#or is this not actually as much of a problem as people make it out to be

[starstickerzzz]

Ight bet hold on,

1: complicated but mostly no

2: my dying grandma I’m currently leaving the hospital for the night

3: y e s

4: y e s s s

5: TAKEN !!

6: dramatically

7: edible cookie dough from da hopital cafe

8: I’m really good at skateboarding hatchet throwing (won a contest actually) and shooting hoops surprisingly

9: yessss bruh I straight up tear my fingers apart

10: bout a month ago I believe

11: my gf of five years 😏💝

12: I have severe insomnia I’ve stayed up longer

13: oh fuck yes I do!! 😋✨‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥

14: yeah all my loved ones who keep dying lol

15: Yee!!! Quite a few in my house but the one that’s officially mine is my leopard gecko and technically the fatass weirdly smart hamster named adolf hamster is mine now too since I’m the only one who takes care of him and plays and holds him so mi hermano said he’s mine now 💀

16: frustrated and exausted as fuvk also OW OW OW OW CHRONIC PAIN WHAT THE FUCK

17: …mayyyybbeee…

18: nope! :3

19: YESSSS AAAGHHH unless the universe exploded idk

20: gfs house also I had to use Alexa to figure out wtf that meant lol it said “to kiss and cuddle” so I hope that what u meant by that :b

21: try to keep my gammy , great gammy and aunt from killing eachother or themselves and try not to lose my shit despite the horrrors

22: my n da waif have considered adopting children when we get married and comfortable together n shit (asa foster victim who is great with kids it would be good I think) also I have a lot of emotionally adopted kids lolz

23: I’ve got a vertical libret and have been stabbed if that counts LMAOOO

24: art, creative writing,phycology, and general science and English I’d say (when I was in school)

25: absolutely quiet a few people fs

26: Wendy’s borger 😔💔

27: romantically? Yes I’ve had to reject a lot of people (mostly men) cuz for sum reason people crush on me a lot and it sucks cuz I’m a very taken lesbian and hate having to make people sad but I’m pretty good at being nice about it. In general? Never on purpose but probably ig??? Idk I’ve been through a lot so idk maybe

28: nope! Been with the best wife in the whole universe since like middle school so :D

29: I sure hope not but you’d have to ask @skelebab ig ? (Mi Bonita Estrella 😼✨)

30: so fucking much but mostly having to be my family’s constant therapist and dealing with my ggma in the hospital and everyone have insane angst with eachother and it being my problem all the time cuz im the only one who can help :”)

31: yuh

32: sunset colors !!

33: maybe a lil yeah but not as bad as you’d think considering my past so that’s cool

34: fucked up distorted trauma nightmare don’t wanna talk to much abt it tbh 💀

35: my grandma Anne yesterday

36: sometimes if but not a whole lot idk

37: for me probably forget if I can but I usually can’t do either very well

38: welllll…maybe second best? First getting out of residential hell was the best Fs but now shit sucks again but it’s not as bad as before as every other year was literally just violent amounts of constant trauma 😭😭😭

39: idk i think it was elementary school though if that even counts if not then middle school with da waif

40: hell naw

41: ur mom- I MEAN UHHHH…sushi, ramen, or Wendy’s tbh but I have arfid so foods hard to eat or like most of the time either way 😔💔

42: it can feel like that sometimes ig but im very atheist so ehhh

43: I can’t even remember I just passed the fuck out at some point on the couch after not sleeping at all for like 3 days 💀

44: ???no tf???

45: nahhh I go pretty out of my way to be kind asf unless you really really really hurt me or a loved one first in which case veryyyy

46: lost count tbh but I don’t start fights I’ve just learned how to finish them after so much violent bs

47: not in a spiritual way but I would call my gf that fs

48: fall weather in general or aesthetic ass grey days

49: no not reallly but it’s good for photography

50: helllllllll yeah that’s the plan!

51: if my gf did id probably die a bright red melty mess

52: the few people I truly give a shit about anymore and my hyperfixations

53: I’ve done that to many times to do it again unless I ran away or some shit but I’d probably go back to jade if I did

54: no

55: tell they ass hell naw

56: yes actually I have 2

57: a really zesty gay nurse guy from da hopital he was really cool

58: gammy

59: naw

60: yes yea yea yes yes yes yes ye s yesusysysyys

(U messed up the numbers btw but it’s chill)

70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

[makingsenseofwhathappened]

Building a Support Network (when work gets messy)

Hello friends. Hello work week.

In the spirit of getting through, I wanted to start this Monday off by sharing a few quick thoughts about how to keep your head when something at work crosses a line (harassment, retaliation, just a gut-level this isn’t okay thing).

In my experience, it's easy to veer into full on self-protection mode. By either shutting down completely or oversharing too fast. That's normal, but trust me, it can backfire. One moment of panic or pressure can lock you into choices you didn’t actually want to make.

You need people who help you stay grounded and make decisions that are right for you, not reactive ones fuelled by fear or rage.

WARNING: I have a feeling this one might be a longer post than usual, but I think (I hope) it’s worth it!

Assess Your Workplace First: Before you confide in anyone or take action, pause. Does this place protect its people or protect itself? Have others been supported, or quietly pushed out? Taking the pulse will help you gauge how careful you need to be, and what kind of support makes sense.

Go slow with coworkers: Even the ones who seem safe and the ones who “get it” If you share too soon, you risk gossip, misinterpretation, or triggering a formal response before you’re ready. You deserve time to process and decide what you want to do.

Pay attention to who isn’t helpful: If someone dismisses it, changes the subject, or says “Are you sure it was that bad?” that may seem neutral, but I'd say it's a red flag. You’re not wrong to notice who makes you feel smaller.

Try trained support: Hotlines and harassment-specific services exist for moments like this, not just worst case scenarios. You don’t need a full story, just a place to think out loud with someone who won’t judge, push, or oversimplify.

Friends & family aren’t always it: Sometimes the people closest to you don’t know how to help. Start with someone who truly listens - who doesn’t immediately problem-solve, give ultimatums, or make it about themselves. Your needs have to come first here.

Look for survivor spaces: Online communities. like subreddits, Discords, private groups, can help you feel less alone. But a lot of advice is U.S.-based. If you’re in Canada, double-check legal guidance locally before taking steps at work.

Build a layered team: A steady friend, a trained listener, a survivor community. Each offers something different, and together they give you options and a feeling of control when things feel chaotic.

Rule of Thumb: Caution is wise and boundaries are healthy. Taking your time doesn’t make you weak. it makes you smart. And if you can find even one person who helps you feel clear, grounded, and believed, that’s a solid start. The rest? You get to choose.

TL;DR = Partly covered in this nice article.

And a really solid Canadian-based Reddit for support with workplace sexual harassment.

Take care & much love 🥰

[pastelchelle]

Jason and Damian prank the fam

Damian: *eating a burger*

Dick: uhm Damian aren't you vegetarian?

Damian: yes I am

Dick: that burger...

Damian: do not fret Richard, it is not animal meat I am eating

Dick: oh okay...... wait, is it a vegetarian patty?

Damian: no. It is one of Todd's specialties, though. Since Grandfather found the idea of being vegetarian disgraceful in the League, Todd came up with a sure way to get me to eat meat without harming any animals.

Dick: I'm a little confused

Damian: *annoyed sigh* Todd used the leftover remnants of the gladiator scraps to make me meals that consisted of meat without actually eating animals. It was a very inventive idea and passed by Grandfathers inspections every time.

Dick: ... *slowly* Damian... were you eating human meat?

Damian: was that not obvious from what I just told you?

Dick:.... I think I'm going to be sick.

Tim, *see's a Tupperware in the fridge labeled with Damian's name, from Jason*: well, I'm sure a little bite won't hurt~

Dick *walking into the room*: Hey Tim, whatcha got there?

Tim: SHHH I don't want Damian to hear!

Dick: hear what?

Tim: I'm just taking a little bit of the food Jason left him, I'm so hungry.

Dick, *now alarmed*: from Jason?!

Tim: mhm *opens container* and yknow what I'd be doing him a favor beacuse there's meatballs in here!

Dick, *who is suddenly across the room in a flash*: TIM NO!

Tim: what!? WHAT!!??

Dick: you DON'T want to eat that.

Tim: jeez, you could've just said that you're a killjoy...

Dick: no tim, I mean... *leans in* that's not beef. Or pork or any animal meat.

Tim: so it's vegetarian??

Dick:.... *shakes his head with a horrified expression*

Tim:..???......... *realization* oh...

Dinner Time with the Fam

Damian: on the topic of random chatter, I find it very interesting that my food is no longer being stolen as often as it used to be.

Dick: oh... someone's still stealing your food? *panicking*

Damian: yes, unfortunately, but it's not often anymore so I find it not to be much of a bother.

Bruce: that's good, son, maybe they'll stop food snatching soon.

Tim:........... okay we need to talk.

Jason, suddenly picking up his head, from where he was trying to hide his smile: about what?

Tim: Damian... I know that in the league you weren't allowed to not eat animals, but cannibalism is not any better.

Bruce, *extremely alarmed*: wait, repeat that?

Dick: yeah, and Jason, I don't know where you're getting your meat from, and I know you don't kill anymore, which begs the question on where you're getting your sources and if it's even clean!

Jason, affronted: hey, fuck you?! My sources are plenty clean.

Bruce: guys can we go back to what you said about cannibalism--

Damian: I don't see what the big problem is. I am getting a good amount of protein, and compared with Todd's Michelin talents, I know that I am getting more than what is needed for average children my age! I am eating healthy.

Tim: BUT NOT FROM PEOPLE! That is extremely grey area!

Dick: actually it's EXTREMELY black area, and MORALLY wrong!

Bruce, quickly scraping his chair back quickly and bolting out of the room:

Stephanie, who has been sitting idly and in amusement the whole time watching everything unfold: uhm... is Bruce throwing up?

Jason: well, I guess we found out who's been stealing Damian's food.

Dick: oh god.... Bruce has been unknowingly been participating in cannibalism.

Damian: actually, you've been Had, Richard. And Drake.

Tim and Dick: huh?

Damian: I was rather unimpressed and very angry my food has been getting stolen, Todd has superb cooking skills and having that taken from me has made me extremely spiteful.

Tim and Dick:... oh!

Bruce, finally coming back: we need to talk about this.

All the kids collectively in their heads: yeah, we're not gonna tell Bruce.

[mixingandmelting]

May I request smth like batboys + bruce reacting to their fem!reader gifting them these couple hoodies? 🥺🥺🥺

Bruce:

He smirks and raises an eyebrow. It was one thing to own couple-coded dresswear, but an actual couple’s outfit?

“’Somebody’s problem’?” A mix of amusement and affection underlies his voice as he pulls out the one that’s obviously meant for him and keeps it at arm’s length away.

“What? It’s true! Everyone can agree I’m not the problem ninety percent of the time.” He simply snorts, the teasing tilt and grin a dead give away that you were bluffing.

