#because of this ongoing issue of them kind of just. agreeing on something one day and then changing the story on me the very next day

[miodiodavinci]

there’s a more correct way of saying it though

[phoenixyfriend]

How to Call Your Reps About Gaza

I make a lot of posts telling you to call your reps! Anyway, here's the overall shape of how to argue to them.

Disclaimer: I am not in politics. I do not have experience as a staffer. I am just someone who cares a lot about where things are going, and wants to help. Also, this is specific to the US, because that's where I'm based. Hopefully, people with expertise can add more suggestions on.

Find your elected officials.

My Ko-fi: this took me two days to write up, so uh. If you've got a few dollars, send them my way so I can keep doing this sort of thing, and maybe move out of my parents' house sooner.

General tips:

Be polite, or at least civil. Do not swear or shout at whoever answers the phone. This will quite possibly get your number blocked. Fifty civil calls over the course of several months will do more than one where you shout. You can be frosty, you can say you are disappointed, you can say you find the actions of your reps to be reprehensible or morally bankrupt, sure. But keep calm and aim criticism at the rep, not the staffer.

Keep it short. The staffers who answer call centers are busy. They usually start trying to hurry me off after about two minutes. I've yet to manage a call longer than four or five minutes. Pick one or two topics for the day, and focus on those. Cycle through them every time you call. Stick to just one from day to day if it's a large, ongoing issue like Gaza.

Plan for voicemail. I get voicemail more often than not. My House rep usually has a staffer free, but the Senators are almost always voicemail. This will give you a minute and a half max. Be ready to get your point squeezed into that.

Only call your representatives. The important, powerful word here is "constituent." You will be ignored or even counted against if you are from a different district or state. The first thing you start with is your name and address. A staffer will ask for the information they need. On voicemail, leave your full name, your city and state, and zip code before you go into your message. Do not lie, either. They look these things up in the system when you call. I'm not sure how--I think maybe they have access to a database of registered voters--but every time I call, they ask for my last name and address and at some point say, 'oh, yep, I've got you right here,' which indicates a database of some sort.

Research at least a little bit about their opinions. If they already agree with you, then it's much easier to leave a quick "I support you and want you to know that" to combat anyone who's arguing from the other side. If they don't, then you're best off finding out what specific issue they have so you can know the best kind of comment to leave.

Look up specific bills or arguments. I get daily emails from GovTrack about bills that are on this week's docket or have been voted on in the past day. IDK about anyone else, but being able to say that I disagree specifically with HR 815 or something makes me feel powerful, and possibly like I will be taken more seriously. Sometimes you can start with articles like this one, which include links to specific bills on the official congress website.

Email after if you can. Reportedly less effective, and takes longer, but you are more likely to get a written (canned) response, and it reinforces whatever you called about.

Basic structure of a call, at least as I've been doing it:

"Hi, my name is ____ ____, and I am a constituent from [city, state], [zip]. I am calling to express my opinion on [topic]. I am concerned about [short argument with a clear impact on the topic]. I ask that you support [measure or fellow congress member]/vote [yay/nay on specific legislature]. Thank you for your time, and I hope you keep my opinion in mind."

For this post, the topic can be stated as the war in Gaza, military funding for Israel, or unrest in the Middle East, depending on which you think your elected official will respond to best. That said, the structure should work for whatever your call is about.

Arguments to use against your elected official... or your on-the-fence cousin:

I'll be honest, some of these are not going to do much against your representative. They know the arguments, and have been going over them with each other for months. You just need to have one locked and loaded that they consider relevant instead of a nonstarter, in order to back up your opinion as 'founded' instead of 'nonsense, can be swayed with a good marketing campaign.'

I'll include explanations if I don't think something is self-evident (or needs more evidence to tell your cousin), but in most of them I'll provide some suggested verbiage that you can tweak as needed, and for a few of them, that's really enough.

THESE ARE FOR THE TOPIC OF CONCERN, ONLY. You still need to end each one with "I ask that the [official] votes to [action]" at the end. Give them something actionable (example from Feb. 13th). My go-tos right now:

Both chambers: Reinstate funding for UNRWA

Both chambers: Place mandatory restrictions on any aid to Israel, with contractual threats to cut funding if Netanyahu and his government continue to disregard civilian life

Senate: Put support behind Bernie Sanders and his motion to restrict funding to Israel until a humanitarian review of the IDF’s actions in Gaza has been completed (S.R. 504) (Tabled by the Senate on 1/16, but it is being brought back in as conditions continue to escalate)

House: Put support behind Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s petition for the US government to recognize the IDF’s actions in Gaza as ethnic cleansing and forced displacement, and put a stop to it.

House: Put support behind H.R. 786, introduced by Rep. Cori Bush, calling for an immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.

What Not to Say

"There is no threat to Israel." I've talked about this elsewhere, but the short version is that this will be basically laughed out as you not knowing what you're talking about.

Anything generically antisemitic. (I mean, it might work on some of the white supremacists, but do you really want to encourage that thinking? No, so don't do it.)

Facts that you "heard somewhere" but cannot find a reliable source for. If it's being reported by the New York Times, NPR, or the BBC, it's probably trustworthy by government standards. If it's not a super common statistic, cite the journal you got it from by name. Remember, you aren't arguing to tumblr mutuals. You are arguing to your elected official or your 'I don't really pay attention' cousin. When it comes to this, big name news sources are better.

Unrealistic demands for complete isolationism, permanently abandoning Israel to its own devices, supporting Hamas, etc. Again, you will not be taken seriously. Pick an argument they might actually listen to, and use it to press them towards a possible solution. You want them to believe that if they adjust their position, they will be doing the will of most of their constituents, and thus more likely to get reelected.

The Ethics Argument

Third-party reporting has stated that that nearly 29,000 Gazans are dead since Oct. 7th, as of 2/18/24. The vast majority of those are civilians, and over half are children. Palestinians in Gaza are facing an acute hunger crisis threatening to become a full-blown famine.

The International Court of Justice has found that there is credible reason to believe that the state of Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza.

This does not mean that every single Israeli is complicit. It does mean that the government, particularly Netanyahu and his associates, has been reprimanded by a large, diverse coalition of countries, and has consistently refused to listen to that court since.

This argument will possibly work on your cousin. Less likely to work on your elected official. They already know the numbers. I just wanted to get it out of the way first.

The Re-Election Argument: Michigan vs New York

Meanwhile, this is possibly the most effective. Again, this is not an argument of ethics. This is an argument of "how can I make my elected official do what I want." We do not use only the purest moral argument. We use what works.

What to say to your elected official: Michigan, as a swing state, was won by democrats on the power of the Arab-American vote in the 2020 election. We (either party) are at risk of losing Michigan due to the current Congressional approach to the Gaza conflict, as that demographic is now polling as likely to abstain from voting entirely. The risk of losing several congressional districts due to the Jewish vote is a real one, but the risk of losing the the executive branch is greater, especially after what we saw with Suozzi. Supporting Palestine might lose us parts of New York, but supporting Israel will lose us Michigan.

Explanation: Something that has been taking up a lot of time and space in the election coverage is the situation in Michigan, and more recently, there has been attention paid to the special election of New York's third district, AKA the "who gets to replace disgraced George Santos" competition.

Michigan is traditionally a swing state. While 2.1% doesn't sound like a lot, that is some 211k-278k people (depending on your source), and while not all of them can vote... Michigan was won by about 154k. Arab-Americans are not the only relevant demographic, but they sure are an important one, and they are vocally opposed to the situation. Approval has dropped from 59% to 17%. From that same article:

As Axios notes, Biden won Michigan in 2020 by 154,000 votes, but there are at least 278,000 Arab Americans in Michigan. Biden took Arizona, a state with an Arab American population of 60,000, by only 10,500 votes. In Georgia, Biden prevailed with a margin of 11,800 voters, in a state that has an Arab American population of 57,000.

Democrats cannot afford to lose these states. Pressure your congresspeople about that, especially if you live in one of those states. I assume most Arab-Americans in said states are already calling every day; the rest of you can join in.

Meanwhile, most Jews (considered the most pro-Israel demographic by strategists) in America are concentrated in a very small number of electoral districts. Of the twenty most-Jewish, ten are in New York, which is why I put it up in the section header.

One of those districts was won by a Republican in 2022: George Santos, New York's third congressional district. Following his scandals and ousting, the seat was up for a special election, and the two candidates were Tom Suozzi, a democrat who held the seat previously (he decided to run for governor, and lost), and Mazi Pilip, a Nassau county legislator who was of Ethiopian Jewish background and had been in the IDF. She ran on a campaign that leaned strongly pro-Israel and anti-immigration, and when Suozzi won, she interrupted his victory speech to accuse him of supporting a genocide against Israel due to his rather centrist, rather milquetoast stance on the conflict during his election campaign.

Now, Suozzi's win probably had more to do with Pilip being anti-choice than her pro-Israel arguments, but he still won.

Democrats can better risk possibly losing a few seats in NY than definitely losing three swing states.

"But I don't want Dems to win their districts after what they've been--" Nope. Listen to me. Surveys indicate that Republicans are on average more pro-Israel, because Trump and Netanyahu are buddy-buddy, and we do not have a viable third option.

Also, again, this is about convincing Dems to be better. "If you do not vote to put restrictions on funding to Israel, I will not vote for you in November" is a lot more powerful than "I will not vote for you either way, because of what you've been doing, but you should do what I say anyway."

The Re-Election Argument: Risk of Escalation

So, that thing I said about Trump and Netanyahu?

Yeah, so, while Biden is giving Israel military aid while cautioning them to slow down and be careful, Trump is... complicated, but suffice to say he's much closer to Netanyahu on a personal level than Biden is. Biden's relation with Netanyahu is reportedly pretty frosty, while Trump's is based on relations through the Kushners.

Just from wikipedia:

Netanyahu made his closeness to Donald Trump, a personal friend since the 1980s, central to his political appeal in Israel from 2016.[21] During Trump's presidency, the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and brokered the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and various Arab states.

Trump's been more all-over-the-place recently, badmouthing Netanyahu for being what Trump perceives as a loser, which complicates understanding what his approach is. It's kind of incoherent right now.

Given Trump's general history of being pro-Israel, though, and the attempts by House Republicans to push through a bill of unconditional funding for Israel. It failed, but notable is that the more recent bill passed in part because it was paired with aid for Ukraine and Taiwan (something Dems are much more invested in having happen).

What to say to your elected official: If Trump is reelected due to his current appearance of being more critical of Netanyahu, there is evidence from his presidency to indicate that he will support Israel much less critically if elected. While he claims to want to settle the Middle East, it seems incredibly likely that he will worsen the situation for Palestinians, and ramp up retaliatory strikes to groups like the Houthis in a manner that will impact non-military parties, igniting tensions that are already tenuous.

