#this isn't a dig or anything this is just a statement of fact.

[renaultmograine]

"movies don't have a specific queer subculture like smut does" is the most zoomer ass take i've ever seen. please stop talking about fanfiction as if it invented gay rights and watch something older than captain america civil war

[ebenelephant]

I would also like to note that the way fandom treats Lupin's class is often... not great.

I'll caveat this by saying that iirc it's very subtly implied in the books that he may only have become impoverished in adulthood (which isn't important for this discussion) and also that JKR's handling of class with the Weasley's in canon is also pretty bad (which is). She gets many class dynamics/relations down pretty well in terms of snobbishness and classism, but the Weasley family are just not well written as an example of a family on the breadline, which is what they ostensibly are.

This – not all the time, but definitely some of the time – translates to Marauders fic as well. And maybe that's just my view as someone with a better understanding of the British class system as a UK-resident than many individuals might have, but still it bears pointing out that often representation of poor/impoverished/working class characters in fanfiction (and fiction as a whole tbh) can often be classist. Especially when adding in the angle of a character being abused or orphaned, which is on the rise with Remus.

Often, it feels like Remus's class situation is for purely aesthetic purposes. Authors will talk about how insecure his old clothes make him, and Sirius will buy him a jumper. They'll make him just so starving hungry in the summers, but give only the most surface-level introspection of food insecurity, if any. He will be toughened and hardened by his time in care/on the streets/living in poverty/whatever in a way that really only leans into the stereotype that working class people are rude and unpleasant because they are working class, even though he is implied to be impoverished and possibly homeless in the books and is none of that. It's set dressing.

Snape is often rewritten as coming from a better station. Maybe they ignore that he grew up mostly muggle, or maybe they lean into the 'Prince' aspect and write him inheriting from a rich uncle or something. If not, his poverty is sort of just not addressed in a lot of Marauders fic. Again, this is anecdotal: I've seen some really interesting depictions of him before even in fics that otherwise bash on him, but the fact is that in the fics where the author clearly dislikes the character, this is rarely the case.

Snape's childhood is ugly. Coming from what is implied to be a dying Northern industrial town, he would've come into his majority over the Winter of Discontent, spent his early adulthood far away from the home that may well have been suffering under Thatcher's Britain. Maybe his dad was a union man. Maybe there was strike action and violence in his home town. Maybe it all simply faded away to nothingness and left everyone on the dole while politicians harped on about the unemployed draining government funds. Maybe his dad hit him. It's implied that the Snape household was tumultuous and loud, and didn't feel safe. It's implied that Eileen was cold and distant. And Tobias, as a man in a dying industrial town who shouted at his wife and scared his kid, this conjures and image in the mind of many Brits. Maybe that's lost somewhat to an international audience, I don't know.

The thing is, that when Snape's poverty is overlooked almost entirely and Remus's is both exaggerated and somehow made completely toothless by fandom, both instances are classist.

Alright, let’s dive into the dumpster fire that the Marauders fandom has become last years and threw any sense of canon or character integrity out the window. Because let’s be real, the way this fandom has twisted the characters of the Marauders and the Death Eaters, all while turning Severus Snape into some one-note “creepy stalker,” is embarrassing. The fandom seems obsessed with scrubbing characters clean, romanticizing abusers, inventing tragic backstories for literal sociopaths, and piling up headcanons that turn a few lines in canon into fully fleshed-out, fanon-only OCs. And somehow, the only character who gets relentlessly dragged and demonized is Severus Snape—a character who has actual complexity and trauma. It’s hypocritical, classist, and downright gross.

Let’s start with Severus. Canon Snape is a guy who came from nothing: poor background, abusive father, dead-end town. He didn’t fit into the wizarding world, was relentlessly bullied by privileged Marauders, and still somehow managed to survive and make something of himself. But instead of acknowledging any of that, the fandom loves to reduce him to this “creepy obsessive” stereotype. People act like he spent every waking moment pining for Lily and never did anything else, as if that’s all his character is. Never mind the fact that he was actively trying to get out of a miserable life, or that he was, you know, bullied on a daily basis by James and Sirius, who had wealth, status, and freedom to do whatever they wanted. Nope, to the Marauders fandom, Snape is just the “weird stalker”—because acknowledging his struggles would mean admitting that their golden boys were actually kind of awful.

Meanwhile, the same people are out here bending over backward to make people like Barty Crouch Jr., Evan Rosier, and Regulus Black look like misunderstood anti-heroes. Let’s be clear: in canon, Barty Crouch Jr. was a straight-up torturer, Evan Rosier died laughing as he fought Aurors, and Regulus was a kid raised with a silver spoon who only started doubting Voldemort when he realized he’d been signed up as snake chow. But no, fanon has turned these guys into “tragic, complex Slytherins” who were “just trying to survive.” It’s like they’re desperate for some tortured prince narrative, so they invent personalities out of thin air to give us this dreamy aesthetic of sad, beautiful Death Eaters who “didn’t really want to be evil.” Apparently, actually following the text is too much to ask when you’ve got fanon fantasies to uphold.

Regulus Black, in particular, has become this absurd fanon martyr. In canon, Regulus was a kid indoctrinated into pureblood ideology, who joined the Death Eaters without much hesitation. Maybe he had a change of heart eventually, but it wasn’t out of some grand moral revelation; he just realized Voldemort’s loyalty was to himself alone. Yet, according to the current fandom, Regulus is some misunderstood hero who was only “pretending” to go along with Voldemort and was “forced” into his choices. They’ve built this tragic romance around a character who, in the actual books, doesn’t have even half this depth. This Regulus in fanon is practically an OC at this point, and people cling to this made-up version of him so hard that they’ll defend it like it’s canon. It’s hilarious, and it’s also just plain wrong.

And let’s talk about the Marauders themselves. In canon, James and Sirius were rich, spoiled brats who spent their school years bullying anyone who didn’t fit into their world. They were kids with every privilege, and they used it to torment people like Snape, who had nothing. But the Marauders’ fandom has turned them into these fluffy, “good-hearted” rebels who just made “a few mistakes.” I’m sorry, but nearly killing someone as a “prank” is a bit more than a mistake. Yet people will ignore that or wave it away as “boys will be boys” just to keep up the illusion that James and Sirius were lovable scamps. It’s maddening—and it’s also classist as hell. They erase all the ugly realities of the Marauders’ behavior and then turn around and judge Snape for being “obsessive” and “weird” when he was just trying to survive in a world stacked against him.

The classism in this fandom is so blatant it’s laughable. Snape is written off as creepy and unworthy of sympathy because he didn’t have a cushy upbringing or the social standing to make him likable. Meanwhile, characters like Barty and Regulus, who came from wealthy pureblood families, get excused and romanticized to no end. It’s like the fandom is saying, “Well, Snape deserved it because he was poor and awkward, but the rich kids? They’re just misunderstood.” It’s the kind of privilege blindness that makes you wonder if people actually read the books or if they’re just projecting their own biases onto the characters.

And let’s not forget the army of new OCs the Marauders fandom has invented just to justify this headcanon universe (Mary, Marlene, Dorcas, that that Pandora no one knows why suddenly appears here lol) You’ve got random “best friends” for Sirius, unnamed Slytherins who magically have no ties to pureblood supremacy, and love interests for Regulus who supposedly saw the “real” him. All these characters are based on nothing more than a few throwaway lines, yet people have fleshed them out to a level that they’re practically new characters in the universe. It’s like they need this entourage of made-up people to back up their version of the Marauders and Death Eaters because, without them, their headcanons would fall apart. And all of this, while they keep painting Snape as this creepy loner with no real friends or worth. The hypocrisy is unreal.

At the end of the day, the Marauders fandom has taken a bunch of characters with clear flaws and complexities and rewritten them into these sanitized, tortured souls while dumping all their scorn onto Snape. They’ll go out of their way to redeem a literal torturer like Barty Crouch Jr. or turn Regulus into some tragic hero, but they can’t bring themselves to even consider Snape’s trauma or the systematic abuse he endured. It’s all about maintaining this fantasy where their favorite characters are perfect and untouchable, even if it means twisting canon and ignoring the ugly truths about class, privilege, and abuse that is reflected into the story. And that, honestly, just makes the fandom look shallow, hypocritical, and completely disconnected from the reality.

[spacedace]

Got another DP x DC prompt for yall:

Things in Amity are going bad, the GIW are getting more aggressive and Jack and Maddie are starting to suspect there is something ghostly going on with Danny and Jazz is scared out of her mind and desperate to get them the hell out or dodge before she comes home one day to find her baby brother strapped to a table in the basement or worse.

