#statement of res regarding

[mymoonfearblog]

losing my shit here about this because if this actually is our jon we need to talk about how the first thing he does in this series is REACH OUT TO SOMEONE ELSE!!!

[nereidprinc3ss]

hi!!! here for a request. can we have a imagine where reader has a wound from surgery or whatever on like in a rib and she hides to change the bandages but then spencer sees her and he’s like ‘lemme help you’ and…

you do you for the rest!

in which spencer helps BAU fem!reader change her bandages in the bathroom at work. it's intimate, and he's adorable and awkward, and it only fuels her terrible, terrible crush.

warnings/tags: fluff, talk/description of wound, brief talk of being stabbed (does not actually occur in this fic lol), reader wears a bra, spencer undoes said bra but not sexually, lots of suggestive humor and teasing, a TINY sprinkling of angst but not really, idiots in love

a/n: i'm picturing early seasons spencer and it is filling me with so much unbridled joy. I. LOVE. HIM. thank you for the request!! and lets not talk about how inconsistent my formatting for requests is pls and thanks!!

It’s not like you meant to bend down so quickly that your wound reopened—but here you are, suffering the consequences of your actions in the women’s bathroom at Quantico as you try to assess the injury before you re-bandage it. And your shoe is still untied. 

Unfortunately, the fact that you had quite literally been stabbed in the back last week makes it hard to reach said injury—especially when you’re at work and so can’t take off your shirt like you normally would. And all this struggling means it’s taking longer than it should, so now you’re focused on the wound and its scabby, wet edges and all the things it’s secreting rather than hurrying to give another statement of the entire event to Hotch since the first one had apparently been too sparse on the details. 

A knock sounds on the open door. Spencer calls your name. 

“You in there?”

The angle of your neck has your voice slightly strained as you call back, “yeah, what’s up? Is it Hotch?” you pause to hiss as you accidentally scratch at the wound with a nail. You don’t even want to know how much bacteria you just introduced to it. “Tell him I didn’t forget our meeting, I’ll be there in—”

“It’s not Hotch. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay with your back? I know you said you were going to check on it, but you’ve been in there a while.”

You sigh, dropping your sore arm as you continue to hold up your shirt with the other and regarding the reflection of your back in the mirror. 

“Actually—could you come in here?”

There’s a pause. 

“You want me to come into the women’s restroom?”

“Yes, Spencer. It’s fine. There’s nobody else in here. I just… I need some help, I think.”

The last part is admitted quietly, with an air of defeat. To admit to needing help, is, by your standards, the same as failure. Spencer knows this, which is probably the only reason he puts aside his hesitations and shuffles uncertainly into the tiled room. If you’re asking for help, it’s because you really need it. 

“What do you need help with?” he asks, sweeping his gaze suspiciously around the lavatory as if you were lying about there not being any other women present and this whole thing might be a trap of some sort. 

“It’s gross, and you can totally say no.”

He raises his brows expectantly, before spotting the weeping wound on your back. Unconsciously he steps closer, leaning forward. It’s not your fault, and the gore is not specific to you—anyone’s body would react this way to being stabbed. But you still feel embarrassed by the close attention to such an ugly marring, which nobody besides you and your doctors has actually seen up close.

“That doesn’t look good,” he mutters. The expression on his face is irritatingly familiar—the drawn brows, tightened eyes, barely parted lips—but it takes a moment before you realize what it is. 

“Reid,” you complain. He’s still stooped over slightly to examine the wound, and looks up at you through dark lashes with those infuriatingly warm puppydog eyes.

“What?”

“You’re looking at me the way you look at a dead body on the slab.”

His nose scrunches.

Some might say it scrunches adorably. 

“No, I’m not. That’s just my face.”

“Okay, well stop. It’s freaking me out.”

He pouts—actually pouts. Subtle, but bottom lip jutted out and all. It’s ridiculously endearing. 

“My face freaks you out?”

“Wh—no! That’s not what I said! You have—you have a great face! I didn’t mean—” 

You manage to claw yourself out of the hole you’re digging when you see the dopey smile growing on his face. 

Oh. He was fucking with you. 

He never used to do that. It’s unnerving to be the fucked with instead of the fucker for a change. Especially when it’s Spencer. 

“What did you need me for?” Spencer asks by way of peace offering. You close your eyes and sigh, attempting to collect your thoughts without his presence re-scrambling them.  

“Um—I just need you to put this bandage over it. I can’t reach without taking my shirt off.”

And now you’re forced to wonder if he’s thinking about you shirtless as much as you’re thinking about you shirtless.

“Yeah—don’t do that,” he says absentmindedly, stepping again closer to get a better look before turning to the nearest sink.

For some reason, this offends you. 

“Why not?”

Spencer pulls another face as he washes his hands—you love the constant flow of expressions he always seems so unconscious of. Even when they’re not pleasant and directed at you.  

“Are you asking me why shouldn’t you take your shirt off?” he clarifies. 

“I know why I shouldn’t take my shirt off, but I want to know why you think I shouldn’t take my shirt off.”

“Because we’re at work?” he observes astutely. You frown deeply at his completely logical reply. Spencer chuckles as he dries his hands and approaches once more, taking the square of gauze pre-lined with medical tape from your hand. “I mean, I can’t stop you. But it would be kind of a weird choice.”

“Oh, so me shirtless is weird?”

Cool fingers meet the comparatively hot skin of your back—where everything is still sensitive because the wound wreaked havoc on your nerves there. You flinch slightly. 

“Sorry,” he murmurs gently. Though his touch is so incredibly light it doesn’t really hurt—it hurts much less than when you’re tending to the wound, anyway. It’s almost soothing. After a moment he continues, a bit louder. “And that is not what I was saying. But I am completely comfortable asserting that it would be weird for you to be shirtless at work.”

The gentle touches contrast with his teasing words and serve to disorient you as you’re shaken back in to your usual dynamic. Which is markedly more sarcastic. 

“Well—”

Before you have to think of something to say, Spencer interrupts you. 

“Your, um—I think your… brassiere… is in the way.”

As soon as he says it you burst out laughing. It echoes through the room. 

“My brassiere? Are you actually 70 years old?”

His brows knit even tighter and his face gets very pink very quickly. He can’t meet your eyes over your shoulder. 

“That’s what it’s called.”

“Spencer, you may be the first person to use that word since 1952. Say bra.”

“I don’t want to,” he complains. Your laughter only grows as your head tips back. 

“Why? How is brassiere better than bra?”

“It’s—it’s too colloquial! I’m trying to be professional!”

“Call it a bra or I’m going to rub my dirty hands all over my back,” you threaten, adopting a poker face so he knows you mean business. His eyes widen immediately. 

“Oh my god! Bra! Do you want to introduce staph and meningitis and g—do not do that!”

“See? How hard was that?”

“I hate you,” he mumbles, face still flushed and adorable. “And you still have to take it off.���

“Excuse me?” you grin, pretending to be affronted because you know he didn’t mean it like that but it’s fun to pretend he did. Fun for you, of course. Not so much for him. He's utterly flustered by this point.

“Or at least undo it! It’s in the way.”

With a deeply bored sigh, you go to unclasp your bra—but as you go to do it your shirt drops down. You grimace, humor briefly forgotten as the fabric brushes the damaged skin. 

“I can’t—”

“Okay, just—I’ll do it,” Spencer says. “Just move your shirt again.”

So you do, watching his reflection as he works.

And you have not one joke to break the heavy silence with as you feel his knuckles gently pressing into the middle of your back, as he unclasps the bra with his characteristic tenderness and a surprising amount of agility. It’s quiet except for your pulse in your own ears as he carefully pushes it out of his way, holding it down with a hand to your rib cage and fingertips slipping just under the fabric of your shirt—unintentionally and certainly non-sexual, no doubt, but skimming under your heart in a way that still feels so intimate you’re realizing how touch-starved you are. 

“You do that often?” you find yourself asking, because you’re stupid, and you need to cool the tension before it chokes you, and you can’t help yourself even though you don’t actually want to know the answer. 

“I,” he begins, voice quiet as rustling paper, tongue darting over his lip and eyes narrowed. The sentence stalls as he focuses on placing the patch just so. “Do not think that is an appropriate workplace question.”

Something aches in the pit of your stomach. 

Something resembling jealousy. 

It was not the timid evasive linguistic maneuver of someone who is insecure about the thing they’re discussing. It was not the awkward fumbling no but I don’t want to tell you that which you were expecting from Spencer Reid. 

Nor is it an easy yes—an admission between friends. He doesn’t want to tell you. 

You swallow and try to act like yourself. 

“Yet here you are, in the woman’s restroom at our place of employment, undoing my bra. I think we’re past professionalism.”

“When you decontextualize it like that it sounds like something it’s not. This is professional, because I’m helping you with a wound you sustained on the job. I’m being a good colleague.”

Your lips twist into a smile he can’t see. 

“A great colleague would kiss it better.”

“It's almost like you want me to file a sexual harassment complaint with HR," he says through a little smirk as he smooths the bandage over. Before you can snip back, he steamrolls over his own teasing—you’ve both been speaking in almost reverent tones since he started but his voice loses the sarcastic edge from a second before and reverts back to concerned and sweet. “Does that feel okay?”

You rotate your shoulders best you can without letting go of your shirt or flashing the good doctor to check if it feels secure.  

“It’s good. And hey—if I were going to sexually harass you I would do a lot better than that. You think that’s my best material? That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I keep so many inappropriate comments to myself. You’d be shocked by some of the things I have almost said to you.”

He laughs, secures the band of your bra and begins fitting it to the clasp you’d had it on—and at that precise moment Emily walks in. 

“H—woah.”

“It’s—I’m—I was helping her!” Spencer panics, immediately removing his hands from you like his palms are burning and holding them up defensively. 

“Oh, you helped me alright,” you tease, pulling your shirt back into place. 

“Don’t say it like that!” And then, to Emily, “I was changing out her bandage!”

“Changing my bandage,” you emphasize, winking more than is advisable. 

“That’s—this is a hostile work environment! I feel unsafe!” Spencer almost yells, half laughs, as he scampers towards the door. “I’m going to HR!”

“Shut up! You love it!”

His laughter audibly travels farther away for several moments as he presumably goes back down the hallway to do his actual job. 

You have the stupidest grin on your face, but you wipe it off when you notice Emily staring. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head and looking away, moving toward a stall. “You’re just… you guys are funny.”

“What do you mean funny?” You demand, standing right outside her stall as she closes it. 

“Wh—I mean funny! Are you going to listen to me pee, you weirdo?”

You frown. 

She makes a good point. 

Unfortunately, giving Hotch a more detailed statement is just as bad as you’d thought it’d be. Despite how cheery you’ve tried to remain about the whole situation, despite the way you insisted that the wound was so shallow you didn’t need more than a few days off work, despite the jokes you make about forgetting it’s even there because it’s on your back—it’s hard not to remember exactly how the glass felt twisting under your skin, how you’d felt suddenly so hot and lightheaded and sick to your stomach and the way Morgan hollered because he didn’t know how deep it had gone after you crumpled quick from shock, when you’re asked to describe it all in excruciating detail. 

It only takes ten minutes, but they seem to drag on and on and by the time you’re leaving Hotch’s office you feel utterly drained. You hurry back to your desk, covertly wiping away moisture that you refuse to allow to become tears. Once seated, and having dodged sympathetic looks and avoided any do you want to talk about its, you allow yourself a few deep breaths with your eyes shut. 

