#a lot to unpack here but hi

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Turtle Takedown Teamwork.

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[fullc0llapse]

THE geoffthony hug. if you even care.

[some-greatreward]

has anyone posted the guardian article here yet?

insane.

[ladyaster]

After Isa's redemption in KH3, I'll never find it not funny as a huge fan of FFVIII that the fanon consensus is that the new "nemesis" of the Seasalt Trio or at least Roxas and Xion is Seifer.

I dunno how much of the KH fandom has played FFVIII, and in-universe it makes sense given Seifer is the "neighborhood bully" of Twilight Town. However, given what VIII players know about him, it's hilarious and cathartic to see these two kids either bonk him with copied claymores in response to him trying to intimidate them into giving him their ice cream money, curbstomp him at Struggle right after calling them "lamers" or "chicken wusses", or accidentally drop half-eaten popsicles on his face when, in his universe of origin, Seifer was a major war criminal who, among other things, dropped all sorts of horrible endgame monsters including actual malboros onto a hugely populated city (which like any VIII fan can tell you, malboros are already nope on a stick in general, but in VIII in particular they're excessively brutal).

Roxas and Xion are just delivering Seifer some belated karma from 1999 is all and I'm loving every second of it.

[123pixieaod]

Inspired by this godly post which unlocked a part of my brain I didn't know existed, and solidly gave me complete and utterly brainrot until I wrote something

A thousand thanks to Lily for her wonderful help :))

"Does Kelly not mind you spending all your time with me?" Daniel asks, because she's Daniel and once she's thought something she can't keep her fucking mouth shut, even if she knows it's trouble.

Max looks up, pausing his set of weights, and blinks at her. Daniel feels her cheeks warm. One day, that mouth of yours will run you straight into trouble, young lady, her mum used to tell her, voice firm. Good girls know when to keep quiet. Daniel used to just laugh at the warning. Her laugh is loud and the opposite of quiet, but she used to know that everyone always loved her laugh.

"No," Max says after a beat and then continues lifting. Daniel hates the way her gaze tracks over him, lingering on the movement of his muscles, the ease with which he lifts the weight. Tawny hair brushed out of his eyes, cheeks dusted warm from the exertion. "Of course not."

"Why of course not?" Daniel asks. She wants to sew her mouth shut. This time, Max didn't look over as he answers.

"Kelly's very secure, she's not like other girls. And besides, she knows you."

It's strange. When Daniel was seven and Michelle eleven, they'd gone rock pool fishing. Michelle had been crouched over a shallow pool of water, her finger delicately brushing the tentacles of the anemone. Daniel had been scaling the rocks, wanting steeper, taller, more.

She'd found the shark first, nestled high at between the rocks, and for a beat she hadn't known what she was looking at. Just details, but nothing collective. Rotting smell. Shrivelled holes where eyes should be. Scales of silver lightning. Rubbery fish picked clean. The flash of bone, pearl white.

Then she realised what she was staring at, and screamed. Her father held her while her mother scolded her. I told you not to go climbing! It's too dangerous, Daniel. Why can't you just be good like your sister and stay by the shallow pools?

And then, later, ice cream. Her dad, beside her, explaining the horror away.

It's just nature, Dani. The waves wash them up, and they get stuck there. They can't get back to the sea, and then the sun dries them out.

They drown on air, Michelle helpfully pointed out, her feet kicking happily as she licked her 99. Daniel just just nodded, ice cream untouched. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the sunken holes, the rotting flesh.

She hasn't thought about that moment for years, but suddenly it washes back over her. She feels simultaneously both. The child, staring at the carcass, frozen in shock. The shark, burning up in the sun, chocking on air.

"What does that mean?" She asks, and somehow her voice is normal, is fine. She's fine. She's not a girl or a shark. She's stupid and a fool and a gawky, ugly idiot, but she's fine.

Max manages to shrug, even with the 50kg weights. "You know. Just that Kelly knows you. She knows what you're like. And she knows me too, of course."

Daniel swallows. She nods. She hates everything about herself.

