#i guess??? if acknowledging his actions constitutes

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Speaking of parallels, and yes I should really make an alt blog where I pretend to be a different person so the tag looks like more than one person has Akudama Drive brainrot, despite AD having a bunch of great parallels, the Courier/Cutthroat alleged mirror has always fallen flat for me.

It's the first one you'd notice, being that their promotional profiles show the exact same body measurements. Whenever someone points that out, someone else will answer "because they're meant to be foils of each other, duh," but... how so?

To me, other characters like Pupil and Hoodlum have stronger parallels going on.

Even if we admit it's all about Cutthroat seeming like Swindler's main ally at first, only for this role to actually belong to Courier - first off, I never actually believed that, because it all starts with Courier not being careful with his fucking money.

I guess they both have purple eyes and sort of a bowl cut...? It all seems like something's missing to make it work. It seems to me that they don't have important interactions or actions that parallel each other.

Before the anime concluded, I remember myself and other viewers trying to come up with theories that would link the two. I somewhat recall someone thinking they were made in a laboratory. But in the end, nothing happened. Their role didn't particularly mirror each other.

All of this to say, I did find something yesterday when I was proofreading my Wiki edits. Wait for it... ....

They both have a ~dead mom~

...It's just that Cutthroat's dead mom is a manga-exclusive flashback, so clearly, something's off. We don't even know if this was intended by the directors or invented by Rokurou Ogaki, that I'm aware. Do you think we can ask him which stories weren't his?

The thing is, the only way I can really look at it is that Courier is really... a victim all throughout, whereas Cutthroat was in control and responsible for what happened. As a matter of fact, is it a publicly known fact that Cutthroat killed his mom? If it were the case, it could explain Courier's clearly pre-existing disdain for him displayed in Episode 9. That's just never said.

It really feels like it's missing. The story I'm suggesting here is rather compelling, in my opinion, and does create a parallel between them. It makes sense that Courier wouldn't acknowledge his feelings, but isn't it compelling to think about the possibility that the entire way, up until Episode 9, Courier was secretly yet actively disgusted by Cutthroat? It would do wonders for his characterisation.

(My babyboy..............)

Especially when Doctor repeats time and time again that he's a "feminist". Clearly, even though he doesn't want to admit it, this dialogue is a hint for the viewer that Courier doesn't like killing women.

... Something our misogynistic king Cutthroat loves to do.

Then again, what role does their fucking BMI play into this? We know Akudama Drive turned out a little rushed in the end (with the Director's Cut being the ultimate proof - literally all that constituted the ending was cut from the TV run for time). Is it possible that there was originally an intention from the creators to have a parallel between Courier and Cutthroat be more on the nose... that was eventually cut for time?

I can find ways in which they're completely opposed, but I could probably do that between Cutthroat and Hoodlum too if I wanted to. They're just different characters with different stories, personalities, and goals. To say Cutthroat and Courier's differences are more important is a bias based on the supposition that they have the same body measurements for a reason. If it's just their physique - and 99% of Akudama Drive fans don't know about Cutthroat's dead mom - then there's no parallel to speak of.

But is this all a misunderstanding, or could there have been a version of Akudama Drive that put an accent on these two characters' similarities and differences? (One that Komatsuzaki, who was seemingly more involved with the initial designing process while Cindy Yamauchi was more involved with the way the actual anime turned out, might have still thought major, for example. Not that this is proof of anything, because he is known to draw whoever the hell he wants and to sometimes make surprising choices.)

So far, I can find more hints that some girls I've met and I are meant to be foils of each other.

...Ultimately, I'm only upset about it because I crave it.

Imagine if there were actually something major about these two major characters. A discrete but meaningful link. Something that really did join and oppose them in particular. A Cool Theme.

What we do have, in the end, besides the same BWH, is this: Courier's mom was killed, which was heartbreaking for him, whereas Cutthroat killed his own mom, which was The Shit for him. Courier avoids killing if he can (allegedly - there's a clear hint that he's a hypocrite) while Cutthroat seeks that. Courier doesn't kill women, whereas Cutthroat loves that shit. Again, unfortunately, that's just if you believe there's something g-

...Why is this screencap so bisexual coloured...? I swear I didn't edit this.

Anyway... Again, unfortunately, that's just if you believe there's something going on between them in the first place.

Watch this: "Hoodlum didn't kill his mom (most likely), while Cutthroat killed his. Hoodlum avoids killing, while Cutthroat seeks that. Hoodlum doesn't kill women*, which Cutthroat clearly does. Hoodlum has purple CLOTHES while Cutthroat has purple EYES..."

...My assumption is that Courier and Cutthroat were meant to be foils, but it fell flat. End post

*...Up until he does. But it was just the one time, give him a break. Beside, my point here is this: if you're just comparing characters to Cutthroat, you can find any point of difference, that actually doesn't really mean anything. Cutthroat isn't known to only kill women, so it doesn't really matter.

[cantsayidont]

Three mediocre recent streaming shows:

TELL ME LIES (2022–2024): Padded and flavorless Hulu adaptation of a 2018 Carola Lovering novel, set mostly in the late '00s, about a bland young white woman (college student Lucy Albright, played by Grace Van Patten) and her regrettable affair with a manipulative asshole (upperclassman Stephen DeMarco, played by Jackson White). Typical of recent Hulu dramas, it relies heavily on some surprisingly explicit sex scenes to enliven a dull plot and thinly drawn characters. Stephen isn't even an interesting creep, just a garden-variety douchebag, and Lucy herself has no discernible personality. (The eating disorder with which the character struggles in the book is also omitted, one supposes because creator Meaghan Oppenheimer felt it wasn't sexy enough.) The entire first season contains exactly one memorable story point: a nightmare-fodder subplot about Lucy being accused of plagiarism after reusing for creative writing class a short story she wrote on her LiveJournal in high school. CONTAINS LESBIANS: Lucy briefly gets a Black lesbian roommate (Zoe Renee), and one of her friends is closeted, but little comes of it until Season 2. VERDICT: Has the "I guess you had to be there" vibe of listening to strangers gossip about their boring college reunion, and Lucy's lack of personality becomes a really glaring weakness in the recently started second season.

TERMINATOR ZERO (2024): Convoluted, gloomy, pretentious animated TERMINATOR variation, written by Mattson Tomlin, but produced by Japan's Production I.G. and directed by Masashi Kudō. Set primarily in August 1997 — the eve of the nuclear war in the timeline of the first two movies — it focuses on the efforts of scientist Malcolm Lee (Yuuya Uchida) to convince his powerful new artificial intelligence, called Kokoro (Atsumi Tanezaki), to save humanity from Skynet; inevitably, visitors from the future seek to intervene. More conceptually ambitious than many of its predecessors, but also very muddled, with frustratingly hazy stakes and a lot of high-minded speechifying that sometimes clashes with this franchise's by now very tiresome story conceits. The 2-D animation is generally good, but it's dragged down by some dreadful 3-D inserts (particularly in the finale), and the action sequences lack imagination, wasting too much energy trying to echo familiar moments from the live-action movies rather than coming up with anything very new. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Not that it acknowledges. VERDICT: Tries hard — sometimes too hard — but doesn't ever add up to much, and if you're not sure the world needed yet another TERMINATOR spinoff, you'll likely remain unconvinced. In the time it would take to sit through all eight episodes, you could watch GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995) and most of TERMINATOR 2 (1991), so why not do that instead?

THE PERFECT COUPLE (2024): Unbearably grating mystery, ineptly adapted by Jenna Lamia from a trashy novel by Elin Hilderbrand, about a murder investigation on the eve of the posh Nantucket wedding of a cute middle-class zoologist (Eve Hewson) to the vacuous middle son (Billy Howle) of a mega-rich mega-bitch mystery novelist (Nicole Kidman) and her shiftless old-money pothead husband (Liev Schreiber), who's constitutionally incapable of keeping it in his pants. Plays like a Benoit Blanc mystery without Benoit Blanc, laboring under the misapprehension that just showing rich people being entitled, racist assholes constitutes incisive social satire, and the entire cast (which also includes Isabelle Adjani and Dakota Fanning) is unbelievably bad, not helped by a total lack of coherent character motivations. Stupid, abrasive, and stretching the story to six one-hour episodes makes it a real endurance test. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Just some '90s-style comic relief gay guys. VERDICT: Like broken glass on the beach, featuring one of Kidman's career-worst performances. If you're in the mood for something like this, try the recent Peacock adaptation of Liane Moriarty's APPLES NEVER FALL, which is much better.

[bopinion]

2023 / 33

Aperçu of the Week:

"Food comes first and then morality."

(From Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera)

Bad News of the Week:

It's bad what's happening on the Canary Islands right now. What has already happened on Rhodes. And on Hawaii. From the endless expanses of Russia's Siberian tundra, we can only guess what's going on - because the information policy here is simply: there is no information. I mean wildfires. Which used to be an exception and now rarely make it into the headlines. Because they have become too commonplace. I'm particularly concerned about Canada, of course. Which is the hardest hit. And is closest to me.

This year, Canada is experiencing the most devastating wildfire season since records began. Nationwide, according to figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, 5,700 fires are currently burning across more than 137,000 square kilometers. That's roughly equivalent to the entire land area of Greece - and that includes all the islands. In addition, of course, there are countless square kilometers that have already burned, where the flames can no longer find forage. As a reminder: that even in New York City yellow fire clouds from Canada made breathing difficult was already more than two months ago.

On U.S. television, only 5% of news stories about wildfires - which eventually rage in Washington, Oregon and California too - mention the relevance of climate change. Why? Official reason: because the audience doesn't want to hear it. Instead of acknowledging reality and taking active action, they'd rather bury their heads in the sand. Like the ostrich. Yes, that's that big ratite whose brain is smaller than one of its eyes. You got the point.

Good News of the Week:

It's been five years since an autistic student sat down in front of the Swedish Parliament on Friday with a sign reading "School Strike for Climate." Fridays for Future was born, and young Greta Thunberg even became Time's Person of the Year. Her goal was to create policies based on scientific knowledge to save the world from the consequences of climate change for her and future generations. In retrospect, she cannot be satisfied with the success of her efforts. For, in fact, precisely nothing worth mentioning has been done. The old white men in power still don't get it, business as usual.

So what can be done? On the one hand, there are the young (and old) radicals of Last Generation, Extinction Rebellion, etc., who - in the tradition of Greenpeace and Robin Wood - are trying to stir up the masses with civil disobedience. Obviously, this is not working either. "Free ride for free citizens" is still more important than saving the planet. Because the ignorant establishment doesn't want to move any more than the thoughtless people.

And then there are those who try to beat the system with its own weapons - in court. The German Supreme Court has already ruled that the political executive must do more for nature conservation and against climate change, because the future of the young depends on it. On this basis, a lawsuit is currently being filed against the Ministry of Transport, for example, because it is not even meeting its minimum statutory targets. Willfully not.

Last week, there were two other news items that take up precisely this principle of "beating with one's own weapons." First, Germany's second largest energy producer, RWE, is being sued by a Peruvian because the corporation is statistically responsible for 0.5% of global man-made climate change that harms him and his homeland. Let's see how this turns out. But in any case, it's a precedent that shows the fossil fuel lobby that it can't shirk responsibility like the nuclear lobby does.

And secondly, there was a highlight in the US state of Montana. 16 young people between the ages of 5 and 22 had sued for their right to a clean environment - as it says in their state's constitution. And were proven right. Observers believe the ruling could have a signal effect and maybe even stop future oil and gas projects. And Michael Gerrard, a Columbia University climate expert, sees a turning point as a matter of fact: "It's one of the most important decisions on climate change ever handed down by a court." Let's hope he's right.

Personal happy moment of the week:

We just spent three days in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, also known as "Elbe Florence". Actually, we were there for a concert of the Berlin dancehall musician Peter Fox, whose concert in Munich was already sold out. And not only did we have a great open air concert evening on the banks of the Elbe river, but we also discovered an architecturally highly interesting city (Zwinger, Semper Opera, Our Lady's Church, etc.), drank lots of Aperol Sprizz, visited an exhibition of up-and-coming artists, ate well and enjoyed the Canaletto city festival with local music greats. As I write this, I'm listening to Freddy Fischer & His Cosmic Rocktime Band playing some delightfully sultry German disco music. Nice.

