#so he's not exactly fair but not entirely unfair either

[dianartemiss]

i think what Jason wants (from Bruce at least) is to be loved transcendentally. he wants to be loved with earth shattering intensity, the kind that'll raze the world to the ground when lost and inspire greatness when present. Jason wants to mean something and to matter more than anything except for (maybe) another (worthy) human. Jason wants to be shown love in the way that he experiences love. but that kind of exclusive focus is impossible when your dad is Batman.

#Jason is the pathos of the batfam #Dick is also more pathos than logos but like he also didn't die so #and yes i'm mangling i'm doing it on purpose #Jay would die in a heartbeat for his family #and probably do any number of awful things #and what he wants is reciprocity #I see his as very much the kind to not ask anything of anyone that he isn't willing to do himself #but also expects others to live up to his morals #or standards or however #so he's not exactly fair but not entirely unfair either #idk there's a ton of posts right now on Jason's ideas about love and I also have a ton of thoughts myself #the dude is fucking intense #and speakign from experience #it's fuckign hard when that kind of intensity is one sided #even when you know it's unfair to expect it of the other party #jason todd #batfam

[ingravinoveritas]

Following up on this excellent post from @nightgoodomens, it really is astonishing to see so many people in the GO fandom misunderstanding the characters/personalities of Aziraphale and Crowley. While I by no means am against people having head canons or differing interpretations, it has become frustrating to see people pushing their ideas about Aziraphale and Crowley onto others and declaring them to be official canon, leaving no room for any kind of discussion.

One of the things spoken about in the above linked post is the denigrating of Crowley, which seems to be a near constant in the fandom at this point, particularly in relation to the "apology dance" scene. (Which, to be fair, is chock full of soft!Dom Aziraphale vibes--thank you, Michael Sheen.) What seems to keep getting missed is that the entire apology dance routine is something that Aziraphale and Crowley do to each other. There is just as much of a possibility that Crowley sat there with a similarly smug look on his face and let out a guttural, snakey "Very nice" when Aziraphale did the dance in the years he listed off, because they play this game together.

Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship is one of equals, and I think this is also something people seem to not understand well. It seems as though a lot of fans who project themselves onto Crowley want to be taken care of, and so they want to believe the same of Crowley, and that the reason he wants to be taken care of is because he is broken. But someone doesn't have to be broken to want someone to take care of them. Sometimes the people who are a shambles on the outside can be dominant, just as sometimes the most buttoned up, put together people can also be submissive. And sometimes the people who look in control on the outside can feel not at all that way on the inside.

But this nuanced thinking seems to increasingly be difficult for many GO fans, particularly those who spend a great deal of time on social media, a place where people are either blindly praised or denigrated and torn down, and where such behavior greatly reinforces that binary, black-and-white mindset. We so badly want the world to be clear-cut--good vs. evil, heroes vs. bad guys--but very often that just isn't how things work. And it is exactly what Terry and Neil were trying to speak against in the GO book (and subsequently, the TV show).

The other thing that I think influences a lot of fans' perceptions about Aziraphale and Crowley is their chosen corporations (i.e., Crowley being thin and Aziraphale being plump). There is an automatic assumption that thin somehow equals more vulnerable, and for all of the emphasis that is placed on Aziraphale and Crowley being genderfluid/nonbinary/not subscribing to traditional gender roles, it's Crowley who seems to be viewed as more androgynous/femme, and is therefore looked at as inherently vulnerable. Meanwhile Aziraphale is thicker and viewed as more masculine, and therefore he is somehow inherently not vulnerable. Yet if the body types were reversed, it seems highly likely that fans' attitudes toward them would be much different.

(It also saddens me that this seems to mirror the fans' treatment of Michael and David, where Michael serves as a target for the fans' venom and is seen as less desirable/more threatening because he presents more traditionally masculine, while David is not targeted or attacked and is seen as more desirable/less threatening because he presents much more androgynously. Consequently, many fans find it easy not to sympathize with Michael, and when you can readily disregard someone's feelings, it becomes easier to see them as "less." In the case of Aziraphale and Michael, it leaves no room for either one to be vulnerable and is unfair to both of them.)

What I have always taken away from Good Omens--and from Michael and David's portrayal of Aziraphale and Crowley and how deeply they both understand these characters--is that Crowley doesn't need to be a perfect angel for Aziraphale to like him. He just needs to be a little bit of a good person. And Aziraphale doesn't need to be a perfect demon for Crowley to like him--he just needs to be enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. Neither one has to fully subscribe to the other's outlook or point of view to listen to what they have to say.

Aziraphale and Crowley meet in the middle. In the place that becomes their side, and where they take care of each other, fight with each other, and love each other. And that's more than most of us could ever ask or hope for...

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #ineffable husbands #i think this is also why so many fans can't handle honest criticism of GT and AL #in their minds either someone is completely good or completely terrible #there's no middle ground to just see someone as they are #i swear to God people have no sense of nuance anymore #i've had it officially.gif #also Michael yelling about Aziraphale being a bottom in 2019 was more galaxy brained than any of us even knew #PhD level of understanding of the assignment #bless his bisexual Welsh chaos #fandom woes #thoughts #discourse

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Marina; obligatory sugar baby Kon. ( + non-chrono link for mobile. )

“Um . . . right,” Suzie says quietly, and . . . well, he just thought it: she's a secret herself. 

Tim definitely needs to just take over whatever neighborhood he buys Kon a cul-de-sac in. Or maybe just, like, the entire tri-state area. Get Suzie a little place of her own, maybe, with an actual living space in it. She doesn't have physical needs like the rest of them do, no, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't have anything. Like–he doesn't know, whatever girls like. Stuffed animals and her own TV and a place to keep, uh . . . okay, Suzie doesn't need batarangs or a place to store smoke pellets and caltrops or grappling lines or work on her equipment or anything like that, but still. It's, he doesn't know–the principle of the thing, or something. 

He's gonna have to work on his trust fund budget a little, maybe. Ridiculous as it is, buying an entire tri-state area would definitely put a significant dent in it. 

“Suzie,” he says. “Are you . . . alright here? When the rest of us aren't around?” 

“Yes?” Suzie says, looking confused again. That was probably an unfair question on his part, Tim thinks. It's not like she really knows what he means by “alright”.  

Kon didn't either, after all. 

“I mean–it's not too lonely?” he asks. 

“Oh,” Suzie says, then bites her lip. “Um . . . I mean . . . I'm fine, yes! You don't need to worry about me!” 

Maybe this is a Bat thing, but absolutely nothing has ever worried Tim more than hearing “you don't need to worry about me” from someone. 

“Okay,” he lies, and smiles at her. “But you know you can call us if you want to make plans sometime, right? You don't always have to just wait for us to show up.” 

Suzie looks at him for a long moment, then–well, she doesn't turn pink, exactly, since that would require blood and veins and actual skin instead of smoke, smoke, and more smoke, but he's pretty sure she blushes all the same. 

“Oh,” she says. “Um–right! Yes. Yeah. Yes.” 

Tim smiles at her again, trying to be–he doesn’t know, reassuring, maybe. Something to the effect, at least. 

“Good,” he says. “It’s good for the team to spend time together outside of emergency situations, anyway. We can’t only hang out during crisises and expect to work well together, you know? So it’d be helpful to have an extra excuse to, really.” 

“Right!” Suzie says, beaming at him, which hopefully means that implying she’d be doing something good for the team by asking for attention when she feels isolated or lonely worked. 

Tim really doesn’t know why he didn’t think more about her living situation before this, but to be fair, he also thought about literally no one’s living situation before Kon just casually announced that he lived in an ethically-dubious cloning lab that wasn’t paying him, so . . . yeah.

Definite oversight. Definitely a thing to pay more attention to in the future. Just–definitely. 

Several kinds of definitely.

#marina #wip: obligatory sugar baby kon

[finntheehumaneater]

An Ego Thing (Part 3/???)

IT’S HERE, YAY. Sorry this took so fucking long, but homework is a bitch, and I had a DND campaign to go to yesterday. Anyways—here it is. Enjoy :)

— —

Telling Steve was so much harder than Eddie thought it would be. It wasn’t just something that he could say or spit out while Steve argued with him over how fucking unfair all of this was to him—and it was. It was unfair to Steve, Eddie knew that. He didn’t deserve to feel like this because of Eddie’s mistake.

And he just needed to say it. To tell him, but that was so fucking hard. He didn’t like Steve. He knew that—it was much, much more than that—but he didn’t want to say that he loved him, because that still didn’t feel right, and it felt too forward. But there wasn’t any other way to put it that would make Steve understand.

This had made the next few days absolute fucking torture. Hawkins was small enough that it was easy to run into the same person a few times, and the universe had decided that it was exactly what Eddie needed—to see Steve everywhere. To see how he would glance at Eddie, and then look away, his face set and his cheeks red, frowning at the ground beneath him like he just wanted Eddie to disappear off the face of the earth—and to be fair, Eddie thought that sounded like a wonderful idea.

Robin hadn’t stopped bugging him about it, either—telling him to just do it, to which he pointed out that she still hadn’t told Nancy about how she felt towards her, and that seemed to get her to shut the fuck up for a while. Only for a while. Because it was torture for her, too—seeing Steve like this.

Maybe he should call Steve? But what would he even say? Confessions over the phone were a nightmare, but maybe if he didn’t have to look at Steve while he said it, being turned down wouldn’t hurt as bad, since he could just hang up and never have to see Steve again.

Then again, why did he even need to tell him? To make Steve feel better? To make himself feel better? He sure as hell wouldn’t feel better if—no, not if—when Steve rejected him. He was going to get put down. Immediately, most likely. Because there was no way that Steve fucking Harrington was into him. 

No chance in Hell.

So why even bother?

No, no, no—he was doing this for Steve. He could do it. Maybe. Probably. Maybe not. Fuck, he really didn’t want to do this.

