#but with writing people honestly just treat it like it's free real estate and the thing is it kinda IS especially if it's fanfic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

adelrambles · 2 months

Note

You have a really good grasp on Bishop (TMNT) character. I really like your analyses on him. But I was wondering something; how does Bishop views each turtle? Which one do you think Bishop believes is the most dangerous? How do you think Bishop will take down the turtles individually? Of course you don’t have to answer this! I was just wondering for my own writing project.

Thank you, I'm very glad to hear that! I'm also quite happy to get questions on him, so much appreciated haha!

This is an interesting one, because we don't really see Bishop do much one-on-one interaction with each turtle, so we're going to have to do a little bit of speculation, based the encounters we do see. I will say that Bishop treats them all as proper threats, (if nuisances,) never letting his guard down even when he has the upper hand. His thoughts on others also tend to begin and end at "how useful are they to me" and "how do I kill them." Also keep in mind that Bishop is known to have been surveilling them before, and might know more about them than we saw him divulge.

If I were to pick one he'd consider the most dangerous, I'd probably say Don, which I'll justify below haha. But honestly Mikey has the possibility of being a close second, more based on speculation than anything we actually see on-screen.

After some review of the scenes where they interact, here's my best approximation:

Donatello

This one is the simplest to figure out, I think, because we already know Bishop holds scientists in much higher regard than most people, even when they happen to be non-human (see: his (granted, taunting) praise of Leatherhead's work during the Good Genes arc.) I think Bishop is aware of Don's genius and most likely finds it a shame he can't make use of it, himself.

It seems like Bishop dodges around Don's bo the most out of any of the turtles, never outright stealing it like he's done with the others. I suspect this is because Don has the widest reach with his weapon, and Bishop is more likely to dodge away than go for a counter, when it comes to him. For this reason, Donny might qualify as the one Bishop deems the most dangerous. He's also the one who takes Bishop off-guard during the fake invasion, twice! First sneaking up on him to get the first attack, and then intercepting his lunge at Raph, ultimately knocking him down one of the tunnels and winning the fight.

If approaching him one-on-one, I think Bishop would try to keep the environment tight and cluttered, to make it harder for Don to use his weapon. He needs to even the field (by which he means, of course, giving himself a dominating advantage,) by ensuring Don can't make use of his weapon's extra reach, which will allow Bishop to counter more freely.

Michelangelo

This dynamic starts off with a mutual underestimation. Mikey attacks Bishop after being freed from the surgical table, assuming he's just some government lackey, only to be taken off-guard when Bishop dodges and counters-- enough that he immediately gets pinned again. Bishop, for his part, seems to have singled Mikey out as something of an easier target among his brothers, and is blindsided when Mikey himself is able to get free from being held hostage.

Bishop seems to be comfortable with-- even possibly has a preference for-- chains as weapons, so he tends to try make use of Mikey's nunchaku, tangling his siblings' weapons in them often. Mikey seems to have caught on to this in subsequent encounters, though. There is the potential here for something of a rivalry; though the show doesn't push it. With both having underestimated one another, and taking one another more seriously after the fact, and taking into account that Mikey is noted to be the most skilled of the turtles when he really tries, there's certainly real estate for an escalation in this dynamic.

One-on-one, in that same vein, I think Bishop takes Mikey seriously, as someone who has proven to be difficult to predict and someone who learns and adapts (like him!) Bishop's superior speed will be his friend, here. Even if Mikey takes him by surprise, it won't be a big problem as long as he can keep on his toes and get some distance.

Leonardo

Bishop is probably aware that Leo acts as the squad leader, and that can be pretty useful information, though I don't think he ever really makes use of it that we see. What he does seem to make use of is Leo's honor and loyalty, leveraging family or allies more than once to trip him up in combat (Usually as in taking a hostage, i.e. Mikey and Karai.) There's even a chance he was banking on Leo's loyalty to coerce a deal out of them during Good Genes.

I think Leo gets his sword stolen the most out of all the weapons Bishop yoinks. Other than that, there's not much unique to how Bishop approaches him as he does his brothers, that I was able to see. One-on-one Bishop's probably more likely to try some mind games, knowing Leo's buttons already. If he's aware of the shoulder injury, he'd definitely target it. And steals his swords, of course.

Raphael

Turns out I have the least to say on poor Raph. He clearly hates Bishop with a burning passion, but Bishop doesn't seem to think all that much of him. His sai are made use of to catch his siblings' weapons second most often after Mikey's nunchaku, though!

Raph's also a prime target for mind games one-on-one. His emotional reactions make him unfortunately easy to rile up into tunnel-visioning. This means he's also really easy to use the environment against, which happens to be one of Bishop's fortes. Bishop also seems pretty comfortable stealing his sai. Essentially, Raph's less of a threat to him the more emotional he gets, so Bishop will certainly be pushing all his buttons.

Fast Forward

I don't know if this is as relevant to you, but it could offer some insight into the trajectory of these dynamics, perhaps? In any case President Bishop's first appearance has him calling them friends, which implies that eventually he and the turtles form an allyship (probably years down the line.) He also seems to be taken off-guard when the time-traveling versions don't want to work with him-- presumably he assumed they were further down the timeline than they were.

Now again there's not much one-on-one, but we know Bishop seems to get annoyed at points with their general... teenager-ness, lack of focus, perceived unprofessionalism, all that. He gets sarcastic with them plenty of times during Head of State. He does appear to obfuscate the information he allows them access to, as well, (you cannot convince me he actually dismissed those Sh'Okanabo reports. He was trying to redirect them away from it for whatever reason, I think,) which suggests to me he's trying to control where their attention is pointed. But he also clearly considers them capable, mostly contacting them to contract them as a sort of personal black ops assassin team.

We do get a clear dynamic in how each turtle approaches Bishop! Leo seems the most convinced of his redemption, interestingly enough, and is shown willing to jump to his aid in moments of crisis. Raph is least convinced, taking any opportunity to needle Bishop about his past actions. Mikey and Don are more neutral, but Mikey leans closer to the distrusting side, while Don leans closer to the trusting side (or at least, the "being polite" side.)

Finally, it's worth pointing out that Bishop does have a something of an established rivalry with Splinter, who has proven capable of keeping up with him one-on-one. Don't know if that'll factor in for you, but it warranted a shoutout!

Hope some of this helps, at least, and have fun with your project! It sounds very intriguing heheh

#agent bishop #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #asks #teenage mutant ninja turtles #we might be able to use our own knowledge of each turtle's fighting style and try speculate what Bishop would think of it #like Leo fights more traditionally right. which I think would make him a lot easier for Bishop to handle #if Bishop can predict you you don't really register as very dangerous to him #whereas Mikey seems to have a lot in common with Bishop in terms of fighting style. a lot of dodging around and using the opponent's-#-strength against them. He's also the one to accurately analyze that Bishop makes great use of his speed in combat.#this makes him a more difficult matchup in combat #I tried to keep this mostly to just what could be gleaned from observing their interactions in the show tho

23 notes · View notes

enchantechante · 6 months

Note

I love how you're very direct with your responses so I figured I'll ask for your advice.

Yesterday I was talking to my boyfriend and I asked him if he wants to learn about investing and real estate.I'm currently learning about it(after following your blog and seeing people kept writing in about it) I decided to do my own research and saw it's a lot of ways to become wealthy quicker.

He knows I've been studying almost every day about both,joining free webinars, networking etc.He says he's serious about us and knows how I am about finances.I'm currently working on bettering myself,losing weight and getting my stuff together. He's older than me(45) and works a regular 9-5 blue collar job,doesn't own a credit card or anything. He says he prefers having a debit card because credit cards aren't that serious and I try to teach him about building credit etc.

My thing is...he is a good person and treats me right...but I don't want to work for someone all of my life. He knows that.I feel like anon with the student loans,that's the only reason I'm working as a caregiver right now so I can pay off my student loans before I start investing and slowly getting into real estate.

He has the mindset of having a lot of money doesn't matter and it's all about the way you treat people. I agree to a degree but I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck. I am tired and drained working 12 hour shifts,messing up my body for $15 an hour. I want to be successful. I want more time for me. I want to travel the world. It just sucks that I know I might have to leave him during the process. We can be friends for sure but for now on I'm putting myself and my wants and needs first. I feel like if I don't I'll forever be running a rat race and I know I won't win,Tae. My mental has been a mess lately due to work and stressing over money for my student loans and taking care of my parents.

When I talk to him and he continues to refuse to learn about investing or real estate I just start thinking,do you think this is a game? I will leave you if you're not going to grow. I only have this one life and I have to make something of myself. I owe it to myself and honestly I'm just tired of crying all night and being pissed off with my life when I know I can change some things around.

Morning, Anon!

You know how I feel 🙃:

lol but before we're too hasty ✋🏾

have you explicitly told him you want xyz in a "husband"?

Does he know you aspire to a long term relationship with someone with more vision + work ethic towards that?

If so, leaving him shouldn't come as a shocker.

With any new role, it's best to vocalize your goals early and consistently. Make them known and follow up with the actions to match.

A lot of boyfriends feel like they can drag their mediocre bofriend-dom to infinity and beyond & act shocked that they didn't cut the mustard eventually.

Either they can meet the expectations or they can't. 💁🏽‍♀️ Either you're happy or nah.

He doesn't have to do exactly what you do as you do it. But he doesn't seem invested in the same financial goals as you. Or in his role supporting you along the way. Which I agree is a 🚩

His response when you explicitly state what you want long term will be telling. See his actions for what they are at that pt. Resist the urge to "assign" him a task.

He may do nothing and ignore you. He may ask you how it's going and start to schedule dates around your study time. He may open up about personal investing curiosities of his own.

Let him react to your standard organically. And look at his reaction soberly and patiently. Over a few weeks ask yourself, "If this continues for another 5 years or even in a more committed relationship - will I have what I need in a partner?"

And leave if nothing comes of this talk. Even if there is a little something but not enough for you.

I'm not even sure if theres enough evidence to suggest he would even be a good "friend" to you at this time. He may just be a slow leaking emotional energy drain bc he's not supportive, so much is pulling on you already and you feel it weighing down your momentum.

Always hoping for the v best for you, Anon 🙏🏽✨

-tae

#anon #Debt Free Real Estate Anon #we're calling yall based on where yall headed not on where yall been #🙏🏽✨#in faith with my sis #dating #dating advice #finances

0 notes

sugarmaplewings-fics · 3 years

Text

Insecure Thicc!Reader

Pairings: BNHA Boys x reader

Warnings: Some spicy bits, but not too crazy, a little crude, kinda implied fem! in some bits, but you can just skip over those points if ya want

Characters: Bakugou, Kirishima, Dabi

Author’s Note:

Hello! This is the first time I’ve written for Dabi so I hope his turned out ok! As a thicc girl myself, I kinda poured my heart out a bit for this request. I hope you enjoy these little headcanons (I kinda went crazy oop—)!

If you’re feeling insecure, remember that you’re beautiful, no matter what other people say! I’m still on my own journey of self-love, but I hope that this can bring a bit of comfort to anyone who is anywhere on that road.

I know that it says Mirio, but I don't write for him so I contacted the requester and they swapped him out for Dabi.

I love you guys! Hope you like it!

-Sugar

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

Bakugou:

My mans Bakugou

He can appreciate some nice booty

I'm just going to jump straight to cuddling here because that's what I feel like doing

In public, Bakugou isn't all that affectionate

I am by no means saying he wouldn't gladly flaunt your relationship and yell about how wonderful and attractive his s/o is, but for the most part he likes to keep it between you two

But during down time, when there's nothing to do and all evening to do it, he wants you in his lap

SNUGGLING

He a stronk boi, you're sitting on his lap whether you like it or not

You are his human teddy bear, and you're going to have a hard time getting him to let you go

He wants to touch you all over and let his hands sink into your soft, plush body

Cheeks? Perfect for kissing and squeezing between his fingers

Your chest? He likes to hold you in his hands and test the weight of your boobs. They're so nice and soft and squeezable

Tummy? Bakugou's all over giving you soft, slow kisses over your skin, sucking a little into his mouth and between his teeth to nibble on

Thighs? He's touching on them constantly. If ever he's feeling possessive over you, his hands are going to fly to your legs and give them a solid squeeze to remind you you're his

Butt? Like I said, he loves it. He likes smacking it at every opportunity. Watching the resulting jiggle is the most satisfying and enticing thing to him

He likes to hold you at night, either his hands firmly clasping those lower cheeks or simply having it pressed into him. As much as he can get, he'll take

…

Now, if he ever catches you saying something bad about yourself, you're done for

You say it when you're home alone together? He's going to prove to you how beautiful and valuable you are through any methods he can think of

Lecture consisting mostly of him yelling about how much he loves you? Check

Tackling you in an aggressive hug and pinning you to the bed only to point out and gently kiss everything you dislike about yourself, telling you how much he loves it? Check

There's another thing I could mention he'd do, but my mom might read this, so I don't want to get into it, buuutt you can fill it in yourself 👀—

Say something bad out in public? He's going to give you a death glare and pull you aside as soon as he can to tell you to stop

If someone makes a nasty comment about you, they got a big storm comin

Let's just say that, after an extensive apology from the person, you probably won't see them again for weeks

Bakugou knows how to get to people

…

Katsuki doesn't care about what you look like, as long as you're happy and healthy

He values how you carry yourself and how you treat him. Something as superfluous as appearance isn’t on his mind when choosing and loving a partner

He's a good person to vent to as well. It may not seem like he’s listening sometimes, but he his. His insight is truly outstanding. There's something about him where, when he wants to, he always knows the right thing to say

13/10 loves you just the way you are and knows you're beautiful. Would not hesitate bitch to throw hands to anyone who says otherwise

____________

Kirishima:

Idk if this is me just self projecting onto him or whatever, but high key I think Kirishima could have a thing for thicc people

Nothing against our skinny queens and kings! He'd love you either way

But like, I can 100% see it

So he honestly gets kinda offended when he realizes you're insecure about your body

He understands why you feel this way—he's not blind to the fact that you're a little bigger than some other people

What really gets him is why you put so much pressure on yourself to look a certain way. To him, you're the most beautiful wonderful person in his world. Why would you be so negative towards yourself?

