#sorry for hijacking your post but it got me emotional

[viserya-firstofhername]

I would put that in the tags usually, but have it in main instead (this segment was originally at the end of the post, but as soon as I wrote it I realised the only reasonable action was to put it in the beginning. Because.): Save me Mel Medarda. Save me Baela Targaryen. Save me Maeve Millay. Save me Bonnie Bennett. Save me Storm. Make of these what you will.

As a white woman raised in a time and place where there were too few black people to ever meet one in person (if you find that hard to decode—try a millennial from an ex-eastern bloc state), in a household where racism was explicitly spoken against, and by a man who was more feminist than most women I know today wish they were, I realised quite late in life what a fucking massive issue this is. Misogyny is something I had to deal with in my personal and professional life since the dawn of fucking forever, but misogynoir is a whole different game really, and while I never entertained the arrogance to claim understanding of what black women have to go through, I am and forever will be baffled why a human is judged by the colour of their skin and their chromosomes first, and merits and flaws later. Joke's on me, I guess. Also, it stands to be noted, I rarely voice my opinions about societal problems I cannot grasp the full spectre of implications of (due to my demographics, that is. I can voice all the opinions on bisexuality you wish to read), exactly because I find it disrespectful, just as I find it offensive to be speaking up when one lacks basic media (or any) literacy. Sigh. 'Tis much more often I stress if what I say/write does take into account experiences I do not fully comprehend. Anyway. The thing is.

This post needs to be printed on as many morning cups of coffee, on-demand printed t-shirts, subway walls, corporate building entrances, Tumblr walls, X-or-whatever-twitter-I-don't use-the-thing-walls, people's retinas, etc., as possible. Worded as is. So here. Have it. Read it. Digest it. Engage your brain with it. Read it again tomorrow morning. Be like me—read it twice in a row.

— this fandom has a vast misogynoirist problem and, yes, this also applies to YOU reading this right now; a post filled w unsorted thoughts you should read if you genuinely want black fans to feel safe in fandom spaces with you

i am going to preface this right away w how disappointed i am in some of the people who follow me, who will occasionally like a post calling out misogynoir but only if its comfortable and only if its worded nicely and only if its against someone they dislike and not someone they do like. i am directly talking to my non-black followers because i do not expect black fans to expose themselves to this kind of hatred and thinly (and not so thinly) veiled racism we are faced w on a daily basis. some of you have a big following and a big portion of that following is white and YOU have the opportunity to use your POWER (and, yes, even in fandoms there are different power dynamics because logging onto twitter dot com does not remove the burden of blackness within overtly white spaces, this too is a space where having white privileges will get you places) and talk about these issues that have been becoming more and more prevalent.

our voices are not heard and when they are heard they get twisted by white and non-black fans who prioritize their love for shipping and their male centeredness over racism within fandom and more importantly: racism that is perpetuated by them. a very loud portion of this fandom has painted an image of "angry black women" without ever actually calling them black women because they are socially aware enough to know that it is racist to say so. instead they say it in different ways: they call us rabid, they call us delusional, they call us homophobic straights and love to strip us of our queerness in the same breath, they call us ableists even though this fandom has had several conversations about this, they call us aggressive, they say we are jealous of a mlm ship, they say we are irrational, they call us everything but the one thing we are: black. yet the painted picture is very clear to me and surely every other black person who has ever engaged dominantly white spaces: the big black bully! this is the easiest way to "aggressive black woman" your way through genuine critcism without ever saying it w those words nor acknowledging the thing you are criticized for.

and it becomes even more obvious when you read-over and over again-those attempts at demonizing an overtly black part of fandom (which mel/meljay fandom is and which i will come back to later) while NONE ever mention the things black people ARE saying because whenever you get ratioed for cuck art, whenever you get asked why you erase mel from the story, whenever people ask where mel is in arcane character group arts, whenever you mischaracterize mel for a mlm ship, whenever you strip her of her feelings, whenever you make her an abuser, whenever you dehuminaze her, whenever you deify her, whenever you cry that you cannot criticize her yet dont ever criticize her outside of that ship you so like, whenever any of this happens black fans HAVE and WILL tell you that this is antiblack, its misogynistic, but most of all-since a word for this phenomenon already exists-it is misogynoir. you are participating in misogynoir. your every like is supporting misogynoir. the active erasure of a black woman in fandom is misogynoir. whenever you strip black fans of their credibility to speak out against racism bc we are just "crazy shippers on an agenda", that is misogynoir too. people who arent in this fandom have been clocking this. they see us saying this. they avoid watching the show or engaging w this fandom because the misogynoir is so prevalent here and it is unchallenged by everyone but black people and a few allys who actually mean their shit when they talk about allyship.

the rest of you barely skim our texts or just go "well im not racist so this doesnt apply to me" instead of listening to us trying to explain what the issue is. you guys are so sure that you are a good ally, that you arent racist, that nothing you do is ever misogynoirist, yet you dont even realize that you dismiss or even silence black voices you dont like by villainizing every black fan who wants to talk about this and uplifting every black person who says the things you want to hear. to the point that a black user here can use the hard r and white people are trying to educate black people why that is okay or isnt okay. all while that person even apologized and had to tell you guys to not speak over black people in defense of them. do you not see that you are tokenizing the black voices you deem comfortable while ignoring every voice that asks for a little bit of accountability in your contribution to the horrid antiblackness on arcanetwt?

but, no, no, rest assured this doesnt just apply to the fans but to the character in question too after all there is a reason why meltwt/meljaytwt is so outspoken on this. it isnt about her partner being shipped w someone else, most of us dont even care for the ship, our issue is the constant attempt at erasing her from the relationship she was in and those are two completely different things even if you blatantly choose to look the other way and fabricate lies. mel medarda, despite always being spoken about as beautiful and complex and such a great character, so far even that people say they want her to leave jayce so they can have her for herself, has a very small following. she has less fics on ao3 than the others, barely any x reader ship despite so many people claiming to shipping themselves with her, she gets less solo art and even less w other people or her canonical ship. she is constantly being othered. just recently we had someone exclude her from group art and saying she was the teacher while her same aged peers were drawn as students. to many she simply doesnt exist and if you care about mel, if you actually do like her, if you seek out her content, this becomes abundantly clear real quick: mel does not exist as a main character to arcanetwt.

she is a side character to many of you. she is a side character like any other black women in fiction because you as fans were conditioned by young age to view black women as that. you are surrounded by the sassy black best friend, the angry black woman, the disposable black girlfriend who will always just be a temporary love interest, side character a and side character b - you grew up in a world where you view black women like that. that is why her fandom is so small. just like any other black female characters are small. no other main character gets this type of treatment other than her. and that her fandom is so small is just another indicator for that. and that it mostly consists of black fans is another indicator too because those very often are the only ones capable to see a black woman as a character in herself and not just a nice compliment in a sentence in between. this, too, is misogynoir btw and saying "well i just prefer this and this character" only works so many times before you gotta put the work in and question your racial bias and i am telling you YOU HAVE TO to OVERCOME that and i am telling you that because i too used to not care about black female characters.

i grew up in a very white society and was one of those kids who were trying to be as white as possible to cater to white ppl and i had to actively unlearn to ignore dark skinned women in any media and woah let me tell you once you do you realize there are so many beautiful characters to obsess over and so many new people to meet and it WILL change your view on a lot of things in fandom and it will make you AWARE and that is a good thing. you should be woke. being woke is a good thing no matter how many people say it isnt. its just nobody can do this for you but you yourself. you will see the mistreatment of fans and you will get angry about this and you will get uncomfortable too bc you might be nonblack you might even be white but that is just what it is and how its going to be and i appeal to you to be loud w us as well, to fight for a fandom space where white fans arent the only ones who get to enjoy sillies and whimsicals, where we can move and have fun w/o being confronted w unchallenged racism and people being too proud to work on their biases or even take any critcism, i beg you to not gaf about aesthetics and what you want your blog to look like and i beg you to not gaf about what your peers might think of you bc trust me you do not want to be the person belittling antiblackness for the sake of getting a few likes on an art piece where two people you like smooch.

this affects real black people even if arcanetwt wants to say we arent real or dont care about black issues. this is a black issue just like it'd be w any recreational activity

[sdmsims]

YOU KNOW LIKE NYAH :3?

This mod adds CAS-based animated tails to sims! Well... sort of? You'll have to download and add the tails to sims separately, this mod just adds the infrastructure for it! Since its initial release, the mod has been almost completely reworked to appear smoother, have less points for conflict, and have more potential to be expanded in the future!

Huge huge huge thank you to Lumpinou for helping out with the script portion!

Unfortunately, because it hijacks the tailoverlay system used for cats and dogs and adds it to humans, this mod now requires the Cats & Dogs Expansion. Sorry! It's so much less jank this way so it was worth it, prommy.

If you use a particular adult mod with the initials of 'WW', you MUST download [sdm] ANIMATED TAIL MOD FOR WW.zip. If you do NOT use this mod, download [sdm] ANIMATED TAIL MOD.zip. ONLY DOWNLOAD ONE VERSION!

Place the .package file and .ts4script file that are inside the .zip directly in your mods folder, do not put them in subfolders! This is to ensure that the rig override loads before other rig overrides.

If you want a basic selection of tails, you can download [sdm] all-age tails for tailmod.zip. These, along with other actual tails, are no different than normal CC and may be placed wherever you wish. For younger sims and werewolves, you must also have the CASunlocks mod, as they use the lower back tattoo slot!

If you want materials to assist in creation of your own animated tails, you can download [sdm] animated tail mod DIY stuff.zip! If you are not intending to create CC that uses tailmod's rig, you don't need this. Pre-redux tails will still be compatible!

This post is already long enough - known issues and download below the readmore! Free as always, ily all (❁´◡`❁)

SFS || PATREON

CONFLICTS AND KNOWN ISSUES 

Tails will appear T-posed in CAS now - this is expected! This is to allow compatibility with stand still in CAS mods, until I have the time to create tailmod-specific versions.

If a werewolf sim shifts into a wolf form that has a tail attached and does NOT change emotion, their tail will look like it got run over by a car. It will fix itself when the sim changes emotion, or if resetsim cheat is used.

This mod WILL conflict with any mod that modifies the rigs of sims. In the case of a certain adult-rated mod, there is a version provided that is compatible with it.

Tails will clip with furniture, the floor, etc depending on pose. Suspend your disbelief for this one.

FUTURE PLANS, MOD SUPPORT, AND FEEDBACK 

If you need mod support or have feedback, feel free to reach out to me in the comments of this post! If Patreon won't let you be a free member for whatever reason, my Tumblr askbox is always open :} I currently do not offer mod support via live chat apps like Discord or Telegram.

Current long-term plans:

Animations for specific postures, i.e. sitting vs standing

Different animation 'styles', i.e. low, mid, high, curled, etc.

[atla-confessions]

"The fact Azula was getting her ass handed to her by Katara in the book 2 finale until Zuko intervened 💀"...

...Does make sense when you do the following:

Consider that the goal behind this specific showdown here wasn't intended to serve Katara's or Azula's bending development, but yet another happening of Zuko's Hijacking of Other Characters Developments because it was cut off the moment it started by the fight between him and Aang and when the focus on it was back, it was played as, "Oh, look how Zuko betrayed Katara after the emotional discussion they had by joining his sister and attacking her, Oh", instead of, y'know, actually having the fight be about Azula and Katara and letting it be real and logical and letting us actually SEE them fight realistically.

