#no need for things to make sense logically

[acowardinmordor]

I think when Steve gets Vecna'd, Eddie adds together what he knows about the situation and comes to a logical conclusion. To him at least. He knows that Steve came here asking for heavy drugs and high quantities. He knows that Steve was sounding a hell of a lot like 'sleep' meant something worse.

He knows that Steve is X, and that means all of the horrible things that Eddie knows X thinks about himself, the guy in front of him thinks that too. He knows that Steve, ever since the letters stopped, has been upsetting the freshmen by being distant and cold.

The only assumption he can come up with is that Steve already took something, and it's hit. Or it's causing a reaction. Or its a bad trip.

He has no hesitation about touching him, immediately checks his breathing and his heart rate. It sorta, kinda seems like an overdose, a little bit could be an allergic reaction, but Steve is trembling like he's scared, and his body is stiff. Those explanations don't make perfect sense, so he watches for something that would mean it IS medical, and heads towards his better guess.

Bad Trip.

Steve is high, and is in a bad brain place, and that means he needs to be grounded. Music helps, right? When he was on that bad trip with Rick after his first senior year, Rick put on one of Eddie's tapes, and talked to him. Calm shit. Encouraging shit.

Eddie fully ignores the flickering lights - electrical gets weird in the trailer sometimes - and grabs the mixtape he made for X, and shoves it into his sorta fucky boombox. It's a mix of X's favorite songs, and the ones he mentioned in his own letters. He doesn't know if Steve ever listened to them, but that tape is the only thought he has.

Gets it playing, and grabs hold of Steve's arms. He knows that Steve stopped talking to him. Since Steve knew who he was, and Eddie didn't know who X was, it means Steve probably doesn't care if Eddie wants him to be okay.

Eddie talks about how everyone else feels.

He tells him about how protective Dustin is. How angry Lucas gets anytime anyone says a bad word about Steve. How Eddie has never seen Robin smile so much. How no one judges him for needing to repeat a year. Everyone knows about how hurt he got, and everyone gets it. No one thinks worse of him for it.

He knows his voice isn't exactly calm and soothing, but the longer this insane eye-flutter, non responsive thing goes, the more terrified Eddie is.

"Steve, please, please, it's okay. Just find your way back. try to breathe, try to feel your body, and you'll be okay. I know - I know I've been an asshole to you. I know, okay. But the boys, Robin, shit, fuck, Steve, I need to apologize for shit, so you gotta slow down your breathing. Whatever you're seeing, it isn't real. I promise it's not real, okay? Come back to the real world and I can get you feeling better, I promise. Steve? Steve?"

He doesn't notice at first that Steve is starting to float. He's too focused on his face, the way his eyes are still rolled back. He lets go before he can notice his own hands rising with him. Shits too real, this isn't just a bad trip, he needs help, he needs an ambulance, a cop, anyone that can actually help Steve.

He has the phone in hand, and is about to dial when he turns back, needing to keep looking at him while he begs someone to come fast. He sees Steve in the air.

One step closer, then another. He keeps trying, another whispered sentence or three. But the lights are going crazy, and the music is staticky, the dialtone is screaming, and suddenly Steve is flattened to the ceiling, arms pulling slowly to the sides.

Eddie runs.

Leaves the door swung open as he throws himself into his van. His hands are shaking and he's hyperventilating too hard to notice Max Mayfield sprinting across the road, up the stairs and into the trailer. He's pulling away, when Max screams as Steve falls.

He hears the scream, he hears and feels the heavy thump of a weight hitting the ground. He knows what that sound must mean.

Eddie runs.

Behind him with the tape still playing, Max holds onto a terrified Steve, who has trickles of blood on his cheeks, and bruises blooming on his arms.

Steve, alive, cursed, who immediately asks if Eddie is safe.

[goopgirlie813]

Fair, I guess. I see where you are coming from. 

From my perspective, the reason serial criminals like Dahmer get brought up is because it is the situation where prisons seem the most necessary. Like, at least temporarily, if someone is killing and raping other people they should be separated from society so they can't access victims, right? Even if just until they finish some form of rehab. And in my mind, none of the things you proposed seemed like they would actually deny serial criminals access to victims. Forceful detention, even just temporarily, seems in my mind like the most reliable way to keep someone like Dahmer from having an opportunity to reoffend. That's the key, opportunity to reoffend. I find it terrifying to imagine a society where someone can be caught and convicted and sentenced for horrific crimes and still have the opportunity to access victims if they want. I think that's what most people are trying to do with that argument. Not an infinite loop but an (admittedly poorly executed) expression of the fear that without prison people like Dahmer could just continue killing. Intuitively it seems like these people won't stop unless they are incapable of continuing and prison is an easy to understand way to make their reoffenses impossible. Its scary to imagine taking that away and reintroducing that possibility. 

