#also i cannot stress this enough: there is NO reason for my brother to have a lasso

[greenbergsays]

are you normal or does your brother (32) chase you (33) down the sidewalk trying to lasso you, both of you giggling like a pair of twelve year olds, while your neighbors look at you like you're crazy?

not that I speak from experience or anything

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

An Israeli law draft that would prohobit UNRWA's activity in Israel passed a very primal stage of legislation. It still has a long way until it will become law (it would still have to pass 3 readings, as well as the Knesset committees), but if before Oct 7 it probably would not stand a chance, after the mounting evidence of the symbiotic nature between Hamas and UNRWA, it has a better chance than ever.

Speaking of the UN being despicable, and in cahoots with antisemitic, genocidal terrorists, we now have Martin Griffiths, the UN Relief Chief, saying that he does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Just wondering, if an organization targeting civilians, raping women, maiming children, beheading babies, burning entiree families together, shooting and kidnapping elderly Holocaust survivors, isn't a terrorist organization, what in the world does Hamas need to do to be recognized as such!?

You might have heard that Israel is operating in the Nasser hospital in Gaza. There's a reason for that, which was addressed by the IDF spokesperson: Israel has intel, including from released hostages, that Hamas kept kidnapped Israelis (and possibly kidnapped bodies) in that hospital. I've actually found one testimony from a released hostage, Sharon Cunyo, talking about this to CNN's Anderson Cooper. The vid is here (page in Spanish, but the vid is in English).

I cannot stress enough how much our hearts hurt for our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world, suffering from this current rise in antisemitism. We've now heard that in the UK, a doctor who has described Jewish colleagues as having a "big nose," and who said that a London borough would be better off "Jew free" was found to be not racist, and could continue to practice medicine. This ties in with a new report that shows the number of antisemitic incidents in the UK is the highest it's been in 40 years, with 67% of these taking place after Oct 7, and maybe most importantly, the initial peak in antisemitic acts was a celebration of Hamas' massacre, rather than any sort of reaction to the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, in the US congress, a bipartisan resolution passed, condemning Hamas' use of rape and sexual violence on Oct 7 (and since, when it comes to the hostages). Which is incredible and needed, even if it only has a symbolic meaning. Still, guess who couldn't stomach defending the human rights of Israelis, even when it comes to rape, even when it had no practical meaning? Rashida Tlaib, once more doing the US proud.

These are (left to right) Yair Cohen, Ziv Chen, and Netanel Alkobi.

On Oct 7, they were among the soldiers who got to kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, and saved the majority of its people from being slaughtered. They stayed to guard the kibbutz since (as the border fence has not yet been completely fixed), and only recently entered Gaza. The other day, they were killed in a building booby trapped by Hamas in Khan Younis. As heartbreaking is it was to hear their families talk about them, it was also painful to hear interviews with kibbutz members, who had lost so much, who have had loved ones in captivity for over 4 months, and who were just as devastated as the families, when they recognized the three as their savior heroes.

May their memories be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[findafight]

Oh my god!!! That Steve/baby sister fic!!! If you ever want to build it out more I’d be obsessed (ie the party + extended party’s reactions, hop + Joyce and how everyone pitches in)

╰⁠(⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠´⁠꒳⁠`⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠)⁠╯ awwww anon!!!!!

Honestly I have been thinking about it and I know I put in the tags of the original post, buuuut. Robin called Steve Bud or Buddy which morphed into Bubba when they are being particularly soft with each other, and the baby (who I am possibly leaning towards calling Tina so her nickname can be Tintin because it's cute idk) picks up on it so calls Steve her Bubba. Also because "he's my big brother" can sort of become "he's my Bubba!" If words are smushed together by baby babble

But before all that, Steve (who walked to work that day because he didn't have a baby car seat yet and wasn't going to leave his baby sister whom he always wanted and loves so dearly already ALONE or worse. With their FATHER.) goes to, of all people, Mrs. Wheeler for help. He'd go to Joyce but she's working and Karen Wheeler has the youngest kid he knows so is the best bet for maybe getting some tips and also maybe a carrier because the bjorn isn't going to cut it for long. So he goes and Mr. Wheeler immediately thinks Steve's Accidental Baby Acquisition is due to Steve's own recklessness. (Steve is a prolific lover, sure, but he's smart and safe about it! When he was thirteen his dad sat him down for a talk about not wanting the disgrace of a shotgun wedding and his grandpa gave him a run down of venereal diseases he saw (didn't mention having but. Well.) His pals have in WWII that put the fear of God in him regarding unsafe sex. Moreso than the potential babies. So. He's always very careful. For this very reason!! Except apparently his dad didn't use his own advice but Steve isn't complaining because, once again, he always wanted a little sibling.)

Anyways the wheelers are like ohhhh a Harrington Scandal not involving the boy our daughter dated? Okay sure here's Holly's old baby carseat. Hopper is just. He's like. I thought Steve and that kid I kept giving warnings to about selling dope to were a thing and Steve is like "will people stop assuming she's mine!! I know I am a bit of a slut but I am terrified of chlamydia!!! And even if this WAS my fault (which it is not and also she's a gift I love you little baby sister you're the light of my life) I am taking responsibility for it so maybe we all need to be a little less judgy hmmm??"

Joyce and Karen give him some hand me down baby clothes and books, some good tips about feeding and burping and things like that, and Claudia and Sue offer to come passive aggressively congratulate Steve's dad.

Dustin is a little jealous because this Steve Time is going to be encroached upon by This Literal Infant but Steve is like Dustin... you are my Little Brother... My silly pal...Now you have a sister too!! 🥰 And Dustin is like Oh Shit That's Right and proceeds to try to teach this Literal Infant, it cannot be stressed enough that she is a few months old and cannot stay sitting up by herself, how to build a radio.

Eddie is just trying to not have a heart attack from the concentration of Pure Longing activated by seeing Steve With A Baby and has also been forbidden from playing anything loud near them. He is fine and deals with this by writing ballads that make Gareth gag from their sweetness and Jeff have a very knowingly indulgent look when he sees the lyrics. But Gareth lets he hit his drums with he baby hands and Jeff pretends she stole his nose so they aren't that put out by it.

El is Fascinated by the tiny human and asks lots of questions and wants to play with her, give her experiences of softness and kindness right off the bat she knew she herself was denied, so she's often the official baby holder when Steve needs to do something when the Party is around.

The rest of the party is pretty meh on the baby. Sure it's exciting at first but she just kinda becomes part of regular life. They take turns doing actual babysitting for Steve so he can work or run errands or even, gasp, have some normal early adult fun times, but it's all pretty regular. Erica is glad she's not the party baby anymore.

They do however probably secretly fight over who gets to be baby's godparent. Steve isn't allowed to know.

[neuroticbookworm]

Boston and his "friends"

Last week, after I watched Boston get wrongfully branded by Atom as a sexual predator and isolated from the group, I was seething with rage and wanted to see Cheum, Mew and Ray to fall at Boston's feet and beg for his forgiveness after the truth comes out.

But today, honestly, I think it is a better character arc for Boston if he doesn't get that resolution from them. Because he fucking doesn't need it. He has defined a wonderful relationship with Nick, his first love, that will give him joy until he leaves for New York (cc @lurkingshan) and he has listened to Atom's grovelling apology. He has no other hangups tying him down.

Cheum, Ray and Mew, on the other hand, do not have the conviction to confront the truth in their relationships. They accused Boston of being duplicitous but none of them approaches their own problems with anything even remotely resembling a healthy communication.

Cheum heard her brother tell her that he lied about Boston taking advantage of him and all she could say was this:

She did not feel horrified that her brother chose to slander a friend, and she does not feel any remorse for her actions. I bet she thinks it's all fine because Boston is a slut anyway, he slept with Top and ruined Mew's relationship, so why does it matter that he was wrongfully accused this one time. Well, Cheum, it doesn't matter to him, but it will matter to you as you have not learned the integrity to face your mistakes and apologize for them. An apology should not be made expecting forgiveness in return, and it should not be valued based on the moral standing of the person you're apologizing to.

Mew. Oh, Mew, Mew, Mew. @lurkingshan pointed out during our post-episode conversation that Mew cannot stick to his schemes, he peters out at the first sign of stress and gives in to the status quo. He wanted to give Top a second chance, and then Boeing showed up. After understanding that Boeing is playing games for his own revenge-on-Top agenda, he initially goes along with it to spite Top. And after all the scheming has made both of them utterly miserable, he listens to his parents and finally decides to give Top an honest-to-goodness second chance. But, he doesn't give it after going through the painful process of self-reflection, and communication where both of them can set clear boundaries and understand where they each stand. Nope. Instead, they just casually agreed to push it away to deal with it in the future.