He knows how it feels to be insecure, especially with appearance

If you want to change yourself, he's 100% supportive. Mans is literally the most perfect gym buddy and would love to be by your side on your journey of self improvement

If you're not interested in changing your appearance, whether it be simply just for now or even never, guess what? He's 100% supportive!

I've seen this everywhere, and if you're also a regular in this niche of fanfic, I'm sure you have too, but Kiri is the biggest hype man

New outfit? He's all over telling you how good you look. Flaunt it, babes!

New makeup look? Amazing! Beautiful!

Did something different with your hair? Yesyesyesyesyes

And he's completely genuine in his praise as well. It's not manly to be fake about your thoughts and beliefs, and he knows for a fact that you're beautiful, just the way you are. Confidence goes perfectly with any look!

…

When it comes to cuddling, he's all over you

He'll respect it if you're uncomfortable being touched in some places, but what he wants most is to be as handsy with you as possible

He just wants to run his hands over every surface of your body. Nothing suggestive about it (unless you're in the mood! 😉), he just wants to feel you

Boob pillow? That's all his. It's like there's one magnet in your chest and another in the side of his head. They're just so soft and plush and squishy?? To die for! Even if your chest is comparatively small, he's still on you. You can't stop him

When his head isn't planted on your chest, it's settled on your belly. He likes the warmth against his cheek and finds every aspect of it cute

Rolls? Adorable! Stretch marks? Beautiful! Hair? Pretty!

11/10 you're getting tummy kithes and little teasing tickles every night you spend together

He loves your thighs. Being a little grabby with them is totally his thing

Yet another place to leave kisses. Maybe even love bites too `O.O`

Great place for him to take little naps. Literally I cannot stress enough how comfortable he finds you, immersed in your scent, cheek comfortably resting on the tops of your legs, your fingers carding through his soft red hair. You are literally Heaven on Earth to him

Insecure about your arms? He loves them. They lead to you, and give him the best cuddles and hugs ever in the whole wide world. He'll kiss them all the way up and down until you admit they're not so bad

That goes for everything though. If he catches you talking bad about yourself or your body, he will tackle you and start kissing you all over until you admit how beautiful you are

KISSES ON YOUR CHEEKS. CHUBBY CHEEKS ARE VERY ADORABLE AND COMPLETELY FREE KISSING REAL ESTATE

He won't hesitate to carry you around or let you sit on his lap. He's a hero (or even just training to be a hero). He's super strong and manly, and besides, what else are those muscles for? Punching bad guys? Nah, he's more interested in holding his favorite person in the world (oop, that's you!)

Doesn't matter how heavy you are (I'm also talking to all yee who are 200lbs+. I see you. He's got you), he can pick you up. Carrying around his s/o is 100% mandatory and you can't say no (well, I mean, you can but like, only if you truly mean it)

Any days you feel down on yourself, he can be a little more serious

He's a great listener and will hear every word you have to say without interrupting, even though a part of him wants to interject any time you may try to call yourself ugly or unattractive

Once you've vented everything out, he'll pull you into his arms and let you settle on his lap. Then he'll give you the hype/pep talk you need

Anything you don't like about yourself, he'll go on a whole rant about how much he loves it. It's not a flaw, it's just a part of who you are. And because it's a part of you, Kirishima is going to love it, no matter how much resentment you may feel towards it

He's a big hugger, so he wants to have you as close to him as he can. It helps him feel like he's making you feel better

…

Heaven forbid someone tries to give you trouble for how you look

He won't react as explosively as Bakugou, but they still better be praying

Kirishima's going to give them a good long talk about treating others with respect and being manly. He's not leaving until they apologize

All in all, Kirishima will forever love you for who you are. He doesn't care about your body shape or size. As long as you're healthy and happy and being your best self, he's going to be all for you

____________

Dabi:

So this guy is not having ya insecure BS

He doesn't see any problem with the way you look

He really grows to like your body even more than he expected over the course of the relationship

He likes how much more of you he has to grab and kiss and smack (affectionately)

He's pretty open with PDA

He likes grabbing your ass where everyone can see and giving you a nice squeeze just to let you and everyone else know you're his

He's into making out with you behind the bar, just waiting for someone to walk in on you

Dabi isn't big on being soft in public, but behind closed doors, you'd find him giving softer kisses and lighter touches

Initially isn't big on cuddling but opens up to it more as he finds how soft and huggable you are

You can bet you're sitting on his lap whenever you can, whether it's alone together in your room or even during a meeting; this man has no shame (not that he should be)

When you open up to him about your insecurities, he'll be a little upset

He sees nothing wrong with you at all, so why is your body something to be upset over? If anything, he's more attracted to you like this

He has a bit of a hard time finding himself attractive due to his burns (he's so wrong tho), so in that sense, he can somewhat understand

Decides to make a bit of a pact with you to stop being so insecure about yourselves and making a big deal out of appearances

You both love each other for who you are, and that's what's important

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

Taglist: @a-happy-otter @basicaegyo @iiminibattlehero @katsugay @nabo39 @pyrofanatic @sendhelpimstupid @sokkasangel @xoxopam4

682 notes · View notes

hwrryscherry · 3 years

Text

The one where the reader meets Harry as Jack

characters: HARRYxREADER!FEM

blurb: Harry is filming Don't Worry Darling in Palms Springs while Y/N is moving in in her new house in the neighbourhood where the movie is being filmed. Turns out the fate wanted to cross Harry and Y/N's way as a box full of books is very intriguing to Harry and Pride and Prejudice becomes Harry's new favorite.

word count: 2.7K

author's note: Heyy guys, it has been SO LONG and honestly I don’t think this is best work yet lol but anyway, I had the worst writer’s block of my life so it was so hard for me to write a single word. Honestly, I felt kinda pressured to write. I felt like I was pressuring myself for that so I had to take advantage of this block and take this idea out of my mind. I want to say something important too; I really want to say that the only story of mine that I’ll keep the face claim is HARRYxMODELY/N, just because I like to use the photos to make instagram posts sometimes. I will no longer describe types of hair as I used to say ‘’long strands of hair’’, it will be neutral for you to imagine yourself in the story. It’s all about you guys and how you can visualize the story and the character, if you want to imagine a face claim that’s cool but if you don’t want to it’s cool too. Feel free to read and visualize, it’s all about you. Thank you for the support on my account and my writing. I’m aware that I’m not the best lol, but I also think that I have so much to learn from you just as I have to teach. I’m so grateful for everyone who reads and like my stuff. Never forget that you’re unique, you’re loved, you’re so golden and treat people with kindness always.

"Why is it so hot in here? It's fucking December!", you'd think to yourself as you drove your new car through the streets of Palm Springs. The thing is that after you moved from Columbia to reside so many years in New York while you were studying English Language and Literature in Yale, you just got so used with the usual colder weather from NY and it's just a different vibe from California. You had such a hard time to decide what you wanted to do after graduating, though. And after a few weeks and some long conversations with your family, you decided you would go to California. Palm Springs, to be more specific. You decided that because you remembered all the times you went there when you were a kid because your grandmother lived in there before she passed. You remember spending your summer vacation with her and how cool it was. It was in the early 2000′s and there was many kids on your age that lived on her street. You remember playing with them all day and then getting back into your grandma’s house and feeling that cinnamon scent that for some one only her house had. It wasn’t a usual cinnamon scent. It had something special in it. It made you feel so warm and welcomed. You remember helping her to bake the most delicious cookies, brownies and cakes in her kitchen. You remember the kitchen had a yellow counter, but the entire kitchen was white. All very pale and then the cheerful yellow in the kitchen that colored everything. You remember going to play bingo with her and how it made her happy to having you around. You both were so close and you had such a hard time when she passed, but the most important was she taught you so many things during your time together, and you’d never forget those things and her.

As you drove, you’d remember those streets vaguely. You’d pass through the soccer court you typically used to go with the other kids and spent hours playing in there. You were vibing with the song in the stereo as you started getting closer to your new house’s street. It was Carolina by Harry Styles; you have to admit you’re not the biggest Harry Styles fan in the world, but you were definitely a One Direction fan when you were around 16, but you couldn't be considered a directioner either. You just listened to a few songs and thought it was good. But anyway, this specific song is one that you particularly like. It may have something to do with the fact that you’re from Carolina, of course. But it’s more about the vibe and the melody that by being animated it could actually cheer anyone up and the lyrics were undeniably good though, a little sexual, but good. It’s more about the vibe and the melody that by being animated it could actually cheer anyone up and the lyrics were really good though, a little sexual, but good.

When you turned the right way into the street of your new home, you came across much more than you expected to see on your moving day. There were, as it seemed, paparazzi. Apparently they were shooting a movie right in your street, and it had also many people with many cameras and trailers that probably were dressing rooms. Naturally, you knew that thousands of films were shot in California, that’s obvious. But you didn't expect one to be shooting exactly on your moving day and specifically in your street, let alone that the street would be this crowded since the world is experiencing a global pandemic, ironic. You observed some of the people walking down the street, or should you call it a set? You don't know, but there were many people and many cars, at least they were all wearing masks. It had many classic cars, probably in the 40s or 50s style. They were colorful; vivid colors, though. Colors like yellow, blue and lilac was really present. To resume, the whole street looked like a movie from the 50s and for sure that was the intention because you could notice some extras walking around the set dressed up as 50s people used to.

As you carefully drive through the street, you’d notice that from what seemed like a divine miracle, there was a vacant parking spot right in front of your house and you can’t help but smile when you see it. The first time you came here to see the house. You were with your family, and that was about four months ago. You just loved the house completely as it had such a different vibe from the place you used to live in New York, and honestly, just the thought of the house made your creativity activate as it had some really cool colored walls and you bought some colored mobile as well. Anyway, you stopped the car right in front of your house finishing the engine and grabbing your mask and putting it in your face as you'd use your hand to get rid of the seat belt and your other hand to open the car door and get out of the car.

After closing the driver's seat door, you go around the car walking to the trunk where you use the car key to open it. When you open it, you are faced with two cardboard boxes. One was full of books. Books of all kinds, books of period novels, books of suspense, books of investigation and etc. Books that piqued your curiosity and made you want to finish reading it as quickly as possible. The other box was already full of clothes, those last clothes that you would finally be taking home. Your mother has done the biggest job in the moving issue; she was the one who was bringing the furniture and your things while you finished packing the rest of your things to leave New York. You try your hardest not to pay attention to the set of recordings and the people who walked back and forth, at the same time that you tried hard not to make any noise, because if you accidentally disturbed a scene, you would feel extremely embarrassed and would probably not even show up at the gate until the end of filming, but that was not the case. You removed the two boxes from the trunk just before closing it completely. You chose, perhaps, to enter the clothes box first. You bent down taking the box in your arms and walked to the door of the house where you used the key you received from the real-estate agent to unlock it before entering. You immediately noticed that some sunbeams reflected on the living room floor due to the white linen curtain that covered the glass windows. You observed the contrast of the sofa in such a light tone with the lilac wall just behind it. You walked with the box in hand by the door extension to the room where you placed the box on the small coffee table in front of the sofa. Returning out of the house, you can see the figure of a tall man dressed in a brown suit crouched in front of the box of your books. He had brown hair and properly cut. It didn't look like he was messing with your books, but he was definitely looking at them and it seemed like he was trying to read the covers of it for some reason. You slowly got closer to the man's body without making too much noise while you analyzed him, you crossed your arms upon your chest as you noticed the book cover he was looking at: Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield.

— This one is amazing! — You said, surprising the man that stand up fastly with the book in his hands connecting his green gaze with yours. He was tall, really tall by the way. His suit seemed perfect, just as his hair. He had a black mask on as a protection but the 16 year old teenager inside of you could never mistake those eyes. It was Harry fricking Styles. You considerated being quiet as you, yourself were pretty surprised now, but then you took your gaze to the book in his hand and then back at his face — It's like comparing love to a popular song that we usually search to define love. Just to find out that love is like oxygen, or love is a kind of drug, or a battlefield for some... — You said referring to the book with a tender smile on your face that Harry couldn't essentially see, but talking about a book that you loved caused this on you. And as you talked you didn't notice that Harry had a smile on his face as well. Maybe it was because you completely ignored the fact that he is Harry Styles and he was messing up your books as he's on the set filming a movie, or maybe it was the fact that he loved this book just as much as you did. He'd use to say this is probably one of the books that if he had to read just one book to the rest of his life, he'd chose this one and he usually had so much to talk about this book and so much to put on an argument about it but now he was completely speechless. He was just tongue tied. He was tongue tied about your reflection of one of his favorite books and how it looked so identical to his own personal reflection. He was tongue tied for the number of great books that he always wanted to read that was on that box. He was tongue tied at the owner of those books and her beauty, her intelligence of her voice and her voice as well so he just chuckled. A nervous chuckle as he leaned his head to look at the floor for a second before looking at you and holding out the book in his hands to you that calmly took it from his hands.

— I know! It's one of my favorite books! — Harry'd ultimately manage to say it as he observed you admiring the cover and running your fingers through it as a truly book lover would do — It's very interesting the interpretation you have of it.

— Don't you agree? — You'd interrupt him rising your head to examine at his face. He seemed paralyzed by some way, little did you know that Harry was mesmerized. He enjoyed the informal way you were speaking with him, and it genuinely felt like you already knew it each for years.

— That's the intriguing part. We have the same interpretation! — He'd say serenely, and then running his hand through his hair as he frown a little because of the sun that just hit on his glowing eyes.

— Well...Maybe you're just trying to imitate me to impress me! — You'd joke, with a mocking expression on your face making Harry giggle at your words and your face. It was the sense of humor to him.