That said, now that I've cooled off a bit I think I can better see why you are frustrated. You have been answering to the best of your ability but there have been layers of uncommunicated assumptions beneath the questions we were asking that we (or I, at least) didn't even realize were there. I thought I was being more straightforward than I was because I took for granted the ways your perspective differed from what I am familiar with. 

I assumed that it was a given that Serial Criminals need a forceful denial of access to victims in order to be adequately addressed and I also assumed that it was a given that prisons are the only way to guarantee that. The way it has always been presented to me, prisons are the definitive method of stopping a crime and those crimes can only continue harming the public if the perpetrator is outside of the prison. So follow that logic train, if someone won't stop reoffending you need to be able to draw a line somewhere by putting them in prison or else it will never end. Therefore, if you abolish prisons, some criminals will never and can never be stopped so we will be forced to accept the fact that we may be murdered or raped or whatever at any random point and there will be nothing anyone can do to stop them. (Except extrajudicial violence, of course, but that's really no way to run a stable society.)

And I'm sure you will see some glaring issues with that train of thought that aren't so obvious to me, but hopefully that makes it make a little more sense.

The key problem here, I think, is that we believe that some form of detention is the only way to definitively stop certain people from re-offending. Specifically for the scenarios where the crime is a serious danger to others, like rape and murder. We want a definitive solution to exist somewhere because if it doesn't then the mere existence of Dahmer types evokes a feeling of terrified helplessness, "what if we can't change them? What if there's nothing we can do to be safe?" 

Detention seems like the only truly definitive answer (or at least, the most definitive available) so what's really being asked is, "is there a point in which you will allow prison in emergencies or do you have a different, equally definitive way to stop them?" and no number of rehabilitation or reduction options listed will ever satisfy that question. There needs to be something that can forcefully prevent killers who want to kill from killing (or raping or stealing or whatever) in that time period between conviction and reform, or else we will never find complete prison abolition an acceptable option, no matter how much we support rehabilitation as the primary approach (as I do. I only argue for detention as an emergency back up plan for repeat offenders of horrific crimes, to keep them from hurting people if or until they can be successfully rehabilitated). Without that, it seems like a gaping hole, an oversight, a blind spot, a loophole for the worst of the worst to terrorize us without adequate consequence or barriers.

I was getting really frustrated that you were treating the "what if they reoffend?" question like a rhetorical trick because in my mind it was asking, "How do we prevent people who want and intend to kill us from actually being able to kill us?" (big fear for those in marginalized groups who face frequent hate and threats) but to you it seems it sounded like "how can we trick you into supporting prisons and admitting you're wrong?" And while you seem to have been trying to say, "I'm not budging on my opinion unless you can convince me that prisons are valuable," it sounded to us like, "so what if they kill people? Prisons fail too much anyway so letting them go on murder sprees really isn't any worse if you think about it. Allowing a little murder and rape here and there is just the price of a fair and just society." And while that probably sounds bonkers to you I hope it explains why you're getting the reactions you are. I mean, imagine how you would react if you thought someone was telling you that, if they couldn't just talk him into being a good person, they would have shrugged it off and willingly let Jeffery fucking Dahmer continue roaming free for the sake of "improvement" and dismissed his victims as collatoral damage. Not what you were saying, but the miscommunication sure as hell made it sound that way. In reality, we are all talking past each other and having two separate conversations and the same time without realizing it. 

(Hope I understood what you were trying to say correctly.) 

so yeah I apologize for making you pull out your hair, I've been doing the same. Hopefully this helps at least a little bit. Even if you still think we're being irrational and foolish for this position I hope it gives you a little more clarity moving forward.

Pretty sure @needabetternamelater has reblogged like 5 of my posts and then blocked me. So that's funny. But, just in case it's just a glitch that won't let me reblog those replies.

What do we do with rapists in a prisonless society? Well, 1. Fewer than 1% of rapists go to prison, so holding up prison as the standard that any other solution has to beat isn't hard. What do with do with rapists in a society with prisons? For 99+%? Not prison.

2. Prisons do not reduce the amount of rapes that happen. So again, prison fails pretty handedly at being both a prevention and a punishment. (It's a bit like arguing 'without the death penalty, what will we do with shop lifters?")

