#im gaslighting you reading this

[itspneu]

i mandela effected myself thinking ureshino was chubbier than canon. it wasnt even a headcanon at first i'd just think of her and she'd be chubby in my mind then i'd check the manga she's just skinny like every other girl character

[deadsetobsessions]

This is based off of that one tiktok from @sorruna where it’s the audio from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse.

——

Dick Grayson was a sneaky, intelligent little shit.

He was also dumb. These things are not mutually exclusive.

To this day, one of his best kept secrets- one of the many, many that he had now- was something he’d take to his grave.

Or to Jason’s grave, at least.

Dick sat down and began telling the story to ears that would never truly hear it.

——

Batman’s voice rumbled behind him as Dick, in his Robin suit, stood blankly on top of a roof.

“I know you snuck out last night, Robin.”

Dick froze, train of thought about his dinner derailed. Holy busted, Batman! Quick! Play dumb!

“Who’s Robin?” He asked, the years of performing in front of a large crowd coming to save his ass.

Not that dumb!

Batman sent him a dry look, reprimand already poised on his lips. Dick, however, was nothing but a good performer. Nay, a dedicated performer.

Quick! Do something out of character! He shouted at himself, panicking visibly. He stepped backwards, an idea appearing in his head. In his defense, it sounded like an amazing idea at the time. He had no idea it would blow up into a Justice League issue. If he had known… Dick would have lied better, probably. There was no way he was going to let B bench him for weeks!

“Who the fuck are you?!” He yelped. Dick apologized mentally to Alfred and his parents. Batman paused, stunned.

“That’s my question. Who are you?!” Bruce asked, immediately hostile. His son doesn’t curse. Well, not in any normal way anyways. Dick quickly backpedaled by yelling at him with a heavy Vlax dialect, missing his parents terribly as he screamed stranger danger in rudimentary Romany. After this, he was going to have to convince Bruce to get him a language tutor. He refused to forget one of the only ties he had left to his parents.

“Wait, wait- you’re my son.” Bruce replied back, in perfect Romany. He looked more convinced but still skeptical.

“My dad is a circus performer! Not a flying rat!” Dick screeched back. He couldn’t help but feel touched about Bruce seeing him like a son.

“Oy! Keep it down out there, you assholes! Some of us like our sleep, damn!” A random Gothamite screamed out of their window.

“Yo, shut the fuck up! The vigilantes are helping to keep the rent low, motherfucker!” Another Gothamite shouted back.

….

Needless to say, Bruce quickly brought Dick back to the cave- with precautions to make sure he didn’t figure out where the Cave was if Dick was actually someone else.

——

“You would have loved it, Little Wing. B was running around like a headless chicken. The memory loss protocol was actually made because of me, you know.” Dick chuckled, sniffling as he talked to the carved gravestone.

It did not reply.

——

The blood tests came back. Yeppers, Dick sarcastically thought, who woulda thought I’m me?

Reinforcements were called in.

Meaning, Batgirl.

“Watch him while I contact Justice League Dark.”

“You think it’s magic?” Barbara asked.

“Yes. There was no one else near our vicinity that could affect Dick like this. He has no head wounds.”

“Eesh. Okay, go. I’ll watch him.”

Bruce disappeared in his zeta tube, looking harried. So, to everyone that’s not a Bat, he looked absolutely terrifying.

“What did you get yourself into now, Boy Wonder?” Barbara sighed. Dick was careful to keep any signs of recognition out of his face.

“Stop calling me that! Where are my parents?!” He asked back. Barbara coughed and looked uncomfortably away.

That’s right, Babs. I’m pulling out the orphan card. Feel bad. Dick hid his feral grin.

“They’re… uh, busy.” Busy being dead, Barbara thought, immediately wincing at her own thoughts. Apparently, Dick thought the excuse was lame too, and he sent her an incredulous look.

“Would you like refreshments, Master Dick?”

“What?”

Alfred held out some cookies on a platter, giving Babs a quelling look as she tried to reach for his share.

