#And how they're clearly made for like 5-10 year olds

[felinecorpse]

Can we talk about how the autism diagnosis test things are the dumbest shit in the world

[nataliasquote]

Back in time | n romanoff | winterwidow

Summary: Natasha and Bucky’s daughter seeks comfort in her Aunt Wanda as her parents go missing on a mission

Warnings: mentions of childbirth, bullying, I think that’s it?

Pairings: WinterWidow (aka my all time favourite ship)

wc: 3.1k

note: another one of my favourites, and there is a part 2! Winterwidow is my favourite ship and I definitely want to write more about them

-⧗-

There was a small knock on Wanda's bedroom door. Her head shot up from the book she was reading and she made her way over to the door. As she opened it she saw 16 year Y/n looking at the floor, clutching a very worn out teddy bear.

"Hey Y/n? You ok?" Wanda asked, opened the door fully.

"Can I come in?" the teenager whispered, still not wanting to look up.

"Of course honey. Is everything ok?" Y/n didn't say anything, choosing to climb onto Wanda's bed and dive under the covers. Wanda tilted her head at her niece's odd behaviour. "Y/n/n?"

A small hum in response came from under the duvet so Wanda resumed her place on the bed. "What's going on honey?"

There was another muffled reply which Wanda couldn't make out, so she gently pulled the covers from Y/n's face. "What was that?"

"I miss Mama and Papa" she whimpered before burying her head back into the pillow. Wanda's heart sank. There had been no word from Natasha or Bucky for months now and no one wanted to admit the worst. They'd stopped all contact which left Y/n panicking more and more everyday.

"I know baby, I know" she said, rubbing the young girl's back. "they're going to be ok-"

"How do you know that!" Y/n cried, turning around in the bed to face Wanda. "No one has heard anything. Don't lie to me. Please don't lie to me," she sobbed and tears were now streaming down her face.

"Baby I'm sorry."

The room was silent for a moment, the only sound being Y/n's sniffles.

"Can you tell me about them?"

*16 years ago*

"Wanda!" Bucky pounded on the door. "Wanda!"

"Woah woah hang on. I'm coming" The 18 year old ran to her door and was met by a very frantic and panic stricken Bucky. "What's happened?"

"It's Nat. She was shot and- she- she's with Bruce but she was shot in the stomach and I don't know if- if the baby is-"

"Hang on. Baby? What baby?"

Bucky stayed silent for a moment. "Godammit. Nat's pregnant. We didn't want to tell anyone this early on, but now I don't know what to do. What if she doesn't make it? What if the baby doesn't make it?"

Wanda grabbed Bucky by his arm and pulled him into her room, shutting the door behind him. "First of all, you need to calm down. Nat is going to be fine. She's Natasha Romanoff for god's sake. She's the strongest woman we know." Her words clearly had an effect on Bucky, who breathed out a deep breath. "And I didn't think she could get pregnant?"

Bucky shook his head as he stared at the floor. "Neither did we. That's why we weren't too careful. But somehow she is, and now..."

"Hey! Stop it!" Wanda's head tilted and Bucky gulped. He was being intimidated by an 18 year old. "Don't you dare think like that."

"Sorry" he mumbled.

"Do you know how far along she is?"

"About 4 months. She's only just showing, so we've managed to hide it. But now everyone is going to know, and Nat's going to be in danger."

"Then we protect her. Buck, look at me. We live in a building with 2 super soldiers, a guy with a powerful suit, a raging monster, an assassin, 2 enhanced people, plus a bunch of others. I think we've pretty much got it covered."

"I can't loose them Wanda. They're my girls. I- I need to go and see her. Thank you."

Wanda didn't even get a chance to respond before he raced out of the room, leaving her grinning at the news. "A girl?" She whispered to herself. "I'm gonna be an auntie!"

*5 months later*

"Fuck!" Nat screamed, her hand gripping Bucky's metal one, almost crushing the vibranium. She'd been in labour for 10 hours already, and had shouted at everyone who dared get in her way. "Get this demon out of me!”

"Nat, doll, that's our daughter you're talking about. She's not a demon-"

"You aren’t pushing a fucking watermelon out of your vagina! This is your fault!”

Bucky went to speak, but was cut off by another scream from Nat. Once the contraction had subsided, she was out of breath. "Get Wanda" she breathed. Bucky didn't dare question her. He asked JARVIS to bring Wanda down, and the Sokovian arrived in record time.

"Wanda! Can you use your magic to get this little fucker out of me!" A contraction hit her mid sentence.

Wanda stood there in shock. "Um... I'm- I'm not sure that's how it works Nat."

"I don’t care! Get it out of me!"

Bruce carefully made his way to Nat's bedside, a nervous expression on his face. "Ok, you can start pushing on the next contraction."

A scream rattled through the room as the next contraction hit Nat. She had grabbed Wanda's hand too, which unfortunately was not made of vibranium.

It took another 20 minutes before Nat had finally given birth to healthy baby girl. She was tiny and Wanda had to bite her lip to stop her from squealing in delight. Bruce handed Nat her baby and she placed her on her chest, her eyes completely transfixed on her beautiful baby. Everyone in the room left to give the new parents some space.

"She's beautiful" Bucky husked, softly stroking his daughter's head.

"Hi baby girl." Nat said as her daughter opened her eyes. "Its me, it's mama." The baby blinked slowly and her tiny hand lifted to wrap her around Nat's finger. Bucky and Nat both awed at the sight.

"Can you go and get Wanda?" Nat asked Bucky, still looking at her daughter. He nodded and went outside. "Mama's got you baby. I'm gonna protect you." She pressed a kiss to her forehead and moved her hospital gown down to lay her daughter on her chest. Her baby let out a coo as she felt her mother's skin properly for the first time.

The door opened and Nat tore her eyes away for a moment to smile at Wanda as she entered the room.

"Oh Nat, she's beautiful. Hey sweetheart" Wanda cooed as Y/N's blue-green eyes looked up at her.

As Wanda was admiring the newest addition to there family, Nat looked up at Bucky, who gave her a smile and nodded.

"Wands, we need to ask you something." The teenager looked expectant. "Will you be Y/n's godmother?"

Tears sprang to her eyes as she frantically nodded. "Yes." She squeaked. "Hello Y/n. What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

*15 years ago*

"Come on Y/n. Say mama" Nat said as she bounced Y/n on her lap. Y/n had been babbling for months now, and everyone thinks she's going to say her first word.

"No, Y/n say dada"

Y/n started babbling and she blew bubbles out of her lips, drool dangerously close to dripping on her teddy bear.

"Mama" Nat said.

"Dada" Bucky said.

"A-a-a" Y/n babbled.

"Yeah! Mama!" Nat encouraged. "Come on baby. Say mama"

"Wa-wa-wana. Wana.: Y/n said, looking directly at Wanda.

"Yes! She said Wanda!" Wanda stood up and did a victory dance, pressing kisses all over her goddaughter's face.

"No! Y/n you were supposed to say Mama!" Nat said.

"Um, no, she was going to say dada!"

Everyone chimed in, talking over the top of each other about the word they thought Y/n was going to say. But the newly 1 year old was very overwhelmed at the noise, and she started crying, her little face bright red as her fists screwed up.

Bucky quickly scooped up his daughter and brought her to his chest, rocking her slowly to calm her cries. But she wouldn't calm down. Her cried only got louder. Nat told everyone to leave, apart from Wanda who was clearly her daughter's favourite. Bucky moved to the couch and sat down, still cradling Y/n to his chest. Her wails had turned into screams and Nat's heart broke slightly. Taking a seat beside Bucky, she carefully took her daughter from him and lifted up her shirt to lay her on her chest. Her cries subsided instantly and both parents breathed a sigh of relief.

That was Nat's advantage. Y/n loved being on Nat's skin. The trio's nightly routine consisted of Bucky and Nat laying in bed watching some random movie, whilst Y/n play on Nat's naked chest in just her diaper once she’d finished feeding.

The minute Y/n made contact with Nat's skin, her hands reached out. Nat and Bucky both laughed, knowing what her action meant.

“Do you mind if I-“ Nat gestured to her chest whilst looking at Wanda who just smiled softly, shaking her head.

“Don’t let me get in the way of little miss hungry. I can come back.”

“Don’t be silly Wanda,” Nat said as she adjusted herself to allow her baby girl to latch on whilst comfortably lying in her arms. "Oh she's mama's girl alright." She said with a smirk towards a very disgruntled Bucky.

Wanda watched the way her niece’s tiny hands clutched at Natasha’s skin as she drank yet her big green eyes stared directly at her auntie."I think you'll find she's a Wanda's girl."

"Watch it Maximoff. We can very easily strip you of that title." Bucky threatened, but he had a smile on his face. He loved how everyone loved Y/n.

"I'm not sure Y/n will be very happy about that."

*15 years ago*

"That's it Y/n, keep going." Wanda was encouraging her to stack her hoops in the correct order. The 2 year old shuffled around on her bottom as she clapped with delight, her teddy bear lying in her lap. Wanda watched her for a few more minutes before Clint called her name to ask her a question.

But Y/n hated the lack of attention. Being the only baby in the compound, she was used to everyone chatting to her and playing with her. So, when she found herself without anyone, she wasn't happy. She started whining, shuffling around to pull on Wanda's sleeves. But her auntie only offered her hand for Y/n to play with, which, for the 2 year old, was not enough. She whined louder, but Wanda only wiggled her fingers more.

Y/n held onto Wanda's hand and looked around. Her mama was sat on the couch next to Steve, and the 2 were chatting happily. Y/n whined again to try and get Nat's attention. She called out "Mama" but the room was loud so Nat didn't hear her.

Being a true Romanoff, Y/n was determined to get to Nat. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled slightly but stayed standing. The chatting had died down and Tony had started recording after seeing the little avenger on her feet. But Y/n didn't notice the new quiet room. She had her eyes set on Nat. Placing one foot in front of the other, she slowly waddled over to her mama, who had slid off the couch and was sat on the floor with her arms outstretched. Y/n took a few more wobbly steps, her destination almost touchable. With one more step she was scooped up into Nat's arms and they spun around together as the room erupted into cheers.

Y/n's bubbly laugh made everyone else laugh as they all celebrated. Her face was covered in kisses from both her mama and her papa and she kicked her legs happily as she settled on Nat's lap.

Nat bounced her daughter up and down on her knee, grinning at the giggles that Y/n let out. Her scarlett red hair had formed curls on the top of her tiny head and Nat ran her fingers through them. Her little miracle was the light of her life, and she had to pinch herself every now and then.

"You did such a good job baby!" Nat praised and Y/n pressed a messy kiss to her cheek. The toddler wiggled a bit on her mother's lap before she reached her arms out to Wanda.

"Wawa" she babbled, wanting attention from her aunt. Wanda internally squealed at the nickname that she had been gifted since the beginning and scooped Y/n into her arms.

"I love you I love you I love you!" She said as she also scattered kisses over her nieces face.

*11 years ago*

"Auntie Wanda?" 5 year old Y/n asked. "I don't wanna go to school anymore."

Wanda went to sit next to Y/n, who was sat on the bottom step of the stairs. "Why's that baby? You had so much fun last week."