Eyeing you for a second, he goes back to taking in the sweatshirt. The softness of a mix of polyester and cotton with words sewn in the middle. It’s as if you’ve physically given a part of yourself, warm and soft that he can stay engulfed all day. And the very thought of it is enough to make his heart flutter faster.

It was enjoyable to say the least, when he wore it while staying in the Batcave the next day. While comforted at the thought that you’re with him, it was hilarious to see how everyone does a double-take at it and becomes the hot topic of the week.

Dick:

The second he sees them; he instantly falls in love and nearly squeals.

“What? No. What? Stop. You didn’t” He holds one of the sweatshirts next to his face, his lips stretching into a wide smile.

To think you’d get matching sweatshirts. Is this your way of claiming him? Or telling others, you’re his?

“Well, they were on sale and looked cute-“

“Cute?” His eyes wide, his lips in the shape of an “o” as if you personally offended him. “Just cute? These are more than cute.”

Then, clenching the sweatshirt in his hand, you yelp when he pulls you close and starts twirling you in the air.

“Dick! Put me down!”

“Not until you know this is one of the best things you could possibly give me.”

He was an absolute pain for the rest of the week, rotating between the two sweatshirts every other day (yes, both even if yours is a tight fit) and annoying everyone from making the sign for people to ask so he can brag about them nonstop while reminding you to wear whatever one he’s NOT wearing whenever the two of you head out. 

Jason:

Oh? Oh. Oh-

It slowly dawns to him what exactly he got and, as soon as it clicks, his cheeks flush while the corner of lips curls up into a grin.

You’re cute. So cute. So damn adorable he might die all over again because of it. It’s obvious that they are, the signs clear as day with one in your size, the other in his.

So many thoughts pass through his mind: the fact that it’s a first for him, you wanting to keep you and him tied together, people within and outside of each other’s circles noticing the two of you are a couple. It’s giving him the butterflies, the good butterflies that makes him want to kick his feet.

“…Well? Do you like it?”

“Yeah,” He gulps, trying to tame the excitement and happiness that threatens to bubble out and lose his composure. “Yeah, I really like it.”

“Like” was a big understatement. On top of getting to go around and show off he was yours; he had fun scaring off every person that tried to hit on you as the sweatshirt gave that needed extra push and paired well with his protective-boyfriend-glare.

Tim:

It’s his birthday. Christmas. Both.

Nonstop, his thumbs brush over the fabric of both sweatshirts.

“Where did you get them?” He asks, his eyes glued and unable to look away.

“Online. Couldn’t resist after seeing some of the couples on TikTok wearing them, you know?”

Oh, don’t worry, he knows. What he doesn’t is how you were able to pull this off behind his back, without him even noticing. He may be busy day and night, but he still keeps tabs on you (you know, him being a vigilante and all doesn’t make him the safest person to really date – er, that’s his excuse anyways).  

Then there’s your indirect confession that you pretty much think about him as much he thinks about you, regardless where he and you are. And that’s-

“Tim? You okay? You look like you have a fever.”

The two of you argue over who’s the one that’s problematic. It’s him who ends up, begrudgingly, being “Somebody’s Problem” though he didn’t mind as much after cuddling with you for a whole day with a kiss stamped on his cheek.

Duke:

Only two words: Hell. Yes.

“And it’s for the two of us?” His eyes sparkling and continuously glancing between you and the gift you gave him.

“That is the idea.”

“Wherever, whenever?”

“If you want to…?”

“At school, on dates?”

“You do realize we go to school that requires a uniform-“You huff and raise your hands up at the look he gives you. “Yes, okay, sure. At school and on dates.”

He winces then turns sheepish, rubbing the back of his head apologetically. He didn’t mean to get this worked up, never having thought or needing a couple's merch. He was fine that he got to be with you. It’s once you give him the sweatshirt, he realizes why so many couples buy them or matching anything in general.

He insists that he wears the other only for you to somehow convince him to wear the sweatshirt with “Somebody”. It takes time to get used to, a bit bashful when his family, Bat and biological, and friends teases him though it was nice to hear from strangers you both made a perfect couple.

Damian:

“What’s this supposed to be?” Despite the heavy judgement in the (rhetorical) question, the corner of his lips continuously twitches.

Common fabric. None of the letters are the same size, and worse, in Comic Sans – they’re not cute; it’s tacky at best. Ugly is what he wants to say and he can if he really wants to. There’s only one problem that stops him: you. Two sweatshirts in similar shades including the thread forms the words, there’s no doubt they were meant to be worn as a pair by a certain pair of people.

Add that to him battling every single person to stay away from you twenty-four-seven, it does a lot of critical damage to him seeing you willingly got something to show you people you’re his.

Suddenly, he scowls, placing a hand over his heart that pounds hard against his chest.

“…Damian, do you not like it? I can always return it and get something el-“

“Who said that I didn’t like it?” He ignores your confusion, keeping the sweatshirts out of your reach out of worry you’d actually take it away from him.

He does give you an earful later after realizing which one was meant for him while putting it on with you, wearing it regardless.

[xo-adeline]

"To Change For You..." - Twisted Wonderland

⋆°• ☁︎ - Things they do after picking it up from you!

Feat. Pan Nikos, Peyn Algos, Idia Shroud, and Leona Kingscholar

AN: The wonderful Pan Nikos and Peyn Algos belong to @kokii-omii ! (I’m so tempted to write for a bunch of the their other oc’s as well-) ☁︎ - Gn!Reader - Reader is described as Yuu (Leona’s Part and Peyn’s Part)

Pan Nikos - Gets (a little) better at not yelling at/threatening people during multiplier games If you had asked anybody in the Ignihyde dorm, or really anybody who had come in contact with him while playing video games, they would tell you the same thing: He’s scary. Whether they explained about the time that he had tried to leak the dorm's browser history, or just any time that they had been playing a co-op game, and they got a loud earful from the vice-housewarden. But everything was still the same, other times, though he could definitely mellow out, especially not in super stressful instances.

The first time that it had even been talked about was the night after a 5-hour co-op game between Idia and Pan. Of course, at the time, it was a little confusing, but even when Idia had stumbled into Pan later, he still seemed much more chill, even with all the hectic stuff that had been throwing the dorm members for a loop. And at every new problem that was brought up, there was a sense of tension in the air, and every time, there was a deeper scowl on Pan’s face. But before he could actually blow up and threaten anybody else, there was a deep breath, and he just let it go? Not only did it confuse the hell out of everybody who had seen it, but also Peyn and Idia, who were just standing there.

The second time this had ever shown up was when he was mid-boss battle, and one of his characters, which he had spent months building and perfecting, didn’t crit. Even with the lineup being perfect and every artifact in place, signature weapon, even 10-10-10 talents. And still it didn’t work, so in anybody's situation, they would have been pretty upset, and Pan, of course, was, but yet this time… There was just a little bit of some under his breath words, a pained noise, and then that same sigh, and instead he moved onto building one of his other characters. This was the time that they finally started to question it. And lo and behold, the only thing that was in common between both occasions. The fact that you, of all people, had made mention of the fact that it wasn’t the nicest to yell at everybody and that they were just trying to do their best, and yet somehow, even when Idia had mentioned the same thing, he only applied it when you had said it. And this had only added to the fact that he definitely played favorites, but hey, at least he was getting better at it?

Peyn Algos - Being (a little) less spiteful If there was one thing that anybody close to Peyn knew, it was the fact that he would only go out of his way to do things that would piss people off, case in point the many times that he would get into arguments with Riddle due to the abserdity of the Queen of Hearts rules. So, the first time that at a clear opportunity to make some sort of snide comment, he didn’t, people started to question everything. Was the world finally ending? No, or at least not yet. But the more times it happened, the more people started questioning it. Riddle was probably the first person to notice it, knowing how the Ignihyde student was one to jump at any moment to call him out on something, especially when it came to one of the 810 rules. Even the next time that he didn’t argue with Sebek about anything across the sun was the tell sign that something else was happening. And with their game on an update, Pan and Idia were about to find out why. Pan had the upper hand here when it came to understanding the majority of Peyn’s attitudes towards things; they were really good friends after all. But, it wasn’t long before they finally started to notice that this was an ongoing thing. Even if at some moments he didn’t end up making more comments, and the times that he didn’t, there were definitely unspoken words, and the way that he was really trying to bite his tongue was also supporting that fact. Now, after a few more minutes, there was only one person who really stuck out against everybody else. You. The one person who already stood out enough at the lack of magic, but even more so at the fact that you could get Peyn through a scolding without him back-talking whatsoever.

But that was the main thing that Pan and Idia noticed, the way he didn’t even seem like he wanted to. There was no sense of malice, no matter what you had said; it was like he really didn’t care what you were saying, just that you were around him and talking to him. And the more that the two of you talked, the more they had noticed that even at chances were there could have been a comment made, he didn’t even look like he was thinking about it. Or more often, when there was a chance that either he or you could leave the conversation, he never took it. Peyn had even when the extra mile to walk you back to Ramshackle, even knowing that Ignihyde was almost the exact opposite direction. Now it all made sense; it was only because you were the one who had mentioned it to him that he would have even considered it.

Both Pan and Idia were definitely making note of this for later dates…

Leona Kingscholar - Showing up to classes more often Safe to say that the first time in months that the Savanaclaw housewarden had actually shown up to class, there was a bit of a shock to everybody else. Most people had even forgotten that he was at the school, let alone even in their class. That’s how bad it was… Even the teacher had a confused look on his face when he saw Leona sitting in his assigned seat, when class was set to start. Of course, the initial reaction was just thinking that it was only because he knew that he had to get a certain number of days in to graduate, and it must have only gone towards that. But that idea was quickly shut down when the lion showed up 3 days in a row, was he on the verge of falling asleep every time? Hell yeah. But was he at least there? Also yeah.

This is also why a few of the students had launched a full-fledged undercover plan to figure out why he was coming so much. It didn’t take long or very much following around of Leona before they had found out the true reason behind his return. You. The magicless prefect that resided in Ramshackle. The very one that over anything else, had at least showed up to class and tried to keep their grades as high as they could, even without the use of magic. The group that had looked on this from afar was confused when they realized that one person could break him down and actually make him show up to class, but the more they started investigating, the more they found out about why that was.

The subtle glance from the housewarden when he watched as you spent your hangout time studying, the talks about some of the material that you were working on at the time - and more about asking him if he remembered anything about it and could help you, and last but certainly not least, the repetitive questions about how he could do nothing during the day and not get bored? Wasn’t there anything that he wanted to do other than just being part of the royal family? Wasn’t there anything that he wanted to learn about, or even just learn more about?

And maybe it was the way that you often asked these questions, that he finally started to do as you, offhandedly, suggested, and showed up to class. Now, there was no way that he was showing up with nothing in return. And what was he getting in return? For everything he was doing in class, he was also able to help you more and more, which meant less time for you to be constantly studying, and more time that you could be spending with him. It was a subtle difference, but to him, it meant everything in the world.

