#rather than idk a group activity that involves other people?

[lesbianjudasiscariot]

you're really cool & i want to interact more. but i'm terrible at interacting :')

hehe tyty ♡

[wormgremlin]

People who ask others their pronouns are often ill prepared to cope with people answering with anything outside the anticipated answers -- he, she, OR they, and often having already decided on one (or a lot of times it isn't even a question asked in good faith, rather box checking and virtue flagging).

Being a good ally is not asking someone their pronouns and going oh you're nb, they/them. It's taking whatever the fuck comes out of the other person's mouth and respecting it.

Sorry babe but if me saying I use "any and all" pronouns stresses you out, that's honestly a you problem. It's not my job to pick a "true" or "most preferred" pronoun for you to call me by when my preference is, in fact, use everything chaotically and change it up often.

If you want to ask for clarification on how I'd like various pronouns used, that's fine. But saying to my face "ah I always get stressed about any pronouns - what do I call you"? Just rude tbh. I told you my preference, figure it out. It/they/he/she/xe/zir/fae/rat/bitch/ass/motherfucker I don't care, it's not my problem.

[amiavy]

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡ first post!!!

Heartworm [oneshot]

✭ Scaramouche x Reader

ׂ╰┈➤ modern au / they’re in high school / idiots in love!! / fluff / light angst at the end i think!? / childhood friends / fem reader / no use of y/n

.ೃ࿐ synopsis ; you feel you and Scara’s relationship growing more distant as you enter your first year of high school. you start to feel unsure about your feelings 😱.

3,738 words

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help idk how to make posts on tumblr,, i originally posted this on ao3 but decided i also wanna start a blog so. i hope u enjoy :3 ੈ✩‧₊˚

btw he’s,,, called kunikuzushi bc i like it!

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High school is difficult. Especially your first year. It’s a completely new environment, filled with a bunch of people who always feel bigger than you. And considering the meek person you are, it’s no understatement to say that you mostly avoid getting involved with anything too big or too extravagant. You were okay with sitting alone outside in a more secluded place, eating lunch whole listening to music.

The solitude was nice. Feeling the crisp air brush along your skin was refreshing, and definitely needed after getting through crowded hallways and crammed staircases. During these small moments, you mostly felt okay with yourself.

But sometimes, it was too quiet, even for you. The elongated silences were getting uncomfortable. You just needed to be able to speak at times, to talk with someone— just like the two friends at the table beside yours would do everyday.

Occasionally, there would be some groups of kids who would come over, but that wasn’t the break of silence you needed. And yes, maybe sometimes a classmate or stranger would come over, talk for a while, but that wasn’t it either.

You did make some friends, but they were… weren’t, well... You cherished and appreciated them, but—

There was just someone in your life that you didn’t quite feel fulfilled without. And of course, who else would it be but your dear friend Kunikuzushi? Although you still went to school together in the morning most days, it was so fleeting. After that, you barely saw each other during the day.

Unfortunately, you had no classes or even lunch together. And the only after school activity you both joined was Arts Council, which happened once a week, on Wednesdays.

Wait,— today is Wednesday!

Today, you’d get to see him! Finally, after barely being able to spend any time together, you could indulge yourself in some well deserved company.

Thinking of all the topics you could tell him about, you smile to yourself and happily eat your food. You thought of talking about what happened during your week so far, and to ask him about his.

There was a prominent question you wanted to ask him, too. Did he make any other friends?

Other than you, everyone saw him as rather disagreeable— and they weren’t wrong for that! He was snarky, sarcastic, and didn’t like to talk unless necessary. Thus, it made sense for you and him to be sticking together throughout basically your entire youth. After all, the only person willing to be near him is you.

You’re able to see him as someone more than just his spiteful remarks, and so he allowed you to follow him for being “at least tolerable,” as Kunikuzushi said himself.

Being so caught up in your thoughts about him, you were pulled back to reality once you realized that the one song which reminded you of him the most began playing.

The feeling tugs a small, but sweet smile over your lips, which remained while you got yourself ready to head back to class.

Class is as boring as ever. And yet, it’s fairly different from middle school, when you used to sit beside Scaramouche at the back of the class. You remember how fun it was to make small doodles on his notebook in class while he wasn’t looking. Oh well, at least it’s last period, and you’d get to see him soon!

Soon, the bell rang, waking you up as last period ended. You were suddenly much more awake once you recall it was time for Arts Council. With excitement, you quickly pack up and make your way to the club’s room.

Many other members were already walking inside and finding seats, while you wait beside the door for Kunikuzushi.

For some reason, your heart begins pounding. Your stomach feels like it’s all in knots while you think of him. Like you were scared? Nervous? Excited? For… what?

“Hey,” A voice suddenly calls out to you. You exclaim a small wince when you feel your forehead get flicked.

“Wha—“ You were about to speak, until you realize who you were looking up at. It was Kunikuzushi. Your eyes widen slightly, and you could hear yourself stammer just a bit.

He raises an eyebrow at you, seeing how startled you were. “You’re so odd.” He simply says, brushing past you as he went inside. He looks back at you once, gesturing for you to come in as well.

You also look back at him and nod, before looking back a second time. Promptly, you followed and took a seat beside him, moving the stool a bit closer. He lightly scoffs, which makes you giggle. His attitude was always so silly.

You then turn to him, about to say something to start some conversation. However, you see two other figures approach the table, greeting Scaramouche while you direct your attention to them.

You look at the two curiously; a fair man with ashen hair and teal eyes, holding a neutral expression. His name was Albedo, who you knew from your science class. He was smart and humble, though not very social. The other boy had dark teal hair which matched his solemn expression, an amber colour accentuating his cat-like eyes. Even though you didn’t know him, he seemed to have similar energy to Albedo.

After they said hello to Scaramouche, to which he responded with a quiet hum, they both look to you. Surprisingly, Albedo greets you with your name. You didn’t expect him to know you, since he always seemed much more absorbed in his own work.

Albedo then spoke again, “Hm, so you and Scaramouche are…”

“She’s my friend,” Scaramouche answers sternly, a small sigh escaping his mouth.

Albedo nods, looking at Scaramouche with a slightly surprised expression. Once you agree, he nods once more and introduces you to Xiao, who wouldn’t say more than a greeting.

Albedo decided to sit in front of you, with Xiao quietly taking the seat beside him. Before any more words could be said, the club’s supervisor teacher comes in and began discussing today’s activities.

Valentine’s Day was soon approaching, and the council chose to prepare a cute, small photo booth. You volunteered to paint the booth’s background, to which Scaramouche agreed to help out with. Albedo and Xiao had already left the room to paint a school mural.

Everyone got to work promptly— you quickly gather the materials while Scaramouche brings over the large canvas paper, setting it over the table. He sat down once it was placed, watching as you walk over with various painting supplies.

With a sigh, he walks over to you, taking a few of the supplies from your arms.

“You looked like you were going to drop everything. Slow as ever, too.” He remarks, turning as he makes his way back to the table. You just smile, following him as you set the rest of the materials out.

“How about we do some sort of sunset? Then we can ask for some paper hearts to frame around it,” You suggest, Scaramouche shrugging in response. “That sounds fine with me, whatever you want.”

After discussing it a bit more, with Scaramouche mostly just giving passive responses and small comments, the two of you begin sketching it out. It was a rather plain sketch with not much going on since it was just a background focused on the colour and scenery.

And yet, even during such a simple task, you couldn’t help but get distracted, your eyes constantly flicking up from the paper to look at him.

Even with your unfocused attitude, the two of you got the sketch done quickly, and began painting. Your eyes were guided by the way your soft brush strokes worked in harmony with his, flowing against the blank canvas to shape colour and unity between your two brushes.

At first, the two of you continue to work in relative silence, until you finally speak, “So, how’s your week been so far?” You ask, looking up at him briefly. In that moment, he looks up at you as well, though his eyes swiftly shy away.

“It’s been the same as ever. Just some boring classes.” Scaramouche says plainly, not looking up again. You knew it was a typical response, but you couldn’t help but feel a bit upset when he said it was “the same as ever”. You wait to hear him say more— to say that he missed you, too. But you knew him, and you knew it was far too uncharacteristic.

You simply hum, nodding your head in acknowledgement. It was silent for a bit more as you both continued painting.

“…Aren’t you going to tell me about yours?” He speaks up, his authoritative voice grabbing your attention. He looks like he was forcing himself to face you as he rests his elbows on the table.

Heat burns onto your cheeks as his eyes focus onto your own.

“Ah, right,” You stammer quickly, blinking a few times. Why did it suddenly feel so tense? After years of knowing each other, you should be comfortable more than anything, right?

“It’s been… okay, I guess.” You say, “I enjoy eating lunch alone. But you’d be an exception, of course,” You laugh, sounding like you were joking, but you weren’t.

He lets out a scoffed laugh, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Obviously,” He says confidently. He then resumes his painting, looking up at you once as a signal to continue talking.

“I think I’m kinda just making acquaintances, not really friends, or something, you know?” You continue, trying to think of the right words. “I like the people I meet, but I dunno if I’d call them my friends. Maybe my definition of a ‘friend’ is a bit confusing, I guess.”

“Well, is it a bad thing?” Scaramouche asks in a smooth tone, yet mumbling a bit. He looks up at you curiously before his eyes scurry away once again.

You think about it for a moment before reluctantly shaking your head. “No, it’s alright actually. My mind’s been acting kind so it’s peaceful.” You say with a laugh, still just watching as he painted.

Scaramouche nods again. He was surprised and confused as to why he found himself somewhat glad. “Do you just plan on slacking?” He questions, giving you a teasing smile as he remarks on you simply sitting and watching him.

You frown, promptly standing up and starting to paint again. “Of course not!” You exclaim. However, some club members had already began leaving by now, so you thought about leaving soon as well.

The two of you talk a bit more about classes and work, occasionally bickering until you deice it was time to leave. After you clean up and say goodbye to everyone else, Scaramouche follows you to your locker.

He stands closely behind as you put back and grab things from your locker. Although you couldn’t see him from behind, you could feel his fixed gaze on you. His eyes scrunch slightly every time you accidentally graze your arm against his while sorting things out, but he stays silent.

Scaramouche takes a look at your decorated locker, small stickers, random decor,— and a picture of you two. He eyes it for a moment until you get up.

You opted to close the door, until he swiftly places his hand atop yours and stops you. A smug smile was evident on his face when you turned to question him.

“I didn’t know you put this up,” He asserts teasingly. It made your heart beat faster once again as you try to calm down.

“Isn’t it cute?” You ask, shrugging it off and acting unaffected. “I’m not sure about that.” He chuckles.

“But don’t take it down. That’s not what I’m trying to say.” Scaramouche says in a light tone, though clearly meaning his command.

