#event: the betrayal

[chattematsu]

[4.0 archon quest spoilers]

[shrugsinchinese]

God forbid women do anything

[bonebabbles]

Slash's Famous Scene

Here we are, lads. Everyone's favorite scene in the totally best arc of WC. The one where Slash pins a pregnant woman to the ground and licks her face, while threatening her fetuses and cutting her cheek open so Clear Sky can have more man pain.

So far I've been using "fridging" as synonymous with the brutal killing of a female character to advance a male character's arc; but I do want to remind everyone that the term "fridging" describes disproportionate violence done to women in the service of their husband/brother/father/son's arcs. It doesn't HAVE to be death; it can also be battery, maiming, depowering, or sexual assault.

So far, 8 women have died to serve male arcs, most of them for Clear Sky specifically. Fluttering Bird, Bright Stream, Storm, Misty, Bumble, Turtle Tail, Rainswept Flower, and Petal. Now Star Flower gets sexually harassed and kidnapped, bringing the arc's fridge total to 9.

Anyway content warning, obviously. It's still Warrior Cats and doesn't get too graphic, but this bag contains a dead dove.

First, Clear Sky gets another toesucking from the ghost of his wife who died after leaving his controlling ass. Specifically, after he threw his disabled brother out of his Clan, and after his lust for seeing random people (including his brother) get mauled at the border resulted in the death of Fox.

She tells him that his behavior never drove anyone away, it was all totally not his fault. I'm waiting for a laugh track and it never comes. The apologetics in this arc are unrivaled.

Then, Clear Sky wakes up and his pregnant wife is not next to him. So he goes looking for her and sees her being flanked by Slash and his memorable minions, Grunt 1 and Grunt 2. Star Flower is so possessed by fear that she doesn't move.

They REALLY need to sell that Slash is TRUE evil, PURE evil, because of the wet fart that is Clear Sky's redemption arc. They're saying that Clear Sky ISN'T bad, because he is not this. A dirty, sadistic monster who coos evilly about how he's going to hurt the kittens in his wife's belly and cruelly twitches his whiskers.

(as a petty side detail, please also note that this passage cannot even keep Slash's fur color straight. Behold, a cat so evil that he cannot even remain a brown tabby! He turns gray when he commits nefarious deeds! Ashfurification included!)

Star Flower is the one being pinned to the ground and having her face cut open as Slash screams about how she promised her father she'd be his mate, but this scene is about Clear Sky's distress. Star Flower is an object to this narrative, which these two men are in conflict over.

The pinning, the violence, the sexual implications, are being done to make Slash as monstrous as possible to contrast to Clear Sky. Slash doesn't kill anyone, so the narrative needs to make you SO UPSET your emotions are thrown into overdrive, so you'll accept how truly terrible he is.

The simple truth that this rancid book is trying to make you ignore, is that Clear Sky is exponentially more deadly. He has caused harm so unspeakable that they have to describe his bloody murders in passive voice. They "died" now, instead of "were killed," and the violent system he created is presented as "making up" for the trauma he's caused to the survivors.

"Pushing his muzzle close to her injured cheek, he licked the blood from her fur with a long, lingering lap."

Think critically about the characters they are presenting and the actions they make them do. None of these are real people. They are writing choices. They have portrayed Slash as a perverted, domineering, child-abusing savage, so Clear Sky the Settler can look good in comparison.

then Star Flower gets dragged off, kicking and struggling, feeble and completely unable to defend herself as clear sky thinks about how she might die along with his fetuses.

Obviously Clear Sky is so very stressed out by all this and needs to blow off some steam, so he smacks the nearest woman and starts screeching about how Star Flower is more loyal than the son he abuses

The first thing he does after the Slash event was physically assault the nearest woman. I can't... I don't have the words. Are you seeing this. Do you see what I am fucking dealing with. literally the first woman he sees.

"DOES THAT FEEL LIKE AN ACT??" He bellowed like a fucking wifebeater at the girl whose face is bleeding because he cut her in a fit of rage. That's fine as long as you don't lustfully lick it afterwards I guess!!!

[serickswrites]

The Unforgiven

Warnings: betrayal, head injury, stranded

Whumpee sat down. They had been walking for hours and their head throbbed with each step. They couldn't keep walking. They had to rest. After they rested they could resume their journey.

Whumpee couldn't believe they had fallen for Whumper's deception. Having such a kind, caring companion had been too good to be true. But Whumpee had to believe that someone would offer them kindness. Had to believe that Whumper was their friend.

