#which i feel like is pretty reasonable and normal but

[littlepaperboatyo]

I think the language of this does a good job driving home the real issue behind things like Ai use and factory farming for me, which is not so simple as Ai is bad or factory farming is bad. Both of these things are done for the sake of scale, "how do we reach as many people as we can?" and when that is your first value it drastically shifts all of your other values. Corporations care about quantity of consumers over all else.

A small language school would never consider using Ai because it would introduce many problems and solve none. Their values would be set on doing their best to serve their community and help people they know to better communicate. Introducing Ai doesn't help them make a connection with Mel's kid Alex who's having a hard time learning Spanish and also understanding why he should learn Spanish just to talk to his new stepbrother Javi. That requires being present and connecting with people, and holds the possibility of personally mattering in their lives. Instructor Aldo might be the perfect person to do it too, Alex thinks he's a pretty cool guy and he focuses not on Alex's feeling about his mom getting married but on what Alex knows about Javi. Maybe that kid is pretty cool and Alex is missing out by not being able to play with him. Maybe Aldo can enlist Javi's help and now when they're laughing together Alex is desperate to be able to understand the joke. Now Alex is understanding Spanish, and he and Javi start being able to hang out, and they're both feeling a bit better about their parents getting married.

Take away instructor Aldo, now there's an app. It's a pretty good app, and if Alex would engage with it he might start to figure out Spanish, but he's angry about his mom getting married. He doesn't engage, and he has this stepbrother he doesn't understand, and he's mad. and he's mad. and he doesn't learn Spanish. and nothing changes.

But people learn languages for many reasons and Duolingo does work for many people. And it needs to work for more people, which means that they need to do more work. Which means they need to outsource it. Which means Ai is looking like a good choice.

This is what monopolies are. Forget about business for the sake of business, there was a time before businesses existed. there was a time before money. in fact, it was about 2000 years ago. people would do things for each other because they knew each other and cared about each other. and even when money came about it existed so that people who didn't know each other could help each other and would often result in people getting to know each other. in fact this is how about every business worked up until the industrial Revolution, and even then it was still most of them. But then you get businesses that do too well, and no one competing with them. And it's not really about the lack of competition that exists in a healthy economy, it's moreso about what happens when your neighborhood store is supporting more than just your neighborhood. where do they get the supply for the demand?

they outsource it.

When you care about scale your community expands. You have to start thinking on a bigger scale which means you lose sight of the small scale. Your values change, and your values affect the values of the people you serve. They lose sight of their value just as you have. I see it every day, and I see it in myself. I work in a very busy store where I serve thousands of people a day. My boss calls it the neighborhood store. I serve thousands of people a day. I see so many faces and I do my best to block them out because it's too much. This is not uncommon, for the people in my store or plenty of other stores belonging to different companies. But it is not normal.

Yesterday people came to protest where we get our chicken. I serve thousands of people a day.

It is not possible for companies to exist at this scale and honor good values.

And it smoothes over and eradicates culture. We don't have different conversations with our language instructors. We don't have that one really strange grocer that you can have an interesting conversation with for half an hour while they're on the clock. We don't have small communities with their own values that can inspire it's own culture.

we have the global scale.

[link]

we been knew its just a nail in a coffin tbh

[bearyfast]

Rained In - LN4

Partnering: Lando Norris x reader

Type: Fluff (kinda angst a little but not really)

Established Relationship

Summary: After being rained in on a weekend trip away from the F1 world, Lando's real feelings about the future come out by the fireplace.

Warnings: None (if I've missed any, please let me know and I'll add them!)

F1 Masterlist

“I’m sorry today didn’t work out,” Lando mumbled into your hair as you were cuddling on the couch together, you wrapped up in his strong arms, keeping you in place. “I know you wanted us to actually do something on this holiday”

Coming up to a weekend break from the Formula One season, you had convinced Lando to go on a weekend getaway to a cabin in the English countryside.

You had wanted to do a few different things; going on walks and just adventuring in the countryside that you normally didn’t get to see with all the glitz and glamour of living in Monaco and being a Formula One driver (and a Formula One drivers girlfriend).

Unfortunately for your plans, the weather decided that it would rain; and rain it did.

Since an hour before the sun even rose until what would probably be the entire night it had been constant raining and pouring.

Which leads to the current situation- you and Lando laying together on the couch, watching a DVD that Lando brought along for some reason since the internet was down and a knitted blanket draped over both of you.

“It’s alright, today worked out pretty good anyway” You spoke softly, looking up to him with a soft smile and a small giggle at the end of your words.

Earlier that day, instead of leaving in the rain, you decided that you had all the ingredients to bake a pie. Which you did- really the only issue was Lando.

You see, as you were making the base of the pie, fingers deep in dough and hands clad with flour, Lando decided he would be ‘helpful’. Well if helpful meant scaring you by coming up the back of you without making a sound and wrapping his arms around your waist.

Jumping at the sudden contact, you spun around and placed your hands (the ones that had flour and dough all over them) on Lando’s chest to push him back. This caused Lando’s shirt to get flour and dough on it and his adorable little pout to be on his face for the next hour.

