#this i believe in my soul to be the righteous way of this world

[realbeefman]

i’m almost done with s8 of house but as i come closer and closer to the finale im starting to think that chi park and jessica adams aren’t going to have the crazy yuri sex they so richly deserve to have

[zorosdimples]

WHEREVER YOU ARE

pairing ༄ zoro x gn!reader

warnings ༄ brief descriptions of violence. a little angsty at first but it’s fluff i pinky promise!

word count ༄ 796

notes ༄ i’ve been feeling so deeply about zoro lately—i cried over him a few nights ago. this is embarrassingly soggy; i poured my heart out for him. tagging my dearest ai @gojoest <3

home.

a soft breeze carries the word, a gentle whisper that ruffles zoro’s hair and curls over the shell of his ear, fading once the message rests uncomfortably on his tongue. the sea shimmers under the moon’s loving gaze, the lulling lap of waves the only sound that reaches the starlit deck. he should be chilly in the crisp salt air, but as he glances down at you—wrapped in his protective embrace, head resting against his bare chest and the steady beat of his heart—he realizes that he has never felt warmer.

home is a word that has never meant much to the swordsman.

from an orphanage to the dojo to the furthest reaches of the east blue, zoro was born a wanderer, cursed to roam land and sea with little more than three swords and a fierce dream. hunting humans and exchanging souls for bounties that could barely cover a warm meal, a glass of sake, and a dirty bed—it was a monastic existence, devoid of comfort and pleasure. but that’s the price you pay when you make a deal with the devil. greatness isn’t bestowed upon the righteous; greatness is something you must fight for with steel claws and blood in your maw. may the most vicious creature win.

home is make-believe for a demon. it’s a tale told to frightened children who don’t yet understand the cruelty of the world.

joining luffy did not cure zoro’s restlessness. it did not make him a better man—it only redirected his cruelty. the piles of flesh and bone he left in his wake loomed over him still; he trudged through a sticky stream of ichor in his nightmares. destruction in the name of something is destruction all the same. he could feel the shackles of solitude slipping, but he was (and still is) set in his ways. it’s difficult to unlearn that which you believe yourself to be. a lifetime of isolation bred a bone-deep loneliness that he couldn’t bleed out of his chest or escape when he cracked open his rib cage and welcomed eternal darkness.

home is a luxury a man—a monster—like him does not deserve.

you draw zoro from his thoughts as you shift in his lap to face him, wrapping your legs around his waist, smoothing your palms across the strong planes of his stomach. your delicate caresses dance upwards, an act of reverence as you trace over the story of his life.

puckered scars, rippling striae, dappled moles, smattered freckles; these etchings on his tanned flesh tell of his victories and mistakes and birthrights. when you reach his broad shoulders, one hand darts up to rake through his mint green strands, fingernails grazing his scalp in a way that has him chasing your touch. your other hand tinkles his earrings, the golden chimes playing their hymn as they reflect the glimmering moonlight.

zoro’s lone eye is enraptured with your movements, and when your sweet gaze meets his, you press a featherlight kiss to his unsuspecting lips. “what was that for?” he asks with a rumbling chuckle. his hands—rough, capable of atrocities—unconsciously rub up and down your sides with worshipful tenderness.

“i love you,” you confess airily with a smile, as though those aren’t the most devastating words the swordsman has ever heard.

if zoro wasn’t a selfish man he would weep at your words. he would tell you to find someone better, he would show you the mortal weight of his sins, and he would keep his distance from a soul as radiant and kind as yours. but decades of want have conditioned him to be greedy.

hearing that phrase—though zoro has heard it from your lips hundreds of times—has a grin rivaling the brightness of the moon split his sharp features. cradling his face, you stroke his dimples with your thumbs. his hands settle on your waist and tug you toward him, your bodies pressed together like hands in a prayer. he crooks his head so your mouths are a mere breath apart.

“i love you, too,” he murmurs before claiming your parted lips with his own.

zoro still has little more than three swords and a fierce dream. but he also has three warm meals a day, more glasses of sake than he could ever want, and a clean bed to crawl into at night. he’s no longer an orphan; with the straw hats there is friendship and laughter and adventure. if asked, he will insist that he’s not a good man, that he’s a demon. but he’s fiercely loyal to his family—he will cut down anyone that stands in their way to freedom.

and then there’s you. with you, zoro has a love he has never felt before. as far as he’s concerned?

wherever you are is home.

[luimagines]

Broken Heart Broken Kingdom (1400 Follower Raffle)

Our second place winner was @sadlonelybagel and they asked for a reader who's partner was Link but Link is dead. This reader instantly doesn't like the chain for their similarities to their late lover. Enjoy.

Masterlist

Content under the cut!

When they first walked through the portal, they couldn’t help but see the state of the land. There was a reddish haze over the sky with broken trees and burnt grass and with the faint smell over smoke of the land.

“What happened here?” Legend’s jaw was slack. He had fought so hard to keep this from happening. But here it was, his worst nightmare come to life.

“War.” Warrior answers bluntly, not bothering to sugar coat the circumstance. “A bad one by the looks of it.”

“But how can it get this bad?” Four looks around in just as much shock coughing a bit to clear his lungs of the smoke that hangs around.

“They lost.” Wild answers with just as much fact as Warrior does. No one bothers to challenge his statement.

“Who are you?!” A stern voice calls out from the side. The sudden sound startles them and they draw their weapons on instinct. Their grips tighten at the sight of the weapon this new person holds. They viscerally react at the sight of the group but manage to hold their ground. They steady their hand and adjust their stance, albeit they look less angered and more heartbroken. “Who are you!?”

Hyrule raises his hand. “....Link.”

“Don’t mock me!” They hiss. “You can’t be Link.”

Sky looks around uneasily. “...But we are. All of us. You seem to know him. Do you know where we can find him?”

Their eyes well up with tears as they stare the boys down. “How dare you.”

“What happened?” Warrior interjects. “What happened here?”

Despair covers this stranger's face. They don’t seem to want to believe the implications of his words. “What happened? What happened? How can you not know what happened?! Ganon happened!!”

“We can gather that.” Time says gently. “But why is this the case? Where is your hero?”

“Dead.” They choke on a sob, righteous fury entering their gaze. “That demon killed my husband. I’ve been fighting in his stead.”

They group fall silent once again, shifting their weight awkwardly on their toes. Time in particular feels a heavy sort of dread drop his stomach through the crust of the earth, filling the void to the top of his throat. Part of him wants to vomit. He doesn’t think he’ll be allowed.

“My condolences.” Wild breaks the silence first. “I’m sure he was a very strong man.”

The stranger’s bravado wavers and the tears fall. This poor soul has clearly shoved aside their need to grieve for the protection of this land. But as they are not the chosen hero, their efforts are akin to pushing a boulder up a hill during a race. Progress has been made, but at the cost of much lost ground.

They lower their blade and use the hem of their sleeve to wipe away the tears. The water clears away the dirt on their cheeks. They look younger that way. “...You’re the first person to tell me that…”

Wind puts his hands on his hips and looks around the world once again. He asks for their name and they give with only minimal hesitation. They seem unable to look most of them in the eye. But Hyrule, Wind and Four get their full attention when they begin asking questions. Sky can almost get them to look his way but then they spot the sword on his back and scowl and look away again. Twilight pats his shoulder. He’s sure it’s nothing personal. They seem unable to meet more of them in the eye however, most likely due to the fact that they look the most similar to one another. Including Wild.

They can easily gather that they’re the ones that look the most like the hero.

Or rather- their dead husband.

It must be a bitter pill to swallow- and one that they clearly weren’t ready to so much as hold. It’s saddening more than it is insulting.