I couldn't care less...

...about the US criminal justice system. Last week we learned that the indictment of Donald J. Trump in Georgia for attempting to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election is special (remember: he just lost). That's because, unlike the federal lawsuits elsewhere, here, as president, he could neither order the Justice Department to halt proceedings nor pardon himself. Since when, in a constitutional state, can the executive dictate the actions of the judiciary? Ever heard of separation of powers? And then pardon itself? This reminds me very much of the "Get out of jail" card from Monopoly. That such a thing is even discussed in the self-proclaimed "world's leading democracy" fills me with shudders....

As I write this...

...I am sitting in a train. Which came on time. And even goes where I want it to go. This is obviously not (anymore) a matter of course. Of the last five times I used long-distance trains, five times it went wrong. Because the connection I booked didn't exist. Because there were people in the track bed and the police closed the section of track. Because an overhead line was torn due to a thunderstorm. Because the connecting train unfortunately could not wait for the delayed predecessor train. Because there was a signal malfunction. I am a big train fan. For environmental reasons and because I find it the most comfortable of all transportation options. But sometimes it's hard to stay true to your principles and keep your good mood.

Post Scriptum

"La furia roja" has done it: the Spanish women's soccer team has won the FIFA World Cup. Seldom has it been so worthwhile to sit in front of the TV at noon, it was a great match. Felicidades chicas!

[philtatosbuck]

just so we’re clear even if i end up hating every single character in twilight i will still always hate the guy who forced himself on bella (and thought it was funny when she got mad!) and then, on an entirely separate occasion, guilt tripped her by threatening suicide, the most.

(yes, we are acknowledging smeyers is racist, and wrote the wolves disrespectfully. no, that does not excuse all of jacob’s actions.)

[welcometogrouchland]

penny for your spiderman thoughts? was it good?

"was it good?" what an excellent question! i know it elicited a sense of baffling joy from me. i tried drafting a full review with like a list and everything but tbh most of what i can say about it is that it surprised me with how much effort was put in to making it more than marvel's big gimmick movie. it still is that on some fundamental level but somebody in the writers room clearly wanted to make it more than just a 2 and a half hour marketing stunt. spoilers ahead but:

there is still the usual mcu problems there that i'd be remiss not to metion:

i really don't like the portrayal of elektro in this movie as sassy black comic relief. it rubs me the wrong way- there's a lot more you could be doing with that iteration of the character that the movie barely scratches the surface of. and while i appreciate Ned getting a bit more to do plot-wise he was treated as a joke a bit too often for me AND giving the character you're pigeonholing as spiderman's asian sidekick the mystical doctor strange powers (which have their own nasty layer of Orientalism to their potrayal) is. not good! especially with so little build up.

there is...also a very complicated moral debate that lies at the centre of this movie's plot that it does NOT want to give a lot of time and thought to, and which uses some...deeply uncomfortable language to me. also the shield on the statue of liberty is dumb as shit

but there's like. 50% less billionaire bootlicking here and also some. interesting course correction w/ spiderman that i wanna talk about in a sec so put a pin in that

the main thing that stands out to me is that the characters from the old movies feel like characters and not gratuitous cameos. Andrew Garfield gets a nice little moment that wraps up some stuff in his arc and both spidermen feel like significant mentors to peter. shits low-key kinda heartwarming ngl. the villains do what good villains do, making peter a more interesting and well rounded character, with some newfound pathos to boot.

speaking of the course correction done in this movie is interesting??? some it feels like a response to people's complaints which, yeah that's technically pandering, but it doesn't make the movie worse off i think. the big one is obviously addressing the choice to leave out uncle ben by uncle ben-ing aunt may (say that 5 times fast). tbh it might constitute fridging but i don't care because it's almost an improvement on the uncle ben thing like. we knew may! we were attached to her as a character! it's honestly really impactful this way and marvel actually committed to the bit and didn't bring her back or anything. nice. on a slightly smaller note is giving an acknowledgment that peter's broke and having his status quo by the end being that he's poor and on his own was. genuinely reassuring and refreshing. also the bright, homemade costume at the end!!!

speaking of colours. THE MOVIE ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE???? like the camera work and cinematography (THE CINEMATOGRAPHY) and production design and mise-en-scene serve the story and look good??? i mean. most of the villains got a costume downgrade (goblin and elektro...) but besides that the lighting and composition of shots didn't look like garbage?? i'm guessing some behind the scenes shifts in gear being used caused this like what happened with guardians volume two and that's why the movie actually has things like saturated colours and effective uses of rack focus. also the action was really engaging and tbh? the whole sinister six pseudo-horror sequence in the apartment buildings was like. really fucking good lmao

also, in the words of alexander j newall in the tma season 5 QnA, you really can't go wrong with a highstakes personal choice for an ending. it was a really bittersweet feel and i can imagine a lot of ppl are upset about it but. i don't care it was good character growth for peter and was very in line with spidey as a character like. not 2 drop a controversial take but uh. i think this might be like. a better version of the infamous one day more storyline in some ways??? ending wise at least.

ANYWAY. as far as movies go?? pretty alright. some wink wink nudge nudge humour, some problematic portrayals that hold me back from responsibly recommending it, some really good moments, a really well structured story, even if it felt more like a beginning than an end.

but as far as MCU movies go????? this is THEE most motion picture ever

[bonjour-rainycity]

Double Heart | Chapter Twenty ~ Haldir

|previous part|

Pairing: Haldir x OFC

Rating: PG-13

Word count: 1650

Warnings: None

A/n Hi! Sorry, I know I’m a day late -- I have family in town so I’m soaking up all the time with them that I can. This one is short (and a lil fluffy/angsty), and this chapter and the next are kind of a rest before we hit the next act of this story! Sooo gear up! I’m excited!!! 

I shut the door behind Orophin and Lavandil.

Cosima flops onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. “That was awful.”

I make a noise of general agreement. I hadn’t expected my brothers to take the news happily, but I didn’t think Rumil would completely shut me out. I have no doubts that he will eventually come around, but his reaction is still distressing.

Cosima raises up on her forearms, looking at me in concern. “Are you okay?”

I nod, making my way towards her bed. “It may take some time, but I know my brothers. All will be well.”

She scoots from the middle to the far side of her bed and pats the space next to her. I accept the invitation, lying on my back at her side. Vaguely, I notice that her bed is much larger and comfier than mine. I turn to tease her about it, try and cheer us both up, but she’s fiddling with her fingers. I guess neither of us is feeling particularly lighthearted at the moment.

“What is it?”

She sighs, staring up at the ceiling rather than at me. I nudge her arm gently, trying to prompt an answer.

She bites her lip. “You’ve said that you can make your own choices, and I get that, but I’ve got to ask—are you sure? You don’t have to stay with me just because you said you wanted to. I know what you’re sacrificing, and you don’t have to—”

I cut her off, kissing her forcefully. She sucks in a breath and I use that to my advantage, drawing her deeper into the kiss. She recovers from her shock quickly though, and slides a hand up my chest in that way I adore and is slowly becoming familiar. I pull away but keep a firm hold on the side of her face. “Please push these thoughts from your mind. Whatever the future holds, I am in it with you. And a future without you? I don’t want it. It would be different, had I never met you, but the Valar blessed me. They brought an impossible woman into my life. And I have no intention of letting her go.”

The sadness in her eyes breaks, replaced with a look of tenderness that I work hard to memorize. I let the hand on the side of her face slide to rest on her hip.

She places a kiss on my jaw, taking her time to respond, aware that she has my complete attention. “If I had to wake up in a different world with no memories, I am immensely glad you were there. Being with you is worth all that I’ve left behind. Even if I did remember it, I would choose you.”

I exhale slowly, basking in her words. I’ve never been vulnerable with someone before — bearing my heart and hoping they don’t crush it — and every time I open my mouth to confess something to Cosima, there’s the fear that she will shut me down, that she won’t return my feelings. But her words just now, as well as her actions from the past few days, help allay my fears.

“It’s getting late,” she breathes, face mere inches from mine. “You could stay the night?”

My hand on her hip tenses. No, I remind myself. I should go back to my room. But the words that come out of my mouth are not what I told myself to say. “I would not be intruding?”

“No,” Cosima smiles, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I would very much like it if you stayed.”

We are both adults. If she wants me to stay and I want me to stay, then there’s no reason to leave. “Then stay, I shall,” I murmur, dropping my lips to press against hers.

She kisses me languidly for a while before her lips shift into a grin. I pull back with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re the one who has to get up and blow out the candles,” she declares, her tone full of mirth. “That’s really the only reason I asked you to stay.”

I snort, but push myself off the bed, headed for the first candle I see. “I knew it couldn’t be because you love me. That’s too easy.”

“And pull the curtains,” she adds, lifting the duvet so she can crawl underneath it. I watch her slide her eyes shut, smile still spread over her face as she tries not to laugh.

Cosima and I have slept in each other’s company before, and we will do so again for the three weeks of our journey to Lothlórien. But I can’t shake the feeling that this is completely different. It will be the two of us alone, in a bedroom, when we have acknowledged our feelings for each other.

But despite the nerves and the gravity of the situation, it feels completely natural to spend the night with Cosima. I long for her presence during the day, and the night is no different.

And with precious little time together, shouldn’t I seize on every moment?

I blow out the candle nearest to me. It darkens the shadows in the room. I extinguish the remaining candles, close the curtains, and then return to the bed. Cosima has thrown the covers back on what I suppose is my side, making it easy for me to climb in next to her. After the slightest moment of hesitation, I do so. I reach for her, wrap my arms around her and cross them over her stomach, then pull her against my chest. It reminds me of a variation on what I did our very first day of training, an action that caused me no small amount of distress. But now it seems there is no limit to the ways I can hold her, and I plan to explore them all.

Cosima chuckles, evidently pleased with this development. “You remembered the human way.”

“I am capable of adapting,” I respond, dropping my face into her neck.

Her laugh turns into a sigh when I begin a trail of kisses there. “I have a question.”

I hum, continuing my pattern. “Yes, my love?”

She pauses to beam at the phrase. When she speaks, the smile is still in her voice. “Rumil asked if we had bonded yet, and then when you said no, he said there’s still ‘time’. What did he mean by that?”

My lips freeze against her neck. I sigh, shifting to lie on my side and pressing on her shoulder so she’ll turn to face me. I figured we would need to have this conversation at some point, but I hadn’t counted on now. And it’s not the potential for awkwardness that makes me wish I could keep my mouth shut — no, we could get past that — it’s the fear that, once she knows there’s still technically a step we have to take in order for my soul to perish once hers leaves me, that she will end this.

But it is not right to withhold information from her so, with another deep breath, I explain. “He was talking about the bonding of the fæs — in the literal sense. But I love you, I am committed to you, and nothing can change that, so Rumil’s whole notion of ‘time’ doesn’t really apply here.”

Her eyes narrow as she zeroes in on exactly what I’m careening around. “Say there’s some wiggle room.”

“There’s not.”

“But if there were,” she presses, obviously not interested in letting this go.

I sigh. “Traditionally, elves have used sex as a way to facilitate the spiritual bonding of the fæs. That’s what constitutes an elven wedding — that’s what represents and solidifies the commitment. Since we have not had sex, Rumil thinks our fæs are not bonded, so there is time to break the commitment between us without it affecting me.”

She sits up, opening her mouth to comment.

I hurry to sit up as well and cut off her words before she can take this idea and run with it. “But our situation is different. The whole concept of the fæs bonding is not a blanket statement that covers every relationship — there is a lot of choice involved, we are not without agency. And I have chosen.”

She smiles somewhat sadly, letting her fingers drum over my knee. “I wish I was an easier choice.”

I catch her hand in mine. “I quite like where my choices have led me.”

She leans against me, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. “I love you.” She shifts, lying down and tugging on my arm to pull me with her. “Let’s go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

I stretch out behind her, then twist the strands of her hair through my fingers. She’s silent, and I worry that, despite my efforts to reassure her, she’s still sad. I know she can’t help it, but I wish that we could leave all this struggle and moroseness behind. In my view, the future is set, my path is clear. Struggling over what that means will not halt the end, nor change it, so we shouldn’t waste time worrying over it. We should prepare how we can and then enjoy our lives together.