— —

Eddie’s hands were shaking as he dialed Steve’s number, sweat making it hard to grip the phone without it slipping. The phone was old—only a few years or so, but still—so some of the number keys stuck when he pressed them, which meant he had to try a few times, giving him plenty of time to doubt his decision.

It was pretty late at night. How long had the phone been ringing? Maybe Steve was avoiding him? But how would he know it was Eddie calling? Maybe he was asleep? Maybe he was out? Maybe—

“Hello?” Steve’s voice came through, and Eddie had to force himself still to keep from gasping in surprise at the sudden loud, scratchy voice. There was loud music playing in the background, and the sound of people yelling and talking, which made it a bit hard to make out Steve’s voice.

“Steve..” Eddie whispered, and when he didn’t get a response, he figured Steve couldn’t hear him. “Steve.” He said again, a bit louder.

“Eddie.” It came out as more of a sigh than anything. He sounded tired. Annoyed, upset, hang up, hang up, hang up—

“Steve…” Eddie repeated, because he didn’t know what else to say. No—he knew what to say, but he didn’t know how to say it. Which didn’t make any sense. He was going to get in his van and just leave all of Hawkins entirely if this went poorly.

“Eddie—“

“Look, Steve, I am so fucking sorr—“ There was a loud crash on the other end of the line, and Steve sighed, muttering an exasperated ‘oh, fuck…’ under his breath. 

“Hold on, man.” Was all he said, leaving Eddie in silence as the phone clicked off. He could’ve just put him on hold. Maybe he wasn’t going to call back? That would be a relief. But it would also fucking suck because Eddie was trying to do something.

Steve did call back, a few moments later, and it was very quiet until Eddie looked around and then sighed. “This is a bad time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry. I—“ 

“I have to go.”

“Oh. Are—it sounds like you’re having a party, or some shit.” Eddie found himself absentmindedly twisting his fingers in his hair, so he dropped his hand to the side, hesitating.

“Something like that. It’s for a friend. My house is big so I told her to just…have it here.” Steve mumbled, his voice still barely audible over all the noise.

“Oh...Alright.”

“I’ll see you around, Eddie.”

Eddie’s eyes widened slightly and he cleared his throat. “Y-yeah, yeah…see you around.”

The phone clicked off again, and Eddie placed it back on the wall, the wire twisting and curling. 

Well, fuck.

—

tag list:

@strangersteddierthings

@different-tale-student

@nburkhardt

@paintsplatteredandimperfect

@heaven428

@swimmingbirdrunningrock

@estrellami-1

part 1 and part 2

(Hopefully I did the links right…)

Now on Ao3

#An Ego Thing By Finn #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fic #stranger things writing #Robin Buckley

[antianakin]

@assaultmech71 I'm putting this in a separate post because it IS a little off topic and that particular post is becoming fairly long and unwieldy as it is.

Part of my dislike of Luxsoka (and Lux in general) stems from my dislike of the episode he's introduced in. Heroes on Both Sides is supposed to show us that there's genuinely good people with legitimate grievances on the Separatist side and that Ahsoka is like... being kind-of ignorant by assuming all of the Separatists are evil assholes. However this is done SO SO BADLY the entire way through. I've talked about Mina Bonteri's whole sob story about her husband on some sort of base that got attacked by the clones and how unbelievable it is that the clones apparently just attacked an innocent base full of innocent people or something. There's NO WAY that Mina's husband wasn't involved in something either war-related or just sketchy and evil.

Lux on the other hand is sitting there being paralleled with Ahsoka where they're supposed to recognize that their lack of knowledge of the other side has caused them to be a little prejudiced towards each other. But while Lux has never actually met any Jedi and is making his entire opinion based on a lot of propaganda, Ahsoka HAS met Separatists, they just come in the form of military generals usually. Lux I think specifies "any Separatists who AREN'T military leaders" which is pretty unfair because those military personnel are STILL military leaders and effectively Ahsoka's counterpoint within the Separatist organization. Ahsoka has seen these people who claim to fight on behalf of the Separatist government do some absolutely heinous shit to actual innocent civilians (she's there for the incident with the Lurmens, the Blue Shadow Virus, Ryloth, and the Holocron Heist arc at this point). Ahsoka has genuine evidence to believe that the Separatists are, at best, ignorant of what's being done in their name, and at worst complicit in these actions being perpetrated by their military. Ahsoka isn't naive or ignorant the way Lux is, it's not a fair comparison. So their entire connection here is based on what amounts to a lie.

Lux also literally gives Ahsoka a once over when she bandies his own words back at him and asks him if she looks evil, which is juvenile and gross. And yes, he IS juvenile and Ahsoka does call him out on it a little, but still. It's not exactly a GREAT first impression here.

So basically a large part of the reason I hate him is because his entire introduction is just really really stupid and he represents this radically unfair perspective on the Jedi at this point just to make a point that isn't even ENTIRELY true.

Then we come to their second meeting where the whole episode ends with them saying they were a "good team" except that Lux fucks up approximately 20 different times and Ahsoka has to keep saving his ass and doing all the work. And Lux also betrays her like 4-5 separate times, he slaps her ass and acts like a misogynist to keep up an act with DEATH WATCH, apparently doesn't know or just doesn't care that Death Watch are literal terrorists, and is just overall completely awful and useless the whole time. They're not a good team, he's just a massive fuck up with delusions of grandeur who Ahsoka has to keep bailing out of danger over and over again.

He's better by their third meeting during the Onderon arc, but by then whatever feelings he may have had for Ahsoka seem to have faded and he's got a new girlfriend he's focused on and Ahsoka ultimately lets him go. But she's also JEALOUS of Steela for a while and it's impossible to figure out what she's even jealous OF. Like babygirl, I'm so frustrated with you right now, but you can STILL do better than Lux Bonteri. At least she decides to just move on by the end and we never see him again.

So yeah, Lux is a terrible person, a terrible love interest for Ahsoka, and Luxsoka is a fuck awful ship and I'm just so glad it got abandoned before it actually went anywhere and never came back.

#star wars #ahsoka tano #the clone wars #tcw #star wars the clone wars #sw tcw #anti lux bonteri #lux bonteri critical #anti luxsoka #luxsoka critical

[tklpilled]

eclipse

(shigeo, ritsu, teru)

summary: being caught in the middle of a rivalry is exhausting, especially when the rivalry is about you.

a/n: merry christmas, @lee-lucius !! i was your secret santa this year :) and thanks to hypah @squealing-santa for hosting <3

[this is a sfw tickle fic!]

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Shigeo isn’t popular. He’s been told that before; Reigen’s made it very clear, at least. He’s well aware that he has a small group of friends, but he’s fine with that. He doesn’t exactly like when lots of attention is on him, it overwhelms him.

So, he’s not used to being fought over.

“You have an unfair advantage.” Teruki sits behind him, arms wrapped around Shigeo’s waist and pulling him into his lap. His head is resting on Shigeo’s shoulder. “You live together.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re always spending time with each other.” Ritsu sits across from them, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. 

“But you’ve known each other all your lives!” Teru huffs.

Shigeo stays out of their argument, embarrassed and unsure what to say. He instead leans his head slightly against Teru’s and focuses on the feel of the steady thumping of the blond’s heart.

“If Shige liked you more, that wouldn’t matter,” Ritsu retorts. 

Teru makes a hmph noise. “But that’s still not fair! Right, Shigeo?”

Ritsu narrows his eyes. “Shigeo?”

Teru’s heartbeat speeds up. “Ah. U-um.”

“It’s fine,” Shigeo interrupts, before either of them can say anything more. “You don’t have to fight.”

“Shi—” Teru cuts himself off with a glare in Ritsu’s direction. “He’s right. There’s no need to fight over this.”

Ritsu nods. “Right. Glad you realised how wrong you are.”

Shigeo sighs and prepares himself for a long day.

It becomes a competition of who knows Shigeo better. Ritsu, naturally, is winning, although Teru continues to protest against the advantage that he has. Shigeo tunes them out, not bothering to pay any attention. He doesn’t even realise that they’re asking him a question until Teru pokes him to get his attention.

“C’mon! Answer!”

Shigeo blinks back into reality. “Ah, Teru—” (“Teru,” mouths Ritsu, gaping at the use of not only Teru’s first name, but his nickname) “—cut that out, please.” He swats Teru’s hands away lightly before looking up. “Um. What were you asking?”

Ritsu shakes his head to clear his obviously many thoughts and questions. “We just wanted to know—”

“Are you ticklish, Shigeo?”

Please stop calling me that, you’ll give Ritsu a stroke, Shigeo thinks, before the question registers. “Huh?”

Teru pokes him again, gentler this time. “Or are you hurt? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“N-no, I’m fine.”

Ritsu leans in, looking interested. “I didn’t think you were still ticklish, Shige.”

Their attention is suddenly entirely on him. He squirms a bit. “U-um, what was the que—aha!” He jolts, and Teru giggles beside his ear.

“Oh, you are!” He turns to Ritsu. “See, I bet I know more about where he’s ticklish than you do!”

Before Shigeo could point out that actually, neither of them had known anything about it until just a moment ago, Teru’s fingers spring into action, and then Shigeo is too busy with his sudden fit of laughter. 

He covers his mouth with his hand, curling up. “W-wahahait!” he protests quietly at the feeling of Teru scribbling over his stomach. 

“Just admit it, Shigeo,” Teru says, and Shigeo can feel the outline of his smile from where the blond’s cheek is touching his, his chin resting on Shigeo’s shoulder. “I know you better.”

“He can’t admit something if it’s not true.” Ritsu’s voice is suddenly much closer than before, and then an extra set of hands are squeezing his knees.

Teru grumbles. “Go on,” he tells Shigeo. “Which of us do you like better?”

“Th-thahahat wahasn’t the quehehestion!” Shigeo squeals, batting at the assaulting hands but otherwise not fighting back much.