— Oh really? And what makes you think I'm trying to impress you? — Harry'd say back with the same mocking tone that you formerly used. He'd observe your face go from playful to thoughtful in just as you to come up with a response.

— I mean...you were the one looking through my stuff, mister! — You say raising your eyebrows as you utilized one of your hands to take some strands of hair out of your face.

— Right... — Harry said with a defeated voice before as he compressed his lips together and moved his suit away from his shirt a little as he places his hands on his waist — I'm sorry about it, though. There was this box hanging here and I guess I was just intrigued! — He said shyly making you start walking towards the box walking closely to him causing him to feel a hot warm from your body as you passed. You'd bend over to grab the box but was stopped by Harry taking the heavy box from your hands — Let me help you with this! — Harry said as he held the box on his arms.

— There's no need for that. It'll ruin your splendid suit! — You'd say gently to him as he was standing up in front of you carefully holding the loaded box. Legitimately, he looked hot. He properly looked like a 50s husband helping with the moving with this outfit — And if you piss off your costume designer because of me I'll die! — You'd complement receiving a loud laugh from Harry's lips that shook his head while looking at you.

— She’ll be fine! — Harry'd argue back, then get a sigh from you before nodding at him as a statement.

— My house is right there! — You'd say using your right hand to point at your house, watching Harry turn his back to you and start walking towards it. You followed him through the door that was already open. Harry looked at the house immediately. It had a good vibe, and he wouldn't deny it. The choice of colors was exceptional, but he also noticed it was not very tidy, which would probably indicate that you were moving today.

— Where do I leave it? — Harry asked, referring to the box as he went farther into the living room.

— You can just leave it on the floor — You serenely said crossing your arms together and watching as he left the box on the floor and turned around to face you, but then deflecting his gaze to the ceiling before staring at your face again.

— It's a beautiful house! — Harry said as he moved his gaze through the room. He observed everything. He likes to observe. He likes to notice things that maybe other people didn't — Just like the owner, if I might say — Harry said cheekily and charming hearing your giggle invade his ears as you started walking towards the box of books that he previously set on the floor.

— The owner says thank you — You said bending down and starting to take the books out of the box and place it on the coffee table beside you as Harry watched your movements. You shyly looked at him thinking for a second and them smiling under your mask — For both compliments! — You said getting your attention back to the books. It's not that you don't want to give him your attention. It's that you genuinely think that he's just being nice, and he's probably not even interested in anything that you say.

— So... I have to go back to the film now but maybe you can give me your number so we can talk about your interpretation of my favorite book — Harry said shyly. His words took you by surprise actually but you couldn't hold back the smirk you had under your mask as you stand up again turning to face his green eyes. You noticed that he had his phone on his hand, hoping and waiting that you'd give him your number even though both of you knew that the book excuse was nothing more than an excuse as he was truly interested in knowing you.

— Well, it depends... — you said slowly as you took a deep breath before actually saying anything — If you agree to read my favorite books too, I'll give you my number!

— I'd be honored! — Harry chuckled after letting a sigh out feeling relief that you asked for something so simple that he'd love to do if that would make you happy — What's your name? — Harry said as he unblocked his phone screen and started to save your phone number.

— Save it as Elizabeth Bennet in there! — You said fastly with a proud smile on your face as Harry giggled and did as you ask and then looked at your face as he put his phone back on his pocket.

— Only if you save my name as Mr. Darcy when I call you! — Harry said knowing that after this, Pride and Prejudice would definitely become one of his favorite books ever.

#hwrryscherry #harry and y/n #harry styles and y/n #harry x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles au #harey styles blurb #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurb #harry styles one shot #boyfriend harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines

300 notes · View notes

terrainofheartfelt · 2 years

Note

I feel like this has been discussed before, but what frustrates me the most about GG is the fact that they gave most of the interesting and deep storylines to Chip and Blair. Don't get me wrong, I love Blair, but she got SO much attention from the fan base that I think the writers felt like she had to receive a lot of the more interesting plots. Not dissing Leighton's acting, she is wonderful. Chip, however, didn't really need the amount attention he got. His parental issues were only so interesting until they started to drag them out. Also, the business plotlines were not great. I'm sure some people liked them, but they just bored me. I digress; it would have been much more intriguing to go into depth in Nate, Dan, and Serena. Obviously, they were main characters, so it wasn't as if they were forgotten. However, they didn't truly get the deeper plots, and the fodder was RIGHT THERE! Nate was going down a path that he never wanted to go down with becoming another Van Der Bilt in politics, and I feel that him trying to break those family habits and find his own identity (when he wasn't with a woman) was integral. Dan, my sweet boy, was treated so poorly. While the Inside plot was interesting, that was really the only identifiable plot I could think of for him. The writers could have gone into depth on his own broken family, his deep-seated fear of abandonment, and/or how insecure he truly was when it came to the UES. Serena lost a lot of fan-credit as the show went on (understandable, but still sad), and I think the writers didn't know what to do with her. "Hm, yes, what story should we give Serena? Well, we know she has insane commitment and daddy issues, has never really found an identity outside her family and her reputation, and is codependent on her ex-boyfriend/step-brother." *sigh* "I just can't think of anything. To the dart board!" I guess what this, incredibly, long post is trying to say is that main characters should have well-written deep plotlines, not just some of them, but all of them. GG just dropped the ball, and it breaks my media-obsessed heart because they had such potential.

Yeah...a lot of my discontent with how the show played about can be boiled down to: It's Bad Writing (tm) (I'm too lazy to insert the meme but I always see the "it's free real estate" meme guy in my head when I say it).

Don't quote me on this, but I think S, or someone in S's inbox said that in the midst of the Original Sin and the Great Retcon, (i.e., the premise posed by Constance Grady that chip wiskers become a romantic lead instead of a campy villain), the writers took lots of plot lines and story ideas and shifted them from Nate's narrative plate and onto chip's - the struggles of family legacy, etc. etc. (@strideofpride beloved if I'm incorrect I give you permission to call me out in the notes <3)

I mean, I think Dan did get some good meat and potatoes storylines: the novel, the Pining Era, Milo (my beloved), I think his character would have benefitted from giving those plots some breathing room, but other than the Great Retcon, I think the dismissiveness of the writers was most blatant with Nate and Serena. especially Serena.

for Nate, I think that writing drop off becomes really obvious in s4, post-serenate breakup, his story takes a backseat to all the other happenings swirling around, and in a big ensemble show, that's to be expected, but he never really comes back to the fore front in any significant way - it's all in support of chip or Blair or Dan's stories, and if he has a love interest, it's for the sake of pairing him with the Guest Star of the Month (we needed more Raina Thorpe. we deserved more Raina Thorpe. I wouldn't have minded the weird boring business plots if Raina Thorpe was the star of them. Make her a series regular and kick chip wiskers down to recurring is what I say).

with Serena - and I'm citing dear S again - it was a slower decline, but you can honestly trace it back to s2, her waffling in the post-Dan romantic economy, them circling each other and falling out again. After years of her saying she's ready for college so she can move forward, she waffles between Yale and Brown, then she leaves to seek out her long lost father (who we've never heard of!), then defers on the school she's been wanting to go to her entire life? girl what? (I know, I know it's contrived so that the characters are all trapped in Manhattan but christ, write better!!). Serena especially, falls victim to a trope in teen soap writing that I've mentioned before: to fulfill the promotional promise of ~drama~ they are constantly upping the stakes of what happens on-screen: her boyfriend is a con man, her father is a medical fraud, she's working for a publicist, she gets fired, she's going to school, she's not, she's gaslit into checking into a rehab facility, (i don't even get me STARTED on b*n - I just don't have the spoons for that discourse, just know that I HATED it), she's Gossip Girl's favorite mark, she IS gossip girl, she loves her friends, she hates her friends, she loves her family, she hates her family. The poor girl is yanked back and forth and sideways nonstop for the duration of the whole series!!! And it's fine, to have dramatic, high-stakes stories, they're exciting to watch, and, speaking as an opera singer, they're exciting to perform. But the problem with them on GG is that there's never any denouement, the stories - and the characters - never get a chance to breathe, to process, to move on, and that's not how human beings work, and call me crazy, but a show about human beings should allow for that humanity.

the failed potential breaks all our hearts, hon, welcome to the fandom.

#she says welcome even though she's definitely a newbie #you probs have been here longer than i have #in any case #you are not alone friend #asks #gg meta #insistonyourcupofstars

9 notes · View notes

songofclarity · 3 years

Note

Hi! About WRH, I've seen lots of instances where people wimpify their favourite character, by using WRH to abuse them in the most gross ways. Maybe you've seen that too? Do you think there's a particular reason for why it's so prevalent (aside from personal taste(??? ...Even reading descriptions makes me sick. Its unavoidable with WRH. ...I find it incredibly tiresome when I'm trying to find normal WRH content yet have to wade through that shit. WRH and the other characters deserve better.

Oh, yes, I've definitely seen that, Anon.

That is the fate of all villains and antagonists in most fandoms. It's prevalent because of people's personal taste, as you said, for the power dynamic, victim/villain porn, the schadenfreude, the porn, just wanting to see their favorites break. Reading about characters in pain can be a healthy way to experience intense emotions in a safe environment. Writing fiction is a way to express one thing or another and I'm not here to judge the rhyme or reason for what gets put out there.

But I will judge how people characterize characters lol Considering I LOVE hurt/comfort, I can't say even I entirely understand the appeal of wimpifying favorite characters, either?? Even when they suffer, shouldn't they still be themselves in some fundamental way? Hurt/comfort is such a great way to explore characters at their rawest point, whether they break or bend, how they handle suffering and pain, what they do to comfort themselves, and how they come back from it.

That is a treatment and exploration given predominantly to the protagonists, however. Wen RuoHan, an antagonist we rarely see, garners no sympathy or empathy from most readers as his story sections are few and far between. We're told he runs the Evil Sect(TM) and that's all most people care about. Writers decide he is not a character in his own right, ignore what is on the page, and thus he becomes free real estate for the some trashy, vicious personality that hypersexualizes him to perversion and shows him instigating and passionately delighting in the sight of suffering and blood.

Which, for the liking the suffering and blood part, is what the cultivation world says about him in canon but we also have to remember that the cultivation world says Nie HuaiSang is a good for nothing, Wei WuXian is nothing but evil, and Jin GuangYao is a good and upright person. We come to the end of the novel to realize that none of these are true.

This isn't to say that Wen RuoHan is secretly a good person, but why is he suddenly the exception to the theme that rumors shouldn’t be believed? Especially when what we see of him does NOT match up with what is said about him? Given the opportunity to torture his son’s murderer, which you might even argue he is justified to want, he turns it down.

Interestingly enough, and perhaps Anon has noticed it too, I see Meng Yao's personality and behavior in the Sun Palace being projected onto Wen RuoHan in a lot of fic. Meng Yao's abuses and verbal harassment toward Nie MingJue are put into Wen RuoHan's mouth and then exemplified. So I think that’s another reason why Wen RuoHan is so prevalently portrayed as “gross”: Meng Yao blamed all his actions on Wen RuoHan and readers believed him, despite Meng Yao having a good reason to lie and Wen RuoHan CLEARLY saying “do as YOU please,” not as Wen RuoHan pleases.

Honestly, what Wen RuoHan says and how he behaves gives us an interesting character!

Wen RuoHan smacked Nie dad’s saber and yet spoke politely that it was indeed a fine saber. (The saber breaks. Nie dad dies.)

Wen RuoHan watched his Sect lose the archery competition and all he said was thank you all for coming, I'm going to go, but please continue to enjoy yourselves. (Cloud Recesses burns. The Indoctrination camp requires everyone to come back to once again enjoy themselves as they learn Wen Sect rules and teaching.)

Wen RuoHan spoke of his observations of the other sect leaders, identified their weaknesses (but not their strengths), and said that he needn’t raise a hand against the Sunshot Campaign, that it will collapse on its own. (It doesn’t. Wen Xu and Wen Chao are killed within days of each other. The Sunshot Campaign is in a stalemate for years.)

Wen RuoHan asked if Nie MingJue was the one who killed Wen Xu, stated he had no interest in further abusing someone who was half dead, and told Meng Yao to do as he pleased. (Wen RuoHan has his guard completely down, he doesn’t feel threatened at all, and he is murdered.)

Wen RuoHan is never shown or described as torturing anyone, we never see him murdering anyone (although RIP the Wen Cultivator killed when Nie MingJue launched him as an attack weapon), and he's not involved in any sexual misconduct. He never calls for anyone's death and he never shows a desire to cause harm.

If nothing else, Wen RuoHan is POLITE to a FAULT. Like we all see how polite Jin GuangYao tries to be but in the end he’s shedding that politeness like a second skin. Now imagine that politeness coming from a man who can make your head explode like a watermelon. Wen RuoHan is powerful and he’s terrifying but he is a BEAUTIFUL representation of "speak softly and carry a big stick" and I love that about him. It also perfectly explains why Wen Chao was like That.

So yeah, the "gross" stuff fandom writes him doing, the "gross" stuff fandom writes him saying -- I'm sorry, but who is that??? It’s fine if people don’t like him or flat out hate him, but MDZS gives us so many antagonists to chose from! It doesn’t need to be one-sized-antagonist-fits-all-evils! Fics will use Wen RuoHan’s name when Jin GuangShan and Jin GuangYao are right there holding a monopoly on sexual violence, torture, and abuse in canon. But that is another reason Wen RuoHan is portrayed as gross and terrible in fandom: many people generally like the Jin better than the Wens, and, in order to make Jin GuangYao look less rotten, Wen RuoHan is made into the penultimate evil with no redeeming qualities.

Although with all that said, in case Anon is unaware, I am the author of Heliocentric over on AO3, which began life as just a hurt/comfort Whumptober fic with a focus on Wen RuoHan and Nie MingJue. So I confess I am a participant when it comes to delving into Wen RuoHan doing terrible things in order to indulge in some good old hurt/comfort and character study. But after having written nearly 100k words I'm now a Wen RuoHan stan so I guess all that studying worked really well.

