#it feels…… contradictory

[sixoclocker]

(sorry for the bad quality)

(for those who can’t see what it says, here:

first photo: “I do hope Starlo grows out of this state eventually.”

second photo: “He neees to find himself a wife and settle down.”)

i can’t find solomon’s dialogue but do yall ever think about this. and how solomon says something like “i think he thinks we hate what he’s doing, but that’s just not true”

like hm. hmmmmmmmmmmm. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[meticulousmaker]

another random thing that stands out to me rewatching Steven Universe as an adult:

throughout the show there's this clear Vibe that Steven has inherited some big magical destiny, right? and it makes sense narratively: he's the son of Rose Quartz, leader of the rebellion, now being raised by her friends who were the last remaining survivors of an interstellar war. he's like a human child in most ways, except he has magical powers that start to become more obvious as he's getting older. no one like him has ever existed before. it's a big deal. raising him and figuring out how he's going to grow is its own unique challenge, because nobody knows what to expect. so of course there's this magical destiny vibe, given all that.

What's interesting to me, though, is that this magical destiny is in no way literally, physically present in the story, it's just something everyone kinda feels. Like, there's not some ancient prophecy about a half-gem, half-human savior. He's not the Chosen One in any literal sense, he just happens to give off Chosen One vibes. And I say that's interesting because it means that the fact he was kinda raised with this Chosen One vibe is completely a decision everyone around him made, for better or for worse. And the show is aware of this, because the weight of Rose's legacy and everyone's expectations of him is a constant theme, and as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all grow and develop, they also realize the downsides of them putting those expectations on a child. Like, Steven spends his whole childhood being told about how great Rose was, and how because he's inherited her gem he will probably inherit her powers - and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Imagine how awful things could have been if Steven had no exposure to the Gems and no knowledge of what they were or how they worked, and then his powers started coming in? It was hard enough even when he was surrounded by the most qualified Gem Experts on Earth. But being primed for all of this "you're going to have your mother's magical powers" stuff put a heavy weight on his shoulders, and then the fact that nobody else quite knew how his abilities worked meant he was constantly faced with the adults in his life looking to him with concern because they didn't know what was happening with him. That's gotta leave an impression on a kid - and, well, throughout the show and especially in SU Future we definitely see that it does.

I like the way the show handles the pressure that's put on him, and the fact that everyone is just... trying their best in a completely unprecedented situation. Nobody knows what to do or how to raise this kid, and that inevitably causes problems but everyone is trying. And Steven can feel that everyone is trying without knowing what to do and he just wants to help and not be a burden and none of his caretakers have said that he's a burden but he can feel everyone's confusion and concern and the expectations he's not living up to and he cares so much, about everyone, about everything. He's in an extremely unique position that grants him opportunities to help that nobody else has, and he feels like he's failing everyone if he can't fulfill that, and in the end it never should have been his job to fix things but somebody had to try. Somebody had to try, and he was one of the only people with the ability to stop the Diamonds, stop the war, stop the lies, stop his world and everyone on it from being destroyed... and he was just a kid.

[grabyourpillow]

I've been thinking about the moment Lawrence tells Bellini about his papal name "John. I would choose John".

On one hand the words of Conclave writer Peter Straughan bounce around in my head like a windows xp saving screen: "Lawrence admits he has harbored that ambition, that he has prepared his name. It's true what Bellini said about him. It's true about all of them -- except for one person, of course."

And on the other hand it's such a tender little moment. Lawrence could just, not say it and retain the moral high ground literally forever. And as always, always, he chooses to step down, and comfort his longtime confident and friend by looking at him, holding his hands and telling him "look. I'm down here in the muck with the rest of you. With you." And also, perhaps even more importantly "you did not read me wrong. You do, know me."

Going insane

[aalghul]

another thing about boy wonder is that jason is made out to be unhygienic and crass and impulsive and stupid because he is poor. then talia is made out to be the princess who's never lived her own life and mindlessly acted on her father's orders to make herself love a man and have a kid with him only to abuse the kid and also others who she deems below herself. the only way you can win in this comic is if you are a rich white boy apparently because tim drake is the saviour of the poor who don't need to think for themselves because he, ceo of wanye enterprises, is there to be the hero in their place. there is no need to involve those irrational lower classes who don't know what's good for them (which this comic certainly has proven to believe). it's impressive the lengths to which juni ba bases characters off of 2D assumptions based on class and situation rather than actually engaging with the characters as they are when not being reduced to stereotypes.

