#bc what defines a criminal what defines a bad person etc etc

[the-acid-pear]

Devil on my shoulder tells me to make more frog serial killers . I just want to make dudes who suck ass so bad . . .

[mikami]

Hello! Why do you think L wished Kira the death penalty? I mean, if we view it in terms of Death Note being a fictional story, it can be explained by practical reasons: authors needed us to know that everything is at stake, it's either everything or nothing + L and Light's rivalry would be unbalanced if only Light was aiming to kill the other.

But if we look at it from the point of L's character? Isn't it somehow hypocritical of him? It's like "Kira kills criminals. It's wrong. Kira is a criminal. When we catch him we kill him". I also thought that maybe he just hated Light in particular and wished him to die bc he didn't like him, but he says he will give Kira a death sentence before they even meet, so it's not about personal dislike. (Also, he doesn't mention anything about killing Misa, but i suppose he would sentence her to death too? I mean, if he could).

I just want to hear your thoughts about L's attitude towards death penalty, criminals, morals etc.

Oh, L is absolutely pro death penalty.

Death Note has never been a negotiation of "is the death penalty good or bad?". Japan as a country still has capital punishment - none of the characters in the manga are really anti death pentalty.

It's not about "killing criminals is bad".

It's not even really about "letting a single individual person control the fate of the people on a large scale is bad". L is another example of this, after all, not a counter-position.

For L, it really is about ego.

Light is challenging his position. HE is the one who unlawfully gets to decide way more about criminal judgment than any single person should have a right to. HE is the one who gets to define what justice means. That's what "I am justice" is about. It's about the power to define this value - not the value as its own thing.

Kira is infringing on L's territory and he wants him to go down for it.

L has fairly little moral investment in the case. Like yeah, killing people is bad, sure, but he's also ready to let more people die if it will give him evidence, he'll use prisoners as guinea pigs....

L is not a morally driven character. He's not even moral.

But also!!

There is a very significant moral difference between "I was sentenced to death in a court of law after having my case reviewed by several attorneys" and "some random-ass teenager decided he's the final arbiter and murdered me on the spot."

Soichiro Yagami is not anti death penalty. But he is very much morally anti Kira. Because this distinction exists and is MASSIVE.

I oppose capital punishment completely, but I oppose 'literally just randomly murdering people without due process' more.

[bloodbenderz]

Can I ask what your season 1 Lok reboot looks like?

this is about 3k words i checked lmfao dont say i didnt warn u

a key part of the whole thing is that korra gets way more perspectives and more experiences representative of like, normal people in republic city bc i think something that really defined what a good avatar aang was was how many people he met and got to know and how he didnt exclusively or even mostly associate w cops and bureaucrats and leaders. so mako and bolin. well first of all their backstories are a little more fleshed out and we get a less black and white view of the “triads” (lol) and mako and bolin’s experiences w them. cuz the show very much does the whole thing of like Criminals Bad but dont worry even tho mako and bolin did commit crimes theyre not Criminals!! so just a little more nuance on the alleged gang problem and the poverty in the city

korra does start out very naive w very black and white ideas (ex. “you guys are CRIMINALS?”) i think a really good way of developing her away from her sheltered naive worldview is putting her in whats clearly an incredibly complicated city w an absolute cesspool of political conflicts, ethnic tensions, the lasting effects of colonization, etc and having her try and understand the needs of “the people” in a more complicated way than “i have to save the good guys from the bad guys” ykwim? and i think the absolute WORST way to do that is what they did. bc we get mako and bolin who could contribute genuinely compelling thematic elements to the story: one parent who was indigenous and one who was from a colonizer background in the decades directly following the end of the war, kids who grew up in poverty apparently without any familial support, and who now are trying to be “respectable” members of society (especially mako). and then most of that is pretty much tossed aside bc asami swoops in w her capitalist dad and her piles of money and the class issue is just never talked about again.

so the way i’d fix all that is like. introducing more, like, normal people. some nonbenders, more workers, more immigrants, etc, to show what daily life is actually like for people. because. we dont know! we dont have any context about whether the nonbender oppression thing is actually an issue bc we dont KNOW any nonbenders with normal lives! and spoiler: the nonbender oppression thing is not an issue. bc it doesnt make historical sense. lok is set 7 decades after the end of the war. that is not by ANY stretch of the imagination long enough to heal from the scars of imperialism, ESPECIALLY not when lok is also set in a settler colonial state. like that fact should have featured PROMINENTLY in the political and social setting! realistically, nonbenders arent an oppressed class, earth and water nation people are, regardless of bending status! as in all settler colonial states, the colonizers and their descendants (in this case fire nation people) retain most of the financial and political capital, leaving the colonized and racialized immigrants (in this case earth kingdom and water tribe people respectively) generally impoverished and politically suppressed. like aside from the fact that theres no way toph would have become a cop, it’s so ridiculous to think that an established privileged class of fire nation colonizers would EVER accept being policed by earthbenders!

imagine how much more nuanced and interesting it would be to set republic city as a remnant of a colonial past still fraught w the violence and tension that colonialism and the associated ideology imposed?? instead of some vague ideas of criminal who wear 1920s outfits and harass shopkeepers think about why extralegal and violent groups like that might form! earth kingdom people trying to push for the reclamation of their land? ethnic groups protecting themselves against corrupt cops? ESPECIALLY w the history that the fire nation has of SPECIFICALLY jailing and killing earthbenders and waterbenders BECAUSE of the potential they have to resist against fire nation imperialism like it just makes no sense at all that earthbenders would be privileged on land that, 70 years ago, they would have been imprisoned on! like these various paramilitary groups falling along these different ideological or ethnic lines, fire nation or earth kingdom or water tribe, pro colonization or anti colonization, pro cop or anti cop, pro immigrant or anti immigrant, and then you juxtapose that w depictions of a govt thats failing to keep this all under control w tenzin trying desperately to keep it together despite the fact that it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the state has no interest in taking the conflicts seriously and would rather just point vague fingers at criminals and gangs? and THEN you bring in korra, who has no idea about any of this and thinks that all its gonna take is kicking some ass every couple days, meeting normal people who offer all kinds of different opinions abt the efficacy of the state and the different violent or nonviolent groups and ideologies clashing in the city and the way all this shit is affecting people’s lives and livelihoods and relationships w other citizens??

theres so much good shit there so many incredible things u could do w that like Where do we go after colonial atrocities? is it possible for a settler colonial state to take revolutionary or indigenous ideas seriously? is liberal reform enough in a state like this? and then all the growth that korra could do going from a simple black and white life about mastering the elements to this messy complicated sociopolitical knot of a city? and all the different kinds of characters u could introduce in this city? like why would u EVER think that the most interesting characters that this story has to offer is a police chief a congressman and a billionaire????

but anyways. that’s what the Setting of my idealized version of lok is. as for the actual plot, it is as follows

it starts out similarly as the show. republic city is MUCH more fraught w political tension and violence and korra knows this but assumes that it’s just a matter of throwing a few gang leaders and corrupt officials in jail. tenzin manages to come see them in the south pole and intends give korra real lessons while he’s there but they receive news of a terrorist attack in republic city only a few days after he gets there so his family has to pack up and leave again.

korra stows away to republic city (katara catches her leaving and gives her blessing im a SUCKER for that moment). she does have a hard time adjusting but she doesn’t do what she did in the show lol the first person she meets in the city is this older woman who works on the docks, directs her to a place where she can eat and gives her a roof to sleep under for the first night. so korra’s first exposure to republic city is just about forming connections w ordinary people like ship workers and a family owned restaurant and people practicing their bending in the park. and by the time she reaches air temple island a day or so later her head is spinning w all this new information and the way that nothing is really what she expected it to be. tenzin gives her his own perspective on everything and pema gives her her own perspective on everything and even those two seem wildly different from all the people she’s already met. and so korra starts to get a kind of outline of the conflicts plaguing the city as extremely complex and a lot more influenced by older ideas of fire nation imperialism and earth kingdom land reclamation than she had any idea about.

mako and bolin are still pro benders but not like. super famous like they are in the show. korra’s picked up a couple friends by now and one of them takes her to a gym where a lot of amateur pro bending (is that an oxymoron? lol) matches happen and thats how she meets mako and bolin and joins their pro bending team. Unfortunately for korra, this gym is run by lin beifong, and also has the distinction of being one of the most notoriously anti settler state organizations in the country. lin beifong is NOT a cop but she runs this gym (and the pro bending league) as a way to offer support to local earth kingdom/water tribe youth, teach self defense skills, a center of community organizing, and sometimes to act as a front to hide revolutionary/combat organizing against the pro fire nation paramilitaries/police force. tenzin is DISTRAUGHT that korra does this and this is where the friction btwn them comes from bc (from tenzin’s perspective) she does things like this without thinking or even fully understanding the context behind them and tenzin will have to deal w the political fallout of the avatar openly aligning herself w a very divisive figure in the community and (from korra’s perspective) tenzin is too unwilling to take sides in a conflict that’s claiming lives and when the state is clearly not taking sufficient steps to protect people well then why the hell shouldnt she align herself w lin beifong, who IS taking steps to protect and support people?

as korra more fully integrates herself into the city and learns more abt how different people think abt everything going on this is where the real exposition abt the equalists begins. they’re a paramilitary group w an ideology thats gaining increasing support among middle/upper class fire nation people, esp nonbenders. on the face theyre abt putting checks on “bender oppression” but really it’s an excuse to persecute and surveil earthbenders waterbenders and airbenders, bc fire nation people have all this leftover fear about benders who arent fire nation Rising Up Against them and these people who r using their Savage Excuse for Bending to terrorize good innocent (fire nation) people. theres all too frequent terrorist attacks that the equalists claim credit for mostly against monuments to earth/water/air nation people and earth/water nation community centers (one like it was the event that forced tenzin back to republic city) but also like the govt doesnt take a lot of these seriously or if they do only a couple people are charged without doing damage to the entire organization

this is also around the time that they meet asami and she becomes part of their friend group. asami likes pro bending but her dad HATES it so she sneaks out to watch matches at lin beifong’s gym (korra says ironically like don’t u know how ~divisive~ that is and asami answers that the only reason its Not divisive is that gyms like beifongs are the only place where nobody recognizes her). and asami alongside korra is also kind of developing a more nuanced perspective on the city that she lives in cuz obviously the only worldview she’s ever been exposed to is her father’s right? and she keeps pushing it off making excuses not to bring mako and bolin and korra around to her house or even not to be seen w them in certain neighborhoods until they call her on it and she’s like Well honestly my dad might do something awful to u! and i dont wanna risk it!