"That's sexist," she forces herself to say lightly because if the silence stretches anymore, Max might notice and set his weights down and look at her, and Daniel can't bear that. She doesn't want his eyes on her, taking in every blemish and imperfection. The boyish, ratty clothes she works out in and her curls gone frizzy with sweat and her inked skin, so different to Max and Kelly's pale, perfect complexions.

"What's sexist?"

"Saying she's not like other girls," Daniel tells him, setting down the weights she been doing. Instead, she goes to grab the skipping rope, just for something to do.

Max laughs. Daniel's glad she's turned away. Her cheeks are burning again.

"It's the truth. You, of course, Daniel, are not like other girls either." He says it lightly and ends with a chuckle, as if it's all just a joke. Daniel drags a sweaty hand over her cheeks. Burning, burning, burning.

Apparently, in Max's mind, she and Kelly are the same; both not like other girls. Kelly, with her faultless makeup and wonderful daughter and classy dresses and perfect feminity. One end of the scale. Daniel, the other. Barely even considered "a girl." Always one of the boys, only woman in f1 for a reason.

"Thanks," Daniel says. She wants to make it sound humorous, like she's in on the joke too. Instead, it's too cold; muttered as if she actually gave two shits about the conversation anyway. She has an F1 season to prepare for, she's too busy to care about stupid shit like this.

There's a beat of silence as Daniel stretches out the rope, feeling the plastic flex and give. Then, Max exhaling, the gentle bump of his weights against the floor, the workout bench shifting as his centre of gravity changes. Daniel keeps her back to him, ignoring it all.

"I did not mean it as insult," Max finally says, stubborn. Daniel forces a laugh, turning to give him a smile, all teeth.

"Of course not Maxy. I get that." Voice light and blithe. One of the boys.

She thinks he'll drop it, but instead, his frown only grows. Pinched brows, thin lips, cheeks growing blotchy. Blue eyes regard her, intense and unyielding. She burns from the inside out.

"I've upset you," he says, in that blunt, genuine way only he can do. Daniel barks out another laugh.

"Don't be stupid. You're not important enough to ever be able to get under my skin." She gives him another smile with only teeth. She feels insane. Her mother tells her good girls stay quiet.

"I'm sorry," he tries again, growing frustrated now, "I did not mean -"

"I told you, you didn't upset me," she drops the skipping rope without actually using it. "Anyway, I'm bored. Wanna get lunch now? Or are you still trying to pump those muscle with more testosterone?"

Max gives her one last, searching look before standing. They're almost the same height. She wants to shrink to nothing.

"That is not how testosterone works, Daniel," he says with the air of an overworked teacher. He looks at her with a smile, uncertain but genuine. She laughs, allowing him to move the conversation on.

She walks out of the gym first but holds the door for him. He grins, relieved. His fingers skim hers as he takes it and she lets go. A chill runs through her. Cold like scales, cold like ice cream untouched.

Follow up here!

[paulkariyas]

↪ 04/29/2023 ― post-game ( rangers vs. devils ; scp rd. 1 )  

[pinkpinkstarlet]

elvis presley stans feel like johnny depp stans tbh

(terfs and radfems fuck off from this post btw)

@punkeropercyjackson @weirdo09 @thisismisogynoir

[mobiusmybeloved]

Okay before the next episode comes out tomorrow, I've got another theory to throw out there: The Patter Song. Let's take a look at the lyrics.

"Which of the Pickwick triplets did it? Who of the crew would commit this crime?"

The musical has three suspects (although they are babies). The lyrics refer to them as a crew—they are triplets, after all. Which of them did it?

I feel like this song/the musical itself could be a metaphor for our three main characters, who have been with us for nearly three beloved seasons. Who of our crew could commit this crime? Which of our main character "triplets" would commit this crime?

Now, I doubt it's any of them, but I do find it interesting that they'd do this. No longer a single baby, not twins, but triplets. Same number of babies as main characters. It seems a little too perfect/planned to me. We'll see, though.

I still think Dickie did it.

