#this is perfectly normal perfectly hinged behavior

[huginsmemory]

That moment when u go ok I'm a bit unhinged about shows but it's fine and then u realize u wrote a 13 page meta post when ur beta reader and friend actually looks at it on a computer and goes dude that's 13 pages long and you're like what the absolute fuck. What do u mean it's 13 pages long. It's fine. This is fine. I'm totally normal and fine

[jynxedshapeshifter]

The really interesting thing about TGAA to me and how people treat it as a result is that it's quite historically accurate. Like obviously there are aspects of it that are played with in terms of historical accuracy (Sholmes and Iris's tech for example), but for the most part it feels pretty accurate to the turn of the 20th century in terms of how society was.

The reason this even occurred to me is because I'm playing The Adventure of the Clouded Kokoro, and when Ryunosuke mentions the domestic dispute between Joan and John, Patricia says "I can't even imagine being so horrid to the one you love." And that, there, had me like "domestic abuse like what Joan inflicted on John was probably normalized at this point in history" and I think the lack of much response regarding that specifically from anyone except Pat and I believe Ryunosuke shows that pretty well (and even then I think Pat comes off as a bit of a hypocrite for even saying "I can't imagine being so horrid to the one you love" but I digress).

Like The Great Ace Attorney very much uses multiple historically accurate attitudes — not just racism — to tell its story. It utilizes classism (to the point the overarching plot hinges on it), it utilizes the fact that in Victorian England domestic abuse was viewed as socially acceptable (in fact, based on a little research, I'd say how it's portrayed is incredibly accurate to Victorian attitudes irl), even Sholmes's attitude towards Ms. Garrideb (which, to be completely clear, is based on her behavior and not her weight, at least not consciously, but let's pretend he was consciously referring to her weight for a minute) is emblematic of the time period in which The Great Ace Attorney takes place.

The Great Ace Attorney is a story told about a Japanese man studying in Victorian England, and it's historically accurate about it. That's not to say you can't be uncomfortable in regards to certain parts of TGAA, but I also think understanding the historical context behind the game and how that drives the story is incredibly important. The racism, classism, domestic abuse, what can easily be taken as fatphobia/fat shaming (but I genuinely don't think is meant to be read that way); they're all perfectly in line with The Great Ace Attorney taking place in Victorian England. Those were normal in Victorian society and not looked down on like they are now. Looking at The Great Ace Attorney through that lens explains a lot about how the game is written, actually.

It turns a lot of the dialogue into a "This happened during this time period in England, but that doesn't mean the game's writers endorse it" and the game even critiques it, via dialogue from Susato and Ryunosuke (and occasionally other characters). I think we are very much meant to like characters like Sholmes and van Zieks, but we're also forced to acknowledge that they live in Victorian England and what isn't acceptable now is acceptable to them, because they live in Victorian England and for the story Capcom wanted to tell, it would've been dishonest to ignore what English society was like back then.

Really interesting to experience culture shock related to time period vicariously through a video game, I think.

[about-faces]

As a Batman writer, Peter Tomasi has given us so much when it comes to Harvey Dent and his relationship with Bruce, but there’s one very weird bit that I’ve never been able to talk about without spoiling a major (and completely bonkers) twist.

In Tomasi’s “Mythology” storyline, the final plot twist reveals that Bruce spends every birthday in a sensory deprivation tank with a VR hookup, brainwashing himself into living out a nightmare scenario where he’s pushed past his physical and psychological limits. It’s kinda like the Batgirl “death” episode of TNBA, only Bruce purposely does it to himself to make himself a better Batman.

So, yeah: totally normal, perfectly-hinged Bruce behavior.

In this particular VR brainwashing birthday scenario, he makes himself believe that Leslie Thompkins has been murdered and Alfred (who has not yet been really killed in Tom King’s run) is wounded and on the brink of death. Looking for answers, Bruce does what any World’s Greatest Detective would do: beat the shit out of random Arkham inmates for info.

“… is ME.” >:(

We then skip ahead past Bruce’s bloody interrogations, a choice that’s barely treated as Batman having crossed a moral line. In effect, just him being a cop-on-the-edge trope. Not one of his better moments, even if we already know this is just a computer program scenario that Bruce himself programmed.

We don’t see the actual beatings, just the aftermath. It wouldn’t even be notable to me if it weren’t for the brief moment at the end:

Bruce. Why. Why did you program a VR scenario where you beat up your tormented murderer best friend and have Harvey take your fists with a smile and a happy wave while you promise/threaten to return to beat him up some more? What does this say about you? What the hell do you even think your relationship with Harvey is at this point???