Though everything worked out in the end when you found him eating half of the pie a few minutes later- before you even got a chance to cut it up to have for lunch.

“Don’t remind me” Lando groaned as he pulled you closer to him, turning you around so you laid on top of him, chest to chest.

Leaning forward, you placed a soft kiss on his lips with Lando responding almost immediately-  turning the intended soft and short kiss into an intimate and slow one. It felt as if this kiss was somehow more open and honest than any other kiss you had ever had in your year long relationship.

As Lando pulled away, he connected your forehead with something… new in his eyes. Under the light of the fireplace nearby, the embers lighting up his face and eyes in a way you hadn’t seen before.

Like he was just full of love and finally let himself show that. It made your heart swell before he even began speaking again.

“You know what my biggest fear is?” Lando asked softly but with a raw undertone in his voice, nodding slightly as the already quiet noise from the TV turned into almost blurry noises in the background. “It’s losing you”

Before you could comfort him or tell him you weren’t going away, he shook his head to silence you while he swallowed.

“What if one day something happens to me on the track? I get hurt and suddenly I can’t come home to you,” Lando spoke with emotion high in his voice, but it came out slightly muffled since he grabbed the back of your head softly to hug you and buried his own head in the crook of your neck for comfort. “Or worse, what if our long term relationship doesn’t work out? What if we have different views of the future?”

After being silent for a few moments, you wrapped your arms around him as well. “That won’t happen, Lan. Why were you thinking of this anyway? Do you think we will have different ideas for the future?”

“No, I just-” Lando stopped himself, taking a deep breath of the scent of your perfume and shampoo’s scent mixed together. “Recently I met up with a guy from high school I used to be friends with, and when he proposed to his girlfriend, she uh- she said no because I guess they weren’t on the same page about their relationship.Then, you know, of course my job”

“Oh, baby,” You cooed, pulling his head out of the crook of your neck, holding it in your hands softly. “I knew your job when I started dating you, I know the risks, and also I’m pretty sure we’re on the same page of our relationship, but if you want to be sure- just ask, baby”

Lando just looked up to you for a moment before kissing you again- a tear running down his cheek and you quickly wiped away.

“So, just to check, if I were to propose, you wouldn’t reject me?” Lando said with a small grin on his face, the love in his eyes somehow stronger than before.

“I would only say no if you did it publicly” You smiled before kissing him again.

“Expect it soon then” Lando states suddenly. “After being rained in with you here and speaking to you like this, I realised that I only want you- forever and always. I love you”

“I love you too, Lan” You whispered, matching the raw emotion in his voice, something only achieved when away from the camera’s and in the privacy of between yourselves.

[elliesglock]

ice live analysis part l | before pazzi cuddle

this live man. can we first of all talk about the implications of this live? literally TRANSFORMED belief in pazzi and fed a whole nation i must say. so ice starts the live off on insta and we kinda just gotta bear w her for the rest of the way cause it's rocky. maybe subconsciously she knew she was launching pazzi the night cause she had us going through WAR to watch this damn thing. also uconn wifi is literally ball sack ass hairs so. from the beginning of the live, we get a pretty good picture to who is already turnt (paige) and to who is getting there (azzi). paige keeps dancing in the shot and she's just in party p mode so you know she's already gone to the world. ice shows azzi and ofc she's looking absolutely stellar and perfect. i know paige was peeing her pants looking at her. i think that's why she gets so feral later on in this live oop but we'll get into that. it starts off pretty normal but in the beginning we hear kayla talking about something that will have a pretty big significance later on in my analysis. it sounds like she's talking to everyone around her about her little shi. it honestly sounds like whoever this is is questioning whether she's at a bar and mad at her for it. ice says, "just tell him ur at the gym doing shots." tryna get her to make a cover story. and ice again is like "what even is a ted you're not there!!" okay wing woman ice literal FARM in this live cause she also gives us one of the biggest pazzi moments ever while also helping kayla tame her little yeah. also tf is going on at ted's we got mfs behind the bar (carol) handing out shots for everyone like she's the bartender. girl your friends are actively launching on main and here she come w the jell-o shots? please give me a break. now atp we see azzi's a tad turnt, especially after we hear caroline handing out shots, she looks ice's camera dead in the face and says do u want a drink do you wanna a drink not even realizing. then in the background she's like OF WATER OF WATER. mind u this girl not even supposed to be drinking but shit azzi ig let's take a shot. the camera eventually gets to paige and girl can't even stand. these two together are the main reason they got caught let's be real, ice just had the camera and was accidentally messy. but paige is dancing like shit and you can tell she's wasted. and she lowkey starts getting very cuddly when she's drunk and the energy around her just seems so flirty and like she's waiting for the minute she can go over and go touch azzi and cuddle up with her. we get a good display of how paige is when she's drunk and for me it really 100% points to her being touchy and craving azzi no matter what. her eyes are low, she's lingering around, she's dancing and smiling like a goof. she's having fun but i know once she gets over there to az she's gonna be begging to hit that bathroom if ykwim. AND OMG tell me why she grins, looks behind her to wear azzi is, and basically power walks over there. ice looks behind her and gives her guilty little smile like she always does. my theory is they were kissing and carrying on this whole live. every time we don't see paige we also don't see azzi just putting that out there. i think they probs disappeared a few times to.....lets just say make out in the bathroom and take some shots. they kinda remain in that corner for a second because ice keeps looking back almost to make sure they don't accidentally come into her shot. she seems very on edge which makes me feel like they def were kissing/making out and she was worried they were too drunk to not accidentally walk into the camera shot. i like to say during all of this everyone legit has no reaction and keeps going on about their own things and it really says to me this is a very normal thing at ted's.

