#therefore she has got to do anything and everything in her power to make sure he can never get away from her

[ladynicte]

Adding Ashely into my pile of ASPD girlies together with Makima

I really think ASPD fits her so well though, like that inability to really connect with others, that inability to stop herself and do things accordingly.

That feeling of never fitting in even though she did have friends, of never being able to be fully liked by anybody else.

The lack of empathy of natural understanding for the direct suffering of others.

ASPD people like Ashley who never manage to become accepted into any group from early age who are too different for anybody else to really like and accept so they have to force their own group into existence or else they won't be able to survive on their own.

So Ashley sees herself forced to keep Andy with herself by all means possible, feels good when they are locked up together and he can't escape her, feels threatened by any other girl who could come into his life and astray him away from her, feels that if she doesn't personally isolate him he will end up running away from her.

Knows that she has to get her brother stuck with her because he's her only social circle and without him she won't make it.

[battymommastuff]

The Loop [The Last Act]

Batmom x Batfamily

Prompt: Is it finally over?

Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Bruce felt different this time. It wasn't because of his task given to him by Constantine, but the aura in the air was different. It was tense. As usual, he woke up to your side of the bed being empty and the bathroom door closed. 

Instead of waiting for the door to open with your morning greeting, he jumped out of bed. He never thought his stealth skills would be used in his own house, but here he was...sneaking out of his bedroom without making a sound. Bruce wasn't planning on sticking around for long anyways. He was going to destroy the crystal ball, and get out of this loop. 

"Bruce!" He turned around seeing his family...also stealthily moving through the house, "Are we sure this is going to work?" Barbara asked as she tightened her grip on Dick's shoulders. He chose to carry her to maximize their time. 

"There's only one way to find out. We were all in the batcave by the time she made breakfast the first morning. She shouldn't have any suspicions this time." Bruce said and the group made their way down to the batcave. 

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"My darlings? What on earth are you doing?" 

It was as if someone dumped cold water all over them. There you were...standing in front of the very thing they needed to destroy, "Why don't you come upstairs for breakfast?" The tone of your voice wasn't sweet...it wasn't warm. It made everyone feel anxious. It scared them. This simple task had turned into a difficult one. 

"We were just going to dispose of the crystal ball. It has no special purpose, so we don't need to waste space on it." Bruce lied while moving closer to you. He watched you fake smile slowly turn to a frown, "Move, Y/N" He said softly after getting close enough that he could touch you. Even though you were being spoken to in his Batman voice, and he was looking at you with his bat-face...you weren't budging. 

Slowly your eyes started filling with tears as they stared into his, "Come eat breakfast, Bruce." You said softly. If there was one thing in the world that Bruce Wayne hated more than anything, it was seeing his wife crying. Anytime a tear of sadness came from your eyes, he made it his mission to stop anymore from falling. 

Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, Tim approached the couple, "Mom? Why don't we go eat breakfast?" He offered while wrapping his hand around your arm. Your teary eyes looked at him, and you smiled, "We'll go eat together." He said and started leading you away from Bruce. When you realized that Bruce wasn't following along, you jerked your arm away from Tim. 

"Jason! Duke! Grab her!" Dick said quickly as he passed Barbara off to Cass. They were quick to grab your arms as you lunged for Bruce, "What is wrong with her?!?" Jason asked in a panic as he was struggling to hold you back. You weren't normally this strong. You began screaming in panic as Bruce picked up the crystal ball. Your panic only got worse when he lifted it up and slammed it down. 

The glass shattered, and everything went dark...

In the real world...

John watched as all the sleeping Batfamily member's mouths opened and smoke emerged from them. He lowered his hands down and clenched his fists, "Y/n? Are you ready?!?" He asked and You nodded. Before this last loop, he drew symbols on your hands. It was a temporary spell that anyone could use. John knew he wouldn't have enough power left to open a portal to hell, and send the demon into it. Therefore, he got you to help.

"No...NO! My meal! What have you done!?!" A horrid demon emerged from the smoke. It looked like a living nightmare. Just looking at it had you shaking in terror. That thing was responsible for all of this? 

"You picked the wrong family to feed on. Time to go back home." John said then looked at you. As he told you before, you just held your hands out. The symbols started to glow, and a portal started to form. On the other side, John grabbed the demon and started dragging it to the portal. Its skin felt like wet rubber, and burned. He winced as its claws dug into his skin.

John lifted the little demon up and tossed him into the portal. He watched it fall all the way down until it hit the floor of Hell. The symbols vanished from your hands as well as the portal vanished from the room. 

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Bruce sat up, with a gasp and looked around. Instead of a warm bed, he was only a cold table with wires attached to his body. On each side of him was one of his kids. They were in a circle, and in the middle was John Constantine, "Well would you look at that? You finally figured it out." John said then grinned. 

Before a word could come out of Bruce's mouth, he was nearly tackled off of the table by you launching yourself onto him, "I thought you would never wake up." You whispered and held your husband close to you. Now he was confused. What was going on? This was all some dream? All the times he watched you die...it wasn't real after all? Once that realization set it, he collapsed against you. The arm that wasn't holding himself up wrapped around you and held you tightly. 

After your tiny reunion, you helped each of your children wake up. Each of them gave you a bone-crushing hug.  Damian almost broke your rib, "The demon possessing the crystal put you all in the coma after you accidentally woke it. I went down to the batcave to get you guys for breakfast, but you were all asleep. Only Duke was awake." You gestured over to Duke, who had gone to get Alfred. 

"Yes, and now that it lost its meal...andddd we've deprived it for so long. It's going to starve to death in hell. Maybe I'll go pay it a visit on your behalf." John said while sitting down. The magic he used took it out on him. Next time something like this happens, he's letting Zatanna take care of it. Hell, he'll even let Dr. Fate take a crack at it. He would be spending his time drinking. 

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Not wanting to be in the way, John left. He left after receiving a hefty amount of money as a thank you gift...if the Wayne's were this generous, then he might be willing to help out a little more. "Are you sure they'll be alright?" You asked worriedly, and rested your hand on Dick's forehead. Being put in a time loop left them all with a serious fatigue, so they were sleeping it off in hospital beds in the batcave. All of them are still connected to wires...just in case. 

"John said they just needed some actual sleep, and then they should be fine, "Duke said while pulling a blanket over Stephanie, "If anything happens, John will be back to help." He watched your shoulders relax a bit. This was one of the worst birthday's you've ever had. Next year, you were banning any missions before your birthday. You didn't care if you had to lock them all up. 

"Ummi?" Damian called out while fighting his sleep. You moved away from Dick, and over to him, "I don't want to sleep." He said even though his yawn contradicted him. 

"Habibi, you need to rest. I promise you'll be alright." You said and sat on the bed with him. He let out another yawn then shook his head. Damian kept trying to fight his sleep, but with you running your fingers through his hair and the sound of you humming a tune...he was out in no time. The song was something he's heard before, but he was too tired to think about where he's heard it before...

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When Damian woke up, he was in his bed. You or Duke must have carried him to his room last night. He quickly got out of his bed and made his way to your bedroom. After everything...he wasn't letting you out of his sight for a long time. When he opened the door, he saw his father looking as pale as a ghost. The door to the bathroom was open, and you were standing in the doorway. You looked from Bruce to Damian and smiled warmly. 

"Good morning, Damian! Are you excited for my birthday breakfast?"

The End.

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[jals-stuff]

short washing machine headcanons...

How would the Mashle characters react if they found their s/o stuck in the washing machine? + personal ratings (I know, no one asked)

For Mash, Dot, Finn, Lemon, Lance, Rayne, Abel, Abyss, Wirth, Margarette, Carpaccio, Orter, Renatus, Ryoh, Kaldo.

Warnings: SLIGHT spoiler for Margarette? Other than that, none. ratings are purely subjective, please don't bury me alive.

Note: none of this is canon so some charas might be ooc, don’t take it too seriously! Might write for Domina, Meliadoul, Famin and Delisaster one day, idk

MASH...

He’s probably busy eating or making cream puffs when he hears you call for help. It isn’t common for you to do such a thing so he freaks out a little bit at first, but upon finding out the mess you’ve made while trying to empty the washing machine, he just stands there, completely dumbfounded. 

He’s a little dense, so it takes him a minute or two to figure out that you’re actually stuck. He’s never been in this situation before, therefore he’s sweating a little and panicking internally. “T-t-t-t-this is bad. I-I-I have to help them out.” 

Pulling on your legs would be a terrible idea, considering his strength, and he’s just completely clueless on how to get you out. 

Would 100% rip open the washing machine and leave you completely astonished as he does so, then pat your shoulder in a comforting way with a thumbs up. 

Overall very cute, even tried to comfort you after such a “traumatising” ordeal. 8/10.

DOT...

He thinks he’s the main character, we all know it. He’s probably checking himself out in the mirror and saying cool protagonist lines when he hears you call out for help, and suddenly, his main quest has changed!

He walks in on you, stuck head first in the washing machine, and much like Mash, he just looks at you for a bit before taking in the situation. Of course, he’s going to help you, but he needs to gloat about it first, you know it.

“Damn, how could you ever get out of here without my help, huh?” He’d just take on dramatic poses that he assumes are cool (they are not), and try to pull you out by himself. “Can’t be helped, huuuh?”

Despite all his efforts, he doesn’t manage to get you out and he just starts mumbling things about the washing machine being a worthy opponent before actually grabbing his phone and calling someone for help.

Dot is just being Dot, after all, but he’s full of good intentions. 5/10, at least you had a good laugh..? 

FINN...

Finn immediately interrupts his studying when he hears you call out for him, and he’s running like his own life depends on it! “What’s wrong, (Y/N)?!”

Upon seeing you stuck in there head first, he gets into panic mode! It isn’t completely horrible either and it’s just purely annoying to be stuck, but Finn sees it differently. If you called for help, then SURELY you must be terrified or in pain!

He’s going to pace around the room for a minute, wondering “How do I get them out? How do I get them out? How do I get them out?” before deciding that he’s going to take it step by step!

Gently guides you out of the washing machine without too much trouble and doesn’t judge you even once for it! He gives you a big hug afterwards because he’s convinced you were very scared (you weren’t, but he was)!

I physically cannot give Finn anything under 9/10. He is bebe.

LEMON...

She’s probably making a cute keychain for you when you call out for her. She will make you her utmost priority and cheerily trot up to you. “Yeeees~ what is it?”

You’re… stuck. She blushes dramatically and screams out something like “Kyaaah! Just like in those movies! You perv!” But then carefully inspect the position you’re in and how the hell you got stuck in there.

She’s going to try pretty much everything in her power, from pulling you out to switching your position and figuring out a way to painlessly get you out of there…

And eventually get you out! However, be warned: she will give you the side eye with a blush every time she sees you for at least a month and giggle. Who knows what’s going through her head?

Helpful, cute, and funny. 8/10 would recommend.

LANCE...

He’s reading a book when you call for him. He will automatically assume something bad happened (well, technically yes, but.. yeah) and quickly run to the laundry room. “(Y/N), what happened?!”

Looks down on you without you knowing. The display is pretty ridiculous and laughable, but he won’t make a sound. He’s just going to pat your back. “I’ll get you out of here.”

He’s a very smart guy, so he just has to look at the way you’re stuck for a few seconds before figuring out the most efficient way to help you, and it takes him very little time.

Will sigh and shake his head in disapproval, but internally scream when you pout at him for sighing because he thinks you’re adorable. He’s going to look away and clear his throat so you can’t see his blush.

Efficient and definitely nice, he won’t even tease you about it. He did look down on you though, 7/10.

RAYNE...

Where is he anyway? He’s taking his sweet time when you call for him, and when he does finally arrive, you’re met with his usual neutral voice. “Yes, I heard you calling the first time.”

You can’t tell, but when he walks in on you stuck like this, he gives you the look… but again, it’s probably his neutral face. How’d you get stuck in there anyway? You really can’t do anything by yourself, can you?

