#it's just insane to me that it isn't intuitive to other people

[illegiblewords]

Honestly justice for Lahabrea getting dehumanized both in-universe and by fans on a meta level for how he emotes in response to trauma.

We know he acts weird through the game. We know he genuinely cares about others from ancient times up through the present. He isn't a sadist and he's willing to put himself through hell in order to keep others safe.

People haven't been looking at the expressions and situations when conflict happened between him and Erichthonios with a shred of empathy.

"Oh, Erichthonios was manipulated heavily by his mother. Maybe he took Lahabrea trying to give him tools to protect himself in the maximum security prison as overly critical when the guy just didn't want him to get hurt while he was there."

"Hm. The times we hear Lahabrea actually say something negative to Erichthonios in-game tend to involve Erichthonios assuming the worst of him or being reactive on very personal subjects. I wonder why he might be frustrated or upset about that. I mean he sacrificed his relationship with his son because he thought Erichthonios would be happier with the false memory of his abusive mother than his still-living father. Surely that was what he wanted. Gosh, weird how he explicitly says Hephaistos' deepest desire wasn't to raise himself high but to have his family back. I wonder what that could mean?"

Archaeotania being held at the Words of Lahabrea for study and breaking out despite Lahabrea being present trying to contain it? Couldn't have a thing to do with not wanting that near Erichthonios in Pandaemonium. All those concept statues for Zodiark and emphasis about how the place specializes in phantomology? The creation of protective entities? Just coincidence surely. The NPC outside the dungeon said it was silly to think anyone could be in trouble at Akademia Anyder because Lahabrea never needs help with anything and is infallible. That's not an insane amount of pressure to put someone under. Seeing Lahabrea unable to do something couldn't possibly have ramifications before Zodiark's summoning either. Lahabrea being known to have been self-harming throughout the Ardor with body hopping is just a weird, quirky, evil thing he did. Lahabrea was probably a complete monster and did terrible things to Thancred's body while possessing him because he is a subhuman evil baddie who just does terrible things for the sake of it. Never mind when we catch him in a moment with his guard down at The Waking Sands he's slumped over exhausted and waves you away saying he's just tired. You know in his head he was cackling evilly and taunting Thancred, who he specifically chose to possess because they shared a lot in common and it would be easier.

Lahabrea laughs at inappropriate situations sometimes and struggles to emote at other times, and you know that never happens with trauma. Couldn't be hysteria or dissociation. Couldn't be that he doesn't feel safe expressing shit around people who are looking to do him harm.

The Scions knew what they were about when they called him an 'it' and were excitedly talking about how they've learned how to murder Ascians.

Canonical tempering that we know nobody could resist? Oh no that would never be a relevant factor in any of this. It's only horrifying if it happens to a sundered person. Venat's distinct summoning method created after Zodiark doesn't temper, so that means nothing else could possibly temper anyone either. Let alone Zodiark, the first and most powerful primal ever summoned without safety rails.

:|

[mariaelenaariente]

Astro Observations - Placements I Adore

The pictures used are not mine Have your chart analyzed by me Learn natal astrology

Sagittarius placements - I have to admit I have a soft spot for all the mutable placements out there, but Sag... especially Moon and/or Mercury/Mars... y'all are insanely intuitive (big plus if you ask me), courageous, open minded (unless the native is unevolved and choosing the "I'm the only one who knows the truth so let me impose it on you" path), and just generally such a great vibe. I've always strugged to put my admiration for this energy into words because it's just... so great ugh

1st/7th/10th/11th house Venus - these people are generally so well-liked it's crazy. They have just the right type of natural charm about them that draws people in, and I'm here for it. They're charismatic, generally social and outgoing, and perceived in such a romantic light by the public.

Taurus and Leo placements - if you have both Taurus and Leo placements in your chart you've won the astrological lottery as long as I'm concerned. These two signs are each the culmination of something special - for Taurus, it's good taste, appreciation of nature, and food, animal love, fragrances. For Leo, it's creativity, joy, life, loyalty, and general warm infatuation with life - does this make sense to anybody else?

1st/4th/7th/10th house Mars or Saturn - Yes this energy isn't easy and needs a lot of attention and mastering from the native, so seeing it in full force, especially in someone who fully mastered it, is rare. BUT! An angular Mars or Saturn is so powerful and incredibly fascinating to observe. Tapping into this energy, if you happen to have it in your birth chart, is a game changer. EDIT: You need to consider your whole chart when trying to master this energy. If you wish to hear my input, I have an affordable one-question chart analysis available.

8th house Venus or Jupiter - They attract support and help with such ease. They get whatever they wish for. Others will easily show up for them whenever they need and they easily benefit from the people in their life (not in a manipulating type of way).

12th house Moon - another tough placement, however - once the native gets in touch with this energy and learns to use it for their benefit and spiritual growth, there's no stopping them. Possibly the most intuitive, spiritual, healing placement I have ever observed. They're in touch with their subconscious which makes any type of work on themselves much smoother.

Gemini placements - if you actually believe Geminis to be two-faced, you don't know what you're missing out on. The chameleons of the zodiac, these placements can talk their way out or into pretty much anything. They'll mirror your own energy back to you so maybe if you can't stand them it's time to do some inner work.

Prominent Neptune - dreamy, ethereal, spiritual, intuitive, poetic, and artistic - what more can I say?

Cancer Mercury - They'll intuitively know what you need and show up for you. They'll also destroy your life and burn your house to the ground if you cross them. Love that for them.

Virgo Sun - Virgos are underrated. I'm tired of all the neat-freak stereotypes, they carry such strong intellectual energy. They can easily get on top of most situations by simply following their instincts. They'll give you awesome advice based on the many rabbit holes they've gone through in the past five days online. They'll be there for you when you need them. Also, there's a strong sexual energy here I rarely see anyone talk about, so I could make a post about it if anyone's interested.

[kastellaran]

Youtube Special Segment

I decided to take a crack at translating the part of this Youtube Special where they talk about the lore! It's somewhat long, but Nakamura-san talks a bit about the structure of the world, so it's interesting.

Yamamoto: Today...it's about "The Peak of Shuuga," so let's have the director- Nakamura: Ah, yes, yes Yamamoto: The heading that the viewers all saw- Nakamura: The heading- Kurosawa: "The...place? where all things are born..." [T.N.: She's struggling to read the kanji here, and Nakamura-san provides the pronunciation.] Nakamura: "za"

Kurosawa: "The place where all things must return." What does that mean...?