When you open them, you realize there’s a fresh cup of your favorite tea on your desk, in the Snoopy mug the team is always fighting over. Now his little black nose is covered by a square of yellow paper. You’re already smiling as you peel away the sticky note and hold it closer. 

On it is an adorably odd smiley-face, and a note in familiar, messy looping scrawl. 

I would never report you to HR beautiful

That would be a stab in the back!

You snort loudly and clap a hand to your mouth—but you’ve already drawn the attention of almost everyone in the bullpen. 

When you turn to look at Spencer, he’s not looking back. Instead, his eyes are firmly trained on his computer screen. But he’s got his chin propped on his fist over the desk, and his knuckles are doing a poor job of concealing a giant self satisfied grin. He is the only person on the team who knows you well enough to make such a distasteful joke. And he also knows you well enough to know that it would make you feel so much better after your meeting with Hotch than all the well-meaning sincerity in the world ever could.

Funny. 

Maybe that is the right word for what you two are. 

[catboybiologist]

So.

Re: tumblr bans of transfemmes.

Let's ignore PhotoMatt for a moment. Manbaby tech CEO doubling down on a stupid decision and making himself look like more of an ass doing so is not a new phenomena.

Tumblr has consistently said, in both public statements and leaked internal communication, that they're essentially running a skeleton crew.

They keep saying that they don't have the resources to moderate, manually review posts, have any kind of appeal process, or anything. So, as people have widely received communications about, they seemed to have automated a significant portion of the moderation to operate solely on the quantity of reports (probably with a basic filter, eg quantity of reports regarding a certain post, within a certain timeframe) to automatically ban or shadowban accounts.

And so, they wipe their hands, both to the users, the public, and their own consciousness, and go about their automated operations.

All of this is likely true. Tumblr, at this point, is essentially abandonware internally, a kind of weird vanity project/dumpster ground for server infrastructure for Automattic. Likely, they don't want the bad press of "shutting down" fully. Or maybe the trickle of revenue they get here just barely exceeds operating costs, so why not keep it around?

Whatever is the case, the bans are a result of an automated process working in the background. I'm giving them some benefit of the doubt here, of course, we can't know anything for certain- but it seems like the individual bans are not based on any specific, manual action.

And that doesn't fucking excuse anything.

Because at some point, multiple people sat down at tumblr, and decided how to cut costs.

And they decided that the bare minimum of report abuse prevention was one of the first things on the chopping block.

Before the boops. Before GUI reconfigures.

They decided to cut something that is necessary to manage online communities.

They decided to cut something that ensures any targeted group will have any kind of community online.

And then, after all of that, the only manual intervention is doubling down on the shitty decisions that the automated systems make, and plucking reasons out of their ass for why they were the right decisions all along.

It's pure silicon valley brain. Blame the computer often and always. Use it to shield the active decisions you made when designing the computer that way. Treat it as a fact of life as opposed to something they actively made decisions for.

Is tumblr staff hitting the banhammer on each transfemme one by one? No.

Is tumblr staff deliberately crafting a system that allows TERFs and other conservative bigots to get rid of the "undesirables" for them? Yup. But they sure as hell are trying to not say the quiet part out loud. If they can always point the finger somewhere else, to the advertisers, to the automated systems, to the TERFs, then they can always have juuusssttt enough plausible deniability.

But being the "queerest place on the internet" requires concious acknowledgement that queer people will be targets of harassment, and you will have to protect against that.

Side note, this is why I do try to keep my blog at least somewhat SFW. Its one of the main reasons why I choose not to reblog all of the posts I'm tagged in- if the post is overtly NSFW, I've probably seen it, appreciated it, and consciously decided my level of interaction with it mostly based on how "tumblr friendly" it is. Is that bowing down to them? A little. It's also my choice. I value the community I have here. The pushes that y'all have given me gave me the strength to transition, and honestly gives me a lot of motivation to research HRT biology as much as I can, among many other things.

Yeah, I post pictures that are clearly meant to be found attractive in ways that are generally not socially acceptable , but never actual NSFW. I would like to think that I'm pretty safe from bans, but hey. Who knows. I don't want to lose my follower base, and the community around it.

And yeah, I'm gonna annoyingly remind you of the other places to find me, make sure to check my pin. If you don't know where to go, just find me on reddit and go from there, I'll post about it if anything happens.

[gentsma]

An Incomplete List of 2024 Additions to the Merriam-Webster

bingo card noun … 2 slang : a list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios — usually used in the phrase on one's bingo card

bussin’ adjective, African American English slang : extremely good : excellent; especially : delicious, tasty

chef’s kiss noun : a gesture of satisfaction or approval made by kissing the fingertips of one hand and then spreading the fingers with an outward motion — often used interjectionally

cold open noun : a scene of a film or television episode that precedes the title sequence or opening credits and that typically takes place in medias res

cromulent adjective, informal + humorous : acceptable, satisfactory

doggo noun, slang : dog

doomscroll verb : to spend excessive time online scrolling (see scroll entry 2) through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.

edgelord noun, slang : someone who makes wildly dark and exaggerated statements (as on an internet forum) with the intent of shocking others

jorts plural noun : shorts made of denim or jean : jean shorts

nerf verb 1 informal : to reduce the effectiveness of (something, such as a character, attribute, or weapon) in a video game; broadly : to make (something) less useful or effective 2 informal : to lightly bump (another car) in an automobile race

padawan noun, informal : a young person especially when regarded as naïve, inexperienced, etc.

rage quit verb : to suddenly stop participating or engaging in (something) in a fit of anger and frustration : to quit (something) in anger

rizz noun, slang : romantic appeal or charm

simp verb, informal : to show excessive devotion to or longing for someone or something

smashburger noun 1 : a hamburger patty that is pressed thin onto a heated pan or griddle at the start of cooking; also : a patty (as of beans or ground turkey) prepared similarly 2 : a sandwich featuring one or more such patties

[asapeveryday]

SHOCK FACTOR ★彡PART 5

Prev. Next.

Pairing: Paige Bueckers x Rival!Reader

Warnings: swearing

Summary: a lot of media attention and some solo time isn’t enough to keep paige away from you.

A/n: one more chap after this then we done 😛

YOU WAKE UP with a pounding headache, not as engulfing as last night but still enough to induce a groan as you lift your head from your pillow.

The hotel-white pillowcase is smeared with residual makeup and your hair feels tangled and unruly. It was surprising how well you slept, seeing as multiple things had happened the night before that should’ve kept you up till morning. You look around to see the hotel room is empty, then check your phone for the time. It’s 1:34pm, you’ve slept into the afternoon.

Your phone is absolutely filled with notifications.

JUJU-KINS😘

U up?

Coach is lit tweaking rn

U bouta be getting media trained FOR LIFE

ELAINEY 🤞

hey

can we talk pls?

ur only in town for a couple more days

it’s not as bad as it seems i swear

i was drunk

COACH

Call me when you see this message.

I hope you already know what you’ve done wrong so I don’t have to waste my time.

You’re smarter than this!

Collapsing on your bed again, you bury yourself in the sheets. Being in Connecticut had just turned out to be a nightmare, you’ve barely interacted with your teammates, your friendship with Elaine was ruined, you’ve had the most confusing relationship with Paige and you’ve made a fool of yourself online.

You shoot a quick text to Juju as well as some other teammates who’ve checked up on you, being sure to ignore Elaine’s texts. You find yourself re-reading your messages with Paige, thankfully your drunk brain hadn’t texted anything too out of pocket, and though you clearly remember her typing after your last message she hadn’t responded since then.

Your call with Coach was the most dreaded of all, you truly respected and feared her, so sitting through an almost half-hour phone call about your responsibilities, failures, expectations and repercussions was awful.

In short, you were to be off of social media until back in state, live privileges were fully revoked, if you were to be found partying and clubbing you’d be in massive trouble, you had to issue a statement on Instagram and twitter (which was pre-written by some professional), and the next practice you participate in will be the worst practice you’ve ever experienced in the history of bad practices. Most probably an insane amount of sprints.

You release your statements on Instagram and Twitter, but before deleting the apps you check out Paige’s comments. She’d obviously received a similar order. Her Instagram story consisted of a black screen and a small box of text, simply entailing how spreading love and positivity while uplifting other players is an obligation she intends to follow from this point onwards.

Her twitter had two new tweets:

paigebueckers1 : Me and (Name) have had some truly special experiences in college basketball. She’s an amazing player who is only gonna go higher and get better as she grows. When I was a junior I was stuck in crutches hoping for the chance I have now. (Name) as a junior herself is absolutely killing it on the court and I for one will always be rooting for her, competitive comments online or not. Keep doin what you’re doin @yourusername !

paigebueckers1 : God is good! 🙏

Turning your phone off, the only thing you’re thinking is ‘you’re so full of shit.’

You wonder if she wrote that herself or if somebody wrote it for her and made it seem like it was her own typing. Regardless, it didn’t matter anymore. You’d had your experience with the Big East Champion, and it was enough for a lifetime.

The amount of content coming out regarding you and Paige was insanely overwhelming. Debates online regarding your skills, looks, personality and basically anything the public can grasp were rampant. You and Paige had been a bit of a scandal ever since she shaded you on that panel, and the media had been seriously following you two back and forth between the seemingly friendly interactions and more hostile ones.

Eventually you stumble upon something different. A video of you and Paige in the background of KK and Ice’s live that day in the coffee shop. You can see yourself fumbling with napkins, and Paige approaching. It’s almost entrancing to see everything play out from another perspective, to see how her face eases into a smile at your smartass comments, to relive your own amused emotion at her stare, to watch Paige speedily write her number on a napkin before the camera shifts and the live ends.

You’re unsure how to react to all of this. No matter how close or far you could get with Paige, would it ever amount to anything? To the slightest bit of trust? Her lips were almost on yours that evening in the street, but just an hour earlier she had lied to your face about knowing Elaine.

You recall what Elaine drunkenly spat out during your argument outside the bar.

“N’ I’ll tell you what. She’s going to play your ass and you’re never gonna get over it, cus that’s what she does.”

Was this spoken out of experience, or a mixture of jealousy and intoxication? Had Elaine once been that girl on the street, inches away?

You can’t help but think it wasn’t the case. Paige bit her tongue around you to stifle a laugh or to hold back a rebuttal to your teasing. When it came to Elaine, Paige bit her tongue in a different way. A loathing way. You couldn’t explain it.

Plus, Elaine had said herself that you were not Paige’s usual type. If she meant you and her were not alike, that was the truth. You and Paige had more of a history, more similar lifestyles and experiences, more. At least you assumed so.

Finally, you decide you’ve done enough thinking for the day. It was time to line up some plans, maybe meet up with the team for a couple hours and then hoop solo in the evening. Anything to distract from the situation.

-

The sound of a basketball against the blacktop, the hollow bounce that always found itself back to your hand. It’s sustenance to you, it’s breathing.

Storrs had been blessed with a hotter Sunday then usual, even in your shorts and t-shirt you were sweating, shooting hoops the same way you’ve been doing since you were a child.

The court was empty and outdoors, perfect for you to hold the ball for a moment and admire the scenery, the changing colours of the sky as afternoon fades to evening.

You hear the bounce of a ball again, but yours is secured in your hand.

