#Or if someone demands more

[remyfire]

What we as a fandom do not discuss or incorporate enough into our work is that Margaret canonically loves to be thrown around, pinned down, and just generally wrecked in bed. This is a terrible missed opportunity and I believe that if we band together, we can give Margaret all the passionate feral rough sex that she craves.

#two lines have never haunted me more in my entire life than these btw #this would require her to have more than like 40 e-rated fics that she's the center of on ao3 so we have a lot of work to do #but i believe in all of us and our love of giving women what they are demanding #it is impossible to get a clear cap of this moment btw forgive me #one day someone will gif it just for me and i'll weep #margaret houlihan #bj hunnicutt #m*a*s*h #mashposting #mashblogging #an eye for a tooth #s7e14 #margbeej

[foxx-queen]

i keep thinking about the datamined conversation between halsin and minthara and what gets me about it is that if you side with halsin and turn minthara away, thats objectively the bad choice.

like at this point, you've rescued minthara from moonrise. you know now that she was being controlled to act against her will. you've gone to the trouble of rescuing her from her tormentors, and you've experienced what it felt like as they tried to destroy her mind. you know what will happen to her if you turn her away. and if you do, you're willingly condemning her to that fate. you've essentially allowed her to experience freedom, to regain her sense of self, only to tear that away from her again.

whereas if you side with minthara, and halsin leaves, that's the only consequence he experiences. that he's not a companion anymore. at this point, we've saved the grove, we've saved him, and we've lifted the shadow curse. we've helped him achieve what hes been hoping to do for over a century. leaving your party won't see him lose his free will. he can return to the grove and live his life.

the choice is essentially either condemn someone to a fate worse than death, knowing exactly what that entails vs not letting someone travel with you anymore. its pretty clear cut to me.

its just interesting to me that they've switched the morality of it around given that minthara is considered the 'evil' companion by so many.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #minthara #minthara baenre #before anyone comes at me and says that halsin is allowed to have his prejudice and his trauma. im not saying hes not #not sure about someone being allowed to have prejudice but yes thats part of human nature i guess #my point isnt that hes not allowed to react like this #my point is that hes wrong. #sure he can be struggling with his trauma and his prejudice over minthara being a lolth sworn (even if shes not anymore) #BUT. at this point we as a character /know/ theres more to her. we know that hes making an unfair assessment of her #which is even more jarring if you're a drow/lolth sworn drow #and at this point. you've saved the grove youve saved him youve helped him break the curse. he tells you its a debt he cant repay #and that hes so thankful. but he wont trust you or your decision. he won't even attempt to #and u know what thats fine. he doesnt have to. but if you're siding with him you're condemning her. you're killing her #if you side against him. he can go back to his responsibilities as an arch druid rather than leaving it in someone elses hands (which was?) #that is the lesser of the two evils here #yes you can call minthara the 'evil' character because shes a lolth sworn but thats just buying into the prejudice halsin is showing #and its wrong #anyways. my point is good for him if he wants to demand you make a ridiculous choice #but turning her away is the bad choice and tbh i feel like the game wants u to know that #and sure if you want to boil it down to which character u like more than the other and u prefer halsin. ur obvs gonna side with him #but in that case u probably wouldn't even get this conversation #because why would u have bothered to spare / save minthara in the first place?

[sketching-shark]

Been a couple of years, but I still think fondly of Grace Monroe from Infinity Train for achieving that very rare redemption arc narrative of "the people you hurt are allowed to sever all ties, and you can still become a better, happier person."

#grace monroe #grace infinity train #infinity train #in a sea of demands that you must always forgive the people who hurt you no matter what #it was nice to see a plot that gave good weight to feelings and motivations on both side of the equation #hm. #come to think of it #it seems a lot of redemption arcs usually go the route #of redemption through death #or very quick if not immediate acceptance into team the people you traumatized #much more rare to see a redemption arc #where the one on the journey to redemption has to accept that at least some people they've hurt can't or won't forgive them #but that this doesn't automatically mean they can't become a kinder person #hell in grace's case it was pretty shocking/refreshing to see that it was precisely because someone set a hard no-contact boundary with her #that she lost someone she loved but still hurt #which really forced her to reconsider what she was doing #it was a true 'oh no not the quencies' kind of story #but also a 'you will accept the quencies and go forward with your life & hard gained knowledge' narrative #redemption arcs