3. I've explain many times, on posts you've responded to, the variety of responses a justice system can have to any crime, including sexual assault. Mandatory counseling, restraining orders, restorative/reparation hearings, housing and employment restrictions, fines, caseworker check ins, mental health consults, and vocational training are all possible responses, and which would would have the best chance of preventing recidivism would depend on the specifics of that person and the risk factors in them reoffending.

In the past, we locked people in pillories and cut off their hands for crimes. Phasing out a cruel and ineffective punishment doesn't mean there's free reign for crime.

[mumms-the-word]

Since you're the gale enthusiast does his orb in the ending where you let the crown be lost to the river/sea still light up when he and tav engage in sex? :3

Hello!! What a fun question!

Although I wouldn’t say I’m THE Gale enthusiast (because oh boy have you seen some of the amazing creatives on this site?? have you seen the headcanons and imagines and fics of people like @dekariosclan and @senualothbrok and @an-excellent-choice?? run don't walk over to their blogs haha) BUT...I do think a proportionally high amount about Gale’s condition and orb lol

and also I still have parts 2 and 3 of my long essay discussing the orb-as-disability/chronic condition still in my drafts so um...oops haha

Anyway here’s what I think! Under the cut for length, and note, we'll be tossing together some lore and headcanons here!

I think you can have it either way! The orb itself seems to react to magic and neglect in the game and he can also trigger the glow at will. In other words, we see it when it flares up after being neglected (i.e., when it pains him), when he absorbs a magic item to feed it, and occasionally when himself triggers the orb (to show you its hunger, or in a darker turn, to trigger the explosion).

It’s a fandom addition that the orb glows during periods of high emotion/stress/desire, but it’s a good headcanon! It makes sense logically in the game. If the orb's glow is triggered by hunger, desperation, etc, why not other emotions?

(And, side note, it’s been a minute since I’ve played BG3 so I could be neglecting to remember a scene where emotion does trigger the glow, and if so that’s my bad!)

Anyway, one of the things that triggers the glow is hunger. Hunger for magic and power, usually. But desire is a kind of hunger too, especially carnal desire. So does the orb glow during sex? Probably! Other people have explored this at length and there are some very fun headcanons about it floating around.

Does the orb glow during sex after Gale has tossed the Crown of Karsus aside and learned to manage his hunger/desires? That’s a more interesting question.

Again, it could go either way. In certain dialogue at the docks scene, Gale says he’ll have to keep feeding the orb eventually. He treats it like it’ll be a lifelong chronic condition. So if the orb lit up before during sex, it certainly will continue to light up post-Netherbrain!

Gale: Perhaps that’s the best place for it. Away from the meddling of mortals and Mystra alike. It’s not exactly the outcome Elminster hoped I would achieve, but it’s the best I could do with the time his charm bought for me. I feel the faintest prickling of hunger from the orb already. It will not remain under the sway of his spell forever.

But when you get to his little post-docks bedroom scene, the one where he proposes, he says the orb has changed. It seems to have calmed, though he isn’t totally sure of the effects or limitations yet. Mind you, this is romance-only, so does a romance help quell the orb's hunger better than friendships or Gale going about on his own? Possibly!

Tav: You seem very relaxed. The orb isn’t on the verge of exploding yet then? Gale: It’s strange. I woke up this morning and realised the orb feels different. No clamour, no desperation, no hunger. I hesitate to say if, but I think it’s…satisfied. I’ll need to keep a careful study of it, make sure it’s not suddenly destabilized by proximity to a rogue pair of Netherese sandals, mind you, but I think it’s dormant. That’s a worry I can leave behind me, at least. Tav: was it Mystra’s doing? Gale: It could be. Or perhaps the orb’s hunger was fueled by my own, and my contentment influences it in much the same way.

It sounds like the orb is dormant, which would suggest no glow. But it's not settled, necessarily, either since Gale suspects it could still flare up. The more important thing is that it's not volatile.

He also says in the epilogue, if you toss the Crown, that Mystra reassures him that the orb won't bother him again. This is if you're friends with Gale, rather than romancing him:

Gale: I have to say, I'm quite grateful just to be 'Gale' for the evening. I fear my students find me somewhat intimidating, due to my erm, explosive former reputation. I seem to put the fear of the gods into them. Or the fear of Mystra, to be more specific. She sought me out, not long after we went our separate ways, and assured me neither she nor the orb should pose me any threat in the future. Of course, it's still in there. A constant reminder of my former hubris, and a surprisingly effective means of keeping my more disobedient students in line. Perhaps a tad too effective.

So, after all that…does it still glow?