Y/n stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke up. "I don't like it when people are mean to me. I wanna stay with you and mama and papa. You're nice to me."

Wanda's heart broke hearing her niece so sad. "Who's mean to you baby?"

"The boys in my class. They said I'm a carrot because of my hair. And someone put paint on my card that I made for Mama so she couldn't have it anymore." Y/N reached into her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper with a picture on it. There were 2 figures in the middle, which Wanda guessed were Y/n and Nat, and the sun had been painted in the background. But there was a thick black streak crossing the middle of the painting, it was obvious it wasn't supposed to be there.

"Oh baby." Wanda pulled her niece onto her knee. "I'm sure your mama will still love it. And you know what? I love it."

"Even though it's ruined?" Y/n asked, her big green eyes looking directly at Wanda.

"Yes. Because I can see it was beautiful. Do you know who ruined it?"

Y/n shrugged, which was understandable seeing as she had only been in school for 2 weeks. "The same boy who said I was a carrot. Bu- but I told him my hair is red, not orange, but he just laughed at me. And then everyone else did too. I don't wanna have red hair anymore."

"Y/n, look at me for a second.What do you think of mommy's hair?"

"Pretty" Y/n muttered.

"And mine?"

"Pretty"

"So why isn't yours pretty?"

"Because I don't look like mama. She's pretty but I don't look like that."

"Baby you're beautiful. And I don't know who's told you you don't look like your Mama, but you do. You're both beautiful, but you're prettier to me. But not with that frown. Can I see a smile?"

Y/n flashed her gappy toothy smile and Wanda laughed.

"Let's go show Mama your picture, yeah?"

Y/n didn't give her an answer, choosing the sprint away to find her mom, leaving Wanda on the stairs, grinning to herself.

*10 years ago*

"Wands? Can I come in?" Nat was stood outside her best friend's room, her hands clasping and unclasping together.

"Yeah sure it's unlocked."

The assassin carefully made her way into the room and took a seat on the edge of Wanda's bed. She was dressed in her black widow suit ready for a mission she was about to go on. But she had an important question.

"You leaving already?" Wanda commented but Nat didn't respond. "Nat?"

"Wands I need to ask you something. And I need you to answer truthfully."

"You're scaring me Nat. What's going on?"

Nat took a deep breath, her hands fiddling with her cuffs. "Will you promise to take care of Y/n when I'm gone?"

Wanda’s brow furrowed. "Of course. You know I always do. I love your kid." Y/n was her little angel, any moment they spent together was her favourite.

"No, I don't mean when I'm on a mission Wanda. I mean if I die. Will you promise to take care of her?" The redhead assassin was trying desperately to hold back her tears. Even though her daughter wasn’t so little anymore, she was almost 7, leaving on missions never got any easier.

"Nat I-"

"Please?!"

"You're not gonna die Nat, so you don't need to ask me. I'm not-"

Nat ran her hands over her face. "I can't go on this mission unless you tell me Wanda. I trust you. Bucky trusts you. We need to know Y/n is going to be safe if something happens to us. Please? I need to know my baby girl is gonna be ok without me."

Wanda moved to sit next to Nat and wrapped her in a hug. "I'll look after Y/n. But you cannot die. If you die, I will kill you. I cant lose you Nat. Please don't go."

Nat pressed her chin on the top of Wanda's head and kissed her softly. "I'll try my hardest."

The 2 stayed there for a few minutes before JARVIS alerted Nat it was time to go.

"I need to go and say bye to Y/n. Thank you Wanda. For everything."

And with that, she was gone.

*Now*

Wanda upheld her promise, always looking after Y/n when Nat was away. And luckily, both Nat and Bucky returned from that mission. And every mission up until now.

Wanda had been telling Y/n stories for a couple of hours, and finally the teenager was fast asleep, her old teddy bear tucked under her chin. That bear had been through everything that Y/n. The 2 were inseparable.

"They loved you Y/n. And they still do. They'll come home. I know it."

Wanda pressed a kiss to Y/n's forehead and buried down under the covers, laying an arm over her niece as a way of protecting her.

"Please come home, Nat. Y/n needs you... I need you." That was the last thought Wanda sent out into the universe before she fell asleep, praying Nat or Bucky would receive and there way home.

One day, hopefully.

[downtherabbitholethatisanime]

It's 4am and too hot to sleep so you know what that means?? Time to do MATH :D

In ascendance of a bookworm they mention the price of a lot of things and the mention of 'silver coins' or 'gold coins' makes it sound like a lot right there and from the reactions of everyone else around myne it's clear she's spending alot. But I have absolutely no clue how shocked I'm supposed to be cause myne herself doesn't seem to have any problem with throwing money at things she wants. Leise, Fridas chef, actually comments on it in the side chapters of the LNs saying that a poor girl suddenly coming into a lot of money all at once has clearly skewed her sense of money.

So I'm gonna do a very simple conversion just to make the math easier

10 lions=10 cents

Small copper=10 lions=$0.10

Middle copper=100 lions=$1.00

Large copper=1,000 lions=$10.00

Small silver=10,000 lions=$100.00

Large silver=100,000 lions=$1,000.00

Small gold=1,000,000 lions=$10,000.00

Large gold=10,000,000 lions=$100,000.00

So $0.30 for some fruit at a market. Giving a 6 year old a couple dollars as thank for walking your daughter home.

After that it falls apart a bit. Tulli and mynes mom are really excited to be making $2 a hairclip to the point of pulling all nighters. Then again in the light novel myne also shows a lot of surprise that they're so excited over making so little. She has to rationalize with herself that in Japan small crafts like bracelets were sold for 100 yen and she later finds out that the baskets they made the year before likely paid only a couple small copper on top of the families having to provide their own materials.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this cause I'm too lazy to try to find the chapter but Ralph working part time as an apprentice brings home about 8 large copper a month. Or 80$. He's a child only working 3 out of 7 days a week so let's say people who just sign on to be full time (can't remember the term) make double as newly signed apprentices to keep math easy. That's 320$ a month

They're poor and they're not affected by late stage capitalism so this math is still fine especially since it's normal to have several working people

Lutz states later that he feels weird saving money when the most any poor commoner saves is stashing loose copper around the house for winter prep. So 5-10$ stashed here and there as emergency money.

Benno offers myne 2 small gold for the rinsham recipe as a way to help myne save for her devouring. She raises it to 3 and benno, a rich store owner, is incapable of going higher. With this conversion he offered 20,000$ and agreed to 30,000$. Given the circumstances the conversion still holds pretty well

Apprentice outfits for Lutz and myne are either 8 or 11 small silver I can't remember. So between 800 and 1,100$ for hand stitched work clothes for a high end store. Which means it has to be made with higher quality materials and made to order.

So when myne offers a large gold to enter the temple she's offering $100,000. It's no wonder everyone was shocked

Slight spoilers

I'm pretty sure the reward for helping Angelica pass her classes was a small gold for Damuel and Bridgette and a recipe for Cornelius. Thats 10,000$, enough to make a poor lay noble like Damuel weep tears of joy cause he can finally pay off a debt.

She tells the other dutchys she spent 18 LARGE gold on making a book of another dutchys history. She spent $1,800,000 on materials for a hobby (of course it was less for her since she made the stuff in her own workshop but no one else knows that and shes not about to explain it)

This girl is absolutely insane with money no wonder everyone is speechless

Someone add more examples cause thinking it out like this is actually so funny

[ghostedgrim]

Chapter 1

Awoken

Warning-death of child, heart gets ripped out, acid poured in eyes, abusive father, talk of murdering, child marriage. Story currently takes place over a thousand years before present-day jujutsu kaisen

When I was 10 years old, I started to see vague figures, transparent and of a faint blue color. They always made these muffled sounds that I could never understand. It was like they were underwater. For three years, I tried to focus more on these...things to learn what they are. Even at 13 years old, I never figured it out. They had a mind of their own, and sometimes it felt like they were watching me. I told my father, hoping he could help me, but he locked me in a room. The next day, I was taken to the town square and burned alive.

   I'm 7 years old, and these ghastly figures have existed for as long as I can remember. One chased me through the woods yesterday. I slipped on some mud and slammed my head onto a rock.

   I'm 5 years old, and these ghastly figures can't touch me, but they talk, and they can see me. My family is rich, and despite me being a girl, they teach me to read. By the age of 10, I still haven't learned anything about these creatures. I never told my parents. There's a feeling inside me, warning me that such a confession would lead them to killing me. At 12, I can see the creatures more clearly, and I've come to realize they are the spirits of long dead humans trapped in purgatory. I learned of a boy who also saw creatures nobody else could. In the short time I knew him, I learned that the creatures I saw weren't all the same that he claimed to see. A week later, I was sitting in my family's garden when I heard screams. Looking up from my book, I saw smoke stain the sky. My village was burnt to the ground by creatures nobody except me, and the boy could see. It didn't matter. He died, and now I lay on the ground, looking at the strange creature who ripped my heart out of my chest.

  Not all the creatures I see are spirits. Most are, but the others are curses. I'm only 14, but I've learned how to communicate with the spirits, and I can see them clearly. As for the curses, they don't speak, just make sounds, and I've learned to ignore them. The people in my village question my sanity, I've heard whispers about Jujitsu and curse users, but I hardly listen. Sometimes, there is this film that I see, and I never understand it. The film looks almost like a curtain where light is somewhat distorted, and when I touch it, all I feel is sharp cold air. I never speak around men, I dress pretty, I move with practiced elegance, I help my mother take care of my father and brothers. I was supposed to be married when I was 13, but due to the rumors of my sanity, I'm yet to find a suitor.

   My family is visiting a village that burnt down 15 years ago. According to my father, he had a little sister who was amongst the victims who died. As much as I tried to act appropriately, walk calm and quiet, I couldn't. This Damm spirit would not stop following me around and referring to me as her daughter.

   "Father, may I know the his -"

   "Why are you talking, Fuyuko? I told you to be silent," my father continued mumbling something before continuing our walk. My mother sent me a warning glare, and my three brothers smiled at me as if they had won a game. This is stupid, this is so fucking stupid.

   "Fuyuko? That is the name they gave you? Sakura was far more beautiful, my flower." The spirit circles around me trying to fix my hair, but her hands just phase through me. I try to swat her away but, of course, it does nothing. "Sakura darling, these poor people don't appreciate you, they don't even allow you a proper education. All they're doing is turning you into a useless bride to sell off for money."

"Will you shut up, and my name is Fuyuko, not Sa-."

   "Fuyuko! I should not have to remind you to stay silent," My father hisses out, and grips my wrist, "Who are you even speaking to." I had no idea how to explain myself. How would I even tell him I'm speaking to a ghost that claims to be my mother, that this entire town is familiar?

"Speak!" Spit flies from his mouth.

  "I... I see creatures that other people don't." My father slams my mother into the wall, my brothers start laughing saying mom fucked up now. I honestly want to vomit. Even the ghost looks appalled.

