#but actually he just hates them both equally. no discrimination in hating

[samthechaotic]

Tim: Whenever I face a horrible situation, I ask myself "what would Jason do?" and do the exact opposite.

Damian: For the first, and probably last, time in your life Drake, you're right.

[shreddedleopard]

I genuinely think William’s real name is actually still William, just with a different surname.

Hear me out.

#1 — irony.

Remember the omake where Bonde asks him and he’s got his ☺️ face ‘that’s a secret, heh heh heh.’

Lol William is the biggest mischievous jokester going. This would be his exact reaction if people were asking like 👀 omg what is it?? And all along he’s like, lol will.i.am guys, chill. No-one cares about your first name, it’s your surname which means anything around here. You’ve all been barking up the wrong tree. Which brings me on to my second point ~

#2 — symbolism.

I cannot scream enough about how bloody genius it would be for William’s name to be, in fact, just William, but with a more common surname like ‘Smith.’ For the purposes of this discussion, let’s call him William Smith. As an orphan, he gets adopted into the family Moriarty, where there is in fact another William: Master William James Moriarty. Immediately, you have two boys of similar ages with the exact same first names, highlighting how, in fact, they should be equal if we’re looking at their basic information and identifiers. But what is it which sets them apart, and is the very message and theme running through the heart of Yuumori? Class inequality. And what dictated your social class at the time, so very unfairly? Your family lineage.

The name of Moriarty is what gives Albert’s little brother his superior, privileged position in life, over William ‘Smith.’ And yet, they are both young boys, both Williams, both should have the same sort of start in life in the equal world our William wishes to create. But they do not; the moment they are given their surnames — the moment those are penned on the paper of their birth records following ‘William’, the chasm that divides these boys is immense and unfair.

#3 — interesting coincidences, hints and clues in the text.

• William loves Shakespeare — that’s part of his identity in the same way being a mathematician is. He quotes Shakespeare all the time, he grew up in a library and has all of the plays memorised. Shakespeare’s first name was also William. Additionally, Shakespeare’s birthday is believed to be April 23rd. William’s birthday is listed as April 1st — April Fool’s Day, and it has been confirmed that this is a fake birthday, so we don’t know his real one currently. (But my guess is it’s still in April).

• The Moriarty’s never call William by his name, pre-fire, but the children at his orphanage do, and they call him Will.

At the Moriarty house, he is on the receiving end of more hate than Louis; they seem to despise him to the nth degree. I wonder if this might be because he shares a name with their precious William, and this irks them. They refuse to call him by his name because that doesn’t belong to him, filth from the streets, it belongs to their beloved son who can do no wrong.

I can see a mother like Lady Moriarty refusing to call another boy by the name she gifted her son, especially when William reminds her that there is something she had in common with his own mother — someone who she would view as completely beneath her: they chose the same name. What a disgrace, to be associated or viewed as having a similar mind to a woman of such low standing!?

We also see William only ever call William Moriarty with the title ‘master’ in front, as though he also feels the need to make the distinction. This could just be because he’s trying to be polite, though. I could honestly dissect the entire first chapter panel by panel and highlight how William being William is such a simple but perfect concept which highlights this noble family’s insecurities, discrimination and narrow mindedness. William Moriarty feels the need to constantly reaffirm his own identity in the presence of our William.

Because … if they share full names now, with the adoption … the lines are blurring. What makes one William Moriarty superior to the other? A worrying thought indeed for this boy. (Answer: there is no difference, they’re both equally deserving of opportunities in life.)

It all makes such perfect sense and explains away the awkwardness of the writer having to avoid use of William’s name simply because ‘it needs to stay hidden to create the mystery.’ This gives the characters themselves reason within the text to avoid using it, which makes everything so much more authentic and real. It makes sense because it does, not because it has to for the plot.

• William promised not to steal anything. Twice, we see him reassuring and then reaffirming that he wouldn’t steal anything, and both times are in the presence of William Moriarty.

If we want to take this statement in light of names, and toy with that lovely device foreshadowing, William having always shared the same first name would in fact mean that statement holds true — he did not steal William’s name; it was always his own to begin with, and Moriarty was a name given to him as part of his adoption, the same as it was given to Louis. He really didn’t steal anything, despite the fact that he was probably made to feel guilty or worthless every day because of the name he shared with William Moriarty.

This also means that William probably never actively deceived any of the townspeople, either; it really was just a case of mistaken identity which he manipulated for his own cause.

The townspeople made the mistake, rather than William outright lying. William is, by trade, more of a master manipulator who turns situations to his advantage with his quick thinking, rather than straight up lying or deceiving people (see: The Merchant of London.)

• Sherlock saw his birth name but never mentions it. And still chooses to call him Liam. Yes, we might’ve had a conversation happen off screen. Yes, Sherlock might choose to do that because that name is sentimental and William has asked not to be called his true name for reasons unknown. But it would fit so beautifully if William really is his name, and Sherlock’s realisation that day when he read the birth records was that oh, so this — William ‘Smith’ — is Liam’s real name. Naturally, he would continue to call him Liam with no discussion needed, because it’s a shortened version of William.

• We have lots of characters who share the name William, but with different variations on the shortened version; another symbol of how people can be equal in some senses but also their identity can be individual to them also. William H Bonney is Billy the Kid, the mathematics genius William and Sherlock stumble upon in Durham is called Bill Hunt.

#4 — practicality and marketing.

People become attached to characters and their names, and there comes a certain point in a work where it’s very difficult to alter a character’s first name and still retain a fan base’s sense of identity for that character. Calling William say, Robert, from now on, or revealing that as his true name while we continue to see him referred to as William is all sorts of confusing, emotionally. Perhaps it’s just me. But the idea that I’ve been calling William the wrong name all along feels off and sad, whereas the knowledge that he’s at least been able to keep that part of himself consistent, when everything else has had to be an act, is actually really comforting and empowering.

I’d love to write another thought dump on why William being William all along is also, so very emotionally delicious when you explore the implications in the story; it’s heartbreaking and makes him an even more sympathetic character who I just wanna hug, so perhaps I’ll come back to this! Because re-reading those earlier chapters with this in mind really hurts so good.

He stole nothing; he was always the true William, that at least is one thing that always belonged to him — it was only society and us that dictated there was one William worth knowing more — was more interesting and held more narrative power — than the other.

This is still William’s story.

[neurunique]

reader x ram, overwatch sort of university, post-war, peace is somewhat achieved, overwatch and null sector have a peace treaty, not much detail will go into this though. ramattra is offered a job in a higher up role teaching at a "hero university" (no this isn't gen v don't worry) where reader attends/other heroes may be teachers too. class could be like omnic education/history etc

It had been quite some time since the end of Null Sector's invasion of Earth. While the world was not entirely in agreement, but then, would it ever be?, humans had accepted Omnics as equals to them, and provided equitable changes to their lives via parliament. Hate crimes occurred less, it was safer at night, and omnics were treated with more respect as a whole. Human and omnic friendships were more common, etc... (I'm terrible at writing this part).

Ramattra had been promised many things from both Overwatch and political leaders as a result of his efforts. Rewarded would not be the correct word, however he had certainly been mostly satisfied with the outcome for his people. Of course, he still had goals, he still had problems, and fury - but life was just a little bit more tolerable. Each day he saw something that would make him smile inside, and it wasn't of a violent nature. Infact, he had found more wholesome discoveries quite enchanting; simple things like people holding hands walking by, omnics and humans getting along, etc.

He was well looked after, living in a penthouse apartment (with what furniture who knows honestly), and regular income and access to technology/upgrades at no cost. He had many teams available to him, need he only ask. His status was that of a highly respected omnic, however unlike before he was not invoking terror on anyone he saw. Omnics and humans around the world eventually felt empathy for the Null sector leader, understanding where he came from, and even more so, expressing appreciation for the outcome.

About a year or so after peace had been achieved, a university had been started up in (fuck knows where? England? near Overwatch etc) London, with intent to educate more people in the defenses, in the areas of tech and fighting, omnics and humans, and hero abilities. Of course, any university starting up would need well established teachers - mentors, leaders - to get people to actually sign up. Ramattra had been surprised to receive a letter offering him a job as head of History at the university. He would be in the position of lecturing students - humans?! How fun, he thought - as well as omnics, should the university attract them.

Of course, this would mean he would no longer be as secluded in his daily life; the most of his socialisation was with his cats, Meowttra and Catnyatta, and an occasional caffeine run down the road. He had grown very comfortable to a lifestyle such as this. And now, if he were to accept... this very generous offer, he would be forced to speak with the likes of Overwatch agents, past present and future; regular humans; and scientists. Part of him felt genuine excitement, as his research and ideas could potentially be broadened; however, he felt an immense sensation of fear - him, fear? - of teaching others. His method was simple: order, discipline, or congratulate; the latter rarely occuring. But if his job was mostly lecturing and organising class topics, he couldn't see too much of a problem.

The thought of creating strong values, not hateful ones, but fair ones - in a whole fresh generation post-war, also made him feel a spark of hope. Perhaps this war could've been avoided, had there been more resources for the public before - but there was no use thinking like this now - he had a chance, a real chance, to embody himself as a leader and role model to others. To start them off right, and possibly prevent the reoccurence of discrimination; or at least, more realistically, educate enough people to take a stand, omnic or human.

