#this took me a while to write

[blueboyluca]

I want to talk about the most recent episode of the podcast Not Another Dog & Pony Show. I am almost hate-listening at this point, and this episode really manages to encapsulate for me the phenomenon of so-called progressives laundering conservative talking points. Conservatism wants dialogue framed in certain ways because it maintains the facade of having "balance" when in reality this is just an ongoing effort to constantly move the Overton window to the right. Any progressive discussion is a threat to conservatism, it doesn't matter what the subject is. We just happen to be talking about animal training.

There are three main issues I have with this episode but before I even get there, I have to say that these are not serious people. Both these hosts are extremely shallow in their analysis of pretty much every subject they bring up. I don't expect genius, but I do expect more than this. I think that listeners (including me) want this podcast to be more than it is, but in its tenure so far all I've heard are missed opportunities and facile discussions.

My first issue is "cancel culture". Lauren in particular is really caught up in this idea of cancel culture and is of the opinion that animal trainers in the positive reinforcement world are afraid to say what they really think for fear of backlash. I wish I could laser beam into people's brains this episode of In Bed With the Right. In it, Adrian Daub explains that cancel culture is just a way of trying to shoehorn a million different issues under a single nebulous umbrella. Each example of "cancel culture" has its own individual details, you can't just lump all these things together. Using this cancel culture framework is reductive and unhelpful and most probably clouding the underlying problems.

In the episode I linked above, someone accuses Adrian of being flippant and claims that cancel culture is real. Adrian explains:

I'm saying the cases and the difficulties and the awkwardness and the problems you describe are real. But I think the moment you group them in that way, I think there are certain things that fall under the table... There's something already falling out of the discussion by the time you've committed to saying there is this one thing called cancel culture. But we can probably say you already gave a good list of things that you feel leery about. And I think if you just stick with that list, you're actually much better off.

I think if these podcast hosts actually talked out each instance of "cancel culture" that bothers them, we would actually be talking about a large number of different things that are not necessarily connected. And why don't they have that conversation? Because instead they're caught up in this idea that it's all exactly the same thing happening again and again, but it's not.

My second issue is "echo chambers". The other host of this show, Matthias, is preoccupied with this idea of echo chambers and is once again striving for some kind of "balance" between views. Conservatism must be absolutely stoked that progressives have taken up this mantle. I was actually physically relieved when I recently heard Big Joel give an alternative perspective on this "echo chamber" thing.

We’re exposed to the craziest shit all day every day now. Has it made our politics better? Has it depolarised [the USA]? Has Twitter being overtaken by Nazis made us more clever or thoughtful or open-minded people? No, it’s ruined us. It’s ruined our brains. I’m a centrist on the echo chamber. I think debate is important, but this constant "you need to open your mind" thing – I don’t know, maybe. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. "Echo chambers" sounds really bad, but "community" is another word you might have for echo chamber. A space where people who are like-minded communicate with each other and where certain ideas are broadly accepted is another way of defining "echo chamber".

I don't think it's important, worthwhile or necessary to give my time to listening to "the other side". I'll get to the sides thing soon, but on a base level I do not agree with the premise that I need to listen to stuff I actively disagree with to make myself morally balanced. I don't even agree where the supposed "centre" between these positions is! I don't think that surrounding myself with progressive voices means that I am suddenly blind to problems. And no community is ever an echo chamber anyway, people don't agree with each other all the time on everything, even when there is broad agreement. Broad agreement doesn't mean total agreement.

And my last issue is, every episode just seems to come back to "balanced" vs positive reinforcement. I agree with Sarah Stremming here – this is a false dichotomy. If there are "sides" they are animal training that is kind and effective, and animal training that is not. And when some people insist on framing it as balanced vs positive reinforcement, it's just bypassing the truth. It's reducing everything down to just: cancel culture, echo chamber, side vs side. It's so empty! Talk less, say more! What is with the reluctance to unpack any of this stuff? Say what you want to say with your whole chest.

I don't think it's true that positive reinforcement trainers are afraid to talk about punishment, negative reinforcement or certain training tools. Enrichment for the Real World has an episode about e-collars. Susan Friedman talks about negative reinforcement all the time. Cog Dog Radio has talked about punishment plenty during its run. Maybe the problem isn't "echo chambers" maybe your world is just small.

Using this framing is perpetuating it. It's letting this be the status quo for how we view the world. But it doesn't have to be. We can be capable of pulling things apart until we get to the truth. Conservatism wants to polarise everything, it wants to reduce everything to a black and white view. If we keep doing this, we're just remaking the world in the same image over and over again. We don't have to do that.

[stickywhiteash]

Spilled the beans ||Kakashi x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol

Word count: (780)

Sitting at a bar, drinking with your comrades, you slam down a cup and demand another. It was supposed to be light hearted fun, a little get together, yet you’re spilling out all of your woes to Kurenai about a particular shinobi.

A few hours prior to going out with the gang, you had initially asked Kakashi if he wanted to check out the new sushi place down the street. The flat rejection of “I’m busy” and him continuing to fly off to the hokage’s office crushed your self confidence.

Here you are, brazenly drunk at an ungodly hour with Asuma, Kurenai, Genma and Anko. How long has it been since everyone first arrived? Who knows. Guy was also supposed to join in with the gang earlier but reported he was busy as well.

At some point you were singing with the crew, the next you were about to throw hands with some man who dared touch. Anko, off to the side, is egging you on to rearrange his face. The ones holding you back is Genma and Kurenai, deciding you’ve had far too much to drink and should probably head home.

It felt like the heavens above loved to tease your poor soul. Both Guy and Kakashi pulled up to the party. They would be fashionably late if it weren’t more than 3 hours after the appointed time. Something something, Guy challenged him and didn’t know if everyone would still be here.

“See, my eternal rival! They’re still here youthful and kicking it!”

“Glad you two could make it.”

“Ah, actually I was just stopping by.”

While you could over hear what people were saying, your mind was too fogged up to process what was going on. Instead, you were still telling Anko how you one hundred percent could have taken that creep.

“He…! Would have deserved it y’know! Ya can’t just yknow! Go around touchin’ people like that.”

“Mm.”

“See? See? He woulda haddit co—“

The next thing you knew, you were hoisted up by someone piggy back style. Before you could protest, the warmth of their body and scent of vanilla calms your alcohol induced rage. A round of farewells sends you and your escort off. Smile, wave, and nuzzle into whoever is taking you home.

“Mister escort? You are taking me home right?”

“Yes”

“Okay.. How do you know where I live?”

“That’s a secret”

A gasp, “YOU’RE NOT KIDNAPPING ME ARE YOU?”

“Ah, yes. All of your friends let you be whisked away by some stranger.”

Shaking your head, you mumble in disbelief, “I can’t believe them. They’ll pay for this.”

There’s a pause. Streetlights pass over head steadily. Cool air clings on to your face as he walks.

“Mister escort? Do you have anyone you love?”

Muscles tense underneath you. Sighing, you continue talking, the words still slurring.

“Hey. Promise me you won’t tell anyone?”

“Tell anyone what?”

“Oi! gotta promise first!!”

“Sure.”

“Piiiiiinky promise!”

One arm unlatches from the man’s neck and holds out the little digit.

“Okay, okay. Promise.”

The gesture is returned, linking the the two appendages.

“Do you know… hmnn uh Kakashi Hatake? Think everyone knows him. If you don’t you’re really living under a rock mister!”

Another sigh, another huff. You bury your face into the crook of this man’s neck, covered in fabric.

“I love him.. A lot. I don’t know if he loves me back but what I do know Is that I have to be the one who has to confess first. He would rather bury his emotions six feet under and then jump off a cliff than say anything. He’s— He’s lost so much; I don’t blame him. Even if.. And even if Kakashi doesn’t return my feelings, that’s okay. All I want is to see that man happy and at peace for once in his life. He might not believe it but he deserves to love and be loved.”

“… Why do you love someone like him?”

“Are you kidding? He puts his friends and comrades first over rules, over the mission. His loyalties lies in them. I feel like that’s hard to come by these days. Who wouldn’t want someone like that in their life?”

Your escort stops in front of your door, not saying a single word. Bending down, he lets you off his back.

“You promised not to tell anybody, okay? Especially not him! If I find out you told him.. I’ll hunt you down, Mister Escort,” you threaten, not bothering to look at his face. With poor coordination you struggle to unlock the door. The only thing you wanted right now was to get inside and fall asleep. Once it unlocks and the entrance to your apartment is open, you bid the man a thank you and farewell.

