#theyre ruling over so many subjects

[cy-cyborg]

So, there's a lot I want to say about the paralypics, but every time I try I just... can't articulate what I want to say without it turning into a monster of a post that puts my writing advice posts to shame lol. This includes in response to the anonymous asks I got on the topic btw. So I'm going to try and summarise my thoughts here.

As someone who was working towards the Rio paralympics - who was basically one of the people they were actively training to be the next paralympians and who got to go if their choice first athletes had to drop out, the Olympics and paralympics are a... touchy subject for me. I loved playing. I loved my sport. I loved the people I played with. I loved the people I played against. But the way the public and people in power treats disabled athletes sucks. It Really really sucks. and it hurts to talk about.

The vast, vast majority of us aren't paid. We are expected to train at the same intensity as the Olympians with none of the breaks and none of the support to do so, resulting in injuries that are disabling in and of themselves, while juggling normal jobs. many of the paralympians are also in school or at university as well. both schools and jobs see these elite athletes as dedicated hobbiests at best.

I had a friend who were fired from their job because they were denied time off to compete at the paralypics and well, if i had to choose between the paralympics or stay at a shit job paying minimum wage, I know which one I'd pick, and so she didnt have a job when she came back. I have friends who are still in the closet because their sponsors would drop them if they came out as gay, who ended years-long relationships to keep the funding that allowed them and their teams to compete - funding that just covered the costs of travel by the way. They never saw a cent of it themselves, but it was the difference between us having to pay $50 each for our plane tickets and accommodation and having to pay $2,000Aud + for every away game. I have friends who were supposed to go to Tokeyo but were kicked off the teams weeks before the games because of a rule change that decided they weren't disabled enough anymore, wasting years of work with absolutely no warning. They weren't even given the decency of an appology from the people who made the call. Several went through terrifying mental health spirals over it. It was their life's work, gone. I saw so many friends just give up because their disabilities were "too hard to classify" into the International Paralympic Commity's boxes and who were made to feel they weren't welcome by the system spouting off about its diversity and inclusion and empowerment of disabled people.

And then with all that, the best we can hope for is for the social media teams to turn us into a joke for ableds to laugh at or into inspiration porn to make them feel good about themselves - because at least theyre not us. Because obviously, there are no other options in how to show us/sarcasm.

My phone doesn't even have "paralympics" as a recognised word. I have a Samsung. The company that is currently at the paralympics using them as a marketing opertunity. We aren't even recognised as a word in the phones made by the company that is currently using the paralympics as a marketing opportunity. The phones they're giving the athletes won't even recognise the name of the event that they got it at. If I've spelt it wrong, it's because it autocorrects it every time I try to spell it right, and im dyslexic and can't see the difference until I stare at it for a minute or so.

I just... this isn't even scratching the surface of my thoughts. But I wanted to say at least some of it. It will be the last I'm going to talk about it, at least until the event is over.

[fictionfixations]

riddle's mom is a hypocrite

I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING

RIDDLES MOM IS A RULEBREAKER

(is there a chance that they dont use the queen of hearts rules in the queendom of roses? yes. do i care? no.)

made this realization from this vid so ill be using it as screenshots too since i cant be bothered to go back myself

[EVIDENCE]

1: This line right here proves that at the moment, it is currently his birthday.

2: He expresses his desire to eat a strawberry tart.

3: Riddle Rosehearts' mother scolds him for speaking his mind freely.

4: She proceeds to restrict him to only being allowed to eat a certain amount of food.

5: And doesn't give him a choice to choose what to eat.

6: She still isn't permitting him to intake more than the limit she set, and gives him no room to go against it.

7: Again, Riddle expresses a desire to eat a strawberry tart on his birthday. But his mom refuses to listen to him.

Now, what does all of that mean? Well, let's take a moment to look at his Birthday Boy voicelines...

What does that say? "The Queen of Hearts' Rules state that you may eat whatever you like and speak freely on your birthday."

So where has his mother violated the rules?

One: Not allowing the birthday person to eat whatever they wish, that being a strawberry tart.

Two: Not allowing the birthday boy to speak freely, in which she refused to listen to his input, and proceeded to steamroll over any other attempts by limiting what he was allowed to eat, and by how much.

Considering their area of residence, that being the Queendom of Roses, I believe that's cause to assume that in some shape or form, the Queen of Hearts' rules exist within that country. Even if no longer strictly enforced, that this shall be taken in mind as another blatant disregard for the law, and a point against the defendant.

I rest my case.

---

okay i havent seen that many court videos i dont know how they work but i just had to.

it feels. fitting.

i think parts of evidence are referred to as something. like, idk. Subject A for example? but i cant remember what theyre called so im just labeling it by numbers

[road-kill-eater]

what do you think of people making their own tonitrui characters? I love your work, the faces are super nice to look at, teeth and all

i dont mind at all! tonitrui are very close to my heart as theyre by far my oldest original species/headworld, but ive yet to actually do anything with them and dont really have much motivation to do so. the tonitrui i primarily draw are ocs from another story entirely which is fundamentally a human story, but i vastly prefer drawing the weird goats over humans.

i suppose this is also as good a time as any to "officially" describe tonitrui.

there are some rules that come with them since they are designed to inhabit a specific setting and play a certain role within their world. but at the same time i dont really care much, and have always enjoyed seeing other peoples takes on the species in the past, even if they break some rules

theyre a primarily carnivorous species which is on average 2 feet taller than the average human, ranging between 6-8 feet in height. this great size, along with their diet has forced the southern portion of their population to rely heavily upon fishing and animal agriculture to support a substantial population/military, and to eschew many of the superfluous aspects of their historical culture. as a result tonitrui are generally very utilitarian, what few festivals and art they have is generally related to bloodsports and ritual combat. they are a race strongly influenced by the pressures surrounding them, this primarily being other equally sapient but different races which they compete with for land and resources. unlike other races they have no allies, and either conquer or destroy their foes, however their colonial and expansionist tendencies can't keep up with a dwindling population, subseptibility to disease, civil war, corruption, and general hubris.

as for religion, monarchist tonitrui have a historical theistic framework that they have mostly abandoned, for good reason. many generations prior (to the general timeline) their corresponding creator god (each race was created by an individual god, the many civilizations acting as a living chess game, this is not known to the mortals below, they dont know they exist to better the social reputation of another entity entirely) walked among them as a god king. this was of course seen as blatant foul play by the fellow players so they locked it in that mortal form, and being confronted by mortality drove it mad. the specifics of whether or not the god king killed itself, or was murdered by his own subjects is widely disputed, but the impact of that betrayal has turned much of the kingdom off theism entirely. luck and chance are the spirits that tonitrui pray to now, even if ever since, their civilization has begun to crumble from within and without. their every enterprise fails, their wars of conquest fold back in on their own territory, plague strikes them endlessly.

the northern population is technically part of the southern kingdom, however their way of life (more nomadic, hunter-gatherer based) has typically set them apart. there is still free trade and travel between them, and they still pay taxes and obey military conscription, however there is increasing resistance to these, and governmental authority weakens as the northern population becomes more preoccupied with their own struggles.

in terms of morphology, tonitrui have two sets of flat incisors much like a horse, prominent canines which can occassionally stick out between their lips, and canine-like carnassials and molars. their faces are rather stiff for the most part and they primarily emote through their eyes, the corners of their mouths, their ears, and the tilt and posture of their big heads. they can just barely lift their top lip, and the muscles that control snarling and snout wrinkling in mammals are quite reduced or nonexistent in tonitrui, they compensate for this by opening their jaws very wide as an aggressive signal, and sometimes slamming their lower jaw shut to clack their teeth, but the latter is super rude, its basically a death threat.

their horns are primarily for display purposes, with a huge amount of variety that distinguishes individuals and family lines. generally their horns are relatively small when compared to those of existing ungulates, and particularly large horns are seen as ungainly and may be trimmed down in order to keep appearances and prevent them from being used against them in combat. young tonitrui naturally have the desire to ram their nubby horns against things, much to their parents exasperation, and everything breakable has to be well hidden in the household. though this is considered a childish and unrefined form of combat by the mainstream population, some more isolated villages still hold contests of strength where one must push their opponent past a line with only their horns.

their feet have no distinct nails and the toes are progressively keratinized until they are quite hard at the very tip, useful for gripping a variety of surfaces. in appearance they sort of resemble a blend of claws and hooves, clooves if you will.

tonitrui are generally covered in a short, peach fuzz fur that thickens around their head, neck and down the length of their spines, and this is generally accompanied by a dorsal stripe of darker fur and lighter patterning on their chest and bellies. their patterning is usually very basic, darkened extremities tend to be more common in northern populations, and piebaldism pops up a lot in the south. their colors range from white to gray to black, to tan to gold to brown. northern tonitrui generally have shorter, broader snouts, smaller ears, and a mane that covers the entire circumference of their neck rather than just the top ridge. however the two populations have mixed to the point that these traits can be found across their entire range.

tonitrui always get their tails docked as infants, and if it isnt done by their families for some reason, individuals will often have the procedure done later in life to prevent the associated social rejection. tails are considered an unnecessary extravagance and liability, especially given how long and thin they are by nature. in a duel or battle they are easily broken, or used to pull an enemy off balance. back during the formation of their kingdom and the conquering of atomized clans into one entity, soldiers would often cut the tails off the locals and whip them with them as punishment for crimes real and imagined, so docking became a practice of integration, and preemptively avoided such humiliation. and whatever practice is compulsory in the military quickly becomes unofficially expected in the rest of the population.

in terms of gender norms, tonitrui arent beholden to anything resembling the human concept. they arent even mammals, and while they have the two typical sexes, they have far less sexual dimorphism than humans, and both sexes have the capacity to feed their young via specialized glands in their throats. females are on average smaller and slighter than males, but this remains the primary difference, and as a result social norms and gender roles are far reduced in tonitrui culture. personal wealth does tend to accumulate with the matriarch of a family because they are more likely not to die in battle. historically females have never been conscripted in the military, although there was no rule against them signing up until relatively recently, due to the powers that be realizing that males are far less crucial to the longevity of a society, especially one with a dwindling population.

[thegoodthegrandandtheugly]

so are you not actually pulling back on posting the arjuna hate posts? i'm just a bit confused bc you said that it was getting excessive and it would be moderated more, and then three more (the bhima ask ALSO was another excuse to shittalk people discussing arjuna rather than actually get into anything about him) asks that were hating his fanbase got posted after that.

there's been nine posts complaining about how much they hate his fans, how much they think hes screwed over karna, etc etc, very likely submitted by the same one/two people with a vendetta who are using this blog as a platform to try and harass others who don't interact with them. is spamming the blog with the exact same opinion over and over acceptable?

i just dont understand at what point it becomes too much, like if someone gets sick of it and begins to regularly submit asks over and over about the same subject (like how annoying karna fans are, and how they complain about nothing, and how karna's very existence screws over their fav) will those get posted and tagged also? even if it has nothing to do with karna but one or two of his fans? where is the line here?

i understand you want to post all kinds of asks here even if theyre controversial opinions, but this is very clearly someone trying to hold a dialogue where no one can actually hold them accountable because they can post all their thoughts through an anonymous confession blog. isnt there a difference between a one off 'i find x fan annoying bc of y' and sending in 9 asks in a month about it?