The Disrespect/Wild Card Argument

This particular argument is best used against the Very Patriotic Politicians who are more concerned with the US's image and Being The Alpha Nation than with other things. Basically, this might work on Republicans.

This isn't really something I believe in, as a matter of foreign policy, buuuut it might work on your rep, so. Consider it!

What to say to your elected official: With Israel's recent actions in ignoring Biden, blocking US-sent aid like those flour trucks that got stopped at the Rafah border because they'd be distributed by UNWA, and generally Disrespecting The USA and Being Unpredictable is not only making the US look bad for being unable to wrangle a smaller country, but also making it so we are less able to wrangle other countries in the future, because Israel cannot be predicted and might set someone off.

The Europe and Reputation Argument

What to say to your elected official: The United States is losing credibility as a world power known for its military and ability to manage international disputes on behalf of the UN, because it is seemingly unable to influence Israel, and losing credibility as an upstanding moral state that is not doing foreign coups and banana republics anymore, as it appears to be tacitly supporting Israel's ICJ-labelled genocide, which is a really bad look with the other Western Powers.

I'm not entirely sure who this might work on, but there's gotta be at least a few politicians who are really concerned about America's image, more than about actually doing the right thing. Figure out if your politician is one of them.

If necessary, you can bring up how Trump is threatening to pull US support for NATO if Russia attacks someone.

The Middle East Stability Argument: Iran-backed Militias

What to say to your elected official: I'm concerned that the continued support of Israel, and thus the funding of their actions in Gaza, will increase the instability of Iran-backed militias, as we have already seen with the Houthis and Hezbollah. Entire Muslim-majority nations are showing increased displeasure not only with Israel, but with the US by extension. We cannot afford another war in the Middle East when we haven't yet pulled all our troops from the last one, not with the recent and recurring economic recessions. Any situation would also very likely be complicated or inflamed by the growing tensions among Eritrea, Djibouti, and Ethiopia regarding Red Sea access as well.

Use this on the ones that claim to be pro-military or pro-veteran. See what they said about HR 815 before the foreign military funding amendment was added.

The Middle East Stability Argument: Egypt

What to say to your elected official: Egypt's government has been unstable since the Arab Spring, and even now the military government is incredibly unpopular. With that existing instability, the addition of economic strain from the reduced usage of the Suez canal, the international disputes occurring because they're the main throughway for aid into Gaza, and the threat of a sudden influx of nearly one and a half million Palestinian refugees should Israel continue to push south... Egypt is looking at a possible near-collapse as we've seen in nearby nations suffering similar instabilities.

Explanation: It took several years for Egypt to really start recovering from the revolts in 2013, and it has applied for four IMF loans in recent years. The current government is unpopular to such a degree that they are looking to build an entire new capital from scratch in the middle of the desert so that they're less open to the risk of civilian uprisings; one of the primary causes for civilian dissatisfaction is economic issues.

Due to Houthi attacks at the Bab al-Mandab Strait, traffic through the Suez canal is down massively, and since the canal "represents almost 5% of the GNP and 10% of GDP and is one of Egypt’s most important sources of hard currency." (src) Various sources are reporting that trade through the canal is down 40-50%, which is putting more strain on the already unstable economic and political situation.

Finally, Egypt's population is about 110 million, but the governorate that shares a border with Israel and Gaza, North Sinai, has a population of barely 500,000. A push of one and a half million starving, injured people will, very suddenly, nearly quadruple the population of the governorate, and require extreme aid response from Egypt's government to keep alive and prevent a larger crisis in North Sinai and neighboring governorates.

The Middle East Stability Argument: Normalized Relations

What to say to your elected official: I am concerned that Israel's continued attack on Gaza is jeopardizing any chance of normalized relations with the Arab states in the future. American has put a lot of work into trying to get these various countries to normalize with Israel, and our funding of the current attacks on Gaza are sabotaging all that effort.

This one can be combined with the Iran-Backed Militias argument: Israel, in pursuit of revenge against Hamas, is setting itself up to be in more danger long-term, rather than less.

The International Trade Argument

What to say to your elected official: I am concerned about how the war in Gaza is impacting international trade and shipping costs. With the Suez Canal down to half its usual capacity and the Panama Canal raising costs and dropping capacity in response to the water restrictions, along with rising fuel costs in Europe and Asia, global trade is incredibly strained. We are being relegated to the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Horn, and the Malacca strait for much of intercontinental trade, and the macroeconomic projections are looking very bad for America.

The Domestic Economics Argument

What to say to your elected official: Many of the plans for Israeli military funding cause damage to other parts of the budget. For instance, a recent plan put forward by the Republicans of the House suggested IRS cuts in order to move that money, a plan which would impact the US budget negatively in the long term; we need those 14 billion being spent domestically, not supporting an overreaction/possible genocide in Gaza.

Explanation: In general, pick something receiving budget cuts that your congressperson will care about. I care about IRS funding, and saw it mentioned as a target in an article, so that's what I've got in my suggested verbiage up there.

The fewer people that are working for the IRS, the more they focus on auditing poor people (simple, easy taxes) and the less they can effectively audit rich people (complicated, time-consuming taxes), which means rich people are more likely to get away with evading millions or even billions in taxation. So yeah, you want more funding in the IRS if you are poor. They are already auditing you. You want them to audit the big guys.

The Russia and China Argument

What to say to your elected official: I am worried that the current focus on funding Israel without restriction is causing us to lose sight of the international threat posed by Russia and China. Russia is actively invading Ukraine, which continues to put massive strain on the European economy with regards to oil prices, especially with the Suez situation, and China has been testing missiles near Taiwan, and thus testing US responsiveness to those threats, for months now. We cannot afford to support an internationally unpopular war if we want to remain ready for Russia and China.

This is less likely to work on Republicans, since Trump is friendly with Russia, but hey, give it a shot if they're one of the ones who aren't fully in his camp.

EDIT 2/22/24: I'm a bit unsure of this tactic, but I'm putting it out there with hopes that someone with more political experience can offer feedback:

"Congress, and the US government in general, has promised to sanction Russia for the alleged assassination of one man within a week of the suspicious death, after five months of refusing to enact even slight consequences on Israel for the deaths of nearly thirty thousand, half of which are children. This is ethically questionable at best, but for the interests of elected officials, it is a very bad look. The mismatch shows a massive bias by the American government in regards to Israel's ongoing mass murder, with over two million facing famine as a result of Israel's aid blocking, and America's reputation on the world stage, as well as individual politicians' reputations domestically with constituents, is plummeting."

-------------------------------------

Finally, my ko-fi again. I spent a long time on this and I'd like to move out of my parents' house sooner rather than later. If you appreciate my time and effort, please feel free to donate a couple bucks.

[pluckyredhead]

just because you just answered an ask about kon stories i am still made at the superboy man of tomorrow for setting up such an interesting arc with kon feeling superfluous to the superfamily, and clark not even noticing for a while that he’s left the planet, for such a supremely average comic and kon hand waving clark’s single attempt at an apology like it didn’t matter.

I one hundred percent agree with you, but I also feel like...it's almost not the Superboy mini's fault it was mid, because...what the hell kind of character development are we going to get out of any miniseries? Especially in the 2020s, where all miniseries are like, Issue 1: Introduce the concept; Issues 2-5: Nonstop action!; Issue 6: I guess we have to wrap things up now? There's no room for any kind of character or relationship growth because contemporary comic book storytelling simply isn't structured that way.

I did a deep dive into 80s/90s Superman comics a few months ago, and one thing that really struck me was how much time they spent on character. There were a billion subplots and every supporting character got one. Every issue told me not just what was going on for both Superman and Clark Kent, but what was going on with Lois, Jimmy, Ma and Pa, Perry, Perry's wife, Perry's terrible son Jerry, Cat Grant, Pete Ross and Lana Lang, Jose Delgado (MISS U JOSE, COME BACK TO ME), Professor Hamilton, Lex, and usually a handful of other antagonists. Pete and Lana didn't even live in Metropolis or Smallville or hang out with any of the other main characters, and the comics were still constantly like "Better check in on Pete and Lana!" And it never felt overfull, because the comics were structured to keep the central plot moving forward while always juggling multiple narrative balls, so that when, for example, Superman finished saving Cat from Morgan Edge and Intergang, the latest Jimmy plotline would be ready to take center stage.

I'm mostly enjoying the current era of Superbooks because I like seeing all my blorbos, but I'm frustrated too, because they finally have the whole Superfamily all hanging out all the time and they haven't actually done anything with it but let them all strike a dramatic pose on a splash page once per issue. (And, I guess, hint vaguely that various characters feel insecure - Kon, Jon, Kara, Karen - but never ever ever let those hints become satisfying stories.) Between Superman and Action Comics (especially when the latter was still an anthology book), they absolutely have the page count to tell a story about whatever villain Clark is currently fighting...and also Lois's struggles to lead up the Planet while Perry is in the hospital, and also Jon adjusting to not being the baby anymore in the face of his own lost childhood, and also Kon coming to terms with the Lex side of his DNA, and also Kara getting to do literally anything interesting, and also Kenan adjusting to living in America (...is he???), and so on. They're just letting a limited story bloat to fill the page count, instead of adding more story.

I mean. I cannot imagine picking up a Superman book in 1989 and not knowing what a character's job was or where they lived. Where the fuck do Kara or Kenan live? Is Jon living at home? How did the Kents fit two extra children in their apartment, then? What the hell does Jon do all day if he gave up on school after 20 minutes? If Kon is still in high school as that one terrible backup story implied, why is it not a problem for him to go into space for weeks or spend every day in Metropolis? Is Kenan commuting from China? Do Kara and Natasha have jobs? WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY ARE NOT SPLASH PAGE POSING???

Anyway. All that was a little beside the point of what you asked, but I think my point was: we're never going to get anything satisfying with Kon (or Jon, or Kara, or anyone else) until a) he gets to take up space in an ongoing that b) is concerned with something more than fighting the latest villain or Shocking Revelations.

[re-dracula]

I was listening to another podcast at some point a while back where they had an interview with you guys to advertize re: dracula coming out. And you guys said some stuff about Lucy that hit a weird nerve with me as a history buff.

So the VA described her as polyamorous, and it triggered some conversation about how her character gets pretty maligned for it. And that last part is an adaptation issue not present in the original text.

