#they’re not interested in catering to human morals

[king0fcrows]

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[farashibutjustfoolingaorund]

it's weskin' time

The following is an analysis (read as "ramble") concerning Wesker based on Wesker’s Report and Wesker’s Report 2. 

One of the things I appreciate about Resident Evil characters is that while they do have nuance, their nuance typically falls in line with a core character trait that makes them simple to understand at a glance. For Wesker, that core trait is his sense of superiority, which shapes almost everything he does; from his opinions on others, to his personal preferences, to his moral code. 

Wesker is incredibly full of himself, which makes sense, given his upbringing as one of the ‘best and brightest’ of humanity. He’s got an insane resume of both scientific and military experience owing to his physical and intellectual prowess. As such, Wesker only respects those who are on his level or higher, and he only knows two kinds of people: those who are of use to him, and those who are to be disposed of. 

This is why he trusts and respects William Birkin, at least intellectually. Wesker believes Birkin to be superior to every other scientific mind, including Alexia’s, even if he is immature and hard to get along with. As such, he has to make up for William’s weaknesses and cater to them in order to take full advantage of his genius; which Wesker not only recognizes but places full trust in. He sticks around in Arklay for over a decade because of William’s research, even when much of it seems fruitless. However, the most significant show of Wesker’s trust in Birkin was when he injected himself with the Tyrant virus. The Tyrant virus has a one in one million chance of success, so Wesker had to trust William Birkin’s work with his life and future. 

Interestingly, it even seems at some points that Wesker cares about William Birkin in some capacity. Granted, I believe that capacity is strictly related to their work and what Wesker has to gain from William. Nonetheless, it causes Birkin to become a priority in Wesker’s life, and they become partners in their endeavors.

Despite his trust and respect toward William’s work, It is interesting and somewhat humorous that Wesker describes the hectic work environment caused by William’s obsession with his research as ‘hell’. It’s the exact opposite to the sort of calculated and efficient approach Wesker would have taken toward such a project. But, as I’ve mentioned, Wesker believes in Birkin’s abilities, so he sticks around anyhow. 

However, William’s frequent all-nighters and 24-hour work sessions start becoming Wesker’s frequent all-nighters, seeing as they’re partners of sorts. He finds himself having to clean up after Birkin’s failures. Though not explicitly stated in the reports, I get the sense that Wesker must’ve felt like he was trapped in Arklay, having been in that facility for 6 years doing mostly dead-end research. Wesker is ambitious, and not one to take any enjoyment in being the pawn of someone else’s game, a game he has no oversight, understanding, or control of. Wesker mentions a couple of times that he frequently took hikes in the forest. He might have done this as some means to get out of the confines of the research facility. 

Wesker’s sense of superiority is also evident in the way he presents himself, or if you’d prefer a rephrasing, in the way his writers and character designers made sure he read. This shows up in his diction, as it is very theatrical and dramatic, almost as if he’s narrating a novel. This creates an interesting contrast against his later plans for mass genocide and his fighting style, which are ruthlessly efficient. Both of these combine to create that downright menacing, but also sometimes ridiculously supervillain thing he has going on. On the note of genocide and other such atrocities, let’s talk about his moral code. 

Wesker makes a comment about Alexia being too young for any sort of dangerous experiments, but I don’t think he says that out of any kind of compassion or morality, I think he means it in regard to what he perceives as her childish intellect and maturity. He doesn’t seem to approve of Birkin’s haphazard experiments either, which he owes to William’s immaturity. Wesker understands that kids don’t belong in the lab because they’re not ready for it; they’re just too stupid and careless. 

You’d expect a man who later makes serious plans for mass genocide to have no regard for human life, but interestingly, Wesker seems concerned about a potential outbreak in his report. Does he actually care about casualties? Or does he just prefer control over chaos? I think the latter is more likely, which makes it seem as if Wesker has zero regard or opinion on morality at all. However, we get a very interesting insight on Wesker’s beliefs from this quote:

“Never did I imagine that STARS could slay the evil creation. I lost the Tyrant and the plan I devised which cost me my humanity ended in failure.”

This is the only morally coded statement we ever receive from Wesker in these reports. He recognizes the Tyrant, a biological weapon built for the killing and extermination of humanity, as evil. The way he says it doesn’t make me think he’s saying this like the Tyrant is objectively evil, he isn’t stating it like he states facts. To Wesker, the Tyrant is evil. 

This statement also shows that Wesker valued his humanity. But what is ‘humanity’ to him? He may regard ‘humanity’ as a natural, biological life, something that would end after his infection with the Tyrant virus. He may also acknowledge freedom, knowledge, and discovery as aspects of humanity to him. He shows frustration with being ‘trapped’ at the Arklay research facility, that he was the pawn in plans he didn’t yet have oversight or understanding of. His tendency for theatrics and drama and his evident knowledge of, use of, and perhaps enjoyment of prose, could mean he appreciates the arts to some extent. 

Don’t misunderstand, his ideology is still incredibly utilitarian. Wesker evaluates almost everything by its worth based on its success, failure, profit, or cost. Despite this, he still values his humanity and understands that bioweapons are dangerous in a way that is evil. I’m not saying in any capacity that he is a good person. He doesn’t care about Lisa’s suffering. He has no qualms about holding Barry’s family under threat or killing his STARS team members, but he still has some kind of view of right and wrong. It just so happens that his own success supersedes morality in his mind.

But how does he get from this worldview to the man who doesn’t care if billions die just so that a few may live, like his intention with the Uroboros project? Where does his obsession with creating a superior race truly begin?

I think the turning point is when he injects himself with the Tyrant virus. It’s a symbol of him exchanging his humanity for power. This transition has already been in the making since he decided to jump ship at Umbrella to somewhere more advantageous,  but his infection was a point of no return. He was willing to sacrifice everything for a chance at power. 

Despite being so capable, Wesker has had little actual freedom or agency up until that moment. He was just Umbrella’s pawn for many years of his life, born and raised to be someone else’s creation. His rebellion against Umbrella was his first taste of freedom, a freedom which he’d likely been yearning for ever since he began to feel trapped in Arklay. Now, he’s pulling out all the stops, no holding back anymore. He’s willing to give all for the chance at power. Albert Wesker is ready to be the one in control. 

“Now, anything and anyone that stood in my way would be terminated. It’s been that way for a long time, and it always will be.”

[twistedtavern]

self aware au but with swap boys? have a good day!

SCREAMING. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

ahem.

I was ABOUT to go into detail about how I wasn't gonna make Malleus the main villain in this, but I just now realized that due to the swap, SEBEK is the villain.

NAURRRRR but why does it make SENSE. Always when I make Sebek quiet, he winds up evil in some way, notably always for someone else’s benefit too, which is weird. 

I doubt Swap!Sebek is like as EVIL evil as regular self aware Malleus, he’s just deeply morally dubious. He wants his young lord to be happy, and what would make him happier than bringing him the human whose love he cherishes? 

A lot of things would definitely change. Less murder, most likely. Due to the circumstances, maybe the curse of the glass is fixed because the conditions for the curse to be placed were undone? Sebek might have got hit with the curse though (among some others).

I'd say the only one who really gets to be evil here is Swap!Vil (no shocker lmao), and maybe Swap!Cater? I know he’s a bit poor bab in the original au, but if he got hit by the glass and started hanging around the wrong kind of people, I could put the various cut shell-related shenanigans I had thought up in the beginning stages of development to good use >:} Cater as a genuine threat is gonna be interesting! Don't know who else.

But, other than that, I’d have to figure out the plot. Arguably, this version of the self aware au may even be the safest on record, solely because so many people are on the player’s side. I don’t think they’re going to be in harm’s way anywhere near as much as the regular au, given that they have MALLEUS on their side, AND Sebek wasn’t really out here crossing names off the census. A lot that is different is definitely related to the fact that Malleus actively asserted power over everyone else in the game vs Sebek acting almost completely out of the view of everyone else unless he was directly asking for help on something, and not brute-forcing his way into getting it. There is no torture, there are no threats, there is no power structure, there is no cult. There is no malice behind his plan, just some gray morality and determination.

If anything, things go pretty smoothly after the player is brought into Wonderland. There is no immediate chaos, the player just wakes up in Night Raven and is promptly lovingly accosted by the boys, and only a handful of them even know how they got there, much less the player themself. They’re pretty much welcomed into Night Raven with open arms, but I think that’s what would make the few boys who are dangerous even more so, given that they’re confused and blindly trusting those around them. 

Given Sebek’s role as the main guy in charge of the plan to bring the player into Wonderland, I think that it should be HIGHLY alarming how gullible he is. The MINUTE one of the more manipulative ones gets wind of what Sebek is doing, the player is in danger.

[theactofknowing]

Do you do scenarios or headcanons? If so, how many characters can we request for scenarios or headcanons? Would you do the same prompt with different characters? Can we request for male reader, female reader, gender neutral reader, etc? Are there any characters you won't do in each fandom? Would you accept requests that briefly mentions suicide? Do you do poly ships x reader? Would you mind if we request for Alternate Universes or Aus like AU where the character lives happily? Would you mind if the request is suggestive, implied sex, or mentioned sex but no explicit sex? Would you do NSFW requests? For Baldur's Gate 3 requests, would you mind if we don't specify the race/class to leave it ambiguous or if we ask specify the race/class like human/healer? What kinks would you accept for requests? Thank you in advance!

guidelines

scenarios and/or headcanons? yes! these types of prompts are big on tumblr and i want to cater to the people. they’re fun, too. any number of characters is okay to request as long as it’s realistic. will i do 50 characters at once? no, but i’ll do a bigger group like all six of the BG3 companions. this means i’ll do the same prompt for all six of those characters as well.

how much content in requests? i appreciate specific requests with a lot of content for me to go off of (though i might not use it all), but general requests are fine too. BG3 requests don’t have to be specific to the race and class, but i’m not upset if they are. go crazy.

what kind of content? i’ll write just about anything. i’ll write something entirely based in canon, or an AU where they have completely different lives (with the same personality). i’m okay with writing violent content, graphic content is a big in most of the fandoms i write for.

excluded content? i will not write explicit rape, necrophilia, rapeplay, explicit sexual assault, and this applies to the love interest as well. i’m not writing something about ascended astarion beating you up and i’m not writing about the reader being abusive either. am i okay with someone mentioning suicide or a past traumatic incident? generally, yes, but it’ll depend on the type of request i receive.

NSFW? yes, i’ll write NSFW content! i’m fine with writing a brief mention of sex or a full, explicit sex scene. also, i won’t turn away a request if it’s entirely NSFW-based.

kinks? any kink is fine with me except rapeplay, something around age regression, fecal fetishes, pee kinks, vomit kinks, and daddy kinks (i shudder at the mention of “daddy” and “kitten”). i should mention that i AM okay with bodily fluids with things like cum eating or a sweat kink, i just can’t do the ones i mentioned before.

any excluded characters? i love evil and morally gray characters, but i won’t write a sappy scenario for a character who’s known for hitting their partner or being abusive in general. realistically, they’ll beat you up too… and not in a fun way. this is a general warning. ascended astarion comes to mind, tbh. he’s too funky for me.

relationships? i’ll write any relationship besides something that’s incestuous. i’ll write something x reader, two characters shipped together, or a whole polycule. any size relationship is fine, really. you can ask for a queer relationship. you can also ask for a gn!reader scenario or a specific-identity prompt. generally, if it’s not important, i’ll just make the reader gn. i noticed there’s not a lot of m!reader content in general, so feel free to ask for that in any fandom.

thank u 4 sending this in! i needed to get my guidelines done and this was a good opportunity

[sbrown82]

The post about Pat and Mick was really interesting to find out about and look more into. I also felt really weird about the way that girl was pressured into doing things she wasn’t comfortable with, especially at such a young and vulnerable age and coming from a history of trauma and abuse.

The guys from the Rolling Stones are cool and we should give them kudos for the creative stuff they did but I think it’s also ok to acknowledge when they do bad things.

It feels a little like victim blaming to ask why a young woman with trauma didn’t just leave or not do something she didn’t want to - a lot of people who were in downright abusive relationships are asked those very same questions without regard for the different power dynamics and complexities at play. I just feel like the older person shouldn’t have seen that their partner was resisting or uncomfortable with something and had them do it to please them anyway. It sounds more like exploitation than her being given a chance to be free and explore her own sexuality; if that was the case her own interests would be included/catered to and her boundaries taken seriously.

There’s a issue of certain men knowing they can coerce black women because if we speak out no one believes us or fights for us the way they do others so we have to understand and stick up for other black women - especially the younger ones because they deserve to be treated right, like humans and not means to and ends. We don’t have to make excuses for the people that use or hurt when they do that because they’re white men, famous or did other stuff that we like/respect (and if we care for those people we need to hold them accountable so they grow and change for the better). Even if that kind of treatment was more normal back in the day and women were expected and conditioned to just go with it despite their feelings, we don’t have to tolerate it now.

Mick never pressured her to do anything, tho! He never “forced” her to have threesomes and group sex with other women. It just sort of happened because he was sleeping with both P.P. and Marianne at the same time. P.P., who Mick started dating when he was still with Chrissie Shrimpton, also didn’t tell him about what was really going on. He wasn’t aware of her trauma. In one chapter of her book, Mick asked her about Ike and Tina, and she told him Ike was violent, but she never actually told him that Ike raped her. She also didn’t tell Mick that her ex-husband used to beat her. He was always curious as to why she was keen on staying in London, but she never really explained why. She wanted to make records under his label so she wouldn’t have to go back home or with the Ikettes. People weren’t really open about abuse in those days. You just didn’t talk about it. But the Stones all kinda knew about Ike’s violence. Keith, Brian and Bill were also messing with Ikettes and they would tell them about what was going on behind the scenes. And on top of that, even though she was previously married and had children young, P.P. was a bit of a church girl. A lot of Black women and girls in those days didn't have the freedom to explore their sexuality without shame or judgement. White girls can get away with a lot of things that we can’t because we're Black and we’d get called “fast” for it. I think that's where a lot of the hesitation came from. But Mick didn't understand that he's white and from another country. In the book she claimed, "I was a good girl. As boring as that all sounds. Even when I came to England, everybody thinks I’m all hip and everything just because I’m an Afro-American girl. I wasn’t hip! I was boring as hell. And Mick Jagger will tell you that. He was always saying, ‘Why are black girls so uptight?’ Because we have morals. That’s why."

