#like her entire thing was 'the emperor is helping and making this worse. people like him have shown me that humanity is disgusting

[colorsunlikeanythingseen]

What makes the tragedy of Jason's death so goddamn well written is that it is that there were three loopholes to his death prophecy, but for each of these loopholes to work requires people to be out of character.

The Syble tells Jason that if Jason and Piper went to find the emperor one of them would d__.

The first and most obvious way for Jason not to die is to simply not help Apollo and not go after the emperor. Unfortunately Jason is heroic. Even worse he never shirks his duties. He won't be able to overlook Caligula's crimes and turn away. It's not in his nature.

This book somehow, despite Piper and Jason breaking up, sold me on their relationship. Those two are ride or die for each other even if things are rocky right now. They aren't going to run and leave the other to face the emperor alone. Their friend might die anyway. Also Piper also gave me the impression that she believed they wouldn't actually die just like with Leo's death prophecy and the general lack of permeant death in Heroes of Olympus.

Now the third way Jason could have survived. Turning into a dog. You might be laughing but I am dead serious. Apollo, god of prophecy, brought up this possibility and while he might be grasping at straws this could easily work. Turning into a dog would allow Jason to dodge Caligula's blow, and in the confusion he has a chance to escape. This happening is entirely feasible in the pjo universe. It is extraordinary common for gods in myths to turn people into animals. It is confirmed that the gods are watching. It could happen.

Unfortunately, no god is going to interfere. Hera is on thin ice after the stunts she pulled in Hero's of Olympus, Zeus was throwing lighting bolt at her and not the giants he was so angry at her. I got the impression that it could easily be her thrown to earth not Apollo. Hera can't interfere without risking it all.

The minor gods won't disobey Zeus either even if it means losing a priest.

Zeus on the other hand can interfere he just won't. It would be a politically sound decision to save his son. Jason is the former leader of New Rome and current priest for minor gods. By saving Jason Zeus would regain the support from both demigods and minor gods that he is clearly lacking. The Olympian council would support this, this might help Apollo's quest so Artemis is on board, Hera's support goes without saying, Aphrodite daughter is also on the line here, and I can't think of a god that would oppose this. This isn't beyond Zeus's capabilities. He turned Thalia into a tree in similar circumstances. Blatant favoritism. There is a possibility that he just didn't think about it, but I really doubt it. Not only did Apollo bring up this as a loophole Athena is Zeus's advisor she would tell him it's at least a possibility. Zeus has a lot of flaws being an idiot isn't one of them. If he really wanted to save Jason he could have.

So why wouldn't he? Jason disobeyed Zeus standing up for Apollo when he was punished. Zeus really hates being disobeyed especially when it is a son doing it. He gets very paranoid about it in fact. Jupiter gave Jason to Hera/Juno and their only conversation is Jason questioning his father's decision in the coliseum. They do not have a close relationship. They have the least bonding moments of any godly parent beating even Luke and Hermes. Zeus doesn't care about Jason that much. It's not worth justifying the interference especially when his son is rebellious. His paranoia tends to make Zeus shoot himself in the foot.

Besides it's not like Zeus mourned his son's death or lost anything with his inaction. Hera mourned Jason, not Zeus.

The other thing that made Jason's death iconic is how it's effects are handled but that's another post.

[teddy-bear-queen]

Bro I have to say this I swear-

I see people trying everything to make it seem like Wukong is a lot worse then he is. I understand you like Macaque, I do too! But the entire point of their relationship is that they’re both in the wrong. The difference is, Wukong got, well, character development. It just feels super annoying to discredit Wukongs hard work in JTTW because of things he did prior.

I’m not saying Wukong is some saint, or an amazing person even while the story is taking place, but he is NOT as bad as some of the people in the LMK fandom make him out to be. I assume it’s because Macaque is the goth shy boy (/hj? /lh), but Macaque literally comes out just to manipulate MK and steal his powers. He’s making the exact same mistakes Wukong did, fighting for power so that he can protect himself. Get stronger. Etc.

Season 4 Special Spoilers:

I don’t think Wukong was ignorant in saying that Macaque doesn’t come to help him. I mean, he got beaten by the Jade Emperor and presumably everyone just left him there and ran off. I’d be pretty mad too. Of course, Macaque was hesitant to begin with, and that’s fair. But he was already there, he could’ve tried. But Macaque has a habit of shying away from fights, only really fighting others to settle a score (S1 E9) or if he has to (LBD arc - both working for and against her, but the S1 E9 relates here, too.) I’m not saying this as an insult, more of an observation. He’s not a coward by any means, a coward would be Peng, who leaves mid-battle in fear of being hurt or losing. Macaque finishes his fights (still knowing when it’s reasonable to retreat), but more often then not prefers to prevent them in the first place. (WHICH IS WHY THE DIVORCE SCENE HITS SO HARD, you know he’s been bottling that up ;v;)

ANYWAY back on topic. I definitely think everything Wukong said there was true. I don’t think he was trying to lie or manipulate Macaque by saying “everything I did was for us”. This is further confirmed when we see him later, tired and completely defeated.

He has nothing to hide here. He’s at his lowest point, stuck in a mountain, tensions high from being abandoned by his sworn brothers, being abandoned by people he held dear. Macaque was trying to be nice, but if I were stuck in a mountain and offered food from someone who left me in such a vulnerable state? I probably wouldn’t take the it either. ALSO. We still have NOT seen these things from Wukongs perspective! Every single time something is revealed from his past, it’s narrated by Tang, Azure, Macaque, etc. Wukong has never (from my memory) spoken about his trials first-hand. This is why I love the guy so much!! What’s going on in his head? How does he feel about these things?

These are such complex characters who have been through so much, so it really bothers me when people look at Sun Wukong and decide to demonise him because of the past which, not only has he moved on from, but we have never even seen his side of the story on. Why did he kill Macaque? Did he kill Macaque? (I’ve seen theories he didn’t, we don’t know rn tho)

Wukong went through a lot of pain to change. Wukong is haunted by his past and in genuine distress over it. You can’t tell me this isn’t a man filled with deep remorse for his actions.

He’s not perfect, but he’s a hell of a lot better. It just really frustrates me that people disregard and discredit the work he put in to get to this point.

THATS IT THATS THE POST

This is really disorganised I’m sorry, I just keep seeing people act like Wukong is the scum of the earth and I honestly just do not get it.

Please don’t send asks about this post, just reblog or comment.

I don’t want to deal with passive aggressive (or just straight up aggressive) people.

As a final note: No, Wukong is not perfect. He’s still a deeply flawed character even with his development. No, Macaque isn’t the scum of the earth. They both have their own problems and they both fucked up. They both did something wrong. That’s the point.

[cosmicmordecai]

In the Defense of Saw Gerrera......

Ever since I've rejoined the fandom few years ago, my blog gets notice for a lot of pro-Jedi arguments and sentiments but I don't always get the time to talk about another character in the franchise who gets grossly mishandled by fans: Saw Gerrera.

A lot of fans like to prop up his character as a showcase of "extremism" that makes the Rebels not the quissitessinal good guys and vindicate the Empire, giving them a legitamate reason why they do what they do.

Today, I'm going to call out some things I believe are important to remember about the character.

"Saw's methods hurts the Rebellion more than it helps"

I've seen this sentiment come up a lot, especially after his appearance in The Bad Batch. In canon, there are certainly people who think that, chiefly Mon Mothma (The Rebel Files, Rebels) but the consensus within the Alliance until it's official formation is that they cannot be picky and that he and his PARTISANS are KNOWN for getting jobs done.

And say what you want about his methods, but the Alliance themselves have more than one time asked for his help and even when they didn't like him whatsoever. And when they didn't, it hurt THEM badly.

In Leia: Princess of Alderaan, Bail is big mad because he killed Moff Panaka, believing he was more sympathetic and didn't like how it almost costed his wife/daughter's life (despite the fact the Partisans had no clue they were meeting). Despite all the hubup and Bail getting bigmad, it actually saved Leia, as he was about to reveal to the Emperor that based on the resemblance, she had to be Padme Amidala's daughter.

In Rebel Rising novel, Saw explicitly talks about how he doesn't like how they prioritize things but remain critical about his methods. One of his former Partisans, Idryssa, went to form her own group in the Rebel Intelligence but found when she wanted to help liberate Tamsye Prime of slavery, the Alliance High Command didn't believe it was worth their time to fight, prioritizing other unnamed dilemmas. She ended up going to Saw in hopes he could do a recon mission that'll give her valuable intellgience. He lambasts her for it, telling her it's ironic she had all the ideas to help the galaxy but could only hope people like him do the dirty work. For context, that part of the story is where Saw gets invited to the Alliance (despite doing the worse thing he's done in canon), which he accepts the mssion for FREE, and it is that mission that created the reason why Jyn was abandoned (ill get to that later).

In the episode "In the Name of the Rebellion" for Star Wars Rebels, the Jaliandi Station the Empire established essentially made it possible for the Empire to quickly respond to any distubances, including a mission Hera was on that was botched unexpetedly. The episode, while grooming over Gerrera's methods, also mentioned that he already warned them about it and they ignored it, paying the price for it. This stems from the fact all their tactics are going to, ultimately, come to a "peaceful resoultion". They also try salvaging this by wanting to plant a tracker so they can also listen into communications and adjust their strategy. Both Ezra and even Hera herself believe it's a damn useless tactic and destroying it was the best option. Plot tiwst: it was. Empire took a L.

Rogue One had a big point that the Rebel leaders were unwilling to act decisively and Rebels had shown that for YEARS, Saw warned them that the Empire were building a superweapon. The reason he wasn't listen to? According to The Rebel Files, Mon Mothma dismissed him entirely on grounds that it was too extreme even for Palpatine and that she doesn't like his line cynicism. It took confirming the Death Star to convince her and High Command to talk to Gerrera and/or take him seriously, who has since cut contact with them altogether.

