#i believe in the buddy system. specifically for these two and these two only--

[headspace-hotel]

There's a plentiful supply of nature and ecology writers that criticize "Anthropocentrism" and tell readers that we shouldn't consider ourselves more important than other life forms, and then they write things that are like "We evolved to live in Nature in a Natural environment...Long ago humans lived as hunter-gatherers instead of farming and domesticating animals...But when civilization was created, man unnaturally subjugated and modified plants and animals...Bringing them under human control for his own benefit...Man replaces natural ecosystems with artificially created "post-natural" environments...Now humans live in an unnatural environment that is separated from Nature...and i'm like buddy. do you even hear yourself

Since I have access to a bigger library now, I've explored "deep ecology" and "green anarchism" and "Biocentrism" a bit more and what i've seen is still kinda silly. The writers have very thoughtful theory and philosophy of diverse subjects relating to morality, society, power, and liberation, but...they just don't know very much about Nature.

I mean several things by that: first, they're not clear on the boring, practical details of things like food systems and the way construction alters ecosystems, second, they don't try to clearly define what "nature" is, and third, they act like "nature" has a clear definition anyway.

Now nature is pretty much undefinable anyway, a couple possible definitions are "all things that exist, have existed, or are possible in the universe" and "the thing that a forest has that a parking lot doesn't." You can say "biodiversity," but every space has biodiversity, and it's not clear how much biodiversity a space is "supposed" to have, we're just going on vibes. And the vibes are right, in a way; I visited an old-growth forest and it was DIFFERENT than any place i'd ever been in a way that is hard to describe. A flourishing, biodiverse ecosystem is different than a parking lot, a lawn, a monoculture field of corn. They say it's good for your health to be "in nature." What does that mean? At what point does a place become "nature?" How many trees does it have to have?

Something that is so painful to me is when people write "Human activities" as a cause of biodiversity loss. This is an act of cowardice. WHICH human activities? Name them.

A lot of nature and ecology writings treat humans like they have an anti-biodiversity force field that emanates from them. They write like lands on Earth are each contested between two inversely proportional forces, "Nature" and "Humans."

Without any more information, this is ethereal bullshit on par with crystals having energies. I am totally perplexed at the lack of curiosity about the specific causes and details of "human impacts." The division of habitats by so many roads and relentless speeding of cars with no way for wildlife to cross...the dumping of massive amounts of poison into soils and water...the wounding and disturbance of topsoil...these are the "human activities," but we can imagine a world without such destruction, and we can create that world.

Too many essays and papers talking about Nature non-specifically, an Idea of Nature, a Concept that everyone just intuitively knows. Nature is...you know...wildness! and trees! and...well, you know, NATURE!

And we do know! When we step out into the parking lot surrounded by low, squarish buildings and blaring signs and the stink of car exhaust, we know that something is very wrong with this place! Even we find these horrible un-places harsh and unwelcoming.

But it is very hard to imagine something different, because the other type of place, the place that is beautiful and soothes the spirit and is full of life, is by definition the place where humans only go to visit, the complete opposite and inverse of a place where humans work and live! Wherever humans live, shop, eat, fulfill their daily needs, that place is Not Nature.

The huge mistake, is that we believe that it is necessary to have places that are Not Nature. We believe that for humans to exist, areas must be set aside where the very concept of Nature is utterly obliterated.

From this imaginary and dismal point of view, we have to carefully confine our own lives to places that are utterly poisoned, sterilized, made into a hostile wasteland, and leave all the rest of the living biosphere to itself in pristine preserves.

And in this imaginary and dismal point of view, the one that divides Earth into Nature and Humans, it is okay to poison and to sterilize and to destroy, because humans must live SOMEWHERE, therefore Nature must be utterly excluded from at least SOME of Earth.

BUT...WHAT IF EVERYWHERE IS NATURE? What if the dandelions in the cracks of the pavement, the lichens growing on the park bench, the wildflowers on the side of the road, the sparrows in the parking lot—what if they are all Nature just as much as anything else? What if they too are sacred? What if it is our responsibility to see the connectedness of all life and to care for all ecosystems, however broken and hurt they may be?

What if Nature is not distant and abstract, untouched in some pristine place, but always reaching out, digging into the crumbled concrete and gravel and compacted ground, clawing to return to us and bring us back home?

It does not take away from the value of the old-growth forest or the unplowed prairie if we open our eyes and see even the scraggliest patch of overgrown weeds for the powerful manifestation of Nature it truly is.

Nature is not a place or a thing. Nature is the Movement, the Endless Happening, constantly alive throughout all life, the way of all things being family, the way of all things taking care of each other, the way of all life being constantly transformed through one another. You breathe the breath of the trees of your home, you drink the water of the streams of your home, you eat the sunlight that falls on your home, grown in the soil where all things go to be transformed through death into a new form of life, fed by the mycorrhizal network, pollinated by the bees, wasps, flies, and moths, nourished by the bone, blood and manure of beasts, and ultimately the fertile river valleys where agriculture first began, were replenished by the rich silt that washed down the river, which came from the forests in the mountains that shed their leaves to make a feast for a million decomposing critters, which is how the rich soil is made.

In this way they all take care of you, and in return you are asked to Live—to take care of them in return, to live as part of the great family of everything alive, to live, to live

What are human activities...? Deforestation? Mining? Spraying pesticides? Building housing developments? But is that all? Are we inherently a "bad" and "destructive" species, or is our ability to acquire and pass down knowledge, use tools and novel behaviors, alter our surroundings, shape ecosystems, adapt our lifestyles almost infinitely, and persist in almost any environment, simply incredibly powerful for good or for evil?

First of all, what better way to demonstrate a contrast to anthropocentrism...than to compare the impact of humans alone to the impact of an ENTIRE KINGDOM OF LIFE, the fungi????? Of course all of Fungi are more important than one single species??? Wtf?!?!?

But also, we should not convince ourselves of our own insignificance and worthlessness to the biosphere, because in the same way that individual self-loathing can be a way to avoid the hard work of loving oneself and advocating for the love one deserves, collective self-loathing as a species is a way of avoiding the responsibility we have to other life forms.

How can this author not think of a single role Humans play in the ecosystem?? What species plants trees, saves seeds, documents rare plants, rescues injured animals and heals them, raises orphaned chicks, manages controlled burns, digs ponds, thoughtfully harvests in anticipation of future seasons, mercifully culls in understanding of suffering that cannot be fixed? What species writes a new chapter in the genome of the American Chestnut so it can be saved from extinction? What species mends the broken kakapo egg with sticky tape? What species addresses their own habitat with that fondest name of Home?

[chevelleneech]

This ask isn't meant to downplay jikook enlisting together or anything, I just wanted to share some info given your last post.

To enlist in the companion system, you have to be between the ages of 18-28. This means that by the time the enlisted, only the youngest 3 of bts were eligible. This is just to say that we can't really say whether the other members would have wanted to use this system as it wasn't available to them.

Yes, only two people can apply to go with each other. For bts, that means that only two of the three eligible for the companion system would be able to even apply because you have write down the other person's recruitment number (i.e. you can't make multiple applications and hope you just get one of them, it would disqualify you).

You only have to prove a close relationship with your companion, either friend or relative. You don't need to give a specified reason, like health issues for example, to have a companion. I think the companionship system is actually quite common, just not seen as much among celebrities/idols. Most regular men enter the military quite young, either right out of high school or right out of college, so going with a friend isn't unusual or weird.

All of this to say, I'm not negating the possibility of there being something romantic between jikook, just wanted to demystify some of the ideas about the companion system. After watcher watching the bts enlistment vlog, regardless of romantic relations, I do think jimin and jungkook looked the most wary of enlisting and like they needed the emotional support the most compared to the other members, especially out of the three of them that were eligible to use the companion system.

Hi, anon! I appreciate your message, and appreciate you stating you don’t aim to downplay JM and JK’s choice, but I don’t think you understood what I said in some parts. Mainly the points you brought up, which I acknowledged in my post.

Regarding 1 and 2, I said: “They would have only had to spend 18 months apart, yet they sat down and made the decision to do this together, knowing the older members did not have the option and that Tae would be left unable to apply with either of them once they applied.” — I said that, because I am aware that the older members didn’t have the option, even if they wanted to do it. As well, again, once they chose to apply together, Tae would be excluded.

Earlier in my post, I also said this: “Meaning, having multiple applications seems like a sure fire way of being denied, because you’re no longer asking for a specific person to not do it alone with, but for anyone to help you…” — So, again, while I may not know the deeper details, I am already aware of what is/was unlikely for them.

As for your third point, while I perhaps didn’t word myself in a definitive way, I also brought this up here: “From how I understand it, applicants have to apply at a certain time and with full paperwork as to why they and their buddy should be allowed to enlist together.” — I wasn’t insinuating they’d have to prove mental or physical reasons why they needed a buddy, just that there needed to be time for the paperwork to go through, and the paperwork was required to essentially plead their case, aka prove they’re actually friends and not random people linking up.

