#literally how i envision them it was very validating

[superemeralds]

sonadow fr

[zombie-bait]

Full Moon

Ok so I don’t normally post about Helluva Boss but the newest episode touched on an interesting concept I haven’t necessarily seen represented in media. Back when I was on Twitter (derogatory) a few years ago there was this now deleted viral thread where someone discussed how their struggles with mental health affected their relationship with their partner and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. 

This is such a good, short example of how anxiety and depression can play tricks on you. It becomes so easy to envision yourself as a nuisance, a constant burden to those closest to you because they cannot possibly genuinely enjoy your company, right? But in doing so you create this arbitrarily cruel version of the people you love, people who would otherwise never behave like this outside of your own mind.

It's mean. Because your mind wants to be mean to you under these circumstances. It wants to put everyone else's emotions and desires above yours, both in worthiness and validity. And that starts bleeding into your understanding of other people, especially those you care about.

Now. Helluva Boss.

"Can I get a fucking MINUTE to think after everything you put me through you pompous rich ASSHOLE? Treat me like one of your little butler imps, you can’t just dismiss me like that! I mean, you royal fucks think you can do this every time, like you can just play with our feelings because we’re smaller and not as important. Well I’m not letting you, BITCH! Let’s go!" - Blitz

I find it really interesting how Helluva Boss decided to approach this conflict between Stolas and Blitz. Obviously, the difference in power matters. It's the underlying tension of their entire relationship and their lives. Stolas is burdened by the mountain of expectations thrust upon him from a very young age while Blitz is constantly reminded that he can NEVER be part of that world, that he is "smaller and not as important" not just in Hell's hierarchy but in his own life and family. Stolas very literally has power over Blitz (through the grimoire, the arrangement, his position in society) and Blitz uses their relationship as an excuse to reverse those roles. But that power dynamic, in one form or another, never truly goes away. And for Blitz, it's a lot easier to paint Stolas as this manipulative symbol of power and himself as nothing more than Stolas' plaything. It's easier to be angry than to be vulnerable and accept that someone might care about him.

"Dismiss" is the keyword in that quote. All that Blitz has been able to process is that Stolas has decided to end the relationship that they have. He feels ls like a choice has been taken away from him so he lashes out because he's not ready to emotionally tackle what the rest of Stolas' offer might entail. If Stolas hates him, just wants to play with him, then he is justified in his anger, his self-destruction, his isolation. If the world is mean, you're "allowed" to be mean back.

But

In that moment he forgets that Stolas is someone he actually cares about. Someone he's known for way too long and clearly wants to keep in his life, no matter how reluctant he can be to admit it. Someone who is not innately cruel or manipulative but sad and desperate for connections in a lot of the same ways that Blitz is. And Blitz immediately sees that he's miscalculated something.

Somewhere along the way the fictional version of Stolas that he's allowed himself to be mad at and the real one that he's not ready to admit he cares about have merged into something real that he has actual power over. Stolas can get hurt and Blitz can be the one who does it. He has once again allowed his greatest fears (which Stolas so frequently symbolizes) to co-opt his loved ones, to give him an "out" even though he didn't actually want one in the first place.

I'm definitely not the first person to say this but I think this is an example of the miscommunication trope done right. Their individual struggles are what cause them to be unable to connect during this conversation or to even have a proper conversation in the first place. There is no convenient misunderstanding or third party fabricating this rift. Both of them have preconceived ideas of what the other one is thinking but those ideas are flawed and rooted in self-hatred. They also both shutdown in their unique ways when the conversation starts heading in the direction they'd feared it would.

Blitz and Stolas work because they're both fucked up in similar ways, because they want similar things. That's the same reason why they're uniquely designed to hurt one another. A fear of rejection and a yearning for happiness. To borrow a quote that has been used by literally everyone from Spiderman to Evangelical preachers, "hurt people hurt people."

anyway, I really liked this episode.

(twitter thread screenshots sourced from this reddit post)

[anistarrose]

I want to talk about the way aromantic experiences can be represented in very meaningful and validating ways without characters being written as intentionally aro, and also I want to talk about aro-spec Magnus Burnsides headcanons. Luckily, I can do both those things in one post!

During the events of the podcast, Magnus is disinterested in and often straight-up uncomfortable with romance, because of the fate that befell his last relationship, with Julia. I've seen a reading (that I don't think is objectively wrong, though I do not personally share it) that interprets this trait of his as some kind of "sacrifice" he's making on Julia's behalf, being a choice to stay out of other relationships to carry on her memory better. It's a reading that seems pretty reasonable at first glance, but not especially aromantic.

(Because if anything, it almost seems at risk of turning into something like "there is no sacrifice more tragic than not having a romantic partner," right? Or worse, "this is a trauma response that needs to be healed for Magnus to have a happy ending, because being able to enjoy romance is vital to his happiness and self-fulfillment." Both of which are... varying levels of uncomfortable, to me as an aro person. Like, I'm not in the business of telling people how to interpret fictional characters, but I personally can't engage with these without a bad feeling in my stomach.)

However! Back to the various potential readings of Magnus's character! It's worth noting that so much of Magnus's arc revolves around unpacking his trauma, from the destruction of Raven's Roost and Julia's death — and that healing process doesn't change how he feels about romance! The Eleventh Hour is the turning point when he starts to seriously re-evaluate what the trauma and loss made him want, versus what Julia would want for him, and what would let him live in the moment instead of in the past... yet in the Heart Attack segment of Wonderland? Magnus still expresses disinterest in dating.

In Arms Outstretched, then Story and Song, he further internalizes and chooses to let himself be saved and ask for help, instead of punishing himself with martyrdom — and no romantic relationships come up in the epilogue! When he passes away after a long, happy life, it's Carey, — his best friend! — who holds his hand while they wait for the end!

Magnus's reasons for not wanting another relationship are obviously complex — not just a conclusion about himself that he came to lightly, regardless of whether he's on the aromantic spectrum, not on it at all, or deliberately not choosing a label. What makes his arc so unique and special to me, in contrast with almost every other story about traumatized characters finding a happy ending, is that his happy ending isn't contingent on romance! Whenever he says that he's that not into dating, no one doubts him or tries to undermine him (other than Lydia, who's literally trying to feed on his suffering) — and to me, an aro listener...

Well, the way the narrative takes Magnus's wants and lack thereof seriously is just so refreshing.

Ninety percent of characters in fiction who repeatedly stress that they don't want romance or marriage are only shown doing so to set up for the narrative later proving them wrong. It's to contrast with that later point in the story where they "find the right person," or "understand when they're older." Or "stop being so cold," or "stop acting like they're too fucked-up and 'damaged'." Or "overcome their trauma."

It has an air of "wow, isn't this character so ridiculous, for thinking they won't change their mind later?" Or occasionally, "isn't it so tragic, that they can't envision themselves being loved?"

