#and things that are far more preventative

[stardustedknuckles]

This quote from Alex Hirsch is, for better or worse, evergreen.

saw someone criticizing the transfem werewolf metaphor and comparing it to how zootopia (badly) sets up predator vs prey as a race analogy and i feel like i should clarify

the transfem werewolf metaphor works because people assume werewolves will be predators to humans, when in reality, real wolves are just. not really all that dangerous to people

and yeah you could argue that a lot of werewolf mythology involves them being violent but thats part of the metaphor! how many people do you think got their impression of trans women absolutely ruined by someone telling a story of some trans girl and calling her a child predator or a big scary man in the woman’s bathroom? because it’s quite a few!

the metaphor works because, much like werewolves, there’s really no reason to assume that trans women are dangerous to anyone else except what people (who have had their fear weaponized) say about them

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for S behind the cut; “Clark panic-adopts his teenage clones (yes, including the supervillain one)”. (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Asshole,” Thirteen mutters, then–hesitates, and glances warily over towards Superman, half-settling back in his seat with an uncomfortable frown. “So like . . . then what were you thinking, man? Like . . . no labs, not the Fortress, and not, like–here, so what else even is there?” 

Superman looks pained. 

“Nothing involving assigning you anywhere, for one thing,” he says, which is a mystifying thing to lie about, and then even more mystifyingly additionally lies: “Or anything involving security, surveillance, or manual labor either. Just–is that actually what you think I meant? That’s really the first thing you think, that I’m talking about just getting you both a job? Not, I don’t know, high school?” 

“Uh–no?” Thirteen says, looking bewildered. “Fuck no, when I go to high school supervillains happen to it. Like a lot of supervillains happen to it. Like there’s a reason I did home school in Hawaii, on account of, again, all the supervillains and shit. And like, what the fuck do you think’d happen if Match went?” 

“The Agenda would immediately send a retrieval team to any school I might potentially be identified as–attending,” Match informs Superman, his lip curling slightly as he barely manages to keep his full level of disgust at that idea out of his voice. “That would actually be an ideal extraction situation for them to recover me from your possession, given it would involve a target-rich environment occupied by hundreds of noncombatant minors that you would feel the need to prioritize over maintaining possession of me. An execution squad would also be a possibility, if the DNA was determined to no longer be worth the investment.” 

“. . . ‘execution squad’,” Jonathan repeats slowly as he and Martha share another one of those strange expressions between them. Match has no idea if he should consider those expressions relevant or not–or concerning or not. 

“If the DNA is no longer worth reproducing, there wouldn’t be a point in recovering the target alive or bothering with the effort of body recovery,” he clarifies on the assumption that the obvious logic behind deployment of one is less obvious to civilians, and also presuming that Superman would expect him to provide requested information to his–parents. Being difficult with or keeping things from Thirteen is one thing, but–not Superman’s parents, presumably. It’s necessary information, anyway. Superman won’t be pleased with him if he has to deal with an Agenda kill squad without forewarning, especially if noncombatant civilians are injured or killed in the process. “In that event personnel would only need to be sent to reassert ownership of the asset and confirm to other assets under the Agenda’s custody that they should resist being stolen to the fullest extent of their capabilities to avoid the necessity of a similar assertion.” 

“. . . you didn’t ‘resist’ being stolen,” Superman says after a long moment. Match stares blankly at him. He doesn’t know why Superman said it that way. 

He also doesn’t know why Superman is so stupid.

“I attempted to resubmit myself to the Agenda’s authority and informed you of the inconvenience that acquiring sole proprietorship of me would cause to you when you prevented me from doing so,” he says. 

“No, I mean–you didn’t try to run off or . . . fight me,” Superman says slowly, his tone turning a little more careful. Match keeps his eyes on the man’s face and his stare exactly as blank. 

Superman is so stupid. 

“Physical resistance would have devalued the product,” he says, because maybe Superman just thinks he’s stupid. Stupid enough not to know his “fullest capabilities” as far as actually physically fighting Superman of all people, or just stupid enough to damage the product, when Superman had clearly wanted the product for–whatever reason, and would obviously not have been pleased to receive it damaged. “Superboy wasn’t compromised enough to require immediate medical attention, so there wasn’t a suitable situation in place to delay or distract you.” 

And the Agenda was already going to dispose of him for refusing orders, so it hadn’t actually mattered what he did anyway. 

It’s never actually mattered what he does, just . . . 

It hadn’t actually mattered. 

“I think I wanna disassemble this fuckin’ tectonic plate,” Thirteen mutters under his breath, his teeth gritted. Match ignores him. Thirteen’s opinion doesn’t matter either. 

The only actual opinion that’s currently a concern is Superman’s inscrutable and clearly unstable one. 

So that’s–information that Match is currently in possession of. 

“I don’t see why this is relevant,” he says. “You’ve asserted primary ownership over me. I’ll perform to expectation.” 

“. . . what do you think that means, Match?” Superman asks, looking very briefly tired, and Match only doesn’t stiffen because he was already prepared for Superman to ask him something stupid, but–

But questions like that are just–traps. That’s all. 

“It means I’ll obey your orders and the orders of any provided authorized handlers as given and will not attempt to either subvert or engage in malicious compliance of those orders,” he replies, matter-of-fact and neutral-toned and without adjusting his facial expression in the slightest; not including any opinion or analysis or unnecessary filler statements. “I’ll complete assignments as directed to offset any fiscal or legal inconveniences that my presence causes and will not perform in a way that would necessitate decommissioning.” 

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Superboy mutters, putting his elbows on the table on either side of his plate and dropping his face into his hands. “Well, I did always wanna know what having an actual conversation with you would be like, guess I did wanna know that. Cool. Cool cool cool.” 

This isn’t a conversation. Even if Match had any interest whatsoever in talking to Thirteen, he isn’t stupid enough to have an actual conversation in front of Superman. 

“It’s unnecessary to decommission a resource that retains the potential to be lucrative, so I’ll perform as a justifiable investment at your discretion,” he says to Superman, and then realizes he’s talking too much again and feels like an idiot for it. Just–apparently the stupidity is catching, is all. He’s talking too much; over-explaining obvious things; things that don’t even need explained. Running his mouth. 

Just–Match knows when to shut up, unlike Superboy. 

So Match shuts up. 

And Superman stares intently at him, the microscopic pinprick-centers of his irises burningly, blazingly crimson. Match stares back blankly. 

He thinks he should’ve shut up sooner.

[thewitchblue]

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Tim asked, hurt. His own twin was hiding a secret lair. How did you even build this thing with nobody noticing? He felt betrayed. You mumbled while searching for a way to get the entire family out of your lair,

"It was the only thing I can call my own without needing to sibling tax half of it."

That hurt Tim even more because it's true. Everything you two have and everything you both do is together or split between you two. That's not always a bad thing, but it's nice to have something not tied to Tim for once in your life. You both work together better than anybody else and even suffer when apart in a lot of aspects, but you desperately need some autonomy, and so does Tim.

"We could have done so much illegal stuff in here, idiot."

Tim said, and just like that, the tension between you two broke. You ran towards him as he opened his arms to hug you.

"That's your fault that you brought them with you, stupid."

Your muffle voice said, officially smothering yourself into Tim's chest. Tim scoffed as he pulled you into a tighter embrace. How was he supposed to know this totally evil looking tower would be yours? You disabled all of your trackers and even cut out the one Tim thought he was subtle in injecting. He's certain you injected one into him, so he figured fair is fair.

"How did you even find the tracker I put in you? I placed it right next to your femoral artery. You could have died."

You smirked. The tracker wasn't small enough. He was an idiot not to put it into the artery itself like you did. There would be no way to cut it out because it was constantly moving inside his body. You said happily,

"I didn't, though!"

Tim rolled his eyes. Fine. You always were mechanically gifted. All of their newer tech was made by you and your brilliant brain. Who even thinks about half of the gear they have on them? You came up with nanotechnology specifically to track Tim. Who else would go that far just for Tim? It's saved him from many villains, but it's borderline insane and completely uncalled for. The worst part is that he hasn't found the device that displayed his specific tracking information. If he could, he would just take whatever device with him.

The device is actually inside your middle finger because it is hilarious to you. Screw Tim and his sneakiness. You're joining him or tracking his every movement when you do find out about him sneaking off.

Nobody should have given the twins access to unlimited resources. They just find ways to make the other's life slightly better or worse. It's straight up warfare, and it's a game the family can only watch helplessly and sigh. Why is Tim making shape-shifting tech? Because he wants to see what embarrassing things you tell your best friend to blackmail you with, of course! Why are you implementing malware in Tim's grapple gun? Because it's hilarious to see Tim flail mid-air, and you found the perfect spot on his patrol route to trigger the malfunction. You caught him, of course, but you made sure to call him a moron before fixing it as if it wasn't entirely your fault for fabricating the situation.

It's comical, yet also horrifying. You team up when someone gets in your way or, worse, hurt one of the two.

Jason learned that the hard way when he woke up in a warehouse chained to Joker with a shock collar around his neck to prevent him from either of them from leaving the warehouse. One of them was going to die (again), and you simply watched in the corner. The only words you said were,

"For Titan's Tower."

