#how to commit a hypothetical crime

[mkstrigidae]

Apparently, the solution to my APWH writer's block was just opening up a new word document and rewriting the whole damn next chapter.

[solis-angelus]

Sorry, this is a dumb question. Hypothetically, if a person checks themselves into a mental hospital/rehab how much money do they need to pay? What if the person has no family or doesn't want bother their family with shit, so is going alone like enough? (Asking for a book thing)

[If u respond, please mention the respective country]

[redheadlesbianfreak]

"Israel is more LGBTQ friendly than Palestine."

Let's say, that hypothetically, Israel is the most LGBTQ-friendly country on the entire planet. I STILL would be against them committing genocide. What they have done to Gaza is horrific and we should be talking about a ceasefire to prevent more innocent people from dying. But nah, people would rather shift the conversation over to something that's completely unrelated away from the war crimes the IDF is committing.

As a queer person who has lived in Texas and Mississippi her whole life, it has always disgusted me how gleeful some of you "progressives" act when something horrific happens to places you deem "conservative." Do you people not understand that every place has diversity, every place has LGBTQ people? People deserve to live full and happy and safe lives regardless of where they were born. There is nothing in the world that could ever justify the mass killings of innocent people.

[liquidstar]

look this site really is awful for ppl with OCD so i just wanna reassure anyone that you are not Tainted Forever for consuming a piece of media with questionable content. the fact that youre able to recognize it speaks to your critical thinking skills, which is good, certain depictions should be critiqued. but you dont need to ruminate on it to the point where you begin to feel guilty for simply witnessing gross or creepy writing choices. you dont have to vindicate yourself to the fictional tumblr discourser inside your head, saying that youre now a bad person bc you watched the wrong anime. your actual response to it still matters of course, but thats that and this is this. just seeing it is neutral, you didnt commit a thought crime. its literally fine.

IF YOU ARE USING THIS POST TO ONLY FURTHER YOUR STUPID PEDANTIC BLACK-AND-WHITE DISCOURSE TO GET A "GOCHA" OVER THE OTHER SIDE YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. DON'T USE OUR DISORDER TO VINDICATE YOUR BEHAVIOR. THOUGHT CRIMES ARENT REAL BUT ACTIONS STILL MATTER. PEOPLE WITH OCD ARE CAPABLE OF THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT OUR ACTIONS AND RESPONSES, EVEN WITH INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS AND RUMINATIONS. TREATING US AS IF WE CANNOT, ONLY TO FORCE US TO USE YOUR STRINGENT UNNUANCED DISCOURSE OPINIONS ABOUT "PURITY CULTURE" (TRIGGERING TO THOSE WITH OCD) AS THE ONLY REASONABLE GUIDE DOES MORE TO EXACERBATE OUR OBSESSIONS THAN HELP US. YOU ARE THE ISSUE AS WELL. YOU ARE ALSO THE TUMBLR DISCOURSER INSIDE OUR HEADS. DO NOT USE US FOR YOUR DISCOURSE. WE ARE PEOPLE, NOT HYPOTHETICALS TO USE TO EXPLAIN IF YOUR FROZEN INCEST FANFICTION IS OKAY OR NOT. TREATING US AS IF WE CANNOT AUTONOMOUSLY HAVE OUR OWN OPINIONS ON WHEN MEDIA IS TANGIBLY HARMFUL IS ABLEIST. FORCING US TO ABIDE BY YOUR IN-GROUP'S SET OF UNEQUIVOCAL MORALS IS ABLEIST. ACTING AS THOUGH THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR US IS MINDLESS MEDIA CONSUMPTION IN WHICH "EVERY DEPICTION OF XYZ, NO MATTER HOW POORLY DONE OR EXPLOITATIVE, IS ALWAYS OKAY AND IF YOU DISAGREE YOURE ACTUALLY AN EVIL 'ANTI'" IS ABLEIST. THOSE ARE THE SAME BLACK-AND-WHITE MORALS THAT SEND US INTO OBSESSIVE SPIKES, BUT FLIPPED. A SET OF MORALS IN WHICH QUESTIONING THE IMPACT OF A PIECE OF WORK MAKES YOU AN "EVIL CONSERVATIVE PURITAN "ANTI"" DOES NOT HELP MORAL OCD.

YOU ARE THE DAMN TUMBLR DISCOUERSERS MAKING THIS SHIT WORSE FOR US! YOURE THE EXACT SAME BUT WITH FLIPPED BUZZWORDS! YOU'RE MISSING THE WHOLE DAMN POINT!

[drbased]

In reality, abortion defies analogy, for there is simply no case like it, and those who wish to defend or argue against it would do well to bear that in mind.

But abortion seems to demand analogy, precisely because it is something women do, and only something women can do. The fact that pregnancy is a unique experience, the fact that the developing fetus and the processes involved to build it and entirely unique and self-contained is a fact uncomfortable in a patriarchal world where men make truth. Pregnancy and birth are truths which are intricately known to women - women, statistically less likely to commit violent crimes including murder, are suddenly said be the progenitors of mass murder through abortion. Women, demonstrably proven to be considered subhuman under oppression, categorised as breeding stock and chattel, are suddenly said to be the most powerful oppressor, capable of the most heinous crime against the most vulnerable oppressed group purely by sheer biological power. This inversion of the power dynamics, this inversion of the relations of men and women is clearly no accident.

We are told that the fetus is human, and is vulnerable and oppressed. Would a female-run society categorise humanity in such a way to include a fetus? It is the woman who experiences what a fetus is: she feels the heartbeat, she shares its blood. By all rights, she is the one who has claim to naming the definition of human, where we draw the line of personhood. But we live in a patriarchy, and we are told, in a world where women are chattel and breeding stock and also secretly the most violent, lustful beasts that need to be contained and controlled, that the fetus is a human, as human as she is, perhaps more, and that she is a violent, lustful beast committing a most heinous murder by aborting it from her body. Is this the kind of categorisation, the kind of naming, done so neutrally? And who would be most invested in this narrative?

Analogy is needed to describe the necessity of abortion, or the necessity of opposition to it, precisely because there is nothing like it. We have to have absurd hypotheticals to argue against the usage of someone’s body against their will, or the assertion that claiming that the fetus is inhuman is just like claiming a lack of humanity of some other oppressed group. Both sides forever dance around the thorny issue of who gets to decide, and why, and how, if the fetus is human, if it has personhood. We use (male dominated) science, or (male dominated) religion to try to answer the question uniformly, disregarding the fact that neither approach knows what it is to have one taking up so much space in your body that your organs are pushed around to accommodate it.

There is nothing as intimate, as biologically, emotionally or socially powerful as the relationship between a woman and her fetus. This relationship cannot be ignored in discussion of abortion, and yet it so consistently is, as the use of analogy demonstrates. Nobody wants to talk about how the foetus’s personhood is inexorably tied to its relationship with the mother, because that would admit that the naming of its personhood is entirely the female domain.

[murdrdocs]

getting a small drawing of abby’s tattooed when mike proposes <3 the ring is your commitment to love mike and the tattoo is your commitment to love abby <333

this is sick in the bestest of ways :(

there's a ring on your finger, simple and minimalistic, nothing too extravagant. but you don't need extravagant. you don't want extravagant, either. you like the pure life you have now with mike and abby, and the ring on your finger is a reminder of your commitment.

but only to him. not to the little girl who hangs onto your every word. not to your new partner in crime who desperately wants to replicate your unset aesthetic. not to the person you smile with the most.

you're thinking on the subject one day whenever abby shows you a new drawing, smile big especially with the final teeth she's grown in. you smile down at it, too, like you always do, but your sights zone in on the three sets of hands clasped together.

it's your suggestion and abby is delighted to tag along with you. she watches with wonder as the artist presses the machine needle to your skin. she holds your hand when you wince and sweetly asks you if you're okay, actual concern in her voice when you shut your eyes tight.

you reward yourself with ice cream after, another expense added to the day but you couldn't care less. through licks and words full of chocolate, you and abby ogle at the permanent drawing on your skin, abby touching it over the second skin every few moments as she continuously breathes out sounds of wonder.