during this next part, im not really a believer of the whole "come make out with me" cause listening with headphones multiple times i legit hear two people talking about wings. there's one beside ice saying "who ordered buffalo wings?" and then off in the distance you hear someone say we ordered wings. this is the person who's often misinterpreted as paige telling azzi to come make out with her. not that she wasn't asking her (she def was) but it wasn't in this moment. sorry yall 🥀.

during pazzi cuddle:

alright this next part needs its own fucking section CAUSE ISUNEH BRADY!!!! u just won us the lottery girly pop. there's a fated comment that starts this whole mess that says "show us da team" and ice not realizing what's happening behind her (poor girl) does a spin of the people behind her. it's very quick and honestly the people who say they can't tell what's happening are liars. it's very obviously paige and azzi are pushed back into the corner and paige has her hand on azzi's waist and azzi has her hand on paige's face and they're smiling. it's seriously the cutest thing ever and they seem so in love idk why people made it seem like it was such a bad thing. i understand the privacy aspect but to deny it when it's obv VERY ROMANTIC body language is insane to me but whatever ig. against popular belief, i don't think they were kissing. i think they just got done kissing. and they were still in the stance for it. paige's hand kinda slowly comes up from azzi's hip which says to me they were just making out and paige was grabbing what is rightfully hers i won't even lie. but at that moment ice turns the camera, they're not. them smiling at each other is so freaking cute they seem very honeymoonish newly wed kinda happy. and to be frank, i find it so beautiful that they are literally surrounded by people their age and their friends, and could be partying and dancing but they're near one another lost in each other. that is the biggest thing the ice live showed me truthfully. that they legit only see each other and no matter how much fun they're having nothings more fun than hanging out with each other and looking into each others eyes and loving on one another. IM SO FUCKING OVER IT PAZZI. now i wanna talk about the implications of this moment because it's huge. first of all, nobody even bats an eye. if they were just friends this whole conversation and closeness would be something everyone's staring at/laughing at, but nobody looks even the slightest bit of surprised. jana's literally looking away and at ice's screen when she's standing right beside them. caroline's holding a whole convo w azzi while paige is actively looking for another kiss from her and getting closer?? that's not normal friend behavior im sorry....also ices reaction. not normal at all either. seeing them in a weird stance like that if they were just friends she wouldn't rip the camera away from them, she'd be like what are yall doing and laugh. just like how she shows A BUNCH of people hanging on paige and eachother and doesn't move the camera. she moves the camera this live when she's showing something she's not supposed to. especially with how wide her eyes get, she knows she's not supposed to be showing this. and she gets all weird and on edge again after this. she knew she just showed fans a couple kissing and cuddling when they weren't out. THATS why she reacts the way she does not because of anything anybody else says. and no don't blame ice for anything she didn't mean too, I'll stab u if u do thank you.

[inkbloto]

✌🏾😈🔮▪︎ Purgatorio Art Dump ▪︎🔮😈✌🏾

Heyo it's me, back at it again with another project.

Okay but in all seriousness, this has probably been the wildest one I've been on, but in a good + learning experience way.

I haven't felt very much into my original characters for a long time now, ( PacAU doesn't count it's more of a fan-work I'm obsessed with lol.) which I know kinda sucks to hear since some do like my other original stories + concepts but ngl the previous ones just didn't *CLICK* for me. Felt like I was more-so doing them for portfolio reasons rather then actually digging the "story/characters" Ya'know? Not to say I don't like em or will never return to them, but It just didn't feel like I was into it If that makes any sense.

I was in a slight funk during Febuarry + March and thought randomly one day about Bloto. My old persona Bloto ( who isn't my persona anymore and hasn't been for awhile btw ) was always kinda a blank slate of a character so I was like: " What if I made them have a human form to blend in with ppl. " so concept art started then boom lore and a story for it too SOOO now we are here. I also managed to slip in my crack-ship here somehow so bonus points.

I've kinda gotten hyper-fixated on this one as of late. Feels weird to say but I haven't felt this STRONG BOND ever since I created PacAU LOL. I have a sunshine son and night daughter now.

SO ANYWAYS, I recommend following my bluesky + main twitter for updates revolving around these guys but I will TRY to post more oc stuff here. DO NOT quote me on that though.

BASIC INFO TO KNOW FOR NOW:

Beatrix / Bloto: Beatrix is Bloto's human disguise they turn into in order to blend with mortals ever since they were banished from Montero ( The Daimon relam ) to the earthly-mortal one; Purgatorio, mostly referred to as Atorio. They were kicked out due to attempted murder of a friend who had betrayed them. . . Now they are stuck on Atorio with cuffs that can't come off as punishment, but it allows them to turn into a human while working as a art teacher and protector at a church+academy.