   "We'll marry her off for free at this fucking rate. Now get out of my sight," My mother and I stand frozen, "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

  A week later, we return home. I helped mom make dinner. We eat at the table in silence. My father announces he's found me a husband. Whoever bought me from him must've been desperate for a wife or concubine. Good riddance, I'm ready to be free of this shit hole. Perhaps I'll sneak poison into mom's tea so she doesn't have to suffer once I'm gone, father has already accused her of cheating. Poison is certainly better than rocks. After dinner my mother bathes me and I'm sent to bed.

  "Sakura! Fuyuko, wake up! My child, you must wake up!"

   "Hold her down, boys. Make sure she can't move or fight back."

  "Sakura!"

   My eyes are forced open by rough hands. My arms are tied, my legs held down. My father stands above me holding a vial. The ghost is utterly losing her shit.

  "Father -" a slap to my face silences me.

  "Just one more precaution to ensure that boy keeps you, I never want to see you again. You're a witch, a freak! You are not my daughter." He tilts the vial, one drop per eye. It burns, and I can feel my eyes dissolving. The ghost enters my youngest brother, and he drops dead, she does the same to my oldest brother. My vision is gone, I'm screaming in pain. I can't see, but I can still see the ghost as she kills my third brother. I can see their ghosts decend. My father ties me down and runs out of the room.

