#it doesn’t even have to be on purpose either

[strangesmallbard]

thinking about how evil is banal on this 8:21am in my work bathroom…it doesn’t matter if elon musk meant to do a nazi salute for hate crime purposes or if he was trying to be funny or if he even meant to do the gesture. he still did the gesture and nazis watched. trump’s intentions don’t really matter either in this context. he’s not a scheming diabolical genius, he’s a grifter who’s good at seizing an opportunity, such as the tiktok situation. but he’s still censoring information on that stupid app and he’s still fostering fascism and he doesn’t care.

it’s this hannah arendt quote from eichmann in jerusalem:

“For all this, it was essential that one take him seriously, and this was very hard to do, unless one sought the easiest way out of the dilemma between the unspeakable horror of the deeds and the undeniable ludicrousness of the man who perpetrated them, and declared him a clever, calculating liar—which he obviously was not.”

the people who perpetuate evil aren’t mustache-twirling villains with grand, dramatic plans to rule the world and crush good people under their boots. there’s no gravitas. the need for gravitas—for evil to make sense—is why antisemitic conspiracy theories are so appealing. but in reality, there’s apathy and greed and really cringe memes. there are people trying to make sense of suffering in all sorts of fucked up directions.

there are people who have no energy or time to care about politics. there are politicians who can’t see the bigger picture and have never looked into the eyes of people they hurt. a lawyer used chatgpt to write a case brief. evil is silly and stupid and in you and in me. fighting evil isn’t noble and doesn’t cohere to narrative structure. but it might start with acknowledging that elon musk did a nazi salute at an american presidential inauguration.

[fear-is-truth]

PLAYER 124 / NAM-GYU as your boyfriend

warnings — kinda toxic. mention of drug use. a/n — who should i write for next…

남규

nam-gyu is the kind of partner who constantly needs to feel in control. he has a fragile ego, so he’d want to prove he’s the one in charge in the relationship, even if it means belittling you in arguments. he’s not the type to openly apologise; instead, he’d try to “make it up” by buying you gifts or doing something overly performative to smooth things over.

wouldn’t outright say “i love you” (saranghae; 사랑해) unless it’s in the middle of an argument or you’re threatening to leave. it wouldn’t be the “romantic” type of “i love you”; it’d be desperate, like, “fine, i love you, okay? is that what you want to hear?” then he’d get mad at himself for even saying it lol.

he’d have a complicated way of showing affection—instead of saying something sweet, he’d tell you, “that hoodie looks ugly as hell, but you somehow make it work.” or, “you’re lucky you’ve got me looking out for you.” it’s almost backhanded, like he’s scared of being too soft.

when it comes to physical touch, he’d only be comfortable initiating it when he’s in control. he’d sling an arm over your shoulder in public to make sure everyone knows you’re his, but in private, he’d sit stiffly until you coaxed him to relax. if you tried to cuddle him or play with his hair, he’d grumble, “stop being clingy,” but wouldn’t pull away—and if you did stop, he’d be like, “what, now you’re ignoring me?”

he’d NEVER let you see him cry. he’d bottle up everything until it spills over in a way that’s either pure rage or self-destructive. but maybe, just maybe, he’d have a mini breakdown and choke out something like, “i’m so fucking tired,” and let you hold him for a minute before he shuts it all down again and pretends it didn’t happen.

his jealousy would be off the charts. if he even suspects someone else is catching your attention, he’d immediately become aggressive and violent toward the perceived “threat.” then he’d accuse you of flirting or not appreciating him enough, even if you’ve done nothing wrong.

he’d have this really toxic habit of trying to “test” your loyalty. like, he’d say something purposely cruel just to see how much you’d put up with, and if you didn’t take the bait, he’d either feel validated or spiral into self-loathing because he’s scared you’ll leave. he’s the kind of guy who pushes people away but gets furious when they actually go.

he’s manipulative and would use your vulnerabilities against you during fights, twisting your words to make himself seem like the victim. he thrives on power dynamics, so if you’re someone with a soft heart, he’d use that to his advantage to get his way. he’s not above emotional blackmail.

obsesses over how others perceive him, so he’d put a lot of energy into making sure you’re impressed by him. even if he’s not doing well, he’d brag about some minor victory just to hear you say you’re proud of him. if you ever criticised him—like genuinely, not jokingly—it’d eat him alive. he’d act like it didn’t bother him, but he’d bring it up days later in a passive-aggressive comment like, “guess i’m just not good enough for you, huh?”

he strikes me as the guy who’d buy you expensive gifts, to prove he’s capable of taking care of you. he’d probably get something super flashy and impractical, and then get annoyed if you fawn over it immediately. “what, you don’t like it? i spent a lot of money on that shit.”

deep down, i feel like he’s terrified of being alone. he doesn’t know how to show it in a healthy way, so it comes out as possessiveness. like, he’d constantly ask where you’re going, who you’re with, and what you’re doing—not because he genuinely doesn’t trust you, but because he doesn’t trust himself to be worth staying for. if you ever left him on read, even for a little while, he’d overthink it to the point of spiraling, doing drugs etc.

has zero tolerance when it comes to anyone disrespecting you. if someone said something rude or crossed a line, he wouldn’t hesitate to fight them to defend your honour.

definitely not the type to plan cute dates or do anything traditionally romantic. instead, he’d drag you along to things he already likes—bars, shady clubs—and expect you to have fun. but sometimes, when he’s in a good mood, he might surprise you by doing something actually thoughtful, like showing up at your door with your favourite street snack or insisting on watching a movie he secretly hates just because he knows it makes you happy.

his love language would probably be acts of service, but only in an effed-up way where it feeds his own need for validation. he’d show his love by offering to “solve” your problems, but he’d expect endless praise for it. he’d remind you constantly of how lucky you are to have him.

feels completely out of his depth when you’re sad, but he can’t stand seeing you like that. instead of asking what’s wrong (because vulnerability makes him squirm), he’d focus on practical things. if you haven’t eaten, he’d come back with takeout—probably ordering your favourite without even asking because he’s memorised it by now. he wouldn’t outright express his concern, though. instead, he’d shove the food at you with a gruff, “here. eat this before you waste away or something.”

despite his flaws, when you’re sad or feeling low, there’s a small part of him that genuinely wants to help, even if he doesn’t know how. he’d sit awkwardly next to you, fidgeting with his rings, and mutter, “you’re stronger than this, you know. don’t let whatever’s bothering you win.” …. the closest thing to a pep talk he can manage.

nam-gyu is FAR from an ideal boyfriend—he’s moody, defensive, and often toxic in the way he handles his emotions. his need for control and his inability to communicate openly make him exhausting to deal with at times, especially when his insecurities get the better of him. but underneath all that mess, he knows he’s piece of work, and a part of him feels like you’ll wake up one day and realise you deserve better. this fear makes him hold on too tightly, sometimes suffocatingly so, but it also drives him to try—clumsily, imperfectly, but genuinely for you. he doesn’t know how to love in a healthy way, but he does love, and he loves deeply.

 fear-is-truth 2025 — all rights reserved. do not modify, repost, translate, or plagiarise my content.

