#just something that's been on my mind

[deadrocks]

I do think that, when discussing the merits of a post-god Exandria, it's important to remember that many people in this world find peace, comfort, and purpose in their worship of the gods, and would be devastated by their loss. Not just clerics or god-aligned paladins, but many, many regular folk. Here in the real world, significantly more people ascribe to some kind of religious faith than don't; imagine what that proportion would be like in a setting where the gods are clearly and objectively real. Where people can pray and truly feel the presence of their god with them. Where they can grieve their loved ones in death yet know, without doubt, that that person's soul was welcomed into a divine domain. Where they know these gods came to their world and created all mortal life. Is there truly nothing there worth preserving? Is the imbalance of power between gods and mortals so fundamentally unjust that all that faith grants should be violently ripped away?

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I updated my blog intro, but in case it isn't clear - this blog stands with Muslims for a future free of antisemitism and islamophobia. In order to make sure this future is possible, we must stand together, and indeed, I want to stand with others as a co-conspirator.

[hotel-japanifornia]

Lately, I've been seeing the take that Mia is just as bad as Misty for leaving Maya in Kurain. True, they both did leave Maya in Morgan's "care", but I think people are forgetting the difference in intent. Misty left her daughters because she felt great shame for disgracing her family; Mia left because she wanted to find out what happened to her mother, and also because she didn't want to feud with Maya over the Master role. She had seen how her mother and aunt argued over who should have power in Kurain, and decided she didn't want that with Maya.

And, unlike Misty, there is some evidence to suggest that Mia didn't just dump Maya in Kurain with no plans on seeing her again. For example, this line in 3-4:

Mia: (The detective back then was Valerie Hawthorne!) At first I thought shooting someone for a kidnapping was crossing the line, but... If it was to protect her little sister, I can understand why she did it...

Now, this is the closest Maya ever gets to being alluded to in the flashback cases, but it's telling. If Mia could understand Valerie's potential reasoning for shooting Terry, then it does seem to suggest that Maya is dear to her. Dear enough to go those lengths for her, which does explain why Morgan never pulled anything on Maya before Mia's murder. And considering how much she resents Maya, she could've tried.

In addition, there's their conversation at the beginning of 1-2, which does suggest a close sisterly relationship. We're never told exactly how much Maya knew about Redd White, though she probably knew more than Phoenix. Regardless, she knew enough that Mia trusted her with an important piece of evidence. That, and the tutorial Maya gives you about the press mechanic, implies Maya sat in with Mia during at least one trial.

I know the two don't interact a lot on screen, but from what little time they do share, and also how highly Maya seems to regard her; seems to suggest that Mia's leaving was less like child abandonment and more like a close sibling leaving for college. Mia likely did whatever she could to make sure her relationship with Maya was properly maintained. Perhaps, introduce her to burgers, the food Maya loves so much?

My point is that take misses the nuance in Mia's own reasoning for leaving, and also makes Maya and Mia's relationship feel more unnecessarily angsty than it really needs to be. I'm sure Maya did feel upset when Mia left, but I think as she got older, she would resent the system that played a part in that decision moreso than her own sister.

[unmotivatedblogname]

King Candy kinda reminds me of Mr. Mxyzptlk,like, design and personality wise.

Short silly old men that are more powerful than they appear. Both are obsessive attention whores too(affectionate). I also want Alan Tudyk to voice Mxyzptlk, so there's that as well.

[novafaery]

So like...hi?

I kinda missed u guys, I love you.

But for all my Jack girlies:

And for all my Mark Girlies:

But, uh, anyways... I'm being super inactive bc I'm doing a bunch of work.

AND I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THAT!!

If you miss me, that's very sweet. If you don't? Then you don't.

But seriously, ily all, just expect me to vanish once in awhile.

Okay? Okay.

[dumbassalex]

I am propably reaching but mutants being left to wear their costumes in the X-men movies could imo be linked to how queerness was seen and treated through the years.