Much like Lance, he’s extremely smart, so he’s going to pull you out of there very quickly, and he sighs while doing so. How can you be so clumsy? It’s almost as if you did it on purpose.

He’s about to lecture you but notices that you’re very embarrassed and can’t even look him in the eyes, so his expression softens just a little and he decides not to say anything mean and just gives you a comforting pat on the head. “Don’t get stuck again, alright?”

Very thoughtful despite the cold look he gives you, efficient and nice. 8/10.

ABEL...

Abel rarely stays away from you for very long, so he was probably there when it happened and he saw you getting stuck. He also noticed how you couldn’t get out by yourself. “It appears you need some help.”

You’re now aware that he saw you and it’s just fully embarrassing, but he’s part of the clever ones, so you’re pretty sure he will help you out quickly. Or will he? He’s always been a little odd, even around you anyway.

It’s really curious to him, how you managed to get stuck that fast yet you just can’t get out by yourself. Will definitely ask if you did it on purpose while keeping a straight face and blank tone.

Gets you out in a longer time than he should’ve because he was busy trying to understand how you got in there in the first place. He won’t judge you for it, but he will absolutely bring it up around other people like it’s no big deal.

It’s nice that he was already there, did help, but embarrasses you in front of your friends. 6/10

ABYSS...

No matter what he’s doing when you call out for him or where he is, he will Acceleraise his way to you immediately! You are his top 1 priority!

He will however take a second to appreciate the display and chuckle a little bit to himself like “Hah… cute.” before actively looking for a solution because he can literally feel your embarrassment.

“How did you manage to do this?” He mumbles, and makes sure that you aren’t hurt or in any pain first of all. He will 100% reassure you through the whole process!

Abyss is smart and will get you out quickly and without making fun of you. Unlike Abel, he won’t mention it around anyone else, and makes a self note: needs to buy a bigger washing machine so you don’t get stuck again.

Sweet and efficient, very nice and comforting. 10/10, would get stuck again.

WIRTH...

He’s training and trying to improve his capacities when you call out for him. He’s used to you getting into such and such situations, so he just takes his time now. “What is it this time, (Y/N)?”

A bit dumbfounded when he sees the way you’ve managed to get stuck, will crackle up in laughter because as used as he is to see stuff like that with you, it always manages to surprise him.

He’s going to keep giggling as he helps you through, and you just wish you could wipe that smirk off his face but you can’t really do anything and just wait for him to help.

He even hesitates and feels like he should leave you like that, but he doesn’t want you to be upset at him, so he will get you out pretty easily and tease you about it later on. “Aww, c’mon, don’t sulk now~!”

Kind of a jerk, but in a lovable way. You need to find something to tease him back with, 7/10 though.

MARGARETTE...

They’re probably rehearsing or composing another one of these musical masterpieces to play on the piano when their beloved calls out for help. 

They’ll gently chuckle and crouch down next to you. “Oh my! How’d you get in such a situation, dear?” Their arms are a little too bulky to reach out for you from the outside, so they’ll shift into their true form and easily reach for your shoulders so they can pull you out!

Margarette is one of the smart characters and will get you out of the washing machine in no time, very gently and gracefully, making sure you don’t get hurt or anything in the process.

Will give you a hug and gentle pats on the head to comfort you. “There, there~.” They won’t tease you about it nor make fun, but will definitely chuckle a little upon remembering it.

A mother figure, very nice and gentle. Cannot wait to hear the masterpiece they were busy composing, 10/10.

CARPACCIO...

He’s experimenting on lab rats and seems very engrossed with his occupation, so it will take him a little bit of time to hear you calling out for him.

Freezes when he sees you stuck head first inside the washing machine and stares blankly without a word for way longer than necessary. He’s got a little smirk and his lower eyelids rise up in amusement.

“Heh.” is all you can hear before he makes his way towards you and inspects you while he considers leaving you like this for a bit longer because it sure as hell is funny for him. But he knows you’ll be upset and he doesn’t want you to give him the silent treatment.

If he doesn’t find a quick way to get you out, he will stab his way through the washing machine (and give you a good scare as he does that) to free you! Terrifyingly sweet, he’s just staring with a very slight smirk and you know he will tease you about it.

Mean but at least he helped you out. You got scared for your life even though you know he wouldn’t hurt you. 7/10

ORTER...

He’s reading a book and he’s sure as hell he heard you call for him. He will carefully put down his book and look for the source of the muffled cry he just heard.

Despite being quite the jerk around others, Orter is a mature man, and he isn’t going to make any snarky remarks or make fun of you. He will sigh upon seeing you squirm, crouching next to you to check the mess you’ve been making.

“Calm down. If you’ve managed to find a way in, there’s obviously a way out.” Very rational throughout the whole process and effectively gets you out of the washing machine, inspecting you afterwards to make sure you aren’t hurt.

Much like Abyss, he will make a mental note to buy a larger washing machine, and kindly help you back up without teasing you or ever bringing it up around anyone else. If you apologise, he’ll tell you it’s nonsense.

Very logical and calm, efficient and polite. 10/10.

RENATUS...

Sure as hell taking a nice nap when he hears that scream of his name that could wake up the dead. He groans and stands up to lazily make his way to the laundry room.

He whistles when he sees you stuck there and gives a snarky chuckle. “Woah, just for me?” and you can physically feel your face heat up. He’s going to get closer to check the way you’re stuck and…

Whack! He’ll give your butt a playful slap before helping you out and laughing out loud at the ridiculous situation. After all, it’s not everyday that he gets to see his s/o in such an embarrassing state!

He will however stop teasing you if he sees you get uncomfortable and wrap his arms around your waist to comfort you with a softer chuckle. He might tease you later if he ever remembers this happened.

Again, jerk but in a lovable way. You need to give him that spank back tho, 7/10.

RYOH...

Like Abyss, you are his utmost priority and he will immediately drop anything he’s doing (probably admiring his reflection in a mirror) when he hears you call out for him! 

He’ll chuckle when he sees you stuck in there, and you can tell his mind is running! But there is no time for this. If Ryoh's s/o is stuck in the washing machine, he must overcome this trial!

Will get you out in a manly way (whatever that means!) and you’ll even wonder how he did it so easily, that’s how flawless his whole performance is.

He might tease you if you’re comfortable with it, winking at you way too many times and making it pretty obvious what kind of ideas he has. If you aren’t, it’s also fine, he’s just going to cuddle you into forgetting it.

Ryoh is just a W man. There’s nothing else to say, 10/10.

KALDO...

It’s good that you called him, he was about to ruin yet another perfectly fine dish by pouring an ungodly amount of honey on top of it. He will pout in disappointment but come check what’s up.

“(Y/N), dear, are you having fun in there~?” He teases with a chuckle. “Can I join?” But upon hearing your frustrated groan, he will go into thinking mode and consider his options.

His first thought is to use honey to make it easier to pull you out, but he quickly dismisses it. He will, instead, pull on your clothes to avoid hurting your skin when you get out. 

Will get you out, but your clothes are ruined, so he’ll give you his coat so you can cover up and not be too embarrassed. He might bring it up later and pretend he forgot how embarrassing it was for you, but really, he just wants to tease you.

Playful and cute, but he did ruin that shirt you liked a lot. 7/10.

[kasagia]

in “a powerful man” how do you think coryo would take it if the reader told him that she’d forgive him completely only if she was allowed to have an affair with another man once too, since he had one with livia? love your fic btw ❤️

Thank you veeeeeery much, dear anonymous!!! I'm so glad you liked it!! 😊😊🩵🖤🩵🖤🩵🖤🩵🖤🩵🖤🩵

I think this is probably the first time someone has asked me a question about one of my oneshots, so let's make this a headcon. (Also, because I have neither the inspiration nor the time to write, maybe it will stimulate me somehow and I will feel more willing to write again. And maybe I got some inspiration too.) 🙈🙈

I'm talking about this 'version' of Coryo.

How do I think Coriolanus would react to you wanting to have a 'revenge affair' as a price for your forgiveness: (with smut?)

NO. A definite and categorical no. Coryo has no intention of sharing you, even for the shortest moment, with anyone else. You are his fiancée (not willingly, but still), and he will not allow the hands of some lesser man to stain what is his,

Does he want your complete forgiveness? A return to what once was between you? A carefree relationship where you trusted him and freely showed your devotion and deep feelings? He admits that it would be nice, but he doesn't want it at that price,

Coriolanus will have you anyway. It doesn't matter whether you let him or not. You are his new obsession—the future First Lady. And after being elected president, he knows that nothing can stop him. He has the most power. Over everything, including you.

Therefore no. He disagrees.

He is ready to break you, to force you into the woman of his dreams, to subject you to thousands of manipulations, than to allow any other man to get close to you. You have no right to betray him. Never. You are committed to him for the rest of your life, and he will do anything to make sure you know that.

He will even go as far as threatening your family and loved ones (especially your younger sister, for whom you have a soft spot). Therefore, you have no choice but to play wisely in Coriolanus' game, in which you have become a forced participant.

Let's imagine you make him this offer...

"Where does this sudden surge of tenderness come from, my petal? I'm not complaining, but usually when it comes from you, it also comes with a price to pay. What do you want from me this time?" He asks you after a particularly hot, passionate, and affectionate session in his bedroom, wrapping his arms around you and pressing you against his chest. You rested your head on his shoulder, lazily drawing patterns on his chest with your finger. You shrug, pressing a kiss on his jaw. He hugs you tighter, dipping his head and burying his nose in your hair. You lie there in each other's arms for a moment. You wait for his heartbeat to slow down a little and for him to relax enough for you to ask him your question. "That was nice, right?" You ask innocently, continuing to caress his chest muscles with your feathery touch. "So much so that I'm afraid of what you'll ask me after this." He jokes and presses a kiss on your temple. "Wouldn't you rather have it all the time? My voluntary affection, passion, and desire? To be adored by me not only in front of the eyes of the Capitol?" You ask, placing small kisses on his neck. You distract him for a moment. He closes his eyes and bites his buttom lip, holding back a moan as you suddenly suck on his skin. You make sure to leave a hickey there as you lightly bite his skin. You pull away, then, so you can look into his eyes. "What do you want?" He asks curiously, his hand caressing your waist and every bit of skin he can get to despite you being wrapped in the covers. "Do you remember when you cheated on me with Livia?" "It wasn't cheating; I only did it because I had to. I felt no pleasure with her. No, as I feel each time we are together like this. But continue." He interrupts you, frowning disapprovingly. He didn't want to think of it as a betrayal. More like something... business. The thing he simply had to do for his career. You shiver, feeling sick just thinking about it. "I want the same." "You want to sleep with her?" He asks amusedly with a small chuckle, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between you for a moment after your words. "Not with her. With someone else. You know. Feel the thrill of something new and exciting. Besides, it would be a perfect proof of your devotion, don't you think? I would know that you were able to rise above your pride and that I could trust you again. That we are both equal. Enough to make me fall in love with you again. Didn't you promise me that? That you will do all in your power to make me love you again?" "Oh, and I will. But I'll kill all the men in Panem before I let anyone lay a finger on what's mine. And you, petal, belong to me. You will fall in love with me again. If not of your own will, then thanks to my... nudges in the right direction. It's up to you how painful they will be." "So you don't want my forgiveness?" You ask, furious, trying to match his scowl with yours. He squeezes you tighter, making you bite your lip, holding back a hiss of pain as his fingers dig painfully into your hips and buttocks. "Not necessarily. I want you. And I got you. All to myself. What difference does it make if I have to hold your throat or your hand while I am pushing into you?" With that question, he wraps his hand around your throat and presses his mouth aggressively against yours, allowing you no resistance. You moan as your tongues intertwine, and he hovers above you again, his length pressing alive and hard against your thigh again as he grinds against you, spreading his pre-cum on your skin.