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Jan behind the cut; “YJ packs up and gets pupped”. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“You are presenting, and you have chosen to do it in the base,” Red Tornado says. “Presumably you chose to do that because Project Cadmus lacked something you require for the process.” 

“I . . .” Kon hesitates again, biting the inside of his lip. “I just–I just didn’t wanna do it there, okay? That’s–s’all.” 

Red Tornado looks at him. Kon really wishes the guy had a scent that he could read. Or like–at least a fucking expression or something. Like just–literally anything, right now. 

“You appear to be nesting,” Red Tornado observes. “Are you an omega, then?” 

“. . . I guess,” Kon mumbles, swallowing roughly. And it feels–it feels weird, saying it to someone. Even after saying it to himself and the Super-Cycle already. 

Red Tornado can tell him what he thinks about him saying that to him, is the thing. And whatever he thinks, it’s not going to be what Kon thinks himself.

Like–obviously it’s not, yeah. 

“You are in possession of sufficient nesting material, then?” Red Tornado asks, and Kon tries not to bristle. It’s–it’s just a question, maybe. Probably. Not one he knows why Red Tornado’s asking, but–just a question. 

Unless it’s a trap, anyway. 

“I just–borrowed some stuff,” he says without saying anything about–about just what he’s really “borrowing”, and he maybe sounds a little bit too defensive about it, but . . . but that’s all he did, dammit. He didn’t do anything–bad or anything. “S’all. I’ll scent-scrub all the pheromones and shit off when I’m done, alright? I’m not messin’ anything up or anything, it’s fine.” 

They wouldn’t care, he tries to say, but he doesn’t know–he doesn’t actually know that. Doesn’t actually know if . . . if they’d care. If they’d–mind.

Would they be mad, if they found out he came to the base to present and then tracked down and took all their scents? Like–without asking, or . . . 

They’re not a pack. And the others all have packs. And in all their heads he’s just, like, the stupid bruiser teammate who’s only barely a friend that none of them trust to be in charge of the team even though he’s literally the only one who actually has been in charge of a team before and who they probably all think’s an alpha anyway and–and– 

“Yes,” Red Tornado says. “But is ‘some stuff’ sufficient for your nest?” 

“I . . .” Kon–falters, kinda, and maybe sinks in on himself a little again. Does–does it look that bad? He knows he didn’t get much stuff for it, but–but if it looks that bad . . . 

“Kathy prefers to layer her nests with multiple fabrics and cushioning,” Red Tornado says. “And Traya and her friends line theirs with plush toys when engaging in playing ‘house’ together. I am otherwise unfamiliar with the necessary components of their construction.” 

“. . . oh,” Kon realizes, and feels a little less–a little less embarrassed, at least. At least if Red Tornado doesn’t really know how it’s supposed to go either . . . well, he can’t think it looks that bad, if he doesn’t really know. Right? “Uh–I don’t . . . I dunno. I never . . . did it, before.” 

Red Tornado tilts his head. Kon represses a cringe, trying not to bristle. Well–he wasn’t presented before, so . . . so why would he have? 

“I was under the impression that most omega pups experience a compulsion to nest even before their presentation,” Red Tornado says. 

“Well, I didn’t,” Kon snaps at him, digging his fingers into Cassie’s folded-up shirt and–and not-really-on-purposely pinning it against his chest. 

Hugging it against his . . . against his . . . 

He’d just–he’d just . . . thought about it, a couple times. But he . . . he hadn’t felt any stupid compulsions or . . . 

Kon thinks about how many times he’d thought about nesting, and how many times he’d thrown all his blankets in the corner and made himself sleep on a half-stripped bed and nothing else, and how many times he’d thrown every blanket he could find on his bed and slept under them all at once, and how he’d always . . . always folded his jacket into a pillow, when he was . . . when he was . . . sleeping somewhere else, like on the road or on shoots or in the field or . . . 

He thinks about how many times he’d wanted to . . . wanted to watch one of those nesting videos, but–hadn’t. 

Then he thinks about crying, maybe. 

“I thought I was gonna be an alpha,” he croaks, trying to figure out if–if this makes him a bad omega after all, or–or something. If he didn’t . . . didn’t nest before, or . . . “I thought I . . . thought I . . .”

I thought I HAD to be an alpha, Kon doesn’t say, but it’s all he can think.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

At Noon today it became official: The United States has an illegitimate President. The reason for that statement is simple. It is undisputed that Donald J. Trump “engaged in an insurrection” with his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Thus, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars Trump from holding office. In fact, that was the very conclusion of the Colorado Supreme Court in December 2023. After reviewing the evidence, the court wrote, “Trump fully intended to—and did—aid or further the insurrectionists’ common unlawful purpose of preventing the peaceful transfer of power in this country.” The Colorado Supreme court then ruled that based on that conduct, Trump is “disqualified from holding the office of President” by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. (It’s important to note that this court ruling was not focused on Trump being on the ballot—but being barred from holding the office of President.)

It’s true that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in March of last year that neither Colorado nor other states could bar Trump from the ballot—only Congress had that authority. But despite having the power to do so, the U.S. Supreme Court did not overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s finding that Trump had “engaged in an insurrection” in violation of the 14th Amendment. Even the GOP justices realized that such a decision would be laughable since we all witnessed Trump not just engaging--but inciting the Jan. 6 attack. Deeming Trump an “illegitimate” President is the accurate way of looking at this. The swearing in of Trump as “President” is no different than if a 25-year-old--who was born in another country--won the election for U.S. President. Would that election victory override Article II of the US Constitution that mandates all Presidents be 35 years of age and a “natural born Citizen”? Of course not. That person from a constitutional point of view would not be a legitimate President. Same must be said about Trump given he is disqualified from office by the 14th Amendment. I say that as both a lawyer who has been advocating on this issue for more than three years and as someone who has spoken with constitutional law experts such as John Bonifaz, the head of Free Speech For People. Both Bonifaz and I agree Trump is undeniably an illegitimate President. Congress, though, does have the unique ability to waive Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that doesn’t exist with the other two conditions to serve as President—namely, age and being born a U.S. citizen. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment plainly states that “no person” who “engaged in an insurrection” may hold office, but it also provides that “Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.” However, until Congress votes by two-thirds in each chamber, Trump is disqualified from holding office—meaning he’s an illegitimate President. What is the real world impact of this? As Bonifaz explained, “every action Trump takes will be illegitimate and will be subject to a federal court challenge.” The hope is someone who has standing in the future will challenge the issue in court.