I declare my love for Theory of Love as loudly and passionately as I can whenever I get the chance on this hellsite, and one of the main reasons why I love that show so goddamn much is the conversation between Khai and Third in the Theory of Love Special Episode, where Khai admits that a girl kissed his neck at a party and how he tried so hard to keep Third from finding out. Third then tells him that he has known about the kiss the whole time, and how Khai need not worry; he knows the difference between an accident and a kiss with purpose. He then tells him that Khai is not the only one trying to make this relationship work, he is trying too, because Third also loves Khai and wants to be with him.

This is what healthy communication looks like. The issues and miscommunications must be tackled head-on and resolved before moving on, so they don't fester into an even bigger and more painful problem later. You can't "leave the problems to the future" and expect it to work itself out. In case y'all don't remember, Khai had to step on literal broken glass to stand his ground and plead his case after a miscommunication, and it was still not enough. That's how painful this process is and I will bet my bottom dollar that Mew has exactly zero percent of the fortitude it takes to talk through a relationship faux pas.

Ray, the human embodiment of a fucking dumpster fire. All he says to Sand after accusing him of taking money from his dad in exchange of taking care of him is "I'm sorry" and Sand immediately takes him back into his arms (I'm so embarrassed that I was briefly rooting for Sand at the start of the show). He does his community service with Sand for a hot minute and then immediately plans an overseas trip to whisk him away. He spells it out, yet again, how he is always looking to "buy" Sand (cc @wen-kexing-apologist)

Buying Sand, ya know, the exact same thing he was mad about, one episode ago.

Trying to prove that Ray's communication skills are severely subpar and unhealthy is like trying to prove that the water in the ocean is salty; the more time I spend on this, the stupider I would look.

All of this is a long winded way to say that Cheum, Mew and Ray will be too busy trying to escape their own trappings, the ones they built for themselves while they convinced self and each other that they are better than Boston; while Boston moves on with his life, living unapologetically as he always does. They can keep their apologies -- I don’t need it, and neither does Boston.

[tyrantisterror]

Fantastic Rants and Where to Find Them

So, back when the Herbie Porber movies were still being made, Warner Brothers saw the cash cow on their hands and decided they had to lock that shit down as much as possible to make sure they could milk it until its teats were chafed and withered to nothing. To that end, they bought the rights to every book the Terf Queen had written by that point - which included all the Henry Pansley wizard school mystery books, but also two gag books set within the Henry Pansley world: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was presented as an in-universe biology textbook for wizard children, and Quidditch Through the Ages, which was an in-universe book of trivia for a fake magical sport.

And at the time everyone with a brain who'd read those two books was shaking their head and thinking how dumb those corporate executives were to do that because, like, those aren't novels or novelas or short stories or narratives of any kind. They are, and I cannot stress this enough, a fake textbook and a fake trivia book about fake things written in a slapdash manner as a cheap gag. They existed for three reasons:

First, to sell something Herbie Porber related at a significantly lower price point than the actual novels so the Terf Queen could get more of that sweet, sweet Scholastic Book Fair money by having something poor kids could buy.

Second, to give a portion of the proceeds raised from that poor kid book fair money to charity so the Terf Queen could get some nice tax writeoffs.

And as a distant third, to expand the world-building of the Henry Pansley setting a teensie bit.

Now, as far as I'm aware, they succeeded at the first two well enough - tons of kids bought those cheap-ass thin as shit paperbacks when I was a kid, myself among them. Well, ok, I only bought Fantastic Beasts and skipped Quidditch because even during the height of my Herbie Porber fan days I thought the Terf Queen's imaginary sport was really fucking stupid and every time it popped up in the books I was bored as shit and tried to skim it as quickly as possible to get to the interesting stuff. I think I looked over the book once in a Barnes and Noble and thought, "Wow, I knew I thought real sports were boring as shit, but it turns out fake ones are even more so."

But back on track - goal number three was... kind of successful, I guess? Like, I don't know if you know this, but bestiaries of fictional animals are one of my big interests. I love a big book of made up creatures, and have collected many in my long life of thirty-four years. And as I said, I got a copy of Fantastic Beasts - technically several, because those cheap ass paperbacks disintegrated if you read them more than once, and I haven't met a bestiary that I haven't poured over several times, no matter how shitty. And despite how often I read it, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was, well... pretty mid, honestly. It's a book that's 99% world-building, and like all of the Terf Queen's world-building, it's overall mediocre and undercooked.

Like, in pure Herbie Porber style, it's mostly concepts that have been done in fantasy fiction and mythology dozens of times before with no real original spin on them whatsoever, often stripped down to their most recognizable elements alone. There are a smattering of original ideas that are actually interesting an novel, a few more original ideas that have potential but don't seem very well-thought out as is, and then some that are clearly just there to be a joke and are amusing for, like, a second, but also would quickly become annoying if they were given any focus.

I'll give a very me-specific example. As a fan of vaguely medieval european fantasy tropes, one of the metrics by which I judge a bestiary is "How does this handle dragons?" Because, like, I don't know if you know this, but I love dragons a lot, and the sheer variety of dragons in fiction is one of my favorite things in the world. There is a smorgasbord of different dragons a person can choose from just in folklore and mythology alone, and that variety is reflected in a given bestiary, the higher I think of it.

The Terf Queen's bestiary gives us ten dragon breeds... and they're all more or less the same except for scale color and minor variations in size. Oh, and their names, which are all based on different dog breeds because the Terf Queen thought that was funny. It's the worst of both worlds because it gets your dragon-loving hopes up that there'll be lots of unique dragons but no, they're just different colors, ho hum. Even the Chinese Dragon sticks to the same basic bitch wyvern body plan as the rest, when, you know, Chinese dragons have SUCH a different body plan than any of their European counterparts. It's downright insulting to the variety and creativity of this iconic folkloric archetype to reduce it to such a samey-set of monsters. Absolutely the most disappointing dragon entry in any bestiary I've ever read, just infuriating.

BUT, BACK ON THE INCREASINGLY DERAILED TRACK: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was never meant to be a "great" book. Remember goals one and two: it was a cheap cashgrab, a gimmick, a gag book. It was meant to be a disposable bit of fun - "Tee hee, here's a goofy textbook from this goofy wizard story that you kids will likely grow out of in a few years, you can read it in twenty minutes and not feel bad when you pitch it because there's very little substance to it, and it only costs three bucks."

The Terf Queen doesn't write textbooks, gag or otherwise, she writes novels, narratives, and in its original form Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was clearly just her fucking around with something whimsical and stupid for shits and giggles (and money, sweet sweet money). The original version of it was published with notes in the margin written by Henry Pansley and Donnie Stoat themselves, the two wizard hooligans writing little jokes and messages to each other with further references to other characters from the series, both to add more humor and because, again, the Terf Queen writes novels, and it was clear she couldn't commit to the "fake textbook" bit without working in some characters riffing it for her own sanity. And that makes it work as a gag book - you get a few laughs from the wizard hooligans playing MST3K with their shitty textbook, learn a little about the (undercooked and poorly thought out) ecosystem of the wizardy world, and then when you reach the back cover the spine of your cheap as shit pulp paperback book falls apart and, unless you've got a weird obsession with bestiaries, you throw the dying book in the garbage without a second thought. Three bucks spent well enough.

BUT, TO GET BACK ON THE INCREASINGLY DERAILED TRACK AGAIN: Warner Brothers bought the rights to this cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, and goddamn it, they were/are determined to squeeze Herby Porber's sore teats until every last drop of money milk spills from his chapped and bleeding nipples. They announced they were going to make a Fantastic Beasts movie towards the end of making the Herby Porber novels into films, and everyone with a brain sat there and thought, "Well, that's going to be a stupid cashgrab. Bet the Terf Queen's laughing her ass off at how dumb it'll be, too."

But the Terf Queen was not laughing, at least not for long, for once the Henry Pansley movies wrapped up, she was left with the horrifying knowledge that people didn't care for her non-wizard books all that much, certainly not enough to keep her rolling in sweet, sweet money. She needed that mega millionaire cash, and she needed it in abundance and she needed it quick. So when Warner Brothers asked her to write a movie based on her cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, she said, "Yeah, I can make a novel out of that! I - I'm a talented writer! People love my writing! They definitely love my writing and they'd love to pay money for things I wrote that don't directly feature Henry Pansley!"