She knows there's no way she's going to be able to get custody of Danny though (maybe she's still a minor herself, maybe she is over eighteen but it takes more than being a legal adult to get custody of a kid, and Jazz just doesn't have what the government is looking for and she can't risk Danny getting lost in the system) and even if she could, where could they possibly go? Even if they ran away, they don't have any way to survive.

Half out of her mind with stress and exhaustion late one night she ends up digging through their family tree looking for someone, anyone, that looks like they might be able to help, that could at least get them away from Amity Park if nothing else. She and Danny had each other, and literally anything was better then the nightmare creeping ever closer.

And somehow it doesn't even take that long, maybe luck finally shifting their way for once, maybe Clockwork nudging things along just right, but she finds someone.

As far as family relations go, they're on branches as far away from each other as possible while still being on the same tree. And of course the person in question has a pretty massive criminal background and is still super obviously involved in some shady stuff, but Jazz does her research and can see that - criminal mastermind or no - there's no history of vivisecting children or ghost hunting and honestly the Goonion review is pretty glowing.

Besides, Gotham's ambiant ectoplasm is about the same as Amity Park's, it'll help keep Danny (and her, really, as liminal as she is) healthy.

It's a long shot, but short of fleeing to the Ghost Zone and praying their parents don't chase after them, it's all she’s got. So, using one of Tucker's programs, she gets ahold of a phone number and makes the call.

To say that Oswald Cobblepot is surprised by her reaching out and suspicious of her desperate request would be an under statement.

But he knows a con, and this doesn't sound like one. The girl on the other end of the line sounds close to tears, begging him to hear her out, pleading for his help. When he has his people investigate he finds that Jasmine Fenton isn't lying. They are distant cousins - very distant - and the kids' parents are honestly Arkham levels of insane and the kids' teachers have been getting progressively more frantic in their reporting on their concerns. The notes on Daniel Fenton and the number of visible injuries he's been going to school with are particularly concerning. As is the fact that the Drs. Fenton are apparently scientists on top of being entirely mad.

Call Oswald a soft touch, but there's an old childhood wound deep in his heart that has him feeling for the kids, and from what he’s seen of Jasmine - Jazz, she said to call her, and her little brother is Danny, not Daniel - she's got the kind of drive he admires.

And hell it's not as if he can't afford to put them up in an apartment somewhere out of the way if they turn out to be too much trouble. Besides adopting a couple of sad kids from a shitty home can only be good for his reputation, look how well it worked for Bruce Wayne.

Maybe if he plays his cards right, he can set up a play date with the Wayne kids or something, really get some good networking in.

[coff33notforme]

Healing!Re2 Leon

A/n: So so sorry I haven't posted anything in so long, I genuinely lost my love for writing for I think its been officially been a year since I last wrote something for fun. Don't fact check me on that, but I'm back! I'm trying to let myself just have fun with writing and not take myself so seriously so please be patient with me! Expect a lot of Resident Evil content from me! And don't be afraid to request! I'll be sure to update my request chart!

Summary: Takes place between re2 and re4! Basically just what happened to him after Raccoon city.

Notes: Headcannons, fluff mostly, themes of depression, alcoholism, body issues, gender neutral reader as usual!

Nothing could've prepared you for the look on his face when he arrived home. Opening your door for him at 11:00 at night, his face silhouetted by the gentle light of your porch lamp. His pale eyes seemed to be looking through you, his face tight with the unconscious clenching of his jaw, his adams apple bobbing faintly. The hum of your porch light filling your head.

Well, that was before you were cupping his face, you couldn't even remember the movement forward, all you could take in was the impact of his embrace. His arms wrapped tightly around you, and if it wasn't for the fact it was twenty degrees out, you'd say he was shaking.

Safe to say he'd move in with you after everything that happened, he needed that sense of security, that familiarity that he'd swear was almost entirely lost on him. He was wordlessly welcomed back into your life.

Though it wasn't all the same, he'd hope it would be, God he really wished. It was weird, having him back around, he was quiet, not in an awkward kind of way, he just didn't feel the need to make his presence known. This isn't to say he doesn't engage in conversation with you, he'll just need more of an obvious cue that you'd like to spark a conversation with him.

Leon won't exactly know what to do with himself, he tried giving himself a week to adjust, then back to the drawing board, that's what he told you. You assured him there was no pressure to jump right back into employment, he'd been through something truly life changing, I mean, it took you two whole months to just get over your dog running away in highshcool.

He'd brush it off of course, he wasn't devastated, at least, not in the way you described, it wouldn't even be anything hard, just something simple. Like retail.

That lasted about two weeks, the first week itself just being job searching, but once he got into the flow and rhythm of stacking supplies in the back of some chain line grocery store, he'd have to quit. That kind of meaningless repetitive work only fed into his existential crisis that had been put on the back burner for far too long.

He'd call you crying during his shift, you'd have to pick him up, parking somewhere close so you could calm him down, he'd spill everything out to you. Rambling on and on about not wanting to spend the prime of his life stacking cans and rearranging produce.

Well at least that's how far he got before embarrassment came crawling up his back, digging its nails into his throat until it felt so tight he couldn't speak.

The drive home would be quiet, not the comfortable kind.

He'd spend a lot of time at home, long enough to where you not its not a phase, and that he's not not getting out of bed without an intervention of some kind.

He admits after weeks of obvious reluctance that he's not ready to work again, he just needs time. You assure him that its completely fine, though you're not entirely sure how much that statement holds true you don't mind picking up some extra shifts if it means comfortably supporting you both.

But that isn't to say he doesn't contribute at all, he's the one preparing all the meals every week. He's the one taking trips to the store, jotting down meal ideas on the pen pad you'd gotten him after the silent acceptance that he'd taken to doing all the cooking.

This goes for chores too, though he wouldn't take to that immediately, he's not used to viewing the house as more then somewhere he eats and sleeps, its only after a comment from you about the disarray of the living room would spark him into action.

After that you haven't seen a speck of dust grace your living room floors since. It's the least he could do since you're funding his identity crisis, well that's what he thinks.

Leon struggles with healthy attachment, he's still not used to the idea that he won't wake up and you'll be gone. Though this doesn't mean he's completely distant.

He does little things to show how much he cares. Like waking up early to prepare your breakfast with a warm cup of coffee, or how he always asks you first what you'd like for dinner.

Though he won't admit it, most days are a struggle. Not every day, but those are the ones where he gets to spend some quality time with you, or he washes it off with a can of beer or two.

He'd hate himself to admit it to you, but he's developed a bit of a drinking problem with all that time at home.

Though once you notice the amount of cans piling up in the recycling he'd guiltily admit that he's been using it to cope, though he doesn't say exactly with what.

You'd encourage him to take up therapy, though he'd hastily deny, you offered him to at least think about it, though the very idea of opening up to a stranger about his problems seemed absolutely absurd.

After a bit of time though, especially when you express your concern with his drinking, he yields. 

Of course with the excessive eating of comfort foods and now only occasional drinking, he’d developed a bit of a dad bod. He didn’t seem to notice at first, but one morning it seems to hit him all at once when he inspects himself in the mirror.

He’ll fiddle and prod at the soft pudge dripping from his sides, like the melted wax of a candle. His doughy thighs pressed together. He’s not really sure how to react, all he feels is this sort of disconnection from himself, like the person in the mirror isn’t really him. 

He’ll avoid it for months, but the changes are clear to you whether he knows or not. But it doesn’t fail to hit you that he hasn’t walked around without a shirt in weeks, not just a shirt, but the kind that completely engulfs his figure, until he’s practically swimming in material. 

You’ll have to intervene at some point, he’ll feel the weight of guilt pressing down onto his shoulders until he humbly admits, yeah, he doesn’t like the way his body looks anymore. You’ll need to have a conversation with him, assure him that it’s okay to gain weight, you don’t love him less just because he’s a little more soft around the middle. 

He’ll need you to gently coax him into being more comfortable with showing his body around you. Gently holding his hips when he's making his coffee in the morning, leaning into him when he hugs you, telling him when you think he looks nice. Just little things that really do boost his confidence. 

After months of unwavering support from you, he’ll notice the lack of disdain he feels when glancing at his reflection on passing surfaces. He'll be comfortable enough to let his belly breathe from time to time when walking around the house, maybe even offering to shower with you when given the chance. 

Of course, progress isn’t linear, he’ll have his days where he wishes more than anything the fat clinging to his frame would melt, like snow dripping from a rooftop against the breath of the morning sun. 

But at least now he feels comfortable admitting to you he isn’t always happy being in his own skin, and he knows you won’t try to correct his thoughts, rather then simply reassure him. He’s far from perfect, but more then anything you’re just glad he’s here.

©️ coff33notforme 2025 please don’t feed into any ai chatbot, or repost my content.Please reblog is you enjoyed! It means a lot!