Cosima tucks her head into my neck and tangles one of her legs through mine. The action — so unexpected yet so natural — gives me hope that, soon, she and I can fall into a life together. Maybe Lothlórien is the key. Maybe once she can clearly see what our future looks like — a home, friendships, family, meals together at the end of a long day, exploring Lothlórien’s extensive forests and blue-green lakes, festivals, sunrises, all the wonderful things about my home, our home, she can allow herself to be happy.

And I will do everything I can to help her get there.

A/n Thanks for reading! Likes, comments, and reblogs are always so appreciated! Also, I think I made EVERYONE sad with that last chapter, I’m so sorry. But I LOVE that we all collectively love Rumil and want him to be happy forever, right? Soooo, c’mon, hit me with some happy Rumil headcannons <3

|next chapter|

|masterlist|

Tolkien tag list: @anangelwhodidntfall @eru-vande 

Haldir tag list: @tolkien-apologist @that-cute-stranger

Double Heart tag list: @lainphotography @themerriweathermage @thophil2941btw @kenobiguacamole @wishingtobeinadifferentuniverse @from-patroclus-with-love @boywivlove @ordinarymom1 @my-darling-haldir @sweet-bea-blossom @moony-artnstuff @sleepyamygdala @thranduilseyebrows

*Strikethrough means Tumblr won’t let me tag you :(*

[zoophagist]

act ii / scene 10 (end)

okay so they didn’t forget about renfield but what they wanted was for him to escape to carfax so they could follow him, which they do successfully. renfield figures out too late he’s been followed and as the count awakens he’s throwing himself at his feet begging him to believe he didn’t betray dracula and that it’s not his fault the others followed. but lowkey... kinda is your fault renfield, you dumb bastard. couldn’t rub two brain cells together to figure out they were using you? hmm, guess he’s never been able to tell when he was being used, though, because dracula lures renfield in close enough to touch and then snaps his neck, what a surprise. incredibly renfield has a LINE after he’s supposed to fall dead to the floor with a broken neck. the constitution of this man...

the squad enters the room and just... does not acknowledge the whole ass dead man on the floor and they all volley threats back and forth. then dracula summons the brides like this is a multi-phase boss battle in a video game, and hides back in his coffin. jonathan then acknowledges renfield and has a fucking,,, whole moment cradling his corpse and giving us “goodnight, sweet prince” energy.

action shifts back to mina’s room when dracula comes in all “be my queen, mina, let me kill you!” and she feigns acceptance only to stake him while he’s occupied with a kiss. all the men burst in, late and useless, and mina gives a little monologue implying (1) that she loved dracula, ew, (2) that she has drugged herself with something arthur gave her to help sleep but thinks she may have overdosed, (3) may imminently die, and (4) may become a vampire after all. ?? at which point ?? the play ends.

hey quick question: what the fuck?

you know what, this was a mess from start to finish and i don’t have the strength to unpack all of that so i’m just going to throw out the whole suitcase. what a ride, what a time, rip to my boy renfield who had weirdly strong homoeroticism not with dracula but somehow with jonathan. that’s what i choose to take away from this ordeal.

[g-perla]

From “Nessian Shipper!!” to “Nessian…Shipper??”

This...is going to be a long one so strap in.

Years ago when ACOMAF came out and the kind people of tumblr posted screenshots of the Wings and Embers short, I found myself looking at Nesta and Cassian, considering the idea of them being romantically and physically involved, and found myself with the following thought; that’s my SHIP. These feelings were reinforced throughout the smattering of brief interactions between the two we got in ACOWAR, probably until the very end where it was unclear if Cassian had gone to see Nesta before or after she headed up the stairs seeming distinctly not ok. That wasn’t a very big deal though. For all I know he did, and she pushed him away, or maybe they did have a talk. Feyre’s perspective is very limited after all. This didn’t really stop my Nessian shipper heart at all.

My Nessian shipper heart became compromised in ACOFAS and in the teaser to ACOSF. I still haven’t re-read ACOFAS so I just want to make it clear that I’m still dealing with 2+ years of accumulated messy, largely unexplored feelings about this ship. That being said, I wasn’t very impressed by Cassian’s behaviour towards Nesta. The interactions between them we were shown left me questioning the stability of a ship I had previously loved with reckless abandon. I questioned Cassian, I questioned Nesta, I questioned their independent trajectories, and them as a couple in the context we were given. My conclusion was that I could no longer really ship them as eagerly in good conscience.

A week or so ago I wrote in a post that Cassian seems, to me, ashamed of Nesta. This idea came to me after considering his behaviour mostly in ACOFAS and to a lesser degree in the previous books. A post by @inyourmindeye, where they put forth their arguments about why Cassian isn’t ashamed of Nesta made me reconsider, however. I read their post carefully and took some time to gather my thoughts after taking in this other perspective. I will share them now.

First, I will say that the word “ashamed” perhaps isn’t the most exact word to express how I feel about Cassian’s complex emotions when it comes to Nesta. I think a more apt word would be conflicted. Second, I want to clarify that when I wrote “ashamed” I didn’t mean to imply that he didn’t care about Nesta. Feeling ashamed of something or someone because of the feelings of attraction or care one might have is certainly possible. Additionally, these emotions aren’t necessarily contradictory, nor do they necessarily depend on each other. They do, however, complicate each other and create conflict.

But what exactly is the source of Cassian’s possibly conflicted feelings?

In the most simplistic sense, I suggest the source is Nesta and the Inner Circle. Or rather, Nesta v. the Inner Circle.

Many in the fandom and some of my own posts have discussed the inherent incompatibilities between Nesta and the IC (as depicted in the canon texts we have access to as of 21/10/20). These incompatibilities are largely ideological such as different definitions of “free will” and agency. Nesta simply does not tolerate the messy dynamics of the IC and the tacit acknowledgement that Rhys has the most authority. For Nesta to fit into this world, she would have to abandon the elements of her character that constitute her core self and which make her subversive within the narrative and without: a disdain towards authority, a resolute mind that isn’t easily moved, quick to anger and abrasive and hostile in her expressions of this anger, but capable of making concessions if the situation gnaws at her strict moral code, morally grey, not nurturing, generally unpleasant to those she doesn’t trust, judgemental, unapologetic in her sexuality or in her femininity, lacking in patience when it comes to idiots and sycophants, critical to a fault, not immune to enacting cruelty, etc. See, if this were a man and if this book had been written during the Romantic period and we were reading it now we would just say “well, I’ll be! What a text-book example of a compelling Byronic hero! We love to see it.”

Note how the men (sorry, males) in SJM novels tend to have many of these same characteristics. They are also pretty good examples of Byronic heroes. The main difference is the energy most people bring when they criticise women. One of the characteristics of a Byronic hero is his refusal to be confined. This confinement can be moral, ideological, epistemological, or physical. Basically, people in the world of such a hero (or even in ours) can’t compute when they encounter him and are unable to put him in easy categories. This often manifests as irrational hatred towards this character because it offends our sensibilities about what is known and what is unknown.

It’s attractive to think that we are immune to this as people existing in the 21st century, but we are not. We still rely on the “Other” to define our identity by both creating it and violently rejecting it. I suppose it’s as good a time as any to share the thesis of my overarching analysis project; basically, Nesta is the ultimate representation of the Other. She is Other in her womanhood (or I guess femaleness), she was Other even as a human, now that she is high fae she is Other to humans but tragically she is also Other to the high fae because she was Made. She is Other as a magical being, she is Other to the IC, she was and is Other to her bio family. She is Other to many of us because we simply cannot comprehend her actions in ACOTAR (how could she have been so cruel????). As of now, there is not a single place where Nesta can exist without offending the very core of what a lot of people value.

One framework for the Other was proposed by the French psychoanalyst Jaques Lacan. He basically said that the Other is that which we must reject when we start forming a concept of the Self. The Self is the known therefore safe; the Other is the unknown therefore dangerous and disruptive. The Self creates the symbolic order which is essentially the blueprint of accepted life to which the Other is antithetical. I can go on and on about the intricacies of this, and Lacan himself certainly did, but I’m working on a review of different conceptualisations of the Other so I will stop here. What I want to establish while bringing this up is that Nesta is essentially the Other to the IC’s symbolic order, i.e. fundamentally incompatible and an epistemological threat. This is a very theoretical way to explain the IC’s hostility and dislike towards her, but I find it compelling enough to pursue (and I am a nerd).

We can’t forget that Cassian is a known element of the IC’s symbolic order, thus one of the Selves let’s say. The Self should seek to annihilate the Other (as it usually does)…not love it, desire it, care for it. To do so is to enter a profound state of existential precarity. To pursue his feelings for Nesta, Cassian would have to question the fundamental assumptions that are at the core of his known world. There is nothing simple about such a task and I can’t really blame him for struggling. 

Still, understanding something isn’t necessarily synonymous with liking it. I wish that the distance between these two characters were not so great. I wish both could just sit and talk with the respect I know them to have for one another. The constant insults and underhanded jabs made by both parties are messy and not in a fun way. As the ship stands, I don’t feel comfortable liking it with the same reckless abandon as before. I think their hostility is too raw, even if their actions contradict them most of the time. Is it unreasonable to want them to interact without reservations in situations other than those between life and death? I hope ACOSF can provide the development they both deserve. Maybe then I can stop having one leg in the ship and the other overboard.

[avatraang]

20 Stories, 20 First Lines

Thanks for the tag @foxy-knowledgeseeker and @thinkingisadangerouspastime <3

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

20 fics and first lines is absolutely massive, so i’m gonna post them under the cut for the convenience of everyone. if you dare to read, thank you!

1. define divinity.

Suki’s time in Caldera City has been pretty eventful so far. Training new agents, fending off assassination attempts. Trying new foods, adjusting to the new climate, the culture. She’s been here almost a year and still feels like there’s so much she hasn’t learned, so much to become accustomed to. Zuko says she’s doing great, but he’s also… Zuko, so Suki doesn’t really know what to think of that.

2. infinite and always.

Aang comes and goes, and that is the hardest part.

3. lazy sunday.

Sokka is half-asleep when she kisses him. It’s a Sunday morning, the type of Sunday morning that makes you realize why the day is called “lazy.” They’re laying on her bed, in and out of easy slumber. It’s not an abnormal occurrence – they have sleepovers all the time, in the same bed, on the same couch. They cuddle, hold each other, keep each other company, keep the loneliness at bay. It’s familiar, like home. They are each other’s closest confidants, after all. It helps that they are in love with each other and are avoiding it, but still. Of course this isn’t strange.

4. when the sun goes down.

It’s a rainy day when Aang feels her presence. To say they are tied together is an understatement – Aang is connected to all worlds, but to her more than most. The way his scar almost stands on end, a phantom of electricity ghosting across it. He often feels such thunder in his veins when she’s nearby, the universe’s way of reminding him that he is tied to her in more ways than the norm.

5. we’ll keep on growing like ivy.

The first time Mai meets him, she thinks perhaps she’s dreaming. It’s late, around one in the morning, and she’s walking back from the library on campus with one hand on her umbrella and the other on the knife tucked into her sleeve. Ba Sing Se University isn’t particular dangerous, but Mai is a foreigner in these parts, and it’s better safe than sorry. She sees him on the roof of the cafeteria, feet dangling, one hand raised above him as he bends the rain away. She watches the way it bounces off his hand, the other one busy holding an ice cream cone. It's a strange sight -almost like something out of a fever dream. There’s a yellow beanie on his head, which, if he was trying to conceal himself, is a pretty awful attempt at it.

6. she loves him still.

This is how it goes: 

The world is thrown into turmoil the morning he dies. The elements tremble. People as far away as Harbor Town claim to have felt the earth quake, and those at sea as distant as the coast of Akahime swear to the Spirits that a tsunami threatened to devastate their lands. Any flames within a twenty-mile radius reportedly shot up, burning holes into ceilings and ruining breakfasts. Lamps are said to have burst and shattered. Air acolytes claim a breeze swept through the compounds, so strong it cut down a tree that had stood on the island for over a hundred years.

7. the sweetest rewards.

Toph is sitting opposite of Aang, silent as stone. She’s inspecting him; Aang can tell by the way her feet shift almost imperceptibly, scanning his body. Finally, Toph breaks the silence. “When do you think they’ll be done?” She nods towards the kitchens.

8. lunam et familia.