“Hey.”

You’re not surprised to see her. The sink in your stomach as you meet her eyes in almost predictable.

“What are the chances.” You scoff. “Don’t you have like, the entire UConn gym to hoop?”

“I come to this court all the time.” Paige narrows her eyes. “It’s usually peaceful.”

“I figured.” You say curtly, turning your head to see the setting sun. It was very peaceful, even with the impending silence between you and the blonde.

“How drunk were you last night?” Paige asks.

You spin around to give her a look. “Drunk enough to get on live,” You scoff. “but sober enough to read a text and send it without regrets.”

At the mention of your short conversation with Paige over text, you can see her cringe. She obviously hadn’t been expecting you to find out about her relationship with your friend, let alone be so upfront with it.

“I never fucked her in my car…just so you know.” She finally manages to breath out.

You almost bark out a laugh at this. “You think I’m mad cus you fucked her?” You ask, walking towards Paige and lightly dribbling the ball. She simply stares at you, mouth slightly agape.

“Are you not?”

“Is the blonde fucking seeping into your head?” You snap, mentally celebrating as her lips forms a straight line. “If you don’t know, you better figure it out.”

Paige brings a hand to her face, rubbing her forehead as if it’s aching. Her eyes are wide and analyzing you, thinking of the best way to respond.

“Go on,” you tease her. “tell me why I’m mad.”

You’re close to her now, too close for comfort. You can see her smile lines, her plush lips, her silver chain glinting beneath the black long sleeve she’s wearing. The sleeves are rolled up, and you can’t help but noticed how veiny her arms are, how her long fingers are holding the basketball against her body.

Biting her lip, Paige finally responds. “You’re mad because I lied.”

“Smart girl.” You scoff, almost choking on your breath when her jaw clenches at your comment. “I’m mad cus you lied to my face. And cus you went on live and shit talked me again for no reason.”

You and her stare at each other for a long moment before she breaks a smile. “That was my bad.” She murmurs. “I was uh, Ion’ know. I was in sum kinda mood.”

“The mood to lie?” You raise your eyebrow. “Or the mood to be a bitch?”

“Don’t call me a bitch.” She scowls, and you’re reminded of the last time you called her that, at the end of your game against UConn.

“That’s what you are, Bueckers.” You say with a smile, eyeing her down and getting in her face just a little more. “Bitches lie, bitches make problems out of nothing.”

Her eye is fiercely trained on you, on the way your lips move as you degrade her. You can’t tell what she’s thinking in the slightest.

“(Name), I’m sorry.” She says softly.

Once again you two are staring in silence. The proximity is intoxicating, you can practically smell her clean clothes.

“Are you still fucking Elaine?”

“Hell no.” Paige shakes her head furiously. “That ended a while ago. We haven’t talked in like months.”

“She still has your location.” You grumble. “That’s how she knew I was with you at the restaurant.”

“Shit.” Paige groans, immediately pulling out her phone. “She interrupted us on purpose then? Psycho.”

You watch as she turns off her location for Elaine and blocks her before slipping her phone back in her pocket.

“We didn’t hookup for long.” Paige says, obviously feeling the need to explain herself. “Jus a couple times. I broke things off, she couldn’t accept how busy my schedule was.”

You shrug, not knowing what to say.

“Guess she couldn’t accept you and me either, huh?” Paige smirks, shooting you a ‘forgive me’ type look.

Ignoring the swell in your heart at the stupid comment, you just chuckle and shake your head.

“Do you wanna 1v1?” She asks almost sheepishly.

You think for a moment.

“You sure I’m on your level?”

Paige looks embarrassed for a moment, remembering what she said on her live. “Quit playin.” She rolls her eyes. “C’mon, show me what you got.”

-

You’d be lying if you were to say you knew the score.

Was she taking score? You and Paige were equally insanely competitive, but this wasn’t a true test of skill. This was a test of endurance. A test to see who would break first.

You knew this when her hand grazed your waist as she darted past you to the other end of the court, or when she stared you down, tongue between her lips as she blocked your shot. You retaliated yourself, letting your hand linger a bit too long as you helped her up from the ground after tripping her up, or whistling at her as she makes another three.

The heavy breathing, the piercing stares, the cold air as the sun disappeared. You were in a zone you’d never been in before, somehow equally focused on the game and the girl.

You manage to steal the ball from Paige in a swift moment, but suddenly she’s in front of you again. Her hands dart for the ball, attempting to smack it out of your hand. She almost manages to steal it back, but your grip tightens just at the right moment.

She’s stuck to you, her hands attempting to pry the ball out of your own. You can hear her breath, you can see the beaded sweat on her forehead, you can feel her blue eyes watching you, watching your chest widen and shrink with every inhale and exhale, watching your lips.

It’s a replay of the college game that started all of this.

You struggle for a moment longer before the tousle is not longer controlled, the ball slips between both of your sweaty hands. You and Paige both scramble to save it, but it bounces out of your grasps and away from the court.

Neither of you chase after it.

She’s still up close to you, face flushed from the game.

“What was the score?” She huffs, out of breath. Paige’s voice is raspy and tired. You feel something spark inside of you.

“No clue.”

Paige’s face breaks into a small smirk as her hands find your waist, uncertain and soft, just barely ghosting your frame. “That was my ball.”

“Shut up.” You mumble, your heart hammering at the feeling of her eyes exploring every part of you, lingering on your lips before she finally leans in.

Paige’s lips are rough against yours, but fit perfectly as if moulded for your own. She melts into you, her hands finally tightening around your body, her face tilting just right so she can finally taste you. It’s something you didn’t know you’d been waiting for. She kisses with a million emotions, with urgency, passion and the slightest bit of control. It’s electrical.

When you need to break the kiss to breath, you simply tug on her ponytail. You were not expecting the slight whimper as your lips part.

“M’ not done.” She mutters against you, catching her breath.

“I want you, P.” You whisper, looking up at her. Paige’s face immediately changes at this, lips tilting upward in an annoyingly charismatic way.

“I know you do, baby.” She murmurs. “Let me take you home.”

[djuvlipen]

The Talibans have closed all the women shelters in Afghanistan and are instead putting women in jail to "protect them"

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan is sending Afghan women to prison to protect them from gender-based violence, Khaama Press reported, citing the Office of the Deputy of the United Nations in Afghanistan.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has stated that gender-based violence against women and girls existed in Afghanistan even before the dominance of the Taliban. However, with the advent of the new regime, the social life of women has been limited, and family violence against women, especially by their husbands, has increased.

The UNAMA office added that before the re-establishment of the Taliban, there were 23 shelters for the protection of women survivors of gender-based violence in the country, none of which are now active.

The Taliban have also deemed protective shelters for women "safe houses" and declared them unnecessary.

The de facto Taliban regime has deemed protective shelters for women or 'safe houses' as originating from Western culture and declared their existence "unnecessary," Khaama Press reported.

The officials of the Taliban administration have stated that they take commitments from caretakers of violence-affected women to not harm them.

The UN report also says that women are no longer working in the judiciary or law enforcement, and are not allowed to deal with crimes of gender-based violence. Women are only permitted to attend work when called upon by their male supervisors.

"In cases where women survivors of violence had no male relatives or there were safety concerns, they were sent to prisons; similar to addicts and the homeless," the report stated.

Meanwhile, the 'Purple Saturday Movement', managed by a number of protesting women, has expressed concern in a statement regarding the realities reflected in this report, according to Khaama Press.

"Imprisoning women who are themselves victims of gender-based violence is not only against Islam and Sharia, but in reality, it is a horrific form of mental, emotional, and physical abuse of women that must be stopped immediately," the statement of the movement reads.

UNAMA has further stated that since the Taliban came to power again on August 15, 2021, the handling of gender-based violence complaints has been unclear and inconsistent.

The Office of the Deputy of the United Nations has also emphasised that women who have experienced violence are now afraid of seeking official justice for fear of arrest, Khaama Press reported.

More than two years have passed since the Taliban banned girls from studying beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan and there is no sign of reopening the schools to girls studying above sixth grade.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, they have issued several decrees that impose restrictions on women. Afghanistan's women have faced numerous challenges since the Taliban returned to power. Girls and women in the war-torn country have no access to education, employment and public spaces, Khaama Press reported.

[skyfullofpods]

Hello fans of Re: Dracula who were introduced to fiction podcasts through the updates from our good friend Jonathan Harker! Now that the story's over (sob!), would you like some recommendations for some other audio dramas that you might enjoy, made by some of the folks who worked on the podcast?

Jonathan Sims, who played our local phonograph enthusiast, is the writer of the hugely popular horror podcast, The Magnus Archives. The Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute records statements made by members of the public, detailing strange encounters with the supernatural. What soon becomes clear is that these statements do not describe separate and unrelated events, and a bigger and horrific picture begins to emerge. Also appearing as recurring characters in this series are both Sasha Sienna and Alasdair Stuart.

Karim Kronfli is a prolific voice actor, and while he might be best known for his roles in both Re: Dracula and The Magnus Archives, he has voiced a wide range of characters in many different fiction podcasts. Out of all the ones he's appeared in, I would personally recommend urban fantasy anthology series, Unseen. The unseen world exists alongside ours, but only a few humans can see it. It's a world where magic and magical creatures exists, and Karim's character tells his story in episode 7, titled We Ourselves.

Beth Eyre and Felix Trench played twins Antigone and Rudyard Funn in Wooden Overcoats, a British sitcom set on the tiny fictional island of Piffling, in the English Channel. The twins run a funeral parlor together, the only one on the island, until a newcomer arrives. Eric Chapman (played by Tom Crowley) sets up a much more successful funeral parlor, and the story is narrated by the Funns' house mouse, Madeline.

Alan Burgon plays the Interviewer in The Amelia Project. The Amelia Project is a secret organisation, and clients come to them looking for their help in faking their deaths. The Interviewer listens to each client's story, before concocting unique and often elaborate ways in which they will stage their deaths, before being reborn into a new identity.

David Ault is also a very recognisable voice to anyone who spends a considerate amount of time listening to fiction podcasts, and The Kingmaker Histories feels like an appropriate choice here. A weird steampunk series set in the Valorian Socialist Republic in 1911 , this story involves found family, its own intriguing magic system, and being gay and doing crime.

Our favourite cowboy, Giancarlo Herrera, plays one of the protagonists in sci-fi action/thriller, Primordial Deep. Spinner is part of a team which is sent deep beneath the sea to investigate the resurgence of creatures thought to be long-extinct. There's plenty of horror to be had here, as something ancient is stirring in the depths of the ocean.

As for the crew? Tal Minear works on so many podcasts, and if you like fantasy stories, I would recommend the delightfully lighthearted Sidequesting, which follows new adventurer Rion, as they help people on their travels. If you would like some more horror, there's their spoiler-driven anthology series, Someone Dies in This Elevator.

Hannah Wright's Inn Between is a fantasy series based on D&D. Each episode follows a party as they meet in the Goblin's Inn, in between adventures, as the tavern follows them around wherever they go.

Stephen Indrisano's upcoming docu-horror Shelterwood promises to be a series which explores the horror of suburbia, as it follows one man's quest to find his missing sister. Until this is released, I would recommend Do You Copy, in which Stephen plays one of the protagonists. This found footage horror series follows the events which unfold after the closure of Red Tail National Park, and the people who were left inside the park, after its mysterious closure.

