#how they dont want to do any of it. they actively try to resist it. but they cant help themselves

[tauforged]

this little tidbit on loduns wiki page is amusing becasue it implies that like, something happened to the first executioner between the teaser demo and the update dropping and instead of hiring a new guy they were just like fuck it. make the dragon work a second job

[fairuzfan]

would you classify “jihadist” as a slur? personally i feel like it’s mainly used by islamophobic white people who want to demonise and antagonise muslim people.

tbh even “islamists” feels like a slur. like no muslim calls themselves these terms. and i’ve only ever heard these be used when white people are trying to spread hate.

i think there needs to be more discussion within western communities on the language surrounding muslims and arabs (because they love conflating the two). people should be held accountable for saying islamophobic shit just as much as they’re held accountable for saying any other sort of slur/hateful comment.

honestly "islamist" doesn't even make sense as a term to me because like what do you mean? its different from "islamic extremists" (which is kinda a vague term in itself) because it implies something intrinsic to islam that is violent and shady that muslims are trying to push. are you saying that salafis for example represent the majority of muslims? if so, i personally would disagree lol. its a super vague term that doesn't mean anything other than "i hate muslims."

"jihadist" also doesn't make sense because islamically speaking, jihad is a pretty wide concept that means different things in different scenarios. im not going to go too much into this, but "jihad" doesn't mean anything involving armed conflict intrinsically. the way i learned it is that its a "struggle" you do in the name of Allah. so things like studying to be a doctor (as long as it's for the purpose to please God) can be considered jihad. so like, when people use "jihadist" in the west im like.... ok... you clearly don't know the history and context and you're vilifying the concept of jihad overall.

you're right, i agree that these terms are only ever used to vilify and spread hate. when people use these terms they show me what type of person they are. and even when they call people terrorists (which in the united states, terror laws were specifically conceived and strengthened to criminalize palestinian resistance, even unarmed) its obvious that they're doing this to de-legitimize. because they never call israel terrorists because its state sanctioned violence. they view anything that isn't a "state" as terror activity because they consider the state as the only legitimate use of force and violence. israel was literally founded on terrorism of palestinians. but they never use those words to describe israel, do they?

but yeah i generally don't take people who say these things seriously and i don't think anyone should either. of course there are terror groups around the world that are LEGIT terrorists, but when talking about palestine, the media and even the law only calls palestinians terrorists. i dont know how to combat it other than rolling my eyes and talking over them tho. this is a problem within media overall thats so widespread.

[genderless-naper]

candle shopping

trafalgar law x strawhat!reader

smut! a lil ooc rough law hehe

nsfw, wc: 3.4k, lowercase intended !

a boring day on the sunny draws law to go ‘candle shopping’ from your personal collection. it accidentally escalates to something deeper than meant to be

being stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with the strawhats was not the most ideal for law. they were loud, obnoxious, and have no concept of personal space. law would often find himself locked away in rooms to find some peace and quite from the hectic crew.

the only strawhat he could bear being around was you. you had the personality to match with the others humors, but he would discover a completely different side whenever he found himself on the deck at night starring at you while you rambled about how endless the sea was. he could have spent the time lost away in books, but in reality he didnt mind exchanging his time with you. that was more than he could say about any of the strawhats.

law knew something was wrong with him when he looked forward to seeing you during breakfast. the way you appeared in his view made made his mind generate hundreds of thoughts at once. sometimes he would curse himself and avoid looking at you all together. this tactic didnt last long since you were always asking him something.

“hey law do you need any sugar for your coffee?” you held out the small container with sugar cubes

he never added sugar in his coffee, but how could he resist when you asked him so earnestly? how could he say no when you made the effort to think about him?

he took two and added them to his cup as he watched you make jokes with luffy about eating sea monsters for lunch. he was starring at you again before he realized it.

you on the other hand were no stranger to how the surgeon was the slightest bit friendlier to you. he didnt immediately leave when you approached him like when others did. hell, he actually made an effort to converse with you when you said something.

during one uneventful afternoon laying on the lawn you decided to check on your friends to see if they were doing anything interesting. you found luffy, usopp, and chopper fishing at the side of the sunny. their activity seemed more boredom-inducing than yours. you found zoro doing his usual 2000 pushups which were apart of his training routine. you found sanji prepping vegetables for his next meal. you saw nami and robin enjoying the weather laying on chairs on the deck. you found brook cleaning his violin while being told an ailen story by franky. everyones activities just seemed uneventful. you thought of your next stop on your checking-in-with-friends train.

knowing where to find the last subject, you headed to the library of the sunny. you found law nose-deep in some mundane book.

“he’s probably the most uninteresting person to check up on.” you thought to yourself. law heard the door open. he simply didn’t care enough to look up to know who entered, or give a thought of acknowledgment when the unknown person approached him. he only withdraws from his book when you sit next to him asking how his day was. you rambled on about how bored you were and how the crew had nothing fun to do.

at this point law would usually get up and go somewhere else secluded to finish his book. he wanted to, but something was holding him back. maybe it was the way you talked, or the way your hair fell perfectly over your shoulders, or how your confidence radiated when you held his eye contact. he would never admit how he would give anything just to hear you say his name on a loop. it made him feel special.

and yet he pushed those feelings deep into his abyss when he replied, trying to sound as cold as possible, “i honestly dont care. im busy so leave me alone” law was expecting you to be offended or leave. the last thing he thought he would hear was you bursting into laughter.

‘did i say something embarrassing?’ he thought to himself trying to retrace his words exactly.

you shook your head and tossed his book to the side while replying,

“all this reading has made you become the most boring person on this ship! who cares about some variant-strand of a virus whose last infection was recorded 200 years ago?” he kept a cool expression on his face.

you were desperate to find something entertaining to do. realizing how dimly lit the library could be you thought back to your candle stash you kept which had varieties of scents.

“hey, do you like candles?” you asked the raven haired man.

law raised an eyebrow suspiciously, “candles? why would you ask that?”

you lit up finally finding an activity to pass the time with. you grabbed his hand and pulled him to the girls cabin, “lets take you candle shopping!”

this was laws first time entering the girls cabin of the ship. he never had a reason to. he was quite surprised to see how much more spacious, cleaner, and taken care of it was compared to the boys. your bed was made, and it looked like heaven to the heavily sleepy-induced doctor who constantly disregarded his insomniac habits.

you rummaged under your bed and pulled out a bag with different colors and sizes of candles. you put the bag on your bed and pulled out candles one by one.

law stared in an utter state of confusion. you popped the top off of one and handed it to him, “smell this and see if you like it”

at first the doctor quietly refused, trying to hand the candle back so he could go back to reading. you huffed and dragged him to sit on your bed, “if youre gonna coop yourself in that library all day like a chicken you might as well take a candle with you. its so dimly lit i dont get how you can read at night. now find one that you like! dont worry i wont charge you.” you winked playfully at the doctor

law fought the blood threatening to rise to his cheeks. he gave up and started ‘candle shopping’ through your pile. he smelt some that were vanilla heavy, fruit heavy, lavender heavy, tobacco heavy (he hated that one specifically), and more. they all left him feeling unimpressed.

you thought for what the man sitting next to you would enjoy. you grabbed another candle that was a shade of deep green. you read the label and handed it to him. “this one has notes of deep forest, sandalwood, and fresh spring water.” law smelt it not expecting much.

he was pleasantly surprised to find how he actually liked this scent. you were excited to see if he found a candle that fit his interests, “do you like that one? should i light it for you??”

he saw at your excitement radiating off of you. how could he say no when you went to the extent to find him something he liked? how could he say no when you cared this much about him? he silently handed the candle back.

you cleared away the other rejected candles and got off your bed. you ordered law to lay down as you lit the candle carefully, “you need to relax to be able to fully enjoy the energy it offers! try to get comfortable.”

he was astonished at your directness, “you want me to.. lay down on your bed? it’s made and ill just get it messy.”

you shook your head and pushed him to lay down. you carefully placed the candle on the floor right next to the bed, “close your eyes and really try to relax trafalgar”

he felt a warm sensation spread in his stomach when you said his name. he was left with no choice but to close his eyes. the scent of the wax filled the room gradually. it wasn’t a scent that was overpowering. he could still smell you on your sheets with the candle’s notes lingering in the background.

you stay quite as you watched the once stoic man fade into a state of relaxation. you were feeling proud of your succession.

law heard footsteps starting to approach the door of the cabin followed by laughter of the other two female members. his once relaxed state quickly washed away not wanting to be caught. he wasn’t just in the girls cabin. he was in your bed. who knows what the strawhats would think of him? he gave you a look of alarm.