[shorthaltsjester]

i do not want to dig a hole but i am too much of a laura bailey pc enjoyer to not make this post so:

selfishness ≠ a lack of kindness 

selfishness is a theme that has come up with all of laura's main campaign pcs. that doesn't mean that her characters are always making selfish choices or that they don't care about the rest of the people they're with or that they're not good. it's just that, for the most part, the first thing they're thinking of when they take action or make choices is themselves. 

in jester and vex both it is more typical and obvious selfishness. vex's developed because she needed it to keep herself and vax alive and as safe as possible and it grew into a behaviour that she had to actively work to avoid. it's evident in her greed, her theft of the broom, her reaction to her own death which relied heavily on i'm okay/i survived to which keyleth reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had to witness and reckon with her death. in jester's case, she grew up in an environment that literally trained her to make every decision based on two things - her mother's opinion and her own. so, when she's out in the world without marion for the first time, her choices are those that will benefit her and her actions are those that consider her own thoughts and not really many others' (aside from the traveler's). 

it isn't a criticism of either vex or jester to say that they are characters who act selfishly. in fact, i'd argue that to claim otherwise does a great disservice to exactly how immense both of their character arcs are. because the nuance of both jester and vex is that they are selfish, and they also hold extreme room for self-sacrifice and empathy. vex is much more brash than jester is, and jester is much more trusting than vex, but both of them are characters who begin with selfish impulses who grow with them. neither ever truly shed those impulses, but they use them in new ways, typically transforming them into impulses towards things that are in the best interest of the party. 

you may have noticed the lack of imogen in this post about laura bailey pcs and that's because of two reasons. one, we are an unknown amount of time into her story, i can't analyse her development the same way i can vex and jester's. two, imogen's selfishness isn't the blatant quasi-self-aware selfishness that we see in things like jester complaining about her lack of money to caleb or vex stealing a broom. instead, imogen's is very internal, like a lot of laura's character work with imogen. it is a bit similar to jester’s in the sense that it comes from a lack of awareness moreso than vex’s practiced behaviour, but imogen’s is a lot more tied to inherent beliefs she has about the world and the people in it.

as a consequence of her powers, imogen sees people's thoughts as their entirety, she holds it above their actions to be the truth of who they are - to act against what they think or to say something that doesn’t cohere with what they’ve thought is akin to lying, so for her to act empathetically is to act in tandem with what someone else’s thoughts are, not how they act, which is typically not all that wanted. the same as vex’s greed and jester’s naivety, this is a trait that makes narrative sense and it’s one i find quite compelling, especially when read in the vein of someone struggling through trauma that has made them assume that the world is against them. imogen’s cynicism is coherent cynicism, i can’t say that in a similar situation i wouldn’t have the same predisposition towards the world.

the part that is particularly self-interested comes in if you look at how imogen has actually been treated in the campaign (quite well) in comparison to the cynicism that she’s developed from her past (something that speaks to a world out to get her). certainly, a bunch of shitty things have happened to imogen in the time we’ve known her, but the same can be said for everyone in bell’s hells and pretty much everyone in exandria at this point in time. but, in a fight to save the aforementioned world, imogen’s focus was getting her mother back on her side. which, while very consistent with her character and a choice that i enjoy, is a very selfish one. the fun thing (to me, obviously) about imogen is that she has, more than most, an insight into the opinions of others and she also tends to seek others’ opinions out and genuinely engages with them and supports their choices. but she still very much acts towards what she thinks is best. it’s one reason i enjoy looking at the dynamic between her and orym as one between foils, as orym tends to be stalwart in his beliefs and doesn’t care too much for other’s opinions if he’s already sure of his own, but his actions tend to favour collaboration and protecting others.

as i mentioned earlier, imogen is a harder case to look at because she is still in the process of her story. however, the circlet is clearly influencing how she interacts with the world and in the wake of the solstice, the hostile reaction towards ruidusborn people has started to become more and more apparent and i’m interested to see what route that ends up leading imogen down and how it will influence her relationship with the rest of bell’s hells. (for better, i think, based on recent conversations, but if it's for worse i will be just as seated and excited).