17.

Sokka is sitting at the edge of the temple side when Toph finds him. They are resting at the Western Air Temple, taking a break from diplomacy trips that Aang had roped them into. His feet are swinging over the edge, palms planted flat on the ground, head tilted up towards what she supposes “seeing” folk perceive to be moonlight. Everyone else is fast asleep, deep within the temple walls, except for him. Toph moves to step towards him, to ask Sokka why he’s still awake, but then she hears him speak.

9. seen.

“What is that?” Zuko asks Sokka one day, leaning over his desk to peek at the swell of color Sokka is adding detail to.

10. purple lilacs and pilfered letters.

“NO!”

"Sokka, I swear on Oma and Shu-”

"NOOOOO!”

"Sokka!”

11. as simple as breathing.

con·sti·tu·tion

/ˌkänstəˈt(y)o͞oSH(ə)n/

   noun

noun: constitution; plural noun: constitutions

a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.

Toph is 23 when Sokka tells her he’s addicted to smoking.

12. jealous of the love.

It’s raining outside when he notices it for the first time. Well, not it. Her. He’s new in Republic City, so she took a day off to show him around. Katara had expressed her mild surprise that Toph, the Chief of Police, had taken a day off to show Sokka, of all people, around… Toph didn’t even take days off when Zuko came into town, and that was rarer than Sokka’s appearances. Plus, it’s not like he’s leaving any time soon. If all goes well, he’ll win his position on the council and move to Republic City, permanently.

13. fortune telling, reincarnation, love, and other (somewhat dubious) forms of science.

Toph doesn’t really bat an eye when she gets a letter from a small Earth village in the middle of bumbafuck. Her secretary reads it to her and she shrugs it off; it gets thrown on her dining room table most unceremoniously. She spends the rest of the week doing what she usually does: focusing on her school and being a little too bored. To be grounded is in her nature, but Toph also has a strange tendency to get restless. Her body starts to twitch and her spirit grows bored. Nothing good has ever come from a bored Toph.

14. why do we put each other through hell? (why can’t we just get over ourselves?)

“How have you never seen a Superman movie?” Penelope’s voice is loud -per the usual- and unbelieving -per not the usual. She’s staring at him like he’s got eight eyes instead of six, like he’s spoken Russian instead of English.

15. firelady.

Suki is born a commoner.

16. between me and you.

"Ms Bei Fong," the voice cuts through the air with practiced precision, a note of affection ringing in it even through the poised professionalism. "I didn't expect to see you here."

17. a ring made of silver.

#01 – Ring.

It starts out simply enough, a breath of a laugh here, a memory of a whisper there; trinkets left behind to find, conversations forgotten, a ring made of light silver that he takes off when they're muttering and forgets to take back: she goes to give it back the next morning, before even the owls have fallen asleep, but he engages her in a debate on how long it took Dumbledore to grow out his beard, instead, and next thing she knows she's in Arithmancy and the ring is on her thumb, forgotten.

18. a girl who will never be a nun (and a man who will make sure of it).

To: Mother (10/9/2016, 01:02) i didn't *mean* to do it

19. to tell you properly.

She's at his doorstep, and they stare at each other for a moment too long, her backpack slung over her shoulder and Fraxure standing next to her. "Well," he finally says, and there's pain in his eyes, written clear across the stars that are reflected inside them. Not for the first time, she feels a pang in her heart. "I guess this is goodbye. For a bit, at least."

20. (just say) you won’t let go.

Hermione finds her way to Fred's flat easily enough, apparating in just as he'd instructed her. She shakes the snow from her jacket and slips her boots off, feet sore and heavy from the day. His flat is dark, darker than usual, but it's only when Hermione takes in the worrisome silence that she pulls her wand out and holds it before her, gathering her wits and taking a step forward. Silently, she scans the apartment with a spell, relaxing only slightly when she registers only one other person in the apartment; out on the balcony. She walks briskly over to it and finds red hair framed by night, drooped shoulders defeated by exhaustion.

i definitely love to open up a story by describing either a setting or an action. very few times do i open up with dialogue... interesting! wonder what that says about me O.O

i think my favorite opening line would have to be the one from “infinite & always.” it’s such a short but impactful line! aang DOES come and go, and that IS the hardest part!

thanks again the tag, e-money and a-dawg B) i’m tagging @cats-and-metersticks, @praetorqueenreyna, and @justoceanmyth :)

[tigerkirby215]

5e Gondar, the Bounty Hunter build (DOTA 2)

(Artwork made for Valve Software.)

And here you were thinking that I wouldn’t actually make a DOTA 2 build; that’s where you’re WRONG! While this is sort of meant as my April Fools joke build I did actually play DOTA before migrating to League. I still love all the characters and I do genuinely think the gameplay has some strengths over LoL. The community...? Well, it exists.

Regardless back when I played DOTA I mained Bounty Hunter, which is rather ironic given I fucking hate League’s counterpart Bounty Hunter of Pyke. Gondar (yes his name is Gondar) was an extremely fun stealth assassin with a very unique passive to keep tabs on enemies at all times and inflate his teammates’ wallets. And apparently they magnified that even further by allowing Bounty to steal other heroes’ gold now with Jinada? Sweet Zeus Valve calm down with the feature creep...

Regardless: happy 5 days after April Fools! Hoes mad that I’m acknowledging DOTA’s existence.

GOALS

You can't fight what you can't see - DOTA is a lot more willing to give people invisibility. Helps when you can buy a gem that lets you see all invisible enemies.

The realm's justice - Jinada, que pasa? We need to be able to do big damage to critical points that weaken our enemies in a fight.

You can run but you can't hide - Your ultimate ability will be to track people down like some sort of... person who tracks people down for money.

RACE

Back in the Warcraft days Gondar was a Goblin, so a Goblin he shall be! As a Goblin you get a +2 to Dexterity and a +1 to Constitution, and Nimble Escape to get half of what a Rogue can do with your Bonus Action to Disengage or Hide (but not Dash.) And you get a nice bonus to take down big bounties (big in the literal sense) with Fury of the Small, allowing you to do extra damage equal to your level to a creature that’s bigger than you once per Short or Long Rest!

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - Is your refrigerator running? Well you’d better go catch it, because there’s a bounty on its head!

14; WISDOM - Wisdom is tied to tracking, and spoiler alert? We’re going to be doing a lot of tracking.

13; CONSTITUTION - We kinda don’t need anything else so may as well use that +1 from our race to get a nice boost to our HP.

12; INTELLIGENCE - Practical intelligence never hurt when tracking down gods and demons.

10; CHARISMA - You need to be able to talk to the people giving the bounties.

8; STRENGTH - You’re a small man with small knives.

BACKGROUND

Man, if only there was a background for a Bounty Hunter! We’ll be going for Urban Bounty Hunter from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide because just because the name says “urban” doesn’t mean you can’t prowl around the Radiant jungle too. You can choose your proficiencies among a small list: I opted for Insight and Stealth. You also get proficiency with two musical instruments or gaming sets: I’d maybe ask about languages instead? But honestly pick your poison.

Your feature Ear to the Ground gives you plenty of information about whatever bounty you may be tracking, as you’ve got contacts in all places to slip you information about where a giant fishman may be. “The Tidehunter becomes the hunted.”

(Artwork made for Valve Software.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - FIGHTER 1

You level Shuriken first on Bounty, you go for CON saves first in D&D. Along with those CON saves you also get proficiency in two skills from the Fighter list: Acrobatics will help you survive and Survival will also help you survive! But it’s mainly useful for tracking.

As a Fighter you can choose a Fighting Style at level 1: for a quick Shuriken Toss Superior Technique will let you grab the Quick Toss maneuver as well as a d6 Superiority die to use on said maneuver. It doesn’t take a lot to push Q and click on someone. Remember that your superiority die come back after a Short Rest, as well as a long one.

Finally as a Fighter you can hold onto a Bottle to use for a bit of Second Wind, healing for a d10 plus your Fighter Level as a Bonus Action. “A prudent hunter knows when to strike.” This ability also resets after a Short or Long Rest.

LEVEL 2 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters can up their APM with Action Surge, allowing them to take two actions in a turn. The Wiki says the trick of attacking people during Shadow Walk’s Fade Time is still a thing, so yeah pro tips from a League player!

LEVEL 3 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype and truth be told I just want to be able to throw more shuriken, so Battle Master it is for four more Combat Superiority dice! You can also learn three more Maneuvers other than Quick Toss: Disarming Attack will let you knock an enemy’s weapon away with Heaven’s Halberd, and both Commander’s Strike and Distracting Strike are good to team up with your allies to play support. “My allies have earned their keep.”

But of course the most important feature is Student of War; no shmuck politician is going to hire you unless you have Calligrapher’s Supplies proficiency to fool a god to sign off his power to you!

LEVEL 4 - FIGHTER 4

How about we slow them down a bit? The Slasher feat will increase your Dexterity by 1 but also allow you to slow enemies hit by 10 feet. Additionally if you crit you cripple them, giving them disadvantage on their attacks! This only works with Slashing damage, so technically you can only slow in melee range with a Scimitar. But if your DM is cool I’d totally allow Darts that do Slashing damage to slow at range!

(”Twin Blades Assassin” set made by motenai and T_Vidotto. Made for YYF.)

LEVEL 5 - RANGER 1

First level Rangers get proficiency in one skill from the Ranger list: increase your map awareness and buy some wards for Perception. Additionally you get Deft Explorer from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which grants you the Canny ability for two language proficiencies and Expertise in one skill of your choice. Your languages don’t matter too much but guess what? Survival is still used for tracking down bounties!

Speaking of those bounties you can mark them with not quite track thanks to Favored Foe. When you hit a foe you can choose to mark them and make them take an additional d4 once per turn for up to a minute! You need to concentrate on this effect though so you can’t just fire-and-forget like in DOTA, and can only use it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus.

LEVEL 6 - RANGER 2

Second level Rangers get to choose a Fighting Style and you know what’s good for tossing shuriken? Thrown Weapon Fighting, letting you draw thrown weapons for free and giving you +2 damage to said thrown weapons!

But of course the main appeal of being a Ranger is the Spellcasting! You can learn two spells from the Ranger list: for a not quite stun that certainly isn’t mini Ensnaring Strike lets you throw a shuriken (or stab with your sword) to root an enemy in place. Alternatively if you want to track people super good Hunter’s Mark gives you advantage on Survival checks to track the person you marked, and also lets you do an extra d6 every time you hit the enemy!

It’s of course worth mentioning that both these spells require Concentration which means you can’t use them along with Favored Foe, but most of the Ranger spell list is Concentration.

LEVEL 7 - RANGER 3

Third level Rangers get to chose their subclass, and I hope you weren’t expecting Hunter just because the character is literally called “Bounty Hunter.” No we’ll be going for the Monster Slayer subclass, because certainly you only hunt monsters who have a price on their head for a reason, right? Regardless Hunter’s Sense will let you know what an enemy’s weaknesses are just by looking at them (and perhaps peeking at their inventory) with your Action. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier and regain all expended uses at the end of a Long Rest.

But what we’re mainly here for is Slayer’s Prey, for more tracking marks! As a Bonus Action you can put another mark on a foe within 60 feet to make them take an extra d6 the first time you hit them! You can only have one target marked at a time with this ability, and it ends if you take a Short or Long Rest. This stacks with both Hunter’s Mark and Favored Foe, so pick your poison to do as much as you can to your foes!

You can also learn another first level Ranger spell like Snare, to set up in advance for bounties you know are coming. You get a lot more magic too: Monster Slayer Magic provides you with the Protection from Evil and Good spell, which is helpful for hunting down demons and fiends. You can also cast Speak with Animals once per day thanks to Primal Awareness, just in case you’ve been hanging around with Enchantress.

LEVEL 8 - RANGER 4

4th level Rangers get another Ability Score Improvement, but we still kinda need to be able to turn invisible? Good thing Shadow Touched lets you increase your Wisdom by 1 and gives you the Invisibility spell along with one Illusion or Necromancy spell of first level.

What first level spell will we be taking you may ask? Why if only there was a spell to squeeze more gold out of your bounties. Oh wait! Distort Value from Acquisitions Incorporated, allowing you to sparkle up your bounties for more gold! You can cast both of these spells once per Long Rest without using a spell slot, and can also cast them freely with your spell slots.

