#what else could we ask for

[claraoswalds]

#mrs flood who are you: time lord edition

[casscainmainly]

A lot of debates have been going around on what is Cassandra's sexuality, some people said that she is a lesbian, others claims that she's asexual, but some said that she's bisexual.

What do you think her sexuality is based on previous love interests or previous runs of the early years from 1999 and early 2000 to today along with the out-of-continuity story?

Questions on Cass' sexuality are highly dependent on the person! For Cass in particular, the majority of takes about her sexuality come from Horrocks' run in Batgirl (2000), which is ambiguous and open-ended. There are multiple amazing readings that see her as aro/ace, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, questioning etc. So I'm not going to give a definitive answer here, and these thoughts are all my own - nothing I say here is meant to invalidate anyone else's interpretation.

Preamble aside, I don't think of Cass in a specific label tbh. I don't think she would have such an identitarian view of sexuality - that is, she wouldn't think of herself as 'a lesbian', even if she exclusively likes girls. That's not to say people can't call her a lesbian, or that she will never call herself a lesbian. I just think her sexuality is more fluid, and more exploratory, than a single category.

She does experience heteronormativity. Despite her upbringing being what it was, as soon as she entered the world she would've been exposed to heteronormative ideals, compounded by her love for reality TV, her main romantic ideal being DickBabs, and being around TimSteph. This heteronormativity of course influences the way she falls in love with men, in particular the whole Kon situation, which I read (as most people do) as comphet. The Cass-Kon thing though is also about Cass parsing out friendship from romantic feelings, so it's not really that straightforward. Meaning that while I don't think Cass ever felt anything for Kon, the comphet-ness of that relationship does not invalidate (to me) her feelings for other men.

I think that Cass has been legitimately attracted to men before, though really only Tai'Darshan. Tai is really important to Cass' awakening sexuality, so I like to think that she did love and care for him. Do I think they would've dated? Probably not. But there was something there that's not present for Cass-Kon, or other minor crushes like Cass-Sal, Cass-Javier, Cass-Dr. Shin etc. Thinking of out-of-cont texts, her relationship with Erik in Shadow of the Batgirl is also genuine to me. Also also I see the man in Batgirl (2000) #2 as Cass first 'crush', so I think she is genuinely attracted to men, but not frequently and in highly specific circumstances.

As for women, obviously as a StephCass lover I see Cass as being head over heels for Steph. I also think lesbian!Cass readings are popular because she has so much chemistry with every woman she meets: Rose, Brenda, Harper, Christine, Cela, literally every one of them has fun romantic undertones. (HarperCass, in particular, feels very romantic in B&R: E). She also has a fun ship with Xanthe who's non-binary. So Cass for me is Not Straight, and experiences attraction to other genders besides men. These are non-canon but there's only so many times you can hallucinate your best friend caressing you platonically okay?? Even though I think she can be attracted to men, I believe she's more attracted to other genders on the whole, particularly women.

All this to say I enjoy discussions on Cass' sexuality, but I view them more as 'readings' of her than definitive conclusions. In other words, there are asexual readings of CassKon, bisexual readings of TaiCass, lesbian readings of StephCass etc. that are really valuable and can coexist. The most boring reading you could have is her being straight tbh, so any other reading I find highly fascinating. It really depends on what ships people like, how they interpret Cass' sexuality exploration in Horrocks, and sometimes what they personally identify as. And that's the fun of reading + interpretation!!

[sysig]

Skelekinz (Patreon)

[5a-alf]

I fear Kevin Day is the type of person whose struggle always came second. He funcioned enough that while everyone knew he wasn't alright, it was also nobody's problem, as someone else was actively having a harder time and they took precedence. He internalises all his problems and keeps going and going but he is fueled by alchool and sheer desperation a 100% of the time. If he were to stop for even a second he wouldn't know how to start again.

Did he ever, at somepoint in his life -away from the ex foxes, a pro player, married to Thea- wish he had it worse, just so that maybe it would have been his turn being saved? Being first? How badly would he feel, just one second after thinking it, because he knows damn well he has enough trauma to fill a stadium and he isn't actually jealous of his friends that had it worse, he isn't . That's a fucked up thing to think, stop it, stop it.

