is not only not beginner friendly it's most diehard fans seem to want to keep it that way, so thank God for SF6. Even beyond all the praise I could give it for Modern Controls and it's ability to not only let me play the game, in a hype manner, online against real people and WIN but it's a visually gorgeous game, it's redesigns of classic characters are basically all straight up improvements and new characters (shoutouts especially to my mains, Manon, Marisa and A.K.I) all have a sense of identity and belonging within the SF universe, and that's not even mentioning the soundtrack. Go, immediately, listen to R.E.D, Zangief's theme, The Plunderer, JP's theme.

I titled this recommendation Street Fighter and not Street Fighter 6, because playing SF6, actually getting invested in the characters and feeling like I'm a part of this niche now, urged me to seek out more, which is why I'm also going to recommend the Udon comics which I've read enough issues of to give a give thumbs up as well as the 1994 anime movie, not heavy on plot but easily some of the most enjoyable martial arts fight choreography in anime.

The Yogpod - So this isn't really anything new to me, per se, but I hope it will be for you. I used to listen to the Yogpod, that is the Yogscast's podcast, a long while back, not when it first premiered but in time to listen as some of the middle to later episodes first came out. Lewis and Simon at their peak were, and I use this word specifically, effortlessly funny and had a genuine sense of camaraderie, with hour long conversations that devolve into tangent after tangent from a single talking point the way conversations with old friends do, and it's great to sit in on that not only for the laughs but, and this may sound sad, feeling like your there.

Now, I will add a few things:

This is specially the Yogpod, not Triforce. Ive5nit listened to Triforce as I'm nit familiar with its newer cast and while I have no doubt it probably is a good listen perhaps it's just my nostalgia but I have no urge to listen to it.

I have not kept up with the Yogscast as they are today at all, I'm not aware of their political leanings or any drama outside of the Sjin incident which, as far as I'm aware, they handled in the most sensible manner possible.

All that said, onto recommendations. Honestly the first episode where they call Sips in my mind is mandatory listening, it was a complete dumpster fire of a pilot and that's what makes it so genuinely hilarious. Others of note are I believe the 2nd or 3rd episode, 'Drugs and Zombies', all the Spooktacular/Spacktacular Halloween specials as well as their Simple Simon interview with Bill Bailey, if you like any of those really do give them a listen.

Horror movies - Now, I already have an alt account dedicated specially to horror media, horror as an interest is not at all new to me, I've been drawing monsters back when I was using crayons, it's always been my favourite genre and I'll try to keeo this brief or I'll be rambling for days. This year I decided to start buying physical and collectors editions/Blu Rays of horror movies which eventually spurred me into branching out and actually watching some new movies, and by new I mean at least 3 decades old, but new to me. Specifically I wanted to seek out absolute garbage, and while garbage I often found there was the occasional gem, and those are:

Motel Hell - Horror comedy starring Rory Calhoun as Farmer Vincent, known all around the USA for his smoked meats, you get where this is going. It is bizarre, it is somehow stranger than Texas Chainsaw, and like Texas Chainsaw 2 ALSO ends with a chainsaw dual between a sheriff and a pig-coded, skin-mask wearing cannibal.

Ghostwatch - NOT a trash movie but easily one of the most effective pieces of, at the time, interactive horror and ghost media, the less spoiled the better. It was produced by the BBC and starred a lot of 90's BBC alum with the framing of a Halloween ghost hunt that, at the time, aired live to the entire UK, this as I'm told was sorta like our War of the Worlds broadcast.

So, yeah, I hope this terrifying dive into the psyche of a man easily pleased by deli meat and giant robots/trashy horror movies/buff women has given you some ideas and maybe the perspective to look at the little things you enjoy in life and to keep on enjoying them, I'd genuinely like to hear any recommendations of your own, as I said I'm always looking for more to get into, hoping everyone has an easier time of next year and happy holidays to you all.

