#react development forums

[react-development-krishna]

ReactJS Development Forums and Communities and Their Significance

ReactJS developed and maintained by Facebook, has gained immense popularity as one of the leading JavaScript libraries for building user interfaces. With its component-based architecture and virtual DOM, ReactJS enables developers to create dynamic and interactive web applications with ease. As the React ecosystem continues to expand, developers seek guidance, share experiences, and collaborate on projects. This has led to the emergence of various online forums and communities dedicated to ReactJS development. In this article, we will explore the significance and 8 top ReactJS development forums and communities where developers can connect, learn, and grow together.

The Significance of Community and Forums in ReactJS Development

Undoubtedly, the significance of community within the realm of development, especially when immersing oneself in the mastery of technology like ReactJS, cannot be overstated. These vibrant communities and interactive forums serve as pivotal platforms that empower developers to delve into, comprehend, and elevate their reservoir of knowledge.

Given the ever-evolving landscape of web development, it is imperative for developers to remain attuned to the latest trends, methodologies, and transformations. Within this context, ReactJS development communities and forums emerge as invaluable wellsprings, offering real-time insights and discourse concerning the shifting terrain of the ReactJS ecosystem.

Outlined below are pivotal reasons that underscore the indispensability of these platforms:

Collaborative Learning Forums and communities create a space wherein ReactJS developers can seamlessly collaborate with peers, imbibing wisdom from one another, and even potentially forging partnerships with dedicated React js developers. This milieu of collaborative learning fosters ingenuity, sharpens problem-solving acumen, and actively encourages the exchange of innovative concepts.

Dynamic Discourse Within these forums, a plethora of subjects come under the purview of discussion, spanning foundational principles, deconstructing code quandaries, grasping intricate updates, and delving into intricate complexities. Dynamic discourse within ReactJS forums frequently culminates in inventive resolutions and a more profound comprehension of the technology at hand.

Abundant Resources and Support ReactJS communities are veritable troves of resources. Whether in need of precise ReactJS development assets, in search of best practices, or seeking guidance for project ideation, a helping hand is always within reach. The palpable sense of community instills confidence that assistance is but a question away.

Staying Abreast An exceptional advantage of active involvement within a ReactJS community is the seamless access to the latest advancements, updates, and trends permeating the realm of ReactJS. This aids developers in aligning their proficiencies and projects with the prevailing demands of the industry.

Networking Opportunities Beyond the realm of learning, these platforms provide a fertile ground for networking with fellow developers, luminaries within the industry, and even prospective employers. For those intent on carving a niche within ReactJS development, these connections hold the potential to unveil captivating opportunities.

By actively participating in such a community, developers can both receive and dispense aid, remain apprised of the latest developments, and hasten their professional evolution.

8 Top React JS Development Forums and Communities

1. Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow needs no introduction in the world of programming. It's a go-to platform for developers seeking solutions to coding challenges and debugging assistance. The ReactJS tag on Stack Overflow is a bustling hub where developers ask questions, share knowledge, and provide answers related to React development. With thousands of active participants, you're likely to find answers to almost any React-related query you may have.

The URL for ReactJS-related questions on Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/reactjs

2. Reactiflux

Reactiflux is a community that centers around the React ecosystem on the Discord platform. With dedicated channels for different topics, Reactiflux provides a space for developers to discuss React, Redux, GraphQL, and other related technologies. It's a place to connect with fellow developers, seek help, and engage in real-time conversations. Reactiflux also hosts weekly discussions and Q&A sessions with industry experts, making it a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced React developers.

Join Reactiflux on Discord: https://www.reactiflux.com/

3. Dev.to

Dev.to is a platform that fosters a welcoming and inclusive community of developers. It hosts a wide range of articles, tutorials, and discussions related to ReactJS and other technologies. Developers can share their insights, showcase projects, and learn from the experiences of others. The platform encourages meaningful interactions and provides a supportive environment for developers at all skill levels.

Explore ReactJS-related content on Dev.to: https://dev.to/t/react

4. Hashnode

Hashnode is another popular community for developers, offering a space to share knowledge, discuss ideas, and collaborate on projects. With a dedicated React tag, developers can explore articles, tutorials, and discussions related to ReactJS development. Hashnode also hosts virtual events, coding challenges, and interviews with experts, creating opportunities for learning and networking.

Discover ReactJS content on Hashnode: https://hashnode.com/n/react

5. Reddit (r/reactjs)

Reddit hosts a vibrant community of developers, and the r/reactjs subreddit is a go-to destination for React enthusiasts. Developers can share their projects, seek advice, and participate in discussions about the latest trends and best practices in React development. The subreddit also features a "Ask Anything" thread where developers can get answers to their queries from the community.

Join the r/reactjs subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/reactjs/

6. Medium

Medium is a platform that hosts a plethora of articles written by developers, thought leaders, and industry experts. The ReactJS tag on Medium features in-depth tutorials, case studies, and insights into React development. Developers can learn about advanced techniques, architectural patterns, and real-world use cases through the articles published by fellow developers.

Explore ReactJS articles on Medium: https://medium.com/tag/reactjs

7. GitHub Discussions

GitHub Discussions provides a space for communities to have threaded conversations directly within a repository. Many ReactJS-related repositories host discussions where developers can ask questions, share ideas, and collaborate on open-source projects. This platform fosters a collaborative environment and encourages meaningful interactions among developers.

Check out ReactJS-related discussions on GitHub: https://github.com/topics/reactjs

8. React Podcasts and YouTube Channels

While not traditional forums, podcasts and YouTube channels have become valuable platforms for sharing insights and knowledge about ReactJS. Developers can listen to podcasts like "React Podcast" or watch YouTube channels like "Academind" and "The Net Ninja" to learn about React concepts, best practices, and real-world application.

Listen to the React Podcast: https://reactpodcast.com/

Explore Academind on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Academind

Discover The Net Ninja on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheNetNinja

Conclusion

The ReactJS development landscape is enriched by a variety of forums and communities where developers can seek help, share experiences, and collaborate on projects. Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an experienced developer exploring advanced techniques, these communities offer a wealth of resources and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. By actively participating in these forums, you can stay updated with the latest trends, enhance your skills, and contribute to the thriving ReactJS ecosystem.

[rhowena]

The core problem of Campaign 3's god debate is that the only real support offered by the anti-god side is "some people are mad at the gods" and no one -- in-universe or out -- seems to realize that the mere existence of people who dislike the gods isn't sufficient to make "should the gods stay or go?" into a hyper-complex morally grey debate, any more than the mere existence of global warming denialists is sufficient to make the factual reality of climate change into a hyper-complex scientific debate. "People who are mad at the gods exist, therefore the current system is broken somehow" is the mentality of people-pleasing: if someone is mad at you, it proves that you're a bad person who did something to make them mad, and you are now morally obligated to internalize everything they say about you and devote all your energy to appeasing them.

I am, personally, of the opinion that it is vitally important for people in positions of power to maintain a healthy awareness of their own fallibility and cultivate lines of feedback from lower down in the chain the way software developers provide bug report forms; however, the reality I encountered when I accepted a forum moderation position years ago is that, if you're an Authority Figure™ of any stripe, for every person with a good-faith criticism of a poor ruling you made while overtired or an outdated policy that needs to be revised, there are a dozen who shake their fists at you because they want someone to be mad at. And when you look at the actual substance of the complaints being made (nearly all of which display a fundamental refusal to grapple with the scale the gods operate on and how that affects their decision-making) and ask "what, if anything, could/should the gods have done differently?" and "is getting rid of the gods actually a viable solution to this problem?", they're all firmly in that latter category.

To go down the list:

Vecna: If we're treating "people who are mad at the gods" as a Marginalized Group™ whose grievances are Good Points™ and Worth Considering™ simply because they are grievances with The People in Power™, then Vecna is part of said Marginalized Group™, seeing as he holds a massive grudge against the gods who helped banish him beyond the Divine Gate and per the campaign books his ultimate goal is to eliminate the worship of all deities other than himself. One can only imagine how hard he's kicking himself for failing to find out about Predathos before his own ascension.

Ludinus: His parents will still be dead whether he succeeds or fails, and preventing the same thing from happening to others is what the Divine Gate is for. Killing the gods would not only not prevent similar tragedies, it would, at least in the short term, actively make things worse: assuming Tharizdun doesn't just eat everything, how does he expect Lesser Idols like Uk'otoa to react to a glorious new age where there are no gods to keep them in check and millions of newly deity-less clerics are stuck watching people die whom they could have saved if they still had their spells? Moreover, what happens when people discontented with his glorious new era swear vengeance on those they blame for taking their gods from them, as Ludinus swore vengeance on those he blames for his parents' deaths, or start idealizing the lost age of the gods and looking for ways to somehow bring them back, as Ashton does with the Titans? Does the perspective of people who like the gods then become Worth Considering™, if they've gone from being Privileged™ to being a Marginalized Group™ who have been collectively traumatized by the loss of something precious to them?

Aeor: One of the major takeaways from Downfall was that Aeor was extremely decadent, corrupt, stratified, and generally dystopian at its height. Their main reason for wanting the gods dead seems to be not liking the existence of anything more powerful than them, and anyone arguing that the gods are Too Powerful To Exist needs to explain why the tiny cabal of mages at the tippy-top of Aeor's societal pyramid, wielding power that 99.9% of Exandrians will never have access to, were not themselves Too Powerful To Exist, especially given their evident imperialist ambitions.

Dorian: I won't downplay the genuine grievance there, but a. Opal was victimized by one of the Betrayer Gods, and what to do about them is a question that Vespin Chloras and Cassida Previn, for all their hubris, approached with considerably more nuance, and b. per the post linked in the previous bullet point, if your ultimate goal is to prevent all ill-advised deals with powerful entities and the unpleasant consequences thereof, where exactly do you stop?

Tuldus and Hearthdell: Plenty of irreligious people across Exandria are living their best lives unmolested, so the whole "you must be religious OR ELSE" isn't something the gods themselves are demanding in a systemic way, and getting rid of them wouldn't prevent all oppression any more than it would prevent all cataclysms and mass deaths. (It might not even stop the oppression committed by those specific religious people; per 'personality predates ideology', the ones who are in it to bully others and feel righteous about it will simply look for a different excuse to do so if their current one is taken from them.) There's a genuine debate to be had about how much responsibility the gods bear for their followers' actions and one could, more reasonably, accuse them of having become too lax and needing to be more stringent about telling their priests to cut that kind of shit out (though that in turn opens the question of how much they can micromanage their followers' behavior before it becomes genuinely smothering and oppressive), but it runs counter to the "the gods have too much control" narrative the Vanguard is pushing.

