#I can see the appeal of The Purge

[superunnaturalsammy]

Man I gotta say a controversial take..

If you hate Wincest shut up about it ok.

Hear me out, I am not personally a Wincest shipper, it's really not my cup of tea. However, I'm also not a fuckin thought cop and I feel like posting over and over about how much you hate something other people like is stupid.

They aren't real people, I will repeat, SAM AND DEAN ARE NOT REAL. So the whole 'it's immoral' argument is a bit silly, people aren't saying that this is fine in real life, as far as I know Wincest shippers know it's wrong (maybe part of the appeal IDK). These shippers aren't advocating for real life incest they just like the idea of *fictional* characters together stop policing other people's minds.

Another thing, if you hate it so much why are you thinking about it constantly like if you posted about it less you'd probably get less posts recommended about it. It's amazing the way you can curate your internet experience. Simply block people who post content you don't like and block tags of things you don't like. It's so irritating to me, because I will see one overt Wincest post a day but I will see a dozen anti posts every time I open the app. Most of the time I see people bring it up they are antis. I just hate seeing people posting that they wish they could purge people who like a ship from the fandom. Who's next as well, we start with Wincest and then what, Destiel? Sastiel? Sabriel? like again y'all sound like cops.

And lastly, if you don't like Wincest you may need to just find a different fandom. Wincest is baked into the fandom, it's a ship that has existed since the beginning (it may be the oldest big ship in the fandom). There are references to it in the show, it's something that Eric Kripke and Sera Gamble wrote into the show, you can't remove it because it is part of the show. You don't have to like it or ship it or interact with it but you can't get rid of it so either suck it up or leave...

Thank you for coming to my TED talk LMAO.

TLDR: Stop complaining constantly about ships you don't like.

[nayatarot777]

Lilith in Scorpio/8th house

this is intuitive astrology. meaning that i’m making these notes based on what i intuitively pick up about this astrological point being merged with these signs. take it with a grain of salt and understand that you might not relate to everything that i get from your placement 🖤

Astrology Masterlist

scorpio/8th house themes are always surrounding the taboo areas of life: death + birth/rebirth, trauma, debt + taxes, other people’s assets that they give to you (like an inheritance, for example), conscious secrets and fears (not secrets and fears like what you find in pisces/12th house - you don’t realise exist. 8th house secrets and fears are those that you consciously know about but don’t talk about), intimacy, sexuality, shared resources, and power and control.

the first thing that i think of when i see this placement is people shaming you for your traumas. the people who literally get victim blamed for the ways that they’ve been abused, shamed, and oppressed.

you could’ve experienced shame towards the way that you grieve too. towards someone’s death or your own trauma. for some reason, people love to shame you out of purging very real and very valid emotions during the grieving process.

your lilith energy is potent in scorpio/8th house. since this sign and house is the area of taboos, people could literally treat you like you’re a taboo yourself. as if you’re a topic of conversation that shouldn’t be touched on.

this placement could make a lot of people fear you as taboos and the unknown are usually feared - therefore avoided.

^ that’s another point. you’ve probably experienced people avoiding you like the plague. simply because your energy seems ‘dangerous’ or scary in some way.

an obsession with the taboos of society - sex, death, murder - anything that you can think of that society would look at you like you’re crazy for freely talking about.

also indicates a lot of obsession with anything occult. occultism could be where you find your personal power. where you channel your rage from all of the times that you were scapegoated, oppressed, and abused. for example: someone who send dark and baneful magic to those who’ve fucked with them.

you guys have the most potent energy of a man-eater if you’re a woman. this isn’t like lilith in the 1st house/aries in which men will see you as their opponent to challenge. you’re literally seen by them as woman who are threats. threats that they can’t fight or dominate because they wouldn’t even know how to oppose you.

^ again, your feminine energy is one big taboo. and taboos are never ventured into. it’s like trying to fight the darkness. or a ghost. something that you know of but don’t understand and don’t want to. men could never.

if you find yourself suppressing this energy, then you’ll find yourself meeting people and falling victim to people (especially men) who are the worst human beings that you could imagine. murderous-type people. the people who could cause you serious harm. and these are usually men who you end up merging with heavily in relationships (as this is the sign/house of intimacy).

you could face a double dose of shame from yourself for the secrets that you know you carry. especially if they’re sexual secrets.

your sexuality could be very taboo too. i said this in the lilith in taurus/2nd house observations - lilith in scorpio/8th house is a placement that could indicate prostitution. actually having sex with clients in exchange for money, and not just using sex appeal or the image of sex to make money.

^ but random, but if you have lilith in gemini in the 8th house, or your lilith placement just has aspects to 3rd house planets/mercury, you could lead a double life that involves you selling sexual content online. and nobody knows about this.

this placement is also a placement that makes me think of people who marry rich people for the sake of gaining that inheritance money after their spouse dies. you know the young women who marry old men who are knocking at death’s door? yeah 😂

you find a lot of shame from others for your sexuality but a lot of power too. could be into power dynamics in your relationships/deep sexual relationships - like BDSM dynamics.

you have the power to manipulate people into giving you their money/possessions and assets through your sexuality. doesn’t even have to be through sex itself because your sexual energy is POTENT. you hold power over other people’s shit.

you could fear showing femininity in a way. just because you know that - considering the world we live in - femininity is not viewed as something powerful by men. and lilith in scorpio/8th house is all about holding onto power. therefore, you may keep your feminine side a secret to yourself.

could’ve experienced the most shame in long term relationships, after marriage, etc. after you gain a certain level of intimacy with someone, that person turns around and shames you.

and that’s why lilith here is a very prominent placement for experiencing extremely heavy-hitting betrayals. therefore gaining a huge fear of intimacy and being betrayed again.

your sexuality could be very dark. adding onto the sexual secrets, you could have secret kinks and fetishes that you feel like the average person would shame you and demonise you heavily for.

[the-timewatcher]

A disgruntled Tumblrina (gender-neutral) made a website and why you should too.

Or "reject social media, return to personal websites".

PART 1: THE PART WHERE I CONVINCE YOU TO MOVE TO PERSONAL WEBSITES

So, the Web 2.0 social media infested landscape seems to be crumbling before our very eyes. Reddit's leadership is increasingly greedy, Twitter is sinking under the weight of Elon's massive, yet increasingly fragile ego, Tumblr is slowly turning into another lifeless corpo-fest, complete with the layout, Instagram continues to be vapid and soulless and Facebook seems to be going the way of MySpace.

(feel free to check the alt text on these, btw)

In these troubling times, where everything looks the same and you're expected to be milked for every dollar you're worth, what is a disgruntled Internet surfer such as yourself to do? Move to an untested alternative that's bound to get overrun by fascists thanks to poor moderation? Stay the course on the sinking ships you're used to?

Well, what if I told you that we've solved this problem way back in the 90's and early 2000's and were merely duped by the Big Zuck into forgetting our legacy? What if there was a cure for the sanitized, dull social media hellscape?

It takes a bit of work, when compared to just using a social media site, but even if your particular use case makes switching difficult (ex. an artist looking to promote their work), it's still a good secondary option to consider.

The core appeal is the ability to customize and individualize, make a corner of cyberspace unabashedly yours,

It can also be an exciting avenue of creative expression, giving whatever you want to say a unique coat of paint,

Most website hosting services are a bit more lax about what you can do on them, due to changes in the profit structure (rather than depending on advertisers and investors, they either have a premium option to give supporters perks, have another product, or, in the case of paid services, you renting that space IS the product),

If you want your website to be more accomodating and accessible, you don't have to file tons of feedback - do it yourself,

If you'd like to connect with other webmasters and promote each other's websites, we have webrings - sets of circular links that connect websites with something in common, be it a topic, aesthetic or friend group,

You're less likely to have your stuff purged by an ill-advised change in policy (especially if you have a backup of your files somewhere),

The more people do it, the less power those massive social media corpos have over the internet,

It can be a load of fun!

If I have you convinced, keep reading into part 2. If you just wanna see what I did, skip to part 3. If neither, feel free to continue scrolling. I won't hold it against you. You'll be missing out, that's all.

PART 2: SO, YOU WANNA MAKE A WEBSITE!

Good choice, here's some resources!

sadgrl's absolute beginner's guide to Neocities - what it says on the tin!

W3Schools - a more in-depth tutorial site, a learning resource so excellent it substituted for what I was supposed to learn in technical highschool (because our teacher just told us to go on W3Schools instead of teaching us shit)

A list of free layouts for your website - whether to use as a base to learn from or to simply take for yourself,

Neocities - the posterchild for free website hosting for personal websites. Doesn't allow video or audio, but you can get around that by linking those files from elsewhere. Beginner-friendly to a fault - once you have an account just drag and drop your files in,

Gitlab (& Gitlab Pages) - a more advanced option, but it has a few advantages of its own. Gitlab is a website hoster second and a version control service first - which is programmer speak for "keeps track of changes in your code and stores a backup of it online". it helps a lot when working on multiple devices or co-writing with a friend. And secondly, you can use Gitlab Actions to automate putting your website up (even on Neocities, like I do!)

My askbox - I am not joking, if you have any questions about any of this, I'd love nothing more than to help you out!

