On top of everything hateful about the new Velma series it seems to have led folks back to my Scooby-Doo Facts post from several years ago and now every other notification is once again "Ummmm Shaggy def isn't a vegetarian sweaty I saw him eat meat". Once again I am Sisyphus and this is my rock

normalize being a little bit in love with your friends

normalize being not at all in love with anything

normalize love being confusing and weird as hell

normalize love not being romantic

normalize love not being

normalize not loving

normalize loving in the wrong way

just. normalize being unapologetically yourself

'I flirted with the idea that instead of being trans that I was just a cross-dresser (a quirk, I thought, that could be quietly folded into an otherwise average life) and that my dysphoria was sexual in nature, and sexual only. And if my feelings were only sexual, then, I wondered, perhaps I wasn’t actually trans.

I had read about a book called The Man Who Would Be Queen, by a Northwestern University professor who believed that transwomen who were attracted to women were really confused fetishists, they wanted to be women to satisfy an autogynephilia. And though I first read about this book in the context of its debunkment and disparagement, I thought about the electricity of slipping on those tights, zipping up those boots, and a stream of guilt followed. Maybe this professor was right, and maybe I was only a fetishist. Not trans, just a misguided boy.

About a year later, on the Internet, I come across a transwoman who added a unique message to the crowd refuting this professor. Oh, I wish I remember who this woman was, and I wish even more that I could do better than paraphrase her, but I remember her saying something like this: “Well, of course I feel sexy putting on women’s clothing and having a woman’s body. If you feel comfortable in your body for the first time, won’t that probably mean it’ll be the first time you feel comfortable, too, with delighting in your body as a sexual thing?”'

-Casey Plett, Consciousness

When I was talking about how f1 and the fia and fans are racist and a lot of you were like naur but now they've literally admitted they police Lewis different but instead of calling it racism/discrimination they call it him being a role model 💀. Yall do know this is the insidious way racists have operated since like forever like do you guys get it now orrr do I need to pull out more facts/recipes bcs I've got a lot yk.

How would bill feel if dipper reincarnated as an incubus?

Thrilled. Delighted. Tickled pink! Partly because hey! That's a great look for him! Inhuman and demonic and oh-so-cute. Another part because of all the demonic subtypes he could end up as, this one has to be the most ironic, a bit of him thrilled just because it's good to see him again -

And of course, a Big Ol' Chunk of delight for the other obvious reason.

"shen qingqiu is a liar who is lying about his feelings so we can't ACTUALLY tell how he feels about anything"

so you admit that you can tell he is lying and by extension you can actually discern what his true feelings on the matter are and that he's just unwilling to admit to them.

Based on the way the story has been written, especially following season 4, I do believe mike is likely gay atp. But “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” still makes sense as projection if Mike is bi because lots of closeted bi teens are confused about their feelings, especially in the 80s where terms like “bisexual” wouldn’t have been as readily accessible to kids from Hawkins, Indiana.

Simply the fact that Mike likes boys/Will could make him worried that he’s gay and cause him to hyperfixate on the concept of not liking girls more often, especially if his feelings for El were waning, or if his feelings for Will were overwhelming, even if he did in fact have a crush on El at the start of the show. Nothing says being a closeted bi teen like bouncing back and forth between “I can’t be gay, I like girls” and “Oh no, I like boys, am I gay?”

I think there’s a common misconception that the bi Mike view necessitates oversimplifying the story as “Mike used to be into El, and now he’s into Will.” That isn’t necessarily the case. A bi Mike reading can still involve internalized homophobia, projection, the heteronormative pressure to conform and date girls, repression, and most of the things we talk about here.

(I didn’t really wanna get involved in this, but I feel like this is important to add).

FINALLY someone said that jesus christ🫣 the texts vids are soooo damn staged. I thought I was the only one seeing through that

i mean you can't really STAGE them, to be fair. like i do think they're all real texts. but the thing is if you look at those videos objectively, and view them as like, yeah dan and phil are A Couple Who Don't Want To Fully Expose The Fact That They Are A Couple And Also They Spend Almost Every Single Day Together. how many texts do they have between them. last year's video was easier because of dan's tour. the one before that had everything between that vid (2021) and the one before it (2018), which is A Lot of texts to choose from. the first one basically had anything from 2018 and before, but also i think the ii era gave them a lot on its own. but like, now? a 2023 wdapteo wouldn't have SHIT. there'd be some stuff from the beginning of the year? i guess? when dan was still on tour? but after that... idk. not much. i think people need to remember that they LITERALLY LIVE TOGETHER. and realistically most of the texts they exchange outside of that, and also a lot of what they text while together, are like... not for public consumption. like can we please remember the part where they pretend they're not together LMAO