and as time goes on we see more abt asami’s home life like her father’s hyper conservative politics and asami keeps these secrets abt her hobbies and her friends from him but she’s still clearly under his influence and mako bolin and korra r getting increasingly worried abt it cuz like...asami seems to tend to make excuses for him so that she wont have to be drawn into conflict and originally they think its just her being privileged and thats def part of it but the more they find out abt it the more they realize what a tight fucking grip he has on her and the way that like. asami sneaking out once or twice a week is the Only thing she does for herself. and it really starts freaking them out how influential this billionaire is and all the information theyre getting from asami abt what a piece of shit he clearly is. and so that whole plot thing comes about and shows us how deeply embedded these “equalist” ideas are in conservative republic city politics and how much influence theyre actually having in policy making and law enforcement.

asami suffers in the aftermath of this like being forced to truly confront the harm her father is doing both to the city and to herself. and she ends up leaving home when this discovery really breaks. but bc of the deep corruption in govt and police sato isn’t really....dealt with? like this big story breaks and everyones like Oh, My God! Hiroshi Sato Is Funding An Illegal Paramilitary Group! and theres all kinds of inane political discourse about it and he’s arrested but he bails himself out immediately and his finances are examined but he maintains control over them and after a few weeks the gang (bc they Have become close among all this w much less interpersonal drama lol) has to admit that this news story hasnt done what they thought it was going to it hasn’t dealt the equalists a real hit its just given them a very high profile ally

and this is when things really start to ramp up in terms of action like up until now korra’s daily activities are mostly like hanging around in the city w her friends  (which in part entails doing little avatar stuff that people dont feel comfortable going to police with, like Can you help me my ex husband wont pay child support or Please help i got robbed and i really needed that money for rent next month or Help my son keeps skipping school can you talk to him cuz im worried abt him being safe and doing well in school) and pro bending and airbending lessons (which i know ive neglected this part of the story in terms of her whole spiritual/physical conflict but it’s more of a subtle thing like it’s one of tenzin and korra’s more frequent arguments like tenzin says she needs to focus on spirituality and korra asks why she even needs to bc republic city is a sociopolitical problem not a spiritual one) but now the equalist threat seems to really be looming on every level of society like the storyline of equalists preventing pro bending matches happens here and everyones just at a total loss of what to do next. plus increasing and scary rhetoric about tenzin and his family that destroying the last airbenders is necessary to preserving the integrity of the united republic

and so theres the equalist takeover of the city. the people who are mostly resisting this are lin and ragtag group of people who have been resisting colonial rule for a long time (including suyin, who is part of a communist anti colonial community outside the city, because i said so and i think it would be fun), people who have been visiting her gym for years, members of her amateur pro bending league, plus asami and korra and tenzin. korra and tenzin have a sweet moment (bc they do genuinely care abt each other a lot even if their relationship has been marked w a lot of tension and arguing) where tenzin says like you know i think that ive lost focus on the kind of spirituality that might actually help you. korra says what do you mean? and tenzin kind of gestures to where theyre sitting with people buzzing around organizing to take care of innocents and civilians and to fight the equalists and he says this is a kind of spiritual too, isnt it?

and something something plot plot blah blah i havent decided on the details of the plot climax yet but that’s the climax of korra’s character development and what helps her connect w her spiritual side in order to protect the city: the realization that community is its own kind of spirituality. and it kind of represents the real development that i want her to have going from somebody who thinks that the world is divided into criminals and victims and she has to save the victims Into the kind of avatar who understands the people that she’s bound to serve. she becomes an avatar of the people!

and then happy ending lol korra and asami get together lin and tenzin reconcile after years of being at odds the show ends on a hopeful note that the inhabitants of republic city and the united republic as a whole Can move on from the scars of colonialism by reckoning w the remnants of fire nation colonial ideology and reparations to the earth kingdom people whose land this is and destruction of colonial systems that have maintained and enforced colonial violence all these years

[yaminoopera]

I posted 15,061 times in 2021

579 posts created (4%)

14482 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 25.0 posts.

I added 586 tags in 2021

#save - 170 posts

#dsmp - 65 posts

#/lh - 64 posts

#dream smp - 63 posts

#ultra save - 49 posts

#writing - 44 posts

#deltarune - 38 posts

#/j - 33 posts

#fandom save - 31 posts

#ranboo - 29 posts

Longest Tag: 90 characters

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My Top Posts in 2021

#5

THIS IS NOT DREAM SMP THIS IS DREAM'S SMP

230 notes • Posted 2021-09-24 17:29:55 GMT

#4

Something that I love about the editor arg and that people never mention is how pathetic and sad it was. It wasn't about murder, it wasn't about aliens or ghosts, it wasn't about a cult or a conspiracy theory, it wasn't about a secret group or a mob, it was just a guy who did something embarrassing.

Most of it relied on heavy coding and deciphering instead of riddles, "worldbuilding" clues etc. There wasn't even a defined aesthetic or tone. There wasn't worldbuilding. It was just a dude in London. It was realistic and that's what makes "understanding your new position as a king" or the first ever video so chilling and, in a way, more disturbing than a ghost story or a criminal case. It didn't started with a cryptic photo or a weird message, it was a goofy email, light-hearted, funny. It was made of medias that we know (Poe, Crywank...) And that could be the interest of a normal person. Argbur was an extremely realistic character, both as a portrait of paranoia and just. Being a guy. Who likes things. And has friends. And had a traumatic event happening to him. Period.

387 notes • Posted 2021-11-11 17:09:23 GMT

#3

The Dream SMP but if Netflix adapted and butchered it :

There is no pet war or no pre-revolution era. It starts with some dramatic plan of Wilbur on the OG walls singing the anthem to the sun for no reason. The whole "drug van" thing is replaced by "van were Wilbur lived with Sally before her death" bc Sally is some hot redhead human here.

Sapnap is a manly hot guy "anything for the homies" type of man. George is super weird and apathetic and soft and he is the villain sideckik who don't like the villain's plan but follow bc he admire the villain himself and want for him to have a redemption arc.

The SBI are canon and called like this for fanservice except it's Tubbo and not Techno.

Tubbo is now taller and he is a cool "buff farmer with a soft personality" kind of guy. Tommy is a Chad. Tubbo is only his sidecick.

Eret's redemption arc happens in 3sec and her betrayal is only used as a "plot upgrade" point. Wilbur's spiral into insanity is represented in the most cliché way possible. Quackity is whitewashed as hell but is still a Mexican Drug dealer stereotype who harass girls and boys bc bad representation why not.

Names are changed for becoming more "serious". Coconut2020, Swag2020, Pog2020 and Pogtopia become Abrasion2020, The Just Cost, Founders Fathers and Two-man-land.

Niki has a huge crush on Wilbur who don't love her but see Sally's ghost instead of her. Be wants to overthrow Manberg for saving her but slowly realize that he dont love her. Niki end up with Jack Manifold at the end.

Schlatt is now in his 20s and Quackity is only his "vermine sidecick". Tubbo's excuse for leaving is an imaginary girlfriend.

Tommy has a huge crush on Drista but she is the devil and from his enemy's family, so he finally renounce to her in peace but still misses her.

Wilbur and Philza hate eachoter. Techno is not morally grey, he is Satan's spawn that refused to be redeemed when Tommy gave him a chance and is portrayed as evil for betraying them.

Ranboo is writed with accidental DID and his lore is all about cool visuals with no meaning. The End quest Is saw as a cliché identity quest. Oh, and Ranboo is just a tall white boy with split hair and dapper clothes who lives alone in his cold manor bc he is a rich boi. Michael is his little brother and he has a very brotherly relationship w/ Tubbo when they add "bro" at the end of all phrases bc nooo not gay.

Punz is a cis man who get girls. Ponk is a black token. Skeppy is whitewashed. BBH is a comedic relief. Hannah is a femme fatale and is w/ Antfrost. Velvet do not fucking exist. Puffy is Foolish's sister. Fundy is a cis women bc "representation". Purpled is the jarred teenager comic relief who never look beside his smartphone. Slime is Sheldon Cooper but without bones.

The disc finale do not involve Tubbo more than a damsel in distress type shit. DreamXD do not exist. Sam is human. Foolish is a hot guy with some fake Egyptian clothes and is a comic relief. Tubbo's PTSD of fireworks show once for plot convenience. The prison look like a normal prison. Sam Nook is the little robot assistant type comic relief that everyone loves. Tommy's exile is more focused on the wildlife and physical change than on his psychology. Ghostbur became a tortured angsty character who lives alone in his library and scare everyone.

826 notes • Posted 2021-09-01 22:09:45 GMT

#2

So I'm very sick and semi awake but this came to me in a semi conscious state. I need to sleep but I'm too feverous lmao.

