#if a person sucks then we cannot have anything in common with them. when that isn’t the case

[sammydem0n64]

Constantly thinking about a conversation me and a buddy had about how people in the modern era always end up making or Headcanoning villains as homophobic or just general bigots...

[pro-mammonologist]

Something I find hot (and think about constantly) is Mammon having a fixation around the body part MC has the most mass in. We all know this man cannot keep his hands to himself so the more of MC he can get his mitts on, the more his feels comforted in a way? They're tangible, they fit perfectly in his hands/arms. If Mammon's fixation of MC is centered around their tits, say bye-bye to personal space. When they're chilling, it'll take .05 seconds for him to snake his hands up their shirt and just hold their breast until it's time to move. If MC is lying down? Cupping + head on their chest to hear the gentle thrums of their human heart beating. This can be in the middle of sex or not, but his mouth would be all over them as well. Kissing, leaving hickies only the two of you will be able to see, sucking on their nipples fervently to show how obsessed Mammon truly is. The only other fixation I think he'd have would be on thighs, and I would have a field day explaining it.

Mammon likes body fat. 100%. He’s obsessed with big titties, big stomachs, big asses, big anything. He doesn’t care if you’re skinny at all but he will definitely squeeze your belly and your thighs and ass. As long as he can squeeze something he’s happy.

But I think mammon is a big titty sucker, big tit fucker too. Likes to kiss them a lot when he’s laying down and mammon (he does this everywhere but it’s funny on your boobs) rubs his face against your titties too.

I also think Mammon is obsessed with biting Mc’s thighs like crazy. He spends all of his foreplay on their chest and thighs.

ALSO… IF YOU GOT TITTY OR THIGH TATS. If you have a cute little tattoo on your boobs or one boob hed go crazy. He’d think is sexy and adorable. Thigh tats are more for him to admire cuz they’re beautiful and pretty common, but titty tattoos are rare and it turns him on.

Mammon likes bellies as well. I think he likes to touch and squeeze them a lot and if you get pregnant, he’s touching it 10x as much and will be consistently freaked out by you being pregnant too.

Mammon loves mom bods. (So does Diavolo and Satan)

[detshin]

uhm, how exactly will gosho develop the cousin thing in the manga.

I mean, I wouldn't know, honestly. What goes on in the mind of that man only he knows (and sometimes I doubt even that).

My opinion under the read more...

Personally, I've already stated many times that it's a trope I've liked and headcanoned for a long while now, and it's not like it's COMPLETELY out of the blue. The whole "they look the same" is a big factor, there have been references to them having some sort of "ancestor" in common, the Toichi and Yusaku tease was already there in the childhood case of Shinichi (where Toichi appeared and called Shinichi big bro btw 👀) and there was a time long ago that Gosho said something about it in an interview and that it was going to be talked about.

Anyway, point is, I could see this going in different ways. I would LOVE to see this being explored and dealt with nicely and seriously, but my hopes for that are low. He'll either just have it mentioned and never more explored or talked about (like with akemi and akai), or maybe in the mk manga now to talk about Toichi, I don't know?

Because honestly, I feel like people are getting hung up on the cousins thing and are forgetting about the confirmation of what we all have been fearing and it's that Toichi is indeed alive and both of Kaito's parents suck ass. And what scares me is the possibility of it being comedic or Kaito being okay with it or something when he deserves to have that be explored. He became a criminal because of it! And his parents know and aren't doing ANYTHING!

I've said this before, MK is not as shits and giggles as it seems. Story is pretty darn dark if you think about it. Kaito is one of if not THE most solitary (lonely) character of the dcmk universe. He is not as the fandom tends to represent him sometimes. That's not Kaito. The over the top, flirty, pompous one is Kid. It's a mask. A facade. Kaito is not like that, he is just a teen who is struggling to make real connections with people and who is terrified of being found out as a criminal and cannot for the life of him let people IN because they'll see right through him and whose "dead" dad taught him NOT TO SHOW HIS EMOTIONS.

Kaito NEEDS some support. Jii alone is not enough. His own parents have lied to him his entire life and he's constantly alone, grieving for something that is not real. He has Aoko, but he CAN'T let her in completely for obvious reasons. Hakuba's there, but same thing. And I'm sorry but Akako I don't really think counts either, he actively seems not to really even like her or whatever...

MY POINT IS. If Kaito can get some new family members that could support him... Why refuse it, no? I'm not talking about Yusaku because he's also been keeping him in the dark and all and hasn't really seemed to do anything about it. But Yukiko (yes I'm choosing to believe she's also oblivious to Kaito being put in that situation) and Shinichi? Oh, those two could do wonders for someone like Kaito, in my opinion. Because Yukiko is Yukiko (she was born to be the cool aunt), and Shinichi is... Well... Shinichi. He could understand Kaito and actively show him support and help. They COULD be amazing as family.

Now it's all just a matter of... Does Gosho WANT to go that deep into this? Or is he going to continue to disregard Kaito's suffering and not give him anyone to lean on?

Anyway, cousins Kaito and Shinichi rule!

[randomnameless]

Genuine question, not trying to start a fight, why do you get so upset about gods and churches being presented in a negative light in fictional works?

No pbs!

I guess it's a mix of being too common, too forced and having, in general, the cast use common tropish arguments to fight /defeat them.

I rant a lot about this game, but take TS where we have three sort of factions opposing each other, and each are supposed to suck. Who is the faction who never receives any "positive traits" or "pet the dog" moment?

The game force fed us a scene where an Aesfroti soldier - when Aesfrost is depicted as a highly militarised nation with a cult of personality towards their current ruler, that invaded the protag's home and slaughtered several civilians and NPCs in the process - say goodbye to his wife and kids before going to "war" to defend his land against, well, the protags who are invading it to kill their warmongering leader.

As force-fed as this scene was, it, I believe at least, tried to tell us that even the Aesfrosti who pillaged villages and killed their inhabitants are humans, and care about their loved ones, sure it's corny, but it's all about not deshumanising any party.

When we attack Hyzante? Niet, zilch, nothing. No similar scene where random soldiers, or NPCs, worry about what is going on and if they're going to die when their wall has been breached. They just, don't exist in this context.

I think the cherry on the cake is the Golden Route scene, where, apparently, nationalists Aesfrosti decide to turn back against their ultra charismatic leader because, uh, he "lied" when he declared the war and used a false pretense, so the soldiers and people who were butchering babies and invading a city where people were preparing a marriage apparently now have morals and rebel.

There's no similar scene for Hyzante when the cast reveals that the teachings of their Goddess were made up and salt wasn't exclusively given to them by divine intervention, because rock salt exists everywhere. Sure it would be a bit weird and forced that people thinking they're chosen ones and looking down on everyone else suddenly, hm, don't break down when their entire system of belief is shattered, but hey, if the Aesfrostian Gregor can have morals after washing his hands of all this Glenbrookian blood, why shouldn't religious npc #55 not make the same heel face turn?

And then, we have the slavery/human experimentation plot - in general, when TS tries to give nuance, they more or less explain/justify why something that "sucks" is done, it's basically Silvio's character.

Aesfrost' Gustadolph manages to push his "freedom" mentality because his land is a harsh place where people are desperate to survive, salt smuggling is reprehensible, but it's the only way to give some to the ones who cannot afford it. Of course is everyone is free, no one is because, as Gustadolph puts it, they're basically free to die for his ambitions.

Hyzante? Follows a racist creed where Rozellians have to pay for some great sin, and are slaved away in a lake to recover salt until they die. It's, later, justified by Hyzante wanting to keep its salt monopoly else they don't have anything, and wanting to curb down the Rozelle people because they know about the exitence of rock salt (and I guess getting free workers to harvest salt from the lake + having state enemies make his own population docile/not willing to rebel ?).

And then, we have the human experimentations, that are just done for, uhh, Idore's lol. When Hyzante is known for its "advanced medicine" and we could have had the usual dilemna of, idk, having those humans experimentations used to develop this medicine that is reknown in the world (idk, sacrificing a Rozellian to save someone else's life?) - it's not the angle the devs picked. Rozellians are sacrificed to power up an idol, Idore wants to control the world through his idol and soft power (compared to Gustadolph's hard power) and manipulates his people (just like Gustadolph) to do so.

