#no cuz the more i think about it the more it makes sense it just makes too much sense for it not to be the case

[ilikelookingatthings]

I think what bothers me is both sides are sort of right but I haven't seen people bring up the actual issue.

Mari IS valid for being upset. She gave chat a heads up she wouldn't be in Paris and he ASSURED her that he's be in Paris and guve her a signal with the vibrating toy if the city got attacked. She trusted that he could minimize damage until she got there and he did seem to a bit goofy when she asked him.

The city was in danger and got PERMANENT that he either could have mitigated.. .or the sentibeing wouldn't have been shut down if he had been there to battle it so she would have had time to go... if he had warned her she could have watched the news herself to speed back as well.

So from her perspective he did break her trust and was careless and it was very incharacter fir her to snap at him and spiral a bit and her temper coming out because that's what happens when she's worried. She tends to exaggerate hkw she feels to make a point especially because she misunderstood and thought chat wasn't taking it seriously. And normally chat is the one who blunces back...the one with stringer patience and thicker skin who doesn't give up...who doesn't seem to take things that personally. She's snapped at him before after all and he's always known to not take it that personally.

In Orgins the dude messed up along with her but he still went out there and trusted she'd show up and in her plan. When she lost fu and accidentally led hawkmoth to have all the other miraculouses. In gamer 2.0 when she was pissed and impatient and snapping at him e stated focus on the battle and didn't snap back and helped her get in a better mood to fight max. Heck in the specialize assumed he was being sneaky trying to give her a yellow flower despite her already turning him down so she thinks ge doesn't take her words that seriously....where in fact he was sincere in it being a friendship flower abd when it was rejected he rolled with it and offered himself flowers.

It makes complete sense for mari to snap at him cuz she is worried about Paris and personal damage and she misunderstood chat trying to focus on the battle infront of them as him not taking her concerns seriously. And nari's main issue in the special os she underestimates the impact she and her words has on people.

What bothers me is the show made a point that it was PLAGG'S idea not to tell ladybug. Adrien was willing to give up his chance to go on the field trip with his friends to fulfill his promise as unlike mari IN Startrain....master fu never told him he shouldn't miss out on important things just to be chat/LB. Adrien was worried LB would be disappointed in him but plagg...instead of reassuring Adrien LB would understand....that ladybug WOULDN'T be disappointed in adrien....plagg instead advised Adrien to just go on the trip and not feel guilty for going...that he could watch the news and speed back if a attack happened and avoid disappointing LB.

A plan that WOULD have worked probably if adrien and mari weren't trapped by the two American super teenagers trying to ship mari and adrien due to mari's feelings.

(and don't give me 'mari was trying to get over adrien so it doesn't count' when mari's REAL main motive of adrien going on this trip is because SHE wanted to go on a trip with adrien and she didn't want him alone with lila. Mari had no closure, she stared at his posters still and she even talked alot about adrien to luka when luka helped drive her to the pick up cuz she was late)

And more chat was trying to focus on fighting the villian infront of them so they could get that done quickly so they could go speed run to paris...he even asked for a plan and asked if they could discuss why he was in newyork later.

But mari assumed from the get go that chat DIDN'T have a good excuse for going to paris. Instead of choosing to rip into him or interrogate him later and focus on the task at hand. She knows you can't give too many details about civilian lives yet expected chat to tell her specifics mid battle. When chat asked for a plan to defeat the bad guy quicker she instead said NO, that she can't trust him anymore or work with him in the MIDDLE of him fighting...which is what distracted him and got him thrown and got anon catasclysmed.

And is what took up even more time!

Its definitly incharacter for mari to spiral more abd be upset and lash out because chat normally is the positive one who bounces back, takes it on the chin and finds a positive.

So it makes complete sense when CHAT understandably spirals because he catacyslmed someone, adult heros ripped into him and chased them, ladybug ripped into him and Paris took permanent damage...and mari doesn't realize how bad that is and doesn't try to drag him out of that because she normally doesn't have to and she is distracted by her iwn issues.

What bothers me is though is plagg never fesses up that it was plaggs idea not to tell ladybug. Mari doesn't think maybe chat had a good reason for coming to newyork cuz hawkmoth and akumas showed up there. She doesn't think aboit how SHE was the one who distracted him in the middle of the fight, refused to work together or how him leaving was due to her words of saying she doesn't trust hjm and can't work with him anymore and hkw she didn't refuse what those adult heros said at least.

Like....Mari gets chat back of course but she tells him to never leave like that again and that she can't be LB without him(or that she doesn't want to be cuz she threaten to give up bring LB)without acknowledging her words or how she distracted him. No plagg correcting her that it was plagg's idea or assumjng that chat must have followed hawkmoth here once she found out a akuma was around. No ankn feeling bad because by trapping him in yhe museum he couldn't rush back.

And it's not helped that the only one who seemed to back up adrien was right to want to go on the trip and fight for it was marinette. Bur WE know her real motive was due to her iwn crush and not wanting him around lila. So when his dad sends for adrien to go back to Paris which is adding another layer to adrien already feeling like it was a mistake to put his wants first to go on the trip..that adrien was selfish....Mari niot defending for adrien to stay....not even saying she's glad he came felt like shs backed gabe up.

And it feels more frustrating because we know the only reason adrien got to come was mari's meddling gave gabe a excuse to reconsider.

On one hand...it is consistant with mari flaws that she underestimates the impact of her words on adrien and chat and she sometimes misses exactly what went wrong but trying g to fix it anyways.