But with most of my indie web propaganda out of the way, it's time.

PART 3: Welcome to Timewatcher OS.

Of course, because I couldn't be normal when it comes to making a website, I had to turn it into a fake operating system. Each subpage is an "app", opened in a separate embed window. It has unlockable wallpapers (no pay2win, prommy). There's bideo games on it! I even made a music player for it so I can share my incongruent music tastes!

Like I said in my Tumblr bio, if I ever go radio silent for more than a month, it means I've gotten fed up with this hellsite and moved to my own homepage permamently. And I highly advise you make an option like this for yourself too! Lastly, if any of y'all would like to start a webring, do let me know in the askbox - I'm down to manage it if I'm not alone in there.

Anyways, I hope I convinced you to make a website, or at least check out some of the cool sites you've been missing out on! Hope to see you on the Old Web!

[tragantia]

I've been thinking about the 2nd part to my 'Severen during your period' headcanons, aaand the gremlin man himself has taken possession of my mind and won't leave me alone until I write this. Will I succeed at purging Severen from my system? I don't think so.

Also, I know people normally post warnings and stuff, but Severen is his own warning imo.

Severen Van Sickle – NSFW headcanons

As a bi woman, I have the authoritas to say: yes, he´s a bi king. Big bi energy. Doesn´t actually care about what's what, if he likes it, he's gonna get it. Does it have a penis? Great. A vagina? Cute. Both? Fangggtastic. Count him in, darlin'.

That being said, he loves tits. Could spend hours biting, licking, sucking. Play with his too, he likes it and can cum just from that if you're good.

In the same line as Lestat during TVL, I do think in the past he would have found men to be more appealing than women, simply because he would have had more of a common ground with them, and would have found them more interesting. He would still have had sex with women and gone to brothels regularly. But a real emotional and sexual connection? It would have taken a really unusual lady to achieve that.

Which brings me to... Being from the Wild West, he most likely lost his virginity in a brothel, or at least with a prostitute. Unless you count those times when he was still on his early teens and he and another guy would play with each other, almost innocently, trying to see what's what and how it feels, but knowing very well they can't get caught.

He's got a nice dick, not massive but long and thick. Definitely knows how to use it. Has nice big balls too, loves it if you play with them, he himself will caress them if you're giving him head.

He's hairy, it's sexy, and he knows it. Doesn't wash himself much, he likes his natural smell, and likes to smell himself on his partners as a way of showing ownership. He prefers his partners soft and freshly shaved – may even shave you himself and then eat you out.

He knows what he's doing. He's a pro. Even before being turned, he was nothing but an hedonist, and pretty much lived to do risky shit, drink, gamble and fuck. He's easy to sleep with, but difficult to keep. He can fuck you so hard and good that you'll cry, both from pain and pleasure.

He has no shame. I can think of very few things he wouldn't do when it comes to sex, and even then he may try them once to see what it's like. Also he has like, 1000 kinks. I think if he likes you, everything has the potential of becoming a kink. Pretty feet? He's suddenly into feet.

Also really into dirty talking: if he's so crude on a regular basis, you can imagine the kind of filth that comes out of his mouth in the bedroom. Also LOUD.

BLOOD KINK. I don't think I need to explain. He loves to bite his partners, but this leads to them turning... so he is sure to kill all of them afterwards. The other ones have susprised him in more than one occasion naked and completely covered in blood after his last date got out of hand – again.

If he's turned you, this escalates to a whole new level. He's constantly biting you and drinking from you, even when you're not having sex. He loves it too much, and it makes him feel close to you. It's also a sign of ownership – no one else can bite you like he does. So, sadistic: pain is pleasure.

Also a masochist. If you drink from him, get ready for the most pornographic moan you've ever heard – he's gonna cum hard.

PERIOD KINK. Again, no comments needed, but how can he resist when he catches the sweet smell coming from your pussy? Smells like delicious Christmas dinner to him.

He's a dom through and through. He likes to chase, flirt and seduce, and once he's got you trapped between his body and the mattress (or in the nearest surface) he's gonna let you know who's calling the shots.

Saying this, he does have a very playful side, and you could easily seduce him into letting you do all sorts of naughty things to him. If it feels good and it's depraved, he's all for it.

He will be his asshole self and taint you, mock you and bully you through the entire thing though. It's part of his charm. If you manage to shut him up and make him a moaning mess, he would find it sooo hot.

Will fuck you everywhere and anywhere. If there's an itch to scratch, there's a way.

If you don't have a penis, he may let you use a strap on him. Plus points if he rides you making cowboy noises. You know he would make yeehaw noises during sex. C'mon. You ride him? Yee. He rides you? Haw. 100% would refer to himself as a bronco, and to his partner as a mare etc as if already seen in other fics.

He's very dominant, but I think he has the ability of being very silly during sex and still make it really fucking hot. He would make you laugh and two seconds later you're crying and screaming from how hard he's ruining you. The only time when he'll be completely serious is if he's hate-fucking you or marking territory. Also, spanking? Yes, please?

Why can I see him fucking with his sunglasses on?

Loves to eat you out: he eats pussy, dick and ass like a boss. It's not just how experienced he is, he genuinely likes it so much he's simply really good. The way he moves his mouth and tongue is absolutely sinful. 69? Say no more.

Adores it when you give him head. Easily his favourite thing alongside with drinking blood. He will let you get comfortable and then grab your head and face-fuck you. Will take his dick out and slap your face with it, then spit on you, calling you names and making you carry on. Please swallow his cum and kiss him, he loves to taste himself in your mouth.

Filthy. Loves cum swapping. Will make you squirt if you can, then cum inside you, then lick it all up as he eats you out, moaning like the sex crazed maniac that he is. Loves to cum all over you, and doesn't like it when you wipe it off.

A bit of a breeding kink, even if he's unable to get you pregnant. Loves to cum deep inside you and tell you how he's filling you up, how good your pussy or asshole is milking him, what a good girl/boy you are for him.

Won't. Leave you. Alone. Always trying to rile you up for another round. If he's not having sex, he's thinking about it most of the time (like that Buffy episode when she reads Xander's mind lol).

Unashamedly likes porn. He's mostly into dark BDSM material, the kind of thing that was hard to come across in the 80s. Still, if one day you're in a city with an adult cinema, he's dragging you in and you end up giving each other a handjob as you watch the film. He loves it if you're shy about it, he's gonna ruin that innocence.

Exhibitionist. He loves people to see him having sex. He's good and he's hot, he likes to put on a good show. He would also like to take pictures and make short films with you if you're up for it. He once took a video of his partner jerking him off from behind until he came all over his chest and balls, he genuinely thinks it's the hottest thing ever and would soooo post it online if he could.

I think he had a threesome with the pick-up truck ladies before killing them. So yeah, into threesomes and orgies, and will love giving orders to his partners and having them horny for him, answering to whatever he wants them to do. It's all about the power dynamics. Very territorial with his partner if he has one, though. Won't like anyone else to touch them.

But, nothing beats the blood. Vampires are of course sexual creatures, but Severen legit gets hard every single time he feeds.

Loves to watch you being aggressive and brutal. If he watches you feed, get ready because he's gonna show you just how much he's enjoyed the show.

Very touchy and cuddly. If there is an emotional connection, he will pull you to his chest and cuddle you as he smokes until you fall asleep. Can get very soft after sex, but ooonly if he has a partner. If that's not the case, it's feeding time.

He's basically terrible and so much fun. Would be the best sex in your life – if you survive, of course.

I need Holy Water after this. Was this too long? It probably was too long. Now I'm gonna go and cry myself to sleep because I can't have him in this life 😌

[stardustdiiving]

I would love to hear more about your thoughts regarding Wanderer being trans whenever you find the time to write about it more!

(follow up to this post)

AWESOME. okay. So. This got super long and I keep nitpicking if it clearly says every single thought that goes through my head or not so I’m just going to post it

There’s many interpretations about this headcanon I enjoy, but one particular angle I would find interesting to explore that I’ll pitch here is basically centered on a characterization where Wanderer’s internal relationship with his own transness is very tied with his non-humanness, maybe even more so than his gender.

The appeal of this angle for me is essentially having a character’s queerness tie into genshin’s overarching themes about identity & personhood, especially in regards to the relationship between divinity & humanity—themes that obviously apply to Scaramouche (and also basically every other not human genshin character I can think of that people generally agree are engaging characters)

Scaramouche (which name I use for him is intentional & reflects what era of his life I’m talking about) to me is someone who basically enforces a sense of apathy over his own emotions, especially ones relating to his sense of identity—he seeks godhood in hopes of being able to purge himself clean of experiencing (human) emotions, and therefore the vulnerability & trauma he associates with having them.

Intuitively I can see him feeling a similar conscious apathy about his gender: I see him as viewing gender identity as a “too human” trait and therefore something he’s above, basically—which is really a deeper deflection of his own insecurities with his personhood/identity.

So to Scaramouche, internally, anything about his transition or transness is less about gender and actually far more about his desire to obtain godhood, and this is a mental narrative he really sticks to because it fits in comfortably with his hatred of humans and desire for a purpose/identity for his existence as a non human entity “without a heart”.

