#my one contribution to this cause i literally don’t care

[10piecechickenmcnugget]

today on stream oli made a song for pearls wordle game that was better than the entire minecraft movie trailer

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

⭕️👋Hi I’m new, I really like your character analysis, world lore analysis etc,…I think they’re very accurate and provide more insight into the twisted wonderland world,

do you think NRC gets enough funding cause they’ve been losing to RSA for like almost 100 years now and the Magift incident where the recruiter’s and scouts probably didn’t really pay attention to most of the players cause of Malleus .I know they probably get funding and tuition and stuff from affluent parents who care about the quality of education & environment of their children but is that really enough? Is Crowley secret Stressed about funding cause of their losing streak to RSA???

I just wondered what your thoughts were on the matter

Hello and thank you very much ^^ It always warms my heart to hear that people enjoy my more analytical writings!

Now to answer your question, I don’t think NRC is hurting for money. Like, at all.

You did bring up a fair point about NRC’s almost a 100 year loss streak to RSA + the lack of interested Spelldrive/Magical Shift scouts in book 2, but that’s not enough of the big picture. RSA is only one rival magic school out of several. Just because NRC is not doing well against one other school doesn’t mean that NRC is suddenly deemed “lesser”—NRC is still considered a top arcane academy and eclipses other magical institutions like Noble Bell College. In regards to the pro recruiters, I don’t think it has a huge impact?? Sports is only one sector at NRC; they’re still doing relatively well outside of it (such as in academics, extracurriculars, and connections for internships) in the grand scheme of things. Things like not winning VDC and not being noticed by scouts seems to only really impact the career prospects of students who were interested in the entertainment/sports industries; I doubt that this would seriously hurt whatever funding NRC is receiving.

Night Raven College is a private school, so they are most likely receiving money from tuition and not the government. Though tuition is not explicitly mentioned in TWST (at least not that I am aware of), if we assume the average cost for one student to attend a British boarding school—for which NRC is modeled after—that means 25,000 pounds per person, PER YEAR. Let us assume that NRC had only 800 students (this is the rough estimate TWST provides us). That means, from one year’s worth of tuition alone, the school is raking in 20,000,000 pounds or 4,058,310,000 madol. Note that this is just money in, not yet factoring for expenditures, taxes, etc.

The school also receives 10% of Mostro Lounge’s proceeds, and while we cannot put an exact number to that, we do know that most menu items range from 600 to 1500 madol. The lounge must also make significant enough money to pay for its ingredients, nice silverware (something which Azul stresses to give customers a high class experience), and even provide pay to workers (Ruggie would not be doing labor for free and refers to his time at Mostro Lounge as “a job”; see: his Ceremonial Robes vignettes). While this doesn’t make up a large part of NRC’s money, it’s still a nice little bonus to account for.

NRC also has many, MANY wealthy students, including literal celebrities and royalty. In fact, the upper middle class to flat-out rich make up the majority of the main cast (close to like 70-75%). If this is also the case for the regular mob students, then there are many other ways for the school to get huge donations. In the main story alone, two significant donations are mentioned: Kalim's dad gave enough money for NRC to completely renovate Scarabia and the Shroud parents paid for all the damages caused to the school's buildings. Additionally, Crowley says that the Shrouds made "substantial contributions toward expanding [NRC's] facilities."

Please note that this is just donations from current students’ families. Think about potential donations coming from NRC alumni too!!

It should be noted that NRC has the financial power to spend liberally, and no one really says that this will put the school in a touch spot. For example, all students are provided free uniforms (school, dorm, PE, robes, labwear, etc.; even the birthday outfits are said to be provided by the school), but they have to pay for replacements if they fuck up their first one(s). Crowley literally buys up Sam's entire stock of goods during Ghost Marriage... and if you know anything about Sam, it's that he can magically keep things "IN STOCK NOW!!" Crowley even indicates in one of his voice lines that he is in constant competitions to buy out Sam's stock and has scarcely managed to one-up him--so the fact that Crowley does buy out Sam during an event is meaningful and speaks to how much of the school's money he is throwing to save it. He also tells Sam to bill the school for the cost of the fairy dust in Fairy Gala.

Both times, Crowley complains about how he would rather not spend money, but he does so anyway. This in of itself does NOT prove that NRC is in need of money, this is just proof of Crowley's cheapness. (We see many other examples of this greed and stinginess of his; he guilts Yuu for spending money on them, constantly tries to get free food and souvenirs from his students, and cuts costs for Halloween candy.) If NRC were truly hurting financially though, then they would not be able to throw lavish events or donate back to the community, both of which still happen multiple times. For example, NRC holds a huge Halloween event every year in which they open their campus to outsiders. This event is entirely free and involves a budget large enough for each dorm to create intricate decorations and costumes for 800ish students. There is also enough money to throw a celebration party for the students at the end of it—and let’s remember, NRC has the money to afford five star ghost chefs to regularly cater, serve in the cafeteria, AND teach their Culinary Crucibles/Master Chef courses.

While explaining the nature of the Halloween events, Crewel cites that NRC has survived this long in part due to the "While explaining the nature of the Halloween events, Crewel cites that NRC has survived this long in part due to the "understanding, cooperation, and subsistence of Sage's Island locals." This implies that the immediate community on the island also supports NRC in some ways. Perhaps it isn't financially, but it's clear that NRC still has social capital and a good reputation in spite of its losses to RSA.

In Port Fest, Crowley states that setup, food supplies, and all other expenses will be covered by the school. Half of the proceeds will then be donated to charity and the other half will be granted to the students to celebrate their hard work. Again, would NRC be giving away this money if they really needed it for the institution itself? They're not obligated to give money to the students, yet Crowley easily agreed when Azul asked for an incentive.

And let's not forget the school cultural festival, which was largely open for the public to attend. If they choose to spend on additional things (such as food and drink or VDC tickets, which are a "hot commodity"), that's on the individual. The school itself is hosting the event for free.

Yuu is offered a large sum of money (if the NRC tribe wins VDC)... and Ramshackle renovations (from Crowley) in book 5 in exchange for letting the boys host their training camp in their dorm. Look at how old and run-down Ramshackle is; there is no doubt that such repairs would be pretty expensive—but Crowley doesn't complain about the cost, he's not above bribing someone to make himself and his school look good.

Crowley caring about his reputation isn't new either, it's a pattern. We see him getting upset at NRC's loss in book 5 and lamenting bad publicity/being excited about good publicity in numerous events (Ghost Marriage, Wish Upon a Star, etc.) The school has been under his care for a long time, so naturally he will feel proud and/or slighted whenever NRC is involved.

This leads me to the conclusion that Crowley, the figurehead and headmaster of NRC, and his own personality quirks are being misconstrued as an indication that NRC is in a bad financial spot. His own fixation on triumphing over their rival school, acquiring and maintaining material goods for himself, and wanting positive attention do not reflect the state of the school. Notice how no one but Crowley whines about the financials and how while Crowley still complains about spending money, he has no qualms with spending lavishly himself on school events and holidays. This means NRC has money to spare, but Crowley is just stingy about how those funds are allocated.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

I have no clue how this guy hasn't divorced his wife. If my partner looked at me with disgust about anything that wasn't literally disgusting, I'd be googling "divorce lawyer."

by Sam Williams

A week ago, my wife and I went to John Lewis to look at air fryers. As we entered the store, I put on an FFP3 mask because of Covid. My wife looked at me in disgust and said, “Oh, you’re wearing a mask?” I replied, “Yes. There’s a lot of Covid around, and I don’t want it. Do you?”

She responded, “Well, the trouble is, I’m not wearing a mask”.

I said, “Yes, I can see that. I wish you would. The trouble is, every time I’ve caught Covid, it’s been from you. I’m disabled with long COVID, and every time I get reinfected, it makes me really, really ill”.

So here’s my question: does my wife not care?

I want to use this piece to spark a debate about who we are as people. Are we kind and virtuous, or are we selfish and indifferent? Writing an article about what stops people from wearing masks, while I live with the pain caused by my wife not masking, feels like an oddly meta activity.

That’s right, folks: it was probably my wife who gave me Covid in the first place. Although, to be fair, neither of us knew about masking or long Covid back then.

The case for masks amid rising Covid I need people to wear masks or ensure clean air so it’s safe for me to go out—especially in healthcare settings. Yet, most people refuse. I asked my wife why she doesn’t wear a mask, and she said, “There’s no point, because nobody else does.”

I understand the futility in her statement. Many people don’t wear masks simply because they don’t care or because they think Covid is over.