So now she had to pretend that Fantastic Beasts, the cheapo cashgrab gag textbook about made up animals in a made up world, has a narrative. Not just any narrative, but a grand, sprawling narrative, one to rival, nay, SURPASS Herbie Porbie and the Seven Books of Wizard-Themed Coming of Age Nonsense. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she assured us, was to be a magnificant tale, and one she planned all along, and CERTAINLY not a marriage of convenience to a completely stupid idea for a film that she was desperately sculpting into a narrative it had no ability to support for the sake of trying to recapture her already passed glory days as a writer.

And I think, in retrospect, this is a great illustration of the Terf Queen's great character flaw. She just can't fucking admit to a mistake, even when it's obvious to everyone that one was made. She will hop on board a sinking ship and keep doubling down on trying to get it to sail even as the water is up to her neck. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a serious narrative now, not a gag textbook written to wring a few more dollars from school children goddammit!

Recent editions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took out the Herbie and Donnie commentary, by the by. They also added many of the new half-baked monsters that were introduced in the movies, in a shoddy attempt to pretend this was the plan all along, and that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was always meant to be the seed of something great.

But it wasn't, and no matter how hard the Terf Queen pretends otherwise, it's obvious it wasn't. It's a cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, and that's all it really had to be, until greed and ego demanded otherwise.

[watermelonsloth]

Itachi and the Uchiha Massacre

This might be one of the most controversial posts I’ll ever make.

I find myself very undecided about how I feel about Itachi’s role in the Uchiha massacre. It fills me with the same moral indecision and disgust of the trauma olympics (aka the comparing of “who had it worse”). Every time I try to come to a consensus, I immediately doubt my conclusion and question whether I’m giving Itachi too much of the benefit of the doubt or I’m not taking his circumstances into account enough. It’s like asking if him being a child outweighs him killing children. And that makes me uncomfortable.

On the one hand, he did something very very very bad. He killed an entire clan of people, including who knows how many innocent civilians and children. He then proceeded to psychologically torture his seven year old brother with the memories of him doing so. Prior to being met with this specific conundrum, I would’ve said without hesitation that this is a black-and-white situation with Itachi being solidly in the wrong. Even if he wasn’t the only perpetrator, he still would deserve much of the blame for being one of the executors of such an abhorrent act.

I cannot stress enough how terrible the massacre would’ve been in practice.

However, and this is where I might lose a few of you, as more information is revealed, one question nags at my entire fucking central nervous system. How much of a choice did Itachi really have?

To understand the full circumstances, first you have to understand that the context falls under two categories: who Itachi is (and his perspective) and what position he was in when he made the decision he did. First, who he is:

Itachi grew up in a militaristic village that normalizes violence, especially violence being used to solve problems.

This village has also normalized putting the village’s survival over oneself and one’s friends/family.

He was alive to see the very end of the third shinobi war and the nine tails attack, two events that have solidified his belief that war is the worst thing ever and should be prevented at all costs.

Hiruzen, Danzo, Kakashi, and Shisui encourage his belief that war should be avoided at any and all costs. Three of them are authority figures (see the Milgram experiment for why that’s relevant) and one of them is his first and only best friend.

He is a very introverted and closed off person. He’s so closed off that not even his immediate family can read him. Because of this, his inner circle is very small (meaning he has a very small support network).

He grew up with a strict, authoritarian father and entered the anbu at a young age, meaning he grew up being expected/pressured to obey those in positions of power without asking questions.

He’s an introvert who’s scared of conflict and keeps his head down.

Second, his actual position when he was told to kill his clan (I might be missing some, so feel free to add any others you remember.):

He was thirteen. That is a child in grade 8. That is the age of most genin.

Tensions between his family and village are implied to have been rising for a while and are now at the point that, for whatever reason, negotiation is deemed impossible.

Tensions are so high that if the village doesn’t act soon, the Uchiha’s coup will spark an all out civil war.

The Uchiha clan has little to no chance of winning the conflict and will likely have most (if not all) of its members killed in it. Plus, the conflict would’ve also resulted in many casualties on Konoha’s side as well, including civilians, children, and shinobi who had nothing to do with what was happening.

Tensions between him and his father are extremely high as well with the two of them being implied to regularly argue.

His best friend, possibly only friend, died by jumping off of a cliff in front of him after giving him one of his eyes and left the responsibility of handling the entire situation to him.

He’s being suspected for the murder of said best friend (and was flat out accused of it in front of his younger brother by three adult police officers) and is suspected as being more loyal to the village than to his clan, making him even more of an outcast to his clan.

He's aware that his best friend was attacked and mutilated by Danzo, one of the village leaders and his superior. If he wants any action taken against Danzo, he’ll have to fight a solo, uphill battle against all of the village leaders and risk losing all sway over the Uchiha situation (which would still be a ticking time bomb) in the process.

If he doesn’t want to fight a two sided war or lose what little power he has in the situation, his safest option is to follow orders while pushing for a plan where casualties are minimized.

Did Itachi have other options? Yes, I’m not gonna pretend that genocide was Itachi’s only choice. But a lot of people seem to forget how difficult or flawed a lot of his alternatives would have actually been in practice.

For example, I’ve seen a lot of people throw around the idea of Itachi just grabbing Sasuke and leaving the village. First of all, the massacre still would’ve happened, Itachi and Sasuke just wouldn’t have been there for it. Second, Itachi would’ve had to remove Sasuke from the village without being caught by the village or the Uchiha clan when he was under the scrutiny of both. Itachi is a good shinobi, but I don’t know if he’s that good. Third, how would he even get Sasuke to go along with him? Itachi may not have been close to his clan, but Sasuke loved his clan. Yes, Sasuke also loved Itachi, but it’s a pretty big stretch to say that seven-year-old Sasuke would’ve just gone along with it, especially when he wouldn’t have been able to understand the true scale of the situation. (Itachi would pretty much have to kidnap Sasuke for this plan to work.) Fourth (and similarly), people don’t tend to like uprooting their entire lives to leave the home they grew up in, even in emergency situations or when it’s the objectively better/safer option. Itachi and Sasuke, who were both raised to be “lay down their lives” loyal to their home, would’ve been especially averse to this idea. Fifth, even if they got over all of that and got out of the village, Itachi would have to raise his younger brother alone at thirteen years old while being on the run from a world power with no protection in a world where they’re at risk of being killed or getting the attention of creeps like Orochimaru simply for having kekkei genkai. It’s not like Itachi had outside contacts (beside Obito but Obito would not have helped them even if Itachi trusted him enough to trust Sasuke’s life to him) or there was a benevolent nation to take them in. Even if they managed to one day settle into a peaceful life, it would’ve taken years of fighting to survive before they’d have gotten there. Cool fanfic idea, but making Itachi slightly more innocent isn’t a solution.

The idea that Itachi should’ve just told the Uchiha clan what was going on and got help from them is similarly short sighted. The Uchiha clan were the victims in this situation, but they weren’t perfect angels either. Itachi was not close to, or particularly well liked by, his clan. Save for Shisui (who is theoretically dead in this scenario) and Sasuke, he had no emotional connection to the clan, only vague respect and a waning sense of responsibility towards it. And even if he did go to them, Itachi telling them what was happening would’ve just sparked a civil war, the one thing Itachi was desperate to avoid and the thing that would’ve gotten them all killed.

So…

What was the point of all this?

I’ll admit that I hoped typing out my thoughts would somehow end in me settling on an opinion, but right now I’m still just as undecided and significantly more depressed. Because, like, it’s just a depressing, shitty situation where there were victims and perpetrators and Itachi who just so happened to be both. Maybe trying to ask if Itachi is either “good” or “evil” is asking the wrong question. Maybe the entire discussion about how moral Itachi is as a person or all of the other choices he could’ve made is missing the point.

[littlecrittereli]

Hello, me again, your Guardianship AU has latched onto my brain and won’t let go so I have more questions

First, how much does Chris know about the CPS hounding Martin? Does he understand that there’s a real possibility he could be removed from his brother’s custody? In the comic you made, when they were younger, Chris was pretty oblivious about it all (mostly cause Martin didn’t wanna worry him and didn’t tell him any details) but now that he’s a bit older, has he picked up on certain things? ‘Cause you’ve also mentioned that the AU has decent resemblance to Lilo & Stitch, but in that movie Lilo seems very aware of their situation which isn’t the case for Martin and Chris, especially because Martin’s personality is pretty opposite to Nani.

Second, and I totally get it if you don’t know, I’m just an over-thinker, but how would the parents have died in your AU? Because I can see the cause of death being pretty traumatizing depending on what it is, especially for Martin who was old enough to understand what was going on followed by the responsibility of raising his younger brother who is basically the only family he has left. Maybe even for Chris, though as you mention he was too young and doesn’t remember them much anymore.