all of this is just to say, please stop assuming that claiming a character has a trait you think is a bad one is criticism or a hate post. in light of the fact that i know that people who don’t believe this will continue to not believe this, i’ll encourage anyone confused about the ability of a character to be good and kind and selfish all at once to look to what the text itself says, specifically scanlan’s words to pelor when asked what vex means to him:

“Her name is Vex, and she is greedy and mean sometimes, and she can steal a lot. She’s a little bit not the greatest person, but her flaws highlight everything that is right about her, which is she does all these things to protect her friends and her family. She would give her life for any of us and for anyone who was truly in need. And she’s not perfect but she’s the most perfect of all of us.”

would you look at that... an ability to be a multitude of things, some in conflict with one another. i know that's hard for fandoms to believe, especially about female characters with agency, but i promise its true!

#deeply unfair of laura to make three characters with some type of people skills and morality shaped by their loneliness #and what. i’m just supposed act like i’m normal about that? #this is me blog and i have slightly more time than usual to write nothing essays about fictional characters that haunt me #but dear god . lookin at cr characters and denying their flaws is like looking at a house and only seeing it’s doors . #if ppl demand perfection of fictional characters im genuinely curious in what media they’ve ever found that . #a single imogen post of mine broke containment and it skyrocketed my annoying phil student levels so. alas #but . if you agree that imogen had an incredibly isolating life . i will emphasize that isolation causes traits and behaviours #that aren’t just Quirky or fun or hot anger or whatever #imogen contains so much i love her so much i am bursting at the seams about it #but for some ppl. she is ur ‘girlfailure’ until someone suggests a way she might be girl failing by being selfinterested #what is the truth. do u want her to be an actual girlfailure it do u just want her to suit a . frankly tired. trope about lesbians #anyway . both text and tag rant over . goodnight #cr meta #imogen temult #vex’ahlia #vex’ahlia de rolo #jester lavorre #critical role #my posts

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Wait, what do the neighbours do to more or less get money? Like what do they do for quests wise?

Howdy's tavern has a board where people can post jobs/quest requests - a lot like in Fairy Tail! a lot of times requests are sent in the mail to any tavern/area that will post them, so you gotta be quick about responding before anyone else does. if the posting was sent in, they have to reply via some form of message to confirm it and essentially say "dont let anyone else take the job, i'm/we're on my/our way"

the quests/jobs have a wide range. sometimes its like "collect this item for me", sometimes its "bodyguard me & my belongings while i travel", and it can be "kill the monster terrorizing my town." it can be anything! it's a mixed bag!

and its a little risky, too. the job postings arent always... In Depth. one time the Neighborhood rushed somewhere because the posting just said HUGE EMERGENCY, LIVES IN DANGER but in reality it was an elderly farmer who had them build a new coop for her chickens before the winter frost. then another time it was all "id like help with a small issue at our town's border" and then the Neighborhood got there and it was a fuckoff huge dragon that they were Not prepared to handle.

the Neighborhood doesnt just take job postings though! their travels often take a while because they'll get into shenanigans/trouble, or in completing one job something else will be asked of them, etc. they also don't always do it for money. if someone's in trouble while they're traveling, theyre gonna help without asking for compensation.

#sometimes their jobs/quests start at home base #sometimes they have to travel #sometimes someone will even arrive asking specifically for them! #the length of their travels also varies wildly #sometimes its a couple days #sometimes its a couple months #one time they didnt return to home base for a year #now THAT was an adventure #rambles from the bog #wh fantasy au #the neighborhood is known for being capable and very helpful #so theyre lowkey celebrities! theyre the pride of their lil town <3 #but yeah their skills and time tends to be in high demand #people will sometimes send their requests specifically to howdy's tavern #in the hopes of the neighborhood picking it up #but yeah honestly they do more Unpaid stuff than paid #they're always doing a coin check - who has what & can they afford a hot meal at an inn #all of them crouched in a circle counting out their collective money after a completed job #thats why theyre always happy when howdy joins - he rakes in So much extra shine #also hes their friend. but with him around they can afford to sleep in beds #oh my god howdy is the neighborhoods sugar daddy #sugarpillar....

