#i really want to believe the majority of us are progressive and want to help contribute to the downfall of racism

[flowers-and-literature]

Man fuck this fucking country

[anemoiashifts]

what to do if you’ve been trying to shift since 2020.

if you haven’t shifted yet & you’ve been here since 2020 or for a long period of time, waking up in your bed the following morning after a method & your doubting that shifting isn’t real then that’s simply not true. you are not doubting in shifting, you are doubting in yourself. if you doubted in the belief of shifting or subliminals or working towards a goal, you would have walked away from it a long time ago. you wouldn’t still be here if it was really all for nothing. you still have hope. there is something keeping you here.

you are looking for exterior validation that you shifted & that’s normal. it’s human to look around for confirmation for our manifestations. it’s hard to believe in something we cannot see. what you have to do is recognize that you are the creator of everything you have ever achieved, done & acquired in your life. because you are waiting until you are in your desired reality to recognize your progress, you are giving your “failures” attention.

when we give our failures attention & dwell on what we lack & what we want, we start to see it more. i mentioned this a while back in one of my very first posts but i really wanted a volkswagon beetle & i started seeing them everywhere. this is because your subconscious is showing you what you desire. the cars (your desired reality & manifestations) were always there, the issue is you don’t believe they are yours yet. shifting is a success other people have achieved. not you.

so what’s the issue ? how do we fix this ?

let go of wanting to shift. why ? because you have it. people who have things already don’t sit around & say “i want a million dollars in my bank account” because they already have a million dollars in their bank account.

instead of focusing on what you don’t have, see what you do have. you were born into a life where shifting was brought to your attention. a lot of people don’t even know what shifting is & half of the people that do know what it scoff at it & don’t ever try. be grateful that you are not letting yourself become one of those people. the fact you are trying & attempting this is a testament to you bettering your life & by extension bettering yourself. if you look at your shifting journey, what is working for you ? what methods do you like ? recognize that the universe may be trying to help you out by delaying you being in your desired reality.

people seem to not like to acknowledge the concept of divine timing & how important it can be. there is a time & place for everything we do. between when you first discovered shifting to now, you would have missed out on so many lessons & experiences that are needed for growth. majority of us look at our first script & cringe. if your someone who scripts, reflect on how many’s scripts you had. did you look at how much your desires & maturity changed through those ? the universe — god, your spirit guides, whatever higher power you believe in — may be protecting you. there could be something in your script that you could not handle, there could be a toxic relationship that you may have suffered from if you had shifted successfully & it would’ve done more harm then good.

shifting will always be there; no matter your age, what you go through. you have all of eternity to figure it out. there is no time limit. nothing is worth rushing into. if you want something don’t well, take the time to do it correctly. while there is no “correct way” to shift take a look at yourself. are you nurturing yourself ? are you depressed ? are you in a stable headspace ? the only thing you have is this moment. the moment you are reading this on tumblr or tiktok, this is the only point you have control over. are you going to scroll away ? have you already gave up on reading this long of a post ? are you thinking about the past & your past shifting attempts or mistakes ? why are you thinking about them if they have nothing to do with your future ? if you know you will shift or manifest a job or money or whatever it may be — why are you giving something attention that goes against that ?

what’s the conclusion ?

look at what you have & how you’re still here. start small, recognize that this post came to you for a reason. recognize that this is something you manifested based on content you’ve put energy towards. this post is proof that you are capable of manifesting shifting, even if it isn’t your desired reality directly.

also, this reality is a desired reality. maybe not in the same way as another desired reality you may have but you have manifested plenty in this reality & that’s what shifting is. if you think you haven’t, guess again, because I’m sure there’s one thing you can find that you truly believed in & it became physical right before your eyes.

[wispythreads]

I did catch on to that part of it with him bouncing between jobs so frequently, and some of the other things like the fridge freezer, but they were still included in the jumbled up thoughts I listed out partly because I was thinking about them before coming to an answer, and partly because I'm not fully sure if those answers are all there is to it.

Cause, yeah, there’s the newspaper clipping rebuking him for being “unprofessional and brash” (which damn that’s also just rotating in my head because Vince was clearly reading this specific clipping earlier and blatantly lied saying Rody hadn’t been mentioned at all, later scribbling out the section talking about the waiter), he’s very clearly messy and unkempt in pretty much every aspect of his life, and even if he gets the to-go question right in the tutorial, Vince appends the "Good work." with "keep tone in mind."

But, the thing is, he does know a lot of the basics. Much of the tutorial is really just for the benefit of the player to know how the mechanics of the game works, Rody meanwhile nods along and does whatever task is needed without comment, only getting tripped up when Vince mentions the way the menu for his bistro works, and when the aforementioned customer asked if he could get boxes to go or call in his order ahead of time. Which I think are reasonable things to get tripped up on! Those seem like things that would vary depending on the establishment he was working for.

I keep thinking about his reaction when Vince pivoted the conversation of "do you actually like your job" onto Rody. His awkward response that it paid him money. Vince voicing specifically “I doubt you wanted to wait tables for a living-”, and that being met with how there was “something” Rody went to school for, that he was too hesitant to tell Vince, feeling he’d get made fun of. The impression that its some passion he had that just didn't work out. The revelation later that the “something” in question was him majoring in hospitality.

He was afraid he'd be made fun of for actively going to school and choosing to study for skills that, either ironically or purposefully, would've been useful for his current job of waiting tables. A goal that he flunked out of. He has had 28 jobs in the service industry over the course of 7 years. He keeps losing his job, but he also keeps getting hired.

I keep thinking of the post-credits scene of the Best Served Hot, whisky lemon cake ending. "I can't keep watching you ruin any semblance of progress you make with yourself while trying to make me happy, it's exhausting-"

He's only 4 days into this job when he approaches Vince for a raise. He already figures he'll have enough to do something nice for Manon, his "girlfriend," by the end of the week, but he wants more to make it really special. He is very clearly told 'no.'

On the 5th day, when his shift is finally over and done, we don't next see him as we usually do, back at his apartment. He's still at the bistro, all the lights turned out. The only other person presumably being Vince hacking away at the meat in the freezer that'll be used for the meals in the morning. The first time I went through that night, I presumed Rody had just been selected to stay late and help clean up for the night, with whatever Vince was doing in the background ominous horror ambience to be unsettled by.

But we can't really do anything while there that would support this initial assumption. There are only two things you can do. Snoop around in Vince's office, and... steal from the cash register. Whether you avoid doing the latter as I did or not, it has no bearing on whatever ending you get, but just the fact that it's even an option to Rody...

How many other times did he allow his love for Manon to rule over his decisions, making choices in the pursuit of what he believed would make her happy, no matter the cost, before finally facing a price for his obsession beyond the scope of his worst nightmares?

...

And after all that I do want to defend the rollerskates a bit because

Rollerskates in restaurants are kinda a thing, in the 1960s (the year this game is set) they were a pretty popular gimmick/tool for diners in the U.S. at least, not sure about elsewhere in the world unfortunately

Yeah he canonically brought and proceeded to wear rollerskates to work at a fancy bistro. But that also means Vince watched him show up to work one day, wearing rollerskates, and just let him do it. Just watched Rody roll around his fancy bistro attending to customers that expect the highest of professionalism, and said nothing.

[fantasy-frog]

To anybody who might see this, July in the states is disability pride month. As someone who’s past decade plus has been a journey towards understanding, accepting, and advocating for my psychological and physical disabilities and my whole life, aiding disabled family members, I want make it known that: the way many of us feel you can help us the most, is not by “pretending” we’re abled, like we’re just like everyone else, because we’re *not*

When disabilities are ignored, or treated as just “uniquely abled”, it falls on the disabled to maintain abled people’s comfort; to make our disabilities small, to not advocate for equity and the bettering of our lives in a supposedly equal society.

Equality is not equity.

Differences must be acknowledged, understood, and worked around *by abled people* for any true progress to be made.

Most people think this is government related. I know abled people as individuals can’t change that there’s little to no wheel chair access in their bustling city, that the sidewalks are cracked and filled with lips. An abled person can’t make public schools treat autistic kids with humanity, or children with memory-relates disabilities able to always have notes for their exams. They can’t make the employers stop firing us, or the government give us our right to marriage when living under SSI.

What I’m asking for is Empathy. True empathy. The kind that informs your beliefs, and actions. Talk to disabled people. Get to know them. I promise you, you have a disabled person in your family or social circle. Really be inquisitive about their experiences, struggles, and frustrations.

Acknowledge your privilege. Your ease of access to the world. Really sit in it. Absorb it. Your empathy will only grow. And when enough abled people do even just this, the world for us becomes less hostile. It becomes more livable. We become no longer burdens, but cherished by our communities, our families and friends. And trust me, even though the world is not built for me, and I have to consistently jump through 10,000 hoops to achieve even the smallest of victories for an abled person, and my body hurts and breaks down, so I get in a chair on wheels, or get out my cane, or put on my noise cancelling headphones, and just come across obstacle after obstacle -

The majority of the pain comes from the stares. The glances. The questioning. The points when you see the patience leave the eyes of the one who you thought loved you unconditionally, and you remember your place in our collective culture. And fuck man. You recall how workable all the bureaucracy and hurdles felt, how manageable it was to push forward (it’s what you always do) … before you were reminded of where you sit on the totem poll, and how conditional worth is in our society.

Disabled people are worthy. We are valuable. But we need you to believe it, or nothing will ever change.

[bengiyo]

Wandee Goodday Ep 3 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Wandee wasn't feeling great after he was forced to call out Ter for trying to gaslight him about his feelings. Yoryak happened to see that and later rescued Wandee from Rain's (LITA) kidnapper and taking him home. Yoryak is managing his own sting at being rejected by Taem, but learned from her perspective to help Wandee. Our leads began their FWB arrangement and got to have fun with costumes (and some help from Kao) and rimming jokes. They set some rules that I expect Wandee to violate immediately. Cher and Oyei continued to be a great team.