Notice that the writing and choreography of the fight does a disservice to both characters' characterization and abilities but more specifically Azula because there's a literal moment where she's standing and waiting for Katara to hit her with a an attack that seems so weak, another moment (when the camera shifts back to them after the ZukovsAang fight) where she's standing up Slowly and then turns her back to Katara?. That's a wild turn of characterization and bad writing/choreography at work here. What's even more confusing is that the moment the story had its Zuko Hijack Moment, Azula is immediately written back into her normal self as we've come to know her when she goes against Aang. Agile, nimble and powerful. And guess what, she beats Aang, who is in that moment and state, a more powerful and better fighter with his three elements where he is a master at one, extremely proficient at the second and novice at the third than Katara who is master of one element. Doesn't make sense for Azula to lose against Katara in this logic right?

The fight had a secondary goal which is to serve Katara's development as a bender and to allude to her future as the one that will defeat Azula in the end. Kind of insulting right, considering it should have been the primary goal(they wouldn't have cut off the showdown the moment it started and we would've gotten an actual fight that would give valid reason for Azula and Katara Stans to be on each other's neck like they often are when it comes to bending), but nope, they had to resort to bad writing by toning down Azula to make it seem that Katara is besting her, instead of, actually having Katara fighting her in her normal characterization and really putting some pressure? Would've done wonders for me personally because I love both characters and felt cheated with this "showdown" I got.

So, yeah, anon. Sorry for the rambling but whenever I see posts like yours that simplify what happened, I get a bit irritated.

X

[29daffodils]

@luveverlong's KinnPorsche Triggers (and if they were results of the vegaspete madness)

hello OP! apologies for hijacking your post, but your reblog made me giddy and i didn't want to bombard your post with vegaspete in case they are not your thing!

**

okay, so @luveverlong made this post which i reblogged and then i started wondering how many triggers actually were there, and thought i'd count and classify which i feel were results of vegaspete madness 😅 here we go.

DISCLAIMER : i probably got some of them wrong, because i keep forgetting certain things happened (like, ken losing his head) . don't take this too seriously!

total triggers (so far) : 57

vegaspete contribution : 30

%age contribution : 52.6%

conclusion : so i was wrong, it's not 90% but it's more than 50% which is saying SOMETHING lmao

abuse >> gun and korn

alcohol use >> pretty much all the theerapanyakul cousins (except tankhun, maybe?)

animal death >> vegaspete + khun spikes 🥹

ass eating >> definitely vegaspete (and he did it with such enthusiasm too!!

assassination >> who??

attempted assassination >> definitely on kinn

attempted murder >> whose??

attempted underage drug use >> lmao porchay

attic wifery >> nampheung goes whoop!

blood >> vegaspete (first & foremost, but also everyone else since mafia)

bondage >> vegaspete (bcz kp are too damn vanilla lmao)

cheating >> who??? who's cheating??

child abuse >> vegaspete (my poor liddol meow-meow and my sweet summer child 🥹

choking >> vegaspete, sensually, but also kinnporsche literally

death >> vegas (i'll never forgive him for that, but also pete aiding in the undeath, hence, this is primarily vegaspete, i take no arguments

decapitation >> vegas (and pete watching from the distance)

edit : okay, it was ken. apologies for my bad english 🥲 (p.s. : i also did not count it under vegaspete in the original post! hence why vegas and pete are written separately, and not as the ship name!)

degradation >> vegaspete

dehumanization >> vegaspete

domestic violence >> technically also VP bcz their dads were shit, but let's count them out of this one because I'm not too sure

drugging >> oof, vegas (but not VP)

electrical torture >> vegaspete *evil laughter*

emotional blackmail >> vegaspete + granny saengtham lmao

flashing lights >> vegaspete (in their neon lit sex room)

force feeding >> vegaspete

gaslighting >> don't think this was VP, but let me know if i forgot a specific scene

gore >> vegaspete (iykyk)

guns >> okay, VP, but kinnporsche can have this one. that one spinning+shooting scene was epic.

gunshot wounds >> vegaspete wins this one. motherfucker survived 5 gunshots, and pete gave him one of them

hostage situations >> vegaspete go whoop!

illegal fighting >> lmao porsche

incest (???) >> definitely NOT VP (they are the only ones not involved in cousin fuckery and yet the most unhinged out of all of them)

kidnapping >> omg chay 🥲

manipulation >> vegaspete, via granny saengtham

munchausen by proxy >> i have no idea what this is, sorry

murder >> pretty much everyone lmao

mutilation >> vegas!!!

ownership >> vegaspete

panic attacks >> okay, I can't remember who got panic attacks, help out a fella here

petplay kink >> vegaspete

poisoning >> heh? somebody was poisoned??

prostitution (???) >> who??

scars >> vegaspete

self-harm >> vegaspete go whoop!

sex scenes >> vegaspete (but also kinnporsche) (but I'm biased and vegaspete were superior so……)

sexual assault / dubcon >> NOT VP 👀

sexual torture >> vegaspete (!!! 😳)

smoking >> pete alone can add up the points for this one lmao

stalking >> vegaspete lmao

stockholm syndrome >> vegaspete (but I'm rolling my eyes)

suicide >> who??

suicide attempt >> definitely only vegaspete

tasering >> vegaspete

theft >> vegaspete at its very core (iykyk)

torture >> vegaspete

vegas >> lmaoooo, he is a trigger warning by virtue, but accentuated by pete

verbal torture / abuse >> gun theerapanyakul 😤

vomit >> porsche 😂 (i think?)

[thelaurenshippen]

holy shit, this fucking RULES!!!! HAPPY TEN YEARS TO ONE OF THE GREATS!!!!!!!

I first got into Wolf and met Gabriel right here on tumblr dot com. if memory serves, I made a post about the show being described as "about the advantages of floating, tiny and alone, in the middle of nowhere” and if that was a Sondheim reference. that, as I would learn through many posts that ultimately constituted the beginnings of our friendship, was a siren call for Gabriel Urbina. we bonded over Sondheim and making audio drama - that was the spring of 2016 and by the spring of 2017, we were going to see Pacific Overtures (which opens with the song "The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea") off-broadway:

throughout that time, I also got to know Zach and Sarah and the rest of the Wolf team--Sarah, Zach, Ceci, and I all went to the very first PatreCon together, after which Zach and I road tripped down the PCH; they've all been to my parents' house in NY and hung out with my sister (here with Gabriel and I at the show); I saw Emma last time she was in Seattle and got to benefit from her incredible wine expertise; all of them have given me immense creative inspiration, incredible advice, unwavering support, and deep friendship.

Gabriel and I still talk regularly about our work and the industry - we recently sent each other our current scripts we're developing and Gabriel, as always, gave me amazing feedback and oh my god you guys are going to lose it when you eventually hear what Gabriel has been working on. those early days of AD renaissance feel so far away now, that sometimes I lose sight of just how much these people - who could have just remained respected colleagues - have been fully woven into my life. I wouldn't have it any other way.

what's more, I genuinely have such crazed fangirl feelings for Wolf 359. it's not just a show I love because I love the people who made it, I'm a genuine freak about it. I remember sneaking away from my family on christmas to listen to the finale (which, like, what the FUCK guys, on christmas!?!) and crying because of how good it was. it is still the number 1 show I send to people when they need examples of how much you can do in audio.

so happy ten years, pals. I love you all a lot.

8.15.2024: Happy [ Ten Years of Wolf 359!! ] 💫📻

In celebration, @avesmonster and I have spent this year organizing an anthology of fanworks, and I'm so happy to finally be able to share it. It's such a labor of love from everyone involved, and it's incredible to see how passionate people still are about this show. We received over 50 (!!) submissions, both old and new, so please, please check it out, let everyone know how awesome their work is, & leave a comment on our guestbook, while you're there!!

[loonybun]

been listening to a shit ton of the scary jokes recently so as a follow up to my whump song recommendation post, let me provide you some of my favorite lyrics from their songs.

“You stab at your prize, chiseling fear in her eyes

You know it sounds bad, but you love seeing her sad.

You love someone you can shape

who has no will to escape.”

“You’re just a monster with a BFA.

She wants to claw your eyes open

So you can see, she’s not a plaything.”

“You covet her warmth, like a wolf at a corpse

so it’s fair to assume, your intent’s to consume her.”

“So please don’t go away and leave me with nothing

I have no leverage so I feel no pleasure

If I can’t have you to myself, how can I be happy?

So please give me kisses, I won’t break my promises.

I can be a person if you give me the chance.”

“Can you feel me gnawing away at your heart?

And can you hear me when I scream?”

“Oh, can you see, you took over me?

You hijacked my mind, not that I want it back

I want you so bad, I know that it's sad

It's just how I deal, I can't help how I feel

Look I have no doors, I've torn through the walls

I've ripped up the floors, laid waste to it all

I burned up my body, now I have nobody

Can I have you and can you be everything I need?”

“I love you, I love you (I need you, I need you)

I love you, I love you (I need you, I need you)”

“I hear you're still living as an emotional vagrant

With bright red vacancy signs blaring in your eyes

Well my heart might be shot, but at least I've still got one”

“It must be hard to stay ahead of such deadly apathy

When you become bored so easily

And every new fixation feels like it'll fix everything”

“And they don’t go away, they just gnaw at you until the next soft-hearted sucker comes your way.”

“I imagine it’s quite nice for you

to have so many chances oh-so-many ways

to be redeemed

But as for me

I can only be forgiven if I’m giving myself up to you

on a silver serving tray.

Must I bear myself to the stabbing of your knife and gnashing teeth

While our lovely company appears so entertained?”

“I remain soft and accessible in the face of my own ending.”

“Into my sweetest fantasy

The one where you are crying

And I don’t do anything at all.”

“Icicles don’t soften when they die

they sharpen into sabers, and they stab you in the eye.”

“I’ll take the rocks out of my head

and you can sell them on the internet

to a paving company who

Will grind my brains into cement”

“I’ll be your highway, you can drive all over me.”

“If I can’t be a good friend, maybe I can be a good pavement.”

“You walk through walls, set off the smoke alarm

I feel your arms wrapping around me

your aura almost drowns me like a deadly perfume

Pink smoke”

“It smells so very strange, like grenadine and gasoline.”

(rosé coded im sorry this song is so so him it’s insane)

anyways feel free to tag with your whumpees and whumpers and please check out the albums they’re so good these r just my personal favorites/ones i can relate the most to my characters.

[getblackout503]

Sorry this one took me a bit longer to post, Burn out has been really getting to me. But I promise to continue writing since we are nearing the end of this fic.

————————————————-

Raiding the base and freeing all the victims was the easy part, the hard part would be fighting the behemoth that was Zenon. Yami was no stranger to what that man was capable of, an unfeeling, cold hearted, soulless husk of a man. One who had no problem killing if it meant getting things done quickly. So as he watched the trucks drive closer he had to prepare himself for a war, and as he got ready he told Luck and Manga to drive all the innocent people freed to safety.

“Here they come.” Charlotte said, she grabbed her sub-machine gun and loaded it.

“You know how long I’ve been waiting for this?” Jack cackled. “Whoo! I’m about to make a name for myself yea.”

“I don’t think you walk away from this.” Dorothy said as she prepared for the coming battle.

“You just let people know what happened here today.” He smirked. “When y’all get out of here, have a drink for me.”

“God, you’re an idiot.” Charlotte sighed.