The Bad Batch is the most recent of these examples as his attempt to kill Tarkin and higher up leaders of the Empire led to a series of events that cumilated to Tech's death and TBB's eventual capture. A lot fans wanna blame Saw despite the fact that they interrupted HIS operation and he was planning to assassinate both Krennic and Tarkin included. Tech has a "counterpoint" but as the audience, we know thsoe two are instrumental to the Death Star and given Rogue One's context, the Empire wouldn't have been able to have a Death Star BECAUSE the research on kyber crystals came from Galen, who was a FRIEND of Krennic (to an extent; Galen wasn't favoring him that had especially later), and after Order 66, a lot of experts on that field were killed or they hid because they knew anybody involved with Jedi was gonna get hunted too. Saw would of killed two importantfigures in the Empire in one fell swoop and lets not forget it was TBB that alerted the Empire in the first place and he was doing it in YEAR 2, when the Empire was still up and coming and had a leadership deficit.

Both the Rebels and TBB show gave counter points with comparing his tactics to instead using it to gather intel. I wanted to address the fact that despite what Tech and one of the guys in High Alliance state that ultimately, they were WRONG: the Jailandi relay being destroyed was a all out positive and Tarkin and Krennic's respecitve connections is what brought to fruition two big parts of the Empire and you couldn't replace the leadership capability Tarkin had. It is literally no surprise in canon, the Empire fell apart in 4 years even if they were close to winning but even in that timeframe, both Sidious and Vader had to be more direct in their approach and the galaxy was quickly against them.

One of the real reasons the Alliance had problems was because of their leadership; it was a known fact that in general and especially after Bail's death, High Command would only act dependent on Mothma or otherwise be indecisive and stall. Her core belief was on searching for a peaceful resolution and she stood on that hill to the point she ERASED Saw contributions while being okay with it if it were her friends that did it, as according to Bloodlines, there have been at LEAST 2 instances prior to the destruction of the Death Star the Rebellion under her leadership engaged in "terrorist tactics", one that involved slaughter.

In fairness, Mothma had a problem with her camp (Rebel Intelligence) using those tactics but at the end of the day, guess what? She endorced Draven, even when he got on his mysoginistic bullshit with Jyn. The Alliance's own propaganda department had to start lying/exageratting because they found out ignorant people will not listen to the truth (shocker). [Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy] And guess what? She signed off the destruction of the Death Star, which totalled to about 1.5 million deaths, the majority being civilians and low-ranking officers dedicated to maintaining it. (Bloodlines) Mothma spent YEARS ignoring, underplaying, and erasing Saw's influence, contributions, and her problem with him was personal, as essentially, she didn't like how Saw both underline the very methods she will have to endorce/support/perform one way or another and that his actions didn't benefit HER, as he was on that "IDGAF about her methods" team. All that and she ended up having to support doing the more morally repugnant things he said she would have to do.

In short? It's complex but Saw doesn't inheretly actually hurt the Rebellion in any special way, despite what the Empire propaganda in universe claims and some opinions of characters (typically Mothma).

"He is a short-sighted fool who just blows stuff up"

Another big claim I see fans put out here is that Saw lacks forsight and doesn't think things through. It's a hilarious thing because the "short sighted fool" was the only one who saw the the Death Star coming YEARS before anybody suspected otherwise. Characters spent so much time writing him off, trying their hardest to contend with it, and wanted so badly for him to just do things their way even when he told them they were fighting an enemy who plays dirty and didn't care about people.

Funny enough, Leia in canon (by the time she led the Resistance) doesn't actually hold too must amnimosity for Saw because at that point, the New Republic paid the price for playing with Mothma's mindset, the First Order took advantage of her compassionm, the Rebellion/New Republic's still possessed indecisiveness without a clear leader telling them what to do, and the Rebellion/New Republic did not learn their lessons when it comes with dealing with the Empire when they were the leading government. Leia had to create her own militia to fight the First Order and they didn't have no allies for a while. She actually thinks they owe him a lot (The Rebel Files)

Saw said it in Rebel Rising: it'll take a tragedy, the galaxy can't ignore it to get people actually united. And guess what? It happened...3 times over: the 2 Death Stars got people working together after the destruction of Alderaan (Jedha too except in universe, a lot people still bought Jedha being destroyed in a "mining accident") and Palpatine publically announcing himself alive was the only thing that got people to come together against the Empire/First Order/Final Order. The latter happened 35 YEARS AFTER HIS OWN DEATH.

I don't personally agree with his actual methods typically but lack of foresight my ass. Dude had foresight on a level comparable to a Jedi and he has no Force sensitivity. He called out the Death Star and knew what it'll take for the Alliance to get their shit together.

"He's a hot-head, self centered, paranoid leader who hurts his own allies"

I've seen a combination of things, especially regarding his character youthful appearances in Clone Wars/TBB, that suggest he is a hot-head, that he is paranoid (usually spoken in retrospect to his later appearances), and that he doesn't care for his allies. I've seen people in fanfiction try to say he burns people when they outlive their usefulness or claim he on'y is worried about his own skin.

That's especially not true. There's a reason why he parallels as a non-Force senstiive version of Anakin Skywalker; they are both hot headed, they are both competent leaders, they hate slavery and indentured servitude with a passion, their best trait is the care and compassion they have for others in which they subvert with logic and reasoning and it isn't always easy for them, and they are respectively feared in similar ways. With that said, there are some difference

Saw does possess compassion even with his darkness; he is willing to protect his Partisans and not risk their lives. Even though he loves them, he also KNOWS some of them are on that "Fuck them kids" team (which he is not all okay with) and typically tries doing good things for them, he "abandonded" Jyn (she knows why but she refused the explaination) because his own group were wanting to use her as a extortion tool for Galen, which didn't sit right with Saw. He genuinely likes Ezra and Sabine too. He likes Megyn. He was willing to help refugees displaced by the Empire way back since TBB. There's a reason for his own databank saying "Saw loses much in his decades of combat, but occasional flashes of the charismatic and caring man he once was shine through his calloused exterior". Even in his more morally bankrupt decisions like adopting Jyn as a child soldier, he explains he does it because he recognize that child innocence will not protect her from Stormtroopers and evil who don't care and rather teach her how to survive and fight for herself. And he genuinely teaches her everything he knows. She is a good foil for Leia for a myraidof reasons.

That man had inhailed Genosisian insecticide from a mission and chemical burns from saving Jyn's life and that man still fought. He apprently lost his leg the same year he died in and he was almost willing to keep fighting even when he was going off his rockers towards the end.

In all, it's again complicated when you get all things but he is not this cold man who abandons his allies at the first sign of trouble. He is one of the first original rebels, the Empire's most wanted person that isn't a Jedi or in the Alliance (tbf, he was dead then), and one of the most deadliest rebels the Alliance had without factoring in Jedi.

The real reason fans don't like him

Let be for real; a lot of people don't like Saw is because he parallels a lot with Mon Mothma, who is a white privilege woman who emobdies the traits associated with heroes (restraint with enemy, peaceful resolutions, "rising above to be better") though unlike Jedi, she is going to be judged differently because she won't have to worry about the responsibility of the Force and it's relation to a character's mindset. She is on the side of the protagonist whe emobody these similar traits so Saw is always going to be seen as "wrong", even when the good guys run headfirst into his methods like gundarks seeing headlights. That's not to say she doesn't have her own points, reasons, stife, and whatnot but fans in this fandom wanna side with "Mommy Mothma" for a reason.

Another reason is that he is a black character and unlike Mace Windu, he HAS crossed lines and does things morally repugnant and distasteful. That I will never argue. However, people love having black characters like that to vindicate and excuse their racist behavior; there were people on tumblr making actual comments about having a mob and lynching him after bein blamed for Tech's death and tried to pass it off as a joke. I have never seen peole wanna lynch mob Anakin Skywalker for killing younglings but they'll go talk about it for their residental, white-washed favorite boi (he's my favorite too btw) onto Saw and thought they were slick all the while pretend Tarkin isn't there or "Well he's a villain so it's expected". Got people out here making headcanons about how all the Clones hate Saw for what happened to Tech or xyz knows when most likely, they don't know or don't care like the way they think their faves would.

What personally frustrates me about this and why I'm invested in even calling this out is because, in all, this fandom will have people ask for nuance and looking at things beyond the surface but the moment the concept is rooted in ideas outside Western ideals or the character in question is a person of color or at least is "coded" as such, they lose their mind and spread the most surface level of misinformation and Saw is no exception.

Saw doesn't represent the favored protagonist; he does not follow their logic and mindset, isn't conventinally attractive to people in ANY iteration, and he is a BLACK MAN in a story about fighting oppression and tyranny using some of the Empire's curelty against them. It aint no surprise and yall not slick.

[justbookscatsandtea]

I got the feeling that people hate the arc in the mortal world where Yan Dan pushes Tang Zhou away after regaining her memories. But I have to say that I actually really liked that part ... I mean it was heartbreaking and I was somewhat frustrated but I also feel like it was necessary and beneficial for them in the long run.

After first regaining her memories, she was understandably upset because Ying Yuan did everything in his power to make her hate him so that she may have a future. She doesn't know that and her feelings of betrayal are valid (I do not blame Ying Yuan for his actions either. He had an abundance of horrible and worse options and tried to make the best choices. It might have been better if he and Yan Dan communicated more but I feel he was the only one who really grasped the enormity of the situation - that there was no way Yan Dan would have survived if he so much as hinted at caring for her - the emperor was on his case already). Anyway she feels betrayed and doesn't want to be with a man who could never love her (as he made her think) and could definitely never choose her. So pushing him away was her wish to save herself from future heartbreak. It also gave her time to come to terms with her feelings and to find out what really happened back then (like with the butterfly of hate but actually love).

