#i don't have any hard evidence for this. but i shouldn't need it either.

[delku]

#something about taking a bat to a hornet's nest whatever #i don't have any hard evidence for this. but i shouldn't need it either. #it's like... these aus like to take out or add consonants at random. there's no logic to it besides othering the alien characters away #from the human characters. #there's no linguistic merit to these name changes. they aren't speaking a real language. #by 'different languages' i'm including made-up languages. these garbled names aren't based on an established system. #but even if i were - and these aus had that inconceivable level of effort poured into them - it would still raise questions about #changing the extant names of these characters when the story you're writing is written in english. #you are butchering the names of characters who originate from a story written in a different language. that shit is disrespectful #unless you're being very. Very careful about it. and i sincerely doubt any of the kids doing this care very much at all #about the shit they're perpetuating by doing this. #because they don't know about it. which isn't an excuse. just leave their names be if you want to write a space odyssey #by 'being careful about it' i mean you have to know what you're doing and be aware of the ways it could go wrong #and do everything you can to mitigate that. i personally don't know if the effort is worth it for a fanfic #but someone out there might. who knows. i don't. that sounds like a ton of work #oh and this doesn't even touch on the fuckery of the changed names themselves. hoo fucking boy #'i need my characters to look like they're foreign. i know! i'll make their names into complete gibberish!' #that's not how language works. it is however very telling that these people behave like that's how language works.

[magnetothemagnificent]

The world is so hostile to tweens.....

Like we joke about how our schools growing up would ban the latest toy trends, but that reality genuinely horrific when you think about it. Like maybe 1% of the bans were based on safety, but the rest cited reasoning like

-"kids were bartering for collectibles" (kids learning about economics and product value)

-"kids were wearing them and the colors were too flashy" (kids experimenting with self expression and fashion)

-"kids were playing with them during lunch and recess instead of using our rusted safety hazard playground" (kids utilizing their free time to do what helps *them* unwind).

Play areas specifically geared towards children and especially towards teens are constantly being shut down. "Oh kids today are always on their phones!" Maybe because

-there are barely any arcades left and even less arcades that aren't adult-oriented,

-public pools and gyms are underfunded and shut down,

-"no loitering" laws prevent kids and teens from just hanging out,

-movie theatres only play the latest films and ticket prices are only rising,

-parks and playgrounds are either neglected or replaced with gear only directed at toddlers and unsuitable for anyone older

-genuine children's and young teen media is being phased out in favour of media directed only at very small children or older teens and adults.

-suburbs and even cities are becoming more and more hostile to pedestrians, it's just not safe for kids to walk to or ride their bikes to their friends' houses or other play destinations

Children's agency is hardly ever respected. Kids between the ages of 9-13 are either treated as babies or as full-grown adults, with no in-between. When they ask to be given more independence, they are either scoffed at or given more responsibilities than are reasonable for a child their age.

This is even evident in the fashion scene.

Clothing stores and brands like Justice and Gap are either closing or rebranding to either exclusively adult clothing or young children's clothes, with no middle ground for tweens. Tweens have to choose between clothes designed for adults that are too large and/or too mature for their age and bodies, or more clothes they feel are far too childish. For tween girls especially it's either a frilly pinafore dress with pigtails or a woman's size dress with cleavage. No wonder tween girls these days dress like they're older, it's because their other option is little girl clothes and they don't want to feel childish.

And then when tweens go to school, the books they want to read aren't available because they cover "mature" topics (read: oh no two people kissed and they weren't straight or oh no menstruation was mentioned or oh no a religion other than Christianity is depicted), so kids are left with books for way below their reading level. No wonder kids today are struggling with literacy, it's because they can't exercise and expand their reading skills with age-appropriate books. Readers need to be challenged with new words and concepts in order to grow in their skills, only letting tween read Dr. Seuss and nursery rhymes doesn't let them learn.

Discussions about substance use, reproduction, and sexuality aren't taught at an age-appropriate level in school or even by children's parents, so they either grow up ignorant and more vulnerable to abuse, or they seek out information elsewhere that is delivered in a less-than-age-appropriate manner. It shouldn't be a coin-toss between "I didn't know what sex was until I was 18 and in college" or "my first exposure to sex as a tween was through porn" or "I didn't know what sex was so I didn't know I was being sexually abused as a kid."

Tweenhood is already such a volatile and confusing time for kids, their bodies are changing and they're transitioning from elementary to middle to high school. It's hard enough for them in this stage, but it's made worse by how society devalues and fails them.

We talk about the disappearance of teenagehood, and maybe that's gonna happen in the future, but the erasure of tweenhood is happing in real time, and it's having and going to have major consequences for next generation's adults.

#leftie shit #i guess #ageism #social issues #tweenhood #the disappearance of tweenhood #current events #relevant issues

[comicaurora]

(sorry for the long ask)

So there's this thing? That's been kind of bothering me, I've noticed it in the shera remake but also other places, where all these faceless minions are just there to show how hard/easy it is for the protagonists to get rid of them.

There's a couple of things, but I think that it just boils down to that they're not treated as characters? The hero will push them into a volcano and celebrate, then get all conflicted when facing the villain captain puppy kicker because "if I kill/hurt you I'll be just as bad" and in the same shot there's a pile of downed henchmen. And I get that, because from a meta perspective it would be hard to animate several hundred or however many individual people all fighting, but it's just weird right? In the show the only people without helmets on 24/7 are the main cast and of course the Rogelio/Kyle/lonnie group. Which is Confusing?? Because it seems like there's only a few options, either every single other person likes wearing the helmets all the time with no breaks, or they're breaking dress code and getting away with it, or "cadets" means they're in training. And somehow way more competent than all the other trained soldiers. It's weird, and I'm not even fully sure how to describe it. Do you have any thoughts?

Faceless minions are a time-honored storytelling tradition that persist despite being slightly reality-breaking story convention because-

They make it very easy to choreograph cool-looking fights against a big pile of interchangeable bad guys

You only need as many extras as you'll be showing together in one shot, meaning you can imply a vast army of evil with only like five costumes/character models

They make it easier to pick out the heroes in group shots and fights

They provide contrast against the important villains with unique designs

Easy protagonist disguises for sneaking around in

This is pretty useful stuff, but it does all feed into the effect that armies of faceless minions are generally not composed of full-fledged characters. They're a pile of broadly interchangeable mooks. This is one of those things that's technically dubious from a realism standpoint, but I honestly don't think it's automatically a bad thing for a story to make it really easy to tell who's an important character and who's an interchangeable obstacle in their way.

This does get shaky when the characters start acting like that. To them, in the reality of their story, those mooks ARE real, dangerous people, and their facelessness doesn't detract from that. The protagonist's morality shouldn't depend on how important a character is to the plot or how unique their design is, and that character inconsistency is the more disruptive bit of writing. Mowing down minions by the truckload only to spare the big bad makes it feel like the main character is standing apart from their own story and making the kind of value judgment the audience is, and that's weird. It's not weird that the faceless minions exist, it's weird that the protagonist evidently doesn't see them as real people.

But that doesn't mean every stormtrooper or background orc or ninja needs their own unique design, name and backstory. Narrative conventions exist for a reason, and while I do love a setting that feels like it's absolutely full of unique main characters all living their own lives, it's absolutely not mandatory. Sometimes things in stories are made unrealistic so they don't undercut the impact of the story itself, whether that's simple theater sets that don't draw the eye away from the actors, unrealistic lighting so a movie viewer can actually see what's going on, song and dance numbers, flashy showstopping villains, or convenient armies of ninjas to take down with one punch each. Storytelling has its own tools.

#asks #writing stuff

[ckret2]

Chapter 17 of Human Bill Causes Problems And Ruins Relationships On Purpose (title TBD), featuring: Mabel and Ford, not letting their relationship be ruined.

They're gonna be okay.

Also: weird donuts, cool crystals, and summer class.

####

Mabel was out of sight by the time Ford exited the shop—stupid, why hadn't he chased her the second he saw her run? He knew Mabel was fast. He circled the block calling her name—there was nowhere she could have gone, this mixed-use building was surrounded by residential houses—and then he hurried back to the parking garage, worst case scenarios tumbling through his head.

When he spied her leaning against the trunk of Stan's car, he heaved a sigh of relief. "Mabel! You shouldn't run off like that in a strange city. Anything could have happened."

Mabel tightened her crossed arms, glaring at her shoes. "I'm better at taking care of myself than you think."

Ford's shoulders slumped. He stood there useless, the silence thick between them, grappling for something to say to cut through it.

He never did well with these thick, awkward, choking moments—the moment before Stan left home, the moment after Fiddleford left the portal project, all the moments on the phone with his parents or with Shermie when he couldn't think of anything they'd be truly interested to hear about his life or any questions he truly wanted them to answer. He'd lost a lot of relationships in those moments. "Mabel—you're not in trouble, and I'm... I'm not mad at you."

"Being disappointed isn't better."

"I'm not disappointed, either. Just... concerned."

Wrong word. Mabel looked up at Ford with a dark, furious look that reminded him unnervingly of a look Bill had given him a few days ago. (He still hadn't learned to identify this as the hallmark gaze of the defiant teenager.) Then she glared at the ground again. "I wanna go home."

If he took her home, it would be an agonizing hour and a half silence—and what were the odds she'd just run to Bill and tell him he'd been "right," and he'd fill her head with more poison? It was far too late to forbid her from talking to him without exacerbating the situation. Ford could force her to stay right here in Portland until he'd talked to her—he had the keys, the driver's license, and almost fifty years' seniority—but if he did that, she'd tune out anything he said.

And she'd be right to. Who was he to her except the other uncle, the one who'd spent a year lavishing attention on her brother and only asked to spend time with her as a trap to give her a lecture?

He leaned on the car trunk next to her and looked down at the top of Mabel's head. She was wearing a headband studded with rhinestones and plastic ruby earrings. She'd dressed up for this. Ford swallowed hard. "Mabel, I'm an idiot."

She didn't say anything.

"I am. I'm a fool. I put all my skill points in intelligence and zero in charisma." He paused. "Which... that sentence probably makes self-evident." He cleared his throat. "I started out bad at socializing, and not interacting with humans for thirty years didn't make me any better. So I don't have any idea what I'm doing here. But... I asked you to come here with me because I really do want to spend more time with you; and because Bill hurt me, and I love you too much not to make sure you're protected against him doing the same to you."

He put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't tense up or pull away, he went on: "I think I tried to do too much in one trip, and it just made what should have been a fun time... awkward for you. But, if it helps, it's awkward for me, too. We can be awkward together. We're on the same side, I promise."

Mabel let out a loud, snotty sniff. "You... really do wanna hang out with me?" Quieter, she asked, "Not just Dipper?"

"Of course I do!" Ford said. "But I don't blame you for doubting me. I... know I've spent less time with you than with Dipper. I thought he needed me more. I'm sorry it took this to make me make time for you like I should have all along."

"Was... was there ever really a crystal store on the highway?"