Will he admit to jealousy? Of course not. He will keep telling you that you are his. That, as his property, you must obey him; otherwise, he will ruin your scientific career and take away the research you are working on.

Another excuse is that the Capitol thinks you are the perfect couple. What happens if someone finds out you're cheating on them? Coriolanus cannot let this happen. After all, the reputations of the two of you are the most important thing to him. He won't risk it in any way. And certainly not, so you can fuck another man.

And there would also be the problem of quietly disposing of your potential lover's corpse, because there's no way Coriolanus would let someone live who had tasted his First Lady's pussy.

Let's assume this does happen and you are having an affair…

Saints, help the one who dared to sleep with you behind Coriolanus' back.

There's no way he wouldn't find out about it.

You're so followed and watched over by his men and spies that it's a wonder you managed to sleep with anyone else and even keep it a secret from him for some time.

But when he finds out... it's an understatement to say he was furious. He was crazy. But if he had learned anything, it was how to plan revenge, how to strike, and when, so that his victim would never get up and regret ever going against him and becoming an obstacle.

Of course, your lover ends up dead after many weeks of being followed (to such an extent that he went crazy, feeling constant anxiety and eyes on the back of his neck), brutal interrogation by peackeepers, charges of high treason, and a public execution preceded by dosing him with various poisons and undergoing painful experiments. (Coriolanus even personally castrated him.)

But he's not just taking revenge on your lover. You get punished too.

The peacekeepers won't let you into the lab. Your parents and sister are forcibly sent to one of the districts for 'the holidays' without being able to contact you. Dr. Gaul can't talk to you either. You are confined to your house, unable to contact anyone who is not Coriolanus.

And he waits patiently until the loneliness and inability to do anything begin to affect you.

For the first few weeks, you struggle, trying to get out. You quickly realise that you don't have this option. His most trusted people and the Avox make sure you don't leave your room. And you start going crazy. You miss conversation, touch, and another person. You even miss Coryo.

Three months of your isolation has passed when he appears in your 'prison'.

He accepts with a huge smile that you throw yourself at him, begging for forgiveness. You rip off his clothes before he can even respond to your pleas and pleasure him as best as you can, just to regain any semblance of freedom he once gave you.

You spend the whole night pleasing him, but he doesn't say a word, only moaning and grunting, even as you cry, begging him to say something, as you ride him like your life depends on it (which actually isn't far from the truth).

The next day, he is not in bed in the morning.

Instead, a crowd of make-up artists, designers, and maids come to prepare you for YOUR WEDDING.

You find out that he made people in the Capitol think that your family was spending one last vacation together before you got married. And he, being a good fiancé, let you go.

You're too busy thinking about finally being free from the confines of four walls of your room to even think about what a son of a bitch he is.

And after the wedding, when you go on your 'honeymoon' and he holds you on his lap in your compartment on the train, he mocks how little it took to break you and that you have to make up to him for 3 months without you, when he had to hold back and keep control over his desires so as not to come to you too soon.

When I kiss you and gently strip you of your wedding dress, you realise how far he can actually go to get what he wants.

You decide to play by his rules. Pretend to be an obedient and loving wife. At least for now.

You will slowly regain your old life. And maybe if you play smarter and manipulate him more delicately without showing too much act of rebellion, he may become your puppet and not the other way around. After all, you both were powerful. In your own way.

And you both win and lose in different batches of this game between you two.

[queen-of-scissors]

Re-Creation of Tevat

Part 2 of this:

You click download one more time, oh it worked! The update is also downloaded! Time to play some genshin! What could go wrong? :D

___________________________

As you log into your account once again, you were exited! A New boss and a New story quest?! This is gonna be fun binge playing it the whole night!!

But as soon as you log in, your characters in the screen seemed a bit diffrent.

Some of them are not using their voice lines anymore! And the usually smiley characters seem to lack emotion!

"Hmm is this an another bug? Maybe i need to re-install again-"

And just like that you Heard your mains idle voiceline, guess it wasn't broken afterall!

_____________________

Some playable characters were scared, of you and what you can do if they were to make you upset.

What if you got bored of playing everyday? What if you get bored of them and decide to delete them and only them?

They won't be remembered. No one will honour their death. They will be gone in an instant, and forever.

Npcs however, theyre not sentient, therefore they dont remember anything.

But they are worried about others. İs that a vision holder thing? Why are most of them upset?

Yoimiya's father tries to cheer her up by giving her a special order by him, but she wasnt feeling up to it at these days. Give her a few days, she will catch up with her work soon, profably.

Qiqi didn't remember anything but she felt scared when she was at the dark, she needs to hold Baizu's hand while sleeping now.

Nilou stoped doing dances on your name, in fear that she might do or say something wrong and she might be deleted. Her menager is worried about her, as she was starting to get popular with those dances in particular, why sudden fear for wrath from you?

Knights of favonious now have a Church day to give offerings to you and barbatos, so that you will feel more at esse and less angry.

Speaking of gods..

Venti is dissapointed in you. How dare you kill those innocent people? Even though no one seems to remember you still had no right doing that!

Ei is scared. She swore on eternity, the unchanging and unwielding truth, but didn't knew it would be so easily destroyer in your hands. She doesn't want to live through something like that ever again. She has to be stronger. Than maybe, maybe you will at least be willing to listen to her.

Zhongli's wiew of you didn't change. He knew you were strong and can delete everything with a click of a finger. He was more concerned on why? Did something happen in your world? İs it something they did? He will make sure to ask when you visit Tevat personally.

Nahida is a baby god. She feels betrayed. She always thought of you as the only truth in this world of lies. The world that doesnt even exist in people thought it is. Why would you?! She tought you loved this world? What changed? Why did you downloaded it again now? Why are you playing with their feelings?

(maybe i might update when New gods are present)

____________________________

(you came to tevat and explained)

Venti feels SO MAD AT HİMSELF HE JUMPED İNTO CONCLUSİONS AND SPEAKED BLASPHEMY OF YOU OH DEAR-

Nahida feels a bit better, still traumatised but better. İf you didnt do that than you wouldnt ve able to come to this world. So she forgives you!(just not forgets, checks the codes so it doesnt happen again)

Ei still feels the same. She felt your power. Experianced it firsthand. She will be strong enough to get recocnision from you. To be worthy of your Side.

Zhongli feels relived, he tought something bad happened to you so, he is happy that you're ok. -Also tells you to feel free to tell them change anything you might find boring just in case-

_______________________________

Nahida: creator what is this... Homework folder?

Creator: NO DONT OPEN THAT-

[deathbxnny]

Yanqing, Jing Yuan, Herta, and Kafka with an Emanator of Finality!Reader who follows HoFi!Kiana because I firmly believe that Kiana is Terminus (Aeon of Finality)!

Also, they're friends with Elio (Elio confirmed to be also an Emanator of Finality but maybe I'm wrong) just because they can.

-----♡

A/N: I had to look up the lore surrounding the concept of this, so if I got this completely wrong, then I'm so sorry, I did my best to understand. Also thank you for the request!<33

Content: Fluff, established relationship, some lore Spoilers??, angst if you squint hard enough, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not fully proofread))

-----♡

》Herta

She'd absolutely want to know everything about you and conduct some experiments on your abilities, if you agree ofcourse. You give her the opportunity to learn more about a world that is still so vague and unexplainable even to her and she's most grateful for that.

She'd love to see you use your powers in her simulated universe and often gives you her odd backhanded compliments, that she however actually means well. Don't be surprised, if you find plenty of notes and files on you either. It's all in the name of sience ofcourse.

She's not afraid to voice her distate of Elio and will make sure to take up all of your time to keep you away from him. She doesn't want you to get hurt and doesn't trust him with you at all. Arguing with her on this is also useless, as she loves you way too much to listen.

-----♡

》Kafka

She's already familiar with the concept of your abilities and therefore doesn't make all too much of a fuss about it. Though she can't hide her excitement, whenever she sees how powerful you are. It's something she is proud of, when it comes to having you as a s/o, and she isn't shy to compliment you for your abilities either to the point of flustering you.

She likes fighting by your side, mainly because it makes her stronger and makes her feel much more safer. She feels unstoppable and is near addicted to your power. She'll teasingly call you her protect you and keep you close to her at all times.

She ofcourse doesn't mind your friendship with Elio and generally even uses it to her own advantage for whenever she wants to spend more off days with you.

-----♡

》Jing Yuan

Jing Yuan was a little concerned about the source of your abilities at first, but eventually began to accept that they were a part of you. He trusts you and knows you won't ever use them for anything evil or bad, which calms his worries however.

He likes to see your abilities in battle and often proudly smirks to himself, knowing that someone as powerful as you is his dear s/o. He loves to secretly therefore show you off to others, just to remind them who you belong to. He'll also like listening to you tell him more about your abilities, which makes him mentally wonder how to use it best in any upcoming battles.

He absolutely does not approve of your friendship with Elio and will try calmly telling you so. He doesn't want to control who you're friends with, but this is an exception to him. He doesn't want you to get hurt or used, so he'll slowly try you to get you to distance yourself from Elio for your own safety.

-----♡

》Yanqing

Yanqing doesn't question your abilities much and just happily accepts them as a part of you. He enjoys watching you fight and use your abilities, mainly because he finds them just that fascinating. He also always eagerly listens to you, whenever you tell him about your powers.

Yanqing will ask you to train with him often, as he sees you as a worthy and perfect opponent. You don't have the heart to tell him, that you hold back alot of your powers to not hurt him in the process, but he thankfully never notices either. He's just happy to spend time with you.

He doesn't know much about Elio, but after asking his Master about him, he decides that he's not a suitable friend for you. Yanqing would never force you to do anything, but he still voices his worries and fear about your friendship. The last things he wants, is to lose you, after all.

-----♡

A/N: I hope this was okay! I'm sorry if I got it wrong and thank you again for the request!<33

[preciouslittle-bhaalbabe]

I'm so happy to see a softer take but still realistic about the ascended Astarion. It seems like all the headcanons and takes on him recently have just been either spawn+ with a different voice or a horrifically abusive tyrant who keeps the player a slave

I mean technically he's not ascended in game yet. And everything I've said has been responses to people asking how I think he will be when the time comes. But essentially yeah. In this playthrough, I view A!A as a man who just got everything that he lost back and then some, he's completely drunk off his tits with power and then he actually managed to fall in love with someone who HELPED him do all this willingly. He didn't have to manipulate Tomie even a little she's been ride or die from day 1. I think the version of A!A we see during gameplay is someone who has to get used to themselves. He's overwhelmed still.

I believe him when he says he doesn't want to control or hurt the player. And when he says he loves them, he means it. Now what that love actually looks like or means is up for debate. Or if he even knows what love feels like. To him, love is sharing this new life with his person and making sure they have everything they could ask for. He dotes on them.

And if A!A tries to get weird and controlling you can bet your ass Tomie would be like "nuh uh don't be a baby. You're a strong powerful vampire lord you can handle me going out with friends without you". As far as the kisses go, the dynamic between Tomie and A!A is 100% agreed upon and consensual. He knows her limits and she knows his. Hence why I modded the facial expressions.

I still think that the player becomes some sort of new type of vampire just like he did. Just a different version. He doesn't want his lover to become a spawn the same way he did, so he gives them his blood so they can also benefit from the powers the ritual gave him. Like walking in the sun, not feeling the hunger, etc. And based on what he says, he's completely fine with and even enjoys the idea of the player feeding on him in the future. They're not just a spawn. They're his spawn. Which not only indicates the possessiveness but also that there's a difference because he is different.

According to what I understand from DnD lore, that would technically make the player a true vampire and therefore Astarion can't compel them even if he wanted to. He still calls them his spawn because he did make them and likes having that power. They are his because they gave themselves to him willingly. But there is no forced compulsion for them to obey. Instead, there's a mutual understanding of trust and devotion to each other. And that's why he knows they'll be obedient to him should he ask for anything. And I think that's why he reacts SO devastatingly when broken up with.

