#listen if you don't like the ship

[raelyn-dreams]

Ngl people being so against greenflame is so funny to me.

Like do I ship them? No, they are older/younger sibling dynamic to me. But the fact that so many people get so worked up over it when the fucking Hagemans were like "yeah cool ship fanart bro 👍" is just- asdfghjkl.

Like I'm sorry, but so many of y'all care way too much about the fictional brick people and it shows.

[humbuns]

hits them with the yuri beam

[tuesday-is-a-good-day]

Me when people fail to realise that Soukoku are called that because they're Double Black. Because they're not two halves of a whole. Because they're two wholes but when they come together they amplify each other because they cover each other weak points and strengthen each others strong points. Because they're both capable by themselves but when they're together they're twice as capable. BECAUSE THEY'RE BOTH COMPETENT WITHOUT THE OTHER RGHABVGHKVAGBHCKVBDGDF

[i-wear-the-cheese]

Me approaching a random lesbian couple: so uh, which one of you is the dark religious fanatic and which is the brawny two-handed weapon fighter?

[myheartisbro-ken]

I was gonna make a little 'how are we feeling gay people' joke after watching the finale, but I've seen some of y'all are being really bitter about it, and I do not want that negativity in my life. So if y'all cannot appreciate really cunty storytelling that actually makes sense when you pay attention to it outside of shipping goggles, I have nothing to tell you

[whyamihereat4am]

sometimes I see one of those harem animes where a bunch of girls whose personalities and bodily proportions are wildly exaggerated fall in love with a bland cardboard-cutout of an mc floating past the periphery of my semi-curated internet feed, and I'm like 'ugh, I don't know how people sit through these'. then I remember my all-consuming need to imagine an animeified version of Fyodor Dostoevsky having unabashedly toxic homosexual relationships with every man that crosses his field of vision, and I remember to get off my high horse before it bucks me off and I break a few bones on the way down

[wallissa]

They said Butcher already tried taking V because they knew all we really want is for Homelander to shoot him up himself in a weird moment of “the only person who’s allowed to kill me is you”, which smoothly translates to “I need to save your life so we can kill each other”. There is an intriguing mix of possessiveness, lust for power, empathy, sadism and desperation at play here that we wanted to see and they knew that. “I despise you enough to safe you so I can kill you. I need you so much i will give you the power to kill me.” We would also want this scene to involve Homelander touching Billy’s bare arm with his glove as he sets the shot. Also possibly holding him while he goes through the V spasms etc. I am speaking for the masses here btw. We collectively wanted that to happen.

[nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj]

Looong rant about chapter 16 Ptolemy's Gate and how being passive can add to the cycle of ab*se.

oof so I just read when Nat goes to see Ms Lutyens and I can't help but be absolutely furious at her??

I know that's maybe a little bit unfair given she's frightened of him as a magician and is obviously angry when she finds out the department he's responsible for, but honestly it kinda brings up the problem with inadvertent bystanders to child ab*se in my mind.

And I'm definitely not blaming her solely for who Nat becomes but it makes me think of all those people in huge child ab*se cases who give interviews to press about all the things they noticed that were wrong but they just...never do anything?

She stood up for him against Lovelace, and when Nat thanked her- "I wanted to say that I know you were trying to save me, and-"

''Yes, and I'm sorry I didn't" Like girl be for real did you really think that alone would undo the years of indoctrination and abuse he's already suffered and prevent years worth of the same in the years to come? And she won't take responsibility - "My job is with children, not the adults they become" and again while it seems harsh to blame her for who Nat becomes, it's so much easier to pass the blame to people who are more directly responsible rather than acknowledging you also play a part.

I think it hurts so much more because it's her specifically- Nat goes to her in sheer desperation, it almost seems like a goodbye- he wants to thank her, tries to set her up in a job that will pay well and struggles to communicate he's trying to help. At this point he thinks Bartimaeus has been summoned by another magician and his birth name will be revealed. He's sure he's about to die and if not he'll be stood on trial and lose everything.

He goes to her because she represents the peaceful moments from his childhood when he got away from his master. He's scared and feeling lost and really it's call for help; but he doesn't ask for anything he just wants to make her feel proud of him- he's looking for that validation that he's been chasing since childhood.