It’s up to you to decide! I think it’s fun imagining Gale intentionally lighting up his orb when his students get too rowdy just to watch the sudden hush it puts over the classroom. I think it’s fun imagining that the orb still glows when he gets excited, angry, horny, or even (sadly) stressed. I think that falls in line with details in the game.

And even though it’s dormant, that doesn’t mean the glow has to stop. One, you can headcanon whatever you want haha but if you feel like the lore should support it, just think of it this way: the orb is no longer volatile and in search of arcane power and magic. But it’s still lodged right there over his heart, it’s still very in tune with his emotions (probably). And he says it’s possible to be orb was fueled by his own hunger, and that his current contentment is what keeps it calm as well.

So if, say, he were to experience another type of hunger (for example, “oh my Mystra if I don’t take my lover over this desk right now I will combust” types of hunger) then I’m sure the orb does glow!

Therefore, yes, if he still has the orb in his chest I think it very much still glows during sex.

Hope that answers your question! Thanks for the ask 🥰

[riptidefromzoe]

How I would have fixed Bianca Di Angelo's Character

First of all Bianca is a character who has very little actual personality or backstory, I'm afraid ultimately she is just another age old case of a woman being killed in order to further a man's story.

So to fix her(and give her an actual character) I would do the below:

1.Make her older!

• I would make her 14, a few months older than Percy(specifically born on June 9th 1932, idk why but I feel like it fits her) seeing as Bianca being 12 logically makes zero sense in the context of her story. Making her older would in turn make her choice to join the hunters, make Artemis's decision to let her become a hunter and zoë's decision to let her join the quest all less stupid. Her being older would also make her the second choice for the prophecy, above Percy. It also just fits with what little character she has to be older.

2. ACTUALLY GIVE HER A PERSONALITY!!!

• Something that has always deeply annoyed me is that she has no personality! We're clearly meant to be devastated by her death but we know so little about her that her death doesn't really invoke any emotion. When we look at the Greek big 3 kids personality's in all honesty she and Percy have a lot more in common than Percy and Thalia or Bianca and Nico, so l'd hone in on that, id point out their similarities(though I wouldn't make her basically female Percy, there's already enough of that in this fandom), make her happy, make her gloomy, make her apathetic, just make her something!

3. Expand more on her powers and what they would have been had she not died.

• I wouldn't make her show off too much as to not give away the surprise of her and Nicos father but l'd definitely give her something. I saw once in a fanfic that her powers were to control the rivers of the underworld and do things like turn any water into a river of the underworld and I quite liked it and thought it was creative.

4. Don't make Bianca's entire character revolve around Nico!

• Bianca's character completely and utterly revolves around Nico, it's always 'oh Nico this' and 'Nico that' like please shut up!

Why is Bianca 'mothering' Nico at all??? For the first 9/13 years of their life's they lived with their mother and all the other parts were in the casino; where they had their every need taken care of, and their school; where Bianca and Nico probably weren’t even around one another very often!; they both also mainly grew up in fascist Italy(an extremely misogynistic place & time mind you) so even with that(Especially with that) it makes no sense why Bianca would be ‘mothering’ Nico(honestly nico would most likely been raised and expected to protect and take care of her!)

—

This is less of a fix and more of a silly headcanon but I’d have her steal 6 friendship bracelets from the gift shop whilst at the National Air and Space Museum. One for Percy, one for Thalia, one for Zoë, one for Grover, one for Nico and one for herself(she got one for Nico because even whilst caught up in becoming a hunter she had noticed that Nico was sad, most likely from feeling left out, so she got him a bracelet so when she came home she could give it to him and he wouldn’t feel so left out anymore). When she dies she takes her and Nicos bracelets with her. They never find either bracelets. Percy, Thalia and Grover have never taken the bracelets off.

—

Anyways if you have any other suggestions or thoughts please let me know!

(This has been sitting in my drafts for a WHILE now��)

(Also sorry if this is hard to read!!!)

[fairymischief]

I have never seen a description of the Divine feminine/masculine that wasn't disgustingly regressive, and both disempowering to women while excusing men from doing things that every human being ought to do - especially in relationships. It's basically setting a one-size-fits-all personality type for both men and women. For example:

This makes it seem like being a leader, being rational and logical, being assertive, and generally taking charge of your life in a proactive way is a male thing. "Let things come to you, let them flow." Let yourself be a pawn in a man's world, moved hither and thither by THEIR desires, THEIR plans. Oh, and don't forget to "be open to change," because your life is supposed to be open to changing any time and any way your man wants it to. He's the active element; you're just expected to go with it.