We re-examined and re-wrote the rules after the constant deluge of asks about Arjuna which have, thankfully, slowed down, and in fact several were deleted from the queue after Mod M and I agreed that they weren't within what we thought the parameters should now be. The asks that have been about Arjuna after that time (few as they've been) have fallen within these new parameters. Spamming the blog with the exact same opinion over and over will, now, likely get you a single post with the rest deleted unless you space them out over a considerable length of time (weeks, if not months).

If you want to complain about Karna or his fans, feel free, so long as it's within guidelines. The fact that we haven't really gotten any hate regarding him or his fans is quite shocking to me. I don't know what it is about Arjuna or his fans that brought forth all these submissions.

I have to say, I do take umbrage with the fact that you seem to assume this is only one or two people spamming the blog. Going under the likely assumption that you're a fan of Arjuna, thinking that only one or two people submitted those asks unfairly puts the onus on people within the fandom you may already be biased against. This is 99% anonymous. Neither you, nor I, know if this is one person submitting these asks, or if those 9 asks could have been sent by 9 different people. If you want to assume this is all one or two people, I can't stop you, but I think it's an extremely biased and unfair assumption to make. It's completely possible that just that many people within the Fate fandom dislike Arjuna and his fans.

I would like to nip this in the bud right now for you, and everybody else. Assuming you know who or how many people are sending the submissions, unless you are directly told by a person, is arrogant. You don't know, and neither do I.

As far as Arjuna hate goes, there is one post in the queue right now mentioning him, and while it is negative, I wouldn't say its negativity is directed toward him. If you want to send hate about Karna, go for it. I am not at all stopping you, just read the rules first.

-Mod D

[estbela]

@moonstone-vibe

Wellllll...I do have some thoughts about them(since I think that's what you're asking?) but theyre all very rambley and subject to change as I learn more etc etc etc (and this period of history is not one I'm very familiar with, I know a basic summary of stuff and some specific events, but not everything).

Alright, since we have gotten the (really long) disclaimer out of the way, I'm gonna ramble on a bit about these thoughts of mine.

(This took so much to write i stg)

anyway!

I think they met during the 14th century, the late 14th century to be precise, while the Ottoman Empire was expanding through Europe.

Apparently the first confrontation they had was during the rule of Vladislav I , a ruler of Wallachia, who was allied at the time with Ivan Shishman , the emperor of the Bulgaria in Tarnovo, who was not doing very well at the time btw, partly because of the Ottoman Empire lol.

Bulgaria is gonna be mentioned a lot during this, I fear, because I think he does play some role in their dynamic.

Ro, or well as he would have been called at the time, Wallachia, had been part of the Second Bulgarian Empire for a pretty long time, though eventually gaining more and more autonomy, and sort of becoming a vassal state of sorts for a time(basically still kinda being part of Bulgaria, but nominally really), still having to pay tribute to Bul tho. (Also for some time Hungary & Bul basically had a dispute over some part of Wallachia, but as Hungary was weakening due to Mongol attacks, it paved the way to Wallachia being established)

Although that's not important and Im kinda getting sidetracked. Anyway Wallachia does kinda get it's independence, altho it's more like Bul not being able to control it anymore due to the weakening of his empire (before becoming a vassal of the Otttoman Empire, which we'll get to shortly!)

I think they heard of eachoter before meeting, thought. Probably good and bad things, but mostly bad. For Wallachia, Ottoman was the guy that was going around conquering the lands of his friends, including Bulgaria & Serbia, and she...was not really happy about this, obviously. He was actually often allied with Bul, to fight him off(altho not always, relationships between Bul & Wallachia were not always good). For the Ottoman Empire, Wallachia was a thorn in his plans, Bulgaria's even more annoying other half.

Similar to the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire considered itself the successor to Ancient Rome, which really annoyed Wallachia, because he really didn't want to deal with another annoying guy who considered himself as great as the Roman Empire (Wallachia did not have a good relationship with the Eastern Roman Empire, but he would pick him over the Ottoman Empire surely).

And so, Ro did not see Ottoman as anything other than another empire trying to claim the glory of Rome, that would probably not last very long until the next one came. Simply a flicker in mankind's history. He had done and seen this before many times, just another nation that would try to claim her land and people. He was not scared of him, didn't feel much for him besides annoyance at first.

But I do think, over the years, they gained some respect for eachoter, for their skills in battle and outside of that.

Also annoyance eventually turned into anger at him, because how dare he take his friends away from him and hurt them! How dare he take Wallachia's independence away, too!

And so he became even more annoying. His plans were basically to not make it worthwhile to conquer his lands, to make the cost of a battle unjustifiable.

And they did fight, but Wallachia always somehow managed to keep being a vassal state, part of the reason because he was a buffer zone for a lot of european powers and stuff.

And like...I think this fighting of theirs became some sort of "dance" for them, something they were used to. Their own game of chess, if you will. Turk would make a move, then Ro, and it kept going, none of them ever truly changing the status quo, Wallachia remaining a vassal but never truly part of the Ottoman Empire, always slightly out of reach, never his.

It probably drove Turkey a little mad, but he also kinda liked it. I think when they weren't enemies they could get along pretty great, but both of them would rather eat knives than admit that (especially Ro :]]] )

I'll be honest, i think there were moments when Wallachia scared the crap out of Turkey, not that he'd admit it, of course, but little Ro could be really creepy.

The Ottoman Empire didn't scare Ro much, more like the reminder of what he could do to Ro and his loved ones(and what he already did) scared her, and his people also. Specifically that if Wallachia wasn't careful, the little freedom & independence he has could be taken away.

So Wallachia when he'd interact with him during times of peace ig, would always be careful to not actually get attached to the guy, constantly reminding herself of what he could be like. He always treaded lightly around him. Constantly telling herself that he's the enemy!!!

As time went on however, their relations got more...tense then they already were. Wallachia wanted independence and later a union with Moldavia and the Ottoman Empire did not want this to happen.

And of course, I ought to mention the Phanariots. God, save for maybe a few of them, Wallachia hated them so much! And sometimes it wasn't anything they did, it was more that they weren't his own people, and paying to get to rule over him and his people and lands. Definitely not happy about this was he.

Anyway eventually the whole thing happens when Moldavia & Wallachia elect the same guy (Alexandru Ioan Cuza) yada yada yada they unite and Turkey is probably not really happy (random, but apparently Austria was actually the main opposer of this while Prussia supported the union, and really not happy but was caught in the austro-prussian war do couldn't do much about it.)

And eventually Romania gains his independence, fighting alongside the Russian Empire, Bulgaria, and also Serbia & Montenegro I think? Anyway Romania gets her independence, and he & the Ottoman Empire are on pretty bad terms.

But after Romania became independent; things actually, slowly, started to improve between the two. They became...friends of a sort. Although they both wouldn't admit it obviously, they are fond od eachoter. They probably even look fondly back on some of their memories and shit.

But they don't have the best relationship either. That perhaps, there is still some resentment and hurt there, just a little, that neither is keen on adressing ever.

Anyway I don't particulary see them as romantic but I can imagine Ro getting probably mad at Bulgaria or something, feeling hurt and probably flirting with Turkey to piss him off.

I can see Ro kissing Turkey but like, to surprise him in order to fight him or something. Kiss him then surprise punch him while he's trying to process it haha.

Also I basically have my physical age headcanons written for Ro here but I basically see Turkey as being always a few years older than Ro historically, like 2, or 3 at most? (which is probably way younger than in canon, but then again, canon is dead and we do what we want.) I see Turkey as being in modern times in his mid to late 20s, at most, early 30s (I see him being called an "old man" but he doesn't look that old to me AT ALL so I'm really confused, plus it wouldn't make sense for him to be way older than the main cast for a lot of reasons etc etc. But maybe it's just me idk)

So yeah, I don't see turkro romantically, I guess? Nonetheless they have the potential of a very interesting and fun(and perhaps a little fucked up :] ) dynamic. Perhaps a little romance here and there, maybe in the current era, but they'd both have to go through a lot of character development for that :]]]

These days, they probably hang out sometimes, do stupid shit together, and actually have a really fun time. They probably recall some of their more fun memories, talk about the times they won in a conflict with the other, argue about something then get drunk and laugh with eachoter.

also a lot of these things also apply to my Moldavia OC and her relationship with Turkey, altho not all cause her personality is different from Romania's obviously.

[carpedanneel]

Ya’ll are fucking wild here. no wonder why this rp has just been the same 5 people for the last 4 years. But I thought maybe things are different, maybe it’s changed. Wrong. Admin, you still make rules to cater to the admin or the “inner” 3 other members they’ve deemed “worthy”. You make rules that cater to pretty much you only. You dont care about how you make other people feel, as long as you're getting your way. And the members here have been so brainwashed by the bullshit either theyre too scared or too intimidated to say anything. You still find a way to corrupt people from playing certain fc’s you have history with STILL forcing history on certain fc’s. A history ONE player expects you to remember every detail to even if you don’t like the plot. That one player who makes SO MANY people uncomfortable, whether they want to admit it or not, who also just happens to be the main admin. The main admin who doesnt even do a god damn thing on the main, and then will make every excuse as to why not. Sarah, you’ve found so many ways to provoke, gaslight, bully, guilt or force threads, histories, plots on probably every single player here. It’s gross. You deserve every call out youve gotten. But I don’t even 100% blame you. I also blame most of the spineless people you claim to be your “friends”. Here they complain and shit talk behind your back but then turn around and lick the ground you walked on. But probably because you’ve bullied them into it. I love how you post this long ass thing from the main saying how this place isn't for everyone and if youre bothered, blah blah. Just say this place is for you to do whatever tf you want whenever you want, and be done with it. At least be honest. How many times did you ask if you should drop certain chars looking for pity and how many people begged you to stay, Sarah? No one. That's telling. But its good to know this group is only here for you and your bullshit. Since this group is "anything goes" then the second someone calls your character out ic, you do the same thing you do ooc and come up with every excuse on why youre not wrong. Amd then kick them out! Maybe instead of always blaming everyone both ic and ooc, maybe look inward.I tried, I really tried to come in with an open mind that maybe this place had changed over the many years, but it clearly never will.Also, on the subject of bullying, Lena, you're also a god damn bully, which is funny since youre barely even on. But you still found a way, thought it was okay to message me and try to get me to drop ashley. First time we spoke you instantly were guilting me saying I swiped up Ashley before you could. And then to actually IM me the other day trying to guilt me into giving her up? So fucking rude. But at least you got your wish. Ya’ll have zero class. RP should be fun. This place sucks the fucking life out of you. I now remember why Sarah used to be banned from so many hollywood rps back in the day and why this place was basically blacklisted. Why i used to have to block her and other members here from my character pages bc youd steal shit. I bet I could log onto an old blog and find FANMAILS of her TRYING to force ships and plots in old rps, thats how long its been going on. I will say i do feel bad for some of the quality players in this group. I just dont know why you put up with it when there are groups out there where you dont have to be foeced into ships or plots just bc youve known someone for so long. Where you dont have to NOT come on the dash bc a player/character is being redundant and miserable 24/7. You dont have to sit here and keep letting sarah and this group take advantage of you. Anyways, I'm out. To the few here who actually reached out to plot or even just to chat, ya'll are cool and feel free to dm me or hmu on discord. New members, I'd beware if I was you.