Nakamura: Well, uh, it's not written here but these are like...the keywords of the world of Mononoke: toki (time) and za (position). So, toki is, well, time, right? Toki is the more difficult kanji... Kurosawa: koku... [刻, this can also be read as toki] Nakamura: ...The toki of ikkoku (one moment), and za is something like a place. So, uh, it might get complicated if I go on... is that okay? Kurosawa: Yes Nakamura (to Yamamoto): Is that okay? Yamamoto: Please

Nakamura: Okay, um, to put it simply, let's take this paper (holding a sheet of paper parallel to the table). Uh, basically, time is, like, always continuously layering, as space follows like this (miming layers of paper stacking on top of each other to make a tower). This is what is called toki in the world of Mononoke, right? Kurosawa: Yeah... Nakamura: So, za is... in the center of this is one point (zahyou) (pointing to the center of the paper) Kurosawa: Ahhhhhh!! Nakamura: So it extends through like...like a pole (drawing his finger upward in a straight line). Like a pillar it extends through. So if za is fixed...uh, it will become disconnected from time. But if you live in toki, if you're governed by toki, za can move around (moving his hand across the sheet of paper). Does that make sense? Like, basically, people who are governed by time can move their za around on this flat time, their position... but by fixing za, now toki becomes free; it can move freely. These two, like...ah, oh no, one of us isn't following (looking at Yamamoto-san) Yamamoto: No, right now...every time we come together, the conversation begins with you and ends with me. Which is fine, uh, I just ask you to explain what you're talking about, but today is the first time I've heard the whole thing, and I get it. Kurosawa: Great! Yamamoto: I get it, and it was actually pretty good Nakamura: How mean! Kurosawa: Awesome! Nakamura: So, well, on the matter of where mononoke sit, um...basically, of the beings of this world, there are some that are more of toki and some that are more of za, and mononoke are more of za. That's why, like... something that came to be a crazy long time ago can always exist, for all time. Kurosawa: Wait, so that means... the medicine sellers are in za! Nakamura: Wow, wow, you've got great intuition! Kurosawa: Awesommeee! Nakamura: (being very impressed) Kurosawa: AWESOMEEE!!! Yamamoto: Um, I think a third of us has been left behind, but- Nakamura: Oh, really? Right, right Yamamoto: Naturally, the director- Nakamura: Right, right, the medicine sellers...um, are also in za...to get back into it a little, um, they can shift between both toki and za Kurosawa: Whaaaa- that's insane! Yamamoto: That's convenient Nakamura: Right, only the medicine sellers. In this world, only the people, or, the beings called the medicine sellers, can shift between them. That's why, um... at a given moment, if they're in za mode, they can exist in whatever time in an instant...um, and if they're in toki mode, they can move to whatever place they like. In other words...well, that's how it is. Yamamoto: That's how it is... so Kurosawa-san will be like "Huh!" and accept that, and I guess that's fine, but when we'd get together, I'd wonder "Where does this come in?" Nakamura: Right, right Yamamoto: It doesn't come in, right, so let's stop here Nakamura: It was created earlier, like, in the Mononoke TV show, the medicine seller moves around a bit between time periods. That's the lore- Yamamoto: So that's the reason? Nakamura: Yes Yamamoto: Then, this time, are 64 people involved? Nakamura: Of course Yamamoto: That important piece of lore Nakamura: Yes Yamamoto: From 17 years ago Nakamura: It still connects, you see. Um, it's connected in a few ways, so, if you think about toki and za , well, Shuuga is... in this world of toki and za there's another layer; there's something called Shuuga... it actually covers the whole world. Magnetic fields, um... those waves- it's a world of waves. And these things called waves are actually also a key point. So, in this world of waves, everyone...how do I put this... the medicine sellers are relatively normally over on that side, right? And from there, toki and za appear [indecipherable] (opens his two fists as if dropping something). So the medicine sellers, if they're on their own side of the world, can actually communicate with each other. They talk. But there are probably some that are more quiet.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

what meaningful plenaration does "sane" add to "safe sane and consensual"? safe and consensual are both pretty intuitive as to what is and isn't and why they're important, but what is the aspect of this nebulous hypothetical insane sex (this would work better as a phrase if insane sex wasn't already a thing people said about good sex. much to think about) which is uniquely best to avoid but not already covered by safe or consensual?

i've been thinking about that one thing i saw a while ago about reevaluating ssc in the face of increased awareness of like, mad liberation and the ways that mentally disabled people are barred from sexual agency by ableism & the psych system and i genuinely can't come up with a reason why sane was in there in the first place

great question! let's talk about it!

but first: hey. what on earth does plenaration mean. I absolutely understand the question that you're asking but I don't know that word (unusual for me, if I may flex a little!) and google is giving me NOTHING.

anyway, moving on!

SSC was initially popularized by in 1983 by the New York group Gay Male S/M [Sadism/Masochism] Activists, and particularly activist David Stein. let's take a look at their full statement:

GMSMA is a not-for-profit organization of gay males in the New York City area who are seriously interested in safe, sane, and consensual S/M. Our purpose is to help create a more supportive S/M community for gay males, whether they desire a total lifestyle or an occasional adventure, whether they are just coming out into S/M or are long experienced. Our regular meetings and other activities attempt to build a sense of community by exploring common feelings and concerns. We aim to raise awareness about issues of safety and responsibility, to recover elements of our tradition, and to disseminate the best available medical and technical information about S/M practices. We seek to establish a recognized political presence in the wider gay community in order to combat the prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions about S/M while working with others for the common goals of gay liberation. (x)

GMSMA was founded three years prior in 1981, which is only important because that was also the year the first AIDS patients were identified. I don't know if you're familiar with a little thing called The AIDS Crisis, but suffice to say that during the 80s the public perception of gay male sexuality Was Not Good, particularly something double deviant like sex that was gay and also kinky. in a later essay reflecting on (and criticizing!) the mainstreaming of the term, Stein said he wanted to SSC framework to distinguish mutually consensual sadomasochism from "the criminally abusive or neurotically self-destructive behaviour popularly associated with the term 'sadomasochism'."

in other words: while I can't tell you everything that lay in the heart of David Stein when he first used the phrase, it's very clear that the GMSMA seemed invested in improving the public image of kink by separating it as much as possible from the notion that it was something only practiced by crazed degenerates - you know, something queer people have been forced to do for pretty much all queer sex throughout history? in the same 2000 essay linked above, Stein reflects on how many people took SSC as "a welcome validation for a type of sexuality still considered "sick" or "crazy" by much of our society."

is there still ableism baked into that narrative re: the notion that mental illness is a bad thing to be affiliated with? yeah, absolutely, and we'll get to that! spoilers: it's been a source of much criticism, which is why many people now prefer RACK over SSC. but give me a second to get there!

in the essay I've been pulling from, Stein freely admits that GMSMA never attempted to offer concrete definitions of SSC, particularly not the latter two: "We left "sane" and "consensual" much vaguer, "sane" because it's pretty vague to begin with once you get past the obvious meaning - able to distinguish fantasy from reality - and "consensual" because we didn't realize how tricky it is."

the idea of "sane" meaning a person is meaningfully able to distinguish fantasy from reality was echoed by Gil Kessler, a longtime kink educator and board member of GMSMA. rope enthusiast Tammad Rimilia defined it differently, saying that sane kink referred to a situation where "all parties are engaging in this activity by direct intention and can judge the effects of their actions." you can see that echoed in Stein's earlier statement about differentiating the kind of sex that GMSMA encouraged from "self-destructive behavior."

tl;dr, the "sane" is mostly there to specifically draw attention to the fact that some people engage in sex in ways that may be a form of self-harm and/or may want to engage in sex when they are experiencing reality in a way that prevents them from making rational, fully-informed choices, such as psychosis or manic episodes. per their own statement, it seems the GMSMA would discourage having sex with people in this category.

obviously that may already fall under the purview of safe and consensual, but show me an organization that's never gotten a little redundant in its mission statement and I'll eat my shirt.

now, back to that criticism! as Stein notes in the essay I've referenced heavily in this answer, understandings of safety, sanity, and consent have come a long way since 1983! the risk-aware consensual kink model (RACK) has gained popularity for many reasons, with much of the conversation centered on both the inherent ableism of SSC and concerns about the promise of "safe" and the unhelpful and unrealistic expectations it may set. hell, even notions of consent are constantly growing and evolving. and that's wonderful! SSC comes from a very specific time and place in the history of kink and may no longer be the pinnacle of best practices for everyone, but there's still plenty to be learned from its origins.