But even if no one does, we should all be calling Trump an illegitimate President for a few reasons. First, it’s how we protect our Constitution. Either we enforce the entire Constitution or we ignore it. By not raising this issue we are saying it’s okay to waive a key constitutional amendment. If we do that now, what is next: Trump saying he can waive the First Amendment protections for free speech?! Second—and yes, this is politically motivated-Trump’s presidency deserves to be undermined. Trump is a convicted felon and an adjudicated rapist who attempted a coup and did all he could to convince Americans that both Presidents Obama and Biden were illegitimate presidents.

Dean Obeidallah is right: Donald Trump, by violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment due to his role in inciting the January 6th Insurrection, is an illegitimate “President.” #Resist47 #NotMyPresident

[unhingedpolycule]

Haiii ! Love what you do and had two questions :

Do you think any of them would cry at the others burial (if they even want that ? Cremation ?)

And do you think one of them would wear glasses once they age a bit more ?

Thank you 🩵

Haiiiii! First of all, thank you for your ask! It made me think and it was a really cool concept to work with! You can find the (long) answer under the cut!

If the body is recovered from the warzone where they died, they would have a small service I think. Not because the other would particularly want or need it, but because the team would more or less insist and it is simply the social convention. It doesn’t really bother them either. That being said… they would not cry. Nikto would probably get pretty gruff, outwardly pretending that their relationship was not as deep as it actually was, so he isn’t too sad. Mostly because people keep giving him condolences. He does not like it, handling Sebastian‘s death is hard enough on its own. Krueger would just get… like very silent in my mind. Not directly pretending that it doesn’t bother him, but he would let his mask slip a bit. Instead of being detached on purpose, he just sits and reminiscence about Nikto and what he is missing right now. His voice, having someone to concentrate on and to care for as to make his life less eventless. He was Nikto’s caretaker and partner for years and he was used to being joint at the hip, always having an interesting and stimulating person around.

Both feel the urge to be alone. Krueger would go missing soon after, probably searching out Blaustein without telling him what is going on. Of course, Blaustein understands that something bad must have happened and he is smart enough to count two and two together. Krueger would find a new PMC, maybe he would even stay with Coalition (Blaustein’s faction) for a bit. But he is a wanderer at heart, so it wouldnt last longer than a year. Nikto was the only thing tying him to a specific faction, so he starts moving again, with regular visits to Hans though. As for Nikto… he would be pursued by Nikodim, who thinks that he is helping. Their relationship might very well break under that pressure, leaving Nikto much worse off, just because his stability and his support system is gone. He eventually rebuilds routine on his own, but before that, he would probably burn himself out in an attempt not to grief too much.

To make it short: Krueger would let himself feel what he feels, accepting it for what it is and seek the support that he might need. Nikto would very much do the opposite and repress in order to continue being functional, even if this ruins a lot of things for him. Both would be incredibly affected. I don’t know if they would actually cry. If they do, it comes over them in the middle of the night without any warning. They want to turn around to hug the other and they find themselves alone. For Krueger, it’s a few tears. Nikto is angry ugly crying, clutching the pillow and staring at noting.

Krueger keeps Nikto’s last pill bottle in his pack, using it for his own drugs. Nikto keeps Krueger’s net on his bedpost. Both store the other’s gear. Nikto in his room, Krueger with Blaustein, since Hans has a more steady lifestyle.

BUUUUUUUT since Krueger is an unkillable cockroach (derogatory) and Nikto is very capable and has a second pair of eyes attached to a man which would go to length to safe him… they are fine. Very fine. VERY FINE AND HAPPY. (I can’t do mcd unless it’s a “growing old” setting. I am weak.)

As for the glasses: very easy. Nikto is used to taking medication and having to subsidise for things his body is not able to do anymore (mostly because of his mental illness, but I also imagine him to have issues with mild erectile dysfunction/maintaining an erection if he is not actively having sex right in that moment.) so he would wear some cheap old man glasses. He has like three pairs, all various stages of scratched/disrepair.

Krueger on the other hand would not like it. At all. He has lived his life being able to do everything without aid, running into an active warzone without proper protection and coming out mostly unscathed. It would take some time until he could accept glasses properly. Not because of pride or of others seeing him like this, but because he has to admit that he is no longer fully “self-sufficient”. Especially because he has above average eyesight! Nikto would tease him a bit until he notices that Sebastian does not wear his glasses. They might have a gruff, short talk about it after Nikto sees Krueger holding his phone very far away from himself, squinting in annoyance while trying to read his messages. Krueger wears the damn thing after that. At home. Sometimes.

[would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend]

Either Murkrow or Honchkrow? Do you think either bird would be a good friend? I know they're dark type but still, they could be friends!

Ok, ok. Full disclosure: I really, really like crows. If I had the chance to adopt a crow as a pet, I totally would. I dream of befriending the murder that lives in my neighborhood (they’re pretty skittish). So there is, when it comes to a pokémon species that so closely resembles them, a bit of bias on my end. Trying my very best to put aside said bias, I have still come to the conclusion that a murkrow would, in fact, make a pretty good pet for any night-owl owners out there.

With a small statue and the light weight that we can assume comes from hollow bones, murkrows are the perfect size to be a house pet. As Flying-Type pokémon, it can’t hurt to have some space for them to stretch their wings and fly around. I will point out, though that you should always keep an eye on your murkrow when they’re spending time outside. These pokémon tend to get into trouble with meowths (Crystal) and gabites (Ultra Sun), and you wouldn’t want them to get hurt in a fight. You’ll also want to keep an eye on them so that they don’t get bullied into being a honchkrow’s cronie, forced to come to cater to their every whim. So long as you’re aware of any wild honchkrow populations in your area, and always keep an eye on your murkrow while they’re playing outside, you shouldn’t have any problems.

As I alluded to earlier, these pokémon are quite nocturnal (Sun), so they would be most at home with someone who doesn’t mind staying up late. Naturally, this means that a murkrow wouldn’t make a great pet for some owners, but it far from disqualifies them as a house pet in general.