(”Desperado in the Shade” set made by HeeJae.)

LEVEL 9 - RANGER 5

5th level Rangers finally get their Extra Attack. It’s about damn time to pick up some attack speed as a Martial Fighter.

You can also learn another spell like Locate Object, because sometimes items have bounties on them too. Speaking of spells Monster Slayer Magic gives you the Zone of Truth spell, and Primal Awareness gives you one casting of the spell Beast Sense, in case you want to ride along with Lifestealer.

LEVEL 10 - RANGER 6

6th level Rangers get Roving from Deft Explorer, increasing their movement speed by 5 and granting them a Climbing and Swimming speed equal to their walking speed, meaning you can follow your bounties through any terrain. Additionally Favored Foe increases to a d6 of damage, so while it’s still not really comparing to Hunter’s Mark it’s still helping!

LEVEL 11 - RANGER 7

7th level Monster Slayers have a Supernatural Defense against magic and crowd control. Whenever the target marked by your Slayer’s Prey feature forces you to make a saving throw or if you try to escape their grapple, you can add a d6 to your roll.

You can also learn another second level spell like Lesser Restoration, as a Dispel is never a bad thing to have.

LEVEL 12 - RANGER 8

Striking foes from the shadows is all well and good but you haven’t got many ways to keep yourself safe. (Other than using your Bonus Action to Disengage I guess.) The Mobile feat will speed you up and let you avoid hits after cutting a foe’s heels!

(“Giant Hunter” set made by Jigglypuff.)

LEVEL 13 - RANGER 9

9th level Rangers get third level spells! This means you get:

Magic Circle from Monster Slayer Magic.

Speak With Plants from Primal Awareness.

And Revivify from the Ranger spell list (thanks Tasha’s), in case you need to help someone Buyback their respawn.

LEVEL 14 - RANGER 10

10th level Rangers are Tireless thanks to Deft Explorer. You can recover Exhaustion on a Short Rest, and can use an action to give yourself a boost of Temporary Hitpoints a number of times equal to your Proficiency bonus, which resets at the end of a Long Rest.

You also get more ways to turn invisible with Nature’s Veil, which lets you turn invisible until the start of your next turn. Like Tireless you have a number of uses equal to your Proficiency bonus, which come back at the end of a Long Rest. “Unseen.”

LEVEL 15 - RANGER 11

11th level Monster Slayers carry a ministun to deal with casters. When you see a creature casting a spell or teleporting within 60 feet of you, you can use your reaction to try to foil it with Magic-User’s Nemesis. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, or its spell / TP fails and is wasted. You can only use this ability once per Short or Long Rest however, so be sure to stop the enemy from using a teleportation scroll.

Additionally you can learn another spell like Nondetection, for protection against wards.

LEVEL 16 - RANGER 12

12th level Rangers can grab another Ability Score Improvement: even though we have an uneven Wisdom score I’m still going to suggest maxing out your Dexterity first for the highest possible AC, damage, and dodging skills.

(”Hunter with No Name” set made by BigTuna, Vermillion-Wlad, and Stefco. Made for Funn1k.)

LEVEL 17 - RANGER 13

13th level Rogues can learn 4th level spells. You get Banishment from Monster Slayer Magic, but much more importantly you get Locate Creature from Primal Awareness for some proper Bounty Hunting! We’ll also be taking Locate Creature as our learnt spell at this level: one may say that it’s not the most useful spell, but if you need combat magic you can upcast Ensnaring Strike for a chain stun or Invisibility to dust up.

LEVEL 18 - RANGER 14

14th level Rogues see Favored Foe increase to a d8. Is this way too late for a feature that’s still arguably doing less than Hunter’s Mark? Perhaps, but Favored Foe still doesn’t cost your Bonus Action nor a Spell Slot.

You do also get Vanish to hide as a Bonus Action but... you could already do that. Oops.

LEVEL 19 - RANGER 15

15th level Monster Slayers are masters at 1v1ing squishy spellcasters, as you master the Slayer’s Counter. If the enemy you marked with Slayer’s Prey forces you to make a saving throw, you can use your reaction attack them! You make this attack immediately before the saving throw, and if your attack hits you automatically succeed your saving throw.

You can also learn another spell but honestly? Pick your choice. We got just about all the character-accurate spells we could need as is.

LEVEL 20 - RANGER 16

16th level Rangers get their last Ability Score Improvement and while it’s probably late to do this the Resilient feat in Wisdom will make sure the enemy has zero chance to CC you.

WHY NOT ROGUE

There's several reasons I opted for Ranger levels instead of Rogue levels. Firstly Bounty Hunter can crit targets even when not stealthed, and Jinada is described as "preparing" the next attack which is much more in-line with Hunter's Mark and Favored Foe. Gondar's code language is most likely Goblin speak as opposed to Thieves' Cant. And of course Ranger was the only way to acquire tracking spells like Hunter's Mark and Locate Creature.

But above all else there were few Rogue subclasses that fit Gondar. Soul Knife is perhaps the only one that makes sense but ironically enough the unlimited nature of the Soul Knife Psychic Blades doesn't fit. (Also long-ranged teleportation doesn't fit either.) Monster Slayer meanwhile brings the backline counterplay to Gondar and allows me to work in a lot of Bounty Hunter's utility abilities.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

I didn't come here to see my enemies grow rich - You have many ways to get the upper hand both in and out of combat, with both spells and martial prowess to aid you in combat. Between invisibility, Hunter’s Mark, Ensnaring Strike, or just generally tracking your enemy down you have all the tools you could need and more to get the jump on your foes.

Watch your head! - You are very strong against magic users and other enemies who force saving throws, and you didn’t even need the Mage Slayer feat! Monster Slayer is exceptionally good at giving one enemy an incredibly tough time killing you, especially if they rely on magic to do so.

Impressive technique, but not enough - A little bit of Constitution goes a long way, and a +2 to CON along with a d10 hit die will give you quite a bit of bulk in comparison to others.

CONS

A wise hunter knows patience - It takes quite a bit to set up all your marks, with several bonus actions to operate at maximum effectiveness. In fact you have an absolutely excessive amount of Bonus Actions to choose from which can make picking the right one very tricky.

My target eludes me - You also have several Concentration spells, and while your CON saves are good many of your spells are utility based you still can’t turn invisible while tracking down your bounty.

That's going to come out of my pay, isn't it? - Your Wisdom isn’t terrible but it’s not good either, and while most of your spells don’t rely on saving throws many abilities such as Hunter’s Sense and Magic-User’s Nemesis do rely on your Wisdom. I’m not saying Point Buy would be better but your Intelligence really isn’t doing much to help you.

But a good hunter knows what tool to use in any situation, and you have the tools to take out any target... for the right price, of course. Stalk your foes, strike when they least expect it, and reap the rewards for your allies. And if they're the type to complain that you're not from Runeterra simply remember that DOTA is better than League, and a LoL player can't deny.

(Comic by Nerf Now!)

[foxymoxynoona]

I guess I meant about his patience with Isabella, knowing his issues he still trying to make them work while Isabella is quick to ruin everything good that was before just because she interpreted his words and actions wrong. It seems sometimes that she takes a good step in her therapy progress and then takes a few back and it's kind of hard to see difference and progress. And she quite a lot goes manipulative about kids and her leaving him when there is a fight between them. Her abusive behavior is making hard to deal with so to me seeing Jk trying to help her and not running away from this making him a bigger partner in their relationship in my eyes

I appreciate you responding with some more details but I have more questions. 😆

Even Jungkook keeps telling Isabella she's not ruining things, so it's amusing you said exactly that. I think it's important to recognize there are different ways of "ruining" something, and they aren't all equal. Are you including times she's gotten upset and cried or put a stop to something she couldn't handle at the time (like when she stopped her orgasm)? Or are you only including instances in which she was mean? I think it's pretty rough if you include any time she's vulnerable or upset, so if you only look at times in which there's been mean or hostile behavior to "ruin" something, I believe JK has actually done that as many times as she has, or close to it. Jungkook just often goes internal and sulky when his feelings are hurt, so I do want to be careful we don't say that's better than making a fuss because it's actually not! They should both get better at slowing down and not jumping to conclusions, and voicing when they are hurt, and getting the right information.

What manipulative behavior are you seeing? Manipulative to me implies she's lying or altering her own behavior to get him to behave a certain way and I'm not sure what instances you're pointing to (it's entirely possibly I've forgotten something 😅 though I never intended to write her as manipulative) Do you mean because of the time she left and this time when she threatened to? You're right to pick up on that's a powerful act. But I don't think that two instances (one of leaving, one of threatening) constitutes a pattern of abuse --yet. She also, especially after that first instance, didn't actually realize that would be painful to him! So she was right to apologize when she learned it did cause pain. It was also part of their agreement though that she could leave whenever, and they were definitely not "his kids" yet only three months into their marriage --we know he adores them, but even 6 months into a stepparent relationship could be considered very early for stepkids to be as much his as they are hers. He actually does this running away too, he just doesn't go as far --staying away from home to avoid her this week was absolutely a form of running away, and he's done this before when he feels vulnerable. I do see a difference between "I did this thing I didn't realize would hurt you" (not abuse, but deserves apology and corrected behavior) and "I did this thing knowing it would hurt you."

I do think you're right to have an eye on the bad behaviors she's repeating or has learned from being in survival mode. But I would argue it's not "letting her get away with it" to give her a few months grace period to get her shit in order and unlearn those things. Seven months ago she was fighting to feed and clothe her children! Her grandmother died! If there was no forward progress, no attempt to improve, and JK was feeling hurt and unhappy, I'd be more concerned about their relationship. Instead, they are both making mistakes as they go through a major life change together, and she's finally in a place where she can turn off survival mode and unlearn the pain and fear others have put in her. Doesn't mean Jungkook shouldn't speak up when she's hurt him! And vice versa, she needs to feel safe bringing up when he hurts her without him getting defensive about it (or claim it means she's comparing him to her exes; this could also be used a manipulative weapon by him...)

The path forward definitely isn't easy. I really don't recommend that anyone in this situation get insta-married to someone they have a very complicated history with 😅 I am definitely doing my best to show that forward growth, and that each big argument they have is actually because they've dug deeper and found deeper things they can acknowledge and heal. However, Isabella's pains have been forced open more immediately; Jungkook is still holding his close...

Thanks for responding again!

[seyaryminamoto]

I'm still confused as to how Iroh can just chill in Ba Sing Se after trying to burn it to the ground a few years ago?? That's like Bush moving to Iraq lmao. Yet mainstream fandom acts like Iroh is an angel and the citizens of Ba sing se should be grateful while in reality he will be the most wanted by the Earth Kingdom after the war is over.

... Curious analogy about Bush O.o I’d say maybe he’s not outright Bush, since Bush wasn’t the commanding officer on the field... a quick wikipedia search tells me the one who led the invasion in Iraq was Tommy Franks, a now-retired general? :’D yep, sounds more like this guy moving to Iraq, then.

People have made many excuses about Iroh being free to live in Ba Sing Se because he helped liberate it from the Fire Nation in the end, and I’m not going to lie, narratively it’s not even a bad idea for Iroh to have dreamt he’d “take” Ba Sing Se in his youth only for the dream to have a completely different meaning than he thought it did...

... But that would only be genuinely sweet and heartwarming if he hadn’t been responsible for an actual 600-day siege on the city. 

It’s not even a matter of headcanon whether Iroh is seen as a war criminal or not: we literally have an episode in Book 1 where he’s captured by Earth Kingdom soldiers who are hellbent on making Iroh face justice for his actions. By Book 2, Iroh and Zuko acknowledge they’re criminals to both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation authorities: they need alter egos so they can travel the Earth Kingdom freely, otherwise they’ll face obvious consequences. Therefore, Iroh was very much a wanted criminal, and for solid reasons beyond “he’s related to the Fire Lord”. That his later actions helped liberate Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation can’t be denied, but it doesn’t mean he should have been forgiven automatically for everything he did in the past. Perhaps he could get away with some sort of pardon by the Earth King, but pushing that as far as “he can settle down in the city he had under attack for almost two years and live happily there with zero consequences” can be a little too far in the suspension of disbelief department indeed.