[brynnterpretations]

LOVED the the boys ship you wrote me (went anon at first bc i'm shy and new to tumblr lmao) so wanted to ask one for my the boys oc since i saw you do ocs too!!

her name is veronica daumas, she's in her late 30s, brazilian (speaks portuguese and english) and has been living in the us for 10-ish years (faceclaim is taina muller). she was a private eye in brazil before messing with some big corporations (aka vought), giving herself a lot of trouble, and having to fake some documents and burn some bridges to move to the us. she was recruited for the first mallory team due to her investigative abilities and, of course, is brought back to the team for the s1 shenanigans. during the years between the first mission and the start of s1, she was working as a sort of particular investigator for a brazilian-american crime boss in nyc.

personality-wise, veronica is a nosy bitch. she loves fucking around and finding out, prying for information, discovering things about people. a bit grumpy and snappy, but who in that team isn't? brutally honest too, not in an edgy, wanting to be a bitch way, but in a comically careless disregard for if something would be rude. her own crazy drive to pursue the truth makes her not realize some people might not want the whole truth at all times. it's not like she doesn't lie ever, she actually controls information very well when she wants/needs to; she really wants to be the one who knows things more than other people do. she's in a weird middle ground in the insane-to-normal spectrum: if butcher is one side and mm's the other, she stands aside with a cigarette to film whatever will go down between them. she's not one to stop anyone though — your problem! chronic bailer: if it's gonna go down, she'll leave. addicted to getting away with things. will absolutely back off and save her own skin, which is a conflict she has to grapple with when she inevitably comes back in contact with the boys, and starts getting attached to them as they slowly realize they actually are a team. she has left a lot of people behind in her life and it's something that's slowly coming back to haunt her — oh shit, she cares about the people she loves. and bailing won't solve her problems if she still feels for the things left behind.

i originally ship her with frenchie but wanted to see your input, hcs, and any other opinions since i absolutely loved your writing!! thanks in advance <3

I am so glad you liked your ship, and thank you so much for sending in another! I love Veronica so much and if you ever post a fic of her I'd love to be tagged in it. I hope you're well and again, I'm so glad you enjoyed! This brought a smile to my face. ♡

I ship Veronica with...

Frenchie ♡

Boyfriend

GIF Source: @yocalio ★ (link)

I agree with your pairing — Veronica definitely seems like Frenchie's type of partner, and vice versa. Dark and varied past? Check. A love for drama? Check. Wanting to be independent, but becoming attached to a group of fucked up people just trying to do the right thing day-by-day? Check.

I've mentioned this in a few other HCs, but I don't see Frenchie as a person to move fast romantically at all, so it would definitely start with a lot of interesting conversations and a healthy dose of playful flirtation. If Veronica is someone who's comfortable with hookups, I feel like it would be likely for she and Frenchie to be sexually intimate with each other before catching romantic feelings.

Once in a relationship, the two of them would be quite the chaotic duo, and would always back each other up. Sometimes, Frenchie will not know what she's talking about, but if anyone (*cough* Annie *cough*) tries to push back on any of Veronica's ideas or input, he will fight for her like a guard dog.

Generally, Frenchie really trusts Veronica's decision-making skills and intuition — he's always been more of a tactile person when it comes to work in the coup, so her investigative abilities are incredible to him — and always makes sure she's properly heard by the group, even when they're all yelling over each other, which is... a lot.

Frenchie is very fascinated by Veronica as a person, and would always make time to talk to her in-between missions. It would start as very run-of-the-mill questions, at least by Frenchie standards (her work in Brazil, how it was transitioning to life in America) before slowly becoming more personal. However interested, though Frenchie will always be patient — he knows how personal people's pasts are, and always respects her if she doesn't want to divulge information.

The two of them would definitely balance each other out. Frenchie is endlessly loyal, to his own detriment — Little Nina called him little doggy for a reason — and Veronica's ability to know when's the right time to bail would help him gain a lot more self-awareness and respect, while Frenchie would be able to show her that sometimes, not every time is the right time to bail.

During missions, he would always make sure he has a line of contact with Veronica, even if they weren't directly working together, just to give her words of encouragement and check in on how she's doing. He knows she's capable, yeah, but he just wants to hear her voice (and know what's going on, because he, too, is a nosy bitch). Sue him.

Frenchie is not shy at all with PDA, and would always be very physically close to Veronica, whether it's a hand holding hers, an arm wrapped around her shoulder, or just standing by her side. He also lives for sleeping with her, no matter who's the big spoon.

Frenchie loves hearing her speak Portuguese, and will often ask her to read to him.

Tons of cute, silly nicknames for her, such as mon bijou, mon trésor, and ma chouchoute.

As for the rest of the coup...

The Boys ☻

Teammates

GIF Source: @yocalio ★ (link)

Butcher really likes Veronica, finding her to be funny, competent, and very, very funny; the man could not deal with another moral compass on the team. Even when he's not a hundred percent down with an idea of hers, he'll back it up just to start shit with Annie and M.M. The guy's gotta get his fun in somehow.

He also definitely would invite her out to drink a lot (strictly platonically, though, because our boy is not a homewrecker).

However, it wouldn't be without its stressors. Considering Veronica's bluntness and lack of hesitation with calling out bullshit, I could see some pretty gnarly arguments happening between them, especially if it concerns Frenchie

On the topic of M.M. and Annie: M.M. does quite like Veronica and doesn't snap at her, but can get annoyed with her pretty quickly, especially when he senses that she's about to bail. Still, though, he finds her extremely intelligent and invaluable to the team, and believes her to be a very good person, even with her guarded exterior.

And, for Annie — I hate to say it, but Veronica and Annie would not get along at the start. Annie is very much an endlessly hopeful and loyal person, to a rather damagingly "go down with the ship" mindset, and would find Veronica to be flaky, selfish, and a hazard, likely having a relationship with Veronica similar to her relationship with Butcher.

That doesn't mean there wouldn't be room for improvement, though. Annie's decently intuitive, and as she senses Veronica becoming more and more attached to the team, would begin warming up to her and holding far more respect for her as a person.

Hughie would be quite wary of Veronica and probably wouldn't interact with her too much — sorry, he's a nervous little fella — but, like M.M., would also hold a lot of respect for her.

Kimiko would love her, finding her to be an extremely funny, interesting person. Like Frenchie, Kimiko is someone who highly values honesty, and would find her to be a refreshing person to be around, especially since Veronica isn't afraid of standing her own.

Additionally, Kimiko is admittedly pretty drawn to gossip and other "nosy" things that she wasn't able to pick up on or enjoy during her time in the Shining Light Liberation Army, so if Veronica dispels any information she's picked up on to Kimiko? The woman will be sold.

So... welcome to the team. She's one of the boys, for sure.

[beemovieerotica]

The debate about concealed ovulation is wild to me, because in humans, the one ovulating can always tell, usually by moods, pain, or libido spiking insanely high, etc, so it isn't concealed to them, but to others to seems to be?

i personally never noticed for myself, and i feel like it does take some level of intuition and self-knowledge for people to become aware of it in themselves -- but i've also known people with incredibly irregular cycles where they just cannot ever predict or recognize when it's happening.

but yeah concealed vs conspicuous ovulation is this very hazy line, and we are at all times relying on human sensory limitations. like there's a reason the number of primate species with concealed ovulation is a range and not a fixed number, because it may be manifesting in a way we don't perceive but that is incredibly obvious to other members of that species.

and our own perception of it within our own species is still in this weird grey area and the literature about it is so mixed, i think only recently people started really looking into human pheromones and doing things like sniffing t-shirts and gauging if we find ovulating people more attractive. like there's evidence for SOME chemical signalling going on that people subconsciously pick up on, but the question is whether it's enough for people around them to actually change their behavior in response and for it to have a measurable effect on whether or not they follow through with sex. it's really interesting.