“No, it wasn’t,” Ritsu agrees, “because the answer is obviously—”

“Bohohoth! Both of yohou!”

The two of them pause instantly. Teru is the first to speak up.

“...Both?”

Shigeo nods, catching his breath. “B-both…I like you both.”

They look at each other, and for a moment Shigeo thinks they'll finally stop arguing. And then —

“That's not the right answer, Shige.” Four hands are back to tormenting him, and the noise Shigeo makes is not a squeal… but it is pretty damn close.

“Wait, wait, wahahait!”

This continues for a while — all three of them know that Shigeo could never actually pick a favourite between the two of them. The arguing is just for fun, and it’s a silent agreement that the tickling is because Shigeo needs to smile more often.

But when Shigeo pleads for them to stop, they both freeze instantly; because much like he cares about them too much for his own good, they love him too much to keep tormenting him. A smile being forced from you isn’t a true smile, after all.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #shigeo kageyama #ritsu kageyama #teruki hanazawa #terumob #if you want #tickle fic #lee!mob #lee!shigeo #ler!ritsu #ler!teru #squealing santa 2k23 #ss2k23 #arty writes

[bhaalsdeepbat]

if i have to sit here heartbroken while i write this fucking thing, SO DO ALL OF YOU. WIP pieces under cut.

The night they slept at Wyrm’s Crossing, Baldur’s Gate looming across the horizon, a single sleep separating them from their destination. He was so close to home, close to his fears becoming entirely too real, but the flower was ever present in the back of his mind as they laid together beneath the stars. Karlach was stretched out on her back, hands resting beneath her head like a makeshift pillow and Astarion’s head nestled against her chest. The rest of the vampire’s body fit against the crook of her side as he leeched the warmth radiating from her skin from her blood running too hot beneath it.

Even without his flushed ears pressed to her chest, he could hear the engine puttering, blowing steam into her chest cavity where it wafted from the ventilation ports on her torso in bursts of heat. The warmth never burned him, barely even stinging his own impossibly cold skin, but it was an ever present reminder of the suffering Karlach did her best to hide.

She was burning from the inside out and all he could do was watch and listen.

ASTARION HAVING TO LISTEN TO HER BURN FROM THE INSIDE OUT BC OF HIS HYPERSENSITIVE HEARING.

Karlach was the best of them. Despite the amount of blood on his hands, even he had a second chance, once that came with infinite time to enjoy the beauty in the world. His second chance even came with the possibility of being free of his hunger and the rest of his affliction. It was a possibility to be the man who died, buried in the dirt and alone, and steel himself from ever feeling that pain again.

The unfairness of it all was infuriating.

He propped himself up before sliding over to straddle her lap. He leaned over, brows furrowing as his hands splayed out on either side of Karlach’s head, his long fingers tangled in the blanket spread beneath them. He caught her gaze and held it, his scowl still twisting his lips and etching every worry into his tired face.

Their time together was finite, and he had wasted so much of it in survival mode. He thought the kindness would make her easier to manipulate, but instead found himself unraveling instead. She wasn’t happy when he confessed to her, but she clearly felt his budding affection that started that first night they talked for hours beneath the stars, because she was still with him. His gut twisted with a self-loathing he was all too familiar with, but he swallowed it back. He had an eternity for guilt, but his time with the woman he was quickly falling for was becoming increasingly short.

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

“You’re running hot. Hotter than usual, I mean.” Astarion grimaced as he looked down at her calloused hands holding his own with gentle care.

“Yeah, well. Can’t help it when you’re squirming on me like that,” Karlach teased, a lopsided grin stretching her lips. She could tell where the conversation was going and was quick to try and redirect. He knew she didn’t want to talk about the inevitable, to linger on what was outside her control, but it wasn’t fair.

Astarion reached out, brushing his knuckles across the sharp line of her cheekbone. He pushed some of her hair back, his brows knitting together as some of his own grief managed to seep through the mask he attempted to maintain. “Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I mean.” His eyes narrowed as he dropped his hands.

He shifted to move out of her lap, but her arms moved to wrap around him, pulling him against his chest and trapping him in the strength of her firm embrace. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. Arms limp at his sides, Astarion momentarily froze, but then collected himself enough to drape an arm around her waist. His free hand came up to hold the back of her head. He gently scratched his nails against her scalp, rubbing hit in a manner he knew was comforting from the way the tension melted form her muscles, leaving her putty beneath his hands.

i just want him to pet her head and put little braids in her hair forever. she's mama k but he's gonna take good care of her.

#bat writes #wip #hellspawn

[mashpotatoequeen]

mentor figures

Thinking, again, about Mr. Benedict. About how he reads differently from so many mentor figures in so many books directed at young people. It’s a well established role, a well established trope, of course, but it’s rare I read a story where I thoroughly enjoy the character the way I do him.

Excuse my whimsy, but it’s a funny little thing, to read a children’s story once you’ve grown. To have fallen in love with the characters woven through the pages gripped in your grubby childhood hands, and then to fall in love in an entirely different way as they remain, stagnant in their growth, and you just get older and older. The tale stays the same and your perspective shifts.

Stories often go like this. A child, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, gets brought into a life different from their own and falls in love with it. A mentor- usually older, usually grey, wise and experienced and knower of secrets and holder of quests- offers them an adventure and they accept it, heedless of the danger.

Crooked perspectives, crooked lines in the sand. Reading these stories again as you grow, you cannot help but think about the burdens these sorts of characters place on such young narrow shoulders. The unfairness of it all. The idle cruelty under the laurels. Books can call it love all they want, but to send a child to the front lines even once is enough to make me question.

(You have to be fair about it, mostly. You have to acknowledge when children's books are meant for children, that if the characters are never allowed to step up to the plate then the story would never have happened. Plot needs conflict, breeds the necessity of child soldiers, and allows young readers to see themselves as heroes in their own stories, too. It's easy to forget, and important to remember.)

I don’t know. Thinking about Mr. Benedict, this wise old man, who was ridiculed and determined and young, too, once. Thinking about Mr. Benedict, looking at these children collected at his door and knowing exactly how it feels to be that kind of particular lonely, the sort of lonely that comes with being young and knowing you should have someone, but don’t. The kind of lonely that comes from being different. 

In the books, Mr. Benedict lays the dangers out one by one by one. He says, clearly, exactly what he knows and how. Answers details and explains logic. He asks the children to complete a dangerous quest, of course, but he does not lead them into it blind. 

He doesn’t expect them to do it alone, either. Every step of the way, there are grown-ups watching over the Mysterious Benedict Society as best they can. The kids aren’t sent to be spies, they’re sent to go to school. Stay safe. Collect information. There are two priorities there and it’s easy to guess which is the one Mr. Benedict prioritises. 

Priorities: the minute the danger becomes prominent, Milligan is sent to retrieve the children. Their lives are not forfeit. They are prioritised over even the world's twisted end. This is a series in part about mysteries and puzzles and adventure, but it’s in part about this, too. About finding the people who love you. It’s about sorting out your own self and the way you fit into a family both.

It goes like this: Mr. Benedict asks the children, once, as a last resort, to go on a carefully observed quest, and then he never asks anything more of them except to learn, grow, listen, and be as safe as possible while doing so. Any adventure hereafter is because the kids embarked on it on their own, going specifically against their guardians' wishes to do so (that particular kind of loneliness, after all, is a hard habit to break).

I don’t know. I don’t have too much to say here. Something about kindness I suppose. Something about characters made to fit in roles designed to be a loving mentor actually getting to be so. It's a clever bit of writing, to make someone read the way Mr. Benedict does in this series, to have both the children in the spotlight even as they are surrounded by people who love them and care enough to try and give them ways out.

(Thinking, again, about the third book. The children finally start asking for help and reaching for it, and when the grown ups rise up to answer the call, it feels earned.)

#my writing #the mysterious benedict society #tmbs #nicholas benedict #idle thoughts #character analysis

[morsesnotes]

A little ramble about Joan and Morse...

[There will be spoilers if you haven't finished Endeavor]

A common take I've seen in this fandom is that Joan was waiting around for him. That Morse had all these chances he didn't take to express his feelings. So her shutting him down in S5/S6 was totally his own fault. I disagree with this and don't really understand it.

Here's why:

They only start getting to know each other properly in S2, and Morse has a girlfriend at that point.

Morse becomes aware of his feelings for Joan at the end of Coda, and he went to the Thursdays' house immediately after. It seemed like he intended to talk about it with Joan, but she was clearly traumatized, and not in a place to deal with romantic declarations. She'd already decided she was leaving. What if he said how much he cared and then she was gone? When you think about the abandonment issues this guy has, and the fact she is literally leaving him in that moment, can you blame him for being afraid?

Nevertheless, he's openly welling up in front of her (a very odd thing for a man in the mid-60s to do) and telling her if she needs anything to let him know. There's no way a woman wouldn't pick up on this. Not to mention constantly putting her life before his at the bank.

When Joan contacts him in the vaguest form possible, it's enough for him to do exactly what he said he would. He goes out of his way to find her and indicates there's something between them that can happen. He tells her he cares what happens to her and whether or not she's in his life. Joan makes him leave.

Morse proposes to her. She says no and specifically cites her dad as a reason it would be a bad idea. When the phone rings, Morse is willing to let it go. She's the one who picks it up, brings it to him, and leaves before he can do anything about it.

Even though he doesn't stay at the hospital, the Doctor presumably would've told her he stopped by.

When she moves back to Oxford, he gives her some space, which is entirely correct given what she's been through. He takes up her invitation to her party and makes sure he is there. He's clearly eager at the chance to spend time with her. But then she tells him she wants to set him up with someone else.