Meanwhile, it makes it seem like being caring and nurturing is a female thing (which is a convenient way to unload the entire burden of caring for EVERYONE else on the woman) and it suggests that men shouldn't be expected to have emotional intelligence. So it makes men feel justified to be cavemen who understand nothing about the feelings of others and don't need to understand, nor lift a finger to help anyone in a way that would be considered "nurturing."

It's just so silly, and it doesn't even make sense; for example, it says that "receptivity" is a female thing. Um, I'm pretty sure that when a man is sitting on his ass doing nothing and having everything done for him by his woman, that that's him being pretty damn "receptive." It's like these qualities only apply when it's convenient, sort of like how "the kitchen is a woman's domain" until its in a professional setting; THEN the kitchen is a man's domain. And are we going to say that all the male innovators, writers, artists and musicians are in their "feminine energy" by being creative?

I could go on and on, but I think it's easy to see how sexist and gross this whole concept is. 🤮

@hyacinthsgrimoire

[somerabbitholes]

Hey there! I'm curious—what were some of the best books you read in 2024? I need some recommendations...

Have a good day!! 💝 (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)⁠♡

this took a while, because it's been a weird year for me. but here you are:

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray: I love family novels, and this was the best of the year. It’s about the Barnes family, who are doing badly economically, and sort of unravelling generally. The characters were beautifully crafted and I loved the sense of freefall in the novel

Orbital by Samantha Harvey: loved, loved, loved the way it thought about the earth and tried to articulate what the planet means. My phone is full of photos of pages and paragraphs I liked

India's Near East by Avinash Paliwal: this is about how India’s domestic and foreign policy along its border with Myanmar and Bangladesh basically influence each other. I learnt a lot here and it was generally interesting to see how the border region is governed and policed

The Social Construction of the Ocean by Philip Steinberg: this changed my brain. Steinberg is a geographer, and this book is about how the ocean means different things to different cultures and the meaning comes from specific political and economic histories of these cultures. It tries to trace the origins of current systems of ocean governance and it was so so interesting to be able to think about space this way

Employees by Olga Ravn (trans. Martin Aitken): same territory as Orbital in that it’s about what it means to be people. This is narrated as witness statements from people and humanoids working on a spaceship, but the book doesn’t tell you which is which, so it’s like an exercise in investigating what makes humanity unique

India trilogy by V. S. Naipaul: he wrote these three books over a thirty year period of visiting India, and I loved them for the amount of detail in them and for how they always managed to say something more complex and simply more interesting than a lot of other journalistic accounts on India. And I’ve always enjoyed that Naipaul goes to the logical end of his arguments, so that was great too.

Dominion by Tom Holland: this was my fun history read of the year. He traces the influence and persistence of Christian thought in wider European thinking and imagination now, and since this is not something I know a lot about, it was great to learn

Finally, I’m not yet done with Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan, but it’s shaping up to be another favourite.

Have a nice day!

[project-sekai-facts]

what gets me the most is how ass this lineup is for the collab. like, okay, rui/natsume was a given. tsukasa/chiaki makes sense, but... they could've done better. same goes for akito/jun. and then toya/izumi is pulled out of their fucking asses 😭 no logic there. it also uses no rhythlin character, so it's leaving out a whole ass agency in favor of.. whatever was going through their minds on that one.

honestly chiaki tsukasa is perfect. to me. i need it to be known that at midnight 8th december 2021 i was scrolling through the units while downloading the game and the very first thing i thought of when i saw tsukasa was "he's giving that guy [chiaki] from enstars". that was my only first impression of him other than his outfit is dumb.

TOYA/IZUMI IS CRAZY LIKE. i don't remember much enstars character lore but i just??? don't see those two matching well???? i barely know jun but he doesn't give me akito vibe so i'm just gonna assume they saw the images with project sekai music post of the hiyojun kiss with fragile put over the top of it (they probably went with the customer service persona vs reality thing i think jun has? idr but this explanation is way funnier)

[nickeverdeen]

SPOILERS FOR OBX SEASON 4 PT 2 BIG THICK FAT FUCKING SPOILERS!!!!

How do you think the OBX characters would comfort JJ's girlfriend reader after he died? Obviously he's not with Kie in this one.

Sorry, it’s kidna short, but I’m not really an expert in this

—————

How would OBX comfort JJ’s girlfriend after he died?

