#why does it have to be more complicated than that

[crazy-pages]

Hi @warren1 . We're gonna do some math together, okay?

The amount healthcare costs is proportional to the number of people being cared for. This means, very roughly speaking, that a country's cost of healthcare per year = C x the country's population. Now there's some extra complexities about what C is, based on what age people are, what their work is, etc. But the relationship between cost and population is still cost = C x population, okay? If population goes up, cost goes up by the same amount.

Now the amount of tax revenue a country raises per year = D x the country's population. Determining D is also pretty complicated, but the relationship between taxes and population is still taxes = D x population, okay? If population goes up, taxes go up by the same amount.

So the cost / taxes, the fraction of our taxes we need to spend on healthcare, is C/D. And neither C or D are related to population.

Now sometimes, a bigger service area means cost of transportation to healthcare is more expensive, and it's more difficult to access. So C goes up. But I have good news! There are countries with sparser populations than the US, even the rural US, with robust tax-payer funded healthcare. So this is not an insurmountable problem.

Does that help you understand why population and area don't make US taxpayer funded healthcare impossible?

[pureastrologywisdom]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔐𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔓𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔰 𝔐𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔶

Someone commented on my TikTok wondering why I said Pisces Mercuries were so special. They said ‘but Mercury is debilitated in Pisces’. Now whilst I couldn’t be bothered to explain it to them in the comments, I did think it made a rather good post on here. What does make a Pisces Mercury so special? 

This question came in regard to a topics I had written about. I was writing on Placements that had a natural connection to esoteric knowledge. This person couldn’t grasp why I wrote that. Stating that Pisces Mercuries must be at a disadvantage because it’s a debilitated placement.

So let’s discuss. 

Let’s look at Mercury as a planet. It rules over communication and your thought processes. How we take in/ receive information and it also contributes to how we display it.  Mercury likes logic, processing information in a more straightforward way. Hence why it works well in Gemini. 

Pisces as a sign is a little more complicated.  It’s more about intuition than the information presented in front of them. You can see how Mercury can be debilitated here, it doesn’t look for information or think of things in the more acceptable/digestible way it would prefer.

Pisces is opposite Virgo after all. A sign ruled by Mercury. Pisces is the opposite of what Virgo stands for in certain ways.  Where Virgo likes details, Pisces looks at the bigger picture. Virgo likes to be clear, Pisces focuses on illusions or things that we cannot see. 

Putting Pisces and Mercury together and you can see how, though debilitated, it creates a very interesting mind. One that may be less socially acceptable, even seen as strange. Often misunderstood or overlooked. These people have incredible intuition and it can go as far as possessing talents such as clairvoyance/ clairaudience etc. These people find it much easier getting connected to esoteric knowledge than others. The reason why this placement is so interesting is because it's debilitated. Mercury doesn't act the way it 'should' or as it usually does, this is what creates this uniqueness to these people. Mercury is looking for things it doesn't usually look for.

The same can be said for Mercury in the 12th house, and Neptune in the 3rd house.

I hope I made this more clear.

Thank you for reading as always.

Pureastrowisdom x

Also if you would like to follow my TikTok it's @ plutonian.priestess on TikTok

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

i think it's also a problem in university arts departments too, in a way. for example, while i was in undergrad, my home uni's philosophy department refused to ever assign presentations (as well as group work) as an adequate form of assessment. this however, imo, gave plenty of students, including myself, excuses to just straight up refuse to do their readings bc "it's only marked as part of my 5% or 10% participation grade.... so what's even the point of reading sindquist, anderson and zazo "the examination of the twin earth problem from the systems analysis standpoint" (not a real paper) or whatever the fuck in the philosophy of mind, for example. "i can just pretend i've done the reading and scab answers off everyone else in the tute, if we have minor unmarked group work".

this bred a student base of mostly uninterested, disengaged, confused students (and some bitter legal and journalism etc/media & comms students who found philosophy to be "a waste of time" bc "i can already argue!!!! bc im going to be a lawyer and/or journalist!" and "i was also in debate/parliamentary/school newsletter team at school!!!!" and also..... HOW and WHY are you doing journalism etc/media and comms or law if you don't ACTUALLY CARE about the fundamentals of argumentation, rhetoric/discourse (which you'll be creating with your so-called "think pieces" in journalism and media!!!), logic and language??? are you fucking stupid??? [tbf they were teenagers. of course they were going to say dumb shit]). i was one of the above philosophy students, obvs. because how the fuck are you meant to communicate these ideas to people when you're NOT doing the readings??

when you're not FORCED to do the readings, for a presentation or, y'know just the essays, you just make excuses not to do them. tbf. like yes, i could do the 2,500 word essays and 500 word essay plans just fine. but when it came to engaging with the readings, i couldn't get past more than the second page of every 50 page reading. but if i was given a presentation to do??? bruh, i probably would have forced myself to do at least 10 to 20 pages of all of the readings??? i DON'T want to look like a fuckwit in front of the 25 to 30 people in my tute time class. but just giving me essay upon essay upon essay??? and the occasional open book exam/take home exam? you're giving me an excuse to just coast by on the bare minimum and then force out an essay 8 hours before it's due, in the hope i'll get at least a credit/65% to 70%, minimum grade.

you're giving everyone the horribly stereotypical impression that the philosophy students are just locking themselves in their bedrooms (their classic ivory towers) to do their essays and nothing else. that they don't know how to communicate complicated, esoteric ideas to the layman through a presentation..... and then, very suddenly, and ironically, you expect grad students to be happy to present to a crowd their dissertation??? or just to their thesis/dissertation advisor every week??? what the fuck??? HOW does that make ANY sense??? how does that give anyone in this study stream CONFIDENCE to present???? the confidence to have the literacy to present their cogent arguments, when in undergrad they weren't deliberately given presentations in this field to practice these skills??? "oh but they'll have them in english. or sociology. or cultural studies.... so why do we need them at all?" to be fair, for me, i had to address this after an anxiety attack before a presentation in ancient history. i went to toastmasters. and lo and behold, i did meet the occasional philosophy postgrad person there. because they were far too nervous to present each week to their thesis advisor. after 3 years of NO presentations in their philosophy undergrad (and possibly their WHOLE degree). we also got plenty of engineering honours people too, right before their thesis presentations. because a similar thing happened in their field, apparently.

okay yes, i had good literacy skills in general in school and in uni, in my actual major, english. i learnt the hard way with exams and inclass tests to DO the readings, or at least do a really good study jamming session at least 2 days before sitting modernists and having to write an essay for james joyce's portrayal of himself in "a portrait of an artist as a young man" (i FUCKING HATE this book. fuck james joyce all the way to hell) , a book i couldn't read past page 10. but my god. the literacy skills in philosophy classes were ABYSMAL. mostly because everyone refused to do their readings and refused to even grasp the topics we were doing. and tbf, probably on this post, my comprehension is in hell. because due to the devaluation of arts in society, i don't engage in textual analysis or read as much dickens or bronte or dickinson, etc, as i should these days. which is what i think is wrong with engineering or science majors (and other high earning degrees) having low literacy skills.... and moreover, the overall bs discourse on YT of "ONLY do degrees that GENERATE MONEY! don't you DARE go into the arts when you KNOW you will NEVER pay it back! who needs reading comprehension and literacy, when they don't PAY THE BILLS AND STUDENT LOANS BAYBAY!?"