Finally, after ten years of this, we finally acknowledge the most reliable act that two gay men can engage in with each other. They were having fun and joking with it! My Stand In, have several seats.

Curious about Yoryak's parents. Seems like there's a tragedy there.

Love that all the friends clocked the necklace on both ends and immediately called it out. Yoryak got roasted by his brother and not-in-law and I laughed so hard.

Kao does not believe the lies Wandee is telling himself.

Why are we spending time on hetero nonsense?

Not these two dancing around how much they're into each other.

I really love the team that Oyei and Cher have become before we met them. I love that Cher is helping Oyei balance these burdens he's taken on and is able to navigate his pride.

I think it's really important that the show gave us time with Wandee doing total care for a sick child and his mom, giving both of them what they needed in a serious situation.

Truly, someone please explain to these. Headed that Ter ain't gonna fuck them either!

Kao! Lie better! It really be your own hoes letting you down.

I'm interested in this boxing-based homophobia Yak has to manage and I wonder if Oyei being with Cher is the reason we haven't seen their dad.

I really love the way Oyei respects the physical limits of his boxers while being real with them about the obstacles they're facing and why they're pushing.

The fact that Yoryak hasn't taken the necklace back even though he's frustrated with Wandee says a lot. The show is using that detail well.

See, this is good writing. We used the seriousness of Oyei and Cher's relationship and their real worries about the gym to make this play from Wandee land properly. They also know that Wandee is the guy he's seeing so they're probably less concerned since they can supervise.

I'm so amped about this fight. I had hoped we'd have an excuse for Yoryak and Oyei to fight. We even get Cher holding his phone in the gayest way possible.

Oyei said he was not letting Cher go home and kicked his brother's ass.

Look at Wandee playing these fucking games. I am obsessed.

I love the no kiss rule and how badly Yoryak wants to break it. In another show I might be feeling things about the closet, but the fact that Yak has wanted to kiss for two episodes makes me trust the show.

I appreciate that despite how desperate he is, Wandee stopped when he reached a hard no.

Wandee completely misunderstood that Yoryak is a simp. All he had to do was be genuinely pathetic and he folded instantly. That's worked in literally episode.

I really hope Wandee appreciates that Yoryak is coming out to help him.

Thinking about that pasta they made in I Only Want to See You.

"You already experienced a bigger bite."

Okay, I love them ending on some soft affection before they fuck off screen.

Cannot overstate how important it is to me that we ended the last episode on Wandee telling Yoryak he needed to pay more attention to his dick and then opening on an enthusiastic 69. This episode was excellent, and I loved how well all of the moments worked with the major issue of the episode. I really love when episodic media feels episodic and I am eating good with this show. I love that for three episodes these two progress any time Wandee is sober and honest with Yoryak.

[tiredsurvivoronmain]

Wesker ensuring Chris survives in RE1

It's interesting that Wesker goes out of his way to save and protect Chris when he made it clear that his team was now expendable. (gonna ignore the plot/plot armour and all that here for a sec)

Waiting a second or two and Chris would have been out of the picture, one less member to worry about. He could have also fired and missed to pretend he was making an attempt to save Chris.

Then there's the gun left in the main hall (which was Jill's). Why would Wesker just leave it there and not take it with him? Surely it would have been smarter to take it with him and leave Chris defenceless and vulnerable. He must have known Chris could comeback to look for them (if he hadn't been killed by a zombie). Chris somehow lost his samurai edge as he was running to the mansion, Wesker would have noticed. When he takes Jill captive he left the gun for Chris to find and use.

Leaving notes, items and ammo for Chris outside safe rooms/areas as Chris progresses to help him survive would mean he may have known his whereabouts constantly or left them there on the off chance Chris would pass through the area. One thing in particular is something that has ?? me for a while; if Wesker was trying to be discrete/laying low and avoid his betrayal being known, why even let Chris know it was him helping? Could he have somehow pretended it was Jill leaving the items and make it seem she was okay? "Look for a way out." + "Make sure you can get away." why even write that? He didn't have show concern/pretend to care to keep up appearances, yet he seemed to want Chris to survive or escape instead of simply letting Chris die to a zombie or by Wesker himself killing him. And going out of his way to fix doors for him? That's just encouraging Chris to continue his investigations and survive.

Then the scene with Enrico. It only occurred to me much later that Wesker had actually saved Chris from being shot. Wesker had an opportunity to take them both out, or wait for Enrico shoot Chris and then take care of Enrico himself. It wouldn't have been hard for him to kill them both then and there.

Why go through all the trouble of keeping Chris alive long enough for him to find out the truth? Why want Chris in particular to survive long enough to see the Tyrant and his true motives? Ultimately I believe Wesker had faith in Chris to survive up until the lab moment, I don't think he saw Chris as expendable like the majority of his team and team bravo. If he was he would have made more of an effort to get him killed and wouldn't have helped/saved him. It was important for Chris to see Wesker's true colours. We don't really have much to go on in regards to what their relationship was like before the mansion incident, only by what the novels say and bits and pieces. One thing for sure is that Chris befriended Wesker and they were casual enough with each other for Chris to disregard Wesker's title as captain and calling him by his last name instead of 'captain' or even 'sir'.

Random thing I noticed but liked; in the opening cutscene there's a shot of Wesker aiming his gun to the right then it switched to Chris just after who's aiming his gun to the left, like they're aiming at each other.

[flower-boi16]

Hazbin Hotel's Painfully Hollow Themes & Messages

I don’t know how to start this post so I’ll just get to the point; Hazbin Hotel’s themes and messages are poorly executed and here’s why.

1. What Are Hazbin Hotel’s Themes?

So, let's first establish what Hazbin Hotel’s main message and theme is. The main theme of Hazbin is, of course, redemption; that anybody can improve as a person and that there could be just a little bit of good even in bad people, that everyone can change. Charlie believes that sinners can change and get into Heaven, which is why she opened her hotel in the first place; to prove sinners can be redeemed. 

This is an interesting concept and message, that even the worst of people could change and become a better person, redeeming themselves. Unfortunately, while it's an interesting idea, the execution…leaves a lot to be desired to say the least. Let’s get into the first problem with how Hazbin executes its messages…

2. Off-Screen Development

So like I already mentioned, Hazbin Hotel is supposed to be about redemption; how anybody can become a better person and redeem themselves and see the light. It looks like the show does this with both Angel and Pentious, with episode 6 using Angel as an example of how sinners can redeem themselves, and Pentious going to Heaven in episode 8 (for some reason). 

The show really wants to hammer in its message by showing how these two characters grew and redeemed themselves thanks to the hotel, and shows how bad people can become better…there’s just one problem however…these two characters developed off-screen. I already talked about how Angel Dust’s development feels heavily rushed but Pentious has the same problem as Angel; we never saw them actually grow or develop into becoming better people, they just do now and we’re supposed to accept that. It feels like both characters developed off-screen, we never saw them slowly grow into becoming better people throughout season 1, they just magically are now.

If the show wanted to push the message of “sinners can redeem themselves!” then it would have been far more impactful if we actually saw them grow and become better people throughout the first season, instead of them just developing off-screen. And the show constantly wants to hammer in how much Angel grew and how he was able to see the light because of Charlie’s hotel, but that feels completely hollow & forced because we never SAW Angel become a better person, he developed off-screen, and I’m sorry, but that’s not interesting character writing to me. It’s more interesting to see a character actually GROW over the course of the season rather than having them develop off-screen, developing them off-screen is just not how storytelling works.

Also side note: HOW TF DID PENTIOUS EVEN GET INTO HEAVEN?!??? Adam litteraly KILLED HIM, his soul shoulden't exist now, even if he's redeemed, why did he end up in Heaven??? Can the characters just kill themselves and end up in Heaven??? This NEVER gets explained btw.

Because we never actually saw the characters progress into becoming better people and how they developed off-screen, these scenes of the characters saying that they’ve grown don’t feel earned, they feel incredibly forced and hollow. And THAT’s the problem here; the character’s development and progress don’t feel earned because we never saw them develop into becoming a better person because of how it happened off-screen. So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about the next issue with how Hazbin executes its themes…

3. Telling Rather Than Showing

This is more of an extension of the last problem I mentioned and also a major problem with Hellaverse as a whole; telling instead of showing. Episode 8 is especially bad at this; in the finale song of the episode, Lucifer sings about how Charlie was able to change Hell and find the good in sinners gone bad, indicating the message that she was able to help people become better and see the good in them.

However, it's TOLD to us rather than shown. We never actually saw Charlie helping them become better people and redeem themselves, again, that development happened off screen, so it doesn't feel earned. Also Charlie didn't really change Hell at all? Like, I don't know why the finale was trying to push that idea when it's just false, again, it's telling instead of showing. Lucifer even says that she "touched their hearts'', does he mean the sinners? Because if so that ties into my last point. The series' tell don’t show problem seriously harms it's main theme, it couldn't be bothered to actually SHOW this stuff and instead opts to tell the audience instead, even though it would be more impactful if the audience was shown these stuff rather than told.

4. Conclusion

Hazbin Hotel has a good message and even a pretty beautiful one; that anybody can be redeemed and become a better person if they just try. But unfortunately, the show executes this theme fairly poorly due to it skipping arcs and telling rather than showing. So ya...bye.