Then comes the iteration where Tang Zhou does the unthinkable: he decides to choose her over his sect, over his martial arts, over everything that held importance in his life. I think that it did help her heal and see that duty is not more important to him than love. (Funnily enough I have the Barbie and the Pauper quote stucknin my head because of this show: duty is doing the things your heart might well regret. It just fits them so beautifully because honestly the duty of the Sovereign Lord alnost broke them both)

But then comes the most important part for her I believe - what she did not even manage to do in the heavenly realm as isolated as she was from the world up there: she understood what Ying Yuan meant to the world. That all her friends, her family, the people she loved needed Tang Zhou to become the Sovereign Lord again. He can choose his duty over her because the sect will be FINE. Sure they needed some help establishing themselves but ultimately they did not need Tang Zhou to lead them. The stakes were pretty much non-existent. This is not true for the world where a conspiracy 11 000 years in the making has already seen ENTIRE REALMS DESTROYED. He IS the powerhouse of the heavenly realm, the only one who can make things right. That is also the compromise they make at the end after all. AFTER fulfilling his duty and saving the world, he will leave for the mortal realm and they can be together. When the world is save to live in once again. And she needed to get to the point where she sacrificed the second part of her heart not only for love. The first half was mainly out of her love for him. Sure she thought that the heavenly realm might need him but the reasons where far more personal. Now she also knows that he NEEDS to be up there and make things right. In the end he sacrificed himself for duty and love for he had already hurt her with the demonic powers he cannot control and she choses to share his destiny which enabled them later on to be reborn together.

Another minor point is that she basically turned the Uno reverse card on him: now she will push him away for his own good. I think a part of her doesn't want him to choose between the world and herself again because it is at the end a cruel choice that will tear him apart no matter what. And she loves him too much to do that hence the compromise later on.

[waitineedaname]

inspired by @clearbun's post !

“You’re being a baby.”

“And you’re an asshole.”

It was humiliating just to hear himself speak. Greed the Avaricious, normally a presence that filled the room and a voice that commanded attention, was reduced to a pitiful croak under nine layers of blankets and pillows, made raspy by the gunk that coated his throat. He once had aspirations to be emperor of the world, and now here he was, incapacitated by a mild virus. 

Ling Yao, the Emperor of Xing, Greed’s best friend in the entire world, and most importantly, the absolute bastard who got him sick in the first place, was unamused.

“It’s just bronchitis.” Ling crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “I’m sure every child in Xing has had it at some point.”

“Do I look like a child to you?” Greed managed to unearth a hand from under his layers of blankets to hold up a finger. “Don’t answer that.”

Ling dutifully did not answer, but he did snicker, which was answer enough. Greed was going to throttle him once he felt well enough to stand for longer than forty seconds. “I brought you something to drink,” Ling said, because he was capable of being helpful. Greed poked a little more of his head out from under the blankets, then fully wriggled into a sitting position when he saw what Ling had brought him. He held the warm cup in both hands and took a long sip, letting out a contented sigh. Ling insisted it was just honey and lemon juice, but Greed was pretty sure it was the ichor of the gods, considering it was one of only things he could swallow without feeling like he’d attempted knife-eating again. He’d done that stunt precisely once in his life, and he decided it wasn’t worth the regeneration, even if it was funny to watch people’s reactions. This stupid sore throat was much worse, especially considering he couldn’t even make some dramatic performance out of it.

“Next time,” Greed rasped out between sips, “You should put a shot of whiskey in this.”

Ling smirked. “I’ll see what I can do. I think we’ve still got the bottle Ed sent.”

“You still have most of the bottle Ed sent,” Greed corrected him. He would know.

“I see you still haven’t had the tea my alkahestrists made for you.”

Greed glanced over at the now cold cup of tea on his bedside table, then back to Ling, eyes narrowed. “It smells weird.”

“Can you even smell anything? I thought you’d still be clogged up.” Ling leaned over in the chair he’d pulled up and inspected the tea. 

“I can smell enough to know that shit’s suspicious.”

“It’s not suspicious, Greed.” Ling sighed, exasperated. “It’s medicinal. Do you want Mei to come in here and lecture you into taking your medicine again?”

Greed grimaced. No, he did not. He loved the kid, really, but she could be damn persistent when she got down to business. Medicine was her specialty, after all. He’d thought she might actually stab him if he didn’t follow her bed arrest orders. Not that he needed much persuading; he’d nearly pulled a Ling and passed out in the middle of a hallway a few days earlier, and that had been enough to convince him he should probably be horizontal for a while.

“How are you feeling?” Ling asked. In the time it took for Greed to reflect on Mei’s potential lecture, he had stood and handed the tea to a servant in the hallway so it could be reheated, and he was back in his seat now. Out of all his symptoms, the brain fog might be Greed’s least favorite part of being sick.

“Terrible. Thanks for asking.” Greed attempted to slump back into his nest of pillows and blankets without spilling his lemon drink all over himself.

“I’m surprised it’s hitting you this badly.” Ling propped his chin up contemplatively. “It was just a mild cold for me, and I was better in a couple days.”

“Yeah, well,” Greed paused to cough his lungs out. Ling sympathetically patted his back. “You have experience being sick,” Greed said once he’d composed himself again. “I can’t exactly blast the illness out of me with the Philosopher’s Stone anymore.”

Ling hummed lightly in thought. A knock came at the door, and he perked up. “Enter,” he said. To their surprise, it was not a servant who popped their head through the door, but rather Alphonse, wearing a mask on the lower half of his face and carrying a bowl of soup. Ling zeroed in on the bowl like a bloodhound. “Ooh! Is that ginger garlic soup?”

“It’s not for you!” Al said, laughing. “It’s for our patient here.”

“Gimme.” Greed made grabby hands for it, only remembering to set aside his drink after extending his arms. 

“Such unfair treatment,” Ling complained half-heartedly. “Where was my soup when I was sick?”

“I know for a fact that you had people waiting on you hand and foot that brought you a barrel’s worth of soup,” Al teased, handing the bowl to Greed.

“What if I just wanted soup from my friend Alphonse, did you think of that?” 

“If you want soup so badly, go down to the kitchen. I think they have some left over.”

“Maybe I will.” Ling stood from his chair and straightened his robes. “This is perfect timing, actually. I had a meeting I needed to attend anyway. Greed, you’re in Al’s hands now.”

“What, am I being babysat?” Greed grumbled.

“Yep!” Ling sang cheerily. He grinned and waved at them both and was out the door before Greed could complain any further.

“Royal pain in my ass,” Greed muttered. Al chuckled and replaced Ling in the chair at his bedside. Greed took a long sip of the soup and groaned happily when the ginger immediately punched him straight in the sinuses. “Fuck, this stuff is good.”

“I thought you’d like that.” Al’s eyes crinkled above his mask. It finally registered in Greed’s mind that he was wearing it, and he gestured to his own mouth.

“What’s up with the mask? Hiding from the guards or something?”

“No, I’m pretty sure my hair gives me away to everyone in the palace,” Al admitted. “Being without my body for so long kinda destroyed my immune system, so I’d rather not risk getting sick. No offense.”

“None taken.” Greed waved him off, taking another sip of his soup. “Trust me, I’m beginning to understand why humans hate being sick so much.”

“You really ended up with the short end of the stick, huh?” Al said sympathetically. “A brand new human body, but it means you haven’t built up an immune system since childhood.”

“You’re telling me.” Greed sighed. “You know, this isn’t really what I had in mind when I asked how to get a body like yours back when we met.”

Al tsked. “The armor couldn’t get sick, which I guess was convenient. But it also couldn’t enjoy delicious soup.”

“Fair enough. I guess being able to have soup partially makes up for being able to get sick.” Greed clumsily guided the noodles towards his mouth with his chopsticks. Temporarily sated and sinuses feeling more clear, he sat back and smacked his lips. “So what’s the verdict, doc?”

“Well, I don’t think you’re gonna die,” Al declared brightly.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Greed said, tone dry.

“Are you still feeling feverish?” 

“Nah. I felt shitty when I woke up, but I think I’m past it now.”

“And you’re coughing phlegm up?” Al asked. Greed’s grimace was answer enough. “I think you’re probably past the worst of it. You might have a cough for a while, but you’ll probably be back to functioning in a couple days.” Greed sighed in relief, only for Al to ruin his mood by adding, “But I think you’re gonna have to drink the tea Mei prescribed you.”

Greed groaned. “But it smells like dirt!”

“There are lots of nutrients in dirt!” Al said cheerfully. Greed narrowed his eyes at him.

“Are you fucking with me?”

Al grinned and didn’t answer his question. “I’ll ask Mei if we can add other helpful herbs to mask the taste. How’s that sound?” Greed grumbled and slumped lower in his blanket mound, but he didn’t argue further. Al took his bowl and put it on the bedside table beside his lemon drink. “I have to head to the library, but Mei will probably be around in a couple hours to check on you. Get some rest, alright?”

Greed grunted and gave him a thumbs up, already struggling to keep his eyes open. The satisfying warmth of the soup in his belly and the coziness of the softest pillows in the palace (he checked) were conspiring against him to make it nearly impossible to resist taking a nap. He was pretty sure he heard Al snicker at him, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care. Having a human immune system sucked ass, but at least he had his people looking out for him. Being human wasn’t all bad.

[mdhwrites]

Why the Name Belos?

So this isn’t entirely criticism with some research and more of a showers thought sort of thing but it started with me realizing that Belos could have foreshadowed something... And didn’t. I’ll reveal it after getting into what his name actually means.

So Philip genuinely is just a basic bitch, English name. It means Friend of Horses which we never see anything of. Wittebane is actually obvious if you think about it as yes, it does in fact translate either to ‘White Tormentor” or to “Witch tormentor” if the Wiki is right at least. That’s pretty standard and the like so *shrug*.