[yesimwriting]

been obsessed with coryo after watching tbosas 😭 please write more of bestfriend!coryo <3

so so adorable 💋 i love u tehe

me gasping like in that tiktok sound: oh my goodness i love this question!!!

in all seriousness i have so many more thoughts on this dynamic omg

----

thinking about bestfriend!coryo who knows your parents love him, and, more importantly, he knows how to use that to his advantage.

it's no accident, he's put in meticulous effort in making sure that they not only approve of the friendship, but that he's their favorite friend of yours. when it comes to a family as prominent and wealthy as yours, parental approval goes a long way, especially with how regularly your parents leave town for business.

your father's admiration isn't an easy thing to win, but coriolanus is no stranger to uphill battles, and you're worth it. with the way that you look at him, how could you not be?

so he puts in the work: being the perfect student in classes taught by known friends of your father, wearing his best clothing and practicing old capitol etiquette his grandma'am was more than happy to review with him before family dinners that you invited him to, and making sure to keep proper distance between the two of you whenever your parents are around, no matter how difficult it is for him to remember to not hold your hand.

the hardest part is the fact that most of your father's intimidation comes from the fact that he's the exact kind of man coryo wants to be. powerful, respected, and in a position to never worry about finances or status. but he keeps at it, taking more care than usual to make sure that the signs of poverty are never visible in front of your parents.

even if that means purposefully leaving leftovers of the best food he's eaten in years on his plate so that no one will think he's starving. even if you give him a look that only he can feel the strangeness of because even though you've never spoken of his financial status, you can tell that he's not as well off as everyone thinks. that's the only thing about you that digs beneath his skin--you can always tell.

he's unsure if his efforts are working because of your father's constantly stoic disposition even though you assure him that that's your father when he's relaxed.

but then one day, he's over on your father's last night at home before returning to the districts to oversee some business, and your father asks to speak with him in private. you're instantly snapping your head up from your textbook, wanting to make sure that your father won't say anything embarrassing or rude.

he's scared off other friends in the past and even though it hurts, you never fight back too much because your father isn't an easy man to talk back to. but this is where you draw the line. you're not going to lose your coryo.

coryo feels something in his stomach knot, especially at that bewildered look behind your eye, but he's not about to be openly intimidated, so he assures you that he's fine. when you push, asking what topic could possibly involve just coryo and him and be that private, your father says that it's just business from man to man.

coryo has to force down a smile because he knows he'll be hearing no end of it from you as soon as the two of you are alone together. then he starts to think that this might be it. maybe your father has found out about his true financial status or dean highbottom has finally gotten to him and he's about to be banned from seeing you.

he forces down his anxiety and follows your father into the hall. your father's quick to the point, letting him know that he's leaving for another long stretch of time and that your mother's social and professional engagements mean that you'll be alone often. he closes the statement by asking coriolanus to look after you until he returns.

the realization that coriolanus has made it hits him at the same time as the relief and for a second all he can do is stare. then his senses return to him and he's swearing to your father that he'll take such good care of you, your father will have nothing to worry about. then your father's clasping his shoulder and offering him a gruff but oddly genuine thank you, son before telling him to get back to your room before you get paranoid.

it's an odd way to end the moment, but coryo's so busy trying to convince himself to not mentally plan out your wedding (because let's be honest, that's a level of trust from someone like your father might as well be a pre-engagement) that he doesn't think of it.

when he gets back to your room, you ask as casually as you can manage what your father wanted. after telling you that your father just wants to make sure that you're looked after while he's away, coryo expects you to be happy. but instead of reacting positively, you just sort of nod and mumble something polite before attempting to go back to studying.

something in his chest hardens. he's your best friend, who you spend as much time as socially acceptable with, and you two are being given the perfect excuse to be around each other more and you're not happy.

he immediately pushes and you reluctantly tell him that this has to mean that he's in with your father. another thing that coryo thinks you should be thrilled about. the more your father approves, the closer the two of you can be. he's accusing you of being sick of him, of trying to get rid of him, of no longer wanting to be best friends with him.

that has you scrambling to defend yourself. there's little you consider more important than your friendship with him. it's the only bond you fully trust.

so you tell him that your real concern is that your father never gets along with your friends that way, and that the only similar reference point you have is the way he talks to people like him.

you then tell him that the people in your father's social circle aren't like coryo. at the very least, not your coryo, who's never harsh with you and would rather spend parties sitting with you than sharing cruel opinions to impress other men.

all coriolanus hears is that you don't see him the way you see the actually important men. the hurt behind his eyes has you moving to stand and reaching for him. he lets you take his hand but doesn't react, so you explain it as transparently as possible. people that your father likes are mean, and you don't want to lose him to that.

there's something about the way you say it, all round eyes and genuine worry. it reminds him too much of tigris, of the newfound hint of tension in their relationship that's become more prevalent. she's constantly reminding him of what his father's success turned him into.

coryo's pulling you into a hug, whispering promises that you could never lose him. you're hugging him back tightly, hand smoothing circles against his back.

he realizes he means what he's saying. he can achieve the prominence he wants without alienating you. there's a way to be stern with the world and just coryo to you. and even if his edges become a little sharper, he'll keep that away from you and you'll understand.

you may criticize some of your father's views and actions, but you do love him. coryo sees it in the way that you constantly strive for his approval, he sees it in the way your face lights up when he's home. if you can love your father through your disagreements, you can love him as well. he'll make sure of it.

feeling better, he starts semi-playfully chiding you for even thinking that anything could take you away from him. that you should know better than to not see this as yet another thing he's doing for you, for your friendship.

you don't want to admit it, but you're feeling a little bad for reacting like that. after all, coryo was so excited to tell you and you know your father's capable of scaring people out of your life. at least this means that nothing's going to get in between the two of you.

coryo recognizes your slight pout and the apologetic line between your eyebrows. the two of you so rarely argue that even a hint of conflict has you willing to do anything to make things feel normal again.

so he lets himself play into his hurt. you're quick to pick up on it, holding onto him a little tighter. the two of you stay like that for awhile until you break the silence, saying that you're happy that he has an excuse to be around more.

eventually the two of you end up sitting on your bed, both of you silently agreeing that you've done enough homework. instead you focus on reassuring him, holding his hand between both of yours, pressing the occasional chaste kiss against his knuckles and resting your head against his shoulder until he has to go home.

after your father leaves, coryo takes his promise to look after you seriously. he's already in the habit of walking you home after school every day, but he start staying over after every day. the lack of authority figures around makes it a little easier to accept the after school snacks your maid always prepares and sometimes he even lets you send some home with him.

his grandma'am's over the moon when he starts accepting invitations to school social events that he honestly considers painful because he's escorting you. she's convinced that the two of you are getting married and with your family's status and the snow name, there's no door the two of you won't be able to unlock. even though you're still just friends, he rarely reminds her. it's for her own sake, he tells himself, it makes her happy.

the promise to your father also makes him bolder. he feels more assured, more justified in his disapproval of those that show a little too much interest in you.

you still don't notice the way his jaw tightens when some unaware guy gets too close, or think anything of the way that it almost always leads to him grabbing your hand.

he also stays over more, sometimes leaving for a few hours in the late afternoons so your maid doesn't think anything's going on. your family's estate is so large it's easy enough to get him in and out through a secondary exit.

the two of you fall into such a good routine that when your parents do get back, they start trusting coryo even more. your father asks if he can take you to certain social events that normally you wouldn't be allowed to attend and your strict weekday curfew becomes more of a suggestion when he's around.

[starcurtain]

Your post about Alhaitham, Aranara lore, and the issue of fandoms confusing canon with social media promotion was so good!

I have some questions. I only entered the fandom a year ago, and I still haven't caught up on all the events I missed (though I am caught up on archon quests and most character quests). If you have time, could you please share any other examples you have of people popularizing a headcanon and pretending like it's canon?

I have a theory of one. I've noticed a lot of fics portraying Kaeya, Rosaria, and Venti are all drinking buddies at Angel's Share. And as much as I love the idea, I'm not sure I can find a canon source for this. I made a post asking about this once, and the only thing anyone gave me was that cutscene towards the end of the first Windblume. But that only shows Kaeya and Rosaria drinking together; Venti isn't there. Am I right that the three of them being drinking buddies is just fanon?

Thank you!!

I admittedly started playing Genshin a little later than some, so I missed out on many of the original Mondstadt events. Although I've tried to catch up on them via cutscenes and summaries, there are some nuances I'm surely missing, so it's a bit harder for me to judge based on earlier stuff. However, it seems fairly unlikely that Venti and Kaeya are actually good drinking buddies, for a couple reasons:

Even when they are in the same bar, they don't even speak directly to each other, let alone drink together. During Jean's birthday event, both Venti and Kaeya come to Jean's party at the Angel's Share, but once the alcohol starts flowing, Venti sits at the bar with Diluc, while Kaeya goes off to drink in the corner by himself.