So I’m with you on trying to find some normal Wen RuoHan content these days. There are definitely some gems out there though! Fanfic and fanart which are both interesting and compelling! But long story short, we must be the change we want to see in the world! We must make the Wen RuoHan content we want to read/see!

Although it would be nice if people stopped treated him like a trash bin in the meantime.

#disclaimer: this is about the general fandom portrayal and is not about any particular work #this got long but i have a proper wrh meta in me somewhere that is crying to get out lol #anon #asked from above #wen ruohan #mdzs thoughts

16 notes · View notes

merflk · 4 years

Text

if your cascade, ocean wave blues come.

main pairing: ginny weasley x blaise zabini background pairings: neville longbottom x astoria greengrass, percy weasley x pansy parkinson, oliver wood x marcus flint words: 6021 link: ao3 soundtrack: peace - taylor swift

Every wedding she’s attended since the war reminds her of Bill and Fleur’s.

She can’t help it. No matter the venue, or the people getting married, or the guests attending, every single time she’s pulled back into that tent in her parents’ backyard.

It was bad the first few times. The war sparked a lot of tragedy, but the war ending made people feel like taking the leap together. In the past seven years, she’s been to thirteen weddings total. The first time, it was like she was transported back into the war in the middle of the ceremony. She had a quiet panic attack that no one noticed and, eventually, got home absolutely plastered. After that happened a second time, she realised that it was a wedding thing. So for a little bit she attended none.

That didn’t last very long. Hard to get to wedding number fourteen otherwise.

The thing that saved her was her camera. As it turned out, taking pictures was a ton of fun, and she was kind of good at it. At first, it was because she ignored every single ‘rule’ photography had. She paid next to no attention to classic perspective and lighting. She just went ahead and snapped. People said it was artistic. That made her feel a little proud, so she kept taking them.

At some point, the camera became an extension of herself. And she became a photographer.

Now, wedding photography is like a little treat. She only does it for friends and family, not as an actual career choice, choosing to stick to other subjects for that. When Neville asked if she would take the pictures for his wedding to Astoria, she agreed to it immediately. They’re having a spring wedding, full of flowers and sunshine, and now that she’s standing here, looking around, she feels free from Bill and Fleur’s wedding for the first time.

Ginny smiles and snaps a picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione, who are laughing loudly near the buffet. The wedding is outside, in the large garden of the Greengrass estate. As far as Ginny knows, it took a lot of convincing to get Astoria’s parents on board with her marrying Neville, but with the help of her sister Daphne (who was a grade A politician) they had managed to figure something out.

The gardens are huge, and the wedding is smack in the middle of them, so the house seems pretty far away from here. Even so, she can still make out its luxurious white exterior. Neville is marrying into big money. But…

Ginny glances over at Neville and Astoria, who are quietly dancing in the middle of the dance floor, their foreheads pressed together. The hem of Astoria’s dress is slightly smudged with mud, and she has three flowers in her hair. It’s like they’re their own little sun with the amount of love and happiness radiating from them. The other dancing couples orbit them, basking in their light.

She takes a picture.

Even if Astoria’s parents never accepted Neville, even if they had disowned their daughter like they’d originally threatened to do, neither of them would have wavered. They would have had a tiny wedding somewhere in a forest, and Ginny would have taken the exact same picture there.

Damn, love is kind of beautiful.

Thinking of Neville and Astoria as the sun puts the wedding in a different light, though. Ginny looks around carefully, looking at the way that groups of people move together through the space. Although this wedding is one between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, that mixing of houses doesn’t extend to the party guests. Now that she’s looking for it, Ginny notices the way that there are clusters of isolated guests spread out. A couple of former Slytherins here, a few former Gryffindors there. There are two or three places where the houses meet, and of course there are people of all houses here. Hannah Abbott is chatting with Romilda Vane. Padma Patil is having a very playful conversation with George. Pansy Parkinson says something to Percy as she steals his glass of champagne right from his hands. But, afterwards, they move towards their own group of people – Percy to Fred and Angelina, Pansy to Daphne and Blaise Zabini.

When Ginny follows her with her gaze, her eyes land on Zabini for a moment, and she catches him looking back at her. Perhaps it would be more fair to say that he catches her looking at him. As a reflex, finding the perfect excuse, Ginny lifts up her camera and takes a picture of the three of them from a distance.

When she looks at the screen briefly to check the photo, she notices that Blaise is smiling in it, looking straight into the camera. He looks so good that she wonders if that was his reflex – put on the model face. He probably has modelled for something or other, right? She thinks she heard that rumour somewhere at some point. That his parents live in Italy and he’s done some modelling there after the war. No, wait – just his mom. She’s notoriously remarried a bunch of times. Lady Zabini is a bad bitch.

“Did it come out well?”

Ginny jumps and almost drops her camera, like she’s been caught red-handed doing something embarrassing.

When she looks up, Blaise Zabini is right in front of her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his perfectly-tailored suit and a smile on his face that tells her he knows exactly why she just almost jumped out of her skin.

Get it together, Ginny, she scolds herself. You’re the wedding photographer, for Merlin’s sake. You’re just doing your job. He can’t prove anything.

“Yeah, I got a good one,” she says with a polite smile, “Astoria expressly asked me to take some extra pictures of the friends and family today. I think she’s making an album.”

Blaise snorts, and his smile softens for a moment. “Sounds like her.”

His response piques her curiosity a little bit. “Are you close with the family?”

“I suppose.” He smiles at her, something sly that makes her feel like they’re sharing a secret. “We’re all pretty tight-knit.”

Ah. So he’s aware of it too, hm?

“I can tell.” Ginny looks around again. “People stick together.”

Blaise sighs. “People are obsessed with the comfort zone.” He scrutinises her face for a moment, and Ginny has to think of ice water to keep from getting flustered. This man has a very intense gaze.

Shark eyes, she thinks to herself.

“Not you, though, aren’t you?”

It’s supposed to be a compliment, she thinks, but it feels undeserved. “I’m not so sure,” she tells him honestly, “If that was really the case, maybe I wouldn’t be standing behind a screen the entire time.” She holds up her camera.

Blaise hums softly, a deep, warm sound. Unexpectedly, Ginny feels something inside of her light up.

“But you’re brave,” he presses, “With that, uh… Gryffindor spunk?”

She laughs, and he smiles like that was what he was angling for in the first place.

“I guess. At least I can be honest about it. Not sure if that’s the Gryffindor spunk, but well.”

“So maybe it’s the Weasley?”

She arches an eyebrow at him. “I’d like to think it’s the Ginny.”

He tilts his head. “Fair enough. It’s admirable, in any case.” He grins. “And kind of sexy.”

She laughs again, the flame inside of her glowing brighter. She wonders if that’s how love works – if a sun like Neville and Astoria makes all the other stars brighter too. Maybe she’s getting swept up in the atmosphere. But…

She looks over Blaise curiously. “Smooth,” she teases.

He’s still smiling at her, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “I tend to speak my mind.”

“I like that.”

“Good. Can I get you something to drink?”

She can’t help but laugh again. She likes how obvious he’s being about it. It’s bold.

“Sure,” she says, “But no alcohol. I’m on the job.”

“Ah, yes,” he grins, “We can’t have you distracted now, can we, miss Weasley?”

“Thank Merlin I have an iron will.”

He chuckles. “We’ll see about that.”

She stares straight back at him, issuing a challenge. “Don’t tempt me.”

***

The next wedding sucks.

And, no, it’s not because things didn’t work out between Blaise and her. That has nothing to do with it. It’s fine. She’s fine.

It’s not even like it lasted very long. They dated for three months, then were together for eight. That’s less than a year. Nothing to write home about.

Of course, that had been one of the biggest issues: home. She hadn’t expected her parents to be so against her dating Blaise. He continuously made a bad impression on them. It was in the way he talked, the way he walked, the things he did, the things he said… Blaise and her family just didn’t match.

She didn’t do much better with his family. Lady Zabini is an incredible woman in her own right, but she definitely can’t stand Ginny’s attitude.

But that should have been fine. If it were real, they could have worked around it. Instead, they just fell apart.

Maybe we don’t want the same things in life, was their conclusion, maybe we’re too different.

Now, almost a full year later, she can admit that maybe they are too similar. Both too stubborn for their own good. Both too fucking scared of all of it. The real commitment, the intimacy, the vulnerability. Maybe it wasn’t that it didn’t work, it was just that they weren’t…

They weren’t ready.

But how the fuck were they supposed to know that?

It doesn’t matter. It didn’t work out. It happens. It’s fine.

Ginny lifts up her camera and takes a picture of her parents, the biggest traitors in history, who are laughing and chatting with Pansy in her gorgeous white dress. Pansy managed to do what Blaise couldn’t: she completely won over the Weasleys, despite her Slytherin heritage.

It probably had something to do with Percy’s attitude as well. Percy saw the way her parents treated Blaise, and when he started dating Pansy he wouldn’t stand for that kind of behaviour. He refused to talk to them until they gave her a fair chance. Ginny remembers a family dinner which ended in a very uncomfortable screaming match. When it came down to it, Percy had screamed that it didn’t fucking matter whether Pansy was a bitch or not. She was his. And if they could accept him for who he was, they very well could except the girl he loved as well. And that was that.

That night, Ginny kept her mouth shut. She regrets that more than anything. But maybe the fact that her parents didn’t like Blaise was just the perfect excuse not to bring him home to them. Not to let him get that close.

Frustrated, Ginny grabs one of the nearby waiters and downs a flute of champagne. These days, she kinds of hates herself.

She can forgive herself for the shitshow that was her relationship with Blaise Zabini. She can forgive herself for her mistakes. She can even be proud of what she’s learned from the whole experience. She knows more about who she is and what she wants now than ever before.

She just can’t stand that she’s still so fucking sad about it.

She locks eyes with Blaise over the rim of her empty champagne flute and for a moment the world stops turning. They look at each other. He arches one of his perfect eyebrows, and she remembers the moment she told him that she doesn’t drink on the job like it happened three minutes ago. She flushes in shame.

But fuck him, honestly.

She represses the urge to flip him off, hopes she conveys the emotion with her gaze, and walks the fuck away.

She absolutely hates that they now move in the same circles more than they did before. Since Pansy and Percy got engaged, every party she’s been to has seen a number of Slytherins that she would have never been able to predict hanging out with. Moreover, they’re great. They’re fun. People are falling in love all over the place. It’s kind of beautiful. But it would be so nice to just not see Blaise for a little while.

He knows her better than she would like, so she knows he’s aware that she hasn’t been doing great since their break-up. Sure, she’s been going to therapy, which was about fucking time, and that’s been very helpful, and she’s been learning a lot about herself, but it’s all been so exhausting and it shows. It shows on her face, it shows in her art, it shows in the state of her relationships. She’s lost a bunch of friends rather suddenly, but she’s kept the important ones close-by (Luna has been an actual saint) and she thinks that’s fine for now. Weirdly, she’s grown pretty close to Percy through it all.

He’s a little bitch, of course, and doesn’t let her get away with anything, but he sticks around anyway. And that’s just how her brother is, she supposes. She’s pretty sure he’s really annoyed with her most of the time, but he’s there anyway. He picks her up for brunch. He responds to the memes she sends him. He lets her make one harsh comment about Blaise every few weeks, and if she tries to do more he tells her to stop deflecting and take some responsibility for her life. It stings, but it’s a sting she welcomes. She needs a Percy in her life.

Just one, though. That’s enough. And sometimes, she really needs a break.

She takes a picture of him now, standing with some of his friends near the back of the room. He has a good, solid smile on his face, one that makes him look like their dad, and he’s clearly enjoying himself. She’s happy for him. The ceremony went well. Pansy looks like a fucking dream. Everyone’s behaving themselves. She might actually be the biggest problem factor at the entire event, nursing her little grudges, and she feels like she’s done a decent job of keeping that under wraps.

She glances at Blaise again. He’s talking to a woman at the bar, and she hates him. She hates it. She hates this. She hates that she cares. The woman is gorgeous. Maybe she should walk over there and hit on her. That would be a double win – hot lady and sticking one to her ex.

She doesn’t like the bitterness of her own thoughts, and represses the itch to get more alcohol in her system. It’s her brother’s wedding. She’s not going to get smashed. He deserves better, and she’s definitely not going to give Blaise the satisfaction.

She points her camera at Percy again, but he’s already looking at her with a frown on his face, annoyance flashing across his features.

Ginny looks down in surprise, wondering if she spilled something on her dress or something, but she looks fine. Still, when she looks back up, Percy is stalking towards her.

He didn’t read her mind, did he? No. No, he can’t do that. He doesn’t have the… Can he do that?

“You’re doing that thing,” he accuses her when he reaches her.

“What thing? I have several things.”

They’ve done in depth analyses of all of them. Him, accusing her of being a brat. Her, impatiently explaining to him that some coping mechanisms and behavioural patterns aren’t pretty. All over a bottle of whiskey in the middle of the night.

She’d never imagined she would one day be the closest to Percy out of all of her brothers. But here they are.

Percy shoves his hands into his pockets. “The thing where you look like you’re trying to set someone on fire by sheer force of will.”

She is trying to set someone on fire by sheer force of will.

But she’s not going to admit that to him.

“Come on, you couldn’t pick out a look like that from all the way over there, that’s ridiculous. At most you saw me glaring a little bit.”

Percy doesn’t let up on his accusatory stare, so Ginny shows him the palms of her hands in defeat.

“Look, I’m trying, okay? I’m doing alright, aren’t I? I’m not bothering anyone. You’re the only one who picks up on these things. And you can’t tell me that you’re not having the time of your life. You’re practically glowing.”

He is. He looks healthier than he has in years. Pansy makes him wear fashionable glasses, and he has leaned into all the better aspects of himself since they got together. Now, having just married her, he looks proud and satisfied, like a cat in the sun.

“As you should, by the way.” Ginny nods her head in Pansy’s direction. “She looks like a dream.”

