#we literally could not be more different people now

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Actually could we put some light on the class difference clash epel is experiencing in school. The situations looks a little weird to me. Cuz in epel's robes vignette it starts with the other pomefiore students asking him about carpet brand preference and he has no idea what to answer. They end up having a misunderstanding that never clears up. Epel proceeds to make a table manner mistake which Rook helps cover up with a lie so epel won't be embarassed (rook can probably sympatise) while vil is more strict. It is in this vignette we see that instance of vil first making epel lie about his favorite food for unclear, debated reasons.

In Epel's labwear vignette we hear some of the NPC students whisper about him and they seem to be asuming he must also be from some rich family due to the clothes he wears (which vil gave to him and makes him wear) and maybe also because he's in pomefiore. I know that it's just like vil to give people clothes he thinks will fit them best,and some of it might be so epel blends in pomefiore better, but could Epel actually be more likely to get picked on if he was perceived as from a lower class? NRC is a prestigious boarding school but it's not like he's the only character with more...average circumstances. Compared to the literal royalty and celebrity attending.

[Referencing this post!]

Mmm... I mean, aren't the mobs (in the Labwear vignettes) already bullying Epel because they perceive him to be of high social status? I don't think it would make a difference if they knew he was of a low social status since the mobs were already bullying him (again, under the impression that he's rich) to begin with. What I'm saying is that bullying would have occurred regardless of Epel's socioeconomic status. It's not necessarily nice, but it seems to be the norm for NRC students to verbally bash one another.

I don't really recall other major or frequent instances of middle class (Trey, Jack, Ace) or low-income students (Ruggie, Deuce) in the main cast being bullied. In fact, Trey and Ruggie are pretty well-liked and respected within their own dorms despite not being as wealthy as the majority of their peers are. (In this post, I go over how roughly 75% of the main cast come from at least upper middle-class backgrounds.) The bullying seems to be centered mainly on Epel, and I think that's probably because his peers perceive him as being small and cute--and therefore delicate, meek, and easy to push around. Epel just seems like the ideal target from a quick glance. Notice how B-kun comments on Epel’s face first:

I think it's also worth noting which dorms the bullies in Epel's Labwear vignettes come from: B and C are from Savanaclaw, and A is from Pomefiore. Savanaclaw mobs are notoriously belligerent and are usually the go-to mobs to pick fights with their peers for what are very minor things. The Pomefiore mob bully seems to be an outlier; most other Pomefiore mobs, at least as depicted in Epel's Ceremonial Robes vignettes, are polite and refrain from this type of behavior.

Importantly, (Savanaclaw) C is the one that calls Epel a “little rich brat” and (Pomefiore) A says Epel is “daddy’s fancy little lad”. This wording makes both sound resentful of the rich, thinking them spoiled—so it makes me think maybe A, B, and C are actually not rich themselves and are the less privileged picking on someone they think is wealthy but unable to stand up for themselves.

Now, within Pomefiore itself, it does appear that many of its students are upper class or at least sticklers for appearances. Their knowledge of brands and aesthetics itself is not damning evidence (anyone of any class could know this too; there’s also lots of non-rich people who obsess over brands). However, the fact that all of Epel’s first year peers already seemed familiar with how to handle a full set of cutlery at a formal meal does indicate high socioeconomic status, as the common man would not know how the heck a salad dork differs from the fish fork. (Most people use 1 fork or 1 spoon for the entire meal, and forget about having courses.) Buuut we shouldn’t assume that this one vignette is representative of all Pomefiore students, just as we cannot assume the one mean Pome A is a good example of all Pomefiore students, since there are limitations with the game. (Another famous game limitation is all Savanaclaw mobs being beastmen and every other dorm having zero beastmen mobs; in the manga, we see humans in Savanaclaw and beastmen in Heartslabyul. Riddle also verbally confirms that Heartslabyul has a cat beastman in the second Beans Day event.)

I think there’s definitely intersectionality at play as well. There’s something to be said for a culture clash in addition to a clash of classes. Epel is the only one in the main cast from a decidedly rural area where there isn’t much to do (ie no brand name shops) and everyone is close and casual with one another (ie there is little in the way of formalities). This likely contributes to the disconnect between Epel and his Pomefiore peers.

Now, where is this all leading to? Am I claiming that bullying based on socioeconomic status doesn't happen at NRC? Of course not! I have no doubt that it happens, but I don't think it's specifically the rich-on-poor type. In Epel's case, it seems to be the poor-on-(perceived to be) rich kind, but the opposite also occurs (in book 1, Riddle insults Yuu's pitiful education, something which is typically associated with the lower class; magic and magic education in particular is associated with the upper class). And, of course, we have the middle ground of people of similar socioeconomic status going at each other (for example, Leona and Malleus's rivalry). What's sort of sad is that the environment at NRC is conducive to animosity and no adults ever intervening because: 1) the students are so prideful, who would actually have the guts to tell an authority figure they were being picked on? and 2) the students tend to try and retaliate or get into fights instead, which only escalates the situation.

At NRC, I get the impression that class is one thing you could get bullied for, but that power and/or connections are much more important factors. Let's revisit Ruggie, who is the most impoverished of the main cast. If we assume that the less well-off students are predominantly the ones who get picked on, then shouldn't we have many examples of Ruggie being bullied? But he isn't. In fact, the big, burly Savanaclaw mobs (who are known to be combative) seem to defer to him instead of bullying him. Leona even leaves Savanaclaw in Ruggie's care while he is away in book 6, fully expecting that the mobs will listen to Ruggie. Why? Well, Ruggie is not physically or magically strong, but he has Leona's backing. It's through this association with the powerful Leona that Ruggie gains the respect and the following of the others in his dorm. This is something we consistently see in other characters, including Epel's own dorm leader. Because Vil beats him in combat, Epel agrees to listen to what he says even if Epel dislikes it. We see mob students bend the knee to the main cast once they've gotten glimpses into their power or abilities (Leona versus the Savanaclaw mobs, Idia versus the Ignihyde mobs, each in their respective Dorm Uniform vignettes).

Circling back around to the concept of Epel being bullied! Would the Pomefiore mobs turn on him if they realize he's actually not wealthy? Maybe...? We don't really know enough about the individual personalities of the mobs to judge for ourselves. If they did bully Epel for that though... I feel like those mobs would be in for an ass whooping from Vil (and Rook) for being so petty, vindictive, and disregarding decorum. Vil can rub people the wrong way with his demanding and stern attitude (I'm one of those people sometimes), but he wouldn't stand for such "ugly" behavior. It sullies the good name of the Fairest Queen and the dorm made in her image that he oversees. Those are my thoughts on the topic! I apologize if I ended up straying a little from the initial ask (I felt like I wasn't even truly talking about Epel for half this post ashdbsadlbayw).