[sophieinwonderland]

At best plurality is akin to a philosophy, or way of life. No way of life is “truth” necessarily, though people tend to believe that their own way is The way. It’s an alternative explanation for natural brain phenomenon. Internal dialogue is normal; however, one can choose to decipher the “other” as separate if that so pleases them. As social beings, having internal dialogues is incredibly useful. They can help broaden one’s perspective of a situation, to see another side. It can also be helpful for brainstorming, in the creative process. And of course, it’s useful from a mental health perspective, such as managing depression or anxiety. I have “voices” in my head all the time. If I’m overly anxious about something, I might tell myself to chill in a manner that isn’t my typical tone or manner, and yes it can appear to come from “outside” me. What my brain is doing is borrowing from its environment. I could of course decide to focus on this “voice” and draw it out as its own separate entity. However, I don’t see the usefulness of that. That’s then living inside my own head, rather than being present in the here and now. I spent my whole youth living inside my head and all that did was isolate me. I find living in the here and working to forge connections with my environment and the people around me brings me a much higher quality of life. Again though, that is me and what makes sense for where I am in this current stage of my life.

It can be dangerous to spread this kind of rhetoric, that plurality is an objective reality, when you have a platform that may attract younger minds not yet fully developed. This way of thinking can create a hinderance in their development. It’s one thing to talk about it as something you experience that helps you. It’s an entirely other to encourage it in hopes of propagating it. The most current research shows, for example, that encouraging the idea of separate identities to clients actually hurts their progress.

First, before we get into the bulk of what you're saying, this blog is a fact first zone. If there is a study out there that has shown empirically that encouraging the idea of separate identities is harmful then I would like to see it and know what methods they used to come to such a conclusion.

So far, internal family systems has been shown to help people. Tulpamancy is shown to help people. And while DID specialists do tend to recommend treating them as parts of one whole person, they also paradoxically want to approach each alter as a separate individual to build up communication between the system.

Many spiritual beliefs that involve speaking to some invisible other have shown positive results as well.

So if you have research showing that people treating different identities as separate is harmful then it's up to you to show it. As of right now I have no reason to take your word for it.

With that out of the way, I really find this whole argument you're making to be pretty... basic.

Despite what you say, I don't think a majority of people actually have multiple autonomous voices in their head. Aside from, perhaps, when they're sleeping. (Whole other can of worms there.)

Having these separate agents with their own memories and senses of self is not nearly a philosophy. It is a psychological phenomenon, and one that occurs cross-culturally. Yes, some cultures will say that it is a spiritual possession, just like an earlier anon mentioned that they used to consider the people they communicate with ghosts. But if you look deeper and get past people's own personal explanations for what they experience, what you will find is a lot of commonality between these phenomena, regardless of whether somebody gives a spiritual or psychological explanation.

At the same time though, this does not seem to apply to everybody. There are singlets out there who are just one person. They may be different in different circumstances as people are. But they don't experience the type of experiences that are described by plurals and wouldn't relate to them.

To reduce plurality to just being a philosophical concept does a disservice to it. Because plurality isn't merely philosophical but has very distinct psychological characteristics and understanding how plurality works might help to solve some of the greatest mysteries about how human brains in general function.

[windvexer]

Hi chicken, I hope you are doing well. I hope it’s okay to ask for advice : this last few days every single spirits I’ve been in contact with refuse to communicate with me. My main way of communicating with them is divination (regarding your post about not taking spirit communication posts as face value I typically don’t have vivid manifestations for context). I have what seems to me clear messages of figuring things out myself for the time being from the cards and I can’t help but feel a little bit abandoned. I was not talking to them on a day my basis but I believe I made some progress on a personal level lately and I may have had some assistance from them from time to time. Do you know if it is common and in your opinion what could be the meaning of this silence ? I can’t identify a way I could have offended all of them so suddenly, but still I hope I am not indefinitely banned from spirit communication. Any advice would be welcome if you don’t mind. Have a nice day.

We are partially in reference to this post (with helpful additions in the notes): Reasons to not always take spirit communication posts at face value

Good afternoon, anonymous friend. I'm sorry you're struggling with this. Of course without more details, I can only speak generally.

First, no, I can't imagine you are suddenly indefinitely banned from spirit communication. That's not really a thing (or, the explanation I believe is complex enough that it would detract from the rest of your questions).

Spirits going incognito or refusing to communicate for a period of time is common. This can happen for a wide variety of reasons. Don't be under the illusion that all spirit workers can immediately connect with any of their spirits at any time, and receive answers.

This post may be helpful to you, but I don't know if it's all that applicable if all you're doing is the occasional tarot reading: troubleshooting spotty spirit connections/“godphoning”

It seems that you may be framing this break of communication as punitive due to some offense you could have made.

In my experience, if you have really pissed off your spirits to the point where they are done with you, A) something major will have happened and you will know about it, and B) their exit will be felt in ways that transcend disappointing readings.

I believe the reason for this silence is what they have told you: that you ought to figure out this one for yourself.

I don't believe that spirits always have our "highest good" in mind, in the sort of New Agey universal sense that everything a spirit does to us is always good for us, so you have to suck it up.

But they do often tend to like us, and they can see further than we can, and in different directions than we are capable of looking. And such a person in that position may well look at you and say, "you need to figure this one out for yourself."

Support, after all, may atrophy a muscle.

This may be an opportunity to look to new places, develop new skills, and try new things. And, if these are trusted spirits, their advice may be in your best interest: they want you to figure it out for yourself.

Perhaps they want to see what you can do. Perhaps they know you can solve it on your own. Perhaps a spirit weather front is moving in and communication will be hazy for a while.

In any case, I expect it is probably a temporary lapse. They happen to the best of us.

[tyrantisterror]

No Small Feat Artwork Pt. 1 - The PCs

By request, I'm gonna show off some of the artwork for No Small Feat, a Midgaheim story my friends and I told through the TTRPG system Fabula Ultima. I drew a lot of characters and monsters for it, and my friends - in particular, @dragonzzilla, @scatha5, and @dinosaurana - helped line and color them so we'd have cute little sprites to use on our online battlemaps, which really helped sell the whole "we're playing an oldschool turn based RPG" vibe that Fabula Ultima's system is going for.

For the first batch, it makes sense to start with the heroes of the game. Since No Small Feat was a fairy tale pastiche, we worked hard as a group to make sure each PC felt like a fairy tale protagonist more than a stock fantasy hero - characters that, while not incapable of defending themselves, would be more suited to using trickery, guile, and in some cases, compassion to solve problems.

@scatha5 created Bright Eyes, a young noblewoman whose parents tried to marry her off to a much older man without consulting her, and chose to deal with that by leaving home, disguising herself as a peasant boy, and basically traveling the earth with her pet cat that was secret a Puk (i.e. a tiny dragon) named Longshanks.

@cerothenull created Charles, a minotaur living in the town Aesopton (some involved Midgaheim world-building for your pleasure: Aesopton, while located in the kingdom of Engelsex, was founded by soldiers from the Mediterran Empire who were left behind during one of the Empire's many failed Wars of Conquest. Without the resources needed to make the journey home, they just settled down in the country they failed to take over and lived humble lives, with their descendants identifying as people of Engelsex rather than Mediterra, though they kept many Mediterran customs). Charles began as a farmer who kept a good pomegranate orchard, but, thanks to some dubious advice from one of his neighbors, he got lost and found himself in a less obscure part of Engelsex, and spent most of the campaign trying to survive long enough to find a way home.

My friend Cene created Edmund Gilford, the son of two knights who died defending the King of Engelsex from an attempted coup, and who had to inherit their duties way too early. One day, while hunting with his servants, he went off on his own and was a bit rude to a woman in the woods, and wouldn't you know it he ended up turning into a big chimeric monster. Edmund began the story as arrogant, selfish, and antagonistic, but slowly grew to discover a more altruistic side to himself as the story progressed.

@dinosaurana created Montblanc, a nice fellow who also met a mysterious woman in the woods and happened to mention that he wanted to see more of the world. She gave him a book with an eyeball in it and tasked him with drawing at least 100 different monsters, which became a major component of how the whole campaign was structured (and why this art post has to be in so many parts). I believe dinosaurana pitched the character to me as "what if Newt Scamander didn't suck ass?" which is a damn solid pitch for my money. Montblanc also has a pet barnacle goose named Barnaby, and we all love Barnaby in this house.

Finally, @shadyserpent269 created Scrunt, a roughly human-sized dragon who was the wildcard in an already kind of chaotic party of weirdos, which is just what this fairy tale needed to cook with gas!

We'll end this with some art of Barnaby and Longshanks, so you can get a better look at them. Barnacle geese aren't chimeras, btw - they're just barnacles that, through magic, evolved to resemble geese in shape and size. They eat carrion!

[inconspicious-random-thoughts]

Your idea of all soul contracts being voided is very interesting and something I've also played around with/considered. It's a major systemic issue that makes life in Hell extremely difficult for those without power (which is most). If Charlie truly wanted to improve life for all sinners, including those who don't want to be redeemed, targeting that system of ownership would be key and I think it'd be a great progression for her character/mission. If Heaven won't play by their own rules, then give Hell the overhaul it needs that improves life for everyone and remove the possibility of soul ownership completely.

I do want to say, with regards to Valentino's behavior, I personally see him showing restraint in some circumstances. Yes, he SAID he wanted to go and shoot up the hotel but after his initial tantrum with the model, he just sat in his room patiently waiting for Vox. I think there is potential to reason with him, but it'd have to be through someone he trusted (Vox and/or maybe Velvette) AND he'd have to be calmed down first to help him move past the pull to impulsivity. He was also able to rein it in pretty well with Charlie even when she was bafooning it up in his studio, on his turf... I just think it would be fascinating to explore the Vees as potential forces/influences of change and how Charlie could incorporate them into her plan. You'd likely have to get them battered down enough to even be willing to negotiate, but end of the day they are business people and I think they can be reasoned with. Even just within exploration of the adult content industry... turnover is extremely high. Maybe Vox/Velvette could be shown the numbers dipping on Angel Dust's popularity and it would then be their job to convince Valentino to drop him. For them, it's money but maybe for Valentino it's power and then that can be explored in their respective character arcs (ie. WHY does Valentino want that power/what is he gaining from it)? There are so many interesting ways you can play with these themes/characters that isn't a boring "Valentino gets stabbed to death" plot point.