Liliana: Every parroted accusation she levies at the Exandria's pantheon is something Predathos and its worshippers are far, FAR more guilty of, but Predathos doesn't present itself as a caring, benevolent entity in the same way the Prime Deities do, and she expects us to believe that it admitting that it's bad somehow makes it good. (There's a Slacktivist quote that I think sums up the underlying logic here: "Once you've decided that the Most Important Thing is to avoid the wolf in sheep's clothing, your safest course of action is to embrace the wolf in wolf's clothing.")

Ashton: Essentially blames the gods for refusing to micromanage reality on their behalf and, in focusing so much on his own pain, hasn't stopped to ask what the world would look like if the gods actually felt obligated to micromanage reality on behalf of everyone who petitioned them that way, not just him personally. My dad is an agnostic and specifically doesn't believe in a god who answers prayer because what's a god to do when there's a baseball game and both teams have fans praying for their victory (or when there's a war and both armies include adherents of a given faith)?

Bor'dor: It's one thing to say that the gods have certain obligations to their followers and quite another to say that that the gods are supposed to keep their followers swaddled in bubble wrap 24/7 and prevent them from experiencing any consequences for their own actions whatsoever, and arguing that the Wildmother should have somehow stopped Bor'dor's family's suicide charge from resulting in their deaths is the latter.

Vox Machina: Continue to hold a grudge against the Matron for taking Vax away and would like to believe her being gone would make him mortal again, but when you stop to think about Vax as a person with his own feelings and opinions about his relationship with the Matron, instead of as a passive object to be fought over, the "what if Predathos eats the Matron?" scenario looks a hell of a lot bleaker. There's also the question of whether or not Predathos would consider Vax himself edible; a mere celestial might be one of those half-crushed potato chip fragments at the bottom of the bag in comparison to a god, but when you've been trapped and starving for thousands of years...

Zathuda: Objects not to being told 'no' but to the existence of forces who could potentially tell him no, which to me reads as an asshole whining about how unfair and oppressive it is when people see his assholery and tell him to cut it the fuck out.

[theenbyroiderer]

An ace pride mushroom in honor of International Asexuality Day. Happy Ace Day to my fellow aces!

As I was working on this I also spent some time reflecting. I've been out as ace for over 15 years now, known I was ace for over 20 years, and in that time I have definitely seen a change towards more acceptance and awareness of asexuality. 20 years ago it was pretty much a miracle that I stumbled onto a description of asexuality on a web forum. It was a very invisible and seldom talked about sexuality. In many of the years since it felt like all we ever got was invalidation an ridicule.

Even in more recent years a simple mention of asexuality by an lgbtq+ organisation or advocate would usually result in a storm of laugh reacts and general heckling. Plus the usual statement that aces don't belong in the lgbtq+ community... Don't see that as often now. So that's something to be happy about at least. It's slow but it is happening. Looking back I'm also really happy about the language that has developed for talking about asexuality. When I came out there wasn't as much nuance and it was hard to even explain to people what asexuality was, because I just didn't have the words to describe stuff like split attraction, or the differences between attraction and libido, etc...

[dandys-world-red-rock]

Two questions for you errr

How did the bands first show go? Was it good? Bad?

How would each band member react to a sudden growth in popularity?

Hey thank you for sending these in! ❤️

1. The sponsor was able to get the first show broadcast on Vee’s network, albeit begrudgingly on Vee’s part. If you haven’t already, you can find the first song Shelly wrote for the band [HERE] It was also the first song played at their show, the rest of the air time was filled with song covers.

2. They all would react very differently I think. Semi-detailed explanation after the see more

🍤 Shrimpo: Definitely lets the new attention get to his head. He’d get more rowdy at shows, breaking more equipment and such.

He still hates a lot of things, but he still appreciates his fans. (I mean to him, he is the best thing to grace this place. Why would he punish them for being right?)

He does hate the work sometimes, especially giving autographs constantly. Usually he lets out his frustrations along with his name, cursing out the person he’s writing it to.

🐚 Shelly: If she got popular, she’d take it in stride but she wouldn’t get too prideful like Shrimpo. She tends to become slightly dependent on the validation from it though. Sometimes she goes to the band room late just to peek at fan-forums.

Shelly would absolutely adore her fans, treating them with the same love and kindness she gives everyone else. She’s always super appreciative every time someone comes up to her about it.

She’s still cutesy despite being in the band, and usually adds a little doodle of whatever dinosaur is on her mind when she writes autographs out.

🔍 Rodger: The most nonchalant about it. He can get a bit flustered when fans fawn over him, but he doesn’t spend too much time thinking about it. He has other priorities after all, like his detective work, taking care of Toodles, and managing the band with the sponsor.

Rodger keeps his interaction with his fans professional, since he understands how parasocial people can be when given too much attention from their idol. He still cares about the band’s supporters, but out of the three he’s the most detached from the fanbase.

As for autographs, he made a stamp for it! Call him lazy all you want, but he sees it as convenient. Plus, with all the work, he wouldn’t want to develop carpal tunnel, especially as the drummer.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 58)

When N went in to work that Monday morning, his nerves were barely contained underneath his casing. Containing his excitement was difficult, he wanted to tell everyone. He was so ecstatic, Uzi was carrying living proof of how much he loved her. Something that should have been impossible made somehow possible.

Their coding shouldn't have been compatible… but it was, somehow.

His smile was unbreakable, not when he got sent to deal with a brawl in the market, not when he chased a thief and had to tackle them to the ground. And not when he spent three hours doing paperwork at his desk, even as some of the words blended together in his head.

“What's got ya so smiley? Thought you'd be worried after what happened.” Hal had been walking by, a steaming mug of gasoline clenched in his fist as he leaned on N's desk.

Right, Doll. Uzi had explained what happened to him, being cornered, fighting to the best of her ability and Tera, his brave, firecracker of a daughter confronted her and made her stop. Knowing that V killed her parents… maybe attacking Uzi when she had their daughter was too much of a hypocrisy.

That worry was in the back of his head… but for now eclipsed by the unfettered joy that came with knowing that his family was expanding.

“Uh- Just, something at home Hal.” Not telling anyone was rough on him. But Uzi had wanted to keep it between them for now, at least until she did more research and knew a bit more.

“And ya aren't going to share? That's not like you.” Hal pointed out, a half smirk on his face. N gave him a sheepish smile in return.

“Sorry, not this time.”

Uzi meanwhile was sitting on the couch with her laptop in her lap, jotting down notes in a little notebook with Tera playing with her bat toy next to her, making squeaks and chirps.

She was researching, scouring internet forums, medical websites, old video hosting webpages. Anything that held any relevant information for her. She was familiar with typical drone pregnancies, 5 months was the typical length, enough time for the babies code to become independent enough to be separated, then transfered to a pillbaby body. Aside from minor side effects, there were no physical changes in the host drone during the pregnancy, and the ‘birth’ relatively painless.

She wasn't quite so familiar with organic pregnancies, and figured her limited, horror movie taught experience was likely to be inaccurate or exaggerated.

She was both happy, and unhappy, that she did.

She started with a video describing first month symptoms, how to deal with them, and any complications that would arise. She was still hoping that her body was mearly reacting as if she was going through physical changes, and that hers would be a normal, painless process.

She was never one to hope for the best and not prepare for the worst however. And this information would be helpful going forward, just in case.

Morning sickness was the first symptom listed, something she was definitely familiar with. She still felt woosy from waking up that morning, and had thrown up twice. Unfortunately, the best answer she'd gotten for a fix was ‘wait it out, it'll subside later in the pregnancy’. Which was something she didn't want to hear honestly.

The next, mood swings. Which hadn't hit her too hard at the moment, but may have contributed to her recent fascination with rom-coms and other sappy shit. Nothing she could do about that either, humans had hormones that dictated that, and unfortunately her dumbass programing had simulated ones.

Cravings and weight gain were the next two, which was something that actually had a solution to, ‘Cravings are usually a result of the bodies lack of a certain nutrient required for the development of the baby. Listen to your body.’ Was the advice the article had given.

She'd love to listen to her body, but she didn't have a clue on what it wanted, She'd tried every snack known to drone and even ones she previously didn't like, but nothing was killing the hunger that had only grown stronger. The only two things that even helped a little bit was oil, and the silicone chips N had bought her the night before.

Her mouth watered a little bit at the thought of that, the hardened silicone breaking between her fangs, mixed with the thick sweetness of the oil she'd drunk, it had been the perfect combo, enough to calm down the hunger pains in her stomach. Almost.

“Ow!” She winced as she realized she'd stuck a finger in her mouth and bitten down, her fang peircing a hole through the white silicon pad on her finger, a small amount of oil seeped out, so she just stuck it back into her mouth until it stopped bleeding.

That was odd…

She shook it off and kept researching, skipping to how birth was, just to calm her nerves on how that was like, surely it was ar least somewhat similar to drones. Right?

She clicked on a video, the scene set in a hospital setting as a narrator drabbled on with how human babies were made, it was… interesting in it's own right. And made her realize just how similar DNA and code really was. Just 1s and 0s written and read in different ways.

It wasn't until the human woman laying on the table screamed like she was being murdered that her concerns returned. She was drenched in sweat, a man at her side holding her hand that she could only assume was her partner.

Her mind provided her an image of her lying there, N holding her hand, wiping the sweat from her brow. And she smiled a little bit before it fell off her face entirely within the next few minutes.

The woman's stomach was distended, and with every scream Uzi's disgust grew, doctors flurried around her so quickly that even she was starting to feel dizzy.

Oh

Oh…

Fear prickled on the back of her neck, this wasn't painless. This wasn't painless at all. Humans had to endure hours of agonizing pain as they pushed out a baby the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a pea.

And their bodies were made for that, albeit, evolution had fucked them over, giving them a reproductive system designed to be agonizing, but their bodies were made to be that way, to stretch and accommodate despite the pain.

She was made out of metal and silicone, and while some area's of the silicone were malleable, like her face and her fingers, most of it was hard and stiff, no room to give, no room to accommodate.

She wasn't made for… that.

So that fear was back in full force, if she was pregnant, like… the human way and not the vastly superior drone way. Then how was this going to work at all? She touched her midsection gently, as if she'd hurt herself if she pushed too hard.

