#and in my totally unbiased opinion it's a good thing

[von-karmas-a-bitch]

i have always been a short franziska truther but to have it confirmed that we are THE SAME HEIGHT. in the same day i realised i am also soon to acquire a non-blood-related brother named miles. i am losing my goddamn MIND. at first i was just projecting but like. ???????? WHY IS SHE LITERALLY ME??

[pilfappreciator]

Part 1 | Part 2

WAKE UP BABES!! DINNER IS SERVED!!!

Bruce/Brandi x Reader: part 2

Includes: GN! Reader, Vacay Lovers, polyamory, relationship headcanons, slight Bruce Jr. slander

💜 These two took things slow when they were wooing you, you better BELIEVE they're gonna do the same once you've actually been bagged

🧡 I MEAN DON'T GET ME WRONG!! They're not any less passionate about you or anything, but like... c'mon. They're middle-aged, run a full time business and are married with kids. They've got a lot on their hands already so chances are they're not immediatly urging you to move in with them or just straight up sign marriage documents (sorry to disappoint u_u)

💜 But like I said: this doesn't mean they're not good lovers

🧡 In fact I'd say in my entirely unbiased opinion that they'd make fantastic lovers! Wonderful! Superb, even!

💜 So naturally, once you find yourself added to the relationship? Expect all that supportive energy thrown your way too lol

🧡 No matter what endeavor you choose to pursue, rest easy knowing you'll have your own personal cheerleaders having your back at all times. You got a hobby you're really into? SAY LESS BABES!! Gift-giving is Brandi's love language so you bet your ass she's buying you everything you could possibly need. Wanna pursue some form of higher education, maybe get some fancy degree? BOOM, you've just signed yourself up for study sessions with Bruce

💜 (I mean like... he might not be much help if you're studying for something shmancy like law or medicine, but he will happily hold and read out flashcards for you :3)

🧡 Or maybe you just wanna help out around Vacay Island which? Yes hello they would love that??

💜 Running a business is no easy feat so the couple definitely welcome the extra set of hands (paws??). If you're more social and outgoing then chances are you're out on the front lines with Bruce, taking orders for food, welcoming guests and getting them settled in, leading activites like volleyball or the weekly shuffleboard tournament, etc.

🧡 Obviously if you'd rather remain behind the scenes, you're more than welcome to join Brandi on her end of things. Making food, booking guests into their rooms, keeping track of all the finances, etc.

💜 Maybe you're crap with spreadsheets and numbers and just wanna like... keep her company while she works at her desk? Grab her some refreshments every now and then?? Maybe even offer a shoulder massage once you've noticed she's been hunched over for too long???

🧡 I swear this woman will cherish you forever

💜 Whether you're another troll like Bruce or a fellow Vacationer like Brandi, the way you spend time with either of these two can differ

🧡 If you're on the smaller side? Bruce just enjoys getting to hold your hand while walking alongside you on the beach. The man spends pretty much all his time around literal giants and it can get a little overwhelming sometimes, so he can definitely appreciate having someone around who's more on his level (hehe). Brandi on the other hand just thinks your small size is cute! Hands down one of her favorite things is when either you or Bruce (OR BOTH) just like? Casually hitch a ride on her shoulder?? Or she'll hold you both in the palm of of her hand and just go "omigosh it's totally like holding a couple of grapes haha :D"

💜 Reader POV: Ah yes. Me, my boyfriend, and our giant girlfriend/wife

🧡 On the flipside, if you're closer to Brandi's size? This woman is taking every available opportunity to take full advantage of the fact. She's laying kisses all over your face, running her fingers through your hair, cuddling with you after a long day of work, etc etc. Technically speaking she COULD (and DOES) do all this regardless of how big/small you are... but at the same time it's just soooo much easier when she doesn't have to constantly watch herself so she doesn't accidentally crush you ://

💜 Meanwhile Bruce is just like "if either of you DO crush me... you won't hear any complaints from my end, just sayin"

🧡 Man is horrendously down bad 😳

💜 Last post i was like OUTINGS WITH BRANDI, but this post?? SURFING LESSONS WITH BRUCE! This man will not rest until you know how to ride a wave, okay, he is DEDICATED. Once you've gotten good enough, expect regular invites to the beach so you two can hit the ocean asdjahdslak

🧡 I like to think that even while running a business and family, Bruce and Brandi are still perfectly capable of maintaining a healthy love life— both with each other and you. Partly because they're just that in love but also cuz they don't let ANYTHING get in the way of weekly date nights (yeah that's right, plural)

💜 Bruce, on the phone: "Hey honey, me and (____) are outside the resturaunt. Where are you?"

"Oh, I'll probably be a few minutes. Bruce Jr. just set off a firework in the kitchen, you know how he is. But you two should go get us a table while you're waiting!"

"Alright, we'll see you later, love you :)"

"I love you guys more~"

🧡 And then Bruce just... hangs up and leads you inside the resturaunt, meanwhile you're just?? Very concerned????

💜 Dates with these two are pretty casual ngl. Neither feel the need for extravagant displays of love, so chances are the three of you are just spending some quality time together. Chillin at home without the kids, cooking/baking food together, watching reality TV

💜 (Tbh there's probably some trollverse version of The Bachelor/Bachelorett and lemme tell you that these two EAT THAT SHIT UP)

🧡 Of course if you wanna go out somewhere fancy then no worries!! Your girl Brandi knows the downlow on all the hottest spots in town and Bruce likely has enough connections to get you three reservations at even the fanciest restaurants

💜 Simply ask and these two will find a way to get it done <33

🧡 LOTS OF FAMILY OUTINGS WITH THE VACAY LOVERS HOUSEHOLD!!!

💜 At some point in the relationship Bruce will approach you and go "Hey, our son Benni has a dance recital tomorrow, did you wanna come?" and the second you say yes is the second you offically become a permanent member of the family. You are joining their monthly family camping trips. You are helping Brandi make cupcakes for school soccer games. You and Bruce are sitting down with the kids for homework help

🧡 Hopefully you've got good memory cuz you're gonna need to memorize 13 different fast food orders whenever the kids drag you to Bergen King askdhalslk

💜 Speaking of the little shits

🧡 You thought you were spending a lot of time with them BEFORE you were smoochin their parents?? Well congrats because the second you start becoming a permanent member at the dinner table, expect to have all 13 of them constantly hanging off you

💜 Maybe one of them needs your help practicing a new move they've learned from their martial arts class, maybe another wants someone to listen as they info dump about their latest hyperfixation, or maybe they just need help kickstarting their underground fireworks selling business

🧡 Cough cough (Bruce Jr) cough cough

ASJKJDHALJSKD THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN, I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH!! There were a for more headcanons i wanted to touch upon but the post was getting long lol. Definitely plan on doing more for them tho so no worries uwu

but i mean like if you guys got prompts/questions then go ahead, my asks are open 👀👉👈

[jeysbvck]

it always leads to you (in my hometown)

oh hi, im back after almost a year of not posting fics, and of course it's my main man who pulls me back in! this is my first jey uso fic, so pls comment & reblog & let me know what you think!! i tried to make it angsty, to fit the song more, but i guess that's not the direction my brain wanted to go!!

jey uso x afab!reader

smut, 18+, minors dni!!

word count: 2,420

some people i thought might like this (if you don't wanna be tagged, just let me know!): @southerngirl41 @bebesobrielo @harmshake @afterdarkprincess @rollinsland @wrestlezaynia @crxssjae

summary: when you're in town for the holidays, it always ends up with you in jey usos bed for the weekend. this time, it isn't enough, and jey shows you why you can't leave him behind.

You stared out the window, feeling content as you watched the snow fall outside, frost gathering on the glass. You and Jey had spent all weekend in bed, sleeping half the day away and sharing body heat in more ways than one; which is how you spent all the fleeting weekends together. You had so much to do before you left in two days, but you couldn't bring yourself to leave the warm bed, especially when Jey was sleeping beside you, looking like a literal angel.