Dante: A close friend to Beatrix/Bloto who is into the paranormal and the supernatural while trying to solve his family curse. . . Maybe the mysterious but heroic Daimon in town can help him? He does not know Bloto IS Beatrix in the earlier parts of the story.

Jewels / Jezebel : A happy go-lucky Daimon who was banished for not performing their daily qouta, so she would be shunned to the human realm. Even so, she has never thrived better than before as fashion designer on Atorio referring to herself as Jewels. She and Beatrix/Bloto at first don't see eye to eye as polar opposites, but eventually become good friends. Especially after learning the two are both Daimons.

Father/Headmaster Donovan : One of the earliest Daimons exiled for unknown reasons and the man who found Bloto/Beatrix after their banishment. . . To not give attention, he raises them as his own as an act but clearly shows deep care for them. Runs a pretty normal church/academy.

Other character info will come out later as I'm drawing more stuff but that's basic info you have for now lolz.

[lizardho]

I also REALLY wanna emphasize that part of the reason our stories are so weird and funny and whatever is because babs and I were tenaciously curious about EVERYTHING and we got REALLY into what we liked. And we got really into storytelling because we love stories, because stories are part of our upbringing and our cowboy heritage, and because they make more sense than real life. And one day I made the mistake (I say this jokingly because it’s actually a really good memory now) of telling my dad that I wanted to learn to write my stories. My dad, who had worked 12-hour swing shifts at the E.R. for my entire life up to that point, felt sad that his job had limited his time with us, and he put his whole pussy into making me a writer. He spent two weeks spending every spare second of his day looking into how to be a better writer. And one day, two or three weeks after I had told him that, he comes to me and tells me that he’s going to support my dream of being an author. And he tasked me with writing a LOT of stuff. Any story I made up, any thought or opinion I had, he asked me to write it down and then he gave me feedback on it. The same thing, or something similar at least, happened to Babs, fwiw.

This is the source of many of my happiest, best memories with my parents, and this was also REALLY annoying as a kid. I’d wanna tell my dad about the story I just made up with my l’il lego guys or whatever and he’d be like “write it down and I’ll give you feedback on your story in 2-3 business days” and like, sometimes I just wanted to yap (Again, looking back on it I have good memories of writing for my dad). But the thing my dad had learned by studying this for us was that the way to get better at writing was to write a LOT, to get a LOT of feedback on our writing, and to be aware of the important elements of a story. Because of this, me and babs have become gifted writers. We wrote a lot, we got lots of feedback, we studied our favorite authors, we studied the tips and tricks of the people who mattered in our lives, and we can fucking WRITE now.

So when we verbalize the little things we did in our lives, part of why it’s fun and funny is because we’re genetic freaks, and we’re not normal, and that makes our lives unusual too. A lot of the shit we did didn’t come naturally which meant we had to make conscious decisions, which in turn are easier to remember.

Another part of why it’s fun is because our dad helped us become excellent writers, and that means we can express ourselves well in writing (in-person is a totally different experience). And it’s always nice to read stuff from people who can express themselves well.

And the last reason it’s fun to read our stuff is because we were raised by a loving nerd-cowboy and a loving feminist supermom, both of whom are neurodiverse in some way. This meant we were almost always safe to share our thoughts and feelings because our parents were genuinely curious about our inner lives and feelings, and they were able to understand how our inner worlds were different from other people’s. It also meant that we were very loved and appreciated, which meant there was always at least one point in our day and one place in our life where we could safely engage in deep self-reflection and analysis. This was helpful for us in being able to uncover the little stories in our lives and really let them sink in. A lot of why we’re good writers is practice and hard work, and also a lot of it is a privilege we received not out of merit (it’s not like we deserved great parents and other people deserved crappy parents, we just kinda ended up with good parents) but out of blind luck and love.

To make this all succinct, many of our stories come from us being able to fully live in our own lives. We didn’t go out of our way to seek excitement - we actually were pretty serious homebodies so we often went out of our way to avoid it. Instead, we found ways to find the magic in the small silly things that happen in life, and finding the magic in simple, mundane, every day stuff makes it easier to add magic into it on purpose too. And if you do that enough it takes you to some strange places. I know both @inbabylontheywept and I have made decisions or done or said things that were unnecessarily complicated or kinda “going out of our way” just because we knew it would make the story of our lives a bit more entertaining or magical. Recognizing that you are living in a story can help you find your own stories. Finding the things that matter to you can help you do this too. And finding your stories can, in turn, make your life as enchanting and silly and bewildering and crazy as our lives have been. It’s an active skill to develop. It requires a willingness to see yourself as a character at times. It requires practice and time. It requires a willingness to make things silly for the plot. And it requires some unspecified amount of autism. But it IS doable, and it can make life more interesting.

How is your life so interesting

Normally, I just kind of laugh this question off, but I've been asked enough times I'm gonna take an honest stab at it.