@carpediem-celebrpg

Just for context, this was what I wrote in the ooc of an rp I just left. I'm sure it got deleted but I wanted to put it in the tags to let the rpc know this rp is still a problem and so are some members. Beware if joining, it's all shady.

[leadendeath]

uh. so i've been thinking about this for a while, right? and it's Now that i've decided to talk about it, as this is tumblr, the "weird* kinds of attraction" website

it's not a term i apply to myself/label myself with, but i love the term "wtfromantic/sexual". because hell yea dude, wtf IS how i experience attraction.

there's this one artist who i have like... a ~creative crush~ on. the fandom we're in knows them, and their works are beloved.

now, this isn't art style envy (though it is a great art style), nor some kind of? artistic success envy?? (everybody's different yknow success isnt real bro it doesnt matter lol)

it is absolutely something else.

they inspire me so much. they make me wanna become a better artist so that i can show them (they know i exist and like what i do too! i'm not being some kind of STARING FROM A DISTANCE ಠ_ಠ creeper lmao... i have actually had that happen to me before, and it would be inappropriate and wrong feeling.) and as i just said it's more than "wow you are other artist das good i like u now" and due to my inability to distinguish between different types of feelings, all my brain can say about it is: "well yeah there's that^, but also if you liked me back? well that'd just be swell :}"

i care a lot about them (im low empathy </3 so when i feel this way, it's significant yknow?). we like the same kind of things. theyre from the same country as me

(i hope so much that this part doesnt sound weird- it's significant due to: my country's really kinda small if you think about it and it's kinda rare to see someone from outside the US. to give it some perspective: i've never got a dnation/cmmission from anyone who uses my same currency from my same country lmao) (hoooly shit i just type in "how many englands fit in america" and i knew it was a lot but. look. and this is the UK! i coloured Actually England in green to further hilight how small where i'm at is!)

also. the last person i was ~involved with~ -over the internet, not irl- was in one of the states. so the thought of someone i like actually being not thousands of miles and expensive flights (wouldve been worth it 100% but im poor and disabled yknow) away? that's nice.

woah big tangent. u kno me

on the subject of the previous person... i really don't wanna say it and i've never wanted to say it but he was too neurotypical. (**he was not normal at all because we're both furries- need i say more!? you know what i mean.) but it kinda brought it home for me, the same thought i think about myself so often: "oh. oh no i can't subject you or anyone else to my mental illness." even though i was deliriously happy with him which. hurts like nothing else. i NEED the fellow major depressive communication. i NEED the this:

^just found that pic look how good it is

also omg look at these colours of the wtfromantic also known as quoiromantic flag it RULES

its freakin. neon grean

* =by weird i did not mean "ew weird abnormal you must have something wrong with you ://" kind of weird! i mean like unusual. wanted to clarify so to not cause offense i hope; fellow aroace spectrum people who experience attractions in a way that is considered outside the norm are great <3

[vonkarma2]

for rocio for the character asks: 1, 25, and 12 (if this one's too hard you can skip it lol)

for angel: 58

What’s the lie your character says most often?

‘Says’ isnt like completely accurate ofc but I think as a whole they do intentionally maintain the illusion theyre. Idk exactly how to explain it. That they are above other people in terms of wisdom/spirituality when in reality they probably have less clue what they’re doing than the average person. Motivation is basically self destruction + they are playing with magic they don’t really understand. Which they try to actively hide from other people and play into the perception people have of wizards as like ethereal + connected to a higher spirituality. Which like is true in a sense but it does not mean they are more enlightened as a rule + especially not in this case 

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

Studying a lot they know a lot of outdated magic theory ofc, and though much of this is directly relevant, they also know a lot abt ideas that are long since disproven. its like if a regular chemist was also really into 1300s alchemy. I do think she has some vague medical knowledge abt the human body, like it’s not her specialty, but knowing anatomy I think does come up pretty often. Less so abt like diseases and things like that and more so abt wounds and where they’re fatal and etc

What’s something that makes them laugh 

every single time? Be specific!

This one is hard ok because they genuinely do not have much of a sense of humor. If someone, like, does something stupid, it’s more likely to annoy them than anything else. If someone is actively telling jokes, they would also think it’s annoying. I’m trying to think of the conditions that would cause them to even think somethings funny. Maybe if you’re making fun of someone they hate but like your joke has to be hilarious. It has to be the funniest joke you’ve told in your life. “Something specific that makes them laugh every time” this would never happen go home

angel: 

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

I feel like he’s the type to try a lot of thing he thinks it would be cool to be good at, but then give up quickly once it’s more difficult than he expected. He’s tried and given up on creative hobbies like writing and sketching, but has had slightly more success with ones related to physical exercise. He really wants to be good at fighting, but he hates practicing because it’s essentially he wins against anyone smaller than him and loses to anyone bigger than him, so he feels like there’s no point to it yk? He was pretty antisocial when he was younger, like get mad at people for not taking things as seriously as he does, and not having much patience for younger children. That’s not related to the question 😭 blanket answer he has tried basically everything accessible to him once or twice, but no more

[arlecchno]

I AM HAVING A GREAT SUMMER BREAK THANK YOUUUU IM GONNA BE ABLE TO MEET MY INFAMOUS BESTIE NAMED ROOF SOMETIME SOON ACTUALLY‼️‼️

AND I CAN INFACT “SIGN YOU UP” BECAUSE I HAVE A PART OF THE PROLOGUE THING WRITTEN :D here is the doc !! since i dont want to kill tumblr by pasting the entire thing in this ask lol . if you have any feedback after reading it would be appreciated if youd share it ehe . for better reading context though , the “prologue” happens much before the main storyline when rin and ashe are still pretty young so dont take their prologue selves as their core personalities and stuff , they will change :3c

lmao rin would absolutely walk you through her routine and ashe would just shrug their shoulders and say he just uses what the servants give him LMAO - they both do have very good hair and skin though since theyre given the best products in their kingdoms .

also this happened when we i asked how theyd respond to your message LOL

figuratively praying for your survival rn im wishing you the best with asphodelus . i live laugh and love all your series but sPEAKING OF YOUR SERIES you writing aL HAITHAM ?!!!!???!! sign ME up bro !!!

heart eyes . stares in al haitham simp and kinnie .

do u mind if i ask what u study tho ? js curious tbh . and also , yk honkai star rail ? asking bc ive been kind of brainrotting over it lately tbh im so gay for the star rail men HELP ME SJKDNSKD [ dies in homosexual ]

i got carried away but ykw why not say another random thing . if youre an anime watcher you should totes watch houseki no kuni / land of the lustrous 😍😍😍 both the anime and manga are amazing ( read as: OH GOD THE ANGST ITS KILLING ME AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH (( esp in the manga …)) ) and i love love love the series sooooo much im OBSESSED ‼️ not forcing obvi but i cannot rec this anime / manga enough because my goodness the visuals are to die for and im a big simp for the soundtrack of the anime ( thats probably weird to say but idc )

ANYWAYS IVE PROBABLY SAID ENOUGH LMAO !! again best wishes to you for your studies and writing <3 <3 GOOD LUCK SOLDIER 🫡🫡🫡 LOL

just read the prologue AHHHHHHHH it's so good already rin and ashe are already my favourites!!!! the part where the sat on the railing and thought of one another as cold and fire..... i seriously cannot wait for what's to come like i NEED to see what they're going to be like when they're older and are ruling their kingdoms, i can already imagine the amount of angst and the flipsides of their personalities in the timeskip 🫂 them being young right now though hshdjji i want to squish their cheeks so bad

thank you man i still have yet to start the next asphodelus chapter LOL not sure if i'm still up to writing it now that i'm on the works of writing alhaitham aka my no.1 babygirl 😞💔 the writer's block on asphodelus is crazy

YOUR CHIBI IS SO CUTE THO AND YES!!!! alhaitham islove alhaitham is life am i right or am i right

i'm still in hs so i study the usual hs subjects yada yada but i also take additional electives like accounting and economics! honestly speaking i kind of regret taking economics but it's a bit too late to back out now LMAOO i also take another elective which is this math qualification but like,,, we don't talk about it man i'm failing in every damn class 😭 so yeah my schedule is PACKED packed it's a bit silly

YESSS OF COURS I KNOW HSR!!!!! when it first came out i was like really obsessed with it but now that i finished the main story i'mkimd of slumped 😞 dw tho i'll be back once 1.2 comes out because.... blade and kafka obviously hahahahhahahah lol i need them hahahhaha

my favs are dan heng, blade, gepard, serval, seele and many more!!!!!! they are all so babygirl i just need gepard and blade and my babygirl collection is complete 💯

will definitely watch that anime/read the manga whenever i'm free!! always open to recs because i've kind of been bored lately with the lack of entertainment 😭 currently jjk s2 and these 2 kdramas (king the land & see you in my 19th life) are the only ones that have kept me going GOD i need to consume more media 😔😔😔 thanks for the rec i'll check it out soon!!!!! and did you say angst 👁️👁️ oh i'm definitely tuned in

THANK YOU AGAIN AND I HOPE YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!! AND ALSO good luck to you and your friend on your story 📌📌 you guys are doing really great the prologue already got me hooked haha KEEP IT UP!!! (from your no.1 rin and ashe fan 😋) SAY HI TO THEM FOR ME TOOO <333

[littlx-songbxrd]

question that u absolutely do not have to answer i just know you tend to be passionate speaking/educating about pr

how do scotus rulings like the one today affect puerto ricans? none of the state maps and stuff i see ever includes them in how things like abortion are likely to change moving forward, it mostly focuses on the mainland. i was just curious as to how that’s impacting you rn

hope ur having a safe + lovely day <3

Hello beloved anon <3

I absolutely love answering these types of things! I was very glad when i saw this ask, sorry its a late answer i needed to do some additional research because information is kinda all over the place.