If my wife were a cruel or unkind person, it would be easier to accept her refusal to wear a mask. But in my experience, even many kind people—even those on the political Left—can be cruel when it comes to disabled individuals.

Although my wife has struggled with my disability, she is generally a kind person. In my autistic brain, it seems perfectly logical that she should wear a mask to protect me from airborne viruses. Yet, logic loses when it comes to personal choices and disability.

Misconceptions about Covid and masks People think Covid is “just a cold.” Some even believe masks themselves make you ill. I think people don’t mask because of ableism and because they’ve been conditioned to associate masks with the pandemic itself.

It’s the same conditioning that leads them to blame lockdowns and vaccines for Covid, rather than recognising these measures were designed to mitigate its spread.

When people see me in a mask, they’re reminded of the acute phase of the pandemic. My presence confronts them with an uncomfortable truth: their refusal to mask contributes to the deaths and disabling of others. It reveals they may not be as caring as they like to think.

I wish more people would remember the Covid dead and choose to wear a mask to prevent further loss of life.

Why people don’t mask The biggest reason, I believe, is a failure of public health communication over wearing a mask. The government declared Covid “over,” and most people still trust what they’re told. Many would resume masking if asked, but the government is too afraid of the right-wing media and too indifferent to disability to make that request.

Then there’s the pervasive idea of “health supremacy”:

The belief that only people with pre-existing conditions get long Covid.

The notion that a “healthy” immune system can fight off the virus.

The argument that we don’t need vaccines or other preventative measures.

Some even suggest that “living your best life” and going out for brunch are more important than protecting loved ones. The low mortality rate of Covid is used as justification, with a dismissive attitude towards the elderly and those with long Covid.

Many fail to consider the quality of life endured by those with long Covid or the rising number of children affected. Parents, it seems, don’t care enough about their kids, or they’re unaware that long COVID in children has doubled in the past year.

There’s also peer pressure and groupthink. No one wants to stand out by wearing a mask. “If it were really unsafe, wouldn’t everyone else wear one? Wouldn’t the authorities tell us to mask up?”

When I do convince others to wear masks, it’s usually a flimsy surgical one—barely adequate protection.

The personal cost of not wearing a Covid mask If we continue as we are, everyone will eventually develop long Covid. Those who still mask are only delaying the inevitable because we’re so outnumbered.

I know people who’ve lost friendships and family connections over masking. Others restrict their contact with loved ones to stay safe. Some have even been lied to by family members about masking.

And all because people must have brunch.

It feels grossly unfair to be forced to choose between family and health. For me, it’s not just about Covid. With a weakened immune system, other airborne viruses are just as harmful. Every cold or similar illness sets me back by months.

The fatalist in me whispers: stop masking. If no one else is wearing a mask, why fight it – just let long Covid take me. Every reinfection only worsens my condition.

A systemic failure The government—New Labour or otherwise—has shown little interest in preventing the spread of Covid or developing treatments for long Covid. The societal denial of this reality is overwhelming.

Until we build a society and government centred on community and care instead of selfish individualism, we’re doomed. Is thinking of others really too much to ask?

If only long Covid weren’t an invisible disability. If it caused something visible—like the loss of a limb—perhaps people would be forced to act.

The point of wearing a mask: not just for Covid Here’s why masking matters:

It reduces your viral load if you get infected.

It sets a good example for others.

It shows courage and strength.

It protects vulnerable people, including the disabled, chronically ill, and immunosuppressed.

It proves you have empathy and intelligence.

[datawyrms]

12 Steps to Stop Beefing With a Teenager

Hey @katphantom69 ! Happy Truce. Hopefully you enjoy Vlad uh. Trying very hard to turn over some new leaves with some other ghostly friends :v It's all on AO3 HERE or we've got it all under the read more c:

“When you promised me an alliance that would change the status quo, I expected better than this .” Even if the ghost lacked a complete face, the gauntlet jabbing at the delicate cheese platter filled in the gaps. “This is your idea of great change and terror?”

“Eh. You might scare one of those lactose intolerant humans.” Skulker gave a smirk as the knight seemed to grow even more infuriated, flames bursting from his helmet.

“No! Do you know how many of those flock to cheese?! It is as if they think it is a dare!”

“It is for snacking.” Vlad let out a long sigh, trying to ignore the ache already starting to settle behind his eyes. “Nor are we talking about terror today.”

“Then this is a tedious waste of my time!”

“Oh, because you do so much! Slumbering in a pumpkin all year, while I, TECHNUS-”

“Skulker, I paid you to find people interested in attending. Not literally any ghost you could find!”

“They were all very interested in no longer getting shot at in return for attending. I don’t see the problem.” Skulker’s smirk only grew as the half ghost’s fingers started digging into his hair.

This whole ‘trying to be a better person’ thing was not worth it. It would be so much easier to just shoot that smirk off that metal face- or better yet remove his entire head. Really, he probably would just do that if he didn’t have the sneaking suspicion there was some sort of bet going on to who could irritate him the most!

So he had to settle for taking another deep breath. “We’re here to talk about constructive ways to fulfill a purpose. Ways that won’t get you tossed back in the Ghost Zone by an irritated teenager.”

“Well, if I could just skin the teenager we’d solve both problems-”

“Skulker, if you keep this up, I’ll have him send you back without your suit!” Vlad can’t quite keep the pink energy from gathering around his hands, but forces it to disperse.

“Why do you even care? You’re the one who suited up another teenager to kill him! Who of course, ABANDONED your WORTHLESS tech once she had a taste of REAL POWER designed by-”

The half ghost had to cut in before Technus really got his ramble on. “Why did you let her keep that, anyway?”

Technus’ rant stopped in its tracks, the scientist somehow at a loss. “Well. I was somewhat distracted with taking over the world-”

“Which failed.”

“WHICH WAS PUT ON THE BACKBURNER- and well uh. I couldn’t get control back from the suit? My genius was so great it outsmarted even ME-”

“Another stupid accident then. Wonderful.” Vlad muttered. As if it would be anything else. Half of his life seemed like an absurd accident. “How about instead of taking over the world, you could just go to a library? They have computers now.”

“Do they?” Technus actually seemed to be considering it for a moment, before shaking his head “It might not be as much fun as causing WORLD WIDE TECHNICAL TERROR though?”

“Where did you even get the idea it would be fun?”

“Says the evil overshadowing billionaire.” Skulker chimed in, earning another glare.

“Oh that’s easy! It was the ghost child’s idea! He’s very clever sometimes!”

He was going to scream. Of course it was Daniel’s fault! Why wouldn’t it be! He probably just spouted off something stupid his parents said and oops, now the inventor ghost has a world takeover hobby! Great! Thank you so much for this extra hassle!

“I am not changing anything.” Fright Knight’s ‘helpful’ contribution at least got Vlad out of his own head for a moment.

“What, you can’t get people afraid without the threat of death?”

That just got the Fright Knight on his feet and brandishing the Soul Shredder, instead of anything useful. “Are you insinuating my fear is lackluster?”

“No, he’s calling you lazy!” Skulker started cackling as the knight rounded on him, pumpkin already in hand. “Careful where you stab that thing!”

“Squash wielding simpleton…” 

“Better this than the plastic mess I dug you out of though, yeah?”

The Fright Knight refused to respond, which was probably the closest thing to agreement anyone was going to get. Did that count as progress? No, not really.

“Did anyone here come to actually try to figure something out, or should we just call it here?” Vlad couldn’t keep the irritation out of his voice, almost eager to call it a waste of time and move on to something else.

“Hey! What about YOU?! You’re a ghost that causes problems too, home slice!”

Oh for the love of fondue. “I am managing perfectly well-”

“Which is why you totally paid me to set up more cameras last week.”

“That I PROGRAMED so the ghost child’s little friend could not DETECT THEM-”

“A very normal and ‘not causing problems’ thing to do.” Skulker finished with the technological tag team, kicking his feet up onto the table as if to maximize the insult.

“Hah! You seem like a much larger problem than any of us.” The Fright Knight seemed in much better spirits with someone else being criticized. “Perhaps instead of this farce of a meeting you could find a therapist.”

Vlad could only scowl more “As if I could find one willing to work with me!”

The knight’s face may not be very visible, but the half ghost could practically hear the grin in his voice. “Surely not! There are plenty of ghosts who care about health. You would have had to do something abominably stupid to scare all of them off.”

“OH OH, like WHAT?”

“Perhaps something like, ah, stealing an immensely powerful artifact? Multiple, even?”

“Or letting out the ghost king! Who’d do something so foolish and get NOTHING out of it?”