"i wonder how long it'll take mike to notice." abby poses the question as a hypothetical, nothing but the thought pattern of a child spoken aloud. but you like the sound of it, and you suggest keeping it a secret, abby delightedly pantomiming zipping her lips and tucking the key into your pocket in response.

you put her question to the test when you arrive home, bellies full from ice cream and a subsiding ache in your arm.

mike kisses you like usual, ruffling abby's hair when the two of you enter. abby giggles, shooting looks at you from around mike. you press a finger to your lips behind his back, satisfied that mike chalks abby's behavior up to her playful nature.

it's not until a few hours later whenever the three of you are watching HGTV (you and abby's new favorite channel) in the living room after dinner that mike notices. he's playing with your hand like always, twirling your ring around your finger, lifting and pressing his rough hands into your knuckles periodically. he traces his hand along the top of your hand, leading to your wrist, and that's when he stops.

his hands still, you think his breathing does, too, and you send him a glance. you don't say anything, he doesn't say anything, abby comments on the chosen wall color of the tv couples house.

then mike lifts your wrist, turns it around, and when his eyes meet yours they appear a little more glassy. "what's this?"

you lick your lips. "a tattoo."

you see abby's bob tousling in the wind she creates when she whirs her head around in your peripheral vision. you assume she's smiling and eager now that you've unlocked her zipped lips.

"of what?" mike's eyes bounce between his two beaming girls.

abby handles this one for you, bouncing to her feet. "it's my drawing!" she runs to the kitchen table, grabbing the drawing from a couple of weeks ago, and showing it to mike. "see!"

mike stares at the drawing, then at your wrist, taking in the three pairs of stick figure hands that are linked together, bordering your left hand.

when he stares back at you, you interpret his look as bewilderment. panic sets in and you start to consider that maybe mike didn't want you to commit to his sister like this. maybe this is too much. maybe you should've asked his opinion. maybe he–

and then mike kisses you. soft, yet passionate, and slow. you distantly hear abby's expression of distaste from beside you both, but the only thing you can really focus on is mike running his thumb back and forth over the second skin covering your tattoo.

[teaboot]

so if. hypothetically. you have a friend dealing with a Situation and you have to metaphorically muzzle the Rage Dragon when they talk about it bc murder is unfortunately not a viable solution here

how do u deal w that and give a response that isn’t “do you want me to fight them for you”

How to help a friend with a shithead without committing crimes:

Offer a safe place to speak. Listen to their troubles and keep their complaints in confidence, unless you believe them to be in imminent danger. It's important to know that there are people who won't leak your strife back to the source.

Plan for emergencies. Arrange a safe word or a place to meet if things get bad. Failing that, help pick a place to run away to if needed- your place, a relatives place, a motel, a hostel, whatever, so that a select few can know where to look if they need to vanish.

Meme with them. Talk shit about the fucker. Speak out when they describe something that sounds like dickhead behaviour. Sometimes it just helps to be seen.

Document the problems. Either encourage them to write stuff down or do it yourself. If things get bad, whetger through violence or an HR issue or whatever, it will feel more secure and lend credible backup if things suddenly get worse. It can also be a good way to check if you're exaggerating or making things up, if those are doubts you have.

Just be a bro. You know what sucks worse than dealing with bullshit? Dealing with bullshit alone. Hang in there.

Know when to walk away. This one is more for you than the friend. The truth is, you can't really solve problems for people very often. More often than not, their fate is in their own hands, and all you can do is be supportive. Remember not to take on their life. It's hard, especially when it's someone you love, to just... not take over, not make everything better yourself, not protect them or intervene or mediate... but sometimes you gotta. It feels bad, but you gotta.

Hope life gets better, bud

[doberbutts]

One of the things that really confuses me (I'm a cis woman of color) is this doubling down on the idea that Black men aren't oppressed because they're men, they're oppressed because they're Black, gay men aren't oppressed because they're men, they're oppressed because they're gay, trans men aren't oppressed because they're men, they're oppressed because they're trans, etc. It feels like people are being intentionally obtuse. You can't separate my identity as a POC from my identity as a woman. I am treated the way I'm treated because I'm a woman of color, those two things work together. That's where discussions of intersectionality originated. So to say you can separate a privileged identity from an oppressed one is just.... not how anything works?

I constantly see "masculinity isn't criminalized/demonized, Blackness, queerness, transness are" and it's like.... no, that's not how this happens. Marginalized men face specific oppression based on the intersection of their identities. It seems like lately people are willing to understand that for women but not willing to for men and I just don't know how we make any progress if radfem rhetoric has become so pervasive that people are refusing to see lived realities rather than some abstract hypothetical they've come up with.

Personally I think this is due to (white) people seeing and liking black theory that they personally agree with or that makes sense to be applied to their own lives, and then cut out all the parts that are inconvenient for them to have to reconcile. Much like how many, many, many black feminists who are cis women have said "hey, white feminists, stop it with the all men are rapists thing, it actively contributes to black men getting lynched for crimes they didn't commit because it gets weaponized unfairly against our brothers" and white feminists collectively forgot how to read and abandoned their listening skills while still praising other parts of black feminism that talk about domestic violence and sexual assault and oversexualization and reproductive rights and rightly taking black men to task for their continued complacency in this.

The phrase "intersectionality" originated in black feminist theory. I do not trust any white person to fully understand black feminism when they use it as a bludgeon to make the inconvenient bits be quiet. Much of what is on this blog is black feminism. It is inconvenient for white people to have to consider how their words and actions may harm people of color while still lifting themselves up.

As you have said, you cannot separate the "of color" from the "woman" parts of your identity. You are a woman of color. That changes how both sexism and racism works against you in a system that is both sexist and racist. I, in the same manner, cannot separate the "trans" from the "man"- if I were not a man, I would be a woman. I am AFAB, if I am a woman, I am not trans. There is no "you experience this because you are transgender, not because you are a man". In order to be a man, in my body, I have to be transgender*. Just like there is no "you experience this because you are black, not because you are a man". I am a black man. The black experience is inherently, often forcibly, gendered. I can tell you exactly how people treating me changed in a "before" and "after". I can tell you that yes, some of it absolutely stems from the "man" part, they treat me this way because I am a black man.

But people often misunderstand intersectionality to be, exclusively, axis of oppression. And so they say, well learn intersectionality, men aren't oppressed and thus it's not an axis of oppression to combine. But that ignores that some men are oppressed, marginalized men are oppressed and often with a very gendered slant. And it ignores that, like how you cannot separate the "woman" from the "of color", neither can you do that with men.

Men are not the default. They are slightly less than half the population, same as women.

*re: in order to be a man in my body I must be transgender; yes, I am intersex. However I have been out as transgender for 17 years, and discovered I am intersex 6 months ago. So for me, that is very much the case. For other intersex people who were assigned female at birth, that may not be the case. This is something that works on an individual level but cannot be broadbrushed as there are many different opinions among intersex people regarding our cisgender vs transgender status.

[minhyeong]

NCT DREAM + SIMPLE DATES !