And that shows he still does have that little bit of childhood innocence in him; he thinks she will be proud, thinks she'll see him as the same little boy in the garden gazing up at his teacher in adoration. He can't quite grasp why she's separated the man stood before her from that little boy. Because in that moment the child inside Nathaniel is seeking comfort AND THAT'S WHY it makes me so angry. She's completely given up on him when he's at his lowest ebb, because she doesn't want to be associated with the magician he's become. As if it isn't a massive step in the right direction that he saught her out in the first place- what other magican would bother? I wonder if that's why she reacted so strongly to seeing him again? Before that moment she could go about her life wondering if /pretending her attempt to protect him was enough, and now she realises it wasn't, of course it wasn't, and the image she had of Nathaniel's childhood innocence is completely ruined in her mind.

Or was her contempt for him even grater than Nat realised? She was naturally disgusted by the rhetoric he'd started to repeat from a young age, and gently tried to correct him although she was clearly angry- was she just resigned to the fact that there is little else she could do to change his future? I always thought- couldn't she have looked for him? The Underwood house fire was in the papers and they mentioned the apprentice was being searched for. Did she ever worry about him? Surely something must have been in the papers since- an announcement of new ministers, ANYTHING! Look at how much research Kitty did to find out about Bartimaeus and Ptolemy. I just don't think Rosanna Lutyens cared enough, realistically Nathaniel wasn't hard to find- but he was no longer her responsibility so she could turn a blind eye.

And sadly it's not just her- I know everyone loves Martha Underwood including Nat; but I think her submissiveness to her husband has a negative effect on Nathaniel as well. In AOS when Nat is locked in his room for ages after setting the mites loose, and is forbidden to have any contact with anyone and she won't talk with him. I know she's been told by Mr. Underwood she can't, but it still boils my blood. She's an adult and going along with ignoring Nathaniel because her husband told her to...I can't even begin to imagine the psychological damage that would do to a 10 year old child. (It could be argued she's frightened of the consequences if her husband finds out she's disobeyed him which is fair, he could always be watching through magic- but this is Arthur Underwood we're talking about. He's lazy, oblivious and weak I doubt he'd expend all that energy each day to check up on her.)

And It's even more painful that Nathaniel is often described as fiercely loyal to her and I think to Ms Lutyens as well- he doesn't expect to be treated well by Arthur Underwood but he loved Mrs Underwood and Ms Lutyens so much he started to view them through a rose-coloured lense. He never feels betrayed by either of them, even though they absolutely let him down, because the pedestal he's put them on is too high AND THAT ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS ME.

Would things with Nathaniel have been any different if Mrs Underwood hadn't died? I don't really think so. Do you think she'd see Nathaniel's temper at 14 years old and be reminded of Arthur Underwood? He was awful, absolutely awful to Nat and to her; but he was under so much stress in an underfunded departement, where pressure was being put on him by superiors to accomplish far more than they knew him to be capable of, and he took it out on the easiest target. Nathaniel ends up in exactly the same place and he starts to take it out on the only person around him- Bartimaeus. Would he snap at Mrs Underwood all the time if she were still there? Because he's learnt that behaviour from his father figure, and subconsciously learnt from his mother figure that she'll put up with it. He learnt from the woman he loved so deeply, that if you don't resist, people will walk all over you. So you have to maintain control even if it ends up hurting people you care about because no one will step in to stop the suffering no matter how much you love them, no matter how much you want them too.

It's easy to blame Arthur Underwood and Simon Lovelace and the magicians that actively hurt Nathaniel but I just feel like it's a bit disingenuous not to acknowledge the role of those doing passive harm. It's really mean to say it but even Bartimaeus plays a role- he knows Nat is clinging on to him because he can't 'bring himself to break this last connection' (to his childhood) but instead of bringing it up properly he 'taunts' Nathaniel- a boy who has been taunted for his weakness by his master for years. And even in AOS when Nathaniel tells Bartimaeus he was beaten for the mites incident Bart just kinda shrugs it off. Like I get it, why should Bartimaeus do anything, he's suffered way worse due to the system so he doesn't owe Nat anything right? But from Nat's point of view this is the first and only time he's mentioned to anyone what has happened to him and nothing changes. It's like another lesson learnt: telling someone about it doesn't help. Another nail in the coffin.