And yet their inevitable betrayal still stung. Stung more than when Whumper had hit them in the back of the head with a rock and drove away, leaving them in the desert with now way of getting home. They were stranded, and still the betrayal hurt more than anything else.

They had no more tears to shed. It had been hot, the night air a now welcome relief on their skin. They were thirsty, their body ached, and the pangs of hunger had their stomach twisting in knots.

But they had to rest. Just a bit longer. Then they would get up. They would get up and go after Whumper. Whumper was the unforgiven. And Whumpee was going to exact their vengeance. Once they got out of the desert.

[blind0raven]

pfffft

Pffffffffft

PFFFFFFFT Jade oh nu

Bro you literally were monologuing hiding Leona and how your tsum did it minutes ago within earshot of

TWO BEASTMEN

WHO HAVE VERY GOOD HEARING RANGE

Jade got stabbed in the back with betrayal from his own tsum! He should have seen it coming lol

Et tu Jade tsum?

[dykethevvitch]

This is like my Jonny D'Ville thesis. He's a character of all time

(also if tumblr kills the quality pls click on it)

[patheticblorbloscholar]

Looking at the concept art of Lyle for Avatar 3 I had a thought.

Quaritch is leaning more heavily into the Na'vi culture than he is. He's embracing this world and questioning it and ultimately chooses Spider[based on the leaks we have seen and concept art available]

What if Lyle chooses the RDA over Quaritch and betrays him?

Here is Quaritch's new concept art for reference:

[mail-forwarding]

Finally read Mystic Christmas and.... wow, that sure is a lot of narrative foils going on... Tomte for MC, Ded for Mononobe, the unfair naughty/nice dichotomy for the Game/loops, the imposition of Eden's belief system for the superimpositions of the Exiles......

Heck, you can even make the argument that Tomte's struggle to repress his naughty side parallels the fact that MC is never given the opportunity to actually voice their grievances. They always have to be nice and forgiving, and if not entirely understanding, then at least sympathetic, and definitely compassionate. They always have to rush to help, because if they're not good, if they're not needed, then why would anyone want them around? What meaning would there be to their existence(s)?

(And the whole, "I hate the symbol, but I want the man behind it back. My life went to hell because of what he represents, but I want him back. He gave me an impossible choice, then made the choice for me, without saying anything, before I could even make it, because he knew that either choice would hurt me, but the choosing most of all. Still, I want him back.")

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

OH MY GOD EVERYBODY IT'S HAPPENING?!?!?!?! ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMTE STORY EVENTS!?!?!?!? THIS IS NOT A DRILL MAYDAY MAYDAY MOD IS GOING DOWN!!!!!

[wizardyandcheesesammich]

I have one fucked up idea.

One fucked up idea that has to be thrown into the void.

I'm thinking the missing eggs event might be an event similar in scale to the election.

I'm talking every single resident being involved.

I'm talking separate mini events leading to a grand finale with lasting consequences.

I'm talking the participation of people both in and outside the server.

Let me ask you, if it came down to a vote, if you could personally affect the result of who lives and who dies, if it was in your hands...

Would you vote for your favorite egg if it meant damning the others?

[coffeeangelinabox]

Whumpril #7: Hesitation

Darrow never hesitates.  

“Sensor’s reading 20 more cruisers ahead of us.”

“How far?”

“16 light minutes, we can’t escape, Captain.”

“Engage the pursuers behind, at their first volley vent plasma and play dead, that’ll draw them in. We’ll get them to fire on each other.”

No amount of firepower and damage and tactical conundrum  is enough to bring his plans to a halt. No matter what they bring against him, Darrow prides himself on keeping his ship in one piece, his crew alive, and a step ahead of those who would see that change. Where he can, he makes them pay for their presumption. He’s no rabble rouser (or wasn’t, not until they forged him in steel and plasma fire and vacuum boiled blood). He would have been happy to live out his life in peace on the edge of the belt, away from them all. 

It was the Domain who couldn’t let one of its precious Captains go. Who couldn’t mark him a deserter, refuse to host him on Domain planets (which he doesn’t actually want to go near anyway, and leave him alone.) 

Hesitation to fight back would have been fatal. 

Hesitation to leave would have cost him what it cost the others. 

So no, hesitation has never been in Darrow. When he needs to fight, he will, and scorch the earth beneath whatever is left to prevent any remnants raising a fist to him and his again. And when he needs to flee…well, he’ll do that too. He’s not Jay to let pride get in the way of good tactical sense. 