She tried to think back to what N said, while having the solver was a pain and scary more often then not, it hadn't straight up tried to kill her, if anything it was doing it's best to keep her alive. So… would her body figure something out? It would have to, wouldn't it?

She sighed, stopping her spiral.

They knew nothing yet, no need to get hung up on something she may not have to worry about. So she moved on, heading into the next part of her research and scribbling down everything she'd learned, just in case.

She was focused on her research, looking up symptoms, how to deal with them, and what she should expect going forward. Knowing was far less scary then not knowing.

Then she heard a noise and looked over, Tera was hunched over the side of the couch, coughing. Uzi put her laptop to the side, hand on her daughters back.

“Tera?” She asked gently, and it only took another second for the toddler to heave. And then completely upchuck her recent feeding all over the floor, covering it with black.

“Tera!” Uzi lifted her head up, worried. Tera looked… fine. If slightly upset. She held herself as if she was in discomfort, and her eyelights were strained.

Toddlers getting sick out of nowhere was admiditly pretty normal, though a little unexpected, Uzi still picked her up and held her.

“Aw… Tera, let's clean this up, you're okay.” She wasn't mad, well… maybe a little upset that there was now oil everywhere, but if she could relate to anything it would be feeling nauseous. Still, chances were Tera was just overfed, nothing to freak out over.

Tera made a grumbling noise and curled into her mom, and Uzi sighed. Soon, no matter how it happened, she would be dealing with double trouble.

Next ->

[mariacallous]

Luigi Mangione, currently the internet’s main character, probably isn’t who you think he is. Main characters are like that. As soon as someone achieves main character status, they become the screen onto which the world’s opinions and preconceptions get projected. Mangione, who was arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, fits that bill.

Prior to his arrest, Mangione was an unknown. Police had released a grainy security camera photo showing half of their suspect’s face, but beyond that all anyone knew was that someone had killed the CEO of a health insurance company—and that someone quickly became an online folk hero. He was painted as an avenger, a response to a health care system that had fallen short. Some called the mysterious suspect “The Adjuster.”

On TikTok, people performed ballads dedicated to whomever the shooter was. On Bluesky, they marveled over his ebike escape and the backpack found in Central Park full of Monopoly money that allegedly belonged to him. There was a look-alike contest held in New York City. On Spotify, there were dedicated playlists. Fanfic sprang up on Archive of Our Own.

Online, fans exist for almost everything and everyone. Following the shooting death of Brian Thompson, a fandom emerged around his suspected killer that seemed unifying in a way few others have been. He became an avatar that anyone who’d ever struggled with a hospital bill could understand.

Many of the most engaged posts on X mentioning Thompson or UnitedHealthcare following the shooting “expressed explicit or implicit support for the killing or denigrated the victim,” the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) wrote in a report compiled before Mangione’s arrest. Rhetoric that was once more at home on 4chan or 8chan was spreading to other forums. “[T]his phenomenon was once largely confined to niche online subcultures,” the authors wrote. “We are now witnessing similar dynamics emerging on mainstream platforms.”

Mass shooters and other perpetrators of violence often become memes, NCRI senior adviser Alex Goldenberg told The New York Times, “but what’s disturbing about this is that it’s mainstream.” People reacted to the death of Thompson like it signaled the start of a class war.

In the US, people have strong opinions about health insurance companies, and when it came out that the alleged shooter had written “deny,” “depose,” “defend” on some ammo casings, they rallied round. When it turned out Mangione had been spotted at a fast-food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, someone on Bluesky called it SnitchDonald’s; others briefly review-bombed the location. (Google later pulled many negative reviews.)

Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court on Monday night to be arraigned on two felony charges, one related to a firearm and another to a false ID. He also faces three related misdemeanor charges. He didn’t enter a plea. He was later charged with murder in Manhattan. As soon as his name was released Monday, though, the internet’s investigation, and judgment, of him entered a whole new phase.

People pored over old X accounts and GitHub pages that appeared to belong to him. A thorough investigation of what seems to be his Goodreads account showed that he read Michael Pollan and Aldous Huxley. He had an Ivy League education and might’ve been a fan of Joe Rogan and/or Tucker Carlson. What some folks online had imagined as a left-leaning anti-capitalist revolutionary turned out to be someone with beliefs as complicated and perhaps as conflicting as just about anyone else online. Memes, it seemed, had once again reduced someone to whom the internet wanted him to be, a reflection of their own frustrations with health care in the US or the power of massive corporations.

Someone who would kill a health care CEO might share those frustrations, but very little else, with the people obsessing over him online.

This, perhaps, makes Mangione’s Milkshake Duck moment not quite a Milkshake Duck moment at all. Yes, people are reevaluating how they perceived Thompson’s suspected killer and his motivations, but they’re not totally abandoning him entirely. When police released his mug shot late Monday, giving a fuller picture of the good-looking person from the photo authorities had released days prior, online thirst was everywhere. Fanfiction writers remain at work. Etsy is full of merch.

As Ryan Broderick put it in his Garbage Day newsletter on Monday, “It’s possible that this is the most aligned America—well, aside from the folks in its highest tax brackets—has been about a news story since the invention of the internet.”

Want further proof? Look no further than the comments on Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro’s YouTube channel. On a video titled “The EVIL Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder!” the responses were swift and unequivocal: “FACT: Both left AND right are cheering! We don't care about your feelings”; “I’m not buying this ‘left vs right’ shit anymore Ben, I want health care for my family”; “Just because ‘the left’ likes something doesn’t mean you have to instinctively hate it. Wake up and read the room bro.” Not exactly the kind of banter typically found in the comments section of a manosphere video.

Public opinion on Mangione’s and Thompson’s fate will likely continue to shift for weeks. So much more information will come to the fore. Like any other main character, Mangione’s entire life will be analyzed, but what gets said about him may seem small compared to what the response to his actions says about everyone else.

[am0ralexis]

Started With a Message -Part 3- (fluff) 🩷

[Live on Twitch – 8:01 PM]

Quackity:

“Okay so—timer’s still ticking, right? You’ve got like, three minutes left before I drop the poster and change lives.”

(Chat is screaming.)

Chat:

SHOW IT NOW

STOP STALLING

U SAID 10 MINS BRO

WHY R U LIKE THIS

Quackity:

“No, no. You want me to stall. This is enriching. This is character development for all of us.”

(He leans forward, suddenly animated.)

Quackity:

“Because the other night I couldn’t sleep. Right? So naturally I ended up on this forum—I will not name it for legal reasons—and I found out that apparently… in 2009? A guy legally married a rollercoaster.”

(Chat: ??????????????)

Quackity:

“Like. An actual rollercoaster. He gave it a name. He has anniversary dinners with it. I wish I was joking. This man is in love. Physically. Emotionally. Spiritually. Married.”

(He holds up a hand like he’s swearing an oath.)

Quackity:

“I’m not here to judge love in its many forms. But I am saying—if I ever catch any of you writing your wedding vows to the Six Flags Goliath, I’m blocking you.”

(He glances quickly at chat and smiles the tiniest bit when he sees your username pop up.)

you:

u told me this story already and i’m still not over it

(He laughs, biting his knuckle for a second, trying so hard not to react too personally.)

Quackity:

“Yeah, I—uh. I’ve been spreading the good word privately too. Gotta raise awareness. Public safety announcement, honestly.”

(Everyone in chat thinks he’s being random. You know he told you that whole story at like 2AM two nights ago in your DMs, complete with blurry screenshots, an unhinged voice memo, and a rant about capitalism somehow being involved.)

Chat:

HE’S LOSING IT

BRO R U OK

DROP THE POSTER

Quackity:

“Alright alright alright. The countdown’s done. The moment you’ve all been begging for.”

(He pulls the poster up on-screen—clean, bold, dramatic. Chat loses it. You grin, because you saw it days ago and told him it made you proud of him.)

Quackity:

“Boom. Art. Culture. Emmy-winning content right here.”

(The poster is up. Chat is flying. People are screenshotting, screaming, spamming emotes.)

Quackity:

“Chat—so?? We like it? Do we vibe??”

(He gestures like a hype man, spinning around in his chair.)

“I need validation right now or I’m gonna combust live on stream.”

Chat:

IT’S SO CLEAN

POSTER OF THE YEAR

GRAPHIC DESIGN IS HIS PASSION

DADDY DELIVERED

Quackity:

“Okay. Okay! Let’s not call me daddy. But yes. Yes.”

(He leans into the mic a little, voice softening just slightly.)

Quackity:

“I was told it definitely ‘wasn’t ass’ so I had to trust the review. Five stars. Emotionally grounded critique.”

(He shoots a tiny smile at the camera. It’s casual. But you know it’s about you.)

“Hopefully y’all like it too.”

(A few seconds pass. Then a dono alert pings—text-to-speech reading out a message from someone in chat.)

TTS Donation:

“Quackity you seem so happy tonight. It’s nice to see. Proud of you always.”

(The words hit like a brick. His hands pause mid-motion. His smile falters—not in a bad way, just… softens. Breaks open a little.)

Quackity:

“Oh…”

(He lets out a quiet breath, laughs under it. Not his usual loud laugh. This one’s real. Small. Raw.)

“Damn. That was sweet. Y’all tryna make me cry on a Thursday?”

(He turns his face slightly, wiping under his eye fast and pretending it’s nothing. Keeps it moving—but his voice is warmer now. A little unsteady.)

Quackity:

“Thank you. Seriously. That means a lot.”

(He glances offscreen, like he needs a second to breathe.)

“Y’all are too good to me.”

(Chat explodes with hearts and encouragement. And through the chaos, he catches your name again. In all the noise, it steadies him.)

you:

told you it wasn’t ass

now they know too

(He doesn’t say anything right away. Just smiles, all teeth, glowing with something that’s not just pride—it’s relief. Gratitude. Something private only you two understand.)

[10:14 PM – Quackity]

yo

can we FaceTime

[10:14 PM – Quackity]

i’m so fucking happy right now

[10:14 PM – Quackity]

like i’m pacing around my room

i feel like i’m gonna explode

pls i need to infodump on a human

[10:15 PM – you]

omg yes

give me two seconds to look slightly alive

[10:15 PM – Quackity]

nah i’m calling you regardless

accept your fate

[incoming FaceTime: quackity]

You answer and immediately see his face—glowing, flushed from talking for hours, still wearing the same hoodie from stream. His smile is so wide it makes you smile on reflex.

“Hi,” he says, breathless. “Holy shit.”

“Hi,” you laugh, settling into your blanket. “You did so good.”

