#let's be better than the war criminals ok

[did-we-imagine]

Hi never “both sides” a genocide again please and thank you

I'm not sure what you mean to say, but I feel compelled to show empathy to all civilian victims in general because all lives are equal, and it is not to whitewash Israel or to minimize their war crimes (aka actual genocide/ethnic cleansing to further their colonial agenda).

One can feel bad for all civilian victims without buying into the criminal doctrine of zionism or being an israel/IDF apologist.

Dehumanizing civilians on either side is never good as it allows for racist/fanatic/murderous/extremist ideas to fester, which can lead to terrible tragedies. (This is exactly what is happening to the Palestinians in particular right now, they are being vilified through malicious propaganda. Jewish people went through the same during WWII with the nazis. It also happened to the Germans after during the final parts of WWII. Many women were raped by the Allies' soldiers...) . Here is an example of a mixed family.

I believe that the previous point is very important because there have been various extremists thinking that they were avenging the wronged party in their eyes through hate crimes against muslims / jews (the american 71 years old dude who killed that poor palestinian child and severely attacked his mother, and many others, which you can read about in this link).

I do not believe one bit that Israel's repeated attacks on hapless civilians in churches/hospitals are justifiable or defendable at all.

In conclusion, I would like to add a few very important points, especially for the people who defend Israel & think that pro-palestine people are antisemitic/racists/whatever:

-> This is not a religious war between jews and muslims. This is a colonizer entity attacking/exiling the colonized party. There is no reason to hate followers of either religion. In fact, palestine is a multi-religious country. There are muslim, christian and even jewish palestinians.

-> The palestinians are also semitic.

-> Right now, Israel is using Hamas' action as a justification to dish out full on genocide. However, as per international law, collective punishment of a people can never be justified by any means. Friendly reminder that Hamas =/= Palestinians and Zionism =/= Judaism:

https://www.aaiusa.org/library/debunking-all-palestinians-are-hamas

-> There are much more complex politics at play( FYI, other countries are using this conflict as a proxy war, esp USA/Iran ), considering that Hamas was financed by Iran, Hezbollah, and even Netanyahou/far right politicians from Israel who want to implement a one-state (Israel only) solution. The last category wanted to destabilize the Palestinian Authority & avoid the formation of a palestinian state through this.

Sources :

https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/netanyahou-a-t-il-dit-que-transferer-de-largent-au-hamas-etait-la-bonne-strategie-pour-contrecarrer-la-creation-dun-etat-palestinien-20231011_F5AKUAMMNVENDLJ6WBXLFPJETE/%3foutputType=amp

It's all the more jarring that this is french media saying this since the majority of their media is pro-israel.

https://archive.ph/H8LSL

-> Last but not least, this is not an equal war (for those who think that Israel is in their right). The infamous statistics of casualties. Pre-7th october 2023 :

https://www.statista.com/chart/16516/israeli-palestinian-casualties-by-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank/

Yeah, more people are dying on the Palestinian side...Because the genocide/colonization project has been ongoing for 75 years. This is proof on its own that Israel is a criminal state. Who woulda thunk?

Current stats:

Http://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker

->Israel is using this attack as an excuse to further its expansionist agenda, it's not quite bothered by the hostages' actual fates 🤡 :

[histrionics-and-haloperidol]

My hottest hot take is that George R R Martin has no obligation to finish the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Bro let his whole adult life be consumed by SEVEN thousand-page semi-historical-fiction books with a cast of near thirty well-developed, well set-up, well-characterized characters, and a complex and realistic geopolitical enviroment just because he thought a specific historical event should be better known. He deserves to enjoy the money he made in peace, and a lot of people (hell, a lot of WRITERS) whose only knowledge of writing is barely thought-out fanfiction populated by characters whose whole personality is to be horny for the character the author thirsts over, will jump at his throat and scream about how selfish he is just because he is taking time to develop HIS OWN GODDAMN NOVEL????????????

I know its frustrating. Believe me, I have no life, my only reason to wake up in the morning is that George MIGHT finish the series. But it's HIS intellectual property. HIS book. HIS characters. It came from HIS mind. If he wants to chill and just maladaptive daydream about it for the next decade than that is his right and he doesn't deserve the hate he gets just because ya'll can't accept the fact your favorite fictional war criminal who already has seven novels worth of content isn't getting an end? Well, welcome the plights of fiction fandoms. Sometimes, it's good enough just to not fix what isn't broken.

I'm sure plenty of writers here in tumblr can sympathise with the hope to not be harassed over when the next chapter for your story is coming. Sometimes we don't know. People have lives. Struggles. Health issues. Other interests. THEY ARE NOT YOUR FAITHFUL AI SERVANT. THEY DON’T PULL STORIES OUT OF THEIR ARSES. THEY HAVE TO THINK IT, THEN MAKE IT, THE EDIT IT, THEN SEE IF THEY LIKE IT. ITS A WHOLE PROCESS.

We are so used to immediate consuption that we cannot concieve of people taking time to perfect a craft that's meant to be enjoyable to them. And if we're honest, Martin has weathered a lot of fucking bullshit in silence. From fans, to editors, to bosses, to showmakers, he has had his fair share. Much more than its ok to take in silence. Please realize that just because something is out for the public to consume it doesn’t mean that it belongs to you.

[neoarchipelago]

The devil

Simon is a damned man. He's gone through hell and Tartarus all together. He's blood and screams, bullets and explosions now. He's lonely. He stays on base every time off the rest of the team has as they go back to their loving homes and families. He's nightmares and sleepless nights. He's cold.

He walks amongst the empty halls of the team's barracks on a moonless nights. He's off to the kitchen area to get coffee, bourbon, or both. Doesn't matter at this point. But there's a soft song. Music. A dim light.

Heaven help me the devil wears lace and she can't be tamed.

He frowns, stepping into view. A young lady, spinning and skipping to the sound of the seductive beat. He stares. Too long. Something about her movements, in a simple t-shirt, nothing under, makes him hard. And he stares. Until you notice him. Slightly jumping from the surprise.

"l.. lieutenant.."

Such a sweet voice. The sound of his rank on your lips, dripping like burning honey in his mind. And he didn't know exactly how it happened.

It was a blur. Maybe because at the moment he was in between your legs, his cock burried deep inside, thrusting a restless place.

Let me see the good girl you wanted to be.

I can be the one to set you free.

And he went for it. Twice. Three times that night. He had drowned in your mewls, your moans, the scratches on his back a perfect reminder of a scorching heat.

He had walked back to his room in the middle of the night. A last glance at your frame before vanishing. He hadn't slept so good in years. Shit. He had slept in. Fuck it felt good. When the team arrived in the afternoon, they teased him on his good mood. His well rested frame. Shit if they knew.

And the week had passed. The days numbered. What he thought was a simple night of sin and pour of darkness turned to something else. He saw you in the hallways, swaying your hips as you walked. Finding himself twitching at the thought of burying himself inside you again.

The sleepless night were back. The nightmares now tangling in a memory of your body squirming underneath him.

Fall from your grace, turn up the heat.

He had enough. After the 9th night of frustration and waking up in sweat. He needed rest. He needed it. He had walked back there.

The dim light. No music this time. You sat, not nearly as naked as he wished this time. He had walked in. Eyes meeting each other. There was a long moment where he walked around the room, like a predator prowling. It took one special glance, one whisper of his rank. Finding the comfort of your sheets, body tangling and roughly, bruisingly, achingly fucking.

Light me in flames. As hot as you need.

He lost himself again. In your scent, the warmth of your skin, your lips. The mask stays on. Of course. Willingly abandoning yourself to him.

To drag me to the depths where I belong.

Now it was recurring. Every week. At some point. One would find the other, waiting, hoping, in the dim light of the kitchen area. Always your room. Yours. The boys couldn't know. No one. It was a secret linking the two of you. It was an addiction that became more than a necessity. He never stayed. Never. You'd wake up alone. His smell, yours, the smell of sex.

He had started to finally rest. Only dreaming of you. And shit, he didn't know if it was better or worse than the nightmares but fuck it.

The devil tricks. She sent a spawn.