After the door shuts in his face, he whispers. The words are barely audible.

“I love you too.”

[mr-hammer-exe]

Another OC Bio.

Okay, sooo.... where to begin?

Oh, right.

This here is ⌇⍾⎍⍀⏃⟟☍⌇(Translates to 'Sqhurakolza', nicknamed 'Shift').

Gender: Neutral, though identifies as male.

Species: Mutare-Plasmator

Homeworld: Unknown (as of now, anyway).

Age: Not definitive, but implied to be 1,000+.

Background:

Thousands - if not, millions - of years ago, on a seemingly desolate planet, a group of explorers sent by their kind across the universe to study its wonders with their highly advanced form of travel (for their time) successfully landed, taking up residence.

This new world had everything for life to thrive (i.e. water warmth, sufficient gravity, etc.). As their colonization went into full effect, however, they weren't aware that something was already living there, something they couldn't see with the naked eye.

Researchers discovered a bacteria sample native to this planet, containing it for further examination in a specimen room. Unbeknownst to any of them, they were about to witness the dawn of a new species.

To determine what this bacteria sample could do, specimens that were previously captured on other planets were used as test subjects. Within a matter of minutes, the test subjects began to change into a myriad of multi-colored creatures resembling the cellular appearances of the bacteria samples.

These life forms then began to adopt the features of whatever creature they came into contact with and essentially consumed from the inside-out, making it a part of itself.

Astonished, the researchers ran more tests to see what else the bacteria was capable of. Over the following days, as the organisms came into contact with more samples, they began to take on more defined shapes, albeit hybrids of their original forms and whatever they had consumed.

Not only that, but like their cellular counterparts, they could asexually reproduce through mitosis, every separated part of them becoming its own life form with a built-in consciousness.

Unfortunately, the rapid increase of them resulted in the researchers being picked off one by one as they were infected by the organisms, which shaped their forms to resemble them. Things only got worse as fear and panic spread throughout the colony.

Through the use of fire and corrosive substances, the surviving researchers managed to kill off any of the imitations and escape, leaving behind their technology in the process.

Now liberated from their guests' clutches, the remaining shape-shifting organisms claimed this planet as their own, forming their own technologically-advanced civilization through the knowledge gained via their assimilation.

With enough time, they too set out to explore the universe and discover other life forms as well. One of these ships in particular had a passenger by the name of Sqhurakolza, who was more lenient than a lot of his colleagues.

During one of their travels, however, their ship was located amongst the stars by a crew of beings that were the same species as the researchers who jumpstarted their race. Believing them to be up to no good, they attacked the ship, causing it crash-land on planet Earth.

And from there, the rest was history.

[at7reblogs]

*Slams fist on the table* My time has come.

Here's my own thoughts/ideas on what youkai to portray the other Hermitcraft/Life Series members as:

Beef - Maybe an Ushi-Oni or Gozu because of the bull traits he's given in fanon.

Bdubs - Baku, for the theme of dreams and sleeping that Bdubs tends to be associated with. Alternatively an Isogashi, because of only taking a moment to sleep and being pretty active. From Op's choice of Oni, I'd like to think that he would be a Ko-Oni or Shoki, especially those that would be the cause of the Yanari phenomenom (think poltergeists) like in Toriyama Sekien's illustration.

Bigb - Maybe an itachi, weasels that are also capable of shapeshifting like other animals.

Cleo - Onryo, especially taking into account with the life series. Alternatively some kind of spider yokai, with the power to use threads to make puppets move.

Cub - Maybe an oni that's more inclined with magic or a nurarihyon because of what his skin was before a few seasons ago.

Doc - Nue, fitting for the dangerous redstoner, plus he's already pretty chimerical.

Etho - Kitsune or Kamaitachi Etho are fun choices.

False - I'd imagine her as a Tengu, especially those skilled in combat.

Gem - To go with her theme for season 10, a Funa-Yurei, ghosts of people who die out at sea and and ask for ladles and sinks ships with them.

Grian - Tengu like what op said, pretty easy to see why. Alternatively because of the fishing he did at the start, some kind of water-dwelling yokai, like a kappa, kawauso, or gyojin that would cause an oitekebori phenomenon (mysterious sounds of someone calling fishermen to drop their fishing rods and leave).

Hypno - Since he's one of the more chill hermits, Tanuki, Mujina, or even a kappa would fit, maybe even a Mannen-Dake (thousand year-old bamboo).

Impulse - Oni would be an easy choice with the popular fanon trait of being an imp. I'd like to think of him being an oni from Jigoku that work for King Enma.

Iskall - Kodama (tree spirit) for his omega tree in season 7.

Jimmy - Op's choice of Yosuzume is pretty fitting, which funnily enough they're also thought of as a good omen in some areas, serving as a warning that a more dangerous yokai is close, the Okuri-Inu, a dog that strikes lone travelers on the road at night.

Joe - With season 10 in mind, probably any kind of doll-related yokai. I'd like to imagine him as a Mayuge, a piece of hair that hides in the doll's hair.

Jevin - Honestly there's not that many yokai with a theme of slime, closest would be a slug yokai, namekujira or the walking blob of flesh that is Nuppeppo. But then I remembered the Suiko! a water-dwelling yokai that are like kappas but more ferocious, particularly this one design from an anime that is literally a tiger made of water.

Keralis - With a theme of eyes, Mokumokuren (a shoji (thin room dividers) with hundreds of eyes) or Mekurabe (a bunch of skulls forcing you to be part of a staring contest) would fit nicely.

Lizzie - With Last Life in mind; Yosei, since it's a Japanese term synonymous with fairy.

Martyn - I'm thinking an ayakashi (the kind referring to sea spirits rather than the general term) particularly like a sea serpent.

Mumbo - Definitely some kind of tsukumogami.

Pearl - With Double Life in mind, either an inugami that's completely wrathful, or an Okuri-Inu.

Ren - Now enough would be said for him being a dog or wolf yokai, so no shocker there for Ren as an Inugami. Even more fitting when the perspective of third life when putting one method of its creation…

Scar - Honestly I love the idea of him being some kind of cat-yokai, like a Bake-Neko as op said or even a Neko-Mata, maybe even having pattern like a Maneki-Neko, cat figurines that are said to bring good luck to the owner.

Scott - With limited life in mind, some kind of sea yokai, like an Amabie maybe?

Skizz - I like Op's take for him as an Oni. I'd like to think that he would be an Ama-no-Jaku, which can translates to "heavenly demon", as a nod to how he's usually depicted as an angel in fanon.

Stress - A Yuki-Onna with her association with season 6 in mind.

Tango - Kasha (a fiery cat monster who steals corpses), Wanyudo, or Katasharin (fiery wheels) would be easy choices.

Welsknight - Now an easy choice would be Seto-Taisho (a pottery general), essentially a tea knight.

Xb - Gyojin (fishmen), easy enough to explain. Alternatively a ryujin because dragons tend to be associated with water, especially rivers, in Japan and other east asian countries.

Xisuma - I'd like to think he would be a ryujin, going with the ender dragon trait he is sometimes given in fanon.

Zedaph - Maybe somekind of tsukumogami since there aren't that many goat yokai. I know of an obscure Okinawan spirit called "Pīshāyanamun" which is the soul of a dead goat.

hey block people fans, so I really love the Tanuki Joel/Smallishbeans fanart goin around as inspired by @mellozheist's design and it made me think, what youkai (Japanese folklore monsters) would we portray the other Hermitcraft/Life Series members as? Some of the more obvious and fun ideas I thought of:

Scar - Kitsune, easy. Charismatic, cunning wiles, enterprising, known for tricking people, tendency to be wet cat on the rare instance you find his weakness. Also kitsune are rivals to tanuki (although Scar and Joel aren't really rivals so much as occasional partners in crime). You could alternatively choose the bakeneko because it's also a wiley shapeshifter and cat connection (RIP Jellie).

Grian - Tengu, also easy choice. Not just for the obvious pesky bird connection. Tengu are also trickster beings. They are sometimes evil (abducting humans) but sometimes benign and teach humans secret arts. They are excellent fighters and leaders, but just like a regular crow, they can just as easily goof off for no reason at all. Dangerously capable but also goofy bird fits Grian to a T.