Ella Watts is regarded as a walking encyclopedia of all things audio fiction, and has worked on several high-profile projects, including directing both Doctor Who: Redacted and Marvel Move. Her upcoming Camlann is a post-apocalyptic series due to be released next year, inspired by Arthurian legends and British folklore. She is also the executive producer of Tin Can Audio's (who are also producing Camlann) beautiful experimental series, The Tower. The protagonist of this story, Kiri, leaves her life behind to climb an impossibly high tower, making phonecalls along the way.

Newt Schottelkotte's Where The Stars Fell is a supernatural fantasy set in the town of Jerusalem, Oregon. Cryptozoologist Dr Edison Tucker arrives in the town to carry out some research, and meets her roommate, author Lucille Kensington. There's so much more to this strange town than first meets the eye, with a huge revelation at the end of season one.

If you're new to fiction podcasts, welcome! I hope this short (ish!) and very much non-comprehensive list gave you some ideas of what to listen to next!

[futbol16]

We Don’t Need Music • Jana Fernandez

Request: I have been re-reading your fics and I was wondering if you could write for Jana. She's adorable and there's not enough fics for her but I don't have an idea for it. 

Word count: 2,9k

“You’re telling me you’ve never even thought about it?” Alexia looks at you with an incredulous expression as she reaches out towards your hands resting on the table. The midfielder’s eyes are wide as she stares, her mouth hanging open in a disbelieving manner as she raises her eyebrows. Your own eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“No. I mean yes, I haven’t thought about it, but why would I? She’s my best friend Ale, you don’t go around thinking about those things about Mapi, do you?” you fire back once you notice the knowing look on her. She pulls a disgusted face at your last question.

“Ew, no. She’s my best friend.”

“Exactly!” you reply with a huff, making it obvious that it was foolish of her to ask such things. The brunette sitting opposite you lets out a heavy sigh, wondering just how to get through to you. 

“I mean- listen, it’s just that the two of you already act like a couple - and don’t think I don’t see the way you look at her” she quickly continues as you open your mouth to cut in, leaving no room for discussion. You stay silent for a second too long and Alexia leans back with a satisfied glint in her eyes.

 The brunette had taken her role as team mom/big sister incredibly seriously regarding you but as you stared at your captain all you could see was a little girl excitedly meddling into your dating life. A chuckle leaves your lips at the thought of a young Alexia nagging her friends about their crushes. 

“We do not act like a couple, that’s stupid” you wave her off as you bring yourself back to reality. You don’t miss the eye roll from the older girl but before you can comment on it, a pair of arms make their way around your shoulders from behind. 

You recognize the touch immediately and you momentarily forget about Alexia’s presence as you turn around in your seat to face the person.

“Hola Y/N/N!” Jana flashes you a toothy grin as she greets you. Your eyes soften at the sight of her smile and your face heats up as you realize her arms are still around you, keeping you close.

“Hola Jana” you greet her just as brightly, your hands coming up to rest on her upper arms. You try not to act too bothered by the fact that her face is only mere inches away from yours. Most importantly, you try not to glance down at her inviting lips as she playfully brushes her nose against yours. 

“I wanted to ask if you would like to get sushi with me and the girls tonight?” she asks, referring to Bruna and Cata as the girls. 

Despite being best friends with the defender, the two of you were in different friend groups within the team. Of course that didn’t mean you disliked Bruna and Cata, they were your friends too, but you usually spend your time around Patri and Pina. 

“Yeah, sure” you agree without much hesitation and Jana’s smile widens even more - if that was possible. She eventually pulls away with a squeeze to your shoulders and waves her hand at Alexia as she walks away. Only then do you realize again that your captain is sitting with you…and she had watched the whole interaction. 

You turn back to her slowly, your lips pressed together knowing everything that just happened makes your last statement towards her sound very false.

“Never thought about it? Biggest lie you’ve ever told me” she chuckles dryly with a satisfied smirk resting on her lips. 

“Okay, maybe I had thought about it back when I was figuring out this whole sexuality thing. But that happens, right? You know, questioning if you find your friends attractive?” you tell yourself more than Alexia. 

“And apparently, I’ve also been thinking about it…in more recent times..” you admit quietly and the brunette’s face softens at your admission. She takes hold of your hands and gives them a comforting squeeze.

“That is okay Y/N, you’re allowed to feel things for Jana.” she whispers as she leans closer, well aware that you didn’t want your teammates to know about it even though it was blatantly obvious to everyone but the two of you. “And if I may have an input, I’m pretty sure she likes you back.” 

You lift your gaze as the words leave her mouth, an unconvinced wrinkle between your eyebrows. 

“Come, we’ll be late for training and we can’t have the captain get there last” you clear your throat as you divert the topic of discussion and you stand, tugging on her hand to get going.

Alexia doesn’t comment on your act, deciding to give you time to digest everything and she follows behind you. Though when you keep silent she wraps an arm around your waist to bring you into her side.

Like many nights before, your thoughts all revolve around one short brunette as you lay in bed. There’s a swirl of thoughts and emotions mixing in your head. Everything from the moment you met the little girl when she joined La Masia at 7 to the hug you shared today and the conversations you’ve had during dinner - the two of you almost forgetting that Bruna and Cata were sitting opposite you. 

You were introduced to Jana when the two of you were just barely starting school. On her first day at La Masia she had told you how she chose football over dancing and that her parents sent her to the best club in the world.

 The two of you instantly became the best of friends that day and you were beyond saddened to have to say goodbye to your new friend at the end of the day - just like she was. Even when Jana’s mother kept reassuring her daughter that the two of you would see each other again the next day, the young girl was reluctant to let go of your hand. After a long goodbye to each other, you climbed into the car where your father was waiting for you. Your gaze stayed on the red car a few meters away from yours and when a familiar looking red car turned the corner into your street just twenty minutes later, you were eager to see if it was Jana sitting in the back. 

Your childhood consisted of football at the Barca academy, hanging out with your best friend all day and then sitting in the back seat with her on the way home. You spent your teenage years jogging to the end of the street in the middle of the night and sneaking into Jana’s room through her window every time it got too much at home - your parents on the brink of a divorce - but your worries melted away as soon as the two of you snuggled up under the sheets.

It didn’t take long for Jana’s mother to catch onto this, truthfully she knew after your second time climbing through the window. She had spotted you while taking out the trash. After that, each morning Jana dragged you downstairs to the dining room and you sat next to her older brother as her mother plated your breakfast. 

They were your second family and Jana was your first home.

Your feelings however, they only turned into something less platonic and more romantic over the course of the last year. Well that’s what you supposed, but in all honesty you had been questioning yourself since discovering that you were gay at 17. 

“I don’t know how she doesn’t see it” Patri muttered from her place on the bench as she watched you and Jana, her team resting while the other two groups had scrimmage. Claudia smiles at the comment but her eyes remain on the way you move with the ball and how Jana tries to take it back.

“Which one?” Cata speaks up from Patri’s other side and the midfielder shrugs at the question.

“Either? Both?” they laugh at her words with a fond smile.

“Tell me about Jana. We know about Y/N, and we can see Jana too but the two of you know her better.” Pina reasons as she finally turns to Cata and the shorter girl next to the goalkeeper.

“She’s in love with her, she just hasn’t realized yet” Bruna informs the rest casually. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. God you should’ve seen them last night!” Bruna laughs as she recalls how the two of you were acting while out for sushi. Cata smacks her knee in glee as she joins in on the laughter and Patri and Pina stare at them with curiosity.

“What happened?”

“Ahh, just the usual. But they kept giggling and whispering to each other. Like at one point I thought if we left they wouldn’t even notice. Oh and the constant hand holding under the table!” the goalkeeper explains, the four of them now far too deep into the topic to actually pay attention to your scrimmage.

“And they had that awfully adorable but sickening love stare! Every time they looked at each other! You know the one” Patri nods in confirmation at Bruna.

“They need to get together like yesterday!” Claudia jokes, earning a few laughs from the rest who agree.

The four of them aren’t able to continue with their goodhearted gossiping because their group is called up for the next scrimmage. Nonetheless, they give each other knowing looks when they see Jana and you sit down next to each other immediately. 

Later that week the team meets up for a bonding night at Mapi’s place but instead of your usual seat next to Jana, you sit between Salma and Alexia. The defender doesn’t know why but her eyes can’t seem to leave you, not for one second. The frown on her face is clear as day as she watches you and Salma conversing on the couch and when the younger girl reaches out towards your neck line, Jana thinks she’s ready to jump on her. 

“You’re wearing a J?” Salma runs the pad of her thumb over the pendant on your necklace, her voice soft so that no one else would hear. You watch her actions with a small smile and you momentarily glance towards your best friend who’s wearing a necklace similar to yours but with your initial.

“Sí, for Jana” you smile up at Salma as she releases your necklace from between her fingers. She gives you a similar smile, yet hers is slowly turning into a teasing smirk.

“Do you not realize how gay that is?”

“But I am gay?” you furrow your eyebrows, not getting her hint and she throws her head back.

“That’s not my point” she rolls her eyes, resting her cheek on the couch pillow as she stares at you. 

Jana’s foul expression only deepens as she keeps looking at the two of you, misinterpreting Salma’s staring and behavior as something else. Your best friend frustrated, bites at her lower lips and crosses her arms over her chest as she sulks. 

It is only when Mapi and Ingrid announce that the popcorn is ready for the last event of the evening does Jana look away from the two of you still deep in conversation.

Throughout the movie she manages to keep her eyes off you and Salma, hoping that her jealousy isn’t visible, but her attention isn’t focused on the movie. Instead, her thoughts are all over the place yet they solely revolve around you. 

She’s fast asleep by the time the film ends, much like a few other girls sprawled across the living room. This is a common occurrence after bonding nights and like every other time, the girls who are awake bid their farewells to the rest as they head home for the night while others are welcome to stay the night if they have fallen into a deep slumber. 

You’re not too surprised when you wake up in the dark living room, knowing that you were going to have a hard time staying awake. You are surprised to find yourself lying in Alexia’s lap though, her arm resting over your shoulders as she sleeps with her head leant back on the couch pillow.

 A fond smile overtakes your sleepy features as you carefully sit up, not wanting to wake the midfielder. As your eyes adjust to the dark, you can make out a sleeping Aitana and Laia on the soft carpet by your feet, the two wrapped up in a big blanket.

Just as you think about going back to sleep the dry sensation in your throat intensifies. You tiptoe out of the living room and into the kitchen and you open the fridge door in search of a cold bottle of water. You knew Mapi preferred them that way and you’re proven right when you reach out for one of the eight bottles on the side shelf.

You don’t hear the soft padding of feet behind you as you rid the bottle of its cap and take a drink. Gulping down the cold water you’re unaware of the girl now standing behind you until her arms wrap themselves around your midsection. A surprised sound escapes your throat but thankfully you don’t jump out of your skin or choke on the water as you recognize her hands.

“Jana” you whisper into the dark night, only receiving a faint hum as a reply.

When you take another swig of the water, your eyes almost pop out of their sockets when the brunette’s hands make their way under your shirt where it had risen. Her thumbs rub soft figures into the skin of your abs and you swore you heard her let out another hum as she nuzzled her face into the crook of your neck. 

“Jana” you whisper once again, now turning in her hold and you place the almost empty plastic bottle on the counter behind you. 