all in all, yes. in the end the philosophy dept did introduce marked presentations AND group work (yes philosophy did NO group work the whole time i was in uni), right as i was graduating in 2018. because. of course they did. and yes, a lot of is down to the a student's drive and interests in the subjects they choose. and how they interact with their readings and classmates. but also, i think it can rest on department teaching and assessment tactics as well. certain departments NEED to have presentations in their curricula because HOW FUCKING ELSE are students going to develop the necessary communication and comprehension skills to present or just normally talk to people about their course content??? if the whole general vibe from the student base is "oh we NEVER do the readings!"

i also feel this is an issue with the media and comms dept at my home uni, deliberately cutting off their old cross department majors/minors within the arts department option that was there when i began in that degree. so now if you want to do an english major with your media and comms degree, you're actually now FORCED to do a double degree.... and most esp if you're in the marketing comms and advertising major that i originally chose, you HAVE to do a major or minor within the degree stream ONLY. like i get on some level that it's to do with cross media skills and employability skills. and that in the last 10 years (wow what the FUCK) since i started uni, digital media skills and study IS its own field. but also. but also, what about the broader social context brought from a history major or sociology major or an english double major??? WHY does it HAVE to be a double degree???

ANYWAY. that's my rant. and probably, my reading literacy and comprehension on this post was poor. so piss on me (or don't)- is that what fall out boy said all those years ago???

I cannot stress the importance of paying attention in language classes in high school. Maybe the reason why your English teacher taught you about unreliable narrators is because a lot of the media around you is written by unreliable narrators posing as reliable. Maybe they gave you assignments on interpreting texts so you could draw your own conclusions about news articles. Some of you clearly thought English classes were useless in high school and now are unable to engage critically with media.

[utilitycaster]

You've mentioned a couple of times about different ways the campaign could have shook out if they chose to keep Predathos sealed, and I'm curious if you think that option was on the table (and/or how late into the campaign it was on the table)? Maybe this is just me looking at the finale DMing choices and going "yikes" but the last chunk of the story very much felt like Matt having an idea of where they were going to go and shuffling the plot from point A to point B (even if that required NPCs making choices/not offering follow-up to PC choices). And I don't know if that's because they were so aimless before that point and he felt like he had to shuffle them to provide some kind of forward movement or if there was an intended outcome from the beginning.

I suppose we'll find out either tonight or in the wrap up, but my guess is that initially (like, from the start) Matt thought the party would be in favor of saving the gods and this would be straightforwardly about that; as I've said, moments like Tuldus and Hearthdell and Ludinus's backstory work as "we are humanizing the villains to make them more than mustache-twirling cartoons of pure evil"; they do not work as cohesive arguments in favor of said goals.

Once it was clear the party was also largely motivated by petty personal grievances it sort of fell apart, and I think the entire wandering about collecting flowers and shards/Ruidus mission/Aeor/Accord/Feywild situation was intended to give the party an opportunity to make up their mind; however, they simply didn't, and the last of that was exceptionally poorly run since the Arch Heart threw another complication (that was, as we know, not even something Matt had planned for) and Zathuda was somehow Yu But Worse in terms of "this person is a danger but we can't KILL THEM" "why?" "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" which really should have sealed that this was a party that does not make decisions.

I genuinely think he did not know at all where they were going with this until episode 118, when they did choose to unleash Predathos, and the party did not make up their mind until 119, when the Matron's option was essentially thrown at them because they were like uhhhhhhhhhh so we have Predathos, but we don't really all want to chase you away or have you be eaten? Like...my guess is the "gods enter the Luxon cycle of rebirth" was an option Matt had in mind overall for the campaign given the plot of Downfall, but he thought the party would land on it themselves in advance, go to Ruidus with that as the goal, and not need it spoonfed to them at the last possible minute. I think, really, that is the problem: this party was fucking stupid as hell, largely incurious, and didn't know what to do ever, and didn't want to be making any decisions but kept going into the places where they had make decisions anyway and then failing to do so. Honestly I said elsewhere a time crunch would have helped but the Matron straight up had to say WHAT DO YOU WANT to them during a magical pause in the final combat so I think that a pattern of "you snooze you lose" needed to have been established earlier.

But yeah I think that if the PCs had made different choices as late as episode 118-119 the plot would have gone somewhere else; the reason NPCs stepped in is because they did not make choices. It's a bit of the worst of both situations: took too long to pivot the plot on the DM side, took too long to decide on anything on the player side, ultimately DM had to kind of force the choice.

[flowery-mess]

THE FIRE WITHIN

chapter 1 (series masterlist)

Pairing: fire fighter Noah x female reader (Tess Monroe)

Warnings: 18+ MDNI! / fire / explosion / death /death of firefighters / description of dead fire fighters / complicated call / description of fire and explosion / being affected by the call / therapy / let me know of anything else!

Words: 3k

Author's note: Finally! I'm so excited for this! I know this chapter may come off as boring, because there's not really any interactiom between Noah and reader, but that will change in the one. I appreciate feedback in any form! Hope you like it♥️

Be aware you're reading this at your own decision, it contains sensitive topics, so please think twice before reading as I wouldn't want to cause anyone any discomfort while reading my work!

Hungry for action, determined to be the best. That’s how you could describe Lt. Noah Sebastian.

It was never his dream to be a firefighter, until he started the job. After high school, he didn’t have any direction in his life, until his buddy who joined the LA Fire department year earlier than Noah, told him about it.

Noah got into the academy, finished it as one of the best and got sent to a station 25.

He likes the life of a fire fighter. He works 24 hour shift, then has two days off. On those days off he usually goes to the gym, hangs out with his friends and then flirts with girls at his local bar. Because being a fire fighter is the ultimate pick up line, isn’t it.

If you’d ask his colleagues, they would say Noah is disciplined, but still a funny guy. He’s young, so he brings fresh air to the station. He’s full of jokes, making their shifts go by faster.

On calls he’s focused on the work that needs to be done. He follows orders, does his job properly and leaves every shift with gratitude that he can come home alive.

Noah lives alone in two room apartment just 20 minute drive from the station. His house is small, but it’s nice. He’s not big on decorations and stuff, but it’s cosy and home for him. He has made the bigger room into kitchen and living room area, the smaller one into his bedroom.

Noah drives black Range rover that he’s very proud and careful of, because he bought that car himself. His upbringing wasn’t bad, but not perfect. He’s an only child. His parents lived in LA long before he was born, but few years ago they decided to move somewhere more quiet. Noah stayed in his hometown with some money from his parents to take care of himself, he used the money to buy his apartment and then had to make money for himself. He bought the car with his and only his money and that’s why he’s so proud about getting it. His mom texts him like once a week to see if he’s doing okay and he calls his dad once a month to catch up on life, but that’s it. He's grateful for everything they’ve done for him but feels pretty much alone now.