And her not actally understanding the right reason and everything...and accidentally falsely backing up that adrien was selfish for going actually is good set up for adrien to get more insecure in following seasons and not really understand his importance and why LB doesn't trust him with more important things. She went for the quickest way to get Chat back...semi threatening him to get him back. Just as gabe truies to drag adfien back quickly for safety since hawkmlth wss going to attack new york were he felt thevquickest way was. Y being blunt and unreasonable and reversing his decision even though GABE is the one making the danger and its not adrien being in the wrong.

And I GET the importance of the lesson that you can't just leave and that mistakes can be forgiven and chat probably should have had more faith LB didn't REALLY mean it. Not project his stuff with the dad...and it was still his choice not to tell LB and she had a right to be upset.

But even without his dad issues his logic for giving up his miraculous makes perfect sense with how LB refused to work with him to fight the bad guy before, he killed someone, adults said he wasn't worthy and LB not stopping his spiral at all. He didn't make excuses and she knows this is one of his fears from sandboy!

And itz frustrating because we know how serious he is! And it's nice they acknowledge mistakes happen and he's brought back....but God it was frustrating because no acknowledgment it was plagg's idea? Or that he was trapped in the museum and couldn't leave? No realization of why it would be understandable he believed her harsh words? Or that her assuming he wasn't taking the fight seriously caused issues a by elevating the fight and distracted him to get thrown? Heck mari never even got to tell adrien she wanted him yo stay or that she was glad he came...they sent him a cute picture to include him later but still!

No hint from anon his plan would have worked if ge hadn't been trapped on that museum?

And people tend to rip into adrien or mari in tge special. What about kagami and luka....but adrien was sincerely touched mari backed up his want to go on the trip when everyone gave him condolences. Adrien was grateful to mari so him wanting to hand out more with his friend makes sense! He thinks mari likes luka! Adrien isn't thinking of any of that as romantic! And he thinks mari can barely handle being next to him on a plane despite her claiming she isn't into him to everyone else!

And the joke with the flower js the fact chat was sincere in it being about friendship because unlike mari he had closure by confessing and he wasn't lying about his feelings....but could still choose how he wanted to water each plant/relationship while mari/LB assumed chat wasn't actually moving on because of how denial and terrible SHE js with her own crush/feelings. Contrasting how they both handle things.

Alli can think about is how adrien was used to validating his own feelings/views by himself but when he thoighf mari was backing him up...the influence she had over him in reased so when she didn't fight to validate jt again when his dad tried to take him home....adrien didn't fight it the way he normally would by himself after that despite Nino's protests.. especially considering mari was portrayed as someone who could get through to gabriel.

I mean in mari's defense she was diwn and in shock over losing chat.....but it did remind me that her support for adrien was more due to her own feelings rather than ACTUALLY aboit his right to go on the trip...even if she used the better reason to validate her support before to cover her real motive....which IS VERY incharacter and common for mari. And how if anon wasn't there and knew...bare minimum getting chat back would have taken longer because mari again didn't think about it from the other person's perspective.

Also does no one bring up tikki knew his identity and didn't say anything ir think anything about mari fighting to get adrien on the trip? Unless I'm wrong and owlman happened later.

Once again, Adrien is the sweetest kid ever, and this scene hurt

[lucimaaie]

runaway ✧.* spiderwoman au

pairings - ellie williams x fem!reader

summary - things in your relationship have changed since ellie got shot, some of them good. some of them you don’t talk about.

warnings - fluff mixed with angst, gets a lil suggestive but no smut as always, unspoken trope because plot, 3k word count, not proofread cuz i was too excited to post

playlist | spidey masterlist

Who or whatever was up in the sky, you prayed to it. Pleaded that every bad thing you'd ever done, every bad thing you'd even plan on doing would be forgiven all to save her. It made you look even more unstable to your father lingering outside the door, but you didn't care.

And whatever else you added worked. The constant beeping of the machine became the one thing grounding you to reality. You didn't get a wink of sleep, a crumb of food, or speak a word to the very curious, almost invasive police. All so you could see Ellie's eyes flutter open.

The first sound she let out was a tired, pained groan as she tried to sit up. "Are you crazy?" You blurted, rushing to her side to guide her back down. It was then that you seemed to realize she was awake, emerald eyes staring back up at you in confusion and a hint of fear. A loud gasp fell from your lips as your fingers traveled from her arms up to her face. "You're awake." You said, lip quivering in a failed attempt not to cry. "A-Are you hurting? Can we get some in here! She's awake!"

"Is that a question?" Ellie's voice was rough. Had she not been so grateful to be awake, laying her eyes on you it'd have come out with more snark. She was stubborn on trying to sit up just hours after surgery, pushing herself up on her fists.

"Are you making a joke right now?" You were more a mix of dumbfounded and relieved than annoyed right now. Lord knows you should be. Your girlfriend was fricking Spider-woman. That was a big thing.

"Now that you're crying? No, of course not." Ellie reached up to swipe your tears before they could fall off your face and onto the sheets. Her hand was ever so gentle in cupping your face. She swallowed as she took you in, not sure what to say to make this right.

None of this was right. She had unintentionally sprung everything on you when she landed at your window tonight. How long had it been, actually? Had she been out for days? What did they do to her? Ellie's mind was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming need for answers.

