#you are most likely a conspiracy theorist you just don't want to admit it

[maaruin]

can you explain the bin laden thing and answer the questions you posted that should be "attached" to the letter? im kind of ashamed to admit how little i know about bin laden, but i was also only born in 2001... id appreciate some context on why people are into his letter, why leftists are latching onto it, and how this connects to what's going on in gaza. i'll read as much as you wanna write. thanks so much.

in reference to my previous post Yes, I can do that. Thank you for the ask. And I can assure you, many people who lived through 9/11 as adults don't really understand Bin Laden's motivations all that well either. If you want to read the letter yourself, you can find it here on WikiSource.

First for the questions: 1. Are bin Laden’s descriptions of political events and relations in this letter accurate? What could he have misunderstood? What could he be lying about?

When bin Laden lays out his reasons for attacking America, he says America attacked first and then claims that America is responsible for basically every bad thing that his happening to Muslims (in his view) anywhere. So America is not only responsible for its interventions in the Middle East and military aid to Israel, but also for the Russian suppression of the Chechnyan attempt at independence, Indian control of Kashmir, the Philippine government fighting Islamist rebels, and governments in the Islamic world not implementing Sharia. He implies hostility towards Islam is the reason for America's actions, for example, he thinks American soldiers in Saudi-Arabia were stationed there so that the mere presence of non-Muslims in the country with Islams most holy sites will humiliate Muslims. (When in fact they were stationed there in 1991 at the request of the Saudi government to protect it against a possible invasion from Iraq after Iraq had already invaded Kuwait.) This is classical conspiracy-theory-thinking: Assuming that behind all the bad things that happen to your group there must be a plan by someone (often a particular group) to hurt your group and that the motivation is hatred towards you. You will find bin Laden parroting conspiracy theorist talking points in the later sections of the letter as well, for example that America created AIDS, or that Jews are secretly controlling American politicians. The problem with conspiracy theories is very simple: they tend to be wrong. For example, if you want to explain the actions of the Russian military in Chechnya around 2000, don't look at America, look at Putin's ruling ideology. If you want to explain why Muslim governments don't implement Sharia, think about if it would help or hurt their ability to stay in power. Many problems all around the world start from local conditions, not because there is an evil mastermind behind them. I don't think bin Laden is lying very much in this letter, except maybe to himself. He is just falling to his own pattern matching bias that wants to ascribe all bad thing that happen to Muslims to a single cause - America. (Probably because that would mean if you could just defeat America, all the problems in the Islamic world would go away.) 2. Are bin Laden’s goals outlined in the letter worthwhile? Should Americans implement his suggestions? The latter has bin Laden's requests for Americans. Some are goals that an American may support as well, like stop military interventions in the Islamic world or ending support for countries that oppress Muslims. Though even there he sees American support where there wasn't really support, like the Russian operation in Chechnya. The US government did in fact condemn Russian actions. So this goal is not worthwhile because it is based on false assumptions about reality - the conspiracy theory about American Influence listed above. The hugest chunk of requests however is the demand for America to convert to Islam, end the separation of religion and state, and adopt social conservative policies (ban alcohol, ban sex work, ban homosexuality, ban interest on loans, stop employing women in service industry jobs where they serve man, etc - but he also mentiones that he wants the US to sign the Kyoto protocol, so it isn't 100% identical to what US conservatives want). Arguments for or against social conservatism would make this post far too long, but I doubt many left leaning Americans would be on board for these policies. Right leaning Americans might support some of these policies, but they would certainly not want America to make Islam the state religion.

3. Were the 9/11 attacks and similar operations by al-Qaeda an effective way to achieve his goals? Did the terrorist attack on American civilians lead to Americans wanting to convert to Islam - NO, it made Americans hate Islam. Did it make America withdraw from Islamic countries - NO, it made America invade Afghanistan and Iraq. I have read a bit of context on Bin Laden's goals in the past. During the Lebanese Civil War, a number of US soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing (iirc) and after that the US withdrew its soldiers. Bin Laden misjudged this and thought that an even larger attack on American civilians within the borders of the US would have the same effect on a larger scale. He was wrong and caused the opposite reaction. Killing American troops that are deployed in/are occupying another country does make Americans sour on the war if you can keep it up over time. But attacking civilians, especially in their home country, tends to increases the will to fight in the West (with few exception - spain pulled out its troops from Iraq after a terrorist attack on trains in Madrid). In the last decade the Taliban managed to make the US retreat and took over Afghanistan again by limiting their attacks these way, constantly killing US soldiers and their allies, but leaving civilians in America alone. The Islamic State on the other hand got the whole world into uniting against it by its display of cruelties like the beheading of journalists and aid workers and by its terrorist attacks in France and other countries. So even within his own values Bin Laden made the wrong choice when he initiated the 9/11 attacks. Context on why the letter may have had a sudden spike in popularity recently

The more immediate reason is that the letter talks quite a bit about American support for Israeli oppression of Palestinians. And that is one of the statements in the letter that are based at least somewhat in truth - yes, Israel does oppress Palestinians and yes, the US government generally supports Israel. It is somewhat doubtful if America withdrawing support would make Israel oppress Palestinians less. (In fact, it might make Israel more aggressive because it felt more threatened, but that also isn't for certain.) This is, I suppose, the reason why people ended up reading the letter. But the reason for them saying things like "I now realize he was right" is a specific kind of leftist gullibility/refusal to think. Leftists are opposed to oppression. They see that the United States is the most powerful country in the world and is involved, directly and indirectly, in a number of cases in which people are oppressed around the world. And then they think "If oppression is bad and the US oppresses people, people who fight against the US must be good." But the world of international politics cannot just be divided into good and evil. There are in fact things like better and worse. Bin Laden's letter overestimates the influence the US has and that its ability to change things, his vision for the world is worse than the world looks under US hegemony, and the means he chose to pursue his goals did not even help him achieve these goals - instead it just caused a number of bloody wars that got many Muslims (including himself) killed.

And I just wish leftists would think such things (statements like "Bin Laden was right") through. This isn't the first time. During the protests of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd the statement "Abolish the Police" gained tractions. Probably brought into the protest by some anarchists, other leftists thought "well, if the police oppresses people, abolishing it is the obvious solution". Without considering a) how much support by less ideologically committed people it cost them (it was an extremely unrealistic goal) and b) the risk of institutions arising in the vacuum left by the police could be worse (would private security beholden to cooperations be better than the police?, would a mafia that demanded protection money from you be better than the police?). And right now with Gaza we see the same thing: Does calling the 7/10 massacres "decolonization" make people likely to support decolonization? - NO Does Hamas have a shot at conquering Israel and restoring a Palestine "from river to sea" and did the attack further this goal? - NO If Hamas controlled all of current Israel, would the situation be better for the people who live there or would return there, even if you only consider Palestinians ? - DOUBTFUL

I think some leftists latch on to this letter because they have the same conspiracy-theory-thinking bin Laden had and saying "bin Laden was right" sounds really really radical and that makes them feel good. Their politics are very emotion driven with insufficient though put into it. Well, I hope my long post helped to a better understanding.

#long post #asks answered #history #osama bin laden #letter to america #conspiracy theories #thinking mistakes #terrorism #islamism #imperialism #united states #leftism #politics #critical thinking #reason #emotion driven politics #'abolish the police' and other stupid slogans #israel #palestine #israel palestine conflict #israel hamas war

[princessofroses]

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS ABOUT HARRY POTTER

Comparing James to Draco is dumb, James Potter wasn't a coward, he fought actively with the Order of the Phoenix to protect Muggle-Borns like Lily, whilst Draco was a Daddy's boy coward who jumped off a sinking ship at the right time. I don't even like James but I admit he's a better person than Dracock Malfuck.

Narcissa Malfoy is over-praised, people don't realize Cissy was born a BLACK, and espouses the same blood-purist ideologies that Bellatrix does, she just cares more about her son than a noseless maniac who constantly humiliated her family in the past, she cared nothing for Harry, she was still the same Narcissa Malfoy in HBP, she cared about her son and would do anything to protect him, she's proof that even racists can love, it's not shocking.

Remadora is not a problematic ship, y'all infantilize the fuck out of Tonks, just because your stupid Wolfstar ship ain't canon doesn't mean you have to bash Tonks. Plus Remus and Sirius weren't really friends if you really think about it, Peter, Sirius and Remus's best friend can be summarized as James Potter, no one else, for the longest time Remus though Sirius was a spy, and Sirius though Remus was a spy, not to mention the shrieking shack situation, not healthy relationship material.

Jegulus is the equivalent of internet vomit. Regulus is a racist blood-purist, no amount of babygirlification would change the fact Regulus was perfectly okay with the House of Black and Voldemort's racist ideology until his mistreatment of Kreacher. James on the other hand fought valiantly for Muggle-Born rights with the Order of the Phoenix.

"eughh I ship Dramioneeee, Draco never made Hermione cry but Ron did" spoken like a true movie watcher, I am pretty sure when Draco hurled Densaugeo at Hermione, she cried, granted it wasn't meant for her, but Draco never bothered to apologize or make it up to her. Not to mention he joked about the prospect of Hermione getting sexually assaulted in GoF and wished her dead in CoS.

Continuing with my anti-Dramione tangent, most Dramione writers fall into two categories, people who think Emma Watson and Tom Felton are cute together or self-insert writers who imagine themselves as Hermione.

I love Luna Lovegood but to be honest, but she's a crazed conspiracy theorist who spouts everything her father says without question, if she were a muggle, she'd be spouting QAnon, Flat Earth and Illuminati theories unironically and would probably be into Alex Jones shit.

In FanFiction, I hate it when authors give OC Characters related to canon characters unfitting names. Like Emily Malfoy or Clara Black. For a Malfoy sister fic, it should probably be a constellation or a flower, like Vega Malfoy or Violet Malfoy, for a Sirius sister fanfic, I'd imagine Aquila or Lyra, I'm trying to shy away from the overused Cassiopeia here.

Tomarry fics make me wish the mayans were right about 2012.

Dramione rant again (Sorry), is mostly about Hermione fixing Draco, as if that is her job or responsibility to force an arsehole to change his ways, it's basically about having a smart girl light herself on fire so a racist can be warm.

Lets be honest, if Fred or George were in your class or dorm, you'd hate them. Not to mention they were shit brothers to Ron and Percy.

Making Alice in the Marauders year is dumb, she was a respected Auror which takes training, so she'd probably be years above the marauders. It took Tonks a long while to become an Auror, and Alice is a RESPECTED Auror, which means she probably had been in the field for a long time.

Slytherin Skittles is the cringiest shit I've ever seen. You do realise Evan Rosier disfigured a man and Barty Crouch Jr. assisted in the torture of two innocent Aurors. So what he had an abusive childhood, Harry did and he's not a complete dick.

Hagrid is an irresponsible teacher who endangered the trio many times.

No one would want a canon Marauders prequel, because if Mrs. Rowling sticked to canon, people would shit themselves that Regulus isn't a femboy autistic soft boi but an actual racist. They'd be shocked to found out Remus Lupin isn't a study-hard nerd, the Marauders aren't popular sex-gods (They literally had codenames, that's one of the dorkiest things you can do), Peter Pettigrew wasn't always a snide bastard, Marlene and Dorcas aren't canonically in a relationship and aren't ever mentioned to be in the marauders era year and the Frank and Alice were probably in Auror training when the marauders were forming.

Peeps should stop shipping Hermione with everyone, especially Death Eaters; Bellamione, Lumione, Dramione, Rabmione, Scabmione, Tomione, Rodolmione, Fenrirmione heck even Dolomione.

Marriage Law Fics are shit, they are usually centered around Hermione being shipped with a Death Eater (What are the odds my fellas?) I'll remind you Hermione is perfectly happy with her ginger prince charming and would fight against such law if it were to ever happen.

Remus was an irresponsible adult to Harry. He unintentionally became a father-figure to him (before even Sirius) by his connections to James and Lily and by being the first D.A.D.A Professor who didn't have Voldemort on the back of his head and didn't have cats for brains. However he endangered Harry selfishly by not warning him of his lycanthropy for HIS OWN SAKE while Snape told everyone his secret even if it would affect his own character. Lupin's response was just fleeing and not even acknowledging Harry's existence in GoF until Order of the Phoenix.

Molly was right about Sirius. Think about it, Sirius Black is a mentally unstable man with the mind of a rebellious teenager, his mind had been overrun with Dementors and so had part of his sanity. Molly was just looking out for Harry and was right when she said Sirius confuses Haz for James. And yes, she is absolutely trying to be Lily because Harry has grown up an orphan without parents and with an abusive background, and having 7 children herself , would realize when a child needs a mother figure.

5th Marauders fics can usually be summarized as this; "Hello, my name is Amethyst Black, my siblings are Sirius and Regulus - oh and I'm a Metamorphmagus, Seer, Veela werewolf hybrid, I am such a quirky blood-traitor that I got into Gryffindor with my short gay brother Sirius who totally wants to deepthroat Remmy UwU. I have the hots for James Potter senpaii. My parents are so mean to me btw, like Walburga uses Crucio on me because I am seggsy and hawt and Orion beats me up everyday for being built like a Kardashian, so jelly. Anyways, Snape also has a crush on me, but that whore can go kill himself because i am so perfect and awesome. Marlene is my lesbian zesty friend who has the hawts for Dorcas Meadowes, some rando slytherin whore ig, here is my story on how I defeated Voldemort and became the mother of 50 potter children."