Mumbo - Kappa, maybe? He's not associated with water much iirc but the kappa from not iRL folklore but a certain series are associated with engineering, and I needed an appropriate one for the Redstoners lol

Etho - Kamaitachi. Weasel with sharp blades. Like a tanuki (Joel), but consistently sneaky, while also being just a little guy. Can probably team up with Skizzle and Tango for the traditional trio of sneaky people with sharp blades. EDIT: I know there's fanart of him as a kitsune to match Tanuki Joel, and I'm by no means contesting that, this is just a fun alternative.

Cleo - Yamauba/Yamanba. I'M NOT CALLING CLEO AN OLD HAG, LET ME EXPLAIN. DANGEROUSLY FIERCE AND INTELLIGENT WITCH WHO LIVES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND IS JUST AS PROTECTIVE OF HER (potentially foster) CHILDREN AS MUCH AS SHE IS A TERROR TO THOSE WHO CROSS HER.

Bdubs/Skizzleman - Oni. They beeg. They angery. They not necessarily dumb but they stronk and one of them has lived in the mountains at least once. I can even see Bdubs being like a Sakata Kintoki spoof (the "son" of a yamanba a.k.a Cleo)

Jimmy - Yosuzume. Birds of bad luck. Canary curse. Need I explain more?

feel free to give alternative suggestions or ideas for the others, or ask me what youkai I think might fit certain traits, I may not know much about the block people but I know a little too much about Japanese folklore so this is just a fun exercise for me

[tomfrogisblue]

i forgot to post this during june but i think one of the reasons qsmp was so important was how unapologetically Gay it was

for starters, the number of creators and admins involved who are irl queer of some variation, just chilling in a place where any kind of phobia would get Philza's legendary ban hammer faster than you could say "rainbow jelly"

and then the characters.

i remember showing up that first day and being shocked that somehow foolish had an ex-boyfriend already (I had missed the squidcraft lore apparently)

that server. gay. all the gay. all kinds of gay.

govermentally assigned platonic husbands that stayed together the whole time (despite one of them being gone for months at a time), not a chance in hell of infidelity. Proud fathers of two wonderful children.

governmentally assigned partners who yelled full volume at each other about cheating any time they were in the room together and between the two of them killed two children.

a grieving father and ex-convict becoming one of the most solid couples in the server, with a beautiful wedding and consistent public displays of affection via the in-game chat.

a demon ashamed of who she was and a lonely detective struggling with family trauma, now with a lil girl of their own, to love together and take care of, with more moms than could ever allow the little girl to ever be lonely herself.

a 2b2t warrior coming to terms with his sexuality with the support of his beautiful baby boy at his side, slowly but surely opening up to his eventual Brazilian Boyfriend. Where they went from the most cautious couple (baby steps) to the most sickeningly sweet couple on the server.

- and this list doesn't even scratch the surface.

gay characters, trans characters, ace characters, aroace characters, gender fluid characters, all kinds of relationships and families.

all presented without negativity or shame.

the point of the server was to exchange languages and cultures, without the biases and barriers seen so much in both the content creator scene and the wider world.

it also had a beautiful little side effect, practically by accident.

our lgbtqsmp.

[hyakunana]

"My friend, my partner… my Guardian."

[starry-bi-sky]

No.

No, no, no, no, NO!

He's shaking. His heart is burning in his chest, pounding like a jackhammer against his ribs, and there's a trembling, aching rage building beneath his tongue and pressing against his teeth.

In his hands, his fingers tense and wrists locked, the article reads in big, black font: JOKER LOCKED IN ARKHAM ASYLUM AGAIN!

Danny shouldn't feel so angry about this, this is a good thing. Gotham doesn't have to deal with him for another few months at the least. He should feel relieved, a little more at peace.

He is not.

He cannot swallow the fury thudding behind his eyes, the burning white heat searing a deeper hole in his chest. A searing green filling static in his ears in the way only the rage of the restless dead can have.

How is he going to kill him now?

Arkham may be the only asylum in America made entirely of tissue paper, but it's still an asylum. There are cameras, guards, other patients resting inside. Danny can think of a million different ways to sneak in and kill Joker, but someone will hear his screaming.

It'd have to be rushed.

He doesn't want it to be rushed.

It's a cruel thought. Cruel and cold and merciless, but Danny doesn't feel an ounce of shame, not an ounce of guilt, for it. He wants to be alone with the Joker when he kills him, that's all he wants. In Arkham, you are never alone.

He forces his anger to bubble back down into his chest, stuffing it between his heartstrings and his ribs like a blanket you're trying to bunch up into a corner. It sizzles and burbles. The static begins to fade out into a high-pitched ringing; it sounds like distant screaming.

Danny is still trembling, but he can think a little clearer now.

He can wait.

He can wait. He can wait. He can wait. He canwait. Hecanwait. Hecanwait.

He can wait.

He's waited five years for this. He can wait one more week. One more month. One more year. However long it takes for the Joker to break back out, Danny can wait.

And when the Joker does, inevitably, break out.

Danny uncrinkles his fingers around the edges of the newspaper, loosens his limbs just enough so he can pay for it.

He'll be waiting.

The dead, after all, have all the time in the world.

[viviadrae]

It had 4 years and 3 months since you had faked your death to retire, your life had been quiet ever since you gave up being The bane of Recritor, as they called you. You set up a contingency for your old minions, knowing some of them would become the new target of the dryad, your old nemesis. They simply needed to press a specific code on your door.

31170

That day was the first time you heard your contingency bell ring, you quickly put on your old costume of fake gold and silver. Your true villain name was the metal massacre, but of course no one cared about your carefully picked name.

You ran to the door, you shining cape bellowing behind you. you forced open the old stubborn door and instantly recognized the 2 faces in front of you.

Dr. Tresden, one of your previous "minions" and Shuila, the water themed sidekick or your old nemesis. Dr. Tresden was the best mechanic in your whole team. They were the one you who made it so you could fake your death with that ingenious invention of theirs. Shuila you did not know too much about, you just remember her being the sidekick of your nemesis. Her skills were much higher than him, but he was always seen as the hero and her as the sidekick.

"Dr. Tresden! Shuila! Are you two okay?" "You remembered their name?" "Of course! I remember all of the names of my workers! What happened!?" "Our old nemesis, The dryad is trying to destroy both of us and we need your help!" "We need to hide from him and you're the only person we know we can trust." "Come right in, make yourself as at home as you can." "Thank you so much, how much do we owe you for this?" "The only thing you owe me is the story." "Of course! It all started a year ago, before the fight ended he was struck by an energy from above." "Something seemed to switch in him, something felt different. I noticed the change and became worried. 5 days ago I confronted him about it" "Coffee or tea?" "tea please." "And I assume you want your old usual Tresden?" "Yes please sir, I can't believe you remember after all these years!" "Shuila, you want herbal green tea yes?" "Yes, how did you know?" "On our second encounter I saw the teabag left in your pocket, from rushing I assumed." "Right, back to the story, the dryad blew up when she asked and is now hunting both of us down after I helped her escape." "Ah, understood, Tresden you remember all the contingency plans right? It's time to initiate contingency plan number 373, code-name Chosed" "h-How many contingency plans did you have?" "Around 387 if I remember right, and I always do." "Yes, he has 2 powers, the ability to reshape metal and perfect memory, that's how he was able to make so many machines, they were all our designs that he made from memory." "Here are your drinks, follow me" You walked a path you never thought you would have to walk again, right to your old secret lair. You flipped up the tarp covering it and put a code into the keypad. 153684297056710301 The old elevator clinked a little as it was filled back with the power it had not known for 3 years and 57 days, when you last needed something from it. You step into the elevator with a familiar clank. "Down here is my old lair, it will have what we need." They wordlessly followed you out of the elevators sipping their drinks. You walked towards the contingency key pad and poked in 373. The old worn-down machine clinked out the answer you were hoping for, a set of green cloaks, a set of visors fit with huds, and a set of bowguns. "What are these?" "Green cloaks to perfectly camouflage, his powers let his see through leaves to better see his enemies, but that can be exploited into a weakness using these cloaks, making us invisible. The visors have a heads-up display built in and those are bowguns. The dryad is weak to arrows, these let us exploit that weakness while still having the benefits of guns, although they are considerably slower and clunkier than even most firearms." "If I remember correctly our next step is to hunt down the dryad and incapacitate him until we can get him back to normal?" "Yes. we will place him on that surgery table over there once he is captured." "What tab- *a basic table with cuffs on the ends pops up from the ground* Oh, that one." "It is time, I had planned for this outcome, now we get him back." You lied, but you always knew this could happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had finally made it to the lair, under directions of Shuila. Your visors all lit up as the dryad entered into the base. You were right about the cloaks, just as you suspected, although you couldn't wear your costume and the cloak at the same time, so you took off the costume before you left. The dryad seemed mindless as he wandered right in, making almost random movements until he was shot by Shuila.