as the cabin knob twisted you quickly jumped into bed and pulled the covers up. you were on your side with your back facing the door trying your best to conceal the tattooed man. your legs were practically tangled with each other. mere centimeters was the distance between your faces. you shushed him quietly and pushed him slightly lower while hiding his hat under your bed.

the door opened as the two females walked in. nami saw you in bed and wondered what was wrong, “hey y/n is everything okay?”

nico robin hummed, “its not like you to be in bed in the middle of the day”

you faked a cough trying to convince them of you feeling unwell, “i just wanted to lay down for a bit.”

nami replies, “if you want me to ask sanji to make you some soup then let me know”

you okay’d a response back to her.

law wished he activated his powers before becoming stuck in this predicament. he wished he never got sucked into your side quest. he wish he could be able to say no to you. maybe then he wouldn’t have been stuck hiding in bed with you. his hand was naturally placed on your waist as you had left your hand in his hair after trying to push him down. the position was dangerous for him. he looked up at you while you flashed apologetic looks.

you finally noticed your hand slightly tangled in his hair. you tried to move it to make the position less awkward. moving it a few centimeters before opting to return it to its original position to avoid attention being drawn to you. the feeling of your fingers trying to move yet returning back to him made his mind blank out. his eyes turned half lidded as the forestry scent was of the candle made him slightly sink into you. dangerously closer than ever.

you took in every feature of the man right before you. you quietly moved your thumb from the roots of his hair to trace his facial features softly. you dont know what came over you. you ran your thumb lightly across his eyebrow, his nose bridge, then cheek bone, and finally to his lip. you hesitate, resting your thumb on his lower lip, not daring to move it any further.

laws gaze had changed from its previous cold appearance. he looked different from before, as if he wanted you to continue. he needed you to admire his features just like how he admired yours every moment he saw you. both your desperations climbed in attempt to keep quiet. his hold on your waist pulled you ever so slightly closer to him. enough hoping you wouldn’t notice. you continued to slowly trace his lower lip, pulling down on it slightly to see how far he would really let you take it.

he shot you a dangerously possessive gaze. it was his turn to return the act. he slowly ran his once resting hand down your waist and down your thigh. your curves fitting perfectly in his hand. he gripped your thigh slightly, which earned a surprised gasp from you.

nami looked back over, completely oblivious to the unsuspecting man in bed with you, “are you sure you’re okay y/n..?”

you responded quicker than you liked to admit, trying to hide the panic in your voice, “im fine really! just a bit of a headache i guess. ill be fine once i take a nap.” you glanced back down at the raven-haired man who pressed a ghosting kiss against your thumb.

you felt your heart skip a beat as your body’s heat started to rise. you couldn’t believe how daring he’s trying to show you he could be. any moment other than now would’ve been better to see.

you try to move your legs to untangle them from the man in front of you. you bit your lip as you felt your thigh brush harshly against law in between his legs. you freeze while you feel him harden slightly; member pressing back onto your thigh.

law tried his best for fight these sensations, but it was difficult when all you did was light his body on fire every time you moved. the warm sensation in his stomach from earlier growing into a blaze. he mouthed words at you carefully quiet, ‘don’t move’

you smirk once you realize the position you were in. you were towering over law as he looks at you with eyes which showed slight desperation. you kept tracing his lower lip as you continued to push your thigh against his growing member. you wanted to be the sole reason he fought to make any noise in that moment.

law cursed you silently in his head. he gripped your thigh while digging his fingertips into your skin. he shot you a now threatening look. knowing what you were doing and how you deliberately were doing it to get a kick out of him drove him insane.

he could easily take control of the power dynamic now in place if it hadn’t been for the women still in the room. he knew you were taking advantage of the situation. he fought a growl as you trailed your hand from his lip to the collar of his shirt. playing with it innocently while devilishly tormenting the man with your thigh drove you to feel your stomach blaze as well.

the two women bid their farewells as they left the cabin shutting the door behind them. you felt a sense of relief wash over you, but were pulled back into reality when law grabs your ass while slightly grinding himself on your thigh to feel some relief.

he spoke words of venom to you, “you’re gonna regret this y/n..”

you tilt his chin up to you, reminding him of the power dynamic still in place, “who says i don’t want this?” your words sweet like honey.

law looks back at the door to make sure no more disturbances would bother his current moment with you. he flipped you onto your back and towered over you. hands between your head to support himself.

he leaned down to your ear and spoke while smirking, “now its my turn to see how quiet you can be”

your eyes widen once you see the position you were in. the blaze in your body abandoned any rational thinking you had at that moment. you pulled the man down into a sloppy kiss as you tug up on his shirt desperately trying to expose his body.

he pulled the shirt off mid kiss then worked on taking this belt off. you whined for him to hurry while the desperate between your legs painstakingly grew with each passing second. you both pushed the rest of your clothes off in an attempt to not waste anymore time.

law grabbed his member with a slight groan, “look at what you did to me y/n..”

you couldnt help but feel proud of being able to draw this side of law out. not too long ago he was a mysterious identity on the ship. now he was just mere seconds away from fucking your mind out of you.

he opened pushed open your legs and ripped your panties to the side to give himself more accessibility. you pulled him closer in a desperate attempt to get his member in you. he chuckled deeply at your failed attempt.

he flashed his golden eyes up and down your body, “i should make you wait for being such a tease..”

you shook your head fast. ecstasy completely taking over all your sense, “i didn’t mean to do all tha-“

“you still did it y/n” he shot back lowly, “i want you to beg for me” he smiled sadistically down at you.

desperation on your mind left you no other choice, “please law..”

he raised a brow unimpressed, “thats it? i know you can give me more than y/n” he slowly moved the head of his member up and down your wet folds to tease you.

you shut your eyes as you spewed a line of noncomprehensive begs. you didn’t even understand what you were saying at that point.

once satisfied with your obvious desperation on display law slowly pushed himself into you. the way he disappeared into you made his stomach do flips. your warmth completely captivating him.

you let out a quiet moan as you grip his tattooed biceps. you begged him for more.

every whine and beg drove law further off the edge. granting your wish he started his pace. it was a slow motion which picked up into a faster, harsher rhythm.

law was fascinated with how well your body took him in. every time he pulls to almost abandon your hole you take him back in fully. your moans starting to pick up as the man above you tries to fuck sense back into you, “you think you can pull stunts like that and get away with it?” he grunts in your ear, trying to suppress his own moans.

the slapping of skin becoming louder with every snap of laws hips hitting you. his rhythm, once steady and strong, starts to falter and get sloppy. your own blaze turning into a burning fire reaching the depths of your stomach. you slapped a hand over your mouth to mask the loud moans escaping your lips. law pushes your hand away and pulls you into a messy kiss while taking in every moan you gave to him. you dig your nails into his shoulders indicating you were climbing fast to your high.

the man above you fucks into you with a rough pace. he made the mistake of looking down at your eyes. the way they glossed over with ecstasy and your eyebrows taking shape of desperation made law lose his rhythm completely. he just vigorously pushed into you chasing his own high. he wanted to take a picture of your sight before him. he knew the way you looked at him would burn into his memory forever. you moaned his name while repeating how close you were. unable to suppress his own moans he started to repeat your name back to you. both your names rolling off each others tongues so effortlessly.

the knot in your stomach pulled so tightly. you felt the harsh waves of ecstasy hit you as your orgasm forces itself onto you. you dig your nails into law while he covers your mouth with his hand. the sight of you moaning mindlessly because of him was enough for his knot to pull. he knew he was dangerously close as well. he continued to fuck into you to chase his high. the overstimulation causing your eyes to roll back slightly.

the sight caused laws own orgasm to hit him faster than he imagined. he pulled out quickly and released himself onto your stomach. he collapsed next to you as you both pant to regain your breaths. he stares at your messy hair, plump lips, and how your chest rises and falls. he’d be lying to himself he if he didn’t want to experience seeing you like this all the time. with sweat glistening both your tired bodies he wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you close to him.

he mumbles to you tiredly, “you dont know how long ive been wanting to do that..”

you giggle as you ease into him, “then you should’ve done it earlier”

the crackling of the candle returns you to your senses, “its good we lit a candle before hand..” you laugh tiredly at the ironic situation.

he rolls his eyes while the corner of his lips tug up slightly. he grabbed your chin and kissed you passionately to make up for all the sloppy kisses he gave earlier(he just wants your lips on his any way possible). you cup his cheek and deepen the kiss while smiling. law feels you smiling into the kiss, and it causes him to smile a bit more than he usually would.

even he’d admit that ‘candle shopping’ maybe wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

[decolonize-the-everything]

is it possible to ever stop being a settler if u were born white in america? genuine question im sorry if this sounds stupid i just dont know and youre smart about this

This is actually a great question and one better answered if you can figure out what's makes a settler and a native so different.

