#sure it's just more capitalism bad but as that's in the game may as well give it a proper foot in the world

[girlbob-boypants]

It's weird to me when people defend the Deimos story cause it's about the class of people who organized your horrible fate as a child soldier being a family of people who actively abuse and torture each other and it's all portrayed as just mild misunderstandings that you can fix by doing their chores.

Meanwhile discussions of the heart and the infested are just nowhere to be fucking seen, making it terrible for worldbuilding and also just terribly unpleasant to experience if you have an ounce of critical thinking about what's actually happening

At least it's an infinitely better farm than the other two

[keeplcving]

Hii I’ve been waiting for a blog I like to ask and I really adore your writing!!

I keep thinking about coriolanus x reader set before the reaping and the reader is being sent to the districts (maybe as a punishment from the plinths for “filling sejanus’ head with rebel ideas” or smth) but anything works!! 🩷

awe, thank you so much, sweet anon! i am honored :). i hope i understood what you wanted, and wrote it to your standards. enjoy, xoxo.

dark paradise.

(academy!coriolanus x fem!reader)

summary: she may be a rebel at heart, but only one man can tame her.

cw: discussion of arranged marriage, sweet!coryo (i love writing him like that i’m sorry!), soft sex, oral (m receiving), cuddling, pet names, talking bad about the plinths, lmk if i missed anything.

“Me? To District Two? Why? What did I do?” You interrogate the peacekeeper who had pulled you out class, mid lesson.

“Orders of a Mr. Strabo Plinth. Says here you ‘filled my son’s head of anti-Capitol propaganda’. Enough grounds to see you removed from the Capitol, I believe.”

You couldn’t believe it. You hadn’t told Sejanus anything he didn’t already believe, you merely agreed with him. The Hunger Games were awful, and cruel. You knew enough about the world before Panem, and that in the country that existed before Panem, cruel and unusual punishment was against the country’s rules. Why wouldn’t that be the case in Panem?

“What? No I didn’t! Please, believe me.” You begged, tears beginning to well up in your eyes. You couldn’t leave the Capitol, it was your home, and had been your family’s home for years. You couldn't move to the districts, you wouldn't survive.

Your family had more than enough money and influence, but not as much as the Plinths. At this moment, you regretted befriending Sejanus. Sure, he was a sweet boy, but now his father was using you as a scapegoat to explain his son's inability to conform to Capitol standards and beliefs. All for simply agreeing with one of Sej's opinions.

You thought, for a moment, that this was it. You would never see the Capitol, or anyone in it, ever again, for the crime of having an opinion. You were a top student at the academy, set to be in the running for the Plinth Prize. How could they just kick you out of your home? You felt faint, overwhelmed with emotions, unsure of what to do, or even how to react.

"What's going on?" A voice interrupts your thoughts, and you let out a sigh of relief in recognition of the voice. Coriolanus Snow. He could get you out of this, he could easily explain that Sejanus was the rebel, not you. His family had more power and influence than the Plinths did, as they weren't from the districts.

"Miss Y/L/N here is about to be transported to District Two. She's a rebel. She's been filling Sejanus Plinth's head with anti-Capitol ideals, which Strabo isn't very pleased with. His son was supposed to make the Capitol his home, not turn against it." The peacekeeper explained to Coriolanus, and Coriolanus looked like he was in utter disbelief.

"Y/N?" Coriolanus spat out, "A rebel? Unlikely. If anybody is filling anyone's head with anti-Capitol ideals, it's Sejanus. Not Y/N." He states to the peacekeeper, hoping that he will believe the heir of the mighty house of Snow over district scum. The Plinths would never be Capitol, not really.

"Is that so?" The peacekeeper responds, "How is Miss Y/L/N not a rebel? Is there anything tying her to the Capitol, other than her family? Has she agreed to be married into a family of status?"

You couldn't believe that simply agreeing to be married into a family of status could keep you in the Capitol. That really couldn't prove anything, right?

"Yes, she is set to be married to me, upon our graduation from the Academy." You almost gasped in shock, not thinking that Coriolanus would come to your defense, lying for you in order to keep you in the Capitol. You held the gasp in though, and simply nodded your head.

"I am in love with him, sir. I wouldn't dare leave the Capitol, or say anything negative about it, when I have a man like Coriolanus to continue to show me the good that lies in the Capitol." You explain, stepping back to stand side by side with Coriolanus. He wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to his side, rubbing his fingers soothingly on your side.

"How could you insinuate that my future wife is anti-Capitol? That is simply preposterous." Snow spits out, rolling his eyes before continuing, "I would never marry a woman that was anti-Capitol. I wouldn't taint my future heir's blood with someone that stood against everything that I believe in. This is absurd."

Coriolanus made a very strong case for you, leaving very little room for the peacekeeper to argue. You knew you had to go along with his lie, and keep up the act, in order to save your place in Capitol society. You lean up, and press a light kiss to Coriolanus' cheek, smiling sweetly once you pull away.

"I see, I will relay this information to my superiors. In the mean time, Miss Y/L/N is to stay at your manor, Mister Snow. There will be a trial, you will be called to testify on Miss Y/L/N's character, and her personal ties to you. I am going to dismiss you both from classes for the rest of the day, and I will be by tomorrow to collect you both." The peacekeeper grunts, turning on his heel, leaving you and Coriolanus standing in the empty hallway.

"I cannot believe you would lie for me like that, Snow." You whisper to him, and he grins at you.

"Well, Y/N, I have always had an infatuation with you, as you know," You roll your eyes at him, knowing of the crush Snow harbored on you as children. "And I could not let that district scum Plinth take you away from me before I even had the opportunity to have you." He explains, and you blush in response to his words. You couldn't believe that he still, after all this time, was interested in you. You knew you were beautiful, sure, but not nearly as gorgeous as the other girls Coriolanus spent time with, like Clemensia, Livia, or Arachne.

"You... you want me?" You ask cautiously, still in shock of his confession.

"Yes, you foolish girl. I realize I have not made my true interest in you more pronounced in the past, but I was just thinking of bringing my proposal to your father. What I was telling the peacekeeper wasn't all lies, I want you to be my future wife." Your eyes nearly bulge out of your head, not expecting a full on love confession from Coriolanus.

"Oh, Coryo." You whisper, looking directly into his eyes. You have always thought his eyes were one of his best features, and up close, you couldn't deny it. "I would love to be your wife." You smile at him sweetly, and you swear there is a blush on his cheeks, though you could never get him to admit to that.

"Really?" He asks, and you laugh, nodding. He then ducks his head, meeting your lips with a hesitant kiss. You press your lips back against his, hard, and he groans. You reach yours arms up, wrapping them lightly around his neck. You pull back for air, and press your forehead against his.

"I think we should go back to your apartment, so I can thank you. And show you that I am serious about wanting to become your wife." You tell him, and he groans again, thinking about all of the ways you could potentially thank him. You peck his lips once more, before he pulls away, gently guiding you to follow him.

As you both make the walk to the Snow's apartment, you talk about everything and anything, getting to know each other better. You both were serious, about wanting to marry each other, and if you were to marry, you should at least semi-court beforehand. And that involved a lot of getting to know each other: mind, body, and soul.

As he unlocked the door to the penthouse, you were slightly surprised to not see a fancy apartment. Rather, you saw a ramshackle place, that you could tell once held glory. You glanced at Coriolanus, who looked ashamed. You would never judge him, or his family's true financial situation, and you wanted to voice that to him. You didn't care that the Snows weren't as rich as they were before the war, all you cared about was Coriolanus. Besides, you could easily afford to pay for your future wedding, as well as help the Snow family out.

"Y/N..." Was all that Coriolanus was able to get out, before you started talking.

"Don't even bother, Coryo. I don't care that your family doesn't have as much money as it did before the war. I don't care at all about money. I know what I feel for you, and no amount of money that you have will change my feelings. Besides," You stop, worried that you may accidentally offend him with your offer, before continuing, "I could afford to pay for our wedding, and more, with all of my own money. You won't have to worry about a thing, darling. I could even help your family. I know that your cousin is a talented seamstress, and deserves more than what she has."

You see Coriolanus' jaw fall slack, before he cracks a smile you hadn't seen in years. It was beautiful, it was radiant, it was so Coryo, and you loved it.

"Really? You mean that, Y/N? You are not messing with me, are you?" He questions, worried that you did not mean a word you just told him, that you were simply toying with his heart.

"No, Coriolanus," You grab his hands in your small hands, yours quickly becoming engulfed by his large hands as he squeezes gently, "I am not messing with you. My father has a stupid amount of money, and I am his only child. I want to use the money I have for good. And helping your family is the good." You explain, wanting him to fully believe you. You would spend all of your allowance on him, if he wanted it. You had more than enough things that you knew he and his family merely wished for.

"Oh, darling. You are the sweetest woman in all of the Capitol, and you are all mine. Mine." He responds to your declaration, before leading you further into the apartment, and into his bedroom.

"All yours." You whisper, meeting his eyes. They were shining with unshed tears and love. You had never seen Coriolanus as a kind, loving man, as he was very guarded and reserved at the academy, only speaking when spoken to. However, you were so thankful that he trusted you enough to show that side of him, and it made your heart race.

He smiled at you once more, before speaking. "I remember you promising to thank me, and show me how you really feel about becoming mine, my darling." You knew that he wouldn't forget that you said that, and you were more than happy to show him how you cared for him.

You dropped to your knees in front of him, quickly unbuttoning his school uniform, and yanking the slacks down with the boxers he wore underneath. You gasped in shock at the size of his cock as it sprung up, slapping his stomach. He unbuttoned his top, quickly discarding in on the floor next to his bottoms, leaving him totally exposed for you, whilst you were still fully clothed. It felt powerful, him bare before you had everything on. He was surrendering himself to you, and you wanted to show your appreciation.

You peppered a few kisses to his thighs, before running your tongue up the entire length of his shaft. He was so long, so thick, you weren't entirely sure you would be able to fit him in your mouth. You had experience, sure, but you had never been with someone as large as Coriolanus.

He let out a low growl at the feeling of you tracing the vein that ran from bottom to top with your tongue, and you rewarded him by licking the slit of his cock, tasting his precome. Normally, the taste of a man's precome disgusted you, but his did not.

You then took the tip in your mouth gently, before hollowing your cheeks. You took him as far in your mouth as far as you could, feeling his cock bump into the back of your throat. You estimated he was about eight inches, with girth. You were one lucky woman, with a man that was far above average. You knew he would be able to pleasure you easily. But right now, all you were focused on was pleasuring him, thanking him for lying for you.