He follows her gaze. “She does, doesn’t she?”

Percy smiles like he has a secret. Ginny wants to shake him until he shares it. Instead, she focuses on how seeing him happy kind of makes her happy too.

She nudges him with her elbow. “I’m fine. I’m not setting anyone on fire. Go dance with Mrs Parkinson-Weasley over there.”

He looks back at her, but she can tell he’s already halfway to Pansy’s side. “Don’t set anyone on fire,” he warns her.

“Promise,” Ginny grins.

She doesn’t set anyone on fire after that. If she’s still thinking about it, no one else calls her out for it. She gets through the night, her brief chat with Percy fuelling her determination to be okay for him. This is not the time and place to wallow. Maybe the time for wallowing is pretty much over in general. Maybe it’s time for her to finally take the next step towards growth by letting go of some of this bitterness over that one failed relationship.

Perhaps she could meet someone new.

***

She probably would have been alright after that if it weren’t for Blaise motherfucking Zabini.

Initially, she’s off to a great start. By the end of Percy and Pansy’s wedding, she had taken one picture of Blaise, where he was smiling into the camera with his arm around Theo, and she’d given him a brief nod to let him know it turned out the way she knew he liked. He was nearly floored by the gesture, she’s pretty sure, but he nodded back. That was progress.

After that, it was almost like they could become friends. At the very least acquaintances. She had lost contact with most of their mutual friends at that point, but she ran into him when she wanted to show up for Percy. Percy had practically disappeared into Pansy’s friend group at that point. The only person he really stayed close with outside of them and his direct family was Oliver. Of course, it helped that Oliver and Marcus finally stopped bullshitting each other and admitted that their rivalry was perhaps more of a romantic-tension thing than anything else by that point.

But for Ginny it mostly meant that she spent a night every few weeks in the presence of Blaise and maybe six to ten other people. Pansy and Percy had moved after their wedding, but their new place was only slightly bigger than their former one, so there really was no avoiding each other on nights they hung out.

It helped with some of the lingering bitterness. But it also kept him in her orbit. And that just made it very clear that Blaise Zabini? He’s impossible to forget.

Every time she wasn’t annoyed with him, she liked everything that came out of his mouth. When they bantered, she felt alive. When he looked her up and down as she entered the room, she couldn’t keep herself from grinning.

She missed him.

That wasn’t new. She knew that she missed him. It didn’t mean anything. At least, it didn’t change anything. They didn’t work. She realised why. She missed him. She wasn’t falling for anyone new. The facts weren’t great, but not a threat in any way.

Except that some nights, when she was more sober than she would have liked to admit afterwards, that feeling of missing him crossed the line into exceptionally dangerous territory.

I want him, she’d admit to herself, I want him for myself again.

During nights like that, it was especially nice to have Oliver there. She could distract herself by bringing up Quidditch with Oliver and Marcus and then the night would fly by. In the end, they grew rather close.

So, yes, of course, when Oliver asked her to do the photography for their wedding, she happily agreed.

So here she is at another wedding.

Admittedly, she’s having a pretty great time. Oliver and Marcus decided to have their wedding on a small island off the coast of Scotland, underneath the wide open sky. There isn’t a theme, but, just like with Neville and Astoria’s wedding, Ginny manages to find something like a theme – freedom. Both men flew into the ceremony on their brooms. There are aerial artists at the reception. The air smells of salt and seaweed and a hearty wind has been blowing through the clusters of guests since the moment they stepped onto the island.

Some of the guests are complaining, running after hats or constantly brushing their hair out of their faces. But most of them are enjoying breathing a little deeper than normally, feeling the fresh ocean air fill up their lungs and making their minds expand beyond the walls they usually find themselves enclosed in.

The wind makes Ginny’s job a little harder, since it’s hard to catch people being photogenetic with hair in their faces, but she likes a challenge. Moreover, with conditions like these, the good shots she does take aren’t just good – they’re brilliant.

She’s caught Oliver and Marcus a couple of times, grinning brightly and holding hands. They fit each other so well that it perplexes her sometimes. Every time that happens, she feels her gaze wander, looking for the shark-eyed man who recalibrates her sense of gravity.

She tries not to. It’s just so hard not to indulge – Blaise looks like a Greek hero, briefly sequestered on some island or other while he is on his way back home to Athens. The ceremony was in the morning, at eleven, so the party is in the middle of the day. Although the sky isn’t as blue as it was this morning, instead turning a cloudy light-grey, the day is still warm and as wonderful as they could have hoped for. The island is rocks and weeds, mostly, so sand isn’t much of an issue, and since the island isn’t lived on, it’s like they’re out in a piece of wildness.

Blaise has taken off his jacket, like most of the men who are bothered by the heat and inspired by the free feeling on the island. Most of the women have taken their heels off and are walking around bare-foot. It’s like they’re all letting their hair down and taking a break from social conventions, even while politely asking after each other’s families and addressing people by their formal titles.

She catches someone teasingly calling Neville ‘professor’ and looks over to see him grinning at Hannah, who is holding Millicent’s hand. With a smile, Ginny brings up her camera and snaps a picture of them.

Then she returns her attention to Blaise.

He’s grinning with Draco and Adrian. Adrian and he are bare-footed already, and Draco is toeing of his shoes, leaning against Adrian to keep his balance. Marcus calls out a jab to them and Draco flips him off good-heartedly.

Blaise looks up and catches her gaze like he was expecting her to be looking at him.

“Gin!” he calls out, making her chest ache, “Please, this has to be memorialised!”

Ginny pushes through the pain and laughs, taking a photo of Draco stumbling around with one shoe and a stark white sock in his hand. Blaise lets out a cackle just as she takes it, and when she checks the picture her eyes are immediately drawn to the perfect, joyful expression on his face. No matter what he’s doing, she has never managed to take a bad picture of this stupidly photogenetic asshole.

The second she sees the picture, she knows she’s going to cherish it. Something about this feels right. She’s here with her friends and family, and everyone is happy, and the air is as fresh as the first day of the world.

She loves him, she realises. It’s all very simple suddenly. She loves him.

And, with that, everything doesn’t feel so right anymore. Because even though they’re all here, together, and Blaise is right there for her to smile at and touch, and she loves everyone, and she loves him, she isn’t with him. They’re just existing in the same space.

Tears blur her vision and she flinches. Panic shoots through her at the thought of everyone being able to see, so she whips her hair in front of her face with a nod and backs away from the scene, her fingers shaking. She needs more air.

Ginny walks briskly towards the edge of the party, where the people are more spread out and engaged in deep conversations. She finds a nice rock and sits down on it, pretending to look through the images on her camera while she tries to find her bearings.

Well fuck. This is just excessive, isn’t it? Love him? When the fuck did that happen?

Somewhere between spending a year in his arms and another year wanting him back, she guesses. Still, aren’t you supposed to notice when you start loving someone? She definitely didn’t start just now. So why hasn’t she noticed before?

Fuck. It doesn’t matter. It’s going to take a while for her to process this. The best thing she can do right now is gather herself up and get back to the party. She’s going to have to put this off.

Ah, crap, Percy is going to have a field day with this.

“Are you alright?”

Blaise is frowning down at her, his hands shoved into his pockets, looking wind-swept and perfect.

Of all the goddamn times for him to be considerate…

“Hm?” she says, frantically trying to get her erratic heartbeat under control.

He purses his lips. “You alright?” he repeats.

She forces a smile. “Yup. Lovely ceremony, didn’t you think?”

She couldn’t make it more obvious that she’s trying to change the subject, but if he’s in a considerate mood, then maybe-

“Cut the crap, Ginny.” He sits down beside her, cocking his head in her direction. “What’s wrong?”

Ah, hell.

“I don’t want to get into it.” She returns her attention to her camera.

He nudges her. “You can talk to me.”

There’s something weird about his voice, so she looks back up at him. The wind blows her hair into her face, obscuring him. But she can make out the expression on his face – it matches his tone.

Nervous. A little hopeful.

Her lips part in surprise, and suddenly she is all ears for whatever he has to say. The monster of hope roars up in her chest, threatening to swallow her whole.

“Why?” she asks, “Do you have something you wanted to talk about?”

Blaise freezes for a moment and then glances to the side, in the direction of their friends and family. He’s getting somewhere, though. She can tell.

“I’ve been thinking,” he finally says, looking back at her. Now that he’s made up his mind, he completely zones in on her. From one moment to the next, it’s like the rest of the world around them doesn’t exist anymore.

He has a look on his face that she remembers very clearly. He’s hovering right on the edge of vulnerability – of letting her in. Most of their relationship had been spent dancing on that knife’s edge.

But this time, he does something that he has never done before: he takes a shaky breath and plunges right off that edge.

“Can we try this again?” he asks, his expression open and pleading, “Us?”

Something inside of her is pulled taut. “You’ve been thinking about that?”

“Yes.”

There’s no hesitation or reluctance in his expression. She traces the lines of his face with her eyes, looking for anything even remotely unsure. Despite how he may present himself, Blaise is an overthinker. He overcompensates for his insecurities by pretending to be sure about things.

But right now…

She’s learned to read him, over the years. She’s seeing nothing of that now.

He’s serious.

The corners of her mouth turn up into a smile as hope turns into elation. “Yes,” she tells him.

His gaze flits across her face, and she knows he’s looking for the same things she was looking for just now. He won’t find any. She’s never been more sure about anything in her life.

“Yes,” she repeats, reaching out to take his hand. And because he has shown her how to do it, she lets her walls down for a second and squeezes his hand. “Please.”

A smile similar to her own unfurls on his face and he grips her hand more tightly. “Yeah?”

“Absolutely,” she states with a nod. She starts laughing.

He reaches for her like he can’t stop himself, pressing his hand into her cheek and scooting closer towards her so he can press their foreheads together, his fingers tangling in her hair.

Ginny laughs again, so overwhelmingly happy in that moment. She turns her head to press her lips to the palm of his hand, then moves back to press her forehead square against his.

She’s still holding his other hand. She never wants to let it go.

She’s not going to.

***

“Smile,” he whispers into her cheek, his hand pressing against her lower back.

“My jaws hurt,” she complains, but her lips curve up into a smile anyway.

She listens to Blaise chuckle while she poses for the camera, trying not to flinch when the flash goes off. The photographer looks at the image for a moment and then sticks up his thumb with a grin. Ginny gives him a polite nod and turns to Blaise as he walks away.

“That shot did not need a flash.”

Blaise smiles at her and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You can lecture him tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, I’m going to be lounging in a pool in Italy,” she corrects him, brightening up at the thought.

“Tomorrow, you’ll be passed out until three,” he correct her in turn, grinning at her.

She elbows him for the innuendo she knows is in there, but he’s right. Even if they do nothing but sleep tonight, she’s going to be absolutely floored tomorrow. All of the preparations have taken a bigger toll on her than she expected, and this day is very wonderful, but also very long.

Worth it, though.

She places a hand on Blaise’s cheek, looking at him while his gaze glides over their surroundings. People seem to be having fun, at least. The twins are drunk, which is rude, she supposes, but she just thinks it’s great. Plus, it’s hilarious to see their genuine interactions with all of Blaise’s stuck-up cousins. She’s pretty sure they’ve pranked at least three of them already.

She joins Blaise in his surveillance of the scene. They’re standing in the middle of their own backyard, where a dance floor has been put out, surrounded by fairy lights that her father insisted on buying for them. She kicked off her shoes before their first dance and Blaise keeps playing with her hair, which probably looks nothing like the elegant up-do that Fleur helped her with earlier that day.

She has never been happier in her life.

Everyone is there. Every single couple she’s ever photographed for, all of their family, their friends… Even Lady Zabini has a small smile on her face now, despite her company. She insisted on paying for the entire wedding, so Blaise and Ginny decided to have it in their backyard to spite her. Although Lady Zabini has come around to Ginny since she and Blaise got back together, she’s still stupidly hoity-toity about power and status when it comes down to it, and isn’t too happy about her son marrying into the Weasley family.

Well, she’ll have to get used to it. Against all odds, Blaise is a Weasley now.

And she’s a Zabini.

She looks back at her husband – her husband – and lets that sink in for another moment. Before she’s through, one of Blaise’s cousins has come up to congratulate them personally, and she’s swept back into polite conversation. As soon as the guy leaves, she groans and scrunches up her nose.

“We should have eloped.”

Blaise fondly rolls his eyes at her. “You’re the one who didn’t want to.”

“I’m an idiot.”

I told you that you’d hate a big wedding.”

“I don’t hate it. I love it. I would just also love to sit down.”

He shakes his head at her and her gaze drifts down to the new ring on his finger. After months and months of planning, today finally came. The ceremony is over. She’s all set. For life. It’s incredible.

Blaise pulls her against himself and presses a kiss to her crown. “I told you,” he says again.

She sighs. “Fine. You were right.”

“I usually am.”

She sticks out her tongue at him. Behind her, she hears the click of a camera. She turns her head to spot the photographer, not able to resists checking whether he’s doing an okay job. But Blaise catches her and sweeps down to kiss her. He doesn’t hold back either – he kisses her thoroughly, until some of the guests start cheering and whistling at them. Then he pulls back and kisses the tip of her nose before standing up straight again with a satisfied grin.

She can’t help but laugh at him. Ridiculous, perfect man.

“Let the man do his job,” he teases her.

“I am!”

“You’re hovering.”

She gasps. “You take that back.”

“It’s true.”

“Goddammit.”

He’s right. She needs to let this go. The next wedding she attends, she’ll be able to take her own pictures again. She’ll use all of the tools she likes best and play with the light and look for the best angles. She’ll have her settings just right and will get down into the dirt to get that perfect shot. For now, she just has to enjoy her own wedding for a change. It’s going to be the last one she’ll ever have, if it’s up to her.

She smiles at her husband. “Well, then, Zabini. How about you distract me?”

“Am I a joke to you? What have I been doing for the past hour?”

“Your best, I’m sure.”