[cephalog0d]

Okay, but like. There's the whole joke about Bruce recruiting children to be his sidekicks, but honestly there's only really one that fits that.

And it's Jason. And the whole story there is, frankly, unhinged. Aaaaand then he died.

(I'm specifically talking about "first post-crisis origin stories" here because Jason and Dick, in particular, have both had multiple major retcons and revisions over the years, and some of them dramatically change how things happened.)

Like okay. Going backwards, you've got Duke who joined/led a whole Robin-based gang at a time when Bruce wasn't even Batman. You've got Damian and Cass, who were both literally born into the world of masks and capes and heroes and villains, so they weren't ever really not going to be part of it. Steph might have taken inspiration from previous heroes but she made her own identity and repeatedly refused to stop involving herself in the vigilante lifestyle. Tim, obviously, basically strong-armed Batman into letting him be Robin, despite Batman's protests.

Dick's a little more complicated just because there's so many versions, because that's what 80 years of comics and multiple universe reboots will do, and there's kind of a general trend that earlier pre-crisis versions were more of Batman being like "hello, child, would you like to be my sidekick" and later versions have leaned harder and harder into the idea that Dick was absolutely going to do this anyway, regardless of what Batman had to say about it. But even in the first post-crisis version, the flashback in Batman Year 3, Dick says he wants to find a way to keep people like that from hurting others again. When Alfred questions Bruce's offer to train him, Bruce says that Dick should learn to do things the right way if he's going to do it. It's not hard to extrapolate that, much like later versions of the origin story, Dick was going to get himself into this one way or another. (Batman (1940) #437)

And then there's Jason. Whose backstory has also had a lot of (sometimes major) revisions over the years (remember when his adoption was, like, some kind of Joker-originated long con? Fucken Nu52, man). But the original post-crisis version is pretty straightforward. Steals Batman's tires, gets caught and sent to Ma Gunn's Secret Criminal School, intervenes when Batman goes to investigate, immediately gets offered the chance to be Robin based entirely on that.

Which is itself kind of unhinged. That Bruce saw this kid who was living on his own stealing tires and went "Hey you would make a good Robin" as his very first instinct.

But if you've never read Jason's post-crisis origin, or it's been a while, it's honestly even more unhinged than that because that arc starts with Dick getting "fired" as Robin specifically for the reason that he got shot by Joker and Bruce freaked out about how the Robin identity has too many enemies and therefore Dick, a legal adult with approximately a decade of training and experience, should not use the identity anymore.

(And it's specifically about the Robin identity, in this version, because when Dick says he's not going to stop the crime fighting thing Bruce's response is basically "I know and I didn't expect you to". Honestly I could also say a lot about this version of the Robin/Nightwing transition vs. later ones and how this one definitely feels like the Heavy Hand of DC Editorial in the fact that they had no contact for so long afterwards, because the interaction really doesn't feel like it warrants that in this case compared to some later versions, but that's a whole other too-long ramble.) (Batman (1940) #408)

And then a few weeks later Bruce turns around and picks up a random kid, a literal child, and goes "Hey you would make a good Robin!"

And I think a lot about how fucking wild that is. And it's not like the people writing just didn't notice. Dick's big argument with Bruce when he finally comes back to Gotham and meets Jason isn't about the fact that Bruce took in another kid, or even necessarily about Dick feeling proprietary over the Robin identity, the thing he's angry about is that Bruce said it was too dangerous for him, an adult, someone who has trained with Batman for a decade and was already highly physically trained before that for his whole life, to be Robin, and now Bruce has turned around and painted that target onto some random new kid. He pushes, repeatedly, trying to get Bruce to justify himself and this absolutely irresponsible decision, and Bruce gives a lot of answers about how Jason was on a bad path and needed this outlet and eventually just admits that he missed having a partner. (Batman (1940) #416)

And like. Dick's right, is the thing. He is 1000% in the right in this argument. If he can't be Robin anymore because of the danger, how in the hell is it anything like a good idea to hand it over to someone way younger, way less trained, way less experienced, and expect that that wouldn't end in tragedy?