Would he still drink himself into a stupor to shoote the ache, to banish the thought? That's the help he got, when he was at his worst, a drink, and then two, and then a thousand. And it worked, it made him go, it picked him up when he was down, and now he can't get down without crashing.

Did he wish to be saved? Did he hope somebody, anybody, took the time and put in the effort to help him, just because they saw him down, not because he begged, but because they noticed he could use a hand. Or two, actually. Was it torment, to always be under the spotlight, yet never been seen? Did he run toward fame hoping the more eyes on him meant it would be easier to be noticed?

[aroaceleovaldez]

in your most recent tyson post, you said something about leo being distinctly autistic-coded and I was wondering if you could elaborate on that? it sounds really interesting (sorry if you've already posted something on this, I couldn't find anything though)

Of course! I do have a specific tag for talking about Leo's autistic-coding/traits - [here], and [one for Nico as well].

The main aspects with Leo being autistic-coded actually have a lot to do with Nico being autistic-coded, because it's the comparisons between the two that most clearly indicate Leo is autistic-coded rather than it just being his ADHD or etc.

So with Nico being autistic-coded, it's very clear in the Titan's Curse that he's intended to be autistic. First, the first series has a repeating pattern of secondary characters being very distinctly neurodivergent-coded in different ways (Annabeth's adhd/dyslexia, Tyson's down syndrome-coding, Nico's autism-coding). With Nico's introduction, he's pretty stereotypically autistic and we're given a lot of descriptors about him that are notably not attributed to him being ADHD, like it would be for other demigod characters. He doesn't register social cues such as people getting annoyed at him, he's asking/making inappropriate or impolite questions/comments, he gets particularly upset about change (such as Bianca joining the Hunt) and generally gets emotional, and one of his most notable traits he's introduced with is the fact that he has a special interest (MythoMagic) - and we're shown that this special interest particularly colors how Nico navigates the world. While ADHD has hyperfixations, we don't really get much acknowledgement of hyperfixations with demigods usually - Annabeth gets a little, but most others don't and it's not nearly as focused-in on as Nico's is.

Then as the series continues we see these traits stick with him and him start to show or voice more traits that similarly indicate he's autistic: He regularly mentions how he doesn't understand living people and prefers the company of the dead (social issues). He has more notable stims than other demigods (twisting his ring, fiddling with bones, etc). He's indicated to have strong sensory preferences (usually wearing mostly black/aversion to bright colors, usually wearing layers/his coat, multiple times he's described as wearing loose/baggy clothing or clothes too big for him). He has specific comfort items (his ring, likely his jacket(s) as well). We later get even more information about his special interests (Mythomagic/mythology/history and an older interest in pirates - the latter he specifically notes likely heavily influenced his feelings towards Percy). He struggles with emotions and facial expressions and tone. He struggles particularly with ostracism and feeling like he doesn't fit in and has something distinctly different about him from the people around him (who notably, all have ADHD, which indicates it isn't the ADHD that's making him feel that way), and other characters regularly describe him as being off-putting because of his strange behaviors - again, different from specific ADHD traits they recognize. And that last point is kind of notable because we have Hazel and Bianca for comparison - we know people are off-put by both Nico and Hazel because of being children of Hades/Pluto and their powers/aura, but other characters get past that general feeling of discomfort way faster with Hazel. And even after characters get past the death stuff with Nico, there's a second thing that they aren't moving past that isn't a factor with Hazel (Nico's autism).