Seven black armored trucks pulled up being led by a black car, stepping out of it was Zenon Zogratis himself. Zenon had a blank face, no emotion, nothing.

“He’s just as dead looking as they say he is.” Dorothy commented as she prepared her nerves.

“What motivates you to attack our warehouse?” Zenon said in a monotone voice.

“A lot of things,” Yami said, now staring down at one of his daughter's abusers. “First, freeing all these victims from your family, second ruining your entire filthy empire, and finally, getting back at you for hurting my daughter.”

“Oh, this is about Amara?” Zenon just blandly asked. “Very well then, let’s get this over with.” He simply waved his arm and all his men raised their weapons.

“Now Nacht!” Yami yelled out, and Nacht hidden in the shadows fired.

All of a sudden one of the trucks seemingly blew up, taking out several of Zenon’s men. Zenon shocked turn the face them, Yami simply smirked at the priceless expression on the emotionless man’s face.

“You didn’t think we wouldn’t have a plan did you?” Yami waved his hand and fire reigned from different angles. “We would never fight you head on.”

Zenon and his men took cover and opened fire as well, all the while Yami and his gang fought back. Bullets flew, bodies fell, and yet Zenon continued to stand. Yami knew if they took out Zenon all his men would soon follow, but how would he take him out when he was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. Yami turned his head to dodge a speeding bullet and once he did his eyes landed upon the still burning warehouse they had set to after evacuating it, then it hit him, he knew how to get to Zenon, it was risky but it was one he needed to take.

“Charlotte, I need you guys to cover me!” Yami yelled out.

“What are you planning Yami!?” Charlotte called out, concerned at how he would answer.

“Something stupid.” Yami answered, and before Charlotte could say anything Yami was off.

Zenon in the midst of the chaos saw Yami go off into the burning warehouse, he knew that Yami was the mastermind behind the whole stunt, he knew Yami and his gang were the ones responsible for hijacking his trades, and freeing the Zogratis family’s merchandise. Both non living and living in his mind, so now against his better judgment he went and followed the man into the fiery inferno.

“Didn’t think you’d actually follow me in here,” Yami turned to look at the Zogratis man. “I thought I’d have to trick ya, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Save your pointless banter, I simply wish to end this pointless squabble.”

“Such big words for such a cowardly human being, a real embarrassment to the human race.”

“Like you’re any better than me, we’ve both committed sins in our lifetimes.”

“Yeah we have, but at least mine were for people I care about, and not just for my own gain.” Yami spat at Zenon with poison.

“I do what I need to do to survive.”

“Right, by taking away the freedom of others.”

“Please, they never had freedom to begin with.”

“You sick fuck!”

“Tell me, do you do this for someone? Are you seeking revenge for someone we’ve taken?”

“What do you think?”

“Let’s see,” Zenon slowly reaches for his pistol. “Seeing as we recently retrieved Amara, It would be safe to assume you are attacking us for her. But you know if my brother went to retrieve her then he would never take her here, unless she told you about her past. And in that case…” Quickly both men drew their firearms and shot a bullet, with Yami barely dodging the bullet and missing his shot. “This is merely a distraction, let me guess you have one of your men sneaking in now don’t you, and you have my sister occupied that being the reason she isn’t here, isn’t it?”

“Heh, you’re just as smart as they say you are.” Yami told the man.

“Someone has to be the strategist.”

“Well for all your smarts you sure couldn’t tell I was leading you into a trap.”

“What trap? leading me into a burning building with no back up?”

“No,” Yami chuckled. “By not sending a group to find my guy who blew up your truck and not looking behind you.”

Zenon then heard a gun click and quickly turned only to feel a pain in his chest, now looking up he is met with the face of Nacht.

“Guess we shocked you real bad with the explosion you didn’t have time to send someone to catch me.” Nacht told the incapacitated Zogratis on the ground currently bleeding out.

“Took you long enough.”

“Clam it, I saved you.”

“H-How?��

“It’s simple, ain’t it?” Yami reloaded his gun and Nacht did the same, as well as kicking Zenon’s away. “Nacht saw me leading you in and followed behind.”

“In battle you always have to keep your eyes on all the players.” Nacht said.

“Now, got something else to say Zenon .”

“W-Whatever y-you’re doing, w-who-e-ever is sneaking in w-will never defeat Dante.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“W-whatever you think she is, w-whoever you think she is, just k-know she will never go b-back to you.”

“…tell that to satan…you sick bastard.”

BANG

“Yami?”

“I’m okay…”

“…okay…”

“Come on, the others will need our help to defeat the last of the goons.”

As the men walked away from the now corpse of the Zogratis the flames grew larger soon consuming the corpse, the flames consumed the warehouse once used for such a deplorable act. Now setting the motion for the collapse of the Zogratis’ kingdom, the general dead, the strategist dead, and all that stands in the way.

Is the king of darkness himself.

[arty-chase]

A Failed Betrothal (5)

This is going to be the last part I am going to post in a while. My school is finally starting up again and I am sure to be swamped with homework. Without further ado. Enjoy ❤

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 4)

-----------

Damian laid in bed, thinking about the recent turn of events. Lady, who told them that they can call her Marinette since they might as well get acquainted while the Waynes were in Paris. She had found out Jason’s identity after a few google searches and by extension, the rest of the Bats while they both were taking a shower. It had taken a few arguments and one sentimonster attack that cut one of the arguments short to trust the Dupain-Chengs with their secret identities. His bride was apparently a superhero too. Has been for a few years. In a different world, he might have actually dated her out of his own free will and fought crime with her together.

Damian shook his head at that thought.

That was the curse talking. Get a hold of yourself, Wayne. Resist. Don’t think about Marinette and her blue eyes.

Back to the akumas, Paris had been under the control of a magical terrorist for years. Lady Noire, formerly known as Ladybug, formed a team to battle against him. He also found out about the Guardian who chose Marinette and someone else, who wasn’t spoken about much except that his name was Chat Noir and she now wields his ring temporarily, to fight against Hawkmoth as partners. The same Guardian that promised her hand-in-marriage in exchange for protection from the League of Assassins. Sabine, the Blue Reaper, had to be restrained from killing the old amnesiatic man by her bear of a husband who was reluctant to do so and also wanted to help her.

Hawkmoth also had a partner who went by the name, Mayura, with a power similar to his and could create sentimonster out of negative emotions. Their top suspect was Gabriel Agreste, with much evidence pointing his way but they had difficulty trying to confirm it and had the time to gather evidence to do it. The local authorities were helpful but getting a search warrant for a famous, rich designer who was a known recluse with circumstantial evidence is not possible.

After informing their father of their kidnapping and the situation in Paris (and racking up the Dupain-Cheng's phone bill), they were told to stay there and help as much as they can. Tim, who was coming to Paris for a vacation (suspicious), got his plans hijacked and was now going to help uncover Hawkmoth’s identity.

When the Justice League had reached out a few years ago, they were rebuffed by the Mayor. Nightrunner got into contact with the one of the heroes, Ladybug who asked for a meeting outside of Paris with Wonder Woman and Batman came along, to assess her. They didn’t expect a young girl to be Paris’s heroine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 years ago…

“Bonjour, Princess Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolayta, it is an honour to meet you. And you too, Batman.” The spotted heroine greeted both of them with Nightrunner besides her. Their meeting point was in the gardens in the Palace of Versailles.

“The pleasure is all mine, Ladybug. But I am confused as to why you have refused the Justice League’s help.” Wonder Woman was worried that the Ladybug Miraculous was active again and for many good reasons.

“I would be glad for some help but Paris is run by an incompetent fool. He wants no one outside of Paris to think that the city is unsafe due to Hawkmoth and keep the tourism numbers high. The other reason is that my Miraculous Cure can restore any physical damages done during a fight and involving you might result in more damages than I could cure. But I also think it would be better if there were less powerful heroes in Paris, akumas amplifies one’s power and I don’t want to fight you after you had a bad day.” Ladybug explained. Nightrunner murmured in agreement.

“Do you know how Hawkmoth operates?” asked Batman. He had read reports of the situation but wondered the true extent of it.

“Have Wonder Woman explained to you about the Miraculous?”

He nodded.

“Hawkmoth has the butterfly miraculous, and it has the power of transmission. In the right hands, they would be used to grant ordinary people powers as the user’s champions. But in the hands of Hawkmoth, he targets people with high negative emotions, a girl after a bad break-up or a student with a failed grade. He grants them powers to use for revenge or some obscure version of justice. In return, he asks for mine and Chat Noir’s miraculous. With our two miraculous, he can make a wish but wishes always come with a price so it is best if we keep it out of his reach.”

“How have you not captured him yet?”

“Hawkmoth is a coward who rarely comes out to face us. I have never met him face-to-face. He uses people to get what he wants. Not very honourable. The Mayor has refused to help my attempts to stop him or prevent more akumas because his bratty daughter isn’t given a Miraculous to be a hero. I don’t have the time or resources because I am still in school and have other obligations outside the suit. I can’t tell my family and ask for help because the Guardian’s ,the one who gave me the Miraculous in the first place, secret identities rule and some magic thing that makes me unable to tell them.”

The adults were all horrified at what the girl was going through.

“We could help in other ways. Not fight the akumas but provide you the resources to track down and capture him. Do you have any training? From the footage we have seen, you know martial arts and how to use some weapons.”

“I was raised in a forgotten temple somewhere in Asia with brutal training everyday before I ran away. I met someone on my way out who took me in and adopted me.” She said it seriously enough that they have no room for doubt.

“Batman, she just said she was adopted. She may have the features but the answer is no.” Wonder Woman said with a knowing look in her eyes.

“I wasn’t thinking about it. She has a duty to Paris right now and I am not going to take away from her life here. I don’t adopt every black-haired and blue-eyed child I see.” Batman denied.

“I am confused.” Ladybug said, tilting her head.

“Batman here has a bad habit of adopting kids with a tragic past, especially kids with black hair and blue eyes.” Nightrunner explained to his fellow Parisian hero.

“Well, Mousier, you will have to fight my parents for custody. While I have training, Chat Noir doesn’t and he hinders the battles with his ‘help’. I would give him some but he sees them as dates even though I have told him it’s not.”

“His incompetence is a liability. Why is he your partner?”

“The Guardian chose him too like he chose me through some stupid trial I somehow passed the requirements for. I am just hoping that there is a really good reason for choosing Chat Noir. I have some questions on how you are-”

“Ladybug, what are you doing?” A sharp voice cut in. An old man who appeared to be dressed as a tortoise landed in front of them.

“Master Fu, this is Princess Diana of Themyscira and the world’s greatest detective, Batman. I am asking for their help in finding Hawkmoth.” Ladybug explained, confused why Master Fu looked upset.

“Ladybug, that was extremely foolish of you. This is a matter of the Order. You shouldn’t have involved other heroes in it. We can resolve this on our own. I apologize on behalf of her for wasting your time.”

“But, Master-” “We will talk about this later, Ladybug. You are young and don’t understand things yet.”

“Guardian, with all due respect, my mother was a Ladybug wielder herself and the Amazons will lend a hand to any miraculous holders in need.”

“It is appreciated but Ladybug, Chat Noir and I can do it on our own. Come along, Ladybug.”

“Let me at least apologize for my mistake, Guardian.”

“Very well. Meet me later.”

“I am sorry but it looks like I have to fight Hawkmoth without your help. That being said please don’t try to look further into Hawkmoth’s identity and leave any notes of your leads in the mouth of the gargoyle on the northside of Notre Dame where I usually rest after I finish patrol. Salut, Princess Diana, Batman, Nightrunner.” She left using her yo-yo to swing away after giving them a wink.