You bobbed your head up and down slowly, grabbing what you couldn't fit in your mouth with one of your hands, matching the bobs of your head with the twists of your wrist as you jerked the base of his dick. He was going crazy above you, letting out animalistic groans, hands fisted in your hair, gently tugging, as your worked your mouth over his cock.

You could tell he was close, by how loud his grunts got, and the way the hands tangled in your hair were pulling harder. You doubled down your efforts, moving your head up and down faster, making sure your hand was setting the same pace.

"Darling, I am so close. I am going to come down your throat." He warned you, panting. You didn't respond, continuing your efforts. You wanted him to come in your mouth, to truly thank him for being a kind man, at least a kind man to you. He came with a grunt, seed trickling in your throat, you swallowing it quickly.

Once he was done, you pulled off his cock, smiling sweetly up at him. He gently helped you onto your feet, making sure you were stable enough to stand after being on your knees.

"Thank you, my sweet." He told you earnestly, detangling the knots he had made in your hair with his gently with his fingers. You moaned at the sensation, and you could see his eyes turn dark at the sound you made.

He stopped running his fingers through your hair, instead setting his hands on your ass, pulling you to kiss him. The kiss was passionate, and you felt yourself beginning to dampen your panties. You pulled away from the embrace, panting heavily. You attempted to begin unbuttoning you uniform, but Coriolanus pushed your hands away.

"I want to undress you, darling. That's my job, from now on." He told you, removing both your top and bottoms, leaving you in your black, lacy bra and underwear. He groans at the sight of your breasts held up delicately in the bra, and hardens again instantly.

"May I?" He asks, his hands slipping to the clasp of your bra, waiting for your approval. When you nod, he unhooks it, gently pulling the straps down your arms, and tossing it somewhere you don't see.

Coriolanus lets out a grunt at the sight of your pretty breasts, bare for him. He kneads one experimentally, and you let out a noise of satisfaction. He smirks at your reaction, before stopping the ministration entirely. Instead, he sweeps you up, into his arms, carrying you over to his bed, gently settling you down in the center of it.

Clambering onto the bed next to you, he slips his thumbs into the waistband of your panties, meeting your eyes, searching for approval to remove them. When you nodded with a smile, he pulls them down your legs. Once they are fully removed, he spreads your thighs apart, revealing your glistening cunt to him.

He groans at the sight, and gently sweeps a finger through your folds, gathering your slick on the digit. He pops the digit into his mouth, making a noise of pleasure at the taste of you. That makes you gush a little more, pleased that Coriolanus likes the way you taste.

"Please, Coryo." You plead, "Take me. I'm yours. Please." You see him think for a moment, before climbing over top of you, muscular forearms holding him from crushing you with his weight.

"Oh darling, you are all mine. I can't wait to feel my tight little pussy clenching for me. Mine." He whispers hotly in your ear.

You grab his cock, pumping it a few times, then position the head at your entrance for him, and meet his eyes. He thrusts in, harder than you expected, immediately bumping into your cervix. You both let out noises of pleasure, overwhelmed with the feeling of one another. He begins thrusting rapidly, grunting at your slick coating his cock.

You were squeezing him like a vice, and he didn't want to embarrass himself by coming too quickly, before you could even meet your own end. He angled his hips, and slammed directly into the spot deep inside of you that had you seeing stars. You screamed, rapidly approaching your orgasm at the feeling of his dick stretching you out, slamming into your g-spot roughly.

Reaching a hand down your body, you rubbed at your clit roughly, and you feel your peak approaching. "Coryo!" You moan, "I'm so close. I need to come."

"I am close as well, my sweet. I promise, I will make you feel oh so good. Come for me" He smirks, continuing to pound into your tight heat.

"Oh! Coryo!" You scream, coming undone on his cock, your spend quickly forming a frothy circle around his dick as he continued driving into you, attempting to reach his own end.

"Please, come inside." You whimper out, and that was all he needed, spurting deep inside of you. You begin to feel faint from the overstimulation, but you fight it, and Coriolanus pulls out of you gently, the mix of your spend and his spilling out, onto your thighs and onto the bed sheets.

He climbed off of you, rolling you onto your side, before pulling you to his close, your back to his chest. You were both breathing heavily, and laid in silence for several minutes, until your breathing returned to normal.

"That was a perfect thank you, my future wife." Coriolanus whispers into your ear as you cuddle, basking in the after glow of your activities.

"I'm glad, my future husband. Thank you for everything you said today, Coryo. I mean it. I would probably be on the train right now, going to district two, if it wasn't for you, and your intelligent brain." You say, pressing back closer to him.

"It was no problem, my sweet. I knew I couldn't let that Plinth boy take you away from me, because of his own stupidity. That isn't your fault, and trust me when I say, the Plinth family will be dealt with." He tells you, eyes narrowing in anger.

"It's alright, Coryo." You attempt to soothe him, turning slightly to press a kiss to his sweaty chest, and he grunts back at you. "I'm still here, with you, my darling. There is nothing to deal with, I promise."

"He tried to take you from me. He knew I liked you, and lied to his father, to get rid of you. He thought by getting rid of you, he could get to me, without another in the way." Coriolanus tells you, and you gasp in shock. You didn't want to believe the words that were just spoken, but it wouldn't surprise you.

You knew Sejanus wanted more of Coriolanus' friendship than he had, and it didn't surprise you that he thought you were in the way of that. Sejanus was friends with both of you, or so you thought. He knew that his one best friend liked his other friend, and so he sought to destroy it. How truly awful.

"Oh, Coriolanus. I wish you had just told me that you liked me, rather than keep it a secret. Maybe this wouldn't have had to happen like this." You tell him, reaching a hand up to ruffle his curls. "I'm just glad you were there today, and defended me. I am no rebel, you know that." You giggled, continuing to run your fingers through his curls.

"You are a rebel, you are my rebel." He tells you, leaning into your touch. You blush at his words, before letting out another giggle.

You may not be the anti-Capitol rebel that the Plinths tried to pin you as, but you were a rebel in the way you loved Coriolanus Snow without a care in the world, money be damned. And that rebellious love that Coriolanus was able to tame was the only thing that mattered.

©keeplcving 2024. please let me know what you think, and feel free to send me requests! :) i’d love to write more of what y’all would like to see!!

[especiallythewomenandthechildren]

As If Destiny (part five) 🌹

Part Four🌹

Warnings: Terminal illness, parent death, death and brutality (it is the hunger games after all) characters may be ooc. I read the book a while ago but don't really remember much of Snows way of thinking (I mean I know its toxic and insane but yk the other things) so I will mostly be basing off the film and my own thoughts. Also I can't spell for the life of me so be prepared for bad spelling and grammar. Enjoy loves!

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"I do hope you know that if we are even a minute late, I will be serving detention for the rest of the year." 

The slightly anxious tone of Coryo's voice broke you out of your memorized state. You both were in a rush out of his penthouse and you weren't sure how long it would take to get to the academy, but against your best intentions, you had to stop for the flowers.

Something about their white petals and fresh arouma just sucked you in.

With a reluctant sigh, you forced your legs to move.

"But you are the perfect student. You've never been late and every member of the staff loves you."

It was true. There didn't seem to be a single person in the Capital who wasn't charmed with Coriolanus Snow.

But he just shook his head, shifting his eyes forward and quickly pressing the button to allow for pedestrians cross the intersection.

"Everyone but Dean Highbottom."

Oh yes.

He was unfortunately right.

That was indeed the one person who seemed to despise Coryo.

And for seemingly no reason. He always seemed to be able to chide or insult the boy whenever given the chance.

When the signal lit up, the boy in question took your hand to follow him across the street.

"You know, I remember once Highbottom saw us talking after I gave you back your book for Satryia's class. After we parted ways, he pulled me aside and told me to stay away from you. Something about how it didn't end well the first time. Do you have any idea what he was talking about?" 

Still holding your hand, even being far from the dangers of the intersection, the boy turns his head to you. His eyes showed just as much confusion as yours did but with a hint of anger.

Dean Highbottom didn't have to like him but who is he to warn you to stay away from him? And what does he mean the first time? 

The conversation seemed to trail off there but neither of you minded. You didn't come to this part of the Capital very often so you were lost in fascination and wonder. The city was being rebuilt all around you and you couldn't help but feel giddy.

Coriolanus was lost in watching your reactions. He was feeling a sense of pride to know that he was the one who opened this side of the Capital for you. Not to mention the reason you got some proper sleep. 

He was thinking back on your conversation when he nudged your nearby shoulder with his. You looked back to see the tall boy with a little smirk on his lips. You couldn't help but laugh and question the movement. 

"Nothing, it's just nice to know you remembered the book." 

The comment made a pink tint appear on your cheeks, now very visible in the morning light.

"Of course I remember! I'm sure Satryia would have had my head! You were my knight in shining armor."

Then it was your turn to nudge him back. His pride swelled even more at the memory. To know that he was able to give you something that you not only wanted but needed. Even if it was just a lousy textbook.

It made him feel accomplished. 

Within a few strides, the magnificent structure of the Academy came into view and it somehow even looked more beautiful than usual to you.

Everything did after last night.

"Oh! I forgot to give you this!"

He let go of your still clasped hands and grabbed something from his bag. You were surprised by Coryo's confession but even more suprized by the radiant flower in his hand. You couldn't help but gasp at the gesture. You looked up at him with your beautiful eyes, shining up at him with wonder and gratitude. He smiled down at you, heart swelling.

"You seemed so mesmerized so I thought you would like one of your own." 

You took the flower gently and thanked him with the most beautiful smile he has ever received.

He was already scheming of ways to see it more often. 

"Could you put in my hair?"

Then you were blessed with the most beautiful smile you've seen. He happily agreed and put it in the back of your hair, in the hair tie of your half up, half down style.

Something you've never worn before to the academy but something Coryo reassured you looked good.

Once assured the flower wouldn't fall, the tall boy stepped out from behind you with a satisfied smile.

"You know one of these days I'll show you Grandma'am's rose garden. Maybe even get you a bouquet."

He knew the day when he would be able to bring you full bouquets of her precious roses is far away. But maybe after he won the Plinth Prize, he would get his Grandma'am chocolate, Tigris a new dress, and packets of rose seeds.

Enough so everyday he could give you a fresh flower that you would cherish.

His wishful thinking nearly made him miss your response.

"I think I would fall right then and there if you did Coryo."

You looked at him as you confessed but quickly looker away, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks. Heat that only grew more intense as Coriolanus's stare did the same.

He didn't know if you meant you would fall is in pass out or fall as in... well fall. for him.

oh as if he needed anymore motivation to win the coveted Plinth Prize. 