It’s those small things, really, that make Iroh’s situation so very wishful and not as well-written as it could/should be. Featuring him as a wanted criminal in one season, as a runaway living under an alias in another... and then as a welcome tea connoisseur in the next one, who lives perfectly happy in the Earth Kingdom because he helped end the war? I might have felt better about it if maybe the show had the chance to feature Kuei offering him a public, controversial pardon for his past crimes, but as it was, it felt like that ending was meant to whitewash Iroh beyond reason... then again, Book 3 at large whitewashed Iroh constantly, even when they were trying to show him as flawed they merely backtracked right away (in The Firebending Masters).

I guess it’s partly a problem caused by the writing room being so set on indeminizing Iroh and giving him a perfect ending... I mean, recently I’ve been seeing a lot about how Aaron Ehasz inspired Iroh on his stepfather, a man he deeply admired. This may be the biggest writing mistake I’ve ever seen by him, because while you absolutely can love your characters, and you can inspire them on people you love, merging both things together will easily skew your understanding of the character until the character just stops being fiction and becomes a mere stand-in for the person you love IRL. It’s no different a concept from Mary Sues and self-inserts that constitute a completely unrealistic idealization of the author themselves, only, in Iroh’s case it’s the idealization of a loved one through writing. And this, perhaps, can even explain why Iroh goes from goofy-occasionally-wise in Book 1, to generally-wise-but-still-mostly-funny in Book 2, to the absolute paragon and pinnacle of wisdom in Book 3 (despite half his wisdom is contradictory and even hypocritical). These changes in Iroh’s writing wouldn’t necessarily obey character growth and development, but rather, they would answer the Head Writer’s conscious or subconscious merging of the identities of Iroh and his stepfather, to the point where he obviously can’t acknowledge Iroh’s faults because that’d be a disservice to the stepfather he admired deeply... which, in turn, results in a disservice to the writing of the show, for Iroh’s accountability for his past mistakes is relegated to the burning of a flag and nothing else, and that’s beyond hard to buy.

I’ve also talked in other asks about the three facets of Iroh, it might shed extra light on why the fandom treats Iroh as they do, and why they disregard Iroh’s past crimes so easily while focusing only on how nice he is, how wise he is, how funny he is. It’s why they think this isn’t weird in the least, whereas once you detach yourself from the emotional component in the show slightly, Iroh living peacefully in Ba Sing Se ends up feeling like a rather poorly thought-out conclusion for the character. 

Imagine I wrote a redemption story for Ozai (... easier said than done, I know xD), where he ends up realizing where he went wrong and devotes his life to correcting his mistakes and help the world on a better path: if I sent Ozai to live happily ever after in a restaurant in Omashu, to say one thing, the place that was renamed for him and that used to bear a monument to his ridiculous ego, no less, people would immediately tell me I’m insane, no matter how well-written the story could be. And they wouldn’t be wrong to do so: it’s simply not reasonable to give a character who committed HUGE war crimes a simplistic happy ending without considering how much backlash and how many complications can arise from it. 

Seriously, imagine how many Earth Kingdom people will want to barge into Iroh’s teashop to yell at him because his actions got a relative of theirs, or a loved one, killed during the war? Imagine people outright sabotaging his teashop, even setting it on fire or something radical like that... it could happen! There’s seriously no reason to assume otherwise. We saw, in the Promise, a group of angry Earth Kingdom people yelling outside Yu Dao in protest to Zuko’s decision to keep the city as a Fire Nation colony: how many people would want to charge into the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se to protest that Iroh has no right to live in this city, let alone to serve people tea carelessly when he’s responsible for so many awful deeds?

And there’s the other side of the coin: Zuko faces backlash on that same comic trilogy from the Fire Nation people, who see him as a traitor who’s selling out his people to the Avatar and the Earth Kingdom. Who’s to say some Fire Nation occupants of the city haven’t been lying low in wait to attack Iroh for his perceived treason of the Fire Nation, too?

In real life, usually tyrants and big war criminals run away someplace neutral and live their remaining days in relative peace while keeping as low a profile as possible, while knowing that if they step out of their safety zone they’ll probably be captured and held accountable for their crimes. In ATLA, they can open teashops in the very city they attacked for 600 days without a care in the world, and nothing comes of it :’)

Again, I blame the writing room’s unreasonable bias towards Iroh. Liking a character =/= giving them everything they could ever want without considering the character’s actual circumstances and the reactions this can elicit in the people around them. Hell, having Iroh setting up a teashop in the Fire Nation, close to the Palace or something, would make a bit more sense than doing it in Ba Sing Se + it offers him chances to advise Zuko properly, which Zuko DIRELY needs. But nope, instead we get what we got, and most people don’t even find it slightly strange because of Iroh’s three-faced nature :’)

[explodingsynapses]

Day 1: Mid- Autumn Festival

Untamed Fall Fest: Day 1: Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie)

His food had gone cold. The mooncakes looked like stones. The lantern was almost extinguished. Xichen still sat frozen, trapped in his memories. It was quiet. It pierced Xichen, unsettled him. Contemplation was the purpose of seclusion but Xichen had always found too much quiet stifling. He heard some noises, and they got louder and clearer until he distinguished a burst of bubbling laughter, a more gentle teasing noise he was familiar with, and three sets of footsteps

Also on A03

 Translucent ties that gently bind

Xichen does not realize that it was the Zhong Qiu Jie until his dinner was served with mooncakes and a generic Cloud recesses Lantern accompanied it.

His days have been lost in a fugue, even as he has diligent visitors in the form of Wangji and his uncle. They have a schedule of visiting him and they do not interrupt it, wary of offending his sensibilities.

Shufu is so terribly fond of following decorum.

He thinks Wangji might have made an exception for today and visited regardless of the rules of seclusion or persisted outside his door with the guqin, regardless of whether Xichen deserved it. But Wangji is not here.

Wangji had left to chase after Young Master Wei around Qixi, and he is not yet back. He had told Xichen that he expected to be gone for a couple of months before he left.

It was strange seeing the reluctance and the care in his brother’s stance and words. Had Xichen been like this when Wangji was grieving in his three-year seclusion?

Perhaps he was careful with his words but Xichen’s loyalties and priorities had been molded as a young child. He regretted the pain he had caused his brother, but he never questioned his own actions in regards to Wei Wuxian. He did not question them when he watched the whipped and mangled back of his brother.

His role as a sect leader, his role as a guiding light for orthodoxy, in the sunshot campaign, his reputation, sect’s reputation, all preceded this. So did his own attachments with his sworn brothers, at least sometimes. Xichen was not even prepared to scrutinize Shufu’s entanglement in all this.

Another one to befall the curse of Lans…It was an unkind thought, and unbecoming on the sect leader of a clan that prided on its righteousness. It was unbecoming and crueler on an elder brother.

Wangji did not see him on Zhong Qiu Jie years after the death of Wei Wuxian. Xichen suspects he only started later for Sizhui’s sake. His nephew had somehow constituted a truce between them.

Xichen had never held any qualms about the fact that Wangji harbored resentment even within the truce.

He was overtly filial, overtly the most dutiful sect member, overtly polite. Over years, they even extended the truce for some affection. There were hitches but they were brothers. They could work around the things they did not say to each other.

But every time Xichen looked at the plain white robes, the anguish in the eyes, every time he heard the tunes of inquiry; he flinched from the force of the rage Wangji has unleashed at him years ago on a Qixi.

 It had happened something like this. At the end of his seclusion, Wangji had gone to find something of Wei Wuxian.

Xichen was not sure what Wangji found, or rather what he did not find. All Xichen knew was Wangji had returned unannounced on Qixi, and Xichen might not have found out his presence at all if he had not turned up at Jingshi to fetch something of A Yuan.

He had smelled burning flesh before anything else, and as he barged in, he saw his brother mad with grief, drowned in jars worth of emperor’s smile, a smoldering Branding Iron with the symbol of Qishan Wen lying aside on the floor, and its burns bleeding and burning an angry red on his brother’s chest.

“Wangji what did you do?” Xichen remembers whispering as he sunk down on his knees to … what had he meant to do?

Wangji had let out everything he had held back in the few hours until dawn.

“You killed him. You killed my Zhiji, you killed my Wei Ying, you killed the father of my son. And I did nothing to stop you.”

Those words still rang clear in Xichen’s head, in his nightmares. There were other things Wangji said, clear reminders of Xichen’s failure at righteousness, at being an older brother, at being impartial and just, at the unfairness of orthodoxy, how everyone including Wangji was complicit in systematically killing the brightness of his Wei Ying.

Before that, Xichen had held out hopes for his wayward brother regaining senses because Wangji was prudent, not whimsical like the tales told about Lans…

Until then, he could indulge the feelings, he could comfort him through the grief.

One day, the grief of first love would ebb. One day, Wangji would come back to his real family. He might even be able to look at his youth and recognize that some part of it was folly, it was…

Well, that night ceremoniously made any doubts wash away permanently.

Xichen, in his own limited view, had dismissed so much.

He had healed his brother that night, cleaned up the alcohol, burned incense to ward off the stench of burnt flesh; all with tears falling down his cheeks.

Something about that entire night, something about how his brother had beseeched and condemned him that night; it had been so private, so intimate, so deep-seated that Xichen never breathed a word about it to anybody.

He could only imagine what Wangji’s pouring contempt in his anguished eyes if he ever guessed the breach.

How far can a man fall down that he is afraid to meet the eyes of his loved ones?

Xichen did not confide in anyone though he had wanted to. He had wanted to fly in the next few days to Lanling, tell A Yao everything, and have him soothe his frayed nerves and heart about how Wangji was being unfair.

But he had not. It was as Wangji said. Wangji had never chosen Wei Ying over familial duty until the very end, and it was to save a life.

Xichen had frequently chosen other things over family. Wangji’s opinion of it was not even implicit as his brother outlined each of the frivolous reasons where he chose to actively neglect…

Granted, it was intoxication that made his brother talk, but the words were not lies.

He could give Wangji this at least. He could give him the right to resent him and not go complaining about it…

Of course, after A Yao, after Wei Wuxian’s innocence, after finding out about the needless slaughter of his nephew’s birth family; Xichen wondered how much leeway Wangji had given him.

His brother was never as open about his disapproval ever again, not with words. He showed his disagreement by being everything Xichen was not, doing things that Xichen had deemed unrealistic or undoable.

Wangji had always lived by the rules, always lived by the spirit of them; no matter what Xichen or elders had thought. His adherence to them was almost meditative, flippant, and uncaring about other’s perceptions and opinions.

Xichen had always deemed it naïve for the world.

And now, look at both of them. It was Wangji’s beliefs, Wangji’s love, Wangji’s quest for righteousness that held true.

And what was Xichen left with?

He had let down family, for a long list of reasons. Did he even deserve this acknowledgment of a day reserved for families?

His food had gone cold. The mooncakes looked like stones. The lantern was almost extinguished. Xichen still sat frozen, trapped in his memories.

It was quiet. It pierced Xichen, unsettled him. Contemplation was the purpose of seclusion but Xichen had always found too much quiet stifling.

He heard some noises, and they got louder and clearer until he distinguished a burst of bubbling laughter, a more gentle teasing noise he was familiar with and three sets of footsteps that were…

The bubbling laughter had told him that it was Young Master Wei.

Of course, when the door was almost thrown open without a knock or permission; Xichen’s remaining doubt washed away.

“Aah, aah, Zewu Jun, you must blame all the disturbances on me. These two are just following my lead,” Comes as an explanation as the owner of the voice attempts to get his shoes off at the entrance.

His erratic dance does not hide Wangji or Sizhui who do the same task much more smoothly. Sizhui had sun-kissed skin from his travels. He must have run into Wangji and Young Master Wei on his way back, for the three of them to come together.

His brother wears a neutral expression, but he has a light in his eyes as he gazes at his zhiji. Sizhui is smiling but his concerned eyes are flicking from his old guardian to Xichen.

“Ah, good good. You still have not dinner. We almost thought we were late. I have not been near Lotus Pier in quite some time so it took me forever to trace back the auntie’s cake shop, but I promise it’s worth it. Best mooncakes you will ever taste. But my search had us quite late, even though A Yuan and Lan Zhan flew us here as rapidly as they could with me hanging on them….”

It is then that Xichen notes the baskets in Sizhui and his brother’s hands.