[ mark ] 

huddling together by the dinner table building a 10,000 piece mini lego set that he impulsively bought on his way back

you think his knitted brows will create permanent wrinkles after he maintained the same expression for hours so you smooth your thumb along his forehead

he’s muttering curses every time he places the wrong piece down and has to jam his fingernail into the small gap to separate them

cutely scrunches up his shoulders and gives you a bashful smile when you take the pieces from him and pry them apart

you literally have to drag him away from the table or he will stay up all night to complete it

[ renjun ] 

sitting cross-legged on the bed folding fresh laundry together while a true crime podcast is playing in the background

you’re tugging your favorite hoodie of his out from the pile of clothes and mindlessly looping your limbs into the sleeves

he’s grimacing when the gory details come out in the podcast and giving you the most suspicious look when he witnesses you giggling

his eyes narrow when he hypothetically asks whether you would commit a crime while wearing his clothes

the neatly folded pile is all ruined when you launch yourself at him just to squeeze him in your arms because everything he does is stupidly endearing

[ jeno ] 

learning how to crotchet together because you spontaneously wanted to make a scarf instead of purchasing one

it becomes a race to see who can master the very basics first, and he quickly gets ahead even though he spent forever stuck on making the slip knot at first

doesn’t even realize that his limbs are all tangled up in the ball of yarn until he can barely move his elbow

drops everything to give you a hand massage when you start to feel it cramping up from all the practice

he completes his scarf first and excitedly wraps it all around you until half of your face is covered, and you can’t wait to wear it out despite its small imperfections

[ haechan ]

pampering one another with face masks and 92 layers of skincare on a rare self-care night

he sighs contently when he lays his head on your lap and you delicately apply some eye masks for his dark circles

absolutely refuses to get up even after you’re done and pretends that he’s asleep with loud, dramatic snoring (the “just five more minutes” repeats for an hour)

makes you run your hand through his hair while he’s at it

you flick him in the forehead when he gets playful and starts to tickle you in the waist

[ jaemin ]

packing food to go feed ducks at the nearby lake before the cold season hits and everything freezes

he starts naming all of the ducks and claiming them as his children and asks if you two can adopt one and bring it home

you have to steal the empty basket from him before he tries to sneak something in there

other people walking by probably give you a look when they hear him make cooing noises at the ducks but you just pull him close with a proud smile

you leave the lake with a video of a flock of birds chasing after him and he’s flailing around as he runs away

[ chenle ]

pushing aside all the furniture in the living room to do couples yoga together just because he saw videos on youtube and confidently thinks he could do all of the complicated poses

you hesitantly suggest to start off with something simple but he’s already eager to try the double plank pose and even jokes that you can be on the bottom

purposely shakes and drops his arms while he’s supporting you just to scare you but always catches you at the last second

uses this opportunity to annoyingly wiggle his hips in your face 

just ends up leaning on you when he finally gets tired and rubs his sweaty cheeks all over your shoulder

[ jisung ]

crawling under the covers with your phone and facetiming at midnight when he’s miles away

learning all about his day and him animatedly talking about a snack he had two hours ago as if it’s the best thing he tasted his entire life and how he can’t wait to bring some back for you to try

he definitely drops the phone on his face more than once or twice 

you run out of storage on your phone because all you do is take a billion screenshots of him and you just can’t delete any of them

the way he blushes when he mumbles something about missing you after he thought you fell asleep (it’s absolutely a jump scare for him when you suddenly open your eyes)

[eggroll-sama]

Record of Ragnarok: Ideal s/o Headcanons

Female!reader

Warning: suggestive, mention of sex

Poseidon

Poseidon will want someone that will aesthetically compliment his looks and reputation. In other words, he’d like someone that is beautiful, but not as beautiful as him. Specifically, he doesn’t really have a preference. You just need to have nice teeth, kept hair, glowing and unblemished skin, a symmetrical face, and on and on and on. Just don’t be more beautiful than him, thank you.

Personality wise, he’d like someone that is feminine, intelligent and regal.

You can be dominant and arrogant with others, just don’t be when you’re with him. It’ll tarnish his reputation as a strong and fearsome god. Also if you are a virgin he would like that. It would boost his ego to know he has the privilege to be the only one to be with you.

He wants you to be intelligent and to be well versed in history, mathematics, language, and the sciences. He’s more traditional and emphasizes more importance on book smarts than street smarts. Also, if you’re really good at debating and holding your own in an argument, he’d find it very attractive. For example, if during a godly meeting you were to stand your own on a stance against another god, he’d be so smug and in love with you. He wouldn’t show it on his face, but once you get back to the castle he would pin you against the wall and make out with you, growling under his breathe about how it was your fault for making him this way.

Not Ideal: dumb, domineering, scheming :)

More characters under the cut!

Thor

Loki sometimes badgers him about his ideal s/o. He wouldn’t answer him -much to his cousin's chagrin- but in his mind his love would have long dark hair and a nice smile.

Personality wise, he’d like someone that is strong. In any type of sense. He would prefer a more physically strong lover, but it is not a requirement. He emphasizes the most on a strong mentality. He believes no matter how muscular or large you are, without a strong soul you are weak. He understands the hardships of being the lover of a god; they’d have to have the mental strength to overcome difficulties of being in that position.

Also, he’d prefer if you are extroverted. He struggles with talking or giving an opinion, so someone that can enhance communication will be great. Of course he’s a really observant god, but observing can take him only so far; a person that is willing to talk to him about everyday things or their problems will make him happy (though he doesn’t show it).

Not Ideal: secretive, complainer, weak-minded

Loki

I know he’s literally a shapeshifting god and he transformed into some pretty ugly things in the past, but he still has preferences in terms of looks. If you like piercings and tattoos he’d be very interested in you since he has several of his own. He also finds the grunge/goth look attractive. He loves beauty marks on his partner. But he’d hide that and tease you about them like a jerk. Also, the guy is a sucker for chubby cheeks. He’d be touching them every chance he gets. You feel like a stress ball sometimes.

He wants a partner in crime to pull pranks with and on. Someone that is creative, funny, and a tease. His family is literally full of straight faces; he wants someone that will laugh with him and talk with him about nonsensical ideas. A naturally curious person that will indulge in various ideas and hypotheticals will be perfect for him.

There needs to be something about you that is interesting. It could be intelligence, physical/mental strength, your way of thinking, how you dress, etc. Something that sets you apart from other people. If you are just a normal, everyday individual, he probably won’t give you a second glance. And no, being like the “quirky” girls on TikTok does not count.

Not Ideal: too quiet, serious, bland

Lu Bu

He’s drinking with his soldiers and they ask him in a drunk haze what his “ideal lover” would be. Lu Bu is honest and tells them he’s not interested in commiting to a relationship. He’s not going to date someone when he has the goal of being the strongest. He has one night stands to vent his frustrations and quench his boredom, but that’s the limit. He also deems it very unlikely for him to find love in this time period. Not that he really cares about those sort of things. Doesn’t really believe in true love either.

But low and behold, Lu Bu’s trustworthy strategist, Chen Gong, has spent many a night thinking about this very same topic. He’s deduced from observing his general’s personality and every day interactions that Lu Bu would be best compatible with a strong-minded, caring woman. He needs someone that can rile him up in all sorts of ways. Somehow, a woman that can make a smart remark every once in a while would be a nice change. Someone that has the courage to talk to him. His general hasn’t met a woman who sticks around after seeing his ferocity on the battlefield.