Since you never come from this direction, you can't see the usual spot Sejanus would be sitting at when waited for you. Was he getting worried? Your eyes scan the area but couldn't seem to find the brunette anywhere.

But, for better or worse, you found your quite eccentric group of friends.

"Coryo! Y/N!" Clemensia's voice carried through the morning air as you both marched up the stairs.

You both greeted her as well as Arachne, Festus, and Felix upon your arrival. They all seemed happy to see you two (especially you as you are often strolling with Sejanus). But Arachne seemed to be looking you both up and down with a mischievous smirk playing on her colored lips. Nothing new but unnerving nevertheless. 

"Y/N, don't you live on the west side of the city? You always come and leave in that direction."

She looked as if she had caught a lamb for the slaughter. You actually did really like her but the girl has so many problems.

Coriolanus had his mask plastered on again but inside he was beginning to panic. He probably could've made a lie on the spot, a skill he has mastered over the years, but he was worried about your reaction. 

You were a genuine person and he feared that his lie would be completely exposed on your face. But it seemed he was wrong. Instead of freezing up you laughed at Arachne's comment.

"It's beautiful weather this morning and felt in the mood to take a walk around the city. I just happened to meet up with Coryo at the entrance to campus." 

To say the mentioned boy was surprised and relieved would have been an understatement. Not only did you cover up the actual events, you made sure not to let it slip that he walks to the Academy. The illusion that he has a driver like the rest of your peers was still held. Festus then seemed to perk up. 

"I still don't understand why in the world you would decide to walk somewhere. We have drivers for a reason."

The others nodded in agreement and you couldn't but help sigh. You have known your friends since as long as you could remember. You have seen them grow up (or the lack there of).

They are still the small scared children who had to burn their picture books for warmth in the Dark Days. They may have physically aged, but you know they never really grew up. Your peers simply hid their fears and insecurities behind their wealth and luxury.

Anything outside of the opulence that surrounded them brought fear and as a result, a great distaste.

That's why Sejanus was so disliked. He was too much of an irregularity. Too other. 

As he drifted to your mind, your eyes drifted to the other side of the stairs, shifting your neck to try to get a better view. 

"Don't worry, your little side kick is coming up."

Felix let you know with a nod of his head over your shoulder, making you turn around and spotting Sejanus looking confused at you. You smiled in invitation and he began taking a cautious walk up the vast stairs. 

Arachne couldn't help but scoff.

"Wonder what little district boy would do without his precious y/n to hold his hand wherever he goes."

Your mouth opened to shoot back a response when Sejanus gave one of his own. 

"Maybe you will see where it would hit if it wasn't being held."

He even gave a mocking smile to go with it. 

And this is why your two friend groups are separate. 

Before any teeth could be knocked out or venom spit, you were quick to grab his arm and pull him away. You look over your shoulder with a rushed and apologetic farewell to the group.

But your eyes met those ever shining blue orbs and gave a private smile. A smile he couldn't help but return.

"What are you smiling at Snow?"

Festus croked. He had frankly forgotten his friends around him, way too lost on your retreating form. 

"Well that was entertaining if I must say." He covered up his slip.

The look on Arachne's face begged to differ.

But reassurance came in Clemensia's laugh, followed by Felix.

"I would actually like to see what would happen with you and Plinth in a room with no y/n to mediate Crane." Felix seemed quite entertained with the thought. 

The girl just rolled her eyes and began her march into the building, clear irritation radiating off of her.

The rest of the group followed suit and walked into the posh institution.

"Feel bad for whoever unfortunately walks infront of her path" Festus quips, much to the enjoyment and humor of his friends.

The same feeling could not be said for Sejanus.

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"So how worried should I be?" Sejanus's warm brown eyes bore into yours. You crooked your head to its side in confusion.

"Care to explain Sej?" 

"I think I'm the one who needs an explanation y/n. You never came to our spot and you were instead with them."

He spit out the word as if it was acid.

"Not to mention the fact that we got a call from your father thanking us for letting you stay with us last night. Would you care to enlighten me how I either missed your presence the entire night, morning, and ride here or where you actually were."

His tone was harsh but you knew it came from a place of worry. He knew of your sleepless habits and to be informed that you were supposed to be with him but weren't must have been horrifying. 

You weren't sure if you should tell him the whole truth about staying with Coriolanus. So you tell him the same thing you told Rhayes, your driver, last night.

"I was with a friend. I'm sorry I worried you Sejanus. I had no idea he called you and made you worry." 

He looked at you with a puzzled and slight irritated expression.

"What friend y/n? And if you couldn't stay at your house, you know our door is always open."

You weren't exactly sure why he was so upset at the situation but you felt he deserved some semblance of an answer. 

"You guys do enough for me as it is. No- stop don't even try to argue with me on this. Can - can we just drop this?" You sighed, clearly not wanting to continue on this topic.

Sejanus looked the exact opposite, wanting to flesh out every detail. But he noticed your discomfort and let the conversation end there. 

You both had been walking around the halls, him not really realizing the path you were taking untill you came to a stop and began looking through your bag.

The kind boy, for what seemed the first time that morning, took in your appearance. 

"You look well rested. Back to life." He says it astonished. You couldn't help but roll your eyes. 

"I know! Weird seeing me look like an actual person instead of zombie." You were expecting a witty remark back but you were met with another amazed observation. 

"You kept your hair down. And look it has a flower!"

You laughed at his behavior and found your mass pile of somehow pristine papers. You flipped through the pages with apprehension at your work.

"And you finished your paper! What happened to you last night?!"

He just seemed to keep on getting more and more lost. Your smile grew in amusement of his reaction and you both walked into class. Sejanus made his way up to your elevated section of desks while you made your way to your Professor.

Professor Rhaen was a tall and lengthy man who seems more aged than any person of his middle age should be. His pale skin seemed sickly and was scattered with small marks and freckles.

He was bent over his desk, deep into a thick book. You cleared your throat and his eyes snapped up to your slightly timid figure.

"Good morning Professor. I understand that you gave us an extended amount of time for our paper to ensure we properly research. But I fear I got too carried away and seemed to have finished a bit early."

You held up your own thick stack of papers with a humble smile. The man didn't take your papers right away, leaving your hand hanging while he was analyzing.

After a few painfully akward moments, he finally took the stack from your hands. You were going to make your way to seat before he motioned for you to wait.

He was scanning through as you just stood there, in the front of the room and felt quite small. You looked up towards the direction of your desk and saw Sejanus give you a smile and a thumbs up in encouragement.

You smiled back, with a little more reassurance and turned to your professor who seemed to be very focused. The sounds of your classmates coming in was heard as their gazes were felt.

Forever seemed to pass before Professor Rhaen gave you the go ahead to sit down. You gave a giddy sigh of relief before you were stopped by his voice.

"Y/n!" You turned slowly and slightly reluctantly. "

From what I've seen so far, I think I will be nothing less than impressed."

What.

Professor Rhaen does not give compliments. You felt over the moon but gave a polite nod and rushed to your desk.

You didn't realize that Coriolanus and the others had made it to class until you reached the area of your desk. You had to squeeze past the blonde boy and as soon as you sat down, you had to turn behind you.

"Wait you already finished your paper?"

Clemmies pretty face was contorted in baffelment. You just smiled and shrugged. The scoffs of impresment (and intimidation) of Felix, Festus, and Arachne were quite audible even as you turned around.

Sejanus took in your interaction and noticed how neither Clemensia nor Arachne knew of your progress. Something they clearly would have if you stayed at their penthouses last night.

But what was even more puzzling was your shared look with Coriolanus who seemed to have a bit of a smug and proud smile on his face.

Like he knew. 

Any questions were caught off by the scratchy voice of the professor. His lecture was not necessarily interesting, but today for the first time in a long time, you were able to be fully focused.

You followed every word and participated whenever you could. You were so engaged with the lesson that you barely realized the pen that landed by your shoes.

Grabbing it in a swift motion, you looked up to see Coriolanus with a smug smirk.

Oh that little-

"See what happens when you get a proper sleep." He teased you, slightly crouched, mirroring your position. 

You gave a soft scoff at his comment which only made his expression grow.

"A night of good rest, a compliment from Rhaen, and an intimated Arachne? You're on fire y/n." He whispered. 

"Trying to suck up to the new favorite student Snow?" You teased back.

The close proximity of your position allowing for the heat of your breath to be felt on the boys cheeks.

That's the reason for the red on it right? 

His devious smirk only expanded, showing a few of his perfect and pearly white teeth. He opened his mouth to fire back his own witty response before he was cut off by a clearly displeased Dean Casca Highbottom. 

"Miss Vaun and Mr. Snow."

It seemed that even having the two of your names in the same sentence drained him off all his energy.

"Why am I not surprised. Well whatever it is that you two were discussing, I hope it was more important than your professor's lecture." 

The embarrassment of the public scolding and the silence of the room was suffocating.

And he knew it.

He seemed to relish in your discomfort and Coriolanus's annoyance. 

His eyes seemed to be coated with a fog as he was lost to his mind and whatever he was thinking. The realization of reality and his intention of the interruption seemed to bring him back to reality. 

"Please pack up your things Miss y/n. It is urgent."

Your reaction to his words was panic.

Absolute panic.

Emotion you had to swallow, even as your breathing accelerated. You were shaking as you basically threw your material in your bag, with no care of the impact.

Dean Highbottom had already left the room and was waiting in the hallway by the time you met up with him. You felt nauseous and walked on heavy feet.

Coriolanus could see the unsteady steps you took and wanted nothing more than steady you.

But he could do nothing.

And that's the part he hated most.

He sighed and tried to focus back on the lecture and the notes he was supposed to take. Then he realized you must have taken his pen by accident. 

And he was right but you weren't really conscious as you twirled that very same pen in you hands in apprehension.

Something happened to her.

That happened to her.

You both reached the main office and you hoped that all your fears would be resolved. But you looked up to see your father in a state of varying levels of dishevelment. He looked pale, starved, and hollow.

But worst of all were the tears in his eyes and clear stains on his cheek. No.

No. 

You felt the world shrink around you as he opened up his palm to reveal a beautiful golden necklace. A necklace that held two rings.

The same necklace that your mother wore without fail.

The one she swore she would never take off till death did her part.

Till death do you part.

⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆⋇⋆✦⋆

A/N: another part down! I hope you all liked it! I was scared of how it was gonna turn out at first but kinda liked it. I hope you guys saw the desk scene as I imagined it (both you and coryo kinda crouched and close as you whispered). I imagined it as if it was a movie and the shot would be showing your side profiles as you talked in those fancy curved desk things in the movie. Also if things don't make sense, I'm sorry it's 1 am and I have been working on it for hours and I'm sleepy lol! Much love as always!