So yeah, I don’t want to come across as combative, but you aren’t exactly demystifying anything regarding my post. We’ve said the same things, with the exception that I believe, even while not knowing the extent of their relationship, them enlisting due to potentially being romantically involved makes a lot of sense. I’m not saying they are for certain, just that when looked at from an outside perspective, imo, it makes just as much sense as them simply being the closest two in the group.

As for them possibly just needing that extra support, I also said that. However, at the same time, I don’t think it’s fair to assess their mental health as being more serious than Tae’s. For example, he may have also needed extra support, but JM and JK might have already chosen to apply for the buddy system. So he might not have looked as reserved, because he had no choice but to come across as at the very least, ready to face the inevitable. That’s just an example of course, but I say it, because the idea that Jimin and Jungkook were visibly more bothered, is purely our interpretation of their behavior. Which is fine, but it can’t exactly be an answer, you know? Which is why I also said my curiosity requires releasing fan theories, because we can theorize all day, but that’s not really what I wanted to talk about.

Because if I go there about their mental health, I’d have to also acknowledge how Jimin and JK didn’t seem any more reluctant than Namjoon; who spent months leading up to his enlistment making it clear he was unhappy about it. Who has, since going in, made it clear he is unhappy and fearful of what his future will look like once discharged. So because Jikook haven’t given us any reason to think they are more in need of partnership than Joon, we can’t exactly use that as the most likely reason they chose the buddy program. It’s a sensible theory, and I do think it is valid, but again, it’s not exactly what I was talking about.

My post was purely based on the curiosity of how they came to such a serious decision, because it is serious, for them. Yes, many men go in after high school, but they didn’t. They didn’t jump into service with a friend, they went in a decade later with coworkers. Are BTS best friends? Absolutely, but the only display of “enlisting with a friend”, was Namjoon and Tae, but even they didn’t aim for similar placements as far as we know. And yes, it may be common to use the buddy program, but for a group with a third member who was also eligible, the two of them still chose to apply to go with each other specifically.

So again, I’m not making a statement on their bonds with the other members or insinuating they are romantically involved for sure. I’m just forever intrigued that they likely looked at the fact that one of them enlisting with Tae was an option and that them going by themselves was an option, yet ultimately deciding neither was what they wanted. What they wanted was to do this together, and the “why” of that interests me, regardless of the fact that it’s not something I expect an answer to.

[cursedthing]

So. when were you almost kidnapped by the fae?

ALRIGHT SO

The first time I was around 8! There's a pretty dark forest (which is surrounded by ANOTHER, miniature forest with a different wood type) near the old elementary school I used to go to and even before going to this school I was always drawn to it, not just the "oh I'm very curious and want to explore as it is normal for children my age to do so" but more like "this forest is actually Calling to me and whenever I'm near it I have the strongest urge to go there". I never went there because I knew that you're not supposed to go somewhere alone but one day I was hanging out with two of my friends and we didn't know what to play. Naturally since we were near the forest I said that we could go there which my friends reluctantly agreed to after me saying that a few times.

We went there and hopped over the creek that separated The Dark Forest from the miniature light one, it was all fine and dandy with the forest practically pulling me in and the two of my friends incredibly confused (as I never suggested things like this before, I may have been a hyperactive child but I would always be contained to specific spots).

As soon as I stepped foot into that forest it was like the illusion finally broke and felt intense dread and sense that somethings Wrong and as if something that isn't human nor animal was watching us. I imidietly told the friends that "hey! We should turn back now! Like we really should!", they didn't listen and I had to pretty much beg them to get out as fast as they could, they only followed after I jumped back to the lighter side of the creek.

The second time is related to this forest, again.

It was when I was around 11, with same friends and their siblings. It was winter and it finally snowed enough for us to go sliding down steep slopes, which with our luck was next to The Dark forest. We were warned that we shouldn't get too close to it as some foxes were spotted a few weeks back. So we created a sort of buddy system so that we slide in pairs so that no one finds themselves alone near the forest.

We were just having fun until one of the friends younger sisters who I was paired with told me that she felt as if something was watching us and that it wasn't any of our friends. I told her that I believed her as I too had the same feeling. We told the others and tried to stay even closer than before. We theorized that it was the fox watching, which it could have been! But then again that feeling of watched was near identical to the feeling of being watched the first time the fae tried to take me away.

Later we found out that there's a graveyard near by. Fun times!

Third time, surprisingly NOT next to that forest. I was around 13. My extended family and I went hiking to see an old church in the middle of a forest, as a family does.

At some point two of the cousins and I got separated from others. And the memory gets a bit blurry here but I know that for some reason I knew which trails and forest signs to follow. The cousins and I ended up next to bunch of tiny waterfalls and we ended up screaming so that the others could find us echolocation style.

FOURTH TIME! Once again, in a forest (ha ha there's a pattern, awesome-), in the mountains. We were once again hiking. Pretty sure it was the same year actually!

We were getting back from the top peak and gling to where we left the cars. Others stopped to rest a bit on the side of the trail. I Also wanted to rest a bit but for some reason I kept going, as if someone else was controlling my legs. Not long walking turned into a sort of run? You know how deer run? Yea something like that. My mind was completely empty and I felt the urge to just sing but I didn't since I knew in the back of my mind that people would hear me. Luckly I ran into my dad and brother and I finally stopped. A few minutes my bro slipped into a mud patch and dad was helping him get up. Whatever was making me run before came back, awesome, cool, don't run in forests kids ESPECIALLY not near A CLIFF thats dangerous. When dad noticed that I was Gone he called after me and if he didn't I would have gotten completely lost as I went on an entirely separate path that led deeper I to the forest. I came back and reunited with the others safely.

The trail was pretty nice the top incredibly cold so take warm clothes with you. The fae stealing bit was weird so I would rate that whole experience a 7/10.

And that's all the times the fae (???) attempted to take me away! :D

[parkminijiminie]

Very unpopular opinion, but the enlistment bangtan bomb was one of the things that made me stop thinking they might be more than friends. This is going to sound so small, but them not knowing about the status of each others' hair sealed the coffin for me. Two people who care that much about their hair (and general bodily aesthetic expression) and live in a beauty-centric culture and are literally idols would have told their partner about doing something as big as shaving their head (considering how long waited, it was very clearly a big deal for him). Christ, I don't care about my hair and I would have even at least told or called my best friend, let alone my partner (I already know this ask is going to get someone commenting that they've been married 40 years and never tell their husband when they go to the salon LOL).

Part of me really wonders why they chose to enlist together and if it actually is as significant to them as we view it. Don't get me wrong, I think they still have a special bond even if they aren't romantically involved and enlistment is a big deal, but also the reality is that both of them had to enlist either way and if they wanted to enlist with someone, they were literally each other's only option within the group. Not saying they wouldn't have gone together anyway or would have chosen a different member, but the reality is also that even if they wanted to go with another member they couldn't (hyungs were ineligible because of age cutoff for the buddy system and tae had a specific division he was going for). They could either try to do it together or go alone. I know someone will say, but they made the sacrifice to be in a harder unit, but the reality is that a decent chunk of korean men also do so, and no, the buddy system isn't just made up of closeted men. For some people (and I think this includes jimin and jungkook), having someone be there with you through a traumatic period is worth being in a harder unit, that's why the buddy system even exists and is utilized. Because of all this, part of me doesn't expect to see a big change between NY and the rest of the stops. I just don't know if enlistment is the big rainbow at the end of the tunnel that other jikookers see it as.

But I'm open to it! Obviously I wouldn't be on a jikook blog if I didn't still question jikook's relationship.

Thank you for this interesting take!

I disagree on the hair tbh. JM obvi knew JK had cut his hair, and I think it was clear JM will turn up with shaved hair but I believe he left it for the last possible minute, so JK didn't actually know the time of it.

[iraqueer]

I may be a hater for this one (I'm sure I am) but I'm reading a book about US soilders (because I hate myself and love being angry) and specifically about the moral injuries sustained from Iraq and Afghanistan. and living in the US and basically growing up with all my knowledge of Iraq being through the lens of its destruction. the only videos I see of it are either heroic western media war propaganda aka CNN FOX MSNBC or aljazeera which also just shows poverty destruction devastation. and everytime I see a soilder to me its basically looking at someone who has likely killed or aided in the killing of my people and I do too by paying my taxes. and I'm reading this book about the moral failings that happen by nature of war and because those wars lasted so long the immoralityis greater. how these people these soilders are recruited at 18 not because they're more physically fit and definitely not because theyre more mentally capable then but because that's the best time to brainwash someone to fuck off to another country to defend freedom or whatever bullshit. and they get there and they hate and resent the people there because they view them all as combatants and they form bonds with the soilders they're deployed with amd don't report them for fucked up shot they do.

two -thirds of the marines surveyed told the MHAT researchers they would not report a buddy for injuring or killing an innocent noncombatant. Fewer than half of soldiers and marines believed that Iraqi civilians should be treated with dignity and respect

the fuck am I supposed to do with that. and I read this book and fuck i understand how it could get to this point I understand how they could feel this way and

I hate myself for empathizing..

do they do the same for us? does the soilder seek out books about us do the listen to interviews trying to understand us do they empathize and hate themselves for it? or do they morn the brothers they lost for nothing and stop there. I'm happy that their are veterans that say iraq was a mistake and yell at congress and the government and protest the US imperialism....but do they do it for their sake for the brothers they lost only or do they think of us too?