[formulatrash]

What do you think about Daniel Ricciardo?

idk if it was the water at Enstone or whether Cyril was treating him well or whatever but his hair has never looked as good as it did when he was at Renault

[i-made-a-bg3-blog]

Imagine how devastating it would be to be Astarion, waking up on a sunny beach, mind fully your own; after two centuries, finally free, finally allowed the tiniest spark of hope... And then, almost immediately finding out that nothing's really changed. You've just become a prisoner of someone new.

[justarabidlittleyingzhao]

Xu Haiqiao | Weibo

[gideonisms]

Nona/John Gaius

wow so we are rising to the challenge of finding a ship I can't get into Immediately, huh?

I don't exactly ship this one, but that's because for me there's no way to reduce this one to ship/don't ship, considering nona's complicated identity and the variety of power dynamics at play

why don't I ship it? There's actually a lot about this dynamic that I find interesting, ie exploring the reason alecto might have chosen John originally + the fact that nona is a version of alecto without the trauma. john is not the entirety of her trauma, but he's the most extreme example of the fact that alecto loves humanity deeply, and they keep hurting her. we see her fury in alecto, but not in nona, because nona is the way she's compartmentalized her anger and pain. So I find the nona/alecto dynamic with john really fascinating and relevant to muir's themes. it's also not something I'd necessarily read a sweet fluffy romance about, if that makes sense?

what would have made me like it? if tamsyn muir had written nona/john, I would trust her to make it fucked up enough

despite not shipping it, do I have anything positive to say about it? it's extremely relevant to the themes of tlt. It makes me deeply uncomfortable in a way that I think is kind of the point? muir's writing for john is so brilliant because she continually comes THIS close to the line of where I think people would find him completely unsympathetic even as a villain. she's playing with fire, bad faith reception-wise, and I can only respect it. to me, nona/john is that

[tetsuskei]

me writing childe as a delicate lover and ignoring how violent and bloodthirsty his true nature is 🧌‼️

[a-lonely-tatertot]

Being bi is sometimes like looking at a straight man and going i could fix him

[alternia-confessions]

⇈-11 ((Goldblood-8.5-Ass11gned Male At Hatch11ng)) Do Not Know 11f 11 Am Really As C11sgender As 11 Thought ==> My Mo11ra11l ((8-Ol11ve)) 11s A Trans Male And 11 Don’t Know 11f 11 Should Ask Them For Gender Adv11ce Or Not ((He 11s St11ll A L11ttle Mad At Me For Tell11ng H11m He Was 11gnor11ng H11s Ol11ve H11story))-⇊

⇈-But 11 Am A Staunch Supporter Of The S11gnless And 11 Bel11eve That Focus11ng On Tr11v11al Gender Troubles Takes Away From When 11 Can Be Study11ng H11s Teach11ngs ==> So 11 W11ll 11gnore 11t For Now-⇊

⇈-𝓢11𝓰𝓷𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼 11𝓼 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭-⇊

⇈-𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓹𝓽 𝓗11𝓼 𝓣𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱11𝓷𝓰𝓼 11𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓟𝓾𝓶𝓹𝓫11𝓼𝓬𝓾11𝓽 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓦11𝓵𝓵 𝓑𝓮 𝓢𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓭-⇊

69

•

Question: I (Goldblood - 8.5 - Assigned male at hatchIng) do not know if I am really as cisgender as I thought. My moirail (8 - Olive) is a trans male and I don’t know if I should ask them for gender advice or not (he is still a little mad at me for telling him he was ignoring his olive history)

But I am a staunch supporter of the signless and I believe that focusing on trivial gender troubles takes away from when i can be studying his teachings. So I will ignore it for now.