[goodluckclove]

Hi Clove! I'm a new follower and I rather enjoy seeing you on my dash. I also live in Portland (transplant not native) and I think it's cool whenever you mention someplace that I'm semi-familiar with.

Anywhosies, I've been stuck on a scene in my book The Book of Daemon for probably 3 weeks now, and it's not really because I don't like the contents of it or because it's not working or any other craft reason. I'm just not having fun writing it. It's a scene that acts as a bridge between two different plot arcs essentially, and I can't exactly cut it. I just really, really wanna get to writing the next scene, because more fun things happen. It's a struggle.

Has that happened to you before? If so, how did you go about making it fun for yourself?

(If not, that's cool! Either way, I just wanted to go out on a limb and say hi, hello, I think you're cool and good luck with writing today!)

Hi! Sit down with me. It's just started kind of raining for some reason here. I'm also a transplant! Here for about four years from the Bay Area! I love it here because it's so bikeable and full of trees, even though people love to walk their dogs without leashes which I find insane. But I'm sure you've seen that.

So yeah, I've written 13-15 books (I've lost count) over the course of fifteen years, and I've absolutely come to points that weren't the most exciting in the world. It happens. In my experience there's a manageable kind of boring that's just kind of like yeah man one step at a time. That's fine. I'm fine with that.

But when it sucks? When I point that I just don't want to do, to the point where I actually stop writing entirely?

Yeah, man. I don't write that.

See I'm a big proponent for the intuition of a writer and the autonomy of a character. This is where my Magical Thinking comes into play as I say in a semi-professional setting that I think sometimes your characters have opinions and thoughts and it's part of our job to decide when to accommodate them.

This isn't something that people who rely heavily on outlines like to hear. They already decided everything the character does before they wrote a single word - but now the character exists, and they think their thoughts, and they actually don't want to do something? Fuck that! Lobotomize them and shove them back in the outline drawn by a writer who hadn't actually met the character yet.

Is that dramatic to say? Yes. I'm a dramatic person. I don't think all outlining is bad, I just kind of wish more people were open to adjusting an outline as a character develops, because they should develop as you write them.

So yeah, if I want one of my characters to keep a secret and they say it immediately, I'm like well shit I guess you felt like telling him now. When I want another character to be angry and he's mainly indifferent I'm like dang man you don't get angry like I thought you would. It's probably not for anyone, but I'm super happy not being the all-knowing god of my universe. I'm mainly just some little weirdo scuttling on the edges of each scene, taking notes in a battered composition book. Keeps it interesting.

And it's got to be interesting. It's got to be fun. That's how you keep the prose genuine, I think.

So yeah, the scene's not working? Maybe the scene's fucked. Maybe you need a new scene. Maybe you don't need a scene. Oh shit. Maybe the two plot arcs don't bridge yet. Maybe you jump straight to the cool thing and then go back and explain how they bridged later. Maybe it's non-linear. Can you imagine? What the fuck would happen then?

I'm psyched just thinking about it.

[plasmasimagination]

hiya there!! congrats on 300 followers ^^ i hope hearing the news made your day and that you’ll have many more amazing milestones like this one,, oh! and when you read this, please have a drink of water — take care of yourself, ok? 🤍