Presumably, if they were actual drinking buddies, they would have sat together.

There's also the fact that Kaeya and Venti's relationship seems to be somewhat catty, especially earlier in Genshin's story.

In the 1.4 Windblume event, Paimon literally says that Venti and Kaeya's conversation has devolved into a "coercion contest" where they're both trying to get the better of each other. It's not aggressive and it's largely played for jokes, but it's also not Genshin's typical "I'll do anything for you because you're my friend" level of niceness.

Even way back in the 1.4 Windblume, there are some lines, especially from Kaeya, that are very loaded (and Venti gets his own digs in too lol):

I, for one, think it's pretty much impossible that Kaeya hasn't known Venti's identity all along; Kaeya's entire early character hinges around just knowing way the hell more than anyone else in Mondstadt (with little explanation for how, in some cases). With that in mind, Kaeya--a Khaenri'ahn--asking Venti--an archon--if he's willing to take Kaeya on as a student is a pretty heavy statement.

This scene leads into the one where Kaeya (supposedly) writes a poem in hilichurlian that could be read as a threat toward Venti. There's some debate whether that is actually true and whether Kaeya intended it that way, but the ambiguity still suggests Kaeya knows Venti's true identity and is, at the very least, testing the waters and pushing the envelop to see how far Barbatos will tolerate an "enemy" in his territory.

Even all the way to Kaeya's hangout, Venti and Kaeya's interactions are definitely sarcastic and a bit (humorously) snide, with Kaeya unsubtly using the fact that he knows Venti's secret identity to manipulate Venti into helping with the choir project. (Venti gets his digs here too though, reminding Kaeya about the hate poem he so "kindly" wrote back in 1.4 lol!)

Kaeya even goes out of his way to bring Diona to the song-writing efforts, specifically to trigger Venti's cat allergy and force Venti into having to deal with song lyrics about hating alcohol. 😂

So, up until at least this hangout, I'd say that Kaeya really didn't have too great of a relationship with Venti. He wasn't directly antagonistic to him or anything, but they definitely didn't come across as close friends, and there were enough blatant hints to suggest that Kaeya doesn't view himself as a follower of Mondstadt's archon.

It seems likely (to me at least) that Kaeya would have inherited a natural standoffishness toward archons in general alongside his father's huge expectations that Kaeya serve as Khaenri'ah's hope, a blend of "I'm supposed to hate you because I know what you did to my country" and "I'm uncomfortable that you know my true identity; you might take action against me like the archons took action against Khaenri'ahns in the past." I don't think Kaeya ever actually personally hated Venti, but there is a tension between himself and Venti that isn't necessarily present in Kaeya's other connections (Albedo, Klee, Jean, Lisa, etc.) throughout Mondstadt.

On Venti's side, I think that people forget that Venti is incredibly sensitive to the feelings of the people of Mondstadt and does literally everything in his power to ensure that his people live joyous, free, and happy lives. He clearly knows of Kaeya's background--and probably even his situation with still lingering connections to Khaenri'ah and the Abyss--so I find it extremely unlikely that Venti would have asserted himself in Kaeya's space and tried to force a friendship with someone who would have good reason to distrust archons. I think he would have respected Kaeya's need for distance and avoided trying to get too close.

However, being the incredible sweetheart that he is (the best archon of them all, FIGHT ME), Venti ends this branch of Kaeya's hangout with a truly heartwarming message:

This is Venti literally telling Kaeya "I know you're not a believer, and I know you're struggling with your loyalties between Khaenri'ah and Mondstadt. I know you're still not really sure what your destiny is and into what darkness it might lead you--but at the end of your journey, I will be here to welcome you home."

Venti tells Kaeya that Kaeya is a son of Mondstadt and that the Anemo Archon loves and will protect him just as he loves and protects every one of his true people.

So no, I don't think we have any reliable evidence in game that Kaeya and Venti are actually drinking buddies up to this point in the story--however, I think it's possible we could see this change in the future! Kaeya just needs to know (and accept!) that he is loved!

...As for other instances of fanon replacing canon, this post is already long enough, so I'll save them for another day. Someone ask me about what I think of the fanon surrounding Kaeya and Diluc's situation or something, I guess! 😆

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

hi there! love your work! i recently had a prof say that all zoos (USA) are bad (so we shouldn't support them) and sanctuaries are better because using animals for entertainment is morally wrong, most zoo profits dont go to conservation, and conservation efforts are bandaid solutions to capitalism destroying animal habitats, so the real solution is to return the land to indigenous stewards to manage/rewild. i didn't disagree with the last bit, but the argument as a whole felt a little off to me for a reason i couldnt put my finger on. am i off base here? just feeling really unsure about the whole thing.

You're not wrong! There's a mix of reality and personal opinions in those statements, and it's definitely something worth critically examining. A quick fact-check of what they said for you:

All US zoos are bad

There's a massive range of quality of zoological facilities within the US (and around the world). Some are stellar and some are not, and it's really just not accurate to lump them all under the same umbrella for almost any purpose. Unless, of course, your issue isn't with animal welfare, and it's philosophical, which is what it sound like in #2...

2. Using animals for entertainment is morally wrong.

This is one of my favorite things to talk about w/r/t how we exhibit animals. Entertainment has become equated with exploitation and implicit low welfare in the last couple decades, and so you get a lot of people saying using animals for entertainment is wrong. But those same folk will say that they enjoy seeing animals in other contexts, and they think that's okay. Where's the line between enjoying something and being entertained by it? What makes something one and not the other? Also, we know that people learn better from from situations which are enjoyable/entertaining - even just a fun teacher who jokes around vs a dry lecture - so how can that only be a problem when it's used to make viewing animals more impactful? I wrote a whole piece on this a while back (linked here) if you want to dig into this more. Some zoos (and accrediting groups) are shying away from "entertainment" type branding - shows are demos now, for instance - and others are leaning into "edutainment" that's done with good welfare and communicates actual education messaging. In short, this is a personal philosophical belief, and you're right to question if you agree. (Even if you decide you do think that too! It's always good to question why someone is arguing what they believe about animal use, and how they came to believe it).

3. Sanctuaries are better than zoos.

There's two reasons I think he's misinformed here. First, almost all exotic animal sanctuaries in the US are licensed exhibitors - just like zoos! I only know of a couple that don't exhibit to the public at all. It's an important part of their revenue stream, because gate take helps support paying for animal care. Also anything you see from a sanctuary on Youtube, Facebook, or TikTok? Also exhibition! They just message about it differently, and often have a different ethos about how they exhibit (e.g. tours to reduce stress instead of letting people wander, doing conservation or rescue messaging instead of just display). Second... look, most people assume that the word "sanctuary" means a facility is intrinsically more ethical than a zoo, and therefore they must be a good place. In reality, many sanctuaries get much less public and regulatory scrutiny (at the state level) than most zoos. There are good sanctuaries out there, but there are also sanctuaries where stuff goes on that would absolutely be unacceptable at zoos, and it slides because of the assumption that sanctuaries are inherently more moral and ethical and care for their animals better.

4. Most zoo profits don't go to conservation

This is correct! Direct conservation funding is often a small part of the money a zoo makes. However, that's because money goes to things like facility maintenance, new construction, paying salaries, etc. If zoos put all the money they made back into conservation programs, practically, they wouldn't have the funding to continue to operate. The question that I'd suggest asking instead is "where are they putting money into conservation" and "are they doing conservation work or just throwing money at something to display the logo of the program." Also, it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of what zoos do to support conservation isn't necessarily financial. Many facilities contribute "in-kind", by doing things like sending staff to assist with programs or teach specific skills, or by donating things like vehicles and equipment. Research zoos do also seriously contributes to in-situ programs, and breeding programs for re-introduction like the scimitar-horned oryx and the black-footed ferret are also conservation. Could many of the big urban facilities with huge budgets do more? Yes. But looking just at dollars spent on conservation programs is disingenuous and inaccurate.