1839 notes • Posted 2021-09-18 08:02:25 GMT

#1

mangoball is actually a fandom commentary on how distorted our perfecption of ccs is and how people feels the needs to attributes rôles and archetypes to real persons. In thos essay i will-

1890 notes • Posted 2021-12-02 18:54:09 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[fekst-fucker]

Okay but Habit, EJ, Masky, and Hoody with a s/o that loves and follows cartoons! They collect DVD sets and merch, they try to catch the episodes on tv, etc! :DD

Ok listen. I hate those “write about a tv show that impacted you!” bc NO show has had an impact on me EXCEPT for the Amazing World of Gumball. So people are saying shit like “Dexter” “Criminal Minds” “Breaking Bad” n I have to say “ᴬ ᶜᵃʳᵗᵒᵒⁿ ᴺᵉᵗʷᵒʳᵏ ᶜᵃʳᵗᵒᵒⁿ”

Habit

- While supportive of you and your hobbies, he’s also gonna be a dick about it

- Like yeah he’s gonna get the best cable he can so you can watch your shows, he’s gonna just happen to run into merch from the show that he takes and gives to you, and he’s gonna shuts his associates up if they’re over and make an off-handed comment about you watching the show or all the paraphernalia around the house, but he’s also gonna come into the living room while you’re watching your show and go “heh. You’re watching your kid shit again”

- And then accidentally get sucked into watching it. He’s so busy and driven all the time that as soon as he encounters something low energy (like watching tv) he just kinda shuts down

- Like he falls asleep next to you on the couch all the time. It’s gotten to the point where if he’s tired he’ll mumble “put the show on” and just collapse next to you

Eyeless Jack

- Honestly it’s been a long long time since Jack has watched TV. Especially cartoons. Being reminded that he can’t see color bums him out

- He really only interacted with horror movies, maybe scarier cartoons or animated film like Courage the Cowardly Dog or films like Coraline

- And that’s.… not really what you watch. At least, it’s not the defining genre that you watch

- But Jack loves getting you gifts! They’re an easy, sweet way to show love, and you having a super clear hobby is useful to him. He’s a lil oblivious (not his fault!!) so he struggles with picking up hints

- But this is easy for him! He brings you cute little figurines or clothes, and keeps an eye on your collectibles to see what you still need and what you already have

- He doesn’t really watch tv with you. He’s more one to just be in the same space doing something else, like reading or just laying over you. It’s his quality chillax time

Hoodie

- I mean, he collected stuff when he was a kid, and of course he watched stuff on tv, but he was never super invested

- He’s pretty neutral to your tv habits. He doesn’t actively watch anything with you- maybe if there’s a remake of a classic show he’ll pop in for a minute or two- but he’s really not of a cartoon person

- Honestly?? He’s a true crime guy. Syfy and ID are his go-to channels

- Yes, he still has cable tv. Why do all of these guys still live in the early 2000s

- So he makes sure to get you any channels you might need to watch your cartoons (through piracy babey) and also holds up a Netflix and Hulu subscription (also through piracy babey!!!!)

- If you need a Disney plus channel. If you HAVE to have it. He will reluctantly get it for you

- Grumbling the whole time about how stupid it is that they own Hulu and now they needed another streaming platform and why is it seven dollars and they’re gonna raise it anyway

- Why are you complaining dude you don’t pay for any of the services anyway!

- Speaking of he 100% steals the most merch for you. He’s accidentally gotten you doubles and even triples of what you have

Masky

- If this poor man has to watch one more episode of Adventure Time or, like, Regular Show

- Jeff and Ben would leave it on all day long. They wouldn’t even watch it. But as soon as Tim came in to turn it off they’d do the “hEy WhAt ThE hElL wE’Re WaTcHiNg tHaT”

- But he does everything he can to make you happy, so if those kind of shows are your jam, he lets you be. Even if you want him in the room, he’ll stay with you

- He’ll just be doing something else, like reading or going over bills or other paperwork involving… whatever’s going on in the mansion

- He also has headphones in to tune it out, so it’s useless to try and involve him in the jokes on TV. So now you, Jeff, and Ben all have inside jokes, but Tim is so stubborn about not watching “kid’s shows” that he just submits to being out of the loop

- If you want to involve him more with cartoons, you have to show him that it’s not just a kid’s medium. Get him to watch Midnight Gospel or something, it’s not his vibe but it’s a start

[numbaoneflaya]

Would've sent this earlier but I burnt the fuck outta my hand. Can I get past 10, present 6, 8, 12, and future 1 for Jilly ; past 5, 12 present 5, 14 and future 9 for Riley ; past 3, 10 present 9, 14 and future 1 for Mike : and past 5, present 1, 5, 10 and future 10 for Caz? Feel free to pick and choose bc it's a lot 😭

FINALLY GOT THIS DONE MC CRISPY HAND <3

Jilly-

Past 10:What did they dream of doing when they grew up? How and why did it change, if it did?

-She wanted to be a veterinarian growing up and a star athlete and a princess. She changed her mind on veterinarian bcs you need to know science and shit for that and she's :/ at science and math, and also doesn’t handle animal death well enough to be professional. Decided against athlete when her parents told her they have to go through all kinds of tests and have hormone levels measured and be studied. Still kind of lowkey hoping for the princess thing.

Present 6:What is their current relationship with their family?

-She pretty much never sees them ever and only receives the occasional call where she lies to them about what she's doing and who she's with. They think she's in school still with a good christian boyfriend etc etc. There's gonna be hell to pay when they realize she got kicked out of school and come to visit :/

Present 8:What hobby or pastime of theirs do they consider most important to them and why?

Scootering, wrestling, running and climbing mostly. Anything that lets her get energy out playfully. And bracelet making! For her frens.

Present 12: If someone mentioned their name to someone else, what would they immediately think of (i.e. defining characteristic, appearance- or personality-wise)?

Probably something along the lines of “oh, that girl in the Hawaiian shirt and heelies?” or “that really rambunctious but nice chick I saw fall out of a tree three times last week” or if they know then she's probably just gonna be. Ferret girl.

Future 1: Briefly describe their life in the future, regardless of how far into the future this is.

GOOD END: Jillys birthday- is comfortable at home, on the couch on vinceys lap wagging her tail. Her friends are all there and they are opening presents and shouting. There is confetti and a huge birthday cake and they all get wasted and cause problems for fun.

BAD END: Jilly has been eaten or she is in the basement. Or she has been hit by a car while chasing a chipmunk

Riley-

Past 5:Where did they grow up? What was it like? Were they happy there?

He grew up in Hammerfell with his parents and sister until he was 9 and had a good childhood until that point- He was kind of made fun of by other kids for being shorter and scrawnier but his sister always stood up for him. They were a pretty traditional family except for his magic use, which they tried to keep under wraps. After the undead incident and everything he only stayed around the neighbors until he could leave on his own at 16, when he considered his childhood ended.

Past 12: What are some of their biggest regrets?

Not helping to fight the undead during the incident, not waiting for Espiras letters back longer, not saying goodbye to the family that took care of him before he left. Regrets some of the times he was in heists over his head and got people killed, or having to kill the bounty hunters sent after him. Tries not to dwell on anything though, always thinking of the future and the present.

Present 5:What kind of people do they usually interact with? Who are their friends, the people they look up to/trust, and who are their “associates”?

Hes usually drawn to the flamboyant and the criminal, the dangerous and the bold. This is how he sees himself so he likes to be around others who are like him. He likes anyone whos up for good fun and who isn't afraid to break the rules- outcasts, rebels, etc. Just not the murdery type or the poorly dressed.

Present 14: What matters most to them right now?

Hes having somewhat of a crisis of whats most important to him in the present skyrim timeline. What WAS most important to him was his research and his gold and becoming famous, discovering new heights of magic and history. And of course his rats. And then he gets caught up with Dragonborn world ending business and of course thats important, fine. And then His older sister is alive and back and he cares about her now and then Laz damnit fine and of course the whole world is ending but hes supposed to be selfish and care about himself! And his research! And his rats! Probably the rats.

Future 9: How do they feel about getting older and eventually dying?

Absolutely terrified :/ he cant think of anything worse than getting feeble and losing his powers and looks. Aging scares him, he cant imagine his face with wrinkles. Death scares him as well though he tries to laugh it off, mostly because he has no idea where hes going once he dies. Redguard religion says necromancers dont go anywhere good, so he guesses hell just try and schmooze his way into a cozy afterlife. Not looking forward to it though.

Mike-

Past 3:Describe their family. Who raised them, and who had the most impact on them? Did they have any siblings? Who were they closest to? What were the family dynamics like?

Im thiiiiiinking she grew up in a pretty average lower middle class household. Has an older sister and a younger sister, so shes a middle child and I guess that explains a lot about her. Her dad went to prison for armed robbery and assault when she was 16, the same time her older sister moved out and lost contact. Now they're all kinda separated and Mike thinks that's for the best because of the vamp thing, though she does miss them sometimes.

Past 10: What did they dream of doing when they grew up? How and why did it change, if it did?

She always wanted to be a rockstar, be in a band and make it big and travel the road. She plays the drums and got in a band with Ciggy (childhood friend) and some others after highschool for a while, but it never worked out. Now she pretty much just mugs people and sells drugs.

Present 9:What kind of place do they live in?

Shitty grimey basement apartment in the city. Rent is real cheap and theres a nice hidden room/super basement for what must have used to be for storage but she now keeps her illegal shit in. Its pretty much one room tho besides that.

Present 14: What matters most to them right now?

Having fun??? Partying and drinkin booze and blood?? She doesn't really have priorities, but for the most part shes kind of fallen into a depression about not really having any friends bcs they keep leaving or dying.

Future 1: Briefly describe their life in the future, regardless of how far into the future this is.

One possible future is she finds someone romantic to make life fun for her again to get ehr out of her rut, maybe so she wont be killing and tearing people apart as often. Maybe get a better place to live, with a better murder basement. Or she keeps on keepin on, or eventually gets caught and arrested or killed. Many possibilities!

Caz-

Past 5: Where did they grow up? What was it like? Were they happy there?

In one of the cities around Kirkwall in the Free Marches! She was not happy. Her parents tried for child four times before her and miscarried every time, and then she was born and they were happy. Until it became evident she was a mage very young, around 5. They tried for child seven times after that and were never successful. They did everything to ‘get the magic out of her’, including trying to drown her in the lake when she was 6 multiple times and in the bathtub, beating it out of her, prayer and sacrifice, but nothing worked. She grew up with parents who despised and feared her until she was taken to the circle at 11 or 12.