Chen Gong believes they have to be caring. Lu Bu is surrounded by bloodshed and war everyday. He feels that what his general needs the most in a partner is someone that is supportive and will let Lu Bu be vulnerable. Someone that will let Lu Bu relax after a long fought battle. Someone that will treat him like a human than worship or envy his strength.

(Chen Gong doesn’t know this, but Lu Bu finds it attractive when women eat a lot)

Not ideal (according to Chen Gong): cowardly, weak-minded, apathetic

Adam

He doesn’t care about looks. He’s the father of humanity, he loves every single type of person: tall or short, hairy or thin hair, big boobs no boobs, etc.

Ideally, Adam wants someone who has a motherly aura and has a kind and selfless heart. Someone who’s gentle and has a nurturing heart. Someone who shows gratitude and appreciation for what they are given.

Although he’s strong, he wants to be with a person that he can trust and rely on. Someone he can be vulnerable with. It will take time for him to warm up to you. He’d have to be sure that you are a good person and will confess to you once he’s gotten to know you for a long time.

Adam also likes to tease and play around sometimes behind closed doors, so he’d like it if you aren’t the most easily-offended person. He’d feel awful if he’s just lightly teasing you and you make a big deal out of it and ignore him.

Not ideal: self-centered, overreactor, untrustworthy

Sasaki

Like Lubu he strives for strength, but is more open to the idea of a relationship. When he was still alive, he’d daydream about having a lover beside him. They’d have the prettiest smile, and skin as smooth as the softened glass shards by the ocean shores. Somebody who’d accompany him on his journey, perhaps. Someone who possessed a voice of wisdom because he knows he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

Although he’d occasionally feel lonely camping alone in the forest, it really wasn’t on his to-do list to find a lover. He felt that the perfect person is the one who will see him for who he is and love him for it no matter what.

They need to be independent. Somebody that wouldn’t mind a long distance relationship. His travels might take 1-2 months, or maybe 6 months. He would occasionally show up at your house unannounced with a gift from his travels. If you try convince him to stay, he’d feel really guilty and might break up with you because you deserve somebody that doesn’t stress you out. But if you’re up for it, he wouldn’t mind taking you with him!

Not ideal: dependent, stability > taking risks

[ppeonppeonhan]

My Top 10 2023 BL Crushes

This list is compromised of BL actors that I would strongly consider relocating for. That would make me say: "He could get it." That I would allow to flip it and reverse it. Please, look at my BL husbands respectfully.

Man (Step by Step)

Was his character trash for failing to respect his boyfriend's professional aspirations? Yes. Was it difficult to focus on the plot even when he was fully dressed? Also, yes. It was the pouting and the brooding. I couldn't resist. Even though it's rare to see a Thai BL actor his age (32), I hope to see him and his abs again soon.

Perth (Dangerous Romance)

He has such an incredible smile. Even when he had to deliver cheesy pickup lines, I was mesmerized. If my nonexistent husband had that smile, he'd win every argument.

Khaotung (Only Friends)

If this man is in a drama, I am watching it. Period. He is adorably mischievous, and I would happily help him get away with a crime, if asked.

Mark Pakin (Only Friends)

It's the hair for me. It's so thick. Perfect for running your fingers through when you make out. Hypothetically.

Max (Naughty Babe)

He looks like such a 90s heartthrob with the slicked back hair and earring. I don't love that his pairing partner, Nat, looks the decade younger than him that he is, but I enjoyed every minute of his mug on my screen for this meh spinoff series.

Jam (Laws of Attraction)

This! This move alone. I was sold. Let's give up a life of crime, go legit, consider having morals. I need no further convincing. Even though he's only 28 (and looks 40), he's giving zaddy, and I love it.

Hsu Kai (Kiseki: Dear to Me)

As the only Taiwanese entry on this list, he had some tough competition. But I think the fandom would agree, those piercing eyes could entrance anyone -- even when there were four of them.

Son Hyun Woo (Sing My Crush)

I am not a height girlie. I'm rather tall, so basketball player height is not on my hot boi wishlist. But the height difference here plus the lifelong commitment to being the best manager slash boyfriend ever was peak adorable. How this kid managed to resist him, I do not know.

Ki Hyun Woo (Jun & Jun)

It was the suits. It was absolutely the suits, cause it was definitely not the plot. He was a walking HR violation, but a fine one.

Han Gyeol (Love Mate)

Honestly, he's baseline cute for a South Korean actor, but the way his character was so straightforward and knew exactly what/who he wanted was pretty hot. Sometimes it doesn't have to be that complicated.

[coolaboutlucy]

𝙚𝙡 𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨𝙜𝙖, 𝙣𝙤 𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙖 | 𝙚. 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙨

pairing: ex-jailbird!ellie williams x ex-jailbird!afab!reader

tags: angsty, ellie is an asshole, between past and present (indicated with dates), ellie has issues, pet names (baby), description of violence, mild language, drug use, one use of y/n (i had to im SAWREE!!), idk what trope this is, but it’s certainly something, good ending, but i HATE it ugh, lowk wanna make an alt ending, but i might not. 🤷🏽‍♀️

a/n: the word ‘jailbird’ being used in this context is lowk cringey but who cares? ive been on a roll lately!!! (i still have reqs to finish) ellie fic speed run r smth idk. tbf, this is the longest fic ive written in a while. i considered making this like a series or something but i never finish those so.. ig this is like a rlly big fat oneshot??? idk.

p.s: for my pookie @sweetysaccharine who also got a sneak peek hehe. 🤭🤭

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 | 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟽𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷

you stand infront of a burning car on a hill in the middle of the desert at nighttime. you and ellie had just stolen $20 thousand worth of diamonds at some high end store in the city where only the most wealthy of people live, and now you were destroying the evidence, burning your costumes and leaving the diamonds out for the coyotes. “ellie, i won’t wanna do this anymore.” she looks at you through the blazing fire with a slightly raised eyebrow. “do.. what?” she asks as she pushes her hands into her pockets. “commit crimes. i want to have a normal life. im tired of this. you’re always making me do crazy shit.” you explain, exaggerating a bit with your hands. “were felons, baby. there is no normal for us. you chose this life. but sure. let’s say hypothetically, you get this ‘normal life’. where will you work? at a grocery store?” “i don’t know.” “exactly. that’s the beauty of it all. we don’t know what comes next. we don’t know if the police will come after us again, do we?” “well.. no—“ “exactly. go out and buy some more fruit.” she begins walking off, leaving the burning car behind. “we don’t need anything else, ive already got what we need.” you say as you begin walking off into the opposite direction. sand crunches underneath your feet as you walk off, hood over your head and the nights cool wind brushing against the bits of exposed skin on your body.

𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗, 𝚃𝚇 | 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟽 what were the odds of two felons who hate each others guts working together after escaping together? highly unlikely. but it was your reality. let’s start from the beginning, shall we? ellie had gotten.. waaay too many years to even count. she was charged with identity theft, armed assault, two counts of homicide, and possession of illegal firearms. what were you charged with? accessory to a robbery, armed robbery and you’d also had a few DUI’s. was how many years you’d gotten even mattered now? it didn’t. you were free. and freedom smelled great. but sometimes? freedom sucks. ellie was crazy. she was batshit crazy. she was the one who helped you escape prison. she knows a lot of people. like, a scary amount of people. lawyers, drug dealers, private doctors, the whole nine yards. how’d you escape? simple.