So that brings us to Leo - Leo is paralleled to Nico a lot. And there's some very specific traits about him that we know are autistic-coding because of how they're used with Nico: He similarly struggles with social cues/etc, and in a very similar parallel to Nico describes how he prefers the company of machines to people because machines make more sense to him. He has similar types of clothing/sensory preferences (again some stuff with layers but also - pockets! He likes having pockets and things to put stuff in! He's even introduced as having a jacket with lots of pockets), and he has a distinct special interest (machinery) that we specifically know heavily influences how he views and navigates the world (constantly comparing things to machinery, describing things with machinery metaphors/terminology, etc etc). He even describes his entire general worldview to Hazel and it's a machine metaphor. He also similarly struggles with ostracization like Nico does, the only difference being that Leo specifically puts on a persona to compensate for areas he knows he's lacking in and very explicitly describes it as a means to make people like him, because without it he normally struggles to fit in (He's masking!). We also see notes of characters describing that similar discomfort with Leo's behaviors that they do with Nico, except without the aura of death this time. And when we're in Leo's POVs we see a very stark difference between his masking and his actual personality/behaviors such as his internal dialogues or how he behaves when he's alone. Also, like Nico, he stims more than other demigods, though for Leo it's more attributed to his ADHD. Leo also, more often than most, similarly struggles with tone and reading the room, such as making misplaced jokes/comments or etc.

But yeah! It's really interesting. Also it's just a fun thing that ADHD/dyslexia and autism have comorbidity, so it makes sense that we see demigods who are also autistic. It's also really fun to look at how other characters are coded in the series, what coding looks like in the riordanverse specifically (usually it's tied into the mythological stuff - like Chiron being in a wheelchair but he's actually a centaur, Grover being introduced as having a muscular disease but he's actually a satyr, demigods having adhd/dyslexia, Tyson being coded as having down syndrome but he's a cyclops, etc etc - it's a lot of specific metaphor stuff that I've talked about a bit before), and to look at how characters are compared to one another.

[dykedvonte]

One of my mutuals opinions is the "bro code" thing, that Curly is one of those guys who wouldn't care about the victim because the perpetrator is his friend and I'm really banging my head on the wall like that other anon. I've only played through the game once but Curly's behaviour/reactions etc read completely different from the "bro code" thing and I have to wonder if my mutual and I even played the same game.. like the constant digs at him from Jimmy, his body language in his face reveal and so on like you mentioned in your post. While this game is a little different obviously, it kind of reminded of a point in Alice Madness Returns that makes it very clear that Alice's pain blinded her to the abuse of the other children and her failure to act earlier because of it. Curly is guilty of a similar inaction but it doesn't change the fact he was a victim of Jimmy too. I don't think I can look at it any other way because both of these games have really stuck with me.

I genuinely think it really is the idea that people want a simple easy to blame problem and the idea that the only relatable victims of abuse are those that "surpass" it or do a lot to help others. When it comes to victims, especially those that don't fit the typical demographics, who either accidently perpetuate it, enable it or aren't ideal in some way shape or form, people jump to ignore what they went through as it's easier than dealing with those conflicting sentiments.

The bro-code conversation in Mouthwashing stems from a concept I generally dislike that there had to be something about Curly that made him meet or keep being friends with someone like Jimmy. I think people genuinely underestimate how many like decent and good people just know an asshole or are friends with someone who is really bad outside of their view/established dynamics. The game makes it clear none of the inaction against Jimmy is because of a lack of care, it is a lack of understanding from the privaleged postions they have as men to not have to worry about what Anya does/went through and the type of extremes men like Jimmy will go through to cover it up. They are all too preoccupied in their own strifes.

Another thing I see being oversaturated the idea that you have to be a freak, misanthrope or have a disorder to do the thing Jimmy does. The game is an escalation, it's a spiral that I don't see people comment on that Jimmy was not likely having the mood swings and episodes of rage/frustration we were seeing in the game. This is after they all start experiencing the worst moments in their lives that he got THAT openly bad. Of course, this is just my interpretation but much like in real life, people that go to extremes like that usually live mundane lives. It's a pressure cooker affect to where the stress made them pop. It's self inflicted but still the case.

I really think people need to be more willing to acknowledge that not everything needs to be an extreme or in black and white or easy to understand. It doesn't need to be happy or have an answer or solution, especially in the cases where the abused sadly helps perpetuate what they experience. It's not he should've known better from experience or shouldn't he have known what could've happened because victims tend to not like to think in matters of the worst. Not to mention, especially in cases of abuse where it feels so personally directed that you don't expect to happen to someone else.