This had been happening for the last four years and you remembered it all too well; the bewildered, haunted look when Jey locked eyes with you for the first time in years, like he'd seen a ghost. You remembered the ice that ran through every vein in your body when he walked past you without acknowledging you, making you consider whether you were a ghost. You remember lying in your childhood bedroom, old photographs of you and Jey still on your walls, staring down at you, judging you. You knew you'd hurt him when you left, he didn't think your reasons were good enough; but it never crossed your mind that he'd pretend you were a stranger. But as you stared at the posters and photographs on your walls, you realised that you were a stranger now, you didn't recognise the girl in the photographs anymore.

A few days later, you bumped into Jey again, this time you were both alone, walking past the school you used to share, and things seemed different. He opened a dialogue, asked you how you'd been, asked about your life, and before you knew it, you'd been standing in the cold for half an hour. Jey offered you a ride, and you weren't ready for this to end; it felt familiar, but also new. So you accepted and you drove around the small town, commenting on how things hadn't changed. Four hours later, you were in his bed, doing things you had only dreamed about.

You thought it would be a one-off, that maybe the universe was giving you a better goodbye than the first time, a better reunion than the one in the bar. But the next holiday you were in town, he text you, and you ended up in his bed again. Then Jey started surprising you at the airport -sometimes you hadn't even told him what time your flight was- and although he dropped you off at your parents house, it wasn't long before you were spending most of the time with Jey. It was essentially a weekend-long holiday hook up, a way to make you feel less lonely during the holidays and a way to have what could've been -what should've been- if you had just stayed.

Jey stirred in his slumber, retracting his arm that was stretched over you, taking away the warmth and leaving a chill behind, as you pulled the quilt up further, you couldn't help but think of it as a metaphor for how you would feel in a couple of days when you left. You turned your back on the beautiful view outside the window to the -in your totally, unbiased opinion- the more beautiful view next to you. Even after all the years of knowing Jey, he still took your breath away, he still set your heart ablaze. Every time you were here, you took every opportunity to mentally record every detail of him to take back with you. Every new grey hair, every tattoo, every laughter line, every perfect imperfections, you took it all in. You basked in the warmth, the comfort, the happiness that you felt in this bed, knowing it would all be over in a flash.

"Mornin' babe," Jey said, with a sleepy smile, "you're watchin' me sleep, forgot you were a creep."

You hummed in response as you leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his pillow-like lips. "And I forgot you snore." You teased, and Jey scoffed, his hand wrapping around the back of your neck, pulling you in for another kiss.

"Such a liar." He mumbled against your lips and you smiled, pulling away and finding your place on his chest. Your fingertips traced the lines of his intricate tattoo on his chest, as his stroked your back, soothingly.

The time you spent with Jey, in this bed, the room, the house; felt like a different world. Like reality as you know it didn't exist here, it was just you and Jey, and nothing else mattered. You hated leaving, you hated getting on the plane, going back to your life like you hadn't just left the warmest place you'd ever known.

"So..." Jey started, and you knew what was coming. The dreaded question that he asked every time. "How long we got? Until you-"

You cut him off, not wanting the words to be said, as if it somehow wouldn't happen if Jey didn't speak it into the universe. "I know what you mean, Jey." You sighed. "Can't we just stay in this bubble for a little longer?"

"How much longer? Like, you wanna talk later, over dinner? Or how about the mornin' of your flight so we barely get to say goodbye?" He snapped, and you scoffed at the outburst. "Ay, you're the one who-"

"Okay," you cut him off before he finished the sentence, sitting up and throwing your legs over the edge of the bed, grabbing the robe that had been thrown on the floor the night before as you stood up and pulled it over your body. "You really wanna spend the time arguing?"

"No! I jus'-" Jey groaned and turned on his side, his elbow resting on the mattress. "Okay listen, I know our whole thing; no stayin', no waitin', but-"

"No Jey, this works!" You lied. You knew you were trying to convince him more than yourself, because you knew it wasn't working. If it did, leaving him wouldn't break your heart, you wouldn't spend the year counting down to the next holiday. Nobody in your life knew you like Jey. They didn't know which smiles you were faking, or which laughs were genuine. They didn't even know your coffee order, or your favourite film.

"This works for you? This is enough for you?" Jey asked. "Because it isn't for me."

You bit your lips, you'd expected this every time, you knew it would happen eventually. Jey was always going to find someone who could give him more than you could offer.

"What are you saying?" You asked. "You don't-you wanna end this?"

Jey got his knees and shuffled towards you, leaning up and cupping your face with his hands, his eyes level with yours. "I don't wanna end this." He said. "I wanna be with you."

"Jey," you whispered, hoping he could see in your eyes how much love you have for him. "I can't- We can't-"

"Ay, just listen." Jey said. "What if I came wit' you?"

You stared at him, speechless, your face still in his hands. "That's not funny."

"It ain't supposed to be funny."

"Stop it. You can't just say stuff like this, not in here, not like this when we're all caught up in the bubble!" You said, throwing your hands around. "You have your family here, a life here, you're just gonna leave it all behind?!"

"Didn't stop you." Jey retorted, and you rolled your eyes.

"That was different! I didn't pack up my life to follow someone across the country!" He smirked at you, making you roll your eyes a second time.

"Ay, you think highly of yourself, don't ya?" He joked, but you groaned and pulled his hands away from your face, putting your own over your face. "What if I ain't doin' it for you? What if I'm doin' it for me?" He asked. He pulled your hands from your face and held them. "I know you tell me not to, but I wait, babe. I wait for you to call, to text, I ask your parents when you're comin', so I can wait at the airport for you. I don't wanna wait anymore, I wanna be wit' you, for real, and you can't stay."

You bit the inside of your cheek, refusing to let yourself smile, and you turned your back on him, sitting back down on the bed. He was saying all the right things, wearing your favourite smile, and it was hard to be logical right now. This was never an option, because what if he ended up resenting you? Having Jey sporadically in your life through the year was better than the alternative.

Jey ran his hands up and down your arms, planting little kisses on your shoulder and neck. "Jus' think about it, babe." He whispered in your ear as he kissed your neck. "We can have more than jus' weekends." His hands slid over your skin, grazing your breasts as he followed a path down to your stomach, sending shivers through your whole body. "We can do this-" His hand slipped into your underwear, teasing you. "-whenever we want."

You tilted your head back, leaning it against his shoulder as he nibbled your neck, and you hummed, bucking your hips in an attempt to get his fingers exactly where you needed them. He clicked his tongue before he dug his teeth into your neck, a moan escaping your mouth as his fingers teased your entrance.

His hard cock was pressed against your back, and as he played and teased you, you reached around and grabbed his cock. He rutted against your hand, moaning into your neck as you stroked the long length, the action making him push two fingers inside you. They moved inside you, matching the pace of your hand on his cock; when you slowed down, he did, and when you quickened the pace, he did too.

Jey upped the ante, his thumb flicking over your clit, making your hips buck, your grip on his cock tightening, making it twitch. Jey groaned into your shoulder, and when you ran your thumb over his tip, he pulled away from your hand. "Nah, you're gonna make me cum." He mumbled into your shoulder. He kissed your skin again, before pulling his fingers out of your cunt, making you whimper pathetically. You watched as he slipped off the bed and pushed you backwards on the bed before getting on his knees. "Gotta remind you what you'll be missin' if you leave without me." He smirked, burying his head in between your legs.

You moaned loudly as he flattened his tongue against your cunt, slowly licking every part of you. He quickened the pace, and just as you arched your hips, he pinned them against the bed, while pushing two fingers inside you, his tongue flicking and sucking your clit. This was euphoric, you writhed underneath him as he drove you wild. Jey knew exactly what he was doing and his plan was working, you knew that he could ask you for anything right now -doing that thing with his tongue- you'd say yes to anything and everything.

"So wet for me." He muttered against you, nibbling the inside of your thigh as he fucked you with his fingers. All you could do was gasp and moan as he didn't give you a moment to breathe, sucking your clit and fucking you with his tongue. You tried to hold out, to delay your orgasm, but it wasn't long before you let yourself go, bundling the sheets in your hands as your thighs gripped his head.