His life is a goddamned comedy routine. Interrupting might make the two keep going longer though- so he just tries to wait until they get bored.

“Or better yet, repeatedly attacking who the leading medical experts consider a saviour! In front of them, no less!” Fright Knight was failing to keep his composure now, a cackle escaping at the sheer absurdity. 

“WHY, doing even ONE of those things would be hard!”

“Imagine a ghost foolish enough to do all of them!”

This whole thing was a set up, wasn’t it? He didn’t even know which one to strangle first. “Are you quite finished?”

“MAYBE!”

“It’s only fair we get to criticize you back. We don’t go around living over here full time like you half breeds.”

“I get plenty of that without your help.” Vlad might have added more, but stopped as the door swung open to show an irritated black haired teenager. “You’re late.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “No I’m not.”

“I didn’t think the ghost child was coming! HELLO!” Technus’ loud greeting earned him a grimace.

“I’m not a child. And I’m not here for your stupid meeting.” The boy crossed his arms, keeping a fair distance away from the other ghosts. “Did you even explain me to your little tea party?”

“No. Considering you didn’t show up, I figured it could wait.” Which was perfectly reasonable! Did he want to try to explain a doomed timeline ghost that was hanging out in a cloned body? No. It was complicated enough before even touching the whole ‘oh that ghost is two half ghosts in an angst blender’ thing.

“Figures.”

Skulker stared for quite awhile before frowning at Vlad. “Okay, this was mostly a joke- but you aren’t seriously trying to replace the whelp again?” The other gathered ghosts looked amongst themselves and Vlad, a mixture of concern and anger.

“No! He’s a time anomaly thing, not a clone exactly.” Even if he was using a clone body. Which ideally the hunter wouldn’t try to pry too much into. “I’m not doing any other clone things.”

“That’s right, you aren’t.” Phantom said, blue eyes flashing red for a moment. “Instead of doing this dumb meeting, I did something actually helpful! You’re welcome.”

Oh, that was very ominous. “What do you mean by-”

The explosion that rocked the room rather cut off any attempt to finish his sentence.

“Just removed some temptation for you, old man.”

He might be trying to be a better person. Sometimes, you just had to shift into your ghost form and fling yourself at the smug little menace that blew up a very valuable research lab. Especially when the target in question clearly wanted the fight!

Skulker, the Fright Knight and Technus could only watch the two half feral ghosts tumble out through a wall.

“Do you think he’d notice if we went and stole stuff from the wreckage?” The hunter broke the stunned silence first

“Probably not!”

“That portal better still work, I want no part of whatever that is.” The Fright Knight was already moving to leave the room and the entire farce of a meeting behind.

“BORINGGGG!”

“More for us, remember?” Skulker elbowed Technus before any extra goading could occur.

“Oh! Yes! FEEL FREE TO LEAVE!”

What was the harm in leaving a little extra mess for Plasmius anyway?

[iheartfrogs1904]

HOUSEKI NO KUNI IS CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED.

One of my most favourite pieces of media has to be houseki no kuni. It shows such a disgustingly sad story with such BEAUTIFUL visuals and writing. Something I find about my favourite pieces of art is when it tells a story starting off with nothing, or with something underlying you could only have known was another piece to the puzzle after it’s been revealed to you, like attack on Titan. Anyone who’s read houseki no kuni knows what I’m talking about, it starts off with knowing nothing, literally in the pov of Phos being as ‘ignorant’ as them and all that. What I think sets it off from the rest is that throughout the story, the other characters don’t seem to emotionally or mentally change the way Phos does. Aechmea designing and using Phos as a puppet, breaking and moulding them into an empathetic, sapient being. The way everyone had accepted Phos’ fate to become the one to leave behind, them having no regard for how Phos would feel or even apologize for how they treated them shows the huge lack of humanity of them all, shows why it needed to be Phos to be the one to stay behind too, because they did genuinely care for others. The way the others treated each other could have come off as caring but at the end of the day it was so superficial, especially with the way we can see their relationships develop from being divided to all living on the moon together to being prayed away, it was all surface level, even after a millennia they all lacked empathy, EVEN DIAMOND. The way the diamonds mirror society in how our value is how we contribute to it is taken to an extreme in this story, the other gems genuinely not caring if Phos could have died when they got swallowed by that creature because of how easily they broke, similar to Cinnibar.

I actually love how when Cinnibar is finally accepted they are completely devoted to helping a cause they know nothing about, not caring about what Phos had to say because they were finally accepted into the society they had never been a part of. The one person that showed them empathy, they would not listen to because of how low their self worth and esteem was, mirroring how someone whose climbed their way to the top from the bottom seeing themselves as a pig with lipstick on, for Cinnibar it genuinely coming from a way of thinking about their society and not them actually feeling anything. If they felt something, you would at least be shown that turmoil, but Cinnibar, just like the others is not an empathetic person.

Anyway, on the topic of empathy the fact that the gems didn’t seem to be emotionally affected when Phos attacked the island with the other gems as well again shows their lack of it. They just buried Phos and went about everything as it was, being able to carry on and not carrying any vendettas or anything, always just indifference. You are never shown any major inner turmoil of the other gems, maybe a bit of questioning or slight sadness but never any pure raw emotion. Even earlier in the series where other gems disappear to the moon, they’re sad but never in deep disparity, always close to humanity but never actually experiencing it except for Phos, or maybe Antarc too, maybe that’s why they were so easily replaced by Cairngorm, who knows.

[caprisunandmoon]

🧚🏼‍♀️analyzing my synastry with my ex-coworkers - part one

because what else is there to do after quitting a job you had for 4 years?? 🤪

Coworker #1

[lowkey was my favorite, felt the most comfortable with him & we had kind of a father-daughter relationship; we would spend a lot of time talking or joking around at work, he would buy me food/little snacks and drive me where i needed to go (i was the ultimate passenger princess with him lmaooo) + he even helped me with stuff outside of work like changing my tire when I had a flat 🥹🫶🏽]

My Ascendant conjunct his Sun/Mercury/Saturn (but with his sun/mercury falling into my 12th) - At first, we didn’t really click that much; we were friendly to each other but not that close in the beginning… he’d always try to joke around with me and I’d be like 🤨🤨🤨 idk man I don’t know you that well yet LOL. This was probably from so many of his planets falling into my 12th house (his venus was also in my 12h), so I simply ✨didn’t notice✨ him that much at first, but over the course of me working there and being around him more, we became inseparable. We loved to talk and just be in each other’s company. Lots of admiration for each other. And perhaps Saturn here is what contributed to the fatherly vibes lol

My Sun square his Moon - Any time I read descriptions about this aspect online, it talks about how the two will end up fighting and nagging, finding the other person annoying, etc and I’m over here like 🧍🏻‍♀️…. never had that issue with this aspect… I also have this aspect with my bestest friend in the world and we’ve never had even one fight lmao. So I’m not really sure how to describe this aspect honestly, but I guess I would consider it “binding” as it contributes to a deep connection between people

Moon square Moon - Again, this is an aspect often described as leading to fights, fundamental emotional incompatibility, etc but I never noticed this with him 🤔 We were actually able to talk about and express our emotions with ease. Obviously, we were only friends at work so perhaps if we got to know each other more, this square would have become more apparent, but ??? We have other really good aspects to the moon, so maybe that’s what helped neutralize this.

Mars trine Sun double whammy - I think this contributed to the general sense of “liking” each other. Also, we were always really supportive of each other and he was easy for me to work with.