Idia Shroud - Leaving his room once in a while Before you, it was safe to say that he almost never left his room, and if he did? It was a beeline almost anywhere he actually needed to go. And being the good partner that you were, there was a constant trying to get him to at least see the sun before the end of the day. And yet, every day, there would always be some reason that he wouldn’t be able to leave. Whether it was some new event, online grinding for an upcoming event, or even some rereads of manga that you know he read, but says he didn’t, just so he didn’t have to go outside. Even Ortho had tried his hardest to get him up and out of the dorm, but there was only once in a few months that he would end up leaving the room, and for no longer than 15 minutes, max.

So there definitely was some gasps and onlookers the first time that you had actually dragged him on a walk around the campus, and for longer then the time he would normally be seen outside. Many of the people who had known about the ignihyde housewarden's tendencies were shocked to say the least. Luckily for Idia, nobody really interfered with the two of you at all, just choosing to stay away and instead pass the news on to friends through text message. Even if you were oblivious or not to the onlookers, there was a slight firmer grasp on the hand that he was holding, even if it did turn the ends of his hair slightly pink in the process. Good thing he had his hoodie that was pulled up ever so slightly.

From that day most people had just assumed it was a one time thing, they knew that both you and the housewarden were close so of course you would be trying to look out for him a little bit, but that was quickly shut down when a week later, around the same time, the two of you were back out and walking through the same area. And how long did this continue for? Months. Once a week, around the same time every week, and through some times the same area, other times different ones. But for some reason, it was only around you that he would ever even make the chance to leave the room he loved oh so much.

And little did anybody else know, that the whole reason was because he knew how much you hated that he never left his room. It was bad health after all! So, he was the person who proposed the idea of maybe taking small walks here and there, until it became a weekly trend that the two of you would partake in. It was a win-win in his eyes, he was able to spend more time with you and you got to see that he was actually leaving his room and getting some of the fresh air and vitamin D that he oh so desperately needed.

[arcanetrivia]

The thing about Discord is that just finding a server that has the conversations you're interested in can be difficult. Privately hosted email lists had this kind of problem too, that you sometimes could only even find out they existed by word of mouth, never mind join them. Sometimes you have to know a guy who knows a guy to get a hold of an invite code that hasn't expired by the time you come across it. (I get why they made the change that you couldn't make permanent ones if you weren't a Community server, but it can be frustrating sometimes.) Official servers for $THING may be listed publicly on $THING's website, but that's not the same as a by-fans-for-fans space that will probably have a much different culture and tone. There's Disboard, but not everything is on it. The central directory of a place like Yahoo Groups (whatever their other faults), being able to find communities and people that list certain interests on LiveJournal, the generally public or at least semi-public nature of a forum that can be found by a search engine... all of these supported discoverability. (And in my current primary fandom, besides the figurative "private group chat" that a Discord server is, I know there's some significant activity in literal private group chat. So unless you can somehow get admitted to a pre-existing group of friends, welp.)

IRC as a synchronous chat platform/protocol was there for a long time alongside (and is still in some cases, even with the ascendancy of Discord), and a lot of that ephemeral stuff has been lost unless people kept logs. But we're in a situation now where pretty much all there is, is the ephemeral, be it Discord, Twitter/Bluesky/Mastodon, Facebook (seems to actively work against finding and keeping up on what you want), Instagram (somehow even worse; my beloathed). DeviantArt worked decently well for a while, but every time they messed up site changes and policies in a way that angered artists, there was an exodus (similar to the waves of exodus from LiveJournal until now it's a ghost town unless you're Russian). Pillowfort... exists... but I am skeptical it's ever going to gain critical mass, even if Tumblr does completely go under one of these days.

And Tumblr itself... is better than nothing, but of course we all know how hard it can be to find things on because a lot of the older stuff isn't even indexed; and its structure really doesn't support coherent threaded conversation; and it's a bit too-little-too-late on their introduction of LJ/DW-style communities, which people here now don't seem to want.

(Semi-aside, not to be a Fandom Old, but re: reblogging/reposting, I see how such a thing can be a boon for those who really don't want to participate even on the level of an occasional comment here and there, but fandom was doing fine without such a feature on email lists, forums, LiveJournal. People actually were pretty annoyed when LJ tried to introduce a reposting-style feature, which was pretty clunky. The site hadn't been conceived with that sort of ecosystem in mind and it was rather grafted on. Think how people keep rejecting Tumblr's attempts at a short-form video feature: "Stop trying to be X other site and just be what you are! We're here because we want what is unique about this place!")

....sorry, I think I went on a bit of a pointless ramble there 😅

imo a discord server should be like a breakout room for fandom. like the place to run your wips by your besties or discuss your otp in more detail with a few people who were insane about it on your post or organise events with a handful of trusted mutuals etc etc. if it’s where ALL the fandom activity is going to happen it will inevitably foster a cliquey environment where the fandom is divided into “those in the server” and “those who aren’t”, lurking is disincentivised if not made outright impossible, people who feel uncomfortable joining in conversations and would rather interact with fandom through reblogging etc are largely excluded because there’s no repost mechanism, and the fandom itself becomes an enclosed space so new fans are limited in how much content and meta they can access without having to make the plunge into Joining The In Group, there’s limited scope for interaction between different communities within the same fandom, god it’s just an altogether dogshit stupid idea. what if we moved all fandom activity to really massive private groupchats. STUPID

[missmadella]

“How they react when they kiss you out of anger” // Tokyo Revengers

Charakters: Mikey, Sanzu, Ran, Rindou, Hanma, Wakasa, Kokonoi, Izana

Synopsis: You never thought you’d find yourself tangled up with someone you couldn’t stand — but here you are, caught in a whirlwind of bickering, sharp words, and stolen moments that make your heart race. Every argument feels like a battlefield, every glare a challenge, and yet, somehow, all the hate is just a thin veil over something much deeper.

Mikey (Sano Manjiro):

The rooftop was drenched in silence except for the heavy breaths you both struggled to control. The night air was sharp against your skin, but neither of you noticed—your worlds had shrunk to this moment, to the tension bristling between you.

“You don’t get it, do you?” you snapped, hands clenched at your sides. “I’m not just some backup plan you pull out when things get tough. I’m not going to sit quietly while you risk everything like it’s a game!”

Mikey’s eyes darkened, jaw tightening as he took a slow step forward, closing the distance between you. “I’m doing this for us. For the people I care about. You think it’s easy? You think I want to be alone in this?”

“Then why do you shut me out every time it gets hard?” you spat back. “Why act like I’m the enemy when I’m the only one trying to keep you from breaking?”

His fists clenched at his sides, the tension coiling tight like a spring ready to snap. He inhaled sharply, voice low and harsh, “Maybe because you’re so damn annoying.”

The words hit you like a punch, but before you could say anything, Mikey grabbed your waist, yanking you forward with a desperate force that stole your breath.

His lips crushed against yours, rough and wild, like he was trying to erase all the anger and confusion with the heat of that kiss alone.

You barely had time to register the movement before he was speaking again, voice raw and urgent between gasps.

“You don’t know how much I hate that you get to me like this,” he murmured, teeth catching your lower lip as his hands tangled in your hair. “You rile me up, make me lose control, and I… I can’t stop thinking about you.”

He kissed you harder, desperate, like he was afraid you’d disappear if he let go.

“I want you,” he confessed, breathless. “More than anything. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

His forehead pressed to yours, eyes wild and searching. “You drive me crazy. You’re the only one who ever does.”

He kissed you again, slow and deliberate this time, lips tracing yours as if memorizing every inch.

“I’m scared,” he whispered, voice cracking. “Scared I’ll screw it all up. But I can’t stay away. Not from you.”

His hands slid down your back, pulling you impossibly close. “You’re so annoying… but I don’t want anyone else.”

The fight, the frustration, everything that had weighed on you both slipped away in the heat of that moment—leaving only the undeniable truth burning between your bodies.

___________________________________________________________________________

Sanzu Haruchiyo:

The narrow alley seemed to close in around you, the night heavy with tension and frustration. Your voice echoed off the cold brick walls, sharp and unyielding.

“You don’t get it!” you snapped, stepping forward, anger flaring in your chest. “You think you can just do whatever you want, hurt whoever gets close, and then act like nothing happened? What about me? What about what I want?”

Sanzu’s dark eyes glinted with something fierce as he took a step toward you, his usual smirk twisting into something almost vulnerable. “You think I want this? Dragging you into all this chaos? I don’t. But I can’t stop it either.”

You shook your head, voice cracking. “Then why do you push me away? Why treat me like I’m some annoying problem instead of the only person who’s actually trying to be there?”

His grin turned wicked, biting, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. “Because you’re so damn annoying.”

The words hit you like a slap—but before you can respond, Sanzu’s hands are on your waist, yanking you close with a desperate urgency.

His lips slam onto yours, fierce and demanding, crushing away all the anger with the heat of the kiss. Your breath hitches as his hands roam your back, pulling you impossibly tight.

You wrap your arms around his neck, fingers tangling in his dark hair as the kiss deepens, messy and raw.

Between ragged breaths, Sanzu pulls back just enough to murmur, voice low and rough against your lips, “You don’t know how much you mess with my head... How every time we fight, it’s like you’re the only thing I can’t forget.”

His lips trail down your jawline, teeth grazing your skin before capturing your mouth again. “I hate how much I want you. How you drive me crazy every damn day.”

The kiss grows slower, more heated—full of all the frustration and longing he can’t put into words.

His hands slide lower, resting on your hips, holding you steady. “You’re the only one who gets under my skin this deep. The only one I want to fight for, even when I want to push you away.”

You feel the wild storm in his eyes as he kisses you again, soft and fierce all at once. “You’re annoying as hell... but I’m never letting you go.”

The world around you fades until there’s only the two of you, tangled in desperate, searing kisses, the fight replaced by something far more dangerous and real.

___________________________________________________________________________

Ran Haitani:

The rooftop air was warm and electric, the neon glow of the city casting soft light over the two of you. It wasn’t the first time you and Ran had ended up like this—too close, too angry, too aware. But this time? It had been brewing for weeks.

“You think everything’s a joke,” you hissed, stepping into his space, jabbing a finger into his chest. “People get hurt, Ran. You hurt people.”

His lips curled in that lazy, dangerous smirk. “And yet, here you are. Still chasing me around like you’re not obsessed.”

You scoffed. “You’re delusional.”

He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping just enough to graze your nerves. “You talk like you don’t want me. But your eyes always tell on you.”

You shoved him lightly, but he didn’t move. He just tilted his head, watching you. Waiting.

“God, you’re so annoying,” you snapped.

That did it.

Ran’s smile twitched, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He took one step closer—then another—and then his hand was on your jaw, firm but not rough. He looked at you for a heartbeat longer. And then he kissed you.

Hard.

His lips crashed into yours, all smooth confidence stripped away and replaced with something messier—more real. His hands gripped your waist, pulling you flush against him as his mouth moved against yours, urgent and unrelenting.

You kissed him back, just as hard, meeting fire with fire. Your hands tangled in his hair, your body arching toward him like you’d been waiting for this since the first time you laid eyes on him.

He broke away for just a second, breathless, eyes burning. “You think I don’t feel it?” he murmured against your mouth. “Every time you walk in a room, I feel it. This pull. And it pisses me off.”