“...Well I guess we’re here to help.” Legend says solemnly. 

The local can only look at the ground and the blade in their hand- eyes haunted and heart heavy. “...You’re a little late for that.”

“We’re not here by choice.” Twilight says evenly. “But had we known the option and the circumstance, I assure you that we would at least attempt to help when you-.... When he needed it. But we were in our own homes, in our own worlds.”

They swallow harshly and look away, not willing to open their mind to the concept. This is an open and deep wound. Twilight sighs. He sees the signs of grief. There’s no getting through to them at this rate. “Just point to the direction of the threat and we’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure you could use a break.”

Something behind their eyes snapped. They grit their teeth, growling at the Rancher. “Do you honestly think-?!”

“We’re here to do a job whether you like it or not.” Time interrupts them. He can already see where this conversation is going. It’s not something he wants to entertain. “We can go head first into the danger with only our wits about us or you can help us at least know what we’re about to get into. This is bigger than us.”

His words strike a cord and they straighten- guarding their face once more. “Fine. This way. Try to keep up. I won’t slow down for you.”

“Lead the way.” Sky steps forward, looking back at the group nervously. Most shrug and follow this person through the war torn land and to what they can assume is a safe haven from the battles and from Ganon’s forces. They see more of the land and it’s just as bad as the first glances.

This person does not trust them, that much is obvious. They don’t like them, something that is abundantly clear. And this person does not want them here, but no one here can change what has happened.

Hyrule still needs a hero.

[timemachineyeah]

I think it’s interesting that we learn Philip and Caleb became witch hunters to fit in to the existing culture of Gravesfield.

Because the thing about witch hunts is, there’s a lot of zealotry and tattling involved. If they weren’t a pair of traveling radicals, but rather two side characters in an ongoing town furor? That changes things.

Up until now I’ve been a little curious about the dynamic of having Philip be the younger brother. We are more used to stories where the older person has authority over the younger in a way that allows them to be despotic. Basically when you have two siblings in fiction and one is evil, it’s usually the older one. But Caleb seemed pretty chill? People with chill authority figures usually don’t grow up to do genocide? But Philip is really committed to genocide? And jealousy over your older brother getting a girlfriend is a weird thing to genocide over?

But now we learn, that’s not really the story. Or not the whole story.

This is a JoJo Rabbit situation. This is a Hitler Youth situation.

In a town that’s in a fervor to find the hidden secret evil citizens among them, kids are potentially dangerous. The children you love and care for are also the most likely to be unsavvy and get you killed. Sometimes older relatives under those circumstances have to, or at least feel like they have to, let their younger family members be indoctrinated without openly opposing it, even pretending to support it, because, well. Children talk. Often without filter. Maybe it would be okay, but

Is it worth risking one or both of you being hung in the square to test that theory?

So they get to this town. This town will hang or burn you if you aren’t pious enough. And this town defines piety by its hatred of The Devil. We are all trying to prove we hate the devil the most. And Caleb, older brother, is like, okay then. That’s what’ll keep us fed. That’s what’ll keep us safe. He’s not a zealot so much as he’s just trying to keep him and his kid brother alive and win the town’s favor. Maybe the zealotry even freaks him out a bit, but not enough. Not until he meets Evelyn.

But Philip? Philip believes. Of course he does. His brother has never made any indication to him that there’s room for doubt. No one has ever done that. At least no one whose execution he didn’t later watch with his entire community cheering it on. Because they were dangerous. Everyone knows how this neighbor got sick, how witches caused that terrible accident, how Satan tries to keep us from our eternal salvation. This is literal. This is real. This is eternal souls and cosmic reality. He’s a kid, at first. He gets indoctrinated young. He believes this.

And then they find the actual realm of demons. Actual hell. The source of all evil in the universe. Fucking obviously it is his divine calling to destroy it once and for all. Wouldn’t you? If you could end all suffering? Save everyone for eternity? Surely that is noble. Righteous. Sacred.

And how is he supposed to believe anything else? What is easier to believe: the whole world is a lie and he has been watching innocent people killed for entertainment since he was a child - which goes against everything he was ever taught and also feels fucking bad. Or: the witches used their evil magic to convince my brother they aren’t evil, which proves how evil they are. That lines up perfectly with everything I know, everything everyone around me has always said, and makes it okay that I participated in those public executions, and also gives me some good righteous anger to fuel me on a genocidal rampage for as long as I continue to exist.

In Philip’s head, he’s the center of his dramatic fantasy epic. He’s the lone hero up against the big bad. He’s going to take on the Devil himself.

Idk, I just think it’s cool that The Owl House was like, “hey, Satanic panics, fascism, and genocide are allied ideologies, perhaps even the same ideology, and it’s Bad”

Also, “societal pressure to conform enables and even encourages people to hurt those they love”. Camila tried to send Luz to camp because she didn’t want Luz to be bullied the way she had been, because Luz’s principal told her she had to. It was a gesture born out of a desire to protect her, but one that would ultimately hurt. Caleb let Philip grow up more pious than he was because it seemed safest, to protect him. Philip grew up believing in eternal damnation and righteous cruelty, something that has clearly ultimately hurt him I mean look at what he is now. Philip, meanwhile, hurt Caleb and continues to hurt his family because he thinks there’s a Right and Wrong way to exist. To be. The ultimate call for conformity. For hegemony. But he didn’t spontaneously generate this belief. It was reinforced from a young age from a society that wanted to make sure no one was deviating too much. To centralize and maintain power through manipulation, exploitation, and force.

Anyway I cannot fucking wait for Camila and Eda to meet oh my fucking god

[avocado-writing]

hi!! ive.. gone and read so much of ur work in one sitting. its all so much to take in, IN A GOOD WAY, and i absolutely adore every single word

would u be so kind.. to bless my angst durge needs..

Durge Resist tav, was strong for all until the brain was finally defeated but now, with what she believed her only purpose/chance at redemption (brain), they can't help but feel utterly empty and,, unredeemed. They mourn all those they have robbed from this world, nameless, and countless numbers of people they robbed of the life that they were now being given the chance at living. Surely they don't deserve it(Is what they think..)

They are pathetically in love, and if they deserve anything, its to tell their special one just how much they are adored before casting themselves out of society (or taking their own life, if ur comfortable writing such things-)

Rolan, Dammon, Zevlor, maybe even Rugan if u write for that loser LMAO. just.. whoever u write for, its the tieflings i adore most ahegege

if this didnt make sense IM SORRY i havent slept in so long and sleep is not choosing me. i just crave angst, perhaps with a happy ending if u would indulge me so..!! thank u if u read this, so much!!

hi, I don't write fics about suicide, but here's the tiefling bachelors with a durge who's planning to disappear after the absolute is gone and giving them one final confession:

Dammon

senses something is wrong when you take him aside for a heart-to-heart.

it isn't that you avoid these sorts of moments per se, he just knows you only affirm your affections when something big is going to happen (you did it before you went off to fight the elder brain)

he holds your hand tightly, gets you to look him in the eye.

"I love you, no matter what, and I never want to be without you. tell me you'll be there when I wake up tomorrow. in our bed. swear it to me."

you can see the utter adoration he looks at you with, and you think: maybe you aren't so bad if a man like this can truly love you.

the next morning Dammon wakes up. you're not in bed next to him. he panics, getting to his feet - only to find you in the kitchen making breakfast.

he's never been so relieved. walks up behind you and wraps you in his arms. he loves you so dearly, and will keep on loving you until you believe yourself worthy of it.