His Mars trine my Moon - He was definitely very protective of me and tried to take care of me as much as possible. Any time I was feeling down, he would always notice and try to make me feel better <3

My Mars conjunct his Moon - I cared a lot for him but also thought he was a lil too sensitive sometimes haha; it never caused any conflict between us though (perhaps since this is a conjunction in Libra, so we were more focused on keeping the peace). And I was protective of him in the sense that I absolutely wouldn’t tolerate any other coworkers badmouthing him in my presence 🔪

My Mars trine his Mercury - The way I visualize aspects between mars-mercury in synastry is the “walk and talk” aspect between two people, like those two people who just like to walk around or do something while they talk to each other & this was very much us 🥰 people eventually stopped asking “where are you guys going” bc they soon realized the two of us would literally just walk around for the sake of walking around, no destination just vibes lmao

Venus conjunct Venus - Having the same tastes, likes, mannerisms, etc. top tier aspect imo 🫶🏽 and since it was a conjunction in aqua, we had a great intellectual connection above all, best friend/partner in crime vibes 🌚

My Venus trine his Moon - I LOVE when my Venus makes aspects to people’s moons, for me it’s literally the best for any relationship, platonic or romantic. In my natal, I have a cap moon square saturn & mars at 0-1 degrees (yes I’m extremely traumatized thank you for asking 🤩), so I’ve always struggled with my own emotion management and tend to get annoyed by most people’s expression of their emotions (I’m working on being better about this smh) but whenever my venus aspects someone’s moon, this isn’t the case, like I genuinely wanna hear about how they’re feeling and if there’s anything I can do to make them feel better if they’re down 🥰

His Jupiter trine my Mercury - He genuinely found my jokes funny, which I really appreciate as a Capricorn mercury bc our dry-ass humor isn’t understood by most 😃 Also we never ran out of things to talk about

His Jupiter square my Venus - Although this is a square, I think the only “problem” that comes out of this is excess aka I think he was excessively generous with me sometimes 🤪 ...definitely not the worst problem to have, at least not on my end lol

My Mercury trine his Uranus - Very intellectual conversations, it was always fun talking to him because we’d end up chatting about the most random subjects

My Mercury trine his Pluto - He simply had this way of getting me to open up and talk about deeper topics with ease, something I usually find difficult to do with people I don’t know well 🤔

Coworker #2

[I ended up having an on-off situationship with this coworker for about a year; the most physical attraction I’ve ever felt for a man LMAO but also definitely the most obsessive and toxic situation of my life (so far 🤪) + we had to keep everything a secret since relationships weren’t allowed between coworkers.. yeah long story short he traumatized me in many ways lmaooo]

His Mars trine my Venus - The main (and perhaps only) source of our attraction to each other hahaha, I love this aspect because it gives genuine physical chemistry + that feeling of butterflies but honestly it can also make you blind to overall emotional incompatibilities but ohwellyouliveyoulearniguess 🫠

Mercury square Moon double whammy - On a day-to-day level, this definitely made connection and communication difficult, even downright impossible sometimes, but also somehow added to the ✨spice✨ idk there’s just something kind of sweet about not understanding each other on an emotional level but still wanting to make that effort to connect 🤷🏻‍♀️ overall, as frustrating/irritating as this got sometimes, I appreciate that it made me aware of how differently other people can process their emotions

His Mercury square my Sun - We definitely had different points of view on so many things and sometimes I’d be a lil defensive with him but I generally try not to be led by my ego so this wasn’t too big of an issue overall (for me at least)

My Mercury square his Jupiter - Lots of laughs. Since it’s a square, sometimes an excess of joking around or joking around in situations that should have been serious like work meetings but oh well 🤙🏼🤪🤙🏼

My Venus sextile his Moon - Like I said above, I LOVE WHEN MY VENUS ASPECTS PEOPLE’S MOONS!!! The sextile is less easygoing than the trine, I definitely had to make more of an effort here, but still a sweet aspect nonetheless 🥰 And I think perhaps this is one reason why the Mercury square Moon didn’t hit as hard

My Venus sextile his Jupiter - Venus/Jupiter aspects are one of my favoritesssss and I think it was a major reason why I got so attached 🫠 Venus/Jupiter is such a nice aspect, it’s truly one aspect I wish for everyone to experience at least once in their lives, you just feel so lighthearted around each other and the energy is so warm, my fave is the trine but the sextile is also quite nice

My Venus sextile his Saturn - With Venus/Saturn in general, I think Saturn has the “upper hand” and ultimately gets to decide if the relationship will last. I knew from the start I wanted commitment and something serious, unfortunately he didn’t end up feeling the same way 😃 And overall I felt quite dependent on him, like he was a source of stability for me

My Mars opposite his Moon - I don’t know how tight this aspect was since I don’t know his time of birth but I definitely thought he was way too f*cking sensitive sometimes LMAOO as much as I cared about him & felt intensely for him, sometimes I’d be like 🙄🙄 by his reactions to things, overall he was easily triggered by my actions and I’d get triggered by his reactions

My Mars opposite his Mercury - Leads to a lot of bickering if not careful. I think it’s important to channel this energy into healthy debates etc otherwise it spills over into the day-to-day, causing bickering, arguments etc. If we kept the debating to work topics, we were fine, but anything outside of that was dangerous territory. Often best to just agree to disagree here. As a Libra mars, I’m not prone to arguments but his Aries mercury certainly tried to goad me into more than a few fights (and succeeded at times lol)

My Mars sextile his Uranus (0 degrees) + His Uranus trine my Mars - Absolute freaks in bed with each other LMAOOO absolutely nothing was off-limits and I’d never felt more comfortable, including being open to doing things I’d never done before. And, in general/day-to-day, we were comfortable being “weirdos” together and showing our more “quirky” sides (yes I indeed cringed while writing that last sentence)

My Saturn conjunct his Moon - On my end, I’m not sure if I felt this energy much, but natally I have a cap stellium and lots of Saturn aspects so this is like second nature to me. If I had to guess, I would say it probably felt oppressive for him as an Aries stellium with mostly trines in his natal 😃

My Neptune square his Sun - Sigh. I definitely felt like he was idealizing me and seeing me as someone I wasn’t and the more he got to know me and began to realize the fantasies weren’t true, the more I think he felt disillusioned and not as interested, which was heartbreaking for me to see, esp since I never intentionally tried to deceive him or act like someone I’m not 🫠

My Neptune sextile his Venus - Again, not seeing the other for who they really are, lots of idealizing. Even though the sextile is supposed to be an “easy” aspect, I don’t think anything involving Neptune in synastry is really that easy unfortunately

My Pluto trine his Venus - Yeah, as more time passes and I look back on our relationship, I can confidently say it was obsession and not love. I felt consumed by him and like our situation was taking over my life, constant fears that he would leave, typical Pluto/Venus lol… And I think as Pluto I was more attached to him than he was to me.

My Pluto opposite his Mars - Whewwww the sexual chemistry here was 😮‍💨😮‍💨 But outside of the bedroom, lots of power struggles. He constantly accused me of trying to control him, perhaps I was without realizing it, but in any case, the constant back and forth became too much to bear. We were both equally jealous/possessive. I felt like I could never fully relax throughout the entirety of our relationship.

[starwarsbundle]

Pt. 4. TBB Headcannons they probably deserve.

Howdy do. Today’s Headcannons are on Wrecker. As the Batch goes, my current overall opinion on him is rather neutral. He’s a bit funny, a ton childish, and kinda just THERE for me - as in, he just exists. Unobtrusively.

No, I don’t hate him - I’m just kinda indifferent to him.

BUT, I do enjoy thinking random things because today is the day. So here we go!

Always has a ton of stuff (physical and literal) going on in his bunk - even compared to Tech. Still manages to sleep entirely spread-eagled, however. Unless he’s hugging something (a bomb) or someone (a sleep-migrated Hunter). Somehow he manages.

Is not naturally bald. He has his head shaved regularly because he can’t bear the feeling of hair on his head. Mostly Crosshair used to shave his head for him. Hunter and Tech have to be prevailed upon in Crosshair’s absence.

His space has a smell. As in, person with low personal hygiene standards who works out, hardly washes their clothes, and has the most enclosed space in a given area. Imagine your brother’s room. Does Wrecker care? Not really. He doesn’t notice.

Contributed greatly to the smell in the barracks on Kamino.

Has a secret stash of candy. Absolutely shares it with Omega. Sometimes offers pieces to his brothers if they vent to him about an emotional or intellectual related matter - it’s the best he can do. He tried.

Loves burritos. Doesn’t really matter the filling. Second only to Mantel Mix.

Is the “fun” uncle to kids. Is also very gentle with them, regardless of his size. Kids to him are mini partners in crime. He loves it.

Loves helium balloons. Doesn’t love it when Crosshair uses them as target practice.

Has absolutely used EVERY SINGLE ONE of his brothers as a weight at some stage.

His favourite song is “Livin on a Prayer” because he LIVES for the chorus and the rest of the Batch always join in - and that’s his favourite thing too.

Cannot hug anyone without picking them up. Accidentally always hugs a little too hard - because Wrecker kriffing loves giving hugs. Still very careful with kids.

Would never make it on his own in the wild. Instead, he’d survive long enough to find someone else to be the brains - cause he CANNOT for the life of him. He can’t help it. :(

Wrecker is still a kid inside. Probably always will be. Everybody loves him anyway.

[hurremsfirstchild]

You know, I have something that that’s always been weighing on my mind. The way you treat feyre as a character is baffling and disrespectful if I’m being honest.