Another kiss—hot, open-mouthed and intense, like he was trying to consume the very air you breathed.

“You get in my head,” he whispered, voice cracking as his lips traced your jaw. “You make me reckless.”

He kissed you again, rougher now, like the more he kissed you, the less he could hold himself back.

“You’re the only one who talks back to me like this. The only one who doesn’t care who I am.”

He pinned you gently against the wall, hands slipping under your jacket, grounding you there, while his mouth found yours again, slower this time—deep and consuming.

“I tell myself to stop,” he breathed between kisses. “To stay away from you. But then I see you again… looking at me like you see through all of it.”

He paused, forehead against yours, breathing hard, fingers tangled in your hair. “And I lose. Every time.”

You pulled him back in before he could say another word, and he met you with even more desperation—like he needed this, needed you, to feel something real.

The fight, the taunts, the arrogance—it had all been the buildup to this: the moment Ran Haitani let go of control for you.

___________________________________________________________________________

Rindou Haitani:

You shouldn’t have come to the club.

You told yourself you were done with him — with the constant games, the hot-and-cold stares, the things he never said and the way he always looked like he might say them. But you were there anyway. And of course, he noticed.

Rindou didn’t approach you at first. He just watched.

From across the room, leaning back in a booth, fingers drumming lazily against the table, his eyes locked on you like a storm just waiting to roll in.

You tried to ignore him. Tried to laugh, to dance, to act like he didn’t exist.

But when you slipped outside for air, he was already there—waiting in the alley, cigarette hanging from his lips, his expression unreadable.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said flatly, voice low, almost bored.

You crossed your arms, heart pounding. “You don’t own me.”

He let the cigarette drop, grinding it out with his heel. “Didn’t say I did.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Then why does it feel like you think you do?”

He stepped forward—slow, deliberate—and suddenly the air between you was suffocating. His voice dropped lower. “Because you’re in my fucking head. All the time.”

You blinked. “Rindou—”

“You think I don’t notice when you disappear?” he said, voice sharper now, words cutting close. “You think I don’t see the way you look at me and pretend it means nothing?”

You backed up half a step, your spine hitting the alley wall. He followed, close but not touching. Not yet.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” he muttered, eyes locked on yours. “You make everything complicated. You make me complicated.”

And then he kissed you.

No hesitation. No teasing. Just months of tension spilling over, crashing into your lips with raw, unspoken emotion.

His hands found your face, holding you still as his mouth claimed yours — rough, deep, and desperate. You kissed him back without thinking, your body moving with his like you’d been waiting for this just as long.

He pulled back for a breath, lips brushing yours, voice ragged. “I hate how much I want you.”

He kissed you again, slower now, like he needed to memorize every second.

“I try not to,” he whispered, biting your lower lip between kisses. “I tell myself it’s just tension, just something to shake off…”

Another kiss. This one longer, drawn-out. Hungry.

“But then I see you walk in a room, and it’s like—fuck. I lose everything.”

His fingers slid into your hair, his mouth finding yours again, pulling you deeper into him.

“You drive me insane,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to yours. “And I want you so much it actually hurts.”

You stared at him, stunned by the rawness in his voice. But he didn’t stop. He kissed you again, slower this time, as if every kiss was another truth he couldn’t say out loud.

___________________________________________________________________________

Hanma Shuji:

The warehouse was empty, echoing with the sound of your boots and the bite in your voice.

“I’m not one of your toys, Hanma,” you snapped, storming across the floor. “You don’t get to screw with people’s heads just because you’re bored.”

He stood by the railing on the upper level, arms spread out wide like he was enjoying a performance. “Oh, come on. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just the loudest one when I poke.”

You climbed the stairs two at a time, fury rising in your throat. “You think this is fun for me? You showing up, starting shit, running your mouth like none of it means anything?”

Hanma’s grin twisted, and in the dim light, he looked like something wild barely kept on a leash.

“You like it,” he said flatly. “You like fighting with me. You like that I see through your little act.”

You reached the top and shoved him, hard. “Fuck you.”

He didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch. Just stared at you, eyes glinting behind those purple lenses, that goddamn smile glued to his face.

“You’re so annoying,” you spat.

And that’s when it snapped.

Hanma surged forward and grabbed your face, smashing his lips against yours.

The kiss was violent — clashing teeth, panting breaths, a tangled mess of everything neither of you had the guts to say. His hands dug into your waist, dragging you flush against him, and you kissed back with equal heat, fists tightening in his shirt.

“God, you piss me off,” he growled against your mouth.

Another kiss — hot, biting, filled with years of tension. His hand slipped under your jacket, fingers gripping your side possessively.

“You walk into a room, and it’s like—bam. I can’t think straight.”

You moaned into his mouth as he kissed you again, tongue sliding over yours like he needed to consume you just to shut himself up.

“I try to ignore it,” he muttered between kisses, lips dragging down your neck. “Try to laugh it off. Pretend it’s nothing.”

He nipped at your skin, breathing hard. “But I look at you, and it’s fucking chaos in my head.”

Another kiss — desperate now, almost angry. You were both pressed against the metal railing, bodies colliding like sparks off gasoline.

“You’re the only one who doesn’t play by my rules,” he said, voice cracked. “And I fucking love it.”

His hand cradled the back of your neck, keeping you close as he kissed you again, longer this time, like he was trying to tell you everything he couldn’t put into words.

“You’re so annoying,” he whispered again. “And I can’t get enough of you.”

You didn’t respond — not with words. You just pulled him back in, devouring the rest of his confession from his lips.

His fingers tangled in your hair, and without another word, Hanma pulled you back in — crashing his mouth to yours like he’d starve if he didn’t.

The kiss was frantic. Messy. Teeth grazing lips, hands roaming, both of you losing yourselves in the fire you’d been fanning for far too long.

You gasped against his lips, and he swallowed the sound hungrily, pressing you harder against the railing. His body caged you in, all sharp edges and heat.

“Fuck,” he whispered between kisses, voice hoarse now. “You taste like every bad decision I’ve ever wanted to make.”

He kissed you again. Slower, deeper. This one burned less with rage and more with something he didn’t dare name. His hand cradled your jaw, thumb brushing your cheek as he tilted your head and kissed you like he needed you — not just wanted you.

“You don’t leave my head,” he murmured, lips barely pulling away. “Even when I want you gone.”

Another kiss. Then another. Quick, hungry presses of his lips to yours like he couldn’t stop, like stopping would be worse than dying.

“You fight me,” he whispered, kissing the corner of your mouth. “You challenge me. And god, it kills me how much I love it.”

Your hands fisted in the fabric of his shirt as he kissed down your jaw, trailing heat over your skin.

“I’ve kissed a lot of people,” he said lowly, lips brushing your neck now. “But I never needed it like this.”

He pulled back just enough to look at you — his usual smugness replaced by something raw. Bare. Like maybe, just maybe, you were the first person to ever knock him off balance.

But he didn’t let you answer. He was kissing you again. Softer this time. Lingering. Like he wasn’t sure when he’d get to do it again.

And the most dangerous part? You didn’t want him to stop either.

___________________________________________________________________________

Wakasa Imaushi:

It was late.

The shop was closed, the lights half off. Just the low amber glow of a single lamp over the workbench. You leaned against the counter, arms crossed, watching Wakasa from across the room as he wiped his hands with a rag, jaw tight, shoulders tense.

The silence stretched between you like a rubber band on the verge of snapping.

“You’re ignoring me again,” you said finally.

Wakasa didn’t look up. “I’m working.”

“No,” you shot back, voice sharp, “you’re avoiding. Like always.”

He sighed, setting the rag down with deliberate calm. “You came here just to pick a fight?”

You pushed off the counter, stepping toward him. “No. I came here because I’m sick of pretending this thing between us isn’t real. Because every time I get close, you back off like it’s a mistake.”

He turned slowly to face you. His expression was unreadable — cool, distant. Too still.

“I told you,” he said quietly, “this isn’t a good idea.”

“And I told you to stop acting like you don’t feel it too.”

His lip twitched — the only sign of the emotion simmering under his skin.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” he muttered, voice laced with frustration. “You always have to push. Always have to dig.”

You stepped right into his space, not backing down. “Because I know there’s more under that mask you wear.”

Wakasa’s eyes met yours — and whatever restraint he had left broke.

In one swift movement, he grabbed you by the collar and kissed you — hard. The workbench dug into your back as he pressed you against it, mouth claiming yours with weeks of pent-up silence, frustration, and something too raw to name.

You gasped into the kiss, but he didn’t give you space. His hands gripped your waist, holding you like he’d been denying himself this every single day.

“You think I don’t want you?” he whispered between kisses, lips brushing yours. “You think it’s easy for me to pretend?”

Another kiss — deeper now, slower. His mouth moved like he was trying to memorize the shape of yours, trying to make up for every moment he looked at you and said nothing.

“This shop…” he murmured, kissing the corner of your mouth, “used to be a place I came to feel peace.”

Another kiss. His hands slid under your jacket, tracing your spine.

“Now all I feel here is you.”

You pulled him back in, kissing him like you were claiming him in the same space where he used to hide from his own heart.

“I hate this,” he whispered against your lips. “I hate how much I need this.”

But he didn’t stop. He kissed you again, slower now, lips softer but still trembling.

“You’re not supposed to matter this much.”

And yet, in that dim, dusty shop filled with memories of the past, he held you like you were the only thing that had ever made him feel alive in the present.

___________________________________________________________________________

Kokonoi Hajime:

The penthouse was quiet except for the faint hum of the city lights below. The sleek marble and expensive furniture felt cold and distant—just like him. You stood across from Kokonoi, arms crossed, eyes sharp as you watched him pour a glass of whiskey with the slow, precise motions he always used to keep everything controlled.

“You think putting on that flawless act makes you untouchable?” you said, voice steady but laced with frustration. “That no one sees the cracks underneath?”

He glanced up at you, a slow, almost mocking smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. “And you think yelling at me is going to fix that? How adorable.”

You took a step closer, refusing to back down. “I’m not yelling. I’m trying to get through. But you don’t make it easy.”

His smirk deepened, sharper this time. “Maybe because you don’t even know what you want from me.”

“Maybe I do,” you said quietly, voice dropping just enough to be dangerous. “You’re scared. Scared that I’ll see through your walls.”

He laughed, but it was cold and bitter, nothing like genuine amusement. “Scared? You don’t even understand the word.”

“You’re terrified,” you shot back, moving closer so that the space between you was thick with heat. “Terrified that I’ll find out what you really feel.”

His eyes flickered, the first crack in his perfect mask. He set the glass down hard on the table and grabbed your wrist, yanking you toward him with sudden force. Your breath hitched as his face hovered inches from yours.

“You’re insufferable,” he muttered, voice rougher now. “But you’re the only thing I can’t just walk away from.”

Before you could say anything, he pressed his lips to yours—urgent, demanding, nothing gentle about it. His hands tangled fiercely in your hair, pulling you flush against him. The kiss was fiery, raw, like years of frustration poured into a single moment.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, holding on as if you could stop the world spinning out of control just by being there.