He already felt bad about it before the Joker chaining, but he learned a valuable lesson that day. Don't touch Tim, or he'll regret it.

Dick learned by listening in when Tim started reminiscing about the time you planted a homemade pipe bomb and called the bomb squad on the person. You recalled fondly as Dick looked at both of you with horror,

"He's still in prison on federal charges."

Tim laughed. Laughed. Dick was terrified for not only his life, but what if his cop buddies found out? His twin siblings could go to federal prison! On multiple charges! He had to walk away when you started talking about the time Tim put a secret switch in someone's backpack that blew up their entire house.

"The best part was that I managed to place her fingerprints on the switch!"

May the villains rest in peace if they kidnap one of the twins and not the other. Tim is not above committing war crimes, and neither are you. Who is the public really going to believe? The hero Red Robin amputated Poison Ivy's leg for daring to put mysterious powder on you or that some farmer mistook her leg for a weed and cut it off accidentally?

Only the villains will ever know. They are terrified of the twins and especially terrified of how aggressive Red Robin becomes when the Wayne brat gets kidnapped. You once got sold to someone in Metropolis, and Red Robin still showed up, furious and ready for war. Villains gossip and think you are dating him, which is venomous denied. You have ruined multiple lives when Jason cackled about seeing people shipping you with Red Robin.

"Send me the fanfic."

You demanded in a threatening tone. Not even Tim could qualm your rage. You found the writer and the owner of the website it was written on. You found everything about them and systematically destroyed their lives to the point the website owner sold it, but you kept going until someone finally deleted the website entirely.

"Nobody touches my brother."

You said in an interview when you were officially adopted. You made it sound playful until the interviewer asked,

"Aw, you mean your new brothers?"

You side-eyed Tim, but you bit your tongue when he subtly shook his head. Don't fight the interviewer so soon. Back them into a corner first. So you waited like a bear trap. For just the right time to snap their legs. The trap never did end up happening, however, as there was no more disrespect towards Tim and your relationship as siblings.

"Tim is my best friend and the best part of my life, but I'll give my new brothers a shot at becoming any better."

The interviewer made sure to take lots of photos of you both hanging off one another with matching grins that immortalised your love for each other. Nobody will dare get in the way of the siblings. You both are ready for war at any point of time with scary creativity and now unlimited resources. May the gods have mercy on their souls. The Batfamily was not ready for the devasting duo.

[twistedmafiaau]

𝘊𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦?

You entered the lounge all dolled up on your prettiest dress. The dim lights hid your nervous blush very well — you were about to meet your favorite after all, who could blame you? 

The head waiter with their polite smile approached you and asked:

“You wish to be seated with Hitman correct?”

As you nodded they gently led you to your assigned table, him waiting for you while sipping a glass of his favourite alcoholic beverage.

Ready to start the night?

The moment you sat down you could feel the surprise lighting up Ruggie’s azure eyes, almost like he didn’t expect to meet you at all that summer. You gave him a pleased smile and he started to nervously stir his Cuba Libre, making the ice clink against the glass, like he was unsure what to do now that you were in front of him — like he hadn’t thought that far.

“What’s the matter, Mr.Hitman? You seem oddly surprised to see me.” you said, voice laced with honey and a faint jab.

“Honestly? I kinda am.” he replied, cocking his head with still that expression painted on his face, as if his facial muscles were stuck that way.

“Oh? You are? I hope you didn’t think of running away and hiding under a rock, not after all the cute and sweet words you said to me during our last interview.” you said while deliberately sipping from your glass of refreshing Moscow Mule, making your lips pop as you sighed, delighted by the alcohol burning the right way down your throat — truth be told: you were teasing him, just a little, acting like a perfect femme fatale, like the ones in those spy movies, so far away from your usual behavior. 

In response to that gesture Ruggie started chewing on the lime slice of his drink, as if ruminating on the citrus could somehow prevent himself from saying things he shouldn’t. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked, pursing your lips in a sweet yet devilish smile, “Why so shy now? You seemed pretty confident with your words not too long ago.”

Ruggie gulped down the lime slice, peel and all, in one go, throat constricting but never once he coughed. He narrowed his eyes, jaw tightening like he understood your whole plan at that moment.

“Are you teasin’ me? Fo’ real?” he said, his accent slipping through the sentence without him even noticing (or maybe that was on purpose). 

“You said it yourself "When the flirting doesn’t land you gotta be more assertive". Those are your words from less than a month ago, if I’m not mistaken.” you replied, sitting with your spine straight like in a business meeting.

“Clever girl…” Ruggie muttered, taking a gulp of his drink without ever blinking his eyes away from you, like you could pull something if he averted his gaze. “Gotta be frank: I thought you didn’t take me seriously. At all. Thought you’d preferred someone that gave you more…mental gymnastics than your countryside handyman over here. Caught me a bit off guard, habibi.”

You didn’t miss the saccharine tone to which he spelled the last word, the way his thin brows arched in a subtle teasing expression, even though you didn’t know what it meant.

“Oh, but you did give me quite the brainiac workout. Trying to figure out when you were flirting with me the whole time I asked you questions was quite the feat, if I dare say so myself.”

“And just how long did it take?” he quipped back at you, lips curving into that grin you learned to love during the interviews, together with his sharp sense of humor. “Is it just me or the brave and headstrong reporter is a bit too dense when people try to catch her interest?”

“So you do admit you were being serious with all your flirting?”

“You realized it just now? I suggest you don't decide to open a column on love advice then, you wouldn't be very competent in that field, I'm afraid.”

You kicked his shin underneath the table in response.

“Ouch! Hey, I was just joking!” he screamed, jumping on his chair like it had hot lava lapilli on it.

“I thought you needed a reminder to not turn out like your boss. Unlike you he’s not pleasant to deal with.” you said, not wasting an opportunity to trash talk Leona whether he was present or not. 

“You think I would be itching to be like him? Habibi you offend me this way, I still like living and not have a gun pointed at my head whenever I enter a room. Fat chance.” he said, smirking, not giving a single damn if the one he was insulting, ever so subtly, was his own boss.

You couldn’t help but giggle.

You also couldn’t help but notice just how much chemistry the two of you had — and you barely started a normal conversation!

“Tell you what: I was nervous the moment I saw you in the waiting line. Thought you were here in the reporter’s clothes and was just going to ask me more juicy details...and to turn me down, spite but politely. Now, I wish I could break the rules an’ follow you home just to keep chatting…and maybe do something else too.”

You felt the heat rising up to your neck at what his words meant but stayed calm and composed, almost like a poker match you needed to show as little bashful, maiden-like embarrassment as possible. 

“Someone’s needy, uh?” you replied, lips arching in a cheeky expression you didn’t know you could make. Ruggie shrugged, his expression mimicking yours. “Gotta make sure ya’ ain’t playing with me. I’ve got a sensitive heart, ya’ know? You’d be surprised how many ladies broke this bad boy’s heart.”

“Can’t say I understand them. Unlike your boss you’re such a gem, it’d be a waste for the whole world if you were taken. Oh well, you know how the saying goes: their loss is my gain.” 

Ruggie stared at you, stupor written all over those baby blue eyes of his. As he opened his mouth to speak, the ringtone of a cell phone beat him to hit. He took one look at the display to know who was bothering him and his face immediately turned sour. “Speak of the devil…guess with all the times I’ve said his name tonight I kinda jinxed myself.” he muttered, annoyance laced with sarcasm. 

You didn’t need to ask who it was to know just exactly who was the one that called Ruggie. 

God fucking damnit, curse you and your inappropriate timing Leona Kinscholar!

“Sorry to cut our night short, Habibi, but I gotta skedaddle. Work is calling…an’ I have to answer.” he said while getting up from his chair, throwing his black jacket back on his shoulders in one swift movement.

The two of you looked at each other’s eyes, an unspoken question popping in your minds like you had the power to read the other’s thoughts.

“You’ll see me again. — you said, resolute — Now that I found someone I like I’m not letting you get away that easily. But don’t expect me to not roast you during the interviews, I still gotta do my job as a reporter.”

“Say that again…please.” he muttered, so low you were afraid the words slipped from you, his cheeks an adorable pink even under the warm red lights of the lounge.

“What? The part where I say I’ll roast you at our next interview?”

“No, no. The other thing you said.”

You stayed silent for a split second, rewinding what you said in the heat of the moment. 

“I said: now that I found someone I like I’m not letting you get away that easily.”

Ruggie smiled, a small smile of recognition that made your heart skip a beat without you even noticing. 

“I’ll count on those words, then.” and he exited the lounge, phone placed between shoulder and ear, listening to his boss’ yapping, while adjusting the sleeves of his suit.

You allowed yourself to relax, almost melting on the copper red sofas. In your mind you replayed the conversation over and over, blushing up to your ears with every word you said.

Flirting was really too much for you.

✠ Would you like a table? ✠ Bullettin board

Thank you very much @echosofmortality for requesting. We apologize for the long wait and hope you enjoyed yourself. I'll await your next patronage.