But then there’s Belos. The name he gave himself. Now there are three ways to interpret it. One that theoretically takes into account his background, one that fits the same way Wittebane does and one that I think fits both and is a lot more sly. First: Belos is from the New Testament to mean “Javelin, Dart, Arrow, a missile”. This is why it’s more just “This does fit for his background as a religious extremist but not really for deeper meaning.” He isn’t very direct or targeted in his methods after all. This meaning would be a lot better if he were a specter, assassin, or just did a lot more of his dirty work himself to reflect the single purpose and single target drive of the items it correlates to. One could claim he has the singular purpose but even that isn’t just about murdering witches as he does reveal his goal is as much about titles and fame that it will gain him back home or else he wouldn’t care when Luz gets the title wrong. Also he’s just really bad at his goal so that also hurts the case.

The one the wiki states and that a name definer relates it to is an Ancient Greek term for Lord or Ruler. It’s like when Toriyama named the god of his world Kami. It does work, even if bluntly (though I’ve used the same sort of trick to inspire names I’ve used before) and it is imposing and it fits his egotism. Kind of my only real issue is that while he does become the emperor... His goal isn’t conquest. It’s murder. Worse yet, it’s not like the people of the Isles would know what it meant so it means nothing to them and doesn’t have a double meaning except for making title “Lord Lord” and Belos doesn’t seem like the one to want his name to be a literal joke. Why not make it a sly warning then? Have the people call him what would eventually doom them all?

So here’s the third way: Phonetically what it sounds like. Belos is pronounced effectively the same way as Bellows. You know, those things you use to strengthen and stoke a fire in a furnace. Or a pyre perhaps? And this was the shower thought: Why wasn’t Belos’ big final move fire? It is his backstory that he is a WITCH HUNTER. Witches weren’t just shot or the like on the spot. They were burned. Or stoned admittedly I believe but famously they were mostly burned.

Why not burn away the Isles, with his power, influence, etc. like that as the bellows that helped stoke the fire that saw it all burn away? If you want to go more metaphorically, why not fuel the flames of rebellion? He clearly didn’t have the most amount of control over his lands despite being a tyrant, or told to us to be one since his actions don’t actually correlate with one, so he could have been trying to make a rebellion happen. Killing Eda, the most famous wild witch, and petrifying her could do both. Solidify the terror in believer’s hearts while also enraging those who believed this was too far.

Of course that would have required everyone rallying to Eda to actually make... sense at the end of S1? Like this isn’t a desire that’s unfounded due to S1′s finale very much so feeling like it’s setting up for the entirety of the Isles to rebel against Belos when that never happens. Of course, the claims even in the show are pretty fucking weak. Like for this crime to be unjust, Eda would have to not be a know, actual criminal who did do more, at least supposedly, than just being a wild witch. She would have actually had to have had allies and friends and not been a complete bitch to literally everyone she met, including Luz and King for the first half of the season, for the entirety of S1.

Again, as far as the name goes, it’s fine. Belos works as just being a cheeky reference to him being the Lord of the Isles and it fits the general naming scheme of TOH. King is literally a King of sorts. Luz was at the beginning the light of the show and looked like she was meant to bring light to a dark place which... Yeah, that’s a different blog. Amity is amicable (as well as maybe Amityville?) very quickly and that closeness feeds into her being the love interest. Even Willow is named after a tree that is known to look sad and pathetic while being actually really strong.

It’s just interesting to me that a witch hunter’s name coincidentally also sounds like something that helps fuel fires. You’d think that’d be on purpose or someone might have noticed, though admittedly I didn’t until today so *shrug*. Again, not the biggest deal in the world, just kind of started making my brain buzz a bit.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[blackjackkent]

All right, time to find out what Voss has in mind for us if Lae'zel is ready to throw her lot in with him.

"You must hear me, devil. I will do whatever it takes, give you anything you ask!"

"There is only one thing in this world that I desire. You do not have it, and you never will."

...OK, I'll admit I didn't see that one coming.

Neither did Lae'zel. "The kith'rak?" she hisses. What deal would he make with this devil?

"You must help me, Raphael," Voss pleads again. He looks absolutely terrible, much worse than when Hector saw him last. There are two fresh scars across his left cheek, like the marks of a clawed beast, and a more varied mottling of bruising and scratches. And the desperation in his eyes does not match the cool confidence that marked him before. "For the sake of my people."

Raphael on the other hand looks entirely unchanged - the cool sneer and keen eyes. "Hush now, Voss," he says casually. His eyes flick to Hector and his smirk deepens. "These guests may not know it yet, but they want the same thing that you do. And unlike you, they have something of value to offer in return."

Voss seems not to have noticed their arrival, but now spins and fixes his eyes on Lae'zel.

"Lae'zel," he says, eager, almost ingratiating, and certainly agitated. "T'lak'ma Ghir - the devil holds the key to freeing the gith people. Right here, right now, you could seal our fate. Whatever you discuss with the devil, I must hear of it. Find me below in the taproom once you're loosed from his claws."

Lae'zel says nothing. Her expression is unreadable, but Hector can see the wheels turning in her head, the battle between doubt and certainty.

Voss waits a moment. Then, receiving no response, he turns and stalks out.

Raphael smiles jovially, turning fully to face them. "I'm glad you came," he says with a smooth grin, spreading his arms. "Not to my door, not yet, but to the final reckoning." He pauses, looks them up and down thoughtfully for a moment.

"One more thing, before we begin, though."

He raises his hand, snaps his fingers once sharply.

And then... silence.

True silence, for the first time in months. The neverending overwhelming tapestry of voices from the city outside fades... and with it, the more subtle but equally omnipresent battle constantly at work within Hector's own mind.

Narrator: For the first time since the nautiloid, your mind is clear. It's... unsettling.

Hector draws an unsteady breath in and closes his eyes, focusing inward on that silence for a moment, relishing the ease with which he can center himself. It has been a long, long time since he has felt such peace.

Part of him wants to bask in it. It feels sent by the goddess herself, a net of Selune's warmth and safety protecting him from the assault of the world. But he has to remind himself that it is not Selune's doing, but Raphael's, and that makes it inherently suspect.

He opens his eyes and stares at the devil guardedly. "I feel... empty. What did you do?"

Raphael smiles icily. "I gave you back your privacy by shutting that illithid in your pocket out of your mind. It can't hear us."

Hector goes very still.

Those two sentence from Raphael carry a lot of meaning under them. Raphael knows the guardian is the Emperor. Raphael has the same power that Orpheus has. That everpresent drone of noise in Hector's mind is not from the tadpole alone but from the Emperor's influence as well. Raphael stands against the Emperor's agenda and speaks of it with disdain - but Raphael's own agenda is still no clearer.

"Huh," Karlach mutters. "What's the catch."

Had Raphael tried to pull this trick several months ago - before the guardian's disguise had slipped - then Hector might very well have told him to take a walk; he trusted the guardian more than he trusts Raphael. But he trusts the Emperor considerably less, and if Raphael stands against him, then perhaps he merits at least listening to.

"Then speak freely," he says warily. "Tell me why you brought me here."

Raphael seems to relax almost imperceptibly. "I brought you here because I'm true to my word," he says. "And I can make all of this tadpole business go away, which means you and your lovely friends can remain blessedly free of tentacles."

He takes a step towards Hector, who holds his ground in spite of the uncomfortable invasion of his personal space. "Let us speak plain," the devil says smoothly. "I'll admit - you've impressed me. I wasn't sure you'd make it this far. But no matter how far you come, you're still on the road to ruin - a road that leads directly to a confrontation with the elder brain. At best, it will kill you and everyone else in this city. At worst, it will assimilate you, and you won't have enough free will left to even *wish* you were dead."

Hector feels a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach as this implacable description proceeds. It's not new information, but on Raphael's lips it takes on a new sense of reality and life that chills him to the bone. He swallows, willing his face not to show the fear in his gut, though it almost certainly doesn't matter. Raphael, he's sure, can sense weakness and vulnerability like a hunting dog going for the throat.

Raphael tilts his head to one side and folds his arms. "You have the key to destroying it in the palm of your hand, though," he finishes, his eyes flicking to the pack on Hector's hip.

"The Astral Prism?" Hector says slowly.

"In a manner of speaking," Raphael answers with a casual shrug. "But it's the one inside the Prism that you need. Not the illithid - the gith. I can give you the means to break him free."

"Speak, devil," Lae'zel cuts in sharply. "We're listening."

Hector looks sideways at her. The young gith soldier is looking at Raphael with unusual keenness, even for her. Her fists are clenching and unclenching repeatedly at her sides, betraying hidden agitation.

"Go on," Hector agrees.

"The Orphic Hammer," Raphael says. "An artifact capable of shattering the chains that hold Prince Orpheus is held securely in my House of Hope even now."

Hector's jaw works thoughtfully. That very much is something that he is interested in, for Lae'zel's sake and his own - although he still isn't clear on what will protect them from the Absolute if the Emperor isn't doing it. But... this is Raphael, a devil who is absolutely offering this for his own reasons, not out of charity. "It's very convenient that you have exactly what I need," he says carefully.

"Isn't it just?" Raphael says brightly, his eyes hard. "And it's even more convenient that you can give me exactly what I want in return."

"There it is," Karlach mutters darkly. "Of course."

Hector draws a slow breath, lets it out, tries to remember everything he's read, everything he's learned from interactions with Mizora and the orthon, about dealing with devils. "I suppose you want my soul in exchange for the Hammer?" he says, tone scrupulously even.

Raphael laughs sharply. "You really do think highly of yourself. My sights are set on something much more valuable than your soul - succulent though it would be." He meets Hector's eyes squarely. "I want the Crown that dominates the elder brain."