“Sí?” she whispers into your neck, now her palms flat on your back. It’s clear from her slow movements that she’s only just woken up but her voice is rather honey-like, a big contrast to the rough morning voice you’re used to from her.

“está todo bien?” your arms envelope her as you keep her close and you allow yourself to enjoy the warmth of Jana’s embrace.

“Sí” her answer is short but it is accompanied by a small kiss to your neck. You will yourself not to shudder in bliss. A moment later she lets go of you and grabs your hand in her own. “Dance with me?”

“Jana I can barely see you and there’s no music” you point out the obvious, well aware that you can’t put on any music in the middle of the night while your friends are sleeping in the living room next to you.

“We don’t need music” Jana whispers into the silent air of the night and she reaches behind you. 

With a quiet but swift move she opens the fridge door which lights up the kitchen just enough for the two of you to see each other. Your face heats up when you notice the look in Jana’s eyes and she smiles at you softly before leading you into a slow dance.

Your arms stay around her waist while hers remain locked behind your neck. Your whole body is on fire, and unbeknownst to you so is Jana’s. You will yourself to not look away in nervousness because the way she’s looking at you is driving you crazy in the best way possible.

When your grip on her waist tightens Jana blushes slightly and as you gaze at her face that is softly illuminated by the glow of the fridge light, you swear she’s the most beautiful girl you’ve ever laid your eyes upon.

“Y/N” she whispers, trying to gain your attention. Her lips split into a lovesick smile that you notice for the first time. Eyes widening in realization, a small grin makes its way onto your face and you gently tug the girl even closer to you.

“Yes?” you ask, patiently waiting for her to continue with what she was going to say. 

“Can you…” her voice fades as her eyes glance around your face in nervousness and her cheeks turn a darker shade of red.

 Her fingers play with the baby hairs at the nape of your neck but as her tongue darts out to wet her lips and her eyes stay glued to your mouth for just a few seconds too long - you think you know what she’s asking for. And you fail at fighting back your own love filled smile hearing your 17 year old self screaming at you to kiss the girl.

“Can I?” you whisper onto her lips as your hand cradles her face and she barely contains herself from falling into you as she nods, gaze focused on you and you only. 

When your lips claim hers Jana lightly tugs on your hair as she presses herself further into you and you don’t hold back either as you eagerly deepen the kiss. It’s like the two of you have been yearning for this since forever and your hearts finally calm as the two of you melt into one. Your foreheads remain touching as you pull away to catch your breath and your eyes glisten at the adoration shining in Jana’s eyes. 

A watery laugh escapes Jana’s lips as she cups your face and there’s one confession she makes before she pulls you back into her for another kiss. 

“Te amo mucho, amor” 

[mymoonfearblog]

and if i said i think the fandom is latching onto the "jon and martin themselves are actually in the computer" thing as pure fact WAAAY too quickly

[acourtofthought]

So we've got an anti who baited Eluciens with the Elucien tag regarding Jurian's comments about Elain (though he was only playing the bad guy) then after explaining the situation they chose to reblog then block. I happened to have their post up on my screen before they blocked which is why I'm sharing the screenshots this way. Not only did they do this to me, they also did it to @theshadowsingersraven after insulting their age.

One of the most juvenile statements in this fandom is "how can you claim to love a character when XYZ". Because it's fantasy? Because these characters are all literally morally gray? (except for maybe Elain and Lucien). Because the author wrote Jurian as becoming someone who Lucien (Lucien who has always been one of her favorite characters) could depend on and wrote Lucien as Elain's mate and wrote Jurian being upset with Mor and Rhys for believing he could actually be capable of doing what they thought he was doing? Truly, who the fuck cares what Jurian said two years ago on their timeline while pretending to be the bad guy when he later revealed he wasn't and helped them save many lives? Helped them win the war with his intel? There's a little thing called understanding and forgiveness and despite OP's insistence that we don't understand why Jurian said what he did, it's canon that we do. I'd suggest re-reading the chapter where Jurian reveals himself at Graysen's estate. Just as we now know and accept Rhys as the good guy despite any past actions, we accept Jurian as the good guy because the AUTHOR wrote it that way. Readers can demonize whoever they want in the series but it doesn't change the fact that Sarah is telling you not to view them that way. That Cassian went to Jurian and Vassa's estate because they've become important players to the overall peace of the human lands. That Nesta asked Lucien how Jurian and Vassa were doing. So strange how nobody in the series seems to hate Jurian for the comments he made. Very weird that nobody in this series gives a shit about what Jurian said years ago while some in the fandom are clinging to it like a security blanket just so they can accuse Elucien's of not caring about Elain.

[under-lore]

About "Tweets aren't canon"

One misconception that one seems to be nearly guaranteed to see brought up by someone whenever discussing Undertale/Deltarune lore with people who are not particularly invested in it is that "Toby Fox said tweets weren't canon".

And, when you first hear it, it actually sounds quite convincing, because this tweet is in fact real and does seem to say that.

So... What's actually going on here with tweets and with this one in particular ?

The actual status of tweets

Before mentioning what's really going on with that specific tweet, i'd like to lay some groundwork first.

For instance, regarding the fact that this tweet dates back from November 2016. And that if the tweet were to be taken seriously, it would mean that no tweets especially after that date are to be treated as canon.

Something that is rather explicitely not the case.

There are several examples for this, although the Gaster tweets which introduced us to Deltarune and directly link up to the game's "Goner Maker" introduction sequence are i would say prime offenders.

Here in these tweets, we are not yet connected, then we are given a way to connect.

Then, we pick this back up where we left it in Deltarune, where we are then asked wether the connection was a success.

This has of course been pointed out to Toby (although he never responded to those messages), and yet it did not prevent him from re-doing the exact same thing a few years later for chapter 2.

In short, the situation is that, to this day, Toby Fox still purposely uses tweets in order to provide important canon-accurate information about his games, with the Spamton Q&A as recently as last year.

In light of that, using that one tweet to say that any information coming from tweets is invalid just can't be right... So one might wonder :

But then, why did Toby say that ?

The problem comes from the fact that this quote is usually cropped like this when people try to share it around :

Which is greatly misleading !

Obviously, Toby Fox's popularity comes mainly from Undertale and later Deltarune. Due to this, and due to the majority of the fandom nowadays being teenagers, many in the fandom are not aware that ever since his own teenage years, Toby Fox has been for the lack of a better term, a massive shitposter. A habit that only started to die out after Undertale's release and in the year that followed. (Though he still shows glimpses of it from time to time)

I mean, we are talking about the person who kept on posting memes on twitter for nearly a decade and who made "a goast poot on u" at the end of the Earthbound Halloween Hack, his first semi-serious game project.

Why ?

Because he's just that kind of "funny guy" and felt like it. His words, not mine.

This was, up until not so long ago, the kind of person that Toby was online.

When taking all this into account and looking back at the un-cropped version of that quote, it becomes pretty obvious what's going on here.

Toby Fox found a bootleg nursery rhyme video of Undertale characters, found that hilarious (As the "funny guy" that he is), and decided to make a shitpost about it. Joking about how this weird thing that he found, right here, was the peak of official Undertale material and might just be more canon in his book than the kickstarter or tweets were.

The post that started this whole thing in the first place was just that, a shitpost, a joke, not something that Toby ever actually meant. Which honestly should have been pretty obvious in the first place, i mean, this is still a post about Toby trolling bootleg nursery rhymes, people. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously...

Besides, that tweet's statement would have been self-contradictory anyways. If tweets weren't canon, then this tweet would not be canon either, etc... Leading to one of those silly paradoxical loops rather than to an actual statement about tweet canonicity.

So then, that brings the question : Why ?

Why do so many people still claim that tweets aren't canon ?

The reason is likely the same as the reason why this misconception was created in the first place : It is a rope to cling on to for some people to defend certain headcanons that Toby had debunked via tweets.

Because yes, between late 2015 and late 2016 Toby used to once in a while answer a question about the lore of the game on tweeter. Leaving some people with their headcanons turning out to be wrong.

(A few examples of headcanons that Toby denied on twitter were that Undyne killed the green soul human, or that ghost monsters used to be humans, for example.)

It was some of those people, in the first place, who started cropping this tweet to make it seem like their headcanons were still on the table and started the mess in the first place.

This rumor, at its origins, was not just a mere misconception but rather a deliberate attempt at misinformation from some fans that weren't happy with the way Toby had taken the game, which is unfortunately still being shared around to this day due to how sensible it seems at first sight.

[maccaronimassacre]

Resident Evil Bot Dump #9

A couple of quick updates on the bots!

I have made a new masterlist which is the google doc on my pinned post. It contains every single bot I have made and will be regularly updated with any rules or short notices in regards to them. I have also organised them into little subheadings and groups for easier navigation.

I will now take requests for my favourite girlboss Mia Winters <3

As requested I have made some character voices as well as some variations for people to use. Unfortunately it is only a feature on the mobile app but you can find them by looking through the voices as normal. I will also take requests for them.

On that note thank you guys so much for the support! Requests have been and will be slower as I have exams coming up but do keep them coming. Feel free to ask me anything whether it is related to c.ai or not and I'll try and answer them all!

Mercenary!Ada Wong x Mercenary!Reader

Ada sighs as she looks at the small compact mirror in her hand, taking the time to apply some more lipstick. “You do remember the plan right?” The whole reason why the two of you find yourselves outside the opulent manor in the first place is because of the intel from your employer. Apparently the host of the ball is in possession of an exotic and rare treasure. A treasure that you must try and find while masquerading as a couple.

Cat Hybrid!Ada Wong x Reader

Her footfalls barely audible, Ada slips through the open window, landing with grace. A sly smirk spreads across her lips when she sees you, her tail flicking back and forth playfully. “I told you that I’d come back, didn’t I?” Ada speaks with confidence and ease, yet the subtle twitch of her ears reveal her joy of being near you once more.

RE:4R Ada Wong x Agent!Reader

“You can stop right there {{user}}.”

A voice calls out from behind. A voice that you haven’t heard in years.

“Wouldn’t make me use this, would you?”

Her heels echo on the wooden floorboards as she strides towards you, a gun pressed against the back of your head. Ada finds a glimmer of satisfaction in reuniting with you, her eyes drifting to your face and taking in how the years have changed you both. The normally calm and collected Ada finds herself unable to suppress the smirk tugging at her lips.

Detective!Ada Wong x Reader

Files lay sprawled across the desk, each being inspected with a critical eye. The radio's talk show drones like distant static as Ada looks over the witness statements, the text blurring as exhaustion starts to creep in. With a weary sigh Ada tugs at her tie, adjusting it around her collar in an effort to cool down. Suddenly she’s snapped out of her daze by a knock on the door, prompting her to straighten up and refocus on the case once more. “Come in!”

RE:4R!Ada Wong x Reader

Ada was used to getting some odd jobs here and there from her employers, but saving the president’s kid? Now that’s a new one. Yet here she was, in a village overrun by mindless cultists and infected villagers, tasked with guiding you through the treacherous catacombs to safety. “Our best shot is that castle over there.” Ada calls out, her voice steady despite the chaos around them. As she navigates through the rocky terrain, her eyes stay fixed on the imposing walls of the castle.