So he really appreciates the fire department and guys on his shift, because they feel like a family. They joke together, play games or do make friendly pranks against each other, but when they’re on a call they know they have each other’s backs. They trust each other, because without trust you can’t do this job properly. So when they start doubting Noah’s trust on calls, that’s when things start to get a bit uncomfortable.

*40 days ago*

“Man I hope we can get more than 5 minutes of sleep.” Nick said when him and Noah entered their bunk.

“Don’t say shit like this or the exact opposite is gonna happen.”

“I hope not, I need to sleep.”

Nick is Noah’s best friend who got him into this job. They didn’t start at the same station, but Nick got sent to 25 just a few months ago.

Noah had to agree that tonight’s shift was a busy one. They had two car accidents, one house fire and two false alarms behind them. With only 5 more hours of their shift remaining, Nick and Noah laid in their beds and fell asleep from exhaustion. Little did they know the shift was not going to be over in 5 hours.

Just an hour of sleep later Noah, Nick and the rest of the shift were woken up by the alarm and announcement “Ladder 25, Engine 25, Aid car 25. Structure fire reported at Hoover street. Heavy fire and smoke visible on arrival. Possible hazardous materials on site. Evacuation in progress. Multiple alarms requested.”

“Fuck.” Nick was first to react as him and Noah made their way down to get into their vehicles and leave the station.

“Sounds big.” Noah responded before he started with his gear, putting it on, making sure he has everything he needs on him and then jumping in the back of big vehicle with “Ladder 25” on its side.

As they were approaching the site, they could already see and smell the smoke from streets away. Blue and red lights already at the place, the number of fire cars on site signalizing that it was a big call.

Everyone got to their job immediately, taking in captain’s orders.

Noah’s job on this call was to go inside and extinguish the fires on his way to the fire centre. One rule they always follow: fire fighter is never alone, they work in pairs. Noah’s colleague followed closely behind him as they run into the building.

Others were already running out to get a new oxygen tanks or with workers from the factory in their arms. When they entered the building, Noah already felt something was off. He couldn’t tell what, but something wasn’t right.

They followed instructions on where to go, extinguishing small fires along the way until they reached the big hall where they couldn’t see the other end, because of the smoke and fire.

“Fuck, this bitch is big.” Noah heard his mate and had to agree. He hadn’t seen fire like this before.

“Sebastian to Captain 25. Starting the attack now, requesting additional units. The fire’s big. Copy.” Noah said through his radio to update his captain who was outside giving orders.

They immediately started what they call “the attack” and tried to contain as much fire as possible. He saw Nick along with another Lieutenant run inside and start the same thing.

“Our tanks are running out Noah, we need to leave soon.” Noah just nodded his head and heard the familiar beeping of their tanks when they start to run out of oxygen.

They turned around and started running towards the exit. Once they were outside, they went to get a new tank and update the commander on the situation outside.

The fire didn’t seem to get any smaller when the two of them returned back inside and started the attack again. To Noah it felt like eternity. He was looking into the fire with hose in his hands, trying to find the source like if he could aim the hose at one particular spot and the fire would be over.

Noah’s concentration was interrupted by voice in his radio “Command to all units, there are gas tanks hidden under the main hall. Everyone get out. This is a high risk situation, I repeat evacuate, evacuate, evacute!”

That was the last thing Noah heard before loud explosion went off at the other side of the hall. He saw the fire lit up the whole way to the ceiling, the smoke extended and even through his mask he could smell the gasoline.

When the tanks blew up, the explosion was strong enough to lift fire fighters from the ground and threw them metres away from where they were standing. Noah only felt the ground vibrate and moved few steps back, but what he saw he will never forget.

For a moment after the explosion it was like if everything around him stopped, before going fully into motion again. Some of the guys stayed laying on the floor, some were moving and yelling from the pain and then guys like Noah, who were still capable of doing their job, ran to help those who couldn’t leave that hall on their own.

But not Noah. Noah stood still at the same place and watched everything happen in front of him. He saw the panic in everyone’s eyes. He saw Nick lifting another man in full gear and run towards the exit. He saw others checking pulses of those who were laying still and move to another when they realised the pulse was not there. He saw someone was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear anything.

He saw one of the older guys at his station laying on the ground, not moving. He saw his face, lifeless. It was like Noah was watching the worst they were warned about and trained to handle those situations. But all he could do was stand there and not move.

He was literally facing death in front of him and that was scary as fuck.

He felt someone’s hand grab his arm and drag him away from the spot he was standing at. He realised that the someone was leading a way out for them both, he knew he was alive, but didn’t feel like that.

When they reached the outside the panic didn’t stop, in fact the lights and ambulances and blood and bodies and injuries were even more chaotic than the scene inside.

Someone sat him on the ground and took his mask and helmet off and immediately got him on oxygen. Noah was like a robot, just nodding his head “yes” or “no” when asked questions, his eyes still following the chaos that went on.

It was like a switch inside his body when he realised he didn’t do anything to help inside. He stood up and tried to put his full gear on saying “I need to help them.” and “They’re still inside I need to get them.”

It took three people to stop him from running inside and it took one look at Nick who was sitting in an ambulance with a mask on his mouth that made Noah break down.

He fell to his knees and started crying. He felt overwhelmed by everything and everyone, he tried to protect his ears with his hands, but it still couldn’t stop the noise.

Nick saw his best friend and gathered all of his strength to get up and walk to him. Nick was fine, just smoke inhalation, but one look at him in that ambulance and thoughts of what could have happen to him just broke Noah.

“Hey Noah, it’s me.” Nick said when he knelt next to Noah and put his arm around him. “Just breathe, we’re okay.”

Nick continued to talk Noah through his break down and then helped him inside the same ambulance he was just a minutes ago to get checked up.

The fire was extinguished from inside by additional units, everyone who needed medical help was transferred to the hospital and coroner took care of bodies who lost their lifes as heroes on that call.

When Noah and his crew made it back to station it was already 3 hours after their shift ended. Crisis briefing was ordered at the beginning of their next shift.

Noah didn’t waste time with shower or changing into clean clothes, he started his car and took off.

---

When he came home he threw his bag on the floor and immediately went for the shower. He stood still under the shower for good 20 minutes before he broke down again.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know those calls can happen, he just never really thought it would happen to him and his station. He wished he’d never come across death, but that’s impossible with his job.

He leaned his head on the shower wall and just let his emotions out.

He didn’t go to gym or reach out to anyone, he stayed in bed until it was time to go back to work again.

---

“Good morning everyone, thank you for coming today.” you said as you started the briefing at Station 25. You had the whole shift in the conference room sitting around big table. “My name is Theresa, but you can call me Tess. I’m therapist for the fire department and today I’ll lead this sitting. This here is my colleague, John.” you introduced yourself and John as positively as it was possible in that situation.