He then closes the door, taking his hand off of yours as you put the lock back on, chasing him as he already began walking off. With a heart beating like crazy, you made your way to his side, walking to the exit together.

“Going straight home?” You ask. He hums in response, looking straight ahead.

The two of you walk through the empty corridor, not saying much. You didn’t have too much to talk about, especially after years of knowing each other. Usually, the silence would be comfortable.

And yet, it feels weirdly tense.

Every time your shoulders bumped, you can’t help but look up at him and want to see his expression. Looking at him felt different nowadays.

You try to feign ignorance to the cold, despite your mild shivering. It was early February, after all. Grass is covered in frost, and you could feel the cold air starting to nip at your face and hands. Small clouds appear at your mouth as hot breath escapes your lips, matching the sight of chimneys on houses you walk by.

Scaramouche was looking ethereal as always. His austere, cold eyes were accentuated by the season’s cool tones, additionally contrasted by the warm hue of blush on his pretty, pale cheeks which was perfectly framed by his indigo hair.

You quickly look away, placing your eyes on the snow falling instead.

After a breath, you speak, “I love the snow. It’s sooo pretty,” You happily say, “It’s really cold, but melts like magic when you touch it.”

“I know. Because it comes in contact with your warmth.” Scaramouche replies, turning his head to look at you while you watch the snowflakes. You laugh a bit at his stoic response.

There was a small pause.

You then grab onto his arm, pulling him forwards with you. “Come on, let’s stop by at the park for a bit!” You exclaim, taking him off guard. “Why would we do that—?!” He blurts, nearly falling over as you took him by surprise.

“‘Cause we haven’t seen each other often,” You tell him honestly, your voice quieting down as you lead him.

You make sure not to look at him while you spoke, so that he won’t see how much you meant those words.

“…Fine.” Scaramouche sighs, following you over to the park. It was close to your house, so the two of you used to go quite often. Or rather, you’d drag him along with you. Especially when you were kids. He’d never admit it, but he truly did enjoy going with you.

To just simply be together and forget about everything bad was heavenly— and he’s just obsessed with how you treated him.

…Not that’d he’d tell you that, of course. And obviously, he wouldn’t tell you how glad he was that you proposed to hang out for a bit. And how happy it made him when the two of you spent time alone during Arts Council.

No, he just couldn’t. Not when he was face-to-face with the risk of losing you.

Scaramouche was quickly cut out of his thoughts when you dragged him over to the swings, swiftly brushing the snow off the seats and getting on. You invite him to join you once you patted the snow off the other swing, looking at him expectantly.

He complies, sitting down as his hands loosely grasp the swing’s chains. He lightly sways, though not putting enough force to fully swing himself like you.

Scaramouche looks up at the snowy sky— or, pretends to look at the sky when he was really just staring at you each time the swing brought you high enough into his view.

He softly bit the inside of his lip, a sign of uncertainty as to whether or not he should say something.

Maybe even something about… how his chest kept feeling heavier. Suffocating, in a way. Especially when he looked at you.

At your features that were absolute perfection in his eyes. At your smile which never failed to warm him. At your starry eyes that made his breath get caught in his throat whenever they looked back at his.

“Why don’t you swing yourself?” You speak up, finally looking at him. The thought never really crossed his mind— after all, it was just pushing yourself back at forth.

“I happen to like it here. You know, swinging yourself like this is just as enjoyable.” Scaramouche says, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You hum, shrugging your shoulders. You didn’t really agree, but he was always an eccentric person. You continue to swing yourself, a small smile of amusement on your face.

Scaramouche naturally noticed it, and it caused a pleased smile to emerge on his lips as well. “Besides, you look quite foolish just going back and forth.” He mocks, sounding entertained by how idiotic he made you out to be.

You heave, frowning at him. “I do not. It’s fun. And you’re a bore,” You insult him back.

“Oh, I’m a bore?” He scoffs, raising an eyebrow. “That’s too bad. Because it seems like you’re always stuck with me.” He laughs.

“Unless you uncharacteristically run away now. Apparently even though I’m boring, you never choose to do so.” Scaramouche finishes teasingly, grinning.

You furrow your brows, glaring at him. Your cheeks heat up because you knew he was right— and it was frustrating!

“That’s ‘cause I’d feel bad seeing you alone!” You exclaim, just thinking of anything to rebut his statements.

He then grabs the chain of your swing, frowning irritably. His sudden motion caused your swing to move with uncertainty, making you hold on tightly until it finally stopped.

“Stop that!” You utter, playfully hitting his arm.

The two of you continue to bicker for a bit as usual, every so often talking about recent events and how school has been treating you. You liked having insight onto his life. And he liked having lots on yours.

You eventually slow down on the swing, resorting to weakly swaying just like Scaramouche as you continued to chat.

“How about Xiao and Albedo? Are you friends with them?” You ask, continuing the conversation.

“Mmm. I don’t know what you would consider a friend. But I guess I consider them acquaintances.” Scaramouche shrugs, not putting much thought into the other two boys.

“I just talk to them in class sometimes, when the teacher forces us to ‘discuss in small groups’.” He notes, rolling his eyes as he recalls his teacher’s ways.

“But, uh—…” Scaramouche starts to stutter, looking down as he seemed to consider his words. He sighed again.

He then brought his head up, turning to face you. “So, you and Albedo knew each other?” He breathlessly asks, his expression rigid.

His sudden behaviour took you a bit off guard. He always seemed so stern and sure of his words.

“Yeah, somewhat?— Well, not really, actually.” You stammered, thinking as you spoke. “We’re just in the same science class. He seems to like his work more than people, so…”

Scaramouche nods, his face relaxing. He looks back up at the falling snow, which had accumulated on the ground much more.

The air was much colder now that time had passed with the two of you just talking. The sky dimmed into a cool blue, signalling evening’s approaching.

There was a comfortable silence between you two. Well, you tried to think it was comfortable. Honestly, you were battling your feelings with every bit of your rationality left.

You tried so hard to tell yourself that you were okay with being friends. Friends. And nothing more. But after so long, you knew that all you wanted was more.

For Scaramouche, it was the same. All he wants is to keep you by his side forever. From childhood until eternity, you are what he wants. But not just like this.

If he had to shamefully admit it… He wanted you like the cheesy couples you occasionally watched during your many movie nights.

He hated the thought of how vulnerable you made him. How you could so easily make him weak. If you just asked, he would love you so ardently, more than anyone could.

You were both plagued by these thoughts, and you both knew you had to do something. It felt like you couldn’t breathe, and the silence that filled the space around you two, which you tried to think was comfortable, was really just full of tension and thickening air.

“Scaramouche,” you grabbed his attention, making him face you, “I’m really glad we got some time to ourselves today.” You say, your voice soft yet a bit hesitant.

Scaramouche let out a heavy breath as his mind seemed to conflict when he stared back at you. “…I am too.” He unusually confesses.

There was another pause between you two.

“I hope we’ll have lots more times like this. I… really do miss being near you all the time. It’s different.” Your words made Scaramouche’s eyes widen slightly. There was a pounding in his chest, making him clutch the swing’s chains a bit tighter.

His lips trembled a bit before responding, “We will. Don’t worry. There’s lots of time for us.” He says sternly. “If our schedules become so packed that they keep us away, then I’ll take care of it.”

There was that feeling again. Your heart started beating faster, and despite the cold outside, you felt completely warm. You hoped Scaramouche felt this way too— that the pinkish hue on his cheeks was because of his feelings and not the cold.

You smile at him.

“That’s good to know.” You giggle. “I’ll do the same, then. Promise?” You ask, reaching your pinky out to him.

He scoffs, but places his pinky out to entwine with yours anyway. “In high school? Still? Very childish, but not unexpected.” He says, still poking fun at you.

You roll your eyes and made a pinky promise, not pulling your finger away yet. You want your touch to linger more, even if it wasn’t necessary. Though, he didn’t seem to have any objections.

After another quick squeeze, you carefully pull your hand away and stand up, getting off the swing. “Let’s get home now, it’s getting way too cold.” You tell him, a shiver running down your spine.

There were still lots of unsaid words. Many things still buried. So much yearning.

But for now, with the way you tug his arm along to get home, perhaps it was better for you both to stay quiet.

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hell yea i can be pretty cringe! i’m surprised if u read this far ily <3

[celli-ohs]

If you are a HYBE supporter, MHJ anti, or NJS anti unfollow me right now. Block me even. My blog is not for you.

I've been collecting my thoughts about the MHJ/NJS v HYBE issue for quite some time now, but with the recent speech the girls made at KGMA, Belift filing a new complaint and demanding 2 billion won, and MHJ claiming Belift is using Illit as a shield, I cannot take the idiocracy any more.

The amount of misinformation being spread on basically all platforms, but exclusively on TikTok and X, is astounding. More than half of the time I'll see a tweet it's just straight up harassment towards the NJS girls. How can anyone with a sane mind read that and think "Yeah, this is appropriate to post onto the internet for the entire world to see, something that will be linked to me and my digital footprint forever". I'm not saying this only for NJS though, I've seen some nasty toxic Bunnies post heinous things about the Illit members, just because of something their company or CEO said/did. This issue has nothing to do with Illit, Le Sserafim, or any other group that was mentioned/involved, OTHER than NEWJEANS. All of this has to do with HYBE and specific staff, including the new ADOR staff.

I was a Bunny way before I was a Moa or an Engene. NewJeans was the first kpop group I'd bought an album for. I was listening to them not even really knowing they were a kpop group. They're so popular that at my old job they played their songs on the radio, which is how I discovered them. I owe it to them for introducing me to so many amazing groups, people, and cultures. Without knowing them, I wouldn't even know what HYBE and their other groups (besides BTS obvi) were. Currently, NJS is one of the few groups (both girls and boys) I fully stan. I'm proud to stan them too, they are an amazing group of girls who are talented, and full of hope and positivity. They're impact on not only South Korea, but the entire globe is and that is an incredible feat. And I don't want to dismiss any other groups achievements, as a fan of kpop it's exciting to me whenever there's positive news about any group, we should all be able to uplift and support one another, not tear each other down.

That is why I find it so heartbreaking to see toxic fans hating and harassing NJS and Bunnies. I always thought kpop fans held such a great community, no matter what groups you liked. We all share the same interest, same musical genre. To watch people who are so blinded by anger and rage, brainwashed by a greedy dictatorial company, and paint five young women/girls as the devil incarnate, it's sickening. I've seen people say that NJS are idiots, pretending to be victims, that they are actively looking to be groomed. How do you feel as a human being, to claim these things (and more bad things!) about five people you've never even met before? Have you heard them say this? From their own mouths? From their own will? I just don't understand why we as fans have to constantly fight each other over the menial things, when the larger and more concerning problem(s) are dismissed.