Once again, love your AUs, Guardianship AU is clearly my favorite but I’m a sucker for sibling dynamics, especially the trope “brothers-against-the-world”.

Chris is definitely more aware of Child Protective Services than he was when he was a kid. They aren’t AS much of a threat anymore which is why Chris isn’t really worried about them. Martin has custody of him, and he just gets evaluated every so often to make sure he’s taking care of Chris and providing him a healthy and stable environment. (CPS is very concerned about chris traveling in the Tortuga but mostly leave them alone now) Martin definitely gets hella stressed when these evaluations come along, but he’s been doing this dance with CPS for so long by that point he’s not as worried. When he was 17, and freshly emancipated he was fightin for his life in those courtrooms 💀

Chris knows about it now, but in his eyes, Martin is the best guardian ever? He cannot fathom the idea of Martin being an “unfit guardian” so he can’t even imagine a situation where CPS would have a reason to take him. Which is also a small point of tension for them? Because on one hand Martin is glad his brother isn’t worried and trusts him, but also feels frustrated by Chris not taking it seriously or understanding the weight of it like he does.

But Chris is honestly more worried about Martin getting sick of having to drag him around and giving up custody of him. But those are repressed emotions to unpack for another day.

And I don’t actually have a reassonnn for the parents death yet. In the hypothetical fanfiction that I have not written yet, I don’t want to explicitly state it. Its something they dont like to talk about. And they probably get really nervous/jittery around any subjects related to the cause. I’m leaning more towards something like a car accident. Something that could happen to anyone, but also very tragic. It’s technically not decided for sure though! So im open to any suggestions at the moment.

[independent-variables]

HELLO !!!

Having now finished binging all of your star wars fics, I come here asking for some recs. Just any of your favourites, bonus points if it will cause emotions (and tears).

Also can't stress enough how much I love your writing, it's so so brilliant <3

(this is neptunesenceladus btw, tumblr hates me and won't let me send asks with a side blog so you get this one)

HI!!! Good to see you, good to see you <3 Always happy to provide recs <3 <3 <3

I want you to know I went through my bookmarks and pulled like sixty fics and had a brief moment of panic, so this is not all of my recs just the first... thirty, or so. If none of these are appealing, oh boy, do I have more!

This list is not in any order other than bookmark order, most are on the shorter side, most are Gen and I am pretty sure all are complete. I tried to warn for stuff that could be a squick when I remembered.

False Dichotomy by nsmorig

Starting off strong with my favorite Cody fic of all time. If you read nothing else on this list I encourage you to read this (if the tags are not a squick) because it will re-shape your brain and shatter your heart into tiny pieces. Basic premise is Force Sensitive Cody gets captured by Dooku and survives torture, experimentation, and imprisonment while trying to figure out his relationship to the Force and to his personhood, and the ways those things are connected. 

What's in a Name by Sankt

This is about Fordo post war and it’s phenomenal characterization. 

The Last Poem of Jedha by schweinsty

How Bohdi Rook becomes a rebel and writes a poem. 

you're like a loaded gun by kazhan

Ok this is E and also Underage, so maybe it’s a skip, but it’s teen Boba/Cal trying to navigate sex and love and secret identities and it’s so fucked up and so good. 

chicken, cattle and cat by deniigiq

Obi-Wan and Maul living in domestic dis-harmony on Tatooine. What more could you ask. 

Little things [are the reason to live] by i_will_bite

Clone medics navigating a slightly hostile working environment and trying to make it less hostile T-T

Two brothers (and a kid) by meerlicht

What if. Waxer and Boil just stayed on Ryloth, with Numa. What then? 

with poise, with grace by andeemae

Stone falls through a hole in a roof and falls in love. Beautiful clone/OC romance and very cute kids, doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of being a clone in love with a civilian. Very much an inspiration for me.

second time around by This_world_of_beautiful_monsters

This is another one I wasn’t sure I wanted to put on here because it deals briefly with rape, but it’s such a wonderfully fucked up take on Anakin and Rex’s relationship. Or, how Vader views Rex. 

The Desert Storm by Blue_Sunshine

If you are looking for an epically long series to get invested in I highly recommend checking this one out. This series and its sister-series are some of the best characterization and worldbuilding for Jedi I have ever had the pleasure of reading and it is a fix-it in all the messy, hard, terrible ways people don’t usually write fix-its. 

Shape-Changer by Fialleril

This is a foundational fic for me. Incredible Tatooine worldbuilding. Inspired me to write the way I write. 

The Sun Is Bright, The Sun Is Blue by ambiguously

CUT AND SU ORIGIN STORY!!! 

most things may never happen: this one will by jaigeye

This is brutal but what if you were a droid and you had to dissect a person. 

Bad Deal by FettsOnTop (GTFF)

Boba/Lando my beloved. A brief look into their relationship and into Lando’s thoughts leading up to Han and them’s arrival. 

and the Force is with me by sauntering_down

Rex and Ahsoka and the way the war changed them, and what they can and cannot do in the aftermath. 

Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by yellow_caballero

The Fox fic of all time. What if you were trapped in a time-loop with a ghost from the future but your life is so monotonous and simultaneously bizarre you don’t even notice. 

Fishhooks by yellow_caballero

The Boba fic of all time. This author does not write much for SW but every time they do it’s iconic. What if you were a teenager running away from home but also a perfect clone of your father created to be him but better but also his because you will never escape his body and his ownership and his love. What then. 

Staring into open flame by SLWalker

This is such a beautiful and heartbreaking read, it’s basically exploring what would have to happen for Maul and Obi-Wan to have a genuinely healthy and happy relationship post murder and bisection. 

Energy Drink Fox by carrinth

The crack comic of all time. What if Fox had space Monster.

lost cause by catboydogma

The foundational Dogma fic. The fic that got me wondering about how clones spend their time on Coruscant. 

the married au by dharmaavocado

Clone rebellion my beloved. Basic premise is the clones took over Kamino and then went out into the galaxy as a mercenary army of sorts. Rex and Cody are finding their place in the world, creating business partnerships, falling in love, manipulating public perception of clones. (Background clonecest, not between Rex and Cody.)

[reinathevocaloid]

How KinnPorsche's Episode 6 Uses The Pastoral Genre To Add Depth And Tragedy

While I have only recently watched the entirety of KinnPorsche, I think I have seen enough fandom content already to fairly confidently say that episode six is often considered one of the best if not THE best episode of the show. It is personally one of my favorite episodes too, along with episode 10. Besides being a major turning point of the series and the true start of Kinn and Porsche's romantic relationship, it also has the excellent symbolism of the cuffs, which physically represent how Kinn had been forcefully keeping Porsche by his side (since Porsche was forced to work as a bodyguard). So, by releasing the cuffs, Porsche was given the freedom to choose to stay by Kinn's side instead of being kept there like a bird (or Phoenix lol) in a cage.

But, while all of these factors have certainly contributed to the long-standing power of episode six, I believe they're not the core reason why people can't stop making gifs, mvs, artworks, fics, and more based on the episode. Something about the episode keeps people coming back to it. A certain tragedy that reverberates throughout the show and makes the season finale more bittersweet than it would've been without it.

Instead of its place within the narrative or its symbolism, the strength of episode six lies within its genre: the pastoral.

For those who don't know, the pastoral genre refers to artworks that represent an idealized version of rural life. In most pastoral works, urban life is seen as a corrupting force, and people can only be healed by going to the countryside and reconnecting with nature. Though this genre is extremely old, plenty of modern works still use this trope. For example, plenty of rom-coms have the protagonist move to a small town from a big city. Besides finding love, the protagonist of these rom-coms is often able to rediscover their true self, which was lost while they were dealing with the stresses, duties, and craziness of the city. Another example of this genre is farming sims like Stardew Valley, which has the player control a farmer that is burnt out by the city and finds a better life in the country.

Although it wasn't their choice, Kinn and Porsche still end up moving from the city to the country in episode six. Similarly to all those rom-com and video game protags, the setting allows the two of them grow closer and fully fall in love. Since their stresses, responsibilities, duties, and roles are left behind in the city, they are both able to reconnect and show their innermost selves. For the first time ever, Kinn and Porsche are truly free, and it shows not only in their carefree happiness but also in their honesty. It's because of the rural setting that Kinn and Porsche finally share their childhood dreams, deepest emotions, and darkest fears.