   My vision is gone, but I can see spirits, not just humans, but also the spirits within the plants, the trees, and the river near by, I can see the souls of animals. I can see a curse, sitting on the ceiling above my bed. I wait for it to kill me, but instead it runs.

~~~~

Thank you for reading, I intend for this story to be dark. There is death, torture, implied SA, cannibalism, abuse. Jujutsu is a dark universe, and that will be shown in this story. Also it's Sukuna x Oc, so the cannibalism is to be expected.

   I am currently writing another fic, and making a discord server and preparing for my high school graduation, so updates will be slow.

[sapphic-agent]

Ooh, we're talking about Rei? Alright, here we go!

The Todoroki family arc WAS one of the greater aspects of MHA. Keyword: was. It was great until Horikoshi decides to redeem Endeavor. The same man who practically bought his wife. The same man who neglected his three other children, Fuyumi was parentified, neglected Toya and Natso, Toya had constant breaks of his neglect, made a 5-year-old Shoto THROW UP from training so hard, physically and emotionally abused the shit out of his wife where she was on the verge of a mental breakdown everyday. Like, it's so disgusting, honestly. It's a slap in the fact to all of their trauma. Like Endeavor had YEARS to change, but randomly wants to change??? Like dude gave zero shits that Toya "DIED" via from his mental breakdown of his flames and carried on like nothing fucking happened. Also, I just wanna say people who also villainize Fuyumi can also get a big fuck you. Fuyumi just wanted a normal ass family and pushed all of her feelings in her traditional, sexist household. People react to trauma in different ways. Sure, Fuyumi doesn't always handle things the greatest, but the girl was made to look over her siblings at a young ass age. The problem with redeeming Endeavor is that, there's just somethings you can't say sorry for or fucking atone for. Buying your wife, neglecting all three of your kids, physically abusing your youngest son, physically and emotionally abusing your wife then locking her away from her children for 10 years is just not grounds to redeem someone. I thought MHA was good because Shoto saying fuck you to his dad and not forgiving was so refreshing but then paints Natsuo as the bad guy for not forgiving him, and having Shoto consider forgiving his father within one FUCKING YEAR after YEARS of abuse is just baffling to me. Ik Horikoshi is shit on writing women, but, I want to know what Rei is like outside of her dynamic of being a mom. I wanna know what her true personality is, because her abuse doesn't define her. I wanna also know more about Fuyumi because it's clear to me her parentification even carried over into adult, and even with her teaching elementary kids. Fuyumi also deserves to be pissed off at Endeavor. Shoto, Natsuo, and Dabi have shown them being PISSED at Endeavor, and they have EVERY right to. I just wanna see Fuyumi growing out of her parentification Endeavor clearly put her through.

fuck endeavor and his big toe looking ass People can change, yes. But not abusers who do the most godawful things to their family and don't atone for it. Fuck Endeavor.

Well said, anon👏🏾

I agree that the Todoroki past was a really good aspect of the MHA world before they redeemed Endeavor. It was a great aspect of world-building and it was refreshing seeing a character that wasn't begging for their abusive parent's love or acceptance. Then, 4/5 of his victims decided to rally around him and support him for the mess he created...

Why.

I'm actually really glad you brought up Fuyumi because I agree. She wasn't only neglected, she was parentified. And this wasn't something that happened when Touya died or Rei was committed, via the Touya flashback her parentification started at least around the time Natsu was born. She wants a normal family because it's the only way she knows how to cope with that childhood trauma (yes, parentification is traumatic). Yes, she doesn't go about it in a great way but we need to stop expecting victims to react perfectly. Nastu and Shoto made the choice to play nice to make her happy, she didn't force or demand them to.

Fuyumi, overall, deserves more agency. It would have been great for both her and Rei to be something outside of their trauma and supporting their abuser. They also deserve to be angry.

(I've noticed that Hori doesn't really make women in his story angry. I mean, Mirko sometimes but that's more her gag than anything. They all either cry or when they're being "strong" he just gives them this face 😐 (I'm not exaggerating: Rei, Momo, Inko, Uraraka, etc.) I mean, I don't expect a shonen mamgaka to know how to write feminine rage well, but MHA is just pathetic when it comes to this)

Hori got me fucked up for the way he treats Natsu. He's the only one able to see last the trauma/abuse (probably because he was the most removed from it) to be able to make healthy choices and create boundaries. Yet Hori over here wants to paint him in a negative light for calling out Endeavor repeatedly. It's the same thing with people who criticize Bakugou; they're made out to be in the wrong (Monoma, the pros, the journalists, etc.) even though what they're saying is completely valid.

I would also like to point out that Endeavor only changed once he got what he wanted. Not when his son died because of him. If he was going to really change, don't you think it should have been when his actions resulted in dire consequences?

[quasiquack666]

Chapter 300 Thoughts:

Contains spoilers so I'll hide this under the break.

(Screen readers stop now)

— Already hate that Gestella was immediately sad as fuck about Kayden defending Jiyoung. Holy shit what is with the writing, she is literally like a 50-year-old woman who barely knows him. My face is permanently smacked into my palm.

— Meanwhile, I actually love Gestella herself. 'No point in looking for someone who decided to leave'? It's wise but also hints at sorrow. I really love her. I haven't known her that long but she's definitely a favourite already. Gestella hits different; she's super hot but I also like her moments of depth and think she's a great character.

— Literally the chemistry between Gestella's Handmaiden and Gestella is more compelling than her and Kayden. They're lesbians, your honor. Kayden can fuck off kindly.

— Handmaiden is a super cool sidekick character, actually. She's getting a lot more personality and development than I thought she would. I definitely need a name for her though, like please writers, name drop? Why does Blues get a name so far but she doesn't?

— I love the Awakener world lore, with Gestella seemingly isolated in comparison to the other Top Ten. It's really neat; perhaps she's afraid of letting people close to her that she's unsure are loyal. Because Handmaiden and Blues seem generally loyal, even though Blues is bonkers. But maybe she values the general loyalty?

— The characterization of Blues is super interesting too. He seemed bonkers, like most of the other antagonists, and he is. But he actually does seem to care about Gestella, similar to Handmaiden girl. I mean, he's clearly obsessive and weird, but it's a bit more nuanced? He was actually in tears. I wonder what part of his past made him obsessed with serving her? (Also applies to Pluton and Handmaiden; I really wanna know).

— Jiyoung slaying is always welcome to my humble eyeballs.

— The 300th Chapter extra art is fantastic, I love it.

Overall Impression:

I don't really see how this advances the original plot of Eleceed, not gonna lie. Like what happened to the Jiwoo family arcs, and why did Subin + Jisuk + Wooin immediately vanish from the plotline again, and why is there more of a focus on romance in the recent chapters than the actual plotline?

Kayden did not need a love interest, he should be able to just be a cute dad to his son and take care of cats and love having a home? Seriously.

Nevermind that adding more characters is frustrating because we barely get information on characters who are already in the plotline. Iseul has poofed into an animal or something, Delein is irrelevant despite being the literal first major arc, Cain is gone, Arthur is gone, Vatore is off the planet, Amyeong has become one with the shadows, Subin + Jisuk + Wooin are barely existing anymore. What happened to those initial, extremely important character development arcs? Now it feels like we get a character, then maybe 5-10 chapters on them, and then they vanish.

Like we haven't even had an explanation of Gestella and Pluton's relationship that led to Pluton going to kill/challenge Kayden in the first place. What the fuck, where is that? That's kinda more important than the romance letter bullshit.

Don't get me wrong, I've loved this webcomic enough to write 30+ fanfictions on it and constantly rant to every online Eleceed fan I know. So I'm not a hater, I'm a lover.

But where the fuck is the stuff I actually LOVE?

[frenchgremlim1808]

Results from the shinnie test

So reminder for anyone who forgotten or didn't see it a week ago i made a test for shinnies, to know what and who is the average shinnies. This is my first one but i do intend to make one about other character one day. The results came and i made some silly math and schematic representation of the vote.

Question 1: What is your gender identity ?

We can see that the poll was one in majority by enbies. I've counted and more than 64.2 % of the poll is constituted of queer identity without counting the questioning poll because if we count it too then that would make 77.4. One thing that shocked me was the lack of trans women, where were you girls?!!!

Winner: Nonbinary

Question 2: What is your age ?

So i predicted it, the yttd fandom consist mainly of teen and young adults, but i'm happy that a majority of the shinnies are between 15 to 18, but still there is a majority of 10 to 15 years old in the shinnie fandom since they are second. Also to the two fetuses that voted here(under ten) vanish, please you newborns!!

Winner: 15 to 18

Question 3: Are you neurodivergent ?

I mean were talking about shinnies, like people who relate to shin, so mostly autistic goobers. And the big maybe part come from the fact that a lot of them are on the younger side so they didn't get an official diagnosis.

Winner: yes

Question 4: Do you have a physical illments ?

Just gonna say it i don't have physical issues i just have no muscles and i suck so hard at sports. I know most shinnies are just like me, don't lie. Also for a minute i thought of doing a "do you have a iron/vitamins deficiency poll", it would have probably have a higher vote in yes since i mean....... shinies you know.....they....we.. You know.

( i have iron deficiency........😭)

Winner: tie between yes and no

Question 5) DO you have a job?

If you said yes as adults honestly where are you working? I know most of the no adults are probably in school considering the 18 to 25 ratio in the second question. And to the minors who work already kudos to you, you are the superior shinnie!

Winner: no i'm a minor

Question 6) Are you on the geek/weeb/ tech savy spetrum ?

The thing that chocked me in that poll is the people who aren't any of these. I'm a big geek so a niche rpg video game is exactly my style, weebs can appreciate the mix of original ideas with some anime archetype in the game, but the people that have none of this like how did you find this game ? Yttd is pretty niche honestly, so normies finding this game is pretty insane

Winner: Two of them

Question 7: Are you good at sports ( lmao)

This is a shin poll what did you think?

Winner: No (lol)

Question 8) Are you a dumbass like shin in social situations?

So personally i'm like him in some situation but most of the time i have learned something he clearly did not get, backing down instead of doubling down the stupidity and lies.

So in conclusion: The average Shinnie is a nonbinary, 15 to 18 year old, neurodivergent, either physically ill or not,doesn't have a job ( since they're teens), is a nerd, sucks at sports and of course is a little dumbass like shin.

This was pretty interesting to do! So if you have most of these traits you ARE the average shinnie.

Here the link to the polls if somebody wanna watch the exact results

And if you have an idea for another character please inform me.

[ironychan]

Scary Monsters

@dysphoria-sweatshirt @30spiders @sweatersexual @angrylittlesliceofpizza @writer652

Part 1/? - Rocco’s Closet

Part 2/? - School for Monsters

Part 3/? - The Waternoose Family

Part 4/? - The Terrifying Humans

Part 5/? - Hiding Places

Part 6/? - Nobody’s Fault

Part 7/? - Edge of Disaster

Part 8/? - Caged Monsters

Part 9/? - The Journey Home

Part 10/? - Portorosso

Part 11/? - A New Family

Faustina Visconti was in her early forties, with a tower of bottle-blonde hair and a fondness for bright-coloured dresses and deep red lipstick that made many of the more conservative types in Portorosso look askance at her. Giulia had always found her polite but rather condescending, as if she believed Giulia to be only six or seven years old.

Today was no different, as the woman opened the door and smiled down at her guest. “Why, thank you, Giulia,” she said, taking the box of fish from her. “Have they found your little monster friends yet?”

“Yes, Signora Visconti,” Giulia replied. “They're just fine.” Hopefully, she could finish this interaction quickly, before Harry had time to do anything.

“Oh, that's a relief,” said Signora Visconti.

“Yes, it is,” Giulia nodded. “But I've got lots to do today so I can't really stay and chat. I'll...”

It was too late, however. Harry had heard the woman's voice, and abandoned Ercole to his Vespa. He scuttled up next to Giulia and looked at Faustina hopefully.

“Are you Ercole's mom?” he asked.

Giulia held her breath. How would Signora Visconti react? Would she scream, like several others had done? What would Harry do if she did? Would he finally realize he didn't belong here and needed to go home, like Luca and Alberto said?

“Oh, my goodness!” Faustina exclaimed. “What kind of monster are you?”

She was clearly startled, but she did not use the word monster in a pejorative way. As when she'd referred to Luca and Alberto a moment ago, she seemed to use it the way sea monsters used land monster as an alternative word for human, as a way of describing something that was clearly a person but not like themselves.

“This is Harry Waternoose,” said Giulia, trying not to sigh. “He's the kind of monster that hides in little kids' closets.”

“He is?” asked Faustina with a frown. “When Ercole was little he thought he had a monster in his closet, but he grew out of that.”

“I never had a closet,” said Giulia. “Although one of my friends at school used to think he had a monster under his bed. Are there monsters under beds, too?” she asked Harry.

“Of course not,” he replied, “don't be silly.” Harry directed a sharp-toothed smile at Faustina. “I came here with Luca and Alberto. Alberto told me his dad was terrible, so he found a human to be his new dad. My Dad said he'll never be proud of me, so I decided I also needed new parents. Do you want another son?”

“We... we never considered it,” Faustina admitted. “How old are you, Harry?”

“Eleven,” the little monster replied. “I'm in the sixth grade.”

Faustina nodded. “What do you eat?” she asked.

“Candy,” Harry said immediately.

“He seems to eat whatever we eat,” Giulia said, not about to let Harry get away with that.

Ercole had made sure his Vespa was safe, and now came up the path to see what was going on.