“Oh, wow, these are really good!” Dick said as he shoveled cookies into his mouth. He tried to replicate the reaction he had when he tried these for the first time, and from Alfred’s satisfied look, Dick nailed it.

——

“Robin doesn’t remember who he is.” Batman rumbled as he all but dragged Zatanna and Constantine by the scuff of their jackets towards the zeta tubes.

“Hey, wait-”

“We have no time.” Batman snarled, tossing the two magic users into the zeta. He punched in the destination.

When they got there, he glared at the two magic users until they got into the cave.

“Damn, Bats. Really living up to your name, huh?”

“Not bad,” Zatanna said as she looked around.

“Robin,” Batman- Bruce- reminded them. He did a quick glance over to check on his kids, and found them satisfactorily uninjured. Though, Barbara was looking worse for wear. Bruce quickly found out why as she stalked to him.

“You deal with him.” She muttered. “I’m going home.”

Bruce blinked and nodded. “Get home safe.”

Zatanna and Constantine followed Batman as he walked towards Robin. It was odd to see the normally laughing child frown.

“It’s you! The kidnapper! Where are my parents?!”

Bruce winced which, for him, was akin to a full body flinch and recoil. No wonder Barbara was so tired.

“Fix it.”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Batsy.” Constantine grumbled.

“Well help, Batman. Though… I’m not sure if he should be doing that.”

Bruce sharply turned his head back to where Dick was. Emphasis on was. Because now, he’s halfway up the giant dinosaur the Robin had insisted they keep.

“Robin, get down from there!”

“Stranger Danger!” Dick hollered back.

Batman- Bruce Wayne- sighed.

“That’s high level magic,” Zatanna hummed. “I can’t feel anything, but I know for sure that he won’t die. Magic like that either dissipates naturally or…”

“Lasts forever,” Constantine finished.

Bruce groaned, shooting off a grappling line and swooping upwards to catch Dick as he fell from the giant dinosaur.

——

“I pretended to get my memories back later,” Dick chuckled. “And pretended to forget the whole thing. Bruce was so relieved that I stopped knocking things over and trying to do cartwheels in high places that he totally forgot I snuck out.”

Dick patted the headstone.

“But between you and me? I’m pretty sure Alfred knew. I think B pissed him off that week.”

[cxndiedvi0lets]

There's a difference from people who are blunt and people who are an asshole. You all really got to know who you support from context.

[yellowocaballero]

At this point you've written at least four different roleswap AUs, so I was wondering if you had any thoughts or takes about how a roleswap AU should be? - someone who's planning on making a roleswap AU

Please don't remind me. I'm embarrassed about this. I know I need to write other things. I don't know why the AU concept is so incredibly fun to write. I can't explain it. Roleswaps are very easy to write and a lot of fun and involve being a freak about everything. Who wouldn't write 10 of those bitches.

But yes, as someone whose roleswap AUs are like 9 out of her 51 fics, I feel qualified to talk about this. These are just my own opinions and takes, and other people might do it differently - if you write roleswaps too, feel free to add in your two cents!!

Before sitting down to write literally anything I always figure out the rules of the story. Writing is little more than a nonstop series of decisions, and if you abide by the rules of your story or characters then your decisions will be coherent and cohesive. By rules I don't mean worldbuilding - I mean the internal logic of the story and the characters. "X character will never explicitly say how he's feeling" or "the leads have to both win and lose every encounter".

I find establishing writing rules for roleswaps especially important - it's figuring out exactly how the roleswap works. Here are the ones that I find important, and kind of the process:

Decide what is swapped. Is it more of a universal swap, personality swap, backstory swap, chronology swap, or alignment swap? No matter which one you choose, all of these things are probably going to change anyway, but there has to be one central point for each character that guides your decisions. Are you actually swapping the narrative role in the story, or are you just changing it? You have to be really precise and have a very good idea of what exactly is swapped, and it has to be consistent throughout the story. It can't just (just) work on what you'd like to see, it has to be exactly the same between characters.