If this were a fic I were writing, Scaramouche would undergo a lot of physical/medical transitioning during his time as a Harbringer and he would essentially be narrating & viewing anything gender affirming thing he does as him becoming closer to godhood and further from being human. This would contrast how I’d portray Kabukimono earlier on in his arc—where I imagine Kabukimono took on a lot of social transitions based on observing humans and building a sense for what human things he liked to participate in or mimic.

Kabukimono, in a manner similar to Scaramouche, might sometimes categorize some of his transness as relating to being more of a puppet/nonhuman origin thing than a gender thing, (ie getting gender dysphoria from having long hair but rationalizing it has more to do with not wanting to look like Ei), Kabukimono was more in a position of building towards his transness being a positive thing that affirmed him his sense of personhood & sense of belonging with others. By the time Scaramouche reaches the point of resenting humans, and in turn resenting his own sense of humanity in his arc, he needs to establish all parts of his identity as the farthest thing from human as possible

The irony, however, that I’d highlight in the hypothetical fic of this, is that Scaramouche’s experiences with his transness are narrated as being things no one could ever understand because of how inhuman he is—while in practice you see a lot of his trans experiences are actually pretty common ones many trans people would understand.

So like, Dottore does his canon typical physical experiments/modifications on Scaramouche, and the entire time Scara is undergoing but also gloating the entire time how he’s able to endure this because he’s not as weak as humans are—and this continues when, at Scara’s request, Dottore gives him Evil Mad Scientist Top Surgery, and he’s having this snide internal monologue about how godlike he is because of all the inhuman ways he can physically modify and mold his body to be to his liking, and then suddenly he looks in a mirror and sees himself with a flat chest for the first time and just has… like, a moment of very genuine happiness with feeling more like himself for the first time, and processing all the ways he can exist more comfortably in his body without having to work around dysphoria constantly. He imagines himself existing among humans in these brief thoughts without even realizing it, and the idea is this is written in a way that makes him sound very human—and how he seems happier when he lets himself be.

Meanwhile Dottore in the background is just, very nonchalant about this and makes some bored comment about they ought to not delay more important procedures any further if he wants to ascend to godhood anytime soon. Scaramouche kind of snaps out of it & back into his usual sort of headspace/mindset and kind of sneers at him how this was a far more significant step in ascending to godhood than Dottore could ever understand.

And after he says this he mentally pauses, because he really hadn’t been thinking of it like that before—and then wonders if it was true, because it wasn’t an experiment that made him feel more powerful like the other ones had. What he feels now is something other than more powerful—but there’s not really any other explanation for this reaction. More godly, maybe. It makes him feel not more powerful, but closer to what he wants—which is a god.

So from there my idea is Scaramouche kind of…attributes the joy associated with his top surgery, and other similar major landmarks in his transition, with his pursuit of godhood. It spurs him on to want to be a god even more, because it's solidified in his mind as the one thing he really needs to be himself/truly happy

And then he does finally reach godhood—and is plugged into the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom’s body, he’s just finds himself feeling disappointed.

He has this minor mental crisis about it where he’s not unsatisfied—he’s more exhilarated than he has ever felt in his entire life, because he feels unspeakably powerful in the way he should be. It /is/ everything he wanted, and he savors the sheer triumph and power of the movement, but it’s just not the same. It’s not enough to make him regret what it took to get here but he’s really frustrated, because he doesn’t feel happy. Which is not an emotion Scaramouche really cares about, but even one thing he wants being somewhat out of his reach when he had hoped to suppress all the unpleasantness of having emotions is deeply unpleasant for him.

I think the next time Scaramouche really feels something close to what he’d been missing is post Inversion of Genesis, after he becomes the Wanderer.

In this narrative I think it would be an extra kick in the face that Dottore had helped him with part of his transition while Scaramouche watches Dottore kill Niwa, where Dottore basically affirms Scara’s dehumanization while Niwa insists on affirming his humanity with his dying breath. There’s the obvious violation violation of realizing someone basically sabotaged your support systems to isolate/alienate you from the world, then manipulated and groomed you into joining the fatui so they could experiment on you for their own satisfaction and intrigue, but he also finds himself grappling with recontextualizing alot of his interactions with Dottore, and coming to this conclusion that Dottore was only ever vaguely interested in Scaramouche’s potential for godhood, and doesn’t care about…this other part of why that was important to Scaramouche as a person. (Which is his transness, basically)

It’s not that he ever believed Dottore cared about him or wasn’t pursuing his own interests, but I think recontextualizing how dehumanizing Dottore’s treatment + view of him is, forces him to really pick apart his transness vs desire for godhood, and realize there’s sort of a distinction between the two he hadn’t been making.

Post IoG I think this line of thinking, along with learning Niwa hadn’t betrayed him making him hate humans much less, lets Wanderer start developing a much healthier relationship with his transness, and also just his entire identity in general. He can reconcile with his own humanity, which lets him reflect on himself more, and I think eventually he can come to an answer on why becoming god wasn’t what he needed to be happy with himself + his gender.

So essentially I’d write present day Wanderer as being more comfortable with his gender than Scaramouche would be. If I were to apply our contemporary English labels/language to his gender I think he’d more or less jsut view himself as a trans guy, but I guess by technicality has a sort of “non binary” gender bc he just doesn’t view himself in terms of human binaries due to being a puppet?? That’s just my own characterization tho. All in all I bend characterizations of characters’ queerness in line with what whatever sort of transformative work I feel like doing so this isn’t even the only way I’d write trans Wanderer. Just usually the one I go off the most when portraying him as a character

[shift-shaping]

yet you love her all the same

solas meets an old friend in the fade.

rating: t

pairing: solavellan (discussed|)

previous fics | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

A spirit could take many forms. On this night, for whatever reason, Wisdom stood beside the water as a large grey heron. Solas watched it quietly, curiously, as it stared into its reflection and tilted its long, sharp head to the side.

"My friend," it greeted him in soft elven as he approached. Its eyes glowed, a mist of hazy blue magic drifting off them. When it spoke, it did so directly into his mind, without moving its beak.

"Hello," Solas replied warmly. The spirit stretched its wings, and he smiled at it. "You have not worn this shape in some time."

"It is comfortable, for now. You should try it."

"I should," he agreed, though it did not truly appeal to him. "Did something specific bring this on?"

The spirit made a chattering noise and retracted its neck before stretching again. "I wish to see what lies beneath the water's surface."

Solas smirked. "By... eating what lives there?" Wisdom hummed. "Why not take the form of a fish, then?"

Though it wore no true expression, somehow Wisdom looked upon him warmly. "How could we talk if I were a fish?"

"The same way we can when you are a bird.”

Wisdom looked back at the water, and drew its beak close to the surface. It was quiet for a time, and Solas gave it room to think. Finally it shook its head, feathers dancing on its crown. "No. I would swallow water and that would be unpleasant." It straightened again and turned to face him fully. "You have traveled so far, lethallin. Why venture to the northern plains?"

"The Inquisitor requested I accompany her on an urgent mission to Wycome. She received word from her clan's Keeper that her family is in danger."

Wisdom blinked at him, and the glow of its eyes was so strong it shown though its eyelids. "What manner of danger?"

"Strange mercenaries target her people." He frowned. "There are whispers of a purge." That a slaughtering of elves was so common there was a specific term for it made his stomach churn.

"A purge," Wisdom repeated. The word echoed around them. "What an ugly word." He looked away from the spirit, but it stretched its neck to look him in the eye. The gesture was so odd he couldn't help but smirk. "Not all suffering is your fault, lethallin. Leave some guilt for the rest of the world."

He exhaled and nodded. Though its words were ultimately false, he appreciated Wisdom's efforts to calm the inevitable downward spiral of his thoughts.

"And you have gone to help. Let that be something."

"I suppose it must be," he replied, but he knew that wasn't enough. Regardless of his friend's words, he knew every hurt in Enaste's life was, in truth, his fault. And not just her: that Sera was apart from her true self, that the Dalish of the Dirthavaren were so impoverished, even that the rebel mages were so damned that an offer of servitude to a Tevinter Magister was preferable to their current state --it was all the result of his actions, his mistakes.

"You must stop this," Wisdom urged. "You accomplish nothing with such thoughts." It nudged at him, jabbing his side with its beak.

"Please stop," he said, gently pushing it away. "Your face is too sharp for that."

"You are not good company like this," Wisdom asserted. It leaned back and flapped its wings. "Cease this misery, or I will find another wayward soul to pester!"

He couldn't help laughing at that. "Really? Who else will listen to your ramblings on Alamarri textiles?"

"An Alamarri craftsman!"

"And how many of those will meet with you?"

Wisdom grumbled and shrank back down, ruffling its feathers momentarily before relaxing. "They are not ramblings. My information is well-organized and presented."

"Of course it is," he replied. Wisdom looked at him sideways, glowing eyes narrowed. "I am sorry, my friend. I do not mean to be poor company."