You're absolutely free to think differently about A!A of course. But that's the dynamic in my head for my playthrough.

[cherryechogalaxy]

No one's talking about how incredibly BPD coded Insomniac Harry/Venom is so I will. This is also essentially an essay so be prepared

I would also like to preface this by saying that this is based on my experiences with having BPD and the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5

Peter is 100% Harry's favorite person. I mean look at him. The way that he makes every excuse to be around Peter so much so that he practically begged him to work at his company? The passive-aggressive "So you told MJ, but not your best friend?" when he learned that Peter was Spider-Man? And then insists that he work with him as a superhero to kinda push Miles out of the way? The entire high school flashback scene? Not to mention that Harry held Peter in high regard even before he learned that he was Spider-Man.

Also, remember that the symbiote only emphasizes thoughts and emotions that already exist. So when Harry's probably splitting on Peter about the whole Spider-Man thing, the anger is only amplified by Venom.

Now, before y'all say that "all this only happened after Harry got the symbiote," that is simply false. During the final fight with Venom, Peter says that he "came over every single day after school. Even slept over after [his] mom got sick." While yes, Harry not being able to "see her like that" was a component afterward, that doesn't explain Harry's attachment to Peter beforehand. I would also like to comment that Venom says that Harry's mom "always said" that Peter and Harry "make each other better." This is all theoretical, but she might have noticed that Harry's mood or behaviour might have become more outwardly stable or better when around Peter, which from my experience is something that happens when existing around (or even sometimes thinking about) your FP.

Because, at the moment, Harry can only focus on the rage he has toward Peter, he can only think about the bad things, as evidenced by Venom claiming that Peter was there "Until [he] got sick again," which is objectively not true, but BPD alone can exaggerate thoughts to extremes, and the symbiote on top of it makes it worse. Venom continues, "You abandoned us when we were fighting for our lives," and that it didn't feel like Peter was trying to save them when he was. One of the main symptoms of BPD is an intense fear of abandonment, so much so that the person will take extreme measures to make sure that that doesn't happen, such as leaving before they are hurt, or, in this case, hurting the other person first so abandonment seems justified and therefore hurts less.

In the second phase of the fight, Venom declares: "We know what's best for you! For everyone! We gave you everything you ever wanted." This likely has something to do with BPD affecting one's self-image, which may change from 'the most worthless scum of the Earth' to what I like to call 'I can fight God and win.' As Venom, Harry believes that he now has the power to "heal the world" all by himself, enhancing his temporary superiority complex. Only several lines later, however, Harry's unstable self-image flips from 'knowing best for everyone' to 'being a complete failure,' because Venom states, "We've never been good enough for you... or Dad."

Venom goes on to say that Peter "threw [them] away" and then "replaced [them] with Miles. He poisoned [Peter] against [them] even more." Again, this characterizes Harry's intense fear of abandonment, because 'if Peter spends more time with Miles, then he won't have time for him anymore, and therefore matter to him anymore and he'll be left alone.' (These are thoughts I've had on bad days when my FP spent time with other people)

When Peter tries to fight Venom's claims and says that Harry's his best friend, the exaggeration and impulsive thoughts continue, and he says "Then why don't you trust us?" Again, Harry can only think in the negative at the moment, so he fails to see anything good that Peter is doing for him or the emotions that Peter is feeling.

During the cutscene after the second phase, when Peter says that he's "never gonna heal the world with [Harry]," you can see Venom falter, sighing and looking down before the meteorite catches his attention and distracts him.

At last, during the third phase of the fight, Venom turns his attention to Miles, the person who he sees as having caused Peter to 'turn against him' and spend less time with him. He insists that "[his] future doesn't belong to [Miles]," insinuating that Harry should be the one to have a deep and lasting relationship with Peter, not Miles, even though Miles thinks that he's talking about 'healing the world.'

After the third phase when Venom throws Miles aside and buries him under rubble, he tells him and MJ: "Peter doesn't need you anymore... He has us now." because he thinks that he is all Peter needs, when in reality it's Harry that needs Peter, though he might not realize it.

In the fourth phase, he asserts to Miles: "You took him away from us!" Which is strangely familiar to something I said when my FP started spending time with another person.

Another small thing I would like to note, when flying away after the fourth phase, Venom deliberately throws Miles off him, but not Peter. Also, when Miles is falling down with the meteorite in his hands, Venom focuses his attention on grabbing and eating him rather than retrieving the meteorite.

When Peter finally has Venom pinned to the ground and tries to blast the symbiote away from Harry, he claims that he's done and that he can't fight it, then both Harry and Venom state, "You have to KILL us." BPD is also characterized by suicidal ideations or behaviours, and if Harry telling Peter to kill him isn't suicidal behaviour then I don't know what is.

Finally, when Venom is gone and Peter tells Harry that he loves him, Harry smiles what looks like a genuinely content and satisfied smile, like that was the only thing that Harry wanted or needed to hear before he could let himself fall unconscious.

And if that’s not BPD coded I don’t know what is.

[cellarspider]

22/30 An old man, allegedly

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We return once again to that movie I wish to send the gift of a single tribble, Prometheus.

Yes, the movie’s gotten around to a twist it’s been clumsily foreshadowing for much of its runtime: Ol’ Man Capitalism, AKA Peter Weyland, is in fact alive and on the ship. I’ve been informed this was a relatively late addition to the plot, according to the available script drafts. His inclusion makes a stab at some themes. Let’s see how they do.

Content warning for deliberately gross old feet, weird religious imagery, death mention, Holloway mention.

Yes, David’s discovery of a living Engineer has meant it’s time to take Weyland out of the tupperware and reheat him for a bit. And it means we get to see Guy Pierce in the flesh, under a pile of old man makeup.

Weyland looks no less weird than he did as a hologram. In fact, he possibly looks weirder, because we no longer have that excuse for why he looks like this. Weyland is very frail, and very frail people’s appearance can change rather drastically in ways that aren’t usually put to film, but frankly, he looks more like Grima Wormtongue has been giving him investment advice.

Weyland is here because he thinks the Engineers can stop him from dying. I’m not certain he’s not already expired, and I’m also not sure where he got that impression. There’s a missing step of logic here, which the movie never mentions, but it’s likely related to the assumptions of christianized worldview: if something is the creator of humanity, then it must also have ultimate power over human life and death. Therefore, appealing directly to it can grant you eternal life. The cosmic watchmaker can replace your gears and keep you ticking indefinitely.

I will go along with this framing for just a bit, particularly because this scene is obviously reaching for some biblical imagery I’ll try and tackle in a moment. When the movie remembers to have characters engage with its themes, there are various reactions to the potential of meeting humanity’s creators. 

Shaw is positioned as a true believer, but what that actually means to her is extremely unclear. She has some curiosity about the details of creation, so she’s not buying tickets to the Ark Encounter or whatever. She assumes welcoming and benevolent intention from the Engineers, but there’s never any indication of what she intends to do here, beyond prove herself right. 

She’s also christian, and she thinks the christian God ultimately created the Engineers. How does that fit into her cosmogony? She has to be the sort of christian that takes Genesis as allegory, but what does it mean that humans were shaped by another species in their own image? Are humans more faithfully created in the christian God’s image than the Engineers were? Does she think the Engineers have souls? Are they angels?

We get no opinion on any of that from her. We don’t even see much of anything about how her apparently strong faith affects her life, beyond having a family keepsake and having belief in things. Holloway at least had an explicit goal in mind–it was a hubristic goal, but it was a goal. He wanted to get all his questions answered about life, the universe, and everything, answered personally, rather than letting anyone else get there first. Finding out the Engineers were dead immediately took the shine off of that, seemingly because he’d thought they were omnipotent and omniscient, despite being positioned as an atheist in the dialog. 

Holloway’s position here was odd, particularly for an alleged scientist. He expresses that the creation of life turned out to be “nothing special” during his drunken funk. This echoes common misconceptions by deeply religious folks about how atheists and/or scientists think: the idea that if you’re so set on finding natural, rational explanations for everything, you’re doomed to view the world without wonder or beauty, just chemicals bouncing around for no purpose. That to seek the logic behind the world is to fling yourself into total anhedonia.

As many others have stated before, that’s not what comes out of it, what they’re describing is in fact called “clinical depression.” Understanding more technical details about how the world works doesn’t take the awe out of it, it makes it even more amazing. I’ve excitedly rambled to people that if sequencing tech was cheaper and easier, I’d love to study the genetics and epigenetics of weeds growing on dirt roads, to find out what makes them different from their cousins living only a few feet away in less crappy soil. The existence of a tuft of grass in dusty gravel is endlessly fascinating to me, and I know just enough about them to want to know more.

But no, Holloway’s behavior is common in depictions of atheists by religious people who fundamentally don’t get that one can exist around religious folks without secretly thinking the same way they do. It’s doubly weird, given how surface-level Shaw’s faith is, in a way that also seems to be written by somebody who doesn’t understand the concept too well.

In any case, Holloway got pre-disappointed in the answers he didn’t get, to the very basic philosophical questions he wanted to ask: why were we made? Do we have a purpose? Those sorts of things. Honestly, he could have had more complex things to say about this, even without dislodging his bro persona. Being a bro does not negate the possibility of thoughtfulness, it just means that thoughtfulness might be expressed differently. I didn’t see the movie doing that with him. 

The only other potentially intentional thing it was doing with him is using the sum total of his behavior as a negative example: don’t question these things, it’ll lead you to despair and death. Not sure if they meant that, but the rest of the movie uses the punitive morality of some slasher movies as part of its basic structure, so it’s not an impossible read.

Skipping over David for now and going to Weyland: he’s all about what the Engineers can do for him. It’s a gesture toward people who approach christianity from a transactional angle. Faith in exchange for something. There are definitely people like that out there. A lot of premillennial dispensationalist evangelicals fearfully cling to the belief that, as long as they say the right words, they’ll bodily ascend to heaven and leave everyone else behind for the Antichrist, conveniently skipping that unpleasant “death” thing they don’t want to face.

For those who grew up with that stuff or those brainrotted enough like me to remember it, yes. Yes, I am comparing Peter Weyland to Tim LaHaye. The dialog in this movie is bad enough that it makes me think of Left Behind.

All of this stuff positions the Engineers as either equivalent to the christian god, or to the imperfect gnostic demiurge who is mistaken for a god. But frankly, the Engineers seem more like they were trying to make a sourdough starter, but the last time they opened the fridge, it’d grown fuzz and smelled awful. They were ready to throw out their project. 

Was there a heavy ritual aspect involved in their actions? Sure. But the movie hasn’t sold me on the idea that they are themselves acting as christian allegory, only that christian allegory is being placed on them by others.

Speaking of Weyland and more christian stuff, he’s getting his feet washed by David.

Must be maundy thursday. Foot washing before entering a dwelling is a practice that started as a practical act in a sandal-wearing culture, and became one of power dynamics and religious symbolism. Water would be provided, or a host would wash the feet of a guest themself, or, if they were rich enough, a servant or slave would do the washing. This is very much the dynamic as far as Weyland is concerned. Weyland believes in souls, David, by his estimation, does not have one, therefore he serves humans.

Of course, foot washing also has connotations of humility, and is strongly associated in christianity with Jesus washing the apostles’ feet after the Last Supper. David has certainly and consistently shown himself to be more competent at everything he does than the other characters, and they wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. He’s working on a level they aren’t, even if he’s still forced to be humble about it. If this is the reading we’re meant to reach for, David’s managing a complicated double-act as Jesus (he’s going to be killed for the sins of man yet rise from the dead pretty soon), and also Judas (he is hella jazzed to betray somebody to their death).