I've seen a lot of HYBE supporters recently site the hardships of their faves, attempting to use it against NJS in hopes of defaming them and discrediting/invalidating their mistreatment. This makes zero sense to me. Do these people not realize that they are essentially saying that idols/trainees must suffer in order to debut/be "good enough"?? You'd rather your faves struggle and just accept that their company is shitty and will treat them horribly than to see them have good treatment that they deserve?? "Enhypen had a broken A/C unit in their practice room, but they didn't complain" Be so fucking for real right now. "TXT used to practice in a moldy room, it was growing mushrooms but they never cried about it." And you sound like you want to keep them there with that statement. Idk about you, but if I had the power to help in any way for my faves to have an easier time pre/post-debut, I would do it in a heartbeat.

There's a lot of misogyny/sexism and racism linked to the hate train towards NewJeans. Antis are constantly claiming that only "old predatorial men" are their fans (when in reality most Bunnies are young women themselves!). I've seen many tweets where people are lying, saying that MHJ is prostituting the girls, and that whenever they are photographed within the vicinity of a man they are selling their bodies to gain popularity. There is no actual proof of any of this. The only "old men" who are seemingly sexualizing NJS are Belift. Separately, the racism towards Hanni for being Vietnamese is also disgusting. Not just antis on X, but that SNL Korea skit where they make fun of her accent, that was not okay. Racism has nothing to do with the issue of mistreatment within HYBE, and that is bullying. Anyone who believes they are allowed to hate on NewJeans because they are women or because a member isn't Korean needs to reevaluate their morals because that is an infringement of human rights.

TXT is my ult group, and Enhypen is my second favorite group. Both of them are under HYBE as well, which puts me in an odd spot as a fan of the three groups. But in all honesty, I do not like HYBE, I do not condone anything they've done that hurts any of their artists. And looking at their track record... they've hurt their artists a lot, and not just NJS. If we look at Belift specifically, the way they treat Enhypen is unfair. The release of their internal documents says it all: Belift as a company knows and understands that the Enhypen members are exhausted and overworked, yet they dismiss it and force them to continue pushing. Never-ending tours and comebacks, forced promotions of brands that support the genocide of Palestine, rejecting brand ambassadorships for Sunoo, I'm sure there's more that I missed. If Enhypen has been and still is being treated this way, I cannot imagine what they might do to Illit, as if they hadn't already set these girls up. Those girls don't deserve the hate either. All I can ask for is for both groups to be treated like human beings, and not pay pigs. It hurts me to see the members in so much pain and exhaustion.

With TXT I do admit I see more leniency towards them, and my guess is because they are under Bighit, and are directly BTS's juniors. But when I see stuff like them also being constantly overworked, using Yeonjun to belittle other idols who are his friends, favoring certain members over others, etc. I'm reminded that my ult group also suffers under the hand of HYBE. Even though TXT is successful and popular, that doesn't mean everyone (including their company) will treat them with respect. I've seen some people on X send hate/concern towards Soobin specifically, as he did speak on Weverse (I think) about how TXT focused on their comeback rather than the lawsuit/complaints against HYBE and MHJ. And to be honest, I can understand why some people felt a bit disappointed or hurt by him saying this because honestly, I was a little as well. But mainly I felt this way because I knew he would say something like this, he was probably told to say this to not start more drama. It's a safe option because it's a true fact, they all have been too busy to really be able to interject into this situation that does not technically involve them. As fans, we only know what we're shown, and as a Moa I just hope all the members are safe, healthy, and are treated with kindness.

Seventeen's Seungkwan's statement on his IG is such a beautifully written letter, and it shows and proves that even senior artists can and will be used by their companies for profit as if they aren't human beings. It's so dehumanizing, what these companies do to their groups. Because at the end of the day, not only is it HYBE (who is admittedly a very big perpetrator) it's the entire industry. You could name any company, and at some point, they'd mistreated their artist. This is why I support NewJeans and their endeavor to better the lives of idols and trainees. These five women/girls know and understand that what is happening to them is not humane. The amount of sabotage towards a successful group like them is so backward, it makes no sense. Whether or not you classify it as bullying, no one should hear others being told to ignore them, especially in a culture like Korea's where greetings are so significant. Stopping a comeback and surprise fansign from happening for an unknown reason is unfair. Documenting the plan and intention to get rid of the entire group as a whole and replace them with a junior group that needs more time to train is downright despicable.

To NewJeans: I'm so sorry for what you all have been through. Thank you for being the smart, strong, and brave young ladies you are. I will always support you and love you. Thank you for creating beautiful music, videos, and content. I'm so happy to be a fan of kpop, and so proud to be a Bunny! Wherever you go I will follow with much love!

To my followers: I still plan to write for TXT and Enhypen. I still love them very much, despite their shitty company. Personally, I've learned to separate my writing from the companies, because, at the end of the day, I'm writing about my own storylines and plots that I created. Besides, it's fiction and 99% of my works are fluff and crack which does not harm anyone. But if you have a problem with my opinions/views on this situation regarding HYBE and NJS, then my blog isn't for you.

[atopvisenyashill]

Are there are asoiaf takes you find so rancid or annoying that you’ll block on the spot?

okay so first of all - i use the block button so loosely on here bc there’s no mute function and blacklisting a url would just bog my blacklist down. once again. pls staff a mute button for when it’s not that serious. but i will block someone, then feel bad because i notice my moots reblog them a lot and i'm like "oh they're not that annoying i was just in a bad mood" and unblock. there's only one (1) take i leave someone on permablock for. every other take i find particularly rancid or annoying is all stuff i just check before i follow rather than blocking over (which is why if u don't have searching on your blog, you'll see me liking your stuff over the span of months before following. i have issues!!! aldjf).

i specifically check for that one gifset that’s like “the direwolves predicting their starkling’s fate” that has sansa getting her head chopped off. if they have it on their blog, it's like 99% likely i'm about to permablock. it’s not only a silly prediction, it’s one made by people who are deeply projecting onto sansa. as she’s my favorite, i think that’s dumb obviously lol. BUT i check for it bc like. U All Know That Group of Arya Stans. i know you know because they’ve commented on at least two of your posts with the most bizarre take you’ve ever seen. i reply when they comment on my stuff (usually just once tho & the people who delete right away are valid) but i’m not out here LOOKING for them lol, i’m actively avoiding it, and That Specific Gifset is a good litmus test for whether a Crazy Stan Groupie just hate followed me or something. also, One Of That Group, as in not just a groupie, has me blocked on this blog AND my main one which i know bc i can’t reblog from half those source blogs they run aksjdj so if i notice someone’s real involved with that group, i just pre-emptivly block bc if i can’t even reblog half of what someone is posting what’s the point there 🤧🤧

but what do i check before following/what opinions have annoyed me enough that it's lead to me "muting" aka blacklisting a url? well-

curtain of light and it’s offshoots which include “targ incest baby will save the world.” lol, lmao. they’re not right but if they’re right i’m deleting my blog and never talking about the series again and i’m so serious. i have my dignity!!

people who go on frequently about rhaenyra being entitled, evil, not worthy, "oh well the LEGALITY," or hyper focus on her violence (esp if they’re also an aemond stan🤧). i absolutely Do block people who say shit like “rhaenyra is unfeminist because she doesn’t want to marry laenor but wants to marry daemon.” tho. why? clearly zero critical thinking skills lol i think u can joke about her having bad taste in men without All Of That.

i avoid people who are hardcore into the belief that dany is the unambiguous hero for obvious reasons. if they think she’ll be queen of westeros, if they actively shoot down criticism of her actions in the bay & towards mmd and irri? nah, and i've muted and blocked people for this one if they're particularly nastie. i DO follow idk three or four dany stans but they're generally not out here actively beefing with people and also they tend to hate emilia’s acting too lol, like they’re not Targ Nation.

(which, related, but people who stan dany but are tg? THEE most obnoxious people in this fandom, i NEVER follow those people).

rhaelya. even my fellow “well i like it BECAUSE it’s toxic” shippers don’t get into this one. it’s like people who swallow dany rewriting drogo/dany in her head to me. no critical thinking skills.

i really am just obsessively reading people’s stark tags before following BUT anything on ned being an enabler, being too honorable to shit, “oh would he even save lyanna from robert if robert started physically abusing her." why? it just annoys me aksjdj , we spend an entire NOVEL rolling around in that man’s psyche and we shouldn’t be missing the point like this.

“dornish people aren’t non white” takes. that’s directly contradicted by the text, i don’t give a shit about any casting, there’s so clearly an ethnic and racial difference at play here with how the rest of Westeros treats Dorne. you either understand that or you’re a moron.

[taehyungfirst]

I think we'll start to see some of the members break into other solo activities. I'm here for Actor Jin. I think we're going to see Namjoon work in other mediums, sooner rather than later given his mystery project promo (and his repeated mentions of art and other mediums). I could see him creating and curating. Yoongi? I think he's going to be focused on producing the group efforts. But, pipe dream, I'd love to see him take on scoring a film. His lyrics and rapping skills get deserved attention but the backing of his songs is so interesting and I've love to see more of it in a different form.

I'd love to see Hobi lean more into fashion -- a fashion partnership/collab -- he could be the guest editor of a shoot/project/mag or do a small run of something. I don't know about the others. Tae has already been involved in so many other projects. I definitely think he'll act in some way-- the amount of offers he must have after the IU music video! But Tae keeps us guessing. Variety shows, live performances, acting in music videos, coffee ambassador, muse for all the magazines. I know he's got something up his sleeve we don't expect.

I think we may see more collabs for JK. There is no way that every major recording artist isn't fighting through his proverbial inbox. I could see him doing collabs in conjunction with group work to keep his toe in the solo side (and on the charts) but not take the time/attention of a full album. I hope Tae might do this as well in his own way. I think he was so smart with his first album -- no collabs, live performances, not written by him (so people can't speculate). He's a critically and commercially acclaimed artist in his own right. I'd love to see him partner with other artists -- especially ones that aren't as mainstream.

And I think they'll do some big spon con together -- of what I don't know -- but something to globally highlight the reunion.

I could also see SK wanting them to do more prominent cultural ambassador-y stuff post-ms. I think of that video that Namjoon had to do for his graduation ceremony. It will be interesting to see how the navigate that and what they feel that they have to do in those capacities.

Ok, that's enough of a random ramble of thoughts...

Hi!

I love the idea of Namjoon curating a museum! I think it would suit him very well, and I hope his next project (which I assume it’s music) it’s gonna be something like Indigo again, I really liked the album. Yes for actor Jin and uhmmm I think Yoongi is gonna be an even bigger producer, if Pdogg isn’t in Hybe he will produce the group songs and I can see him having more projects piled up for other artists, I think he likes being a producer a lot.

I hope Hobi does some mentoring in a show again, he’s a great teacher and the industry’s best dancer so he should get a gig like that. Regarding Jungkook, do you think this America trial will keep going? Like do you think his solo career will keep being centered there?