Decide the point of divergence. Sometimes that point is pretty abstract (She's a teenager in the 90s instead of the 20s). Sometimes it's much more specific, just one moment (He developed his superpowers at this moment instead of that). The point doesn't have to be immediately obvious, but you should know it - I did a backstory swap ages ago, and it seemed like a complete change, but like 150k in I dropped that a character dropped out of the police academy instead of completing it and that her entire life changed from there. If the swap is more abstract, then maybe it's just a series of smaller decisions - character A has these seminal points in his story, and I'm swapping him with character B, so here's what character B did during these seminal points instead, and how it changed him and his narrative.

Decide who the character is. This might be more personal, but for me, I think of the character as...there is a central tenet of them, of who they are as a person, that does not change no matter what. That's three or four traits of who they are, that you will not change, and that's what makes their swapped life their own instead of the OG dude's. But there's a lot of traits and behaviors around that core personality that's the result of their environment, backstory, and experiences. That's what should change. It's about figuring out how these essential traits + what is swapped + the point of divergence = an entirely different character and story. The roleswap you'll end up with will be a combination of all of these things: how the essential aspects of a character mix with what's swapped to create an entirely new environment and set of behaviors, which cause a chain reaction to create something new. As a writer, you sit down and say, "I'm keeping these parts of the character, I'm swapping out those parts, this new mix changes these points in their backstory, this results in this new person".

This is more of a guideline, but it's the most important to me: your characters have to be recognizable as the character. The reader shouldn't go, "this OC is making some weird choices". The reader should go, "I don't know how, because he's the exact opposite of his canon self in every possible way, but somehow he still feels like my favorite character". This is why you isolate those basic traits before changing the rest - so long as your character is still who they are deep inside, then they still feel like that character. And that's the fun of the story. You're selling something insane, and the reader is buying it.

It's a lot of really heavy character work. You have to really understand the characters you're writing - the less I get the original character, the more issues I'm perpetually having. I tend to fly fast and loose with characterizations, but when writing roleswaps I have to refer back to canon and the source material a lot ("In canon he did X thing, with his newly different backstory how would that decision change?"). The more you're rooted in canon, then the funkier and more divergent you can get.

Personally, I like to play a fun little game I call: how exactly opposite can I make this character until he stops feeling like this character? I Sometimes my goal in writing is "how deeply can I ruin this story". This is not a good game and people should not play it. I find that the lazier I get about getting in touch with the canon character, about keeping track of the canon decisions, and about following these guidelines, then the more difficult a story is to write. If you structure a story well then it's easy to write, and roleswaps are pretty easy. Thanks for the question!

[cluepoke-archive]

Don't underestimate the power of an aroace autistic ignoring whole pieces of plot and story in books as a kid

[toonbly]

watched the blair witch for the first time today and um. i think this movie is about what its like to experience misogyny in a male dominated space where you're expected to be cool about it and take responsibility for the actions of men and laugh it off. i will not elaborate

[baellielurk]

so when is the emperor romance patch coming out

[love-addybug]

this is gonna be more stream of consciousness writing than like a well put together post because i want you to analyze this the same way i am.

as i have started to find the terminology ideologies that have made up the beliefs i’ve held about humanity and our coexistence my entire life i have come to find myself disgruntled with the way that some of my peers in political spaces approach their inclusivity.

also this is probably not going to be very pc at all and i do not aim to offend anyone with what i’m about to say, if you feel like i am missing something i would love to talk about it as i’m trying to learn and grow as much as i can <3

so there are four main things i want to talk about: differences in beliefs regarding motherhood, the approach of community and grassroots activism, and PRACTICING WHAT YOU PREACH and i say that very very loudly oh my flipping goodness

motherhood

a lot of the women on the left, especially those my age both online and off are very confused when i say that my dream, like ultimate perfect life would to be a SAHM.

- “don’t you have career aspirations?”

yea duh. i LOVE teaching because

i LOVE kids and i LOVE learning and i think it is so incredibly important to inspire children, especially, to pursue knowledge. but if i could pick anything to do without consequence it would be to fully invest those loves into my own children’s lives full time. to raise them with magic brushing their spirit.

also it is so weird to me that people on the left still only really value paid labor. domestic labor is real work too.