See, victorian era courtship did not come with a presumption of exclusivity the way modern dating does. You were not off the market until you were formally engaged to be married. So the general gist of it for upper and middle class folks (like the Dracula characters most likely are) is that there is this thing called the social season. And during the season there would be all kinds of parties and events where you would meet people. And the general structure was that if you went to a dance, you should dance with a lot of different people. Get a sense of the eligible bachelors/bachelorettes. And if you were a young man, you would be expected to go and visit each of the young women you danced with that night at some point during the week after. If you hit it off, you would then start courting (visiting back and forth attending other events together etc). But, as I said above, it wasn't exclusive. So a man would court a few women, and a woman would be pretty disappointed to only be courted by one man. As the season went on couples would get engaged (anding any other ongoing courtships).

So Lucy's situation, in its original context, goes something like this: Lucy is pretty and charming. A perfect victorian maid. She has many suitors. Three of them decide she's the perfect women for them. They each want to pop the question but they are good gentlemen so they agree to all ask her the same day so she can choose between them on her own terms. She is thrilled because of course she is. Any woman in her position would be! But! Before she can make her choice Dracula comes to steal her away. She gets terribly sick and dies. But then she is not dead after all. She came back all wrong and corrupted. Even such a bright, innocent, young woman as Lucy is not immune! It's tragic what she becomes.

By the time early film adaptations roll around though, courtship was mostly replaced by dating especially in America where it hadn't been so institutionalized. And now there is an assumption of exclusivity. Those poor men being strung along by that harlot Lucy when in the end there can be only one husband. No wonder she fell victim to Dracula's charms! And like, that was the exact opposite of the point in the books. But the culture was too different by that point to read the same way. So Hollywood made Lucy an example instead of a victim.

But yeah. I heard the polyamorous comment, and had a weird mix of "yay poly representation! That rarely happens," and "put that woman back in context, or so help me!" So when I saw you guys had a blog, I had to send a little mini rant. Feel free to disregard.

Thanks for the historical context! It is hard with historical texts to keep from bringing your modern ideas to our interpretations, but as an almost completely queer crew, it was hard to ignore the subtext in:

LUCY: Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.

That’s what we’re talking about, we’re talking about subtext in a very sexy very queer-coded book. I believe the VA you’re talking about is Beth Eyre? As a professor, she knows this too and is playing with it in her performance. And she does brilliantly.

We’re not changing the text, as we’ve said before, we’re just having fun with what’s already there.

We’ll talk some more about this in our bonus eps, which I’m very excited about.

[biblicallyaccuratefour]

Rant post: The Neobix drama.

…. Jesus fucking Christ… We have a lot to unpack here. Good day/evening, lads, lassies, fellow letter mafiosos and attack helicopters, this is a rant post on the Neobix drama. I have noticed this shit going on, on Tumblr, and I decided to speak the fuck up, as I have an online voice, and I don’t want my fellow letter mafiosos to deal with bullshit like this. (Apologies for taking a while to finish this, as I had a bit of issues with sorting out the evidence. All of the chats are screenshotted, with the consent of the users.)

So, major disclaimer: The topics that will be covered in this rant will be about stalking, harassment, manipulation, gas lighting, theft of accounts, suicide/suicide threats, and other dark topics. If you are sensitive/or uncomfortable with these topics, please click off and view something else. This post is to bring awareness to the Neobix drama. Please don’t go harassing anyone, as one, I don’t allow this kind of thing, two, harassment is against the Tumblr policy, and three, I don’t want anyone to go down at Neo’s level.

So, where do we begin? Well, we start with Rubix, the person who will be copied by Neo. Rubix was on their social media, when Neo found out about their character and asked them if he could make a mini account. Rubix agreed, and left it at that. Later on, they’ve found out that they couldn’t go on Tumblr or Wattpad, into their account. It was at that, when Neo has pretty much stolen the account. After the actions Neo made, it had ruined Rubix’s reputation, and Neo is now quote-unquote, “insane”. Rubix and Neo were friends. Neo was described as a chill, and sweet person. The personality Neo formerly had would grab the attention of Mocha, Moon, Blaire and other bloggers. Mocha and Neo became friends, and this is where the shit starts to hit the fan, and that Neo’s true colours would show.

During the relationship, Bezel (who is deceased), had supposedly created the ship between Neo and Mocha (Rubcha). The pairing was toxic and “cringy”, and Mocha has a partner (Moon), during the time. Then, Neo called Moon shit, made a divorce fanfic of Mocha and Moon and has written complete brainrot fanfics the Rubcha ship. Mocha decided to ignore him. When Neo had realised he “fucked up” he went to apologise to xer on Tumblr and xe wanted some time to think things over (As Mocha should.) However, Neo was having none of it, and had demanded forgiveness, harassed and badmouthed Mocha to try and get his way. His hate and obsessive behaviour towards Mocha are unjust. Then, he started to become more aggressive, as his ego becomes damaged. He becomes friends with users like Galaxy, Kodu, Rose, and then he uses them for sympathy and becomes a straight-up asshat whenever he doesn’t get his way. He would often use his home situation as an excuse to justify his toxic behaviour (which I think is not a cash money move, especially when it's repeated and deliberate.) Some users try to help Neo and offer him advice, with Neo becoming defensive and aggressive in return. It would be like this over a period of time, and this is still ongoing.

He then gets into a “platonic relationship” with Rose Jelly, a mutual of mine. He has stated that he hated online daters and the like, but the fact that he had engaged in a relationship with Rose is hypocritical. Because of his obsession over Mocha, he ignores Rose. I had informed Rose of this, and I'd say she was shocked by the information.

You don’t need to look far into his blog to find things that are just outright distasteful. For example, on his blog intro, he proceeds to write a mash-up/cover song about Mocha and what xe supposedly did. Note that Mocha had never harassed Neo and Neo was never harassed before. Another example is his blog name. “Insane”. Talk about self-centered, am I right?

He, of course becomes casual about Bezel’s death, even though Bezel is Rubix’s brother. I personally find that disgusting, as I have an older brother I wouldn’t trade for the world. If someone had made fun of my brother, I would personally go ballistic. Not only that, it’s also extremely disrespectful to even mock a person’s death.

Let’s discuss the “hallucinations” posts, shall we? The hallucinations post was only a small shits and giggles thing, with Galaxy using her inbox to mess with herself and do funny shenanigans. It was fun and all (even though I never really understood it), until it progresses, with Neo joining in. Neo proceeds to spew out weird shit, raving on about the harassments and the drama, practically confessing to all of it. Not only that, but he used Rubix’s hallucinations and claims them as his own (Note that Rubix’s hallucinations are a result of trauma). Upon reading them, it is apparent to see who Neo truly was.

That’s not the only thing that’s gross, oh no. Neo then threatens suicide multiple times, telling users that “he’ll find a knife and a gun”. He also had made a death threat against Mocha, and xer mutuals, translated from Morse code. The code reads; “THAT WAS NOT THE END. I WILL RETURN. I WILL GET MY REVENGE. WE WILL TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS. DON'T THINK THAT WE WON'T COME AGAIN. TRUST ME. THIS IS GONNA END. FOR YOU. DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER. WE WILL RETURN.THIS ENDS FOR US ALL. YOU ALL WILL DIE. LIKE THE REST OF YOUR STUPID FRIENDS. AND DON'T WORRY WE HAVE RUBIX. YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING. JUST GIVE UP. THIS IS THE END. I WILL RETURN. EVERYTHING WE BE SHAKEN TO ITS CORE. SUN AND MOON WILL DIM AND WANE IN. SWORDS AND SHIELDS WILL RUST AWAY. OUR LEGENDS WILL BE SLAIN. I WILL RETURN MOCHA. YOU AND YOUR SILLY FRIENDS WILL PAY.” It’s pretty horrific.

Then, we reach the climax of the drama, when Neo threatens suicide again. Multiple users are pretty much sick of his shit (with good reason), and Neo shifts the blame onto Bezel, who, keep in mind, is DECEASED. It just angers me how little regard he has for everyone else, as he tries to sweep the eggshells under the bed (and failing miserably).

My main takeaway from this shit is that Neobix is self-centered, a stalker, manipulative and is just a terrible person. Looking from the evidence, I notice that Neo is exhibiting signs of sociopathy. Let me explain. Neo has no sense of right or wrong, as he casually says that Bezel is dead. He is clearly manipulative and he uses his former personality to get his way. He has little, to no regard for people’s feelings and he is extremely disrespectful. It also seems like he has himself a complex, and he is extremely opinionated, calling online relationships disgusting (should’ve kept that shit to yourself, mate). He also has disregard for rules, as he harasses people and he constantly threatens suicide, which is clearly against the Tumblr policies. I am no professional, but I have done my research in psychology.

Neobix, if you happen to read this, then get off the internet. Go touch some grass, hug a tree, and GROW THE FUCK UP. You’re a teenager, just like some of us, myself included. You should act like one and learn to take responsibility over your own actions. I would punt you into the sun for you mocking the death of Rubix’s brother and suicide-baiting.

A lot of us have mental illness. If you want to come on my blog, just to hate me, go ahead. It just only proves mine, and everyone else’s point. You need to see a therapist, and get off social media, ya bum. At the end of the day, there are real people behind the screens and blogs. It's just awful that people like this exist on the internet, and on social media platforms.

(Note: As of editing this, I have been informed that Neobix deleted his account, however, it is uncertain if he'll make a resurgence. If so, then report him and block him.)

To everyone else in the drama or reading this, thank you for reading this rant. Remember to stay determined and to drink plenty of water. -ω-)👍

(Evidence under the cut)

The evidence will be comprised in folders in One Drive. If you don't have a Microsoft account, I'd advise you make one beforehand.

Mocha's Testimony - @mochablogger

Rubix's testimony - @rubixisanidi0t

Bin's testimony - @trashbins-stuff

Kodu's testimony - @koduflower2000

Galaxy's testimony - @galaxy-brushs-posts

Rose's testimony - @rosejelly1244

Screenshots

[optionalcausality]

Long post, somewhat personal. I'm trying to kind of process something that is an ongoing stressor in my life.

So. Executive function issues can be frustrating. Not just for the affected person, but also for those around them. Especially dependents / partners.

My parents haven't had a working dishwasher for over two years now. Their previous dishwasher broke after many years of service, and my mom wanted a replacement, and my dad agreed. So they purchased a brand new dishwasher, which broke after ten days.

My dad decided that he would take on the responsibility for handling this. Which, historically, means that he will do nothing until forced to by outside circumstances, and he will get increasingly irritable when others who are affected by his total lack-of-action try to get him to do something about it, or try to impose deadlines or requirements of any kind.

Was the dishwasher under warranty? Almost certainly, yes, but no action was taken.

After two years (in which my mom tried repeatedly to get my dad to just. Order. A. Replacement) and finally my making a big stink about it at a family gathering such that everyone could agree that two years without a dishwasher is excessive, my dad actually... Took a look at the dishwasher so he could get a model number, so that he could hire someone to come repair it.