The short answer: no. As long as the USA exists then you are a settler. Further, to continue defining yourself as an American is to continue claiming a settler identity. If you don't want to be a settler you need to stop identifying as such and seek to dismantle the USA in solidarity with natives.

The long answer:

Going back to what makes settlers and natives so different. Settlers have no connection to the land. They don't know what grows in it because they've never had to rely on it. They don't see it's worth because they can only see the value that destroying it brings.

They don't see the medicine or food or shelter or burial grounds that have brought people together for thousands of years. They don't see that it can continue to do so for thousands more.

And that's because settlers rely on their colonialist powers to provide for them.

So instead of seeing community and life in the land and people, settlers see things like parking lots and hotels and competition.

Their food will come prepared for them to use and they won't think about the animal it came from or the people exploited for it to end up on their table. They don't know where it came from either and the same goes for near everything else in their houses.

Settlers are defined by not only their complicity in this system & it's violence, but their resistance to make the same connections to the land. Settlers have dehumanized the earth and its inhabitants, reduced us to commodities. Respecting the earth is laughable to settlers.

So is it possible to not be a settler in America?

I can't tell you the answer is to be Ojibwe or Sámi or Taino, but the answer is certainly to live indigenously.

These New People will have to carve out their own cultures and ways and traditions. And as a people who exploited and displaced millions of people and created a 'melting pot', I feel like the first step should be dismantling white supremacy in the name of peace and tolerance. Wouldn't do any good to try moving forward without addressing the ideology that brought us all here.

It should be to learn about community, the people its made of, and actively loving them instead of passively tolerating them. Learn about their traditions, events, and/or holidays and see how they can be more included in community events and celebrations

The more you do this the more realize how often we're truly left out while others are centered.

Seek to change that.

Refuse to follow the current American values of bias, hate, and judgement.

[phantasmiafxndom]

hello! this isnt a request but i wanted to ask about how you write akaza and tanjiro, i have a small draft about both of them being adopted by the same owner but im having some trouble trying to..characterize them? Make em feel like themselves in this pet au (i understand if you dont want to! thank you for reading this)

i rlly love your writing and au’s! i hope that if i post this (and gift it to you on ao3) i can do you proud! have a good day/night!

Hi!! Good luck with your draft! OwO I'm excited to see it, and I'll try my best to offer some helpful advice for you here, about what traits I try to focus on when writing those two~

For Tanjirou, it's his kindness. He's driven by the need to be helpful, to protect and comfort the people close to him, and to willingly take on any amount of pain or hardship that may require. In the context of Pet Au, he'll end up directing that protector/caretaker persona toward either pleasing his owner, looking after any other demons in the household, or both. In your story, if Akaza is brought in after Tanjirou has been in the home for a while, he'd be eager to help his new companion get adjusted— and quite good at it!

Akaza, meanwhile, is tense. He's spent so long immersed in violence that he doesn't know how to exist in a normal home. He knows better than to lash out at his owner, but without the usual outlet fights would provide, he's a bundle of barely suppressed stress-aggression who's anticipating threats from everything. He's convinced that he doesn't belong in such a domestic life, to begin with, and actively resists any attempts at kindness he's shown. Having another demon in the household is just one more source of stress for Akaza; even though Tanjirou is clearly harmless, Akaza doesn't appreciate the invasions of personal space that Tanjirou considers "helping".

[whilomm]

i think part of the reason why ppl have a kneejerk reaction to others pointing out that marcille is kinda conservative (besides the usual desire to sand down characters edges to make them Less Problematic™) is that theyre thinking "conservative=republican" rather than similar to like, that girl who will swear up and down that she is SO progressive and 100% feminist and everything but when a girl doesnt shave her legs she says "ugh but its just so UNSANITARY" but at the same time if a guy DOES shave their legs she just "thinks its weird!!!", and if you point out the contradiction there ("didnt you say it was UNSANITARY to not shave? doesnt that mean you think ALL guys should shave?") she will BSoD a little bit and uhhhh i mean uhhh its just that–

or you know, someone who if you come out as a trans to her she'll accept it (after a bit of confusion and a few of the usual dumb cis questions) but maybe thinks that the way to ✨validate✨ you is to go all in on gender stereotypes like okay if youre a woman that means MAKEUP and DRESSES and LONG HAIR and ACTING LADYLIKE and PARTICIPATING IN GIRLY ACTIVITIES and NOT BEING TOO LOUD and NOT TAKING UP TOO MUCH SPACE. and if your a man that means dressing MANLY and HAVING SHORT HAIR and ACTING MASCULINE and TOUGH and BEING UNINVITED FROM THE (GIRLY) WEEKLY HANGOUT SESH

or people who like, will never outright say they HATE homeless people, like if you talk about volunteering at the soup kitchen or donating to the food bank shes like yeah!!! but then she also getting weirdly uncomfortable when it comes to actual homeless people who arent like, the model of 'trying but down on my luck', and just thinking the tents are unsightly and worrying about how if you give someone money on the street if they'll just use it for drugs and being anxious about the vague specter of "violence"

(im not necessarily saying "marcille herself would 100% do these things" but just "when people say marcilles a bit conservative they dont mean rightwing republican they mean like this kinda shit which self-proclaimed Progressives do when they dont recognize they still got shit that they picked up from living in a So Sigh Titty to work thru")

like, listen, a big part of marcille's character is that she is very prideful and sure of herself and her opinions. half of marcille's character building parts are "marcille has a preconceived notion! oh, someone challenges the preconceived notion! marcille is RESISTANT to this! oh my GOD this is AWFUL how could you CHALLENGE HER WORLD VIE- oh. oh wait no. okay you might have a point BUT SHE STILL HATES IT!!!".

she changes and she learns things! but shes kicking and screaming the whole way and kinda annoying about it and even after she has one thing challenged shes still got a whole backlog of other things she learned from So Sign Titty shes also gotta work thru even if she doesnt realize it yet. sometimes she gradually realizes these things on her own sometimes someone basically has to hit her over the head with the Very Special Episode about how halffoots arent children and orcs aren't evil and maybe shes treating falin a bit like a dress up doll and infantilizing her and like thats a problem maybe?

like. its an interesting part of her character! let marcille be a bit conservative. she aint perfect. actually theres a lotta little things she kinda sucks about. but its okay bc she can learn and have her tidy little worldview challenged and its interesting to see her go thru it all!

(and i also wonder if part of the resistance to people pointing out how shes a bit conservative in some ways is also like, refusal to admit "hm maybe i also hold some regressive views". like, the general thing of "wanting to believe you are already a perfect progressive and dont hold any shitty views" is extremely realistic, its defo a trap ive fallen into before! most of us probably have! but like, step one is admitting it rather than putting your foot on the ground and saying la la la i cant hear you)

[overandundertarot]

How can you release this anger?

Recently, I've come to the realisation that I hold quite a lot of pent up anger without even knowing how to release it. I think this reading could be helpful to people who may be in a similar position, or just experiencing pent up emotions and are unsure how they could release this or start that process of transforming those emotions, if they want to.

Piles 1-4(left to right)

Pile 1

Cards; 6 of wands, Knight of swords.

Believe in yourself pile one! There is self doubt here, and pride brought about by trying to conceal insecurity. Act on your thoughts. A lot of this anger is towards yourself. I feel like you are perfectionists, and you dont like when you are not perfect according to your standards. Well, there's nothing you can do about that. You either have to develop yourself till you feel you're perfect enough( which will take quite a while and you may never reach your lofty aspirations for yourself) or take action now on whatever it is you want to do. I'm getting that it's not even related to the material world, but your personality or creative interests. You may feel like you are not the person that you should be, but instead of practicing any self development activities, you just spend alot of time having self deprecating thoughts. You may not be where you want to be, but that does not mean that you can never get there. Appreciate yourself for what you have and what you can do and allow yourself to indulge in your hobbies/ interests with less judgement.

Pile 2

Cards; The Sun, 2 of Swords, Page of Pentacles.