"You are not. Usually." It straightened, and began to stare into the water again. They were both quiet for a long time, the silence settling from vaguely tense to something warmer, more familiar. That feeling of shifting silence, of nerves settling and relaxing, was something he always missed dearly when in the waking world. Outside the Fade, a stale conversation remained such when it paused. Emotions were more fluid here, and easier to detect as the boundaries from one being to another blurred at the edges.

Wisdom waded into the water, sending ripples flooding outward until they reflected back against the opposite shore. Solas sat in the grass at the water's edge and tried to do as his friend suggested. The spirit was right: this was no place to dwell on shame.

Eventually it spoke again, looking towards him from the water. "Tell me more about the Inquisitor."

“What would you like to know?" It was natural that Wisdom would be curious about Enaste given her sudden impact on the world. He had told it some things already, though, and was uncertain what more there was that Wisdom could not learn on its own.

"A great deal! You have told me facts about her history, her decisions, her allies, but there must be more besides her politics. You think about her so often, more than any mortal I can recall."

"It is not that often," he replied, defensive suddenly.

Somehow Wisdom managed to look at him witheringly. "Lethallin, please." 

"She is the leader of the Inquisition and the bearer of the Anchor," he replied, knowing full-well his friend already knew that. "Of course she is on my mind, occasionally."

"Occasionally!" It scoffed. "You embraced her." He averted his gaze and tried not to let the guilt overtake him again. Wisdom cocked its head, genuinely curious. "Why? If you only think of her because of her position, why are your thoughts as often on her lips as her words?"

"There are --it may be difficult for a spirit to understand," he deflected.

It bristled, feathers fluffing so it looked much larger than it was. "Do not insult me."He raised his eyebrows, not expecting such a reaction. "I am Wisdom! Of course I can understand desires of the flesh!'

He snorted, and it deflated quickly when it knew he wasn't intimidated. "How very prideful of you, lethallen." It looked annoyed. He shook his head and sighed. "But still, I apologize. That was unkind of me."

"You are forgiven." It waded out a bit further, watching the water. Occasionally a fish swam by, glittering and quick. Wisdom watched it, rather un-heron-like in its movement. "I only want to understand why she so occupies your mind."

Despite his efforts to avoid a conversation like this as much as possible, Wisdom inevitably drew it out of him. It was to be expected, he supposed --Wisdom was privy to much of his thoughts, and he could no longer pretend Enaste did not take up a significant portion of them. "She is..." But despite how much he thought of her, he found the words impossible to articulate. She was capable, and strong-willed, and confident in her own leadership. She valued knowledge, and expertise, and took advice from those she respected. Perhaps above all she was open-minded and curious, always asking him questions and listening thoughtfully to the answers.

She was also charming, and beautiful, with raven hair and hazel eyes that were warm and deep and wide. She laughed rarely, but more often around him, and the sound was honest and lovely and made his heart race. She was playful when she wanted to be, open in her desires yet embarrassed of them at the same time. Her lips were soft and full, her body pliant yet firm in his hands, her skin--

"Oh," Wisdom said suddenly, and he looked up from the thoughts he hadn't realized had consumed him. "You are in love with her!"

"No," he said, too quickly.

"How fascinating!"

He exhaled and squeezed his eyes shut, centered himself, forcing his mind back to the conversation at hand. "She is not what I expected from this world. I am simply --surprised."

"Why? Is it so hard to think there could be something worth loving in the ruins?" Wisdom waded closer to him, head tilted curiously, the water lapping softly at its feet. "A flower that grows where corpses lie is no less lovely for its surroundings." It paused. When it spoke again, its voice was gentler still. "Perhaps... it is even more so."

"It is a selfish thought to even entertain. I have already hurt her," he said. "I cannot twist the knife by betraying her so personally."

"Yet you love her all the same."

"It is foolish. And ultimately, irrelevant."

Wisdom watched him pensively, and said nothing for a time. When it spoke again, the words sank in his chest like stones in the pond. "What does she want of you?"

"That... Is irrelevant as well. She would not want anything of me if she knew the entire truth." His voice fell, and he shook his head. "And she does not, and cannot. So we must remain as we are."

"You have no idea what she would want, my friend." Even in its prodding Wisdom was so gentle, so kind; he could almost believe it was right. "Perhaps she might even wish to walk beside you on your path."

He chuckled mirthlessly, unsettled by the thought of dragging her down with him. "That thought is far from comforting."

"Or maybe she is proof that you belong where you are. That this world, however broken, is the one you must accept."

He looked up at it seriously, frowning. "You cannot believe that," he breathed.

"I am Wisdom.” A teasing melody laced its voice. He could now say he’d seen a heron smirk. “I do not believe anything. I only want to know the possibilities."

"Then you know why acceptance is defeat."

"Is it? Or are you too proud to know the difference?"

"Clever," he said bluntly, and stood. "I can feel our time grow short, my friend."

Wisdom waded to the shore, leaving water dripping to the grass. "You are afraid."

"Of what?" He asked as Wisdom drew close. The spirit seemed slightly taller now, or perhaps it stretched its neck up higher. It looked directly into his eyes, in a manner it could tell unsettled him.

"Of her. Of what she could do to you if you let her." He sighed and looked away. "Yet you linger by her side."

He shook his head. "She needs my help."

"You could let her die."

"No, I could not."

"Why?" It asked, tilting its long narrow head to the side. "She will die regardless, in time. Then the mark is yours."

"Someone must stop Corypheus."

"Then kill her and take the Anchor yourself."

Solas balked, blinking at the spirit. "You-- are you seriously suggesting I murder Enaste?" He was genuinely taken aback, uncertain he'd ever heard it suggest something so merciless.

Its eyes glowed brighter. "You cannot murder a ghost, lethallin! Would it not be better, kinder, to sever one thread so the rest can be free?"

"I--" he exhaled and closed his eyes tightly. Wisdom fell quiet, waiting. "I am not entertaining this. I know what you're trying to do, and it isn't helping."

The spirit pulled back, tittering an odd little laugh. "Yes, it is."

Solas rolled his eyes. "We can continue this discussion another time." He sighed. "Or not, preferably."

Wisdom huffed a laugh. "Fine, then. But when you find yourself again in her arms, I will be here to say I told you so."

"You are obnoxious." He scoffed. "This form has made you meddlesome and tiring."

"I will not turn into a tree again. That was a very boring two hundred years."

He smiled at Wisdom, amused despite himself. "On that much we can agree. This realm was lonely indeed without your chattering."

It flapped its wings again. "Then perhaps I will remain this shape a while longer. I enjoy this form."

"So long as you are comfortable, my friend. And..." He hesitated, then gave the spirit a deep nod. "Thank you. In spite of my protests, I appreciate your counsel."

"Of course, Solas." Sometimes Wisdom called him that to tease him, to poke fun at his nature or call him arrogant, but now, like this, it was simply his name. And hearing it, in Wisdom's echoing, ancient voice, was enough to soothe his nerves and slow his racing thoughts. Here, even among such an ancient force, there was great comfort in knowing he remained himself.

<- prev fic | next fic ->

[idesofrevolution]

The Future of Ides

I am beyond pissed that I have to make this fucking post. But I’m at an impasse with the state of Tumblr and the tf community at large lately.

The continued degradation of the fundamental virtues of equity, human decency, and respect are becoming more and more scarce. After I made the first “Let’s Talk Honestly” post, I immediately noticed an uptick in false flags against my content, which I cannot dismiss as mere coincidence. Since I responded to an ask which was in support of my statements, just last night, I have received 7 new flags consecutively. All appeals have been denied: for the sake of brevity, I’ll just post one of the denials here.

This is a direct retaliatory effort against me. And when the very reason I am on Tumblr is being attacked and censored, I have no recourse. Tumblr is entirely disinterested in following their own content policies, and would rather blanket flag and take down anything that is flagged by the community or by algorithm without review or reasoning as to why. I have reached out to tumblr, and their response was a copy and paste customer service jargon that in essence said: “we know it’s a problem, we have no plans to address it.”

This puts me and my content in a predicament. I can either stay and try to continue posting with extreme limits on what I’m able to say and do, with trolls from within our own community actively seeking in a coordinated effort to destroy the blog. Or, I can go. The community at large has tried to clean up their own blogs and block those who are supportive of bigoted and pedophilic content, as have I, to little or no avail. I am at 5k followers at this time and I do not have the resources or energy to curate that base of readers. Thus, after this upcoming story, which will in all likelihood end up flagged and unable to be read, I cannot say whether or not Ides will continue.

This space has been safe for me for 13 years to express myself and write stories of transformation both outward and inward. I have tried to and succeeded in building a community of like minded folks who understand and appreciate the medium of erotic fiction with my rather niche subject matter. And while there have absolutely been bumps along the way, I have not faced adversity at this level ever before on this platform. I am for the first time unable to see a realistic solution to the issues faced, and it is a crushing blow to know that one of the few outlets for my creativity and expression is now reduced to what it is today. Not even the great purge was this difficult.

I will be looking into finding a new home for Ides, and my content at large. I will probably end up heading to blogspot and what you will see moving forward on this blog are links to the stories instead of reading them here on Tumblr. I am painfully aware of how much less of interaction and community involvement this will be, but in all truthfulness, it’s gone from a cathartic outlet to a miserable and soul sucking void.