Signed - Boss

[sonicranger1]

I'm in a rambling mood so I’m gonna talk in more detail about Blinky X Kanjigar (Kansas) and why i think it’s neat so PLEASE HEAR ME OUT-

Okay so this entire thing started because of The Secret History of Trollkind, one of the tie-in comics for ToA, and while yes i know there’s controversy around the legitimacy of the tie-in books that is a separate discussion that I’ve already had (tldr: they are actually aligned with canon pretty well, Wizards just retconned a lot, didn’t watch the source material and people blindly nod along with it)

Anyways this all started with a certain panel near the end of the comic, this one specifically.

This panel is actually such a good demonstration of their dynamic as a whole now that I’m thinking about it.

With Blinky praising Kanjigars skills and showing his admiration for him (something I will get into more later and throughout) while showing concern for his well-being.

To Kanjigar putting an odd emphasis on specifically not failing and protecting Blinky before clarifying the rest of Trollkind as well.

to finally the hand placements going on in this panel, How Blinky is reaching out to Kanjigar as the latter doesn’t make a move back, Blinkys hands being opened while Kanjigars are closed off in fists.

Their dynamic in the comic (and overall) is just so fascinating to me, especially with how it shows just how much Blinky values Kanjigar, because you know his destiny speech? That iconic one said in the second episode of Trollhunters? That has lines ripped straight from things Kanjigar said during their journey across America to what would be Heartstone Trollmarket.

And unlike the similar moments in Wizards or ROTT it’s done so well and given such a good narrative reason. it’s to show just how much Kanjigar has helped change Blinkys world view, how he’s given him courage to not be as cowardly, to fight alongside Kanjigar and the others (Draal and Arrrgh) Like guys this spider of a troll admires this guy so much it hurts, especially with the rest of the info we’re given on their dynamic.

They’re described as Best Friends, Kanjigar was a Scholar before becoming Trollhunter, Blinky had to watch as Kanjigar died unable to do anything to stop it and one of his first reactions is to blame himself and say he could’ve done more to prevent it.

Which is where I get to ramble about the elephant in the room around these guys being so Doomed by the Narrative-core.

Okay quick context but the prologue in the first tie-in novel establishes how The Amulet tells the Trollhunter when they’re going to die right before it happens, so Kanjigar knows he’s going to die a day before it goes down, which gives us lines like

“-With his remaining time, the Trollhunter knew that he must say good-bye to those who were closest to him.”

”Kanjigar sat down beside the pair at the large reading table covered with open volumes and research scrolls and sighed, "For that, I apologize, my friends. I have been distracted of late. The burdens of the Trollhunter weigh heavily on my mind. But now. . . now I'm finally remembering what is most important to me."”

And a chapter or two later

“Blinky cried out at the top of his lungs to try to distract Bular. But the bridge was too far away. And so the two Trolls watched in horror as the Trollhunter plunged off the bridge and smashed against the canal floor into thousands of shards of rock.”

“"Why?" Blinky uttered in a hoarse whisper. "Why would Kanjigar not accept our assistance when we offered it earlier? Perhaps if I'd been more forceful in my-" "No," grumbled AAARRRGGHH!!!. "Kanjigar wanted it this way." "But... why?" Blinky had to ask again.”“

The slow progression of Kanjigar distancing himself more and more from those he cares about is something that i don’t see talked about much outside of Draal, people seem to not bring up how Kanjigar did it for all his loved ones, not JUST Draal.

(And even if it’s something that’s only really delved into in the books I think it’s still something that’d be a given? like why would he only do it with Draal but not others yknow?)

He used to bring Blinky and Arrrgh with him on patrols, Blinky has several memorabilia from their past adventures together, they were best friends I can’t emphasis this enough and watching as Kanjigar distanced himself from all of them makes me think about how differently him and Blinky go about protecting the other and their other loved ones overall.

Blinky doing so through being there, being present and willing to give advice or a helping hand ect.

which you can say is attributed to how both Dictatious’/Unkars deaths happened when he wasn’t there or present at the right time and later the same would happen to Kanjigar. I point back to my earlier reference of Blinky wondering why Kanjigar didn’t let him and Arrrgh join and help him with the added detail that Blinky was the one to initiate the request to accompany Kanjigar on his patrol.

”Kanjigar closed his eyes, exhaled, and stood up. "The sun has set above," said Kanjigar. "I had best begin my patrol." Blinky began, "Then let me gather my supplies so that AAARRRGGHH!!! and I might join -"”

And whenever Blinky does “fail” at protecting/helping a loved one, he puts the blame on himself, acting like he didn’t do enough or should’ve tried harder.

There’s also something to be said on how he doesn’t let himself truly feel many negative emotions and how there’s an argument to be made that he pushes down feelings like sadness, grief ect.

Like what was his reaction after Dictatious’ betrayal? Angrily burning his books, hell after his initial shock of seeing Dictatious alive and now sided with Gunmar Blinky quickly turned to anger.

When he thought Jim died at the end of season 3 of Trollhunters? Bro let a single tear fall from his eye and that’s it girl I know this is affecting you more than that.

Kanjigar and Vendels deaths? After the initial heartbreak bro just never addresses it after (which is totally not because of lack of episodes and poor writing no guys this has a deeper meaning I swear).

Moving on though with Kanjigar, he goes about protecting his loved ones by distancing himself from them, emotionally and physically (about the opposite of Blinky) and while yes you could say that’s just because of the pressure being Trollhunter has put on him, and I definitely do think that’s part of it, he’s always kinda been like that even before becoming Trollhunter?

He was worried/didn’t want Draal to pursue the path of the warrior, as he knew just how dangerous and deadly something like that is and while he had valid reasonings to be wary of such a career path, it resulted in him being dismissive and not engaging with Draal.

“But there was Draal the Deadly training in the pit, sparring with automated blades, dodging blasts of flame that shot from the floor. Off to the side, Jim saw another Kanjigar-this one also very much alive-paying more attention to the scroll in his hands than to Draal's practice.”

“"Father, did you see? I cleared the trials in less time than it took this morning—a new record! Are you not proud?" Jim watched the living Kanjigar pull himself away from his scroll long enough to say, "I'd be prouder if you'd put even half as much effort into your studies."“

It all just boils down to Kanjigar having good intentions but going about them in the wrong ways that ends up hurting his loved ones more than not.

Anyways back on track to what this post is supposed to be about and why I brought this up, I should mention now that while I love Kansas and think they should hold hands and frolick in the fields and be happy together, it just wouldn’t happen “canonically” aka what I think would realistically happen which is neither of them ever confessing to the other for several reasons.

One being wow! Kanjigar is- was- a married man! Draal needs to exist!!

And by the time Kanjigar does get divorced and separates from Ballustra that’s close to the time Deya dies and he becomes Trollhunter.

I do not think a recent divorce combined with becoming Trollhunter makes a good headspace combo to log back onto Grindr personally speaking.

These same reasons are why i think Blinky would also hold back on confessing anything because outside of him being a pansy loser- i doubt he’d try and confess to a guy who recently got divorced and with Kanjigar newly becoming Trollhunter which is already stressful enough, the last thing im sure he’d need is a friend of his walking up to him like “🌹🫦hey~” who he may possibly not even feel the same for, atleast from Blinkys pov.

and even after Trollmarket is established and time has passed, by then Kanjigar has probably dived further down into the mindset of “as the Trollhunter i have to distance myself from all of you” and being with Blinky would be the exact opposite of that.

And it’s hard to even think about trying to confess to someone who’s actively avoiding you and can’t even look you fully in the eyes.

Then of course the amulet starts ticking down to Kanjigars death, showing there isn’t anymore time to go back and truly reconcile or realize maybe this isn’t the best way to go about protecting the ones he values most, that maybe all he’s been doing is hurting them further.

So yeah neither of these guys are holding hands, all you are getting is yearning glances and the briefest of touches.

unless of course we bend “canon” which im not doing in this post so moving on-

Now that my foundations are layed i will finally bring up stuff from the actual series so do not fret, i have more to say about these guys outside of the tie-in book material, it’s just that the tie-in books give good background material.

At this point I think? I’ve established how Blinky praises Kanjigar but man dude, literally everytime Kanjigar is brought up in the series Blinky has something positive to say about him/praise him for.

One example being: ”Kanjigar was perhaps the most alert and able of all the Trollhunters.”

“But not the best, I'm betting.”

”Oh, the very best. Many songs and sagas have been written about him.”

Yet flash forward to Gnome Your Enemy and For The Glory Of Merlin and he says “-and our great Trollhunter, Deya the Deliverer-“

“Deya the Deliverer was the mightiest Trollhunter that ever lived.”

Blinky, my wonderful little Bi disaster, i need you to pick a lane. 💖

from KanjiAAARRRGGHH (which that episode I’ll get into more in a second) you have this “Kanjigar, why don't you simply talk with Vendel and the Tribunal? Surely, one of Trollmarket's greatest champions could persuade-“

KanjiAAARRRGGHH also showing Blinkys likely memorized all of Kanjigars moves is like the gayest thing you could ever do with someone who’s your “friend” can I be blunt about that ?

“Kanjigars creeping spider! A signature move.” Like gurl..

This next thing I talk about is definitely going into theory/delusion territory but isn’t that any fanon ship?

Okay so this

Blinkys reaction to Claire holding Jim’s hand in E14 I always found odd tonely, because they play such somber music over the scene once we land on Blinkys reaction and the way he looks at them? Like while yes I’m sure it’s him realizing “oh shit this kid is definitely gonna go into the Darklands for this girl” what if i inserted some delusion into this and said it’s also because he’s reminded of Kanjigar.