“We know things like this are not comfortable for everyone, so we’re not going to push anyone today. But it’s important to go over what happened and come to a conclusion you did everything you could.” John started the speech and you scanned the men sitting in front of you. Some of them were looking fine, mostly the older ones who have been through similar stuff before.

Your eyes couldn’t miss Noah. He was beautiful, you thought, until his eyes met yours. It was just for a second, because he moved his gaze to the ground, but even the second was all you needed to know that he was for sure not okay. He had dark circles under his eyes, so he probably didn’t sleep much since the call. His eyes screamed “tired” at you and his whole appearance just gave him away. But it wasn’t just him, few more guys seemed to have the same feelings like Noah did.

“I heard you lost your colleagues that night. I’m sorry, that is always the hardest part.” you saw wave of emotions go though the room after you said that. “How about we start with how was the shift before the last call. Anyone wants to tell me?”

There was a moment of silence, but one of the older guys broke it. “It was shit of day honestly. It was busy shift for all of us, I think I can speak for everyone that when we went to sleep before the last call we just really wished that the sleep is gonna be at least until the end of the shift.” and you saw few of them nod their heads in agreement, which was great start.

“Oh really? What were your other calls?” you asked.

Another man started talking “Just a regular calls I’d say, car accidents, but nothing serious. Then two false alarms which is always annoying, but one of them was in school, so we at least had some fun with the kids.”

As you and John navigated the discussion towards the last call, you noticed Noah and two other guys were not really present. When everyone was nodding or laughing along, they didn’t. But you knew those reactions are okay too, everyone handles their emotions differently.

When John finally asked about the call the mood in the room shifted, but everyone was still talking with you and John.

“It was horrible. I was not even inside when the explosion happened, but hearing it outside and not knowing what’s going on was scary.” was the first confession of feelings and then it was easier for everyone else to speak up.

“I saw him fly like two metres above the ground before he fell. I knew he’s not gonna make it when I saw his body on the ground. I didn’t want to go check on him, but I had to.” guy with a mustache talked about seeing one of his colleagues lose his life.

Those sessions don’t have particular time stop, unless there’s nothing more to talk about, you’re leading the discussion.

At the end you always ask everyone to promise you they don’t have anything else they need to talk about and that they know they did everything they could. Everyone always does, but you know not everyone means it. Just like you know Noah didn’t mean a single letter when he muttered ‘I’m okay.’ in the end.

“Captain I think it was mostly successful briefing, but keep an eye on them. You can call me or John anytime you need us.” you shook your hand with the captain and made your way to your car.

Before you left the station, you saw Noah cleaning the front of their Ladder and took that as a chance to speak to him.

“Hi. You don’t have to tell me anything, I know everyone handles their emotions differently. But I can see that you’re tired and maybe overwhelmed by the situation. Don’t be scared to reach out if you need.”

“Yeah whatever.” was Noah’s answer, but he still took your card and put it in his pocket.

------

But since the tragic call Noah couldn’t get back on track at the job. He felt better, but still not good enough to give his job 100%.

“That’s enough Sebastian. You’re going to see the department’s therapist or you’re on desk duty.”

“What?” Noah faced his captain next to the vehicle they just used to extinguish small garden fire.

“You’re not yourself since the call Noah, you need help.” Captain said as gentle as possible. He didn’t blame Noah for being affected by the call, but it was dangerous for him and for his crew.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t need any help.”

“You yelled at a kid today Noah.”

“But that was for his own safety.”

“Really? Didn’t have to anything with the gas bomb they had close to the fire? Or what about last week’s call to the clothes factory when you demanded to know if they have any gas or another explosive things in there? Or week before that when you went for safety check up and yelled at a woman for not having a fire system installed?”

Noah didn’t have any answer, because he knew all of his reactions were because he became extremely nervous after that call. He always hated when people didn’t think about their safety enough, but he never yelled at someone because of it.

“I want you to see a therapist or you’ll sit behind the desk. I want the first session this week and I want a paper that says you’re able to do the job while going to therapy. We’re short on people Noah I don’t want you to sit behind a desk and wait for months to have your papers signed, so please, help both you and me and do something.”

----

When Noah came home after that shift, he grabbed the small paper that was on his table since the briefing and texted you “Hi, are you free this week for a therapy?”

---

This story is a work of fiction, with the plot and characters entirely made up. The appearance and name of the main male character are inspired by Noah Sebastian Davis, but the storyline bears no connection to the real person. Please do not steal or repost this work on other platforms without permission.

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Tag list: @lacy1986 @concretejunglefm @chey-h @xmads-omensx @blade-dressed-in-red @respectfulrebel @alwaysfightforwhoyouare @mrscevans

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[qoldenskies]

Thinking about Rise Splinter hate… it always makes me kinda sad. Like YEAH, it wasn’t right the way he treated the boys. But like, Rise is really good at expressing subtle familial dynamics, and one of the big ones for me is the fact that like… there’s always an undercurrent of “It’s complicated” to their interaction with Splinter. IRL, it always pisses me off to see people casting judgments on people’s relationships with their family, because you don’t know!! Yeah, they hurt you, but not everything’s black and white. It’s complicated. Because you love them, and sometimes you get to understand a little bit better why things happened as you get older.

In a matter of smaller importance, hate for him loses so many opportunities in his character… even things that might just be kinda off-handedly mentioned.

He fought for SEVEN years—give me Splinter with chronic pain. Splinter relating to his boys with their neurodivergence—it’s HIS fault they have it!!!

That was seven years of imprisonment, or even simpler, an abusive relationship. What did he learn from that? How did he change? What things are skewed in his worldview?

His childhood! We saw his relationship with his grandfather a bit, but how did Splinter grow into his dream of being a movies star? HIM BEING A MOVIE STAR. He was both a rebellious team and a literal celebrity, this guy probably took empyrean at some point without knowing it, just like. Recreationally or something LMAO.

I maybe just need more of his old man knowledge. Him being so loser-core was a great move by the Rise team, and I could SEE where his story was going—ROBBED. We were ROBBED.

splinter hate is CRAAAAZY when he's such an INTERESTING character who does actually have a lot of obvious depth. like he's goofy and he's objectively flawed as a parent but he does go out of his way to improve himself and LEARN throughout the show, and he does listen and apologize when he knows he's messed up. his issues are so similar to leo's actually, leo's a kid so he's got more leeway to be shitty but idk when people act like its endearing on him and not on splinter. splinter's hilarious free my man

on the other side of the coin i dont really like when people make him a perfect loving parent either,,, i think people going for all kinds of interpretations in order to serve whatever story they need is fine but i do prefer kind of messy parent splinter, i think its kind of sad to see him reduced down to bad or good. he LOVES his boys so dearly and he would NEVER intentionally want to hurt them, but he's quick to cast judgement when he's angered/feels disrespected (evil league of mutants comes to mind, but also in turtle dega nights when donnie first stops the tank) and he's really a lot more inattentive than he should be. but there are REASONS behind this, coming out of an abusive relationship, fighting in bloodsports against his consent for years, you could probably count the whole draxum thing as traumatic (its presented as kind of silly in the show, but considering what it lead to,, its a pivotal moment in the backstory. its one of those things that i reasonably feel can be recontextualized because its so essential) and then dealing with crippling body dysmorphia and being forced into the sewers with no company other than his children,, it really adds up

idk like ,,,, you can still be extremely traumatized and be a horrible parent. in fact trauma can be a direct CAUSE of being a bad parent because that kind of thing influences every facet of your life and if youre unprepared emotionally, yeah. but splinter isn't the kind of person to double down and become more overtly nasty when he feels cornered. if he gets the feeling that his kids are actually upset with him, he backtracks. this is actually kind of a key trait of his, that he does try very hard to correct himself when he messes up. he's communicative and apologetic, and he tries very hard to be that way.