Her hand slipped down to rest on top of yours. She licked her chapped lips, brows furrowing. "Did they find me in—“

At the mention of the suit, you pulled away and wiped your face. “I hid it.” You said quietly. “I hid the suit and whatever..came out of you," The words tumbled out of your mouth as you were forced to think about the panic you felt just hours ago. The swirl of emotions sat deep in your stomach, threatening to rise up and come out in a way you couldn't control. So to stop it, you pulled away.

Ellie could sense it and it made her want to climb out of the bed just to hold you and apologize a million times over. Somehow that still felt inadequate. "And they're still at your apartment?" She dug her fingers into her palm. It was a better thing to focus on than how she messed up.

"I'm sorry, is that what you're worried about now?" You hadn't meant to sound pissed, but maybe you were. Maybe you were more than scared out of your mind you were gonna lose her. Maybe you were frustrated and pissed—beyond pissed—that she had kept this from you. And maybe mad at yourself thinking of all the times you should've known, all the times she was hurt and you weren't there—

Once again, she didn't know what to say. For the first time, she wasn't looking at you. It was a painful sight to linger on, her sunken features downcast under fluorescent lights and surrounded by beeping machines and wires. You were still fuming, but you couldn't be now. "I'm not mad. I'm not mad." You whispered, more to yourself than her, as you sat back next to her because what were you doing pulling away from her in the first place?

"It'd be okay if you were. I mean, if you are." She said with a humorless laugh. That wasn't the sound you wanted to hear. "If I were you, I would be. I get it—"

"Ellie, I'm not." You rubbed your brows. You shook your head as if it would make all your thoughts fall right where you wanted them to be. "Ok, that a lie, but— I don't want to be. I just wanna be happy that you're okay and I am. So, I'll be that. Only that." You grabbed her hand in an attempt to remind yourself that she was alive and okay, so everything was fine.

If you weren't convinced by your disjointed rant, you know Ellie wasn't. She wouldn't say it though. She wouldn't dare tell you how to feel when she came to your window bloodied, bruised, and shot. "I'm sorry," Her eyes welled up with tears she had failed to swipe up before they fell. She couldn't bring herself to. For years she felt like she had this band over her mouth, reminding her she had this huge secret she had no one to share with and only now had it given up and snapped. "I'm sorry," Was the only thing she could make herself say.

"Oh, baby—“ You tried your best to pull her into your side without aggravating the recent wound in her side. She had hid certain parts of her life behind a wall and you had learned to live with it, hoping that one day she'd feel comfortable enough to let you in. This was it, you thought.

She had let a few more tears fall, along with "I'm sorry"'s, before the sobbing had gotten to her gut, almost like a literal knife twisting in just to make things extra hurtful. Even then, she hadn't had the right words in mind. Instead, she held on your arm like her life depended on it. And that worked for a while. Though, not forever.

"Ellie." No response. "Ellie, can you look at me?" Her eyes flicked up to you with glassy eyes. It a sight you'd never experienced before and never wanted to again. "From now on, you're gonna tell me everything, okay?" You were persistent in wiping each tear as it fell. "And..I tell you everything, even if it's something you quite frankly won't give a shit about. And you tell me everything, even the-" You lowered your voice. "Even the Spider stuff."

"Yeah, okay." Her hands grabbed yours from her face and brought them to her lips. She sniffled as she gripped your hands. "I can do that,"

Healing from a gunshot wound was no doubt hard. It was harder when you were antsy to get some action. No, not that kind. (Though, she wasn't opposed.) The superhero-ing kind. Ellie missed swinging through the air and feel the wind all around her as all her problems became like tiny specks on paper. Of course she missed saving people and feeling needed by her city, but that had seemed to increase her risk of losing you. She had decided that wasn't an option, so she put Spider-woman on the backburner for right now, mostly.

She was slightly hunched over her computer in your newly shared apartment. There was no way you could back to your apartment after what happened and not enough space in Ellie's for the two of you to live in, so insert the supposedly inexpensive--totally expensive, it's new york let's be real--one bedroom, one bathroom beauty you now lived in.

Ellie brows furrowed as she felt somebody's hands wrap around her neck. The fact that her senses were relaxed and your scent was filling the air told her it was you. "Whatcha doing?" You nosed at her neck. "Fucking up your posture or just trying to get your dailies?"

She let out a snort. "Why not both? I like to multitask."

"Of course you do." You came up to stare at the screen. It was opened up youtube on some gaming video, but you weren't convinced. Your hand was on top of hers in a second, moving the mouse to click the other tabs. "Hey—!”

You weren't far from letting out an 'aha!' now that your suspicions had been proved right. She was knee-deep in articles about her absence, the surfacing of alien tech, the effects of the first alien invasion a couple years back in 2012. Deep in the rabbit-hole. "El..you said you were taking a break." Your hands fell to your sides.

"I was! I am." Ellie turned around in her chair, slowly so as not to feel that familiar sting in her side. "I'm just reading. That's not illegal." Ellie’s hands chased yours in an attempt to soothe your disappointment before you voiced it.

“Ever since you could walk again, you’ve been at this computer for hours, hun.” Her attempt fell flat as you moved to sit on the edge of desk, eyes glued to bright screen as it would change any moment. You wished it would. Then, you could have your girlfriend back.

“I’m at home for hours. I have to find something to fill the time.” Even her shitty excuse didn’t convince her. You were still practically sulking at the edge of the desk. “Hey,” She said softly. “I’m still relying on you to get up and down the stairs. I don’t think I’m gonna be swinging any soon.” She said, lighthearted. “Babe?” You hummed, eyes still glued to the screen. 