[pelinalwhitestraken]

otome isekais are so awful to be a fan of because while they’re catered to women and are usually written by women they’re also casually the most misogynistic pieces of writing ever. like seriously.

every woman is either your stereotypical BFF to female lead with no defining personality or they’re an evil homewrecking woman who wants to steal female leads man with no other motivation but being jealous or just cartoonishly evil. every single one is like this. its so bad that every comment on an otome isekai manhwa is usually talking about random side female character #23 and how they’re plotting to do their devious work once again of stealing the male lead.

it’s almost shocking how badly women who are considered enemies are treated within this genre. ive seen torture, exile, murder, suicide, socially outcasted, and even rape at some point, used as punishment towards female leads who honestly didn’t do that much in the first place. while not exactly an isekai, the first character i think of is Rashta from Remarried Empress. Rashta is a character who is born as a slave, using the emperor and their sexual/romantic relationship as a way of staying out of slavery. thats the basis of it anyways. seems like a reasonable thing to do for anyone in that position. and while she does do things that are morally wrong, it seems almost shocking to me that her punishment is her being locked into a room and forced to suicide, while the man who put her in that position in the first place gets a decent ending for how awful of a human being he was. not only does it feel misogynistic, but also extremely inconsiderate of power dynamics and social classes (hence why this genre gets accused of classism quite a bit as well lol)

other icky things to me is that female leads that are considered overpowered girlbosses are never actually stronger than the male lead. male lead usually has a position of power over female lead as well. like, somehow the comics want you to feel like our female lead is in control and full of agency, she never actually attains that. shes still bound to her family, her house, and now her husband. and she never grows outside of that either. her development of her as a character starts when she meets the male lead and only grows within that relationship. she doesnt exist outside the male lead at allllll and its so bothersome. her plot revolves around him, her motivations and desires somehow always revolve around the male lead, and her relationships revolve around him too. she has to skip town because the male lead will chop her head off! so she leaves, but now he’s here again! her desire now lies within wanting to believe in this change and belonging to the male lead. its just garbage.

while talking about male leads— how male leads are usually just as dirt baggy as the other cartoonishly evil obstacle, the female leads ex, (common trope within these comics) the story paints them in a good light just because theyre only kind to the female lead. and why? its not because of anything interesting, its usually just because shes his wife, his possession. sure, you can argue that its just a common romance trope of possessiveness, but is it not bonkers to you that favorable male leads are quite literally psychopaths with no redeeming qualities besides the fact that they claim possession over female leads? the common romance idea of a man centering his life around you is not a bad thing, but it feels icky whenever its portrayed as something that would have only happened BECAUSE they entered that relationship and the male lead has effectively “owned” the female lead at this point in the story. think about the trope in which 2 estranged spouses (forced marriage trope, etc.,) are slowly falling in love with one another, another common trope within that is the one in which the male lead experiences frustration when the female lead explores other romantic options/receives the attention of other men. it isn’t usually because they have suddenly grown fond of each other— no, it’s because the female lead, in his eyes, belongs to him as an object less than a genuine person.

but its not to say that OI as a whole is misogynistic garbage. because while it is, at this particular moment, it can be subjected to change. its not like they can keep doing the same trick of including the same 500 tropes into their books forever. and a lot of OI is changing and driving this relatively new genre into the right direction. we see a lot of OI centered around our female lead that is NOT focused on the ML, and is partially seen as an afterthought until he is introduced mid-ish part of the story. a prime and strong example of this would be “I’ll Be The Matriarch Of This Life” or whatever the actual title is. the female lead is someone memorable. she has a PERSONALITY that goes beyond fitting into the same 5 archetypes of female leads. she cares about her family, her dynamics with the world around her is interesting as she grows and faces new challenges. shes always growing whether or not the male lead is there because she genuinely has a life without him or not. sure, it has tropes, but its not bad at all. i quite enjoy OI as a guilty pleasure, but man if it isnt a reflection of how drastically fucked up our media is then we need to think a bit harder. even things made for us are so deeply rooted in patriarchal values !! i legit cannot enjoy half this shit even tho its supposed to be for me yk!!!

[marta-bee]

I recently bought Susan Dimmock’s “Classic Readings and Cases in the Philosophy of Law,” and today read the first chapter/selection on natural law. Is it natural to liveblog a textbook? Let’s just say it’s a good thing I’m past caring about normality, more or less.

(Also posted to El Jay, but I heard some of you like philosophy, so I thought I’d share this here as well.)

I had a half-day off and wasn't meeting up with the Kid until later, so I read the first chapter of my legal philosophy textbook this afternoon. It was a mini-essay on natural law along with a series of selections from Aquinas. Which is such an odd place to start in a lot of ways because it's so based in a whole other political system than our current one. I mean, I focused so much on medieval philosophy and know quite a lot about him though more other areas than the social/political philosophy this was pulling from. And it had a nice nostalgia factor for me. Still, it felt like starting your study of astrophysics by reading a treatise by Ptolemy.

I did find the way the intro-essay framed natural law to be really interesting, though. Basically it says that law is something not dependent on human minds creating it, and it's in our power to discover it. That's a very medieval way of defining "real," or close to it. Not real in the sense of being physical but the kind of thing that would still be true whether or not anyone created a theory or law based on it. It's the kind of thing we can get right or wrong, and we can't just make any law we want. The bits of Aquinas excerpted were a bit vague on the specifics, which is probably good --as I recall Aquinas's politics can get really mired in his metaphysics of authority and where power originates from really quickly, probably way too complicated for present purposes-- but it's definitely based in what's in the common interest. If an emperor (or a democratic society) makes a law demanding people give half their salary to cater to the uber-rich's comfort, while people lie starving in the street that could have been helped with that money, we'd all probably recognize that as an unjust law. Aquinas would go further and say it's no law at all, because it's not geared toward the natural purpose of law, which is justice and what's good for everyone, not just those making the laws.

It's an interesting idea but seems like it would be way too easy to abuse. There's too much danger in allowing people to decide individually that a certain law doesn't apply to them so they're under no obligation to obey it, and I think a society needs a way to collectively say, part of being a part of our group means working within certain rules, even if you disagree, and that if you don't like the law you need to work to change it not just disregard it. Aquinas himself doesn't actually allow for that, but if we're not all in agreement about what the common good actually is, I'm not sure how we keep moderns with our individualistic sympathies from pushing too far in that direction. I was also concerned it didn't give enough credence to individual rights in the face of what's good for the whole society.

I do like the fact it's tied to morality. My starting question was why we should make things illegal or legal if it's not because they're good or right. This side-steps all that by saying, that's exactly what the law's about. It's about identifying what's good and forcing people who weren't already going to act that way to do that. But then it ties us into that whole ethical project I'm sure a lot of people would like to avoid. Even if "good" is real and we can discover it, do I really trust my fellow citizens to all do the work of finding that out? How often do we agree what's in the common good, really?

Which is probably the biggest problem for me here. It's not that natural law is wrong, it's that it's not what we're trying to do in modern democracies when we make laws. In practice, I mean. Because natural law is about having an actual intelligence identifying what's good and making pronouncements based on that. There's an intellect at the heart of it; or perhaps a few intellects who are reasoning together. But democracy isn't about what some small group identified as right, it's about what ideas were popular enough to get the most votes, with no guarantees that voters are well-informed or acting on good motives. And it's about what lawmakers happen to be in a politically powerful position- all fairly random, unreasoned elements. And even with court cases, even at high level like the Supreme Court, they're less arguing about whether a certain law is just, and whether it contradicts some other law or precedent. The rightness of the law seems like such a small part of it. Maybe with international law where there are less adapted frameworks and more reasoning together based off rights, there's more room for this kind of effort. But at a national level, it just doesn't seem like the political process makes space for what natural law needs.

I will say this, though: I wanted to know more. Natural law was intriguing, and I liked the idea that not everything a person in power decrees as law has the force of law, even as that idea scared me. I'd like to read someone more modern explaining how natural law fits into a democracy. And for a short introduction, "tell me more" is high praise indeed, at least coming from me.

I do suspect my own political leanings are more in line with a kind of social contract we've all agreed to work with, rather than set of moral principles some philosopher-king has the right to identify and impose on the rest of us. Maybe there are certain things we have no right to agree to live under, that it's irrational to accept a social contract built around not having the right to do them anymore. Which makes me seem vaguely Kantian; something I never thought I'd say.

Ah, well. It will be interesting to see where the next chapters lead.

[britishassistant]

So imagine that Reporter Yuu and Student Yuu have to meet up to drop off the heads to their respective worlds , V!riddle and s! Riddle are comparing which version of aduces is worse. V!leona is telling s!leona to drop out. V! Azul and s! Azul are comparing business models and leech twins. V!jamil is flexing his independence on s!jamil, whose planning to hex him to hell and back. V! Vi and S! Vil are being shady drama kings towards each other. V! Idia and S! Idia are swapping anime recommendations and ortho upgrades. And v! malleus and s! Malleus are having an argument over favorite gargoyle architect or something lmao

Thank you for the ask, dear anon!

Riddle is a little confused by the fact this supervillain in a half red and white mask insists on talking to him about Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater, while simultaneously insisting that he has no relation to him.

All the same, he advises the supervillain to tell Dr. Rosehearts to try talking to his mother— it was hard for Riddle to do over the holidays, but he at least managed to get her to look at him and see him as himself rather than as her “project”, even if it was only for a moment.

It’ll still be hard from here, but Riddle knows it’s better than just blindly following his mother’s rules and letting her have her way.

Royal Flush is taken aback by the words from his younger self. Personally, he’s unsure if that will really change anything, or just make his life harder than it has to be, but if there’s a chance...

Leona isn’t sure whether to be offended or not when King tells him to either graduate or drop out of Night Raven College already. He’s leaning towards it on principle, because this adult version of him is just presuming to tell him what to do with his life.

King asks him if he has any better ideas for flipping the bird to Farena—after all, sitting around on his ass is the same as admitting his goody-two-shoes brother has already won by doing nothing, isn’t it? King has an entire evil lair and an army of minions at his fingertips, and his version of Farena is forced to deal with him disrupting the peaceful little realm he inherited, unable to bring King to heel or make him toe the line.

An evil kingdom of his very own that can’t be taken away from him.

Leona points out that King still has to babysit Cheka. King changes the subject.

Octo Dealer places his hands on Azul’s shoulders and offers his sincere commiserations for having to deal with the younger Leeches.

He then tries to make a contract with him to ‘make poor unfortunate Azul’s life easier’.

Azul smiles thinly and offers a counter-contract to take the adult Leeches off of Octo Dealer’s hands if he believes dealing with them is so difficult. Azul can personally think of several things he could achieve off the top of his head if he had adult versions of his friends under his control, and the competition would be interesting enough that he could play them off each other masterfully...

Octo Dealer has never felt so proud.

Snake Charmer is pretending that he’s conversing with the younger version of a hostage he’s taken while talking to Jamil, not that he thinks for a moment that his younger self actually buys the lie. But both of them know the importance of keeping up appearances in front of others, so neither address what both know.

Of course, Snake Charmer can’t resist taking advantage of this to subtly boast about all he’s accomplished, partly to challenge his younger self to aspire to the same heights, partly because he can’t resist showing off to someone who knows his true identity but cannot expose him. He has freedom, the power to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, followers who are lousy with loyalty, admirers throughout the city and nemeses who cannot touch him no matter how they wish to bring him down. But a mere babysitter to a spoiled heir wouldn’t know what that feels like, now would they?

Jamil grits his teeth behind his calm smile, and rolls his magic pen between his fingers.

He retorts almost innocently whether all those things are really accomplishments if they can only be achieved while hiding behind a mask and fake facial hair.

The way Snake Charmer’s eyes narrow at him as he smiles back lets Jamil know he’s won this round.

Vil admires the high quality of Poison Queen’s costume and persona, even if he personally scorns the ugliness of stooping to supervillainy to try and surpass a rival who’s little more than a glorified flasher with good publicity. He’d hoped his older self would have the dignity and beauty to be able surpass someone who plays around in bows and frills.

Consider the costume itself—if Poison Queen could use their skills in designing to market a line of clothes aimed both at consumers and costume departments, whoever his civilian identity is would have his prestige boosted to new heights the likes of that crass ‘White Neige’ could never hope to reach.

Why waste all this talent and effort on supervillainy instead?

Poison Queen scoffs at Vil’s moralizing, making a snide comment about the rasp that’s audible when the little prefect from Vil’s school breathes and talks. It catches them off-guard a lot when they hear it, so it’s a new development, one that’s been induced artificially rather than developed naturally. What, exactly, would Twst!Yuu have needed to be exposed to in order to develop an affliction like this? Some kind of airborne toxin perhaps? A potent one, to be sure, requiring extensive and perfectionist experience with poisons to be able to brew something that left that kind of damage. But what circumstances would have necessitated the creation of such a thing, hm?

Vil goes quiet after that. Poison Queen takes it as a sign of victory. It may be ugliness, but Vil of all people shouldn’t pretend that he’s free of it. Hypocrisy is the ugliest thing of all.