Like oh Trollhunter that would go to any lengths to protect and help his loved ones even if that comes at the cost of his well being.

And also from Claire’s side, even if Blinky has faith in Jim’s abilities I doubt Trollhunters are known to normally live long, atleast by Troll standards, so the fact Jim is a human child? there’s always a high possibility he could die at any moment, and leave Claire inadvertently heart broken.

And hmmm who else cared deeply for a Trollhunter who suffered an untimely death, one where he, himself had to watch without being able to help because he didn’t get there in time?

I’m just saying i think Blinky is reminded of himself and Kanjigar briefly in that scene that is all.

Honorable mention to this line because what did he mean by this I can't be the only one who thinks this has more meaning than just the current conversation happening, he’s just so strange dude.

And now finally.. KanjiAAARRRGGHH, oh KanjiAAARRRGGHH my magnum opus, my Roman Empire, one of my favorite episodes, the things I have to say about you..

The Flare, The Flare Kanjigar gives Blinky, an insignificant thing to anyone that isn’t an over analyzer/thinker but if this post hasn’t shown already, I am one of those so just wait and give me a second to explain the significance.

This Flare was grabbed from Blinkys library, which means Blinky likely bought it himself, that’s already his Flare yet when Kanjigar gives it to him later this sixed eyed freak holds it like it’s the most precious thing in the world and looks at it so longingly you’d think he wants to marry it.

quick derail to have you look at how he reaches for Kanjigar and his receding touch on two occasions with only a minute or two inbetween scenes, it’s relevant.

the last scene above, I want you to see just how- pathetic and sad- for lack of a better word, Blinky looks at Kanjigar turning away/The Flare he was given before Toby tries to reassure him with saying atleast Kanjigar will be accompanying them into the Darklands and how a smile spreads on Blinkys face before Kanjigar butts in saying “sorry nah I can’t 🚬”

Can you see how much this man craves Kanjigars presence back? like he misses him so much and clings to whatever he can that’s left of him or was gifted to him by Kanjigar like The Flare.

It doesn’t matter that he likely originally got The Flare himself, it’s the fact Kanjigar gave it to him, entrusted him with it and how this is likely one of the last times he’ll be able to interact with Kanjigar now that he’s dead and it’s under the circumstances where they can’t properly talk or get closer because they’re on such a time crunch to save Jim.

It’s like there’s always something stopping them from maybe finally getting their feelings out there.

for closing commentary I’ll say that I guess the reason i find this ship (and their dynamic in general) so fascinating to think about is the major miscommunication problem or moreso the lack of it in general, the fact that as long as Kanjigar is Trollhunter the chances of them working out or even happening in the first place is so low if not impossible since Kanjigar ultimately HAS to die or we don’t get the story we get, even if we’re doing something Post-ROTT. they’re always deemed to fail in one way or another, and I personally find that so fun narratively and I think that’s one of the main reasons I'm drawn to this ship alongside everything I’ve listed above and more.

If you read this far I'm genuinely impressed youd take the time and highly appreciate it! (I put far to much effort into this)

And if I somehow convinced you about this ship to any degree that'd also be a plus as these guys are my current fixation at this point please ask me about them I could ramble more im being so honest as there are things I didn’t bring up in here as I thought they were too minor or unnecessary to the overall point (also tumblr image limit)

[heliosphera]

My personal Sonic the Hedgehog Headcanons!

feel free to add your own!

Sonic

Sonic doesn't have an actual house, he simply sleeps wherever is most comfortable. He does, however, have his own corner in Tail's Workshop with a hammoc and other stuff he's found in his adventures

Sonic is forbidden from ever drinking coffee

Sonic often visits Soleanna, but isn't sure why

He & Big have a yearly fishing trip

Both him and Shadow would love deadpool, but for extremely different reasons

Sonic & Mighty see eachother as bestfriends after Tails and Ray respectively. Unfortunately, they're both horrible at coordinating get-togethers

While Shadow may be stronger than Sonic, Sonic is far more creative with his powers, as Shadow is over-reliant on his powers. This leads to Sonic being able to tie and even beat Shadow sometimes

Tails

Tails has a house in West-side island, which is currently being used as a storage depot

He is seen as a local hero there, and is embarrassed to go there on his own

He is the group's tech support fox, helping whenever someone has issues with machines or technology (more specifically, Knuckles)

Knuckles

Knuckles quit the Chaotix somewhen before the events of Sonic Heroes. Nowadays, he, Shadow and Omega are unofficial members of the agency. Their team is called "Team Knuckles" after he won an arm-wrestling competition against Shadow and Omega combined

Knuckles refuses to use technology most of the time, but he does have a shatter-resistant phone made by Tails that is charged with the Master Emerald

He once accidentally shattered the master emerald because he was bored, it became a whole thing.

Amy

Amy wears weighted rings for training and to stabilise herself when using a hammer, Sonic and Tails are scared of what she could do if she ever removed them, since she can already double jump.

When she was younger, Amy considered herself a practicing witch and even had voodoo dolls of everyone. She made sure to properly dispose of (most) them

Unrelated, but Eggman has constant back pains that can only be described as "if a giant book was constantly pressing against him"

Amy has self-made plushies of every single one of her friends, it's the first thing she does when she meets someone new

Shadow

Shadow is technically faster than Sonic, but he can't maintain those speeds due to his inhibitor rings, so his air shoes help him reach high speeds without risking his stamina.

Shadow hasn't actually killed any human/mobian/earthling, even before he remembered Maria's promise or regained his memories. Whenever he was about to, a mental block prevented him from following through with it.

He is extremely competitive with tabletop games, Team Dark game nights have been postponed until he learns to "chill out"

Rouge once took him out drinking, she decided to not do it again because Shadow is a sobby drunk

On that note, Shadow is, weirdly enough, a total lightweight

Shadow has a secret stash of pop music dvds and other similar types of music. Only Rouge and Amy know where it is. Rouge because she's a treasure hunter and Amy is his supplier.

Shadow is often invited to girls' nights with Amy, Rouge and Cream at Vanilla's house (Blaze is also invited whenever she's around). He usually refuses but has gone once or twice because it reminds him of spending time with Maria. He's been made to wear makeup every single time.

Eggman

While Eggman does have the tech to give Metal a fully organic body, he secretly has hopes that one day metal will realise he's his own person

Ever since Sage, he's seen both her and metal as his children

The first time Eggman ever cried is when Sage and Metal gave him an incredibly botches Father's day present.

After Sonic Adventure, Sonic and Tails went on a full on propaganda campaign to make sure Robotnik was known as Eggman globally. He decided to just roll with it because it was free publicity

Bonus: Surge!

She eats cables and batteries, it's a genuine issue

[iatrophilosophos]

For sure! I love talking about this stuff and rattling it off for the sake of Posting does make it slightly easier to write for real

The last thing ill say is that I think its important to recognize and value this conversational mode of knolwege bc it *is* ongoing, in a culture that doesnt really acknowledge or value it. All people who practice in science-dominanted fields are using conversational knowlege all the time, as far as I can tell. Medical professionals are not subscribing to a purely algorithmic decision making process: they still make judgement calls all the time and utilize large amounts of anecdote from other professionals (and hopefully, additional sources!) in order to make those calls. ESPECIALLY in outlier contexts. Im lucky enough to be in that room quite often. Insurance companies (in most of the us) and state-backed healthcare regulating bodies (in countries & states with socialized medicine) really, really would like medicine to be pure algorithm, ideally the most financially convenient algorithms. One of my dr friends, if you get them started, won't stop talking about the deskilling of medical providers and the attempt for both insurances and workplaces to remove variable, judgement-based practice from the equation. This is bad for effectiveness and Especially bad for those outliers, because higher degrees of specialization in disparate roles in a hospital prevent more holistic (as in, looking at the whole person in context) assessments and lets a lot of shit get missed; as well as having a lot less opportunity for providers to build knolwege that offers options to people with niche needs/understudied conditions.

I dont have nearly as intimate a window into other fields but the situation seems very similar when it comes to shit like ecology (and the relevant professions or roles).

So like, im not even posing "returning" to something that science has "replaced", and more saying that conversation is a fundemental part of knolwege that can exist with or without scientific studies and that acknowledging, valuing, participating in, and building strong effective practices for is of increasing importance as the forces that be ATTEMPT to dismantle it.

"these researchers published a paper on something that literally any of us could have told you 🙄" ok well my supervisors wont let me write something in my thesis unless I can back it up with a citation so maybe it's a good thing that they're amplifying your voice to the scientific community in a way that prevents people from writing off your experiences as annecdotal evidence

[arcanemarion]

There's this running sentiment that I've seen a few times recently that, in absence of being recruited and subsequently abused by Trent, Astrid would have been someone nice (read: "good") and in touch with her emotions, or something, instead of pursuing power and authority. It's an idea that seems to purport that Trent fully brainwashed her into being a completely different person acting entirely against her own volition, because surely if she was somehow fully cognizant of her "real" wants / feelings / had friends, she would simply walk away.

Except that she wouldn't, because she didn't.