for the matchup event, i’d like a matchup for the honkai star rail and genshin impact guys please!

~~~

i’m an enfp 4w3 and i’m currently a sciences student at school! deep down my passion is in voice acting, but i can’t pursue it for the time being because of my studies piling up xd

still, i have big dreams of landing character roles that people can relate to and potentially singing, voicing commercials or audiobooks!

in a perfect world, my dream future would be to devote the rest of my life to creating art that’s from my heart and that will move others!

i’m in a leadership role at school because i like to be of service to others in the greatest way possible. i didn’t get enough votes to be president, but i was voted to be secretary, so i take note of everyone’s ideas and also our final decisions at meetings!

i prefer to compile people’s ideas and try to make them all come true in some way than to lead people towards a singular cause. in that respect, i don’t always enjoy leading people or competition.

im also super into psychology and typology (mbti, enneagram) and can usually tell who’s what personality type after getting to know them a little~

while i’m ambiverted, i’m definitely a little more extroverted than introverted (the latter probably stems from fluctuating confidence). but anyways, i have a couple friends — and i get along best with the people who are intuitive types (mbti with the N).

i’m pretty distracted at times. i don’t always remember or hear things people say, which i’m hoping to improve on. in general, i like finding improvements to myself!

as for looove,, i’m pretty dreamy and romantic, but i’m not actively searching for love just yet. there’s so many things i wanna do with my life before truly settling down, but i won’t refuse getting to know “the one” if i meet them along the way.

my type is someone introverted/ambiverted. i’d really like a partner who has a different side to them when we’re alone~ — like shy guys in public who are dominant in private (*blushes*), or charismatic guys in public who need cuddles and a safe space in private. (i don’t mind it if they don’t fit this criteria! i’ll do all i can to give my partner a safe space regardless ^^)

i hope this wasn’t too long and that it all helps! have a lovely day! 🥰

HAII SWEETHEARTTTT oh my god now that I put it that way i seriously can't comprehend how big it is, and actually were on 352 by now like isn't that insane?? It's genuinely so crazy to me how plp actually enjoy my content like-....

Little a/n - also I'm so impressed by your like life and how put together you are like idk it just so cool to hear about your life and shi, keep doing you babe I'm your biggest supporter and hope to see you as a voice actor one day (｡˃ ᵕ ˂ *) ｳﾝ

Anyyyways... Time for your matchup woooo~👻

Your matchups are....

.

.

.

XIAO

Maybe not exactly the thing you're looking for, but surely worth a shot?

Partner that takes charge x partner that follows the other around like a puppy

Xiao isn't fond of making decisions, so he'll leave it up to you, but he will help in making the decision become reality if needed

He's also very passively supporting you. He understands that you wish to focus on your career and live life before settling down, and he's never gonna hold you down from it, he's gonna get out of your way in case you want to go out with friends or like clubs or traveling, though do reassure him sometimes otherwise he'll be very distant

Also generally it will take him a while to warm up to your but after that he'll follow you around and always be near you.

He considers you very intelligent and reliable, which makes him like you a lot more in a way, he enjoys the secure feeling you give off

Think of it as having a black cat pet, it always lingers around you but doesn't interact much, yet it still loves you. And in those rare moments it comes to cuddle with you it's like a blessing by the archons themselves

GEPARD

I don't know I just feel like after that deep matchup W xiao, that you deserve someone to actually love you properly

Busy busy man gepard who still finds time to spend with his sweetheart

He's the type of person who's forced to lead in a lot of situations, around you he enjoys letting you take over and he can just sit back and help you out without the hard decision making

He's very sweet but very professional in real life as we know because of status

But inside he's a big big softie

Random but I like to imagine he would write you little letters, sometimes just to tell you to stay safe and stuff but sometimes actual love letters where he expresses how much he loves you

But don't be fooled, at times he can also take the charge in things, so it's like getting the best of both worlds

He understands what it's like to want to focus on yourself and your future, so he's gonna step back if you need him to, he can wait months, years, however long you need to let him love you╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[nerves-nebula]

Hey, first thing first sorry if I miss used this format or if you already answered this... So my question is how/why Leo became Splinter's favourite? Did he just picked one of them randomly or something else?

scoured my blog cause i knew i already answered this, but it was a while ago and hard to find even knowing what i was looking for so, here's that ask

the question i'm answering there is significantly different tho so let me just give some context to something i said

here’s an interesting thing to consider: leo wasn’t actually that much better (at fighting/training) at first.

Splinter picked him when they were basically babies, because of what he perceived as signs of leo being better than the others. Leo is mostly better because he was raised to be. Splinter taught him the most, gave him the most attention, and expected more of him than he did the others. Sure, Leo liked training more than the others but that was majorly influenced by Splinter not being a complete ass to him.

the thing about this is that child abuse/favoritism isn't actually logical. like, as the abuser you probably concoct certain ideas that make sense to you, but i think most reasonable people wouldn't decide to favor a 4 year old for being better at fighting/following orders than other 4 year olds cause what does that even mean. that's insane. you can't tell which child is going to be the better fighter 10 years in the future, you can only train them with your own expectations of them.

ultimately, Leo became splinters favorite because Splinter decided to make him his favorite based on "intuition" aka his feelings. Any other justifications that Rat Dad comes up with are just that, justifications and excuses for said feelings.

[tenebrius-excellium]

Speechless.

...This week, I obtained the remaining information about my Mom's life that had previously felt like a gaping hollow of unanswered questions. ...I know everything I wanted to know now.

Speechless that I cried, and wept, and bled for this for 20+ years because nobody would f****** tell me.

Imagine being there as it happened. Imagine knowing that something happened to your Mom but nobody has the courtesy to tell you anything because you're 3 and in foster care and apparently stupid and are told that you knew nothing anyway. I knew. Oh, believe me, I KNEW.

Imagine begging over the years to be given the grace of an explanation. Imagine being told over and over how "it happened so long ago" and how "it's not important anymore" and how "you've nothing to gain from this knowledge" and how "I don't want to talk about it anymore" and how "it makes no sense for you to want to know this." To be given snippets at best, lies at worst. To feel like the victim of a gigantuous conspiracy because nobody feels responsible and no one was there anyway and nobody knew her in detail anyhow.

I KNEW. I knew nothing. I had hunches. Made observations. Felt beyond memories. I KNEW. CLOSE TO EVERYTHING I SUSPECTED TURNED OUT TO BE TRUE. I didn't know facts, but I very well knew vibes. Dynamics. Imprinted, intuitive guesses. I wasn't THERE, but I WAS there.

It felt criminally, morally wrong to dig because of everyone's judgment around me. Wrong to stand at her grave for the first time aged 21, because my father didn't want to go there. Wrong, to find her family four years later, just down the street from her grave, and that same grave wiped out by the authorities because too much time had passed. Wrong to keep digging in the face of everyone's pain and awkwardness around her. Wrong to be her daughter because she hurt a lot of people but she passed me so many great traits, I LOVE being her daughter. Wrong because the story isn't pretty, and why would I trade the fake fairytale that my Dad built us for the ugly truth. Why be ungrateful like that, right? Nobody is that insane.

But to me, the truth matters more than a pretty foam bubble of a life.

I turned to public office records and I have rest now.

I was emotionally, and physically present for EVERYTHING. I just couldn't process the facts because yes, maybe I was a little small for all the facts but I also wasn't given anything to work with; wasn't trusted with any of it; even when I became older.

I had to walk her streets and trace her steps and read her files to discover that I understand nearly EVERYTHING about her. I never knew her but I know her nonetheless. I know how she thought, how she fought, how she lost. God, forgive us. For letting her become like that, for not helping her, for not cleaning our shit up after it went down. My Dad just... walked on. This cost me 20 years of my life.

How to not be angry at that wasted time, how to not mourn every lost opportunity in life when my deficits stare me in the face every other day or so, when I have not and can't do what others have and do, I don't know. This cost me money. Savings. Social aptness. Experiences. Life skills and work skills. Playfulness. Knowledge. Fun. Physical and mental health. Friends. I feel like a middle schooler when I'm about to near my thirties. God, I still have nightmares from the bullying. What good is it to have cleaned up this part of my life when I'm still lagging behind in multiple areas of my daily routine? How is a romantic partner EVER supposed to understand what this is like and what I sacrificed to maybe be able to have a proper, healthy relationship someday? God, why am I so slow? I don't even know what I wanna be professionally, realistically. I've begged and cheated and hem and hawed my way through life and around these questions because there WAS NO REALISTIC FUTURE POSSIBLE until now. Whenever I supposedly made goals, I LIED. There were no goals, not with that hell up my brain. When I said that I couldn't work, I meant it. Yes hello what can I do you for today also do you know perchance where my Mom died. Yeah. Forget it. That program was constantly running in the background of my mind and taking up all the RAM. No way to reliably focus on the present, ever.