[stellasfictionalworld]

part 6.

part 7

a/n: LOVE ANDRE. finally switching pov's. gonna try my best to write andre's pov. also random, i used to hate "babe/baby" so much, but with andre i go feral over it.

also let me know if you wanna be on a tag list <333

reader x andre anderson 

cw: (i mean you’ve watched the show so) negative views of sex, reader seeing sex as a tool rather than pleasure, implied sex, toxic ex's, drugs, drinking, angst, eventual fluff,

word count: 1,780

 You slammed the door behind you, if you had super strength the hinges would have flown off the wall. Ashley had brought her new best friends over to your dorm. They ended up doing weed mixed in with some drugs. The smell was fine, you had to hide the evidence it was fine. Then you had to clean up after them, fine. Then they started to talk to you and your study session was over. Your phone buzzed in your pocket already, Ashley is probably texting you. She was probably filled with anxiety and paranoia but you were fucking over it. 

You silenced your phone and went to the library to study. It was much quieter, ignoring a fallen-over row of books from library sex, it was nice. Finally, after a couple of hours, you finished an essay and were skimming your classmates' work. Andre may have gotten special treatment for free (maybe your exchange was complicated feelings) but your peers still had to pay for your hard work. You rubbed your eyes and then looked at your phone.

Ashley’s texts were 20+ 

Are you mad?

HELLO!??

I’M SORRY!

Please come BacK

I love you

Omg 

come back. 

Omg you have to listen to Trixie’s boyfriend drama

are you coming back soon? Can youbuySNACKS?

You started to type a paragraph about your friend's shitty behavior (again) and then popped up a message. 

andre (jacket lender)

would you like to get coffee tomorrow? - 1:33 pm

You still saw him typing on the other end but your heart raced. 

how about rn?? -1:33pm

andre (jacket lender) 

yeah! meet you in 10 @ Jitter Bean Cafe? 

You smiled to yourself as you sent 

cool :) 

You shoved everything in your tote bag before practically skipping out of the library. You bit down on your lower lip to fight off a smile. You hoped it was a date and not even a single wave of anxiety could slip into your mind. Of course, you were anxious but a cage of butterflies was nothing compared to what you’d dealt with in the past. Your walk slowed across campus as you waved and smiled at your peers. 

You were on the dot, stepping into the cafe. Your eyes flitted over familiar faces huddled together to find the handsome one. He stood by the counter leaning down to look at the pastry display. You smiled to yourself while striding over to him. You tapped his shoulder and he met your eyes. His perplexed expression turned warm as he smiled at you. 

“Hey,” he said. He slipped his fidgety fingers into the pocket of his pants. 

“Hey,” you echoed back, entranced by his outfit. His sweater was soft and oversized. He wore off-white dress pants and perfectly white shoes. A watch rested on his left wrist and a black bracelet was on the other. It was weird to see him look so sharp. 

“I hope this was a good spot, for a date y’know,” he snapped you out of your thoughts. 

“It’s perfect,” you said before hooking your arm with his. He let out an exhale and his shoulders dropped. You two ordered your drinks, making small talk while waiting for your order. In between each laugh or fluttering emotion, you felt yourself slip into a safe place, with him. 

… 

“Thanks,” you say when he settles back in his seat. 

“Hm? For what?” he asked. 

“For this,” you flutter your fingers at the coffee scene, a normal date. You lick your glossed lips that taste like cherries. “It’s nice, to just be,” your smile faltered when a couple of phones were pointed in your direction. 

“Of course,” he spoke your name, bringing your attention back to him. “I’m serious about this, about you. You know that right?” Andre asked. You nodded your head, holding together a tight smile. There was pressure building up in your chest. You rubbed the fabric of your pink shirt. He patiently waited for your response. 

“Yeah, I know,” you said taking a sip of your drink. The snapping of photos irked you, peoples hushed voices behind their hands. All too familiar. “Sorry, I.I.,” you paused and took a deep breath. “I need to go to the bathroom,” you got up. 

“Sure,” Andre nodded, “you okay?” he asked. 

You didn’t answer him, already focused on escaping the curious eyes of others. You pushed open the doors to the outside and found yourself a tree to sit behind. Sure the bathroom was so secluded, but you didn’t want to go on a sob fest. You just needed air, to let whatever panic attack pass. You started to pluck the grass while one hand stayed over your chest. The tightness started to unravel. 

“Cupid,” Dylan said and your heart dropped. 

“Shit,” you said. No no no no. “Get the fuck away,” you said, eyes snapping up. 

The man’s piercing blue eyes cut through you. Your fist scrunched up your top, hiding away your bare chest from him. 

“Oh c’mon, don’t be like that. If you wanna make me cry again, do it,” he said, with a smug grin. 

“Just fuck off Dylan,” you spoke, looking for your phone. Shit. You’d left your phone in your tote bag. 

“You, don’t get to tell me what to do,” he said, crouching down to your level. He smelled like sweat and his eyes were red. He was on something again, his breath reeked. “You owe me,” he said. You wanted to gag as your back pressed up against the tree. 