Batman smirked. He had to give it to Ladybug, she was clever and resourceful and Diana was right, he wanted to adopt her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present time…

(Words in bold are French)

Now that the previous Guardian was out of the picture, the Miraculous team would gladly accept any help they can get.

Damian and Jason had picked up Tim from the airport and they had already set things up in one of the Wayne penthouses in Paris. Less chance of nosy maids than in a hotel.

Bilal had already handed over all the evidence he could find. He was also one of the Miraculous team’s trainers when Sabine couldn’t make it. Jason and Damian were going to help in training and be back-up heroes when needed. (Bilal wore a miraculous once to help out. And that one time was weird enough to last him a lifetime and he was never doing it again.)

Sadly, all the magic users who were allies or part of the JL were busy with other missions or MIA so they couldn’t break Damian’s curse yet. Bruce didn’t see the problem with the curse so unless it causes major problems or someone is free to break it. They couldn’t go back to Gotham until they got the necessary things in order so it looks like they were going to be in Paris for a while.

The next morning, Tim was nowhere to be found. Because they were paranoid Batboys, they tracked his phone to see him at the Dupain-Cheng’s bakery with Marinette and a group of other people, having breakfast.

“There you are, Replacement.” Jason shouted as he entered the bakery, “So, this is where you were? I see you have already figured out who Ladybug is and met her.”

Marinette looked at Damian and Jason, then at Tim and back at them again.

Oh.

Oh.

She face-palmed as she connected the dots and realized what the nagging feeling she had around Tim was about.

“Oh my Kwamis, you are Tim Drake, adopted by Bruce Wayne aka Batman. Jason and Damian are your brothers. And judging by your build, you are Red Robin. I feel so stupid.”

Thankfully, there were no customers around yet to hear some of the world’s most important secrets being out.

“I am- We are not- Bruce isn’t- How?! How the hell did you find out? And you are Ladybug?!” Tim was floundering at Marinette’s words and the caffeine from his first coffee of the day hadn’t kicked in yet. He looked at her friends, who were looking at the Wayne boys with shocked expressions….and looked similar to the rest of the Miraculous Team.

The caffeine finally kicked in.

“Oh my God. I was talking to the entire Miraculous Team and I didn’t know it. That means Chloe Bourgeois is a hero. That bratty blonde I met as a child is a hero.”

“Speak for yourself, Timothy, my childhood friend is a hero too. I can’t believe we are all heroes.” Chloe said in total disbelief.

Introductions and alter egos were exchanged.

Nearly everything went swimmingly if it weren’t for Chloe jokingly elbowed Marinette and said, “You get to date a hero too. No need to worry about flaking out on dates.”

“What do you mean dates? Dupain-Cheng and I aren’t dating.” Damian said, “My mother wanted us to marry each other, not date.”

“Mari, looks like you need some explaining to do.”

Marinette gave the short story on how she met Damian and Jason.

“So you guys are absolutely not dating? Cool. Tim, are you still open to being Mari-bug's fake boyfriend?” Chloe asked. Tim looked at her incredulously.

“You called me all the way here to fake-date your friend. Why? Not that I am complaining about her or anything.” “There is this boy in our class, Adrien Agreste and he has a little obsession with Marinette.” Chloe explained. “Romantic Soulmates.” Nathaniel chimed in, doing air-quotes.

“So I volunteered on your behalf to be my best friend’s long-distance boyfriend in America who has video-call dates with her once a week. You are going to have little romantic dates coincidently where our classmates are going to be, especially Adrien. It might put him off from pursuing Marinette for a while. After you leave, we are just to mention you every now and then to prevent him from getting any ideas.”

Damian felt a hot, burning sensation in his chest and clenched his jaw at the thought of Marin- Dupain-Cheng holding hands, cuddling and doing all those romantic actions with Drake of all people. (No, he wasn’t jealous. Not at all. Don’t be stupid. )

“Tch, Drake is going to be busy trying to find Hawkmoth. He can’t go around Paris, being Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. Besides, he can’t be a proper boyfriend even in his most lucid moments. I will be her boyfriend instead.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop, @all-mights-asscheeks, @idk-j-go-with-it , @loysydark, @thenillabean, @lolieg, @zalladane, @silvergold-swirl, @henie04, @blueblossombliss, @khneltea, @mochegato, @itsmeevie01, @roguishredaxion, @alyssadeliv, @steph-hearthlight, @adrestar, @eliza-bich, @abrx2002, @hikari55ttva, @doglover82, @daminette5074

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(PART 6)

[silcobrainrot]

This has been bothering me sooooo much and I'm glad you brought it up. Vi unknowingly triggered a severe dissociative state in Jinx. Dissociative episodes leave you so far disconnected from your body, she was acting purely on instinct. Muscle memory. We have already seen her blindly open fire with Pow-Pow in broad sweeping motions immediately after being triggered and entering a dissociative state.

It's also worth noting that immediately prior to this Caitlyn tried shooting her with her own gun. She's already braced for defending herself against gunfire. She's already on edge from having been shot at. And she got herself out of that situation by using her very new, very unpredictable shimmer abilities.

This got REALLY LONG and rambly because I've been thinking about this so much I'm sorry for hijacking your post. I really wanted to break it down because it bothers me how often people misinterpret her blindly shooting at the entire room for "choosing a side."

I don't think the sound of the pin pulls her out of her episode, per se, but it pulls her body out of any "freeze" response. We don't see what she looks like on the outside during this until she pulls the trigger, because all of the visuals are representing her emotional turmoil. I actually love the way they show the representation of Jinx in her mind hearing the sound, and then we cut back to her in the real world opening fire. Her body is still tapped in to her new shimmer abilities and her mind has completely collapsed. I slowed this gif down so we can see the chain of events better.

It's really unclear to me whether Jinx shot both chairs or if Silco managed to pull the trigger before she shot him. I'm not a gun expert, but I interpreted that thing as the pistol's hammer. I saw someone say that Silco did fire and purposefully, intentionally fired a warning shot at Vi, which is why it misses. He just wanted her to stop, but maybe knew that outright killing her would still hurt Jinx.

Violence is never Silco's first impulse, the primary weapon he wields is his words. He's a talker. Which is probably why Jinx gagged him at first. She wanted to talk to Vi without him interrupting until she was ready to hear him. His first instinct is to tell Vi to shut up and to tell Jinx not to listen to her. Then he tries getting out of his restraints. It's not happening fast enough, so he grabs the gun.

In my opinion, based on framing, Jinx shot at both of them. (Meaning you're right, it was the safety pin.) Vi is positioned frame left looking right, Jinx and Silco are both positioned frame right looking left. This is how they've been positioned for the whole scene, following the 180 degree rule. When she first opens fire, she's still facing in Vi's direction.

However, the slight bit of motion on Jinx's face makes it look like she might be shooting from her left to her right (frame right to frame left). Which would have the gun sweeping over Silco first and follows the direction of the bullets across his chair (180 degree rule again). If that's the case, then Silco's gun did go off and Jinx blindly fired in the direction of the sound of the hammer. Momentum-wise, since she's holding her mini gun on her left side, sweeping it left to right would make sense.

So I can see either one being correct, and neither option means that she chose Vi over Silco or killed Silco to protect Vi. It was an accident made during a severe dissociative episode where her fight or flight instinct was triggered literally on a hairpin and she reacted the only way she knows how: with violence. Like you said, she isn't capable of processing or analyzing this situation. She can't see that he's not pointing the gun at her, all she knows is there's a gun in the room and it's about to go off.

This moment absolutely shattered me because I've experienced dissociative states, I knew she was fucked. It could have been avoided, except that everything about these characters made this inevitable. Vi is stuck in the past and sees it as a source of strength. Vi doesn't know that Jinx does not see the past the same way she does, and doesn't realize that she's triggering her. Silco does know how much this is hurting her, and will do anything for his daughter, including shoot her sister if he has to. Jinx is simultaneously desensitized to violence and traumatized by it. She was overwhelmed and acted on instinct.

There was no thought or intent behind her actions, she just acted. And now she has to live with the consequences, somehow.

Jinx did not purposefully kill Silco, Jinx did not "choose Vi over Silco", Jinx did not kill Silco to protect Vi, and Jinx did not kill Silco out of love for Vi.

Jinx only kills Silco out of instinct. This is demonstrated time and time again with the crows. Jinx is heavily associated with crows in arcane. Yes they're a symbol for death and the macabre but they also serve a narrative and character purpose.

Crows show up whenever Jinx is about to fly off the handle. They show up when she tries to beat Vi's score, they show up when the firelights interrupt her reunion, and they show up on the night she kills Silco. Crows are used to show us when something really fucking bad is about to happen to Jinx.

They also show us something very INTEGRAL to her character: she is willing to kill anything that so much as moves, even when she knows it's not a threat. Jinx is initially startled by a crow when she goes to the place she and her family used to hang out. She pulls out her gun, realizes it's just a bird (not a threat), and shoots it anyway. This is REALLY important and is hinting at the finale.

Jinx is someone who lives in a very dangerous and hostile environment. She's been exposed to violence all her life, and there's many things to be afraid (many things she IS afraid of) in Zaun. It's instinct to protect herself because everyone hates her and is out to get her.

In the finale, Jinx PURPOSELY and INTENTIONALLY puts her ONLY WEAPON IN FRONT OF SILCO when threatened by Caitlyn. Why? Because she knows Silco will protect her. She knows that if shit hits the fan, if push comes to shove, if she is somehow put in a position where she cannot defend herself, Silco will defend her. Always. If she was afraid of Silco or what he might do or if she was afraid for Vi's safety, she would have NOT put the gun in his reach. She KNOWS he's anti-vi, she KNOWS he doesn't like her, he is literally arguing against her in this scene. She also knows that Silco has no limits, no line unwilling to cross. Silco would EASILY and perhaps happily kill Vi if given the chance. But she puts the gun in front of him because she trusts him and knows he'd do anything for her.

And ultimately, he DOES die defending her. Vi trying to call members of the past actively and explicitly puts Jinx in a place of pain and hurt. She is actively damaging her sister and making her the most unstable we've ever seen this. VI doesn't know she's doing this because vi lives in the past and the past has always been her refuge. But the past has always been jinx's nightmare and personal hell. Silco knows this because HE was there. He was there for every meltdown and mental breakdown, he knows her and knows what she's like, which is WHY he does everything in his power to get her to stop. The amount of violence and aggression he enters just to get Vi to stop is actually insane. We have NEVER seen him act this way. He's yelling at the top of his lungs and THRASHING IN HIS CHAIR to get her to stop, because he knows A. This is hurting Jinx and B. No good will come from this. He tells her to shut up, physically tries to get her to stop, and then he notices the gun (notice how is initial reaction wasn't to just kill her? Notice how he tried other methods before physical and actual violence?). He grabs the gun, point the gun at Vi, and press the trigger. But the bullets don't come out, the safety pin activates.

Jinx hears the pin. This is the only thing that manages to pull her out of her meltdown: the threat of violence. She's not in a place to process or analyze the situation. Upon instinct, she opens fire on everyone within the room, firing at random. Her only intention to put down the threat of violence. Both Vi and Silco's chair have bullet holes, showing that this is the case.

It takes her a while to calm down but once she does, she realizes what she's actually done. She realizes the threat was no threat at all.