[justhellabifandom]

I'm so sick and tired of the toxicity going on currently in the 9-1-1 fandom. Like don't get me wrong every fandom has it's toxic side but this bs has just grown since Buck came out and Tommy and him started dating.

Like TommyxBuck shippers have been sending people de*th threats to people who have different opinions,or buddie shippers. If your reaction to anyone talking negative about your favorite ship is to send them de*th threats there's something really wrong with you.

Then there's all the biphobia going on. Saying shit like "I hope Buck gets HIV after breaking up with Tommy." Or "Buck isn't bi if he wasn't with Tommy." I'm begging you look up the definition of bisexual,Buck could date another woman or date another dude after Tommy and still be bisexual!! He could date a non-binary person and still be bisexual. Just because hes dating Tommy doesn't mean he's any less bisexual,and if theres ever a break up it doesn't make him any less bisexual. His journey doesn't depend around Tommy,it's his and no one's else. Also saying your hoping a character gets HIV is fucked up for a few reasons,it's stereotyping bisexuals/queer people and it's harmful. Like do people not know what that is?? How people used to use it a excuse to hate queer people in the 1980s and 1990s?? And the people we lost to it??

Now let's get to people wanting Eddie to be killed off. People generally want a cannon Latino to be killed off just so Tommy and Buck raise Chris??? Once again tf. And the fact people now want Eddie to be killed off after his actor opened up about a su*c*de attempt?? This generally hurts people who have delt with this stuff and for people to want this to happen,when we had both Maddie and Bobby struggle with it. Don't get me wrong mental health needs to be talked about more and I'm thankful for 9-1-1 for talking about it,but it's the fact people want this to parallel what the actor went through blows my mind.

Then people trying to justify Lou ferrgnio racist and grows past. I'm sorry if your using Ryans and Olivers past to validate the stuff he's done,is so messed up. What Ryan did cost him his relationship with the rest of the cast for a few years,and he got cancelled and attacked online back in 2020. It's only now Ryan and the rest of the cast have made addends,but it doesn't change the fact he was held accountable for his actions which he should be. He's apologized,showed he wanted to and made sure he would do better. Nothing will change the fact he said it. For Lou he literally kept shit up on his Instagram and never took it down,and tried to justify his characters actions. He never apologized,never took down the post,he just kept it up even though it's harmful. If someone does something they should be held accountable for there actions,even if it's from the past since it could still hurt people now. Also charging 200 dollars for cameros just to make up head cannons about his character.

Also ignoring cannon,like big plots like Buck literally hating his name,gets pissed off at his parents for calling him it. And now people are calling him Evan?

[nostalgebraist]

I think your post about AI Doom doesn't really acknowledge the fact that, generally speaking, people enjoy being alive for its own sake and prefer it to being dead. Unless I'm misinterpreting, the conclusion of the post is essentially saying that not wanting people to be killed is "out of step with human values" which is obviously not true. Most people do not want to be killed. Killing people is bad. It would not be OK for AI to kill everyone even if it made something else afterwards.

(Pt 2) this all seems extremely obvious to me but I could not come up with an interpretation of that post which isn’t just broadly in favour of people being killed, which seems sort of like. The most evil thing anyone could ever possibly believe. So I am hoping that I misinterpreted

You're not alone, this aspect of yesterday's post was confusing to a lot of people.

FWIW I'm mostly tapped out on discussing the subject matter of that post for the moment, but this does deserves some kind of further explanation, so here goes.

----

First, to address something you didn't mention, but which was broadly confusing:

I am not saying: "when the doomers say AI will kill us all, they don't mean the natural reading of that phrase, they don't mean it will literally kill all the individual humans, they mean some weird other thing instead."

No, they really do just mean it will kill everyone. Sorry that wasn't clear.

----

What I did mean, when I talked about doomers vs. average Joe here, is that the idea of human extinction hits different if you're an anti-deathist transhumanist, versus if you aren't one.

If you're an anti-deathist, what's bad about extinction is, in part, the same thing that's bad about ordinary death. The anti-deathist looks around them and sees, in some sense, a slow-motion and staggered extinction already happening.

Even without extinction, we are all gonna die. Our great-great-great-great-great-grandparents' generation did not die out in an extinction event, but all the same, they are in fact extinct. Dead. 100% fatality rate, for those guys.

Sure, it was spread out over time, and "natural," but -- the anti-deathist argues, quite reasonably -- why should any of that matter to them, the dead ones? Those distinctions don't change any of what it is that's intuitively bad about dying in the first place.

The horror you express at "people being killed"? For the anti-deathist, that horror gets generalized to include the case of people being killed "by death," as it were. By just, dying, of old age or whatever, rather than by the hand of some other creature.

----

Now sure, even for the anti-deathist, there are important ways that extinction is worse than business as usual. Most obviously, extinction not only stops all the lives of people around now, but prevents the lives of any future people from getting created later on. (Plus of course, all else being equal, death sooner is worse than death later.)

If you're not an anti-deathist, though -- and most people aren't -- these special factors that make extinction worse (for the anti-deathist) are in fact your only objections to extinction.

That is not to say that they aren't extremely strong objections. Of course normal people do not want human extinction!

But for the normal person, there is this hard line between "extinction" and "business as usual." For such a person, there is a horror in the former that just isn't there in the latter, even though (as the anti-deathist likes to point out) business as usual still means a 100% fatality rate, on a long enough timeline.

For the anti-deathist, there is not this hard line. Extinction is bad. Getting killed by a person or a machine is bad. Dying of natural causes is bad. And a lot of the badness -- though by no means all of it -- comes from what is shared across all these cases, not what is special to each case alone.

----

OK, now let's talk more directly about your question.

Unless I'm misinterpreting, the conclusion of the post is essentially saying that not wanting people to be killed is "out of step with human values" which is obviously not true.

I mean, yeah, that's obviously not true.

But there are things sort of superficially similar to it that might be true.

And when something is true, but on the surface sounds bizarre and backwards and staggeringly wrong, I often like to play around with the way it sounds -- to just have a bit of fun with the way I can say things that seem so outrageous, and yet might not actually be wrong. Or even really outrageous, when properly understood.

And maybe I get carried with this, sometimes, at the expense of clarity. Sorry about that. (But also, it's my blog, where I write the kind of stuff I like writing. And I do like writing in this way. Them's the breaks.)