You weren’t sure you were ready for her to get back out there again, nor was her body. Well, the first part was a lie. You definitely didn’t want her to go back. It was selfish, that was obvious, but that didn’t change your mind. That didn’t change the fact that she was still hurting because some asshole on the street shot her with some superpowered gun. 

Ellie leaned closer, reaching her hand up to angle your chin down to her. “You don’t believe me.” She said in realization, eyes flicked between yours with a hint of hurt. She really couldn’t blame you, she wasn’t convincing herself either. 

“No, I don’t.” It hurt to peel her hand from your chin and walk away, but you did. You ignored her attempts to call after you, closing the door behind you and dragging your feet in the kitchen. You had concerned yourself with some attempt at cooking a dish you cared nothing about, but lucky for you your shitty cooking could keep you busy for hours.

Ellie had wandered into kitchen to check on you, shoulders going limp at the sight of you pitifully pushing food around in a pan. She approached you carefully and slowly, turning the stove off and setting the pan aside. "So," She inhaled slowly, hands wringing together. "You're mad at me,"

"I'm not mad at you." You shot back, taking the pan from the counter to put it right back on the still-hot stove. With a passive aggressive smile, you flipped it back on. "What would I be mad about?" Now that was a stupid question.

"I've got some idea." Ellie was quick in turning the stove off and snatching the pan from your hand. She sighed at the slosh of opaque orange liquid painting the counter and the floor. "Great." She said under her breath moving to grab a wad of paper towels and crouch down before a stabbing pain in her side reminded her to slow down.

Your irritation softened as you shot out to stable her and guide her onto the island. "You gotta be careful, El. You can't move like that yet." The mess on the other side of your kitchen was the last of your worries. "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" You rolled up the bottom of her tank top to lay your eyes on the wound. No bleeding, okay. That's good.

"I'm fine. I'm..more worried about you, I swear you haven't breathed in a two minutes." Ellie's cold hands on your arms were oddly grounding, pulling you from your small moment of panic.

Your first breath in a while sounded something like a wheeze. Rolling her shirt back down, you pushed yourself off the counter—and away from the palpable concern from Ellie's eyes alone. Now the spill was helpful in distracting you, allowing you to distance yourself from the very familiar conversation you had been pushing back for weeks. You had realized your were practically buffing the polish of the counter until Ellie pulled at your arm, her other hand holding your waist.

"It's clean and I'm fine." Her voice was quiet and yet it cut through your raging thoughts effortlessly. It took the same amount of effort to turn you around to face her and to pry the towel out of your hands. "Let's get you clean," She could see you coming up with a way to decline and she was having none of it. If she couldn't even clean up her own mess, she'd at least calm your worries. Or at least try. "We'll both get clean, okay?"

Steam became a curtain around the two of you as you both worked up a lather. (No, not like that you perv.) You didn’t want to admit the hot water hitting your bare skin had been quite calming, though it didn’t do anything to stop the force that was your overthinking mind.

“Hey, I can hear you thinking.” Ellie’s arms around your waist was a pleasant surprise. You could feel a few strands of her damp hair tickling your neck, making a few giggled escape your lips. “This is the no thinking zone, babe.” She mumbled against your neck, trailing kisses down your neck to your shoulder.

“Then..how can I talk?”

"You don't need to do that either." She kissed your cheek, hand loosening it's grip on your waist and slipping lower. You gasped, grabbing her hand.

"Is that why you wanted to shower together?" You turned around, taking a step forward just to watch her inevitably back up to the tile. A raise of her brows told you she was shocked, but not unreceptive to what you were doing. The mix of needy haze and admiration in her eyes fueled your confidence to tease her even further. "You just wanted to get me all distracted?" Your rested your arms on her shoulder, fingers combing through her wet locks.

"Maybe I was being a good girlfriend and wanted to calm you down, which succeeded at." She usually wasn't this smug but she felt she'd earned the right. She was forced to sit on her ass almost all hours of the day, but that didn't mean she was completely useless.

"You are a good girlfriend." You blurted. "You're the best girlfriend, you know that?" Your teasing smirk turned into something genuine. "And I'm not just saying that because you literally saved my life. I'm saying that cause I.." Love you. "because I need you." It wasn't what you wanted to say, you were too scared to say the real thing. Scared that if you said it and allowed your relationship to progress any further, it'd be harder to watch her go everyday and know that might be the day you lose her to some supervillian with a vendetta. Besides, it was true. You needed her.

Ellie looked stunned at your admission and everything behind it. She let her forehead touch yours, sighing shakily as she took in your words. "I need you more," It was funny, if you were imaginative enough you could replace the need with love in a beautiful reality where New York didn't need saving and you could have her to yourself.

You were yanked out of your mind by Ellie's lip crashing into yours. A surprised sound made it out your lips only to come out muffled. You kissed back with just as much, if not more, intensity as she gave you. Your hands tangled in her hair as you lost yourself in the feel of her, no longer stuck in your mind. However, when her hand started to slip down, you hesitated. "Ellie, you haven't been cleared yet-"

"Don't care," She mumbled against your lips. "It'll be worth it." She pulled back to look at you, eyes dark with a need you haven't seen in her before. Between school, her internship, her secret vigilante-ing and then her getting hurt, you hadn't exactly made the time to have that talk.

