#this happens more often than you'd think

[marzipanandminutiae]

I look up slang I don't understand, almost compulsively. call it the aftermath of middle school bullies constantly trying to get me to agree to gross, sexual, or otherwise Bad statements by using unfamiliar terms. but the upshot of this is, I end up knowing far more Hep Modern Teen Lingo than one might expect me to

a lot of my coworkers do not have this same drive for Slang Knowledge

a lot of my coworkers are substantially younger than me

so please imagine: you're a 21-year-old museum docent and this latter-day Victorian Goth lady in her early 30s is patiently explaining to you what "gyatt" means after some kid wrote it on the response board for the 50th time

[unmechanism]

every once in a while, through their tags on a reblog, one of my mutuals will reveal that they have this random niche kink and I'll just think "cool mate" and like the post

[starlit-soothsayer]

So what's your issue with Sai? /genq

I have issues with plenty of people. The internet is full of obnoxious individuals, and for the purposes of my main accounts online I quickly block them (it's what those tools are for, after all). That doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching from a distance, however.

Sai is just one on a long list of internet people that wreak havoc wherever they go. Most just don't seem to notice that because she often targets (or tries to target) people that the internet masses are likely to frown upon. Lily Orchard is ideal for this. A vast majority of the internet dislikes her or doesn't care about her. To me, though, it's about the same as watching any United States election since 2016. It's not about getting something good anymore, it's about taking the side of the guy who sucks a little less.

To put it simply, Sai and Lily are two sides of the same coin.

Lily just so happens to have done much worse things by comparison and Sai just so happens to have opinions on media most agree with and internet history that hasn't been picked clean. At the end of the day though, their personalities and way of interacting with the web at large are incredibly similar.

Both of them, despite repeatedly claiming the opposite, are hopelessly obsessed with each other. Both of them use what little amount of minority status they have as a shield against critics. Both of them love to argue, to the point where it seems it's the only form of communication they can navigate. Both are quick to cry cowardice when someone decides an argument isn't worth having and walks away. Both of them must get in the last word, always. Both of them feel that they are in the right all the time, and that anyone else is either stupid, immature, or both. Both of them often label others as sensitive until it's their own feelings that are on the chopping block.

The best thing that Lily could do, if she really wanted to hurt her critics and make them leave her be, is to simply disappear from the internet entirely and let the people leeching off of her starve. The communities based entirely on making fun of her would dissolve overnight. Lily would never do that of course, because she has the same problem as Sai (one also pinpointed by CrimsonEnder): she simply can't let things go.

Neither of them will ever have the ability to walk away from something unless they have the final say, no matter how small it is. I've seen them both revive petty squabbles that have already long since simmered down for the sake of just wanting to argue.

It's not exactly difficult to put together why Sai has so many "haters" when almost every public interaction she has is a argument. It's not always about some form of homophobia or sexism or difference of opinion. Pardon my French, but sometimes your personality just fucking sucks.

[vickyvicarious]

Before she answered, that sweet, puckered look came into her forehead, which Arthur—I call him Arthur from her habit—says he loves; and, indeed, I don't wonder that he does.

Fairly sure I've made this exact post in prior years, but I don't feel like finding it again right now.

Mina calls him Arthur despite never having met him because Lucy does so often

Arthur has told Lucy he loves her forehead wrinkles

Lucy has told Mina that Arthur said he loves her forehead wrinkles

Mina immediately reacts with an internal handshake meme and clearly approves of him more

Mina takes time out of being worried for/curious about Lucy's frightening sleepwalking experience to admire the wrinkles herself, then think "too bad Arthur isn't here, he'd love them"

It's all so frickin' cute.

[weevmo]

when that THING you were holding gets TORN from your very tiny hands (it was yours)

[saamaton]

work place break room so awkward i end up talking about table culture in medieval castles just to keep the conversation going

[cowboywithacunt]

You guys have got to learn that safe words are not just for subs. It's important for doms to use them if they're feeling uncomfortable too!!!

[wuntrum]

[sees a group of three signed up for a couple's painting (where two people's canvasses connect together to make one painting)] getting some big challengers (2024) vibes from this

[cinderflower]

sometimes writing is just bullshitting your way through plot until it makes itself coherent

[rederick-ignis]

(Crowley voice) im BACK

[that-stone-butch]

heya! letting you know tomcatbutch is a terf, or a huge radfem at the very least. if you scroll through her blog you'll see posts about her being kink critial, anti porn and anti sw. you don't need to do anything about it and you didn't reblog from her, but her reblog was on that butch4butch post.

hilarious if true because i'm 99% sure that blog has thirsted on my selfies before

[welcometogrouchland]

May I ask about your Jason Todd idea? <3

Hm, okay so. How to lay this out sensitively since I know it might be a tad controversial...