“Giulia said you're the people in town with the most money,” Harry said, “so I figure you can afford to take in another child.” He did his best to look adorable. Giulia was not convinced.

“Oh... I don't know,” said Faustina. “I'd have to talk to Aristide.”

Giulia's mouth fell open. She wasn't actually considering it, was she?

“Could you please?” asked Harry. “I've been staying with Signor Marcovaldo, but they don't have much room and I don't like to be in the way.”

“I will,” Faustina promised. “Ercole, what would you think of having a little brother?”

“You can't be serious, Mamma!” Ercole protested.

“I always did want a big family, but life has a way of intervening,” Faustina said. “He's a rather cute little fellow, isn't he?”

Harry beamed.

“He's not cute,” said Ercole, disgusted. “He's just a bug.”

“Well, bugs need mothers, too,” said Faustina. “Thank you again, Giulia, and Harry, so nice to have met you! Perhaps you could join us for supper tonight, and we can get to know you.”

“I'd love to!” Harry chirped.

Giulia couldn't believe what she was hearing. “Aren't you having guests?” she asked, pointed to the fish she'd just delivered.

“We've got some people coming in from Milano tomorrow,” Faustina told her, “these are lunch with them. Harry is welcome to come tonight.”

Giulia knew she should just be polite, but she couldn't resist poking at the situation like a loose tooth. “I thought you didn't like sea monsters,” she said. Ercole himself certainly didn't, and his parents had always seemed like they considered sea monsters to be sort of less people than they were... although they did tend to treat everybody else in town the same way.

“They're our neighbours, we're supposed to be polite to them now,” Faustina said firmly. “Anyway, this little fellow isn't quite so... fishy... as the rest. Not so slimy.”

Sea monsters were not slimy. Giulia bristled, but Harry beamed.

“You must be joking!” Ercole protested. “Mamma, look at him, we cannot have him at our table! He looks like an entree! Can you even sit in a chair?” he asked Harry, looking dubiously at his many legs.

“We'll find him some cushions or something,” Faustina decided.

Giulia shook her head. “Come on, Harry, we'll let them argue,” she said. “Let's go see if the boys have gotten anything done.”

Harry fell into step beside her, looking smug. “I was starting to think it was gonna be hard to find a new family. What with everybody here being scared of me, including you.”

“Ercole's not scared of you,” Giulia pointed out. “He just doesn't like you.”

“I think his Mom likes me better than him already,” said Harry.

“That's not hard. Even I like you better than him.”

On their way back over the hill, Giulia counted up the extra money she'd made. It was less than she'd hoped – quite a few people had been in too much of a hurry to escape Harry and hadn't given her a tip. She was pondering how she might earn some more when they spotted Luca and Alberto.

The boys were sitting on the porch of the house belonging to the two old sea monster women, Pinuccia and Concetta Aragosta. They were not working. They were drinking lemonade and eating cookies, and Alberto was stroking one of the women's pet cats.

“Working hard, huh, ragazzi?” Giulia called out to them.

“Hey! We're taking a break!” Alberto informed her.

“They said we should have some lunch, and then we can finish weeding the garden,” Luca explained.

“We'll be able to work even harder after we've had a rest,” Alberto agreed.

Concetta Aragosta opened the door and waved to Giulia. “Won't you join us, dear?”

Giulia hopped the low stone wall and headed in. Harry scurried after her, and she wondered if the women would cry out. Scares weren't supposed to be good for older people were they? What if one of them had a heart attack? Fortunately, however, they didn't seem startled at all.

“This must be your friend from that other world,” Concetta observed. “Enrico, wasn't it?”

“Call me Harry,” the monster boy said. Concetta offered her plate of treats, and Harry stuffed a pizzocato in his mouth. “Guess who's going to have dinner with the Visconti family tonight?” he said as he chewed.

“What?” asked Alberto, spitting crumbs – his mouth, too, was full. “Really?”

“Ercole's Mom thinks he's cute,” said Giulia. She took a cooking for herself.

“Lemonade?” asked Concetta.

Giulia nodded, and made a point of swallowing before she spoke aloud. “Si, grazie.”

“Me, too!” said Harry.

Alberto swallowed his mouthful. “What does Ercole think of this? Or has he met him yet?”

“They've met,” said Giulia.

“He's no problem,” said Harry firmly. He found a padded basket that had been set out for the cats, tipped a sleeping animal out of it, and settled down inside. The orange cat made a startled noise and looked around, not sure what had just happened to it. It turned in a circle, then seemed to forget the whole thing and sat down to wash its face.

“You must not have met him for very long,” said Luca dubiously.

“I can handle him.” Harry was confident.

-

Back at the Pescheria that evening, the kids counted up the money they'd earned. It was enough for two children's tickets, or one adult. If all three were going, they would need more,

“You really want to go on the train, Mom?” Luca tried. “I thought you didn't like things that moved.”

Daniela had never been on a train. She'd ridden in a car exactly once and had felt ill the whole time, but apparently she could not be budged. “I've talked it over with Helena,” she said, “and we've both agreed that you're not going back there without a grownup. She has things to do, so I have volunteered.”

Luca nodded glumly. “Then we're gonna need more money.”

“Maybe we need to check out some of the shipwrecks,” Alberto suggested. “There might be something down there we could still sell.” Most possible salvage had been cleaned out by him and his father over the past ten years, but they couldn't have found everything.

“Or we just need to do another day of work,” sighed Giulia.

Luca shook his head. “The longer it takes, the more likely something awful happens to Louise and the others.”

A clattering on the stairs made them raise their heads. Harry was not built for human-sized stairs, and the ones in the house above the Pescheria were particular steep. He'd nearly slipped, and had finally settled on descending them backwards. The kids watched as he made his way down step by step, and then strutted up to them. Helen had put his sailor suit through the laundry, so it was now clean and white and newly-pressed.

“I'm off to dinner with the Visconti family!” he said cheerfully.

“Good luck with that,” said Alberto.

“Thank you,” Harry replied, smug. He headed out. “I'll be back later, unless they decide to keep me.”

The door closed behind him.

“He's really serious about this,” Daniela observed.

“He is,” agreed Luca, grimacing. “What if they do keep him?”

“They won't,” said Alberto.

“They might,” Giulia warned. “I told you, Ercole's mom thought he was cute, and he was very polite to her. He might pull it off.”

Alberto shrugged. “Then let them have him. He and Ercole deserve each other.”

“That's a really bad idea,” said Luca. “He's not gonna be so cute anymore when he gets older. What if he grows up to be huge and venomous like his dad? He won't fit through doors.”

“I told him about Ercole's reign of terror and he didn't sound like he was worried about it at all,” Giulia said. “He kept saying he would have this town in the palm of hand.”

The boys considered that. Ercole had been bad enough. The idea of somebody taking up a similar type of bullying, while that someone also had sharp teeth and many legs and might grow to be seven or eight feet tall... that didn't bear thinking about.

“There's no way,” Alberto decided. “Once they actually get to know him, they'll realize he's kind of a jerk, and after the way Ercole turned out they won't want another one of those.”

“And he won't want anybody else adopting him because he thinks we're all peasants,” said Giulia with a scowl.

Luca could only hope they were right.

Daniela had other concerns. “How are you going to get into this museum?” she asked, and nodded across the table at Giulia's mother. “Helena said it wasn't open.”

“Not to the public,” said Helena, “but they're doing restoration work, so people are going in and out all the time. The security guards know me,” she added. “Like I said, I've been in there working on the frescoes before. They'd probably let me in.”

“What about the rest of us?” asked Luca.

“Daniela can come with me if I say she's my assistant, but I don't know about you.” Helena pursed her lips, thinking about it. “They won't want children running around.”

“Unless we're there for school!” Luca suggested. “What if we tell them we're doing a school project on the history of the building?”

“It's summer,” Giulia protested.

“But we go back in a couple of months,” said Luca. “I heard some of the older kids get assigned summer projects. Maybe they'll believe we did, too!”

“That might work, but not if it's a surprise,” Helena decided. “I'd have to give them some warning. And now are we going to get Harry in? They probably won't let me take the pram.”

“Do you have something you bring supplies in?” Giulia asked. “Maybe we can hide him in a cart or something.”

“Then there's the question of staying in,” Helena went on. “You'll need to be there at night, because you said when it's night here it's daytime in the monster world. They like to get everybody out by sunset, and they patrol the place at night so they won't have squatters.”

“We'll have to be very careful,” said Luca.

As well as insisting that she accompany the kids, Daniela was also firm about Luca coming back to the house in the bay to have dinner with his family. He grudgingly did so, but afterwards hurried right up onto the land again to talk to his friends. He looked very worried when he did.

“Mom keeps trying to talk me out of it,” he said miserably, sitting in the treehouse between Alberto and Giulia. “She keeps saying that what happened to Louise and Curtis and Sullivan isn't our responsibility, and it's Louise's fault for dragging us out of Rocco's closet in the first place.” He leaned on his knees, face in his hands. “And maybe she's right, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to help! They wouldn't be in all this trouble if Harry hadn't slammed the door on them!”

“We could just sneak away without her,” Alberto suggested.

“No way. She'd be so mad,” said Luca. “She'd send me to the Deep, or at least never let me go back to school again.” He sighed heavily. “Where's Harry? Is he still at Ercole's?”

“I guess so,” said Giulia with a shrug. He was taking an awfully long time about it, wasn't he?

“I wonder how dinner went.” Alberto snickered as he pictured it. “Him and Ercole probably fought the whole time. They're too much the same to get along.”

That was when the door in the yard below them opened, and Massimo leaned out of it to look up at them. “Bambini,” he said, “Signora Marsigliese says you have a telephone call.”

“What? All of us?” asked Albert, startled. The only time anyone ever asked for him on the telephone was when Luca and Giulia called from school.

“Yes,” said Massimo.

The kids exchanged some confused looks, then climbed down the ladder to meet Signora Marsigliese, who was at the front door. “It's your friend the crab,” she told them. “He wants to speak to you.”

Confused, the kids trooped across the piazza to the grocery shop, where the nearest telephone was. All sorts of possibilities were running through Luca's mind. Maybe Harry was hurt or in some other trouble and needed them to come rescue him. Maybe Ercole or even his father had tried to harm him. Whatever it was, Luca was pretty sure it would make this situation worse.

Signora Marsigliese handed him the phone receiver, and he put it to his ear and said, “hello?”

“Hi!” said Harry. “I'm calling to tell you they're keeping me. I told you they would! Ercole and his Dad are a little scared of me, but that's okay because it means I'll get my way.”

“Really?” asked Luca. That was better than Harry being lost or hurt, but still made for an awful feeling in the pit of Luca's stomach. They couldn't just let this happen... could they?

“Yep! Mrs. Visconti says I'm a nice young man, and Mr. Visconti says he can't deny her anything and it's not the weirdest pet he's seen!” Harry sounded very proud of himself. “And Ercole complained a lot, but it's not his house!”

“What about your own Mom and Dad?” Luca tried. “I mean... you're really never gonna see them again?”

“Nope!” said Harry. “Tell them I've found better parents in the human world – and make sure you tell my Dad that they're gonna be proud of me!”

Luca had his doubts about that. “Uh... okay,” he said. “If you change your mind, let us know. It's gonna take another day for us to earn enough money for that train trip, so if you...”

“I won't,” said Harry, and then his voie became muffled and Luca heard him call, “hey! New Mom! They need some money for the train – can we give them some?”

They couldn't hear Faustina Visconti's reply, but a moment later Harry spoke again.

“Yeah, my new Mom will hire you to pick some grapes tomorrow morning,” Harry said.

That made Luca stop and think for a moment. He knew that Alberto had done chores for the Visconti family before, and they paid very well because they wanted to continue being thought of as 'the rich people' even if that wasn't strictly true. Surely picking grapes for Signora Visconti would get them enough money plus a little extra.

“What's going on?” asked Alberto.

“Harry says Signora Visconti will pay us to pick grapes,” said Luca.

“Oh,” said Alberto, weighing up the pros and cons. The Viscontis did pay well, but then, Ercole was always around to be a pain. “Is it worth it, though?”

“Yes,” Luca insisted. “We need to rescue Louise and Curtis!”

Alberto made a terrible face, and looked at Giulia for a third opinion.

“We have to do it,” she said. “Harry doesn't belong here. We need to get him to go back to his world and we're not going to convince him over the phone. We'll have to go see him anyway, so we might as well earn some money.”

Alberto groaned.

Luca uncovered the mouthpiece of the telephone. “Okay,” he said, “we'll be there first thing tomorrow morning.”

“I'll tell my new Mom!” said Harry cheerfully. “Good night! Or... how do you say it here? Bwana naughty!”

“Good night, Harry,” sighed Luca.

-

The next morning, bright and early, Luca headed back to land. He and his friends put on work clothes, then headed over the hill to the Visconti vineyards. None of them were very enthusiastic about it. Alberto grumbled to himself the whole way, and Giulia knocked on the back door of the big house, where she'd delivered her fish yesterday, as if expecting bad news. They were worried it would be Harry himself who answered, but instead it was Faustina, with a smile on her face.

“Oh, Harry's little friends!” she said brightly. “He told me you'd stop by today. I'm going to have you bring in some of the Bosco that have ripened early. You'll want to be careful not to bruise them.”

“Yes, Signora Visconti,” Giulia replied, polite. Luca nodded. Alberto just grunted.

“Follow me!” said Faustina.

She led them up to the section of the vineyard where they'd be working, on an east-facing hillside to catch the rising sun, and provided them with baskets and clippers. All three kids had picked grapes before, and knew the proper way to do it – cut down the whole bunch and lay them carefully in the basket so as not to damage the delicate flesh. Alberto had once tried to eat a few, but had found them so sickly sweet he'd had to spit them out. When she'd finished laughing at him, Giulia had explained that wine grapes had much more sugar than food grapes, to help the juice ferment.