5. Conservation efforts are band-aid solutions to capitalism destroying habitats / Returning the land to indigenous peoples to manage/rewild is the real solution to conservation issues

This is a little outside my scope so I'm going to only address the part that I know. First off, like, there's no One True Answer to conservation issues. That's reductionist and inaccurate. Conservation really is a human issue, though, and it often has to involve solving human problems that lead to negative results for animals. There's definitely an issue with what some people call "parachute conservation" where Westerners swoop in and try to tell people living in range countries how to best manage their animals and natural resources without recognizing their perspectives, needs, or what drives their behavior towards those animals. That's not just a zoo issue - that's an issue with a ton of traditional Western conservation work. And there is progress towards fixing it! In the zoo world, I've been very impressed with the work out of The Living Desert, where their conservation people spend a lot of time overseas teaching people in range countries to evaluate and improve their own conservation programs, so they can assess efficacy and also have data to apply for grants, etc. They provide support when asked, rather than trying to tell people who live with these animals regularly what to do. One of my favorite programs that TLD collaborates with (they don't try to run it!) is a group called the Black Mambas that reduces poaching by supporting entire communities to reduce the desperation for food/income, educating kids about animals, and running all-female patrols staffed by community members.

Overall, it sounds like your professor's view of zoos is really informed by their personal moral perspective, and possibly reinforced by a lot of the misinformation / misleading messaging that exists about the industry and about conservation work. They do have some specifics right, but not necessarily the context to inform why things are like that. It was a good catch to question the mix of information and approach it critically.

[puhpink]

The elevator isn't as loud as others may believe.

Rodger is a detective. At least, he's pretty sure he is. He's a mascot and an dectective, which is a little hard to be. It's a little hard to be anything at all, in the elevator.

Regardless, Rodger is a detective. He notices things. That is one thing he's very skilled out: making the small details larger. That, and collecting facts.

Fact: none of them are real.

It's a little difficult to explain. Rodger is a toon, a mascot. He was roughly "born" sometime in the 80s or 90s. That is to say, he is not "the" Rodger from "Dandy's World", a cartoon for children. He's a recreation of that Rodger, given demension and physcial form.

Most toons don't like to be reminded of that, so it's a fact he keeps to himself.

Rodger cares for his friends. This is a fact, but it's more of a personal statement. He's not friends with everyone, really only close with four people, but he knows of everyone. The human brain can handle over one hundred relationships, though, it's not as if Rodger is human.

Regardless, Rodger is a detective. It does not take a detective to see that Astro (or Sprout) doesn't like him very much. Which is fair! Astro is secretive, clearly. Rodger does not care for secrets. He respects everyone's rights to them, but he cannot help that he digs and digs and digs.

It's for this reason that he finds himself cornered by a particularly irate Astro, who seems to have found one of Rodger's research capsules on him. How embarassing, he really must be more careful about those.

"Why are you stalking me?" is the first thing Astro says to him, under his breath while Rodger debates the politeness of closing his room's door in Astro's face.

Considering Astro is one of the main stars of the Dandy's World cartoon, he doubts it's an action that his cartoon self would do: whether that be for plot reasons or narrative ones. Considering it is three am, however, and Rodger is not dressed for an interrogation, he shuts the door anyways.

Astro catches said door with his third arm. Ah, they're not going to politely ignore that fact anymore, then. Tricky situation then. Rodger does have endless questions about Astro's biology and how his mind juggles having multiple limbs, but consider he's being slowly cornered in his own room, now isn't the time.

"I'm not stalking you," Rodger replies, after realizing that quite some time has passed since Astro first asked his question.

Astro's one eye narrows. "Have you been following me around?"

"No," Rodger answers truthfully. He's very good at interviews, after all. He wonders which capsule Astro found, to make him this upset. Considering the fact Astro is angrily gestulating with all four hands, he can only assume it was one about said four hands. He thought that particular note was quite flattering, but oh well.

Astro's lower right hand makes a frustrated fist motion, going up and down. His upper set of arms is covering his face in --- well, one gets the point by now. Astro's lower left hand is open, palm facing the right, in a straight manner. He's saying something, but Rodger's noticing a bit too much to catch it.

Rodger's head hurts a little. Astro's eye catches Rodger's eye, and suddenly the blanket is back and covering all of Astro's limbs again.

"--ave you been documenting me because I'm a freak? Or what, is it because it's too alien, or it's just so facinating to you then, studying me like a circus animal," Astro continues ranting. Ah, Rodger did really space out there.

"No," Rodger clarifies again, still uncomfortably hunched over, "nothing of the sort. I research everyone, Astro." He would add an you're not special, but well, Glisten never takes that comment well, so he won't add it. Everyone is different and Rodger is learning that different is special.

That seems to put a stop to Astro's ranting. Rodger takes the chance to continue clarifying. "You cannot help entering our dreams, and I cannot help researching. I notice too much to ignore it, and you see too much of our dreams to ignore it either. You give us good dreams and I take notes and store them away as to not bother anyone."

Astro continues staring at him. Rodger is a little uncomfortable with eye contact, so he focuses on on the left of Astro's eye. Should he elaborate more?

"I don't want you digging around for information about me," Astro grits out.

Rodger feels a little helpless. "I cannot stop digging, Astro. I cannot help the things I notice."

Astro makes a little irratated sound. Rodger shifts uncomfortably. He has been caught unaware after all. "It's private," Astro snaps, "I didn't want you -- or anyone else, for that matter, knowing about my private business."

"I'm sorry," Rodger says, because he truly is, "I didn't mean to uncover something I shouldn't of." Another irratated sound. Oh, Razzle and Dazzle will be very upset that Rodger has upset Astro so. "I don't --" Astro takes a deep breath, leaning back against Rodger's door, "it's not fair. It's my secret. It's my business."

Ah. Injustice is something Rodger can handle very well. Astro is upset and Rodger has the ability to do something about that. "Perhaps," Rodger offers, "we should have this conversation later. When we're both well rested. For what it's worth, it is unfair."

Astro doesn't say anything. "Is this how you feel about me entering your dreams?"

Rodger makes a confused sound.

"Earlier," Astro says, "you said that you can't help noticing things like I can't help entering people's dreams."

The detective nods. "Does that upset you?" Astro asks.

"No," Rodger answers truthfully. He's still good at interviews, after all. "You cannot help it. It is your nature."

Astro doesn't seem any happier with that. He leaves, closing Rodger's door behind him. When Rodger is in the elevator, and tries to have the conversation Astro clearly wants to have, he is shut down.

He's not fine with that, but he cannot help that. Rodger was made based off a one demensional cartoon character. He was not supposed to have complex emotions. He keeps this to himself.

Regardless, Rodger is a detective. He can make educated guesses on his own time.

[ropebunnykant]

There's one line from ep 10 that I don't think we, collectively, spent enough time on, and that's Kant saying he used to get scared working for the cops cos he was on his own and nobody had his back, because isn't that utterly devastating if you really think about it?? We still don't know how old he was when he started being a 'narc', but he looks quite a bit younger in the flashback, and we know he was being put on cases involving significantly more dangerous criminals than some chancer car thief, so now I can't stop thinking about a college-aged Kant, with the weight of the world already on his shoulders, thrown in at the deep end, all alone, having to fend for himself amongst hardened felons who'd kill him in a heartbeat if he got rumbled, with no training or back-up or anything but his wits to protect him and nobody looking out for him...it breaks my heart! Also, him admitting to Bison he was scared is a big step for him and another show of trust - it's such a brief but sweet and vulnerable moment. I so badly want a prequel that explores both the brothers' upbringing and training and, mirroring that, Kant's first encounter with the Captain and the subsequent development of their fucked up relationship (and then throw in Kant and Style meeting and becoming friends for some light relief amidst all the trauma and grooming!). I know that's what fic's for, but it's just not quite the same!

I'm one of those ppl who are 100% convinced a) the preview is being upfront and b) they're going to jail, but on a reduced sentence after Kant makes some sort of deal which includes giving them a last day together. Which means I think the actual assassin plot will be wrapped up in ep 11 and then ep 12 will be a time skip and them getting out of jail and basically just a bunch of relationship/couple stuff (weddings!), and I'm not sure how I feel about that, because while it is a romcom and has always been more relationship than plot/hitman-driven, it would seem rather a rushed and anticlimactic way to end it, and would make the stakes going into the finale incredibly low. But equally I can understand them wanting to spend a fair chunk of time on happy lovey dovey shit, so I'm torn. I actually think this is the rare show that could have benefited from being a couple of eps longer - that way more time could've been spent fleshing out some of the side characters/plots, e.g. more time spent on Keen, on Babe, on the general hitman shenanigans but especially them finding out about Lilly and the fallout from that, on dealing with the Captain in a satisfactory manner (aka him getting his ass whooped!), maybe even on the Fadel/Kant dynamic and them realising they're basically the same person! As it is, I don't think there's been much in the way of filler so it's not that there's really anything they could have sacrificed... I just think that if something as light on plot as We Are could get 16 eps (absolutely not a dig! just a statement of fact! and I guess their eps are shorter), then surely a show with as much going on as THK could have been afforded the same! But oh well, it is what it is, and at least each ep is nice and long! Basically I'm just being greedy cos it's starting to sink in that it's almost over and I really really really don't want it to end! I want to spend another three months with these characters in this world! Nay, not three months - three years!