Idia has some questions for Charon about the few robots he caught sight of in the lair before escaping to go to Yuu’s apartment. Charon, who has never been to Yuu’s apartment in person, starts muttering that it’s typical that even an alternate version of himself has better luck than him.

Idia struggles with this idea for several minutes.

Eventually Charon grows impatient enough with his blue-screening that he orders Idia just to ask what he was going to ask. He softens a lot once Idia begins asking about how to reproduce some of the taste sensors and digestive systems of the giant robotic three-headed dogs so that Ortho can eat candy with him while they play games together.

They quickly descend into a jargon-filled back and forth as they debate about how to best merge the technology of the supervillain world with the magitech of Twisted Wonderland so that Ortho not only can eat candy, but convert the sweets into fuel to supplement his current power source.

Twst!Yuu is very confused at how two people can hold a conversation entirely through tablets while standing right in front of each other and looking at each other.

Tsunotaro and Malleus appear to get along at first, chatting quietly about the different gargoyle architecture available in each of their universes, and if the loneliness ever gets more bearable.

And then R!Yuu claps their hands and says everyone needs to get a move on back to their home dimensions as they’re burning daylight, and Tsunotaro nods, picks up Twst!Yuu, and tries to walk back through the portal to the supervillain universe with them safely tucked under one arm.

When R!Yuu grabs him and asks what does he think he’s doing, Tsunotaro just blinks owlishly. “That dimension isn’t suitable for this child to grow up safely in. Wouldn’t it be better to taken them home so we can look after them together?”

R!Yuu is reduced to sputtering at the insinuation, the other supervillains feeling supremely irritated at the display.

Malleus seizes onto Twst!Yuu’s arm. He refuses to just stand by and just let his older self take away his first friend. Tsunotaro asks menacingly if his younger self really thinks he’ll stand a chance against an adult fae’s power, if he can’t even protect one human.

From there it devolves into a standoff between the two powerhouses, the other NRC students preparing to draw their magic wands if it turns into a fight for the prefect, Reporter Yuu trying desperately to get Tsunotaro to just let the other version of themself go before the colliding magic and superpowers do something catastrophic to both portals.

It only calms down once Twst!Yuu pipes up that while they appreciate the offer, they want to go back to Night Raven College with their friends, pointing out that they’d be even less safe as the child of a supervillain in a world they have no idea how to navigate than they currently are as just a magicless student. Besides, they say, a thumb brushing over the bandages on their throat. They have a friend they need to go talk to. If they just left without doing that, they’d probably hate themselves for it for the rest of their lives. They can’t turn their back on him and leave him alone.

Between the two Yuus, Tsunotaro is convinced to reluctantly put them down and let them return to the other students. He’s sulking a lot though.

[themollyjay]

The Myths of Forced Diversity and Virtue Signaling.

In my novel Mail Order Bride, the three main characters are a lesbian and two agendered aliens.  In my novel Scatter, the main character is a lesbian, the love interest is a pansexual alien, and the major side characters include a half Cuban, half black Dominican lesbian, a Chinese Dragon, a New York born Jewish Dragon, and a Transgender Welsh Dragon.  In my novel The Master of Puppets, the Main Characters are a lesbian shapeshifting reptilian alien cyborg and a half black, half Japanese lesbian.  The major side characters include three gender fluid shapeshifting reptilian alien cyborgs, and a pansexual human.  In my novel Transistor, the main character is a Trans Lesbian, the love interest is a Half human/Half Angel non-observant Ethiopian Jew, and the major side characters include a Transgender Welsh Dragon (the same one from Scatter), a Transgender woman, a Latino Lesbian, an autistic man, three Middle Eastern Arch Angels, and a hive mind AI with literally hundreds of genders.  In my novel The Inevitable singularity, one of the main characters is a lesbian, another has a less clearly defined sexuality but she is definitely in love with the lesbian, and the third is functionally asexual due to a vow of chastity she takes very seriously.  The major side characters include a straight guy from a social class similar to the Dalit (commonly known as untouchables) in India, a bisexual woman, a man who is from a race of genetically modified human/frog hybrids, and a woman from a race of genetically modified humans who are bred and sold as indentured sex workers.

Why am I bringing all of this up?  Well, first, because it’s kind of cool to look at the list of different characters I’ve created, but mostly because it connects to what I want to talk about today, which should be obvious from the title of the essay.  The concepts of ‘forced diversity’ and ‘virtue signaling’.

For those who aren’t familiar with these terms, they’re very closely related concepts.  ‘Forced Diversity’ is the idea that characters who aren’t neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white males are only ever included in a story because of outside pressure from some group (usually called Social Justice Warriors, or The Woke Brigade or something similar) to meet some nebulous political agenda.  The caveat to this is, of course, that you can have a women/women present as long as they are hot, don’t make any major contributions to the resolution of the plot, and the hero/heroes get to fuck them before the end of the story. ‘Virtue Signaling’, according to Wikipedia, is a pejorative neologism for the expression of a disingenuous moral viewpoint with the intent of communicating good character.

The basic argument is that Forced Diversity is a form of virtue signaling.  That no one would ever write characters who aren’t neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white males because they want to.  They only do it to please the evil SJW’s who are somehow both so powerful that they force everybody to conform to their desires, yet so irrelevant that catering to them dooms any creative project to financial failure via the infamous ‘go woke, go broke’ rule.

What the people who push this idea of Forced Diversity tend to forget is that we exist at a point in time when creators actually have more creative freedom than are any other people in history.  Comic writers can throw up a website and publish their work as a webcomic without having to go through Marvel, DC or one of the other big names, or get a place in the dying realm of the news paper comics page.  Novelists can self-publish with fairly little upfront costs, musicians can use places like YouTube and Soundcloud to get their work out without having to worry about music publishers.  Artists can hock their work on twitter and tumblr and a dozen other places. Podcasts are relatively cheap to make, which has opened up a resurgence in audio dramas.  Even the barrier to entry for live action drama is ridiculously low.

So, in a world where creators have more freedom than ever before, why would they choose to people their stories with characters they don’t want there?  The answer, of course, is that they wouldn’t.  Authors, comic creators, indie film creators and so on aren’t putting diverse characters into their stories because they are being forced to. They’re putting diverse characters into their stories because they want to.  Creators want to tell stories about someone other than the generically handsome hypermasculine cisgendered heterosexual white males that have been the protagonists of so many stories over the years that we’ve choking on it. A lot of times, creators want to tell stories about people like themselves.  Black creators want to tell stories about the black experience. Queer creators want to tell stories about the queer experience.

I’m an autistic, mentally ill trans feminine abuse survivor.  Every day, I get up and I struggle with PTSD, with an eating disorder, with severe body dysmorphia, with anxiety and depression and just the reality of being autistic and transgender.  I deal with the fact that the religious community I grew up in views me as an abomination, and genuinely believes I’m going to spend eternity burning in hell.  I deal with the fact that people I’ve known for decades, even members of my own family, regularly vote for politician who publicly state that they want to strip me of my civil rights because I’m queer.  I’m part of a community that experiences a disproportionately high murder and suicide rate.  I’ve spent multiple years of my life deep in suicidal depression, and to this day, I still don’t trust myself around guns.

As a creator, I want to talk about those issues.  I want to deal with my life experiences.  I want to create characters that embody and express aspects of my lived experience and my day-to-day reality.  No one is forcing me to put diversity into my books.  I try to include Jewish characters as often as I can because there have been a number of important Jewish people in my life.  I include queer people because I’m queer and the vast majority of friends I interact with on a regular basis are queer.  I include people with mental illnesses and trauma because I am mentally ill and have trauma, and I know a lot of people with mental illnesses and trauma.  My work may be full of fantastical elements, aliens and dragons and angels and superheroes and magic and ultra-high technology and AI’s and talking cats and robot dogs and shape shifters and telepaths and all sorts of other things, but at the core of the stories is my own lived experience, and neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white males are vanishingly rare in that experience.

Now, I can hear the comments already.  The ‘okay, maybe that’s true for individual creators, but what about corporate artwork?’.   Maybe not in those exact words, but you get the idea.

The thought here is that corporations are bowing to social pressure to include characters who aren’t neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white males, and that is somehow bad. But here’s the thing. Corporations are going to chase the dollars.  They aren’t bowing to social pressure.  There’s no one holding a gun to some executive’s head saying, “You must have this many diversity tokens in every script.”  What is happening is that corporations are starting to clue into the fact that people who aren’t neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white males have money.  They are putting black characters in their shows and movies because black people watch shows and spend money on movies.  They are putting queer people in shows and movies because queer people watch shows and spend money on movies.  They are putting women in shows and movies because women watch shows and spend money on movies.

No one is forcing these companies to do this.  They are choosing to do it, the same way individual creators are choosing to do it.  In the companies’ cases the choices are made for different reasons.  It’s not because they are necessarily passionate about telling stories about a particular experience, but because they want to create art to be consumed by the largest audience possible, which means that they have to expand their audience beyond the neurotypical cisgendered heterosexual white male by including characters from outside of that demographic.

And the reality is, the cries of ‘forced diversity’ and ‘virtue signaling’ almost always come from within that demographic.  Note the almost.  There are a scattering of individuals from outside that demographic which do subscribe to the ‘forced diversity’ and ‘virtue signaling’ myths, but that is a whole other essay.  However, within that demographic, lot of the people who cry about ‘forced diversity’ see media and content as a Zero-Sum game.  The more that’s created for other people, the less that is created for them.

In a way, they’re right. There are only so many slots for TV shows each week, there are only so many theaters, only so much space on comic bookshelves and so on.  But at the end of the day, its literally impossible for them to consume all the content that’s being produced anyway.  So, while there is, theoretically less content for them to consume, as a practical matter it’s a bit like someone who is a meat eater going to a buffet with two hundred items, and then throwing a tantrum because five of the items happen to be vegan.

The worst part is, if they could let go of how wound up they are about the ‘forced diversity’ and ‘virtue signaling’ they could probably enjoy the content that’s produced for people other than them.  I mean, I’m a pasty ass white girl, and I loved Black Panther.

So, to wrap out, creators, make what you want to make, and ignore anyone who cries about forced diversity or virtue signaling.  And to people who are complaining about forced diversity and virtue signaling, I want to go back to the buffet metaphor.  You need to relax.  Even if there are a few vegan options on the buffet, you can still get your medium rare steak, or your chicken teriyaki or whatever it is you want.  Or, maybe, just maybe, you could give the falafel a try. That shit is delicious.

[hamliet]

u are so weird for glorifying tsukikanae and shipping them thru glasses so rose-colored that u made them have babies despite them being cousins, esp when tg actively condemns incestuous infatuations by showing explicitly how inbreeding creates mentally damaged individuals and making those who have incestuous obsessions bring nth but tragedy on themselves bc of it (hairu, furuta, mutsuki (sasaki was a parent figure) and esp kanae herself LMAO??) .. not only is it proshipping but it's doing so when the story itself condemns it, make it make sense

EYE.

I'm sorry I've been laughing at your ask. I mean, I know I'm weird, but like, I'm not sending indignant messages to people I don't know.

(Actually that's not true, I'm currently haranguing my representatives in a desperate attempt to try to get people I care deeply about out of Kabul with a ticking clock. If you live in the US, or if any followers who do see this, please contact your reps with this here and that specific request.)

In response to your question(?):

These were written in 2017 and 2018. I can offer you many more problematique ships, you didn't have to dig so deep! Really Jonerys would have been more relevant to your point.

Side note: I have no idea what proshipping is--I've seen the term around but I'm guessing it's not "just liking the concept of shipping as fun," so I have no idea whether I am or not and frankly I'm too old to care.

Listen Anon if you are actually interested in learning, I've written answers to all this before, which you could find if you searched my blog like here or here or here. You'd be surprised, such as:

In my AUs they’re not cousins because clearly I’m more comfortable with them not being cousins,

I’m personally from a culture where my first reaction is ick, but there are cultures where that’s the norm, or at least isn’t strange,

I don’t have the right to pass judgment because there are some uncomfortable ethnocentric implications there.

I didn’t know Karren and Shuu were cousins when I first started shipping them

Once I found out I hesitated, but was ultimately like whatever, it’s fiction.

If you're interested in further contemplating, consider:

nuance,

history,

the fact that you--yes, you--are certainly the product of intermarriage if you go back enough generations,

science and statistics,

the kinda ableist hint to your words,

the concept of an alternate universe and historic literary symbolism such as those associated with alchemy,

critical thinking about what makes something morally wrong and what we mean by that (hint: power dynamics and harm),

and finally, ethnocentrism and the colonialist mindset of western liberals who think their values are 100% applicable throughout all time and space.

EDIT: I’m not posting their latest response, which was... lawd. But here is what I do want to say:

1) I talked to someone who showed me their final scene together *before* reading the manga (it was one of the draws for me to read it) and the basics (Karren being a servant who disguised herself as a guy, etc). So I went into the story shipping it.

2) I never mentioned or made any assumptions about your race or religion, only your broad nationality and politics.

3) Not everyone's experiences are the same as yours, and yours should not be prioritized over others. The world doesn't revolve around you. It's fine for you to have a trigger or a squick caused by personal life. It's not fine for you to demand everyone in the world cater to you. 

4) You're clearly a teenager (I hope) or at least have a very immature perspective on yourself, the world, and experience.

5) You don't understand the nuanced relationship of reality and fiction--it is part of reality, but it is also not a 1=1 equivocation, and one's fictional preferences do not reflect one's own desires IRL. There have been numerous studies on this. 

6) I'm not saying "cousin marriage is good and you must ship Tsukikana"; the opposite. I'm just saying to approach with empathy and humility, which you aren't.

7) I'm not going to say "die mad" because I hope(d) you were reasonable and actually would listen, but I see I was wrong. Still, I hope you mature throughout your life. 