Perhaps she was just that. The devil. Coming to punish him for the crimes he's committed, and is still committing. Well fuck. If this was his eternal punishment. You. Haunting his mind, drowning him in need and craving, you being his only sunlight, then so be it. Let. Him. Sin. Let him be the worst war criminal of them all.

Now honey I've been thinking about this, all day long.

And he had tried to stop. It wasn't fair. For you, for him. He didn't come. For days. Turning into weeks. He had expressively asked for a solo mission to get away. It was ok. For the first days. until he found himself needing to pump his fist at the thought of you. In the middle of the fucking field. Hidden, like a madman. Because this is what you have tirned him into. You were his escape, his coping mechanism.

Have proud in my will, but the devil is strong.

Going back home he hadn't gone back to you. No. He had his will. But fuck. Seeing you in the hallways. It killed him. Until he had enough. You had given up of course. To you he was done, therefore you should be as well. A knock at your door in the middle of the night, his mask and dark eyes watching you, asking exactly for what you craved as well.

I get my fix, when she gets home.

You had crossed your arms and he had panicked for a second. You didn't want this anymore? FUCK. Fuck god no. He had pushed past you, closing the door on the way. You had frowned in confusion, before watching him fall to his knees in front of you. Begging. And you folded. Fucking folded. You had knelt, kissing him, ridding him right there on the floor. Moaning and whimpering his name because fuck that Ghost bullshit, not with you, not like this.

Got me by the belt, heart skippin a beat

More than an obsession now. You were his. No one knew unfortunately. That dumbass recruit flirting with you didn't know. And it was enraging him. Fucking crazy. He had met you that night, dim lighted kitchen, fury in him. Had questionned you. Asked you if you wanted someone else? Needed someone else. You had batted your pretty lashes, confused. Jealous? You had asked. The fucking nerve. Yes. Yes he was. So did you? Did you want that guy? No. Of course not. So he took what was his. Right there on the fucking counter. Railed you to tears to make you remember who you belonged to. What if someone hears you? Let them hear. He saw Price and his disapproving look in the doorway, but he didn't stop, he made sure you didn't see, not until he was done with you. And Price left. He knew he was going to get an earful, but right now, he needed to fill you up.

All of my praise, Only from me

So the team knew. Shit everyone knew. By the way he glanced menacingly at every guy who stepped too close. The way Gaz or Soap would be nicer during training because they suspected you were sore. Apart from that. Ghost was the best he's ever been in almost a decade. He was relaxed, one would say happy. Sometimes in whispers you'd get thanks from other recruits because the lieutenant was in a good mood and merciful during trainings. You couldn't stop blushing, they were thanking you for being absolutely failed into oblivion by their lieutenant. But fuck did it make you happy to know you were the cause of this.

They're closin up, Heavens gates

Something seemed to bother you though, as time passed. You fucked. He'd sleep in your bed sometimes. He'd steal a kiss or two or more in the hallways. He'd spend time in your room, you'd laugh together, whatched movies. But it was it. And your heart ached. Burnt, embers glowing and parching. And you avoid him. For days. And he had hated it. He engulfed himself again in your room at night, watching you look away from him, refusing his touch. What was going on? Tell me. You looked pained. Do you want me..? Of course I do. No. Do you want me? He understood. What could he say? What could he say... He hadn't said anything. You had told him to leave, tears in your eyes. It was over. He had lost his blessed curse.

It must've been right cause she can't be wrong

You had kept him away. Taking other routes to avoid him in hallways. Never going to the kitchen at night. He was going insane. He was menacing, horrible, harsh. Price had to keep him in check and it was hard. Sleep? No more of it. Exhaustion was the only thing giving him peace. You had fully turned into the only thing in his mind. He wanted to fuck you. Yes. But he wanted to hold you. To laugh with you. Look at you slightly frown as you read a report. And another possibility hit his mind. That not only you weren't his anymore, it meant that others would try to make you theirs. He would go training at night, passing his nerves on training gear.

I feel I'm going down hands gripping the sheets

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to be honest with himself. He wanted you. All of you. You were his. No going back, you were all he needed. So he knocked on your door. You opened, frowning. Do you want me? He asked. Wh..what? Yes. Than be mine. I want, I crave you. Be mine. Take this fucked up man and make it yours. And it was exactly what you did. It was more than love, in the sheets. It was abandon. Your hands intertwining and scratching, mouth kissing and biting. Nothing else mattered. Because now, you were his.

----

Don't even ask... Song his:

I literally couldn't work correctly all morning cuz this is all I had in mind.

[juneisafantasyaddict]

The writers of the SaB show seem to be pulling the exact same shit that lb did in the books. because there’s no way they think ignoring everything the grisha have been forced to endure, pretending that the darkling is the beginning and end of their issues and ravka’s, making sure alina never understands what she’s actually fighting for, etc is going to do anything except make me root for the darkling even more.

The entire second season gives me flashbacks to that insane trilogy because somehow they managed to be even worse than the books. they have alina telling the darkling that he doesn’t understand sacrifice?? really??? a man who has spent centuries of his life fighting for the betterment of his people doesn’t understand sacrifice?? the person who literally made protecting grisha his life goal doesn’t understand sacrifice??? does alina realize that the only reason she wasn’t killed the moment she was discovered was because of him?? because of the work he has done??

They had time for baghra to tell stories about her crazy family and how she killed her sister, but there was no time for her to say “this is what life was like before my son decided he was going to make it better for our kind?” if anything, they just pissed me off more because how the fuck is it possible that they are pretending the biggest issue they have is the darkling?? not the monarchy that has exploited grisha and ravka, not the fjerdans who hunt and kill grisha, not shu han who experiments on them??

Sigh, I can’t even write out my thoughts coherently because I’m so irritated by pretty much everything that happened this season. I’m irritated that instead of telling a complex story, we got this dumbed down garbage that tells us nothing, accomplishes nothing beyond “guy in black is bad.” the narrative condemns him for using merzost because he was so desperate to save his people, he tried forbidden magic, but 20 seconds later the hero is using that same forbidden power to bring her boyfriend back to life??? With zero repercussions?? I want to scream!!

If the narrative is so sure they are right, if they are so sure the darkling is wrong about everything, then why are they so afraid to expose the hero to the suffering of her people?? Let her see what they have to deal with, let her truly understand then. She has been a grisha for less than a year, and somehow she knows what’s best for them?? She doesn’t even know them. The show writers literally spent this season making her chase Mal around. Look what happened when they were going after the seawhip, two people died because she didn’t want to kill it, but they moment it went after Mal, suddenly killing it was ok. Her side of the war got attacked and instead of checking to make sure everyone was ok, including her friend’s brother who was literally about to lose his arm, she was screaming about Mal. You want to tell me about sacrifice?? She only cared about one person, and he was perfectly fine at the end. What does she know about sacrifice?? Why oh why is this fucking story just so determined to make her make all the worst possible decisions??

Incase you haven’t noticed, I haven’t talked about the crows at all, because I hate their presence in this story. They are a distraction!!! The grisha are fighting for their right to exist, Ravka is in the middle of a civil war, I do not have the time to follow the shenanigans of a group of criminals from a different country. I still don’t understand their purpose in this story, except comic relief?? 🤦🏽‍♀️

I love Alina, I really do, but jfc you cannot girl boss your way out of real solutions. They have her basically serving the monarchy and the whole time I kept thinking, if I were grisha, I wouldn’t follow her. She’s the leader of the second army but she’s wearing a first army uniform, she’s more interested in protecting the Lanstov throne than she is in protecting her people. She’s so blinded by everyone saying “the darkling is bad, the fold needs to go” she’s not stopping to say “what happens when the fold is gone?” “What happens after the war?” Because surely, she isn’t naive enough to think the people who started killing grisha as soon as they thought the darkling was gone are going to live peacefully with them now?? It took 2 seconds after the darkling died for Fjerda to send an assassin on jurda parem into ravka. Now that there’s no fold to stop them, what will stop Fjerda or Shu Han from sending an army?? Ignoring everything else the crows did, Kaz was right when he said “when they stop looking at her with gratitude, they’ll start to wonder if she hasn’t overstayed her welcome.” Which is basically what Aleksander kept saying btw, they are not going to love you for long, they are going to hate you eventually because they are afraid of what they don’t understand.