anon i am literally kissing you on the mouth for bringing this up because i've watched the episode twice and both times i clocked that line and thought "oh i've GOT to make a post about that" and then proceeded to totally forget by the end of the ep because there's literally so many fucking things going on in ep10 that are juicy and delicious and make my brain itch, ESPECIALLY related to kant, but GOD does that line deserve to be talked about

like god, everything you said. i definitely figure kant had to have been really young when he got caught. the age i've used in both my fics that mention it is 24 and i do think it's exceptionally poetic if that IS the age he was caught, given that's how old bison is now (tho that wasn't even my initial intention with that but now i'm hooked on that thought sdkjdf). however, i do remember in the early eps i also theorized that the reason we all saw that flashback and though "yok!" was purposeful because yok in not me was college aged. not to mention we can't see any of his tattoos or where they would be, and while that could be because he was purposefully covering them to avoid identification, it's also entirely possible that we're again meant to register that this is a much younger version of kant. and given that we now know that kant was quite literally a child when their parents died, i again think that adds as evidence to him having been very young when he got caught.

and it's just. god it makes sense he was scared. he was just a kid, he was trying to take care of his brother, and he had no other options. he stole cars, he sold them to take care of babe, and then to keep himself out of jail he had to continue dealing with dangerous people. people that could hurt him, people that could take him away from babe anyways. it's no wonder he was scared! and god it's the subtle admittance that the captain never gave him any fucking help, either. he sent kant out on these dangerous missions with no resources, no help. he got a fucking college-aged civilian to do his dirty work and didn't even bother to make sure he felt safe. like i think about all those times the captain assured kant halfheartedly that he would never let bison or fadel kill him, and yeah we knew he was lying then, but now we know kant never believed that, even before he was dealing with assassins. and god it's just so heartbreaking. thinking about young, terrified kant, doing these missions because he has no other fucking choice and not even being able to have the surety that someone was looking out for him.

kant has been looking out for babe since he was a kid, but he hasn't had anyone looking out for him since he lost his parents. and i'm so glad he got to hear bison say that he has his back now because god he deserves that. someone that's gonna have his back, someone that cares about his agency and safety more than anything else. and bison is doing that tenfold.

as for the other stuff, i've already said a few places that i think the preview is misleading. i'm more than fine with being wrong, since i do think the "being happy today" thing could apply to either before an attempt at killing lilly or before whatever shady deal they make with the captain follows through. but i am still thinking it'll come first in the episode. however, i do not think for a second that they're gonna be able to kill lilly or that they're getting jail time. especially cause it doesn't make sense to me that kant would look so panicked and frantic in the promo if they had actually managed to succeed in their mission. i absolutely think something is gonna go wrong and lilly is gonna walk free that day, which is what kant is gonna leverage for the shady deal because christ always wanted lilly above fadel and bison. he could have gotten them in prison at any point, but he wanted kant to find out their boss and i feel like that was emphasized on purpose. so i think if they're gonna help him take down lilly, i can absolutely see him agreeing to let them go. and if kant's the one making the deal, i can't imagine him walking away from the deal with anything less than the brothers getting off scottfree. like tbh? i think kant would offer to go to prison himself first before allowing fadel and bison to serve jail time. he promised he was gonna get them that life they want and we know kant's main love language is sacrifice! like do i actually think kant is gonna serve any jail time? no, but i can absolutely see him offering it, and again, i don't think he'll settle for anything less than them being let go

i'm not 100% on if the assassin plot will be wrapped up in ep11 or not - my guess is that it'll be more a mid ep12 wrap up just cause there's clearly so much going on next ep, but i can also see it wrapping up next week and then ep12 being more of an epilogue. and i do absolutely agree i think this show would have benefited from a couple more episodes!! like i think there were a lot of things that could have been fleshed out better if they were given the chance. it's not a complaint for the most part, since there are very few things i feel like NEEDED more, but i do think certain things could have been better for it if they did have extra time. i would spend forever watching these characters tbh if they let us skjdfhskjdf

[theladyspanishes]

Apologies but you were at the top of my Tumblr feed and I have been instructed to randomly tell someone online a painful truth.

Here goes.

Closing your posts to comments is an inherently hostile act.

Again; sorry. Nothing personal. We all serve the random number gods in our own fashion.

Mndrew, I recognise your profile pic, I've seen you around, I know you're a chill community member and active participant and stuff, so I want to be clear that this isn't like a dig on you or anything, it's just a response to the thesis statement: "Closing your posts to comments is an inherently hostile act". I don't know how many of you know this, but a while back, while I was still at university, I spent around a year? Maybe 2? dealing with an obsessive online stalker.

They made it very difficult to spend time anywhere online, but they especially weaponised Tumblr (I think they realised it was a less public account of mine where I could seek respite). I would wake up in the morning to find they had sent me hundreds, on one occasion close to a thousand, messages. The messages would range from threats of self harm or against me to seemingly nonsense phrases designed to just remind me that they were still there. The tumblr notification sound still spikes my anxiety.

You can't block someone like that. First of all, they would and do simply make more accounts (I just checked - I still have 30+ accounts of his blocked over here). Secondly, this kind of behaviour leaves you in a trap; If you interact with them, they know they have access. If you block them, they know that you saw their message... so they know they have access.

During this period, I had the good fortune of being able to ask Grace Helbig, of all people, whether she had any advice. She got so furious on my behalf I still tear up a little when I think about it, but *she* told me a painful truth that day: As much as you might like to, as much as most people know how to behave appropriately, you cannot leave yourself open to every line of communication your audience might want.

If you look around at my socials you'll probably start to notice a trend. You can't comment on my instagram posts unless you're a follower. You can't DM me unless I follow you on Twitter. Places where I can't control those settings, I simply do not ever open my inbox. In fact, it was really only a short time ago that I turned tumblr messages back on, after a loooong hard think. In many cases this is something that actively hurts my engagement, but it's a choice I've made to draw a line on where and when and how people can access me.

All of that said, you don't need to be an internet personality with digital stalker trauma to draw your lines. Closing your posts to comments is not inherently hostile, it can be an act of self-care, self-preservation. No one is entitled to be able to access you in every way they want to.

[bonzos-number-1-fan]

TMAGP 24 Thoughts: Teething Problems

Back to back guest writers. This time it's Alex C. Telander from both Ostium, and Circé. Which are, again, shows I have not yet listened to and so can't comment upon. A Norris episode too, sort of, been a very long time since we've had one of those. A really good episode though, if one thin on the ground for the sort of content I write about.

Spoilers for episode 24 below the cut.

Gwen and Lena's interaction wasn't exactly how I was imagining Gwen getting back in the good books going. I do wonder if this is going to be a marked shift in Gwen's characterisation going forward or if it's more of a one-off thing. Another mention of the minister does make me hope we'll meet them soon. I've seen a lot of people expecting this to be Elias but I'd rather it be a new character. Well, that Elias would be new but you understand my point. If it's anyone we've previously "met" I'm expecting it to be Peter Lukas more than Elias.

For the incident proper this is another that doesn't have an awful lot to dig into. I did really enjoy it but when its so explicit and straight forward I don't think there is a lot of value in me just stating what happened in it. The only interesting element of the incident to discuss would've been whether any of this was in her head but the heading does give that away. Other than that it's just the mention of Celia. That's only really interesting for two reasons. Firstly that no one mentioned it after the fact which you'd expect to happen but we also don't get an indication of who listened to this one. Secondly is that Rupert really seemed to like her. With a lot of this incident seemingly being a delusion I'm not actually sure there is much to talk about there either. There really might not be a whole lot wrong with Rupert here and so there isn't any reason to think that this is some sort of sign of anything. So, yeah, not much to say on that one but it was a well written and well performed episode. I really enjoyed it.

The post-incident stuff doesn't have a load to dig into either. The interaction with Sam, Celia, and Alice feels pretty explicit without a lot of subtext or ground for theory crafting. Celia continues to manipulate the whole staff, and Sam and Alice continue to butt heads about the sort of stuff that likely made them break up. Very little to say on Basira showing up either. I'm not really sure why she was in this episode. This one just felt like fan service to me in its current context. Which isn't bad exactly but it's not something that personally excites me.

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

Incident/CAT#R#DPHW Master Sheet and Terminology Sheet

DPHW Theory: 1375 seems about right here.

CAT# Theory: Yeah, 1s are 1s. I'll do something with this once I'm not dying so much.

R# Theory: BC seems about inline with this. It seems a lot more in her head than it is in reality but there is also video evidence of it.