In any case pile 2, youre not supposed to be making a decison right now. Good things and opportunities are coming to you now but its overwhelming. I think that is where this anger is coming from, because you can't allow yourself to fully enjoy the present moment and be connected to your spirituality. So you are angered because you have a lot but it is still not enough. You have to force yourself to enjoy what you have right now pile 2, because all of the planning and deciding and moving forward is being used as a distraction. Of course, take this with a grain of salt and don't put your life on hold to try and attempt this. Start small, think about things in your daily life and what use they provide for you, do you appreciate them enough? Be in the present moment and appreciate what you have worked for. Some of you are also angered by the fact that you might not be able to find a direction in life. It will come in time; try to be connected with your desires and intentions so when the opportunity arises, you can make a decision that will trully make you happy.

Pile 3

Cards; The Emperor reversed, King of cups.

Your anger may stem from the fact that you may have never fit into society, particularly that you may have been too sensitive for other peoples tastes. Some of you may be a part of the lgbtq community as well. The way you express yourself garnered much criticism and you may care about issues that society doesn't like to face such as animal rights, environmentalism and child abuse. Emotional issues, childhood trauma. A lot of the people in this pile have heavily feminine energy, regardless of their gender. The way for pile 3 to release their anger would be to develop ways of managing their emotions. Unfortunately, the world is unlikely to change but we can find ways to regulate our emotions and work through our traumas so that we can be less affected by the harshness of society. Also, try to channel your anger and pain into creative pursuits such as writing, and even consuming more media concerning these issues that affect you. It may help you feel seen and understood.

Pile 4

Cards; The Tower reversed, Justice.

Pile 4 you have been resisting change for a while. By not allowing it to crumble, you have become a prisoner of the tower. Your anger is brought about by you not allowing yourself to feel your emotions fully. You're not letting go of something that happened in the past, or you're trying to keep a steady hold on your life right now, but it's failing. You can't control everything. To release this anger, accept what happened and move on. Take responsibility for your actions, what happened was a result of past actions and you can't change those. You either accept what happened, move on and try to create a better future for yourself, or stay in that tower and torment yourself forever. That sounded a bit dramatic but the messages coming through are quite firm, whatever happened you have to accept it and move on.

***

Thank you for participating in this Pick a Card reading!

I hope it gave you some insight for your situation. Please dont hesistate to give any feedback you may have regarding this reading!

[ghostyclay]

Since yall seem to like my other AUs/headcanons, I've decided to rant a bit about my 'main' one :3 (kept vague to avoid spoilers)

Small summary: (more indepth rant below)

it's a villan & hero hermitcraft / life series / empires au, focused on bad boys (at least during the first arc). Joel creates a bar as a cover for a fighting ring/information selling business, joined by pearl effo gem grian and jimmy. Grian refuses to participate in the criminal activities at first, but doesn't rat them out either. (inspired by his resisting the resistance thing in s9)

However, as u can probably guess, this doesn't last long and he slowly gets more n more involved, especially once random people mysteriously start getting "the red curse", which he recognizes from his past... (hehe watcher lore) Grian continues to pretend to stay uninvolved while trying to keep the Watchers at bay behind the scenes, even going as far as creating multiple alter egos / secret identities in order to hide his involvement.... (poultry man, cute guy, mother spore,...) Sadly, the Watchers think identity reveals are incredibly amusing and make it their mission to reveal Grians secrets... :)

Now, lil poll bc i wanna know yalls preference:

Im not a very experienced writer, so I can't guarantee the fics would be any good- while i def prefer comics, it would take a long ass time and I'm not sure whether its a good idea since i tend to loose interest in projects p fast wkdhakdj

Still debating what to name it, I think ill call it "Web of lies", "Wolau" for short LMFAO. Im not very good at naming things 😭 suggestions are welcome!!!

Some more background info:

Joel is a fairly new villain who has decided to start a business focused on fighting rings, selling information and just generally doing criminal stuff. (inspired by his secret fighting club in s10). He hires Gem and jimmy, two ex-vigilantes who became a bit more... Villainous. Their cover is a normal bar, which ofc means they also need normal employees who won't snitch. Jimmy suggests Grian toJoel, since he's a retired informant. He basically started out as an investigative journalist in another city, but got more n more involved with both villains and heroes (which is how he knows jimmy) before joining a cult (watcher lore watcher lore watcher lore-) and suddenly dissappearing.

Although he went missing a few years ago, they manage to track him down. He joins, but tells them he's not involved in the world of villains anymore and that he wants to stay out of everything (so hes basically working in the bar that they use as a cover as a 'normal' employee and turns a blind eye to anything criminal going on)

That's kind of the start of the story? Afterwards, Pearl, a villain who used to be a vigilante that worked with Scott (<-number one hero), then got betrayed by him and is now plotting his murder, joins in. Later on etho joins, who is originally sent by the hermits as a spy (<- p big villain&vigilante alliance in the city) but ends up deciding to side w/ them. (BOAT BOYS BOAT BOYS BOAT BOYS-)

(pearl & Scott's conflict is ofc a double life ref and etho is a mycelium resistance ref, he also ends up finding out about some of grians secrets and helping him behind the scenes)

Although its focused on the members of the bar, later on it focuses more on other hermits (since they get more involved w/ the villain group "hermits" which most of the hermits are a part of) but there's also some side stories that focus on other ppl (there's a whole side story about Ren and Doc getting to know each other after Ren gets infected by the curse, or martyn whole listener thing & how it's connected to renchanting/ren getting cursed and the Watchers showing up in the first place... But i dont wanna spoil too much :3)

Oh also! Hermits r mainly criminals(vigilantes, villains, big salmom mafia,...) and Empires members r usually heroes! But there is some exceptions to this rule. (jimmy n martyn for example)

ANY KIND OF QUESTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS R WELCOME!!! might not be able to answer everything bc of spoilers, but ill def try to do some foreshadowing instead :3

[mousemilf]

if you’re interested in working out, you could do planks and pushups and other body weight stuff to start with. after a while you might even feel comfortable enough to go to the gym, which ceases to particularly daunting after the first few visits anyhow.

i dont want to sound like, dismissive or like im resistant to helping myself, but tbh i am actually not really interested in working out at this point in my life. im in pretty good general physical condition from having an active job and lifestyle, so im not like sedentary at all - ive just given up (for the time being) on trying to put on muscle for aesthetics....

main issue is that most of my joints are either hypermobile or chronically inflamed, and i feel like every time i do try to go on a fitness kick it gets a little harder bcs so many traditional exercises are ruled out. last time i worked out was a little over a year ago, i had probably a five-month streak of going to the gym at least once a week, and i eventually gave up because i was not making any progress because every time id get frustrated by how much the weight bearing exercises hurt and just hop on the elliptical for half an hour instead. i understand this is a mental failing on my part.

and yeah, ive been in and out of physical therapy a bunch and tried twice to figure out why my joints are so fucked. i have been putting off testing for vascular eds which is the latest theory since my circulation is also completely fucked. but generally im on my feet all day and eat a lot of veggies, ive just accepted im not going to have a huge ass rn bcs ive got so much else going on and god nerfed me.

[midnightblues444]

Pairing: Demi god!!Yuji x siren!!reader

Jjk Greek god au mini series

Summary: your song has never failed you, so why is this man being so difficult.

Content warnings: fem bodied reader, you're a siren, little bit of violence, some inaccuracies Yuji is in his 20s here

Genre: suggestive

Yuujis whole life was centered by the sea, drawn to it and raised to navigate it Yuji had never learned how to fear it. Yujis grandfather was a sailor, and taught him all he knew about the ocean, teaching him how to continue working the family fish market.

Yuji was a natural, and it really helped how physically gifted he is, having the ability to swim incredibly long distances, run strangely fast and impeccable strength by age 10, so Yuji ‘s only real limitations were that he couldn't go to the cove by the far end of the shore.

"Never go there no matter what" he remembers being constantly told growing up. Which would be the major lesson Yuji takes with him after the passing of his grandfather.

Yuji wishes he knew more about his family before his passing, his grandpa was the only bridge between him and the knowledge of his parents. For some odd reason nobody in the village knows a thing about them, so their legacy died with grandfather.

Eventually Yuji learns to navigate his grief and attempts to continue a positive attitude. Waking up even earlier to start his work for the day was new part of his routine. Getting the nets ready and setting sail by the time the sun was rising. Yuji liked the change of pace,and although he wouldn't want to admit it aloud he enjoyed the solitude of the early mornings.

Though sometimes he swore he could hear something, a song of some sort. Beautifully enchanting, velvet and soft, almost lulling him to sleep. Yuji thought he was imagining it at first, as he sat quietly on the edge of his boat, letting the gentle warm morning air pass through him.

He had s strange overwhelming urge to find its source.

Go to her his mind repeatedly told him and for a while he could fight it. But today he finds himself putting the nets back, jumping from the docks and running down the beach. His thoughts are limited and he can feel his brain battling with a compelling force.