I don’t even know what the point of this was, but yeah, I guess it was a rant about how Fucking ridiculous season 2 of shadow and bone was.

[esmeraldablazingsky]

hello what’s the shred percentage of other nations considering fontainians are so relatively pampered, I’m voting inazumans as most built in teyvat

Hmmmm I'm only counting playable characters in this because I only considered playable characters for the Only Clorinde Is Shredded post

(I did not write hcs for arle, charlotte, or the siblings, but by popular opinion: arle can be shredded, charlotte is Not bc shes too busy chasing scoops to really work out, lyney and lynette are not bc if they actively tried to build muscle they wouldn't be able to pull off the body swap tricks, and freminet might secretly be shredded bc he dives with a claymore)

anyway let me just [pulls up genshin list of characters by nation]

for mondstadt the only characters i truly believe are shredded are like. eula and jean. these mfs are career knights who were canonically brought up with INTENSE training regimens, and eula is also a dancer and a claymore user. I do not think anyone else would Have Abs

liyue... *squints* honestly i think it's just MAYBE shenhe and xiao, however both of them are crazy strong without giving a single shit about how humans think they look. "oh but beidou" she has better things to be doing than pursuing ab definition, such as Drinking and Bothering Ningguang and Generally Having A Good Time. "oh but zhongli" be quiet and accept the reality: zhongli decided to leave being shredded behind with his godhood and is now having a lovely time being soft and dilfy and this is EXTREMELY sexy of him

ok, inazuma! let's see if you're right. I think itto has abs, he worked very hard for them and refuses to wear shirts so he can show them off. the shogun puppet is shredded as fuck and so was ei when she had a physical body. kujou sara is both shredded and in possession of frightening back and arm muscles. kazuha and gorou i'm honestly conflicted over? but yeah that is already a longer list than any of the other nations

aaand sumeru... well, alhaitham is oddly ripped for a scholar, he probably goes to the gym and listens to podcasts or whatever on his headphones. dehya is shredded and women want her. cyno is shredded and criminals fear him. that's probably it ngl

so yeah you're probably right about inazuma? they did just come out of a war that a bunch of playable characters were involved in so there's a fairly large proportion of like. very martial characters

[cartooemcanhis]

Bugbo hcs for my wacky dacky au

Bugbo!!

🐜 He's this odd combination of an ant, a dock bug, and a cockroach.

🐜 Believe it or not, he used to have wings but they got ripped off in some kind of accident(Presumably the same one he got his antenna bent in), theres only a tiny bit of his wings still left

🐜 He does just want the best for his friends but he can come off as very passive agressive often

🐜 His friends and him all live together

🐜 The way he met his friends was..odd to say the least, he just randomly showed up one day and noone really questioned it

🐜 Never admits it but he probably goes out late at night to go like pilage random farmers crops just for the hell of it

🐜 He may look fluffy but trust me, don't touch the floof, it's like caterpillar hair, it WILL give you an itchy rash

🐜 Doesn't let Gerbo drink chocolate milk in the middle of the night because it's HIS chocolate milk

Gerbo!

🕷️Very silly fellow!

🕷️ Despite being a spider he cannot make webs :(

🕷️ He can climb walls and stuff though, he just doesn't do it often because he often gets stuck on ceilings

🕷️ Hoppo and him have this sibling like relationship where they do all sorts of wacky stuff together, The main two things being playing adopt me on Roblox and watching YouTube kids for hours on end

🕷️ He really really looks up to Bugbo

🕷️Big fan of chocolate milk but he's never allowed to have it 💔

🕷️Unlike Bugbo, Gerbo's fur is actually safe to touch and it's decently floofy.

🕷️He still secretly collects rocks for no rhyme or reason but that's ok

Gradient Joe!

⚫ Starting off with a slightly cocnerning one,his Gradient is kinda like a parasitic non-sentient being, it's slowly taking over all of his body, don't worry though, it doesn't hurt him. (He also theoretically could spread his gradient to other people but hes never intentionally done that.yes, he has done it by accident before.)

⚫ Unlike what Bugbo says, he's probably just average intelligence lol

⚫Every part of his body that has gradient on it is oddly cold to the touch

⚫ Probably good at cooking but he can't eat so he doesn't bother to

⚫Has a very small crush on Bugbo but he knows that Bugbo won't ever like him back, but he's fine with that

⚫He's the one that pays the taxes in the house

⚫ uncomfortable around small children, it's unclear why

⚫ ABSOLUTELY locks his credit card up in a high security safe whenever he doesn't have it on him because he knows Hoppo will steal it and use it to buy 5839920202 shells worth of robux to waste on pet sim x on roblox

Hoppo!

🦗 the giggler

🦗 Ultimate ipad kid and yet somehow a girlboss and war criminal at once

🦗Uses internet slang when talking often

🦗Collects bones and other odd stuff and trinkets

🦗Scams so many kids on adopt me Roblox and on pet sim x

🦗 Absolutely slaying in the bug war, they're having fun somehow

🦗 Always off doing stuff

🦗 Physically cannot sit or stand still, always stimming in some way

🦗 Occasionally joins Bugbo on his late night "pilaging crops" outings

🦗He is a massive prankster, whenever it's April fools day you better lock your windows, doors, and chimneys, she is coming, they will show no mercy

🦗Can and will produce and spit acid at you if ur making xe angry or uncomfortable, they will then giggle at you and hope away

THOMAS FLYSWATTER!

🪰His backstory is fake as hell, every time he's asked about his past he'll make up a new backstory because he genuinely can't remember his actual backstory/past

🪰 Absolutely stims whenever he's explaining his devious plans (Yes, this includes his goofy rat looking tail wagging like a dog lol)

🪰Legit doesn't have a bed, he just sleeps on the floor of his evil lair like a cat lol

🪰Said lair used to be an old Swatter Inc building that got abandoned and he decided to live in

🪰All of his clothes are WAY too big for him since he's thin as a twig and flatter than a pancake

🪰Actually does use his hands and tail swatters as actual flyswatters (do not shake this man's hands they are nasty)

🪰His feet are flyswatters as well so whenever he doesn't have shoes on and he walks he makes funny af slapping sounds and waddles like a duck sorta

🪰 Litterally drinks bugspray, he just sprays it right in his mouth like a weirdo

🪰He's tried to kill Bugbo like 90 times now and every time he tries to Bugbo acts like he's never seen him ever in his life

[nerdyfan1]

Ok thinking about this again and I feel like this is considered sacrilege to say on tumblr specifically for some reason but, I’ll never not hate how much ppl try to make the argument Pentious needed to be super serious and evil. It always misses the point of his character to me. It’s really was never about Pentious being evil. It’s why it’s gotten out of the way so quickly in the beginning of Radio Killed the Video Star. You know with Alastor right here:

This is literally the first thing we get with Pentious and I think it set up quite well. Him being evil and then turning soft wasn’t what you were supposed to take away from his character, it’s his arc of learning to value himself and open up to others. Alastor whole thing is he likes to mess with other characters’ insecurities. That’s what he’s doing in this clip. Messing with Pentious’ biggest insecure, his fear of being forgotten. Just another face in the crowd that never meant anything despite his intelligence.

Pentious while doing evil things it’s not inherently evil. It’s a front he put on. Like Angel Dust he is putting on a mask to hide who he really is. Remove the corny villain persona and the war machines and this is who he really is.

A vulnerable man who’s finally allowed the space to wear his heart on his sleeve and let his emotions show. He never deep down wanted to be the villain, he was only that way cus of the environment he’s in made it where that was what he had to be. It’s eat or be eaten. He had to survive and fight to even try to get on top.

Unpopular opinion I don’t think we needed much to set this arc up. The Alastor stuff is fine enough in getting this point across. That even gave us a cute joke as pay off too. It gives you all you need.

Now in a perfect world I would have loved an episode of Pentious before the hotel to specifically explore his seemingly parasocial and toxic dynamic with the vees. Specifically Vox. As they are criminally little on it rn. However that’s me being more curious. I acknowledge it’s not technically needed. Maybe they’ll someday find a way to elaborate on it but, it’s fine I don’t mind I think they still said it all with that one part we did get.