Rolan

Rolan doesn't quite understand why you're having this great outburst, but chalks it down to emotions running high after the final battle.

says goodnight, kisses you, and heads off to his tower - he has a lot of admin to do after all.

the next morning he comes to meet you at the elfsong, only to be met with the realisation that you aren't there. he curses himself for not understanding why you were so melancholic last night.

he tracks you down. uses all of his resources to scry on you, grease palms with the money the tower has. he's up all night for weeks. Cal and Lia worry about him but he is determined.

and find you he does. manages to locate where you're hiding out, a little hamlet in the middle of nowhere. you burst into tears when you see him, and he just pulls you into his arms.

"come home with me."

you do, moving into his tower. and you never leave him again.

Zevlor

immediately knows something is wrong. takes you to a quiet place where the two of you can be alone and talk things out.

discusses how he feels like being a failure for breaking his oath -- but you always saw past that. saw the goodness in his soul. he wishes you would treat yourself with that kindness.

you begin to cry, softly at first, and then with sobs which wrack your whole body. he holds you ever so tightly.

"I love you. you are not who you were. you have strived to be better every day, fought against your own family, and always chosen a righteous path. you deserve to be happy. I'd want to make you happy, if you'd let me."

eventually your tears run dry and you look up into his face. his eyes are so sincere. he means every word.

when you kiss him, it's a promise: that you're with him for good. that whatever comes next, it will be faced together.

[lunarflux]

my dark companion (bonus chapter)

aemond targaryen x fem!reader

genre—smut, dark romance song inspo—billie eilish - lovely summary— Aemond indulges in his twisted desires with a woman who knows his every need. They meet in secret, their passion driven by his anger and her willingness to submit to his painful advances. Aemond craves her, yet despises the intimacy that follows. He questions why she always returned to him, knowing that she did not love or care for him. The cycle of desire and anger persists, leaving him yearning for more, caught in a tormented state until their next encounter. authors note: this random ass excerpt/bonus chapter was born from my reaction the awful responses i keep seeing of aemond's brothel scene

“Tell me what plagues you.”

Adiel held her hand to Aemond’s cheek, her thumb gently stroking his brow with steady motions. He was so still, and his sapphire eye stayed pressed to the pillow, nearly concealed. His breaths were slow and calm. Beneath the covers, he draped his arm across Adiel’s waist. Now that the veil of their aggression had finally been lifted, all he’d wanted was to sleep next to her. Perhaps then, he might rest without nightmares, without the thoughts that bore down on his chest. To speak so freely was the barrier he knew he’d eventually have to cross, though he still didn’t know how.

Adiel patiently caressed him. With each passing second of silence, she placed her lips on his skin, speckling his face with traceless tenderness.

When she pulled back, Aemond was looking at her, and the sadness behind his stare filled her with heartache. To know at last how in pain he was—it was not the same as it was before. She adored his anguish, just as she openly admitted, but this was different. Whatever shattered his heart so long ago remained etched between the broken pieces of his soul, and he struggled to let her see the depth of the damage.

“Whatever it is, pain or otherwise,” she kissed him again then held her lips still, “Let me ease the burden by carrying part of it for you.”

“I do not believe that the weight of what troubles me can be shared. Believe me, though I wish to allow you, I cannot.”

“If it is the weight of the world you carry, I understand. But if it is a wound that was never mended, then at least, let me try.

Aemond parted his lips only slightly, struggling to find the words to begin. Finding the right way to explain was a hurdle he never learned to overcome. The strength to open one’s chest was not an easy task. “I can still feel her—the madam.”

“The madam?”

“In the Streets of Silk,” he leaned over, rested his face against her bosum, and spoke into her chest. “I can feel her hands on me. Her voice—teling me what to do. And my brother’s face as he disappeared behind the curtain.”

“When did this happen?” Adiel’s voice slowly diminished, and her face twisted with concern.

“Too long ago.”

“Aemond, were you… You were a child.”

“To my brother, I was to be a man whether it be in time or by consequence.”

Adiel didn’t know how to respond at this revelation. She, herself, had lost her maidenhood to someone who was familiar to her, someone who cared but would soon depart. Though she did not feel heartache or longing for the now stranger, she could at least appreciate that her first was an act of warm affection and the dampest form of love between friends.

“She recognized me that day Cole and I looked for Aegon,” Aemond nuzzled his nose against her, “I could not stop myself. I didn’t know what I needed. When I was not with you, I was with her. Only for a short while. Though I did not know if it was my money or her sympathy that led me back to that place. And every time I left, I felt the filth of her on my skin. I cannot rid myself of it.”

“She claimed your virtue,” Adiel stared at the ceiling, frozen at the thought of Aemond in the arms of a strange woman.

“According to my brother, men do not have virtues. They merely gain dignity.”

“Dignity gained through cruelty is not righteous,” the anger in her voice gradually rose, “You gained nothing. She took from you—”

“—at my brother’s command—”

“—your brother is not innocent either!” Adiel sat up in anger, pushing him to the side, “Have you held this notion ever since? That what your brother did was for your own good?”

Aemond tried to argue, “My brother cares for me—”

“—your brother sought to draw you from your innocence, and in doing so, created only that which is spurned from a wound that can never be healed. Aemond, you have lived with this for years. Do you not see what his actions have done to you? That what she has taken can never be given back? It was not a gift—she stole from you! Your brother, he stole from you!”

“I had a part to play in this, did I not? I chose to go back to her. To be held, naked and exposed, where I shed my secrets, and left the face of a Prince of Westoros at the door.”

“Aemond,” Adiel took his face in her hands firmly, “Whatever comfort she gave you, that is not love. Affection can be manufactured. What you needed was warmth—home. Succor given in exchange for coin is nothing to hold dear. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you—”

“—You weren’t here.”

Adiel froze, and the cold sweat of guilt coated her body at this brutal truth. He was right. She was never there. She never stayed, never let herself be content to lay in his bed. Aemond didn’t raise his voice, and he didn’t sound like he was accusing her. He was simply stating a truth. Her reluctance to give him what he needed past his carnal desires left him empty. She only provided temporary relief for a wound he bore in secret. Did she make him worse? Because she withheld her own affection for her sake?

Aemond reached for her, but she pulled back with silent shame. Adiel averted her gaze, staring at a blank space on the wall as her eyes started to sting. She hurriedly grabbed her robe and rushed to stand.

He followed her with timid steps, “I do not blame you. I never asked you to stay. It is my fault as it is anyone else’s.”

Adiel abruptly pivoted her heel, facing him with bloodshot eyes, “Why aren’t you angry with me? Be angry with me, Aemond. You should be angry with me. I wanted to break you, but I did so without any concern for… If I had known…”

“How would you have known?”

“I should have seen it,” she quivered with sharp breaths. She kept shaking her head as if the guilt had flooded her throat, “The way you ached. The way you hated the silence between us. You have never known a love that holds you and keeps you safe. If I had known—”

“—If you knew, you would have ran.”

“I wouldn’t—”

“—This is what scares you, is it not? Raw, naked vulnerability—that was never part of what we did in this room. What we did had no emotion. It was to alleviate the two of us of that which was out of our control. You felt nothing, so you wanted to take my pain. I only felt pain, so I wanted to use you to numb me with your torture. Neither of us could have known the other was the cure to our afflictions.”

“I wanted your pain because it was only you who dared to show it to me,” she whispered with anguish on her lips, “I swear, had I known… I wouldn’t have waited for you to be the one to succumb to us first. Aemond,” Adiel placed her hands on his neck, “What I feel, I have no shame in saying it now. What I feel is love. It is not a shallow love. It is painful—a purgatory of what I truly desire and that which I know will be my own demise. My chest burns for you. My heart aches knowing that I have so ignorantly acted to incite your pain for my selfish benefit.