“the other girls are gonna start a riot. cause i told em to. you’re gonna sneak into the break room. there’s a window a few inches up from the floor. break the window and—“ she explained, making sure to keep her voice down. you were a bit wary of her little ‘plan’. “wait, won’t that set the alarm off?” you ask with a raised eyebrow. “lemme ask you a question. whats more worth it — freedom or a goddamn alarm?” “.. im guessing you want me to say freedom?” she nods, then patting your shoulder approvingly. “back to what i was saying, after you’ve broken the window, there’s someone waiting for you on the other side. the security cameras should be busted by then. ill follow you.” her confidence in her plans certainly amazed you. “don’t screw this up.” “i won’t.” “good. now.. why don’t you go read a book?” she suggested before walking off. she was strange, like really strange. sometimes ellie tended to say things that didn’t really make any sense. it was also a rumour that ellie had hallucinations. she’d just sit up in the middle of the night and talk to.. nobody, or she’d stare into the mirror talking to seemingly nobody. was that maybe why she’d been so crazy? because she was fighting her own demons? you didn’t know. the riot began. you heard them in the lunch room banging their trays against the metal tables, yelling at the prison guards and attacking some. you run away into the break room. there were metal bars against the windows. “how the hell am i gonna remove this?” you mumble to yourself as you look around. you search under tables like a madwoman, even searching the pockets of the coats suspended from the metal coat rack.

you heard angels sing once you find a toolbox hidden away underneath a bench. you look at the screws. you needed a flat looking screwdriver. you search the toolbox for one that loosely resembles the screws and you hurry to the window with a chair. standing on the chair, you quickly unscrew the screws and you pull the bars from the window. with the metal bars in hand, you smash the window, all the little glass pieces flying everywhere as the prison alarms go off simultaneously. you look back at the door to the break room. ellie would come, she valued her freedom more than anything in this world.

and with all the uncertainty in your body, you followed through. you jumped down into the parking lot while the alarms ring all throughout the prison. there had been someone else on the other side. a woman with curly hair and tan skin, driving some beat up blue honda. she was pretty. “cmon, hurry and get in. we’re gonna floor it as soon as ellie gets here.” she said, relatively calm as if she’d done this before. you hop into the backseat of her car anxiously. your leg shakes and you bite your nails. looking around at the security cameras, you found that they were, in fact not busted. “that goddamn liar!” she exclaimed as you hit your hands against your thighs. “you’re an idiot for trusting her. ellie never holds her word. she said she’d pay me back a year ago. she owes me $14,000 that she still won’t pay back.” the woman says as she looks at you through the mirror above her. you didn’t trust her. nobody did. but she was a good convincing person and an even better liar. while you were sitting in the back of the car, you recalled all the times she’d attempted to kill you. she gave you concussions, she stabbed you with makeshift knives, she got her minions to beat you half to death. what had you done in retaliation? well, you stabbed her, hung her from a bathroom stall with your sheets, wounded her badly and proceeded to shoot air into the major vein until her heart almost exploded out of her chest. the two have you had gone tit for tat for a while. but is it really an appropriate time to reminisce on old memories? not at all.

the sound of her shoes hitting the ground caught your attention. you look over and see her running towards the car, hopping in her front seat and slamming the door shut. “cmon, drive dina! step on it!” she demanded as she hits her hands against the dashboard. the woman, dina, steps on the gas. the gates of the prison had been closing slowly, leaving just enough room for the car to slither out. ellie cheers to herself. why was she cheering? ellie suddenly turns to you. “we have to get out of texas. dina here is gonna take us halfway to.. somewhere. ive already arranged a place for us to stay. if you screw up? ill strangle you with the hem of your shirt.” her tone falters between the lines of something serious and something a little playful. what was this? why were you doing this with her? you’d been royally screwed now if you weren’t before.

𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗, 𝚃𝚇 | 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟽

you drove for hours on end while ellie sat in the front, blabbering about seemingly nothing. she sat in the front, smoking weed and changing the radio station until she settled on some sorta rock station. “ellie, do you realize how much you owe to me?” dina asks seriously as she takes the two of you through some sort of desert. “mm.. how much?” “14k. you owe me big time, ellie.” ellie laughs. she turns to you, whites of her eyes turning a light red colour. “can you believe her? me? owing her 14k? that’s insane.” she sat there laughing to herself. dinas iron clad grip on the steering wheel told you what you needed to know. she was fed up with ellies shit.

dina stops the car abruptly on the side of the sandy road. she turns to ellie with a face full of fury. “yknow, ive offered you enough. i said you can pay in installments. you didn’t pay. i gave you time. you still won’t pay. now im being complicit in your fucking prison break!” dina exclaimed. ellies laughing almost instantly stopped as dina raised her voice. “you don’t seem to understand how this works. i don’t owe anyone anything. the way ive paid you back was giving you a good fuck like you asked.” “ellie, i was as high as a kite when i said that! jesus christ, you really don’t listen do you?” you don’t intervene even though ellie is looking for you to do so. something you learned was to never fight battles that weren’t yours. this was between them.

they argued. a lot. going back and forth while ellie took super long drags of the joint between her fingers. dinas car reeks of the smell of weed. ellie wouldn’t take anything seriously until dina raises her hand to smack the daylights out of her. a ringing sound resonates throughout ellies ears as she looks at dina in shock. “why the fuck would you slap me?” “i.. i don’t know.” dina was shocked and you were equally as shocked. ellie opens the car door and she gets out. “get out the car.” she says to you, opening your door. “what, but we’re in the middle of the—“ “get out the fucking car!” ellie yells. you get out. “thanks for nothing. don’t call me again when your boyfriend can’t make you cum!” ellie yells at dina, flipping her off before grabbing you by the wrist and dragging you off into the sunset. you look back at dina and you see her with a look of shock on her face. as if now she regrets what she’d done.

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 | 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷 after that day, dina hadn’t come around anymore. maybe because she was under investigation for helping you and ellie escape prison. you and ellie lived in a rv and it was pretty peaceful. she chilled on trying to kill you for a while. you sat outside in a beach chair, looking at the sunrise with a cup of tea.

she joins you, sitting in the chair right next to yours. she was smoking a cigarette. “i wanna do something with you. before that ‘normal life’ you want.” she said as she looked at you. “one last heist.” she exhales the smoke, the smell of tobacco entering your nose. “a heist? ellie, you know we can’t do that anymore. the police have our photos.. and fingerprints.” “they’ve had our photos and prints since 2017, baby.” those goddamn pet names that rolled off of her tongue made you a little weak in the knees. you hated her but you couldn’t hate her voice. “ellie, this isn’t a good idea. we need to think about this. the last time you tried to pull off a heist, you almost got arrested.” you tried to be the voice of reason in this ‘relationship’ (or lack therefore of.) “i hate doing this, ellie. i want a normal life. i wanna go home.” your voice was sad. “and what happens if you go back home? your parents will be happy to see you, naturally. someone could betray you. your mother, your brother. anyone.” her words hang in the air as she looks at you. she puts her cigarette out in the makeshift ashtray that sat on a small wooden table. “what do i always tell you?” you thought about it for a moment. ellie had lots of weird sayings. so you take a guess. “hate is the worlds strongest motivator?” she nods her head. “and what else?” “the person who doesn’t risk, cannot win? but quick question— what does that have to do with anything?” she gets up and she stands in front of you. she squats down to your eye level.