For protagonist-y characters, for heroic characters like Magnus — for any type of character in which "happily ever after" is considered a plausible, fair-game, genre-acceptable outcome — we see the genre conventions also dictate that "settling down in a romance" and the "happy ending" are intertwined. I've seen TAZ posts from back in the era of The Suffering Game/The Stolen Century airing, expressing sentiments like "Magnus not finding someone to love again would be so tragic and mean-spirited, I hate grim and edgy endings like that." While I can appreciate people trying to subvert tropes like "you can only have one 'true love' in all your life," the incredibly non-subversive and ultra-amatonormative belief that "romance is a prerequisite for a happy ending, or even healing arc" is such a deeply unfortunate one to tag on.

I am aromantic. I don't want a romantic relationship. And I find joy in that! I refuse to accept that I need to be "fixed" or "healed" to live a long, happy life, because I'm not broken! What brings me the most joy beyond just living as an aro is seeing stories actually acknowledge that people can find this happiness without romance — like how Magnus's story does! Like how casually and matter-of-factly it subverts expectations — how Magnus says he doesn't want another relationship, and no one comes along to prove him wrong! He doesn't "find the right person" because at this particular phase of his life, and of how he wants to live, there isn't one in a romantic context!

He heals from his trauma enough to find all kinds of joy — doing things he loves, surrounded by people he loves — and not because of, or in service of pursuing, a romantic relationship!

I almost never see fantasy stories where one of the heroes gets to have an arc like that. An arc where they get to live out an ending that I would want. A happy ending that would be happy for me! For people like me!

Magnus Burnsides gives me so much Aromantic Hope. That this is a kind of happy ending that I am not the only one to idealize, and that I could attain, no matter what horrors are being thrown at me in the present. Magnus dies peacefully, after years of assuming that he wouldn't, and he does so surrounded by his dearest friends and family. Who are all so proud of the life that he lived. Magnus was true to himself, to what he felt would bring him healing and fulfillment — instead of what cliché and expectation dictated to him — and he was completely at peace in the end. Ready to rush in one final time.

I immensely doubt that Travis intended for Magnus's story to be an aromantic story in those words, if at all. But Magnus's story resonates so, so much with so many common aromantic experiences. And that means so much to me. I'm so grateful for that. In this day and age, in this world, I needed that.

I needed to have a good long cry about Magnus Burnsides. Aromantic icon, intentional or not.

...

...Of course, because this is tumblr, I want to make a clarification. This isn't some kind of claim like "shipping Magnus with people other than Julia is problematic." It is, however, a thesis statement that "no such ship becoming canon makes Magnus's arc so much more unique." It's an explanation giving full context to how I'm biased, not objective, but willing to argue that it makes his arc so much more meaningful, too.

And most of all, it's a desire to shine a light on a side of Magnus's character and growth that I think goes underdiscussed. Especially underdiscussed through an aro-spec lens. And speaking of which:

Sure, I said I don't think Magnus was intended as an aro-spec character, or that he can only be interpreted as such — but if you made it this far, you know I think this ruff boi's just chock full of aro-spec subtext! So just for fun — and because the world is always deserving of more aro-spec headcanons — let's end this post playing with some different readings of him as aro-spec!

Gray-Aro or Demiromantic Magnus who rarely falls for people to begin with. Why would it be some tragic heroic sacrifice to remain "chaste" and wait for Julia, when not being into romance is just Magnus's default state of being? He's so confused about why people think he's making some tragic sacrifice! So confused, guys! I even wrote a fic about the gray-aro HC a few months ago (link)!

Gray-Aro or Demi Magnus who thought he was just aromantic, no attraction whatsoever, for over a century — until he met Julia, and fell for her (perhaps very, very slowly). But that doesn't change those years gaining perspective as a platonically, familialy loving aro who values those bonds immensely, and always wanted them to remain a prominent part of his life.

Losing Julia devastates him, of course it does — but especially once he remembers the Stolen Century, he knows he has a long-term support system no matter what, and it won't revolve around chasing that unlikely possibility of feeling romantic love again. Why would it? Why would he need to chase something so fickle just to heal?

Aromantic Magnus who feels no romantic attraction, but in the era of Raven's Roost, doesn't not want a romantic relationship. Except, he doesn't after all. Except wait, he kinda does, it's just complicated. Maybe something queerplatonic? Well, he really likes the idea of a wedding, and that's not necessarily mutually exclusive with a QPR, but there's no guarantee his partner would feel that way too, and...

There's just these expectations that go with dating or marriage, of partners expecting him to love them in such a specific way that he knows he can't... and then he meets Julia, who's a romance-seeking aromantic too, with heavily overlapping feelings. Bonding over their similarities leads to dating, and eventually marrying, over a deep platonic love that may or may not still involve cuddles or kisses, or a desire to start a family. They don't panic too much over the labels — they're just so delighted to be with someone on the same wavelength!

When Julia dies, so much goes through Magnus's head. After a while, he can't help but start thinking again about how rare it is for people to want the same things out of a relationship that he does. Or to consider the way he feels for them to be enough. But as time passes, Magnus comes to terms with it more and more. He's happy to wait for Julia again. After all, he's longing, but not lonely. Mourning, but not incomplete.

Aromantic Magnus who is aromantic specifically because of his trauma, but no less aromantic for it. He just can't bear the thought of getting into a relationship again. Ironically, there's a point in time where he thought of himself as a romantic — back while he and Julia were courting each other — that now feels simultaneously so close and so distant. Magnus who has so much to grieve, and grieves this romantic side of him too — at first. Who thinks that there's only two options, for a folk hero in a story like his — settling down to live happily ever after, or dying in battle. And if there's nothing more upsetting, more uncomfortable, than getting married again — then living happily ever after has got to be off the table, right?

Magnus who slowly realizes that doesn't have to be the case. That no, barring seeing Julia again, he certainly doesn't have reason to believe that even time will change this new, alienating part of him — but maybe, it's not so alien after all. Maybe he knows people who won't even question it. Maybe he doesn't have to change it or overcome it to be happy again.

Why is romance some singular thing he has to chase, in order to settle down peacefully again? Why can't he do it with his friends? With his dogs?

And last, Questioning Magnus who might be aro, who might not be aro, and is maybe most likely to be something in between. But it's hard to tell; he's honestly not sure if he'll ever crack it, and.. ultimately, he's okay with that. Because all that matters to him is knowing he doesn't need a relationship to be complete, to take full advantage of his well-earned happy ending — and he's got a great grasp on that one, surrounded by people who never make him doubt it.

Aromantic Magnus Burnsides. Aro-Spec Magnus Burnsides. My aromantically beloved. Thanks, bud, for all the hope when I needed it.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for telling someone that roleplays are a two-way street and refusing to re-engage with them?

Occasionally, if I'm in the mood to write but I don't really know what, I'll browse ship tags on Omegle. Its become synonymous for roleplays, and I've found its (typically) pretty fun.

As with every social thing, there's the odd... Less than pleasant experience. Last night was one such experience. I connected to someone on a ship tag, they sent a prompt, and it was actually a pretty interesting one, so I responded.

It was an AU prompt, but I generally kept my characterisation as close to the character's canon as I could, while still matching it to roughly what someone's personality in that profession and location would be.

(E.g; if the character was a proper old-country style cowboy, or a socially awkward secretary, ect.)