I think Taehyung will drop a second ep somewhere in the future, and that he will drop Travel with me too idk why but I’m convinced that song is gonna see the light of the day (I’m just convincing myself 🕯️), also yeah more acting gigs, something international at some point.

[akgaereporter]

nwjns: tokkis think tma daesang was rigged, beefing w/ dives + carats

tldr: seventeen won the daesang at the tfmas, tokkis think nj were snubbed after seeing the daesang criteria and discovering misogynistic producer who also worked with ive was part of the judging panel, carats and dives upset with tokkis, etc.

yesterday morning the fact music awards took place with a big lineup of 4th & 5th gen groups including ive, aespa, skz, ateez, boynextdoor, zb1, and newjeans. the only 3rd gen group in attendance was seventeen, and it fr felt like they were the guests of honor this time.. they went last/almost last for everything including performing, and didn't accept any big awards until the end - the big award itself being the daesang (main award of the night). newjeans took two bonsangs (awards multiple groups can win) and opened the red carpet & show.

after svt won, tokkis backsearched the criteria on why nj lost the daesang. a big chunk of the decision was made by the judges rather than voting, and they apparently gave nj a 0% in a certain category / nj ranked higher than svt in others or sumn like that idk..

but the main issue they had was that one of the judges (ryan jhun, famous producer who has worked with many groups) has a record of being misogynistic and saying bitchless bitter things abt female idols and tokkis think he had a hand in why they lost and svt won.

these claims turned into fanwars between tokkis, carats, and dives. carats felt like tokkis were invalidating svt's win and making them seem like they didnt deserve it, and once the allegation abt ryan jhun came out, some tokkis brought up how he was ive's producer and dives got scrappy abt that.

however, dives refuted saying that because he's involved with ive, ive wouldve won the daesang instead of svt, so ive & starship has nothing to do with it.

☆ my opinion

it seems the vast majority of tokkis think nj were snubbed, but tbh i disagree. i stan both groups, and because of their crazy success internationally it seems like people are forgetting nj are still basically rookies. there are a lot of things that decide the level of a group's artistry, including time in the industry, and a fanbase that has stuck around for that time in the industry. while newjeans have fanbase and success, i think its still really early in their careers to determine the longevity of both of those. its something that can only be proven with experience. but telling that to any tokki on twitter will immediately register as a threat or an insult to nj, which it isnt!! they have achieved an insane amount in a year, and are most definitely monster rookies. knowing that, it feels veryyy salty to make claims that svt weren't deserving when they've had a similar streak of success this past year, PLUS all the other years they've been active. i wish we could be respectful of both groups and instead of focusing on the awards nj didnt win, recognize the fact that winning two bonsangs is something to be proud of. that's just me tho...

[close tab?] ◀ ⇨ akgaepop.com

[moving-wright-along]

(Idk if you've done this before but) Hi I was wondering If you could please give me some X-virus/Cody Hc? Also I love reading your blog...

I’ve done some cody headcanons before, but theyre really old so heres new ones. also this ask was sent SO LONG AGO AND IM SO SORRY LOL

💉Cody Rogers💉

-Don’t let his hardcore, mean facade fool you. Cody is always longing for affection and companionship, but he puts up barriers and blocks it out when it’s offered to him. His adoptive father thinking he was a monster and rejecting his interests really messed him up, so he’s slow to trust now. 

-He’s a solitary creature of his own creation. And while he’ll struggle to admit it, he craves intimacy and connection so bad. 

-Personally I like to think that him and Toby are twins separated at birth. I also think he changed his name back to Rogers after moving into the manor. He’s really happy to have a family again.

-They have absolutely no idea why they were separated. Toby joked once that Cody was so ugly out the womb that they got rid of him. Cody just punched him and pointed out that they have the exact same face.

-They're completely identical except for eye color. Cody's eyes are green, while Toby's are brown. 

-Cody has noticed that Toby has a difficult time looking him in the eye, but seemingly doesn’t have the same problem with anyone else. It’s only after he sees a picture of her that he realizes its because his eyes are the same color as Lyra’s. 

-Toby tells him a lot about Lyra. It makes him sad to think about, that he had a sister he never got to meet. He daydreams sometimes about how their lives would be different if they’d been raised together. Maybe life wouldn’t suck so bad if they’d had each other.

-Also mad that he never got a chance to sock it to their piece of shit father before Toby killed him. He would've liked to smack the fucker with his bat for hurting his siblings. Too late now, though, and he's at least content that the man got what was coming to him.

-Aside from his brother, I think he gets along best with EJ in the mansion. They bond over mad science and crimes against humanity. 

-He likes Jane too, and while they aren’t super close, he’s had some pleasant conversations with her. Jane mainly likes him because he’s one of the only people in this manor capable of being civil. And because he annoys the shit out of Jeff and she’s all for that. 

-Cody can’t stand Jeff. Ben wouldn’t be so bad either if he didn’t get roped into Jeff’s shit so much. Cody mainly hates him because Jeff is an asshole who doesn’t really care about other people or their feelings. He doesn’t care much for bullies. Jeff also has a bad habit of picking on Toby specifically, which pretty much immediately lands him on Cody’s shit list. 

-As for Masky and Hoodie... He doesn’t really know what to make of those two, honestly. Both proxies are close with Toby, the three of them having a strong brotherly bond. It makes him feel like an outsider, which only makes Masky or Hoodie’s attempts to get close to him feel fake- like they’re only doing it because of his brother. 

-Which... isn’t entirely wrong. At least at first. Masky and Hoodie first assume that because they’re twins that they’ll be really similar. They’re a bit shocked to then find that Cody is practically his twin’s opposite. Neither of them really know how to interact with him because of that. 

-Needless to say, Cody keeps his distance. 

-Masky and Hoodie try to get Cody involved but he just doesn’t seem interested. Toby is the only person that can convince Cody to hang out or participate with the others, but even then it’s a 50-50 chance. 

-Even when he is convinced to engage in group activities he doesn’t usually stick around very long. His social battery drains fast and he hits a point where he needs to be alone for a while. 

-Because of his loner nature he usually gets sent on missions by himself, rather than with a group, which he doesn’t mind at all. 

-Cody keeps to himself and is pretty quiet. He’s also smart and sensible, which makes him an instant favorite of Slender’s. However this just makes it easier for him to fuck with people because he hides all his mischief behind that innocent face. 

-Constantly torturing Jeff and the best part is no one can ever prove it’s him. Everyone knows of course, but they can’t prove it. 

-Him and Toby fight a lot. Not like disagreement fighting- no, they actually get along really well. Like fist-fighting. They’ll be totally fine one minute and the next they’re just decking each other. Toby always wins though cause Cody’s kinda weak and Toby does a lot more physical training than he does. It’s all in good fun though :o)

-They're both actually really protective of each other. Cody defends Toby from Jeff or whoever else tries to mess with him and Toby defends Cody from anyone who tries to get him riled up (jeff). They're like two guard dogs guarding each other.

-In a weird way, fighting his brother is a good way for Cody to release pent up anger and aggression because Toby can't feel it. Boy has pent up anger issues like you wouldn't believe. He tries to keep himself calm but it's really easy to set him off.

-He’s the type that’s usually really quiet but every once in a while he murmurs some insanely hilarious quip that just destroys everyone. 

-He has a bunch of piercings and he did them all himself. He also has a stick and poke, but its just a little operator symbol on his bicep. He would do more but he doesn’t really know what to give himself. Refuses to give Toby a tattoo no matter how much the other begs. Ever since Toby found out he has a tattoo and that he did it himself he hasn’t heard the end of it.

-Outside of his own bedroom, he spends a lot of time in the manor’s library. Him and EJ will sit at the same table and read for hours and not say a single word to one another. They love it. 

-Always finds a way to make himself scarce when the pastas have any kind of game night. He has horrible luck and he absolutely sucks at any and every type of game, from monopoly to mario kart. He refuses to be humiliated. 

-He’s actually really sweet when he starts to open up. He’s really observant, which means he’s really thoughtful when he wants to be. 

-I feel like he stares into the middle distance a lot. Like “are you guys seeing this shit?” kind of staring, like he’s looking into a camera. Or that ben affleck meme.

[cacodaemonia]

okay but. when the vast majority of the "antis" are poc asking you to take a moment to consider the often racist tendencies behind your actions, have you considered that you /might/ be in the wrong here?

if you're doubling down on this stance because you feel you've been harassed, there are some really helpful and well worded posts i can send you if you're interested that explain some of the issues facing the tcw fandom at large! as a white person, they've been very helpful showing me some of the harmful aspects of fan engagement that i didn't have the words for

Ah yes, another anon with concrete proof of their claims.

Anyway, this is a good example of a whataboutism, where anon is trying to take my stance that sending death threats to real people over fictional ships is shitty, and turn it into me being racist.

It's a super common tactic in political arguments, and is often successful at burying the original point in layers of other, usually unrelated topics or accusations.

As I've said before, I'm not going to argue or try to change people's minds, because that's an exercise in futility.

The rest of this post, under the cut, is not directed at the fandom police (who, by not just blocking me, show how devoted they are to being angry over harmless internet content), but to others who might be at risk of being manipulated by their gaslighting.

So first, I apparently need to point out that shipping doesn't inherently have anything to do with race or racism. It can, for certain individuals, and there are obviously a plethora of nasty aspects of fandom that are racist and awful. But antis muddy the waters by crying wolf about others enjoying fictional space people who do not in any way represent a real world group and have no equivalent because they're millions of literal clones.

When they make such a fuss about something that is not harming anyone, they drown out the voices of those addressing actual problems. I know of several poc who have been driven out of fandom because they disagreed with the antis and were then shouted down and harassed for not caving to the arbitrary demands (much like religious extremists, who harm others if they don't conform to their religious creed).

As someone who has been heavily involved in political activism (not keyboard activism) for anti-racist causes and various other progressive issues for many years, it's easy to see through the attempts by antis to hide their obsession with policing fandom experiences of others behind the claim of 'speaking for poc.' Elevating the voices of those who have been historically marginalized is extremely important, but when they simply use that as an excuse to be hateful, they're not doing anyone any good.

Ask yourself: by harassing individuals (about whom they truly know nothing) online, how are the antis helping marginalized or disenfranchised groups? If they really wanted to create positive change, they could put their excessive energy toward fighting systemic racism and inequity by holding mass media and lawmakers accountable, rather than bullying fans who have no power and just happen to have slightly different views on fictional characters.

It's a way to get attention and feel powerful, plain and simple. They drag others down in order to feel superior—or whatever motivates people who enjoy harming others, idk.