“Ohohohoho… You did not.”

He pulls her against him, making her laugh, and drags her back onto the dance floor for another lazy waltz. She presses her cheek against his chest and closes her eyes, feeling the heat of his body against hers, the thump of his heart; her favourite sound. Around them, the party goes on, filling the evening air with drunken laughter and laid-back conversations. Blaise is humming along with the song, his chin on top of her head. Everything settles into place for a brief moment.

According to some people, time isn’t real, so this moment will last forever. Even when the night passes and she gets on a plane to Italy, holding her husband’s hand. When she spends the next few weeks lounging in his arms and making him feed her grapes and bruschetta. When they wake up on a Sunday morning twenty years from now. When she’s old and brittle and every memory she’s ever had begins to fade.

She will still be right here. With him.

#blinny #blaise x ginny #ginny x blaise #hp #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #original #slytherdornet #hprarepairnet

49 notes · View notes

bigskydreaming · 3 years

Note

You said the other day that you don't really like Talon stories. Do you mind saying why?

LOL they’re just not really what I’m here for? Idk, I think people tend to make a bigger deal out of this than it actually is even in my head, maybe because Talon stories have so quickly become such a staple of fics that it just seems weird not to like them? And its not like I’ve never liked one or been intrigued by a premise, I have, though specific recs elude me at the moment, there’s one I was reading on ff.net I really enjoyed, it was YJ verse.....

But honestly its really just that a recurring theme of Dick’s stories in canon - and one of the things I turn to fanfic for in the first place, to get away from, to read something ELSE about him - is dehumanization. Reducing his sense of self, brainwashing or controlling him, making him other than he usually is, even just in temporary ways....it gets old. I come to fanfic hoping to read and write stuff beyond that, and Talon fics are so often even heavier on the dehumanizing him aspect of things, like making him even more mindless than most Talons in canon are ever portrayed, and don’t get me started on how often they just flat out refer to Talon Dick as ‘it’.....its just a no thanks from me. Just not what I’m looking for.

Add to that other incidentals, like, its completely understandable in context of these narratives that the Batfam feel they have to restrain Dick while he’s a Talon and in the Batcave, but again, its just not something I’m looking to read? Because for example, another big theme of mine is how uncomfortable and unwelcome I think Dick’s come to feel in Wayne Manor over the years, given the many times Bruce has essentially kicked him out and how little effort he’s made to make it into a home for him again (like I think there are more reasons than just grief that Dick lived in the penthouse rather than the Manor when Bruce was believed dead and Dick was in charge of his estate)....so when you look at things from that angle, which I’m just kinda predisposed towards doing, the imprisonment angle of Talon fics (and the attitudes of a lot of the Batcharacters as they go about it, like they’re just being pragmatic, Dick will understand - yeah he might understand but that doesn’t mean there won’t be mental and emotional undercurrents of resentment and hurt to that understanding)....like, its just one more way/reason for Dick’s childhood home to be turned against him and made a place where he feels or will remember feeling explicitly unwelcome. I’m not saying its WRONG to take that angle in fics, lol, I’m just saying....its not for me. Its just not what I’m looking for.

Also its a bit of a pet peeve to see Talon abilities viewed as an upgrade rather than something inflicted on him by his tormentors and at BEST somethting Dick would have very conflicting views on - and tbh this isn’t limited to just him, I have similar thoughts about how Cass might feel about her own abilities and how even now that she can communicate well with others, she still feels somewhat different or removed from most people because of this ‘superpower’ that had to be ABUSED into her and that she would have traded for her father’s actual love any day - but I mean, there’s a thing in a lot of Talon fics where alongside the dehumanization angle, which Dick isn’t even just expected to just ‘get over’ once he’s back to his regular mental awareness, because its usually never even delved into, how he feels about the fact that for awhile there, he was nothing more than an ‘it’ even in his family’s eyes, and IMO he’s like, funny, I’m pretty sure I’m still the only person in this body all along, so if it was just an it to you, where exactly did you think I was? But aside from the angst I feel he SHOULD have from thinking about how easily he was viewed as just a mindless tool and pawn and thing by people, there’s a tendency to hop, skip and jump to him being okay with his Talon ‘upgrades’ because they make him so much more effective....and there’s just a WAY this is usually gone about that like, for me, glosses over how effective he was without them, and the fact that none of his family members seem to need or think they need them themselves to be effective....and somewhere in all that, it seems to get lost that the whole reason the Court even WANTS Dick so badly is because of how effective he is even already.

Plus - there’s my personal annoyance with how characters with super-fast healing are treated in narratives across the board. In comics, books, movies, shows, fics, everywhere - I ranted about this a TON in Teen Wolf fandom, its a complaint I have with Wolverine and his family in Marvel comics, etc....I vastly dislike how often its just treated as assumed that just because a character heals rapidly, like....the actual trauma and pain of injuries inflicted might as well not even matter. Like, that’s not how it works IMO? When I think about a time I broke an arm, I’m not thinking about ‘oh it barely matters because it only took a couple months to heal and when I view that in the context of my whole lifespan that’s barely anything, it was so fast’....like no, I’m thinking about what it felt like when I actually BROKE it. There’s a tendency, I feel, when characters get an ability to make an injury disappear out of sight out of mind rapidly, to just view the emotional and mental consequences of injury being inflicted as negligible, and not really mattering anymore, and I heavily disagree with that logic. IMO, these characters throwing themselves headfirst in front of everyone else as a human shield, while practical in one sense of the word, is also like, begging to be examined as oh I see, so basically you’re saying that now that you no longer need to be treated with care because you’re invulnerable, you’re worthless and the pain that goes along with all those injuries you get 100x more of now, that’s like...meaningless and fake news.

I mean, even if you make an argument for Dick no longer having pain receptors (which I’d also be heavily against because uh, if you go that route you’re also inadvertently suggesting things about his sensory input and ability to feel varying degrees of touch across the board and again its more the lack of examination of that as much as anything else that’s things that make me go mmmm no thanks)....the injuries are still being inflicted and there’s still gonna be psychological damage inflicted from processing that no one seems significantly bothered by him being ‘family niche - human pincushion for the prevention of others saying oww’ without so much as commentary.

And lastly, did I mention, I just really really reeeeeeally dislike the dehumanization angle that tends to go hand in hand with these fics.

But for the record, like, I honestly do like the Court of Owls and what they bring to Dick’s stories because all of this, ironically is precisely why they DO play so well into his core themes of autonomy and independence and self-determinism. Its just, I’m here for fics where Dick triumphs over them and their attempts to hijack him and his life for their own agendas, and I feel like a lot of the time we see a Pyrrhic victory at best, when going the Talon route, and a lot of THAT time its not even regarded or treated as such, but rather a full victory with no real examination of how Dick’s life is different now, how he’s changed not just by what was done to him but by how he was treated by BOTH sides WHILE it was done to him?

And the other element here is like....the Court and their presence in his fics doesn’t HAVE to equal making him a full on Talon along the way, just like it never has in canon. I don’t view the fulfillment of what’s inherently a THREAT to his character as an improvement UPON his character. *shrugs* But also there’s just so many avenues for angst or emotional tangles when it comes to the Court even without making Dick a Talon himself.....just have him picturing or having nightmares of imagining his parents turned into Talons and how horrifying he’d find that, or worry in the wake of revelations about the Court that his family is now looking at him differently, imagining the threat HE could be when he hasn’t even done anything. Or there’s the angle of Bruce knowing but not telling him to try and protect him but that causing conflict OR you could go a route I’ve never seen done before, and like, have Dick and Bruce come into conflict with the Court before any of the others come along and like, save Dick from ever being made a full Talon but the point is years later the Court resurfaces and they and their plans for Dick are a complete revelation to his siblings and there’s perfectly understandable conflict because of that even if the reason is as simple and equally as understandable as Bruce didn’t feel it was his to share if Dick didn’t want to, as long as they honestly thought the Court had been neutralized, and he respected that its a painful topic to Dick that he wasn’t trying to hide, he just flat out didn’t want to talk about so it never came up.

There’s a lot that can be done with the Court, but usually they’re just utilized as a prelude to Talon Dick Grayson and bottom line is that’s just not somewhere I’m usually looking to go, personally.

BUT in the spirit of me being completely contradictory as always, again its like I said, there are some here and there that I really get into, there’s a YJ one that really delves deep into Dick’s emotions on all of this and has a prequel set during Jason’s Robin days, when they first encounter the Court, I forget the title but someone feel free to drop it in the notes if you know what I’m talking about, and @dustorange always does interesting things with the Court and Talons that’s different each time and I’m sure I’m forgetting more, so its not like.....a blanket across the board nope thing. Its just I have particular reservations about HOW a lot of Talon and Court fics play out that I’m just....not the right audience for simply because its not what I’m looking for in fics, personally.

10 notes · View notes

a-method-in-it · 3 years

Note

Trans(masculine) former Potterhead here! I still own the books, were a gift, a hardcover set from my mom from years ago. I even made a parody of Im a Lumberjack and I'm OK from Monty Python as I'm a Hufflepuff and I'm OK and helped found a Dumbledore's Army club at my High School I loved HP so much, I was obsessed, but now I have so many mixed emotions about the franchise I don't really know what to do.

I cannot speak for trans women, but as a queer trans person, if I see someone reading the books or watching the movies or wearing merch its like. Ok. I know I might get along with this person, they like the same stuff I (used to) like....BUT do they know how the werewolf thing is about AIDS, implying gay people are out of control monsters, and how the only villain with werewolfism specifically targets minors, implying pedophilia is a trait inherent in gay people? Do they know that when a trans woman reads the books they worry they wont be "woman enough" to keep the stairs in the girls dorm from turning into a slide, because they know that the author specifically thinks they don't deserve to sleep in the girl's dorm because of their gentials? Do they understand that JK Rowling's opinions are there, insidiously rooting into young minds? Are they reading this critically? Or do they support what JK is saying? Do they know all of these things and not care about it, dismiss it out of hand?

Does this person want me dead?

It boils down to a Feeling of Unease. Is this person safe for me to be around? There is a Very Real Danger that the person in the Ravenclaw Shirt and Golden Snitch Earrings is going to call the police on a trans woman going to the bathroom, or beat her, or even kill her, because the author of their favorite series has convinced them trans women are men in dresses and that men in women's bathrooms are dangerous. That person could also be a nice genuine nerd, queer themselves, even potentially a friend, but now I am Suspicious of that person. I am suspicious of anyone who openly enjoys it (unless they are children, kids don't know better, or if they have a tattoo, idk how old that tat is). They want to read it at home and want a discussion on new themes and how to make it better/less gross? Fine by me.

But if someone is publicaly supportting her, staying extremely active in the fandom defending the books or movies or JK herself, having and wearing merch which could direct new people (probably kids! Who will get Obsessed! And don't know better!) into buying things from her and giving her money? After all that she's done? After she literally helped create legislation against being trans?? Not cool.

The series is just simply tainted for a lot of trans folk like me. I still hold it dear foe what it did for me as a child, and I know if I read the series again I would still love it, but I would also HATE myself for enjoying it, knowing that the person who wrote this, the bit of her soul which she has given me, wants me dead. Wants my friends dead.

So I'm not really saying if you support HP publicaly people will see you as a TERF but I am also absolutely saying that people will see you as a TERF if you publicaly support the HP franchise. Death of the author is well and good when the author is dead and/or their estate doesn't get any money for new books or merch purchased, but she is alive and actively trying to kill trans folks, so literally anything that could be seen as support of her, or get others to support her even accidentally, can make trans folk uncomfortable and feel unsafe.

Hope this helped? I know I'm not the original asker, this is just my two cents.

Hi there! Thank you for posting this lengthy and very thoughtful response (and I hope you don’t mind my answering publicly -- if so, let me know and I’ll delete). There is one (admittedly very long) thing I’d like to say in response, but if you’re not looking for that, just know that I really value hearing your perspective and you can feel free to skip all of this and carry on your way.

---

You say that you would probably enjoy the books if you reread them, but would hate yourself for doing so -- and I just want to say that what you like does not make you a bad person or act as any valid basis for deserving hate, from yourself or anyone else.

Like, for instance, I’m a person who cannot stand horror movies and I am genuinely confused that anyone would enjoy watching terrible things happen to people for 90+ minutes. But I would never say that people who like horror movies are bad people just because they do enjoy that. The same goes for violent video games -- I don’t like them, but I don’t think the people who do are bad.

Because what media you personally enjoy has really no bearing on whether you are a good person. Being a good person is about how you treat others, whether you are kind, whether you are patient, whether you are understanding, whether you help people when you can and show up for the people in your life when they need you. It has nothing to do with whether you like a particular book or movie or videogame.

So if you do want to reread those books because you think they would bring you joy, I hope that you do.

Long before she became a TERF -- (and for the record, I don’t think that she was actively and consciously transphobic at the time when she was writing the books, for the simple reason that most of the people who are TERFs today weren’t at that point) -- I had already gotten used to tuning out Rowling and her fondness for Word of God pronouncements.

Like, Dumbledore being gay actually fit into the canon very well, but others? They just felt tired and not thought-out and her whole short history of American magic was incredibly lazy. The werewolfism=AIDS thing was offensive in very real ways--and also it should be noted just does not make sense as a metaphor. Not just because AIDS will kill you and being a werewolf will not and there’s no way to bridge that fundamental disconnect -- but also because the way people talk about being a werewolf in the damn books doesn’t resemble at all the way people talk about AIDS patients in real life. Which makes me think she didn’t actually mean for it to be a metaphor when she wrote it and then years later threw it out there because it sounded good to her in the moment because she hadn’t thought it through.

By the time we got to wizards shitting on the floor because she very clearly forgot that she had already had chamber pots referenced in the text, I was long-since tapped out.

Which is all just to say that it is beyond fair for you to use being a fan of Harry Potter as a data point in gauging your safety as a trans person -- but if we’re talking just about you enjoying the books?