In the first couple movies you got these dark leather "biker gear" looking outfits, basicly saying "sure you can exist, but keep it lowkey, don't express yourself too freely and openly".

Then comes first class and the team gets more color but it's the same outfit for all of them exept for small changes to fit the wearers needs. Kinda a "you can exist, be open but don't make it too complicated to not overwhelm us."

By Apocalypse we see them get more comic accurate suits, with personal touches and unique designs, they're able to be freely themselves and express who they are.

In Dark Phoenix we see a step backwards into the utilitarian muted looks, like queer people had to step back over rising controversies and pushbacks.

Now with Wolverine in 2023 i'd call this the "fuck you, we are here and we WILL show ourselves and be true to ourselves even if it makes you angry and uncomfortable" with accurate suits, bright colors (some might even say too bright) and a fair amount of camp. Whitch works perfectly i think for the current times where queer people are starting to loose rights and the amount of hate (especialy for a specifc part of the comunity) being on the rise.

Again i am propably and most likely reaching, but it makes sense in my head.

[aqua-phantasy]

I'm a bit conflicted because I've been practicing traditional animation lately and while firealpaca does have well enough features for it, it doesn't let me import sound so I'm not sure whether to install an animation program like opentoonz or just a video editor like da vinci.

[hwanghyunjinenthusiast]

We talk a lot about plagiarism, reposting, stealing, etc, in writing spaces, and I hope that same courtesy is extended towards creators who make gifs. I've seen too many writers on here very comfortable with using gifs for their fics without the consent of the original creator, but y'all want to talk about theft in the same breath...

[falconarr0w]

Y'know, going out last weekend made me realise something

I'm really grateful for my friends, whether they're irl or online 🥰

[inkskinned]

the thing is that they're so fascinated by sex, they love sex, they can't imagine a world without sex - they need sex to sell things, they need sex to be part of their personality, they need sex to prove their power - but they hate sex. they are disgusted by it.

sex is the only thing that holds their attention, and it is also the thing that can never be discussed directly.

you can't tell a child the normal names for parts of their body, that's sexual in nature, because the body isn't a body, it's a vessel of sex. it doesn't matter that it's been proven in studies (over and over) that kids need to know the names of their genitals; that they internalize sexual shame at a very young age and know it's 'dirty' to have a body; that it overwhelmingly protects children for them to have the correct words to communicate with. what matters is that they're sexual organs. what matters is that it freaks them out to think about kids having body parts - which only exist in the context of sex.

it's gross to talk about a period or how to check for cancer in a testicle or breast. that is nasty, illicit. there will be no pain meds for harsh medical procedures, just because they feature a cervix.

but they will put out an ad of you scantily-clad. you will sell their cars for them, because you have abs, a body. you will drip sex. you will ooze it, like a goo. like you were put on this planet to secrete wealth into their open palms.

they will hit you with that same palm. it will be disgusting that you like leather or leashes, but they will put their movie characters in leather and latex. it will be wrong of you to want sexual freedom, but they will mark their success in the number of people they bed.

they will crow that it's inappropriate for children so there will be no lessons on how to properly apply a condom, even to teens. it's teaching them the wrong things. no lessons on the diversity of sexual organ growth, none on how to obtain consent properly, none on how to recognize when you feel unsafe in your body. if you are a teenager, you have probably already been sexualized at some point in your life. you will have seen someone also-your-age who is splashed across a tv screen or a magazine or married to someone three times your age. you will watch people pull their hair into pigtails so they look like you. so that they can be sexy because of youth. one of the most common pornography searches involves newly-18 young women. girls. the words "barely legal," a hiss of glass sand over your skin.