You were never one to be naive, so you thought - you believed you had all the wisdom one could have at your age, all the awareness it could take to *have* what it takes, to be that one percent to rise above the rest. Even though you had your moments of doubt, you would often reassure yourself that, if you tried your best and stayed as consistent as possible, you could truly do anything you set your mind to.

And the day you saw an advertisement for (UnNamed) University, your determination that had been long gone for some time now since finishing High school had returned. You'd always looked up to Overwatch, always aspired to be a great leader, or be lead by one - always wanted to do more, see more, help more. You received above average grades in school, topped one class even - but once the stress of it all ended, you struggled to hit that motivation kickstart that each day brought when forced a certain schedule.

Sitting up from your slouch in your tiny apartment couch, you found your laptop and started searching the university.

UNIVERSITY OF OVERWATCH

ENROLMENTS OPEN NOW

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

ACCOMMODATION INFO COMING SOON

After clicking around for what felt like forever, you finally find the apply button. Like navigating a digital maze you sat, trying not to be flustered at the complexity of this damned thing, a headache starting to form from stress - you could do this, this was only the beginning, and if you couldn't make it through this beginning step, you wouldn't make it through the first DAY - and soon enough, you had finalised your application.

YN

Interested in:

x Nanotechnology and Science

x Medicine and Healing

x History and Strategy

x Engineering and Machinery

Sitting down more comfortably with the stress off your shoulders, you look back to the tv and snack on some cheap popcorn, knowing that this boring life may change soon, and that you may finally achieve what you always wanted.

Look I'm just going to skip some fucking time here because I Don't want to ruin my creativity, here's a gap jump.

Day 0one of university, reader has received a JUST enough scholarship to study and live near the university (accommodation still being built but reader has been offered a suite as they are very valuable). Reader, and no students, are aware of who the teachers are, this is the first day...

Sitting in an assembly hall, Tracer etc announcement welcomes everyone...

Lots of people humans AND omnics fill the room...

Introduces the teachers...

Some familiar names...

"And, our head of history, lecturing all history classes offered and occasional electives, Ramattra," Tracer says into the microphone, and Ramattra, standing at the back of the stage near his other coworkers, gives a small wave to the audience. (*Tries not to imagine using the annihilation ultimate in the assembly hall*)

You sit in your seat, and freeze. You hadn't even noticed him there, in the shadows of others, even though he is so *damn tall*. His posture was surprisingly relaxed, considering his original "purpose" in life; you guess that the war outcome had truly changed things, for him and the world he wanted to create. A feeling of joy and warmth swims around in your chest, reaching its way up to your throat and you quietly clear your throat. You try not to beam - even though you've obviously never met Ramattra, or anyone here, only some local omnics and friends who were passionate about the cause, you just can't help but feel pure joy, empathy and pride for the positive outcome achieved. You simply couldn't wait to experience this university, and learn from a variety of people. Learning was always your favourite part of life, and making change within yourself and watching others change and flourish always gave you a feeling inside, like a beautiful spring garden blooming, filling your chest with a fresh perspective of life.

Inspirational people always made you feel great faith.

You snap out of your daze and realise you have been staring in Ramattra's direction for an *awfully* long time, and you pray he has not noticed, but then you wouldn't know, would you? You weren't even thinking of HIM - just life itself, the future... You hope that if you have him as a teacher, he will not remember you for staring at him for a solid 3 minutes. That would not be a great start...

The assembly concludes, and people start to shuffle out, some looking at their timetables, others checking their phones. On the stage, you notice some staff talking amongst themselves, walking around a little and introducing eachother; you smile. and while you cannot see Ramattra anywhere, you hope that he's there too, getting along with humans...

"I cannot *imagine* Ramattra as a teacher," a voice says as you walk out of the auditorium door. It wasn't staff, just a random student - and as you look at them closer, you are surprised to see its an omnic?! "Just... don't you think he's a bit too abrasive?"

"You talk as if you've met him," another student said in response.

"Well, I know enough about him to take a decent guess. I mean he despises humans -"

"He did," you interrupt quietly, but much to your surprise, you were actually heard - "erm... I mean, he did hate humans. He hated their actions. And now that's changed, right? So I don't see any reason for him to be... aggressive... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"You're fine," The omnic smiled and held out their hand. "And you're right. I still don't see him as being very warm. I mean, he is male after all, I don't think I've ever had a *warm* male teacher..."

The door shuts behind you giving you a startle.

"Alright ladies," a bright british voice says, belonging to none other than Tracer; "And gents, and whomever - how about we make a move, yeah? I'm sure you all have classes to get to."

You wonder if she heard what you had been talking about, but you say nothing and smile at everyone there. "Catch you later everyone, nice to meet you all."

You swear as you walk away you see something move in the curtains of the corner window, and it reminds you of how Ramattra had been on the stage, hidden but visible; a shiver runs down your body and a slight cooling of the temperature affects you. You shrug it off, and walk to the nearest cafe (luckily, there were many), assessing your map at the same time.

(Maybe end of chapter? Coffee make brain go fast, coffee make brain go nervous if too much. Nomnom coffee tasty.)

PART 2

HI GUYS THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAT IVE WRITTEN this is just the first part I hope you enjoy! I would love some feedback! 💜❤️

[smokedgastropod]

we got to see sahed and rainah's reaction to prejudice and i'm honestly really impressed with how it's been potrayed. i also feel like it's written better than hooky, bear with me

yes it's long

let's start with rainah, who seems to mostly be embarassed and upset by how she's treated. she got assaulted by cops, humiliated in front of the public and later had to hear tonny and julia arguing about whether or not she should have been arrested and sent to a research centre. she responds to being treated like less than with shame. she covers her face, faces the other way, wishes to be left alone or with sahed. rainah doesn't want to fight back, she wants to have her dignity be respected and to remain invulnerable. she also doesn't seem to believe that kalgratt can stop being disciminatory towards ah'kon.

rainah's position isn't similar to anyone in particular in hooky, but i think the closest would be dani? mostly with the scene where rainah asks to be left alone with sahed, the only other ah'kon in the group, and the one where dani after almost being burned chooses to hug dorian, the only other witch. they both got saved by someone outside of their group (for rainah it's mostly tonny and kamille, and for dani it was monica), and yet chose their brother to comfort them. what i think is an improvement from hooky is specifically the difference i mentioned already - dani's way more hopeful about the possible life without discrimination. in hooky, the burnings are forbidden, and in marionetta research facilities are not, i know, but in both cases the marginalization is a very relevant issue. (i just hate how the characters act like witches were burned centuries ago, not less than 20 years, sue me) dani responds with blocking out what's happening, just hoping it'll stop, while rainah reacts with shame and hoping to remove herself from the situation.

sahed is way more outspoken about the discrimination they face. he concludes dryly that julia is a moralist, tonny isn't exempt from criticism just because he's not a bigot and that those soldiers deserved to be beaten. he's not vindictive to the point of impulsivity (like actually starting a fight), but has no problem admitting he wants to hurt those that hurt him or rainah. he's no problems with ...joking? about ah'kon (he said to julia that having two eyes is lame though he was pissed off, and also snorted when tonny asked julia to have basic respect towards ah'kon ppl) mainly cause he recognises how stupid and absurd those beliefs are.

i just hope that he won't become like angela from hooky. granted, sahed's limited by belonging to the circus, but he may still become the character of "fight for equal rights gone too far" like the antagonists in hooky. i don't think that's gonna happen, since his biggest motivator isn't revenge but rainah, which i like. (the panels where he's concerned for her and hugs her hurt my soul okay). and what i love about his potrayal is that i've seen this attitude of his so many times, that tiredness and pent up anger that you can't help but laugh at the absurdity. they're both rather realistic characters and i can't wait to see what's gonna happen next

[razumairon]

La Squadra Esecuzioni playing Dungeons & Dragons, a meme

(English translation under the pictures)

As previously stated, this is NOT an headcanon. It's just... a mixture of a meme and a tag yourself. So please, don't come at each other's throat or something equally awful, thank you🫶🏻

- Forever DM

- Mostly because he hates the party doing anything except for what he wants them to do

- He also hates DMing because the party always takes the only path he didn't plan and takes two sessions to buy a dagger at the smith, but no one ever wants to DM so he has to do it

- Or, worse, have Prosciutto as DM

- His DCs are 56 high or more when he doesn't want the party to take certain routes

- Spoiler, it happens almost all the time

- He sometimes let Prosciutto DM

- He DMs canon campaigns because he doesn't want to take the effort to make up his own setting

- Sometimes he DMs original one shots

- Melone made him hate the bard

- Rule lawyer

- He knows even the Monster Manual by heart

- He intervenes to correct both the DM and the players about rules but nobody asked him to most of the times

- He is hated for that

- Very focused on builds, he lets them to lead him in his choice for the character options

- He tried all the classes and knows them all by heart

- No one wants him as DM because he doesn't allow anything that isn't explicitly written in the rules

- And also because he allows mutilations on the PCs when they make a critical fail in combat or the enemies strike a critical hit

- Sadly Risotto is sometimes too energy drained to DM so players have to deal with him as DM