When he finally pulled back, his breathing was ragged, his eyes dark with something more than annoyance.

“You push me to the edge,” he said hoarsely, voice cracked. “I hate it. I hate how you make me want things I’m supposed to forget.”

His hands slid down your back, pulling you impossibly closer. He kissed you again, slower this time, lips brushing yours with a desperate softness that made your heart twist.

“I hate how you’re the first thing I think about when I wake up,” he murmured, his forehead resting against yours. “And the last thing I want to admit before I fall asleep.”

You smiled, small and shaky, brushing your fingers along his jaw.

“And yet here we are,” you whispered. “Neither of us able to walk away.”

He smiled back, a rare, genuine thing, and kissed you again—this time full of promise and surrender.

___________________________________________________________________________

Izana Kurokawa:

The warehouse was silent except for the faint drip of water somewhere far off. Dust motes floated in the shafts of moonlight cutting through broken windows, painting everything in cold silver.

You faced Izana Kurokawa, his pale eyes unreadable, fixed on you like you were a puzzle he’d been trying to solve — or maybe a problem he hated to admit he cared about.

“You really think you can just barge into my world and change anything?” His voice was low, steady, but there was an edge of something sharp underneath, like ice cracking.

You didn’t back down. “Maybe I don’t want to walk away.”

A flicker of something like frustration—or was it longing?—passed through his eyes. He stepped closer, deliberate and slow.

“You’re insufferable,” Izana said quietly, a ghost of a bitter smile curling his lips. “You keep pushing. You keep testing. You rile me more than anyone ever has.”

“And you hate it,” you said softly, “because you can’t admit what you really feel.”

His gaze darkened, the carefully constructed mask slipping just enough for you to see the storm beneath.

“You don’t understand what I’ve buried,” he whispered, voice thick with pain and something close to fear.

His hand lifted, fingers brushing your cheek with a tenderness that shocked you—fragile, hesitant.

Then he closed the distance.

His lips were cold at first, barely brushing yours in a testing kiss. But when you didn’t pull away, when you leaned in, his kiss deepened — desperate, fierce, filled with years of silence and unsaid things.

His hands gripped your waist, pulling you flush against him like he could hold the world steady if only he held you.

Between breaths, he murmured, “I’m tired of pretending. Tired of hiding behind control and coldness.”

His lips parted from yours only slightly, his forehead resting against yours, voice breaking just a little.

“You make me feel alive… and it terrifies me.”

You ran your fingers through his silken hair, feeling the tremor beneath his calm.

“Izana…” you whispered, your voice barely audible.

He kissed you again — this time softer, slower, as if trying to memorize every inch of you.

The loneliness he carried wrapped around you both, fragile and aching. For a moment, the fierce leader was gone — just a man, afraid and vulnerable, reaching out.

“I don’t know how to be anything but this,” he confessed, voice raw. “But with you… I want to try.”

You smiled gently, heart pounding, knowing that in this quiet warehouse, surrounded by shadows and memories, something fragile and real was beginning.

[harrypotterheretic]

This might be a controversial headcanon I have about Merope and Tom Riddle Snr, because - although Merope is talked about with pity in the HP series - outside of it, within the fandom, she is very much a villain and Tom Riddle Snr her victim.

And I understand why - because she, according to Dumbledore's best guess, gave a love potion to (roofied) Tom Riddle snr and got him to marry and sleep with her against his will. In doing so she not only violated his body and mind but destroyed his actual relationship with the muggle girl, Celia, and created scandal in his hometown, making him a subject of mockery - when he was very much a victim.

And its distasteful (at best) to victim blame.

But... I think about how Dumbledore wasn't there and is only guessing, and how he is a man and sees the world through men's eyes, and I think about what the world (and men) are really like.

When Tom Riddle snr returns to Little Hangleton, he talks about having been "hoodwinked" and the people of the village assume Merope lied to him about being pregnant in order to get him to marry her.

Which means the people of the village are happy to accept that Tom Riddle snr was sleeping with Merope before they ran away together. They certainly don't think he was in love with her (hence why he was hoodwinked) but they accept without question that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with her.

And I don't think that's unlikely.

Maybe even before Morfin and Marvolo were arrested, but definitely afterwards. I just don't think it's unlikely - men being as they are, and sorry to be crude - that a man like Tom Riddle snr wasn't perfectly happy to use Merope as a warm hole to get his dick wet.

I don't think he loved her, or was even attracted to her.

But would he have sex with her?

Yes!

Especially if Celia is holding out for her wedding night.

Higher class man having sexual relationships with lower class women, which mean nothing to them, and not caring one jot how this can ruin the lower class woman's life is as old as time.

Merope is "in love" with him, she is unprotected by people who will look out for her, she has no friends, no education and little experience of the world. She is unloved and desperate for kindness.

She is a sitting duck for a callous man who wants to get his end away.

The problem for Tom Riddle snr is that she is not, actually, as powerless as other lower class girls. She has magic.

And when poor, silly, in love Merope tells Tom she is pregnant and he tries to cast her aside, unlike her muggle sisters she is able to do something about it. When he refuses to do "the honourable thing" as she believed he would (because she believed he loved her), she uses magic to get him to marry her.

Dumbledore says he thinks Merope must have somehow found a way to trick Tom Riddle snr into drinking a love potion; that she got him to stop his horse by her house on a hot day and offered him water. That she eventually stopped giving him the love potions because she thought he might have really fallen in love with her by this point, or would stay for the baby, or just didn't want to lie anymore. But he is only guessing. That is, in fact, his headcanon.

Mine is that Tom Riddle snr was using Merope for sex, that she was already pregnant when they ran away (like the villagers thought), and that she only used magic to ensnare him after he rejected her when she told him about the baby. I think she did grab her wand and confund him, as she was reacting to his rejection - and had not been planning to kidnap him before this moment. I think it makes more sense than Dumbledore's explanation for why Tom regains his own mind and leaves, that Tom began to fight a confundus charm applied by an inexpert witch and broke free. And, if it was Merope who stopped using magic on Tom, I think it makes more sense than Dumbledore's theory for her to do so if she had a concrete reason to believe that he had ever loved her in the first place (no matter how misguided that belief was and how much the concrete was actually sand). Whichever version is true, I think Dumbledore's explanations are vague and patchy at best.

I also think it makes the pain of his leaving her more real, than if it was all a fantasy she cooked up in her head, and explains better why she just gave up after he left. She was not only desperate and alone and genuinely heartbroken, because she had been part of an actual relationship (if under false pretences on his side) but was also having to come to terms with the fact that she had been tricked and made a fool of and not only did Tom not love her, the Tom she loved never existed and the real Tom thought she was so worthless he was happy to use her, discard her and didn't care if she lived or died.

I just think that - using a sex class analysis of behaviour - my headcanon is far more realistic than Dumbledore's, because men really are that awful.

Now, the fact that they were sleeping together and Tom was doing so under false pretences doesn't stop Merope's using magic on him from being wrong. But it does even things out between them a bit, Tom is no longer a hapless victim of Merope's, but his being enchanted somehow is a consequence of his own poor behaviour. It is arguably deserved. And I see why that is a controversial take because it removes Tom from being a totally innocent victim of Merope's while making Merope a victim of his and finding an excuse for her bad behaviour. It is - arguably - victim blaming.

But I'm afraid the whole story just makes more sense if Tom and Merope were sleeping together before they eloped.

[what-username-where]

I still have never started a relationship without being asked out BY someone, and then not believing them until they repeatedly tell me that yes they ARE actually serious

and then I spend the entire time thinking oh god oh fuck when is the other shoe gonna drop when are they gonna start laughing at me for being so gullible to believe they actually liked me and reveal this was all an elaborate prank the entire time or that they just found me useful enough to put up with and play along so I'd keep doing things for them

Which unfortunately the only people who ever asked me out were a pedo, an entitled manipulative self centered emotional abuser, and a wildly out of control mentally ill asshole

All of whom I got incredibly attached to and planned on marrying and building my entire life around because at least having someone to indulge my highly romantic sappy touchy self would be better than just yearning from the sidelines my whole life and watching other people get things I'd dreamed about being able to have but never thought would actually be possible for me

because there was something innately wrong with me that other people saw but I didn't and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't fix it or even identify the problem

so I had to give up everything I possibly could give in order to make myself worth putting up with for other people and if I didn't I would spend the rest of my life isolated and alone because no one would want to be around me unless I was of sufficient benefit and service to them

Needless to say none of my exes helped that feeling at all

I still struggle deeply with it and have slowly come to accept that my friends are here because they genuinely enjoy me

but I still have the intense problems around romance and romantic relationships and feeling like the only way I'll ever have something close to what I want is by doing it myself quite literally and relying on my system for it

which while being amazing and wonderful and I love my system so much it still has some things that are physically impossible to do and thus leaves me with a longing just the same, whether that's a longing for another body for them to inhabit or longing for another person to be romantically interested in me both of which feel equally impossible

because no other person could possibly want to be anything romantic with me without either not knowing what they're getting into and later wanting to back out or wanting to take advantage of me because they know I'll stick around serving them a feast if they toss a breadcrumb my way once in a while

Which no amount of logic and comforting and repeating positive phrases and reassuring myself "I don't need a romantic relationship to be fulfilled as a person and that's a really toxic attitude to have" has ever really made go away despite my best efforts and years of therapy both professional and self guided

Man if you did that bullshit as a kid where you fake asked someone out to embarrass them or said your friend liked them I hope that shit haunts you somewhere inside now. I hope you know that never leaves the person you did that too. I've been out of school for 8 blessed fucking years and I still do not believe people when they say they like me or are attracted to me. Doing that shit straight up makes you a bad person. You completely destroy someone's ability to perceive themselves as loveable.