“I feel like I just got off stage or something. Like… what the hell just happened? Did you see chat? Did you see the donos??”

“I saw everything,” you say. “You killed it.”

His voice is still bouncing with leftover adrenaline. “That poster reveal?? People were losing their minds. And that one dono—god, I almost choked. Why was that so sweet?? I was sitting there like, ‘Don’t be a bitch, don’t cry, don’t—’”

“You almost made it through,” you tease.

“Almost,” he groans. “And you didn’t help. Sub-bombing me. Saying shit that makes me smile like a dumbass in front of thousands of people.”

“You’re welcome.”

He pauses for a second, just looking at you. That same smile still lingering, but softer now.

“…Thanks for being there,” he says. Quiet. Honest. “It meant a lot.”

You nod, just as quietly. “Always.”

[Instagram Story – quackity – 1h ago]

(a ridiculously aesthetic pic of some over-the-top dish—maybe birria ramen or gold-flaked churros with three sauces, dramatic lighting, probably captioned something like:)

“do not interact unless you believe in god”

[you liked the story]

[you replied:]

looks tasty

send me a bite or ur fake

[2:14 PM – Quackity on Discord]

wait wait wait

what state are you in

[2:14 PM – Quackity]

like rn

[2:15 PM – you]

???

why

am i in trouble

[2:15 PM – Quackity]

no but if ur in cali and you’re not here having this food with me then yes actually

jail

you’re under arrest for being too cool and too far away

[2:16 PM – you]

omg

you’re really doing this huh

this the “drop your location” arc??

[2:16 PM – Quackity]

deadass

don’t tease me w compliments and then not show up to steal half my fries

[2:17 PM – Quackity]

also you liked my food pic

which in my culture is legally binding

[2:18 PM – you]

i am SO sorry i didn’t know my digital thirst had consequences

you’re right

i’ll pack a bag

[2:18 PM – Quackity]

wait are you being serious

because if you were even like

a city or two away

i’d absolutely say yes

come get food with me

today

now

[2:19 PM – you]

…i might be in state.

ish.

[2:19 PM – Quackity]

babe

i will send you an uber

[2:20 PM – Quackity]

wait

you said “in state-ish”

you mean like Southern California?

[2:20 PM – you]

maybeeeeee

what’s it worth to you

[2:21 PM – Quackity]

LMAO stop

don’t play with me like this

this is serious

[2:21 PM – Quackity]

gimme a hint

what’s the nearest Target or something

[2:22 PM – you]

…santa ana.

or laguna hills if i feel like being fancy

[2:22 PM – Quackity]

EXCUSE ME??

[2:23 PM – Quackity]

you’re in fucking laguna hills??

bro. you’re like. an actual 25 mins from me

[2:23 PM – Quackity]

no because wait—

do you know El Campeón??

that Mexican spot near the weird car dealership and the sketchy donut shop??

[2:24 PM – you]

SHUT UP

el campeón is my late night religion

they put crack in those burritos

[2:24 PM – Quackity]

OKAY OKAY

see this is fate

you can’t just be out here knowing my sacred taco grounds and not showing up

[2:25 PM – you]

omg are you freaking out a little

[2:25 PM – Quackity]

YES

because you’re REAL and CLOSE and you’ve BEEN to my BURRITO PLACE

this is like finding out your internet crush lives down the street from you and has your exact order memorized

[2:26 PM – you]

internet what

[2:26 PM – Quackity]

shut up don’t make it weird

we’re going to El Campeón immediately

[2:26 PM – Quackity]

or at least like

someday

maybe

if you wanted

[2:26 PM – you]

i’m a vegetarian though 😅

[2:26 PM – Quackity]

…😢

you’re breaking my heart

i can’t believe this

you’re gonna make me go to el campeón and NOT order birria??

this is emotional warfare

[2:27 PM – you]

okay dramatic

i didn’t say i wouldn’t go

just that i might judge you from across the table

[2:27 PM – Quackity]

damn

you’re really gonna sit there sipping your little horchata while i’m eating carnitas and cry softly into your straw?

[2:28 PM – you]

yes

respectfully

with love

but yes

[2:28 PM – you]

i mean…

i’d try anything you wanted me to though, honestly

[2:28 PM – Quackity]

oh?

careful

that’s a dangerous thing to say

i might hold you to it

[2:29 PM – Quackity]

hang on

actually

let me pull up their menu

[2:29 PM – Quackity]

okay okay okay—

they got veggie tacos

bean & cheese burritos

chile rellenos

…bro they got queso fresco tostadas???

[2:30 PM – you]

you’re really reading me the menu right now

[2:30 PM – Quackity]

i’m invested

you thought i was gonna let you show up and NOT eat?? no

you’re gonna eat so good it’s gonna be character development

[2:31 PM – Quackity]

okay what about this—

you get a cheese enchilada

i get something way too messy

and we meet in the middle over rice and guac

[2:31 PM – you]

ngl that sounds like a solid first date plan

[2:32 PM – Quackity]

first date???

wow

i was just trying to share chips

now i gotta iron a shirt??

[2:32 PM – you]

let’s be real

you wouldn’t iron a shirt if your life depended on it

you wear like… three shirts total

and i say this lovingly

because i know your favorite one is the Dolce & Gabbana static tee you wore in that pic the other day

[2:33 PM – Quackity]

…you know the brand???

[2:33 PM – you]

king i zoomed in

don’t test me

[2:34 PM – Quackity]

okay wow

i don’t even know how to respond to that

except i feel weirdly flattered and also a little called out

[2:34 PM – Quackity]

you’re scary

i like it

[Instagram Story – quackity – 4 minutes ago]

(Photo: Alex mid-laugh at an arcade, holding a drink, glowing under LED lights. He’s in a new vintage-style tee she’s never seen. Someone else clearly took the photo. Caption:)

“gotta change it up sometimes 😎”

[4:39 PM – you on Discord]

nice shirt

didn’t know you had a fourth one

expanding the wardrobe, king

[4:39 PM – you]

also wait

are you at the arcade rn??

because i know that carpet

and i’ve personally declared war on that claw machine in the back

[4:40 PM – you]

specifically the seagull in the fry cup

i tried to win that thing for hours last summer

it haunts me

[4:41 PM – you]

also so um

just lowkey curious

who took the pic? 👀

[4:42 PM – Quackity]

lol

first of all: i do own more than three shirts

they just don’t pass the vibe check that often

[4:42 PM – Quackity]

second: YES that’s fry cup seagull

this evil little guy right??

(photo attachment: a blurry pic of the cursed seagull plushie dangling in the claw like it’s judging him)

[4:43 PM – Quackity]

and third…

why?

you jealous?

[4:43 PM – you]

UM

no???

i was just… making conversation??

[4:44 PM – Quackity]

mhm

sure

[4:44 PM – Quackity]

it was just a friend lol

they took it while i was ranting about how the arcade snacks cost more than my rent

[4:45 PM – Quackity]

anyway

you gotta come try to win this dumbass seagull with me

you and me vs. the bird

final boss level bonding

[4:45 PM – you]

oh

“just a friend” huh?

which one?

[4:46 PM – Quackity]

lmaoo

it’s a guy if that makes you feel better

[4:46 PM – you]

but WHICH one

i like your friends

they’re funny

[4:47 PM – Quackity]

huh?? 🤨

should I be worried now??

[4:47 PM – you]

who’s jealous now, mr. fourth-shirt

[4:48 PM – Quackity]

okay you know what

are you gonna come adopt this fucking seagull with me or not

[4:48 PM – you]

i’ll only co-parent if we get equal visitation rights

and you promise not to name him something cursed like “juan mcfry”

[4:49 PM – Quackity]

no promises

but i’ll let you decorate his shelf in my room

[4:49 PM – you]

���he’s getting a little gold crown and a tiny tortilla blanket

[4:49 PM – Quackity]

I think you might be the one

[4:49 PM – you]

wow

dramatic much?

planning your whole future around a stuffed seagull

[4:50 PM – Quackity]

keep it up and i’ll take full custody

you can visit him on major holidays and emotionally text him at midnight

[4:50 PM – you]

NOOO

not Gully

you wouldn’t

[4:51 PM – Quackity]

Gully???

that’s a terrible name

don’t ever name a kid. ever.

[4:51 PM – you]

i wouldn’t name a kid Gully you dumbass

i’d name them something cool

[4:51 PM – Quackity]

oh yeah?

like what

[4:52 PM – you]

Vaporeon 😉

it’s elegant. it’s versatile. it’s wet.

[4:52 PM – Quackity]

…

[4:52 PM – Quackity]

yep

knew you were the one

[4:59 PM – photo from Quackity]

(image: the fry cup seagull plushie, finally conquered. It’s perched triumphantly on the hood of a car. Captioned:)

“guess who finally caved and came home w me”

[5:00 PM – photo from Quackity]

(image: a perfectly swirled orange soft serve cone in his hand, backlit by the arcade’s glowing neon. Captioned:)

“vaporeon is waiting for his mother. and he brought ice cream.”

[5:01 PM – Quackity]

i’m outside the arcade

be here in ten

[5:02 PM – you]

HELLO????

what do you mean “be here in ten”

i haven’t even straightened my hair

[5:02 PM – Quackity]

he doesn’t mind

he says his mom’s hot regardless

[5:03 PM – you]

this is psychological warfare

i need five minutes to scream into my pillow

[5:03 PM – Quackity]

take your time

we’ll be out here vibing

but vaporeon says if you’re not here soon he’s eating the cone himself

—————

You spot him outside the arcade before he sees you—leaning against the wall with his hoodie up, holding the soft serve in one hand and the cursed little seagull plush under his arm. He keeps checking the entrance like he’s pretending not to look for you.

You step closer.

“Wow,” you call. “You weren’t kidding.”

His head snaps toward you, and the second he sees you, his face lights up. Big stupid grin. Full-body reaction. Like he can’t believe you’re actually standing there.

“Holy shit,” he laughs, pushing off the wall and walking toward you. “You really wanted the ice cream that bad, huh?”

He holds it out to you—like it’s some kind of sacred offering.

You smile and take it. “I mean… I mostly came for Vaporeon.”

He actually laughs—loud and boyish, his head tipping back like he can’t even stop it. “Unreal. You’re unreal.”

You look up at him through your lashes, pretending to inspect the plushie. “He looks shorter in person.”

“Blame the machine,” he mutters, clutching him protectively. “We barely survived.”

You both stand there for a second, smiling like idiots, soft serve in your hand, cursed bird-child in his. And then, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, he nudges your shoulder.