And then it did.

And yeah, Bruce, it is kinda a lot of your fault.

#And the punchline is Batman clearly should not get to choose his own sidekicks! Haha? #(Sorry this is a lot more serious than my usual Batfam shitposts it won't be a regular habit don't worry) #this is long and rambly but it's something i think about a lot #and it's on my mind extra because of an AU oneshot i'm working on finishing right now #and obviously there's eight kabillion versions of any given origin and reboots and retcons and they change drastically yadda yadda yadda #and also obviously there's always behind-the-scenes editorial choices and other factors when it comes to comics story events #story and character choices are frequently not just a matter of storytelling but of things like meeting editorial demand of What Must Happe #but just looking at the story as presented: the one time bruce specifically recruited someone as his sidekick that kid ended up dead for it #it does make narrative sense given this that bruce's reaction to most of the subsequent kids is initially 'go the fuck home and stop this' #and then only really yielding with the realization that they're totally going to do this shit anyway #jason todd #dick grayson #bruce wayne

[002yb]

For as rough as his brother's hands can be, they're gentle with him. Even when Ace couldn't return the kindness, Luffy endured him; holding fast to clenched fists and knuckles that were split and swollen. Persistent, stubborn even after Luffy pried his hand into Ace's and grit his teeth through the ache of Ace's bruising grips. Whining because he was a crybaby and it hurt, but never pulling away. Only squeezing just as tight in playful retaliation. Smile wide as he coaxed Ace's fingers out of their vice grip to clasp their hands together - warm and soft in a way that made Ace flinch. Because while there was dirt beneath Luffy's nails, there was blood beneath his.

And in spite of that—in spite of everything—Luffy never let go of him. Whether or not Ace feels worth that love and tender devotion, Luffy holds on to him: hands clasped together as Luffy beckons him on new adventures, a reassuring squeeze whenever Ace wavers, a bruising grip when Luffy is overcome; nails cutting into Ace's skin until Ace soothes him. Lips ghosting over knuckles - swollen and split).

Rough, but gentle with Ace. Always.

#acelu #okay someone tell me why they're so soft?? #the childhood sweethearts trope has never been so sweet i'm ahhhhhhh #following an Ace lives AU -- Luffy persisting with wanting to hold ace's hand or be held by Ace in any capacity ffffffff #with Luffy pulling Ace's arms around him - back to chest and then Ace plonks his chin on top of Luffy's head and it's so cozy and sweet #but wait-- #Luffy trying to hold Ace's hand. Just scooching his own beneath Ace's in a silent demand to be held #and Ace ignores him for the sole sake of tormenting his brother dear hahaha #of course he caves though and laughs through the kisses he presses to the back of Luffy's hand -- snickering because Luffy is fun to tease #and more-- #either of them surprise grabbing each other's hand and swinging them between them as they walk omgggggggg OMGGGG #them swinging someone between them -- Chopper or Tama or xyz kiddo -- so darling ;A; #most darling?? Luffy idly poking at Ace's fingers #just them standing at the side of the ship overlooking the ocean -- where Luffy is leaning against the railing #and Ace might be looking out at something but Luffy is focused on Ace's hands and he just --reaches out. Just a pinky to brush against Ace #and it gets Ace's attention and Ace hooks their pinkies and Luffy's smile is so brilliant that Ace can't help but fluster because ;////; #ahhhhhh Ace being helpless and having to look away but his ears give him away because they're burning red with blush and he tries to #play it cool but Luffy laughs at him because he /knows/ and Ace is OTL but it's wonderful ;3;

[mylittleredgirl]

the two factor authentication app for work popped up an “are you enjoying using duo mobile?” prompt to rate it in the app store and like. yeah it works fine for what it is but enjoying? who’s out here enjoying having to pull out their personal cell phone first thing in the morning to log on to an entire day of work? like my desktop outlook every time i open it making me dismiss a banner without a “no” or “never ask again” option about how i should download the mobile app which is sexy and fun and will let me reply from anywhere! like this is my tumblr device. my google image search for “[vaguely defined] meme template” device. my same fanfic for the ninetieth time at one am device. i realize microsoft teams has already stormed the beach at normandy and my zoom phone forwards here because i have to be logged into other accounts on my company computer but enjoying? really?? at 8 am enjoying??