- He DMs canon campaigns ONLY

- However he has interesting ideas for his characters

- A pity his roleplay is shit because he never changes expression or voice tone

- He bullies people who use D&DBeyond

- He constantly forget the rules

- He always makes his character's backstory shared with Prosciutto's character one

- Sometimes Prosciutto doesn't want to be paired with him so he has to find someone else

- He never played a character with an independent background

- He owns 57 pencils, 49 rubbers, 35 miniatures, 26 dice sets and always offers to print other people's character sheets

- Of course he's always willing to lend his stuff

- He's the eternal exploited one because Formaggio sponges even his chair

- He's secretly a dice hoarder but he'd never admit that

- He actually doesn't like playing D&D that much but he enjoys the company

- His characters all have social anxiety

- And they're all discriminated races

- Caster main

- He's terribly unlucky with dice rolls

- He once rolled a double 1 with Advantage

- Powerplayer, metaplayer and every worst kind of -player

- Cheater

- He always gets caught cheating and his character usually dies horribly... if Prosciutto is the DM. Otherwise, Risotto thanks him for passing that ability check that twelve people were able to fail

- However, he always pays attention to the session and takes notes... that he never shares

- He either plays a wizard to mock other characters' low intelligence or he plays a fighter to mock their low strength and prowess in battle, No in between

- He endlessly recycles the same characters

- His character is always rival with Formaggio's one for some reason

- He fights with Formaggio to play the fighter

- Despite everything he has the best strategies

- He cares little for roleplay, he's more into builds

- His characteristic points are never lower than 15

- Constantly late for session

- He never has what is needed for the session and "borrows" anything from Pesci

- He stole half of La Squadra's dice sets and lost every single one of them

- He and Ghiaccio fought really hard because of that

- And in fact now the only one lending him anything is Pesci

- He uses the smartphone during session

- He never took notes and never remembers shit

- "Wasn't this asshole the miniboss?" (they defeated the boss 8 sessions earlier)

- He is a terrible tactician but he comes up with crazy plans that somehow work in the end

- Extremely lucky with dice rolls

- His characters' names come from the IKEA catalogue but he regularly forgets them

- Pesci doesn't know the rules but Formaggio doesn't even know which game they're playing

- Fighter main

- The story is slow to proceed because of him doing offgame jokes all the time

- He brings amazing snacks though, he even cooks when he feels like it

- Bard main

- His PC is an excuse to flirt with friends

- Where Prosciutto played every class, he played every race

- Everybody hates the bard because of him

- He prefers roleplay to builds

- And, in fact, his PCs are all weaklings because he chooses builds because "it seemed cool by name and concept" but never actually read what they do or how they work

- His character is always the first one to run out of HP in combat

- Mostly because he's been able to make the DM hate his character during the campaign

- He's the only one encouraging Formaggio's crazy plans

- All his dice sets are glittered

- He never used the canon character sheets, only fanon redesigns

- He decorates them with markers when he's bored during session

- He's the one who is most into the campaign

- He draws other players' characters and funny scenes from the campaign

- Barbarian main

- He fucked up some campaigns because he charged the NPCs that glared at him

- He shares his notes only with Melone

- He goes nuts if something disturbs the session like the ringtone of the phone or a door slamming violently

- He sometimes encourages Formaggio's crazy plans

- He hates the stereotype of the stupid barbarian and tried hard to avoid that in his characters

- He never played a caster because he can't choose among so many spells

- He bullies the ranger because he thinks it's too situational

- He makes good builds

- The fact that Melone is totally unable to make decent builds drives him nuts

- But he can't resist helping Melone's character when they get in trouble

- Trouble that was caused by Melone's character themselves, by the way

- He always plays the same alignment

- He fights with Illuso's fighter because the both want to do the tank

- He played the paladin once but he became an Oathbreaker at level 1 because he cursed his own deity

[faintingheroine]

“Emily Brontë is very aware of the social hierarchy even if she doesn’t criticize it and in my personal reading journey Nelly comes second after the butler in Oblomov as the best-drawn example of the servant class. Maybe the reader of today will find Nelly strange; but people like me who were a late witness of the “besleme” tradition (my note: the custom of adopting children - usually girls - as servants in Turkey) can attest to the genuineness of Nelly’s character. Actually Nelly is not a besleme, she works in exchange of wages, just like Oblomov’s butler; but her psychological and social position isn’t too different from a besleme’s. A butler or a maid is someone whose personal life is taken from them by the upper classes; they are bound to the family they serve, their superego is completely identified with their masters’. The master’s life is their life, his success is their success, his disaster is their disaster. Nelly doesn’t lay about in the little time she has for herself and devours the library of the estate; thus she speaks in a decent dialect and her smarts aren’t extinguished despite the oppression. Nelly - even if Emily Brontë doesn’t emphasize it - sometimes clearly, sometimes secretly hates her masters. She does voice the lack of affection she has for her master’s daughter Catherine multiple times in the text anyway. She links these to Catherine’s unlovable qualities, to her authoritativeness and her selfishness but she is never that against Heathcliff who is equally authoritative, selfish and even cruel but who is at a social position closer to her own. She sometimes criticizes him with a maternal feeling, that’s all. Heathcliff is a Gypsy child who is without anyone in the world and whose place of origin is uncertain and who is found by the patriarch of the family - meaning the father - and is adopted as a proof of his Christian goodness. In Heathcliff’s person, in addition to the classism - even if it is not emphasized - racial discrimination also enters the novel. The father doesn’t treat his wife and especially his son with Christian goodness at all; this situation causes the son to treat Heathcliff who is half adopted son and half farm servant cruelly. But the rebellious daughter of the house Catherine, a little to rebel against her brother, treats Heathcliff well but the real reason is that Heathcliff and Catherine’s souls are alike in a way that transcends the class and racial difference. They both are selfish children who pursue their own desires. The social and racial barriers that surround them will only strengthen their passion. (…)

Heathcliff isn’t satisfied with any revenge. Wuthering Heights showcases in Heathcliff’s character how hatred and vengefulness turn into a general hatred of life and a death wish. Revenge isn’t confined to one sphere; it is contagious and invasive; it is only a matter of a moment for bravery to turn into destructiveness. Heathcliff is of course a determined, valiant man. It has been a taboo for the bravery which the humanity terms a virtue to turn into the destructiveness it condemns because of the thinness and ambiguity of the line between the two. And this novel is maybe the first literary work to destroy this taboo. We can’t be disgusted with Heathcliff as readers, because his bravery and grief are genuine, he isn’t a one-dimensional “evil” man; he is a case who veered towards injustice when he is in the right, towards cruelty when he is the victim, towards destructiveness when he is valiant. (…)

Catherine’s daughter who is Heathcliff’s daughter-in-law and Catherine’s nephew who is the young man in the position of a male besleme next to Heathcliff will prove resilient and survive. When Heathcliff finally changes worlds these two youths will marry and own their properties. The lands go back to the real inheritors. As can be seen, even if Emily Brontë isn’t aware of financial intrigues she is aware of based on what a feudal civilization is built: The land is the basis. The plot of the novel is built on land ownership as well as on frustrated sexual desire. The two pillars, the two sources of life, sexuality and means of production!”

(From “Wutherings of the Subconscious and Wuthering Heights” by Erendiz Atasü)

Translated from Turkish by me

[chdarling]

I LOVE TLE and its characters but I don't like how from time to time James' world seems to revolve around Lily. I always read a lot of people saying they love to see Lily "give a shit" about what James gives, they hate to see her jealous and can't stand it when she suffers for him (and I can understand that) but I don't understand why there's all this support towards the opposite instead 😅I beg your pardon but it seems to me that too often when there's any Jily James is just Lily's minion

P. S. I hope I don't sound like a vicious hater because I usually appreciate everything you write

You don’t sound like a vicious hater, but I don’t really know what to tell you here. I get this critique from time to time, and I don’t know how to respond to it, because…yeah. James’s story revolves around Lily. Lily’s story revolves around James. It’s a jily story.

The part I take issue with is when it’s suggested that James’s story revolves more around Lily than vice versa. This is just categorically untrue. I’m bored on a train as I write this, so I just scrolled through TLE2, and there isn’t a single Lily chapter in which she is not at some point fixated on James. We actually spend quite a bit more time with James in the story, because while he and Lily have a roughly equal chapter count, James is hugely present in Sirius, Remus, and Peter’s chapters as well, while Lily is often less so. This might contribute to the perception that James spends more time fixated on Lily than she does him, but I still think it’s untrue.

The thing about crafting a narrative spanning seven years (1975-1981) told from seven different POVs is that you have to be fairly ruthless about which scenes and story arcs to prioritize. James has plenty in his world that doesn’t revolve around Lily, but the story is already about 100,000 words longer than I’d like it to be, so we hone and we focus. Every scene has to move the major arcs of the story forward or it gets cut.

In TLE2, James and Lily both have what I think of as their “big three” arcs. For Lily, this is her struggle with discrimination, her growing radicalization, and her relationship with James. For James, this is his reckoning with his father’s mortality, his growing political awareness, and his relationship with Lily. His father’s mortality and his political awareness both get tangled up with Lily, because she can relate to the former and she’s a helpful catalyst for the latter, but they’re not about her. And as for their relationship, well, I think getting over someone as an infatuated teen is hard under any circumstances, let alone when you basically live with the person and are forced to interact with them closely every day.