“Had I not kept the wall between us for the sake of my own self-preservation, I might have seen your wound festering beneath me. Days, nights, hours, and seconds—thinking that I was using you so heartlessly because it was I who feared the wall crumbling down. How am I to live with myself? To hold the knowledge that you think you are worth nothing more than a lonely night in the arms of a woman who…”

Adiel stopped herself and studied him, the subtle inflections in his face as she spoke. His body, pale and scarred by years of training. His chest, concealing the faintest tremble beneath frail skin. It was only when he was clothed that his mask of dark allure shone, but here, alone in their room, where he stood bare and on display only for her. All that she beheld but never once truly saw in admiration—it set an unbearable sting in her core that would not dim for her guilt consumed her conscience.

How had she never seen his beauty before? What had she held in her hands the many months with him? How could she have been so blind to the man before her? How many nights had she spent clawing away at his body only to now see how bewitching he was? All that she’d held between her fingers, blinding and prepossessing, lay before her.

“Forgive me,” Adiel’s lip trembled, “I was so blind to all you tried to show me.”

Aemond kissed her forehead, “You were not blind. I shielded you from the horrors that were mine and mine alone. It would not do to drown in this torment together. It would only cast a shadow over us.”

“If it is a shadow, then I will help guide you back to the light,” Adiel nodded, “You are no longer alone. You told me we would set fire to the kingdom and watch it burn together. If you are to burn, let me burn with you.”

[lych33dragoncookie]

alright so the main reason i wanted to make this blog; those new Wind Archer trailers.

I already had a lot to say about the first one, for... One big reason.

The fact we're going to the laboratorium is pretty exciting, but I did not expect for us to already catch a glimpse of the Ultimate Cookie. In fact, I had almost forgotten about that; I thought Matcha making MyCookie was more of a byproduct of the Beast cookies needing bodies to inhabit, but...

Well, I guess Dark Enchantress's original ambitions haven't left her. And she's really, really close to realizing her dreams; the dreams she carries on from White Lily Cookie.

It really makes me wonder how White Lily would react to these developments. To see her dreams realized, every bit as horrifying as she most likely knew they'd be, carried on by a part of herself. I really, really wanna see where they go with this.

On another note...

sorry, i just much prefer his Japanese VA HE'S BAAAAAAAACKKKKK~

You have... No idea how frustrated I was to see that the first Beast cookie to release was Mystic Flour and not him. And while it's not guaranteed we'll get him this time, either (even if i really hope we do)... Come on, it's just nice to have him back. He's a really, really fun antagonist. Sometimes, when all your antagonists have complex motives, believing that despite everything they've done, ultimately they're the ones in the right (with even Dark Enchantress only committing as much harm as she has as a response to the revelation that the world, on a fundamental level, was seemingly much more cruel, uncaring and pointless than she had ever thought; a desperate need to make a difference, no matter how many lives and pain it takes), it's incredibly nice to have that one villain, that one villain who doesn't try to find an excuse for what they do, having fun, not believing that they're doing everything that they do for some greater motive, but just to have fun, to make the entire world one big, brightly burning play area for them to toy with as long as they want, however they want. I love Shadow Milk, because he perfectly offsets the usual monologuing, self-righteous villainy we tend to see (And often enjoy, don't get me wrong, both Dark Enchantress and Mystic Flour have grown one me) with just pure, uncaring, show-stopping villainy for the sake of villainy.

He's manipulative, playful, silly, over the top, more concerned with putting on a show first and foremost than actually accomplishing his objectives; because you and I both know that he knows that he could probably just brute force his way into getting his soul jam back, into taking down the heroes without any opportunity for them to do anything about it. If he wanted to, he could very, very easily create an unwinnable scenario. But he doesn't. Because that's no fun.

And I absolutely adore him for it. Every single scene he's in is an absolute delight.

... Right, uh. Wind Archer.

I'm excited for him! It's been a while since we've gotten any Ovenbreak legendaries, and with Wind Archer in the game, it means we're likely very close to seeing Fire Spirit and Millennial Tree (Both pretty big faves for me, though Millie is the one that does unholy things to my brain just from looking at him). And honestly, this feels like a really, really good use for him! No beating around the bush, no overcomplicating anything, just going straight to the point and trying to stop the current threat at its root. He's going to fail, obviously. Even if he takes out the ultimate cookie, chances are it can just be rebuilt, and the beasts on an individual level would be way too much for him to handle. And with Shadow Milk having awoken... Yeah, he stands just about no chance. But, it will be very fun to see, methinks. It's also just a pretty natural fit; a protector of nature that hunts down anything that may disturb or corrupt said nature being sent to strike down what's pretty much a threat that's entirely artificial, unnatural, bodies made through forbidden, arcane magic and ethically dubious means, stumbling upon the culmination of someone's ambitions to create perfect life by artificial means. It works out really, really well, methinks.

But yeah that's my thoughts so far on the 2 Wind Archer update trailers, I'm actually really excited for where they're gonna take this, we've actually got some good plot progression going on and a lot of interesting writing ideas that while I don't fully trust the devs to execute perfectly, I do still really like and feel pretty hopeful for!

... Now just give me Shadow Milk and Millennial Tree and my life is yours. And Lychee, maybe. That one might take a bit. how are they even gonna do Longan in Kingdom. that's... quite a lot to try to adapt without either rehashing content or completely hijacking the plot. god i hope this doesn't mean they'll just stop at Lotus. I miss my dragons. Except not really because OB has been doing some good stuff with them.

Sorry for the really long post, but I wanted to dump some thoughts and have a sort of primer for the kinda stuff I wanna make for this blog.

Oh, and expect some shitposts along the way, too.

[momspren]

I just finished Alchemy of Souls, and... My gosh. Y'all were right. What an epic incredible journey. What delicious narrative payoff for everything that everyone went through. I can't believe we got satisfying death scenes for four separate main (good) characters that would have made sense (while still being gut wrenchingly tragic), and then they all LIVED in a way that was narratively interesting but not implausible. They got their happy endings, and we got to see the big bad guy literally immolate and then the good guy went and fought a DRAGON as the final boss battle.

Every character had an arc that made sense and brought them to their end (or their new beginning) poetically and just beautifully. All of the characters were interesting and I appreciated that everyone who had a distinct character arc got the chance to shine in the final episodes. Their journeys mattered.

I was actually blindsided by the fact that Jin Mu had a SECOND secret society he had been cultivating of members of the Unanimous Assembly, but in retrospect they were awfully united about huge changes (stripping power from a whole group, taking the ice stone from UK, etc) that a group like that is designed to NOT be unanimous about, because then they will only make big moves like that when it is really, really necessary.

The storytelling was so beautiful. I truly didn't think that Uk was going to be so unselfish. Before the reveal that Bu-Yeon needed to stay because the future with the fire bird was going to happen no matter what, I fully expected an ending where they decided that Bu-Yeon had just as little claim to the body as Naksu, and she either left on her own or turned out to be another person seeking eternal life at the cost of others and she would need to be expelled. I didnt expect Uk and Naksu to actually decide that they would adhere to the greater good and let Naksu fade away, just spending their last moments together. That hurt.

Shoutout to Master Lee for getting those two married when he got the freaking chance. As soon as he got them alone in the mountains again he was like "I am not putting up with you two dancing around each other for a second longer, you are getting married IMMEDIATELY" and I respect him so much for that

It's a happy ending, but it didn't come cheap. Everyone was willing to give up everything to make it happen, and everyone's sacrifice MATTERED to the plot. One sacrifice paved the way for another sacrifice which paved the way for another sacrifice until the world was saved. They couldn't have done it without ALL of them.