actually i saw a lot of people take their texting videos as proof they don't text each other with like, pet names or anything, like they act real casual in texts, but guys.. no ? they just won't show that shit to us. which is fair! more than fair! so much power to them they're so real for that! but if they don't wanna show us that bullshit they really just don't have a lot To Show Us. if we take out the texts that make it obvious theyre a gross as fuck couple AND the ones that expose other personal information ANDDDD we then consider the fact that they're usually in the same place 99% of the time..... literally what would a 2023 edition of wdapteo look like. like if we're being real.

'No Archive Warnings Apply' does not mean 'Rated E for Everyone! Nothing that anyone could possibly find objectionable is contained herein!'

'Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings' does not mean 'Contains One Or More Of The Archive Warnings, something in here Will upset you!'

There are currently four Archive warnings. They are for Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage.

I can write (I have written) psychological horror, or fics about abusive relationships, or other dark subject matter, or, hell, explicit porn, that hit none of these Archive warnings. They are all (correctly) marked 'No Archive Warnings Apply'. Because none of the content that the Archive warnings apply to is contained in them.

Does that mean they're G-rated family-friendly Disney fluff? Fuck no! And if someone's been misled to think that 'No Archive Warnings Apply' means 'Inoffensive To Everyone, You Can Show This To Any Given Five-Year-Old', they are going to have wildly incorrect expectations going into those fics, and may not be prepared for what they find. Which isn't fair to them as a reader or me as a writer.

'Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings' just means literally exactly what it says on the tin. The author chose not to use the Archive warnings. It might contain content that they'd have to warn for. It might not. Some authors are personally opposed to the whole concept of trigger tags and warnings, and simply refuse to use them even in their most G-rated inoffensive fic ('Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings' was, IIRC, partly a compromise for these authors when the Archive was being designed). Fics that get imported from other sites en masse for preservation are also automatically slapped with this label, because nobody has time to go through each and every fic to see if they contain content that would fall under the Archive warnings, and the authors aren't always available to do it themselves. (Sometimes the authors have moved on, or are uncontactable. Sometimes the authors are literally dead.)

'Chose Not To Use Content Warnings' is the 'No Lifeguard On Duty: Swim At Own Risk' of the AO3. It doesn't mean there's a ripcurrent out there that will drown you if you set foot in the water. It means you have to judge your own strength as a swimmer, what the shoreline looks like, and what risks you're willing to take.

Unlike the 'Gen/Teen/Mature/Explicit' rating system, which has some overlap and some significant wiggle room for interpretation, the Archive warnings are incredibly clear about what they cover and what they don't cover. Please don't read into them any farther than what they say on the tin. Providing that kind of context is what the ratings and additional tags are for!

some captain swan honeymoon concepts…

1) wearing cute outfits

2) smooth sailing 💕

3) checking on Storybrooke on facetime a.k.a. what it looks like when Emma is handling the phone versus when Killian tries

4) being cute and romantic

BONUS: doing each other’s make up for an evening out✨ 

They got there🥺

so often i see people try to downplay violet and minervas relationship like it wasnt Real enough or was some Inferior Romance that her relationship with clementine could Never compare to, and i find it so annoying and boring

she LOVED minerva!! and its okay that she did!! she was her first love!! childhood best friends turned girlfriends!! seeing her being so heartbroken and miserable about what happened to minnie, how deeply and desperately she missed her, hugging that bed frame so pathetically. but clementine makes her CARE again. makes her LOVE again. slowly violet becomes comfortable with the idea of opening her heart up to people again, after trying so hard not to because the pain of losing people she cared about was too much to bear (especially when she blamed herself for them being gone)

then she learns minnie didnt die. shes falling in love with clem while grappling with the fact that minnie might still be out there??

then she meets minnie in the woods. but minnie has changed just like she has. theyre both different people now. and slowly violet is forced to come to terms with the fact that the person she loved so deeply isnt that person anymore??

violet at the beginning mourning minerva and blaming herself, to shooting her to save clems life. she LOVED minerva once, but she doesnt like the person she is now. and shes not gonna let her hurt anyone else she cares about. shes done mourning her by the time they get to the bridge, only crying out for tenn

like idk i just find their relationship evolution to be so interesting and sad as shit. the fact that they once loved each other so much and it has now come to this?? but violet makes her choice and she Chooses clementine, because she admires and loves clementine, probably similar to the way she used to admire and love minerva if the way she talked about her is any indication

i just think "i never thought i would ever feel this way again" is way more interesting than "wow minnie Never made me feel like This"