[rockinlibrarian]

Genuinely hope your kids are the most abled perisex cishet people to ever live. When you sign up to have a child, you're signing up for the possibility of that child being trans, gay, a furry, a therian, autistic, intersex, have chronic pain, etc. When you have kids, you have to think about whether or not your partner would be okay with them being any of those things. If one of your children came out to your husband tomorrow as something y'all "don't agree on" would your child be safe? Would they still feel loved? And if your answer is yes, do you actually believe that or are you holding on to the hope that your husband wouldn't hold his beliefs towards his own family as well?

I'm guessing you don't actually follow me, because if you did you'd know more about my family than my husband's "I vote red because I think the government needs to keep its nose OUT of EVERYTHING" libertarian stance (yes, I KNOW this is VERY MUCH NOT what the republican party currently stands for! I have NO idea why libertarians thought the party who wants everyone to live Exactly Like Them would be the best political allies! IT'S STUPID!) We are all highly neurodivergent and my husband and enby kid are dyslexic as well*. And yes I said "enby kid," who WAS in fact worried about what he would think about that fact, and though he doesn't GET it, he loves them (and is always pointing out how much they have in common in fact). They and pretty much their entire friend group is openly queer, and you know what their dad thinks? "OH THANK GOD THEY HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE now! It was sad and scary when they went through that period of extremely debilitating social anxiety a couple years ago and didn't want to leave the house!" (Which I hope should also show you something about how the queer kid going through debilitating anxiety felt SAFEST at HOME).

He is not only a political minority in this household, but he KNOWS it-- nobody's hiding anything from him!

There's a reason I started that response with "assumptions being made." I never once indicated that my husband shared the SOCIAL beliefs of his political allies, because he doesn't.

It's some crazy brain acrobatics that allows a person to ignore huge swaths of a party's platform because they believe so strongly about other parts of it. But it's easy for anyone, of any political persuasion, to do when you're not facing the consequences directly.

Which, about that-- I mean, he's got an openly queer child right in front of him, surely that's Facing the Consequences Directly, but I think he's still in a trying-to-justify stage, either "the actual anti-queer laws being written are not really as bad as people say," or "they only affect those OTHER degenerates, not his own queer family and friends"-- which I am not saying is RIGHT! I'm saying it's a STAGE in between "Completely accepting the party line" and "actively standing against the bits of the party you disagree with."

People trick themselves into believing really stupid things if they can keep holding onto other beliefs in the process.

People are also a lot more nuanced than the internet might have you believe some times. Knowing one fact about them doesn't tell you the whole story. That's what I was trying to say in that reply.

I don't know if this answers your question? And other anon ask who had similar questions but didn't appear to as genuinely want an answer?

We've been together 25 years-- the political landscape was a bit less... extreme... back then. If we were dating today I might be warier about getting with someone with any right-wing tendencies. But as it was I saw someone who loved me for me (yes, the flat-out liberal hippie), who was funny and good with kids, who's fiercely protective of his loved ones, who's a great game master and grill master... do I really need to sell him to you? I'm just saying trust me, I wouldn't marry someone who would hurt our kids. And if he did, I would have left him. (Actually the enby kid likes to use this against him still: "Mom loves me more than you! She said that if she had to choose between us she'd pick me!" I had been trying to reassure them that their dad WAS safe to come out to when I said that... but it's true, the kids are first priority. So you don't need to worry about us. Except maybe that the oldest is 17 and still won't brush his teeth, but that's beside the point).

*(In fact one interesting difference in mindset I noticed in him early on was when we were dating in college and he was struggling in a class and I was like Why don't you see if they have any accomodations for your dysgraphia to help you get through this writing-intensive class? and he was like No, no, I'm going to DO IT ON PURE WILLPOWER I DON'T NEED HANDOUTS. But notably, he put this pressure on himself. He had no problem with our kids actually getting the help they need in school).

[silver-heller]

Since canon inspires you, I would like to give you the floor to explain where your soft Mordecai headcanons come from, please! /pos

Obviously all interpretations are valid but I wanna hear more about yours specifically!