The two are very similar, but who is the final boss? Complete with a transformation in an eldritch monster? The war-mongering imperialist or the jaded old man who is leading de facto a religion?

Hopefully there's the entire "human experimentations for no other purpose than the lols" to settle them apart.

---

I recently watched Dune, and even if I have some issues with the adaptation, the Bene Gesserit isn't portrayed as "comically" evil-er than the Harkonen Empire, I reckon the comparison isn't adequate, because Dune is multi book series when I'm mostly talking about video games.

Symphonia's church of Martel is a font for the Big Bad (tm) to put in motion his nefarious plans, and yet, through the game, we see how random clergymen use their, uh, religious buildings to help people around. Ultimately Martel herself is reincarnated through plot device and tells the big bad to stop being an ass and the story is less about "church and gods evil" but "big bad distorts Martel/church's teachings and role for his plans because he has a tragic backstory"

(but then Symphonia ends with the biggest whitewashing from every Tales I've played for its big bad so I'll stop talking about it because otherwise I'm going to be salty).

Abyss' church is more or less the same thing - the Church is supposed to help people deal with the fact their verse has "predestination stones" where the future is already written, and in the course of the game, we see how it has several factions and one opposes the group (who has the pope as a NPC!) - but it's not a story about "gods bad church BaD".

I remember playing Suikoden Tierkreis a long time ago, and while the game seemed to go through familiar "church bad gods bad" route and we end with defeating a god-like entity... I pretty much loved the twist that, in a game that relied on alternate dimensions/universe, the god-like entity was actually the protag if he made different choices!

In those games, if you fight a religious body and someone pretending to be a God or what not - it's not because people fight against an eldritch creature who wants world domination and to erase puny insects, or is the reason why everything goes wrong, but because, at the end, the conflict/fight is ultimately caused by someone, generally a human or at least a non "god like" entity, wanting to destroy the world.

I don't remember if FE was my first JRPG series or not, but I always liked the idea that if the world is doomed in those games and the heroes must prevent said doom, it's not because a god-like being wants to destroy the world, but because people, humans/randoms are the most shitty ones out there.

---

As for the "tropes" often used to deride fictional churchs and religious people, well, I will again point to TS - which did a splendid job in the Benedict Route where you smash Hyzante after allying with Aesfrost.

There's one battle where out protags diss Hyzantese because they worship a goddess and have no free will, listening to Her teachings and Her says (the traditional "religious people have no free will and listen to their churches who tell them how to think!") - which is immediately countered by one of those Hyzantese characters asking Serenor if he's not the same, but instead of blindly listening to a Goddess, blindly follows Benedict. And it ends with the final chapter title referencing automatons/puppets : who is that title talking about ? The fake "idol" Idore created, or the fake "king" Benedict created?

Anyways, the usual "religions people have no free will because their church/religion tells them how to think" trope reeks of r/atheism and the double standard - bar in this route of TS, but I guess, in TS itself in the Roland route! - is never called out, blindly following a charismatic leader is okay, as long as charismatic leader isn't religious?

Regardless of my IRL thoughts about religion, usually those tropes are presented as a "gotcha!" when they are... not at all, but the games/books leave it at that and we're supposed to roll with it.

I'd say it's lazy writing or, as we saw in Naruto, a quick way to end a story without having to dwelve in characters and their motivations : "you're a god/alien/other being and you're bad, so let us do what we want!" - end of the story.

Hopefully some fillers and to an extent, Boruto gave her more meat bar being the 11 hour villain we had to defeat quick and who manipulated the previous sad'n'lonely antagonists - but it still felt rich from Naruto, known for his famous "talk no jutsu" and trying to understand people he's fighting against, to drop the ball with Kaguya, calling her pure malice and ending with some "let us live the way we want" to wrap up the plot so he can wrestle with his boyfriend later on.

In the end, we often end up with "religion bad bcs the big bad manipulates people through it", as if those mangas/animes/vg never have other examples of charismatic people not using religion to manipulate their randoms/people or "gods bad they should let humans do what they want" when we've read/seen/played through various, uh, really fucked-up shit humans did - but on their own! and ultimately, but it's more in fandom spaces, with have Projection 101.

TLDR : church/religion/gods are too often used in those works as the ultimate scapegoat to either wrap up a story in a rushed ending or to pretend to have "nuance" but still have a common enemy where all the "nuanced" characters can grow/be whitewashed and side together against that "common enemy".

Just like in all things I guess, I prefer when something isn't painted as purely negative and all of the positive traits are erased because there is a need for a perfect scapegoat - sure, bring out too much "nuance" and writing/designing a game/manga/anime becomes harder because there's no "clear cut" antagonist, and yet, the one who always gets fucked in this scenario is the religious/church side.

Want a generic stock villain who will destroy the world so the heroes have to fight against them? Just create a "religion" in your setting, and have the big bad either hell bent on resurrecting Chtullu to destroy the world because Chtullu BaD, or have them be the most corrupt piece of shit who manipulate everything in the shadows, so the rest of the world, even the ones who slaughter others bcs they feel like they must start a war, can be whitewashed at the end.

I mean, there's a saying about diverting attention from a fire by starting a bigger one near, or a trope of "aliens made them do it" : who cares if Madara started a continental war and targeted a village full of random civilians he swore to protect because he lost the elections? Did y'know he was manipulated by a woman, I mean, an eldritch thing created by a woman, regarded as a God, who ultimately wanted to get out of her fridge to kill everyone?

Roland must get over his hatred for Aesfrost for barging in his kindgom and killing hundred of his people while they were preparing for a wedding, because hey, Idore is evil and plans on ruling the world through his sham religion!

I'll forever be salty at TS for not giving Kamsell the occasion to rise against Idore, or not even have minor NPCs get the same treatment as Sycras suddenly going all "u lied to me gustadolph so i won't listen to u anymore + sad goodbyes to my wife'n'kids".

Extremism of all kinds can lead to wars/tragedy/fucked up shit - Sure I don't want to get my History lessons in video game medium when I play lol, but what I really don't like is how it feels like depicting "they're extremists because they're religious" feels like the default/easy answer : want a bunch of brainwashed people the heroes must fight against and can't talk no justu their way out of this fight/will fight without looking too BaD? Depict those people as "misguided" members of a corrupt church/believers of a religion, no one will givea fig. If they are instead supporters of a charismatic leader who throws them through the meatgrinder to further their goals? Well, there's no automatic loyalty so either you have to show/depict it on screen, else it can be challenged at key points to demonstrate how those people - who follow the charismatic leader - aren't completely "mindlessly listening to their leader" or how their leader "isn't that bad after all".

[patchwork-crow-writes]

On the topic of 'other secret bosses', have I told you my Rouxls Kaard theory yet? Specifically that I think halfway through the game, he's going to disappear and become a Secret Boss.

My reasons for thinking this firstly, because like the Joker Card, his real-world form is another item that always gets discarded: the Rules Card. His similarity to Gaster and Papyrus also help(since they're also both very affiliated with the idea of being 'Forgettable', and I suspect one of them may be the 'Strange Someone'. (Maybe both? I will NEVER give up on the Gaster is Papyrus theory.)) Anyways, those things, but there's also how Rouxls' theme has spoken words in it, and Jevil and Spamton have spoken words in their fights (Jevil's 'I can do anything', the lyrics to Big Shot), and there's ALSO something very important--

Rouxls is very important and no one really likes him. He's always running around, trying to find a boss to suck up to, but the Fun Gang treats him as 'eurgh, that guy again,' and neither King nor Queen really LIKES him. Much like Jevil, only one person(Lancer) really seems to appreciate him, but much like Spamton, he's not very good at all at what he does.

So I think that, in some future Dark World, Rouxls will meet someone he's not supposed to. And he's eagerly offer to be their lackey. And that will cause him to disappear. Stopping him from disappearing is out of your control. But what IS in your control is if you just give him up for lost, or go looking for him, even knowing that you can't ever undo the damage done by his having gone missing, even if he's radically changed by what happened, even if you don't think you'll be able to really bring him back...

Maybe Noelle felt similarly after losing Dess. No one seems to talk about them anymore. Life continues on perfectly fine without them. Even those who knew them and miss them still have a life to live. Maybe this was always going to happen. But still...