Now, these pokémon have a long, storied history as symbols of bad luck. In cultures all over the world, seeing a murkrow is thought to be a bad omen: just seeing one at night is said to bring you misfortune (Gold, Ruby/Sapphire, LeafGreen, Diamond, Y, Moon, Scarlet). A careful reading of the pokédex, however, makes it clear that this is likely no more than superstition. There isn’t any evidence that this is true, and it may even mean that murkrow are in more need of a caring owner than other bird-like pokémon. A murkrow may be less likely to be adopted due to this reputation, and wild ones may be more likely to be mistreated. There have also been stories of murkrow purposely leading humans to be lost in the wild, but the pokédex makes it clear that this behavior occurs when the murkrow feels threatened, like when being chased (Silver). Thus, there isn’t any indication that this is a particularly malicious or antisocial species.

That isn’t to say, however, that they can’t be mischievous, at times. Murkrows are known to be huge fans of anything that sparkles, often stealing whatever shiny things they can find from humans or other pokémon to store in a secret location (Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire). Now, this could certainly be a nuisance, especially if they steal important things like keys, but this behavior could be used to your advantage. Murkrows have been known to happily trade shiny things with trainers they like, making shiny things the perfect treat to use in training to reinforce good behaviors (Moon). Plus, you never know what interesting things your murkrow may offer you in return!

Finally, and this is a huge plus, murkrows are hardly dangerous to humans. Their pool of moves is limited, restricted almost entirely to physical moves that may hurt, sure, but would be far from dangerous considering the pokémon’s small size. In the wild, these pokémon find strength in numbers, as they’re not a serious threat on their own. As far as I can tell, there isn’t any serious safety concerns here.

All in all, so long as you like to stay up late and don’t mind buying some shiny things to use as treats, a murkrow may indeed make a good pet for you! Just watch out for wild honchkrows!

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

Trine [13]

Anselm Vogelweide x Blue Jones x afab!Reader • Rating: 18+ pals Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? | request info • Trine Masterlist • ko-fi •

Summary: Blue doesn't approve of Anselm's choice of pet names.

A/N: Special shout out to the lovely @midgardian-witch 💚🫂 who encouraged me to post this (it has taken 100 years).

Warnings: sexy times mentions, Blue being a brat, german (Blue doesn't speak it), typos, not beta read, please let me know if I have missed a warning!

Word Count: 914

“Well, I hate it.” Blue says, a little too dramatically as he puts the chocolate covered pistachio in his mouth and chews. “It’s awful.” 

Anselm can’t help but smile, however he does manage to suppress his chuckle. “And why is that, mein lieber?” He squeezes Blue’s thigh a little as he talks, making him squirm. 

Blue is sat on Anselm’s lap, in Anselm’s private office. 

He had forgone getting fully dressed today, swanning around in his baby pink silk, short, dressing gown and slippers. Grumpy and inconsolable. 

You were busy today, an important meeting followed by seeing some old friends. (The phrase 'old friends’ had been enough to get Blue scowling.) And you wouldn’t be back until late. 

Even Anselm’s best tricks weren’t breaking his foul mood, and even though he did love Blue’s petulant little pout, he was very aware that he had not smiled once since you’d kissed them just before you left this morning. 

“It just is.” Blue huffs, leaning back a little against Anselm’s chest and staring daggers at the laptop screen.

Anselm presses a light kiss to Blue’s shoulder blade, “What about the cut of this one?” He moves the mouse and clicks on a different suit. Usually shopping cheered Blue up no end, whether it was in person or online. (Anselm had opted for the latter today, as Blue did not want to leave the house.)

“Ugly.” 

Anselm laughs this time and he can feel Blue preen a little, pleased that he has amused him. 

“The colour is disgusting as well.” 

“I like it, mein lieber.” 

“Well, you have no taste.” Blue folds his arms. 

“Is that true?” Anselm lightly kisses his neck and Blue nods.

“Absolutely.” He juts his chin towards the screen, “And neither does this designer. I know you’d get it handmade but this prototype is just ghastly.” 

“Just ghastly?” He repeats with glee, thoroughly enjoying how worked up Blue was becoming. Anselm takes a pistachio from the bowl on his desk and presses it lightly to Blue’s lips. 

“There’s no sense of style.” He huffs before he opens his mouth and licks the minuscule amount of melted chocolate from Anselm’s fingers liberally. “I would dress you better than this hack, or yourself.” 

Anselm can see the little frown deepening on Blue’s face, “I thought you liked them, mein lieber? You have three suits from them, and two-”

“Why are you calling me that?” Blue snaps. Despite the bluntness of his words his tone, surprisingly, doesn’t come across as rude. More… distressed and trying to cover it. 

“Mein lieber?” 

“Hmm.” Blue purposely stares at the computer.

Anselm slowly drags his left hand up to Blue’s face, lightly stroking his jaw and gently coaxing him to turn. Blue huffs again, rolling his eyes, but turns his head. 

“Are you not my dear? My love? My spoilt little brat?” Anselm squeezes Blue’s waist a little, making him yelp and Blue scowls harder. 

“Meine liebe,” Blue says disgruntledly. “You’re saying mein lieber.” 

Anselm chuckles again, understanding. He called you ‘meine liebe’. “My sweet, you will have to forgive german and its old fashioned formalities. Meine liebe is the feminine, mein lieber is masculine.” 

“Oh,” Blue paused, the thoughts turning in his mind for a moment. “Well, I don’t like that either.” 

“Do you not, my love?” 

“No, I don’t want ‘mein’ that just sounds… wrong, horrible. Meine is sweet and nice and,” reminded him of you. He wanted to be called the same sweet words, held in the same regard. 

Anselm smiles, nuzzling his beard into Blue’s cheek for a second. “Meine liebe it is.” He mutters in Blue’s ear, making him shudder and press closer. 

Blue swallows, wrapping his arms around Anselm’s neck. “I like that.” He whispers. 

“Well, thank the old gods, because at last, it seems like my beloved is satisfied with something.” Anselm pinches Blue’s thigh lightly, making him yelp and squirm, Anselm’s tight grip on his waist stopping him from completely escaping. 

“I was satisfied with the chocolates.” Blue mutters but Anselm ignores him.

“All day I’ve been more than accommodating with your bratty behaviour, and after I promised our wife I would cut you some slack and not be too harsh on you.” 

Blue leans back, pouting a little but it’s not enough to cover his smile. “She asked you to be kind to me?” He teases lightly, obviously thrilled that you and Anselm had had a conversation about him. 

“She demanded it.” Anselm strokes Blue’s cheek softly, before sliding his fingers around to the back of his neck and squeezing firmly. “And, I will be. For the whole of today.”

Blue grins wickedly.

“But don’t think you’re going to get away with this behaviour, oh no.” He tuts.