Faustina left them to their work, and for a little while it was quite pleasant. The shadows cast by the vines on the trellises kept them cool, as did the nice morning breeze, and they were far enough from the house that neither Ercole nor Harry could watch them. Of course, that would not keep.

Harry was the first to arrive. He was carrying a big pillow and a glass of lemonade, and wearing a pair of sunglasses that he was having trouble keeping in place because he had neither a nose nor ears. Without any sort of greeting, he shook his pillow a bit to fluff it up, then sat down on it and sipped his lemonade through a straw.

The kids continued to work, waiting for Harry to say something, but he remained silent except for the slurping sounds as he drank. He seemed content to watch and know that they were working and he was not, which in his mind was apparently how the world was supposed to be.

“You're not gonna make your new parents proud by just sitting there,” Alberto said eventually.

“I'm supervising,” said Harry. “I'm making sure you're not slacking off. I wouldn't want my new Mom to pay you for doing nothing.”

“What happens when you get bored?” asked Giulia.

“I have a magazine.” Harry held it up.

“Can you even read it?” asked Alberto. He still found reading difficult, although he'd gotten much better at it with the incentive of understanding Luca's letters from school.

“Of course I can,” said Harry. He opened it and pretended to examine the pages, perhaps unaware that it was upside-down.

Giulia rolled her eyes and moved closer to the boys. “How are we gonna convince him?” she whispered.

“I have an idea,” said Alberto. He stopped and stretched before resuming his grape-picking. “Man,” he said, “now I wish I'd taken one of those eyeball pops! I guess if you're staying here, I'll never get another chance.”

“You're right,” Luca joined in. “They had some really strange food in the other world, Giulia, like the three-eyed fish.”

“He mentioned the three-eyed fish,” Giulia said, nodding.

“Some of them have four or five eyes,” said Harry. “The four-eyed ones are always the most delicious.”

“There aren't any four-eyed fish here,” Luca said, “only the two-eyed ones.”

“What a shame,” said Alberto.

They glanced over at Harry. He was watching them over the top of his magazine.

“You really want to live here where you'll never have a four-eyed fish for dinner again?” Alberto asked.

Harry pushed his sunglasses back into place. “You just want to get rid of me,” he accused.

Giulia decided to try honesty. “You don't belong here, Harry. There are no other people like you in this world. Sooner or later you're going to want to go back.”

“They don't,” said Harry, pointing to the boys.

“We are back, though,” said Luca. “I live with my family underwater during the summer, remember? And even if Alberto lives most of the time with humans, there are still lots of sea monsters around here so if he has a problem the humans can't help him with, there's somebody nearby who does. What if you get hurt or sick, and the doctor doesn't know what to do about it?”

“I'll be fine,” Harry insisted. “I'd rather have a Dad who'll be proud of me.”

“Has Signor Visconti said he'll be proud of you?” asked Alberto. He'd only met Aristide Visconti a couple of times, and he'd always seemed to be arguing with Ercole, not proud of him.

“He bragged about how his other son won the Portorosso Cup race five times,” said Harry. “I can do that, no problem.”

“He only won because he cheated!” Alberto protested.

“And you'd need a team to do that, because you can't ride a bike,” Giulia said, bristling.

“I'll figure it out,” Harry vowed.

The conversation was cut off then, as Faustina Visconti arrived with a picnic basket. “How's everybody doing?” she asked. “Oh, looks like you've made wonderful progress! And you're so gentle with them, that's lovely.”

“I've been supervising,” said Harry. “I'm making sure they do it right.”

The other kids glared at him.

Faustina set down her basket and began unfolding a blanket. “I've made you some lunch. Why don't we all take a bit of a break? Ercole!” she called over her shoulder.

“I'm coming, Mamma!” came Ercole's voice.

He arrived a moment later with a second basket, and helped his mother to lay out a torta di verde with stuffed artichokes, fresh bread, and fruit from the garden. Luca, Alberto, and Giulia came and sat down while Faustina passed out food and offered each child a very small glass of wine.

“This is what we make from the grapes you're picking,” she said proudly. “Our Bosco.”

Alberto and Luca sipped it carefully, to be polite. Neither of the boys particularly liked wine, finding it tasted quite sharp even when the humans promised it would be sweet. Giulia tried it and smiled. Harry and Ercole both swirled and sniffed it in the way they'd seen adults do, trying to appear refined. Giulia was about to say something to tease Harry about this, but Harry himself spoke first.

“Are we billing them for this?” he asked.

“Billing them?” Faustina echoed, confused.

“Yes. At the factory, if employees don't bring their own lunch, they have to get it from the cafeteria,” Harry explained. “We take it off their paycheques.”

“Don't be silly,” said Faustina. “We want them to come back and work for us again sometime, don't we? We're going to be welcoming. It's not as if we can't afford it. Would you children like some soda pop?”

“Yes, please!” said Luca and Alberto eagerly. They liked that much better than wine.

Faustina pulled out the bottles and opened them, while Harry sat there, looking surprised but thoughtful.

They finished up with tangerines for dessert, and then Faustina directed Harry and Ercole to help her bring the grapes already picked back to the house. Harry, with his low-slung, wide-set body, was able to heft one and carry it along mere inches above the ground, which Faustina told him was very good. He grinned toothily at the other kids before scuttling away.

“Ercole, try to be very careful, could you?” she asked. She took one basket in each arm, balancing them on her hips, and followed Harry.

Ercole was in the middle of lifting one, but he didn't straighten up. Instead, he waited until his mother and new adoptive brother had vanished between the vines before putting the basket down and gesturing for Luca, Alberto, and Giulia to come closer.

“You have to get rid of him,” he ordered them.

“Why should we?” asked Alberto, who had strong feelings about Harry returning to his own world, but possibly even stronger ones about Ercole suffering inconvenience.

“Because Mamma treats him like one of her precious Bologneses!” said Ercole, referring to the two small dogs Faustina doted upon. “It makes me sick. And they let him sleep in my room. I woke up in the middle of last night and he was three centimetres from my face! I screamed, and he laughed at me!”

Giulia snickered.

Ercole glared at her. “Besides, he's already planning to enter the race this year, and neither of us need more competition.”

“You don't have to worry about it, because you're too old to enter,” Giulia pointed out.

“We agree he needs to go back,” Luca put in, before an argument could develop. “He's going to grow up to be really big and he'll probably bully everybody, but what are we supposed to do? We already tried to talk him out of it, but he doesn't want to go back.”

“Then you have to make him,” Ercole insisted. “How do you get back to that monster world?”

“We've got a plan,” said Alberto.

“We're going back to Genova tonight, we hope,” said Luca. “We can do it from there.”

“Good,” said Ercole. “The last train leaves late, like nine o'clock, right? So after we go to bed, I will let you into the house, and you can grab him and take him with you.”

“Like... kidnap him?” Giulia was startled.

“Yes,” said Ercole. “But you'll have to gag him first or he'll yell, like he did when one of the employee's children put a spider down his back.” He snorted. “I don't know why he shoudl be afraid of spiders. He's more likely to be mistaken for one. Mamma scolded the other child terribly.” He scowled. “She used to do that when people were nasty to me.”

“Ohhh,” said Giulia. She grinned. “You want to be the baby again.”

“I am not a baby!” huffed Ercole.

“Yeah, but you're your Mom's baby!” Alberto said.

Ercole pouted. “She used to say I always would be. Then she got the dogs. And now this.”

Giulia nodded – although she couldn't help but wonder what Ercole had done to try to get rid of the dogs when they'd first arrived. There must have been something. “Okay, ragazzi,” she said to her friends. “We'll come back after dark with the pram, and tie him up and put him in that.”

“We should probably trap him in a net,” said Alberto. “That way it'll tangle up all his legs and we won't have to do them one by one.” He knew from unpleasant experience that escaping from a fishing net was harder than it looked.

“We've got lots of nets,” said Giulia. “All right – we'll come get him tonight after bedtime.” She offered Ercole a hand.

He took it as if it were a dead fish, and gave it one quick shake. “I hate having to make a deal with you,” he said, “but I must think about my own future.”

“Don't worry, we don't like making a deal with you either,” said Alberto.

“But we've got a lot of people to think about,” Luca agreed.

[feeshies]

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms

Tagged by @pinayelf thank you :D

Magnus Hammersmith (Metalocalypse)

Real fucked up of the creators of this show to take my celebrity crush + bisexual awakening as the visual reference for a character who's always partially shirtless and wielding a knife. Also there's a 5000 year old prophecy that says his destiny is to be a forgotten loser.

2. Captain Nemo/Prince Dakkar (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea)

The gif is from the Disney movie, but my heart belongs to the original novel characterization. Genius inventor who turned his back from society, but not from marginalized people. Good at everything except for not falling down self-destructive spirals. Takes money from sunken colonialist warships and uses it to fund revolutions. Serves as a haunting metaphor as the ocean itself. Please when will we have a faithful adaptation?

3. Thoth (The Kane Chronicles interpretation)

I am specifically going with The Kane Chronicles' interpretation of this Egyptian god. Especially compared to a lot of other interpretations of him in modern media, I like how the book doesn't portray him as this stuffy "everyone is an idiot except me" kind of guy. It's really refreshing seeing an interpretation of a god of knowledge who is clearly scary-powerful and a genius, but is also the ADHD weirdo who keeps getting distracted and can't finish his projects. I also like how he doesn't brush off the protagonists because they're mortals or teenagers or whatever. The book does a great job showing how his brain works and how he thinks, which makes him a lot more effective as a god of knowledge imo. Also they made him relocate in Memphis, Tennessee? After so many British adaptations of him, it's refreshing to see a god of knowledge with a southern accent (if you listen to the audiobook).

It's so good, it almost makes up for the book's interpretation of Anubis.

4. Vivienne (Dragon Age)

I thought for a while about which Dragon Age character I should add. While there are characters I made more stuff about during my peak years in the fandom, Vivienne is the main character I keep going back to. I love her elegance, the way she's written, her voice acting, her look??? Fashion/character design in the franchise peaked with her. Also as far as a Circle character goes, I find her utterly fascinating as someone having to survive in an oppressive system and developing different/conflicting perspectives about it. I think she was a much-needed perspective and I adore her. Also now I was just reminded of the trend of people having their white mage ocs or the other white mage characters "educate" her about oppression and now I'm mad about Dragon Age bs again lol. Vivienne is the best choice for divine don't @ me.

5. Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)

*Holds him up like a a cat* he's nice :)

I've rewatched this show (the main series - haven't gotten around to watching the new show) and every time I find more reasons to love him. He could have so easily been this brooding cynical noir type, but instead he's this ray of sunshine who sees the beauty and joy in everything around him. I'm glad he's okay :)

6. Shaolin Fantastic (The Get Down)

Putting aside my heartbreak over this show's cancellation for a second to talk about how good the cast is. I thought about choosing Zeke, but I couldn't not choose Shaolin. I love how he's introduced as this mysterious genius who was willing to fight a man in an alley for a record, but then the main crew gets to know him and he's a huge dork? He takes care of pigeons, he samples the Star Wars theme in his DJ sets, he's nice :) Also the cool big brother vibe he has with the younger characters is really cute. It would suck if this show got cancelled so the story will always end with him being forced to go back to his abuser :) that would suck.

7. Nozomu Itoshiki (Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei)

I think he's funny and pretty and I hope he gets therapy.

8. Bella Goth (The Sims)

Weird to add a Sims character maybe, but not doing so would be a disservice to the chokehold this woman had on me as a younger player. 10 year old me broke my copy of TS2 because I fucked up the game files by trying to get Bella back.

9. Benny (Fallout: New Vegas)

I knew I had to pick a FNV character. I considered Silus, since he's interesting for a Legion character. But in the end I went with Benny. He has the best aesthetic, and his evolution from "the guy who shot you and instigated your protagonist's whole plot" to "pathetic little guy who agrees to help you take down the system because everyone sucks--and also he's into feet" is some masterful character growth.

10. Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold (Once Upon a Time)

This show is a mess, but the scene where he beats that man with his cane was kinda hot. Also you can't make a man 1. the most powerful force in the universe, 2. somehow still pathetic, 3. have that hairstyle, 4. trying to be a good father and partner but always failing because of his own selfishness, and 5. Scottish, and not expect me to enjoy him. Robert Carlyle put his entire rumpelstussy into that performance.

[sonseulsoleil]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @hmslusitania! Thanks Hayley!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

110

2. What’s your total word count on AO3?

483,852

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Whatever I am obsessed with at the moment. The last stuff I was working on was Percy Jackson fic, before that Heartstopper (and I WILL get back to those wips eventually). Oh, and Newsies is also currently in the works! Basically I have ADHD and I am all over the place all of the time. I'll go back to wips I started 5 years ago and keep working on them. What I've written vs what I've actually managed to polish and post is a HUGE disparity lol

4. Top five fics by kudos

- All We Do Is Run

- Let the Whole World Melt Away

- never saw you coming (and I'll never be the same)

- sugar, butter, flour (what a mess I'm making)