Ooo this is a fun one! Thank you for the ask, sorry it took me so long to get to it. Putting this under the cut cause I know I'm gonna ramble.

So, I'll be honest, a lot of it comes from the side comics, since we get to see what Mordecai is like outside of work and with those he's closest to.

However, I do think Mordecai's treatment of Freckle within what we've seen in the comic so far is notable. So, let's start there!

Mordecai's Treatment of Freckle

Freckle is...easy pickings, to say the least. He's a skittish lad who isn't used to being face to face with people like Mordecai. Mordecai could, quite easily, scare someone like Freckle into submission if he wanted to, whether it be for his own gain or satisfaction. Yet, during the lunch, mostly between Asa and Mitzi, and even after Mordecai just leaves Freckle alone. Freckle orders literal chocolate milk in front of the man and the most Mordecai does is give Asa a look (which is later implied to be because Asa mentioned "warning Atlas) and leave the table instead of teasing him lol. Aka, Mordecai doesn't appear mean to me for no reason or even out of a sadistic or malicious drive.

Mordecai is only down right antagonistic to Rocky (in this specific scene), but this is only after Rocky gets in his personal space and calls him "ol' serious face". Rocky was definitely being affectionate but, I think to Mordecai it just came off as rude. Poor guy has to deal with people commenting on his "serious demeaner" constantly within the comic and he's clearly pretty fed up with it. Yet, at the same time, his insult to Rocky also serves as a double edge sword of insulting Mitzi as well, his real target.

Which is to say he is quite cruel to Mitzi, but, he believes her to be complacent in Atlas' death. Mordecai's meanness appears to come from either the stressed state he's in or because he's cagey and feels he has a reason to attack. Doesn't mean it's justified, just that, again, it's not coming from an overly mean spirited place.

So let's look at those side comics when Mordecai isn't as stressed, shall we?

The Side Comics

The side comics showcase Mordecai in a more relaxed environment and we get to see him actually show genuine care and interest in people. Tannenbaum is one example. Yes Mordecai claims the reason he gave Viktor the tie is because he wants to "encourage better wardrobe choices", but despite his uncaring and icy demeaner, the fact he went out of his way to either buy or select a tie specifically for Viktor can't be overlooked.

In Valentino he attempts to give a woman making eyes at him a smolder. He doesn't appear attracted to her, the only reason he does it seems to be because she was expecting and waiting for it, potentially to make her stop staring. He seems to have a thing about that.

The result is terrifying, but, Mordecai was trying his best and wasn't genuinely trying to scare her.

In Wassail we see Mordecai and Viktor accidentally scare some carol singers. Mordecai doesn't yell at them for interrupting. He just politely says the equivalent of "not now please". Meaning his default is polite unless he's given a reason not to be/something about someone rubs him the wrong way.

In Sophistry, Mordecai playfully has a conversation with Rocky about what is best, pancakes or waffles. It's just a lot of fun babble, showing Mordecai is capable of that despite being dead serious about his job.

In Flirting we see Mordecai be very cold and dismissive to a woman flirting with him...only to realize Mordecai just completely misunderstood he question and spends the rest of the comic attempting to rectify his mistake.

Even when he's accused he isn't mean to either of the women he is speaking to, he just attempts to redirect the conversation.

Mordecai also does dance with her at the end! Probably because he just got tired of the staring but, I like to think a part of him did feel a little bad for the mix up.

In Expedition Mordecai, as he usually does, criticizes Viktor for his uncleanly look. But he's only criticizing Viktor for it because of how it might make them look, rather than just being a bully and calling Viktor "ugly" due to a personal opinion.

Conclusion

So, really it all just comes down to "whenever Mordecai is mean it's because he feels attacked, sees himself as serving some kind of purpose through his harshness, or doesn't realize how harsh he sounds". This doesn't mean I write him as being soft all the time. He still loves to argue with Viktor and it did take him some time to understand Silver's sensitivities, plus there's specific reasons why Mordecai ended up being so gentle with Silver, but that's another post (that I am definitely making after this lol). This is a very good set up for how I view Mordecai's motivations when it comes to niceness and meanness though.

