#i have no idea why I'm bringing this up

[geekynightowl1997]

Okay, somebody can correct me if I'm wrong- but at the end of The Nigerian Job, when the team was convincing Nate that they should keep doing what they did- Eliot's whole argument was Nate. Nate falling apart. Nate needing the chance. Nate not being able to walk away. Nate.

Then, suddenly Eliot became the whole team's body guard. (Something he's grunt and gruffed about.) Yet. Yet. Somewhere (I say it was The Iceman Job and The Inside Job,) Eliot's brain switched from protecting the team to protecting Hardison and Parker. (Again correct me if I'm wrong.) Suddenly his job became more about having Hardison and Parker's back than having Nate's back. Maybe I'm the only one whose noticed- but Eliot become more softer with both Hardison and Parker after those particular jobs. Sure he keeps that gruff, sarcastic wit about him but there's often tones of... protectivness(?) when he interacts with them. Almost like he's telling other people around them- whose in ear shot- that Hardison and Parker are his. Like he's possessive.

Now, I'm not saying Eliot just stops caring about the rest of the team. I mean- he beats up Sterling for Nate and in Redemption Eliot is following Sophie around a handful of times. Their are even times where he has Breanna's back and Harry's. But he seems to treat those situations like a case. He compartmentalizes those situations. With Hardison and Parker- he doesn't. It's like his brain won't let him. He sees Hardison and Parker and it's like- all bets are off.

And on the flip side- has anyone noticed that Parker and Hardison seem to be the only ones that know how to... defuse (is that the right word?) Eliot? Like even Maria couldn't get Eliot to relax in The Hurrican Job. (Of course that's probably because Eliot was hiding who he was to her.) But Eliot always seems to be more relaxed when he's around those two.

In The Iceman Job after when Hardison tries to hug him? Eliot wasn't really fighting it. (I would know- I do that to my brother ALL the time when he tries to hug me.) In The Inside Job- when Eliot went to attack that employee- Parker stopped him. In The Double-Edge Sword Job, when Eliot is furious because an abusive ex comes after a women that they tried to hide- it's Parker that calms him down. It's Hardison who pays off the bartender when Eliot attacks Sterling. It's Parker who is always by his side or close to it. It's Parker who trusts Eliot when their in the back of the van with Vance. (Yes, Parker trusts Hardison too, but Hardison is a hacker- not a protector.) It's Eliot who Hardison listens to when he's not confident. It's Eliot who grabs Hardison from the coffin. It's Eliot who crouchs behind Hardison as Parker flips around him. It's Eliot whose hands are shaking when he they have half a second on a bomb.

Eliot Spencer is Hardison's and Parkers. They own him. In the same way Hardison and Parker are his. He owns them. (Does that make sense?)

For the record- I don't know why I'm pointing all of this out. It's just interesting to me... I guess.

[uncanny-tranny]

You know, sometimes I see those cis people who are genuinely angry that they aren't "just" men or women, and part of me wants to go, "oh, I empathize with that impulse. I find that many people seem to remind me of my transness in order to both put me in my place, but also almost as a comforting way to pretend like a trans person could never have anything in common with 'normal' people. I find the distinction between trans and cis seems to primarily help cis people, so I can understand why you'd only want to be under the 'man' umbrella."

[obeymeow]

nightbringer lesson 14 FUCKED ME UP in several ways but primarily I've spent the last 48 hours making myself sad over the solomon backstory we got. specifically I have, for no reason, latched onto that one chapter in the Kids event where baby solomon cried because he felt so guilty over being responsible for that spell. and that just feels a touch more depressing in context

[cidnangarlond]

I definitely have some kind of undiagnosed personality disorder I am Not normal

[a-heart-of-kyber]

I need to put this into the world, but Gale's abs don't bother me...or more like I can get why they're there for 2 reasons; 1) I've heard enough stories about those who strive for what are essentially show abs to know they can actually be weak af. I had brothers in sports during the 90s, I have witnessed things. and 2) Um...this is darkish, darker?

but I figured he always made his body into what Mystra wanted. With his people pleaser personality, it tracks. Particularly when you see the Drow twins and realize that he is not exactly comfortable with himself and he's uncomfortable with the whole situation. Being depressed for a year pre-game could've made him double down on his needing to look perfect for Mystra mindset in part as an additional form of punishment.

