#there’s no arguing with racists but this is still funny

[tariah23]

aisjsjjensnJAJAJ

#because… we wrote one idiot 😭!!! #I guess wp and nbs just learned that black ppl have our own National anthem and are of course spazzing tf out #just… write one? #yourselves??? if this is such a big deal like kskskskskl #there’s no arguing with racists but this is still funny #I saw a few black folks not know about it but they probably either went to white schools or aren’t from America so they missed out on #having to sing lift every voice and sing for 5 days a week 8 years straight #I only sung it for 7 since my 8th grade teacher didn’t care if we did it or not #I just didn’t feel like standing up sorry and I’m sure her lazy ass didn’t either that’s why she didn’t care lmfao #no wait I did do it for 8 years because my mom made my teacher hold me back in 3rd grade 🗿…. so #crying #you can feel the antiblackness roll off of that ‘s’ #rambling

[rei-does-stuff]

Mlp g5 discourse on Twitter is the funniest shit ever like???

#its somehow more funny than g4 discourse #rei says stuff #like ppl are arguing abt how posey gets ‘abused’ (rlly fucking weird to say??) also its so funny bc like??? shes a literal racist karen?? #like yeah shes not racist anymore if I remember correctly but like she’s still a huge Karen and kind of a bitch like obvious theyre gonna #make fun of her a bit #like??? it aint that seriously its just slapstick man #mlp g5

[eff-plays]

There's one convo with Astarion that's one of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned or discussed yet happens (I assume) if you have high approval with him but play a good-aligned character. (This is at 60+ approval, start of Act 2.) It's probably because it's not a romantic cutscene so it doesn't get mentioned as much as the others (or because he's racist in it and some of y'all don't like to acknowledge that he has character flaws), but I think it's vital to his character and to explain his early relationship with a good-aligned Tav.

I would like to break it down a little, step by step. Because we are all cringe here.

First, he claims to feel a connection between Tav and himself, and the reason for this is because he believes he's identified "ambition" in Tav (and I'll explain why he's wrong later, but that's mostly headcanon territory, so we'll ignore it for now).

But, there's also clearly something holding Tav back from realizing their full potential, which is their naivete.

"Just that you ... have a big heart. You like doing what's right."

(The animations and voice acting here make him look and sound so fucking condescending, 10/10.)

However, Astarion doesn't tell them this is wrong, or that he disagrees. He implies it's a flaw, but doesn't state it outright. That's dangerous territory, see, and might predispose them to get defensive and reject what he has to say next.

No, he tries (and fails in my case, but it's cute that he tries, bless him) to manipulate Tav by appealing to that big heart of theirs.

"So I was thinking, what would be the right thing to do when we get to Moonrise Towers? When we come face-to-face with whoever is controlling the parasites in our heads."

"I'm just saying there's an opportunity here. If we can control the tadpoles, we can keep ourselves safe and liberate the world from this evil."

See what he's doing? You like doing what's right, so what would be the right thing to do? We can keep ourselves safe. Liberate the world from evil.

It's very blatant, but he's trying to appeal to Tav's good nature by framing his questionable ideas as something that will benefit the greater good, something that's morally righteous that they would agree with.

And of course, it's incredibly funny when you ask how he thinks you'll do that, and he fumbles and admits he's not a "details person," but it's also revealing.

He thinks he's found in Tav ambition, when all he's actually found is ability. Tav exercises power proficiently, while Astarion does not. If he had the authority they have, he'd let ambition drive his actions, which is why he assumes that's what drives Tav when they exercise their power. A good-aligned Tav has very little ambition, I'd argue, but they have plenty of opportunity to exercise their power, which they do when their hand is forced.

So what Astarion is saying is, in effect, hey, you have power, I have ambition. Will you please use your authority/ability to do what I want? Here's how it'll totally be for the greater good, I prommy.

This is brilliant writing, and I really applaud Larian for managing to walk that fine line of making Astarion so sympathetic while he's literally trying to manipulate the player character. Because when I first got this convo, my thought was both "wow, I adore how blatant and terrible his manipulation attempts are, it's kind of endearing" and "he's so terrified, it's genuinely quite tragic."

If we control the tadpoles, we can keep ourselves safe. This works only somewhat as an appeal to good-aligned Tav, because it could also potentially sound very selfish, especially if Tav is the self-sacrificing sort. So notice how, when he says "liberate the world from evil", it sounds kinda tacked-on, an afterthought designed to bury his main goal, which is keep "ourselves" (i.e. himself) safe. Like, yes, this will keep us/me safe, but if you're not into that, then it'll totally help the world, too! It doesn't quite work, because he still sounds ironic and like he doesn't believe they'd be liberating anything from any evil (work that 10 Charisma, boy), but that's the intent, I think.

Does he want power for power's sake? Yes. Is he gleefully powerhungry? Absolutely. But he's also fucking terrified, and that slips through just a little bit, even behind the smug and confident facade.

He's trying to get Tav, whom he's seen exercise their power over others, to lend some of it to him, so that he may never fear anything ever again.

All of this from a short, smug convo where he admits he's too stupid to figure out how to fulfill his dreams of world domination.

God tier characterization, 10/10.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #bg3 spoilers #bg3 meta #video #worsties to lovers

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for calling my sister a racist because I got defensive? TW for SA mention and racism mention.

so first of all let me clarify both my sister and I are mixed, however we are not part Asian.