"There was! I promise! I honestly don't know what happened to it! Maybe when I was coming from the airport Soos took a different exit than I thought? Or maybe a truck got between us and the sign as we were passing it and we didn't realize, but—"

He was getting off topic. The mystery of the crystal store wasn't what was important here. Reel in the puzzled scientist for a moment and be an uncle. "But—I swear Mabel, I didn't make up a story just to get you out here. I truly wanted to go to a crystal shop with you, hand on my heart." He put his hand on his heart. "That's a full finger more sincere than normal."

Mabel let out a choked giggle. She finally looked up at Ford, eyes red, cheeks tear streaked, but fighting to smile through her tears. "Grunkle Ford, I—" She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his sweater. "I'm not trying to ruin summer again, I promise! All I'm talking to Bill about is preschool cartoons and arts & crafts! Sure, he's—he's been nice since I helped him out, but—that doesn't mean I've forgotten who he is or what he can do..."

"Mabel, you didn't ruin last summer." Ford knelt down and hugged her back. "Bill did. Never forget that. I'm just trying to prevent him from doing it again."

Mabel nodded, unconvinced. "He couldn't have ruined it by himself."

"You're right. He couldn't. Which is why I was so wrong to keep the rift secret from everyone in the house but Dipper. I was trying to keep you safe, but you never would have fallen for his lies if I'd armed you with all the information you needed."

He leaned back from Mabel and patted his briefcase. "That's why I'm doing things properly this time! I'm prepared to educate you on every trick Bill has ever borrowed from the books of con artists, cult leaders, and serial manipulators. If you're going to talk to him, you'll know the rules of every mind game he plays before he starts playing them." He unzipped his briefcase and pulled out some of the research materials he'd assembled to prepare for this conversation. "I'm afraid even that might not be enough to fully protect you against his devious tricks, but if you keep your guard up and regularly check in with the rest of the family, then—"

Mabel looked in Ford's briefcase and exploded in a peal of laughter. "Grunkle Ford, are you making me go to school in the summer?! Gross!"

Ford blinked. If this was Dipper, he'd have been delighted at the educational opportunity. This just went to show how much he still needed to learn about Mabel, too. "Come now, Mabel. There's no greater defense against the shadowy forces of deception than the light of knowledge!"

Mabel laughed again. "You nerd!"

Ford grinned. "But, I'll try to make it fun, too."

"Okay, I'll take your psychology class. Bill-proof me! Arm me with knowledge!" She raised her arms like she was flexing her biceps.

"Great!" Ford rummaged through his briefcase. "I'll start with the broad strategies I've seen or heard of him using to isolate his victims, then narrow in on specific tactics he uses to steer conversations his way. First we'll go over the B.I.T.E. model of authoritarian control, and—"

Mabel put a hand on his shoulder. "How about we start with lunch?"

Ford paused, then let out a huff. "Yes, of course. We should eat."

They got in the car and went looking for a restaurant.

####

They had lunch at a burger place, and Ford told Mabel everything he could think of about how Bill operated—all guided by copious research notes.

To his relief, Mabel never got bored. Instead, she immediately related his lesson back to things she'd already seen Bill do: how easily he'd gotten her, Dipper, and Soos to do his job for him inside Stan's mind, or how he'd tried to turn Mabel and Dipper against each other during Mabel's puppet show. When she admitted what Bill had said to make her worry about talking to Ford, he confessed how Bill had turned him against Fiddleford—and how he'd done it with just a couple comments. All he'd had to say was that Fiddleford might not be committed enough to the portal project, might not be bold enough to finish, and Ford's mind had done the rest.

Ford hadn't even told Dipper about that part—instead, he'd just let Dipper read it in his journal. Ford had yet to so much as talk to Fiddleford himself about it. It was shameful to admit out loud; but less so when he knew he was talking to someone else who'd very nearly been fooled the same way—and that sharing his story might save her from repeating it.

They wrapped up lunch, moved to a nearby shop called Druid Donuts for dessert, and continued their conversation on one of the picnic tables outside. Mabel got a donut wizard with a pretzel stick wand and purple cream filling, and Ford tried out a donut with jelly beans on top. The jelly beans were kinda stale. He plucked them off and ate them anyway.

Mabel sighed, "Grunkle Ford, I'm so sorry I let Bill make me doubt you."

"Bill has that effect on people. When I had this same talk with Dipper, he tried to shoot me with the memory gun in case Bill was possessing me."

"Dipper never mentioned that!" Mabel laughed; but it quickly petered out as she remembered who had ultimately gotten memory gunned over Bill.

She gazed thoughtfully down at her wizard. (She'd eaten off one of his arms, half his robe, and licked out the purple cream filling.) "What made Bill so awful?"

"I sorely wish I knew," Ford said. "I spent half my life trying to find out where he came from, along with how to defeat him. All I ever learned is that he's from a two-dimensional realm—and he destroyed his dimension, friends and family included, for power."

Mabel's eyes widened.

"But... why? I still don't know. He told me he found his home 'restrictive'—but I imagine any limitations would feel restrictive to someone who's seeking omnipotence, so I have no idea what that truly means." Ford looked down at his donut. He'd plucked off all the jelly beans and sorted them into two piles on a napkin, one of regular beans and a smaller one with a few deformed ones. He popped a couple of beans in his mouth. 

"It's weird," Mabel said. "It's like... I'm trying to hate him, but it's hard. It was easy last year! And I know who he is, and I know that all this"—she pointed at Ford's bag full of notes—"is going on in his head, but—when I talk to him, he just seems like... not a different person, but a—a normal person. I don't want to not give that person a chance just because he's Bill. You know? Does that make sense?" Mabel grimaced. "Or is that just how good he is at acting?"

Softly, Ford said, "I think it does make sense. Actually, even after everything he's done to me... since he's been locked up with us, I've—had a moment or two like that. I don't think he's doing it on purpose. I think it's a natural side effect of being in such close proximity to him."

Ford had been thinking a lot about his bizarre burst of compassion on the night Bill burned off his hair. He'd wondered if, maybe, putting a human face over Bill had made Ford see him as a new person. But that wasn't right. Like Mabel had said: Ford didn't see this human Bill as a different person, but rather...

Ford had obsessed over Bill for thirty years. He'd combed the multiverse for information about Bill's history, his state of existence, his potential weaknesses. But in all that time—in all that time, he hadn't once spoken with Bill.

He'd spent half a lifetime moving amongst people who saw Bill as a symbol, a legend, a cosmic force. He'd come to see Bill the same way. A threat, a target, an idea. He'd spent so many years picking a scant few hours of conversation with Bill to shreds that—he was now beginning to realize—he'd half convinced himself that Bill didn't actually have an identity beneath his lies.

It wasn't that seeing a human face made Ford forget that this person was Bill. It was that seeing a human face made Ford remember that Bill was a person. Ford had gotten so used to hating Bill the symbol; had he ever learned how to hate Bill the person? Or had he just let himself believe Bill wasn't a person at all?

Treating Bill like an idea rather than a person was useful enough when Bill was some distant foe. But now Bill was here. Ford couldn't let himself go soft just because Bill was capable of filling space in a window seat and tripping on the furniture and waking screaming from nightmares and regretting a stupid haircut.

Bill had been a person every other time Ford had tried to kill him, too. And that didn't change the fact that he needed to die.

And Mabel—who had so much less practice with hatred than Ford had—was struggling with the same thing.

"You want him to make sense," Ford said. "I understand that completely. Once we see somebody as a person, it's hard to see them as a monster, even if that's what they are. Our minds think monsters want to destroy the world, not play weird chess games. Seeing him as just a monster would be safer for everyone—but, as long as he's imprisoned and powerless, all he can do is be a person."

Mabel thought that over. "Yeah," she said. "You can hate somebody or you can get to know them, but you can't do both."

Ford could think of a few people he'd only hated more the better he got to know them, but he supposed Mabel was kinder than him. "More or less."

"How do you deal with it?"

"By avoiding him."

Mabel's gaze dropped back to her donut wizard. She ate his wand and other arm.

Ford took a deep breath. "Mabel... knowing everything you know now, do you still want to keep talking to him?"

Her neck sank down into her turtleneck. "Do I fail your class if I say yeah?"

Ford smiled sadly. Was she too kind for her own good, or—like Ford—too curious? "I thought you might say that," he said. "Follow-up question: are you prepared to be disappointed when he doesn't live up to your hopes? And I do mean 'when,' not 'if.' You're offering him a charity I don't think he's capable of reciprocating."

If she'd gotten angry, if she'd gotten defensive, he would have worried more. But she laughed and said, "Grunkle Ford, last summer I got my heart broken by like, sixteen boys. After that, I can handle finding out the evil demon triangle I'm trying to reform is still an evil demon. I'll be impressed if he ever gets an opportunity to kill one of us and doesn't take it."

Ford chuckled, relieved. "I think you deserve to hang out with people you can hold to higher standards than that."

"I do! But the other people I hang out with don't wanna watch the same shows as me. I don't think I can make you understand how important that is."

On the one hand, that struck Ford as a very thirteen-year-old priority. On the other hand... He winced. "Actually... for a while, he was the only person that would play Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons with me."

"WHAT! What kind of character did he play!"

"None. He always wanted to be the dungeon master," Ford said. "He ran very strange campaigns. And had a weird fascination with princesses with eyeballs for heads. And, in retrospect, it was probably a red flag when he decided to portray the God of Long Odds as a one-eyed golden triangle."

Mabel at least had the good grace to bite her lip instead of laughing at Ford.

"Well. I don't think you should want to talk to him. But, if you do... then you have a rare opportunity. Perhaps the first in multiversal history. Bill's our captive, he seems to trust you, he's motivated to make you trust him... I think if anyone's ever had a chance of finding out what made him like he is, it might be you. Perhaps you'll get your question answered."

"Grunkle Ford..." Mabel grinned slyly. "Are you saying that you want me to talk to him? Like, as a spy?"

Ford grimaced. "If I said that, that would make me a terrible uncle. I should be doing everything in my power to steer you away from him. I know that would be safer for everyone and healthier for you." He paused. "But. I can't control you. And as long as you've decided to talk to him anyway—I want to know everything you learn."

Mabel laughed. "You got it!"

"Final advice: don't trust anything he says, assume everything he does has an ulterior motive, and never agree to do anything he asks without twenty-four hours away from him to consider it. And keep talking to us—to me, to Dipper, to Stanley. He might fool one of us, but he can't fool all of us."

"Yeah!" Mabel raised a hand. "Pines power!"

"Pines power." Ford high-sixed her, then finished up his donut. "Well, I think this was very educational for both of us." He stood. "You've still got your $50. Want to go back to the crystal shop?"

####

They grabbed a big green box of donuts for the family and headed back to Lunar Blessings. While Mabel was agonizing over several fun-colored crystals, Ford wandered back toward the statue of Bill. He had to do something about this. "Excuse me." He waved down the shopkeeper. "Do you happen to know where this sculpture came from? The name of the artist, or...?"