So, the first thing worth considering is whether the story itself is all that interesting, or whether I am just a good storyteller. My most popular story is about cutting a lot of worms and half, and crying, and then being comforted by my mom. That's not a terribly uncommon or hard to imagine event. A lot of my stories more about the telling than the substance.

There are also some stories that are weird, but they're weird in ways that I also find, like, relateably weird? It might just be that I knew a lot of athletes in college, but I don't think eating raw eggs is that weird. Eating 15 in one go is, but I was roommates with a guy that ate like, three for breakfast, three in his in-class protein shake, and another three at dinner. That guy was attending ASU on a gymnast scholarship, but also, he genuinely ate 5 dozen eggs a week. That seems much more normal than eating 15 in one day.

To say nothing of eating raw onion. Tons of people eat raw onions. It baffles the non-onion eaters, but it's a super common thing. Especially in Mexico.

Some of the stories happen because I am better at noticing story-worthy events than most people. I can't tell you how many times I've been in public, and seen someone do some weirdass thing, and then had to nudge my wife and to get her to watch it too.

If I had to point to the parts of my life that are truly, genuinely, bafflingly weird, they would be my dating stories, and. I dunno. My general thermonuclear dumbass event posts. And I can break down why those two are interesting pretty simply:

I was unbelievably bad at dating. The majority of the time, that just meant that there was a few minutes of stilted small talk and never get a call back. But the thing is, Mormon culture strongly encourages dating as like, a social-practice thing, and I was very motivated to get good at it, so I just kept trying and trying and I think I went on at least 200 first dates before meeting my wife. I genuinely believe that if anyone went on 200 first dates, they would get some pretty incredible bad date stories too. Especially if they had autism. I know I write well, and I can sound very charming here, but it took me a very, very long to get decent social skills. I am just a disturbingly persistent learner.

I am very convincing. This is helpful when I am interacting with other people, because it can do things like, convince them to let me into their secret facility, or convince them to not vote Republican again, or to save at least put the company match into their retirement accounts. But when I'm just debating something with myself, my convincingness works against me: I am very good at tricking myself into believing that bad ideas are, somehow, actually good. This is part of why I have so much sympathy for the right wing lunatics that I work with. Every time I meet a crazy person I go, ah, but for the grace of God, go I. Anyway, this does an unfortunate thing where my excellent verbal skills drive my poor decisions, which results in the very odd combination of welll written, articulate stories about someone being A Fucking Idiot. Like the condom bomber story. I think this is also why most of the lawyers that I meet are insane in their personal lives.

Anyway, those are my theories! I'm gonna tag @lizardho because we mostly had the same childhood, but she has a better grasp on what normal people look like than me, and perhaps she'll have her own theories on the weirdness of our lives.

[delicateperspective]

I think people who assume Harry is completely free tend to overlook a lot—especially things he shows during his concerts and in some interviews. Starting with the queercoding, but also those really vulnerable moments. You can literally see it in his face what it means to him when he waves a rainbow flag. And when he says things like “that doesn’t happen to people like me”—it’s heavy.

And I don't blame them because Harry's public image has been pushed very hard, especially with dwd and that stunt with the director. But If you really pay attention to the details, it’s pretty clear that Harry isn’t fully free. He’s just doing what he can, playing the game with everything he’s learned along the way.

I’m sure he’s negotiated as much freedom as possible over time, and what we see is a gradual result of that. I really hope in this next chapter, with all the leverage he’s gained, he’s been able to secure even more freedom.

I honestly just wish the best for both H and L.

yes exactly. you put it so well — that’s the thing about public perception. in order to see H & L the way that some people do, you have to be willing to accept a version of events that genuinely doesn’t make sense unless you ignore… well, everything.

to believe that version, you have to believe that:

harry was a womanizer from the very beginning. that he dated half the girls at bootcamp and then moved on to older, high-profile women who just happened to boost his image (taylor, kendall, olivia). that he’s a commitment-phobe who’s never had a long-term relationship. that he leans into queercoding and wears obviously queer clothing just to sell albums — even when he doesn’t know he’ll be photographed. that he writes intimate songs about home, about loving the same person through every season of life — despite having no personal experience with any of that. and that he deliberately distanced himself from the other boys in the band — especially louis — because he thought he was better than them.

louis, meanwhile, apparently changed his entire personality between 2011 and 2013 for no reason. that he got angry at a magazine for implying he supports LGBTQ+ rights. that he got a triangle on his achilles heel because he just… liked the shape. that he wears t-shirts and brands with overt queer symbolism (Tchaikovsky, All Out, Only the Brave, Maison Margiela) without realizing or caring what they mean — even though he loves fashion. that he used to call himself “camp” and “flamboyant” all the time, but only as a joke. and that he had a long-term girlfriend during the band, which is clearly why no fans ever had a shot — not because he was gay.

and that’s just the surface level stuff.

the more you pay attention, the worse it gets.