Roe vs. Wade effect in Puerto Rico

So, in short, while most laws and rights are heavily dependent on the mainland goverment, Puerto Rico does own its own constitution. With its own laws. And our laws can and sometimes do vary from those in the US since technically Puerto Ricans do not have protection under the american constitution and the laws stated in such in our territory. Puerto Ricans are protected under the Puerto Rican constitution, which we were allowed to have thanks to the ELA (estado libre asociado) movement. To summarize this PR is not entitleled to US constitutional protection because we have our own constitution only the making of that constitution wss under the aproval of the US.

One of the laws that vary in Puerto Rico is the abortion laws, because we were given the right to abortion under medical criteria thanks to a case called Duarte vs Pueblo not Roe vs Wade.

What is Pueblo vs duarte?

Doctor Pablo Duarte Mendoza preforms an abortion to his 16 year old patient. When he was found out, Duarte was sentenced to 4 years of jail because of preforming an illegal abortion. However duarte apealed under the new made right of abortion of the supreme court of the United. Thanks to this Puerto Rico earned abortion rights

Even if the right to abortion was influenced by United States cases like Roe vs Wade, the act put in motion to give the rights didnt stem from that. Puerto Rico cant loose abortion rights as long as Pueblo vs Duarte remains intact.

Does that mean Puerto Rico is save?

No. Puerto Rico is definetly not save from this or the following plans the supreme court has. Just because our rights havent been taken away doesnt mean the pueblo vs. Duerte act CANNOT be repealed. Prior to this there has already been a goverment proyect being moved to ban all abortion after 22 weeks called the plan 639. Aside from this other plans to control abortion are being spoken off if this is allowed to get past in August. Our current governor has already spoken he is not opoosed to revisit abortion laws based on the mainlands decision, so i fear this is merely a "were save, for now"

For example, if the information I've gotten is true and they come after Obergefells vs. Hodges. Then immediatly Puerto Rico would be damaged because our same sex marriage laws come from that *specific* ruling

To sum up everything here. To make sure *if* Puerto Rico is affected by the courts rulings we need to make sure first where the laws theyre revising stem from in the island. However this does not get us out of trouble since were still a colony and subject to the mainlands decisions.

If by a miracle any puertorican reads this. Do not cancel your apointements. Many people against abortion in PR are trying to spread the lie we loose our rights with the US decision. We dont. We still preserve our rights.

[bookofjin]

Commentary on the Water Classic: Congling

[The commentary now turns far west to the rivers flowing westward from the Congling (Pamir) Mountains. A lot of this material seems to derive from the Hanshu which is a bit disappointing. You would think there would have been more later and up to date material the commentator could have used.

Jibin is probably Gandhara, if so its capital Xiuxun might be identical to the capital of Gandhara visited by Faxian, presumably Puskalavati.

Dayuezhi, or Da Yuezhi, is the Kushan Empire and Anxi is Persia (the name could derived from the Arsacids, the ruling dynasty of the Parthian Empire). This should make the great river flowing through these lands the Amu Darya, and the sea it flows into the Leizhu Sea, the Arial Sea.

The account of the four stupas derive from Faxian (he visited them in the opposite order, from west to east), and the main places described can be pretty reliably identified as Purusapura, the Gandharan capital Puskalavati, and Taksasila. However the river Niluoqidi which is supposed to flow westward past these places into the Leizhu sea is puzzling. Purusapura and Puskalavati are located on the Kabul River which flows west to east, and Taksasila is east of the Indus. Either accounts of different rivers have been conflated together, or the commentator (or his sources) has been led astray by the Hanshu's statement that west of Congling the rivers flows westward. The Buddha's alms bowl was a famous relic that shows up in the art from the times. (According to Google it is now located at Kabul Museum?)

Lijian and Tiaozhi are too far west to include on the map. Lijian the Hanshuconsiders an alternative name of Daqin, which is usually thought to be the Roman Empire. Tiaozhi could be Susiana or at least was located in that general region.

Finished with the really faraway western lands, the commentator can turn to the merely faraway western lands, the oasis states of the Tarim basin. First is that branch of the He (really the Tarim River) flowing east from Congling, and the places along it. Unfortunately several of the places mentioned are otherwise unrecorded.]

Again south it enters Congling Mountain蔥嶺山. Again from Congling Mountain蔥嶺山 its set out and then flows north-eastward.[1]

(Congling, Xiuxun)

[1]Of the He River's河水 multiple sources there are three, not only two. One sources in the west sets out in the state of Juandu捐毒國, from up in Congling蔥嶺. The distance west to Xiuxun休循 is more than 200 li. Both where formerly of the Sai塞 kind. To the south it attaches to Congling蔥嶺,which are 1 000 li tall.

The Old Affairs of Xihe says: Congling蔥嶺 is 8 000 li west of Dunhuang敦煌, Its mountains are high and great, and upon them grows spring onions. For that reason it is called Congling蔥嶺[Lit. the “Spring Onion Peaks”].

The He's河 source issues underground from their peaks, divides and becomes two rivers. One river goes west to pass south of the state of Xiuxun休循, which is located west of Congling蔥嶺.

Guo Yigong's Broad Treatise says: The state of Xiuxun休循國 resides in Congling蔥嶺. In its mountains are many great onions.

(Jibin)

Again it passes north of the state of Nandou難兜國 which to the north is connected with Xiuxun休循. The distance south-west to the state of Jibin罽賓國 is 340 li. The He River again goes west to pass north of the state of Jibin罽賓國. At the breaking of the Yuezhi月氏, the king of the Sai塞 went south to lord over Jibin罽賓, he was seated at Xunxian City循鮮城. The soil and earth is level and harmonious, there is nothing which it does not have. Its gold, silver, and precious treasure, strange livestock and unusual things, are discussed among the Middle Xia, and it is a great state. Among the mountain passes there are the mountains of Datoutong大頭痛 [Lit. “Great Headache”], and Xiaotoutong小頭痛 [“Small Headache”], and the slopes of Chitu 赤土 [“Red Soil”] and Shenre身熱. The people's livestock are similar however.

(Yuezhi)

He River河水 again goes west to pass south of the state of Yuezhi月氏國, seated at Jianshi City監氏城. Their customs are similar to Anxi安息. The Xiongnu's Modun Shanyu routed the Yuezhi月氏, killed their king, and used his head as a drinking cup. The state thereupon divided. They who went far away beyond Dayuan大宛, and went west to reside in Daxia大夏, became the Dayuezhi大月氏 [“Great Yuezhi”]. Their remnant small multitudes who were unable to leave, together guarded the Southern Mountains南山 among the Qiang, and are titled the Xiaoyuezhi小月氏 [“Small Yuezhi”]. For that reason there are the names of Dayeuzhi and Xiaoyuezhi.

(Anxi)

Again west it passes by south of the state of Anxi安息國. The city overlooks Gui River嬀水, and their territory is several thousand li square, an exceedingly great state. There are traders and merchants that travel by cart and boat sideways through the state. They draw on leather during theyr sideways travels to make books and records. The He River河水 and the Niluoqidi River蜺羅跂禘水 similarly pour into the Leizhu Sea雷翥海.

(Niluoqidi River and the four great stupas)

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: The Niluoqidi蜺羅跂禘 sets out from north of Anavatapta Mountian阿耨達山, going west it passes by the state of Yutian于闐.

The Book of Han, Account of the Western Regions, says: West of Yutian于闐, the rivers all flow west, and pour into the Western Sea西海.

Again west it passes by north of four great stupas, the place Shi Faxian speaks of as the state of Jiushuluo糺尸羅國[Takshasila], in Han speech “Cut off Head”. At the time when the Buddha was a bodhisattva, he used his head to bestow it on a person, for that reason they afterwards named the state. East of the state there is the place where he threw down his body to feed the hungry tiger. At both places they erected stupas.

Again west it passes north of the state of Qiantuowei揵陀衛國[Gandhara], this is the town where King Ashoka's son Fayi [Dharma-vivardhana] governed from. At the time when the Buddha was a bodhisattva, he likewise in this state used his eyes to bestow on a person. At that place they likewise erected a great stupa.

Also there is the state of Fulousha弗樓沙國[Purushapura], where the Heavenly Deity, Sakra, changed to be a little boy who herded cows, and gathered earth to make stupa for the Budda. A king of the Law following that then completed a great stupa. They are spoken of as the four great stupas.

(The Buddha's alms bowl)

Faxian's Account says: The state has the Buddha's alms bowl. The King of the Yuezhi月氏 greatly fostered a multitude of troops, and came to invade this state. He wished to take hold of the alms-bowl and leave, and put the alms-bowl on top of his elephant. The elephant was unable to advance. He once more built a four-wheeled chariot to transport the alms-bowl, with eight elephants pulling together, again they were not able to advance. The king knew his affinity with the alms-bowl had not yet arrived, and hence there erected a stupa keep the alms-bowl, and supply and provide for it.

The alms-bowl rooms two dou and is of mixed colour, but mostly black. The division into four junctures is clear. Its thickness could be two fen, and it has considerable shine and lustre. A poor person uses a few flowers to throw into it and readily fills it. A rich person uses many flowers to supply and provide, properly again hundreds, thousands, ten thousands of hu, in the end it also will not fill.

Fotutiao says: The Buddha's alms bowl is of blue-green jade, and allows three dou, that state treasures it. At the time when it is supplied and provided for, [if one] wishes for a whole day for fragrant flowers not to fill it, then it is like he said. [If one] wishes to fill it with a single handful, then it likewise readily will be like he said.

Also relying on the explanation by the person of the Way, Zhu Fawei, the Buddha's alms bowl is in the state of Dayuezhi大月支. They have erected a Buddhist temple, 30 zhang tall, and seven storeys, the alms bowl is located on the second storey. Gold-wrapped chains suspend the alms bowl, and the alms bowl is in blue-green stone. Some state they suspend the alms bowl in an empty hollow.

Subhuti set up the alms bowl on a golden desk. The footprint of one of the Buddha's feet and the alms bowl both are in the same place. The king of the state and the subject people altogether wield sacred fragrance, the seven treasures, and jade discs to supply and provide for it. The stupa's vesitges are the relics of the Buddha's tooth, kasaya and head protuberance altogether are in the state of Fulousha弗樓沙國.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: North of Qiantuoyue Royal City揵陀越王城 is Butuluoye City鉢吐羅越城, Fujiasha Royal City佛袈裟王城. East of it there is a shrine. Multiple times tracing back streams and rivers [?], ten li north-west there is the Hebuluolong Deep Pool河步羅龍淵, the place where the Buddha came and by the deep pool washed his clothes. The washing stone still exists. Its river arrives in Anxi安息 and pour into the Leizhu Sea雷翥海.

(Further on Anxi and other far western lands)

He also says: West of Qiantuoyue犍陀越, within the Western Sea there is the state of Anxi安息國.