[hewinked]

you ever have fandom drama go down with literally all the big blogs for one fandom that you love so much, and then all the blogs you follow just start throwing tomato's at each other?

yeah thats pretty much me with the danny phantom x dc crossover tag argument thing rn

also im of the opinion that, this is kinda always how crossovers worked? you tag it with both fandoms it includes? and the tag thing is not that bad? or atleast ive had not that much trouble finding only solely danny phantom content

and i mean, danny phantom is an old fandom objectively, the only new content being some comic books which alot of people didnt read because they didnt wanna or couldnt spend money on it

it makes sense that even alot of old fans would get into dp x dc, and that because dc is such a big and active fandom in comparison, that a lot of dc fans would get into the crossovers, and become new danny phantom fans via the crossovers

but ik alot of people are arguing that they shouldnt be, because they think that dc fans have never even seen danny phantom because of small details they get wrong or mix up, which is like a whole nother "if youre in this fandom you have to know everything about the media or youre not a real fan" shaped problem that I dont care for at all

the truth is most of them probably are just going off of what they remember from their childhoods because ALOT of people watched danny phantom as a kid, and just havent had time to rewatch it fully, so yeah, theyre gonna not remember some things and have to fill in the blanks themselves or go off of what other fans say

and as far as im aware anyways, this isnt really just a dc and dp thing? Im in the miraculous ladybug fandom and fic wise alot of it is now danny phantom or dc crossovers, but ive heard no complaints and given no complaints (despite not liking them myself) because thats mainly on ao3 and you can just block it

the point im going to make is actually, that alot of the fandom on tumblr is reliant on ao3 in the first place, and like on ao3 this definitely isnt a problem, because you can block a tag easily and most people on ao3 know better then to not tag something that they have in a fic

thing is? people are used to that. it is considered heavily heavily impolite on ao3 to not tag a fandom or thing you have in the fic.

and most tumblr users are or started as ao3 users. its pretty much the same etiquette on here.

but somehow when you go on tumblr with specifically danny phantom fans? somehow people are offended by it?

thing is, same as on ao3, on tumblr you can block a tag and filter.

but lets say you are blocking that and still seeing dc crossover stuff like so many people are complaing

then isnt the problem logically that alot of these people just arent tagging the dc stuff properly then? because i imagine thats what you should be trying to block so.... why be mad that theyre tagging danny phantom when thats one of the correct tags to be using? so that anyone who wants to see crossovers plus regular content can?

like im just saying thats the logic i follow

and thats not me tryna say go and blame em for that either, im just saying youre kinda angry about something that its okay to be mad about, but you have put yourself in the wrong because your mad about the wrong thing anyways.

also even if youre mad about it, maybe stop bullying and critizing literally anyone who's writing dc and dp? like encouraging people to write what they like is the name of the game, you guys know that right?

you know you can just nicely comment without being passive aggressive or rude, and tell them that they should tag their posts a little better? and not take your anger out on them because they personally obviously dont sway the whole fandom by themselves? do you know that?

you also dont have to make big ol rant posts about how much you hate dp x dc writers for writing a crossover, that will hurt those writers feelings, and that you know will make all your followers mad at all those innocent writers also, right? you know that you don't have to and shouldn't be making posts like that right?

[onbearfeet]

This is something that genuinely fascinates me about certain storytellers.

If you've ever been in a real emergency situation — blood and screaming, people will die if someone doesn't do something NOW and probably some of them will die even then — then you know that a lot of people will instinctively run in to help. They'll do it whether they actually can help or not. It's hardwired into a lot of humans, especially if the people in danger are children. (No shade. Mammals are often protective of their young.)

But not everyone will do it. Some people won't be physically or psychologically able to ... but some will have the knowledge and ability, and they just won't. Do. Anything. I grew up in earthquake country, so I think of it in terms of earthquakes; when the walls start to crack, everybody runs for cover, but not everybody grabs a baby on the way.

I'm a runner-in, always have been, so I'm fascinated by the stayers-out. I'm not usually interested in judging them (I can't honestly say staying out of, say, a burning building is a bad idea), but I do want to know what's in their head where I have the voice of an ancient primate screaming at me to save the troop.

The only stayer-out I've ever gotten to study up close was my probably psychopathic sibling, and I don't consider him representative of anything much. But the presence of that trait in a storyteller — much less one who takes on Superman of all characters — is baffling. Is there some kind of lack of empathy at work? Certainly Snyder seems to pick and choose who gets to be fully human in his movies, but that's a strange trait to find in a professional storyteller. Does he see stayers-out as heroic in and of themselves, as makers of difficult choices? If so, Superman really isn't the character to explore that through, what with his literal comic-book levels of power that enable him to save almost everyone most of the time. Maybe he was trying to make the best of Superman after Christopher Nolan comprehensively claimed Batman for a solid decade, and transplanted a Batmanesque moral dilemma like "Should I save the Joker?" onto a character for whom it makes far less sense?

The best hypothesis I have so far is this: Superman is a fantasy of power and goodness. It's a story about an incredibly powerful man who uses his power for good, and whose problems mostly arise from his power, his goodness, or both. Maybe Lex Luthor opposes him out of jealousy or fear of his power; maybe his goodness forces him to take on burdens that damage him psychologically; regardless, the best Superman stories turn on that axis. Perhaps Snyder was trying to question the legitimacy of that premise, or criticize the idea of a power-and-goodness fantasy itself in the way that some really good superhero fiction engages with those sorts of abstract concepts.

But given how much of Snyder's work seems to glory in fantasies of power and cruelty (300) or power and corruption (Watchmen) or ... call it power-and-badness fantasies, I guess ... I do have to wonder why he chose that particular fantasy to aim at.

I want to study that man like a bug in a jar, and I'm not sure I'll like what I find there.

not to shit on zack snyder again but it's really funny that he tried to make a big, grand, complex moral quandary on where superman should stand when he saves people around the world and then james gunn is like "he wants to do it because he thinks it's the right thing to do". sometimes going simpler means you get to the crux of what the character is all about much more efficiently. like wow it's really that easy

[thewertsearch]

Rumbled!

TG: was havin important chats GG: Oh? GG: With whom? […] TG: di stri

Which would have ruled out my guesses of Dale and Drew. I still think I'd have gone with Dick, because of the, uh, everything, but Hussie decided to avoid the low-hanging fruit this time around.

GG: […] I was just the target of another assassination attempt. […] GG: Two, in fact! One here in the real world, as I attempted to retrieve the mail. GG: Luckily it was thwarted by a certain cat who shall remain nameless. […] GG: But in the process of being rescued from the explosion, I was knocked unconscious. GG: And in my dream, there was another assassination attempt. GG: This one I believe was successful! […] GG: I'm becoming convinced that our "dream selves" are being picked off by violent hooligans. […] GG: The one who accosted me was a knife-wielding lunatic. GG: And it's reasonable to deduce the same forces were responsible for Jake's death on Prospit as well. GG: It looks like we are in the clutches of an actual caper. A real life mystery!

It's funny that she's being so twee about this whole thing. Describing her attempted assassination as a caper makes it feel like a Nancy Drew mystery - and honestly, if Jane's going to treat Sburb's intrigue as if she's the protagonist of a detective story, I'm all for it.

I mean, we need this sort of thinking, don't we? We need someone to absorb the facts of the case, detect their way to the culprit (English), and discern means, motive and opportunity. With Jane spearheading this 'investigation', we might finally trace things back to the ultimate source of all our problems.

GG: Shortly before I was stabbed, I had a rather long gander at Skaia. […] GG: I saw things in the clouds. […] GG: Things happening in the future, I think. GG: Many events pertaining to us. All of us, and other people I didn't recognize. GG: It was a bit overwhelming. […] GG: It made me feel pretty foolish too. […] GG: I began to wonder why I ever had the audacity to think I know much of anything about the world we live in or the journey we're about to take. GG: Or to think I could ever rule anything out. GG: I have a feeling that whatever I saw, it means you've been telling the truth all along.

It's almost as if it's easier for your mind to comprehend the truth when you're asleep. It's as though your Dream Self's brain is free of the Tiaratop's corruption, allowing you to finally blow the cobwebs off your - artificially sedated - sleuthing instincts.

GG: And I'm starting to feel like a complete idiot for doubting you. […] GG: I've been one great big horse's caboose, and I think you're owed an apology. GG: Do you think you can forgive me? TG: jane TG: damn TG: ur makin me feel like shit here GG: Why? TG: uuuun TG: eh no reason

Can’t think of what this could be, to be honest.

Roxy seems entirely above board, and there's no evidence that she's, like, secretly working against Jane or anything. Maybe this is when her allegiance to the Horrorterrors is finally revealed.

TG: what were we talking about again TG: soory im just worked up ovr it GG: I don't blame you. GG: Where we were, by my estimation, was a place wherein I was about to awkwardly attempt to swallow a helping of humble pie. GG: To somehow make it up to you for my years of stubborn mistrust. TG: hey jane TG: wasnt that a bunch a splip infinitives… […] GG: Oh!!! TG: lul so busted GG: Oh gosh, what a doofus. GG: You see?? I clearly don't have all the answers! GG: I really had some nerve challenging anyone, on practically any subject. TG: dont beat urself up too bad we both know that rule is bullshit anyway TG: you hold yourself to too high a standard and those standards kinda leak out and start gettin applied to other people i guess sometimes

Does she? That's not really something I've noticed. Sure, she's corrected a couple of typos, but beyond that, I don't see what standards she's been applying to everyone else.

I suppose she's probably been telling everyone to be 'rational', and ignore this silly Batterwitch conspiracy, just like she does. But is that really a 'standard'?

[mona-risms]

whats goodie gang its the mira headcanons anon. i gotta say THANK YOU FOR THE FOODDD. also im back for more bc i fear your writing absolutely blew me away.

anyways may i request nsfw headcanons for mira w/ an afab reader? and kinda random but perchance could you throw a strap in there somewhere? okay bye (lifts up arms floats away into the sky)

◆ MAIN COURSE: sub!Mira x dom!afab!Reader

◆ TYPE: NSFW, romantic

◆ ALLERGEN WARNINGS: None I think??

◆ NOTES: First off I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT and second off I love her too bro I gotchu 🫡

OH MY GOD. I LOVE YOU. I love anyone who reqs afab reader actually BUT STILL.

Okay. OKAY. First off other people may say that this woman would prefer the dominant role BUT. This is a sub character blog. And I swear I have justification for Mira okay I swear I do

It's the fact that before she got into HUNTR/X, she's never really fit anywhere. Not with people in society, not with friends, certainly as hell not with her family. Before them, she thought that she'd never have a place where she could just.. belong, and honestly something like that can get ANYONE to feel like they're on some sort of constant survival mode as she refuses to let anyone see any sort of vulnerability that they may use against her

But then there was HUNTR/X, the people she considers the family she doesn't even wanna lose, no matter what. And then there was you. You, who gave her the time, the space, the understanding, instead of dismissing her for her unsavoury bluntness or thinking that she was nothing but a very prickly problem

I think your first time together wouldn't be until like. A bit later in the relationship, I think give or take around 6 months. Being in a relationship w her in the first place already means she trusts you more than most, but getting intimate with each other? First of all, an idol's schedule is BUSYYYYY idk if there'd be any time for that kinda thing, especially not when you're considered the Top 1 K-Pop unit. Second of all?

"We don't have to do anything, if you don't want to."

The words barely register in Mira's brain, the sound and sensation of her own heartbeat overrideing any other senses she had. When it does, however, her head snaps to look at you dead in the eyes, having to look up slightly due to your position—she was sat on the bed, with you having slipped into her lap in the midst of a particularly heated make-out session.

"Huh?"

"Your face," you lifted your hand up to tuck a few strands of pink hair behind her studded ear, "you look scared. We can stop."

She felt her heart squeeze, and a tingling heat in her core. It wasn't because of the way you dragged your hand from her ear.. to ghost her jaw.. before settling on her chin as your thumb lightly traced her bottom lip, though it did help a lot. Rather, it was moreso due to the way you had looked at her—years of living like you were nothing but a problematic inconvenience because your presence was too loud, and yet there was just this person who was willing to wait and listen anyway instead of walking away.

You looked at her like she hung the moon, what the hell was she supposed to do about that?