Ahhh... Of course. Perhaps he should have seen it coming. The Crown of Karsus, the artifact with which Gortash and the others harnessed the brain into their false god... it is one of the great mysteries of this whole business, and without question powerful beyond belief. Hector certainly doesn't want it for himself - but he can't imagine Raphael's plans involve using it for anything good.

Raphael can clearly see Hector's hesitation, because he immediately pivots, talking past him towards Lae'zel, who is almost vibrating with the intensity with which she is listening. "And you, Lae'zel of K'liir, want to free the forgotten prince, do you not?"

"I want nothing more," Lae'zel hisses.

Raphael smiles. "Then it is settled, is it not? A Crown for a Hammer. A bargain of a lifetime, Lae'zel of K'liir."

Hector puts out a hand before Lae'zel can answer and agree to something binding. "I'm tempted," he says slowly, "but tell me why you're so eager to get hold of the crown."

Raphael smiles broadly. "I have craved it ever since the archwizard Karsus created it, long centuries ago, and brought doom to the empire of Netheril. That was the great age of humanity, and Netheril's flying sky-cities were the apex of civilization." He tilts his head nostalgically. "I was there the day it all fell apart. Entire cities plummeted from the sky, like angels with broken wings. The screams... oh, the screams - hundreds of thousands of people watching in horror as the ground came up to meet them." He laughs with cold pleasure. "It was not a happy meeting."

Hector swallows. Gale has told him of some of this, of course, but Raphael once again is giving it a far more visceral touch, an image he can almost picture despite it being centuries before he was born. An image of pure terror and destruction.

"And Karsus was responsible," Raphael goes on thoughtfully. "Not driven by malice, but by ambition. He forged a Crown imued with all the powers of magic, a Crown that would make any who wore it a god. Men cannot contain so much power. The crown destroyed its creator, and his empire fell with him."

He spreads his arms in a dramatic, all-encompassing gesture. "Karsus's Folly, the bards and scholars call it. I call it hope. The hope of creating a better world, and the perils of unchecked hubris. I knew then that the folly of mortals could be the triumph of devils, and that I could use that crown to unite the Nine under one Archdevil Supreme. Me."

The silence that follows this dramatic pronouncement is broken by Karlach laughing - softly, bleakly, without humor.

"Zariel wouldn't like that much. But even I'm not so desperate to spite her I'd put the Hells in this bastard's hands."

Hector is inclined to agree with her.

"The idea of you ruling all Nine Hells doesn't fill me with joy," he says slowly.

Raphael's smile fades. He answers soberly, "The Hells require order to function. It is what separates us from mortals and demons. With the Crown, I would impose perfect order. Unity, efficiency, control. My kingdom would control its borders and stay within them."

Hector isn't sure that sounds very good to him - although if it kept Raphael to himself and out of the material plane, there is perhaps something to be said for that. But more to the point - Raphael is absolutely capable of lying with a straight face. Everything he is saying is automatically suspect.

...But they do need that hammer...

"Where has the crown been?" he asks, stalling for time while trying to get more information.

"Hidden," Raphael says. "The archdevil Mephistopheles snatched up the Crown and squirreled it away in one of his vaults. He's naught more than a frigid archivist. So much power and potential kept inert. He made a miracle into a museum piece." His voice resonates with uncharacteristic icy fury-- then calms again. "I raged, but only for a decade or so. Then I waited, ever-watching, for more than a thousand years, for a mistake, a mishap, a misadventure. And these *Chosen* who have caused you so much trouble accidentally did me a favor. They brought the Crown back into play."

So many tangled threads. So many forces, all with their own agendas, all crashing together in this horrible mess, and Hector is caught in the middle of it, trying to sort out which threads are safe to pull. "It must really annoy you that some mortals managed to steal the Crown when you couldn't," he can't resist saying. He hears Karlach snort softly behind him.

"Yes," Raphael snaps irritably. "It does. Especially when I see what a bloody mess they've made of their whole scheme. They must have raided Mephistopheles' vault. Impressive, I must admit. But they'll be dead soon." He smirks again. "If you don't kill them, the elder brain will. It doesn't have feelings in the way you'd understand them, but it seems rather angry."

He crosses his arms again, clearly reaching the end of his patience for this conversation. "It is inevitable. When you destroy the brain - and you will, because you must - the Crown will be yours for the taking. And when that moment comes, you give the crown to me. In exchange, I give you the Hammer now."

Narrator: A simple transaction, it seems - but it's more than that. He's offering you an alternative to the mind flayer in your head. Take Raphael's deal and you could free Orpheus. With Orpheus free, you would have no need to rely on the Emperor... but there's no guarantee that Orpheus would be on your side. And if you take the deal, you'll have to fulfill it. You'll have to deliver the Crown of Karsus to the Devil himself. He claims his ambition is to unite the Hells - but can he be trusted to stop there? Do you trust him more than you trust the Emperor?

"Tsk'va," Lae'zel snaps eagerly. "We should do as the devil asks. The prince of the comet must rise again!"

But Hector can see Karlach out of the corner of his eye. He can see the troubled expression on her face, the slight, urgent shake of her head. And he knows they are thinking along the same lines. Raphael is, perhaps, less of an immediate danger to them than the Emperor - a slightly more comprehensible force than the isolated mind flayer with its own agenda. But he is not trustworthy.

Hector does not want to give him the crown. But he does still want the hammer. And one important thing has still come out of this conversation - they know where it is: at the House of Hope, in the Hells.

That means they have other options than the one Raphael is giving them. And all of them start with walking out of this room, going to find Voss, and making a new plan.

"No deal, Raphael," he says firmly. "I'm leaving."

Raphael smiles slowly, lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "I won't stop you," he says mildly, but there's an undercurrent of threat in the words. "But time is running out, so don't stay away for long. If you see reason, I'll be here, waiting - right up to the moment the world ends."

[kiwikipedia]

15 Lines Game

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture their character/personality/vibe. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well.

Tagged by @purgetrooperfox hoo hee

not tagging anyone but anyone is free to do this :)

“You’ve been starin’ down at your drink for like, ten minutes. The ice melted. Here, just take this one.” Sylv tapped the new glass and Fox glanced at the one between his hands— True to her words, the ice to his drink had melted to nothing.

“You two better not be breakin’ my shit in there, Enbo!"

“Dex is an old god," Sylv scoffed, holstering her blaster as she glanced at Nomi. "He can take care of himself. He knew the risks of staying.”

“You should get out soon, though, I have a feeling it's only going to get worse. We still don't know why the Clones flipped their lids and why the Senate declared the Jedi traitors.”

“How is it that we always end up in this predicament?” she complained, shaking her head a bit as they ran.

“If you forgot, you fucking dumbass, toxins have no effect on me,” she said simply with a roll of her eyes. “And that includes Dioxis."

“He’s dropped by the Clover before. Saccha doesn’t like him, neither does Ajina. I don’t think Charlotte does either, but that’s besides the point,” she hummed, pulling the silver lighter out from her coat pocket. “The point is he’s acting different than he usually would. Keep an eye out.”

“Betcha Eval gets off to watching shit like this then!” she hummed as she moved out of the way of another deadly spike.

“Let’s get out of here, Embabe,” she hummed, making him chuckle a bit. “What? I don’t want to end up like Onca and Kiara, the boss wives wouldn’t like that very much and I have things to do back at my place!”

“You’re just acting weird is all,” she hummed, brushing a bit of dust off of her coat. “Hey, Embo. Welcome to the party.”

“But it’s only a fifty-fifty shot,” Sylv chimed in, “Let’s hope your gamble is correct, if not we’re throwing you through and hoping your body hits the switch instead.”

“I’m a bartender, I help people. I have things to do and would like to be out of here quickly. This entire thing is a waste of time.”

“As soon as his precious emperor is gone, Vader’s like a rabid dog without a leash."

"White Clover is open to anyone, Republic or Separatist, Senator or Clone. As long as you don't cause problems, I don't care," Sylv said casually, as if she hadn't just stabbed the spot between Obi-Wan's fingers with the massive knife she had been using to cut fruit. "This is my Bar, my rules. Deal with it."

"Yeah well, Morrak listens, you don't. Therefore, he's my favorite between the four of you here."

Emilia's below the cut because I love her

“Depends on how mad you all make me,” she mused. “But I know as soon as we’re in the clear, I’m taking a small break. Heading out to Germany to check on Kimberly’s husband and family.”

“But I've lost people under my care. It’s not a good feeling when so many wounded are pouring in. But I didn’t have time to stop, it was only after the fighting had ended that I could process it. Dazed and not totally there for me, I think I cried sometime in that time span."

“It’s not like we can do anything about it, though,” she told them, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Big wigs decided it all. If you’re that cautious then come meet him when he lands.”

“Standing around, König?” Emilia asked, tone flat and as dry as the desert they were in.

Emilia looked back at the door, before shrugging. "Door's broken. Truck's broken. We're working on it."

"I used a dose of horse tranq because thats what it takes to get Grinch down. Don't tell Sandman."

"Look, I'm not even 141, I got my boys to take care of and some British SAS to hunt down, here's more tranq syringes, and now I'm leaving forever," Sturgeon huffed, handing Roach a case that was likely full of the said tranquilizers.

"Alright, I'm done here. Someone tell Nocte not to look for me if he needs something," Emilia said, handing her pack over to Seowoo "I'm walking into the woods and if I'm not back before nightfall, I have fallen into a quagmire and died. Goodbye."

"The 141 went where? Jesus, why am I not surprised that Price ended up in a Gulag... not our problem, though, Overlord just sent over new orders for us."

"I never pinned you for a coward, and yet here you are, crawling back to the people who thought you were dead because you ran away."

"Oh feel free to tell Nightingale about the bullet in your arm, just get ready to head back home because he will be removing that arm from your body. It's your choice."

"Pack it up, boys. Lee's taking us all to wafflehouse as soon as we're boots back on US soil. And I know Sandman hates wafflehouse."