She came over to study it. "I think we get all of these from a studio in the Bahamas, but I don't remember the artist off the top of my head. Why?"

He tried to think of a lie that sounded more realistic than the truth—maybe if he said he thought he recognized the art style and wanted to know if an old friend had made it, she'd be willing to dig up the artist's name?

He decided to go with a story that might get this thing off the shelf faster. "Because that particular depiction of the Eye of Providence is associated with a dangerous cult."

Her brows went up. "You're sure? It's a common symbol."

"Giving it eyelashes and a bow tie isn't. Trust me: either the artist is a cultist, or they got the design from somebody who is."

"Cult's a... pretty loaded word." (Ford grudgingly respected her for her wariness. She probably dealt with somebody calling something-or-other in this shop "cultish" on a daily basis.) "How do you know they're that bad?"

"Because once I got in, it took me thirty years to get out."

The shopkeeper's demeanor changed immediately. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. We get these in bulk with a lot of other sculptures, I thought it was just some obscure... Are these people dangerous, or—?"

"Not as much as they used to be, I don't think. Their founder's incarcerated. But... the kind of people who'd be eager to buy this probably aren't the people you want to sell to."

As she eyed the sculpture skeptically—probably deciding whether she found this stranger's story credible enough to warrant taking merch off her shelves—Ford asked, "Do you think you could find the artist? With the founder gone, I... I've been wondering how his other victims are faring." There wasn't much point in pushing further to remove the item. He'd given the shopkeeper enough to think about, and he doubted one more statue on one more shelf would really do any harm while Bill couldn't use its eye.

She hesitated, then nodded. "I'll check our records. If we don't have it, you can give me your contact info and I'll let you know when I find out."

"Thank you." What would Ford say if he did meet another of Bill's victims? He'd known a few, very distantly, thirty years ago; Bill had told him who he could go to to get art, much like the sculpture in this store. Back then, he'd felt like he was in a secret society—a real secret society with real secrets, not like the corny social club styling itself a "secret society" he'd joined in college—with the double secret that none of the other members knew that Ford was the society president's favorite. In retrospect, they'd probably thought they were Bill's favorites, too.

He supposed he'd find out if he ever met the artist.

####

Mabel found a little pink cat figurine, a string of small nazar eye beads she thought would be great for crafts, an extremely small crystal naturally colored like a watermelon slice, and a bracelet made out of tiny colorful rock chips arranged in a rainbow. The shopkeeper wasn't able to find the artist's name before they left; but Ford left his name, address, and the shack's number on a piece of receipt paper so she could contact him if she found out more.

As they were leaving, Ford said to Mabel, "You know... if you still like those glass pyramids, I think there's a couple in my study that escaped the purge. You could have one."

"Really? You're sure? You don't have to..."

"I'm sure. They're not magical or dangerous—and I think I'd like for one of them to get new, better associations. Just, keep it in a room where Bill can't get his hands on it," Ford said. "But if he does see it... make up a story about it that will drive him crazy."

Mabel considered that. And then a wicked smile twisted up her face.

####

"Okay, your turn," Mabel said. She was slouched down in her seat with her feet up on the car's dashboard. "Befriend, betray, or betroth: Carl Sagan, the Queen of England, and... a wizard."

Ford sucked in a breath. "Ooh, that's tough." He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "Describe the wizard."

"Greatest wizard of all time! And his beard is like, ten feet long."

Ford pursed his lips as he thought. "Marry the wizard," he said. "As much as I admire Carl's mind, he freely shares his knowledge with the public. Wizards are far more reclusive. Marriage may be my only way to learn his secrets."

"The queen isn't even on the table?"

"I've been a king before, Mabel. Too many social obligations for me," Ford said. "I suppose I'll have to befriend the queen. I can't afford to make any more powerful enemies. Anyway, it could give me an opportunity to ask about some of the legends surrounding Buckingham Palace."

"So you'd betray...?"

Ford frowned deeply. "This game is vicious."

Mabel laughed. "I won't tell him!"

"I appreciate it," Ford said. "All right, your turn. Befriend, betray, or betroth: a president, a movie star, and an astronaut."

Mabel paused. Mabel thought about the guy on the $10 bill—who, she was sure, was definitely a president, or else they wouldn't have put him on a bill. Mabel said, "Which president?"

He'd meant the concept of a president, but. "Uh..."

Mabel gasped and sat up straight. "Grunkle Ford, look!" She pointed out the driver's side window.

"Wh—?" Ford gaped as they drove past a tall pole topped with a gray sign. The sign read, "OCCULTED CRYSTALS". Beneath the words was a glass window shaped like a cut diamond.

"Is that—?"

"That's it!" Ford swerved into the exit lane. "You're not getting away this time, you sonofagun!"

"I've still got like two dollars! Let's do this!"

They celebrated and congratulated each other as they descended onto the frontage road and made a U-turn under the highway.

On the other side, there was no trace of the sign. All they found was a strip of five nondescript whitewashed storefronts, all out of business, with a narrow weed-filled parking lot in front.

Mabel and Ford exchanged a baffled look.

Ford pulled into the empty parking lot and stepped out of the car. "It was here, wasn't it?" he asked. "It can't have been farther back than this." He squinted to the west, shielding his eyes with his hand. No signs that way, and no trees or buildings tall enough to be hiding one.

"Maybe it's a time travel thing!" Mabel jumped out of the car and ran to the abandoned stores, peering through the windows one at a time to see if any looked like a former crystal shop.

Ford glanced warily at a concrete block along the edge of the parking lot that looked like it might once have supported a pole. "Hmm."

Eventually, when they couldn't find anything, they slunk back into the car, got on the frontage road, took the next U-turn, and got back on the highway.

The diamond-windowed Occulted Crystals sign taunted them from the horizon.

They stared dumbly at it.

Mabel pulled out her phone and snapped a picture.

"What are you?" Ford asked the sign. "Is it invisible on its other side?"

Mabel turned in her seat and peered through the back window as they passed it. "Still visible!"

"Then can it only be seen if you're traveling east on the highway?" Ford mused. "But you'd have to be westbound to take an exit that reaches that location. It's impossible to access."

"What if you're traveling west but you drive the car backwards!"

Ford mulled over that. "For starters, we'd probably get pulled over." Ford glanced down at the car's clock. "It's getting late, too. We can't procrastinate anymore if we want to be home in time for dinner."

The sign had disappeared behind them. Mabel turned back around and settled in her seat. "I think this calls for a follow-up investigation later, don't you?"

Ford grinned. "I had the exact same thought."

####

"... And that's how we realized it wasn't Louisa who had slashed Sarah's tires," Abuelita said, "it was Arthur! Can you believe it? Arthur!" She turned away from the stove to look at Bill, eyebrows raised, making sure he fully appreciated this twist.

Sitting backwards on one of the kitchen chairs, he shrugged. "I can't blame him. Every man has his limit. And Sarah's been pushing his for weeks." He took a swig from a bottle of spoiled grape juice.

"Stop drinking my cooking wine," Abuelita said. "Sure, but Arthur's so passive! I thought he'd have a nervous breakdown long before he ever took action! Anyway, things just haven't been the same since he got arrested."

Bill shook his head sympathetically. "I tell you. This town's bingo hall is really going to the dogs."

The front door swung open, and Mabel's voice drifted in: "Betroth the vampire, of course. And—is it possible to betray a zombie? Do they understand loyalty? When Soos got turned..."

Bill perked up, set the juice bottle on the kitchen table, and got to his feet, immediately drawn to a more rewarding distraction. "I'll get out of your hair," he told Abuelita, and switched to English. "Hey, Shooting Star and Sixer!" He leaned against the kitchen doorway. "How were the crystals?"

"Great! I got a watermelon rock and a cat and some beads and the coolest bracelet!" She raised her hand and twisted it back and forth, making the rock chips click together. "And donuts!" She shoved a big green open box in Bill's face. "You're allowed to take one. Only one."

He grabbed the yellowest one he saw and bit in. "Huh. Piña colada. Weird." He took another bite and leaned around the open box lid to look at Mabel. "So. Did you two have fun?"

"Yes! It was a blast!" Mabel gushed. "We got lunch in Portland, and we talked foreverrr, and we've got more in common than I ever imagined, and we're gonna make more trips to Portland soon! I think it really brought us closer together."

"Huh." Bill's gaze flicked up to Ford. "How about that." Ford's face betrayed nothing. Bill looked back at Mabel and grinned wider. "Glad he's less of a killjoy than I thought."

"Pffft! You know he knows how to have fun," Mabel said. "Mr. God of Long Odds."

Bill's eyebrows shot up.

Mabel squeezed past Bill into the kitchen. "Abuelita, if you want a donut, I'm putting them in the bottom left cabinet with the pots."

"Thank you, Mabel."

"I'm taking Ford to the record store to introduce him to late 80's music," Mabel went on. "And we saw a crystal shop that isn't there depending on which way you're driving! Whaaat! Crazy, right!" 

"Oh, you found Occulted Crystals?" Now Bill's grin was aimed at Ford. "I know you didn't get that bracelet there. Didn't figure out how to get in?" He winked. "Do you want to?"

Ford's expression darkened; but before he could say anything, Mabel darted back into the entryway. "No! No spoilers! You'll ruin the fun of figuring it out!"

Bill laughed. "Okay, fine! Just one safety tip: never go looking for it on an empty stomach."

Mabel gave him a distrustful look. "Will that help us get in?"

"It'll help you get back out."

She nodded slowly. "Good to know." She hugged Ford. "I'll be right back! I haven't been to the bathroom since lunch." She bounded upstairs.

Leaving Ford with Bill.

Bill simply smiled. "You talked about DD&MD? That takes me back."

"I know what you're up to, you snake," Ford said. "And it's not going to work. At least leave her out of it."

"Hey, you can't blame me for worrying about her," Bill said. "She's such a caring little thing. And you don't have a strong history of family loyalty."

Ford's hands curled into fists; but he forced himself to turn away from Bill without acknowledging him, and headed for his and Stan's guest room.

"But hey," Bill called after him. "I really am thrilled to see you two getting along so well."

Nothing in Bill's tone sounded sarcastic. Ford paused and glanced back at him suspiciously; but then he shook his head and kept going.

Bill's smile faded. He made a rude gesture at Ford's back; then returned to his post at the kitchen table to listen to Abuelita's gossip and make sure she didn't touch the poison.

####

(Thank y'all for not pulling out the pitchforks at the end of last chapter lol. If you enjoyed, I'd appreciate a comment or reblog! Thanks! 💕)

#mabel pines #grunkle ford #(for the art) #bill cipher #human bill cipher #(for the fic) #gravity falls #gravity falls fanart #gravity falls fic #my writing #my art #bill goldilocks cipher

[sytokun]

"Blake Belladonna should have been an orphan". No, I didn't stutter

Rant incoming. If you feel the onset of symptoms like malding and seething, just click away and you'll make an immediate recovery.

You cannot tell me that Blake's parents weren't randomly created on the fly post-Volume 3.

By all evidence given onscreen, YES, technically Blake never mentions whether she had parents or not.