(he had not so much as looked up local repair shops or handyperson services in two years)

He ended up "fixing it himself" and it worked for four days and died again.

And he continued to do nothing, insist that he would be the one to deal with the problem, refuse outside help including from relatives, and eventually tell my mom to stop bringing it up.

(my mom is very intelligent and organized and could order a replacement on her own, but she is more disabled than my dad is, and relies on him for a lot, and over the years has made the tactical choice that when he is this level of stubborn, it's not worth it to go "over his head" or whatever unless the situation is direr than this)

I have managed to take one tiny step towards a solution. I have worked out an arrangement with my dad where, if and only if he doesn't have a working dishwasher by the end of August 2024, I will order a replacement for him.

He agreed. He is of course confident that by then, he will have dealt with the situation on his own.

How is he so confident? Because it is more than 90 days away, so his brain (and mine in the absence of a calendar) approximates it as "at the heat death of the universe" and of course he will have dealt with it by then.

I fully expect to order a replacement on August 28, 2024, and for him to be annoyed or possibly very angry with me about it.

Now, venting aside: what I'm getting at is that this isn't new and unique. I grew up in a household where my dad would periodically take responsibility for specific tasks, which if things went well was fine. But if he ran into any unforeseen barriers, the problem wouldn't be fixed until someone got hurt or a pet's life was in danger or it turned into a big blowup fight that finally imposed an external deadline on him...

Or someone else did it.

Which would also result in a fight. And (I speculate) he'd feel that his control over the situation had slipped, so next time he'd be even more stubborn and more territorial over tasks that we all needed him to do and which he wasn't doing, but wouldn't let anyone else do, either.

There's some point where this becomes neglect, and some later point where this pattern of behavior (specifically: not meeting a need, and declaring that no one else is allowed to meet that need; continuing to do this when the issue is one of safety and/or sanitation) becomes abuse.

It's a thorny, complicated situation all around.

And there's a point where it feels crappy and manipulative to use his time-blindness against him -- to use the end of August 2024 as a deadline, knowing that his brain will parse it as basically infinity.

But by then it will be three years without a working dishwasher (which they've had money to replace, and which my mom has always wanted to replace). And I feel there's an argument to be made that my dad has spent two years proving that he isn't able to do this particular task, even if he doesn't see it that way.

Time-blindness. It's freaking rough.

[fairydust-stuff]

Thoughts on Adam x Cherry

So I watched Skate 8 Infinity recently and these two have given me a lot of food for thought. And I have seen zero meta on them so here we go a deep dive on   Cherry X Adam as a whole. 

Honestly having watched all 12 episodes of the show. I think if we’re talking healthy, recovery, realization  Adam the best options for him would be either Cherry or  Tadashi. 

While Tadashi has his own issues and Adam x Tadashi is a very mixed bag for me. This isn’t about them so i’ll save my thoughts on them for another post because oh boy do I got thoughts. 

So anyway Cherry had a huge crush on Adam you’d have to be blind not to see it. The way he silently looks at him tells so much. I also don’t think the feelings were one sided like a lot of others seem to think. 

Adam catches Cherry in his arms at one point and that has been the  romantic short hand visual in hetero media forever. Its basically the writers winking at the audience that they should start thinking of  these two as a couple. That they have feelings for each other.  

While its unclear if they actually did date since this a thinly veiled subtext show. Either Adam and Cherry had a full on closeted secret relationship or they just pinned for each other relentlessly.  

Also Adam has issues but he did in fact cherish Joe and Cherry. 

There’s a clear scene where Adam takes off his hood and when Cherry remarks on the dangers of this. Adam replies  that its ok if Joe and Cherry see his face, implying their special. 

There’s also some bitterness from Adam and one or two remarks in present day implying Adam felt abandoned by Joe and Cherry. 

Adam also refused their beefs with him and while some may take his your boring comment as face value, I dont but we’ll come back to that.  

The fallout from what i understand is Adams obsessive need to find his Eve. Adam got more intense and willing to hurt others and Cherry and Joe got cut out of his life for trying to make him see reason. 

I think it was Joe at one point states  Adam cut them out first. 

Adam didn’t want to hear it and if Adam and Cherry were a couple. Adam’s need to find his Eve must of really stung. Its kind of ironic to me that certain fans see Kaoru as not a perfect skate board partner for Adam and that means their not meant to be in a relationship. 

Adams whole issue is he is looking for someone who can be his everything but a rival in competition has an opposite set of requirements then what one looks for in a romantic relationship. Adams abusive family has blurred those lines in an unhealthy manner. Skating has become Adam’s whole life to the point Kaoru being unable to compete with him equals not meant to be. 

Cherry is still clearly hung up on Adam in the present day and wants to pull him back from the brink. Viewing Adam’s rejection of their offers to beef as a sign Adam still cares. 

Cherry’s whole thing with Carla and measuring each degree so he can go faster, even seems to scream look at me! I can go toe to toe with you! suggesting that Adam made Kaoru feel inferior because he wasn’t good enough for Adam. He wants to both help and show Adam he is worth it. 

Which I agree with for all Adam’s talk of abuse is love. Adam can only up until the Cherry affair, hurt other skaters he competes with those he devalues and objectifies as his Eve. Adam doesn’t know crap about Reki, Miya and Langa or the other skaters he trashes. 

He projects a false image onto them and forgets them when they fail to live up to this image of the perfect Eve. (something he clearly learned from the aunties!) Langa isn’t even special he’s part of an ongoing pattern. 

But Adam won’t beef with Joe or Cherry. When Cherry taunts him about this “ were you scared”  in an attempt to push Adam to admit he still cares about him and Joe. Kaoru gets a skateboard to the face because Adam lashes out aginst the threat to his Adam persona. 

Even before their beef Adam drops his madador of love act completely. He acts distant and not like his usual flamboyant self. In fact he acts more like he does to Tadashi. Your not seeing Adam in that moment your seeing  Ainosuke. 

Cherry wasn’t attacked for being boring he was attacked because he saw though the illusion. He knew Adam was a lie.  At this point Adam wanted to drive him and Joe away. So he could continue to bask in his dellusions. 

Though there seems to be some resentment that in Adam’s mind Joe and Cherry” didn’t love him enough”  Adam ultimately in his attack on Kaoru rejects the reality of love for a false promise of “perfection” an Eve. 

If Eve was the lie Kaoru was the real relationship Adam could of had. The one rejected for the ideal.  

So where do they go from here? 

I like the ship on two fronts one the tragic angle Kaoru is  Ainosuke’s  karma he screwed up a good thing or ruined the chance for something chasing Eve who  never existed. Adam hurt Kaoru so badly he’ll be lucky to be  allowed to crawl back into the friend zone. (Kaoru was still hurt/ salty by the end and he was allowed to be) 

 Tadashi  is Adam’s second chance with Kaoru being his lingering regret. Even if Adam wanted to try again with him Kaoru has moved on. 

Or  Ainosuke is hit in the head with the fact he still has feelings for Kaoru and   has to actually work his ass off to make it up to Kaoru and has to learn to handle an real adult relationship with someone who adores him but will not put up with his shit.  

I like either option honestly because both would lead to interesting stories. 

So those are just some of my thoughts on Adam x Cherry and or Love blossom. 

So are your thoughts on the subject? 

[thebreakfastgenie]

When there’s currently this much discourse about how this is why trans people shouldn’t have guns from fascists and right wingers, seeing someone say well I agree, but it’s not because you’re dangerous! It’s just because I care about you so much and don’t want you to hurt yourself, silly! Well, that’s not helpful. It’s not about wanting guns or thinking I have the right to guns. I live in a country with good gun control and I wish every day that the US would tighten up policy before the next group of innocent people have to die. But seeing leftists repeat talking points about how trans people specifically need to be the ones targeted, even though you swear up and down you’re only saying that to be kind, makes life even more wearying than usual. Normally I can escape this on tumblr.

(And before you inevitably say touch grass imagine for a moment how much it sucks to have workplace gossip be about whether you are just waiting to snap and kill a bunch of people. These issues are bigger than the internet.)

I'm not sure how many times I can say this. I did not "agree but to be kind." I do not agree with banning guns only for one specific group on any basis. I agree with gun control across the board.

I brought up other health risks related to gun ownership because I was seeing, as I have seen before, pro-gun leftists suggest trans people should be armed. Separate from any legislation, I discourage people form buying and owning guns and from telling others to do so.

What the right is saying about trans people now is exactly what they've said about mental illness after previous mass shootings. It plays neatly into their narrative that the Nashville shooting was an anti-Christian hate crime (something they previously claimed about the 2015 Charleston shooting, which was an anti-Black hate crime). You have to understand that Republicans say these things so they can pretend guns aren't the problem. Look at this quote:

“Yesterday’s massacre did not happen because of lax gun laws. Yesterday’s massacre happened because of a deranged and demonic ideology that is infecting this country.”

It's about shifting the blame off of guns. In this case it serves both their ongoing Christian persecution agenda and their ongoing anti-trans agenda.

Of course I'm concerned about the trans community facing backlash for this. I'm mostly concerned about violence and social discrimination. I'm not concerned about legislation, because after mass shootings Republicans always do nothing.

And obviously none of this is a reason not to discuss my position, which is that guns kill people and we shouldn't have them.

[sherifftillman]

Hello, my dearest RJ! Congratulations on 2k! You deserve it 🤍 I’d like to request hall of mirrors, please! Hmm, how to describe myself? Well, I’m a writer, completely awkward, ginger, proud cat mom, and a total nerd. Marvel, Star Wars, HP? Yep. All the geeky things. Also a horror movie junkie. I like to think I’m kind and relatively smart as well lol 💕

Xoxo @corroded-hellfire

hiiii red <333 thank you my love!!! sorry this took forever lol

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 2k follower celebration event ongoing! ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

i'm excited about writing this one! okay so i imagine you would write for the hawkins post, in a column that the hawk theater pays for where you can talk about movies that are on show at the time. but even though you're being paid to promote films, you'll still be honest. if they're bad, they're bad. sure, you'd get more commission if you were filling every seat in every screen, but you didn't get into the industry for the money, you did it for the love of the job.

and the majority of people seem to agree with your reviews, too; except those that peaked in high school, they'll tell you to your face that you're clearly biased over certain genres, but you don't care. you also get a letter sent to your work pretty much weekly, at least every time there's a new release, that basically just raves about how accurate they found your review, adding their own commentary, too. they never leave a name, or a return address, so the people who vet mail responses assume it's someone trying to get a job, too. between those two kinds of responses, the post ends up deciding that your review column no longer accepts reader mail.

but that's okay, because you have another job at the post that the public doesn't necessarily know is yours. with your writing accolades, you also pose as the agony aunt. it's some extra money in your pocket, and it's a good laugh, especially when those who went from bullying you in high school to berating you for enjoying movies in a not-so-casual way are writing in begging you to help them with their marital issues. (it takes you So Much Effort not to answer every one of those with 'leave your partner, they deserve better')

anyway, one day, a couple of weeks after you've stopped accepting mail to your critic column, you recognise the scrawled writing on the envelope and get to reading: dear agony aunt, i think i fucked up. and now that i know you can't publish this, it involves someone you work with. i'd been trying to build something with your movie critic, sending my own two cents to see if anything resonated and if I could get any kind of response back, but obviously i've overstepped a mark. feel free to not do this, but could you apologise to her on my behalf? i didn't mean to creep her out, and i feel awful that i can't tell her i'm sorry. - eddie

thankfully, he's finally learned to put a return address onto this one, and you recognise the full name as that one cute metalhead who always stuck to his own herd. he's a little confused when you, someone he barely recognises, show up at his trailer, but the agony aunt letter in one hand and tickets to the night's advance screening in the other tell him everything. and the huge grin on his face as he invites you in while he gets ready tells you that he's very, very excited at how things worked out for him, even if you do end up teasing him relentlessly for thinking you could write him back without giving you anything to work with for all those months.