Anyways, fuck Mystra.

This is all headcanon bs and, as a plus-sized person, I am in full support of pudgy Gale and especially post game I have healed pudgy Gale. Let him be fat! And let it be utterly joyful as well!

[kyouka-supremacy]

---

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

The Poisons We Drink

YA urban fantasy

a girl who brews powerful potions is coerced into making potions to interfere with D.C.’s most influential politicians in an attempt to stop a dangerous Witcher Registration Act from passing, and will do anything to protect her sister after their mother is killed

bi MC, nonbinary love interest

arc from netgalley

[maegalkarven]

"What happens now?"

Nemo has spent unimaginable amount of time staring at his father's skull, its eyes unlit. Was he watching still? Did he see Nemo brought back to life by the forces the man himself did not understand? Or did he no longer care?

And just who exactly was Withers?

"Milord?"

It took a tentative touch to his shoulder for the man to finally turn around. And there they were, the damned, bloodied fools of his father's unholy assassins. The best of the best, the worst of the worst.

Staring at him like sheep brought to the slaughter.

"Yes?" It took all of his composure to simply shake the hand off and not break it; but composure was something he had a long good time of practicing.

And without the urge it was almost...easy. Almost like violence was something he didn't have to perform anymore.

"What will happen now?" Asked the girl, and Bhaal beneath, how didn't he notice how young they all are? None of the assassins looked older than forty and it said something about this whole business. Probably something very unsavory.

Nemo took a deep, steadying breath.

"Now," his voice echoed from the walls, multiplying it in a rather menacing manner. "You will renounce my father. You will lay down your weapons and your faith and will do no more of his bidding. Either you walk out of this godless or-" and at that he sent a glare more suited to be accompanied by a knife than by simple words. Seven hells, words were hard. "You will not walk out of it."

"Are..." another assasin raised a voice. "Are you asking us to forsake Bhaal?"

"Yes."

"And the alternative is..?"

"Joining his ranks on the other plane, of course," Nemo smiled his best, 'charming' smile. "But you all should be ready for that, everyone who kills should be ready to meet their own death. Or are you the cowardly kind?"

"So you will just kill us?" Oh, they argue now. Stupid lot. "As simple as that?"

"As simple as that," he gestured back at where whatever the fuck was left of his sister dearest lay. "Just like her. Though, I suspect, you'd throw less of a fuss over it. Or will you?"

"But we did everything Bhaal asked of us!" Another of his bunch of stupid idiots complained. "Everything you asked of us! And you will just...discard us?"

Of course he will. Did they not realize what kind of place it was, what kind of a "family"? Murder was what they did, all of them.

Him - more than the others.

"If, notice the emphasis, you do not reject Bhaal. But tear him out of your hearts - and you can walk out of this alive."

"And what about our contracts?"

That actually made him pause.

"Your...what now?"

The girl, the brave foolish girl who dared to touch him, spoke.

"Our murder contracts, you know, the ones we earn our wages from?"

They earned their wages? No, scratch that, they had wages?

He was sure he would not be able to forget that.

"Remind me for a moment, what's the deal with these," he winced. "Contracts?"

"Well...People ask us to kill someone," the girl shrugged. "We kill the target and get paid for that. Don't you remember? You set up the whole deal, said murders won't pay for our food unless we do something about it. And we did something about it," she grinned, obviously proud of "the whole deal."

"It was such a smart thing to do too, Lady Orin would never! All she wanted us to do is to perform the murders...fancily."