We are told repeatedly by Caleb and reinforced by Astrid herself, that she is and always has been ambitious. If freedom from Trent was all that she was truly after, then she could have had an easy out once the Nein removed him from power. But instead she stays to take her place in the Assembly, because that was her goal all along.

In fact, Astrid's ambition would have made her more susceptible to Trent's manipulation, especially when she was younger. The way that Astrid and Eadwulf murder their parents is very personal and intimate - strangulation and poison at the dinner table. Neither of them flinch, and yet Bren's method is to not even show himself, but barricade his family in their home from the outside and then set it aflame. It was a comparatively anonymous act, but he was the one to break.

Trent's miscalculation here of course revolves around Bren's character. We can probably attribute him overlooking this because of Bren's clear aptitude, and then perhaps following the assumption (which has tbh proven time and time again throughout history) that a wizard capable of achieving great power will always go after it no matter the cost. Although Liam says that if Caleb had met Astrid and Eadwulf again much earlier in the campaign prior to forming strong bonds with the Nein, he likely would have gone back with them (juicy juicy AU fic of where this happens exist out there I'm certain, but also further illustrates that Caleb himself wasn't fully immune, obviously), part of the reason why Caleb's arc is so beautiful is precisely because of his journey to stand in contrast to this cliche.

It is further interesting, then, that when Caleb does come back into proximity of both Astrid and Trent, with no small amount of ability, that Trent still immediately fixates on him, even though he is better able to resist Trent's manipulations than ever before. Astrid has been at Trent's side for well over a decade at this point and is obviously a very capable wizard herself, seemingly loyal - even if Trent probably had doubts about the true depth of her loyalty to him, then at the very least loyal to the Empire - intelligent, and politically savvy; all things you would think would still make her a prime candidate for successor.

It begs the question of what Trent found wanting in her, that he would decide to so blatantly favor Caleb, someone he arguably cannot actually control, over someone he has personally cultivated for years.

It's obvious that during the dinner, Trent is working many scummy manipulations on Caleb. But by proclaiming "nothing would make me happier" to have Caleb kill him and take over, he is simultaneously twisting a knife at Astrid, firmly shunting her into second place, if such a place exists at all, as far as he's concerned. We can probably assume that Astrid's ambition to actually do precisely that aren't entirely a secret from Trent (frankly he'd be very foolish to not expect it of people he manipulated into murdering their parents as children), and he would also be very aware that he still outclasses her in terms of raw power. Astrid, or even Astrid and Eadwulf together, aren't strong enough to take him out on their own, so it behooves Trent to prevent any possible alliances from forming by trying to drive a wedge between her and Caleb. The goal of this might not even necessarily be to prevent his own demise, but set up a familiar "test": if one takes out the other, then he'll know who is really worthy of being his successor.

Of course this isn't what happens, because Caleb's reappearance in her life has already begun a shift in Astrid. When we first see her "on screen" in episode 89, it's pretty clear she's got a front up and is touting the party line / is in the sauce, so to speak, and as "genuinely mournful" as she is, she still seems to firmly believe that the suffering they endured was for a reason. Even so, she heavily hints to Caleb that she isn't so unfailingly loyal to Trent that she wouldn't try to usurp him.

There's definitely something a little 'off' about the whole interaction - on a meta level, this might be largely because she's a brand new character to Matt that he's still getting a feel for, and on a narrative one, someone she once loved very much and has been either catatonic or missing for a decade suddenly showed up at her house - but something has definitely shifted by the time we see her again, and in other scenes in subsequent episodes. Ultimately, she's very clearly conflicted about the position she's in: Caleb and the Nein can be the convenient means to an end that she wants, but it could also mean sacrificing him - because if they can't defeat Trent, it's not worth risking her own life to stand with them. It's clear that she still carries many deep feelings for Caleb, and as much as she doesn't want him to die (perhaps especially not by Trent's hand), she's not quite willing to die herself.

This is why she helps Caleb get the medallions, why she (allegedly) cries in the alley, why she and Eadwulf warn Caleb ("we're not doing it for you, we're doing it for him") about Trent coming after them, why she lets him complete the scroll in Yussa's tower. She needs Caleb to help take Trent out, but it has to happen at the most optimal moment, otherwise there's no point - this is why she doesn't help the Nein in the final fight until it's clear they have a chance of winning it.

There's a lot we don't know about where Astrid's true hatred and resentment of Trent stems. Certainly the myriad abuses all three of them suffered, and the unknown extent of that which followed when it was just her and Eadwulf left, but apparently it's been "years" that she's dreamed of ultimately killing him. The amount of rage and anger in her when she is prevented from actually doing it is frankly one of the most profound moments in all of C2. She has the person who has caused her and the two people she probably cares for most in the world immeasurable pain and trauma finally subdued and at their collective mercy, and yet is told "no, you can't kill him, we want him to go to trial"...by one of those people.

It's a betrayal, in a way, and perhaps more than any other moment, clearly demarcates the differences and fractures that exist between her and Caleb as they currently are. Astrid further underscores it by specifically putting Eadwulf away from Caleb (and Eadwulf looking back is one of the tiniest but such important little glimpse we get into his feelings) and simply leaving.

It's a terribly bitter moment; she's more or less gotten almost everything she's wanted for a very long time, but gets to derive no real satisfaction from it. She walks away, furious, resentful. But after a time, they do come back - and my personal theory is that Eadwulf convinced her to do so. Obviously they see enough value in Caleb and Beau's plan to spend the exhausting hours recounting their experiences, as perhaps if this is the only way to allegedly ensure that Trent gets locked up for good and getting any kind of justice (revenge), they don't necessarily have much to lose if they're careful not to jeopardize their political positions with the rest of the Assembly.

And of course, naturally, still, Ludinus offers the job to Caleb first.

(Obviously there are narrative and meta reasons for this, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that it wouldn't have further twisted the bitter knife in Astrid just a little bit yet).

All of this is to illustrate that yes, Astrid and Eadwulf did suffer abuse under Trent, but it's a mistake to use that as the sole explanation for their actions and motivations as fictional characters, or to use it as a way to give them an avenue to being "good" people underneath it all - ie, removing the teeth from their roles as antagonists.

Which is to say: people often have an especially hard time when characters exist in a shifting grey area of morality - especially women. Astrid (and Eadwulf) has always occupied this space within the narrative because of her dual proximity to Caleb ("good") and Trent ("bad"), but it would be a mistake to believe that her character arc is simply her choosing between the two of them and what they allegedly represent. At no point does Astrid ever explicitly agree with Caleb about stopping the Volstrucker program as it exists, and we've never gotten any clue in the subsequent story years later whether or not she actually did anything directly to dismantle it. We can infer that in absence of Trent it might have ceased perhaps at least in part, yet for as important as that is for Caleb, and even as much anger and rage Astrid obviously has towards Trent, she has been pretty much reticent on the subject in canon material so far, to the point that it seems unlikely it's a primary motivation for her to take over Trent's seat. Perhaps after several years of close proximity to Caleb (because Liam has not mentioned her multiple times post C2 proper for them to not be talking on the regular), she did do something about it, but exactly what and how much is all speculation.

(Sidebar: further to the last parenthesis above, Caleb was absolutely the one to hide Astrid in Chastity's Nook during the events of C3, and Essek saying "Bren sends his regards" was in fact a signal to her that he is an ally, and if he said it like a threat, it's because he's a catty bitch (affectionate), which further plays out in their subsequent interaction).

As I (and many other people) have said in the past, we shouldn't be afraid to let villainous / antagonist characters be bad ("problematic"), and we shouldn't be afraid to enjoy them because of the role they occupy in a story. Astrid is compelling precisely because you (the audience, the Nein) didn't know which way she was going to go in those pivotal moments, whether she is friend or foe; she's compelling because she doesn't immediately fall in line with Caleb's plan to imprison rather than kill Trent. All of those layers of tension and conflict are what make the story juicy and interesting. Trent is a motherfucker and makes my skin crawl, but he is a fantastic villain. Astrid doesn't "need" to have a full redemption arc for any reason, and especially not to justify her continued proximity to Caleb.

I always feel it's very remiss of discussions that involve Astrid and Caleb to not include Eadwulf - I've mentioned him several times by proximity, but not so much about his position in all of this specifically, which is an unfortunate symptom of the fact that we simply don't get a lot of exposure to him by comparison, and he's never the focus of the scenes that he's in. It is my hope that the animated series will be able to correct for some of this and build him out a little more, much in the way we got to see him in Caleb's origin comic. The two moments there that always stick out in my memory are him and Bren being the first ones to initiate physical intimacy, and him striking Bren and leaving him to stop him from attacking Astrid - it's such an incredible parallel with the moment that Astrid pulls him away and he looks back at Caleb. There are so many other little hints, like his raven feather necklace, the way he speaks in front of Trent at the dinner (being a dutiful soldier), his encouragement of Fjord, that seed all of these little nuances that are lovely on their own, but still leave me hungry for a fuller picture. In my mind, he's a necessary anchor between Astrid and Bren, and eventually singularly for Astrid, who probably needs him more than he does her, in some ways. I like to think they love each other more than anyone else in the world, but to speculate further is getting deep into headcanon territory (not inherently bad, just not the point of this post). Of the people who would "just leave", Eadwulf by his own admission said he'd be fine with that - so perhaps he did stay solely for Astrid, and maybe once Trent was ousted, he did leave, for a time. But it's likely he would have found his way back.