Anyway.

If we want to understand ordinary human values, then we need to cope with the "average Joe's" simultaneous belief in the following two things:

I really do not want to die. As a particular case, I really really do not want to die right now, today. But also, come to think of it, dying tomorrow would be super bad too. And you know what, the day after tomorrow? Same deal. And I guess I could go on like this.

I do not, at all, actively want to "live forever." In fact I kind of don't want this. If you directly ask me, I'll say the idea is sort of creepy and weird and bad. Or, even if I don't think that, I don't find the idea motivating at all. It might be acceptable, if it were forced on me, but none of my actions are driven by a desire to make it more likely.

(I am hand-waving away the concept of the afterlife here, which is involved in the typical Joe's actual beliefs in a way that annoyingly complicates the analysis while being tangential to my point. Let's say we're talking about the average atheist/agnostic but non-transhumanist Joe. I think the point can be generalized further, but I'm trying and failing to be brief here, so you'll just have to trust me.)

Now, together, these two beliefs are nearly a paradox.

Maybe they are just a paradox. Maybe you can't, really, think both of these at the same time without, on some level, kidding yourself. This is what the anti-deathist alleges, about the average Joe.

Maybe you agree. If so: congratulations, you're an anti-deathist too. Which is a perfectly valid point of view. Despite all I said in my post, I have quite a lot of sympathy for it, myself.

But the average Joe is really not an anti-deathist. This is just a fact about the world. Average Joe really does think both of the 2 things, at once. Maybe he does so inconsistently, or wrongly. Still, he does.

I think you essentially have two choices here. You can take the road less traveled, fully bite the "death is bad" bullet, and be an anti-deathist. Or, you can do what most do, and be like average Joe.

But if you are doing what average Joe does, and you go on to say things like...

being in favour of people being killed [is the] most evil thing anyone could ever possibly believe

...then you have some explaining to do. You have to spell out what it is this means, if it doesn't just mean full anti-deathism. Which is kinda what it sounds like.

A lot of things "kinda sound like" full anti-deathism. That view is very amenable to being phrased in terms that make it sound utterly obvious.

But we can't let this lull us into thinking that -- because anti-deathism sounds obvious, and average Joe often believes things that sound obvious -- that average Joe believes in anti-deathism. Somehow, despite all that obviousness, he just doesn't.

Somehow, despite all that obviousness, anti-deathism is a fringe position. And if we're not on the fringe, then we have to spell out just what it is that we believe instead.

Now OK, let's be real. You didn't say "being in favour of death" was the evil thing. What you wrote was "people being killed," not "people dying."

And that's what makes the distinction to you, right? I imagine? That it's bad news when some entity actively kills a person, that goes beyond the badness of death per se?

----

That does sound pretty intuitive! But what exactly is it that makes killing worse, here?

I didn't answer that question, in my post. I answered a bunch of other questions, instead. There are still more questions, which no one has asked me, but which I kind of feel I ought to answer, when talking about this topic. Nonetheless, I have to stop myself at some point, or I'll never do anything else. Hence these kinds of glaring lacunae.

I won't answer it here, either, in full. I have some other things to do today, and this is no longer just explicating what I meant earlier, this is new stuff. I'll just make some gestures, now, towards the kind of answer that would make sense of how I treated the topic in my earlier post.

----

So, there are some pretty obvious answers to "why is killing especially bad?"

Say, that it reflects poorly on the killer: an AI that would kill us all is probably an AI that's just plain bad morally.

Or, that we have a norm against it. It's a part of our ethics, the stuff we agree on as part of the social contract.

But you know what we don't have a norm against? If we're average Joe, and not on the fringe?

Killing chickens.

Or torturing chickens, and then killing them. Or breeding lots of them, specifically to be tortured, and then killed.

Sorry for the sudden swerve into vegan talking points! But this is kind of a big deal.

I've heard this cited, multiple times, by doomer types as a motivating case for being worried about how superintelligent AIs might treat us.

Just look at how we treat creatures that can very evidently feel pain -- but just happen to be different from us, not constituted the way we are, and in particular much less smart than we are!

And I, personally, find this argument pretty motivating. This is one of those arguments where even I have to hand it to the doomers.

But once we've allowed this much, we are in danger of conceding some really wild shit, if we don't tread carefully. Maybe we even should concede the wild shit, in the last analysis. Still, we should tread carefully.

Say you take the chicken argument seriously.

You've conceded that human values contain some really fucked-up things about how to treat other, dumber, "more primitive" beings. Beings of the kind that prevailed before the new, "super"-intelligent, sparkly, world-dominating species stepped onto the scene and changed everything.

You've conceded that humans are basically misaligned AIs, of the evil killeveryone Torment Nexus sort.

Remember, that was the whole substance of the argument: to make such awful AIs seem more plausible, by pointing out that such a thing already exists. Namely, us.

But now, what standing do we have to object to the AIs, without it rebounding back on us? Must we oppose ourselves just as fervently as we oppose the evil AIs, for the same reason?

"An AI that kills all humans" sounds pretty bad. Sounds like an evil thing, that we would not want to exist. But by the same token, we're evil, and we shouldn't exist.

(We might have wiped out chickens, if they weren't so tasty. There are plenty of non-tasty things which we did, in fact, wipe out. I and the doomers focus on chickens and the like, here, because what we did them is arguably even worse.)

Would we really accept an AI that's only "aligned with human values," and treats us about as well as we treat other beings when we are placed in an analogous scenario? Or do we hold AI to a higher standard -- one we can't possibly apply to ourselves, for that way lies madness?

Well, I don't know. These are tough questions.

But I would like to leave open some room to imagine, at least, that the advent of humanity was not (or not only) a catastrophe. That it was not, in fact, "the most evil thing possible."

Despite all the evil that we do, I'd like to imagine that.

And I'd like to imagine that, if there is such a thing as "human values," it contains this affirmation of the value of the advent of humanity.

And the value of things like the advent of humanity.

And the golden rule, and the rule of law. Which means, among other things: not holding you to a higher standard than I hold myself.

Even though the apparent implications of this are pretty nasty.

Philosophy is like that. Often you are between a rock and a hard place. Saying "that's a rock, don't you know that rocks cannot be walked through??" in an alarmed tone does not really get at the heart of the dilemma, or point the way to a solution.

----

All else being equal, of course, I would prefer not to be killed.

So would the chickens, I imagine.

We must not pretend there are easy answers, when there aren't.