But she also doesn't say that she has an evil twin named Bleu Bougainvillea living on the broken moon. Doesn't mean it suddenly justifies her having one. There's equal importance in reading what Blake doesn't say.

RWBY and Team RWBY in particular are very focused on family, especially in Volume 2. Weiss mentions her father and family name. Yang talks about Raven and Summer, by extension including Ruby. Blake talks about Adam, i.e. the White Fang. Not her parents. Almost like we're supposed to think that Blake believed the White Fang was her family.

It's even weirder that Ghira and Kali actually love and support Blake, and she had no bad blood with them. For someone on good terms with her parents (just she wasn't willing to confront them), she really doesn't like, mention them at all. Not even longingly or wistfully, like a prodigal daughter wanting to return home.

But she has sketches of Adam in her notebook. Almost like maybe Adam was one of the few people on Remnant she was close to. But the world is never ready for the Adam conversation.

Honestly it's made all the more worse because Kali and Ghira are so well-liked in the fandom, because "Well, now we can't get rid of them. Look at how lovable and pleasant they are! And it's good that someone on Team RWBY has a happy home upbringing."

The latter is true - in a vacuum, but Blake is not the person to be having a happy home life, if she even has a home at all.

I'm not saying this to be mean (as if the catgirl pixels on my screen can take offense to me saying she shouldn't have her nonexistent parents), but Blake is very clearly portrayed to represent the dregs of Remnant's society - she's a Faunus, a non-citizen of the Kingdoms and likely displaced from any home she would have once known to join the White Fang. She is an underdog.

There's adding layers and nuance to a character, and there's adding just plain contradictory elements to them. I don't write "Blake is an outcast of Remnant's society, forced into an extremist group just to survive and feel heard" and then write "But also she was actually born onto the lap of privilege and led such a hard life not out of necessity but out of impulse". It's totally backwards.

Not to mention that she quite explicitly says "If you can't fight, you can't survive"... for an organization she joined and did crimes for of her own accord, when her cushy mansion, comfy bed with pre-fluffed pillows and her parents who run the place is a 20-minute walk away.

It reeks. It smells of "While you were painting your nails and drinking coconut water in your fantasy Australia/Malaysia/Polynesia frankenstein island, I studied the blade" energy when Blake says this and she isn't in any way someone who's had to suffer. Who's had no choice but to fight.

"But she's a Faunus! She's still marginalised in Remnant!" Wow, then good thing she was born and raised on the island where she's only surrounded by Faunus and probably never faced a single discriminatory act by any humans whatsoever, because the closest human around is probably 500 miles away across the ding-dang ocean.

Plus, the "we need someone in Team RWBY with normal parents" argument doesn't hold water as well, because had CRWBY committed to their writing and kept Blake an orphan or some no-name runaway, the same people would be praising Blake either way. "I'm so glad someone on Team RWBY doesn't have living parents, because 'found family' is just as important to show for Blake's arc - first for the White Fang, and now for Team RWBY". See how the reaction changes to match?

To say nothing of the fact it completely screws over the whole identity thing? Not only are you a former White Fang agent in our school, you're also the daughter of the former leader? No amount of "How many politicians' or civil rights leaders' daughters' names do you know" is going to sweep this under the rug - one shouldn't be bending over backwards this much to justify this.

The truth of the matter is the fandom would have eaten up whatever narrative CRWBY spun for Blake, and gone to any necessary lengths to justify it in hindsight as "what the show needed". It's the whole "planned from the beginning" nonsense this fandom falls victim to far too often, which is frankly embarrassing.

Had CRWBY never shown that Blake had living parents, we would have happily eaten it up, but at least they wouldn't have to change what they already said about Blake to do it. It's like saying Weiss is "the loneliest of all" and then later reveal she actually lived under the same roof with eight siblings, four uncles, five aunts, a godmother and three dogs.

"Oh, but that would have been even more effective! It would have been, like, *✧'You feel the loneliest when in a crowd' *✧, it's so deep."

Okay? And?? You've told me nothing besides "I actually would have been happy to bullshit any reason to enjoy these writers' poor-piss decisions, so might as well give me the worst version of what I would have been happy with anyway".

Please, I implore you to put aside your love for the "nice big loveable bear dad" trope and the Kali NSFW art and actually think about what this character's actually about.

This shit is not hard. Like it's hard to write and execute, sure - writing of any kind is a challenge, but you know what's not hard? Keeping the parents dead like you implied they were. Letting found family be Blake's arc.

Letting her look at the White Fang and at Team RWBY, and knowing she has to choose between two families she loves, instead of her running away to the convenient third family she had lying around as her golden parachute in case either one turns to violence or has their school blown up, basically wrapping her in a nice warm blanket so she doesn't have to grapple with any tough moral and emotional choices.

Blake was my favourite character in RWBY until this shit came around; I loved that her hardened nature and upbringing was tempered by a pure conviction and willingness to heal, even when everything she knows and grew with is broken beyond repair. Her conflict felt real and visceral.

Ruby's the daughter of a big Huntress and has silver eyes. Weiss is the daughter of one of the most prestigious families in the world who owns half the world's economy. Yang's the daughter of a bandit queen who's also a Maiden. Blake should have been the nobody. Someone with no greatness to her name, other than the greatness she sees in her new team, and the greatness she can strive towards with her own two hands.

She could have shown that you can come from the absolute bottom of society, hated and overlooked by everyone, and still be a hero, especially in a show where most of its villains (Cinder, Emerald, Adam, Roman, Neo, Mercury) are also outcasts, felons or nobodies in their own communities. Great message, CRWBY. Of course the company robbing their staff of their livelihoods and ousting them when they're no longer useful would demonise the poor people and rebels.

But oh look, now she's the daughter of the former leader of the entire freedom fighter movement and the chief of an entire fucking island nation. Isn't that so much cooler? Don't you look up to Blake so much more now?

Fucking. Yawn.

#rwby #blake belladonna #white fang #kali belladonna #ghira belladonna #rwde #oh it is most definitely rwde

[caliginousarchitect]

the KHR cats edition entries inspired by @bonesetblues‘ KHR/BNHA crossover fic “curiosity kills the cat (but satisfaction brings it back)” continue. It's the Arcobaleno this time (finally)! Reborn Black medium hair thing. Adult Reborn's drawn with such ludicrously long gangly limbs that we went with some oriental breedtype legs. In the end we couldn't decide between yellow eyes and near-black (which is technically biologically possible but there's only one recorded instance that I know of and they didn't reach adulthood) so both are here. By far he was the most difficult to work out a pose for, he did NOT want to cooperate. Also, curly ear hairs because his curly sideburns needed to be included somehow. I was thinking at the start, either something very small so it'd seem more whacky when he ended up somewhere he shouldn't be, or something quite large, so I also tried throwing a little hint of maine coon flavour in there, but it's not very evident at the end of it I don't think. The fic author's thought for Reborn was Savannah Cat, but I looked at that and went, nah, for reasons explained later on.

Fon Another black medium hair, with some rusting. He seems the sort to spend plenty enough time outdoors during the day for it. I didn't realise before this that Fon has brown eyes, actually. Oriental cat breedtype.

Colonnello Ough the pose, easy, very cooperative. The colour?? not so much. KHR does have characters with realistic blonde hair, but Colonnello is not one of them He has Anime Blond, aka, Yellow. So, Shorthair Black Golden with high ticking, and low-medium white spotting.

Lal Mirch And yet another solid black. Longhair. Her pose was also a tricky one, we knew the vibe of what we wanted, but the actual doing of it was hard. Trying to do her scar was also hard because there just aren't any very good references for it (especially since the anime basically just. turned it into... a tattoo?). Gave her a bunch of white hairs from little scars and some around the face scar. Darkish orange-copper eyes was about as close as we could get to her anime... pink... ish? reddish? eye colour.

Verde Dark blue classic tabby shorthair with low white spotting and blue-grey eyes (teeeechnically probably not very likely since he's not a Point colouration, but they are Possible and the only way to match Verde's canon grey. Why does he have grey eyes, the one time you get an anime character with anime colour hair and he DOESN'T have matching eyes, honestly). The expression was the hard part here, mostly. Trying to get any balance of smug/pideful and annoyed scientist and intrigued at situation? Hard. How is he meant to do a proper science with paws. He cannot hold a pen to write and keyboards are not designed for paws. He needs to make an invention to facilitate this.

Skull Another difficult one to pose, trying to get the bluster and also the fear. Chocolate shorthair with ghost markings and blue eyes. Open mouths from any angle other than side-on are haaaaaard.

Uni Blue/cream charcoal torbie bengal kitten! And here's the main reason we didn't want to do savannah cat Reborn- Uni is an actual hybrid, although we don't actually know her f-generation (... would you call it that, in humans-and-related-species?) from Sepira, but we can guess she was within 10 or so generations. Very low cream, but it is there. Bonuses: Reborn (yellow eye version), Verde (anime colour version), Skull (anime colour version) (and Viper/Mammon is not here becasue they're with the Varia)

#cats #katekyo hitman reborn #khr #bonesetblues #character design #ficart #fanfic art #digital art #our art #cktc(bsbib)

[discar]

HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network

Chapter 33 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

[Zo] has been promoted to ADMIN

ADMIN [Zo]: What just happened!?

HIMBO: DID WE LOSE EVERYONE AT GEMINI?

DIVINER: A hard disconnect can have any number of causes! It might be nothing!!

MARSHAL Kotallo: You are not this naive.

DIVINER: ...yeah

MARSHAL Kotallo: What's the plan?

ADMIN [Zo]: I...

ADMIN [Zo]: I'll go to GEMINI, try to determine exactly what happened. Everyone else, regroup back at the Base. Try to make sure you're not followed. We don't know what went wrong yet.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Confirmed.

DIVINER: Confirmed!

HIMBO: YEAH, CONFIRMED.

ADMIN [Zo]: Erend, I need you with me. In case we need to move anything.

HIMBO: SURE, FAIR.

----

HIMBO: SO WE'VE GOT TERRIBLE NEWS, BAD NEWS, AND MAYBE POSSIBLY NOT BAD NEWS.

HIMBO: ARE YOU TWO BACK AT THE BASE?

DIVINER: Yes, we're here!

HIMBO: THERE'S A BOX UNDER MY BED. OPEN IT.

DIVINER: Um.

DIVINER: Is this really the time for that??

MARSHAL Kotallo: This is alcohol.

DIVINER: Oh, phew.

DIVINER: [Relief.gif]

MARSHAL Kotallo: What did you think it was?

DIVINER: Nothing?

HIMBO: WHATEVER. POINT IS, YOU'LL NEED IT. RIPPING THE ARROW OUT:

HIMBO: WE FOUND VARL. HIS BODY, THAT IS.

DIVINER: !!!!!

MARSHAL Kotallo: Damn it.

HIMBO: BETA, ALOY, AND GAIA'S BOX ARE ALL MISSING. WHICH IS THE MAYBE NOT BAD NEWS, BECAUSE THERE'S NO SIGN THEY WERE HURT.