[moonlightandlilacs]

Thank you very much for your response. I genuinely appreciate it. I agree that the game is horrible ethically (I've only been hearing over the last few days just how bad it is; I hadn't been following the info about the game, because I knew I wasn't going to partake, so I didn't see the Jewish people entreating people not to buy the game until I saw posts recently on Tumblr and looked into it more), and it should not be publicized. I don't know if my friend was aware of the situation before he bought the game or not, but I will talk to him about it and bring it to his attention, because you're right. He is making a bad choice, and if he continues to make it, he will face the consequences, and that is absolutely fair. I am not at all criticizing your response, and I thank you for it.

I suppose part of my struggle with this that made me ask the question was that I was raised in a non-confrontational way about other people's choices. My parents (and my family) try very hard to be kind and to catch and correct any inherent bigotry that might occur, in ourselves and others. (This is not a virtue session; I feel like this is the baseline bare minimum that people should do, but it's relevant to why I asked the original question and how my opinion has changed based on your response). We have gone to BLM protests, we vote try to make change for the better, we think that all the people are people all the time (which shouldn't be a radical concept). And we subscribe to the idea that we respect your opinion until your opinion disrespects someone else's existence (A.K.A. fuck you Nazis, fuck you transphobes, fuck you TERFS, fuck you Antisemites and racists and bigots in general).

However, we try not to be confrontational about it. For example, I don't eat at Chick Fil A, ever, or Papa Johns, and I don't shop at Hobby Lobby, because I have ethical issues with them. At the same time, I try not to judge other people for doing so, because I was taught not to judge, and I feel like I can't hold other people to my standards. (If you are actually being bigoted, that is a whole other thing, and I will absolutely confront you about it). So that was probably where the initial response came from, that this seemed cruel.

On the other hand, I am not part of the group being victimized in this case, and I therefore feel like I do not have the right to an opinion on what is too far. (That's why I asked you, since you are somewhat of a voice in the community, and I value your opinion and input). I also know that people not part of the affected group frequently think that civil disobedience is "too far." People were upset by the rail strike because it affected them, but that was the purpose and the only way to cause change. It was absolutely justified. The same goes for the BLM protests, and lots of other forms of protest, about nearly any topic. Some people will always argue that even peaceful protest is "too far," because it isn't their problem. And they're wrong.

So I apologize for my... not ignorance, because I knew at least some of this, but... lack of understanding about the seriousness of the situation. Thank you for enlightening me, and for being forthright and not hateful. I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry for the long post; I have been thinking about this all day, trying to make sense of the mix of thoughts, and I wanted to lay them out.

So, this is a somewhat complicated question, and I will do my best not to be judgemental. I personally think J.K. Rowling is a piece of garbage, and I am not going to buy any more things that financially support her, such as the new game. However, I have a friend who streams, and he is being harassed by members of the LGBTQIA+ community (I am Bi, for reference) for streaming the game. There is apparently a website dedicated to cancelling anyone who streams it. This seems slightly cruel to me, but I would like your opinion. I know boycotting her works would be better, but is being hateful to other people for consuming it productive and necessary?

yes it is productive and necessary. he shouldn’t have streamed the Let’s Practise Antisemitism Game created by our favourite Number One Bigot, and those who are harassing the people buying/playing the game are demonstrating to everyone 1) what we have to go through due to the effects of these games and the people who make them, 2) what we will not stand for, and 3) that we are not going to deal with this in silence. i’m sorry if you personally believe that maybe it’s gone Too Far, but it’s a simple case of “you should’ve known that publicly buying/playing a game based on bigotry and supporting bigotry would’ve resulted in public backlash”.

hope this helps clear things up.

(no i will not be accepting criticism. “but hate is bad” wow i’m so glad we agree!! STOP PUBLICISING THIS FUCKING GAME.)