Present 1: How do they fit into their story? Give a brief summary of the effect they have on the events around them.

If shes the inquisitor then shes the inquisitor. If shes not then she can be brought into the inquisition as a researcher/expert on blood magic and demonology. Shes always pro mage no matter what, anti chantry and templar and circle, pro wardens, etc.

Present 5:What kind of people do they usually interact with? Who are their friends, the people they look up to/trust, and who are their “associates”?

Shes interested in other people who share her views about magic and who arent afraid to push barriers. She likes well traveled people too and people who tell good stories! She has a pretty varied group of friends though, she likes diversity in who she hangs out with. Sometimes this can cause problems because not all of her friends get along.

Present 10: What do they always carry with them and why?

Her staff, a dagger, a notebook, healing potions, mana potions, bread, a map. She always needs to have a map with her because she has a terrible sense of direction.

Future 10: How do they want to be remembered after they die?

As a positive force for change who helped as many people as she was able. She kind of wants to live up to the idea of Thurwen she has in her head, wants to be remembered as a hero.

[chamerionwrites]

This Twitter thread has more resources and discussion at the link, but I thought it was worth transcribing:

Something I've learned while in law school is about the social construction of crime. I work in a legal clinic on wage theft cases, where employers have "improperly paid" workers by not paying, paying below min wage, withholding overtime, paid sick time, etc.

Most theft is wage theft. Meaning, the dollar value of stolen wages is greater than the value, each year, of all burglaries+robberies, shoplifting, auto theft, combined.  Yet, wage theft is NOT A CRIME

If you steal $100 from your employer, you will get arrested. If you call the police because your paycheck is $100 light, the police will tell you to file a complaint with the AG, and the AG will settle the case for between $50 and $200.

(That's actually not true, bc AG's only take on big cases with thousands of dollars are stake, but they will settle big cases by typically requiring the employer to properly pay what is owed. No jail, no criminal record).

If the AG doesn't want to take the case, it will give you a Private Right of Action to sue the employer in civil court for what you are owed, plus damages. It can take a 6 to 18 months to win at trial, and months or years to collect on the judgment if you win.

In short, we address the predominant form of theft in the US with civil court cases, not criminal cases. We have literally defined "wage theft" as not a crime. Theft by you, a crime. Theft by your employer, not a crime.

This is what we mean when we say crime is "socially constructed." Not all social harms are criminalized. Not all actors committing social harm are criminalized.

I settled a case for $27K for three clients last year. We spent a MONTH negotiating the non-disclosure agreement because the employer stated if all his employees sued him and settled like this, he would go BANKRUPT. His business model DEPENDED on wage theft.

These employers go on to hold elected office. 45 famously used wage theft to improve his finances on construction projects, leaving a trail of victims in his wake. Some sued and he had to pay them. Others didn't have resources to pursue multi-year litigation + got nothing.

What should we do about it? criminalize employers or decriminalize theft or something else?

Wage theft shows that we believe restitution is important. Giving the money back is important. Currently, AG keeps track of bad actors and will increase future financial penalties for bad actors. 

It also shows when harm is committed, we don't have to lock someone in a cage or label them a felon, both of which destroy years of life even after the sentence is over. We can demand restitution instead of punishment.

It also shows how ridiculous the label "high crime neighborhood" is. And the arbitrary and racist response of police surveillance in HCN. Because we defined it that way. Consider the social construction of murder:

Poison a person, go to jail, they call you a felon for life. Poison a city resulting in dozens of deaths and thousands with brain damage, get a teaching fellowship at Harvard, they call you ex-Gov of Michigan Rick Snyder. Same with much corporate poisoning.

The people committing the most harm aren't in jail, don't live in high crime neighborhoods.  And "black people commit more crime" is true only bc of how we have defined crimes, and how we then surveil their community in response to find more crimes.

There are so many orgs trying to address harm and create accountability within community + without incarceration. We call ourselves prison abolitionists.

[elftwink]

i always forget that the general public is like.... militantly against rights for people incarcerated bc in my social sphere i talk about prisons quite frequently and at school obviously we’re talking about incarceration and corrections and even the people who do intend to go work in the cjs tend to at least acknowledge the near constant human rights abuses and the dehumanization etc etc

but i’m writing a paper draft on a news article (i picked one about siu’s, which are legally speaking not solitary confinement but in practice they are done so poorly that they are essentially solitary) and one of the questions is who is the intended audience so i checked out the comments to see who the actual audience is and they are. jaw droppingly horrific. infuriatingly misinformed and nonsensical. makes me so mad. im going to complain about them now

“Can we still give our misbehaving children a time-out in their rooms to think about their actions or is that also against the "charter"?” if you can’t tell the difference between putting A CHILD in time out and putting a grown adult in a single cell for days and days at a time with maybe a 4 hour break every day IF its enforced which THIS ARTICLE tells you is not the case then i dont know how to help you. & its people pretending that incarceration (solitary or otherwise) is like a “time out” rather than a deeply traumatizing experience that dehumanizes ppl for years of their life that leads to ever-worsening conditions. sentences that make you hyper aware most people have no fucking clue what goes on in a prison.

“sedate them or use a bigger stick” if someone said this to me in person i think i would attempt to throttle them. i truly dont know how else one is supposed to respond to this i genuinely think you just have to have your ass kicked. i do not know how to explain to you the very very very simple idea that committing a crime (which is defined by US; crime is not a naturally occurring category of behaviour. we decided what is crime. or more accurately, people in power decide what is a crime) does not and cannot automatically make you an Irredeemable Bad Evil Person Who Only Deserves Punishment. you are despicable and almost certainly a hypocrite because i do not believe you haven’t broken any laws because almost everybody has. if i see you jaywalking ever i will beat YOU with a stick

“legal rights for people who do illegal things” you are all so stupid. what if one day you used your brain and considered that maybe giving the state the ability to decide who a criminal is and also the ability to deny that person ANY RIGHTS AT ALL might perhaps be easy to abuse. easier than the system currently is to abuse, which is saying a lot considering idk all the fucking abuse of the system. you have the moral framework of a 10 year old and you are a spineless worm

anyway once again i am asking canadians to stop pretending prisons are holes in the ground u can drop ppl into. also i think harper should be hunted for sport like do i think hes the only reason ppl think like this. no. do i think hes a major contributing factor. yes i do

[furyfought]

abernathy is a small town, surely you’ve met AGATHA KLEIN ; they can be a little IRREVERENT & OPPORTUNISTIC but have no fear , the TWENTY SEVEN year old definitely makes up for it by being IMPISH & SENSITIVE . most of the time anyway .  they’re usually seen around KLEIN & ASSOCIATES, LLC , as a CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY . you know, i hear they’re affiliated with the local mc, iron kings as an ATTORNEY . they’ve got this vibe of A HEART GROWN RAVENOUS, A CYANIDE CENTER ENCAPSULATED BY SACCHARINE FRUIT, AND A SOUL IN THE FORM OF A SCRIBBLE WITH FANGS going on , makes them easily recognizable.

loosely inspired by jennifer check (jennifer's body), wendy byrde (ozark), ginger fitzgerald (ginger snaps), elizabeth sloane (miss sloane), john silver (black sails), & BBHMM.

+ pinterest, stats.

hey, friends. i’m devin (or dev) & very tickled to be here. agatha’s a combination of two of my favorite muses, and i can only hope that you’ll love her as much as i do. 🤎

"𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄, 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒. 𝐍𝐎. 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓."

agatha’s story isn’t one that she likes to tell anymore. she feels it’s useless: to be defined by the actions of others, to attempt to battle the preconceived notions that run rampant regardless of what one says or does. she doesn’t want to beg for understanding anymore, or to claw her way from beneath the filth she’s made of her life. all that most know is all that she can bear to have known. the rest? it’s confetti; a meager concession in a game of chess. if you know her, is that a fact or a weapon to be used against her?

when it comes to the stories that can be told, however.. perhaps the most important is background. agatha’s an abernathy native: raised in grandiose park, flew the coop for college, only to settle back down in bordeaux apartments. klein & associates, llc. has been in her family for generations, each forefather serving increasingly questionable clients. agatha’s life, like that of many kleins before her, was already planned before she’d ever even been a thought in her parents’ minds. under her mother’s rule, there wasn’t any room for straying from that path. agatha would be smart; she would be clean; and she would be, without fail, someone. in other words, she would be her perfect replica. imagine the disappointment when agatha was anything but. 

agatha’s childhood can be summed up by three things: a door slammed shut in her face, an ear-piercing howl, and the chronic longing to go home — wherever that was. it’s another thing she doesn’t talk about, another thing she tries not to think about. those three things have followed her into adulthood, but they’ve taken different forms now. no longer is agatha a child screaming her throat raw — no; now, she cries out in other more productive ways. if you were to ask her, she’d tell you that she’s a woman grown; the past is behind her, buried in the sand where it belongs. the truth is trickier, less absolute. agatha is a child in the form of a woman; forever in the midst of a metamorphosis, unsure if for better or worse. she lacks foresight & lives largely in the now. she can’t imagine a future for herself and her choices in life reflect that.

agatha succeeds because she’s pretty, powerful, and convincing. wherever she falls short, her father is sure to more than make up for it. it’s amazing what people will do for the right price, and when they want to keep certain secrets from ever seeing the light. nepotism & immense privilege have done wonders for her, but she does.. actually work hard, too. she has an incredible memory & is really good at digging for more information & making her case. if she tells you that she’s going to do something, then she’s going to do it right no matter what. she’s dogged in that way, blinded to the outside world by her stubbornness. she works long hours & values her career above all else. she thinks it’s the only sure thing she has & views it as the one stable, secure thing in her life.