you have to eat a lot of narrative gymnastics to believe that version. honestly? in some cases, you have to make more illogical leaps than even the most unhinged larries do. you have to completely discredit every contestant who’s ever spoken out about x factor. every person who’s criticized modest management. every lyric change — like: “women just don’t feel right”, “i’m hoping someday i could be open”, “i can’t compete with my boyfriend”, "hopelessly devoted to Lou", etc. — has to be chalked up to coincidence or queerbaiting or… misheard. and you have to believe that none of it means anything — even when it obviously does.

i’ll always go back to the metaphor harry gave us in the As It Was music video — the red pill and the blue pill. just like in The Matrix: the red pill means you wake up and see the truth. the blue pill means you stay in a comfortable illusion.

so many people would rather take the blue pill. and honestly? i don’t blame them. it’s easier. it’s lighter. it doesn’t force you to confront how corrupt the industry is. how normal homophobia still is. how much trauma they endured. to accept that kind of truth — especially about people you love — takes a toll.

because once you see it, you can’t unsee it. you’ll always question the narrative. you’ll always feel that unease when something doesn’t add up. you’ll always see through the bullshit.

and yeah — sometimes I wish i could close my eyes too. especially in this world, in this moment, where everything is already so heavy. but i can’t.

so we keep paying attention. we keep listening between the lines. we keep hoping the next chapter brings them more peace, more truth, and more freedom.

because they’ve earned it. and they deserve it.

[yandere-fics]

♡ Dumb Reader Gets Lost In Veronia's Forest ♡

(Veronia is clingier and more quick to push for courting in the winter, especially when she's ignoring her need to hibernate for you.)

It wasn't supposed to snow for another two weeks according to everyone in the last village you had been to but here you were, trudging through a foot of snow and taking a shortcut through a place you knew you weren't supposed to be going. Everyone said it was dragon territory but considering that you were going to freeze to death taking a shortcut had felt worth it to you. You'd even met a kind stranger who was willing to lend you a cloak as you both tried to get passed this land together. She said her name was Veronia and that the dragon of this land usually went elsewhere in the winter to hibernate so it would be safe for the both of you. You'd never even heard that before, this stranger was so smart and helpful. She even knew where the dragons cave was since she'd had to travel through it last winter she said so both of you could pass for a rest there before she helped you back to your hometown. You knew you weren't supposed to just trust a random stranger or tell them exactly where you lived but she had to be nice, why else would she try helping you in a snow storm when she was probably cold herself. It wasn't until you got back to the cave that it felt off but you knew better than to judge someone who was going out of their way to help you.

For one thing she seemed to know her way around the cave intimately like she'd been there several times before, must be a bandit who steals from there every winter but that was okay too, she didn't seem like she would rob you, especially when she pulled out hoard items to give to you. But she also knew how to hunt on this land pretty well, coming back with dinner for both of you and lighting a fire right as your back was turned, she sure was skilled with this. You really wanted to keep moving towards your home but it was cold and so you sat down for an uncomfortable night of sleep in the dragons den while your new companion promised she'd keep watch. It the morning it had been almost completely snowed in, you clearly were not going anywhere. It was just a good thing your new friend had hunted a lot of food for the both of you which is how you got stuck living in the cave with her for two weeks as she told you stories about how scary the dragon that usually lived there was and if you left right now then you might accidentally bump into them so it was better to stay in the cave and then later she'd show you how to leave without encountering the dragon. The snow melted to enough for the both of you to leave about a month later but for some reason your new friend just kept telling you that it wasn't the right time to leave yet, it was a bit scary. She'd also starting cuddling for warmth at night with you which you really didn't like but… you were trapped in a cave with her so you weren't going to just say no. This lead to her seeming to think the both of you were courting which in turn made you feel like you should just dart into the woods with no plan but you weren't knowledgeable of the area, what if you did run into the dragon? She said it was so vicious and liked to play with it's kills and that dragons were only kind to those they chose to mate. You took her telling you that to be a warning that if you didn't become food then you'd be something much worse to the dragon.

"Dearest, I have something to tell you." You didn't turn around on the bed as she spooned you from behind. She was for sure going to tell you she was going to kill you or something, you just knew it, that's why she hadn't helped you get home yet. You were fucked.

"G-go ahead." You had to act normal, like you didn't hide a knife under your pillow just in case this very thing happened.

"I'm actually the dragon." You didn't fully process wat she just said, your body just grabbing the knife and trying to swing around to stab her, this time with scales on her face that certainly hadn't been there before. She swatted the knife away and pulled you closer to her. "I'm sorry I told you all those scary things about the dragon dearest, I was only teasing you."

"Let me go!" You tried to struggle against her but her grip didn't loosen.

"Dearest mate, you seemed too happy here, me being a dragon doesn't change our love, you were so happy with me courting you." You realized she mistook you being kind to her so you wouldn't die as you accepting the courting. You shouldn't have taken the shortcut, of course dragons didn't go somewhere else to hibernate, you were so fucking stupid.

[eiraeths]

y’all know the movie superman returns? yes? great. no? bare with me anyway

clark’s son in that movie is named jason who he didn’t know existed until he came back to earth. there’s also jason todd who we all know and love. this may be extreme levels of brainrot to even make connections like this, but what if jason todd was clark kent’s biological son?