[faroreswinds]

Just want to say I really like your recent post about Claude and his accusations about the Church. What baffled me even more is Dimitri's somewhat agreement to his claims in their support. Did he hit his head when they stumbled into Zahras? Because especially the issue about foreign nations - surely Dimitri didn't forget that his own father had ongoing negotiations with Duscur before they traveled there on the fateful day of the Tragedy. How could he, as a king of the country with the closest[1]

[2] ties to the Church, even do that if they would forbid that? How can Sylvain hope for e peaceful solution with Sreng if they are banned from offically contacting them? And on the Crests: Ingrid is expected to be heir to her father's title and to marry for her Crest as well, because House Galatea is a really poor region. But we also learn in her supports with Shez that one of her brother could take over if she choses a different path. Surely Dimitri should know that, as king of this nation.

[3] And yet he doesn't even argue with Claude on his claims. Their support would have been so much better if the writers took the oppurtinity to let them discuss how the Church's teachings influence the current mindset if people and if/how they could be a hinderance to change in Fodlan. Because Claude thinks they need to go, while Dimitri (in AG) seems to believe he can reform his country gradually with the Church still around. But no, for some reason they didn't do that. Just like they never

[4] give Rhea a voice/her own route. I "have to" believe that she would be firmly against any reformation on society and yet she doesn't say anything about the major changes that Edelgard already implemented in Adrestia and neither to the smaller ones in Faerghus. I'm not claiming Rhea did nothing wrong, surely not. But the game wants you condemn a woman because people accuse her of things she never does throughout the story. Just because someone says it. Even if contradicting information exists

[5] Sorry for my rant lol, this getting longer than I thought. One last thing: people forget context matters. Like you said, Claude was just about two month at GM. Nothing of what makes you suspicious of Rhea during WC in TH happened here. No Lonato, no Miklan, no Western Church, no Byleth/Sothis. Claude doesn't no any of this things, yet he seems to think that he can't even try to talk to Rhea. She doesn't even know why he's fighting her. To me GW felt like some kind of "witch hunt" in the end.

Thanks anon!

And lol, don’t worry about it. Because you are right.

Dimitri agreeing with Claude on “some” level made no sense. 

My own personal tin foil hat theory? The dev wanted the war to be justified and wanted everyone to agree that the Church had to go on some level. 

And what better way than to have every character say “well, I do agree?” Lol.

It reinforces this weird idea that the Church is problematic, even if the worldbuilding around it doesn't support these claims!

And it’s not like there aren’t claims to be had against the Church. Secrets, mismanagement of funds, etc. Like, there is something to be said about it. 

But for whatever reason, the devs went full “they ruin EVERYTHING” path. I suspect it might be because the legitimate reasons aren’t good ones to start a war over. 

Man, it’s just an entire mess, really. 

[taiblogcomics]

Help! I Need Somepony!

Hey there, desperation for puffed corn cereals. Almost out of this backlog, but we still got a couple to go! And now, let's get into this one, eh~?

Here's the cover:

Of the new Mane 5, I think Hitch is probably the most unappreciated. It's probably because he's the token dude, and it's a series for little girls. He also doesn't have that "little brother" energy that Spike had, he's an older dude in a position of authority. But maybe us millenials in the periphery demographic relate to him (forget that he's also a cop for a moment). Like, look at this cover. He's an indie music producer, he's moving, he's building a deck. And he looks exhausted/astonished to just contemplate doing all these things. That's peak relatability~

We waste a whole first page on establishing shots of Maretime Bay, showing Hitch waking up. Hitch exposits to himself how it's the first day of autumn now, and thus the Harvest Festival is that day. Like, who is he talking to? The birds? I know he can talk to birds, but I don't think he needs to exposit to the birds that he's the sheriff and that he's frozen in there and we're out here. (Yes, you can expect me to make that reference any time his being the sheriff comes up.) Anyways, today he's hanging up that sheriff badge to instead pick up some headphones and spin some records.

Just as he's ready to head out, Sunny comes rushing in and spills his records. She's excited for the harvest celebration, and Hitch is also eager to bring in the noise, bring in the funk. Sunny's here for a reason, though. She's got a favour to ask, you see. Izzy needs some supplies from the sporting goods store, so if it's not too much trouble, can he swing by on his way to set up his booth? Hitch agrees, because he's all about helping. That's basically what his job is. This isn't too much trouble. Sunny thanks him, and she heads off to set up her own booth.

A casual aside mention of Discord to just remind you that this is part of an ongoing plot later, Hitch arrives at the sports-shop. It's genuinely kind of huge, so it takes a while to find the rings Izzy needs. Eventually he does, and there's no quest to cast them back into the fires whence they came, so he's able to leave. Now at the fairgrounds, he's approaching the stage where he intend to set up. But then... a wild Izzy blocks the way! She leads him to her ringtoss booth, but also imparts on him another favour. He agrees, because he's that kind of guy.

Hitch heads over to the arts-and-crafts store, passing by Sunny's tug-of-war setup on the way. And here's where you get a very rare sight indeed: Sprout from the G5 movie. Remember? He was, like, the main antagonist of the movie and set up to be a prominent secondary character, and then he just wasn't. You can tell, because this is issue 7 of the comics, and this is the first time I've mentioned him. Anyways, he continues to suck up to his mother, and then mud from the tug-of-war splashes all over him. Maybe he's better off not appearing in things~

Anyways, Hitch gets Izzy her crafting supplies, which was a mercifully smaller store, thankfully for him. By now Hitch is getting a little annoyed. He loves to help and is glad to do so, but now it's getting in the way of doing his own thing. Just like this sudden parade that's appeared behind him while he was in the store. And wouldn't you know it, Pipp is dancing on a big float right at that moment, and she spots him in the crowd and drags him onstage. Guess what, she needs a favour. Just a quick one, of course. Her AV guy didn't turn up, so she needs him to record her song for social media.

Now Hitch is running pretty late, but he still can't turn his friends down. It just wouldn't be him if he didn't help out. And speak of the devil, here comes Zipp. She needs another partner for the obstacle course, as her usual one has passed out from eating too much pie. Ah, relatable. Hitch almost wants to put his hoof down here, but Zipp does something unexpected: she says "please". And oh boy, is it ever an obstacle course. What was that show called? Wipeout? It's basically that. And now Hitch is very late, and hasn't even begun to set up yet.

But when he finally gets to his booth... It's almost all set up already. And his four friends step out and reveal that they felt a little selfish about monopolising his time, because he has difficulty saying "no" to folks. So since he spent all day helping them, it's their turn to help him for a change. Even Sprout turns up to help (which is more of just bossing the others around, but that's fine). And thus the evening closes out with Hitch putting on a big Deadmau5-type pony head and DJing the night way for the whole festival~

This is, honestly, a pretty good issue. It’s nice to focus on Hitch, who doesn’t get a lot of love, as stated earlier. And it’s a pretty good lesson: help others, but don’t forget to help yourself. Or maybe: if someone does you a kindness, return it. Either one, really. They both fit. No, the only problem here is that once again, we’re doing the slice-of-life filler stuff after we already amped up the stakes with the Discord plot. It seriously gets all of just a single line’s mention here. This issue would be fine as a standalone. But putting it in the middle of a storyline makes it filler instead. Discord’s about to destroy all magic! But it’s not so urgent that we can’t have a day for a harvest festival, hmm? Again, good issue all on its own! Just doesn’t work within the larger narrative surrounding it.

[wobblefloss]

STUFF I DIDN'T KNOW WHEN I WAS STILL ABLED...

Inflammation is domino hell.

.

In the before times, I thought inflammation was a hot, puffy spot around an infected wound. If you quizzed me, I'd agree that asthma and bee sting allergies were probably inflammation too: again, big puff. And really, probably enlarged joints from arthritis too, right? Angry body makes swelling.

Freaking... get this. Mast Cells are a part of your immune system and they are linked to a billion hormones and chemical signals for your body, but the ones they're famous for are allergic reactions and inflammation. If they get the right/wrong signals from something: peanut allergy or super-stress deadline or the wrong pollen or getting overheated or flare ups of other medical conditions that stress your body--then the dominoes start to fall.

And depending on how many dominoes get hit with that first reaction? So much inflammation can be triggered. So many other health conditions can flare up because of the way those inflammation hormones interact with other organ systems.

Did you know prolonged mast cell activation can give you full body inflammation?

I did not.

My doctors and I worked through a bunch of my food sensitivities and wow. When I stopped eating foods that upset my mast cells? I lost one quarter of my body mass.

Imagine a human. Chop them into four equal bits. Throw one of those chunks away. That was me. Yeeting approximately a whole leg-and-buttock-worth of angry, swollen, water-retaining me-meat. All inflammation. All over-reactive mast cell mess.

I hadn't realized I was swollen. I just thought that was my shape in life. It had been that way for years. Why would body mass be a symptom? Haha. Inflammation.

This isn't a weight loss thing. I was trying to stop hitting all the mass cell symptom dominoes. Numbness and heart palpitations and sweats and dizziness and shortness of breath and a bunch of other incapacitating things like that were happening every time I ate.

Those reactions were getting more intense as my mast cells got futher out of whack. Which caused more inflammation... which triggered migraines... which triggered more mast cell inflammation... which set off body aches and POTS flare ups (circulatory issue)... so more mast cells got into the act... and on and on and on. It became a self-perpetuating loop of horrible, horrible dominoes.