I see echos of this (forgive me for comparing tragedies its not what im trying to do) when another black person is killed by the cops and the family is interviewed and they have to say they want peaceful protests and uphold safety or when every palestinian has to say theyre against israel but not anti jewish and like why must we prove that we're still moral. we're mourning and have to come out and say no riots peaceful protests please we have to be so careful what we say we have to be sure we pinpoint the systems of oppression and can't feel rage.( I know I'm not articulating this the way I want to but I can't intellectualize right now)

I get it its right we should do that! but why is it only us? why is it only the oppressed that ever do this. why do we have to do it on national television? why is that the only question that's asked of us by the news? condemn hamas! condemn the violence and looting! (and that is a whole other thing like the hyperfocus of the media on a few instances one Wendy's buring downinstead of community members cleaning up and helping the business that were broken into instead of the millions of peacful protests. and what have peacful protests gotten? nothing changes! it keeps happening!) answer these questions and make us (the oppressors) comfortable that you won't turn on us and call out our complicity and now that you've done so that's all the time we have for the interview.

[furryprovocateur]

and she's back in the game.

welcome to WK hell! this chapter is full of WKs that will eat your baby, and the longer spent in this chapter, the more that spawn. my goal for this chapter was to get to all the villages asap, steal oleg's hero crest, then fucking delete him the same turn. turns out that wasn't nearly as hard as i worried it would be, because it basically only took one or two resets (one because i fielded dart originally lol). honestly, the best way to do this chapter is to just strike while the iron's hot and do all your shit before the reinforcements plod in. doing the casual run, it was a nightmare because i was planning on killing all of them and so often did they get a coinflip away from killing eliwood (eliwood is such fucking deadweight here it's unreal). meanwhile, if you just rush with bartre + hector + raven (lancereaver preferred, but optional), you'll be fine for the most part.

so, with that in mind, i deployed bartre and raven (as mentioned), priscilla (now that i have physic staves, deploying at least one healer per chapter is non-negotiable), lowen (was able to get some very slight utility out of him in that he got the light rune + the wyrm slayer, all on top of getting a level), fiora (considering you have basically 5 turns to get the elysian whip, using one of florina/fiora is almost mandatory to get it + she ate up those monks for dinner), and obviously matthew (who, thanks to masterful strategy, i was able to send to the arena for an easy win against a fighter, lol).

thing to note: i burned the body ring you get from the transfer bonus on fiora. at this point, the body ring is only going to three places: florina, fiora, or the storage, and right now, fiora could use the boost. florina is basically perfect as is and while fiora's not doing poorly, the boost helps. i figured this was as good a time as any to use it because she had crested over the expected point of potentially being able to not need it.

other than that, the chapter's fairly straightforward. get to the villages, know the enemy spawns and reinforcements, be mindful of HP + use the buddy system, etc. etc. i would've liked to use the arena more than once, but it's not only unsafe, but impractical if i can finish the chapter this early. oh well. in spite of not using this arena, this was a great grinding chapter, as everyone got great level ups, even eliwood. bartre's just hit 10 speed, can you believe it? i wasn't even aware the dude could hit double digit speed. joke's aside, bartre's really coming into his own as a front liner, and he's going to make a good great value hector considering hector's about to hit 20 and suddenly become a "do not use under any circumstances" unit to me.

one last thing to mention: i went to the armory and bought a shitload of stuff with the silver card. to be specific, 2 of each: iron sword, iron lance, iron axe, javelin, and hand axe. it might be a bit much, but i could afford it + next chapter has a chest with like 50k gold in it iirc so that'll be how i can afford to buy a shitload of barrier staves. between having ninian + physics and barriers, i'll soon be able to really cushion the experience rank even moreso. we're nearing the part of the game where i'm going to consistently miss experience rank benchmarks and need to offset it with the 0 requirement chapters as much as possible, so every little bit will help.

[theblogs2024]

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[the-deadlock-south]

i cannot stress this enough

[robininthelabyrinth]

a lot of people in fandom have this idea that nie sect is some super progressive place and if only MY had dealt with the CQL captain guy better then he'd have had every opportunity to advance and be accepted but it didn't happen for him because he was too sneaky? hiding his 'real' personality? or something like that? what are your thoughts on this bc mine rn are teetering between 'yeah maybe' and being a bit annoyed at the way fandom has decided nie sect is actually perfect and can do no wrong

Okay, so the tone of this question is weirdly aggressive for whatever reason, but let me share my thoughts anyway.

First: the Nie sect is clearly not a place that is wholly lacking in the usual types of biases found in the cultivation world, including specifically against people with "questionable" backgrounds, i.e. Meng Yao's mother being a prostitute. We know this from there is bullying, name-calling, etc., both in the cave and, in CQL, from the captain. This is all bad.

However, this is modified by two things: the fact that there is ample evidence that this is the same everywhere else in the cultivation world (and is indeed worse, including for example in the Jin sect, per novel canon), and the fact that despite this, Meng Yao has managed to significantly advance his career at the Nie sect. Nie Mingjue stood up for him, took measures against those he saw as looking down at him, promoted him and treated him as his right hand man advisor - in CQL, we see him entrust him with his younger brother and listen to him over his own best instincts. He trusted him.

In a system where blood and birth is everything - Meng Yao isn't going to be made an heir to Nie sect because, well, he's not a Nie - Meng Yao has basically reached the highest pinnacle of what is possible to achieve with pure merit. Is there still a hostile work environment? Yes, because that's the culture they live in. But Meng Yao has Nie Mingjue - the big boss - backing him to the hilt. In CQL, we literally see that Nie Mingjue will start yelling at people he learns are putting Meng Yao down because of his birth.

That's the key point here - Nie Mingjue can't do shit about the stuff that doesn't get reported to him. From a modern corporation perspective, Nie Mingjue is basically doing all you can ask for: he's providing the correct tone from the top, he's ensuring that people who violate that are swiftly disciplined, he's modeled a better example through promoting and trusting Meng Yao, and he's provided a route for future complaints by establishing that he is willing to listen to Meng Yao's judgment.

Does that immediately make everything perfect for Meng Yao? Of course not! Nie Mingjue is fighting upstream against not only his own sect's culture, but the entire cultivation world's. But he's doing the best he can, and that, at least, is more than we see anyone else doing. (In CQL, Lan Xichen does something similar by personally modelling acceptance of Meng Yao, though notably, he doesn't take any action to punish those who were mocking him, which in CQL he had the right to do as sect leader. This makes being nice to Meng Yao a personal trait of Lan Xichen that others are encouraged to emulate, which is a good start, but doesn't go as far as Nie Mingjue since there's no reason to stop looking down at Meng Yao if you don't happen to feel like it.)

Conclusion: the Nie sect is a pretty good place to be at for someone like Meng Yao, as available places in the cultivation world go. While gaining acceptance would not happen immediately, there is no reason to think that it wouldn't happen eventually.

Now, onto your point about Meng Yao being "too sneaky" or showing his "real" personality being the issue - the issue, at heart, is not about whether Meng Yao was faking his sweetness. It's that Meng Yao chose not to tell Nie Mingjue about the captain's bullying, despite having previous evidence that Nie Mingjue would likely take his side against bullying, and instead chose to MURDER THE GUY. To be clear, in the modern corporate environment, even if you have a really hellish hostile work environment, even if you think your boss would side with the other guy over you and there's no point in making a report (which isn't the case here), even if all that is true, murder is not an appropriate response.

But it's not a modern corporate environment, it's the cultivation world, where murder happens a lot more casually - well, guess what, even if murder is okay (and it's not), do you know when it's pretty obviously NOT okay? In the middle of an attack on the sect by an enemy.

You don't really come back from that. Sorry. Doesn't really matter what your personality is, if you're willing to do that, you're out at best.

Where Meng Yao not showing his "real" personality comes in is actually later: he pretended to be righteous and just, just the way Nie Mingjue likes people to be (and that's totally okay because righteousness is an act not an intention; as long as he acted righteously, he was righteous, and who cares whether it came to him naturally). But maybe if he'd shown Nie Mingjue his true self, it wouldn't have been such a shock when he murdered a man in cold blood, and would have made it easier to forgive him later.

(I sincerely believe that part of Nie Mingjue's trauma at Meng Yao's action is the discovery that his trusted advisor, someone he thoguht of as a friend, wasn't at all the person he thought he was. I've compared it in the past to discovering that a good buddy of yours commits domestic violence - so often, you get people going "I never would have expected it from them, they were so nice to me" and are shocked and horrified because they feel they should have known, they should have seen signs, they should have figured it out.)