@notyourwildestdream 🌹@darktrashsoulbear🌹@fantasylovestoryme 🌹@nekee-lilac02 🌹@a-avengerparker🌹 @queenofshinigamis 🌹

[classpectanon]

the god-shaped hole

this is a homestuck theory i reference often internally but i'm not sure if i actually wrote down on my blog. well, less of a theory and more of what i observe as a sort of inevitability that's hard to argue against, but, still - it's useful to have terminology to describe it.

the "god-shaped hole" is a concept central to understanding the machinations of skaia within the universe of homestuck. at its core, it represents the narrative mechanism employed by skaia, the omnipotent and omniscient entity, to guide each sburb player towards a specific role it deems most suitable. in achieving this, skaia leverages a variety of game systems and constructs like Titles, Sprites, Denizens, and Lands, which serve as the tools in carving out this predestined path.

each player is essentially funneled into a carefully tailored narrative track that aligns with skaia's overarching plotline. from granting unique powers through titles, assigning personal guides in the form of sprites, to presenting obstacles embodied by denizens and crafting lands to reflect and challenge a player's character, skaia's pervasive influence seeks to mold each individual's journey. through this process, the players become pawns in a grand cosmic game, their lives and personal stories repurposed to meet the requirements of this god-shaped hole.

fundamentally, it's a mechanism of control, and one that's extremely toxic at that. the whole thing is a form of manipulation - a kind of divine puppetry orchestrated by skaia to guide or force each sburb player into a very specific narrative slot, no matter the cost. and when i say "cost," i'm talking about the mental and emotional toll it can take on the players.

the god-shaped hole is a symbol of a system that commodifies personal struggles and coerces individuals into roles that may not be in their best interest. it's skaia's way of exploiting the players, taking advantage of their personal narratives, strengths, and even weaknesses, to achieve its own goal - the creation of a new universe.

and this isn't some gentle guidance either. it's coercion, pure and simple. skaia utilizes its omniscience to control the narrative, forcing players to fit into roles that it has preordained for them.

take caliborn, for example. skaia not only tolerated but actively facilitated his destructive tendencies, going so far as to grant him immortality so he could become its grim reaper. why? because it served skaia's utilitarian end goal. in doing so, it not only enabled but actively rewarded caliborn's brutality.

every character in homestuck is defined by its attempts to escape or embrace this hole, even the most villainous ones. the space between sessions isn't an unknown quantity to skaia - it's responsible for gamzee, too, and aranea, and every other bad thing, ultimately, by shaping the people into what they would become using its omniscience.

the god-shaped hole, then, isn't just about fulfilling a cosmic narrative. it's about skaia using individuals as tools, shaping and molding them, often against their will, to fulfill its own ends. it's not about personal growth or revelation; it's about control and exploitation. and that's what makes it so insidious.

it's capitalism btw. that's the joke here. thanks for reading.

[addgg-taylor]

MTG: The Unstable Ground We Stand On

The year was 2013. Gatecrash had just come out to mixed reception, but I didn't even know what Magic was. I was in high school, and my best friend (at the time) was on a vacation to Disney World. So, I went to sit with my second best friend, but couldn't find them. That's when I found an old friend of mine playing a card game with them, and that game was Magic. I learned about it, looked into it, played Duels of the Planeswalkers (remember when that was a thing?), and decided it was for me! Now, I could have gotten a starter deck, but I was laser focused on one thing: A box that said Core Set. This was the M14 Deckbuilder's Toolkit, and I got it because that's what all my friends started Magic with. Granted, that probably wasn't the smartest idea, but I'm the type to jump off the deep end; if I'm getting into a hobby, I may as well make sure I'm prepared for the long haul. The Deckbuilder's Toolkit had everything I needed, the start of a collection, and most importantly? Lands. It had lands. You didn't need to buy them from a game store for up to (or even exceeding) a dollar a pop. You didn't have to rely on people liquidating their collection to stock up. You could just buy a box and have land cards to build decks with, and I remember buying toolkits just for lands and boosters. Now, you can't do that. If you're just getting started, you either have to borrow them, switch them between decks, open them in packs, or buy them on the secondary market. (That last one is pretty ironic, because Wizards of the Coast has a rule against acknowledging the secondary market.) And, yet there's no reasonable, mainstream way to get land cards. Some game stores will let you keep them after an event, but I've only been to one store that did that. (Read: did. They don't anymore because people weren't saving enough for others.)

Back on topic though, long time players probably made note of the time I started Magic; I started with Magic 14, which came between the Return to Ravnica block... and the Theros block, widely regarded as one of the most heavily unbalanced and mechanically awkward blocks of its time. So, after that, people reasonably wanted a palette cleanser, and they had it. The Tarkir block was amazing despite being chronologically confusing, but in the storm of chaos, there was warmth. The Core Sets would always be there to serve as the foundational building blocks, and get this; they gave players a moment to see where the main characters were on their journeys. These weren't just foundational gameplay wise, but story wise, and gave WotC a moment to show everyone what's going on in the background. They also ensured that, between the sets with heavy mechanical ties or complexity, there was always solid ground to stand on. New players could seek out these Core Sets as a good starting ground, and experienced players found themselves in familiar territory with highly desired reprints. However, despite no reasonable player protesting against Core Sets, the vocalization of players wanting more of their favorite planes was taken in a way that was bad for everyone (in my opinion).

After Magic Origins, the game switched to a two set block system, and suddenly lost the Core Set. From a game design standpoint, this is doomsday. This is how TCGs die if they don't have a dedicated, permanent selection of cards, and yet Magic somehow survived to realize their mistake. In the background, however, they were still making a more gross mistake, trying to capitalize on Elder Dragon Highlander. Around the time I got into Magic, they'd begun making Commander decks, and at first these weren't too problematic. They were once a year drops that let players get into this entirely different casual format. While Standard was limited on card selection, and Modern and Legacy a coin flip simulator, Commander allowed players to throw their collection into the ring without regard for the hottest cards. The general consensus was that you could play what you wanted, whether you had a few Standard sets worth of cards or flocked to Modern, Legacy, and Vintage.

Fast forward to War of the Spark. Now, the two block system was dying. The war on blocks had begun, with Mark Rosewater practically blowing off anyone that critiqued the change with the same "this is what you wanted, right?" Players really wanted to see previous planes, but instead of Wizards trying to revisit them in earnest, they shifted into rapid fire mode. With only one set per plane now, they began spitting out half-baked revisits that barely touched upon older planes, and tore through new planes and major events without putting much thought into them. Stories would begin to go undercooked, and with every "you wouldn't want to be stuck on a plane you don't like" from MaRo, an interesting plane or event is left unexplored past the surface level. Additionally, to add more ammo to this machine gun of mistakes, they threw the Core Set in the trash. They tried to kill it off once and realized their mistake, but after Adventures in the Forgotten Realms it was dead for good. Looking at things now, this has all caused Magic to fall apart.

Magic is the worst it's ever been for any player that isn't wholly invested in and unwaveringly loyal to the game. The beginner has the worst footing in many years, with the Local Game Store forced to leverage all the responsibility for getting new players into the game. Players who want to learn can do so for free, but the first step into the door beyond learning is a brick wall. Starter Kits have finally made a resurgence, which is a step in the right direction. However, you likely wouldn't know they existed if you didn't look online, which is antithetical to the fact that you'll usually have to go to a game store in order to play in events anyway. Additionally, with MSRPs being stripped off many products, it's the most expensive (even relatively speaking) it's ever been to start playing. As for experienced players? The story is the hardest it's ever been to keep up with, thanks especially to the fact that an entire plane's story has to start and end in one set. Players should be able to get the gist simply by looking at the set, but instead, hastily written stories with declining storytelling aspects do most of the talking (and it's assumed you've read them). This problem is becoming painfully obvious now; basically everyone that's died recently has been brought back to some extent, making it apparent that the folks in charge of story direction are leaning on old planeswalkers instead of innovating with new ones. Mu Yangling and Jiang Yanggu, Basri Ket, Niko Aris, Calix, Kasmina, Davriel, Dack Fayden, and Wrenn have either been ignored or cut from the story. Meanwhile, every member of the original five planeswalkers has completed their story arc and suffered some major fate that should have ended their tale, and yet they've all come back; Ajani and Jace were compleated, Garruk was corrupted by the Chain Veil, Liliana was hunted down, and Chandra was forced to face her corrupted fling Nissa. All of them are now totally fine, with Jace set to appear in Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

That's just scratching the surface of problems plaguing veterans. From a gameplay perspective, Standard is the most complex it's ever been, thanks to a three-year cycle being introduced and a constant torrent of increasingly complex mechanics. From a financial perspective, products aren't just the most expensive they've ever been, but there's basically a new product every single month now. Unless you stick to a single format (which can still be wallet-busting in its own right), you're bombarded with new content. Experimentation is great, but with the constant output, Wizards is forced to compete with itself; this has led to the worst level of power creep in many years. (You could probably reprint the Mirrodin block into Standard at this rate and only have to ban Skullclamp.) Every format has been turned on its back by the creep, from evoke elementals plaguing every deck in Modern to companions haunting Legacy and Vintage; worst of all, however, has been the fact that Standard is incredibly difficult to innovate in because of just how many blatantly busted cards are being printed. Oko was the thunder in the distance, and a storm has been pelting the format at increasing intensity since. We've reached a point where many blatantly powerful cards are considered fine in the format, because Wizards would rather keep bombs like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse legal than go on a banning spree for every seriously problematic card.

The worst part about this is that we likely wouldn't have reached this point if we still had a Core Set every year. The intentionally dumbed-down power of Core Sets is part of what helped keep power creep in check, as they couldn't go too far if they wanted to make the cards relevant. The ability to reprint many cards back into Standard gave players a comfortable baseline, let new players enter the game more easily, and made it easier to acquire classic cards. The break in the story allowed us to get a better look at where planeswalkers were and what they were doing, or it let us step back to see their history. It let Wizards introduce new characters more freely, not having to worry about their immediate implications. And, most importantly. if it was still around, there'd be far less arguments for one set per plane.

[project-do-over]

Violet_M00n is available

Violet_M00n: Heyyy sorry for the delay! Got caught up with work stuff...

Bookwyrm1982: literally no time has passed.

Violet_M00n: Right. Right. Habit, I guess.

Violet_M00n: Anyway, what else did you want to know about the future?

Bookwyrm1982: Well you said you had AI, right?

Violet_M00n: Well... Yes and no. We have programs people *call* "AI", but they're really just advanced machine learning. They can't actually think or anything, but they can put together a surprisingly human sounding sentence, and draw things that could at first be mistaken for art.