[iamleesi]

THE HUNTERS & THE SOLDIER

Pairing: Avenger! Bucky Barnes x OC! Avenger Reader

Summary: You, Bucky and the brothers are having troubles understanding literally anything. And a certain Super Soldier finally confesses why he is so harsh towards you.

Warnings: Really obsessed behavior, kidnapping, mention of stalking, unwanted kiss on the cheek and some disturbing behavior (none of it towards reader or any of the main characters), blood, feeling sick and I think that’s it? -> 18+!!

Other: English isn’t my first language.

-> Masterlist

-> Part eight ; Part ten

-> Garden of Eternal Love (09)

You had been walking through the almost empty streets of Lincoln for about half an hour, just minding your business as you walked past by the very few strangers on the streets. It was late at night, probably around four in the morning, but you figured that a city like this would have more people around at this hour. Perhaps it was due to the latest disappearances that more people decided to play it safe and get home early.

You almost didn’t recognize the sound of Bucky’s bike as he stopped a few feet away from you, removing his helmet. He looked quite pissed, and he wasn’t completely wrong to feel that way. After all, it could have jeopardized the mission if the police found him there at the cemetery, alone at night, nearby a an open casket when just a few days ago someone stole a cadaver.

But what was done was done.

“Emma.” He called out, making you stop in your tracks in front of him.

“Fancy seeing you here, I thought you’d be in jail by now.” You said, causing him to roll his eyes.

With a scowl, he tossed his helmet your way and you caught it with a frown. “Get your ass on this bike, we already wasted a lot of time.” He instructed after seeing your expression.

You signed, resigned to the situation. The walk you had managed to calm your nerves, but you mentally noted to finally have a proper talk with him once you got home. There were a few questions you had to ask him, and the fact that he resented you for something you couldn’t control made no sense coming from him, who had been Hydra’s puppet for way longer than you. Not to talk about the fact that he seemed somewhat of a different person tonight, although the snarky comments were still there.

“Fine.” You mumbled, slipping the helmet over your head before swinging a leg over the bike and settling in behind Bucky.

He glanced back at you, his expression unreadable beneath the dim streetlights. “Hold on thigh. I’m not sure I’ll stop if you fall over.” He said, his tone still harsh.

“Where do I hold on to?” You asked.

“Me.” He replied.

You took a moment before forcing yourself to wrap your arm around his waist, before you heard the engine roar. Soon enough, you two were speeding in the street straight to the address Dean texted you.

* * * *

Bucky slowed the bike down as you reached an imposing iron gate, locked securely with a massive chain. As soon as he turned off engine, the only source of light disappeared, leaving you both into complete darkness once again. You could see Dean’s Impala parked not far away from the bike, though, so Dean and Sam must have found an entrance nearby.

The only sound that broke the silence was the soft crunch of Bucky’s footsteps as he navigated in the darkness, his torch casting feeble beams of light to illuminate the path. You spotted a gap in the fence, just wide enough for someone to slip through.

“Hey.” You called out, drawing Bucky’s attention. “Over here. Watch your steps.” You murmured, stepping through the opening.

Bucky followed suit, illuminating the scene before you. Despite the land having an owner, the place looked abandoned. The trees twisted and contorted in an unnatural, almost, shape and the overgrown lawn was just a tangle of weeds and thorns.

“Not even Steve’s backyard sucks this much.” You heard Bucky say, as you two started trudged along the road leading to the house.

You didn’t respond, the sudden feeling of a splitting headache made you momentarily speechless. It felt as though someone was repeatedly hammering at your skull, the pain so sharp that you had to squeeze your eyes shut and clutch at your temples.

“Hey.” Bucky’s voice cut through the haze of agony, as he noticed your distress. His hand landed on your shoulder. “You alright?”

Struggling to open your eyes, you were met with a blurred vision you had never experienced before. Sure, a simple headache wasn’t uncommon for you, but this intensity was new. It felt as though your head was being crushed from within, and then, a warm liquid trickled down from your nose.

“What the-” You began, reaching up to wipe away the liquid. As your vision cleared slightly, you realized it was blood.

“You’re not dying, are you? Loki will turn me into a snail if you die.” Bucky’s attempt at humor fell flat, his concern evident beneath the dry chuckle he let out. Watching you struggle to maintain your balance, he swiftly looped an arm around your waist for support.

Your health had always been great, thanks to the fact that your blood was mixed with the Wendigo’s. You couldn’t even die if someone really tried, and many people tried over the years and yet there you were. That’s what made this sudden pain and disorientation so baffling, it was starting to feel more like something deep within you was struggling to break free. You knew it wasn’t normal, but you didn’t really try to think of what was happening when you felt like fainting.

You barely registered what Bucky was saying, the piercing sound in your ears shutting out everything else.

Bucky quickly maneuvered one of your arms around his shoulders, carrying you towards the house. The Super Soldier barely had time to watch his surroundings, but he saw a shed in the distance, not far from the house, and he did a metal check of going there later - he had a strange feeling about it.

By the time he reached the house, you were already unconscious and Bucky didn’t waste a second to pound on the door repeatedly until Sam swung it open.

“Hey, man- what’s wrong?” Sam asked worriedly, immediately helping Bucky in carrying you inside - although Bucky could have done it on his own.

“I don’t know.” The Soldier said tersely, as they laid you on the couch, and as if your pale skin wasn’t alarming enough, the nosebleed didn’t seem to stop.

With gentle but firm hands, Bucky positioned your head to prevent you chocking on your own blood, pressing a few napkins taken from the nearby coffee table against your nose to staunch the flow.

“Sam, the bathroom has this button that cleans your-” Dean began, entering in the room, but cutting himself off when he saw your figure laying on the couch. He ran to your side, looking between his brother and Bucky. “Is she dead?!” Dean’s voice rose in panic.

“No.” Bucky reassured him, checking your pulse because he wasn’t too sure himself. “She’s never been sick before. She was fine until we walked beyond the fence, it happened almost immediately. She never said anything about feeling even remotely ill today.”

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance that went unnoticed by Bucky since he was still focused on you. Sam approached the window, drawing back the curtains just enough to peer outside for confirmation.

“It’s the symbols on the trees.” Sam began, causing Bucky to turn his attention towards him, waiting for an explanation. “Most of them are anti- demonic symbols, made by Malcom himself probably to… ward off demoniac entities.” He looked at anything but Bucky’s eyes as he spoke.

Bucky’s frown deepened. “What does this have anything to do with her?”

“Wendigos are demonic entities.” Dean sighed. “And her blood is mixed up with theirs, which explains the sudden sickness. She was able to enter because she’s still half human; other creatures wouldn’t have that privilege.” He explained.