And I like all these characters, I feel bad for them. They're all victims of the system, I think the chapter with Ms Lutyens is just the straw that broke the camel's back for me. All of those little opportunities that are insignificant to the narrative over all; the commoners have it worse, Nathaniel is in a privileged position in society, exerting control over others. He's very morally grey, crossing over into objectively bad person territory but I love him with my whole heart and all of those insignificant moments would have been massive to him whether he was conscious of it or not.

And it goes all the way back to the beginning with Nat's parents giving him up to the magicians at 5 years old. I can't get the image of that little boy sat crying all alone in the government building. And he's not going somewhere safer, or somewhere he'll be happier and more loved. Giving your child over to a total stranger, oh he'll be totally fine won't he? He'll grow up to be a magician and far richer than you'll ever be, he'll be happy and comfortable and be grateful he got to grow up in luxury. There's no way a stranger you've never met, who the majority of society is terrified of would ever hurt a vulnerable little kid right? And if they do? Well you aren't responsible anymore, how could you know? What could you possibly do against the magician taking care of him?

Every little thing is another grain of sand tipping the scale. Did anyone else have to analyse An Inspector Calls in school? It feels like that to me- those BIG moments and all the little moments in between that add onto the pile.

And it goes on to cause problems in wider society too- ab*se is so normalised to the magicians, they casually ask Underwood if he hits Nathaniel like it's nothing. Because to them it is nothing, they've all grown up in the same circumstances and are repeating what they've learnt as children. I can't help but feel a little sorry for them all, especially when they aren't looked at through the black and white lense of 'argh these people are the evil arseholes look at how they treat everyone around them, screw these guys.' When we see those little glimpses of humanity like Simon's anxiety with the amulet; looking to his master and father figure Schyler for reassurance, and what's sad is that Nat is "reminded...of his own master's cold impatience" It's clear Simon looks up to his master, wants to make him proud and loves him. But it seems like Schyler has just trained Simon up so he can get power through him later on. I love the little hints of similarities between Simon and Nathaniel; the anxious mannerisms like fiddling with his hair that Nathaniel starts to develop, the way their master's talk to them. Even though they're actively working against each other in AOS and Simon is placed firmly in the baddies category and Nat in the goodies category at this point in the series; these things always hinted to me they had similar childhoods, how was Simon treated? When he had the imp beat Nat into unconsciousness, was it because he'd had the same punishment used against him? Did he know the magicians in the room would do nothing to stop him because no one stopped it from happening to him? Did he ever have a teacher stand up for him only for it to change nothing in the end because all the negative influences were so much stronger? Is the reason he loves Schyler like a dad because he's almost developed Stockholm syndrome? It looks like love because he's never known anything else.

And Arthur Underwood- who doesn't think his upbringing, and being taken away from his family ever did him any harm- doesn't realise the harm done is that he doesn't even know another way of raising Nathaniel, because he was never shown another way. His childhood may also have been filled with people who hurt him and the people that didn't do enough to intervene.

There are so many psychology studies that show children copy everything they see the adults in their life doing. Nathaniel copies the magicians behaviour towards spirits and on a subconscious level I think he copies all the submissive people in his life. How many times does he end up upset and frustrated with the fact he seems to be going nowhere and how many times does he just hope things will be different rather than taking postive action.

I dislike the actions the magicians end up taking but I also find them fascinating to analyse. I tend to prefer villains in media because they're usually slightly more complex individuals and I love to think about how they ended up that way. They can all be seen as victims of their circumstances in a way, despite all the power and privilege they have had terrible and traumatic childhoods, and if the commoners had no valuable worldy possessions at least they had a sense of togetherness; of love and understanding and selflessness. I wonder if the magicians hated them at least partly because of that. Because out in the sea of faces of the commoners talking about nothing important, doing nothing great and noble- could be the parents that abandoned them. And when your life is on the line daily because of working with spirits, and your colleagues want to stab you in the back, sometimes not being responsible for anything important looks good. But you can't leave your life as a magician, it would be too difficult; you have nowhere to go, no real friends, no one who really loves you. So it's better to stay and be a submissive bystander in your own life because it's so much easier.

Doing nothing is doing something- being passive can be just as harmful.

[caitlynmeow]

Thoughts about the Dimitrescu babies in kindergarten ?

Bela:

When Bela started kindergarten, Cassandra was still only a baby. Bela was already used to being the big sister, having heard many times how strong and brave she was, that she would look out for her baby sister, and that she was essentially her hero.

Bela has a little ego problem, which is amplified by her mother: she is smart and brilliant and can do so many amazing things.