I'm glad that the internet preserves this stuff, because maybe some antis will look back in a few years, after they've had enough life experience to understand that real world issues aren't black and white and can't be solved by screaming on the internet. Maybe some of them will realize how needlessly cruel they've been, and how much harm they've caused to real people who just want to share something they like with others.

I won't be responding to any other similar asks. I'm on Tumblr to have fun with fandom stuff, not to engage in the dumpster fire that is the real world or listen to poorly constructed arguments for why everything is 'problematic.'

[redshiftsinger]

It's important to remember, both in this case and in EVERY case, that no demographic is a monolith.

There is no special type of human who is more or less capable of being a victim or an oppressor than another. It's individuals all the way down.

Systems of oppression exist that make people belonging to certain demographics and particularly, certain subsets of demographics, more likely to be either victimized by oppression or to engage in the oppression of others. But in no case does the existence of such a system negate the individuality of everyone involved with it.

Any individual person can be an asshole or a saint or anything in between, no matter what demographics they belong to or what systems of oppression operate in their cultural context.

And those subsets of demographics I mentioned earlier? Yeah, those include things like "Israeli Jews" -- a subset of Jewish people, who have a different likelihood of getting to interact with oppressive systems as oppressors rather than as victims than American Jews have, or European Jews, or Jews of any other nationality. That subset is still made up of individuals, as are all the others, but that subset has a different degree/type of power within their specific cultural context.

Cultural context matters a lot. And you can criticize what certain groups are doing without projecting that criticism on everyone else who shares a broad demographic -- or even on everyone who shares a specific demographic subset. There are also Israeli Jews who have been protesting what their government has chosen to do.

It's also important to refrain from knee-jerking.

"Biden is pissing a bunch of people off so idk maybe Trump might be better" is a knee-jerk, and an incredibly stupid one both for "Trump would be much worse for oppressed demographics in the US" reasons and also "Trump would have even less restraint than Biden about letting other countries who get military aid from the US commit war crimes with that military aid" ones at the same fucking time.

And politics, like everything else, is made up of individuals, but is also a very complex system in which Who Has How Much Power matters a hell of a lot. And power within the political system is achieved not only by individually reaching higher and higher offices, but by how many of your political-demographic cohort also hold positions within the system.

We need good Dems in Congress and they need to have a president who's "on their team" enough to not actively sabotage their efforts. Both things matter -- the individuals who get elected and how willing they are to stand up to the status quo themselves AS individuals (vote in the primaries!), AND how many people at least nominally "on their team" surround them so they have a less-hostile environment to work for progress in (also vote in the general election!)

i think it's pretty concerning that the Free Palestine movement in the US, while well-intentioned, has completely adopted radically right-wing strategies.

"i did my own research" you sound like your anti-vax grandfather on facebook

"they're trying to keep this quiet/they control the government, media" as if this conspiracy hasn't been the main conservative talking point for the past decade

"zionist" is literally used the same way right-wingers use the word "woke"

oh, and of course, the antisemitism. who could forget that (leftists, of course)

Holocaust denial is highest among Gen Z democrats? What??

i've seen leftists pivot to becoming Russian apologists once the US started giving aid to Israel

"Honestly, Trump might not be that bad" - The most hardcore leftist I know. WHAT???

Just an observation.

[mithliya]

the whole thing with bisolationist is confusing me. anon sends him your post and asks his opinion on the post and comments, you then comment why didnt you link to op. anon replies their explanation and bisolationist tags you and continues on to write his response to the comments. and then you get mad that your question was answered?? and idk if you just cant see how it looks but if bisolationist theorized about why some lesbians are biphobic or sth like that and someone commented an idiotic and borderline if not fully lesbophobic statement and he says hmm never thought of it that way 🧐 i’ll give it more thought. wouldnt you or rightfully group him with the commenter😭

im gonna repeat myself one last time cause there’s something rly insidious about how u guys keep rewriting the situation? i didn’t get mad that the anon answered my question and in fact took issue with him implying i had sth to do with other people’s statements. i also took issue with the fact that everyone involved in the other side decided to repeatedly skim over the fact that the convo was specifically about bi ppl who basically openly state that they’re attracted to both sexes, but insist on calling themselves lesbian/gay/homosexual. it was also mainly about the “lesbian with an exception” phenomena. such people have been used against lesbians specifically for a very long time to argue WE don’t exist. please tell me how this is biphobia first and foremost and not homophobia? how is arguing homosexuals can have an “exception”, that we can be OSA, is not first and foremost harming gay ppl? and here’s the real convo u misconstrued:

i took issue with him putting me in a group with people saying “bisexuals kill yourselves” “bisexuals are just evil degenerates”, none of which are statements i ever said or implied. i even said that much, i didn’t get mad at him “answering my question” but i appreciate being reframed as some hysterical irrational person in the convo for taking issue with me saying “hmm good point.. need to think on this” being equated with encouraging a minority to commit suicide! i also took issue w being repeatedly framed as acting as an authority. for what? i said good point to a lesbian who was disagreeing with the argument that bi ppl perpetuating such homophobia are doing it out of self-hatred, rather than homophobia.

it was stated that i was applauding like-a-ruby and made several comments like “omg so true ur so right queen” when in actuality all i said was “hmm good point” and in the notes or the same post “hmm i need to think on this but you made good points” alongside my own perspective that i do not know why this is a phenomena.

if lesbians were making up a significant portion of the bi community, if our voice was louder & stronger & we were sitting there arguing that bisexuality isn’t real (i know there’s lesbians who do this but their voice isn’t the dominant one in the community or the public) and everyone is only attracted to one sex, someone said it’s due to internalised homophobia and a bi person said “that’s not due to internalised homophobia. it’s just biphobia” why tf would i take issue with that statement either? why is it extremely offensive to y’all that another lesbian doesn’t think that bi ppl openly proclaiming their OSA but insisting they’re gay & insisting no one can be exclusively SSA, ie actively harming gay ppl, is being argued as homophobic rather than self-hating? why is the mere argument that “they’re literally openly proclaiming that they’re both SSA and OSA. yet they insist on coopting terms for homosexuals & redefining homosexuality not bc they hate themselves but bc they hate gay ppl” about not all bisexuals but literally only the portion of them that are outwardly and frequently homophobic this offensive to u? the topic at hand is about homophobic bi ppl who openly proclaim their bisexual attraction while insisting on coopting gay terms. like. that was the specific group being talked about. i don’t agree with jumping in to argue someone is lying about their sexual assault, or telling bisexuals overall to kill themselves, but im also not responsible for other ppl doing that the same way he’s not responsible for the bi people doing those things to gay ppl.

[rederiswrites]

Feel free to ignore this if you want but you post interested me. I don't disagree about what you said re: fiberartists in the apocalypse but there are some notable reasons why they're still somewhat useful? If you're stationary they become a lot less useful more quickly, they use up most faber materials unless you keep livestock but idk enough about livestock to think out how practical that is off the top of my head. However not all clothes, especially not most of the clothes worn by people in their physical prime (in the western world and some industrialized nations) is actually of that high a quality. Fast fashion is a big industry and people are going to need replacements faster than you think if they're clothes are suddenly enduring the physical labor of apocalypse survival. Not to mention that cleanliness is crucial to not dying so there will need to be at least a small amount of clothes to cycle for people who can't wash it everyday. If you're moving there's always the possibility of gathering fiber material, a higher chance of trading with others, but also a higher chance of chaffing of the cloth being a more immediate problem. Then there's the question of other vital cloth items, such as bags and blankets, and the ability to make something out of flag flexible material to meet other unexpected situations likely has a bit of value on its own. Now, people who can sew and sewing machines (if you can get one that doesn't require electricity, I'm not sure) are probably the most cost effective fiber artists and tools. You can find pocket sewing kits at every drug store so thread isn't an issue, and reported olf cloth from MASSIVE catches at clothing stores, rather than hitting up the much smaller yarn or raw fiber sections that you'll find less reliably in cities.

So in conclusion: not all fiber artists are equal in this situation, but their value is pretty far up there behind realiable food sources for people who dream of running a peaceful group, because of the advantages of being able transform some of the most abundant materials in urban environments into tradeable goods. As an individual sewer, with this sales pitch, you might even be able to join a more organized group because of these services, and the ability to teach the valuable skills to others.

Hope you find this as fun to talk about as I do!

Oh I am absolutely going to find this fun to talk about; thank you for a great, engaging ask.

First, I wanna establish that I have mad respect for fiber artists of all sorts. I've spent my life around them, from my mom to a lot of my friends to, I guess you'd call them professional associates? I can do basic garment construction and I'm pretty good at embroidery, but even though I'm used to picking up crafts easily, things like knitting and crochet really elude me. So, again, mad respect.

Second, I am not an expert here. I have approximate knowledge of many things. I know the things I'm about to talk about because I encountered them along the way, not because I've studied it. Any actual experts who wish to chime in would be extremely welcome. Also, since my interest has been in medieval Europe, that's what I know. I would love to know more about other cultures. I'm just assuming that the basic necessities of the subject are applicable across many cultures.

Let's back up. A lot.

Here's a great French manuscript image from the mid 1400's. It illustrates a lot of things relevant to the conversation. So what's going on here?

First, we've got high born ladies involved in these activities. Everyone was, regardless of social status. Before the advent of powered looms and spinning machines (ca. 1770-1790), the textile industry was an all-consuming activity that most women and many men spent part or all of their time on. We watch tv. They made textiles. The difference with the highborn ladies is they probably got nicer materials, like imported silks and expensive dyestuffs.

Second, there are many people involved in the many steps. We've got the lady in pink with the hackles/combs doing the initial aligning and cleaning of the fibers. Lady in white is carding the wool, which is the next and finer prep stage, using brushes that look a lot like a cat brush, but bigger. Lady in red is spinning the fiber thus processed with a drop spindle, which is a super slow way to do it and a real bottleneck in the textile process. Which is why in so many images of women in the fields/literally anywhere, they have their distaff and spindle. They just did it all the damn time. And the queen is obviously weaving. There are also steps both before (rearing and shearing or growing, harvesting, and retting) and after (dyeing and fulling) these.

Textiles, as far back as I know anything about, were an entire industry, involving many unrelated people and international trade. Not often, even in, say, Mesopotamia, were they a cottage industry performed beginning to end by one person or group. This is because that was wildly impractical, always. And would be wildly impractical in our theoretical post-industrial future, as well.

Okay, never can resist a history lesson but hopefully that'll tide me over for now.

Uhh...what's next? Mobility! So actually I'm gonna go totally opposite you on this one--in a theoretical situation where we're still all roaming around as refugees, very few fiber artists would be of much use at all. The sheer amount of material needed is...a lot. Knitters and crocheters can at least carry their tools around, but even a regular scarf might take as much as three skeins of yarn. At least two for socks. You can get a hat out of one, depending on the yarn, but a sweater? At least four, maybe six. You can see how that gets to be a really big Santa sack there. And that's assuming the pre-existence of the yarn. (Which is actually fair, every knitter ever has an out of control yarn stash.) Fortunately, I don't think we'd roam about as refugees for decades. That's just a pretty untenable situation long-term, as lots of refugees can confirm.