[perhaps-mr-collins-has-a-cousin]

It has been requested (@awfullybigwardrobe44 💛) that I provide an update on How Things Are Going With The Young Man, and there’s so much I could say that it all kind of cancels itself out (I’ve been journaling like a madwoman lately), but yes, I think things are going well. I still can't believe any of this is happening, I am not the kind of person that this kind of stuff is supposed to happen to 😆 We have gone on several more dates, one of them a day-long fishing trip, and it’s been lovely and I just think he's delightful and I really like being with him. I still have a lot of shyness to overcome, but considering how intensely terrified I used to be of him I think I’ve made excellent progress 😆 I’ve seen less of him lately because he’s extremely busy with work and especially school but we text a lot and this weekend we’re planning to go to dinner and then the symphony after that (I bought the tickets and I can tell it's driving him nuts that I finally paid for something myself but ahaha it's too late there's nothing he can do about it now) 😊

[ongreenergrasses]

late night thoughts: hypothetically if there were more pets in thg…like hamsters….*insert everyone has a traumatic childhood hamster story here* what would each characters hamster story be? Full transparency (from Jersey, spent summers at the shore, and got a got hermit crab once, put it in the fish tank, and quickly learned that they don’t survive in water) and I still feel so bad to this day

LMAOOO i dug deep for these i hope everyone enjoys

Katniss/Prim: Prim begs for the hamster. Katniss is Not happy because hamsters aren't useful, Prim, they're just another mouth to feed, but also she loves Prim and one of the Town kids at school's got a hamster that just had babies so. Prim gets the hamster. the problem is, of course, that Prim also has Buttercup. doesn't take long before the hamster "disappears" (Katniss finds Buttercup chewing on it and quickly hides the evidence before Prim wakes up)

Peeta: Peeta has such a horrible home life and is looking for something, anything, that he can call his own to get him through. so when the kid at school says he's got hamsters and wants to know if he wants one, he doesn't think twice, just hides it in his bag and takes it home. He keeps the hamster hidden in his drawer and sneaks it seeds and some water every day. it all goes south when one of his brothers slams the drawer too hard.

Gale: Gale isn't the one who gets the hamster, it's Rory. Hazelle freaks out and tries to get rid of the hamster, but the idea upsets Rory so much that eventually Gale talks her out of it. They build the hamster an elaborate cage with lots of tunnels and things to climb, it's a project they spend days on, and Posy is in charge of making sure the hamster has enough food and water. the hamster outlives every other one on this list and dies of old age.

Finnick: someone thinks that Finnick needs something to occupy him (which is probably true) and so he ends up with a hamster. Finnick does not want a hamster. Finnick has absolutely no interest in pets or animals, so he immediately tries to pass the hamster off on one of the kids of the other victors. this does not work. he continues to try and get rid of the hamster, and then eventually on a really, really bad day gets so frustrated that he "accidentally" leaves the cage door open. this backfires because it gets stuck in the wall somehow and dies. they then have to take the wall apart to get the hamster out.

Johanna: Johanna does not like hamsters. Johanna ends up getting a hamster as a gift, or at least she thinks she does, because she walks into the house one day and the telltale signs of Blight Meddling (for example, the house is much cleaner) are there, as well as a hamster in a cardboard box on the counter. but Johanna's also not heartless and doesn't want it to die, so she tries to take care of it for a while. she brings it outside and lets it play in the grass because she thinks that's probably good for it, except one day while they're outside before she can do anything, one of Blight's dogs runs over, grabs the hamster up in its mouth, and runs away. Johanna swears off pets after this and will deny it but cries for a couple days over it.

there are many other hamster stories waiting to be unlocked here but i didn't want to make this Too long so i guess we could do like. hamsters part two if people are compelled by this

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Had to explain to a friend today that No Really I Swear Magneto And Professor X Are Friends And Like Each Other Thats Canon And Real

[wintergrofyuri]

ok hi im back again. can we talk about the hero harem. i wanna talk about the hero harem.

so. what do i mean by this. well, think of a dating sim. now stop thinking about a dating sim bc its not anything like the hero harem. the hero harem is an all you can eat buffet. a basket of bread at a restaurant. chips and dip.

the hero harem is a game of hungry hungry hippos.