- stay in my arms if you dare (or must I imagine you there)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, almost always. It takes me awhile sometimes, but I try to respond to every comment. I worry that if I don't respond, people will stop commenting.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I've written a couple Major Character Death fics, but they're not on AO3 because they were just drabbles so I only posted them on tumblr (also they're very old and bad)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hmmm maybe All We Do Is Run, just compared to the source material lmao

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have a couple times. Mostly on fics where I've introduced OCs, which sucks.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes, sometimes. But I don't post it. I write it for myself and will maybe share it with friends if they're interested.

10. Craziest crossover?

I've never written a proper crossover. I'll write AUs where I take the characters of Property A and put them into the story of Property B, but I've never written a true crossover where characters of two properties interact.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope, but I've definitely had fic concepts stolen. Which sounds petty, but I've made posts about fics I'm working on and had people take them and write their own fics with the same details I mentioned and it's like. Not plagiarism exactly and it's impossible to own ideas, really, but it does rub me the wrong way.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A couple times! It's very cool!

13. Have you ever Co-written a fic?

I tried once a long time ago and it went poorly. Turns out I am not a very good collaborator sometimes.

14. All time favourite ship?

I don't--you want me to pick ONE?! are you kidding lol

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have SO MANY. There's a Star Trek fic I've been working on off and on since Beyond came out. There's my mermaid!Buck 911 fic. There's my current Heartstopper fic. There's my PJO Anastasia fic. There's my angst canon divergence Psych fic. My google drive is a graveyard of partially written stories begging to see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing things, clearly.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Depends wildly. I've written this in some Heartstopper fics, because Nick speaks French. And I had a friend who is fluent in French help me get it right. I think when people take the time to find a fluent speaker to help them or are fluent themselves, it's fine and good. And when people are just using google translate, it shows. Also, obviously, being bilingual has to make sense for the character. I also especially have beef with the way people often write latine characters/Spanish specifically. I grew up surrounded by latinos and nobody talks like that. Stop it. You all know what I'm talking about.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

ABC's Castle. Say what you will about Nathan Fillion, but that show shaped me as a person.

20. Fave fics you’ve written?

All We Do Is Run (longest multi-chap I've ever written. this thing was years of my life.)

répète (the only one of my GMW/BMW fics I regularly go back to)

tin can telephones (it's all written in texts and dialogue and that was really fun)

I'm tagging @firstelevens @memequeme @galwithalibrarycard and anyone else who wants to do it!

[reasoningdaily]

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teen, was shot in the head after going to the wrong home to pick up his two younger siblings.

His story has brought attention to adultification bias, which disproportionately harms Black children. 

The term adultification bias is used to define how children are viewed and treated as older than they are.

On the night of April 13, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teen, went to the wrong home in Kansas City to pick up his two younger siblings. When he rang the doorbell, he was greeted by Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white homeowner who shot Yarl in the head. Shortly after, Lester administered a second bullet, shooting Yarl in the right arm. 

Lester told police that he and Yarl didn't exchange words before he fired at him through a locked glass door. A probable cause statement revealed that Lester told investigators he was "scared to death" by the teenager's size and worried he would not be able to defend himself. 

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told CNN's News Central he believes Ralph was racially profiled by the shooter. "This boy was shot because he was existing while Black, and he knocked on the door of someone who clearly, clearly fears Black people — Black boys, Black children, and I think that that is clear as day."

Lester surrendered to authorities and pleaded not guilty to felony charges of assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. He has been released on $200,000 bail. Yarl, who has a prognosis of a full recovery, has been discharged from the hospital. 

In response to claims that Yarl's size is intimidating, family attorney, Lee Merritt, told CNN that Yarl stands at 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. "There is no way you can see fear when you look at that kid — if you really look at him, and not just the color of his skin. There is no way you can see fear," Faith Spoonmore, Yarl's aunt added. 

The problem of adultification bias

The case, which is still under investigation, made headlines after protests broke out across Kansas City. It is yet another example of the epidemic of unarmed Black boys and men falling victim to gun violence, such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin. The case also brought attention to the underreported issue of adultification bias, which disproportionately harms Black children. 

The term is used to define how Black children are viewed and treated as older than they are.

In 2017, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality explored the term in a report titled "Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls' Childhood." The report labeled adultification bias as a form of dehumanization that presents the actions of Black children as "intentionally malicious, instead of the result of immature decision-making — a key characteristic seen in childhood."

Viewed as less innocent

The effects of adultification bias can manifest in different ways — Black teens and children could be hypersexualized, or seen as hyperhuman, something that often happens to Black athletes. It can also lead to medical neglect, sexual assault, violence, and sometimes death.

A 2014 study found that Black boys as young as age 10 are viewed as less innocent than their white peers, placing them in positions of being held responsible for their actions. Black boys are also more likely to be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime. 

Adultification bias doesn't just affect boys. A 2020 study found that Black girls are thought to need less nurturing, less protection, less support, less comfort than their white peers. They are also seen as being more independent, and more knowledgeable about adult topics, like sex. 

Facing harsher punishments

These biases can have a lifelong impact. Studies have found that Black students are more likely to face harsh punishments in school than their white counterparts, even when they behave in the same manner. When students are routinely punished, suspended or expelled, they are less likely to graduate and more likely to be a part of the criminal justice system.

There are many reasons Black children specifically face adultification bias, including systemic racism and white supremacy. A 2022 study found that these societal factors also force Black children to take on adult behaviors and roles, well before they are adults.

"Black children are often taught to behave in a manner more mature than their age. This has been a method for survival," Kim Wheeler Poitevien, a licensed clinical social worker told WebMD. "When a girl is catcalled it's because her clothes are 'too tight.' When she is reprimanded for talking in school she is 'disruptive' rather than gregarious."

Because of these reactions, many Black children learn to control the ways in which they are perceived through altering their appearance, whether it be clothing or hairstyles. This is a form of respectability politics that social workers like Wheeler Poitevien reject.

"I often tell them that they cannot control the opinions and expectations of the adults and the system around them and understand that it's unfair," Wheeler Poitevien said.

[bowsersforeskin]

Now that its been a full month since the release of Wallsocket, how have your opinions started settle around the album? The more Ive listened, its grown on me a ton personally. Now its in my top 10 albums of the year.

this got long so here's a readmore.

TL;DR i want to put wallsocket in my mouth and chew on it forever

the same thing happened to me tbh, it's grown on me more and more as i relistened to it. wallsocket is defo in my top 5 albums this year.

it's not like i actively disliked it or anything, it's just that it went from "pretty good" to "one of the best albums of 2023" yakno?

like my only real criticism of it is that underscores' dedication to making basically every track over 4 minutes meant that there were a couple that felt bogged down to me.

that being said, there is way more to love about wallsocket than there is to complain about. there were a few tracks that i wasn't enthralled with on the first listen that i'm super in love with now (duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and uncanny long arms come to mind)

but GOD is underscores good at making a melody that sticks with you forever. a month later and i still catch myself going "johnny johnny johnny johnny whoops johnny whoops" out loud and humming the tune from shoot to kill, kill your darlings.

i really really love this new direction. i love the moments in wallsocket that call back to her earlier works (like the ending bit in uncanny long arms), i love hearing borderline jarring transitions to stomp-and-clap country (thinking mostly about that switch in geez louise! good god do i love that moment) i love how difficult wallsocket is to define and how it's clearly still underscores, but not at all what i would have imagined from her.

oh and the samples that are being used are BANGING i love hearing gun noises being used as percussion, i'm almost certain i heard a squidward noise in there, and the "good luck!" producer stamp is utilized SO well across the album.

also it's underscores, i feel like it goes without saying that the story telling is great. she's stepped it up a notch and i hella regret not following the arg, but that's life ig 🤷

my top track is definitely seventyseven dog years, maybe it's because it made me feel seen. i won't get into it because it's a long thing but it really reminds me of my relationship with a couple family members and also just sounds really good!

i like every track, but i think the highlights for me* are: shoot to kill,kill your darlings/horror movie soundtrack, geez louise, and seventyseven dog years.

*i'm excluding the singles because they all slap. no exceptions. i know that they're gonna make it into my spotify wrapped lmao but good lird old money bitch and girls like us make me act up.

uhh idk where else to put this but i mentioned earlier that i wanted to see how you don't even know who i am fit in to the album, and i'm really glad to see that it fits in seamlessly with the rest of wallsocket.

i really liked it, and tbqh i'm still hoping that she'll release a companion piece a la boneyard.

sorry i took a couple days to reply, as you can tell i have a lot of thoughts about underscores and wallsocket and noises and sounds.

[gojuo]

Hello can i ask you a quick question can i have your opinion of the strong bastards please i know you don’t enjoy them and i personally think they are hollow af and without substance but what do you think im curious

Hmm I don't hate them really. I think they're spoiled and protected from consequences all the time, which is bad parenting, but the worst thing about them is their parents in my opinion. Rhaenyra and Harwin knew very well what trying to pass off bastards as trueborns set to inherit the Iron Throne meant (exile/death), yet they still decided to have children. Jace could have been an accident, fine, but then they went on to have 2 more kids, which is just awful. A good parent that actually cared for her children would never put them in such a precarious and deathly situation, yet Rhaenyra and Harwin still did it. Not once, not twice, but three fucking times. Rhaenyra having bastards is not high treason, it is the fact that she tries to pass them off as trueborn which is. The way to prevent her children's execution/exile would be to abdicate from the succession and just live her life as a normal noblewoman, yet she did not do this, therefore making sure that her children would always be on death's door. Jace, Luke and Joff did not deserve that. I don't believe that children should have to pay for their parents' sins and in the show we know that both Jace and Luke know they are bastards. I imagine growing up with the knowledge that at any moment in time you could be executed just for being born was extremely damaging to their psyche, but it was also made very clear to them from a very young age that they would always be protected by the crown. Which led to their sheltered/spoiled upbringing (less noticeable in Jace than in Luke). They got away with everything, with maiming and permanently disabling the king's son, with being bastards who by law cannot inherit yet still being pushed to inherit the IT & Driftmark, with never apologizing for any of the wrongs they have committed, etc. The example set by the adults around them led to Luke (less so in Jace's case and Joff is still a little child so let's forget him) getting away for years with his awful behavior towards Aemond. Aemond is the king's son, Luke is the king's grandson. In all fairness, Aemond is closer to the king than Luke is, yet Viserys clearly and publicly showed the entire court which of the two he actually gave protection to and which one he did not grant such sympathies towards. It's what led to Luke getting away with not once in his entire life apologizing for permanently disabling a prince. That's pretty fucking horrible. Losing an eye is not the same as getting a cut on your arm, yet Luke never had to face any consequences for it. It happened and that was it for Luke, but for his victim, for Aemond, his entire life changed. Then he had the gall to scoff at an ancient bullying joke right in Aemond's face. Like ???? Who tf even remembers such a memory from back when you were 5 ten years later? It just goes on to shows how Luke was unrepentant of any wrong he has committed against Aemond, and that's awful. Aemond deserved an apology. Aemond deserved multiple apologies actually and he deserved acknowledgement. But he never did. Everyone just moved on like it never happened, but Aemond has the permanent psychical evidence of why he could not just "move on". He was only 10 years old...

I'm lukewarm towards the Strong children. Jace is an ok character, even though he is just your average nice guy with little personality outside of being nice. I don't have any strong feelings against him. Luke is a different story as you've just read. I don't hate him, but I hate that his parents raised him to be this way. I don't think he deserved to die while terrorized, but I also don't mourn him. Joffrey is just a little kid so no opinions on him really.

[armchairaleck]

I made my own personal betting spread on what it could be that Claudia and Soren find in the puzzle house, (other than a coruscating darkness that envelops their souls forever of course…)  