“C’mon. You’re here now,” he says. “Let’s win him a friend.”

The arcade is loud and glowing, filled with kids running around, machines screaming for attention, and the sticky hum of neon. You and Alex jump from game to game—basketball hoops, air hockey, a rhythm game he insists he’s “secretly god tier” at (he’s not), and a claw machine that robs you both blind.

Every so often, you feel his eyes on you. Not just quick looks—watching. You catch him during a round of skee-ball, again when you’re celebrating a 10-ticket win like it’s the lottery, and once when you’re leaning over the air hockey table, tongue poking out in concentration.

You glance up and catch him staring again—this time he doesn’t look away fast enough.

You smirk. “What?”

He blinks, clearly caught off guard. “What?”

“You keep looking at me,” you say, grinning as you walk toward him. “Do I have ticket dust on my face or something?”

He rubs the back of his neck, suddenly sheepish. “No, it’s just… uh…”

You raise an eyebrow. He shrugs, trying to play it off with a smile.

“Just admiring the mother of my bird child,” he says casually, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

You burst out laughing.

“Wow. You’re so brave for saying that out loud.”

He holds up his hands in surrender. “I panicked, okay?”

“Uh huh.”

“I meant it in a heartfelt and respectful way,” he mutters, nudging you gently with his shoulder. “In the bird co-parenting sense.”

You just smile, bumping into him back as you both wander toward the photo booth.

Inside, he pretends to sit far away—until the countdown starts. Then he scoots right next to you, shoulders touching, and you both flash peace signs like it’s middle school.

But in the last shot, right as the camera flashes, he turns and looks at you instead.

And you feel it immediately—the weight of his gaze, softer than anything else in this neon-saturated place. His eyes are on your mouth. Your laugh. Your lashes. He looks like he wants to kiss you.

Your heart stutters.

And because that’s too much—you panic in the most on-brand way: by lifting Vaporeon right between your faces.

The flash goes off.

His face in the playback screen? Somewhere between “I hate you” and “I fucking adore you.”

You snort. “Best one. Instant classic.”

“Frame it,” he mutters, trying to recover. “Hang it next to the Mona Lisa.”

You smirk. “So where’s your friend, by the way?”

He blinks. “Huh?”

You gesture casually. “The one who took that pic of you earlier. For your story. New shirt, weirdly aesthetic lighting. Definitely not a selfie. Was it Roier? Or Missa? Or…”

You pause, watching him carefully.

“…someone else?”

He raises an eyebrow, tilting his head with a grin that’s just a little smug. “Oh? So you do know who my friends are?”

You roll your eyes, heat rushing to your cheeks. “Shut up.”

“Interesting,” he says, leaning back dramatically. “The plot thickens.”

You poke his arm. “Stop dodging. Who was it?”

He shrugs, eyes sparkling.

“I may or may not have asked a random stranger to take the pic… specifically so you’d ask me who took it.”

You stare at him.

“Are you serious?”

He bites back a grin. “Worked, didn’t it?”

“You’re such a shit,” you say, nudging him with your knee. “Our poor seagull child is going to inherit your garbage sense of humor.”

He laughs, loud and proud. “You mean my garbage sense of humor that got me over six million followers?”

You roll your eyes so hard it’s a miracle they stay in your skull. “God forbid he becomes a little clout goblin just like you.”

“Oh wow.” He clutches his chest dramatically. “Say it with love, why don’t you.”

You smirk. “Love? Never heard of her.”

He laughs again, but it’s softer this time. And when he looks at you—just for a second—it’s that same look from the photo booth. Real. Quiet. Wanting.

You open your mouth to say something else—something funny, probably—but it catches in your throat.

He notices.

And before the moment can drift away, he tilts his head, voice a little lower now. “Hey.”

You look up.

His foot bumps yours gently under the booth.

“…Can I actually take you out sometime?” he says, still half-smiling, but there’s something earnest behind it. “Like for real. Not just for fake seagull custody battles.”

You blink.

Your heart does a thing.

“…Like a date?” you ask, teasing but barely.

He shrugs, trying to look chill. “Unless you want to call it a ‘mandatory parent-teacher meeting for Vaporeon.’”

You grin. “That’s a terrible cover. But yeah.”

He raises a brow. “Yeah?”

You nod, cheeks burning. “Yeah.”

—————-

The two of you step out of the arcade, the night air hitting your skin, warm with leftover adrenaline and sugar. Neon spills across the pavement, the buzz of laughter and music still echoing behind you.

Then your eyes catch on it.

That ridiculous, towering contraption just across the lot—the sky sling ride. You know the one. Two seats. Giant rubber bands. Screams echoing across the universe.

You stop walking. “You know,” you say casually, licking the last of your ice cream, “I’ve always wanted to ride that thing.”

Alex follows your gaze.

The ride launches two people into the air like a scream-fueled meteor. You can feel the G-force just watching.

“…But everyone I know is too much of a pussy,” you add, smirking.

He blinks. “What thing?”

You point. “That.”

He watches the seats spin and bounce midair, one girl shrieking like she saw the end of time. His eyebrows slowly rise.

“…Yeah, I might just accept being called a pussy over that one.”

You laugh, nudging him with your elbow. “Lexi, come onnnn.”

He turns to you, brows up. “Lexi, huh? That’s a new one.”

You grin like you didn’t even mean to say it out loud. “What, you don’t like it?”

He looks away too quickly. “Didn’t say that.”

You step in front of him, blocking his path, holding up the plush with both hands like it’s Simba from The Lion King.

“Your child wants to ride the sky sling.”

He raises an eyebrow.

You raise Vaporeon higher.

“You can’t say no to them,” you say solemnly. “They’d be so disappointed.”

He snorts. “You’re actually insane.”

“And yet you’re still here.”

He stares up at the ride again. Then back at you. Then sighs like he already knows he’s going to cave.

“…If I die on this thing, I’m haunting you and the seagull.”

They strap you in.

You’re both sitting side by side in the sling ride seats, the ground very far below now, and the sky somehow too close.

Alex is eyeing the harness like it personally insulted his bloodline.

“I’m fine,” he says.

“You’re not fine,” you laugh, already clutching Vaporeon in your lap like he’s your emotional support cryptid. “You look like you’re doing math in your head.”

“I am doing math,” he mutters. “Specifically: how far I can fly if this thing snaps.”

The cables tighten.

You giggle and lean a little closer. “You could’ve said no, y’know.”

“You emotionally manipulated me with a plush seagull and the word Lexi. What was I supposed to do??”

Before you can answer, there’s a click and a mechanical voice says: “Launching in 3…”

Alex stiffens.

“…2…”

He grabs your hand.

No hesitation. No joke. Just instinct.

“…1—”

BOOM.

You’re airborne.

The sky explodes around you as you shoot upward, wind whipping, lights blurring, screams lost in the wind.

You’re laughing so hard you can’t even make noise—head thrown back, stomach hurting, hand still gripped tight in his.

He’s yelling. Not words—just raw, panicked noise.

But his hand never leaves yours.

The ride slows, bounces, spins gently. You’re weightless. Floating.

He peeks over, hair windblown, face pink from adrenaline.

You grin. “You good, Lexi?”

He groans. “I am never trusting you or our imaginary child ever again.”

“You say that,” you tease, “but you still haven’t let go.”

He looks down at your hands. Still clasped.

Then shrugs. “Well. We’ve been through trauma together now.”

——————

The night is warm as he walks you home, arcade lights fading behind you, neon giving way to quiet sidewalks and the hum of street lamps. Vaporeon’s tucked in your arms like a shared secret. You’re both still buzzing, but slower now—your steps falling in sync.

Alex glances over at you, then up at the sky.

“This was one of the best fucking nights I’ve had in a long time,” he says.

It’s not loud. Not performative. Just… honest.

You blink, heart thudding. “Yeah?”

He doesn’t even look at you when he gently reaches over and takes the plushie from your hands—then keeps one of them. Just threads his fingers through yours like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Wait until I actually take you out on a date,” he adds with a grin. “One where I have to, like, legitimately iron a shirt.”

[jasminerva]

Jasminerva's Updates

Happy New Year everybuddy~!

Just to post a quick update (in case anyone was wondering)!

I'm alive! I've been busy with life, priorities, and "me time", but I am of the living!

I did manage to find time to watch the first two eps of SakaDays - and boy was it ever fun!!! A rushed rush, if you will. Sad we won't get to see Officer Nakase. I hope we get to see Sakamoto fight tooth and nail for Hana-chan's backpack though!!!

Been having trouble with cloud8 motivation! Writing in general, really! The muse, it escapes me, but I won't force it lol. Can't get nothing done if I force myself.

But otherwise on the plate:

cloud8 chapter 5

Gaku NSFW request (just need to make a satisfactory ending)

I have several asks I need to answer - my sincerest apologies for the delay!!! I'll get 'em out soon~ I hope 🙏 wish me luck! orz

A Shinful surprise ;3c

I'm planning on publishing my old stuff on AO3. Thankfully I hoard keep meticulous records. The Lunaescence migration to AO3 will only have post-2015 stuff, and all my stuff is pre-2015 so I may as well! They're all unfinished lmaooo but I figured I'd share. I do want to finish up a couple old projects (both in memoriam my late Tumblr best friend @mochisato).

Hoping 2025 is another fruitful year for me and to all y'all~! Whether it's with your studies or your professional and/or personal goals, I wish you all the love and all the best~!

I would like to write more this year but I'm realistic and happy enough to write what I can, when I can~! (Comments may help lol but I can't force you.)

Womanifest it~! 💅✨

Personal updates under the cut (don't wanna bore you~ but I wanted to share in case you were interested in my excuses for being busy / interested in me tootin' my own horn - gotta share the wins and positive vibes 💪 #empowered women empower women)!

Looking back on 2024

✧ I wrote 21k words in published AO3 SakaDays fanfiction. A few more thousands I'm sure if you include all the Tumblr-only stuff. It's not much, but it's honest work! Considering I just came back to writing after 8 years in July 2024, I'd say I did purdy darn good!

✧ My LinkedIn Rewind (with some deets omitted):

✧ Last year, I did a huge canyon swing by myself! Maybe this year I'll bungee jump or sky dive. Or both.

✧ Was part of several peace forums for Palestine, Sudan, and more. Still shaking my head at the yt people at the table. It's like talking to Trump's nonexistent wall.

✧ I also represented Canada at an international UN conference in New York. Same issues where I'm shaking my head so hard. At least I met some like-frustrated people.