But the key thing here is - when your trust in someone is broken, it's broken. Nie Mingjue knows that Meng Yao isn't what he thought he was, and yet, for the rest of their relationship, Meng Yao persists in continuing to act as if he was that sort of good person...and gets pissed at Nie Mingjue for not believing it. Why should he believe it? Nie Mingjue wants to forgive him and to try to build a relationship with the person Meng Yao really is, and Meng Yao won't let him because he wants Nie Mingjue to go back to not having ever looked behind the curtain. Which is, of course, impossible.

If Meng Yao had been up front with who he was, maybe Nie Mingjue would have known to look for what Meng Yao wasn't telling him and been able to help prevent everything. Maybe he would have extended more sympathy to Meng Yao for the actual act of killing the guy. Maybe they could have made up again later.

Maybe not.

But what is inescapable is that Meng Yao's own decisions are what cost him his position in the Nie sect, and nothing else.

[mega-aulover]

Thoughts on Gale?

Hi Anon,

Wanted to give this some thought before I ramble aimlessly. I like Gale. I think the injustice Gale received was in the movie franchise. The studio wanted to play up the "triangle" angle and it doesn't exist in the books. I'm not going to lie I've poked fun of Gale, but I am sympathetic to him. I've stated before that I've worked with kids like Gale. This is personal experience mixed with the literature of the book.

1. Suzanne Collins was very specific about Gale: Another side of an argument when it came to the themes of war, propaganda, and senseless violence - which by extension was a side of Katniss.

2. Katniss and Gale were hunting buddies and she loved him. She says it in Catching Fire. Katniss and Gale are very similar at the beginning of the Trilogy. But by the end of Mockingjay, they're two different people with different ideas, different lives, and different perspectives. Remember Gale had never killed anyone. Katniss killed Marvel, she killed Cato (mercy shot), she saw Rue die in the Hunger Games. By Catching Fire Gale didn't understand why Katniss couldn't move on. He couldn't comprehend the trauma and the PTSD Katniss faced. She had 1st world problems dealing with a Dictator and keeping him happy. While Gale was dealing with 3rd world problems, getting food on the table. Gale's defining moment came when he saw D12 destroyed. But he didn't know the personal cost of taking a life until he was on the streets of the Capitol with star squad 451. He didn't understand the cost of war until Prim's death. A little girl he thought of as a sister and someone to be protected.

3. Gale was an eighteen-year-old kid. I read somewhere that Gale was sexualized by presenting him as a hunk. And I agree. Coin used him to promote her agenda. She offers Gale as Katniss's love interest. Coin used his ideas to kill Prim. She played with his emotions. Coin turned Gale into a weapon, and you see that when the decision was being made to destroy the NUT in District Two. Gale was brainwashed to believe that what he was doing was correct. How did Alma Coin do it, she used his anger and despair of the destruction of D12. Gale was taught that everything he went through was the fault of the Capitol.

4. I've always maintained Gale didn't have an easy childhood. I just believe that Gale's father like so many in the Seam were depressed and had an alcohol addiction problem.

Why would I make that statement?

There is only one possible job for a kid from the Seam, a miner. The pay received doesn't cover the expenses of having a family. The men and women couldn't feed and clothe their families. Do you know how hard it is knowing your kids not only have to face a Reaping but they go to sleep hungry? Can't buy them basic things shoes, a warm coat, a bed? The people in the Seam live in a quasi shantytown. Most of the residents in the Seam are most likely one step away from homelessness. That is demoralizing for parents and they have no Mental Help no assistance except the Capitol will give your twelve-year-old food for an extra slip in the Reaping bowl. Sign your child up for an extra shot at death.

Why alcohol?

Hard drugs are hard to come by and probably so expensive no one can afford them. There probably is a "spirit" store in D12, but it's expensive. Ripper exists because she sells cheap white liquor. Depressed and oppressed by the system, Gale's father like many in D12 turned to self-medication ie: Ripper's white liquor. It would explain why Gale was so angry. He probably saw things that no kids should see. It's why at 14 he was acting like a grown-up. He probably was an adult for the majority of his childhood.

5. Gale the war Hero. He paid a big price to get there and he didn't want to lose Katniss as his friend. But the war changed everything between them and I wonder if he got the help that Katniss and Peeta received or if he turned to self-medication? Gale had fame and fortune but at what cost?

PS Anon thank you for asking. I'm an Everlark fan but I love in-depth discussions about the characters in the books.

Maybe you can ask bout Cato, Marvel, Clove Glimmer, Rue, Fox Face, Cinna omg I love Cinna. Haymitch, Madge - Mrs. Everdeen, hell I'd like to go in on Mrs. Everdeen, Mrs. Mellark & Hazelle Hawthorne the three women who reared the three protagonists of the Hunger Games!

[shadowonwater]

Gingko Guild Speculation

So I was trying to write about what happens to Ginter in my au but then got distracted World Building about the Gingko Guild and decided to make this a separate post.

So we don't really know that much about the Gingko Guild. We know they are merchants. We know that Ginter is the head of the Gingko Guild, or at least the head of the ones in Hisui. We only know of a few other members, Volo, Tuli, and there's also one named Mani. So this is me just going off and doing my own thing with these guys.

The Gingko Guild is rather large and connects to multiple regions. The Hisui branch is one of the smaller branches of the Guild and Ginter is the head of that branch. He takes his job of running things very seriously.

The Gingko Guild have been in Hisui for some time now, probably about a decade. The Clans are used to them and are unbothered by their presence. It helps that the Guild does a lot of trade with the Clans.

About every 6 months a Gingko Guild owned ship ports at Gingko Landing in the Coastlands, (that's how it got it's name). And trades with the branch there. The branch living in the area mostly trade over items that can't be found outside Hisui or stuff that's rare outside it. While the ship hands over items not found, or not easily found in Hisui. This trading involves bartering items as well as money payment.

Some items that the Gingko Guild hands to the ship are: Hand-Crafted Items made by the Clans, natural resources such as tumble stones and medicinal herbs, as well as resources from Pokemon such as combee honey and Swinub fur.

Other than items, however, they also capture Pokemon. Nothing too dangerous, nothing that the people on the ship can't handle. But they got Pokeballs and they are here in Hisui to trade and make a profit. There are Pokemon here that other people in the world might want. So they capture some Pokemon and they get traded to other parts of the world.

This has various consequences. Such as Hisui Pokemon populating other parts of the world. Also some Pokemon in Hisui become harder to find. In particular this has a hard hit on the Petilil population. Petilil are popular around the world because of their leaves medicinal benefits. So the Gingko Guild capture many of them and ship them off overseas. Later it's believed that this is a big contributor to the disappearance of Petilil in Sinnoh.

The Gingko Guild purposefully keeps this particular activity a secret from the clans. Especially the Pearl Clan, due to their feels about space. The Clans in general are not a fan of capturing Pokemon. If they found out about this the Gingko Guild might lose it's trading with them. Many members of the Galaxy Team know, however.

There are more Gingko Guild members than we see in game. They usually travel in pairs, a buddy system to keep each other safe and give company. All members must have at least one Pokemon in a Pokeball to keep safe from wild Pokemon. Members usually have two though, sometimes more.

Braver Guild members also enter distortions to get the rare items that appear. And a few even go for capturing the rare Pokemon that appear there as well. There are some members that keep the distortion Pokemon on their team, partially for bragging rights.

Ginter's "buddy" is Tuli. They usually stay at Jubilife. If some sort of issue comes up a Guild member either comes to talk to Ginter in person about it. Or stays around one of the clans to send a messenger bird and receive the message back.

The Guild Members mostly work independently. They all come together for the trading when the company ship arrives. The whole event usually takes 1-3 days. Ginter is in charge of making sure things run smoothly. Clan members might ask for something in specific. Ginter will ask the ship to bring that thing next time they appear.

[mayakern]

I saw on your Twitter you play dnd! What kind of character do you play and what system? Also, do you do your own commissions of your characters or do you get it from other artists?

oh hell yeah i love dnd!!! i mostly just play 5E but my regular group did our second session in city of mists last night and it was SUPER fun (we play that instead of our ongoing game whenever our aussie players can’t make it)

i don’t usually reuse dnd characters because even tho i love my characters, they usually all end up with their own history and relationship to their games so adapting them feels weird, but here’s a run down of some of my favorite characters i’ve played! (and ye all this art is by me)

1. anenome (or nem for short)

she’s a water genasi arcane trickster rogue/divination wizard. she’s from a game where we started out playing kids (nem was 11) and then after a Big Event had an 11 year time skip where everyone in the party had to separate before a big reunion. she used to be a really shy and sweet and optimistic kid, but after everything fell apart and she became an accidental criminal, she stopped believing in any sort of fairness in the world and grew up super jaded and nihilistic, tho she still strives to protect that spark of optimism in others (not that she’d admit that). she is SUPER SUPER gay and is married to flare (fire genasi sorcerer). they have a bunch of history and i love them a lot!

2. nora

this is my city of mists character!! she’s a twitch streamer/cam girl/only fans model/l33t h4x0r. she’s clever and compassionate and very silly and a bit gross. part of her backstory is that when she was a relatively new twitch streamer, someone tried to cyberbully her by calling her a “garfield looking ass motherfucker” and so she immediately dyed her hair orange and made that her entire persona just to fuck with them (thus the custom garf headset).