Fire the headcan(n)on: Problems with long-term management of biotic resources for maximum strategic potential in the Alliance military

It is obviously not ideal* for a ship's CO to be running risky ground missions, but the issue demonstrated by Commander Shepard actually brings to light a larger dilemma that's been discussed within the upper echelons of the Alliance military for years. Biotic personnel are a huge asset as front-line troops, and any still able-bodied biotic moving off the front lines is considered a net loss. This poses a potential retention problem, since the usual route for advancement would remove them from where they're considered most valuable.

A trail of internal communications dating back over a decade (recently acquired by Westerlund News) documents how the Alliance instructed recruiters to push biotics to enlist (with exorbitant sign-on bonuses) rather than attend school for a commission.

It's worth noting that when faced with a similar recruitment-and-retention problem for pilots, the Alliance chose to offer commissions, while technically-skilled Specialists can be brought in as officers or warrant officers, depending on their pre-military career and level of education.

Alliance military doctrine suggests preventing a "Shepard Problem" not by restricting a biotic CO to their ship, but by making sure they'll never command a vessel in the first place. If at all possible, biotic personnel should not be given the opportunity to advance to senior command positions until they are physically unable to serve on the front lines.

*Understatement

Ok so this is a random thought and your my go too Nightwing/Dick Grayson Blog for random Dick Grayson headcanons. But everyone always pictures Dick being a gymnast growing up. And it get it, it’s mostly spurred because a lot of canon material shows him doing gymnastics. But truly I have this headcanon that Dick would be a Diver. Not undersea diving, but a person who does extreme flips off a diving board from alternating heights. It’s would probably 100% be the closest sport that would mimic his year being an acrobat on a trapeze. Divers gets amazing height do these extreme flips and maneuvers and finish up with a perfect landing in the water with little to no splash.

Also, this is personal issue I have with the gymnastics headcanon, but Dick needs a more streamline and lithe body type to be able to do the type of flips he does and be as flexible as he is. Male gymnastics is an upper body sport. Male gymnasts have huge shoulders and struggle to do extreme flips in the air like the girls do which is also what Dick does. Dick is an acrobat. He has to be able to tuck his body enough to do a quad flip.

Male Divers have the body type to do the flips and flexibility they do. Which lines up with the type of sport Dick would gravitate too, too maintain his body type and keep a sense of his parents tutelage and acrobatic abilities.

Canon Dick has got your diver Dick covered 😉.

TNTT (Vol. 1) #16

the brilliance of jay's progression in countdown is that it gives you a promise of positive character development, and then it breaks it. and it does so intentionally, in the most diverting way, to emphasize jason's inability to escape the cycle.

or, another post breaking down the series, where i repeat myself a lot but also make a clearer argument.

there are three notable events that happen at the beginning: the subtle showcase of jay's internal conflict considering his approach toward killing (the very first encounter with duela and the monitor), jay reaching out to donna in crisis ("i guess I just wanted to be around someone else who might know how it feels…"), and finally – his helmet shattering. these scenes tell you: jason's direction as a character is changing, and it seems, for the better. he's about to abandon his trauma-based (no matter how ironic, it does remain tied to his trauma) identity, he is connecting with people, and he seems to be on a brink of understanding that his moral standing does not provide easy answers or solutions either.

and for the most part of the series, we see that narrative unfolding (even if a bit non-linear, still innocently convincing way). it is, in many ways, supported by bringing up features of his characterisation from the 80s. jason remains, of course, still unpleasant in ways typical for this era of writing, and is conflicted and disagreeable, which makes sense for his utrh/post-utrh personality. however, there are also details that bring us back to his original robin run and his cameos on ntt – we see him being responsible (e.g. #43 – suggesting to bring in other superheroes in crisis, even though he clearly is not keen on the idea of working with them), determined (#16: “isn’t that your super-power, stupid boy? too stupid to ever give up?” “maybe it is”), sensitive (half of the whole storyline, really), caring for gotham (gotham by gaslight) and people-oriented (as early as #51).

the issue that particularly signals that jason is an inherently good person and externalizes his internal conflicts regarding classic heroic vigilantism vs his cynical approach is #30, where we meet batman of earth-15 –  alt jason, whom our jason attempts to punch in the face.