“Oh no? Are you going to wait until later to punish me? I better make the most of it then.” He grins, showing off his canines. Thoroughly looking forward to the idea of riling up Anselm even more and facing his delicious wrath later on. 

But instead of a stern word, Anselm gives him an equally dangerous smile. “Quite the contrary. Our liebe told me before she left, that she will be punishing you for any and all your transgressions today.” 

Blue pauses for a moment, his eyes wide and then swallows audibly, a shiver of delight running through him. 

“Ah, much better,” Anselm kisses his cheek and rubs his nose against his. “I much prefer seeing joy in your eyes over sorrow.” 

Thank you for reading!

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If you'd like to be taken off the tag list please let me know here

[fatalism-and-villainy]

Another part of untangling the Garashir knot i.e. trying to make their relationship make sense for fic-writing purposes is the question of Bashir’s ability to trust and be vulnerable around Garak.

I got to thinking about that because of this 10-year-old post (yay old meta dives!) that points out that Bashir is just as emotionally closed off as Garak in The Wire, and it’s really true - he never explicitly tells Garak he that he cares about him, but instead frames his care for him through their doctor-patient relationship, or through his higher ethical convictions (that is, when Garak says “Have you considered I might be getting exactly what I deserve?” and Bashir says “No one deserves this”). And given that part of the conflict of that episode is Bashir’s uncertainty as to whether Garak actually considers him a friend or cares for him on the same level as Bashir cares for Garak - as indicated in Bashir’s conversation with Dax - I think it speaks to a level of emotional self-protection on Bashir’s part that’s pretty often at play in his relationship with Garak.

Because for all that he wants Garak to open up to him in those early episodes - it comes up in a more playful mode in the way they banter with each other, but The Wire shows more legitimate frustration from Bashir at the possibility that Garak might not trust him - Bashir never actually leads by example there. When does he ever share anything about his personal history with Garak? When does he ever confide in him about his hopes and fears and insecurities? Pretty much never! And he’s not at all averse to sharing things about himself, whether it’s to get laid (like the adapted story about his medical exams) or to make a friend (like him telling Miles about Palis in Armageddon Game, or telling that pregnant woman about Kukalaka in The Quickening). He gave Jadzia his medical school journals (to get laid… and make a friend?). And there are plenty of instances of him confiding in his friends - Miles, Jadzia, Ezri - about his insecurity, fear of failure, feeling like he’s a monster because of his genetic engineering, etc.

But not with Garak. The closest he gets to sharing anything significant about himself is his grumpiness about turning thirty in Distant Voices, which isn’t even close. And you could argue that that’s a contrivance of the writing, a consequence of their relationship not being allowed to be developed more. But I actually think it makes a lot of sense from a character angle. Because for all that he seemingly can’t stop talking about himself, Bashir is a lot more selective about what parts of himself that he shares than it initially seems, as is most obviously demonstrated by the fact that he hid his being genetically engineered from everyone for years. So I do take him at his word when he tells Jadzia in The Wire that he doesn’t exactly trust Garak either, and I think that’s modeled in his (possibly subconscious) reluctance to truly open up to him. I mean, in Distant Voices he casts the guy telepathically attacking his brain as Garak! Which he and Garak laugh off in an extremely charming scene at the end of the episode, but it really does say something about how he sees Garak on a subconscious level.

So it’s honestly much easier for me to imagine fic scenes and whatnot in which Garak opens up to Bashir, because there is plenty of precedent for that in canon - largely in The Wire, but also when he vents to Bashir about his frustration with Tain and desire for Tain’s forgiveness in In Purgatory’s Shadow. And there’s a real sense that he really does want to unburden himself to Bashir, even if primarily in his own evasive, circumlocutionary way. But it’s so, so hard for me to get Bashir to a place where he’d do something similar with Garak, because given his characterization wrt their dynamic, I just feel like there’d need to be so much more work done in their relationship to get him to feel that kind of trust towards Garak.

(This dovetails with my headcanon that they weren’t that close in the later seasons, because the events later in the show would honesty make that even more difficult. After being interrogated by an intelligence organization, I imagine Bashir would be even warier of Garak!)

There’s also the fact that the most intense intimacy between the two of them always comes up in situations where Bashir is the stronger one, and Garak is the one who needs to be cared for, who’s being pushed into being vulnerable. And that again is a contrivance of the writing, but it is something that I think is compelling to contemplate when it comes to their relationship dynamic - specifically, how it might affect a long-term relationship dynamic in a post-canon setting. Because Bashir can be something of a fixer-upper when it comes to his romantic relationships, and I do see him as drawn to dynamics where he’s the stronger one who’s positioned to care for and guide the other person. And so, while I don’t think Bashir would be the sole cause of any difficulties that might arise in their relationship - trying to get open and honest communication from Elim Garak really would be like pulling teeth - I can really see him falling into a pattern of thinking with Garak wherein Garak is the one who needs to be cared for, the one who needs to communicate with him, etc etc, but being very very bad at being open and communicative with Garak in turn. Even if their relationship does develop sufficiently for him to feel more comfortable sharing himself with Garak - and I really think that it could - I still imagine his first impulse when he’s Going Through It would be to close himself off from Garak. And that does cause problems.

A broader angle that canon does not really bring out is the potential for Bashir’s dynamic with Garak to draw out some of Bashir’s hypocrisies, or aspects of his ideology that are incomplete or contradictory. Bashir on Cardassia post-canon has a lot of potential to do this - not that I’d want him to let go of Federation ideals, but the reality of living somewhere else would necessitate those ideals being qualified, or him becoming more flexible. And with the shift in their dynamic, in which Garak is in his natural habitat (even if it’s drastically changed from the Cardassia he remembers) and Bashir is the outsider, Garak could potentially be put in the role of having to guide or protect Bashir. And given the nature of Cardassian politics, the actual methods he might take in order to do so would imo not necessarily be within Bashir’s comfort zone. And I like the idea of that conflict, and that kind of testing of Bashir’s values and expectations and perceptions, coming through on a smaller scale just within their relationship, wherein Bashir really wants Garak to communicate with him but finds it (not even consciously!) very difficult to reciprocate that.

[usafphantom2]

#TomcatTails

#TomcatTuesday

That Time I Bagged an F-16

I’ve written quite a bit about the challenges when flying the F-14A Tomcat against the F-16 Viper. It’s a very formidable Fighter, highly maneuverable, light weight, nearly 1 to 1 thrust ratio, fast roll rate, 9+ G capable, etc., etc. In contrast, the F-14A is much larger, heavier, .75 to 1 thrust ratio at best, slower roll rage, 7 G capable, etc., etc. It’s similar to two boxers, one with longer reach, more muscles, and better footwork; you know how it’s normally going to end. You’ve also heard me quote the Red Baron about the importance of “the man in the box”, vice the box itself. That will always be true but in reality, some boxes are REALLY good and can make even a mediocre pilot fairly formidable. At any rate, enough excuse making.