Zhu Zhi's Records of Funan says: The distance from the state of Anxi安息國 to the state of Sihetiao私訶條國 is 20 000 li. The lands of the state overlooks the shores of the sea, it is precisely the Book of Han's Tianzhu's天竺 state of Anxi安息國. Their households is near to 1 000 000, an exceedingly great state.

The Book of Han's Account of the Western Regions also states: Lijian 棃靬 and Tiaozhi條支 overlooks the Western Sea. [According to] the old and elderly's transmitted knowledge, Tiaozhi條支 has the Ruo River弱水 [“Weak River], [where] the Queen Mother of the West also never has been seen. From Tiaozhi條支, sailing the river and travelling west, possibly for more than a hundred days, [you come] near the place where the sun enters.

According to some, where is the He River's河水 passage to the Western Sea.

For that reason the Treatise on the Lands of Liang's Unusual Things says: The rivers of Congling蔥嶺 divide to flow east or west, to the west they enter the Great Sea, to the east they become the sources of the He河, it is what the Records of Yu speaks of as Kunlun崑崙. Zhang Qian was sent to Dayuan大宛, but was stranded at the sources of the He河. He spoke of the pinnacle being there, but he did not get to Kunlun崑崙.

(The He's source in the Congling Mountains, and the states it flows past)

The He River河水 from Kunlun蔥嶺 divides its sources, and goes east to pass the state of Jiasheluo迦舍羅國.

Mr. Shi's Records of the Western Regions says: there is a state named Qiesheluoshi伽舍羅逝. This state is confined and small, but by controlling the strategic roads of ten thousand states nothing is impossible.

South of the city there is a river, it flows north-east to set out from the mountains west of Luoshi羅逝, the mountains are precisely Congling蔥嶺. It passes Qisha Valley岐沙谷, setting out from the valley it divides to become two rivers. One river flows east, and passes north of the state of Wulei無雷國 which is seated at Lu City盧城. Their customs are similar to Xiye西夜 and Zihe子合. Again it flows east to pass north of the state of Yinai依耐國. The distance to Wulei無雷 is 540 li, their customs are similar to Zihe子合.

The He River河水 again goes east to pass north of the state of Puli蒲犂國, which is seated in Puli Valley蒲犂谷. The distance north to Shule疏勒 is 550 li, their customs are similar to Zihe子合. The He River河水 again goes east to pass north of the state of Pishan皮山國, which is seated at Pishan City皮山城. The distance north-west to Suoju莎車 is 380 li.

[qqueenofhades]

Hi, I hope this isnt annoying to ask but w the old guard ive seen a lot of people mixing up catholic and christian when it comes to nicky. when by todays standards theyre not interchangeable as catholic is a specific strain of christianity. i was kinda under the impression the crusades were a purely catholic thing since the pope. is that right or were other christians involved??

Hmm. Just to be clear what you’re asking, are you wondering whether it’s a mistake to use “Catholic” and “Christian” interchangeably when talking about this time period or describing Nicky’s faith? And/or asking for a basic religious primer on medieval Europe and the crusades more generally?

First, it’s not a mistake to use “Catholic” and “Christian” as synonyms during the crusades, especially since a) Catholics are Christians, no matter what the militant Protestant reformers would like you to think, and b) until said Protestant reformation, they were the dominant and almost (but not quite) singular Christian denomination in Western Europe. Our source material for the period doesn’t describe the crusaders as “Catholics,” even if they were; they call them Christians or Franks. (Likewise, the word “Frank,” i.e. “French” was often used to describe Western European crusaders no matter which country they were from, since so many crusaders came from France and that was where the crusades were originally launched, at the council of Clermont in 1095.) To call them “Christians” points us to the fact that the crusades were viewed as a great pan-Christian enterprise, even if the reality was more complicated, and nobody would need to specify “Catholic,” because that was implicit.

In short, medieval Europe had two major strands of Christianity, which developed out of the centuries of arguments over heresy, the contents of the biblical canon, the nature and/or divinity of Christ, their relationship to Judaism, paganism, and other religions of late antiquity, and so forth. Eventually these two competing branches took on geographical, cultural, and linguistic associations: Western (Latin) Catholic Christianity, and Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Christianity. The Great Schism in 1054 split these two rites formally apart, though both of them had at least some thought that the internal divisions in Christianity should be healed and dialogue has continued intermittently even up to the present day (though they’re still not actually reconciled and this seems highly unlikely to ever happen.)

The head of Western Catholic Christianity was (and is) the Pope of Rome, and the head of Eastern Orthodox Christianity was (and is) the Patriarch of Constantinople. Both of these branches of Christianity were involved in launching the crusades. To make a long story short, the Byzantine (Greek) Emperor, Alexios Komnenos, appealed to the Catholic (Latin) pope, Urban II, for help in defending the rights of eastern Christians, territorial incursions against Greek possessions by the Muslims of the Holy Land and North Africa, and the city of Constantinople (and Jerusalem) itself. So although the actual French and Western European participants in the crusades were Catholic, they (originally, at least) joined up with the intention of helping out their Orthodox brethren in the East and “liberating” Jerusalem from the so-called tyranny of Islam. To this end, the accounts of the council of Clermont focused heavily on the brotherhood of western and eastern Christians and the alleged terrible treatment of these Christians by the ruling Islamic caliphate in Jerusalem. At that time, that was the Isma’ili Shia Muslim Fatimids (who had replaced the Sunni Muslim Abbasids in the early 10th century -- there are many names and many dynasties, but yes.)

However, despite this ecumenical start, relations between Western and Eastern Christians started to go bad very quickly over the course of the crusades, indeed within a few short years of Clermont. Alexios Komnenos wanted the crusade leaders to swear loyalty to him and pledge to return formerly Byzantine lands that might be recaptured from the Muslims, and the crusade leaders did not want to do this. There were deep cultural, linguistic, religious, social, and political differences between Greek and Latin Christians, even if they were both technically Christians, and these caused the obvious problems. The Greeks were obviously located in a different part of the world and had a different relationship with their Islamic neighbors (they fought them often, but also traded with them and established diplomatic ties) and this caused constant friction during the crusades, since the Westerners always suspected (not entirely wrongly) that the Greeks were secretly in league with the Turks. Albert of Aachen, writing his Historia Ierosolimitana in the early 12th century, referred to “wicked Christians, that is to say Greeks,” and our primary source for the Second Crusade (1145--49) is Odo of Deuil and his De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem (Journey of Louis VII to the East.) He spent the entire time grousing about “treacherous Greeks” and blaming them for the crusade’s struggles (though the Second Crusade pretty much sabotaged itself and didn’t need any outside force to blame for its failure). There was some truth to this accusation, since Byzantium was then engaged in a war against Sicily (Louis VII’s ally, though it had its own connections to Muslim culture and indeed had been Muslim before the Normans conquered it in 1061). The Greeks had thus been working with the Muslims to undercut the invasion of Western Europeans into this contested territory, and this was not forgotten or forgiven.

The best-known example of Western-Eastern relations during the crusades going catastrophically awry is in 1204, at the sack of Constantinople as the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Basically: the crusaders were deeply in debt to the Venetians and had already attacked the Catholic city of Zara (Zadar in Croatia) in hopes of getting some money back, then got involved in the messy politics of the Byzantine succession, went to Constantinople, and eventually outright attacked it, sacked and destroyed the city, and raped and slaughtered its inhabitants. This obviously poisoned the well all but permanently between Latin and Greek Christians (frankly, in my opinion, it’s one of the worst tragedies of history) and Constantinople never regained its former wealth and pre-eminence. It declined until it was captured in 1453 by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II, and has been an Islamic city ever since. (It was renamed Istanbul in 1923, under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the “founding father” of modern Turkey.) Obviously, Latin and Greek Christianity still had to work with each other somehow, but the crusades were actually the single biggest factor in driving the two branches further apart, rather than reconciling them.

The words “catholic” and “orthodox” both have connotations of universality, overall correctness, and all-encompassing truth claims. Therefore, in some sense, to a Catholic Christian or an Orthodox Christian, defining themselves as such, with both words, is repetitious; they are Catholic/Orthodox and therefore the correct sort of Christian (even if their theological opponents would disagree). However, historians obviously do use that convention to distinguish them, since the identity is important, and makes a big difference as to what religious landscape an individual is living in. As for heresy, it was an equally complicated subject. Numerous “heretical” (i.e. not mainstream Catholic Christianity) Christian sects existed in Europe for this entire period, most notably the Cathars. (They got their own crusade launched against them, the Albigensian Crusade of 1209--29 in southern France.) The lines between heresy and orthodoxy (small-o orthodoxy meaning in this case, confusingly, Catholic Christianity) could often be blurred, and religious practices were syncretic and constantly influenced each other. A big problem in the Albigensian Crusade was identifying who the heretics actually were; they looked like their Catholic neighbors, they lived in community with them, their friends and family members were Cathar and Catholic alike, both rites were practiced, and plenty of towns were just fine with this hybrid arrangement. Hence it was not as simple as just pointing and going “get those guys,” and indeed, one of the leaders of the Albigensian Crusade, when asked by a knight how to tell them apart, advocated to just kill them all and God would know who the good Catholics were. Welp.

Northern and eastern Europe also remained pagan relatively late into the medieval era (into the 10th and 11th centuries) and the Northern and Baltic Crusades were launched with the aim of converting them to Catholic Christianity. (You will notice that the crusades have a complicated history as both a vehicle of religious warfare and as an attempted theater of conversion.) Heresy was a constant preoccupation of the Catholic popes, especially Innocent III (the progenitor of the Fourth, Albigensian, and Fifth Crusades). Especially in the thirteenth century, splinter religious groups and localized sects of “heresy” were popping up like crazy, and it was a constant point of contention as to how to deal with them, i.e. by force, persuasion, reconciliation, dialogue, etc. No, the medieval Catholic church was not the stereotyped instrument of fear, oppression, and tyranny, and could never enforce its views universally on all of western Europe. Church attendance on the parish level could be so low that in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council, Innocent issued an order requiring Christians to take communion at least once a year. So yes. The standard was very far from “everyone believed Catholicism fervently at all times and if they didn’t, they were immediately punished/burned alive.” The idea of burning heretics at the stake wasn’t even introduced until the early fifteenth century, and even then, it required an often-months-long formal church trial and wasn’t just something that the local village priest could hand out on a whim.