So. You CAN use old treadle sewing machines for garment construction. I even know people who bring them to events to finish commissions or do tailoring without power. But they are heavy and bulky, like, a lot. And some nomadic cultures have made fabric with portable backstrap looms, but they're slow and physically demanding. Most looms, as you can see above, are really big and not even remotely portable.

And creating the fiber, saving the sudden re-emergence of entire pastoral herding societies (in a world which no longer has large stretches of grazing land), absolutely demands long term stability. Flax produces one crop a year. Sheep get sheared once a year. And so on. Collecting fiber as you go has, so far as I know, never been the way a culture has obtained textile materials. Nature on its own mostly produces fiber that's good for like, cordage or netted bags, that sort of thing. Useful, but not about clothing.

Anyway omg I need to do things besides this ask this is so long. Final point: my husband and I, my anecdotal evidence for how long clothing lasts when you actually wear it out, actually DO perform dirty physical labor on the regular. Jacob is a blacksmith and is out in the shop nearly every night. He spent the weekend in the woods with a chainsaw. And I take care of chickens, ducks, and sheep daily, and during the warmer months, extensive gardening projects. We live on a 24 acre farm. Jacob has bought like six t-shirts in maybe the entire time we've been together (nearly 20 years), and all of those are in the special drawer for going out. At home, he wears pretty exclusively t-shirts from high school and freebies from groups and events. At work, he wears thrift store dress shirts and the annual nice shirts his mom gives him for Christmas. (She skipped that this year and I gotta tell her she can't be doing that or her son will go to meetings with stained collars lol.)

UGH TL;DR: People buy vastly more clothing than they need, hardly ever wear it out, and could manage with the surplus for decades. Meanwhile, creating textiles is an incredibly involved task, and before the industrial revolution it consumed vast amounts of everyone's time, and would do so again in a theoretical post-industrial world. Fiber artists are badasses and I love them but even the ones who focus specifically on creating wearable fabric (which is very few) consider the creation of a complete outfit to be a major project.

[amerrierworld]

Don’t Hide Us

for the request: idk if you write this, but would u do Lou x Debbie x reader smut? if not just Lou works. Maybe at the end the team finds out they're together and they all have big reactions xoxo

Summary: An evening of strip poker ends with a surprise.. or rather six surprises. 

Characters: Lou x Debbie x fem!reader

Word Count: 2,467

Warnings: smut with both our ladies but more dom!lou, and some fluff at the end :D

Being with two other people was not easy, especially when said people were heavily involved with frequent criminal activities. Despite being quite mature and  organized, they were also absolute crackheads.

You don’t know how it happened, but you had somehow been pulled into a game of strip poker- and halfway through you realized they most likely had rigged the whole thing, because you were nearly naked in your chair in just  your undergarments, and Lou and Debbie wore shit-eating grins. 

“It’s really not fair if you two always gang up on me, you know,” you huffed as your second sock came off. 

“What are you talking about, we’re playing absolutely fair,” Lou replied. Her tie had come off and was now wrapped around her head, messing up her bangs. She was only wearing her silky waistcoat and boxer briefs, but seemed the most relaxed. Debbie, like you, was in her bra, but was still wearing her high-waisted pants.

“Bullshit, Miller,” you scoffed, taking a sip from your drink. “Now hurry up, I'm getting chilly over here.”

Lou’s bar club was closed tonight, and you three were sitting close to the pool table, a languid playlist thumping through the large speakers. Dimmed lights, surrounded by the smell of vodka and cigarette smoke. You felt a deep heat stir inside you as Debbie wormed her way out of her pants after losing another round. 

Lou took her time looking her over as well until she flicked at the dangling tie from her head,

“We’re still playing, Lou. Get back to it.”

You giggled at the sight of them, which made them look over at you simultaneously, and you felt your stomach drop. Unsurprisingly, you lost the next game.

“I’ll turn the heat up for you baby,” Lou grinned as you moved to take off your bra. You blushed, shimmying in your seat as the cool air made goosebumps rise along your body. 

Debbie reached over to run a hand over your shivering thigh. The table you sat at was a small, round wooden table, and a single lamp hung above all three of you, swinging precariously.

“Oi, no touching yet, Debs,” Lou scolded, bumping the brunette in the arm. “We’re still playing, right?”

Debbie pouted dramatically, but you played on. Your nipples were practically aching from the cold air warring with your internal heat, making you squirm against your hard wooden chair.

Then suddenly and unexpectedly, Lou lost a round. Her fingers danced along the buttons of the waistcoat teasingly, eyeing both you and Debbie with a grin.

“Maybe we should call it after this,” you suggested, because Lou’s abdomen was slowly coming to light and your mouth was watering. 

“Agreed,” Debbie sighed. Lou had kept her chains and jewelry on, and you hated the way they accentuated her neck and wrists and fingers, hated how you were distracted by them.

A rush of cold air gave you a rush of adrenaline as your heart rate picked up, and you practically flew across the table to grab Lou and kiss her hard before she even got the article of clothing off. 

Her chair was tipping back and would have fallen had Debbie not reached over and steadied it. Lou’s hands were warm and large and ran over your back as you sat on the table in front of her, your legs spreading and revealing the obvious wetness gathering between your thighs through your underwear. 

“We’re not finished the game yet, baby,” she said. You immediately yanked your underwear down and tossed it with the rest of your abandoned clothes.

“There, I lose,” you pushed up and then you were straddling her in her chair, rubbing against her warm thighs. Her hands came up on your back, large and firm, as you kept kissing her. 

“I think she’s extra feisty tonight, Deb,” Lou said huskily. You had grabbed one of her longer chains in between your teeth and made direct eye contact with her as you clasped the gold jewelry in your mouth.

“I don’t blame her,” the brunette’s voice was low, quiet, and she moved to toss the rest of the cards and chips off the table before putting herself where you had been sitting moments ago. Her feet rested on the edge of the chair, by your thighs, so you were effectively trapped  by the two women. 

You were enjoying the lavish attention you were getting from them both, until Debbie yanked your hair back and sucked hard on your neck. You lost your grip on Lou’s neck and fell back against Debbie, instead wrapping your hands around her upper thighs, nails digging into her skin. 

Then Lou’s lips were wrapping around one of your nipples and you squealed as a warm tongue slid across the hard nub. 

Lou was restless, you could tell, because she didn’t hesitate to bring a hand to you cunt and rub a thumb over your clit as Debbie continued her assault on your neck. 

Lou’s hands were holding your own thighs down so you could  barely move between the two of them, and continued to rub you furiously. Your abdomen muscles kept spasming as she passed over your sensitive clit, tighter and tighter until you shook with a whining, shaking orgasm. 

You collapsed against Debbie, who momentarily lost her balance, and then suddenly was lying flat on the table, you on top of her.

“Oh, perfect,” you heard Lou whisper, before your legs were yanked apart to spread and hook over Debbie’s thighs underneath you. You felt a brush of hair against your inner thighs and then Debbie gasped loudly underneath you, her mouth right by your ear and her grip on you unforgiving. 

Lou was eating Debbie out on the table as you lay limply on top of her, feeling her tremble and shake under you. Her arm wrapped tightly around your middle to have something to hold onto. You could hardly move. You tried squirming and doing something because her gasps and whimpers and the sounds of Lou’s mouth on her cunt made you desperate again. 

You could only watch the lamp hanging above you, swaying hypnotically as you felt Debbie’s legs rise and buck. Her lips sucked on your neck again, teeth nibbling until you groaned out loud. 

You sat up, watching Lou fuck Debbie with her tongue inside her. Then you reached down with your own  hand and lightly touched Debbie’s swollen clit, and she nearly threw you off of her. Lou grinned at you with her eyes; her own hands were occupied in holding Debbie steady, so you  sat about rubbing her clit with deft fingers until you heard that familiar cry, and she came on Lou’s tongue.

Lou sat back, spreading her legs and grinning at the sight of both of her girls laying exhausted on the table. You caught her eye and she licked her lips, pupils blown. 

Your legs were shaky as you attempted to get off the table, helping Debbie up in a sitting position, her chest heaving, sweat shining in the poorly lit space. Lou rubbed her legs, almost apologetically for making her thrash and whine so much. They kissed languidly, and Debbie reached down to cup her between her legs, but she pulled her hand away and sucked two of her fingers in her mouth before saying,

“No. Later,” she said, conclusively. She looked over at you and pulled you closer, and your hands subconsciously came up to play with her necklaces again.

“This was my idea after all,” Lou said, “and you two look- well, thoroughly fucked. If I may say so myself.”

-

You walked back slowly- because your legs felt stiff. You were still adjusting your outfit, feeling like everyone around you could see the dark bruising forming on your neck. And that everyone could see Lou and Debbie’s messed up hair- or the fact that all your clothes were wrinkled and messy. 

The evening sun was hiding behind the skyline and the sky was a lot darker by the time the three of you had reached Lou’s place, only you were stopped in your tracks by someone waiting on the front steps.

“Constance?” Lou asked, baffled, her hand slipping out of yours. The young woman was standing at Lou’s door, undeterred and munching on a Subway sandwich.

“Oh, hey! Where you been? I’ve been calling like, non-stop,” she said, “I was gonna return the key, remember?”

She jangled a set of keys that you recognized- everyone from the team had received a copy of them during their heist, and Lou groaned,

“Shit- I completely forgot. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long.”

“Nah, Tammy drove me.”

“Tammy? What- where-”

A honk from the street made you look over and see Tammy in the driver’s seat of a car waiting by the curb. She was grinning and waved her hand at the group of you standing on the sidewalk. Next to her was Amita.

“Did you bring everyone or something?” Lou said, exasperated.

“Uh, of course not! Just them- and Nineball. She’s in the backseat.”

“Why?” Debbie nearly shouted, holding your hand even tighter. 

Constance jangled the keys again, and this time you noticed there were far more than just one person’s set of keys- they must’ve gotten together to carpool the keys to Lou’s after Constance had planned to drop them off. And now they all saw the three of you walking home- clothes disheveled and covered in lipstick prints.

You groaned, knowing your state, wondering how it looked, wondering if they’d found out yet. This wasn’t really how you had planned to tell the team. You weren’t sure if any of you three had been planning to tell anyone at all. 

“You’re a thief, Connie, couldn’t you have just broken in?” Debbie added, bringing you back to the conversation, “would’ve saved everyone some time.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Constance grinned as Lou brought everyone inside. 

You nearly sprinted up the stairs, wanting to get out of sight as soon as possible, but Lou had grabbed your hand before could even take one step.