At the end of the day, though, TLE is a jily story. It started exclusively as a jily story, and then I ended up fleshing it out with additional POVs and plots, but it will always be a jily story at its core. It’s a story about young, doomed lovers who didn’t get to spend enough time together. That’s pretty much the thesis, and it will be the major focus of all Lily & James chapters in every book. Everything else is just part of the journey.

I do think people tend to empathize more deeply with Lily and maybe sometimes project onto James (as you describe hating when Lily suffers but then rooting for James to be jealous). My theory on this is that TLE readership tends to skew female; and as the only female POV character, many readers identify more closely with her struggles than James’s. But this is just generalization on my part and I have no real facts or statistics to back it up. And plenty of people love when Lily is jealous/pining for James, so it goes both ways! 😂

Anyway! This got long on account of the aforementioned train musing, but that’s just my take on the James vs Lily thing that comes up from time to time. I don’t really love the description of James as Lily’s minion, because I don’t think trying to be supportive to a marginalized friend while also struggling to get over (allegedly) unrequited feelings for said friend in as mature and respectful a way as possible for a hormonal teen boy is being a minion, but i do recognize that some people want the story to focus more on James and less jily. Unfortunately that’s just not the story I’m writing!

Cheers ❤️

[bluebird990]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 256!!

Yo WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?!?

Never in a million years could I have expected some shit like this...I don't know whether to laugh or cry rn...

No way I'm believing that Donald is dead. That'd be the most anticlimactic climax ever!! But if he is dead then this is just absolutely CRUEL

What do you mean that the moment Donald begins to question his entire life, he gets hit by a fucking truck of all things?!?!

Now let's look at this from Gray's perspective...

What would one even feel in a situation like this? Gray lost his best friend to the petty actions of some bullies. The same thing happened again to Eugene and now is happening to the person who is the definition of everything Gray hates.

Now gray is a good person inherently. Ain't no way he is holding anything against a person who just almost fucking died in front of him. Maybe this will end up creating a situation where these two will actually end up talking and becoming friends?!?! Understanding each other's situations and sympathizing with each other??

Maybe Gray will finally help Donald live a better life?? Defend him when Cheongang tries to attack again??

Of course all this is assuming that Donald isn't dead...or ends up in a coma like Stephan...which seems like the most probable outcome. There was so much blood around his head...

God this must be so conflicting from Gray's point of view!!! Gray would never wish something like this on his worst enemy and now that it's happening right in front of him...

I think that this is a really good way to get our protagonist to empathize with the antagonist. Unfortunate accidents can happen to the kindest and the cruelest of people. Fate doesn't discriminate. 'The only thing granted equally to everyone is an unfair reality'.

This accident will give gray a chance to realize that maybe Stephan and Donald's situations aren't that different.

They were both wronged by the society because they were exceptionally smart. The difference is that Stephan was also kind to a fault and chose to bear through the tough times whereas Donald lost his mind probably after his mother died or something like that and chose to fight against his oppressors and became the oppressor himself.

In both situations, Stephan and Donald ended up suffering in the worst way possible.

Gray was also in a similar situation to both of them and he was able to get out of it unscathed because gray had friends to guide him into believing that the world isn't pitch black. Donald didn't have that and Stephan was too much of a self sacrificing idiot to confide in gray.

So can gray really hate Donald after learning his story? I don't think so! And Donald also just wants a friend GODDAMMIT!! That is all he ever truly wanted!!! Someone who'd understand him!! Talk about nerdy shit with him!! NOT someone who'd encourage his actions (cough Kingsley cough)

I swear to God if someone doesn't tell gray about donny's past then I'm gonna revolt.

AHHHHHHHEUEJEJJDKEK THIS IS SO GOOD!! I LOVE where this this is going. Lmk what u think!!

[sokkastyles]

I keep seeing increasingly bizarre claims by Azula stans about how she’s being discriminated against by the fandom, the other characters, and the narrative, and then these same Azula stans will be like “oh, but why can’t we love all the characters equally?”

I mean, because we don’t have to, nor are the characters meant to be interpreted this way, and this kind of media analysis, while it is something I have seen throughout my years in fandom, always comes across as utterly deaf to the context of whatever media this person is arguing about.

Characters in stories aren’t meant to be loved equally. We aren’t meant to have positive discussions about how this racist imperialist abusive villain really had a point, after all, and doing so is not only ridiculous, it runs the risk of being seriously harmful and propagating harmful rhetoric.

No, we should NOT be treating Zuko and Azula equally, because one atoned for their bad actions and the other one didn’t. One stopped being angry and hurting others and the other one didn’t.

I actually do love both characters but that does NOT mean I am going to talk about them in the same way and pretend they both equally deserve to be talked about positively, because they don’t. This weird performative positivity thing which seems to be unique to fandom is how you get posts arguing that a scene where Azula is belittling Zuko for not believing fascist propaganda in “The Avatar and the Firelord” is a scene of them bonding together. It’s how you get people saying that acknowledging that Katara beat Azula in Sozin’s Comet is antifeminist because it’s “pitting two women against each other” when what actually happened is that Azula was beaten by a woman she thought she was superior to. We should be talking about that. We should be pitting them against each other and acknowledging that Azula lost because this is a story about love triumphing over hate.

I mean, look, I’m all for stanning the villain. What I’m not here for is toxic positivity that makes room for abuse apologism for fear that we might say something negative about a character who hurt others without remorse, or in many cases, blaming other characters for reacting negatively to being victimized. It’s just fiction, which means that stanning villains isn’t a reflection of your moral character, but the fact that it is just fiction also means that it isn’t a moral flaw to be critical of a character, especially when that character should rightfully be criticized.

“But isn’t pitting Zuko and Azula against each other what Ozai wanted?”

No, I’m pretty sure Ozai wanted Azula to be his perfect princess and for Zuko to believe he was worthless. He was perfectly happy when he had both Zuko and Azula under the same roof as long as he could control them, and Zuko believing blatant lies and accepting his sister being cruel to him makes Zuko all the more easy for Ozai to control. I’m pretty sure Ozai would agree with the people saying that Zuko is just so ungrateful to Azula and wasn’t Azula just being nice? Isn’t that more than Zuko deserves, after all? To be fair, Ozai also doesn’t want Azula to realize self-actualization, but as long as Zuko stayed in his place at the bottom, I think he was fine with Zuko and Azula “bonding,” aka Azula insulting Zuko for daring to question the status quo, because that meant Zuko stayed in his place as the family scapegoat, Azula continued to believe Fire Nation propaganda unquestioned, and Ozai got exactly what he wanted.

[shattered-sparks]

The flood hate gate has been opened. I shall tell you the tale of Shadow wars part 2.

Falling siblings is what shadow wars part 2 is called. Shadow wars part 2 has a lot more visual elements than history elements that have been defined. Although history is still definitely in there.

Attempting to boil down the plot to its simplicities.

Shadow has a twin egg and dies of old age. These twins are both crowned king despite the fact that one is male and one is female. The locked door doesn't have the word queen. "The brother" is still given a higher range than "the sister" (All the characters in the fallen sibling timeline have no names)

Due to Shadow's dragon still being discriminated the brother decides he's going to take physical action. Starting another war. Although this time with just the light dragons. His sister does not agree with this and after a rather planned out event called "the argument" she runs away to the light dragon castle in order to warn them of her brother's plan.

Of course being discriminated against she does not make it far. Luckily she does find a light dragon who is not discriminatory. I've always simply called him "The Prince" since he is the son of the Light dragon King. The Prince cares for the sister becoming her boyfriend.

The light dragon King is not pleased by his son's decision. And tries to kick her out of the light dragon kingdom not caring that the brother is going to start another war. The prince is able to convince some of his people to leave with the sister. Creating a secondary alliance between Shadow dragons the sister also gains and Light dragons. A peaceful in between. But the war goes on anyways. I don't have a lot of points about the war in general.

In the final fight though you find out why it's called falling siblings.

The mix group the Light dragon army and the Shadow dragon army all commence in a fight. And while the mix group is mostly peaceful in their attempts and is trying to stop it chaos ensues. The sister, done with her brothers actions attacks him and flies up high into the air. While her brother is still in her arms she dives down and does a maneuver I call fire wings. It is when a dragon dive so quickly and so fast while breathing fire that their body gets encompassed in flames. When they land or when they start to fly properly it creates a large scale explosion.

Her brother realizing this apologizes. He never meant to drive her away. He didn't want a war and he didn't want to cause problems. He just wanted things to change and thought this was the only way to do it. This causes a sister to regret her decision but before she can change her mind they land. This of course kills the brother In the explosion.

The light dragon king is of course happy at the Shadow King's death celebrating a victory that he did not win. The sister is a course furious. Enraged by the new pain of knowing that her brother just did it out of care. The sister, the prince, and the mix group leave. Promising that soon all dragons would be treated equally. The light dragon king is of course destroyed by the fact that his son chose Shadow dragons over himself and promises revenge.

After this the third part of Shadow war starts. It is a relatively new section and therefore is only named after the protagonist in it. The hybrid.

So what do you think of part two?