8) You know what's a trigger for me? Black-white thinking and a lack of an open mind, even one fenced in as a way of protection. I know purity culture because I was raised in a cult. I know you cannot see it now, but someday you might realize that it does not protect you to have fenced yourself in with wolves. 

9) Purity culture in fandom may offer you direct meaning (even if you don't realize it as a conscious level) because it makes things simple and offers something you can presumably do as opposed to the numerous other issues in this world where we are borderline helpless to do anything at all in an increasingly out of control environment, pandemic, wars, political landscape, etc. It's all for naught. 

10) You have meaning and worth as a human being just because you exist. You do not need to save the world to earn those rights; you do not need to police or control others (aka style yourself as a god) to be worthy of existence.

[powerbottomblake]

the P in Penny stands for (V8′s) Protagonist

So Monstra! Interesting name! Reminiscent of Monstro, the name of the whale from Disney’s Pinocchio (1940).

This confirms that the whale is indeed, here to complete Penny’s Pinocchio allusion. In other terms, Penny is the protagonist of this volume. The main conflict is her conflict; taking down the whale is her endgame and her turning point.

More undercut because apparently I am cursed with not knowing how to make brief and to the point meta

We know that RWBY uses the narrative beats of the original allusions (with some decisive tweaks that align with its overall hopepunk vision and themes), going as far as having direct visual parallels to the source material (Adam vs Bees fight/the original Beast vs Gaston fight anyone?). 

In the original Pinocchio movie, Pinocchio is tested three times before finally achieving becoming a little boy, and I think, likewise, Penny faces three tests before becoming a fully flledged huntress and maiden:

- Setback n°1: Pinocchio, still new to the world, the very concept of morality but eager to “do good” and willing to listen to Jiminy Cricket’s guidance, is tricked by a duo of conmen; in the movie, it’s into captivity, but the original story takes a much darker turn where the evil cat and fox - one pretending to be blind (Emerald and her perception bending Semblance) and one pretending to be a cripple (Mercury) - actually cause Pinocchio’s “death” through hanging (the author abhorred naughty children and was very...extreme about it). This is V3 Penny in a nutshell, discovering friendship and bonds and values through her own Jiminy, which is Ruby, but being set up by Mercury and Emerald to fight a losing battle that ends in her apparent “death”.

- Setback n°2: Pinocchio is embarked on a trip to Pleasure Island, an apparent playground especially catered for everyone to be happy! and have fun! but oh wait they’re actually being turned into jackasses geared for labor or sold to the Dust I mean the salt mines! You’ve guessed it, this is Penny’s V7 arc. Atlas Academy is Penny’s Pleasure Island, masquerading as a safe place where  but the veneer of Ironwood’s civility and apparent conflicted utilitarianism finally cracks to reveal how it’s ultimately a place of indoctrination, producing no actual people-serving Hunters but perfect soldiers concerned more with following orders than doing right, and where the disadvantaged and the poor are ostracized, taken advantage of and ultimately sacrificed. Pinocchio escapes Pleasure Island with Jiminy’s help, but not unscathed, having grown donkey ears and a tail. Likewise, with Ruby’s help and constant strong supportive presence, Penny proves herself fit to receive the maiden powers and escapes Atlas, but she’s still not completely free of Ironwood’s hold, still having to grapple with his and the AceOps’ manipulation tactics, still not sure what her role, who she is and how she fits really are. Which bring us to the third and last test:

- Setback n°3: the Whale. In the original movie, Gepetto gets swallowed by the whale when he tries to follow Pinocchio to Pleasure Island to save him. Pinocchio then dives in, saves Gepetto and, in the process, apparently “dies”, before finally earning his existence as a “real” little boy after that show of bravery and self-sacrifice. And I think these are the beats to look for in Penny’s V8 storyline. As of Episode 3, Penny is about to join Pietro and Maria, and there have been strong hints (and by that I mean we were basically hammered over the head) that she’s about to be “hacked” by Watts. How do the original narrative beats play out? Here’s how I think it fits:

Gepetto is swallowed by Monstro: After Penny is effectively “hacked” and by that I mean that while her soul and spirit remain unchanged, Watts hacks into the mainframe and forces her to surrender control over her body the same way we’ve seen her do (but willingly) for Pietro. Penny essentially ends up trapped inside her own body as it follows Watts’ commands. I suspect Watts will force her to take Pietro and Maria (who’s of interest to Salem by being one of the last remaining SEW, and I strongly suspect her soul/aura could be used to make more of whatever the Hound is, but this is a whole other matter to delve into in a separate post) to Salem.

Pinocchio dives in to save his father and takes down the whale: I think Pietro and/or Ruby will appeal to Penny/be in enough danger that she will snap out of Watts control on her own, effectively reclaiming her bodily autonomy on her own and then creating a mayhem big and terrible enough with her powers that will take down the whale and give everyone else enough time to escape. This will be Penny’s heroic moment and her stand. Right now, everyone is making the mistake of having people protect the maiden powers. Penny realizes what makes her a maiden is to use those powers to protect the people; it’s a decision she makes on her own that cements her as a true Maiden and a hero of the people.

Pinocchio “apparently dies” but is then granted his wish and becomes a “real” little boy: Here I think Penny takes down the whale but goes down with it. We don’t see her die again onscreen (I think it would be overkill to show her “corpse” a second time and would cheapen her dying at all. In general I am wary of the resurrection trope being overdone or coming without a cost because it severely undercuts the emotional payoff of a death), but I think by the end of V8 she’s MIA (which would make her the second person Ruby loses that way, but also the first to return to her so). I think Penny uses her powers to stall Monstra, and I’m willing to bet good money that whatever Penny does next has to do with the Gravity dust that keeps Monstra afloat. The thing with Gravity dust is that, it does push things off the ground, but it can also pull things towards it. I think whatever number Penny pulls on the gravitational field ends up pulling her down in that sillage as well.

I know the popular theory is that Penny “dies” again and Pietro sacrifices his life to resurrect her one last time, and I can see it happening, but here’s the thing: RWBY subverts popular tropes, exploring new (and more hopeful!) paths. Just look at Qrow: RWBY said, oh the mentor figure, scarred and haunted by his past? is not just another stepping stone whose death cements the hero on his journey, but becomes a character with a drive of their own, and an arc of their own, and who gets to pass the torch and live to see it burn well and bright and to the end. Gepetto lives and mourns the apparent death of his son but is there to welcome him home when, rewarded for courage and abnegation, Pinocchio earns the right to become a human boy. I think Pietro, too, will live, and get to welcome a Penny that has finally earned the right to call herself Mantle’s Protector, no longer Ironwood’s puppet (heh) nor an extension of her father but an actual established hero of the people, around whom Mantle can rally and who can work with the right people (Robyn and the Happy Huntresses) for the right reasons and outcomes, people and reasons she herself chooses and decisions she herself makes and a power she’s reclaimed and accepted and knows how to use. 

Penny’s quest has always been one of identity, slowly transforming from getting her bearings and realizing what makes her humanity is her soul, her ability to develop and deepen and protect her bonds to people and her natural empathy and kindness (V3′s ”am I worthy of calling myself human, too?”); to navigating morality, the nuances of doing good and the need to make her own calls and judgement of what is right and wrong (V7′s “who should I protect? what should I follow?”); to now, having established that she’s worthy of being one, Penny still has to find how to be a maiden, what that role entails for her and how she can finally fit as herself and into this new role, 100% reclaiming herself, her body (even from Pietro!!), her title and her mission. V8 (and maybe onwards) is the culmination of Penny’s identity journey, and I see it playing very much as an Iron Giant moment.

“You are who you choose to be,” says RWBY (and Ruby!) to Penny.

“Superman A human, and a hero, and a maiden” will be her answer.

And just like the Iron Giant, Penny saves the world, and rises again.

[bangteamhyuk]

Got It

Synopsis: (Secret Agent! AU) You sat on barstool inside a strip club. You have your eyes on Kim Taehyung, another mercenary agent like you. You planned it for months. You were hired to intercept Kim Taehyung before he can transport an information that could ruin  several market industry. Your goal is to steal his watch. However, you were faced with slight difficulty. You were enjoying his company way too much. Can you resist his charms? You have to try harder.

Warning: Mature Content, mentions of weapon, sexually suggestive conversation, lap dancing, dry humping.

Word count: 3,395

Mood song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjbY0Tyfr4

“One Bourbon, please” you ordered as you raised your hand to signal the bartender and slowly sat on the barstool. You swiveled from your seat and leaned with your arm on the high table while you wait for your drink.  

From your seat you could see men riveted to the girls on the stage, dancing, flying and grinding down to a pole. But your eyes were fixated on somewhere else. You’ve been waiting for this for so long, meticulously planned and watch it fall in to proper places before you could make this move.

You were wearing a tight-fitting midnight violet dress, chest slightly exposed, and the hem ending right above your thigh. When your drink arrived, you shifted from your seat, legs crossed, and your elbow resting from the table as you took a sip from the rock glass. You tucked your hair from your ear when it fell, and you could swear someone was gazing at your direction.  It was hard for men not to look at you, they’d be damned if they didn’t.

Well, naturally you’d be attracting a lot of men from your seat, since you are one of the few women inside in a male-catered strip club. You weren’t there for a show, or some woman engulfed with jealousy to see your cheating husband having fun.  No, tonight you are an exception. You are there for a purpose and right now he is finally staring at you. Just one seat apart.

“Your first time?” He asked, taking a shot from his glass. He raised his empty glass to indicate the bar tender to refill his drink with a 21-year-old Royal Salute. You raised one eye brow and looked at his direction. “No” you smiled.

“What brings you here then?” he pursed his lips and folded his arms. His eyes now surveying you. “Observing…” your body leaning a bit forward to his direction, not showing one bit of intimidation. “Observing?” he continued, in return he also leaned towards you, not backing out as if taking up to your challenge. “Hmm..” you chuckled, sitting back from your position and being the first one to concede to whatever it is you two have stirred. You sipped from your glass, eyes now looking at the women dancing.

“You like women?” he tilts his head

“I like men more” you replied, as your finger traced the outlines from your glass and you stared back. You faintly saw his spine shake, as if you have roused something from him, piqued his interest.

“What brings you here?” You asked coyly. He just bats his eyes and smiled. Damn, he looked cute.

“Just like any other men, up to no good.” He confessed and grinned. “So, you are here to observe and learn from those women up on the stage? For what? For your boyfriend?” he looked back to the stage and sip from his glass.

“You could say that… but no, I am doing it for someone else, someone I want to attract for the night…” you spoke bluntly, while looking at him even if he was looking at somewhere else.

He turned around and smirked “Must be one lucky guy”.

“Who knows, it might just be you.” you shrugged as you looked away, smirking. You finished whatever that is left from your glass.  

“Kim Taehyung” he extended his hand to yours. You looked back and smiled.

“Y/N” you replied.

“Nice to meet you Kim Taehyung” you shook his hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

You already knew who he was. Kim Taehyung.

Your current client, a man named Mr. Ong who holds a seat on an international trade bureau, introduced Taehyung’s file to your office one night. During your study, you found out several similarities you shared him. Both of you are mercenaries, independent agents to whoever have any interest to shell out millions of dollars for a single task.

Both of you had a promising future, but dropped out from school just because. Both of you started early on this underground business knowing that the pay is more than good, in fact it blasphemously outrivaled any other job. Fuck. You roll your eyes. You are pretty sure he gets the same elation after every successful mission. You two must be insane, and that further ignited your pursuit. Nothing is more attractive to you than a man who shares the same ambition, no matter how morally wrong it appears to achieve.

You were tasked to steal an information from him, encrypted to a memory card hidden somewhere beneath his watch, as you were told. Your client insist that it is of great importance, that the market industry of several countries will be in jeopardy if that information is not intercepted immediately. Honestly, you could not care less.

Now that the secret transporter is right in front you, his boxy smile is definitely testing your confounded endeavor and your damn loyalty to the money.  You furtively shake your head hoping to keep your mind refocused on the present task.  You can’t let your months of probing, studying profiles and building a fake character around the people involved just to get this close to him go to waste tonight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh so you knew my friend Jimin huh?” he chuckles. Finishing his 5th shot of whiskey. He raised his again to gesture the bartender for a 6th refill. “I’m appalled you haven’t gotten under his influence. Typically, women just…” he laughed midway. You didn’t know why, but you did the same. You weren’t drunk just yet, but you somehow already feel intoxicated around him.

“…just are drawn to him. Even when he just breathe, they are instantly swept off their feet by Park freaking Jimin. It’s not just women, even men!” He raised both his brows, clearly surprised.

“Maybe, but I’m drawn more to men who is crazy as me.” You flipped your hair, exposing your neck. “…and he doesn’t quite make the cut” you continued.

You smirked as the sight of him gulped. He took a quick glance from your bare display of your decolletage. Did that surprise him? But you were just getting started.

“What do you mean by that?” he slowly returns his gaze from your skin towards your eyes.

“Well…” you tilt your head bashfully as you stood up and move to a sit right next to him, finally closing the gap.

“I like to make. Bold. Moves. That’s for starters” you bit on your lips trying not flash another smile, as you took his glass from him and downed all its contents empty. He froze. You left him dumbfounded.

You looked at the sight quite proudly, taking control of the mis en scene, leaving him bewildered and vulnerable. It is only a matter of time and patience to have him finally wrapped around your fingers, and you are willing take it slow. Shit. Are you enjoying this way too much?

“Bold moves? I hope you are not revealing yourself way too much. It’s pretty dangerous” he looks away as he asked for another refill you stole from him.

You chuckled as you were holding on to your empty glass, staring blankly at it “Aren’t I? I kind of like that sound” Suddenly you felt his warm palms against yours. You stopped smiling as you turn your gaze towards him, clearly off-guard. “Your glass please?” he demanded as he smirked.

Did he just took over and shift the control of the present situation to him? You jolted at the thought.