Anyway: love a problematic fictional woman.

[elene78-blog]

Kevin's Duology

Many people are excited about Kevin's duology, about all his fans. From what I've seen in Kevin's fics, the fandom that loves him has built a Kevin that, as a rule (and this is my opinion), is quite far from the real one, with many qualities in terms of friends, kindness and things like that...

Well, I think Nora is going to prove that she's not.

What do I expect to see in duology?

A tough Kevin, sometimes brushing against cruelty, sometimes ruthless, manipulative, and sometimes feeling the world coming upon him.

A Kevin who was initially a frightened child and gradually becomes a cold, hard machine.

A Kevin who focuses on the exy so as not to deal with what surrounds him, with walls around the sport that protect him, but at the same time prevent him from connecting with others. Only those who get to his part of the wall (the best) can get to Kevin. This makes it a ruthless block of ice with those who don't give it their all.

Do I think we'll see kindness? Not much. I think it will be pretty little because Kevin is NOT kind.

Do I think we'll see a Kevin worse than the one we already know? Yes, but we won't hate him for it, because we'll really start to understand it, or at least part of it.

Nora is not going to show Kevin that fandom has idealized for years, because that's not his Kevin. It's going to show us someone broken and surely, sometimes, very unpleasant.

It's going to show us a hateful character.

And you know what?

Those of us who are not fans of Kevin are going to love him for that complexity. And those who have been fans will always have many more pieces of the puzzle that will make their image of him more complex and realistic. They'll want it the same way, but they'll see it less idealized.

I think it will be an incredible character study, a not idealized character at all, a very, very dark character with some shades of white and gray. It may be the most complex Nora writes about.

I think we will also see some coldness in Jean in The Perfect Court, not so much the shattered Jean we know (we've already had a lot of that), but the Jean who began to turn all the events he suffered into. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Jean beating some rookie or some Raven brutally, or playing with the intention of injuring someone.

Nora will show us something about Jean with what we say, wow, how much he's changed in his trilogy. Good thing he got it.

In short, we will see the cruelty of The Nest, but not only towards our protagonists, but also our protagonists towards others. We'll see what they start to become and what they would have been like if they hadn't left.

I think the only thing that won't get any worse is Thea. I'm sure Thea will be the least fucked up of the three, and we'll see a very different nuance in her than we think.

Am I honest? I think Nora will turn everything around and make Kevin much worse than Thea in The Perfect Court. This is a bit of his "modus operandi," actually. We start by believing that Andrew is evil and a wretch to realize that Neil is the worst of the two. We think Jean is the one who is the most fucked up to realize at TGR that Jeremy is the one who is the one who is mentally worse off as Jean begins to recover.

I think Nora will do the same with Kevthea. We'll start thinking Thea is the worst and then we'll see that Thea calms Kevin down or keeps him afloat in some ways.

Nora will make it very attractive. Thea mitigating Kevin's cruelty/rage with serenity.

I'm sure that when The Queen's Game is over, we'll believe Thea is the better of the two, and a suitable person for what Kevin is (an unidealized Kevin).

I'm looking forward to seeing Nora destroy our perceptions and rebuild them.

[chubbybunny25]

Day 3: Arranged Marriage

have this oneshot (800+ words lol) for the vision i have for the jercy political marriage au i've been thinking abt since last yr. idk when i'll start working on it actually, but i hope you enjoy this.

@jercy-events

He looks like Luke.

That’s the first thing that Percy thinks of upon seeing the Roman praetor.

With those cerulean eyes—calculating, almost cold—along with his cropped blond hair and the scar on his lips, one would think he’s related to Luke Castellan.

But somehow, the similarities stop with the way they look. Percy doesn’t remember feeling uneasy with Luke’s presence upon first meeting him. If anything, all Luke radiated back then was trustworthiness. Sure, there was a mischievous glint in his eyes, but that could be attributed to his godly parentage.

Yet, this man before him—there’s something imposing, unsettling, with him. Even as a bearer of the Achilles Curse, Percy shudders at the thought that if this Roman so decides, he can definitely rip Percy into shreds. 

Percy steels himself. He can’t afford to be intimidated now. He’ll do anything—absolutely anything—to prevent another war from happening.

Negotiating peace with the Romans is the key to ensure Camp Half-Blood’s safety.

∞

“A wedding?” Percy springs up from where he’s sitting at the rec-room along with Chiron, Annabeth, Nico, Clarisse, Jake, Will, Drew, the Stolls, and the Roman praetors, Jason Grace and Reyna.. (she refused to say her full name).

“What? You’re old enough, yes?” Right. And there’s also their favorite goddess, Hera, who is “leading” (whatever that means) this meeting. “Too old actually. Back in the day—”

“Waitwaitwait! A wedding?”

“Yes, Perseus.” The goddess seems bored while she flicks her hand. “A wedding. Marriage. Union between two camps. Between the two most powerful demigods of this generation. You as the Hero of Olympus, and Jason as my Champion.”

A sacrifice, is what Percy hears.

He looks over the other man—Jason—across the table tennis table. His face doesn’t betray any of his emotions, so very far from his sister, Thalia Grace, who always makes it a point to let everyone know when she’s irritated.

The son of Poseidon wants to argue that Nico di Angelo can be more powerful than him, but the son of Hades has just been settling at camp, not even a resident there, mostly doing errands for his father for the past five years.

But Percy is not the kind to point fingers and pass the burden to anyone, especially to Nico; he took the Great Prophecy years ago for him after all.

So Percy Jackson does what he thinks is right:

He walks away.

∞

“What have you got to lose?” Percy spats when, during dinner, the son of Jupiter thought it would be a good idea to bring him food in Cabin 3. He doesn’t know what runs on Jason’s mind and somehow, that annoys Percy all the more. “You’ve trained for this all your life. You grew up at camp, for fuck’s sake! But I’ve got a life, Jason Grace!”

Percy really doesn’t. He never dated again after Annabeth; he doesn’t know what to do with his degree; he feels like a foreigner in his mom’s apartment now that she’s got a “normal” family.

But no one has to know that.

“You’re right.” Jason’s voice is calm—too calm, like everything before a storm. “Maybe I’ve got nothing to lose. But my camp needs me and I’m not the kind of leader to lead them to war. Good night, Percy.”

∞

Percy is having anything, but a good night.

Of course, he can’t sleep. No matter how tired he is, no matter how drained he feels. He knows he said too much, reacted on impulse. Again.

Jason doesn’t deserve Percy lashing out like that. No one deserves something like that—someone rubbing in their faces the things that life hasn’t allowed them to have. For all Percy knows, Jason has wanted to have a life, too.

Percy might not know exactly how life has been at Camp Jupiter, but by the way Jason Grace and his co-praetor carry themselves—that silent but powerful strength underneath those composed and observant gazes. That can only be borne out of rigid training.

The respect they have for the gods—their own parents who abandoned them to fend for themselves—is like their second nature. The dedication they have to keep the lives of future demigods.

Ugh, Percy feels bad for being such an asshole.

∞

“Thank you for your hospitality, Chiron.” Reyna says as she and Jason bids goodbye to the centaur. “Please let us know if Percy considers Juno’s idea.”

“For now, all we can do is to keep this a secret from our people,” Jason adds.

“I understand,” Chiron agrees. “It’s safer like that.”

As Reyna is mounting her pegasus and Jason summoning his storm-spirit, Percy comes running with a duffel bag in hand.

“Perseus, where are you going?” Chiron inquires.

“I’m coming with them,” the son Poseidon says matter-of-factly. “If you want me to consider this, I need to know more about Camp Jupiter and… Jason.”

Percy counts it a win to see Jason’s amused smile. So he knows how to smile, too.

“I’ll inform Lady Hera,” the centaur sighs, seemingly to resign to his fate of dealing with another Percy Jackson moment. He hasn’t even finished speaking when Percy calls for Blackjack.

[rincent-van-uggh]

Ahh this is so much what I have been thinking. Even if I agreed with intellectual property in principle, IP law benefits corporations far, far more than small artists (because the law only protects those who can afford to enforce it).

All the notions that AI is cheating because it makes the process of art making too easy are not at all distinct, so far as I can see, from people saying the same things about any new art making technology (digital art, electronic music, people say these things are not real art for the same reasons). I mean, people trying to pass off AI art as if they themselves hand painted it are just idiots telling lies, nothing new. If someone uses AI to generate the background for an drawing they did, and they're honest about it, thats just art. People do the same thing with backgrounds not generated by AI too.

I find a lot of AI criticism comes down to "this tool is being operated and peddaled by idiots" rather than that the tool itself is bad. "People who use AI to study for them get lower grades" well duh, having anything study for you is incoherent, you necessarily have to use your own brain for that. If what they mean by this is that people are using AI to write notes and summaries for them to read, this is also misguided as AI cannot reliably create accurate summaries, if it adds in nonsense, you may not realise and study stuff it entirely made up.