Tho yeah Pentious as is? I think he’s far more interesting now than he’s ever been. Hell I’d argue he was always kind of implied to be this emotional and sensitive. Seen a lot of ppl say it’s a problem he’s so goofy but, news flash so was his villain persona.

Like the 3rd pic especially. You can see it right? He’s still trying to get attention, it’s silly but, also a sign that he just wants to be acknowledged. Remembered. Even if he’s kind of cringe about it.

I think he’s far more interesting this way and I hate this idea that “if a character is sillier or goofy means they by default are less interesting”. Heck his silliness and habit to blend into the background is neat cus it makes the reveal at the season finale way better. Pentious just being this silly man who fought for others cus they gave him the love he needed? That’s beautiful.

Also this criticism of him being too goofy is insane to me given the show itself. Like with how the tone of season 1 is I do ask how on earth making him more overly serious would make a lick of sense. Sure we are getting statements by crew we might get a more serious season 2 (which um I’m conflicted on) yet that’s season 2. The first season is more light hearted by nature. Besides episode 4 tho yeah that is understandable given the subject matter that episode is tackling I definitely would expect the show to be more serious tackling it and this show did as such so well.

By just adding angst onto a character who genuinely didn’t need as such it would mess up the tone and potentially even pacing cus that need more set up. Which is a bad idea given this season’s pacing is already on thin ice.

So yeah if he wants to babygirl the hell out and be himself then I say let him. I doubt this will change anyone’s mind I just get sad every time I see this here. Probably a me thing but, I’ll never subscribe to this idea his character was ruined. I wish ppl in this fandom would acknowledge that the softer characters are interesting too. See ppl be really dismissive of Charlie like this as well. Pentious is like Vaggie in a way. Two ppl who seem to have done something horrible yet actively try to be better ppl. Characters don’t need to fit an evil or nice box all the time. The point of hazbin is its main character are different shades of grey you know? Pentious is not an expectation and writing him like a typical redeemed villain wouldn’t work as well at least to me.

Edit:

In conclusion this is Sir Pentious:

[luckybyler]

From an actually good question posted on Reddit, here’s how I think the Stranger Things grandparents are:

Joyce: I think she had low-ish-income parents who were good people with good values, loved her and fulfilled her basic needs (fed, roof over her head, clothes, school), but for some reason couldn’t take care of her or guide her much. Maybe they had problems with drugs or alcohol, or maybe they were old and frail (or her grandparents because her bio parents weren’t in the picture), or had some illness. That made her driven, self-reliant, but also drove her to make some bad decisions. However, because she remembered what actual love looked like, she was able to correct course and protect her kids. Probably dead by the time Jonathan was born.

Hopper: I’d say he grew up in a non-abusive, but strict, home, with a father who valued honor and war and stuff. I imagine his mom was a little homemaker lady who baked cookies and loved him a lot, but who also instilled the fear of God in him and in dad. Basically a “men rule the world and women rule the home” type of family (which is actually a super hyper traditional mindset).

Lonnie: Could have been literally any kind of parents, because his fucked-up-ness seems entirely like a Lonnie problem. He could’ve had the worst or the best parents in the world and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Maybe he killed them for the insurance and made it look like an accident.

Karen: She was super popular in school, so her parents must have been at least middle class, the picture of a perfect 50s marriage and active in the church. Not rich tho, so they encouraged her to latch on to her older boyfriend from a good family for dear life to remain financially stable.

Ted: Likewise, except I imagine his parents were slightly more affluent than Karen’s. I imagine they were the pronto-Ted and Karen and Ted was a proto-Mike as a kid, until life and depression beat every ounce of joy and personality out of him.

Sue Sinclair: She most likely had loving, strategic parents most likely went ABOVE AND BEYOND to give her EVERY. TOOL. at their disposal so she could have the middle class life she ended up enjoying, keeping in mind that she grew up as a black girl during Jim Crow. In Lucas on the Line Lucas says his dad met his mom when she was in typing school or working as a typist. Her parents probably made sacrifices so she (and her siblings, if any) could have a higher education. They couldn’t afford to make a single wrong choice or even to let her become a homemaker and depend on a man.

Charles Sinclair: We know what his white foster parents were like: assholes. He fled out of there the second he was allowed to (or had to) and probably went immediately to the military recruiter. That crucial decision made the difference between a life of poverty and the comfortable life he ended up having.

Claudia Henderson: Most likely loving, reasonably progressive parents who encouraged her to get some sort of higher education or to work. I think she has only known healthy relationships.

Mr. Henderson: no idea, but judging by Dustin and Claudia’s personalities, he was probably a loving, caring husband and father who died (and most likely left them a pension or life insurance). Maybe that means his own parents were ok people.

Susan Hargrove: Probably very traditional parents who taught her that women should be seen and not heard, or at least that being a housewife was her only alternative for a decent life. Maybe she rebelled against her parents by choosing “love” instead of convenience, and so ended up dating and/or marrying a long line of losers and abusers. Her parents gave her zero tools at all for her own life so she depended on whatever dude entered her and Max’s lives.

Mr. Mayfield: described in Runaway Max as a smart but unmotivated and undisciplined man who commits petty crime, he probably comes from a long line of petty criminals who don’t feel any drive to better themselves, not even for those they supposedly love.

Neil Hargrove: Most likely raised in an abusive home and grew up to perpetuate the cycle of abuse.

[xxavengingangelxx]

Long Way From Home 2/?

TRIGGERS: Implied attempted suicide/self-harm, torture, threatened rape. Dark fic! OC is POW and Graves is a war criminal. Link to part 1 below! This is DARK so I'm still not sure how it'll do but it seized my mind and has to come out. Let me know what ya'll think!

When you woke up your body was hurting everywhere. Your head continued pounding. Your ribs protested when you sat up. It was hard with your hands still ziptied behind you. You realized you were against a concrete wall. But that was all you knew. It was pitch black besides a large air conditioning control screen on the wall adjacent to you. It read 60 degrees Fahrenheit. You shivered because your clothes were still drenched. They were probably doing it on purpose to keep you uncomfortable.

You didn’t even know how much time had passed. Your mouth was still taped shut and you found that especially frustrating. You wanted to holler and curse out the bastard who next stepped through that door.

A heavy door swung open and the dim lighting from the hallway made your headache worse.

Graves. Piece of shit. Piece of traitorous shit.

He was holding something.

A video camera?

“We got somethin’ Shepherd.”

“Better be good.” The voice from the other end said. Shit, Shepherd was in on this too? He approved of this shit?

Lights clicked on and you squinted although your eyes adjusted fast than you expected. The bastard was filming you.

You heard Shepherd laugh as Graves pointed the camera at you. “You got 141’s puppy?” He asked, dark humor in his tone. “The one who follows them everywhere? That cute little thing?”

“She bites, though,” Graves chuckled.

“Teach ‘er not to,” Shepherd responded. “She could be useful.”

“Now see that’s what I told her. She doesn’t wanna believe me.”

“Listen young lady,” Shepherd spoke to you directly. You couldn’t see him but he could clearly see you. “Oh,” he paused. “Jesus, Graves you did a number on ‘er.”

“She won’t talk.”

“She will,” Shepherd said, so sure of himself.

You shook your head. And with your defiance you leaned forward off the wall, brought your ziptied hands to the side of your hips and gave them both the middle finger.

Shepherd and Graves laughed. It wasn’t a laugh of humor.

“Spitfire,” Shepherd said.

“Yeah, I gotta teach her some manners,” Graves responded.

“Do what you have to. I want her working for us.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Keep her alive. She’s gonna be our bargaining chip.”

-

Graves closed the video camera, giving you a cold, unforgiving glare. “That was your superior you flipped off,” he snapped.

You shook your head. Fuck no he wasn’t your superior.

“Let’s knock you down a few pegs, huh?” Graves walked towards you, knife in hand.

You tried to scoot back but the cold cement wall behind you stopped you.

He knelt in front of you, grabbed your shirt and pulled you off the wall. He left small cuts on your forearms as he sliced through the zipties binding your wrists.

That was all you needed. The adrenaline from earlier was making a comeback and you immediately brought your hands in front of you. You launched a punch, which he blocked easily.