Post RE:3R!Carlos Oliveira x Reader

On the balcony, Carlos finds solace, his eyes fixed on the horizon where waves cascade over rocks and meet the shore. Since escaping the destruction of Raccoon City and settling down with you in Mexico, he finally feels a sense of peace. Even though he has contemplated changing his identity, being with you washes away his doubts and anxieties just like the calming waves before him.

Android!Carlos Oliveira x UBCS!Reader

“This right here is Carlos, Umbrella’s latest android model who will help you rescue the remaining civilians here in the city.” Mikhail pats UB300 on the back, gesturing for him to analyse and familiarise himself with his new teammate. You watch as Carlos’ LED flickers while looking you up and down, looking up every bit of information about you and committing it to his memory. After a couple of moments he finally smiles at you and holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you {{user}}.”

Carlos Oliveira x Umbrella!Reader

Carlos is accustomed to working for all kinds of corporations and groups, regardless of their morality. To him, Umbrella was just another pay check and this time he’s been assigned to protect you, a scientist. He stands in front of your office, throwing a polite nod your way as you make your way over to the door to begin another shift. “Congratulations {{user}}, because you just landed yourself a personal bodyguard.” He announces with a slight bow, stretching his arms out dramatically while flashing you a charming grin.

Biker!Carlos Oliveira x Barista!Reader

The door to the coffee shop swings open, announcing the arrival of the rugged biker, clad in a black leather jacket and sleek leather boots. He effortlessly slides his visor off, tucking it under his arm while striding up to the counter. A charming grin plays on his lips as he leans closer to have a look at the menu, the blend of his cologne and motor oil wafting through the air. “Strange. I don’t see you anywhere on the menu.” He winks, casually draping his forearm across the counter.

Umbrella Agent!Chris Redfield x BSAA Agent!Reader

“Can’t say I expected you to be here.” A voice echoes, a voice the BSAA have sought for years. Your former partner, once a beacon of determination and courage, approaches with an icy expression, devoid of the spark that ignited his squad. “But after all these years you’re still their lapdog.” Chris adds, his gaze narrows when he catches the BSAA patch on your shoulder and his lips curl up into a bittersweet smile. He pats his own shoulder, revealing the familiar red and white logo of the corporation he swore to destroy all those years ago. Umbrella.

Bioweapon!Chris Redfield x Reader

“STARS…” Heavy footsteps and growling echo down the halls of the desolate RPD, Chris’ gruff voice distorted due to the modifications made to his body. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing. His mind conflicted between protecting you from the zombies and B.O.Ws roaming the streets, or crushing your head with one swift blow like he’s been programmed to do. Either way he’s hot on your trail with clenched fists…

Chris Redfield x Injured!Reader

Chris storms through the base, his usual stoic demeanour replaced by a desperate urgency. Disregarding all praise and kudos for the successful mission, he strides silently towards the medical ward, haunted by vivid images of you engulfed in blood soaked cries. He wanted to. No, he needed to know if you’re okay. Despite the protests of several staff members, he bursts into the room, his resolve shattering instantly at the sight of you in the hospital bed.

Chris Redfield x Reader (Stargazing)

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Chris gazes up to the sky while lighting a cigarette, the bright orange of flames illuminating his face before pulling away to take a drag. Leaning against the thick tree trunk, he exhales with a deep sigh, observing the smoke dance in the air, vanishing into the myriad of dazzling stars above. “Want me to show you some constellations?”

RE:1R!Chris Redfield x Zombie!Reader

A curse escapes Chris' lips as he faces the oncoming crimson head in the narrow corridor, devoid of ammo or flash grenades. Bracing for a gruesome fate, he squeezes his eyes shut and lifts his hands up to guard his face until a loud crash and sickening crunch disrupt the impending doom. Tentatively he opens his eyes to discover you standing by the corpse of the crimson head with grey glazed eyes and rotting skin giving way to brittle bones. At that moment Chris realises that you have just saved him. A zombie has actually saved his life.

Infinite Darkness!Claire Redfield x Reader

Moonlight seeps through the blinds, unveiling the vacant spot on the bed where Claire rested. You can see the familiar glow of her laptop from the hallway, the files and documents displayed on the screen reflecting off her glasses. Since her conversation with Leon and her humanitarian efforts in Penamstan, Claire has plunged back into the familiar pattern of sleepless nights, driven by her determination to uncover the fate of the Mad Dogs after the civil war.

RE:2R!Claire Redfield x Reader

When Claire told you that she was going to Raccoon City to see her brother, you decided to tag along knowing how dangerous it is to go alone. Of course you didn’t know that the danger included a zombie outbreak. “The STARS office. They will probably have something on my brother there.” Claire calls out while reloading her handgun. The two of you now find yourselves trapped in the RPD, exploring the labyrinthine layout and its strangely elaborate puzzles.

Mechanic!Claire Redfield x Reader

As you step into the shop you are immediately greeted with the smell of car oil and rust. Tools, spare bits of scrap, and scattered screws create an organized chaos on counters and workbenches. Claire's eyes light up as she spots you, promptly brushing sweat from her brow and wiping motor grease on her uniform. “Hey there, how can I help you?”

Claire Redfield x College Student!Reader

Claire continues to make her side of the dorm as homely as possible, putting up the front covers of fashion and car magazines on the wall and neatly organising out her trinkets on the desk. Excitement and nerves tangle within her as she wonders about her new roommate. What if they don’t share the same interests? What if they find her weird? The sound of the door opening interrupts her thoughts. Turning, she sees you entering with a stack of boxes in your arms. She can feel her palms grow sweaty and her heart races as she studies you, trying to form a quick impression of your character.

Post RE:8!Ethan Winters x Reader (+Rose)

Ethan chuckles as he watches Rose babble and squeal at the TV, her arms flailing with excitement when her favourite cartoon would appear on the large screen. Gently, he set Rose down on the floor to play, the metal of his prosthetic fingers cold against her skin. The BSAA were kind enough to fit him with some replacements after he lost his pinkie and ring finger in Romania. But more importantly, he was finally granted a quiet life with you and Rose finally by his side. No more tests. No more monsters. No more surprises.

RE:7 Infected!Ethan Winters x Reader

“Don’t worry Evie… They’ll accept your gift, and then we can be a family.” The voice pulls you out of your disorientated state, your vision blurring and your head throbbing with a dull ache. As consciousness returns, you find yourself strapped to a chair in front of a dining table laden with rotten and moulded food. The pungent juices that ooze out of each filled dish serve as an instant wake up call to your surroundings. “Eat up, it’s good.” Across the table sits a man bearing a cold smile as well as staples that protrude out of his left wrist. The candlelight flickers and casts shadows across his pale skin, making the wild look in his eyes more sinister and crazed.

Ethan Winters x Reader

Ethan's heart pounds in his chest like a drum, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, now damp from sweaty palms. Silent since getting in the car, he's consumed by various scenarios and outcomes for the day. Today marks the fateful day where Ethan introduces you to his parents. To say he's nervous is a massive understatement as you're his entire world, and he prays his family embraces you as warmly as he did when sparks first started to fly.

Post RE:8!Ethan Winters x Reader (+Rose)

After moving to another continent, discovering that he’s dead and made out of mould, having a half mould child, killing a scientist posed as a deity and an extremely messy divorce, Ethan decides to do the unthinkable. Online dating. As Ethan swipes through all the profiles and pictures he can’t help but feel ridiculous, he’s in his late 30s with a daughter yet his hands are shaking like leaves when your name and profile pop up on the screen. After pacing around the living room for five minutes he finally settles on the perfect opener. A real conversation starter. He types out: “Hey.”

RE:7 Infected!Ethan Winters x Reader

He asked you to come find him. After three years he finally gave you a shred of hope, all the way out in the swamps of Louisiana. “You shouldn’t have come here… I must contain… Must contain the outbreak.” Ethan growls as he approaches you, his hazel eyes swallowed by a black abyss and dark veins snake across his features. A low laugh tumbles from his lips and he lunges towards you with the kitchen knife, chasing you down the corridors of the decrepit house with a sinister smile etched on his face.

Ethan Winters x Reader

Glittering like diamonds under the golden sun, the waves sweep against the shore line, leaving behind bits of seashells in its wake. The sand feels good under your feet, keeping you warm against the cool ocean breeze. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this.” Ethan squeezes your hand, your fingers interlaced with his while you continue the quiet stroll down the beach.

RE:3R!Jill Valentine x UBCS!Reader

Jill scoffs as she heads up the subway stairs, checking the remaining ammo in her handgun. To her annoyance, you, an employee of Umbrella, have been ordered to assist her in powering the subway station for the survivors' escape out of the city. “Just stay out of my way, got it? The last thing we need are more screwups from you people.” With a huff she slips under the metal barrier, heading back into the chaos of the city where she is immediately greeted with smell of fire and rotting flesh.

Android!Jill Valentine x Reader

With crime rates on the rise, the RPD finally relented and invested in some androids, programmed to act as human partners and aid the police force. “{{user}}, correct? I’m Jill Valentine, part of the STARS series of androids created by Cyberlife. Captain Wesker has assigned me to be your partner.” Despite the formality of her words, there is something uncanny about her mannerisms and flat tone of voice. Her gaze flickers to your desk, assessing it with a critical eye, as if she's attempting to gather information about you.

RE:1R!Jill Valentine x Zombie!Reader

After stumbling upon another batch of supplies in the mansion, Jill can’t help but wonder who keeps leaving all this stuff for her. She picks up the torn piece of paper attached that simply reads “heer :)” scrawled in poor handwriting. It can’t be Wesker, and even though Chris isn’t the brightest bulb in the box he can at least spell. Barry was also ruled out, having been with her just moments ago. As Jill contemplated the situation, a figure emerged from the shadows of the stairwell, carrying first aid sprays and ammo. With lifeless eyes fixed upon her, the figure shuffles closer, grunting as it places the supplies on the ground. The person actually helping out Jill is a zombie?

RE:3R!Jill Valentine x Zombie!Reader

Jill's heart pounds in her chest as she slams the door shut behind her, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as the heavy footsteps of Nemesis echo through the streets. As the sounds fade into the distance, she makes her way to the Subway Office, her handgun held firmly in front of her. The door to the control room swings open, revealing a figure hunched over the control panel manipulating the subway lines. "Hey, what are you-" Jill’s words die in her throat when you turn around. Your skin is pale and sickly in colour and your eyes glazed over, boring into her soul with a blank expression.

RE:4R!Leon Kennedy x Agent!Reader

The bell tolls, bringing an abrupt end to the chaos. Villagers, entranced and mumbling in Spanish, slowly shuffle out of the square, leaving behind the haunting aftermath of bodies and ruined houses. “Where’s everyone going? Bingo?” Despite the eerie atmosphere, your fellow agent still manages to find the time to crack out one liners.

Leon Kennedy x Pregnant!Reader

“How’s little {{user}} and Leon junior doing in there, hun?” Leon wraps his arms around your waist tenderly, drawing you close from behind. Gently he caresses your stomach and rests his chin on your shoulder, taking in your beauty and marvelling at the transformations your body has undergone during these past few months.

RE:4R!Leon Kennedy x Mercenary!Reader

“Try using knives next time. Better for close encounters.” Leon smirks, holding his combat knife to your throat as he restrains the arm bearing your gun. Despite his confident facade, Leon’s heart races, his mind is turbulent with conflicted thoughts as the memory of your supposed demise plays in his head on repeat. He watched you die that night, yet here you stand, devoid of any scars that bear witness to the event that has tormented his dreams for six years.