…

Andre's fingers drummed against the table, his leg bounced as he sat. He blew out a long breath before looking up from his phone. You’d left 10 minutes ago, he wasn’t stupid, he knew something was wrong. A pool of regret and guilt he didn’t feel too often started to eat him up. He shut his phone off, staring at your melting cold brew. 

Was he not what you expected? Being in frat houses and using lots of liquor courage to talk to you was the norm. When you saw him sobered up as you requested, were you disappointed? He rested his chin on his knuckle and continued to bop his leg. Harsh whispers caught him and he turned to look at the other tables. Students gathered at their tables were laughing, and staring at their phones. 

“Can you believe Andre is going out with that slut?” one girl spoke. 

“Right?? But you’ve seen the pictures right? She’s fucking hot… I get it,” another girl said. The duo looked over at Andre’s table and he was already getting up. He strode over, fingers twitching by his side. They still had shitty grins on their face when he stopped in front of their table. He saw pictures of him and you, just ten minutes ago. Posted. Cupid fucking her way up the ranks.

“Delete it,” he said. 

The girl laughed in disbelief but grew serious when he stayed still. 

“Fuck this,” he said and took the phone out of her hand. She was silent as he deleted it, the damage had already been done, however he didn’t care. Andre then went on to delete all the photos from her album and deleted album. He did admire how fucking good you looked but also saw when your smile became a frown. Why didn’t you say anything to him? He then handed her back the phone which now had dents. She shamefully took it and he did the same with the other girl.

The coffee shop had gone quiet. His heart was beating fast against his chest. He turned around to see some people minding their business but others eyes were glued to him. A couple of phones were not so well hidden, he wasn’t stupid. His fingers curled by his sides as loud crackling took over the room. It sounded like multiple cans had been crushed at once. He blinked away dark spots as ringing echoed in his ears. He hummed when he was back at your table grabbing your bag. The pink tote bag with heart prints swung over his shoulder as he ordered a new cold brew. 

Andre made his way out of the coffee shop and started to text you. Then your bag buzzed and he swore under his breath. It was campus, he’d find you somewhere. He searched for 15 minutes indoors outside the coffee shop. He then saw you out the window and his heart dropped. That fucking guy, Dave, whatever the fuck his name was with you. Your wrists were in his hands as you were pressed against a tree. You looked utterly distraught as he spoke to you. Andre’s sneakers squeaked against the floor and he found the nearest exit. 

…

“Hey!” Andre yelled. Both you and Dylan whipped your heads in his direction. You mouthed stop at Andre as Dylan let go of you. He gave you a questionable look before slowing his pace to a jog.

“Is this your new boyfriend? Really?” Dylan said, seeming hurt. His eyes were still red, and glassy, and dried tears stained his face. You pushed Dylan off you and put yourself between him and Andre. 

“What the fuck was that?” Andre asked, stopping in front of you. His chest rose and fell as his eyes flicked to Dylan and then you. “Are you okay?” His voice was softer. Your toxic ex scoffed, while your date awaited your response. 

“I’m okay,” you said and his shoulders dropped. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?” you said quietly. You looked past Andre, already seeing students stop and gawk at the sight. This time, Andre clocked it and nodded. You turned around to face Dylan. He didn’t meet your eyes, shame, and guilt evident in his eyes.

Sighing, you turned back to Andre and he wrapped his arm around your shoulders. You leaned into his touch, noticing your tote bag slung over his shoulder. He handed you a slightly melted cold brew, apologizing he didn’t find you sooner. Warmth filled in your chest as you looked up at him. His eyes were straight ahead, his jaw locked. He caught you out of the corner of his eye and melted.

“If they’re gonna look, let’s give them something to look at,” he whispered. Your heart jumped. His lips brushed your cheek, your face flushed, and you smiled. His hand trailed to your waist, his hold was firm but gentle.

“Is this okay?” he asked. 

“Mhm,” you managed, taking a sip of your coffee. “Thanks,” you looked up at him, wondering if you should pinch yourself. No way this man was fucking real. 

“Anything for you, baby,” he said.

[mousy-nona]

All of God's Angels p. 3/5

I think you will like His newest creation, Gabriel mused. I’ve foreseen a challenge for you. An equal. A partner, tall and beautiful and terrible, and crowned in red. // Or Lucifer tries to save a life, and ends up making a deal instead.

All parts up on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53800450/chapters/136173307

Contrary to popular belief, Lucifer hadn’t always hated humans. Truth be told, he still didn’t. He was disappointed in their bloody, chaotic, meaningless choices, but he didn’t think they were all bad. 

Humans fought. They felt. They changed. They dreamed. Angels, on the other hand, were like static figurines, perfect from inception, nothing but boring old tools meant to forge the Father’s holy vision. 