God, I made it. It's done. A couple more therapy sessions and maybe I can finally LIVE. I'm gonna lay flowers at her death site and be ok. I hope. This week I reached another milestone, and I keep hoping that this is the final one. But God, what did it cost. For knowledge that I got within half a week. From e-mails with a handful of lines. God knows how we'll make up for this shit. Dear God, have mercy. Oh well.

Listened to "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons and promised I would play it again when the time came.

There will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears

And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears

Get over your hill and see what you'll find there

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

God, I think the time came.

[fuckingfinwions]

your mindbroken geodes au combines everything i love about your writing! i love that there's so many directions you can take in the story. can i ask if geode au feanor already knows at this point that he was king in another timeline? i just imagine him doing a quick ideology switch from being anti-government to "you know maybe having a king isn't that bad" when he hears that HE could be the government

idk ive been daydreaming about geode au feanor being transported to the sold as pet universe and getting a little too lusty for power when everyone (for someone reason) decides he's still their legitimate king and fingolfin (guy who's been raping him and his sons) reluctantly hands him the throne

or maybe geode au feanor doesn't know he was king and gets transported to sold as pet universe with the "it sucks that my brother has to rape me and my sons but that's how it's always been and that's the only way we can live somewhat comfortably" mentality. he meets sold as pet au fingolfin (who's shocked that his brother is alive again and still somewhat bitter over losgar) and i wonder how fingolfin would react to this somewhat submissive feanor who thinks fingolfin owns him

anyways this au makes me insane. thoughts?

Feanor learns pretty quickly that he was king in another timeline. Maedhros is fairly sure that he's not required to keep any of Fingon's treatment of him secret anymore, and also all the interesting politics was before that. So he'll know by the end of the evening.

And I think that Feanor isn't actually anti-government in general, just anti-anyone being in charge of HIM (and anyone but him being in charge of his family). He hadn't thought of leading an uprising against Fingolfin because he doesn't think it will work, but apparently there's this other world where people do obey him...

idk ive been daydreaming about geode au feanor being transported to the sold as pet universe and getting a little too lusty for power when everyone (for someone reason) decides he's still their legitimate king and fingolfin (guy who's been raping him and his sons) reluctantly hands him the throne

Geode au Feanor arriving in sold as pet universe would definitely be interesting! If he lands on the Feanorian camp, they will start with the assumption that he should be king, becuase he was before he died, and look now he is returned! Maglor isn't going to try and hold onto the throne agaisnt his own father, even if Feanor seems a little confused. That's probably just the after effects of dying and being reborn. And the reason he was reborn at all instead of being in Mandos is maybe the Oath or his exile not being done? Anyway, it will take less than a day to give him the crown back, and several days before his sons put enough pieces together to worry that he's an impostor.

Also, it hadn't occurred to any of Feanor's younger sons that Fingolfin might be holding Maedhros captive, but it definitely will to this Feanor. He might start with a messenger demanding that Fingolfin turn Maedhros over, despite having zero proof that Maedhros is there. (Well, zero proof unless the two Noldor camps are spying on each other, the first few weeks Fingon was not being subtle with his pet.) Or it might just be that Feanor arrives with an army to destroy the person who's been raping his sons and him for decades, even though he knows by now that this Fingolfin doesn't remember that. Feanor wants vengeance, and is finally strong enough to get it. Feanor finding a drugged Maedhros in Fingon's bedroom when he sacks the castle will retroactively justify him, and will convince the rest of his sons that he's not crazy after all. Or, no crazier than before, a genius visionary who understands things in great intuitive leaps that no one can follow but are always right.

If Fingolfin and Fingon survive losing that fight, Feanor is not going to be kind to them. I think that these Noldor don't have the general cultural habit of public use, without Things appearing when they have sex. But for the two elves who made peace with Morgoth and enslaved their crown prince, they might make an exception. At minimum, Fingon and Fingolfin will be naked in public stocks for a week, and if no one rapes them that's because no one wanted to fuck them in public not because the guards stopped them.

or maybe geode au feanor doesn't know he was king and gets transported to sold as pet universe with the "it sucks that my brother has to rape me and my sons but that's how it's always been and that's the only way we can live somewhat comfortably" mentality. he meets sold as pet au fingolfin (who's shocked that his brother is alive again and still somewhat bitter over losgar) and i wonder how fingolfin would react to this somewhat submissive feanor who thinks fingolfin owns him

Geode au Feanor is confused, but he's in Fingolfin's palace and he knows that goes. The good news is, six of his sons are free of this! Hopefully, Fingolfin doesn't care enough to try and recapture them (the idea that Maglor might be in charge of a whole kingdom has never crossed this Feanor's mind.) With Maedhros apparently given over exclusively to Fingon's use, that means Feanor has to be the nightly entertainment for Fingolfin, and for any guests that Fingolfin shares him with. Also without Curufin, Feanor has no way to melt titanium, so he just has to hope Fingolfin will supply him with materials for any required jewelry.

Fingolfin is very confused at Feanor reappearing, and more so when Feanor doesn't immediately shout at him. After a bit of confusion though, he realizes that this Feanor fully understands that Fingolfin is in charge, and will not attempt to displace him. And is offering all sorts of sordid things in exchange for Fingolfin continuing to ignore the other Noldorin kingdom. Fingolfin would never admit to being attracted to his brother, but Feanor does look so good groveling. And putting Feanor in his due place would be only fair, right?

Fingolfin asks Fingon to borrow the cuffs he uses when whipping Maedhros, and the whip as well. He returns the whip an hour later, but not the cuffs.

In the morning, Fingolfin decides that his authority as high king would not be questioned by adding a door between his chamber and the one next to it. With a padlock, no way for the occupant to get at the mechanism from the inside. He doesn't trust Feanor to be as compliant as pet!Maedhros when left alone in his chambers, but wants him at hand.

[agentravensong]

okay, you all need to read what my playwriting professor just sent me in response to this post of mine, because they have killed me. for context, they first talked more about the thing i mentioned in the tags of that post about when and how guil and ros grab onto people, and then they transitioned into this:

"Maybe an interesting note to their tragedy (and that thought about the connection Rosencrantz is always reaching for, too) is that quote of Guildenstern's: "Words, words. They're all we have to go on." Of course, that's Stoppard riffing on Hamlet's word, words, words (the matter of his subject, but not the subject of what's the matter-- well, they are and they aren't but that's a whole other idea), but it's also such a distinction between them. Guildenstern has words to go on. In love, blood, and rhetoric, he is so firmly linked to rhetoric. 

Rosencrantz isn't married to that, though, when it comes to orienting himself in what seems unpredictable and meaningless (which one has to assume that Hamlet does when you are not, you know, aware that it is Hamlet). Very often, he has actions and that instinct (that he really does go against to his detriment!) and his intuition (which is so visible in the film, I think, particularly in how he haphazardly encounters physics) to go on-- but all that links him back to relying on the intangible. And in the end, he relies on that other intangible thing, his trust in Guildenstern. If Guildenstern is driven by rhetoric, Rosencrantz is driven by love. 

And while there is a tragedy there-- blood turns up, a necessary third-- there is something really lovely in discovering that in the work of a playwright who is so verbose and so analytical, in many ways, words aren't all we have to go on."

i hope you reading this are going as insane over all that as i did.

[thekimspoblog]

It would take hours to actually articulate what happens in the penultimate chapter of my "Sheepdog" fanfic, but let me see if I can try.

A major thing Jimmy and Kim bond over is their shared interest as cinephiles. And I haven't seen many fans discuss this, but to me this suggests that both of them actually have a pretty terminal case of "main character" syndrome. They've both watched so many movies, that this is the only frame of reference for interpreting their reality, and this is the driving force behind why these two act like assholes. Jimmy is the more obvious example, given that so much of what he does during the various montages is needlessly convoluted in a way that only makes sense if you assume that amusing himself is his top priority. But I'd argue Kim does this too, just not with as much self-awareness.

Everyone within the narrative rightfully thinks this pair is unstable. But the delicious irony is that this insane view of the world is correct. And we know it's correct because we're watching these events unfold after all. And I just love the level of cosmic horror that this brings to the metanarrative: Wouldn't it be terrible if a narcissist's attitude that you were just a bit player in their story was justified? Wouldn't it be terrible if your free will was an illusion, because you were always created as a scapegoat to be sacrificed? Wouldn't it be horrifying if there was a God, but this god would be happy to reward terrible behavior as long as the violence was entertaining?