“Not so fast,” she whispered hoarsely, “you’re gonna suffer just as much as us. No abandoning post.”

You pouted at her but relented, welcoming the other four women who started chatting.

“I’m terribly sorry if it's a bad time!” Tammy said, “but it’s been so long since all of us have been together, you know? And I was only in town for a little while, so I thought I’d reach out to Connie and-”

“It’s fine,” Debbie interrupted her, sincerely, but slightly frustrated, “it’s good to see you all. Although we don’t have everyone in, only-”

As if on cue, the door that had been left open a crack swung open all the way, revealing Rose and Daphne, arm in arm.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Lou sighed, and you grinned, sliding up to her and pulling on her hand with yours,

“Picked the wrong night for poker, huh?”

“Oh my goodness, girls!” Daphne squealed, pushing her thick sunglasses on top of her head, glossy lips spreading wide. “We were just passing through- had no idea everyone was getting together!”

“Neither did we,” Debbie replied, receiving their hugs and hello’s.

“So what were you three up to before you got back?” Amita asked, oh so innocently. You nearly choked on a can of Coke.

“We were... out,” Debbie said bluntly. You could see in her eyes; she was blanking entirely on how to recover from this. 

“I was teaching them how to play poker at the club,” Lou added, absentmindedly picking at her nails. 

“But... you only ever take people out for poker on a date, Lou,” Tammy piped up, confused. Of course Tammy would fucking know that.

There was a dreaded silence, and you realized you were absolutely fucked when the first voice cried out,

“No! No way!” Okay, so Constance had definitely figured it out. You blushed furiously, only confirming her suspicions as she scanned you and your  girlfriends.

“What?” Debbie snapped.

“You guys are fucking, aren't you?” Nineball asked, nonchalantly, as if that wasn’t one of the biggest revelations of the century. 

You expected screams- a major uproar, glasses to be thrown in surprise, but instead, there was a moment of stunned silence before there was a collective “Oooohhhh...” of realization. Then they all began talking over each other

“You know what, that makes a lot of sense-”

“Yeah I was beginning to wonder if you really just didn’t care about fashion with how your outfit looked- or if you just hadn’t seen a mirror...”

“Oh my god, it’s bad enough Debbie mothers all of us already. Now there’s three of you together?”

“I kept asking Y/N if she was seeing anyone and wanted a blind date or something, but she was so vague-”

“So how is the wedding going to work?”

“Isn’t that, like, a lot of limbs to deal with?”

“For some reason I’m surprised but also not at all.”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Lou shouted, finally shutting your friends up. “Yes, fine, the three of us are seeing each other. But we’re not just fucking, alright?”

“It’s an actual relationship, and if any of you have a problem with that, you can get the hell out.”

“Holiday shopping must be so expensive,” Rose murmured over to you as your girlfriends kept defending your situation, and you couldn’t help but giggle. And then you began laughing, loudly. So absurd was the situation that you couldn’t stop laughing. 

“Is something funny?” Debbie asked, crossing her arms, annoyed. You giggled and nodded,

“Yes, all of this is funny.” 

You got up and crossed over to Lou and Debbie, holding their hands and looking over your group of friends; none of them showing any sort of malice, only content amusement and smiles.

“I find it funny that you’re both getting so worked up about it when no one here is having an issue with our relationship. Nothing’s gonna change from how it was before, right guys?”

A few nodded in response and you smiled, absent-mindedly straightening Lou’s askew tie.

“So there’s really no problems then, hm? Why don’t we just... crack open some beers and keep the party going?”

Constance hollered in agreement, and just like that, the atmosphere was back to normal, drinks were being opened, and although your throuple situation was still a topic of conversation, it wasn’t nearly as malicious as you thought it would be. 

“You know, I always had an inkling that something was going on, but I couldn’t put my finger on it,” Daphne said, gleefully. You rolled your eyes and gave her a glass of wine.

“Got room for one more?” Nineball asked. Lou chucked an empty soda can at her head.

[weaverlings]

anyway yeah finally gave into the impulse that's been creeping up on me since like. finishing madarame's palace: if i'm going to be subjecting myself to a persona game, i'd rather it be 4

more words than necessary on this specific subject

the bigotry in p4 is more tightly wound up in the story and that's indefensible. but for some reason p5 was bothering me more and i finally figured out why. it's bc p5 claims to have that whole message of rebellion while dropping in those insidious bits of homophobia?

and in terms of the narrative stuff and p5 is just so. shallow. like i've actually come to like it LESS through the experience of playing it. there is too much to do. the writing falls apart like wet paper and the confidants...

i guess they were going for like, showing how growing relationships with people change ren's cognition and thus give those additional advantages. but so many of them feel rushed, there's no breathing room, and it ends up like you're just getting new toys more than anything to do with building relationships. and even the entire "confidant" idea - these relationships are FOUNDED in the story as something that's more about being a better thief than anything to do with any characters??? and i guess you're supposed to get to know them as you go etc but it just doesn't pan out for me

also the aspect that ties it into mementos... okay i have some ideas of the 3rd semester and maybe that would improve things? but being able to go in and change the heart of a specific person and having THAT be a key component of resolution for each confidant, again just, feels like such a shallow thing. okay, problem solved! yeah i know it doesn't necessarily make everything instantly perfect for those involved but i feel like it undercuts any meaningful, non-supernatural opportunities for growth

in persona 4 there's definitely the issue of like, there's only so much you can develop a relationship over the course of 10 relatively brief cutscenes. but they're relationships that pop up relatively organically - only the party members have any supernatural advantages (that i know of. i didn't do margaret's bc i am bad at fusion and idk anything about marie or adachi yet). but mostly it's like. fellow club members, family, people met through the part time jobs? it's arbitrary perhaps, but for me it just. feels better. makes it feel more about a plainer kind of strength you get through community connections?

and p4 is just a much tighter narrative. it doesn't spiral out of control, really. it's smaller and that's fine. it works. it holds together. like it's not GOOD either but i'm not comparing these two persona games with other games, just each other. persona 4 has a story it wants to tell about a group of conflicted teenagers in a small town struggling with questions of identity as they try to solve a supernatural murder case. does it handle this well? no. it can be deeply uncomfortable even when it's not being actively bigoted.

but p4 does... handle it. unlike p5, which says sexual harassment is wrong while one of its protagonists is regularly harassed and uncomfortable in HER OWN SPECIAL COSTUME TIED TO THE MANIFESTATIONS OF HER TRUE SELF? which talks specifically about rebellion and pushing back against harmful systems and abuses of power - important themes! Themes that did come through in places, you can see someone cared somewhere in writing this - while also sprinkling in bigotry and ultimately kind of. defanging itself?

persona 4 though is just so much more consistent. it's got its themes of identity, of the internal vs external and how other people and wider social pressure can affect you?? it's got a message of how, even when this feels overpowering, it's important not to give in to apathy. like it's clumsy for sure but it's coherent. the story has a core and elements that work together and characters that fit into it.

persona 5 had strong characters who deserved better writing than they got, and a few interesting and/or fun story beats and everything else is just. so thin. persona 4 has strong characters who deserved better writing than they got, and like... a story with some substance to it. themes followed through on. it's not at all subtle but it is quieter, more relaxed. or like.... it just DOES have some breathing room??? the mundane aspects have more weight and that helps it be a more balanced experience

basically p4 has many flaws. i think p5 has all of those flaws but makes them worse due to a lot of padding and lack of consistency in its message. p4 is a bad game but p5 is so much scope so little substance

[morporkian-cryptid]

Today in "Elliott's Niche AF AUs": one (1) person asked me about this, sooooo...

Lupin III Discworld AU crossover headcanon pile thingy!!!

For those who don't know: Discworld is a flat world held on the back of four giant elephants on top of a giant turtle, floating through space. That world has magic, as well as trolls, dwarves, goblins etc... but in a way that's meant to subvert typical fantasy tropes.

Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Disc, is a hotbed of crime, innovations, and innovations in crime. It is run by a council of guilds, and by a Patrician (a lifelong tyrant; he's elected by the guilds but he has the final say in everything). Notorious for having an Assassins', Thieves', Beggars', and Seamstresses' (sex workers) Guilds. Also notorious for its Watch (the police), which is actually surprisingly good at solving crimes. It's also the biggest immigration destination on the Disc.

Character backstories/situations:

Lupin : half-quirmian-half-agatean (Quirm being the DW equivalent of France), grew up in the Agatean Empire (DW equivalent of China/East Asia). He moved to Ankh-Morpork to follow Fujiko, and/or to escape Zenigata. He’s an illegal thief (meaning he's not registered with the Thieves' Guild), and his favourite hobby (besides just stealing in general) is screwing with the Guild. Commander Vimes, the head of the Watch, is supposed to catch him (or at least help Zenigata catch him), but he's secretly rooting for him because he dislikes the Guild slightly more than he dislikes Lupin.

Jigen : son of a couple of Agatean immigrants in Ankh-Morpork, grew up as a street urchin in the Shades (the most crime-ridden neighborhood of the notoriously crime-ridden Ankh-Morpork). He joined the Assassins’ Guild later in his life as a (mostly self-taught) sharpshooter, with a talent that outshone that of the Guild's best students. He later quit the Guild after he met Lupin (possibly had a contract to kill Lupin, and decided “screw this I’m going with him”). He can use any kind of shooting weapons, but favors crossbows. He’s tried stealing and using the gonne (DW's first and only firearm); it didn't go well. He somehow managed to learn one single spell from the wizards, the fireball, by becoming pals with Arcchancelor Ridcully (wizard, head of the Unseen University, and famous for his unfortunate passion for crossbow shooting).

Goemon : agatean immigrant/fugitive, master swordsman. He left Agatea because Fujiko stole his Zantetsuken and fled to Ankh-Morpork, so Goemon had to follow her to retrieve his sword. He then met Lupin and Jigen and decided to stick around. The Zantetsuken is a talking sword, and its personality is basically the embodiment of Bushido. It's extremely annoying (like all talking swords), but Goemon loves it. (it was probably his only friend back in Agatea)

Fujiko : agatean immigrant/fugitive. Ran away from the Agatean Empire chased by Goemon. She joined the Thieves’ Guild, but everyone confuses her for a seamstress because her technique usually involves seduction. She tried it on Vetinari once. It failed spectacularly.

Zenigata : agatean immigrant, part of the Empire’s police force, who came to Ankh-Morpork chasing Lupin. He only brought his assistant Yata with him, and has to cooperate with the Watch to have resources to catch Lupin. Vimes doesn’t particularly like him, but he’s good at his work so he can’t say anything (they're both too stubborn to get along).

Bonus:

Yata: Zenigata’s assistant, came to Ankh-Morpork with him, rapidly became great friends with Rufus Drumknott (the Head Secretary of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari). He has a bad influence on Drumknott. He also befriended Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, but then again Carrot befriends everyone.