[homosexuhauls]

15 JUNE, 2021 by Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie

IT IS OBSCENE: A TRUE REFLECTION IN THREE PARTS

PART ONE

When you are a public figure, people will write and say false things about you. It comes with the territory. Many of those things you brush aside. Many you ignore. The people close to you advise you that silence is best. And it often is. Sometimes, though, silence makes a lie begin to take on the shimmer of truth.

In this age of social media, where a story travels the world in minutes, silence sometimes means that other people can hijack your story and soon, their false version becomes the defining story about you.

Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it, as Jonathan Swift wrote.

Take the case of a young woman who attended my Lagos writing workshop some years ago; she stood out because she was bright and interested in feminism.

After the workshop, I welcomed her into my life. I very rarely do this, because my past experiences with young Nigerians left me wary of people who are calculating and insincere and want to use me only as an opportunity. But she was a Bright Young Nigerian Feminist and I thought that was worth making an exception.

She spent time in my Lagos home. We had long conversations. I was support-giver, counsellor, comforter.

Then I gave an interview in March 2017 in which I said that a trans woman is a trans woman, (the larger point of which was to say that we should be able to acknowledge difference while being fully inclusive, that in fact the whole premise of inclusiveness is difference.)

I was told she went on social media and insulted me.

This woman knows me enough to know that I fully support the rights of trans people and all marginalized people. That I have always been fiercely supportive of difference, in general. And that I am a person who reads and thinks and forms my opinions in a carefully considered way.

Of course she could very well have had concerns with the interview. That is fair enough. But I had a personal relationship with her. She could have emailed or called or texted me. Instead she went on social media to put on a public performance.

I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. But I mostly held myself responsible. My spirit had been slightly stalled, from the beginning, by her. My first sense of unease with her came when she posted a photo taken in my house, at a time when I did not want any photos of my personal life on social media. I asked that she take it down. The second case of unease was her publicizing something I had told her in confidence about another member of the workshop. The most upsetting was when she, without telling me, used my name to apply for an American visa. Above all else was my lingering suspicion that she was a person who chose as friends only those from whom she could benefit. But she was a Bright Young Nigerian Feminist and I allowed that sentiment to over-ride my unease.

After she publicly insulted me, it was clear to me that this kind of noxious person had no business in my life, ever again.

A few months later, she sent this affected, self-regarding email which I ignored.

Friday September 15 2017 at 4.35 AM

Dearest Chimamanda,

Happy birthday. I mean this with all my heart, even though I know I have fallen (removed myself?) from your grace. It would be impossible for me to stop loving you; long before you gave me the possibility of being your friend you were the embodiment of my deepest hopes, and that will never change.

I think of you often, still – stating the obvious. I grieve the loss of our friendship; it is a complicated sadness. I’m sorry that I caused you pain, or to feel like you can no longer trust me. There’s so much that I wish could be said.

I pray this birthday is the happiest one yet. I wish you rest and quiet and abiding stability, and of course more of the kind of success that means the most to you.

I hope mothering X is everything you hoped and prayed for and more.

Have a wonderful day today.

Love always.

About a year later, she sent this email, which I also ignored.

Thursday November 29 2018 at 8.42 AM

Dear Chimamanda,

I realise this is long overdue and vastly insufficient, but I’m really sorry. I’ve spent so much time going back and forth in my head and my email drafts; wondering whether to write you, how to write you, what to say, all kinds of things. But in the end, this is the thing I realise I need to say.

I’m sorry I disappointed and hurt you by saying things publicly that were sharply critical, unkind and even disrespectful, especially in light of all the backlash and criticism you experience from people who don’t know you. I could have acted with more consideration towards you. I should have, especially given the privilege of intimacy that you had offered me. There are many reasons why I chose to behave the way I did, but none of them is an excuse. And I clearly realise now, after many, many months of needless sadness and angst and hurt and actual confusion, that I did not treat you as a friend would—certainly not as someone would to whom you had offered unprecedented access to yourself and your life.

You’ve meant the world to me since I was barely a teenager. It’s been very hard navigating the emotional fallout of the past several months, knowing you were displeased with me but truly not quite understanding why, then deciding I didn’t care, then realising that would never be true. I’ve always cared. But I was too mixed up about the situation to be able to make sense of it, or properly see past my own justifications. I’m sorry it took me so long to grasp how I let you down.

I realise that I don’t have room to ask anything of you, but I would be grateful for a chance to say this in person. Still, even if I never get that, I really hope you believe me.

Congratulations on restarting the workshop, and on all the other amazing successes of the past several months. I think of you often; it would be impossible not to. You look so happy in your pictures. I really hope you are well.

All my love,

I hoped never to hear from her again. But she has recently gone on social media to write about how she “refused to kiss my ring,” as if I demanded some kind of obeisance from her. She also suggests that there is some dark, shadowy ‘more’ to tell that she won’t tell, with an undertone of “if only you knew the whole story.”

It is a manipulative way of lying. By suggesting there is ‘more’ when you know very well that there isn’t, you do sufficient reputational damage while also being able to plead deniability. Innuendo without fact is immoral.

No, there isn’t more to the story. It is a simple story – you got close to a famous person, you publicly insulted the famous person to aggrandize yourself, the famous person cut you off, you sent emails and texts that were ignored, and you then decided to go on social media to peddle falsehoods. It is obscene to tell the world that you refused to kiss a ring when in fact there isn’t any ring at all.

I cannot make much of the hostility of strangers who do not know me – fame taints our view of the humanity of famous people. But the truth is that the famous person remains irretrievably human. Fame does not inoculate the famous person from disappointment and depression, fame does not make you any less angered or hurt by the duplicitous nature of people. To be famous is to be assumed to have power, which is true, but in the analysis of fame, people often ignore the vulnerability that comes with fame, and they are unable to see how others who have nothing to lose can lie and connive in order to take advantage of that fame, while not giving a single thought to the feelings and humanity of the famous person.

And when you personally know a famous person, when you have experienced their humanity, when you have benefited from their kindness, and yet you are unable to extend to them the basic grace and respect that even a casual acquaintanceship deserves, then it says something fundamental about you.

And in a deluded way, you will convince yourself that your hypocritical, self-regarding, compassion-free behavior is in fact principled feminism. It isn’t. You will wrap your mediocre malice in the false gauziness of ideological purity. But it’s still malice. You will tell yourself that being able to parrot the latest American Feminist orthodoxy justifies your hacking at the spirit of a person who had shown you only kindness. You can call your opportunism by any name, but it doesn’t make it any less of the ugly opportunism that it is.

PART TWO

When I first read this person’s work, which was their application to my writing workshop, I thought the sentences were well-done. I accepted this person. At the workshop, I thought they could have been more respectful of the other participants, perhaps not kept typing dismissively as others’ stories were discussed, with an air of being among people below their level. After the workshop, I decided to select the best stories, edit them, pay the writers a fee, and publish them in an e-magazine. The first story I chose was this person’s. I wrote a glowing introduction, which the story truly deserved.

They sent this email.

Fri, Aug 7, 2015, 8:20 AM

Thank you so much for that introduction. It means so much to me and I’m going to keep reading it to get through the rest of my stay at Syracuse. I sent it to my mother and she got nervous about the piece because you said ‘it disturbs’, said she’s not sure how she’s going to feel when she reads it. But she’s also one of those ‘let’s leave the past in the past’ people. My sister approved, which meant a lot because our childhoods were each other’s.

All that to say, I’m so grateful you gave me the space to write the short version of this piece, the encouragement to write the longer piece, and now, a platform for it. I definitely have plans to write more about Aba.

Thank you, with all my heart.

PS- I wanted to sign off gratefully + gracefully in Igbo but I said let me not fall my own hand 🙂

About a year later, they sent another email to let me know that their novel would be published.

Wed, Jun 8, 2016, 8:20 AM

Greetings!

I hope all’s been well with you this past year. Belated congratulations on the baby’s arrival, I hope she’s being a delight (I’m sure she is), and on the Johns Hopkins honors.

I was thinking about how this time last year, I’d just received the email from you about Farafina and I wanted to reach out with a quick update. I’ve just accepted an offer for the novel I excerpted as my application and it feels like the workshop was a catalyst for the events that’ve led me here. So, thank you, for the workshop and your words and the Olisa TV series and listening to me babble on about my story at the hotel. I deeply appreciate all of it and you.

All my best,

Before the novel was published, I spoke of it to some people, to help it get attention. I had not been able to finish reading it. I found the writing beautiful, but the story false-hearted and burdened by bathos. When I spoke of the novel, however, it was the former sentiment that I expressed, never the latter.

After I gave the March 2017 interview in which I said that a trans woman is a trans woman, I was told that this person had insulted me on social media, calling me, among other things, a murderer. I was deeply upset, because while I did not really know them personally, I felt they knew what I stood for and that I fully supported the rights of trans people, and that I do not wish anybody dead.

Still, I took no action. I ignored the public insult.

When this person’s publishers sent me an early copy of their novel, I was surprised to see that my name was included in their cover biography. I had never seen that done in a book before. I didn’t like that I had not been asked for permission to use my name, but most of all I thought – why would a person who thinks I’m a murderer want my name so prominently displayed in their biography?

Then I learned that, because my name was in the cover biography, a journalist had called them my “protegee” and they then threw a Twitter tantrum about it, calling it clickbait, viciously disavowing having received any help from me.

I knew this person had called me a murderer, I knew they were actively campaigning to “cancel” me and tweeting about how I should no longer be invited to speak at events. But this I felt I could not ignore.

I sent an email to my representative:

From: Chimamanda Adichie

Date: Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 2:06 PM

I’m writing about X

She attended my Lagos workshop two years ago and I selected hers as one of a few pieces I published after the workshop.

Apparently I was referred to as her ‘mentor’ and/or she was referred to as my ‘protege,’ in some articles, which led to her tweeting about it. Her tweets were forwarded to me by friends. In them, she reacted quite viscerally to my being called her ‘mentor’ and her being my ‘protege.’ To be fair, she is not technically my ‘protege,’ and it is perfectly fine that she feels this way, but her ungracious tone and the ugliness of the energy spent on her tweets surprised me.

I recently received her book and noticed that my name was included in her official book bio. I was stunned. Surely if she is so strongly averse to my being considered a person who has been significant in her career, (which is my understanding of the loose use of protege/mentor) then it is unseemly to make the choice to include my name in her bio. I found it unusual, as I don’t think I’ve seen it done before in a book bio, but I also now find it unacceptably cynical.

It is only reasonable for a person who sees my name as it is used in her bio — ‘her work has been selected and edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’ — to assume some sort of mentor/protege relationship.

To publicly disavow this with a tone bordering on hostility and at the same time so baldly use my name to sell her book is utterly unacceptable to me.

I’d like you to please reach out to her publishers and ask that my name be removed from her official book bio. I refuse to be used in this way.

After contacting her publishers, my representative wrote:

They have asked whether your preference would be to remove the Acknowledgment to you in the back of the book also, in future reprints.

I replied:

I don’t think that is my decision to take, and so will not answer either way, although it would be ideal if she herself made the decision to do so.

On the subject of how to go about it, I was absolutely determined not to be used by this person, but I was also sensitive to the costs the publisher might incur, as this was not in any way the publisher’s fault. Instead of pulping the already printed copies, I asked that the jackets be stripped and rebound. To my representative I wrote:

I’m completely determined that I not be used in this opportunistic and hypocritical way. But I want to make sure to proceed reasonably.