KRYPTONIAN JASON TODD BABY, BIOLOGICAL SON OF CLARK KENT AND LOIS LANE

this idea has been plaguing me for months. general idea is lois and clark have jason, and for some reason i’ve yet to plot, jason gets kidnapped from the hospital. now willis todd is known to be a low level goon in the comics, so in my mind he’s apart of the group that steals baby jason. but instead of actually finishing the job and delivering baby jason to whoever hired/ordered him to steal baby jason, willis double-crosses them and takes jason home.

i haven’t read many of the newer jason backstory comics but i don’t remember willis ever being a bad guy just someone who’s misfortune made it hard to be the parent jason needed.

anyway normal storyline, jason boots some tires, becomes robin and bruce’s adopted son, deals with the affects of malnutrition on the body, and then gets murdered and eventually comes back build like a double door refrigerator.

in my head i have it as jason’s malnutrition kept the kryptonian genes from really kicking in so it went unnoticed until he was resurrected and then dipped in the pit. and then the whole vengeance plot so he doesn’t really give it any mind other than “oh cool the pit gave me some super strength that’s handy”

he never questions how he was brought back to life i don’t think so i feel that it’s very in character for him to not give a fuck about suddenly having some suspiciously kryptonian-like abilities.

jason’s powers in this au would be pretty similar to jon’s where they’re a bit dependent on his emotions, and i think i could work something about the lazarus pit affecting them in some way too.

all the super kids also get powers that clark doesn’t have and i don’t have many ideas for that. there’s chris kent who had unbrakinesis (shadow/darkness manipulation) due to being born in the phantom zone so, we can assume that powers are adaptive to the environment the kids grow up in.

since i want jason’s powers to technically be activated by the lazarus pit (disregarding some supersenses he had before and was written off as sensory issues, but i’ll get into that later) i think he needs to have a power based off the lazarus pit but the only thing i can think of is healing.

there’s a superkid that can absorb meta powers but i forgot which one so maybe it’s the opposite of that? jason can give his energy to heal?

all i know is i want his powers to be unstable and hard to control due to his frankly unstable emotions and maybe the pit had a hand in it too. not pit madness but just a general side effect of being mentally fifteen but physically seventeen to nineteen depending on the continuation. and i think pit side effects are cool but that’s for a different post.

the general plot i have bouncing around in my head is jason comes back to gotham to develop a body count as red hood and discovers he’s kryptonian while trying to fuck with black mask’s box of kryptonite. eventually clark finds out that the second robin he got to watch bruce raise for a few years is actually his son and clark gets to angst about that. clark and bruce get to be angst over your murderous son buddies.

p.s. the kryptonian name i came up with for jason is either jev-el (literal translation: joyful star) or gir-el (literal translation: model star/ideal star/epitome of the stars) solely for the reason of causing as much emotional damage as possible when jason finds out the meaning.

[baeddel]

I think the purely in-game reading of gwyndolin betrays the out-of-game reading which is an obvious 'trap' situation, that is to say, a trans woman written by someone who either doesn't know what a trans woman is or has reasons to avoid the concept. Out of all the unreliable narrators of dark souls, miyazaki is but one of them.

see my previous post for why i don't agree with your interpretation of the "purely in-game reading"

i also really find this perspective quite shocking; what about Gwyndolin strikes you as insensitive or ignorant? just because she has an identity that isn't exactly yours? i feel like this is binarist at least... it's similar to how people say that GGACR's Brigitte and Testament were transmisogynist stereotypes and were corrected in Strive; that is the transmisogynist position...

also just look at how Dark Souls is written. virtually nothing in it is assumed from our world; everything that enters its cell of meaning is subjected to complex critical assessement. it is demanded of everything that it be fully explicable in terms of the world of Lordran and not in terms of earth. even the existence of a glaive, which we have in our world as a common weapon and would not startle any player more than a sword or shield, is rigorously explained as arising from Gwyn's knights' conflict with the Izalith demons, demanding special weapons that can stand up to large enemies. of course in this setting you won't just get a normal transgender woman with the same relationship to gender as us. the demand it makes of us is to interpret gender in light of Lordran's own system of meaning, and locate Gwyndolin within it.

the games have gender and hormones sliders ffs XD

because calling it a gender slider ASSUMED TOO MUCH! so in the next game they called it a HORMONE SLIDER!

no one was ever that careful with their game!!

by the way, on Miyazaki, let me defend him a little bit: i won't be able to find it too easily (translations kept getting made and hosted on some google doc that later disappeared) but there was an interview with him on some kind of gaming show that had twitch-like viewer comments that they'd respond to. the topic came up that everyone was saying who their waifu would be (and they all hade cute bynames for their favourites). Miyazaki acts embarassed: 'i didn't know i made this type of game...' then he's looking at the chat and he reads it out: 'otokonoko... otokonoko... who do they mean?' the interviewer explains that they mean Gwyndolin. he says: 'i don't understand, Gwyndolin is clearly male... he has a male voice actor...'

this line has fascinated me so much, for over ten years... look at it... he can't be an otokonoko, says Miyazaki. because he has a male voice. what did he MEAN!!!!!!!!!!

i've started to think that he was actually joking, like playing dumb. as if he didn't even know what an otokonoko was and thought they were pretty young girls :) i'm not sure... i would have to hear the tone of his delivery, etc... in effect learn Japanese (because i'll never trust someone else to tell me!)... maybe one day i'll understand. in any case, Miyazaki's views are probably strange and complicated. we do not know how we got Gwyndolin out of them; but we did, and that makes all the difference.