“you’re either one of two things in life. a fox or a rabbit. the fox will hunt the rabbit and won’t back down till it gets what it wants. the rabbit will run for its life so the fox doesn’t let the fox get it. who would you wanna be in life?” ellie had a strange way of looking at life. maybe when you’ve been locked up for so long, attempted to escape so many times and had some mental issues, your outlook on life changes drastically. her analogies always made you wonder how she’d even been able to look at life this way. when you don’t answer her question, she answers for you. “a fox. you wanna be a fox. right now? you’re being a rabbit. tighten the fuck up.” her hands give your thighs a few slaps as she spoke. they were a bit hard but not hard enough to leave marks. after your little talk, she goes back into the rv.

you’re sat there with a racing mind and a swell of emotions. the once warm tea had gone cold. whatever she’d been planning to do on this heist must’ve boosted her head up enough to the point where she could go around, telling people to tighten the fuck up. you resented her heavily. ellie wasn’t a hard person to hate. well, maybe a better word is loathe. she was a terrible person with no moral compass. she didn’t care about anyone else but herself. and maybe she’d been going through things on her own, but she had multiple options to get help. she lived knowing that she’d survive, and only would be at the top of the food chain. as if.

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 | 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟾𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷

ellie still wanted your help. she tried everything to convince you. a share of her earnings. a 60/40 share (you having 60%, leaving the other 40% to her.) but you don’t budge. she needed to think, her brain wasn’t functioning well at finding a different approach. maybe she could just let you go with that ‘normal life’ you’ve always wanted. but this wasn’t something she could just easily do alone. it was much bigger than that. and she also couldn’t threaten you cause then you’d definitely run away. ellie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been kind to someone. she’d been met with a harsh response to anything she’d ever done in life, so she projected her issues onto other people. maybe it wasn’t the best coping mechanism, but she felt like she had nothing to lose.

she approaches you slowly. “we should talk.” she mumbled. “about.. what?” you ask. “the heist.” “ellie, no—“ “just hear me out please.” she takes a breath before she starts talking. “i swear we won’t get caught. and if we do miraculously, ill take the blame. you can say i kidnapped you or something.” “why are you do adamant about doing this? do you even have a reason?” ellie slowly shakes her head. she sits next to you. her hands fall in her lap as she twiddled with her fingers. “yknow, i don’t really know. i just get these urges to do these things that don’t really make sense.” her tone was genuine, but you werent sure. ellie had a tendency to guilt trip you into doing things that you really didn’t wanna do all because you were the only person she had left and nobody else would do this for her. of course you knew what she was going through, albeit you didn’t understand on a personal level as she had because she was living with this everyday.

you saw all her pill bottles — some SSRI’s, something for her hallucinations, and some other stuff with scratched off labels. “ellie, i really hope you’re not trying to guilt trip me into doing this heist with you.” a part of you was fed up with her shit, just like dina had been. but another part of you wanted to be there for her (even though she didn’t open up), and you also like liked her a little. not too much. “of course this isn’t me guilt tripping you. in fact, you don’t even have to worry about it.” she turns to you and she smiles. it felt weird seeing her smile. with all that serotonin she got from the SSRI’s, she didn’t really ever smile. you didn’t put too much thought into it. you just hoped she wouldn’t do anything impulsive.

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚗𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 | 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷

ellie was up early the next morning. it was six something. she was pacing around outside while she was biting her nails. she was nervous or anxious about something. sometimes you wished you you’d be in ellies brain when she was being like this or being way too brief with her explanations when there was clearly something up with her.

what was she thinking about now? well, you. she was thinking about you. how long you’d put up with her, how long you’d live. stuff like that. there’s only one certainty in life — death. everyone inevitably dies one day even though they may not wanna. ellie planned on dying on her own terms. something else ellie thinks about often was her life before all this. she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her dad. she missed him. she also missed dina. ellie had dated a few people in the past, some girl named cat and dina. they didn’t end up really working out together because of ellies impulsive nature, but they stayed friends until.. the incident when dina slapped ellie.

in her own way, ellie wanted her old life back as did you. she wanted to wake up to the smell of joels coffee and dinas sleeping form in her bed, all that pretty curly hair sprawled over her pillow. but she knew what she was doing when she made this decision. she knew what she was doing when she decided to steal the identity of some rich lawyer so she could withdrawal all their money for herself. she knew what she was doing when she’d went to that very same lawyers office with an unregistered pistol, robbing them and leaving them with practically nothing. this couldn’t have happened coincidentally. she wanted her old brain back. the one that didn’t have violent and impulsive thoughts. the one that didn’t keep replaying her heinous crimes.

“you’re a mess.” ellie looks up. she sees herself wearing her prison uniform. her hair was much longer then (she’d cut most of it off.) “don’t tell me that. you’re a mess too.” she says to herself. “you want this heist so bad, then do it yourself. it’s nothing you can’t handle.” the split image of ellie was pushing her hands into her pockets and looking at the trees around her. “what’s stopping you?” “you know the answer to that question.” “i don’t. tell me ellie, what’s stopping you?” “y/n.”

as she says that, she hears your footfall behind her. she looks back at you and then back to where the other copy of herself had been. the other ellie was gone. you approach her slowly. “who were you talking to?” you ask, offering her a glass of orange juice that you’d made. “nobody. and uh, the heist.. it’s off.” she muttered as she takes a sip of the orange juice, quenching a thirst she didn’t know she had. “oh, well, that’s good.” you nod in approval. “im sorry.” ellie said it loud enough for your ears only. “i fucked up big time. i know i did. im sorry for putting you through this. im so sorry.” ellie almost never apologized for anything. your face flashes with multiple emotions at once, not sure which one you should feel right now. “it’s.. okay. it’s gonna take me some time to forgive you, but id like to try.” ellie turns to you once you finish speaking and she gives you a firm pat on the shoulder before heading towards the rv.

you felt yourself smiling a bit. you always knew she could do it. you just had to wait for her.

[mitigatedchaos]

Re: The 'Chillers' Discourse

(~1,200 words)

I've been asked to comment on the recent increase in the practice of parents placing their children into cryonic stasis in territories where this is legally allowed, which this emerging subculture are referring to as "pausing" the child.

The public-facing justification given is that this is essential when parents are suffering from severe physical or mental illness.

First, I'd like to address the health concerns. Cryonics as a field has advanced tremendously since the early 21st century. While opponents of this practice are horrified for moral reasons, they are blowing the potential health effects out of proportion. Several freeze-thaw cycles before age 18 is well within the acceptable limits laid out by most health authorities. Typical post-thawing symptoms are mostly nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and frequent urination, and clear within about two weeks. (This is assuming that it's a good-quality facility with competent staff. There are rumors of fly-by-night cryostorage facilities not rated for medical use engaged in the practice, but those are outside our jurisdiction.)

Second, I'm going to discuss why Orbital Operations & Planetary Security (OOPS!) are divesting our holdings of conventional murderers that were sent to lunar cryoprison by the pre-War government and shifting our focus primarily to a combination of wealthy patients and individuals convicted of crimes against humanity.

Placing someone in cryogenic suspension and then reviving them can cause acute and chronic psychological distress, as the period of time appears to pass 'instantly,' and while obviously they lose connection with current events, media, fashion trends, etc (and thus lose the context of society), they also lose connection with social contacts (who could help recontextualize). This condition, which we refer to informally as 'time shock,' is something we treat with an expensive reacclimatization period which covers the contents of the 'missing' time period and rebuilds social contacts with a pool of volunteers.

Without this therapy program, which is quite costly, a significant minority of subjects will request to go back into cryostasis, commit self-injury, or enter a prolonged period of depression. (It also accompanies a worsening of other mental health stats, including a risk of delusion. This is the 'cryo-psychosis' you've probably heard about.)

For children, this could seriously interfere with proper development. We therefore recommend that children are generally not placed into cryostasis, unless this is necessary for medical reasons, or the parent is also placed into cryostasis for some reason. (This is the official position of the OOPS cryonics branch.)