"Some days, I wonder, if I should've asked those bastards to just shoot me in the skull instead of assuming I'd bleed out and die," Emilia sighed, setting her drink down as she sat. "Because watching this soap-opera? Worse than death."

"Hey, props to the 141 for being forced to watch all this shit up close, but that's as far as I'm gonna give it. Because if I see those two acting like lovesick puppies, I'm gonna take Ghost's balaclava and puke in it."

"Did I just give you the little blue pills with the imprints K 85 on them? Because if so, see you later space cowboy. Enjoy that nap.”

[artzychic27]

Morning! And I love Mom!Bustier. But consider this; Caline is Nathanial’s mom, but in the SB&IB AU.

Got any ideas or scenarios for that?

Let's see...

We're not killing off the lesbian and pansexual, because there have been enough queer deaths in this lifetime.

Let's make Nathaniel a bullying target at school

Here, Caline Kurtzberg-Bustier is trying her hardest to help her son, but with that asshole in office threatening to get her fired and blacklisted through Damocles, she can't do much because she loves teaching

And it's her only job experience

Nathaniel's been Chloé's bullying target since they were three because she saw him as easier to mess with than Marinette

And because of his antisocial nature, this makes him bait for other bullies, mainly the kids with influential parents who threaten his mother's job by complaining to Damocles about her physically abusing them in class

To them, it's easy to pick on someone who won't/can't do or say anything... Bastard cowards.

His classmates don't do anything because they don't feel like fighting with those students and he assures them that it's okay, and they believe him.

They don't feel like terrible, horrible people every time he comes in looking like hell because he didn't get enough sleep because some asshole jock forced him to do his math homework

And Alix and Marinette aren't there to help out because Chloé pulled some strings to get them sent to a dormitory school for troubled teenagers after they assaulted her for pouring juice on Nathaniel when they were ten

Now no one has the courage to stand up for Nathaniel, not even going so far as to talk to him. He just blends into the back drawing, and when he gets home, he cries into his pillow

Then one weekend, he's out shopping for art supplies when he spies two things in the display window of a thrift store. They are simple brooches. Still, he buys them

He puts them on, Nooroo and Duusu appear and gives the run-down once Nathaniel has stopped panicking

Nathaniel is thrilled because finally, something good in his life has happened, now he has friends to talk to, and he has powers... However, good things don't last

On Monday, Mme. Bustier, sleep deprived and stressed admonishes Chloé in front of the entire school for having Sabrina do her homework, and in turn, Chloé has Damocles fire her. However, many of the teachers threaten to quit, so Damocles suspends her for a month without pay

And to make matters worse, some assholes post bad reviews about Aya's diner and it causes a health inspector to come. It's going to take a while before people can trust the food again

Finally having enough, Nathaniel snaps and disregards the Kwamis words about how the Miraculous is not to be used for evil. Nathaniel, still angry, forces them to stay silent as he transforms into Blue Emperor

Nathaniel is quick to create a senticreature to destroy the home of one of his tormentors, and when the deed is done, he can't bare the thought of destroying his creation, so he stores it in his fan

The sentimonster catches the attention of one Wang Fu, so he passes the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous along to... Let's say... Reshma and Ismael, cuz why not? Plus, no love square.

Blue Emperor only becomes more brutal with his attacks when Spotted Threat and Catra make their appearance. Also, he needs to take his anger from school out on something

Keep in mind, Blue Emperor doesn't hurt anyone younger than him (15)

And while his mothers are still temporarily out of work, Nathaniel decides to be of some assistance and has his senticreatures rob Chloé. He tells his moms the money came from art commissions, and he just loves how that put smiles on their faces. But he's only just getting started

He sends his previous senticreatures and an Akuma to storm city hall (I know, poor choice of words) and gives the mayor an ultimatum. Resign, or he will burn the building to the ground

Spotted Threat and Catra arrive on the scene and purify his Akuma, but in the process of Blue Emperor getting his senticreaures to safety, they purify one in the process, basically killing it in his eyes

So, now it's personal

Ever since the death of his senticreature, Nathaniel's been more withdrawn than usual, worrying his mothers. At school, his mood becomes worse when one of his bullies decides to take his anger out on him after he was targeted by a senticreature

And once again, Nathaniel snapped, gave the guy a verbal lashing that was like a psychological attack, and got detention. Little did he know, this got the attention of one impressed writer

So, after serving out his detention, Blue Emperor decides to have a sentimonster pay Damocles a visit. And if people are suspicious, he'll just put on a meek demeanor like, "But how could I have done that? I don't have powers or the money to pay anyone."

One day, when he hears Nathaniel didn't come to school today, Marc offers to drop off his homework. It'll give them a chance to talk, and maybe he can apologize for being a bystander for so many years

But when he walks into Nathaniel's room, he doesn't expect to find him talking to two colorful sprites about him being Blue Emperor!

Marc panics and is about to run and tell someone, but,

Nathaniel: Marc... I am nothing but a loving son trying to help his mothers while also teaching certain people a lesson or two. Besides, you know they deserve what I've done- The Mayor, Damocles, Chloé, all of them.

Marc: ... You're hurting people.

Nathaniel: It's best not to think of them as people. Besides, I make sure my Akumas and senticreatures don't hurt any civilians. They've done nothing to wrong me, so I have no reason to harm them. So... You can run out that door, tell people what I'm doing, and leave my mothers sobbing and wondering where they went wrong as the city treats them as pariahs. Or, we can make this our little secret. Besides, I could use some help taking care of my senticreatures... So?

Marc: ... Nobody needs to know.

It was close to the middle of the school year when Marc, Nooroo, and Duusu start to become more concerned about Nathaniel. The Kwamis explain that overuse of the Miraculous combined with Nathaniel's mental state has corrupted him

He becomes braver, fights back more, physically stronger, and even his appearance as Blue Emperor changes a bit. He uses his abilities to read people's emotions to his advantage and tortures his bullies so they're too scared to report him

Having seen enough, Marc resorts to taking the Kwamis and running but only manages to get Duusu before Nathaniel transforms, this time into his fully corrupted form and he proceeds to make an army of Akumas to ravage Paris

... Did I just make a whole-ass au?... I did.

[ladystrallan]

About George hate (again)

I’ve noticed a lot of George hate in the fandom. People saying that she is a bitch, two faced, a terrible person. I think the hate for George is entirely unwarranted, especially given the lack of hate for characters like Peter and Marial. George’s biggest ‘crime’ in the show was sleeping with Peter while married to Grigor. Even though this is bad, and she should not get a free pass for this, I think people tend to disregard two things. One, the implication that since Peter was emperor during the affair, George might not have been in a position to say no to him. The second is Peter’s part in the affair. People hate George for cheating on Grigor, but don’t hate Peter for continually sleeping with his best friend’s wife. I think that is an equally bad thing to do and it is sexist to hate George for her part in the affair but not Peter. I don’t think they ever loved each other romantically, but that’s another thing. George has never done anything worse than other characters like Marial and Peter, yet she gets a disproportionate amount of hate from the fandom. Cheating on her spouse? So have Peter, Catherine, Marial, and Grigor. Going against Catherine? So have Peter, Grigor, Marial, and Archie. George is smart, uses what she can to keep her position in court (and her husband’s position), and even helps Catherine on multiple occasions. George has never thrown her two best friends (Peter and Grigor) under the bus, unlike Marial, who lies to and betrays Catherine, her ‘best friend’, any time it benefits her. I think George was actually a good friend to Catherine this season and I would love to see their friendship developed further. George would be a good person for Catherine to have on her side and use strategically. I felt really bad for George this season since she lost everything she once had (her husband, her position in court, Peter). We also found out that George was also “messed with” by Simitz when she was a kid. This is in addition to her late father’s gambling and the trauma she has from that. George is my favourite character in the show and she is so much more complex than people make her out to be. I think she deserves more love from the fandom, or at least less hate.

[fantasyinvader]

I think another thing is that if we look at Hopes, it's not really flattering to Edelgard. Like, if you take it out of the vacuum and place it with the rest of the Fodlan stuff, it's something all right.

Hopes is more upfront about what she's doing. This is her war of conquest, and while TWSITD may have played a role in corrupting her and pushing her down this route, she was going to do this with or without their help. She wasn't being controlled by them, as we see that they could have done that at any time. Likewise, removing that corruption and reverting her back to the girl she once was, turning her into a straight up victim, results in practically an entirely new character. The only way for another lord to work with her is to rewrite Claude into being a villain as well as out of character. Her army is the most brutal, slaughtering everyone who doesn't submit and takes no prisoners. There's no evidence linking Aegir to the experiments, and she allowed a devoted follower to be sacrificed to TWSITD when she could have stopped it at any time. She also knew about the plan to turn people into monsters. This is not a war of liberation, this is a war for Edel-supremacy and she's the one who started it.

That's not even going into what Houses already said about her. If anything, Edelgard is worse here as the game drops a lot of the pretense surrounding her. Her redesign might have pushed the cute girl exterior more, but it's also making it a lot harder to ignore the red emperor underneath, to not see her as being akin to many past FE villains.

[mysticdragon3md3]

Very recently remembered

That though i often complain about El not having needed to start the war if she just wanted to kill Rhea---i kept saying she was already a student and had perfect cover to get close enough to assassinate Rhea, so why didn't she use it?---but i just remembered that her Flame Emperor mask cane off and her cover was blown. But still she was working with the Agarthans who had disguise magic and teleportation magic. She demonstrated able to use their teleportation magic. Why couldn't she have used their disguise magic too to infiltrate back into Garreg Mach? Even if Garreg Mach was in high alert, if she had so many people, disposable as soldiers, then she had enough people to act as decoys in disguise magic, so that she could slip thru.

I mean, i get invading Faerghus because they were sheltering Rhea and allying with the Church. But even Golden Wildfire Claude knew there was a chance to force Faerghus's support away from the Church. And Faerghus could have been infiltrated without a war too.