3. hemlock

hemlock is an onomancy wizard! she was made for a storybook game — essentially all the characters lived on a bookshelf in someone’s home and can travel between books.

when characters travel into a new book, especially if it’s an “active” book (i.e. currently being read), they get assigned a role that is both available and closest to their archetype (so, as a wizard, if hemlock entered a book of king arthur’s tales she would likely be assigned as morrigan or merlin if available, or another magic user if not).

hemlock herself was from a story where her family (two sisters and her mother) were turned from good witches/princesses (it was unclear) into evil hags/witches and hemlock bartered her name (and right eye) to keep her mind/heart/goodness.

the onomancy wizard subclass is SUPER interesting and fun and is all about the naming of things and works super well with fairytale stuff (which i love). tbh i REALLY want to play hemlokc more. that game was insanely fun and ended prematurely due to scheduling difficulties. i just don’t think there is another game setting that would ever work for her bc she is so specific.

4. althea

my most recent character is althea! she’s an aasimar grave cleric. she woke up in a morgue about two weeks ago (in game time) and instantly fell in love with the mortician who discovered she was still(?) alive. she has no memories of her past (and tbh no real desire to go looking for them). she is smart but also a dumb ass, has 6 charisma and no sense of self preservation and is completely and utterly in love with rosemary (the mortician, now barkeep) and will literally do anything she wants, no questions asked (and will even do things she THINKS rosemary wants unasked... such as maybe yoinking a very obviously cursed goblet from a ritual circle of living corpses in literally the first game session just bc she thought rosemary would think it was cool).

5. penny

penny was my first long-term dnd character! she was my third dnd character ever but in a lot of ways i consider her my first because the other two were run primarily in 4E and didn’t meet often enough (or just enough period) for me to get a grasp on them or the game mechanics.

penny is a light domain cleric. she was made for a buddy cop game i joined randomly on roll20 because i couldn’t find a consistent group to meet with IRL. i was super nervous to join a random game with strangers but really wanted to play dnd so i gave it a shot and i am SO glad i did because i still play with that group! or.. what became of that group. it started out as a group of me and a bunch of strangers, but i quickly made friends with the DM and one of the other players, then devin joined a couple months in, and slowly original players left for various reasons and we invited other ppl in (a couple of my friends, the other longterm player’s gf, etc) and now that is the main group i still play with! (nem and nora and a bunch of my other characters are from games w that group)

when the game was open for player/character apps, we were asked to pitch what role our character would play in a buddy cop movie and i picked the straight man archetype (haha i know). penny is very sweet and shy and wholesome.

i have a bunch of other characters, most of which can be found on toyhouse, but this post is already way too long as is! whoops!

[amazingphilza]

study buddies :: cc!multiple x reader

fluff , platonic , gender neutral ! some headcanons if the mcyts were trying to help you do hw :D

cc’s included in order: tommyinnit , tubbo , ranboo , wilbur soot , philza , technoblade

tommyinnit

i feel like he’s the type to be in a long discord call with you whilst you both try to finish your work

mans uses the screensharing feature like there’s no tomorrow

“y/n watch my stream on discord and help me guess the answers”

“tommy no! i haven’t even taken a film class before”

“your guess is good as mine”

“just cheat and google the answers!!!”

“fuck you”

he actually just wants your attention because he’s bored out of his mind doing homework

five minutes later of asking you to help him guess questions he’s like

“hey y/n”

“what now?”

“let’s play bedwars”

“oh my god shut up!!!”

if tommy has to speedrun something before a deadline, it is a whole different story tho; he will be so focused on completing that he won’t hear what you’re saying

if you’re struggling in math, you’re on your own

“math is shit, only numbers i need is my primes and youtube analytics” says tommy any time you complain about math

besides the fact he isn’t good at solving math problems, you can’t even read his handwriting if he did try showing you how to do a problem

“okay, y/n, it’s simple, just look” he says in his kareninnit voice and everything

you’d be like “is the variable a G or a 9??”

“fuck you that’s a 4!!!”

tubbo

i don’t know if tubbo ever talked about school before but something about him makes me think he’s actually pretty good at math

like he can explain a few things when it comes to math / algebra

CODING GO BRRRR

no geometry or calculus though, anything past algebra will go bad

if tubbo is doing homework with you, he will definitely tune you out

“hey tubbo can you help me on this question?”

you don’t get a response until like 20 minutes later

“oh yeah, what was it y/n?”

like now you answer? i just got the answer myself after so long, forget you smh

“oh nothing tubbo, nevermind!”

but you’re still grumbling in your head because if he answered just a bit earlier you wouldn’t have gone through the work of finding the answer online

i can also imagine if you’re taking chemistry tubbo is like ;

“oh you’re taking chemistry? let’s make some bombs!” /lh

tubbo would definitely pull an all-nighter with you to finish your projects together

if you had a group project, he would make you do the writing part while he does the drawing part

“we definitely aced this project”

“of course we did, if i made you draw we would’ve ended up with stick figure diagrams”

“TUBBO. THE FUCK?”

ranboo

okay i know ranboo said he isn’t a theatre or band kid (unless im wrong and forgetful) but i feel like he’d be somewhat educated in the topics nonetheless

half the time he’s great moral support, helping you stay motivated !

the other half is him making fun of you

“i cant believe you’re failing, that is so sad, can’t be me”

“it’s literally an honors class, ranboo! it’s supposed to be hard!!”

“taking an honors class willingly? also cant be me AHAHA”

i honestly can’t see ranboo going to school like i know he’s a minor and said he had zoom calls before and plays volleyball but like did i miss something? has he dropped out yet? like something about ranboo does not scream “student” /lh

besides that, i’m not sure what subject he would actually be good in,,, but something about nutrition/health sciences,, he knows a few things

don’t get me wrong, i don’t think he actually likes the subject but somehow remembers what he learned from the class

also gives me the type of energy of the type of person to take a first aid class to be a certified person to do cpr on someone just to kill time during his lunch breaks for a while or something

“i am a certified cpr person”

“my life in ranboo’s hands? oh god please no”

you two would probably joke about the ‘bad’ people in your classes or talk shit about your schools than actually doing anything homework related ngl AHAHAH

“you think your school is down bad? mine went back to campus full time after like 6 months into quarantine because they were running out of money”

“what the hell y/n? your school is a scam, drop out”

“arghhhh i knowww”

“i bet i make more money than your teachers combined AHAHAH”

wilbur soot

he doesn’t seem like the best person to ask for help for homework but can info dump you on very specific historical events + a bit of geography

i kinda see him as the person you can ask to proof read an essay for you and would help it improve immensely

who needs a thesaurus when you have vocabulary boy wilbur?

i dunno if it’s an american thing only or at all, but if/when you get to studying hamilton in your english class, he will get so fucking excited

“no wilbur it isn’t fun! imagine listening to lin-manuel miranda rap ‘alexander hamilton’ at the white house from like 2009 on repeat for over an hour whilst trying to write an analysis about it!! it was so distracting”

“well clearly someone has a personal problem with mr lin-manuel. if i were you, i’d be singing the whole thing”

is this last bit personal and complete spite from my freshman year english class? yes. i do not care? no. /hj

unrelated but i actually scribbled nice guy ballad lyrics and other songs on my english scratch papers in freshman year but anyway

probably isn’t the best person to be in a call to do homework with but wilbur doesn’t mind you ringing him occasionally sometimes

i dunno i can just see him easily get bored of the silence or something but also doesn’t want to bother you too much

but he is genuinely proud of you whenever you tell him you aced a big test you were studying for :D

philza

this man’s bad advice is as bad as him trying to help you on any subject

he’s an old man so /hj

but like honestly, he hasn’t been at school for so long, phil can probably only help with the most basic things when it comes to school

if you have a wack teacher that makes you collect data through surveying people, phil would be one of the best people to ask! straightforward and won’t take too much of your time compared to other people ahem,,

statistics things ! sobs

if you ever complain a lot about your classes and contemplating dropping out and stuff, he will def scold you hard

“ugh phillllllllll can i just like,, never go to school again?”