The story was a bunch of people who were petty, or broken, or self righteous, and all of them incredibly lonely, coming together and growing to the point where they believed in a good and kind and beautiful world enough that they undoomed the narrative.

[veryrichbitchh]

Let’s chat.. i am a black woman and I recently found out about ‘divesting’ from YouTube and that was the nail that broke the camels back for me. I’ve been getting so many signs saying leave SW FULLY from God.. I was fighting too hard to be handed a luxury life (that is not actually luxury) and not working for it for myself, righteously. Honestly… why are so much of us trying to sell p*ssy instead of getting ahead in life by doing the hard work that won’t leave our soul feeling rotten…?

So, I’ve accepted SW as a phase in my life. My Holy Spirit has been wanting me to stop but my body/flesh did not want to let go of it. I need to believe that God can solve my problems and have the highest faith in Him only, and serve no other gods.

Be careful who you bring around you also, friends can lead you into that lifestyle and it happens quickly. Around age 21 when I let superficial friends that only care about designers, men, etc… get around me and essentially corrupt my mind. Be careful because you can easily get sucked into that life of shallowness and do things you should not to keep up with the shallowness. It happened to me, led me to spend above my income and in turn, it led me to thinking money, rich men,luxury trips and dates, drinks, etc… can validate me. Then came me turning to older white men since I live in a city where the men with money are generally white. Even if marriage wasn’t the goal for me most times with them , it is truly embarrassing to be so strung out/in the sunken place (lol) that I thought being with a 70,60,50+ year old white man (especially in public) is okay. (I’m in my 20s!!!) I even at one point thought marriage was in the picture with them… lol. I was about to allow myself to enter that mindset when I know that’s not what I want. I know for a fact that I deserve better.

The lifestyle of the sugar baby, sw'er, whatever, I've been invested in for so long and I am just tired of faking that it is .. idk the word . Tired of faking that it is “all that”. Idk the word .. but you get my point (maybe). And I’m not saying it was an entirely horrible experience… but at the end of it all you don’t gain much. (What is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul.) and I feel God never let me get fully invested (face out) either like He kept me protected. My Holy Spirit had me understand through the whole journey that this is not forever and to not let my mistakes linger for life that I actually start to embrace the mistakes.

But thinking back to it all, what was it for? Because I could have put all that time into a more l*gal and profitable business that I am actually proud of , but I chose not to… I chose the “easy” way out which was not so easy especially when the income is sporadic. Maybe it was the thrill. It was like a high. A drug almost. This is a lot to unpack babes.. The devil wanted me to give even more than I gave to that lifestyle and I gave a lot… but nothing God cannot return.

Anyway, babes, I have so much on my mind but I am choosing to work on businesses, study/figure out how to pass my exams, take trips, learn the righteous way I can live my life, travel, lean on God always and just being at peace. I am so at peace right now it's amazing. I am okay with my past because without it i would not come to this realization and I am thankful for the Grace of God that his kindness led me here. So, ladies, the summary is, work for what you want that is beneficial for your Holy Spirit. I am no longer in sw and will continue to write updates here and there! <3

And yes I still very much am a Very Rich B*tchh😘

-VRB

[anamericangirl]

It drives me kind of crazy how often I see you having to argue the same points over and over with people. It seems to me as if I should just be able to scroll your blog a bit, get a good idea of your feelings on things, and then know everything I need to know about how you'll answer. How do you deal with this strange, perverse popularity you've garnered? How many times do you think you'll have to tell people that an unborn baby is a person and entitled to all the protections any other person should be? Every other 'gotcha' and nice and narrow circumstance that someone could possibly ask about abortion should be a 'don't make me tap the sign' moment, right? Yes, aborting a child conceived of rape is bad because the baby is innocent. Yes aborting a child because the mother's circumstances changed is bad because the child has a right to life too. Yes, when you fuck someone you're consenting to the risk of bringing a new life into the world, and you don't get to revoke that consent later for any reason. I can't help but think these people keep trying to mental-backflip their way into a position where their beliefs aren't barbarically monstrous has to be coming from some feeling of guilt. At some point in their lives they coerced someone to kill their baby, or maybe they killed their own baby, and if they confront the idea that they took part in killing an innocent person they will burst into flames or something. They're desperate to try to convince people that they're actually a good person, that they're not monsters, and that they don't need to repent for the lives they've ended.

I'm convinced that most people are motivated by compassion, but it's so devilishly easy to trick and coerce people in misdirecting that compassion towards evil means. Change the lens and perspective on a situation and you can find someone gullible enough to believe what they're advocating for is good and righteous. When compassionate people are confronted with the notion they've been tricked and used for evil, I think they tend more often than not to break. They have to twist themselves back up into a deluded mindset to defend their minds and souls from the pain of admitting they were used, and in the process they only perpetuate more evil...

Anyway, I think you're great. The only thing we seem to be able to do with these people is to be a wall they can't break down or climb over. We have to be like concrete, so when they slam into us they only cause themselves pain. There can be no bending or breaking in the face of people that will take any sign of weakness as an indication they are right. If there's any chance of them coming back from where they are, then walls like you need to help guide them along the right path as they seek to slam through you.

I think you are pretty much right. Some of it might be guilt, some of it's misguided and warped "compassion" and some is just straight up indoctrination. That's why for the majority of them, once they make their initial argument they can't engage with you in an intellectual discussion after you challenge it. All they know is the line but they can't rationalize it because they surround themselves in echo chambers where they don't have to rationalize things. They're not used to engaging in discussion with people who don't just nod in agreement with them or don't accept what they say at face value.

And, like, yeah it does get a little tiring to have to say the same things over and over again when it's not hard to find my answer by taking a quick glance at my blog. I've literally addressed every single pro-abortion argument in existence at this point I think lol. But on the other hand I don't mind especially if it seems to be someone who I haven't interacted with before and is genuinely curious (even if it's something I've answered before) versus someone who keeps asking me the same things over and over again and is just completely ignoring my answer or thinks if they slightly change the scenario my answer will be different. And sometimes it's hard to differentiate between those two types of people lol.

For whatever reason, they just can't accept that there's never a time where you have to kill a baby. And that might be where a little bit of the guilt comes in. They see me and others say that and they immediately start trying to invent scenarios (some completely outlandish) where it's necessary to kill a baby. Because if they can't find an exception then that means they have actually been advocating for something truly horrible this entire time and none of them want to admit they've been doing that.

Thanks so much!!

[acknowledgetheabsurd]

Although this day is beautiful, full of light, trees in bloom and birds singing, it seems to me very sad and very heavy, far from you, deprived of you, anxious about you. I have not done anything good lately and I will make the effort again to dominate my work and my time. I thought to myself that you would also need me to have a clear and relaxed mind. If The Righteous are stopped in April, which I hope they are, we will travel a bit. At least, I would like to and I hope you will think like me, my darling child. 

I was wrong to tell you about Hébertot yesterday, but that phone was freezing me and the inability to let my heart speak pushed me to talk about anything. The story is simple. In a postscript to a letter in which he asked me for permission to stage Caligula this season or next in Paris, this vain fool thought it wise to add: "I believe it is indispensable to tell you this: if I had known that you would refuse to dedicate your play to me, I would not have staged it." In the state I was in you can imagine my reaction! The answer I'm going to send him will inform him a little about aspects of life that he is unaware of and I believe that any collaboration with him will be impossible from now on. Ah! I can't stand this scum anymore! 