Violet_M00n: But of course it's awful. The results are full of factual errors or have way, way too many fingers, companies are trying to use it to replace creatives, and it burns a ton of energy doing essential nothing of value.

Violet_M00n: So could you go on ChatGPT and talk to a convincing facsimile of a human but underneath it's just a more advanced version of Dr. SBAITSO.

Bookwyrm1982: that's a shame. But then again at least you don't have to worry about them taking over the world, right?

Violet_M00n: Luna, at this point I'd welcome our robot overlords. Better than the fucks we have running things these days.

Bookwyrm1982: Are things that bad?

Violet_M00n: *sighs* no, I suppose not. I still have a job, a family, I can exist in public without fearing persecution, and I'm mostly free to do as I please.

Violet_M00n: But trust me when I say the people who very much want to take that away have much more power than feels comfortable.

Bookwyrm1982: that sounds scary though.

Violet_M00n: More enraging than scary, really. Just so many people who can't or don't want to see things from anyone's point of view from their own.

Violet_M00n: Well, that, and capitalism.

Bookwyrm1982: I thought capitalism was good though?

Violet_M00n: *sigh* we have so much to learn.

Violet_M00n: Honestly though, and you should be able to find these online if not in the library, but read some Marx.

Violet_M00n: It may not resonate a lot yet, but it will.

Bookwyrm1982: I always thought that Communism was a good idea in theory but it needed a global revolution to actually work.

Violet_M00n: You may be on to something there. And someday, hopefully in our lifetime, we may get there. But it's a long, long road. Especially here in America, where it's been used as a boogeyman for like 80 years now.

Violet_M00n: (55 for you)

Bookwyrm1982: Wow, that's.... I'm not sure I want to grow up now.

Violet_M00n: Well maybe your timeline will invent actual time travel and you can keep that wish. Luna knows I wish I could.

Bookwyrm1982: so

Bookwyrm1982: um

Bookwyrm1982: Can we talk about something more fun? Like, what's something good in your time?

Violet_M00n: Well Magic the Gathering is still pretty good.

Bookwyrm1982: We're still playing? I kinda lost interest and stopped following it a year or two ago.

Violet_M00n: Oh yeah, we're still playing, and the game is... Well, it's way different from your time but also at its heart the same.

Violet_M00n: Like it's still Magic but also there's D&D and cowboys and Gandalf, for some reason. It's cool but it's also kinda scary how much they're pumping out.

Bookwyrm1982: Oh that sounds cool! Is it just D&D and LOTR?

Violet_M00n: They've done a ton of crossovers, they call them "Universes Beyond". They've done, let's see...

Violet_M00n: Dr. Who, Warhammer, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, they're doing Marvel soon, Transformers (those are Hasbro though so they were among the first), The Walking Dead, Fortnite, Stranger Things (you... Don't know about those yet, don't worry), um, lots more stuff too that I'm forgetting, but those are mostly in like five or ten card bundles.

Violet_M00n: Unlike LotR which was a full set, with boosters and everything. And the best selling set of Magic in all time, unless Bloomburrow has passed that already.

Bookwyrm1982: Really cool! You'll have to send me some pictures sometime!

Violet_M00n: I'll be sure to downscale them appropriately this time!

Bookwyrm1982: What else do we like? Is Star Trek still running?

Violet_M00n: It had a long break there where it seemed we weren't going to get any more Star Trek.

Violet_M00n: But then JJ Abrams (a director/producer of some renown) made a Star Trek movie that was meh, but good enough to get people interest in the franchise again.

Violet_M00n: Soon after that Paramount spun up Star Trek Discovery, which had a rocky start but Grew The Beard soon enough for them to greenlight Star Trek Picard. Then Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, Academy, and probably one or two others I'm forgetting (not to forget Short Treks and Very Short Treks).

Violet_M00n: Prodigy! I forgot Prodigy!

Bookwyrm1982: The online service?

Violet_M00n: No, Star Trek Prodigy. It's a CG animated series for kids made by Nickelodeon.

Bookwyrm1982: You're making that up.

Violet_M00n: I swear, it's true. Lower Decks is animated too, but 2D, and it's for adults and probably the best thing Star Trek has ever created. It's hilarious!

Violet_M00n: SNW follows Captain Pike on the 1701

Bookwyrm1982: And Discovery?

Violet_M00n: Complicated! It starts out pre-TOS but... Spoilers! And Picard is... Also here!

Bookwyrm1982: Is that about young Picard or something?

Violet_M00n: Old Picard, but close.

Bookwyrm1982: Hey my mom... our mom... just told me to get off the computer so

Bookwyrm1982: ttys!

Violet_M00n: See you in literally no time at all!

Bookwyrm1982 is away

[pb-dot]

A little hardware rant

So today I went to a local electronics retailer to look for some thermal paste to soothe my poor overworked CPU's temperature problems. This, being a bit of a departure from the store's usual fare of prebuilt electronics actively hostile to modification, repair, or upgrades, I found no logical place for the thing, so I had to wander around a bit while waiting for someone who worked there to have a spare moment between hocking overpriced laptops to help me out on this.

So, being the impeccably efficient and very reasonable young man that I am, I decided to kill some time by browsing for a new keyboard. It's sad to say, but my current one has been with me since the days of the Party Rock Anthem, and it's getting a bit long in the tooth. So, what could this unnamed major Scandinavian electronics retailer offer me? Well, as it turned out my search would be more frustrating than I anticipated.

When it comes to pc parts, I'm reasonably utilitarian. As long as it lets me do what I want to do, it's doing its job. Keyboards are different though. I have preferences. As a writer, I like my keyboards to have the three following features:

Intuitive layout with some slight spacing between the letters to facilitate easier cleaning

A wired USB connection, this is non-negotiable. I don't want to fiddle with Bluetooth or whatnot.

No foofaraw. No fancy extra buttons, no lights, no fiddly gimmicks.

Now, do you want to know how many keyboards fulfilled all of my criteria in this big ol' store? Exactly none. I found an ergonomic one that seemed nice but was, unfortunately, wireless and one that was wired and had nice key placements but unfortunately also had this regrettable "Gamer"-branding and my old nemesis LEDs.

Now, if I may ask, what exactly is the purpose of LEDs on a keyboard? Are there scores of people who'd love to game in the dark if they could only see their input devices? It just seems alien to me since my ideal input device just lets me get into the zone while writing and stay there without disturbing me. This is, as one might expect, a taller task for a keyboard with pulsing RGB light and a dedicated button for playing the 2012 Skrillex hit Bangarang or whatever.

What frustrates me most about this is that I don't think my demands are particularly extravagant and that I assumed that having access to a wide range of Products was supposed to be the draw of living in this here late-capitalist hellscape that we navigate on the daily. It isn't the case though, as the selection of products that are deemed Most Profitable to sell to us narrows further and further. Sure, The Man could sell you parts to upgrade or repair your PC, but that's not as good of a deal (for them) as just selling you prebuilt underperformers that burst into flames if you even look at them with a screwdriver in hand. Similarly, there's no reason to say every goddamn keyboard has to be wireless now, but wireless tech is cheap enough (and harder for amateurs to repair) so it goes in everything. I'm convinced that is the reason you basically can't find high-end wired earbuds anymore.

Now, this is perhaps getting into a slightly conspiratorial headspace, but I do think there's something to this trend of consumer goods being less tailored to the needs of consumers and more kind of pushed through to the customer, which I don't love. Hell, I don't love the Faustian bargain of "live in an unsustainable unfair system that does a fuckery to our biosphere but you have infinite varieties of consumer goods to choose from to distract you," in the first place, but when that slowly gets replaced with "buy our garbage peasant" before my eyes, I can't help but wonder if I'm being played for an absolute fool.

So in short, capitalism bad, it's surprisingly hard to find the keyboard you want, perhaps the discontent of the masses should topple the fat cats of the world, turns out the place didn't have thermal paste in the first place, eat the rich, you know, that kind of stuff.

[mymarifae]

sorry about that :((((

https://www.tumblr.com/shiftythrifting/759635562114236416/big-metal-kiwi-though-i-think-still-smaller-than?source=share

here's a picture of a kiwi i found! also, could you give me a pitch for honkai star rail :0?

ohhh what an excellent fellow... i wish he could be in my house. weighing down my papers and such things

when you say Pitch do you mean like, a recommendation of sorts? okay!!!! so first off it's a gacha game, so it's bad-

😭 GDSJBHNKJFBNKF umm for all my criticisms of the game (which i'd be happy to go into another time, but not now, not while i'm still veryvery very very sad) i just find it... compelling! there are always moments in every update where i'm like "ok so i wouldn't have done it that way" but the overall direction and execution of the story is. it's just fun idk!!!! the penacony arc lost a bit of its momentum towards the end but i genuinely think that portion of the game especially was really well put together and it makes for a fun video game experience. even if you don't end up connecting with the story and characters as strongly as I did, the art, music, environments, boss fights, tension points, etc etc etc add up to a pretty good time. penacony's the shining star so far, but i think this sentiment applies to most parts of the game 🤔 most......

characters though!!!! that's the other thing that really got me stuck in the hsr hole. lots and lots of lovely characters. many of their designs may kill me, but i am soooooo drawn to the personalities and archetypes and development arcs and their interactions with each other and their world and THEMSELVES and and and and and . ough i love Character..

also, the game has a lot of surprisingly insightful commentary and philosophies interwoven in its narrative? not to mention penacony again but actually yes to mention penacony again because this game is still a baby game and we only have so many arcs to talk about and it's the best one thus far , PENACONY had a lot to say. especially about society/capitalism and the significance/INsignificance of life (especially when you consider the inevitability of death). very thoughtful, i found. many pieces of the story made me put everything down and just Think for a while. i always like when stories make me do that :)

ummm one last thing! gameplay. personally i adore the gameplay asdgkjngndjb i live for this kind of turn-based combat where you can think your way through it. sure there's the "meta" that's "better" and "easier" but you can very much just ignore it and develop your own understanding of each character's combat style and do whatever you want. <3 also like. all my character design gripes aside, the animations are a ton of fun imo... so even if the combat can get repetitive at times it's like "look at my guys go :)"

and there's a lot of maps and a lot of space to run around in, but exploration is kind of limited due to the fact that you cannot jump or climb in this game. they make up for this by hiding all sorts of easter eggs and random hidden side quests (?) everywhere and also the game design is just very pretty so i still have a lot of fun just Looking, but if you're expecting something more like genshin you're. not getting that 👍🏾

in conclusion it's not good except for when it decides to be the best thing ever and i'm having the time of my life and now i've gone and gotten myself extremely attached to 60% of the cast so even if i wasn't having the time of my life i'd be stuck here anyway

[risustravelogue]

“hello, good sir. pardon the interruption to your leisurely rest, but have you seen this woman?”

a clink of mora passing between hands, and the vagrants studied the photo of a short dark-blue haired woman closely.

one of them answered with a rough voice, “a foreigner? lots of them been roamin’ around since the sakoku decree being lifted. can’t really remember well…”

another gold coin joined the other. the ronins talked amongst each others in inazuman as meirin tapped her foot almost impatiently.