I've heard about the idea of Rouxls being a secret boss at some point, but this is a really cool take on that idea! I really like this for a couple of reasons - the first being that in a way this has already happened in-game! When we first enter the Cyber World, Rouxls slips out of our pocket in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, and I'm willing to bet most people didn't even notice he was gone from our inventory until the next confrontation with him... myself included.

The other reason I really like this idea is because it would give Rouxls something else in common with other secret bosses - which is that we as players would have to really go out of our way to discover and fight him, and it's entirely likely that our efforts in that regard could cause many more problems than it might solve - see Kris's mental state after the whole Spamton ordeal. It's kind of like an extension of the philosophy behind the Sans fight in Undertale - we do it because of our morbid curiosity, because we want to see what happens, and because we can, we "have to"... no matter the cost in-game.

Quite aside from that, Rouxls fascinates me because it's entirely possible that his abilities could be literally game-breaking... if he only knew how to use them properly. As the Rules Card, he literally defines the terms of a game of cards - imagine what he could be capable of if he suddenly decided "you can't hurt me anymore" or "I win if I so much as graze you". I think that potential power may be largely curtailed by his need to be subordinate to a "higher power", because you cannot play a rules card in the same way you can play a face card... so maybe becoming subordinate to "something he wasn't supposed to meet" will allow him to use that power to its fullest extent.

To further hammer this point home, look at his appearances between Chapters 1 and 2. Under King, who is a incredibly myopic and cruel ruler whose subordinates either hate him or are completely indifferent to him... Rouxls' puzzles are equally rubbish. Then in Chapter 2, Queen does a slightly better job of "ruling" her domain, and actually commands loyalty from the Swatchlings, and suddenly Rouxls is able to construct a pretty elaborate house-capturing game in his fight. So there's a correlation between how powerful and competent a ruler is, and Rouxls' ability to craft puzzles and games.

So imagine what he might be capable of if he ever came into the employ of somebody with very intimate knowledge of Deltarune's game mechanics... somebody like that person who drove both Jevil and Spamton to insanity. And your theory here would be the perfect way that could happen. And then it's up to us whether we care enough - or are morbidly curious enough - to actually find him once he disappears. And what exactly such a search would entail, for Kris and the other main characters of Deltarune, the game's themes and motifs, and the nature of the nested worlds (e.g. Real(Light(Dark(Something else?))))

Thanks so much for sharing this with me! Rest assured it'll eat away at my grey matter for some time to come, which trust me, is the highest compliment I can give something here :D

[sword-and-lance]

so I wound up having a whole Thought Process in replying to a fic comment and just

okay fair warning this probably leans heavily on my own interpretations of Cazador and also Astarion and a bunch of the Cazador backstory in particular is pure headcanon

also fair warning there's discussion of abuse and sexual assault in here

BUT

man these two actually have quite a bit in common--the "my Master is an abusive asshole" thing being the big obvious one

also neither of 'em seem to have a great relationship with their families: Astarion never even mentions his in the slightest, ever, so I remain unconvinced that there was anything good there, and Cazador uh

well

Amanita's notes imply that there were only a grand total of like four remaining living Szarrs despite having multiple estates and a huge fuckoff castle smack in the middle of the city and yeah I absolutely headcanon that Cazador had most of them merc'd because none of them did a damn thing while Vellioth--who only married in and who Donnela picked for vampire-ing over her own grandkid because she held Cazador responsible for his dad (her son) going AWOL as a vampire hunter, it's a whole Thing I should really write it down at some point--basically ran the family reputation into the ground with his insistence on indulging his own brutal assholery over anything else (instead of balancing it with blackmail/politics so they don't get Found Out)

so yeah he is fairly obsessed with his family but in the sense that it's his and belongs to him and he gets to own it and shape it and bring it back to how it was when he was a kid and they owned damn near the entire Upper City in one capacity or another

so really no he isn't fond of his family but more the idea of it and being able to control it which is. uh. quite different!

and that kinda leads into my next point that they are both fucking Obsessed with power, "over people" specifically to quote Astarion in-game

I mean after all on Cazador's side of things: that was how Vellioth got to be where he was, that was what Vellioth wielded over him and all the other spawn whenever he decided to torture/sexually assault/etc them as he pleased, and that was how Cazador himself finally got Vellioth killed, too, and turned himself into a full vampire finally--it wasn't dry politics it wasn't law it was just interpersonal trickery wielding Vellioth's personal desires against him, and Cazador not only wanted his own abuser dead but wanted to make damn sure that it never happened again, that no one would ever be able to hurt him like he did

even when it meant hurting other people--LOTS OF THEM in all sorts of horrifying new ways!--to do it

and that's why he really just is not fuckin redeemable by the time we see him: he's molded his entire fucking existence around that notion, he cannot will not trust anyone but himself, he tried over and over with that as a spawn and always got punished for it--his family was not kind, his lone friend died for his kindness, and considering that his general social circle was a bunch of rich people, I'm willing to fuckin wager he probably didn't get any notion of it outside, either, and in fact it probably made it even easier to just think of people in general like things--cattle, even

so all that's left for him is (what has to look to him) like stone-cold objective knowledge that everything sucks, the world is vicious and cruel and the only good things you can have you have to TAKE by force or trickery from someone else and they don't matter, they'll only take from you the second they get a chance

and yeah Astarion clearly had a bit of a similar problem over the past 200-something years, considering--he was also tortured quite extensively for years, despite Cazador genuinely thinking he's being nice about it in an I HAD IT WORSE SUCK IT UP sort of way; he got faced with an utterly impossible task to constantly hunt down prey for his Master while fuckin starving the whole time, and eventually in sheer desperation resorted to literal prostitution only to be met with a very blase okay that works I guess keep it up from Cazador since it wasn't like Cazador really thought Astarion had much in the way of other talents to lure people in and all he cared about was having people lured in

shit, Astarion's entire approval set damn near until the last act of the damn game are just reflecting that mindset--the world is vicious and cruel and the only good things you can have you have to TAKE by force or trickery from someone else

...thing is, Cazador was basically surrounded by enablers and even outside of that is also hellishly stubborn and molded his entire existence around the pursuit of power because he thought that was literally all there was to anything, even to the point of making deals with not just a devil but one of THE devils, one of the Big Boys and one who's pretty damn tricky at that

he was not and is not going to give up on any of his plans, even if someone SOMEHOW gave him a chance to, and if we ignore the whole VAMPIRES EVIL LOL thing for a sec--far as Cazador's concerned, the kind are weak and murdered and tortured by the strong, and that is just how it is. that was how it always was and always would be and he's been surrounded by it literally all his life, personal and political, with basically no evidence to the contrary that doesn't immediately get ruined, whether at his hand or someone else's

if this isn't what he should do in life, then what else is there? just being a horribly broken person for literally eternity or until someone up and stakes him? he can't afford to let this go because it would obliterate his whole fucking identity in the process

...Astarion though at least has the benefit of running around with people who do not in fact enable his FUCK EVERYONE ELSE BUT ME! bullshit, and in fact (can be, anyway) relentlessly kind to him and show him that yes, actually, there is a life beyond what happened to him

there's a whole lotta life beyond it, actually! even while he's trying to "just" be manipulative, because the kind are weak and he can't afford to be weak when his Master HAS to be hunting for him by now, he fuckin fails at that and actually gets attached to the people trying to get him to knock off his assholery--they treat him like an actual person and he actually gets pretty into that despite himself, even though it clearly scares the hell out of him to have to make his own identity over again beyond just...being the flirty vampire

but thing is

he's at least brave enough to try doing it (presuming the non-ascended route--the ascended route he just refuses and falls right into Cazador's own neuroses), and when he's given the chance he takes it despite being terrified of it

he's seen more, he wants more and he's willing to risk himself to get it because it was worth it

Cazador though

lol nah

ultimately he's a coward about doing that exact thing

he's petrified of having nothing left of him if he gives up on what he's doing so he just never even tries and would pretty violently refuse any attempt to make him, for that matter--to him, it can't possibly be worth it

Astarion at least believes a small selection of people would be worth trying for

but Cazador's got none of that because he gave the fuck up on ever finding that and split the world into people he owned and people he would eventually own when he got what he deserved in Ascending after so many years of pure shit--and after his existence had turned into a meaningless morass of violence and horror that he inflicted on literally everyone around him like the walking nuclear fallout of a man that he is

part of being better is wanting to BE better, and (non-ascended) Astarion at least eventually wants to

but Cazador would very literally rather die instead

tl;dr yeah one of these two is a "small pathetic little boy who never amounted to anything"

but it ain't Astarion

[gazeofseer]

How to protect your energy;

'We are the most sophisticated living source of the divine, so it is easy to get exploited, exhausted and enslave the energy by tying knots, storing feelings in objects are few of tangible ties we can see through,

But what ties are there which cannot be seen through is the way we attach, depend and indulge with other kinds of energies....