It became very clear, very fast, that the other person had very, very specific ideas about the roleplay, what happens, what my character was supposed to say/do, ect. To the point where (as I later told them) they should've just written fanfic so they had complete control.

Near enough every time I responded, they'd "correct" it or argue against it both in character and in brackets as themselves. For example if I noted something about the background or story of my character, theirs would immediately say "no that's not what happened" or they'd say [hey actually can you change that, it doesn't fit/I don't like it/its not what I envisioned].

After about fifteen minutes of this I got incredibly vexed and decided I was done. I don't mind a roleplay having certain goals/main points/guidelines, but they were literally trying to control every tiny aspect of what I did. So I sent them this:

[I'm sorry, the RP sounded interesting in the prompt you sent, but its rapidly becoming clear you don't actually want a roleplay, you want to be the sole one dictating everything that happens. Honestly I think its best you turn this idea into a fanfic and not a roleplay. It kills off any enjoyment of the roleplay when I have you contradicting every tiny detail I include or dictating what I'm allowed to do or say. I'm not going to sit there waiting for you to approve of everything I intend to say. Thank you for your time, but good night.]

I disconnected, and decided I'd spend another fifteen minutes browsing the tag before I did something else. Well apparently, the other person decided they were going to spend fifteen minutes stalking the tag trying to find me again, spamming every connection with messages ranging from extreme insults and threats to demands I 'speak up again, bitch, I wanna talk' and so forth. After connecting to them for the tenth time, I sent:

[I'm not going to re-engage with you. I said what I did, and frankly, it was a valid statement. If you can't handle the fact that roleplaying means a 50/50 creative allowance with someone else, and that you can't micro-manage or bulldoze every single detail, then you shouldn't roleplay. Frankly, knowing how vile you can be from simple criticism, I'm glad I disconnected. Take a breather and re-evaluate yourself. I'd be embarrassed.]

Well. This morning I logged onto Tumblr and after some browsing, I actually came across them again. Here. By means of a post where they included screenshots of everything and are even going so far as threatening to stalk Tumblr and AO3 to 'match up the writing' so they can find me and presumably say their piece or whatever.

I talked to a friend about it, and surprisingly, they think I'm an asshole. Not for what I said in the first place, but for not re-approaching the other person (through DMs) so they'll stop filling the ship's tag with negative stuff. (They've made 3 posts about it all so far.)

I don't want to do that because it means opening up my private social media to this obviously unhinged individual. I know I can expect to be spammed, sent hate mail, have them try to track down my other socials, ect. I could make an alt account for it, but honestly that's effort I don't see the point in making. If they can't let this go, its not my problem.

AITA? Should I make an alt account just to let them get it out of their system? I don't know how to proceed with this.

What are these acronyms?

[alishaaxo]

SCENARIOS OF R+L from an anti r+l elia fan trying to defend and understand them

Now i did go on a rant about whats wrong with the rhaegar-lyanna relationship, and thats what i believe the strongest, there is some discrepancies and possible other scenarios that could have happened, especially since we know essentially nothing truly about robert’s rebellion. Let’s explain my thoughts on possible situations that could’ve occured.

1. Rhaegar needed an “ice women” in order to fulfill a song of ice and fire and hell with the wights.= Okay, so I do understand this, however I just think that this scenario undermines the fallacies of prophecy which is such an intergral part of asoiaf. Dany is so clearly imo the Promised Prince, meaning Rhaegar’s mission to create one was unnecessary. When it comes to this belief, I think Rhaegar believing this, making Jon and candidate for tptwp is a complete red herring, to show how the knowledge of prophecies does not mean that everything will run smoothly. And when it comes to this situation, there’s numerous smaller diverging scenarios too!

a. Lyanna and Elia were aware of Rhaegar’s beliefs and were in support= I don’t really think this makes much sense. If Elia and Lyanna were both aware, surely Rhaegar could’ve also told people other than a 14 year old and his wife, possibly involving Rickard Stark who literally would be in charge of the Night Watch where the wights and long night of winter would occur from. It feels more likely that he told Elia snippets, as shown during Dany’s vision of Aegon Vi’s birth, and left, seducing a willful young Lyanna with tales of love, never speaking of his true intentions, yet ultimately failing in his goal. Perhaps he could’ve fell in love with Lyanna during their travels and time spent in the TOJ, in a “forced proximity romance” sort of thing, yet I feel like if Lyanna was aware of any potential danger to the North, as much as I critique her, she would’ve told her family, after all they could be murdered by wights at anytime since she has great love for her family, so leaving them, while she was aware of upcoming calamities, makes Lyanna in this idea seem even worse than I think is most likely.

b. Rhaegar needs an “ice women” but doesn’t inform Lyanna= This just makes Rhaegar look like a worse man in regards to Lyanna. Adding onto how I personally feel the stark-targaryen ice-fire combo is just a red herring for Dany as the true ptwp, if this is how he envisioned the prophecy, he still has blame. While he takes Lyanna intent of saving the world from doom, the existence of Jon (i love him but…) is completely unnecessary in the context of the prophecy. With this scenario, which feels more likely to me, Lyanna is portrayed as most likely a girl who was seduced by Rhaegar spinning sweet tales of love, perhaps involving prophecy talks of “icy starks” and “hotd-blooded fiery targs” yet didn’t tell her the full prophecy,and he tragically pushed her, a young girl into a fate of death. Which gives the best perception of Lyanna I think personally and is what I believe occured (though Lyanna would still have partial blame for her circumstances), but makes Rhaegar a cunning man who seduced a fourteen year old for his own goals, even if he believed that could save the world and causing her death, away from the comforts of her home, bloodied and with her brother and father murdered.

2. Rhaegar and Lyanna genuinely fell in love during the TOH, and bonded in natural love= This perception just makes them feel extra selfish to me. Duty is such a big them within ASOIAF, while so running away from duties and Robert’s future wife is kinda valid, Rhaegar as the heir to such a tumultuous King, would be strongly aware of his duties. As heir to a controversial King, Rhaegar should be very diplomatic, engaging in politics, engaging with nobles+smallfolk and being involved with his family, so him running off is very selfish and worse than if he did so to “save the world”, since he is running away from his responsibilities which are so vital to the Realm.

[drbtinglecannon]

Darius because YOU! Are his lawyer

This is such a high honor coming from Willow Park's lawyer herself, thank you pal 💖

How do I feel about this character

I love Darius so much he's absolutely one of my top favorites, it's like between him and Eda. He's hilarious, he's cunty, he's interesting, he's one of Dana's favorites, he's a good person but he's a bitch about it, his design fucks, he has no canon love interest, and I wish we got more of him. I have so many thoughts on him and he was only in about 15min of screentime.