Mattheo Riddle and Lorenzo Berkshire are abominations of fanfic cringe, Mattheo Riddle is basically a wizard british version of an equally terrible character names Marcus Lopez, I am sure Mr. Wadsworth is a very nice stand up guy in real life, but he's so fucking ugly, he looks like every TikTok boy I've ever seen, I can get Berkshire, people fancast him as Louis Partridge, but Berkshire's character gives me cancer.

Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott are examples of canon ocs.

Bellatrix Lestrange child fanfics are for the most part pretty bad, it's usually a Bellamort or Belladolphus child and I don't think it's in character for Bellatrix to even have a child, that's why I despised Cursed Child so much.

Having Dorea Black as Harry Potter's grandmom makes no sense. Sirius's early arc was mostly having a found family, and since Dorea would be his great-aunt, that's not really a founding family. Euphemia and Fleamont are way better, you can do so much with them. You can make Euphemia a Rosier, Lestrange, Fawley, Nott, Greengrass, Yaxley or Crouch if you want.

#harry potter #harry potter universe #marauders era #regulus black #remadora #remus x tonks #tonks #remus lupin

[someidiotwithalaptop]

Alright: What the FUCK happened to Summer???

Because something sure did, and every new thing we hear about her gets more disturbing, and it haunts me.

So, I'll start with stuff that's fairly certain and like, small leaps of logic before I go full tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist. We have very little actual info about Summer, nearly all of it from different characters talking about her.

From Yang we get the basic facts from her family's perspective: Summer was a Huntress who went out on a mission and never came back. We also get the characterization of, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters."

From Qrow, we learn that 1. She was a brat, which like, honestly STRQ was probably just "oops! all brats" 2. He thinks she would have pressed on if she knew the truth, which, uh, she almost definitely did. "We don't have to kill you to stop you," is not the sort of thing you say to Salem if you don't know she's immortal, that's all I'm saying. 3. Whatever her final mission was, she didn't tell him or Tai or Ozpin. I'm inclined to believe Ozpin when he says he genuinely doesn't know what happened to Summer, since his biggest secret is already out—plus he's been genuinely repentent about the mess his lying caused in Volume 6 and is taking steps to do better in the future. It would feel really weird thematically if he knew and was keeping yet another giant bomb of a secret. So Summer went on her final mission alone, or at the very least, she didn't tell any of Ozpin's inner circle where she was going.

We'll get to speculating about why not later, but I think this point is probably going to be important in Ruby's character arc—whatever Summer's ultimate fate, she got there because she tried to save the world alone, and we've seen Ruby do something similar. Like she's not running off after Salem by herself, but she's definitely trying to shoulder the burden of leading and inspiring everyone to keep going all on her own, without asking for help as that responsibility has been slowly yet systematically destroying her mental health. I mean ffs she's been literally carrying her team on her shoulders for two episodes now.

HOWEVER: Oz, Tai, and Qrow don't know anything about what happened to Summer, but it's possible that Raven might. When Ruby tries to reach out to her and convince her to work together, because they'll have a better chance than if they try to do it alone, Raven says, "You sound just like your mother," in truly the most bitter, disdainful-ass tone I have ever heard. And then she opens a portal for Cinder to throw a fireball at her. Whether this is about a more generalized friction that maybe contributed to Raven leaving, or a specific moment when Summer tried to get her on board with whatever she was doing on that final mission, is kind of uncertain. Or it could be both!

(And it might also be she married my ex bitterness but, admitting my biases here, I hate that fucking trope with a fiery passion and I think it's more interesting if her anger at Summer is actually about Summer.)

Regardless, if Summer did ask her for help, then based on how Raven reacted to Ruby I don't think she got it lmao

And then. Oh, and then. We get Salem!

"Your mother said those words to me. She was wrong too."

"Her again?"

So like. Salem definitely met her. Had a whole-ass conversation with her, even.

And that fucking smile??? Salem did some shit to Summer. It's just a question of what, exactly?

Right. Okay. So after they kill the Hound and realize WHOOPS that was a person and he looks an awful lot like Ruby! and everyone reunites, Ruby says this:

"When I saw its eyes, I knew. Salem used to kill people with Silver Eyes, like Maria. But she’s always wanted me alive. Why would that change unless, when she met Mom, she learned she could do something new?"

Timeline-wise, this seems accurate! But I'd like to also insert TR into the equation. It's a little hard to tell given the uhh, body horror of it all, but he definitely looks younger than Qrow (which is maybe not saying a lot given that Raven looks at least ten years younger than Qrow and she's his twin lmao) and, more to the point, like he's probably younger than Summer.

Like, yeah, hard to tell, but I don't think this man is past forty. And even if he is, it doesn't seem like Salem's had him for very long, seeing as she never sent him after Ruby or the relics in previous volumes. So he's probably an example of what Salem's been doing to SEWs after Summer.

Also, Salem calls him an experiment, and says that so far she's pleased with the results. Meaning Summer isn't exactly a Hound, though I wouldn't say that puts grimmification off the table. Just that it's not in the exact same way he is. And it's worth pointing out that the way TR has been grimmified, it's left him completely without agency and unable to disobey Salem. Even after Ruby blasts the Grimm off his head, he's still left repeating "Take The Girl" over and over without any sign of whoever he used to be coming back to the surface. It's possible that is what Salem is referring to when she calls him a successful experiment.

So the way Salem has dealt with people with silver eyes has gone:

Maria (kill her) > Summer (?!?!) > TR (an... experiment) > Ruby (bring her to me alive)

Adding TR into the mix, it seems unlikely that the "something new" Salem learned she could do from Summer Rose would actually have been, y'know, a Hound. Plus from a narrative perspective, I don't think we're going to have Ruby literally saying exactly what happened to Summer into the camera only for her to turn up, Hound-ified just as expected, a couple volumes later. So, some possibilities:

Ruby is actually exactly correct about what happened to Summer, but she's not going to show up later so there's no reason not to just tell us. Personally I doubt it's this, given the way the mystery has been unfolding over eight volumes and counting. It'd be kind of weird to just tell us instead of showing us, or indeed having the Hound literally be Summer. Also, if Summer is a Hound too then why is TR an experiment?

Summer was Grimmified but didn't survive the process, so she gave Salem the idea but she's not actually a Hound. This also seems a bit odd to me given that would mean she's basically just dead like we assumed, but with extra steps. Like it's upsetting but it doesn't represent the kind of dramatic upheaval to the sisters' worldviews that it feels like this is building towards. It doesn't explain how fucking smug Salem is about the whole thing.

Summer was Grimmified, but didn't actually lose any agency. This would explain why Salem is still experimenting, and why she's so pleased with TR—he's even more singleminded in carrying out her goals than Tyrian is. It also fits with the way the Grimmification worked on Salem. Even after she jumped into the goop, she was still very much herself—it's possible it influenced her, but she was definitely capable of showing love and affection to both Ozma and her daughters. She just, uhh,,, was also willing to try and murder them. But it's unclear to me how much of that was Evil Goo and how much was just that there's no way a human being spends any significant length of time as the Last Woman Alive without some unpleasant side effects. We're social creatures and we do not generally do well when completely deprived of company.

Summer wasn't Grimmified at all, the whole Hound thing is a red herring.

In either 3 or 4, regardless of how much body horror happened, Ruby is wrong about what happened to Summer. And in order to not undercut that moment of utter despair at what probably happened to Summer... I feel like what actually did happen has to be. like. worse.

AND IT'S A TAD DIFFICULT TO GET WORSE THAN THE HOUND.

So. Time to put our tinfoil hats on: what if we add an element of horrible betrayal?

Yes this is a Summer-joined-Salem conspiracy post.

But hear me out okay! Circling back a bit, why wouldn't Summer tell any of the inner circle where she was going? If she talked to anyone, it was Raven, who had already noped the fuck out by the time Summer went on her final mission. Now, if it was just Tai and Qrow I'd say she might've kept it from them for the same reason everyone always keeps that secret—she didn't want them to lose hope. But... Ozpin already knows. There'd be no reason not to tell him what she was doing, unless she knew he'd try to stop her.

Now: my goal here is to make all this make sense, without altering the first foundational piece of characterization we get for Summer. Namely, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters." I'm not saying Summer learned the truth and went, welp, if you can't beat 'em join 'em. Because both Summer and Raven tend to act as foils to Ruby and Yang, and "gave up immediately" doesn't feel like an interesting foil to Ruby's perserverence. But, if you find out that there's an existential threat to the entire world, and she can't be killed...

Isn't it worth trying to negotiate?

Especially if, say, you were absolutely desperate to end this war in your lifetime. Because Summer knows that if it's really impossible, if Salem can't be stopped, then Ruby will get dragged in whether she likes it or not. All because of a trait that Summer passed down to her.

Salem's been killing people with silver eyes, probably for millenia. It's easily possible that Summer had her own visit from someone like Tock, or noticed the same thing Maria's father did, that there's a suspicious lack of people with silver eyes considering how useful they are against the Grimm. As long as Salem is a threat, Ruby is going to be in that same danger. Forever.

So she has to do something, right? If there's even the tiniest chance she can end this now, before Ruby will ever have to suffer for it, before she gets pulled into an impossible war and Yang comes charging in after her, because of course she's going to try to help her sister... isn't that a chance worth taking?

This is why I think Raven knows some shit, by the by—when she's telling Yang about Salem, she actually kind of indirectly drops the same bomb that went off in Volume 6, it's just that she didn't do it in the same explicit terms that Jinn did. "She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until Humanity crumbles at her feet."

"Can't be stopped" is Raven's translation of can't be killed, since "We don't have to kill you to stop you" seems to be a flavor of terrifying exclusive to Ruby and apparently Summer. But "can't be reasoned with" implies that somebody tried. And like, let's be honest. Do we really think Raven was the one who decided to give diplomacy a go?

Not to mention this line, which I'm like 90% sure is referring to Summer:

"Or... you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others."

It really seems like Raven knows something she's not telling us. Like, if that is a reference to Summer's fate, does that mean Raven knows what it is, or is she just speculating like everyone else? Does she have a portal to Summer, and is that giving her information the others don't have? All that, combined with the fact that she's also way more bitter about Summer than everyone else, seems signficant.

Anyways. Let's say Summer decides to have a chat with Salem.

She can't tell Ozpin. He'd try to stop her, because he'd see it as a suicide mission. Qrow or Tai both might tell him, or agree with him and get in her way, so she keeps it from them too. Maybe she goes off completely by herself—or maybe she goes to Raven, because she's the only one who might be able to help who Summer knows won't breathe a word of it to Ozpin. Either way, Raven doesn't help her. She's not getting anywhere near Salem.

And then... well. Salem got here by manipulating people, by swaying them to her cause. Summer asks her what she actually wants out of all this. Isn't there some way they could resolve this without this endless war, all this endless death?

Important to note, I don't think we've heard Salem's motivation in her own words. At least, not since the Lost Fable, when she wanted to rule with Ozpin as the new gods of Remnant. I think it's safe to say at least a few things have changed since then. Closest I can think of is what she says to Cinder in Volume 8, "In pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great." Which is ominous, but also quite vague, and says nothing about what she plans to do with the relics.

Instead, we get a whole lot of people guessing. Ozpin thinks she wants to die. Tyrian thinks she wants to destroy the world. Hazel and Mercury think she wants to remake it, with no Huntsman Academies, with them as the new top dogs.

There's a pattern here—Salem never actually says what she wants, and other people have a habit of projecting their own motives onto her actions. Ozpin wants to die, Hazel wants to destroy the Huntsmen Academies, Mercury wants to be the one with the power so he's not getting hurt, and Tyrian's just in it for the chaos.

And it's not like Salem hasn't done stuff like that on purpose. By the time she started growing her army against the gods and telling people they would all steal immortality like she did, she'd already tried to kill herself. She didn't want immortality. She just let people think she did, because it was more convenient for her.

So if this agent of Ozpin's comes to her, absolutely desperate for a way to end the fight before it can come for her daughters, well... why not just tell her about the gods? About how Ozpin plans to one day reunite the relics, and submit Remnant to their judgment? About what might happen if he does?

(TBH I don't think Oz will ever do that, not because I think he's decided not to or anything like that, but because I doubt he'll ever see a humanity united enough for it to be worth trying. We're an argumentative bunch.)

But like. To Summer, all of a sudden there's this other, even bigger existential threat. And Salem isn't like Ozpin. She does have a plan! She wants to destroy the relics, so that the gods can never be resummoned, because of course she hates them and so she would never want them to come back!

(Again, not saying this is actually true, my best guess is that she's trying to bring them back so she can fight them again slkdfjlskdj)

And then, if they succeed, not only will the gods not be a threat anymore, Salem won't be a threat either. She'll have gotten what she wants!

"This can all... be... over..."

Summer has to finish this. There has to be a way for her to do this by herself, to save everyone, to put a stop to it all in time to protect her children! (Raven can't be right, it can't just be hopeless!)

From there, all Salem really needs to do is be a bit careful how much she tells her other followers about what she plans to do—which it seems like she has—and eventually find a way to either hide what relics she has or convince Summer that she's trying really hard to destroy them, definitely, pinky promise!

(And, as an aside: if true, it's very possible that the reason Salem's so insistent on keeping Ruby alive isn't that she wants to turn her into another Hound, but rather that was one of Summer's conditions.)