It does not mean one must be isolated, it means are you aware ? That's what you feel is known to other energies and how they can use it without your permission?

It means you give the key to your thoughts, emotions and life probably to some extent which gives them and their intentions to play a part in it, without your permission'

Let's explore this today..to save my time and energy in the near future..

First and foremost, let's break it from families and relatives who can easily access your energy since they were a maniac part of your long years of growth..

- Do not share personal feelings and thoughts

When you feel and think about something for instance a career.. sharing and asking for their opinion is already an invite to ruin your mood leading to which will easily stir in your head to sucking your emotions sooner or later to the core.

- Do not share your intentions and purpose

Answer only if it concerns them, like if it is about the other person please talk but don't be like you know I want to become this because of this, I have an idea, see..

These two can are signs which will lead to exhaustion.

Secondly we will go to the external people the third parties that are friends, colleagues, your known circle or group.

- Never ever let them believe they know you or change what they know about you for instance she is a very good person, because I know her..change and say no I get rude at times nobody is good or bad..you know ?

- Do not leave them on loose ends this will keep them more interfered in your life

Distance, snap and shut..bye I have something urgent it is important then this.. you paid for me last time this time let me do it for you.

Avoiding this will save you from enslavement

Lastly from things like spirits and evil eyes from strange persons dodge, ignore and pretend as if they or you are dead and you can't receive energies and any intent from them.

For example if you know someone is looking at you, speak loudly, listen to something at high volume, if it seems serious of course confront but be loud..when you are loud the negative force of energy can also get squinched.

The very important thing that sums up is boundaries, which comes from mannerism, and basic dignity towards each living and object and all it needs is common sense and a little consideration.

Before you crash end your day dissolve as you sleep like die, feel like you are eyes are closed and nothing that's it, when you wake up..

Wake up as you don't know anything about yesterday, not even the dinner you had !

Well, here I am ending this I hope this post was insightful as it will help you from not being exploited by anyone !

[anonymouslydisabled]

weird 2am disability take?

So whenever a disabled or chronically ill person becomes unable to do something simple or unable to do it without great difficulty (such as showering or cooking) or even people who were born with their disabilities and have never been able to do those things the conversation is always "oh my gosh as non-disabled people we take so many things for granted" and maybe it's just me being autistic and overly literal but I really don't feel like that's taking something for granted?

Like, someone is non-disabled, a task, let's say showering. is easy for them. They never really give too much thought into showering because it's not hard for them. That seems proportionate to me? Obviously they should be aware that showering isn't easy for everyone and shouldn't be an asshole if someone showers infrequently due to disability or mental illness. But I don't think it's something they "take for granted".

If abled people take anything "for granted" it's that doctors listen to them, that they only have to see said doctors once a year or so, that they don't have to risk a seizure or migraine going to a movie theater with their friends, that they don't get stares at the grocery store, that they don't have to go around a building and enter past the trash cans when everybody else can use the main entrance.

I don't know this is a random thought. I just started thinking about that saying that so often gets tossed around when disabled people talk about the things they can't do or struggle with, abled people view it quite unproductively? Like yeah showers are a common struggle for disabled people so instead of like practicing gratitude every time they take a shower I think abled people should think more about making shower chairs more accessible and being less judgemental when disabled people struggle to shower.

I feel like it's really common for abled people when hearing the lives of disabled folks to say "mmmm yeah that would suck" instead of "wow that's hard, how could we improve the safety and/or quality of life of disabled people?", although individual people cannot do much it's oftentimes the people who know disabled and mentally ill folks struggle to shower who still choose to make fun of people with poor hygiene, even their own friends or family.

I could've used a better example, it has the same energy as an abled person calling a disabled person an "inspiration" for running errands or having a job, they say variations of "I acknowledge that's hard and I wouldn't know what to do in your shoes" instead of "I acknowledge that's hard and I actually give a shit about it and am going to spend maybe 5 minutes of my life thinking about how society could better accommodate disabled people".

Anyways thank you for attending my 2am rant about something that doesn't really matter but maybe shines a bit of light onto how non-disabled people treat disability issues.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Carla Dark [03]

ー The scene starts in the saloon

Yui: ( Oh? There’s someone in the saloon. Carla-san...? )

???: Y-You arrived just on time!

Yui: Eh? Um, are you talking to me...?

( It wasn’t Carla-san. Who is this man...!? )

???: You live here, don’t you? Could you please arrange a meeting with the Founder King for me!?

Yui: Eh...?

Vibora A: We want him to help out our Vibora Clan!

Yui: ( ...So this must be one of those Demons pressing Carla-san for help, huh? )

( I’m surprised he made it this far when Shin-kun is supposed to send them all away... )

Vibora A: All I want is a few minutes with him! Let me meet the Founder King, please!

Yui: No, even if you say that, Iーー

Vibora A: Hey, I’m begging you! I swear, a couple of minutes are all I need!

Yui: ( ...! He’s steadily moving closer. I better run...! )

I-I’m sorry...Now if you’d excuse me. 

ー She turns around

Vibora A: ...! Wait!

ー He goes after her

*Thud* 

Yui: Ow...!

( He grabbed my arm...! )

Vibora A: I’m sick and tired of being sent back empty-handed! Today I shall have him see me, no matter what!

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: ...Let me go, please, let go...!

( Oh no, there’s no way I can shake this guy off...! )

???: Let go of her.

Yui: ( Eh? This voice...Ah! )

ー Carla pulls her away from the Vibora

*Rustle* 

Yui: Carla-san...!

( He saved me by pulling me to his side...! )

Carla: What on earth are you doing?

Vibora A: The Founder King...! Please, lend those powers of yours to our Clan...!

Carla: My powers, you say? You have some nerve to say that.

You used brute force to try and impose your will on this young lady just now, did you not?

I would never do something so audacious when I am trying to seek aid from another person.

Vibora A: ...!?

Carla: I do not know how you think about it, but I would not even consider listening to someone who lacks such common sense.

Leave. Do not dare set foot inside Banmaden ever again.

Yui: ( Carla-san...Even though his tone is composed, he comes across as incredibly intimidating... )

Carla: ーー I believe it would be wise to disappear from my sight now that you are still alive?

Vibora A: ...!

ー The Vibora makes a run for it

Yui: ( He dashed off at full speed... )

U-Um...Carla-san! Thank you so much for helping me out...!

Carla: ...Che.

Yui: Eh...?

( For some reason, he seems very much upset... )

ー Carla steps closer

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: Kyah!?

*Thud* 

Carla: Let us go.

Yui: ( Eh...!? Why am being lifted into the air...? )

ー The scene shifts to the guest room

*Thud* 

Yui: Ah!

( He threw me on the bed... )

C-Carla-san, what are you...!

Carla: Show me your arm.

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: Eh? Aah...!

( His fangs are sinking into my arm... )

Carla: Nn...Nnh...

Yui: ...Why would you do this all of a sudden...?

Carla: ...You truly do not get it?

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah, ah...

( ...He’s being so intense, as if he’s trying to suck everything out of me alongside my blood... )

Carla: It should not be that difficult to figure out when you think back to what happened to you, no...?

Yui: Eh...?

Carla: He grabbed hold of your arm, did he not? Therefore, I have to cleanse you.

...What do you say? Are you glad?

Selection

→ Of course (M)

Yui: Yes...Of course...

Carla: Heh...How honest of you. Well then, I shall continue sucking your blood until you are completely clean again.

Hah...Nnh...Nn...Phew...

Yui: ...!

( His fangs are thrusting deep inside...I can feel the heat radiating through my whole body... )

Carla: ...Your blood exists only for me.

...I am the only one who can purify it as well...Do not forget that, okay...? Nnh...Nn...

Yui: Y-Yes...

( Carla-san’s fangs...How could I ever forget them...? )

→ But... (S)

Yui: But, that’s just...I don’t need to be...cleansed...

Carla: ...I beg your pardon...?