When he’d received Romulus’ beacon, a tattered fragment of a signal calling in a favour from one of the few people outside of his crew to whom he still holds that kind of loyalty, he’d answered. And he’d taken the girl despite his misgivings. 

And when Lee had wanted to go his own way, to take the fight to the Domain, to step out of the shadows (Darro’s shadow), he’d given him a shuttle and a gun, closing away the dear around his heart for the boy he’d raised for the last twenty three years. The last thing he can offer Fenrir. The last painful reminder of who he was inside the Domain’s hold. 

But now, this message.

Lee’s face, bright and boyish. Bragging about his conquest of a cruiser, pouting that he doesn’t have the crew to man her. Darrow pauses the image, zooms in, squints at the background. 

It is a cruiser. An outdated model, to be sure, not too dissimilar to the models he’d flown for the Domain, but that’s to be expected for a border outpost this far out. 

Lee wants more people, and doubtless, Darrow’s praise. His own mouth pulls. Is that what this uncharacteristic hesitation is? Jealous instead of pride that the pupil has so far outstripped the master? He thought he was better than that. 

He just can’t fathom how Lee managed it is all. His shuttle had had six people aboard her. He wouldn’t have sent anyone, least of all Lee, into the dark with no protection, but she hadn’t had much beyond Gene’s jury rigging of the gunnery rig. To bring down a cruiser and take her…

He passes a hand over his tired features. He’s getting old and paranoid. It’s Lee. His son. He can heap some praise on the boy, hear his tale of the battle (he probably found the damn ship abandoned from some other cause, he hopes he’s been sensible enough to sweep for pathogens), congratulate him. Give him the approval he has always craved and that Darrow is so terrible at giving, those kind of soft emotions long since stripped out of him by the Domain’s interference in his mind. He’d kept his name, more than can be said for the others at least, though he’s sometimes not sure if he got the better end of the deal. 

Romulus, at least, was able to remember his family. Though, to be fair, not remembering Anna gave him reflexes enough to put a knife through her carotid when she tried to hand him over to the military police after his desertion. 

“Sir?” Nico and Casey asked, their violet eyes regarding him, ready and waiting at the helm. 

He’s sat here for far too long, he realises. His delay in issuing an order in his usual brusque fashion more than noticeable to just him now, instead something to remark on in the mess hall. Darrow trusts every man and woman aboard his ship, they wouldn’t be there if he didn’t, but he still hesitates to give them a weakness to speculate upon. 

He forces a smile. “Of course, sorry. Fatigue must be catching up with me.”

Nico and Casey blink slowly, still waiting. 

He still hasn’t made a decision, but the weight of eyes on him forces one from him. 

“Change course, head for Lee’s position.” He transfers the message from his station to the main bank so that Nico and Casey can access the rendezvous point that Lee specified. “Apparently he has a prize for us.”

[immortal-gege]

Mdzs is just straight up back to back agonizing tragedy which gives you no fucking time to recover. No wonder I put off rereading it for so long. Jesus Christ

[gh00stic]

I STILL DONT KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. I CANT WRAP MY HEAD AROUND THE GOOGLE TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL TWEET, IM WAITING FOR A ENG TRANSLATION- WHAT ARE YOU????

[icyzoie]

When you're playing the Cosmic Crisis Event on Legendary with a great team, but you need to betray them for the event challenge

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Hephaes: Flames of Dawn

Designer's Reflection: Flames of Dawn

Obtained: Tides and Flames hell event

Rarity: UR

Attribute: Green/Fresh

Awakened Suit: Silence of Twilight

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Birth of Starfire

Chapter 2 - Lakelight Mirage

Chapter 3 - A Time of Trial

Chapter 4 - A Moon of Change

Chapter 5 - To Ashes

Story - summarized

Hephaes was the youngest of the Elf Gods to be born. Materializing at the Tree of Life, They were greeted and blessed by all the other Elf Gods.

One stood off to the side. It was obvious that the other elves would not let this one join the ceremony. "Arionus was not born at the Tree of Life," they all said. "They are an outsider."

That didn't stop Hephaes from approaching Arionus the Water Elf. No one had ever reached out to Arionus, so this was a shock to the older Elf God. Nonetheless, They blessed Hephaes in Their own way.

As Hephaes grew in age and power, They noticed strange things surrounding Arionus - mainly that the Water Elf always disappeared during the New Moon. Determined to find the truth, Hephaes searched the depths of Lake Bovaly, where Arionus had hidden. Hephaes' power still wasn't strong enough to fight back the tides, and They almost drowned.