Jey pulled back and crawled up your body, his thick, hard cock grazing your cunt, making your body twitch. He grinned down at you, his beard glistening with your juices, his dark eyes full of lust and you pulled him down by the chain around his neck for a kiss, your tongues dancing with each other as you ran your hands down his toned back. He rubbed his cock against your cunt, and you bucked your hips against him. "Fuck me, Jey." You managed to gasp, and he grinned at you, his eyes darkening more. He grabbed your wrists with one hand and pinned them above your head, forcing you to maintain eye contact as he pushed his cock inside you, moaning with you as your cunt tightened around him.

Your moans were lost in Jeys mouth as your bodies rocked together, your kisses getting rougher and more passionate. His free hand playing with your breasts, switching between them, refusing to let your hands free. "Such a good girl, takin' my cock like this." He grunted and you threw your head back as he attacked your neck once again. Your orgasm was bubbling up inside you, your legs beginning to shake as he fucked you harder and deeper, his own orgasm imminent. He brought his lips back to yours, the kiss slower, but not less passionate, and when he let go of your hands to grip your hips, you wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

"Shit, baby, I'm so close." He groaned, burying his head into the crook of your neck, his thrusts getting harder. You rolled your hips making his cock twitch inside you, and in all the bliss and passion as your orgasm washed over you like a tsunami, three words slipped out of your mouth.

"Come with me." You whispered, nibbling his earlobe. "So close." He repeated, and you grabbed his head, making him look at you.

"No Jey, come with me." You said, and he looked in your eyes, he flashed you that beautiful smile -one that could light up a starless night sky. You nodded, and he kissed you, just as his own orgasm hit, and he thrusted into you a few more times, his moans being caught by your mouth.

He dropped onto you; his body like a welcome weighted blanket, and you wrapped your arms around him as he lay on your chest. "Did ya mean it?" He asked quietly. You ran your fingers through his hair, and thought about what you said. You hadn't meant to say it, especially in that moment, it had just slipped out. You also hadn't meant to confirm it was in fact, what you meant. But you meant it with your whole heart, and you knew as soon as Jey voiced it as an option, you knew you couldn't leave him behind again.

"I mean it, Jey. I've never meant anything more."

[amakumos]

CUPID’S CORNER — ten ; bob, the cat

because he’s a little shit, nishimura riki sends a totally embarrassing confession about you to “cupid’s corner”, a twitter account that posts anonymous confessions from decelis academy students. but when that joke confession suddenly makes a bunch of people confess to you on cupid’s corner (for real this time!) riki finds that he’s jealous — and oh… he can’t believe it took him a fake confession to realise that he’s crazily in love with you.

Riki is indeed waiting for you outside your chemistry classroom.

Your best friend looks at you with a bright grin. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Riki, I have after-school practice,” you say, as he drags you along with him. Riki shakes his head. “You only have after-school practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s a Thursday.”

You didn’t know that Riki knew your schedule.

But, going to a cat cafe wouldn’t be the worst — you’re making sure that Riki’s going to pay. It was his idea anyways, so he might as well pay for it. “Fine.” you say.

You can’t really say no to Riki anyways.

“Have you found out who the volleyball anon is?” you ask Riki, as you two make your way to the cat cafe. You don’t notice how Riki clenches his jaw a little at the mention of your anonymous secret admirer — he’s jealous.

“No,” Riki replies.

“Damn,” you say. “What do you think about it, though? The whole… confessions thing.”

After Taki had helped him realise that Riki’s actually jealous because he’s in love with you, Riki can’t give an unbiased opinion about your secret admirer.

“I think my confession inspired them,” Riki jokes. It’s the only thing he can say without making things awkward between you two. You scoff, nudging him with your elbow. “Sure it did, ‘Ki.”

“You know nothing tops my confession,” he teases you, and you roll your eyes. “Yeah. It made me really emotional,” you joke. “I’m so happy that you still love me even though I crapped my pants in 5th grade P.E. Where can I find a man like you?”

Gosh, he knows you’re joking, and your tone is laced with sarcasm — but why does it make Riki’s heart skip a beat?

Taki’s told him that Riki’s been keeping his feelings for you inside for a very long time. So long, that even Riki himself didn’t realise it until he started getting jealous. Riki doesn’t know when he started liking you, he just knew somewhere down the line… feelings that were purely platonic turned into something a little bit more.

And yes, he’s terribly jealous because of that secret admirer of yours, but he reminds himself that the secret admirer doesn’t spend as much time with you compared to Riki himself. Jokes on you, volleyball anon, he thinks.

The cat cafe isn’t far from Decelis, so you and Riki get there relatively quickly. He holds the door open for you, waiting for you to enter before he does. “Wow, what a gentleman.” you joke.

“Yeah, I’m trying to impress you.” he replies.

Words that Riki would usually say to you without much thinking now seem like playful flirting. Was this always how he communicated with you?

“Oh, really?”

Riki tries to stay composed. Don’t blush, don’t look nervous. It’s just you.

“Yeah. Is it working?”

He takes a small glance at you to see your reaction to his words. Personally, Riki thinks that he’s really good at reading you — but now he doesn’t know what that smile on your lips means.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” you reply, as you walk up to the counter, Riki trailing behind you. “You’re paying, by the way, since this was your idea.”

“Okay,” he hums, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. “Entry for two?” the girl at the counter says, and Riki nods.

“Yup. Just head on in, grab a seat.” she says. Riki turns to look at you, and he notices that you’re distracted by the cute cat that seems to be looking right at you. “Oh, before I forget. Is there anything you’d like to drink?”

“She’ll have an iced latte… I’ll grab a iced americano, thanks.” Riki says to her, giving the girl the money, which she puts in the register. “Your drinks will be ready soon.”

“Riki! This one’s so cute,” you say, beckoning him over. Riki thanks the girl at the counter before heading over to you, and you look at him with a bright smile. “Look,” you say, motioning to the cat that you’ve been looking at for the past few minutes.

“It is really cute.”

The cat seems to like you too, and you smile as you play with the cat. Riki’s heart does a flip at the sight of your smile. He likes it when you’re happy.

“You should name the cat,” he suggests. “I’ll name it… Bob.” you say, and Riki raises an eyebrow. “You’re naming the cat Bob?”

“It’s a cute name!” you say, and Riki stifles a giggle. “This cat isn’t a Bob. It’s more like a… Jamie.”

“It’s totally a Bob, Riki.”

“It’s not.”

“It likes me more than you, so I’m going to call it Bob.” you say, as you pet the cat. Riki chuckles, shaking his head. “Whatever you say, I guess.”

“Are you talking about this cat? His name is Truffles.” the girl says, returning with your drinks. She hands you the iced latte, and hands Riki the iced americano.

“Truffles. Mmm… Bob suits him better.” you hum as she leaves. “Truffles is a good one, (Name).” Riki tells you, petting another cat that has curled up next to him.

“Let’s see what Bob says, then. Bob, do you like the name Bob?” you ask the cat, and the cat doesn’t seem to show any dislike towards the name — you see that as a yes.

“He likes it.”

“He just looked at you. That doesn’t count as a yes, (Name).” Riki says to you, picking up the cat and placing it in his lap.

“Cute.” you say, seeing Riki gently pet the cat. “Thanks. I know,” Riki says, as you roll your eyes. “The cat, Riki.”

“Oh, so you don’t think I’m cute?”

You’re not quite sure how to respond to that. Riki takes your silence as an answer, and he looks at you with a cheeky grin.

“So you do. It’s okay, (Name). You don’t have to be embarrassed about being right.”

You playfully roll your eyes, nudging Riki with your elbow. “I didn’t agree.”

“You didn’t say anything, so I’m taking it as a yes.”

Little does Riki know that your silence was indeed an answer, and it’s the one that he’s secretly hoping for.

ten － bob, the cat! previous ☆ next ♡ masterlist

author's note. me when i want what they have. whos going to tell me that theyre trying to impress me. kms .

CUPID'S CORNER! a riki smau. genre: smau, crack, fluff, idol au pairing: non-idol! riki x non-idol! reader warnings: swearing, ignore timestamps taglist is CLOSED!