Now here's where this goes from regular headcanon to completely cracked:

In the final chapter of "Sheepdog", the fanbase of Breaking Bad is confirmed to be a malevolent supernatural force inflicting its collective will on the narrative. And specifically, Kim is confronted with the fact that she made a covenant with this entity at the end of Season 5 (securing her own longevity in the story by promising to harm others) and in Season 6 she tried to break this contract with the Devil. But it's too late to back out: Her destiny was to use the money she got from killing Howard to join the upper class, and hunt bigger, more dangerous game from there. We were promised a story of oligarchs meeting their demise. We were promised a story of a vengeful woman remaking the world in her own vision of perfect justice, and after having already taken two lives, she has no choice but complete the ritual by taking five more.

After mulling over her options, she accepts that the world as she knew it will come to an end unless she shoulders this burden of playing the villain. There are thousands of good, normal, people in the universe of Breaking Bad, people that she can't help but see as valuable human lives even after being told point-blank that these are just tertiary characters, but all those characters can only continue to exist so long as one person is fulfilling the titular goal of this franchise.

So when this character returns in "Slippin Kimmy" there is something decidedly OFF about her, even more than before, and the above is why. She doesn't remember the specifics of the lucid dream, but the intuition that she is a doll on a stage never leaves her. And even if Jimmy claims to understand, she knows he can't, not fully anyway. I remember once reading a think piece which described Anton Chigurh as "someone who doesn't even enjoy doing evil, but simply feels a grim obligation to serve as the hand of fate (. . .) the product of staring too long into the abyss of the modern age", and on some level I am going for a more toned-down version of that. Having seen the rest of her life laid out for her, Kim knows she has a lot left to look forward to which will make enduring all the horror worthwhile, but even if she's not happy in this role, it doesn't really matter. A humble existence just isn't in the cards for her.

This also would suggest that Iris is some sort of antichrist figure, but eh... it's even more complicated than that.

Also why yes, I am ripping off whole aspects of Dolores Abernathy's character arc! Thank you for noticing!

[shaanks]

listen, I'm not inherently bothered by the fact that people from other countries don't have a good understanding of our politics or what causes the resulting atrocities they have to see on the news all the time. tbh it makes sense that they don't, bc no matter how much anyone attributes "not having a great grasp of what happens in other places" as a solely American trait, that's actually mostly just how people are.

political systems are complicated. the further away from your language and your country's version a political system is, the less intuitive it becomes to understand, and most people are just trying to survive in this world and don't have time for it. i get that.

what bothers me, really, IS the fact that people pretend this is an inherently American behavior, and that everyone else on the planet tooooooootally gets everyone else's politics at an intuitive level, like. two seconds before spouting the most insanely ignorant, insensitive, nonsensical take physically possible.

so lemme clear some stuff up. not that I'm sure it will matter bc mindlessly dunking on the people that live here for the actions of our genocidal government is what runs the best numbers on tiktok or whatever but like. here we go.

our voting system is complicated, has two separate layers that do not usually agree with each other, and has been stacked basically since the country was founded to purposefully minimize, diffuse, and disenfranchise anyone who isn't part of the ruling class (read: landed white men of a certain income and education, if you wanna go back and look).

there is a popular vote, then there is the electoral college. the popular vote sort of gives an idea of what the country's preferences are between (usually pretty monstrous) candidates, but it's filtered through a ton of weirdly shaped and purposefully obfuscated voting districts, and read based on percentages.

then there is a separate group of voters, called Electors, and those people make up the body of the electoral college. each state gets a certain number of electoral college votes, and the candidate who makes it to 270 of those votes becomes the President. the number each state gets is calculated as 2 votes for their senators and then a number of votes based on their congressional districts. are you following, is this fun?

they watch to see what the percentage of votes is from each congressional district. once it looks like there's a majority, they "call" that state in favor of a candidate, and cast their votes accordingly. (sometimes. there is a phenomenon called 'faithless electors' in which they cast the vote opposing the popular vote, but that's a story for another time.) also, since some states have relatively few congressional districts, and some have tons, certain entire states worth of votes "don't matter," and every election cycle the election basically comes down to the voting behaviors of a few key district-heavy states, called "swing states."

so, irrespective of how intense the support might be one way or the other for certain candidates, unless the votes are coming from a swing state, they mostly just kind of get. written off. they're counted! but very much treated as superfluous.

THEN, we get into the ways that presidential candidates are chosen to begin with. there are actually more than two parties in the US! Several, in fact! but due to the way campaign finance works, only the most well-funded ones end up having any say, and since corporations and their lobbying firms can basically pour money into our political system unchecked, that means that what we get are the Republicans and the Democrats. these two parties use their national conventions (the RNC and the DNC, respectively) to determine who will be the candidate representing them in the race.

usually, if there is an incumbent (a sitting president) eligible for re-election, that person will end up being their party's pick. either way, though, every candidate wanting to run for that RNC/DNC seat has to go through a number of debates and campaigning events to try to get enough traction to be voted for at their conventions.

sounds pretty straight forward, right? the problem is, you have to have money and more money and more money to be able to be competitive. for example, in 2012, it cost Obama and his campaign $2.9 million USD per day to fund his bid for the presidency. between his own money, campaign contributions, and the DNC money, in total, it cost more than $1 billion USD for him to become president.

does that sound like the type of money grassroots orgs have laying around? or that a normal person might be able to drum up? or that someone who is, say, an enemy of corporate America might be able to come up with on their own? probably not, huh.

also, since the majority of the money it takes to run ads, gain traction, and get elected DOES come from corporations, foreign direct investment (which ends up in the soft-money slush fund so it doesn't have to be reported as such), and wealthy private donors, who can shut the cashflow off at any time if they're unsatisfied with the way their candidate behaves, who do you think said candidates are more likely to be loyal to? or to vote or legislate in favor of?

the poor people (and most of the country IS poor, the studies consistently show that most of the US population is 1-2 missed paychecks away from homelessness) who already barely have a half-filtered say in how our government runs and where the power goes? or the people who are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into superPACs for them to play with?

before you even get to that step tho, remember that the RNC and the DNC are both in this for the money too. they might let an actually popular candidate play on stage for a while (Bernie Sanders is a good example), but anyone who might actually interrupt their stream of income is never getting the nomination.

we, as a collective, aren't picking monsters on purpose. our government and the rich people that own it have spent decades and generations setting up the system so that the only people who get to approach the seats of power are people willing to play the game, who are beholden to the highest bidder, and who don't care what happens to the actual country they're trying to run one way or the other.

gerrymandering is rampant, racism and sexism and corporate greed are the cornerstones of the government, and the only little bit of power we DO have doesn't even actually come from the raw power we hold as a population, but from the fact that the only thing that allows the us government to maintain political and military hegemony is the illusion of moral and ideological purity displayed by being a "democratic" society.

that's why no one has pulled the trigger on true mask-off authoritarianism yet. that's also why ANY attempt to band together and vote in our collective self-interest gets squelched. why do you think these bastards are so fucking scared of labor unions?

but I digress. First and foremost, the majority of the US wants an immediate end to the funding and militarization and support for Israel. Most Americans want a free Palestine, and the genocide to stop. y'all have phones and eyes and since everyone's constantly whining about how much of what happens here they have to see, I'm sure you've seen the protests and the mass mobilization of a hyper-militarized police force against those students, and anyone else who tries to substantively protest and push back against what's happening.

Most Americans want gun control. most Americans want nationalized health care. a good portion of the country wants UBI. most Americans want student debt forgiveness and free/affordable higher education. most Americans want high speed rail and cities that are pedestrian friendly and infrastructure that isn't crumbling and fucking rent control. most Americans want actual livable wages and an end to the necessity for tipping. most Americans want clean water and clean air and food that isn't killing us and a REAL response to climate change. most Americans want an end to the violence against and destruction of marginalized communities. most Americans want reproductive rights, they want access to reproductive care, they WANT all of the things that it appalls y'all that we don't have.