“Sure…” you handed your empty glass over to him. He held it for the bartender to have it filled with the same drink he had earlier. “I hope you don’t steal anything from me for now on. I don’t like it.” He said sternly.

“Sorry” you apologized, looking down.  You suddenly stiffened from your seat. Wait, did you just apologized to the person who you are supposed to deceive and exploit by the end of the night?

“It’s fine” he snickered. “Women showing regret when they’re wrong, that’s genuinely attractive” he gleamed at his own glass as he took a swig.

You were lost in thought. Confused. What just happened? You never liked the idea nor the feeling of being subordinate. You love being in authority. Men, influential men, you always find them on their knees begging before you and asking for your help. It is the view you glorified, perpetually.

Just how many women can make men desperate without taking off their clothes or pointing out a gun? What you two have is far greater than a human figure or artillery, it was knowledge. Vast one that can possibly create a war if one of you ever fancy. It is the reason why you kept this job.

However, you are confronted by a man who might just be far superior than you are. Have you misjudged him?

“Do you… perhaps find me attractive?” you tried revert the situation with your question.

“I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be.” he replied. He raised his eyebrow

“Sorry for earlier. Maybe I can make it up to you if I show you how remorseful I can be?” you instigated.

“Oh, was it not enough?” he licked his lips.

You shook your head. “I can do better.”

You pursed your lips pointing out to the dancer. “Want me to show you? All free. Well, that is, if you agree..”

“Right now?” he enquired as you nodded.

Quickly, he downed the last of his whiskey. You waited for his reply. “Where can I see this show you were saying?”

“Follow me” you held his hand and left the strip club.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you opened your hotel room, you directed Taehyung to enter first. He was hesitant at first, but your smile softened any trace of doubt from him and finally entered the room.

“Nice room. Quite cozy…” he looked around the ceiling even if there wasn’t anything to see. You closed the door behind you.

“Sit” you pointed at the wooden chair to Taehyung. He obliged, yet his feet were shaking.

“Relax, I’m not going to do an interrogation” You stood behind him, reaching out an arm as you gently pressed your hand on to his lap, assuring his safety. He suddenly quivered from his sit. “We haven’t even started yet.” You chuckled.

He moved his head, as if tickled at the dry sensation of your voice which sits right next to his ears. You pulled out your phone from your purse and filtered through the contents of your playlist.  Finally you found it and played the song you’d love Taehyung to hear.

As the first verse fiddled, you surprised Taehyung by dropping down your heel in between his legs from behind while he remained seated. The sight left him paralyzed. Finally, you were back in control.

You brushed your hand on your bare legs from your thigh down to your heel, entrapping him further to you, with your delusive enticement. You needed to put his attention on you, and kept it as long as you could.

You shift your position, and danced in front of him now. Swaying your hips, spreading your legs and dropping down on your heels, shamelessly. You let him watch and do nothing from his sit.

When the song was almost over, you artfully sat on his lap, moving your hips against him as if simulating the act of copulating. It was dastardly obscene, but you are not one bit regretful. In fact, if this isn’t a part of your job you would gladly taken your clothes off for him by now.

Suddenly you felt his growing bulge. You were startled and left flustered, but you got to keep on going. You looked away from him, unsure what to do next, yet he swiftly took your chin to face him.

Earlier, you found this man adorable and full of charm, but now you found yourself intimidated at his gazed and the abrupt change from his face. His expression unyielding. His posture dignified.

His free hand secured your back, while you move not letting you leave a single gap away from him. He bit his tongue and watch you danced. Everything about him suddenly felt fatal and intense.

You didn’t want that. His hands are not supposed to be there. It will ruin your plan. So you pulled out both of his hand placed it above his head. You held on to his wrists. You secured it with your left hand as you unbuttoned his shirt slowly, using your right.

You weren’t choking him, yet you found his eyes shut and his mouth gasping for air. Then it hit you. It’s the perfect chance for you to end this whole ordeal. You brushed your nose on his shoulder slowly moving up to his ears. Lips almost touching his ear lobe.

He let a soft moan.

You whispered sweet nothings against his ears, telling him how good he is just by merely sitting down. You made sure he was so distorted from reality, unaware of the fact that you are beginning to take his watch from his wrist.

“Aren’t good boys the best?” you whispered as you pressed down the pressure point that sends him unconscious. You sighed.

“That was easy huh?” You stood up and fixed yourself from the table mirror. You looked at the watch and smiled. Delighted to find yourself victorious.

You took your purse and tucked his watch inside. “Oh, I almost forgot!” you picked up your phone which you tossed on the floor earlier. Before you left the room, you took one last look at the man.

Has it not been for work, you would’ve asked him out for coffee instead of a private show and a lap dance. It could have led something and somewhere better for the both of you. “Maybe in another dimension, we could have been drinking hot coffee right now, talking how shitty our jobs are…” you shrugged. What were you expecting? You just knocked him unconscious and you were waiting for a reply?

You turn off the lights of the room and left.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon arriving at your apartment, you began to inspect his watch, looking for the memory card your client desperately covets. You carefully unscrew his watch, removing its contents gently. You finally found the memory card hidden at the back of the plate.

You took your memory card reader device and connected it to your laptop. You opened the folder and found that there was only a single file in it. You checked. It’s a recorded video.

“Hi Y/N. Surprised?” he chuckled. Damn it. You knew you are screwed.

“Well to be honest, I wouldn’t expect you to get this far, but hey, congratulations! Well done! But don’t you think I’m a far better player?” He scrunched his nose while staring at the camera. You snickered. You nodded, showing you’ve conceded. You were well played.

“You see, I always knew one day I might be able to face a tough contender. But…” he looks at his watch on his wrist and then throws an identical one above his face and catch it with the same hand. Dangled it on the front of the camera as if to annoy you further at your defeat. “You always can’t be too sure, can you? Wait…” he fixed his camera and placed it on the floor.

He rolled his pants, and wrapped the original watch around his thin ankle and hid it with his socks and pants. “It’s going to be uncomfortable from now on, but at least I’d be able to sleep soundly tonight” you were baffled at the scene. You were right. You have definitely underestimated him.

“Oh, you were wondering how I knew you before getting this? Well, let me enlighten you. The moment I received this specific job to transport this information from my client to another. I made a point of doing some research, finding who my client might be having bad terms with. Unfortunately, I trickled it down to your client, Mr. Ong. I have him followed by the people I trust. Later on, I found out that he had hired you, so I asked someone to follow you too. Actually, you may have heard of him.” You gasped. No, you shook your head, hoping you were wrong.

He nodded, as if he saw right through you from the screen. “Jimin. Yes, Park Jimin. You see, never underestimate a seemingly naïve man. You never know what’s underneath them.” He looked down to where his original watch was hidden, as if adding more fuel to your growing frustration.  It’s funny how you couldn’t bring yourself to hate him. You actually admired him. His dedication to his job and the extent he is willing to do to get it done, that’s definitely appealing.

“We made it a point that he acts friendly towards you, make it conspicuous that he knows me. I needed you to look for me, follow me, and then trapped you down to where I want you to be.”

Your mouth was left agape. You remembered everything completely. From the moment Jimin introduced himself to you in a coffee shop, and down to taking you out for the evening. One night he insists on taking you home, when you two are walking the streets he suddenly pointed out the strip club, and then shared stories of him and his friend Taehyung who loves to spending time inside it.

How have you been so stupid and gullible, not having any slight idea that getting that information from Jimin was too fast and easy. Things are starting to make sense now.

“I made sure we meet at the strip club. Something tells me you have a knack for dancing…” he winked at the screen. “I always knew you have thing for good men. Good but naughty ones, right?” He nods to himself “Yeah, I also did my research well.” He folds his arms and sat comfortably from his chair. “I hope I convinced you enough to make you interested and keep you from being attracted to me.” He showed his boxy grin. “Aren’t I irresistible? Anyway, I’d also like to thank you. If you haven’t realized yet. I took something quite important from you too.” You froze. What was it that he took away from you?

“Your anonymity, that you hold so dearly.” He was right. Like any other mercenary agents, you desired working in the shadows. Having your true identity known will hold you back, that why you never kept a single person close to you. It’s going to disturb you from work. “Don’t you agree knowledge is very powerful and beguiling?” He looks at the watch from his wrist and pointed something on the side. “If you have been keener, you will absolutely realize that in between the strap of the watch you stole from me have a little device called locator.” Shit! You quickly packed your essential things in your knapsack. You knew what’s coming next.

“I told you, I like women who show remorse if they misbehave. Girls like you should be punished don’t you think so? But, thankfully, I’m quite a forgiving man. I am giving another minute after this video ends, so you can escape. Sorry Y/N, I am also doing my job. I needed more time before you can intercept me again. Maybe, if the time is right. We can have coffee?” you chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. The video ended with that. Asking you out for coffee when the time is right.

“Yeah, I’d love that” you chuckled. You can hear the police from downstairs looking for you. If only you have been more careful and overvalued him you wouldn’t be caught in this situation. You scoffed at screen. Looking at it one last second before you closed your laptop.

The smile of the person who just outsmarted you.

You quickly left from your window to run on the roof above your apartment. Suddenly your phone buzzed. A message from an unregistered number. While running you opened it and saw his message. “I had fun. Thanks for the private show ;) Don’t forget to throw your phone. I’d love to see you next time.” You chuckled as you threw your phone aimlessly away. Damn. He was good.

“Kim Taehyung, you got it” you smirked.

Author’s note: Thank you for giving time. I really appreciate it! 

[letsliketurtles]

One more thing about the whole madrigalcest thing and shipping in general I think people forget is just how fascinated in the taboo people can be. I’m someone who has extreme anxiety and would never want to hurt another human being, and yet I have a macabre fascination with true crime, especially serial killers. Heck, I can’t even listen to it too late because it freaks me out, and yet I still listen to podcasts on it semi frequently. These taboo, forbidden things are interesting to discuss and think about in a fictional (or, at least, separated) realm from reality because in this space we can talk about it without hurting anyone in real life.

The reason why horror movies, true crime documentaries, creepypastas, and, heck, incest plot lines in telenovelas are so popular is because they’re interesting, not because the person creating or watching it wants it to happen or wants to do that thing.

I think you said it perfectly when you said that people should be able to do what they like. If someone doesn’t like something, thats perfectly fine! They absolutely have that right. But in a world filled with five times as many problems as people, I don’t think that going after a tumblr user who’s minding their own business while making incest content is really the best place to put that energy. Especially not when fandom spaces are often places where people can experience some escapism from the stress of the real world.

Anyways, sorry about all that. It’s just really been on my mind recently. TL;DR: I think people are super interested in the taboo and that it’s not something that shows moral character but just a morbid curiosity many people naturally have. Fandom should be places where people can have fun and explore ideas in a fictional setting. The only thing that I think people should maybe remember to do is tag their stuff so people who want to avoid certain topics can. But yeah, go at it, do what you want, avoid and block what you don’t, and just have fun and remember that there’s a real person behind the screen.

Also I hope you have a good day :)

Hi, anon!

Sorry that I only now to check on this lol but I wanted to share your response because I completely agree with you on many of your points. There are several safe ways that we as human beings have to explore fiction with tropes considered 'taboo' and it's such a common occurance in media such as telenovela, which is directly referenced in the movie. In addition to that, one of the most famous works of Colombian literature that explores more dramatic, forbidden themes was referenced many times throughout the movie's development. You mention lots of great points about how fandom spaces can be a place for exploring these ideas (everybody likes a little angst and thrill now and then) and offer a sense of creative escapism.

People can definitely differ on what "darker" topics we can explore and it's difficult to try to deem what's "worse" than others lol. On the topic of specifically Encanto (children's movie), I don't think it's right to scold older fans like teenagers and adults on the type of escapism they choose. Disney caters to both younger and older audiences well. So long as people properly utilize tags and limit sensitive information from public views, of course.

Thank you for the reminder that we are all fans and most importantly, human beings behind the screen and we can choose to engage in a more peaceful way.

Hope you have a great day as well, anon.

[bratkook]

clairvoyant. (m) part five.

masterlist.

word count: 6.4k

author’s note: wow i finally dug out my drafts and wrote another chapter for this even though its been two fucking years!!! im honestly writing this for myself because im bored and in a rut so if you read it tysm. also finally decided who it’ll be centered around so enjoy.

warnings: just good ole fashioned dry humping and kissing

Everyone around you was saying their goodbyes, thanking everyone for working so hard and you took that as your cue to start gathering the equipment up. 

“Thanks Y/N, just take that to the storage room.” The photographer you and Yoongi were currently assisting pointed out to the far right. You nodded in understanding before unhooking all of the lights and tearing them down properly. A few people lingered behind, makeup artists gathering their supplies, wardrobe crew grabbing a few more snacks off the catering table, and Yoongi rolling up the white backdrop. 

It was your first day on the job and it just so happened to land on a shoot day so you were trying your best to make a good first impression so they wouldn't fire you before you even really started. 

So far everyone had been very welcoming and kind, no one yelling at you if you messed up a little so that got rid of your jitters. It felt nice to be able to work where you knew you could network and learn, the only photography experience you had at your old job was taking shitty pictures of the drunken idiots lying around near closing. 

“So how’d you like your first assisting job?”

You looked to the left and saw Yoongi standing at the door frame of the storage room, a smile on his face and his hands holding the folded backdrop. 

“It was great, seems like kind of a tease though because tomorrow we’ll be doing basic retouching on photos.”

He just shrugged after setting what he was holding down, “True, we get quite a few of these shoots though so make a good impression and someone might take you under their wing.”

You sighed as you locked the lights securely into place. Being taken under someone's wing before you finished school would be a blessing because it almost guaranteed a decent job after school was over and you were tossed into the great unknown of an art degree holding college graduate. 