[tagedeszorns]

May contain spoilers of both "Genefather" and the Fabius-trilogy

Guy Haley - Genefather

Since @robot-roadtrip-rants asked for my live-opinion while reading the book, I'll try my best to be a totally unbiased literature-critic!

I'll avoid reading other people's posts about the book to go into this experience as unbiased as possible.

So, let's begin!

Current status is about 15% in the book. Maybe 20. I haven't yet figured out how to turn on, toggle or turn off any features on ReadEra. it's not the most intuitive e-reader app imaginable. But it's free and it tries its best.

Anyway. The book!

So far I've been very pleasantly surprised! I never read the Cawl books as he bored me in the Heresy. But here he is downright amazingly amusing. Apparently ten thousand years with himself has done him quite good. Maybe I'll give his novels another chance later?

Fabius also comes across as quite fresh. Of course, Haley has to cope with the abrupt and not very nice end of the trilogy, which leaves Fabius in quite a bad state and in a completely new set-up. Without his consortium, I feel a bit alienated by him. It's strange - before and during the Heresy I always perceived him as very much a solitary figure, but after the trilogy I find it hard to warm to him as a lone wolf. Especially since Haley has also so far omitted characters like Saqqara and Igori/Melusine that would make the gap easier for me to bridge (quick text search through the book: not even a mention of my Word Bearer. Not good. Not good AT ALL). Fabius has always worked best for me in the mirror of his environment. Through the eyes of his primarch, his brothers and later his pupils or creatures. Without that angle of view, he feels very naked to me.

Haley deviates somewhat from Reynolds' interpretation of the New Men, but I can live with that. A lot of time has passed, maybe Fabius has changed his mind.

In general, it's little things (except for the absence of Saqqara, that's no little thing!) that bother me. The big picture works for me.

Haley is doing a good job with the Clonelord's character so far. You can tell he cares more about Cawl and his characterisation, but he's also trying his best to do Fabius justice. He gives him self-irony (not as much as Reynolds, mind you. But that's next to impossible to top) and the healthy distance from everything that is politically scurrying around in the galaxy that Fabius needs to be credible as a character.

I'm still not entirely comfortable with his motivation. It doesn't fit my image of the Chief Apothecary. But maybe later I'll get enough details and plot twists to put it into a framework where it fits again.

So far: I like it! You can tell that Haley likes Cawl better than Fabius, but he tries not to make it too obvious and I can live with that!

Let's see what happens next.

[thedo0zyslider]

Sail Out To See And Fall For Me - 2k words

Scott and Martyn have a handful a moments together, many of them happening on the seas, in a boat far to small for two people to comfortably sail in.

A03 Link

To Scott, the Kestrels are a weird faction. They’ve always seemed to have a rivalry of sorts with his own faction since…well as long as he’d been alive and longer probably. The two groups are always calling each other names, yelling out mean jabs when they pass each other in the streets, much more than either of them seemed to do to the other factions. It’s just always been that way, Scott supposes. So it’s a little surprising when there’s one Kestrel he finds himself drawn too. 

Most of the current Kestrels are fine, don’t get him wrong. Scott gets along with most of them, Sausage in particular. But at the end of the day they’re still Kestrels ; vain and money hungry. But one of them doesn;t seem to be that way, one of the newer members. 

Martyn’s a fun guy, very good at wordplay and puns, Scott notices rather quickly. He finds himself liking Martyn quite a bit, and very much enjoys expeditions with him. Whenever they get the chance to share a quest of course, not that Scott goes out of his way to explore with Martyn. No, not him. He would never . 

He thinks Martyn should’ve been a Heron instead, as he seems to enjoy adventure more than he does riches. But Martyn says he’s in the Kestrels to find a specific treasure, which he could do just as easily in the Herons, in Scott's totally humble and unbiased opinion. They discovered unique treasure all the time, it was like, their whole thing after all.

They have a lot of friendly adventures together, just the two of them, each one more fun than the last. The two pirates find stuff every time, but it’s never what Martyn’s looking for, so much so Scott has to look at Martyn and wonder if he even knows what he’s trying to find anymore; or if he lost it long ago. 

Scott finds himself looking at Martyn a lot on these expeditions actually, more than a normal amount probably. He doesn’t do it on purpose, half the time anyways. Martyn’s eyes are just very easy to get lost in whenever he talks. The fact that he’s showing so much skin doesn’t help either, or that his arms are on the more muscular side. 

On their next little quest the two of them end up leaning against the rails of Scott’s ship, waiting for night to fall on the island. They need monsters to actually emerge from the caves to slay them, but that’s a few hours off. So the two pirates have just been content to sit there and wait, making idle chatter and doing other things to pass the time. 

About two hours into waiting, when sunset must have been less than an hour away, Scott finds himself staring at a certain Kestrel again. Though this time instead of admiring his arms, Scott’s eyes are tracing over the scars that litter one of them. They’re very interesting scars, and he can’t help but be a little bit curious about where they came from. Anyone would be really, with the strange pattern they almost seemed to be in.  

“Hey Martyn?” He asks, tapping his fingers against said scars lining the other’s arm. The blonde just hummed, and gave him a quizzical look. Scott feels like the question he’s about to pop might be too personal, but also reasons he’s probably not the first person in the isles to inquire about it. 

“Why’re you tapping my scar?” The blonde asked with a small smile, amusement lining his tone. Scott smiles back at him. He’s quickly finding that he really likes it when Martyn smiles. 

“How’d you get this thing?” Scott questions, catching a glimpse of how the blonde’s face falls for a moment, and regret flashes through him. 

“If I said a tiger, would you believe me?” Martyn cracks a joke, a playful grin dancing on his lips. The sight of it makes Scott all warm and fuzzy inside, yet his response comes out quite deadpan. 

“No.” Martyn laughs and gives a cheeky smile at his response, and Scott elbows his side playfully. 

“You’re not gonna tell me, are you!?” The Heron exclaims, shoving Martyn playfully. He doesn’t do it too strongly, well aware he could very easily send his friend overboard. Martyn shows him back, but with a little more force. Scott laughs, gripping the side of the ship to keep him upright.  

“Nope!” Martyn cracks another cheeky smile, and Scott tries to send him overboard again. Somehow, the play fight escalates, and they end up falling onto the deck, tussling with each other like children do. Martyn wins in the end, pressing Scott to the floor. Scott makes an oof sound as the blonde basically lays on top of him, proclaiming his victory proudly. 

Scott just rolls his eyes, and any snarky retort he ever had dries up in his mouth as Martyn holds the side of his face gently. The Kestrel is looking down at him, and it’s a fond look, one that makes butterflies flutter wildly in Scott’s stomach. The blonde is beginning to chuckle again as he does so, not able to stop himself. Scott can't hold back his own laughter either, with how ridiculously this whole interaction has been. 

Martyn presses their foreheads together, laughing. It’s an infectious laugh, one of pure joy, and Scott can’t help but be infected by it. He laughs along with the Kestrel, admiring him in between giggles. Martyn’s laugh is loud and booming, a sound he enjoys hearing. The corners of his eyes crinkle whenever he smiles, and there’s a million other little details Scott notices as he stares up at the blonde. 

He’s quite the pretty man, Martyn is, and Scott isn’t surprised at how enamored he’s become with him. He’s not at all surprised that there is blush spreading across his face, or that his heart is beating rapidly in his chest. It’s just a shame really, that the man he’d fallen for had to be a Kestrel. 

__________________________________

The next time the topic of scars is brought up, they are on a ship again. Because all of their little moments seem to happen on one of their ships for some reason. There’s no play fighting this time, just more fleeting touches. Ya know, the usual stuff with them. 

They’ve just started to set sail, and the waves are calm. Calm enough for both of them to feel comfortable enough to anchor the ship and take a lunch break, both men having taking turns steering. They used to travel separately when they shared quests, but soon found using one boat was a lot less risky, more time efficient, and a hell of a lot less tiring for the both of them. And Scott was never one to complain about more time spent with pretty men again, even if the ships they have access to at the moment hap[pen to be rather small and cramped. They’re supposed to be getting ones soon, apparently, according to the merchants, and Scott will believe it when he sees it.