So, I guess this is a heads up that "allergies" aren't just dramatic inflammation puff ups like asthma and anaphylaxis. Sometimes they're ongoing, low-grade irritation that can snowball and set off other issues.

.

>>>Because I mentioned food and weight and those are complicated topics for people--please note, even if I eat off a 100% friendly menu, it doesn't stop other things from kicking off mast cell reactions. Food control is not the silver bullet magic cure!! Stress, heat, exercise, other conditions flaring--I'm still learning my triggers. Yes, having fewer irritations means more clear-headed days, less head and body aches, no more after-dinner-face-numbness, and less inflammation. This is good progress! But I also needed medicines. And I would never have correctly selected my safe foods list on my own. If you do need this kind of help, please work with a doctor. This stuff was not intuitive in the slightest and is very specific for each person.

.

And if you encounter someone with food sensitivities, believe them and cut them some slack. The safe food list is weird sometimes.

.

Seems like something we should all know.

.

.

.

Disability happens to people without our control or consent. Every single disabled person has strong feelings about their own situation and I would not presume to talk about anyone’s thoughts but my own. But none of us chose to do life on hardmode, so if the world could listen this month, there’s a lot to say.

[patnaneuro]

How to prevent depression in students?

Ensuring the mental well-being of students in today's rapidly evolving educational environments is paramount. There's a growing awareness that many students struggle with feelings of depression, emphasizing the urgent need to prevent it. By identifying the causes of depression and taking action to address them, we can make a significant difference in students' lives. Students encounter various stressors like schoolwork and social issues that can make them feel overwhelmed and sad.

That's why it's crucial for schools to prioritize mental health and provide students with the support they need. We must equip students with tools to navigate through challenges. In this blog, we'll explore different ways to help students avoid depression, such as making lifestyle changes or seeking psychiatrist doctor in Patna assistance. By understanding about the biggest cause of depression, we can create healthier and happier learning environment.

Major Causes of Depression

Understanding what causes depression is super important for dealing with this common mental health problem. Even though there isn't just one thing that causes it, depression usually comes from a mix of different reasons. Stuff like going through tough life events—like losing someone, going through something really bad, or having problems in relationships—can make depression worse, especially for people who are already vulnerable. Things in your body, like genes or imbalances in brain chemicals, also play a big part in making you more likely to get depressed. 

Other things like having long-term health problems, using drugs or alcohol too much, or taking certain medications can make depression worse or bring it on. Plus, things around you, like how much money you have, where you live, and who you have around for support, can also make you more likely to get depressed. Knowing about all these different things that can cause depression helps you take steps to deal with them and get stronger against depression. It's super important for people to recognize these different factors and get the help and support they need when they're dealing with depression.

Levels of depression 

Understanding the different levels of depression is super important because it helps us know how serious it is and how to help. Even though experts don't all agree on exactly how to categorize depression, we generally think of it as a range from mild to severe. At the mild level, symptoms are manageable and don't really affect your daily life too much. In moderate depression, symptoms are stronger and can make it harder to do things. Then, there's severe depression, where it's really tough to do anything because the symptoms are so bad. Lastly, there's chronic depression, which lasts a long time and needs ongoing help and support.

 Knowing about these different levels helps people to understand what they're going through and find the right kind of help. It's important for people to learn about these levels so they can get the support and treatment they need for their mental health.

Ways to prevent depression 

Preventing depression and keeping mental health strong, especially for students, is super important in today's world. Although there's no one thing that can fix depression for everyone, there are lots of things people can do to protect against depression. 

 Doing regular exercise, eating healthy foods, and making sure to get enough sleep are really important ways to stop depression from happening. Also, having good relationships with friends and family, talking to them when feeling down, or getting help from a counselor are great ways to shield against depression. 

Specifically for students, the solution to depression is making schools friendly and supportive places, talking openly about mental health, and making it easy to get counseling if needed are key ways to prevent depression. By doing these different things every day, people can get stronger against depression and feel better overall.

Strategies for Managing Daily Anxiety

Dealing with daily anxiety means taking care of both your body and mind. Start by trying relaxation techniques like deep breathing, meditation, or mindfulness to calm your thoughts and feel better. Having a structured daily routine that includes time for things you enjoy, like hobbies or hanging out with friends, can make you feel more stable and confident, reducing feelings of stress and uncertainty. Doing regular exercise, like walking, jogging, or yoga, not only makes you feel good by releasing happy hormones, but also helps to ease tension and stress. Moreover, eating healthy, watching how much caffeine and alcohol you have, and making sure you get enough sleep are all important for keeping your body and mind strong against daily anxiety. Having supportive people around you, like friends, family, or counselors, can also make a big difference when things get tough. 

It's important to notice when you're thinking negatively and try to replace those thoughts with more positive ones. And if you need extra help, reach out to a psychiatrist doctor in Patna, who can give you useful tools to manage your anxiety. By doing these things every day, you can build up your strength and handle daily anxiety triggers better, making your overall well-being and life quality better too.

Conclusion 

In the conclusion, preventing depression in students is a big job that need everyone's help – teachers, support staff, and the whole community. We need to understand why depression happens so we can stop it. Making sure students feel good mentally is just as important as helping them do well in school. We can do this by talking openly, making mental health resources easy to find, and teaching students how to handle tough times. When we support students and give them the tools to cope, we help them live happier lives and face challenges with confidence. Together, we can create schools where students thrive both academically and emotionally. 

And if anyone needs extra help, they can reach out to a psychiatrist doctor in Patna or find the best psychiatrist in Patna, Bihar for professional support. Let's work together to make sure students feel good and are ready to take on whatever comes their way.

[a-room-of-my-own]

A while before the latest hoo-ha about Judith Butler, I had just been reading her again. Though she claims her critics have not read her, this simply isn’t the case. I read Gender Trouble when it first came out and it was important at the time . That time was long,long ago. She was just one of the many ‘post-structuralist’ thinkers I was into. I would trip off to see  Luce Irigaray or Derrida whenever they appeared.

I got an interview  with Baudrillard and tried to sell it to The Guardian but they  didn’t know who he was so its fair to say I was fairly immersed in that world of theory.  For a while, I had a part time lecturing job so I had to keep on top of it. Though Butler’s idea of gender as performance was not new , it was interesting.  RuPaul said it so much more clearly in a  quote nicked from  someone else “Honey ,we are born naked, the rest is drag”

What I was looking for again , I guess is not any clarity – her writing is famously and deliberately difficult-  but whether there was ever any sense of the material body. She wrote herself in 2004 “I confess however I am not a very good materialist. Every time I try to write about the body, the writing ends up being about language” . 

Butler from on high ,cannot really think about the body at all which is why they (Butler’s chosen pronoun) are now the high priestess of a particular kind of trans ideology.  The men who worship Butler are not versed in high theory. The fox botherer had a “brain swoon” at some very ordinary things Butler said. Mr Right Side of history nodded along in an interview. Clearly neither of these men are versed in any of this philosophy and would be better off sticking to tax law and the decline of the Labour Party. Butler is simply a totem for them.

Butler said in the Guardian interview for instance  “Gender is an assignment that does not just happen once: it is ongoing. We are assigned a sex at birth and then a slew of expectations follow which continue to “assign” gender to us.”

So yeah? That’s a fairly basic view of the social construction of gender though I take issue with the assigned at birth thing ,which I will come back to and why I started reading her again in the first place.

This phrase “Assigned sex at birth” is now common parlance but simply does not make sense  to me. I am living with someone who is pregnant. I have given birth three times and been a birthing  partner. I know where babies come from. There is a deep disconnect here between language and reality which no amount of academic jargon can obliterate. 

Babies  come from bodies. Not any bodies but bodies that have a uterus. They grew inside a woman’s body until they  get pushed out or dragged out into the world. 

The facts of life that we are now to be liberated from in the form of denial. Only one sex can have babies but we must now somehow not say that. The pregnant “people” of Texas will now be forced into giving birth to children they don’t want because they are simply “host bodies”. The language of patriarchal supremacy and that of some of the trans ideologues is remarkably close, as is their biological ignorance.

There is no foetal heatbeat at six weeks for instance. When a baby is born , doctors and midwives do not randomly assign a sex, they observe it and they do it though genitalia. 

There is a question over a tiny percentage of babies ,less that one percent with DSDs but even then they are sexed with doctors having  difficult conversations with parents about what may happen later.

Somehow, though when I read the way in which this is now all discussed it is clear to me that the people talking have never been pregnant, never had a foetal scan, never been near a birth , never miscarried, do not understand that even with a still birth babies are still sexed and often named. 

If you want to know the sex of your baby you can pay privately and know at 7 weeks ((*49-56 days from the first day of the mother’s last menstrual cycle). A 12 week scan will show it. That is why so many female foetuses are aborted . I have reported on this. 

Talking to paediatricians about this is interesting because they do indeed have to think through these things that we are being told are not real eg. that sex is just a by-product of colonialism for instance.  Sometimes pre-conception , geneticists will be looking at chromosomes because certain diseases are more likely in men or women. Males have a higher risk of haemophilia for instance.  

One doctor told me “When babies are premature, the survival advantage of females over males is well known throughout neonatology. This is sometimes something we talk about with parents when there is threatened premature labour around 23 weeks' gestation and options to discuss about resuscitation and medical interventions. In fertility treatment (or counselling around fertility in the context of medical treatments) it is pretty inherent to know whether we need to plan around sperm, or ova + pregnancy.”

She also said that if she involved in a birth that “assigning” isn’t the word she world use. “Observed genitals a highly reliable observation, just like measuring weight or head circumference which is also done at this time. “ Another doctor said that anyone involved with a trans man giving birth  would be doing the best for the patient in front  of them. 

Sex then is biological fact. A female baby will have all the eggs she will ever have when she is first born which is kind of amazing. It is not bio-essentialist to say that our sexed bodies are different nor is it transphobic to recognise it.

Except of course in my old newspaper ,The Guardian who are now so hamstrung by their  own ideology they have got their knickers in such a twist they can barely walk.  They completely misreported the WiSpa incident , basically ignored the Sonia  Appleby  judgement at the Tavistock. Appleby was a whistle blower ,a respected professional concerned with safe guarding. She won her case. The cherry on the cake this week was an interview with Butler, themselves (?) in which they went on about Terfs being fascists and needing to extend the category of women.

Does anyone EVER stop to think that most gender critical women are of the left, supporters of gay rights, often lesbian and that this is not America? We are not in bed with the far right. This is bollocks. Just another way to dismiss us.  

As we watch Afghanistan and Texas ,to say Butler’s words were tone deaf is to say the least. But they didn’t even have the guts to keep the most offensive stuff in the piece and overnight edited it out without really explaining why : the bits where Butler described gender critical people as fascist. Perhaps because the person their “reporters” had  defended against  transphobia at WiSpa turned out to be a known sex offender,  perhaps because someone pointed out that Butler was throwing around the word fascist rather like Rik Mayall used to do in the Young Ones. 