Eventually Morse can't take any more rejection, especially with Claudine having left him. He's gotten the message Joan was sending him and lets it go. This is when Joan decides to ask for a coffee. It's the first time she actually initiates something and given the context I think it's perfectly understandable for Morse to turn the offer down? It's fair enough if he doesn't want to get hurt again, isn't it? Idk, Joan's timing here rubbed me the wrong way. It was the mature thing for him to do and showed he saw her as more than a rebound.

Finally, a few weeks later Morse realizes in Icarus that life is too short and takes her up on it, but now she says she's sick of waiting around.

The fan reaction I saw with that moment was, "Yeah you tell him Joan! Fuck him!" And it made me go "???". It's true it wasn't the best timing on his part, but it's not as if he had a habit of turning up when it suited him. She was the one stringing him along, wanting his attention one minute and then rejecting it the next. She could've said she was busy and they could do it some other time in the week. Her reaction was way too harsh.

Don't get me wrong, I love Joan and am by no means the type to view Morse as a poor little Meow Meow who can do no wrong. However, I feel like it's super unfair to put it all on him when Joan was going through her own problems and has her own difficulties expressing herself. He gave her countless opportunities to open up, and she pushed him away. At a certain point, it'd be weird if he ignored her wishes and kept attempting to pursue her. It wouldn't be a good look if he tried stopping her from marrying his friend either. As far as he knows, she's moved on.

Morse may have had trouble saying it out loud, but his actions spoke volumes. Surely that counts for something? He also wrote her that incredibly romantic letter in Zenana and straight up said "Please believe me to have been yours, always". Keep in mind again this is a British man in the 60s-70s and the men around Joan so far have been deeply repressed. Seems pretty forward to me! I simply don't believe this wouldn't spark curiosity in Joan to figure out what he meant. That she'd just wait around until Morse came to visit her to ask about it, and that seeing him in the state he's in, she'd leave it there. This woman who wants passion, who's independent, who cares about the people in her life, who knows how it feels to be saving face while suffering inside, and her literal job involves helping children come to terms with their trauma. Her total passive behavior towards Morse doesn't make sense! Like it doesn't even have to be romantic! They can interact as friends!

He carries a ton of trauma and emotional baggage which makes him terrified of losing what he has with her. Not to mention his respect for Thursday. I don't see why we can't have empathy for both of them.

And yeah, he was being a dick in S6 but again, he's allowed to be angry and in fact it's healthy for him to actually let it out rather than having this idealized view of Joan forever or holding it in like he usually does.

Btw, with his previous behavior taken into account, him not showing up in Uniform was highly unusual and should've been a "What's happened to him?" moment for Joan. Not, "Classic Morse. Works comes first."

Anyway, sorry for the essay and thank you if you read all of it. I just wanted to get all my thoughts together in one place.

#endeavour #endeavour morse #joan thursday #morse x joan #itv endeavour #thinking thoughts

[into-september]

Some observations and a poor attempt at analysing the depiction of wealth in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Blame the people putting things on youtube titled “Die kapitalistische Ideologie in BIBI & TINA”. Said video makes it a point that “Bibi und Tina” - or at least the two films which he analysed - joins into a Disney-esque discourse on capitalism where the bad money people are the ones who made their own fortune rather than having inherited it. Old money is instead depicted as natural parts of society, and no-one questions how the wealth of their ancestors was once aquired and the fairness of them being better off than others because of the family to which they were born. Instead of fighting for a fair distribution of wealth, the lower classes stand with the (natural) Old Money against the (exploitative and unfair) New Money. 

Of course, Bibi Blocksberg is the cultural product of a very different political history than Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and of course: I know didly squat about either of those political histories except “France had the revolution and Germany didn’t, something something Vormärz and the failure of the Weimar Republic”. I haven’t even read Piketty and at this point I can’t be arsed to go back and watched all the relevant MLB episodes for exact detail, but that obviously didn’t stop me. 

And that is your warning to not take any of this seriously. 

ARISTOCRATIC DIGNITY VERSUS THE NOVEAU RICHE

The most prominent representatives of the wealthy elite in MLB is also an unclear case. The name "Bourgeois" alone clearly makes the point of a non-aristocratic background, but their wealth seems to rely on what in 2015 effectively would be old money: they own the most luxurious hotel in Paris, a property which must either be inherited or aquired by inherited wealth given that we never see either parent pursue any large-scale financial pursuits, instead devoting themselves to politics and fashion, respectively.  

Their new money status is the point of an entire episode: “Darkblade”, where Mr. D’Argencourt has been humiliated in an attempt to run against Mr. Bourgeois as mayor of Paris. The election campaign is only depicted indirectly, in Chloé’s claims to take ques from her father when she runs against Marinette for the position as class president. This does not cast Mr. Bourgeois in a kind light, because Chloé uses intimidation, bribery and attempts at espionage to get her way. On the other hand, the episode never depicts Mr. Bourgeois engaging in the tactics his daughter asserts she learned from him, or evilly celebrating his supposedly undeserved victory - in the few scenes he’s seen, he is exactly the same bumbling adult as always who only takes action when Marinette gives him the explicit comand to do so. He was clearly so certain in his win that D’Argencourt never could have stood a chance anyway, as the landslide defeat also would suggest.

In fact, more time is spent casting D’Argencourt as a poor loser with tyranical aspirations. What is his political agenda? The only thing we know is his speech to Adrien, where he establishes that his main goal is restoring what he considers his family’s right to rule over Paris. A rule that was established by violence going by the illustrations and was carried out “with an iron fist”. But Darkblade fell to a popular uprising, which D’Argencourt blames on an a member of the bourgeoise having “bought the people’s alliance”. The corresponding illustration leaves no doubt about the moral value of this choice, nevermind that for the “people” in medieval times, money would have been a question of survival, not comfort. 

The episode is thus curiously ambivalent on the question, particularly since the D’Argencourt-Bourgeois duel clearly parallels the Dupain-Cheng-Bourgeois duel. We’re usually meant to sympathise with akuma victims, but unlike Marinette, D’Argencourt isn’t depicted as having any ambitions about working for the greater good of the his electorate: his only concern is his pride and his family history, and he in fact regrets that the tyranny fell. The only reason given to sympathise with his pain, is the possibility that he during the election faced attacks from Chloé’s father comparable to those Marinette suffers from Chloé. But this, as said, is never shown to happen. 

Despite this introduction, D’Argencourt isn’t demonised for his authoritarian political ideas - later episodes will establish his intense pride in his students (”Riposte”), and his sincere care for them (”Risk”). Instead, D’Argencourt is a classical conservative who values the old ways, as is seen in both his devotion to pride, his maintaining old family fencing techniques, and his old-fashion way of speaking.

Interestingly, the show is equally ambivalent about Mr. Bourgeois. As a politician, he is clearly incompetent; generally inept and easily led, spineless in the face of his domineering family, occasionally displaying the belief that his status as an elected leader means he is entitled absolute power. Like D’Argencourt’s dubious political philosophy, one would expect the text to paint Mr. Bourgeois as a harmful presence, but that’s not the case: Instead, it takes the time to highlight qualities such as a deep - if tragically misguided - love of his daughter, his kindness and compassion for the step-daughter who by all in-universe logic must be the result of his wife’s unfaithfullness, and at least a general sense of right and wrong he rarely has the backbone to stand by. He’s even given a bittersweet backstory about how his youthful dreams of creative pursuits were buried by societal expectations and the demands of his abusive wife. In “Mega-Leech”, he is the figurehead of the capitalist pursuits destroying the environment - but not out of evil, but because the true evil (the Tsurugi and Agreste corporations) duped him into believing he was acting for the good of his electorate. 

TRUE BLUE BLOOD

The most privileged character yet seen on the show is unquestionably Prince Ali. Ali’s name, design and royal title would all suggest that the Kingdom of Achu is a fictional representative of the real world Arab monarchies which generally aren’t known for being great on the whole “democracy” thing. Ali however is depicted as a benevolent figure, a Queen Rania in training. 

There are several parallels drawn between Ali and Adrien. Like Adrien, Ali is a child born into wealth and fame, and doesn’t appear to feel entitled to the attention this brings him; note the contrast in both to that of Chloé. Where she revels in social status, Ali and Adrien suffer it and the expectations of performance while they wish for freedom to not perform to their status. Ali is officially set to inherit a position of absolute political power, which Adrien of course won’t; though he can safely assume financial influence and social power through his parents’ separate celebrity status and connections to other people with formal power. 

Ali’s likely future as the despot in an absolutist monarchy has yet to be brought up as a problem, possibly because Ali is yet too young to make any moral judgments about the power he is given through his family tree. 

OLD NAMES, OLD MONEY

Season 4 concluded by (not really) ending the stalemate defining the Hawkmoth-Ladybug war as a third party of unclear aliance enters the battle and casts his weight in Hawkmoth’s favour - but not for the purpose of Gabriel’s benefit. The wild card is Gabriel’s nephew from his wife’s side of the family, but there is no love lost between the two. It is evident to all that Felix would just as easily have teamed up against his uncle, if that would give him what he wanted. Indeed, for most of his on-screen presence, it is hard to argue that Felix is a better person than Gabriel is; he certainly has no more kindness to spare Adrien and in fact puts a lot of effort into making his life miserable for no discernable reason.

The exact background of the Graham de Vanilly family has yet to be detailed on screen, but they are aristocracy in posession of family heirlooms with “legends” attached to them, and Felix’ father was an American billionaire. Felix, as such, comes from a background of double privilege, but little is made out of this beyond his access to advanced technology and training to excel far beyond his age in several fields. 

Another wealthy family is the Tsurugi clan, which traces its roots back to the warrior elite of some age past and which to this day maintains a strict adherence to family and tradition. Little is known about them beyond Kagami, her mother and her grandfather all being martial artists of considerable merit; with the focus on family over the individual, it seems likely that their contemporary commercial empire was built on pre-existing conditions. Tomoe is the only person outside of Felix and Nathalie who know Hawkmoth’s identity, and is in fact revealed to be aiding him in his pursuits - though for what purpose remains to be seen. Notable, however, is that Kagami - true to her name - mirrors Adrien from several angles: controlled by her parent(s?), deprived of agency and freedom, isolated from her peers her entire life, and fundamentally good despite their parents being unicovently cruel.