agatha is lonely to the point of defect. she lacks a sense of security in her life, which is why she’s so career-focused. she genuinely thinks that the only person ever looking out for her is her dad. she becomes very predictable once you realize that she will always pick the winning team; that she will forever follow the money; and that she is always going to make the decision that most benefits her. that isn’t to say that she doesn’t have any friends omg, but.. she doesn’t really trust easily. if she trusts you and considers you near and dear to her heart, then she’ll choose you. but until she has that reassurance? you’re on your own, bro. 

but like.. you literally would not know that unless you got burned by her. agatha is really good at listening and really good at playing parts for people. the thing with having no story is that she’s free to create her own. if you need a hero, she can be that. if you need a villain, she can definitely be that. she’s eerily good at getting chummy enough to make people think she’s close, only for them to realize.. they don’t actually know anything real about her? fun stuff. 

i think.. her entire life is a vie for power while also wanting to let go of that desire while also being afraid of what might happen if she were to let go of that desire. she’s not tht bad. she can play decent, be a guy’s guy. and she does come off tht way. it’s jus.. underneath there’s tht like .. tht rot tht she can’t scrub away. n it rears its ugly little head smtimes. but. :^) she can be cool n shoot the shit u kno.. heheh.

anyway.. lighter stuff<3 puts the gaslight and gatekeep in girlboss. talks just like her daddy, except for when she’s in the courtroom. egocentric without ever meaning to be. (spoiler: it’s a smoke screen.) she can, must, and will find a way to twist your words into something she can make sense of. believes in mixed drink supremacy. will absolutely smoke all of your weed + play dumb about hogging the blunt. plays dumb a lot actually, until it’s time to be smart. she’s touchy-feely, but freezes up whenever someone touches her. stares — a lot. can’t ever be the person to pick you up after a rough night out, because she’s likely there with you egging you on to do one more shot. every event is a tits out event / she has to be the most overdressed person in the convenience store at all times. can, must, and will be your unsolicited sugar momma. YOU SPIL-DBFDHFDJHBF LIPSTICK IN MY VALENTINO WHITE BAG? energy. thinks everything is a competition because it is. if she loved you once then she loves you forever. thinks going 20 over the speed limit isn’t speeding, actually. a bit of an emotional anarchist. can’t actually take what she’ll dish out. teases u if she likes u. teases u if she doesn’t like u. doesn’t care abt the feud as long as she’s gettin’ tht shmoney. big fan of an emotional sucker punch. 

"𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋."  + below are some ideas open to any & all muses no matter the age, gender, affiliation, etc !

i’ve left how she got involved with the mc totally absent from this intro bc i was hoping to plot it out! i’d love it if someone wanted to be her “in”. could be they were a childhood friend in need of help, a client she got close to, jus smth tht happened by chance.. whtever we come up with works! <3

if anyone needs an evil ex gf .. She’s Here. she will lie, cheat, scam, trash yr car, empty yr bank account.. whtvr you need, baybee<3

conversely.. not-so-evil ex gf? agatha can be nice & caring without there being a catch sometimes. maybe they still talk. maybe they’re friends. u tell me.

fwb / ex fwb? she do be sending them ‘u up?’ texts. 

someone tht agatha only got close to bc she wanted them to testify/be a character witness in court oopz<3

omg actual friends pls.. ppl tht Know her. tht See her. ppl tht she cares abt n would actually do anything for. friends!!!!!!!!!!!!

agatha has “get off my lawn” energy so i think it would be very funnie if someone needed a place to crash n she let them stay at hers thinking it was temporary n then they jus.. did not leave. n she’s like 🤨 hello?

an almost smth? anything weird n awkward n unspoken tht maybe fizzled out or maybe still lingers under the surface?

agatha doesn’t have a budding drinking problem but if she does no she doesn’t but if she does then<3 drinking buddy? someone that she’s gotten into questionable shenanigans with? poor bartender tht has to deal w her trying to “help” them as she waits for her uber to come? the possibilities are endless.

agatha’s all bark n very little bite but i still think it’d be funnie if she had a hateship. jus putting tht out there<3

if yr muse wnts an ego boost via unrequited crush.. lmk. i’m willing to hulk smash all of agatha’s dignity jus for u.

omggg a dealer? >.> who said tht omg #hacked.. 

on n off again thingz? lorde wrote tht "i am my mother's child i'll love you til my breathing stops / i'll love you till you call the cops on me" line abt her</3

budding friendships!!!!!!! ppl tht she goes to pilates or yoga with; people she gets brunch with; ppl she keeps running into n its like heeey u :); little platonic crushes jus . all of the cute platonic thingz tht make her go wtf is this 🤨. 

i mean.. if anyone wants a sugar momma.. I MEANNN..

college friends!! law school friends!! ppl she met over the summer while interning somewhere!! i left tht purposely vague, hint-hint.

tinder dates gone wrong. ghosted tinder dates. tinder thingz.

agatha’s been attending galas / banquets / office partiez for ages now so if anyone wants to be her plus one or her lil fake date... :^) could be cute. cld be angsty. world is our oyster. 

speaking of which.. coworkers n maybe even a lil personal assistant would be so sexie.

[escapistcatontheinternet]

I love Jupeter because it seems like it should be a detective/thief dynamic, especially with the whole noir theme and such, and it really parallels a lot of the elements that make this dynamic so fun; the antagonistic flirting, the edge of danger~, etc.

But what makes it so much more interesting is that their dynamic isn’t actually the detective/thief formula. It’s more like thief/PI-that-isn’t-actually-super-against-thievery-as-long-as-we-only-murder-bad-guys-or-maybe-bystanders-sometimes. 

What I mean to say is that both of them are so fluid as characters that they don’t actually fit the usual archetypes that they should represent. Juno Steel is rarely super stoked about being a PI, and he takes the usual ‘moral grey compass’ to a very unstable level that fluctuates from something resembling defiant good-doing to depressive episodes that usually end with him uprooting his life and committing Crimes. And Peter Nureyev might seem like the image of the smooth Homme Fatale, but he captial-P-Pines for Juno Steel. He’s surprisingly upfront with his feelings, surprisingly rash, and actually puts a lot of trust in Juno. He seems cavalier and laissez-faire, but he seeks stability. And he does try to help people, even when it puts himself in danger. He cares.

Essentially, this dynamic is usually created when ‘good-doing crime-fighter with “grey morals” (usually just means they’re just vaguely sad sometimes) falls into a forbidden romance with the criminally seductive femme/homme fatale that also happens to be an actual criminal’ in a relationship basically defined by the chase’. And that is sort of how they start off in the first episode, when Juno Steel seems like another noir film PI and Peter Nureyev seems like another Smooth Criminal, but then we get to know their characters and then the dynamic completely shifts.

Except it doesn’t. Which is interesting, because by all means, it should. The catalyst of this relationship is that they are on opposite sides. But the thing with them, they aren’t on like, any side. Ever. Juno Steel fights crime, sure, but also he commits twenty felonies every time he steps out of his house. His morals aren’t gray as much as constantly fluctuating depending on how his latest case is going. Peter is criminally seductive, but that’s not why Juno falls for him. (That’s a whole other tangent, about how this dynamic is usually based in lust while this one, while having HEAVY sexual tension, is mainly based in emotions) And their relationship is far from forbidden. Like, literally nobody could care less who Juno dates except Rita, who probably couldn’t care less. 

YEt, a lot of what makes their relationship so damn so investing is that it has almost all of the elements of a good detective/thief romance without actually retaining the cliche storyline of THE CHASE and etc. So that means they have to develop all of those traits organically, which the writers do very, very well. Their relationship is fraught isn’t bc of some moral divide, it’s caused by Juno’s fear of commitment and Peter’s fear of abandonment. Their witty banter isn’t because they’re chasing each other or actually fighting, they just have opposing personalities. It isn’t as much of Juno chasing Peter as much as it is Juno running at Peter, who is waiting whilst draped on a piano and covered in roses, and then getting hit in the face with twenty different insecurities also some live grenades to spice things up.

In conclusion, the Jupeter relationship utilizing a lot of the elements of the detective/thief dynamic that is so popular in the genre that the series hails from while still feeling original and unique. This shows how the series in general parallels the noir genre and utilizes all of the best elements of it in a new and interesting perspective, in this essay I will--

[moonlightlavender]

about me!

intro

hey all! so for a longg time my account was made solely for the purpose of reading amazing fics from amazing content creators, but recently after seeing many accounts go offline/delete posts bc they felt major writers block or didn’t have the motivation to continue, I wanted to make this account to combat that! 

what i do

my account will be available to all and any fic writers. If you need help with a fic idea or even a series, I am here! I don’t expect to be a co-writer in the slightest, i consider myself more of a sidekick, helping defeat writers block and coming up with ideas! i also help with character names, research for accuracy, how to engage more with readers etc. i’m also open for advice outside the fic writing realm! if you’re having a bad day, want to rant, bored, or just feel the need to talk whatsoever, don’t even hesitate to message me whether you’re a writer or not! i am nocturnal so i tend to be most active at night lollll which is when i’ll most likely answer messages and asks so don’t get discouraged if i don’t answer right away! also for now i’ll post ideas randomly and elaborate privately if you’re interested since there’s not much traction on this acc :)

rules

credit me for any ideas should you choose to use them. I do not consent to having my ideas stolen or written without credit. ofc you can be specific when you credit me (thank you @moonlightlavender for creating the plot/characters/setting/title name etc.) just credit me for whatever i helped with, the fic is your own ofc! also tag me!! i’d love to see what you amazing creators come up with!!

i don’t tolerate hate. bigots, racists, misogynists, haters and rude distasteful people in general are not welcomed on this page. as my name is defined, i am totally a sweetheart but if you do fit in any of the categories above or any other hateful agenda then you will not be tolerated. 

i respect all pronouns, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation (until it turns hateful and beyond the confines of respect and understanding) and more. 

mentioning of subjects that may be triggering, proceed cautiously: I do not help write for s*xual assault, r*pe, inc*st, be*stality, noncon, dubcon, and possibly smut (im just not great at smut haha)

if more than one person likes the same idea i will try my best to expand it differently for both of your creative preferences! no two writers are the same. i will inform you if someone else is interested in case it deters you from the idea! i will never give out the exact same plot/detail to more than one person!

if you have a faint idea of your fic and need help growing it plz include the following info to help me out! if you weren’t able to come up with anything for the info listed below just write N/A so ik what to help with!