The two men are sitting by the mast, sharing some bread and pasta they’d remembered to pack, when Scott finds his eyes landing on Martyn's scars again. There’s two more that are visible, matching ones shaped like little stars under his eye and on his chest. As his gaze traces the marks, the Heron finds himself getting a probably bad idea, but he’s committing to it before he can think twice. Again, it’s a dumb idea, but all of this man's scars are interesting, the conversation has lapsed into comfortable silence, and Scott is feeling bold. 

Scott leans closer to his friend, eyes still fixed on his chest. Martyn, probably more than a little puzzled, just blinks at him dumbfoundedly for a good moment. Until he processes what exactly seems to be happening, that is, then the blonde’s heart rate starts to increase just a tiny little bit. 

Scott runs a finger along the scar on Martyn’s chest, gaze filled with curiosity. “How’d this one happen?” He asks, and before the blonde can answer he’s moving to trace the matching one under his eye. The Heron thinks he sees Martyn’s breath hitch a little, and definitely sees how he turns a little pink at the contact. Which he’s totally not smug about at all. 

“An accident. One I wouldn't like to talk about.” The Kestrel huffs, leaning into Scott’s hand. He fails to hide a smile at that, and also has to stop his eyes from flicking just a bit downwards. Scott had to stop himself from leaning in as well, and doing something absolutely stupid. Absentmindedly, while he tries to get a handle on his impulses, he starts to trace circles in Martyn’s cheek with his thumb, and makes the blonde turn beet red in the process. 

He wants to kiss Martyn. But Scott can’t kiss a Kestrel. What would his parents say? What would his Heron friends say?

So instead he moves away rather abruptly, and maybe sees a little bit of disappointment flash across Martyn’s face, before it's schooled into something more neutral.

After that they continued on with the quest like nothing had happened. They reach the island, complete their goal, and take any treasure they find. It's getting quite late by the time they finish, and Scott does not want to swim back to the boat in the dark. The ships have to be anchored a good amount of feet out, before the water gets too shallow, and there’s always some mighty big fish lying around, waiting to catch an unsuspecting sailor. 

The swimming back part is, very predictably, where everything goes wrong. Scott makes it back to the boat just fine, but the splashing from the both of them had made quite the scene apparently, and his little Kestrel friend wasn’t going to be as lucky as he had been.

“Martyn!” Scott calls, gripping the edge of the boat as tight as he can, eyes trained on a rather large shadow in the water. “There’s a thrasher!” He hears the Kestrel swear to himself upon his call, and then watches as he swims back faster. Scott can also see the thrasher swimming equally as fast, maybe faster, and wishes there was something he could do that wouldn’t endanger him. Well, he does have his gun, but it’s a few feet away in his bag, and the fish is getting far too close to Martyn for him to be uncomfortable firing it. 

Unfortunately, the fish is faster, and catches up with the blonde as soon as he reaches the boat. Scott had already moved down to help him up, and is grabbing wildly for his friend's hand before worse comes to worst. There's a blinding panic settling over him, both of them probably, and Scott isn’t even sure he’s grabbing at the right area before he feels something warm and distinctively not a fish tug on his arm.

Just as the thrasher is about to grab Martyn’s foot and drag him down, Scott manages to pull him onto the ship. There’s exclamations of alarm as the two tumble backwards, Scott landing on his back with a thump . They land on a heap on the deck, both men trembling in relief as the adrenaline wears off, and Scott catches his breath. He doesn’t even notice how he hugs the other closer to him for just a moment, arms wrapped around Martyn’s back protectively, before letting the shaking limbs fall against the ship’s wooden floor.  

Martyn had landed on top of Scott, and was now basically laying on him. The blonde paid that fact no mind, clearly trying to regan himself after the extremely near miss. He had an absent sort of look in his eyes, and his breathing was still a little quick. The Heron doesn’t know what is running through his friend’s head right now, be it fear or something else, but whatever it is isn’t good. The wide eyed look he currently has says as much. 

“Hey,” Scott muttered, voice gentle. “You okay?” He pushed the wet locks from Martyn’s face as he asked this, his hand ghosting over the other pirate's cheek for just a second. 

“Yeah, ‘M fine.” Martyn huffed a few seconds later. If he noticed the position they were in, he said nothing, and only rolled off Scott and onto the deck. Scott got up as well, letting the blonde sit down for a second before helping him back to his feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scott asks with furrowed brows, steadying Martyn as he stands. The other seems a bit shaky on his feet, which makes his claims of being fine even less convincing than they were before. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Martyn insists again, and starts to move away and towards the sail. Scott stops him before he can go far, grabbing the Kestrel by his arm and pulling him back. Martyn just blinks at him like an idiot, and Scott wants to roll his eyes. 

“You’re shaking.” He points out, deadpan, nodding towards Martyn’s hands. The blonde looks down at them and seems to realize that yes, he is indeed shaking. That’s a concerning thing his body is doing at the moment. 

“Yeah, guess I am.” Martyn murmurs, and stops trying to move away. Instead he leans closer to Scott instead, and rests his head on Scott’s shoulder. The Heron smiles, and absentmindedly runs a hand though soft, blonde hair. “Sorry about this..” The blonde mutters, burying his head until Scott’s chest just a little. 

“It’s fine, really. It is.” Scott reassures him, and finds that Martyn is shaking less. The Kestrel is also leaning into his touch, and Scott really can’t stop himself from placing a comforting kiss on his friend’s forehead. 

“What was that for?” Martyn’s question comes out as more of a muffled giggle, head still buried comfortably against the ginger's chest. 

“Just want to kiss you is all.” Scott admits it quietly and very tentatively, and it kinda feels like he’s admitting to something sinful. Even though, logically, this is not a sin. Being in love is not sinful, but his brain has been hardwired to think otherwise. 

“You do?” The blonde pulls away a little to meet Scott’s gaze. His tone and expression are surprised, and maybe a little hopeful as well. Scott’s heart seems to melt at the sight.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” He smiles, and knows there’s no holding back anymore. Because if he doesn’t do it now, Martyn is sure to make the first move in a minute or so. And Scott is not letting him have the victory, no siree, not after all that flirting he did today. 

“I-- Mmph !” Whatever the blonde was about to say was cut off by Scott smashing their lips together, doing so maybe a little frantically. It took a moment, but Martyn was soon kissing the Heron back with fervor. Hands went to cup his face, and the blonde quickly turned to putty in Scott’s hold. The ginger nipped at his bottom lip after a moment, and Martyn let the other’s tongue slip into his mouth with a held back whine.

 For a few fleeting moments, Scott didn’t care about what anyone would think, and let himself kiss this guy stupid. Just like he’d been wanting to do for weeks now. 

When they pull away both of them are gasping for air a little, Scott’s face turning a nice shade of pink. He brushes the messy hair out of Martyn’s face again, and smiles when the Kestrel leans into his touch. Their faces stay close, foreheads resting together, and Scott has never been happier. 

“I guess you fell for me a second time, huh Martyn?” He murmured teasingly, bumping their noses together. 

“Oh shut it!” The blonde huffed, tone laced with affection. He connected their lips for a second time, Scott melting into it as he continued to hold Martyn’s face. The second kiss was better than the first, and he couldn’t wait to dive back in for another when they finally reached the shore. 