There are also adjacent issues. Like I dont take issue particularly with public data being fed to the machine apart from how empowering AI in our current system means empowering shitty corporations. But sometimes private data may be fed to the machine, corporations are getting increasingly sneaky and invasive, changing ToS to say that they can use any of your stuff, even non-public things to train AI. While AI tends to mix together loads of stuff into its outputs, it is feasible that an AI could be fed private data and spit it out wholesale, and we have no way to prevent this currently. I am glad that i have managed to move entirely off of things like google drive because I don't trust them to uphold privacy at the best of times, but especially not in this context.

My main issue with AI, honestly, is that I find it annoying. It keeps being put in places I dont want it, to solve problems I don't have. I think this is a popular position to hold here on tumblr, where we have several times pushed the website management to allow us to opt out of new trendy features we dont like, such as "best stuff first" and other algorithmic generated features, and "tumblr live". I object to having new technology replace the old stuff, not only because the old stuff is what I am familiar with, but because often times it works, in at least some important ways, better than the new stuff. I don't need AI generated art, I enjoy making art myself. I do not want AI customer service chat bot, it is less effective at addressing my needs than the humans are.

The tool is fine, but almost every time I encouter it, it is being used by idiots to uninteresting ends, and I would like to not have to encounter it if I don't want or need to.

Worst part of popular left wing AI discourse online is that there's absolutely a need for a robust leftist opposition to use of cognitive automation without social dispensation to displaced human workers. The lack of any prior measures to facilitate a transition to having fewer humans in the workplace (UBI, more public control over industrial infrastructure, etc) is a disaster we are sleepwalking into - one that could lock the majority of our society's wealth further into the hands of authoritarian oligarchs who retain control of industry through last century private ownership models, while no longer needing to rely on us to operate their property.

But now we're seemingly not going to have the opposition we so desperately need, because everyone involved in the anti-AI conversation has pretty thoroughly discredited themselves and their movement by harbouring unconstrained reactionary nonsense, blatant falsehoods and woo. Instead of talking about who owns and benefits from cognitive automation, people are:

Demanding impossibilities like uninventing a now readily accessible technology

Trying to ascribe implicit moral value to said technology instead of the who is using it and how

Siding with corporations on copyright law in the name of "defending small artists"

Repeating obvious and embarrassing technical misconceptions and erroneous pop-sci about machine learning in order to justify their preferred philosophy

Invoking neo-spiritual conservative woo about the specialness of the human soul to try to incoherently discredit a machine that can quite obviously perform certain tasks just as well if not better than they can

Misrepresent numbers about energy use and environmental cost in an absurd double standard (all modern infrastructure is reliant on data centers to a similar level of impact, including your favourite fandom social media and online video games!) to build a narrative AI is some sort of malevolent spirit that damages our reality when it is called upon

It's a level of reactionary ignorance that has completely discredited any popular opposition to industrial AI rollout because it falls apart as soon as you dig deeper than a snappy social media post, or a misguided pro-copyright screed from an insecure web artist (who decries a machine laying eyes on their freely posted work while simultaneously charging commission for fan-art of corporate IPs... I'm sure that will absolutely resolve in their favour).

It would be funny how much people are fucking themselves over with all this, except I'm being fucked over to, and as a result am really quite mad about the situation. We need UBI, we need to liberate abundance from corporate greed, what we don't need is viral posts about putting distortion filters on anime fan-art to ward off the evil mechanical eye, pointless boycotts of platforms because they are perceived to have let the evil machines taint them, or petitions to further criminalize the creation of derivative works.

[novastar-creations]

Fridaaaaaaa!!

Thank you @bagels-and-cream-cheese333 for the voice claim you were on the damn money

By the way the plastron she has in the Big Mama’s assistant fit is fake. It’s armour bc for some reason BM has issues with her daughter not being adequately protected. Wonder why…

Uh also ignore that her shell kinda disappears in the BM assistant fit (I tried to make it work over the shell but it made her look really weird and disproportionate so I ended up just pulling the mystic card and bullshitting the explanation of pocked dimension coat. At least she gets hammerspace to pull her spear from now??)

Donnie gave her a battle shell a bit after she officially joined the Hamatos bc a) the magic that was keeping her alive was also pumping in dangerous amounts of empyrean and making her steadily sicker, and causing infection and b) the magic that they replaced it with was less good for protection but far better for her health.

Before they fucked around with her shell spell she was training her ninpo to maintain the spell at a constant rate and prevent it from failing due to lack of empyrean, and then Mikey did the new spell and it’s basically just feeding off her ninpo like a symbiotic relationship (but one of those good ones where everyone involved is happy)

Also they didn’t find out she lost her shell until like three or four months after she joined them bc she went on her first mission with the fam and there may or may not have been a mystic dampening field that almost killed her bc it completely shut down the magic keeping her alive

The skeleton underneath is almost entirely artificial and formed by magic, bc BM has some crazyyy good healers - the empyrean was partially an oversight but also partially BM wanting Frida to be more powerful

ALSO I FEEL SO SMART FOR THE SHELL SPELLS

The one for her BM’s assistant shell is the sigil for carapace, and if you don’t know how to make sigils, what you do is remove any repeating letters and put it on a sigil wheel. And when you remove repeating letters from carapace, you get carpe

So for the second one I really wanted to use diem, bc carpe diem (also while I was trying to find words for this I found out that apparently nova/novus is dawn in Latin which was entirely unintentional but damn nova got the dawn au). I ended up with amat diem which means love the day, because I thought that was a very Mikey thing to do - reinforce his spells with the power of positivity. But then I realised that if I removed the repeating letters from amat diem I got left with “amt die” and idk what amt is but I don’t think dying is the goal here. So, I bashed two sigils into one, having the m of the diem part meeting the m in amt and then I capped both sigils off with diamonds for every connecting line because diamonds are (kinda) her shape language and I thought it looked cool. Then I put a coloured overlay over the skeleton shell (shell-eton?), set the sigils to linear burn, duplicated the layer with the sigils on it and gave it a slight Gaussian blur with it set to add and there! All done :P

[starkura]

when giving words of encouragement, you're met with words of a confession

pairing w/ viktor from arcane

might be a bit ooc, lowkey idk if this makes sense, gn reader (however if i accidentally used any female pronouns pls lmk), not proofread

late in the evening, the lab of the academy was nearly silent, the light bulb made slight sounds of tinkering, and the wind blew quietly through the hallways. there sat in the lab was you and viktor. viktor had plans to stay up for the rest of the night in order to finish his work. what it appeared to you was gibberish only someone as intelligent as viktor could ever understand. there were multiple equations, science vocabulary, and other nonsense written on the board. you were solely present for moral support for viktor. viktor was one to never keep his health in check, which was why you felt to need to be by his side at times. you would ensure he'd be taking breaks and eating proper meals throughout the day, although you couldn't be sure if he would take breaks throughout the night. you tended to naturally fall asleep once it got late. at times while you were asleep, viktor would do his best to make little movements to prevent you from waking up. there was one time he accidentally knocked over a hard covered book off a table. he tried to swiftly catch it, but was unsuccessful. the book ended up creating a loud sound that echoed in the lab once hitting the ground. fortunately for viktor, you were quite a heavy sleeper, so luckily for him he didn't wake you. as carefully as ever, he picked up the book and moved it far away from the edge of the table, as a way to prevent it from falling down once more.

funnily enough, that isn't the only thing viktor has done for you. purposefully, he clears an area on his desk for you to observe him working. it be quite awkward for you to sit where all of his unfinished work laid out. it was his best attempt to not look so unorganized whilst you were present. he won't admit it but whenever you reside in the lab with him, he loses concentration and focus at times. in those times, his eyes would dart towards you and he'll glance at you momentarily. he noticed how you would bring a stack of books to read as he worked on his projects in order to pass the time. there would be times that you would look up to check to see the progress he made on his chalkboard. in doing so you would catch viktor's gaze. very quickly, he would jolt his head back towards his board, acting as if he hadn't been observing you. you let out a little laugh at his visible embarrassment.

sometime deeper into the night, you did your best to stay awake. usually by now you'd be knocked out cold, however you chose to drink coffee in order to remain awake. you heard viktor take a few steps backwards while supporting himself with his cane. he tilted his head up and gazed upon his work on his board, and you assume he finally finished his chalkboard. "did you finish viktor?" he turns around to face you. you had your arm propped up on the desk and your hand held your leaning head. "yes, I finally worked out the equations and problems." he said proudly. "however, I'm just not sure if I should present my work." you, a bit confuse of his comment, asked him what he was meaning. " what do you mean vik?" viktor a let out a small sigh, he slowly walked towards you. his cane hit the floor lightly as he made his way to you. he sat in a chair placed beside you before speaking once more. "my professor is opposed to all of these new discoveries. me and jayce are doing our best to work things out with him, but even jayce is unsure if this is the right time to show the world." he takes a pause to organize his thoughts. "conducting studies and figuring out ways in order to improve life is what I strive for. however, maybe now isn't the right time." he falters. clearly these thoughts had been consuming viktor's head for the past few days. only in a few days it made him have second thoughts about his life's ambitions. his eyes reach the floor, zoning out a bit. "if you truly thought now isn't the right time, why did you finish your chalkboard?" you questioned. he slowly looked back up towards you meeting your eyes once more. "i suppose i don't like leaving work unfinished." he softly tapped his fingers mimicking a ripple affect on the desktop. "you know, if you always wait for the right moment to come, for the right thing to happen, you'll be waiting for a lifetime." you briefly pause. "there is no right time for anything, you choose what to do next and see if it works out." viktor hummed in response to your comment. you both sat in silence, the room seemed more echoey as it filled with silence. it seemed that viktor was lost in thought about your words.