HIMBO: I'M TRYING TO DO THAT TRACKING THING THAT ALOY DOES, BUT I'M NOT AS GOOD AT IT YET.

DIVINER: Also, how many tracks do flying people leave??

HIMBO: NOT MANY, BUT I ALREADY FOUND A FEW THINGS. IT'S WEIRD.

MARSHAL Kotallo: Where is Zo?

HIMBO: SHE'S, UH, TAKING A MOMENT TO COMPOSE HERSELF.

----

ADMIN [Zo]: We're on our way back. There was not enough evidence to follow the Zeniths. We don't know where Beta and Aloy are.

DIVINER: But they're alive, right??

ADMIN [Zo]: We have no evidence they were hurt. All the blood was...

ADMIN [Zo]: Not theirs.

HIMBO: MY FOCUS INSISTS THERE WAS A FIGHT, THOUGH. I COULDN'T GET FULL DETAILS, BUT SOMETHING WEIRD HAPPENED.

DIVINER: Did you find Varl's Focus?? You should be able to check the video!

HIMBO: YEAH, BUT THE RECORDING ENDS WHEN HE

HIMBO: WHEN HE GOT DISCONNECTED.

ADMIN [Zo]: When that Zenith stabbed him.

HIMBO: ...YEAH.

MARSHAL Kotallo: If there are no bodies, then we have to assume the Zeniths took them.

HIMBO: DO YOU REALLY THINK THEY COULD TAKE ALOY?

MARSHAL Kotallo: She's not invincible.

HIMBO: YEAH. YEAH, I KNOW.

HIMBO: BUT I STILL CAN'T IMAGINE THEM TAKING HER.

MARSHAL Kotallo: If she escaped, I would assume she would have either contacted us by now or left a trail.

DIVINER: What if she's hurt somewhere??

ADMIN [Zo]: She still would have left a trail. Erend and I searched for any signs, both with our Focuses and without. There was nothing.

HIMBO: BUT SHE HAS TO BE OUT THERE SOMEWHERE.

MARSHAL Kotallo: My worst fear is that she may mount a one-woman attack on the Zeniths.

DIVINER: She wouldn't do that...

DIVINER: Right??

ADMIN [Zo]: The one time she worked with allies, Varl died and something happened to Beta and GAIA. She might decide it's not safe to involve us.

HIMBO: I THINK YOU GUYS ARE UNDERESTIMATING HER. SHE'S PROBABLY JUST RECOVERING SOMEWHERE.

ADMIN [Zo]: I hope so. It's the lack of any contact that has me worried. She has spare Focuses. If she's awake, she should be able to contact us.

DIVINER: There aren't many things that can block a Focus! Though the disconnection might make getting back in touch more difficult than it needs to be, it shouldn't be that hard!

DIVINER: She can just search for available Focuses in the region and she'll find us. It's not like she has to memorize all our phone numbers!

HIMBO: WHAT'S A PHONE NUMBER?

MARSHAL Kotallo: Let us assume the worst: That all three were captured by the Zeniths. What do we do?

ADMIN [Zo]: I...

ADMIN [Zo]: I don't know.

HIMBO: WE'D HAVE TO ATTACK THE ZENITHS, RIGHT? IT'S OUR ONLY OPTION.

MARSHAL Kotallo: We would need allies, though.

MARSHAL Kotallo: I vote we immediately coordinate with Hekarro to defeat the rebels.

HIMBO: WAIT, RIGHT NOW?

MARSHAL Kotallo: Yes.

HIMBO: OUR FRIEND JUST DIED, WE NEED AT LEAST FIVE MINUTES!

MARSHAL Kotallo: You have until you return to the Base.

HIMBO: THAT'S RIDICULOUS!

ADMIN [Zo]: Enough, both of you.

ADMIN [Zo]: We'll discuss this when we return to the Base. Until then, everyone just remain calm, remain strong. We will get through this.

[E9-Focus-0133] is calling ADMIN [Zo]

[Warning: This is an unregistered number. Faro Automated Solutions does not guarantee your safety, security, or data integrity when using this service. Please practice safe communication protocols.]

ADMIN [Zo]: ...huh.

HIMBO: WHAT? DID YOU GET A MESSAGE?

ADMIN [Zo]: Someone is calling me.

DIVINER: Answer it! It could be Aloy!!

MARSHAL Kotallo: Don't answer it. It could be the Zeniths.

ADMIN [Zo]: If they could contact us directly, everything would be so much worse.

ADMIN [Zo]: ...I'm going to answer it.

ADMIN [Zo] has entered a voice chat with [E9-Focus-0133]

Chapter 33 | Prev chapter | Next chapter Chapter Index

#horizon #horizon zero dawn #horizon forbidden west #HZDBaseChat #zo #kotallo #alva #erend vanguardsman

[btheleaf]

Pemzin! 49, 56, 59

Pema x Tenzin

-49 Does either of them have a hard time being away from the other?

Both of them can cope just fine with the other being away as long as it's less than a month's time. Any longer than that, and the other's absence hits them hard. Pema is used to him traveling for politics and Tenzin is fine whenever she takes a trip to visit family or spend time with friends. They would rather be attached at the hip, but they don't make that everyone else's problem.

-56 What do they do to turn the other on/put them in the mood?

Pema has a high libido so it is usually her trying to get Tenzin in the mood. First and foremost, the kids need to be asleep and/or off the island entirely! Or else Tenzin can't stop worrying that one of the kids will barge in see something they shouldn't.

She has discovered that Tenzin is slow to take the hint when she's in the mood, so these days she takes a more direct approach; like walking into his office, straddling his lap, and kissing him until he carries her to their bedroom.

Tenzin turns Pema on accidentally more often than not. He'll offer to give her a 100% innocent massage and she'll get wet and ask him to fuck her. Or she'll see him training without his shirt on and steal him away for as much of a dalliance as he can manage in any given situation.

:) I will die on horny Pema hill.

-59 Who tops? Who bottoms?

Well we do have evidence that Tenzin has topped minimum four times.

Who is to say what else happens in their bed?

#pemzin #otp asks #finally my otp has appeared #tenzin #pema

[mimibwi]

BTS and fanservice

This is a big topic and issue among shippers, so I'll give my opinions on the matter (if anyone cares to read).

BTS members definitely do fan service. There shouldn't be much debate around that but I want to put it out there in the event that someone didn't already know that. All K-pop groups do fan service to some degree and it's fine, in my opinion. It makes things interesting and gets the fans screaming, so who’s complaining?

The conversation about fanservice gets out of control when it comes to shipping. Much of it comes down to what the fans think fan service is. I don't see fan service as completely fake and drawn up by the company's execs. Don't get me wrong, I don’t think the company is completely uninvolved but the theories you present are way too over the top. They come across more like conspiracy theories rather than opinions I can even consider a possibility.

At most, fan service contains acts that build off existing dynamics and sometimes exaggerate them to a certain degree. So while I don't think some of the actions are spur-of-the-moment things (it's evident they talk about/plan some of the moments beforehand) I still don’t think most fan service moments are devoid of any genuine emotions. It’s hard for me to talk about this cause; honestly, I don’t care about the whole calling out fanservice thing. I enjoy all the members’ interactions. Maybe some floor me more than others but I can’t sit here and be mad about two friends interacting.

((A lot more below the cut))

^^All these moments are fanservice in some way or another and they are all cute to me. I don’t get why yall make a big deal out of it so much. Just enjoy it, and smile a little!! Sometimes I wonder how toxic shippers and solos feel when they watch BTS content. You all must be angry as hell when these men (who have known each other for 10+ years, might I add) interact and look happy doing it.

Let me make my points as clear as I can-

some on-stage moments are staged to some degree. I may be wrong but I think I’ve seen a video of Tae saying he wanted to do a moment with Jimin on stage but Jimin was too awkward (lol) so he did it with JK instead. Maybe I hallucinated that cause it's in my memory but I couldn’t tell you where I heard that from. Either way, I am actually convinced this happens often. That or they do something once, see the audience’s reaction, then keep doing it for the other performances.

Fanservice isn’t completely disingenuous. I don’t look at it as a black-and-white conversation. Two members hugging for fans to scream on stage doesn’t take away from their bond. It doesn’t make their entire relationship a fraud. So to me, it’s less of “x ship IS fanservice” and more like “this moment from x ship seems to be fanservice” or “x ship does fanservice sometimes”. I can’t argue with the last two statements for the most part (well I lied, I’m literally countering them with this post in a way) but the first statement makes my skin crawl. It's so dismissive and disrespectful to the boys. — Thinking about it more, I can argue with all the statements even more than I am doing right now because there are moments that are looked into way to deeply. You guys will say “this moment is fanservice” and it’s two members sitting next to each other or talking or looking at each other or *insert any normal interaction that occurs between people who know each other and shouldn’t be seen as a big deal at all*.

*This is me looking for the service (that was so earth-shatteringly obvious and bad that it needed to be called out as such) sometimes.

Please just let people enjoy what they enjoy; it’s not that serious. I know shippers do all of this to fire back at other shippers so it’s just an endless cycle of hate and bitterness but I don’t care tbh you all need to stop it, yall take everything way too far.

Not every on-stage or on-camera moment is fanservice. It's hard for us to distinguish because we never fully know the boy’s intentions at any particular time. This is why I despise this ‘all or nothing,’ ‘black and white’ mindset many shippers have because it can cause you to 1) start digging into moments that aren’t that serious or 2) dismiss real, genuine friendship when it's right in front of you. It’s also frustrating because what one person may think is fs may come across as a genuine moment to someone else then everyone goes to war because of it. The fact of the matter is that none of us know for sure, so we shouldn’t spend time arguing about things when every single one of us could be wrong.

The above points are mainly in reference to on-stage moments. It gets even messier when we discuss the pre-recorded, edited content. This is where you guys lose me even more.

It’s hard to believe that fan service is this huge ordeal and that they plan who will interact with who more. It's also hard for me to think that at this point in their career, BH staff are sitting with these almost thirty-year-old men and telling them how to act. It's absurd to me. While I definitely think there are things they are advised to do or shouldn't do or say, I don't see any of them as the huge conspiracies that fans (shippers) push. So no, the member’s actions are not controlled on the big scale many shippers suggest. I love speculation and theories but there are some things I can't bring myself to speculate about. So the "BH is pushing x ship,” "they edited out all the x ship moments for y ship,” "x member is doing fan service to feed shippers" conversations just bore me for the most part.

Even if they are told to do something, sit somewhere, or get paired together for content, it could simply not be about a ship— at least not in the way people think it is. I mentioned this in my first post but NOT EVERYTHING THESE MEN DO IS ABOUT A SHIP. This is one of the saddest parts of shipping to me. Shippers reduce these beautiful, unique, insanely interesting people to just a ship. “X is sad/hurt/happy because of Y,” NO he could literally just be happy. We’re talking about regular people here, people like you and me, who have so much to offer and shouldn’t be looked at solely through a shipper lens. Whether you think the ship is real shouldn’t matter because this is basic human decency.