Get fucked old man. This aint your time anymore!!/lh Understandable that there is less history/world building since part 1 already set that up. Shadow will be greatly missed. Can't blame the brother though, they probably tried all the other more peaceful routes already and no change had come. Anyone would be down to their last straw. The miscommunication is heartbreaking though since she probably realizes that if they just actually talked then things would've played out differently and her brother would still be alive. Though what's all the other kingdom's thoughts on this since they've been pushed to the background for this part.

[gojowh0rcs]

the juxtaposition between geto and gojo and the distance they create between humanity and the emphasis on their godliness. “the strongest sorcerer” vs calling the rest of humanity monkeys. both self inflated but with different meanings. gojo is egotistical but righteous; he believes he is godly and within that right created to protect the ungodly. he does not control the ungodly, and in actuality his disassociation is what also reflects his greatness. he maintains his distance because it maintains his strength. without proximity, he has no bias to judge. he does not have his heart in the matter. he saves the ungodly without discrimination, and lets the ungodly die without discrimination too, so long as he isn’t the one to inflict that death. it makes sense that they would die; they will never be as strong as him. within that reasoning, gojo tends to forget that he too is only human. that self-inflation keeps him both sane and righteous. keeps him above the human attachments. like grief, pain, sorrow, fear, anxiety. he likes to think he’s above that too. sorcerers cannot create curses the way humans do, only cursed energy. his traumas made him above it all. he stays just outside of reach, no matter how close one gets to him.

geto is egotistical and self-righteous. because of his precarious, sensitive heart. he was not forged from steal the way gojo had been at an early age. it wasn’t fed to him since birth that he was godly the way gojo had been. he killed his parents, which suggests that they might have also been ungodly. he was raised more human, but because of his humanity he also recoils against the ugliness of it; the whole of it. he rejects his entirety and the accountability that he is also quite ugly, because he was raised human. he’s trained and studied and grew and learned that sorcerers were created to protect humans. they live to serve humanity in that respect, and he was okay with it. in fact, it molded reason for him, it made him good. whatever humanity might have criticized or squandered about him was ruled null because he was a sorcerer -- he was godly, and therefore he must stay separate from humans; but not above like gojo had been raised. unknowing that staying separate and not above was what led him down this path. he was created to protect humanity; he couldn’t be involved with human tribulations anymore. what they did, is what they did, and had nothing to do with him. until riko. the fragility of riko’s innocence and life, taken away so spectacularly when she recounts how she would also just like to be human in all of its simplicity, rather than serve humanity, struck something in geto. and to witness as humanity neither bat a lash, but actually clapped for her demise, shredded geto’s equally as fragile resolve that he was created only to serve humanity too. in actuality, geto is just as human, and his heart is just as vulnerable to darkness as the ungodly are. he throws a veil over his anger and corruption and sorrow and says he is godly because he is not like humans. gojo’s isolated childhood is actually a blessing, because his innate disconnection to regular human society is what allowed him to merge with his godlihood. geto’s proximity to humanity has only been his downfall. he hates humanity because he desires it. he desires his own humanity and autonomy; the virtue of choice had been ripped from him, and as all humans who have choice ripped from them become, he became angry. resentful. 

both gojo and geto seek internal freedom in different ways. gojo settles his anger towards high society and the clamp the older generation has on pushed down on youth; his anger is broad and directed towards a system. because gojo was not raised as a human. he was raised to be greater, and so his goals remain higher and broader and seek gradual evolution because that is how he recognizes change can occur. geto settles his anger on humans, on what’s closest to him (hence why he also killed his parents. its symbolic to how he’s more short-sighted and his goals remain earthly. shackled to his human ego). geto sees injustice and does not seek why because the why would dissipate his anger and enlighten him; and the anger is the only thing he clings to so vehemently because it’s attached to his humanity. To his heart and his hurt. geto is hurt by humanity and it probably runs deeper than riko’s death---in fact i think riko’s death was just a catalyst to an already building grudge he had been trying to sway from. geto never truly believed he was above humanity the way gojo has been raised to. geto fights fire with fire and within that is humanity. geto is also stubbornly attached to his anger because it gives him reason. if he remains angry, it justifies all the horrors he’s committed against humanity. both gojo and geto face away from their inherent humanness. gojo, because of his innate apathy, and geto, because of his innate empathy. 

in other words, gojo is an activist and geto is a school shooter SAJKDSJLKDS LMFAOOO

[lackuraphi]

Angel wings au)Chapter 4:Black angel

Emmet was a black angel.

(⚠️Caution⚠️)

I used a translator

This is the Fan fiction

It’s different from the original

Pokemon doesn’t appear(Except for one)

All Trainers have angel wings

This AU includes discrimination

Content Warning:offensive words, train accident, character gets a lot of hate and mentally hurtful

Black angels have long been persecuted by angels. They were persecuted for not just white wings. No one knows when they have been persecuted. Maybe they were persecuted in the first place.

Then one day, the black angels disappeared. And the angels began to fear the black angels. They said the black angels might come back one day…

The angels' rejection of the black angels turned into fear. —————————————

So many things have happened in the meantime.

"What?! Emmet is a black angel?!"

First, Ingo, Emmet, and Elesa told her best friend Skyla about Emmet's secret.

"But whether his wings are white or black, the fact that Emmet is Emmet remains the same!" "Skyla….!" "And if the wings are both equally white, it will be more confusing who is Ingo and who is Emmet? To be honest, I can't tell the difference between the two yet. Hee-hee!"

Fortunately, Skyla also accepted the black angel Emmet.

"So are you going to tell the other friends that Emmet is a black angel?" "Are you trying to spread the word to all the students? Skyla?" "Maybe The bullies can beat Emmet!" "I am Emmet. I hate bullying." "Oh, that's true.. I'm sorry, Emmet…" "Don't worry Skyla! I'm fine!"

And Ingo and Emmet went to school without any problems. Except for the safety class to watch out for the black angels..

"Be careful even if the black angels are not in front of you right now. Black angels are hiding around us. And they're looking for a chance to attack us. So always look around."

"Hey, Ingo. I don't like this safety class." "Then, why don't you imagine a train that you like with your ears and eyes closed?" "Yup, I will."

.

.

.

A few years later, at the age of 15, by the standards of angels, Ingo and Emmet, along with their classmates, graduated from school in Straton City without any problems, encouraged by Alder, the elder angel of Unova.

"From today on, you have become adult angels! Now that the wings have grown, the sky can fly higher! ..That doesn't mean your growth is over! You guys still have the potential to grow more than you are now! And fly vigorously up the higher sky!"

The graduates followed Alder, who spread his large wings, and threw the academic cap they were wearing. However, Emmet, who was hiding his black wings with a bandage, took off his academic cap, which he was wearing without spreading his wings. Ingo also quietly took off his academic cap, which he was wearing without spreading his wings along with Emmet.

"Ingo….." "I don't ignore Emmet…"

But being an adult wasn't all good. They had to take different paths for their dreams.

Elesa, who had been close to them since childhood, became a model she had dreamed of for a long time, but her job as a model was busier than she thought, They couldn't see Elesa's face very often except for her walking on the runway or appearing in fashion magazines. Still, they were able to communicate with her, but it was different from seeing three people in person.

Ingo and Emmet became Depot Agents for Gear Station, a subway station in Nimbasa City. They loved the train, so it was perfect. But the distance from Anville Town to Nimbasa City was very far, even with direct trains, So Ingo and Emmet had to leave their hometown of Anville Town and go to Nimbasa City, where the Gear Station was located.

Nevertheless, Ingo and Emmet were more active than anyone else in the Depot Agent's work at Gear Station. So they made a very good impression on people.

"Ingo has a blunt face, but he is warm and friendly and helps passengers well! And his work is excellent! Ingo is popular because he is reliable! In short, he has a scary face, but he's actually a good person!" "Emmet always has a bright smile. So Emmet is also popular with passengers. ..it's heartbreaking that he's still wearing a bandage because he hurt his wings…I hope his wings will be fully recovered soon…"

With the good reviews and high performance of Ingo and Emmet, the Gear Station people unanimously appointed Ingo and Emmet as the 'Subway Boss', the very high position that manages everything in the Gear Station. Ingo and Emmet, of course, were very pleased.

"It's such an honor..I can't believe I'm Subway Boss…" "I am Emmet! I am so happy to be Subway Boss!" "By the way, Emmet. Subway Boss's uniform must be chosen between black and white." "What I do. What I say. Always the same. I like white. And white is the color of Ingo's wings, right?" "Then I'll choose the black one that I like. And black is the color of Emmet's wings, right?"

Ingo and Emmet, who became Subway Bosses, managed the Gear Station together in uniform opposite to their wing colors.

"Thank you for riding the our Subway today." "Now then, ALL ABOARD!"

Gear Station was crowded with people to see Ingo and Emmet as well as subway passengers.

"Since Ingo and Emmet became Subway Boss, more people have visited our Gear Station!" "Thanks to Ingo's kindness and Emmet's smile!" "I can't believe the number of users has increased..I'm so happy!" "I am Emmet! If Ingo is so happy, I'm so happy, too!"

.

.

.

.

.

※Caution: The content will become more serious ※

.

Tragedy happened suddenly one day in everyday life.

Emmet was welcoming people as he walked around the platforms of Gear Station with a smile.