Question is what is this force ?

He thinks this while he climbs the rocky barrier of the cove. Looking down onto the separated mini beach,he spots you. Sitting in the calm waters seemingly washing your hair singing to yourself.

As he approaches he gains some control over his actions calling out to you ."I dont think you should be here" he says, you dont even look at him, keeping your focus on your hair.

"And whys that?" Softly you respond, "well I'm told it's not safe here" he started to wade over to you reaching his hand out. You turn to look at him questionably. He's pretty, for a human, but just how was he so resilient against your song?The answer to your question isn't too important for he wont be able to resist you for any longer.

Turning to face him fully, "Then what brings you here?" You ask sweetly tilting your head looking up at him through your eyelashes. He visibly blushes and stumbles trying to find a reason that doesn't make him sound crazy.

You nod along at his prolonged answer, noting how his eyes dart between your eyes and your chest. Probably trying to figure out if your naked.

Cute

You think maybe the mystery of your nudity is why theres a tent forming between his legs. Clearly visible through his robes.

You slowly stand getting closer to him, effectively shutting him up to get this over with. Yuji takes in all your curves mesmerized by your form but turning his head to be respectful.

You've never had a man do that. Actively resisting his urges. Usually they throw themselves at you blindly costing their lives. Yuji can feel his mind go blank, as you slowly touch his shoulders guiding him deeper into the water.

Suddenly it's as though he gains conciousness, realizing that he is now nearly chest deep into the tide. He struggles against your grip to which, you dig your claws into his arms returning to your scaly form, and trying to pull him under.

Luckily his survival instinct is on his side, using his strength to finally escape you, quickly swimming back to shore and running. Stunned all you do is watch as he goes, blood dripping from his biceps.

A man has never escaped before, you think

Is he even a man?

Your intrigue gets the better of you, deciding to indulge him in hopes of better understanding.

This game has began.

[tarkenee]

i wish we could completely divorce the concept of "fighting against the urge" when it comes to intrusive thoughts i feel like even when ppl are rightfully speaking against the sort of "eat a leaf dye my hair pink intrusive thoughts" n trying to be educational it still often leaves the impression that ppl w intrusive thoughts are ticking time bombs who are 24/7 at risk of "giving in" to the thoughts they have but we should respect them bc they havent so far <3

like im not gonna judge the way ppl talk abt their own intrusive thoughts u can do whatever but the sort of explanations like "if my intrusive thoughts won i would be in jail not cut my hair" or "ppl who have intrusive thoughts are actually less likely to do this bc it makes them feel bad n they try really really really hard not to even think abt it!!" just dont seem helpful to meee i get what ppl mean by that and i dont want to tell ppl how to speak abt their own experiences but to a person who doesnt get intrusive thoughts to that degree it's still gonna sound like those thoughts are actually true wants and urges but we're just good at supressing it ? like actually i wouldnt go to jail bc the thoughts arent actually smth that will ever manifest in the real world even if i "stop fighting against them"

literally one of the first things for ocd treatment (at least for me) was trying to accept my intrusive thoughts as smth that exists in my brain and not resist them or try to get rid of them bc that leads to the compulsions and increases the anxiety of them and i think thats smth that should be given more room when educating others, like 90% of the time ppl are "fighting against" the THOUGHT and are not at any actual risk of acting on the thought even if they stop that mental fight. the thought may try to convince them that they have an urge to do smth but at the end of the day it's mostly all abt resisting getting the thoughts, not resisting doing a crime or smth.

bc like i have intrusive thoughts abt violence for example but im also a pretty angry person and theres a huge easily discernible difference between my violent intrusive thoughts (distressing images that actively make me feel awful physically and mentally and want out of my brain) and me wanting to smack a bitch sometimes (smth that i actually have an urge to do but consciously stop myself bc i know better/dont want to hurt the person etc lol)

[sophieinwonderland]

i think what you said in response of the evil post is super important. i think its simply unsafe to say "you shouldnt judge a persons morals you should only judge their actions" like anon implied (how i viewed it). but where you said you have to take both into account.

people do stuff that can come across as good all the time but is actually bad. thats how some people fall into being bigots! they agree with the basic dogwhistle which opens them up to the rest.

also morals can be worked on and change. they arent a basic human trait that you shouldnt judge them for because they cant change. they are opinions.

also from what i remember this evil thing is talking about aspen? (sorry if im wrong i dont wanna rewrite this whole ask) aspens moral opinion is that endogenic systems are not real systems and are harmful to DID. before she does any action i think thats bad. i often dont care if someone is actively anti endo or not. i dont like them! i judge them for their moral opinion!

the idea that you shouldnt judge people for their morals just comes across as people trying to get you to respect their bigoted ideas. comes across as "well thats my opinion so you have to respect that!" and no thanks

For me, it's more that I see morals as things that guide actions, hence why morals can be bad.

aspens moral opinion is that endogenic systems are not real systems and are harmful to DID.

I actually don't think this is a moral opinion. It's just an opinion. It's a false belief and a misunderstanding of facts. A moral opinion is going from this false premise to "therefore it's okay to cyberbully endogenic systems."

One thing I don't want to do is say that a person is bad simply because of a misunderstanding or lack of knowledge. Because sometimes people can be misled on matters of facts.

My main problem with Aspen and her kind isn't merely the lack of understanding of endogenic systems or complete and utter ignorance of plural history.

My main problem with Aspen and her kind is their clinging to ignorance as an excuse to justify hate and bullying.

And in my opinion, Aspen's false beliefs aren't actually totally authentic. I think some people start with the premise of "I want to bully and abuse people but I need socially acceptable targets to go after so people will still support me."

It feels to me that this is also true for a lot of other endophobes. They're intentionally going after a community who lack widespread societal support or institutional power because we make easy targets. They're so resistant to new information that contradicts their worldview because if that worldview was contradicted, then they wouldn't have that justification to hurt people anymore.

[lilacartsmadsion]

I am scared to talk about this, and have been for a while.

Am I really the asshole in this situation? Am I really racist and fucked up for headcanon-ing berserk cacao as a (sort of) mindless beast? Because I am actually beginning to believe so.

I and some others are being harassed for having different interpretations of Berserk Cacao.

Let me explain

Basically I was banned from RiverArts server about my fic about Berserk cacao eating pomegranate, which I deleted when I understood how fucked up it was, and understandably they felt uncomfortable.

But then they went as far as to post it on twitter, without censoring me and the other 14 YEAR OLD’S names, and basically ‘expose’ me and @cakehoundsyndrome and their friend for their supposed ‘racism’ towards cacao. And these are basically adults. Also, I just need to call out the hypocrisy of River for a second that @randomspagetti also made a point on in twitter, is that they got mad at @cakehoundsyndrome for making licorice be abused in their past when they did the same to wildberry.

And also, most people on twitter agreed with Minty0oz and RiverArt in calling us racist and saying we’re fucked up and saying we’ve crossed the line.

I believe the line was crossed when you all decided to harass 14 year olds.

And may I add, we have apologised so many times, but they have actively ignored them and chose to keep harassing us.

Please..I need you and @kotymeaw’s opinion.

Ahem-

Although I do respect those who actively try and actively promote portraying black people as monsters being bad,

However I will say a few things…

1.) Do not harass 14 year olds OR MINORS, for headcanoning something that they did not know was wrong.

I would like to remind you that some of us 14 year olds were not accustomed to racial representation in our early lives, some of us are not aware there are DO’s and DONT’s when it comes to racial representation. Therefore as the ADULTS in the situation, you should know better than to actively bully and harass a minor for their mistakes and behavior. That does not do them good in the future.

(Speaking from someone who was ACTIVELY BULLIED FOR HAVING AN OPINION OR BEING HERSELF IN REAL LIFE TO THE POINT WHERE PEOPLE TOLD ME ‘DO NOT BE FRIENDS SHE’S BAD’ TO MY FACE! I WAS A FUCKING CHILD, IT DID NOT HELP ME AT ALL I WAS BULLIED INTO FUCKING INTENSE SOCIAL ANXIETY)

Harassing people for making mistakes even after they apologize and try their damnest to make a mistake. (AND HAVING AN APOLOGY THAT IS BETTER THAN COLLEEN.) WILL NOT turn them into a better person, perhaps, you’ll turn them out for the worst.

What if you harass someone for that and they never put racial representation in their works again because their scared of getting it wrong? That can happen.

Especially if you harass MINORS, most of the time minors are still children, they still need to grow on their own pace, trying to teach them through bullying and harassment won’t help them, it will only make them worse or make them disappear off the face of the fucking planet.