The “x ship is being edited out theories”— These, like I mentioned before, bore me and in some instances frustrate me.

How can you say for sure that things you don’t know happened actually happened and were edited out? This kind of shipper logic isn’t for me I fear. I know you could say, “so you’re telling me x and y only interacted once that day?” but it still doesn’t hold up because—

There could be many reasons why a ship moment is cut out. Some possibilities include:

they thought it was boring- lol I don’t know; maybe the editors thought that moment was a snooze fest and they wanted to include things the people would find interesting.

time constraints- with content like ITS or Bon Voyage, where there are days worth of content from seven different perspectives, must be a shitshow to edit. It’s obvious not every interaction will get into the final version. To sit and think the editors intentionally said “We’re out of time? Scrap the x ship parts” is honestly laughable. Let’s be a little serious. Shippers are so funny to me sometimes because I can promise you regular people don’t give af about these ships as much as we do so I doubt they care enough to sabotage them.

it doesn’t fit in the theme of the content- The moment could just not fit in with the overall flow of the content. Maybe there is a particular image they’re trying to draw up with the content and a certain moment throws it off and doesn’t fit the image. With the time constraints I mentioned, it makes sense why they would want to insert some things over others.

something else is happening on screen- I know all shippers get disappointed when it seems like their ship is interacting and the angle changes. BUT that disappointment in that particular moment should not translate into these big conspiracy theories. It’s natural for the camera angle to switch when other things (probably more interesting or things that matter more to the overall content) happen. We’re looking at 7 different people for Christ’s sake.

it’s personal- This should be obvious but I am sure the guys talk about or do things that are just personal. Although I don’t think it’ll be anything crazy considering they’re mic-ed up and are aware they’re on camera, they could just not want certain things out there. They already show us so much (I’m grateful for that 4%) of their lives, I think we should allow them to be able to want things cut out.

*insert other reasons here that definitely does factor in but my brain can’t think of right now*

What irks me the most about these conversations is what they usually always stem from in the first place. They all come from an angle that serves to prove that some ships are better or claim that some ships only interact because they’re forced to. The hypocrisy that comes along with this type of shipping is also quite crazy to me. It’s always the ship you don’t like and that threatens your beliefs that is fanservice/fake/forced when they so much as touch each other but every single interaction between your ship is 100% real. I don’t think you guys hear yourself when you speak sometimes. I will never get why this shipping business needs to be a competition. Like the concept of going to war online over two people’s —who you most likely have never met and don’t know personally— relationship will always be interesting to me. It also doesn't matter whatsoever. No ship’s “realness” should depend on another being fake or worse and if that’s the case then maybe your ship isn’t as real as you think it is. All 21 (I swear I did the math, it’s 21 right??) ships in BTS are unique in their own way and I wouldn’t want any of them to be exactly like another because I love all dearly. Although some dynamics tug on my heart more than others, I will never dismiss any to bring up others because the boys genuinely love each other and I can tell as much.

You know sometimes I blame a lot of shipper logic and theories on the fact that many of us feel like these men’s lives are more interesting than they actually are. It’s so sad because a lot of the drama our brains think up makes the guys victims either to each other or the company. The fanservice argument is just that to me. Why can’t we believe the boys are fine in their current situation, that they enjoy their little fanservice moments to stir up fans but it’s not something they’re being held at gunpoint to do? They’re entertainers after all. Why do you as a fan of these guys, think they’re being completely calculating every time they show up in front of a camera? Why can’t yall believe they’re being as genuine as their situation allows? Maybe this is a naïve way of looking at things but it’s easier and it’s the foundation of my views as an ARMY. Playing the mind fuck olympics whenever a member comes around to spend time with us is exhausting. I don’t even share many of these opinions but simply reading them drains so much out of me. We really do read into certain things way too much and I get that’s the whole point or basis of shipping. Still, it gets really muddy to me when people start victimizing and villainizing parties involved because of the shipper’s (and even solo’s) opinions and perspectives.

In conclusion, I don’t agree with any of the fan service theories nor do I think fan service is a particularly bad thing. Even if I have fleeting thoughts about particular moments, I don’t entertain them too much because I don’t know the whole story. It’s also because I respect the members. I respect their autonomy, their words and their dynamics with each other and entertaining these ideas and theories that obviously (even if it isn’t obvious to you) disregard the things I respect would slowly destroy that. So the two just cannot coexist for me. Plus, this shipper thing just isn’t that serious to me. The only reason I even care to think and even talk about this topic is because of the hate the members get cause of it. It’s unfair:(

Look how cute they all look together while they do their little fan service🥺. #letmybabiesdofanserviceinpeace

ⁱ ʰᵒᵖᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵃʳᶜᵃˢᵐ ᶜᵒᵐᵉˢ ᵃᶜʳᵒˢˢ ⁱⁿ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ˡᵃˢᵗ ˡⁱⁿᵉ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ⁱ ʳᵉᶠᵘˢᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵉˣᵖˡᵃⁱⁿ ᵐʸˢᵉˡᶠ

~~🐝

#BTS #fan service #shippergate #sope #taekook #vmin #jikook #letmybabiesdofanserviceinpeace #thoughts and analysis #yoongi’s gummy smile is so cute #just be normal idk bro #let my BANG PO i beg

[sophia-sol]

whoops this week you get five things, I couldn't narrow it down!

one

the current state of research into feathers on dinosaurs (and pterosaurs!) is so INTERESTING, we keep learning new things that complicate our understanding, and it's possible that proto-feathers are a basal trait to the archosaur ancestor of both dinosaurs and pterosaurs?!! OR that feather-like structures convergently evolved like 4 or 5 times within archosaurs, which is ALSO super cool. either option is just so exciting!!!

we do know though that all coelurosaurs -- this includes tyrannosaurs -- are from a feathered lineage. so any coelurosaur either had feathers or was an oddity who evolved from feathered relatives to no longer have feathers.

It's hard to say for sure though about a lot of specific species because feathers don't preserve well in most contexts so we just don't have evidence.

but still. LOTS of feathered dinosaurs for sure.

so many feathery possibilities out there!

two

did you know! you could be a discovery type of writer and still find outlines helpful? it's just that you write the outline to cover the parts of the story you've ALREADY written, so you can better see your structure and remember your story beats as you keep going!

three

I love…. friendship 💖

I love all the different kinds of friendship one can have, and how they each bring a different kind of wonderfulness to your life!

four

in retrospect it was very trans egg of me in high school to be like "idk why this is but it is very emotionally important to me that I be allowed to sing in my school's men's chorus; I have a decent tenor voice and my gender shouldn't be a barrier"

AND to be able to TELL people I was in a men's chorus! I got so much satisfaction out of that!

(yes the men's chorus did let me in. thank you to the director for being a terrifying teacher but a decent person.)

five

a thought from 2022 when I was attempting to have a fandom-specific twitter presence:

pidw mobing is just…..so good to think about

I think they don't talk about it, they don't act on it, they maybe don't even realise they feel it, but they are each other's most stable and reliable connection, no backstabbing or politicking or pretense

even when they're angry with each other it feels like a relief. no secrets between them. lbh can safely let all his worst qualities be visible, no need to turn on the seductive charm. mbj can relax in the knowledge he's not being played by someone who pretends to care.

mbj will do whatever his lord requires of him. lbh will protect his trusted lieutenant.

any other feelings are unnecessary for them to analyse or pay attention to

#sophpost

[acourtofthought]

Hi<3

So I just saw a post on Instagram (btw I'm new to the fandom) and the post was about Nesta not giving Elain the Illyrian anatomy for giving birth to her bc shes a Gwynriel shipper.

This is all fun and game, I laughed at it too but that's not the best part...

Someone commented that they hated this part and RUINED THE WHOLE BOOK for them bc Nesta didn't give Elain the choice to have a Illyrian body as well...

And I was like... WTF!?

Let's rewind that scene. Feyre is dying, Nesta is begging the Cauldron to save her baby sister and her family. That's her priority but at the same time she sees the opportunity and gives her AND herself Illyrian anatomy BC THEYRE BOTH MATED to a half Illyrian and a full Illyrian and the possibility of them to have children is a lot so she did that to avoid the heartbreak.

And imagine she gave Elain an Illyrian body as well... wouldn't that ACTUALLY be disrespectful to Elain bc she saw fit to give her an Illyrian body like herself and Feyre while she hasn't asked for it!? And while there's literally no reason for Nesta to believe she wants one too?

Elain is mated to another male who happens to be a high fae and she's also a high fae who hasn't clarified that if she wants to accept the bond or reject it! Her time with Azriel is all hidden and happened in secret so I don't think beside Rhysand (who literally saw them and I think if he hadn't, he wouldn't have guessed the thing that's going on between Elain and Az), no one has suspected the two of them have a thing for each other (which again that thing should be questioned). Even Nesta who happens to be so close to Elain and know her personality better than she does Feyre's didn't suspect it!!

Like there shouldn't be a talk of choice here for Elain bc it was never Elain's request to begin with!!! (And I haven't seen her complaining about it as well). Idk what these E/riels fans are trying accomplish here lmao, They're trying so hard and it's laughable at this point.

Now that they realised their ship won't sail they first tried to be ignorant and say maybe Elain doesn't want children (which I doubt that not bc I know what Elain wants but bc I believe she has been growing up to this idea to marry and have children so I think she wants them or have thought about it before. At least at this stage the book, so yes maybe in the future she doesn't want one but that's not the point right now) and now they're being hateful toward THE WHOLE BOOKS and question EVERYTHING for no strong reason.

Trust me if sjm would want for Elain to have an Illyrian anatomy as well I'm pretty sure she would find a way so why are you all trying to be so hateful if you have this strong belief that E/riel would happen!?

You said it all so I'm just reiterating your thoughts.

Nesta didn't give Elain an Illyrian anatomy because......she has no reason to believe Elain would want or have need for an Illyrian anatomy at this point.

Feyre just had Rhys's baby so we have strong evidence that Feyre would greatly appreciate having the option to have another child with Rhys (if that's what they decide in the future) without the risk to her life. So I'm guessing there is a higher probability of Feyre appreciating what Nesta did rather than being mad over it.

Nesta is mated to Cassian, an Illyrian, so she too wants to ensure there is no risk that comes along for her later in life if they decide to have kids.

There are valid reasons that Nesta would have made the changes to she and Feyre's body and currently there are no valid reasons for her to physically alter Elain's body against her will at this moment.

Say E/riel is endgame. If SJM changed Elain's anatomy, it would have been too much of a clue in favor of E/riel because right now there aren't any other reasons she would have done it.

So either way, whether it's because E/riel is endgame or Elucien is endgame, it doesn't make sense to have Nesta change Elain.

I don't think Elain not being changed is proof of endgame for any ship. If E/riel is endgame then SJM will simply create a new storyline where they choose to have kids and will somehow circumvent the risk of delivery of a winged baby through newly discovered magic or maybe they'll go the route of no kids or adoption.