“She… Is she going to die? She’s losing a lot of blood.” Bucky’s concern was evident, his voice oddly soft as he kept his eyes on you.

Dean glanced down at you too, his expression wasn’t too different from his. “There are no symbols in here, she should be safe. Just give her some time.” He reassured, although his tone was worried.

“You could have said this before we came here, I would have dropped her home.” Bucky said, pissed.

“We didn’t know it would have an effect on her. She was born human, after all.” Sam let out a sight, slightly feeling guilty about your state.

Bucky clenched his jaw, tossing away the bloody napkins to get clean ones as he continued to attempt to staunch the flow of blood from your nose. “Where’s Malcom?” He asked, remember the whole reasons why he drove all the way here to the cemetery.

“Not here.” Dean sighed in frustration, sinking down onto the other side of the couch. “He vanished, just like Mrs Miller and the creature locked in her house. We’ve hit a dead end once again.”

“Why call us to come here, then? You could have given us this information back at the safe house.” Bucky muttered, shorting a glance in Dean’s direction.

Dean took a moment before answering, almost as if he was thinking of a proper answer to give.

“We don’t know if Malcom is dead or alive and we don’t know if he took a part in all this mess, so we wanted to leave things as we found them… which involves his laptop.” Sam explained immediately before Dean could respond, retrieving said laptop from the nearby table. He approached Bucky, offering him the device. “He left behind some videos, of himself, and I think you should take a look.”

Bucky turned his attention on the screen as Sam pressed play.

The footage opened immediately with a desolate yard, where Malcom’s figure moved silently. He approached a tree, where some probably homemade stairs were nailed on its trunk. Which each step he took up to what Bucky imagined was a house on the tree, the camera trembled and he could hear some noises in the background.

Finally, Malcom turned the camera towards himself, his smiling face finally on the screen. Bucky was able to see his house on the back so that must have been the backyard as he suspected.

“Hello!” Malcom greeted the camera cheerfully, waving. “Today it’s truly a wonderful day, I made a friend - Adam.” He chuckled. “He’s quite the popular guy around here, I met him at a bar downtown and everyone greeted him - that never happened to me.” Another chuckle followed. “But truth be told, I don’t really like him. He’s my future girlfriend’s boyfriend, Cassandra can’t seem to get rid of him… though I know she wants to.”

In the background, muffled screams could be heard after Malcom’s words, his smile faltering for a brief moment. “Sorry about that, that’s Rue.” He explained. “She isn’t much of a social butterfly, much like my Cassie, that’s why I brought her home.”

The camera turned to reveal a woman, her resemblance to Cassandra herself was unsettling. She was on the floor, bound and gagged, her eyes wide with terror as Malcom approached. “Say hi, Rue!” Malcom’s tone was sickeningly cheerful and Bucky decided then he was some sort of psychopath. “She’s the tenth.” Malcom continued. “Only a few more to go before I practice enough so I can take Cassie back home with me. I want our relationship to be perfect once I manage to get her to like me back, so let’s hope for the best!” He cheered. “Now I gotta go, gotta take my girl Rue on a date.”

The camera was turned off, but not before he left a kiss on Rue’s cheek.

Bucky sighed, lowering his head, processing what he just saw. “What- what did he mean?” He knew that already, but he wanted to have confirmation.

“We believe he kidnapped girls that looked like Cassandra to, as he put it , practice on how to be… a suitable partner, as stupid as it sounds, to eventually get her to like him.” Dean explained briefly. “He said she was the tenth, but there are eleven graves outside.”

“Graves?” Bucky frowned in confusion.

“Keep watching.” Sam instructed, sighing.

Bucky complied, and another video began. This time, Malcom appeared in his room, his face covered in dirt and he had his usual smile playing on his lips.

“It’s finally the day!” Malcom’s voice was laced with excitement, as he giggled. “I’m going to bring Cassie here today, everything went according to plan. She’s so, so happy, and so am I! Everyone’s just so happy today!” He moved towards the window, the camera following his gaze to the backyard where the tree with the treehouse stood. There was a sign that said ‘garden of eternal love’, even.

But it was the freshly dug pits in the ground that caught Bucky’s attention.

“Except for Rue.” Malcom giggled again, pointing to a particular pit. “I wanted to let her go but her father’s a cop, I couldn’t risk it.” His tone shifted to sadness, though Bucky sensed the insincerity. “I never laid a finger on any of those women, never harmed them. But they all seemed to hate me! And now they’re dead!” He exclaimed before taking a deep breath to calm him down after the sudden burst of anger.

“I didn’t kill them, though. I gave them a choice, and they made the wrong one.” Malcom said, the camera zooming on his face. “I am not a killer. My mommy raised me to be a good boy, and they’re closer to God this way anyways. So if anything, I did them a favor. Now, I’m gonna take Cassie home, she’s about to leave work… wish me good luck!” He bit his lower lip in excitement, waving one last time at the camera before the screen turned black.

“I’d choose the bear.” You mumbled suddenly, causing their heads to snap in your direction as you finally woke up.

“What?” Dean’s brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at you from his seat.

“Man or bear… I’d chose the bear. That’s a damn psychopath.” You muttered tiredly, forcing yourself into a sitting position. Your head was still pounding but it was slightly getting better. “I only saw the last part, tell me he didn’t record himself doing things to those women.”

“He didn’t, physical pleasure isn’t the reason he took them.” Dean reassured you. Thankfully.

“Glad to see you’re not dead.” Bucky said with what you swore was a hint of relief in his voice.

“Glad to see you didn’t leave me out there.” You said, sighing. “So what now? What do we do? We have absolutely no clue about anything and I feel like we’re making steps backward instead of forward. I even wonder why Fury sent us here; we’re spies, not FBI agents for fuck’s sake.” You exclaimed angrily, raising to your feet. You had to steady yourself against the wall to avoid falling, since your legs were weak. “And now, not only Cassandra is probably dead whether it’s because of this man or her father, but all those women are too, and we are here with empty hands - I’m this close to having a breakdown.”

Your words hung in the air, they knew you were right. Sam and and Dean fought a lot of monsters before and they solved a lot of cases on their own, but this was Hydra. And Hydra can’t be found if it doesn’t want to be found, so it made sense that they cleaned the scene - because at this point the only reasonable answer is that they were the ones to delete all the evidence. Perhaps they left Malcom’s laptop to make all the suspects fall on him.

“What now?” Sam’s tired voice cut through the tense silence. “Should we call the cops? Spread the word about those videos, Cassandra disappeared not too long ago… if the police put out an alert for a serial killer on the loose, we might scare him into making a mistake.” Sam suggested.