John B

John B would sit quietly with you, offering his presence rather than words, knowing the weight of losing JJ is indescribable

He’d be grieving deeply himself but would try to stay strong for you, sharing stories about JJ to keep his memory alive

He’d make a habit of checking on you daily, even if it’s just to sit in silence together

John B would feel an overwhelming need to protect you, almost as if he’s trying to make up for not being able to protect JJ

He’d suggest doing something meaningful to honor JJ, like visiting a special place he loved or doing something he always wanted to do

Sarah Cameron

Sarah would be the one to gently hug you and hold you when you break down, never letting go until you’re ready

She’d try to pull you out of your grief momentarily with small outings or lighthearted activities, but only if you were ready

Sarah would sit with you and share her favorite stories about JJ, focusing on the moments that made everyone laugh

She’d remind you that it’s okay to feel whatever you’re feeling—grief, anger, guilt, or numbness

Sarah would make sure you’re eating, drinking water, and getting rest, even if she has to physically hand you meals herself

Rafe Cameron

Rafe might surprise everyone by stepping up, offering you support in his own guarded way

He’d have a fierce desire to make sure you’re okay

He never liked JJ much

Rafe would tell you outright that losing JJ sucks and that nothing anyone says will fix it

Rafe would show his care by doing things for you, like running errands or fixing something in your house, so you don’t have to worry about the small stuff

Kiara

Kiara would be the first one to hug you tightly and let you cry until you couldn’t anymore

She’d gently remind you that JJ wouldn’t want you to blame yourself or anyone else, helping you work through complicated emotions

Kiara would take you to quiet, peaceful spots in nature—like the beach or a forest trail—so you could grieve without distractions

When you’re overwhelmed, Kie would remind you to take things one day at a time, offering practical advice and emotional support

She’d encourage you to talk about JJ when you’re ready, knowing it might help to keep his memory alive

Pope Hayward

Pope would try to help you process your grief logically, gently explaining that it’s okay to feel all over the place

He wouldn’t push you to talk if you didn’t want to, just sitting with you in a comforting silence

Pope would step in to handle practical issues you’re struggling with, like bills or chores, so you don’t have to worry about them

He’d make sure JJ’s memory stays alive, suggesting ways to honor him, like making a scrapbook or planting a tree in his name

Cleo

Cleo would be brutally honest but kind, reminding you that JJ would want you to keep living, even if it feels impossible right now

She’d hold you tightly when you needed it, her arms offering a sense of safety amidst the chaos

She wouldn’t sugarcoat things but would always make sure you knew she had your back no matter what

Cleo would remind you of your own strength, saying, “If JJ loved you, you must be something special. Don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.”

[moonspirit]

I feel kinda shy sending this ask but I wanted to see someone's opinion on this idea I had

What do you think Annie's reaction was to Armins voice?

In the time Annie was in the crystal, paralyzed and pretty much stunted in growth, this was a pretty developmental time for most other characters, for Armin specifically, he a little bit grew taller, broader, sharper, got a hair cut, he got handsome(not that he wasn't handsome before). It makes sense for Annie to be a bit surprised by all that's happened in four years, I know I would be. (In my mind I think seeing how much all of her old friends have changed would solidify how long shes been in the crystal for like a 'damn its really been 4 years' moment)

Annie could hear when Armin spoke to her from outside the crystal, I would think she could also hear his voice start to change overtime, get deeper, maybe his voice cracking sometimes. I wonder what her reaction was when she could finally hear him clearly or when she really processes the sound of his voice in her ears.

It's very distinctly Armins voice, after hearing him talk to her for 4 years she can probably recognize Armins voice anywhere.

It just makes me think sometimes, Armins "man voice™️" coupled with his more grown up appearance, do you think an arrow show through her heart. Like whoa hes a man😳😳

Hi hi anon, no need to feel shy at all T^T You're more than welcome here anytime!

But weigiwgiohweihgwig this is ALWAYS my favourite thing to think about ever xD I've gushed about it before but I can always gush about it again cuz the butterflies, god the butterflieeeeeesssss!!!!!

I believe that in-show at least, there's no difference in Armin's voice before and after the timeskip BUT logically, it makes sense it would've deepened a bit (it's upto our imagination tho). I often think about this too and I agree! Tho his voice being on the breathier and softer side of male voices in general, I headcanon that this change wouldn't have been *too* noticeable to Annie who was, by all accounts, living a sleepless nightmare inside the crystal. I also wonder if listening from inside the crystal would've caused some distortion?? In that... maybe she could tell this is Hitch and that is Armin, but they sounded kinda warbly and distant?

Wait, nvm I got distracted 🥲

The point is! That even if Annie had picked up the change in Armin's voice, she couldn't possibly have known of the physical change - her eyes are closed, and she remembers only that smol boy with the bowl cut. Even if Hitch told her about Armin's haircut one day in front of the crystal, it's hard to... really picture something that sounds way too foreign, y'know? I think Annie would've tried and come up with some hideous picture and a mosaic-blurred face in her imagination xD

DESPITE ALL THAT, Annie was thiiiiiiiiiis close to inhaling her pie down her lungs when she saw the... the new guy. He says "Annie?" and she goes all googly eyed.