barely legal. there are bills in place that will not allow people to feel safe in their own bodies. there are people working so hard to punish any person for having sex in a way that isn't god-fearing and submissive. heteronormative. the sex has to be at their feet, on your knees, your eyes wet. when was the first time you saw another person crying in pornography and thought - okay but for real. she looks super unhappy. later, when you are unhappy, you will close your eyes and ignore the feeling and act the role you have been taught to keep playing. they will punish the sex workers, remove the places they can practice their trade safely. they will then make casual jokes about how they sexually harass their nanny.

and they love sex but they hate that you're having sex. you need to have their ornamental, perfunctory, dispassionate sex. so you can't kiss your girlfriend in the bible belt because it is gross to have sex with someone of the same gender. so you can't get your tubes tied in new england because you might change your mind. so you can't admit you were sexually assaulted because real men don't get hurt, you should be grateful. you cannot handle your own body, you cannot handle the risks involved, let other people decide that for you. you aren't ready yet.

but they need you to have sex because you need to have kids. at 15, you are old enough to parent. you are not old enough to hear the word fuck too many times on television.

they are horrified by sex and they never stop talking about it, thinking about it, making everything unnecessarily preverted. the saying - a thief thinks everyone steals. they stand up at their podiums and they look out at the crowd and they sign a bill into place that makes sexwork even more unsafe and they stand up and smile and sign a bill that makes gender-affirming care illegal and they get up and they shrug their shoulders and write don't say gay and they get up, and they make the world about sex, but this horrible, plastic vision of it that they have. this wretched, emotionless thing that holds so much weight it's staggering. they put their whole spine behind it and they push and they say it's normal!

this horrible world they live in. disgusted and also obsessed.

[kiwiandcherry]

Cherry felt cursed.

It didn't matter how late she went to bed, she always woke up at six. Every. Single. Morning. She glared at the coffeemaker. Every second felt like an hour. She just wanted a cup of coffee. Shake off the grogginess. Get the day started.

“Hey, Cherry? Have you seen my hoodie?” She glanced in his general direction. Stiffled a yawn. “Fraid’ not.” She mumbled. “Really? I feel like I’ve looked everywhere by now.” She could hear him, opening drawers and moving things around. Her gaze returned to the coffee. “Haven't seen it.” She repeated.

“That’s so weird, did I..” he stopped midsentence. “Are you sure you haven't seen it?” He asked in a tone, she was too tired to wrap her head around. She finally - finally! - poured herself a cup of coffee. “Mmh-mh.” She confirmed. She really hadn't seen his bright blue hoodie anywhere.

“Yeah? Then what are you wearing?” Amused, she realized. He was sounding amused. She sipped her coffee with a frown. Amused? What was she wearing? She blinked and looked down, and saw.. His bright blue hoodie. She blushed deeply. “Wow, okay.. Sorry!” He shuffled over to her, wrapped his arms around her and chuckled. “Good morning Cher.”

[astearisms]

fionna and cake drawings before and after watching the episodes so far. it’s nostalgic and somehow cathartic and poignant and relatable and—it just started

[hailsatanacab]

Family Dinners - dpxdc

"Holy shit, you're Bruce Wayne!" Danny gaped, jabbing a finger at the man sitting at the head of the table.

The bustling dining room goes silent as everyone turns to look at him.

"Danny, who did you think was going to be here?" Tim asks, disbelief plain in his voice and Danny feels his face flush red.

"Sorry, I, uh, I guess I just never put it together. Tim Drake-Wayne. Wayne Manor. It, uh, makes sense now." He laughs sheepishly and scrubs at his neck before slumping back down into his chair.

"Well," Tim says with an indulgent sigh, "at least I know you're not just friends with me for my connections."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, I just never thought about it, I guess."

Danny sinks lower as everyone around him laughs. Come to dinner, he said, the food is the best, he said, ignore the family, he said. Danny really wishes he'd listened to Tim and just ignored them—almost as much as he's regretting accepting the offer in the first place—but... he's having dinner with Batman.

Ancients, that's so weird!

The last time he saw Batman was in the future and, suffice it to say, it was not going well. There hadn't really been time for family dinners there.

Wait. Family dinners?