But if Elucien / Gwynriel is endgame then it's all set up for us. Elain didn't need an Illyrian anatomy because she's not ending up with an Illyrian and Gwyn's pliable bones will solve the issue for her IF she and Az end up together and have kids.

Regardless, the question should not be how unfair it is to Elain that her anatomy wasn't changed. Feyre was dying and Nesta was connected to the mother, both sisters mated to Illyrians. Elain had no skin in the game in this scene, it's not about her. Sure, we can debate what it means but it's not a question of fairness. Nesta changing Elain's body without consent and no valid reason to support doing it would have been a much bigger issue.

I love Elain but not everything that happens to other characters needs to also happen to her at this moment in time. It's exciting to get hints for Elain's book but at the end of the day SF is Nesta's story and it's a bit odd to claim it's ruined because certain things didn't happen to Elain.

[labyrinth-runner]

Forged in Fire, Ch 2

Summary: Its the morning after the explosion that destroyed the firehouse and Thorin decides there's more than one explosion that needs to be accounted for.

She was working a double, technically. A dreadful double broken up by a two hour nap on her apartment couch, knowing full well that if she'd slept in her bed she'd never be able to pull herself out of it. Still, she doubted Thorin was sleeping soundly, so she shouldn't either. It was a strange thought, thinking about a man she'd only known of peripherally before that morning. Now he occupied her thoughts as if it was his job.

Part of that was because she was thinking about him, and part of it was because Detective Skywalker kept texting her about how annoying the fire chief was. Padmé rolled her eyes. She was sure he wasn't that bad. Ani was just bad with authority figures who actually acted like authority figures, and at his core, Thorin exuded authority. There was a difference, though, between Thorin and the authority figures at the police department. Thorin was young. Every ounce of respect was earned, not given. Not like Police Chief Yoda who had simply been there the longest.

Tell him to meet me at the crime lab in 30, she texted Ani.

Do you want me to rescue you? I can send him to the wrong one, he replied.

Unlike some people, I don't quite have an issue with authority.

That's because you ARE authority ;p

Padmé blushed, shoving her phone in her purse. Ani always made her feel giddy, kind of like a school girl. Then again, she used to hang out with him when she was younger the summer she'd come to stay with some family and he was just turning ten. He'd been a cute kid then, and he'd grown into an even more handsome man. She tugged on her purple blazer and slung her bag over her shoulder. It was nice out this morning and she hoped the fresh air would wake her up a bit more than the coffee Sabé had given her did. Her heels clicked along the sidewalk as she walked down Main Street. The bus was early, and she just made it on before it pulled away.

The bus was Padmé's secret haven. No one knew who she was on the bus, and everyone on the bus was wonderfully weird. There was the man talking into his sleeve towards the back. The teenager popping ridiculously large bubbles on his nose two rows back. There was the woman with the ugliest poodle in a bag across the aisle. And then there was Padmé, admiring them all and reminding herself that they were the reason she got into her field, to protect them. To find justice for them. To make sure bad things didn't keep happening.

Her stop was approaching, so she stood, her hand clasping around one of the bars suspended from the ceiling. Regardless of how hard she prepared for it, she could never quite keep her balance as the bus stopped.

Ahead of her, the police department loomed. She hated going through the front. She'd make it two feet before getting stopped by everyone trying to curry favor with her and get their cases worked faster. As if the crime lab wasn't already understaffed and underfunded as it was. No, she wasn't dealing with that today. Hiking her purse up further on her shoulder, she rounded the back of the building to the morgue entrance. JarJar was odd, but he was more bearable than the others. Even if he was always injuring himself around the lab. What Padmé wasn't expecting to see back there, though, was a certain fire chief waiting by the back door, two cups in his hand.

He'd showered. That much was evident. He smelled less like acrid smoke and more like balsam and cedar. Like the woods Padmé used to walk in as a child. His hair was pulled into various braids, looking more put together than when she'd seen him earlier.

"Amidala," he said, straightening as soon as he caught sight of her.

"Chief Oakenshield," Padmé said, her brow furrowing. "I hope you haven't been waiting long. I was sure we weren't supposed to meet for another twenty minutes."

"Oh, no, not at all," he said, offering her a cup. He hesitated. "I wasn't sure what you'd drink, but I hope this is okay."

"Bribery will not get your scene processed faster," Padmé said, taking the drink.

"It's more of a peace offering," Thorin admitted. "I had... a rough night and I happened to take it out on you. My nephews told me I have to be better about my temper."

She took a sip, shocked when the liquid coated her tongue. It wasn't what she was expecting. He'd gotten her a gingerbread dirty chai latte. It was so good. The spices were warming and the espresso had enough of a zing that she could already feel the caffeine pumping through her veins. Or maybe that was just the sugar high talking. Either way, she wasn't complaining.

He waited patiently for her verdict, an eyebrow raised.

"Peace offering accepted," she told him, taking a moment to look at the cup. "Where did you get this from?"

"A friend owns a coffee shop book store combo," he said with a shrug.

"It's very good," she said, badging into the back door and holding it open for him.

He followed her through the lab towards her office. He looked around the lab curiously, watching the various experiments with fascination. For a smaller lab, it was busy. He'd dodged out of the way on a handful of occasions as Rabé rushed around gathering supplies for whatever she was trying to simulate. Padmé gently guided the fire chief into her office. Her desk was a hot mess, she realized with a cringe. She placed her drink on the one clear corner and worked to quickly organize all the files open across the desk.

Thorin took no notice of it, instead looking at the various degrees and awards on the wall. "You're quite accomplished."

Padmé shrugged. "I've been given a lot of opportunities in life. I've been very fortunate." Once her desk was clear, she sat down and logged into her computer.

"Amidala--"

"Padmé," she corrected. "If you're going to be working with me closely, please call me Padmé."

He rubbed the side of his cup with his thumb, a little unsure of himself. "Padmé... I see that you're hurting for help. Perhaps I could assist more with the investigation? Science was once of my favorite subjects in school, although I was mostly fascinated by the lectures on combustion-"

"That's not necessary."

Thorin's fist curled at his side. "I don't think you understand what the impact that explosion was."

"Oh, but I do," she replied. "You're too close to it to be objective. No, I called you here to inform you that I've already sent an email to Legolas to help. I was hoping you'd give me a list of potential suspects."

"Legolas?!" He raised his voice. Padmé raised her brow at him and he took a deep breath, trying again in a normal volume. "Padmé, these are my people. That was my home. I will be the one to solve this and bring us back."

"I believe the term you're looking for is conflict of interest," she shot back.

"And what of the bribe?"

"Oh so it was a bribe."

"You are the most frustrating woman."

"That is not the first time I've been told that, and I doubt it will be the last."

"I will be on this case."

"Well I don't know who you're going to talk to about it, but you won't get any farther with me."

"Unbelievable," he muttered, turning to leave.

"Should you feel the need for a peace offering for this outburst, this drink would suffice. I expect an email of potential suspects by tomorrow," she said with a smirk, watching him leave. Part of her felt a little bad about riling him up, but it was so easy, and he had done the same thing to her earlier. Still... that blue fire in his eyes had gripped her chest and held her in place. She'd almost wanted to give in just to spend more time with him. Almost.

#thorin oakenshield #padme amidala #forged in fire

[makorays]

Why are the red people winning?

Australia has gone fully labor party (conservative) and now anyone you talk to from Australia is anti LGBTQIA+

The east Is against LGBTQIA+

America is being converted rapidly to anti LGBTQIA+

Online if your struggling with gender or masculinity or non binary or any of those things your more likely to have someone tell you to "suck it up" or "do some pushups get a 6 pack" then actually tell you about new stuff

Femboys are now seen as evil for some reason

When ever I do anything remotely against the masculine code of conduct I get people calling me slurs and telling me to kill myself or yelling haram at me

Even long time people who were supportive now have converted

And I see no future for people like myself in a world like this

I know our generate will likely see the end of the world but THIS? Why does everyone hate progress all of a sudden?

Last month there was an incident in our school where a group of boys attacked a group of gay kids and the teachers took the side of "they shouldn't flaunt their sexuality" but they weren't flaunting anything

You know about politics mako pls explain?

pessimism is a cuck's mindset. what are you, a bottom? you're just gonna sit there and SUBMIT to your perception of the tides of history? the world is probably not going to end in our lifetime, and even if it does, humanity will probably find a way to keep going through the ashes.

i don't think you truly grasp just how fucking AWFUL things used to be for people like us. you think it's bad now because conservatives are rallying super hard all of a sudden, but imagine being gay or trans back when openly admitting to either of those things could get you straight-up arrested. and those people existed just as much back then; they just had to suck it up because they were cursed to be born in a time in which open hostility to them was such a norm that they couldn't even THINK of living as their true selves. trans people throughout all of human history have had to endure incurable body dysphoria because the medicine wasn't there to help them. things are SO much better now. (and for the record, everyone back then thought the world was gonna end too; ask any old-enough american what living in the cold war was like.)

that is not to say things aren't looking scary right now. conservatives had a wake-up call and realized they're losing harder than they've ever lost before, so they're lashing out and trying to do everything they can to push us back into the dark ages. it is important to be vigilant, to vote them out, to do what you can to make sure their mind virus infects as few people as possible. but their ideology is entirely based around losing. they're literally openly and proudly anti-progress, which is self-evidently fucking stupid, and the conservative party has spent its entire existence taking L after L after L as we gain more civil rights.

they're doing some serious damage right now, a lot of peoples' lives are going to be worse for a while. but it's a downward spike in an overall upward trend. do you really think they're gonna win this time after they lost the previous 99 times? even the nazis ended up ultimately losing after they "won".

this is all from an american perspective, of course; a lot of other countries still have a long way to go. 99% of human history has been spent with minority groups not having basic human rights, and america has only just recently begun clawing its way out of that tribalism and into something actually civilized. i think countries like china and russia are gonna remain fucked for quite some time, unfortunately. but they'll probably get there too, one day. once the progress has been made, all you can do to go backwards is flail like an infant and complain about the woke mob being too compassionate towards their fellow man. not super effective at causing lasting damage.

oh also you need to either develop some keen debate skills to convert your friends or find better ones because that shit cannot be good for you

[meimi-haneoka]

I guess what really peeved me the most about the post I had seen was the umpteenth attempt at watering Akiho's feelings down as merely platonic, looking at Kaito as a father figure like Sakura's crush for Yukito.

No. I'm sorry but no.

I might need to remind people that yes, Sakura said that in the end she probably saw a bit of her father in Yukito, but she also added that she felt something a bit different. Just a bit different....She just didn't point it out to him to not make things more complicated. Yukito loved Touya, and she couldn't do anything about it. She needed to get over it.

That shows that either they conveniently forget or just dismiss the feelings Sakura had for Yukito, because you know, it's problematic to think about it.

And yet, Akiho's feelings go well over that.

First of all, you don't blush madly like that for a father figure. That's the most evident sign of it. You don't try so hard in every way to convey your feelings.