What can I say, I looked at all the Coven Heads in the S2B trailer and immediately decided he was my favorite and every time he was on screen I was validated by how thoroughly he passed the vibes check

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I am typically an aroace Darius enjoyer, but I have fondness for dariraine, dariraeda, and darimila (why is he always listed first and why is it fitting (wait I have to preface I'm ace and I use ship names by what sounds best I have literally never done it by "who tops" I can barely remember that's the common use of ship name order SO I'm mocking Darius as he would wanna be listed first because he's That Bitch)) because all of them have a lot of cute fluff potential (and dariraine has fun angst potential especially if it's between Eda's Requiem and O Titan, Where Art Tho)

Typically tho even in those ships I don't see Darius as someone that would live with a romantic partner, I think he'd want to keep his own house lol and he's very valid, it's styled exactly how he likes and no one else lives up to his cleanliness standards, it's win win for both parties

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Darius & Eberwolf is literally Lilith & Hooty a little to the left and it's sooo fucking funny and wholesome for it. Lilith was actually my S2A obsession until she left I was so fucking devastated when she moved out, so seeing Darius & Eberwolf were a similar archetype to Lilith & Hooty really endeared me to them immediately in ER when we knew nothing about them. Then by the series end they really are one of my favorite little duos of toh they're comedy gold potential but didn't get enough screentime 😔 Darius surrendered for Eberwolf even tho it was at the cost of the rebellion and I still think about that scene. Guy who joked about people dying is likely actually not being pragmatic at all when it comes to loved ones 👍 they threaten Terra Adrian & Vitimir lol

I'm also a "Darius & Eda used to be besties and will do so again" truther. They're the same yet opposites, they're both dramatic, they're both powerful, they both have a hot monster form, and they both speedran becoming adoptive parents after just being That Guy to some kid for a while. The ONE episode of interactions they had in COTH with Darius having to exasperatingly tell Eda what he means but also he calls her "Eda" not "Edalyn" like everyone else but Raine does, and Eda mocking Darius over beating his ass in ER and Darius IMMEDIATELY getting defensive & lying which Eberwolf calls him out for, DO YOU SEE MY VISION? THEY USED TO BE BESTIES. THE CLAWTHORNE PARENTS LOVED DARIUS. DARIUS & EDA WERE EACH OTHER'S ASSHOLE FRIEND. THAT FANART OF THEM IN FACIAL MASKS & DOING THEIR NAILS WATCHING DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES IS WHAT THEY WERE.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Liking him at all is still quite unpopular 😔 this fandom sure treats the nonwhite parents a certain way lol. I also don't really like ala//darius, I get the appeal but it doesn't compel me

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

I've had a perfectly envisioned idea for a year or two now of an toh episode that followed the rebel trio after Them's the Breaks, Kid and before Hollow Mind that was a 3 part split reminiscent of how Once Upon A Swap was paced.

Not only would it tie back to the style of OUAS -- a notoriously hated toh episode -- but it would be able to give info in a slow drip by following Raine first, then by the end we see Raine is working with Darius & Eberwolf, then it goes back to the beginning of the day through Eberwolf's POV, then Darius' POV, and ending on the buildup that they're the rebels Hunter is chasing at the beginning of HM.

We as the audience can tell by the designs who they were in HM (or well. Most of us. Some people thought Darius was Alador for some reason) but ahhh think of the extra foreshadowing that could've been in HM if we got an episode inside the castle so close to the day of unity!! Like what if Collector's shadow was visible at one point behind one or all of the rebels, letting us know Belos knew exactly who they were which lead to the foreshadowing in HM of the 3 arrows being where Darius, Raine(Eda), & Eberwolf each get put to stand during the day of unity spell in King's Tide BUT ALSO how we don't REALIZE it's referencing them specifically UNTIL KT AIRS. LIKE THE LAYERS IT COULD'VE ADDED.

Also obligatory Darius Hunter moment has to happen here to lead to Darius' reaction in HM upon hearing Hunter was trapped considering their last on screen moment in ASIAS and some people even now can't visualize them interacting in a positive manner 🙄

I do imagine it would be a touch 🤏 angsty. Like in my vision, Darius sees Hunter getting heat from Kikimora over a wild magic book, and it's like she can't really do anything to him over it but she could tell Belos who would be unhappy to hear that and all 3 of them are aware this would be the outcome, and Darius debates for a solid 10 seconds if he should pretend he didn't see them because well as heartless as he knows it sounds it actually benefits him & the rebellion keeping Hunter at arm's length but now that he's spent time with the kid he's like not a bad kid maybe they can convince him to join them?? Before he goes over and like a true actor plays it off that he asked Hunter for the book. Hunter obviously does not play along well as he's not a good actor, so Darius very condescendingly tells Kikimora to leave like "you can read, can't you, Kiki?" And she sputters "yes of course I--" and he just cuts her off "then read the room" while giving her a cold look until she awkwardly and angrily leaves. Like absolute cunt behavior from Darius but it's hilarious and it works to his cover as a CH. He gives Hunter the book back when Kikimora leaves and they good naturedly mock the other's taste in books ("I don't know how you can read that, Deadwarian era writing is dreadful to slog through" "Well some of us like reading more than fashion magazines") before they pass the mess hall and Darius asks Hunter if he's eaten, "Y-yes!", Flapjack is not standing for such lies and pecks him from under his cloak, which Darius knows is Flapjack so he laughs and tells Hunter to eat, Hunter pauses before he tries to genuinely thank Darius for defending him earlier, and then well shit remember how it's better for the rebellion if Darius keeps Hunter at arm's length maybe he needs to remember the bigger picture? He was literally doing rebel work when he got distracted helping Hunter out, so he kinda gently tells Hunter not to expect he can always go save him, and because Hunter's an abused teen (not that Darius really knows that yet) and he was enjoying having an adult that's nice to him now he visibly deflates before quickly excusing himself

Darius apologizes under his breath because he doesn't enjoy being mean to Hunter (even back when he was being mean to him) but it's one of those hard choices he makes like how Raine refused to get Eda involved. Can be miserably tied back to how Hunter ends up hiding at Hexside and not the rebels finding & helping him.

Wow I went insane typing that all but yeah that's my vision of what I would add to canon if I could add 1 episode into the show that doesn't change anything at all it only adds character filler & foreshadowing potential. Maybe I'll actually write this fic one day haha.

Another thing I kinda wish canon would've done was overtly state Darius adopted Hunter because like it's clearly implied but a lot of people still deny it! Dadrius won guys let us have this they had to cut so much stuff from the show including Darius backstory

From this ask!

[watchmorecinema]

I was re-watching the Folding Ideas video about Nostalgia Critic's The Wall, and it got me thinking about something. I'm perfectly ok with people hating my favorite movies, so long as they at least understand them. The Wall is a dark and depressing movie and maybe you just don't want to deal with that. But if you think the main theme is "high school sucks" then you didn't really try to engage with it at all.

A lot of this I think is due to advertising. The Exorcist isn't the scariest film ever made, it's a family drama. It's very compelling but if you're looking for a lot of scares then you'll walk away thinking it's boring. Rambo isn't really an action film since it's more about the character of Rambo and how he has been dehumanized by the very machine that sent him to kill in Vietnam (the sequels dropped all of that). A lot of people went into Fight Club expecting it to be a straightforward fighting movie but actually it's a twisty thriller about the horrors of capitalism.

But outside of that I think it happens when the movie is abstract in some way. The Wall is very abstract, but it's easy to understand what it all means. An animated scene about inhuman monsters destroying London isn't The Wall trying to be a Kaiju movie for a minute, it's a metaphor for the horror and destruction of the blitz.