Was it little wonder why he was so drawn to Alastor? On the outside, the demon was everything he despised about humanity. He was cruel and sadistic to the extreme, selfish and cutthroat. Hell had been made to contain sinners like him. He was exactly why Lucifer regretted setting Eve free — the embodiment of greed and pride and pain for the sake of pain.

But he was also everything Lucifer loved about humans. The ingenuity. The ambition. He could sing like the goddamn stars and whip out a sonnet or two after. He was genteel and sophisticated, with a quick wit and a silver tongue sharp enough to cut the Devil. And he was already starting to change – not a lot, not at his core, but the gentle atmosphere of the hotel and Charlie’s endless optimism were softening his hard edges. 

A monster and a gentleman. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for the price of one. Had there ever been a more fascinating man? 

He could not die. He could not die. Not now, not when Lucifer had just found him. 

But oh, Death was close. Lucifer could feel his scythe trembling nearby, ready to swing. This injury…even in the dim light of the fireflies, he could see it ran to the very heart of Alastor. Literally. His chest gaped open where Adam’s blast had run him through, exposing him down to his very bones and his twitching cardiac muscles. An inch to the left, and he would have never walked away from the battle. An open heart, flayed open for all the world to see! 

Good Lord, the strength it must have taken to walk around as if nothing was wrong. Lucifer shuddered, blanching at the mere thought. If their positions had been reversed, would he be able to do such a thing?

(No. He wouldn’t.)

“This isn’t a freak show, my good fellow,” his radio static came from the darkness, somehow, impossibly, still measured and even. “If you’ve got an opinion, now’s the time to share it.”

“Y-y-you–” Lucifer shook his head, annoyed at the stutter. How was he the one showing weakness when Alastor was laid up in bed with his chest carved in half? “It hasssn’t healed at all!”

He stopped abruptly at the hiss and felt his tongue. It was forked. What the Hell? Slowly, he reached up and felt his head…where twin horns protruded from under his hat. 

He’d transformed? When? 

With an effort, he managed to shrink himself back to his normal shape, puzzled at his complete lack of control. That kind of behavior was unlike him. 

“I assumed that’s what you were here for,” came the exasperated reply. “Considering angelic power is your area of expertise, not mine.” 

“I’ll need to come closer–” 

“No need. You can see perfectly fine from where you are.” 

“I can’t help you if I can’t see!” Lucifer snapped.

“Then leave.”

Static and green symbols flashed across the room. The muggy warmth of the bayou turned ice cold as a surge of shadow swept the door open. It banged mournfully on its hinges, letting out a ghostly wail of protest. 

Lucifer straightened, feeling his own fire flicker in response. “Do you really want to die so badly? Why are you being so goddamn stubborn?”

“Why. Are. You?” 

Twin radio dials lit up the far corner with a hellish red beam. Lucifer could see Alastor’s face in full for the first time – and it scared him. 

He wasn’t scared for Alastor. He was scared for himself.

Alastor was grinning. It was the smile of the void, the smile of the shadow and the dark and the monster beneath your bed a second before they struck. It was the smile of a Dealmaker, right before they revealed their hand. Somehow, impossibly, it was Alastor that held all the cards – even though it was Alastor who was knocking on Death’s door. 

How? How the Hell was he doing it? 

And maybe something was deeply wrong with Lucifer, but he found himself leaning forward, a shock of affection washing over his long-dead heart. This was what it meant to be human. This is why he gave Eve the apple. 

All that potential. Finally realized.

Then Alastor said it. Those famous last words. “Let’s make a deal, shall we?” 

Lucifer gulped, his heart beating double time. He was sure Alastor could hear it. “A deal? For my soul?” He was torn between laughing incredulously at Alastor’s sheer gall and fighting the urge to finish the job Adam had started. Did he even have a soul to give?

(Why was he even considering it?)

“Why no! Why must everyone jump to such severe conclusions?” The fucker sounded downright jolly. “Just a gentleman’s agreement, that’s all. A promise for a promise. No souls involved!” 

“And why should I agree to that? I’m trying to help you.” 

“Yes, that’s true. But you seem rather…insistent on this healing business. And while I must admit I’m in a hurry to, ah, be whole again – I’m in no hurry to do it your way!”

Lucifer gaped. “You must be joking. You’re bleeding out in front of me!” 

“A small miscalculation. I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes before, I assure you.” 

Was he bluffing? Was he serious? Try as he might, Lucifer couldn’t get a read on him. Alastor was like this – always half-there, a shadow that flitted away every time he tried to get close, defying reason, defying explanation. 

Would he really risk death – just to one up him? 

Lucifer didn’t know. And Jesus flipping Christ , why did that excite him so much?

There was no reason for him to play the Radio Demon’s games. He could leave. He could leave right now and he opened his mouth to tell that smug, no-good asshole exactly that –

But what came out of his mouth was, “What kind of a deal?” 