During the final phases of the war, our faction came into the possession of the previous government's unfilled mass cryoincarceration facilities. As part of strategic planning it was considered whether to use this capability to take a very large number of prisoners of war, and thus gain additional leverage during an ensuing occupation.

Due to both the practical and ethical ramifications, this decision was put to the central committee (composed of representatives of the biomechanoid officer corps) and guidance council (composed of representatives of the elders).

The real problem with cryoincarceration - and this also applies to 'chilling' children - is that it's cheap to keep prisoners on ice, but expensive to take them back out. This means that every year, the government (or parent) has the incentive to keep the prisoner on ice, and make paying to remove the prisoners the problem of the next government.

This was not a hypothetical at the time. This is how we came into the possession of so many conventional murderers and other prisoners to begin with. It was resolved to begin a 20-year drawdown, set to start at the end of the war.

Third, regarding the prisoners themselves...

There are a lot of theories on Earth about why we are getting rid of the prisoners. To go over some of these...

This is not a 'new form of warfare'. The prisoners are being delivered to prisons on Earth, not released into the general population.

If prisoners are being delivered to prisons in your territory, your government has agreed to take them. (Usually this means they were originally from your territory, unless they were previously from territory currently controlled by the World Union.)

In some cases, we may be paying your government to take the prisoners. In other cases, your government may be paying us.

None of the prisoners are from space. There is very little crime in space. (Due to the extremely contingent nature of life support, there is very little tolerance for crime in space.)

No prisoner released by this program has been deemed an "extreme escape risk."

Now, regarding the criminals we're either keeping or gathering (much smaller in number)...

Many of my colleagues have been happy to hint to outsiders that we are holding frozen criminals only until we can devise suitably awful punishments for their crimes. Many on Earth accept this without thinking about it due to our behavior during the war. While this might have some deterrent effect, this is not the reason.

Some on Earth believe we are keeping these prisoners to study them. They're apparently split on whether this is research to prevent future crimes, or to build even more terrifying human weapons. Some research is occurring, but I'm going to be honest with you - it's not very much. Most of these people are either so mundane that there's not much to learn, or so unique that nothing we learn about them usefully generalizes.

In this era, it's essentially impossible to entirely prevent a few people from going insane from ideology, or developing an ideological or psychological feedback loop with somatic capital, and exiting the normal human range of behavior (in a bad way).

However, having "defeated aging" (through somatic capital technology, even if deep rejuvenation inherently causes some pretty serious memory loss), people prefer the illusion of immortality.

When someone mounts their brain to a robotic scorpion and kills every woman in a sorority after dosing themselves with illegal neuroplasticity enhancers for over a decade, society demands that 'someone' "do something." (Even the biosocialists have this problem.)

So whenever the authorities manage to capture the perpetrator alive, they stick his brain in a rocket and blast it into outer space. "We're sending this terror to OOPS," they say, "the only group to ever successfully prosecute a sixth-generation war. Who knows what horrifying and incomprehensible things they will do to this horrible individual?"

It's about the best the non-religious ones can do.

The primary purpose of the cryoincarceration program is to preserve enough functional tissue samples of the cryoincarcerated for Earth-side governments to maintain their genomic ban on individuals convicted of crimes against humanity.

That's it. We don't plan on waking any of these people up.

Fourth, to bring it back to the 'chillers,' as their opponents have been calling them, I recently read a study out of Shanghai.

About 1,400 individuals with a child in cryonic storage for non-medical reasons were studied, and compared with 1,400 parents without children on ice as a comparison group. Hardship was only part of the study, but the researchers estimate that only about 20% of the individuals studied were experiencing hardships greater than the those typical in the comparison group.

I expect that over the next 10-20 years, laws will be changed to add more legal limits to the procedure in most (though not all) jurisdictions where it is currently legal.

[ladyluscinia]

OFMD fandom has me thinking about Protagonist Centered Morality, like, in general.

I feel like we only call it that when we think it's been handled wrong and are criticizing it, even though - let's be honest - we have all bought into some degree of protagonist centered morality in our favorite show. Like. It's the beating heart behind the very idea of a Mook - the faceless darkside minion that your heroes can destroy without any moral consequence for that action because who gives a shit? It's basically inescapable in every cop-show (or reskinned cop show like spn), chosen one story, action movie, revenge quest, underdog tale... we fucking love it when the universe agrees "yeah they earned that" and will generally just roll our eyes at people going "ok but you know your fictional murderers are doing bad things, right?"

Until we don't.

And, like, as an offshoot of this... 99% of the time, when you're criticizing a show for its protagonist centered morality, the most straightforward way to get your point across is complaining about whatever happened. "X did Y and then we're just supposed to forget about it?" Or "X is being such a hypocrite about Z!" And then someone else (real or hypothetical) pushes back with some point about how the story / other characters / etc. don't treat this as a problem and that kicks off the framing criticisms. But is it really about what they did?

People will object to the protagonist centered framing of actions they don't consider that serious, and be satisfied or unconcerned with the framing of actions they find borderline unforgivable. Protagonist centered morality can casually handwave (or seriously penalize) the whole spectrum of morally questionable actions from being a shit in high school to committing massive war crimes. Sometimes the primary complaint is that the protagonist already took a stance against this action, so now being fine with doing it themselves is hypocritical and out of character, and the problem with protagonist centered morality seems to be more that it's letting the OOC part slide.

The concept engages with genuine criticism of a characterization or character's actions as a shorthand, but the part it's actually complaining about is closer to feeling the narrative failed somewhere on a meta level to calibrate how much the audience should care about this event (and what level of in-universe caring would then satisfy).

It's not (at least usually) a fancy way of putting forward character crit of the good guys - most people who want to do that are just going to do so directly. If anything it has more in common with being upset at a story for breaking your Suspension of Disbelief (usually in the arena of character relationships).

[badaziraphaletakes]

Hello! This isn't exactly Good Omens related, but I've seen this blog talk about "perfect trauma victims" vs actual trauma victims, so i figured one of the lovely mods might know!

One of my WIPs right now is an essay on the harmful effects of "perfect trauma victims" on actual trauma survivors. I know that Harry Potter is a good example of the "perfect trauma victim" stereotype, but was wondering if you could think of any others? (I was thinking Cinderella, but I'm not sure). As for good portrayls of trauma survivors, I am planning on citing Aziraphale, but would Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel be valid, and are there any others?

Also, as another source: how would you define a perfect trauma victim versus a trauma survivor?

Thank you! Y'all are seriously doing Gods' work with this blog.

Cinderella is an interesting one because it's such an old story and has been retold in so many different ways that there's probably a version of Cinderella to fit any occasion. If we're talking about the Disney movie, then yes I would definitely cite her as a perfect trauma victim stereotype.

(I haven't watched Hazbin Hotel yet, so I can't speak on that. I'm starting to feel like this is a fail on my part.)

Another good portrayal of a trauma survivor might be Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In the first movie she was a pretty, helpless waitress who got yanked out of her comfortable existence and forced to endure horrifying things. In the second movie, she's hardened and unsympathetic. Her son tries to hug her, and she ignores his affection in favor of patting him all over, looking for injuries. Her character arc culminates in an attempt to k*ll an innocent researcher in front of his family in an attempt to change the future. The overall theme of the movie is that humanity will save humanity, and recognizing the value of human life is the ultimate goal for a happy future.

(I did not notice the Good Omens parallels until I typed that out just now. Neat.)