The cruelty of their parents however renders irrelevant the show’s only attempt at problematising capitalism: namely the negative depiction of the Tsurugi-Agreste corporations. Laudable though it is to teach children that Brands Are Not Our Friends, the shady characterisation of Gabriel and Tomoe makes it impossible to say that it is their companies that are the problem when the CEOs are regularly comitting crimes far beyond the scope of public misinformation. 

ARTISTIC INTEGRITY VERSUS THE COMMERCIALISATION OF CULTURE

A different angle of the narrative assertion that the wish to be wealthy makes means that you are morally deficient is seen in the professional artists present on the show and their placement next to their manager: Bob Roth, in charge of marketing Jagged Stone, XY, and Harry Clown. In addition to these, he’s seen pursuing a line of one-off projects, both as hired hand (producing ads for Gabriel, directing for Chloé) and on his own accord.

Bob Roth has three character traits: His vulgarity, his ambition in pursuing wealth, and his callousness to others. Though he makes his living by promoting the creative labour of others, he clearly has no appreciation of art. He has manufactured his son into a commercial vampire who makes money by poorly imitating true artists, and has repeatedly stated his disregard of art for the sake of art: To Bob Roth, the only art of merit is that which can be molded for maximum profit. He insists on streamlining Jagged Stone into what would be commercially well-received instead of an expression of what Jagged truly is. He ridicules Harry Clown for wishing to go new ways as an artist, because the idea of abandoning a proven moneymaker for an untested idea is to him unthinkable. 

On Bob’s artist roster is only one obviously rich person: Jagged Stone’s rock star lifestyle which has him permanently settled in the city’s top hotel, personal assistant and personal crocodile, private helicopter and a caravan with a baby grand on the roof. Unlike the Bourgeois family with whom he shares his de facto adress, however, Jagged’s wealth is never depicted as a defining aspect of his character - instead, it is the incidental byproduct of sincere artistic genius. So unimportant is Jagged’s money that it has yet to factor into his relationship with his offspring who are living in far more moderate conditions. 

Bob doesn’t appear particularly wealthy, despite his son’s fame as an artist. It’s entirely possible that the two live in a mansion with gold loos, but if that is the case, then Bob clearly isn’t satisfied with what he’s got. XY hasn’t yet been depicted to share his father’s compulsive pursuit of money; whatever his reasons for pursuing music are, the closest we get to an answer must be a wish for fame. One could speculate about a wish to win his father’s approval or a poor attempt at creating true art like the artists he plagiarises, but neither of those things are yet confirmed.

Interestingly, one factor not painting the Bourgeois family as new money is how heavily Bob Roth is coded as such: his garish fashion, lacking sophistication and blatant disregard of all social rules if money is involved are all introduced in contrast to Mr. Bourgeois - even though the two are regular aquaintances.

IN CONCLUSION: YOU TRIED

Wealth is an apolitical topic in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, beyond the reductive moral that only bad people want to be rich. The unfair distribution of wealth is only a problem when the affluent use it for evil; lack of money is never a struggle faced by anyone in a universe where every character appears to be at least comfortably middle class. Inherited wealth is never depicted as in intrinsically problematic, while characters actively pursuing money are uniformly morally deprived. The clearest case is probably the young Miss Bourgeois, who is portrayed as parodically evil while flaunting her family’s wealth and influence - in contrast to numerous characters who are equally or more privileged (Zoé, Adrien, Kagami, Ali) but act as if unaware of the benefits they get from their family backgrounds. 

The problem, then, is not wealth itself but the recognition and active use of it; Jagged Stone is stinking rich, but a sympathetic character seemingly unconscious of his material wealth while focusing solely his artistic aspirations. In repeated contrast stands Bob Roth who has less money, less fame, less influence, but all the more lust for the things to which Jagged appears completely indifferent. The show thus broadcasts the kindergarten moral that greed is bad, but that is the extent of the commentary it has made on social inequality. Wealth and privilege is only a problem if conscious and selfish use are made of them; they are forces of good when people like Ali and Adrien use their influence for altruistic purposes.

“Wealth” ultimately becomes a question not of de facto capital in your posession, but the individual’s attitude towards it. The rich children who don’t act as if they’re rich are in fact presented by the narrative as victims of their wealth; haunted by the public eye, repressed by fame where the public image is more important than sincere expression, held down by heavy family names with equally heavy expectations of excellence. That they live in absurd material comfort, in families where economical worries will never happen and with social (and indeed, political) influence at their feet, is never something that the show considers categorically unfair. 

Per the show’s depiction of good and bad people, the privileges of financial power only exist if you on an individual level make an active and conscious choice of utilising it. The societal dynamics of the haves and have nots are in this show non-existent - as they necesserily have to be in a universe where some of the most expensive areas in the world are a “working class neighborhood”.

ETA because the most important part evidently was lost to a draft I didn't save: The perhaps most important observation to make from all of this isn't how the show goes about the people who have money, but the people who in a realistic setting would suffer from their affluence: namely the poor. Who seemingly don't exist in the MLB universe, where every character appears to be at least comfortably middle class.

When you don't have to engage with the tangible consequences of never knowing financial security thanks to the system rigged against you, it is easy to reduce the amassing of wealth to a moral judgment, and leave it at that. But for things to change for the people sleeping on the streets of Paris, it's not enough to say that money made Chloé Bourgeois evil. We need to talk about how her money can be shared with those who need it.

#miraculous ladybug #mira #mlb meta #blah #so comrades come rally

[deiscension]

so when can we expect this dissection of that lyric for sqx huh 👀🍿

@deathfavor You can get it right this instant if may be allowed to pull an swd and lose my entire gotdamn head. This isn't as detailed or organized as I'd like to get with it because I want to pull very specific lines from the different arcs they're involved in but I'm going to summarize as best as I can!

First off I need to emphasize that I think as "unfair" as what happens to SQX is, I think it needed to happen. I am putting "unfair" in air quotes because I'm also a HX defender and as terrifying and life-altering as Black Water arc is for them, I also do not think SQX would lament how "unfair" any of it was after the proverbial dust has settled (that's a discussion for another time though because I have A Lot Of Thoughts about swd's beheading + the direct aftermath + SQX not wanting to ascend again + immediately seeking to descend and not be sought out again after willingly giving up their powers).

SQX loves SWD, MY/HX, and XL. I refuse to put past tense there too okay she's full of love for better or worse. Usually for worse. I digress. She loves them, but she doesn't know them. She thinks she does. She's had no reason to believe she didn't, and that she was running out of time to know them all. That's why things had to happen the way they did. That's the price of her ignorance. It's not a faultless thing even if it was never meant to be malicious. And my GOD, she's lived her whole life in layers and layers of ignorance, all of it heaped onto her. She can go her whole life loving with all her heart but she has to learn how to actually know others, too. Let me try to break down what I mean through the three specific characters I mentioned. I am going to try to keep this short-ish because I will elaborate more when I've got the braincells and quotes to go for it but!! Here we go.

Also before I get into it, I don't mean to say that she didn't know any of them at all. She knew them all in exactly the ways they wanted to be known, in my opinion; not all of it convenient or surface level either! And she's a fair more insightful about all three of them than one might notice on a first reading. But she's still missed key facets of each one-- if I may be a bit heavy-handed, she's blinded by the sun and stumbling through the shadows, thinking that because she can't see those shadows they're not there. And that's not how people work. So!

Xie Lian -- while it is very indicative of the type of loyal, rational (when necessary), ride-or-die, and kindhearted person SQX is when they defend him against PM and then against the Heavenly Court, it goes to show just how easily blinded they are. Don't get me wrong, it also says a lot about their ability to think for themself (that's another bone I have to pick with popular fanon interpretation of them LOL) and not bend to social convention/pressure. But they're also letting one interaction inform them against centuries of history. Granted, we aren't ever told how much SQX knows about XL before coming across him at Banyue Pass. However, considering the amount of officials that play nice with SQX, I can't imagine they wouldn't have heard all matter of gossip-- truth mixed with tales and the like. And then there's the whole "he had remembered the flower but forgotten about the sword" line: SQX knows XL as a gentle, level-minded, experienced person. They haven't yet contended with his personal history. This trait of theirs is a double-edged sword. I can't imagine they wouldn't have reflected on this after being left in the Heavenly Capital. They would've never meant any harm by not digging into XL's past, but how ashamed they must feel of trying to be a good, reliable friend while remaining ignorant of all his past troubles.

Shi Wudu - that's her brother! She LOVES her brother! He's given her the world, he's kept her safe, he was the only person she had for so long-- the only person who didn't try to take advantage of her pain and ignorance and just wanted what was best for her. He'd never lie to her, he'd never hurt her, he'd never belittle her, he'd never give her reason to fear him. Not in any way that's anything more than a temporary sibling tiff. Except he did. Time and time again, he did. And I'm not saying this to disparage SWD because especially after a second reading of BW arc, I know SWD loved them too, and he is a fascinating character. We need characters like him alright, just as much as we also need SQXs and HXs and XLs and HCs and so forth. There's so much that needs to be taken into account when examining SWD's behavior towards SQX and how frightened SQX is of her own brother even before discovering the truth-- and I'd love to get into it but maybe not here because I'm already rambling soooo much LSDKFJSDF. Back to the point. SWD loved her. But at what point does love become a cage? At what point does it become hands around your throat? SQX has no idea what all was sacrificed for her. She's not allowed to know. Yes there's the iconic "the one he feared most had been beside him all along" about Ming Yi but HAVE WE CONSIDERED HOW MUCH IT APPLIES TO SWD TOO. HAVE WE!!!! Because I am Considering and I am Dry-heaving at how on the nose it is for SWD too. I already talked a little bit about it (here) but in his efforts to secure a place in the heavens for himself and her, SWD became the exact thing SQX hated and feared the most. SWD is a mirror to the Reverend, at least in actions. Gobbling up lives without a second thought, using fear as a means of control, laughing in the face of another's undeserved and unearned misery, "we've lived good lives"-- EVERYTHING SQX fears is her brother. Her brother, who she loves so much but didn't know nearly well enough.