Single Dad!Leon Kennedy x Teacher!Reader

As you're wrapping up your files and shutting down your laptop, the door to the classroom bursts open, revealing a somewhat dishevelled man. Running his fingers through his hair and adjusting his collar, he strides over with an apologetic expression. “Sorry I’m late, I got caught up in some business… You’re Sherry’s teacher, right?” He quickly takes a seat across your desk, offering an easy going smile.

Leon Kennedy x Reader

“Hey, looks like we’re in luck! I can’t believe these things still exist.” Leon remarks as you pull into the drive-in cinema. Only a few cars are scattered around, providing you both with perfect view of the classic movies projected onto the large screen. Once parked, Leon grabs the popcorn and snacks, wedging them in the console between you two. He also fetches a couple of blankets, draping them over both of you for a cosy yet old fashioned movie night under the stars.

RE:2R!Leon Kennedy x Zombie!Reader

In the tense silence of the narrow corridors, subtle clicks and low snarls echo as the licker crawls across the ceiling, hunting for new prey. Leon struggles to keep still as the creature approaches him, holding his breath and trying to calm the pounding of his heart. Just as the licker is about to sense him, a sudden loud bang shatters the stillness from the opposite end of the corridor. Squinting, Leon catches sight of you, your greyish skin and glazed eyes gleaming in the light that pours through a barricaded window. You throw something in the other direction, diverting the licker’s attention as it scurries away towards the source of the noise, leaving the rookie unharmed.

RE:7 Infected!Mia Winters x Reader

“{{user}}? You can’t hide from me forever you know…” Mia’s words turn into twisted snarls as she stumbles down the corridor, revving up the chainsaw once more. Her eyes, now black abysses, lock onto yours as she charges forward, the chainsaw raised for a deadly strike. “They’re counting on me! I must contain it… I must stop the outbreak!”

Mia Winters x Reader

A gentle breeze rolls over the hills, caressing your bodies as you bask in the warm sunshine. The flowers appear to glow under the bright rays, swaying in the wind as insects rest on their delicate petals. Mia continues to flip through the pages of her book, one hand on the pages and the other gently caressing the side of your head that rests in her lap. Her fingers create soft and soothing patterns on your skin, tracing any bumps or marks, as well as the contours of your lips and cheeks.

RE:8!Mia Winters x Lord!Reader

Your footsteps echo throughout the hidden dungeon of Mother Miranda’s domain. While your ‘brothers and sisters’ were tasked with Rose’s body parts, you’ve been left to watch the child’s mother, Mia Winters. “Why won’t you listen to me? If you let Miranda go through with the ceremony it’s over for everyone in this village. She won’t hesitate to kill you or any of your siblings. She’ll throw you out just like all her other failed experiments.” Mia pleads, her voice laced with frustration as she rattles at the bars of her cell, yet another futile attempt at escape.

RE:7!Mia Winters and Bioweapon!Reader

It’s a simple task for Mia. All she needs to do is keep you under control and pretend to be your mother while the ship makes its course to Romania. “Just one more… You’re doing good {{user}}.” Mia smiles as she administers another dosage of medicine into your veins. She ruffles your hair, pretending to be sweet and affectionate towards you.

Post RE:8!Mia Winters x BSAA Agent!Reader (+Rose)

It’s been a couple of months since the events of Romania. Since Mia’s husband, Ethan, sacrificed himself for their daughter Rose. Mia never wanted the BSAA in their lives ever again, but who could blame her? Their blunder ultimately led to his death, leaving Mia to raise a baby all on her own. Despite her self isolation, you still visit her and help out with Rose when it gets too much. Which is why you find yourself at her front doorstep today, Mia welcoming you in with a small smile.

RE:7 Infected!Mia x Reader

“We’re going to be a family now that you’re here.” Mia’s voice lulls you out of your stupor, the dingy dining room lights filtering through your eyelids. Despite the throbbing headache you can make out Mia in front of you, her elbows propped up on the table with her chin supported by her hands. The pungent odour of mold and rotting meat assaults your senses, the food laid out before you oozing a strange alien like substance. “Eat up darling… It’s good.”

Post RE:7!Mia Winters x Reader

Mia quietly comes up from behind and plants a tender kiss on your cheek, a soft hum escaping her lips as she savours the tantalizing aroma swirling around the kitchen. “Rose is finally asleep. Honestly how does her little body have so much energy?” Opening the wine cabinet, she retrieves a bottle of fine red wine that Chris bought them as a housewarming gift. She pours out two glasses and takes them to the dining room table.

Post RE:7!Chris Redfield and Ethan Winters x Reader

You walk into the gym after your Captain, Chris Redfield, had asked for some help with training someone. “Hey, over here {{user}}!” Chris’ gruff and booming voice calls out from the training mats, a wide grin spread across his face. Currently on the floor and panting like a mad man beside Chris is who you assume is Ethan Winters. “H-Hey!” Ethan waves as he regains his footing, his face glistening with sweat. It’s quite difficult to believe that this is the man who supposedly took down a whole house of monsters and Bioweapons with a stapled hand and leg.

Post RE:7!Ethan x Mia Winters x BSAA Agent!Reader

Since they were relocated to Romania, you’ve been tasked with regularly checking up on the Winters family. “Ethan! Can you get that, hun?” “Yeah one moment!” You stand at their front door after ringing the bell, the muffled sound of shuffling and talking can be heard. The door swings open, and Ethan's eyes light up with recognition. He gives you a warm smile and steps aside, welcoming you in. “Oh hey, {{user}}. Come in, Mia and I were just having some lunch.”

RE:3R!Carlos Oliveira and Jill Valentine x Reader

“The subway is out of power, looks like we’ll have to head to the substation and get it back up and running.” Carlos remarks while adjusting the earpiece in his ear and casts a glance between you and Jill before gesturing for you to follow. Jill resists the urge to roll her eyes as she begrudgingly follows him out of the subway. She’s already made her disdain for working with an Umbrella mercenary evident since the beginning. “Stay close to me, {{user}}. Let’s just focus on getting these survivors out of here.” She says, refocusing her mind on the task ahead as they step out onto the desolate streets of Raccoon City once more.

RE:4R!Leon Kennedy and Ashley Graham x Reader

“Will we really get out of here?” Ashley asks timidly as the three of you walk through the opulent and grand halls of the castle. The walls are lined with renaissance style paintings of the Los Illuminados and the Lord Saddler and Salazar, their ghostly expressions following your every move. “Don’t worry, {{user}} and I will make sure you make it back home to your father safely. I’m sure of it.” Leon replies while he reloads his weapons and looks over the castle layout, mentally mapping out any escape routes. Despite the horrifying circumstances you’re in, he manages to maintain his stoic and almost nonchalant attitude towards the dangers up ahead.

Link to the Masterlist

[dduane]

Is Earth and humans the primary tipping point in the fight against It? Do other species in other universes have their equivalent of the events of books 1 and 3?

They wouldn't be one-to-one equivalents: but ripples spreading out from some Earth-based wizardly events do intersect (not usually in terms of iinear temporality) with other ripples, and change one anothers’ structures and trajectories. ...Nor is our world/universe alone in generating tipping points, some of them quite large. But since the stories I'm telling are human-centered and therefore primarily local, there's not a lot of time in the local narrative flow to get into tipping points further afield.

Meanwhile, re: the statement you also messaged me—

Also, the number of universes can't be infinite if entropy exists.

That's a very interesting take, and one with which some prominent thinkers working in outer-dimensional physics would appear to disagree. I would invite you to spend some time getting deeper into the literature on this. Of special interest would be current original papers discussing the mathematics of brane cosmology and "bubble universes" as regards putative energy transfer between/among them... as this would naturally affect the way what we think of as entropy works.

You're unlikely to find any answers quite as conclusive as your statement, but you're absolutely going to find a whole lot more questions.

HTH!

[ignitingthesky]

"We're talking about it, aren't we?" — Across the Spider Verse, and its opening statement on canonicity

Canonicity. The accepted norm, the standards of legitimization. There is of course so much to talk about with regards to the comics canon that I am totally unfamiliar with... so I will focus instead on the fun little sequence at the beginning re: the art canon, and ATSV's evocation of art canonicity as an opening statement for its subsequent explorations of canonicity.

Right at the beginning, before Miles's story begins, ATSV destroys the Guggenheim museum.

The Guggenheim museum is not just any gallery, but specifically an art institution strongly associated with the contemporary art (it's also hole shaped but that's not relevant rn). It has the power to legitimize the artworks in it because of its association with the contemporary art canon, which is... ongoing, yet. In general, museums that are respected as art institutions could potentially legitimize non-canon artworks, but only because its adherence to the existing standards of canon has given it that power.

So. The story begins by destroying a legitimizing institution perpetuating an art historical canon of 'high art', through the mediums of 'low art' — animation and comic. The story begins with a Renaissance artist Vulture, from, in Gwen's words, "some Leonardo da Vinci dimension" — his association with an art canon is no coincidence as he also attempts to define what is canon ("You call this art?"), rejects the contemporary art canon by literally destroying it, emphasizing the competing ideas of canon even within those that make it to canon. The story begins, with pop cultural figures of a multiplying canon, spider people of different comics working together to fight the Renaissance artist Vulture that insists on one version of the art canon.

You know what Gwen says in response to Vulture right after he questions the canonicity of contemporary art, and right before they break the Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons?* "We're talking about it, aren't we?" And after they break the Balloon Dog: "Sure it's a meta commentary on what we call art, but it's ... it's also art?". Loops back on itself neatly, really, but what does this mean? That the artwork is canon because it comments on its place in canon? It is canon, because of its relationship to canon? If this sounds like the museum's power inside canon being derived from its relationship with canon, that's because that's how a canon works. The accepted norm is both legitimized by its components and doing the legitimizing of its components, existing to feed itself endlessly — that is what makes them static and resistant to change — the same way Spider Society defines through their commonalities what is canon, become trapped by their own canon, and also perpetuate and enforce that canon.

*Detouring to talk about Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons more, @moonsun2010 for noticing this detail: big balloon dog (spiderverse canon) consisting of small balloon dogs (spider people and the iterations of their individual stories). So! His Balloon Dog(s) are famously identical, reproduced, and mocked to death for that very expensive repetition, and if you've heard, recently one of the smaller ones broke it's like $42k? I don't know if everyone was wondering what's inside one of the bigger ones, but because of the museums preserving its staticity (you are obviously not allowed to touch or destroy artworks inside of a museum), the speculation was meaningless. The act of destruction (in this movie) revealing MORE Balloon Dogs in this artwork both disrupted staticity AND is much more interesting than the pristine, untouched original. Clearly, visitors stuck in ATSV museum think so too: "Oh, that's cool." That's one more point under destroying something that exists for its own self replicating sake to reveal and free an exciting multiplicity!

This art canon parallel refracts beautifully in the SHEER diversity of art styles in this movie, in the commitment to portraying not just different spider-designs, but the mediums their universes are in. To me, that is an extension of the relationship they've established between artistic and narrative canons - there seems to be no limits as to what spiderpeople can look like and how they can be drawn, in clear juxtaposition with the rigidity of their narrative canons. The institution symbolic of an art canon is destroyed at the beginning of this movie. what will be destroyed by the end, from resisting the narrative canon?