but, like many of the types of people y'all are so keen to make fun of, you've fallen prey to the fallacy that the actions of the government are the same as the will of the governed. that under-educated, sickly, poor people are at fault for the behaviors of global super powers. which is hysterical given how fucking cartoonishly evil and monstrous a ton of other world leaders are, and how easily you're able to distinguish between the actions of those governments and the will of the people involved in those cases.

the literal only thing we have, the only button left to us to press, is voting, and a lot of people don't even want to do that anymore bc of how little it seems to impact. we NEED to. bc if we really truly just roll over and give up the whole world is in for a fucking lot more pain. but it's understandable how people get to feeling that way. the government violently and effectively suppresses votes and protests where they can, and everyone else seems to feel justified in using dead children and homeless people and students who will never climb out of debt and people suffering from addiction who die condemned and in misery and the marginalized remnants of our government's past genocides as punchlines for your "hahahurrrhrurrr fat stupid fatty fat dumb ugly stupid FAT Americans hurrrhahahahaha" jokes.

you don't have to care. that's your business. but it feels like, if you're going to claim ongoing moral and intellectual superiority, maybe you ought to at least try to understand.

hope this helps.

[edgepunk]

Okay, filtered MSM 2 thoughts:

We knew Kraven was gonna show up in the sequel, however, I def did not expect The Lizard/Dr. Connors and the fact that Kraven is focused on him instead of Peter or Miles is very interesting. I wonder if they're gonna sort of recreate/reference Kraven's Last Hunt 👀

Either way, I'm very excited to see these classic villains showing up. Maybe we'll see Yuri Watanabe/Wraith too??? They were building her up in one of the DLCs quite well. Also, interested to see how Peter will react since they were friends.

Gameplay!!!!!! I already loved the gameplay in the first game, and the Miles Morales game improved upon that. And they seemed to take it another step further, it's like they actually listened to the criticism that people had, and I didn't know it was possible to improve the already banger gameplay (tho yes the first one was a little clunkier but still v intuitive)

The new traversal features look so good hello?? The web wings used as a glider? Miles slingshotting himself across the city??? aoughhfg and also!!! It looks like we'll be able to explore other parts of New York like Queens and maybe Brooklyn??? tbh Manhattan became a little restrictive after a while in the first two games, so it would be cool to expand the map a bit. Y'all know I'm meh about huge maps with some exceptions, but if done right, I think it's gonna be good.

Putting this under a read more bc this game is driving me insane I'm eating drywall

So I was right that we'll be able to switch between Peter and Miles. I kinda guessed that they're gonna be mission specific, and maybe, we can switch between them in free roam like with Jacob and Evie in AC: Syndicate (this specific feature isn't confirmed, just speculation on my part)

Looks like Nuform changed Miles' abilities since his Venom (heh) powers can turn blue? I'm interested to see what it did to him and if they're going to address it. Maybe it's purely for aesthetic/gameplay reasons. Who knows, I'm still curious.

Also, love how they incorporated Ganke as their guy in the chair. I loved him in MM and the fact that he helped Miles with the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app. Just give me more Ganke please, he was really charming and they managed to differentiate him from MCU Ganke Ned that he feels like his own character.

Okay, I'm done beating around the bush and I'm going to address the elephant in the room - the symbiote. This is all we've been waiting for, we knew from the post-credits scene from the first game that Peter is gonna have the black suit. I'm glad Insomniac were like "yeah let's get this over with" and showed it to us.

And people are already calling him Bully Lowenthal 💀

Now, I was a little bit iffy about the design of the black suit, but after I watched the trailer a couple of times, it's starting to grow on me? Maybe I'm looking too much into it but the organic armor/exoskeleton design gives me xenomorph vibes, and I love the tendrils in the "exposed" exoskeleton. The texture looks gross and slimy and I love it. I was wondering if they're gonna add some subtle sci-fi horror elements to it and they delivered. I've always said that the symbiote has a lot of space/eldtrich horror potential.

Which brings me to the tendrils (I can already hear the p*rn artists working hard), jokes aside, they look so cool and they're animated so well???? The way Peter fights with them??? He straight up turns into a uhhh tentacle monster for a split second. And his fighting style is so brutal, I liked when he kept repeatedly kicking the guy as if he was a punching bag ddjhsjh

but the scene where he shows up in the sewers(???) yeah this shot legit gave me chills bro looks fr intimidating

And do I really need to gush about Yuri Lowenthal's voice acting? Ben 10 off the shits I'm gonna do it anyway bc holy shit he got the guttural growl down to a T. However, I do wish they put a very subtle filter on his voice. Doing that kind of growly voice must've hurt his throat real bad. Maybe his voice is gonna become more monstrous as the game progresses, that'd be real neat :3c

Honestly, I'm really curious to see how it will affect Peter since May is dead, the whole thing with Otto (I think they're gonna have a convo on the Raft maybe???), he's got a lot of debts to pay and he mentioned that Harry is dying. Bro's going through it fr also parksborn angst???? I'm ready for the homoerotic undertones in their cutscenes kdjkdjdkj I'll take any crumbs I can get 👀

And the way that Peter just dismissively shoved that one civilian away??? Ah?? I'm not ready for Peter to become an absolute cunt and be mean to Miles. There's a high probability we're gonna have to fight Peter in a boss fight as Miles aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

ANYWAY THAT'S IT I'M LOSING MY MIND

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

PLEASE I’m such a slut for the specific way stu made paul go insane

So, as I said, I'm not allowed to write more of this until ILTY is finished but here's 660 words :^)

June-ish 1998, John AND Stu live AU and they decide to ruin Paul's already terrible day (helpfully!)

EDIT: the context which isn't explicit here yet is that this is basically the first time after Linda's death Paul finds himself completely alone at home because his kids are busy and it's a weekend so he can't go to the studio and bury his feelings in mountains of work.

“Surprise, Paulie!” John exclaimed, jumping up and spreading his arms out dramatically in a way that was completely unbefitting of a man dancing on the edge of sixty.

Paul McCartney gaped at his old friend, who was standing on the steps of Cavendish, feeling at a complete loss of words. They hadn’t talked since the funeral, which had – Paul could hardly believe it – taken place a full two months before. In lieu of saying ‘hello’, his mouth simply fell open in bewilderment, as an unnerving silence settled in between them.

In his mate’s eyes, Paul could see a growing uncertainty, betraying an incredible lack of foresight. Of course it wasn’t John who’d thought of this himself; this… What was it exactly? An intervention? Paul felt a chill run down his back at the very thought. He did not enjoy letting people care for him — well, not anymore at least.

Christ, he thought, as his eyes welled up immediately, though perhaps not as much as he would’ve expected. He was crying so often these days that he always seemed to be ‘running low on supplies’, as it were, ragged and worn like an old cloth that had been wrung one too many times.

As much as he still very much disliked crying in front of people – especially John, Christ! – if there was one thing Paul had learnt in the past weeks, it was that it was (likely) less of a problem than he had once feared.

You gotta let it out sometimes, Linda would say to him whenever she’d caught him upset, cupping his face and wiping those clandestine tears away. She’d always been able to intuit his fears and worries, like a sixth sense no one else on earth seemed to possess. It’s not healthy how you shove everything down, y’know? And he knew now, but Jesus, at what cost?

Still, Paul felt the need to at least tilt his head forwards as the tears began rolling down his cheeks, which, to his own credit, was definitely an improvement from his initial instinct to slam the door and sequester himself in his bedroom, where he had been moping about all morning anyway.

“… You all right, mate?” John’s worried tone betrayed the over-casual wording.

Paul didn’t respond. What would be the point? Of course he wasn’t.

“Should I…?” he heard John say with an heir of helpless defeat.

It set off an alarm in Paul’s mind because, despite all of this discomfort, of course he wanted John to stay. Hell, in that moment, he thought he might even let Allen Klein through the door, just to avoid the existential vortex of loneliness that lurked in the corners of the home he and Linda had made.

Nonetheless, Paul said nothing, haunted by memories of Linda standing on the very steps he was staring at, the steps John was standing on, awkwardly shifting his weight back and forth.

John let out a small gasp then turned around.

“Maybe we should–“

“You’re really giving up that fast, John?”

Paul’s head shot up, the sound of that second voice instilling a completely different but just as unwelcome emotion in him.

No, please tell me he didn’t bring–

At the bottom of the steps, slightly off to the side, stood none other than Stuart Sutcliffe, who’d apparently been standing there this whole time.

He’d always possessed the ability to blend in with his surroundings, his small stature and calm demeanour helping him go unnoticed if he so wished.

Paul watched the man nervously dragging his foot across the ground like a horse, nervous to get out of its stable.

On second thought, he felt stupid for not assuming from the start Stu had come along; it was, after all, completely within John’s nature to string along his various partners – in art, in love, and at times in literal crime – whenever he was doing something vaguely difficult or important.

But God, did he not want to have to deal with that.