Now judging by the comic cover they look like they’d be in the 8-10 to 10-12 age range to my not super trained eye, but they have to be old enough not to DIE in there right? So whatever they find is probably not going to be in their possession by the time of the magma titan episode, which immediately drives a bus over two of my theories… but I’m willing to fudge the timeline a bit just cos I like the idea of them..

So from least to most likely:

12-1 – The Primal Stone.. as Claudia says, “It’s super rare, and my dad got it by… well it’s a long story…” By… by… oh come on Claudia don’t leave me hanging like that.. I gotta know.. what bit of his soul did Viren sell to acquire the primal stone? My dad got it by coining his mentor and then raiding his home for every valuable possession he could steal? My dad went on a trip to Xadia and slaughtered a beautiful skywing elf?

Still, there's a slim possibility Kpp'Ar left in in the puzzle house so Claudia, an eight year old child, wouldn’t have to resurrect her dead cats using dark magic all the time... while Viren is in the basement murdering people and doing whatever the extreme version of free range parenting it is he practises..

10-1 – The Relic Staff.. this was my first theory, simply because from a perspective of writing a story about this, I really like the idea that Soren and Claudia find the relic staff, and that Viren’s own children give it to him, thus sticking another nail into the coffin of his corruption and demise without realising it..

I’m just a big fan of people unwittingly helping to destroy the ones that they love I guess..

But I’m pretty sure it’s never stated that Kpp’Ar was an owner of the relic staff at all.. and Viren explicitly mentions other stuff coming from him.. though on the other hand it has to be a dark mage only type item surely?? And there don’t seem to be a whole host of them wandering around hawking ancient and powerful magical artefacts from the inside of their cloaks…

8-1 – A Unicorn Horn… alright I’m almost convinced there’s got to be a unicorn horn somewhere in the puzzle house given the heavy motif’s... but since Viren can’t get hold of it until right before S3 they either don’t find it now, (maybe Claudia goes back later on her own), or Claudia sits on it for 5/6 years… which seems unlikely.. or - like a little wacky, but maybe they find it attached to an actual unicorn? Maybe Kpp’Ar just keeps a whole menagerie of magical animals in his basement for ingredients like some dark mage’s twisted version of Noah’s arc..

Claudia and Soren set them all free like when Elliot lets the frogs out in E.T. annnd Viren’s waiting with a maniacal grin outside to slaughter them all for body parts as they try and escape...

5-1 – Claudia's Snake Bracelets.. okay the blurb explicitly states Claudia thinks Kpp’Ar has left something for her... while it’s possible she might find something Viren wants too, this is all I can think of that would be exclusively for her? She already has a book of magic from him, and the bracelets are the only dark magic item I can remember her owning.. they also seem to have my imagined Kpp’Ar vibes of well I’ll just leave the small child something that could be pretty dangerous and see how she gets on with it… as his hallways start decapitating everyone walking down them Indiana Jones style.

Though they're also the sort of thing Viren would give her for her birthday too...

So the reason the odds on this spread would leave me totally out of pocket is.. well it clearly won’t be any of the things I’ve thought extensively about but some secret fifth, sixth, seventh thing.. in which case... do I win?

[rappaccini]

..... had to reread sitting in a tree for gwenfic research and wow i still hate it! this is a sitting in a tree hateblog! all respect for gwiles shippers but this comic was everyone's introduction to them, and boy does it still suck! it is singlehandedly the worst thing gwen's ever been in! it poisons the concept of them as a couple! i went into reading it the first time excited to ship them, and closed the issue like 'they should never hook up anywhere in any context ever' and even after the spiderverse movies broke their backs to try and redeem this ship i still want to hiss at it every time i see it!

gonna number out all the things i hate about this shipping crossover here in a very incoherent, bitter, salty fashion because that's just how i get when i have to reread siat:

they have no chemistry. it's subjective, i know, but reading those issues, the vibe is just so fucking strange. the writers clearly think these two are into each other and the entire time you're like... oookay. they only met and interacted a few times before this and barely know each other too, so them being so touchy-feely is just... strange. especially when you consider--

the age gap. miles is 15/16, and gwen is 19/20. so, high school/teen and college/young adult. it is creepy seeing them canoodle and kiss. especially when you consider that miles is drawn to look so much older than he canonically is in those panels where they made out (and that they keep insisting that he's 'almost seventeen and she's barely two years older' but only in this issue), probably to downplay that he's a minor and she's a young adult. there's literally a subplot in siat where gwen infiltrates a nightclub that miles is too young for, so he sits outside texting her like a kid waiting for his mom to get done grocery shopping. and... okay. a 4-5 yr age gap is nothing, but not at this point, and given how slow marvel's internal time progression is, miles and gwen can't logistically get together without it being too weird until he's out of college, when they're 25ish and 30ish respectively. which won't be for another irl 10-15 years. it's simply not worth putting them both on a shelf (or let's be real, putting gwen on a shelf, bc miles is the far more popular character) and making them wait that much irl time, denying them other potential couplings and probably a lot of crucial development that'd take them further apart, and all for the possibility of a romance arc that does none of them any favors.

the fate meddling. the whole shoehorning of earth-8 ruins it beyond the point of no return. maybe the chemistry could've come later. maybe once the age gap became negligible they could've had something. but them only making out because they suddenly, randomly discover an alternate future world where they are a happily married celebrity supercouple who lead their equivalent of the avengers, are fabulously wealthy and beloved by the public, and have two superpowered spider-kids who keep. showing. up. to be all 'hi alternate mom and dad! we love you! let's team up!' is so fucking creepy. dangling two delightful spiderkids in front of a teenage boy and a 20yr old girl who barely know each other and are under a lot of stress and heavily implying 'you'd better kiss or these sweet kids won't exist and you'll never be happy' is gross. and it makes any idea of them hooking up feel like they're giving in to the pressure of adhering to someone else's narrative and surrendering to an arranged spidermarriage rather than trying to forge a sincere emotional connection of their own.

the sexism. specifically making gwen, the girl who is defined by standing in the shadow of her mainstream self being Spider-Man's Dead Girlfriend, finally get to have her own story where she gets to survive her peter parker, be the hero, and have a narrative about trying to keep her agency and find her place in a world trying to chew her up and spit her out, and for her characterization to be that of an antiauthority cop-cynical grungy musician girl with no desires for a domestic life, who is currently hated by the public and hunted by the cops in her world....... and then having her be informed by the equivalents of the gods of destiny that she will only ever be accepted or tolerated if she marries some boy (literally, a teenager. a boy.) she barely knows, abandons her world and everyone in it that she loves for him, has babies with him and becomes a hyperfeminine celebrity supercop, as all her musical ambitions seem to have evaporated in favor of her being a family-centered girlboss.... rancid. absolutely rancid. god no please no. run gwen stacy run. don't get kataang'd.

the comphet. it's a given to everyone who reads her comics-- and even most of the people making them-- that spider-gwen is not straight. she's unmotivated by sex and romance (or domesticity in general: this girl does not want kids), she turns down male love interest after male love interest, she has tension with her bandmates and much of her female supporting cast (though they seem more interested in her than she is in them). alternate versions of her have had even more overt queercoded vibes with her interactions with female characters (even spiderverse gwen is trans-coded). gwen is queer. she might not be gay but she's definitely not straight, and it's just the disney-marvel homophobia that won't let them say it. with that in mind... a queer girl being told by what basically counts as a god that the only way she'll ever be happy or accepted is if she marries a boy she isn't that interested in and has a nuclear family with him, and hey, it'll make sense eventually... fuuuuuck that. even the kiss reeks of comphet: gwen only does it because it's what she feels like she's supposed to do. with all this in mind, if they get together... man that's a bad vibe.

the shallowness: reading the miles issues of sitting in a tree, the way he talks about her is... weird. it's him bragging to his high school bros about how he met this super hot, super powerful older spider-woman and totally made out with her, and dude, she's gonna have my kids someday. and the gwen issues are just like 'so this boy showed up and god made me make out with him. anyway.' basically the vibe is that miles is into gwen because she's hot, she also has spider powers (and at this point given that he was being thrown peter's leftovers, that she's a version of peter's girlfriend, and he wants to be like peter.) and gwen is into miles because she sees hiding behind a relationship with him as an easy fix to her problems. that's it. that's what keeps them together. that's the depth of their connection. that, and that they look pretty when they stand next to each other. if they get together, good god they're gonna hamstring each other's growth.

anyway i'm just staring down the barrel of these two getting together in btsv. no matter how earned the payoff is in the movie, the consequences are that they'll likely be paired off in the comics then too, which almost certainly means that gwen, whose solo was cancelled and only appears in team-ups and crappy minis now, will be sent to be miles's supporting cast to largely exist as His Girlfriend for potentially years, and that the fundamental cornerstone of her character ('gwen stacy gets to be the superpowered protagonist of her own story without being any spider-man's girlfriend, regardless of whether she dies or lives to motivate him') will have been betrayed. that's the Big Fear, and it all started here, with fucking sitting-in-a-tree.

[wack-ashimself]

Overdone Super Hero Movie tropes (you can only pick 3. Otherwise, it's a shit movie.)

1-(Graphically, recently, or during the movie) Dead parents. Dead spouse. Dead kids. Dead sibling. Dead loved friend. It is a fucking MIRACLE if their family is healthy and fine the whole time.

2-Killing tons of grunts/soldiers/etc, but THEN showing mercy to the main bad guy WHO HAS KILLED MORE THAN ALL THE SOLDIERS HE KILLED ALREADY COMBINED!

3-Sky beam. I totally stole this from like 3 youtube channels. Everyone hates the fucking sky beam.

4-Talking/monologuing to the audience or themselves.

5-A soundtrack clearly picked to seduce a specific generation. 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and soon! 10s...(and it doesn't have to be time period current.)

6-Trying to be funny/knowing you're funny to the point you're breaking the '3.999999^infinity-rd' wall (almost the 4th wall) and then it stops-being-funny.

7-CGI battles so fast and blurry, you don't even know what's going on. And a million quick cuts ain't fucking helping. Use real sets so it looks like a real fucking fight.

8-No one ever acknowledging the collateral damage (people to buildings alike) they are doing. <Watch 'Invincible' for the MOST GRAPHIC SUPERMAN-LIKE FIGHT EVER!>

9-Basically, no one important dying. SURE, someone died, and they were kinda loved, but...meh. If there are not any stakes, then it's like watching a preschooler's cartoon: we know it all comes out perfect in the end.

10-The bad guy kills his/her own henchperson. COME ON> OVERPLAYED.

11-They introduce side characters that they either dive REAL deep into or NOT at all, then they disappear/don't matter later in the movie (or series).

12-They introduce you to a character you hate initially, but then you find out their backstory with the lead, and you fall in love...then they KILL THEM OFF OUT OF NOWHERE, right when you were ready to open up your heart! Right when you thought a glimmer of hope appeared!! RIGHT WHEN... ... ....YONDU! WHY DID THEY DO YOU LIKE THAT, YONDU!? ... ... ... ...(okay, this one may not count...)

13-There's absolutely no real character arc. They came in as 'a', left as 'A', and some 'BS' happened in the middle.

14-The lead baddie is more interesting than the lead. That's a sin. You go to bad bad land.

15-THE MAIN BAD GUY DOES NOT KILL THE HERO WHEN GIVEN ANY OPPORTUNITY> Fuck that. You'll kill millions of innocents, but not the dude who has been trying to stop you and ruin all your plans? DUMB> DUMB DUMB DUMB. I am SO desperate for anything new, I'd even let a few 'actually kills them but they're brought back to life' fly....(not too many, you slippery fucks).

16 (#12 being kinda a joke one, I wanted an even 15. Spoilers for Ant-man 3.)-'Comes in at the last moment, out of left field, saving grace.' And you can take this how you will, but my personal example was THE FUCKING ANTS IN ANT-MAN 3 WHO WERE HYPER INTELLIGENT AND SAVED THE MULTIVERSE> Ant-man did not do shit. Not really. It was fucking HYPER INTELLIGENT SUPER ANTS WHICH YOU HAD NO IDEA ABOUT TILL THE END OF THE MOVIE. The ONLY hints were: super intelligent ants went into the whatever tiny verse with them (so? So did a table). The old fuck hears something that irritates his headset with the ants. But did that explain them EVOLVING BEYOND HUMANS BECAUSE THEY LIVED THRU MILLIONS OF YEARS AFTER GOING THRU THE SAME PORTAL AS EVERYONE ELSE, BUT ENDING UP SOMEWHERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT? No. No it did not. At fucking all. In any way. They never explained how the ants, again who lived millions of years somewhere else (cuz Kang didn't even know about them) found the leads and got to them RIGHT IN THE NICK OF TIME. It made no fucking sense. FUCK THAT HORRIBLE ASS MOVIE! (it's why I wrote this fucking list).

Fuck it.

#17-Again from ant man 3. Taking away some of the best parts of your other movies (his posse/crew/work buddies) and adding in old elements no one gave a fuck about (the villain in the original movie. NO ONE GAVE A FUCK, ANT SHIT!)

<what ones did I miss? PLEASE tell me! I want to know so I can go 'fuck, I knew that, but forgot.' Or didn't even consider. Blow my mind! Should it be more than 3 cuz it's impossible to make a movie that doesn't have SOME of these? Also, can you name ANY Superhero movie that doesn't do ANY of these? CHALLENGE! And do not even hate watch ant man 3. It's incredibly disappointing. Like it is amazing how much work it took to fail.>