The air turned hot and sticky. Shadows swirled around him, barely-there faces licking their chops in anticipation. Alastor’s voice seemed to grow and deepen, his presence so thick it was a wonder Lucifer didn’t choke on it. “Like I said before, just a promise. You get to heal me, and I – well, I haven’t quite decided what I’d like to receive in return.” His smile was neon green and eager. “Perhaps you’ll take a carte blanche?”

The bastard wanted a blank check to cash in on a rainy day. That was dangerous. Lucifer would basically be handing him the keys to the castle. He couldn’t agree to this. 

“There must be something you want,” he tried to reason with the beast. “Power? Wealth? Your enemies destroyed, in a matter of seconds?” 

But Alastor, that black-hearted creature of the deep, shook his head. “My bargain, my terms, your Majesty . What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

He should leave. He needed to leave . But he could still hear Alastor’s lifeblood drip drip dripping away on the floorboards – see every beat of the man’s heart pulse against the muggy bayou air – sense Alastor’s power ebbing at the edges, being spun away into nothingness that even his jovial facade couldn’t hide…

Alastor had upped the stakes with his life. And Lucifer wasn’t quite willing to take that wager. 

“On one condition. I choose the method of healing. You aren’t allowed to fight me on it.” 

Alastor pondered those terms for a minute, then held out his hand. 

“We have a deal.” 

[haleigh-sloth]

I know I asked this a while ago and I’m sorry to bring it up again but I’m still having trouble understanding AFO’s backstory literarily. I don’t know why Hori would give us a backstory that shows he is just as traumatized as the League if not more and then not do anything with it. Plus the way the fans interpreted it was that AFO was just born evil. I’m not sure why Hori felt the need to write this if he wasn’t going to treat AFO like a human being the same as the rest of the characters, and make it so he had zero knowledge of right and wrong same as Tenko, if he didn’t want there to be some sort of humanity there. Any guesses? I’m genuinely at a loss here.

This is a tough one, and it's understandable to feel conflicted over it.

I think the most important thing to remember is that the manga isn't over yet, AFO isn't really gone yet, and the vestiges aren't super mega confirmed gone for good yet, AND assuming they're not gone yet, they're all in the same place as AFO at this very moment.

I think Yoichi's words describe the complexity behind AFO perfectly:

He kept Yoichi alive, however, he viewed Yoichi as his property, something he was entitled to. There is definitely nuanced feeling behind that, I mean they're brothers and the ONLY constant they had their whole lives was each other. That goes for AFO too, Yoichi was the only certain thing he had. So yeah, there is some form of twisted love there, but AFO's upbringing led to that somewhat understandable/normal feeling turning into something way beyond what we would consider acceptable lmao. And I think the thing with AFO that separates him from the other villains is the lack of compassion for others that Yoichi points out. Even though I wouldn’t call the LOV’s actions compassionate toward….anyone, even if the intent is buried deep in there, they still feel for other people and are incredibly sensitive to others. It influenced their behaviors. AFO is not phased by others.

My personal guess is that AFO will disappear by the end of the manga in the vestige, but in a more refined/dignified way than the way he did in the real world. His pathetic and dramatic death after facing Bakugo kinda made it obvious he will have another exit that will look much differently. There is no point in repeating what we already saw, so I wouldn't expect it to be anything like him having a break down. Also Bakugo won't be involved since he's not in the vestige realm, so it'll be different.

I'm thinking like....closer to Nana/Kotaro except not really any love/forgiveness/sorrow involved, more just like....idk how to describe it, but some sort of peace where he and Yoichi say good bye for good together.

I can't help but think that Bakugo kind of carried out what the 2nd user couldn't (hence the visual similarity and him reminding AFO of Kudou) and then Yoichi will carry out what he needs to by finishing him off for good and disappearing with him.

This also all hinges on my assumption that OFA is going bye-bye, which I'm in hope of so I'm biased lol.

I don't think AFO is there to thwart the themes of the story. I think he's a humanized villain whose actions and influence have far surpassed his lifespan and it's just time for him to get some form of clarity and then go.

[thattimdrakeguy]

i think ultimately the biggest problem when it comes to political elections like this is how everyone gets at each others throats, and how it's all basically a sports team

most of the population of the planet i would imagine run off of emotion and not thought

and ultimately that's what led to this elections downfall

mix that with billionaire's and influential successful people giving him praise, along with trump's theatrics, and trump made the better campaign for the general public

Do I think he ran a good campaign based on what I look for? No.

but i think a lot of people forget when you want someone's vote you can't just target people who were going to vote for you already to begin with. you have to be able to speak to people who wouldn't normally vote for you

trump is crass, a jackass, a bastard, a shit head, and fits nicely into plenty of other insults