He peers around the table, openly gawking at everyone as it all clicks into place.

"Everything alright, Danny? Now realising who everyone else is?" Tim asks with a roll of his eyes.

"Uh... something like that..." Danny mumbles as everyone laughs again.

From further down the table, the smallest Wayne scoffs and clicks his tongue.

"I thought you said he was smart, Drake?"

"So, you all do it, too, then?" he asks, ignoring the jibe. Danny's only a little bit jealous as he thinks of how much easier they must have it, how much easier it'd be if his family had been on his side, too. "You all work together?"

"Nah," Dick says from across the table with a brilliant grin. "Tim's the only one that works with Bruce, we all have different jobs. I'm a police officer in Bludhaven."

"Disgusting." Danny blurts out without thinking—because seriously, what kind of self-respecting vigilante would also be a police officer?—before clapping a hand over his mouth. "Sorry."

The whole table laughs again, the loudest being the blonde girl a few spaces down from Dick. Look, Danny wasn't really paying attention to names when they were all paraded in front of him. Dick only gets remembered because his name is a joke.

Come on, Danny, recover!

"That's, uh, not what I meant, though."

"Oh?" Dick asks, cocking his head slightly to the side. Is it Danny's imagination or does his smile tense slightly?

"Yeah, I mean like, you know, in costume. It must make it so much easier to have everyone together like this."

"Costume? What do you mean?"

Yeah, Danny's not imagining it, everyone tenses up at that. It's really only now that he's realising that this probably isn't how he should bring up that he knows about their... night time activities. In fact, he probably shouldn't be bringing it up at all.

"Uuhhh..." Danny looks wildly around the table as he continues making his stupid noise. Think, think, think! There must be a way out of this!

"Danny?" Tim asks, looking concerned.

"Oh, Ancients, this isn't how I wanted it to go at all," he mutters, slipping even further into his chair. He's almost on the floor now and he so, so wishes it could just swallow him up.

His real first meeting with Batman was meant to be cool! He had planned to be Phantom, maybe save them from a tight spot, prove his worth as a mysterious and powerful ally as thanks for the help Batman gave him in the future.

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Tim starts tugging on his sleeve in an attempt to pull him back up from his pit of despair.

Eventually, Danny relents and sits up straighter, hiding his face in his hands and whining all the while.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect him to be here and it threw me off so now I look stupid and it's so embarrassing!" he wails, flailing his arms wide. "Why wouldn't you warn me that Batman was your adopted dad, Tim? Couldn't you have let me know?"

"I'm sorry, what? Danny are you alright? There's no way Bruce can be Batman, look at him!"

"Yeah," the blonde girl laughs from the bottom of the table, "look at him! That's a wet noodle of a man! Batman can actually do things, B is incapable of pretty much everything."

"Thank you, Stephanie," Bruce sighs, massaging his forehead.

It's... Those are the first words Danny's heard Batman say since everything went down and it's enough to knock him out of his embarrassment.

It's really good to hear his voice again. Especially now, when it's strong and healthy and full of personality—even if that personality is little more than a tired father right now—far better than how it had been, at the end.

Danny sits up, back straight, and grins. He's got this. He remembers it perfectly. Some people count sheep to fall asleep, Danny repeats his mantra to be certain that he'll never forget it.

"Gamma alpha upsilon tau iota mu epsilon, 42, 63, 28, 1 colon 65 dash 9."

Once again, the whole table falls into silence.

"Holy shit..." breathes the other D name (Duke? Danny's pretty sure he's Signal) from opposite Stephanie. "Isn't that...?"

"The time travelling code." The littlest Wayne says stiffly. "We have met in the future?"

"That's not just the time travelling code, Dami." Dick says, looking between Danny and Bruce. "That's the family time travelling code."

Danny's grin freezes in place.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"1 colon 65 dash 9." Dick explains, still flicking between him and Bruce. "It means you've been adopted into the family and we should all treat you as such, no questions asked."