But, unlike those rom-com protags and video game farmers, Kinn and Porsche cannot stay in the wilderness. One of the most well-known examples of pastoral fiction is Shakespeare's As You Like It, which primarily follows the duchess Rosalind. Similarly to Kinn and then Vegas in later episodes when he moves with Pete to the safe house (which could also be seen as an example of pastoral fiction and also leads to the VegasPete romance), Rosalind and her cousin, Celia, are forced to move out into the countryside after Rosalind's uncle usurps the court. Before leaving, Rosalind meets and becomes infatuated with a poor man named Orlando, who is only poor because his older brother won't give him the money and education he deserves, after he won a fighting tournament (the parallels between Kinn/Rosalind and Porsche/Orlando!!!). While Rosalind is living in the wilderness disguised as a man named Ganymede, Orlando also ends up living there, and the lack of pretenses and social hierarchies leads to the two characters fully falling in love. Like most pastoral narratives, the reprieve from their life in the duchy allows them to find happiness.

But, in the end, this is only a temporary respite. As a twist on the typical tropes associated with this genre, Shakespeare uses As You Like It to point out that the responsibilities left in the city will still remain there even if you leave for a period of time. Eventually, Rosalind and the rest of the court, that also ended up in rural countryside over the course of the play, must go back to the city and resume their duties. Their important political positions make it so they can't stay even if they wanted to.

Like Rosalind, Kinn must go back to the city and resume his duties as the mafia head, and, like Orlando, Porsche must also go back to the city because he wants to stay by Kinn's side. Though the experience has made both the characters stronger (Kinn chooses to trust again and allow more of his inner self to shine through, and Porsche is more resolute and less naive about what's going on around him) and their relationship has truly blossomed, they are never able to reach the same level of carefree happiness that they had while lost in the wilderness because of the pressures around them.

After seeing and experiencing how happy Kinn and Porsche could be, there's a certain note of tragedy that reverberates throughout the entire story that wouldn't have been felt as strongly without the existence of episode six. From the first episode to the last episode, Korn succeeds in keeping Kinn and Porsche in a cage of responsibilities and bloodshed. Even as they have a seemingly fun party on a boat and sweetly pledge their lives to each other at the end of episode 14, it's hard to forget that the main antagonist has won and that our two leads are still trapped by the narrative. Though they are not struggling as much as Kim and Chay, they still have not reached a truly happy ending. This contrasts with Vegas and Pete who have managed to escape the narrative, which is represented in a meta context by literally having their resolution after the credits, and thus have the happiest ending out of the couples.

Though it would still be possible to see Kinn and Porsche's ending as somewhat tragic even without episode six, the episode allows the audience to truly witness everything that Kinn and Porsche had to sacrifice. Everything that they have lost. And that makes episode six an incredibly raw and unforgettable part of the story. (And is probably one of the many reasons why many of us are still hoping for a season two someday lol).

[shoyoackerman]

YOUR HEADCANONS FOR THE RAKUZAN TEAM YOU PUT IN THE TAGS OF THAT ONE POST YOU REBLOGGRD ARE SO INTERESTING, you simply NEEd to do more headcanons for all the Rakuzan members!

IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED THEM 🤧 I have so many different hc for everyone in knb and especially for Rakuzan. Probably my second favourite team. For now here are some for Nebuya and Hayama. The next one will have the rest of the members!!

Nebuya Eikichi

- Like i said before, Nebuya absolutely adores animals, especially cows, specifically the highland cattle. He loves how strong and powerful they are, especially with their horns, yet also how cute looking the can be. It makes him appreciate people who can look deceptively weak yet are much stronger looking than expected.

- His love for animals, farm animals in particular, was due to him frequently visiting the farm his grandparents owned. He would constantly be coming into the country to spend time with them and help with work on the farm which ranged from feeding and grooming the animals. He would spend hours lying in the fields with the animals just dozing around him, baby calf’s would rest in his lap and let him pet them.

- He didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, ostracized because of the colour of his skin, despite the fact he was born in Japan. So when he was on the farm with his grandparents he always felt less lonely with all the animals.

- Nebuya loved animals so much he tried to go vegan, when that was too difficult he tried to be a vegetarian. He lasted longer than when he was a vegan before he gave it up because he loved meat just way too much 🤧but to make up it!

- He works/volunteers at vets. Sometimes even works part time at the groomers that is connected to the veterinary. He loves being around animals, a lot more than people, something that stayed with him since he was a child.

- The only people who have ever seen this side of him was his teammates. The only group of people he genuinely felt close to and even cared for, despite how much he and Reo like to argue with one another. He likes to put the other boy in a headlock, their interactions always remind Nebuya of when he’s with his older brothers.

- Which is one of the reasons why he loves to baby Akashi, when he’s retuned to himself, as he’s the youngest on the team and since Nebuya is the youngest of three brothers he’s always wanted to have someone to look over and be someone they could come to for help. Even though he’s bad at being logical, he will always support someone in what they want the most. (Even if he doesn’t completely understand what their talking about, he likes to act super knowledgeable, Reo calling him out on it all the time)

- His favourite time down activity is…cooking! He can’t bake for shit, somehow always burning any sort of cake, cupcake, brownie or pie. Like cannot bake for the life of him. But when it comes to cooking anything else, he’s the best. Having learnt from his dad who’s the main cook in the house since his mother is great at everything else but cooking. (The last time she cooked they all were in hospital for the week 💀)

- But cooking is something that started off when he was watching his dad in the kitchen, it became their thing to do together. And when Nebuya was old enough his dad allowed him to help with the cooking. It involved into them watching cooking shows together (his favorite show is Gordon Ramsay and he loves copying the insults and using it on people on the team. “Hayama you always surprise me” “woah really! That’s awesome, you know I always strive to being the exceptional and unpredictable” “you surprise me, how shit you are”) so he loves to cook when he’s feeling stressed or just bored.

- Hardcore kpop stan. Like, if he had to choose between never listening to kpop or playing basketball…sorry everyone he can’t betray his girls Red Velvet 😔 you know that one scene of Patrick Bateman listening to music? Yeah that’s Nebuya listening to kpop with the most intense expression ever. Girl groups are his shit. His mother was the one who got him into kpop, it’s something they bond over. Like his father with cooking, with his mother is everything and anything kpop.

Kotaro Hayama

- People think he has ADHD, no, no he’s just jacked all the way 100. There is no in between with him. He could just be chilling, scrolling on his phone and the next thing you know he’s trying to do parkour inside your house out of nowhere. (More times than Akashi can count has he had to replace a priceless vase that had been destroyed by his teammate who decided he wanted to try and jump from the bookcase. He was banned for two weeks before doing it again)

- Because of this misconception people have about him, they’ve tried to use ADHD as an insult. Which Hayama becomes immediately defensive about, because whilst he doesn’t have it. His younger brother Reki does (🤭) He’s gotten in trouble for starting fights, but because he’s teammates with Akashi he doesn’t ever get detention (something about the Akashi family being secret Yakuza members or whatever) But Hayama is a big protector to those he loves, so he tolerates no bad mouthing or people using disabilities as an insult.

- Gymnastic Hayama. When he was younger, his parents wanted something to have him run all his energy out on, and they tried EVERYTHING. Like they had him in soccer, baseball, swimming, track, tennis, every sport imaginable (not basketball, why? Because his father had an intense hatred for the sport for pure comedic reasons and didn’t want his son to be infected by basketball germs — Hayama father was in a long running competition with his brother, who was a basketball player and had this hatred for the sport. Which really didn’t last long when his son started playing and was good at it. He never lives this down when his brother brings up his son being on the basketball team. In return he says his son has more trophies from his middle school then he does in his entire adult life…they didn’t talk for a whole month)

- But for some reason Hayama took to gymnastics fantastically well…too well because before they knew it they were taking their son constantly to the hospital for broken, dislocated and fractured bones. Why? Because when he wasn’t at the gym he was at home in the backyard doing backflips from the roof, tables and any surface he could climb.

- Hayama was a constant face at the hospital, they made these little stickers specifically for him (it was a chibi cheetah with a cast on it’s leg) Would be walking down the halls and would be like superstar with the way he was greeting everyone and giving out high-fives with an arm in a cast. Everyone knew him. Even the patients.

- Bros flexibility is on another level, like disturbingly so that one time during a sleepover at Reo’s after watching a horror movie he went into a bridge and scared the shit out of everyone as he chased them around the house. Reo kicked him out on his balcony and was forced to sleep outside the rest of the night.