[alexhatessupermarketcola]

Ooo, I love the idea that Yassen sent Alex to Scorpia not because he didn't know John's true allegiances, not because of bloodloss persay and not because he'd conveniently forgotten his desire for Alex to stay out of all this either but because he was feeling petty and his dying wish was to fuck Scorpia up.... something he felt sure that Alex could achieve 😆

[pareidolla]

i've been thinking a little about the belief that true freedom can only be found in isolation. reasonably, you can do whatever you want when not constrained by laws or the public eye. yet, without limitations, what's the point of doing anything? it's connection which give you purpose and it's other people who define your reality.

and, where the princess is imprisonment, i think abt how the long quiet represents freedom. without the narrator imposing his limitations, tlq can accomplish whatever he wants if he believes himself capable. according to the shifting mound, even after escaping from her shackles, the princess recognizes, if subconsciously, that the long quiet is a gateway to her freedom.

and then i think abt cold. and i think about how he wants us to do whatever we please without fretting over emotions or morals. the long quiet is Nothing, but the only way for him to encompass Nothing is through isolation. to be freed of the princess who gives him shape.

and cold helps you but at the same time he urges you to chase new sensation because even then he represents longing. he uniquely understands the princess's since he, too, has spent an eternity in the cabin, and he longs for connection with her. to feel anything other than oneself. it's not only rage and sorrow he hopes to repress but Love.

and then i think abt the new ending. how if you choose again and again to choose cruelty, to deny your connection with the princess and slay the shifting mound then you'll lose the voices along with her. true freedom at the expense of losing the sums which makes you You. is this anything

[amoraart]

- A short Henry x Hans fanfiction -

"What hurts the most, I think, is that they were taken before I ever amounted to anything," said Henry, wistful eyes watching the gentle fire, "the last they've seen of me, I was a lazy brat, oversleeping, skipping work due to nightly little adventures." He gesticulated, " I just wish they could've seen it."

Hans, intently looking into Henry's eyes, so far off, kept silent, listening, for once.

"I wish they'd seen my bravery, my strength," he held a breath as if it could hold all of himself together, "how I fight, with all my might, to protect their memory, to avenge their loss,"

Henry looked up, locking eyes with Hans,

"And yet, if not for the horrors they went through, if not for the horrors I've seen, I would still be a lazy, spoiled brat. How I wish it wasn't so, how foolish of me to want them to bear witness to something that could only exist through their demise,"

Henry broke the connection of their eyes, looking down to the side - what a sight, Hans realised, for even if only for a moment, he saw Henry for what he truly was: a frightened young boy, so soon deprived of his mother's kindness, his father's wisdom. So soon thrown into a world of cruelty he did not yet know of.

One truly must put their faith in God, lest they be taken by the fear and grief that plagues this world.

"You're the best man I know, Henry," said Hans after a pause, eyes still locked on his distressed friend . "Not only for your unparalleled strength and bravery, of course, but for your cunning, your wisdom," Hans stretched his hand to touch that of his friend's, "your kindness, Henry. "

Hans brought his other hand to Henry's face, ever so slowly, ever so lightly, and turned his friend to face him and, in the dim light, Henry hugged Hans.

For the first time since it all began, Henry let himself weep.

[hyperfixate-on-ninjas]

‘The lore doesn’t make sense anymore.’

Shut up. This is Ninjago. The lore was pulled out of Tommy Andreason’s ass. Get comfy.

[mr-weirdo-mcgee]

Things that can co-exist

Straight trans men, who hate when transphobes say they're a lesbian. & Lesbian trans men who hate people pushing them out of the label.

Lesbians talking about how bad comphet is. & Lesboys. Just like ..existing. (maybe surprising to you but lesboys can complain about comphet)

Lesbians talking about gross men who are trying to flirt with them by insisting that lesbians don't exist and insist they're bi or multisexual in general because they can't accept lesbians exist & Mspec lesbians.

[qoldenskies]

im surprised how little it's utilized how extremely overdefensive raph can get when writing angst or family drama with the boys. an unappreciated goldmine. say whatever you want about donnie being a bad liar but raph is not better

[some-zer0]

Peter's statement in TMA 159 is so interesting to me cause of how aware he is of sociopolitical issues in it: he's actually really well-spoken when it comes to explaining how he chose his tenants, and how their traits (namely, most being white) contributed to the ritual failing, despite the fact that he's a literal embodiment of the concept of loneliness. But, like, that's really just the core of Peter's character, isn't it? I mean, he says it himself -- he can only feel forsaken if he's aware of the society that he's forsaken from, so of course he would be knowledgeable about sociopolitical exclusion. And that deep contradiction adds so much to him as a character, especially because he himself is an extremely privileged person.