"alright now Shuila, you need to use your water powers to help transport him back, normally I would have brought a transport with us, but the source of this would definitely see that." "What do you mean the source of this?" "Based on the story you told me, it seems like another villain struck him with something mind-altering in that fight, meaning that they are probably using him for a plan." "Alright I haven't really transported anything like this before, but I should be able to." "Given what I've seen you do, this should be relatively easy for you." "What?" "You're much stronger than this guy, I'm surprised you were considered a sidekick." "Oh, I'm probably still a sidekick because of seniority and team dynamic. It would be weird for marketing if it just switched seemingly randomly. I hold back a lot though, how could you tell?" "Well I'm not your only villain. I saw you fight that magma one while I walking home one day, you were so angry you managed to move my bottle out of my hand more than a block away!" "Oh! I knew your face looked familiar!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You finally got back to the old lab, ready to be done with more of this hero-villain stuff, it had been fun, but you were so tired of being a villain. You put back on the costume, it just felt right, and strapped your old nemesis down to the table and pulled out the arrow, making sure to cover the wound back up with leaves from outside to heal it. When he started healing though, you noticed a cyan light coming from the top of his head, and it seemed everyone else did as well. A pause filled the air. "Was that a blue light?" "I think it was more cyan." "That's the same color as that thing that struck when he started acting all funny!" "That must be the thing that's causing this then. Dr. Tresden, can you type 1578 into the code pad please and pass me what comes out please?" "1578? sure." A sterilized scalpel came from the machine and Tresden handed it to you. You used the scalpel to carve into that section of the dryad's head, finding a mysterious device that seemed to be behind this. I took it out and put leaves back in the spot where it was. His head regenerated and he woke back up. "Where am I?" "Woah, calm down we had to do a little surgery on you whats the last thing you remember?" "Wait is that you Machine massacre? Didn't you die?" "You-You remember my name?" "Of course! I know all of my villain's names, I was just forced to call you 31170. The last thing I remember I was fight him over there and then it's all just blue." "You were struck by a mind-control device and were hunting us down! Both me and Shuila!" "They both showed up on my doorstep needing help, I was prepared for this though, I had a contingency plan for just this scenario, specifically hunting you." "Well that's worrying, but why did you fake your death?" "I got tired of just being a villain ya know?" "Why not just join the heroes? you would be a great addition to our team!" "Actually I think I will. Dr. Tresden would you like to join as well?" "As long as your my boss I would love to!" "It's settled then, machine massacre is back!" "You might want to change that name before you join." "Yeah, it is a little evil." "I'll think of that later."

As a retired supervillian you’ve not been bothered very much. One day a henchman who once worked under you knocks on your door, along with the old sidekick of your archnemisis. They’re in hiding from the hero and need your help.

[yanmuffins]

I've been thinking and I've come to the conclusion that it wouldn't make much sense for Bruce to neglect one of his children.

Think about it, in canon, most of the mistakes he made that ended up harming his family were either because he was completely buried in work, or because he was slightly manipulated, both by the narrative and by third parties.

In addition, he also cannot fully communicate with others, both because of his early trauma, the loss of his parents, and all the loneliness caused by the grief he went through growing up. Not to mention the years of self-discipline and training he went through to become Batman. From everything he's seen and experienced, and all the scars he has, I can't imagine how much that grief and and especially a sense of justice, survived.

so I don't think he would simply neglect one of his children

What I propose is; accidental negligence. Think about it, if he is busy all the time with both Batman and his other persona, Brucie Wayne, and then the justice league, investigations, meetings of Wayne Enterprise, galas, charities, other rich people, the usual rogues gallery of Gotham, etc, etc, I don't think he has much time to spend with anyone.

He is able to spend more time with his other children because they are all vigilantes, like him, and are usually just as busy as he is. Having a civilian child in the middle of this mess wouldn't do much good, especially if that child doesn't know what they do most of the time, like, y'know, vigilantlism.

Imagine everyone's absolute horror when they realize, after the p&f reader is unfortunately busted, that they paid so little attention to that child that she managed to do all these crazy things right under their noses for the whole summer. And who's to say she hadn't been doing this before this summer? How many things have they inevitably missed in her life?

What I mean is that to counter the p&f reader's luck, everyone in the batfam is unlucky enough not to be able to spend time with her. And they are aware of it.

Their guilt would be immense and the angst would be delicious.

(And it would explain how Damian hás time to spend with p&f reader, since he's a kid and his only obligations are school, socialization and being Robin, so he would technically have more time??? If that even makes sense???)

context &. context.

YOU!! YOU GET IT!!

i wholeheartedly agree!

not that "accidental" neglect is any better, it's neglect all the same and has negative consequences in so many levels. but when we're talking about Bruce Emotionally Constipated And Terrible At Communication and Could Sometimes Make Better Choices Regarding His Kids Wayne, it could absolutely happen.

i'm not one to make character analysis because i have very shallow knowledge of Batman lore, but...

like you said, all of Bruce's children participate in vigilantism. they're all extraordinary, most have horrible trauma, and have relied on him for guidance. they are all Robin, and more relatable to him, in a way. that means he's consequently more involved in their lives, more physically there engaging with them, forming an emotional bond, acting as a mentor and father figure. on top of that, like you said, he has a whole life as Bruce Wayne and Batman going on.

which brings us to neglected! Reader, more specifically mine: P&F! Reader and Vampire! Reader.

on a... financial, material level, I believe they wouldn't want for anything. Alfred is the one managing their bank account and making sure they're well-provided for and though it's fun for angst purposes, i don't think they would have a tiny little bedroom isolated from everyone in the manor, mostly because it's our favorite butler who would select which bedroom Bruce's child would be staying at in this gigantic mansion with plenty unocuppied rooms. Alfred would NOT put you in the broom closet. it would be a bedroom that's at least as big as Damian's in Son of Batman, for example.

(i more than understand suspension of disbelief and playing around with all sorts of interesting concepts and characters, so I'm not criticizing anyone!)

in fact, i think it's kinda worse that, say, you have a bedroom that's a wall across from Tim's and he still kinda forgets you exist.

also, i believe Bruce's kid would absolutely have access to a more than generous amount of money. not broke at all.

so the only type of neglect going on here is of the emotional kind. your father and your siblings have created tight-knit bonds amongst themselves based on their shared experiences and the proximity brought by them all working as vigilantes, and you're just not a part of the club.

timing is also relevant.

P&F! Reader arrives at the manor some time after Damian, which means that not only have all relationships been formed over the years, Bruce has also experienced having kids, as well as having a biological child suddenly enter his life. they're a fish out of the water, and their dad is kinda awkward about this (apparently) normal child that showed up at his doorstep. while Damian is still kind of adapting, running around at night trying to bypass Bruce's security system and solve dangerous cases by himself, P&F! Reader is in their bedroom having a virtual sleepover with their Metropolis friends, streaming movies and eating caramelized popcorn.

fun fact: Damian and P&F! Reader are neighbors. he was not happy about Alfred placing his half-sibling on the room right beside his for the longest time. P&F! Reader has definetly caught him sneaking out, but they're no snitch. and you're right, he does have more free time, and he's also on summer break so no school and no homework to worry about. He's got free time to be his sibling's keeper.

and as we all know, the impression that P&F! Reader is just a normal regular kid that totally doesn't build ridiculous thingamabobs in their spare time, it's kinda easy to forget they're there amidst the Wayne family mayhem(s). Bruce is also kinda doesn't really know what to do with this kid or how to connect with them, but they don't really demand immediate attention and seem to be doing fine – so he probably shouldn't worry too much, right?

you could also argue that he's kinda awkward (emotionally constipated) with this kid and is very bad at consoling and accomodating them after the trauma that made them have to move in with him. he doesn't straight up forget they exist, although he starts paying more attention to them after Damian gets more involved in ther bio sibling's antics. and when it comes to siblings, it's just easier for their relationship to never evolve past more superficial interactions (with the exception of Damian who decides to mind P&F! Reader's business earlier on, more or less). P&F! Reader doesn't know about the vigilantism for a long time, so it's natural that they're excluded from any and all matters regarding that. and because everyone else is so busy with their own lives and P&F! Reader seems to be doing fine, so easy to overlook, has plenty of friends in and out of their new school and the Batfam is already a formed unit... Well, you get the picture.

there's also the matter of Damian. he is the kid that "needs more attention" because of his background. he's been through a lot. nevermind the possibility that you might also have gone throguh your own fair share of trauma, at the end of the day you're the easier kid. the "okay" kid with regular problems. which is sad and unfair, but that's what we're here for, isn't it? and Dick is the biggest offender when it comes to that.

not that P&F! Reader is bothered by any of that! They have an amazing summer ahead of them. 😎 It's definetly Batfam being unlucky that prevents them from spending time with P&F! Reader, but that allowed them to mostly enjoy summer without being smothered by their family. the guilt would be unmatched, that is for sure.