"By playing her corpse-dollies, I see."

Someone snickered. The girl frowned.

"Something like that. We had to run the operation in secret, but what else we were supposed to do?" She gestured around wildly. "The temple might provide us shelter, but the food? And what of our families? Some of us have children, you know, parents. Who will support them?"

Alright, now this was becoming weird.

"You're saying you've killed people...to feed your families?"

"I have a pet," someone from the crowd shouted. "It's an alligator and let me tell you, providing for this thing is costly."

"You have a pet alligator?"

"Yes," the man stepped closer. "His name is Minty, you've met him! Said he's a mighty beast and what I'd better feed him the corpses of my victims, that'd save the costs."

Despite his best judgment Nemo could feel a smirk crawl up his lips and firmly settle there.

A pet alligator Misty. Ridiculous.

There was a bunch of freaks and weirdos standing in front of him.

But again, wasn't he the same as them? A blade made of flesh, a man knowing how to take life and little else.

Maybe something could be salvaged here yet.

Maybe.

"Alright," the sigh he let out didn't feel forced, yet there was some anticipation too. Murder was familiar. Murder what brought money was...prospective. "Show me these contracts."

[sherlock-is-ace]

.

[spursthatjinglejanglejingle]

Hilarious to me that while characters in disco elysium will comment about weird rpg things Harry can do (can opening people, running around for days on end, etc) they never mention how he can go a whole week without eating anything or going to the bathroom once

[we-are-inevitable]

it's time once again for unsolicited newsies opinions with jac! on the chopping block for today: a look into David Jacobs being the "mom friend", featuring classism in the newsies fandom. yay!

disclaimer: this is purely my opinion and i am not trying to start discourse. i don't really care if you don't agree! it's fine to have your own thoughts. these are mine.

moving right along, the biggest thing- and something i talk about quite a lot- is that it's interesting that people see Davey as the mom friend.

ok first of all, i feel like to be the """""mom friend""""" you have to be really well established into the group as someone who has been, is, and always will be a caregiver.

and davey does not fit this description!

also: "mom friend" is just a weird term in general; it just feels like a backhanded title for a friend to have. most "mom friends" are forced into- or force themselves into- the role because all they're """good for""" is caring for others and pushing themselves to the side

anyway! moving on

you're not just going to make a new friend and immediately label them as the mom friend, because you don't know their personality or how they mesh with the group, yet this is what the newsies in fanon seem to do with davey.

is davey loyal to the cause? absolutely! does he want what's best for the newsies? yeah! but he's never going to have the same history that jack has with the boys, since jack has been taking care of them for a while. if anyone is going to be the "mom friend," it's jack.

there's a difference between Davey making a speech at the rally advocating for workers rights and united boroughs, and Jack taking care of all of the newsies for as long as he's been the leader.

Jack is more of a family member, Davey is more of a spokesperson. joining the strike and coming up with the rally- which failed, as @jack-kellys pointed out- doesn't mean that Davey automatically replaces Jack as the parental figure of the group.

also, as @roideny pointed out in a conversation on discord, it's kind of... sketch? seeing people replace Jack with Davey?

Jack is undoubtedly the "parent" of the newsies. a lot of them don't have families, and he's had to step up. he's been stepping up. he's responsible, he has the newsies best interests in mind, and sometimes he can be a little selfish in his wants- hi, Santa Fe!- but it's because he's under so much pressure.

so why does the fandom take Jack and replace him with Davey as the "mom friend" ??

i think we know why!

it's interesting to see that people will see a smart kid who uses big words and is somewhat more well off than the other newsies and say, "yeah. he's the one who takes care of everyone."

as if Jack hasn't been doing that for YEARS.

wow !! the kid with an education and more money is the one who steps up and acts as a "parent" to the poor kids !! because the leader is a "disaster dumbass" who is also a poor orphan !! isn't it funny how that works out !!

and this idea coupled with the rising popularity of poc jack kelly........ do you see where i'm going with this? the connotations are there.

all i'm trying to say is:

there's so much in this fandom that just shows that everyone is only paying attention to the actors and the characters, not

how the characters interact with the world and class systems around them

how the characters interact with each other as products/victims of the systems around them

there's no denying that David Jacobs is a good and loyal friend. but you can't sit here and say that he's the one who tries to "tame" or "parent" the kids who are less fortunate than him. it just leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the audience.