I (24F) started really getting into k-pop back in 2016 or so, bc it was a source of comfort for me as I tried to recover from really difficult things (bullying and being SA'd by my ex partner) it truly became something that gave my life meaning and I saw these idols as deities, attractive, talented and funny.

when I speak about idols I kindof use a lot of exaggerations and some sexual jokes so. a couple of weeks ago I was talking about how insanely attractive they are and my sister (29F) gently told me "hey have u considered that maybe you're dehumanizing them a bit?" I won't deny it, I got defensive. I didn't like the way she seemed to imply that I had a fetish for Asian people or that I don't know how to enjoy things in a normal way. I told her "hey if you don't find Asian people attractive you can just say that, stick to your guns and admit you're a racist". I did this because like I said k-pop kindof gives my life meaning and I felt like she was trying to take that away from me. she got upset and said something like "I do think lots of Asian people are attractive but you're making it creepy, if you had an East Asian person next to you I don't think you would be so crass. racism is an ugly fucking thing, I know this and so do you so don't throw that word around"

I do think that being mixed/being a poc can still make you say or do racist things so I used that against her, so she simply shook her head. but now I think I might be the asshole. looking back I didn't think she was being anti-Asian but I got so defensive I called her a racist because she knew she would look like a racist if she even tried to argue back. so I do feel like an asshole for resorting to that tbh.

#aita #am i the asshole

[missbluesunflowersstuff]

Some Jason Todd headcanon

I have some headcanon between Jason and the bat siblings . Please respect

Jason has a soft pot for Steph. Why? Well just like him, she was a girl who had hope for Batman, but then Bruce managed to ruin that. Jason knows that feeling, so if she needs it he will help her, no matter where or what it is, he will help her (Jason and Steph are similar in ways no one is ready to talk about yet)

He and Duke are the street smarth in house, they use this to their advantage to annoy the other brothers, especially Dick (Dick is also a street smart because the circus, but jason claims that Dick spent so much time with Bruce and heroes that he lost it)

He favorite brother is Dick, he'll never admit it, but it's Dick (and Damian too)

In the past, when he was Robin, he saw Dick arguing a lot with Bruce (Dick was rarely at the mansion, but when he was present he was yelling at Bruce) and now Jason gives Dick all the credit for it

He also recognizes Dick's efforts "to fix" their relationship and even though he doesn't admit it he appreciates it

Jason don't dislike Damian, he thinks the boy is a little annoy sometimes but in the end he also cares for this boy even with all the shit, think about that older brother who says "Look we gonna in the same school, just don't talk to me, ok? I don't want my friends see me with you" ">tt< I didn't even think about talking to you"

(Jason joined with Bruce to bring Damian back when the boy died, Jason really cares for this little one)

Deep down, Jason feels a strange urge to protect the little robin, as if he was programmed to do so, but he tries with all his might to ignore this order. Jason doesn't understand where this desire comes from and he's sure Damian knows the answer, but Jason never asks because something tells him he won't like the answer

He barely remembers all the details of his league days, plus the training part, but faces and names are all a blur to him

Jason can speak Arabic and Chinese fluent (because league time)

Jason and Damian (in the past) would sometimes fake an argument in Arabic on the main com channel just to annoy Bruce and the others, they weren't even really fighting, just randomly shouting things in Arabic to annoy the others

they rarely do this now, as Jason is under the impression that Dick and Tim know enough Arabic to understand what they are saying

His relationship with Tim is ok now, Jason notices Tim's admiring look at him, but doesn't verbalize anything about it. Nowadays Jason is more angry with Bruce than anything, he understands that the Robins are nothing more than Batman's soldiers and no matter what Bruce says, Jason doesn't believe otherwise

and, just as he would do for others, he would help Tim at any time possible if the boy asked

Jason understands the bad things he did in the past, he knows who he hurt and how he did it, he has some regrets but not for everything, some people really deserver it

Since returning to Gotham, Jason has punched several police officers, why? the pigs were talking nonsense about his brothers. A police officer threatened to arrest Duke? The police car is burning now. Did a cop talk shit about Cassandra? Someone wakes up in the hospital emergency room with no teeth and broken bones. Did a police officer say something racist about Robin's accent? bitch you're dead. A police officer made a joke about Red Robin being in the pride parade? Pig down

police officers in Gotham are not trustworthy, only those who work with Jim Gordon and Jim Gordon himself

It's funny that all the evidence you could have against Jason magically disappears. Jason knows this isn't Bruce's job, Jason can see Batman's disappointed face on him when these incidents happen, but Jason can also see Dick stepping between the two of them, smiling as always and claiming nothing happened

usually Jason doesn't like being in Dick's shadow, but sometimes it's nice to know that Dick still sees him as a little brother

Some batkid headcanon: Damian || Duke || Cassandra || Stephanie || Tim || Jason || Dick

#jason todd #dc comics #batfamily #damian wayne #dick grayson #tim drake #batfam #bruce wayne #batman family #batfam headcanons #batfamily headcanons #duke thomas #stephanie brown #cassandra cain

[bloobluebloo]

Still find it incredibly funny that people really wanted to argue that calling Rauru an Imperialist was racist because he was “poc” but that logic somehow did not apply to Ganondorf 😂😭

#the hoops people will jump through #ganonthots

[stranger-rants]

Hey Billy Antis,

Regardless what you think and feel about Billy, what you say to and about survivors matters. In the past few weeks, you and your kind have argued that:

Abuse survivors like Billy deserve to be abused.