"And who's to say she hadn't been doing this before this summer?"

hehe :)

vampire! Reader (she was not mentioned but I'm talking about her anyway, spoilers for the fic because i want to rant) is a different story. again, timing. she arrived at the manor sometime between Dick leaving for Bludhaven and Jason being brought in, so she didn't really get a chance to develop a deeper emotional connection with Dick. that also means Bruce was a lot younger when he is faced with a biological child being thrown at his door, not to mention the less-than-ideal-circumstances in which she came to be in his custody.

and after trying to make her his newest sidekick didn't work, in the coming years he would dedicate most of his time to fighting crime as Batman and taking care of/mentoring Jason who had a rough past and is now his new sidekick. connecting and relating to Jason was easier than connecting with Vampire! Reader, but he always made sure to check on her and make sure she was okay (and the answer was always yes, because of course it was).

during this time Jason and Vampire! Reader were actually pretty close, but then he, uh. kinda died horrifically. so not only was Vampire! Reader dealing with the loss of her brother, her father was now full-on neglecting her, self-absorbed in his grief, so she felt the proper thing to do would be repress her emotions to accomodate her father and try to be his emotional support. not that it worked, but she was there! so we have the emotional neglect and we have Vampire! Reader starting to take a parental role for her own father because he's not being a parent for her. she was also completely alone in that huge manor with the exception of Alfred because none of the other kids were in the picture yet, and Dick had long since moved out. as you can see, not very nice :)

from then on she just kinda blends into the background. financially she's provided for. she is her father's daughter, so communication and expressing emotion are not her forté, but she tries her best to connect with the incoming batkids. it does not work. i have said this before, but she is the mature child, the (again) normal one who puts other people's needs before her, so she doesn't complain when Bruce makes time for literally every other kid who becomes Robin except her. but don't be mistaken: Bruce is definetly more controlling and aware of Vampire! Reader in comparison to P&F! Reader due to reasons (guess you can say early yandere signs?). Jason too is... Sort of complicated. the situation here is definetly darker and resonates with tone of the story better. and when Bruce realizes how terrible he was? oh, boy.

so I guess you can play around a lot with the neglectful! Reader trope, and that's what makes it so entertaining. yeah. that's all I have to say for today, I guess??

[fortheharbingers]

contents: a quick caleb (lads) blurb, adult content, minors do not interact!

oral (m! receiving), fingering, praise (mc kinda fucked outta their mind already if u squint)

Your head resting on Caleb’s lap, hands all over him grabbing and desperate, giving him the most pathetic cutest kitten licks with hazy dropping eyes as his hands work on you to ease you up, stretch you, open and massage you just perfectly- turning you into a melting puddle all over his lap as his free hand pets through your hair- in between your noises of pleasure and sopping wet lips around his length, you can hear him praise you, coo at you, telling you how good you’re being for him, how perfect and wonderful you are

He chuckles at your excitement and desperation to keep going further and he feels a tang of fear- concerned you might bruise yourself trying to take it all in but you give him the biggest teary eyes pleading, begging to have more of him, that it’s alright, you’re all grown now, that you’re not a little girl anymore, you can take it, take all of him-

[1980shorrorfilm]

the cut that always bleeds

keep clicking.

pairing…rain carradine x fem!reader x ellie williams

in which…ellie doesn’t seem to have time for you anymore; rain does.

before you read…angst, fluff. full transparency this comes forward very rain x reader but life is all about perspective 💜 don’t count how many times you see the word ‘moon.’ pretend theres no errors challenge. also pls no one get mad at this it’s just a little (4k count) gay story. . .

you’re cold.

the bonfire is blazing before you, and you’re cold. rain is sitting by your side, just barely providing you the warmth you crave— but ellie is a deep void that’s sucking it from you, sucking the joy from you that your other friends have. 

she’s occasionally sparing you glances over the flickering fire, and every time your eyes meet, there’s something behind them. but she pulls away, devoting her attention to the girl beside her, forgetting you’re there. 

you’re not sure what you’ve done— why she got bored of your friendship and seemingly dropped it for another. not that she couldn’t have other friends, you just take notice when someone else is prioritized over you. and it's not a nice feeling.

she doesn’t hang out with you anymore, endless excuses that are so fucking lame that you don’t even bother arguing against them. your patrols are awkward, always quiet like you’re waiting for the other to start a conversation, but neither of you do.

what could you talk about? you selfishly don’t want to hear about the details of her life without you present in it. you miss that— her, more than anything.

but you know she’s happy, her face flushes hues of pink with each interaction with the brunette. she looks nervous around her, picking at the right things to say before they roll off her tongue. that’s how you know it’s a crush— you were once the same. not now.

you feel a weird resentment. it’s not anger, but annoyance, wondering when or if she would notice you’re no longer her shadow, and if it would bother her.

rain notices the inability you have to show a smile, her sister's singing slowly comes to a bittersweet end.

she leans closer to you while your friends whistle at ellie, her head lowering in embarrassment, a habit you found cute.

“you good?”

you turn your head, meeting her blue eyes, swallowed by concern and her hand finding your knee out of habit when things are wrong. it’s not even a question that you had to answer because she knew. you tell her an easy lie, “yeah…just tired.”

she believes it, you think, nodding in return.

“do you…want me to bring you home?” she shyly offers, neither of you paying attention to the green irises locked in on you. ellie didn’t care for whatever relationship you and rain shared— she loves you both and that’s that. but, you were her friend first. 

you were the new kid that enjoyed sitting quietly with ellie in the comfort of her garage, rain was more sociable and almost too kind for you, at the time. now, of course you adore it. you love that rain spends her company with you, caring for you, admiring you. she had a way of making you forget everything else, and more importantly, ellie.

so, ellie can’t help but feel the tugging of her heart, while you’re tugged away from her. and she doesn’t even care to realize, she had placed the first brick, and built the wall between you. 

she’s not a perfect person. but that’s not what you wanted from her or expected. you just wanted her there, with you, not near you as someone you used to know.

rain catches you in your head again.

“hm?” she hums, a gentle squeeze on your knee realizing you let her question linger with no response. you nod, wanting nothing more than the fresh air from the forest than the heavy smoke surrounding you, suffocating you the same way ellie did.

rain gets up, and you copy, now capturing the eyes of your friends. “we’re ready to crash,” she announces, an exchanged look with ellie that you don’t read into, “don’t stay out too late, kids.”

you two ignore the groans, rain rolling her eyes with a ‘yeah, yeah,’ as you walk away together. 

the dirt path darkens the farther you get away from the fire, only the moon providing light for you. it casts an eerie yet lovely shadow over the tall trees, dead with orange leaves clinging to their branches. they crunch and crumble beneath your feet, both of you finding peace at the noise. 

when you turn to rain, she’s watching the moon— intently, as it could disappear at any given moment. 

it’s sweet, her fixation, you wish you could take her camera and snap a photo of her for yourself. to hang above your bed the way she does with her favorite pictures…quite a few of you. then her head turns to you, and yours turns away, to your dirt-covered shoes. 

“what?” 

“hm?”

“you’re staring, y/n.” 