"Hello! Emmet!" "Hi! I am Emmet. Follow the schedule. Everybody smile!" "Your smile makes me smile!" "Look! It's Subway Boss Emmet!" "Yup! I am Emmet. I am a Subway Boss." "Emmet! You're walking with energy today as always!" "I am Emmet. I like to walk more than to fly!"

And he was soon on the platform where the train was coming in, guiding people to step back behind the yellow line.

"The train is coming here soon. Stay safe and take a step back from the yellow line."

Also on the platform, a drunken Clerk was stumbling along to catch the train.

"Hiccups! Boss..You always make me work overtime..Hiccups! Huh? When I was your age?! Hiccups! black angel boomer.. Hiccups! Everything from A to Z is the worst! Hiccups! Hiccups! black angel boomer boss!!! Hiccups!"

Emmet looked at the Clerk and gave him a scowl. He walked around the platform drunk, smelling of alcohol, offending people, and the expression "black angel" made Emmet feel bad.

'That man. made me feel bad. I want him to go away.'

But suddenly, He heard a scream from the side of the track. Emmet turned to the track where he heard the screams. The staggering drunken Clerk fell off the track with a loss of balance. And unfortunately, the train was approaching. The ATO system, which automatically drives the train, detected a person who fell on the track and was stopping the train in a hurry, but it was useless because it was a train that was running at such a high speed.

Emmet didn't have time to think. Emmet quickly ran to the tracks.

'I am really serious. Really serious.'

Emmet then released the bandage from his wings and quickly flapped the black wings to rescue Clerk from falling on the tracks before being hit by a train.

"It's.. okay.. now…"

At that moment, Emmet thought.

People who saw Emmet's black wings would still like Emmet, realizing that their thoughts were wrong..

'But whether his wings are white or black, the fact that Emmet is Emmet remains the same!'

It's like Skyla, who knew he was a black angel when he was a child, and still was a close friend…

"I..It's a black angel! The Black Angel has appeared!"

But not all the angels were kind to Emmet.

People who saw Emmet's black wings began to buzz. Some of them said hurtful things to Emmet. No, most were people who said hurtful things to Emmet.

"Oh my god! Emmet was a black angel???" "Hiccups! Black angel..! Hiccups! Don't touch me! Hiccups!" "When I first saw him, his smile really gave me goosebumps!" "I felt bad about his smiling face!" "Mom, why does that guy have black wings?" "Don't go near there. There is a black angel." "Ugh..I'm going to get a refund!" "Go away, black angel!" "It's better to fly to my wings, even if it's hard, than to use a Gear Station with a black angel." "I'll never go to Gear Station again!" "Why doesn't Gear Station put that black angel out of work?" "He can never be fired! That black angel is Subway Boss who manages Gear Station, the highest position here!" "No way! Did he become Subway Boss not to be fired?!"

All the bad gossip about Emmet poured down on Emmet like a lot of arrows.

"………"

Emmet eventually collapsed on the spot.

"Everyone! Please! Please stop! The train is about to depart! Aren't you going to board the train?" "Ha! You're lucky, Black Angel!"

The situation calmed down only after Ingo, who heard the situation belatedly, hurriedly flew in and covered Emmet, who had collapsed.

Emmet was shivering in Ingo's arms.

"Emmet.. I'm so sorry.. I'm late…" "…..In…go….." "Emmet…." "I'm…Not……Okay…."

Emmet shed tears in Ingo's arms. But Emmet was still smiling. Ingo's heart ached as he looked at Emmet, who was keeping his smile.

[lizardbytheriver]

"The Goode Family" Observations Part 4

I have very little to comment on the Episode where the Prisoners who are Nazis are helping the Goode Family clean-up the Highway. Though, interestingly enough, the Nazis becoming less bigoted because its bad for their (drug) business, does offer a parallel to Capitalism. Which will chase inclusivity and diversity once discrimination and bigotry is less profitable. "You always treat me with respect and equality. You know, like a sissy." Yeah no, the very bad attitudes about race are very upfront. You have to go to the later episodes to get the "women don't want to be equals" and "women be crazy" stuff. Being "manly" is dressing like Dale Gribble, apparently. Okay. The characters are super-okay with appropriating Indigenous Customs. Which... You would think these characters would be against. But okay.

For as sh*t as the show is, allowing the resolution for the final episode to be "its okay for Men to cry" is a pretty good message. And the show does not really mock or belittle that point. Well. Watched the whole show. It sucked. But I did not hate all of the characters. The mother is the worst example of a performative activist. The father is written like he is from a different planet. But I actually think the Son and the Daughter are neat characters. The Son is adopted, but completely absorbs the environmentalism and desire to better the World into his life. Unlike the father, he does not become a complete stereotype. They allow him to be a good mechanic and football player, which is appreciated. The Daughter is materialistic, catty, and rebellious. But she still clearly follows the principals set forth from her parents (such as the veganism). Overall. I get why the show is forgotten. It is interesting that as the show went on, they really do drop any pretext that this family is supposed to be politically Leftwing. And it just goes full-force into them being individualist, hyper-environmentalist, vegans. Efforts to organize (Protesting, Petitions, etc.) are met with mockery even by the family themselves. There are no talks about Labour Organizing (the show backs child labour and the father is fine being exploited in his job). Systemic Change is met with disgust. In fairness. The Nazi Episode is the only one with actual organizing that had an impact, though it expanded an illegal drug trade. And there are pictures of the family working in Soup Kitchens and Needle Exchanges, but we never see them actually do that that in the show (only through the pictures that are over a decade old in universe). The Goode Family likes Che Guevara (despite hating violence and hating "toppling existing power structures"), Ghandi, and Al Gore. That's about everyone on the "Left" who gets mentioned. No mentions of Marx, Engels, Kropotkin, etc. Though half-way through the writers must have opened a dictionary cause they did use words like "bourgeoisie" and "reactionary" (only once for both). But that was still there. But again, I do not think the Characters are on the "Left" in terms of economically, in terms of labor, and they barely skate by in terms of culturally. Despite calling Indigenous Groups "backwards", almost saying the N-Word, the father being pro-abstinence, them not wanting people to "leach off the system", the father being Anti-Graffiti, etc. They do not hate Gay People and I think they pretend to like People of Colour (but this manifests in cultural appropriation, whether it be the decorations in their house or the drum circle seminar). They are on the Left solely due to the Environmentalist aspect. They recycle, they compost, they are concerned about climate change, etc. But again, individualist notion of activism, we buy from the organic chain store and we believe the carbon footprint BS. In essence "its not the big corporations' fault, its the individual's fault", that kind of stuff. This was interesting. Again seeing Conservatives (probably Moderate Conservatives) writing what they think a Far Left Family would be. It was interesting experiment. I think the over focus on the environmentalist aspect tho (not saying it disappeared on the Left, its just not the only issue), is very much of the time (2009).

[caffeineandsociety]

Honestly though, if I were to be really inflammatory about it - I'd say that actually yeah the majority of men ARE oppressed for being men.

Now that I have your attention because you're pissed off, let me explain. No, I don't mean that in the dudebro meninist "men and women are on equal footing actually, if structural misogyny exists then clearly there is an equal and opposite structural misandry, checkmate liberals" way.

I mean that when it intersects with other axes of oppression, gendered power dynamics get a hell of a lot more complicated than "men big scary oppressors, women innocent victims!!" Like, despite how much the radfems and the terminally online people who treated them as the source of expertise try to redefine it to "the more axes you're marginalized on the more support you should win from progressive spaces, they're basically collectibles but otherwise totally separate", this is a major part of what intersectionality means.

Note how everyone becomes a "feminist" the moment a Black or brown man breathes in their general direction. He exists, suddenly EVERYONE knows toxic masculinity is toxic and violent, and aggressively police him in the name of Protecting Women(TM). Women of color face their own unique brands of oppression, yes! Including being ignored in a lot of these violence statistics or memed if they're actually noticed! But MANY cases of racist police brutality are because a MAN, OF COLOR - very specifically someone at the intersection of those two groups - was read as a threat for being A MAN, OF COLOR. MANY names and stories on any lynching memorial are Black MEN, who were lynched because a white WOMAN saw his very presence as a rape threat. The interplay of race and gender in these interactions is unique.

Or, queer men - when someone says "homophobia is the fear that gay men will treat you the same way you treat women," that's not just a snappy slogan, that's literally how a major facet of it works. The "gay panic defense", in 35 states, lets people reduce assault or murder charges to a lesser offense for "I found out they were queer and I was afraid they were going to hit on me". This is, overwhelmingly, invoked against gay men...

Or trans women - which, however much any radfem tries to tell you otherwise, are still people that mainstream cishet society sees as men, at least until it is convenient to gender her correctly to discount her opinion as the shallow mindless ramblings of an airheaded woman. Like, that's a major aspect of how transphobia intersects with gender in all directions - depending on what's most convenient for the accuser, you're just a silly brainless helpless pathetic woman...

Or a dangerous, predatory, burgeoning, toxic man.

Again, it's another form of "man (or 'man') sets one toe out of line and suddenly the whole world recognizes that toxic masculinity is bad."