and also this is maybe something that i just have a wider problem with when it comes to the way people interpret things in cartoons at times but splinter's actions in eps like lair games (especially in lair games) and flushed but never forgotten are meant to be like. jokes. its absurdist comedy that's meant to catch you off guard. there are more serious emotional beats in rise you can use but i think when youre adapting this world and characters into a more serious tone you have to keep that kind of thing in mind because some things are meant to be surprising and absurd for the sake of making you laugh. i think the best comparison i can think of is how in musical movies they're not actually singing (in most cases, sometimes the fact that they actually are is played for laughs it depends. but yk what i mean). the joke is that this is kind of a shitty thing he's doing but taking the actions themselves seriously in a vacuum in order to cast shame on a character has always been odd to me. that'd be like calling raph abusive for rolling up the window on mikey's neck in late fee. or calling the teetz murderers because they caused a robot mass suicide that one time. it just doesnt make any sense

[craftea-fork]

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG On the nature of the bans and the "progressive culture" led by terfs that support this, they've missed a massive point. While we strive to provide space for everyone who wants to compete, liberals seem to have missed the point of feminism completely. The goal of equality is equity, supporting people by providing them a field of fair play. Leagues and other metrics could be used to create tiers of skill rather than arbitrary sex division. Why is this so complicated, and when we go to schools why does it have to be divided by age? is not height and weight important in more than just wrestling?

ex. we see all basketball players start to get taller just to play on the same field, so suddenly short kids are being told they have no chance to play.

wtf is going on with our culture.

Little league, college football... the age and gender needs to matter less than the level of skill if we want to give all kids a good experience and all athletes a chance to shine.

You want join sport, your skill level is judged, you are put on a team and play against people of similar skill until you win [ outperform ] and move up a rank.

Also, if you want my opinion the majority of the people who are queer are repressing it. the presumption based on polls doesn't take into account parental and cultural rearing. so I think that if we had total access to information since we were kids, and shame just didn't happen, our numbers would be closer to 20% being gay, 40% bi, and 30% transgender [ IMO ] - i think a lot of people repress it and would enjoy being open about whatever it is if it didn't make their friends "weird"

People are freaking out because we are starting to see more of the AMAB femboy who likes to go by he even though he dresses like a 'girl' a lot of the time, but what about when women started wearing pants? THAT WAS GENDER NON-CONFORMING. early 1900s ppl. Gender non-conformance of the feminist movement wasn't so different than being transgender.

i think gay got popular in 1980s so information about gayness circulated, but without other information or opportunity to change anything about what their bodies would be later from a young age.

Cisgender as a concept is by nature built on the fear of being different, because of the binary mentality about it all. But literally EVERYTHING is a spectrum, if we just let it be. Instead we create problems that prevent potential.

ex. a lesbian thinks shes transmasc OH but they really LIKE the LESBIAN community and being a man would rule them out of women only spaces.

ex. maybe I am a man who doesn't like competing against the other men, oh i guess i have no space to compete where i enjoy the experience i guess i just won't be an athlete.

Shame, culture, shame.

TLDR ?

[ feminism was supposed to be about opportunity to be equal, and they left "men" behind in terms of equality theology ]

One last note: GSRM means gender, sexual, and romantic minorities and is a far more encompassing term than lgbt or lgbtqia+ imo, being poly and i consider that to be a minority that is frowned upon. i'm also bi but i am with a man. I just don't get why non-physical spaces (i.e. online communities) need to be exclusive. so please use gsrm, and embrace all people who question their gender, sexuality, or romantic inclinations and provide them with love and knowledge.

It often feels like mainstream acceptance of queer people, particularly trans and nonbinary people, is contingent on there being few of us. When I was a kid witnessing arguments about gay marriage, statistics about LGBTQ people were so often presented in such a way as to reassure everyone else that we are not dangerous because we are rare. "It's not going to cause societal collapse ... because such a small percentage of people are gay."

And conservative rhetoric against queer people, particularly trans people, which explicitly refers to us as a "social contagion," really underscores that any perceived "increase" in sexual or gender diversity will be seen as a threat. If queer people are permitted to exist, we must be aberrant and isolated. If we are normal and natural and commonly occurring, it is because something has gone terribly wrong.

So. Forgive me if I bristle at the well-meaning argument that "these trans athlete bans are ridiculous, they're only going to affect a few dozen people!" I understand where they're coming from. But I think trans people should be free and abundant.

[laurelwen]

Sorry, it's me again. There's this thing that has been...whispering in the back of mind since I read this post for the first time. Nigel wrote: "... I removed a rat's heart and pretended to be disgusted" Why on earth would he feel the necessity to PRETEND to be disgusted in front of Alex?

I've taken a minute to answer this because it's a very good question but difficult and complicated to answer within the context of the film. For those who aren't sure what you're referring to, please see this post transcribing Nigel's notes.

The short answer is: I don't think the people making the props were entirely consistent with the character as scripted. I think most likely they were given some general directives (such as "make sure it highlights the words "egocentric megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur") Outside those few directives, they just sort of let their poetic license run free, injecting their own ideas of a what a "fucked up weird guy who dissects animals" would say into the text, and creating a different version of Nigel than the movie presents us with. The worst example of that is the newspaper article in Alex's book--which doesn't make ANY sense in the context of the film. No one really expected crazy fans to obsessively pause the movie and use photo enhancing techniques frame by frame to determine what was written in his journals or the text of the article, so I think there was a lot of leeway and perhaps some laziness when it came to the props.

It's hard for me to come up with an IN character justification for Nigel to have written that, because it doesn't gel with my observations of him as presented in the film. The journal entry itself is written before he is kidnapped by Alex and the dynamic of their relationship shifts. This IS the entry that made Alex angry enough to kidnap him and teach him a lesson in the first place. This is the Nigel who barely responds to Alex's confrontational anger over the dissection in the dorm room, the Nigel who seems to be completely unmoved by or even very aware of how his actions might impact others. He doesn't care enough to even consider what effect he has on others, and even if/when he is aware, I sincerely doubt he'd bother to *pretend* anything. Nigel doesn't seem interested in pretending to be anything other than what he is, a defining trait that causes him a lot of problems.