- “aren’t you scared of being dependent on only your husband’s income?”

oh for sure it terrifies me. but i am determined personally to have children

with a man who i trust enough to be their

father, which matters more to me than anything else in the world. if he cannot be a good husband, i would not choose him for their father to begin with. and i know i cannot truly predict the whims of life. the ebb and flow of the world, but my selection will be of the most careful variety and sometimes you have to trust that things will work.

- “why would you demean yourself to only the biological implications of womanhood?”

hm. so this feels veryyyyy icky to me, idk why but when my friend asked me this i couldn’t help but feel a ball of nervousness form in the back of my throat. saying that my pursuit of motherhood, of bringing new life onto the planet (or adopting and hopefully giving a child a home they need), is a mere biological implication of myself feels so utterly dehumanizing. it is a life, a voice, a spirit, and through it i will attach myself permanently as a source of reliance. additionally while many women and other folks have the ability to get pregnant, it doesn’t mean it is their like lifelong destiny.

- “what if you get lazy?”

i think motherhood is a domestic labor so undervalued that it is drastically effecting the shape of families across the world. there is no such thing as a ‘working mother’ ALL mothers work,

and tirelessly at that. not only are their jobs without rest, but come with an emotional load closer to the heart than any other job on the face of the planet.

- “won’t you look back and regret not doing more?”

oh my bad i didn’t know raising the next generation of people was such a menial job to you.

i truly feel that many people with all different sorts of ideological convictions underestimate the value of mothers to our society. so to my friends on here: please please please consider that it isn’t a conservative value to want to put your children first. motherhood is just as noble a pursuit as any paid job and if you think otherwise maybe your beliefs aren’t as removed from capitalism as you think they are.

community and grassroots organizing

i am about to get cancelled by my like 12 followers on tumblr

1. go to the church-led event where you can serve the needy. as someone who has a very complicated relationship with religion i still manage to make it to every soup kitchen, food bank, clothes swap, and charity drive that my hometown church puts on. that is because over my own needs, i place the needs of my community. i know they need my hands to help, my ears to hear, and my heart to fellowship. my discomfort is les important than not taking the opportunity to serve my less fortunate neighbors.

2. your outspoken republican neighbor is still astronomically closer to your class interests than almost every single one of our representatives. keep in mind your real enemies are the people preying on those neighbors’ miseducations to turn a profit and encourage the cyclical war machine. a real socialist considers class war before anything else and sympathizes for those people while simultaneously making an effort towards their re-education. some of y’all love hate way too much, you would be surprised what NOT using buzzwords does :)

3. obviously organizing should be a constant effort. but it won’t be if you don’t know the people in your community. go outside, actually touch grass. go to those community events, or host them! even if it means going to a church led function. (i said it again)

even if we can’t have universal healthcare, we can always offer our neighbor our own excess and kindness.

ACTUALLY DOING IT

- it starts in the home. i have realized that many of y’all (ESP THE MEN) will get on here and yap self righteously about how much a progressive they are, how labor is undervalued by superiors and society at large etc and then that’s it. do the dishes, the laundry, the cooking, stop talking about how much you loveeee communism or socialism or anarchism when your mommy still bleaches your tightywhities for you.

*obviously on occasion, there are times when work isn’t gonna be split. but you should aim to normally do what you should and then 1/2 of the things your partner would have that aren’t ‘your jobs’ yes they are now, shoo”

- stop demeaning inherently leftist things because they aren’t intellectual enough for you. gardening, cooking and feeding people, mending clothes, doing crafts with children, are all just as or even arguably MORE beneficial for the movement towards a quote unquote radical society where everyone has what they need.

- no more getting offended when i say some wack violent shit. as Kwame said, “in order for non-violence to work your opponent must have a conscious” that’s right and our opponent is? the super mega duper crazy powerful warlords that run our country mhm. mhm. so let’s just let that marinate. because when i say “ocean gate is god’s wrath” y’all didn’t take kindly to it. and that feels very silly to me. as someone with so much appreciation for quality human lives, i could care less about any of those people who spent a gazillion dollars to go in a shitty submarine.

anyways i’m done and i’ve been teasing this post forever so here it is. i don’t even think y’all gonna like it. and i especially don’t think y’all are going to like my next nerdy post because it is about the B-I-B-L-E

i know, crazy right?