“am not.”

rain laughs quietly, your face burning with heat at getting caught. it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time she’s dared to point it out. you can’t help that her features are really fucking pretty, mirroring ellie in that sense. and that when she’s super focused, her lips part an inch and her eyes narrow in, and she looks adorable. 

rain changes the topic, her tone now serious, “sooo…wanna tell me what’s up?”

you bite your tongue, literally and figuratively, not having the courage to confess that her sister is the storm cloud above your head and the boulder weighing you down. again, she notices, because of course she does, and quickly talks again, “im sorry—i didn’t—you just seem off.”

rain is mentally cursing herself for how far from smooth her words come out, not sure how to help you in the way she desperately wants to. she wouldn’t push for you to tell her anything you weren’t comfortable with, and that’s often what made communicating to rain so easy.

just, not with this, not this time.

“gotta headache,” you give yet another short lie, hoping it goes over her head. it doesn’t, not completely, but she accepts it. rain nods, the silence between you two only lasting for a few seconds before she speaks again, “ellie’s singing that bad, huh?” 

the joke finally gets a soft laugh from you, rain feeling satisfied she earned it from you, that it causes her lips to tug upward. now it’s her turn to stare, to observe the beauty in you that she finds in the moon, how despite the internal turmoil you’re enduring, you still manage to radiate such light. 

she doesn’t blink. not until she steps on a twig, and swallows the air, redirecting her gaze forward again. it’s a weird feeling…in a daze from you. it’s forbidden, you have only ever been friends, ellie had basically built your friendship over a series of game nights as a trio.

how could she cross a line that has been firmly in place for years? would you cross it?

she goes quiet the rest of the way home, and you don’t have the energy to make a conversation, so it’s just the chirping from the insects and the occasional blowing of the wind. you don’t mind it.

when you successfully sneak back into the walls of jackson, rain continues to walk you back to your place, all the way up the steps to your porch and standing idly in front of the door. 

“well…” rain starts, looking up from her white and red sneakers to your face, “i hope you feel better—your head, i mean—if not you should head to the infirmary, just in case, you know.”

she’s so doting you almost consider her words, the lie you created falsely slipping into a short reality, and you nod. “yeah, yeah, will do that.”

“cool, yeah, okay,” rain’s voice is above a whisper, almost forgetting this is the part where she walks away. that’s until you pull away from the moment first, something of a tight-lipped smile on your face that was practically saying goodbye to her, opening your door. 

when it shuts, rain lets out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding, lingering on your doorstep for a few passing seconds, before forcing herself to leave.

and as if you jinxed it, there’s a subtle pounding on your temple when you strip from your outdoor clothes, but you couldn’t blame that on the wires in your brain. 

it was the heavy, so fucking loud, and obnoxious thoughts of ellie. how dina is probably cuddled into her side while you’re going to sleep in your lonely bed. you don’t like feeling alone like this, just moments prior you were fine— you had rain at your side. 

you wish you invited her in; and that she’d lay by you with enough space in your platonic comfort zones. she would happily do so, and she wouldn’t leave you until you fell into a slumber when she knew you were at ease. 

you fall asleep picturing that, picturing her.

the next few days are surprisingly, easy.

it’s easy to numb the hurt from ellie with the presence of rain, and she was making herself your shadow. lunch at the tipsy bison, leading you to the back where you’re tucked away from everyone else. it was nice, it was intimate. other evenings when the sun is setting and she’s at your door, the sky casting an orangish glow on a certain angle of her face that makes her look like she descended from heaven itself. 

she'd come with goodies from the greenhouse she spent most of her time in, taking the uglier veggies and fruits that she had grown and making a meal out of them with you, for you. she was taking care of you in every sense of the word, not allowing a frown to fall upon your face.

today was different, though.

you didn’t attend the bar and she didn’t show up on your doorstep. instead, you’re in her bedroom— the smell of wood filling your senses from her rustic furniture, making the room feel cozier. a bubble from the outside world you never wanted to pop.

you're sifting through her latest collection of polaroids, mostly— no, entirely —of the moon in its different stages. you don't point that out, though, you don’t find it repetitive. you smile lightly, your fingertips tracing the edges of the glossy photographs. rain observing your face as she mirrors you, sitting crisscrossed parallel to you on her bed.

“i know it’s not super exciting—“ she says, almost apologetic, downplaying the actual excitement she had when she pulled the stack from out of her nightstand to show you. “i just think she’s pretty.”

you’re eyeing one of the blurry ones, making an illusion that there were two moons; two bright, almost ethereal orbs hanging in the sky, like they're celestial twins. you hum, taking it in, then glancing up at her, her expression soft but expectant, she's been watching you closely this whole time. curious, you ask, “she?”

“oh,” her lips curl slightly, a tenderness, maybe shyness, to her voice when she swallows then speaks again, “people in the old world used to think the moon was—well, is, a feminine symbol—sorta like a connection, i guess. and…just look at her…she’s…”

rain trails off, and you don’t seem to notice how her dark pupils are deeply set on your face, like she was trying to remember each outline, catching herself fading from the conversation and into you.

“she's just...always there...and always different—but always beautiful," she gulps, shrugging, afraid you're losing interest, “i don't know...i guess i just like that idea.”

you feel crazy for thinking there's something else to her words, something that makes your skin flush, but you blame it on the intimate atmosphere. you hum again, letting the silence settle between you two, but the air just seems to grow thick, a subtle tension building in that moment. not bad, just...different.

when you're done admiring the photographs, your gaze drifts to hers. she clears her throat, and your heart pounds in your chest. she talks first after building the courage.

“do you...” rain begins, her voice wavering slightly, but she manages to push through it. “do you wanna go to the bonfire tomorrow?”

“tomorrow? i didn’t know they planned that,” you say, wondering why her simple words and question have a weight behind them, a half inviting and half uncertain look on her face. like she's desperate for you to say yes.

but, you're already trying to come up with a reason to why you’re about to decline. things have been okay. you don’t need to be there, around ellie, and slip away again.

rain shakes her head, “they didn’t. i just thought, maybe you and i…”

your breath gets caught in your throat. it's not a typical gathering, it's rain wanting to be with you, and just you. she can tell you're caught off guard, her mouth opening, “it’s totally cool if you don’t—”

“no, yeah, we can,” you agree in the most nonchalant way you can, like the warmth isn't spreading through your chest by the mere idea. rain is not a rebel, not in the same sense that ellie was, and already took hesitation to your group sneaking out; she is making an exception for you.

she doesn’t reply, chewing her cheek to prevent the grin ready to flash, and to distract herself from overthinking it.

and then, she ruins the moment.

“by the way…ellie has been asking about you.”

damn it.

“she has?” your stomach flips, rain catching the glimpse of hope in your eyes, but it doesn’t last, not when you continue to speak again. “we haven’t been…”

“i know,” rain says softly, “that’s why she—”

“she’s busy these days,” you cut rain off, the feeling of comfort that ellie still cares, not able to overpower the bitterness you hold. going through her sister, to reach you? pathetic. she could spare five minutes from her dina-centered days to simply check in on you.

you add, “and i’ve been busy, too.”

with rain. she nods, letting it end there.

rain loves her sister, obviously, but she’s aware of her screw-ups that sometimes involve the ones she cares about. and as much as rain had a habit of figuring out her family and friend's problems, she couldn’t, not with this, not with whatever was going on between you. 

ellie will cross that bridge when she comes to it. and so will you. the best she could do was simply be there when you two needed her. 

and you need her.

the next night, rain had shown up at your doorstep the very moment jackson had gone dark. hair neatly tucked half up, adorned in that crimson jacket of hers, smelling like a mix of the clementines she grows in the greenhouse and the generic soap she slathered on her body. a scent that reminds you you’re okay.

rain was making simple conversation on the trail there, still on alert for any possible unwelcome eyes or visitors in the surrounding woods, whenever her eyes weren’t on you. the moon is full, and you look beautiful. she almost said that, but decided against it.

when you approach the clearing, it is an odd feeling to be there without hearing ellie’s honey voice sing a familiar song, the crack at a smile on her face if her eyes would land on you…that was a while ago, though. 

you barely sigh, watching rain tug off her backpack and bend over, getting the fire started while you sit on an empty log. you wait, bouncing your knee before you interrupt the silence. “it’s quiet.”

fantastic observation, y/n. rain spares you a glance, “that’s a good thing— means it’s just us.”

though she had meant it in the sense you’re safe, there’s an edge to her voice that makes your skin flush, and your heart thuds a little harder than you care to admit.

it is the most intimate setting when rain successfully gets the fire to spark, poking at it until it grows into a steady flame, then joining you. sitting directly next to you, thighs mere inches from touching. “i brought a blanket,” she mentions, “just in case you’re cold— get cold.”