But he knows what the general person wants to hear more I think

the general person doesn't care that he's crass in presentation, they're probably crass too. i'd imagine most people at this point are crass. i'm pretty crass sometimes to try and make a friend laugh on the occasion

and if someone likes you, they're willing to not believe accusations against you. it happens all the time in all sorts of ways. so i can't pretend to be shocked people voted for him despite the numerous amount of crimes he's committed.

because ultimately, as embarrassing as it may seem for some, sometimes you have to get down on other people's levels, and not try to seem above them

yelling about how bad white people are, and how bad christians are wasn't ever going to make them want to vote for you

i'm aware plenty of people within those demographics can see without the emotional tinted lens, and be able to tell what people really mean when saying some of the ruder things about them

but again, most people run off of emotion

you can't insult them, and not expect them to root against you. that's, to be perfectly honest, really stupid. i constantly think that's stupid, and i don't think there's any other way to look at it

you're making yourself look pretentious, and above them. you're making yourself their enemy, not someone who just wants them to understand to better themselves.

too many won't want to vote for you then

that's not going to make anyone want to understand you, if they feel you're against them naturally. it's antagonistic behavior. and there's a lot of white people and a lot of men in America. mix that with all the other hot topics that can get to them on an emotional level that could get someone on their side and you've lost them before you really begun

i know he's a literal billionaire, and not on their level at all in that sort of viewpoint

but you can't play dumb, and think getting to people on a visceral emotional level isn't gonna make them look past that. people will look past anything

is it not smart? of course

clearly people should look at the logic people bring, and their opinions on actual policies based on fact and not emotion. being hinged on emotion is not the smart way to proceed in anyway.

but stop thinking everyone thinks with logic, because they don't. they just don't. it's not how most people work. you can't play the game with ignorance to that, because you're missing the whole point on how you get more people rooting for you.

plus the inflation during biden's tenure, and kamala being in the odd spot of having to say she'll do better while not trashing the current presidency because she's the vice president, and she didn't really have a chance to look strong. she was stuck in a hard place

then add the whole rooting for your sports team thing, where it doesn't matter WHAT anyone says, and you got yourself a shit show

the best thing American can do is abolish the whole political party system, but that's incredibly unlikely to happen because of how strong the sports team is

if it was just people saying their cause, it'd be better, because then you could get someone with more nuanced opinion, that could speak and connect with different types of people based on the causes they personally care more about

but we don't have that

so it's pretty fucked.

the whole system is built and ran, and conducted, and is engaged in, very unhelpful ways. that'll likely always allow batshit crazy candidates like this to win.

[gcu-sovereign]

Posts taken from Alfred Macdonald the Swole

dating advice: I always tell my male friends — specifically male — to use Hinge and filter for women with graduate degrees. This isn't because you're filtering for smart women or whatever. Rather, there is a range of actually-unhinged behavior that women can get away with (in the sense that men will overlook it) but you can NOT do this and finish a master's program. Bachelor's programs are VERY forgiving, graduate programs are not, and women are much more judgmental of men than men are of women. So, things like: "oh I randomly traveled to Spain for a year" NOPE "oh I was in jail for 7 months because of (very muted way of saying "violating DUI probation")" NOPE "oh I moved away with a guy to Maine who I met at an anime convention so he could photograph my cosplay outf—" ABSOLUTELY NOPE When men talk about women being 'loyal' they often mean "reliable". In actuality, cheating (as long as you're honest about it right away) is for many men a forgivable mistake because, realistically, men are more familiar than women will ever be about making mistakes with their genitals. Unreliability however is something men start to develop their own tests for; I knew a guy who had a "McDonald's test" where he'd take women to McDonald's for their first date just to see her reaction. There is an upper ceiling on how unstable you can be and have an MA. EVEN IF a woman has a red flag and master's, it can't be *THAT* bad because if you dip out of an MA program they are not forgiving about letting you back in. Meanwhile, you can graduate with a BA in media studies and still be the type of woman who would impulsively stab someone. There is a MUCH WIDER RANGE of unhinged behavior society tolerates from women than it does from men. If you want to find stable women, use an app that lets you sort by graduate degree. Note what I am saying applies specifically to dating apps, because you can find women who have manicured their profile to look perfectly fine. If you know a woman in real life, that's obviously different. But if you are a guy, unchecking "graduate degree" unleashes a Biblical flood of Cluster B personality disorders in your feed. The ONLY TIME I think this advice does not apply is if you live in a small-medium sized city, like say 100,000 population. Otherwise, I always make graduate degrees a requirement. I will date a literal communist with an MA in education over a bach-only biology grad, and I've done this enough that I swear by it.

I am somewhat inclined to believe Alfred on this, as his bedpost Number is very high by normal standards of sluttiness.