✧ Did 3 talks (2 compensated, 1 global, 1 national). Looking forward to doing more this year!

✧ Took on a new mentee - another woman of colour with huge aspirations!!!

2025 so far

✧ My first policy advocacy letter was selected for International Development Week! I got paid AND they'll publicize it for all to see!!! Hopefully the dang government not only sees it but listens. I did their job laid out all the groundwork for them, so they better!

✧ My new job is about a double income boost. But we'll see what that actually is like after taxes lmao. I don't plan on buying another house, so I'll be buying experiences (travels, food, more food). I've been riding the zero waste / anti-capitalism movement for a few years now, so I'm going to buy minimal merch (I say this now). KonMari that shit.

✧ I'm looking forward to snowballing on my achievements, but not to the point of burnout (again lmaooo god we shall see orz).

Here's to an amazing 2025~! For those who have struggled thus far, I have been there! You got this~! 💪

“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it, that matters.” - Epictetus

[frownyalfred]

*busts down your doors* HEY! Long ask for ya

okay so I was rereading your fic where EMS showed up because Dick couldn’t flip on the trampoline (rip) and it got me thinking about routine trauma.

So here’s the thing: I am not EMS. I know three people who are EMS, but my extent of EMS experience comes from one (1) ride along and lurking on EMS subreddits. Those guys are a hoot. Great memes. Anyways.

A comment stuck out to me: “You haven’t truly lived the job until you’re eating a gas station burrito next to a dead body”. I’ve seen a bunch like that. Nonchalance and dark humor because well, that’s their job. Gore is the norm. Sure, depending on the area, your usual calls might just be lift assists, but other areas are neck deep in gang violence and violent crime.

A pretty common post on that subreddit is also, sadly, “I just got a call that’s never bothered me before but all of a sudden I’m broken” or “I’ve never had a problem running this type of call before but all of a sudden it just hit me.” Delayed trauma is a bitch. Someone pointed out that if a civilian saw a fatal car accident with multiple corpses, they’d be in therapy and given support and it’d be a huge deal. With EMS, they’re just expected to deal with it. (EMS mental health is getting better- there are helplines and resources and first responder focused therapies- but it’s still a developing field)

ANYWAYS, now that I’ve given you a crash course on the EMS mental health crisis (someone should really write a feature on EMS in Gotham those fuckers would be crazy and I love them already), my point is, how would this apply to the bats? Seeing bodies is treated as very much the norm to them, but do you think it ever just… catches up? The impact of seeing corpses day after day? Do you think they have to fake being fine and tough during those times because well, “everybody else in the family is fine with it, I’m not going to be a liability/burden/weak/etc”

Do you think Bruce, the goddamn batman, who shouldn’t be ruffled by anything, ever just feels something crack inside when he looks at a little boy who could have grown up healthy and strong like his Jason, had (Bruce) someone been there for him? and then he can’t work cases with kids for a week?

This is such an excellent ask, thank you so much for gracing my inbox with it!

It's a very good question. I'm also on a lot of those subreddits (needed to do some research for that fic) and the discussion in those forums and on TikTok is like you described, a kind of practiced desensitization to all gore and suffering in order to survive in their job.

What I've seen from those discussions (and my EMT friend) is an almost sub-conscious trend where they allow themselves the "thing" that breaks them, and they push a lot of that trauma and emotion onto that thing. Like an EMT saying they don't do kids, or they don't do gunshots to the eye, etc. And they'll sob like a baby on those calls, while remaining stone-faced and level-headed through the triple homicide.

I'm just theorizing here, but I imagine the Batfamily uses similar coping skills -- pushing all that trauma and suffering into a box which cracks only under limited, defined circumstances. And they break or snap only under those conditions, because, subconsciously, they allowed themselves to.

So yes, Bruce might be 99% fine with most of the bodies he sees, but there might be a little boy who has a detail (like Jason's dark hair) that just slams into him out of nowhere.

PTSD and trauma literally change the structure of the brain. Individuals react differently to trauma after that, but there does appear to be a "desensitizing" effect with repeated trauma, as the body tries to compensate.

I agree that the Gotham EMTs must be some crazy motherfuckers. They probably deal with 6x the normal shit EMTs deal with in other cities. They probably take on a lot more trauma and burn out quicker than other EMTs, too.

Anyone else have thoughts on this? I admit I don't cover PTSD explicitly in a lot of my fics.

[princesscolumbia]

It's been...

So something happened a week ago that is neither bad nor good, it simply is, and it's happened before, so thankfully the knowledge exists on how to manage and cope.

Now to explain.

Back in the 80s I experienced some mental trauma that hurt me so significantly I wound up 'splitting' into what we now call a system or a plural (I've also seen "plurality"). By the time I was in my early 20s, there were about 8-9 people rattling around in my head and the ones that got the driver's seat had proper names. Of course, at the time we only had Sybil as an "example" of "multiple personality disorder," so people like me kept our damn mouth's SHUT 'cause we knew the second we showed any sign of being neurodivergent in any way that resembled schizophrenic, we'd be marginalized HARD. The person in the driver's seat always (always) responded to my given name and assigned pronouns and never let slip there were whole conversations going on in my head as I was going about my day.

Around the middle 00s there began appearing in online spaces, mostly instant messaging spaces and BBS forums, where people began to express themselves as "multiples" and, I'll confess, the system that was me had too much programmed fear to be one (heh) of those brave souls. Nonetheless I started to see the acceptance (and the pushback) that has become more commonplace today.

Between 2015-2019 I experienced trauma so severe I was in CPTSD hyperarousal for a good chunk of it, which pretty much shattered my mental landscape. I was mentally just completely broken and had no way of really paying attention to more than the moment I was in. By the time I emerged from the 'fog,' I was functionally a 'singleton,' that is, not a system.

Starting earlier this year, there were a few signs that, in retrospect, should have made me well aware of something coming. I started feeling 'foggy' again, but I thought that was the depression and insomnia. The depression and insomnia were major contributors, as well, and REALLY should have been a wake-up call...but that's depression for you. I think the biggest "20/20 hindsight" indicator was starting to write "Double Isekai," a story about a single person who winds up isekai'ing into two people. This was in March.

One week ago yesterday I was in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher when I started, for lack of a better term, talking to myself and expecting an answer. I actually had the thought, "Things would sure be easier if I was a system again."

Considering I'm a transwoman and, with slightly different wording, that's classic egg behavior, the penny dropped and I figured out what was going on.

One week ago plus a few hours I sat my GF down and explained what happened back then, what was happening now, and that I was likely to 'split' soon. She just...accepted it. Barely batted an eye, made sure she still had the right pronouns, and went back to her computer.

I was so relieved I nearly cried. Before the divorce when I'd tried to 'come out' as a system to my then-wife, she had NOT reacted well. (And, in retrospect, it makes more sense how upset she was with me that I seemed so, in her words, "unreliable and inconsistent." All she ever knew of me was a 'guy' who kept changing behavior patterns in, to her, random ways)

As though my GF's acceptance were like permission, the split...happened. I could almost physically feel my head-mate separating from me.

And, as I'm sure you've guessed, I've been writing as though it was me going through all of this, and, more or less, it has. Since this split wasn't due to trauma and had been developing over time, it was far more organic and gentle. There wasn't a horrible tear where suddenly there's this nasty, goth punk with a scar around one eye, a penchant for black leather, and absolutely zero compunction to kill because of how traumatic the creation event was (yes, that was one of my alts in my original system, she was a nasty piece of work that never got a name and was never allowed the driver's seat, but did she ever enjoy hurting our stepmother) We both are full participating members with equal access to all our previous memories, even if we're looking at our past self with different lenses.

That's right, Bunnies, I'm back! The EGS fandom will know the name Helen from my days as "Dame Helen the Leather-clad." Even though I'm knight-emeritus now, I'm still quite proud of what we did during those years of the Order of the Bunny. Still she/her, still so very, very sapphic, and still a bit of a useless lesbian.

That said, there's been some changes.

I'm a dragon, along the lines of the crazy-famous Dragon HRT comic that's been super popular this year. If the body were mine alone and Dragon HRT were a real thing, I'd be partially covered in scales by now. I'm not as into gaming and music and art as my new other half is or the old me was. I'm a mother where the previous alt to bear my name was still trying to figure out how to people, and I'm the one with the head for numbers and driving and focusing on work. Also, even though I'm a woman with she/her pronouns, I'm NB and what might be called 'intersex' or 'futanari,' depending on what generation you're in and what part of the Internet you spend most of your time in.

Yes, I know, not a terribly creative name if you know my given name, but it's the one I chose when I emerged. I started out as what us systems call a fictive. If you go back into some of the comments sections on our writing on AO3, you can see references to proto-me scattered around and referred to as "the little author that lives in my head and looks an awful lot like Ranma-chan." On a somewhat silly note, though the pre-fully-realized version of me served as a sort of mental author for our previously unified self, I'm not the writer. That's Helen.

She/her, all girl, and SUPER sex-positive! I'm a bit (I'll confess) of a horny slut and since I'm bi/pan and Helen pretty much gave me control of the NSFW blog, you're probably going to start seeing more guys there than have shown up in the past. I've got a 'type,' though, and that type does NOT include facial hair or bears.

I can't STAND office work! One of our top priorities right now is to get something else...ANYTHING else to earn money so we can drop the office job we've been doing. It's boring anyway! I wanna get started on streaming, though I will NOT be streaming Star Trek: Fleet Command! That game is a bag of stress and I don't know how Helen plays it without wanting to hurt someone!

One thing that is pretty much ALL me is I like fitness! Before we knew fitness was good and it was something we learned to appreciate, but when I got all that I also got a LOVE for it! I can't wait to get back out there and run again! (...but it's getting into the hot season in Arizona, so we may not be able to just yet)

One amusing thing about this is we both realized we're redheads. The body is, sadly, very blond, but now we've got our first body mod goal we can both agree on and get behind.

Speaking of body mods, we're getting booba! I'm tired of being tiny in the chest 'cause of lousy genetics and craptastic HRT timing! We talked about it and our second major shared goal is saving up for top surgery. And we both want FFS and facial hair removal. Basically, I'm in charge of the body, which means FITNESS UPDATES!

That's right, I'm gonna be one of those annoying running fanatics and there's nothing you can do to stop me! 😆😆😆

In any case, expect changes as we figure things out. One thing we didn't really expect that has, nonetheless, had a pretty major impact is our energy level. It takes A LOT of sugars to keep us both going! There've been times one of us has basically taken a nap just to keep from burning too many calories before the end of the day.