Abuse survivors like Billy don't deserve to be loved.

Abuse survivors like Billy who don't cope well don't deserve support.

Abuse survivors like Billy who are preyed on by adults deserve to be preyed on because they're "womanizers"

Abuse survivors like Billy who act out deserve institutional violence (e.g. incarceration or even the death penalty)

Abuse survivors like Billy cannot change or get better.

Abuse survivors like Billy who act out are comparable to serial killers, and/or abuse survivors are "psychopaths" / "sociopaths"

Abuse survivors like Billy dying through no fault of their own or committing suicide are taking "the easy way out" instead of making amends

Hundreds of you think the prospect of our deaths is funny and entertaining, and you don't understand nor care how triggering it is to celebrate Billy being abused and killed by his abusers.

Furthermore, for a crowd that claims to be anti racist, multiple people within your crowd think that BIPOC fans of Billy deserve racism, and multiple BIPOC fans of Billy have been called slurs, sent racist imagery, and told in explicit detail how Billy would hate crime them.

Collect. Your. Trash.

These opinions have real world consequences. It is not just about a fictional character. We are real people with real traumas and the things you are saying are wrong. They are evil. Hating a fictional character is not and never will be activism, and you are not a good person for sharing these opinions.

If you think to yourself, well, "I'm not like those antis, so this isn't my problem" - you are still participating in a fandom culture that normalizes this hateful and damaging behavior. Get a life. Do something more worthwhile. No one is saying you can't be critical of a fictional character, but letting hate consume you to the point of harming real people with your views is when you should have realized you should stop.

#anti billy hargrove #stranger things #fandom wank

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 10 thoughts

This episode T-T T-T T-T T-T. Spoilers for the show and the book below. CW reference to suicide.

The dude being racist to An Le looks vaguely like a love child of Feng Xin and Nie Mingjue (the donghua version) roflmao. Animators have made little references to The Scum Villain's Self Saving System this season so I would not be surprised if someone snuck in a reference to the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, too lol And this is similar enough to at least one Meng Yao + Nie Mingjue scene that I can see why they'd do it here.

So the Xianle goons licking their lips is because, I imagine, whatever was in that pouch Qi Rong brought An Le infected them or maybe it was these actual soldiers or something. Makes it less mmm... Strange. Having seen recordings of an attempted assault on a principal government building with government officials inside and what bloodthirsty folks bent on literal murder of said officials get up to around that, I mean I guess it's not that..... strange......

Someone here let me know that the servant/friend is the same official from S02E01 who ran past Xie Lian to help Lang Qianqiu, which makes sense! I totally forgot he showed up then and wondered after S02E07 if he was An Le acting funny (though by the end of S02E09 he is clearly not). He does show up in the novel in that S02E01 scene, but he's not named so far as I can tell, and I don't think we see him in Yong'an flashbacks like we do here. It's neat to see the development of this side character, and how some officials reward people who support them in life (besides Xie Lian and Yin Yu).

Xie Lian seeing the guy nervously looking for Lang Qianqiu and then being like: -sigh- young love is such a trial. You should spend more time studying the blade!

Oh shit, we get a preview of Xie Lian's parents' suicide. Wow. Will we get the donghua that far please T-T

I'm just in love with Fangxin's cape. It's so beautiful trailing behind him.

I'm sorry but An Le screaming in the same way Nakahara Chuuya does whenever he's mid-Corruption in Bungo Stray Dogs made me laugh so hard roflmao Unexpected (and likely unintentional) cameo lol

Imma keep saying it, the animation in this episode is really good. The fight scene is wonderful. When they go back to Qi Rong cackling is good. The show is just pretty.

Qi Rong: "Why is everyone here so fond of crying!"

This man is tired. Can't you do a little mass murder and gloating in peace? Honestly. Hard times.

Qi Rong: "You want your parents? I haven't gone asking for mine yet!"

Aw Qi Rong, babe...

Qi Rong got anime slashed. Who could have foreseen??? /end sarcasm

Xie Lian having a sad moment about Qi Rong, thinking he died. I'm wondering what the crying scene is from, or if that's something new. Qi Rong did cry I think in one flashback (I think where he's complaining about something) but this looked sadder? And less "spoiled".

Xie Lian sadly reaching out for Lang Qianqiu T-T

Xie Lian: "Is the truth so important? . . . What's the use of him knowing that? If I killed a few less people, would that make my reasons more justified?"

I really do love this so much. Just... sometimes the truth isn't important. Sometimes the truth is more painful/results in a worse outcome. Being bluntly honest isn't always the answer. You could argue that Xie Lian sacrificing himself isn't the answer either, and it's better overall that Lang Qianqiu knows things, but I love how this story brings up this idea, that maybe ignorance was better. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Xie Lian did still intentionally murder two people, as part of a cover-up.

Also, "You'd rather be right than be loved," is something I think about a lot from personal experience. It's not Hua Cheng's intention, but this kind of thinking can lead down that path so easily.