2.) Berserk Cacao has not been confirmed to be a derivative of his trauma nor was it derived from Pomegranate’s spell.

Pomegrante’s spell might have activated it, BUT-! She lost control of the spell THEN Cacao went Berserk.

The moment Cacao RESISTED Pomegranate lost control of the spell and Cacao went Berserk, causing him to lose control as well.

Berserk Cacao is only created by Cacao’s sheer will and need to defend himself, not a result of his trauma. Pomegranate remarks ‘Is this the power of the Soul Jam?’ Meaning even she underestimated how powerful Cacao was.

I want you to remember that Cacao has the powers of A GOD in his hands, the Ancients are canonically OP as fuck. Cacao ‘Split the Day and Night’ in his story when fighting dragons, Pure Vanilla sealed a WHOLE ASS KINGDOM WITH HIS SHEER MIGHT ALONE WITHOUT ANY SOUL JAM! Hollyberry can SINGLE HANDEDLY DEAL WITH ANY DRAGON.

So in lore technically yes, Cacao can resist Pomegranate’s mind spell. It’s just a misconception that Pomegranate had control over the situation.

Berserk Cacao was not created by trauma, he was created as a defensive mechanism from Cacao’s sheer will alone. However, Cacao mindlessly attacked because he thought he was in incredible danger, he started attacking his subjects, the main crew and even Pomegranate herself the cookie who they said WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN CONTROL OF THE SITUATION was scared of Cacao.

And this is a power established by the Soul Jam.

(Look, I’m an overthinker, and though I am currently procrastinating on the lore of CRK, I did NOT procrastinate on a whole lore about the damn Soul Jam because damnit do I need it for my own fanfic, wanna know why I joined this darn fandom, FOR THE LORE AND FOR THE THEORIES SO YOU CAN CALL ME MATPAT FOR ALL I CARE!)

Again…

Please DO NOT HARASS 14 year olds for their mistakes it is your job as adults to GUIDE THEM.

I don’t care if you’re 16 or 15 YOU ARE THEIR SENIOR YOU ARE THEIR ELDEST YOU ARE THEIR EXAMPLE YOU DO NOT HARASS THEM.

Because they’re either gonna destroy themselves or others. Who knows they might learn to harass others everytime they do something wrong.

Why am I saying this? That’s literally my role in real life, I am an elder sister of one. And she gets into a lot of toxic people in her life. If I see you doing this again, Be sure I’ll make you feel a taste of your own medicine and dig up some old wounds.

DO NOT HARASS MINORS, you adults SHOULD KNOW BETTER. You are the adults, they are the teenagers. You are supposed to be teachers, guides and examples for them, NOT THE SOURCE OF THEIR PAIN. BE BETTER EXAMPLES.

[xitsensunmoon]

I SAID THIS IN A COMMENT BUT YEAH NO ABSOLUTELY DONT TAKE THE REAL WORLD STUFF. VAMPIRES HOT. GO CRAZY GO STUPID. I just love to yell about this stuff-

The mental imagine of the fridge set up is killer though that's SENDING me.

As for the blood born diseases thing- most ones you can't really look at a person and say Ah Yes. That blood is bad.

Unless like uh. They're actively having complications from the disease/it's like. Ebola. You can tell if someone has Ebola they do not look like they're vibin. Don't get ebola kids it's bad for you.

Most bloodborne diseases aren't actually that bad/are much more easily treated now a days. Hepatitis is the best example for that tbh. If you have hep c or b exposure they can just slap you on some meds and you'll be fine. Same with HIV! So it's not like a big big threat, it would just legit be a nightmare for some poor epidemiologist. At least if everyone had bite marks you'd know the source rather than the hell that is the Trying to find out what food gave everyone food poisoning at the picnic (Hint: mayonnaise is the epidemiologist worst nightmare! Keep egg products properly chilled or get one million salmonella)

Additional!!! Most creatures that can spread diseases like a vampire theoretically could are actually immune to the effects of the disease they carry!! It's awesome and it's why bats can be epidemiology's worst enemy. They're so good at resisting diseases and also being so full of them,,, but they're so CUTE. < wants nothing more than to gently pet a bat but cannot because God would strike me down.

(But also it WOULD be hella cool if they could just like- tell if someone is sick through vampire powers. A blood vibe check, if you will)

I do think the idea of them being a problem for blood banks is a really good motivator for y/n tho!!! Makes a lot more sense than vampire disease hours tbh. There's already usually a shortage of blood so they would be a substantial threat for that alone! Way more than for hepatitis curse!

Oh no I didn't mean it like you can tell if someone is sick or not but more like vampire magic stuff lol. Idk how. They just can XD I know that if you have some problems with health your sweat changes its smell so maybe it can work like this?? They just find some people stinky sjsjjsenizkskdm?😭😭

I also was thinking about them having something in saliva to help heal the bite very quickly so people just don't have any evidence of them lmao. Will think about it properly too

[fearowkenya]

Winds of Change

Chapter 4: Stemming the Tide

It’s hard to hold onto hope when panic and fear take root and start to spread, climbing the notches of his spine and weaving back and forth between his ribs. But Ryo knows now, that hope and fear can both exist at once—he’s seen it for himself.

The group witnesses something that looks a lot like a miracle, but it's still not enough to chase away everybody's fears. Ryo and Shuuji each find themselves with separate demons to battle as they resist the pull of despair.

ao3 link in source, extended end-of-chapter author's note below!

editing this chapter took WAY longer than usual. I do two proofreads per chapter before i post, and if i edit more than a couple of sentences at any point, i start the entire proofread over. needless to say, i did a LOT of editing and rereading before finally making it to my posting checklist. ultimately though im pretty happy with it. mostly im just so glad to have finally posted the scene that was jokingly titled "labramon the egg wizard" so i could talk about how much I enjoy the title "labramon the egg wizard". jokes that are for me

anyway, "labramon the egg wizard" is one of the first parts of this fic that i wrote! there's a skeletal outline of the events in that section in my replay notes, though a lot about that scene has changed since then. it was always going to be labramon who was gonna help out though! why labramon..? … … well she's a dog , and it made me go 'heheh' to think of her doing pointer behaviors. no other reason (:

i know we get renamon egg in moral, but i don't actually remember much of what that looked like because it lasted like 2 seconds. thats absolutely NOT what i wanted for shuuji - i wanted it to be a scene that completely bodies him, where hes got this unexpected second chance hovering just beyond his reach, but he has to confront exactly what he's done in order to get it. i dont remember a lot of 02, but that one episode where ken goes looking for wormmons egg has this very specific vibe where its like, "here's some hope for you when youre at your lowest but never forget that you seriously fucked it up". it was brutal but beautiful and then i cried a bunch i think. idk it was a long time ago. maybe im completely misremembering that scene, who can say. thats how it lives in my memories tho

in any case, i definitely wanted it to be from ryo's perspective for the same reason that the aftermath of wendimon was from his pov. he's so much more observant than shuuji, who would not take notice of what the others are doing and saying while he's in the middle of getting pingponged between hope and gut-wrenching remorse.

the middle section, titled in the draft as "mcfreakin losin it", was a lot of fun too! the Plan(tm) at the beginning was something i edited in pretty late in proofreading. having an itemized list like that might feel more like a "shuuji thing" than a "ryo thing", but i think ryo's active effort to take responsibility and try to help kunemon with what hes stressed about would lend to him trying to come up with something a little more concrete. unfortunately for ryo, he has no backup plan for when the first one is turned upside down, and we all know what happens when something catches him off guard lmao. it was actually really interesting to write ryo in a position where he's witnessing more or less what he himself is like when he shuts down. being the one who has to snap shuuji out of this state has ryo realizing that this is what takuma and kunemon have to deal with when he's the one freaking out. i think that's kinda fun.

the last section has what feels to me like the most editing. it really wasn't a section that i spent a lot of time fiddling with until now because the bulk of it was quoting or paraphrasing existing dialogue from the start of part 6 for context, then diverging into what that scene looks like in a world where lopmon isn't around to be unable to explain what happened. like i said on ao3, as i was reading over the canon dialogue in truthful for reference, i realized i really just…didn't like it much. the argument escalates and de-escalates several times but never to a degree that feels all that extreme, and ends up feeling like it's just dragging out for no reason. people make their points at times that feel WEIRD, particularly ryo. lemme see if i can explain this.