"You say that now," Your brows were furrowed in concern. They only tightened when your eyes traveled down to her wound. It was healing for sure, but the idea of her in any pain at all hurt you too.

"Hey, it’s healing." Her hand was warm on your neck, finger swiping over your jaw. "Super-healing, remember?" She tilted her head so your eyes were drawn to her face instead of her wound.

"How can I forget?" You said sarcastically. "What other super things can you do?" You asked, genuine curiosity drowning underneath the tease in your voice. “Catch flies?”

"Keep it up, bug.” Ellie snorted, using her strength to hoist you up an inch from the ground. “Air-jail, how bout that?” 

“Ellie!” You yelped as the water came down the strands of your hair and your back, making you feel something like a wet dog. She knew how much you hated having wet hair and was using it to her advantage. “Put me down, right now!” You were only in the air for a few more seconds before she had you situated in her arms. If you could see how you looked clinging onto her, you would’ve busted out laughing. 

“Just showing you my super-strength.” She nosed at your collarbone as she put you down. “And being a really good girlfriend.” She was aware being a good girlfriend would mean being completely honest with you. She hadn’t been before and she was for sure stalling now, but she could make it up later. She wasn’t ready to deal with the complexities brought into your relationship by a certain arachnoid persona. For now, she’d enjoy making you happy for once. 

thank you for reading!

[meamiki]

happy siffrin day / loop plush drop day / loop day!!! :D

[jamandjazz]

I've been thinking a lot about Steve lately. I really like thinking about how situations and family dynamics shape people. These quotes specifically, "and Steve— his hatred for his father coming out in his soft, bitter voice and the violence of his temper" and "We never could tell who we'd find stretched out on the sofa in the morning. It was usually Steve, whose father told him about once a week to get out and never come back."

And I know how strange it feels to have parents that are shitty but give you a lot of things materially. He has a car and gets a lot of pity money but his dad never does anything but try to push him to the side and forget about him. There's nothing canon that shows his Dad physically abuses him in any way so there's a good chance he told himself to just be grateful he got so much and his dad wasn't 'that bad.' He's resentful and angry and impulsive and so damn complex and we should talk about that more.

"I thought of Soda and Steve. What if one of them saw the other killed? Would that make them stop fighting? No, I thought, maybe it would make Soda stop, but not Steve. He'd go on hating and fighting," Steve is described as hateful and angry but what else is there for him to do? He can't just leave, he's too attached to where he is but staying isn't good either.

He's mad at the world he was born into, who wouldn't be? Greasers get all the rough breaks but he can't fix that, he's just one kid. (Also he definitely feels like a character that thrives off of being able to fix things, cars, problems, anything that he deems needing 'fixing')

And despite his temper being a big part of his personality that's not all of it. He's friends with Soda, and likes to indulge him. He's got a dry sense of humor and cares so much about anyone that cares for him back. He's protective he's caring and sure sometimes that means he gets violent and angry but that's a lot of what he knows, he's so so so much more than just someone that's just mad all the time despite the fact that that's what he gets boiled down to a lot. In the fandom and in the book, honestly I think that's why he's so close to Soda.

Soda's good at seeing past that sort of thing, he's good and understanding and when your whole life everyone just dismissed you as the kid that was always mad for no reason that's so fucking refreshing. Being seen as more than just your flaws helps you feel human. Helps you remember you deserve just as much care and affection as anyone else, and seeing how the Curtis's treated their kids was honestly probably where a lot of the resentment for his dad started building up.

Anyways this is super long but basically Steve's super complex and I love him.

[hisui555]

Dunno if it's welcomed (inform me and I'll delete if it's not) but tacking onto that :

A "cult" definition can also apply to anything outside religion - political groups (think National Socialism aka Nazis, or what's going on in dictatorial countries currently like North Korea, China, Russia - just to name the most known), family or business groups (the mafia, which overlaps both) or in relationships (toxic partners - more often than not they're found out to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder or any other inflated ego sociopathic disorder), who set themselves as the "Only True and Right Thing" in one's life, cut off the rest, and instill such conspiracy theories, because having a common enemy allows to rally people : "These [insert designated enemy here] are why things are going bad for you, chose me, I can fight against them and provide you what you seek."

Instability and uncertainty are what the people chosing those cults are the most afraid of : the good old unknown of change, of maybe losing something that's important to them (routine, lifestyle, status, having to insert a new parameter in their lives), even if it doesn't affect them directly. Sometimes it's also just a general laziness to take the steps or make efforts (climatosceptics), but in short, they prefer to hand someone else their brains to think for them.

Like OP said above, people like this believe strongly in a "everything that happens to me MUST have a reason to happen to me", because it's easier to put the blame on someone or something else, or thinking it's "retribution" (earned or not : good old "Heaven or Hell" thinking) that makes up the meat and bread of Whackyland's conspiracy theories. Something must be out to get them, or else they have only smokescreens to justify their own infortune (be it general bad luck or changes they don't like).

A common trait is also this kind of "center of the universe" thinking (in their eyes, everything is out to get them, in a malicious way, like laser-guided unjustified bad karma), though it also goes hand in hand with leaving the common sense, brains, and sense of critic into the hands of a structure, person, group, etc, because said structure, person, group is doing the thinking for them, and, guess what, designating the enemy : "These [insert whatever] are the reason you feel unstable, sad, mad, bad, etc."