#the worst part is: the duo mobile tone is actually very nice so. i don’t NOT not enjoy it #and yes I KNOW i would also encourage someone else to demand compensation or a company phone #and i respect my colleagues who downgraded to flip phones to force IT to give them a duo mobile fob instead #my direct manager doesn’t put teams on her phone even if everyone else does so it’s not required #but the fobs don’t work for ‘remember this computer for 10 hours’ and i like to pace around my house sometimes #and it’s a nonprofit etc but more importantly: #a substantial part of my lifetime professional success comes from always endearing myself to the IT department #on business

[neonbuck]

whenver i see people complain about things not being tagged im like. well yeah. when tumblr users went to twitter and came back, they all stopped putting content warning tags on literally anything. no one even puts cw tags on graphic discussions of sexual abuse anymore. i'm glad i'm medicated for PTSD now but before that i was always at risk of having my entire day ruined

i just dont think anyone cares anymore so i've never even bothered complaining about it

#.txt #i always make sure to tag all topics related to violence or abuse #is it really so terrible to not want to set off people's symptoms ? geez #it would be impossible for me to tag everything that could set someone off #but i feel like tagging the most common serious triggers is just being thoughtful. same reason i add alt text to my art now #this is neither an attempt at making a demand nor is it even a request #really all i am saying here is that i think more highly of people who show more signs of being caring and thoughtful

[acetier]

what was torins first impression of varre?

he wasn’t very endearing lmao

#torin #varre #white mask varre #elden ring #tarnished #oc #varre x tarnished #ace draws #'die in a ditch' (derogatory) to 'die in a ditch' (affectionate) #based off the network test dialogue lol #torin's so distracted by Everything Else that he quickly forgets about their first encounter #until they run into each other in liurnia #varre gives torin his whole bloody finger spiel and then they don't see each other again for a while #until torin shows up one night looking like a wreck and demanding that varre give him more bloody fingers #something about needing them to hunt down ‘her’ to avenge someone called ‘d’ #thank u for feeding me anon :^) #i'm still working on that other ask about them lol #ask #replies

[cock-holliday]

“Which way are you trans?” because I am a bigot who wants to know how to hurt you best

vs

“Which way are you trans?” because I am new to trans people as a concept and am struggling with conceptualizing your journey

vs

“Which way are you trans?” because I am a baby trans and am trying to find common ground and mean my question as a way of seeking sameness as I flounder about a scary new world

vs

“Which way are you trans?” because I, Speaker of The Transgenders need to know if you are permitted to use the labels you are, have the experiences you do, and whether you are allowed to speak about any of it

Two of these are perhaps uncomfortable experiences that are relatively harmless and come from a lack of understanding but a genuine desire TO understand and connect, and two of these make you a massive dickhead. Can you guess which is which?

#frankly you owe none of the categories any kind of answer #but oooh am I much more likely to give leeway to someone nosily trying to make sense of it #than any person cis or trans who demands to know how to categorize me

[marlinspirkhall]

I just saw a poll about variations of childhood games, which reminded me that there was a small maze painted onto the floor of my school playground where we used to play “Dalek tag” (the daleks can't shoot around corners, but they can fly around the outside of the maze and phase through walls. They can't shoot while they're phasing through walls and are vulnerable to being attacked by players while they do so. If a player successfully lands three hits on a dalek, they turn human again. If you get shot you become a dalek).

We also used to play "line tag" where you could only run along the straight lines of the basketball court (kinda like the floor is lava, I guess). You could step off the lines to go around/overtake other players.

Apparently we later introduced variations of dalek tag where you could "shoot down" the walls, and anywhere the paint was chipped was a "gap" you could shoot through.

I vaguely recall earlier variations where people were eliminated from the game instead of becoming daleks, but the game was essentially just one big group of kids going "yes, and" for an hour so it got more complex over time. For some reason, line tag- played on a much larger area- never did.