All this, of course, may or may not come with a sprinkle of Grimmification. Because why not add some body horror to the good old-fashioned betrayal horror! Though, if I'm right and not going completely off the wall here, I suspect it's probably more in the vein of Cinder than TR. Namely, like, consensual.

Regardless, it definitely feels like Summer has been idealized to a point that's just sort of... begging for trouble. She's the perfect Huntress. The best of us. The one who would have pressed on. And like, historically putting people on pedestals like that has not gone well in this show (see: Pyrrha). Not to mention the way trying to be the perfect Huntress that Summer was has been affecting Ruby over the years.

Also, definitely totally unrelated to all of the above: I think paragons that turn to evil despite or indeed because of all their wonderful paragon qualities FUCK SEVERELY and I would like to see it.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 #tbh only very briefly but I wanna be safe #summer rose #ruby rose #salem rwby #tinfoil hat time #cw suicide mention #(Salem's canonical failed attempts) #long post

[northwest-cryptid]

Sometimes I look at the Project Moon games and wonder about what the team at PM must be like.

I mean hear me out... and yea spoilers and all that but I can't really get my point across without them so ya know.

Lobotomy Corp is a game that centers around the plot of 1 awful awful man who has done unspeakably horrible things to his colleagues in the pursuit of a goal they technically all wanted, but "not like this" only to go through so many horrifying loops of tragedy that everyone becomes numb, finding their own ways to cope with having to work at such a truly hellish work place. With the main character becoming someone better through atonement for his actions, he can't truly atone in the eyes of those he has harmed but he can try to better himself going forward and in the end he's able to at least give them all the gift of seeing their goal through to the end.

Library of Ruina shows us yet again a struggle with identity, this time accompanied by yet another major plot surrounding the idea of revenge this whole idea that the actions that freed one individual from a horrible life of abuse and neglect inflicted irreparable harm upon another. Yet they work together for so long in hopes of each achieving their own goals, only in the end coming to realization of their life, their grief, and their identity. Both being able to move past who they were and the pain they've felt and become something more than a husk living purely in spite of their suffering.

and I'll be honest, I've not played much of Limbus Company, I hate to admit it because I love the Project Moon universe but the game doesn't much keep my interest. That being said on the most baseline level of the game you have an understanding that this is a company of people specifically brought together for emotionless work. You have the most uncaring neglecting managers and head figures; Dante seems to be the most emotional of anyone and that's likely coming from the place of actually having to go through the literal pain of reviving anyone who dies, experiencing their pain in the process. So I could are they're a little more invested in their subordinate's wellbeing. However more than not, the lead figures here do not care about their underlings, and if you pay attention to the sinners; they're all full of life in different ways, sure some of them are less happy than others; but they all have goals, they all have ambition.

So what am I getting at with all of this? Well do I actually believe the lead writer/writers at ProjMoon are trying to say something about the company? Nah probably not, it's very likely they're just writing angst for the sake of angst; and while a lot of their writing is well done and captures a lot of mental illness and real conflict very well; I don't think they are necessarily trying to go any deeper than that.

That being said; we only now see how bad their CEO really is. However I have a hunch that this wasn't always the case, originally he was probably a genuinely nice dude. I say this completely on assumption mind you, so again if you think I'm making some weird stretches in logic or something read the above blurb again and recognize that I'm not some conspiracy theorist trying to spout some bullshit. I'm just saying that it's interesting to me that a small indie company of like 7 - 10 people who were really ambitious about their goal of becoming a game studio worked really hard (and likely failed a LOT in the past) in spite of their living situation being complete shit. Like basically everyone I know who knows about ProjMoon knows there were times they were so poor they couldn't afford basic heating and such. So here you have this company who dream of wealth and honor, being someone important, being someone rich enough to live a good life. They make 1 game (Lob Corp) that seems to be doing well, the Legacy version got played by a few youtubers and likely drew in a small but dedicated fanbase who gave them a rush of euphoria; finally there were eyes on their product. Real people, around the world who CARED about what they were making. They were likely far from their goal still, but now they had a chance. Then; they took a shift and remade the game to what we know it as today and what do you know... it was a success. They weren't rich or anything but here's this global fan community singing their praises, telling people "buy their game buy their game!" That's wealth and honor, at least on some level. See when you're THAT poor, even a couple thousand bucks or a couple hundred people with eyes on you can make all the difference. Sure we think "wealthy" means triple digit thousands at LEAST and such; but if even 100 people came to my stream and each of them gave me 25 bucks (the price of Lob Corp) I'd feel pretty damn successful having just made $2,500 "but cryptid they probably put a lot more money INTO it than that" sure that's true, and they probably sold a lot more than 100 copies of the game. There are currently 26,396 reviews on steam, with 455 being recent reviews. In total if we assume (and we don't, let's be real) that every one of those bought the game at full price, and the company got 100% of the money; that's $659,225 a little over a half a million. from Lob Corp alone. Now yea I'm not gonna say they didn't have to pay a % to steam for hosting and they likely had some copies sold when the game was like 50% off or something if we're being honest. However this doesn't take into account LoR being $30, with 20,501 reviews for a total of (again under the same assumptions which we aren't realistically assuming here) another $615,030 we have no idea how much merch they sold or how much profit they made from their café either.

What am I getting at here? That they made a bunch of money? We know. No it's more than that; See it's easy to look at the CEO and say "oh dude fuck Project Moon they're a shit company!" However consider for a second that you don't hate Netzach, Chesed, Angela, Tiph, Hod, etc; for the actions of Ayin... do you? Now yea obviously those are fictional people, so you know they don't have bills to pay they don't have families to take care of, they don't have real life problems to deal with... unlike the people who work at Project Moon.

All people who likely watched their friend, and CEO; change when he obtained the money and fame he was after; suddenly hiding the fact he had grown so much from the public so they could sell the idea of being a "small indie dev team" to keep pay lower and abuse their workers. Which, from what I understand; is what we learned from the WonderLab incident, unless I'm mistaken of course. Take everything I'm saying here with a grain of salt. It's very likely that the writing for the original Lob Corp wasn't about the Proj Moon team specifically, more so about working conditions in capitalism, and likely the current state of Korean societal/work norms. However I do wonder how much of the writing might be or could be based on what the team is going through in relation to their own work place.

I saw a lot of people saying "how could the people who wrote games about shit business practices literally do this shit, they wrote about it!" However I don't know if the CEO himself really had much of a hand in that, you have to remember that none of us; and I do mean NONE OF US. Have any idea what the working conditions there are actually like. For all we know the CEO could easily say "oh sure I wrote this and that, I looked over these things; I helped with those things" when in reality it's all delegated to some poor intern.

I mean hell I once worked with an indie company who literally stole my intellectual property, claimed it all as their own; said they had "come up with all of this the night before at an exclusive meeting" and then used it to profit off their scam of a game that they lied to the public about being something it wasn't and I never saw a cent of it because I told them off for not only stealing my work but A. lying to me and thinking I wouldn't know and B. lying to the public to scam people out of their money.

A lot of shady shit practices happen behind closed doors that never gets to be made public whether it's because you don't have a voice to say it loud enough or because contractually you're not legally able to without harsh consequences. You know what you can do though? You can write whatever you want for the plot of your game. Your game that is already built around the premise of abusive work practices and shitty capitalistic managers.

what was that limbus company quote, something like "take out their leader, remove the head and the meat under it crumbles" I don't know man, it just makes me wonder about how the people working at Project Moon feel about their CEO. I don't know how many of them are WILLINGLY following him vs how many have to keep a roof over their head and feel like they have no choice in the matter but to keep working for a shitty CEO who makes the big bucks while they likely get "small indie dev team pay" you know?

I'll say this again because I know, this is the "how dare you say we piss on the poor" website and I want to make this abundantly clear. I don't know jack shit about what goes on behind closed doors at that company, I'm not trying to make some kind of conspiracy theory, I'm not reading too much into plot or writing of a fictional world/characters/game. I'm not trying to make any claims about any persons working within the company. I'm merely wondering how much of the writing (WHICH COULD BE NONE) comes from a more personal view of venting about poor working conditions and how many of the employees working at Project Moon (WHICH COULD BE ALL OF THEM) actually consider their CEO to be a friend and someone worth working for rather than as an abusive boss they're scared of and who they can't quit working for because they need the money.

[thesugarclubs-blog]

Flavour of the Week - Steve Harrington x OC

warnings: None, pure fluff, summer romance

word count: 7.8k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1274056026-flavor-of-the-week-allie

Masterlist

For once, Allie was grateful to be babysitting Erica Sinclair. 

It was the hottest day of the year and the air conditioning of Starcourt Mall was a welcome alternative to being boiled alive in the June sun. She was trying to cool off in the food court, reading a new book she just picked from the store on the second floor when Erica slammed her bags on the table. The motion made her jump as Allie looked up at the little girl with a stern expression. 

"What is it now, Erica?" Allie groaned. All she wanted was a little break from the youngest Sinclair and her posse of minions. 

"I want ice cream." 

"No one is stopping you, Sinclair. Go for it." Allie said, jerking her head at the nautical themed ice cream shop across the way. 

"I can't," Erica said slowly, as if Allie wasn't understanding. "The girl who works there said I can't have any more samples. But you can." 

The mischievous smirk on Erica's face sent a little trickle of worry down Allie's spine. She'd never admit that sometimes she was terrified of a ten year old. 

Looking back up at the ice cream shop, Allie bit her lip before closing her book. Sacrificing her alone time in favor of ice cream didn’t sound like that bad of an idea. 

“Fine. Come along, gremlins” she grinned at the face Erica pulled at her comment, stashed the book in her bag and made her way across the food court to Scoops Ahoy. 

The ice cream parlor was packed, every table full of kids and teens in search for the perfect cool down during summer break. Her mouth was watering just dreaming of the ice cream sundae she was going to order, once Erica and her friends had their own, of course. If there was one thing the mall didn’t need more of, it was a hangry bunch of pre-teens. 

As she approached the counter, she could see Robin speaking animatedly with her coworker. She always looked very passionate when she talked but she looked like a conspiracy theorist pointing at her whiteboard this time. Suddenly, her coworker took off his little sailor’s hat and her breath caught in her throat. That hair.

Of course it was Steve Harrington behind the counter. Today of all days, when her long curly hair was tucked up in a messy bun and she felt ragged from dealing with Erica and her antics all day. Allie knew him from around the hallways at Hawkins High, and always had a bit of a crush on him. She took a deep breath, and swiped the baby hairs away from the sticky sweat of her forehead as she stepped forward to the counter. 

“Ahoy there! Would you like to set sail on an ocean of flavour with me? I’ll be your captain, Steve Harrington. What can I start you with?” He leaned forward on the counter, and smirked at Allie, his amber eyes twinkling in the lights. 

Allie could feel the words as they tumbled out of her mouth, “ice cream.”

She groaned and scrunched her nose up, embarrassed that she had blurted out the most prominent words she could think of. His tongue flicked over his bottom lip and his small smirk turned into a full-blown cheeky smile. She could see his lips moving but every ounce of her focus was poured into the two soft freckles on his neck.

“Allie?” Erica flicked her arm bringing her back to reality. Visibly confused she looked to Erica who had an eyebrow raised in annoyance. “Farrah Fawcett’s secret child just asked you a question, were you even listening, or were you daydreaming about your little book boyfriend again?” 

Steve leaned on the counter, elbow propped up by the register. 

"Book boyfriend, huh? Well, how about a real life boyfriend? Got one of those you might be thinking of?"

Allie wanted to dissolve into the floor as he smiled, the flush rising in her cheeks. She could see Robin over his shoulder rolling her eyes. Erica elbowed her, shoving her way to the front before Allie could answer. 

"Give us the goods, sailor boy. I don't have all day," she sassed. 

“Sorry but you already had enough samples, Sinclair. Now, let the adults talk.” he said, not taking his eyes off the beautiful girl in front of him, who was blushing at Erica’s mention of her book boyfriend.

“So, that book boyfriend of yours. What’s better about a book boyfriend than a real boyfriend?” he asked.

Allie’s gaze fell to her hands. She needed to look away from his eyes for a second because they were just too much. She picked at the polish on her nails, thinking of a way to murder a child and not go to jail. Never had she felt so embarrassed in her life. But she needed to come up with an answer soon before Erica said something worse, if that was even possible. 

She huffed out a breath and met Steve’s eyes again, “Well, I guess that um, they won’t disappoint you like most real-life guys do.” 

Steve stuck out his bottom lip and nodded once, raising an eyebrow at her, “Can’t say you're wrong there” He winked, standing up straight and twirling the ice cream scoop in his hand. 

God, this man was more charismatic than she remembered. Just the movement of his hand in that motion made her head go all fuzzy. Erica may have started with the embarrassing comments, but Allie knew she was definitely not doing herself any favors here either. She had to change the subject and fast. 

“Cotton candy” She spit out, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head a little, trying to get her attention away from the spinning of his hand. “Could I try the cotton candy ice cream… please?” Allie asked properly, shooting him a smile.

“Excellent choice,” he laughed, grabbing her a small bowl. He extended it across the counter but didn’t let go as her hand brushed his, “gotta be careful with this one. Too much of it will turn your tongue pink.” 

“I guess I’ll have to try something different next time,” she pulled the bowl from his hand and she could feel the heat rising up her neck. 

“Ahem,” Erica cleared her throat. 

“She’ll get a banana split,” Allie smiled as she pressed the tiny sample spoon to her tongue and let the ice cream melt from the heat. 