"No, it's--" The idol cleared her throat before trying again, her voice smaller than both of you had ever expected, "I'm not scared, just.. you're not.. going to think I'm too much to handle after this, right? I've never really done anything with anyone."

"Never let anyone get close enough?"

"Fuck you," there was no anger in her words. "..Yeah."

You just let out a hum, as if the two of you were discussing the weather rather than sex. And then you shook your head as your hand then went from her chin.. down to her the middle of her chest, "I'm not going to think you're 'too much', but we both know you'd rather see it than hear it. So." And you push lightly, "Lie down. Let me demonstrate."

A traitorous blush coated Mira's cheeks, the colour visible within the moon's glow. The light push couldn't ever be enough to knock her down, but she let herself fall back anyway, her hair sprawling behind her like a halo.

She finds herself enclosed within your arms a mere few seconds later when you crawl over to hover above the cool beauty, your lover. And in that very moment, when you duck down to trace kisses down her body while clothes are slowly discarded from both of your bodies, it feels as if the two of you are the only people in the world.

"Instead of 'too much'," you continued when you finally reached the apex of her thighs, wet and glistening, "I'll make sure you feel like you're mine instead.

Mira feels as if she really belonged.

Anyway proceeding to the actual NSFW hcs :3

Start off with Mira's part on this post bc I feel the need to address it again thank you

I think she'd absolutely ADORE soft sex actually. Listen throw away kinks for a second, right. She's gone without care for so long just bc her being a 'problem chold' and being outspoken would def equal to not needing any proper emotional care bc why would she need that? Clearly she can handle it all on her own, right? WRONG she actually needs to be taken care of. Finger her while holding her close so that she can cling to you, even after she cums all over your hand

Apart from that though honestly I feel like she'd be into bondage and acting like a brat. There's something about pretending to struggle and resist—emphasis on the 'pretending' bc be so fr all three girls could snap anyone like a Kit Kat bar thanks to their training—that has her thighs squeezing together. It's like a form of reclaiming I guess? Since everyone else thought she was too much trouble, and yet now she's sprawled on the bed and even the punishment for being a bad girl's sweeter than sin for her

Turnoffs........I don't think she'd enjoy titles much, like 'mommy' and such. Genuinely not for any reason apart from she personally isn't into it, which honestly fair enough girl. Idk if she'd enjoy petplay either, or degredation in general—it has her getting her hackles raised so fucking fast. Light degredation woukd be fine, esp when it's later on in the relationship and she 's more than comfortable with you now. But not too much yk

Creamer and someone who's definitely REALLY into overstim. Anyway

Also? A size queen actually 😄

Whenever Mira jokes by going full deadpan, sometimes you can't tell whether she's being serious or not. And that's perfectly fine, because either way it was usually going to end up entertaining one way or another.

You didn't think it'd apply to a talk about dildos, though.

In the midst of aftercare after a particularly taxing session, the lazy topics between you had somehow migrated to the talk of toys; the type the two of you would like, making fun of toher specific toys, and then...

And then there was the sizes.

You brought up getting your girlfriend the biggest, the most monstrous, the most diabolical strap you'd ever find. And her answer?

"Do it."

You really, really weren't sure if she was joking or not.

..Until today, when in the middle of eating her out, she reached underneath her bed just to reveal a blank box that held.. well, the exact thing that Mira's cunt now tried to hold onto despite you pistoning your hips over and over.

It wasn't the biggest, or the most monstrous, but it was definitely diabolical. You had to open her up slowly with a lot of lube, stretching her out with one finger.. then two.. then three, making sure that she could at LEAST take the start. The rest? The two of you decided to work it out as you went. ..Though it didn't feel like there was much 'figuring out' being done, not as if you were complaining—Mira's nails clawed at the sheets as she let out a series of sultry moans and curses under her breath, all while she moved her hips as if she were on some very enthusiastic autopiloting.

Her speech was jagged at best and utterly incomprehensible at worst, but she clenched on your strap as if it were something real—it couldn't even do so properly, not when it was already stretched out as is.

And you could never forget the stunned face she made when you put it on.. and the way her body shook as she came for god knows how many times now as she buried her head in her pillows in an attempt to shut herself up.

JUST SAYING AFTERCARW IS SO SOSOSOSOSOSO IMPORTANT TO HER!!! She gets so endearingly quiet as the two of you just lay there for who knows how long. And she'll also ask if you wanna get anything to eat/get delivered. AND she'll ask you if you wanted anything before she passed out for a nice nap

It just turns into a cuddle sesh and honestly? What more could anyone ask for?

[this-acuteneurosis]

I just found Don't look back (and first of all I love it, you are brilliant, I am barely finished the first fic but I am invested) and I spent some time digging through your tumbler for mentions of obi-wan/leia....because from these beginning interactions I have sense something and I am now invested and kinda confused????

Was this intentional...? Is this going somewhere...? There are no tags for their relationship but by other asks I see on your blog I'm not alone in this thinking.....

I hope she finds happiness. In the beginning I was hoping for some warped way for Han to join her because I love them together so much, but I also do love obi-wan and I am pleasantly hooked on their relationship now

I've answered asks similar to this before, but I keep getting them and we're far enough into the story that I think I can say some things more certainly without spoiling anything, or the plot magically changing on me. So here we go.

So. Like Fire in Our Bones. Leia and Obi-Wan meet for the first time, and I was happy with the scene, and then I posted the chapter and a whole mess of people popped out of the ground were like, "Romance?!?!?!" Keep in mind that this was before the Kenobi show was released as well, so we had no canon where Leia knew Obi-Wan as a child. DLB runs under that assumption.

So I was all, "Oh, surprise," but I'm a very ship and let ship sort of person, and once people pointed it out, I was like, yeah. Sure. They can have this vibe. They would, honestly. I've got a pretty strong head canon that Obi-Wan has been flirting to survive for decades at this point, and Leia is socially savvy enough to roll with that kind of behavior as long as it's not distasteful. She also saves him, and they bond, and I don't have a problem with people reading into that. I think it's reasonable. It's pretty textual at this point.

HOWEVER.

Once upon a time I also thought this story would be 200k words, max. I thought Leia would end the series having reconciled that Anakin wasn't Vader, but wouldn't be close to him. I though Satine would never make an appearance and Cody would be the first clone to like Leia instead of the last, and yeah. A lot of things started changing once I was actually writing the story.

At the beginning of the story, I knew I didn't want to write Leia a romance. A) because I wasn't sure who it should be with and, B) that was way past the where I expected her to be healing wise in her grief. But the story kept getting longer and she and Obi-Wan kept having moments, and I was like, I mean...maybe? Maybe something happens? I can't say no for sure anymore.

BUT!

We're far enough into the story now and I have a much better sense of how this last arc is going to handle the remaining grief Leia is dealing with, and also how much time she'll spend with Obi-Wan. I have no intention of doing a romance for her in this arc. Look how long it took me to get Anakin and Padmé together. We do not have time for that. So I've left Leia with no romantic pairing tags. Officially, the story will not be about her having a committed, happy, healing romantic relationship at this point. It will be about what it always was: cooperation and unity beating back the darkness, and how you have to fight for those things so you don't lose them when you need them most.

But if it makes your heart happy to imagine that all the remaining scenes with her and Obi-Wan are a prelude to something that happens later, feel free to enjoy them that way. Write as much of your own fic or draw as much of your own art as you want. Feel free to share it with me too. I've enjoyed reading the other divergent fics people have done of this story.

Just everyone, please be nice to each other. :)

[virtual202]

Seems like the influencer word is really a German thing then. And yeah, it doens’t fit perfectly either. But then we’d have to create a whole new word and I think people are too lazy for that.

And— yes. People tend to not care about what they don’t feel— or maybe it’s just my philosophy because I believe people to be inherently selfish (due to the reasoning in sentence above). However, that does cause them to demand more and more for their own gain, forgetting that others are sentient beings as well. The more abstract something is, the more we alien-ize* (for example, we understand ‘animals*’ less and sympathize with them less**) things. At least some people realize they’ve been pestering someone and stop when they’re being told.

I think it’s true when you say that we’ve been straying farther and farther from the idea that work can be fun AND raise money, and that what you do is primarily for enjoyment, not raising money. Our society just doesn’t work like that anymore due to everything being monetized (capitalism?). However, that is a problem of the society, not of the small amount of people protesting against it— like many problems the society has.* And Like most, if not all problems of society, this is incredibly hard to fix.

Not to mention, social media is incredibly young. Older than AI, but still very young. Humans are a fast adapting race, but I don’t think we’re supposed to adapt this fast to new changes, especially when you are, essentially, a large group banded together and not a single person who makes their own laws. New things constantly come up and overwhelm the old, removing it from the display shelves at a rate that we can barely keep up with. Society is changing slower and the official laws are adapting even slower. Social media is, essentially, a wild running horse with no one to stop or redirect it, and that causes such problems like shifting priorities and public opinion/behavior that leads to things like the posts mentioned above.

*: (did I write that right? Is that a word? Because my keyboard is saying I wrote that wrong but there’s also no word like that)

*: Even though we’re animals ourselves, we often seem to ‘forget’ about that and assume that the other person is talking about every animal that is not human.

**: for example, people often say that one should not weight one life against another, but were one to choose (if you take the trolley problem here, for example,) between saving a dog and five humans, the choice would undoubtedly (for the major majority) fall onto the human. In other words, only a select few would go for the dog, or make no choice at all.

*: For example, there has been… (I am unsure what it’s called) something like under-maturity going on and people have been calling it out. Problem is that people feel like 15 when they’re physically 18. I’ve seen another post of someone saying to ‘suck it up’ the other day and that ‘everyone feels like this’ and I wanted to scream and tell them that no matter if the majority feels like this or not, this is not supposed to be! This isn’t okay! There are reasons for this! And if it’s where the human life’s are going because there is more and more to learn at school, more competition and less time for people to mature, maybe the law must be changed! Society should learn to adapt to the generation, not the new generation should adapt to society. However, since it’s common for veterans to show newbies how things are run, this is often pretty hard. Actually, it’s a tradition atp. Slow dev. is often better than fast dev. but you can’t always stay the same. Actually, it has to do with other factors as well and that’s how the development is set. Hold on this is way too much to think about.

idk how to word this properly but wrt the fanfic thing you reblogged earlier. Why do fanfic writers have such different expectations than any other content hosting platform?

Like lets take youtube as a point of comparison, Engagement like comments and likes largely exists to boost the works place in algorithm, thats why youtubers put in calls to action and other engament bait. Few with decent reach even read the comments and the audience shouldnt try to develop any weird parasocial relationship with the youtuber. Fanfic authors ask for likes (kudos, because the websites gotta use nonstandard language for some reason) and comments despite them not having any impact on an algorithm, and seem to want the audience to try and develop a relationship with the author based on tumblr posts like that one.

Why the radical difference in behaviour away from the norm? And honestly with all the (usually) metaphorical blood spilled online about parasociality why are authors really surprised that the audience tries to keep their distance as is best practice with any other content producer?

okay I am going to answer this as kindly and as calmly as I can and try to assume that you are asking this in good faith. because my friend, the fact that you feel the need to ask is, to me, The Problem.