[barbieaiden]

call of the sea

[skitskatdacat63]

"The body and face of this sculpture are in idealized youth, with plump cheeks and round face, and his hair is usually unkempt..his youthful appearance, large eyes, pouting lips, and layered locks of hair over his forehead are some of the iconography that can be used to identify him"

^ this quote is genuinely still fucking plaguing me. THIS IS LITERALLY SEB???? LIKE LITERALLY 2010 SEB SPECIFICALLY????? It is actually fucking me up how it is literally quintessentially Seb. Like big eyes...plump cheeks and round face...unkempt hair...pouty lips...okay okay okay!!!! And that Antinous is basically the peak perfection of pretty boy from that time, I'm like, yeah that's Seb to me 🥹🥹🤧🤧

But god the "youthful appearance, big eyes, pouting lips, and layered locks of hair over his forehead" Does that quote not evoke pictures like these in your head???????

I feel so unwell about it 😭😭 I am going through it 😭😭

[zukoromantic]

My precure color opinions because why not. Don't read if you think you'll be upset reading different opinions, i just wanna put this out there haha😭:

Summer is white, let her be white (this is the one i'm the most passionate about). I didn't even KNOW there was a debate on this until this year, what in the world. None of that rainbow or pink nonsense. I don't even know why she would be classified as rainbow officially. Especially when the color they TRY to force her into is pink (for example saying today's color is pink before the outro). I heard she was created to be white but i don't know the source of that so that might be wrong

i agree with Finale being golden, she gets to be golden as a treat <3. She is not purple, y'all are just mean, compare her to actual purple cures. A golden theme really suits her in my opinion, it's beautiful and elegant like her. There should be more golden cures that have some some golden accents imo :D

Parfait is green to me with rainbow sub-color, i KNOW it makes no sense and she is just a rainbow cure, but that's what she is in my brain somehow acejcdksvd

Cosmo is blue with rainbow sub-color, but SHOULD have been rainbow. Maybe with blue sub-color bc it Does with the team arrangement (also should have had her cat form in cure form but that's beside the point). I heard they WANTED to make her rainbow but weren't allowed?! Unsure about that too though

i haven't seen hugtto yet but ma cherie literally looks so pink acejcdjd. You're red? Whatever you say, girl, you can be anything you wanna be, who am i to tell you otherwise <3

Milky as green is fine, but i see why people want turquoise to just be its own category. I think her color shouldn't look different though, she looks great

similair for Lillian, except that i've seen some people giving her a wonderful light green and she would look gorgeous!

Nyammy can be a blue cure if she wants <3. Especially next to Lillian, it's obvious how white is their base color and they define themselves via the accents. But also she is literally the whitest cure ever made, let alone the whitest blue cure wcejev

Felice is fine as green cure and she's beautiful

there should be more pink non-leaders like Butterfly

bring back black as cure color. Also brown and grey would be gorgeous <3

i actually prefer when cures look kinda colorful and they AREN'T monotone. The main color is really more about the vibe in my opinion, like with Finale and Nyammy haha!

This is all light-hearted, just thought it would be fun to post these bc everyone has Some precure color opinions xD! 🙌 It's so funny how color discourse is such a serious topic in precure fandom CSJDVEK

If anyone wants to share their own opinions, you can tell but please only if it's in good faith 🙏

[yeonban]

I was listening to an interview of Gagne's about her sociopathic condition and some of these parts really resonated with Tobias. Like her mentioning she's masking "right now" (during the interview) otherwise she'd be smiling and blinking far less, the story about how as a child she felt a pressure building up in her and when another kid who was sitting next to her annoyed her at the wrong moment she stabbed them and the stabbing made her feel startlingly euphoric, the way she was discussing empathy as something learned from society and intended to gain something from (a dopamine release/good feeling) because she doesn't understand any actions that are done by neurotypicals for no reason, her experience having to mimic her neurotypical sister to fit into society, the relief she felt when she met her husband who didn't shy away from her despite her unburdening herself to him about all of her (the bad, scary & unnerving qualities/actions/etc included)... there are a bunch of differences between her & Tobias' experiences too, obviously, but at least THESE parts were very on the nose. Especially one declaration that stood out to me: "Doing something morally unacceptable was a way to force a pop of color [in my life]" which is exactly why Tobias does anything he does. That pop of color. That derived amusement. The odd joy that follows which is the only thing he can really feel out of the positive cluster of emotions.

[front-facing-pokemon]

[violentlydefending]

genuinely always so shocked to see mirei hate. like literally god forbid women do anything.

[skyward-floored]

It’s days like these I wonder exactly how messed up my ribs are