“i’m fine, rain.”

“okay—i just don’t want you getting sick or anything,” rain finds it necessary to explain, a smile flashing on your face at her taking you into consideration. you chew at your bottom lip, and rain shoves her hands in her pockets.

for some reason, the energy feels charged, somehow electrifying despite the calmness of it all, the crackling of the fire and the occasional brushing of her leg against yours.

you're both quiet for a while, not sure what to say, to address whatever was hanging in the air like the mist in the surrounding forest, acting like barrier between you two and the rest of the world. that's when you feel her shift beside you.

rain is hesitant, but she nervously questions you, “was it…really your head that night? i mean—when i walked you home.”

you weren't ready for that. it feels too loaded, and your throat tightens.

but, you glance from the fire to her anyways, ember flames dancing on her delicate features, contorted in slight worry. she looks as ethereal as the moon, and maybe it's the setting, the trust you feel in this moment; that you show her some honesty.

“no,” it comes out lowly, and you shrug, trying to pass it off like it was truly not a big deal, “just didn’t want to be there.”

she still wears that face, a gentle intensity. her brows knit together, trying to push for more without making you uncomfortable, “…how come?” 

your sister. for a moment, you debate those words, considering telling her the truth, the full truth. about how you have felt about ellie, and how ellie has made you feel. like shit. chewed up stale gum at the bottom of her dirty black and white converse. it doesn't leave your mouth.

you awkwardly chuckle and fiddle with your fingers, “i dunno— i guess i just…”

you hesitate, her stare so intense you have to look back into the fire. you search for something simpler, but still raw, no longer wanting to hide all of your feelings from rain. especially when shes staring at you the way that she is.

“didn’t feel wanted?”

you hate the words as soon as they leave your lips, it sounds flat out pathetic as if you had only said them for pity. but it's true. you felt like a burden that night, there for no reason at all, dimming the mood with your disconnect from the group. it’s the nerves that make you continue to add to it.

“like…everybody had somebody,” you begin, managing to talk about ellie without explicitly saying her name, “and i was just there? i don’t know.”

you chuckle lightly at the end, but rain sees through it, through you, covering your hurt. her expression softens instantly.

“that’s not true…you have me.”

you blink at rain, her voice ever so gentle, and she reaches out, placing her hand on your knee. you like her tentative touch, so simple, yet it acts like an anchor keeping you at bay from the unfriendly thoughts in your head. it causes that internal warmth she's made you familiar with, to course through your body. from your toes, to where her hand rests, to your shoulders.

rain squeezes your knee gently, like a reassurance. a promise to her words, and the air tightens.

your gaze meets hers, the softness and sincerity behind her blue eyes, your cheeks warmer than the fire in front of you. it is just the crackling of the fire, and a howling of the wind through the trees, and you shiver. but, that's not thanks to the sudden coolness.

it's her stare. the goosebumps rise on your skin, and it happens, like that.

a mutual decision made by your eyes, a flickering between them and your lips. you lean in slightly, breath catching as your nerves grow, but she eases them when she does the same, assuring you that she wants this.

both of your hearts beat like rabbits, and your lips connect.

and then there was nothing else, no thinking, no brooding, no ellie.

just rain.

she takes it slow, cautious at first, once again squeezing your knee, but this time it’s to reassure herself— that you’re actually kissing her, that this is real, not in her head. it's not your first kiss ever, not at all, but it's the first that felt like it had meaning. like all of the love she has grown for you is on full display, wanting, needing, you to feel it.

you need to grab her, your hand slides to the back of her neck to somehow pull her closer, yet she’s the one deepening the kiss. not in a messy way, not in a rough way. she doesn’t want that from you, not yet, at least. it’s still just as tender as it is passionate, it’s like a dream.

and for a moment you had pictured with someone else, maybe even in this exact place on this exact log, this feels…right. 

when time is no longer paused, and you finally pull away, your mouth is still parted collecting your breath. “fuck…” rain mumbles, and then she laughs, “holy fuck.”

the smile she wore quickly falters from her face, the euphoria switching to concern, “that was okay— right?”

“yeah—yeah,” you whisper, the little smile returning to both of your faces, ignoring the sudden sense of unease you had felt. it was okay, fucking better than okay and you think you want more. but when you look forward again, it’s to the fire, to the log across that ellie would occupy with her pretty voice and guitar.

and then there’s rain, shyly looking at her red and white sneakers.

a minute doesn’t even pass. you swallow thickly, leaning forward, and kissing her again.

it’s an hour later when the flames had died, a quiet walk back home with stolen glances. you’re both in a haze, minds foggy with the thought of the other. though, yours wavers, a certain pair of green eyes flashing in your head. it was supposed to be her— that’s what you had used to think. 

ellie and you, not you and rain. so naive, you were. and so wrong, because rain felt right. she felt perfect.

and your schedule is quickly prioritized around rain over the following week. her free time was yours, and yours hers. 

walks around jackson taking photos of the things she found beauty in— the light in a dark world. which included you, often off guard, or stupid faces in her bedroom. 

the sleepovers sharing her bed, rain always meeting your hands beneath the blanket, a sense of relief she craved. the chocolate chip pancakes in the morning, making sure your days started nicely, and that you were happy. all rain did was make you happy. 

and ellie, on the sidelines, took notice.

she wasn’t losing her friend— she lost her friend. to her fucking sister. not that she was upset with rain in any way, or you for that matter, it just was how it was. something she could’ve prevented. 

it’s another night you’re getting ready to go meet rain, slipping on a hoodie when you hear the knocking at your door. you already know who it is, she was still using her signature rhymed knock. two beats off from rain.

you cross your living room, twisting the knob and opening the door. ellie stands before you, in a common dark flannel and her mullet seemingly freshly trimmed, neater than usual. probably the work of someone else’s loving hands.

“hey…can i come in?” she scratches the back of her neck, and you scoot out of the way as an answer. she enters, taking in the comforting aroma of your home she hadn’t realized she missed so much. it somewhat eases the tension in her shoulders, her nerves calming. 

you slowly trail behind her, the woman sitting on your couch hunched over, elbows propped on her spread legs. this was serious, and you really don’t want this right now. 

her mouth opens before yours does, though.

“how are you?”

oh. her question catches you off guard, but it’s genuine, not surprising since she’s just a distant echo in your life these days. “i’m good,” you give her a short real answer, and she doesn’t give you time to elaborate or even ask her back.

“yeah? and—you and rain?”

you blink at her. her tone is so accusatory like any possible response will just be flat-out wrong. 

even if it’s the truth, especially if it’s the truth.

the unfortunate part is that ellie did have some right to know what your relations were with her sister; but there is nothing to tell her, because just like her and dina, you’re not calling yourselves girlfriends.

you’re friends, technically. friends that have gotten closer and closer, spending more time with each other than anyone else. letting the spark between you two grow into a flame, and into a fire. 

maybe that is the very reason why the question had left ellie’s lips, seeing a mirrored version of her and dina in you and rain. and if that is the case, why is her voice laced with venom, not obvious, yet clearly there? 

she knows you’d never hurt rain, and rain would never hurt you. there is no valid reason for her to take issue with the idea you two had something. not in your opinion, at least.

your silence is an unspoken or undecided answer, and ellie leans back, tongue-swiping her teeth. 

“right, okay,” it comes out as a rasp, with a short nod. she begins again, “you could’ve told me.”

you can’t help it— you rebuttal her. “kinda hard when you’re not around.”

“wha—” ellie’s brows furrow, suddenly standing up, eyes darkened and narrow, “every fucking time i come here, you’re gone, you know that?”

you feel a nonexistent spotlight on you that you don’t want to be under, and ellie isn’t even done speaking. “there are nights neither of you are home—so what, you’re fucking sneaking out too? it’s one thing to hide it, but to be stupid?”

“so you suddenly care about me?” you mutter, and her jaw just barely drops, taking offense at your words, pausing before she even can respond.

“how…could you even say that?”

there is no irritation in her voice this time. it’s flat, even somber, matching the energy shift in the room. you’re quiet, unable to make another snarky comment. you stare at her shoes, them approaching you, staying in place when she was just a few feet from you.

then, you look back up at her. 