All of this is rather desperate and readers deserve better. When I left that newspaper I said that I thought and expected editors to stand up for their writers in public. Instead they go into some catatonic paralysis. I may have not liked this interview but it should never have been cut. Stand by what you publish or your credibility is shot.

But this is about more than Judith Butler and their refusal to support women . Butler is not really any kind of feminist at all. What this is about is the large edifice of trans ideology  crumbling when any real analysis is applied. Yes, I have read Shon Faye’s book and there are some interesting points in it and I totally agree that the lives of trans people should be easier and health care better . I have never said anything but that.

What Faye does in the book is say that there can be no trans liberation under capitalism so there will be a bit of a wait I suspect. 

Yet surely it is the other way round and what we are seeing is that trans ideology (not trans people – I am making a distinction here ) represent the apex of capitalism .

For it means that the individual decides their own gendered essence and then spends a fortune on surgery and a lifetime on medication to achieve the appearance of it. Of course lots of people spend a lifetime  on medication but not out of choice.  Marx understood very well that the abolition of our system of production would free up women.

Now it is all about freeing up men. Who say they are women. Quelle surprise.  

 Nussbaum’s famous take down of Butler is premised exactly on the sense of individual versus collective struggle “ The great tragedy in the new feminist theory in America is the loss of a sense of public commitment. In this sense, Butler’s self-involved feminism is extremely American, and it is not surprising that it has caught on here, where successful middle-class people prefer to focus on cultivating the self rather than thinking in a way that helps the material condition of others. “

Such thinking now dominates academia. There is simply an unquestioning  rehearsal of something most of know not to be true thus Amia Srinivasan writes in The Right to Sex  “At birth, bodies are sorted as ‘male’ or ‘female’, though many bodies must be mutilated to fit one category or the other, and many bodies will later protest against the decision that was made. This originary division determines what social purpose a body will be assigned.”

What does ‘sorted’ mean here? A tiny number of intersex babies are born. A tiny number of people are trans and decide to change their bodies. The feminist demand to challenge gender norms without mutilating any one’s body no longer matters. What matters now is this retrograde return  to some gendered soul. This is not something any decent Marxist would have any truck with . Of course one may change over a lifetime and of course gender is never ‘settled.’ We are complex people who inhabit bodies that often don’t work or appear as we want them to.

But not only is there a denial of basic Marxism going on here , what becomes ever more apparent is  that there is a denial of motherhood. Butler said “Yet gender is also what is made along the way – we can take over the power of assignment, make it into self-assignment, which can include sex reassignment at a legal and medical level.”

Self-assignment is key . One may birth oneself. No longer of woman born but self -made. This is a theoretical leap but it also one that has profound implications for women as a sex class. We are really then, just the  host bodies to a new breed of people who self-assign.

Maybe that is the future although look around the word and there isn’t a lot of self-assignment going on. There are simply women shot and beaten in the street, choked to death or having  their rights taken  away. There is no identifying out of this , there is no fluidity here . This is not discourse. It is brutality and do we not have some responsibility to other women to confront male violence ?

Instead the hatred is aided and abetted by so called philosophers describing  other women as Terfs. It is utterly depressing.

The sexed body. The pregnant body. The dying body. The body is in trouble when we can’t talk about it . I thought of Margaret Mary O’Hara’s  beautiful and  strange lyrics and what they might mean. I await my child’s return from the hospital as hers is a difficult pregnancy and thank god they are on the case. The sex of the child she carries does not matter to me at all .

It simply exists. Not in language but within a body. 

Why is that so difficult to acknowledge? 

[punkpresentmic]

Traitor Aizawa AU Pt. 5  — 1,  2,  3,  4

Hizashi goes into school the next day, starting his morning as usual by grabbing a cup of coffee. Nezu meets his eyes there in the teacher’s lounge, holding his gaze, nose twitching. Hizashi smiles, wishes him good morning. Nezu does the same. They go about their days. 

After school, Hizashi sets out to pick up Eri as scheduled, but she’s not in her room. A quick call to Nemuri reassures him that Eri is with Nezu; they’re having a tea party. 

Nemuri was also under the impression that she was supposed to watch Eri this afternoon, which is odd because Hizashi knows it’s the opposite—it’s his day. 

They go together. They’re greeted warmly. Nezu mentions that he wants to talk to him, so Nemuri takes Eri with a small joke about how ooh someone’s in troublleee!

Eri doesn’t like this joke.

The two gone, Nezu offers Hizashi a cup of tea, has him sit. Nezu asks the same question as before: “What do you know about Eraserhead’s motivations, Yamada?”

It’s the same answer as before: honestly, nothing. 

Nezu hums, interested. “I was reading back through Eraserhead’s resignation letter:” Hizashi’s skin prickles as he places the creased letter on the table between them. Nezu’s up to something here & he doesn’t know what. Nevertheless, Nezu continues,

“I must resign my position at UA on the grounds that I am the UA traitor. I willingly supplied the time and location of the USJ incident. Though I was not at the time aware of the connection to the League of Villains, I am guilty of continuing my arrangement after it became clear. It was my ongoing secret communication with my contact that was responsible for the Vanguard Action Squad receiving the location of the training camp, leading to the injury of several students and the kidnapping of Bakugou Katsuki. There was a failed attempt at a subsequent deal prior to the events at Kamino Ward. I maintain my arrangement with my contact and the League of Villains. I have provided evidence of my communications to remove suspicion that I am writing this against my will.”

It hurts to read, it hurts to hear, but Nezu reads through it all again anyway before tucking it away. He already knows Hizashi practically has the thing memorized, that Hizashi tore through it & the evidence over & over, his denial strong despite it, imploring that the investigators consider that Shouta wasn’t a criminal, that he must be held under some kind of duress, that he wouldn’t just do this... “His letter to you is of course more regretful, as you’ve seen.” 

There’s a standoff of sorts as they look at each other. Nezu sighs. “I’ve already expressed my concern about Eraserhead taking advantage of the connections he’s built here. Yamada, it’s clear to me you still have a… significant amount of trust remaining in our Eraserhead. I want to discuss—”

“ —That’s not fair,” Hizashi cuts in. “Nezu, that’s not fair. He’s my husband. Yes, we know what he did. & we don’t know why. Asking me not to trust that he has good reasons for—”

“—Yamada. He is the legal definition of a villain. I am not asking that you refuse to forgive him for what he’s done. I am asking that you think very… carefully about how you proceed with your own actions involving the ex-hero Eraserhead, especially when we are as of yet in the dark about his reasons.”    

A spike of adrenaline shoots through his blood. He feels caught. Is he caught? In an instant of panic he realizes he can’t lie to Nezu. But he gets a hold of himself, pushes his glasses up with a showman’s laugh. “I’m not sure what you mean, principal—do you have something else you’re not telling me?”

Nezu’s eyes sparkle. “Do you?” 

His mouth is dry. “Are you insinuating something, Principal Nezu?” 

Nezu clasps his paws on the table. “Yamada, we don’t have to do this. I can quite literally smell him on you.”

It’s like a punch to a gut. He sucks in a breath. He’s quiet for a long, long time. Finally, he takes a long drink of tea. “So you definitely knew about us way before we started telling people we were together, huh?”

“You were never particularly subtle.”

Hizashi gestures with his tea cup, sits back with his legs out in front of him. “So what now, Nezu?”

“What indeed,” Nezu sighs, taking a sip of his own tea. They sit for a long moment. “For me, this confirms Eri’s story. He wanted to take her with him?”

“He did. He said he wanted to help with her Quirk. I told him no.”

“& Eri has not reported a visit since.”

“She hasn’t been having issues since,” Hizashi points out, despite himself. “But I think he… saw reason.”

“So you are likewise confirming multiple unreported visits with Eraserhead,” Nezu notes. Hizashi winces, doesn’t deny it. “This is a major security breach, as we are being visited repeatedly by an undetected villain—whether or not this is one we trust is not the issue at hand.” 

There’s a pause. Nezu meets his eyes. “Are you willing to assist with bringing him in?” 

Hizashi saw it coming. “I don’t know,” he answers honestly. “He’s after something, Nezu. I don’t know what it is. He wouldn’t tell me.”

“But you trust his judgment,” Nezu finishes for him. ‘Despite everything,’ goes unsaid.  

Hizashi taps the side of the teacup w his wedding ring. “Through the good, the bad, & the ugly hair days, principal.”

“Even recognizing that this is a reasonable plan to bring him back, to bring justice to the situation, to return safety to UA, & potentially find out once & for all the reasoning behind Eraserhead’s actions?”

“You know I want him home. You know I want answers. You know I want these kids to be safe.” Hizashi leans forward. “But I love him. & your way won’t bring him home. It could land him in Tartarus. That’s not justice. & that doesn’t feel like assuring any safety for my students. & it can’t ensure those answers. We don’t know what he’s dealing with.” He shakes his head. “I can’t do that to him.” 

“I figured as much.” 

Hizashi stands, legs shaky. “Now if you don’t mind, principal; it’s my day with Eri.” 

“I do not think,” Nezu stops him without looking away from his tea, “that you have fully thought through the consequences of siding with a villain, Yamada. That’s not how this works.” Nezu stands too. “I called Kayama here for a reason.”

Hizashi’s heart is in his throat, pulse rising like a scream. “Don’t do this. The kid’s already lost so much.” 

“I don’t disagree.” Nezu’s tone is exhausted. “I have a duty to those at UA: to keep this school safe from villains. That is the first and foremost thought around which I must make my decisions.” 

Eri. Hizashi could throw himself under the bus here. Easily. His conduct hasn’t exactly been the shining picture of heroism lately. But he can’t do that when Eri is in the mix. Shouta’s leaving hit her so hard. He can’t let her lose anyone else. She can’t go through that again. 

& Shouta... Shouta trusted him to look after her, not to stick up for him when he made his own choices.  

Nezu sees his indecision. “Will you accept the conditions to help us if Eraserhead is given a chance?” Nezu asks. “I am not able to grant him full legal immunity, but I do have significant say about what happens at our fine school. My input on the investigation holds considerable weight. If you agree to assist us, this exchange stays between us, business can continue as normal until Eraserhead is located, & when that happens… We will do what is in our power not to treat Aizawa Shouta as a villain. We will hear his side of the story.” 

Hizashi looks away. Bait. They want to use him as bait to capture his husband. 

Nezu steps forward, unafraid. He sets a paw on Hizashi’s arm. “Yamada,” he says, “Let’s bring him home.” 

Hizashi is just in time for the tea party with Eri & Nem.