“do not drop out”

“argh fine, i won’t just ‘cause philza minecraft said so”

honestly if you get a high score in a big test like your sats/gcse’s (whatever you’re taking from wherever you are) he’d probably order you a small meal or something to celebrate :D

like how phil bought ranboo bought him food to his house, it would start as a joke but when you get your test scores back he’s like “YOOO GOOD JOB Y/N”

expect a left meat pizza coming to your house .

technoblade

like wilbur, techno is also helpful when it comes to history!

def knows a decent bit of literature too

besides that i don’t really see him being that helpful

even if he was supposed to be an english major

he will just get mad at the school system for teaching you useless things

“being in school is good but why do you need to know how to know if something is a triangle or not? i can obviously see with my eyes that it’s a triangle”

“i dunno! ask the person that made up geometry”

“just look at a kaleidoscope and be over with it, it isn’t that hard”

“that isn’t how it works—”

“bruhhh”

if you’re looking for the person to call while doing homework, he is not the person /lh

it’s either like 0 or 100 with techno

he can just completely not say anything and ignore you or go on a full rant about whatever class or homework you have

if you have an essay you need written, it will take a lot of bribing but he might take the opportunity if you are rich

“techno i’ll paypal you $10 please help me”

“no. i can make 10 times that amount in 5 minutes if i just started streaming right now”

“techno i don’t have that kind of money! pleaseee”

“no. instead of complaining, you can use that time to actually start you work”

“you’re the worst”

then you speedrun the essay and get an A just to spite him

[forestlingincorporated]

Teen Titans #29

So, one of my favorite types of fics to read is Different First Meeting fics between Jason and Tim. I looooove reading Enemies To Caretaker, of which I fed handsomely on fairly recently. Big Brother Jason fics give me warm fuzzies, and Tim Drake needs a hug, and I feel like if these two actually got to know each other and worked past their preconceptions, they’d get along surprisingly well. And Still A Jason!Robin Fanboy Tim Drake is just a fun concept. 

Also, it just FEELS right for the middle siblings to band together after Damian comes along, lets get those abandonment issues in the party. 

So, for mysterious and very secret TimKon Week 2021 reasons, I was rereading some Teen Titans, and I stumbled over the Original Tim+Jason First Meeting, and I just sort of wanted to talk about some interesting things I found in there rereading it after several years. 

First thing right off the bat, when reading fics, normally it’s either the Core Four at the tower that Jason puts to sleep, or it’s Tim alone for the night. In the comic, none of Tim’s close friends are even at the tower, Jason waits for Bart and Cassie to leave, and Conner actually hasn’t come around for an in-universe month, because this is after the Superboy’s Birthright arc where Lex mind controls Conner. 

The people Jason knocks out were his own teammates when he was a Titan. He specifically says he never got to work with Beast Boy or Cyborg directly, so he doesn’t feel bad electrocuting them, but he feels bad putting Raven under much more gently because she used to worry for him. 

Tim has just gotten off the phone with Bruce when Jason shows up. It seems like Bruce might’ve been picking Tim up, but something’s come up with Martian Manhunter going missing, so Tim tells him he’ll catch a ride with Cyborg. 

This is actually really interesting to me, because it’s a small moment of Bruce letting Tim down. It’s a conversation he’s probably had with his biological father many times when Jack’s canceled on him. 

Gonna acknowledge this abomination real quick. This is So Stupid, and I’m glad as a fandom we just all agreed Jason didn’t do this. It makes me ask so many questions. Where did he get that oversized Robin costume? Why’d he tear off his perfectly good clothes? Why did he do this? Why the yellow tights? WHY? 

A lot of things are actually happening here that are actually Really Interesting if you just look past the stupid fucking outfit. Because this comic actually flew really close to greatness, they just ended up dropping the ball by not continuing to do more with it. 

First off, Jason doesn’t beat around the bush. He’s immediately like “yeah, yeah, yeah, Red Hood, whatever, I’m Jason Todd, bitch! Fight me.” 

Secondly, Jason’s done his homework. He knows A LOT about Tim. He knows his name, he knows he has a dad, he knows he went to prep school, and he knows the story of how Tim became Robin. How he GOT that last bit of information, I’d honestly like to know. But even HAVING the information isn’t enough; he’s still letting his preconceived ideas get in the way. The surface level information about Tim’s life only served to fuel his jealousy and anger (thanks, Lazerus Pitt!). He’s so focused on Tim’s privilege that he’s looked past evidence of hardship; if he’s done this much research on Tim, he’s no doubt seen records of multiple boarding schools, lengthy travel records, news reports, a death certificate.... He can’t even bring himself to BELIEVE parts of Tim’s story that aren’t lining up with his world view, like HOW he became Robin. 

Jason has convinced himself that what he’s discovered about Tim and the period of time when Jason was dead - the fact that Bruce was spiraling after his death, that his family mourned him, that Tim had to step up to the plate at a weird suicide prevention buddy system - is all a lie. Despite the fact that he’s beating Tim’s ass, he speaks to him with the assumption that Tim’s a child who’s been manipulated and lied to. 

Meanwhile, it must be SO PAINFUL for Tim to hear Jason say these things: I bet he said the same thing to you he said to me, didn’t he? That you have the talent to make a difference in Gotham. That he needed someone he could trust in his war on crime. That you were one of a kind. The light in his darkness.

Bruce never said any of that to Tim. Bruce rejected Tim, he didn’t want Tim, and begrudgingly accepted Tim. 

Going back to Jason waiting for Tim’s other young teen friends to leave the tower before going in, only drugging his own former teammates, is much of his anger seems directed at THEM, not just Bruce. To Jason, it looks like they didn’t mourn him either, he has no statue. I find it interesting that he smashes Donna Troy’s statue, who died after him, and I believe she came back before he did. 

Unless he was keeping track of the news from the League of Assassins, to Jason, Donna never died. 

And most importantly? Tim shuts Jason down. Tim “Bitch, Please” Drake out here like: you’re a fucking idiot, he loved you to death, he barely let me audition for the role. 

Tim shows some deep resentment towards Jason in this scene. I mean... earned, Jason literally came into his house and starting hitting him, but Tim’s relationship towards the Idea Of Jason has gone through a few changes. At first Jason was ROBIN! THE BOY WONDER! And if maybe Tim thought Bruce wasn’t AS happy with Jason as he was with Dick, there was still SOME hero worship early on. But it only takes Bruce and Alfred and Dick using Jason’s death as a cautionary tale a few times to get Tim to see Jason AS a cautionary tale - the kind of Robin NOT to be. But the more Tim craved Bruce’s paternal attention and approval, and the more Bruce withheld it or made Tim work for it, knowing that Bruce did that, in part, because of his love and grief for his dead son (Tim having an actual living breathing father plays a part, too), and those feelings towards Jason have started to fester.

Jason can’t let it go, though, he thinks the concept of Robin was a mistake and had always been a mistake, and if he can hurt Tim, so can Scarecrow, Penguin, The Joker. 

This is a good time to bring up that one thing I think Jason probably doesn’t know is Tim is injured. It is a little over a month since since Conner shattered Tim’s right arm. Tim is still healing from a comminuted fracture in his forearm. And looking at this picture that is - ah, yes, that is the injured arm Jason is swinging Tim by. Tim is probably healed by now, the cast IS off and he’s a child, but bones don’t fully return to full strength for 3-6 months. 

Jason is conflicted. This is clearly, in part, a fucked up way of “protecting” what he sees as a manipulated child, to convince him to leave Bruce. But there’s also clearly some deep, deep jealousy thrown into the mix to complicate matters and cloud his judgement. Ultimately, Jason isn’t there to kill Tim. Tim would be dead if he was. He’s there to “beat some sense into him,” and he ultimately fails, and fails badly. 

Tim is found by the older Titans, awake by now, though it seems Jason knocked him out to, uh, fuck with the memorial chamber, and Tim... does not beat around the bush. No secret identities here just “yeah, Jason Todd beat the shit out of me.” 

And their reactions are HILARIOUS. 

One more little sidebar, in the comic, Jason gets in with a D.N.A. check that never removed him from its permissions. Usually in fic this is a unique pass code. I’m not sure which version I like better, honestly. There’s something about Jason physically inputting a code that accepts him even though he’s supposedly dead that I really like, and just feels better than a dna scan. A dna scan sounds SAFER, sure, but there’s something about the Titans leaving in an honest SECURITY RISK out of sentiment that I like. 

Lastly, I really like how it ends. Jason honestly thinks Tim IS a good Robin, and it seems like Jason’s done some research on the core four, mentioning Tim’s “real friends” again while the “camera” is on Conner and Cassie, suggesting that Jason KNOWS about them and possibly that targeting the tower while they were gone maybe wasn’t an accident or out of convenience, but fully intentional. And again, Jason’s real problem is highlighted: he feels alone, forgotten, unmemorable, no family, no friends. 

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. 

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Information as to Why Twisted Wonderland is NOT an Otome or Dating Sims Game

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while~ ヾ(•ω•`)o I finally found the courage to write Twisted Wonderland content after what happened a couple months ago, when I literally just came back, and while writing a couple of analysis I thought I would write this as an informative rather than an actual analysis of the game.

DISCLAIMER: This post is NOT by any means demeaning otome games or dating sims whatsoever. This was written to clear the misunderstanding people had on the genre of Twisted Wonderland and that anyone should be allowed to be play without feeling restricted or thinking it’s not something they want to try because of misunderstandings. Do NOT use this post as a source to offend people but please use it to inform others.

It’s no longer old news that Twisted Wonderland frequently gets called an “otome game” or dating sims by people who never played the game before. People on twitter, youtube, and even those that were trying to or supposed to advertise the game have often categorized it as such. This wouldn’t have been such a big deal had people recognize and acknowledge that the game isn’t after being explained to about it, but after hearing their arguments as to why they refuse to change how they think about it, the frustration pent up for nearly a year has finally bubbled over.  Buckle your seats everyone cause today is the day this argument ends once and for all!