There were also monastic orders, and these (at least in Western Europe) were therefore Catholic, but they had different ways of practicing it and what their orders emphasized. The most common order were Benedictines (founded in the 6th century by Saint Benedict), who adhered to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which is still the basis for the following monastic orders. There were also the Cluniacs (founded in 10th-century France at Cluny Abbey) and the Cistercians (founded as rivals to the Cluniacs at the end of the 11th century, also in France). In terms of the crusades, the Cistercians were by far the most involved with/zealously supportive of them (Bernard of Clairvaux was a Cistercian) and took part in directly financing, preaching, and launching the Second, Fourth, and Albigensian Crusades alike. The better-known monastic orders, the Franciscans and Dominicans, weren’t founded until the thirteenth century, on the tail end of the crusades, and didn’t take much direct part in them. The Dominican inquisition, however, took over the business of dealing with the Cathars after the Albigensian Crusade petered out, and their concern was often with heresy thereafter.

Anyway. This has gotten long, as per usual. But I hope this gives you some introductory sense of the religious landscape of medieval Europe, the divisions within Christianity, and the fact that it’s entirely accurate to use “Catholic” and “Christian” interchangeably when discussing Nicky’s crusades-era faith and counterparts. The crusaders themselves did not specify themselves as being Catholic, and the crusades were (at least initially) viewed as a pan-Christian movement, even if eventually fatal tensions with Orthodox Christians left a permanent scar. The idea of identifying the precise denomination of Christianity is also another Protestant Reformation-era innovation, and wasn’t, at least in this case, necessary to do.

[princeanxious]

A random logicality fic i didnt realize I wanted to write until just now, that i can't write out into an organized fic story atm but I can ramble about its whole world and character settup! So like. Take this as a massive bullet point fic if you will, but, yknow, minus the bullet point part..

[[MORE]]

Some background info: this is an omegaverse idea BUT it primarily focuses on the worldbuilding, character dynamics, and relationship dynamics and doesnt focus or even really mention nsft stuff. At least not in this post! Another fact abt this au is that there are no betas in this au, just alphas and omegas representing as the primary biological differences. Same general biology applies, and there is this worlds own version of the LGBTQ+ community as well, ect ect.

Logan is a highclass omega that lives on a large estate and is the only omega, let alone male omega(which is uncommon in this au), in his well known family's current generation. Hes got two other older alpha siblings Thomas and Deceit(named Dorian in this fic) and theyre all p close to eachother and wellknown to the public for being anti-classist despite the rest of their highclass family's history of being generally snooty and classist and not very family-oriented. They probably run a big entertainment company named after the family line and thats where most of their wealth comes from. Their family surname is probably Sanders. Logan is like, an inch above normal height for an omega and is sort of a frail, lanky, and uber pale man who doesn't eat well and doesnt exercise often and doesnt get enough sunlight and is often bored out of his mind, frankly.(all of this is due to his parent's terrible job of raising him, both from the servants (unhappily)following their orders for his care and from their blatant disregard for his health and happiness as a male omega. His brothers and the servants do the best they can to sneak around the rules, at least for food and sneaking Logan books and candles to entertain himself late at night or in his freetime when they arent hanging out together)

Patton, on the other hand, is a mid-high class Alpha in a little less well-known(in comparison to the Sanders family at least) but still well-respected family in a slightly smaller estate, known from their history of being a long line of hardworking successful people and being a very big and far reaching family. They probably breed a few prized mostly pure-bred and cross-bred horse breeds (the ethical way of course). And perhaps they(at least at Patton's estate specifically) also have their own fruit tree plantation that is known for selling its fruit as well as making said fruit into jams to be sold locally. Theyre family also has ties in helping many local businesses as well as a few larger companies ect. ect. The main family branch name is Crofters. ;p Patton is a v tall boi, and like his father, works hard around the estate just as much as any other worker. He helps harvest fruit from the plantation when its time and gets to help turn a good portion of the fruit into their famous crofters jam, and he helps tend to the stables and horses and chores all around the estate, does lots of heavy lifting ect.ect. So. Tall buff boi who's v suntanned and v freckled and made of friendliness and sunshine smiles yknow?? Hes an only child with just a father by the time hes 21 and a ton of extended family but he makes an effort to check in and make sure the local youth and elderly are well taken care of.

So in this fic, like, these things that are sort of like coming-of-age courting parties/festivals are held? It's a big cultural thing that happens each season to allow un-courted young adults a chance to meet and socialize with other un-courted young adults at their own leisure and pace rather than being subjected to family-directed arranged courtings(which are mostly a thing of the past at this point for their culture)

So like, p much Thomas and Dorian have to step in to help Logan persuade their parents into letting them take Logan to a local coming-of-age festival bc his parents are like this close to just making Logan go through w/ an arranged courting from some other highclass alpha, bc omega males aren't as 'prized'(to the highclass) or seen as desirable as omega females so getting Logan to marry into another wealthy family solely for maintaining status and making wealthy ties is the only use they see for him. Which of course,, his alpha siblings are having none of that if they have anything to say about it.(and they do. Logan deserves as much freedom as they do if not more, especially at this point in their lives. And Dorian spends the whole walk back to their bedrooms venting about the stupidity and blatant sexism of the fact that Dorian and Thomas are freely allowed to go wherever and do whatever they please because they're Alphas, "but Logan can't and has to be escorted everywhere that he is allowed to go if he wants to go anywhere as if he doesnt have his own autonomy! Why can Thomas and I go to the festival's without any fuss or escort but Logan is almost two steps from forbidden to even chose his own attire for the day? Highclass society is bullshit!")

So, with the eventual hard-won mutual agreement that Thomas and Dorian will be Logan's direct and only escorts to the festival who will not be left alone(they wouldnt leave him alone anyway, though not out of thinking that Logan is a dependent helpless omega that needs to be attended to and directed at all times, bc they dont believe that like their parents do, its out of the fact that theyre not about to leave their two years younger baby brother who has virtually no experience in socializing, let alone making friends, alone in a loud activity-filled festival w/ a large amount of varied attendance.) They head off during the winter festival season(as Logan's 21st birthday was in late autumn) to at least introduce their own friends that they've met over the years to Logan(who many of them have heard about but never met previously due to their parents toxic outdated mindsets on how omegas needed to remain shielded from the world and obediant, so Logans only friends for the longest time were his brothers themselves and that was it.).

So, the cast fic placements sorta go like this: Dorian has his intentions set on courting this very chaotic very non-conforming omega male named Remus(bc really, both of them just wanna say fuck you to the Sanders' parents' outdated ideals of societal conformity, really. However, Dorian pursuing Remus is like 5% driven by saying suck it to society, 15% spite towards his parents, and 80% because Remus stole his heart the first time they met by being unabashedly himself and being super interested and forward towards Dorian without being patronizing or disgusted with his birth scars and blind eye. Remus without prompting settles up against Dorian's blindside at all times when in public to work as a barrier to others sneaking up on the visually impaired alpha, all unprompted. Remus really really likes Dorian, and the feeling is mutual.) And! it works out bc even tho Remus is about as wild and as independant and inobedient and non-fragile and as far from the rest of the perfect omega stereotypes as they get, he's part of a family that is even higher in status than the Sanders family. Remus and his twin Roman are both male omegas born into a wealthy and publicly generous family that honestly is probably the most well known in the entertainment industry for its long line of professional actors, singers, and popular film/stage play writer and producers. Remus and Roman are naturally charismatic, Roman being a talented singer and trained actor while Remus dabbles in script writing and producing. Their mothers are respectively an omega and alpha and have their own accomplishments. And, are infact very progressive, and they plan to hand off the company to Roman and Remus to run when the twins are ready to, marriage not required. So, like. The Sanders parents cant exactly find a reason not to let Dorian pursue Remus without being openly obvious in their conservative views about omegas. (Which The Twins' parents already know about through Remus's recountings of Dorian's venting abt Logan's childhood mistreatment) so, safe to say, everyones in on pissing off the Sanders family in ways that they can't openly be mad about.

Anyways, to tie this all back in, the festivals mentioned above are both for meeting mutually un-courted young adults/adults and also for individuals to pursue courting who they want to court without family/class bias ect. (So like, un-courted/non-courting individuals dress/wear a main article in a certain color, while courted/courting individuals wear any other colors but that color, and said color depends on what season its in, and this coloring isn't something that varries from town to town, its universal in their culture. For Spring, un-courted individuals wear Green, in fall its Orange, in Summer its Yellow, and in Winter its Blue. And thats how you differentiate) so Thomas and Dee return to attend each of the seasonal festivals to court who theyre pursuing as a special time alone from either family watching as well as it being another way of meeting up with their friendgroup to have fun.

So, through Dorian, Logan finally meets Roman and Remus, and honestly its a real struggle for them to get along at first bc Roman and Remus are loud and brash and opinionated and independent, and rather unfiltered. And. Well, Logan grew up being trained to be the opposite, so he doesnt think they're compatible friends. But thats how he’s been raised to think. They lead and smother him in their conversation for a hot minute before realizing Logans just politely listening and not even attempting to join in, looking mildly uncomfy and out of his depth. And Romans a little offended before he remembers that what Remus relayed to him about Logan's uprising. So, Remus finds a way to get under Logans skin just enough to break down the polite walls that have been trained into him. Remus states stating false facts to Logan that he knows Logan knows are false and is able to get Logan just incredulous and heated enough to debate back. And Roman joins in just in time to change the subjects just a bit, and it takes some time but they get into a grove of getting Logan used to talking without being talked to, giving his own opinion on things without fear of repercussion and just generally conversating.(and they find, very smugly, that Logan can be just as loud and passionate about facts and his own thoughts and opinions if given the right outlet and the push to do it.) And it finally gets Logan to loosen up just a bit, to relax and smile and laugh(!!), and his brothers are just as excited for him bc Logan's finally getting to break out of his shell without the oppressive control of their parents directly looming over him.

So, okay okay, I'm getting to the logicality part, shhh, perfection takes time!! So, okay, I forgot to squeeze this in earlier but Thomas is courting Remy, whos a talented and smart as fuck, independent male omega from a family from their neighboring country. Remy has a big fam, but hes the head in charge out of all his siblings, ect ect. He’s an omega and the oldest, with three younger alpha siblings and one younger omega sibling. His parents are headstrong people who’ve raised a take-no-shit omega who will not be pushed around and will gladly do his own thing, thank you. If we’re being honest, its really Remy courting Thomas, whos a big-hearted softy introverted Alpha, like they are mutually interested in one another but Remy is a massive extrovert and theres no misunderstanding whose taking charge when theyre together. Remy’s existance alone is enough to Piss off the Sanders Family parents, especially after Remus enters the picture, however.. Remy takes it to the next level by being the more incharge, natural born leader, therefor flipping the old dominant alpha and obedient omega sterotype on its head. Thomas is happy to piss them off in doing it bc letting Remy take the lead makes Remy happy and keeps Remy from getting ansy and makes him happy bc he was never going to fully fit the dominant alpha sterotype anyways. Further still, out of the three siblings that are part of the Sanders family, only Thomas keeps the Sanders surname name in the end, as Dorian plans to take Remus’s and (future)Logan plans to take Patton’s surname. Which sets them up for: Remy chosing to take the Sanders Surname therefore becoming a direct part of the Sanders family name lineage, which the parents have no say over bc its technically up to Thomas by law, who gives Remy the option to chose on his own, ect.