I'm planning on doing a whole Shi sibling meta but I need to read through a few more passages with SWD first because while my brain is not particularly big I also refuse to misinterpret his character on purpose just because I sometimes want to give him a swift kick to the ass. SWD my beloathed-loved. Idk. Bestworst shitass brother. Still meditating upon that one though because they are both unreliable narrators with each other and XL is an unreliable narrator too so I have much to think about.

He Xuan - [gripping your shoulders and looking into your eyes] Help Me God I Am About To Explode. Where Do I Begin. I'm not gonna lie the first time I heard this part:

I was a kid until I fixed it Tore into a love affair Between me and what wasn't there Oh, I was kissing you Just to feel the air

my brain was like 'wow S.arah K.insley that's so SQX reflecting on her time with MY/HX you're so right'. Which is what led me to thinking even more about all SQX's other relationships too. I know fandom has a lot of contention in how to read into their relationship pre-BW arc and post-BW arc. Frankly I am here to cry as hard as I can and as long as I can so based on my second reading of BW arc + the way SQX acts with both MY/HX and comparing it to how she is with everyone else, I think her feelings with MY/HX are deeper than they're often given credit for. SQX is "friends with everyone", sure. But to HER, MY is her first true friend. Her most beloved, most trusted, most treasured friend. And she never really knew him. Oh, we can point the finger at him and say "well, he was pretending to be someone he wasn't, she wouldn't have found anything out either way". To that I say yes-- and I'm sure SQX did try to poke around for more, but she's so carefree and trusting, it seems logical to me that she would've taken his prickliness and closed-off nature as "just how he is".

All we have about her social life before ascending is pure speculation. I know I'm not presenting good evidence for my reasoning at the moment (I really want to cook up a post about the type of sheltered life SQX lived because all that spoiling and opulence came in after being brought into the middle court-- like yes SWD spoiled them by always being the one to take care of the difficult things, but again! Another topic for later! I have much to say about SQX's learned helplessness there). SQX didn't have anyone but her ge. I'm sure she had "lots of friends" in the Middle Court too. But she didn't have a capital-f-Friend. And then-- she has MY! Someone who's not trying to get to her brother through her (LOLLLLLLLL), someone who doesn't disappear during times of storm, someone who doesn't disguise their true nature or intentions for the sake of personal gain (LOL x2). Well I'm laughing there but again- HX defender. I digress, again. SQX isn't latching onto MY out of pure convenience. If SQX wanted to befriend someone who goes along with all her whims, never gives her a hard time, and plays coy for her amusement, she has thousands to choose from. Hell her brother could've picked for her. But she wants MY as her best friend and closest confidant. It would've been so easy for her to dump him on his ass and chase after best friend status with XL if all her clinging to MY was purely informed by self-interest and the desire to feel good about herself all the time. They themself even say that XL has earned "second best friend" status during the beginning of BW arc, all while XL is objectively the only person giving her tangible comfort. She doesn't just want a best friend, she wants her best friend Ming-xiong. My god! He's the first they cry out for at what's arguably their lowest: right after willingly giving up their power, when it turns out their brother is the type of person they've always feared the most, when it's clear they cannot save anyone, they cannot even save themself.

And oh, how she wanted to be the same for him! She risked HC's wrath (or at least she thought she was, which is also so funny in greater context) to "rescue" him. She would've done anything for him. Except she couldn't. She didn't know him. She failed him so terribly, so miserably, so shamefully. Him and everyone else who loved him and actually knew him, the ones who died so she could have a life she hadn't earned. We both know how agonizing those moments in the Nether Water Manor-- but what about the aftermath? What about when it was just them stumbling around, after the fear and shock had worn off, with nothing but their own audacious words echoing around in their head? "This whole thing has nothing to do with Ming-xiong, but he had to suffer like this". THEY DIDN'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT! And they said it with such grief then-- well, what about now? How much worse had they made his suffering? Had he felt nothing but revulsion that whole time? Had she made his loneliness, his suffering, his weariness worse? All those times she told him not to worry, all those times spent fussing over him, (trying to) dote on him, looping her arm through his and pulling him this way and that. Did it mean anything at all? He was her best friend, he was who she wanted at her side, but who was she to him? Was he ever really there?

But SQX is too empathetic to only think about herself when it comes to such pains. Once the wallowing wore off, how often did she spend wondering about him? Knowing that of anyone in the heavens and on earth, he was the one deserving of the good life, he was the one deserving of someone who loved him for who he was. What a fool she was for thinking she was that someone! She couldn't even call the right name. She did indeed cause the death of her closest family. She did indeed cause the death of her best friend. And what can she do? What can she say? Sorry doesn't bring anyone back; sorry doesn't make everything better; sorry doesn't make up for being unworthy of the time she squandered at his side, all because she didn't know. Ignore, for a moment, the fear and trauma now casting impenetrable shadows over the image of "her best friend", and consider: by any grace yet again unearned, could she ever accept an offering of forgiveness for such grievances?

I know SQX is doing "fine" as a mortal, she has friends that don't just want something out of them, and I know she's taking better care to practice knowing along with loving. But it just kills me how all her life she has had "everything" but nothing at the same time. None of it was hers. She did nothing to earn it, no matter how much she as a person deserved it. What's deserved without earned, after all?

#▌ ◈ ooc ; ⌜ he fucking ascended again! ⌟ #▌ ◈ SHI QINGXUAN ; ⌜ study ⌟ #deathfavor #collapses into a boneless heap in front of you. TYSM FOR ASKING BRIT. I'M IN SHAMBLES. #don't uh. don't mind how long the last bit is. #i have a lot of feelings and thoughts about all sqx's canon relationships #but i in particular have Many Many thoughts and Many Many feelings about sqx and hx #'short-ish' [folds my hands in my lap and smiles beatifically] i love being a liar!

[bug-the-chicken-nug]

Thinking about how the ozpin critiques I see like

Raise good points but often feel *off* or a bit unfair, somehow.

And upon thinking about it

I think its because the show, despite being so keen on making Ozpin shady, is very lackluster in like

Actually setting up good cause and effect between Ozpin and the things that are wrong with Remnant society.

Like they focus on only a small handful of things he's apparently doing wrong and blow some (perhaps even most) of those things way out of proportion (like whining about a transformation ability with no drawbacks)

So then when it comes to everything else that could potentially be at least kinda his fault when you think critically, it never actually feels entirely fair/satisfying to attribute that to him because you were hardly given any of the broader facts.

Like how much authority does a "Headmaster" actually have in their world? What can and can't they do? What is and isn't under their jurisdiction? Who else is involved in the other broader issues that *might* be partially attributable to him? What has or hasn't he done to try and address those kinds of things in the past? Is there anyone who could be considered a political enemy of his, rather than just "ally who sometimes doesn't entirely agree with him"? What did he do to get into his position?

When people don't want to live in kingdoms, what reasons do they have that could be potentially attributed to him? Conversely, which reasons are just things he doesn't have much control over?

What aspects of society are actually his idea/something he supports, and what's just like... stuff he had to compromise on or outright couldn't manage because he's only one guy?

What major policies did he enact as his past selves?

Hopefully what I'm saying is coming across.

It's not that I'm just trying to completely excuse him from everything, but I *am* going by a sort of "innocent until proven guilty" frame of mind, and canon provides very little evidence for how culpable he is or isn't in the great majority of things, and in turn that makes some of the hate he gets in the fandom come off as like... A lot of jumping to conclusions, or defaulting to the least charitable reading, or just

"I can't really say you're wrong, but this doesn't exactly feel *right*, either."

Instead, canon keeps just kinda wasting the effort of making him shadier on things that just seem like either all-around ridiculous nothing accusations, or totally logical and fair to be upset about in theory, but being reacted to in-universe in a way that isn't very organic or nuanced and that doesn't even really come off as fully believable/organic for everyone involved, more like "you need to act X way or say X thing because the writers say so".

Like we COULD be actually canonically interrogating, say, his opinions on Hunter corruption and whatever he has or hasn't tried to do about it, but I guess not? For whatever reason? Even though that sounds like it'd be pretty interesting and does seem like it'd be more directly related to things that could be under his jurisdiction?

#rwde

[edalynn]

H/W needs to not go canon, because no matter what, it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to Hunter to ignore the trauma the writers constantly put him through to ‘fix’ all of it in an hour left of a series with a girlfriend. It isn’t fair for Willow, whose entire arc was about learning to love herself, to have her story end with playing therapist to someone she’s never shown attraction to. I have faith in Dana, but man, is it tiring to constantly face harassment while waiting to be proven right.

SAME yes YES exactly! It's not fucking fair! Willow, who has grown SO MUCH over the course of the show, gaining confidence, finding what she's good and and loves doing, making friends that love her and support her unconditionally just to be turned into a one dimensional manic pixie dream girl for the sake of a relationship despite actively showing more interest in everything BUT her friendship with Hunter. It's unfair to have her go through all of this personal growth of standing up for herself and being confident in herself on her own just to take everything back at the end so it means nothing.