To those who coordinated this effort against me: you win. Whatever disgusting, vile, hateful behaviors you continue to poison the tf community with are entirely on you. And what it devolves into is entirely on you. And the eventual censorship and destruction of the community is entirely on you.

[girlactionfigure]

@shlomo_fishman

One of the main foundations of the Palestinian narrative states that: "according to international law, Israel is occupying Palestinian land".

What most people don't know is that the international law states, in fact, the exact opposite. I'll explain.

In the picture below, you can see article 80 in the UN charter, signed by the UN in 1945 during the San Francisco convention. As stated, its purpose was to ensure the rights given by trusteeship agreements approved by the UN, one of them being the British Mandate which officially began in 1920 and was designated to the establishment of a "national home" for the Jewish people on the area shown in the map below, as previously declared in the Balfour Declaration in 1918.

Now you may say: "but what about the UN general assembly Resolution 181 (the partition plan)?". The answer here is pretty simple: first of all, the general committee has no official power to enforce their decisions, which are mostly symbolic. Second, the plan was never set in motion, as the Arab leadership refused to accept it and the war between the Jewish population and the Arab one, broke down. Regarding the UN security council, Article 24(2) states: "the Security Council shall act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations". Which means it also cannot overrule article 80 in the UN charter.

There is also an argument I heard, about the British Mandate being a class A mandate. Class A mandates, were territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire that were deemed to "... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory". There is one major problem with this argument: the Muslim Arabs NEVER had any national ambitions back then, nor wanted an independent state until after 1948.

Haj Amin Al-Husseini, probably the most prominent Muslim leader during the British Mandate and the Mufti of Jerusalem at that time, who dedicated his life to combat Zionism and purge the Jewish population in the area, even reaching Adolf Hitler at some point to help him fulfill those plans, never wanted an establishment of an independent Muslim state.

While launching massacres against the Jewish population (the great Arab revolt, 1929 Arab riots and more) and trying to convince Arabs not to sell lands to Jews, he justified it only using religious Islamic motives and blood libels against the Jews. Their only mission was to erase Zionism, so there was never an appeal by him, nor the Arab League and not any other Muslim leadership of that time to the international community, for the establishment of a Muslim state called "Palestine".

So when I define the Palestinians as: "a political movement pretending to be a nation, only to combat Zionism", I talk about this exactly.

This text sums up the main things you should know about the non-existent Israeli occupation, which many people unfortunately don't. So it was very important to me to write about it, especially in these difficult times, and I'd appreciate your support in spreading this message, a lot.

[ocean-blue-orchids]

“It would be nice if magic didn’t exist so we could avoid all this fuss. Don’t you agree…?”

Characters: Rollo, Yuu

Summary: What if Yuu and Rollo had continued their conversation for longer during Topsy-Turvey day? What if Yuu liked magic, or hated magic…or even knew some magic of their own?

Type: Bullet points, with a drabble at the end for the pathetic Rollo simps (me)

Warnings: None that I can think of but I’m new to this so if I missed something let me know!

A/N at the bottom!

A Yuu who is fascinated by magic:

-“I think you’re a bit confused, buddy. Getting to see real magic every day has probably been one of the only good parts of getting warped here!”

-Rollo just. Looks at you.

-He genuinely has to hold in so many emotions in his face; confusion, disgust, a bit of fear(?)

-Eventually he settles on a slight frown and decides to not think about this critically, because god forbid something shatter his worldview when he’s this close to enacting his plan.

-“Ah, you poor thing. You don't understand. If only you could see that your non magic world is much more ideal…”

-“Haha yeah I guess I do miss it! When I find a way back you can visit :D”

-Rollo.exe is crashing

-He decides that clearly this prefect is tainted by the evil surrounding them every day and it’s a Stockholm syndrome type thing.

-When the flowers start to spread and he reveals his true intent, he may even offer for you to join his side, now that he’s “purging the evil”

-“Human of a magicless world…together, we can fix this flawed world and rid it of magic-“ “ROLLO YOU ARE SO UNINVITED TO MY HOME WORLD” “Ok, trapdoor it is.”

-Even after everything, he wonders how you can love magic and a world that was likely responsible for you being torn from your home. It haunts him.

A Yuu who is a bit afraid of magic:

-You stay completely silent.

-Looking at Rollo feels like staring into an awful funhouse mirror. I mean, you find magic a bit scary, but trying to outright destroy it? Especially knowing that it also functions as a source of life!?

-Rollo has seen you flinch at the fireworks, frown at the mention of past magical incidents at NRC, and he miiiight have lowkey stalked you a bit to see that you only showed interest in non magical items. And when he sees you hesitating after he does his little evil monologue?

-Well he just assumes you’re stunned by how right he is. 

-Later, after his reappearance during the flowers spreading for the first time, he takes a special interest in your reaction.

-And he’s very, very confused.

-Why are you afraid? Isn’t this what you wanted? Don’t you agree with him?

-He puts you on the spot by telling the others how they’ve “made the prefect so stressed and fearful by using their magic! Don’t you agree, prefect? We talked about this before…”

-You shake your head, under so much pressure that you almost want the flowers to take you down.

-“I see. You’ve been corrupted by them. Don’t worry, prefect. I’ll allow you to apologize after I finish my job here. For now…you must forgive me for this.” Aaand the floor underneath you disappears.

-After the events of the night, he tries one more time to appeal to you. If you tell him that “magic may be scary, but your hatred is far, far worse…” he will be absolutely EFFED up man. Effed. Up.

A Yuu who has learnt magic:

-“Uh…Rollo, I don’t think you’ve got the full picture, buddy.” 

-First he’s confused. And then you show him a basic flame you conjure in your hands. (It’s a little trick Tsunotaro taught you.)

-He is revolted.

-How? How could someone like you, someone who was untouched and pure, fall to this disgusting power?

-He hides this, however, and invites you to his office to “see a surprise I have for all of our visitors. I think you may be able to help me.”

-You give Trein a heads up and head out, where Rollo shows you a very stunning, crimson flower…

“This flower is beautiful, Rollo! Is it a souvenir?”

Rollo gives you the same calm smile he’s given you all day, and holds it out to you.

“…in a way, yes. Pick it. It won’t work unless you do.”

Assuming this was another fun item rigged with magic, you pull it from the glass pot Rollo is holding. Sure enough, the pollen scatters like sparks, and the flower is warm in your hand.

“Rollo, this is amazing! I’m sure the others will love it! They-uh-they…”

Your train of thought is interrupted by the feeling of the flower’s root around your finger. Even more unsettling is the fact that the root’s end is now stuck to your body. The warmth spreads from your hands to your upper arm, and it starts to feel numb.

And then you feel your feet go numb as well. You look down to see flowers rapidly growing at your feet.

“Rollo…”

“I’m sure the others will love my gift, Angel.” 

The mage has backed away from you now, moving to his desk and staring at you coldly. You try to yell at him, to call for help…but nothing comes out of your mouth and you suddenly find yourself on the floor. You think you probably fell, judging by how close you were to the ground. As you close your eyes, you heard Rollo speak one last time.

“Perhaps I will keep you here. Fix you, and make you pure again. There is still hope.”

————

The next thing you remember is waking up and feeling so intensely groggy. It was as if you had taken a nap right after school, and now you were waking up feeling strangely warm and stiff. 

Well, you definitely felt strangely warm and stiff. As you tried to stretch, you heard the sounds of vines shifting. Slowly sitting up and opening your eyes lead to you seeing where you were. 

Rollo’s office had turned into a flower garden. And you were the main piece.

One by one, you plucked the flowers off of you. They were attached to your skin, yes, but they peeled off easily with a tug. You still felt half asleep, but memories were coming back to you.

Rollo.

His “special gift”.

“I’m sure the others will love…”

The others.

You noticed the open door. The flowers were spreading.

The others.

You stood up, leaning against a wall as your head pounded and your legs shook. As soon as you could walk, you did.

The others needed you.

You followed the path to the main hall, realizing the flowers had spread more than you could possibly have imagined. 

…how long had you slept? Hours? Days?

Your fears were lessened as you entered the main hall, and saw that Rollo looked exactly the same as he had a few hours ago, the sunset outside now replaced with moonlight.

But the sight you were greeted with in the main hall was nothing short of disturbing.

Flowers everywhere you looked. Screaming, shouting, and…Rollo.

He was saying…something. You couldn’t hear well over the chaos and your head ringing, and frankly, you didn’t care what he had to say. 

He was hurting everyone. You had to stop him.

So you did.

You used all your strength to tackle him with your whole body.

Unfortunately, your weakened status meant it wasn't enough to knock him down. He pressed himself against the banister with one hand, pulling you forward with the other. You were able to try and turn around to face him, but he grabbed one of your arms and used his free hand to push you against the banister.

There’s a chance that someone screamed your name, but it was hard to make out.

Rollo frowned at you.

“I suppose the flowers couldn’t fully handle someone who wasn’t born with magic. In a way, it’s a blessing.”

He pressed himself closer, moving his hand from your arm up to your own hand. He pressed his thumb where you had summoned fire for him before, as if he were trying to extinguish the flame.