Honestly, the reason why y��all don’t know how hard Feyre’s childhood was is because yall don’t understand what it is for a child that was forced to be a parent. What gets me the most is how some of your phrase what was doing as a child.

Some of y’all call her attention seeker or a martyr. Sonos says she has a savior complex. This is mostly because y’all don’t understand you don’t understand what it is for a child being forced to take care of a family all by herself.

Like things I’ve seen it’s very, very weird. Some of y’all say it’s unrealistic for feyre to be illiterate. Or it was just to aid to the plot. First and foremost don’t want to take care of the whole entire family. Feyre didn’t want to risk her life hunting every day for her family just to not get appreciated.

Some of your just need to respect these people because doing jobs like that is very very hard. And I know so many Feyre antis keep on saying, well no one told Feyre she should go hunt. She’s expected to do good deeds and come back with lots of appreciation.

It’s like you don’t have any empathy for her at all we can acknowledge Nesta and Elaine’s trauma but when it comes to feyre trauma itself, there’s always this big question mark there.

And we also can’t keep saying the fact that Nesta didn’t tell her to go out to hunt. Nesta didn’t tell her to go out. Yes you’re right. But she did contribute every damn time every time Feyre was out there doing something to hurt. She didn’t stop her. In fact, she wanted Feyre to be her provider and she didn’t say nothing.

Cause in the book, Feyre literally confronts Nesta. She comes from her because Nesta had been stealing money from Feyre and she always bought useless things. Nesta told her that she did that to motivate their dad then asked Feyre the reasonable question, which was what if he didn’t do anything do you know what Nesta said and I quotes “I knew you could get more”

Nesta knew how much her sister worked for the money. she knew anything is she willing to help her get the money back so if you said contribute to Feyre being forced to be a parent? Then why the hell was she say she knew Feyre specifically could get more? why couldn’t she get more since she spend the money?

My whole post is not about bringing Nesta. Elain or anyone down. The point I’m trying to make is the fact that Feyre didn’t want to be the provider of the family or be the parent of the family. All she wanted was to be alive. We can’t keep ignoring Farah as a character and just using the word she’s boring because you know she’s complex and you don’t want to admit it. She is a very complex character.

We need to acknowledge that being a child and being forced to be a parent to your whole entire family while your constantly been biting down like no one will say thank you no one acknowledge you exist. Your mom didn’t acknowledge that you existed until she died and she needed you to protect the family not because she cares about you but because she cares about the family her family she just doesn’t care about your childhood just about theirs. I just wish the whole entire fandom can understand Feyre as a character because always saying she’s boring. She’s not complex. She’s like a cardboard paper. We already know about her. She neither of these things. You just don’t know what box to group her in so you settle with boring.

[makeyoumine69]

Chains On Me

● Pairing: Patrick Bateman x Innocent!Fem!Reader

● Summary: A sad story of how you became Mr. Bateman's property.

● Warnings: 18+/ NSFW │dark content, non-consensual touching, kidnapping, misogyny, human trafficking.

● Wordcount: 1.5k

● A/N: Let the dark adventure begin! Many thanks to my dear @lissasharp for the contribution she made into this fic! I hope you like it!💗

● Useful links: [Shadow Lady Masterlist] [Main Masterlist]

A creeping fear and anger pulsated inside your chest, almost forcing your heartbeat to reach the maximum–you could hear it bouncing against your ear membranes. 

Stunned as if you were hit with a hammer, you opened your eyes to see nothing but darkness. Breathing heavily, you flinched when you felt someone touching your hand.

“Hey, hey, relax!” a female voice called to you, but you kept fighting back. “You’re safe…For now.”

For now? What the fuck did that mean? With one hand clapped to the side of your head, you whimpered in pain as your temples were pulsating like an alarm clock.

“W-where am I?” You mumbled, looking into the void, thinking you might be hallucinating. 

“We don’t know-”

“They are gonna kill us!” When you heard another girl crying, your blood nearly froze in your veins.

“Stop panicking!”

“No! I know why we are here…”

Silently, you managed to lean against the wall behind you, trying to focus your vision on the girl, who was literally writhing in hysterics; her cracked voice was only increasing your terrible headache.

“Shush! I think I heard something-”

A sudden blinding light made you shut your eyes, but when you opened them later, you were speechless. Beside you, there were at least five women, they looked as scared as you, but probably less stunned. 

The light was caused by a door opening in the dark room. A woman stepped through the door holding a bag. She looked very prim and had steel blue eyes, sharp enough to cut through glass. You guessed she was the reason you were here. 

"What is this place?" A girl beside you asked, sounding angry. 

"Why are we here?"

"Who are you?"

The girls were shouting over each other trying to get information. The questions made your head hurt. 

“Calm down, ladies,” her stern tone sent shivers down your spine. “Our potential customer will arrive soon, so I recommend that you freshen yourselves up.”

Everyone here, including you, was sitting in shock, as it was hard to believe what you just heard. Emotionlessly, the unknown woman threw her bag on the ground, looking attentively over all of you one by one.

“You have one hour, so you better hurry.”

And then, she disappeared as abruptly as she appeared, leaving you completely lost and dejected. Irresolutely, one of the girls crawled to the bag to check what was hidden inside. First, you heard the unzipping sound and then she blurted out:

“This is-”

“What?” You almost jumped in your place from your own voice.

“Some stuff for self-care… Hairbrushes, makeup…”

To be fair, you didn’t know how to react or what you were supposed to do. You sat there contemplating and finally crawled over the bag. The girl was right. There was makeup, hairbrushes, lingerie… and collars. Collars with names on them, and it looked like one belonged to you. 

Wordlessly, you and the girls pulled the items out of the bag and got yourselves ready. Ready for what? You didn't know.

An hour later all of you were ready.

Now, you were sitting in dread waiting for something to happen. It was too loud and too quiet all at once. Some girls were crying, and some were sitting with a blank expression. Finally, the door opened. 

This time the woman wasn't alone. She had someone accompanying her… a man. The first thing you noticed about him-his insanely beautiful appearance. He had an angular face, a strong, lean body, and hair that was a mix between blonde and brown. The second thing you noticed about him was how dangerous he seemed. 

“Get up, ladies!” she clapped her hands, hurrying you up. “Stay in line, so Mr. Bateman can have a proper look at you.”

Touching a leather collar, you took a place between two blondes, whose hands were shaking erratically, hitting you from both sides all the time.

“Are these the only girls you brought?” The man asked, roaming across the room as he came closer to the first girl in the line. 

“Unfortunately, yes. Only these fit your requirements.”

“I see,” unconcerned, Bateman grabbed the girl by her chin, she sobbed right away. “How much do you want for her?”

“Ten thousand,” the woman replied cynically, walking back and forth on the opposite side of the room. “Good choice, but we’re not in a hurry, Mr. Bateman. You can check out all the ladies.”

“Just wanted to know the local prices,” he let the poor girl go, scowling a bit in disgust. “I really like this one… But alas, her nose is so ugly.”

All this time, you were trying to suppress an unendurable urge to vomit from how disgusting this man was, treating all of you as if you were chunks of meat. With no second thoughts, you looked at him with sheer scorn when he was examining the girl next to you and he accidentally glanced at you. His hazel eyes pierced through your body like a fan of knives, slicing you from the inside. To your great surprise, you didn’t break the visual contact, watching how harshly he squeezed the blonde’s jaw, as you seemed to make him angry.

“This bitch has a pretty face, but no tits at all,” he turned to the girl beside you. Her fear was almost tangible. “What a waste!”

Finally he got to you.

Once Bateman tried to touch your face, you instinctively flinched away, almost pushing everyone near you in different directions.

“Hey, you! Calm down immediately!” the blue-eyed woman shouted at you from behind his back. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bateman.”

“It’s okay,” he suddenly smirked, staring at you from above with unhidden dominance. How pathetic. “I’ll come back to this untamed kitty later-”

“Take me!” slightly shocked, everyone looked at a red-headed girl, the last in the line. “You can take me, sir…”

Humming out loud, Bateman strolled away from you to reach the girl, whose eyes were literally eating him alive. “Why should I?” He rejoined with interest. 

“I… I don’t want to stay here any longer, please!” She whimpered, and you were about to close your ears as you couldn’t hear this miserable bullshit anymore. 

Chuckling, he pressed a finger to her lips, outlining their shape and in return, she gave it a small lick, showing her actual submission. Almost all girls were watching this nasty game as if spellbound, and you were the only one who turned away, praying that soon this nightmare would be over.

“You want me to choose you, only because you don’t want to be left here?”