I was assured that my name would be removed and I moved on.

But from time to time, I would be informed of yet another social media post in which this person had attacked me.

This person has created a space in which social media followers have – and this I find unforgiveable – trivialized my parents’ death, claiming that the sudden and devastating loss of my parents within months of each other during this pandemic, was ‘punishment’ for my ‘transphobia.’

This person has asked followers to pick up machetes and attack me.

This person began a narrative that I had sabotaged their career, a narrative that has been picked up and repeated by others.

The normal response would be to ignore it all, because this person is seeking attention and publicity to benefit themselves. Claiming that I have sabotaged their career is a lie and this person knows that it is a lie. But if something is repeated often enough, in this age in which people do not need proof or verification to run with a story, especially a story that has outrage potential, then it can easily begin to seem true.

My addressing this lie will indeed get this person some attention – may they bask in it.

Here is the truth: I was very supportive of this writer. I didn’t have to be. I wasn’t asked to be. I supported this writer because I believe we need a diverse range of African stories.

Sabotaging a young writer’s career is just not my style; I would get no benefit or satisfaction from it. Asking that my name be removed from your biography is not sabotaging your career. It is about protecting my boundaries of what I consider acceptable in civil human behavior.

You publicly call me a murderer AND still feel entitled to benefit from my name?

You use my name (without my permission) to sell your book AND then throw an ugly tantrum when someone makes a reference to it?

What kind of monstrous entitlement, what kind of perverse self-absorption, what utter lack of self-awareness, what unheeding heartlessness, what frightening immaturity makes a person act this way?

Besides, a person who genuinely believes me to be a murderer cannot possibly want my name on their book cover, unless of course that person is a rank opportunist.

PART THREE

In certain young people today like these two from my writing workshop, I notice what I find increasingly troubling: a cold-blooded grasping, a hunger to take and take and take, but never give; a massive sense of entitlement; an inability to show gratitude; an ease with dishonesty and pretension and selfishness that is couched in the language of self-care; an expectation always to be helped and rewarded no matter whether deserving or not; language that is slick and sleek but with little emotional intelligence; an astonishing level of self-absorption; an unrealistic expectation of puritanism from others; an over-inflated sense of ability, or of talent where there is any at all; an inability to apologize, truly and fully, without justifications; a passionate performance of virtue that is well executed in the public space of Twitter but not in the intimate space of friendship.

I find it obscene.

There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion, who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness. People whose social media lives are case studies in emotional aridity. People for whom friendship, and its expectations of loyalty and compassion and support, no longer matter. People who claim to love literature – the messy stories of our humanity – but are also monomaniacally obsessed with whatever is the prevailing ideological orthodoxy. People who demand that you denounce your friends for flimsy reasons in order to remain a member of the chosen puritan class.

People who ask you to ‘educate’ yourself while not having actually read any books themselves, while not being able to intelligently defend their own ideological positions, because by ‘educate,’ they actually mean ‘parrot what I say, flatten all nuance, wish away complexity.’

People who do not recognize that what they call a sophisticated take is really a simplistic mix of abstraction and orthodoxy – sophistication in this case being a showing-off of how au fait they are on the current version of ideological orthodoxy.

People who wield the words ‘violence’ and ‘weaponize’ like tarnished pitchforks. People who depend on obfuscation, who have no compassion for anybody genuinely curious or confused. Ask them a question and you are told that the answer is to repeat a mantra. Ask again for clarity and be accused of violence. (How ironic, speaking of violence, that it is one of these two who encouraged Twitter followers to pick up machetes and attack me.)

And so we have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow.

I have spoken to young people who tell me they are terrified to tweet anything, that they read and re-read their tweets because they fear they will be attacked by their own. The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene.

[redrobin-detective]

Just watched the two other BNHA movies and I absolutely loved them.

I enjoyed the 2nd movie and how everyone got to shine in it, especially when they booby-trapped that tiny island like they were in a Home Alone movie and its the one that felt the most canon to me. The only bad thing I could say about it is that the villain in it just felt like a discount AFO and the final fight was kinda corny knowing everything that happened will be erased by the end of the movie, but I did read a post you made about how OFA should have fully went to Bakugou for real, but then he decides to give it back because he doesn't want to rely on it to be the best and that would have been a far better ending imo.

With that said, I just finished the 3rd movie a couple of minutes ago and it was hands-down my favorite so far and I'm very surprised you didn't like it at all? Personally I really appreciate how they switched it up and did something completely different from the usual "the class is on a trip and they suddenly got attacked by villains!" Leaving Japan for once was fun, as well as seeing Izuku and Rody on a road-trip while running from the police, Rody especially was such a loveable character and I really enjoyed his relationship with Deku, its shame we would probably not see him again (controversial opinion but he felt more like a real-life friend than any of Izuku's other friends)

The only criticism I have is that the animation was wonky in certain points and the Humarise organization was lowkey wasted on this movie, the idea of the Quikless minority rebelling in the BNHA was interesting, but they REALLY half-assed it, especially in the context of Deku's being Quirkless himself up until recently (but then again its just a 90 minutes movie not an actual 15-episodes arc in the show) is that why you didn't like it or is there another reason? Because for me its 3rd >= 2nd >>>>>>>1st in term of the movies.

I'm so glad you liked the movies! I'm very grouchy in my opinion of movie 3 so I'm sorry if that colored your expectations going in but seriously, I wish I'd like it more!

Movie 1 is incredibly special to me. It's a very simple story of friendship and legacy. David adores All Might and wants to save him and he goes to so much trouble, gets people hurt, trying to do so, But he doesn't realize that the reason Toshi came to him was to show him that the future didn't lie with him but with Izuku and his friends. Things change, things end and its especially interesting when we compare how David reacted to All Might's impending retirement to Nighteye. That shot of Young Might turning into Izuku... I teared up so hard in the theaters. The criminal hijacking was all well and good and seeing the kids in fancy dress was fun, but I loved the simple message it told.

Movie 2 I also really enjoyed, the kids having a whole island to protect themselves I thought was a great exercise and their home alone shenanigans was fun. It didn't have the emotional gut punch of movie 1 to me but I did like the Bakugou and Izuku OFA moment and I 10000% agree with you it should have gone like you said. Much more impact that way.

Movie 3 was just a disorganized mess in my opinion. We were all hyped up for this World Hero Mission and then?? We see none of that and Izuku is on the run with this random dude most of the movie. I liked Rody! Genuinely but what did he or his story contribute? I really got mad when it was about the quirkless minority rebelling and, not only is Izuku's story worth nothing but the guy uses some bomb ass quirk to fight them. It just devolved into flashy animation and fighting. When did Izuku start using his fists instead of his head. I walked out the theater like, what the point? What was the movie trying to tell me? Movie 1 was about letting go and creating a legacy, movie 2 about cooperation, movie 3??? oh the quirkless are bad because they're planting bombs?? I guess some international politics we just never really followed up on or explained??

Like I said, I'm always glad when people found joy in things I did not because it still means their pleasure. But wow movie 3 did nothing for me but leave me irritated bc it had a good basis, good thoughts but completely fell apart by act 2. I'll watch movie 1 any day of the week.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Let's Call It Funny

Prompt: Hi! If you know about those gen z peter parker posts, could your write something based on that? With Steve Getting It (tm) because fatalistic nihilism in humor tended to show up during the world wars and we’re seeing a reflection of that now? Sorry- I just think it’d make great options for steve and peter bonding, and dad!tony but actual emotions (gasp!) You can totally ignore this if you want!

Don't ever apologize for giving me such a great ask

Read on Ao3 Part 2

Warnings: uhhh gen z humor

Pairings: none! all found family in this bitch

Word Count: 2529

Here’s the thing about humor. It’s not necessarily that one generation is any funnier than another, it’s just that high school kids are perpetually the funniest people alive. Something about being in a pressure cooker of an environment with a bunch of other people whose bodies are changing in new unpredictable ways whilst having very little say in how their lives go creates humor. Gasp of shock, right?

So basically what Peter’s trying to say is that he’s fucking hilarious.

Come on, not only does he have the default high schooler stuff, he’s also gay, which gives him an instant bonus. He’s trans, which opens up a whole new subset of humor for him to explore. He’s neurodivergent as fuck, and we all know that makes people funny as hell. And if that weren’t enough, he’s severely traumatized and he’s Spider-Man.

Peter Parker is funny as hell.

What is truly devastating—and really, it’s their loss—is that so few people seem to appreciate it.

Ned gets it. Ned’s not someone Peter would expect to not get it, just because hey, it’s Ned. They’ve met each other in the hallways and been like ‘hey! You’re still alive! Congrats on having a body!’ Only for the other one to go ‘hey! You’re alive too! I wish I had an intangible form!’

Because bodies are stupid and evolution really fucked us over but at least we’re not horses.

A solid 50% of their interactions are just quoting John Mulaney and Bo Burnham bits back and forth at each other. Peter’s never gonna forget the day they both had detention and had to watch that stupid Cap PSA—it’s propaganda, you Nazi fuckwits—and something reminded them of the ‘horse loose in a hospital’ bit and they just did it. Full out. Stood up and did the actions and everything. The rest of the room was either trying to do it with them—and failing, because they didn’t have nearly enough practice—or looking so confused. The security guard—Paul, he’s great—just looked at them blearily after they finished and went:

“I mean, you kids are right, but you’re not supposed to talk in detention.”

Well, excuse them for trying to make it more entertaining for everyone.

MJ gets it. If Peter’s being honest, he learned most of his humor from her. She is the master and it is an honor to study in her wake. He’s definitely hijacked the asking whether or not anything’s actually meaningful existentialism jokes and they’ve wormed their way into his day-to-day repertoire.

“Why are you late, Mr. Parker?”

“Time is a social construct, Mrs. B, none of us are ever late or early except in the subjective spacetime paths. The limits of our sensory perception make it so we can’t tell if anything is real, let alone whether or not they conform to some arbitrary definition of ‘time.’”

“…just sit down, Peter.”

See? It works.

Aunt May gets…worried.

Sure, they’ve actually talked about when Peter needs help and wants to reach out and when he’s just making jokes off the cuff because hey, humor’s a great coping mechanism or it’s just a joke and not that serious. Peter loves his Aunt May, so so so much, and the last thing he wants to do is really worry her. And she’s gotten pretty good at figuring out when he’s just joking and when he’s spiraling.

Sometimes, though…

“Peter,” Aunt May calls from the kitchen, “did you remember to stop by the store on your way home?”

Peter freezes halfway through the door.

“Peter?”

He swallows. “…no.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am too stressed and consumed by the swirling pit of blackness deep in my soul to remember my head is connected to my body, let alone remember to go to the store.”

Silence.

“…Aunt May?”

“Do you want to drop off your stuff and then go to the store?”

“…yeah, please.”

“Love you, Pete.”

“Love you!”

“Try to remember that you’ve got arms so you can pick stuff up.”

“Got it!”

See? It’s fine.

The Avengers don’t get it. Like, at all.

Natasha and Clint like, sorta get it? They make the same jokes all the time when they think Peter can’t hear them, which—come on, you guys are super spies, surely you know people are gonna hear you when they’re gonna hear you. Natasha will make a crack about something, Clint will laugh and shove her shoulder. It’s their dynamic, we get it. But when Peter does it…

“Hey, Baby Spider?”

Peter sticks his head up from the ceiling. “Yeah?”

“Where’re you crawling off to?”