In any case, Shaw tries to convince them not to wake up the Engineer. In response, Weyland essentially goads her about Holloway’s death and her beliefs: “And what would Charlie do, now that we’re so close to answering the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind? How can you leave without knowing what they are? Or have you lost your faith, Shaw?”

Yes, indeed, Weyland, WWCD. Once you determine that, you do the opposite, and you’ll never be steered wrong.

So of course Shaw decides to go with them.

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Alt-text rambles

https://wheelchair.spinergy.com/collections/wheelchair-everyday/products/lite-extreme-lx 

https://youtu.be/7h8zJHywjAw 

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2015/11/05/left-behind-index-the-whole-thing/

https://www.slashfilm.com/503786/first-photo-and-video-footage-from-robert-zemeckis-a-christmas-carol/ 

Overflow Ramble #1

I’m in wait-and-see mode on Fallout one right now. I’m not personally a FO:NV person, so I don’t have special attachment to the West Coast stuff, but I see what they were *trying* to do, even if it didn’t land with me at all (TL;DR playing a queer character felt especially bleak thanks to a lack of underground queer culture in the face of the homophobia). 

The trailer looks good, there’s conflict between the BoS and NCR, which hopefully means both factions are going to be the absolute, incurable disasters they should be. Goggins playing a ghoul who helped sell the lie of the Vaults is good, and he’s a damn solid TV and character actor. Dale Cooper and 80s!Paul Atreidies himself Kyle MacLachlan plays the vault overseer, so that’s fun. I’m not a TV person so I don’t recognize the rest of the cast, but I’m hoping it manages to be something good. We’ll find out in April, by which point I’ll hopefully be fREE OF THIS MOVIE

Overflow Ramble #2: Tribulation Force

Close-up of Nick Cage deep in his “paying the bills” phase as Rayford Steele in Left Behind (2014), looking precisely as enthused as he should be, to be playing Rayford Steele. I chose this reaction image because I am not subjecting anyone to flashbacks of the older movies with Kirk Cameron in them. 

Want to know how I know too much about this stuff, despite literally spending my childhood thinking people just entertained the idea of Jesus the way they did Santa Claus around the holidays? 

Because of a blogger by the name of Fred Clark, who decided one strange day in 2003 to write a thorough dissection of the Left Behind books (cite 3). Thankfully for his sanity, he lost steam eventually. …When Tim LaHaye died in 2016. All fear and respect to Fred Clark.

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[porsche-grey-barnes]

Chapter 1: the case of Willamina Wood.

Tw: this chapter includes: rape, assault, death, talk of sex, and bad friends. Viewer discretion is advised.

Knock, knock, knocking on the two dead boys' door.

Edwin:

Everything was going splendidly. We had moved crystal in next door to the office so she could have her own room, and coincidentally Jenny moved downstairs. 

The night nurse left us alone for most days, unless we had a case she insisted on being there for.

Speaking of, we had just finished wrapping up a case. Three boys terrorising young human girls. Crystal calls them “dead frat bros”. I do not like the name, but she does so automatically Charles likes it too.

We walk into the office, Charles and Crystal talking as usual, while I walk ahead. I will not say I am over my love for Charles, but I know he does not see me in such light. So to be a good friend, I refuse to give In to them.

Once I sit down at my desk, the mailman comes scaring both Charles and Crystal and I smile slightly.

We let Crystal see if she could pick up anything off of the mail, getting used to her powers already.

“It is pretty brills innit?” Charles asks as he looks at her, her eyes white her head tilted backward.

“It’s…..charming, to say the least.” Ever since her, Niko, and Charles saved me, I've been trying my hardest to be nicer to the girl. It is a trial sometimes, I will admit.

When she finally comes back, she looks at us and says “nothing good, just some girl missing here. But, but, I think I know her?”

Crystal never got to take the other two memory balls, therefore she has some dark spots here and there. She says they may have more bad memories and doesn’t want them.

Charles gos up to her. His hand on her shoulder “is she ok?” “I think so. All I saw was a smiling girl, but I don’t know who or what she is…” right then an older gentleman walks in.

He has grey hair and blue eyes, he seems to have died around the same time as I.

“This is the dead boy’s detective agency, correct?”

“Yes, that is us.” I say sitting up in my chase at the new case.

“Good. I have a case for you.”

Charles, Crystal, and I all look at each other, ready for our next case.

The case.

“There is a girl. Her friend lives in the apartment I stay at and she visits quite frequently. She’s a human.” The man states.

We deal with the dead. That is our job. Last time we took a missing girl case we got stuck in port Townsend and I got sent back to hell. The answer is no.

But as I look up I can see Charles and Crystal really want to take the case. More Charles than crystal, so I let him finish.

“She’s the nicest of the lot. She always makes sure the girls are quiet, and she’s kind. To everyone.” He looks Charles and Crystal up and down, clearly still in his own ways.

“And I would not be here, usually, but those idiotic girls keep yelling at one another, saying that she’s lost because of one another. It’s insufferable. I was hoping you could help find her.”

Crystal's look tells me she thinks it might be a demon like her, but a demon would not be so subtle.

“We’ll take the case!” Charles says before I or Crystal have a chance to speak.

The man nods and looks at me, with a roll of Charles’ eyes.

“We’ll take the case.” I say.

Finding willamina wood.

“Why did he discredit Charles like that?” Crystal asks.

“He’s a bloody racist, is why.” Charles answers.

“It’s not uncommon, in our line of work we deal with people who died when that was common. And it unfortunately is hard. You as well will get discredited, for being a woman, and for being of colour.” I say, and she looks angrily at the door the man just left from.

“You get used to it, but it’s best not to let it get to you.” Charles says.

“You’re right. Let’s focus on the girl. He said her name is willamina but the girls call her Willy. Why don’t you two go talk to people around where they last saw her, try her friends.” Crystal says as she eyes the missing flyer.

When I pick up the paper, I see it is our missing girl. She’s been missing for 48 hours. And by human statistics, she should be dead by now. But for her sake, let us hope she is not.

“And what about you?” I say.

“I’ll call hospitals near the area, try and see if she’s been checked in.” Crystal says as she grabs her phone and starts a “Google search” as she calls it.

Charles packs his bag, and we grab our special glasses, and we take to the mirror.

The investigation 

Her “friends” were of no help. They say they were in some band of sorts, said they were from the states and wanted to “branch out” but they could not even tell us her last name.

“Some friends. They left her alone so they could go shagg.” Charles says as we try to find a mirror.

“Truly horrible girls.” I answer him.

As we step back into the office, Crystal stands up.

“I found her, she’s at a hospital three blocks from here. They say she’s in good condition, she has all her memory’s, but hasn’t been discharged yet. But…” she says as she paces slightly.

“But?” I say.

“But I don’t know if it’ll be a good idea for you two to come with me. They say she’s a bit tense with men.”

“Tense with men?” Charles asks.

“It does not matter, she can not see us.” I reason. They both agree, Crystal is still on edge however.

The girl with multi coloured hair and battle scars.

Me and Charles decided against going in with our glasses, not wanting to scare her. 

Crystal walks up to the nurses station, a woman in scrubs and a bun, who looks too tired to stand up is sitting there.

“May I help you?” The nurse asks.

“Yes we-I’m looking for willamina woods?” Crystal says, almost blowing it up. I roll my eyes and Charles bumps me.

“Realstion?” The nurse asks.

“Say we are her friends,” Charles says.

“No they won’t let us in, say we’re family, her cousin,” I retort.

“I’m her cousin.” The nurse looks crystal up and down, but nods.

“Before you go in, you should know she’s been through a lot of trauma, the poor girl, so, don’t scare her, ya’hear?” The nurse tells her as she leads us to a door.

“Yes ma'am” Crystal says.

When we walk in, there’s another nurse, a girl, laughing.

The nurse walks out and says “you have a funny friend, she’s been joking since she’s got here.” I smile at that. The girl seems to have went through trauma and is still joking around. In away she’s a bit like Charles.

When we walk in fully, she clams up.

“Who are you guys?” Guys?

“You can see us?” Charles asks, and she nods.

“Near death experience.” Is all she says, her smile gone from her face. Whatever trauma the poor girls been through, it has something to do with men.

“Charles, let us take a walk outside shall we?” He nods and we walk out.

Willy:

“Willamina?” The girl says. And I nod.

Who are these people? Why can’t everyone just leave me alone? Two nights ago was the worst night of my life and they just won’t leave me ALONE!!

“I’m crystal, we, uhm, we were asked to find you.” Huh, maybe my “friends” cared after all…

“Oh, by who?” She smiles at me talking.

“A ghost who lives in the apartment your friends live at.” Oh, so they don’t care.

“Can I ask what happened?” I swallow the lump in my throat. It’s best to tell someone  now, then push it back until I rage and do something stupid.

“It all started two nights ago….”

Hi author here, I just wanted to say this part might be triggering to some viewers.

Warning: rape, death, sexual assault, and bad friends are in the fallowing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Two nights ago.

YES! We did it! We just played one of our biggest crowds yet! And they loved us!

I walk out of the bar, ready to catch a ride from one of my friends. I decided earlier not to take my bike tonight, not to mess up my hair. Everyone said that they'd give me a ride to and from the concert so I’m not worried.

When I walk out all my friends have guys or girls on their arms, ready to head back. I stop one of them, Cindy, she’s the nicest.

“Hey cin, can you or one of the others give me a lift home?” I ask, and she looks a bit disgusted, but I don’t let it bother me, that’s just how they are. 

“Willamina, hun, we’ve all got, uhm, plans, maybe next time you should just rely on yourself.” She laughs and gets in her car. When I looked for the others, they all left.

 They left me. 

They all left so they can get screwed….

What great “friends” I have.

I’m only four blocks, I’ll just walk.

As I walk, I feel eyes on me, but I don’t turn around, instead I decide to do what my mom always said and take a number of turns to lose them. 

After about six different ally’s I think I finally lost the person, and I walk into the ally right next to where I’m crashing.

Once I walk into it I feel hands on my arm, and I turn around, and a man in his 50’s maybe 60’s with thinning grey hair, and round, with a crooked smile 

The old man corks out “oh, have I had my eye on you” in a heavy accent and I’m instantly paralyzed with fear.

He puts a gloved hand over my mouth, and all I smell are toxins, and then it all goes black.

When I wake up I’m freezing cold, stripped of my clothes, and now my dignity. I look up and there’s a woman with curly hair and sad eyes.

“No woman should have to go this way, my dear. It is here that I give you a second chance at life. And I am truly sorry.” And with that a blue light blinds me.

The next time I wake up, I’m in a hospital bed, with a male doctor checking my vitals, and I instantly do not feel safe. I wiggle and scream and he leaves and a female doctor comes in to soothe me.

“Hush dear, you are alright now. No more scary men. I promise.” She tells me.

Now.

I’m crying as I speak. “And that’s how I ended up here.” Crystal looks at me with sad eyes. And I’m sick of people looking at me like that. I’m not defenceless, I was just scared shitless.

“I’m sorry.” She tells me.

“Don’t be. You can’t fix it. No one can. That’s the end of it. You found me, now you and the two gay ghosts can leave me alone.” I say, or rather I snap.

“Just Edwin, Charles isn’t gay- y'know what, I’m not gonna fight it, I’m, I’m sorry, I’ll get my friends and we’ll go.” She says and I turn to go back to bed.

When she sits the light off and I close my eyes, the lights turn right back on.

“Ms.wood?” A boy says in a proper accent. My hands get sweaty, and I want to run, but I just close my eyes more.

“I am Edwin, Edwin Payne. I- well, I just want to tell you that not all men are like the one who I assume hurt you. And,” he sighs and asks himself why he’s doing what it is he’s doing. “And I’d like to ask if you have any place to stay?” He asks.

“Uhm, no, no I don’t.” The loft I was renting weekly is probably due to the fact I was supposed to pay yesterday, so, I guess I’m homeless now ... .just the cherry on top of the cake.