A perfect trauma victim is a societal myth that hurts real trauma survivors. It's a stereotype portrayed as a person that reduces survivors to a one-dimensional trope. It implies that if a trauma survivor is unlikable or makes bad choices, then somehow they deserve what happened to them or somehow brought it on themselves. Or that they're not a "real" victim; they must be lying or faking it if they don't act just right. In criminal trials, juries are tempted to find for the defense when the accuser turns out to have committed unrelated crimes or had a nontraditional sex life.

A trauma survivor is more difficult to write because they're more complex. They behave as real people would and are a complex blend of internal and external influences. They make choices that fans might not understand or approve of, but in terms of their own survival it makes sense. Like going along with a powerful, dangerous superior instead of telling him where to stick it, so that one and one's companion can live to fight another day. You know, hypothetically. :)

Hope this helps! <3

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

What is UP moonlight and ire nation, Im being tormented by intrusive thoughts rn, so I have decided to read a chapter of A Court of Mist and Fury and hope they stop when Im done with this. Last time on the Flames and Darkness Liveblog we had Lucien finally finding Feyre and Feyre being needlessly cruel to him until he left again. also, Feyre used her Tamlin-powers to shapeshift herself a pair of wings and I think that was pretty much it, I feel like not a lot happens in these chapters tbh. And yet I always have so much to say to say about them... Whatever, lets get into this

Chapter 48

Is Feyre smelling the other people at this inn having sex? what kinda smells and noises is she talking about

Theyre in a village that consists of just the inn theyre staying at, a tailor, a grocery store and a brothel? I mean presumably theres actual houses there too but that doest seem right. Also, if its as in-the-middle-of-nowhere as Feyre claims, where the hell are they getting groceries and what kind of groceries are they selling

of course theres only ONE BED and its soooooo small oh noooo do you guys think theyre gonna have sex or what

Oh and of course Feyre cant demand that Rhysand sleep on the floor because its too small to even do that theyre gonna have the wildest sex, and by wildest sex I mean theyre both gonna squeeze each other into the bed under the comically small ceiling of this broomcloset of a room and lay on top of each other without moving like a sandwhch made out of just faemeat

I feel like a cape thats cut to fit around these bigass illyrian wings would lose a lot of its functionality tbh, unless it was like, a wrapping for the wings to protect them from the cold, but I dont think thats the case with Rhysand's cape, i think it either just has holes or is some kind of weird shape, but I feel like if your in these harsh winter winds, having a cape fluttering around your wings would be pretty distracting considering how sensitive supposedly they are

WAIT. do we count this cape as a new Rhys-outfit or do we not. Im on the fence because on one hand, he's just wearing it with his usual illyrian leathers and its really just an accessoire, like I wouldnt count what he wore in the CoN as a new outfit just because he wore a crown with his black tunic, but on the other hand, I feel like a cape can really drastically alter the look of an outfit in a way most other acessoires cant. let me know what you think

of COURSE feyre would call the hypothetical painting she would make of Rhysand 'Death on Fast Wings' im gonna commit a crime

'"I love it when you look at me like that. [...] Like there's no reason to run away from my power. Like you're looking at me."' Does this imply that Rhysand identifies with the descriptor 'death on fast wings' because idk that seems weird. then again, he is a weirdo

Rhysand's pronouns are death/incarnate <- thought that popped into my head while I was writing the previous bullet point

By far the worst part about this book are all the sections where Feyre will just suck Rhysand off for a paragraph, she would not fucking say that

'"No, [you weren't afraid of me]. You were nervous, but you weren't afraid. I've felt pure fear often enough that I know the difference. Maybe that's why I couldn't leave you alone."' god, rhysand is such a creepy little freak. and not the good kind either

Feyre is being all like "oh, sure, the bed isnt small but we couldnt possibly both sleep in it without completely getting into each other's personal space, especially with his wings" girl??? tell him to put those thangs away???

god this paragraph is so annoying 'Fae-men were possessive, dominant and arrogant but the men of the Spring Court had a certain disregard [for my wishes] laying beneath the the surface' my brother in christ you have been in two and a half (2 1/2) courts and you know seven (7) fae-men personally

Also, this part where Feyre is like "if I was wasting away and Rhysand just stood by without doing anything about it, Cassian and Azriel would've gotten involved and given him a piece of their minds" is so funny knowing whats gonna happen in acosf, like no they fucking wouldnt! what are you talking about!

Oh man it just occurred to me. this is the chapter where Feyre finds out theyre mates isnt it. Or like, this part whre theyre at this inn is when she finds out, Im pretty sure itll last for multiple chapters

"[Rhysand] saw right through Ianthe the moment he met her." yeah because she broke into his bedroom and sexually harassed him and just outright told him that she wanted to have his children for the sake of power ?? I would hope he would see through that

I feel like theres been this pattern in this book of Feyre only being able to compliment Rhys in contrast with Tamlin and its very strange because you would think that after speedrunning their relationship development and spending about 500 pages worth of time with him, she would be able to point out some of his positives without immediately connecting them to her ex's negatives, but I guess thats too much to ask of this ROMANCE

Like, I forgot if this was something Feyre already said or if this is still coming up but I know theres a point in this book where she's like "I think I just loved Tamlin pre-UTM because I was so broken and traumatized from my shitty homelife that I fell for the first person to show me some kindness" and that is not how their relationship felt in ACOTAR at all atleast in my opinion, but that definitely is how Feysand feels in this book

I really hate it when male characters are described as having "hard muscles" it sounds so unpleasant. im saying this primarily as someone who likes to read about characters cuddling and prefers it when theyre soft for that, but even if we're just talking smut, does having sex with a "hard" guy sound pleasant to you? or, well. you know what i mean

!! NEW RHYS-OUTFIT DROPPED !! hes wearing wide thin pants (even though theyre sleeping in an ice cold broom closet) and a tight cotton shirt, both of unspecified color

Oh yeah, Rhysand is just sooooooo powerful you guys, he needs to constantly use his magic otherwise itll just take him over and turn him into the joker

'Everyone at his Court had a use, some kind of great ability. And here I was, a strange, unpredictable hybrid that was more trouble than it's worth.' girl you are literally fae jesus what the hell are you talking about

Maybe Im just in a bad mood but this part where Rhys n Feyre are telling each other about how they would tear the world apart if they were ever forcefully seperated is so deeply annoying to me

Im not gonna translate the shit Rhysand just said to Feyre, tldr he thinks shes hot and wants to fuck her but the room is too small for that woe is him, and ughhhh. Im struggling to explain this in a way that doesnt make me sound puritanical, but something about the horniness of their relationship makes it feel really gross to me, its not just the fact that this relationship is horny because I can very much enjoy a horny fictional relationship sometimes, but the horny relationships that I usually enjoy are like, warm and pleasant from the eroticism of it all, Feysand is just kinda gross and sticky to me

Feyre's negative self-talk in regards to her feelings for Rhysand and Tamlin feels so forced, like cmon man, you keep talking about how much Tamlin sucks ass and how much better Rhys is for you how are you still experiencing any kind of inner conflict about this

Also, Feyre talking about how she was constantly thinking about Rhysand even before she left the spring court is just, a lie. does SJM not expect her readers to remember anything

Now theyre spooning and Feyre is stroking his wings and Rhysand is humping her and its like, this isnt sexy to me this is just kinda weird

bro how come Ive never seen anyone talk about Rhysand being like "I love your boobs so much, oh, you dont even know how much I love them" thats so funny

The rest of this chapter was just Rhysand fingering Feyre and honestly, it wasnt too bad, with the extreme proximity and him warming her up I can see why some people would find it hot but idk. its still a sjm smut scene and its german which makes it pretty unpleasant for me