-the fandom/show/movie it’s for

-canon/non canon

-character names

-plot

-setting

-time period

-background of characters

-protagonists/antagonists/relationship

info about me!!

my pronouns are she/her

i love wes anderson

my fav color is charcoal gray or periwinkle

my mbti type is infp-t (mediator bby)

i go by camille on here (cami/millie for short) :)

fandoms/shows/movies i like (and what i’ll refer to them as on here)

outerbanks (obx)

chilling adventures of sabrina (caos)

criminal minds (cm)

greys anatomy (ga)

the flash

new girl (ng)

bridgerton

marvel (i may need extra details w this fandom/series bc the mcu universe is a little messy for me and i’m just getting into it)

so so so excited to start helping writers!! also plz don’t hesitate to message/ask me things! 💗💗💗

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 8 thoughts

i was gonna watch later, since i’ve got other things to do, but i burnt the shit out of my hands making hot chocolate like an idiot so i watched an episode first LOL. 

this episode starts out with that really strong fairy tale scenery i absolutely adore, with yusaku and ai trying their hardest to get blue angel to wake up.

i seriously could talk about the imagery in this scene for days lmao. i love the sleeping beauty aesthetic, but i also really love the colors. LV goes through so many different color palettes through the series, but i love the purples and blues of this area here. i’m not sure if the intention was to make blue angel seem like she was meant to be there, while in contrast playmaker stands out due to his hair, but i seriously replayed this section twice because it looked so nice. 

i have a lot to say about this episode, and it will also be my most screenshot heavy post so far lol, so once again, buckle up! 

this episode starts to really build up yusaku as a character - his sense of justice, his core values, etc etc. on top of that, it takes its time to flesh out akira, and to show his worse qualities, which we’ll get into in a minute.

first, though, is one of my favorite awkward exchanges in the series lmao:

i’m surprised he even caught onto what akira was getting at, tbh with y’all. vrains started out ship teasing yusaku/aoi really hard these episodes, but drop it almost completely up until the minimal tease we get in s3, which i find really funny. i was always really invested in them becoming friends, though, so while i’m happy we had that happen in s3, i would’ve really liked to see it happen earlier. not this early, though - yusaku’s nowhere near ready for that.

I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN VYRA WAS HERE. yugioh hair makes it known that she’s going to be an important character, but i had really completely forgotten she was working as one of aoi’s doctors during this part lmao. i love this so much, actually.

moving onto everyone talking shit about blue angel on forums and stuff. this kinda shit:

would be really awful to deal with. it’s very real, though - cancel culture, anyone? but seriously, this is so brutal. on top of that, does this imply that she’s never really lost before? she is the number 2 charisma duelist in LV, so i wouldn’t be terribly surprised if that meant that she hadn’t really lost since starting to make it big as an idol. once again showing off how good of a duelist aoi actually is, even if the show makes her lose a lot. tbf, her loss/win ratio isn’t that bad looking at the other main girls - 5 wins, 5 losses on screen, and considering the kind of opponents she faced (soulburner, bohman, ai), that’s seriously not bad.

next up we get the chess pieces again, and boy howdy, does this conversation make me seethe.

i understand it’s partially a cultural difference thing, but i can’t help but get angry about it LOL. 

i didn’t remember how often the chess pieces were actually utilized in these first few episodes, either. i guess i can understand why people were irritated they were just dropped, but i don’t really see them as a plot point, more like... just a kind of weird way to run a company? just show your faces and have normal meetings like everyone else, y’all don’t have to be so extra.

the akira/emma meeting is nice because it shows you more of emma’s character, but it also gives you more of akira’s stupider (and ruthless) side.

you don’t see him like this very often, but honestly, when you think about all the unsavory jobs he was doing to keep him and aoi afloat way back when, it kind of makes sense. even if he was originally a gentle person, you don’t last doing... any of the jobs he’s done, being that way. even a higher up in a company like SOL tech would have to be a bit harsher to get to that point imo. i don’t see a lot of people talk about this side of akira’s character tbh which makes me kind of sad.

also, seriously, he’s an idiot. how did he arrive at this conclusion? when he saw that it was aoi who was baiting him into the duel? no matter what direction i approach this from, i can’t understand how he ended up on that conclusion lol.

also, the worst father ever award goes to....

seriously! i hate that man so much lmao. to say that directly to your own child, on top of everything else...

it’s a nice look into revolver, too, though you wouldn’t know it at first glance. his reply says everything, though. he fully accepts his role in his father’s life and has an incredibly toxic attachment to him, and wants his approval more than anything. we never see him get physically abused by kogami or anything of the sort, but you can’t deny the mental anguish he must’ve been going through in order to keep on his father’s good side. 

i know a lot of people like to say that revolver is kind of not a great guy, seeing the tower of hanoi arc, and how he probably should’ve went to jail etc etc but really, he was manipulated hard core. and extremely suicidal. i could really talk a lot about this all day, but i’ll cut myself off and instead say how much i love how vrains sets up revolver as a character. this, combined with “i’ll fulfill your wishes, father” from episode 3 gives you his motivations nice and clearly, but this specific scene also gives a bit of a hint as to where his character arc goes and what he has to work through. just thinking about this makes me so excited to get to 116 again lmao.

anyways, though. another excellent exchange comes up. seriously, lmao, ai being like “waaaah that’s illegal !!!!” and kusanagi’s just very casual 

makes me laugh every time i see it. they are criminals, even if what they’re doing is for the greater good. they’re not exactly innocent here lmao.

then there’s the talk about the virus infecting her, and it’s a nice way to bring up how that works before the another arc comes up in.. a couple of episodes, right? tbh it’s the arc i remember the least about, so i’m looking forward to rewatching it.

actually though, the idea of viruses in LV being able to infect someone’s body is so, so interesting. i really, really wish they had done more with the whole LV/rl merge idea, but guess i’ll just have to write more fanfic instead lol.

i mentioned at the beginning of this post we get into yusaku as a character more here, and this is one of the lines that really made him interesting to me originally:

he has such a strong sense of justice, but what sets him apart from other ygo protags is that he is not defined by it. he’s not the classic, stereotypical do-gooder who gets caught up in something and has to make it right, his justice is more so that he is not okay with seeing other people hurt because of what happened to him. his justice is driven by his trauma, almost entirely.

revolver even brings it up this episode:

where he talks about how some rando wouldn’t have done them any good because it wouldn’t have been public enough. yusaku doesn’t really care about the little people, not in the same way, say, yugi would. it’s not that he wants them to be hurt or see them get hurt or anything, it’s just that unless it effects him directly, it’s not on his radar. but once he gets involved, he feels fully responsible.

while he didn’t plant the hanoi virus into her, he probably knows it was to intentionally draw him out thanks to ai (and the fact that he beats them up all the time). he feels fully responsible for what happened to her, and he’s prepared to do what is needed to make it right again.

i really like yusaku for this. i find those kinds of characters really interesting, and yusaku is no exception. 

we get the whole emma/blue angel/yusaku scene, which is pretty sick tbh looking at it again - just shoot a church straight up from the ground for dramatic effect! - and i’ll bring up more of akira’s ruthlessness here.

seriously, this is not a line from someone who is just angry about his sister. and it’s also him being fuckin DUMB. playmaker willingly lets himself get caught into your trap, and he tells akira straight up what he has to do to save his sister - no sugar coating it, no trying to make it cryptic or difficult despite being caught in that hand and in that trap. he’s incredibly honest, and akira still does this lmao.

then it’s probably the wildest turn of events in all of vrains:

where’s that post that’s like, “remember when playmaker gets caught in a gothic looking church while he’s getting tormented by a giant demon hand controlled by his classmate’s brother and then his rival who he hasn’t met yet shows up in a lightning bolt to save him”? bc really LMAO what the fuck. it was so hype watching it the first time, and it’s still awesome watching it back.

and why is this never really??? brought up again later???? and when he leaves in that datastorm to go prepare to fight playmaker LMAO i know it’s supposed to look cool but the animation is so dorky, i love it. 

more on yusaku, though. before playmaker goes to fight revolver, who he’s been gearing towards for awhile now, we get this exchange:

to which playmaker responds with “i don’t hate you. i only hate the knights of hanoi”. which is another really good moment for his early characterization and very, very consistent with his backstory that we find out in about 12 episodes.

everyone who wasn’t involved in the LI in any way just... exists to him. they’re completely neutral. if something happens to them because of him, he feels directly responsible, because he feels like he got them tangled up in a mess that nobody should be in. i mentioned that briefly earlier, but this really drives that point home.

he doesn’t even hate akira for torturing him mere minutes ago. because he’s been through worse. because akira was doing what he thought was right by his sister, no matter how stupid he was being.

and even more so than that, he’s not seeing this as fighting for akira. he feels responsible for blue angel, but also, here’s his chance to fight revolver. it’s a two birds one stone situation here for him. 

anyways, i’m gonna stop myself there lol this is really long OOPS. gotta take care of a few things, and then onto the first rev vs playmaker duel!