Later in the movie, Nigel does shift a bit into a more puckish role. He fucks with Alex in a variety of ways, very noticeably in the train scene when they're going to visit his secret room. He's playful, mischievously antagonistic, poking and prodding Alex and seeming to enjoy his discomfort. This demeanor is more in line with the kind of guy who might write about deliberately messing with his roommate's head. But I still don't know why he would feign disgust in the middle of the dissection given that he's been dissecting animals regularly and Alex would have no reason to think he's grossed out by it.

I suppose if we apply that puckish attitude backward and say that Nigel was already trying to mess with Alex even before the kidnapping, we could sort of squint our eyes and imagine him being very over the top Fake Disgusted as he waves the heart around in Alex's direction. I still don't find that very likely, but it's the best I've got.

If you wanted to, you could use this as part of a theory that Nigel was the real instigator all along and had been intending/planning to manipulate Alex from the moment he was transferred to the school and forced to share a room. In such a reading of the film, all of his behavior could be seen as pretense in some way, including his initial lack of reaction to Alex--calculated to rile Alex up, put him off balance, etc.

I don't personally buy in to that interpretation, just as I don't buy into Alex being the sole instigator. I think either reading ascribes far too much power and control to these teenagers, however intelligent and manipulative they may be. But if you want to go that route, here's a supporting piece to add to your puzzle.

Thanks for the ask and I hope this rambling mess makes at least some sense!

EDIT: please read my reblog of this post. @silhioutte pointed out the very obvious mis-read of this line.

[Like Minds Masterpost - Main]

[bunnwich]

I just found out a Prince of Egypt Musical exists, and one of the addition songs— 'footprints on the sand'— really gives me Leona vibes

(Spotify link to the song)

https://open.spotify.com/track/40PqpFQdrylghRZgY36W8G?si=wATkespmQyar931PNnNc8A&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A7MOGTYjo3ifwHDBf0EBE71

(Genius lyrics)

https://genius.com/Original-west-end-cast-of-the-prince-of-egypt-footprints-on-the-sand-lyrics

So since you're— at least in my view— one of the Leona experts, I was wondering what your thoughts would be on it!

Not that it fits perfectly; no song ever really fits 100%, after all. But I think it has strong Leona vibes

Leona VS The Weight of Insignificance

(Ahhh sorry I am just getting around to this.;-; BTW DFGHJK I’m flattered that you consider me a Leona expert??)

So this is pretty cool because I didn't realize there was a Prince of Egypt Musical? I’m a big fan of the animated movie and of musicals so I’ll have to listen to the rest someday!

So, I think in general the theme of “Footprints in The Sand” is about the idea of “trying to leave a mark” in life, but feeling like it won't matter in the long run and also exploring the insignificance that we all feel as people.

That being said, I can see why this song made you think of Leona! It brought up some feelings about what being second-born in a royal lineage means and how that can make someone feel insignificant just in concept. The spare heir if you will. 

It's interesting because it also made me think about how Leona has such complicated feelings about his title too?

Like on the one hand, he feels like he's “forever in the shadow of Falena” but at the same time, I DO think a small part of him secretly enjoys the mobility of not having the reasonability of king and therefore the first few lines of the song before it fades into him sounding more melancholic made me think of this.

(AND ALSO since we’ve seen how he would handle being king in his Chapter 7 Dream OOF.) My thoughts on that: X

The second son– My father's wrong (THIS LINE TOO) It's got to be the easiest role on Earth Just play around Just play along Enjoy the bounty of my birth So what's today's amusement For this second son? Which one shall I choose from so many kinds of fun?

I think it leads back to the age-old conclusion about Leona’s character (that his dream really hammered home), is that being king is NOT what he truly wants and it more comes to feeling worthy as a person as if he has to “justify” his own existence of feeling useless. It’s more about the kind of attention he craves. To be useful, respected, adored. 

The song mentions the fear of not leaving behind a legacy and feeling the weight of your own insignificance as a person. I can see how both the characters of Moses and Leona both struggle with “finding their purpose” and not being able to see their own worth like others who care about them do. 

It made me think of the song (also in Prince of Egypt) “Through Heaven's Eyes” which I feel actually continues this theme. The idea that even if you can’t see your OWN value that everyone—has their own innate value as people—and that in itself is meaningful.

A single thread in a tapestry Though its color brightly shines Can never see its purpose In the pattern of the grand design And the stone that sits on the very top Of the mountains mighty face Does it think it's more important Than the stones that form the base?

For Leona—the people he acts as a mentor to like—Ruggie, Epel and Savanaclaw as a whole—have a pretty high opinion of him despite his flaws. And the fact that he can’t always see that and appreciate that value that he unconsciously and consciously brings to them reflects this. He has and will leave an impact even if it's not as “important” as a king. And he could do even more good if he actually tried to do so.

I think it’s a lesson we all struggle with TBH, the whole: seeing our inherent value as people and it’s def why I think Leona is a more relatable character than he first appears in twst. :3

Thank you for sharing with me though! I love finding stuff like this! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!💚

[chemicalcindercat]

Children of Gotham

(Setting/Worldbuilding for the Deity AU I'm working on.)

Gotham has been called many things over the years. A long, long time ago she was considered a continent. Today, most refer to her as a city. 

Gotham isn’t her true name. Gotham is a word humans have assigned to a concept their minds can barely grasp, the same as “continent” or “city”. None of the humans truly understand how far Gotham extends, but that’s okay. Their minds are feeble, simple, not meant to understand those concepts that are above them. Gotham is much more than a city, and her influence extends far outside of the boundaries that the humans have assigned her, but she doesn’t mind. Let them think they know her. It’s endearing. So she accepts the name Gotham with pride, and watches over her humans loyally. 

The humans think they know everything, and she allows it.

The humans know next to nothing. They don’t even know how much they rely on her for help in times of need. But that’s okay; she doesn’t need sacrifices or praise like some of the other gods. She takes pride in their resilience, and the tough skin they become known for. She admires their ability to trust in her and continue to live their lives during disasters. Gotham’s people are easily the most courageous and stubborn people in the world, and she loves them for it. 

Like all humans, they aren’t perfect, and sometimes her people make grievous mistakes. She easily forgives them- they’re only human, after all- and protects them from themselves. And when the consequences of their mistakes start to spiral out of her control, she chooses her favorite children- those who love her people almost as much as she does- to step up and help her protect the others. It doesn’t happen often; in an entire population of special people, it takes an extra special person to stand out to her. But there are those with a potential to do so much good, so she tugs at the strings of their fates and grants them abilities to help them live up to their full potential. 

Gotham sees a man whose heart is already so full of love, yet never seems to run out of room to love others, even in the face of grief. A man who chooses peaceful resolution, despite being perfectly capable of great violence, and chooses to teach his peaceful ways to others. She grants him the ability to protect and heal the ones he loves, as long as he continues to encourage others to choose peaceful ways.