"Tell you what, I'm about to ask a question." Danny says, dumbstruck. "You just told me it was a code to identify time travellers, not anything about being adopted! What the hell, B?"

Bruce looks about as shellshocked as Danny feels.

"We must have been close," he says finally, after opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water a few times.

"No! Not that close!" Danny reels back, taking a deep breath ready to refute it all, but... "Well, I mean, you found me when I first got stuck, and you helped me get better despite being... And then we fought together against the, uh, bad guy, before he, um, he... before you couldn't."

An uncomfortable beat passes while they all pick up on what Danny tried so hard not to say.

"So, you're not from the future, then, you travelled there and came back?" Tim asks, breaking the tension and leaning forward with a glint in his eye.

"Yeah, it was a whole end of the world thing, but don't worry about it," Danny says with a hand wave, "It's all kosher now, won't ever happen."

"What did happen?"

"Seriously, don't worry about it, we cool."

"How long in the future was it?"

"About ten years? You were pretty spry for an old man, B," Danny laughs, wishing they'd get off the topic of what happened and get back to the adoption bit.

Everyone shares degrees of a cautious smile as they relax out of the shock, and Dick—whose grin is the biggest—says, "No wonder you got the family code, you're already riffing on him like one of us. How long were you there for?"

"A week, before I managed to get back to my present and stop him then."

"A week? Jeez, B, that has to set some kind of record, seriously."

"Oh!" Danny says, sitting bolt upright and blinking in surprise before pointing at Dick and bouncing in his seat. "You're Nightwing!"

"What?"

"That's exactly what Nightwing said when Batman told me the code! Makes so much more sense now."

Dick laughs and claps his hands, delighted.

"You were not formally adopted?" The grumpy small one—Dami?—asks, his face pinched.

"I didn't even know I was informally adopted."

"And your parents? Are they alive or dead?"

"Damian, stop—"

"They were dead in the future, but they're alive now." Danny says, looking down. He fiddles with the tablecloth, twisting the fabric around his fingers as he fights down the pang of sadness that he always feels when he thinks of them now. He forces a bright smile on his face and hopes it doesn’t look too strained. "I just, uh, can't talk to them much, anymore."

"Damian," Dick warns, "1 colon 65 dash 9. Treat them as family, no questions asked."

"This is Damian treating him as family, the little turd has no manners." Tim scoffs, rolling his eyes, but he gently bumps shoulders with Danny to knock him out of his funk. Danny can't help but send him a watery smile.

"I have the most exemplary manners, Drake, unlike some people." Damian spits, crossing his arms with a pout. "I was merely ascertaining his status to see how he could possibly fit into the family."

"I know this is all a bit sudden, Danny," Bruce smiles, ignoring Damian and reaching out to lay a warm hand on his arm, "for all of us. But if I felt strongly enough to give you that code after spending a week with you in the future, then you are more than welcome in this family, if you so choose it. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we'd like to get to know you a bit more."

"I know a threat when I hear it, Bruce." Danny snorts. "But, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry this is all so weird, it really wasn't how I wanted to find you again, but... I'm glad I did."

"So are we, Danny." Dick says, with a warm smile. "And formally or not, 1 colon 65 dash 9 means you're family. Welcome to the fun house! No take backs or refunds, sorry. You're stuck with us."

[madamemiz]

sad: falling out of a hyperfixation

tragic: watching your beloved friends and mutuals fall out of the hyperfixation while you're still in it

[novafaery]

I would love to have my books be turned into movies.

But I want a super silly crazy fandom that makes fanfictions and fanart, I want reader x one of my characters to exist.

Sure give me another movie/season. But I want little 14yo girls going OMG I SHIP THEM SO HARD and (Oc name) IS SO CUTE!!

That is all. Good day.

[juniemunie]

[Abandoned by the Lightners, his heart became cracked with hatred.]

Hitting a lil' too close to home?