Steve nodded, brushing a piece of his golden brown hair behind his ear as he got to putting together her sundae. Once he had finished he slid it across the counter to her without taking his eyes off Allie who was digging in her purse for change. 

“Pretty girls get one free banana split,” he laughed and Robin audibly groaned from the back room loud enough for Allie and Steve to hear her. “Unfortunately, you also only get one sample so you’ll just have to come back tomorrow to try another flavor.”

"How many flavors are there exactly?" Allie laughed, dropping her sample spoon in the small trash can by his side. 

Steve's eyebrows furrowed as he counted silently. He sighed before putting his hands on his hips. 

"Thirty five, so if you wanna try each one by the end of the summer, you might wanna start tomorrow," he said with a shrug. 

"Will you be here? I mean, I might need some help." 

Steve's eyes lit up as a "no way" came from the open kitchen window. 

"Yeah, I, uh, will be here," he stammered out with a broad grin. 

After all the times he “sucked“ - at least that’s the way Robin always put it - he didn’t expect this to be the outcome.

“Great,“ she smiled, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.“ 

She was about to leave, the little gremlins already ahead of her, as Steve’s voice made her stop in her movements.

“Allie!“ 

She turned around, facing him again, but he remained still, as she waited for him to continue.

He hesitated as if he wasn’t sure what exactly to say, or ask even. 

“See you tomorrow.“ he said with a soft smile on his lips.

Allie bit her lip and let out a soft laugh. Steve Harrington, flustered. Because of her. That was definitely a sight to behold. 

“See you tomorrow, Harrington.” 

As she walked out of the shop, she smiled to herself and thought about what the following days would bring. It might turn out to be a good summer after all. She shook herself out of her daydream after Erica cleared her throat. Head tilted and brows raised at her babysitter. 

“That was nasty. Even with the free banana split.” 

“Just eat your ice cream, Sinclair.” Allie rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

The following day, Allie brought Erica to meet her friends at Starcourt once more, all of them taking off towards the arcade as soon as they got there, but not before Erica paused and placed her hands on her hips. 

“Lemme guess, I can find you at the ice cream shop when we’re done?” 

“I will be in the food court. Go have fun” Allie said through gritted teeth, causing the little girl to roll her eyes before taking off to find her friends. 

Once the kids were out of sight, she made her way casually into the ice cream shop, twisting a dark curl around her finger as she pretended to read the menu on the wall. Alle glanced over at the counter just in time to see Robin walk into the back room. 

“Hey dingus, this ones for you..” She heard, causing an involuntary smile to form on her lips.

Allie’s chest tightened as she heard the metal hinges swing open from the back door. Steve slid out, cleaning his lips with the back of his hand as he made his way to the counter. “Hi,” she said quietly, her voice suddenly so small in his presence.

Robin disappeared into the back as he leaned over the counter to come eye level with her as he finished chewing whatever he had been snacking on. 

“How's the tongue?” He asked and Allie flushed red instantly, why did he want to know that she panicked silently. “Shit, the cotton candy ice cream… turns your tongue pink… it was dumb.” He ran his hand hair nervously and shook his head in shame.

She chuckled, shaking her head at him. Her curls hadn’t cooperated that morning, frankly, they hadn’t been doing so all week with the heat wave but she had dared leave them down and now they were sticking to her sweaty neck. Banishing her nerves the best she could she playfully stuck her tongue out, “ready for more flavor tasting.”

“What will it be today?” He laughed, his big doe eyes flickered to her lips quickly before he shifted to the ice cream case. 

 Allie hummed as she tapped her chin playfully. “Let’s do mint chocolate chip today, captain.” she said with a wink. 

Steve’s tongue darted out across his bottom lip as he shook his head and tried to hold back a smile. Allie watched him as he grabbed the cup and scooped up a sample of the ice cream she had chosen. He wasn’t wearing his sailor cap today either. The wild wisps of brown hair that framed his face catching in the fluorescent lights of the shop as he moved. He placed the cup on the counter and handed her the spoon. Fingers lingering on top of each other once again caused Allie’s stomach to flood with butterflies. 

“Gave you a little extra today, our little secret.” 

Allie made a mock locking motion at her lips with her free hand as he smiled at her. 

“Wait, aren’t you gonna try?” 

He stammered at her question, “I don’t-“

“Well I said let’s didn’t I?” 

“Robin, can you man the counter I’m taking my 15.” Steve yelled back as he fumbled around the counter for an extra spoon before he followed Allie back to a table. 

Allie let out a genuine laugh as Steve caught up with her, smirking over at him as she watched him push his hand through his hair. It was nice to see him flustered for once because of her, instead of the other way around. 

“Ok, what do you prefer, cotton candy or mint chocolate chip? Be honest” She asked, taking a seat at a vacant table and putting the bowl of ice cream in the middle. 

Steve thought for a moment as he sat across from her, tapping the spoon on his plump lips, “See that depends on the day. Sometimes I need something sweet like cotton candy, but other times.. You just need that classic tang of the mint, you know? It’s sweet but has that secret side to it that keeps it exciting..” He smirked, taking a scoop of the ice cream and holding it out. “Plus, I like the green of this one… it matches your eyes” 

Allie’s whole body warmed under his stare as she pulled the spoon from her lips. She secretly loved mint chocolate chip and now she’d never eat it again without thinking about Steve Harrington noticing the color of her eyes. 

“So is mint chocolate chip your favorite?” She asked knowing the implications of her question.

He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing against the silly collar of his sailor's uniform as he composed himself to answer her. “It is today, yesterday it was cotton candy,” his soft lips curled into a smile as he watched her turn red. 

“How do you do that?” Allie asked him, watching his eyes flicker across her features in confusion. “One minute you’re a flustered mess and then you open your mouth and you say something cute as if you planned it.”

Steve laughed nervously, opening his mouth to say something but his cheeks flushed red and he pressed another scoop of ice cream to his tongue. Allie followed suit, distracted by the way his lips pressed together as he enjoyed the sweet treat with her. 

“If I tell you all my secrets you’ll just take them into the mall and use them on other boys,” he shrugged with a smile forming on his face. 

“Or maybe I’ll use them on you and that's what you’re really afraid of,” she laughed and he scoffed with a soft shake of his head. 

Steve’s break flew by and Allie retreated to the food court with the promise of tomorrow and the next 33 flavors. 

As the days turned to weeks the two continued to get comfortable around the other. Eye contact was held for longer, conversations flowed more naturally and lingering hands found each other from across the table. 

The third week sailed in and Allie made her way back into Scoops Ahoy, with a big smile and a little extra weight in her bag. Butterflies had never left her stomach the whole time but she hadn’t felt this nervous in a while. And when Steve’s eyes lit up watching from the back room window, she knew she was smitten.

He gave her a small wave and his cheeky smile that made her fall head over heels for the man even more. She waved back with a sweet smile, oh if only he knew what he was doing to her.  It felt like her heart could burst out of her chest from how fast it was beating.  So when he walked out from the back room, she needed to take a couple of deep breaths to steady herself. 

He stopped on the other side of the counter and placed his hands on top. His golden brown hair was messy but neatly tucked behind his ears. A couple of strands managed to find a way to fall forward. 

She needed to bite the inside of her cheek in an attempt to not lean forward and fix it. To touch him. 

“I like that.” His eyes lingered over her face for a bit before stopping on her eyes. 

She chuckled nervously, his gaze felt so much more intense than before. “Like what?”

“Your smile, it’s nice to look at …” He grabbed a scoop from the counter and twirled it around in his hand before saluting with it. “What flavor for the lady today?”

A blush crept up Allie’s cheeks and she bit her bottom lip to stop the smile from growing any bigger. Every time this man spoke to her, she felt all tingly inside. But there was no way she was going to let him see that side of her. Not yet.

“Actually, I have something for you first” She grinned proudly, reaching into her bag and pulling out a book, sliding it across the counter towards him. “This was the book I was reading the first day I came in here, and I thought you might like it. The main character is so sweet. I thought she might make a good book girlfriend for you” 

Steve let out a laugh and took the book, turning it over in his hands as he examined the cover, “Book girlfriend huh? I think I could give that a shot” He smirked, before turning and putting the book on the back counter. “So got a flavor in mind for today?” 

“What number are we on?” She asked, looking over at the display case.

“Hm, 13 I think” 

“You pick, then. Lucky number 13 has to be a Steve Harrington pick” 

Taking a moment to look over the flavor list, a wide smile appeared on his face, “I have the perfect one..” He spoke confidently, as he scooped the ice cream. “Rocky Road. A crowd favorite. And a personal one”

"Oh wow, a personal one? Why wasn't it the first suggestion then?" she teased, watching him scoop out way more ice cream than a normal sample size. 

Steve walked around, coming through the door built into the counter to hand her the cup. 

"Can I tell you something?" he asked, leaning in closer to her than he ever has been. 

Allie felt her breath shorten as she nodded, the sweet smell of waffle cones and whatever he used in his hair that morning filling her head. She could count more of the freckles on his cheeks and noticed how the tips of his eyelashes are a golden brown, just like his hair. 

"I kinda like to hog it all to myself. Devious, I know, but it's just too good," Steve whispers as Allie giggles at his expression, taking the cup of ice cream. This time his fingers trail against hers in a way that is more than obvious. 

"Your secret is safe with me. Can't have you losing your job or anything," Allie murmured, looking up at him before taking a bite of ice cream.

Steve bit the corner of his bottom lip as his eyes zeroed in on her lips and lingered for a beat. She smiled as his eyes found his way back to hers after she let the spoon go with a pop.  

“You got your spoon, Harrington?” 

🍦🍦

Saturday arrived in the blink of an eye and like the ones before during these past few weeks, Allie made her way back to Starcourt Mall. They’d gotten into the habit of having lunch together on Saturday’s since she’d be relieved of her babysitting duties for the weekends. When she arrives at the counter, she’s met with Robin refilling the spoons. 

“Hey Robin.”

“Ah, welcome oh great one” she curtsied, and Allie snorted a laugh as her eyes widened. 

“What?” 

“Nothing, I've just never seen Steve read a book so intently in his life. He hasn’t let it go ever since you gave it to him. Not that it’s that much of a surprise of course. I mean you guys have been spending time together every day this summer and he can’t pull his eyes away from you even if he tried.” 

Robin rambled on and Allie felt like she was in a daze. Not that she thought that he wouldn’t have read it but certainly not that he’d like it so much he wouldn’t put it down. As if he was summoned, the backroom door swung open, a flushed Steve holding the door open book in hand. He ran a hand through his hair and sent her a smile that made her feel like her legs were going to give out. 

“Hi.” He breathed.

Allie let out a small giggle and tucked a curl behind her ear, “Hi” She repeated, clasping her hands in front of her and returning the smile. 

Steve made his way over to where she was standing and held the book out to her, “This was amazing.. I’m not a book guy, but any more recommendations, I’ll be happy to take them” He grinned. 

“Book recommendations for ice cream samples? I think I can accept that” She took the book back from him and noticed a little piece of paper sticking out of it. Not thinking anything of it, she tucked it into her bag. 

The two of them had their usual ice cream date, trying a rainbow sorbet this time to be different. The conversation flowed as smoothly as ever, and at one point as they were talking their hands touched on the table, but neither of them pulled away. Instead, Steve casually intertwined their fingers as they talked. 

Again, his 15 minute break flew by fast and they said their goodbyes. Steve shot her a wink as he walked back into the store. “You should uh, check that book by the way..” 

Allie’s brows furrowed together, as she watched him walk away. She pulled out the book, and again found the piece of paper, pulling it out and unfolding it in her hand. 

“You were right, I did like this girl. But she’s not you” the note read, causing an involuntary grin to break out on her lips. 

She placed a hand in front of her mouth, shaking her head while her smile just widened every time she re-read the note. She turned her head to where he stood before to see if he’d caught a glimpse of how hard she was crushing over him, by just his beautiful written words, but he was nowhere to be seen. He must’ve walked to the back room. 

She smiled to herself while thinking if Steve had the same expression on his face as her, maybe he even felt nervous of the thought of what she would think about the note. Steve Harrington being nervous and flushed over a girl…maybe he even paced back and forth while thinking if his move was all too much and too forward… 

Well Allie didn’t. 

She turned the note and took out a pen from her bag, scribbling down the words that she hoped would have the same effect if she’d said it face to face. 

Exactly what I thought about my so-called book boyfriend, until I met you. 

She folded it and walked over to the desk where Robin stood while scooping up ice cream for a customer. She quickly placed the note on the counter top, clearing her throat to have her attention. 

It suddenly felt really hot. More than usual. “Hi. Can you please give this to Steve when you see him again?” She asked with a soft smile. 

Robin lifted a brow and looked down to the note, a smirk grew on her lips before she looked up to her. “Suuure, I’ll handle it.”

Allie watched as Robin disappeared to the back before rushing off. She bit her lip to keep from squealing, doing a little happy jump that earned her a weird look from a passing older couple as she left the mall into the sticky summer air. 

Another week passed. A week full of waves and smiles across the mall as Allie ushered Erica and her friends around and another lunch date on Saturday that had her crying laughing as Steve desperately tried to avoid an interrogation by Dustin Henderson. 

The next Saturday at noon, Allie excitedly hurried to the ice cream shop as the familiar hustle and bustle of the mall went on around her. When she approached the counter, she noticed something was off. Robin was the only one there, grumbling as she wiped down the counters. 

"Hi Robin," she said softly, trying to hide her disappointment. 

"Hey Allie. Sorry, no lover boy today. He didn't tell you?" 