And this is coming out in a fascinatingly disturbing way against trans men. There is a concept of "double discrimination" - a term with a frustrating dual meaning; it can refer to being marginalized on two axes and being, for instance, discriminated against for being queer even in spaces meant to support disabled people and vice-versa, or it can refer to being discriminated against by mainstream society, but also by marginalized communities for "not being marginalized enough" (in other words, a less maliciously "neutral" term for the effects of exclusionism). The latter definition has been heavily studied in bisexual communities and has been shown to have nasty adverse effects on both physical and mental health-

And that is also happening to trans men right before our very eyes. Mainstream society hates trans men because, again, depending on what's convenient to demonize us, we're either silly brainless shallow women just hopping on a trend to try and feel special because that's ALL women ever do don't'chaknow and anyone who helps us transition is a predatory drug-pusher, or we're horrible evil predatory dykes (because obviously all trans people are straight relative to our actual genders, which means gay relative to the ones cishet society reads us as) willingly morphing our bodies into a horrifying predatory form to hurt poor innocent cis women-

And among queer groups, we're ALSO treated largely as the latter, and then told "talking about your issues, and GOD forbid trying to come up with a NAME for them, is just Not All Men-ing, sit down and shut up like the good little girls you are, at least you're not being murdered in the streets (except when you are and get reported as women)". Even just sharing resources is treated as "stealing from" or "displacing" other "more deserving" queer groups.

Like, I don't know how to break it to you, but this whole idea of "men are bad, women are good, end of" isn't feminist at all. It's "oh, boys will be boys" in a pink-and-rainbow hat. It's the exact same tool wealthy, white, cishet men use to insist that their dominion over everyone else is just The Natural Order of Things(TM).

And yes, it oppresses most men. It is only the men who have all the other privilege qualifiers who escape it.

No, Men(TM) as a broad single-axis group are not an oppressed class, but there are unique, gendered ways that the hammer of oppression on other axes comes down on marginalized men, because the wealthy, white, cishet men at the top see men (or """"men"""") failing to live up to their platonic ideal of what wealthy, white, cishet manhood means as a threat to their rule - and they're laughably transparent about it; look at all their talk of how men failing to live up to it is "degeneracy" and "the downfall of society". Maleness as a real identity that actual people have, and manhood as a platonic ideal within the power structure of white cishet patriarchy, have a lot of overlap but they're pretty damned different things. The latter is fragile, and violent, and cruel, and hostile to everyone - yes, to women more than men, but very much so to men as well. The former is...literally just vibing.

And yes, women can be enforcers as well. Especially wealthy, cishet, white women. In fact, insisting that they can't be is often in and of itself a precursor to white supremacist patriarchal violence.

We have monuments to prove it.

(Inb4 "you forgot about disability" - no, I didn't; that one is WAY too complicated and deserves a whole breakdown of its own. I have some of the same disabilities that are, for That Most Privileged Class of Men, an excuse for basically anything up to and including murder, but for ME, not even an excuse to need a very minor accommodation or be a little too enthusiastic about something that's not mainstream enough; believe me, I cannot forget.)

[ororosmunroe]

I’m just going on a rant because Taming the Tiger (korean manhwa) is the moment and yet it’s being slept on.

In terms of spicy/story telling, I have very basic wants/standards.

Consent. 

It has to be there. 

The bar is hell ya’ll. 

Get it together. 

Both mains have to have an actual personality. 

I gotta either root for you in some way at an individual level. 

Being a dickhead AND boring in 2022? Pass. Pick a struggle.

It can’t just be about the get down. You gotta give me something else. Give me a plot line to laugh at, to cry about, to love and hate. Make me feel something. 

Taming The Tiger is a period webtoon, let’s just get that out of the way. If that’s not your flavor...still read it because it’s that good. It gives you everything, without being cluttered. 

Taming The Tiger has not only continuous enthusiastic consent but also checking in on your partner during the deed (again, the bar is in hell but let’s normalize that in writing please???) 

But moving on from the spicy bits...it talks about real shit. Social class and  discrimination. Homophobia. The hope and push for equality at many intersections. 

Beom (the tall brown character) is constantly discriminated because of his social status (he’s a butcher, he deals with blood/killing which is seen as unclean and is considered the lowest of statuses). It’s constantly noted that he has “foreign” features, something akin to westerners/foreigners. Basically his features don’t align with your typical Korean citizen. He has been attacked for his features. And it has gotten to the point where he actively avoids people (especially in the dark due to his unique eyes). 

Beom is blocked access in many aspects. He cannot get proper clothing. He is expected to interact with others in a certain way. Geumhoo knows this and he can’t stand it. He asks his teacher (who is a dark skinned woman) if the future that she told him about...the one where there are no nobles or commoners could happen in his life time. That in that time, could they, two men..be accepted. 

Geumhoo allows 0% disrespect when it comes to Beom. Consistently. And I’ll be honest it’s the thing that saved this webcomic for me. Especially when it comes to Geumhoo’s former love, SeonWoo (fyi I hate the dude he’s an asshole).  

I continued with this webtoon because he is always thinking about Beom. He is always thinking about a future with Beom. Marriage with Beom. ANOTHER LIFETIME WITH BEOM. As long as it’s with Beom, he’s good. 

And neither one of them has said that they loved each other (which kills me but it makes sense). Geumhoo KNOWS Beom wants to say it. But he also knows that if they say it that will put an even bigger target on their backs. Geumhoo got enemies because he lives a reckless life...and his uncle wants him dead.

There is a line where he’s talking to himself, and to paraphrase, “Don’t Worry Beom. I’ll become fiercer/more powerful. So even if you do say it...no one will be able to do anything about it. No one will take my spring away.”

Bruh. 

Geumhoo is about that life. He is fight first ask questions/forgiveness later. I love and hate that about him. 

The power dynamic aside...Beom is allowed (and encouraged) to essentially do what he wants. It’s even noted by other servants that he is different from the rest of them given how Geumhoo dotes on him (but fringe benefits happen they become cool with it...for the most part). His asks are humble because he was never allowed for much. It drives Geumhoo crazy and wishes to teach him what greed/ambition is. He wants Beom to be able to stand 10 toes down and be too much. 

But just as Geumhoo wants to teach him greed/ambition Beom passively re teaches Geumhoo vulnerability. Warmth. Kindness.  

They balance each other out and at the same time enable each other (they’re both unhinged but only when it comes certain situations). 

They have both being through such terrible things that they are terrified to lose the other. Yet they still do everything to bring each other happiness even at the risk of getting hurt/dying or just flat out being separated. 

They are the ride or die couple. 

Their biggest problem is communication (which seems to just be the trend in fiction). They (rarely) fight, but forgive easily. 

Their relationship is so healthy (despite the bits of unhinged), wholesome, and real that out of all the comics I’ve read they are at the very top of favorite couples. It needs to be talked about more. 

[problematicfavesareproblematic]

NSFW with Chuck Grant

~ ~ ~

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

 Charles Grant is a walking example of “acts like a badass, is actually a softie” bc BOY, IS HE HARD (lol) TO GET A READ ON. 

When you first start fucking, he doesn’t really have the instinct to stick around after and soak up the afterglow- mostly bc that’s not the dynamic that any of his previous relationships operated under, but also bc he’s like Lieb and doesn’t feel comfortable being vulnerable and potentially having you reject him. He only confidently leaves the first time, and then he judges whether to stay or not on how you look at him as he makes to get dressed after the second time you boink. If you want your space, he’ll go and be back the next day as long as you let him, but if you look even a little bit offended or hurt, he’s getting his ass back in that bed and doing whatever he can to get that sad look out of your eyes.

When he does stay, he’s down to give you whatever he can manage. 

He’s all for slowly kissing you while trailing his fingertips up and down your side, but if you just want to sleep beside him he is more than cool with it (he’ll probably still pet you a lil bit after you fall asleep bc he’s soft for you but shh shh shh don’t tell anyone). The only thing he isn’t very good at doing is pillow talk, especially right after sex. He’s too worried about saying the wrong thing and fucking up what he’s managed to establish with you. 

It isn’t until after he’s shot that he realizes how nice it feels to have someone else take care of him, and when you do so after sex it solidifies the fact that you don’t see him as a burden- you want him and you want to stay. Thank god, too. He doesn’t think he could recover without you (again, not that he’d ever tell you that)

 B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

 Your AhhhhhhHSSSSssssSSSSSs!!!!!!

Oh wow, look at you- owner of the cutest butt he’s ever seen. Can he put his hands on it? Can he squeeze it? Please please puh-lease can you let him watch it jiggle as he fucks you? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then you’ve made each and every single one of his dreams come true. 

He doesn’t discriminate in his love for butts- he’s an equal-opportunity appreciator of the Majesty of the Female Ass™. If it changes size throughout your relationship, he’ll love it even more. Absolutely shameless.

On himself? He likes his legs- especially his thighs. 

He likes how strong they are, despite how much he hates Sobel for getting them to their current strength re: Currahee. But he gets over it quickly bc oh wow is he happy with their endurance while trying to keep up with you, both sexually and otherwise. The day he realized you could ride yourself to orgasm on them was the day he died and went to heaven and was sent back to sin again.

 C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

 He likes cumming on your pubic mound and then watching it slide down your pussy, thank you very much. If you guys are trying for kids or in a position where you don’t have to worry about not having kids, he’ll cum inside of you happily but oh wow he likes watching it slide down your lower lips. BONUS POINTS if he gets to catch it on his thumb and either stick it in your mouth OR circle your clit with it in order to get you off one more time.