Yui: I mean, it’s not like he sucked my blood or anything...

Carla: Hah...Kuh...Nnh...! This proves how ignorant you truly are...! Nn...

Yui: Aah...!

( Oh no...! It’s too much, I can’t even breathe...! )

Carla-san...Sto...p...Please...!

Carla: And why should I have to listen to you...!

You truly are naive...Even if they did not feed off you, you have been tainted. 

You cannot believe me when I tell you that you need to be cleansed...?

Heh...Then allow the pain rushing through your body to teach you instead...Nn...Hah...Kuh...Nnh...!

Yui: Aaaah...!!

( The place where he’s biting me feels as if it has been set on fire...! )

Carla: Just let my fangs do all the work. Understand...?

Yui: O-Okay...

Carla: You are a Founder’s woman...It would be outrageous for some other Demon to touch you.

...No need to try and fix the situation yourself. Next time, simply call me. ーー Okay? 

Yui: Okay...Will do.

Carla: Heh...Look at that meek expression. I suppose I shall give you my fangs a little longer then. Nn, phew...

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

I’m probably gonna get a lot of shit for this, but who cares?

Tsunade is a well-written character.

I have seen think piece after think piece on why she’s one of the worst written female characters in Naruto, and while Kishimoto needs a lot of work on his female characters, Tsunade is probably the best-written one out of all of them.

“She only exists to further Naruto’s narrative!”

Everyone in Naruto exists to further his narrative. Typically, all side characters exist to further the plot of the MC. In everything. In some way. That’s just how it is. Tsunade actually has other stuff to do in life though, and her entire existence doesn’t depend on Naruto on a day by day basis. She doesn’t base her own self-worth off of him in any fashion. She doesn’t hide behind him and let him do all the work. She contributes a shit ton.

“She got scared of blood and ran away from her duty just cuz some guy she liked died!”

No. 

1.) Naruto was created by a Japanese man, and has predominantly Japanese influence. That means their gods, superstitions, habits, and teachings are thoroughly entrenched in the Naruto Universe. Tsunade is superstitious, and in this fictional universe, bad omens like cracking teacups and falling photo frames are real hints that something bad has happened.

2.) The Shodaime died young, as shown by his Edo Tensei form. And then the Nidaime died young. She gave her grandfather’s necklace to her little brother, as a good luck charm, and he died not long after getting it. She gave it to her lover as a good luck charm, and he died not long after getting it, in a gruesome fashion. She develops a fear of blood as a result.

3.) Tsunade and the necklace are the common denominators and she takes the results as a sign that she is cursed with bad luck. She develops a severe fear of what this means and cannot bring herself to continue as she is. She’ll get someone else killed.

4.) Danzo and Hiruzen, both sucking so very much at leading a village, helped ruin her stance on the ideals of Konoha. From her standpoint in all she witnessed, the Will of Fire was bullshit and not worth defending. (And tbh the village in general is full of shitty people who really don’t deserve to be defended if they’re going to completely outcast a child for something beyond his control.)

“She drinks and gambles a lot which makes her too manly!”

So?

I get that drinking and gambling aren’t ‘feminine’ habits so we don’t see many women in fiction being involved in either very much, but it’s not a big deal. She’s a grown woman who has been to war, fought for her country, and saved countless lives. She’s in her 50s and has more than earned her weird vices.

How liking alcohol and gambling is considered a manly thing, I still don’t understand.

“She’s so vain she keeps herself young-looking!”

So?

She can use her own chakra to keep her body young. She doesn’t even have to get surgery. Why is this such a big deal? It isn’t as if she won’t stop funneling chakra into that purpose if she absolutely needs that excess chakra for something else. She’s done it many times. Her vanity doesn’t get in the way of duty when it calls for it.

She was never a liability to her teammates. Her vanity never got in the way of her training.

Besides, it’s funny how many people who praise a certain character despite her terrible vanity that gets in the way of everything, will shit on Tsunade.

“She needed a Talk no Jutsu in order to change!”

I know we all like to clown Naruto’s good guy, sunshine smiles way of handling things, but he puts a lot more into it than just a few words. Dude literally called her out where no one else dared to, held her to her word, protected and defended her at the cost of his own well-being, and inspired her.

Many of you out there would never do anything for someone else if there was no benefit to you first. And many people don’t act until they are personally affected by something. The difference is Tsunade is a traumatized soldier who already served her country and saved thousands of lives countless times through her efforts to improve the medical field. Comparing her not wanting to be Hokage, to some Karen who has never helped another person a day in her life, is an insult to her personal sacrifices and efforts.

I think Tsunade is very complex and very human, and she has one of my favorite stories in the entire Naruto Universe.

[yuri-is-online]

Could you share some of your ideas on improving the Twilight series?

There are a few ways that we can fix Twilight, but for now let's just focus on keeping its original premise: Bella moves to Forks, meets Edward, and is swept up into a word of supernatural happenings. I'm going to go through my issues one by one and then get to some overall points, this got stupidly long for no good reason I am so sorry.

I will note that I had to google some information about what happens in the first and fourth books because I did not watch those movies and I think I might have read the first book? But don't remember anything that happened in it.

Bella's Personality

Or lack of one is getting changed immediately. Stories are driven by the actions and desires of their characters and Bella is our MC. We need her to have reasons for making the choices she does beyond "she has to do this for the plot to progress."

Bella moves to Forks because she notices that her mother seems unhappy staying at home with her and not on the road with her new husband. From this we can assign Bella as being self-sacrificing, maybe to the point of self-sabotaging. She also is very self-reliant; she doesn't think she needs help from other people, especially not those who have a degree of authority over her because she assumes their help comes from them assuming she cannot take care of herself (and maaaaybe think that she's a burden) and not from a place of love.

When Jacob expresses a dislike of Sam, Bella supports him and validates his feelings. She is extremely upset and confused when he has suddenly changed his tune later and goes to confront Sam about it. In the movie this comes off as manipulative, as it seems like Bella is only really upset that Jacob isn't 100% focused on her anymore. I hate this! It makes the story much better if Bella goes to confront Sam because she is protective of her loved ones. Edward says he is afraid of not being able to protect her several times and she always responds with "then I'll protect you!" She should mean that! Let her be the over protective friend who will throw hands!!!

The one thing I do remember about the first book is an off hand remark about how "special and not like other girls" Bella was because she had already read Jane Austen for fun and that made her only able to relate to old people (something I had just gotten done doing which was probably why I stopped reading the book because middle school Yuri felt very insecure) and she also seems to like Shakespeare. But the books never seem to do anything with that, and it was pretty much the law in the early 2000s that your YA heroine needed to be into classic lit so it is a sort of basic trait. But it is still a trait, so Bella likes classic lit.

One of the things people unironically like about Twilight is how Stephanie Myer portrayed depression. Bella seems to be struggling from some pretty severe issues with her self-esteem and self-worth. She wants to be a vampire because she thinks it will fix her issues with herself; she's afraid of growing old and not being desirable to her partner which is sadly a very common fear people have so it makes her relatable which is good for the protag of a novel... but

If you are going to cover topics like self-loathing and depression we need to have a think about how to handle those topics responsibly which I don't think the og Twilight series does... for now let's just keep in mind that depression and self esteem are themes we should keep for Bella's personal character arc.

The Parents

Bella refers to both of her parents by their first names, unless she's talking to them. As someone who does this with her mother... that's not really something you do overnight or if you have an actual relationship with your parent. You can actually physically feel the gap between you, and it kind of sucks sometimes. It also explains a lot of those character traits listed above

Bella's mom sucks ass and I was surprised to find that's not as controversial of an opinion as I thought it would be. She is more invested in her relationship with her new husband than she is her daughter, Bella apparently was the primary cook, Bella keeps secrets from her mom because her mom's mental and emotional well being is extremely reliant on her, and to top it all off apparently she told Bella a bunch of intimate details about how she left her dad which IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD DO OH MY GOD. It isn't healthy for a kid to know the intimate details about the break down of their parent's marriage!!! Especially if it was messy!!! That's so damaging for a kid, it's a form of parentification where the child is forced to emotionally parent the person who is supposed to be doing the actual parenting. Charlie is a character no one seems to have any major complaints about, and that includes me: I think keeping him more or less the same works. He deeply loves his daughter and wants to have that personal relationship with her he never got to have while she was primarily living with her mother. His reactions to the things that happen in the series are completely normal and he shows the appropriate level of concern when Bella enters her depressive state after Edward breaks up with her.