So, I really hope the show chooses the more complex exploration of these characters (and gives consideration to their respective backgrounds that may be influencing their decision-making) rather than reducing them to boring cartoon villains (I also hope to GOD they don't betray each other, I love that they have their own little family among the three of them).

Let us see Charlie trying to win them over to her cause. Let us see Charlie challenged with the idea that some people like the life they've made in Hell/don't want Heaven as endgame BUT that doesn't mean they can't improve their practices or help make life in Hell better for all. There's a lot of potential. I think it also really reinforces the main theme that everyone is capable of change.

This is all personal preference/morality, but for me I truly believe that everyone has the capacity to grow. Yes this includes Valentino. If there is "no hope" for some people and no one bothers to reach out because they're deemed irredeemable, then what incentive is there for them to ever get better? Why shouldn't they just become a worse and worse version of themself then, potentially victimizing and harming more people along the way? Approaching Charlie's school of thought where everyone can be redeemed with a plan that focuses on rehabilitating individuals (and breaking down what that means/how that varies person-to-person) is a natural next step. Understanding why someone like Valentino is the way he is, how the system of Hell has contributed to the problem on a societal level, and what tools he should be given to cope/make better decisions in the future WHILE also protecting his victims from additional harm are all critical steps that I think Charlie (and the show) need to start taking more seriously... if their plan is to really explore this idea of redemption, anyway. This would also apply to characters like Sir Pentious and Angel Dust. Everyone is in Hell for a reason, everyone has a past and a laundry list of wrong that needs to be addressed and given care. How many lives did Angel Dust ruin as a mobster? What had Sir Pentious even done prior to his stay in the hotel that landed him in Hell in the first place?

So much potential in all these characters. I really hope the writers really flesh them out. Sorry for going on too long at the end there, your comments just got me thinking.

Your idea of all soul contracts being voided is very interesting and something I've also played around with/considered. It's a major systemic issue that makes life in Hell extremely difficult for those without power (which is most). If Charlie truly wanted to improve life for all sinners, including those who don't want to be redeemed, targeting that system of ownership would be key and I think it'd be a great progression for her character/mission. If Heaven won't play by their own rules, then give Hell the overhaul it needs that improves life for everyone and remove the possibility of soul ownership completely.

Exactly. It is a huge systemic issue and if the show been greenlighted multiple season ahead of time, I'm sure there be an a subplot about it. As it something Charlie see how the contracts affect her people greatly and it would be a project she take on to change it. It's a huge undertaking as is basically restructuring the government that been running on the principle for multiple thousands of years. It's just how things are and she wants to change that.

The contracts originally was about a weaker demon seeking out the protection of a stronger demon to keep them safe from the rest of Hell in exchange of servitude. After several thousand years it evolves and got a bit more corrupted but the bases of it still exist. But the protection became more the overlord defending their territory/property.

Obviously the overlords are the ones that will suffer for it, despite it making things harder to the owned souls to exist in Hell and possibly unfair how they obtain it, (But also keep in mind, the deal was consented by both parties, both agreed.) it is unfair to the overlords when it just the the way things are and no warning of a sudden structural change. They are being punished/losing for playing the long game well while playing by the rules of Hell at the time. They were winning at a game and then the host decided it time to change the rules.

The overlords will:

1) lose their compensation after they held up their end of the deal.

2) lose a large if not all chuck of their power and status.

3) most importantly they will become targets after they were forced to give up their power and their numbers that would have defended them. Lets face it, once contracts get voided and overlords losing their power and status, a bulk of sinner will want to retaliate. Attack the overlord that held them or attack another overlord that they felt wrong them and now have the opportunity to do so when they are not overpowered.

This doesn't only effect the big honcho overlords we seen, there be smaller ones...mobs and gangs and what not. But considering the majority of characters we meet are overlords it would be interesting to see how they deal with this as an audience. Probably an overlord meeting about it if they got intel what was being plan and trying to derail it from happening, or a civil war among the overlords on the approach how to deal with it.

If there is a civil war about it, the overlords who still be upset but willing to work with Charlie/Lucifer would be Carmilla, Zestial, Rosie. They just generally to care about Hell and probably treat their souls fairly well. Rosie probably be least affected by it all. She owns souls, but I think her souls will still follow and look upon as a leader even after they been freed, and cannibal town will more or less run the same as it was before. Carmilla and Zestial would probably have a similar situation.

Unname overlord may be included in this.

The Vees will obvious be against it, and Zeezi might be on the undecided side but more on keeping things the way things are. She doesn't seem like she be an overlord to give up her wants and needs in favor for a better society if it can be avoided it.

Alastor will play double agent im sure. He always have like 3 hidden agendas he working at the same time that are his own her other peoples he force to follow. He be annoyed he lose his souls but then again, he would have his own freedom again.

The best possible solution I can think to fixing the infractractor to what Charlie wants, is to wean out the contracts. Creating a clean slate immediately would be problematic. Have the contracts expired in a decade. AND/OR if new contracts can still be made, have there be term limits. A soul can only be bind to a contract for X amount of years then it can be renegotiated or let it null and void. It be a hassle for the overlords for sure as the constantly, and make extra effort on treating souls better for the soul to want to remain under contract/protected while the other try to earn that spot. Possibly a guideline has to be drawn up to have a basic math for length of servitude. If the overlord provide x to the demon, the demon would serve x amount of years.

One thing I wonder is do overlords provide housing and such as part of their protection? Most sinners don't really seem to have jobs to afford housing and food. Most of the sinners we see are working in the guidelines of their contract. So how are they getting money for things? Is being provided with the necessities part of the protection?

But we have to keep in mind, we see how much the people regret their decision on selling their souls. It seem, like most if not all the people who sold their soul regret it. Its nearly common knowledge that its a bad deal to do it...yet...people still do it. They choose to go along and do it regardless thinking they were the special exception. So yes, they are a victim...but at the same time...are they?

I don't think the regret would not be an all time if its limited to a certain amount of years. That if it something they did regret, at least it there's a light at the end of the tunnel and not just a bleak all of eternity experience. Terms limits would at least have both parties put effort into the relationship if they are satisfied with the deal. Both parties have to put effort to want the other to stay in.

Not saying this can be the endgame solution but it can be a start down that path.

I do want to say, with regards to Valentino's behavior, I personally see him showing restraint in some circumstances. Yes, he SAID he wanted to go and shoot up the hotel but after his initial tantrum with the model, he just sat in his room patiently waiting for Vox. I think there is potential to reason with him, but it'd have to be through someone he trusted (Vox and/or maybe Velvette) AND he'd have to be calmed down first to help him move past the pull to impulsivity. He was also able to rein it in pretty well with Charlie even when she was bafooning it up in his studio, on his turf...

You have a point there. Valentino is a violently impulsive but your right, there was some points he did not act out immediately the way he wanted. He had his hissy fit and tore up a model before he sulked waiting for Vox advice. But I did forgot about Val calming down slightly and waiting for Vox. I also forgot about episode 4 completely. Honestly, it makes his character better that he able to reign in some of that impulsive violent nature. It would make the lost of Angel dust contract better. Im sure Val would trash the room the moment he lost is but after thrashing about to calm down he just be seething without acting out on it. Which...I sort of want to see now. I'm sure there still need to put precautions about Val retaliating. Val would want revenge even if he lost the contract fairly. Val would want to send a message hes not someone to fuck with but perhaps he won't actually act upon it like he would want to. At least wouldn't be a blind tantrum rampaging retaliation if he did act out a little.

I just think it would be fascinating to explore the Vees as potential forces/influences of change and how Charlie could incorporate them into her plan. You'd likely have to get them battered down enough to even be willing to negotiate, but end of the day they are business people and I think they can be reasoned with.

True, very true. Vox and Velvette are fairly level headed people. Well, except about Vox isn't when it comes to Alastor.

Which makes me wonder...

If Vox losing his shit about Alastor

Val losing it about Angel

Who makes Velvette lose her shit about? Can't wait for that character to be introduced.

Even just within exploration of the adult content industry... turnover is extremely high. Maybe Vox/Velvette could be shown the numbers dipping on Angel Dust's popularity and it would then be their job to convince Valentino to drop him. For them, it's money but maybe for Valentino it's power and then that can be explored in their respective character arcs (ie. WHY does Valentino want that power/what is he gaining from it)? There are so many interesting ways you can play with these themes/characters that isn't a boring "Valentino gets stabbed to death" plot point.

That would be actually pretty interesting to see. Angel losing popularity. Probably caused by his stay at the hotel. Having the other Vees try to talk Val on not using Angel so much with them going by the numbers and trending.

Actually, Angel being in the hotel might making him almost an embarrassing cringe meme at some point and Velvette and Vox trying to talk Val not using Angel so tarnish their brand. Because they want to be trending in a good way. I don't think Val wouldn't give up the contract because I think Val really likes having Angel around for himself even if Angel not a big income anymore. Maybe Angel becoming a joke and not a money maker Val would hesitantly accept an offer for Angel soul if the payout was big enough.

Even if it not dramatic, I kind of want this play out now. It like the safest and agreeable way to end the terms without much fear of retaliation.

I think it be really sweet way to play out. The hotel residence, and Cherri if she hasn't joined, chip in with everything they have to buy Angel freedom. Lucifer, Charlie and Alastor able to contribute more and possible offer something with more weight like a restricted favor at a given time. Angel would be so grateful and feel so love that everyone did it, that if they felt like a family to him before it only furthered it. It also open up to some Angel angst if favors were offered and the Val request wasn't agreeable to the one giving the favor but has to serve out anyways. Angel would feel so much guilt over it.

So, I really hope the show chooses the more complex exploration of these characters (and gives consideration to their respective backgrounds that may be influencing their decision-making) rather than reducing them to boring cartoon villains

I am a huuuuuge sucker for backstory and character growth. I love character growth. Even if they don't grow, I like how we eventually learn of their back stories to understand why they are the way they are. Make you sympathise with them even if you don't agree with their methods.