David Lynch and Tarkovsky get hit pretty hard by this too; people don't understand what the plot literally means so they get hung up on that instead of coming up with their own interpretation. What Stalker means to me is completely different to what it means to someone else. Any Twin Peaks theory is valid so long as its yours. Good art is a mirror that lets you engage with it and reflect about your own thoughts and feelings. If you unironically think that Whiplash or Wolf of Wall Street was about supporting hustle culture then that says more about you than about the film.

If you don't regularly engage with art in this way, well you should! Watch movies you wouldn't normally consider and see how it makes you feel. Even bad movies can help you feel a certain sort of way and that's valid. Maybe you find something that means something to you in a way that was never envisioned by the creator. Videodrome has a lot to say about parasocial relationships with online content creators, but it came out more than a decade before the Internet came into being. Starship Troopers was panned on release but now it's understood to be a pretty clear satire of right wing militarism. Every time I rewatch Akira I get something different from it, especially if I'm in a different stage of my life.

There's a lot out there to explore. And sometimes that means you walk away from a film where you might think it was well made but that it did nothing for you. It's happened to me too; I can understand that The Wolf Man did a lot for werewolves in fiction (literally creating most of the lore you recognize), but it's also mostly about a guy being really creepy towards women with pretty bad special effects. I can appreciate its influence, but I just don't think it's a good movie.

I'm sure most people reading this will have similar thoughts about Stalker. It's very slow, philosophical, a bit nihilistic and while the plot is pretty easy to understand it leaves so much open ended that you need to decide for yourself what it all means. It's a lot of work to watch. I love it for that reason; very few movies actually give the viewer homework to mull about and chew on and this one gives so much to consider. But it's perfectly reasonable for someone to decide that it's hard to relate to the movie about Russians being depressed about abstract concepts for nearly 3 hours.

[saetoru]

About that entitled ass post about x reader, op was definitely wrong but a small point was made.

I agree with your response but I'd like to add that, unless you've stated that certain characteristics or features will be present in reader, certain kinds of ambiguity is necessary, especially in appearance.

To make a character completely void of any backstory or personality is just bad writing period but to add an appearance is a little ...

As a black reader, reading about certain things that are supposed to reflect the reader is genuinely disheartening. I'm talking about things like referencing imagery of lighter skin (such as refering to readers skin as pink, pale, creamy, etc) or something like a character running their fingers through the reader's hair or having a hair washing routine that can be done in the time it takes to have a regular shower. I know with people with big bodies, having descriptions of small, light bodies is also disheartening.

Bc, once again, unless it's been stated that those are a part of reader's appearance, it's a little unnecessary bc it shows that although it's x reader it's definitely not for us.

I don't expect writers to write about specific events or characteristics about different cultures and such bc that can also go south REAL quick if you aren't properly educated or aware but a little diversity never hurt anyone

I know that some people do this out of genuine dislike of darker skinned/bigger people but I know most people do it out of genuine ignorance.

Unfortunately, you cannot bring up including people who don't fit typical beauty standards (pale/light skinned, long straight hair, thin/slim bodies) without people telling you that not everyone has to cater to you.

But the thing is, we're not asking you to cater to us; we're just asking you to include us in your vision of reader. You don't need to add specifics of everything regarding different races or cultures but you don't need to add specifics that exclude them.

And then when we go to create our own stories that do envision us, we're met with so much hatred and backlash about it like that one deleted comment on op's post.

I'm sorry for ranting about this but it so frustrating sometimes when people don't understand this. I brought up something similar to this topic once before and got death threats in my mentions for weeks (that's why this is anonymous)

ALSO, I'm not accusing you of any of the things I've mentioned in this ask. Based on what I've read from your work so far, the reader is actually someone you can enjoy reading about without feeling excluded when appearances are mentioned

Btw I adore your rich boy gojo series and would love to continue reading your work ❤️

im afraid you missed my main point and also, u are talking to someone who is literally a POC so i am definitely not in need of a rundown of how important it is to write reader in a manner that does not perpetuate western beauty standards. writing a reader that is inclusive for people in a manner that doesn't solidify western norms is important, but writing a reader that is an all encompassing fit all type of thing in terms of personality and decision making is not

its not that their point ab mistagged gn! readers and white/western physical features weren't valid—it was, but it was sprinkled in their main point that writing reader with personality is an oc and is not belonging in the tags and writers should focus on writing generic hcs instead. they used the issue of race and gender and other minoroties to support their idea that readers have to be ambiguous from all fronts, and that is a very twisted way to use actual real issues to justify your tantrums ab not liking dialogue or what the reader chose to do. my point that i was trying to make is that writers are entitled to write however they please as long as they tag what features of reader are set there. if they mistag that, then yes, that is something you should bring to their attention (politely) because then it misleads ppl to think this fic includes them. but that also is not done through a rant in the tags because that does not belong in the tags

quite frankly, to pair racial and gender representation issues as comparable to not aligning with the choices a reader takes to develop as a character and to put those two on the same boat takes away from the issue of inclusivity. inclusivity of a reader does NOT equal to how they think, process, feel, and progress in the storyline. not fitting in with the actual character of reader is incomparable to racial representation issues and misgendering tags and etc. the latter are REAL issues. the first is simply complaining bc u did not see urself in a plot

the actual problem with their rant was that they were using REAL issues to justify entitled complaining and that is why i did not validate them in that. yes writing reader as white and not tagging it is an issue. yes giving little to no thought to poc readers in writing is an issue. yes mistagging something as gn! while using gendered terms is an issue. but they should not be the backbone to an entirely different argument that essentially censors people

[astrxlfinale]

I'm gonna select the big 'ole flashy 30, and say... whatever is boiling the most intensely in your veins in terms of salt, Jace, please share it with me— I mean, /cough, share with the class. (As a fellow salt truck, I know there's always specific things, so I want you to have the ability to.)

Sae you know full well what's about to swing in here.

That said! I'd be delighted too honestly, so LET'S-

To take a fine moment for the topic on this number. In my eyes, the idea of Character respect is becoming an avidly dying practice. At least, when it comes to the motivated study of truly making that shot to learn about them in the larger stream.

The biggest means I see this appear as is the 'Cookie Cutter.' Drawing attention to this angle right here is what truly just boils the inside of my head, since in truth, it's related to some topics alluded to in the other ask. I believe that the order is going into reverse. Where the perceived mirrors are the envisioned character instead of vice versa. It's not an active study as to how this character works, rather, exactly what does this character 'fulfill' on a checklist quota to please them.

Taking from the easiest example here, let's take a look at Kafka and how it's easily taken, perceive her as 'Dommy Mommy' then virtually just leaving her to rust in said mold. It's played as a joke or 'power play' as some buzzwords do it, people will get uptight if said joke was called shitty, and here you go with the metaphorical merry-go-round on the matter.