“No.” Dean objected immediately. “Involving the police would be drawing all the attention on Malcom, and what about Hydra?”

Sam took a deep breath nodding at his brother’s words and didn’t answer.

“Every time I think we’re getting somewhere, shit happens.” Bucky sighed, frustration evident in his tone. “Was it Michael Sawyer who kidnapped Cassandra or was it Malcom? It feels like all we have are speculations and nothing concrete. Are we even sure this is Hydra? First Tony mentioned traces of the super soldier serum in the victims, now we’re dealing with supernatural creatures? Fury doesn’t even have the decency to answer the fucking phone.”

“Midlife crisis is hitting hard.” You mumbled, earning a glare from Bucky. “Sorry, not the time… Listen, let’s do a recap with everything, alright? See if we missed something.” You suggested. “So, what do we know?”

“That Fury sent both me and Sam and you and Bucky here knowing what Hydra was doing. He paired us up because we know things about the Wendigo and you two have been in Hydra most of your lives. We know that Hydra want an army full of those creatures for their own twisted ideas, and Michael Sawyer is involved since he used to be the crazy scientist in the facility you were kept in. Also the Wendigo inside his house is not a hint we can ignore.” Dean summarized most of it.

“How did the Wendigo end up in his house? And how come it didn’t eat anyone? Are you sure you were the only one that could control it?” Sam asked, the last question was directly for you.

“Yes, when I was in there.” You nodded. “But it’s been ten years, so maybe… maybe they found someone else.”

“Or they found another way.” Bucky said.

“Or they found another way.” You repeated, agreeing with what he said. “After all, they’re capable of anything.”

“Do we still believe that the Wendigo in question is Cassandra?” Dean asked, looking at each of the people in the room.

“It’s the most logical reason. Imagine: you manage to create your own, boring life after Hydra falls and one day your daughter brings up your past. She’s a threat to you, and for the people you worked with, so you eliminate her and whoever might have a clue, which was Adam.” Sam explained his point of view, and you personally agreed with it.

“Why now? How did she even find out? And why didn’t the police investigate when she disappeared?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Hydra has tons of connections, it wouldn’t be wrong to think they intervened in the investigation. After all, corrupted cops are not unusual.” Bucky suggested. “And to answer the other questions, you mentioned that Cassandra vented about her biological mother’s other daughter to Adam, and the thought of it drove her insane. I’ve been thinking, what if the woman has connections with Hydra? He disappeared for the first time when Cassandra was left on the doorstep and he kept in contact with this woman for what now? More than twenty years? Was this other child older or younger?”

“Younger.” You replied. “She should be in her mid-twenties now. William has been texting me details he keeps remembering. But this girl in question isn’t Michael’s daughter, so technically they’re half sisters. Why would she be so mad about it?”

“Because Sawyer kept this part of her life private. I was angry at the world too when I found out that our father had another son with someone who wasn’t our mother, and he was more present in his life than ours. He left me and Sammy starving in motel rooms while he brought our half-brother to baseball games. I wanted to kill him; it was the very first time I genuinely wanted to hurt my father and the kid he chose over us.” Dean said, sharing a part of his and Sam’s life neither you or Bucky knew anything about.

His head low as he spoke. “Cassandra was left on Mrs Miller’s doorstep before she could even walk, and then years later she found out that her biological mother was asking about the other daughter and not her.“ Dean finished.

“It would make a lot of sense to think that she wanted to find out more about her biological mother, digging in her father’s past. Which eventually led her to find about Hydra and what her father did to people during the time he was away.” Sam said, sitting on the couch beside Dean.

“Another reason to think this woman has ties with Hydra too.” Bucky added, reaffirming his previous point.

“This makes sense, actually.” You acknowledged, registering the things they said. “And what about Malcom? Was Cassandra just too unlucky to be caught between a rock and a hard place? On one hand, a psychopath obsessed with her who kidnaps women, and on the other, another psychopath who’s a part of a terrorist organization that kidnaps people.”

“But then again…” Bucky let out a heavy sigh. “These are speculations. Whether it makes sense or not, concretely what do we have? Almost nothing.”

You bit your lower lip, then turned to Sam and Dean. “Did you two check the whole place? Maybe there’s something around here. At least to know if it was Malcom who took Cassandra or not.”

“Except for a few creepy things upstairs, the house is normal. No signs of fights, hidden doors or blood. Absolutely nothing. Everything’s just dirty, but I don’t think the guy’s first thought was cleaning the house.” Dean replied.

“What about the shed outside?” Bucky suggested. “I saw it when I was bringing her in after she gracefully passed out.” He pointed at you, and you rolled your eyes at the remark.

“Uh… is there a shed outside?” Dean raised a brow, clearly unaware of it.

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose, his annoyance evident. Understandably. Malcom was nowhere to be found in his house and who said he wasn’t hiding there?

“We’ll go to check.” Sam said, hitting his brother lightly on the shoulder.

“I’ll come with you.” You proposed, though you weren’t feeling much better than before. The headache persisted, and you had a bloody taste in your mouth, but at least now it was manageable.

“No. You sit your ass back down.” Bucky sternly said.

“No.” You protested.

“It’s better if you stay here.” Sam backed Bucky up, rising from the couch ready to get out and see what both him and Dean had missed.

“What? Why?” You asked, frowning in confusion.

“We’ll explain later, Em, but I really don’t like the idea of you dying.” Dean explained cryptically, his words leaving you more confused that before. He wasn’t making any sense.

Bucky moved to join the brothers, but Dean halted him. “When Sam said ‘you’, he meant both of you. Have fun while we’re away, kids.” He remarked with a good smile, before leaving with Sam and closing the door behind them.

“I hate those two.” Bucky grunted, sinking further on the couch.

“They’re not so bad.” You shrugged. “They just don’t make sense sometimes. I heard them talk about stopping an apocalypse once. Weird, isn’t it?” You chuckled at the absurdity.

Bucky looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “You do realize a God, specifically your best buddy, tried to conquer Earth just to get back at his brother, right? What makes you think other Gods aren’t as bad? If we’re even talking about Gods here.”

“I’m not really an expert in Gods’ behavior, James, I only know two. One has murderous instincts after every minor inconvenience and the other one is frightened by lizards. Nothing really makes sense here.” You shrugged. “And Loki isn’t bad once you get to know him.”

“Didn’t he try to turn you into a lizard because he knew you’d run to Thor and Thor would embarrass himself in front of everyone?” He reminded you, emphasizing Loki’s nature. He wasn’t close to the God of Mischief, but he knew you were. For some reason.