I also wanted to reassure you about my health. Negative analysis, constant weight (judging by my appearance), sleeping almost every night, I should return consolidated in Paris. I know what they will tell me: that, in any case, I will have to take precautions and live cautiously for years to come. I know this, and although these limitations make me angry, I have decided to be docile to these servitudes. I have decided this for us and I will, I believe, keep this word. I need the physical means to hold myself together and to dominate my life a little. I don't think it's without concern that you will take Dora back tonight. This new fatigue, and that touches the soul too, worries me for you. 

Rest especially. Recover during the day. Think of me: you are the dearest thing to me in the world and, kept far from you, I tremble every time I imagine you in this moment. I would have preferred that you take a long rest. But there is still time and if you feel your heart is missing, let it go. We don't care about Hébertot. And as for me, The Righteous have done their time. I still had to tell you my love. But I love you at this moment in a way so full, so hard, so delivered to you, that I cannot find my words. I want to live near you, for you, that's all. From you to me, in addition to everything else there is now in this enemy world a kind of brotherhood of arms. O my darling, I'm shaking your hand, passionately, and I'm standing next to you. I kiss you long and hard.

Albert Camus to Maria Casarès, Correspondance, February 21, 1950 [#206]

[thegreymoon]

Every once in awhile I’m reminded that Shi Mei exist and that I hate him :) like dude had his reasons but 🤷🏻‍♀️ I simply do not care about him at all 🙅🏻‍♀️ he went way past the line of things that I’m willing to forgive with Mo Ran (Who is my favorite baby) and he doesn’t even accept that he’s responsible for all the bullshit that happened in the first world, and is like kind of blaming Mo Ran? And that enrages me so much :)

I mean, I have stanned plenty of villains in my day and yes, as a villain, Shi Mei is very well conceived, but I just don't like him, nor do I find him appealing as a character. While, yeah, his grand plan was horrific, I can get behind wanting to kill your oppressors so that your own people can live well, especially when massive trauma twists any ethics and morals you might have. But I find him so slimy as a person. CWN did everything right by him and Shi Mei supposedly "loved" him, yet his plan to repay him was to rape and mind control him and turn him into a weapon of mass destruction. He directly led to the deaths of XZY and Madam Wang, who also did right by him. What he did end up doing to Mo Ran is so horrific. I love that Mo Ran ended up being one of his own, to drive home the point of just how wrong he was extra hard. I wish Hua Binan had known and I hate that he got to die still feeling self-righteous about his actions. The special cherry on top of it all was his "but it was TXJ who killed them, why are you angry with meeee???" 🙄🙄 At least Shi Mei 2.0 gets to suffer with the full knowledge of what they did for the both of them. And, yeah, I know many people see Shi Mei 2.0 as the less evil and less responsible one (I don't, but that is beside the point), but even so, if he is to find repentance, he must know the full magnitude of what he has done and suffer under its weight.

One thing I love about 2ha is that repentance does not automatically mean forgiveness or absolution. A great example for this is Huaizui. Yeah, he repented, yeah, he tried to make amends, and yeah, in the end he even started to make amends selflessly. But he never got absolution either from Chu Xun or Chu Wanning and his soul was still doomed at the end of it.

I very much believe that victims have the right not to forgive the people who abused them and furthermore, that the expectation of it shouldn't be there to begin with. I don't think either Mo Ran or CWN will forgive Shi Mei simply because he hurt not only them, but the people they loved the most in the most horrific ways. Will he be able to repent and find peace on his own? Maybe, but I honestly don't care care what happens to Shi Mei in the end. If he is able to repent and save his soul? Good. If he is not? That is also good.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Your Hand in All Things

by Robert Hawker

"A just God, and a Saviour." — Isaiah 45

My soul, have you learned, from the teaching of God the Holy Spirit, to contemplate Him, with whom you have to do, under these blessed united characters? If you have, you have found it a blessed and approved way of opening communion with God and maintaining that communion alive in the soul. You know, then, that God, as a just God, can allow no pardon for sin except on the basis of complete satisfaction; for, without this, His truth and justice would still be violated by unatoned sin.

But if you behold God in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and have been taught by the Spirit that Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law, being made a curse for you; that, as your surety and representative, He has paid your debt and restored what He did not take away; here you truly see "a just God, and a Saviour," and have learned that precious, blessed truth of how God can be just, and the justifier of every poor sinner who believes in Jesus.

See to it then, my soul, that you keep this precious thought always in view. Always blend together, in all your approaches to a mercy seat, the understanding that you are approaching "a just God, and a Saviour." Never lose sight of the high demands of God's righteous law, nor of the perfect worth and efficacy of Jesus in His blood and righteousness. And always connect with this blessed view your own personal interest in that obedience, through your union with Him. Then you will delight in God's justice as much as in His mercy; and His holiness will be as dear to you as His love. Then you will understand that blessed truth and agree with it in every part: "Surely one shall say, 'In the Lord I have righteousness and strength'; even to Him shall men come; and all that believe in Him shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end."

[ink-flavored]

Introducing the Antagonists

BTS Series: ⬅ Table of Contents - Reworking the Plot ➡ Also available on Neocities! P&J Taglist (Check out my Google form to get added): @elegant-paper-collection @auroblaze@zeenimf @vacantgodling @foxys-fantasy-tales Banner art by @auroblaze

With the leads out of the way, it’s high time we talk about the shiny new antagonists for Pride & Justice. And yes, that’s antagonists with an “s” because there are two of them! Since the fanfiction version of the story only had the two main characters in it, both of these antagonists are completely created by me. I also don’t have design references for them yet, so feel free to imagine them in your head.

The reason I have two antagonists when I could very easily just have one is based on a few things. For one, I thought it would be fun to have representatives from both Heaven and Hell, like Pride and Justice themselves, and create a neat mirror effect in the narrative. For another, there are multiple conflicts in the story—the conflict of Pride and Justice getting back to Heaven to complete the contract Pride made with that soul in Purgatory, and the conflict between Pride and Justice as they try to navigate their new lives and eventual romance. The dual-antagonists serve both conflicts, one for the over-arching plot that runs through the story, and another for the personal dynamic of their relationship, creating another wedge that they have to climb over to be together. I also wanted to take the opportunity to say that, while Heaven and Christianity deserve critiquing, just because Heaven is bad doesn’t mean that Hell is good. They’re both fundamentally flawed, for different reasons.

With all that said, let’s introduce the new players!

Honesty

I’ve always been really fascinated with the idea of a villain who believes what they’re doing is righteous and good. The kind of antagonist that is doing objectively horrible things from every perspective but their own, who can’t or won’t understand that the things they’re doing “for the greater good” aren’t doing any good at all. That’s the kind of person that Honesty is.

Honesty is, like Justice, an angel that embodies the virtue of her namesake. She is physically incapable of telling a lie, and follows the word of God to a tee. After all, God’s word is the truth of the world. She knows her place—it is to serve Heaven and fight against Hell at any cost. Every angel in Heaven knows their place too, and deviating from it is a non-issue. If you aren’t serving God, specifically if you aren’t carrying out His word to the letter, you aren’t doing your duty as an angel. You deserve retribution and punishment for it. You deserve to be sent to Hell for it. After all, that is God’s word. You can’t refute that because she can never lie.

In her own mind, all she’s doing is keeping things the way they should be. Angels are taught, created for, and trusted to serve God’s will for the good of His children and the world at large. Pride is a speck to her, a lost cause she won’t even bother sympathizing with. He’s already lost. What really makes her mad, what sends her on the crusade that leads to the entire story, is Justice defending him. He’s breaking the laws he promised to serve, defying God for a demon, of all things. She places herself at the head of the mission to bring Justice back under the banner of Heaven, send Pride to his death like he deserves, or bring them both down.