“Darling angel…come with me. You’re already almost completely cleansed of your magic…together, we can make you, and this world…perfect.”

You raised a shaky hand to cup Rollo’s face, and although he seemed shocked at first, he slowly smiled into your hold.

“Very good, my obedient Angel, I knew you’d-“

You pulled his stupid hat over his hair. He screamed in a way you had never heard before, and pushed you.

If it was an accident, it certainly didn’t feel like it as you fell through the air.

Well. 

Hopefully someone will catch your fall.

Either way…that was worth it.

A/N: Oh boy! Hi…it’s been a while whoops. I made this blog before my Senior show tech week, and life just has not slowed down till now. But I finally posted something!! Yay! Requests are open, and it would make my day to get one! Ok that's all have a nice day :>

[vladdyissues]

It's so cute that you uploaded some puffy, you're so kind 😭💞

But I have a question, why did they even block his account? How does Tumblr block an account? He didn't upload anything bad [?]

To the best of my knowledge—and I say this because I did not see every single one of Puffy's posts—Puffy did everything that Tumblr requires when it comes to posting "mature" artwork. She tagged her posts, used Community Labels, cropped and/or censored thumbnails, and made use of the "Read More" option. She was bolder than me when it came to posting certain art styles and speaking unabashedly, but that's a difference in personality. Puffy is a free spirit, incredibly witty, and absolutely hilarious. I'm old and crotchety and try to avoid drama if I can help it—not to say that Puffy in any way invited or deserved termination. She did not.

But she was no match for a targeted mass-reporting campaign. And, unfortunately, there's no way to know just how many people were involved or how much harassment she's been receiving since she joined Tumblr. I know there were at least three asks, likely more, and one rude comment left on one of her artworks early on.

But Tumblr has a poor track record when it comes to making decisions and meting out justice. They don't typically perform thorough investigations, they panic when they see certain words, and they're also prone to outrageous hypocrisy—like the fact that gifs of graphic, live-action porn somehow still manage to survive on this site after 10 years and a purge that cost the company a billion dollars in value, and how they claim to be "the queerest place on the internet" while simultaneously alienating and fostering a hostile environment for the queer artists who are largely responsible for Tumblr's success. Porn and spam bots run amok, but the blogs of marginalized people and artists are first on the chopping block.

I myself have had blogs deleted for lesser reasons. A couple years ago I created a "ship week" event blog, which was deleted simply because at one point in the TV show, one of the characters in the ship was a minor. The blog posted G-rated prompts. It was text-based with completely worksafe header graphics. It didn't endorse any age ranges, but left that up to the discrimination of the participants. The participants complied with Tumblr's TOS if they posted 18+ content, cropping images, using Community Labels and such. Everything adhered strictly to Tumblr's guidelines.

But I was the target for a lot of hatred from the rest of the fandom. They hated my guts because I shipped "the wrong ship"—because it was a gay ship, because it upset the canon heterosexual ship that one of the characters was in, because I wasn't sniveling in fear whenever they sent me hateful asks, because I refused to be bullied or shamed. They went after us because we were a tiny group of fans, easy to target and eradicate. Disgusting behavior, really.

I tried to appeal the deletion, but I never heard back from Tumblr. Fine. I moved the event to another platform (and it looked much better there, too), and that was that.

In short, Tumblr would rather delete a hundred innocent blogs out of fear of offending their ad sponsors rather than 1) investigate the claims made against the blog, or 2) give the blog owner a chance to delete the offending content.

One final thing:

Last month, around 17 June 2024, several Pompep fans on Tumblr received anywhere between 1-3 anonymous asks telling us to kill ourselves or "get raped".

Over cartoon characters.

It's a sad state of things when there's more sympathy, respect and agency given to drawings of fictional lines than living, breathing people.

[rosesocietyy]

seen some recent posts that have me curious. why do people assume that just because fans are calling out the racist marketing from AMC, that this is just about one actor or that we're ignoring jacob and delainey? the concern of the show "moving focus away from black and brown characters" wasn't just in response to assad getting sidelined by the awful marketing. we've seen those interviews from rolin about jacob being demoted to supporting character after he was the Lead for two seasons. we've seen AMC catering hard to the vocal book fandom based on how they paired up actors for their promos/interviews (despite assad and luke only having one episode together, we've seen plenty more with this duo while assad and jacob never got even ONE interview together to discuss their characters). post s2, we don't even have confirmation about how often claudia/delainey will be featured in the story moving forward. however we also know that a lestat centered season will feature a white lead and prominent white supporting characters.

but no, fans still want to act like we're exaggerating or even pretend these concerns don't apply to louis and claudia at all. i have no doubt that certain anti black DM shippers are being annoying and stupid as usual. but it's not only armand/assad fans getting upset when we've seen enough from the show runners and executives that are prepping us to phase out louis as the lead so we can get to the "real lestat story". i'm so tired of this fandom being obtuse.

They're being obtuse because they're deliberately trying to drown us out. They want us purged in time for s3 so they can finally live in white utopia in peace.

Like no fucking shit we knew the next season was gonna be lestat centered; the problem is that they over-inserted him where he wasn't needed and that gives us the impression that they do not have faith in anything that doesn't heavily involve a white person in some way. Most of these criticisms are leveled at the marketing but honestly the dreamstat concept was bloated as hell and it affected the overall quality of the season for me. And of course that behavior is reflected in the fandom where everything and every action and every thought has to be tied to l*stat somehow because god forbid a person or relationship exist without his divine involvement. I've gone on and on about this before so I'll just leave it at that.

Back to promotional material: notice how quick they were to jump to the defence of a corporation over real people of color voicing concerns at racist behavior only for us to be right? hm it's almost like that's a pattern. And we've been clocking it from the very fucking beginning - the posters, the interviews, the type of people invited to events, the people given screeners, the people denied screeners, taking the podcast away to be replaced with random white woman on youtube that is the encapsulation of the new type of audience they're trying to garner and appeal to exclusively, the social media acct run by someone who can practically be found at the front row of louis and claudia's trial - it's disgusting and as clear as it can be. But no they wanna be dense so hopefully we'll sound crazy. They get a hug from rolin and think they're the appointed fandom officers I simply must laugh. Please ignore them and speak out against racist nonsense when you see it cause me?? amc and their guzzlers will never know peace as long as I'm alive.

I have faith in the writers and their ability; they have consistently delivered some of the best work I've ever scene put to screen, but I've learnt the hard way that studio interference is something I have to contend with now and it is still an overwhelmingly white space which is such a shame. And if all these are any indication, the promo for s3 is gonna be straight from the deepest circle of hell I just can't wait 🤞🏾

[perseidlion]

This is probably gonna rub some people the wrong way but...I think two things are true, re: The Acolyte:

Some Star Wars fans were hostile to The Acolyte because it starred a woman and most of the supporting cast were women and/or POC so they were never going to support it.

AND

The Acolyte was not a very good show.

SPOILERS BELOW.

If the show had starred a white man and had more nostalgia bait, it probably would have been renewed, let's be honest. But that doesn't mean it was a good show or it would have been better with those changes. It just would have meant the hardcore complainers would have supported it just because it was Star Wars.

A lot of Star Wars stuff is getting multiple seasons when the shows themselves are lacklustre. And don't get me wrong...this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the networks cancel shows WAAAAAY too fast these days. How many great shows can we think of that had kinda shitty first, second, and even third seasons that went on to be classics and huge hits? So when I say the show wasn't great, that doesn't mean I think it deserved to get cancelled. But also we aren't stuck between a binary of "a great show got cancelled unfairly" and "an awful show got deservedly cancelled." There's nuance here.

Full disclosure: I am an extremely casual Star Wars fan. So on the surface, I was the perfect potential audience member for The Acolyte. It was a show that tried to stand on its own merits without a dozen callbacks and references that only appeal to hardcore fans/fans with nostalgia feels. I was fully willing to accept it as just a solid science fantasy show that happened to be set in the Star Wars universe.

Frankly, I was bored through most of it. I like Amandla Stenberg, but I don't think she did a very good job differentiating Osha/Mae and she didn't do a great job getting us to root for her.

The show also set up tension only to immediately diffuse it, or the tension they teased all season turned out to be no tension at all. The mystery of what the Jedi did on Brendok should have been central to the story. It should have been kept secret and concealed. And it should have been darker than it actually turned out to be. That's what had to happen for that to work. Like, the Jedi were ordered by a corrupt high council member to purge the coven or something. THAT would have been interesting and worth the narrative stakes. Instead, an accident, impossible choices, and bad circumstances were at the heart of the whole show.

The show also wants us to root for Mae after she straight-up murdered a bunch of Jedi masters in cold blood in the first few episodes. That's a hard thing to ask Star Wars fans to come back from, especially when the Jedi's "crimes" were revealed, which for most of them ended up being "were present when an injustice occurred."

Qimir had so much potential as a villain and Manny Jacinto's performance almost justified the whole show's existence. Unfortunately, his introduction was fumbled. Everyone figured out very quickly that he was the mysterious master. Again, zero narrative tension.