WTF. WTF WTF WTF WTF?? whO is thiS? Armin's sof voice but HE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE AN ARMIN?? IMPOSTOR!

But he's staring at HER and there's titans stomping around and there's a small wind and his *short* hair ruffles and-

WTF WTF WTF??

HE HAS A NECK NOW???!!!

(Class name: Introduction to the Evolution and Life-Cycle of Armins, an endangered species of Boy)

Tho the girl is dowN BAD for him cuz like, not even a minute into their reunion and look at her face:

She wants to #*&#^%_@_)@$()@$&I&##%)))09#S*@$^@$

[zylian]

this is still my fav way to see Ls!zam btw

in the warden/flame fight he had dead eyes at the start when the wardens dropped, contemplating how to properly react and was unphased until flame got hit by a shriek and zam found the route he should take to make it fun

like leo knew something was up when he got revived cause zam just wanting to isn't really a thing as theres always a reason behind his thinking so they had to dance around the topic since derap was there

also why zam struggled so much for so long with mapic not needing him but rather wanting him, the way he asked for an apology logically cause its the one thing he's never heard from mapic under his own understandings of apologies, even denying he said sorry until it was said in a way he recognized

he's still finding his way around emotions and situations with his logic as he barely feels any and needs reasoning to make it make sense

especially with how he's seen how rough players reacted to him betraying and the grudges they kept, he absorbs information constantly

an expert at emotions yet still goes through loops when someones reasonings are based on emotions than logic

apologies if you don't wanna talk about it but I'm genuinely obsessed with your unhinged zam au, sooooo..

How did zam transition from just a guy to being unhinged??

no problem!!! I love to ramble :D

I never really thought about when Zam started to change but I would say his “moral” implications were flipped upside down when he joined lifesteal.

so Zam started to become unhinged after the nether chase in s2 and when him and Leo got attacked after Clown was offline.

Zam got hunted by a lot of people and understood he was supposed to be scared and fearful cause he was still being hunted. And all he saw was Leo and Clown not caring that he went through that but only the aftermath (revenge)

S2 rips his morals apart and since Zam needs something consistent he ends up with “as long as it’s in the base server rules” than he can have fun without questioning everything.

—Ramble—

Originally Zam could regulate himself and act the important emotions that correlate to his situation but once he was chased to no end after clown logged off, he went through so much running and diving into the nether to hide with Leo that he thought he should be scared

But Zam couldn’t tell how scared he was supposed to be and the only way to find out was for him to repeatedly witness such a situation to know how to react to it.

So he watched Leo and of course Leo is sorta crazy. “To not be cruel to those you deem are weaker and to be relentless to those you deem stronger.”

When Clown returned he watched him. He saw Clowns obvious distaste and treated the disrespect for his teammates as his own.

Zams core thought process was changing from how he watched Leo & Clowns principles. Zam likes his rules. He deems his skills rough and that those actions were all within the rules. So the baseline made him happy since in lifesteal you can’t always win.

When he saw Leo become power hungry he knew he didn’t like it but he didn’t see a problem with it.

Through s2, Zam slowly deems that he needs consistently/ something to ground him to be able to have fun. The cleansing was iffy so he focused more on his team rather than the moral implications of it. He only hated exploits in s4 since that ruined EVERYTHING he was trying to do.

Even in s3 with all of those found bases, the thrill/ dread was technically fun. He put himself in gruelling situations to see if he knew how he should act before breaking (not showing emotions)

Zam was just a guy having fun with matching what emotions go with what until he met Leo. Leo & Clown are the only 2 who know Zam doesn’t have emotions and fakes them. So Leo told Zam to watch everyone and being over emotional doesn’t matter as long as you achieve it. Clown consistently tells Zam if he finds the emotion he’s displaying off and Zam takes it into consideration.

With the brutal environment lifesteal is, Zam deemed that anything can go as long as long as he’s grounded.