“No! Not only because of that…You…You are so…”

“‘So’ what? Rich?” He almost laughed, actually mocking the girl.

“And handsome…” She bit her lower lip, paying no attention to all hateful stares she was getting right now. 

“You seem really sweet,” he crooned, petting her cheek, but then he moved away from her, causing a loud gasp to erupt from her chest. “But sadly, I already made my choice.”

Right away, everyone started to look at each other in panic.

Smugly, Bateman walked across the room on a short distance from all of you when he unexpectedly made a step towards you and before you knew, he was already holding you by your neck.

“How many does she cost?”

After small coughing, the ‘boss lady’-how you called her in your mind, responded: “Twenty-five thousand, sir.”

A small hint of surprise ran through his face from hearing that. “Mm-mhm, and what’s so special about her?” He asked without looking at the blue-eyed woman as his gaze was fully focused on you.

After a few seconds of searching for something in her notebook, she added: “Well, she’s a virgin,” a sudden pause forced you to close your eyes from weird embarrassment. “And she’s absolutely clean and healthy.”

“Interesting,” he murmured very close to your ear, as he was twisting your head to watch you from all sides. “I’m taking her, but before that I want to inspect her body for any flaws and check the documents to make sure she’s really a virgin.” 

With these words, he squeezed your cheeks, and then finally released you, returning your ability to breathe.

“Of course, Mr. Bateman! You can wait in the room we were talking before,” she glanced at you unkindly. “We will join you briefly.”

Bateman nodded, looking over the girls for the last time and sending the red-head an air kiss before he exited the room.

“I’m so sorry!” The blonde whispered, grabbing your hand.

Shocked, you didn’t even realize what just happened… Not yet. 

“(Y/N!) Come on, we need to go!” The boss lady stated as she was already standing in the doorway.

Slowly, you made your way to the door, feeling your heart racing inside your thorax, attempting to break through it. Before leaving, you turned around to see the ladies, whose future destinies were uncertain, and say, barely audible: “Goodbye.”

[letstrywritingmaybe]

I finally finished reading Catch-22 (I loved it, it’s ridiculous but it makes sense) so now I can read my last library book (it’s a Poirot one!) I’m feeling more on track writing wise too. I wrote the next chapter of the sibling verse and the powers one, and I started Mastermind. I was going to write the fake dating fic too, but I’m wondering if this is the last chapter so I’m hesitant to move forward right now… CoAi week is still the same. I’m on the last prompt and I just don’t know *sigh

Update: I really really really wish people would tag MCD. That would be really fucking great for me. And while we’re at it, I fucking wish y’all would tag the canon ship too. I’m so fucking triggered I can’t deal with it. I fucking hate this bullshit. Look I get why people write these fics and good for them, but I fucking hate them. They hold no value to me and I don’t like them and I’ll never like them. I’m so pissed right now and I can’t even do anything about it cause I support an author’s choice to write whatever the fuck they want. I just really fucking hate when it’s this same fucking shit again. I’m so over it. I’ve read it so many fucking times already. I know you can say the same about my fics too, which is why I never encourage anyone to read my fics cause it’s the same shit. I’m just fucking over it. I was having a pretty good day too till this bullshit. I hate it here. I’m gonna hope I can calm down enough to read my book and forget about how upset I am. I fucking wish I didn’t care so much about this ship that I get excited and read every fic that I haven’t read before. Tags my beloved, when authors choose to use you are the reason why I don’t completely lose my mind every time. I had a bad feeling about it too but I didn’t trust my gut cause again I was just excited. Why the fuck is it always my queen that dies and suffers and he gets to fucking move forward with his life and get a happily ever after. I’m getting flashbacks of my lunch convo over how much I fucking hate endgame too. If you’re gonna kill someone and give the other half of the ship a happy ending why can’t it be Shiho for once? I think I know of only one fucking fic where he died and she lived and married and shit. Cause even when yall decide to kill him, she’s fucking miserable and alone. What the fuck is up with that bullshit???? So he’s allowed happiness with someone else but my queen has to suffer and only love him and fuck up her own life? Fuck this noise. That’s really what I have a problem with. I fucking hate the double standard. Yeah, I’m not calm at all. This shit needs to fucking stop. Or at the very least write the fucking reverse and even it out more. Cause literally the ratio is fucking tipped all the way over on one side. I try to read fics and encourage people to continue writing but I really can’t support this nonsense. And I’m not going to. I know we have a major silent reader problem and I hate contributing to that, but also this shit sucks and I don’t want to be an asshole and tell someone to fuck off with shit I don’t like. I don’t even like book reviews that shit on a book, why would I like it on fics where the author doesn’t even get money out of it? I really need a new fandom. One that is easy and happy and has lots of fluffy fics for me to read. I’m tired of being sad every fucking day over this ship. It’s literally every fucking day. I really don’t know why I’m still here. I’m too weak to do this.

Update 2: one thing to be happy about I guess. I think it’s not technically true cause of all the fics under our tag that are really for the canon ship. But we have more CoAi fics than canon ship ones on ao3? Wow. I’m kinda surprised with the canon ship propaganda going strong still. Yeah I’m still very much annoyed over fics in our tag that are really written for the canon ship. So in my eyes we haven’t surpassed them. I started reading my book and I’m still annoyed *sigh this is gonna be a long night

[sketch-shepherd-art]

Yes I’ve jumped on the dreaded bandwagon, here is my re-imagining of Valentino for my Disney Wish rewrite. 

Just to make this clear, I DON’T hate Wish as a film. In fact I find the film VERY over-hated; I personally don’t find it outright bad, just weak. So yes my rewrite will have all the original cut concepts that people prefer, predominantly Asha’s star boy love interest and Queen Amaya being a villain, with her and King Magnifico being an evil married couple Gomez and Morticia-style. But one other thing I didn’t particularly care for about Wish was Valentino, I just found him annoying and useless once he started talking. 

So here I’ve redesigned Valentino instead as a female goat named Amalthea, and she doesn’t talk the whole film (or maybe she does, but she'd have the voice of a child and not Valentino's inexplicable obnoxious adult voice). My thought process for the name change is that Amalthea is sometimes an alternate name for the goat constellation Capricorn (because Amalthea in Greek mythology was the name of the goat that nursed Zeus as a baby) which makes Asha’s connection to the stars and astronomy even more powerful. Amalthea’s role in the story also follows some original concepts for Valentino in which she constantly tries and fails to climb objects, symbolizing the theme of never giving up. In my rewrite she also leads an army of animals to fight against Magnifico and Amaya, also a scrapped idea with Valentino. 

And if anyone wants to hear my rewrite for the entire movie, welp feel free to read under the cut:

So in this version Magnifico has the magic ability to harness the power of the stars in order to grant his own wishes. Eventually he gains the power to grant his kingdom's wishes too, but goes it under the false guise of helping them when in reality he's only doing it to help himself get more powerful (ngl the whole idea of Magnifico accepting a wish and then holding it but then granting a random wish at a wish ceremony got kind of convoluted after a while) 

So Starboy enters the picture as a literal fallen star due to Magnifico abusing his power and sucking the power out of the stars causing them to die out quickly. And everything else from how Asha and the gang defeat Magnifico & Amaya I haven't thought out yet but you can probably see how my version is still trying to follow the movie's original message of "actually work to make your wishes come true and don't expect them to be granted." 

Also I might just cut out all of Asha's friends and only keep Dahlia who had the most contribution to the plot (I KNOW they're based off the seven dwarves but they were just severely undeveloped and too forgettable for me).

[denimbex1986]

'Before I saw the Barbie movie, I was resolutely against ever seeing the Barbie movie. Despite the fact that as a child I loved Barbie, who I interviewed regularly for important radio segments in her coral peach ball gown, I decided that the last thing I needed was 90 neon-coloured-Margot-Robbie-filled minutes of a film which would obviously have nothing new to offer me; a grown-up feminist woman who stopped idealising the problematic Barbie aesthetic decades ago.

But then the reviews from angry men started rolling in. You only had to be vaguely near the internet after Barbie’s release to hear the resounding roars of the mostly middle-aged; outraged that such an abomination against “all men” could even be allowed to exist. The reviews began to read like dreamy promotional soundbites: “An alienating, dangerous and perverse film”, “They won’t be happy until we are all gay”.

These men were really, really wound up about this film. They loathed it. They were spitting fury at Greta Gerwig for creating a piece of such obvious, glaring, “anti-men, feminist propaganda”.

And so, when I was asked by one of my teenage children if I would be up for a day of “Barbenheimer”, I said “yes”: newly salivating at the potential of a project that could cause this much delicious backlash.