Ami: She's a clacks operator. Clacks are basically the DW equivalent of telegraph. There's a group of clacks hackers called the GNU, so she might have joined them.

Albert: He's part of the Patrician's Dark Clerks (they're the secret services of Ankh-Morpork)

Rebecca: She's from Quirm. That’s all I have about her for now. (Quirm's the equivalent of France, but in the french translation it was made into an equivalent of Italy)

Random-Ass Headcanons

Lupin gets along like a house on fire with Moist von Lipwig (former conman and current postmaster, notorious adrenaline junkie), both figuratively and literally. Lupin and Lipwig sometimes team up on heists and rely on each other’s help, when they’re not busy competing against each other because Lupin keeps daring Lipwig to thieving competitions.

One of the contests’ goal is to steal Vetinari’s manuscript, The Servant. Fujiko wins. She wasn’t even in the race.

///

Fujiko quickly became friends with Adora-Belle Dearheart (Moist von Lipwig's rather explosive girlfriend), they get together every now and then to trash-talk their respective boyfriends.

///

For some reason everyone thinks Lupin is a werewolf. (it’s actually Jigen)

(maybe. I haven't yet decided whether or not he is. That would be a very good source of angst, considering what most werewolves are like, and also a very good source of domestic fluff if the whole gang has to adapt to the moon cycle and Jigen's transformations. Idk. Might be fun.)

///

Fujiko owns a horse golem (a gift from Adora-Belle or something she stole, we may never know). The Gang also owns a carriage, modified with a spell so it will drive faster, and they drive it completely carelessly. It has been destroyed and rebuilt countless times. (actually a bunch of spells, Lupin probably found a way to blackmail Ridcully so he could mod the shit out of his carriage. Or they rely on Jigen’s friendship with Ridcully)

///

Lupin uses swamp dragons as firearms (dialogue courtesy of @marquise-de-clarabas: Jigen: You stole a dragon??? Lupin: I didn’t steal him! He’s his own person and can make decisions himself! Dragon: I wanna steal). He has an alias and disguise entirely dedicated to visiting the Sunshine Sanctuary For Sick Dragons, and somehow became friends with Lady Sybil Ramkin-Vimes (Commander Vimes' wife, and the greatest expert on swamp dragons in the city, probably on the Disc). Vimes doesn't know about it, and Lupin finds the whole situation hilarious. He constantly makes jokes about how he’s playing with fire.

///

The Thieves’ Guild and the Watch are competing to catch the Gang, but secretly Vimes is rooting for the Gang (the Guild just hates them). That said, Vimes also hates Lupin (only slightly less than he dislikes the Guild), because he's always a little shit whenever he gets put in jail, and then he immediately breaks out.

///

Rincewind (famously bad wizard with a shit luck and a tendency to run from problems) once got arrested by Zenigata, because he got startled by him yelling LUPAAAAAAAAAN! and started running for the hills, making Zenigata believe he was Lupin in disguise. Rincewind is terrified of Zenigata.

///

Zenigata is actively trying to stop the Thieves' Guild from catching Lupin and Co, both because he wants to catch them himself, and because he knows what the Guild does to illegal thieves and he doesn’t want it to happen to Lupin.

///

Lupin stole Ridcully’s hat (custom wizard hat with a bunch of pockets, drawers, a crossbow, and a tiny flask of alcohol) as a gift for Jigen’s birthday. He also stole Lipwig’s hat (golden cap with dove wings), after which Adora claimed she didn’t recognize Moist (dialogue courtesy of @marquise-de-clarabas: Moist: C’mon babe, it’s me, your boyfriend! Adora, knowing full well who he is: I have never met this man in my entire life). He also raided the Assassins' Guild's armory/museum to get a birthday gift for Goemon.

///

About Jigen and the gonne (spoilers for Men at Arms) : basically, the gonne being such a dangerous and destructive weapon compared to crossbows, it has a nigh-magical attraction on people, and awakens and strengthens whatever lust for power, vengeance, blood etc they have. It basically controls its user and feeds on their convictions, addictions, wants, etc. The only person known to have resisted it is Vimes (because he's a stubborn mofo with a sense of morals you could bend iron on), and even he came damn near to losing his mind. (And Carrot, because... he's Carrot.)

Assuming the gonne didn't get destroyed in this AU: after they steal it, Lupin tries to use it, gets completely possessed/cursed (again) and accidentally tries to murder his friends (again), prompting Jigen to take it from him. Jigen then gets possessed as well, and they start fighting for the gonne, until Goemon just walks in, takes it out of their hands and takes it away. Goemon's completely unaffected by the gonne because 1) of his ascetic training and 2) "it is a filthy morporkian artifact and cannot compare to the noble art of the sword."

///

Zenigata often teams up with Angua (resident werewolf of the Watch), they get along very well. The Gang is very easy to track, they smell like a tobacco factory that has caught on fire.

///

Yata and Drumknott (Patrician's head secretary, and confidante, sort of) get together after office hours, and argue about whose boss is the best (because as we all know they both have a crush on respective bosses). One day Drumknott accidentally calls Vetinari “Sempai” after he heard Yata call Zenigata that all the time.

///

Lupin follows Lipwig’s example and steals all of Yata’s pencils every time he visits the Pseudopolis Yard (the Watch's HQ). Drumknott is fuming when Yata tells him about it.

///

Leonardo Da Quirm is butt-naked, because Part 4.

///

Something with vampires, probably.

///

tagging @carriagelamp and @mad-whoman-with-a-book00 because I know you may be potentially interested in this AU ^^

[iheartbookbran]

I think the whole Daenerys burning KL thing has a lot less to do with her than it does several other plot threads and themes in the story. Unfortunately I think GRRM is going to use Daenerys to confront the concept of paying for your ancestors crimes, her father put that wildfire there, her legacy (as a Targaryen, not as Daenerys herself) is literally built on fire and blood. The Targaryens might have united the 7 Kingdoms, but they did so with a lot of unnecessary bloodshed, and there was almost never a time in their history of reigning where there wasn't war. Daenerys as an individual is not responsible for any of this, and I wholeheartedly agree with you that she doesn't need to be taught a lesson about abuse of power, but unfortunately I think GRRM is going in this direction anyways, because he's going to use her as a climax for the entire Targaryen reign. It's a cruel sort of irony, that the place her ancestors built from the ground up will be the cause of her "downfall" and probably turn her into a morally ambiguous historical figure in the future, regardless of what she does to save Westeros from the others.

And there's the fact that the wildfire beneath KL is a huge chekov's gun. Someone *has* to ignite it, and if it's not Daenerys, I'm not entirely sure who it could be. Cersei is definitely a contender, but seeing as she doesn't know about the wildfire yet, it's a little bit of a reach. I think it would be a very tragic way to wrap up Daenery's storyline, but it seems like that's the direction GRRM is headed in :/

Hey there! Ok, a little disclaimer before I start: today I got my first covid vaccine shot and I’m a little dizzy as a result so I might not make much sense right now. Sorry in advance.

While I completely get the whole ‘paying for the crimes of your ancestors’ concept you’re bringing up, and that’s a theme GRRM is definitely fond of exploring, to me it would be like holding Dany at completely different standards than the rest of the characters. Because it’s one thing for Dany to be in conflict with her father’s legacy—which tbh I would say she already kinda is?—and another entirely to punish Dany for every bad thing the Targaryens ever did because Monarchies=Bad and therefore Targaryens=Bad. I mean we wouldn’t be getting anything similar from the other major POVs. For example, I don’t believe a house like that of the Starks could rule for literally thousands of years without a little blood in their hands, it’s just GRRM doesn’t focus as much on them (and they didn’t have dragons, but I already explained why I believe Dany doesn’t need a lesson on how her dragons can be dangerous in the first place).

I think when it comes to fathers and legacies characters like Dany, Tyrion and Jon are very similar because a part of their stories is about showcasing how they’re not like their fathers. Tyrion has to confront his father… and kill him so he can move on with his life, which in turn kickstarts the downfall of House Lannister, but that was something Tyrion was alive to see, and to question and to know that it wasn’t as glorious as his family wanted to believe it was, but instead shallow and rotten; Dany on the other hand never got to see her family in full power and reap the benefits of that; in fact, she was actively a target for most of her childhood because of her name. With Jon I think he will be confronted with the legacies of his biological Father (Rhaegar) and his adopted one (Ned), and try and decide which one he wants to honor, or that maybe he ought to forge his own path entirely.

Now with Dany, again she’s already starting to question Viserys’ narrative about their father, we see it in her conversations with Ser Barristan and her fears of ‘turning mad’ like Aerys (and tbh that’s all the reasons I need to know why she wouldn’t go mad) for me not to believe she’s going to try to distance herself from what her father represented. The destruction of KL and the knowledge of her father’s role in it would just solidify that in Dany’s head plus the internal emotional conflict that would come with it but without the extra steps of the author needlessly lecturing Dany (and us) about the dangers of unchecked power or that a throne is not all there is in life; I would argue Dany already knows that. She doesn’t need a reason or an excuse to be a rescuer, she already is one, as Tyrion (GRRM) said for several paragraphs in ADWD.

The part that you mention about the destruction of KL giving Dany bad PR? I believe she already has it lmao. Just remember how she was talked about during Quentyn and Tyrion’s POVs, while a lot of people love her, many others hate her guts to a hilarious degree and demonize her for what she’s done to the poor defenseless slave masters. Such are the woes of women who rise to power and then go like “hey… maybe owning people is wrong?” but I digress. As you said, there are currently many contenders for the honor of getting to burn KL, and who knows, maybe it will be a group effort! I suspect the dragons will be involved one way or another, but the stolen ones (idk if Euron will steal more than one dragon) so adding Dany to the mix wouldn’t make much sense except to make way for her showdown with Aegon VI, that at this point honestly I’m not that interested in. I think Dany has more important stuff going on for her. Like, there’s a lot of confrontations I would like to happen that I believe the narrative as it currently stands doesn’t have much room to allow to breathe properly, like Jaime/Tyrion, Cercei/Tyrion, Arianne/her family in general. At the end of the day those dragons are her dragons, her children, and she will blame herself strongly for whatever they do (and others will too, enthusiastically, I’m sure), just remember how much guilt she feels over Drogon killing that little girl, and no one was controlling him then, not even Dany.

So basically what I was trying to convey during this mess of a response is that I’m not saying Daenerys has no buisness in the KL conflict, but rather that making her the one responsible for its destruction would feel way too contrived for me, it would require the plot to stay on hold for god knows how long until she’s done with her business in Essos and it would do absolutely nothing for her character or development but rather serve as some kind of twisted double-standard in which only Dany has to atone for the sins of her ancestors, as if living exiled and destitude all her life wasn’t enough.