[calware]

headcanons on who would have kids

june: i don't think she'd have kids, she feels more like an aunt to me that lets her nieces and nephews stay up past their bedtimes. that said i am so intrigued by the concept of everyone being gods that are centuries-old and virtually detached from their humanity and she snatches a random kid. and everyone is like june you can't. you can't do that. put it back

rose: i don't think she would have kids 😔 she feels SOOOOO GUILTY about it too because she feels like she's Supposed to have a kid and is Supposed to be a good mother to like, prove something, or make up for her own childhood, but she just can't. i think if she did have kids she would be one of those moms who loves their kid and takes care of them and provides for them but still regrets it and hates herself for regretting it. she likes helping with kids though

dave: depends on the scenario honestly there are so many ways this could go

jade: i think she would have kids, i imagine she ends up like a grandmother with 100 grandkids lol. they all get together for big family reunions with lots of food and warm rooms and laughter and music

jane: LOL no

roxy: i also don't think she would want kids, i think this is something she would realize later in life, maybe even after having a kid

dirk: allergic to the idea of having a kid so so bad. despite this he cannot help but unwillingly end up as some kid's mentor/guardian/pseudo father-figure because he's cursed. with a support group he's okay though once he chills out for 2 seconds

jake: take a wild guess

karkat: doesn't decide to have kids but he somehow ends up taking care of like 5 random ones. where did they come from? maybe they were adopted. maybe they all started following him around and never left. maybe they were all left at his front door in a milk crate. either way, they're his responsibility now. he's not the stepfather, he's the father that Stepped Up

kanaya: i also don't think she would have kids but i do think she would be very involved with kids. i like the idea of her working with grubs in the brooding caverns before they find families/communities/lusii/etc to take them in. or a short-term foster parent. again i'd like to think rose helps her with this

terezi: realistically i cannot see her raising a child by herself unless it's in a very comical context like the paradox space comics, which i imagine would be VERY entertaining from an outsider's perspective. terezi teaching a baby legal jargon. terezi wearing those baby carriers that you strap to your chest while careening down the interstate. terezi fingerpainting with a baby, but she's picking up the baby and using it like a baby-shaped paintbrush

vriska: 😬

gamzee: he's already kind of calliope's dad? in a way

[thorntopieces]

assorted pjo/hoo headcanons

part 1 - part 2

autistic!will. i mean. i was one of the first people to write it (and post it on ao3, but i had stuff about it on my long gone old blog before then). this is true. to me. it's not incredibly obvious unless you know what you're looking for because 99% of the time he's eloquent and very passionate and maybe it's just the hyper healer in him and he'd like to think he passes well. but for people who know they can just tell. it's the voice, man /gn. gives you away every time /lh

pots!hazel. she ends up (mostly!) recovering from the fainting episodes associated with her flashbacks but still faints and feels unwell a lot of the time. she spends a lot of her energy and magic on staying conscious and aware, leaving her foggy and with flare-ups. will ends up diagnosing her half-way on accident during the three days nico stays in the infirmary. she doesn't faint a lot, but she will frequently have her vision black out when she stands and feel nauseous if she has to stand still for more than ten minutes (more or less depending on the day). together with jason and nico the three of them make up the fainting trio

reyna speaks excessively formally and politely when she's uncomfortable and the moment she feels safe around you she will just loosen up completely. it becomes very clear very quickly how much of her time is spent being uncomfortable

genderfluid!lou ellen. most of the time she's happy to be referred to as a girl, but some days it just feels wrong and she prefers to be referred to either gender-neutrally or masculinely. it's not something she's out about to anyone but her closest friends, partially because there's kind of enough stigma around being the child of hecate and also, it's not all that obvious, even to her.

nico is a bit like a social interaction vampire. he's not as shut off as others seem to think, he just needs to be given explicit permission to talk about his interests because he's worried about annoying other people, especially after bianca essentially abandoned him. he could talk for hours and hours about his special interests (because yes, he's probably autistic too) like mythomagic (he picks it up again with percy's encouragement), ancient languages and literature

will and katie (gardner) friendship. they bond over liking star wars and when lou ellen join their circle she manipulates the mist to recreate scenes from the movies. as she gets better at it she manages to make the light sabers glow, much to will and katie's delight

after the battle of manhattan and will/kayla/austin almost dying from being overworked, the camp gets together with mr d and chiron without the apollo kids' knowledge and figure out how to run the infirmary in a more sustainable way than just forcing apollo and athena kids to be there. eventually they settle on apollo kids doing 8-hour shifts but none at night unless someone is severely wounded. for the night shift, other campers work in rotating pairs where one sleeps for the first four hours and the other for the last four hours. a lot more campers gain appreciation for the amount of work the apollo (and athena) cabin put in to keep them alive and healthy and the apollo cabin doesn't die of burnout