[shamebats]

As a guy who kept all his phones until they were literally unusable bc having to ask my parents to buy anything for me was worse & a former best friend to a girl with the worst unmedicated ADHD I've ever seen to this day, I have some realistic options as to how to write a hot mess of a character whose dumb phone is always very broken:

The plastic cover on the back is barely holding on so every time the phone gets dropped, which is often bc that's how it broke in the first place, it falls off & flies in a random direction & so does the battery & sometimes also the sim card so the owner has to go hunt down all the parts & put the phone back together. The phone works perfectly fine once it turns back on.

They're always asking if anyone has a charger for their specific brand of phone, it's probably a Nokia, Motorola or Samsung (there were no universal USB c chargers yet, every brand had their own), or maybe an iPhone if they're rich or got it from a relative (second hand phones were extremely common, kids & old ppl especially would usually get their relatives' old phones), and they're constantly charging their ancient ass phone bc the battery is also ancient & doesnt hold a charge.

If anything is broken on the outside, it's way more likely to be the buttons than the screen. The buttons are either not working or they work but the key caps have fallen off. The camera, if there is one, is also likely to be broken. If there are any moving parts like the hinge on a flip phone, that's what's probably going to break.

It was more normal back then for someone to misplace or forget their phone at home or forget to charge it. You'd call your friend, the answering machine would say they're unavailable, then you'd run into them & they'd be like oh yeah I forgot my phone at home/my battery is dead.

Depending on the era & how broke you were, you might've not had a phone contract so you'd have to put balance on your phone for sending texts, making calls & you'd avoid ever opening anything that could connect to the internet. Your hot mess character probably constantly has low funds & refuses to call or text unless it's an emergency, to everyone's annoyance.

These types of ppl haven't gone extinct either. I recently asked my 30-something coworker wtf she was doing standing around cradling her phone in the palm of her one hand & holding the charger where it was plugged into the phone with the other & she explained that's the only way it will charge, she refuses to get a new phone bc it's too much of a hassle. Icon behavior tbh. I think it's a lot more charming than replacing your phone once a year for no reason or when it develops a single mildly inconvenient issue.

something I’ve seen in various fandoms now is young artists will draw flip phones with cracked screens. But in my experience, I have never met someone whose flip phone had a screen crack. Those screens were more like something on a calculator or a nintendo ds than like a smartphone. I was a klutz, and my first phone broke because the front half and back half came apart. Like you’d mayyyyybe see it on some of the later flip phones that only had large screens on the front because smartphones had already made them popular, but it was still way more rare.

If you wanna give a character a flip phone and show they’re clumsy, they’re more likely to have the paint scratched like hell or parts of the plastic chipped off. No more phone charms because the plastic loop broke. If the screen is broken, it would sooner not turn on anymore before the screen would have a crack in it.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

@theblacktsar I’m putting this in a reblog because I am unfortunately verbose.

I’m generally not much of a KoS/RoW enjoyer but I don’t think I’d agree with that tbh. My biggest issue with the duology is that it occupies an awkward space between almost continuing the trilogy (and therefore upending its conclusion) instead of introducing new plot but then also not wanting to actually continue it, so Alina is sidelined.

But that being said the Darkling’s portrayal didn’t seem inconsistent to me from the trilogy proper. If anything I thought RoW was pretty soft on him with how both got demoted from primary antagonist and how he got a hero’s ending.

And I wasn’t really going off of anything any other character said about his behavior. What I meant about KoS confirming his preference being for a Sun Summoner he could groom is, what I mentioned above, that we know for a fact that there are other immortal Grisha he’s met and chosen not to associate with. It implies that he doesn’t entirely want for options as far as potential community goes. TGT makes it clear that he’s fixated with Alina both for her auspicious and unique powers, but also as an immortal life companion. On top of a need for power, a primary motivation for him does appear to be loneliness. When Alina loses her power, he still has lumiya and iirc he is around long enough to see the other sun summoners gaining their powers. But he’s devastated anyway because Alina isn’t going to fit into that narrative he created for himself of like a super special unique soulmate for him.

Part of that narrative hinges on the uniqueness of sun summoning, and it being complimentary to his own power (clearly they’re meant to be!) and that she’s the answer to his age old problem of the Shadow Fold. But also that her youth means that her personality is yet malleable and that she doesn’t have any of existing ties that matter. (To him lol.) I just don’t think he’d trust anyone who’d have an identity of their own that they’ve come into— aka anyone remotely nearing his own age or older— or anyone that’s been shaped by Baghra, so to speak.

So idk I think he wants someone that is his, that cannot be threatened by anyone or anything else, stemming both from abandonment issues and a severe need for control. That would result in him being fairly normal, or at least dismissive of, a sibling or any Grisha that is not completely within his control in one form or another.

But I do feel pretty strongly about any remotely involved relationship for him needing to begin with grooming/manipulation to make sure he is completely in control. Probably due to him spending so long being completely within his mother’s control.