Xichen is so shocked that he does not complain or express outrage at such a gross insult and interruption to his seclusion.

As he watches them settle, because a lack of protest is as good as permission, he wonders if he is actually even offended.

Wei Wuxian twitches his nose at the cold food that Xichen neglected, mutters “grass,” under his breath, and hands over the tray to Sizhui.

Xichen is so dazed that he misses a great many things that are now happening in his vicinity. When he gains himself back, the table is set for four and food is appearing everywhere rather rapidly.

None of it is from the kitchens of Cloud Recesses.

Xichen spots and Lotus seed cakes, and lotus root soup with something, and noodles and a basket of freshly harvested fruits. He spies some variations of duck, but that is for Wei Wuxian to consume and is set far off near his tray. He finds himself handed a bowl which he grabs instinctively where Wei Wuxian is piling peeled Lotus seeds, and Sizhui is piling walnut kernels.

Wangji is serving them up. He piles Wei Wuxian’s plate with more chili oil and adds something that Sizhui gestures at. It is all done so nonchalantly like no one is noticing Xichen’s confusion or hysteria.

“Is that the peanut curry from Caiyi you were telling me about A Yuan?” Wei Wuxian gives it a critical eye, even as he gives peeling lotus seeds a rest, and starts picking out more food packets to serve in his plate.

Sizhui nods and goes about explaining the process of boiling or blanching or something. Wei Wuxian nods and asks questions as he keeps pulling out food.

Something Taro, something tofu with plums, another curry with goji berries, and really good peppers.

Wangji throws Xichen a cautionary look at the last one but otherwise comments on nothing else. 

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Wei Wuxian claps his hands in satisfaction when Wangji hands him another basket.

“You forgot the mooncakes, Xian Gege,” Sizhui supplies easily. Xichen is serenaded with descriptions of at least a dozen varieties of mooncakes, as they are portioned and served to everyone.

They eat. Xichen eats too, eats more than he usually eats in a week these days. It is hard not to with the company, with the care, and cajoling from Wei Wuxian.

There is a running commentary on the food and the backstories of all the vendors that the food has been collected from. Sizhui pipes in a few times, ignoring the rule about silence during meals. Wangji never chides them. Xichen does not either.

 Wangji hmms and Mnns. His eyes are light and dripping in affection. He even breaks the silence to mutter ridiculous to outlandish stories. His eyes even go softer when young master Wei inevitably leans or drapes himself all over his side.

They do not comment on Xichen’s reticence. Wei Wuxian does manage to extract out words from him, because he has designated himself as the one who is keeping an eye on Xichen’s plate, and keeps piling on food.

It must be the politeness bred in him that Xichen automatically thanks him at a serving in the middle of the meal, perhaps when the shock has settled a bit.

Wei Wuxian just genially smiles back and ducks and scratches his head, and then comes back with his unabashed gusto to make Xichen try even more food.

They release lanterns later. Xichen is convinced to leave the walls of his home behind and walk on the foyer, then climb down the stairs and grace the patch of lush grass in front of his door that he has sometimes stared at in his self-imposed exile. Xichen has broken his silence a few times since the practiced gratitude in the middle of the supper.

“Xian Gege tried to teach me and Baba how to paint lanterns, said you would like it,” Sizhui supplies when they are herding the lanterns together. The lanterns have squiggles and patterns and amateur shapes on them. His brother and nephew have never been inclined towards the arts, despite their excellent penmanship. It’s indulgent and saccharine.

Xichen feels fuller than he did a shichen ago.

It is past haishi. It is much later than when the lanterns are usually released, but the moon is bright. There is a gentle fall breeze. 

And he is surrounded by family.

As one of the last lanterns becomes small enough to nearly vanish in the starry dots set against the inky sky, Wangji comes and stands next to him.

Wuxian (he has been convinced to let go of formality some time in between the meal) is chasing after Sizhui and threatening to bury him in a pit, after loudly proclaiming about the betrayals of little radishes. Sizhui, bless the child, is actually chortling, teasing, and ducking as he runs away from the waving hands.

“Wei Ying convinced me that you would not like being alone on an important day,” Wangji says in his soft tenor. It is an apology, an acknowledgment of the interruption, an explanation all rolled in one. Wangji has been talented in brevity ever since he was a child.

“I am grateful. He has good instincts. You did well by listening to him.” Xichen says, tilting his head a little towards his younger brother. They both know it is not just about tonight.

But Xichen has held back on verbal amends for a long time, and if Wangji and Wuxian and Sizhui can all offer reconciliation despite Xichen’s transgressions against them in past, perhaps it is time that Xichen does too.

[nottskyler]

Politics and the Church: Feminism

Equality for what is effectively half the population is a very large topic and thus there will be a lot of interpretations on what it means. This is one where we will be united in principle, women are equal to men, but the application is going to be different based on what other principles you value more.

It’s really hard to think of where to start with feminism encompassing so, so, so much. But I think I want to start with how we raise children and how we need to do better. One of the biggest issues I see in how we raise boys differently from girls comes to accountability. For boys, most things happen to them. For girls, everything is their fault. Boys will feel helpless because they don’t feel like they have control over their lives unless they are controlling other people or things. Women will feel helpless because they can’t control what they were taught they were supposed to be able to control. I’m pretty sure there is a middle ground that will make both AMAB’s and AFAB’s grow into adulthood without environmentally caused mental health issues.

This is one thing that EVERYONE needs to stop and take a moment and think about because these things happen because of subconscious sexism. Literally my mother thinks she is a feminist and she 100% raised my brother to feel entitled and free and my sisters and I to feel burdened and unable to do anything. Back before quarantine, I was walking through my neighborhood and saw a family out playing and talking with neighbors. The little boy was riding one of those tiny electric play cars, the sister was standing on the sidewalk talking to her friend. The little boy ran into his older sister and guess who got in trouble. The mother lectured the older sister for standing in her brother’s way while he was playing. Seeing as he had previously been playing on the driveway, it was completely incorrect. I bet if I were to ask the mother if she thought men and women were different but equal, she would agree. I bet she doesn’t realize that she is teaching her son that any wrong-doing of his is caused by others and her daughter that everything that happens to her is her fault. Honestly, men will be more responsible if they are held responsible for their actions and women will be able to contribute more if they stopped being raised to think that they had to behave a certain way to prevent people from treating them poorly.

I do really think it is important for any parent or adult who deals with children to stop and think about how they would handle a situation with a child if the child were the opposite gender. Boy playing with a doll doesn’t mean trouble or even that he might possibly be trans (playing with dolls didn’t stop me from being a man). Girls need to be encouraged for their talents and not just how they look. Boys need affirmation about their looks as well as what they do. Boys and girls need to learn to be responsible for their own actions and encouraged when they pursue their own interests. I’m pretty sure raising boys and girls to be so dramatically different is one of those evil things of our culture that we need to remove because it is keeping us from Christ.

Which moves on to my next thought, children are more likely to be able to pursue their own interests when both parents are allowed to do the same. Basically, women should not be told that they are only doing enough for their family when they are stay-at-home mothers. Prophets have changed their tune and it is time for the members of the Church to realize that and stop holding it up as an ideal. It is terrible for parents and children. Now there is nothing wrong with parents who want to be stay-at-home parents, moms or dads. If it is what you want, if you won’t feel like you are giving up on your own life and thus want to live vicariously through your children, please go for it and do it. I have seen too many women who have a lot of emotional problems because of the isolation and responsibility of being a stay-at-home parent. The woman being responsible for the home-making skills and the man working outside the home sounds like a lesbian and a gay man were forced to live with each other and built their own spheres so they would stop fighting all the time (or at least that’s how I think heteronormativity ruined family expectations). Both parents are responsible for taking care of kids and home and if one is being home for the kids, they will be busy enough without all the other home-making responsibilities.

And this is already so long and I haven’t touched child care, discrimination in the workplace (both obvious and less obvious), control over how to give birth, control over when to have kids or not, sexual harassment and assault, beauty industry and beauty standards, perfectionism, leadership and perception of female leaders, lack of female leaders everywhere and especially in the Church, and so many other issues and problems. Admittedly most of these will be ones where people will differ, beyond the terrible and blatant sexism that prophets have told us is wrong.

So I supposed I will finish with language, behavior, and culture that encourages control over women. This is wrong and we should be unified in standing up against it, holding people responsible for their actions (and punishing them accordingly), and we should most importantly stop holding up the reputation of the person responsible as proof that they didn’t do anything wrong. Language that diminishes women, be it sexist jokes, rape jokes, not believing women are competent, expecting a woman to be a prude or a slut, calling them mysteries that can’t be understood, “yes dear”-ing them, talking about them like animals that you can control, or any of the many other ways that people speak down about women (basically any form of catcalling). There should be absolutely no sexual contact without consent, acknowledging that what constitutes consent changes from person to person and you need to be aware of that before assuming one person’s yes will come the same way as someone else’s. Pornography is another thing the prophets have warned us about and I’m fairly certain this is one of the main reasons. Anytime I’ve personally known someone who think women are a reward for serving a mission or are objects you win by good behavior have all had a pornography addiction. It goes against logic and what the world says, but it seems to be true (that and the porn industry also doesn’t seem to know what constitutes consent too).

As King Benjamin said, “I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them” (Mosiah 4:29). This is true of sexism. Men and woman are equal. There are so many ways to be sexist that we have to watch constantly, including avoiding misandry. We are all human and while there is a difference between men and women that is eternal, we are first and foremost human and must be allowed to be human, have dignity, and be agents unto ourselves.

[tiramisiyu]

Tears of Themis: Main Story 5-13 Translation

Translated parts: Chapter 5 – Sounds of Falling Snow (Part 1, 2, 3): 5-1 / 5-3 / 5-5 / 5-7 / 5-9 / 5-11 / 5-13 ♦️ ♦️  5-14 / 5-16 / 5-18 / 5-20 / 5-22 / 5-24 / 5-26 / 5-28 ♦️ ♦️ 5-29 / 5-31 / 5-33 / 5-35 / 5-37 / 5-39 / 5-40 / 5-42 / 5-43

Translation Masterlist: here

Video:  https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Bv411C711?p=7

Xia Yan and I placed the documents we had found in Kong Moli’s house in front of us. We suddenly felt that this case might be more complicated than we’d expected.

Xia Yan: This Wang Han is the head of Rainbow River Village.

Xia Yan: He was always storming at the front lines of the rights protection fight for the pollution of the Rainbow River water.

Xia Yan: Liu Yuhai – I just checked from the citizen information database. He should be a village citizen of Rainbow River Village.

Xia Yan: But in the NXX case file, I didn’t notice this person’s information.

Xia Yan: On the surface, he seems to not be involved with this case.

MC: No need to talk about Qiu Heng, the essential person behind Kong Moli losing the case.

MC: Then linking the dismissal letter and the investment plan record together…

MC: Could it be hinting at Kong Moli’s boss?

MC: As for that notebook… the missing pages just might record information that directly implicates Heirson.

Xia Yan: If these deliberately-left clues are all related to Kong Moli or the Rainbow River pollution case…

Xia Yan: Don’t you think the related people are too many? Plus, the relations between these people are not clear.

Xia Yan: Especially Kong Moli’s unexpected death…

Xia Yan: Theoretically, if Heirson planned to shut her mouth, they would definitely do this quietly. 

Xia Yan: All of a sudden, so many involved people come in – aren’t they afraid of the plan leaking?

Xia Yan: Plus, Kong Moli is just a typical reporter. If they want to deal with her, they don’t need to mobilize such large forces.

MC: Why do I feel that after investigating around, my doubts increased instead?

MC: We still have no way of confirming the hacker’s identity…

MC: Could it really be Youyou?

Xia Yan: Instead of guessing this and that here, it would be better if we directly looked for Mu Ziyou and asked him clearly.

The colour of the sky was gradually darkening. The fiery setting sun lit up the puffs of clouds in the sky.

I took up my phone to look – it was already time for dinner. 

The orphanage’s receiving time for outsiders had already passed. Today, there was no way of meeting Youyou.

MC: It’s late, we should get off work for today. Do you have any plans for dinner?

MC: Do you want to come to my place? I’ll cook something with noodles.

Xia Yan: I’ll send you home; we should get takeout.

Xia Yan: Though I really want to eat the noodles you make, you must be really tired from running around all day. Let’s do it next time instead.