Oh, and do you like these identifier bars? I made 'em! Turns out I'm the artist! If you want your own version for you and/or your alts, check out my new store on ko-fi!

[fizzingwizard]

Just came across a post and started to respond to it... Then had a look at OP's blog and it's an entire dump of similarly themed posts. You don't win with those people, sooooo I'm not gonna try. But I'm still gonna yap!

Nightcrawler fans have NOT been wanting Nightcrawler and Mystique to have a lovely relationship with holiday pie baking and matching family PJs for, y'know, literal decades. We've been wanting Nightcrawler and Mystique to have DEVELOPMENT, for the many many MANY dropped storylines involving their nonexistent bond over the years to stop fizzling out into the ether. Wanting good storytelling =/= wanting holiday pie baking. And, if anyone wants Mystique, Nightcrawler, and Rogue (plus Destiny) to spend quality time baking holiday pies together, it's Claremont lol.

It's wild, as a loooong time Crawler fan, to see us portrayed as having been begging for this happy healthy domestic bliss... I know there have got to be those fans who like it (the angry bloggers must be reacting to something!) but I just have no idea where they are. The nicest I ever see in the forums I hang out in is a willingness to see where the retcon takes us, as long as it takes us some place worthwhile. With a healthy dose of "that's pretty unlikely, however."

On the other hand, I guess all the fuss means our boy has finally made it? People are angry about him and consider him overexposed... heck yes bae you're famous now! lol. It's especially funny when the fans who are annoyed about it are fans of way more overexposed characters. I'm not arguing he's gotten undue attention though - and I hope Nightcrawler emerges from the fumes of fame with as few burns as possible. I honestly didn't think Marvel would keep pushing him after Krakoa. This Origins thing shocked me good.

While there's a lot of stuff about it I straight up don't like or am lukewarm about regarding the new Origins, one that surprises me a bit is seeing comments here on Tumblr where some fans don't appear to realize how long Margali's been a morally gray character. At least since the 90s, if not earlier. Nightcrawler's idyllic circus childhood, however, has gone pretty untainted by new writers, so I get that people aren't into that changing. To me, as long as Kurt felt that he was safe and loved while growing up, it matters less what Margali really felt.

I still wish Marvel would just stop touching things though. Write good stories going forward, don't edit perfectly fine ones from the past...

[gryficowa]

Leftists have been trumpeting the return of fascism for years, but people ignored it and called it "What you can have in your own opinion" or told us that we are the problem

It started with trans people, and all the way to entire LGBT+ groups, feminists also got hit and there was no reaction because "They could have stayed quiet and not done it" (When they were on strike)

In addition, using September 11 as an excuse to harass people of Arab origin all over the world (although they live in my country and it's more white people who do shit here), dehumanized people, but it's the Arabs' fault that one crazy person flew a plane into two towers , True?

Fascism was reborn at the beginning of this century, but with Trump and Rowling it became more and more visible, but people thought it was nothing bad

2020 was also the point where fascism became acceptable (In my country, there was a campaign against LGBT+ people and women on strike after the ban on abortion on a damaged fetus, and then the dehumanization of people at the border who were deceived by Lukashenko, but as you said, it was was, then they called you under the propaganda of Lukashenko or Putin, yes, being a good person means being a traitor, I'd rather be a traitor than their "Hero")

It's no better abroad either, tik tok has become the only place, which has caused a lot of damage, including the resurgence of pro-ana, the destruction of the postivi body and the acceptance of autism

In 2024, many people's eyes have been opened, when anti-genocide strikes are attacked and people fighting for a free Palestine are called anti-Semites (Even if they are Jews), unfortunately, as before, people woke up to the genocide and the awareness that it is taking place, the holocaust was not stopped either and people were terrified only when it all came to light, now we can try to stop it, but there might not have been a genocide if we had reacted earlier when Israel used segregation to separate them from the Israelis

I'm born in 01, i.e. a zoomer, I used the Internet only for flash games, although I preferred DVD games (I watched as many cartoons from CDs, I watched them on TV when they were on, but that didn't mean I liked them as much as the DVD ones)

I watched Mini Mini while others were watching CN, hence I was considered immature by people in my class (10-14 years old)

It is possible that it was cartoons that helped me develop empathy (I have ASD, and it is a myth that autism does not have empathy), although I was never able to show it, and being a scapegoat did not help me much

I encountered LGBT+ at the age of 13, but thanks to the propaganda from religion classes you can guess what my approach was (Howrse, forum, censoring the word "Gay" as if it was a curse, WTF)

I don't remember when I realized that I was an aroace, because I was always an aroace, but I didn't know, for me the word "Love" didn't mean what cis hetero people consider love, for me it meant relationships where someone is close to you (Family, your pet, friendship etc…)

The first glimpses that something was wrong, I saw a certain Polish YouTuber explaining his transphobia (This was the moment when young and stupid me got a warning light, because if knowing being trans was an option for me, it doesn't change the fact that there was something wrong here yes, cognitive dissonance from cartoons I watched as a kid about that the most important thing is to be yourself and accept yourself, that others should also accept you, and then you come across this, even if you don't understand, you know that this creator's thinking is bad)

I became more interested in politics in 2020, when President Andrzej Duda (Rapper of the Year) said "LGBT+ is not people, it's an ideology", then I already knew that I was LGBT+ (I didn't use "Aroace" then, but "Asexual" and "Aromatic" )

Then I realized how many bad people there are and how they hate someone for their very existence. I can't blame myself for not being interested in politics before, because I was a child (Although pedophiles will probably say that "You weren't a child, you were a teenager", shut up!)

I had Twitter for a year because they blocked it, classic for "Inciting suicide" (But pedophiles and fascists can go unpunished, Twitter standards, they complain that Elon Musk destroyed it, no, he didn't destroy it, he was always fucked up)

I feel like I've grown up too quickly, and I've come so far in my development that it turned out that many people I trusted turned out to be bad, well, maybe loneliness isn't so bad, I have a cat, a dog and my own third party liability insurance, maybe not people (Or real ones…), but it's better than fake friendships, right?

2020 was a turning point for everything, entering politics and discovering how many people were actually mocking you and weren't your friends (Wasted years, even when they started a separate group to mock me and made a remake of my photo from 2013, where they stuck my face into a drawing of a penis… And yet I forgave them + I blamed it on myself, that I reacted badly to everything, when they pointed it out to me, that I was "exaggerating", I left groups, they added me again and so on endlessly)

It doesn't make it easier that in high school I had a toxic support teacher who controlled and criticized me (and laughed at me) at every step, and called my "meltdowns" aggressive and turned them into a note for the diary

So I've been in toxic relationships in real life and online, and this realization is killing me...

But coming back, we had the return of fascism and now people were hit with the realization that "Not an opinion" is "Fascism", the question is how long this approach will last and everything will not return to the status quo

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lula advocates UN reform: 'The post of secretary-general has never been held by a woman'

The statement was made at the opening ceremony of the United Nations General Assembly in New York

On Tuesday morning (24), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) advocated reform of the United Nations (UN) in New York, United States.  

Lula was applauded by heads of state and members of delegations from foreign countries when he said that “there is no gender balance in the exercise of the highest functions [of the UN]. The post of secretary-general has never been held by a woman.” 

“It is time to react vigorously to this situation, restoring the organization and the prerogatives that derive from its status as a global forum. One-off adjustments are not enough. We need to consider a broad revision of the [UN] charter,” said the president.

The reform, in his words, should include four points. The first is to include sustainable development issues and the fight against climate change in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with “real capacity to inspire financial institutions.”

The other points are updating the theme of international peace and security, given the growing scenario of conflicts and wars around the world; strengthening a peace-building agenda; and a specific reform of the United Nations Security Council, “focusing on its composition, working methods and right of veto, to make it more effective and representative of contemporary reality.”

Continue reading.

[forensicated]

A Tumblr Community for The Bill...?

Is there any interest in creating a community for fans of The Bill to discuss and have more opportunities to interact/chat about the show almost like a forum from what it sounds like?

If you'd be interested, please like/comment/reblog this post to show your potential interest so we can all see if it would be worth attempting to create one or not.

Tumblr is beta testing a new 'community' idea [apparently not available to all as yet but should appear for most] that it says is:

Communities is a new feature in development, currently in beta testing. Our hope is to empower everyone on Tumblr to create new, dedicated spaces to connect with people over shared interests. It’s a bit like using tags but more contained, it’s a bit like having a shared blog but with more options, and it’s a bit like a group chat except it’s slower. Access to communities is not yet out to all users, and currently has incomplete support across the Tumblr mobile apps

Labs blog post

Help page post/more information

It's still in testing mode and they're asking for feedback. They state it can be a private group or more open access.

Public communities can be seen and visited by non-members, logged in or logged out. However, only the feed of posts in each community tab, and the About page, are accessible. Non-members cannot view the member list, see who reacted with what, or see community comments. Non-members with an invite can see everything a member can see, but cannot interact with anything until they accept the invitation.

Private communities cannot be seen or visited by non-members at all. The existence of a private community is not hidden, however, if someone has the URL (they’ll see a message like “this is a private community”). Non-members with an invite can see everything a member can see, but cannot interact with anything until they accept the invitation.

I wrote a tag list of every member of the cast including notable long running guests. It took FOREVER. And this is what Tumblr cuts it down to. FGS.

[tacky-optic]

Had a question about who our favorite Zenigata partner is in a server I'm in and now I can't stop thinking about them. Tis the zaza sickness.

anyway here's literally all of the characters Zenigata's been partnered with that i could find (within reason). if anyone wants to elaborate on any of these guys (cough yata cough) please feel free to go absolutely ham. *(obligatory spoiler warning for a whole lotta lupin specials, waow-- notably zenigata keibu since that's probably the most unwatched of everything i cover. but if youre here im guessing youre as unfortunately well-versed as i am so LETS FRIGGIN GET INTO IT)

Starting off nice n' mellow. I'm pretty neutral on Yata, tbh. I just think he's neat and it's easy enough to write him and not much else. I've rambled about him being a stand-in for the viewer before, but overall i just don't have all that many thoughts on the guy (seriously someone please do yata). ironic considering he's hands-down the most prevalent sidekick to date, but alas. head remains empty.