She didn't think about him, not even for a second when the school asked her to call a family member for Parent's day.

When he finally offered himself (with a second goal in mind), she was surprised. That's not his role. He's a butler, not a father figure. He's not even her legal guardian, otherwise the school would've invited him directly.

Yet, there is a "family" component to Akiho and Kaito's relationship too. That's just normal. A family isn't only decided by blood connections, family is also when people who love eachother (in any kind of way, so it doesn't exclude romantically) live together. And my god we can have different opinions on what kind of love he feels, but by this time I think even walls know that Kaito loves Akiho.

But most of all, most of anything else, sensei is showing us how Akiho turns into the best version of herself thanks to her love for Kaito. She leaves her insecurities and self-deprecation behind, grasps all the courage she can and not only tries to confess her feelings to him (oh, just so you know, "The Moon is Beautiful" isn't used in platonic context. At all.) but also tries multiple times to have him open his heart to her as well. Because she can see that he's suffering and she won't sit back and watch him falling apart. She wants him to know that he's not alone and he can count on her. She literally tells him, "I've changed ever since I met you". She becomes assertive, spells out things as she feels them, and when faced with a door shut in her face, she doesn't give up and gently insists because she's learned his ways, she knows this is the only way it can work with him. With all the smiling faces he put up with her, none of them fooled her. None of them. How can this be a negative thing?

And the fact that she doesn't demand anything of him (her "It would be good if he cherishes even just one memory we had together" line) doesn't mean that her feelings aren't real or serious. Otherwise that's insulting poor Tomoyo too.

But no, all of this gets conveniently ignored because, you know, Akiho is just 12 (make it 13 in her case), she can't posses serious feelings yet, she can't be serious or committed about a goddamned thing in her life.

I'm so tired of this narrative that wants Akiho completely at the mercy of the people around her, with no agency, no respect for her feelings and no worth in herself. Completely incapacitated by the trauma of her past.

Yes, she does have trauma scars, but she's working so hard to come out of that hell.

Try to apply the same towards Sakura in her relationship with Syaoran, try to suggest that her feelings for Syaoran aren't serious, that she's too young to know, that they aren't soulmates, and count how long it takes for the fandom to jump at your throat.

We can discuss about the nature of Kaito's feelings, but my god, Akiho's ones shouldn't even be debatable by now. I agree that not everything must be romantic at all costs and platonic love is important too, hell I agree VERY much with that. But we can also recognize that a fictional story can depict romantic feelings that don't have to end up becoming *physical* at all costs, not until the right age at least. The characters can have romantic feelings and not trespass certain boundaries. Ultimately, *the characters* define what they feel by themselves.

The official story shows us all of this and it's canon, then it's your choice if you decide to make up your own version of it in your head, and turn a blind eye because you can't accept it. That makes me wonder why you're still reading it, though. 🙄

#I could understand this if Kaito was a full adult trying to take advantage of Akiho's younger age feeding all kind of bullshit to her #for his own gain #or take advantage of Akiho herself #but gosh he's in a situation that's worse than hers when it comes to self-awareness #oblivious confused and scared #he puts her first and foremost #all untold things are always with her wellbeing in mind #exactly like all the rest of the CCS cast does with their loved ones #ALL OF THEM #you can have a problem with that but that's on you #the shit he's been doing lately he would do it regardless of age #he would've done this at 12 years old too if he had the means already available #HE'S GOT MAGIC that's why he feels he can do it #not because he's older #TL:DR Akiho's feelings are valid and romantic and Kaito can take care of her without being a father figure at all costs

[hyperfixation-or-death]

Um, if your ask game's still going:

59. Lying curse/forced to lie about something- Victor Deslandes?

Okay, I tried to write the lying curse in a fantasy AU. Didn't work. Then I tried to write it in a vigilante AU. Didn't work. Then I came back, noticed the "forced to lie about something" part of the prompt, and had another AU idea that ultimately did not work either. Finally, I decided to just set the snippet in regular post-canon, and lo and behold, I managed to write something. (The lying isn't technically forced, but. That did not entirely occur to me until halfway through.) It kind of ran away from me, and I'm not completely sure whether or not I like it, but here you go!

Victor Deslandes wasn't great at lying. But he needed his phone, because it was the only way to contact Bilal and Romane outside of school. And maybe it was because of Romane's newfound separation anxiety, or maybe it was because Bilal had started having nightmares, or maybe it was just Victor making excuses because he couldn't handle being alone again, but whatever the reason, the thought of not being able to contact them was making him want to throw up. It was an obvious problem with an obvious solution. Lie. Convince his parents he's sorry, convince them he thinks the whole fight was his fault, convince them to stop being furious with him. This was going to suck.

[timeskip]

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, trying very hard not to grit his teeth. His mom looked skeptical, and his dad looked ready to pounce on any hint of disrespect, he needed to elaborate right now to make this work. "I…I was really tired, and-" They were definitely going to call that an excuse. "-I'm not saying it's an excuse." He needed to slow down, he almost snapped that last part, they were just going to get more annoyed, and then he wouldn't be able to talk to Romane or Bilal unless he was at school. And it would be his parents' fault, because he hadn't even done anything this time. They were the ones who had accused him of cheating on homework assignments with literally no evidence. So he got mad, and they got mad that he was mad, and suddenly even Sam's desperate attempts at changing the topic weren't enough to prevent the inevitable trainwreck. Victor's eyes were starting to burn. This was stupid. This was stupid, and he hated this whole situation. Just get through it, he repeated in his head. Be convincing, and then you can go back to your room and pretend this never happened. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. It won't happen again, and I'm really sorry." Hopefully, they couldn't tell the difference between almost crying because he was angry and frustrated, and almost crying because he genuinely felt bad. Victor studied the floor. There was one dead ant in the corner. His mom would hate that. "Okay. Thank you for apologizing." It was impossible to tell whether his dad believed him or not, but his tone made it clear that the discussion was over. They hadn't taken his phone. His parents had (probably) bought the act. As his dad turned back to the email he had been reading, his mom placed a hand on Victor's arm. "You know we don't like having these conversations with you, Victor." He nodded, resisting the urge to jerk his arm back. She smiled, and let go of his arm. Victor managed a faint imitation of a smile, and hurried back upstairs.

[timeskip]

Now, Victor was sitting on his bed, considering whether anyone would notice if he started screaming into a pillow. He felt almost sick with fury, and he didn't even know why. He had gotten what he wanted, and it wasn't like it was the first time he'd had to apologize for something that wasn't his fault. But the 'why' of it didn't really matter, because he was starting to feel the energy of his powers involuntarily tugging at his hands, and that was kind of terrifying. He was getting better at controlling the powers, though. Even if the headache got worse the longer he pushed back the energy, it was better than risking the alternative. Better than doing something that couldn't be undone. Someone knocked on the door. Three knocks in a row, which meant it was almost definitely Sam. "Who is it?" Victor called anyways, just to be annoying. Instead of answering, Sam nudged the door open and stepped inside. "Hey." Victor glanced at him, and realized there was a bag in his hand. "You doing okay?" "Nope. What's in the bag?" "Well, you said that not using your powers when you're upset gives you a headache, so I thought it would probably stop that from happening if you had-" Victor caught a glimpse of the bag's contents, and cut him off. "You stole a bunch of plants for me to murder?" "I didn't steal them, they were on the side of the road." Victor couldn't help but snicker at the offense in Sam's voice, and reached for the bag. "Thanks." "Sure." Sam smiled. There was a short pause as Victor dug through the bag, pulling out a dandelion that was already half-wilted. "Did you get grounded?" Sam asked, somewhat cautiously. Victor closed his hand around the stem of the dandelion, and it shriveled up completely. "Nope."

Thank you so much for the ask!!!

#parallels #paralleles #disney parallels #disney paralleles #i threw several of my headcanons in here #i wrote most of this at like. one in the morning. so if the writing seems weird that's why #honestly the last timeskip was not at all supposed to be there but i didn't like the previous ending and i wanted sam to show up #thanks again for the ask! you're the best!

[goldenfharry]

"Last thing, those fans who went to Tay’s play wearing Pleasing merch and asking her if they're actually together are so embarrassing"

To the anon who brought that up, btw she was never asked that! Someone lied just to stir some shit up, but the harries who went to the play, one had a Pleasing shirt that got allegedly complimented by Taylor R but no question about Harry was brought up to her.

Also on the matter, what I find annoying with ppl trying to figure out whether or not they're a thing is the invasiveness of the fans which makes the whole situation very uncomfortable for both parties! I'm pretty sure Harry has warned TR of what would happen being seen together and she is aware of it but still, I can't imagine how uncomfy this must be to see ppl trying to theorise everything and affirming things based on just sighting of you walking! What makes the whole thing even more odd is to see how his own fans keeps sexualising him everytime he is seen with an attractive person as if the man can't have attractive friends platonically but has to fuck all of them everytime and if this is getting me tired, I can't even imagine what it must be like for Harry. For now I see a lot of projections and speculations which pmo tbh bc as a black woman myself, I see a lot of bipoc harries wanting them to date so they can use it as a "gotcha" towards white harries and also project thru Taylor and have this idea that Harry could be attracted to them... Another aspect that gets on my nerves is ppl wanted those two to date so it brings "diversity" to Harry dating life and all of these are so fucked up, bc Taylor is not an object to push projections onto nor a trophy to prove Harry anti-racism! I mean white ppl dating bipoc does not make them automatically anti-racist plus Harry has proven time and time again his anti-racism by uplifting bipoc, donating to charities, making a safe space for bipoc fans/collaborators, etc!

Sorry a long one but it's been annoying me bc this has gotten out of hands and ppl are pushing this for the wrong reason imo (projections/diversity) and I feel like we should not care about his dating life so much, we should stop viewing him or any attractive woman around him as uniquely sex objects that can't refrain from their impulses bc it's making the situation so uncomfy for Harry and the person he's seen with bc imagine having millions of strangers speculating on lives when they don't know you. Some ppl are comparing it to the situation w OW but with OW they were holding hands at a private wedding like it was obvious something was happening here it's not the case in this situation so we really dunno anything and high chances are that they're friends and/or collaborators for a project (manifesting Harry for Loewe real hard!!!). Either way, we shouldn't be over analysing them like that, I know ppl in the fandom are jealous and parasocially infatuated with Harry but still it's weird esp when ppl are affirming things they dunno (saying Taylor R and Harry are dating) when they don't know shit and are just projecting with little evidence concretely proving they're dating!

I have an opinion about that topic, but for now I don’t feel the need to expose it. Like I’ve said before, I don’t think that what we had access to is enough to make this a huge discussion topic. I have an opinion because I’m a curious human being so I do like to talk with my own buttons and just navigate on stuff, not because I’m actually that interested 😅 tbh, overall, this is just too much and we shouldn’t even think about it.

I still think that going to her workplace with a pleasing hoodie is weird. Sorry, I’m happy that there were no questions made but it’s still odd… anyways, I absolutely agree that this has gotten out of hands and that whatever is going on, there’s nothing to analyze deeply :)