The whole paradox, naturally, is coming from a behavior-controlling manipulative cult forcing identities on their listeners and projecting what they're doing onto the designated "enemy" to comfort and consolide those people into the idea that the "enemy" is manipulating them, forcing them into identities, and controlling their behaviors. Two birds, one stone.

It's a very tail-biting-snake, egocentric way to want control in one's life but without the burden to make efforts managing said control : someone else does it for them, and they're comfortable with it. Consistency and their own routine is reassuring for them, and as long as said cult provides it, it's all fine, but when something arises that changes said routine and view of the world (newly established human rights and acknowledgement of them, for example), they lose footing and are convinced it's against them (and also never the cult's fault, of course, since the cult, and their way of life, is "in danger").

Anything they see as poking a bit at their sense of comfort, and comfort zone, is classified as a menace targetting them. An "absolute truth" is comfortable, 'cuz you don't have to think about other, way more varied truths. As if math could be solved with a single formula and you just have to apply it (or, should I say, "X is the answer to everything" ?), and if you follow that, you're made for life, without having to put in the effort to think or do much. It doesn't allow for change, it doesn't allow for unpredictability, for what's unsure, uncertain, unknown - yet again.

It's a mental fragility, actually, and a very strong yet paradoxically quite submissive sense of ego and self-preservation guiding those thoughts. Basically, it's a sense of feeling unsafe outside of the boundaries of one's little world, a world they passed control of and decisions on to someone or something else : wanting to watch TV, but letting the program decide instead of making your own. I could even go on with AI on that : you don't need to think, it's already done for you - minimum effort for maximum result, and if it's not to your liking, not your responsibility, it's the AI's fault ! Wonderful win-win situation, ain't it ?

Yeah, that's actually called mental dependency - and that's something conspiracy theories often correlate with : people paradoxically think they're doing independent thinking ("I won't be fooled like the other sheeple") but it's actually just a form of burrowing oneself into one's comfort zone and victim role, cutting ties with the world without truly seeking the right informations - just the first thing in their sense found on the Internet is enough.

Wanting comfort, certainty and safety in one's life is a very natural thing, but convoluting events and reality, thinking oneself as the center of the universe, and above all putting one's brains in someone or something else's hands is very harmful on oneself. Unpredictability and uncertainty don't equal "danger", they just cross at times. Knowledge (something cults ban, curiously) can help make uncertainty enjoyable and turn it into positive discovery, help discern what's potentially harmful from what isn't. Or else it's good old "Fear of the Other/Dark/Unknown" again.

Long story short : being a "comfortable 'victim of the system' " - in a place where you can complain all you want, control your life but without the burden of thinking and, correlating to thinking, responsibility for one's own actions. That "not my fault" thinking : conspiracy theorists are all about self-satisfaction and self-congratulation, and cults often encourage and drastically enhance that "snitch on the ones not like us to preserve yourself, leave the decisions to us, do as we say, be a 'good member' and it won't be your fault" mentality.

The Conspiratorial Mindset

So, I've always had a bit of an interest in scams and hokum, and what people call "Cults".

One of the common refrains when you talk about religious Cults is, "If you think about it all religions have beliefs that seem odd to outsiders" and this is true, but as I read more about cults I started to think,

"Wait, a lot of these groups aren't united just by having unusual religious or supernatural views; a lot of them also seem to have matching patterns of behaviors that have nothing to do with belief in psychic space aliens"

I'm talking about things like,

Having a leadership structure which is absolute, where the top leaders cannot be disciplined or even openly criticized by lower members;

Exerting tremendous control over the dress and behavior of adherents;

Telling adherents that outsiders are untrustworthy and that contact with outsiders should be strictly limited and heavily monitored by organizational leadership;

The extensive and common use of shunning and reprogramming in response to violation of any of the above rules.

In some groups, failing to adhere to the dress code and spending a lot of time with outsiders is, at worst, the subject of a few little jabs at family gatherings. In other groups, those same behaviors are treated as Defcon one crises and become the central issue of the adherent's relationship with everybody else in the organization until they can be bullied back into doing the organization's bidding.

It was gratifying to learn that other people have noticed these patterns (Some people prefer the term "High Control Group" to "Cult" because it highlights what the actual problem is)

I am starting to notice similar dynamics in what are commonly called "Conspiracy theories".

The thing about conspiracy theories is... Well, conspiracies exist, and sometimes groups of powerful people get together to do something in secret which would get them in big trouble if they were to do it openly.

But I am starting to notice a particular, I don't know, a particular way of conceptualizing the organization and purpose of conspiracies which is unique to some people and which characterizes the kind of conspiracy theorist who takes Alex Jones seriously.

I kind of think of it as a "Witch-Hunting mentality".

For certain people in more primitive times and places, if they, say, slipped off a ladder and hurt themselves, their first thought would be, "That must have happened because a witch cursed me. We need to find and punish the witch who cursed me."

And this isn't just the attribution of malice that characterizes this idea:

One malicious conspiracy that might make you fall off a ladder is a manufacturer who doesn't care about safety ratings. Imagine that the manufacturer is really deliberately malicious here. A subordinate comes to him and says, "Our ladders can't reliably hold the weight of a person and a lot of them will probably break and cause people to fall and hurt themselves." and he says, "I know that but who cares, by the time people figure it out it'll be too late to get their money back."

That's a malicious conspiracy, but, importantly, if Bob buys a faulty ladder and falls off, the conspiracy wasn't trying to hurt Bob; it merely didn't care whether Bob got hurt.