I hate black and white/ right and wrong anything..I love how everything grey and having that explored. I mean, the vast majority of people are not evil or good for the sheer sake of it. It usually stems from something that propels people in that direction.

My favorite trope is a villian is sort of in the right in their own way but they went about it wrong. Basically the ends justify the means.

(I also hope to GOD they don't betray each other, I love that they have their own little family among the three of them).

That....never crossed my mind. I would feel so betrayed myself if that would happen. I love their little family. But if one would betray, its Velvette. But it better not happen. They need to stick together! Even if I suspect Velvette be the one out of the three to betray, I doubt she will. Phone Case as evidence. Vox and Val phone case is their own personal brand symbols while Valvette is about all three of them. She probably the biggest heart of all of them and makes them stick together.

Let us see Charlie trying to win them over to her cause. Let us see Charlie challenged with the idea that some people like the life they've made in Hell/don't want Heaven as endgame BUT that doesn't mean they can't improve their practices or help make life in Hell better for all. There's a lot of potential. I think it also really reinforces the main theme that everyone is capable of change.

I been thinking about this exact thing SO MUCH lately. I wanted to make a post about it but didn't end up doing it.

Like, Alastor is a prime example of this. He doesn't want redemption. Giving the life he had, he probably never felt so freeing until he landed in Hell. In life people scampered away or looked away in disgust and hatred because of his heritage, he was taken advantage because of heritage and social standing. He had to hide his identity behind radio to be able to converse freely without judgement and treated equal. The activities he enjoy he had to keep secret. But in Hell? people scamper away out of fear of his power, he can indulge in all his deplorable actives he enjoy. He can force people to listen to him. Hell was freeing for him. It's everything he needs and wants aside not being with his mother. He doesn't want redemption. He doesn't want to give up his fun and entertainment. He doesn't want to give up his power and status. It's Hell, hes going to have his bad days especially with his shackles but overall how he going to enjoy heaven for eternity if he bloodthirsty and enjoys annoying people without receive retaliation?

Even if he makes it to heaven...it be similar to his life on Earth. His power would be equal or lower of the residence of Heaven. They will learn how heinous he once was. They will be disgusted by him and move to the other side of the street to avoid him. He be happy to see his mother...but can he really bring himself to her after...everything? Her having the knowledge of everything because word would get around. She may work past it, but Alastor would feel that her eyes won't look at him the same way as it once before. It pains him greatly. It pains his mother having that knowledge. Heaven not suppose to hurt. He can't have the both of them suffer like that. It's best that she remains in the dark of his deeds because whatever worst case scenario she can dream up about her sweet little boy it wrist slap compared what he actually committed.

He doesn't want redemption...

...but it doesn't mean he can be rehabilitated which I think has already starting to happen. He curb his activities for the image of for the hotel. He hides his particular diet from their eyes to not disgust them. He still gets to indulge and commit murders but now its more reserved for the defence of the hotel and its residents. He always had his own moral code when it came to his murders. But it seem like he hasn't "hunted" since he been at the hotel because he didn't want it getting back to Charlie and disappoint her or ruin the hotel image IMO. So, I think we already seeing Alastor being slowly rehabilitated without him or anyone realizing it. The longer he there the more he going to feel fond with the other residence and continue to change some of his habits for their benefit.

This is all personal preference/morality, but for me I truly believe that everyone has the capacity to grow. Yes this includes Valentino. If there is "no hope" for some people and no one bothers to reach out because they're deemed irredeemable, then what incentive is there for them to ever get better? Why shouldn't they just become a worse and worse version of themself then, potentially victimizing and harming more people along the way? Approaching Charlie's school of thought where everyone can be redeemed with a plan that focuses on rehabilitating individuals (and breaking down what that means/how that varies person-to-person) is a natural next step. Understanding why someone like Valentino is the way he is, how the system of Hell has contributed to the problem on a societal level, and what tools he should be given to cope/make better decisions in the future WHILE also protecting his victims from additional harm are all critical steps that I think Charlie (and the show) need to start taking more seriously... if their plan is to really explore this idea of redemption,

I agree. For Charlie to really move forward with her redemption she needs to start trying to get to the root of the problems. Trust falls isn't going to be the answer. I think she been hesitate because she doesn't want to push boundaries which is a good thing and to extent is working. They feel safe and relatively there's trust and strong bonds....but at the same time...its not solving much either. But progress is progress I suppose no matter what speed.

What had Sir Pentious even done prior to his stay in the hotel that landed him in Hell in the first place?\

Seriously, What did he do?! He such a cinnamon roll.

So much potential in all these characters. I really hope the writers really flesh them out.

There is a lot of potential and I think that what make this show fun! We only know so much about them so it really fun trying to fill in the blanks and figure out their motives. I don't think any of them are meant to be 2 dimensional or plot devices but have several layers. That even the seemingly simplistic character will have complexity. I just hope the show keeps getting renewed so we can be offered everything the creator wanted to give.

Sorry for going on too long at the end there, your comments just got me thinking.

It's okay. It's a delight to know that my rambling can do that. That they might inspire or help someone get creative about the fandom. I only made this blog to just get ideas out of my head of what I'm hyper fixated on which is currently, Hazbin. I didn't really expected anyone would actually read it much less, like or interact with it. I just find it surprising when it happens but brings me joy that my words and thoughts seem to have some meaning to someone.

[autisticlalna]

An Analysis of Loft Theory, or "Leo Briefly Loses His Mind About 'Dark Oak Death Laser' Before Remembering He's Writing An Analysis"

Skyblock Kingdoms. bottom text. it's a series where like a third of the players have some sort of storyline going that's revolving around the void below. as things progress, it's getting more clear that the void is alive and can grant some sort of power to those that feed it (if Trog's void magic is any indication), and a major conflict is between those that appease the void and those that stand against it.

obviously this is going to spark theories. i've been tossing things around with solar and the dnerds, and some of it has been shared on here, but we're far from the only ones taking a guess at where the story might go. someone in Avid's youtube comments has written several paragraphs of ideas, and it's something i keep coming back to for various reasons.

let's talk about Loft Theory.

The Theory:

Avid's Episode 5:

The Void vs Avid’s Patron. Hmmm… I think I know who that is, and why they want him to run OSSHA. I think it’s another entity, like the void, which I’m filling The Loft. Essentially, the sky vs the Void. I think it’s like a Yin-Yang type balance, and they both want control of the new realm. The Terra, or ground in between them. It’s a battle for No-Man’s land, and they’ll each choose Avatars among the poor mortals caught in their struggle. Being so close to these entities is also why they can bend the rules of reality, such as respawning. Little do either the Void or the Loft know, there’s a third entity. The Terra itself. Every single block is imbued with the power of the third entity, the Terra. And it’s none-too happy with these entities fighting over it. So it is choosing its own Avatars. Viking and Fix for some. They’re even building a massive wall that spans Loft and Void. It’s still unknown if they have servants who don’t know they’re being influenced by these entities. Ruby or Viking could be some of those, where they don’t even know they are working with these entities, but that remains to be seen.

Avid's Episode 6:

Alright, new prediction. Seeing its weak state through Avid’s eyes, the Loft is going to try to rally its servants, and kill the Void, likely using the satellite. Mangrove will try to fight back, and I think Avid will be caught in the middle, as he now has sympathy for the void. Then, it splits two way. Theory 1) They fail, but the server is divided. The Void is angry, starts to lash out, and more seemingly random void deaths start to happen. Meanwhile, The Terra continues its rise to power, as the more blocks that exist, the stronger it gets. And with Moss farms and tree farms, it starts to grow. Theory 2: They kill the void. Right as Avid seems able to Deescalate the situation, stressing the need for balance, the Terra reveals itself. Viking and Fix suddenly jump in, blasting a beam downwards from their kingdom, maybe even blowing up OSSHA, as the Terra Laughs. The void, (bottom half of the sky.) turns blood red, and Mangrove is broken. Then, Avid slowly starts losing it. The Loft rejects him, and his best friends helped kill the Void, who he now believes was innocent. The episode ends with a really touching scene between Doovid and Avid.

Avid's Episode 7:

New lore! 5:04 shows a white and black skyline, with the camera (presumably Avid) starting mostly white (sky), and transitioning down to black (void). This seems to suggest Avid is turning away from the Loft, towards the Void. Of course, the Terra is represented by the trees. Doovid transforming into a monkey person is interesting, as it seems to indicate the influence of the Terra. But the Loft also used the Phantoms to try to strike down Doovid and wipe his elytra, perhaps realizing with his fascination with structures like the Trail ruins, as well as his dominance over the sky with his flying machines, that he’s influencing Avid away from the Lofts control. Now, with Avid aligning with Mangrove, the void’s servants, as well as gaining power to fly, not given by the Loft, it’s on its back foot. Interesting.

that's a lot of words! let's break it down into the bare essentials.

The Summary:

the entity behind OSSHA that Avid is working for is the sky, aka the Loft

the Loft and the Void are supposed to be balanced, but are fighting for control

they are choosing specific players as avatars, which lets them respawn

there's also a third entity, the Terra, which is the actual islands themselves

the Terra is in the middle of the power struggle and is choosing avatars as well (Viking and Fix)

Loft, Void, and Terra might have players working for them unknowingly (Ruby and Viking)

the Loft is going to kill the Void with the OSSHA research satellite

either it fails and the Void is going to retaliate by killing more players, or...

...the Terra interrupts Avid's peace talk between Loft and Void to blow up OSSHA and kill the Void with a death laser

the Loft rejects Avid for trying to bring balance and the Void is dead, so Avid starts going insane

monkeyification is caused by the Terra

the Loft is sabotaging Doovid to stop him from bringing Avid closer to the Terra (?)

these were posted on Avid's videos, and i'm not sure who else they watch besides Avid, so i can't expect them to know everything that everyone is doing on SBK-- there's 20 people now and over 50 episodes between them, it's a lot to catch up on. however, as the person that is watching every POV and episode for some godforsaken reason, i know Way Too Much and can try to address this theory point-by-point to figure out what's cool or plausible, what's unlikely, and what's just... bizarre, to me.