As one gets better in the air-to-air arena over time, you learn your own personal limitations but also discover a few of your own techniques that seem to work for you. The more time you spend on it, your BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) get better and better and your skills improve, just like any endeavor (mental or physical or both). Wikipedia, for what it’s worth, has a pretty good section describing BFM in great detail and defines them as:

“The tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during air combat maneuvering (ACM, also called dogfighting), to gain a positional advantage over the opponent. BFM combines the fundamentals of aerodynamic flight and the geometry of pursuit, with the physics of managing the aircraft's energy-to-mass ratio, called its specific energy.”

OK, pretty good start. The advanced stuff comes with practice and experience and instruction by the highly qualified bogey drivers at the Aggressor squadrons and for the purposes of this #TomcatTail we’re talking about the VF-126 Bandits at Miramar, CA.

When you’re between cruises and deployments, Fighter Squadrons have time for Unit Level Training (ULT) that doesn’t require the rest of the air wing to support. This is great since the squadrons are pretty scattered (Tomcats/E-2s at Miramar, S-3s at North Island, Hornets in Lemoore, A-6/EA-6 at Whidbey Island). This is also the time you take on some new Nuggets and focus on the basic A/A and A/G skills. One way we did this as a community was an annual flight line wide contest known as “Fighter Derby”. While the specific rules escape me (it WAS 30 years ago, please), it’s essentially hosted/run by the Bandits and all squadrons field 3 or 4 sections to compete against the rest of the squadrons on the base.

As you may imagine, something like this got HIGHLY competitive. As such, so was Bombing Derby that measured your A/G skills with precise times on target, etc. There were a number of other flight line contests and awards to be won at Miramar that all factored into the annual competition to win either the coveted “Battle E” for excellence or the even MORE coveted “Mutha” trophy for the most shit hot, coolest squadron on the flight line. The Mutha story would take a book, so I’ll leave it to another time, but that was THE trophy to win.

Our squadron, the VF-24 Renegades, began to prepare for the contest by focusing strictly on ACM for a couple weeks. We assigned crews to their specific sections (two planes are a section, four planes are a division). Just my luck, I got paired up with our only former Bogey Driver from VF-126, “Space”. Space was one of those rare salty dudes that just seemed older than he should be and spent a long time as a Lieutenant, eventually got selected for Lieutenant Commander, but likely wasn’t going much beyond that. That’s not a dig by any means, he just managed to stay in the cockpit his entire career and didn’t get those “checks in the block” that put one on track for higher ranks.

He was a WIZARD with the Tomcat because, as you’ve heard me say often, them damn Bogey Drivers were just SO good at ACM in any platform they flew. He had F-16N Viper time, A-4M Skyhawk time, and F-5E Tiger II time. He could transform the often lumbering F-14A Tomcat into quite the nimble minx (mostly) and would routinely beat up anyone in the squadron. He knew when to control energy to keep the fight going, when to transition into a vertical looping fight or a slow flat-scissors fight, and when to sell the farm (knots) and take a lethal shot. All in all, that’s a GREAT guy to go into Fighter Derby with!!

The day comes for VF-24 to throw their sections at the Bandits and it’s (naturally) beautiful weather. As I recall the scenario, we’d meet in the Restricted Area 2301 West to the west of MCAS Yuma. That’s a huge training range with a TACTS range inside of it (tracked your aircraft) as well as a great target complex called “Cactus West”. A little Fighter lore; years ago the VF-2 Bounty Hunters (callsign “Bullet”) lost a jet out there due to a departure and flat spin. It impacted in a mountain pass in the Barry Goldwater Range and to this day, the site is called “Bullet Pass.” (aircraftarchaeology.com/f14goldwater.h…)

Space and I launch out of Miramar, as ready as we’ll ever be (me at least). After our transit to R-2301 we check in with Range Control and check in with the Bogeys. They were already on-site as they’re doing one engagement per section (you get one run) so they can cycle through 2 or 3 sections pretty easily before they have to RTB to Miramar. Today, a Viper and a Dog (A-4) are on the menu. Or is it going to be Tom Kitty for lunch? We’ll see.

The basics here are that you start with a 30-mile set to give both sections time to acclimate and maneuver as needed to provide the most advantageous merge. The overall score is determined by time-to-kill and if you lose anyone. Key to note is that this is a training evolution. The Bogeys are going to give you a HARD problem, but not an IMPOSSIBLE problem. They will fight you hard but they will not just spank the shit out of you. You’re being judged on how you engage, how you react to perceived bogey mistakes, if you make any mistakes, etc. Again, I will be a hard fight but you can both survive. The question is can you kill them faster than everyone else?

So the set up is ready and we call “Fights On”. Space is on the left (lead) and I’m on the right in 1 mile combat spread, stepped down about a thousand feet (don’t be co-altitude, too easy on the bogies). As we march in, we get radar on the Bogies. At this point we can see two, about a mile apart but don’t know which one is which, Viper or Dog. What you DON’T want to do here is let them “bracket” your section (where both pass outboard me and Space….kiss of death) and you don’t want to meet off center so either Space or I go down their middle; also not good. Best scenario is you bracket THEM, and Space on the left turns right to attack my guy with angles and me on the right, turn left to engage HIS guy with angles. Classic “switch”. Break the hands/pens out, take a minute and think that through…..I’ll wait.

Once you’re within 10 or 15 seconds of a merge, you’re not allowed to try and cross over someone’s nose to change the pass from left-to-left to right-to-right because you could screw it up and collide nose on. Not good (but frankly not painful as you’d never know it happened). As luck would have it, we face the Kobayashi Maru; we’re getting bracketed and can’t maneuver to change it. Wonderful. And I get the Viper……down my right side. Nuts.

As I’m merging with the Viper I take a peak at the Dog passing down Space’s left…..oooh, he’s going nose high right. Towards me but nose up. I have several options, mostly bad, but one that I think might work. Space follows him nose up near vertical to get separation, the Viper turns across my tail and starts pulling for Space, and I elect to roll right and pull OUT of the fight and away from the Dog. Strange, but it works out. You’ll see.

So I’m pulling for my life to get back in the fight, the Dog is struggling to catch up since I got such separation, and the Viper is chasing Space up hill and left. After a 180° I then pitch it pure nose low (straight down) and roll my lift vector to where I THINK Space and the Viper are going to be in about 20 seconds and pull….HARD. The lift vector is an imaginary plane coming out the top of my jet and it’s where you’re pulling to in space. Did I say I was pulling HARD?