MARIYA. Mariya my girlie oh how i love thee. finally, someone with a Gimmick on par with Mr. my-sword-can-cut-anything. Plus she's super sweet and smart and sharp and just an all-around endearing character. AND SHE'S DIFFERENT!! she's tagging along with Zenigata of her OWN FREE WILL like gurl what are you THINKING. there isn't a shred of coherent interview material to draw from this man, especially about Lupin. The dynamic they end up developing is on point, though!! Zenigata's initial total miscall of it aside, It's just plain ol' wholesome. If Yata's his surrogate son than Mariya's obviously his daughter. No shot in hell they don't at least keep in contact after the special's done. plus her snapping a pic of him every time he eats shit is peak comedy journalism

MOTHAFUCKIN' MELON COP!! an absolutely magical reefer-smokin' shitbag, especially in the edgy Tokyopop translation. He's a great foil to our otherwise serious(ly neurotic) manga Zenigata. Not to mention the combative potential with a down the line Melon.... ough. A more toned-down "newer part"-esque Zeni getting slapped with an extremely smug and insistent reminder of his angstlord past is such a delicious concept to me. i will be using this guy extensively in that exact way one of these days-- he's too fun not to.

a bit of a sidenote but i've gotta point fingers at gray jacket again (can't recommend it enough) for having my favorite melon depiction in fic; walther recently had him show up in their fic secondhand vanity as well (which i also can't recommend enough), so needless to say i think he has some fun potential.

Sakuraba and Kunikida from the live-action show get honorable mentions, obviously. They're both so different yet learn so much from Zenigata all the same. As far as reacting to the inspector goes, they're the ideal Yatas (again i am so so sorry yata-- surely someone will do you justice). Even though they aren't technically "new" to the force they're new to the Zenigata Shenanigans, and that is where the entertainment factor is. Sakuraba's the traditionalist keibu method-doubter whereas Kunikida's this mousey blue around the gills fella, and over their respective case file appearances, they both gain faith in/learn confidence from Zenigata, respectively. It really is a great bit of development to watch play out.

I'm gonna count The Guys™️ as a collective group/formless mass with maybe one of the Guyest of Guys as Zenigata's right hand Guy, like that one dude in Cagliostro. Apparently the name he's given in one of the dubs is Sam?? That's neat. Sam's neat. for anyone interested in some homework, here's the link to the highly informative lupin forum thread i found that out from: [x]

But yeah the Guys! Right from the start, Zenigata having this army of inexplicably and absurdly loyal cops was always a fun trope and i love to see 'em whenever they show up. I had this idea ages ago for this fake documentary-style miniseries based around them-- all the usual Lupin nonsense goes on in the background while we get a peek at the typically unseen shenanigans happening on the law-bearing side. Getting assigned to the lupin taskforce is probably seen as some kind of punishment, but that just makes the camaraderie all the more tight-knit. There'd be some behind-the-scenes Zenigata/how he interacts with them, what they get up to on their own whack case assignments when they're in a Lupin sighting lull.... hell maybe we even learn why they're all so damn loyal to this one supposedly hyper-independent guy. I think it'd be fun but maybe that's just the Zenigata hopeful in me. Surely he's capable of building some semblance of rapport with the fine group of folks he drags around the world with him....

Let's just rip the band-aid off-- I dislike Oscar with a burning passion. which is weird, right? because i like Melon Cop, the dude who's totally cool with straight-up cold-blooded judge/jury/executioner-style murder. I dunno dude the obsessive daddy kink simping's just too feckin' weird for me. i checked the hell out so fast. If the goal was to make Oscar extremely disquieting, they friggin' did it. Granted he was written to be a bit whack from the start, and getting raised(?)/mentored by THAT Zenigata would irreversibly mess anyone up. I get that the fucked up-ness is part of the appeal, but man. How anyone can gravitate towards Oscar without heavily modifying his whole deal escapes me.

I've seen him written tolerably in fic maybe... twice? He's in gray jacket (there it is again!) and SMRO (needs no introduction nor explanation), so obligatory kudos to anyone who can wrangle [gestures vaguely at all of that].

Vicky though. Vicky Flannigan from Island of Assassins is so goddamn funny. Still can't believe they took one of the most badass Zenigata character designs and actively went out of their way to make him bedridden. I've seen folks call him "Proto-Yata" and. Yeah. Can't argue. He's a glorified babysitter, if anything, and the only reason he's even remotely effective is because he (accidentally) broke both of Zenigata's legs. Funniest shit istg

ICPO LADIES!!! They're cute. Designs could be better but it's Babylon yknow. Despite being an admittedly fun romp, the special has its obvious.... uh. issues. product of its time and all that. iykyk. anyway LADIES. They're competent. They take No Shit from Zenigata. The random little crush that comes out of nowhere between Chinjao and Goemon is cute as hell. Plus, I've seen some pretty rockin' fandom redesigns floating around.... wouldn't mind in the slightest if they made a comeback.

I'm gonna lump all of the Betrayers into one category: Emily O'Brien from Angel Tactics, Kazami from Fuma Conspiracy, and Terry Crown from Alcatraz Connection. Never expected the "Zenigata's partner is the bad guy!!1" trope would be so prevalent, but it tracks in retrospect. It's a neat enough idea-- bummer they never seemed to nail it down, though.

The only reason O'Brien is so predictable is because she's so goddamn unlikable. There's hardly any screentime of them working together and in every single scene, the incompetency just feels so blatantly intentional its almost offensive lmao. Zero surprise in the slightest when she showed her true colors-- just mild annoyance, which tracks for the whole special tbh. Only worthwhile parts are the beginning and the end, and absolutely none of that has anything to to with O'Brien.

Kazami just has that chump secondary villain face y'know. Again, a bit on the nose how obnoxiously dorkish he is-- but them playing up him putting on his glasses so Fujiko can recognize him got a little laugh outta me, ngl. He served his purpose, plain and simple.

I'll never know whether Crown was predictable or not because I stumbled across ""Evil Columbo"" before I watched Alcatraz, but despite the spoiler I can at least say he isn't lame as shit. Pre-reveal, he's probably the closest we'll get to a taste of what Melon might be like in modern Lupin media. He's your run-of-the-mill corrupt sleazebag detective-- steals evidence, generally doesn't give a fuck, takes cheap jabs at Zenigata-- but their final standoff is what puts him above Kazami for me. Just a real melodramatic overdramatic moment of Zenigata Zenigata-ing his heart out.

Welcome to the ELDERLY MEN CATEGORY, OORAH. The old guy from Twilight Gemini, Kogoro Akechi from the pilot, and George McFly from First Contact. I could track down Gemini old guy's name, but I hand-to-god couldn't care less. The only worth a damn thing Gemini's given me is that one jigzeni screenshot, so we're just gonna move on to the next two.

Not much of Akechi, huh. He only shows up in the pilot and doesn't do anything of note besides be someone for Lupin to disguise himself as. Dare i say Goemon was a more effective ally to Zenigata than Akechi...? yeah sure, why not. Goemon's a zeni sidekick. i'll die on that hill. anyway I believe he's also a reference to a pre-existing character...? like Lupin, Goemon, and Zenigata are. All in all its probably for the best that he didn't make it to part 1.

Finally, the only old guy that actually has aspects to talk about. I actually really like McFly and the role he plays in First Contact; it isn't Zenigata learning from whoever his partner may be, but McFly learning from Zenigata. He's a jaded, on-the-verge-of-retirement type that thinks he's seen all the force has to offer, but here comes this young (is he considered "young" in this?? early, maybe) freak-ass foreigner cop with a vendetta he's practically frothing at the mouth to rectify. Neither of them are exactly enthused to be working together, but McFly sticks around anyway and learns to see past a lot of Zenigata's first impression baggage; the tenacity, the passion, the genuineness of it all. Not only does he want to make real change, but the crazy bastard can actually friggin' do it. ...Or at the very least make a sizable dent.

Zenigata sincerely adheres to the idea of what a cop's supposed to be, fundamentally, and not what a "cop" actually is, as a vague collective occupational concept. Zenigata has a genuine effect on McFly-- enough to make him just the slightest bit less soured by the end of it all. It's a nice sentiment; that no matter where you are in life, ideas can still change. It's a small arc that flies beneath the radar of everything else, but i noticed it. I FRIGGIN' NOTICED IT, MAN

tl;dr Zenigata's a lonely guy, sure, but he doesn't have to be.

That should cover all of the significant parts/specials/movies, but if i missed anyone (any notable episodes? manga?) lemme know. Either way, it's nice finally having 'em all in one place.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hi Cas! I hope you don't mind me turning to you for this, I just genuinely need an opinion from someone who doesn't know me personally, and I've seen you give advice to others before. Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to react!

I'm 22F and since I was struggling with one of the courses I take at uni, I got a tutor for it. Let's call him Dan. At first I was very nervous because I didn't know what to expect (a friend recommended him to me). However, the second I met him I was immediately very comfortable around him. He's incredibly kind and considerate. I went over to his place a few times to prepare for an upcoming exam, and I actually enjoyed doing so.

He helped me become more confident in my skills for the subject; he complimented me regularly when I got things right, told me to trust in myself, and that he had faith in me too. At the end of the tutor sessions, he said he enjoyed teaching me.

On the day of the exam, I received a message from him in which he wished me good luck and asked me to keep him updated. I did and also left a review on the forum where he operates on. Once that review came through, he texted me to thank me and wish me a nice remainder of my vacation.

Here's my problem; I think I'd like to get to know him better. I genuinely can't believe I'm writing this (it sounds so cliché), but I developed a crush on him. However, he's quite a bit older than me (29), and I really don't know if he was just being nice or if the things above might be signs he's interested as well. He didn't have to text me on the day of my exam, but he still did. But at the same time, he might do the same thing for other students too.

I have told 4 friends, and they all say I should ask him to get a drink together if I pass the exam. They say the worst thing he can say is no, and that I never have to see him again. I know this is true, but at the same time I'm scared of rejection...

What do you think I should do? Thanks in advance, and sorry for the incredibly long text <3

Hi!

I think your friends are right! Here's the thing- if he was still tutoring you, it might be a bad idea. But you took the exam, so that relationship has ended. Also, you were both adults during the duration of the relationship- it's not like he met you when he was 18 and you were 11. That would be creepy. I think once you hit your twenties, a seven-year age difference isn't a huge deal, as long as both people are at a similar stage in life and want similar things. The worst that can happen is you ask and he says no, or you get to know each other and you find you're incompatible. But the nice thing is, you won't see him again, so though the rejection sucks, you won't have to see him around all the time, you know? I don't know, I think it's worth a shot.