“Thats what I’m hoping for.” 

The both of you rechecked everything was in its place and secure before turning the light off and locking up the storage room. Due to the fact the shoot day extended longer than a typical shift you were being paid overtime and let off once everything wrapped so you and Yoongi were headed to the nearest restaurant to get actual food in your system. 

Your scarf was wrapped around your neck snuggly to protect from the cold wind and Yoongi draped his arm around your shoulder as you both casually walked. In this split moment you felt content, a slight feeling of everything starting to fall into place and you let yourself bask in it. 

“What's got you all smiley?”

Yoongi looked at you with a small grin, his eyes focusing on your wide smile before shifting back up to your own eyes. 

You just shrugged before playfully tugging his black beanie down over his eyes, earning a grunt of annoyance as he shoved it back up. “I’m just happy.”

“Are you usually not?”

There was a beat of silence as you thought it through. 

“It’s not that I’m not, I’m usually just...living through it?”

He nodded in understanding, “I get you. Kind of just going through routine motions without really feeling much.”

A white cloud left your mouth in a huff as you sighed in agreement, “Exactly, don’t get me wrong there’s little tidbits of happiness scattered throughout but they’re just moments of happiness that pass as quickly as they happen. It’s been a while since I’ve felt happiness for the future and its exciting.”

You looked back over at him, seeing him nod because he fully understood. He was on the same boat as you, his parents much like yours weren’t supportive of his choice to pursue an art degree so you guys were scraping by and holding on to any thread of hope that popped up. The pair of you were just hoping everything would work out. 

“Anyways, enough with the semi depressive reality check. I’m hungry and there’s this new korean barbecue place that opened up a few blocks away. Wanna text everyone and meet up for a nice family dinner.” He chuckled at the end of that, and you joined in light heartedly before whipping your phone out and sending out a group text simply saying “Korean bbq, don't be a bitch and meet here in fifteen.”  

Low and behold, your group of friends were indeed not bitches, they all showed up as punctual as you would expect of them and they even brought along a straggler. This straggler went by the name of Jeon Jungkook and you couldn’t help but look at him with a smile, just seeing him trail behind Taehyung with his head slightly dipped almost like he was unsure if him being there was okay. Taehyung on the other hand paid him no mind and just waltzed in, his denim clad arms outstretched and a boxy smile on display as he approached the table you all sat around.

Him and Jungkook were the last to arrive so Tae decided to slip into the seat beside you, but not before slotting his lips against yours in a chaste kiss that seemed too casual. Like usual no one said anything and you just rolled your eyes with a smile and shoved his shoulder before redirecting your attention to Yoongi who was the master meat cooker.

Jungkook saw the small exchange and his want for coaching, as you so put it, was back. He wanted that, whatever the fuck that was that you and Tae had. Fuck, did that make him a typical fuckboy? Did this go against his morals of being a gentleman?

You had reassured him that it was fine as long as he was straightforward with whoever it involved and he had already set his eyes on someone. Now it was just a waiting game on if Jisoo the cute barista would be for it or not.

“Jungkook sit down!”

The resemblance to a deer caught in headlights was uncanny as he stared at you, realizing he had just been standing behind the only available chair as everyone stared back at him with their own food set up in front of them already.

“Oh, sorry.” His hands came up and ruffled his own hair in embarrassment before he sat down, “Just a little distracted”

Taehyung slid over an empty plate and pointed his chopsticks at him, “He’s been like this for a couple of days, what’s your deal?”

Everyone’s attention was back on Jungkook, including your own. His cheeks reddened slightly from all the eyes on him so he took it upon himself to just scoop up some rice to occupy himself. What was he supposed to say? Yeah sorry I got a lot on my mind like finding out Taehyung and Y/N fuck on the regular but aren’t dating and Y/N is gonna teach me how to do that with the cute barista everyone sees at the campus coffee shop?

“Just a school project.”

“A very hands on school project right Jungkook?” You couldn’t help but tease him, knowing exactly what’s been on his mind since you’ve been texting each other to come up with some kind of game plan on approaching Jisoo.

His eyes flicked over to you for a split second, only giving you a nod before nervously chewing on his lip. You couldn’t understand him, you really couldn’t. How could a man who looked like him be this shy when it comes to literally anyone? He could probably crush someone with his thighs for crying out loud, but here he sat with an aura surrounding him that just showed how unsure he was with himself.

He was a sweet kid, super respectful as far as you could tell, he just needed to learn that wanting to fuck someone while not wanting a relationship was completely normal. Sex was human nature and you were determined to get him to enjoy it as long as he was consenting to your help.

You kept your eyes on him, seeing him reach his plate over to get the meat Yoongi was offering him and mumbling out a thanks before turning his attention to Jin who was on his left and starting a conversation.

A small jab to your cheek via a chopstick snapped you out of your curious gaze, your fingers coming up to rub at the skin and looking to your right where Jimin was sat. “You into him?”

He had mumbled it out to you so quietly you almost didn’t hear him, a couple seconds passed before it clicked and you shook your head, “No, why?”

“You’ve been staring at him like he’s your next victim.”

You rolled your eyes at him and smiled before picking up some kimchi and shoving it into his mouth with no resistance from his part as he happily munched on it. “I don’t have victims Park Jimin.” The way his eyes slightly narrowed at you made it clear he was questioning why you were staring at him as intently as you have been, “I was just looking at him because he’s interesting don’t you think?”

Jimin shook his head because he had no idea what you even meant by that, “Interesting? He’s not a caged animal for you to observe you weirdo.” He was just teasing you, giving you a smile when he heard you laugh.

“That’s not what I mean, forget it. How was your mom’s brunch?”

At the mention of that his expression went blank and he poured himself a glass of soju and took a nice swig of it, “As amazing as you would expect.”

Jimin’s parents always went all out for these brunches, renting out the biggest places and inviting the A class elites of Seoul who would donate to whatever charity they were advocating for. They hassled Jimin every single time to network and find a girl they deemed worthy enough of him marrying and he absolutely hated it. He was the literal definition of a rebellious son, getting a kick every time he would get under their skin. Whether that was by going out on a date with someone they thought suited him and getting absolutely trashed and scaring said girl away, to getting his body tattooed and pierced against their wishes. 

Jimin knew how to play his cards right, he knew his parents would never fully cut him off as long as he was somewhat compliant with a few things here and there but he wasn’t going to be molded into whatever they wanted him to be. He was their only child so in his mind who else could they possibly hand off their money to?

“I told my mom you were my date for the thanksgiving event.”

You hummed as you chewed on your food, already knowing this probably didn’t end well. “How did she take that?”

His smirk just proved your suspicion, “Super well actually. Especially when I told her I think you’re the one and I’m thinking about proposing to you.”

What?!

You choked on your food, coughing like a mad man and pounding at your chest with a closed fist. Taehyung who was sat on your left immediately handed you a glass of water and patted your back to help you out. All the while Jimin continued to stare at you with that shit eating grin on his face, pressing the edge of his glass against his lips as he waited for you to speak again.

“Jimin what the fuck I never agreed to that.”

Taehyung was now intrigued by whatever conversation you two were having so he decided to eavesdrop while pretending to eat his food.

“Relax Y/N, obviously I’m not doing that. It was a small joke.”

“It’s not a joke if your parents don’t think it is!”

He pursed his lips at you, “Damn is marrying me really that repulsive?”

Taehyung laughed to himself at that, gaining Jungkook's attention who was now looking at the exchange between you and Jimin.

“No, shut up! That’s not what I’m saying Jimin. I’m just supposed to go to scare off all the girls that wanna latch onto you, I’m not there to piss your parents off, they probably hate me enough knowing you help me whenever you can.”

Taehyung decided to stop listening at that moment, striking up a conversation with Hoseok instead. He knew how sensitive you were when it came to talking about receiving help and admitting to needing it so he knew this wasn’t his business. Jungkook on the other hand didn’t have a clue so as he stared down at his rice his ears stayed hooked on the conversation.

Jimin pressed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, “Y/N, I promise I was joking. I didn't tell my parents that, I wouldn’t put you in that position. They don’t hate you by the way.”

That was a little hard to believe, Jimin was a very giving person, especially when it came to his friends. The rest of your friends were a little more financially stable than you were so the amount of times he would take it upon himself to help you, because you had too much pride to really ask for help, surely it stood out to his parents. 

“What I choose to do with my money is my business okay, my parents don't even notice where it goes half the time.”

You pushed the meat on your plate around with your chopsticks, your mood dropping down just a bit once you really remembered how much help Jimin gave you. You owed him a lot, and even though he says it's fine it doesn't make you feel any better about it. 

“Hey,” Jimin slowly spoke, slouching down and looking up at you from your downcast gaze on the table, “Y/N.”

When you only pursed your lips at the sound of your name he sat back up and slung his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side and wrapping both arms around you. He had his chin resting on your head, seeing the rest of the guys now looking your way. Yoongi mouthing out what the fuck did you do while Jimin responded nothing mind your business. 

“If I ever go overboard for whatever reason let me know and I’ll back off but if I can help you then I will and have no problems doing so okay?” He had mumbled all that next to your ear to not draw attention from everyone else. 

With a deep sigh, you mumbled out an okay and tried your best to go back to the dinner you and your friends were having. Jungkook had heard the entire exchange and he wanted to say something to make you feel slightly better but there was no way he could do that without feeling like he crossed a line by eavesdropping in your conversation. 

After a few moments the dinner had gone back to normal, all of you goofing around like you usually do, the guys including Jungkook in and making him feel like part of the group. When the time came to leave you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket so you slid it out to peek at the notification, momentarily confused when you saw Jungkook's name flashing on your screen when he was sat right across from you.

Regardless, you opened the thread of messages up and grinned when you read what he wrote.

Jungkook 8:45pm

Need help, Jisoo responded.

Jungkook 8:45pm

Can we go to your dorm?

Jungkook 8:45pm

Don’t want Tae to hear…

Right on cue, Taehyung slung his arm around your shoulders, not noticing how you locked your phone and slid it back into your pocket. All of you were now shuffling out of the restaurant, you and Taehyung in the middle of the swarm of your group that was now being reckless on the walk back to the dorms.

“Wanna go back to mine? I can try to get rid of Jungkook.” He whispered in your ear, kissing the side of your head swiftly as he waited for your response.

You slid your arm around his waist as you nuzzled further into his side when the wind picked up, “Can’t, Jungkook and I actually have some planning to do for his project tonight.”

At the mention of his name you could see Jungkook's back tense up from behind and you already knew he was listening in to your exchange while pretending to be invested in the ruckus Jimin was currently doing.

“Oh, planning? Is that code for fucking?” Your cheeks warmed up at his words, your palm instinctively smacking his side, “Cause, to be honest I don’t know how I would feel about you and my roommate banging.”

“Oh don’t be like that, sharing is caring right?” You teased, enjoying the suggestive look that took over his face, “But no, no fucking. I mean it when I say we’re planning for a project.”

He sighed and said alright before dropping the conversation altogether. The walk back to campus took a few minutes, your group huddled by the statue on the front corner of the campus as you said your goodbyes and dispersed. Jimin hopped into an Uber before heading to his apartment, Jin took off in his car to his own place while Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi and Taehyung hooked arms and stupidly walked across the quad towards the boys dorms. 

You looked over at Jungkook, seeing him smile at the guys’ antics, his eyes moving back to you and seeing your hands motion for him to follow you to the girl’s dorms. 

“Hey Y/N, who's this?” Joy asked with a smile from behind the front desk, hands already sliding over the notepad used for off campus guests. 

“Oh, Jungkook. I’m a student here.” He slid out his wallet and handed her his student ID. 

She hummed as she filled out his info in a separate notepad before handing it back with a smile. “Okay, well Jihyo’s doing her rounds for guests at 11:40 so if you’re planning on spending the night I’d recommend hiding around that time.”

Jungkooks face started to turn a light shade of red at the implication of him spending the night and now he was wondering how many times Taehyungs had to hide in your dorm on the nights he never came home and it also clicked when you’d make a swift exit out of his and Taehyungs shared room for a few moments when Namjoon made his rounds before sneaking back in when you thought no one would notice.

“Thanks Joy!” You winked at her, hooking your arm around Jungkooks and dragging him away while she fluttered her fingers in a goodbye wave. 

When you entered the elevator you felt Jungkook finally exhale, “Wow, she’s pretty.” Was the first thing he said. 

You could only laugh in response, “Oh, I know. All the girls here are Jungkook, and I’m pretty sure they’d all let you smash if you knew how to ask them.”

And now his blushed cheeks were spreading to his ears as well, he could see it in the warped reflection the elevator doors were giving him. Could he really just ask them? He felt like that would be the quickest way to get slapped to next week. 

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, you took the lead and walked out, turning left as your hands slid out the keycard that was in the small pocket in your bag. As you entered your room you noticed Wendy was gone, her side completely spotless as normal and a cute post it note resting on your desk. 

Went out for dick and by dick I mean getting absolutely hammered and crying into my street tacos, won't be back until tomorrow so feel free to get your own dick down here all night xo

Jungkook read the note as well, quickly acting like he didn’t when he heard you giggling to yourself as you set your stuff down. His eyes roamed the room, seeing the cute touches you and your roommate have added, one of which was a giant polaroid wall on your side with plenty of photos of you and your friends.

“Okay,” you clapped your hands together as you walked in front of Jungkook and set your hands on his shoulders to force him to sit on your bed, “what’s going on with Jisoo?”

He slid his phone out silently, opening up their thread of messages and handing the device over to you. You grabbed it from him and flicked up to the top of the thread. 

Jungkook 3:12pm

Hey, its Jungkook. Thanks for the free coffee

Jungkook 3:12pm

And your number. 

Jisoo 4:30pm

Hi! Sorry I just got off work but you’re welcome anything for my favorite customer. 