“Well, if you would like, Charles, Crystals, and I would love to have you.” He says, kind of hopefully.

I open my eyes and he has one hand in the other, and his bow tie is slightly crooked. I smile.

“I’m, I'm not that trusting with men anymore.”

“That is completely understandable. And if you would allow us, I’d like to, well, I’d like to try and be one of the ones you do trust. And I hope Charles could be as well.”

He’s nice. And he’s willing to be a friend. I guess I am in the market for new ones. And they don’t seem like the type to hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it. 

“Ok” I nod, and he smiles.

“Ok. I’ll have crystal sign you out.”

[leoleolovesdc]

I would love to write a TTS essay explaining why Gothel isn’t Cassandra’s mother and Frederick and Arianna aren’t Rapunzel’s parents and the show’s insistence on pushing parent/child struggles into those characters is kind of really forced so that’s exactly what I’m gonna do:

(Disclaimer: this got really messy and is kind of a bunch of nonesense glued together, so read it with a bit of patiece lmao)

Rapunzel grew up for the first 18 years of her life with Gothel, when TTS starts she has been living with Fred and Ari for 6 months and it’s wild to me how Raps already calls them mom and dad, but I won’t judge this part, she wants to be their daughter and wants to be a family so it makes sense that she would call them that way regardless if it feels natural or not, but I think where the series really fails is when it starts (by the very first episode) to give Rapunzel and Frederick father-daughter struggles, which is complete bs if you ask me, those two don’t know each other. Rapunzel shouldn’t have a “oh, I can’t disobey my father” train of thought because she doesn’t even know him and therefore he isn’t her father, at least not yet. She shouldn’t be so trusting of his judgement of love for her because they don’t have intimacy and the fact that they are fighting and disagreeing so much after having just reconnected is wild. Arianna is not that important for the plot, but her relationship with Rapunzel being so unapologetically perfect also rubs me the wrong way. Rapunzel was ruined by her mother, she was abused her whole life and I don’t think she would just let anyone fulfill the role Gothel did without getting some therapy to unpack everything wrong that her mother, the one that actually raised her, did.

Rapunzel had a narcissistic mother, an awlful one who never loved her, but that doesn’t mean that she didn’t love Gothel. Raps lived her whole by that woman’s side, she loved her more than anything in the world and realizing the manipulation and abuse wouldn’t just immediately stop a person as kind and forgiving as Rapunzel to still love her like a mother, because like it or not Gothel raised her for 18 years. She wasn’t a good mother by any means but she was her mother nonetheless.

Another point is that at the end of season one Rapunzel goes away from Corona to explore, learn about the world and her own powers. I am not exactly sure how much time passes from the beginning to the end of s1 but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t more than 6 months, so Rapunzel lives with her bio parents for about a year and then goes straight into a one year long self discovery journey and you’re trying to tell me that she missed them? Not even just missed, but when she got hold of an artifact that showed what you waned the most what she saw were her biological parents and the people of Corona who in the first episode she claims to not remember the names of? That’s some real bs right there and I have no idea how the show runners thought this made any sort of sense. She doesn’t fucking know them, maybe she respects or care about her folks, but she couldn’t have possibly built this life long parent/child relationship that the show treats like she did.

Now, with Cassandra it’s a bit more complicated. She lived with Gothel for about four years of her life before being abandoned, but she very obviously didn’t remember any of this, either because she was too young or because she repressed those memories. Gothel didn’t seem to love Cass in the slightest, but because Cass grew up with only a emotionally distant father she longed for this reassurance that she was loved by a parent figure at some point in her life, she blames Rapunzel for everything that went wrong with her life, which can make sense but also is a bit awkward to sustain once you analyze the actual facts. Yes, Rapunzel and Eugene killed Gothel, but she didn’t mean to do that, it was Eugene’s plan and he only did it because Raps had literally agreed to be used and locked up from the real world for the rest of her life. Cass isn’t dumb, she would know better than lashing out at her friends for accidentally saving her from living with a narcissist who didn’t care about her. Gothel isn’t Cassandra’s mother, Cass doesn’t have a mother because she didn’t have anyone to actually raise her.

If I was to rewrite Tangled we’d have a very different approach to how bio parents are handled, especially Rapunzel’s. I don’t think she should be close to Arianna and Frederick at all, heck, I don’t even think she should call them mom and dad. Cause bear with me, if you randomly found ot you are adopted by the time you were 18 and actually went to live with your biological family for about a year do you think you’d even have this sort of intimacy and bond with them?

[ladywillowwc-blog]

Dr Cha - who’s watching?

I have been enjoying the Kdrama, Dr Cha, starring Uhm Jung-Hwa as a woman, Cha Jeong Suk, in her late 40s who, after a health scare, returns to her residency to become a fully certified doctor in South Korea. 

As a (much) older viewer, who has also had to reinvent myself more than once from wife/mother into various professional roles, I find the plot line (while obviously over-the-top for comic effect) pretty realistic. I have to wonder when I read reactions that say she should “just” 

divorce her no-good husband 

start an affair with the second lead

‘throw hands’ at another woman 

make any move that doesn’t fit with her personality, upbringing, or culture 

Who is watching this show? 

Clearly the people I am seeing reactions from are young. They don’t understand how much a woman can become identified with her roles as a wife and a mother. Some of that is personal - some of us lean into that role more than others. Some of it is cultural - why do you think so many of the women in Cha Jeog Suk’s life counsel her to stay in her marriage at first? Because they know how little an unmarried, divorced woman is valued in society. At least her unmarried friend, Baek Mi Hee, has money and therefore status. She is also lonely and wants what Jeong Suk has, even if it isn’t perfect.

In a divorce, Cha Jeong Suk is not guaranteed “95%” of the family finances, as I saw one reviewer proclaim. I don’t know what the divorce laws are like for family or community property in Korea, but I can guarantee you Dr Cha will be worse off financially if she divorces. Even in North America, most women lose financially. Yes, I’m sure you know of someone who “had to give everything to his bitch of a wife in a divorce.” Statistically, that is unusual, no matter what Men’s Rights Groups want you to believe.

Seo In Ho, the husband, has all the power in the family - he inherited money, his mother controls the money, he makes more money. Until after her surgery, Dr Cha had never used his credit card. What does that tell you? Once she goes back to work as a resident she would make some money, yes. I can guarantee it would not be enough to retain the house her husband would still own, or live the life she had been living. If it were, she wouldn’t have moved in the hospital residence.

Divorce is a difficult, complicated issue. It represents a complete failure of her whole adult life. She was young - early 20s - when she had Jung Min and got married. She stayed in medical school in spite of having a baby until Jung Min and her mother were in a car accident - perhaps when he was about 7? Then she had another child the same year her husband was in a program in the US, met his 1st love, had an affair, got her pregnant and came back to Korea. Irang and Eun Seo were born the same year - they are now 16 or 17. She stayed home for 20 years making a home and bringing up her children to be good people, which, in spite of some childish behaviour on the part of the literal children, they have become.

So asking for and planning for a divorce should take some time, don’t you think? It means rejecting her whole life - admitting that EVERYTHING she has worked for was a lie.

Having an affair with Dr. Roy Kim? He is a good person (which is why he is careful about how he deals with her) and she is a little overwhelmed with shit right now. He saved her life (and is very good-looking, and pays attention to her when her husband doesn’t) - she must wonder if any feelings she has are real. She constantly rejects Mi Hee’s hints that he is into her. She ‘builds rapport’ by being there for him when his personal journey goes badly - and she must feel so grateful to be able to repay him a tiny bit for everything he has done for her - but she doesn’t have the space or the time to work out how she’s feeling about him, and anything she decides now could be a disaster down the road. And I’m not sure she is that interested in sex at the moment either - she’s been 10 years without, and she probably thinks she’s over that stage of her life. (It happens. Our sex drive fluctuates through life. A lot.)

Getting into a physical altercation with another woman? Does that seem like Jeong Suk? She is angry throughout most of this show (14 of 16 episodes down), and so far has only thrown a coffee pot and a bracelet. Besides, whether she wants to or not, she feels for Choi Seung Hi, the other woman in this story. She thought her husband was worth giving things up for too, for a long time. She rightly puts most of the blame on him, although she would still like Dr Choi to leave the hospital!  

Finally, it amazes me that people watch shows deeply rooted in a different culture, with different philosophical roots and ways of seeing the world, and demand that the plot conform to their own narrow understanding. North American/white Protestant values are not the norm worldwide. Watching Korean dramas (and I am quite new to this) shows how often Confucian or Buddhist thinking underpins everything, even when the characters themselves are neither. The cultures are steeped in a way of seeing, a way of moving through the world. It’s important to step back and try to see that. Isn’t learning more about the way other people experience life the point of all fiction?

TL/DR - I just had to say all of this. I may have written some of this plot differently, but I am not mad about how it is unfolding. So far, it holds together for me. If Dr Cha decides not to go through with the divorce, for example, I will feel sad for her, but not angry at the writers. I know lots of women who would make the same choice. And choosing to be alone if she does divorce Seo In Ho also would make sense to me. As my grandmother said when she was widowed, “Why would I want to wash someone else’s socks again?” Being alone is not punishment. It can be freedom.

[kitkatopinions]

When discussing the idea that RWBY has the difference between the heroes and villains be their choices, my problem isn't that the characters aren't real and therefore don't technically 'choose' anything. I think that when analyzing media, there has to be some discussion of characters having traits, doing things, making choices, etcetera. Yes, everything a character does, says, or chooses is something they're puppeteered to do by writers, but within the context of the narrative, in the story the writers are trying to tell, the characters will do things and say things and choose things. When talking about Ruby, we can say she chose to be involved in the fight with Salem, and the fact that she's fake doesn't change that.

So if someone says "the RWBY villains made choices that led them to where they wound up" my problem isn't going to be that they didn't choose anything, because they did. In the story, in the narrative the writers are trying to employ, they choose things, Ruby chooses things, her team chooses things, etcetera. My real problem with the idea that RWBY is presenting us with a choice based villainhood whereas the good guys choose good things is that I think it's very badly done if that was even the intended goal, which I'm not sure it was.

In media that wants to make a point of choices being what leads people where they are, there are two things that I think are very important. 1. That the world they establish is either free from systemic bigotry and classism, or that the villains aren't that impacted by the bigotry or classism, or that the system is acknowledged as a driving force that the narrative and the characters within the show are actively against and want to make better. And 2. That the heroes parallel the circumstances of the villains very closely but are shown to make the right choices whereas the villains do not. And I think RWBY fails at both of these steps.

Let's talk about the first one. RWBY is a show where not only is systemic discrimination against the Faunus a thing, but classism and capitalism are both things as well. And both the tendency of the writers to just write what they know (Weiss saying that her asking Neptune out is unorthodox, May talking about her family,) and the writers own bigotry (very few women in leader positions of power, Jaune and Neptune's behavior, the 'joke' about Jaune wearing a dress) make it clear that other forms of bigotry exist in Remnant. On top of this, there are child slaves (Cinder, Adam in extended content,) there's kids living on the streets (Emerald, Nora,) corruption in the Hunter Academies (Dee and Dudley, Qrow's 'shady' colleagues he talks about in V3 and tries to contact in V5, Leo,) and racist and/or sadistic badge carrying law enforcement officers (police in Vale, Cardin training to be a hunter, Coco training to be a hunter.) Weiss's house is the size of the entirety of Menagerie and yet we see houseless people in V7 (iirc) and people living in slums.