meanwhile, you analyze his chalkboard, even though you wouldn't be able to understand anything written on the board. every corner, and every inch of the chalkboard was filled. little to no space was left untouched on the board. as viktor sat beside you, you glance over at him, still lost in thought. his eyebags were a bit heavy and shadowy. it was pretty apparent that he was lacking sleep. despite his harsh eye bags, his eyes were the opposite. his eyes reflected a tired look, but whenever he gazed at you, his eyes would noticeably soften. this was accounted for by jayce, who told you himself that he saw the way viktor had looked at you. it was almost like a look of yearning and longing for you. you brushed jayce off and didn't take his words seriously, but you did think about it in the far back of your mind. "you know, besides all of these hextech ideas that take up most of my thoughts, the only other thing that runs through my mind is you, lasko." you turn your head abruptly, startled by his sudden honesty. the sudden use of a endearment term leaves you surprised and in awe. never before had he ever called you that before. you could feel your face warm up over the next few seconds. "so, can i ask, would now be the right moment to say that i've loved you from the start?" viktor held his breath for a long while, waiting for your response. nervousness was pouring over him and he wasnt thinking straight. absentmindedly, he gently placed his hands around your jaw, holding up your face almost. he allowed for a few moments to pass, giving you enough time to pull back if you weren’t feeling it. but you didn’t.

he bent down, closing in on the distance between you and him. he hesitated before placing his lips onto yours. both of you slowly closed your eyes, relishing in the moment. it was soft and sweet, he was ever so gentle with you. after you both linger in that moment together for a long moment, you slowly pull back. you stare up at him, interlocking eyes together. you settled your hands on viktor’s shoulders, trying not to put too much pressure on him. he could tell you were afraid of somehow breaking him, even though that wouldn't be totally possible. "you don't have to be so careful, i won't break." he reassured. you slightly nodded your head in response. with that being said, you felt a bit more free flowing, although you still were hesitant and careful. you brushed over the moles on his face, delicately circling them in admiration. in contrast to his eye bags, the other features of his face were quite serene. you admired every bit of his complexion. in your eyes, he was beautiful. you started placing kissing on his moles on his face. during this very moment, viktor's heart was racing. he could wholeheartedly feel it in his chest, he thought you could've heard it too. it felt heavenly to be with you. maneuvering down to his neck, you tugged down on his shirt, revealing the moles that resided on his neck. you peppered kissed down his neck, being ever so soft in your movements. whilst you kissed his neck, his eyelids were closed and he was savoring this moment. he tried steadying his breathing, but it felt almost as though he was losing his breath slowly.

you stopped once more to look up at him. his eyes fluttered opened and he looked at you lovingly. you could see his pupils dilate slightly as he gazed into you. he moved pieces of your front hairs and tucked them behind your ears. it allowed him to see you completely. it was clear that he'd been waiting for this moment for awhile. waiting to be able to look at you in such a way that explained his love for you, and to be able to be in your grasp. not enough words could explain his feelings, so hopefully his actions did.

you truly owe it to him. thus in this moment you nearly jump from your seat and encircled him in your arms. you wonder how you ended up so lucky. as your arms were wrapped around his neck, he held a blank expression for a split moment. this sudden form of affection made him surprised. returning back to reality, he closed his eyes and buried his head in your neck. both of your breathing slowed down, returning to a normal and calm pace. without counting time, you stayed in that position with him for a long while. enveloping yourself in the sweetness of the moment, not ever wanting to move forward from this calming moment.

[transfemme-shelterdog]

This is gonna be a fucking stupid question to ask you of all people so I apologize in advance but like…

I realized recently that my “type” is trans men… and that feels chaser-y because while I am trans I’m a trans woman, not a man… is it wrong and weird to especially like trans guys over other people or is it permissible because I’m also trans (just a diff flavor). My gut is telling me it’s wrong and that it’s chaser behavior but at the same time there’s a part of me that hopes it isn’t because it feels so nice that there exists men who are also trans. I’m very attracted to men but I avoid going for cis guys because I’m exclusively t4t… and idk knowing that there’s men out there who I share a huge life defining thing with (being trans) makes me rly like them but it feels like suuuuuch chaser behavior :(

Again this feels like a very stupid thing to ask but like, it’s kinda been bugging me a lot recently so I wanted to ask someone abt it.

Thanks for your time and best of luck in all your endeavors 🙏

Well, I'm a trans woman that really only feels attraction to trans men/mascs, when it comes to that side of things. The reason being is that I don't feel safe around cis men (way too much of a risk that they end up being transphobic with or without knowing it), and I feel like it's too much of a hassle. So, I wouldn't really ever date a cis guy.

That's totally ok, and not a problem.

Chasers of trans guys are more "Hey babe, don't take that T, body hair is gross!" "Put on this skirt for me, I wanna see you dress femme" or "No, don't get top surgery, your breasts are too nice, here let me give them a squeeze". Stuff like that is what makes a chaser a chaser. They don't respect how their partner wants to live, or present. They see trans guys as "Tomboy Lite", and try their best to prevent any masculine changes.

Mind you, there are femme trans guys, and they're valid and can dress how they want, or get whatever surgeries they want. But if a chaser is pushing them to not live how they want, that's the problem.

Your attitude sounds like mine, and that's not a problem at all. I've asked around between my husband and lots of other guys here. So long as you're respectful, you're good. T4T is valid, and honestly IMO in this climate, it's the only sensible way for a trans woman who is into men to possibly date or hook up with a man.

Chaser is about how you act, not who you're into. If you worship trans guys, you're far from a chaser.

[hcgossips]

Attention Seeker

I had to rewrite this, changing a few expressions, ‘cause they are trying to prevent me from posting about the duck in T . So I had to create different expressions for characters and events, so I can post. That means I am probably, in the right direction.

Do you believe this soap opera has continued because of an agenda? I’m starting to believe the duck decided to continue with it, because of the publicity and to tantrum the ones censuring him. He wants to tease them and continue motivating the comments and theories on social media. But, of course, I believe there’s something else. He looked miserable in the bullfighting country and the "model" looked embarrassed, blushed as if conscious of her insignificance in that restaurant photo, as if knowing she shouldn’t be there.

The duck looked destroyed in the restaurant photo, also beside his bro pretending a casual walk, which was actually staged. And, those people who greeted him weren’t there by chance and actually, on purpose, for that video. It was pathetic, as if they wanted to pass an image the duck was familiar to the place and that he could walk there as a resident. That walk around the city with the group and a caretaker pushing a supposed toddler, while the supposed female responsible seemed ashamed of the scene, walking (actually, running to avoid being in the video) far from her supposed toddler, was also staged and programmed to produce material to be posted, to go viral, so they could build a narrative that would include the unskilled and the supposed child.

Whoever is managing this is an amateur.  If not an amateur, this person apparently intends to subject the duck to humiliation. Why? And, apparently, the duck was probably bought with a deal he, after signing, couldn’t end. He, apparently, signed a deal with an NDA saying he would have to perform the unskilled's  husband and dad of her toddler That’s the only explanation. Because, he wouldn’t look that miserable if all this plot was true. But, his mistake was to, after realizing that, make decisions moved by resentment and emotions, not rationally. He ended up confusing his followers, which could have seen the truth if he had allowed it. Instead, he was arrogant, blamed them for his bad decisions, wasn’t accountable for his mistakes and started doing more mistakes based on lies, one after the other.

He was withered, flat, wilted during the press of Argylle and, specially, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, two movies he probably wouldn’t accept doing, before this circus. During Argylle, he was running from the press, saying he was being sorry for “following the lead”. He was definitely saying, “I can’t! I am being controlled”.  During TM of UW he was more comfortable doing the movie, but still restricted during press. As of the beginning of this joke with the unskilled, the duck was put in jobs (like cameos) that would be more appropriate for an actor in the beginning of his career. It was as if he was managed by an amateur trying to break him down, forcing him into jobs more appropriate for a starter. Was someone trying to give him a lesson for something he did?

There’s surely something going on. The duck always used massive promotional strategies to boost his image, producing staged materials for self-promotion to break the internet and go viral. He’s an attention seeker. So, it’s possible all that circus had one only author: The duck himself, who could have decided to make things differently this time, and stage a steady relationship with that plot by trying a different approach on his audience, without his manager knowledge. But, a scandalous photo from the unskilled was published, went viral and messed up with his promotional plans. Maybe he has been trying this for a time.

So, let’s ask: Why did KC give up on the stunt with him after 10 days? I’m saying: There’s something weird about his stunts with fake girlfriends and something very odd about this latest one. Have you asked yourself that the latest one could be carrying the guilt for something HE should be accountable for? If only she decided to talk…

[jellyskink]

Stanford Pines has somehow gotten weirder.

@whenalltheeyesopen asked if Ford gives dead animals to people he likes. I loved the idea, so he does now! Yusuf hates Ford more with every visit. Irene finds him weirdly endearing, if occasionally off-putting.