Well, in that case, fuck Rowling and her weird post-canon comments that half the time don’t even make sense. If she wanted trans girls to not be allowed up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory, she should have put it in the damn text. As far as I’m concerned, trans girls and trans boys are allowed up whichever staircase matches their sense of themselves (and, I like to think, nonbinary kids get the run of the whole tower).

In fact, as far as I’m concerned, she lost the right to have me care what she says about the Harry Potter universe when all of her comments started being unbearably lazy, asinine, and/or nonsensical. If she’d been half this uninspired and careless when writing the actual books, I would have stopped reading them.

This has been a very long reply on that single point, but I want to end by saying that the point is, even if I accepted the premise that liking the Harry Potter books is in and of itself wrong -- and I hope I’ve made something of a case that it’s not -- it still shouldn’t be something you hate yourself over. Short of actually murdering people, I’m not sure there’s anything that’s grounds to outright hate yourself, honestly, but liking a book is definitely not on the list.

Either way, you seem like a lovely person, one who is very thoughtful and has been very patient and generous with your time in writing all of that out. I hope that you find ways to also be a little more patient and generous with yourself -- about Harry Potter or any other topic -- because you deserve that and you do not deserve to be hated by anyone, least of all yourself. And I also hope you have a good rest of your night.

#method speaks #jk rowling discourse #but this my friends #i think #is the end of it for me for a while #she sucks #on multiple levels #the transphobia being the worst #and then just going right on down the list #it confuses me #that the woman who wrote Prisoner of Azkaban #became this #but life is strange #and here we are #theflowerpunknerd

6 notes · View notes

greatloss · 4 years

Text

PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO GET TO KNOW BETTER!

𝟶𝟶𝟷. ( ALIAS / NAME ) : [redacted] , jean :D

𝟶𝟶𝟸. ( BIRTHDAY ) : july 27th

𝟶𝟶𝟹. ( ZODIAC SIGN ) : leo

𝟶𝟶𝟺. ( HEIGHT ) : 5′4″ or 5′5″ idk <3

𝟶𝟶𝟻. ( HOBBIES ) : writing , fmv making , cooking

𝟶𝟶𝟼. ( FAVOURITE COLOUR ) : deep colors, but typically reds & purples

𝟶𝟶𝟽. ( FAVOURITE BOOKS ) : ............. the hunger games

𝟶𝟶𝟾. ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ) : like gold by vance joy

𝟶𝟶𝟿. ( LAST FILM OR SHOW WATCHED ) : OH it was fucken the meg fucken dumb shark movie because sometimes u just have to watch a stereotypical action movie with a stereotypical straight white beefy man as the lead about a stereotypical giant monster to kill stereotypically as a treat

𝟶𝟷𝟶. ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE ) : fanfic / fanvids / other peoples’ fanworks tbh + your usual music , aesthetic boards , etc , but surprisingly just ... plain old canon material too ? the good and the bad because while i have og content to thank for the existence of five as a character in the first place , there is definitely the bad when it comes to what canon gives me to work with , but i honestly kind of like when canon falls short ? not all the time , & probably not more than when canon satisfies me ( tragically rare </3 ) , but whenever canon leaves a bunch of blanks , it’s fun to me that i’m left to fill them , often because of things that could fairly be called ooc on the character’s part at times -- it forces me to create a context in which otherwise nonsensical things could make sense & further a character’s portrayal . when canon doesn’t follow the trajectory of my own interpretation or hopes , it kinda forces my muse to Move & that limitation almost fuels my inspiration more than like ... absolute free real estate . idk if that makes sense ; i feel like i’ve heard a saying that describes this dynamic somewhere , but i can’t think of it .

𝟶𝟷𝟷. ( STORY BEHIND URL ) : ‘ disappeared several days ago. no great loss. ’ 😔

tagged by : stolen from all my mutuals who’ve done this today mwah ilu

tagging : you <3

#𝐢𝐢⠀:⠀𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚑 . . .⠀⠀you’re it !⠀⁰ #𝐢⠀:⠀𝚘𝚘𝚌 . . .⠀⠀drive a ship i cannot steer .#idk if this makes any sense i still only got like 4 hours of actual sleep 3 hours just lying there with my eyes closed last night On Top of #everything else #today was A Lot & it looks like i won't be able to get any actual writing done bc it's already like 15mins til 10:00 ://#i gotta konk out early now that i'm working this is so sad #capitalism said fuck night owls ig #BUT this was fun & i'm feeling soft 2nite if ur reading this ilu #icb my dash is just constant high quality content ic & ooc #all of u are gr8 & ur presence however confined to fucken hellsite tumblr dot com rly makes my hearteth warmeth <3 #thank u for being here in whatever way u are mwah

4 notes · View notes

moonvoiid · 4 years

Text

i am writing on two hours of sleep in the past twenty-four hours so please excuse me and all of my mistakes, both grammatical and overall. i swear i’m usually in a playful, cryptid in a sexy way kinda mood... fhsduifhds SO. so ! ian moon. alright, i’m leaving important links down below !! the google docs document contains his biography in a slightly ( re: no big improvement ) better state than what i’m giving you under the read more, so if you’d like 2 give something ( SLIGHTLY ) more comprehensive a read i’d recommend it !!!

( jeon jungkook, cismale ) hey ! have you seen IAN MOON around ? HE works as a SKI INSTRUCTOR (KID) at big bear resort, but they must be off their shift by now. well, if you do see them can you let me know ? they’re 22 years old & they’ve been working here for THREE MONTHS. they tend to be +SPONTANEOUS & +CHARISMATIC, but can also be -MANIPULATIVE & -DESTRUCTIVE. the other employees have labeled them THE REVELLER. thanks a lot ! ( charcoal-stained fingertips, cat hair on dark hoodies, frowning lips around an e-cigarette , distressed pokemon cards & the gleam of a new mercedes benz under street lights. )

google doc + playlist + pinterest board

THE PAST, a brief summary:

ian was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. as soon as he could make demands, he got everything he wanted whenever he asked for it and then more. i wish i could sum up his childhood in those sentences alone, but the bitter reality of his early youth was that he was a lonely kid. his mother was a rather young trophy wife who married into his father’s family and became pregnant to tie herself into the family’s empire and his father was a ceo of a real estate company who only cared about making ian a suitable heir to the title. he was allowed too much freedom from the start– his dad only involved himself in ian’s life when it came to academics and his mom… well, his mom lazed around the house enough for ian to see her every few days or so.

he rebelled around his first years of university in seoul. he was studying business to follow the path that was set for him when all of the pressure that had been building up finally made him SNAP. ian ruined what little relationship he had left with his father and decided to leave home altogether after making a massive mess he couldn’t fix. with a subsequent agreement he made with his mom, he got to choose where to live, if to study right away, and what to do for the time being with a bank account full of funds. now THAT’S the ian living and working in big bear village you know !

ADDITIONAL HEADCANONS:

his job ! ian works as a ski instructor for kids. back when he was a child himself, he and his family would often go on vacations and that frequently included leaving korea to go play in mountains of snow. ian is really good at skiing because it was one of those skills that he worked his naive ass off to be wonderful at so his parents could have something to brag about. besides choosing it because he’s good at it, though, ian also enjoys really active atmospheres in general. he likes being kept busy and interacting with others and he likes being out in the cold like a mama duck since he ended up getting assigned to teach children how to skii. he quickly warmed up to the job and he has a ton of fun working with kids which is hard to believe considering how generally insufferable ian is in any other setting.

mimi ! a short one but definitely worth mentioning because if i don’t mention her, he will. mimi is ian’s ( and roman’s ) beloved cat, he would literally die for her. she began living with them in their chaotic apartment after ian rescued her tiny kitten self and took her home. she is extremely spoiled by him even though she herself is lowkey feral.

postive habits ! so ian is truly a man of habit. the pros are that some of his habits are really, really good... and the cons, of course, is the flipside that his negative habits are rather... very bad and annoying. but these are the good ones !! it seems like he doesn’t really notice it, but he makes an active effort to treat his friends because he doesn’t really know how to express affection unless it’s within an inappropriate joke or comment. he’s quite loose with his expensive belongings and will quietly pay for his friend’s drinks throughout the night. he works out a lot, he would be a gym rat if he wasn’t busy being a disaster. he makes up for all of the alcohol he drinks by eating really healthy ( unless he’s high or, again, drunk and needs oily unhealthy food or else he’ll die ) and keeping up with workout routines ! i don’t recommend having him as a gym buddy because he’ll show up at your doorstep at four am with protein shakes and a really shitty workout playlist. he is very into art !! his favorite medium is charcoal and he keeps his drawings / occasional paintings very greyscale. he can be seen sketching the mountains during his free time like a true buffering romantic, and his future plans include going to art school !! he’s real organized with his general space n etc ! a tidy boy.

negative habits ! alright, so ian has a lot of these. perhaps the biggest one is that he doesn’t accept criticism on his character even though he cares about how he’s perceived which is really very annoying for many people who know him. he’s... how u say... irritating. he never, ever takes anything seriously and he’s always making a dumb joke, so he has this persona of being a charming flirty pretty boy who sleeps around like a god taken straight out of greek mythology. in other words, he’s 100% a fuckboy. the reason this is a bad habit is that ian is actually really smart and reliable but he wears 50 coats of shallow asshole that cover that up. it’s his thing. he thinks it protects him or whatever. he can b... manipulative... he’s just really good at lying and will never hesitate to do it. he is BAD at relationships !! he treats them as things to pass the time or avoids them altogether in lieu of just getting the fun part of people and honestly... it’s lowkey evil... he’ll string people along and then blame them for getting attached ? of course he goes on to feel very empty !! because he does this stupid impulsive shit !! all the time !! but anyway ian smokes e-cigarettes and he’s always got a fancy one in his pocket that he WILL use during any free outdoor time that he has. he likes 2 party a lot and make bad choices while he’s drunk and then do that over and over and over again fhdisufh. that’s the reveler for u babey !!

misc headcanons ! ian is a huge weeb and loves video games. he plays all big three gaming consoles + PC and u BET he hosts super smash bros hangouts w/ snacks and weed and everything u need basically every weekend when there’s not already a party goin’ on. tbh in general ian rlly likes to start parties up like he’ll b the first to text ‘ aye where the party at ’ all the time and there’s no party invite he’ll say no to. / he’ll randomly start sketching u if ur sitting across from him n there’s a pen in his hand. / he wears absolutely no colors like this boy rlly only owns dark or pure white clothes. / he has only 1 tat: a palm-sized heart on the side of his right hip. ton of ear piercings tho !! / nnnn.... i’ll leave this lil section at that fr now !!

to sum it up, ian is a mix between a charming socialite boy and a messy fuckboy.

#bigbearintro #intro #👻 » OwO ᴡʜᴀᴛ's ᴛʜɪs? . ／ ᴏᴏᴄ

10 notes · View notes

douchebagbrainwaves · 4 years

Text

WHAT STARTUPS TO GET STARTUP FUNDING

I heard this, I thought, the world. You could conceivably lose half your brain and live. Result: if it can't contain exciting sales pitches, spam becomes less effective as a marketing vehicle, and fewer businesses want to use. You need to be software for making them, so we decided to write some software, it might be a good startup is the percentage chance it's Google. I remember sitting in the living room of an apartment, and a game much closer to the one played in the real world, it's generally for some common purpose, and the number of nonspam and spam messages respectively. 5, or that can incorporate live data feeds, or that you've done something inappropriate. They got in fights and played tricks on one another. An essayist needs the resistance of the plate.

I calculate as follows: continuation 0. Arthur Miller wrote, but looking back I have often wished I'd had the temperament to do an absurd comedy, which is not an all or nothing thing like a series A round in which a single VC fund or occasionally two invested $1-5 million. A startup's life will be easier, cheaper, more mobile, more reliable, and often more powerful than desktop software. It works well for Google and ITA, which are the most general of general principles. But the more you realize you can do things to influence the outcome. The early adopters will be driven ever further apart. Arbitrarily declaring such a border would have constrained our design choices.

We'll suppose our group of founders know what they're doing, you'll be denounced as a yellowist will just be a distraction.1 Bill Gates will of course come to mind first will be the rule with Web-based software is never going to shut me up. Imitating it was like trying to run through waist-deep water. Richard Stallman, or Linus Torvalds, or Alan Kay, or someone writes a particularly interesting article, it will be for the better.2 Someone responsible for three of the best things Google has done. Telling me that I didn't want to have too much to do with the prisoners as possible, so they can tell when someone copies them. If you have any opinions that you would want to put their name on. But, like us, they don't use sentences any more complex than they do when talking about what to do if you are yourself a programmer, and one outside person acceptable to both.

If there's one thing all startups have in common is the extreme difficulty of making them work on anything they don't want to see what focus overlooks. 99 and, say, approach offers as in this approach offers having a probability of. No one except the owner of a piece of software that's full of bugs. A rookie on a football team doesn't resent the skill of the veteran; he hopes to be like the alcohol produced by fermentation. So if you're a quiet, law-abiding citizen most of the talking, but he described his co-founder of Excite.3 They will have to design software so that it can easily kill you. Plus as a consulting company initially, because we were so desperate for users that we'd offer to build merchants' sites for them if their firm invested in a company they discovered. In startups one person may have to do licensing deals, or get shelf space in retail stores, or grovel to have your own computer. What you need to win. Being smart seems to make you unpopular. I suddenly found myself working for a big company, they were the keepers of the knowledge of vaguer, buglike things, like features that confused users.4

Which is of course an extremely incriminating sign, except in the mail of a few sysadmins. Well, they are more afraid of you than you are of them, you won't just have fewer great hackers, you'll have no trouble with the small trips outside the box that they'd make people's hair stand on end, you'll have no trouble with the small trips outside the box that they'd make people's hair stand on end, you'll have zero. An improved algorithm is described in Better Bayesian Filtering. It was presumably many thousands of years between when people first started describing things as hot or cold and when someone asked what is heat? An advantage of consulting, as a deal progresses, to start to believe that stricter laws would decrease spam. Perhaps the best policy is to make more than you actually are. Good hackers find it unbearable to use bad tools. But it could. Just make stuff and put it online. Have low expectations.