I decided I would swallow my aversion towards sustained exposure to powder pink, get Barbie watched, then chase it all away with a good dose of brooding grey, historically accurate cinema. Despite the promise of those furious reviews, I still expected to enter and exit the cinema despising Barbie and in awe of Oppenheimer.

During the five hours of media and popcorn consumption that followed, a chain reaction set in motion that left me changed. It made the vitriolic reviews of Barbie, calling Greta Gerwig’s masterpiece “anti-men”, even more comical. The irony was bright and clear to me: Oppenheimer is anti-women.

And the thing is that Oppenheimer is not different to most films. Because most films are anti-women.

We just don’t take to the internet to rage about it because we’re used to it; desensitised by the decades of cinematic women who exist only to paint their lips red, bare their breasts and give the important male protagonists something to play with.

Is Barbie anti-men? Oh, I hope so (it isn’t, it’s anti-patriarchy), but also, frankly, I don’t care. Because if it is – after decades of movies made by male directors like Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan, it has good reason to be.

And it does what it so brilliantly does within the sparkly, imaginary bubble of an entirely fictional world where the male characters it side-lines are literally plastic dolls, all called Ken (except Alan); fake toys who simply can’t even breathe. Anti-women films like Oppenheimer on the other hand, sideline or completely erase very real, flesh-and-blood women who lived whole lives and made significant contributions to our world.

So, if you’re a man who has watched Barbie and felt angry or irritated or just plain strange while watching the depiction and treatment of the Kens – then welcome to cinema. That is what it feels like to be a woman watching Hollywood movies most of the time.

But here’s the thing – that poor Ken doll you’re lamenting over, is not Leona Woods; who at 23 was one of the youngest female scientists the Manhattan project employed. Ken, unlike Leona, was not present at the first nuclear chain reaction and Ken did not have to do what Leona did – which was to conceal her pregnancy until two days before her baby was born. Ken is also not Elizabeth Graves; a scientist entirely essential to the project’s success who was completing an experiment when she went into labour and did not stop the experiment until it was finished, timing her contractions with a stopwatch. Let’s see Christopher Nolan make a three-hour-long film about that.

Neither Woods nor Graves feature in Oppenheimer, which, like so many anti-women films, manages to assume such an air of authority that it can leave us assuming that its astounding lack of female representation must be down to its admirable commitment to historical accuracy. I’ve heard the cries – “It is called Oppenheimer after all. How much do you expect it to worry about its women?” And perhaps it’s true – you can’t very well expect a film about the very intelligent physicists who tackled the science behind creating the atomic bomb to change facts just for representation can you?

No. But you can and should expect such a film to accurately and fairly represent the female scientists who were, in fact, right there – alongside Oppenheimer and his men, ensuring the Manhattan Project’s success. Perhaps it might have been appropriate if viewers left the three-hour epic clear in the knowledge that Kitty Oppenheimer didn’t only drink herself to distraction while taking care of screaming children and dropping a hip flask out of her handbag at every possible moment; she was also a trained botanist who was employed at Los Alamos to take blood and test the levels of radiation exposure of her colleagues.

More than 600 women worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos alone, yet the only female scientist given any recognition in Nolan’s world is Lilli Hornig, who speaks only briefly, mostly in opposition to the bomb’s use. And what about Charlotte Serber? Who Nolan depicts as Oppenheimer’s secretary, completely erasing her vital work as scientific librarian for the project’s “secret library” and who, with no formal training, became the only female group leader, overseeing a staff of 12 people while also risking her safety in counter-espionage efforts.

Oppenheimer doesn’t only fail the Bechdel test, it fails to represent the real women who contributed so significantly to that morally fraught turning point in history. Those women were physicists, engineers, chemists, mathematicians. They existed. And, as is so often the case, many of their achievements have been forgotten and remain unrecognised, by both history and cinema.

As I continue to emerge from my Barbenheimer experience, researching the lost women of the Manhattan project and occasionally still basking in the disgust of all those angry men who need to hate the work of art that is Barbie, it becomes ever clearer: anti-women is the benchmark of mainstream filmmaking and some people are simply unable to deal with the plastic Manolo Blahnik being on the other foot.'

[ouidamforeman]

Okay if you hope Neil dies then stop giving him money, stop giving him indirect revenue by keeping his fandom alive. Say it with your whole chest or don’t say it at all

Fandom is not an advertisement and I haven’t paid for anything that goes to him for years 😌 Pretending all fandom is “indirect revenue” to anyone who created a piece of media whether it’s a writer or anything else is disingenuous and performative and trying to control others to your arbitrary moral standards. You are not only reducing fandom to consumerism but dismissing many other people’s work as well. Pretending that something this indirect is causing harm is performative when people do things and Actually spend money on things that do real direct harm. I’m also suspicious of this attitude of “cut all monetary flow to bad people” because well while celebrities absolutely don’t need that money and can often use it for harm, “someone did a Bad and therefore they should not be paid” is a bit iffy to me. The degree to which money is power in these situations is subjective and I know it’s uncomfortable but whether one’s money is going somewhere it’s doing harm or not is your individual decision to make. I’m not even spending money on NG myself and im skeptical of what practical good “no more money” would do in this case. It’s largely symbolic. There are ways to cull a bad person’s influence that aren’t harassing random fans of work that was never even solely made by this guy on social media. I and others are perfectly capable of enjoying a novel or tv show while cutting support and acceptance of a writer. Discussion of this and not letting the issue be swept away is how we do this, not nebulous “you’re symbolically supporting a bad evil guy!!”. He did harm with his power and influence which we can prevent without being reactionary and acting like a work of art or adaptation are synonymous with the person who made them (and never made alone, even!!!) Pretending this man is a sole auteur of good omens or whatever the fuck else is giving him power he doesn’t deserve, and causing wanton destruction because you feel powerless to stop harm that’s already happened is unbelievably foolish. Genuinely go outside and think about what good you can actually do instead of harassing people who are not even supporting the guy materially in any way and are in fact committed to finding ways of keeping him away from vulnerable people in fan spaces and calling for him to be removed from productions so everyone else’s work can be honored without more needless destruction, you know, something materially practical that isn’t moral posturing. You have literally made up that I am funneling money to this guy when I am not, and you know what? If he gets paid for work he did I don’t really care. I care about stopping the influence he had over people. I don’t think “something you did could possibly be construed as an advertisement for something he contributed to!!!!” and “Make absolutely sure none of your money is in any way even indirectly going to the bad evil person!” are the way to do any of this.

Also like fuck Terry Pratchett I guess, there’s no way one of his best works deserves to go in the trash because the co writer is a shit guy. Different people are going to deal with this in different ways. We all just want to prevent harm and people WILL disagree on what the best way to do that is. I think it’s getting him to step down from these media projects and not be involved in spaces where he can exert influence anymore. You may disagree, but do Not pretend you are ostensibly in the only moral right just because it looks good to you to say fake activist soundbites like this in random financially powerless fans’ inboxes. I keep joking that i hope he dies because i actually am mad and want him to stop! I’m doing what my moral compass says is ok. And that’s all I’ll say on the matter. Go do something kind instead of trying to control others

[hunter-sylvester]

I know you do character analysis, would you be alright elaborating about Hunter and his relationship with his parents? Everyone says he has mommy issues, but it looks like it could be a mixture of daddy issues as well.

I would fucking love to, Anon.

(Ao3 Character Analysis Series about Hunter)

I do think it’s very clear that he has mommy issues. From the small handful of references there are to her, it’s obvious. While he has clear on-screen issues with his father, he still keeps a picture of him and his dad on his bookshelf. His mother- however, is violently ripped from it. Something that can easily be read as a visual metaphor for how he feels about her absence from his life. Although I personally tend to write her as having been directly abusive which creates a slightly different whirlwind of issues, in either case she abandoned him. And we clearly see him display a fear of abandonment around Kevin. There’s a clear cause and effect there.

But I entirely agree that he also has daddy issues. It’s a noxious cocktail of neither parent being someone that understands him or knows how to make him feel at home. And it’s precisely that cocktail of issues that makes Hunter make so much sense to me as a character.

It’s not exactly my style to give fathers a lot of sympathy, but even without doing so, it's easy to see that everything Alan Sylvester does in canon shows he just has no idea what to do with Hunter. (Most notably when he literally gives up on parenting him in favor of dumping him in rehab).

He completely fumbles any weak attempts he does make at connecting with/parenting him and they all end in screaming matches.