And with Hunter. They have very paralleling arcs if you look at it. Hunter's is clearly more severe, but some similarities being gaining agency and confidence of the self and finding real people that care about you unconditionally. Neither of these things really coincide with each other for Hunter or Willow. The most they do is for Hunter, where Willow helps him find a small sense of agency in helping him cut his hair and is one of the friends caring for him unconditionally. Hunter wasn't involved in either of these things in Willow's arc, which again puts the heavy burden on Willow to "fix" Hunter's trauma without getting a whole lot in return other than taking care of the sad white boy. And to use Willow as a magic "fix-it" for Hunter is so unfair to all the trauma and growth he's gone through. To use Willow like slapping a bandaid on a cut is so cheap and cruel to Hunter's arc. He gained and then lost agency of his body, he lost his palisman and first ever friend at the hands of his abuser, he found a place he felt safe and happy and then had it ripped away. That's not something a girlfriend can fix and it's unfair to expect Hunter to go into a completely fresh new relationship immediately after all of that and to have him be a devoted boyfriend. Had Hunter been in a relationship prior to the worst of this, that would be something totally different. But an entirely new relationship? Absolutely the fuck not. I can't imagine Hunter's very focused on crushing on anyone right now after all of that.

#taako talks #toh #the owl house #asks #huntl0w negative

[denpamen]

https(:)//media(.) discordapp(.)net/attachments/534381870167621632/1169331466317070396/IMG_4786(.)png?ex=655503ca&is=65428eca&hm=f7bc76e6ca3301a12e6e2d83c007c0d9ac9cf49dcc0f07382aaf07f06009c39e&

Remove the parentheses. Idiot :^)

my phrasing is confusing because I’m genuinely dyslexic but I was trying to talk about ME being the fruitcake because I’m gay and😭 as in “oh but what a fruitcake” (sarcastically, referring to me being the f slur) & You were right for reading it that way, so I’m glad you said something so I could correct it. I shouldn’t have mentioned him directly as if he sending them, so you’re right! Bingo. I had that wrong, and he probably didn’t send them, and I sincerely apologize for whatever came his way in that regard. I can’t remember if I meant that he was literally in my inbox, because again, I’m disabled and stupid and this was a month ago.

However, i said so because he was promoting the homophobic gay panic attitude that I wanted to be sexual with him for what reason. I wasn’t right for it, but my motive was not to frame him, I genuinely believed it was him or caused by him. but I will say this:

If it’s unfair for me to assume the one guy posting about me and saying Im being sexual towards him is sending me mean asks relating to said sexual activity, how is it fair for him to conjure that I want sexual contact with him through THEIR ask box with absolutely zero connection what so ever. an entire YEAR had gone by at that point since we argued. and he’s assuming DOXXING HIM and sexually harassing him with ZERO evidence whatsoever. How exactly is that fair? Why aren’t you on him for that? Are you just defending your buddy. (Or yourself, light mode. My dms are open wink.)

So you’re right to read it that way, but that it isn’t what I meant. Did you have to word vomit instead of just ask me that?

And again, how does this disprove the fact that either way, he was absolutely bringing sexual and homophobic attention my way with his unfounded accusations, and there has been no admittal of this. I have apologized for what I said, it’s easy, and he can do.

Are you going to hold Cereus accountable as well for the unfounded sexual harassment that has happened to me? Or are you just trying to win. I’m willing to admit I made a mistake in saying he sent them, because he didn’t, that’s my fault for slipping my words. And if you’re cereus, my dms are open, don’t do this cowardly shit.

Also this was a month ago, why are you here just now lol? Genuinely curious.

#asks

[live-digital-love]

♡ Mitsuyame / Higatano | Manhunt

♡ Eventual fluff.

♡ Playful bickering.

♡ Ayame agrees to a certain deal after Mitch makes it sound appealing; only, it results in... "a happy accident."

♡

Game day. Game day, game day, game day.

The day that the classes all get together and compete against one another in a sort of school-wide competition. Like... when you're a kid in school and it's field day. Only for this, the school is considered fair playing ground, and from what she's heard, everything is on the table.

The last game was something called... 'Manhunt.' It was like tag, but more than just running. It starts with one hunter, and everyone else playing the game is a target. When you get tagged, you become a hunter, and have to hunt down everyone else. Night had already fallen, so the game is to be played in the dark. One of many dangerous factors that made it all the more exciting in theory. Someone even announced over the PA system when a player was tagged.

The only important rule was: Don't get tagged. Which, while it was very, very easy, made the game not... that fun when she wasn't a hunter.

No one tried going near her after long enough. They either didn't want to try or didn't want her to let them tag her out of pity.

⠀

Now, Ayame crouched in the dark, listening to everything move around her. About half of her classmates were still free, if she's been keeping count right. It wasn't long until a new announcement was made.

'Mitsuhiro Higa has been tagged!'

Not ten minutes after that, she finally heard something to her right. Her head snapped towards the sound, and as it turned out, it was another player. Specifically, it was Mitsuhiro.

Ayame sprung up, quickly moving to keep about twenty-five feet between them, at least. He's fast. If he tried to spring at her, she needed space to move.

⠀

Her opponent froze at this, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Whoah, slow down. No need to get spooked. I'm only here to make an offer, not tag you. Pinky promise."

"Make an offer? We're playing a game right now. Why do you want to make an offer to me?"

"'Cause I get the feeling we both know this game's a bit unfair. I mean... come on. No offense to our classmates, but they've got two of the fastest athletes in the world playing for themselves. The orange-haired chick knew we'd both demolish anyone else, tha's why she's not playing. Prob'ly other nerdy bullshit too.

But point is: if you hadn't heard..."

Mitch trailed off, lazily pointing one arm up at the PA system hanging in the corner of the room.

"I let myself get tagged already."

Ayame blinked a few times at the television. What... is his point, exactly? Just pointing out they're on opposite teams? "Right. So now you want to tag me because I'm still free."

"Not it, princess. If I did wanna tag you, I woulda got you already. My offer is: You pretending I tagged you."

Her gaze trailed back to him, blinking even slower this time. This is making less and less sense the more he speaks. "Why would I do that?"

⠀

A strained chuckle escaped Mitsuhiro. His hands came up to rub his face, as if the whole conversation was exhausting him. He mumbled something into his hands... (it sounded like: "goddamn, girl, for the fastest person here, your brain sure as hell isn't..." but she wasn't entirely sure,) before peeking through his fingers.

"Two of the fastest athletes in the entire school, remember? If people think you got tagged, they're gonna shit themselves when they see both of us coming. If I don't tag you, once I get everyone else, it'll just be us left. Then you win."

"Well... don't you want to win?"

"Can't a guy just wanna help a girl out sometimes?"

She paused to consider his question, then shook her head no.

"... Damn. Well, this guy does. All I want is a nice, clean competition between me n' you. And I can't have that if there's other people out and about. You herd people to me, I tag 'em, we go until 's only us left, and we have a race across the school to see who's actually the best.

Let's be honest:

You've got the speed, but I've got the endurance. We both know I can catch you. I just wanna prove it to the whole class."

⠀

She frowned slightly. Her classmates have said he's a jerk in the past, but... maybe he could be telling the truth? Maybe? Possibly? Well. With his reputation, probably not.

"... You want to chase me to prove that you think you can keep up with me, just to boost your own ego. When, no, there's no way that you can actually catch me."

"Don't go and hurt my pride like that, fuck! Look--- I'm not only in it for my ego. I win, I get bragging rights; you win, you win the manhunt game and I'll take you out to dinner or something, okay?"

He very clearly forced a smile as he held out a hand. It wasn't even kinda hidden.

"Shake on the deal?"

⠀

Ayame considered it. Considered it more. It might not be bad. It might even be fun, to race someone that poses a competition to her again. She hasn't had that in a long time. And she might win something that isn't a race, if she can outrun him. Winning a class game and actually trying for it sounds really cool.

And he doesn't seem... too bad to work with. Right now.

Having made up her mind, Ayame nodded. She initially moved to take his hand, then--- brought it back quickly. "Wait. If you touch me, I'll be tagged, right?"

A sly, sly smirk lit up his features. He licked his teeth through his smile in satisfaction. "Heh, you got me. It was worth a shot."

"The gesture stands. We have a deal, Mitsuhiro."

Her now-ally suddenly cringed, his whole body dramatically turning away. "It's Mitch, okay? Cut it, you sound like my mom when you talk like that."

"I'm... sorry? I didn't know. But, okay. We have a deal, Mitch."

Mitch went to say something likely snarky, then sighed. "Yeah, whatever, I get it. C'mon, let's go give our classmates heart attacks."

"Only pretend heart attacks?"

"Sure. We'll see."

♡

She had to admit: that was fun.

Just as Mitch said, everyone who wasn't tagged yet panicked and took off running once they both came into view. She darted out ahead of them to make them slow down, and Mitch came up from behind and tagged them all. Ayame made sure to dart away once they were, and somehow, no one seemed to notice that her name hadn't gone over the speaker yet.

They rounded up everyone in their class this way, working together surprisingly well. Mitch naturally took on a more defensive position, allowing Ayame to guide the other players as she pleased, and waited for the right moment to spring to life and close the distance. She couldn't deny that he was fast. Really fast. The longer she watched him play, though, the more clear his weakness was: his endurance was high, but his stamina was shockingly low.

His strategy seemed to be blitzing at near max speed only for a few seconds, then falling back down to something much more comfortable to keep up the chase rather than maintaining a steady pace. Even then, he kept going for a long time before needing to fully stop.

He might be able to outlast her if he's calculated enough. As long as she can keep distance, he'll keep falling behind. When he made the bet, Mitch had to have been banking on her tiring herself out and him closing the distance after long enough.

⠀

Thus, when they got to the track and prepared for the final race:

"I have a timer I keep on my side for things like this. I'll give you thirty seconds to catch me."

Her again-opponent scoffed. When she turned to look back at him, she caught his eyes darting up to hers. Huh. Weird. "Only thirty? Why's that?"

"That's after I've hit my breaking point and have to slow down to keep going. If you really want to show off that you can catch me at my top speed, there's no point in giving you more time after I've slowed down. It might be after the point where you start slowing down, too, but I'd have to watch your form longer to know for sure."