The main thing I would change about how the parents are portrayed has to do with the break up between Edward and Bella in book 2. I think it was mentioned that Bella did not want to go to therapy... but given the circumstances: major depressive episode, night terrors, potentially abusive relationship, all after a major life change (the move to Forks) it would make sense to me for Bella and Charlie to go to a family therapist together before Bella goes to individual sessions. The breakdown of her parent's marriage, her mom's parentification of her, and her lack of real relationship with either parent is something I would want to see addressed and it's realistic for family therapy to be suggested with all those factors I mentioned. Bella doesn't need to have a fully mended relationship with her dad by the end of the series, but it would make the story a lot better if by connecting with him through family therapy she decides to trust him enough to tell him about Edward being a vampire and Jacob being a werewolf.

The Cullens

I have watched one episode of Vampire Diaries, so the concept of a why a bunch of vampire's would want to go back to highschool isn't too much of a concern for me.  Using it as a way to re-learn what society is like makes sense… but that needs to be the stated reason and not vaguely implied.  It also makes more sense to me if Rosalie and Emmet don't attend the highschool and instead pretend to be college students who live with Emmet's parents.  Japser, Alice, and Edward are enough to work with, adding more characters to do nothing with doesn't actually help the flow of the story. And oh god does a lot of nothing happen in the actual series.

The overall concept for their characters doesn't bother me too too much.  They're vampires who abstain from human blood and are empowered by not succumbing to their thirst, that's a pretty basic plot line and more importantly it gives us a conflict to work with.  Everyone thinks the sparkles are dumb, so instead let's just go with the Dracula thing where they can't use their powers during the day.  Since the Cullens are supposed to be stronger due to their lack of preying on humans, maybe they can use their powers but not as effectively? Alice still gets visions for example, but Edward has trouble telling whose thoughts are whose, Jasper can't always get a frim grip on people's emotions, Emmet isn't as strong, and Rosalie sort of just looks tired as opposed to beautiful. 

The Volturi

They are the oldest vampire coven and potentially the largest. Again don't have much of a problem with this or wouldn't rather if they had some fucking character. I had to google Aro's name. He's one of their leaders and the only one who I felt was actually acting in the whole movie and I had to google his goddamn name. Also I am only going to mention this once and I am only going to talk about it here but:

Stephanie Myer is a Mormon and as a result her world building is very Mormon. Did you know Aro has a wife? I didn't, but pretty much every major character in the series is married and lives with their "children" and their children's spouses. Which is a fine way to live if you aren't weird about it but I don't trust these people aren't.

Anyway all of this section is to stay that they Volturi can more or less stay the same as they are already, but the rules they've established for vampire kind need to be introduced to the reader (and their existence) almost immediately instead of in book 2.

The Werewolves

The biggest thing I would change about the werewolves is the bit about them being "awakened" by the presence of vampires.  I think it makes more sense if the wolves just awaken when they feel a strong need to protect their family period, the presence of vampires just makes the process speed up a whole lot because of the tribe's history.  I also think it makes sense for the Pack to be viewed as sort of protectors of the land and the people from supernatural threats by humans who are aware, and for this to be sort of emphasized with Charlie's relationship with Jacob's dad and grandfather. 

I mentioned that I would have Bella and Charlie connect after going to family therapy, but now that I think about it, I would also have Charlie know about the werewolf pack before Bella tells him.  He leaves the supernatural policing to them and focuses on the human crimes, that way he's able to focus his resources and protect his people better.  Maybe he comes to Bella first and admits he's been lying to her and lays out what he knows and that's what gets her to open up about Edward being a vampire.

Misc.

From what I have managed to piece together, the main "plot" of twilight is that Bella and Edward meet, they stare into each other's eyes a whole bunch and realize one has good smelling blood and the other is a vampire. Edward introduces Bella to his coven and some other vampires show up??? And want to eat Bella??? And then they run away and oh no. The evil vampires have found them again and try to eat Bella and then Edward kills him but leaves his wife alive so the rest of the books are just a girlboss trying to get revenge on Edward by killing his partner. Until the last book when the Volturi show up angry because Bella isn't a vampire yet and has given birth to a half vampire and while I am on that last point: no half vampire baby, we are throwing out that whole ass plot point. I think people sometimes go overboard in assuming Mormon creators make everything about their fiction Mormon but there is nothing more fundamentalist than immediately getting married and having kids at 18. It doesn't need to happen, we can just re-write that whole book. Ok? Ok.

This is probably where most of the variations in how to fix the series come in tbh. Is it just a romance series? Do you want supernatural adventures? What are the stakes? Do we address the abusive undertones to Bella and Edward's relationship and make it a plot point or do we try to fix Edward? The original series doesn't have much going on in it... except for one thing which I want to bring up now.  If you like the idea of Twilight (vampire romance set in a small town where supernatural stuff happens) I would highly recommend playing the Wayhaven Chronicles by Misha Jenkins.  Because she also has a protagonist with special blood that is enticing to vampires and blocks their powers… but in her interactive fiction series she explains it as being a natural mutation humans have evolved to protect themselves from supernaturals.  Their blood also empowers all supernaturals, not just vampires.  Both of these ideas are ones I like, but since the only creatures we are working with in Twilight are Vamps and Werewolves, let's keep Bella's blood to only effecting vampires.

For my part, the more I have thought about Edward's character, he doesn't seem like he's mature enough to be in a relationship. He clearly has some unaddressed traumas about his vampirism that are getting in the way of him making friends let alone a girlfriend, so for my "fixed" series he isn't Bella's endgame.

Anyway here are some more specific bullet points idk:

Book 1

James the tracker gets introduced before the actual vampire reveal happens.  He tracks and attacks Bella, Edward protects her, and they start hanging out more based off of a mutual attraction fueled by Bella's desire to be needed and Edward's desire to preserve what he perceives to be as a pure human soul.

Alice becomes Bella's first real good friend and encourages her to explore things that interest her.  Bella starts taking care of her appearance a bit more, not in a "oh good she wears make up now" way but in a way where she buys clothes because she likes them and not because her mom would approve of them and remembers to brush her hair.

Jacob is introduced and Bella thinks of him as friend, it's clear she sees him as still a kid and doesn't take him seriously.  This bothers him, but we don't find out why in this book.

Edward tells Bella that James isn't something she should worry about any more, but that is a lie.  He has been attempting to protect Bella on his own, with some help from Emmet and Rosalie on occasion, but he feels a personal responsibility to keep James away from Alice and Bella. (Alice apparently was turned by James or something? Anyway this should be a bonding point for Alice and Bella)

He still breaks in to watch her sleep and all that shit and Bella rationalizes this, even claiming to be flattered as all she's ever really wanted is to be cared about and this feels like someone cares.

But then she gets a call from James threatening her mother and because Bella sees herself as her mom's protector she runs straight into that trap.

Blah blah blah Edward has to drain poison from Bella, they officially start dating.

Book 2

Bella's birthday.  She doesn't like being the center of attention or birthdays in general and no one really seems to get this.  Her dad asks if she wants a cake or something and promises not to buy candles, and since Bella likes cake she agrees if he promises not to sing.

Her friends at school wish her happy birthday except for Jacob who gives her his present "just because."  It's clear to Edward that Jacob is someone she cares about and this makes him jealous because he cannot stand seeing her interact happily with someone else.

Alice has planned a birthday party for Bella and is extremely excited to officially introduce her to the rest of the family, even though she has already met them, since she knows how much Edward likes Bella and she's rooting for him.

Blah blah blah, cut happens, Jasper freaks, Carslie talks a bit with Bella, and then oof

Edward dumps Bella in the middle of the woods the next day and she doesn't take it well. Speaking of which this pissed me off so fucking much "oh uwu I can't be with u because I am worried about how fragile u are and I'll huuuurt you" *proceeds to break up with her in the middle of the fucking woods where she can easily get lost and die*

Depressive episode like normal

Bella realizes she can still see Edward if she is about to do something dangerous and still goes to find those motorbikes and take them to Jacob.