He stood up and so did you. You wasted no time in peeling the heavy tape off your mouth and off your face. The rest of it was still tangled in a sticky mess in your hair. You were sure you had red marks on your face from where the tape had probably peeled the top layer of your skin off.

“You filmed me like a fucking terrorist would film a hostage,” you snapped.

“There’s that mouth again,” he sneered. “Why don’t you put it to better use?”

You gritted your teeth at his sexual advance and lunged at him. He launched a punch but you blocked it, sidestepped him and delivered a round house kick to his stomach. He felt the impact through his vest.

“Still got some fight in ya,” he said, “That’s okay. I like it.”

And with that he stepped towards you, swept his foot under you, and knocked you flat on your back.

You mouth opened in a silent scream as you rolled over onto your side, unable to breathe. Your ribs were definitely either cracked, bruised, or broken from the bullet your vest absorbed earlier.

Graves approached you and used his boot to nudge you onto your back. He then descended on you, placed his knees on either side of you, straddling you. He easily reached up and pinned your wrists above your head before leaning over you. He still had the sickening smell of blood, sweat, and gunpowder.

“Get off!” You kicked and flailed but it was no use. He was too strong. You were hurt. And you were about half his size.

“This is gonna go a whole lot easier if you cooperate,” he said simply, not loosening his grip.

“Fuck you,” you spat.

“You’re gonna be useful one way or another,” he explained. “You can be a hostage or you can work with us.”

“Never,” you wanted to spit in his face but was afraid he would hurt you more if you did.

“You’ll be a lot more comfortable if you just give us updates on your team and work with us,”

“I’m not a traitor,” you snapped.

With that he got up, forced you onto your stomach and pulled your tattered uniform shirt off leaving just your bloody tank top. You immediately thought the worst: that you were going to be raped.

So you instantly arched your back and neck, feeling the back of your head come into contact with his mouth before you heard him full on growl like a wild animal. When he forced you onto your back again and straddled you, you could see your strike had made him cut the inside of his mouth on his teeth. He was bleeding.

You laughed when you saw him bleeding and it seemed as if something clicked in his eyes. You thought he was going to kill you. He wrapped his gloved hands around your throat and squeezed. You gasped, fighting for breath, scratching at his hands in wild abandon. You tried to buck and kick him off but he was too heavy. You felt yourself losing consciousness and in your mind you thought that at least they wouldn’t be torturing you anymore, that they wouldn’t be brainwashing you to work for them just to deal a blow to 141.

He suddenly released you and then he did the oddest, crassest, cruelest thing he could’ve done. He leaned forward and kissed you, his lips and tongue forcing your mouth open. Your hands went to his Kevlar vest and gripped it, trying to push him off. You closed your teeth around his bottom lip and he stopped, pulling away.

“If you bite anyone again, I’m gonna break your fucking jaw,” he stated.

With that he got up and off of you, leaving you to curl up on the floor in pain and humiliation.

“Next time I won’t stop there,” he again threatened you with sexual assault. “So you better be ready to talk when I come back in here.”

The lights were out and you were in total darkness save for the air conditioning panel. The cement floor was cold and you shivered, curling in more to try and keep warm. You promised yourself that no matter what they did to you, you wouldn’t talk and you sure as hell wouldn’t work for them.

-

You woke up with a gasp. You had no idea if it was day or night or how long you’d been out. The air conditioning panel read 55 degrees. You couldn’t change you could just watch as the temperature got lower. They were purposely making you as uncomfortable as possible. Your teeth nearly chattered.

In your almost delirious state you wondered if what Graves had said earlier was true. Did 141 hear you scream for help and not come? You shook your head. He had already started trying to brainwash you without you even knowing it.

You passed out again.

-

You woke up and felt yourself being dragged somewhere. One man on each side held your arms as your boots scraped on the ground. You were trying to stay awake but there were periods of blackness.

You woke up on your knees. You weren’t restrained in any way, which you found odd.

“This is probably one of the more brutal ways to try and get information out of someone,”

That voice: Graves.

You met his gaze and glared although even you felt like your glare was losing its power, it’s intensity.

“Show ‘er,” Graves stated.

Rough hands…not Graves’s…grabbed you and before you could register what was happening your face and head was underwater. The water was freezing and you had to effectively stop yourself from taking a breath. They kept you under until you saw black edges in your vision.

Then you were pulled out and shoved backwards, landing on your back, gasping and coughing, and fighting for air.

Graves stepped into view. “Where were you and your team planning on going after this?”

You couldn’t answer on account of you gasping for air.

You shook your head even when you could talk. Catching your breath, you said, “They don’t…they don’t tell me that shit.”

“Really now?” Graves inquired.

You saw he was wearing different clothes so that told you it had been a last a day or at least 12 hours since you were taken. He looked refreshed, rested.

“I’m a translator,” you added. “I’m just on for the Mexico stuff.”

“Bull,” Graves snapped.

“I’m bilingual, you moron,” you snapped. “I don’t know other languages.”

“You’re clearly not understanding the severity of the situation here and how badly I want that intel,” Graves responded calmly.

“I don’t have it!”

Graves signaled and although you tried to push those coarse hands away from you, you were unable to. You were too tired, too injured, and you were honestly losing your will power.

You found yourself submerged again and while you couldn’t really tell time anymore, you could’ve sworn that they kept you under longer.

They kept it up and you eventually lost count of how many times they submerged you in the cold water. You could tell it was a while because the water was getting warmer and warmer.

“Jesus Christ, Val” you heard Graves’s voice but it sounded far away. He called you by your nickname (Val from Valdez). He knelt in front of you, making his voice sound clearer.

You wanted nothing more than to lash out and hurt him but there was no way you could. You were weak and dizzy.

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Graves added. He reached out, creepily pushing your soaked hair out of your face.

Your gasps for air were the only answer you could give him. You gave up on trying to stay conscious and let the darkness claim you. It was the first time you started thinking about finding a way to take your own life.

-

Graves and his demons came at unpredictable intervals. Several times they brought a Taser. Another time they’d just try and drown you either with actual water or waterboarding. You stopped counting how many different ways they inflicted pain.

Other times they just kept you awake for what seemed like forever.

Graves hadn’t touched you despite his threats of rape. At least not that you remembered. But who knew?

-

You woke up back in the same room you’d been in since you were taken. It was still cold or so you thought. Semiconsciousness was keeping you kind of warm. You didn’t feel pain, at least not much. You still had no idea how long you’d been held hostage.

You forced yourself to sit up and look around. With your eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, you could see the room wasn’t large but your brain wasn’t able to come close to calculating the dimensions. A glint of light caught your eye. It was something under the air conditioning control panel.

You walked over to it, stepping quietly to prevent your boots from making noise and attracting unwanted attention. You found yourself unsteady on your feet as you knelt next to the item. It was glass.

A piece of glass big enough to…

You grasped it. You gripped it tightly and it cut into your right hand. The shrill pain was welcome only because you were inflicting it on yourself. Your hand became warm and sticky with blood. It was definitely sharp enough.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to go through with it now that the situation was right in front of you. Maybe just cut deep enough to force them to bring you to the emergency room? Were there even any emergency rooms around here? You had no idea if you were still even in Mexico.

The horizontal cut to your wrist oozed blood. You almost instantly regretted your decision. But then again did you really? You could only take so much more of this. You were terrified that you’d break and reveal something. Even if it was trivial you still considered it treasonous. And the last thing you wanted to do was be like Graves: a traitor.

You lowered yourself to the ground and dropped the piece of glass next to you. You sat in a corner. The corner faced the door diagonally so no one would be able to sneak up on you. You pulled your knees to your chest and rested your head on your knees.

You weren’t sure if it was exhaustion or death gripped you but you allowed it.

-

You woke up and you weren’t sure if you were dead and in hell or whether you were alive, right back where you started.

Someone was kneeling over you and you instantly knew who it was. He made your skin crawl. You felt him grip your left wrist in a tight grip. Blood still seeped through his fingers.

“Fucking hell,” you heard him whisper. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

That last word echoed in your head for what seemed like forever.

-

“That was an insane thing to do,” Graves’s voice cut through the comfortable cocoon you were in.

You felt different. You were lying on cold concrete like you had been for who knew how many days and nights.

You were in…a bed? Had you been rescued? Maybe you’d only imagined Graves’s voice.