Arionus saved Them, scared and concerned that someone had followed Them. It turned out that Arionus was cursed with pain and darkness from the Abyss, and They were trying to deal with the curse and break it by Themself. Above all, Arionus did not want to hurt anyone.

Hephaes promised to always be there to help. Even when it came time to design the Elf Gods' Holy Instruments, Hephaes was adamant that the Holy Grail would never be used as a weapon, and instead serve like a lighthouse: it would guide the lost back home.

With their Holy Instruments in hand, Hephaes and Arionus returned to the Tree of Life, eager to start their new lives as guardians of the holy tree - Hephaes became a guardian, while the other elves still disregarded and abused Arionus as a curse and an outsider.

That didn't stop the two friends from working hard to protect the elven forest and all the creatures. But the Abyssal Power was getting worse and racking Arionus with intense, excruciating pain. Hephaes opened the pathway to the holy tree's Source Spring, where Arionus could find Their Seed of power and use it to close off the Abyss; while the Tree of Life was connected to the Ocean of Memories, it meant it was also connected to the Abyss.

But the Wind Elf saw Hephaes open the passage, and They immediately summoned the other Elf Gods. Hephaes was trapped far away from the holy tree, and by the time They broke free and rushed back to the Tree of Life, it was too late. The Elf Gods had confronted Arionus, and now Arionus was in deeper pain.

The Elf Gods blamed Hephaes for everything and tried to convince Them to kill Arionus. But They would never kill Their friend. Instead, Hephaes summoned Arionus back to the Altar of Fire, where They used the power and strength of a sun to seal both Themself and Arionus away in the Holy Grail.

Connections

-During the Moon Memories leading up to the hell event, Ophelia finds the Altar of Fire, where not just fire emits from the Holy Grail. When the young queen disappears into the Holy Grail, Arionus is released.

-The Elf Gods never let go of their bigotry. When Nikki, Momo, you, and Loen enter the meadow leading to the Tree of Life, the Wind Elf accuses you all of serving the "traitors" and tries to root you in place, just like with Hephaes.

-Neither Arionus nor Hephaes betrayed the other. Hephaes' Reflection and Arionus' Reflection Lost Tides work together to show the duplicity of the other Elf Gods: forcing the Fire Elf away, ambushing the Water Elf and telling Them they were sold out, antagonizing the issue of the Abyss, and trying to get one friend to kill the other.

-Hephaes ends Their story by deciding to share Arionus' fate, to keep Them from being alone. One of the turning points in the hell event is Hephaes deciding to use up Their Fire Seed. As the two Reflections explain, giving up one's Seed meant one would eventually become mortal. And at the end of the Tides and Flames event, both Hephaes and Arionus fade away.

-Even though the Fire and Water gods are dead, they aren't truly gone. First, Leonid's Prophecy explains that all gods go through a cycle of death and rebirth. And second, their powers and colors intertwined to create the Flower of Eberne, an important item in Love Nikki in one of Orlando's memories.

Fun Facts

-Hephaes' name is taken from the Greek god Hephaestus, who was the God of Fire and Crafting.

-The Wind Elf called Hephaes' friendship with Arionus "self-righteous" and "blind trust." If anything, Fire Elf Hephaes is the only one who saw clearly: understanding Arionus' plight, learning as much as They could about the forest, seeking solutions beyond just violence. The other elves were self-righteous, arrogant, and blindly hateful.

-Only Hephaes and Arionus get names. The other Elf Gods are just referred to by their nature element, like Rock or Wind.

-In the Reflection and event, Hephaes is presented as gender-neutral, but Their voice actor is masculine.

-The other Elf Gods claimed that Arionus was an outsider and didn't belong at the Tree of Life... but Arionus' Seed was already at the Source Spring. The Tree of Life already recognized Them as an Elf God and a guardian.

[baited-beth]

I had a bit of a breakdown yesterday and one of the things that gets me is that my closest friends, who I speak to on the daily, basically ignored it.

Whenever they’re really struggling I’m there for them, no question. But I say ‘I just started crying and shaking at the thought of being in the same room as the ex friend who cancelled me over trans rights two years ago’ and hours later I get one response of ‘that’s shit :/‘ from one of the three. And then it moves on.

They’re so scared of the subject matter that they can’t even talk to me about the trauma I’ve obviously got from the experience. And I think they also believe that I brought it on myself because who would voluntarily speak up on such a contentious topic?