see, we can all agree that hero is like. the de facto leader. he's kind and empathetic. a nice guy. easy to get along with. but most importantly: he's the voice you start with. the one you always have. the closest to the long quiet. the closest to the shifting mound as well. this means something probably. but most importantly, it means something to the other voices. they're disjointed and argumentative and the only thing keeping them together is sharing a body.

now, what happens when you give them their own bodies? chaos. absolute fucking chaos. probably some attempted murder as well. but hero wldnt let that happen. he's the glue holding them together. their rock.

what im getting at is, they're all codependant as fuck. clinginess varies but its present in all of them. always an arm around his shoulders or hand on his arm or. just hands everywhere. they're all very touchy in my mind. physical sensation is very novel to them and they want to get everything out of it they can. preferably with their hero.

you may be wondering. do they fight? do they tug at him like a barbie doll? growl and tug like dogs with a rope? maybe a little. in subtle ways. but its more like a class pet type situationship. he is theirs collectively. they pass him around like a bottle of bud lite is what im saying. like "its been one of those days. pass the hero" ykno. they all have their grubby little claws on him. and if we're adding the vessels? oh my god its like a fucking joint at a party. they are all in that shit. like cheeto dust on ur fingers. but like. its feather dust.

anyways, hero is a little silly guy who loves affection he's soaking this shit up dont worry about him. they feed him, they walk him. he gets plenty of sunlight ykno. its fine. hes fine.

[necrotic-nephilim]

in lieu of having posted any writing/headcanons/asks in the past few days because i have been *so* busy and unable to do anything fandom-related which is terrible and evil, i have a poll out of morbid curiosity and self-indulgence. i've been meaning to ramble here about how i feel about DC's lack fo Deaf representation and which Batfam members i would personally make Deaf, but i am mildly curious about the larger opinion and now i will subject you all to the question, i would love to hear thoughts/opinions/headcanons on any specific choices. (would love d/Deaf/HoH opinions esp but i'm mostly expecting this to reach the hearing crowd, so opinions from hearing ppl are ones i'm very curious about. if you've never given it thought before you are going to now or else /lh)

[maeamian]

Actually research skills are hard to learn especially unsupervised so maybe telling people to just "Go figure it out" especially if you already know they've been failed academically in other ways, might actually be a great way to just send them to a PragerU video on the topic.

[sidneycarter]

love the idea that post The Situation thomas is just increasingly obtuse when it comes to jimmy's feelings.

so when one day mrs hughes mentions in passing at how much easier it is to handle james now he's settled down, thomas is incredibly confused. and a little bit heartbroken too of course.

it gets even stranger when on valentine's day alfred sulkily asks jimmy how many cards he's sent that year and jimmy merely shrugs and smirks. mrs patmore chastises them for gossiping and announces that surely, jimmy's only got one to be sending.

then one night, most of the staff are enjoying a rare night off in the pub. as usual, a host of pretty girls surround jimmy, and one particularly brave one asks jimmy if he's got any plans on one of his half days. jimmy throws her a cheeky wink and says "sorry, darling, but i'm spoken for."

thomas starts feeling really rather hurt. he's known all along that this would happen eventually - that jimmy would eventually move on and find a nice village lass, but it still stings to hear it. somehow, it hurts even more knowing that clearly jimmy has fallen for someone but he hasn't even told thomas.

thomas puts on a brave face and elbows daisy in the side. "d'ya hear that? jimmy's kept that quiet 'asn't he?"

daisy looks at him with a frown and cocks her head to the side. "well, not really--" but before she can say anything else she's swept up into the rowdy conversation of the table.

a few weeks later, thomas and jimmy are alone in the servants hall, with thomas reading the paper in his rocking chair and jimmy tapping out melodies on the piano. the tune he's playing is sweet and gentle, and thomas finds himself swaying his head along. as the song draws to a close, a gentle round of applause sounds from the doorway.

baxter stands smiling. "let me call you sweetheart is one of my favourites. it was beautiful, jimmy."

jimmy blushes prettily and stands, closing the piano lid. "thank you, mrs baxter. good night."

after he's gone from the room, baxter enters to fill herself a glass of water. she smiles fondly at thomas. "he's so smitten you know. head over heels." she rolls her eyes affectionately.

it takes months until thomas finally figures out the truth of what's going on. well, to say he figures it out is somewhat generous.

he's in the servants hall again, this time feeling a little despondent with a cup of tea. jimmy had gone to the pictures with alfred of all people, their friendship seemingly improved since jimmy's given up on chasing ivy's skirt. thomas is resolutely not waiting up to make sure jimmy gets home safe. anna is the only other person still up, and she sits opposite thomas stitching one of lady mary's hemlines in companionable silence.

thomas dwells on his own thoughts for a while, until anna rests her sewing on the table and fixes him with a worried look. "are you quite alright, mr barrow?"