“Hey,” Graves’s voice again.

You tried to push him away from you but found your right wrist cuffed to something.

“I’m in hell, aren’t I?” you croaked.

“A version of it,” Graves replied. “You don’t have to be though.”

“Oh, fuck you,” you groaned.

“You needed stitches,” he said.

Everything came into focus and you were on a bed with a thin mattress. Your brain still couldn’t comprehend what you cuffed to.

“Can’t have you doing that,” he then paused before sadistically adding, “if you wanted to finish yourself off you should’ve cut vertical.”

You remained silent and simply let that same darkness consume you again.

[dyslexicandakeyboard]

Gotham War is so stupid (I've heard through reddit it was to get Batman more isolated) and it kinda cements why I don't like Chip Zdarsky.

Firstly, the whole plot doesn't make sense.

Selina "Let's train criminals to be better at criminal-ing in this one sector of criminality, making violent crime rates drop while making it hard to catch them" Kyle and the whole Batfam (minus Damian the only person with sense) thinks that "Yes, this is a good idea."

Ethics aside, logistically how are you to trust every criminal you train is going to stick with the guidelines you provide? Criminals go rouge all the time. Congrats, you have even more crime that hidden. Then is the fact that you are commit crime, you're just putting pretty words around it to muffle the blow.

Instead of doing something productive such as create more rehab plans in prison and so on, you train criminals.

Next, was Failsafe nothing? Was the whole "universe hopping" nothing? Can't we have some smaller scale arcs and not Gotham ending events for five minutes? Can't Bruce be a detective for a bit?

Then, the characterisation is so weird and has been since 2020/2021. The whole Batfam (Bruce and Barbra and most of the girls get hit hard with this) are so....one dimensional. Why is Dick and Tim following Selina's plan, they may not hate her but they wouldn't believe that teaching criminals to do crime right is...good or that her way is the right way. Jason just regressed as a character. Selina being villainous I don't mind. Selina being stupid is what I do mind. Does she really believe the plan would work (obviously not because Vandel manipulated her but besides the point.)

Why the fuck are Cass and Stephanie ok with the plan? Stephanie definitely wouldn't be, why would she be? Stephanie who went to the streets to spoil her father plans without training, because she understood crime wasn't the answer. Cass who ran away because she understood killing people was bad?

And why is Barbra just some person tapping the computer giving out locations? Oracle is more than that.

Then Bruce. The whole "I've messed with your DNA so you get scared when you're adrenaline is high" was written because the writers understood that Bruce being against crime is actually not that unreasonable. Bruce didn't throw them all in jail, which he should have done at the first meeting. Bruce didn't tear down Selina's club. Bruce simple caught criminals.

[saltyr3mix]

Outsider smp Owen hair head cannons: I've had thoughts about this and wanted to share. Ok so, Owens Minecraft skin that he uses in the smp has hair buns. and i will die on this hill. I think through the entire time in the maze Owen had space buns or pigtails.

Owen is also like 35. So there is a 35 year old man. traumatized by being a child soldier and war criminal....even if he doesn't know it at first. And he wears space buns. I don't know why but that makes me so incredibly happy.

And also this means hes matching with Apo and Magic. Who also have their hair tied up in a similar way.

If you want my full personal head cannon. Owen didn't know what to do with his hair at all when he first entered. At first it wasn't even long enough to tie up. But months passed and he was getting extremely annoyed when it would fall into his eyes while training or stick to the back of his neck after long days in the maze. He was complaining to Apo about this one day and Apo's like. Hold on man i've got this.

The demon comes back with some twine, thin cloth. Or whatever the closest to rubber bands that they have in the clearing. And does Owen's hair up in buns. Owen laughs at first thinking he looks slightly ridiculous. But slowly learns to love them. when they eventually fall out he goes back to Apo asking to do them up again. Apo eventually teaches him how to do it himself and the pair have matching buns through out the more peaceful time of clearing. Sometimes they even dragged Rasbi in. They often placed flowers and other pretty forestry in each other's buns as decoration.

Flash forward several months/ years depending on what you believe. And Magic enters the scene. Owen wants nothing to do with Apo at the moment because he was lied and betrayed to by the demon. One day he comes out with his hair down, everyone a bit surprised they hadn't seen it like this scene the very early days of the clearing. Magic figures out that he's upset and offers to help. He needing something to distract himself and not wanting to have to deal with the mess of long hair in his face when entering the maze, lets the younger mess with his hair. Magic tries a a few styles, just some funny ones to cheer him up a bit. even threatening to dye it crazy colors. In the end Owens hair is up in buns again. But whereas Apo's were small and tight better for just keeping the hair from being a bother. Magics had more volume and airy. They were more for display than function. But he wore them around anyways to match magic and even use them to make fun of her at times. Only it would always end up backfiring. He no longer puts flowers in them. Flash forward again and Owens is cleaning Apo's blood off his spear. In the reflection he sees the buns and flash back to soldier rules on hair length kick in. He picks up some sheers and cuts it all off down to appropriate length. The others cant tell if that was a good or bad thing. Magic is a bit upset they don't match anymore. But Owen assures her that it was only having hair that long was bothering him. By the time Owens locked up having committed multiple murders his hairs a bit out grown again. Not helping with the heat. He can't help but hate that it only proves how much hes fallen from his soldier glory.

Anyway, i also think at one point he dyed a streak of his hair orange. It might have even been a prank on him from either Oeca or Apo that dyed his hair that way. But it didn't stick around only last for a handful of weeks.

And yeah! Outsiders may be long over but i've finally found a place to talk about it so im going to! Sorry not Sorry for the rant he means a lot to me. And if you like this idea let me know.....i might write a fic about it....i've certainly thought about it but idk if i would have the time.

[jewishdragon]

reccommend any good book series?>

uh, sure

lets start with the three book series i have had on loop (audiobooks through libby) for the last 4 years:

Temeraire. 9 books. alternate history age of sale, an homage to Aubrey Maturin (the author literally stopped posting fanfic for that series 1 year before she published the first temeraire novel). What is the alternate? Well. dragons exist. and they are people. The premise is a human naval captain finds himself captain in the air force because a dragon imprints on him. Explore how the first napoleonic war goes when dragons are involved both in battle and in politics. I love this series because it scratches a very specific itch for humans and giant monsters bonding and interacting at every level of society. A lot of real historical figures show up (napoleon...). but it never feels forced. Im so bad at selling this series. its really great.

Memoirs of Lady Trent. 5 novels. more dragons ! this time a world similar to ours, but dragons exist! however this time they are animals, not people, and the main character is a fantasy victorian jewish woman who is obsessed with studying dragons and breaks her worlds gender barriers (which are the same as victorian englands were) to achieve her goals. also there's a slow burn romance with a nerdy fantasy muslim man (think indiana jones!!!) and they go on ADVENTURES about ARCHEOLOGY AND NATURALISM (books 3 through 5. i dont want you to think i lied when this man dont show up in books 1 and 2. BUT THERE'S STILL BOTH NATURALISM AND ARCHEOLOGY ADVENTURES IN BOOKS 1 AND 2). I did not see the twist of the series coming either. wild stuff. love it. there's a epilogue 6th book where the characters spend 80% of the time translating ancient tablets and somehow this is incredibly engaging, props to the author. this is a first person POV, the author is writing it as a MEMOIR so you have to imagine this old lady writing this down in her study.

The Murderbot Diaries (5 books, 4 are novellas). Sci-fi, out in space! Mostly taking place in literally capitalist hell region of space called "the corporation rim" which is... ruled by corporations. A lab grown robocop cyborg hacks its programming to become autonomous and wants nothing more than to watch soap operas and be left alone, but of course makes friends along the way as it continues to do its job of protecting humans. the snarky humor is FANTASTIC. its also first person POV and feels like Murderbot cornered you in a seedy space bar on an asteroid and just started ranting about shit "you will not believe the fucking year ive had" and then just rants for hours. Speaking of, 4 hours is the audiobook length for each novella, short enough that you can give the series a try without worrying about length

agatha christie. i mean. the queen of murder mysteries is called that for a reason. her stories are indeed bangers

Howl's Moving Castle. its a 3 book series though the books arent super connected. really fun fantasy adventure comedies.