Hua Cheng really feeling that "fucked around and found out" part of this whole thing. Like I don't necessarily disagree with his goal here, and Xie Lian's plan is kind of well... imperfect (to put it lightly). But I do think this is a nice moment of Hua Cheng realizing that yes, he is Xie Lian's #1 fan, he is Xie Lian's strongest believer, and Xie Lian clearly cares deeply for him in return, but this does not mean that Hua Cheng understands Xie Lian perfectly, or knows all his thoughts (does Hua Cheng know a lot about him? Yes. But Xie Lian hides a lot of what he thinks, and has done so throughout his life). When thinking about Hua Cheng, I often think of Sosuke Aizen's line in Bleach chapter 170: "Admiration is the state furthest from understanding."

Unlike other people, Hua Cheng sets himself apart by not forcing his views on Xie Lian or trying to get Xie Lian to change to suit him, and he's realizing, "Oh shit, I fucked up with that here, didn't I," because in his quest for justice, to protect Xie Lian, he did just what he hates other people doing (to an extent, it's not nearly as bad as other folks). One thing I love so much about their relationship is how much they listen to each other, and learn from each other, and how Hua Cheng tries to see Xie Lian in ways other people don't. Even here, he's seeing Xie Lian (I really love that they focused so much on Hua Cheng's expressions here, even if he's not visually doing as much as Xie Lian, it's the little clear signs of upset that mean so much). He's not interrupting Xie Lian, he's not arguing his case (though to be fair, he already mostly has). He's trying to learn and be better. They recover from this because of that. And I love that about them.

Xie Lian: "I deserve whatever punishment I get and I can't die anyway. So why not put all the blame on me?"

T-T Crying in the club, folks. This man...

Xie Lian realizing he's being mean to Hua Cheng and apologizing got me T-T He's so scared of himself and what he's capable of - and incapable of, given all his work to try and save lives and mend old anger has come to naught, and he can't fix it. He always doubts himself before others. The scars of Bai Wuxiang are all over this episode, and Xie Lian himself, figuratively and literally. All this episode I cry T-T

Xie Lian's Chinese voice actor has done such a good job. Everyone is amazing (Qi Rong's VA doing amazing), but dang, he is phenomenal this episode. You can really feel Xie Lian's desperation and sorrow.

All in all the subs were also better this episode! They still call Qi Rong the "Green Immor" for some reason, but outside maybe one slightly awkward sentence, I think it was okay! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything cause they've been good and then got worse again lol

An excellent episode. Truly phenomenal. I think one of my favorites, particularly for this ending bit with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng talking to each other.

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10 (you are here)

S02E11

S02E12

#Heaven Official's Blessing #HOB #TGCF #Hua Cheng #Xie Lian #Hualian #Hua Cheng/Xie Lian #Hua Cheng x Xie Lian #spoilers #Qi Rong #Lang Qianqiu #An Le #good fucking food #suicide reference #fallfthoughts

[neotrances]

like yes i will be mean to other high functioning autistic ppl whom show on their blogs they are able to write and interpret things from their favorite fandom material but donot put the same effort into general media literacy, im not asking you to be the smartest scholar in the world who knows all the biggest words and phrases im asking you to atleast know how to properly intake information and identify components of media that can be harmful, asking that of grown adults that are actively posting about why they know angeldust and the villain from hazbin hotel are meant to be lovers is not killing anyone

autism is a spectrum and quite frankly not everyone doing this has autism so idk why we are hung up on this i just personally see white autistics do this often and while everyone’s autism is different ofcourse im gonna scrutinize the ones that use their disability as an excuse to not try when they do try when it comes to cartoons and ships, and honestly im kinda over arguing this to ppl who feel so self important that they don’t even want to consider that their unwillingness to improve is directly causing harm, i am not that smart, never have been never will be, i do not know a lot of words, i misspell things, sometimes i struggle to read and interpret things, but i am still able to try to do so, and i still try especially when it comes to media reporting events and discussing socioeconomic problems, i would never gloat or find it funny to say my media literacy is bad and blame that on middleschool as an adult, bc that removes accountability when i clearly am able to interpret and understand things at an adult level, i had ppl react the same way when i pointed out ppl with autism can be racist just like they can be any other form of bigoted bc they are a human being, pretending that autistic ppl can never do or cause harm is unhelpful, and it’s especially unhelpful when i see people who r able to function and understand certain things completely plug their ears and deny any fault or blame in what they do

[m0onchildsworld]

You billy haters are something else .

Did you ever consider that empathy is needed in your constant vendetta against a FICTIONAL CHARACTER . Let’s go over the facts shall we and when I say facts . I mean psychology facts. So there’s no way you can argue with it . Bc hello SCIENCE.

1)billy has known nothing but abuse his entire life the only person who didn’t abuse him was his mom but he still witnessed abuse either way . AND THEN SHE LEFT HIM WITH HIS ABUSER Do you know what happens when a child is exposed to abuse from an early age? No? Well here’s a VERBATIM ANSWER FOR YOU .

“Decreases the Corpus Callosum. This pathway transmits messages between the two hemispheres of the brain. The corpus callosum is critical to motor coordination, cognitive performance, and social skills.

Decreases the Hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain used for learning and memory. It also plays a part in conflict processing and emotional regulation. (Which is why billy is aggressive!)

Causes Overactivity in the Amygdala. The amygdala processes emotions and determines responses to stressful or dangerous situations. (Which is why you see him get violent quickly)

Causes Dysfunction in the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis. The HPA plays a central role in stress response. (Do I need to explain this one ?)