so ryo doesnt say this til the latter half of this argument, and i HATED THAT because it's like… after everything he's been through with kunemon, it doesn't feel right that he's having those doubts. but i thought about it and i actually think it makes sense for him to have a momentary lapse where he slips back into old habits - letting fear take over and pushing away anything and anyone that has even the slightest chance of hurting him. he spent a LOT of time in that mindset, and even though he's working on reversing it, it's not gonna happen in a day. that said… the placement of ryo's doubts in the canon dialogue still feels super weird. i think it makes a lot more sense for him to panic at the very beginning of this argument, and then calm down as he remembers how solid his bond with kunemon is before sticking up for the digimon a little more aggressively. it just feels so passive in-canon when i think he would have taken a much more active role in defending falcomon and the others once 1) he remembers the context surrounding what happened in the waterway, and 2) he's reminded of how kunemon has helped him change.

i know some of the weird pacing of this dialogue is because the player needs to have input at some point, but i think takuma could've been much more powerless during this argument - the game has no problem taking away agency, since saving ryo is the only thing that will save shuuji, no matter what the player does. maybe im nitpicking, idk.

regardless, minoru's dialogue makes the most sense, but i still think it could have been condensed into a much sharper and more sudden escalation. it keeps being like "(minoru voice) IM MAD IM MAD" "(takuma voice) chill" "(minoru voice) oops sorry. … … … IM MAD IM MAD IM MAD" "(takuma voice) calm down" "(minoru voice) oops. … … … IM MAD IM MAD" etc etc etc. it just made the argument feel weak and drawn-out instead of intense and explosive.

i did keep some of it though! i thought that minoru's paranoia and sudden fear of trusting his partner was pretty compelling, which is why i kept those doubts in and quoted the lines about him wanting falcomon to prove his loyalty.

i chose those lines specifically because they say a LOT about minoru once you connect this argument with what i think is the root of his insecurities - his parents' divorce.

it's funny because as far as im aware, The Divorce doesn't even come up unless you choose an INCORRECT ANSWER in an OPTIONAL affinity event with minoru. im not 100% sure thats the only mention though! im currently at pt8 of my replay where the goal is to see every bit of truthful route dialogue possible. if it comes up in other routes, i managed to miss it lmao. anyway, because of that, for the longest time i thought The Divorce was just a popular headcanon, and didn't actually see that dialogue until recently. but as soon as i did i started looking at the stuff he does and says through the lens of somebody who was affected extremely poorly by his parents divorce, and it contextualized A LOT for me. suddenly the way he reacts in pt 6 makes so much sense, because imo falcomon turning around and killing him isn't his only concern: he's also terrified that he was vulnerable in front of someone who doesn't actually care.

pre-game minoru lacks a support system, and is afraid to rely on a new one. im not going to go on about it for too long because we'd be here all day, but im pretty sure that his parents divorce was MESSY, and he witnessed all of it. that same event where he mentions to takuma that his parents are divorced is also when he says that he doesn't think his mom has noticed that he's missing, even though at this point the kids believe that they've been gone for several days. he doesn't see his mother as support because she's too busy working, and since he doesn't even know where his father currently lives, clearly he doesnt get much if any support from his dad. the difficulty minoru has in shedding the goofy exterior and being genuine and vulnerable in front of people makes me think that he never found a support system to replace the one that he watched crumble in realtime when his parents split.

prior to part 6, we can assume that minoru started to see falcomon as someone that he could allow to see his insecurities. i also believe that minoru understood that shuuji and lopmon's relationship was supposed to look a lot like his and falcomon's, or like anybody else and their partner's. minoru could see lopmon trying to be supportive, so the dysfunction only seemed like it was on shuuji's end. so when lopmon flies off the handle and tries to murder shuuji, one of the things that minoru gets from it is that, no, actually, the trust and support that the digimon have for their partners is NOT unconditional. i think that watching this happen looks exactly like how it felt when the support system he'd had in his parents completely fell apart, except the lopmon situation comes with a fun extra "I'm going to kill you" sort of vibe that tells minoru that his relationship with falcomon is just not safe.

or worse, maybe that support system was never real in the first place. what if there was something darker beneath the surface that he just couldn't see?

anyway.

now, as dracmon says, all we gotta do is hurry up and wait. well. you do. i dont, im gonna be editing chapter 5 til the cows come home. im getting the distinct impression that it's gonna require even more reworking than this chapter did.

but that's neither here nor there - id love to hear your Gamer Theories about what im cooking up. there are a few things that are still going unaddressed after four chapters, and i wonder how much of it can be puzzled out based on what i've said so far. obviously im not able to see the story from a reader's perspective, so im not really able to gauge if the stuff that's being foreshadowed or otherwise implied is starting to become clearer. so please consider leaving a comment with what you think, or your favorite part or anything else that stood out to you! I'd much appreciate it. thank you for reading, and see you… mm… nnnnext…week…? ideally.

[melishade]

What if starscream in AOP ? I dont think he's gonna be a threat, still be a bootlicking sycophant

TFP Starscream was really done dirty by the end of the TFP series. As he was then, he would not have been much of threat.

RID2015 Starscream on the other hand!

Look, I bag on RID2015 a lot, as do many others in the Transformers fandom. It was a C show at best, but attaching itself to Transformers Prime did it no favors long term. But RID2015 Starscream was a highlight because he wanted to take over the world and get revenge on Megatron and everyone else who did him dirty. Cause let’s be honest: Starscream got screwed over and was left to die at the hands of the Predacons. On top of all the abuse that he’s gone through in the show. Doesn’t mean Starscream is a good person. He’s a piece of shit, but I am all for someone getting revenge on their abuser. And Megatron was the abuser. So I was with Starscream screaming:

A shame Megatron didn’t show up in RID2015, but considering how it went, probably a good thing.

Fun note about me, If I’m actively rooting for the villain in a show to win, it means the show’s writing is not good.

So TFP/RID2015 Starscream. Let’s get to it:

TFP Starscream survives the Predacons, but is left mortally wounded to the point where the Autobots take sympathy and get him a new form to keep him alive. But the minute he wakes up, he knows he’s not going to get off that easy. So he escapes, hijacks a ship and books it off Cybertron. He still wants to get his revenge on the Autobots because they were dicks to him too, but he doesn’t have the resources to take them down. So he gets them.

He hires bounty hunters like he did in RID2015, goes to Earth to try and find any additional resources and ends up coming across the Dark Star Saber like he did in the show. And then goes on a mad hunt trying to find Megatron, since he’s top priority at the moment. He has no army, no ship, nothing. Megatron in theory, should be all alone. Prime opportunity to find him and kill him. Takes about two years for Starscream to find the AOT world and he orders the bounty hunters to scope it out because they picked up some interesting signatures. And the bounty hunters come back with footage of Zeke’s titan transformation and his desolation of Marley Military.

Starscream...is on the fence about this. On one hand, Zeke is very powerful. On the other, the abomination of an organic has energon in his system which is bringing back...memories. But through other intel, Starscream finds out about Optimus supposedly being alive and Marley being against him and his allies and Starscream is completely on board with that shit. He might not be able to kill Megatron right now, but Optimus clearly the next best thing. And to kill his human allies on top of that too, oh that’s just the cherry on top!

So he decides to lend his aid to the next battle and makes up a lie saying that Optimus Prime, is a known criminal to Cybertron and he and his bounty hunters are trying to locate him and arrest him for crimes against Cybertron and the Decepticons. Starscream shows off the powers of the Dark Star Saber and the might of the bounty hunters, and uses his greatest weapon, his silver tongue, to convince Marley to form an alliance. 

Marley Military is completely for this. Four titans, one who seems to know more about the dark energon better than anyone, and they want to get rid of Optimus? Oh it’s like a gift from the heavens. Starscream is still picky and choosy about the information he wants to give, and holds the humans at arms length. He’s learned his lesson with MECH and his T-Cog to not trust the insects. The Dark Star Saber resists him like in RID2015, but he makes sure not to let the Marleyans know. He’s also sending spies to learn more about the power of the titans. Even though this power was strange and greatly revolting, it was still power. And he needed that if he was going to take revenge and rule the cosmos, better to control it than have it be used against him.

Two people don’t buy this. Zeke Jaeger and Reiner Braun. Pieck is suspicious of him, but she herself doesn’t have enough information to go off of in order to make an objection. Zeke and Reiner do. All the times Reiner has been in Optimus’ presence before he revealed his identity as the Armored Titan, he was...really kind to them. To everyone. Whether or not the Prime knows the truth about the outside world, he still wishes to defend the island. He offers opportunities for peace. That doesn’t sound like someone who would be a criminal. If he was, would it be penance?

Meanwhile Zeke is suspicious because of the way Matthew (or Megatron’s alias) has always talked up Optimus. Optimus was someone who didn’t betray his morals, stuck to his guns, chose honor and protection of others. And Zeke remembers very vividly how Optimus demanded that Zeke turn the Eldians back into humans. 