t1 diabetic!kayla. she's been sick with it since she was six, but thanks to having a very supportive dad and a team of professionals around him considering his status as an olympic archer, her condition is well-managed (most of the time, war time is unpredictable) and she knows how to treat and manage it considering her demigod lifestyle. accompanying headcanon to this: while ambrosia and nectar is mostly to heal injuries and wounds of a divine and/or serious nature, it can short-term manage blood sugar. mortal intervention is always needed to fix the problem though. a bit like how narcan delays but can't entirely fix an opioid overdose

cecil wasn't properly accepted as a child of hermes at first considering he didn't express exceptional skills at the more obvious and everyday traits associated with the cabin (multilingualism, athleticism, thievery). first when he was found to accidentally being an exceptional saboteur was he properly accepted by the rest of his siblings. due to this he tended to hang out with the unclaimed children in the hermes cabin rather than his own siblings, especially lou ellen

hjs!cecil (hypermobile joint syndrome; double-jointedness). he's not good with most physical activities because of this and easily discouraged to even attempt most sports due to how his cabin alienated him for not being exceptionally agile, a trait associated with their cabin. it's not uncommon for his wrists and ankles to not work well (such as the twisted ankle in boo). however, he feels like he "compensates" for this by working in the shadows. when properly encouraged and supported, he prefers fighting with knives (close combat or throwing), relying on being obnoxious to throw the enemy off

[clausmotherthree]

Team Fortress 2 Mercenary Ages - given all of the canon information we know!

Scout - 27

In the TF2 Comic “The Naked and the Dead,” Spy (Scout’s biological father) states that Scout was conceived 27 years ago, making Scout 27. This is the only 100% confirmed age.

Soldier - mid 40s to early 50s

It’s stated in Soldier’s description that he attempted to join the army during WWII. If we assume Soldier was a young adult when he attempted to enlist, he would now be in his mid 40s to early 50s during the events of TF2.

Pyro - unknown

There is very little information out there on Pyro. It would be impossible for me to accurately identify their age.

Demoman - mid 30s

The only information I have in regards to demoman’s age comes from a line his mother says in the book “Valve Presents Volume 1: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories” in which Demo’s mother remarks: “No demoman worth his Sulfur ever had an eye in his head past thirty!” Which means Demo is most likely somewhere in his 30s.

Heavy - mid 40s to early 50s

In the update comic “Meet the Director,” it is revealed that Heavy was sent to a North Siberian Gulag in September 1941 alongside his mother and sisters. Heavy also canonically has a PhD in Russian literature, as revealed through his dialogue in the game ‘Poker Night at the Inventory.’ It would take around 9 years to obtain that PhD, meaning- depending on if he obtained the degree before or after 1941, he would be either in his mid 40s or early 50s.

Engineer - early to mid 30s

Engineer designed and built the Sentry under contract from TF industries in 1965, with him also spending 10 years in the West Texas oil fields- assuming Engineer was 18 before this date, he would be in his early to mid 30s during the events of TF2.

Medic - late 30s to early 40s

Medic’s description explicitly states that he was “Raised in Stuttgart, Germany during an era when the Hippocratic oath had been downgraded to an optional Hippocratic suggestion,” This implies that Medic was brought up during, or just before, WWII. The word ‘raised’ heavily implies the Medic to still be in adolescence during this era, making him surprisingly younger than expected, with him being around his late 30s to very early 40s during Team Fortress 2.

Sniper - early 30s

In the Team Fortress 2 comic ��Blood in the Water’, Miss Pauling directly states that New Zealand sunk 40 years ago- in the same comic, Sniper is shown as a baby in a flashback, 10 years after New Zealand sunk. This makes Sniper out to be 30 or 31 in the TF2 present.

Spy - unknown, estimated early-mid 50s

Given Spy’s secretive nature, it’s difficult to deduct how old he is. However, since he has a 27 year old son, it’s likely that he is in his mid 50s. There is a single comic panel (Found in ‘Unhappy Returns’) depicting Spy’s hair to have a grey tint to it, further emphasising this fact.

[dexbian]

i’m starting to think this explains a lot more now, hi everybody

[optimistic-autistic]

nothing so aggravating as seeing people claim what Hades did was just a misunderstanding because he ''loved Persephone too much''. like i don't know about you, but it's pretty hard for that to turn into building a town based on slavery and later getting a girl and assaulting her (even if it's just implied, he still at least had to pretend to do something like it, because his goal was to make Persephone mad).