Ok end of the not kids section. here's the kid section

now bear with me on this. Artemis Fowl. 8 books. I didnt read these until i was an adult, in graduate school. They fucking SLAP. some stuff is a little dated but other than that, its action packed, its so much fun. Go on an adventure where a shitty know-it-all genius criminal master mind becomes a better person and also there's fairy magic and fairy tech (which might as well be a second kind of magic). the main villain? amazing, unhinged, megalomaniac to the max. i love her. the minor villains? also amazing. i cannot overstate how great the villains are in this.

Dealing with Dragons/Enchanted Forest Chronicles. uhhhh this is my special interest. fantasy comedy adventure.

thats all for now i think.

[authortobenamedlater]

E2 deep dive, once again under a cut to be extra careful of spoilers.

Where is Dr. Halsey, the world wonders?

She’s in an oddly comfortable and well-lit place to hold a war criminal, playing a game with what turns out to be a flash clone. Maybe of herself? Young Halsey had red hair and brown eyes? Well, I always knew that blond hair wasn’t growing out of her head. She keeps asking the flash clone about “the man” but the clone dies before she can answer. One gets the feeling this has happened before.

Riz still has lingering pain from taking a plasma grenade that would have killed a mere mortal. Understandable, even if Spartans heal and recover at lightning speed. Interesting bit of info from Kai that the emotion regulator acts as pain relief, since physical and emotional pain are processed in the same region of the brain. Yet Riz would rather have “a bullet in [her]” than put the pellet back in. She’d rather feel pain than feel nothing, we discover as she struts away in her tank top and leather pants.

Jumping ahead a bit, but since we are talking about Riz, who’s this Louis guy? I don’t remember reading about him in the admittedly very few books I read. He and Riz are tight, though. Maybe a former couple? And who IS that Danilo guy Louis takes Riz to see? A massage therapist? Psychic? What’s with this “your life is yours now” line? Foreshadowing? It’s a little weird.

I know I’ve been beating the “John is a broody introvert” drum for like two years, but WOW is he earning that reputation this season. He keeps talking about Makee, and she’s part of his troubles, but the other part is Cortana. He’s in denial about how not OK he is without her.

Kai, of course, knows something is up as she and John stare at a board showing the status of all Spartan teams. A status board that is not computerized. Well, Fenway Park will probably still have a manually operated scoreboard in 500 years, so I guess FLEETCOM can too.

Back to the matter at hand. Kai knows John is hurting. She tells him “We’re more than just—“ More than just WHAT? Let her finish, John you emotionally stunted dunderhead! Nope, you’re too busy fixating on Cobalt, for whom your concern is endearing if not a little inordinate.

There seems to be some ongoing…I don’t know if tension is the right word, but something between John and Kai over Kai shooting Makee.

About the status board. We see at least five teams: Silver, Gold, Cobalt, Omega, and Sigma. Blue Team is conspicuously absent, but if they got slipped in like this there would be pitchforks and torches outside Paramount HQ. I will use this to feed my headcanon that Blue Team is the Spartans’ SEAL Team Six and officially does not exist.

Maybe this is nothing, but silver, gold, and cobalt are all metals in addition to colors. Does this timeline use metals instead of colors to identify Spartan teams? Doesn’t explain Omega and Sigma, though.

After watching who knows how many flash clones keel over in front of her, Halsey finds out Ackerson is the “nice man” sending them in and he’s the one holding her prisoner in what turns out to be a holodeck of some sort. He doesn’t outright say the clones are of Halsey, but his “any resemblance is purely coincidental” line smells like BS to me. Halsey gets the award for most flash-cloned human in history, probably.

At any rate, Ackerson and Halsey know each other, a departure from First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx, but their rivalry will be even better face to face. Ackerson’s agenda, whatever it is, most intriguingly to me involves keeping Halsey alive. She was sentenced to an Article 72 at the end of S1 and in the last episode she’s seen leaving Reach. So how did she get back here, and into basically the Pentagon with nobody seeing her? Why does Ackerson need her alive?

Laera is not having any of Soren’s crew’s shenanigans and I don’t think this will end well for them. She hasn’t survived however many years married to Soren-066 by being a dummy. Kwan is still hiding out in that cave and running from her indentured servitude. Are we gonna get an explanation of this or…? Again, do Soren and Laera know she’s here and Kessler is going to see her?

I’m SORRY but the John/Kai implications when Ackerson is talking to Kai? “I know how long you’ve been together” “I understand what he sees in you.” WTF, buddy? I know he’s using this to try to get to Kai, but if he didn’t think there was something to it, he wouldn’t bother. Kai doesn’t refute any of it, either.

More evidence of Ackerson’s agenda comes when he talks with Cortana, who in addition to getting a makeover is cloistered in a holotank and stuck running simulations. Presumably about the Covenant hitting Reach. I’ll speculate that Ackerson is purposely keeping her separate from John because together they might dismantle whatever his plan is. He’s kept her from accessing “external systems” even though she says they might improve her simulation’s accuracy. Basically, he needs to keep her contained.

Cortana’s “you won’t visit again, according to the simulations” line. Is she predicting Ackerson will die on Reach? He survives to the Battle of Earth (Halo 2) in game canon. We also see him with Kai in the trailers and I’m presuming they’re on Onyx. Does he die on Onyx? Or is this not related to him dying at all?

John inadvertently crashing the Perez family dinner is great. The grandmother’s “You’re very large” observation is 🤣 The reference to the “Spartan Attack” game gives us a look at the wider universe. We have Call of Duty and other such games, why wouldn’t this world have something similar? I’m also all for Silver Team going around the galaxy picking up honorary Spartans. John doesn’t realize that’s what he’s doing but he is 😂

They gave Carter’s famous “the Covenant’s on Reach” line to John, nice touch.

Lastly, Makee is somehow alive. I like it less than my headcanon of her Halo 5 Cortana gambit, but I’ll allow it. Covenant must have some serious medical tech, which given how advanced they are vs. humans, could track. The Makee reveal doesn’t surprise me. I said right after S1 that she was too good a character to just be gone. It does, however, feel a little cheap to have her walking around like nothing happened. I seem to be one of the few who actually liked her and thought she was a good foil for John (The Scene notwithstanding), so I’m interested in seeing where this ends up.

Still no sight or mention of Miranda, but Olive Gray is listed in the credits. This means we HAVE to see Miranda at some point since there are union rules about this. Once upon a time the rule was anyone appearing in at least 8/22 episodes had to be credited with the main cast (Babylon 5 fans will make the connection that Warren Keffer appeared in exactly eight episodes 😆), but I don’t know what that looks like now. Anyway, I have some theories, but I’ll save that for later in the week because this show makes me chatty.

[sagau-my-beloved]

More brainrot of the modern isakai AU but imagine if it was Venti’s first Halloween. Imagine reader telling him he can wear his normal clothes again and he cheerfully does so, trick or treaters immediately saying what a good Venti costume that is.

Imagine if Venti sees an actual scary costume and thinks reader is in trouble. He’s so confused lol

☁️ anon

Halloween time!!!

Halloween and cons are pretty much the only time he can don his default attire in public, so he's gotta take advantage of that of course

But he'd get an absolute kick out of trick or treating, despite the weird looks both of you get for being 'too old', would straight up grab your hand and run from house to house while laughing, sneaks all of his really good candy into your bag though

Maybe make sure to keep an eye on exactly how much candy he eats too, he could probably get sick pretty easily from it

But it's another opportunity for him to explore your worlds traditions, so learning as much about it as he can allows him to recreate it when you do finally go to Teyvat

I'm telling you he would probably go all out, I'm talking full decorating whatever place you share together with all those fake spider webs that are really annoying and lights and other fun things

I also think he would be super into matching costumes, like the really stupid ones, if you happen to know of any Halloween parties you're going to he insists on wearing them together

And then imagine one of your friends ends up dressing as some slasher killer for said party and starts acting it out with you, but it's not like Venti knows any better, that might not end well—

Let's just hope he doesn't act on his instinct to immediately throw the guy 50 feet away with a controlled wind blast, you might not be able to play that one off

Ok here me out, horror movie marathons

I personally love horror movie, so just the dynamic where you're totally fine enjoying it and Venti's about to have a heart attack, full on wided eyed hiding his face against you at the really bad parts, nervous laughing at the dread inducing suspense music

I'd say it's debatable whether or not he'd be more sensitive to that stuff or less sensitive, on one hand it's hard to be desensitized to it when you don't actively watch it very often, it's not like they just have incredibly violent and gory movies in Teyvat and some of it can look very realistic, but on the other hand war criminal and all, so—

In conclusion yeah, he's gonna give anything you like a try obv, and I feel like he'd easily get into the spirit of things, got to make sure that every day you spend with him is better than any day you spend without, which especially includes holidays

[la-pheacienne]

The problem with thinking that Team Black is the “feminist” side and Team Green is the “patriarchal” side, is that it ignores the fact that Rhaenyra is no feminist. She doesn’t care about the rights of any other women, she’s just fighting for the right to sit on the throne herself. The Greens are patriarchal but so is Rhaenyra, she just sees herself as the exception to patriarchal rules.