Prefacing by saying I'm not an expert on the minutias of Jason characterization. I like him when he appears, I think the battle for the cowl/Morrison era and some parts of modern era for him are Weird and Bad, but I'm not Jason scholar (for that I'd say maybe check out @/tumblingxelian and their great video essays), I'm just trying to think of what might be an interesting step forward for him.

First, the canon facts

Jason got lobotomized and has panic disorder on steroids. By the end of Gotham War (specifically when Jason was. Flying the batplane into the asteroid. God I can't believe that's the plot) he was finding it in himself to power through said panics

In Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #12, the joker gives Jason a "low dose" of joker venom, which has an ambiguous effect on Jason, allowing him to power through the fear (which joker explicitly states is still very much present, just not physically debilitating, like when Jason couldn't run over in either Catwoman #57 or #58, the one with the kid in the building) even though he'd been able to do that sans venom over in Gotham War, like I previously stated.

The effect of said joker venom seems to be lingering for now, minus the creepy grin side effect it gave Jason over in that man who stopped laughing issue, as seen in the latest batman issue (number is escaping me rn, #147??). He still has the stutter which is a shorthand for fear, he's drawn with fearful expressions by Jorge Jimenez, but he says that he's "working through it" thanks to the chemicals

This is both super interesting and kind of maddening as it doesn't completely remove the consequences of what happened in Gotham War, but is trying to sweep them under the rug and get back to business as usual. I, however, propose making said consequences front and center like a fashionable urn on a mantle piece:

Since it's never stated how exactly the joker venom works, and I think the current answer is "it works how the story needs it to" I've decided that because it's a low dose, it eventually wears off. And when it wears off, Jason's back to square one in terms of mental state. Ergo, if Jason doesn't want to live the rest of his life as quaking shivering husk of his former self...he's going to need more.

(read more for the meat of things)

So, Jason self medicates for a condition given to him by the father he has endlessly complicated feelings towards with a cure invented by a man who represents everything he hates in the world who once tried to take everything from him.

Which, insert poetic cinema gif here, I'm quite proud of myself for that one.

Anyway, there's a lot of directions you could take this. Personally I think it'd be interesting to explore Jason trying to get back into the drug trade like he did in UTRH (FULL TRANSPARENCY I HAVEN'T READ THE FULL COMIC, I KNOW BROADSTROKES BUT IM NOT GONNA TRY AND MAKE PARALLELS) as he tries to use the resources (production plants and other drug runners who can hook him up with samples of joker toxin/similar stuff you can probably find around Gotham) to manufacture his own cure that means never having to go back to the joker again. Maybe he ambushes a joker toxin chemical production plant to get his own supply, and then Jason uses this as his foothold back into that world.

This isn't necessarily me saying we should regress Jason alll the way back to UTRH, that was before his anti-hero era and I'm not willing to fully shoot him back into the past. I just think that's not how you tell good stories in a medium like comics. But it'd inherently be a little different just bc he's doing it for different, slightly more self motivated (depending on your take on villain Jason) reasons and the people around him would have a different reaction to it.

Anyway, all sorts of problems can arise! Depending on how you wanna characterize Jason (wayward son who longs to be back in the fold or black sheep who doesn't play by daddy's rules, etc) he can either a) try and hide this criminal enterprise from his giant family full of nosy detectives (good idea there jay) OR do it out in the open, trying to justify himself but still putting himself on the opposite side of the family again (not the law bc that boy hasn't been on the 'right' side of it since he died)

There's also the fact that Jason now needs to take something 24/7 in order to live his life. He essentially can't be without it, he's dependent on it, in fact he'd get sick without it despite any adverse effects it may have on him (which are guaranteed, I mean. No clinical trials)

I imagine it'd be easy to become addicted to it in some way.

And uh. This is the part where it works slightly better as a fanfic pitch than an actual comic pitch. Because as much as I think it'd be such an interesting beat for Jason's character considering his fraught history with addiction and drugs (looks away from that one urban legends story where he suggests terrorising addicts to get to the suppliers and bruce lectures him. The easiest way to make Mr "we don't sell drugs to children" sympathetic and you beefed it)

I also fully recognise that this is a sensitive topic that DC doesn't have the best track record with (although addicts aren't a monolith and feel a number of ways about addictions portrayals in comics) and that there's probably some pitfalls inherent in the premise, namely bc of Jason's background as an impoverished kid and his grey morality, and how those play into stereotypes of addicts. Addiction is already such a misunderstood and stigmatized condition that I imagine playing with it with an antihero might be enough to turn some people off. Addiction is not a moral failing and I'd hate to write it as a moral failing of Jason akin to his willingness to kill, etc.