The system they invented in the show is inherently unfair, and often heavily impacted the characters we see that are evil, whether that's Cinder being raised as an abused child slave, Adam being raised as an abused child slave and facing discrimination and the systematic oppression of his people, Emerald being a homeless teenager, Ironwood with the weight of a government on his shoulders, Mercury and Neo not having anyone help them while they were abused by their parents, or even the mere implication that Roman grew jaded as time wore on but hadn't started that way. Along with the Brother Gods' hands in the stories of Salem and the Curious Cat, many of the RWBY villains have been severely impacted by conditions outside of their control, the system and hurt caused by others. And RWBY as a whole and the RWBY writers seem not only completely unwilling to delve into criticism of the system and acknowledging the way it contributed to the way villains got to where they are, but at times they even seem to approve of it (Corrupt hunters being treated as bad apples in an otherwise good system, Ironwood being treated as a bad apple in an otherwise good system, Jacques being treated as a bad apple in an otherwise good system, etcetera.) It makes the 'they're defined by their choices' argument feel like a lazy excuse to not examine and even to uphold the corrupt and bad system. It's impossible to say that evil characters are only evil because they chose it when circumstances so frequently pushed them on that slippery slope in the first place, and putting all the blame strictly on how they didn't perfectly handle the horrible situations they were in rather than bothering to ask why those situations happened and how they can be prevented in the future can often boarder on victim blaming. "Adam let his anger consume him" is technically true, but "he shouldn't have been so angry and upset over getting branded in the face after he spent time as a child slave working in a dust mine in horrible conditions as a member of an in-universe oppressed minority group" is very victim blamey!

Now onto the second point. It's much easier to believe a story is specifically about choices if we have a comparison in a very similar situation who chose differently. For instance, Jaune and Salem both lost loved ones that were close to them that were romantic partners. But Pyrrha was not the only person Jaune had as Oz was for Salem, and Jaune hadn't been abused and locked up by his parental figure before that, and after losing said loved one, Jaune wasn't cursed with immortality in punishment for doing something perfectly logical and then watched all of everyone in the world die after trying to rebel against the gods that cursed him. As someone who hates Salem and does think that she's responsible for her actions, it still isn't convincing to put her against Jaune and say 'they both suffered in the same way and yet Jaune made good choices and Salem did not' because... No, they didn't both suffer in the same way. Holding Weiss up to Mercury doesn't work either because they may have both been abused, but all we've seen Weiss get was a slap from a cold father figure whereas Mercury's father was implied to be the reason behind Mercury losing his legs, his dad used to beat him, raised him to be an assassin, and he'd stolen Mercury's semblance, and also Weiss had Winter and Beacon and a support system and all Mercury had was Cinder and Salem and Evernight Castle - Also they seem to be in completely wealth classes. Same with comparing Blake to Adam, same with comparing Neo's loss of Roman to Qrow's loss of Summer, or comparing Cinder's upbringing to Nora's or something. The only really convincing ones are comparing Ruby to the hints about Roman (vaguely implied loss, vaguely implied that he used to be bright eyed and bushy tailed, vaguely implied that the world beat him down in time, which is similar enough to what we've seen with Ruby,) comparing Nora to Emerald (both grew up seemingly on the streets and found their solace with one person,) and comparing Weiss to Watts (both lived in Atlas while they had plenty, both struggled with jealousy and feeling passed over.) People being defined by their choices only really works if we can see them offset against people who shared their circumstance who did make the right choices, and in RWBY, most of the time the villains have gone through far more than the heroes with very little exception to that rule.

Another thing is that the idea of people's villainy stemming from their choices is that imo it only works if we see them get options that are a viable way out, that they ignore. That's also really lacking in RWBY as a general rule. We don't see Mercury and Emerald get a moment before the Fall of Beacon where they had a clear good way out and they didn't take it. We don't see anyone offer Neo a chance to do the right thing and she doesn't take it. We don't see Cinder offered a hand that she rejects. We don't see Ironwood presented with a better plan in V7 that he refuses to try. We don't see Adam ever extended the same sort of grace and chance that Ilia was given and spit at it (TO BE CLEAR I am not saying Blake needed to give him a chance,) etcetera. The story is largely uninterested in giving any villain opportunities for change outside of Hazel, Emerald, and Ilia. Which leads me to believe that the show actually isn't interested in a narrative where the villains are the way that they are out of personal choice, because they only offer them a real choice if they already know they're going to take it.

So yeah, I do not like the offered idea that the RWBY villains are villains out of personal choice, because I don't think the writers did that.

[innerpalaces]

THE PRINCESS WEI YANG - 180 PART 2

CHAPTER 180: The Death of Yuan Yu

Not far away, Duke Guo of Qi was watching this scene with a smile on his face. Guo Dao on the side sighed and said: "Father, I always feel that the purpose of my sister's return is not simple!" In this family, his mother, two sister-in-laws, and Princess Chen Liu completely believed that Li Wei Yang was Guo Jia. As for his brothers, they probably all know the truth, but no one has pierced this paper screen. Because they are too smart, so smart that even though they know something is wrong, they are unwilling to question it, let alone destroy their mother's happy illusion.

Guo Su smiled and said, "It's not simple, but I believe she has no ill intentions towards the Guo family."

"How can father be so sure?" Guo Dao asked with the corners of his mouth slightly raised and a lazy smile hanging on his lips.

Guo Su looked at the smile on Li Wei Yang 's face and said: "She is a smart girl. If not, she could have pretended to be the real Jia'er when we first met."

"But if she did that, you would believe it at first, but after the surprise is over you would check it carefully. Firstly, her true identity will be revealed, and secondly, she will become an opportunistic liar. In this case, the Guo family would definitely not tolerate her." Guo Dao analyzed accurately.

The Duke of Qi nodded and said: "Yes, that's why I said she is very smart. She figured out all my thoughts and your mother's thoughts. Even if Grand Prince Yan revealed her true identity today, she was able to defend herself and let Yuan Yu leave in disgrace."

Guo Dao's eyes fell on Li Wei Yang 's beautiful face not far away, and he sighed softly: "At a young age, her scheming and mind are not inferior to those of men. It is really rare. But I don't understand; since you know everything, why should you help her?"

"Yes, why should I help her?" Guo Su smiled and said, "See how happy your mother is?"

Of course, Guo Dao also saw the satisfied smile on Madam Guo's face, and then he heard his father say: "Your mother hasn't been this happy for more than ten years. It doesn't matter who Guo Jia is. What matters is who can make your mother happy."

"Of course I know this, but father, why aren't you worried that this girl entering our household will bring an unpredictable impact to the Guo family?" Guo Dao got straight to the point.

Guo Su smiled and looked back at his son: "Are you afraid?"

Guo Dao sneered and said, "Afraid? How could I be afraid?!" Then, he suddenly stopped laughing because he understood what the Duke of Qi meant. From the current point of view, Li Wei Yang 's purpose is to use the power of the Guo family to do something for her. But no matter what it is, the Guo family will not be afraid because they have enough strength.

A truly strong family will not be afraid of anyone or anything. Therefore, no matter what Li Wei Yang 's purpose is, it doesn't matter. In Guo Su's eyes, as long as she could keep Madam Guo smiling like this, he would have no complaints whatsoever.

Guo Dao sighed. There is a kind of infatuation in the Guo family. His father has doted on his mother for so many years without even having a single concubine or bed servant by his side. No one will believe this if it is spread, but everyone in the Guo family knows it. This is a fact. Just as his father loved his mother deeply, his two brothers were also very affectionate with his sister-in-laws. Not only did they reject the beautiful concubines sent by other officials, they sent away the maids in their yards, and even gained the reputation of fearing their wives. ...He doesn't like this kind of feeling. No, it should be said that he hates such feelings. So dedicated and infatuated, without even caring about the consequences. In Guo Dao's view, reason and love are completely contradictory and cannot coexist. Therefore, he would rather live a carefree life than fall in love with anyone and become a fool.

At this time, Madam Guo had already seen Duke Guo, smiled and waved, and Duke Guo immediately stepped forward to greet her. Li Wei Yang on the side smiled slightly and had a gentle face. Looking at this face, Guo Dao sighed again. He really didn't know what consequences Li Wei Yang’s arrival would bring to the peaceful Guo family...

At this time, Yuan Yu left the southwest gate angrily, and then he stood in the middle of the road. If he walked to the right, it would be the direction of the palace. He could explain Li Wei Yang 's identity to Empress Pei, but - Empress Pei's eyes and ears were all over Yuexi. With so many people at today's banquet, the news will have been spread long ago. If he went there eagerly and passed on useless news, he would arouse the disgust of Empress Pei. Ever since Empress Pei's stronghold was destroyed in Dali, she no longer placed the same trust and importance on him that she had before. Even Prince Yongwen, who had always been very close to him, began to distance himself and would not even meet him... Alas, today is really unlucky!

He had to turn his horse's head to the left and go back to Prince Yan Mansion. As soon as he reached the door, Princess Yongning's carriage also arrived. He stared at her angrily: "Why are you coming back?!"

Yongning's face was full of shame and he said: "Husband, I have something to say to you."

Yuan Yu looked at her coldly, snorted and said: "Since you have helped her lie, what else is there to say!"

Princess Yongning sighed and said: "I don't want to do this either, but in order to help you at that time, I framed her, and later in order to save you, I promised her a condition. Do you still remember that at that time you - —"

"Shut up!" Yuan Yu immediately remembered how he was humiliated by Li Wei Yang, and his handsome androgynous face became furious, "What on earth do you want to say!"

"I mean, I made a promise to her, and I swore to God that I would help her when she needed me. Today I am fulfilling my promise! Husband, I really didn't mean to make you angry, nor did I mean to betray you. I made the promise for you, and Li Wei Yang forced me to swear that if I break the promise, we will be separated as husband and wife... That's why I did this! In the end, I did it for the love between us husband and wife." Yongning said with tears in her eyes.

Yuan Yu was full of disgust towards her at this moment and didn't want to pay attention to her at all. He turned around and was about to leave, but Yongning suddenly grabbed his sleeve and whined: "I know you don't want to see me, but if I send the woman you like to you - will you forgive me?"

Yuan Yu stared at Yongning in surprise and said, "What on earth are you talking about?!"

Princess Yongning looked at him with concern and said: "I have invited Miss Izumo to perform in my own name... So I hope you won't blame me anymore, otherwise I will really have trouble sleeping and eating..."

Yuan Yu stared at her, as if he wanted to see something from her eyes. He once even suspected that Princess Yongning had made a plan with Li Wei Yang to trick him, but soon, he felt that it would not be possible for such a stupid woman as Yongning. How could she give up the opportunity to stay with him forever?! And she is a very committed person. If she helped Li Wei Yang just to fulfill her oath, then everything made sense.

After all, Yuan Yu was too confident. He didn't know that a woman would become a completely different person after being betrayed. From beginning to end, he had no doubt about his charm. As for Li Wei Yang , who was not confused by him, she could not be considered a normal woman at all. He smiled slightly and said, "Is everything you said true?"

Princess Yongning said quickly: "It's true... but you have to promise me not to marry that Izumo home. You said that you are just playing with them, and the only person you care most about is me."

Seeing her anxious look, Yuan Yu finally felt relieved and said, "Okay, where did you make the appointment?"

Princess Yongning seemed to be relieved and said: "Tonight, on Jin River."

Jin River crosses the capital, and there are many beautiful boats every night. Many dignitaries like to hold banquets on the boats, and then invite beautiful singers and dancers to have banquets all night long. If Li Wei Yang really had any plan, she would never choose such a lively place. This would be under the eyes of all the dignitaries in the capital. Yuan Yu smiled. He was now basically sure that this was Princess Yongning's move to please him.

That night, he couldn't wait to rush to the Jin River with his guards. When he reached the shore, he found that the entire river had been lit by lanterns on both sides. From the shore, the river was sparkling. There were luxurious boats moored on the water, all with lanterns hanging high and people laughing. He took a look and found that there was only one boat without a lantern on it. According to convention, this meant that the owner of the boat had not arrived yet. Standing on the shore, he could see a young and beautiful woman in the cabin hall with curtains hanging down. Who could it be but Izumo that he saw during the day? He sneered and got on the boat.