Bella's human friends don't really get as much of a focus even though they are there, so I'd like to bring them back here for a moment.  Maybe the pink one encourages Bella to go see a therapist after Bella brushes off her dad's suggestion because she's been thinking about the risk seeking behavior and is worried she encouraged it.  She also admits to seeing a therapist herself and this surprises Bella, who decides maybe it couldn't really hurt.

As Bella talks with Jacob she says something about him being a kid and he gets offended by this, heavily hinting at maybe him liking her

But, as opposed to Edward who always brushed off Bella's offer of protection, when talking about Sam Jacob reacts positively to Bella's offer of help and makes the same promise. "You watch my back I'll watch yours."

Cliff diving scene stays but like it's not done on a whim, Bella gets a group together of kids from the highschool maybe? No weird movie date scene because that was cringe.

Anyway Edward thinks she dies, Alice comes for a visit, werewolf Jake freaks but trusts Bella when she says she will be fine and says he trusts her.

The book ends with Bella bargaining for the Cullen's freedom from the Volturi by agreeing to become a vampire, initially she offers to allow Aro or whatever the fuck to turn her but Alice intervenes and offers to do it herself. They set a date for after her graduation, and are warned of grave consequences if they do not comply.

Edward and Bella do not get back together at the end of the book.

Book 3

Bella and Alice are back to being besties.  While Bella is not back together with Edward, but she is not dating Jacob either.  She is attempting to maintain a friendship with both but it's not really working, as Jacob can tell she's keeping some sort of secret from him.

This secret being her impending turning, and the general theme of people trying to convince her that she doesn't need to do this remains.

There is a real focus on the lack of choice most of the Cullens had with becoming vampires and how that has affected them, with a heavy emphasis placed on Edward. 

Edward and Carlisle have a long talk. Carlisle talks about the concept of soulmates and how he always hoped Edward would find his, but admits he maybe placed too much of an emphasis on that instead of actually addressing the problems he was having in the hopes that love would fix him.

Since this is my post, I think Aro should be a sort of character foil to Edward. Ed doesn't want Bella to become a vampire even though she would (allegedly) make a very powerful one, while Aro should be obsessed with making Bella into a vampire because of her blood. I would also make it so that Aro's "wife" was once like Bella, with the same good smelling blood, and directly contrast Aro's sense of ownership over her with how Edward had been thinking about Bella.

This terrifies Edward who also has a deep talk with Bella and apologizes, and while Bella accepts it they still don't get back together because-

Bella always had more chemistry with Jacob anyway. They share interests and hobbies, they like talking with each other, Jake is someone she is good friends with and someone she really is going to miss when she dies and becomes a vampire.

Idc let the plot with the newborn army remain, but like make the talk about imprinting actually mean something. Maybe Jacob has already imprinted on Bella but he's keeping that shit to himself because he doesn't want to pressure her.

Maybe it all comes out while he's wounded and Bella finally tells him about what she has agreed to do.

And then the book ends with them both agreeing they don't want that to happen

There's a book 4?

So I have no idea what goes on in the end of the Twilight series.

There's a war?

But not actually because it was just a vision Alice had?

Um I think there is potential for some sort of actual battle between the Volturi, other vampire covens, and the werewolves.

Apparently according to the wiki Aro's wife is locked in a tower somewhere in a trance because he killed her sister? And she was upset about that?

Uhhhh maybe they decide to use that to spark some in fighting between the Volturi

Jacob and Bella can get married at the sensible age of like 25 in the epilogue

And Edward gets with someone else idk. Maybe one of the newborns from Vicky's army who he goes on a healing journey with.

meh that's what I've got. I still like the idea of Bella being into catching beetles and moths and that's why she's ok with being in the woods a whole lot but that's not super important.

I think it should sort of low key freak both Edward and Jacob out. But that's just my opinion~

[polyhexian]

Does Hunter know Boiling Isles sign language when Will first catches him or does he only do written communication with his uncle at first?

I actually think BI sign language would be structured quite differently from ours; magic can be easily used to support visual communication, and because magic is SO important here and uses ones hands, I don't think that visual language would develop the same way. Also, facial expression is super important in sign language. It's not like- vital. Native speakers can read just fine without it, but hearing people generally can't, not at length.

So will who wears a mask and has no natural magic and cannot let go of his staff to use magic and especially to use both hands- well, it's not conducive. Worse, the only people will regularly speaks to, Belos and public officials, do not, as far as we have seen, use any kind of nonverbal communication. And we know that- well, okay, disclaimer, I only actually have read about this in children and not in people who later became deaf or nonverbal and needed to learn sign language, young children learning asl as a first language very much adapt to the language around them. I recall a specific case of a young deaf girl with deaf parents who spoke in full ASL sentences at six, then began school at a deaf school, but because most of these children did not have deaf parents who spoke ASL as their primary language at home, the language used at school was significantly simpler, and her own language regressed dramatically to match those of her peers. This was bad enough they pulled her from school and homeschooled her.

Will isn't deaf, but without anyone else speaking ASL around him, or at least, very few, and the primary language all those around him being English/common spoken language, it IS going to affect his own vocabulary and natural speech. Most people around him he can't sign to because they wouldn't understand it.

All this is to say, I think it's very likely the form that sign language takes in the demon realm is both different from ours and extremely difficult for him to communicate in effectively AND he has very few opportunities to actually communicate that way. As a result, I don't think he actually signs fluently or even particularly well. In lament, I establish that will and Gus and Matt learned ASL from the human internet because it simply is far easier for will to communicate with, and he was just born so he doesn't have to RELEARN a new language, he didn't know BI Sign in the first place.

I know that's A Lot but I have a lot of thoughts. I write a lot of nonverbal characters and it's something I put a lot of thought into how I write it. I don't mention it too often but my brother is legally deaf and blind, and we knew he was mostly deaf before we knew he was mostly blind, so my family- well. Me and my dad spent a lot of time learning asl. Then we found out about his vision, which explained a lot about why he was struggling so much, and as he got older it became clear he did not have the manual dexterity to sign anyway. We got him one of those little tablet communicative devices just a few years ago, they're really expensive and it was actually bought by his school- like, people from the school, staff, personally donated money to buy it, it didn't come from the budget or anything. The government sucks. They don't help much. That's all a sidenote tho

So like I don't claim to speak ASL or anything, it's been a little over a decade since I gave up on learning it seriously. I'm left with a fairly rough understanding of syntax and a smattering of random words that have stuck in my brain. So that's all just a bunch of thoughts from my silly brain about Stuff and I hope it's parsable LOL

[flootzavut]

This is your irregular reminder that if you are frustrated with a fic not being finished with, it's not just probable but likely that your pet fanwriter is more frustrated with it than you could ever be. Be nice to your pet fanwriter, it's tough out there when the muse isn't talking to you & life isn't going well. Please don't assume we just don't care or have abandoned stories without saying so, & bear in mind that approaching comments with that attitude is also absolutely the worst way to achieve your desired result. Absolutely nothing is as dispiriting to me personally as getting a comment that's just complaining that something hasn't been updated, or badgering me about something that hasn't been explained yet.

That's not to say that you can't ask for updates! I love when people are excited to read more. Just don't demand, don't act entitled, don't assume your pet fanwriter just couldn't be arsed.

Ways to ask that don't make me want to throw something:

"I loved this story, I'm subscribing!"

"I can't wait to see what happens next, I really enjoyed XYZ thing that happened in this chapter."

"I'd love to see more in this 'verse, but I really enjoyed this."

"[if you're a writer, any kind of empathetic understanding that writer's block sucks]."

"[Almost any kind of real review] Looking forward to more/Can't wait for the next chapter!"

Basically, let your pet fanwriter know what you enjoyed, let them know that you're excited for more, but don't act like you paid them for a complete story and only got half. We write fanfic for free, for love of the show/book/media and for love of the fandom. We get paid in kudos and comments only. We have lives, some of them more conducive to turning out fic regularly than others. We too have been affected by the pandemic and other shit that's happening in the world.

And I cannot overstate this, so I'm saying it again: complaining, demanding, etc, do not get you the result you want. Well okay, there may be a few people out there for whom someone stomping into their inbox and going "WHERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER?" will work, but they're the exception, not the rule. I have talked with at the very least dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of fanwriters over multiple fandoms, and I've yet to meet one who gets a comment like that and is inspired to go to their word processor. At best, it makes them go "ahhh shit I guess it's been a while since I updated that"; at worst (and in my experience most common), it puts them off writing that particular story or possibly anything, because the only feedback they're getting is "not good enough, not fast enough, you owe me more" and that sucks.