- He loves skateboarding, it’s his favorite thing to do. Because he will without a doubt be incorporating what he learnt in gymnastics into skateboarding. Everyone at the park just be watching this mf skating on his hands like it was nothing. Would be going down the ramps and doing fancy little tricks and jumps all on his hands. Everyone hates him. (Jk they love him and will go to him for help, especially the younger ones and he takes to it and loves giving advice and cheering them on when they succeed) (he has a secret skateboard partner who is a first year that attends Seirin High…who also used to be Akashis old teammate 🫣)

- Crossdresser Hayama? Yes? Yes? Yes! He has two older sisters, he was the the real life barbie doll. No jokes his haircut was given to him by his sisters and he’s just kept the same style since middle school. His sisters would dress him up in skirts, dresses, wigs, stockings and high heels. The whole nine yards. And he didn’t hate it? He had a lot of fun learning that he could wear whatever the fuck he wanted to whilst looking hot as fuck. One time when he was dolled up and went out with his sisters, he ran into Reo, who tried flirting with him completely unaware it was Hayama. When he found out (it was on a tuesday afternoon, 4:20 pm at Rakuzan High School in the basketball gym) Reo had an identity crisis PURELY because it was Hayama, and couldn’t look at Hayama without turning red.

- Wanna guess what his favourite genre of music is? Mozart, Frederic Chopin and Pyotor llyich. No kidding, completely deadass. Classical music is his jam. Fast paced, dramatic and overall epic as fuck? (Nobody gives him the aux cord) he of course loves rnb, rap and pop. But classical music has a grip on him. He will attend orchestras when they have shows, Akashi goes with him since he also shares the same taste in music which was a surprise to the younger boy, but it was something they bond over.

- I’m not kidding nobody will let him have the aux cord unless they pre approve what music he will play 😭

[unohanabbygirl]

I miss you, I hope you come back to us.

FMN! My opinion is probably an outlier here but a majority were mad at Jace reaction towards Luke. While I hate that he took his anger out on Luke. His fear was palpable as Aemond is the one who killed his brother and tore the family apart. Aemond coming up to him and telling Jace Luke is crying probably brought out some PTSD in Jace that he wasn’t there to defend his little brother from Aemond and now he thinks Aemond hurt Luke again and made him cry. I feel bad that the family is reacting toxic to Luke but I see where Jace is coming from. It’s something Luke doesn’t understand because he has no memory of Jace. If he did he would get it.

Im back my love! And hopefully the FMN crew will be back again soon too since i’m free to write at the moment. Chapters are loading!

Aemond telling Jace that Luke was distraught 100% brought out those protective instincts in him. And while Jace has always possessed a certain maturity and ability to assess what actions are appropriate for certain situations with being the oldest daughter son and once heir to an entire realm, when it comes to Luke that emotionally detached discernment just go poof and he becomes an act first, ask questions later soft of person. All the emotions he usually attempts to keep under the surface break through without anything to hold them back. There’s simply no room for second guessing when it comes to his brother’s wellbeing.

In his mind, if Aemond was capable of taking Luke’s life once out of what he thinks was petty hatred, what would stop him from causing Luke enough distress to the point where he needed Jace to come fix the problem? That on top of the alcohol and overstimulation due to their environment, it all brought Jace back to a dark place from his past. It’s overwhelmingly stressful for him to see Luke push away from his ‘real family’ and fall into Aemond’s arms when the guy is the reason for so much of everyone’s truama. It feels like betrayal, and sometimes emotions don’t leave room for the logic thats so desperately needed in this delicate situation.

For me, both things are true. Jace is an asshole for treating Luke so badly, but he’s also just a hurt kid finding trouble accepting things may never be how they once were again.

Oh, and theres also the added sexual nature that we can’t forget. Aemond was a bit of a mess when he went to go get jace; the messed up hair, Luke’s smudged lipstick likely being all over his neck, and the fact that his pants were unzipped is basically a flashing red light letting everyone know he just got off. Knowing Aemond has sexual interest in Luke already angers Jace for various reasons (one being that he feels Luke cannot properly consent and wouldn’t if he were still “himself”) but actually seeing that those feelings have been acted on and resulted in Luke crying was the catalyst for that brawl.

[adarkrainbow]

Did you know that, after World War II, the Grimm fairytales could have been banned forever?

I am asking this question because I wanted to do some sort of closing post on the "Hansel and Gretel is antisemitic" question, while also bringing a point that I haven't seen brought up too often.

I saw a lot of people repeat around Tumblr, reblog across accounts and sheeply rewrite again and again that "Hansel and Gretel" was an antisemitic tale - sometimes they couldn't even bring an explanation as to why, and just said "X person said it, so that must be true". If you ask me, my answer is "No, Hansel and Gretel is not an antisemitic story", and I made several posts trying to explain why there's no antisemitism in there, just folkloric motifs and fears born of the witch-hunts. No, Hansel and Gretel is not antisemitic. But it isn't because my answer is "No" and because the fairytale isn't antisemitic that it can't be MADE antisemitic. And this is a very important point that I think can't be stressed enough.

You already saw how easily people could be convinced that the story is antisemitic given the wave on Tumblr of people who decried tit as such - notably by assimilating the witch trying to eat the children with the "blood label" antisemitic beliefs. A look at the text, at fairytales of the same nature, at the origins of such a story, can easily disprove such a reading. The witch fattens up children and eat them - there is no mention of blood, or of using said blood for occult or religious rituals. It's just good ol' cannibalism and a Sweeney Todd-flavored story. (That's actually the reverse, since the Sweeney Todd legend ended up influenced by the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, thanks to the musical, but I digress). And similarly people point out that the witch is a "Jewish caricature", invoking common witch traits in popular folklore such as a hooked nose - but the witch in the story doesn't have a hooked nose or any trait usually used to caricature Jews. She is just an old woman with red eyes walking on crutches, and that's it, nothing about any other particularity. Old + red eyes + crutches and that's it. So no, Hansel and Gretel is not antisemitic in itself, didn't start as an antisemitic tale, was not formulated as such when the brothers Grimm noted it down.

However, as I said, it doesn't mean the story cannot be "infested" by antisemitic elements a posteriori. Two points:

Point 1. There is a legitimate doubt to have when it comes to antisemitism in the Grimm fairytales, as in, it is legitimate to start wonderng "Maybe it isn't an innocent tale and maybe there's antisemitic elements in there". Because the Brothers Grimm did collect antisemitic stories among their numerous traditional fairytales - such as the infamous "The Jew in the Thorns" story. Not only were these stories collected in the 19th century, a time where racism and discriminations of all kinds were much more widespread and accepted than today, but antisemitism was a particularly strong German tradition for a long time. You could say it was the dark side of Jewish culture - and while it was everywhere in Europe, it was especially present in Germany. The fact the ones who orchestrated the greatest Jewish genocide in history were German is no coincidence.

However there is a difference between having a legitimate suspicion and just forcing onto a story a reading that is clearly grasping at the last straw, so to speak. For example, while it is understandable some people would think of Hansel and Gretel as antisemitic, it doesn't mean one shouldn't look at the text and the story and realize that it isn't antisemitic at all. It is especially important because by focusing on stories wrongly accused of antisemitism, one could pass by or hide the ACTUAL antisemitic tales of the Grimm that must be recognized and identified as such (again, The Jew among the Thorns is the most famous example).

But here is my point 2, which is the most important one and the entire reason this post was made. It is also important to recognize when someone is enforcing antisemitism in a story that wasn't antisemitic to begin with - it is important to know when someone warps a tale to fit their own ideologies or hatred. And I am not speaking about the Tumblr-folks here - but about the Nazis.

Yes the freacking Nazis. They're really to blame for everything. You see, this is the root of my original question, the opening line. Why did people consider maybe banning forever the Grimm fairytales after World War II? Because of the Nazis! One of the numerous scars the Nazis left on Germany was one upon German culture, since Hitler and his minions worked intensely on taking part some of the greatest pieces of German culture and twisted, reused them for their own sick purposes. Wagner's operas, for example, were forever soiled by the fact that it was Hitler's favorite pieces of music.

And the brothers Grimm fairytales did not escape the Nazi filfth. The Grimm fairytales were the emblematic folktales of Germany, collected by German nationalists, in their effort to rebuild a purely German culture after the foreign invasions of Napoleonian France. Of coursemad and fanatic fascists like the Nazis would reuse them! And they did, oh yes. They did some despicable use of the Grimm fairytales in their propaganda, and teaching programs. And no doubt, not only did they resurrect actual antisemitic tales in the brothers' book, but they certainly also added numerous antisemitic meanings which weren't there before.