[bumblingest-bee]

Out of all assassins from titular musical who do you think is the "most sympathetic" and the "most worst"?

oooh that's a really really good question. setting aside personal opinion for the moment (i'll get to it promise!), one thing i find interesting about assassins is that it doesn't necessarily ask us to sympathize with the characters, but just to consider them as they're presented to us and sit with whatever conclusions we draw from that on our own.

that being said the show does present some as more sympathetic than others imo. (there's no such thing as an unbiased narrative, no matter how hard you try!) for example czolgosz is never directly condemned by the balladeer unlike, say, booth (kind of balancing the audience's immediate resistance to a character like booth). it also neutralizes oswald quite a bit by taking away his agency in the actual assassination, which i think is a very intentional way to let the audience relate to him in that final scene.

anyways! so who do i think is the most/least sympathetic in the show? i'd say the "worst" is booth because he's purely ideologically motivated by hatred. aside from whether you think he was mentally ill in real life, as a character he's presented as sane, if a little unhinged. someone like guiteau, who's obviously not in his right mind, can be pitied. but booth? he's calculated and manipulative and even aside from the assassination he spends most of the show being a total asshole. (but he's very very entertaining while doing it lol)

as for my most sympathetic? lynette squeaky fromme. no, seriously.

because the thing about assassins, as i mentioned earlier, is that we as the audience aren't necessarily meant to make moral judgements. we're meant to consider the assassins as people like us.

if i was taking "sympathetic" to mean the most morally justifiable, or if we were talking in terms of real life rather than fiction, i'd say czolgosz (or even one of the assassins who was obviously mentally ill and unable to make moral decisions). but the point of assassins is not to morally justify the characters. it's to see ourselves in the characters. and that's meant to scare us.

i see myself in squeaky. i feel for her! even though she's largely a comic character, she's a poignant one. she's desperately lonely and insecure. at her core, she's still a frightened teenage girl who wants above all things to be loved. that's what i sympathize with. but she's willing to do awful things to get that love. and that's what scares me.

the great thing about assassins is it doesn't force you to sympathize with these people, but it gives you permission to. it can show you the parts of yourself that you don't normally want to look at, and that's a powerful thing to see if you let it.

[buridans-darkace]

What’s the food like in Cyclonia? Do you guys have a cafeteria? Is the menu the same for everyone or do you get a special menu on account of being higher ranked (and more overworked)?

In my totally unbiased opinion (I say with bias), I think the food here is quite good. Cyclonian cuisine consists mainly of curries, flatbreads, anything that can be made in bulk and keeps well. Stuffed mushrooms are pretty popular too. The spicier the better.

There's a cafeteria at every Cyclonian barracks and outpost, the menu depends on what's available. Out on the field, everyone usually gets the same thing, but in places like the Citadel, high-ranking Talons such as myself, Snipe, squadron captains and the like get first pick on things like cuts of meat and quality produce. Some of us cook our own meals in the kitchens that come with our private quarters, or one of the cafeteria cooks makes them something special with the premier ingredients. Which they can thank me for, ungrateful bastards.

[oliveroctavius]

It's the Harry Osborn fashion post nobody asked for!

I'm no expert in menswear (all info + photo examples come from VintageDancer) so take this as speculation and feel free to correct any terminology. Still, I wanted to ramble about his interesting progression of clothes choices through the classic comics.

Ditko era (1965)

An outdated look even for the time: the bowtie, brown/grey color scheme, and wide high-waisted pants with a skinny belt are all kind of 1940s/50s things. Not to mention the hair.

It seems Ditko's only vision for Harry was Norman Junior. You know those eerie photos of politicians' families where the kids are dressed identically to their parents? Yeah.

Of course, once characterization catches up, there's a lot to be said about Harry's relationship with imagined "good old days" and his father's self-image.

Characterization catches up (1966)

John Romita is here and we get a flashback to baby Harry, who in contrast to his dad looks like an easter egg.

On a practical level, bright colors (1) draw attention to Harry as a new main character and (2) convey time passing. But it also fits with the reveal that he's a mostly sweet kid trying too hard to conform to an aggressively traditionalist role model.

I like that the bow tie sticks around. It has old-fashioned, dweeby connotations (as probably originally intended) but it also has appropriate oddball performer connotations.

Roomates era (1966-69)

Big checkered patterns, vests, and expanded colors; a showy take on the Ivy League 50s/60s style, unless I miss my guess. A bit more modern, but still in the realm of uptight dweeb. I love how Romita made him friendly without making him less weird.

It's a rather slow makeover from monochrome to bright and patterned. On a Watsonian level, it's fun to imagine that living away from his dad lets him gradually rediscover a colorful fashion sense.

The less formal at-home version of this look is a sweater or sweatervest with a collared shirt, a la baby Osborn.

The New Osborn Image (1969. nice)

Eventually both Harry and the editors get self conscious about keeping up with the times, and...

This is so charmingly "repressed young adult finally has their awkward rebellious self-discovery phase halfway through college" to me. Artists love to call back to this look because lol, retro facial hair, but I think its status as a bona fide short-lived Embarrassing Phase makes it sacred.

The New(er) Osborn Image (1970-72)

Exploratory phase over, his new look is something between Mod and Peacock Revolution: long coats, double-breasted tailored jackets, colorful turtlenecks, neckerchiefs instead of ties.

In my totally unbiased opinion this is the pinnacle of Harry costuming. He's found a public-facing sense of style that's fun. It's formal, but not just in a Norman-impressing way—he got here via personal experimentation and peer inspiration. It's the most joyful sartorial self-expression he ever seems to get.

Sure hope he's not about to experience personal-identity-shattering amounts of stress and tragedy!

spice up your mental breakdown by raiding your father's closet (1973)

At least, I think that's Ross Andru's angle. Harry moves back into his dad's townhouse and his clothes are uncharacteristically oversized and formless.

Drop the metaphor, fill your father's shoes for real. The fur-lined coat + leather gloves in particular strike me as unnaturally Normanesque. Earlier periods illustrated his Garbage Mental Health Hygiene with untucked shirts and unfastened collars, though his hairdo is still perfectly in place because everyone knows it just grows in like that.

I think the shirt he's committed in is the first short-sleeved shirt we ever see him wear. Probably too early in history for him to be given a pair of those grippy socks.

back to basics/dadclothes (1975-on)

Harry comes back in ASM 151 with two outfits: a grey suit and tie and a plaid short sleeved shirt with jeans. This split between utilitarian business clothes/simple comfort clothes sticks around into Buscema and JMD's 90s run.

This was probably meant to signal that he's more "grown up" and stable, but after everything else it just feels like a very lonely return to form and a widening fracture between public presentation and personal identity—this time self-enforced.

JMD uses the goblin costume to talk about Harry's struggles with self-image and emotional compartmentalization, but I think it works because that theme was already there in a less dramatic way. Particularly once the colors went back in the closet.

The thing about toxic performative masculinity is that it hates to admit that it's just a performance. Showy fashion can be attractive to people who've been told they flunk out of gender for physical or mental reasons because it's entirely performance (hence the art of drag) (and hence transmascs who joke they dress like silver age Harry). Also, I think it's just a fun personality trait for him to enjoy bright and meticulous dress, dangit.

[rochellehassan]

the ebook of The Buried and the Bound is currently on sale for $2.99, so now is the time to grab it! it's a witchy, queer YA contemporary fantasy about three teenagers fighting an Evil Thing In The Woods, and, in my totally unbiased opinion, a pretty good fall read

[foster-the-world]

Good ole cry

Came home after school to have a good ole cry. Baby boy went to school okay today. Still 3-4 kids crying at drop off but I figure that's probably pretty normal with 15x 3yos. When we asked the teacher how yesterday went she said he "requires a lot of redirection. He was also eating paper and books." She said the second line as if he was eating his own poop or something else super terrible. Or maybe I'm sensitive and that's just how I heard it. The teacher comes off as very stoic. He doesn't eat paper at home but I'm also not shocked. For me, its odd and not a normal thing for a 3yo but also not that terrible. He does chew on things constantly. Specifically he bites down hard on his blanket or stuffed animal to help himself fall asleep. He doesn't tear books regularly. However, the two times we let him take a book into his bed after we left he tore them both apart. I'm assuming in this new environment he's pretty unregulated all day and looking for sensory outlets.

Emailed the special ed consultant lady to see if we could get a paid consult sooner rather then later. I already assumed he wouldn't be okay in this setting without additional aids/support so I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time now that its coming true. He is so well loved at daycare even though they know he's high maintenance. Despite his challenges he's a cute/charming kid. So I was hoping his new teacher would see his good side. With our limited interactions I'm not getting that vibe. I also really wish he had one of the 4K teachers. We know them well and they have all worked with 4yos for years - so I would at least have a little insight to what's really out of control and what's normal for a high maintenance kid. This women has 18yo experience but none with 3yo's. That's also the expertise we are missing at daycare. They are these sweet grandmas that love him as if he was their grandkid - so its hard to get an unbiased opinion from them.