and on topic of batman – jason is always gravitating towards batman. in gotham by gaslight jay looks delighted to see (the foreign) bruce and suggests checking with the local bat. then, earth-51 arc arrives.

earth-51 arc (#16 - #13) is a culmination of a promise of catharsis for jason. we have already seen him as batman, as a confirmation that a different life for him is possible. and here he has a chance to come to terms with his past and overcome it. he meets a version of bruce who has done exactly what he wanted him to do in utrh: killed the joker and the rest of the rogue gallery. what is most important – he is disappointed with this version of his father. we realise that jason, deep down, has an intimate and intuitive understanding of what batman stands for; and that he shares most of his values. this is a truth that you can't ignore especially since jay is the one to inspire this hollow, cynical version of batman to go out and fight in a seemingly lost battle.

and then batman dies. right in front of him.

this is a central moment of the narrative, for many reasons, most strikingly:

the symmetry:, a premise known from the lost days, becomes literal. this "the father had lost a son, and now the son had lost the father" is a cruel parallel to a death in the family and bruce's grief. jason's death created a gap between them that jay has been desperately trying to close, with no avail – because in bruce's mind, jason remains dead. now that jason is grieving bruce, the connection closes on both sides, and there's no way for either of them to reconcile the mourning with the reality of the other being truly alive. in this sense, the arc solidifies that jason can never come home.

no good deed goes unpunished. as i have mentioned before, so far jason is established as someone good at heart, but confused; and the reader intuitively assumes that his better, honest side will win. yet, the moment jason gives in to hope, it victimises and retraumatizes him. this event, again, brings to mind his own death, when he tried his best to save sheila and ended up paying the highest price for it. so, narrative-wise, jason is always punished for his kindness.

perhaps because of the nonchalant act that jason pulls off, many readers seem to miss that everything that happens after that arc is an upshot that follows logically from it.

jason's immediate determination to leave – and later a short period of indecision that ends up with his dramatic exit, pushing his team away, makes perfect sense when you consider what intense trauma he has just gone through. admittedly, i'm not a fan of the notion that he would give up at all (i think he's always ready to give up on himself, but not on the world), but then on the other hand, if there's anything that would cause it, narrative-wise, witnessing batman dying does sound like a good incentive for that. (it also has to be pointed out that jason seems to be confident that the rest of the team can go into the final battle without him anyway; it's not like he would go back to his earth not even knowing if said earth will exist tomorrow).

it's crucial to notice that following that crisis of faith (faith in fighting for the world) is followed by him raising up for the challenge again, but now... worse and even more confused. in the final confrontation with donna, jason antagonizes the superhero community, and when we see him at the end of the series (#1) his monologue indicates that he believes the capes to be naive. (significantly, he also focuses on bruce and offends the memory of 51 earth-bruce by calling him crazy; an action that can be seen as suppression of his own guilt and invoking, once again, a cruel symmetry considering bruce's engagement in victim-blaming after jason's death). this, once again, is consistent with the "no good deed" reading – jason diminishes superhero values because he has been continuously punished for living by them. (and unlike other superheroes, he doesn't have a support system nor skills in compartmentalization that would help him deal with this trauma) every leap of hope re-traumatised him. hence, it seems to be no surprise that jason decides to abandon the mask, and in the closing scene we see him without it. the promise of the shattered helmet is pushed to an extreme – jason does not get a new alt identity. he denounces the idea of superheroism completely.

and yet, what is ultimately subversive about the ending, is that jay is not truly a civilian and he does not abandon vigilante ways. he does the same thing. we see him without a mask, but he is clearly working a case. he might have rejected the symbolic dimension of the vigilante work, but he still carries the same delusional hope for bettering the world and protecting people that the superhero community does. only now, he is even more isolated and doesn't have any identity to go by (as he is still legally dead).

as such, the ending opens a new question regarding jason's understanding of himself and vigilantism, or rather the lack thereof. is it possible that vigilantism is really at the core of jay's trauma? and why, potentially, is it something that is so destructive for him as a character specifically? (and i have some answers for that, but i'm not going to get into it here, as it's already a very long post)

so, tldr; the genius of countdown is that it establishes jay as sensitive, determined, and fundamentally good (this is what the purpose of seeing him as batman is!), and then it brutally reminds the reader that jason’s tragedy is that on this specific earth, in this specific timeline, his love doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. the story goes on as it did; one way or another, jay is trapped in the cycle of his care ironically creating rifts between him and the others, and bringing him to his own downfall.

people on twitter falling to their knees because celebrities are posting pro-israel insta stories how old are you that this matters to you