(If you know the person very, very well and know they will take it as a joke or that they are one of the few who gets inspired by this, that's the exception, but don't do it on stories written by people who are strangers to you.)

Frankly, you're much, much more likely to prod your pet fanwriter into creating more by typing "♥️" and hitting the kudos button than by trying to guilt them into it. Guilt doesn't work. Encouragement does. If your desired end result is "they finish the story" then "why haven't you finished the story/where is the next chapter/update soon" is absolutely not going to achieve that. It's helping absolutely no one.

Train yourself to leave a heart or a "loved this, can't wait for more" or even just a kudos instead of a demand, and you at the very least have not made your fanwriter feel useless that day, and might have inspired them go back to the coalface.

At the end of the day, it boils down to treating your pet fanwriter as a human whose life probably doesn't revolve solely around updating the one fic you're obsessed with. Have a heart, that's all 🙂

[desertfangs]

How do you feel what the show is doing to the characters? Especially to Daniel?

Listen, I don't love it. But before I go on, let me just say this is my only my opinion and I'm not trying to steal your joy if you do! The show just doesn't work for me. If you want to know why, read on. Otherwise, feel free to scroll on past and don't let me yuck your yum. The first thing I heard about the show was actually that they were making Daniel an old man and it was going to be second interview and I was immediately wary. I mean, a second interview might neat but why does it have to be a mortal Daniel conducting it? Changing Daniel's story that much meant that Devil's Minion--the real, true-to-book Devil's Minion--could never happen. Armand's whole character arc in that section is learning to love and accept that he deserves loves and making the decision to turn and not lose Daniel. Daniel's whole arc is wanting immortality, falling desperately in love with an immortal, and finally accepting that he cannot have it and is willing to die at peace in said immortal's arms. None of that happens if Daniel is old now, end of story. No matter what the show does with flashbacks, whether or not it gives them time together than TV!Daniel has forgotten--forcibly or otherwise--that story is irrevocably changed.

But the trailer looked great!! I was willing to give it a chance. I'm also a huge fan of Lestat and Louis/Lestat was my first and formative ship in this fandom so I was willing to hear it out and see what story it was trying to tell. I figured yeah, it sucks that they've changed my favorite guy but maybe the rest of it will be good! I watched every single episode. But sadly, it just didn't work for me.

None of the characters feel like their book counterparts to me. Of course, your mileage may vary on that score, but to me, they don't have anything in common: their personalities, their motivations, their goals (such as we are given them, which I feel is quite lacking)... none of it lines up to me with the characters I've known and loved for so long. Louis is telling the story and I don't feel like I understand him in the show very well. Lestat is loathsome and hateful and doesn't even have a care for Claudia. Why is Armand pretending to be human? What game are they playing?

For Daniel in particular, Young Daniel seems lackluster and bored, trolling gay bars to score drugs and disinterested in his interview project, when in the book, Daniel the Reporter Boy is passionate about it, curious about people and their stories, respectful and gently prodding. TV!Daniel is angry and aggressive, rude and pushy. (The flashback bar scene in particular really felt like it lacked a complete understanding of what makes these characters tick, and then we got the Rashid reveal and it's like.. OK sure, but why should I care? Who is this guy?)

I don't recognize these characters or how they relate to each other. Add to that the way the timeline was totally changed and the fact that the lore feels very Generic TV Vampire rather than Ricean, and it's just not my bag.

I'm happy for all of the people who love it! I just cannot join you.

Thank you for the ask, anon, I have no idea if this is the answer you were hoping for and I'm sorry if not.

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Your post about how akgaes can’t be helped is so spot on. You put into words how I feel over all the current noise around BB, members’ akgaes fighting each other, and the growing number of mantis yelling from the rooftops “sabotage” or “company’s favourite.” People are taking personal offence to anything that they deem as unfair treatment to their bias when they don’t even know the full backstory. Instead of absorbing their bias’ words and actions, they write it off as “they’re too nice for their own good,” [insert member’s name] only has us so let’s burn this shit down until we get answers.” Everything is so black and white with these people like..am I the only one who sees shades of grey and understands that there can be actions/conversations/meetings going on behind the scenes that us fans may never get to see?

What I wish I could say to all these people is: “Not everything is a plain-and-simple attack against your bias. You and your bias probably have different opinions on how their careers should be handled. It’s easy to get sucked into radical thinking when you surround yourself in an echo chamber of solos/akgaes. Your bias is stronger than you think and are taking active roles in the way their careers are playing out. It’s not wrong to question how things are going with you bias as a fan but don’t go overboard in conspiracies and unfairly blaming other members for things that didn’t go the way you wanted it to.”

***

There’s levels to this and there’s more I could say to qualify and add to all you’ve said (for example, why the point you’ve made is consistent at the member-company level and not always at the team/BTS-industry level. And for the record I agree). But just as you didn’t need someone to hold your hand to reach this conclusion because you have the capacity to understand how everything that’s happening is still consistent with BTS maintaining control over their own careers, solos, shippers, and their diet versions arrive at their conclusions because they fundamentally lack that capacity because their inclinations trend towards victimizing the members. A minority of that subset could benefit from outlining the common logical pitfalls, but for most of these people they simply cannot be helped. I see them as dead weight that only serve as manpower for rote tasks like voting and streaming. I’m not interested in persuading or convincing anyone here. We’re all adults (at least most of us) and can think for ourselves to determine what makes sense and what doesn’t.

[korrasera]

svb & capitalist psychology

This single tweet is a good example of the psychology of capitalism, in which you can see a blind spot that capitalist true believers always seem to have.

They are always seeking to protect the capital, not the people and not our collective society. How does Bill Ackman's tweet demonstrate that? I'm glad you asked.

He thinks that this isn't a bailout because the company and the executives will take losses. This positions the depositors as innocents caught up in the failure of the bank. As though the depositors were just common folk who had their savings account there, surely you don't hold Joe Average responsible when the bank they're using fails, right?

The depositors are not Joe Average, they are companies with assets measuring in the hundreds of thousands of dollars at a minimum. Many had millions in assets in SVB and Circle had $3.3 billion banked:

The depositors are capitalists, meaning that they are investing capital in order to create profit. And while capitalists may describe it as a healthy competition, in reality capitalism is effectively a card game in which everyone is cheating.

When capitalists want to experiment with new strategies to make Even More Money Than Ever Before, they're gambling on an extremely large scale. It's a simple kind of bet, too.

On one side, their risk. Their idea might fail and they might lose everything. This is why you see capitalists learn how to save their money in overseas banks or report income in different countries, all to lower the amount of taxes they have to pay. This reduces how much risk they face.

On the other side, their profit potential. Their idea might hit it big and they might get even more goddamn wealthy. In other words, they profit. And just like you see them dodging taxes to mitigate risk, capitalists work to do everything they can to make that potential payout as high as possible. Things like charging customers additional fees, exploiting low cost labor markets (up to and very much including slavery), and literally killing, stealing, and lying whenever they need to.

The depositors were part of the same card game, just like the investors and the executives. Their money being invested in the bank was in turn being invested in other capitalist ventures. The interest rate the bank was repaying these companies was their cut of the profit from that process, just as surely as any direct sale of goods or services.

Like, I don't know if people really clearly understand how interconnected our world is, how our financial systems create a complex web of relationships. The capitalist mechanism functionally *is* capitalism, a web of profit generating mechanisms that specifically require and demand the exploitation of people.

The depositors are not innocents, they are accessories before the fact.

What protects Joe Average is that the FDIC ensures every savings account in the US for up to $250,000, so Joe Average won't lose his life savings, which would ruin a lot of working class and middle class people in the US.

The companies that are exposed and that want to be helped by the government are asking us, the collective us, to reimburse them when their company couldn't compete successfully and went under. And we don't even get anything out of it, it's not like this gives us a cut of the profits that they could make in the future, they just want the money for free because losing what they have sucked.

Since I'm long-winded and not great at making a point, here's the really simple version:

Capitalists see companies, capital, the entire structure of the system itself like they see their neighbor. Like a person. To them, they see a company as an individual who should be protected, and not as a part of the machine that grinds everyone down. They cannot see it systemically, they see it from an individualist perspective. At least, I think the vast majority of them do.