(there will likely be gaps in my own analysis, though. again, over 50 episodes. im planning to jot down notes on every story-related thing that happens, but that project hasnt been started yet so this is going off of memory. ill keep "information from after the theories were posted" to a minimum, though, because obviously that info wasnt even there at the time.)

Entry 1:

the concept of the Loft itself is interesting. Avid is clearly working for someone-- he's told Marmalade as much, and he's also described his role in OSSHA as an enforcer, rather than the head of it.

there's also a bit more about Avid and his role as a pawn to forces greater than him, but i'll tackle that in another section because it's more relevant there. but, for now, we can say with confidence that Avid has a history with being used to carry out a deity's will.

however, it's that history that makes me unsure about the Loft being Avid's patron. again, i'll go into it a bit more later, but it's likely that Avid is working for somebody we have seen, just... not yet in SBK.

the Terra is.. a bit shakier. again, cool in concept, but the likeliness of being an actual element feels low. the closest we might get so far is the Birch Kingdom being Cursed Lands and a cause of that being "the Terra just really hates these guys", but Fool also made a joke about his pre-established god Atium not liking birch, so.

however, the entire rest of the theory is built on these foundations, so let's follow the premise of there being two other entities and go from there. why are Viking and Fix Terra? sure, they have the Ant Farm, but you could argue that as being more of a bridge between Void and Loft considering it goes from buildheight to the bottom of the world. Entry 2 mentions that the Terra's power comes from the blocks placed, and Fix definitely places a lot of blocks (as well as Dark Oak having the cobble/basalt/deepslate mega-generator), but you could argue that Spruce would be a better fit because they're the kingdom able to mass-produce dirt, and were also the original source of moss. i love Dark Oak, but this feels out of place.

namechecking Ruby and Viking as potential unknowing servants is fun, though. again, i don't know what POVs besides Avid they watch, but Ruby and the status of the timeline are under observation by something (R.C.) and are, as far as we know, oblivious. this also normally applies to Viking and his mysterious observer V.P., but we haven't actually had any V.P. sightings in SBK and instead have been dealing with someone else.

(there's also a lot more going on with Ruby and Viking below the surface, but most of it is from series outside of SBK and has been somewhat acknowledged, but not enough for me to confidently go on a tangent. TL;DR they're the incarnations of time and space respectively and some versions of them know about it and have power over their domains. although if Viking is space incarnate, then maybe that would be a point to him being a Terra avatar?)

Entry 2:

i'm going to be very blunt, this comment is the one i take the most issue with. this entry is the reason im making this post. this entry is the reason why Loft Theory haunts me. but im going to skip over the "did you just write a whole-ass alternate universe fanfic in avid's comments and package it as a theory????" thing and focus on actually addressing the theory.

killing the Void with the satellite is... um, ridiculous. sorry. Avid has been very clear that it's a research satellite meant to listen to the Void, which is what happens in that episode. and, speaking of that episode, does Avid have sympathy for the Void? he hears a voice pleading for help, but he's more shocked than anything else after being skeptical of Marmalade hearing the Void. (we do find out later that the satellite is capable of doing more than just listen, but that was after this episode and definitely not something Avid was aware it could do.)

what does sound likely is the idea of more random void deaths as the Void gets more uppity. even if it's not in response to an OSSHA-powered murder attempt, the fact that OSSHA are continuing to stand in the way of feeding the void means that the Void is going to have to get what it needs some other way. we've seen this already with the Void destroying the bridge to Mangrove. plus, as mentioned, the server is now at a state where island expansions are happening fast (just look at Elffe!), so the Terra gaining a foothold would make sense to start around here. out of the two forks in this entry, this is the one that makes the most sense of me.

okay. we now need to talk about the Dark Oak Death Laser.

Right as Avid seems able to Deescalate the situation, stressing the need for balance, the Terra reveals itself. Viking and Fix suddenly jump in, blasting a beam downwards from their kingdom, maybe even blowing up OSSHA, as the Terra Laughs.

where do i start

okay. as a reminder, this is a theory. it's presented in story format at this point, but this is a theory of what will happen next. they call it a theory. so i am going to do my best to address this as a theory and not completely lose my mind. mission failed, mind lost

so the idea here is that Avid is going to change from being OSSHA's enforcer to instead mediating between OSSHA/the Loft and the Void. (why? i dunno.) he's gonna rally the Loft and Void avatars (so, Mangrove and... uh. whoever else would side with the Loft besides Avid, i guess. not specified. Cherry, maybe, because OSSHA?) and get them to realize that they need to restore balance (...isn't that what Mangrove is trying to do with the Void in the first place?)

...and then Viking and Fix are going to blow up OSSHA with a laser beam and kill the Void in the name of the Terra.

how

why

What?

are they going to... build a laser beam? for the purpose of Void annihilation?

why is it a death laser

have they just been kicking it watching everybody slapfight before going "alright, hit the big red button"

why Fix? i can kinda see Viking deciding to do something this level of reckless, but Fix is a chill dude (ignoring the part where Fix isn't actually involved in any storylines so far besides having a Birch Box subscription)

how do you kill the Void? the avatars, maybe (RIP Mangrove), but the Void is literally the bottom half of the world. it's the nothingness below the islands. it's the infinite abyss. how is a laserbeam going to kill the void

why is it a death laser

it's Skyblock, i'm pretty sure somebody would notice Viking and Fix building a death laser pointed at the void in their kingdom

is this supposed to be a season finale kinda thing? the whole comment is phrased like it's supposed to be Next Time On Skyblock Kingdoms. im so confused

...how would it even hit OSSHA? isn't OSSHA HQ between Jungle and Cherry? are they gonna do a sick laser trickshot? i'd love to see that, actually, that would own.

please understand. every time i talk about Loft Theory with solar it devolves into me going "dark oak death laser?????" over and over. this freaking thing is haunting me. i cannot take loft theory seriously because of dark oak kingdom killing the void by firing a beam from their kingdom and blowing up OSSHA. although im sure doak wouldnt be too opposed to blowing up OSSHA, actually. lmao

OKAY. MOVING ON. Mangrove is broken. kinda weird how Mangrove, despite being namedropped frequently, doesn't do anything in this theory. youd think Marmalade at minimum would have things to say about Avid starting to be swayed over to the Void, or the potential of the research station as an anti-void weapon, or the dark oak death laser. void turns blood-red, cool visual (especially if this happens at nightfall).

if solar was writing this post with me (they arent), they would probably point out around now that saying Avid slowly starts losing it implies he hasn't already been losing it this entire time. which is very funny but im going to meet this where it is and go, yeah, Avid accidentally having a hand in the murdering of an entity (especially after his past-- we're nearly there) would probably mess him up real bad. maybe even cause him to revert back to the "Low sanity will set us free." state he was in pre-SBK.

sure, okay, the entity that does not yet canonically exist is actually a petty jerk that dumps Avid at the side of the road. (okay, that's a bit harsh, but another thing that rubs me the wrong way is that how further installments of the Loft Theory treat it like the Loft already 100% exists to the point of having a personality that can develop and have surprise twists. we're speculating that the Void has a personality and goals because we have actually seen evidence to that in the series. the Loft, at this point in time, is purely theoretical.)

wait what is Doovid going to be doing through all this. he has a touching scene with Avid, i guess, at the end of the episode (because this theory is framed like an actual episode plot going beat-by-beat this bothers me SO BAD.)

okay. uh. obviously that's been mostly-debunked by the episode right after, even without me poking at it. so let's put the Dark Oak Death Laser behind us and pretend my sanity levels are a little bit better than sbk!Avid's.

Entry 3:

okay, now we talk about who i think Avid's patron is.

a white and black skyline, with the camera (presumably Avid) starting mostly white (sky), and transitioning down to black (void). This seems to suggest Avid is turning away from the Loft, towards the Void. Of course, the Terra is represented by the trees.

what they are describing here is a brief flicker of another place in Avid's episode. Ruby tells Avid that he's an open book and everyone knows everything about him, and then there's a jarring noise and we see this.

this is not Skyblock Kingdoms. this is from 100 Days in a Minecraft Nightmare.

to recap: that's a three-part series where Avid plays with a bunch of horror datapacks and has just, like, the absolutely worst time. "the absolutely worst time" includes him spiraling into selling his soul to the Dark Lord and doing sacrifices in his name and spending a lot of time at low sanity. this escalates until he's stuck in Incendium, with a new voice telling him to find a sanctum if he wants to survive. once he's reached that goal, the new entity is revealed as the Nameless King of Incendium and task Avid with killing the Dark Lord. however, following that order has the regretful consequence of Avid falling into Limbo.

that... looks familiar, doesn't it?

Avid himself has confirmed in both his own discord and the SBK Community discord that these are the same character, but it wasn't until now that we got that connection in an episode. even then, you'd have to have seen Nightmare to recognize it, which is probably where that idea of it being another Void/Loft/Terra reference came from.

the theory that i myself am gravitating towards (until we get more information) is that Avid's patron is still the Nameless King. they seem to have the same relationship, and it's possible that the NK fished Avid back up out of Limbo and into the kingdoms in return for him continuing to do his bidding. we dont know! but this is the one part of Loft Theory i can say with 100% confidence is not true.

anyway. the Terra being responsible for Doovid's monkeyification is... also somewhat strange, because obviously that happened to Avid after he fell into the Void. we still dont know why that happened, but Avid has hinted that it's another "you don't really leave superhell" moment. also at this point i think the universe just hates Doovid in particular

plus, i'm not sure you could describe Avid as "aligned with the Void's servants" just yet. he's starting to come around on Mangrove, sure, but it sounds like it's an attempt in spite of their Void worship. especially because it wasn't the Void calling for help, it was Leon.