It doesn't even stop at jokes, anyone experienced in the fandom atmosphere likely came across the lorded image, what the fun and games, personal add ins, just about a myriad things had molded about the character. How it's often, very rarely discussed about how the story expanded on the character themselves. Whether it's through the external media, the content of the narrative itself, and other examples that can be taken with genuine grain. This being from people who like to note themselves as fans of a franchise.

Then again, it doesn't even have to be that. Say there was a certain scene that just gets them literally or spiritually drooling. A scene of xyz character seemingly going unhinged, how a few 'appealing' views suddenly shoot them off to the stratosphere. There's a lot of ways where the cookie cutter can just make the easy mark. And y'know? Fair, if you're just at your angle or hole and not lording it as the gospel? More power to you! It's the people who always crave some brand of conflict and/or validation for this metaphorical ball.

I feel like the best example of what got egregiously popular is how xyz character enjoys one thing/food and suddenly it's their whole personality. The simplicity that I normally enjoy for content does the biggest disservice here. It's that jarring sense that like two people are looking at an outfit, and one is seeing armor and another a suit.

While the story quality itself is always up for question, I do like to say there's an active effort for writers to make a nebulous character, similar to someone just living in the current day, just with their unique structure and circumstances, history, life. It's just a damn shame to me how this is hardly valued when in truth, learning all of these about a long time or new series favorite of a person is fun as fuck. Mirrors in terms of concepts such as character trait can be really useful to learn. It's never that sort of thing that should be taken as the truth.

@araneitela

[delphientropy]

i have a question regarding ocpd

i am very much a perfectionist. at least i believe so. im literally overthinking if my symptom of being a perfectionist is perfect and supplies to everything i do ever and that the only way it can be valid is if im a perfectionist with EVERYTHING EVER and what even is a perfectionist and my perfectionist symptom MUST be perfect

anyway uh

like yes i strive things to look perfect in my view or just. exactly how i want it to be. but i also procrastinate or abandon things/leave them unfinished due to adhd. im constantly thinking "i need to be doing work. i need to do this, and i need to make it perfect or else." and i just..cant. i hacent finished an artwork ive been meaning to do for MONTHS because its not perfect and i keep procrastinating to do it later. i have to make everything perfect in my eyes or else. and this greatly hinders how long it takes to do tasks, especially schoolwork. it takes me longer to do things for SO many reasons, because it takes me longer to process, longer to write down or finish, longer to make it exactly how i want it, and constantly disappointed that things i create dont look exactly how i envisioned in my head

but maybe im overthinking things? it feels wrong to keep grabbing at disorders to desperately try and explain myself, but ive always known there was SOMETHING wrong that wasnt related to my others. maybe its overlap or how these disorders interact with one another and maybe i dont have a PD but i hate not knowing everything about myself and having the perfect symptoms and perfect knowledge of all of my disorders and symptoms and perfectly know exactly who i am.

i have to know the perfect way to do things, step by step exactly how to do simple tasks like chores. i hate the word perfect, actually, exactly for this reason. i hate the word perfect because nothing is perfect and i know this and yet i cant help but NEED things to be PERFECT. i need things to be EXACTLY how i envision them

and i need to know that im not crazy. i need to know that this is even perfectionism because. my room is a mess. my handwriting is a mess. so many of my things and actions arent perfect and i always say "good enough" even though its NOT good enough. imbad at wording things and thats awful for me because i want my explanations to be perfect and my wording to be perfect. perfect perfect perfect ive said the word so many times in this post it may as well have no meaning and yet it means EVERYTHING to me. i even have to force myself not to correct people.

the thing is i dont feel as much of an intense need for my friends to be perfect. i love my friends and i love my boyfriend even if they arent perfect, because no one is perfect, but sometimes i catch myself thinking "thats not the perfect way to do things, i need to correct them" or "this reaction isnt perfect or how i want it to be" but i try my very best not to say it. im not even angry at my friend for not being perfect or having it perfect im just angry that the action or word or whatever isnt perfect. i want to correct them and help them so they can strive to be the best and im happy with that. its okay if my friends are imperfect, but i need to be perfect and i need our relationship itself to be perfect and never have misunderstandings or disagreements.

and oh my god, im so stubborn with critisism. from what i know this is definitely with my RAD and autism, but even with that they arent perfect explanations. i dont hate critism ONLY because the person talks down to me like an authority because thats not always the case. its the fact that im offended by the fact of critisism at all. some days im WAY better with it, by thinking "i was wrong about this and that was an imperfection, now i am correct and i am more perfect and this is good," but if the tone is even slightly rude or condensing or whatever i shut off, especially if its a stranger. i WANT critisism and i WANT to be better but sometimes i dont know what is better or anything is slightly imperfect and im stubborn i hate you dont you DARE call me imperfect. i never realized how obsessed i was with this perfection because i refused to use the word perfect and i know that not everything is perfect but that never supresses the NEED.

i dont know anymore. am i the textbook definition of perfectionist is this even what perfection can look like or am i crazy. i swear im not crazy. does anything in this post even make sense.

[seoafin]

This is going to be weird, but you prompted some thoughts in me about rip!mc when you said you can’t envision her living past 50. So when I was 16 during lunch one time, I got this sinking feeling that I wouldn’t live past 24. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but over the years I’ve thought about it more and now I turn 24 in two months. And this is almost certainly just an intrusive thought, but it’s still there and it’s been playing on my paranoia and expectations of my life for years. My Abuelo always said that he would be ready to go at 60 and he didn’t expect to live past that, but he’s now 90 and still kicking. It’s tangential and I’m definitely projecting, but I feel like rip!mc is similar in the sense that she’s fully ready to be dead before 50, she’d be content even to live that long considering their world as jujutsu sorcerers and really she expects to be dead long before that. But instead, she just keeps living and having to figure out how to keep going. She can’t just give up because there are people who care about her and who she cares for in turn, and they wouldn’t let her anyways. Like even if stsg died first in whatever au it is, there’s a part of me that imagines her one day as a granny in a garden where you can look up at the stars at night. Like her kids with stsg have their own kids at this point that always come to stay at her house, and megumi 100% still visits with his kids and their kids. Like I just hope she’s learned to be content and to let herself be happy. And of course this could be the complete opposite of where you see her going which is absolutely valid, you’ve just made me really care about her with your wonderful writing. I just love the idea of taking this person who doesn’t expect or even want to live very long because they had so much pain and having them get to cherish decades and decades of a life experiencing love completely to their astonishment. God you’ve made me insane lmao thank you so much for your beautiful stories!! - times

messages that have me tearing up at 12 in the morning this ask literally touched me so much you don't understand 😭😭😭😭 i love when people tell me their little stories as a way to relate to ripmc it's so human and not weird at all. it's wonderful it's lovely i love when people tell me something that made them resonate with her! like yes she was always meant to be a projection of the reader reading! but she also probably reflects a lot back to the reader just as they project onto her. it always worries me when people say that relate too hard to ripmc (rip my ao3 comments 😭😭) also in my mind it's kinda always just been oh ripmc probably just expires at 50 because somehow that's how it was always supposed to be. she was supposed to die but she didn't. it's just natural that she dies early. it was also probably me wanting to give her some peace in death but also why!!! i don't necessarily think there's more grace in death than living. sorry i don't know where this is going but you're right! there is grace and happiness and dignity in living to an old age, surrounded by the people you love! it's not wrong to live. there's never anything wrong in wanting to live.