First off, let’s start off with what makes an otome/dating-sims an otome/dating sim. Both are very similar, where, according to Japan’s Wikipedia, Nico dictionary, Kotobanks, and many more Japanese dictionary sites, otome games (i.e. 乙女ゲーム)  are games which includes a female MC who has the opportunity to attract the very attractive male characters in the game and enter a love route with each of them separately or harem-like. Dating sims are a bit different. Dating sims (i.e. 恋愛シミュレーションゲーム)  falls into to two definitions with the first one being the exact reversal of otome: MC being male, the love interest characters being very attractive females. The second definition is the one many are familiar with – a romantic visual novel. Believe it or not the first definition is the original definition of what dating-sim games are, the second meaning derived from many attempts of using the term “dating-sim” incorrectly by the English speaking gamers to the point society now believes it’s the actual meaning.

However, this difference doesn’t change that both otome and dating sims are very close. Both genres include gender-specific MC(s) (there’s been games where a player can play either male or female), handsome/beautiful characters with their respective love routes, and a main plot to follow. In addition to this, when the game is in mobage format, there’s going to be showers of fan service in the form of events and gacha-cards, though, arguably, it doesn’t change the fact that the MCs would still be interacting with the characters romantically.

So, from the explanation written above, Twisted Wonderland falls into that category, right? Sorry not sorry, that’s wrong. Sure, Twisted Wonderland has many characters to swoon over since…I mean…they’re drawn and written by Yana Toboso and her staff and…there hasn’t been anyone so far who had the capability of saying no to characters she personally had drawn or created. But! It doesn’t mean that the game is a dating sim or otome.

One of the reasons Twisted Wonderland isn’t one of them is how the game is set up. There are no routes the MC can enter nor can the MC pick and choose which characters to focus on in general. Like FGO and Granblue Fantasy, the MC solely follows the main plot and has to interact with all the characters they’re introduced to whether they like it or not. The same logic is applied when playing events – the MC will be participating and talking to all the characters involved in the event. Not once does the game give the opportunity for the MC to choose who they can talk to and participate in the event with the person they chose. The only time it’ll be one-on-one is, most of the time, getting the desired character’s card through gacha or when the event sets the story where the MC has no choice but to talk to a character one-to-one. For the latter though, the MC isn’t going to be able to wish for the character they want to talk to – it’s completely random and up to the writers who they want the MC to interact with.

For otome and dating-sims alike, especially in mobage format, the MC has the opportunity to choose who they wish to focus on and interact solely with the characters they chose whether it’s the main story, event, and card story. It can even be arguably said that otome and dating sims focus solely on the MC and their love interest interaction more than anything else. As for Twisted Wonderland, again, that does not happen. Twisted Wonderland, in addition to progressing the main story and revealing more about the characters involved, focuses on everyone’s interaction with each other including the NPCs. The game shows the other characters that aren’t interacting with the MC talking to other characters and what role they were playing while the MC was busy with the group the writer had them interact with during that time. Even in the card stories, most of the card stories involve more character-to-character interaction rather than MC-to-character interaction.

Speaking of which, the MC in Twisted Wonderland, the game, is gender ambiguous.  Not once did the game developers and story writers mentions the MC as a specific gender like the other romance games. Heck, most of the characters don’t even use a gender-specific pronoun such as 彼女 (“kanojo” = she) or  彼 (“kare” = he) when referring to the MC. They usually refer to the MC by their given position, 監督生 ( “kantokusei”  = prefect). The only exception is when the game’s mascot and MC’s buddy, Grim (the blue-fire monster), who uses あいつ ( “aitsu”) which is a gender neutral pronoun that holds the vague meaning of “that one” or “that person”. There’s also the fact that the MC’s default name is ユウ (“Yuu”), which is name used by either genders in Japan and how the MC uses gender neutral pronouns when regarding themselves  as 自分 (“jibun”) and others as 貴方/あなた (“anata”).

Even during the official advertisement, official summary, official game archive book ( i.e., Twisted Wonderland Magical Archives), and posts made by the staff on twitter, not once did they specify the gender of the MC. In fact, they never once even specified the gender of the audience they’re targeting the game towards nor say anything about there being romance or any hints of harem-esque situations that involves the MC in any shape or form. The most “direct” statement made by Twisted Wonderland’s staff was from an email a fellow Twisted Wonderland fan had sent to the staff after a magazine had advertised the game as “Disney’s first game for women”. The email from the staff mentions that they wanted the game to be enjoyed by everyone, REGARDLESS OF GENDER. (link to said post here)

If they had any intentions of making the game otome-like or dating sim-like, Aniplex, Disney, and Twisted Wonderland staff would’ve mentioned that the game has romance or the possibility for there being romance when releasing the story summary, game system set up, and their ads. Not only would they have done that to get the audience they wish to target but speaking of it legally, they are required to mention it since there’s liability on their part on informing their customers on anything they need to know in regard to the game they’re playing. Age restrictions, fees, game play, and the like – Twisted Wonderland also had to go through the same process like any other visual novel games to be developed and released.

In a way, Twisted Wonderland can be seen as another Touken Ranbu or KanColle, but with an actual main story plot to progress through. All three games’ MCs are gender ambiguous, great characters to throw-er-spend money on, and have fun game plays. Sure, unlike Touken Ranbu and KanColle, where their MCs continues to be gender ambiguous in their anime and manga adaptation, Twisted Wonderland’s MC in the manga adaptation ended up being male – however, a statement was released by Yana revealed that the MC in the game and the MC for the manga are not the same people. (Link here) Meaning, the “real” or “official” MC’s gender continues to be gender ambiguous for the sake of continuing to attract all genders to play the game.

All of this being said, Twisted Wonderland is a fun, visual novel game and supposed to be enjoyed by everyone – each to their own way and passion. No one shouldn’t be discouraged from playing it solely because of false advertisements or misconceptions made by others who haven't played the game yet.

I hope this clears things up and hopefully helps others persuade people into playing the game! 

[pascalpanic]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Javier Peña x f!Reader)- Chapter Four

Summary: You feel like shit and decide to work out the bug. Javier is not going to let that happen.

W/C: 2.5k

Warnings: language, mentions of illness (just a common cold), cavity-inducing fluff

A/N: Hi this is like, toothache-inducing fluff. Super cute idea from @softly-sad inspired this whole chapter! And BIG shoutout to @remmysbounty for being my sounding board/Colombian culture expert/brainstorming buddy!

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You’re a nurse; your immune system is hardy. The first year or so of working in hospitals led you to constantly feel ill, plagued by some bug or virus, but you powered through with help from your fellow nurses. It was to be expected, working in an environment surrounded by people, specifically ill ones.

That being said, you had caught a bug of some kind. It wasn’t too bad, not enough to disqualify you from work. It was simply a scratch in your throat, a throbbing temple that came and went, a few other mild symptoms and an inability to sleep.

This brief insomnia was what found you awake at 1:28 in the morning, joints aching. You’re hydrated, well-fed, and had even snuck a nap in during your break at work today. Everything should be fine, but your body aches, and you roll over in your bed with a groan. Sleep isn’t coming, isn’t anywhere near possible. You crack your neck as you sit up and decide the best course of action is to work out the aches. 

You sigh and get out of bed, changing out of your pajamas and into your workout clothes. Your mind wanders a little, wondering if you’ll catch Peña at this hour. It seems unlikely, but then again, the probability of anyone being at the gym at this hour is always low.

It’s a bit chilly in the air of the night, and you sigh as you walk out into the fresh air. You make your way to the gym, secretly hoping that you don’t run into Javier tonight. You’ll be the first to admit you look like shit, and you’re not going to be working out as hard as normal.

Luck isn’t on your side tonight, you sigh, as you enter the fitness center and find Javier running on the treadmill. He’s already quite into it, sweating and panting from the running. He turns as the door creaks open and stops the machine, smiling a little. It falls when he notices the dark rings around your eyes. “Hey.”

“Hi,” you say shyly, turning away from him to put your things in a locker. The twinge returns to your temple and you try your best not to groan at the annoying headache.

Javier turns off the treadmill and turns to look at your back. “I’ll just say it. You look like shit. Is something wrong?” he asks, crossing his arms, genuinely concerned.

“I feel like shit too,” you chuckle, running a hand over your ponytail.

His brow furrows as he looks at you. “Rough shift? I thought you said-”

You nod and cut him off. “I only work days for the next two weeks, yeah,” you say, turning to face him. “I’ve got some kind of bug or something. I feel like shit and I can’t sleep. I figured I’d come to the gym and try to work out if I was going to be awake, but…” you shrug and take a swig from your water bottle.

Javier shakes his head. “If you’re feeling like shit, working out isn’t going to be the answer.” He steps off the treadmill and wipes his face with the hem of his t-shirt, exposing unexpectedly strong abs that make you raise your eyebrows before quickly looking away. He walks over to the area by you, grabbing his bag. “If neither of us can sleep, why don’t we go get breakfast?” he offers, positioning himself so that you don’t have to move to see him. “There’s a little 24-hour place around here. I’ll buy, we’ll get you some hot coffee and food.”