Emotion choked any words that could have come out as Allie shook her head. How could she be so dumb? She had never even asked for his phone number. But then again, he'd never asked for hers. Her mind started racing as she mumbled something to Robin before turning to walk away. 

As she rounded the corner, Allie ran into someone, hands catching her before she was knocked to the ground. She looked up, relief rushing through her body as Steve gazed down with a smile teasing his lips. 

"Sorry, had to take Henderson home. Didn't figure you'd want that little shit joining us again." 

Allie laughed, smoothing the lapels of his polo shirt with a gentle hand. It was the first time all summer she'd seen him without that ridiculous sailor suit.

"I thought you'd forgotten," she said, looking up through her eyelashes. 

"Forget you? That's impossible," Steve murmurs before pushing a curl behind her ear.

“O-Oh.” the blush creeped up her chest at his admission as she stammered, his fingers still tucked behind her ear. 

He ran his eyes over her face. Almost like he was seeing her for the first time, taking in every single one of her features. She couldn’t help but smile as he ran his hand down her arm slowly igniting every nerve fiber in her body until he reached the tips of her fingers and gave her a soft squeeze. 

“You hungry?”

“Starving, actually.” 

“Well, we can’t have that. Let’s go get you fed.” he chuckled as he laced his fingers in hers and they began walking back towards the food court.

Allie smiled at him, and gave his hand a little squeeze, his thumb gently running over her knuckles as they walked. Ok, so maybe carting around Erica Sinclair and her friends to the mall all summer hadn’t been so bad. 

When they got to the food court, Steve outstretched his free arm and gestured widely, “The choice is yours. Anything you want” 

A giggle escaped her lips, as she dramatically thought and looked around, “I think I’m feeling a burger today” 

“As you wish, m’lady” He winked at her, making their way over to Burger King. 

They got their food, and found themselves a fairly secluded table where it could just be the two of them. As they ate, their conversation moved along from Allie telling Steve about Erica’s new antics from the week, and Steve explaining Robin’s whiteboard to her from when they first met. There were little touches, and nudges, and so many laughs Allie swore she was going to combust. Everything always felt so easy and natural with Steve. 

Steve reached forward, and brushed her curls off her shoulder, his fingertips brushing lightly along the crook of her neck. 

“Hey, what are you thinking about? You’ve been staring at me for a whole minute” He quipped. 

She stared at him for a moment longer, trying to figure out exactly what she wanted to say. Unsure how he would take her next words, “do you want me to be honest?” 

“Always,” he smiled, his fingers lingered on her skin and he grabbed her hand gently in his. “You’re making me nervous,” he laughed and the food court lights made his eyes glimmer. 

“I was just thinking of all the ways I could screw this up,” she admitted. “I’m not in your league and there are so many other girls—“ 

Her words were cut off by Steve’s lips brushing her knuckles, he peered up at her through his thick lashes. “I took you to Burger King, do you think I would just buy anyone a cheese burger?” 

“It’s not that—“ she sighed. 

“I know what it is, Allie,” he got serious for a moment. His brows pinching together and his tongue pushing against the inside of his bottom lip. “It may not seem like it but I think about how I don’t deserve you every time you walk through the doors of Scoops. I want to be here with you, I’d beg for a chance every day if you had turned me down.” 

She stared down at his hand that still held hers. He rubbed the back of her hand with a thumb and she placed her free hand on top of it, stopping his movement. She took a deep breath, she couldn’t look up to meet his eyes from the words she was about to say. The thought wasn’t new. Every time she left the ice cream shop she’d thought about it, scared for that day to come. 

“So you’re not going to ditch me because I’m not like the other girls you've dated?” Her voice slightly broke at the end. 

Steve sighed. He pulled back his hand and placed two fingers under her chin so he could lift up her head, whispering softly.

“And what are the other girls like to you?”

She huffed and looked to the ceiling while shaking her head. How stupid could she be? Steve had literally mentioned it in the note with his beautiful words.. but that could also be just something he says to every girl he meets, the safe card to play. 

Two warm hands cupped her face and once again was she met by those warm and kind eyes she could get lost in for hours. 

He lifted a brow and smiled softly in an attempt to make her keep going. 

“They’re…pretty. Like really pretty.” She whispered. 

He leaned in closer, eyes never leaving hers. Her mouth started to feel dry and face hot from how close they were. “But not nearly as pretty as you, Allie. You’re just getting prettier each day. I’m not going to be a fool and let go of this stunning woman, believe me. You're stuck with me.“ He chuckled slightly as he rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs. 

Allie leaned into his one hand and closed her eyes, relishing in his soft skin. His words washed over her like waves. She wanted to fully believe him, but that doubt would always be in the back of her mind, just a little bit. 

“Well, I consider myself very lucky to be the one sitting here with you tonight” She whispered, finally looking up to meet his amber eyes, and shooting him a small smile. 

His eyes raked over her features, and he started to lean in, both of them inching closer to each other, the tips of their noses just brushing as Steve’s tongue ran across his bottom lip.

“Hey Steve!” Robin rounded the corner, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know you’re off today, but the till is off by a couple dollars and I don’t know what happened, and now I’m freaking out because what if someone short changed me and I didn’t realize…” 

“Robin! I’ll … Be right there…” Steve let out a sigh, dropping a hand from Allie’s face, but keeping his eyes on her. “I’m so sorry, if it was anyone else I would tell them to solve it themselves, but when she gets frustrated, it’s just.. It’s better if I’m there to help her..” 

Allie sucked in a breath and smiled, “It’s okay, I understand.. I uh, should get home anyway. I have to be at the Sinclair’s early in the morning” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his cheek. “Thank you for today Steve.. And every day this summer. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Steve nodded, looking slightly flustered and disappointed but she let him go. He was too kind, his heart too big and it was in his nature to help the people he loved at the sacrifice of his own well being. 

The next week blew by, she continued to stop by to get ice cream but Steve seemed distracted more and more. Tempted to ask him what’s wrong, Allie took Erica home early that Friday and returned before the parlor closed. Steve was cleaning the counter as Robin stuffed her uniform into her bag. 

“Hey this is a surprise,” he looked up, happy to see her. His hair was fluffy and his eyes were tired but bright when he caught the sight of her. 

“Can we talk maybe?” She asked quietly. 

“I have to drive Buckley home, can it maybe wait until tomorrow?” He looked sad, but Robin appeared from the kitchen and patted him on the shoulder. 

“I’ll walk,” she winked at him, “but you owe me a drivers lesson now.”  

Allie whispered a small ‘thank you’ in Robin’s direction as she walked past her. Nerves settling in her stomach as she thought of what the conversation ahead could bring. She twisted the ring in her finger as Steve rounded the counter and made his way toward her.  Settling his hands on her waist, he leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. 

“Hi there pretty girl” he said with a smile as his thumbs brushed reassuringly at her sides. 

“Hi” she breathed, letting out a soft nervous laugh. 

“You want anything? I can take some stuff back out for you.” 

“No, no that’s ok. I’m good, thanks.” 

“Ok,” she saw as concern flashed through his eyes, “what’s on your mind?”

“I just—“ she sighed looking around. His eyes had the power to make her so nervous she felt like she was going to explode. The mall was so quiet only the sound of metal doors sliding to the floor as everyone went home for the night. 

“Not here,” he looked around and tugged on her fingers and pulled her into the back. She had never been back here before but I was bigger than she had imagined. A large freezer against the back wall along with a large table in the middle of the room and a few smaller ones that lined the perimeter. 

He led her to the table and before she could protest both his hands gripped into her hips and lifted her to where she was sitting atop of it. Her eyes completely level with his and unable to avoid the contact. She sighed, she had wanted to avoid the soft sparkle in his honey brown eyes but looking at him now she had forgotten all her speech. 

“You’ve been weird all week,” he said, his hands still on her hips, his fingers tapped nervously against her skin. “Was it something I did?” 

Her chest rose and fell softly, a pathetic chuckle leaving her lips as she brought her hand up to rub her thumb against the freckles on his throat. He swallowed tightly under her touch, searching for answers to stifle his misguided guilt. 

“I’m nervous,” she admitted, “when we talked about the girls the other day I wasn’t fully honest. You—“ she sighed. 

“I have a reputation,” he shook his head and a few hairs fell out of place as he dropped his gaze to her lap. “You’re scared I’m only doing this for sex, is that how you see me?” 

His fingers loosened their grip on her and started to pull away but she grabbed his hands before he could. 

She leaned closer to him and slowly placed her hands on his chest, feeling his steady heartbeats. It had a soothing effect on her. She could lay her head against his chest and just listen to it for a whole day while they talked about anything. 

She started to realize that this man meant the world to her. 

She took a deep breath and picked the words carefully in her mind, she really didn’t wanted this to turn out the wrong way. 

“Steve Harrington…” Her words  made him look up again, sadness was set in his eyes and she needed to swallow the thick lump in her throat to not break in front. 

“Listen, ever since I’d walked in here for the first time I’ve got a reason to get up from bed everyday, a reason to put my problems aside and just be. I feel that I can be myself around you and you see me for the one I truly am…but I remember school. People talked about you, I saw you walking down the hallway with a new girl around your arm every month. I don’t want to sound rude to you but why I’m being this honest with you is because I just don’t want to be that girl Stevie. I don’t want you to leave me, I want to stay…I feel so safe with you.”

She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, feeling how the dam in her eyes was on the edge to spill between the cracks. Closing her eyes, she felt them streaming down her cheeks. Steve didn’t answer but she felt the warmth of his hands against her cheeks, thumbs grazing softly against her wet skin to erase the traces of her sadness. 

He placed his forehead against hers, their heavy breath mixing in the air between them, lips almost touching. She stared at them as he licked his lips before he whispered.

“I know that I may have not been the best boyfriend material…but with you, fuck, you don’t know what you’ve done to me. I can’t even remember who I was before I met you. I won’t let you go Allie, I can’t let you go I promise.”

Allie sniffed and she placed her hands against his cheek with their noses touching. She looked up to him through her glossy eyes and she swore she could see tears at the corner of his eyes.

"You know," Steve whispered, his breath warm against her lips. "I really wish I wasn't wearing this stupid costume while we did this." 

She laughed, running her fingers down the lapel of his outfit. 

"I kinda think it's cute." 

Steve stepped even closer to her, his hips fitting perfectly between her legs. Heat rushed to Allie's face as his nose once again grazed hers. 

"Allie, can I kiss you?" 

She nodded as he bent his head, lifting her chin so he could look her in the eye. Her eyelashes fluttered closed as Steve pressed his lips to hers. He was soft and sweet, way better than anything she'd been served over the past month. She smiled against his mouth when she felt his fingers tangle in the curls at the back of her neck. He pulled away, slightly breathless, and tried to straighten up, but she grabbed the back of his neck to stop him. 

"I wasn't done yet, Harrington," Allie breathed, earning her a heartstopping grin as his hands slid around her back.

“Believe me,” he said between kisses, slightly out of breath, “the way I was thinking about you all day, dreaming about you all night,” he put his forehead against hers, “I couldn’t imagine doing something else.” 

His words only made her want him more. Diving back into the kiss, this time more passionate, he felt the warmth in his body growing. 

This was everything he dreamed of - to feel the affection, the love, the passion. To feel her. 

In his eyes, this moment was perfect - she was perfect.

Steve’s tongue brushed her bottom lip asking for permission to further deepen the kiss. Allie let out a soft sigh letting her lips fall open. As their tongues danced together her hands caressed the hairs at the nape of his neck to pull him as close to her as she possibly could. If she could, she’d stay here forever. They smiled into the kiss as they pulled apart slightly and Steve nipped at her bottom lip. 

“I really really don’t wanna stop kissing you right now but um, can I actually show you something that’s pretty cool?”

“I personally thought kissing you was pretty cool,” Allie laughed as Steve helped her slide from the table to her feet. 

He looked down at her, trailing her features with his big puppy dog eyes. His soft, kiss sore lips curled up and he brushed a piece of her hair back off her face with a single finger. “We can get back to that,” he laughed, leaning forward to steal another. “After I show you this.” 

He wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her through the back door of the shop and into the cold back storage hallway of the mall. “This is creepy Steve,” she raised a confused eyebrow at him causing him to laugh wildly. 

The sweet sound bounced off the empty hall and made her feel all warm and comfy inside as he walked her through the hall. She watched as he scurried a head, tilting her head she watched as he pulled open another door as quietly as he possible could. 

“Hey, eyes up Allie,” he motioned to his face with his hands. 

“Sorry. Your butt just looks so cute in those shorts, it’s distracting,” she laughed walking to catch up with him. 

"Yeah, well, prepared to be amazed by something even better than my butt. Hard to believe, I know, but you've clearly never seen...." 

Steve wrenched open one of the large steel doors to a seemingly empty space, darkness filling the doorway. Allie looked confused, glancing up at Steve. He jerked forward, reaching in to flip on the lights. The room was illuminated, revealing the inside of an empty movie theater. 

"Back to the Future," he said with a shrug, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Oh my god, I've been wanting to go for weeks but none of my friends will go!" Allie shrieked before running in. 

She skipped up the theater steps a few rows before turning back. Steve was still standing at the doorway, watching her with a soft smile. He shook his head before joining her, guiding her to a seat before plopping down beside her. 

"Hey Steve," Allie whispered.

"Yeah?" he said, leaning forward to hear her better and to just get closer to her soft skin. 

"We kinda need the movie to be turned on."