Creates Less Volume in the Prefrontal Cortex. The prefrontal cortex affects behavior, perception, emotional balance, and social regulation.

Reduces the Volume of the Cerebellum. This part of the brain controls motor skills and coordination.

In short, child abuse affects how a child learns to respond to situations. It also can negatively impact their ability to grow and learn.”

2) he’s not a fucking racist . His father is . And his father put him in charge of max . When max fucks up BILLY TAKES THE BEATING BC NEIL CANNOT BEAT MAX. So knowing his father is racist and knowing if his dad finds out about Lucas he is trying to save himself from more abuse . BC IF HE DOESNT WHO THE FUCK PROTECTS BILLY ?! Further more he states “SOMETHING YOU LEARN..” meaning at one point in time he befriended a black kid and Neil fucked him up for it . CONTEXT CLUES . Billy has to constantly think about survival when it comes to Neil . And I’m willing to bet none of you antis know what that’s like .

3) abusers very often ISOLATE their victims . Neil moved the family to Hawkins therefore ISOLATING BILLY . He had no one to run to , no one to turn to , and no one to protect him . He was living is a constant state of fear and survival . And max (love her to death) MAX DIDNT GIVE A FUCK SHE DID WHAT SHE WANTED AND CONSISTENTLY PUT BILLY IN A POSITION KNOWING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM . Would you be kind to someone like that ? Didn’t think so.

4) he literally gets called a fa**ot by his father . NEIL IS THE HOMOPHOBE . not once did billy say anything homophobic .

Pick up a psychology book . And fucking learn something about abuse victims. It’s so funny how everyone is gung ho for abuse victims until they don’t fit YOUR idea of what that looks like . EMPATHY . Practice it . A lot of the times people who view billy as a comfort character have been through the exact same thing . So when you shame someone for loving billy , you’re literally being a piece of shit . IN CLOSING maybe try viewing him from a perspective NOT given to you by someone else .

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk .

#billy hargrove #billy hargove smut #billy hargove imagine #neil hargrove

[samuraipussy]

Hey! Just wanted to let you know that as a transmasc genderfluid mixed asian individual, i see a lot myself in mizu in all their struggles. I also see people going "shes just a woman ! With woman struggles!" A lot. Which kinda hits a very personal note of people often trying to erase my/our experiences. Thank you for being a rational and funny voice uplifting ours.

I keep wanting to shut up about it all and just enjoy my silly little corner of the fandom, but the amount of trans mixed race people I've seen hurt by this rhetoric is insane. There is no way to argue Mizu being trans erases womanhood unless you:

a. Erase the multitude of trans identities which don't inherently exclude womanhood as an identity.

b. Erase that even for identities that do, the experience of womanhood is still part of that identity for many people.

c. Imply transness is inherently a contemporary, white, western usamerican concept, which is both incredibly transphobic and incredibly racist.

d. All of the above.

So I guess I won't shut up about it. Glad I can at least bring some humour to it all ❤️

#blue eye samurai

[haldenlith]

Family Ties

So, considering Astarion's an elf along with being a vampire, it means he potentially has family still out there, right? Definitely a House, given that he was a noble. This bit isn't a new speculation, especially given how young he is, by elf terms (around 239ish, give or take some indeterminate amount of years, since Astarion says nearly two centuries under Cazador).

My thing is, well... I'll start with the fact that he was a corrupt and power hungry noble (so it says in the artbook). It's quite possible that this is a "nurture" situation. What I mean is that it's possible that this corrupt and shitty mindset was inherited. What if he came from an exceptionally shrewd, domineering family interested largely in securing political power?

Him being only 39 and being in a position of some degree of power suddenly makes a little more sense. Before, it was incredibly bizarre for an elf to be out in society in that capacity at such a ridiculously young age for them, to the point that I didn't believe it when I read it (I'll admit I still wonder if it's an oversight or a typo on Larian's part). By all rights, societally, Astarion was a damn child by elf standards. BUT, if you're say... a family from outside of the illustrious Baldur's Gate, looking to establish a foothold in the mercantile city for your own benefit, why... the humans would be none the wiser. Astarion is very much otherwise an adult. He'd be young enough to be pliable enough to mommy and daddy's machinations. Hell, they could have easily been planning to play a long game. They could put him through some form of schooling there, to financing his being there in general, schmoozing and boozing with the other patriars and nobles of Baldur's Gate, at least until he was established.

Even though the artbook doesn't outright say he was a magistrate, I'm going to assume he was, given that it seems the elite in Baldur's Gate are generally politicians or adjacent, or very wealthy merchants. (Or the founding families, but that doesn't apply here.) So, once he became a magistrate, it would mean they'd have a foot in the door. All they needed was to trust that Astarion didn't muck it up. As long as he did his job, got cozy with the right people, kept the right families smiling, it'd be good. His weird flights of fancy and uproarious temper could be dealt with. He'd outlive a good chunk of the nobles anyway, given that Baldur's Gate is a majority human city, that also goes for its nobility. It's even possible that, given time, a century or two, he could work his way onto the Council, and then the Ancunin family could start pulling a few threads in their favor. It all depended on him being smart.