Header talk: Baby (demonic) -/- Delusion (Exhaustion) having this in "Delusion" is interesting in that it's fairly explicitly a statement that not everything she's experiencing is the truth. Given the reactions others in this episode it does sort of seem like very very little of it was.

[slashthrashandcrash]

Okay, I had to go see what JedMEg was for myself and now I'm hooked. Can you talk more about them? Like does Meg ever find out the truth and how she reacts, for example?

I had to go digging for the last ask (here) about them just to remember where I left off in my insane ramblings lmao

So my original idea for this AU was that there is no fog, meaning once the Jed Olsen cover is purposely blown as per the lore, then it's totally game over, there's no Entity to whisk Danny away from the fall out. But that's part of the problem, isn't it? He's gone and gotten himself a little too attached to what was supposed to be a fake girlfriend, a girlfriend who's in love with a man that doesn't exist rather than the actor playing him.

Normally when he would snag himself a partner to accompany whatever persona he was putting on, Danny would kill them just before he skipped down. That satisfying moment of betrayal in their eyes, the soul crushing realization that everything was a facade, a convenience, that he never even liked them enough to give them a quick death no matter how many sweet "I love you"s he told them prior. As well as just another "fuck you" to the cops and community for how close under their noses he had been all along.

But he can't do that with Meg. He has no idea why, it was never this difficult before, but he's also never felt this way about any partner in general either. Fucking hell, he's really gone and gotten a crush on a pretty little redhead, huh? It doesn't matter, Jed Olsen was never someone who was meant to be around long term, and it's about high time he moves on since eyes are starting to shift towards him a bit. As much as it weirdly twists his heart to abandon Meg and leave her behind with the awful truth of who he really is to come out to the public afterwards, he knows it's for the best. Well...best for himself, anyways. And maybe for her, too, so that she's not entirely caught up in the shitstorm (of course, being the very public girlfriend of the now most wanted suspect in an ongoing murder case isn't going to be an easy ride...)

And Meg is beyond horrified to say the least. She still can't comprehend the entirety of the betrayal, that not only would her boyfriend leave her without a word, but that he would leave her because he was the very same murderer who had been harassing her for weeks! The one he was closely reporting on, the one whose ass Meg would try to kick every time he broke into her home, the one who used to threaten her "boyfriend" when they were in fact the same person. Everything she ever knew about him was a lie while she unfairly shared her whole heart to him. Not only that, but it's near impossible for her to try and imagine sweet, dorky, shy Jed being anything remotely close to a coldhearted killer. He couldn't even open a sauce jar half the time!! And you're telling her he can easily overpower multiple victims and haul their bodies around for sick poses???

Now Jed (?) is still out there, still on the loose, and Meg has no idea what to do. Reporters are hounding her for a statement. Police want to wring her dry for any clues or information that might help. People stare and spread rumors about just how "involved" she might have been from the start. And what if he decides to come back in the end, to tie up the loose end he left behind for whatever reason, is she even safe here anymore? Well, not for long, because that stupid ache in Danny's chest still hasn't subsided...it almost feels like it's gotten worse. It's not remorse or guilt, it's longing. He wants his bunny back, he liked how she felt sleeping in his bed and holding his hand and smiling so perfectly for a candid shot when she wasn't looking.

The dirty laundry has already been aired. They could start fresh, in theory. Whether she wanted to or not.

Although again, this was only the original idea I had when I first started making brainrot. There are so so so many new paths I've ended up concocting for them...if Meg found out Jed was a killer right before he left by catching him in the act or fitting in too many pieces herself...if Meg refused to believe Jed was the killer and was instead framed by Ghostface who she now has to hunt down for answers about Jed's real whereabouts...if they got taken into the fog shortly after that anyways per canon with Meg either not knowing or not believing that Jed is Danny/Ghostface while he keeps up the ruse to avoid her truly hating him (plus the outcome for when Meg does find out the truth while they're stuck in this hellhole)...if they were taken into the fog while he was still Jed and then him having to painfully confess why he was put into the killer camp and having to live with the heartbreak he's trapped her with...

[princesssarisa]

Snow White and domestic work

I have plenty of misgivings about Snow White (2025), but I do think some of the venom being hurled at it is slightly over the top.

For example, the way some people on the Internet have lost their minds over the trailer's one-second clip that shows Snow White dancing and singing "Whistle While You Work" while the dwarfs clean the house around her.

Suddenly everyone has decided that the new Snow White is nasty, lazy spoiled brat who forces the dwarfs to do the cleaning. And maybe she will be, for all I know. But maybe some people are jumping to conclusions: the clip in the trailer is barely a second long. I'm sure that in the full scene, Snow White will pitch in and do her share of the cleaning too. Secondly, it's nothing new for the dwarfs and Snow White to clean the house together. The 1955 West German film version has a long sequence where they do just that.

Obviously the Disney remake has made this change in the name of "feminism," and I can imagine it being handled in an annoying, ham-fisted way, which makes Snow White seem like an entitled brat who's unwilling to repay the dwarfs' kindness by working. But at the same time... isn't it slightly valid? Countless women are burdened by the fact that their husbands, boyfriends, or other male housemates view housework as "woman's work" and don't do their share. Statistics show that even women with full-time jobs still do most of the housework at home too. Is it really so bad for a family movie to speak out against this tradition and show male and female housemates doing their housework together?

Of course the backlash is all part of the current postmodern trend of defending traditionally feminine characters from all the detractors who label them "anti-feminist," and arguing that they really are positive, empowering role models. That's all well and good, but sometimes I think the defenses go too far – they sometimes seem to deny that there's anything outdated about these characters' portrayals, and cry "Internalized Misogyny," "Girlboss," "Not Like Other Girls," etc. any time a heroine rebels even slightly against gender conformity. Sometimes it feels as if postmodern feminism wants all women back in the kitchen.

I've written about this issue in Snow White before, but I'll do it again. Both of the above statements can be true:

(1) A heroine who cooks and cleans isn't "anti-feminist" in the least. These are essential chores, regardless of gender, and demeaning them does no good to anyone. In the case of Snow White, she doesn't just do domestic work because she's female. The dwarfs do her an immense kindness by letting her live with them, not only because she's another mouth to feed, but because she's a fugitive whom the country's evil and powerful Queen wants dead; as Grumpy points out in the Disney version, the dwarfs are risking their own safety by hiding her. It's only natural and right that she should repay them in some way, and since she has no money, the best thing she can give them is work. They dig in the mine all day, with little time to clean or cook too, so it makes sense that she should do those chores for them; it's a fair and reasonable division of labor, with the dwarfs as the breadwinners while Snow White takes care of the house, even if it is traditionally gendered. The fact that she's willing to work shows her good character, especially since she's a princess, yet humble enough to keep house for seven peasant dwarfs. And in the Disney version, cleaning and cooking are the chief skills she knows, because her stepmother has denied her a traditional royal upbringing and forced her to work as a scullery maid. Yet not only does she not let this oppression break her spirit, she turns it to her advantage by offering her domestic skills in exchange for a new home.

(2) Snow White's cleaning and cooking don't exist in a vacuum. By putting so much emphasis on the domestic work she does for the dwarfs, both the Brothers Grimm and Disney were portraying her as an ideal female by the patriarchal standards of their day. And those standards are outdated. Heroines of today shouldn't have to cook and clean to be considered role models. Nor should children be taught that cooking and cleaning are "woman's work," or that a girl who lives in a house full of men should automatically be the one who does all the housework. In a modern reimagining of Snow White, it's valid to want to downplay her domestic work, or to portray the dwarfs as helping her around the house – which they've already done in versions from as early as 1955.

[fakecrfan]

Hey so, weird thought about trans healthcare but stick with me. Right now gender affirming surgeries have an extremely high satisfaction rate. I think as they become more accepted and ubiquitous, the satisfaction rate is going to go down.

No, this isn't me being anti-trans. Hear me out: I think someone who is asked "what is your level of satisfaction with your knee surgery?" and someone who is asked "what is your level of satisfaction with your bottom surgery?" are likely hearing two fundamentally different questions.

The person who has a knee surgery feels no need to defend the right of knee surgeries to be performed. Why? Because knee surgery is a standard, ubiquitous, and socially accepted treatment. So someone being polled about their satisfaction levels after that surgery is going to give their satisfaction level for that particular surgery as opposed to feeling like they need to make a statement on all knee surgeries ever. Was anything botched? Was there a longer recovery time than the patient was told? Did the patient get an infection or other complication? Were the results even after full recovery not up to standard? Did they have to go in for a second surgery after complications with the first one? These are all common scenarios, so a lot of people can be dissatisfied or angry after a surgery that they wanted and still generally approve of.