"Oh shit!" Steve exclaimed, jumping up over the back of the seat to run to the top of the theater. 

Allie watched on with a lovestruck grin as he hopped up into the projector room. 

"I know this guy Eddie who got fired for watching movies on the clock," Steve's voice came from the dark room above. "But before he left, he may have let me know how to work this bad boy." 

The screen flickered on as Steve jogged back down to Allie's seat. He ran a hand through his hair, out of breath but smiling widely.

“Impressive huh?” 

“Oh yeah, I’m extremely impressed.” she said peering at Steve through her thick lashes. “Got any more tricks up your sleeve?” 

His eyes widened at her question and he brought his bottom lip between his teeth. 

“I um, I might have one or two.” 

“Hm. So you gonna show me oooor?” 

“Eyes front and prepare to be amazed.” 

Allie snickered and turned herself back to face the screen. She watched him out of the corner of her eye waiting for whatever it was he was going to do. She heard him yawn and feels him put his arm around her as he scooted closer. She tilted her head at him and burst out laughing. 

“Smooth, Harrington. Real smooth.” 

“There’s more where that came from, pretty girl” he winked.

“You know what I think?” She smiled, stifling her nerves. She was too hot even thinking about him calling her pretty girl everyday. She’d never get sick of it, but it would always make her flustered. Something about being alone in the movie theatre turned her on, her skin felt hot and she could resist touching him. 

He looked down at her but pretended to keep his cool as he watched the movie. She nuzzled her nose against his neck, tilting her face as far as she could. “I think you’re in too deep, Harrington.” She laughed, pressing a soft kiss to his throat. 

She felt his fingers tense against her shoulder, and his breath rattled from his lips. A small laugh of satisfaction felt her lips and her breath on his skin was enough to make him shift in his seat. He continued to pretend that he was watching as she kissed him again, finally getting a chance to admire every, single, freckle on his neck and jaw as she went. 

Inhaling sharply he finally turned to her, his eyes twinkling from the movie screen lights. He pressed a finger to her chin, tilting her head and closing the gap between their lips in the dark. “You had a good teacher,” he whispered against her mouth. 

“Oh the best,” she laughed, stealing another round of hot kisses from him. “Isn’t it cliche to make out in a theatre?” She laughed as he tangled his hand into her hair. 

“So cliche,” he licked at her bottom lip. “Wait,” he broke the kiss and Allie groaned, “this is a good part!” 

“Steve,” she giggled, tangling her hand into the collar of his scoops ahoy uniform to tug his attention back to her. “I’ve already seen it,” she laughed. 

“But,” he furrowed his brow in confused and his head tilted to the side.

“You were excited,” she kissed the corner of his pouty lip. “I’m enjoying this more anyway,” she smiled as his brows settled and his smile returned to his cherub face. 

“I owe you a date, a proper one with no interruptions,” he groaned, she could hear the pang of disappointment in his voice. 

“You’re the only one interrupting us,” she scrunched her nose up. “A proper date. Saturday. Steve,” she stopped and met his intense brown eyes, they softened the moment he realized he hadn’t screwed anything up. That it was all perfect. “Just kiss me some more.” 

He rolled his eyes, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck. “As you wish,” he teased as he brought his lips to hers again. 

#steve harrington #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington oneshot #strangers #one shot #fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington one shot #stranger things imagine #stranger things oneshot #stranger things one shot #imagine #summer romance

[divorcingjimmatthews]

s2e7 belly of the beast spoilers! rambly rambly thoughts. loved this episode, love this show. sorry, it's very long.

jim, jade and tabitha

CONGRATULATIONS JADE for officially not losing your mind and coming on top of the whole thing. CONDOLENCES to JIM for catching the crazy ball and going full conspiracy theorist now it's him that i'm most worried for. basically what tabitha said. they don't know but they gotta cope with not knowing. i'm glad to see jade and tabitha on the same wavelength about that because from my personal experience i think it's the healthiest mindset you can have in a situation like that. jumping to conclusions like i was saying in my other post is extremely dangerous.

also glad to see jade's first actual contribution to everyday life in the town. hilarious that's gonna be "better alcohol" but awesome that he found something to work on to keep him sane. "i needed a project that wasn't fucking terrifying" i love you jade. your soul is beautiful. also i don't care if i'm grasping at straws but i think victor interrupting him when he was in the middle of his crazy guy skit really helped him stay grounded so he kind of wanted to help tabitha too and that's why he roped her along on his project. like "okay, i'll give you the crazy town lore BUT you gotta do a normal person thing too to balance it out and not lose yourself in this". or maybe he was just lonely and wanted someone to work with him on his project. i've been lowkey shipping them since before they even interacted so i guess this episode was like my personal christmas.

ship or no ship i think it's really important for tabitha to open up with someone outside of her family. it's probably gonna make her family life better to have, you know, friends. jade has a talent for knowing what to say around really heavy topics. telling her "fuck, that sucks, i don't think you're being punished though, i think maybe bad things are just happening and that's it" was really what she needed to hear. in the early episodes tabitha complains to jim that him acting like he knows everything and saying it's all going to be fine like it's obvious makes her feel like she's "doing something wrong". jim's kind of doubling down on acting like he's got it all figured out so i'm glad tabby has a friend that's more on her wavelength now.

i'm fully biased because of my own personal experiences i'll admit it, but i don't think trying to fix a relationship that went south a long time ago is always the best course of action. parting ways doesn't have to be a tragedy, sometimes it's a really good thing. in s1 it looked like they were kinda fixing it but now it feels like they're further apart than at the beginning of the show. i feel really bad for jim but he's gotta pull himself out of that hole he's digging for himself. he's not just jumping to conclusions about things he can't know, he's rejecting reality ("that's what they want you to think!!!" about tabitha defending victor because he's proved time and time again that he's a good man) and leaning on someone that's encouraging him to keep thinking that way and who he barely knows. i'm thinking what other character could help him but i'm kind of drawing a blank. maybe also jade. just pushing my ot3 agenda sorry guys.

donna and fatima, victor and ethan

even though pregnancy in fiction is kind of an ick of mine (SPECIALLY when something goes supernaturally wrong with the pregnancy like, the lord is testing me i guess...?) so i can't really get on board the excitement some of the characters show, i'm really enjoying the "can any of the supernatural wild stuff happening here actually be GOOD" theme with the pregnancy and the changing of the leaves. fatima gave me some strong john locke (the bald guy, not the philosopher) vibes with the pregnancy when she's not supposed to be able to have kids. but i'm not gonna be able to breathe well again until they confirm that's not gonna be some night creature baby thing. if i could i'd honestly abort in that situation like absolutely not risking that possibility like can you imagine? can you freaking imagine. nononono. not taking that chance. nopp.

ANYWAY victor and ethan were so sweet and sad and i'm sobbing. victor saying he wants to protect ethan because bad things always happen to his friends here :')))) give me 10 thousand tissues please. but he let him help in the end and ethan was so happy. i'm actually sobbing. i love them i love them i love them. their friendship has my whole heart. also, love victor's vest.

jim and randall

love himmmmmmmmmmmm love him love him he was just flying his drone, he was going to his nephew's bday and that was such a badass present to give. love this guy what can i say. he has such a cute smile too. he's just got there and he knows nothing and i'm scared for him. the bit he added to jim's theory is SO dangerous though like starting to distrust each other is the last thing they should be doing. hell randall himself could be the person that's "in on it" for all we know, that's one hell of a question to raise if you want to cause disruption on purpose. i don't think he is though but like jim should consider it before he goes around distrusting people that have proven to be kind hearted like victor.

kenny's warning to jade in s1 ("the people who can't adapt here, when they can't bend, they break") rings specially true for jim rn. he's genuinely not past his first impression of victor, who he mistook for a child molester when they first arrived (rightfully let's be honest, he was being creepy to an outside observer and he did point his gun at him). unlike jade who's changed his approach (from "i don't do impossible" to "maybe crazy awful shit happens here and that's it"), jim's been completely unable to get past his first impressions of everything and is cracking under the pressure, and pulling apart from his loved ones bc of it... really worrying.

OK THIS IS LONG ENOUGH ILL SAVE THE KENNY THOUGHTS FOR A DIFFERENT POST

#epix from #from (epix) #jade herrera (from) #jade (from) #sorry for writing so many words #i got brainrot disease specifically about jim tabitha jade and randall and this episode DELIVERED

[hezuart]

Cool video!

I could clearly tell that you are a fan giving a well thought-out critique.

It feels like this show has a lot more plot holes than people care to admit.

I kinda want to vent about some other problems about this show.

I really wonder sometimes why this show makes the human characters so unbelievably dumb and a bunch of assholes. I get that this is a comedy show to some extent, but it gets really annoying for a number of reasons.

It makes it extremely easy for Blitzo and the gang to kill them.

It makes the human world feel too similar to hell.

They keep telling us that , at the very least, it is illegal for demons to cause too much damage and chaos in the human world. However, IMP are able to run around killing whoever they want without any problems from demon authorities. They made a big deal about those human agents being able to find evidence of them killing people. Yet, we have not seen the agents again. It becomes hard to believe IMP are technically running an illegal business when there are no consequences to their actions. It is all very confusing. Thank you for listening and have a nice day!

It's pretty wild that people don't think I'm a fan of Viv's stuff simply because I critique it. I actually got my Hazbin Hotel halloween themed mug in the mail the other day! I was so excited waiting for that all month, hehe <3

I guess I can't blame people for being confused, since the only two Helluva Boss videos I've made are of heavy critiques. But that's because I was enjoying season 1 and didn't have anything to really say!

Yeah, the humans are definitely made to be awful and stupid to help you bond with the hell demon main characters who are also awful people, just not as awful as the humans so you don't care who they kill! : )

To be fair, on your second point, Hell is getting overpopulated, but I've talked about how that doesn't make a lot of sense considering its poor structure and lore set up through Helluva Boss.

yeah, see, they set that up in the Truth Seekers episode really well. There's evidence on the human side that could get leaked to the demon side that would get Stolas and IMP in a FCK ton of trouble, however, most humans have the Invader Zim blindness, so apart from the conspiracy theorist government, they don't have to worry about anyone else. But the demon government could really get Stolas in trouble. I was so hyped at that ending, but now I fear they won't follow through with the hype. I fear when it comes down to it, the problem will be solved easily, or they manage to keep it under wraps somehow. I really hope that won't be the case, but seeing how Helluva Boss has been going so far, I'm starting to lose faith in it sadly.

#helluva boss season 1 while it had its issues #did so much to hype me up man #Fizz and Oz discovered Stolas's affair with Blitz and spread it to the public #you've got Stolas assassination plot through Stella and Striker #you've got the Cherubs out for revenge which while lackluster right now could be potentially fascinating and awesome #to see them turn into demons perhaps of their own? changing now they cant go to heaven? #actually becoming real threats despite being cute and cuddly before? becoming what they hate? #tackling the corruption of heaven? #you've got the Truth Seeker government conspiracy theorists that want to capture and experiment or kill them #youve got the illegal IMP business and stolen Goetia artifacts plotline #like omygod? this was amazing set up? #but will they follow through? probably not : ( #helluva boss #ask #text post

[stormyoceans]

despite my great love for P'X, I still think that he invited OhmNanon to the roles of TunTess for nothing. even though P'X said he wanted to work with OhmNanon, let's admit that he did a disservice, which caused Jimmy and Sea to get a barrage of dirt. after all, many were waiting for the appearance of OhmNanon and did not want to look at JimmySea. to be honest, neither Ohm nor Nanon demonstrated dramatic talent in their 10 minutes of screen time, in which they appeared in this series. P'X could take any actors for these roles, perhaps even unpopular ones, so that everyone could focus on the story of Puen and Talay and not wait for OhmNanon to appear in the frame.

not to mention why it was impossible to make the same neat and unobtrusive advertising in vvs as in our sky … (despite the fact that I like nomnom choco pie and the mirroring game in ep8)

IM AFRAID YOU'RE OPENING A VERY BIG CAN OF WORMS HERE ANON

i do personally agree that having ohmnanon in vice versa ended up doing more harm than good, both to jimmysea and the show itself, but im aware im not the most unbiased and objective person to talk about this, and i do believe that sometimes it's just a matter of things resonating with people in different ways (i lost count of how many popular BLs i feel indifferent about)

i also don't mean to defend p'x but i do feel like a lot of times people give directors way more decision making power than they actually have, at least on certain things. sure, the director is the one in charge of casting the actors, but we shouldn't forget that the final word always belongs to the producers and/or the company funding the project. it's like when i went on MDL to read some comments (NEVER DO THAT FRIENDS) about moonlight chicken and saw so many people bashing p'aof because earth doesn't look like he's in his 40s and he should have casted an age appropriate actor for it, meanwhile i was sitting there like do you guys really think that even if p'aof wanted to cast an actual 40 years old actor to play jim's role GMMTV would have allowed that. when their most popular pair of actors is currently made up of two eighteen years old boys. in a society that likes to tell us that if you're 26 you're already too old. DO YOU

......but i digress. the point is, im not saying p'x didn't have any part in choosing ohm and nanon, maybe he really just wanted to work with them and that's it, but i also think it's possible that GMMTV tried to push ohmnanon on vice versa because from their point of view jimmysea was a big gamble as a pair and they didn't trust them to pull enough numbers by themselves

ANYWAY. im starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist so this is probably my cue to shut up sfjksgfj but i do agree with you anon, and while i do prefer to focus on positive things i can see that vice versa and jimmysea haven't always been treated in the best way

#not to talk out of my ass or sound petty as hell but i do think vice versa was a product of p'x's love with barely any help from gmmtv #i remember when people used to say gmmtv meant vice versa and jimmysea to be the new bad buddy and ohmnanon and i've always been like #THAT'S LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE #people complained about the amount of product placements in vice versa and then really said #'mmh yeah that sounds like something gmmtv would do to a show they fully believe in' #ANYWAY #sorry anon i just realized this may sound a little bit too harsh but i hope you know that in no way shape or form im mad at you!!!!! #i actually agree with you way more than i could probably express without getting murdered ;;;;;; #and im not gonna tag this because im a coward sfjksgfj ;;;;;; #m: ask

[anticonspiracist]

likely the final response from larrie anon

Hi, Larrie anon one last time. I won't go into Larry again, you are right... we are not going to agree on anything there.