Okay okay, w/ that set up, lets move forward.

Its p much a one-by-one meeting basis as Logan meets Dorian and Thomas’s partners and friends. So, Roman, Remus, and Remy all p much take Logan under their collective wing as soon-to-be omega brother-in-laws do. They all realize they’ve got a lot to teach Logan, and more importantly, kinda really need to get him courting soon bc Logan really needs to get out of that toxic household. They’re planning to keep it slowish bc Logan doesn’t know quite yet how to talk to people that arent his brothers, let alone have any knowhow on consentual courting?? But yeah, they’re keeping an protective eye out alongside Dorian and Thomas while still letting approaching un-courted alphas and omegas come close enough to interact/flirt w/ Logan. About mid-day Roman’s courting partner finally arrives:

A slightly withdrawn, tall and quiet Alpha who looks fairly intimidating until Logan realizes just how anxious the lanky Alpha is and how Roman is definately leading when he needs to to keep Virgil from overthinking. They end up hitting it off very well, unsurprisingly. Virgil doesn’t really know Logan’s whole story like Remus does bc Roman didn’t know to tell him in time so it takes some catching up and trading of their home lives to get to speaking terms but, Logan is soon to be the Twin’s brother in-law soo.. that p much makes Logan his family to be anyhow, so. Safe to say Virgil plays a minor part in warding off all too-cocky alphas thinking theyre about to find an easy catch in approaching Logan. Though, realistically, its the fact that a small group of courting young-adults are guiding and staying w/ said un-courted young-adult that keeps Logan from getting approached too much. It may not have allowed him to get the full festival experience, but, its likely Logan would not have been able to handle the Full Experience, especially not on his own.

Finally, incomes Patton. Patton, wearing blue just like Logan, stands out because he approaches the group fearlessly and full of sunshine, going through and greeting each familiar face before he realizes Logan is a new part of the group and politely and warmly introduces himself. Though well known to the group through being Virgil’s longstanding childhood bestfriend and part of a very openly interactive and helpful w/ everyone around them family, this is actually Patton’s first coming-of-age festival, as he’d just turned 21 two weeks prior. And hes very excited to meet new people, he always is! He’s quick to tell Virgil that the jam they’d made earlier in the fall(it was tradition at this point that Virgil helped Patton with the jam making process every year) had been successful in sales and smiles, and hes content to ramble to Virgil about the progress of the stables’ new foals. Logan would have thought Patton had out-right forgotten about him had Patton not begun turning to ask Logan an excited question every minute or so. And he always listened to Logan’s answers completely with rapt attention before asking or saying something further.

Niether of them know they’d both had the same thought when they’d first seen the other. A very sappy, very flustered thought of ‘Oh god, he’s cute.’ The moment they’d made eye-contact.

And, well, Logan is a tad overwhelmed, for many reasons. For one, Patton, on the very surface, is very attractive. Tall and well-built, sunkissed and freckled with curly blond hair and a dashing smile that lit up his entire expression, and Logan couldn’t help mirror Patton’s infectious smile with a shy one of his own. Another was that Patton’s voice was warm, not too loud though it carried well, it was welcoming and unashamedly happy. Patton was patient and kind and friendly, yet still felt reminiscent of an excited puppy. He was unabashedly himself in the nicest of ways, and Logan’s heart kept fluttering everytime their eyes met, everytime Patton asks him a question or answers his own. Patton leads the conversation, but leaves plenty room for Logan to take his own direction if he pleases. He’s considerate and thoughtful and actually treating Logan like a person, not some dependent omega or a possible mate. And it definately doesn’t go unnoticed that Logan’s blushing and slightly flustered, but Patton doesn’t push about it, he just lets the conversation stop and go as they please as the group wanders around and take part in the festivities.

And.. well, the group does take notice that Patton and Logan have started ignoring outside signals of omegas and alphas that wanna get close and interact with either one of them, but they don’t tell them about it. Logan and Patton are pretty obviously interested in each other, and honestly no ones gonna interrupt them while they figure things out. Patton is the only one who definately doesn’t know about Logan’s situation, but he picks up on it’s cues pretty quickly and treads carefully without prodding, though Logan is upfront about himself being raised under opressive conservative ideals so hes pretty new to everything, but he leaves it at that for their first interaction.

P much they spend the rest of the festival together, Dorian and Thomas directly checking in once or twice to confirm Logan is doing okay and happy. Thomas is met with a soft “yes.. Is this what romantic attention feels like?” And Dorian gets “Yes, though i’m not sure how long i’m going to be able to keep functioning if he keeps smiling at me with his handsomeface.” Which these things are said obviously w/ Patton out of earshot And both brothers have to keep themselves from cackling bc their brother is very gay for Patton. And Patton is very openly gay for Logan right back, not that Logan really knows how to read that yet tho.

By the end of the festival, Logan just decides that he wants to pursue courting Patton, h’s very sure of it especially after bringing it up with Dorian and Thomas and getting their approval. Then Logan brings it up with Patton directly and it goes something like this:

Logan shyly but determained asks Patton if he would consider courting Logan, and Patton just smiles warmly and leans down to take Logan’s hand and kisses it. Then says “I did consider it, Lolo, and I’d be more than blessed to get to court you.” And Logan just blushes so bright he has to hide his face and Patton just laughs and hugs him.

Skipping forward, Patton gets the Sanders families hesitant approval to let him directly court Patton, which involves them sending Logan over to spend periods of time at Pattons estate, and Patton coming to stay with Logan at the Sanders estate during the other half of the time. Cue Patton learning just how bad Logan’s home situation is and would be without his brothers there to buffer some of it, and Patton stepping up to curb it back as well while being non-aggressive about it.

Cue Patton taking Logan to meet riding horses directly for the first time, as well as meet baby horses. He eases Logan into the concept of being free to do almost whatever he pleases while staying at the Crofters estate, which is pretty mild for the longest time but watching Logan smile excitedly when he got a new book, or got to walk around town with Patton, or got to say yes or no just because he finally could? It means all the world to Patton. Cue the scene of them resting under a tree near the front of the estate during the day, easily seen and watched but relaxing and napping atop of one another all the same. Logan’s head against Patton’s board chest, listening to Patton’s heartbeat while patton runs his hand through Logan’s hair. Then, Logan tenatively asking about laying out front to stargaze in the evening, and honestly the night they finally get to stargaze for the first time a few days later is when the really fully fall in love.

Cue Virgil coming to visit with Roman in tow when its that time of the year to make the famous Crofters jam, and Logan is staying over at the estate at the time. And Logan finally tries Crofters jam for the first time, as he’d been putting it off before as not being a jelly person. And he just. Finds he really really likes it, probably an inproper amount. Patton takes notice, and doesn’t hesitate to spoil Logan with it every once in a while. Logan also learns how to make Crofters jam, and it was alot of fun to do! Hes tuckered out by the end of it, but thats not surprising.

And okay. Another major fun plot point is that during times that Patton and Logan are staying at the sanders estate, Dorian and Remus, Thomas and Remy, and Roman and Virgil also often are found staying at the large estate, and its no coincidence. Now that Logan is being directly courted(and its going very well), Logan’s autonomy now falls under Patton’s command, not Logan’s parents. And, well, Patton lets him make his own decisions as long as they stick together, as Pattons not comfy leaving Logan alone unless hes with one of his brothers or their omegan mates(bc at this point, Remus and Dorian finished their yearlong courting and married and are official mates, and same goes for Thomas and Remy. ) and well. My favorite concept is that Logan now has the guidance of 3 firely independant omegas to help him learn to strive for the independant mindset that had been robbed from him in his youth. Safe to say, Logan comes out just as stubborn and independant and passionate as the other three. He just tends to be the one out of the four who is the most content with their alpha being a bit more in the lead on a daily basis.

Didn’t really think abt an ending too much but like, Logan and Patton get married and become mates and move to Patton’s estate permanantly and just being so happy and inlove with Patton. And everythings?? Good?? So yeah.

[kuromichad]

like tbh at this point i think the general sort of Anti Movement has accomplished basically all it’s ever going to and maybe it’s time to like. not ‘calm down’ as in ‘i’m condescendingly telling you not to be upset that abusive/exploitative content exists’ but just like... at least... stop actively hunting for it!!! stop making it such a huge part of your identity and what you do online!!! stop lying your way into people’s private accounts and servers just so you can spread around the content that they obviously know is not something that should be spread around??? like it just does not have to be this way... 

the thing that i wanted to accomplish when i was actively identifying as an anti, the whole reason i started being that way, is that at the time 5+ years ago fandom culture was still extremely “always be nice, never ever criticize or ‘shame’ anything, we’re all oppressed loner geeks here and being ‘mean’ to each other would be the worst social crime possible, worse than racism, worse than anything!!! boo hoo hoo!!!” and THAT is what created a really unhealthy passively-grooming environment. because expressing discomfort with things it’s literally normal to be uncomfortable with was met with “how dare you be shaming people, you’re a bad person.” 

there wasn’t the same kind of content warning culture we have now, the edgy problematic shipping was literally just mixed in with everything else, people would presume comfort with all sorts of subjects and bring up edgy shit unprompted in response to non-edgy works. that’s the kind of shit that creates normalization, that’s what i grew up with: “i hope ron and hermione will be married with babies in the epilogue <3” and “it would be hot if snape sexually abused harry <3” were literally both just What Shipping Is and there were too many spaces where they were talked about side by side. the casual attitude was what was actively dangerous and unhealthy. 

things are a lot fucking different than they were 5, 10, 15 years ago now!! there’s CONSTANT discussion of which subjects are harmful and why, there’s well-understood pressure to tag and warn for things, a lot of nsfw fandom accounts actively block any minors they encounter. there’s like, an actual divide now between ‘normal’ shipping and nsfw content and ‘problematic’ content. wahoo we won!! literally just this amount of separation wouldve resolved massive chunks of what was bad for me and so many others as a kid/teenager in fandom! 

but like i have to be honest bro a lot of antis are on a fucking power trip and they dont want to stop getting that constant reward of righteous anger being validated. it was obvious to me like, immediately, only a few months into me being actively an anti i would see people all over who would parrot talking points without actually understanding them, invent new ‘rules’ tailored to ridiculously specific situations so they could ‘call out’ a person or ship they didnt like for petty reasons, arbitrarily enforce standards based on their own preferences... not everyone is righteous, not everyone is a wounded person trying to protect others. a whole fucking lot of antis are just people who love the thrill of Being Right at all costs. (and like, obviously also a lot of proshippers/anti-antis are just people who love being contrary, edgy, obnoxious. i’m not like coming out as anti-anti here i’m just expressing frustration with the side i’ve been involved in.) 