Now, this distinction doesn't take away the malice and hostility towards Bob, but if you go to the ladder manufacturer and say, "Hey boss, Bob bought one of our faulty ladders, but he's really skinny so the ladder didn't break" the manufacturer will go, "Who the fuck is Bob? And good, that's one less angry person."

Whereas imagine Bob's ladder has been cursed to break by a witch. The witch did it because she hates Bob, and wants him to fall, and if she finds out he didn't fall, she'll go, "Curses, I'll have to find some other way to hurt Bob."

Conspiracy theorists, it seems to me, are far more inclined to conceptualize conspiracies as acts of deliberate malice aimed at them rather than acts of negligent malice.

@loving-n0t-heyting posted this article from the New York Post which contains a good example of what I mean:

“I thought I was on the cutting edge of promoting rights for gay people,” Yang said. “But then I started looking deeper into where this was coming from and who was paying for it, and I started to get very disillusioned...

I assume the people paying for it are LGBT advocacy groups? Did you, uh, not know that the people you were working for were paying you to work for them?

“When you really dig down you can see how much of this comes from documents and plans at the United Nations,” Yang said, referring in part to the UN’s “Gender Equality” initiative. “It’s part of a global agenda to restructure society, re-structure our social norms and the economy,” Yang claimed. “They are undermining the sexually dimorphic nature of reality and breaking down the differences between the sexes to break down our identity. They are constructing identities for us and they want us to adopt them.”

Oh, I see.

This is exactly what I mean. LGBT rights efforts make Yang and others feel disoriented, like society is being restructured and that they are being left behind, like they aren't quite in control of social norms and that stable identity categories can't be relied on anymore.

Now, one kind of conservative might look at that and say, "These are bad second order effects of LGBT people trying to assert their lifestyle in public and that's why we should oppose them."

But another kind says, "These changes make me feel unstable. Therefore, the main purpose of the changes is to make me feel unstable. In order to understand these changes, I need to figure out who wants me to feel unstable and what they would gain from making me feel unstable."

The idea that Yang's feeling of instability is simply a side effect of a series of efforts mainly focused on LGBT rights is incomprehensible. Instead, she believes that there is a series of efforts focused mainly on making her feel unstable, with LGBT rights as a kind of side effect to the main goal of making her feel unstable.

This kind of thing is, to me, a big red flag that indicates that we are starting to float away from reasonable conspiracy thinking into crazy town.

I am particularly curious if folks can recommend any writers or researchers who have noticed this dynamic.

[frobby]

theres so many implications from the fact that shiro as a ghost visits yukio while hes sleeping but not rin for some reason

[spookberry]

Are there any non-humans in Monster High that are not considered a type of monster?

In g1 we have CA Cupid! She used to go to Monster High before transferring and shes a greek goddess, not a monster. Posea isnt a student but she is a part of the franchise and I'd argue shes a godess as well. I dont really consider either of them to be monsters.

I do wonder about mermaids and whether or not they're considered monsters? We have great scarrier reef where the ghouls all turn into mermaids, and also Finnigan exists. With the existence of Meeshell over in Ever After High. To me it kind of implies that mermaids are a kind of monster and shes more the exception than the rule... I wonder if the underwater world has its own cultural distinctions as well, if you consider how the reef dwellers treat the kraken.

Jinafire and Isi as well count more as mythological/magical creatures than they do monsters in my book.

Invisi Billy actually is one where I'm puzzled. MH doesn't really stick to the lore it pulls from in terms of Universal Studio Classics, obvi, but technically Billy's dad was a human man who fell into a science experiment. Billy in my mind fits in a weird grey zone where hes lumped in with monsters and considers himself part of that community but falls out of most peoples definition of what a monster is. But hes different enough to not he counted as human. 🤔

Also, technically speaking, I don't think ghosts consider themselves to be monsters in g1? Like they exist in their own dimension, and Spectra's family choosing to move to the monster world is seen as kinda scandalous. Monster society I'd say views ghosts as monsters but its not a label all ghosts subscribe too.

G3 lore states that everything is a monster type though, even humans. So in that universe the answer is no.

[restinpeacesensei]

suggesting something,,

[sea-buns]

Forgive me if I'm a bit nervous about Gorgug this season. It's just that the last Zac Oyama pc was Colin Provolone, who was arguably one of his greatest D20 performances, if not the greatest.

Zac always does great with every pc he plays, but Colin was something else. He came out swinging with actions and words that were teeming with unspoken emotional baggage. The way Colin's presence affected the other pcs; there was this level of depth that I don't think I've seen in any of his other characters. It was understated and quiet in that signature "just a guy" way that he tends to be, while still captivating everyone instantly with just how raw it was.

Not to say we haven't seen emotional depth in Gorgug. It's just that, compared to the other Bad Kids, Gorgug's journey and progression as a character has been very... impersonal? Like, yes, he found his birth parents, and he found friends who appreciate him, and he faced his insecurities about his intelligence, and he navigated relationship troubles, and his trial through the claustrophobic bug-tunnels was a horrifically-uncanny parallel to how he's spent his entire life trying to make himself as small as possible.

But how much of that has actually changed him from the Gorgug we started with? I would agree that he's definitely happier with his life, given all the loving and supportive people that have been added to it when it used to be just him and his parents. And he's certainly grown into himself and become more self-assured in his abilities, even if he's still, and always will be, our anxious little guy. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've always liked how Gorgug was a representation of all the little things. The subtle acts and kindnesses that don't seem like much to most, but to some are everything.