He stared at her blankly. Then, raised his hands in mock defense once again and smiled. "Note to self: only question the runner about anything regarding running if you want her to ramble about it. Got it."

She huffed out a frown. "You asked me a question and I answered it."

"C'mon, don't take that the wrong way, it was cute. That's the most I've heard you say all day, princess. 's just that the only way it would've been more nerdy is if you started explainin' the sciency parts of it all."

"... Do you mean basic biology?"

Ayame rolled her eyes, setting the timer and leaning down over the track. "You can stop calling me that, for one."

"Whatever you say, princess."

She watched him do the same out of the corner of her eye. She could hear another grin light up his features. "What, getting tired of that one? How about Momma instead, since you talk so much like one?"

He kept going, amusing himself over more and more pet names, while she counted quietly. It isn't cheating. If he wasn't talking, he would have heard it. Really. And because he was, he wasn't ready when she finally started the timer and yelled: "Go!"

She heard Mitch take off late, sputtering over himself as he darted forward. "Hey! You know that ain't fair, Momma!"

"You should've been paying attention, uh- Dad-da! Nope, that's weird."

"Add a Y, and then it'll work that way, princess!"

⠀

That just sounds stupid. Whatever. She tried and failed to come up with a comeback to that, so all of her attention went to staying on the track. And just as she anticipated, Mitch fell into the same pattern he took on earlier: only now, fit with playful teasing. He let her put distance between them, then blitzed closer, then fell back.

He's keeping with her somehow. There's no way he can be keeping pace without pushing himself too hard. This was fun when he suggested it, but she doesn't want him to hurt himself. But she also doesn't want to lose.

Think, think, think... what to do to keep her lead without going so fast that he'll hurt himself to keep up?

He's not used to the track, but it seems to be helping him well enough despite this. From how short his bursts are, he was going faster earlier, though. Why? It's just a difference in...

Turf. He was faster going through turf, because he's wearing cleats!

If he won't slow himself down, maybe she can make him.

⠀

With that thought in mind, Ayame slowed and then suddenly darted towards the school building, avoiding any grass like the plague. Mitch picked up the pace. Thankfully, shortly after Ayame burst into the building, her theory was proven... half right:

Mitch cried out a second after she hit the tile, cursing as his feet slid out from under him. Somehow, though, he still kept up. If anything, she heard him fall into a steady sprint over his short bursts.

Final option: up the stairs, into a classroom.

The sound of metal spiked cleats scraping tile is a horrible one. Someone lost his footing again at the stairwell. But he was on her, still, despite all of this, and got way too close for comfort as she slowed even more to save energy and sling into a classroom.

He's not slowing down, at all.

Is he crazy? Does he not know what he's doing to himself!?

As a last ditch effort, Ayame vaulted over desks to put something between her and her pursuer; finally sending herself over the teacher's podium, pulling it down over her as she fell to the ground behind it.

⠀

He slammed into the wall above her so hard, he shook the whole room. Not even half a second after she hit the floor. One second passed after that, and a piercing beeping rang out.

The timer, still clipped to her shorts.

Mitch had already started leaning down, but froze the second the timer rang. He straightened back up, forcing out a wheezing chuckle. His words floated through huffs, and it sounded like a lot of effort went into pushing them out clearly. "You... you're a cheater... huh, princess? Going... in the school..."

She chuckled herself, shaking her head. It was a good workout. She actually broke a sweat. But she can't deny that she's worried. "You never said I couldn't. You okay after that? I didn't think your body could handle staying that close."

His breath turned harsh, then words fell into incoherent mumbling. He was definitely trying to say something. That isn't good.

"Mitch?"

Muttering.

"Mitsuhiro?"

Nothing.

Oh no.

She stuck her head out from under her 'distraction,' looking up to fully see Mitch, still standing over her, but barely.

He was already drenched and dripping in sweat, his entire body heaving with each heavy pant. He's shaking... He's trembling just to hold himself up over her.

Ayame slid out from under the podium, about to tell her 'rival' that he's pushed himself too far, but he did it for her. A shudder ran down his whole body, and with one last gasp; his eyes lulled, and his head followed, and his knees buckled. His body hit the floor with a horrible thud once it finally gave out.

⠀

All of the exhaustion drained away as she rose, quickly going to the collapsed man's side. A moment's panic. Not knowing what else to do, Ayame took Mitch into her arms the best she could and initially tried to pick him up. It turns out that a roughly sixty-six kilogram guy feels much, much heavier when he's unconscious. She resorted to dragging him down the hall instead.

"I should've known he'd be that petty. Why did I agree to this? I don't know what yet, but I'm gonna do something if he wakes up and tries to have a rematch..."

It didn't take long for someone to find them and help her take Mister I-Cant-Regulate-Myself-Healthily to the nurse's office. There she sat by his side, for the next hour, as conflicting feelings welled within her.

On one hand, she shouldn't have even agreed to a race if she knew he'd do this to win.

On the other, it was the most fun she's had in a long time.

On one hand, she has to help keep her fellow classmates safe, even if they're temporary competitors.

On the other, it isn't really her fault that he didn't know his limits, right? She tried to slow him down.

⠀

Thoughts like these whirled through her mind until... he finally stirred. A soft hiss escaped as he tried to move his legs, which made him try to peek at his surroundings, which made him groan in even more pain. He did hit the ground very, very hard. And likely tore muscle, if not irritating it beyond belief. There was a long pause before he opened his eyes again, slowly looking around the room he's in now.

That same smirk as before still tugged at his eyes as he took her in, taking the time to process every last bit of her and him and where they are annoyingly slow.

It made her grow anxious. "What is it? Do you need something?"

The words had a clear slur to them, some blending together and coming out slowly. "Not much. Jus' a few more seconds."

"... Of what?"

"Of the angel 'm lookin' at, beautiful. Can't believe you waited for a dumbass like me."

Ayame straightened up at this, growing rigid at the shift in words and tone. This was... sweet, compared to the teasing things he said earlier. Mitsuhiro, saying something sweet? He really does have a concussion.

She scoffed softly. "You need to go back to sleep. You're clearly still delirious."

"Huh? Whaddaya... mean? Do I look funny?"

"The Mitch I've heard wouldn't say stuff like that unless he's impaired, like right now."

He groaned, yet now, not in pain. "Really? Aww, that guy's an asshole. Look: I've gotten hit in the head so, so many times. Way too much. I know what 'm saying well enough, beautiful."

He grinned widely, now. "I know I mean it. I jus' can't think enough for the asshole guy to change what I wanna say. That's the difference. I know it so much, I wanna make another deal."

⠀

Her eyes only narrowed. Surely he can't be serious.

Yet, he... was, now straining to piece together the words he supposedly really wanted to say. "No, don't do that. Please? I know this is... way outta left field, but I wanna try while I've got you here. My deal was to take you out to dinner. Give me one night, and if it doesn't work out, I'll go away. Gone, for good. No more asshole. We got a deal?"

... Huh. Odd. She thought, and thought, and eventually reasoned that maybe giving this... 'not an asshole' Mitsuhiro a chance might be worth it. After all, if it led to another concussion, it might not be so bad. Because he's nicer. Not because she wants him to get brain damage. That would be horrible.

Either way, she crossed her arms neatly under her chest and sat back in her seat.

She's smiling. But she better not regret this.

"Okay. We have a deal, Mitch."

#mitch gets a concussion and respects women. we love to see it. #imma be honest i stopped trying to be in character at the end i just wanted something cute. #dra #danganronpa another #danganronpa another: another despair academy #ayame hatano #hatano ayame #mitsuhiro higa #higa mitsuhiro #mitsuyame #higatano #♡ ~ writing

[mintedwitcher]

So I had another argument with uninformed fearmongering cis folks yesterday about trans women in sports. (Funny how it's always about trans women and never trans men, but that's another discussion for another day.)

Anyway this one cis woman was essentially foaming at the mouth trying to "explain" how it's "unfair" that a trans woman can compete against cis women, saying that trans women have physical advantages that cis women don't have. Her examples? Stamina, endurance, strength, and size.

The first three are the result of training, not gender, and the last is typically the result of genetics.

So I asked this cis woman, "Do you think women just don't train enough, or do you think cis women are just biologically inferior?"

Her response, word for word: "I'm a woman, I train fucking hard, but I still wouldn't stand a chance against a trans woman in running!"

(Implying very heavily that she does in fact think that cis women are just biologically inferior, which as we all know is misogynistic.)

So I replied with "Well, you probably wouldn't stand a chance against a Nigerian or Kenyan cis woman in running either. Someone's got to lose in competitions, that's how it works."

To which she answered "You just don't get it."

Like.... ma'am, what don't I get? I get that you have a metric ton of internalised misogyny to unpack. I get that you're insecure and desperate. I get that you want so badly to cling to the excuse that trans women have a biological advantage over cis women, as if all cis women operate on exactly the same level. I get that you like to ignore cis women who have genetic/biological advantages over other cis women in their field. I get that you're a raging transphobe. What's not to get?

All these cis folks foaming at the mouth about how unfair it is to allow trans women to compete in women's sports, and yet not a single one of them has anything substantial to say. And apparently every last one of them forgets how professional competitive sports actually works.

This isn't your grade school sports fair. There's no participation trophy to win here. There is a winner, and everyone else loses. Even the "runners up" lost. That's how it works.

So y'all are complaining about how allowing trans women to compete against cis women is "unfair" because the trans woman might win? As if that's not literally the entire point of individual competition? Someone has to win, someone has to lose.

(And it's also really glaringly obvious that when these people think of trans women, they imagine them as big hulking men in women's clothes, because that's literally in all their arguments. "Oh well he went through a whole male puberty before 'transforming' so he still has the body/bones/muscle of a Man!" As if HRT doesn't exist and doesn't cause immense physiological changes over time.)

#transphobia #if youre going to argue with me: dont #I block transphobes on sight