So both of them know someone’s lying, and they talk about this in private. They don’t know if they should trust Starscream at all. And Reiner knowing the truth about the island also makes him even more suspicious about Starscream in his mind. So instead of Zeke keeping Starscream a secret from Megatron like in the Shockwave Timeline (AKA The Dark Timeline), he does decide to tell him, with Reiner present. 

Megatron sees Reiner come in with Zeke in the titan shifter’s office and is using his fake voice, but then Zeke tells Megatron about Starscream and he immediately gets serious. Freaking Reiner out because Megatron switches back to his regular voice and realizes: Holy Shit! This is the Flying Titan! Zeke immediately covers Reiner’s mouth to prevent him from screaming and also tells Megatron about there being three others and Starscream having a purple sword. And Megatron’s now worried, because he realizes that Starscream has the Dark Star Saber. So they need to go, RIGHT NOW! Megatron tells the both of them to get Pieck because he’s aware of how closely monitored Porco and Annie are right now. And he needs to get as many has he can out of Marley as possible. Reiner does not want to agree with this, but Megatron is stating that he doesn’t have a choice because Starscream is trying to get power and weapon is his silver tongue and he is merely buying his time with this. 

Zeke agrees, Reiner isn’t sure if he should. Because it’s not just fearing Megatron, it’s also leaving his family behind. And Megatron tells him that Starscream won’t give him a choice once he’s aware. They need to leave while Starscream isn’t. It causes Reiner to reluctantly agree, despite his better judgement. But they don’t know how to get Pieck to even agree to this. Megatron decides to make this easier and get Pieck alone before knocking her out. Zeke and Reiner are mortified, but Megatron likes “It’s either me or Starscream. Take your pick.” 

They make their escape in the night, trying to get to one of the ships that were sent to Paradis, but someone caught them trying to flee and Starscream just happened to be in the area. A little amused at the humans turning tail and going traitor. He assumed the brainwashing was full proof. Oh well. He can finally test the powers of the Dark Star Saber on Zeke. He’s not complaining. And Starscream straight up attacks and nearly destroys the ship, but Megatron deactivates the holoform and blocks the attack from hitting the ship, greatly damaging his shield and hurting his arm. And Starscream is in a brief moment of shock before saying: 

And immediately goes feral and attacks Megatron. Zeke has to hold a gun to the captain’s head and tells him to drive, causing him to reluctantly do so, and as they are all fleeing, Reiner can only watch Starscream and Megatron battle it out on the ground. Megatron notices the damage and takes it up to the sky, where Starscream immediately follows. And Starscream doesn’t engage in small talk or gloating. He just wants Megatron dead right now! And Megatron is noticing the change in character. The calmness with the hint of insanity in his optics. The optics of someone who has nothing to lose. This is serious! And he’s already having a hard time dodging the Dark Star Saber. And Starscream actually sees the concern in Megatron’s optics and it only fills him with glee. Megatron was fearful because of him! GOOD! He wanted Megatron to fear him! He wanted Megatron to tremble and beg! He wanted Megatron to suffer after everything he did to him! Megatron does get a few good shots in, and notices for a brief moment that Starscream is struggling with the Dark Star Saber.

Starscream notices the ship a good ways out and throws a stream of energy at it. Reiner braces for death, but Megatron ends up intercepting it and taking the brute force. His shield gets cut in half and his arm gets cut off while he get a pretty nasty wound in his side. Starscream is stunned by the act of selflessness while Megatron plummets to the bottom of the ocean. (Has a habit of doing that, doesn’t he?) Reiner is left stunned at the act while Starscream is currently processing. He...did he kill Megatron? No, he should probably confirm that. But...he bested Megatron. He brought fear in Megatron’s optics. He brought the mighty Megatron to his knees. And even if Megatron came back, he had the power to kill him.

Starscream darkly chuckles before he fully laughs like a maniac, earning the attention of everyone on that ship and everyone that survived on shore.

“HOW DOES IT FEEL, MEGATRON?!” Starscream shouts at the water, “How does it feel to be at my mercy?! How does it feel to be bested by someone who you belittled?! Abandoned?! I devoted my spark to your cause, and you threw what I had to offer away! Well no more! I succeed where you fail, master! This galaxy will me mine to command and control! The people will remember the name Lord Starscream!”

Starscream turned his attention to the ship and pointed with the Saber. “Run while you still can, humans! There will be no place in this universe where you will be able to hide from me! You are all powerless at my hand! I’ve won!”

Reiner is just in a state of horror as Starscream continues to laugh with unhinged glee. A few days later, the ship arrives on the island and Optimus and Eren are about to do their thing, when they see Reiner coming out to surrender. Eren’s shocked but ready to kill him, but Optimus immediately tells him to stand down, because something is clearly wrong. Why is he here? Both take notice of Pieck yelling at Zeke and demanding what the hell is going on, and some of the Marleyans on that ship are fucking swallowing their pride and asking for the island’s help. And the Survey Corps and Optimus are literally wondering what the fuck just happened?

So we’ll call this timeline The Revenge Timeline, which include:

-Starscream dismantling the governments, holding the world hostage, bending the power of the titans to his will. All that jazz. He doesn’t like the place, but killing both Optimus and Megatron here would be the perfect symbolism and start of his own empire. Why Starscream hasn’t attacked the island? He’s heard about the powers of the Founding Titan and the Rumbling and decides he needs more intel before tackling such a power. Sure the Dark Star Saber would be able to cut down a Colossal Titan, but cutting them down in sheer numbers would be difficult.

-The Warriors in an uneasy alliance with the island, but explain everything that they know about Starscream. Optimus then gives a run down to everyone on who Starscream is, his position in the Decepticon fold, and his numerous history of backstabbing and betrayal. But he laments that the Dark Star Saber is a problem because that blade was made to counteract the Star Saber, and the Star Saber can cut a mountain in two with a single blow. 

“So why target Megatron?” Hanji asked, “Wouldn’t he want to rally behind his former leader?”

“Starscream and Megatron’s relationship is...strained at best,” Optimus replied.

“Meaning fucking morbid,” Levi concluded, “Let me guess, this Screamer guy wanted revenge for Buckethead’s shit attitude.”

Optimus reluctantly nodded his head.

“It’s not fucking hard,” Levi adds.

-Speaking of Megatron, they have no idea if he’s alive or not, but they gotta try and proceed as such without him because Starscream is clearly not going to wait to enact his plan. Hanji tells Ymir to train in her Sharkticon form to try and find Megatron, since Reiner reported he was in the water. And half of them don’t really want to look for Megatron. It’s very reluctant. 

“We need to find Megatron,” Optimus declared.

“...should we?” Levi asked.

“YES!” Hanji yelled.

“Okay, but must we,” Levi corrected.

No one likes him. He’s the Grade A asshole and this is all his fault, but they need the extra manpower, so Ymir trains to search the deep to find him.

-Pieck is pissed off at Reiner and Zeke because she was taken without her consent! No, she doesn’t care if it saved her life! They left their families at the hands of that titan! She cannot forgive them, and refuses to talk to the both of them for a while.

-The 104th still hate Reiner, but do ask: how did he and Zeke know Starscream was lying?

“He said that Optimus was a criminal,” Reiner answered.

All of them:

Sorry, Optimus Prime?! A CRIMINAL?! AND Y’ALL FUCKING BOUGHT THAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

-Meanwhile, Starscream’s holding prisoners, keeping slaves and forcing them to do his bidding and make more technological advancements for his new army. Marley eagerly hands over Eldians to do the job and save their own necks. Slaves are implemented with shock collars and threats to their homes being destroyed. So the Warrior Cadets are currently worse off right now, forced to build Starscream’s arsenal.

-Porco is an interesting case, because Starscream notices that every time he holds the Dark Star Saber close to him, Porco reacts negatively. Now Starscream would chalk it up to dark energon just being toxic, but he’s the only human he’s noticed to have such a reaction. Porco’s analyzed and oh...he has dark energon in his system. No doubt because of Megatron, but to have Porco as a mindless creature under his control with the power of the Dark Star Saber, Starscream would be invincible with the powers of the Colossal Titan at his side. The power of the transformation alone makes Starscream giddy. 

-Arcee and Wheeljack do make it to that world, but not because they were trying to get the word out that the war was over, but because they were after Starscream. The Autobots didn’t want him causing problems for later.

(I don’t pull from RID2015 very often, but RID2015 Starscream was really the only aspect that I liked and the only story that would really work here at the moment.)