(pt. 6)

[meeko-mar]

Here's some pain;

Obviously this is way more fic fodder than an actual prediction of any sort,

What if, when Katsuki starts really going after Izuku do get through to him, and he gets Izuku pinned down...And Izuku still tries to get him to leave him alone.

What if he thinks that it will... drive Katsuki away to confess his feelings?

TW for feelings of internalized homophobia, and I guess perceived notions of homophobia?? Izuku is basically afraid of his feelings, as usual.

..

As part of the whole idea that he's suppressing, and sort of has internalized homophobia against his crush on Kacchan...So he assumes the logic that if he's afraid of his own feelings, Kacchan would probably be disgusted, enough to give up on him, to leave him. Or at least shatter his concentration enough for Izuku to escape. It will hurt, and it's his last resort, but if he wants Kacchan to keep his distance, he might have to just do it. Because he does love Kacchan and needs to keep him safe. (and he has tried literally everything else to get his classmates off him, to no avail)

So he screams it, right into Katsuki's face, because again, he's been pinned.

"Don't you get it?? I love you!! I always have!" He cries. "That's why I can't be near you!! My feelings are only going to get you killed!!" (he has related this to the rest of the class already, but this instance is specially for Katsuki, insert a mess of Izuku's emotions about Kacchan nearly dying for him once already)

But instead of disgust, and letting him go, Katsuki keeps a hold of him, and his eyes change. At first he is a bit blindsided, but quickly resumes his resolve.

"You...Asshole!!" Katsuki growls, also in Izuku's face. "So what, You want ME to have to Watch YOU fucking die instead cause you won't let anyone fucking help you?! Is that better? That's somehow ok?!"

"You fucking love me?? Bullshit!" (stay with me here)

"If you love me so fucking much, why don't you fucking act like it!! Why don't you think about how I feel watching you drive yourself into an early fucking grave like everyone who came before you!?"

His fists clench tighter around Izuku's tattered costume as tears start streaming down his own cheeks in the rain.

"What about how I feel about you, huh!? You think you're too good to wanna stick around long enough to find out??"

Izuku is obviously SHOOK(his ploy didn't work?? Kacchan isn't rejecting him?? Or is he?? What is happening here, he did not account for this response...)

Eventually they manage to wrangle him up. Take him home.

Katsuki hovers as he heals, making sure he doesn't bolt again. He seems to be looking at him with brand new eyes, though Izuku knows he's being considered a flight risk and thinks that might be the soul reason... but also there seems to be another new context to the look of those red eyes.

They have conversations, calmer, but they still skirt around *those feelings*, pretty awkwardly. The whole class can tell what's going on, too(I imagine that they at least heard the tail end of when Katsuki was yelling at Izuku about it)

Anyway, Izuku reluctantly...very reluctantly, agrees to work with UA and his friends. With many, many discussions that pretty much amount to Intervention and THERAPY talks with all involved(and after a lot of rest to get into a better mindset), he realizes how terribly they were worried about him, and are still worried. And eventually, that it's not fair to shut them all out when they are trained as much as he is and deciding for themselves to be involved.

He still doesn't like it, he is still terrified...He still believes/knows he's got to keep searching for AFO...but now accepts that his friends are going to try to help no matter what he says and accepts their help, accepts Katsuki's help. AM comes back and they make up, and AM ALSO tells him to make sure he's ok before taking care of everyone else again.

As Izuku slowly adapts to having a home base and becomes less of a flight-risk, Katsuki's still always lingering in the background, or acting by his side, like his right-hand man. I think once more paralleling the Second watching over Yoichi.

Izuku honestly can't tell what Katsuki actually thinks about the whole love confession, and he's actually afraid to ask and open that pandora's box again. So for a while he acts like it didn't happen. It all feels surreal and like it could have all been a panic-induced fever dream for all he knows.

But, unbeknownst to Izuku, the reason Katsuki isn't really saying anything is because he's actually kind of assessing his own feelings. He knows he cares deeply about Izuku... but is it love, is it THAT kind of love? Can he properly even return those feelings, does he deserve to?? And then again, he's ALSO questioning if Izuku was genuine about his love confession or if it was some sort of fake out to get him to leave him alone or shock him. And if it was, he'd feel really stupid and pretty hurt if he came to confess only to be rejected by Izuku. (which, might happen anyway, because Izuku's still terrified that his love is going to get Katsuki killed)

Anyway, he's read Izuku horribly wrong in the past before, so he wants to really make sure he's reading the signals right.

The kids in their class, while obviously occupied with patrols, the ongoing tension of AFO lurking out there, communicating with the Heroes and the International reinforcements, etc etc, are absolutely AGGRAVATED by these two dancing around the issue, and for not giving all of the tea-seeking kids of their group closure after that dramatic day where they had fought Izuku and the two of them had SCREAMED at each other about feelings. (again)

Like even Ochako tries to (gently) get the truth out of Izuku cause she knows how crazy it can be to have a crush when you're preoccupied with saving the world.

Maybe one night Katsuki and Izuku are out, I'm thinking high up where they can see UA grounds...Maybe the roof of the building? Perhaps doing a look-out patrol.

And they start TALKING.

Katsuki straight up starts the conversation because he knows, and we all know, that Izuku would be tight-lipped about it still. He just straight up says "So are you ever going to tell me what the hell you meant that day?"

Izuku FREEZES, but he decides he's probably avoided this for long enough...can't put it off forever.

Katsuki looks at Izuku and finds him looking so, so insecure, confused, and grimacing with a blush as he looked away.

"Oi, Deku." He startles Izuku, "Were you....Were you lying to me?"

Izuku looks so bewildered by Katsuki's new tone. There's a hint of insecurity in his voice

"Sorry--I'm sorry... I shouldn't have...I shouldn't have said it like that," Izuku fumbles with the words. "I used those words to try to push you away...I thought you'd hate me, and if I could get you to hate me, you'd let me go, and I was so scared, and it was a really really desperate strategy..." he's doing his trademark muttering by now as panic sets in.

Katsuki steps closer, eyes burning with intensity as he looms over him. "But was it a lie."

"It was the wrong moment, for the wrong reason...But..." Izuku sucks in breath and feels his heart hammering. Forces himself to meet his eyes with Katsuki's. "It wasn't a lie."

Katsuki's eyes widen, and they both kind of stall in the moment as it all settles in and the wind blows between them.

"I'm sorry," Izuku blurts, and blushes furiously, starting to turn away. "I shouldn't have pushed this on you," He's giving in to his instinct to bolt.

Katsuki catches him by the wrist. Izuku turns, and meets Katsuki's smoldering eyes again. "Don't you go running off without hearing what I think again, damn nerd. Last time it nearly got you killed."

He runs a hand through is hair and looks away, and by now is also blushing. "Dammit. I'm still trying to figure out how to be around you. I'm still trying to relearn how to be your friend...At least, a friend who's actually worth a shit."

Izuku nods quietly, they've also had their discussion on their past/Katsuki's apologies by now, so Izuku is understanding of where Katsuki's feelings are coming from.

"And...Deku, you dumbass, why would I hate you for that??" Katsuki glares. Izuku flinches a bit.

"Well I..." Izuku mumbles. "It's obvious, right? I thought you'd be grossed out... I'm not a...Neither one of us is..."

"Not what, a girl!?" Katsuki scoffs. "Since when does that fucking matter?? You don't decide what the Hell grosses me out, Deku. " Izuku looks at him, SHOCKED, but his eyes shining.

The hand that has him by the wrist squeezes just gently, and feels really warm.

Katsuki sighs, and looks downward. "As long as you're not lying to me about something like that. Don't ever fucking lie about this kinda shit."

He finally looks at Izuku again, eyes large and shining. His hand pulls Izuku forward just gently.

"I don't know...Fuck...Give me time...Okay? There's still a lot I gotta do before I can..." He cuts off, still blushing and wrestling with the emotions. but the remaining words 'before I can say it back' basically hang, unsaid, in the air between them.

"But you gotta promise me you won't go and get your stupid ass killed before I get the chance, got it, nerd?!" Katsuki adds hastily.

Izuku feels his eyes start to burn as the warmth wells up inside him, and a smile spreads across his glowing face. He laughs a bit, feeling the nerves bubbling over, paired with a sudden sort of relief. Kacchan doesn't hate him for what he said, and even might return the feeling. What a good feeling. The best thing in a while. If not all the more terrifying.

"Okay, Kacchan" Katsuki blushes at how stupidly cute it looks for the light to be returning to Izuku's eyes, and that dumb smile lighting up freckled cheeks...Something that the Katsuki of a few weeks ago would have given anything in the world to see, right there in front of him.

Feeling the urge to bring back their previous mood, Katsuki grunts some sort of quasi-insult, like, "Don't get any more weird, backwards ideas like that, Deku. I'll kick your ass."

Izuku laughs again, But then suddenly, everything is ruined; A massive jolt to his head strikes him and he suddenly withdraws his hands from Katsuki, clutching his head and doubling over.

Danger Sense.

"Deku! Hey!" Katsuki grips him by the shoulders(partially in panic that Izuku might fly off by instinct without second thought to a plan of any sort, like old habits) "What is it!?"

Katsuki's legitimately scared as Izuku sinks to his knees; Izuku's had Danger Sense pings while staying within the walls of UA to heal before(that they had to CONVINCE him not to pay attention to, or rather send one of the other students out in his stead), but nothing this obviously severe.

Little Brother, The voice rings in Izuku's head again, and his blood runs cold.

Gritting his teeth, Izuku's eyes then shoot open, and look with terror to the horizon;

"It's him...He's coming..."

---

sorry this was long. probably imperfect.

but I had to get it out of my head.

And then somewhere in or in the aftermath of the final battle they actually share a kiss and Katsuki says it back. It's nice.

I really think, Katsuki would probably legit have few hang-ups about being gay, his attitude is "don't fake who you are or how you feel", Mr. "can't even fake it to survive a kidnapping encounter with villains and would rather try to explode them all even though he's outnumbered". He'd be like, "what, you like boys? fine, then, what's the problem?! Like boys all you want!"

In this scenario I think he's way more concerned over if he's a worthy partner for Izuku, or if he's able to reciprocate, rather than "am I actually gay and if so what does that mean"

And as of 320, let me just say that Izuku is SO FRIGGIN SCARED, it breaks my heart. Like he's legit terrified and I think our suspicions that he was deeply deeply traumatized by the war arc are exactly on the money. the line "AFO is going to take you all away from me" while flashing back to the losses in the war including Kacchan....JUST SHOOT ME, IT MIGHT BE LESS PAINFUL.

Can't wait for the main UA kids(IE, his closer friend circles) to have their turn trying to wrangle Izuku up.

Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you liked this.