It still baffles me that El sided with the Agarthans as far as she did, even tho they killed her family and tortured her. She let them convince her that the "real enemy" was the Church. She fell straight into being their weapon. Even tho she did know the Agarthans were bad and even if her position was too dangerous for her to backstab them (until in a position like Scarlet Blaze), she helped them gain so much power, that would decrease her chances of defeating them later. And in the meantime, she let them hurt so many people, conquer countries, and instigate their despots. Particularly in Faerghus, it got to the point where the people were so downtrodden by "Cornelia", that they were happy to proclaim Dimitri as their Savior King, even tho he had been terrorizing for the past 5 years. El let everything get to that point. Worse, she judged it as acceptable losses.

More and more, i just dont trust her ability to make decisions, especially as a leader. It's been said by others that her character flaws include lacking imagination. As highlighted by the contrast of Claude, she lacks the imagination to question information that the Agarthans gave her, especially to extents like Claude's bottomless curiosity. (Point by the video essay "Edelgard will always lose".) But i keep coming back to her lack of imagination in strategy. It keeps driving me crazy that her solution to everything is always war. No matter what cultural trauma some have reported as the reason for her mindset, that doesn't excuse it. It only prives more that she is a bad leader.

And that's beside her imperialist ways. The Church is defeated in Scarlet Blaze: she still wants to continue a war a Faerghus. Her supposed only beef is with the Church: she still tries to conquer the entire continent. I know there were Faerghus nobles who sided too much with the Church and she argued they poisoned systemic structures...So then get rid of them. Dont start a war against the whole country, install despots, and make civilians suffer.

---Hell, if i recall correctly Dimitri suspected some of the same western nobles to be conspirators in the Tragedy of Duscur. He's been waiting for an excuse to remove them. If the Church is bad, and these western nobles were siding with the Church, then that could have been the excuse Dimitri could have used to remove them from power. Even if Faerghus civilians are very religious, having leaders who support the worse aspects of the Church, in addition to being treasonous (and as Azure Gleam showed, treasonous just because they were afraid of change, because Lambert wanted to reform some things) is simething that shoukd be removed. They can get pious government leaders who aren't treasonous and blindly follow tradition. Hell, Dimitri is religious and he's still up for reform. There are other options than the old guard.

---Someone once posted that if El wanted to just change her own country instead of conquering and colonizing other countries, that would have been fine. Now I'm curious for an AU where Leicester and Faerghus rushed to aid Adrestia vs the Agarthans. And maybe even also used her rejection of the Church as proof to their own nation that it could be done, tgat tge Church didn't need to influence more of life/government besides spirituality. Maybe it would have sparked the catalyst for Faerghus and Leicester rooting out their own corrupt nobility too.

I dunno... I'm probably forgetting and jumbling a bunch of factors. But i cant stop thinking about that Tweet that really didn't understand how anyone could see El as a villain---even tho she started an unnecessary war. So my brain wanted to double check that the war really was unnecessary. I got some self doubts when i remembered her cover was blown. But y'know what? There's always a way to avoid war. Especially in a fictional, fantasy world. The addages still stand: war is just a failure of diplomacy, a failure of leadership, killing to resolve conflicts is just a lack of imagination, and violence is just a manifestation of the Weakness of Fear.

It's like people forget that war is bad. And maybe if FE3H had started more like an indulgent "revenge fantasy", like Code Geass, where the world was presented as bleak and instilling nihilism, maybe then i would have just indulged in war. I wouldn't have seen war as avoidable. But instead, FE3H's act1 was sunshine happy school days, making El into the one who broke it, vs finding alternatives---even in her own route, which is supposed to portay her with the most sympathy. And it's so hard to indulge in violence, war, and being bad and cruel (which was the fun of Code Geass, tho while simultaneously portraying the villain antihero protagonist with sympathy thru their angst) when FE3H keeps reminding you how tragic war is. At least Code Geass was melodramatic and pitched tou out if realistic thinking.

Though i prefer my negative thought spirals repeatedly bringing me back to mulling over a fictional character i dislike, instead of my real life problems and paranoid anxieties, i dont enjoy that I'm thinking anymore about characters i dislike, instead of characters i like. I should make more effort to think more about characters i love instead.

[raccoon-the-third]

post about the minecraft youtubers dude. do it. i wanna see

ok well now i'm going to listen to the entire story line of empires smp season one and i might explain season two if you want also i'm telling it in the order that things happen in universe not the order you find them out

ok so season one scotts sorry line: there's these two brothers who are the princes of a place called rivendell and one of them gets caught up with a demon named exor and exor turned him into a demon named xornoth and but exors god brother eaor (who works with scott but i can't fully remember exactly what he does) trapped both exor and xornoth in the end held there by the dragon and scott who is xornoths brother (xornoth has a regular name but i don't remember it) is made to become the king even though he wasn't prepared because he was the second born but some near by emperors get tricked into going into the end (i'll tell there sorry later) and they have to kill the dragon to get out accidentally freeing xornoth (and exor but at this point there kinda the same person) which let's him terrorize everyone he was being a bit of a menace before but now he has free rain to do whatever and so Scott visits a near by empire run by lizzy (again i'll get back to her later) to do a bit of trading and he gives her a random little orb thing for some frost walker boots but it turns out they aren't just normal boots they like infected him with the magic so rivendell is starting to be covered in ice and such well xornoth has also got like tentacles and shit growing from the ground so the people are really going through it but anyway scott's like "i need to leave before i make anything worse" so he ditches the boy who he's kinda dating and his town to go live in the woods for like a month because not even the person that runs the wich school can help him but being alone doesn't really help much so he goes back home and asks eaor for some advice on how to control his powers and how to get xornoth to stop and so eaor helps him put xornoth into a cristal so he can focus on getting the ice under control but like right after he finally has everything under control the xornoth cristal goes missing and so he has to get together with some friends and figure out how eaor banished him for the first time and they find out about a sord that can grant a wish if you stab yourself with it and so he gets xornoth and he says "i wish that the corruption never happened" or something like that and scott dies but it turns out that it only takes you into an a universe where your wish is true but he doesn't know that so he sees his brother and he's finally free from having to worry about everything and jimmy the boy from before that he was kinda dating is like "come on your going to be late for dinner and if you let it get cold your going to have to do the dishes for the next week" and leads him inside there house

i've definitely got something wrong so here's the playlist of his story if you want to watch

season one lizzy/jimmy because they are very closely tied: so basically there's these two eggs with like fish people in them ones big and strong the other smaller and more damaged and the bigger one named lizzy hatches first hatches first so it's taking care of the smaller one named jimmy and she's writing about it but one day she decides to go onto land to find food or something even tho she knows that she'll forget about life in the ocean so she writes a note for jimmy to find when he hatches but when he does he goes looking for her and also forgets being a fish so now there's just these two siblings who don't know they're fish or siblings and they both started empires lizzy makes the ocean empire because she's still drawn to it and jimmy makes the cod empire because he really likes cod and was appointed "the cod father" by a group of cod so lizzy and jimmy are going about there life until another empire who really likes salmon takes jimmys cod father head (which is kinda like his crown from the cod) and throws it into the end (see what happening here) and so jimmy and lizzy and some other people including scott go into the end to find it but jimmy realized that they can't just leave they have to kill the dragon so him and scott argue about it for a bit but eventually they just kill the dragon without scott and they return home joel (who is irl lizzys husband and has an empire next to hers) decides to take her out and propose to her and she says yes then lizzy and joel have a wedding and it's very cute everyone shows up even xornoth also the next day lizzy is told by some axolotls that it's her birthday (jimmy is told by some cod that it's hers too) and they also tell her where the book she wrote before she forgot everything was and so she finds it turns out it doesn't only tell her about her past but it gives her prophecies of the future and so she goes to tell jimmy but the cod already showed him her note so they celebrate being sea-blings and that they finally found each other but lizzy still looks like a normal person tho it says in her book that if she can find a blessing of the ocean she can become an axolotl again so she goes looking for it and gets told by a friend that scott has it (it's the weird orb thing) and so she takes him to the gallery of all the shit she found well looking for it and trades him some boots for it she then absorbs it and becomes an axolotl also jimmy and scott go on a date and it's very cute anyway jimmy and his nemesis the salmon guy from earlier decided to be friends and try and somehow combine cod and salmon but it goes horribly wrong and causes an apocalypse and drys up lizzy's ocean making her forget she's a fish again and jimmy's drys out too so he runs away and never comes back

again i'm sure i missed something so here's lizzy's and jimmy's jimmy's is missing an episode and the finally off the end but you can just go through his channel to find them if you want and lizzy has a musical that she made for it on her playlist it's so good anyway im done for now unless you want more :) sorry this post is so long i am just super hyperfixated on it right now

i also have other servers i can talk about if you want to hear about them

[moonybadger]

Tamora Pierce series thoughts (I listened to the audiobook versions of these, which I’ll also touch on a bit):

Lioness Quartet: A little dated and clunky in places, but it’s fascinating watching TP grapple with genderfluidity even without having the language for it that we do now. Like I know normally people don’t like it when a writer posthumously declares that a character is LGBT somehow, but Alanna being genderfluid is just such an important part of her character even without the modern words. Like way more then Dumbledore having a gay crush on Grindlewald or whatever his name was. The characters are all great in this one, though the plot is a little all over the place and has to make some weird leaps of logic (like wtf was up the Nameless Ones and the Old Ones, that was really weird). Mostly just first time author awkwardness, TP grows out of it pretty fast. The Bazhir tribes are toeing the line a little close to Dances With Wolves stuff, but I think just barely manages to not make it too White Saviorish. I mean it does a bit with Alanna and Jon, but it could have been worse for the time it came out. Also Roger is an incredibly boring antagonist, but TP gets a lot better with those too the more she writes!