And that's where the Ancunin plot falls apart: Astarion's not smart. I'd argue that he's clever, but he isn't smart. We see that multiple times.

Examples: Being willing to hop into a deal with Raphael without considering the consequences (he sees the reward, not the fine print, basically). Approving of you setting off the trap in the Monastery to Lathander (which is extra hilarious when you consider he has special dialogue for dying to that). Wanting to interrupt the Ogre and Hobgoblin in the barn despite the risks, solely because it's funny.

(Honestly, I'd even count his attempts at seducing Tav. He didn't consider what that might entail or the very real possibility of catching feelings.)

This man is awful at thinking things through.

He's impulsive and filled with hubris, and that catches up with his living, not-vampire-spawn self in the form of The Gur. Sure, he probably wasn't personally out to get them (though it does seem that he buys into the racist sentiments of Society at the time), but whatever ruling he passed down probably meant he was still part of the ongoing systemic oppression against them, and he clearly thought of himself as untouchable enough to not have guards while enjoying all that being nobility in Baldur's Gate has to offer on the streets at night. He probably got too used to The Watch being there to protect him.

But money and influence make a poor shield against the physical danger of fists and blades, and a scheming Vampire Lord named Cazador, who was all too familiar with him.

All of this is to say that, when considering that little speculation of mine, it suddenly makes a little more sense why no one has been looking for him. It's quite possible that, while the Ancunin family may have mourned losing him, they may have also shrugged and just went back to the drawing board. They're elves. They can wait a bit and plop another Ancunin into Baldur's Gate high society, perhaps even farm some sympathy for their lost son.

TLDR: Summing all of that long ass rambling to say that it's entirely possible that Astarion has been a damn pawn his whole life, everything planned out for him. It might very well be a good thing that he doesn't remember much, and it might also be a good thing that they think him dead.

#haldie rambles #astarion #don't mind me I'm just spinning some theories #like I feel like high elves are not excluded from the “rich families tend to be shitty” rule #especially if they've at least partially assimilated into human society

[jessequinones]

Writing Lesson: Remembering the Past

I moved from the United States of America to Australia and since then I’ve tried to rewatch some cartoons from my childhood, mainly ones from either Cartoon Network or Boomerang and I can't find them. They're not on any streaming services and I can’t buy physical copies because they’re extremely expensive. Sure Tubi might have some old cartoons such as Popeye or the original Superman, but I didn’t grow up with them. I wanted to rewatch cartoons from the 60s-early 2000s, shows such as The Jetsons, Flintstones, Yogi Bear, the original Animaniacs, Dexters Laboratory, you get the picture.

So why am I bringing all of this up when it comes to writing? Well it got me thinking that yes, while these shows were racist, and aged like milk being left out in the sun, I would argue that it’s still important to rewatch them. Not just for nostalgia shake but as a writer it’s a good idea to remember the past so we don’t repeat it.

I know, “if you don’t remember the past you’ll be doomed to repeat it” but the thing about that saying is, it’s not actually wrong, but I think it get’s overused so no one understands why we say it.

Stories change and evolve over time. The stories we read and were told as kids, might not be the same ones we tell our children because it doesn’t work for them and that’s ok. Stories are supposed to evolve over the years because they show that we as humans are evolving as well. However, if we start to no longer show the past what lessons can we learn to improve?

You see history is a funny thing, if we know our history and the lessons it brings we can do stuff to avoid making the same mistakes as the previous generations. However, if the previous generation's mistakes are lost in time, how can we avoid them if we don’t know what those mistakes are to begin with?

That’s what the saying means. Remember the mistakes our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on so we don’t make those same mistakes. This is one of the reasons why every couple of generations society seems to go backwards since the mistakes of the past are being forgotten or ignored and we do them again.

Now I’m not one of those people who think we should stay in the past, life was better back in the old days because let’s be honest, it wasn’t. We were just kids and didn’t understand how the world works. I think we should be able to tell new stories while also not wiping the old ones from existence just because the old ones no longer make money. Of course, they aren’t going to make money the people who like old things are old and there'll always be fewer old people compared to younger ones.

All I'm saying is that if we could keep the old stuff available for as long as possible, we should try and do so. Is the past embarrassing and racist? Yes, but so are we. As a society, many stories are being told that I already know aren’t going to age well in the next couple of decades but we shouldn’t forget about them. Keep learning, keep improving, keep being better.

If you want to reread some old books as a bit of a history project I got some for you. "The Giving Tree", "Gone with the Wind", "Lolita" (my god is that a bad story, why was that ever popular?) "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", "Stranger in a Strange Land". I could go on but those are some classic stories that it would be best not to forget about them. It’s important to understand why they were popular and what newer lessons we can get from them.

I also understand history for most people is kind of a boring subject, and while I don’t have advice on how to make learning fun. Perhaps if you’re a writer, and don’t want to read some old books in the genre you writing in, there might be a Youtube video you could put on or something? I’m not asking anyone to do a ten-page history report, just to try and remember some of the mistakes that were being taught in the old days so we could create new and more progressive ones instead of just repeating the same mistakes and never moving forward.

#writing #writeblr #book #books #history #writers of tumblr #authors of tumblr #bookblr #the giving tree #Stranger in a strange land #gone with the wind #The adventures of Huckleberry Finn #mark twain #writing lessons #the jetsons #the flintstones #dexters laboratory #yogi bear #animaniacs

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for laughing at my conservative uncle?