Now, let's think about a trans person who has a gender affirming surgery. If they are asked "How satisfied are you with the procedure?" there is a serious chance that, due to the political climate, what they will interpret it as is "Do you feel like transitioning was a good choice? Do you feel like this surgery should exist?" Because after all, there is a significant chunk of the population that seriously thinks that trans healthcare should not be performed at all. As a result, I think patients who have these surgeries are motivated to report high satisfaction rates even if they had the same level of complications that a dissatisfied patient of knee surgery had. What does it matter if they got an infection, if they suffered way more pain than they thought, or if their expected recovery time was doubled? They're satisfied with the fact that they got to transition. Perhaps in the light of the possibility that these treatment options may not be available for others in the future, they rate the existence of gender affirming surgeries as a whole as opposed to rating their particular experience with a particular surgery.

Now of course, even if you've read everything I wrote just now, don't go internalizing it into your worldview or anything. Right now this is all speculation. I'd need to read more medical literature and figure out how satisfaction surveys are being conducted to see if this idea holds water, which I may do in the future.

Still, I'm putting this out there right now so if anyone sees a headline that says "TRANS REGRET 10 TIMES HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS SURVEYS SHOWED, ACCORDING TO NEW POLL" some time down the road, they can think about this and do a little digging to see what exactly the surveys are measuring.

[jazeswhbhaven]

Got some more thoughts on the matter! I feel the dislike with Satan's card isn't really just the blatant SA that everyone is saying. To dig deeper it seems like it's because it's all entirely OOC. Satan got tricked into getting captured because he saw an angel that looked like MC? MC being Gabriel and all but not really telling Satan that its them and instead just goes straight for it. Feel free to correct me if I said anything wrong.

Like if anything Satan was MC's first devil who saved their friend and brought them to Hell. Was there any level of sentimentality? I don't have the card so I can't say but I'm basing this on the posts I've been reading. Like if I was in MC's shoes I would be worried and wanting to save Satan, the devil who saved my friend and MY life. but to do that I'd have to be a convincing Gabriel first but let him in on that plan before we break him out and whatnot.

It just feels like Satan was written dumb, and MC was written like a psycho for no reason than to be "lololol horny horny porn insert yay!!"

The entire story felt like it written terribly. It's a porn game yes, but it could have still be porn that's written well. But once again we can't really rely on PB to write anything good or translate.

-💭

Yes, this right here, 💭 anon.

In my react post it may have came off to some that the SA is what bothered me, when in fact it was exactly what you said here. I consume dubious content, I won't pretend I don't. However, this story for Satan was ooc and didn't feel like it was doing his character justice as his other cards. I also just didn't care for MC's lack of committing to Gabriel's personality nor telling him that it was them at any point of the story.

While I'm all for porn being there for the sake of it, this just wasn't written good enough for me to give it that pass. At least not for me it wasn't. With Zagan's new L-card coming up soon I really do hope they wow us and make it to where the card is worth the money spent for the NP Also this statement is more so for anyone reading my reply to you: I don't have a problem with folks liking the card or any other story just as much as I wouldn't mind if someone disliked something I liked. This is a fandom with a good variety of players, we all don't have to agree.

[justatalkingface]

what's your opinion on the big 3? When I was hyperfoxed on this series they were the thing I care Abt the most (I enjoyed season 4, obv I'd change some stuff now but I still remember it being atleast ok)

I hate how dirty they did my girl nejire, as far as I'm aware they didn't even do anything with her after the whole pagent thing she just got a small backstory about how she was sad (don't know all of it I haven't been keeping up that well w the manga)

mirios not having a quirky and having to save eri (a girl who I can't imagine would be that skilled at the age she is and has been training on lizards to give his quirk back all together, I'd imagine it taking a few more months but bnhas time is shit so) and coming back in the war arc to punch one person and then basically do noting iicr

The only decently written one was amajiki, I wish they had more going on I think they have a fun dynamic (w them helping taking care of eri and me rlly liking idk what it's called but I love the fluff it brings) :(

Lots of mixed feelings, in all honesty. Lots of mixed feelings.

I'll admit, a big part of my mixed feelings about them is they showed up as the latest, 'Stomp on Izuku's everything' at the point in the story where it was becoming obvious that there was always something stomping on Izuku, and that gave me a bad first impression on them I've never been able to shake... which isn't helped by how they're connected to the clusterfuck of Nighteye, of all people, which is kind of my whole thing with Mirio (warning; I am biased):

As a person, he's obviously nice, but as a character, basiclly his entire reason for existing was, 'give Izuku an existential crisis' and I don't think I've ever forgiven him for that, really. His entire character is just bigger, stronger, older, happier, more capable, more confident, more successful, more loved Izuku, who had a Quirk his whole life and only had to dig deep to find out how strong it, and he, was all along.

Unironically. It's....

It's a really bad look, to be blunt; he feels kind of like a bad fanfiction character written by a bad writer who wanted to put their super special OC in the story, except he's canon.

Since we've never seen him even think something unheroic, there's really nothing that distinguishes him from that impression factual statement, which, again, makes it hard for me to give a shit about him, or even remember him... which is a problem Hori seems to share, lol. It doesn't help that I loathe Sir Nighteye and that most of his development time is spent admiring him, to boot, and that his parts of the story are either empty or focused on a living plot device I can't quite like no matter how hard I try because of how blatant the emotional manipulation is about the biggest story breaking, SOD shattering plot device until Stars and Stripes showed up.

If he ever got any kind of development to flesh him out a human being rather than being either Izuku and/or a heroic archetype, it'd help, but beyond all of that his biggest personality trait is liking jokes, and that barely even comes up. Or, rather, considering both the Final Arc and his response to Bakugou's name, along with Nighteye's own tendencies, 'jokes', maybe.

He doesn't deserve it, I admit it, it's not his fault, but I just can't get past that. He also doesn't deserve to just be forgotten until his big moment of a butt joke, but... MHA, everyone. In all honesty, I'd just like him better if his entire story arc didn't exist in and as some of the worst parts of the Overhaul arc, but he's tainted by that fact.

I freely admit that I am unfairly biased against him, so take all of that with a mountain of salt.

As a side note though, god, the story doesn't seem to realize how badly Nighteye is using the poor kid; Mirio thinks Nighteye is training him because he's worthy, while Nighteye mainly seems to be doing it because he's the closest thing to an All Might clone he can get, bar him actually cloning All Might, even if he grew to like him for who he is. I'm not sure Nighteye ever thought of Mirio with just his Quirk as anything more than a temporary situation; even at the start of canon, when on his own merits he's rising to fame with how successful he is, Nighteye's overall focus is still about getting AFO into the kid.

I almost wish I could see Nighteye explaining how all of his training came down to getting All Might's Quirk, just to see MIrio react and tear Nighteye down a peg about it, except Hori's history of handling these kinds of things means he'd never be allowed to be properly offended on his own behalf, the poor bastard.

Moving on, Tamaki. Out of all of them, he's had the biggest of an on-screen story arc, and in a intellectual way his Quirk is easily the most interesting. Unfortunately, while he has a personality, it feels so bland at times that he's far easier to remember for his Quirk than who he is.

I liked his story, really, but at the time it was overshadowed by Mirio and his everything, and by the time he showed back up it was clear how irrelevant it and he was, so it was more about how (admittedly, very) cool he get his Quirk to be than it was about him, and with some brutal honesty, it's probably because his Quirk is so interesting that he even got that much focus beyond that initial arc by Hori.

And... Nejirie.

In a combat sense she's easily the best of them, really; Mirio is almost purely defensive, which limits him (especially if he's not surprising someone with it) while Tamaki's Quirk, while flexible, is so conditional in ways that can easily hold him back (we only ever see him fight with full preparation; if he's not gearing for a fight he'd be easy to ambush), and like a lot of things in the Final Arc, his big laser canon thing is.... questionable.

Nejirie, though, is just simply powerful. In a setting where everyone has one power and one main application of that power, where you either fly or blast things, but not both, she's the closest I've seen to a 'traditional' super hero, like you'd see in Marvel or DC.

At the same time, though, out of the three of them she least has a story, for obvious reasons, and it's a disgrace, really. If Hori had just spent some time on her, on the her backstory that apparently exists (yeah, I'm not sure where that is either), she could have been so interesting... but really, all she is is the Girl Teammate. Her personality traits are The Girl Teammate's personality traits. She's just The Girl Teammate stamped over all of the interesting stuff, and it's such a waste, it really is.

And finally, as a unit? The Big Three is a shiny toy that Hori forgot in the corner somewhere as soon as he got bored with it. He spent a few minutes oohing and aahing over them, focusing really hard on developing interesting powers, how they could be used, and how strong they were, only to start to lose interest as soon as those powers were established, and he was writing the three of them off before their introductory arc was even over.