Gotham sees a little boy blinded by his grief for his parents, whose only goal is to make the one responsible pay in blood. A man who learns the error of his ways too late; a life stolen in vengeance that cannot be returned. A man with the potential to change the world for the better by seeing the good in everyone. She grants this man a second chance with the ability to see people in all of their complicated glory, the bits of good and bad that swirl together to make each person human. All she asks in return is that he tries to change the terrible ways of the world, to protect others who are hurt the way he once was, and to strive to make the world a better place.

Gotham sees a boy whose dreams are bigger than any other. A boy learns to fly and still wants to touch the stars. A boy who loves his parents so deeply he would do anything to make them happy, and can’t understand why they still have to constantly look over their shoulders as if being chased by a nightmare. She grants him the ability to bring comfort and safety to others in the form of their dreams. A mind is a powerful thing- one of the most important parts of a person, second only to their soul- and she gives him the power to hold someone’s mind in his hands and weave together their dreams or nightmares as he sees fit, as long as he never gives up on those extraordinary dreams that make him so special.

Gotham sees a boy who is shown the darkness of the world from a young age, and embraces it with open arms. She sees a boy who’s father beats him, who’s mother chooses to feed her addictions rather than to feed her son, and who’s forced to live a hard, tough life on the streets. She sees a boy who learns to find comfort and familiarity in his hunger pains, and chooses to share his food with the corner-girls. She sees a boy who never stops hoping that someday things will get better, that somebody out there will love him. She sees a boy who knows how to comfort everyone but himself. She sees a child who dies too young, waiting desperately for a father that comes too late. She gives him the power to bring comfort to others’ in their final moments; the same comfort he longed for as he died. She gives him the ability to be a friendly face, a kind touch, strong arms for the souls who die too young, to carry them to the other side. She gives him a second chance at life, as long as he never forgets the pain and loneliness she delivered him from, and doesn’t let another soul feel that way. 

Gotham sees a boy that nobody wanted, left in an empty house by parents whose standards were impossible to meet. She sees a boy who fights tirelessly for people who don’t want him, people he will never be good enough for. She sees a boy whose soul is almost devoured by the person he looked up to the most. She sees a boy determined to bring back his dad, alone (once more) in his endeavors when nobody else believes him. She sees a boy willing to secretly sacrifice himself for his dad; not for the glory, or the attention, or because he loves his dad, but because it’s what is best for the people of Gotham. So when he trades places with his dad to become lost in time, she brings him into her arms and pulls him back to where he should be. She grants him the ability to bend time to his will, to turn back the clock and be the only one to remember it, this boy who proved himself capable of handling loneliness. She gives him alone the ability to change history, as long as he continues to use his powers to benefit others and never himself.

Gotham has many more special children. Some choose to use the powers she grants them for good. In the rare case that her child defies her rule for them, she claims their soul for herself. Unfortunately, unless a rule is blatantly disobeyed, she can not interfere directly. There are those who find loopholes in her rules, who manage to use their Gotham-given powers in a way to only benefit themselves and harm others, and she can do nothing about it. So she entrusts her other children with the responsibility of finding ways to stop them.

Gotham loves her children. She holds them close to her (metaphorical) heart, both those who are loyal to her and those who have turned their backs on her. She guides them in the best way she can, and trusts them and their humanness to make the right choices.

And she sits back and enjoys the show.

[kathlare]

plus-one decision

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: Shawn discovers the invitation, their conversation forces her to confront the situation head-on. Seeking reassurance and control over the narrative, she makes a bold decision—one that might complicate things more than she anticipates.

Wordcount: 1.0 k

Warnings: none

full masterlist // request over here!

March 30th, 2022 - London, United Kingdom

The soft hum of London traffic filtered through the windows of Amelie’s apartment, mixing with the sound of Benny purring loudly on her lap while Björn knocked over a candle on the coffee table—again. She sighed, absentmindedly reaching for her phone to check her messages.

She had already confirmed with Oliver and Sav that she would be attending their wedding on April 30th, a decision she had initially made without much thought. But as she sat in her apartment, the reality of it settled in.

She would be alone.

Lando’s friends would be there. His family would be there. And of course, Luisinha would be there.

Just the thought of it made her stomach twist.

She didn’t regret her decision to go, but she hated the idea of standing in a room full of people who knew her history with Lando. She could already hear the whispers, the stolen glances, the judgmental looks.

And then, as if the universe had decided to mess with her even more, she heard Shawn’s voice from the kitchen.

—What’s this?—

She turned her head and saw him standing by the counter, holding a cream-colored envelope in his hands. Her heart dropped.

—Nothing,— she said a little too quickly, setting Benny down from her lap and standing up.

Shawn raised an eyebrow, flipping the envelope over and reading the elegant calligraphy. —Oliver Norris and Savannah Wilson request the pleasure of your company…— he read aloud, trailing off before glancing up at her. —You got invited to Lando’s brother’s wedding?—

Amelie sighed, running a hand through her hair. —Yeah, I mean… Oliver and Sav invited me. We were friends before everything, you know?—

He hummed, his fingers tracing over the embossed details of the invitation. —Are you going?—

She hesitated. She had already confirmed, but saying it out loud felt heavier. —Yeah. I told them I’d be there.—

Shawn’s expression was unreadable as he placed the invitation back on the counter. —And Lando will be there.—

It wasn’t a question, but it didn’t need to be. She already knew.

—Obviously.— She tried to sound indifferent, but there was an edge to her voice. Shawn caught it, his gaze softening.

—And you’re okay with that?—

She crossed her arms, feeling defensive. —I don’t care what Lando does. We haven’t spoken in almost a year. It’s not like it matters.—

Shawn gave her a look. The kind that told her he knew she was full of shit.

—Amelie…—

—What?— she snapped, before immediately regretting it.

He sighed and shook his head. —Nothing.—

Silence stretched between them, tense and thick. Björn, sensing the shift in atmosphere, jumped onto the counter and promptly knocked the invitation onto the floor.

Amelie let out a breath and bent down to pick it up, staring at the names printed so neatly. She had been so sure about going, but now? Now it felt like she was walking straight into a disaster.

She bit her lip before speaking again. —You should come with me.—

Shawn looked surprised. —To the wedding?—

—Yeah.— She straightened up, gripping the invitation in her hands. —I mean, why not? It’s a plus-one invite, and it’ll be… nice to have you there.—

It wasn’t a lie, not entirely. Having Shawn by her side meant she wouldn’t have to face Lando alone, wouldn’t have to navigate the awkward stares and whispered gossip without backup. And maybe—just maybe—it would send a message.

Lando would be there with Luisinha, that much was certain. And Amelie wasn’t going to be the ex who showed up alone, like she still had something to prove. No, if she was going to walk into that room filled with Lando’s family and friends, she was going to do it with someone who made her look untouchable.

Shawn hesitated, studying her. —Are you sure that’s a good idea?—

—Why wouldn’t it be?— She shrugged, forcing a casualness she didn’t quite feel. —It’s just a wedding. And besides, it’s Oliver and Sav’s day, not mine or Lando’s. No one’s going to care that we’re there.—

He didn’t look convinced, but after a beat, he nodded. —Alright. If you want me there, I’ll come.—

Relief washed over her, though she wasn’t sure if it was because she wouldn’t have to deal with Lando alone or because Shawn hadn’t asked any more questions.