#I guess the limited playing space of the maze demanded more complexity #line tag was just line tag #someone told me dalek tag was mostly my idea and I guess that makes sense #doctor who #you haven't experienced the epic triumphs the highs and lows of primary school dalek tag

[angryisokay]

A lot of “how to have a happy marriage” advice is to have sex as often as possible, which is stupid as fuck. If you both wanna fuck, good for you, have at it. But also: Find forms of personal intimacy with your spouse that are not sex, not foreplay, not ‘maybe this will lead to sex’, because I guarantee that you and your spouse will have periods in your life where you just don’t want to fuck.

Making sex a vital necessity to be happy together will turn it into an obligation and a chore, which will ruin your relationship. A sex obligation will create needless arguments, allow room for insecurities and resentment to develop and fester, and generally make living together exhausting and miserable.

Find ways to be intimately close without the expectation of sex.

#'but i don't want to be in a sexless marriage' idk buddy maybe don't get married then #being with someone who only fucks you because they feel like they have to sounds pretty shitty imo #that will fuck up your self esteem their self esteem and ruin everything you could have had #why fuck things up when you could find intimate alternatives to lean on when one or both of you aren't in the mood? #and get this: it's like reverse psychology for libido! #the less you expect and demand sex -while maintaining other forms of intimacy- the more likely your spouse will want to have sex regularly

[deardoomedworld]

Talking about how affable yet ruthless Inayat "tyrant of love" Khan is has made me start thinking about Jesper and how prickly he is. He's so mean, even purposefully vicious - think of how he talks to Anita when he leaves, and how after that harrowing conversation, he's literally fantasising about how he could've been even meaner - he seems to find some sort of satisfaction/relief in being mean, in the little bit of power and control it temporarily gives him (over someone else's emotions, which is better than nothing when you feel powerless).

When we first meet them as adults, Jesper seems more detached from the other two (or alternatively, Khan and Tereesz seem closer), not just because of an earlier falling out with Khan but because he seems more put together. Tereesz' and Khan's careers/lives are more obviously shaped by their childhood trauma, while Jesper is succesful, rich, and famous. He seems better adjusted and perhaps like he moved on more than the others. Jesper's jabs towards Tereesz and Khan (think of how he tells them that them visiting the Lund girls' mother is sad/pathetic while he did the same thing; or the "those of us whose profession does not include ditches and missing children" comment) seem specifically meant to make himself look more normal. He's wearing white. He's not sullied.

This is of course just a facade. Later on in the book, it becomes clear (at least that's my interpretation) that Jesper is just as, if perhaps not more fucked up than the others, and keeps them at arms length because he's trying to hide this. His privilege - his wealth and his looks (as a blonde, blue-eyed Vaasan) - plays a big role in him succeeding in this. The other two are constantly reminded that they're immigrants, and already have to put in more effort than Jesper just to be treated normally (Tereesz is very good at this when he's not inebriated, as he seems to have dumped a bunch of skill points in composure & authority. Khan not so much), let aside when they're unraveling.

But back to his prickly exterior, his meanness. I find it interesting that as unlikeable as he is, he also seems to completely break down once Tereesz gets shot. He builts a little tomb for Tereesz' gun and then sets off to, apparently, do coke for two months and then disappear himself (we get a nice close-up of his passport, his identity, burning up before he enters the Lungs of Graad). As much as he mocked Tereesz and Khan, he seemed completely on board to leave his life behind and go with Khan's plan, but then he just abandons that after the events or chapter 18. Because... "It's become too morbid for Jesper."

Behind his likeability, Khan is revealed to be somewhat ruthless- there's nothing he won't do for this cause, nothing that can stand in his way. Jesper, vicious as he was, breaks down quickly, because his meanness was for hiding vulnerability. He was trying so hard to be normal. ("This is sad? It's all totally great!") The Ibex English translation uses the word morbid a few times, and it's often in relation to Jesper. ("I don't collect anything, you morbos.") So, behind his prickliness, is Jesper the one made of mushier stuff, who can't handle the bad stuff well? The soft one who just breaks, in the end? The sentimental one, holding onto scrunchies and service weapons.