“i guess she looks pretty distinct… might have seen her around, maybe in the capital.”

“are you absolutely sure?”

“chances are, she’ll be there. you said she was doing some commission work and stuff? if they could afford someone from overseas, they must have some good money. people with good money generally live in the main city.”

all general information, yet again. what do these people think we are, dumb?

the woman sighed and grabbed her husband’s hand before he could hand over yet another mora to the fifth group of vagabonds they’ve encountered that day, “alright. thank you for your cooperation, good sirs. we’ll be going n—”

“now, now,” the ronin who had been observing the scene from behind chuckled, hand inching towards their sheathed blade, “you both seem loaded, so why not throw a few more mora our way, eh?”

meirin frowned and glanced up at her lover before whispering, “is the welfare in inazuma that bad? why do they all say the same thing? what are these guys, npcs?”

“an interesting theory. are you suggesting that we’re in a game of sorts?”

“wouldn’t that be fun? in which case, i command you to bonk these npcs!”

“haha, as my dearest wishes.”

ミ𒆙𒆙𒆙

“— really! we really don’t know anything else!” the nobushi pleaded, visibly trying to struggle against the petrification to no avail.

the teashop owner sighed and pondered over the small teapot, before reaching into her bag with a soft smile, “i think you need more tea to remember, good sir… ah, yes, why not add the amount of jueyun chili in this one? and ground sand grease pupas for an added flavor! that should jog your memory!”

“wait, wait, please! i swear i don’t know anything! never seen that girl in my life!!” the man cried out, glancing back towards his friends who were laying out cold on the ground after a cup of… whatever devil’s drink that woman had forced down their throat.

were they dead? he had no idea.

and why the hell was the woman’s husband making himself home on their camp while having tea?!

clearly this couple wasn’t normal.

“look! i-i may not have information about the girl, b-but i’ve seen a weird-looking guy walking around these parts!”

“… a weird-looking guy?” meirin tilted her head.

the kettle sang on top of the portable stove. the man watched with quivering eyes as she poured the hot water into the teapot containing the 'concoction’. even from the smell, his eyes had started to water.

“y-yeah!! he’s got a mustache and wears this purple cape!! he looks like he’s up to no good if you ask me!!”

“huh… anything else?”

“uh. um……. n-no?”

“….”

“….”

“welp! special tea delivery! open wide~”

[ 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑���� 𝚒𝚗𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 ]

shoes crunched against inazuma’s soil as the pair trekked down the path towards konda village. perhaps once they’ve reached the settlement, they would be able to find some clues, or at least people who had seen kurisu. though their pace was deliberately slowed from all the venturing and questioning almost everyone they came across, it was always better to be meticulous and slow than careless and fast in these situations.

….. and on that note….

“xiànɡ gong, i love you dearly, but let’s try to be just as ultra-careful and not spend our money that willy-nilly, alright?”

“ah… yes, of course. my apologies, tiánxīn.”

@i23kazu - another ebg submission from yours truly!

I'm not sure how you'd count these, but there are 2 doodles on screencaps, 2 drawings, and 1 edit of a drawing (idt that counts as a whole piece?). Feel free to see for yourself!

230 words.

03. trying something

That morning…

“We’re here.”

“You! Boss-man! I challenge you to an Onikabuto fight!” exclaimed the young girl.

Itto cackled. “Bring it on!”

Kurisu smiled. “Haha… Have fun, you two.” 

She walked inside the tent. There, she found something glinting near one of the tent’s wooden pegs.

“What’s this?”

“Huh? A Vision? Whose is this?”

Kurisu walked out of the tent and approached Shinobu, who was walking down towards the tent.

“Kuki. I found a Vision near one of the pegs. Do you have any idea whose it is?”

Kuki’s eyes looked at the Vision, then to Kurisu’s face, then back to the Vision in her hand.

“A Sumeru Vision… hmm. Why don’t you try using it?”

Kurisu frowned.

“Odd idea, but how do I do that?”

Shinobu tapped her cheek. “Hmm. Try connecting with it, then focus on something you can’t do without a Vision. Since it’s a Hydro Vision, maybe try conjuring a ball of water floating above me?”

Kurisu nodded. She closed her eyes and imagined a big ball of water above Shinobu’s head.

“Amazing.”

She opened her eyes to find Shinobu poking the ball of water with her index finger.

And it popped, showering her green hair with glistening droplets.

“Ah! Cold!” she yelped.

“...”

“Wow, it is yours!”

“But…”

“... Kurisu?”

“But... But I—I’ve never—!!”

A horrified shriek echoed through the air.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME?????”

[samieree]

Born in Flames || Game of Thrones

OC x ?😏

-> Introduction + Prologue

Chapter I "Home?"

The fair-haired girl stood on the balcony with her hands on the railing and watched as the waves of the sea hit the rocks. She had watched it every day for seventeen years, every day hoping it might be the last time she watched it. But it wasn't like that...

"My Lady..." she didn't hear the words of Selaria, her maid. "Lady Maegelle" she turned to the older woman at that moment. She may have never heard anyone call her by her real name, but she knew her name wasn't Maegelle.

And yet... She reacted to it, just like a well-trained dog that always comes to you when called.

"What's the matter?" She asked dispassionately, not very pleased that the woman had interrupted her.

"We're leaving for the capital tomorrow, my Lady." She said, folding some of the girl's dresses into the crate. "King Robert is dead, you're safe."

Safe... She didn't believe it. She'll never be safe anywhere, no one is. She turned her head a moment more towards the waves. I'm finally seeing them for the last time... Her father's murderer is dead, he won't come under the walls of Casterly Rock anymore, and he won't demand her head, even though she didn't do anything to him.

Her only crime was being Rhaegar's daughter, being a Targaryen...

* * *

She had never seen King's Landing with her own eyes. She was born here but spent her life in and around Casterly Rock. She was not used to so many people... And to a specific smell, and in fact it was a stench. She had heard the maidservants in the castle say that it smelled in the capital from time to time, but she had never thought there could be so much truth in their words.

"You were born here, my Lady." Selaria smiled at her, then peering out the carriage window. She said nothing to that. In fact, she didn't even know what to say to that. 'I know'? She wouldn't have taken this dialogue any further. Therefore she was silent. She was silent until it was time to get off before entering the Red Keep, her real family home. A home that had been brutally taken from her before she could remember it. Taken with a stab in the back, just like her father before he could even see his daughter. Everything here was her home and suffering at the same time.

Seventeen years this usurper had been sitting here, using everything her ancestors had built... She had seen him once. He wanted to kill her then, but luckily Jaime somehow stopped him and led the girl to the other side of Casterly Rock. Now it was no longer Robert to raise his hand against her, but there would be someone else for sure. She was about to get out of the carriage, finally touching the grounds that legally belonged to her with her feet, but she stopped at the edge of the carriage, looking a little around.

"Come on..." she heard quietly somewhere in front of her and then she saw that blonde, Jaime, fucking, Lannister, who was reaching out to her to help her out. "You are safe. You are safe and at home."

She just nodded, letting herself be taken by the hand, and finally got out, followed closely by the maid. She imagined the flames raging seventeen years ago in this place, while her mother gave birth here in pain, in this building.

"Home..." she said softly, more to herself than anyone else. This wasn't what her home should looked like.

Her parents should be at home, her siblings... They wasn't here. The truth was also bad because she had no family anymore, practically no one from birth. She could see that they were trying to turn her into a Lannister, but despite those false smiles and nodding, she genuinely hated them. She hated the people who destroyed her world, her life. It was because of them that she felt like a war trophy. She was a princess, even though it was officially taken away from her. But she was also tired of this life, she saw no hope of regaining what she had lost long ago.

* * *

Her maidservant had just been away when Maegelle walked into the empty throne room. She had barely made it through the door, and she already knew this was where she belonged. After the death of the Mad King, her father should now be on the throne that stood at the end of the room, and she would then be smiling on the balcony, looking at the room full of people.

But it was empty.

She walked slowly closer to the throne, not paying so much attention to the appearance of the room. She climbed a few steps and stood just in front of the iron throne. For a moment she stood so uncertainly staring at him, until she finally reached out slowly to touch his armrest.

"If you wanted to sit on that chair, you'd have to kill a lot of people first." She dropped her hand halfway when she heard the words. She put on her indifferent expression and turned to her new interlocutor.

"Are you going to stalk me, ser?" She asked Jaime directly. He couldn't just leave her alone? As if it wasn't enough that somewhere in this place he killed her grandfather... with a hit in the back.

"I've missed you." She wanted to contemptuously roll her eyes at these words, but limited herself to a soft sigh.

"I don't doubt." she didn't miss him. To any of them, she didn't even want to see them. She would rather be far away, even outside the wall she would probably be better off than in the capital. "But you have to forgive me now, I'm going to my chambers. I'd rather to not fall asleep at the coronation of the new king."

She had everything while having nothing.

~

-> Chapter II "Long may he reign" -> general masterlist -> Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon masterlist

[muchymozzarella]

I feel like I gotta mention I was a big fan of Mr Beast before and not so much now, but also like. I cannot pretend he doesn't help ppl because he absolutely does. Especially early on when he was simply spending money as fast as he could earn it by straight up giving it away. I found that charming if uninformed bc none of it was sustainable and yet it was genuine and did help ppl in the moment. He also allowed them to choose what they needed. Even now he often asks ppl what they need and provides it, which I think is good. The problem we run into is when his newer vids have such an obvious advertising angle for big companies. Oh you gave thousands of Brand Name Shoes away when many places have dumpsites full of shoes bc they don't actually need those shoes and a lot of them are bad quality, cool ok that sounds great (it does not) 👍🏾

Oh you're shilling for Tesla again sure ok whatever

I want to make it clear that I still appreciate he wants to help. Half the time he does very much help. He also informed ppl of the behind the scenes of stuff like what taxes and insurance goes into getting stuff like a new house and car and whatnot.