If you ask me "Is Hansel and Gretel an inherently antisemitic fairytale, or was conceived as such?" I would answer you: no. If you ask me, "Did Hansel and Gretel become antisemitic during World War II", I would answer you: "Probably, yes". There is little doubt that the Nazis wouldn't have used the tale as anti-Jewish propaganda and depicted the wicked witch (and the wicked stepmother) as Jewish. The only reason I do not say a full and firm yes is because I do not have textual evidence of them using THIS specific fairytales - but it is attested they used the brothers Grimm work as a whole in their insane war crimes.

Which led to the serious question of what to do with these stories, once the war was over. Should Germany stop using them as childhood literature, remove them from their list of great cultural works? Or should they be kept, but by removing all the Nazis had done to them and trying to focus on the most non-antisemitic-parts? You can tell today the solution taken was the second.

And so this would be my last important message about this subject. Why is it important to know that Hansel and Gretel isn't antisemitic? To be able to denounce and decry those that want to make it antisemitic. To prevent antisemites from using it as some sort of cultural weapon. And this is true for ALL fairytales.

Fairytales are unfortunately all inherently racist or discriminatory at one point or another, because they come from a much older and different time. The Pentamerone is filled with racist stories. Madame d'Aulnoy's stories have some casual racism. Some Grimm stories are antisemitic. These are facts that cannot be ignored and have to be dealt with. But it is important to recognize the parts of these tales that DID NOT have racist elements to them, and to also recognize the racist parts for what they were, so that we can move forward by protecting them from any misuse or to prevent their use by the wrong people. Sometimes it isn't about "cancelling" stories - sometimes it is about making sure they cannot end up in the hands of those we fight, or denouncing how they read a tale that does not actually exist except in their mind.

[rainbowrocketquotes]

do you mayhaps have a family tree for how maxie, silver, lance, and arianna are related? seems really interesting :D

Okay so eomeone asked this a while ago and I was too lazy to look for it, but I found it a while ago so basically this is me explaining it. Under the cut it goes!

THIS IS NOT CANON. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH THAT THIS IS NOT CANON.

Basically, Maxie and Lance are half siblings on their dad's side (Lance is younger). Skyla is their sister (red hair & flying type reasons) and Clay is their brother (ground types & land industrialization reasons). Mars is their cousin. Unrelated, Ariana is their collective half-cousin.

Lorelai is Flint and Flannery's mom for no other reason than I thought it would be funny to make two fire-type specialists the children of an ice-type specialist. (also red hair). Flannery & Flint are Maxie's cousins, which, using context clues you can figure the rest of that out.

Jupiter is Ariana's sister, Byron is their brother. (all give me similar vibes) Then, canonically Roark is Byron's kid.

Silver. I always thought would be so fucking funny if he wasn't even Ariana's kid, then someone brought to the forefront of my mind the idea of GioMaxie exes. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

So essentially Han's brainworms are perpetually stuck between "Ariana is Silver's mom, and Giovanni shotgun wedding-ed her." and my funny haha headcanon of "Giovanni is Trans and Maxie is Silver's dad but he doesn't know." Regardless, Giovanni and Ariana are married and nobody in their family is happy about it.

If you have any more questions, send them however, but keep in mind Tumblr mobile forces me to reply from main in replies. I also tag all my stuff on this as "extensive maxie family headcanon" if you wanna look at it.

Edit:

Here are the REAL bold choices.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #57

It is Valentine's Day in my part of the world! I cannot stress enough that my feelings for you are strictly platonic. But all the same, I'll wish you a happy Valentine's Day. And I hope you'll do your best to remember that your existence is one of the things that puts the necessary strength and courage in my bones so that I can, against all odds, rise up and face another day in this weird, sad, broken, but still beautiful world that I live in. As far as we of my world have been made aware, you have no interest in romantic or sexual relationships, right? So I hope that today, you'll take the time to reflect fondly upon the friendships you shared with Zack, Genesis, and Angeal. I hope that today, you'll reflect upon all the ways you are cared for and needed in both your world and in mine.

Today, my husbands and I went out to get lunch! It's nice that almost no one where we live seems too troubled by the fact that we are a trio. I got a burger that I thought would be good, but it had unexpected barbecue sauce on it (though barbecue-flavored things are very popular where I live, I strongly dislike that flavor for some reason…). I finished it anyway because the chef did his best (it's not his fault that I don't like barbecue sauce!) and I dislike wasting food even more than I dislike barbecue sauce.

But I got some fried green tomatoes that… I…!!! am…!!! …just now realizing!!! many hours after the fact…!!! that I didn't take a picture of for you!!! because fried green tomatoes are one of my favorite things and I scarfed it down before I thought to snap a photo, oh no!!! 😵

I'm very sorry. 😖 But I'll tell you what!!! Next time we go to this place (which will be soon, because it's very close to Physical Therapy, where I have to go once a week anyway because my cartilage is apparently made of freaking noodles, good grief…), I will make sure I take a good picture of the fried green tomatoes! Count on it!!

I did, however, think to take a picture of this place's weekly crème brûlée! It's a new flavor every week! This week, it was mixed berry! And oh my goodness, it was delicious!!! I wish I could have shared some with you!

Physical Therapy came and went, and now I have fancy kinesiology tape applied to my ribs and collarbone, to try to keep the relevant bones in their sockets so that they don't wander around all stupid. Success is mixed, but it's better than nothing. I'll lie down on the floor on the Backpod before bed and hope that helps a little more.

And now, I am in Somerset, Pennsylvania! This is very unusual!! Because I live around 7 hours away by car! But we are here because one of my husbands (we'll call him J) is learning how to fly airplanes, and he wants to make a trip across the country in honor of his brother, who died. I'll give you additional context later. But: in order to make this trip, J needs his own airplane. A small airplane is CRAZY expensive, but he's been working hard and saving up. Recently, he found one that is at a reasonable(ish) price near Somerset. And so here we are, so that J can look it over and make sure it's not a rusted bucket of bolts that'll come undone as soon as we get off the ground!

My other husband (we'll call him M), who typically does not like to go very far from home, is at the house with the cats, holding the fort, so to speak! M is extremely introverted, so I'm sure that having the house to himself for a day or two will be very refreshing for him!

I have gone along with J, in part because I like seeing new places and new things, and also in part because someone has to make sure that J eats proper food and sleeps in an actual bed. I can trust him to drink water nowadays, but still, if left to his own devices, he'll likely sleep in the car and only eat bread, and then get upset and destabilized because he didn't sleep well and hasn't had a balanced meal. In addition, J has a tendency to spiral into anxiety and self-loathing if left by himself for too long. I'm not much different from him in that regard; for both of us, it stems from low self-esteem, but we're working on it!

M does not have either of these troubles; though he has social anxiety, his self-esteem is very much intact, and it's beautiful! I can also trust that M will sleep where it's comfy for him and eat when he's hungry. But M does not like to be away from home for very long, and his legs get very uncomfortable if they've gotta be cramped in the car for a long time. I do not mind being away from home, and I do not mind a long car trip. So I go in order to help keep J balanced, stable, and safe, and M makes sure everything at home is chill.

Like all humans, the three of us all have our weaknesses. But when we work together, we can cover each other's weaknesses with our strengths so that we can do together what would otherwise seem unimaginable as individuals! The three of us complement each other very nicely, and with our powers combined, we keep each other functional and sane! Hahaha! We do all struggle with our respective mental health issues, but our dynamic is healthy and based on mutual care and respect.

So… J and I have been in the car together for the last seven hours, talking about various things and looking at the various sights. It was awesome! But J had to do all the driving; he drives a car with a manual transmission. Between the dyspraxia making it difficult to coordinate the movements for that, and the rib injury making it difficult for me to use my right arm without a lot of pain, learning how to drive with a manual transmission just isn't in the cards for me right now. So when J drives, my role is usually to navigate and to take pictures when I can! I took a bunch, but I'm not sure how good they came out, given that they were taken in a moving vehicle by a dyspraxic weirdo; I suppose I'll let you be the judge, hm?

J and I were still too full from lunch to stop and get anything more substantial than snacks. But guess what! You'll never guess, so I'll tell you!! I found snacks out here that we don't have where I live, up in New York State! Check 'em out:

These are CHEESEBURGER FLAVORED SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!! And also PIZZA FLAVORED SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!! And chocolate cups filled with Jello pudding! And I was SO EXCITED!!! Because they looked novel and awesome!!! And!!! As it turns out!!! ALL THREE OF THESE THINGS TASTED LIKE DISAPPOINTMENT!!! Ahahahaha~!! 🤣

Ah well! Not all of the things we try can work out, right? 😁 It keeps things interesting! And now I never have to wonder about these things again! Because now I know!