“you know i love you,” ellie tells you blankly, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, something she has said a million times over. 

it’s different when you haven’t felt her love, or any sort of affection from her in weeks, and the three words seem like more of a chore. nearly meaningless to you. the only person that made you feel like you had a purpose, was now rain, and that realization fucking stings. 

“i have to go,” you disregard the current conversation, ignoring the dry humorless chuckle that escapes ellie’s lips, “can you leave? please?”

she remains still for a moment, staring at you, and you dread it. the silent observing, waiting for you to crack, drop this curtain you’re holding up to prevent her from seeing how you truly feel. 

how you’re coming to terms with your heartbreak, before the woman that broke your heart, that was never in her possession in the first place— not that she was ever aware of. 

she nods. 

ellie forces herself to move, walking past, shoulders nearly brushing when she walks past you. you wait to hear the door open, but her palm is resting on the knob.

“i…know i messed up…” she admits, “but…you could’ve come to me.”

she’s making this harder. making your mind envision a reality where you were the one that fought harder, not her. that you didn’t slowly watch the gap between you two widen, and just expressed to her how poorly she had made you feel.

that would be easier than this. she would still be your closest friend…and rain wouldn’t. 

rain, who is currently waiting for you. her bed most certainly made neatly, reserved for you to fall asleep in, her arm bound to snake its way around you and stay in place until you woke up.

ellie debates her next choice of words, but nothing comes from her. with dread, she leaves you, alone, frozen in place trying to unpack everything. it feels impossible, and you no longer have the desire to see rain, as much as she could numb this. 

you lay down in your own, and much colder bed, but your curtains are drawn wide open and the moon is shining through your window— and she looks beautiful tonight. rain is probably admiring her, wishing she had you next to her to do so.

maybe ellie is doing the same. and maybe tonight, you’re still on her mind, even if she’s gazing at it with someone else.

[tackykachowch]

Jinx's appearance in s2 ep9 is a tragedy for her character. The writing throughout the season already tried its best to destroy absolutely everything meaningful to her and who she is at her core, and now we get the chance to see it visually.

I'll get this out of the way so nobody bothers me about it later: yes, I personally hate the design overall. But despite that if it was truthful to her character and reflected her journey well I wouldn't even squeak. Well, maybe one tiny time, but not make a whole post about it.

Alright, so right now I'm going to lign up all 3 of her designs and compare them in a sense how they represent Jinx as a character. I apologize for using The Wild Rift model because it's actual hell to find her s2 ep9 look in good quality and with a good view of the details.

There's a pretty stark difference between Powder and Jinx. The only element they share is gloves, but on Jinx they are modified and have a different color. There are however also similiar "motifs"(?), like purple stripes on clothes, Jinx's belts are positioned in a way that mirrors Powder's blue...thing on her pants; also Powder has a small braid on the side of her head, as well as golden hairpins, while Jinx has two braids that are waaay longer, but she still has golden elements that support her braids.

Now, the differences. Powder's clothes are layered and are made from different fabrics, covering almost her entire body. This represents that she's a shy, frightly girl with very low self-esteem. Jinx, on the other hand, has waaay more open skin, even to a somewhat inappropriate degree. This shows us that she became confident and doesn't care what others think of her, maybe even to a fault. Her boots in some way resemble jester's shoes, showing us her more light-hearted attitude, especially towards violence.

Also, unlike Powder, who only ever shot from a toy gun and made bombs that didn't work, Jinx is a prodigy bomb maker and a master shooter with (what seems like) a hand-made pistol, and on top of that has an also self-made machine gun. So from all of this we can pick up that this is the same person, but she changed in a huge way, hence why even her name is different.

Now, onto the Jinx we see in s2 ep9. She cut off her braids, colored streaks of her hair, especially on the bang, replaced her pants, top, and belts, made herself a hood, painted over her tattoos with x-es and Ekko's symbols, fused her machine gun with Fishbones, her recently made rocket launcher (ignore the wild rift picture for this part), and completely remade her pistol. The only things that carry over from her previous outfit are gloves, boots (which are now fully laced), her necklace aaaand yeah that's it. Motifs are left the same, except for her hair of course.

Now, I want to talk about a couple of elements in detail. Her hood is made from unknown material, and resembles some kind of monster, rather than a monkey, raven or shark, her previously established symbols. Like someone pointed out, it probably resembles drawings on Isha's helmet.

Also Jinx has pink markings under her eyes, just like Powder from Ekko's vision in season 1 ep7.

The bandages that replace her top are the same ones Vi has.

So, with all of that information, what can we tell about Jinx at the end of her journey? The obvious answer is that she decided to move on, but in what way? Accepting both "Powder" and "Jinx" parts of her? But then why did she paint over her tattoos? Something permanent, that shows how irreversibly she changed over the years, and will never become the same girl again? Moreover, why didn't she make the new tattoos, pink bullets? Yes yes, pink bullets. Both LoL Jinx and even s2 ep9 skin for Jinx in The Wild Rift have pink bullets tattoos, but arcane Jinx doesn't. Why tho? Well, of course, it's our good ol' pal Silco erasure. Because, you see, Jinx killed Silco with her Pow-Pow, and when she shoots with it, the bullets are seen as pink projectiles. So, not only does Jinx figuratively want to "paint over" her past with Silco, she also in no way wants to capture what she did to him and that in the very same night she finally accepted herself as Jinx. Of course we know that s2 writers didn't want to follow up on this decision, but adding a couple of effects onto her model isn't that big of a job. Anyway

Why did she go back to covering her legs entirely? Is she more careful now, orrr perhaps she seeks protection from someone? No. Why does she have paint all over her, and Ekko's symbols in particular? Is she a part of the Firelights now? Even if that's the case, it was never confirmed on screen. Why did she completely change her haircut, only leaving a bang? I guess hair holds the memories or whatever, so to start a new life you shouldn't have any memories of the previous one? Idk. Why did she replace her top with bandages like Vi's, if the last time they saw each other Jinx told Vi to let her go and forget about her? Idk. Why did she fuse Pow-Pow and Fishbones together? Idk.

The only things I more or less don't question are the hood and markings, but then again, I'm not really happy with the fact that we see Jinx in them in her "last" moments either. That's the part of my biggest problem with all of this, actually. It took around 10 years for Jinx to have such a big difference in how she looks, but the latest change happened literally overnight. No matter how you try to explain this, this is objectively terrible writing. In less than one episode the main character of the series drastically changed her appearance in ways that should tell us about a big character development, but we didn't get a chance to see any of it. Not the process, nor the development itself, because Jinx behaves in ep9 the same way she behaves in the rest of s2.

So, what was that all about? I guess they wanted to fill out the quota of a minimum of two outfit changes per season, but it's in no way justified within the show. And that's why this is a tragedy. Jinx went from the most well-written character in the show with incredible design and conflict to the writer's toy which only function is to be sacrificed.

[luckyartdrawer]

In a very spooooooooooky mood this month.

Been feeling rusty with drawing after not doing so for a few weeks, so made this simple Moon. Spooky goober <3

vvvv Alts, Yapping, AND HUH??? UHH??? vvvv

Alts

I was messing around with the line art layer and saw a blue version and just ran with it. I like the blue, and the contrast with the red makes me happy so I decided to keep em. :3

Practiced using the golden ratio too! He's spooky and perfect! <3

Oh also.

WHEN I GO TO ADD MY ART THIS IS IN MY CLIPBOARD AND IM SO CONFUSED WHY IS HE LIKE THAT-

MOON???? MOON ARE YOU OKAY??? WHY ARE YOU IN THE CORNER???? AND I DIDN'T MAKE A BLACK BG???

AM I HAUNTED NOW??????????????

I guess its fitting for spooky month at least.

[grimlyink-but-creative]

“Miss Lately Pillar🦋💘”

I drew Latter but as a girlie girl!!💕I love her sm…AAHGGGG!!💥

[littlefankingdom]

Tumblr: You seem to like Bruce Wayne, aka Batman.

Me: Yeah, I do.

Tumblr: Then can I recommend you these posts tagged "Anti Bruce Wayne"?

Me: Why do you hate me so much?

[sforzesco]

miscellaneous roman nonsense lmao I very briefly thought about un curling octavian's hair, but cleopatra 1963's influence remains as strong as ever