—Thank you.— She stepped forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He smiled against her mouth, his hands settling on her waist.

—You don’t have to thank me, Amelie.—

She forced a smile, but the knot in her stomach refused to loosen.

Björn let out an indignant yowl, leaping onto the table and knocking over yet another candle. Shawn laughed, pulling away. —I swear, that cat’s got a vendetta against your furniture.—

—He has a vendetta against everything.— Amelie scooped up Björn before he could cause more damage, his fluffy body squirming in protest. Benny, still curled up on the couch, let out a pleased purr, basking in the attention he wasn’t even receiving.

Shawn sat back against the counter, watching her carefully. —So… you and Lando. What actually happened?—

Amelie froze for a fraction of a second, but she masked it well, placing Björn back down before turning to face him. —We were friends. Then we weren’t. That’s it.—

It wasn’t a lie, not really.

Shawn exhaled through his nose, as if debating whether to push further. But in the end, he just nodded. —Alright.—

She let out a quiet breath, relieved.

Because the last thing she needed was for him to know how badly she had once let Lando Norris break her heart.

[dubiousanon]

GAANARU FOR ME PLS DO U HAVE SNIPPETS ✋

SOMEBODY ASKEDDDD here is a chunk of a fic in my drafts in which Gaara is insanely in love with Naruto, and Naruto somehow decides it's in the best interests of their villages' alliance that they get married:

The thing is that Gaara didn't even know the meaning of love before him.

He thought he did up until now, the mark carved into his forehead and blood on his hands. But whatever he had before— it pales in comparison to the fire lit in his chest, the one that radiates heat through each of his limbs, straight down to the very tips of his fingers and toes. He's been set ablaze, and he hopes desperately that the flame never goes out.

Naruto breathes life into everything he touches, it seems. Gaara is no exception. He thinks that if he could choose to be anywhere in the whole entire world, it would be here every single time.

He's so stuck in his blissful daze that he hardly notices that Naruto has been rambling to him this entire time. And more than that, it seems it might concern issues he should probably pay attention to. Just a little bit.

"-and that's why I feel like the political marriage between Shikamaru and Temari is stupid. Shikamaru doesn't even like her! He'd be unhappy for like, life!" Naruto threw his hands up in the air. "If they really want a strong alliance, they should just have the two of us get married. Believe it!"

Gaara very nearly chokes. His brain doesn't fully compute, but some part of him must because he's answering before he can even think about it. Like some part of his hind brain sees the in for what it is and dives to take it.

"For the sake of the villages," Gaara says in a voice far calmer than the internal screaming going on within him is, "that sounds like it would be a far better choice."

It wouldn't be better. Realistically, it would actually make things insanely complicated. Two jinchuuriki of different villages, one being a kage and the other slated to become one in the future, bound in holy matrimony? It would be nearly impossible. Unheard of.

The more Gaara thinks about it, the more he realizes he's never wanted anymore more in his entire life.

Marriage to Naruto would be a guarantee for life. Naruto does not do things in halves. He sticks to his commitments and he doesn't go back on his word, and such a philosophy seems to transfer to all facets of his life. Gaara sees no reason it wouldn't apply to this one too.

It's beyond appealing. The thought that Gaara could have Naruto, and Naruto would be his— he's giddy just thinking about it, hungry in that same odd way that drives him to stare at Naruto's lips and imagine their taste so often when they're together. In his chest, his heart races.

Next to him, Naruto makes a grand gesture with his hand.

"Right?!" He exclaims. "I mean, we get along! We're super close. I'd totally spend my life with you, believe it."

"I share the sentiment." Gaara is quick to say, feeling smitten. It's too good to be true. Surely he's not-

"In fact, we should just handle this ourselves. Right now." Naruto starts to stand. Gaara's heart nearly gives out right then and there. "Let's go find a church or something. Believe it."

Someone wake him up. Right now.

[aiscapades]

shit's so fucked my mom whom i never talk to is checking up on me. bro where was this energy my entire life lmao

[paradox-n-bedrock]

me in big fandoms: oh cool, it's so active and there's so many people to vibe with, this is amaz-

*finds my niche angle that appeals to approximately six people*

me: okay, folks, it's you and me now

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[qoldenskies]

Okay okay I'll yammer about Rise!Splinter in your ask box because oh my god I cannot STAND people who legitimately villainize him on main. Like, alright, you can call him an emotionally unavailable or even slightly neglectful parent all you want, because even the show itself makes it clear that his parenting style wasn't exactly PERFECT and probably left the boys with at least a SMALL myriad of issues (Raph's parentification and Donnie's constant need for approval come to mind, though I can't say for sure whether those are entirely borne of Splinter's parenting style lmao). But I feel like so many people through trying to villainize his actions deliberately gloss over the fact that he was probably struggling with hardcore PTSD after spending a decade or more basically being forced to fight in a DEATH ARENA, not to mention probably having a good deal of body dysmorphia because he's suddenly been kind of forcefully shoved into a body that he can't even recognize as his own anymore. PTSD is a genuinely crippling condition to struggle with at times. On top of the depression he more than likely had, it'll make you not even want to get out of bed some days, and to struggle with that AND take care of four INFANTS that you've basically suddenly found yourself the sole caretaker of HAD to require a great deal of both mental and physical strength from Splinter. I'm sure he had his hard days, and the show points that out, but he was still trying his damn hardest to be there and be present for these kids, even if he fucked it up at every turn, even if he was far from the BEST parental figure that they could have had.

People can critique his parenting style as they wish (hell, even I do it), but so many depictions of him as an awful parent feel like they're glossing over the legitimate mental issues that he more than likely has, and idk sometimes I just feel like yammering about it on main

yeah like, a parent can seriously fuck you up completely unintentionally and have understandable, sympathetic reasons for it (while still not being in the right! a kid is never in the wrong for being hurt by an adult who failed them! but they're also well within their right to understand and empathize with a complicated parent who loves and changes for them!). generally im sure a lot of people who write abusive parent splinter genuinely had horrendous and abusive parents and are venting, which is why i tend not to be judgemental to people who do. characters are ultimately devices to drive a plot and if they're writing a story where they want to put them through some shit, that's one way to do it. aus are aus and allat

HOWEVER. lord does it frustrate me when people act like his behavior in the show itself is actually like that. i think its really uncharitable and unsympathetic. like if you want to see some of the things he did to them as potentially unforgivable thats fine, because if they're upset with him they dont have to forgive him, but him dealing with crippling ptsd and depression while being someone who goes out of his way to parent and change and grow while handling it just makes it idk nasty to me ,,,,

and also maybe this is just a hot take but esp. when it comes to raph and donnie i think them having more complex feelings about him makes for more compelling angst. its juicier, and i love to read stories that are empathetic towards everyone involved.

i am not a splinter defender but i will still fight splinter haters (not actually. dont fight me i will cry, i dont main tag most things anymore for a reason lmao)