“I’m gonna go hide in the garage.”

Natasha blinks up at him. “Why?”

“Because if I get crushed by the airlock doors then I won’t have to do my paper tomorrow.”

Silence. Natasha’s mask is too good for Peter to actually see what’s going on with her, let alone from this angle, but silence isn’t good.

“Nat—oof!”

Something blurs out of the vent nearby and tackles him down onto the couch.

“Clint!”

“Nope,” Clint mutters, wrapping Peter up in a hug as Natasha comes to join them. “You’re staying with us now, Pete.”

“Guys, I’m fine.”

“Peter,” Natasha says softly, “don’t joke about that, you’ll make us worry.”

“I don’t wanna do that,” Peter mumbles, “but it’s fine.”

“Coping mechanism, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s got too many brain cells to do that,” Clint says, ruffling Peter’s hair.

“Stark has a lot of brain cells, you see what good that does him?”

“Hmm. Guess you’re gonna have to stay awhile, Pete.”

There are worse fates. Definitely.

Thor just kind of gets confused by it. He acts like Peter isn’t going to be absolutely fine because there’s no need to do anything like that. No, Peter, you don’t have to put the bleach in first into your cereal, there’s plenty of milk left over. No, Peter, you don’t have to throw yourself off the roof because your laptop is freezing, Stark has so many just lying around. No, Peter, you don’t have to pack a rucksack and run away to the Alps and live like a recluse, come here and get a hug.

Peter suspects Thor’s playing dumb on purpose. The man is smart as hell, there’s no way all of this is flying over his head. And honestly, it warms his heart a little bit when he sees Thor’s sincere, concerned look when he thinks Peter’s not looking.

Banner and Rhodey just kinda shake their heads and move on. They’re used to it. They live and work with some of the most dramatic fucking people in the goddamn universe, they’re used to a little bit of extra humor. Occasionally one of them will give him a look that says he’s pushing his luck, but that’s not often. Less often now ‘cause he knows what he can get away with. He’s also seen them hiding smiles behind their hands or poorly disguised coughs. They’re not as slick as they think they are.

Tony.

Tony is the fucking worst.

Peter can’t get away with so much as sighing too hard before Iron Dad™ is swooping in all soft words and concerned touches. Jesus. You’d think he’d get it, he uses humor as a coping mechanism too, goddamnit, why is he so worried about Peter?

Okay, fine, he knows why.

MJ’s over at the Tower, having another one of her ‘sketch people in crisis’ appointments with Natasha. Peter is coming off of a 32-hour caffeine rush and is violently wishing for death. Tony is in the kitchen doing…something.

“Hey, do you think bleach would make a good smoothie?”

Tony wheels around to see MJ pulling a glass out of the cupboard.

“Kid—“

“Sounds like a filling breakfast,” Peter groans, “can you make me one too?”

“…I’m legitimately concerned,” comes Tony’s mutter.

MJ ignores him. “Who’s the bitch on your forehead?”

Peter rubs absentmindedly at the massive knot on his head, courtesy of a wall that rudely decided to move at the last second while Peter was attempting to walk through a doorway. “He’s called DJ Braindeath and he’s my only friend in the world.”

“Peter—“

“Oh did you meet him at the furry convention?"

“Technically it’d be a buggie convention.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?”

“The pantry doesn’t have good coffee, I’m going to Starbucks.” MJ grabs her bag. “You want anything?”

“A will to live?”

“Peter, what the fuck—“

“Oof, I’ve only got like…20 bucks.”

Peter lets his head drop back to the counter. “Then just leave me here to die.”

“Can I have champagne at your funeral?”

“I’ll be dead, I won’t fucking care.”

“God, I wish that were me.”

Then MJ’s gone and Peter gets treated to a 20-minute conversation with a very concerned Tony Stark that he doesn’t remember most of because hey caffeine crashes aren’t fun.

He definitely does it on purpose sometimes just to wind Tony up. Like there’s this one incident with an interview he does as Spider-Man and he gets asked what he thinks about Tony Stark’s newest intern, Peter Parker.

“That boy’s an embarrassment, just…complete failure. Can’t speak without stuttering through every other word and self-esteem issues all over the place. Also looks like he got dressed in the dark.”

The reporter had awkwardly moved on to another question. The interview aired later that day while Peter was at the Tower. Tony sat next to him on the couch about halfway through.

“You look good, Pete.”

Peter had mumbled halfheartedly, only to hear the reporter ask the same question.

“See, that’s the problem with having a secret identity, you don’t…” Tony trailed off as he heard the answer.

Peter snorted as Spider-Man finished talking. “Say that to my face, you bitch, get a real job. At least I don’t look like someone vomited silly string all over my spandex.”

“Are you okay?”

See? Fun.

The only one he’s made a conscious effort to not be this funny around is Steve.

Because, okay, here’s the thing. Steve’s disappointed look has no effect on him anymore. He’s immune, motherfuckers, he’s had detention too many times for it to still work. Here’s the other thing: Steve doesn’t actually use that tone of voice that often. It’s this meticulously crafted image he plays up in interviews because it catches all the bad guys so off guard when Captain America is suddenly swearing a blue streak at them and telling them to go fuck themselves in, honestly, quite creative ways. The sincere Steve Rogers disappointment and concern still very much works. Also doesn’t help that Steve does caring so fucking well, like…who gave him the right to say a few things and hold Peter like he’s something precious and do the quick one-two punch of saying a super sincere compliment and following it up with ‘I love you.’ Who did that? It’s rude. Stop it.

And yeah, Steve’s the resident Mom at the Ready. It’s a risk to even sit on your bed looking sad ‘cause here he comes, wearing something snuggly and saying ‘hey’ in that stupid, stupid compassionate voice. So Peter knows he’s just gonna end up crying from too much soft if Steve actually gets concerned. Which won’t be fair because he’s gonna try and explain that he’s fine and it’s just his sense of humor while crying. Yeah, like that’s gonna be believable.

So he’s trying not to but damnit it’s hard.

Then he walks into the kitchen one day to see Steve struggling with the toaster.

It’s one of Tony’s new prototypes—which means that anyone struggling with it is so fair—and from the looks of it, it’s managed to not only burn the bread to a crisp, but also mangle the slices beyond recognizable shape.

Peter’s not paying that much attention. He’s on his phone, heading towards his spot in the corner with the beanbag chairs and definitely doesn’t recognize Steve as he goes.

He only plops down and hears someone declare, in a completely deadpan voice: “There is no point to existing at all.”

“Oh, mood.”

He doesn’t think much of it. He doesn’t even know who said that, that’s how hyper-focused he is right now. He hears the others come in and feels Clint plonk down next to him.

“Hey, Pete.”

“Sah, dude.”

“Just vibing. Did I do it right?”

“Yeah, man you’re going great.”

“You teach Thor ‘yeet’ yet?”

“We’re getting there.”

“Steve,” he hears Tony call from the kitchen, “what the fuck did you do?”

“Language.”

“Don’t fucking talk to me about language when you’re making toast that looks like a goddamn welder’s table, what is that?”

“Your prototype��s work, I imagine.”

“How did you even—“

Clint chuckles next to him as the two of them start fondly bickering. Peter’s too busy speedrunning the five stages of grief in his head.

Did…did Steve say the thing about there being no point to existence at all?

No…no way.

He must be imagining things.

Then, of course, there’s a chime on his phone.

Ned: Did u do the bio hw?

There was bio homework?

Ned: yeah, due at noon

“I now know why God abandoned this timeline and when will death come to take me?”

The room goes silent.

Shit.

“Peter,” Clint says, “it’s gonna be fine, you can do bio homework in your sleep—“

“Are you okay?” Ah, that’s Thor.

“Kid—“

And Nat, and Tony’s probably rushing over here as he speaks.

Then there’s another voice.

“We can only pray the reaper arrives early for his appointment with us, kid.”

Peter’s head snaps up.

Steve.

Steve fucking Rogers raises a coffee cup at him in salute and takes a sip. He makes a face.

“…that was definitely salt,” he mutters, before shrugging and downing the whole thing.

…what?

Peter’s still staring at him until he catches his gaze and winks.

Oh, fuck yes.

“Steven Grant Rogers,” Tony says, hands on his hips, “explain.”

Steve just gives him a look. “I grew up in the Great Depression, Tony, and I was in the army. You don’t think I have a fatalistic sense of humor?”

“Plus the fact that most of my generation is resorting to types of humor found when death and stress are so ever-present that you have to joke about it says something,” Peter adds, “doesn’t it?”

Steve raises his cup again. “See? He gets it.”

And just like that, the bond between Peter Parker and Steve Rogers was written, formed, and sealed in salt and existentialist depression.

“There’s two of you,” Tony mumbles, “oh my god, there’s two of you.”

“Oh, you just wait ’til Buck and Sam get back.”

Peter can’t fucking wait.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Gnawing on this post like a dog to a bone. May I once again chip in with a Thought of my own?

(oooh, unintentional poetry - nice!)

Anyway! Both of these ideas are really interesting! But for my money, I believe that Ralsei is a representation of who Kris used to be - a what-could-have-been of how Kris might have turned out had all that... unpleasantness around Dess and the divorce not occurred.

More specifically, I believe that Ralsei is symbolic of the concept of innocence and earnestness, uncorrupted by, or at least resistant to, the hardships of the outside world.

Contrast the character of Ralsei to what little we do know and can infer about Kris. Where Ralsei is cheerful, optimistic, generous and forgiving (perhaps to a fault), Kris presents as sullen, withdrawn, uninvested in the world or people around them. They used to play pranks in an attempt to bond with their peers, but even that has largely come to an end now that we have assumed control of them.

At one point, Kris's worldview may have been more closely alligned with Ralsei's - before all the aforementioned unpleasantness. But as the world wore them down and more and more bad things kept happening to them and people they loved, they could not hold on to that childlike optimism, and discarded it in favour of a more cynical outlook, to protect themself from further harm.

But that optimism they once held did not disperse into the aether - instead, it coalesced around the object that, to Kris, had symbolised their rightful place in the world up to that point - the plastic horned headband, which had been discarded at the same time, and would eventually become Ralsei. (note the red of his horns)

Now, faced with the literal embodiment of their own former innocence and optimism, but firmly in the shoes of a world-weary cynic, it can be understood why Kris may not necessarily gel with Ralsei. Their response to him would essentially amount to "God, I used to be like that? Ugh, how cringe."

To a more cynically-minded person, Ralsei's position of unguarded optimism would seem foolish, childish - because in a cruel world, it wouldn't be long before you got really hurt. It may further come across as self-indulgent - a semi-intentional flaunting of the fact that the world had been largely good to you, because how else could you possibly be so cheery? Kind of like he's saying "ooh, look at me, I'm alright, I've never had to deal with any kind of hardship or trauma!" (According to Kris, anyway - Ralsei probably has his fair share of emotional baggage too, given his knowledge and circumstances).

As for why Ralsei looks like Asriel - well, as you point out, he would have been the template for Kris growing up, the ideal role model. So it would make sense for an aspect of Kris to look like their adoptive sibling - and particularly poignant considering both the horns and their more gregarious childhood outlook on life were both discarded. Again, as you say, you can't choose who you are.

You could even use this explanation of who Ralsei is to explain his... fascination with Kris, as a desire to return to the person who created and discarded him, to help heal their trauma and return them to a less grim view of the world. But that's another topic altogether!