After a few seconds, the gray-out starts to impact my vision. When you’re pulling that many G's and you’re body is fighting 7 times the force of gravity in sometimes awkward positions in the cockpit, it’s not hard to let the G get in front of you. You’re doing your “HOOK” maneuver, straining your stomach to keep blood in your head and your G-suit is full inflated, but sometimes it’s not enough. If you’re sitting there looking straight ahead, imagine your peripheral vision going gray at the far left and right and then slowly getting more gray toward the middle, and eventually it takes a circle shape where 80 or 90% of your view is now gray. That’s gray out. The harder you pull the smaller that circle gets. If you ease off, the circle gets bigger. You’re conscious, you talking to your RIO (in this case “Watts”) and you’re flying your jet, you just can’t see all that good.

The timing wasn’t quite right to ease the pull yet; that’s the instinctual part of ACM. You just KNOW how fast you’re turn rating across the sky and you just KNOW when you’ll be nose on the bogie based on where he was and what he’s was doing 30 seconds ago. You just KNOW. I can’t really explain it past that.

I keep the pull on and I’m mostly grayed out for a few more seconds. And then it’s time. Relax the pull and Voila!, I’m in a nose up position looking at beautiful blue sky. And wonder of wonders there’s a Viper in my windscreen and his left rear quarter is showing me some leg. He’s closing in on a shot on Space but my Sidewinder seeker head is already staring to growl. Quick finger fire to get the ‘Winder to lock and “Fox 2 the Viper in a left turn…….kill Viper.”

The Dog is still a bit behind me and not nose on and Space keeps his hard turn in and gets nose on the Dog pretty quick. I come hard left now to get the Dog to chase and he does. A few seconds later Space bags the Dog with a ‘Winder at about a mile. “Knock it off” and head home for a quick debrief and probably beers at the O’Club. That tended to be the default at Miramar.

We didn’t win Fighter Derby that year but our flight did reinforce a few key lessons:

1. I’d rather be lucky than good.

2. Even a blind squirrel finds a Viper once in a while.

@RSE_VB via X

[mkniesy]

New Year, New Snippet! tysm to my favourite shrimp @kalegreeneyes for tagging me <3 what i have in store is actually more of my jayvik post-canon au

np tagging @marzst4rz @lilacfiresoul @stuartdesharnais @drowninginthoughts27 @annieqattheperipheral @angel-daydreams & @kaaaaaaarf !

“What?” Jayce croaks, heart quickening as he scans Viktor for any of his tells – anything that could signal a lie. He isn’t shifting his stance, the muscles in his jaw don’t twitch. Jayce realizes belatedly that he doesn’t know this Viktor like he had his. His. “Viktor, you’re not- you can’t-” Viktor gingerly sits himself down on one of the ratty, patched couches. He doesn’t look as sickly as his Viktor; fuller cheeks, the bags under his eyes less prominent- but he’s not exactly the image of health either. If anything, he somehow looks worse. In the dim lighting of his lab, Viktor manages to look intimidating and ghastly, the amber flickering of the light nearby casting him in shadows. His expression is more closed off than Jayce had ever known it to be. “You misunderstand me, Jayce Talis,” he sighs, hand still wrapped around the hilt of his cane. “I am not dismissing your suggestion entirely, but you haven’t exactly explained the purpose of this… endeavour. From what I am hearing, we would not benefit mutually.” He knows how out of place he must look, a fine suit gathering dirt from his tumble earlier, the rips and dried bloodstains from his fight evident at every angle. People had glanced with contempt his entire shameful walk across the Undercity, refusing to do less than spit in his face at the request to see Viktor. He stopped asking; the last time he did, he had thrown the man against the bricks of a ruined building, heaving his hammer into flesh and bone and hearing the grisly crack of bone shattering. It's a miracle he made it this far, that he’d managed to find Viktor unscathed. That moments before, he squeezed a sickly pale man’s throat beneath him, panting and his mouth curling in anger- Viktor’s name on his tongue- inevitably releasing him once he’d learned that he’d had his hands on one of Viktor’s lackeys. Jayce sits perpendicular to Viktor, refusing to move closer, pretending he hadn’t noticed the way Viktor had flinched when he’d attempted to close in earlier. He won’t pretend he didn’t feel his stomach lurch at that, unable to even conceive the idea of a Viktor that disdained the idea of him. “It would benefit you. It would benefit the Undercity. Don’t you want that?” Viktor’s expression somehow sours at the suggestion. That Jayce had the audacity to assume what he had wanted, requested to see him so desperately only to share a harebrained idea, that he was lying- worse, that he wasn’t anything more than a Piltie who would use him and discard of him shortly after. Jayce is sure his expression must have faltered as well at the thought of Viktor being used like that, no matter if he was the imaginary perpetrator. Viktor opens his mouth to respond, but Jayce quickly explains, “I know you’re hesitant. You have every right to be, but I also want to help people. I’m not asking for more than you can give me, and it’s not like I’m taking anything from you. I just need a partner.”

[foreststarflaime]

Helloooo I saw greek and decided to dive in to see if I could dig up any other juicy details hehehe <3

So setting aside the α- for a moment, because the λύσσα seems more relevant. Also I just want to examine what exactly we’re negating with that a-.

Lussa (alternative spelling of lyssa, υ can often be transliterated as u or y, I’m just using the u version because habit) does mean madness or rage, but since words never translate exactly across languages examining the context they’re used in can help you get a better idea of the specific nuances of how the word can be used. In homeric contexts (the Iliad), it’s used pretty much exclusively to mean a martial sort of rage or frenzy, still with that undertone of madness but used to describe warriors fighting aggressively. (Important sidenote: this is not the same word used to describe Achilles’ wrath in the opening of the poem, that’s menin μηνιν.)

This is…very Sephiroth. Yeahhh. I think it’s safe to say that if the Nibelheim Incident was a Greek epic, they would have used the word lussa to describe what he was doing.

Also, a few of the other possible translations the dictionary I was using suggests (in specific contexts, see below) include fanaticism and raging love. Seph obsessing over Jenova? Is that you?

But wait, there’s more! Because this is Greek, of course there’s a personified version of Lussa as a goddess (!! goddess feminine not masculine! fits the theming for sure)! And the story she’s mainly involved in is also…very Sephiroth. Enter Euripides’ Herakles (the greek way to spell it, Hercules is actually the romanized way, fun fact).