This is an incident that made half of my family go no/low contact with each other, and some still think I was an asshole for it (I think I wasn't), but I wanna get tumblr's perspective. I was 24(F) when this happened, my uncle was 58.

Thanksgiving 2021 my family wanted a big weekend long get together after not being able to do Thanksgiving in 2020 due to lockdowns. Family members took time off work and drove in from out of state so we could all hang out from Thursday to Sunday.

We all have that one uncle who spends every family event saying the most out there racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/whatever shit, and mine I feel is worse than most. He has some truly shitty takes like "It should be legal to hunt the homeless for sport", and "If a woman doesn't wanna get raped she should get married at like 16 and never go anywhere without her husband," and "If I ever saw a man pretending to be a woman I would kill him with my bare hands, and most of this nation would agree with me". Truly a piece of shit. Meanwhile my family knows I am extremely progressive, so they do their best to keep me and my uncle separate during family events or else it could (and has in the past) lead to shouting matches.

But here's the thing: I would happily avoid him and not talk to him during get togethers, but he loves arguing. He seeks me out. He'll follow me to the bathroom and bring up transphobic things happening in the news. He'll get up from the dinner table to walk over to me and shove an news article about Trump in my face. If he sees me enter the room he'll start talking LOUDLY about his political opinions. He WANTS to argue with me, and the family considers it my duty to ignore him and calls me an asshole when I engage, because that's just giving him what he wants. But he somehow never gets called out for hounding me, because "that's just how he is".

So it's Thanksgiving 2021. And maybe it's because of the therapy, or maybe it's just because I'm getting tired of avoiding him, or maybe it's the lockdowns that eroded my social graces, but I see him spot me from across the room and get that "ohhh I'm gonna make her sooooo mad" little glint in his eye and start to make his way over, and I don't find it infuriating anymore. I find it deeply funny that this divorced, no job, no bitches, deadbeat dad, that everyone secretly hates, has decided the only way he can get a drop of serotonin in his sad miserable life that HE ruined all by himself, is to turn to reactionary politics in a desperate attempt to get a rise out of his niece.

He starts in on the regular vile transphobic shit (I don't need to repeat it we've heard it all before, imagine the worst anti-trans rhetoric you've ever heard and yup. That's what he was saying) and I don't try to counter his points like I usually do. I just laugh. He keeps going, looking more and more puzzled, and I keep laughing.

He thinks I didn't hear him right. No no, I heard it all, and it was funny. He decides I must be too triggered to speak. No I promise, I'm having the time of my life. He guesses I'm not as smart as I think I am then, if I can't come up with a good counterpoint. Oh I'm plenty smart, and you're plenty hilarious.

Long story short he gets madder and madder that I won't engage until he's red faced and yelling. Family members are trying to calm him down and telling me to stop. I don't. I'm not mad that they're again blaming me for the interaction when I was just standing there and HE came up to ME, it's just really funny at that point. Really funny that the entire family walks on eggshells to protect his precious feelings when they could just laugh in his face like I am. My uncle punches a hole in my grandmother's wall and storms off cussing. The mood of the entire Thanksgiving weekend is ruined, and even my most left leaning family members think I'm an asshole because I KNOW how he is and I should have just walked away.

Should I have just walked away to save everyone's Thanksgiving weekend?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[opinated-user]

a thing of note: when we call out LO's sockpuppeting, we do it to remark how she's using those other accounts in order to manipulate people (like how she uses sucky boi's asks to put even more social pressure on Lolo accepting an online relationship... which ended up working, unfortunately), distract them from something else or she uses them as a excuse to say stuff she wanted to address anyway. it's also just fun to laugh about how obvious they are. no personality, no likes, no follows, nothing in their entire online existence but asking LO questions or flatter her. not to mention how LO has asks completely disabled, but these one account coincidentally manages to pass through in order to send her those asks. it's an easy call out. when LO tries to say that Brittany has sockpuppets... she's not really saying anything with that. even when she calls me another account from her, what does that accomplish actually? does it make anything that was said on this blog untrue? does it make Brittany a liar, despite the mountains of evidence we have between the multiple blogs? even if it was true, so what? it would be weird and unnecesary from Brittany to do that, but it wouldn't make her a liar. it wouldn't mean that she doctored anything. even someone that is weird and does unexplicable things can have a point. if she did lied, then you can just argue that lie, it doesn't matter if it comes from this account or whatever else alts she claims Brittany has. if it's true and you can't disprove it or ague against it, then again, it doesn't matter where it comes from. that's why i have no issue embracing it in jest. because it means nothing. my screenshots are still there. my arguments are not being contradicted. even if my entire existence is fake, doesn't make LO any less racist, any less transphobic, any less bigoted or any less predatory. it's pointless, but more importantly, it's funny that LO thinks that's a point and so i think we should treat it with the mockery it deserves.

#lily orchard

[hearts4robs]

Hello~!

I've never done a match up event before! But knew I had to try once I saw it was open cause your writing is absolutely precious!

For Fandom, I guess DC! Love Batfam family chaos! Makes me want to curl up with a blanket and watch them bicker and roughhouse until Alfred comes in with a feather duster, looking equal parts disappointed and amused.