At this time, a sedan chain with an inconspicuous appearance had arrived under the willow tree on the shore. Zhao Yue said softly: "Miss, we're here."

Li Wei Yang looked out through the gauze curtain on the sedan chair. The ship was very luxurious. The upper floor was a vast and bright hall, and the lower floor was a closed inner warehouse. She happened to see Yuan Yu standing on the deck, bowing and walking into the cabin above.

Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on Li Wei Yang 's face, and Zhao Yue asked strangely: "Miss, is Miss Izumo really inside?"

Li Wei Yang nodded and said: "Yes, she is indeed inside."

Zhao Yue was puzzled: "Miss, do you really want to help Grand Prince Yan meet her?"

Li Wei Yang laughed and said: "It depends on how you understand it. I am afraid that the magpie bridge I built will lead to hell."

Zhao Yue was even more surprised and said, "I don't understand."

Li Wei Yang looked at the boat and just raised her lips. Not long after Grand Prince Yan entered, he seemed to have a conflict with the people inside. His guards tried to drive the people out, and the people led by Izumo wanted to drive them away. The two parties got entangled, and the lights on the boat were shadowed. Li Wei Yang said softly: "Yuan Yu always thinks that he understands women, but not all women will like him. For example, me, the betrayed Princess Yongning, and Izumo."

Zhao Yue asked curiously: "Is there anything special about Izumo? Is she really a courtesan who only sells her skills but not her body?"

Li Wei Yang shook her head gently, and was about to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by someone: "Of course it's not that simple." Under the moonlight night, Yuan Lie came from among the willows, wearing a moonlight brocade robe. Li Wei Yang can tell at a glance that the workmanship of his clothes is obviously very particular, even the buttons at the collar corners are made of fine jade. It was a bit grander than what she saw him wearing during the day, and she couldn't help but laugh.

Yuan Lie didn't take it seriously at all. His smile was three points brighter than the moonlight. He leaned forward and said, "Doesn't this look good on me?"

Li Wei Yang laughed. Did this guy dress up specially just to see her? How...stupid. She saw him looking at her expectantly, his eyes sparkling, she nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, it looks good."

Only then was Yuan Lie satisfied. He turned to look at the boat and continued: "Most of the women in brothels are the same. As long as you can afford the price, you can become their guest. Including the so-called courtesans. It's just to gain fame and raise one's worth. But Izumo is an exception. Although she also comes from a brothel, it will cost thousands of gold to meet her, but if you don't catch her eye, even if you give ten thousand gold, it will be difficult to see her. Hu Cheng, the grandson of Lord Nalu, went to see Izumo with countless gold and silver. Unexpectedly, Izumo hated him and drove him away mercilessly. Afterwards, he tried his best to use his power to force her, but Izumo didn't care. In addition, there were too many dignitaries pursuing her, so Hu Cheng had no choice but to give up. So today, I'm afraid Grand Prince Yan is going to cause a lot of trouble. "

The smile on Yuan Lie's face was a little wan. Li Wei Yang looked at him, but what she thought in her heart was that he didn't like these market rumors, let alone go to Qin Lou Chu Pavilion. The reason why he paid so much attention to Hu Cheng must be because of his nominal stepmother, Princess Lao Xu. The former Grand Princess Xu was born in Hu Mansion. She was the eldest daughter of Hu Kang, Duke of Lu State, and the sister of Consort Hu Shun in the palace. The relationship between this family was really not simple... 

"Do you want to humiliate Grand Prince Yan?" After all, Zhao Yue was not the two of them, and her thoughts were not so scheming.

Yuan Lie smiled slightly, glanced sideways at Li Wei Yang , and said, "She won't do such meaningless things." Just as they were speaking, they heard an exclamation from the river, followed by a plop. Suddenly, countless people screamed: "His Highness, Grand Prince Yan, has fallen into the water! His Highness, Grand Prince Yan, has fallen into the water!" Immediately, guards went down to fish Yuan Yu out, and there was a big splash on the river. Li Wei Yang narrowed her eyes and looked at this scene, and the expression on her face slowly turned mocking.

"We can't find Grand Prince Yan!" After a long time, someone stuck his head out of the water and shouted loudly. More than a dozen people went into the water one after another. They searched everywhere for Yuan Yu, but found nothing. The expressions of the guards were shocked... What's going on, a person went into the water and disappeared?! How is this possible?!

Only then did Zhao Yue come to her senses: "Miss, what are you—" What's in the water? No, or who?!

Li Wei Yang turned to look at her with a smile and said: "Okay, the play is over, and now it's Princess Yongning's turn."

Less than half an hour after Li Wei Yang finished saying this, she saw Princess Yongning's carriage arrive on the river bank. Then, Princess Yongning, dressed in gorgeous clothes, threw herself on the shore crying: "Your Highness! Your Highness! What's happened to you! Why did you suddenly fall into the water!" Suddenly, there were screams and searches on the shore, pleas to God were mixed together, and countless dignitaries on the boat stopped drinking and feasting, looking at this scene in surprise.

They looked at each other in confusion. His Highness, Prince Yan, fell into the water and disappeared?! How is this possible!

Three days later, a man's body was fished out from the lower reaches of Jin River. His clothes and basic features were consistent with that of Prince Yan, Yuan Yu, but his face had been deformed by blisters, and his appearance could not be seen at all. Princess Yongning reported the matter to the Emperor of Yuexi and Empress Pei in tears, and became a widow again.

Empress Pei was furious and ordered a thorough investigation into the matter. It turned out that Grand Prince Yan fell into the water because he molested a courtesan, and countless court officials had witnessed the incident. Now, the cause of Grand Prince Yan's death was revealed, but it was truly shameful. After all, everyone saw what Yuan Yu did at the Guo family banquet, and he came to this place at night. This was very logical... Originally, everyone thought that Empress Pei would kill the courtesan, but it was strangely quiet. Later, it was vaguely reported that the guest of Izumo was Empress Pei's biological son, Prince Yongwen, Yuan Yin. In this way, things became even more complicated.......

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[nikethestatue]

You have been in this fandom for so long nike I have to give up to you for always being realistic in your answers and thoughts because gwynriels make me so tired. Probably the reason many people take a break from the fandom I am so tired of the them belittling elain especially when a lot of us are so similar to her. How they said elriel book would be boring and predictable but want acosf 2 . We have never have a forbidden love story a love without banter something more realistic when it comes to elain and az they are not confrontational characters , how is that boring? Is it really because they think 3 brother 3 sisters is predictable or just because they don’t want their favorite bat boy with the archeron sister they hate?

I think what I've learned through the years here, is that there is a consistent pattern in how different sides approach Elain and shipwars.

2 sides are mostly concerned with the ships

1 side is mostly concerned with Elain

With ships, there is a LOT of emotionalism involved. A lot.

On the other hand, when it comes to Elain, there is CANON. And again, what I've consistently seen is that Elriels/Elain stans use canon in our theories and posts. Whilst others use emotions. Why? Because there just isn't enough canon, for example, to justify Gwynriel. You can jump and yell and scream and doxx, but you still don't have enough dough to bake the Gwynriel loaf. Therefore, it all descents into hate, name calling, pliant bones, and whatnot.

If you are rational about it, if you take emotions out of your interpretation, then it's hard to argue with Elain and Elriel.

For example, in regards to the next book: however you feel about Elain, she is clearly and directly involved in multiple storylines--she is Made, she is a Seer, she discovered Koschei, she discovered Vassa, she is the only one with full Cauldron powers, the Cauldron 'loves' her and 'purred' in her presence, she was able to stab the king in the throat, she stepped out in the shadow, for whatever reason, Azriel chose to hand HER Truth Teller, and for whatever reason she was able to wield it, and so on ....

I do not need to make anything up for her story that's not in canon. When it comes to Gwyn, you literally have to twist yourself into a pretzel to make her relevant. She'll be part of the Illyrian plot!!! What Illyrian plot? Where is the set up for this mysterious 'Illyrian plot'? how's she connected? what does she have to do with Illyria? Oh she has to be with Azriel? Oh HE has to get a book so SHE could be part of it? Oh so Elain has to end up with Lucien for all of this to happen?

See, all of it is not based on canon, but emotion, because you WANT Gwyn to matter and have a story.

When it comes to Elain, she is completely independent of any ship--the stories (and SJM can go any way with her, and I haven't even mentioned all of them) are all woven into her character already. It ultimately doesn't even matter who she ends up with, because her story isn't dependent on any man. THEY are dependent on her for their story.

So you can spend 3 years hating on Elain, but that won't change anything. She will still get her massive book, she will still be the FMC, she will get her man, she will get her journey, she will make a difference. That's it. That's canon. She is the juicy steak. Everything else is just a side dish of jello and boiled green beans.

I know the other sides spent a lot of energy and time hating Elain, hating Azriel, hating Azriel and Elain, getting into fights between each other, because one side hates Elain and the other hates Azriel, but they need each other for their ships to happen....

But we got canon. Which is a sweet sweet fruit. So I'll stick with my bread and roses, and they can have...the Illyrian redemption plot or whatever.

Pretty darn sure Elain the flower girl will get her book and her shadowsinger. Cuz that's what she wants.

[genderbinaryisforlosers]

I know you said this so long ago but I NEED to hear more about Logan with chronic pain PLEASE-

you're in luck because i actually never shut up about this. IDs in alt text for all of these!

the most obvious example i know of is from Uncanny X-Men (1963) #388. rogue's powers are overloaded and she accidentally absorbs more of logan than she meant to - she doesn't just get the healing factor and the claws, but the pain too.

both physically and mentally she's in absolute agony. and remember that she's only absorbed logan's mutation, not his adamantium skeleton! so if the healing factor is constantly trying to heal around his natural claws, imagine how it feels to have a whole artificial skeleton in its way.

if you know me you know that i consider Weapon X (1993) to be the definitive wolverine story. BWS does a lot to establish things about logan through scenic shots and bits of detail that go unmentioned in the narration and dialogue - for example this panel, which neatly sums up pretty much everything you can make out from his disciplinary report on the previous page (alcoholic, self-destructive, morbidly preoccupied with the "mutant scandal") with the addition of showing some loose pills in amongst his other more well-established self-medication methods.

you can argue that it's difficult to distinguish his physical from his mental pain in this story and i would agree. but he has both and both are chronic. his pain throughout this book is visualised with these body horror shots.

logan isn't being actively tortured in this scene (above), although there was plenty of that in Weapon X. he's just ambiently in pain while they are trying to monitor him.

this next one isn't strictly relevant but i like to point it out: logan's berserker "rage" isn't anything to do with anger. it's to do with pain.

a recurring motif in the 'Drowning Logan' arc in Wolverine (2013) was "He's used to pain." this is a story in which he loses his healing factor, but he doesn't realise until the action is well and over because he's so used to pain that he doesn't notice anything is wrong until he sees he's still bleeding.

it's canonically theorised, if not explicitly canon, that the adamantium on logan's bones is constantly poisoning him. when the facility activates laura's healing factor by force, they observe that hers is much stronger, and sarah theorises that the adamantium is the cause.

as well as the metal being mildly radioactive and therefore giving him small amounts of cancer all the time - which heals, until it doesn't in Death of Wolverine - he's also got heavy metal poisoning and is prone to sepsis and endocarditis. those last two might not exactly qualify as chronic conditions, but they do hurt and are a constant problem with his healing factor failing!

an even more recent example! this one didn't exist when i made the comment the prompted this ask. it's from Wolverine (2020) #29, from the 'Beast Agenda' arc.

on the next page: "And now I'm coming back because the pain is coming back."

i'm sure there are lots more examples of this! these are just the ones i've made a note of for chronic pain in particular - i also think the other arcs where he's got a reduced/absent healing factor are very interesting for showing his relationship to pain, particularly his first meeting with Jubilee, Fatal Attractions and its fallout, etc.

hope this is what you were looking for!