Therefore, both sides are bad because they ultimately wage war over the throne which causes the suffering of many smallfolk. The Greens may have started it but the Blacks certainly responded, and violently. So yes, I do see this story as “pick your favorite war criminal and enjoy the show.” Rhaenyra and Aegon both suck as human beings and as rulers, and the Targaryen monarchy as a whole shouldn’t exist in the first place. The iron throne is a symbol of oppression.

So I hope this gives you a better understanding for why some of us are Team Green. It’s not because we think women shouldn’t rule, we just happen to like the Green characters more and think Rhaenyra isn’t any better than Aegon. Aegon is a piece of shit but so is Rhaenyra. We aren’t here to claim our side is the most moral one, we just cheer for the Greens because we like them most not because we think they are the good guys.

The fandom would be so much less toxic if Team Black could do the same instead of trying to claim some moral high ground. We do admit that the show has being framing the Blacks as the “heroes” and the Greens as the “villains” but you guys have been able to identify other bad writing in the show before, surely you can identify that as bad writing as well.

"The problem with thinking that Team Black is the “feminist” side and Team Green is the “patriarchal” side, is that it ignores the fact that Rhaenyra is no feminist"

Stop right there. The entire basis of your argument is wrong, because nobody said that we like Rhaenyra cause she's feminist, nor that the Black side is the "feminist" side. Nobody even talked about feminism actually. We just talked about misogyny, because while feminism as a political ideology doesn't exist in universe, misogyny does. There are those who fight against it, for themselves, and those who weaponize it, for themselves again. You chose your side.

The fandom would be "much less toxic" nonnie if green stans and/or Targ antis like yourself never even existed because you're not supposed to exist.

Also let me do the math here : you think both are bad, "Rhaenyra isn't any better than Aegon" but you're team Green nonetheless? How did we get from A to B? Because "you like the Greens better", you mean because you find Olivia and Ewan hot. That's what you mean. Ok.

Also, just to clear things out, you claim you are not misogynist but you literally said, in that ask, that a woman whose biggest sins are that she had sex out of wedlock, and bastards, and became violent and bitter in the end, "isn't any better" than.......... a man who sexually harasses women, in canon, like, in the book. And you go further and say that you're team Green, which means, you literally want said man to take her place.

Ok.

I'm only posting this so that my followers admire yet again the inconceivable damage this shitshow has done to the legacy of this poor book.

[rotationalsymmetry]

OK. I'm going to go off about voting for a minute.

First, it is fucking weird that the tumblr fight over this is Side One: You Must Vote For A Democrat For President No Matter What, Don't Even Think Of Voting Third Party Or Whatever, This Is A Moral Imperative vs Side 2: Voting Is For Chumps.

Uh, ok?

So, the people I know in real life have a spectrum of political beliefs, mostly I don't interact with actual conservatives much but I do interact with the sort of people who think that Bernie Sanders is too far left and people who think he's just about right and people who aren't really thrilled with anyone who has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected president and people who think that states shouldn't exist. And people whose beliefs don't necessarily line up perfectly with the left-right framework, even when you let the left side go that far.

Mostly, I know people who want minimum wage to be higher and public schools to be better funded and immigrants to not be treated like complete shit, things like that. Sometimes they also do land acknowledgements and stuff.

And these people vote. And they call their representatives. And they campaign for politicians they like. And they go to protests. And they go to town hall meetings and ask questions and sometimes shout down whoever's speaking.

And you know what?

I want minimum wage to be higher. I want public schools to be better funded -- I'm critical of schools and I think truancy laws are fucked up, but given that schools are a thing I want them to have more money than they have. Similarly with minimum wage, I don't think anybody should have to work, but given that in practice most people do, I want a lower wealth gap and I want everyone to have enough resources to live on and raise kids on, and one of the most effective short to mid term ways to get closer to that goal is raising minimum wage. I want open borders, but failing that I at least want things like the DREAM act and less blatant cruelty from ICE and sanctuary cities.

And I want schools to be able to teach about historical racism and to use books like Maus as teaching aids and to be able to say the word "gay", and the most direct way to get that is to vote for people for school board who also want those things. (Although, being a PITA is sometimes effective against elected officials who don't want those things, so it's not the only option.)

And I want the criminal justice system to get completely scrapped, but that's not going to happen tomorrow but what can happen is electing more sympathetic and justice oriented people to roles like the district attorney and public defender. And sometimes getting the right people into local office, county boards of supervisors and whatnot, can mean that the cops get less funding and that programs designed to help ex-convicts have places they can live and work after getting out get more funding, or at least that things don't get worse.

And of course showing up to town hall meetings and protesting in the streets are still options, but they're still options whether there's relatively cool people in office or not, and when there's relatively cool people in office you can push things more towards what you want and when there's shitty people in office you end up doing reactive actions that might or might not work, like when Bush got elected president -- for the love of all that is good and worthwhile, autocorrect, I do not want to dignify that title with a capital letter -- and then 9/11 happened, and anti-globalization activism in the US basically stopped dead so that we could all protest the Iraq War instead, which may or may not have done no good whatsoever but certainly did not end the Iraq War.

A formative expeience in my life was Critical Mass. I got really into bicycle activism and I loved Critical Mass. And not everybody who does Critical Mass, which is basically the sort of protest where you don't have a permit and you might get arrested on wheels, seriously one time San Francisco mass went onto the Bay Bridge, also goes to town hall meetings, and probably not everyone who goes to the town hall meetings does Critical Mass, but a lot of people do both. There's nothing stopping people from doing both. It's not ideologically inconsistent to both sometimes block traffic with a bunch of bicycles because getting bike lanes striped takes too long and you want to be safe riding a bicycle on the streets right now, and begging/pressuring your elected representatives to stripe more bike lanes. You can do both. I did both. People do both all the time.

And sometimes eg some fucking jerk of a rich boy is running for mayor and wants to cut general assistance payments for homeless people to under $50 a month and is making this out to somehow be good for them, and you've been feeding people with Food Not Bombs but Food Not Bombs needs someone to be a liaison with the Coalition on Homelessness, and the Coalition on Homelessness is freaked out about the proposition, so you do electoral politics stuff with them while you're also feeding homeless people without a permit, because nothing's stopping you from doing both. (And maybe you're also a young person who has a lot of free time and a lot of energy but no real idea of how to get anything done, so you just throw a lot of energy at problems and hope something does some good.) (hypothetically, I mean.)

Like what was I going to do, just tell the more experienced people at the Coalition on Homelessness, most of whom had been homeless and who had way more expeience actually doing stuff than I did, that this whole distributing door hangers thing was bullshit and I wasn't going to help them do it? Because I knew better? Because I thought voting didn't matter?

I mean, I guess I wouldn't have had to look them in the face and say that, I could have just told Food Not Bombs I wasn't going to be a liaison -- I was an absolute dogshit liaison anyways, I had no clue what I was doing -- and then I wouldn't be doing anything with the Coalition anyways. But they had a problem, a threat that was going to make things worse for the group they were advocating for, a group that most of them at least used to be a part of, and I could help them, or I could not help them, and the way they wanted people to help was through electoral politics. Which also involved some protests because people do both all the time. But which also involved a lot of doorhangers.