"hm? oh, yes anna, i'm very well thank you." he takes a sip of his tea to hide his moue.

anna looks unconvinced. "thomas," she says seriously, "is it-- have you and jimmy had a falling out?"

that genuinely surprises thomas. for all his worry and sadness over jimmy's as yet unknown love interest, they'd never fallen out. "no, no, of course not. he's just busy, that's all, which is to be expected now he's, you know," thomas waves his cup vaguely in the air, "courting the mystery lady."

anna chokes on a laugh. "the mystery lady?"

"yes. he's-- he's courting someone, isn't he? everyone keeps saying that he's... or suggesting that he's taken with someone." Thomas adds somewhat bitterly, "seems quite serious if you ask me. not that he's told me anything about it of course."

anna stops giggling and looks at him oddly. "thomas you-- you can't mean--"

"-- do you know who she is, anna?" thomas interrupts a little desperately. he's becoming tired of it all and he just wants to know-- how bad it is, for how long he's going to have to tend to his broken heart.

"thomas. thomas, jimmy's sweetheart is-- well, it's you."

"me?" thomas has a brief, sickening memory of his feelings before, and how miss o'brien toyed with them so badly. but he knows in his gut, that anna would never, and could never do that. he knows she's being honest, as confusing and terrifying as the statement may be.

"yes." anna smiles. "he's like a little puppy when he's with you. surely you've noticed? he gazes at you with stars in his eyes. he wants to do everything you do, and it seems like every other conversation is all about what you've been telling him this week. he only ever plays love songs on the piano when you're in the room. he laughs at all your jokes and he's not even glanced in the direction of a girl since last year." anna shakes her head. "i thought you knew and were just letting him get used to it."

"no i didn't -- i didn't know, i thought," thomas can feel himself blushing, "i don't know what i thought."

anna stands with a stifled yawn. "you make each other very happy. if you really didn't know, i think you ought to talk to him. good night, mr barrow."

"good night anna. and thank you."

thomas is left in the still and quiet of the room, watching the steam spiral up from his cup. a private and hopeful smile spreads across his face. yes, he thinks, nodding his head, perhaps we should talk.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Everyone who makes jokes about Vulcan hand sex is ignoring the REAL Star Trek hand sex species.

The Ocampa.

[ask-rain-world-characters]

(besides Arti) does any other slugcat have/had children? (Not adopted)

Hunter's Answer:

“Well I never had a single kid and if certain conditions got worse… well I don’t think I’ll have such a thing… but imagine, little Hunter juniors running around and making a mark on this world! I’d love that. I really would…”

Watcher's Answer:

"No, I don't have any pups of my own.... I just don't feel any romantical feelings towards others."

Spearmaster's Answer:

"While it may be a new or fun experience, no. I don't have any sort of relations with any of the others anyway... I do think, however, that Suns would very much like having 'grandkids' to meet... Maybe some day..."

Gourmand's Answer:

"I've asked around everyone else, and it seems like the answer is 'no'. Don't worry, our tribe still has plenty of regular parents, but they're not available for questions, unfortunately. Though if I can honest, I'd like to have children someday. But right now, there are more important things for me to take care of. Well, at least, I can still watch over the kids of others. They always brighten my cycles."

Spearmaster & Slugpup art by - @techies-things

[poedays]

In another universe we get to have this conversation in person and I am both happy for them and hate them because we’re not them 😔

The crowd are fake fans if they don’t know the difference

🫵 lasko’s listener

Why thank you, I will take great pride in being a Dear representative.

Maybe this is a sign to talk about my Dear and Lasko thoughts 🤔