From our perspective, she clearly sucks. Pride dying would have other far-reaching consequences beyond killing a single demon. Killing the innocent person he just happens to be carrying along with him is bad, actually, and Justice pointing that out shouldn’t immediately send him to the same fate. That doesn’t matter to her. They’ve both made themselves enemies of God by defying His word, and now they are her enemies too. And she’s right. They aren’t following the rules. Pride for obvious reasons—he doesn’t care about God’s rules—but Justice really has no excuse here. He’s an angel advocating for keeping a demon alive. No matter the reason, the ends should justify the means for him. But they don’t. He is wrong, and Honesty is going to show him what happens to angels who are wrong.

The point of Honesty being legitimate in her grievance is not to make a point about how being anti-authority and breaking the rules is always awesome (although it is), it’s to show that those rules she’s enforcing—even if she is telling the truth—are flawed. The law is unjust, and following an unjust law makes you unjust, and Justice won’t sit idly by and accept it like he’s supposed to. The problem with that is that he’s lower on the hierarchy than God. Literally everyone is. To Honesty, the law being unjust doesn’t matter. Things in life being unfair doesn’t matter. Innocent people dying—like killing a soul along with the demon ferrying it—happens sometimes in the name of the greater good. Tough shit. God said so, and it’s not your place to have an opinion about the word of God. Do as you’re told.

If you haven’t picked up on it already, Honesty is going to be the main vehicle for which I drive my criticism of American Evangelical Christianity. Evangelicalism, if you’re unfamiliar, (and I’ll be paraphrasing) is the sect of Christianity that reads the Bible literally, as if it is without fault, and is the perfect way to practice your faith—it’s called “biblical literalism.” One of their core tenants is to proselytize everywhere, to everyone, to save their souls for the second-coming, which they also fervently believe will happen. They genuinely, honestly believe they are spreading the good word—the word “evangelical” comes from the Greek word for "good news"—and saving lives. Which is also why, if you’ve noticed, that they preach to anyone regardless of interest or religion, treat any rejection of Christianity as a personal attack, and why they have worked to criminalize abortion, deny the theory of evolution, lambast same-sex marriage, and in general push traditional (read: conservative) thinking when it comes to authority and social practices. Obviously, this is a generalization of a very large sect of a very large religion, but if you’ve been paying even a little bit of attention to American politics over the years, this specific type of Evangelical Christian is going to sound familiar. It’s what I aim to critique in Pride & Justice, and I have no problems stating that Honesty will embody this way of thinking.

Now, I bet some of you are wondering why I made Honesty a woman (specifically a white woman, but I don’t have a design to show you). Surely if my goal is to critique the traditionalist views of the Evangelical Christians, surely a man in a position of authority would be more accurate? While I can see that perspective, I’d argue that God is that man in a position of authority here. Honesty is—like a lot of Evangelicals in real life—simply the “innocent” white woman who uses her relative position of power to crack down on anyone she sees as deviant. People often ignore the ways women perpetuate systems of oppression like patriarchy, because women are oppressed within that system. But a lot of the reason that patriarchy persists is by women passing down patriarchal standards in their homes to their families, in classrooms, and in public places. If you want to go deeper, it’s well documented that white women will use their relative status to perpetuate racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Historically, white women have perpetuated anti-Black racism by falsely accusing Black men and boys of rape to get them arrested, beaten, or killed. For a modern example, look no further than the rise of TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists), a group that is overwhelmingly made up of white Christian women with traditionalist values fighting against their own self-interests, all in the name of perpetuating transphobia. Honesty represents a real demographic that often gets ignored in the fight against inequality.

I’m not sure I’ll portray Honesty as openly bigoted in the story (she’s not a human, angels don’t really have concepts like gender or race), but she is definitely not a fan of Pride or Justice, and finds the idea that they would ever be in a relationship as at best laughable, and at worst a manipulation. It’s against God, after all, for an angel and a demon to collaborate, much less be in love, so therefore if it’s real it must be destroyed, and if it’s false it must be revealed that it was always a fiction—and therefore destroyed. She is going to try a lot of things to try and get Justice to “see the light" once again, turn him against Pride, and follow-through with her promise to smite him like she intended to before they escaped. All of them will fail, though it will not be without a fight.

Beyond the political stuff, I’m excited to weaponize her inability to tell a lie. It’s really going to add a new flavor to the kind of story I’m able to tell with her, and I think it adds a very cool depth. How do you argue against someone who can never tell a lie? How do you show them they’re wrong, even when they’re technically right, and retroactively make their previous statements untrue? What is the truth, how do you measure it? Is the truth an innate state present in the universe because it’s always been there, or is it a matter of personal perspective?

So, that’s Honesty. Get excited to love to hate her!

Lust

[content warning for emotional abuse, mentioned sexual assault]

Our representative of Hell was genuinely a hard one for me. When I had the idea to create a second antagonist, I knew I wanted whoever it was to be a personal antagonist for Pride. He’s the one with the most emotional baggage that he needs to overcome to let himself be in a relationship with Justice, and the demon crawling out of Hell would obviously only be familiar with him, and couldn’t really have a vendetta against both of them (at least, not at first). Making it Lucifer would be a little much—why would the ruler of Hell care about one demon? I puzzled over the remaining six of the seven sins, debating which one Pride was most likely to have a personal history with, good or bad. Ultimately, I landed on Lust as the one that made the most sense, which made things harder if I’m being honest.

Personally, I despise that lust is even a part of the deadly sins at all. I think that the idea of lust—a real and valid human emotion—being something that eternally damns you is ridiculous and complete bullshit. It necessarily demonizes sex and sexuality as sinful, which has paved the way for a lot more dangerous bullshit, and shunts an entire category of human expression and connection into the Bad Person Slot. Further, I absolutely despise how lust is often portrayed in media—the one, single sexy woman in a conga line of generic looking men in business suits, and of course the one fatphobic caricature for gluttony. I knew if I was going to make Lust-the-character a significant part of my story, I was going to need to do some serious work in portraying it to make it palatable to even myself.

The first thing I did was completely erase the concept of chastity as a virtue. I’ve replaced it with the virtue of passion, something I think better reflects lust on the whole, and I didn’t have any plans to include a chastity angel in the story anyway. Next, I am going to include a plain-text, inescapable, definitive defense of sex and sexuality using the existence of an angel of passion in the story. I already planned to do a subtle exposition dump of Heaven and Hell when Justice is feeling homesick, and that would be the perfect time to bring up something like him being friends with Passion. Probably because Pride was implying that Heaven is all stuffy and no fun. Either way, full and rigorous defense of sex is going to happen, just so everyone is clear about what kind of story this is. And finally, redefining what Lust-the-character actually represents.

Lust is sex doll. The form it chose, and how it presents itself in the story, is as a life-size sex doll, with the addition of smoking horns and a tail like Pride. It does not move its mouth to talk, speaking through telepathy. It can barely move on its own, sitting limp or lying flat, moving in only the barest twitches. If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Lust uses it/its pronouns. It is quite literally a sex object, something that is purpose built for a single-minded, selfish pleasure. It doesn’t matter if Lust enjoys it or not. That’s not the point. The point is that there is this thing that is here for you, and you can do whatever you want.

That’s the kind of lust considered abhorrent and sinful in this story. The kind where you don’t care about, nor even stop to consider, what your partner(s) think. If your sex is not negotiated between all parties, if it isn’t enthusiastically consensual, if you can’t be bothered to take your partner(s) feelings, wants, desires, and pleasure into account, you’re sinning. At best, this makes you a bad sexual partner, using people as sex toys for the sole purpose of getting you off. At worst, you are a rapist.