...speaking of Leon, kinda weird that this doesn't even acknowledge End Kingdom at all? it was Leon's voice that Avid picked up with the research station, the fact that there's been another kingdom out there this entire time is a whole thing, you'd think that would come into play. instead they're not referenced whatsoever. i dunno, it just bugs me.

uh. anyway. so that's what i think of Loft Theory! why did i do this

[virgobingo]

Hi! I have a question, I hope I can explain myself: how would you describe Gojo on a moral level? I see the majority of the fandom (jjk in general, not just the shipping ones) considers him a good person, but I'd argue he's more on the grey side...and not a light grey. See, I can't really wrap my head around the way he blatantly ignores the fact the Suguru was completely fucked up, to the point that in chap 236 he wishes Suguru was with him before fighting Sukuna and imagining him (adult Suguro, the fucked up one) together with the same students he tried to kill in jjk0. How on earth? If I'm not mistaken Gojo never really says "yeah, Suguru was my friend but he used to be completely different, this is not the Suguru I used to be friends with". He never says Suguru was wrong. He just misses him, even though he was surrounded by people who liked him. At least Shoko clearly doesn't feel any affection towards Suguru. And let's not talk about the way he doesn't really seem concerned about the future of his students in chap 236. What do you think? Just to clarify: I do like Gojo. But I don't share the sentiment of the rest of the fandom: he's not a good person. I guess Nanami was right

i sort of explained how i think gojo sees the matter of suguru before but it's buried in my blog since i don't tag properly so to any one else reading this i might be repeating myself.

to gojo the "suguru he knew in hs" and the "suguru he killed" are one and the same. i don't believe gojo is the type to draw hard lines like the average person since he is "enlightened"— as his name (satoru) suggests. "past" suguru is at his core the same as "future" suguru. to him the person suguru becomes doesn't exist in a vacuum (his path is ultimately a product of their society). in other words, to gojo the distinction lies not in what suguru did, but who suguru is (gojo doesn't conflate actions with the "self"). i think this is how gege, who seems to be an overthinker, looks at the whole thing anyways. the matter doesn't boil down to "good" or "bad".

and the thing is gojo loves suguru at his core (or i choose to interpret it that way anyways). gege frames him as gojo's "one and only friend" for a reason. i think he's the only person who ever really made gojo feel that he was "just like everyone else."

being "liked" by others (and even reciprocating those feelings) doesn't help fill the gap gojo felt from losing suguru. gojo's simply been growing around the loss. i think this diagram explains gojo's sentiments best:

i also don't think that gojo's unconcerned for his students so much as choosing to be an optimist (once more, which aligns with his progressive ideals too),

honestly, there's not much left for gojo to do beyond the grave either.+he really went all out. he didn't exactly roll over and die haha there was a possibility his own hollow purple might kill him but that was a sacrifice he was willing to take to beat sukuna, for his students sake... but also because he was feeling experimental

in any case, if you look at his desires, sukuna wasn't even his priority,

in conclusion: i don't think gojo's a bad person or that nanami even implies that in ch 236 haha i think he's shown to be human (he loves to fight despite everything and he fails to connect with others).

sukuna even calls gojo greedy two chapters later. that's a very human trait. the thing is sukuna is technically right too because despite all gojo's power, wealth, success, and the people who like him— there's only one thing he wanted (geto by his side),

tldr: it's complicated. gojo's doing his best lol hope that makes sense?

[ayeforscotland]

Could you please do a quick sum-up of what's going on with Sturgeon stepping down and where the party and Scotland are/might be heading? I avoid news outlets for the sake of my mental health, but now I'm wondering how worried I need to be given that the woman I've seen being discussed seems very right-wing. Do you think we'll end up with a Tory in yellow? I'm really frightened of that/the way the world in general is going, so a rational answer from yourself would be grand.

Sure - so after 8 years of governance, Nicola Sturgeon has resigned as First Minister. I’m not going to speculate too much on the reason because it’s not super clear.

Now, personally, I think Nicola Sturgeon has messed up a bit here, as it looks like there was little no proper planning for a successor. Nobody has really been groomed for a leadership role.

So there was a lot of hesitancy from SNP MSPs to put their names forward. We’ve ended up with Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes, and Ash Regan.

This is where the SNP went wrong in my mind, there’s lots of good talent on the progressive side but instead of putting themselves forward, they rallied around Humza. This isn’t because I think Humza is particularly bad, but having more progressives would have helped dilute the voices of the other two.

Kate Forbes is appealing more broadly to the right of the party. Typical lines like ‘being a safe pair of hands’ with finances - the issue is that it lends itself to a lot of Tory ‘we must tighten the belt’ type policies.

She’s also anti-LGBT, anti-abortion and, baffling in 2023, anti-sex before marriage. I believe over half of Scottish kids are born out of wedlock so I don’t quite know who she’s appealing to. That being said she’s won over the ‘She just speaks her mind’ crowd which has been a right-wing excuse for decades if not centuries.

Ash Regan looks to be appealing to the hardcore independence above all gang - she knew she wouldn’t get that much support from the party so immediately extended a hand to Alba & fringe pro-independence groups. Really trying to play into being a ‘unity for independence’ candidate. I don’t think she’ll have too much support from within the party, and she’s using this platform to boost her own reputation.

Humza Yousaf is being portrayed by the Forbes and Regan as the ‘continuity candidate’ as if winning every election in the past 8 years has been a bad thing. He’s pro-equality, unequivocal in his support for the recently passed GRA reform, and plans to continue the roll out of progressive policies we’ve become quite used to. He wants to extend child care etc.

The vast majority of SNP members I know are voting for Humza, there’s a few I know who are going Forbes. I’ve not yet met anyone who’s voting for Regan.

The vote is a transferable one, so SNP members will rank candidates in order of preference. I’ve seen a lot of Humza supporters just outright not transferring their vote - this is why the other two candidates are bending over backwards to discredit the leadership election. They’re already complaining about ‘voter regret’ etc.

Either way, the SNP could split after this - if Humza wins, Forbes has absolutely nuked her career and won’t be offered a cabinet position. Regan might spit the dummy and join Alba, becoming Alex Salmond’s successor.

[whoiwanttoday]

I've been through a lot of breakups in my life. This isn't shocking given I am innately unloveable and quite frankly a lot to deal with. Probably the closest I ever got to warm feelings post break up was, "I love you but I am exhausted". Totally fair, I can barely handle me most days and I don't have a choice in the matter, so I get how it's too much for someone else. I remember a fight with that ex and at some point me uttering the phrase, "Oh, like it's my fault your friends suck". Guys, I am here to tell you that did not de-escalate the situation like you might expect. No one likes it when you're absolutely right in an argument. Anyway, I think about these things sometimes because I think we all often try to look for meaning in things that don't necessarily inherently have it. That's because we kind of need major events to be about us because the other option is soul crushing. Like, if my heart is ripped out and torn in two I sure would like to think it's about me rather than not actually about me at all and instead I am just an incidental casualty because not only is life cruel and random I am not that important. I mean, look, Hamlet was miserable but at least they named the play after him, we'd all rather be the star than the attending lord who exists to swell the progress of a scene or two. Those guys got their heads cut off and didn't get their own play for centuries.

My therapist says dwelling on this stuff isn't great for me but I always feel like she's being kind of smug, like she's so fucking smart. You're not the only analyst in the room, lady, I went to college too but I don't sit in an office analyzing poetry at people to show off that fact, even though I once wrote about the Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and my teacher not only told me how good it was but that I had a real 'knack' for analyzing poetry and she would really like to help me explore that more if I wanted. And while I am at it an insecure person would read the knack in quotes and think the whole thing was sarcastic but I know it was because she didn't believe in knacks but through hard work and didn't want to diminish that. Tricks on her, I wrote that paper in one sitting the night before because I do have a knack for using a lot of words to get to something. It really can pull the wool over someone's eyes for a few semesters but at the end of the day eventually runs thin and people tire of your charm, thus the many break ups. Which brings us full circle and that's how you do this nonsense, you fill up a lot of space sort of talking about nothing but if you can turn a phrase with a little skill people will be distracted long enough and I am bringing that up today because I don't actually have anything new to say about Sydney Sweeney but that's the whole point, do I ever really? No, not really but this is how you drag all that out and fill a page and she has me thinking about all this because I am thinking about someone who doesn't like her very much but used to like me and now probably has forgotten I existed. Which is vague but that's how it works sometimes, but I promise you that's a second full circle. They're not concentric, the both intersect at the start. Today I want to fuck Sydney Sweeney.

[adorkablenerd]

A Star's Laughter

AAAAAH I HAVE BEEN SO OBSSESED WITH THIS MAN AND I NEEDED TO WRITE SMTH FOR HIM!! I really hope I did him justice and that y'all enjoy this fic :) This is just some Astarion fluff cus I want him to be happy so bad

This is a tickle fic! Also there shouldn't be any major spoilers here, just some tiny things that hint as stuff that happens in the 1st act, but nothing that out right spoilers stuff!

Ship: Astarion x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Words: 2,373

Some may call it stupid to annoy a vampire, but you had done plenty of other things people would call stupid and survived, so surely this would be fine.  You couldn’t help it when said vampire was so cocky and fun to mess with.  

“Love?”  Astarion turned his gaze from the book he was reading to look at you the best he could with your head resting on his shoulder.  

“Yes, my star?”  You could see a hint of his real smile come out at the pet name, but he quickly hid it, opting instead for an obviously fake glare.  

“Normally I would love your never ending attention, however I would really like to read in peace.”  You both knew he was lying.  He had been reading the same book all morning just to get a rise out of you, claiming to be busy every time you tried to drag him out of your shared bed.  

