#respect and sympathy.

[vt-scribbles]

Hey, so, listen.

As an ex-christian, now-agnostic: Do Not run around throwing your religion at people unprompted.

I 100% understand and respect that this is a touchy subject. I was once the same type who was afraid that everyone around me was going to hell and it was MY JOB to try and save them.

Listen. As someone who's seen both sides now, I only have this to say:

People's religion or lacktherof is

Their Business.

And ONLY their business. Leave them alone. I don't care if you think you're helping. A lot of people have really bad religious trauma, and this sort of thing can make them extremely upset or uncomfortable. On top of that, just like a telemarketer or a door-to-door salesman, randomly showing up to someone's 'internet door' and trying to shove your beliefs down their throat will Never. Work. It will never change someone's mind. It will ONLY make them block or avoid you.

You wouldn't want someone to come into your inbox and shove 'your religion is fake and you're brainwashed' down your throat unprompted, would you? Wouldn't someone shoving their beliefs in your face be uncomfy? Yeah.

[time-slink]

Blazeborn Joe Hills, or Avian Cleo for fanon swap?

[ ask game ]

big stretch!

[holoship]

[wearecrowley]

[outofthemouthsof]

Save and Joke have something big in common.

They both made a bargain with Boss Alice to protect their indebted beloved, knowing they were giving an evil man even more power.

[uncanny-tranny]

With how dangerous binding and tucking can be, it's wild to me that in so many ways, the onus of having your basic humanity respected often hinges on ensuring that you do whatever you can to minimize your body. And it's extra wild when you're told how nobody will respect you, but I have had plenty of interactions with (just to name a couple of examples) men who don't bind and women who don't pack, and it's actually so easy to engage with them without laser-focusing on their body.

I was always told that respect hinges on earning it - a trans person earns respect (see: people almost begrudgingly seeing and/or affirming who they are) when we prove ourselves. As a kid, I didn't have the financial or familial support to bind, so I used bandages. Like, I remember leaving class to take them off because I was in so much pain, and it just makes me think that there is a whole lot of difference between the workloads of trans people and certain others. I don't think putting my body in physical risk like that is the same mental and physical workload as... using a name, using pronouns, seeing the person and who they are.

[palatinewolfsblog]

'"Keep me away from the wisdom

which does not cry,

the philosophy

which does not laugh

and the greatness

which does not bow before children."

Khalil Gibran.

[baby-xemnas]

dead strawhat! booo dead strawhat!! 😂

he is so damn MEAN. she already wasnt hiding that she cares about luffy A LOT you didnt have to test her 😭😭

[cherries-in-wine]

How are you a terrible actress AND a shitty person like pick a struggle

[utilitycaster]

I genuinely believe the fact that so many popular Imogen/Laudna fics are no-powers AU is, if not the main cause, at least a factor in why so many people resist or even are hostile towards any interpretation of Imogen that isn't largely sweet and harmless. Like, write the fic you want, but Imogen in particular is someone so fundamentally shaped by her powers that to write a no powers AU is to write what is essentially a completely original character who happens to share her name.

I think it's made even more obviously a factor because many of those fics try to reconstruct aspects of Imogen's personality by giving her anxiety or agoraphobia (or both) but the problem is that those are purely mental illnesses, rather than something that both gives her powers and penalties (again, the X-Men problem). Some real-world mental illnesses cover the symptoms of Imogen's abilities, but none cover the abilities themselves. It's quite literally a removal of agency: they take away what she can (and frequently does) do with her powers, leaving only the negative effects on her behind while eliminating the negative effects she can have on others. No wonder there's this overwhelming push to woobify her from that corner; they've utterly defanged her and are now crying that other people who can still see her fangs (and even like them) are talking about them.

And the thing is, for all I can be negative about fanon, it is, ultimately, fine - so long one can either keep it separate in one's mind from canon or else remain in a particular fanon sandbox. But unfortunately people leave the sandbox, and when other people respond to the canon Imogen, who as of episode 81 (RIP CRStats) has voluntarily used Detect Thoughts/Open Mind 60 times and has openly stated her intent to use it specifically to know what her party members are doing in advance and theoretically prevent it, the fanfic crowd is utterly unable to react to this intelligently. The idea of Imogen they have is sweet girl with severe anxiety and a goth girlfriend. The problem is this construct exists only in their favorite fanfic writers' domestic fluff modern AU no powers setting. And frankly, I'm not interested in talking about that warped mirror version of her when I could have all the fascination, complexity, glory, and agency of the real thing.

[kosherkept]

ok yes i feel bad for people who get harassed by bigots and trolls on this website but some of yall need to learn to press the block button and move on. that person may be a total dick but you’re enabling them by continuing to fucking talking to them what did you think was going to happen 😭

[rainyraisin]

I think Gerald Robotnik is the perfect example of how sympathetic doesn't mean forgivable and I havent seen a single person talk about it

[ilynpilled]

i can fully understand the gripes with certain misogynistic tropes/writing issues that are present in the execution of some of cersei’s writing, but i will never understand the “she should have a redemption arc” or “she should be more likeable/less morally dark” perspective. that is not what her character is or has to be to make it great. wanting more female anti-heroes or “redemption arcs” with moral greyness and complexity of the level that asoiaf gives to primarily male characters is entirely understandable, but do some of you people even like cersei as a character, like at its core? like this is not about criticising the execution of certain things when it comes to this character, this is about taking issue with her as a villain fundamentally, which i just do not agree with at all

[sophieinwonderland]

I'd like to acknowledge the history of and apologize for a word I've been using

A while ago, when attempting to classify different types of origins for headmates, I wrote a post on what I call Headmate Foundations.