[meimi-haneoka]

Just read your drabbles and I feel like you captured the both of them really well!

It didn't quite occur to me initially that kaito would still experience his seizures. :/ if I rmb correctly, they're caused by his constant use of time magic? So his body is reaching its limit. In that case, wouldn't causing his paused time to go again make the situation worse? I'm wondering what form kaitos healing will take, because it seems that for clamp, extending a life means immortality -> Yuko's situation, which wouldn't really fit here either.

Wow thank you so much for reading them!! 🥲 It might seem like I'm seeking validation around (I am), but for me it's really the first time and I was so nervous, for many reasons, not necessarily connected strictly to fanfictions. Writing is really a "world" I've never dared stepping into. I'm also worried about how my English sounds, so there's a lot of insecurities converging...

Anyways! Yea I have the impression that MANY people haven't grasped Kaito's situation from the finale very well, and again I would blame the ENG translation for that, but it's not only that. I feel like CLAMP have glossed over the specific fact to not ruin the atmosphere of the "happy finale", but what they made the characters say is pretty clear. The fact that his time is stopped didn't erase the pain he's been constantly experiencing since long time (the so-called "seizures", which have been there even before the play started), cause if it was enough to also halt completely his seizures, Sakura would've asked Akiho もう辛かったり痛かったりにはならないってこと？ ("does that mean that he's not going to have a hard time and feel pain anymore?"), but sadly what she said is もっと辛かったり痛かったりにはならないってこと？("does that mean that he's not going to have a hard time and feel pain more than this?"). A single word can change so much. Stopping his time means that his overall situation is completely frozen at the point it was before he ended up engulfed by the Seal of D and turned into a dragon. He's not going to age, but his pain won't stop either. But this is literally what's keeping him from dying, because those seizures were meant to become worse and worse, till they would've eventually killed him. That's why Sakura is relieved to hear that "they aren't going to get worse than this". In the bigger picture of things, it's still something to be relieved about.

Now, what Akiho explained they're going to do is to find a magic that would cure him FIRST, AND THEN find a magic that could make his stopped time move again. It's very conditional to the fact that they can find a "cure" for him, and the cure is pretty much bound to extending his lifetime, cause as you have mentioned, Kaito is having these seizures cause the time magic he had used shaved off his lifespan, in the first place. This might mean that if they can find a way to "cure" the seizures, then the lifespan will automatically be extended too. I don't exactly know how CLAMP have envisioned this.

But yeah, once you dig deeper, you can actually understand just how difficult things are going to be for them from now on. It's not going to be easy to find what they're looking for. Still, we're literally talking about bringing back a guy that was supposed to be trapped forever in a dimension where time was destroyed, eternally condemned to solitude in an inhuman shape. Moreover, even if you removed the Seal of D there was still his complete lack of self worth and care for his life, which brought him to use time magic to that degree and eventually bring his body to its limit, at death's door. What everyone was capable of accomplishing in the finale is literally a miracle. Having Kaito alive, even if a bit sickly, is a miracle. I'm absolutely certain that if this was another one of CLAMP's manga, for another demographic, there's no way that Kaito would've been alive and with Akiho, by now. Because the "death flags" were so many for him, and we know how CLAMP are. Everyone gotta bear the consequence of their choices, in their manga. And it's not like they've "let him off the hook" easily either, even for CCS standards.

So yeah, as I said elsewhere some days ago, I desperately need to see a bit of serenity and happiness for them in the special chapter, I need to see for certain that despite the difficult path they've chosen, they're really going to be happy together. 🤞Not only for Kaito but mainly for Akiho too.

[maskedinstructor]

BLACK EDUCATION IN AMERICA - MONEY IS...FUEL, ELECTRICITY, ENERGY, CLOUT, INFLUENCE,MUSCLE,FORCE... THEN WHY ARE WE NOT TEACHING ABOUT IT DAILY?

THE  MONEY  SCHOOL ...

IF YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR NUMBERS, YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR BUSINESS - Marcus Lemonis

We are responsible for the education of our children. In short, their future success is determined by what and how well we instruct them. Paramount in this effort is assuring them that what we teach will be useful or applicable within their future endeavors. Money is crucial to their survival. We must teach them that or what money is. Money is not only the special product of the lucky and the fortunate. America is a capitalistic society which functions via numbers or money. If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business. It is justifiable to state that in the business of America, students, and in particular, Black students, are woefully lacking. There is no program, subject, course, class or project especially designed to lift students from the depth of their appalling absence of knowledge of what makes America function. Curricula innovations lag well behind what is occurring in the current world. Our confidence and boldness in curricula reform have been feeble. Why have we not fostered massive changes in light of the fact that our children have failed dreadfully in the present ones. We appear timid and unsure about what our children need. Sports’ team at the very beginning of their season brag vociferously that they will win the championship of their particular sport. Not one team...but every team speaks to victory and triumph. Companies swear that their product is the best formulation for whatever ails you. Where are the voices of educators claiming future success. I rarely hear that message or proclamation. ‘t’his is what school can do for you’. What I do hear is numerous complaints about what our students are lacking. What is missing are teachers who are willing to teach all children not merely the brightest. You can bet on that.

I ain’t scared of you. Here, then, is my proposal... THE MONEY SCHOOL. These then are the Money School Essentials.: * VISION, *BELIEF, *DEDICATED STAFF, * FEARLESS STAFF, * CURRICULUM, *TRUTH, *RELAIABILTY/VALIDITY, *VICTORY..

Lest you assume that this is a futile endeavor, unworthy of further discussion, let’s delve deeper into what I propose. I want to be very clear in my purpose.  What I desire is a nation of literate citizens who can handle their business. They are intelligent, astute, valiant, passionate and smart about their duties and responsibilities to themselves and country. These aggressive citizens know their numbers., Thus the country is not plagued by massive unemployment and a failing economy.  If there is a need, the citizens can and will meet it. Our population is numerically arrogant and prosperous. It all starts with what we consider important. We teach financial independence in the early grades and the fact that the people must have fiduciary acumen and intelligence. They are self- sufficient. Of course, that would require some sacrifice. The curriculum would have to be changed on a grand scale. The Money School is the beginning.. I envision children running down the streets to attend class at The Money School with its exciting curriculum and applicability of that to things in real life.,

THE BEST OF 2023

[gwendeeagain]

give me a moment to dump all my sort-of abandoned wip ideas here (my incomplete fic collection is sobbing with how much im using it as a crutch) Assclass collection