Starting off strong, Lussa introduces herself as the progeny of Night and the Sky, notably not of Gaia (the Earth). Not beating the Jenova allegations here. She is the one who (is sent unwillingly by Hera to) inspire this sort of martial madness into Heracles, causing him to suddenly slaughter a whole bunch of innocents (his entire family). Also, notably, while the chorus is describing Heracles’ maddened rage, they use a lot of snake imagery. Yknow. Like Seph’s snake eyes. Rip Nibelheim I mean Heracles’ family. Also interesting to note that Hera is so against Heracles because of his birthright (ie that he is a son of Zeus out of wedlock)—doomed because of your parentage king? Hm sounds familiar

Yeah insane Sephiroth is very Heracles coded and Lussa is very Jenova.

And then Alissa just tacks on the a- at the beginning and expects us not to notice anything is wrong. Yeahhh that’s not gonna cut it for me. PURPLE SUS. Greeeat disguise there, we totally didn’t allll see through it right away.

Even if she doesn’t turn out to be Jenova or a related eldritch horror, she’s definitely being set up to be a parallel as things look right now. And her name is…definitely backing that up.

LSJ dictionary entry if anyone is curious though it’s probably not that easy to understand with all the abbreviations

Who knows if they’re doing this on purpose or not. Either way I enjoy digging way too far into parallels

Hmmmm. Okay, about the name Alissa — I know we delved into the basic etymology but this is interesting, hear me out….

Alissa/Alyssa….if derived from the Alyssum flower…a flower that is famously often purple…

And it specifically is a sweet, alluring flower that symbolizes this “worth beyond beauty” and “without madness” effect….

“Lyssa” itself means rage or madness….but the full name is against those emotions…almost like a soothing spell….

Alissa. Alyssum. The flower that protects against madness and rage, huh.

[turtleblogatlast]

The fact that Leo can go literally anywhere on earth to be alone with his thoughts at a single moment’s notice is something that shakes around in my head all the time. Like, portals and teleportation are amazing and convenient abilities both in and out of battle, but they could also so easily be used to run away as well.

I don’t think Leo ever would, at least not most of the time. He loves his family too much, and is too dependent on their love and attention to cut himself off so suddenly like that, but it’s a very real possibility nonetheless.

It’s a good thing Leo’s overall temper is more on the mild side and he prefers going to his room or something to complete solitude, because it really is dangerous for a kid to have the ability to isolate themselves like that at their fingertips.

[seagreenstardust]

I know I’m so lasered in on bkdk that I don’t often talk about togachako, but one of the things I’ve noticed this time around is how often Toga will lump Izuku and Ochako together when she’s talking about the people she loves. As far as Toga is concerned the two of them are interchangeable nearly from the beginning. If she means she loves Izuku romantically (as much as she’s able to understand it), then she’s also saying she loves Ochako romantically.

And it will never not floor me that Toga straight up compares Izuku and Ochako’s relationship to her own with Jin, then says immediately after how Jin was like a brother to her. In canon someone compared izu*cha to a sibling relationship. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the way bkdk and togachako are written feels incredibly intentional. If they haven’t been building up to an eventual canon ending then this is the cruelest longest running fake out of all time

[serenastark-official]

Oh, I see Tony’s coming in hot with the criticism, but let’s not paint Ross as this one-dimensional selfish jerk either. Sure, he had his flaws, no question about it. But let’s be real—his actions, especially with Carol and Susan, were born out of a combination of confusion, hurt, and jealousy. He wasn’t just sitting there twirling his mustache trying to mess with everyone’s lives. His emotional baggage from his first marriage wasn’t something you can just push aside. It's understandable that he had a hard time accepting Carol’s relationship with Susan—especially since he didn’t have the tools to process all that emotional complexity at the time. And yeah, his bitterness definitely caused tension, but who wouldn’t feel some level of resentment in that situation? I don’t think that makes him a terrible person. Just a person going through a tough time.

As for the whole "begrudgingly taking responsibility for Ben" thing, that’s a bit unfair. Ross was never going to be the model of the perfect, calm parent. He had his own stuff to deal with, and honestly, Ben wasn’t around as much later on. But when he did take responsibility, it wasn’t like he was actively trying to be a bad parent. Sure, there was room for improvement, but Ross didn’t just check out. He wasn’t the best dad, but he was still trying. Sometimes, being a parent is just about showing up, even if you’re a bit of a mess.

The manipulation argument is a tricky one. Yes, Ross made some bad decisions in his relationship with Rachel, but let’s not ignore that Rachel was no saint either. They both made mistakes, and when you’re in love with someone and terrified of losing them, your emotions tend to cloud your judgment. Did Ross make mistakes? Absolutely. Did he manipulate Rachel sometimes? Sure, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling him malicious. He was insecure, and that insecurity led him to act in ways that he probably shouldn’t have. But his actions were coming from a place of fear and attachment, not manipulation for the sake of control.

And that whole Emily situation? Ross was never going to fully let go of Rachel—not because he didn’t want to be with Emily, but because Rachel had been such a huge part of his life for so long. That’s not just emotional immaturity. It’s a real human struggle. Maybe Ross should’ve done more to manage his emotions, but no one can just turn off years of feelings for someone they’ve been in love with for so long.

Now, as far as alienating his friends goes? Yeah, Ross definitely had his moments where he was a little too quick to make decisions for everyone. But I think that comes from his desire to control situations because he felt out of control in his personal life. He wasn’t trying to make everyone miserable on purpose; he just didn’t always see the bigger picture.

And I’ll be real—his inability to fully own his mistakes? Yeah, that’s a big flaw, but he wasn’t the only one in the group who struggled with that. We all know Rachel had her moments of not taking full accountability too. But that doesn’t mean Ross wasn’t a good guy at his core. He was just deeply flawed, like we all are. He didn’t always handle things right, but he was still there for his friends when it counted.

So, let’s be clear, Ross definitely made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn’t make him a bad person. His relationships were messy, his emotional maturity was a work in progress, but that’s what makes him a more relatable and real character than just the "selfish ex" label people like to slap on him. I’m not saying he was perfect, but he wasn’t this terrible, manipulative villain either. People act like he was this dramatic, whining mess without understanding the reasons behind his actions. At the end of the day, he was just trying to navigate life and love the best he could, and sometimes he got it wrong. But who doesn’t?

[touchlikethesun]

it’s that time of year again, and i get so annoyed when my family is like “oh you’re so hard to get gifts for” and i’m just like. i’m literally not. i am so loud and open about my interests, the quickest of google searches will turn up dozens of little knickknacks i’d love. i’m not hard to get gifts for, you’re just not listening to me.

[robertsbarbie]

hmmmmmm