I also get the vibe they are copy/pasting the four year old schedule/routine for the three year olds. Which seems like a bad idea. There are some kids in the class who are clearly doing fine. My girls would have been totally fine but I don't think it will work for everyone.

It seems counterintuitive but I think having a job could be helpful for my mental health. I think rather then coming home to stew/worry it would have been better to go do something else. I know I have to wait this out, see what the assessments say, see what services are provided and then make a decision. We can put him back in daycare for another year - which he would like. We aren't without options. It will all be fine. Baby boy's fine. He's not bothered at all with the redirection. He won't notice if his teacher likes him or not.

Anyway I'm going to pick up his pumpkin library books today so we can read all of them tonight. It will make his night.

[exclamaquest]

what are ur thoughts on why radical inclusionism is harmful and/or do u have any resources on the subject? im interested in learning more about the pov

sorry for this taking so long! school has been taking a lot out of me. thank you for your patience! i've put my full response under a cut as to not clog dashes.

first off, i want to very clearly establish that i am not in any way talking about inclusion itself as a concept. being against radical inclusionism does not mean i'm for exclusionism as a blanket statement--again, i'm not against inclusionism itself, i'm against the very specific radinclus movement.

honestly, I totally understand why radinclus people think the way they do. it's a very easy rabbit hole to go down, and on a surface level, the concept of "including all good-faith identities" sounds fantastic. the problem comes when you look into what a lot of that really means.

defining it as "good-faith identities" means that if someone says they are identifying as something in good faith, you have no right to criticize them. i've seen it play out more than a few times--take people who are transabled or transrace, or identities that are inherently bigoted ("afab trans woman", for example). the very basic premise of radical inclusionism removes the suggestion of critical thought ("who is affected by this? is there harm coming from someone saying this?") and makes a person's inclusion in the community hinge on accepting everything told to them at face value.

this is not coming out of nowhere. i'm not going to block evade to get a few examples i'd like to because i'm not an asshole but the gist of it is "what right do we have to dictate anyone else's experience, just trust what people say they are". again, on the surface this sounds fine, but if you look a little deeper into some of the things that people who say this support, it becomes evident that there's a nasty correlation going on.

most evidently, it leaks into ableism. the venn diagram between radical inclusionists and people who treat mental illness like a fun game (aka endos, which is a whole other thing i'm not going to get into rn, and """transabled""" people*) is pretty much a circle, and it all connects (from what i've seen) to the single biggest problem with radinclusionism: it actively discourages critical thought. like i said above, radical inclusionism punishes those who dare to be "exclusionists" (criticize any part of any "good faith identity") with ostracization from their peers.

it also discourages looking at actual queer history or talking to people with experience to make your decisions. instead of asking for unbiased sources and talking to those around you, radical inclusionism shoves the idea of criticizing "good faith identities" being evil down your throat. if you ask for hard medical scientific sources when someone claims that they're a system without trauma so that you can review the evidence and make your own independent decision, you're discounting people's lived experiences. same goes for if you talk to someone affected outside of the group and ask how they feel about mspec lesbians or afab trans women and learn their opinion and then go back to the group and ask them to account for or respond to it.

they push the narrative that you're not using your resources and learning about science and history and figuring out your own stances through critical thought, you're perpetrating an exclusionist mindset and discounting "good faith identities".

not that you'd be able to see opinions outside the group's--it's a very, very tight echo chamber, with almost no chance of a dissuading opinion getting through in a way that isn't in the tone of a "get a load of this guy cam". who would want to interact with a nasty exclusionist, after all?

instead, i propose informed inclusionism. inclusionism that encourages critical thinking and discussion. inclusionism that advocates for talking to those around you as well as looking at historical and scientific sources as appropriate to make decisions. inclusionism that lets you take stock of the harm that some so-called "good faith identities" can cause, and that discourages you from turning a blind eye in the name of inclusionism when someone says how they are affected by said identities.

in order to become truly tolerant, you must be intolerant of intolerance. and, most importantly, you must know how to spot intolerance when it is disguised as tolerance. this requires critical thought that radinclus philosophy not only goes against, but actively punishes.

i hope this has helped you understand where i'm coming from better! again, thank you for your patience, this took a while to type out and edit and i've been very busy lately. if you have any questions, feel free to ask! i'll get to them as soon as i can.

note: this really doesn't seem to be an issue that a lot of people are talking about, which is interesting, and a reason there aren't more resources on this. i searched and searched, but couldn't really find much if anything that expressed this viewpoint. i honestly would have thought that there'd be more of a pushback against radinclus philosophy especially with how much tumblr tends to emphasize the need for critical thought, but i guess not. hopefully this can help create a space for dialogue + discussion in an area that sorely needs it! ^^ *i'm fully aware that biid is in and of itself a disability. someone being disabled in one form does not stop them from being ableist to those with another disability. if someone with biid identifies as transabled to being an amputee, that is ableist towards amputees. you cannot identify into a disability.

[capricores]

What are your thoughts on a Virgo x Scorpio couple? I think they’re a good team but idk about partners, thanks

I love your honest takes when answering asks and your posts explains things so well, keep it up!!

Thank you so so much for your kind words, this means so much to me!! I'm so glad you enjoy my posts and that I'm able to explain things well 🥺💗

as for my thoughts; my thoughts are totally biased - i'm personally a virgo descendant AND lilith; so virgos tend to reflect traits i hide/repress/dislike, so as a scorpio myself, i rarely get along with virgos - but that is due to my own chart 😭 HOWEVER as an astrologer, being unbiased, i do think virgo x scorpio can be a great pairing, including romantically!!

here's why they work:

VALUES: Scorpio and Virgo have a lot of overlap when it comes to core values. Both highly value ambition, hard work/work ethic, honesty/bluntness, integrity, and so forth. Both of them tend to have these traits quite naturally, as well. They also tend to desire stability, routine, and reliability; a lot of their needs in life are going to overlap, and it'll be easy and natural for them to achieve and build these things together.

NATURAL TRAITS SUPPORT PARTNERSHIP NEEDS: A lot of traits that Virgo naturally has, are exactly what Scorpio needs out of a partner - and vice versa. Virgos look for partners that are complex, soft-hearted, driven - they also need partners that know what they want and how to get it, all traits that Scorpios tend to have. On the other hand, Scorpio needs a partner that is reasonable, understanding, nurturing - they also need partners who are self-sufficient; which are traits that Virgos tend to have.

COMMUNICATION: I think a strength this partnership can have (dependent on their Mercury placements, though) will be communication. Both Scorpio and Virgo, despite their issues with vulnerability/secretiveness, tend to be very straight-forward. They will immensely appreciate this about one another, and will be able to overcome a lot of potential roadblocks due to their naturally strong communication abilities. Both signs also have very investigative/curious minds; they will be willing (if developed) to "research" the other person's mind, meaning they'll be willing to look into the other person's opinions, interests, etc., with sincere interest and passion, in order to understand one another better.

HEALING POTENTIAL: This is an interesting one, and might just be my view. Virgos are natural healers; and Scorpios hold a lot of depth emotionally, and tend to connect quite a bit to the occult and it's healing methods. I think these two would be able to bring a LOT of healing to one another, in such a beautiful way. Virgo could introduce Scorpio to more practical, earthy ways of healing (self-care, listening/therapy, etc.) whereas Scorpio could introduce skeptical Virgo into more unique, spiritual ways of healing (shadow work, astrology, etc.).

here's why they don't work:

ACCUSATORY: Both signs have a tendency to be untrusting and suspicious. Both signs have extremely high levels of pride and hate false accusations; so I think you can already imagine what can happen given these things. Virgo may often spiral and overthink Scorpio's moodiness and sometimes repressed manner, leading to lack of trust and accusations. Scorpio may feel threatened by Virgo's more mutable nature and become suspicious over the ways in which they tend to show up for others.