Look, I knew going into this that you weren’t going to agree with me, because you’re a conspiracy theorist and I’m not and this isn’t my first rodeo, as we say in Texas. However, I do have to admit that I’m surprised at the extent to which you were able to actively ignore every time I said that your behavior is harmful even within the belief constraints of your conspiracy theory. You truly have placed your own feelings above those that you claim to support. Wild.

I did want to reply on the matter of antisemitism. Ofcourse there's a reason there are not many Jewish people around. And I concede that I put that comment about not having Jewish friends by coincidence without thought. And I will take your comment with me. I don't think me being ignorant makes me antisemist though. Dutch children are absolutely being tought about the tragedies of Ww2. Anne Franks Diary is on my shelf. We commemorate the deaths every year and, speaking for my own education, we went on excursions to a transportationcamps often. My grandparents were alive during ww2. My grandmothers family had Jewish people hide at their farm, my grandfather lost his dad in the army... he cannot speak of certain things. So I am aware of the tragedies and I believe most of my fellow Dutchies are. I do not feel responsible for what my government did during the war. I was not born yet.

Okay, but you still have no Jewish friends or acquaintances.

And FYI, when informed of the underlying antisemitic tropes of what you call your “beliefs,” you dismissed them! Go back to your messages here and see that you just claim you AREN’T antisemitic even though you still have these beliefs. Again, WILD. Maybe if you had a Jewish friend you wouldn't be so quick to say your beliefs don't engage in antisemitism.

I think we live in very different countries politics-wise. Although the Netherlands are far from perfect we do seem to be a bit more stable then US right now. We are not divided in Democrats vs Republicans, we have sixteen parties to choose from when voting, I think that makes our society less likely to stand directly across from each other. We do talk politics amongs each other, but it does not define who we are friends with. We do look at the US situation with fear of the possibility of it happening to us too though.

In 2021 you actually had 37 parties to choose from, but whatever. (I’m just an ignorant American, right?) Your country has fascism problems currently, and a not-insignificant problem with conspiracy theorists in office. Look down on America all you want, but the most effective QAnon recruiting tool, Fall of the Cabal, came from your country! Geert Wilders is the leader of the party with the third-most number of seats in your House! Not to mention Thierry Baudet’s Forum for Democracy. Twenty-five seats going to these two parties is a significant faction. It’s already happening to you. It’s already there. Maybe that should be something you’re an activist about.

I don’t know what your purpose for bringing up politics was. Was this some attempt to use the fallacious argument to moderation? Do you think that because your perception of your political climate is that there aren’t extremes (even though there are) and people are not directly opposed in every way (even though that's not an accurate depiction of American politics either) that somehow, that is conferred to you in this discussion? That me being so solidly against conspiracy theorism and identifying myself as such is an unreasonable yet fully American extremist position and therefore you are right because you have “16” political parties to choose from?

I am not a person educated in politics, so you will always win that debate from me. 

So why bring it up? What point are you trying to prove?

I also think for most people it's normal to to be educated in politics and it's unfair to judge them because of their lack of knowledge.

I assume there’s a typo in here and that you mean it’s normal NOT to be educated in politics. I teach a required course to 17-18-year-olds called “U.S. Government” so no, I don’t think it’s “normal” to not be educated in politics. You have the internet at your fingertips and time enough to watch TikTok videos about Larry Stylinson, so you have time enough to inform yourself.

You come across as intimidating. By building your persona using words like: anticonspirisist, antisemitism, falsification, etc you scare people. You are smart, but not kind.... which makes you unaproachable. Your followers will follow your takes without critisism, because otherwise they will also be seen as conspiricy theorists. I've seen the reblogs of your posts, no original thoughts. You are not having conversations or discussions. You are just laying out your laws. I wish you well and hope the political climate in your country will get better eventualy.

I’m sorry, but how in the WORLD are you scared by words like that? They are specific words that mean specific things that I’ve written about dozens of times and are easily searched on the internet for more context. You came here asking me if I knew this and this and that, and when I show that I am indeed knowledgeable, all of the sudden that knowledge makes me unapproachable? The words I use are to "build [a] persona"??

What you mean to say is that you realized that I DO know every piece of larrie lore and that because I am not convinced by it, you are unsettled because you are convinced by it.

You thought that the evidence was undeniable and here I am, an educated woman just a bit younger than you, knowing more about the subject you brought up, and have an opposite view: not only is this conspiracy theory not real, but it is also not “just for fun” and does actively harm people. 

Don’t turn that discomfort back on me. What you’re feeling, finally, is the effects of cognitive dissonance. Your worldview has been shaken. You try to blame me and my “attitude” for your discomfort, but it’s all within you. As @back-to-louis is so fond of saying, the calls are coming from inside the house.

What you haven’t considered is that there is a reason I don’t temper my personality here. I don’t behave like a cult leader, love-bombing people to make them feel safe and liked and so SMART for coming to the conclusion they’ve been led to by obscuring reality and explaining away unpleasant truths. But that’s what you’re used to here on tumblr. You’re used to fake “you’re so smart for getting it.” I’m saying, “not only is your belief in larrie not an indication of your social intelligence and knowledge of the music industry, but everything you take as evidence is bullshit.” 

Also, bold of you to criticize anti-conspiracists as having “no original thoughts.” You didn’t bring a single original thought to this discussion. Not one! You’re only parroting what you’ve heard from everyone else. It’s been YEARS of this for most of us, and so why say again in a reblog what has already been said about the thing that larries have been saying for a decade? There is nothing new under this son.

AND this is some blatant @back-to-louis erasure, painting me as the unquestioned cult leader. I linked to her posts over and over again and you’ve just decided that it’s me that says what I say and everyone just blindly follows. BTL has been having discussions with people for literally a decade and you can read it all on her blog, but you've chosen not to. You have looked at reblogs from this one blog which is relatively new because my old blog got nuked and decided we never discuss things.

You came here wanting to discuss the exact same details that anti-conspiracists debunked 10 years ago. Can you see how boring that is for us? You think that everything you know is new and fresh because you are new to this but we are not. I made YouTube videos, I’ve recorded a podcast, I’ve been interviewed on multiple occasions, I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words on this topic and nothing you said surprised me. You stumbled into the inbox of an expert on the larrie mindset. Of course you’ll come away from that feeling bad. I’m not pulling my punches! I’m not welcoming you with open arms. Why would I? What you do is actively harmful and unkind.

That said, you don’t have to be a larrie. That’s a choice you make every day.

#larry stylinson #harry styles #louis tomlinson

[consequencesofargentdawn]

I've been in the PCU since it was created, I was in the Rotgarde long before that. I've had some great times with the community and I always thought that Perroy was a great leader. You could refer to me as one of the Old Guard, however I've not once been featured on here whereas others in community have. Perhaps my association alone is enough to be seen in a bad light, but at the end of the day that community and the players within it have stood by my side and supported me through the highs and lows alike. I've found lifelong friends in the community and whilst the group and guild isn't perfect, it has created a lot of good roleplay.

I was genuinely happy up until recently, while I will admit that there are problematic and indeed bad apples within our community the group was for the most part good. The reason for my changing state of happiness is due to the new direction the PCU seems to be taking, subtle changes are coming about and I thought I'd write about them here. Perroy is indeed gone and he won't be coming back - what was a surprise was how Gruggosh was chosen to lead the PCU as Perroy's successor. I'll be completely transparent and admit that I wanted to see Morsteth and Shewp take the reins collaboratively and I'm not the only one who raised questions.

Gruggosh's more moderate approach and policies were welcomed back a good portion of the community. I didn't think that the change would be a bad thing initially, but over recent months I've started to notice subtle changes. Gruggosh doesn't seem to get mentioned much on here likely due to his moderate approach, so there are many who are curious whether the editer team at CoAD mind Gruggosh at the helm. Some of the conspiracy-theorist types who spend far too much time in the private discord are hypothesising that Gruggosh has made a deal with CoAD, but I doubt that is the case.

You might be asking: why am I posting this here? I want Gruggosh to know that people are starting to talk about what's happening. A friend of mine started asking the wrong questions and the disagreement led to him being kicked out of the PCU. There's been an influx of new members and junior officers who have come in externally, some of them also seem to particularly dislike the Rotgarde and Grim Gest which is very odd. The new junior officers are all people Gruggosh knows and while new members are generally a positive thing, something just feels off especially because of recent events.

Myself and a few friends from my guild were asked to go act as NPCs for an event led by one of these new junior officers (I won't state their name as they'll immediately know who we are). Instead of being grateful for us generating RP for his guild he was being quite the ungrateful asshat. But one thing that stuck with me was how he joked OOC to his guildies that they had been given 'the PCU's used equipment' in the sense of us acting as NPCs. This triggered quite a few of us and certainly made us uncomfortable. My friend kicked off on discord with said junior officer who quipped back that the Old Guard were being 'phased out' and that we better get used to the new way of operating. After reaching out to Gruggosh my friend was then kicked from the PCU community a few days later, when I asked him what exactly had happened he said he couldn't talk about it yet but he said things weren't looking good.

It is not a nice feeling when you come to understand that there's a strong possibility that you're being replaced. When you see the community you helped build and support changing in ways that excludes you from being a part of it's future. I don't expect you to care CoAD and I understand why you don't. The new wave of players and junior officer are loyal to Gruggosh, the Old Guard for the most part came onboard for Perroy but it seems like our time is up. Then again what goes around comes around, as we're now mocked and laughed at by the new wave of players and officers perhaps it's karma for all we did as a collective. People are talking of resisting these changes but the subtle developments have gone on too far and for too long, we're the outnumbered group now.

There's word that the plan is to drop the 'PCU' tag as well in favour of something else, so much for the legacy Perroy thought he was leaving behind. Disassociating the community with it's founder is a sad thing, but it'll likely garner external support for the community. I'm unsure of Gruggosh will go so far as to denounce him but something is in the works. If I was a betting individual, I'd put money on the fact that the cards of both Morsteth and Shewp have been marked as the 'figureheads of the old guard'. They're both my friends, but they make for logical fall guys particular given the 'treasure trove' of evidence that can be taken both in and out of context against them. If they want to avoid it, they need to take action with their supporters but as I've stated I think it's already too late.

People have every right to dislike me or not take sympathy from a roleplayer from the Rotgarde and PCU such as myself. I just want the community and CoAD not to be fooled by the mask Gruggosh puts on. What he's putting together is no different to the 'PCU' it is simply the PCU with a shiny new coat of paint, a fresh wave of followers and a new order for doing things.

What we have here is the realisation that totalitarian systems inevitably eat themselves. Lenin has moved on and Stalin has taken the reins and proceeded to begin purging the Old Bolsheviks from their positions.

Perhaps putting stock in a community that is built on toxicity and the oblivion of the self (npc playing) as being critical to functioning in RP events is not a sustainable idea. We will of course report on anything Gruggosh does, and we have made it clear we already know that the captain of the ship does not matter when the crew are the same beneath him.

You are correct, we do not care for the internal struggles within the PCU and we have no sympathy for people involved. The door has always been there, you have always had a chance to do better before now, and now Rome is burning.

#Confessions of Argent Dawn #PCU #Gruggosh #Coalburnt #Morsteth

[kierancampire]

I dunno if it's cause I'm not in the best mood, but i was just thinking over one of my most frustrating friendships, and it was definitely Blake, i don't care about giving his name as he isn't online, and if i gave you his full name all you'd find is a gay porn star anyway

But it was just that final argument that still sticks with me then what followed. Literally tried to gaslight me into thinking i started the fight, when it began by me saying "Lets agree to disagree as i don't want to argue". The nasty things he said about my mum and therapist, completely invalidated my struggles, experience, and knowledge on mental health with what was literally the Mormon "Anything that says opposite to us is the devil trying to convert you" thing but just with a different coat of paint, and that "We all know what you're like when you're tired" comment

But then how when he saw me after in person, when he spoke like he was apologising, yet his "apology" was just saying he isn't mad about what i said, he won't hold anything against me that i said, that he forgives me for what i said, and that he wants to be friends but if we don't become friends it's because i chose not to so it's my fault. Aka, didn't admit to or apologise to what he said or that he created the argument, and still continued to place it on me

Honestly, i think it's only because i have been stuck in abusive relationships for so long that i saw the gaslighting, manipulation, and that severely, incredibly fucking toxic mindset and way he trued to be over me. And looking back in hindsight, besides the fact he was a major conspiracy theorist, there were so many red flags and dodgy things. Yet i stuck around as he could be nice, we had a lot of mutual interests, i was alone, plus he was attractive and spoke about his dick a lot solike, ya girl was pulled

But thinking on it, he was the last "real life" friend i made, i haven't made any since, and there sorta is no one. I have one friend who i met once last year, who has asked to see me a few times, but not only is it a bit of a journey on public transport, my hell, and sorta expensive, but he only ever hangs out in groups/pubs and i just really don't enjoy it. If it weren't for the girls, i would be alone, i don't even see Jayne any more, i just see my mum and younger brother, that's it, literally, the only company i have is my cats

I think that's why it's so frustrating that he was my last friend, real shitty note to end off on, cause i dunno when I'll ever find friends again, i do nothing in life to make friends, don't get out, don't know how to meet people. One thing that scares me, through my mum i know what it's like to be old abd alone, the care you get is shit when family aren't there for you, you get so neglected and mistreated. Then when you die, that's it, no one to go to a funeral, no one to remember you, no one to care, no one to handle what you left in life or take care of the things that meant something to you, your life just sorta instantly becomes meaningless and instantly forgotten. And that's the route I'm currently headed towards, a miserable, painful, neglected, poor, struggling, lonely old life. Then nothing, just gone and moved on from, with no one living having any idea who i was or that i even existed. Everything i have gone through, everything i have fought to come out of, every trauma endured, every scar, especially these past 6 years, all just kinda ultimately meaningless in the end

#personal

[aphandgflover]

Had lunch with family today and my dad was there and I kinda realize I disagree with him on so many things now.