[crowsent]

did a text post bc the formatting is easier. also because so i won’t bombard you ( @yalltookmyurlideas ) with words

i basically created my son ethel when i was late middle school. almost summer. i was watching this one anime, servamp, and there was a character with a really interesting design of blonde hair with black streaks (his name was hyde) so my middleschool self i went “neat! i want an oc like that!” so i designed ethel based on that one anime character with weird hair. and that was his only defining trait for a while: weird hair

originally, ethel had white hair and genetically inherited black streaks (again bc i was in middleschool) and i created the first drawing of ethel (first pic i sent) when i was a freshman in highschool and the whiteness of the rest of his hair compared to the streaks is very visible.

at that point, my backstory for him was essentially “pale, loner, likes shakespeare, wears hoodie, highschooler” his shirt is just a really creepy smiley face bc i really wanted to turn up the emoness of his design. pretty sure he had a girlfriend or a partner whose name was like. carmen. or camillia. or something that starts with a c. she dies and serves as fuel for him to be angsty bc again. middle school

then i became a junior and looked at his initial design and went. “what if i make it darker?” bc i hit peak emo phase when i was a highschool freshman and was one step away from wearing mcr outfits every day to school. you know the one. that one jacket.

2nd and 3rd pictures i sent were the darker and gritter versions of ethel. hence the darker hair (you can barely see the dark streaks in the third photo) and edginess amped up to 11. his hair was like a chestnut brown at that point and the black streaks were less visible. he remained without a background for the most part but i added “girlfriend was killed, wants revenge” to his bio because i guess i wanted him to be even edgier? and he kind of becomes a hermit who hates society at the end of his character arc. just a grumpy nihilist with depression bc at the time i did not know how to handle my own mental health and it manifested as that.

i didn’t fully create a backstory for ethel until i reached my senior year. then i went fucking ham and changed his entire character. he went from “name is ethel, pale, loner, likes shakespeare, wears hoodie, highschooler, lost a girlfriend, wants revenge, really edgy” to Ethel Ash

so basically. ethel lost both parents when he was young and was put in foster care, bouncing from home to home without really having a place to belong. he didn’t feel wanted by anyone, didn’t have support from any adults in his life, started trouble just to get some goddamn attention bc he felt invisible and it only led to people labeling him as dumb and a problem. bc of the lack of support in his life, he fell in with the wrong people when he was in highschool. fights. petty theft. vandalism. that kind of stuff. sent to juvie a few times because he got caught. at this point, his hair was just plain brown and he doesn’t dye it until much later.

then he graduated highschool, but only barely. he’s pretty smart, interested in philosophy, strategy, math, and classical literary works (shakespeare which is p much the only part of his original backstory that survived) but his teachers essentially labeled him a problem child and gave him next to no attention. so he p much accepted society’s label that he’ll always be no-good and kind of ran with it.

he got involved in organised crime after he graduated and by organised crime i meant the mob. he became involved with the mob in california (where he lived) and bc he’s smart and well-versed in like strategy and math, he kind of picked up being an informant. like. he became that one guy people in the mob turned to for info. doesnt particularly like being involved in the shady deals that go down, but if he’s being an informant, he’s needed. and if he’s needed, he has somewhere to belong.

so he overworks himself. sleeps little, eats less, and essentially becomes a machine who haunts the local coffee shop typing on a laptop that’s protected from everything under the sun. he wears a hoodie over his creepy smiley face shirt which he just nicked from some random dpt store to keep himself from being seen by the security cameras and is essentially a fucking internet gremlin with next to no face-to-face human interaction.

but of course, this (coupled with vices like drinking and smoking) takes a toll on him and his body finally gives out and he collapses in an alleyway. not passed out, but definitely delirious from lack of sleep and food. which, considering his criminal background, would fuck him over if he got seen by some random person and reported to the police. or worse, sentence him to death if he got spotted by someone from a rival gang who would love to get rid of someone dangerous like him.

instead, he got found by c. i will call her camilla in this instance bc i genuinely don’t remember her name even though she got a big reboot to her character as well. ethel’s like. 20-21 at this point. camilla is 22 and is in a prestigious college taking a double major in english and food management. she’s not particularly rich, but is upper middle class with a single mother living in new york who fully supports her in what she wants to do and regularly calls her to make sure that she’s safe. and camilla, spotting this dude who looks like death incarnate, stops and makes sure he’s okay and ethel keeps telling her not to call the cops or call an ambulance.

and camilla, also very smart but has enough chaotic dumbass energy to sink a ship, takes ethel to her apartment where he devolves into a high fever and she helps him through it.

he gets better and is just ????? towards camilla because she’s nice to him even though he did nothing for her. he leaves her apartment as soon as he can, but they end up running into each other again at the fucking coffee shop bc im a sucker for cliche and they kind of clicked.

they bond over shakespeare together because camilla’s an english major and ethel’s a fucking nerd for shakespeare. he doesn’t tell her what kind of work he does, but she figures it out anyway because she’s not an idiot. there are bruises on ethel’s body and his eyes always dart around the room, looking for an exit. she lets him know that she knows, and she lets him know that it’s not his fault that the world let him down, that he felt that he didn’t belong.

and ethel kind of breaks after that? like. he very reluctantly works as an informant in gangs bc he’s chasing the high of being needed and wanted and this random college girl just up and tells him that it’s not his fault that he’s never felt warmth in his goddamn life?

she doesn’t try to change him bc she’s in college and she has essays to fucking worry about and ethel never even does anything like dox some innocent soul so while she’s kind of uncomfortable with ethel’s job she’s not like majorly concerned about it. its a rule that they never talk about ethel’s job when they hang out bc ethel doesn’t like talking about what he does and who he associated with because of the issues of his childhood and she really doesn’t want to think about the fact that there are a lot of bad people her best friend associates with bc he feels like he has no choice so it’s kind of silence on that topic.

but ethel kind of changes himself. he wants to change. bc hey. it’s not too late. he hasn’t done something like murder so if he quits and turns himself in, he can get like a few years at most and come out and live a better honest life. and like. camilla’s floored and flattered that her friend would do this because she inspired him to do better? and she’s like “all my life, i wanted to start my own cafe and when you get out, ill hire you. how’s that sound” and they’re like. both soft and ethel is fully fucking prepared to go to the police and out literally every single motherfucker he worked with and turn over a new leaf.

but then someone catches wind of what he plans to do.

and fucking murders camilla.

bc they thought that camilla was forcing ethel to change for her and the logic is that “if the person telling him to quit and betray us is dead, then he wont go through with it” but it completely fucking backfires.

and ethel goes fucking ballistic.

instead of just going to the police like a normal person and confessing everything like the names of the people he works with and letting the police deal with them. he just straight up drops off the grid. and fucking mails the goddamn police things like full names, addresses, safehouses, etc. he straight up obliterates the gang he works with by systematically doxxing them to the fucking police one by one, ruining all of their operations, and hunting them down one by one.

this is the point where he dyes his hair black, but only streaks of it to remind himself of camilla. camilla had planned on streaking her hair hair red bc it goes well with her black hair and ethel streaked his hair black to remind himself of her. he doesn’t turn himself yet in bc he doesn’t plan on doing that until he literally finds all of the men and women he’s worked with in the past and leads them to their arrest and it’s an ongoing thing because his former colleagues went into hiding so he’s having some difficulties.

but he still plans on turning himself in once he’s done. and once he gets out, he plans on starting that cafe. and he’s going to fill it with bookshelves of classical literature. and he’s going to keep living his goddamn life.

and i wrote most of his backstory in math class because i genuinely could not give a shit about math. and that’s ethel. my son. my child. my baby. i love talking about him. he’s precious and i adore every inch of him.

[sonitavalentine]

Okay, I just have to rip this out of my chest

You know, this bullshit that happened in GOT Ep5 is traumatic for me personally due to reasons. I dislike talking about myself, my life, etc on tumblr and even if I do so, I don't touch something really really personal. But... siiiiiiigh I have to share, bc this shit hurts even more than I imagined.

I have a very close person in my life, who is dear and important for me. My other half. He had a problem in his family - his mother is an alcoholic, unfortunately, and so was her mother, i.e. his grandmother. It was a huge problem with grandmother, it is a big trouble now with his mother. She's literally sick, because alcoholism IS a disease, but... The one you indulge into when you don't know how or don't want to stop, trying to solve your struggles with means of alcohol.

And it was like a curse for him. Like, a family curse. He didn't want to be like that, he saw and heard enough of it, so he decided to NEVER ever take a drop of alcohol in his entire life. And you know what? He succeeded. He does now and I know he will go on succeeding. Because your family doesn't define you. Because you don't represent your family faults. You don't have to be your parents if they aren't worthy following their example.

And what today's GOT episode teaches us about? They literally said, "fuck that, if your parents are mad, you are doomed to be mad even though you were kind and good person, who freed slaves, saved women from rape, taught how to rule just and fought against humanity's greatest and darkest enemy... Only to become am even much darker enemy of it. Simply because her father was MAD, and so she should've become one.

Tonight D&D ruined not only Daenerys (and other characters too, but she's the main focus here), they ruined the idea of your struggles against "family curses". They just said out loud that they believe all the kids with bad parentage are doomed to become what their parents are.

And alcoholism isn't even the worst of it all: there are kids whose parents are criminals, drug dealers, rapists. They have to live with that trauma and struggle all their life proving to people that they AREN'T their parents. But D&D just said, FUCK YOU. GO STEAL, MURDER AND BOOZE TILL YOU DROWN IN VODKA because you can't escape your family curse. Even if all your life you were kind, just and good person.

Fuck it. Just fuck this shit. This idea is lame and has NO right to exist.

[armeniaitn]

We Build. They Destroy!

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/society/we-build-they-destroy-38897-23-07-2020/

We Build. They Destroy!

A damaged home in the village of Aygepar, July 17, 2020

Nothing sums up the contrast in contributions to our global society of Armenia and Azerbaijan more than this phrase. It is borrowed from several current recovery campaigns such as the Paros Foundation and my good friend, their executive director Peter Abajian. Since 2006 the Paros Foundation, like many other patriotic nonprofits, has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life of the citizens of Armenia and Artsakh. Much of their incredible work in schools and infrastructure has been in the Tavush region, the current hotspot of Azerbaijani madness. The contrast in core values is why the Armenians have endured the hardships of unilateral attacks and why the latest aggression against Armenia will fail.