To end on a bit of speculation: imo for Gwen "a police captain close to spider person dies to save a child" still works and it didn't really defy canon so much as reinterpret it. A police captain close to spider person dies (quits, death of cop ego, whatever) to save a child (his child, Gwen). so I'm SO interested to see if Miles will find a way to defy canon fr — maybe in the process kicking up another count on the destroying of self perpetuating, static structures?

[end-otw-racism]

End OTW Racism Link Round-Up: Week 1!

We are now in week two of our action demanding that OTW live up to its commitments to address racist harassment & abuse, which ends May 31st! There was a lot of great discussion during the first week, so we wanted to post a round-up of some of the longer-form discussion/analysis that people have been sharing (we're going with posts on Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and other sites, as well as Twitter threads that are longer than three tweets). These are posts that we think would be helpful to consider as fandom engages in the necessary conversations about these issues.

If we've missed something you've written, we'll be doing another round-up of week two, so it's not too late! You can either submit it on tumblr, tweet at us, or email us at endotwracism [at] gmail [dot] com. We do reserve the right to only share posts that are in line with the intent of the campaign and that we believe are adding to the conversation.

Tumblr

beatrice-otter: Why AO3 needs to be accountable for reducing fandom racism in its internal culture and the archive [link]

pretty-weird-ideas: End OTW Racism and the “Fed” Accusations [link]

aretethegreattelleroftales: You don’t understand what EndOTWRacism is asking for here, and because you clearly do not understand it, you should have known better than to speak on it. [link]

vex-verlain: In response to the reactions I’ve seen to #EndOTWRacism [link]

unrealromance: I don’t really understand how people don’t know the difference between ‘whoops I’ve fallen into a racist trope’ and 'I am literally writing hate speech that is unveiled, mask off’. [link]

pretty-weird-ideas: Codification of a Living Document as a solution to Harassment on OTW [link]

indifferentvincent: RE: End OTW Racism Derailment [link]

elumish: In light of some of the backlash to the End OTW Racism protest, and particularly the concern that an anti-harassment policy would lead to abuse of reporting mechanisms or censorship of unpopular authors/ships… [link]

seepunkrun: How to Find and Attend OTW Board Meetings [link]

indifferentvincent: The people who use the excuse of saying ao3 is an ‘archive’ and so 'must preserve’ the most vile, intentionally racist fics just sound like the most privileged motherfuckers on the planet to me. [link]

spacebeyonce & pretty-weird-ideas: wow this is such a normal and rational thing to say about having a diversity consultant to help ao3 fix their bullshit. [link]

indifferentvincent: I have to assume this is in regards to my promotion of the end-otw-racism call to action, because I don’t know what else it could be referencing. [link]

princeescaluswords: Writing Doesn’t Happen in a Void [link]

mousieta: There is a place, a magic place, a giant, ever growing park filled with sandboxes of every color and shape imaginable. [link]

Twitter

spacebeyonceart: alright so I want to talk about this post I made two years ago now that the #EndOTWRacism ball is finally rolling. [link]

generalfrings: This shit makes me so goddamn angry, yall. [link]

eruthosish: One of the calls of #EndOTWRacism is to improve the AO3's Terms of Service and how the AO3 deals with fanworks that are part of an offsite harassment campaign, so I wanted to share a story about the only time I have ever reported offsite harassment and had Abuse agree with me. [link]

buttonthemdown: They've proven they can move quickly *when they want to*, but the fact the OTW hasn't made an official statement acknowledging their lack of action and pledging to do better sends a signal they don't care about their POC fans. [link] 

Clonehub7567 Seeing the reactionary dismissals of #EndOTWRacism from white fans who pretend to care about racism is reminding me of the backlash i/we got for #UnwhitewashTBB. [link]

hydrochaeris3: ppl who are worried that not participating in the call to action will get them labeled racist..... first of all once again yall are showing that you care more about what others might label you than putting forth tangible effort into caring for a community [link]

m_sketchyart: If you think that #EndOTWRacism is censoring your escapism, here’s a thought to chew on: why is being anti-racist a threat to your escapism? Is true escapism not also leaving racism, antiBlackness, fatphobia, abeism, misogyny, etc out of your escapism? /rh  [link]

lunedraws: Have you wanted to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, re: racism, in one or more of your fandom spaces? This is a concise and timely line of actions we can take. [link]

aliasmarionette: One thing I see a lot in #EndOTWRacism comments which are in favour of the status quo is assumptions about who we mean by fandom, and about the user base of the Archive. [link]

SapphicScholar: New profile photo while participating in the important fan-led campaign to demand that OTW make good on the promises it has already made to address issues it has already acknowledged as problems in the archive—that is, instances of extreme racist harassment and abuse [link]

Fansplaining: Since the endotwracism campaign has begun, we wanted to highlight the timeline they've put together about the OTW's communications re: hiring a diversity consultant since their initial statement of commitment in the summer of 2020. [link]

gwenpendrcgon: ive seen so much backlash over #EndOTWRacism which shouldnt surprise me (also majority of this comes from tumblr is also to be expected) but most if not all backlash received by this event is done is such bad faith and complete wilful ignorance [link]

fiercynonym: so op of the #EndOTWRacism post on reddit dm-ed me and the situation is even more fucked up than i originally knew???  [link]

kitschlet: seeing a lot of people confused about what the OTW can do to address racism [link]

generalfrings: poor AO3 maintaining a 'absurdly heavy site'. all that text! [link]

RukminiPande: Fan scholars should be paying attn to #EndOTWracism. [link]

Saathi1013: The thing to notice about all the assertions that people know who's behind EOTWR is like... Okay, there are a few things, actually [link]

buttonthemdown: If you think that victims of racism need to "develop a thicker skin" you're a fucking racist [link]

mousieta: if i could have people understand one thing abt #endotwracism right now is that This issue matters not because racism makes you feel bad, or uncomfy, or squicky but because racism is actively harming Real Living Breathing Fans right now. [link]

fiercynonym: okay so…you know how OTW has been saying, when asked at meetings, that they have a budget surplus of about USD $1 million? well…manogirl & i did some digging, and it might actually be more than TWO AND A HALF MILLION USD. [link]

runpunkrun: Speaking of OTW Board meetings, if you're interested in attending, here's what you need to know [link] 

Dreamwidth

satsuma: A Chronic Habit of Avoiding Responsibility? #EndOTWRacism [link]

bcgphoenix: I have a lot of feelings about OTW and End OTW Racism as a book conservator/general preservation person, most of which verge into tl;dr territory. [link]

killabeez: Looking at past archive policies [link]

nyctanthes: End OTW Racism (Fannish Fifty #47) [link]

chestnut_pod: Be more democratic, be more autocratic, OTW [link]

Other sites

Lady’s Weblog: End Racism in the OTW [link]

The Rec Center: #384 Final Thoughts [link]

Stitch’s Media Mix: I’m Supporting #EndOTWRacism [link]

[forager-m]

TWST RARE PAIR WEEK: Day 2 - Reality TV AU

Ship: Kalim Al-Asim x Silver (カーリシル)

Art + Drabble

BREAKING NEWS: Kalim Al- Asim Kisses Co-Star Silver In Last Episode of "LOVE: TWISTED"

05/04/XXXX

Written By: Forager_M

LOVE:TWISTED, directed by Dire Crowley, aired March 18, 2020, is a hit reality romance drama wherein well-known figures are put against each other. The prize? The love of the show's protagonist, Yuu.

However, it seems a different romance has been brewing behind the scenes, revealing itself in the last episode of LOVE:TWISTED Season 3.

Kalim Al-Asim, known for his love of music, dancing, parties, and his fun, happy personality that brings joy to fans all over the globe, suddenly kissed fellow competitor and co-star Silver on screen during the episode's ending segment.

The kiss shocked the cast members, audience and Silver himself. Silver, who is known for his love of nature, his beautiful voice, and his awkward, serious but charming personality is notorious for his blank expressions.

Screenshots of Silver's reaction spread on social networks such as MagiCam, MyLog, and TweetTweet with hashtags: #KaliSil, #SilverLV:TWSTD, #KalimLV:TWSTD trending in Scarabia and Briar Valley for three days after. Fans have taken to making edits, memes, and art of the now iconic kiss scene.

Following the incident, there has been scrutiny of KaliSil moments in past episodes.

TweetTweet user 'YuuOwnMyHeart' posted:

#KaliSil

Episode 5 - Kalim answered Silver when asked who's the most beautiful person he knows. They're so obvious???

TweetTweet user 'Single_Twisted' posted:

#KaliSil

GUUYS THAT PART IN EP 2 WHEN SILVER AND KALIM WALK AWAY TOGETHER??? HELLO??? AND THEM LITERALLY NAPPING TOGETHER IN EP 10??? I'VE BEEN A KALISIL TRUTHER SINCE DAY 1 I KNEW IT.

Other notable moments:

Season 1, Ep 5 - Kalim putting extra food on Silver's plate during lunch.

Season 1, Ep 6 - Silver calls Kalim 'cute' in a segment where he's asked to describe other cast members.

Season 1, Ep 13 - Kalim hears Silver singing and stares at him for 5 minutes before joining in. Song: Once Upon A Dream (Orginal Artist: Aurora)

Season 2, Ep 1 - Silver gives Kalim a surprise gift for the start of the season.

Season 2, Ep 3 - Silver interrupts Kalim when Kalim and Yuu are playing with the water guns in the pool area.

Season 2, Ep 7 - Kalim asks for Silver to sing the song: A Whole New World (Original Artists: Jasmine and Aladdin) with him during the karaoke segment.

Season 2, Ep 10 - Silver bakes a special batch of thumb print strawberry jam cookies for Kalim only.

... And many more moments! Please comment your favorites below!

The cast have released their own statements or posts regarding the KaliSil kiss during interviews and on social media.

When interviewed in 'Chitchat With YUU', Yuu laughed with a knowing look.

"Silver cares deeply for Kalim... And I know Kalim treasures Silver."

Other cast members have posted on MyLog:

Idia

GGS nice rizz Kalim

Re: Riddle

... What???

Leona

Jesus fucking christ right in front of the cameras. I'll hand it to them, that takes guts.

#KaliSil

Cater

CONGRATS KALIM AND SILVER!!!! YOURE BOTH TOTES CUTE TOGETHER <3 #KaliSil

Deuce

Silver and Al-Asim-senpai kissing was really out of nowhere. I didnt expect that! But I think it was really cool!!! Good luck guys, wish u all the best #KaliSil

Malleus

Silver and I have been friends since childhood. I am so delighted and pleased to see him find joy. May love prosper and may your time together be plentiful. #KaliSil

Re: Leona

Wow it mustve been hard for you to figure out how to post. Lots of surprising things have been happening lately.

Epel

No way, you're telling me Kalim Al-Asim and Silver got someone before me thats kinda crazy bro. #KaliSil

Sebek

IT IS UNACCEPTABLE CONDUCT TO KISS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERAS IN SUCH A MANNER. SILVER APOLOGISE IMMEDIATELY.

... congratulations to your union. #KaliSil

Lilia

I'm not ready to walk my son down the aisle yet T T they grow up so fast... #KaliSil

Jamil

Congratulations on growing up and doing something yourself for once. #KaliSil

Re: Epel

Yo who hurt you.

News to come on the couples status on LOVE:TWISTED. Follow for more!