I've only just become aware that the word "Foundation" has a long and troubling history of ableism, dating back to the False Memory Syndrome Foundation in 1982.

This is a group that regularly fakeclaimed trauma survivors and those with DID. And obviously... since "foundation" is in the name of the group, clearly this is a bad term now.

It doesn't matter that foundation is a common word used in a lot of contexts. What matters is that it's a word endogenic systems use, and if you can find any negative association with an endogenic term anywhere, (or even a similar-sounding word when that fails) then you can weaponize it to attack the whole community.

Because this is what syscourse is now. It's not about important issues. It's about analyzing the words used by your opponents and using them to make up controversies. Then when the people you libeled point out how ridiculous and baseless these accusations are, you can point the blame at them for invalidating your feelings. Because you, the ones trying to smear a community for the terms we use for ourselves, are clearly the real victims.

So I'd like to acknowledge the harmful history of this term and will promptly be removing the words Foundation, Syndrome, Memory and False from my vocabulary, along with any similar-sounding words and any words that share an etymology with those words or words that can be translated to the same words as those in other languages.

/s

[dykedvonte]

Hey so from what I've heard about the plot of the game the crew believes that Curly was the one who crashed the ship after Jimmy told them, including Anya. But shouldn't she of all people know Jimmy isn't to be trusted?

I think it’s tensions and a sort of shock for why they blame Curly.

She knows Curly is reserved and holding back his feelings on life and his occupation. He zones out, clearly has self image issues and is dissatisfied with life if anything they heard at the party is to go by. He was in a clearly bad state of mind the entire expedition on top of being in a worse one when he ran to the cockpit to talk to Jimmy, someone she likely picked up on having a furthering negative effect on his mental state. Not to mention it was after telling him she told Jimmy alone the crash happened.

Anya likely didn’t just believe Jimmy but it was the only thing they had to go on. She likely was partially blaming herself in that moment for adding what she could only believe the final straw that broke the camels back with the added stress of her assault. It’s not uncommon that victims blame themselves for perceived adjacent events and questioning it would tie back into thinking of the cause which is thinking more of her assault from Jimmy. I feel like over time she stops as it’s not hard to realize nothing Jimmy does to anyone is indicative of their own character nor should the crash be considered her fault in anyway.

I honestly think her asking about it was the doubt she had it was actually Curly and why she likely forgave him for it with the whole “I’ll worst moments…” sentiment. Even if it was him she knew he didn’t do it out of something deeply selfish but a perceived last resort unlike Jimmy who only did it to escape accountability. I know it’s a very kind thought towards a man who didn’t do enough to help you and you can only believe tried to kill you all, but it’s combined with a sort of peace and comfort they clearly had beforehand with each other that is hard to shake.

My own personal take is that she ended it and tried to seal Curly off with her because she finally realized none of what Jimmy told them added up and it was likely him. Maybe she saw him snooping around for the gun or maybe it all just clicked in those last moments just like it did for Curly. She was already worried he’d try something and crashing the ship really isn’t out of that realm.

Knowing he’s just as violent and dangerous as ever and even willing to frame his friend that was doing so much for him, her actions were out of sympathy, acceptance and reclamation for both of them. Curly doesn’t deserve this even if he understands her fully now but she can’t open the case and he couldn’t possibly get enough pills down in time, perhaps it was the idea he’d know in his last few days or even hours Jimmy can’t hurt them anymore. She understands it’s really the only quick way out and she’s doing it so Jimmy gets no satisfaction and loses the control he had over them permanently. Like really he’s only keeping Curly alive to menace him and not harming Anya due to both a combo of power high/Swansea and Daisuke would likely flip on him if he tried shit whether they knew of the past assault or not.

These tangents aside, we don’t actually know how much the others truly believed Jimmy and how much was just going along with his bullshit. It’s all form his perspective so how much they actually where listening is from his understanding only so hey, maybe when Swansea and Anya where talking, it was about this too. I mean, Swansea basically calls Jimmy delusional when Daisuke dies so maybe he figured it out too and is kicking himself for not actually doing more about it.

[lord-squiggletits]

Okay another instance of "fuck canon" that's not just Pharma-related, but Ambulon related. I keep thinking of Luna-1 where Ambulon called Pharma "Doctor DJD" and I feel like that's such a total "he would not fucking say that" moment. Obv JRO controls the characterization so what's in the comics is canon/right, I just think that it doesn't make sense for someone in Ambulon's position with his backstory to be that petty towards Pharma?

Ambulon's a Decepticon traitor, he's on the DJD's List. Moreover, he's stationed on Messatine which is the DJD's home planet and is (was?) still an active battle front until very recently.