((I reworded this so many times and I still don’t like it but here, I hope it made sense, unhinged Zam is still getting worse))

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt 136

Contrary to popular belief, Jaskier was the one who said no to riding a horse. Jaskier willingly walks alongside Geralt and Roach. Because Jaskier is afraid of riding horses. Don't get him wrong! He loves horses! Just not being on them as they run 48 kilometers per hour. When Jaskier sprains his ankle walking, however, Geralt decides enough is enough and it's time to teach him how to ride and help him face his fear. Jaskier sits in front of Geralt on top of Roach as Geralt teaches him how to ride, and every time Jaskier gets too nervous, Geralt will hear his heartbeat tick up, and he'll hug him, or praise him, and Jaskier will calm again. Jaskier's been getting better. To the point that Geralt can now just walk alongside Roach and Jaskier, hand resting on Jaskier's leg or back. Geralt decides to surprise Jaskier with his own horse! Geralt finds something sturdy and gentle, but also pretty, knowing his bard will love to comb and braid the horse, and will want to show it off. It's a white horse, which certainly won't stay white on the road, but then again, Jaskier will most likely delight in cleaning the horse and admiring it's sheen when it's washed. Geralt presents Jaskier with his horse, and Jaskier is overjoyed. Sobbing with happiness, hugging and kissing the horse, and Geralt has never been more in love with his bard. The first time Jaskier rides his own horse, they go at a very gentle slow pace, as the horse seems unsure about being ridden. Jaskier cajoles and consoles it through it all, and soon enough they're riding at steady paces, both Jaskier and his horse now feeling safe and brave enough to go at a normal pace, sometimes even a bit faster. Geralt is happy. Until one day, big white wings materialize on the sides of Jaskier's horse, and the damn thing takes off with Jaskier still on it. Shit.

[uncanny-tranny]

I've talked before about how the way people treat suicide can be unintentionally devastating to the suicidal person, but I don't think I really ever said how to avoid that.

Speaking about suicide in how selfish it "is" ("think about how you'll transfer your pain to your loved ones!") might seem like a way to put logical sense into the suicidal person, but, honestly? It runs the risk of massively increasing their shame and guilt about being suicidal. Suicide is not inherently a revenge fantasy or a way to "get back" at someone's loved ones, so when the suicidal person is treated like a criminal of a "crime" they haven't even committed yet, you can imagine how unhelpful that can become.

Instead, if you want to point out how cherished your person is, frame their relationships as something they can keep fostering.

"Your cat will miss you :(!!!!" becomes "you and your cat seem close, right? I'm sure it's beautiful having a close friend like that!" and maybe include ways that they and their cat are close and meaningful to each other, tailored to that relationship.

That's only one example, but when you shift the focus away from why that person should repent and feel guilty for being suicidal, you can instead focus on why they would live for that reason. See how you can frame that as a positive? Whatever is keeping that person tethered should never be used as a bludgeon, I think, because then you're taking away why they're living, the positivity of why they are here. Whatever they are here for should be remembered often and honoured.

[gravelsong]

Okay there's already that post that talks about the parallels between the previous scene with Thundercracker and the humans vs Starscream and the humans but this is the direct moment after that and. Ohh this is so good. Thundercracker let them go because they're fragile and can't physically hurt them, and Soundwave agrees on that but he knows that they'll tell what happened (considering how Soundwave was a communications officer, he probably knows how fast word travels better than anyone) so they have to die anyway. "Regrettable but necessary", it's for the greater good of the mission

[racetrackmybeloved]

i adore how quick the boys are to help crutchie when he needs it. no discussion, no pity, just support.

when morris pushes him over, it isn't jack (who is right there) who helps him up, neither is it race nor romeo, who we saw him interact with earlier in the song. it's albert who helps him up, and it's albert who carries him until he gets his crutch back. did they have a system? was it albert's job to carry crutchie when needed? was it because they're close friends, and we just never get to see it again? or was it that any of the newsies would have done it, but albert happened to be the closest?

when the nuns hand out food, kid blink and smalls don't hesitate before hoisting him onto their shoulders. jack and specs both place their hands on his back to ensure that he doesn't fall backwards. it's so smooth, so natural, like they've done it a million times before.

and note: i don't think crutchie interacts with any of those characters (albert, kid blink, smalls) at any other moment in the musical.

conclusion: crutchie is so so loved.

[catdadeddie]

"Lou definitely got fired over the cameos" Y'all don't pay attention to the Rookie cast. You should see the shit that Eric spoils doing cameos.

[epiphainie]

i can't with all these "the show is highlighting tommy's jealousy, they're planting seeds that it will cause problems" takes like bffr. he mentioned being envious over the 118's dynamic twice, sure, but in what world (literally how?) would that cause a relationship problem? do yall expect him to be in cahoots with gerrard behind their back and murder buck to take over his life or something?? like even with the hyperbole aside, i genuinely cannot see how they can turn this into relationship drama without going against everything they showed us with tommy so far