It's counterintuitive because he's so mean, but maybe Jesper is in white because he's more innocent, more childlike? ("To this day, he hates adult sexuality. (...) Realistically, and in a paradoxical way, this makes him a p*dophile.") After all, if you search the word white through the Ibex translation, almost all instances of its use are used to refer to a Lund girl, or Jesper.

Is. Is this anything.

#sacred and terrible air #püha ja õudne lõhn #jesper de la guardie #pjol theories #oh my god a Jesper post from the Tereesz apologist??? #it's more likely than you think! #the sofa where Khan and Machejek felt uncomfortable is white #I think there's also a connection between Jesper in white and his nihilism #similar to Zigi's white stripes #but I really wanted to talk about this instead #maybe someone else can explore his nihilism #also thinking of Khan as the nice one Jesper the mean one #and Tereesz whatever the situation demands bc he sees himself as a tool not a person

[aprito]

Please, stop talking about Israel and Gaza. This is not the place for it. both of you can do this on other places on Google. Just don't speak about this topic at all. Remove what you wrote here if you can (I don't if that's possible, but it would be good to do so), and also remove what you shared that someone else wrote. As I said, it's not the right place to talk about it.

I don't know what's worse: You saying I'm not allowed to feel bad for a fellow artist in a war zone with increasingly more terrible survival options (that my EU tax payer money is contributing to) or the follow up to my last response where the person doubled down on their rhetoric by saying Palestinian children need to be smothered in the crib because they will grow up to be dangerous monsters, something that was also systematically happening to my slavic ancestors at the hands of the Nazis during WW2, a response so appaling and disgusting I decided not to publish it. Am I just a content creator to you and not a person? Is fandom escapism all you people fucking care about?

Anyways, here you can find a comprehensive post on what's been happening for the past 75 years and here and here are some on the ground organisations for you to donate to.

#nonitxt #'this is not the place' i am offline organising to stop weapons shipments to that evil country #which is more than than i was able to do for my ukrainian relatives who werent allowed to leave the country #i share one post and you people fucking get triggered immediately #demanding someone to not care is insane #no one is free until palestinians are free

[maaaxx]

dont get me wrong i am more excited for this atla remake and the inevitable renaissance part 2 than i have ever been for anything in my life. however im also terrified of what changes this is going to bring to the fandom. Obviously the 2020 renaissance brought a lot of new and good things (zukka, a ton of amazing fics, etc). But more people joining the fandom means new people joining ao3 and interacting with fics and authors and artists too. Even in the few years that i've been active in fandom i've noticed a dramatic shift in how people interact with artists and authors especially. And I can't see this not getting worse as more people whose main social media experiences include tik tok and instagram coming to ao3 and tumblr. Like these people are used to content creators who revolve their content around what their audience wants because its their job, and I know this isnt going to translate well to the culture around ao3 writers especially when unconsolidated comments and 'advise' is already a problem for a ton of authors. And for people who dont understand that fics and fanart are supposed be transactional in the sense that you need to leave comments and kudos and reblog stuff when they're used to simply liking something *maybe* being enough. Idk whats going on with other fandoms, but I do know that these things have been an ongoing issue for the atla fandom and like I said, I can't imagine having another 'renaissance' and this stuff not getting worse.

#ive been plotting out new fics to post soon with the same energy as someone trying to start a business during a recession #but like i said idk if this is an issue with other fandoms because the atla fandom is the only one im active in #but i *know* that this is an issue for the atla fandom #Like people are commenting less and less on fics but demanding more frequent chapters #and people want to leave critism that the authors didnt ask for while also not leaving an ounce of praise #like there has been an influx of people just being so shitty to authors #and im not sure if its because of ignorance and people genuinely not knowing how fandom works #or if its entitlement and people are expecting the same thing from fandom creators that they do from influencers or book authors #like fandom has been so weird recently and it is a huge reason of why i havent been updating fics and stuff #when i started posting i wanted a community of people who shared my interests #not people who look at me like a celebrity who they can critisize like theyre leaving a review on rotten tomatoes #idk people have gotten a lot more hostile and its not as fun as it used to be and im scared that another flood of people #joining the fandom is going to make in unbearable #this feels kind of whiney but i am curious if anyone else has noticed it #fandom #ao3 #zukka #atla #max thinks shes relevant