There are a lot of good ideas in The Acolyte, and a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it fumbled a lot of those ideas and the whole thing just ended up being a mess. It is a shame because if a certain segment of the SW fandom hadn't been so hostile to it for even daring to exist, we might have seen those problems ironed out in a second season and beyond. But it'll never get that chance, and that's a shame.

I would LOVE to see more exploration of the hypocrisy of the Jedi and the imperfect nature of their philosophy. I think that's something baked into the DNA of Star Wars, especially from the prequels onward. It's a rich bit of story fuel, and it was refreshing to see a show that wasn't just crammed full of stuff to make you do the Leo point at the screen or go "I got that reference."

Two more things are also true:

The Acolyte was not a very good show

AND

It deserved the support of Star Wars fans and a second season to try and do better.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Oh my god I was thinking of potential crossovers with Dune and just remembered Aro exists. Like if you drop any other character in Arrakis you would have a very hard time to get them understand the setting but Aro can read minds with a touch. By the way what do you think happens when a vampire eats a Sandworm, which venom is stronger? Or can a Bene Gesserit or Paul survive vampire venom with their witchy powers? I am thinking a starving Carlisle tries to eat one because there is no goddamn animals in that planet and immediately regrets everything.

Aro would have a leg up in that sense and the "he is virtually indestructible sense". Though I imagine he'd be very sad on Arrakis where everyone's blood tastes like this weird blue shit (canonically, in Twilight, humans with substances in their bloodstream/medical issues are notably less appealing than others).

But onto your questions

What Happens When a Vampire Eats a Sandworm

The thing about vampires is they seem to be extremely adapted to Earth. Their main food source is human (hooray, it's plentiful) and in a pinch they can subsist off animal blood, namely the Cullens seem big on mammals so we don't know if things like fish or lizards work out for them.

An alien sandworm with completely different blood that also produces a highly toxic hallucinogenic wunder venom that lets people see the past and the future and develop psychic powers? I don't think that's even going to smell remotely edible. We're not even talking animal edible, we're talking Carlisle would try and would vomit.

So, it's not so much that the worm's venom is more powerful it's just that... whatever vampires use to process the blood they ingest (do they still have livers? the world will never know) it's probably not going to like what that is and the vampire in question is going to vomit. The same way they do when they eat other materials they're not supposed to eat.

As to whether they'd trip balls or not... Well, probably not, but we don't know. Again, vampires vomit up other substances they can't consume, and we have no mention of any ability to get drunk or in any way poison themselves. Probably because they don't have livers the way we do and use something else to process/purify their blood intake. So, my guess would be no.

Can a Bene Gesserit/Paul Survive a Vampire?

No.

The thing about vampires is they move so fast that they could kill them long before they do anything. Their shot would be in that Paul specifically could foresee it happening extremely clearly, and simply choose the actions such that it doesn't happen, and the Bene Gesserit might maybe sort of kind of be able to guess it will happen and try their best to avoid it.

If the vampire's sitting around they can try to use the voice, but this may not work on vampires, as there's a very physical aspect to it that might not sound right to a vampire's ears.

So if a vampire makes them go splat, they're going splat.

But What About Venom?

Venom's a different story and the answer is probably yes. The Bene Gesserit, and Paul as well, are highly trained to be able to psychicly purge poisons from their bodies. This is how/why Jessica survives becoming a Reverand Mother and why only Bene Gesserit survive this process. Paul is notably trained in this as well.

Given we see that the venom can be sucked out in canon by Edward, I imagine a trained Bene Gesserit would have more than enough time to be able to purge it from their bodies with minimal/no side effects.

[readerinsertsaremyguiltypleasure]

Billy Russo x Reader Fic Rec List

Here’s a little project I’ve been working on for... *checks notes* five months and I’ve finally finished it! So without further ado, here are about 20 of my favourite Billy x Reader fics (under the cut, of course). Enjoy!

Balance Between Forces by marvelmusing

Author’s summary: You can’t explain the pull you feel towards the Sith Lord, Darth Russoti. No matter where he is, you can always find him.

Rec notes: Who doesn’t love a sexually charged sword fight? Or in this case, lightsaber fight, as this is a Star Wars AU. One thing I particularly like about this fic is the “Red/Blue looks good on you” parallel, which is what made it stand out for me. Well, that and the idea of Billy as a Sith. The little picture at the top of the fic shows why that is so appealing.

The Blood We Spill by celestialspecial

Summary: The reader wants revenge against those who killed her sister… so she makes a deal.

Rec notes: A short fic, but a good one. I love the concept of demon!billy, and making him a crossroads demon just makes so much sense. Be warned, though. This fic will leave you wanting more. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a sequel in which it is time for the reader to pay up.

Bottle of Scotch by banditthewriter

Summary: The reader works for Billy and develops a habit of anonymously gifting him things. But solely because they are such good friends. Not because of any hidden feelings or anything…

Rec notes: I LOVE the friends-to-lovers trope. The pining, the sexual tension, the denial and misunderstandings… just hook it to my veins! This fic does not disappoint, which is to be expected from this writer. Fair warning, you are going to be seeing their name a lot in this list.

Cupid by banditthewriter

Author’s summary: You’re a cupid that has run into the same man a few times while you’re making matches. The only problem? That man is a reaper. A reaper that goes by the name Billy Russo. Well. Maybe it’s not too much of a problem.

Rec notes: A cupid and reaper falling in love is such an interesting concept, and I love how the writer has managed to build the world without taking anything away from the characters and their relationship. A hard thing to do in what is a relatively short fic.

Guilty of Love by marvelmusing

Summary: The reader is a detective assigned to a case of recent killings across the city. But their work has not gone unnoticed, and they find themselves a lot closer to their fugitive than expected.

Rec notes: I love how seamlessly Billy and the reader fall into a relationship in this one. Even before anything is defined and the characters themselves haven’t realised, it is obvious that they are committed to each other. This fic is also a great one if you are looking for a long story, but don’t want to read it all in one go. It’s broken up into seasons and then into small chapters that are practically one-shots. Perfect for reading on the go or just in between doing other things.

Hunger by lieutenantwilliamrusso

Summary: Billy is a vampire and the reader lets him drink from her.

Rec notes: Vampire!Billy is always great, but what sets this one apart is the ending. The first half of the fic is your typical sexy Billy with a vampire twist… but then the darkness slowly creeps in. It’s wonderfully done and has a killer last line.

Impossible Year by banditthewriter

Author’s summary: It started as a care package to a nameless soldier. What comes next is a year of letters, emails, and Skype calls that document the reader falling for a soldier on the other side of the world. 

Rec notes: This is one of my favourite Billy x Reader fics. I don’t think I can properly describe how good it is. It’s the type of fic you just can’t put down, even when you’re dead tired. And I love how it’s broken up into months. It flows nicely and the audience really gets a sense of how the reader and Billy’s relationship grows as they slowly get to know each other.

In Time by banditthewriter

Author’s summary: It’s time for the annual Purge. The reader usually hides in a bunker with Billy, Frank, Karen, and the Lieberman family. This year, things are going to get bloody.

Rec notes: This is my favourite of Bandit’s Halloween fics. And considering the high quality of the others, that is saying something. As you may have guessed from the summary, this fic is based on the idea behind the Purge movies, so be prepared for violence and a whole lot of whump. What I like about this fic is that even though the reader and Billy spend very little time together, there is always something linking them, be it phone calls, Rawlins using the reader to get to Billy, or just internal angst and pining. It’s brilliantly done.

Look After You by banditthewriter

Summary: The reader and friends – including one Billy Russo – spend various nights at a karaoke bar. You know where this is going.

Rec notes: I just had to have a singing one in here. With Ben Barnes’ voice, how could I not? Sometimes karaoke love confessions can be really cheesy… okay, they are always cheesy, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be great as well. This fic is the perfect mix of fun and emotion and the ending never fails to make me smile.

Misdial; Redial by banditthewriter

Prompt/Author’s summary: Wrong Number AU: Reader is going through hard times and her friend gives her number to a guy who usually helps veterans but won’t say no to a civilian. But instead of talking with a polite man named Curtis she ends up texting with a guy named Billy who’s incredibly witty, funny and maybe gets attached to her but doesn’t want to show his face

Rec notes: This is another one of my favourites. It’s long for one chapter (17k words) but it’s such a great read, you won’t want to stop. There’s a lot of past trauma to deal with in this fic, both the reader’s and Billy’s, and the writer handles it all brilliantly and sprinkles plenty of lighter moments throughout the story, highlighting the reader regaining control of her life and getting to a better place.

New Year Celebrations by marvelmusing

Summary: Billy had never cared too much about celebrating the New Year. Until he met you, that is.

Rec notes: This little ficlet is so fluffy I wanna die! It’s sure to leave a smile on your face.

Play It By Ear by banditthewriter

Summary: The reader is a music tutor and one of her favourite pupils just happens to have a very attractive dad.

Rec notes: Kid!fic is not usually my thing, but I think the reason I like this one is because it isn’t the reader’s kid. Billy is a single dad and the kid is a teen by the time they meet the reader, so, as someone who is not very maternal, it makes it easier to relate to the reader. Another benefit is that we have skipped all the “I don’t know how to be a dad” angst and gotten straight to how Billy was with Lisa and Frank Jr. Okay, there’s still a little bit of “I don’t know how to be a dad” angst, but I think that’s just a normal part of parenting.