Armenians have seen this movie too many times. A small Christian nation, the indigenous population of its multi-millennia homeland is attacked, blockaded and subjected to relentless abuse by barbaric newcomers. Even though the Turks have now been in the region about 1,000 years, to the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks, they are shallow rooted. This applies also to their treacherous cousins to the west called Azerbaijan. They attack Artsakh and Tavush and have the audacity to “claim” the Republic of Armenia. Despite signing treaties that recognize the sovereign state and international borders of Armenia, Azerbaijani self-interest intersects with criminal behavior. Essentially, with every rant of rhetoric and military incursion, they are violating international laws. But then again, they are only modeling their behavior after their big cousin currently occupying Western Armenia, who has violated the sovereignty of Syria, Iraq and Cyprus and is very close to adding Libya to the list. Yet they are a “valued ally in NATO.” The behavior says a great deal about the integrity of international agreements.

Why will Azerbaijan fail? They are larger (nearly three times the population of Armenia) and wealthier (fortunate to have a desired fossil fuel supply) and in a world lacking political morals, they can buy the silence of many. So much for the bad news. Let’s start by looking at the national makeup of each country and how that impacts their commitment to achieving their objective.

Several years ago while in Artsakh, my family was given a tour of the Artsakh state museum by a remarkable young woman. Her tour work was not a job but a responsibility to educate…to tell the truth. She called Azerbaijan an “artificial nation” which is a phrase I have never forgotten and found to be a key weakness of Azerbaijan. It sits on oil, but also on a shaky foundation. Azerbaijan as a nation state did not exist before 1918. Its name is borrowed from a region in northern Iran. The nation called Azerbaijan and its ethnic makeup reveal a heterogeneous mix. The indigenous Caucasian Albanians were first converted to Islam under Arab and later Persian influence. The Seljuk Turkish invasion (11th century) brought the Turkic influence with language (Oghuz) and culture. Today although a majority are called ethnic Azerbaijani, it is a relatively new combination of multi-ethnic groups, Shia Islam with Turkish influence. There are significant minority groups such as the Lezgins and Talysh who have their own issues of free expression with the ethnic majority. Azerbaijan’s relatively short national history has little experience with democracy. Since its independence from 70 years of Soviet rule, it has been run by autocrats, the latest being the second generation of the corrupt Aliyev clan. When there are lives on the line, the shallow national roots of Azerbaijan will cause its citizens to question who and what they are fighting for.

No such problem with Armenia and Artsakh. Armenia is a study in homogeneity with over 98 percent of its citizens ethnic Armenians adhering to a Christian heritage and speaking a common language. They have also been the indigenous population of the area for centuries. Evidence of the Armenian civilization exists everywhere, except where Azerbaijani authorities have overtly sought to destroy the historic presence of Armenians. When we look at the enclave called Nagorno-Karabakh (as defined by the Soviets), it is really a scaled down version of the centuries old Armenian province of Artsakh. The seven liberated territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh (which are a part of the Republic of Artsakh) along with the still occupied northern Shahumyan and some eastern districts are the bulk of historic Artsakh, which dates back to the first millennia BC (Tigranes Metz). The Azeris’ claim of an historic population presence in Artsakh and the Stalin “award” in 1923 is the basis for their “territorial integrity” rights. The reality is that the demographic changes were forced migration and “artificial” attempts to dilute the Armenian homeland in the 18th to 20th centuries. The Stalin decision was an injustice but was also designated an “autonomous” region. It is not within any definition of “territorial integrity.” One cannot claim what was never theirs to own. A contributor to their continuous failure has been the lack of a substantive justification for their claims. Anyone can bully false claims, but sustaining a motivation with your citizens is entirely another challenge. Aliyev, in the absence of the truth, has propagandized a false narrative based on lies and hatred to feed his naive masses. Any national objective based on hate, anger and racism is not sustainable. This fuels the core motivation of the Azeris towards Artsakh and Armenia. Hatred is not an infinite rechargeable motivation.

This brings us to one of the core issues. What are the two sides fighting for? The Armenians are defending their homes and homeland. It doesn’t get much more personal than that. They are also defending the investment and sacrifices they have made. The departed lives of brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers must not be lost in vain. Since 1991, Artsakh has become a functioning democracy with a parliament and market-driven economy. This is a remarkable accomplishment given the blockades and unrecognized status. With each year of new housing, economic growth, historic preservations and culture, the people of Artsakh build on their core foundation. Remember that Armenians build. In stark contrast, since 1991, Azerbaijan has built their existence almost solely on their good fortune of fossil fuel. It has corrupted their entire economic, political and social existence. Azerbaijan has evolved into a dictatorship where self-preservation dominates and lies and hatred become commonplace. Over the last 30 years, despite the rhetoric of a “national liberation” effort to take Artsakh and Armenia proper, Azerbaijan has employed thousands of mercenaries from Chechens to Islamic terrorists. The latest move seems to be with Turks who are rumored to be sending terrorists from their northern Syrian adventure to Azerbaijan. They are also causing trouble in Nakhichevan where they have a small common border (compliments of Stalin). This is troubling but will also fail. Mercenaries get paid, as the economic base of Azerbaijan is diminishing.

Azerbaijan will never be a match for the landowners defending their families. The professional Armenian military of Armenia and Artsakh is the collateral to guarantee this mandate. They are the successors to Avarayr and Sardarabad where a different generation fought against overwhelming odds and succeeded. Like the Holy Muron of our faith, all these events are connected in spirit. This is the reality that expands the capability of the Armenians and will always limit Azerbaijanis.

Right now, Aliyev is likely betting on two things. He is counting on the world to remain indifferent either by buying silence or general ambivalence. He is also assuming that Armenia will blink and not respond to his provocations. On the former, this is our job in the diaspora to work with the homeland to prevent indifference in host nations. Sanctioning Azerbaijan, influencing political bodies and mounting public support are critical. In this country, the ANCA and the Armenian Assembly of America are busy in this regard. Never underestimate the importance of third parties. Aliyev was hoping that the emergence of a new government under Pashinyan would be more open to “compromise.” Pashinyan has shown himself to be stronger in his words and actions than his predecessors. He and the relevant ministries have been on the offensive diplomatically by countering Azeri rhetoric with substantive positions such as the return of Artsakh as a direct negotiating party. He has skillfully avoided undermining the OSCE mediators despite the frustration of their neutrality. Aliyev, on the other hand, has done everything to countermand their actions by ignoring confidence building measures (St. Petersburg, Vienna, etc.), continuing sniper fire, patronizing on-site support and launching at least two major assaults since 2016 with unprovoked action. Privately, their behavior is wearing thin with many and will one day pay a return. Despite the surface level material strength of Azerbaijan, a closer view shows why they have and will continue to underperform. It does not lessen the danger for the Armenians. It simply illustrates why a united Armenia will prevail.

Back to “We Build. They Destroy.” For most Armenians who are not directly involved in the military responses, the most important issue is to rebuild. The vitality of the border villages in Tavush, Artsakh, Ararat (including our beloved Paruyr Sevak), Vayots Dzor and Syunik are strategically important to the national security of our nation. The strongest message to Azeris is that their attempts are futile. Their activity is an attempt to destabilize the borders by intimidating the population to leave. We must immediately rebuild and make these villages even stronger economically. This is our job in the diaspora. You have all seen several emergency fundraisers by organizations such as Paros and individuals (our ardent patriot Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte). We must meet and exceed the goals to BUILD and give a clear message to our brethren and the AZERBAIJANIS. We are not going anywhere. Our history has been a case study of overcoming oppression and prevailing. Today is no exception.

Stepan Piligian

Stepan was raised in the Armenian community of Indian Orchard, MA at the St. Gregory Parish. A former member of the AYF Central Executive and the Eastern Prelacy Executive Council, he also served many years as a delegate to the Eastern Diocesan Assembly. Currently , he serves as a member of the board and executive committee of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR). He also serves on the board of the Armenian Heritage Foundation. Stepan is a retired executive in the computer storage industry and resides in the Boston area with his wife Susan. He has spent many years as a volunteer teacher of Armenian history and contemporary issues to the young generation and adults at schools, camps and churches. His interests include the Armenian diaspora, Armenia, sports and reading.

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Read original article here.

[negativematter]

i havent wrote much about gemini yet bc its a lot of work to take words from my brain and write them good but hes supposed to be cygnus's foil 100%

theyre both essentially bastard children from well known criminals who suffered a lot of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the people who raised them for it

cygnus's mother displaced his father as the gang boss

it gives him a good motive for revenge, even if it does more damage to their cause in the end, which is another kind of foil point

cygnus is doing these bad things for a good cause, trying to rebel against a dictatorship

gemini is siding with the dictatorship to gain control of what he wants

cygnus puts on the air of being distant but really cares about everyone 

gemini puts on the airs of caring for others but is rather selfish

of course geminis reasoning is valid in some ways

he wasnt born a bad person, but he is one, and chooses to be one out of spite

and thats another difference. cygnus chooses to continue down the criminal path because shes helping others, and doesnt want to let them down

the responsibility has been placed on her shoulders and she doenst want it

where as gemini wants it desperately. he wants to be important and respected to make up for what he suffered through

theyve essentially suffered through the same things, but they handle it in different ways and allow it to effect them differently. one of them wants to help others bc of what theyve been through, and the other wants to hurt others bc of it. i guess i kind of want to tell a story about how trauma affects people in different ways, but how you still choose your own destiny/fate in the end

two sides of the same coin, yin and yang, choosing to suffer by being selfless vs choosing to suffer by being selfish, “you dont know what ive been through” vs “i dont want you to know what ive been through”, etc etc

their story is i guess a story of the duality of man, of how little it takes to be someone completely different, what do we define as “human”, political commentary, differing moralities, probably other dumb things