MC: That’s also fine. Then in a moment, send me back on your motorcycle; I kind of want that place’s takeout. 

Kong Moli’s House’s Neighbourhood

Xia Yan and I locked up Kong Moli’s house door, taking all items and descending the floor.

We’d just gotten out of the floor door when Xia Yan suddenly got close to me, one hand blocking my waist.

MC: Xia Yan, you…

Xia Yan: Shh, quiet, there’s someone following us. 

MC: !!!

Instantly, a current of cold air climbed along my spine. The skin on my back seemed to pop.

My heart was in a panicked frenzy, and I agitatedly looked in all directions, yet I didn’t dare to make movements that were too large. I could only subconsciously hold my work briefcase in my arms tightly.

Xia Yan: Don’t be worried, walk forward naturally. I’m here.

Xia Yan’s arm was continuously placed behind my waist, keeping its distance.

He didn’t touch me, yet it let me feel the warm temperature transmitted from his body.

Just like the words he spoke near my ear – though the sound was quiet, it still let one feel particularly at peace.

Xia Yan: Listening from the footsteps, it’s not an adult man. I’ll count 3, 2, 1, you’ll run forward, and I’ll deal with him.

I nodded lightly and carefully analyzed the road conditions in front, selecting the best course of action. 

I reached out my hand into the briefcase, feeling the lipstick tranquillizer gun Xia Yan gave me.

I didn’t know how far the shooting range for this thing was, and if it could help Xia Yan. 

Xia Yan: Ready? 3, 2, 1!

As soon as the words fell from Xia Yan’s lips, I immediately ran forward two steps, took out the lipstick tranquillizer gun, turned around and pointed it in the direction he had sprinted in. 

In one stride, Xia Yan leaped to the road corner’s flowerbed, his hand movements so fast that you could almost see an afterimage, pulling out a skinny little body from behind the flowerbed.

Xia Yan: I didn’t believe it when I heard the footsteps earlier – how is it actually a little kid?

Seeing the person that Xia Yan had grabbed in his hand, I was startled.

The clothes on the child’s body were so dirty, his mouth set in a pout, and stubbornness was written all over his white, tender small face.

But his eyes were very cold. He looked coldly at Xia Yan, then at me, not saying a single word.

MC: Youyou, why are you here!

--

Home

I never could have thought that we would meet Youyou on the bottom floor of Kong Moli’s house. 

It further confirmed Xia Yan’s and my guesses about Youyou’s identity.

He should be that hacker that invaded the big data lab.

MC: Orphanage head, don’t worry, Youyou is here with me. 

MC: It’s late now, I’ll let Youyou live for a night at my house. I’ll send him back to the orphanage tomorrow.

MC: Sure, sure, no problem at all, it was me that brought trouble to you.

MC: Mm, goodbye. orphanage head.

I hung up and turned around to see one big and one little boy sitting on the sofa, clutching the iPads, looking completely engrossed.

MC: Aren’t you two… going to eat?

MC: Plus, Xia Yan, didn’t I tell you to give Youyou a bath first…

On the way home while bringing Youyou, aside from buying dinner, Xia Yan and I bought Youyou two sets of clothes so he could change and wash. 

Looking at that child’s wretched look, he must have suffered a lot to sneak out of the orphanage.

I had originally intended to have Xia Yan give Youyou a bath and have him be able to eat while fresh and clean, but these two people…

MC: What kind of game are you guys addicted to…

I thought that my own pressure was already sufficiently low, dealing with the indifferent two people sitting on the sofa.

Just when I was about to make my move and snatch away with iPads, Xia Yan suddenly gave a proud laugh towards Youyou. 

Xia Yan: Did you see the time? 10 minutes, 9:42 seconds. Faster than you by three whole minutes. Do you give in?

Mu Ziyou: …

Xia Yan: You should tell me now – why did you hack into the big data lab? Exactly what suspicious points does Kong Moli’s case have?

Xia Yan: Where did you get the evidence clues that you put back in the loft?

Xia Yan: And the password cylinder – what’s the password, and what’s installed inside?

Mu Ziyou: …

Mu Ziyou stared at Xia Yan once, still refusing to open his mouth. 

Xia Yan: Jeez, this kid – a man should be willing to pay if he’s agreed to the bet.

Xia Yan: We just agreed that whoever lost would answer all the other person’s questions. It was clearly you who lost, alright?

MC: Xia Yan, can you explain to me exactly what you two are doing?

Xia Yan: Don’t we have a heap of questions to ask this kid? But he won’t open his mouth no matter what.

Xia Yan: So I just made a bet with him. Who would’ve thought that he would refuse to acknowledge his loss…

MC: What did you two bet?

Xia Yan: Whoever can break into the big data lab’s basic-level firewall faster.

MC: …

What did Lu Jinghe do wrong? What did the big data lab do wrong again...?

Xia Yan: Don’t worry, it won’t damage the big data lab’s systems.

Xia Yan: I also chose this to give him a break – after all, he’s more used to the systems of the big data centre.

MC: (What you say has logic. You could even talk the sky to death…)

Youyou, having heard what Xia Yan said, shot him an even colder glance, lowered his head, poking at the iPad without a word.

MC: Youyou, do you still remember me?

MC: We’ve met at the beginning when your adoptive mother came to consult about adoption procedures. At that time, you still called her Auntie Moli. 

I cold-shouldered Xia Yan on the side, walking up to Youyou, squatting and tilting my head up. In an instant, I actually had somewhat of a feeling that while things hadn’t changed, he had. 

He was still that child who disliked interacting with others, but that woman that he cherished with all his heart had already left from the earth forever.

I didn’t know where or when it was that Kong Moli had met Youyou.

But she officially finished adoption procedures around the end of July last year.

By my calculations, the time for which Youyou had a family was actually just over a month…

MC: Youyou, are you hungry…

I inadvertently took a glance – the pattern on the inside of Youyou’s left arm grabbed my attention.

INSPECTION START

“3” Tattoo

MC: (This child’s arm has… the number 3? Looks like it was burned on?)

MC: (My god, it couldn’t be that someone deliberately burned it on, right…)

MC: (I’ve heard that some human traffickers will give a number to trafficked children. Youyou couldn’t be…)

MC: (What exactly has he gone through…)

Sallow cheeks, bad facial colour reason:

> Insufficient nutrition

> Negatively affected by medicines

MC: (Why is Youyou so thin? Typical children will have some baby fat, yet his cheeks…)

MC: (Lawyer Zuo and I have gone to that orphanage before. Child abuse is something that definitely wouldn’t happen there…)

MC: (Could it be that Youyou originally had a weak constitution?)

MC: (He should still be going under treatment for his autism, right? Could it be that the medicines negatively affected his development?)

MC: (How about we send him to Dr. Mo tomorrow. Perhaps there will be a better treatment method.)

Height

MC: (Youyou is already 10, why do I feel that he’s a lot shorter than boys the same age as him…)

MC: (There are many secrets hidden on this child. If he’s not willing to talk, it’s best to not force him.)

INSPECTION END

Mu Ziyou: Get revenge for mom. I’ll give you two the password of the password cylinder.

MC: Revenge?!

Such a term coming from a child’s mouth – I felt inevitably frightened.

Xia Yan’s and my eyes met. Looking from his eyes, I could see that his way of thinking was the same as mine.

Xia Yan: Mu Ziyou, do you understand what you are saying?

Mu Ziyou: Qin Shan is almost dead. When he dies, mom will be forever hated by people.

Mu Ziyou: The things you need are in the password cylinder.

Mu Ziyou: Get revenge for mom. I’ll give you these things.

[project-ohagi]

Obanai Iguro x Reader {Kimetsu No Yaiba}

Swordsmithing had always been your passion, even from a young age. So, despite your youth, the hard-working and friendly atmosphere of the village lured you in. Forging custom-made Nichirin blades for the Demon Slayer was thrilling, the excitement caressing every single nerve in your system. You were alien to everything here, but the quaint little houses, even the veteran smiths themselves, they all felt so homely. The villagers welcomed you immediately, and you became quite closely acquainted with most of the Pillars.

There were, of course, exceptions.

To your horror, one man had decided to relentlessly torment you, forever skirting around your vision and serving as a major distraction. Come on - all you really wanted was to be able to concentrate on your work! Which god had you disrespected so badly, to warrant this verbal abuse, among his other forms of taunting? He had many. Too many. Though, fate apparently deserted your heart, coiling around your neck and threatening the delicate flesh with shots of venom. The lack of oxygen reaching your system must have constituted to the tinting of your cheeks, for they flushed a vibrant crimson. Wait…that wasn’t the hue they would adopt under such dire circumstances! And…what was causing your heart to seek escape from its cage of bone? At the moment the hammering palpitations began, you would duck away from sight completely, but somehow, that sly fiend of a Demon Slayer always managed to creep up on you. He was so sneaky! Also, he never just sat normally, which confused you. Figuring out his hiding spot was rather a hassle, too, until he started lowering snakes on to your head. You never screamed, and you assumed that simply flinching wasn’t enough to satisfy his sadism.

In reality, all he actually craved was your unbridled attention and undying fidelity.

Was that honestly such a great requisition?

Something about you had piqued his interest, although he couldn’t attest to exactly what. Your masterful hands could produce the most incredible blades, and, similar to him, you were covered in bandages. These mainly veiled your arms, and they could have been a discussion point, if only the Snake Pillar wasn’t lacking in proper social etiquette. He always made a point of hovering nearby, trying to catch even a fleeting glimpse of the skin beneath all that white paper. It was hypocritical of him, yes, considering he refused to show his un-bandaged mouth to anyone. He also noted your unyielding dedication to the craft, but the corners of his lips tugged upwards slightly, not quite in a sneer, whenever he appeared to be grating on you.

Finally, some of your attention was being redirected to him! The swelling of his heart felt unusual, but not unpleasant.

Why was so much of his precious time being wasted, purposefully, at the Swordsmith village? Before this, love hadn't been an emotion he wished to possess, for he was aware that it was capable of seizing control of his life, and bringing him to complete ruin. You, a simple artisan, were cradling his heart amid a bouquet of feathers. It was…such a light feeling, so gentle, so pure. But…he didn’t know how to arrest your unadulterated affections - definitely not in any sort of conventional way, at least. Instead, he guessed that the stalking, the gifts of snakes (which you always seemed to spurn, for some reason??) and the odd comment about your shy nature (this was done with extreme arrogance and very little regard for your feelings, which was wholly unintentional) would capture your attention.

Well, at least you faced him!

Though, that strangely-comical mask was wonderful at shielding your expressions, so he couldn’t tell just how affected you were by his actions and remarks, or if you were blushing. Around him, you were constantly flitting between anxious and flustered, but he could only decipher the former, from body language. Your words never betrayed your innermost emotions, and he presumed that you were simply expecting another beratement. He couldn’t see the scarlet painting your cheeks, nor hear the thundering of your heart. When you refused to counter him, or even acknowledge that anything had been said, he grew upset.

On your end, curiosity was gnawing on your brain, forming questions like: how did he look beneath those bandages? And: could he communicate with ALL snakes? Also: DID HE HAVE A FORKED TONGUE? The latter, if anything but fantasy, would certainly pierce your heart with sheer force of cuteness! You did feel an unquenchable adoration fluttering around your system, like thousands of butterflies' wings, brushing tenderly against your neck and cheeks. With the red dipping further down your face, you wondered if he would soon discover it.

Why must he spend such extended periods of time in the village? This was really muddling up your thoughts and emotions. You had swords to craft! Swords! For Demon Slayers!

"(L/n), when will my blade be ready?"

You sighed quietly, not wanting to cause him any dismay, but needing him to understand your plight. "Please consult someone else, Iguro-san. Surely you can see that I am busy?"

This answer was, apparently, unsatisfactory. "I want you to forge my blade. No-one else."

"I cant."

Uwaa! Why is my heart beating so loudly? I really hope he can’t hear it!

His dual-coloured eyes shimmered beautifully in the daylight, and it hurt to rip your own, duller pair away. "Why not?"

Seriously?!

"I already told you, Iguro-san, I am busy at the moment." You continued to gaze at some ores, praying that your message would be conveyed and comprehended.

"Then stop making that one, and make mine."

...Did he just hiss at me??