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your post again Lynx! The whole Ralsei thing fascinates me to no end, so I kind of had to chip in here, haha :P

"What I think right now is that Ralsei is supposed to look like what Kris wishes they could be as a member of the Dreemurr family. However, their biggest point of comparison for that is their sibling, Asriel, so there's a lot of just. ..subconscious copying going on there.

Overall, I think Ralsei looks like Asriel, if he was Kris's age and stature, and with some features changed (such as the pink horns). Hopefully that makes sense!"

What do you think about the differences in their characters? Ralsei is much softer in comparison to Kris, given Kris' past antics before the player arrived. If Ralsei is the embodiment of Kris's soul, why are there differences in character?

(I agree with your theory) From myself, I can assume that the character of Ralsei is the character of Kris if Kris were satisfied with themselves, that is, with their body and position in the family and town. And it was the circumstances of their lives that changed their character towards behavior aimed at maximizing attention through pranks.

Still, I’m interested to know what you think about this. Also, thank you for everything you share)

I think it's not just a matter of Ralsei embodying Kris's soul, but it's Kris's soul specifically filtered through an object that signifies a distinct desire, like a lens splitting white light into colors. So if the Knight is Gerson's soul defined solely by "I need to keep writing stories," Ralsei is Kris's soul defined solely by "I should be like my older brother."

It's an attempt at imitating how Kris perceives Asriel...the biggest goody two shoes, always knows how to make friends, always trying to be helpful and talk to people. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being an exaggeration of Asriel's traits, and that Azzy's likely a lot more nuanced than how everyone in town (including Kris) perceives him to be. There's still a bit of Kris's self-perception seeping in there, though...like how Ralsei seems to go unnoticed by other Darkners, treated as the odd one out.

And in the end, while I think Ralsei's expressing a hidden wish of Kris, it's still not ultimately who Kris is...they are an outcast, quiet, kind of weird, prone to pranking people and getting into trouble. I think that in turn heightens some of the quiet discomfort that Kris might have around Ralsei...that he's both a big reminder of what part of them wants to be, and a constant reminder that they're not that. No one can choose who they are in this world, so they say!

(And thank you for reading!)

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

I got tagged by the delightful @ashilrak to talk about some of my current obsessions! thank you for the tag wonderful human sending so many happy things <3

okay I have actually been super busy with life stuff recently so I haven’t been watching any shows or reading anything :( so this is a very messy undone collection of obsessions

1. taking pictures of the sunset: I love the sun and sunset is my fave time of day but I’ve recently become obsessed specifically with taking pics of the sunset because my friend posts sunset pics his people send in on his status every day so I’m always trying to send some off for the daily submission

2. I know it doesn’t count but it’s taken up a lot of my time so I’m making it count: writing up my proposal for research masters next year. the amount of research I have to do y’all I am drowning! i have to be obsessed with this topic or I’m going to go crazy

3. I’ve posted about this a couple times across my platforms so I’m sure most everyone knows but these three songs have been on loop for the better part of two weeks: “the color violet” by tory lanez, “chicago freestyle” by drake & giveon and “sanctify” by years & years

4. the korean dish (often street food but can also be found as a dish in restaurants) tteobokki (basically cylindrical rice cakes usually in a sweet and/or spicy sauce). also Mexican candy (gummy sweets with chamoy and tajin) gosh I could consume frankly unhealthy amounts of both of these things

that’s all i can think of right now

I know it’s super not cool of me but I’m not going to tag anyone. I’m sorry :( my emotional/mental energy is so low and thinking of people to tag is just making me blue-screen right now.

Instead I’m making this an open tag so seriously please feel free to hijack this post and talk about your latest obsessions or even make your own post and consider yourself tagged by me <3

I hope the week ahead treats you all gently mwah!

[ash-and-starlight]

Just realized I made a mess while writing the other ask to you, sorry 🤦🏻🤦🏻! YES I meant to send the ask to you, my sentence that got a little messy, because when I'm talking about Sokka/Suki and Zuko I automatically resume them as "the ot3" (this weird brain of mine), so I saw your fanarts and loved how you draw them separately and the zukka fanarts (of course)! The one that actually made me fall in love was this: https://ash-and-starlight.tumblr.com/post/659876345240862721/the-gaangs-all-here-the-emotional-distress! (All characters are perfect, the ot3 is just my fave shipp so i tend to focus more on that ajdoakdoskd)

Sorry again for this little mess, english isn't my first language (but I'm 100% going to check the artist you indicated!) 😅💕 and thanks for answering, going to read each tip carefully and try for myself! 🥺🙏🏼❤

Dont worryyyy lmao I just didn’t want to hijack an ask meant for someone else, I’m so happy you like my art and that you could find those tips useful! Sending my best art vibes 💕💕💕

[moonandblossoms]

Good to see you back on Tumblr :)

However, what was your perspective on being called a harasser and a hijacker?

Hi anon, thank you very much for the concern :)

I know what incident you were referring to. I have already argued from my side about the conflict I and my friend had with two users (the OP has blocked me and my friend already), and I am strictly planning to ignore that, but since I am far calmer now, I guess my validity would be understood better so that I can answer without being in my peak of emotions. Also, to just boost me and tell myself that I wasn't as wrong as I was claimed to be so I can calm out.

Bear with me, I write in paragraphs lol. Sorry, but, it's because I want to sound justifiable.

HIJACKER

Okay, I can understand in what context I was labeled a hijacker. It was an old post of theirs two years ago, and untagged. But, I feel they forgot to consider that the post was still there in Tumblr without being archived or further replies being blocked or whatsoever.

Also, I was using Tumblr on mobile, so I had no idea when the post came. So, it's still valid from my side to have not known when this post came.

I hope you are a Beyblade stan and I bet otherwise you wouldn't have known me being called like that. I am an ardent shipper of Kane and Salima. I was using the search bars to see some of my old posts for them since I have posted a fair amount of content for them via my main blog (this one) and from my side blogs (fics, fan art, GIFs, etc.). But all of a sudden, the said post (where the incident happened) came in. I actually wanted to ignore that, but I got the feeling if they went factually wrong. I wanted to debunk it, but that doesn't mean if I want others to strictly believe it or to ship Salima and Kane.

If they really felt like I hijacked their post at that moment, they could have said that right away. However, they did say the post was old, but not everyone would consider it a hijack, at least most of them I know. It almost felt like they created this term hijack after this shit to ridicule me, irrespective of if they felt that then or not.

Most of the Tumblr users from anime fandoms do contradict opinions via reblogs, but that's not a crime or something. So I don't think it's valid to label me a hijacker for this.

HARASSER

I forever can never understand in what way I harassed them. It's awfully an extreme term. This is laughably gullible in my opinion, which makes opinion contradictions and obvious forms of harassment from various spaces I have [been exposed to/witnessed] look like disasters from hell.

As I said earlier, I felt their opinion was wrong. But, this is not to make anyone feel condescended or inferior. Just an opinion sharing. That is something anyone needn't take close to heart if they feel like being contradicted.

They think that Salima and Kane had their relationship dented down because of what happened in the battle tower incident. But, I just felt that that may not possible because Salima clearly understood Kane was not being himself and went to pursue him, so she might understand that. That's not something anyone may disagree with when that's what actually happened and it is a very valid assumption.

There wasn't a single instance where Salima seemed to have hated Kane or looked low on him or detested him (except when she tried to steal Cyber Drigger but still, they weren't arguing or whatever it is and she soon went by Kane's way). Or there wasn't a f--king moment where Salima seemed to have scolded Kane outside the tower after what all shite happened. She has considered Kane as someone precious to her. He has taught her how to be a beyblader, instead of just worrying about the outcome but just enjoying the battle.

So, I just felt they may be wrong. That's all.

This was all before I failed to consider their blog a roleplay one, and after they said they want to make Salima realistic. They said stuff might be OOC. I understood. Then, what would be my assumption then? Salima denting her relationship with Kane is what they may be referring to OOC because, she naturally wouldn't do that, as I specified for reasons above. Heck, they tagged it OOC Salima after all when reblogged from me for the first time. They have highlighted the OOCness far more than I did. If they know that's the truth, why are they getting offended when someone says it?

It's understandable in their case because she might write OOC stuff whereas I prefer sticking to canon for most of the time.

In what way was is this harassing or making me want them to ship Salima and Kane? What is really condescending here? First of all, I can understand for obvious reasons why some might not ship them. Or, it is not even necessary to ship Salima and Kane even if they are not on severe terms or didn't have their relationship dented.

Explaining a relationship between two people, even if you ship them needn't be taken in a shipping sense always while describing the dynamic in canon. It's up to people to take these reasons to ship them or not. Regardless of shipping them or not, or not being satisfied with their dynamic in canon, we can't deny how they viewed each other in series, even if we hate them as a ship or not.

But, there is no denial from my side that there was a mistake in the time and place of sharing opinions.

I accept it. I am just a young teenager and not as old as them who have been in the Tumblr fandom for nearly ten years. But, the way the user approached me biding a hi with exclamation and the tags sounded like they want me to share further opinions when I read their tags after the first reblog (#what's your opinion on Salima shipping?). How wouldn't I want to share an opinion on it? How does that make them not intend to make me share an opinion? How tough it is to tell "get off my post"? I honestly would appreciate it if they have told me that.

After all, this sounds like they and their friend have created their own deluded reasons or create reasons which I never even said. Actually, that's what they did, like me ranting for Kane and Salima having no fanart or me claiming them becoming canon?! What the f--k is this? Writing them canonically in fics is not equal to becoming canon. Fics aren't even canon.

I and another friend of mine contradicted an opinion from a JJK fandom, against Jennifer Lawrence. The user said right away to get off, and I appreciated it. It's great to tell right away.

This isn't something anybody would be crying or feel extremely offended about. Or this isn't some sort of cyberbullying or a crime. They can be irked for some time, tell me right away instead of dragging and creating an unintentional drama. This isn't a form of harassment.

See anon, I would always prefer being pretty well-versed with the content to an extent before stepping into fandoms (or at least for the characters I focus on), so I am not sure who would or wouldn't have known what happened in the series. I can't read the minds of others. I don't know if they have forgotten the incidents or not. I am saying this because their friend says that the user might have forgotten what has happened had not watched the series for a long time.

I am still ready to be on good terms with them and their friend. I am ready to have an open mind if they want to be friends with me. Unfortunately, I am blocked (not by their friend at least) so I am not sure if that may happen. I honestly don't want anyone to ever feel hurt by me. All of my trusted friends know me well and know how I am. Or, I know myself better.

There wasn't a single sign of me harassing them for shipping Salima with anybody else besides Kane. But that's what they are assuming. Anybody can ship Salima with Kai, Ray, Tyson, Max, Goki, Jim, Mystel, Tala, Garland, etc. I respect it, regardless of what I personally feel about each of Salima's ships. There isn't a single GIF set, fan art, or Fanfiction post for other Salima ships where I have said these. Their post sounded more like an opinionated post.

The user ships Kai and Salima. They both have touched and held each other while trying to get out of the tower, or they are aware of each other's existence for sure, and Kai has been protecting her. Whereas, I even ship Tala and Queen 😂 did they even speak a word to each other? It's not even confirmed if Tala and Queen are aware, at least if Tala is aware of her. So how wouldn't I understand Kai x Salima in this case? Seriously.

After this, I decided to contradict some common opinions with my own posts even if the people whom I contradict see that or not. No more reblogging and sharing opinions except when someone actually encourages it. I am a bit scared of it now.