I'll admit, it was my mistake to bring up UBI at the table. But I still don't know what his point was when he asked me "Where would the money come from" and I said taxes. His reaction was to ask me if I paid taxes yet. Guess I don't, but I do pay independant worker fees. Said it wasn't the same thing.

Then the conversation kinda circled around until he brought it back, saying the actual problem was overpopulation and, I kid you not, how humanity had "improved quality of life in developping countries only so we could have cheap slaves". Like, he called giving people vaccines a bad thing because it disrupted the natural order and allowed people to survive illnesses that "should have killed them".

I didn't want to make a scene but I was actually shocked he would say that.

If we hadn't been in public I would have called him a conspiracy theorist to his face.

That's the father I've looked up to and loved as a child? A man who thinks it would be better if people just died early so as to not disrupt the "natural order"?! Who thinks the world population grew only because western countries somehow knew they could get cheap merchandise that way??? Who kept interrupting me and talking over me and condescending me every time I tried to object??!!

I don't know if it's because I managed to repress my feelings until now or because I somehow got better at dismissing dumb arguments, but I'm feeling so upset right now. How can someone I know is smart say such a stupid, and most of all cruel thing?! He's a former nuclear plant engineer who voted left most of his life for crying out loud!

I'm feeling betrayed. I don't even know why, I'm just realizing my father isn't the person I thought he was. I don't know how to deal with this feeling.

[watchyourdigits]

WIP Wednesday

(I'm not late, I'm just early for next week!!)

Thanks to the amazing @totally-not-deacon for tagging me in this! I finally have an excuse to share a very early rough draft of the Deacon-centric fic I'm working on.

This WIP (the first part of this chapter, anyway) came about because of the Pepe Silvia meme and the way I think about Deacon every time I see it. Oh, and the concepts presented in this video. "I'm in your corner. Always have been." etc. etc.

I'm a Deacon conspiracy theorist because that's what he would have wanted 🤟🏼😔 Anyway, here's the WIP (1.2k words-ish). I'd tag someone but I genuinely don't know who writes and who doesn't, so consider this an open invitation!!

Three Years Earlier

Deacon took a long drag of his cigarette as he stared at the mess of notes and pinned images on the corkboard before him.

Was it an unnecessary method of organization?

Of course.

Did it entertain him to no end?

Oh, most definitely.

Not only that, but it was a welcome distraction from any of the actual work he should have been doing. Things within the Railroad had been slow lately and it was making him antsy. When Deacon got antsy, nothing good came of it.

He'd set up his personal headquarters two years prior, but only recently had made any use of it. That, and the corkboard he'd sneakily "borrowed" from the Switchboard, had been proving useful in his latest project.

For the past year, he'd been researching dead-end leads (according to Dez, anyway) almost nonstop. He'd tried to explain vaguely to Her Highness what he'd been up to upon his most recent check-in with her, but she didn't seem very interested in his insightful wisdom. Typical.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Still, all of this work and nothing to show for it. He'd never admit she was right, but he had to wonder if his efforts were worth it in the long run.

Something was still missing… But what?

"Or who?"

Deacon's eyes widened as the lightbulb in his mind began flickering to life. It wasn't his strongest inclination, but it was there. He crushed out his cigarette in the overfull ashtray, standing quickly and moving to the board.

He shifted a few pins around and moved some of the papers in an effort to paint a clearer picture of heat he was dealing with.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad way to visualize his data after all.

There were many separate incidents and sightings involving the Institute, but they all seemed so tangentially related that he was almost convinced he'd imagined the connection in his head all along.

Almost.

Once satisfied with where he'd placed everything, he took a step back to admire his handiwork.

"Who are you?" he pondered aloud, lighting himself up another smoke as he thought deeply about the information before him.

He brought himself back to the first lead he'd gotten that had sent him on this wild goose chase to begin with.

The old man, demented in his age, would go on incessantly about some vault he'd found while exploring as a kid. His wife couldn't stand how obsessed with it he was. Deacon felt there must be a good reason for him to remember that above anything else. Like the birthdays of his three adult children. Or his own name, for that matter.

"Jenny," the elderly man said, pointing at nothing. "Jenny, look! They're taking a baby from that vault! I wonder if there's people down there?"

"That was well over fifty years ago, Richard. Give it a goddamn rest!"

Deacon almost missed that place - a small old folks home in one of the richer areas between the Capital and the Commonwealth. The amount of reconstructive surgery it had taken to get him back to looking like himself had him out of commission for a whole month. He shuddered a little at the thought.

Never again. Stick to prosthetics and really convincing makeup next time you go anywhere as a geriatric. Or just go as a caregiver instead… Dammit, Deacon, keep your head in the game. Think!

The experience itself had been one he didn't exactly cherish, but the stories he heard had been unbelievable.

Or so he thought.

When he'd asked Richard to tell him more about the vault, he had explained that he'd grown up near it and had seen a man and a woman leaving with a baby in tow. No one ever believed him, but he continued to swear up and down all these years later that he really had seen people leaving the vault.

It was only later than Deacon would connect the dots as to what vault he'd been referring to. It wasn't very far from his own HQ, only about a day's hike. Deacon had decided to set up a small camp there. At the time, he had wondered if perhaps there were people there that no one knew about. The area was rather deserted after all, save a Mr. Handy and some local wildlife.

No one knew much about the vault other than the old man, who croaked within a week of Deacon making his first inquiry.

For one reason or another, Deacon found himself fixated on the tale. A memory that strong had to mean something. He was determined to carry on Richard's legacy (obsession was perhaps more accurate) and prove everyone wrong in the process.

I hear you, Dick. Something isn't right about that vault. We'll show them, don't you worry.

He stared at the points on the board, contemplating them as if they were constellations in the sky and he was some ancient philosopher with the ability to divine a worldly truth from the heavens.

Except he was just an ordinary man, stuck out here rescuing synths from those who wished to exploit them. Yada, yada, yada.

The synths themselves had proven useful over the years. A handful of them were able to corroborate the theory that the Institute had a director. They called him 'Father'. An unimportant detail, of course, but it was always good to have a name for your enemy. It made hating them that much easier.

A lot of the sequences on the board didn't connect. Deacon was merely going off his gut instincts that these things were all correlated somehow.

He'd long since forgotten about his cigarette, only remembering it when it burned the tips of his fingers. He hissed, tossing it into the ashtray and bringing his hand to his mouth to suck on his wounds.

Another revelation struck him then as the pain began to fade into the background.

"Dick, you crazy son of a bitch!"

Deacon laughed to himself as he moved the write-up he had on Richard's mystery vault baby to the center of all the points. The image fell into place so clearly before him, he wasn't sure how it had taken him all these months to compose it.

"Well I'll be damned," he muttered, giving a low whistle at his own discovery.

The baby being 'Father' would only make sense. The vague timeline he'd pieced together from the beginning, with Richard's story, down to more recent information about the existence of 'Father' all slotted together effortlessly. The baby was taken from the vault and, within a year, there were reports of early third gen synths roaming the Commonwealth. Broken Mask was a prime example. An event that still had the people of Diamond City wringing their hands over the invisible boogeyman that was in the Institute.

These days, there was a noteworthy amount of buzz surrounding the vault again. None of the synths the Railroad had come across knew much about it, but the few that did speak of a 'buried treasure' provided all the more reason for Deacon to hold stock in his meticulously crafted theory.

Something was happening within the Institute, and that something most definitely involved the vault. After all this time, what remained in there that could possibly hold the interest of such an elusive, horrifying organization?

Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Deacon gathered some supplies and readied himself to head out to his campsite for another stake-out. This time, he had a purpose for going aside from peaceful contemplation (and some private drinking).

This time, he was going to be doing actual research in the form of sitting around and waiting for something - or someone - to emerge from the vault.

#regg writes #untitled deacon x sole survivor wip #wip wednesday

[angryisokay]

Conspiracy theorists being proven correct is always followed up by 50 articles about who, how, and why people "fall" for conspiracy theories.

"The people we've been calling crack pots and nutjobs have once again been vindicated, so we have to reinforce the notion that they're still kooky weirdos and cranks and you shouldn't listen to them."

#you are most likely a conspiracy theorist you just don't want to admit it #because your pet conspiracies are mundane and widely accepted

[headspace-hotel]

I think most conspiracies (except the ones the cia actually admits to doing) end up being antisemitic, even the food as medicine one. Its not necessarily that the entirety of the conspiracy is antisemitic, but why they don't want you to know stuff. Usually its in who They are. Like believing the earth is flat isn't inherently antisemitic, but when people try to figure out why people are going so far to convince everyone the earth is round they always end up blaming Jewish people. However, I haven't seen this as much in the food as medicine conspiracy, but that might just be because most people don't get quite that far in

I know that conspiracy theories are often not-very-upfront about the fact that they’re blaming Jewish people for things, but I can honestly say that if there was an antisemitic component to “altmed” (there probably is at one point or another?) a large majority of the people involved have no idea about it.

I have…dived pretty deep into that side of science denial. I’ve lurked on weird sides of social media. I was in a homeschool group for 6 years populated by like 50% antivaxxers. I have had more long, unproductive arguments with conspiracy theorists than I can count. If there’s an antisemitic “core” to it, it’s buried so deep like 90% of the people involved and promoting the conspiracy don’t even know about it, and at that point I would question whether it can be even called a “core.”

All conspiracy theories depend on a “they” that’s hiding things from the public because that’s basically the definition of a conspiracy theory. There’s no mechanical reason why “they” has to be identified with Jewish people any more than there’s a mechanical reason why all cults have to be religious.

That’s basically how I view the “all conspiracy theories are antisemitic” idea; it’s pretty much the same sort of claim as “all cults are religious.” Are there blatant examples of dangerous religious cults? Absolutely. Is “religion” somehow baked into the definition of a cult? Absolutely not. Same thing with antisemitism and conspiracy theory.

Now, people can definitely GET TO antisemitism through altmed, but its not part of the package, per se. I feel like QAnon has probably…streamlined the path.

#antisemitism #science denial #alternative medicine

[back-to-louis]

How do we know the girl who had the FT call w lou unlarried? I checked her following on twt and she’s still following accounts with bluegreen hearts. Like I just think that she’d probably disassociate w that if she did unlarrie but I did check like 2 weeks ago so maybe things changed? Lmk <3 I’m currently in the process of unlarrying.

Also (sorry for asking so much stuff I’m bored) what other examples are there of ppl unlarrying after meeting Louis? Do you have any links ? I need to see this to know if I really do want to become a hardcore anti - bc most my friends are larries. And I don’t want to ever be delusional or disrespectful to kind, hardworking Louis. Ty 💜

Hi, thank you for writing and for working towards leaving the conspiracy theory! I may be a bit delayed in responding to your asks, but if you have any other questions, feel free to ask them either on anon or in messages or off-anon asks (I will not publish).

1) I admit I'm not following the saga of this lady, and I don't know her accounts. I only have what I've read about it from this post (that I can still find, I've searched around for posts near that date but that's the only link I got). Not everyone who stops being a conspiracy theorist makes a clean break like others do - if she herself no longer is a CT she might still keep her old friends or mutuals or whatever. It's also possible - and I do NOT know this situation in saying this is a possibility - that she is still a believer but wanted to disassociate with it for a while after speaking with Louis in case he "followed up" and she didn't want him to see that.

2) I don't know of examples of people unlarrying after meeting Louis, but there is the story/reference to the "receipts blog" that stalked Louis and Harry in LA and ultimately found out that the non-larrie version of reality was what was happening, and unlarried (and became larrie fandom pariahs because of it). A summary of links on the subject is here. (Note: thelarrative is now @thelarrative-blog).

Finally, there's no need for you to "become a hardcore anti" - ask questions, open dialogues with any of the antis on tumblr who I'm sure would be happy to chat with you and share enjoying Louis or Harry without conspiracy theorism, but you don't have to like, actively debunk or dismantle larrie theories or try to convince your friends unless you're absolutely comfortable with it. You might want to take some time and space to think about things, start a new blog, whatever. Good luck, hope you stay safe and healthy!