Set it Up, Knock it Down by banditthewriter

Prompt/Author’s summary: The reader is friends with Frank and he asks her if she has any friends they could set Billy up with. She isn’t close to Billy but she finds him attractive, and at first it doesn’t bother her to set him up but during the process they grow feelings for each other.

Rec notes: “You wanted me to set you up with someone but now I’ve caught feelings and can’t do it anymore”. It’s a classic. And I love the little bits from Frank’s point of view.

Show Me by banditthewriter

Summary: The reader is a virgin and is ready to take that next step with Billy.

Rec notes: It may be an unrealistic fantasy, but I love fics where the reader is an older virgin (or at least can be read that way) and their S.O. not only doesn’t judge them, but makes it their mission to ensure their first time is good. And I particularly like this fic because it doesn’t treat the reader like someone who needs to be taught, and despite the focus being on the reader, there is definitely mutual pleasure shared by the two characters.

Take Charge by banditthewriter

Prompt/Author’s summary: Billy gets into a heated fight in front of the reader. The reader is really diplomatic and she is the only one that can calm him down.

Rec notes: Billy is the perfect character for these kinds of fics. It is so in character for him to go past protective and into vengeful, which makes it all the more satisfying to see the reader calm him down. Add in Billy getting turned on by the reader taking charge of the situation, and you have yourself a great little fic.

Teeth by sincerelyreinhardt

Author’s summary: You’re his and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Rec notes: A very short fic (162 words) but it captures Billy’s character well.

Trials & Tribulations by marvelmusing

Summary: The reader is Anvil’s marketing director. It doesn’t take long to fall head over heels for the CEO.

Rec notes: This series is different because it’s not just fic. There are also moodboards, text message screenshots, and other visuals that make up the whole story. The series is set up into three parts, one for each phase of the relationship (colleagues, friends, dating), so it’s easy to follow even with all the different formats.

Two For One by banditthewriter

Summary: The reader is “asked” out on a date by a douchebag who can’t take no for an answer, so Frank and Billy show up to set the guy straight.

Rec notes: No actual violence in this one, so it’s pretty tame as far as protective!Billy fics go, but honestly, that’s kind of the appeal. It’s a nice fantasy solution to a problem that far too many women can relate to, even if not quite to this level of creepiness. Other fic highlights include protective-big-brother-Frank, Karen being Karen, and Billy demonstrating a much smoother (and less creepy) way to ask the reader out.

Who’s Going Home With You Tonight? by banditthewriter

Summary: Billy loves reader. Reader loves Billy. But of course neither of them realise it. Billy’s solution is to drown out his feelings by sleeping with as many women as possible, not knowing how much it is hurting the reader.

Rec notes: This fic is perfect for when I’m in an angsty mood. It dives straight into it and slowly builds throughout the short fic until you get to the satisfying resolution and happy ending. It also has drunk!Billy, which is always fun to read.

[ophernelia]

Hi. Do you have any tips on how to grow your sims platforms? I keep tryig and posting and I hardly get any interactions or followers. Idk what to do. I wish bigger creators would help out smaller ones more by reposting the content so it gets more views. Its so hard starting out

Hey! Yeah, I have a few tips I can share! This is gonna be long so beware!

I keep seeing this sentiment reiterated about larger creators. I get it, but I think everyone's missing one thing in regards to it: you already have access to the same audience they have. Just like you they grew their platform. Maybe it was a stroke of luck from a viral post or something, but they still had to start somewhere. What it takes is getting your content to hit the algorithm. That's all! So even if a larger creator never looks your way, you can still grow and curate an audience without their help. Small accounts are what make up big accounts after all.

You NEED good SEO. I'll talk about TikTok specifically. If you want a boost in visibility then get on Tik Tok. Properly tagging your content is the key to working the algorithm in your favor. I think people believe the more tags the better. No. The more accurately tagged, the better. The hashtags "TS4", "The Sims", and "The Sims 4" are always trending. You should always use those tags. The rest depends on the kind of content you're posting. I'll use my most viral video as an example. My Stormveil Chateau post on Tik Tok got 141.6K views, 22.3K likes. Since it was for a maxis match build I used the following tags: #thesims4 #sims4 #ts4 #simstok #ts4cc #fyp #sim #sims4tok #sims4maxismatch #sims4build #sims4builds #ts4build #ts4gameplay. Most of the tags are related to TS4 and TS4 builds. I wouldn't include anything about CAS, mods, etc. It wouldn't fit the post. Don't flood other tags in hopes of getting more views. It'll just bury your post under a bunch of random content. People have to be able to find your content.

Visually appealing content performs better, period. Y'all give the aesthetic girls hell but they know a thing or two about working the algorithm. I'll give them that! People like things that look nice. Now, that's not to say you need to purge all the color or character from your game. You don't have to follow a certain style trend. Curate your own personal style. Do what you do to the best of your ability. Whatever you post, just make sure it's good quality. Focus on sharpness, clarity, etc. If you wanna curate a particular look then go for it! But most importantly, having clear clean images or videos is the main thing you need. And you don't need a beast of a PC to do it. Sharpen your images and videos before you upload them using Capcut or something. Make sure the lighting is nice. Make sure it's a good resolution for the platform you're posting on. A quick tip: Adding dof to lower quality images makes it look better! See how the left photo looks more clear than the right? A little bit of depth of field helps so the pictures don't fall flat.

Pick a primary social to promote your secondary ones. Usually your primary social may be the one where you have your largest audience. For me, it was Tik Tok. On there I'd promote my Patreon, YouTube, and Tumblr. You just released some cc? Post something about it on Tik Tok, let your audience know they can find it on your Tumblr. Use one to promote the others.

Slow organic growth is STILL growth. Growing your audience is one beast, but maintaining it is a whole other thing. As someone who has gotten shout outs from larger creators, that initial boost ALWAYS dies down. And socials like YouTube will not hesitate to tell you "Hey boo, your shit's failing now. You kinda suck." Been there, felt that. Boosts from other creators and giveaways don't have much longevity. Most times that audience will leave. On occasion you may get a few who stick around, but most won't. That's why it's important to build your audience organically. Yes, it may take longer but they won't just dip out after a few weeks. Things take time to grow. Things take time to curate. Understand you are BUILDING something. It takes time!

And lastly- if you just really want the numbers and it doesn't matter what content you post, then here's what you do: Sell. Still use good SEO, still try to have high quality photos, but give people something to consume. People like to see what they can get. Post some builds, cc, whatever. If you're not a cc creator, then do cc finds, mod reviews, tutorials, build recommendations, lookbooks. People love a good cc haul. They wanna see what they can get. And that's not to say people that make this sort of content don't care about their content. I know they do and it's a lot of work! It still takes time and effort to curate. It's just HOT right now! Especially maxis match content. It ruffles less feathers because a wide array of the Sims community has a vicious vendetta against alpha cc. (Yeah ion know. They will "uncanny valley" and "just play IMVU' you to death. If I say what I think it is.. My people know.) But if you really just want thousands of followers, then there's a way to do it.

With all that said, I know how annoying it is to constantly hear to not focus on numbers but don't. CREATE FOR CREATION'S SAKE. Do it only because you enjoy it. Growth for me has come as a byproduct of me doing whatever the hell I wanted. I make Lykaia because I want to make Lykaia. I love that people love it but it is for me. Not to be an influencer, or to inspire, or to receive praise and accolades. I love everything about the process. Hell, I love the stress that comes with it! I have four scenes to film and I'm still not done editing the ones I have filmed. The episode is supposed to air on MONDAY. I fucking love working down to wire. It's stressful as hell but it feels good! If it's out there, the audience will soon follow. Always. Take your time. Be grateful for where you're at every step of the way. Enjoy the process! And remember that all it takes is one post to take off.

[darkmaga-retard]

And now a bit of good news consisting of a backward step after two forward:

The Process of Overturning the January 6 “Insurrectionist” Convictions Has Begun

Did you see this story reported in the whore American media?

Paul Craig Roberts

Last summer the US Supreme Court in Fischer v. United States overturned the key element in the Justice (sic) Department’s prosecutions of American patriots who attended the Trump rally and were accused of insurrection. The Supreme Court said that the prosecutors misinterpreted the law in a way that “would criminalize a broad swath of prosaic conduct, exposing activists and lobbyists alike to decades in prison.”

You can ask yourself whether these “prosecutors” are all incompetent DEI appointees or whether they are active agents selected for the purpose of purging and intimidating patriotic conservative Republicans, especially white ones.

As I reported at the time, the Supreme Court ruling exposed the DOJ to its illegitimate convictions being overturned.

The overturning has begun. A few days ago on September 9 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out convictions for “obstructing an official proceeding,” a charge brought by an incompetent or corrupt Justice (sic) Department against American citizens who walked in file escorted by police around the Capitol building. The American whore media presented these Americans as “dangerous insurrectionists who threatened democracy,” and in this way built the case in the public’s mind (and the jurors’ minds) for conviction of innocent people whose rights were violated.