But with all that said, I think that stereotypes are primarily harmful because of their shallowness. They inhibit understanding of groups labeled "other" by presenting them in simplistic ways that don't portray richness or complexity. And I think a truly good red hood comic could give both sympathy and complexity to Jason, even as an addict. If anything, Jason is a popular character (mostly) and there could be something nice about seeing a main character go through what you're going through, gritty details and all. YMMV (can we bring that back btw?) and it depends on execution. There's a lot of ways it could go wrong, but seeing as it just lives as a hypothetical rn, I think there's also a lot of ways it could go. I mean, not right, it's a downer story beat for Jason but it's mostly meant to be interesting and a vehicle for more stories as Jason navigates it, ya know?

Anyway, I have a lot of spiels littered in my notes app and discord DMs that elaborate on all this (how this could work as act 1 in a broader Jason story where his little operation goes to shit and he has to hit the road (jack) and maybe do some character development for better or worse. I'm a sucker and wanna say better- not squeaky clean better but. Yknow, finding himself to an extent. I recognise I'm a sap and a fool tho. Or how a new outlaws team could factor into either of those eras (since I do like Jason with an outlaws team. It gives him an excuse to exercise his compelling relationships and dynamics with other characters without having to constantly tip-toe around the elephant in the room whenever he's with the batfamily all the time. He just needs a good lineup) but that's all for another time

... though without elaborating on the vision in my head it kind of just sounds like my pitch is "Jason gets addicted to his hyper-anxiety medication" BUT I SWEAR ITS MORE THAN THAT.

It's like. If Jason has struggled as a character (and this is very subjective on my part so feel free to disagree) because he has compelling relationships with all of the batfamily, but also has compelling grey morality that makes it hard to capitalize on those relationships, without the conflict always coming to "Jason stop killing!" "Nuh uh!" OR just being ignored, and the main way writers have addressed this is via reboots instead of arcs...

Then giving Jason and the bats:

real, legitimate and fresh reason for jay to be mad at Bruce (taking their relationship of love with very little understanding to it's most dramatic conclusion)

give the family a real reason to want to bring him back into the fold (feel bad about the lobotomy and it would be pretty immoral to let Jason waste away slowly and painfully because of something Bruce did)

capitalize on all the ways Jason is sympathetic (bc the addiction is a natural lead into his backstory, which is one of his most sympathetic elements)

And the ways in which he's very out of step with the bats post-resurrection (I'd be mad asf too if i came back to life just for my dad to a) not avenge me and b) LOBOTOMIZE ME meanwhile the cunt ass clown giving me my meds is just lurking out there).

Idk it's not a sophisticated pitch as of this moment but I think a real chef (writer) could cook something w/ this

[ratcandy]

What is your favorite type of chocolate? What is your favorite type of sweet?

Chocolate is definitely my favorite type of sweet, mostly because I'm not a huge sweets person in general EXCEPT for when it comes to chocolate.

Like I'm awful about desserts. Cookies? (Cup)cakes? Brownies? No thank you. I am not interested. Unless its carrot cake or mint chocolate cookies. Otherwise? Don't care. Go away forever

As for my favorite chocolate, Anything with peanut butter in it. For a long time it was peanut butter M&Ms specifically. Reese's are also my everything. But I'm also big on Hersheys (i have been eating so many hershey kisses recently i cannot emphasize enough) and Rolos (caramel will never be peanut butter to me but it's good) and Andes (I like mint) and Dove chocolate (its got a good texture) and. Yea. I like chocolate

[lecoindecachou]

Watching Fleabag reminded me of my childhood, weirdly, because my parish also had a "hot" priest that all the moms and the older girls were in love with (but not me, which should've been my first clue I was a lesbian, probably), and then it turned out that he had a secret wife and kids.

[ballsmacker30]

Was watching a show & they had a disabled character that was wanting to destroy a corrupt system. Great, right? NOPE. They made them a terrorist for some reason & I'm pissed off about it

[hesperidia]

wonder how many times i came off as disinterested when in reality i just think of myself as very unimportant in others' lives so i'm scared of getting involved. like i'm out of place