You continued to scroll, seeing Jungkook and Jisoo making nice, innocent conversation with each other. Jisoo kept implying wanting to see Jungkook outside of the regular visits to the cafe while Jungkook was either very oblivious or just didn’t know how to ask her out. 

“Okay, she wants you to ask her out Jungkook. Why haven’t you?” You hand his phone back to him, seeing him fidgeting with his fingers at your question. 

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how to properly ask her. What's a good date suggestion?” You slipped your shoes off and shuffled up on your bed beside him, choosing to get comfy. 

“If you want something short and sweet, I suggest going out to lunch somewhere near campus. You guys can talk and get to know each other and you can get a feel for this before you decide if you like her enough to pursue something or if you’d be down for something casual with her.”

He sighs at that, laying back against your bed and using one of your throw pillows to cushion his head from hitting the wall. “Okay, and if I decide I want something casual how do I bring it up? And if she’s for it and tries to get physical how do I go about it?”

“Well for one, you’re not gonna bring it up on the first date. That kinda stuff shouldn’t be discussed on a first date, not unless theres an obvious connection. I do have to advise you though, if you just want something casual you can’t treat her like you want something more.”

His thick eyebrows furrow at this, “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean, if after this one date you decide you just wanna sleep with her or make it a friends with benefits kinda thing you can’t take her on dates or act like a boyfriend. Odds are she’s gonna be the one to ask you what you’re looking for and its very important for you to be honest. Thats how you avoid hurting someone.”

You’re gently patting his head at this, feeling him nod along to your words, “Also, in terms of how to act if she decides to get physical then you kinda act on instinct. I know you’ve only slept with one person before but what about kissing?”

He shakes his head at this, “Not much experience there either. I told you Y/N, I feel completely clueless and I know I shouldn’t care but I don’t wanna be dubbed as the guy that sucks at everything.”

A giggle leaves you at his statement, “Jungkook that’s not gonna happen. Kissing is like second nature.”

He slides the pillow out from behind him and covers his face to let out a groan into it, “Easy for you to say, you don’t understand how many times I have to listen to Taehyung brag about how great you are.”

“At kissing?”

“Yeah, and other things.” He trails off. 

All you can do is sit there and think over his words, part of you wants to suggest he go to a party with Taehyung and make out with random girls before he asks Jisoo out if he’s so worried about being bad at kissing of all things but you know he wont be up for it. Another part of you wants to suggest helping him learn, one on one, but you’re also not sure how he’d take that. Even though kissing was entirely innocent in your eyes you really don’t want to make Jungkook uncomfortable. 

“Look,” you start off, sliding the pillow off his face, “I can show you, if you want.”

The fingers that were strumming on his stomach freeze at your suggestion and you immediately think you fucked up. Until his head tilts to look at you, his eyes wide in curiosity, “Really?”

He sits back up to fully look at you, “Yeah, if you want to Jungkook.”

You don’t expect him to nod as quickly as he does but considering he’s eager to learn it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. “Please, as long as it’s not awkward for you.”

You shrug and say its not because it really isn’t, Jungkooks hot and kissing is your favorite pastime so you really dont mind. Plus considering you’re the one who suggested coaching him you kind of felt a tinge of responsibility to not let him go off with zero confidence with something as simple as kissing.

He could only sit there and you know he doesn’t know how to initiate it because of the position you’re in so you stand up and go to stand right in front of him. With the height of your bed and his height when you stand right in front of his sitting frame you’re only slightly taller than him. 

“Okay, lets start slow yeah?” He nods, his tongue running across his lips in anticipation. You nudge his thighs apart so you can slot between them more comfortably and gently rest your palms on his jaw, getting closer to him. 

“You can touch me, whatever feels natural okay?” He can only nod again, maintaining eye contact for a moment before looking down at your lips and seeing the smile on them. His eyes flutter closed when you finally press your lips together, his lips feel soft against yours and it only lasts a moment before you’re pulling away and his lips try to chase you back. 

“How was that?” He immediately asks, not noticing that his hands had found their way onto your hips. 

“Good, not too stiff. We’re gonna move on now, just try to follow what I’m doing.”

Your thumb traces his bottom lip before your hands go back to cupping his jaw gently. This time he closes the distance between you two, his lips slotting between yours easily with a little more pressure than last time. 

You test the waters, letting him get used to the actions of open mouth kissing, feelings his lips relax after a while. He lets out a small gasp of surprise once he feels the tip of your tongue lick the seam of his lips. The grip he has on your hips tighten and you give him a few more seconds to adjust before you take it further. 

One of the hands you have on his jaw slides down to grasp the hand on your hip and you drag it up so he could cup the back of your head. Your fingers dont leave his hand until he has a decent grip on your hair. 

His mouth opens up a little wider, letting you slide your tongue inside and his eyes slip open for a second at the new feeling. Its wet, and a little ticklish but the sound of your lips smacking together and the small groans of pleasure you both slip out are making a small fire light up inside him. 

The hand gripping your hair tightens up and he tugs gently, kissing you harder when he hears the small moan that leaves your mouth. Its pure instinct that has you swinging your legs over his thighs and straddling him on your bed, not noticing just how comfortable you’ve gotten until you find yourself grinding down onto him and thats when you stop. 

You pull back, a small string of spit pulling apart between your lips and he doesn’t seem to even notice your new position. His eyes are half lidded and his breathing is harsh and the way his tongue comes out to catch the spit on his lips makes you want to dive back in but you snapped out of it. 

“See, second nature right?” 

He finally seems to realize you’re on his lap when he looks down and sees how flush you are to him, “Yeah, want more practice though.” He doesn't give you time to respond before he’s using the hand still in your hair to pull you towards him again and this time he’s leading the kiss. 

He tilts his head and licks his way into your mouth, groaning when your tongues tangle together. He never realized how messy kissing could be but he thought it was hot. You can tell he wants to speed up but you keep your movements slow, knowing that the buildup is the best part, the feeling of your tongues playing tag or your tongue tickling the roof of his mouth before you pull back slightly to suck on his bottom lip. Those moments were always your favorite when it came to making out. 

Jungkook starts to grow more comfortable, both his hands now coming to grip the back of your head and the other sliding up right beneath your jaw as the kiss grows deeper. And that's when your hips start grinding down again, this time Jungkook notices it right away and he pulls back to let out a moan. 

“Sorry, is that too much?” Your lips are shiny and he can’t look away from them, “I know we said kissing but I didn’t really ask about this.”

His hands fall limp and just as you’re about to hop off they come back to life to rest on your hips, using them to slide you back across his lap, “No, I like it. Its uh, for the experience right?”

You nod at this, not giving it much thought because you just want to go back to kissing him. The logical side of you wanted to stop because you’re just supposed to be showing him the ropes on kissing on a first date and odds are Jisso’s not gonna hop on his lap in the middle of lunch in public and do this but the other side of you wants to see him fall apart underneath you and that part of you is winning. 

“Tell me if you want me to stop.” You let his hands control the motion of your hips while you go back to kissing him. The flavor of the chapstick he had on is all you can taste as the kiss grows more heated. Your hands wrap around his shoulders as you pull yourself even closer to him, speeding up the rocking of your hips and feeling Jungkook choose to place his palms on your back, wanting you just as close. 

The shudder of his breath fans across your face when he pulls back to let out another groan but you don’t want to pull your lips away so you trail them down his jaw until you reach the spot just under it when his jaw meets his neck. 

When he feels your tongue on his skin along with the gentle sucking he can’t help but rock his hips up into yours, “Oh fuck.” He keens, applying more pressure with his hands to encourage you to grind on him faster. 

“Feel good Jungkook?” You ask, nibbling on his skin softly before trailing your way back up to his lips, not slowing down the motions of your hips. 

“Yeah,” he gasps, his eyes are blown out and he knows hes about to cum in his pants like a teenager but he doesn’t care. “So good.”

“Good.” Is all you respond, your lips coming together again to resume the motion that seems familiar now. 

Jungkooks moans of pleasure are becoming more frequent and the feeling of him blowing his load right underneath you is making you embarrassingly wet, but right now its all about Jungkook. You can deal with your problem later. 

“Dont stop, please.” He breathes out between kisses, his eyebrows coming together when he feels his climax approaching. 

“You gonna cum?” You ask him, keeping your face close enough to his where you can feel his breath tickle your cheek at the proximity. 

“Fuck, yeah.”

You speed up your hips, grinding down a little harder and grabbing one of his hands again to grab your boob this time. He gives them an experimental squeeze, moaning again at the feeling of them. 

“C’mon Jungkook, you can cum.” His eyes are open now, looking directly at you and when he sees the fascination in your eyes at watching him fall apart he loses it, letting out a small wine as his body tenses up, his hips coming up to rut against yours as he rides out his orgasm. 

He drops his head forward to rest on your chest as you continue to grind against him to milk out the feeling, his body shuddering at every roll of your hips until he’s whimpering at the overstimulation. 

You still your hips and let him bask in the feeling, his back rising and falling as he tries to catch his breath. 

“Jesus christ.” Jungkook pulls back from you, a dopey smile on his face that can be attributed to post orgasm bliss. “Does kissing always lead to that?”

“No, not always, but its fun when it does.” You smile back at him. His body is definitely loosened up now and just as you’re about to speak again a hard knock comes from your door. 

“Fuck, thats Jihyo making rounds.” Your arms are still around him but you know you need to answer the door before she uses her master key to unlock it for you. 

Jungkook groans quietly when you get off of him, any movement on his sensitive dick being too much for him to handle right now. He’s happy he chose to wear black pants and a shirt that will definitely cover the wet spot of cum because when you stand up off of him it is glaringly obvious what it is. 

The room door clicks as you slide it open and he sees you greet Jihyo with a smile, “Hey Y/N, he’s gotta be outta here in 5 minutes.”

Jungkook can only awkwardly sit on your bed as the exchange goes down, “Yeah, no problem. We were just working on a project.” He sees Jihyo look you up and down, noticing your swollen lips and disheveled hair before she looks at Jungkook who stupidly covers his lap with the pillow beside him. 

“Right. I’ll be back in a few to make sure he’s gone.” You nod before stepping back and shutting the door behind you. 

“Sorry about that, I forgot what time it was. Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?”

Jungkook stands up from his position, shaking his head at your offer. “No it’s fine. I really should get going now anyways, that essay for creative writing is due tomorrow and I need to finish editing it.”

“Oh shit, you’re right.” Your hands comes up to your face, your teeth going to chew on your fingernail as you think of having to edit the monstrosity of the essay you wrote while you were delirious with sleep. 

“Uh thanks for–“

“For giving you the best orgasm of your life? Yeah, no problem.” You wink at him, enjoying the flustered look that immediately takes over his face. 

He lets out a chuckle, happy that you’re not making this awkward, “Really though. Thank you.”

You can only shrug, “You should really text Jisoo though, she’s not gonna reject you and if you kiss her like that she’s definitely not gonna turn down any offer you give her.”

Jungkook doesn’t fully believe you but he knows he has to bite the bullet and do it. He gives you a hug and says goodnight before he shuffles out of your dorm and into the elevator. 

Now that he’s in a brightly lit place he once again looks at the warped reflection in the elevator doors, using it to fix his hair the best way he can and adjust his shirt and jacket to cover the wet spot on his crotch before he exits it. 

Joy spots him as hes about to leave and lets out a whistle, “Y/N take you for a wild ride huh?” She teases him and he blanks, not really knowing how to respond until the automatic excuse comes out, “We were working on a project.”

“Mhm, some project. Bye Jungkook.” She waves him off with a giggle, enjoying how flustered he gets. 

Jungkook all but runs across the quad, wanting to get out of the cold as well as into his room to slide out of his sticky ass underwear and pants. He uses his key card to open the dorm buildings doors, waving at Baekhyun before hopping on the elevator and making his way up to his floor. 

When he slides into his room he really wasn’t expecting to see Taehyung still awake, resting on his bed against the wall where the giant canvas of his ass was hung up. 

“Oh, hello.” Taehyung spoke up first, his eyes raking over Jungkook entirely. “How was the progress on your project?”

He knew Taehyung was asking an innocent question but Jungkook couldn’t help the pang of guilt he felt at it. He knew you and Taehyung weren’t together but he still felt like he was crossing a line by letting you give him an orgasm without his roommate knowing. Especially since Taehyung always boasted about the amazing orgasms you gave him, it almost felt like those were reserved for Tae only and he had just snatched one off the shelf.

“Oh, it was good.” He spoke up quietly, walking over to his closet to grab his pajamas, “Got a lot done actually.”

Taehyung had his eyes glued to Jungkook’s back as he rummaged in his closet. There was something off about him and he just couldnt put his hands on it until Jungkook slid off his jacket and shirt for his pajama shirt and turned around without a second thought to slide his pants off. 

“Dude!” Taehyund gasped in shock, his fingers pointing directly at Jungkook's cum stained pants. 

Jungkook looked down with wide eyes when he realized Taehyung could clearly see. “Did you catch a glimpse of Y/N’s tits when you were studying and busted a nut in your pants or what?”

Mm well no actually just good ole fashioned dry humping is what he wanted to respond with but he chose to deny until he died. “No! I spilled something on my pants at her dorm.”

Taehyung didn’t believe his horrible excuse for a second but didn’t want to continue to tease him, “Whatever dude, go shower. I don’t blame you, she’s hot I bust a nut just looking at her too, now imagine what her pussy feels like.”

Jungkook didn’t even want to respond to his raunchy comment, simply gathering his shower cubby and towel before leaving to go shower. Except now thanks to Tae he really couldn’t stop wondering what your pussy would feel like around his dick.