Also, I was very much hoping that the cheeseburger flavored sunflower seeds might be a viable replacement for the cheeseburger flavored Doritos that used to exist a long time ago:

They were SO GOOD!!! I have NO IDEA why they stopped making them!!! But now they are nothing but a distant memory, and the sunflower seeds cannot even begin to compare to them. Alas.

On the bright side, the tea-flavored gummies were absolutely delightful! I wish I could share them with you! I wish I could share lots of things with you. This continues to be a non-trivial source of grief for me. Ah well; I don't mind to carry it if it means that at very least I get to know that you exist (in a sense, anyway).

Anyhoot. I am at the place where we're gonna sleep now. J decided to take a picture of me, with my messy hair and weird rainbow socks (I never wear the same sock on each foot; this is on purpose!), as I composed today's letter to you! I'll send it along so that you can know I'm in one piece!

I wonder what your socks look like. Do you have secret rainbow-colored socks under all your black clothing? It would be neat if you do! And it would be neat if you don't, too! 😄

In any case, if I gotta stay in one piece, then you gotta stay in one piece too, got it? Because if you disappear, lots of people (myself included) will never be the same, in the worst possible way. Please stay safe out there. Please remember that you're loved and come back to us. We'll be waiting for you. Or at very least, I will wait for you, as long as it takes you to turn yourself around.

I don't know what tomorrow is going to look like; it will be in an unfamiliar place and full of uncertainty. But one thing that is certain is that I will make the time to write to you. Count on it.

Your friend, Lumine

[legobiwan]

As many of you who follow me know by now, I have regressed into a state of Luigi brain rot over the past few weeks. Blame the Mario Brothers movie trailer and my deep, deep need for stress relief after a batshit three months of total overwork and travel. 

Part of my coping mechanism has involved a head-first dive into the Mario fanfiction realm, the quality of which can be wildly unpredictable (especially given that there is a significant chunk of it living on good old ff.net). This being said, there are a handful of gems out there that I’d like to highlight here, if for no other reason then providing myself a resource to come back to when my life inevitably goes off the rails at the start of the next calendar year.

And so without further ado, please enjoy legobiwan’s Mario Brothers (starring Luigi, of course) fic rec list.

Gray Lies by SnowyFrostShadow (gen)

There are surprisingly few fics dealing with the Mr. L debacle during Super Paper Mario, and even fewer that explore the headspace that Mario would be in upon figuring out Mr. L’s true identity during the game. Of those stories, this one is definitely my favorite, allowing Mr. L/Luigi to interact with the other heroes with his asshole persona as he ends up tagging along with the hero gang instead of returning to Count Bleck’s castle. Single chapter, but definitely room to grow after the gang ends up in the Underwhere.

The Man In Green by bitwise_encryption (incomplete, gen)

This fic is Super Paper Mario adjacent, in that much of its plot derives from the events of the aforementioned game. Luigi is thrust into a reality where he doesn’t exist and in addition to trying to form a relationship with his brother and the Princess, must track down the Dark Prognosticus without being arrested (or worse!) for crimes against the Mushroom Kingdom State. I always enjoy stories that take the frankly absurd concept of the Mushroom Kingdom and treat its politics and and economy as one would any other more realistic (albeit fictional) nation-state.

Wicked Game by Jayyydez (incomplete, eventual Bowser/Luigi)

Speaking of politics, this fic gets deep into the weeds of treaty negations and diplomatic relations between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Darklands. Oh yeah, and Luigi volunteers himself to be one half of an arranged marriage with Bowser for said treaty purposes. (No, I’m not wholly immune to Bowuigi, I’m ashamed to say). 

Cutting Costs by gatag (gen)

A fun short story that turns the Princess-kidnapping trope on its head. Guest starring tinfoil-hat Mario in front of a cork board with strings.

Fool's Paradise by Mable (Luigi/Dimentio)

I cannot stress enough how in love I am with this story. I am an absolute sucker for my favorite characters wrestling with their morality and repressed dark tendencies, and Dimentio plucks every last one of Luigi’s strings at a time he’s at his most vulnerable. There’s likely little hope for a follow-up to this, but I am honestly tempted to try and pen one myself. (For those averse to shipping, this story is really all about manipulation. The physical contact is brief, but in my mind, quite important and quite in-character).

Spotlight by SilentCoru (gen)

Short but devastating. An exploration of Luigi and Mario’s relationship that sees our favorite plumber in green pull back the curtain on some of his darkest thoughts.

Fragments by Verran (gen)

Buckle up for this one, friends. A fifty-one chapter monster dealing the fallout from the events of Super Paper Mario. Everyone returns to the Mushroom Kingdom with some massive PTSD, but poor Luigi also has to deal with the ramifications of being split into two personalities. If you’re looking for a story that ends happily with the two brothers once again best friends, this is not the one, but what a journey it is.

[moondragon618]

So uh. I think I've decided that I want to be a little bit more open about some things on here bc honestly trying not to acknowledge it is just causing me a ton of unnecessary stress (and I'm sure as fuck not acknowledging it irl lmaooo) so yeah. So I'll start with this: I'm currently unemployed and living with my parents (mom and stepdad) and my younger but also adult brother (they all have some form of income but it's only just barely enough to get by). Now on its own the whole all of us living together thing should not be that big of a deal apparently according to what I've learned from hearing other ppl's experiences in similar situations. Unfortunately my parents do not think like this. My mom especially is convinced that we are literally ruining her life so y'know that's fun (:

Okay but seriously. I'm about to sound like I'm trying to downplay this (and maybe I am bc. Yk.) but like a good 80% or so of the time it's. Fine. We get along okay. But I know that's only bc we never acknowledge The Problems outside of the few bad days and we always just go on like those never even happened. And here's what I mean by bad days btw: ""Family Meetings"". Yeah that phrase is literally a fucking trigger for me now it's fucking bullshit. When I was younger it meant "me getting screamed at about how fucked up I am and how fucked I'll be in the "real world" and how I'm just "a soft spoiled little bitch bc I never got my ass beat" (like my brother. bc he's definitely fine and has no issues at all lmaooo) (and usually without the bitch part aside from once when I was a teenager) and now it's more "me getting screamed at by my mom abt how I'm ruining her life and her marriage" etc. etc. So yeah. My stepdad is a little better in that he only yelled at me one time when I was like 12 I think? And then never again. And he seems to at least understand that if screaming at still hasn't "fixed" me after 25 fucking years then it's probably not going to so yeah. And he did actually kind of stand up for me during the last one (in late September-ish) which I know isn't much but it's still way more than anyone else has done so I do appreciate it.

Anyway the last one was really fun (terrible) I got the usual + being told I being disrespectful for not coming out to the living room bc I was having a panic attack and quite literally frozen and unable to move 👍👍👍 And I've also been limited to just my phone since then bc my mom took my computer (bc god forbid we consider there might be a reason I'm on it so much) and still hasn't given it back and tbh I think I'd rather kms than ask for it back so that's fun too (:

I am aware that this is abusive behavior and that screaming at your child for any reason is in fact child abuse btw. It took me until very recently to come to terms with that even while knowing that (and I'm probably still not fully there tbh) but I know. It's that fucking generational trauma bullshit yk. My mom's side of the family is Fucked Up like her parents were terrible and their (mostly her dad's idk the other ones lol) parents. Yeah I'm not even comfortable talking about them right now that's like a whole other thing lmao. But yeah I know that doesn't even remotely make it okay.

And yeah like the day after shit like that happens we just never acknowledge it again until everyone's losing their shit again because nothing ever changes. Believe it or not being screamed at does not help me figure out how to navigate getting a source of income or how I'm supposed to do anything when we sure as fuck can't afford another vehicle or how I'm ever going to be able to afford my own place to live lmaooo. And I also literally cannot even talk to them about any of this without losing my ability to speak so that really doesn't help either (: I sure as fuck haven't tried calling out the bullshit either bc fuck that there's no fucking way that's going over well and I couldn't even if I wanted to (: (: (:

So I'm just kinda stuck here ig. It's really not too bad (most of the time). I'm not saying that to minimize or invalidate anything either I just want you all to know that it's not like super urgent or anything, I'm not in danger, my mental health isn't great obviously but I'm not at risk of hurting myself or suicide or anything. Promise <3 I'm a tenacious bastard sticking around out of pure spite and a desire to keep creating things if nothing else lmao :)

God this is kind of a trauma dump lmao but that about sums it up ig? I'm also very much open to advice if anyone has any <3