CONTROL ISSUES: This is probably the biggest roadblock of them all for this couple. Both Scorpio and Virgo have serious issues with control, even when developed; they tend to have strange relationships with the concept of control and power (releasing control, letting go, etc). Virgo is a perfectionist who fusses heavily on details; therefore they prefer to be in control of all projects and in every aspect of life. Scorpio has fear of losing themselves and an intense need to control everything (and everyone) around them. This couple may just fall into a frequent battle for the "control" and "power" in the relationship. I think it'd be very likely, especially when undeveloped, for someone in this relationship to end up getting controlled vs being controlling.

LACK OF EMOTIONAL HARMONY: This is my personal opinion, but I just don't think these two signs alone allow for building a strong emotional connection together. Scorpio's secretive nature and sometimes aloof/moody/standoffish habits will not make Virgo feel comfortable and stable enough to open up and feel secure. Virgo's critical and judgmental nature will not allow Scorpio to break down the many walls to vulnerability they often have. Virgo and Scorpio both do not open up, ask for help, express vulnerability often or easily; both are kind of at a loss here when it comes to reaching that emotional depth/harmony together.

typical disclaimer: the entire chart matters in compatibility! certain aspects and synastry overlays can alleviate the negatives above and amplify the positives/add more support to the potential relationship.

✧ other pairings: taurus x scorpio | taurus x aquarius ✧ request more compatibility pairings (or other astrology content) here!

[incomingalbatross]

I wanted to do something with "Faithful John" for the Four Loves @inklings-challenge event, but I didn't carve the time out to figure out what exactly I was doing. So I just keep...revolving the story in my head.

It's the ENDING I want to do something with. Because the ending is Weird in that fairy-tale way you instinctively want to smooth the edges off of, make Acceptable somehow, but also as soon as you do that you diminish what makes it compelling?? And I haven't reconciled all those factors in my head yet but I don't want to just erase the part I'm interested in.

You see:

Once there was a prince who fell in love with an ambiguously-cursed princess and brought her home. His faithful servant (charged by the king on his deathbed to look after the prince, all of which happened immediately before the prince found out this princess existed) ends up saving both prince and princess from the manifestations of the curse and making the wedding go forward. Due to complicated circumstances (not least the prince's failure to fully trust his servant), said servant ends up turned to solid stone. This is very sad. The prince (now king) keeps the statue in the palace. He and his now-not-cursed wife live their lives and have two little boys.

One day, while the wife is at church and the two boys are playing near the statue, the now-king sits in front of it and sighs "Oh Faithful John, I wish there was some way to bring you back!"

And then the statue answers. And it says good news, there is... but bad news, the way in question is for the king to kill his little boys and sprinkle their blood on the statue.

The king's response is "Oh no. OH NO." But he owes Faithful John his wife's life, and he's basically responsible for the statue thing through not listening to Faithful John last time, so he OWES him.

So, and this is the decision I keep thinking about trying to write, he DOES IT.

And in the way of fairy tales, of course, not only does Faithful John come back to life, but as soon as he's restored the two little princes also jump up, fine as ever. There is much rejoicing.

...But lest you try to push the filicide under the rug in your mind, then the queen comes home, and the king decides he wants an unbiased opinion from her on this, so he hides the kids and Faithful John and says "hey, you know Faithful John?"

And she says "of course, I was actually thinking about him the whole time I was praying at church, wishing there was something we could do to save him." (This is a FASCINATING hook to casually throw in, by the way. The story is LITERALLY implying this episode was a miracle spurred by her prayers. Kinda love that, honestly!)

The king says, "Well! I just learned we can bring him back, but we have to sacrifice our children's lives for his."

And, like the king, her response is "oh no. OH NO," because she also knows they owe their servant everything, and she concludes that they have an obligation to go through with this.

At which the king rejoices, because she came through, and he throws open the closet door and their sons and Faithful John come tumbling out, and all is revealed. And then they live happily ever after.

I still haven't decided what to do with this. Like, on the one hand, killing your children is BAD. Something that sounds like blood sacrifice is DOUBLE BAD. And no, this isn't exactly Abraham and Isaac, because Faithful John isn't God.

On the other hand, I love the gesture of total sacrifice. I love that this whole story revolves around the love of a servant, and I love the sense of honor and the idea of this overwhelming debt to be honored out of love (and trust, which there wasn't enough of the first time around)! I feel like this particular eucatastrophe needs some gesture of supreme sacrifice, bigger than the king giving his own life even, and the next generation being required to fix what went wrong with the first happy ending is very much my jam. I am also a sucker for characters giving "all that they are and all that they have" for someone or something else. And the implications of divine intervention to give them the chance to break this final curse...

There's a LOT of fodder for retelling in this one. I just... didn't quite get there.

[words-and-threads]

I get the impression that a significant part of the difficulty discussing Israel and Palestine is the prevalence of dogwhistles and the fucking peanut gallery of people waiting to sing along. Someone says "The Israeli government and military are committing a genocide and some Israelis actively support it" and the chucklefucks chime in with "Yeah! Jews have nothing to complain about! They run the world!" Someone says "Jews have been and still are under threat all over the world" and the other chucklefucks cheer on "Yeah, they're only bombing civilians in self-defense and in any case Muslims aren't real people."

And even if you absolutely do not fucking mean that people are going to take it that way because every way to express a reasonable and compassionate opinion about the situation has been used to camouflage bigotry already. And when someone else expresses those opinions you have no idea whether they're being reasonable or leading you somewhere horrible.

Of course people are paranoid. How are they supposed to know whether you're engaging in good faith when you're saying THE EXACT SAME SHIT the bigots always start with. And every reasonable conversation seems to end with them having to slam on the breaks when it goes wrong. After a while you default to defense rather than do the whole charade of "Why yes, Israeli civilians don't necessarily have anywhere else to go" followed by "what? No that does not mean anything they do to Palestinians is self-defense that's stupid what's wrong with you?" Like...why even bother?

I mean, I suppose the answer is because then the chucklefucks win but I can't blame anyone for just being too fucking tired to wrestle the conversation back from them one more time, especially if they're also afraid for the lives of their loved ones.

I don't totally know what my point is. I guess...extend each other some grace? Some people are in full defense mode because they are in fact under threat, if not from you personally. They're scared and probably in pain and not in a place for dispassionate debate. If they want reassurance that you don't want them dead, it's because those sentiments are rampant and sometimes coming from people they thought they could trust.

And on the other end, a lot of people genuinely want to help. They don't want anyone to die and they're trying to offer compassion in an extremely delicate situation. They can't un-poison the well and there's nothing they can say that doesn't risk being misinterpreted. I've been in this situation so many times with those recovering from abuse. I can try to earn their trust but I can't definitively prove I'm safe. It's exhausting and kind of hurtful to be treated as a secret abuser who just hasn't revealed themselves yet, even if I understand it's got nothing to do with me as a person.

Even the chucklefucks aren't coming from a place of pure unbiased reason. I mean, of course they aren't. They're expressing their own pain and fear and trying to find safety and belonging. They're just doing it in a shitty and ineffective way, like a man falling back on homophobia to prove he's a hetero manly man. The harm they can do is absolutely real but their actual opinions don't warrant consideration.

And of course all of this is made harder by the fact we're talking to strangers by text so we have no clue what anyone is really thinking or even what they mean half the time. Trying to pull a coherent narrative out of that mess is probably pointless. It's just people. People flailing around trying to say the right thing and trying to be seen and trying to help and trying to strike a blow against Bad Thing and trying to figure out how they feel and how everyone else feels. Let's just assume we're all gonna fuck it up at some point and not define each other's entire personality by those fuckups.

-signed, some internet blowhard whose opinion should also not be taken uncritically

[fruitsclipper]

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of science stuff are you into? Also how's your day been?

geoscience !! its what im studying and kind of what im going to be presenting tomorrow (at an undergrad research symposium/ conference type thing - this project is more geochemistry but yknow... close enough lol). i dont remember what i wanted to get out of studying it but as of right now im interested in hydrogeology/ hydrology & thinking of pursuing that in grad school (after getting funded by a kind professor first.... once i eventually apply lolol). water is really cool <- totally unbiased opinion btw (lying)

and my day has been pretty good! i washed some dishes and um. idk. it was good in a sort of wonderfully mundane way :]