You bite your lip, thinking you probably shouldn’t. “I came here to work out,” you say, a weak protest.

“That’s pointless if you’re feeling like shit,” Javier points out, and you nod.

“I guess that’s true.” You say and cross your arms.

Javier gives you a soft, gentle smile. “You’re a nurse. You know it’s true. Come on,” he tells you, and you finally crack a small smile too. Javier’s widens at that. “Alright hermosa, come on,” he tells you as he grabs his bag. “I drove here tonight. We’ll take my car?” he asks.

The thought of seeing the kind of car the man drives makes you smile a little wider. You hold back a giggle at the nickname, your heart fluttering helplessly in your chest. “As long as you’ll drive me home too,” you nod, and Javier nods back. 

You walk out to his car alongside him, where you discover he drives a beat-up wagon. You chuckle a little and get into the passenger side. It smells of cigarette smoke, which you find no surprise. There’s some kind of air freshener, at least, that masks the distinct smell but doesn’t hide it completely. Javier tosses his bag in the back and sits in the drivers’ seat. 

The drive to the restaurant is filled with a comfortable silence, the radio playing quietly. You relax in the seat of his car, his presence soothing. It’s a bit chilly, and you unintentionally shiver. Javier’s obviously still warm from working out and he notices the fact that you’re cold. “The heater’s busted,” he admits with an apologetic smile. “Here.” He reaches into the back and grabs a leather jacket, placing it on your lap. “Use my jacket.” 

The gesture makes you melt a little, and you nod, sliding it over your shoulders. It’s big on you, but it’s warm and comfortable and has a distinctive smell that you’re sure is Javier’s. There’s cologne and cigarette smoke and exhaust from the shitty car, and you smile as you snuggle into it. “Thank you,” you tell him as you look over at him, your heart completely in your eyes and unable to hide it.

He looks back at you and his stony face cracks into a smile. “No problem.”

A few minutes later, the car parks outside a small restaurant, dimly lit but clearly open. As you get out of the car and open the door to the restaurant, the smell of coffee wafts your way and soothes you as you breathe it in. Javier walks in behind you and a short and plump waitress calls his name excitedly. “Javi! How are you, mijo?” She asks, already bringing two mugs of coffee as she notices the two of you. “And who is this?” She asks again, handing you a mug.

Javier leads you to the small booth nearby and the two of you sit. He introduces you and you give a little wave, sipping your coffee and sighing at the warm liquid. The waitress chats with him, and you smile to yourself as you watch the two of them interact. He’s just as charming with her as he is with you, and it makes you chuckle. He orders something for the two of you (you don’t catch exactly what), and you lean against the cool leather of the booth, smiling at him as the waitress leaves to put in the order. “What?” he asks, cracking a small smile at the way you look at him.

You snuggle into his jacket and shrug. “You’re quite the charmer,” you tease, bringing the coffee to your lips to hide the growing smile. “What did you order us?”

“Sweet arepas,” he tells you, and you nod happily as you set it down. 

“Sounds wonderful,” you nod and set it down. “How was your day?” you ask, the quiet atmosphere of the small restaurant making your voice quieter and gentler. You’ve never asked him something like that, but he’s been tense all night. Well, what you assumed was tense- you didn’t know him extremely well. 

“Shitty,” he shakes his head as he admits it, sipping his own coffee before finishing his response. “We can’t find shit on Escobar or any of his men. It’s like they’re fucking ghosts or something: we can always see them and never catch them.”

You nod and listen, his quiet voice and the coffee soothing you. His voice is beautiful, you notice, and it’s just what you needed on a night like tonight. “That sounds hard,” you nod in agreement, your eyes showing your compassion.

Javier has come to love looking into your eyes. They always give away your thoughts and emotions. The way you look at him melts his heart. He has Steve and Connie and whatever prostitute he’s with, but they always already know the story or don’t care. You do. “It’s tough, yeah,” he says before he looks down at his coffee, the image of you bundled in his leather jacket threatening to make him smile. 

The arepas come not long after, and you sigh as you bite into the cinnamon-sugar dusted cornmeal cakes. Javier chuckles and smiles as he hears the noise. You notice the way his smile looks like it doesn’t come often, but it comes in full force when it does. It crinkles the edges of his eyes, leaves lines around his mouth, and makes him look like everything you want and more. He bites into one and it leaves the fine powder on his mustache. You snort and nearly spit out your coffee as you notice it.

“What?”

“Nothing,” you say quickly, hiding your face behind your mug. “Just got a little… something,” you say, gesturing to your face, to where his mustache would be. He brushes it and frowns as he notices the sugar falling out, and you giggle harder.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Javier says, amusement and teasing in his tone.

“Don’t make yourself so easy to laugh at,” you say with a quirked eyebrow, taking another bite of your arepa.

Javier shakes his head, that familiar small smile on his face: the one he always cracks around you no matter how hard he tries to hold back. He really does like you, he realizes in that moment, as he looks at you: happily chewing your food and wrapped in his leather jacket and probably getting powdered sugar and cinnamon on it but he can’t even bring himself to care because your big eyes are on his face and it makes him warm inside even if he’ll never admit it because goddamn would Steve tease him for the rest of eternity but he thinks he might be falling, and it makes that smile grow into a real one he can’t hold back.

He takes a sip of his coffee and forces himself to be the regular Javier, the flirty one who doesn’t let things mean something to him because he knows it’ll be gone soon anyway. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re a nurse. Are you so mean and sarcastic to your patients?”

“Come by sometime and find out,” you tease. “Actually, don’t. That would mean you’d need a reason to be in the hospital.”

-

The rest of the night passes easily. You and Javier spend hours in that diner booth, drinking coffee and mindlessly munching on the arepas, which the kind waitress brings out several plates of throughout the night. She tells you that Javier doesn’t eat enough, and you believe it, and you watch as the plate slowly becomes empty every time, most of them going into Javier’s mouth and leaving more sugar on that mustache. You converse and tease and flirt and bare your life stories to each other, neither of you ever taking your eyes from the other’s face except for when the woman- Valeria, she tells you- brings more coffee and more food.

Javier looks at his watch for the first time that night, finding that it’s now 5:30 in the morning. “Shit. We’d better get you home, you need to work, don’t you?” “Don’t you too?” you ask in return, tilting your head and pulling the coat closer around yourself.

“Yeah, but that’s less important.” He leaves a Colombian bill on the table for payment and tip for Valeria, then stands, adjusting his clothing. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

You nod and stand, following Javier out to his car, parked on the street in front of the diner. Valeria calls out a goodbye to the both of and you wave, a soft smile on your face. There were kind people everywhere you went, you found, even in a place with so much trouble and violence. 

The sky is beginning to change colors as the sunrise approaches. The dark blue of the sky lightens near the horizon, and a bit of pastel orange tinges just where the outline of the city meets it. It’s beautiful, really. You watch the sky as Javier drives you home, as it slowly changes and a bit of the sun is starting to show.

Javier parks in front of your apartment, which you directed him to, and kills the engine. You look at him, confused. “I’ll walk you inside,” he says as if it’s obvious.

As you get out of the car, Javier follows and you shake your head. “No, it’s fine Javi,” you protest, but he walks to you and puts a hand on your arm. 

“I want you to be safe, and you know I carry a gun.”

“It’s 5:30 A.M. on a Tuesday, and you’re wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt,” you laugh, raising your eyebrow. He hasn’t touched you since you first shook hands when you met. His hand is large and strong and you can practically feel the warmth through the thick leather of his coat. “Oh, shit, sorry,” you say and start to shrug out of the coat, but he stops you, one hand on each arm. 

He shakes his head. “Keep it with you,” he says.

It’s a soft moment, the sun coming up in the eastern sky, Javier’s hands holding you through his coat, the one he gifted you when you were cold. You’re both silent for a moment, and Javier can’t help himself. He presses a soft kiss to your head, where your hairline and your forehead meet, murmuring your name into your skin. He’s so close to you, and you can smell his cologne and his sweat and his deodorant and cigarettes and coffee and it’s all so uniquely Javi that your breath stops for a moment before you throw your arms around his torso, hugging him. “Thank you,” you breathe into his chest, and you can feel him hum a soft noise that conveys ‘it’s no problem’, his arms wrapping back around you.

You both break away a moment later and you look up at him, a soft smile gracing your face and an equal one on his. “My hero,” you chuckle softly and press a brief kiss to his cheek. Javi chuckles softly at that, the warmth radiating from him tempting you to do more, but you stop yourself. You don’t want to give him your bug. “Thank you for tonight. It was much needed,” you tell him, pulling his leather jacket tight around yourself.

“I needed it too,” he nods. “Go inside. I’ll see you,” he says, his hands resting where his belt loops would be on his jeans. You can tell that’s a pose he strikes often.

“See you,” you nod and turn, heading into your apartment building. As you open the door, you turn, and Javier gives a little two fingered salute to you before getting back into his car.

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