Signless is lord

Accept his teachings into your pumpbiscuit and you will be saved

69

[cienie-isengardu]

My RepCom Musing: The use of “psycho” and “crazy” and similar terms

Not sure where my research will ultimately lead me as I’m still collecting data how RepCom book series treated the potential mental illness and/or the perception of the “psycho” characters - something I've been meaning to write for some time in regard to Walon Vau and Sev, but for now I would like to share a few observations made so far:

There is a visible difference in how Walon Vau and Kal Skirata approach the topic of potential mental illness of their clone commandos, which I think fits their introvert and extrovert natures well. As far as I can say, Walon in general is not talking with outsiders about his men’s mental state - he acknowledged (think) Sev is “psychotic” and lacks “the most basic social graces“ [True Colors] or confronted Scorch about his breakdown [Order 66] but we don’t see him revealing much of their traumas or how horrible was their training to anyone who wasn’t already a part of said training program (and we know that Vau and Skirata argued about that a lot). In contrast, Skirata talked surprisingly a lot to other characters about what happened to Ordo/Nulls or occasionally to Omegas, usually to explain why his sons act in this way. This happened with Etain and Obrim and even Fi, though how Ordo feels about his trauma being talked with “outsiders” is not really brought by narrative. 

Granted, both men are using different frames from what they count normal (good) - Vau is operating in the good soldier zone (as being a soldier has a special meaning for him related to his own fucked up childhood) while Skirata focuses on family life (something he failed at once and many clones may never have a chance to experience) but that is a topic for another time.

Similarly, Delta Squad and Atin(?) are rarely seen calling other characters as the psycho, especially in a negative way. Scorch did use that name for Sev, but either Deltas were in their own company or Scorch made an observation about his brother’s behavior as he was worrying about him a lot in Order 66. Frankly, as far as my research showed, Deltas did not call Walon Vau the “Old Psycho” but they did at least twice called Skirata “crazy” (True Colors and Order 66). Interestingly, the majority of “psycho” and “crazy” terms - in context of mental illness / dangerous behavior - used by clones alone in the books comes from Omega (those members originally trained by Kal) and Nulls. 

Old Psycho, as a nickname for Vau was used twice (or so I assume) by Fi and once by Mereel. Bonker Squad as a nickname for Nulls was used by Fi and Darman/Niner and Skirata who coined this term. 

  "Your buddy ... ," Darman teased.

    "Rather have him for a friend than an enemy."

    "Ooh, he likes you. Hobnobbing with ARC officers from the Bonkers Squad, eh?"

    "We have an understanding," Fi said. "I don't laugh at his skirt, and he doesn't rip my head off."

    Yes, Ordo had taken a shine to him. Fi hadn't fully understood it until Skirata had taken him to one side and explained just what had happened to Ordo and his batch on Kamino as kids. So when Fi had thrown himself on a grenade during an anti-terrorist op to smother the detonation, Ordo had marked him out as someone who'd take an awfully big risk to save comrades. Null ARCs were psychotic-bonkers, as Skirata put it-but they were unshakably loyal when the mood struck them. [Triple Zero]

 There are also variations of the “All Nulls are psychos / crazy” statement, quite often coming from Omega, Kal or Nulls themselves. Interestingly, Vau at the beginning of True Colors described them simply as hooligans (rather than psychos) and it was put in contrast to Sev and Vau’s men in general (the good soldiers) while Vau seems to be more prone to call Skirata the crazy one than Nulls. 

Also, it seems like most of the psycho/crazy statements or rumors repeated(?) started with Skirata and was adapted by his men at some point? Like:

mentioned Bonker Squad for Nulls (used solely by him and Omega)

the not best opinion about ARC even if Nulls are the psychos themselves? (“but an ARC who'd gone AWOL was-impossible. Jango Fett had raised and trained them personally, with an emphasis on absolute loyalty to the Republic. Sergeant Kal said that Jango was an unhinged shabuir, but he always stuck to his contract, and that contract had included creating a loyal, totally reliable army. Darman had heard rumors to the contrary, and the Nulls were living crazy proof that a clone soldier could be as eccentric and wayward as any random human, but nothing had ever been confirmed.) As in “Jango was an unhinged shabuir and because he trained ARCs, they are like that too” kind of logic?

And considering that Deltas do not call Walon Vau as the Old Psycho but Fi and Mereel used that nickname, I think it is safe to assume this comes from Skirata too?

Additionally, I made a working diagram - it's not fully correct, as for now I focused on looking for specific phrases (psycho and crazy, bonker or those specific moments that I remembered), but for curiosity's sake I'm posting it in regard to Nulls, Vau and Sev as they are the most prominent characters in regard to “psycho” nickname.