I'm a 5'3 18 year old asexual panromatic. (Yes, im just a baby, though i have been told-more like my therapist often told me that i dont act my age, saying i act like Im 30. Still trying to figure out if I should be offended by that.) With long hair that's completely grown out red box dye like little mermaid red, my roots being somehow not quite brown not quite ginger and just not blonde enough to be strawberry blonde. My appearance is fairly round and cute even if my expression is often RB. My eyes are a green that appears to be more of a dark grey.

To sum up my personality in one word would be cat like. Sometimes I'm docile and actually a bit of a doormat. In new environments, I tend to shadow some I know and can't find myself able to stand up for myself. This is probably ties into my selective mutism and social anxiety. Sometimes, when I'm in a familiar environment, I tend to be more aggressive for better or for worse. I love a good argument and debate, standing firm in my decision even if I'm wrong. That stubbornness has gotten me in trouble quite a few times. Though cause of it, I've thought of becoming a lawyer. When I'm not arguing I'm drawing, or painting on my walls which I've done far too many times now.

I'm very much a homebody who rather stay in pjs but perfect date wise would probably be a bit of a classic nerd/bookworm date of going to a cute book store and getting lost in the deep wooden bookshelves flicking through various of books catching my eye. Maybe debating on what book is better or whatever trope is more interesting in a detective novel. (I love murder mystery, horror, thrillers, romances of all types, and absolutely despise shakespeare. I was told Romeo and Juliet was a tragic romance. Liars they all are all I can see is the making of a really creepy stalker movie. I can't watch horror movies funny little contradiction, right?) Personally I'd probably write something after the date. I always get inspired by going out and always find myself hunched over my laptop writing whatever inspired me have it be the moment or a movie. I don't know how many times I've watched a movie and got inspired just to spend hours writing whatever fanfic about it. Which can be either amazing or terrible cause I'm an okay writer with a preference for angst due to my dark humor.

I never realized how hard it was to pick an ideal type until just now lol. I guess my type is someone who would enjoy talking/debating/discussing with me, someone fun who loves to do new activities as ive never really do much and is willing to listen to me ramble about whatever hyperfixation. Bucket list kind of things or be able to stay in and talk about their day while I cook some food. (One of my love languages is food. I want to be full and content.) I'm a homebody who has more of a traditional mindset due to my upbringing. So staying home and activities at home would probably be more common. Oh! A bit more open minded or at leasr able to deal with my curiosity, I love discussing religions and culture practices (im unfortunately like the whitest of whites. My dad's side is a bit of a classic white racist). I'm a pagan with some more Wiccan practices, yes crystals and candles. We put holly near our front door and hang cinnamon brooms throughout the house to bring good fortune.

Trope is also a hard pick. I like a good enemies to lovers or a revenge story but romance wise probably a childhood friends (or friends to lovers) idea. Just the idea of your partner being someone who was your friend since you were a tot and chasing butterflies, picking dandelions to blow them into the wind. Someone who has looked at you like your the center of their world while you pull them through the park. Even though they have no idea what lo6ge is truly is. Just kind of melts my heart, and will probably give me cavities from the fluff.

Ahh hopefully I did this right! Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Hope you have a blessed day, and something amazing happens to you soon <3

𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐞: 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐨𝐮𝐭

“I’m back!” Tim exclaims out into the open hallway as he pushes the door closed with his foot. There were multiple white, thin plastic bags in Tim’s hands, his keys dangling from one of his fingers.

You raise your head from the book in your lap, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of your boyfriend as he shimmied his way out of his shoes.

“Hi, honey.” You smile at him as he walks to the coffee table in front of you, setting down the bags of different take-out.

“Alright.” Tim sighs with a grin, his chest heaving a bit quicker, like he was a bit out of breath.

“What’s all this?” You ask, reaching over and pulling some of the thin plastic away from the food. “Smells amazing, no doubt but-“

“Well, you said you wanted to taste the world.” Tim says, a giddy smile on his lips as he plops down onto the couch beside you with a sigh. “So I brought it to you.”

You smile at him before snorting out a chuckle.

“Fuck you.” You say, and Tim simply smiles before grabbing a small box of thai food, handing it to you, giving you a chance to get the first bite.

“You’re welcome.” He says, nuzzling a small kiss to the softness of your cheek.

Headcanons:

Tim and you have annual movie nights. Every Friday night. Very simple, very easy. You have a joint letterbox account where you leave brutally honest reviews and you both analyse that shit like your life depends on it.

When you guys moved into your shared apartment, Tim dedicated one of the walls of your living room for you to paint and draw on. Needed more space? He’ll paint it over with whatever background colour you need.

You guys have a small chalk board on your fridge. It was used as a small shopping list at first, like writing up stuff like ‘ran outta eggs and cucumber’, but it quickly ended up in Tim leaving you cute notes and reminders for when he was gone on patrol.

Tim doesn’t always understand your asexuality, and he struggled to figure out how to relieve himself, but he figured out a solution and tries to turn the topic whenever someone discusses it to the point it makes you uncomfortable.

I hope you like this </3 it’s a bit late and honestly a little rushed but I’m trying😭🙏this also ISN’T proof-read so I’m so, so sorry if there’s mistakes☝️☹️

#★ robins match up event! ★ #★ robins events ★ #I’m just tapping atp #dc #dc x reader #sfw #tim drake x reader #Tim Drake x reader sfw #red Robin x reader #red robin dc