But philanthropy as a whole is kind of structurally harmful when it's done by rich ppl and companies that lobby against the social safety nets and structures that allow ppl to even afford to own a house. I don't know if MrBeast owns one of those companies, but he certainly collaborates with those types of companies and gives them good press to hide all the anti poor lobbying and other ethical issues

I must also say that according to him in his own interviews, his goal is just growth, which is probably Prime Capitalism and fills me with dread, just trying to one up himself over and over, when actual social welfare is not interested in infinite growth, but in sustainability. I don't know how these two goals will align if he purports to be philanthropic.

I can list down all the reasons MrBeast is Problematic but it will not change the people he helped, who I truly believe benefited from his help. But it will also not change the fact that he's become too big to be a good guy without the many, many caveats of "if you don't count his chocolate partner having a child labour lawsuit" or "if you don't count the many issues with the ghost kitchens his Beast Burgers operate out of" or "if you don't count that the Real Life Squid Game was just a clownishly bad idea that missed the point of the show entirely"

I also want to add that there's something I appreciate about him that I cannot fully agree with, but I can't say is wrong.

When he says he's "apolitical" outside of being LGBTQ+ positive, my first reaction is the usual cringe of people claiming to be apolitical, but then he follows it up with the fact that he believes there's no political boundary to charity and being poor, and quite frankly he's correct. In the USA both Democrat politicians and Republican politicians protect corporate interests, and there's functionally no political divide when it comes to class struggle.

He's directly worked with people who know the needs of those who are struggling. He works directly with people who actively volunteer or work for nonprofits that help poor people.

He may be a bit too centrist for some of y'all but I think he means well and is much more left than right.

I worry that he seems to aim to be a billionaire. I worry that he's further entrenching himself in that sort of crowd.

I liked the guy I used to see in his videos and the more he rubs elbows with crypto shills and billionaires and corporations the less I see of that guy.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying I don't think Jimmy Donaldson is a bad guy. I just worry that, outside of his recent stand against transphobia, it doesn't seem like he's becoming a better guy than he was years ago. I could be wrong, but idk.

I also think his products mostly suck but that's not a personal failing lol that's just average YouTube product releases

[soleminisanction]

Saw yet another post about how all modern comics are bad and the industry is decaying etc. since you’ve seemed at least a bit more optomistic (and want to write yourself) what are your thoughts on comics, things you think are good or bad about the current state of things, and where you think it’ll go?

I don't like making predictions for the future. I make plans and I hope for the best and if the best doesn't come, I readjust.

What's true is that the industry is not exactly robust right now. There's not a lot of money in comics. From what I've heard, most companies' profit margins are razor-thin, and the Big Two may actually be operating at a loss, because their real value is as "test kitchens" for stories and characters who might conceivably spin off into the much more lucrative film, TV or video game markets.

But that's also true for most hobby industries. TTRPGs comes to mind because that's where I'm currently working -- most publishers barely scrape enough together to keep producing their content. You don't go into these markets to get rich, you go into them because you like making things.

People have saying that the industry is dying for longer than I've been alive. Probably the only times they weren't saying that was during the first big Golden Age superhero boom and the 90s speculator bubble. I personally suspect that some form of the industry will always survive as long as there are people who enjoy creating and reading sequential art. It may not be the industry as we know it -- the Big Two may well collapse, or superheroes could go out of fashion again, or the economy could get so bad that the entire direct market crashes and the only survivors will be book publishers putting out full graphic novels. But I doubt it'll get that far.

As for the quality of modern comics, anyone who says they're bad is just ignorant, full stop. If anything, one of the industry's problems on the American side is that they're putting out some really high-quality physical products and it's really pushing the boundaries of how much people are willing to pay for them -- glossy full-color digital printing is waaaaaaaay more expensive than the simple two-tone shading on newsprint that you find in, for example, manga magazines.

But there are great books being made, at the Big Two, smaller publishers, indies and self-publishing, including web comics. There's a lot of high-quality variation, a lot big topics being addressed, and a lot of gorgeous art and great writing from creative pools that are growing more and more diverse with each passing year. And sure, there are plenty of stinkers too, but that's true of literally every era of comics; people just forget that because the shit goes away and the good stuff sticks around.

So yeah, that's my two cents: it's a creative industry, the creative part is great, the industry part sucks, and this is the nature of telling stories under capitalism. Doom & gloomsayers are just too short-sighted to see it.

[vro0m]

I agree with your prev post btw, however a similar discourse was fueling the bird app a while ago and i’ve been meaning to say something adjacent;

>>This is also all my opinion, i’m also not trying to police f1, Lord knows we have enough of that;

I personally think as long as you’re a journalist, why shouldn’t one be biased? it’s a sport at the end of the day. A technical one so there’s a more quantifiable logic but a sport regardless. I don’t like comparing F1 to other sports but atm that’s what’s lacking (imo). Rivalry makes a sport. it allows like minded people bond over mutual love/distaste (maybe those are harsh words and it gets borderline toxic most times but ygwim). Again, you and you alone are entitled to how you enjoy your hobbies.

I appreciate Max and Lewis fans so much cuz imo they’re the ones keeping the lights on. These drivers haven’t been in a title fight in a while lol but the fans would argue over the color of the sky if they could. Everyday Alonso fans say “if Alonso had gone to… in 2014, he’d have had… championships by now”. Sainz and Leclerc fans as of lately are also at each other’s throats cuz these are great drivers.

When Lewis got announced to Ferrari, people fell to their knees cuz that’s the enemy, that was the death star. Sure this may not be our grand parents Ferrari and here we sing and do marshmallow challenges now but it’s a long rivalry. Mclaren-Ferrari, Red Bull-Mercedes. I’m not trying to dissect what was said or what caused what but Toto seemingly trying to cozy up with Helmut and Max felt like backstabbing to some.

delusional takes?… exists everywhere, some driver’s fans have blamed the wind,mirrors, chassis and even his own team sabotaging him for poor performances. saying the other teammate’s win has been “nullified”.

AFCON, Nig vs Cameron, one team absolutely bottled it but the fans were dancing up until the last minute to boost morale. it’s what fans do. Objectively is good but so are biases, it makes us human imo.

These days a lot of the races imo are boring asl. It’s why DTS tries to milk slight disagreements as intra team rivalries. There’s also new wave of fans who’s welcome to the sport ofcourse but i just personally don’t understand this “I love every driver and want to see everyone do well”. If i wore an arsenal muffler with a Tottenham jersey in North london i’m getting jumped over rivalry that’s been here almost 100 years lol.

Again yes it gets extremely racist and parasocial but that’s the toxicity that doesn’t belong in a fandom but exists in most if not all. It’s all capitalism at the end of the day but at the core of it or what it should be is a sport

ps…this long ass essay lol and it’s also one of the reasons imo football socials don’t take us seriously and also calling f1 not a serious sport😅

Yeah that's what I meant by everyone is entitled to enjoy the sport the way they want. I personally think it's fine if you're 100% delulu biased following other like minded delulu biased people if that's what's fun to you! God knows the delulu posts are the funniest on this hellsite!

I understand what you mean with rivalry and I agree but personally didn't find the teamLH-orange army war fun at all because it got nasty really quickly. Fans were hating on each other and very aggressive about their opinions and I don't like that. I like heated arguments fine but when it tips into hate then it becomes a bad experience for most people.

To take your football example, I think singing songs in the stadium, making fun of the other team and fans, it's all playful and part of the culture. But fuck ultras, you know what I mean? I shouldn't be worried about getting jumped when I leave a game. Same thing goes here. The problem is a lot of people get genuinely angry at things and then genuinely aggro and that's not fun. So like I said in my previous post, if getting into fights with other people over these things is fun to you, you do you, I'll personally probably block you cause it's not enjoyable to me.

Imo the difference lies in self awareness. If you're a bit or even fully insane about your fav but you know that you are then it's generally all in good fun. But some people aren't aware that they are being irrational about things and that can get ugly because they take things seriously and get serious emotions about it and send serious hate about it etc. But it's not only bad for other people they might get aggressive towards. I've had anons here be genuinely distraught and/or enraged by the lack of performance at the moment. I've had to ask many a person "are you sure F1 is enjoyable to you?" because at the end of the day arguing can be fun (God knows I looove debating, irl and online, I'm annoying that way) but if you step away from these fanspaces angry, sad, frustrated most of the time, then is it really good for you? are you really having fun?

[norondor]

I'm not sure it's possible to get a bingo with this card but pick any or all of Nearl/Siege/Horn and give me your Opinions

it IS possible to get a bingo! but you may not like me after this.

NEARL

Nearl is such a fucking chad. the first real events i got to do anything with when i started last year were the maria nearl rerun/pinus sylvestris/near light trilogy and holy shit. after being only mildly plussed by her in the intro chapters, nearl became a favorite almost immediately. I don't usually love super chivalrous knight type characters, they're fine, i have no particular bias towards them, but marge is a really well realized modern version of this trope that lands super well with all we see of kazimierz and its hellish culture. obviously as a huge lesbian i was immediately enchanted by her behavior in her event, the dance with liz melted my heart, the homoerotic light and darkness sword duel with viviana made me go insane, she's SO COOL dealing with the blood knight... i wasn't that into the kazimierz plot to start with but nearl (and flametail!) made it my second-favorite subplot in the game all on her own. red circle above is because i cannot tell, due to my somewhat insular choice of fan circles, whether the general fanon is that she's in a poly thing with the Followers or something stupider and more wrong than that; if that's the take, we have a bingo! If not, move that circle over to "everyone but me is wrong."

I know people don't like her staying in kazimierz, but if i can drop a hot take -- and i can, it's my fucking blog and you've chosen to be here, sucker -- i actually like the vibe in near light that you cannot just stride in and crush societal ills and overthrow Capital just like that. helping people is still meaningful; doing the work of dismantling oppression is meaningless without making sure people survive to do it in the first place. her decision comes from a place of altruism and care for the people of her homeland, not from a misguided belief that she can work from within to change the cops or whatever the fuck. i get with that; it's a different character motivation than i'm used to and i'm really for it. moving the decimal place still matters to the people who will survive because you did, and that's what nearl and the doctor are doing the whole time in near light.

SIEGE

I'm sorry. idk her at all. I've never pulled her, only used her once, and i haven't started episode 10 yet (SORRY) -- i expect this rating to change when i DO know more about her but right now i'm just scared they'll do some lame shit True King Returns plotline with her and somehow make act 2 worse than it started out. she's hotter than all fuck though.

HORN

Second blonde woman bingo! Anyway you can unfollow me now if you wanna.

I'm sorry to be so hard on her but again; having completed episode 9 but not yet started 10+ i despise her. my dear friend @deneviere put it well yesterday; they tried to make her the sympathetic authority figure in ep9 but she is, objectively, here to do some bootboy shit, so what she really is is a massive centrist. no, horn, i DIDN'T consider that trying to preserve a culture under threat of ethnocide could damage unity in the imperial core, because i'm not a fucking imperialist. shut the fuck up, you dumb dog.