Also, you asking him where he wants to cum on you gets him hot under the proverbial collar. 

 D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

 He’d do literally anything for you if you’d let him put his finger in your ass. He will genuinely kill an individual of your choice if you let him put his cock there instead. What a perv (jk it takes a lot of vulnerability for some people to convey their wants and desires to their partners plz remember that this has been a PSA).

The one thing he’ll never actually tell you about... EVER is that for a little while after meeting you for the first time in Georgia, he started hooking up with a girl who he didn’t realize (until much later) bore a striking resemblance to you. He’d had to end the relationship when he straight-up called out your name when he came (he was a lil drunk, just tipsy enough to slip up) and full-on booked it out of there bc not only had he pissed the girl off, but his shout had woken up her family- namely her very angry father- and barely escaped with his life.

 E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

 He’s had two lovers before you, but one of them was really experienced and patient and bless that woman. All he really has to do is learn what you like and he’ll commit it to memory. 

And you better be damn sure that he’ll use that knowledge against you/for his benefit. 

 F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

 Doggy style for all the reasons mentioned before. Or reverse cowgirl. Or normal cowgirl. His hands + your butt= dream combo.

 G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

 He can be goofy, but more than anything else he likes it when you’re goofy. Chuck can get a little too in his own head at times, which can lead to frustration/self-doubt- ESPECIALLY while recovering from his brain injury. You reminding him that sex is meant to be fun does him a huge favor, bc poor lamb will forget that every so often.

So please, nibble at his earlobe in that way that tickles him. Make a quip at the expense of one of your friends. Mock the silly sound of the moan you just let slip out.

 H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

 He’s not going to groom unless you tell him to, but he also doesn’t feel like you need to groom for him, either. Chuck’s not afraid to admit how much his personal hygiene has improved since meeting you. 

I can promise you that if you’re heavily invested in skin/hair care, he’ll probably be just as into building his own routine. 

 I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

 You always have Chuck’s full and undivided attention during sex, but he won’t necessarily show it unless he gets the guy feeling/you tell him that you want him to be. He’s going to whisper sexy things into your ear, call you a good girl (if not his good girl), and do everything in his power (at the time, at least (he can get a little distracted if you’re doing something particularly sexy)) to make sure you feel just how appreciated you are. He gets more and more confident in his PDA as your relationship progresses, but when it’s just you two? You’ll never meet a bigger sweetheart.

 J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

 Ok, so I’m deciding for you that mutual masturbation is a thing that you’re both into, m’kay? 

I'm also making the executive decision that you really enjoy watching him get himself off. You walked in on him one time, before you’d had sex, and were so stunned that you just watched in rapt attention until awkwardly backing out of the room and slamming the door shut. He’d nearly cum right then and there, and it got you extremely aroused. 

The next time you see each other, at some Georgia bar while on a pass, you offhandedly mention that you wish you hadn’t left and FROM THAT DAY ON he always lets you know when he’s feeling the urge and how you’re more than welcome to watch.

And when you do? It’s always a much shorter experience than he intends bc wow how hot are you?

 K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

 Frottage! Dry Humping! Grinding!

Allow me to explain:

In the months following D-Day, it was quickly understood that being on the frontlines meant having traditional forms of sex were no longer on the table (hehe) for you two. You’d experimented with rucking your trousers down your thighs, his thighs, both of your thighs, and each time it was a disaster (with one of the worst times ending up falling onto Tab after he’d inadvertently opened a door that Chuck had been fucking you against. Chuck had nearly thrown fists when Tab refused to look aware from your bare ass.)

So yall started grinding- quickly finding out that the bunches of fabric separating your bodies not only led to new forms of stimulation, but it also meant that you both started to utilize dirty talk. There’s something about your trembling lips at his ear, your warm whispers of ‘so good’ and ‘is this really all you need, Chuck? Me, writhing on you like this? What does that say about you, you desperate boy??’

Boy’s bought a one-way ticket to Boner City, USA.

PLUS! What a way to keep warm during Bastogne? Everyone is so jealous that they don’t have a super foxy megahot babe like you to grind upon.

 L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

 Hmm…..is saying anywhere a cop-out? Because he’s down for anywhere, he’ll follow your lead and rise to the occasion. Such a perv i s2g.

 M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

 ♫ YOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!!! ♫

You have this one eyebrow quirk you do when you’re in the mood, and it just so happens to be similar to the brow raise you give someone trying to outsmart you (which is another turn on for him- you putting some overly-confident sonofabitch back in their place after allowing them to mansplain at you for a little bit. First boner he ever got (since meeting you, obviously) came after witnessing you telling Joe Liebgott to stfu in cutting German after he’d made some off-color comment about your ass.) 

So, more often than not, he'll get a little turned on when you argue with people. Maybe even when you argue with him- who knows? not me. (i totally do, and he totally is)

 N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

 Any sort of pain play, on either of you. 

After being in genuine agony for so long while recovering from all of the surgeries, the idea of seeking any more pain out just doesn’t make sense. Chuck also doesn’t want to see you in pain- even if you’re asking him to make you feel it. You’d both suffered through the pain of hunger, frostbite, insect bites, sunburn, and just war in general (all of which had emotionally taken a toll on him bc he felt completely helpless and hated that he couldn’t do anything to take your hurt away). 

Sex and pain just doesn’t go together for him. Sorry not sorry 

 O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

 He loves having you go down on him, adores the way your eyes look up at him as if you’re challenging him to withstand your beautiful ministrations. 

He also is a big fan of going down on you, but PLEASE PLEASE PUH-LEASE ride his face. Good lord. 

He’s a sucker (teehee) for it- something about you using him like it’s all you keep him around for gets him hot. You also get this certain snarl on your lips when you are getting close that makes him lose his goddamn mind bc WOW YOU ARE SO ATTRACTIVE and HOLY SHIT YOU CHOSE HIM OF ALL PEOPLE? WOWOWOW.

 P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

 He’ll follow your lead/body language in terms of pace. Most sex sessions shift between both slow and deep as well as fast and hard anyway, so he is a fan of both. 

 Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

 A necessary evil, as far as Chuck is concerned. He’ll do them, and he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy the spontaneity of them, but he would prefer not to be rushed when he’s with you.

 R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

 He was riskier until that one time Tab caught you guys, after which he chilled out. Which you are thankful for, bc you’ve spoken with Lieb’s wife and BOY have those two gotten into some embarrassing situations bc of how risky that kid is. 

 S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

 The longest he's gone is 4 rounds (it was celebratory sex on VE day, with both of you in the best shape you'd ever been in and too high on relief to listen to your bodies. Ya'll were sore and dehydrated afterward but LORD was it worth it.

 T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

 He’d be very open to the idea of toys! On you, he’s automatically cool with it, but it does take him a little bit to get his head around the idea of using toys himself. Again, 40s/50s= somewhat repressed discussion about deviations from the traditional male sexuality- but Chuck is more willing and ready to challenge the societal norms than most. Very sexy of him.

 U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

 He always intends to tease you, but more often than not he gets so turned on that he can’t follow that intention through. You are aware of this and ABSOLUTELY weaponize this knowledge. Get it, fam. 

During day-to-day conversation, however, you both tease each other constantly. It’s been like that since you’ve met each other- always making innuendos and one-upping the other and for some reason that never even went away.

When Chuck woke up and the doctors brought you in to see him, the first thing he told you was that you looked terrible. When you’d replied with a sniff, a smile and a “guess the doc’s were full of shit when they said there was no change in your vision, huh?”- Chuck had smiled so hard it hurt.

 V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

 He’s a choked moan kind of guy. His face gets all scrunched up and his body shakes and he curses quietly under his breath (it’s vv cute and hot, FYI). he doesn’t even try and be quiet on purpose, he just seems to lose the ability to be vocal, tbh. If he’s drinking or if it’s been a hot minute since yall have gotten to do the do, he’ll probably be a bit louder. Like, maybe one loud cry of your name (see: the letter D)

It doesn’t bother him if you make sounds at all, just so you know. If anything, he likes that he’s a quiet cummer bc then he can hear any and all of your sounds.

 W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

 biting your ass while eating you out from behind is *bang* *bang* *bang* *click* *cash register noise*.

Especially if you squeal and smack at him after he does it.

 X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

 Average in all respects but OH MAN does he know how to work it to his advantage. Get ready for a wild ride, my dude. 

 Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

 Higher post-war, tbh. Chuck had had to be on bed rest for so long that he thought he may never get the chance to have sex again, so he totally makes a point to indulge in you every chance that he can get (but he’s cool if you say no, too).

But, as I mentioned in ‘risk’, he’s not going to be humping your leg in public or anything (ok but imagine if you were a dom to his sub and you made him do that holy fuck)

 Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

 He does not sleep very well, poor bb. He will be asleep but his mind will be working through all kinds of things ranging from PTSD to what shoes he wanted to wear to dinner with your parents that weekend. Good thing there’s a remedy to this ailment- your pussy sex with you!

While he can’t konk out immediately, he is able to relax. He will allow himself to get lost in the rhythm of your breathing, the weight of your hand on his arm or your arm wrapped around his middle. He will sometimes nuzzle into you as you’re drifting off to sleep, and when you press a kiss to his forehead he finally feels safe.

~ ~ ~

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