“I think you’ve spent enough time with that book today, you’ve barely even made any progress with it!”  You moved your head off of him, giving him an offended look.  You weren’t wrong, despite it being in his hand for the past hour, he had only gotten a couple pages further from where he started.  

“Well, perhaps I’d have gotten more read if someone wasn’t so incessant on bothering me.”  He didn’t even move his head to look at you this time, but you could tell he was smiling.  It was a game to see who was more stubborn, and you were determined to win.

“Are you sure you’d like to continue reading rather than paying attention to me?”  You used your sweetest voice and best puppy dog eyes, but he still wouldn’t look.

“I’m sure darling, this part is quite good, I think I'll be reading all day with how captivating the story is.”  Well, if that’s how he wanted it, you didn’t mind being more convincing.  From your spot behind him, you brought both of your hands to his sides, beginning to lightly trace around the area over the white night shirt he was still wearing.  You felt his body jolt at the initial touch, but he held back his laughter.

“If it’s so interesting I would love to know more.  Why don’t you tell me a bit about it?”  You’re touch traveled higher, still just barely grazing his ribs, yet you could see how he struggled to stay still.

“I-I don’t think you’d care for this one, dear.”  One of his hands moved to cover his ever growing smile, while the other kept the book open.  

“I believe that should be for me to decide on my own.  If not a summary, perhaps you could read it aloud for a bit.  Surely that’s not too much to ask for?”  Your hands moved again, this time to his back, nails lightly scratching up and down it.  He jumped slightly, and his body leaned forward, away from the touch for just a moment, but leaned back towards you when he felt the touch leave him.  You had always tried to be careful when it came to touching his back, never wanting to make him uncomfortable, but he never seemed to mind when it came to you.  You could tell he was close to breaking, his body trembling trying to hold everything in.  He couldn’t even respond, knowing that if he did he wouldn’t be able to contain the laughter that was threatening to spill out.  He instead turned the page of the book and tried to block out the sensations that were taking over his mind.

“Still not enough? Fine then, I suppose I’ll have to try something else.”  The feeling was quickly torn away from him as you brought your arms back towards you.  Despite initial relief he felt, it was quickly replaced with another feeling, one he could only describe as disappointment.  It confused him for a moment, did he truly like it?  Was it the gentle touch?  The feeling of wanting to laugh freely that came so rarely?  Or was it because it was you?  He didn’t have much time to contemplate these questions, as he was quickly brought out of his thoughts by your fingers finding their way under his arms.

“SHIHIT! Youhu cheheheater!”  Caught off guard, he dropped the book and broke into loud cackles.  His arms had gone down on instinct, trapping your hands where they were, making it even easier to target the area.  You still kept your touch lighter, but it was enough to keep him giggling as you swirled the tips of your pointer fingers in both hollows.

“Ah, are you done reading now?  How wonderful, I just knew you’d come around.”  You put your head on his shoulder again so you could see his expression better.  From the new angle, you could see his laugh lines and realized how his fangs were always more noticeable when he was laughing.  He had never looked more beautiful.  You smiled at the sight, then lightly blew a small puff of air into his ear.

“EEhehe, I aham nohot dohohone!  Nohow thahat I’ve lohohost my pahage, I mahay have to stahart from thehe beginihihing!”  He was instigating you even further, not wanting you to stop again, not for a bit at least.

“My apologies love, by all means continue reading your book.  It’s still in front of you, all you need to do is pick it up and open it.”  You stilled your fingers for a moment, giving him the chance to reach out for it, while still keeping your hands in the same spot.  He waited a moment, aware it was a trick, then quickly reached out anyways.  As soon as his arms raised to grab it, you softly pinched at his top ribs, making them slam back down again before he could get to the book.

“Thihis ihisn’t faihihir and yohou knohohow ihit!”  He complained through his giggles, body beginning to lean back into you as he lost the energy to keep himself upright.

“My beloved, we both know neither of us play fair.  Now, are you ready to give up on the book?”  You continued playing with his ribs as he went even more limp in your arms.  It didn’t take you very long to catch on to the fact that he didn’t mind this.  He wasn’t trying to get away or stop you in the slightest, and you could see the genuine happiness in his smile that he tried so often to hide.

“N-Neheheveher.”  He shook his head at you from its place on your chest.  You couldn’t but laugh a bit yourself at how cute he could be at times.  Hearing your laughter, a slight blush decorated his cheeks and the tips of his ears.  He moved to face the opposite side as you, trying to hide his embarrassment.  

“Well, that won’t do at all.”  You removed your hands from under his arms with ease and moved to the side, making him fall flat onto the bed.  By the time he had processed that the tickling had stopped again and that you had moved from behind him, you were already on top of him, sitting on his upper thighs.  You grinned down at him, hands curled into claws right above his tummy, ready to strike.  

“Mhm, I think this is the best angle by far~”  No matter which way he turned his head you’d be able to see his bright smile, something the vampire was less than thrilled by.  He seemed torn trying to decide what to do with his hands, stuck between wanting to cover his face or cover his waist, over which your hands hovered, but didn’t yet touch.  He settled on grabbing a pillow from behind him and holding it to his face, trying to hide his reactions from you.

“Still a good angle darling?”  Though the words were slightly muffled, you could make them out just fine.  Even when flustered he still managed to snark back at you.  

“I’m still enjoying the view, though I admit, I’m a bit disappointed I can't see your beautiful face.”  You placed your hands onto his sides and kept them frozen there.

“I-I’m sure, it’s truly a shame, isn’t it?  Perhaps if you had just let me read you could have just admired mEHEE-”  Whatever he was about to say next was cut off by you squeezing up and down his sides.  His arms shook, but held the pillow to his face, though it didn’t do much to quiet his fit of giggles.

“I suppose I’ll just have to admire your gorgeous laughter instead.  That is, unless you’d like to stop hiding from me and admit you love me more than that book.”  Though you were sure he was enjoying himself, you wanted to make sure you weren’t going too far by giving him an easy out.  One he chose not to take.  Hearing your words, he pressed the pillow even more into him, trying to dampen the noises coming from him and to make sure you couldn't see him.

“Nohohot hahapehenihing!”  You could still make out the words he was saying and couldn’t help but laugh again at his stubbornness.  You faked a gasp, though you weren’t sure if he even heard it over himself.  

“My love, you wound me so!  If that’s how you truly feel then so be it.  I’ll just have to prove that I’m far more worthy of your love.”  His laughter rose as you spoke, both at your overdramatics and from your fingers making their way under his shirt to light scratch around his tummy.

“Ihi hohope you knohow Ihihi’m gohoing toho gehehet you fohor thihis.”  It was a bit hard to feel threatened by someone who had their face shoved into a pillow giggling adorably.

“And how are you gonna do that with your hands so preoccupied?  Not to mention you’re much more sensitive than me dear, it might be a bit difficult to get your revenge while you're busy trying to defend yourself.”  You may have been lying a bit, but he didn’t need to know that.  You moved your hands again, this time going down to his hips and tracing around the tops of them.  You almost fell off of the other when his body quickly bucked up at the first touch to the new area, and you could've sworn you heard what sounded like a squeal come from him.  You quickly readjusted yourself and noticed that his arms had slightly come down, his grip on the pillow loosening as well. 

“Oh, what’s this?  Did I find a good spot?”  You picked right back up where you left off and went back to tracing all around his hips with your nails.  This time you had braced yourself in case he reacted so strongly again, but were unprepared for a pillow to hit you directly in the face.

“Oohops, my hand slipped.”  Now that the pillow was no longer shielding his face from your view you could see the pink that filled it, the color traveling up his ears as well.  You could barely pretend to be mad, too amused by the whole situation.  You picked up the pillow that hit you and tossed it off to the side so it wasn’t in the way.  You put your hands around his hips and smirked down at him.

“Oh you are so dead.”  Astarion didn’t even have the chance to respond before he broke into shrieks of laughter, his hands moving to grip your wrists, but not trying to push them away.  The way his laugh sounded when this new area was targeted was the best by far.  Though all his laughs were beautiful, this one was full of squeaks and even a few snorts, and it was heavenly.   It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he surrendered through his hysterics, face now a brighter red.  

“Ohokahay, okahahahay!  Ihi lohohove yohou mohohore thahan thehe bohohohook!”  You took this as your sign to stop, and so you moved your hands away, proudly smiling down at him.  

“See, that wasn’t so hard, right love?”  He tried to glare at you, but the smile stuck on his face took away any malice it could have held.  

“Of course you’d say it wasn’t hard, you weren’t the one being tortured.”  Despite his words and best efforts, you could still see the smile he was trying to hide with a pout.

“Ah yes, a truly horrible experience, I assume.  Though, not once did you actually tell me to stop, you know?”  He refused to meet your eyes, choosing to look anywhere else in the room.

‘Yes, well, the thought must have slipped my mind.”  His hands intertwined with yours, still seeking the warm comfort of them.

“Mhm, I’m sure it did.”  You leaned your head down towards him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.  

“One thing hasn’t slipped my mind though darling.”  He returned your gaze, giving you a peck on the lips.

“And what would that be?”  His head moved closer to your ear, whispering one quick word into it.  

“Revenge.”  Seizing the opportunity, he quickly flipped your positions, him on top of your waist, pinning your arms above your head.  The amount of energy he still had surprised you, and the quick movements caught you off guard.  

“You didn’t really think you’d be getting away with that, did you?”  He smirked down at you.  Your mind went back to the promise he made about revenge.  You knew that he would most likely stay true to his word, but you didn’t expect that it would be so soon.

“I don’t regret a thing.” You couldn’t help but laugh to yourself a bit as you spoke.  Though the redness that coated his face had mostly dissipated, you could still see a bit of the pink on the tips of his ears.  

“We’ll see about that~”  He moved both of your hands to only one of his easily, not that you tried very hard, or at all, to stop him.  You certainly had his attention now, and it would be a while before either of you thought about that book again.