It's entirely possible a lot of her bad writing is a symptom of ep9 just being a complete shitshow overall; her interactions with Hamilton Von Racist are incredibly fucking pointless for what actually goes down in them, and the ending after 9-19 was so cartoonishly stupid i couldn't even be angry (this is a lie). she's still very hot and stupid overpowered as an operator, but i'm leaving Horn at level 1 forever because i already have Ashlock leveled, and also i hate her. this rating is also subject to change but, uh, we'll see.

[yooniesim]

I've spoken about this before & have the very short explanation in my pinned post, but I've been getting multiple asks the last couple days about it for some reason- maybe people have been discussing it elsewhere? Not sure, but I'll answer it again, as well as go a little more in-depth about what I've researched since last time I spoke about it.

The question is: why am I still using Curseforge? The answer is: I'm using whatever I get from it to pay for my meds and anything left over from that goes towards my medical or other bills. I've talked about this in-depth a number of times by now, so I won't go into the same extreme detail, but my financial situation is pretty damn bad right now. I try to joke about it when I can, but despite having a job and getting a little on the side from cf/patreon, I'm in the red every month. And after my father's recent passing, I've gained an additional unexpected 6k debt. At this point, I'm doing everything I can on the side irl and online just to keep my head above water. And for now, unfortunately, that includes uploading some cc to Curseforge. Though I'm looking into other options constantly & hoping my situation will improve enough over time that I can abandon it completely.

However... I fully support anyone's desire to boycott, which is why I make sure there's alt links available and clearly marked for all my cc so no one needs to use Curseforge to obtain it. I honestly don't even want to use it myself and wouldn't be if my health and access to medication wasn't on the line. But sadly, every day many of us under capitalism are caught between a rock and a hard place. If you work for minimum wage at McDonald's to feed yourself and your family, are you directly supporting the IDF because the company does? In the US, our tax dollars fund them, against our will. Does working in general mean you personally support them? It's more of a balance game honestly, much with any other boycott or form of protest. Organizers of national boycotts know this struggle, especially for those that are disadvantaged, in poverty, located in food deserts without much choice in what they buy or where they work, etc. That's why organizations such as the BDS focus on targeted boycotts. Focusing on certain targets allows consumers to do what they can to help without being consumed or overwhelmed with the demand to boycott everything that may qualify. That is what I'm personally doing in regards to boycotting.

These images are from the BDS website about boycott targets, and I highly recommend everyone to read the entire article. A part I find poignant in regards to the Curseforge boycott is the second image is the bolded paragraph. What is the aim of this boycott, and what do we expect cf to change or do differently to end it? Overwolf, which owns Curseforge, is an Israeli company. Some will boycott based on that alone, which makes sense, but that obviously isn't something that we can list as a demand to be changed. So what should we ask for? On a surface level, there appears to have been some change so far. Since posting their original tweet in regards to the IDF that everyone has seen by now, they've followed up multiple times to say they don't fund the IDF. It's first instinct to think they're lying, but my question is... why? It isn't like being pro-Israel isn't the majority opinion in the mainstream media after all, especially in Israel and the US. So why even bother to backtrack or risk being caught in a lie?

Personally, I think it's the truth, because there's little benefit in lying to pacify what they would see as a minority opinion. I don't think they need to lie about that, and I don't think they're directly funding the IDF. I think the real problem in what they're doing is actually a bit deeper, and they know that. So their words in the above messages were easy to say to imply change without lying, but still deceitful in a different way. This the Home Support crowdfunding website, and notably the ILF is listed as a partner. I checked their website and it openly mentions Zionism as one of their "values". The ILF is also the one managing the donated money, rather than Overwolf. So at that point, the question is not whether Overwolf is donating directly to the IDF, but if you can trust the word of the ILF to donate appropriately? And the answer to that is, most likely, no. They say the money is only for displaced families and not weaponry, but the fact that the money is going to a Zionist organization to spend and Overwolf is associated with them to begin with is a huge problem.

All that being said, so I'm not misunderstood: I'm not encouraging anyone to let Overwolf off the hook or not to boycott. I think boycotting is an important default response if you are able. I just believe it would also be a good idea to figure out what the goal is and what we as a community want Overwolf to do/change in order to end the boycott. While making sure everyone involved is fully informed on all Overwolf has said/done regarding the matter so we can appropriately demand change. I feel like the boycott so far has been focused on "Overwolf funds the IDF" without further detail or research beyond the initial tweet, which isn't directly true as far as we know, which makes it easy for them to brush off/ignore these claims and never meet any demands... therefore creating an ineffective boycott. Where the demands really need to lie is in their association with the ILF through this crowdfunding campaign. I'm most interested in proof of where the donated money is going, and/or a dissociation between Overwolf and the ILF. I also think EA needs to take a bigger hit here as they are directly profiting from using Curseforge. If cc creators are considered to be funding genocide by using the site, EA is 100% doing the same at a far larger scale by promoting and collecting revenue from uploads as a developer per Curseforge's TOU. If Overwolf is a target, and CF users are targets, EA absolutely must be one as well. (And possibly developers for other games using Curseforge)

I also think there needs to be more organization and streamlining in regards to who is being boycotted. Anyone that uses Curseforge at all, just creators that upload there, or just creators without alt links? Or even focused particularly on those promoted as the official "Mod Squad" by EA/Curseforge and/or the highest earners to put more pressure on EA? In regards to boycotting creators, are you also no longer using and promoting their cc in your posts so they don't get advertisement? Are you making exceptions for certain creators and not others based on popularity, convenience, or income? What about EA in general, since they also profit from Curseforge? What is the scale and where can we apply the most pressure to make the boycott more effective and motivate actual change?

I believe the first people that need to speak out on this issue (once the community determines our specific demands) are content creators affiliated with EA, whether through the CF Mod Squad or any other official endorsement or collaboration. That means cc creators as well as youtubers and any other sims related influencers. Also, those that have the highest downloads on CF would make the biggest impact by pulling their cc from the site either permanently or temporarily depending on organizational efforts/scheduling, as that will hit them the hardest revenue wise. I think this may be a way of putting some direct pressure on EA and Overwolf. The problem with this is, of course, that we would need the cooperation of these large creators, but most have been silent through the calls to boycott. I'm sure this is because of the potential loss of income, and honestly... I believe as long as the only accepted form of protest is removing everything from the site and losing revenue, those creators will continue to be silent. I think it may be best to start by asking these creators to simply speak out about the issue, as their word and influence alone would go a long way, especially if they're closer affiliated with EA. I think creators need to speak out specifically about the crowdfunding effort created by Overwolf's CEO and the CEO of the ILF as I mentioned above, rather than solely focusing on Curseforge's revenue and where it's going. The real issue is the affiliation of Overwolf (and therefore, EA) with a Zionist organization that may be misappropriating funds through a separate campaign, and misformation on this issue is most likely why the boycott has been ineffective thus far. In my opinion, we need to use the influence of well-connected creators as a tool, in order to widen the net and strengthen the impact in the community. Even if these creators don't remove their downloads, we need them to speak on this... without a fear of backlash/becoming a target themselves. Otherwise, they'll continue to just be silent until the call to boycott fades away naturally with time without any of our demands being met.

That's just my personal opinion though, and I'm definitely welcome to more ideas on how to streamline this boycott effort. As well as any more information that can be found that I didn't come across in my research. Details on demands, specific targets, boycott scheduling, etc is highly appreciated.

[kankrilicious69]

I've only read a bit of Vast Error but the characters and universe just seems like a bit of a let down.

They're trolls, but they're not on Alternia, sure. What differences do they have?

Well, they're nicer about blood color and their government isn't as mean... Okay, so... They removed all the dark and gritty aspects of their planet that made the trolls interesting as a separate species?

Well I can overlook that, how are the characters? The Karkat clone, the multiple Mary sues, the random bitchy one (that I was actually kinda upset about because I was super excited for the purple blood), the porn addict, and emotionally absent boyfriend, etc.

I don't really see any characters that feel worth liking. As interesting as the journey may be, these aren't the sort of characters I want to see make that journey.

None of the characters interest me, they're all cruel in some way. The universe removed the most difficult aspects of Alternian life making it feel they don't have struggles to MAKE them that way, and honestly the plot is pushing forward so fast I barely understand what's going on.

The things I can compliment? The art is beautiful and very fluid, perhaps even rivaling Homestuck if not better. It's wonderful to look at.

The music is great and I have no complaints, generally very good.

I know they have merch, and the merch is super neat too. (Although I question the copyright legalities)

i love vast error's art its WONDERFUL. very clear that a lot of passion and care and love goes into the works, even on the games and spin off comics and other such things. Ive not seen much of the merch but i assume its probably good quality and nice too. from the music Ive heard the artists are all SUPER talented, i loved the dead shufflers album. very good work!

but then you get to the comic itself. to compare the comic to food, the artists prepare a wonderful layout of delicious desserts, and the musicians brought the most amazing wines possible to the table, and then the writers bring out the main course, and its the blandest, most driest jerky Ive ever had.

every single Vast Error character is written like this: we're gonna deconstruct a trope! this character is this trope, but we're gonna subvert it!!

and then they fail to remember that to set up a character who is one thing and then subvert it, you must set up the thing you are subverting.

arcjec is a main character-type boy who's since grown depressed and unhappy with his role, and we open up on him AFTER hes realized that. Ok! that's an interesting way to open up! Let's see the rest of the cast.

we've got serpaz, who is a comic relief type character, but... isn't happy with that role. and as soon as shes introduced the story begins taking her more seriously. Ok...

then we have calder, who is said to be sexist, and cruel. and as soon as hes introduced, characters begin speaking down to him for... being sexist and cruel, something we've yet to see him do cause he just showed up... right.

this story doesn't want to slow down and introduce us to our characters before they go "no i don't like this role im playing in the group/story" but id like to see them in the role first!!!

you cant just show me a character and go "theyre like this! trust me guys!" only to then immediately show them differently and expect me to be surprised that theyre subverting their trope. you never set it up!!!

so many of these characters are just flat, and bland, and uninteresting, and we're told that we're subverting tropes, but you gotta write the trope first!!!

and dont even fucking get me started about how they dont want any of their characters to be bad. so many of these characters are humanized and treated as redeemable, all in a story about how capitalism and shit destroys the enviorment/society. not every character can be redeemable and good if you want to tell a compelling story about how greed and profit destroys lives. jesus christ i hate vast error.