- Gakushuu and Gakuhou both die (the OG idea is to have them kill each other in a freak accident lmao) but turn into ghosts because of some antimatter mechanic i'll figure out. Only 3E can see them because they are also exposed to antimatter etc etc. Through investigation they find out that to move on to the afterlife, the two have to fulfil their unfinished business. 3E tries to help them. but when korosensei dies the lingering effects of the antimatter starts fading and the pair's presence grows weaker so there's a greater urgency to help them fulfil it. Gakushuu absolutely refuses to say what his last wish is. Gakuhou reveals that his unfinished business is just to make his son happy (lmao), and Gakushuu is just so resigned that he says he's happy and it works. (less so because Shuu is actually happy (he isn't), but more so because Hou is just so desperate to want to think he's not a failure of a father that he just latches onto any last bit of validation.) Meanwhile time ticks for Gakushuu and everyone is afraid that he'll vanish from sight forever, not having moved on. Shuu finally reveals that his last wish is to believe that Gakubou actually cared about him. Nothing - going through old photo albums, ghost therapy, trying to talk about it - works, because Gakushuu's already fallen into acceptance that his father never loved him. He grows dimmer as everyone tries to convince him. Finally he admits that maybe he doesn't need to care about what Gakuhoi ever thought of him, because 3E obviously care about him. The next day, he vanishes. It's unclear whether he managed to finally move on, or if the last bits of antimatter finally dissipated into nothingness and left him a silent, wandering ghost forever. We never find out. I have like 2 and a half chapters written for this one but it's literally just 1. they're dead 2. oh they're ghosts now

- DnD/Fantasy esque AU where an adventuring party (Gakushuu, Kayano, Karma, Nagisa, Manami) (@skyestar7703 's Constant gang!) are gallivanting around the world. Background lore is that the world was once ruled by gods but they all vanished one day for no reason. The reason is because there's a war. It's eventually revealed that Shuu is the son of a god and he's picked a party to follow to try and get them strong enough to eventually kill one of the main instigators of the god-war. Spoiler alert that's his dad. The Virtuosos are here too but they exist as Shuu's previous party who failed but are all things considered still pretty strong in themselves, so they join up eventually. The main starting quest that the gang start with is going to rescue Kayano's sister (Aguri) from her captor (Yanagisawa), only to awaken an old god who's been sleeping all this while (Korosensei). Unluckily for them, he's got to slowly wake up his power and before that he's very squishy. Luckily for them, he'll eventually be super strong and on their side. Luckily for Gakushuu, Korosensei went to sleep long before he was ever born so he doesn't recognize him (yet) (although he keeps squinting and saying things like "hey you look familiar".) That's pretty much all I have for this. It exists as a lingering thought in my head. I don't have the ability to capture exactly what I'm envisioning for this. Gakuhou spears Gakushuu at one point because he knows his quasi-immortal kid can't die from a single sword through the stomach. Gakushuu knows he won't die but it still hurts, dammit

- A weird aged down (?) AU where Gakushuu is like a tiny kid when canon happens. This is significant because the story starts 10 years after that. Nothing else has changed about canon. Gakuhou has vanished mysteriously, so Gakushuu (aged 15) goes snooping and starts digging up the mystery of Kunugigaoka. He starts a hunt for his father by going through every single one of the now adult 3E students who all have no idea where Gakuhou went and all remark that he's a lot like his father. Karasuma and Irina become his babysitters for the event and trail after him as they also try to find where Gakuhou went. No I don't have an idea about where he went. This fic has only manifested because of this line:

"if you've found this letter, it means you've gone snooping through my stuff-" wow, rude.

That's all I can remember for now

[paigemathews]

Probably the same world as this (aka where characters can make dark jokes about what traumatic experiences in-canon), I kinda love envisioning how a hypothetical Bianca meets the family goes where Piper is very against the Phoenix assassin dating her youngest son.

“She is literally an assassin, Chris-”

“Hello!” Chris gestures wildly at Phoebe, who does not have any defense, she already knows. “Queen of Hell!”

“Ex-Queen of Hell,” Phoebe says like that’s a good defense. “Why does everyone always forget about the ex-part!”

“Technically, I’m an ex-assassin,” Bianca calls from where she’s just watching Chris and Piper argue as if Piper will not blow her up. (She knows that Piper will, but she a) reforms and b) is pretty sure that she can escape if it escalates.)

Piper just glares at her while Chris gives her the most deadpan look she’s ever seen. Wyatt, who she’s standing next to, kinda just edges slightly away. When Bianca doesn’t add anymore counterpoints, Chris and Piper return to their very loud argument in front of their entire family. 

“You can’t just date a demon!”

“She’s not a demon! And even if she was, have you met this family?” Chris proceeds to gesture at like. everyone. Which is admittedly a valid point, considering all of the Charmed Ones have dated evil beings and their kids have done a wonderful job of following in their footsteps.

“Yes, and we vanquished them, we didn’t play meet the family with them!”

“There is a half-manticore right there that says otherwise.”

“Please don’t bring me into this.”

[foxilayde]

My written tone can come off as kind of harsh so please envision me saying all of this while pouring you tea, offering you a cookie and talking to you in a very calm voice throughout the monologue.

Bby you have the wrong number. I am not the thought police.

But… *pats your shoulder* I really want you to consider your intentions with this callout. Was it to further promote women’s autonomy?

Or could it possibly have been offered subconsciously to ostracize someone?

Yes I do know this person is a pro lifer. So is my grandma and I straight up love that broad with my whole soul.

I myself am pro choice. I am pro abortion.

I am also a vegetarian. I have been a vegetarian for 10 years. I was vegan for three of those years. A militant PETA Brand Vegan. I was so militant that I brought up factory farming at every social gathering where meat was present. You know what happened? I grew distant from everyone in my life who wasn’t vegan. I got a whole new group of friends. And then someone close to me said that they could never go vegan because they saw how it weakened my friendships with people. And fuck. That’s not what I wanted! I wanted to be an example of positivity! I wanted to display the vegetarian lifestyle in an easy light, to show people it was worth a consideration.

Is the correlation making sense? I am of the belief that if you push people away for believing differently than you, all it does is create more distance in a world where you’re trying to show the validity and place of love and acceptance where your stance is coming from.

I still feel very strongly about meat and vegetarianism. It still makes me sad and angry.

I also feel very strongly about abortion rights. Sad. Angry.

But people can’t be ostracized into compassion.

I have an insider level of compassion on this stance. I used to be pro life. I literally believed abortion was murder. Because that’s what I’d been told from every authority figure in my life. I was brought up in a high demand religion and that indoctrination really messes with someone’s logic and compassion. If it hadn’t been for the kind, caring, patient examples of pro-choice people— I would probably have never stopped being ignorant.

Let exclusion and other-ness be the tool of the oppressors. Fight that bullshit with love, my friend.

Or don’t. It’s your choice. I’m definitely not perfect at it. My anger gets the better of me at times, I say harsh and scathing shit. It’s natural, and in myself I recognize that to not be in the service of fighting the injustice, but to feed and fuel my own petty attachment to being right. Which just leaves me feeling miserable, dude.

if you took everyone on earth who holds the exact same views as you on everything and put them on an island, you’d be stranded alone, hun.

[obviously this stuff doesn’t apply if you’re feeling actually threatened by someone. Use your judgement, trust your gut. Cut ties where you need. Set boundaries that promote peace and happiness within yourself.]

You don’t have to agree with anything I said btw I still love you and you’re very welcome here, whomever you are. More tea? Cookies? Help yourself 💚