Caveat that I think he’d be perfectly happy to present himself as like a kind oasis and protector to a young and impressionable sibling that was being raised by Baghra. But I just don’t think Baghra would have any more kids by the time he’s himself that cold, powerful and completely outside of her influence. And even so, her parenting style seems to hinge on uh…. extreme isolation lol. So again, I just don’t think she’d allow any sort of scenario like that, because she also needs to have total control.

Meta Question - What would have happened if the Sun Summoner was one of Baghra's kids too? Would she have controlled her? How would Aleksander react?

I just think there aren't far too many junctures where that could happen. Like I straight up can't see Baghra having any kids after the Shadow Fold exists. My reading of the canon timeline might be wrong, it's been ages since I read Language of Thorns, and I didn't like love it enough to reread lol but my understanding is that she only had other kids before Aleksander. So I could only really see an unknown older sister sun summoner. In which case she's probably off living somewhere reclusively and not keeping in contact, and therefore probably not actively under Baghra's thumb. Meanwhile I doubt Aleksander was like actively fucking insane and evil by that point. So if unaccounted for sister is like "hi I can help" then I think he'd... maybe *gasp* be normal enough about the prospect of a sun summoner at least. But also probably take it as carte blanche to continue fucking with his mostly unexplained mad science merzost experiments bc there's someone to clean it up. If-- imo more likely outcome-- sun summoner sister says nothing, or idk shows up and they later fall out, I think he'd probably still be on the look out for someone to fill that void who isn't older than him. Something vaguely posited by TGT and then made more explicit in KoS with the confirmation of other long lived Grisha/Saints that Aleksander has met, is that his obsession with Alina as Thee Sun Summoner isn't really one born of like zero other options. It's not just that he wants an immortal companion, he wants a companion he's groomed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And similarly in this scenario, I don't think he'd be happy with relying on anyone older and with their own agency. He'd still want to find someone with a sun summoning ability who he can control fully. Edit: Okay the sister in Language of Thorns is younger lol so there goes my theory about him being the youngest. I do still think that Baghra just isn't having kids post Shadow Fold (I feel like that's probably around the point where whatever is the status quo arrangement at the capital and Aleksander installing himself as The Darkling takes place. So like, whenever that happens and she's more involved with his political schemes to the point where she seems to lose all faith in him and also get depressed and get old and sit in a cottage and do nothing, I just do not think she is having kids! So the hypothetical unknown sister may be older to possibly pre shadow fold days younger, but still functionally an immortal. I generally stand by the rest of those thoughts though!

[pandavalkyrie]

like the parenting thing du jour is attachment parenting which, like gentle parenting, means whatever you want it to mean for a lot of online people but at its base means fostering a strong attachment with your child so they feel like you'll be there for them. In theory this sounds great and normal yes, I want my kid to feel safe and that I'll always be there for him.

In practice it's a way for instagram and tiktok moms to police each other and feel superior about their choices with the natural endpoint being stay at home mom as the only option.

Attachment parenting involves:

Exclusively breastfeeding. Don't even get me started on how this alone is a fucked up, conservative pushed bullshit factory but it means no bottles ever. The breastfeeding person has to wake up every night, multiple times a night. And breastfeeding can take a real long time.

Choosing a primary parent to do the vast majority of parenting. Guess which one.

Co sleeping. Lol. Lmao. No thank you! I like having an alive baby thanks. But also you will be lectured about how it's so easy to do it safely if you sleep on a mattress on the ground with no pillows, sheets, blankets, in a specific position, alone. Only one adult will do the co sleeping. Guess which one (the one breastfeeding)

Baby wearing. Like wearing the baby in a sling. All the time. No matter what.

Never letting the baby cry. This is not only impossible, it's unsustainable. I read moms talking about how the baby will cry if put down for a minute, so they don't eat all day or shower for weeks as the baby exclusively naps on them. There is a huge difference between letting a baby cry alone for hours and letting them fuss for five minutes while you take a freaking shit.

No daycare. No babysitters, not even family. You might confuse the baby about who their real mom is!

And now, a list of things I've seen people claim will ruin a kids attachment:

Dad doing literally anything

A single drop of formula

Wearing a six month old facing the world instead of you (perfectly safe at that age)

Using a car seat (so just never go anywhere even though you need to take the baby to the doctor???)

Letting the baby nap in a bassinet or crib

Taking care of your own basic needs so you don't pass out while holding the freaking baby

Like what else is the endpoint here? It's a black hole of fearmongering that your kid will grow up feeling abandoned forever no matter what you do, which is shitty, and none of this is possible if you have a job. It's tradwife garbage packaged in child development science for the social media set.

And this is just ONE example of these things.

In reality forming a strong attachment means very basic stuff like not fucking telling them your love hinges on their good behavior??? Very basic not being abusive shit??!?!! But you wouldn't know that from the way influencers push this.

Working on a unified theory about how social media parenting trends that sometimes seem progressive even are all bundling up into an anti feminist endpoint