and i just think it’s getting really fucked up and overboard and awful that people are so addicted to this War they think theyre in, and Being Right, being the Safe and Righteous ones, that they have to constantly escalate the dialogue and make everything so absolutely fucking urgent and awful, it’s not fun enough to have a thoughtful discussion about how tropes in media (even fan-created media, because fandom can encompass literal millions of people, and you literally spend more time socializing in fandom + consuming fanworks than you ever would just straight up rewatching/rereading the source material over and over) can contribute to abusive and exploitative relationships irl, what’s fun is the adrenaline rush of calling someone a literal pedophile over suggestive art of an anime 17 year old (with the same face and body of another character that’s 25, and another character that’s 13, and another that’s 21, etc etc), what’s fun is self-righteously insisting that the fandom term made up to say “i don’t care that you think reylo is destroying society” is actually a secret code name for “out and proud literal irl pedophile.” it’s fucking absurd. i’m so sick of it dude you’re not helping anyone. 

we are so, so, so far past doing anything actually helpful for protecting kids from media they’re not ready for and people who aren’t safe for them. if anything i think it’s just its own new brand of deeply unhealthy to constantly be going LOOK, look over there, inside that locked account, there are horrors i’m going to describe to you in great detail, and that person is a bogeyman who wants to hurt YOU, personally, you the 14 year old reading this callout, you are never safe, even when people are purposely locking their accounts to keep you safe from the content they acknowledge is triggering to people, those people are deeply inherently sinful and evil and they are GOING to hurt you, look at the evidence right now, they’re hurting you. like. anti culture is sick, it’s decaying and poisoned and fucking obnoxious. i’m not saying that that means all proship people are perfectly innocent or morally in the right or whatever but i find it acutely more upsetting when the side that’s claiming to be all about Protecting The Children and being the ones that are morally good is behaving fucking absurdly and escalating conflicts on purpose. trying to shock people into agreeing with you by throwing out the word Pedophile every five seconds is not the fucking way to do things. cut it out.

[jedi-order-apologist]

You know I used to think the Council was unfair to Anakin when I was little, then when I saw the movies for the first time as an adult my perspective changed. I also think a reason why so many people blame the Jedi for Anakin's fall may be that in movies as big as star wars the main character is usually in the right, anyone who opposes them in any way is either wrong or if theyre right it works out in the end for the main character. We're not used to our main character doing what Anakin did 1/2

2/2 I think we also need to keep in mind how.. Common victim blaming actually is. I do it and it's been done to me. And (sorry for adding one more thing but I've got to get this off my chest) we can't underestimate the fact that we tend to place the individual over the collective. 

That’s definitely a large part of it, I’ve said before on the subject:

It comes from a combination of the audience buying into Palpatine’s charismatic lies (he’s the one pushing the idea of the Jedi not trusting or appreciating Anakin, and manufacturing tension between them so that it becomes a reality, and the idea that the Jedi’s standard teachings of self-restraint are specifically targeting Anakin to hold him back somehow, that he deserves to get what he wants just because he’s powerful, etc - and some of the audience soaks that up just as Anakin does), and the natural tendency to be more concerned with the personal impact on the protagonist just due to the focus on their character. People want the protagonist to achieve their goals, we’re predisposed to favor their POV, and so when anything gets in the way of that, many find it unfair, especially since Anakin does as well.

I don’t know that it has anything to do with how big the films are, or if this is something that would apply to a small scale situation as well, though I do think that a lot of people don’t realize that the prequels (and the OT, but especially the prequels) are just big-budget weird indie films rather than the usual kind of movie we’re exposed to. So that could definitely factor into it, too.

Victim-blaming, definitely a lot of that - I think part of that is to do with us being used to seeing, in fiction, negative consequences used and framed by the author as a punishment and positive consequences as a reward. Because the author has complete control; they can do that, and that’s a very satisfying thing to do as well. That’s what we’re used to seeing, so people work backward from the conclusion: they suffered negative consequences, therefore they must’ve done something wrong, there must’ve been a flaw in their character that caused this - rather than working forward from the motivations and actions of the characters: Palpatine wanted to rule the galaxy and wanted the Jedi dead, so he outwitted everyone to make that happen, and many terrible things resulted from that.

Individual over collective...yes, to a degree, I’d agree that’s a part of it, we're predisposed to see authority figures (especially religious authority figures) as the bad guys, and the “lone wolves” as the ones to root for. That’s probably why a lot of people subscribe to the idea that we should think that Qui-Gon got it “most right”, even though he isn’t actually framed as being more enlightened or correct than the Council - merely because he goes against them. It’s also, to some extent, related to the idea that people want the Jedi to be superheroes, not monks.

[ot3]

wait wait wait can you explain more how to be funny and what makes humor work preferably a la essay form if you’re up to it. I’m reading a comic and the jokes aren’t sticking so I’d love to be able to properly be able to figure out what makes some joeks works but others not so I articulate what I hate about it

This response got kinda long so i’m sticking it under a readmore. TL;DR: I don’t think I can tell you how to be funny and what makes comedy work, I don’t think anyone can tell you that. However, I can give you a bunch of advice and guiding questions on how to go about figuring out these answers for yourself

Honestly I don’t think that’s something I’m capable of doing this in any sort of reasonable amount of time. It’d either have to be something really short and really general like what I wrote in the rvb0 post or it’d have to be incredibly long and incredibly specific where I pick specific good and bad examples of comedy and break down what I think works and what I think doesn’t. It’d take a lot of slow and meticulous work I don’t really have the time for, and I’m also not sure how helpful it would be, because once again, comedy is super super subjective and I don’t want to risk overemphasizing my own tastes/general observations as any sort of gospel.

the best advice i can give you would be to try and properly figure out for yourself why these jokes aren’t sticking! because processing something as Funny is much more of an innate reaction than, like, engaging Cerebrally with Narrative Developments it can be much harder to actually realize why something works or doesn’t. I’m going to start by sticking in what I said in my original RVB0 post here in case anyone is reading this without context. 

A rule of thumb I personally hold for comedy is that, when push comes to shove, more specific is always going to be more funny. The example I gave when trying to explain this was this:

saying two characters had awkward sex in a movie theater: funny

saying two characters had an awkward handjob in a cinemark: even funnier

saying two characters spent 54 minutes of 11:14's 1:26 runtime trying out some uncomfortably-angled hand stuff in the back of a dilapidated cinemark that lost funding halfway through retrofitting into a dinner theater: the funniest

The more specific a joke is, the more it relies on an in-depth understanding of the characters and world you’re dealing with and the more ‘realistic’ it feels within the context of your media. Especially with this kind of humor. When you’re joking with your friends, you don’t go for stock-humor that could be pulled out of a joke book, you go for the specific. You aim for the weak spots. If a set of jokes could be blindly transplanted into another world, onto another cast of characters, then it’s far too generic to be truly funny or memorable. I don’t think there’s a single joke in RVB0 where the humor of it hinged upon the characters or the setting.

Then there’s the issue of situational comedy and physical comedy. This is really where the humor being ‘tacked on’ shows the most. Once again, part of what makes actually solid comedy land properly is it feeling like a natural result of the world you have established. Real life is absurd and comical situations can be found even in the midst of some pretty grim context, and that’s why black comedy is successful, and why comedy shows are allowed to dip into heavier subject matter from time to time, or why dramas often search for levity in humor. It’s a natural part of being human to find humor in almost any situation. The key thing, though, once again, is finding it in the situation. Many of RVB0’s attempts at humor, once again, feel like they would be the exact same jokes when stripped from their context, and that’s almost never good. A pretty fundamental concept in both storytelling in general but particularly comedy writing is ‘setup and payoff’. No joke in RVB0 is a reward for a seemingly innocuous event in an earlier scene or for an overlooked piece of environmental design. The jokes pop in when there’s time for them in between all the exposition and fighting, and are gone as soon as they’re done. There’s no long term, underlying comedic throughline to give any sense of coherence or intent to the sense of humor the show is trying to establish. Every joke is an isolated one-off quip or one-liner, and it fails to engage the audience in a meaningful way.

When you see a joke that doesn’t land - try mentally rewriting it. Is there anything you could do to make it funny? Can you bring to mind any similar jokes from other pieces of media that you did like? How does the joke effect the pace of the story - is it an awkward and unnatural pause within the flow of events/dialogue? Is the joke well implemented - that is to say, regardless of how ‘objectively’ funny or unfunny the actual meat of the thing is, is it coming from the right source and directed at the right target? Does it add to your understanding of events/characters/setting, do nothing in this department, or does it detract from/contradict them? Is it immersion-breaking (and if so, is this intentional or meaningful?) or does it pull you deeper into the world you’re being shown?

Once you start asking these questions of both media you like and media you dislike you’ll start to recognize patterns in what lands and what doesn’t, and I don’t think they’re questions anyone else can really answer for you.

I think it also is a question of whether comedy is the intended final destination of a piece of media or just a step along the way. Media that exists solely as a vehicle for jokes is going to have comedy that looks very different than the comedy present in media that exists for heavy narrative purposes but includes moments of levity. 

Here are two examples of shows I think are really good and are also about as different in concept, execution, and intent as humanly possible: phineas and ferb and breaking bad.

Breaking bad is probably the most emotionally taxing television experience I’ve had in my life. I mean this as a compliment. breaking bad is supposed to be grueling to watch. It also has jokes in it. the scenes that are funny server to really meaningfully increase the immersion, not break it, and they do this by bringing a very realistic sense of human interaction that grounds the high-stakes melodrama into something that looks a hell of a lot more like reality. There’s one scene in particular i think does just such a great job of exemplifying this. here we’ve got jesse having dinner with walt and his wife while they are, as always, fighting with each other viciously and creating such a horrible and suffocating miasma of tension over the entire narrative, and jesse is trying to break some of this tension very poorly.

Then, in literally the complete opposite vein, you’ve got the phineas and ferb episode ‘lets take a quiz’ which i consider incredibly formative in the development of my sense of humor. The entire Bit of literally this whole episode is that they’re doing this terrible quiz with no rules that makes no sense and candace is trying to win but nobody knows how to play this game. 

Phineas and ferb is an episodic children’s cartoon that deals almost exclusively in unreality and the absurd, and so this kind of bit works here.

Saying ‘whats good comedy’ is really hard because it’s just like saying ‘whats good narrative’. There’s no one set of criteria; it boils down to what is the intention of your comedy, and how successfully were you able to act on these intentions?

This really got away from me sorry I am working on extremely little sleep i hope this helped even a little bit. My final piece of advice is: go watch hot fuzz. seriously. go watch hot fuzz (2007) dir. edgar wright and look at how the jokes in that movie are because theyre perfect and i love hot fuzz and it’s fucking funny