The Immortal Quartet: Oof I dunno. This one’s always been more miss then hit with me and I’ve never really been able to articulate why? The progression of Daine’s control over her powers just always felt really slow, like in the third arc of Warriors where the main characters are apprentices for a billion years. For some reason Daine just never clicked with me and the huge age gap between her and Numair never helped. Like this age gap thing shows in almost every TP romance but it was definitely the most pronounced here. Even besides that... I dunno??? I’ve just always bounced off this one, and I don’t like that the audiobook is full cast. I do really love Emperor Mage though, that’s the one exception in this arc. I enjoy Ozorne a lot more as an antagonist over Roger, though he gets a little one note in The Realms of the Gods.

Me @ tamora piece and natsuki takyua: your books mean the entire world to me and basically formed my entire moral backbone but please stop putting giant age gaps in the romances of your characters 

Protector of the Small: You have never done anything wrong in your entire life and I love you. Seriously I have absolutely no problems with this arc, besides the fact that I do think the confrontation with the Nothing Man at the end is kinda boring. And like, I get that it’s supposed to be but I do think there still could have been more to it then “he tries to do one magic trick, fails, then Kel stabs him”. But that’s it, that’s my only problem everything else is wonderful and amazing. 

Trickster Series: I mostly like this one??? I think it’s really cute that the narrator for the audiobook of Alanna’s series also reads this one. I feel a little differently about it depending on what the current state of world events are whenever I reread this one. I did find Aly a little more grating then usual the last time I reread this one, so we’ll see how I feel about it in the future; I think sometimes she tends to tip over into condescending the people of the Copper Iles in the first book when she’s just supposed to be giving rougish quips, though she gets better about it in the second book. I like Nawat in the first book, but I don’t love his pushiness about sex in the second one. I like that he needs to learn to be his own person, but it mostly ends up feeling like an excuse to keep him out of the first half of the story without really paying off later. Kyprioth is really great though, I love how he swings back and forth between a seemingly affable uncle and really revealing how the gods view people more like chess pieces in a board game. I also like how it kinda calls out the Mother Goddess and Mithros even though they’re the main “good” gods in the first series, great way to expand on the established mythology. 

Beka Cooper Trilogy: My main problem with this series is just that I loved Terrier SO MUCH that Bloodhound and Mastiff never managed to live up to just how much I adored it. Bloodhound has a lot of good moments and a pretty good antagonist, but it was hard to get really emotionally invested in the counterfeiting plotline (also I couldn’t stand Dale). Mastiff was better then Bloodhound; I was much more invested in the hunt for the prince and the various characters they meet along the way, though it had some weird dropped threads that REALLY bothered me. I don’t like how most of the cast in Terrier gets sidelined in Bloodhound and Mastiff, and a lot of the setups that I was really interested in in Terrier (Beka and Ersken working really well together as dog partners, Beka’s estrangement from her sibilngs, Goodwin getting basically just a cameo in Mastiff) never really come up again. That places Bloodhound and Mastiff both pretty well behind Terrier, though Mastiff DOES have the ultimate best antagonist in the series. Honestly if there’s any high praise I can give the Provost’s Dog trilogy is that it has AMAZING villains.

Circle of Magic Universe: Only listened to the first book and I hate hate HATED the full cast audio version so much that I’m just going to have sit down and actually read a physically copy of the series in order to get through it. I THINK I actually liked the story itself, but the audiobook version just grated on me so bad that I can’t give an honest answer. Not a mark of quality against the writing, I feel the same way about the Redwall audiobooks after all and those books are one of my favorite series ever. 

[fluxofthemouth]

@succubus-lili

Arrakeen is beautiful at night. The air here is so much cleaner than it ever was on Giedi Prime, and the city lights shine crisply against the desert sky. The ambient noise tells a story of prayer chants and nightlife. Even the Emperor's palace, an affront to any real god if such a thing could exist, is not excluded from this. It makes for a fantastic landmark. And if nothing else, it offers implicit reassurance of safety and plenty. Any asshole who can build a house that big is someone who knows where the water is.

Piter often tells himself that he's better suited to a quieter city like Carthag. That's probably true, but it's also a defense mechanism against feeling left out. He can't live in Arrakeen. Not when there's a real risk of being recognized as a former enemy of the Emperor and executed.

Tonight, as he returns to his mother's Grand Arrakeen hotel, that loneliness feels more poetic-tragic than bitter-tragic, somehow. For a moment, he allows himself to consider just how excluded he feels from all of the forces, ideas, and people that came together to make all of this and now get to revel in belonging to it. Funny, that an entire intergalactic 'world' order could change within his lifetime, and he's had to dance for fools and dodge shit in both of them. Briefly, before he lets himself in through the staff entrance with an unauthorized copy of the key, he turns and looks at the city. He allows himself to want to know what it's like to be part of something like that. Which requires him to admit to himself that at the moment he isn't. Then, with nothing else he can possibly do about any of it, he turns back around and walks into the hotel with a sigh.

He's already dressed as an employee. This is an easier and much more straightforward identity to present himself as, compared to the story he could elaborate on, about being the son of the owner. A man died. Who gives a shit. Piter is known to the real employees, and it doesn't take them long to set him up with a large cart, a tarp, and a slew of janitorial supplies. The rest of what he needs, he brought himself. Thus armed, he takes the elevator to the twelfth floor and counts his way to his target's room.

The man is dead, right? Doomed since this morning via a poke from a needle carrying a slow-acting poison? He might have felt a little unwell all day, but nothing would have felt bad enough (hopefully) to send him searching for a hospital? Then he'd expect to sleep it off, and the full force of it would hit him like a truck? Out of the sight of most of the other guests? Piter has several knives on him, in case he has to finish the guy off. Or in case the prostitute the target was with decides to take issue with the trajectory of things. Piter really hopes he won't have to use the knives. And he really does feel bad for the kind of evening he's inflicted on the prostitute. As much as his purpose here is cleanup, his purpose here is also to make amends with her on behalf of the hotel.

He puts his ear to the door when he gets there, but he can't make out any sound that means anything to him, for better or for worse. He takes a deep breath, then knocks on the door with a confidence he doesn't feel fully.

"Hotel staff; may I come in?" he asks, in a tone of polite gravitas. "I understand there's been a death here?"

He can't imagine what the woman must be experiencing, to have just watched a man die, and to have now quite suddenly gotten "caught" next to him (and it can't have been long ago). Will she think that Piter thinks that she did it? Will she think, perhaps, that he's come back to finish the job and kill her too? Did she already call another service for help (police? hospital?), and will Piter arrive only in time to see the body being taken away? He's given thought to what he needs to say to encourage cooperation, and he gives it more thought now.

"You were with someone who took actions against management that had to be corrected," he apologizes, through the door. "We apologize for any distress you may have experienced. Would you allow us to upgrade your room free of charge?"

[megashadowdragon]

TIL: Zhu Youcheng is the only emperor in Chinese history, to be married to one wife and remain faithful to her, having no concubines. He was a hardworking emperor, lowering taxes, reducing spending, and demonstrating tolerance for Muslims. His son, however, had a haram so large, some starved.

Flares117 OP · 6 mo. ago He was regarded as one of the greatest emperors working hand and hand with officials. It was noted that there was almost no palace intrigue by the eunuchs or power struggles.

His son was given the best education and teaching on how to follow in his father's footsteps, but he loved brothels and hated his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongzhi_Emperor

He was a party boy with "The Zhengde Emperor took up a luxurious and prodigal lifestyle and indulged himself in women. It was said that he liked to frequent brothels and even created palaces called "Bao Fang" (豹房; literally "The Leopards' Chamber") outside the Forbidden City in Beijing initially to house exotic animals such as tigers and leopards for his amusement and then later used to house beautiful women for his personal enjoyment.[3] He also met Wang Mantang, one of his favorite consorts at a Bao Fang. On one occasion he was badly mauled while hunting tigers, and could not appear in court audiences for a month.[2] On another occasion he burned down his palace by storing gunpowder in the courtyards during the lantern festival.[2] His harem was so overfilled that many women starved to death due to lack of supplies.[4]"

Imagine having a haram so large, you dont have enough food for all your waifus

The Mongols had a LOT of conquerors though. There was only one Alexander, but there were dozens of great Mongol generals.And to make things better, the Mongol Empire coalesced at precisely the time when the Number 1 breaker of steppe empires, China, was in no position to fight them thanks to a horrible civil war and the dumbest goddamned Dynasty to ever rule the country.It also helped that the other great horse riding empire, the Muslims, were basically in pieces at the time. So the Mongols could easily defeat them one at a time.They weren't quite as lucky when fighting empires that were perfectly fine tho. The Indians beat them so easily that they barely even remember fighting them at all. The Vietnamese utterly humiliated them, hilariously so.

Song Dynasty. Idiots literally funded the Mongols after Genghis Khan died, which should have led to the empire collapsing, and then got attacked once the Jin had been destroyed by the Mongols.

Their own military also sucked, because the entire court was basically working for the enemies, and the generals constantly had to relay each battle's strategy to the court even when the battles were days away, which mean they almost always lacked any initiative.

If it had been literally ANY other dynasty, they could have finished the Mongols off. It's not like Genghis Khan was the first steppe conqueror China had faced. But the Song constantly kept snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and ensured all of China got conquered by foreigners for the first time in history.

You have to be more specific. The basic story of China is about 6000 years of a cycle of a competent emperor coming to power, each successive emperor in the dynasty is worse than the last, it gets to a point where the emperor is a legendary assclown, horrible things happen to the Chinese people, and then a rebellion/coup happens and there’s a new emperor.

Those were not his accomplishments, those were just some of the tools he used to set up his accomplishments.I can't argue that if not for daddy dearest, Alex wouldn't have been able to start to become a great conqueror until he was in his 40s.