Proof that Messatine being the DJD's territory is common knowledge: not only First Aid, who's stationed at Delphi, but also at least three Autobots on the Lost Light, know that the DJD make Messatine their home. And this is long before Pharma does his monologue to Ratchet about his t-cog blackmail with Tarn.

Proof that Delphi/the nucleon mines were in an active warzone at least until Pharma started his plague: Pharma wouldn't have had any t-cogs to harvest if there wasn't a continuous stream of soldiers/war-dead coming in to use as his supply.

So then, Ambulon knew fully well that he and all of the rest of them were right next to the DJD's home base, and as an ex-Decepticon he knows he would be on the list. Probably not very high on the list, since Ambulon was a mere MTO who got turned into a failed combiner experiment, but he IS on the list; just because the DJD only proceed through the list in order of importance, doesn't mean that Ambulon wouldn't know that they'd come for him eventually.

And this is a really fucking neat idea to play around with! We don't ever get a canon/explicit explanation for why Prowl decided to station those three medics on Delphi, especially one who's an ex-Con on an execution list. Did Ambulon have a choice? Or was he told to go there with no argument? Either way, I think Ambulon deserves some major kudos, because he must have ball (bearings) of steel to be an ex-Con in DJD territory without constantly being on the verge of a mental breakdown or panic attack. I could honestly write a whole post on the question of "why were these three stationed on Messatine" in itself, but that's for another time.

The point I'm trying to make here is basically that Ambulon of all people should've been sympathetic to the circumstances that drove Pharma to do what he did: they were ALL stationed in the DJD's territory and they knew it, they ALL knew that the DJD's playbook is horrific torturous murder, they ALL knew that Ambulon was a former Decepticon. It wouldn't take a genius for everyone at Delphi to piece together the fact that the DJD would come for Ambulon eventually if either he wasn't evacuated or Delphi as a whole wasn't evacuated. But I mean, this is wartime, right? Every soldier is risking their life, everyone could die at any moment. They can't close down Delphi or evacuate all of the personnel in an active war front battling over a mine just because a medic or three might feel unsafe. Nowhere in war is safe. If High Command let everyone abandon their posts who was afraid of being killed, nothing would ever get done because war comes with inherent risk of death that all soldiers accept by participating, as well as accepting the obligation to follow orders on threat of punishment. (Almost as if Pharma couldn't have just evacuated or run away like Ratchet suggested, but JRO clearly isn't a military expert so I'll digress/chalk it up to "wasn't plot relevant to bring up".)

We got all of like, two pages that showed Pharma and Ambulon's working relationship, and the best we have besides that is JRO's word of god that Pharma and Ambulon had 'mutual reluctant respect' for each other. It's highly unlikely that the two were best buddies regardless, but I don't think you need to be friends with someone like Pharma, while sharing the same situation as him, to be a little more sympathetic to him? Like I get that Ambulon would be offended by the idea of his boss trying to frame him for murder to cover up his own murders, but the "Doctor DJD" line always seemed weirdly callous and petty to me. "Doctor DJD" implies that Pharma was some sort of willing collaborator or servant to the DJD which clearly wasn't the case. And I find it hard to believe that Ambulon, who knows exactly what kind of people the DJD are, would have an opinion of Pharma that was just "oh he should've tried harder/been less of a coward and resisted." Hell, Ambulon's reaction to Sonic and Boom showing up at Delphi asking for refuge was to instantly take pity on them and offer them shelter immediately; if he feels protective/sympathetic towards literal random nobody Decepticon soldiers, shouldn't he have at least as much feeling (if not more) for another Autobot who he worked with and supposedly had respect for?

Assuming that Ambulon got the full details of Pharma's blackmail deal. I mean, there's no reason to assume that Ratchet would've lied to First Aid and Ambulon about what Pharma told him (unless??? conspiracy theory!!!!) , so Ambulon should've heard about the t-cog deal and how it was the only reason the DJD didn't raze Delphi to the ground so long ago. Then again, maybe Pharma's story got explained to him and First Aid via Ratchet's extremely judgemental take on events, so who knows how much of Pharma's side of the story Ambulon would've actually known.

But wouldn't it be so much more interesting if, instead of sneering at Pharma as "Doctor DJD", Ambulon had a more conflicted perspective of Pharma's face-heel turn? Would he wonder how it is that someone who he had such respect for could've been so despicable? Or, more sympathetically, would Ambulon ever wonder if Tarn threatening Delphi was his fault for being there? Would Ambulon wonder what he would've done in Pharma's position, being forced to bargain to postpone his own horrific execution? Would he be angry at Prowl or the higher-ups for stationing them all in such a dangerous post to begin with?

I mean, the answer is that Ambulon was a tertiary cast member at best, to the point that half of his appearances on the Lost Light literally are shown in retrospect after he died, so there would've been no room to explore this in the plot, and Ambulon and Pharma were way lower priority compared to other, more important protagonists. I just think it would be interesting to explore these questions in other metas and fan works.

And yes, I do think Ambulon would not fucking say that ("Doctor DJD") regardless of what canon actually says lmao.