[this is, for the record, in response to this post]

fanfiction writers are not *posting content.* (I also have reservations about engaging with the term "content producer" or "content creator" but let's put that aside for now, I'll circle back to it.) you say "they seem to want the audience to try and develop a relationship with the author" as though it is strange, off-putting, and incomprehensible to you, when in fact that is the point of writing fanfiction. it is a way of participating in fandom. it is a way of building community and exchanging ideas and becoming closer with people.

if authors wanted to solely ~generate content~ that would get them attention (?? to what end, the dynamic you have described seems to equate algorithmic supremacy as winning for winning's sake, as though all anyone wants to do is BUILD an audience without ENGAGING with them, which I cannot fathom but let's pretend for a moment that is, in fact, true) then like. if that were the case why on earth would they choose a medium in which they categorically cannot succeed and profit, because it isn't their IP?

you are equating two things that are not at all the same thing. to the degree that parasocial relationships are to be avoided, and "that person is not trying to be your friend they are trying to entertain you, please respect their boundaries" is a real dynamic -- which it is!! -- like. you have to understand that the reason that is true for the people of whom it is true is because it is their JOB. they are storytellers by profession, and they are either through direct payment, or sponsorship, or advertising, or through some other means, profiting off of your attention. i don't say this to be dismissive, many wonderful artists and actors and comedians and any number of a thousand things that i enjoy very much go this route but they do so as a *career choice.* and so when you violate the public/private boundary with them, you are presuming to know a Person rather than their Worksona. the people who work at Dropout or who stream their actual play tabletop games or who broadcast on TikTok or YouTube are inviting me to feel like i know them to the degree to which that helps them succeed in their medium and at their craft, but there MUST be a mutual understanding that that's a feeling, not a fact.

however.

a fanfiction writer is not an influencer, not a professional, and is not looking to garner "success." there is no share of audience we are trying to gain for gain's sake, because we are not competition with one another, because there is nothing to win other than the pleasure of each other's company. we are doing this for no other reason than the love of the game; because we have things we want desperately to say about these worlds, these characters, these dynamics, and because we *want more than anything to know we are not alone in our thoughts and feelings.* fanfiction is a bid for interaction, engagement, attention, and consideration. it is not meant to be consumed and then moved on from because we are NOT paid for our work, nor do we want to be. the reward we seek is "attention," but attention as in CONVERSATION, not attention as in clicks. we are not IN this for profit, or for number-go-up. there is no such thing: legally there cannot be. we are in this because we want to be seen and known.

like. please understand. i am now married to someone i met because of mutual comments on fanfiction. our close friend and roommate, with whom i have cohabitated for over a decade now, is someone I met because of mutual comments on fanfiction and livejournal posts. that is my household. beyond my household, the vast majority of my closest personal friends are people with whom I built relationships in this way.

you ask why fanfiction writers want THIS and not "the norm," but the idea of everything being built to cater to an algorithm to continue to build clout, as though the only method of reaching people is Distant Overlord Creator and Passive Receptive Audience being "the norm" is EXTREMELY NEW. this is not how it has always been!! please think of the writers of zines in a pre-internet fandom, using paper and glue and xerox to try and meet like-minded people in a world that was designed for you to only ever meet people in person, by happenstance, in your own hometown. imagine the writers of the early internet, building webrings from scratch to CREATE a community to find each other, despite distance. imagine livejournal groups, forums, and -- yes, indeed, of course -- comment threads IN STORIES -- as places where people go to *converse.* in the past, we had an entire Type Of Guy that everyone knew about, the BNF ("Big Name Fan") whose existence had to be described via meme because it was SO DIFFERENT THAN THE NORM. treating fellow fans like celebrities or people too cool for the regular kids to know was an OUTLIER, and one commonly understood to lead to toxicity.

in the past, I have likened writing fanfiction to echolocation. i am not screaming because I like hearing the sound of my own voice, though i can and do find my voice beautiful. i am screaming so that the vibrations can bounce back to me and show me the world. the purpose is in the feedback. otherwise it is just noise.

does this make any sense? can you see, when i describe it that way, why an ask like yours makes me feel despair, because it makes us all sound so horribly separate from one another?

perhaps I will try another metaphor:

a professional chef who runs a restaurant will not have her feelings hurt if you never fight your way into the kitchen to personally tell her how much you enjoyed the meal. that would, indeed, violate a boundary. professional kitchens are a place of work, and you have already showed her you enjoyed the meal by paying for it, or by perhaps spreading your enjoyment by word of mouth to your friends so they, too, can have good meals. you show your appreciation by continuing to come back. if a bunch of people sitting around randomly happen to have a conversation about how much they love the food, it wouldn't hurt that chef's feelings to not be included in the conversation. however: EVEN IN THIS INSTANCE, it is ADVISABLE AND APPROPRIATE to leave a good review! you might post about how much you like this restaurant on Yelp, and it would probably make the chef feel great to see those positive comments. but the chef doesn't NEED them, because the chef is, again, *also being paid to cook.* that's why she started the restaurant, to be paid to cook!

i am not being paid to cook.

i am at home in my own kitchen, making things for a community potluck where i hope everyone will bring something we can all enjoy together. some people at the potluck are better bakers, some better cooks; some can't cook at all but are great at logistics and make sure there's enough napkins for everyone; some people come just to enjoy the food, because that's what the party is for. and if I, as this enthusiast chef who made something from my heart for this reason alone, learned after the fact that a bunch of people got together in the parking lot to rave about my dish but no one of them had ever bothered to tell me while I sat alone at my table all night, occasionally seeing people come by to pick up a plate but never saying anything to me -- of course that would bother me, because I am not otherwise profiting off the labor I put in. this is not a bid to be paid, because if someone WERE to say "hey, great cake!! here's five bucks for a slice" i would say no, friend, that is not the point and give them the money back. i'm not trying to Get Mine. I am in it to see the look on your face. I'm in it so you can tell me what about it moved you, so that I can say back what moved me to make it in the first place. so we can TALK about it.

because what happened in the first place is this: one time I had a cake whose sweetness, richness, flavor, intensity, and composition moved me so much that I *taught myself to bake.* so I could see how much vanilla and sugar was too much, so I could learn how to make things rise instead of fall flat, so I could even better appreciate the original cake by seeing for myself the effort and talent and inspiration that goes into making one even half as good.

learning to do so is a satisfying accomplishment in and of itself, yes.

but I also did it because at the end of the day we should EAT the cake. and it's a lonely thing, to eat alone when a meal was always designed and intended to be shared.

so, to answer your last question: i'm not surprised, i'm just sad. because somehow two things that were never meant to be seen as the same have been labeled "content," and thus identical. and it diminishes both the things that ARE intended to be paid for AND the things that are not, because it removes any sense of intimacy or meaning from the work.

i hope you know i'm not mad at you for asking. but i'm frustrated we've come to live in a world where the question needs to be asked, because the answers are no longer intuitively obvious because we're so siloed.

[angeliteeyes]

Platonic Shenhe + Sibling Reader Headcanons

Inspired by an ask sent by @the-ultimate-puppeteer ❤️ hope u enjoy!

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- For a period of time, you two were completely estranged from one another, an unfortunate side effect of her less-than-stellar history with your father. It's honestly a miracle that you managed to find and recognize each other later on in life at all, given how many lies and rumors clouded your understanding of your formerly close sibling. If it weren't for your timely use of a familiar exorcism technique, you two may have remained estranged to this very day.

- Shenhe ends up warming up to you rather quickly once her mind starts to fully process the situation. Something tells you that you're going to have to get used to being doted on sooner than later, with how tenderly she's already treating you, despite only having recently reunited.

- If anybody EVER dares to threaten you or harass you to any degree, they have essentially signed their own death warrant. There is no world in which she could ever forgive herself if any danger were to befall you. Even if you're the eldest sibling, it does not matter to her one bit. In her eyes, no matter your age, gender, or anything like that, it is her responsibility to protect you.

- You are easily her strongest motivation for improving herself as a person. Every step that she takes toward properly reintegrating with regular human society is—at least partially—done with the hope of making you proud and showing how reliable she can be. The thought of you is honestly just as, if not more, effective than the red ropes when dealing with crude individuals. She still might deck them though, if need be.

- For a while, very few people are actually aware of your shared ancestry due to the nature of her past and lifestyle. Many don't even recognize the fact that she's also human to be able to put two and two together. Still, those who are aware and have hung out with you as a duo always seem to comment on how it "makes total sense". If your personalities are roughly the same, they'll note how you're practically a carbon copy of one another. If yours are opposite, though, they end up noticing just how well you two balance each other out in a yin-yang type of fashion.

Xianyun, in particular, is a huge fan of you siblings. At some point, she's inserted herself into both of your lives far enough that she's essentially your adoptive mother. Bonus points if you take the time to write to her often or stop by for some afternoon tea.

- She tries her best with things like birthday gifts and the like. She really does. The problem is that she's not quite aware yet of what exactly constitutes an appropriate present. Unless you tell her in explicit detail what exactly you want for each holiday, you're basically leaving it up to luck whether you're getting a cute trinket or a pile of herbs you have absolutely no use for.

- Once she got her job as a waitress at Wanmin Restaurant, you better believe that she's bringing home leftovers for you on the daily. True, her own tastes are a little... peculiar, but that doesn't stop her from enjoying whatever goodies she managed to snag for you vicariously.

Speaking of, she really appreciates it if you stop by for a meal during one of her shifts. As much as the majority of customers who come in nowadays know to be on their best behavior, every now and then, a particularly obnoxious person winds up waltzing in and making a scene. Having you around really helps a lot in calming her spirit down once the altercation is over and done with.

- Another thing she'll greatly appreciate is if you decide to go out in the mountains and train with her. Your two fighting styles already are quite similar given your history in exorcism arts, so it feels only natural to her. Plus, it puts her mind at ease knowing that you're capable of defending yourself in a worst-case scenario.

- While she may still struggle somewhat with emotions, she's incredibly skilled in the matter of physical ailments—both detecting them and treating them, provided it's something curable via herbal remedies. You won't even get the chance to feel sick before she's already guiding you back home, quietly taking note of your temperature and other vital signs.

She gets that your taste buds aren't as accustomed to bitter flavors as hers are, so she does her best to disguise those notes with honey or other pleasant ingredients. Still... you may need to wash whatever concoction she gives you down with a generous amount of juice or whatnot. To her credit, at least you end up recovering far faster than you ever would've otherwise.

- Physical contact is a bit difficult for her to adjust to at first, admittedly. Simple things like feeling your forehead for your temperature come to her just fine, but hugging? Feels completely alien to her.

That isn't to say that she wouldn't eventually grow to enjoy it, though. Particularly if you're the sort to initiate that sort of stuff, she ends up actually enjoying it far more than she first expected. This cozy, warm feeling feels strangely familiar, even if she can no longer recall a time in which she would have experienced it before.

- Overall, Shenhe is easily the greatest sister you could've ever hoped for. It's a shame that you two spent so many years apart, but at least now you can make up for it as much as you like!