Jack Kelly is more of a "mom friend" than David Jacobs will ever be (even though "mom friend" is a sketchy way to describe it). he's not constantly a disaster- he's a stressed teenager with the weight of the world on his shoulders, in charge of a huge group of kids who deserve so much better than what society is giving him. cut him some slack. he's not stupid, yet the fandom paints him to be this wild, impulsive, dumb guy who cant tell left from right. are we really going to ignore the entirety of canon? are we going to ignore everything Jack did for the newsies? intelligence doesn't equal education. as @the-calvarys-coming-out put it: Jack would've been unstoppable if he had the same resources as other kids.

in conclusion: our fandom as a whole needs to reevaluate the fact that this show isn't just about characters and fun friendships onstage. this show is about classism and class inequality. just be mindful that some of your opinions, headcanons, and ideas can are liable to go against this core meaning of the musical, and understand why.

and again, big thanks to @roideny @jack-kellys and @the-calvarys-coming-out for helping me get my thoughts in order! love you guys very much 💙

[starvinginbelair]

as a criminology student, i would honestly love to read an comics arc about the role of the police in vigilantism because i just think it's under-discussed for such a nuanced and complex topic.

[onebizarrekai]

How are you doing today Kai?

I sure do be existin man 👋

[rainbow-burst]

I being so fucking normal about this fit on him rn I'm beingsofuckingnormal I'm beingsofuckin nor-

[medicinemane]

One big mistake people make is deciding that because someone they don't like enjoys something, that mean the something is bad

Easy example from my own life, Max who I'm no longer friends with and just... there were elements of a decent person in there once, but I don't think so anymore... anyway, Max likes Infected Mushroom

So my dad and my Mr Dumbass of a friend decided that Infected Mushroom is a bad band and it's like...

Mr Dumbass, you've been to a concert of there's with me and Max and another person (didn't care for the way the venue did things), you like them or at least have liked them... I'm pretty sure you introduced them to Max

They didn't become a bad band magically because one idiot likes them

Like people just lose the ability to judge things on merit when there's a chance to shit on something that someone they don't like enjoys and... it mostly screws you over and makes you look like a fool, you know?

So try not to do that, try not to shit on something just cause someone you don't like likes it

[mountain-lion-gremlin]

so after some contemplation (and a nice, very warm shower - along with decompressing by watching some Laat Week Tonight lol) I've decided that it's probably best for me to stop overthinking and letting myself fall into a mental spiral from the whole situation.

Because I was.... heavily unregulated and sort of unreasonable over the whole thing. I have incredibly bad anxiety, and it got to the point where I was imagining that he was forced to do things (such as change his discord settings and stop talking to me) when in truth that is highly unlikely.

I cannot put it aby better than I was spiraling, and needed to find stability.

Like how the hell am I supposed to know? How am I supposed to know what's happening? It doesn't help me to be so attached and so incredibly worked up from everything I notice and see. I felt like I was being almost downright creepy. I was driving myself into a very bad mental state, and i need to step back.

Stop being so incredibly attached to something I simply do not have control over.

So, obviously i will continue to be here and wait for when he returns. But I need to detach from this idea that i actually know him and his whole life, down to everything happening in his everyday life and that this is incredibly "abnormal". I simply need a break from this, it's too much mental strain on me and probably even him.

I sent a message asking if he was okay, and that's all i can do. Spiraling out of control won't help me or him at all.