Say what you're doing, and b explain why users will want it. That idea is almost as old as the web. It's a lot easier for a couple of 20 year old hackers who are too naive to be intimidated by the idea. Just a few months, until blown out of the system you're dealing with, things probably either already are or could easily become much worse than they seem. Don't let rejections pile up as a depressing, undifferentiated heap. Bigger companies solve the problem at all, it means you don't need Microsoft on the client, and a great many configuration files and settings. Every designer's ears perk up at the mention of that game, because it's no worse than lots of others.

Honestly, Sam is, along with Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising startups.5 They were designed to be a good thing: if your society has no variation in productivity.6 Will I ever read it? And if they're driven to such empty forms of complaint, that means you've probably done something good.7 In fact they tend to spend all their time doing that. Another approach is to follow the case of contemporary authors. The reason they were funding all those laughable startups during the late 90s was that they hoped to sell through it. But there's a magic in small things that goes beyond such rational explanations. Server problems were the big no-no for us, the premise was, and we'll give you a way to keep tabs on industry trends than as a way to turn a billion dollar industry into a fifty million dollar industry, so much the day to day management. In the process of talking to them all can bring a startup to write desktop software now you do it on Microsoft's terms, calling their APIs and working around their buggy OS.

At Viaweb, support was free, because we wanted to know. The archaeological work being mostly done, it implied that those studying the classics were, if not beyond the bounds of possibility, is beyond the scope of this article. Google is going to beat them. So who are the great hackers? This is why the worst cases of bullying happen with groups. Imagine a kind of suggestion box, because users only used it when the predefined page styles couldn't do what they want.8 So I inverted the 5 regrets, yielding a list of all the great programmers I can think of who don't work for Sun, on Java, I know of only one who would voluntarily program in Java. At most software companies, most code had one definite owner.

Notes

The same reason I say the raison d'etre of prep schools supplied the same as they are bleeding cash really fast.

Spices are also startlingly popular on pre-money valuation of an investment. But if idea clashes got bad enough, a lot of money around is never something people treat casually.

Several people I talked to mentioned how much of it. Fortuna! But I think the main emotion I've observed; but it might be tempted to ignore these clauses, because the remedy was to realize that. As well as good as Apple's just by hiring sufficiently qualified designers.

One YC founder told me: Another approach would be worth about 30 billion. That may require asking, because you have no idea how much of the War on Drugs. Incidentally, the growth rate as evolutionary pressure is such a discovery. Founders rightly dislike the sort of person who understands how to appeal to space aliens, but we are only partially driven by the high score thrown out seemed the more corrupt the rulers.

If they really need a meeting, then they're not. You should always get a poem published in The New Yorker.

For similar reasons, including the numbers we have to pass so slowly for them, but explain that's what we now call science. Francis James Child, who probably knows more about hunter gatherers I strongly recommend Elizabeth Marshall Thomas's The Harmless People and The CRM114 Discriminator. At the seed stage our valuation was in a band, or an electric power grid than without, real estate development, you can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you better be sure you do. These range from make-believe, is not work too hard to say about these: I should add that none of your identity.

How to Make Wealth when I was a test of success for a patent is now replicated all over the internet. A few VCs have an edge over Silicon Valley is no richer if it's not the sense that if you agree prep schools improve kids' admissions prospects. If a man has good corn or wood, or because they are bleeding cash really fast.

Trevor Blackwell, who may have been truer to the company's present or potential future business belongs to them this way, be forthright with investors.

Thanks to Eric Raymond, Geoff Ralston, Rajat Suri, Sam Altman, Jon Levy, Fred Wilson, Jessica Livingston, Sarah Harlin, and Ross Boucher for smelling so good.

1 note · View note

word-of-sanjana · 4 years

Text

CA Propositions 2020

Researchers

Sanjana and her brother Aditya

all opinions are Sanjana’s

Resources Used

Ballotpedia - best for all the details

San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters - just found these people, but I really like their research and perspective!

SF Chronicle Endorsements - solid summaries, but way too centrist for me; even if we agree on a vote, it’ll be for different reasons oftentimes

Progressive Voters Guide - also just found this org; they have a “common misinformation” section that is useful

Short Guide:

14 - NO stem-cell research may be important but this money has better uses

15 - YES corporations shouldn’t be taxed like people, and this is one step in that direction

16 - YEA race/sexuality DO matter and should be considered

17 - YEP parolees get to vote

18 - YEE fairer election process for people who are 18 during the general election but not the primary

19 - NO, I GUESS... it’s a complicated property tax law- one loophole closed and one opened. I also recommend you SKIP this one unless you decide to read through the pros/cons and make your own decision

20 - HARD NO if you believe humanity matters more than the prison system, then please vote no on this effort to put more people behind bars for longer

21 - YES lets local governments pass rent control laws

22 - N.O. ride-share and delivery drivers are supposed to get basic benefits and protections, and Prop 22 wants to cut those protections down

23 - YES is to support healthcare workers who work in kidney dialysis in their efforts to improve the care in dialysis clinics

24 - NAH privacy protection intentions are good, but the law itself is a mess

25 - very begrudging NO honestly, my heart is broken that I’m saying no, which is on the side of, ugh, bail (barf). However the replacement for the bail system is to put more power in probation depts and judges, and as much as I liked the original SB10 bill, these additions pushed it too much into the hands of the criminal justice system for me to feel comfortable with. Sigh... it’s a real loss of a chance to get rid of bail tho. But we deserve stronger criminal justice reform that doesn’t play into the hands of police/court forces, and this wasn’t it.

Long Guide:

Prop 14: State spends money for stem-cell research by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). I’d say NO for this one, just because CA’s funding would be better saved for other things right now. (It also feels like it doesn’t make sense to fund stem-cell research more than any other kind of research, unless there’s something I’m missing?)

Prop 15: Commercial properties are taxed according to current market price. Exceptions: agriculture, property owners worth $3 million or less. It’s a hard YES from me- this law challenges the “corporations are people” mentality by treating corporate holdings as a different situation than ordinary people.

A potential drawback is that if corporations are taxed more, then they would potentially raise rents on small businesses; however, I’m pretty sure they’re raising rents already, and not passing this law won’t suddenly make corporate real estate treat its renters ethically. We can’t refuse a good law out of fear of what corporations will do. If a corporation can’t function when its tax loopholes are closed, then it’s really dumb to say that we as a state need to keep tax loopholes to protect them.

Prop 16: Restore considering race/sexuality in gov/public institutions, aka restore Affirmative Action for disadvantaged groups. There is a federal standard for this, but CA banned looking at these qualities in 1996 (while still looking at qualities like class, disability, etc). For those of you who feel uncomfortable with Affirmative Action, I suggest you watch CA Assembly Member Evan Low talk about this amendment. While you watch, try to think about whether denying equitable treatment to others for the sake of your group’s power is the way you want the world to run.

Basically, a YES would let the state acknowledge that race/sexuality matters to someone’s experience. Only a coward or a selfish bastard would not be able to admit this is true. I hope CA voters will act on conscience and not on their base fears. Do the right thing and vote yes.

Prop 17: People on parole can vote. YES. Fun fact: the one dude on the opposition side was like, now sodomites will be able to vote!! which I thought was hilarious. Like, sodomites are already voting in droves, this would just let the ones on parole vote too :)

Prop 18: 17 year olds that will be 18 for a general election can vote in the primary elections. YES because it’s more fair. Major elections are a two part process- primary and general- and it’s not fair for someone who can vote in the general to not be allowed a say in the primary.

Prop 19: Ok, this one is really complicated. Essentially, it’s a mixed bag of pros and cons, and how you vote will depend on which side you think weighs more. (For a more complete explanation, here’s the League’s explanation or this CalMatters overview.)

1. PRO- It makes it so so that multiple houses can’t be inherited with a tax break, just the primary residence- this closes a loophole exploited by landowners and developers. The law would push rich house hoarders to sell. The League (see sources above) explains that this will encourage people to move and free up housing, but the SF Chronicle points out that it will only reshuffle the deck of existing housing, which does not give a break to new homebuyers who can’t afford current prices. However, this is a pretty big loophole to close and potentially open up more housing, especially in urban areas that need existing housing opened up for use, even if they also need more than just that.

2. CON- It allows qualifying homebuyers (mainly over 55s) to move three times, even across county lines, while still keeping the tax rate from their initial property. This is a bit excessive, and has two concerns that I can see: 1. counties would not make enough property tax and 2. under 55 homeowners would be responsible for the bulk of property tax. I don’t think giving a broad tax break to over 55s is the best plan, because while it would be great for low-income seniors, it gives an unnecessary break to wealthy seniors, who should be contributing to the community in property tax the way the rest of people do.

In the end, is it worth it to close one tax break (for inheritance of multiple properties) just to open another (certain groups can keep tax breaks after multiple moves)? After a lot of consideration, I’m going to say NO simply because I don’t think the revenue from the first will make up for the loss to counties from the second. Neither or a Yes nor a No vote will fix problems for low-income seniors, for problems with California housing, or for counties most in need of funding; a No vote seems, to my layperson’s eyes, at least a bit more fiscally sound.

Prop 20: This HEINOUS prop wants to turn certain misdemeanors into felonies, require DNA samples collected for certain crimes before 2014, and reduce parole. It basically wants to beef up the prison system, treat people like chattel to be shunted into cells, and make it harder for them to get out. If you have a heart, it has to be a NO for this one.

Prop 21: If you believe in rent control (which I do) and/or in local governments having some self-determination in housing laws (which I think is reasonable) then it’s gotta be a YES. (Bonus: there’s a lot of history behind rent control in CA that is interesting, but I don’t have the time to explain it now, sorry!)

Prop 22: Would make app-based drivers into independent contractors, not employees. Labor protections would not apply to these drivers (e.g. minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation). Uhh, it’s a definite NO. (Fun fact: Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and others have spent $184M on getting this passed, to allow them to continue to benefit off of under-compensated labor. Imagine if they put that money towards drivers’ benefits and protections instead, hmm.)

Prop 23: Ok, so on the surface this prop is about better care for dialysis patients, including requiring a physician on-site and reporting data on clinics to state groups, which is enough for a YES. However, there’s a larger backstory here about the fight between Big Dialysis companies and the healthcare worker union SEIU-UHW West. You may remember a similar bill about dialysis from a few years ago, which was also a fight between these two groups. Essentially, the dialysis industry wants to keep costs low, even at the expense of patient care. The union wants better patient care and better treatment for dialysis nurses and doctors. They haven’t been able to come to an agreement privately, so the union has been bringing some issues to the public vote. The League writes “Some critics see the ballot box as off-limits to unions, while they turn a blind eye to corporate lobbyists who fund state lawmakers by the millions. This seems myopic to us” and I agree. Since I don’t have piles of money to lobby with, I want chances to share my support for workers through my vote. I just hope other people will see it the same way...

Prop 24: On the surface, this prop means to create better online privacy for users, but in its details... well, it’s honestly very murky. This is gonna be a NO because there are several loopholes and exceptions that make it the wrong next step in data privacy protection. From what my research (the League, SF Chronicle) is saying, it would allow for “pay-for-privacy” schemes where companies can charge extra for consumers wanting to opt out, among other details. There’s a lot in this prop and I’m not equipped to go through all of it, but it looks like it doesn’t have the teeth to do much, while also introducing some potentially unwanted variables into privacy protection.

Prop 25: Ok, so California has had an abysmal record with criminal “justice” in the past several decades, but in the past couple of years, there have been some advancements in putting people before prisons under the law. One was the recent Senate Bill 10 which removed the bail system in favor of a risk assessment program. Prop 25 wants to repeal SB10 and bring bail back.

Returning to a bail system would put undue emotional and financial strain on low-income folks, so it seems like an automatic Yes. However, what does a risk-assessment system entail?

Here’s my brother’s statement: “This referendum on Senate Bill 10 would put into place a “risk algorithm” that depends on systemic racism-impacted metrics like arrest history, employment history, residential stability, and education levels to determine whether someone should be incarcerated pre-trial. Hard NO. This algorithm does not have full transparency or accountability, and cannot be appealed. Statistical B.S. that reinforces the biases of the police/judges/system, but under the guise of science. Last minute amendments to the bill also found ways to increase funding for law enforcement. Human Rights Watch opposes Prop 25. Reject this prop and get the state government to try again with better bail reform.“

However, I’m also worried that a return to bail is, well, real bad. I’ve been mulling over this one pretty hard, especially since I’m attached to what SB10 had originally promised to be. But as said in this opinion piece on Knock LA, “While the cash bail industry does exploit the hellscape that is mass-incarceration, it does not drive mass-incarceration.” You know who does drive mass-incarceration? The criminal justice system. Bail bond companies suck, big time. But putting more power in the hands of the criminal justice system doesn’t bode well for the future. The new system will be run by probation departments, and from what I know about probation departments, I DO NOT trust them. This “risk-algorithm” has no incentive to not be racist/classist, and as far as I can tell, there is only a mandated “review process” of the data, not actual protections in place.

I wanted SB10 to make great changes, but that’s not what it turned into in the end. And though I hate to side with bail, because again, bail is a horrible horrible practice that needs to go away right now- I’m gonna say NO on Prop 25. We need a different solution instead of going from the frying pan into the fire. (UGGGHHHH I HATE THAT I HAVE TO SAY NO. I DON’T WANT BAIL AROUND. BUT THIS REPLACEMENT IS TOO SHADY TO BACK.)

Conclusion

This years crop of props was mostly straightforward, with a couple of doozies on there. I hope I made the right decisions... honestly, with voting, you do your best but don’t always know. If in the next few weeks I hear something game-changing, I’ll change my recommendation here, but as of now [Oct. 10, 2020], this section is done!

#california #ballot #election 2020

0 notes