“Everyone has issues.” You said, shrugging, trying to rationalize Loki’s actions. Not that he ever did anything against your consent, you did actually think that his idea was funny. “Besides, he was the only one decent enough to not treat me as some kind of outcast when I joined the team.”

“Nobody treated you as such, I was there.” Bucky countered.

“You did.” You reminded him. “I’m not saying they weren’t kind. But they never tried to- listen, it’s not the place to talk about it. Everything’s in the past, so let’s just wait for Sam and Dean to get back so we can go home.”

Bucky didn’t respond immediately, his gaze fixed on you as you settled down on the other side of the couch. “How are you feeling?” He asked with genuine concern in his voice.

You met his gaze before replying. “Better than before.” You shrugged. “Thank you for not leaving me out there by the way.”

“Why? Would you have done it?”

“No.” You answered honesty, shaking your head. “But I don’t have a burning hatred for you.”

Bucky looked away for a moment. “It’s not like the reason why I don’t like you is an excuse, Emma. And I already said I’m trying to be better. You- you didn’t even apologize to me, not once ever since we met again.” The last part was almost murmured, and you could sense some frustration.

“Met again? What does that even mean?” You scoffed. “And you keep acting as if I had a choice. You never held Wanda or Pietro accountable for actually joining Hydra willingly, so why me?” You demanded, desperate to have some answers. “What have I done to you? Why do I need to apologize?”

Bucky bit his lower lip, struggling to find the right words. “Wanda and Pietro never brought me back to Hydra when I finally managed to escape.” He confessed, meeting your eyes with an unreadable expression and your frown deepened. “You did.” He finally said.

… what?

[thechosenthree]

I am back with more Kendra haunting the narrative thoughts after watching Helpless.

This episode is all about slayers and tradition, it’s about the Watcher’s Council treating the slayers as expendable and disposable. Giles says “It's a test, Buffy. It's given to The Slayer once she— if she reaches her eighteenth birthday.”

This episode is about Kendra.

Even though the episode refuses to say her name, Kendra Young is everywhere! Not even a full season before this episode aired, we were shown— for the first time but far from the last— the tragedy of a slayer dying too young in the line of duty, another slayer rising from her grave and then her being seemingly forgotten about.

The show tries to forget Kendra the same way the council does. I’ve already talked in the post I linked above, about how Faith’s existence ensures that we don’t. But it’s more than that!! The tragedy of the slayers and what Buffy and Faith go through, the entire premise of the show, continues to remind the audience of the slayer who didn’t make it as far as them.

Buffy is going through an identity crisis this episode, she has lost her slayer powers and she doesn’t know why. Giles is in no big rush to figure it out, he doesn’t actually seem all that concerned, and Buffy grows increasingly adrift. She realizes she doesn’t know who she is if she’s not The Slayer.

She’s very aware of who she was before. She brings up Cordelia to make this comparison— her ex shadow self who is a representation of her childhood, of the Buffy she was before she was “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer”— and she seems ashamed of who she was then.

She doesn’t want to go back to being that person. She literally CAN’T go back, and she knows that. She has been changed by her experiences, even without her slayer powers, she is a different person than she was. Buffy says “I’ve seen too much. I know what goes bump in the night. Not being able to fight it— what if I just hide under my bed, all scared and helpless?”

She can’t return to the naïveté of the life she lived before she knew what was out there. I mean, she already tried that!! Buffy spent much of s1 trying to hold on to who she used to be, not wanting to let it go, not wanting to acknowledge that that girl and that life were already gone. Her death in Prophecy Girl goes hand in hand with her accepting that she can’t outrun her destiny, she can’t NOT be The Slayer.

Much of s2 was about accepting that being the slayer was a part of her life now. But Buffy continued to treat it like it was a job, one that had been chosen for her and that she’d accepted she needed to do, but a job nonetheless. She was at war with these two sides of herself, unable to see how they could possibly fit. Kendra played a big part in helping her along that journey. “You talk about slaying like it's a job. It's not. It's who you are,” Kendra tells her in What’s My Line.

Kendra who identified as “The Vampire Slayer” before identifying as Kendra. Kendra who never had a childhood or the chance to try and figure out who she was as a person. She was a weapon and a tool forged, used and discarded by the council (and the show). Being the slayer was not only who Kendra was, it was all she was allowed to be.

I can’t imagine the writers were unaware that writing an episode like this would remind people of Kendra. After all that same Buffy speech I quoted earlier includes the first mention of Kendra’s stake since it’s introduction in Becoming. “… Or what if I just become pathetic? Hanging out at the old slayer’s home, talking people’s ears off about my glory days. Showing them Mr. Pointy, the stake I had bronzed.”

Buffy is able to imagine living long enough to grow old IF she doesn’t have her powers. That isn’t the life of a slayer and she knows that, has seen the consequences of this life first hand. She herself has already died young, and a year later she watched her friend die. She goes from being unable to imagine any kind of future at all for herself to spiraling about the possible reality of a powerless one.

Buffy talks about all this while name dropping the stake a 17 year old slayer gave her just before her death… A slayer who didn’t even live long enough to be forced to endure this cruel test.

Reminding the audience of Kendra seems intentional. Which makes them refusing to say her name even more infuriating.

But she IS there, whether truly intentional or not, the show continues to remind me of her. She’s nowhere and everywhere all at once.

[kanelia]

I think the arguement about kids know themselves to be the other gender is so funny because like my friend (who now identifies as some form of trans) fully believe she was a werewolf when we were kids. Like not even kidding, tried to convince us she was in fact a werewolf, like we played along but we all thought it was a little weird. So when I see the arguement about literal children knowing already they're "meant" to be the opposite sex I gotta laugh. Like sure, I wanted to be a mermaid and kept waiting for the day I would get my tail but I grew out of that make believe. And while not exactly the same as having dysphoria I also hated the changes I went through during puberty and wished I could stay a kid forever (i could never relate to anyone who were in a hurry to grow up) i had to accept that was just how things were. Tdlr I guess, but like...kids think they're everything else because they're kids and they have imaginations.(plus ofc noticing the pressure of gendered expectations even if they don't understand it so ofc they would come to the wrong conclusion)

When I was like 4-6, I really wanted to be an animal (preferably a fox). I insisted to not wear any clothes, wanted my mom to buy me a dog bowl and serve my food from it (she refused), call me by my made up name (she did sometimes) and let me sleep outside (she cleverly told me i could if i managed to stay awake past her bedtime, i never could). I even tried once to draw fur on my skin with markers.