[bigskydreaming]

IGN’s recent Bat-focused article (Batman: What Does Red Hood Need to Do to Get A Good Story?) praises fanfic writers and also is an amazing critique of how stagnant Jason has become under recent DC management and I’m so surprised at how good it is and how well thought out the solutions were

Hmmm. I just looked it up and I mean, I’m not trying to start anything but I both agree and disagree? Like, it makes some points for sure, I mean, its not like its saying things that I haven’t said a thousand times about Dick, like.....these characters need to be allowed access to a full range of emotions, both good and bad, in order to be fully fleshed out, so I mean yes on that premise alone I absolutely agree this is as true for Jason as it is for Dick or anyone else.

Tbh my only real criticism of the piece is it thinks Jason exists in a particular predicament the other characters aren’t in as well. And that I just don’t agree with, like they kinda lost me a bit with their first paragraph:

His complexities and moral ambiguity make him a compelling and distinct character among his more strait-laced Robin-brothers. Sadly, the character has seen little growth since his rage-filled reintroduction into comics. The ‘former Robin becomes a villain’ idea was enough for DC to coast on for a while but since rejoining the heroes, Red Hood has done little else.

First off, this may just be me being pedantic but I’m ALWAYS going to go fetch a grain of salt before continuing reading anything that pits Jason against his brothers in a war of his moral ambiguity against their strait-lacedness. Because to me, that’s just a fundamentally shallow view of the Batfam that caters to the idea that they each must have their own distinct niche in order to be fully viable individual characters, when a) no, and b) they don’t fit neatly into the niches people keep trying to slot them into and it never ends well for anybody. 

Like Jason is morally ambiguous in a lot of ways too, yes, but umm, even if we assume that the writer is only speaking of Dick, Tim and Damian, we’re talking a guy who beat the Joker to death with his bare hands and has ten assassins and mercenaries on his speed dial and who co-led the Outsiders, a guy who was deeply immersed in weighing the pros and cons of getting revenge for his father by getting Captain Boomerang killed and is forever being DMed by Ra’s because he’s convinced he can get Tim to say He Has Some Points Actually, and the kid who was an assassin with a body count by age ten and who has struggled constantly ever since his debut to define his OWN personal view of morality that is not wholly predicated on what he was taught by any single individual.

And this is a big part of where I part ways with the article, because I think it falls into the same trap that a lot of people do by believing fanfic is inherently better by doing the same thing from just a different angle. Fanfic CAN be better than the canon, I absolutely believe that, I believe it is at times, but to do so, it has to like, BE BETTER. It has to do things differently, and not just paint a slightly different veneer over the same things. Like, pedantic though it might be, I outlined the above issue because its a mode of thinking the canon absolutely falls into again and again, and just like the writer of that article themselves, like....I think fandom as a whole is no different? 

Like, yes there are great stories about Jason out there, some writers have done great and interesting things with him, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a huge trend in fandom of doing the exact same thing I see here.....which is honestly a huge part of the exact same problem the article is decrying canon for......LIMITING Jason (and all the Batfam) by reducing them and their stories to finite niches as a way of spotlighting them as different from their siblings.....except they’re not that different! And that’s okay! They don’t have to be! Families can have lots in common, families DO have lots in common due to like.....shared variables during their formative years. 

I mean Jason was heavily influenced by environmental factors in how and where he grew up before he ever met Batman, but like the article goes into itself, he was no less influenced by Bruce himself as his father figure.....which is something he absolutely has in common with his siblings, thus its not hard at all to see how his siblings could have similar complexities and moral struggles that stem from trying to reconcile Bruce’s influence with the many other things and people that have influenced their childhoods.

And similarly, while the article is dead-on about Jason’s stagnancy....this is something that applies in equal measure to the rest of his family, because they’re all facing the same issues in terms of how DC views and utilizes them, and fandom as much as it likes to condemn DC for doing just that....frequently does the same thing. Like, Jason’s stuck in canon, absolutely......but Dick keeps being popped out into his own microcosm to experience a couple years of stories that essentially turn him into completely different characters isolated from every communal part of his character’s history, and then ERASE everything that’s happened at the end of each of these stories and reset him to square one.....and that’s just a different kind of stagnancy that again, still never allows for actual character progression or development. Tim has LITERALLY been regressed back to Robin, like a hard reset that’s its own kind of stagnancy and Damian has had years of character development upended just to kick him back to where he started, effectively strip away all the connections he’s developed at least in any meaningful way, etc.....and the same holds true for Babs and Cass and Steph and even Bruce himself IMO, in a lot of ways.

Its absolutely a problem, but its a problem that extends far beyond just Jason even if he is a great example of it. And its also a problem that extends into fic itself, and that’s why I don’t agree with a lot of the conclusions that article draws beyond just the fundamental “these characters need to be allowed access to a full range of emotions.”

Yes. That. That right there, THAT I think is crucial, but I think that writer needed to widen the scope a little to take in the full impact of what that actually MEANS for the characters....so as to not accidentally repeat the same problem they’re being critical of by essentially arguing for a full range of emotions for Jason....while still defining or viewing Jason through a finite lens of “the more morally ambiguous Bat character, at least as compared to his brothers.”

Because its that last part that’s so detrimental, because it seems like such a little thing at first, until you realize that essentially its just putting a ceiling, a cap on how far those full ranges of emotions can be expressed. Like the problem with Dick Grayson in canon and fanon is NOT that he can’t be written with a full range of emotions.....its that his character absolutely can encompass a wide range of opinions and viewpoints and emotional stances from “I don’t believe in killing as a first option” to “I absolutely can, will, and have beaten a damn clown to death for joking about murdering my brother”.....and he can still walk away as Dick Grayson after expressing both those things, because his character is big enough to include them both. HE’S not limited as a character, its canon writers and fandom writers that both heap artificial limitations of their OWN on him, say that his character is so defined in such a specific way that there’s no way for the latter expression of his character to actually be IN character.....and the fatal flaw here is fully fleshed out characters are never just one thing. They don’t fit in niches anymore than people do, and notice the problems we all run into when we try and pigeon hole people as being just one thing, like humans can’t be contradictory or act against their own self-interest or be hypocritical or evolve or even regress past prior viewpoints....basically, any time you try and sum up a human being in one line, no matter how accurate that description is, there’s still SOME things that are going to be left out of that picture. 

Now, these things don’t always have to matter that much, like if I look at a serial killer and say that’s a serial killer, like, I might be leaving out of the picture that once he helped an old lady across the street and didn’t kill her and he doesn’t even know why, and I for one, simply do not care that I leave that out of the picture. Its irrelevant to the big picture for me. I can acknowledge that it adds a smidgen of nuance to that particular picture and then go yeah but also I don’t care, nuance denied.

But in terms of fictional characters, these things that get left in the discard pile when we try and sum up characters as just one thing, like, they can be hugely significant, because characters unlike real people, are simply WHAT WE MAKE OF THEM. That stuff that’s been left out of the big picture look at that character because its stuff most people to DEFINE what that character looks like have deemed irrelevant....its still there, and still perfectly relevant for anyone who wants to pick that stuff up and make something of it, use it to change the overall picture or even just point to ways and places that picture can absolutely encompass and include these other elements and STILL fundamentally be that same picture, that same character.

And this isn’t to say that characters can never be written out of character, its to say that usually IMO what ACTUALLY makes the difference between something being out of character and something just being an unexpected but still valid character choice is just.....how these things are executed. The latter is when writers make the effort to JUSTIFY their character choice, to sell audiences on why and how this is absolutely something this character would do, to take them on a journey of what led the character to making this choice and let them see how those steps actually line up, that’s an actual journey that character might take. The former is when writers just don’t bother and are just like, well here’s a thing that character did, and you know it was in character because well that’s the character and that’s what I wrote them doing lol, what more do you want. No. Yawn. Next.

But the trick is if you’re going to try and make a character a SPECTRUM of emotions and choices rather than just a same datapoint recurring over and over again endlessly, a literal sticking point that never advances, never progresses, never changes......you have to actually give that character free range to utilize that spectrum of emotions and choices.....not just confine them to accessing all those possibilities but ONLY within a narrowly defined niche that is its own kind of limitation.

A character can START from a logline, absolutely. Can BEGIN in a narrative niche as a way to INTRODUCE them as seemingly different from their surroundings or their peers when they do not yet have the backstory, the evidence of past stories and character choices readers can use to interpret their actions or guess their choices.....but narrative niches, IMO, are meant to have a shelf life, an expiration date. They’re a seed for characters to grow FROM, to grow PAST, not return to over and over again.....because that’s when a niche just becomes another house that stagnancy built.

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts and the article mention.....it was an interesting exploration of thoughts for me even if I didn’t ultimately agree with a lot of what was already said....still a worthwhile read though I think and I mean hey, its cool if you still agree with it more even if I don’t, lol. This is just my take.

[admissionsmadness]

Your Zip Code is the Most Important Admissions Factor

Yale law professor Daniel Markovits wrote The Meritocracy Trap, which examines the origins and persistence of economic and educational inequality in the United States. He cites research that the achievement gap between rich and poor students today is more extensive than between white and black students in the early 1950s during segregation. Families with wealth outside of the top 5 percent are increasingly left behind. Wealthy states such as Connecticut spend more than double on public education than poorer states such as Mississippi.

Private schools spend on average six times more per pupil and employ twice as many—and often more experienced and highly qualified—teachers than their public counterparts. Less than 2 percent of American students attend private schools, yet they occupy a quarter of the enrollment spaces at Ivy League universities. Some private schools send up to 50 students each year to Harvard.

Caitlin Flanagan of the Atlantic sums up the division between elite private schools and public schools in underserved communities. “Many schools for the richest American kids have gates and security guards; the message is you are precious to us. Many schools for the poorest kids have metal detectors and police officers; the message is you are a threat to us (emphasis hers).”

The number one question students ask is: Which factors matter most in my admissions chances? The answers they have in mind are their essays, academics, or resume. Those matter, but what matters most is your zip code.

A Harvard, Princeton, and Yale alumni survey found three-quarters live in zip codes that rank in the top 20 percent by income and education. Half live in the top 5 percent of zip codes.  People want to mix with and marry those from similar educational backgrounds and who hold common interests.

One benefit among many is that family networks connect students with prestigious seeming “internships” that aren’t accessible to less-privileged families. PTA donations and fundraisers support niche arts or sports activities. Admissions is less a reflection of a level playing field; instead, it tilts heavily in favor of wealth concentrated in a handful of zip codes.

Families earning more than $250,000 annually with parents holding graduate degrees are vastly overrepresented at elite universities. Forbes’s top-20 private high schools send 30 percent of their graduates to the Ivy League, Stanford, and MIT, which Markovits estimates as a tenth of the total available spaces.

Coming from wealth is a necessary condition for most incoming elite college students. However, given the increasing competition, affluence isn’t sufficient for getting in. Insecurities about getting in amplify affluent family anxieties.

Markovits estimates that students in the top income quarter outnumber those in the bottom quarter by 14 to one at America’s 150 most competitive colleges and schools. At America’s top 20 universities, that divide widens from 72 percent for top quarter students versus 3 percent for the bottom quarter. Less than 3 percent of students from Yale Law, where Markovits teaches, grew up in or near poverty.

He calculates that “the excess investments in human capital made in a typical rich household…today are equivalent to a traditional inheritance in the neighborhood of ten million dollars per child” (emphasis his).

Markovits concludes that “meritocrats may be made rather than born, but they’re not self-made.”

Harvard Professor Michael Sandel cites research that an applicant from the top 1 percent is 77 times more likely to gain admission to an Ivy League school compared with a student from the bottom 20 percent. Although universities are much more accessible for students from diverse gender, racial, and cultural backgrounds than at any time in history, the Ivy League and its equivalents collectively enroll more students from the 1 percent of American society than the bottom half. Financial-aid guarantees matter little if few low-income or first-generation students gain admission.

It’s ironic that British aristocracy’s traditional champions Oxford and Cambridge now enroll more socioeconomically diverse student bodies than their diversity-evangelizing American peers.

Access to substantially more resources gives wealthy students considerable advantages, the least of which is intensive exam preparation. Markovitz writes in the Atlantic article “How Life Became an Endless, Terrible Competition” that “only about one in two hundred children from the poorest third of households achieve SAT scores at Yale’s mean.”

The gap between wealthy and middle-class children is growing substantially faster than between the middle class and families living in poverty. Middle-class families who don’t make enough money or have the financial stability to save for college are increasingly priced out of elite educations. Yet, they earn too much to benefit from need-based aid schemes.

Middle-class millennials were the first generation in American history less likely to make more money than their parents. Gen Z seems to be following the same trajectory as they begin and graduate college during a global pandemic.

In practice, the American Dream is an illusion and the original sin of the meritocracy gospel. The United States is two to three times less socially mobile than “socialist” countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway, and Denmark. If you’re born outside of the top quintile of wealth in America, there is an overwhelming chance you will die earlier and with the same or less wealth than your parents. Generation Z works harder than perhaps any cohort of teenagers.

Yet, society fails to provide them with adequate job prospects or pathways to earn college degrees that don’t entail a lifetime of debt. Harvard Professor Michael Sandel summarizes the lack of social mobility bluntly in his book The Tyranny of Merit: “Relatively few children of the poor rise to affluence, and relatively few children of affluence fall below the ranks of the upper middle class.”

Exceptions like Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance publish acclaimed memoirs because his experience of overcoming Appalachian poverty and graduating from Yale Law is so uncommon. If achieving the American Dream were the rule and not the exception, authors like J.D. Vance or Sarah Smarsh’s Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth wouldn’t be a subgenre or crossovers into Netflix specials.

Valorizing anomalous and exceptional people who rise above poverty transfer the failings of inaccessible universities that cater onto the top 1% onto the supposed moral failings of millions of students who never stand a chance of earning a quality education. I agree when NYU Professor Scott Galloway remarks that “higher education in the US has morphed from the lubricant of upward mobility to the enforcer of our caste system.”