Now, starting kindergarten was a huge step for her. She was scared, but she didn't want it to show. She is the big sister, right? She is strong and smart and crying because she wants her mother is not very strong or mature right?

But at the end of the day, she is only four years old, and having control over her emotions is not something she mastered yet. She wasn't very vocal, but Alcina sensed her daughter's trepidation. From how Bela's hold tightened on her skirt, to the way she hesitated to let go, to how she avoided looking at her teacher.

Alcina knew of the struggles her daughter was going through. She knew that Bela was trying to compose herself while her small body trembled under the weight of the emotions she was feeling.

Alcina took her aside, away from the classroom and any other person. She sat with her and hugged her for the longest time. It was Bela's first time away from home. Alcina was feeling torn at the fact; she has a routine with her daughters and she was trying to adjust to the change. If she was having a hard time with it, then her little daughter is feeling much worse.

Knowing that Bela is smart and understanding, Alcina made a suggestion. She put a watch on Bela's wrist, and promised her that she will be picking her up in an hour. She did that for a few days, adding one more hour every two or three days.

Alcina's heart broke when Bela told her one day that she doesn't have to pick her up early, she wants to stay and play with her friends. While she was proud, Alcina was sad that her little daughter is old enough to have her own social circle. She made friends, and according to her teacher, she is the leader of their group and Alcina couldn't be more proud.

Cassandra:

Cassandra wasn't four when she started kindergarten. Having her birthday in November, Alcina argued that Cassandra was too young for this transition.

One, she is clingy.

Alcina doesn't mind it, really. There is nothing she loves more than giving her children an infinite amount of cuddles and spending time with them glued to her side.

Now by that point, Bela was independent, embracing school and her friends and all of that.

Cassandra was not. She was glued to her mother and she often dealt the K.O. by declaring to Alcina 'I want you, Mama!' And Alcina goes running to her. Every. Single. Time.

Now by that time, Daniela was born. Cassandra's clinginess? It grew tenfold.

Starting school with a new baby in the house? That was a huge transition and Alcina's second daughter was not taking it with stride.

Unlike Bela's composed reaction and attempts at braving something new (and scary), Cassandra was anything but. She hated going to school. She hated having to wake up and go out so early. She hated not being at home with her Mama and her toys, and most importantly, she loathed being separated from her mother.

To Cassandra, she felt as if she was being sent away. Her Mama is getting rid of her now that she is busy with the new baby. Bela goes to school? They just dropped her off earlier so that Cassandra can see that it's normal? Didn't work.

At times, Alcina is guilty of giving in and taking Cassandra home. Her daughter would get so upset she'd make herself sick. And honestly, Alcina doesn't have it in her to watch her daughter be distressed and ignore it.

She is only three years old, she can't cope and Alcina can't handle seeing her so upset. So what does Alcina do? She gives in.

Needless to say, the first year of kindergarten was a mess. Lots of missed days, constant tantrums at drop off, and excessive clinginess for the rest of the day. It was a lot on both Cassandra and Alcina.

Both Miranda and Donna said that Alcina needs to put her foot down and stop entertaining Cassandra because her responses make her act worse. Cassandra knows if she pushes enough, Mama is going to give in. So she does. Every time.

Donna stepped in and took Cassandra to school. Her dear niece put on a show, but Donna wasn't impressed. 'You're done now? Good, now go to your classroom'. Because Donna is not against her niece expressing her feelings. Cassandra can react however she wants, but at the end of the day, she is going to school and that's the end of it.

All of that aside, Cassandra enjoyed being in school. She made friends, and enjoyed all the different activities. She is mostly quiet and shy, yet she has made a lot of friends and with time, going to school wasn't as harrowing as she made it out to be the first few months (or whole year, if we're being honest).

Daniela:

Like Bela, Daniela is very independent. Also, being the youngest, she was so ready to show her Mama and sisters that she was ready to start school.

Daniela was actually looking forward to it. Finally, she is old enough to go with her sisters. That thought made her so excited. Plus, she always considers herself 'big enough' to do things like her sisters so what if she has to be away from her Mama for a whole day?

So Daniela started school with stride.

Alcina was expecting some clinginess, this is her baby after all.

Come day one, while walking Daniela to her class, her little daughter waved at her 'bye Mama' and entered the classroom without looking back.