I also went through a phase of wanting to be a boy from ages 9 to 15. I was a tomboy and frequently called ugly while growing up. I was very much brought up by tv and books written by men and always related exclusively to male characters thinking women were vain, weak and stupid (without realising it was the male writers who could not write women and girls as people). I learned very early that when you are a girl, it does not matter how smart, funny, or kind you are - if you are not pretty, you are either bad or worthless. This, combined with getting bullied and not relating to 'femininity', made me think I was different from other girls or even 'bad' at being a girl. I wished I was a boy because I did not want to be an ugly girl.

Now I realise I had really bad case of internalised misogyny.

I have also suffered from horribly painful periods since I was 11 (I was diagnosed with endometriosis in my adulthood), which made me hate my female body even more.

If back then I had been made to believe that I could have actually become a boy, I would now be in the same situation as many detransitioners.

The concept that children could know they are trans is not just against common sense but basically against everything we know about children's mental development. Even if you pretend children can consent to body modification and future infertility (obviously they can not), there is no way of knowing which child is still going to be trans when they grow up.

If my mom had responded with affirmation when I wanted to be a fox, would it have been any more ridiculous than what parents of the so-called trans children are doing?

[vitiateoriginator]

Finding the blogs of some of your ex-friends is so wild

[derpinette]

SPERG YOUR HEART OUT

[creative-hanyou-girl]

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I think a big reason why I'm so chill about the changes made to the PJO show from the books is because I kind of look at each other as their own seperate canon.

Like, I read a lot of anime and manga, and anime adaptations have a huge habit for changing plot points for various reasons, and as a fan of said anime and manga, I've found that I can enjoy both versions of the same story even with the differences when I look at them as their own universe or canon. That's not to say I don't want them to be faithful or true to the source material, but if a scene or situation plays out differently for a logical or entertaining reason, than I can still appreciate that deviation from the manga even if I still like the other original version of that part more. And I can even like the reversal way if I feel an anime does something better than even the manga. But if I want to, I can look at certain moments as more canon than others because I got 2 different versions of that same scene or moment.

And, I don't know, I kind of apply that reasoning to the PJO series as well, mainly with the books, the show, and even the musical (not the movies put that right back where it came from). So far I'm loving the TV show, and while I miss some of the things they changed (like the pink poodle), this adaptation really is doing a great job with staying true to the heart and spirit of the original book that I personally am not even really bothered by the changes, especially when I remember that the books will always still be there with it's own version, or canon, of events.

Like, I will say 1 thing I adore in the books that isn't really in the show is the fact that a lot of Percy and Annabeth's "rivalry" during TLT has more to do with the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena. I just really like on how this adds a level of "forbidden friendship/love" to their relationship 'cause I personally eat the forbidden relationship trope up, especially when it's done well like with Percabeth.

Yet, even if this isn't really the reason percabeth have beef with each other in the show, I can still appreciate and enjoy that according to the show's canon, they have issues because they genuinely have problems with each other as actual people rather than their parents' rivalry, because at the end of the day, that's the PJO TV show canon, and I can always turn to the books for that version of Percabeth's "rivalry", as that is the PJO book canon.

Same goes for the characters too. I will always have and love my dark haired Percy and blond haired Annabeth in the books, but I can also welcome and love Walker's Percy and Leah's Annabeth from the show. And so far, they along with Aryan are KILLING IT as those characters.

I can love both versions of the characters.

I can love both versions of the same story.

I can look at both versions as they own seperate canon or mix them together if I so wish too (especially since both versions of PJO are written by the same guy)

And that's ok. The adaptation doesn't have to be a complete copy of the books. It doesn't have to have things play out eactly the same way. The characters don't have to look exactly the way they are described as in the books. And that's ok. I will still always have the books to love and appreciate, but I can also start to love and appreciate the new adaptation for it's new spin and twists to the same story that sets it apart as it's own canon while still staying true to the spirit of its predecessor.

Anyway, sorry if I'm not making a lot of sense. I just think the people complaining about the changes in the show are looking at it all the wrong way. The show has it's own canon just as the books have their own canon, or even the musical. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of cool to have different versions of the same story and characters? Doesn't it give you so many more options to look at the story in different ways that you can prefer or choose from? Doesn't it give you new versions of canon that you choose from? And really, as long as the PJO adaptation, or any adaptation for that matter, stays true to the heart and spirit of the original story and characters, do the changes made really matter?

[munamania]

how are u going to reblog from me and call bottoms just OK or whatever. find the fun in hot weird lesbians beating the shit out of each other and saving a football player from pineapple juice and killing other guys and having an entire complicated avril lavigne montage and ruby cruz’s sad sad little beat up face and but i’m a diner and havana rose lius ugly cry laugh and a milf who also saves the day and bombing a car to total eclipse of the heart in cunty heist clothes and doing violence for someone as a love language enjoy the weird fucked up dykes or get OUT!!!!!!! it’s not FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

[lwcina]

the fact that the us government can continue funding and arming a genocide despite massive public opposition really highlights how inherently non-democratic the united states is

[bvckleykinard]

.

excuse me I'm annoyed and I'm gonna rant for a second :)

...

[tealfruit]

if you think that someone complaining about the (very real) oppression of trans men must hate trans women that says a lot more about your own beliefs than it does the person you're accusing

[blitheringbongus]

Can't believe Scar saw a rapidly approaching, dishevled mumbo and went "he's so cute." I need to run unorthodox experiments on them.

IKR SAME OMG

They’re literally perfect for each other <- delusional

But seriously they have so much lore together in my silly brain and the few interactions they do have (WHICH HAS BEEN INCREASING A LOT LATELY MAY I ADD) has been FUELING the fire rapidly and gods gods GODS do I have many thoughts about them

[fvckw4d]

The concept of queerbaiting annoys me. I was told that it refers to a work of fiction pretending to cater to a queer audience but then pulling back from it to avoid alienating homophobes, which is an incredibly specific thing. But a lot of people seem to think that it instead means "any time there's any gay subtex, metaphor, or ambiguity" or "whenever something from 1995-2012 was being a normal amount of homophobic for the era."

[themyscirah]

Philippus? Wym philippus this is a wholeass other woman?????? She's white?????? Guys come on now

ALSO cursed white Euboea in this same sequence.... homeboy she's Asian please stop

Joe Phillips I'm sorry but this is some shitty ass guest pencilling how can you not know anything abt what these people look like thats literally your job... you also just needed to read the issue before this to know?

Editors should have caught this one these are major Amazon characters