“Sorry you’re just a little late with the whole ‘parenting’ thing” (when I tell you I feel that line)

Growing up with a parent (partially more, since his mother was around until 7th grade) present without anyone actually bothering to parent you, you end up growing crooked.

Can’t go any other way. Even if his parents were never mentioned, we’d know they were shitty parents based purely on Hunter’s issues.

In my mind, they’re both obviously neglectful. Evident both from the aforementioned quote as well as just the way that Hunter acts.

Each in their respective ways. His mother by literally removing herself from his life. His father by neglecting him emotionally, not hugging him, etc. (I'm assuming he never hugs Hunter based on the deeply awkward shoulder tap during the last scene of the film.) Also, this is a bit of a stretch based on vibes alone. But can you picture Alan cooking for Hunter? Can you picture them having dinner together? I can’t. It’s a bit of a headcanon but I personally believe Hunter has been making his own food for years. (note: this does not necessarily imply that he is a good cook)

Let’s also not forget that Hunter is just a seventeen year old boy. He is still a child (in canon). And a fucking troubled one at that.

One that likely grew up with nobody telling him it was ok to be him. No-one telling him he belonged. No-one showing him how to healthily handle his emotions. (This is one I blame heavily on the father.)

He had to figure everything out for himself. Reinvent the wheel at every step. Of course he’s gonna fuck up along the way. He’s just a kid.

Of course he freaks out when he thinks he’s losing Kevin, he’s already been shown that he can be discarded- and by one of the primary people that are supposed to be there for him.

Of course he’s a bit of a bitch about alcohol when he watches his father drink all the time and he would probably rather die than turn out like him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Alan also contributed to Hunter’s inability to accept his sexuality. At the very lightest he’d be homophobic in that casual way dads are. The “I don’t care what they do behind closed doors” followed by the most homophobic ‘joke’ you can think of twenty minutes, if not seconds, later. But I wouldn't rule out more blatant queerphobia.

In any case, it’s a clear & constant signal that being queer is not something that’s acceptable for a Sylvester. And as much as Hunter fights his father, as much as I think he dreads being like him, he’s the only parent he has left at this point.

He still wants to be loved. He’s a kid. He needs a loving parent. Even if he, realistically, doesn’t really have one that’s worth appeasing.

Consciously, he’ll rebel. Subconsciously, he still looks up at his father and wants to be told he did well. He wants someone to be proud of him, he wants to be enough.

Call me a pessimist but I think at this point, even if Alan tried, the relationship is so laden with barbed wire that nothing is possibly getting through.

Anything would be too little & too fucking late.

Sorry that got a little fucking bleak...it's me, it's what happens lol Thank you for asking, Anon 🤘

[orcinus-veterinarius]

from your experience, do you think fully indoor enclosures (the Georgia Aquarium or SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, for example) are worse welfare-wise for cetaceans and pinnipeds than outdoor ones? they would definitely be advantageous in places where severe weather is a concern, but I feel like they should be out in the fresh air. i don’t want to make a judgment call if that’s not the case though cuz I’ve always wondered about this but don’t know enough about marine mammals to answer. thanks :)

So this is a really great question, and actually one I’ve been wondering about myself recently. From what I can tell, there hasn’t been a lot of formal research into the pros and cons of completely indoor versus completely outdoor habitats for marine mammals. My “gut” response is to agree with you that, yes, exposure to fresh air and sunlight is preferable whenever possible. Never underestimate the important of sunlight!

However, there are environments where indoor housing is more appropriate, namely urban settings. Aquariums like Georgia, Shedd, and National are literally downtown in Atlanta, Chicago, and Baltimore respectively—major cities. While this is an optimal location for reaching the highest number of people, it also means air quality is poor, and we know how sensitive marine mammals are to respiratory pollutants. In these cases, indoor habitats are probably the wiser option, and it seems to have served them well. In the 12 years since Georgia Aquarium opened its bottlenose exihibit, they have only lost one dolphin (to acute pneumonia), despite maintaining a pod of a dozen or so. Obviously, there are a whole host of factors that go into health and survival rates (Georgia does not permit its dolphins to breed, for one, which eliminates juvenile mortalities), but I don't think it's unfair to assume there would probably be a lot more respiratory problems in their pod if the dolphins lived outside in downtown Atlanta.

Another major factor that has only recently been recognized is regional microbiomes. This is one of the more viable theories as to what caused the short-lived dolphinarium Dolphinaris Arizona to tragically lose half of its dolphins over the course of a year and a half. Most of their dolphins were born either at SeaWorld Orlando or Dolphin Quest's Hawai'i locations—tropical climates, especially when compared to the arid desert climate of the greater Phoenix area. In Arizona, the dolphins encountered a new set of pathogens quite different from what they were acclimated to, and it is thought this contributed to at least a few of the deaths (one of them died of neurological disease for unrelated reasons).

Dolphinaris Arizona was a modern facility, with both indoor and outdoor habitats, and inspections revealed no issues with the animals’ care. It might’ve been horrible luck, similar to what CMA is experiencing right now. But I can’t help but wonder if all-indoor facilities might’ve prevented all this heartbreak.

The brand-new SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is now home to twenty-four dolphins—all from US SeaWorld Parks, which are found in humid subtropical to temperate coastal desert climates. Abu Dhabi, like Arizona, is in an arid desert climate. However, as you mentioned, the new facility is entirely indoors, which hopefully will aid in protecting the animals from both the unfamiliar desert pathogens and pollutants of the city. Reassuringly, the dolphin habitat is surrounded by large windows to allow ample exposure to natural sunlight. Since arriving in the fall of last year, all the dolphins have so far been doing well!

(I’m really excited about this habitat. It’s quite large and features depth variation, rockwork, a rain simulator, and live fish. I’ve also seen waves in some of the park walkthrough videos I’ve watched, although I’m unsure if this is from an actual wave machine or just the changes in depth combined with the animals’ movements).

Thanks for the ask! I hope it was helpful. I would love to be involved in formal research on the topic in the future!

[whinlatter]

sorry i’m the anon from the other day who came to gush all over beasts and i’m back to do more bc i forgot to gush all over the way you write women and about their friendships!!! especially from a series that is narrated by a boy and also just generally dismisses girls as giggly and frivolous far too often, the way you have redefined not only their internal strength but the strength of female friendship! hermione and ginny, the unit they have going on w hannah and luna (the spice girls!!!), the inclusion of hannah abbott who shines for me in your series, pavarti’s speech for lavender at the greyback trial, probs so much more i can’t even think of right now. sorry i know i’m rambling so bad but it’s so flawlessly executed in beasts sometimes it makes me want to cry and i thought you should know!

mate thank you for this fr, that means the world. i am not the first person to point out that female characters, and particularly female friendships, are criminally undeserved in canon, nor the first to try and correct some of that in a fic, but it’s an honour to contribute to the cause and something i care about trying to get right. in chapters 10 and 11 one of the very dumb reasons i wanted scenes with girls getting changed (so the girls before the party, and ginny and cho before their surprise heart for heart) was because i wanted moments of intimacy and vulnerability between female characters, but also because i wanted the reader at this point in the fic to see that the girls are literally changing, trying on new versions of themselves, figuring out who they’re going to be in the next years of their life.

on the female friendships thing — it’s funny because i have found writing beasts that the moments between the girls have been the scenes that have basically written themselves or that have sprung up really organically and easier than when writing other dynamics. because it’s like, oh yeah girls hanging out and having a laugh! and looking after each other! and also bickering and properly arguing and growing up together! i benefit from that every day of my life and have done as long as i can remember and cannot imagine having grown up without it. and i really can’t imagine how i would even begin write a story about young woman coming of age without that being a part of her life (and if you were to write a story about a young woman whose life lacked it, surely the absence of it or the search for it would have to be a plot point). you’re completely right that ofc the series is narrated by a teenage boy, but it seems mad to me for a series that has such a large ensemble cast with meaningful arcs that there are no female friendships meaningfully and substantially depicted on the page (including ones dealing with conflict, or falling apart - it doesn’t always need to be positive, just an arc). jkr’s feminism, which is as bizarre as it is hateful, is so enraging for this (and many other) reasons: she pats herself on the back for her view that women (and exclusively cis women) are better than men, so they don’t need to grow, and for some reason don’t need arcs beyond their relationships to men (ginny changing over her adolescence is a literal major plot necessity and yet entire thing happens off stage?)

got the soapbox out SORRY but basically thank you forever i really REALLY appreciate this. thank god hannah abbott is enough of a blank slate to throw in a 10/10 cutie into scenes to make everyone be a bit nicer to each other!