[br3adtoasty]

Oc.. Interactions 👀👀👀 may i humbly offer Arisu or Keres for anyone you see fitting?

HITS YOU WITH THE DOUBLE BIRDS

“Ahaha, this might be silly to say but... The Ramshackle dorm’s prefect, Arisu, he reminds me of a little brother I’ve never had."

"I met him during one of the frequent visits I made to Night Raven's. He's a good kid if not a little bit, how do I say this, distracted? Absent? Like he's in his own little world. So I had to step in and help him from bumping into anyone while walking."

"His mischievous streaks and love for stories also remind me of a close friend. I'd like to offer to read him, if he doesn't mind, of course. People say I have a knack for it. Maybe we could meet up every now and then? And I'm also quite interested in his collections too, hehe."

“Beneath sheep's clothing, the wolf lies. Spells unnoticed by heedless eyes. The night creeps in to reveal the danger. Your closest friend may become a stranger...”

"You ask what that was? I’m merely musing about a certain friend named Keres. They're totally not a werewolf or anything so rest assured. The headmaster certainly wouldn't let that fly if that was the case, no?"

"They're one of the rare ones I get along with. The way they go on and on about our topic of interest and simply never stops even if it creeps the other party out? Oh, delightful. I think that's why we get along. We both enjoy people's reactions, fufufu."

[moonofiron]

The Limits of Therapy-speak by Allow Volpe

“While these terms can prove validating for people who can now put a name to an experience, therapy-speak can eliminate all nuance from a conversation.”

““There are gradations of the human experience,” says therapist Israa Nasir, and therapy-speak terms are often the most extreme ways of describing those experiences. A friend can be selfish and not a narcissist. You can feel stressed without experiencing trauma. A partner can lie without gaslighting. Instead, mental health professionals urge, you should embrace nuance and avoid pathologizing normal — albeit annoying or painful — behavior.”

“...tagging people as “toxic,” for instance, is not productive, she says, because there is no dialogue, no interrogation of what “toxic” means or how it presents in a person or situation. Beyond the initial naming and identification of a person or experience, it’s crucial to consider your motivations in utilizing that label.”

“Think about a recent time you used therapy-speak. What was your intention? What message did you want to convey? Why are you drawn to intense emotional descriptors?”

Overuse of these terms can blunt their significance and minimize the experience of someone who has actually dealt with a person with narcissistic personality disorder, for example.

[revelations-mp3]

I was reading my old journals from like 10 years ago and lowkey my mom used to be mean to me lol it was kinda surprising the stuff that I wrote about her saying to me :/ I think I just suppressed my entire childhood/teenage years cuz there’s a lot I forget about until I get to thinking

[iidsch]

reading savior by jo9 and junqi and icb i saw a TOP comment saying that seyeon is an unlikeable character. this is why I hate webtoons

[quaranmine]

sigh. same desk, same wifi network, same wifi settings (protocol/band/channel/adapter connections), same network adapter, same OS, same drivers, same brand, nearly identical specs. and yet this is what my person laptop gets versus my work laptop

(wifi died in the middle of the last speedtest lol so it just stayed at 0.0 upload)

[shinobufied]

micah enjoyers r so odd to me because like i'll get on the internet and see 57 different takes about his complexity and yada yada and how he's just overly hated and i think "huh. did i really miss all that?" but then i open the game and i watch him harrass every gang member in the span of 5 minutes and then go to dutch and bootlick him so hard even dutch just sits there and goes "what an odd fella" and i remember that he really is just a piece of shit.

[kishibeswh0re]

Everybody's about Gaslight gatekeep girlboss

what about:

✨ Bipolar Bilingual Bisexual ✨

[the-silent-hashira]

i do so love having psychosis