We don't need another Bad Kid living in fear that their mouth could be shit-in at any moment. We've already got one-too-many.

All that being said, I just feel like Gorgug's personal story beats are much easier to sweep under the rug than everyone else's. He has the same soft and understated quality that Colin held, but they lack that extra oomph that pushed Colin over the edge from being just another guy in a series of dudes, to a character that the vast majority of us could not get out of our heads. He took someone who was anxious and softspoken, who ultimately never wanted to be violent— someone who is remarkably similar to Gorgug in many ways— and maintained that demeanor and core in Colin's character while still hitting us in the feels with character development at max velocity at every turn.

I think Zac gets better and better at this with every season that goes by. With each new character, there is always something that leaves me stunned in awe. And it's been, what, three? Four years since we last saw Gorgug?

I'm just,,, I'm cautiously optimistic but also going into a bit of a worry about what violence this man may inflict upon us

[anonymousmothman]

I love star trek fanart so much because people will put tails on any species that isn't human . Cardassian? Understandable, they're straight up reptiles. Weyoun? I get it... it's a little critter. Andorian? Vulcan? Bajoran? I love it so much. Even if it "doesn't make sense in canon" it's so real to me. I think everyone deserves to have a tail because tails are cool as shit.

[transmandrake]

I wrote out a longer version of this that made no sense but. Trans people arguing on whether theyre seen as their chosen gender by others is such a tiresome thing.

Like yeah I do agree that trans women arent seen as men and often are seen as women

But I do not think this is a good thing or that thats a core component of transphobia and transmisogyny specifically

Because

1. the corollary 'so trans men are seen as men' is simply not true. Trans men largely are not seen as men, or even women imo but often as women.

2. Transphobes, largely, when they see trans women as women... Do not. See women as people, or worthy of true personhood. Yes even if said transphobe is a woman.

Transmisogyny I do not like as a word because I think all transphobia is misogynistic. If it wasnt, trans men would be seen as men largely. But they are not.

All trans people are seen as women in typical transphobia, because 'woman' is lower on the ranks than 'man', and therefore are placed as low as possible, where possible.

More specifically, trans people are seen as inhuman, where possible. This often means being seen as women. Because misogyny.

This is also why, even though I, generally, really like the *productive* discussions the concept of transmisogyny and transandrophobia have fostered, I dont think they are useful terms, because all transphobia is an intersection of sexism of all flavours. That is what it is. If men were seen as lesser, trans people would be seen as men. And, while fringe, yes, and not systemic, people who see men as lesser see trans people as men. That's all.

Digging deeper into it, pretty much nobody has discussed enbyphobia as the real intersection of transphobia. Trans people are seen as outside the binary, and this does not contradict people who say there are only two genders at all... because gender is a piece of humanity. To these people trans people are not human enough.

That might sound like im contradicting myself but it isnt. Whichever gender is closest to inhumanity is what people will see trans people as. There are two genders, lesser, and human.

This is also why it causes so many arguments, and why they arent productive. If a trans man is insisting theyre seen as a woman, and a trans woman is insisting theyre seen as a woman, they are not at odds. They are in agreement that they are percieved as our current societies lesser category.

I don't think insisting a trans woman is seen as a man is transphobic, and insisting a trans man is seen as a man is decidedly not gender-affirming, because, while fringe, lots of trans people are, whether theyre aware or not, are in sexist circles, who do, in fact, see men as lesser in personhood. Sure, misandry isnt systemically a thing, but sexism is not purely targeted at women.

This is also why I think the 'Trans X are X' phrase is not useful or truthful. Insisting a trans woman is a woman to many peoples ears is affirming a trans woman's lesserness. Insisting a trans man is a man is often a weapon against them expressing their multigendered experience.

Trans men and women are not always men or women. They are always people. Worthy of personhood. Insist upon this above all.

I think more productive action can be done if all this is kept in mind, and we stop eating ourselves in finger-pointing.

[the-somwthing]

I’ll just say I never understood why so many fans say that other fans give Grian “too much trauma”. Like. I feel like you could say that about literally any of the life series characters yet I ONLY really see it said about Grian? Why are we not allowed to give Grian Specifically any trauma. I don’t get it.

[druidonity2]

Death Blossom

[emotional-fandom-soup]

Thinking about the relationship between Tuvok and Vorik, and how despite following the same set of principles, they still have wildly different personalities. And they both know this. They know they're not compatible in that way and that if not for voyager, neither of them would interact with the other at all. But they also know that they're the only two vulcans still left on this ship.

And I know Tuvok might be able to cope with that given his friendship with Janeway and how close he's gotten with Neelix and well... everyone.

But Vorik? (This is all just projection cuz sadly we don't get to know much about him BUT-) imagine that voyager was his first posting, and he's just out here with little to no experience on humans and without having been able to form proper bonds yet or to fully learn to regulate his emotions, and he's trying so very hard to integrate but he doesn't quite know how.

And how Tuvok sees him and thinks 'ah yes, a child in need of guidance' but then notices how incompatible they are and so whenever the two interact it's just this quiet understanding of biologically, culturally- we are the same, but Respectfully I Do Not Like You

[keeps-ache]

i think i'm starting to really like writing again :D this will have consequences

[puppppppppy]

Atla live action 😐