This time, it was Alcina who was somewhat sad that her youngest was very relaxed about this. Sure, it's a nice break from the display Cassandra did at her age, but Alcina wasn't expecting this level of nonchalance.

With Daniela, it was Alcina who had a hard time letting go. And at the end of the day, Daniela was excited to show her Mama what she did and talked nonstop about her day.

[rcmclachlan]

Trademark: Top-tier Bucktommy writer + generally Cool + getting Buck pregnant

Thank you + thank you + thank you!

[achaotichuman]

Y'all canon really aint that serious.

[skitskatdacat63]

"The Boy With The Thorn in His Side"(x) - The Smiths × 2023 Strollonso moments + pundits' reactions

[ispridestillasin]

So I decided to watch a bit of Bridgerton with my mother, which I'm not really interested in (I don't really like period pieces unless it's a fanfic for a ship I like) but it's a show she enjoys so I sometimes catch her watching it and join her, and literally the only takeaway from the stuff I've seen with her is that Colin, Lord Debling, and Penelope should have all been poly

[that-really-dungeons-my-dragons]

I just need to share my vision:

The albatrio finally reunite after their separate quests. They're so happy to be together. Everything is great. But Jay notices something is... well, odd about them. More odd than usual. She jokes to Chip, "what, did you two kiss again or something?" And again, she cannot stress enough that this was a JOKE. But Chip is turning 18 different shades of red and now she's intrigued because there's obviously a story.

"We kind of...got married?" Chip will squeak out.

"... and you didn't ask me to be your best woman?" She's a little offended.

"What? No, it's not like-- it wasn't a REAL wedding, it was just... Gill's goddess really likes marriage or something. She protects newlyweds? We had a big fight coming up and Gill's like, ordained for this kind of stuff, so we just sort of... you know? It seemed logical at the time."

"... ... you got married for TAX PURPOSES?"

"Battle purposes, yes," Chip says. "And we're both still alive so clearly it worked."

She stares at him. And then it dawns on her. "Oh my God and Gill doesn't believe in divorce--" She grabs Chip by the shoulders. "You got trapped in a marriage AGAIN. How does this keep happening to you?"

Gill walks by, blissfully unaware of the entire conversation, and cheerfully kisses Chip on the cheek like it's nothing. Chip discovers a new, 19th shade of red in which to turn.

Jay bursts into hysterical laughter. "Good to have you back, Jay!" Gillion says, and keeps walking.

[necrotic-nephilim]

Hear me out, kiss with a fist

https://youtu.be/ywMD3GLoKG4?si=nAot0594-vKVX3Ww

Make it slightly dead dove brudick

!!!! Florence + The Machine supremacy.

this song is SO them. Bruce and Dick do not know how to love each other without fighting. their violence and anger is intertwined with their kindness. i think it's fun they love each other so much, it's such a deep burning intensity that they can't figure out how to control and it leads to anger. like how do you handle loving someone so much that you want to protect every aspect of them to keep them safe and hidden from the world? because they should be *yours*. how do you handle loving someone so much that you have to get away from them because it's suffocating you that you don't know who you even *are* outside of your love for them? their lives revolved around each others for years and then fractured and all that love just bleeds out into violence.

i truly have a soft spot for Bruce and Dick fighting each other and being willing to turn to violence to try to turn to the other. and it's on both sides, they're both throwing punches and trying to hurt the other. sometimes, they don't even have a reason. they just want to hurt the other to feel the pain under their knuckles. Dick punches Bruce in the face just to finally see Bruce *show* his own pain and crumple, just a little bit. he wants to rip apart Bruce's bedroom because it's full of pieces of him that Bruce shouldn't be allowed to keep.

love the line "your slaps don't stick, your kicks don't hit, so we remain the same, love sticks" bc it's so them. the bruises they leave on each other -both emotional and physical- are never lasting. their bodies were made for this. and they don't *change*. it's just fundamental to Bruce and Dick's dynamic that they're just a *little* fucked up and unable to love each other kindly. they always crawl back bc a kiss with a fist *is* better than none. Bruce would let Dick hit him a thousand times just to feel Dick touching him and showing him attention. if fighting is what it takes to have Dick talking to him, Bruce will eagerly take it and he'll fight right back. i'm feral for this ty <3

[mwagneto]

why is everyone suddenly jackdoctor posting. like i'm not complaining i've just been indescribably sick over that entire storyline for years so it's funny to see it picking up steam again