There are other things people lust for—lust for power is an obvious one. You want to lord over others, to wield your selfishness maliciously, disregarding if and how you hurt others. Generally, though, my version of lust is not about wanting to have sex and then going directly to Hell. In fact, the idea of thoughts = sin is something I’m also getting rid of in this story, but I’ll get into it another time. My version of lust is about being consumed by single-minded desires, including sex, that push you to treat others as disposable. Lust is an object because that’s how people committing this sin view others—tools to be used, abused, and thrown away when they have what they want.

Speaking of “wanting,” what does Lust want with Pride? What is that personal history I hinted at so many paragraphs ago? Well, you may be shocked to find that it isn’t a very nice one.

Like I mentioned in his post, Pride uses his arrogance as a shield to hide the fact that he desperately needs and wants people to like him. As a byproduct of his turbulent past (being rejected by Heaven, burning alive in a river of fire, etc.), he craves the validation of others to tell him that he’s very good and special and the bestest demon guy ever. He’s insecure, put shortly, and will take anything he can get when it comes to attention and/or affection. Enter Lust, who happened upon Pride at the right time, and basically thought, “Oh boy! A body I can exploit!”

There were no real feelings on either side, so what they had wasn’t necessarily a “relationship,” but they were involved, and it was abusive. Lust picked up on the fact that Pride needed validation and decided to make sure he wouldn’t ever be able to get it from anyone else. It berated him for being clingy, insisted no one else would bother putting up with him, and generally fed into the insecurity he tries to hide by confirming it as true. Agreeing that he’s unworthy of the affection he craves so much of, and actually he’s pathetic for wanting so much of it. Ego damaged, Pride would lash out and disappear for a while, but the creeping sense of loneliness from his insecurity would always return. Convinced that Lust was the only way he would ever get attention, he returned to it again and again.

Breaking him down made Lust feel powerful—it had complete control over Pride. No matter how many times he said this was the last time, it knew he would eventually come crawling back. Whereas Pride needs affection to function, Lust needs a power trip.

Eventually, though, Pride stops showing up. This is upsetting for a while, but then rumors start flying around Hell that Pride busted out of Heaven with an angel. And now they’re… living on Earth together? Lust is outraged by this news, in no small part because if Pride never comes back to Hell, it loses a source of its own security. It might lose its hold over him altogether, and that absolutely will not stand. Throughout the story, Lust shows up to try and convince Pride to give up. That whatever he has with Justice won’t last, that Justice will eventually get bored and/or sick of him, that an angel of all things could never possibly tolerate him, much less love him. Some of the other deadly sins show up too, though less persistently, and with a lot less to lose.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m toying with the idea of Lust enlisting other demons to find Pride for it, and harass him into coming back to Hell. I didn’t have a reason for any of the other deadly sins show up, but this would give them a purpose: annoying Pride—on Lust’s behalf, probably for some sort of bribe—to make sure he doesn’t think he’s all that just because he shacked up with an angel.

Lust’s role in the story is to serve as a representation of Pride’s insecurity, and the abusive relationship he has with himself sometimes. Pride routinely denies himself the ability to be vulnerable based on his ego and believes he won’t be worthy of love if he is vulnerable. Defeating Lust is a metaphor for him overcoming not just his past abuse, but his feelings of insecurity.

In a weird way, I am excited to write Lust. It’s going to be a creepy-horror-movie-haunted-doll type of character, which is a way I don’t think people expect a “lust” character to act, so I’m interested in seeing everyone’s reactions.

Also, an important note! Lust is not going to be the only it/its pronoun user in the story, I am not unaware of how that looks. I’m still creating all the side characters, but since Justice makes a lot of friends on Earth, I am fully planning on populating the most-seen characters with at least one other it/its user.

Anyway! Those are the antagonists of the story! What do you think? I’d love any and all thoughts!

Thanks as always for your support!

— Annika

[dwarf-vader-of-middle-earth]

I just wish I had someone who appreciated my original fiction the way I do. Someone, just 1 person, who would read my own universes and be inspired and want to partake in them and their lore. A single person to read what I make up from my own mind, and appreciate the effort I put into it genuinely and wholely. Instead, it's just my fanfiction, which I don't really write much of, that garners attention. Every piece that takes place in established universes, gets way more likes and reads and attention, versus what I pour my entire heart and soul and life essence into coming up with all on my own, which gets none ever at all. It doesn't matter if I tag and reblog the story 50 times, all 50 notes are from my reblogs and not 1 person even gave it a like. I've paid for advertising my books on multiple platforms. I've shared everything I've ever written as a rough draft for free on my pages so people can get interested in the final product. But no one even looks at those ads, or at the free 5,000+ word stories I write, let alone buys anything from me... I'm seriously pissed... My original ideas are creative, unique, and epic. And nobody cares.

Want to read about the legends of gigantic robots the size of mountains, which were piloted by people who, when they died, they'd lay down in empty fields in their mechs and pass peacefully as nature grew over the mech and turned it into an actual mountain? Go read my dream of the Titan Mechs, then.

What about a man who loves another man he can't remember? And every day the two meet by chance, one angry that he keeps crossing paths with someone not of his realm, and the other frustrated he can't remember this man at all but has a connection to him? And they search for a way to remain in each other's hearts and minds across dimensions that won't allow for such a romance as theirs to prevail? Go read Forgotten Magick, then.

What about sentient robots called Kydons whose queen forged a sword long ago that could control all technology anywhere in the world, and when she died, she hid the blade where nobody could reach it for fear that someone would use it to end her world? And Humankind rises up to find that blade believing the spearhead of the hunt will build something great for Earth with it, only for one Human to find out that spearhead is planning to ruin both Earth and Antu'rok and all life to rebuild everything in his image as the one ruler? So that single Human who found this out must betray his people and find the sword with the help of the Kydons to get it before the spearhead does? Go read my excerpt for Golden Horizons, then.

Are you curious to see how a single man serving Death goes on to become a god of all things good and righteous by inheriting the power of an ancient god who he freed from control of a wicked warlord and then, with said powers, kills to free the universe from falling into an empire of wrath? Go read Ascending Death, then.

Maybe you'd be interested in a universe where the world is made from four giants, all of whom embody a single trait, and when one giant chooses to make Humans, Death, in a jealous rage, casts a plague upon them all in attempt to end them, and one lone Human goes on a quest to find Death and beg for a cure? Go read A Means to an End, then.

Perhaps you'd like a world where Dwarves and Humans once existed, but the Dwarven mines collapsed and all Humans thought Dwarves to be extinct? And for centuries, the stories and evidence of Dwarves faded out until they were nothing but legend? But one Human man is determined to prove the existence of Dwarves, and find out if any are alive still or not? Go read the story of The Forgemasters, then.

And I have infinite more universes to look into, if you're ever curious. I'm always coming up with more and more of them, by the day. Please, support a small original fiction author, and, even if none of these appeal to you, go ahead and share because you never know who might just be interested!

[hard-times-paramore]

I've been thinking about Sarafan Raziel. Because it grings my gears that the fandom mischaracterizes him so.

In the fandom, everyone calls him a prick and an asshole, but I think it would be way more coherent to his character if he were an extremely kind person, who still dirtied his hands in the name of righteousness.

Imagine a human Raziel who is well liked by his peers, who is good with children and kind to women, and who leads the sarafan with a strong will because he has a sense of purpose. Not over status and power, but because he genuinely believes the cause he is part of. Imagine that noble person, that paragon of humanity, that charmed even his wraith self for a while.

And then imagine this person commiting unspeakable acts of genocide in the name of faith. Blinded by righteous rage, he doesn't pity his victims because he was led to believe they were a plague, and doesn't even mind the monster he becomes in the process, because in his eyes, everything he does is for the good of the world and that absolves him. And that would make Wraith Raziel even the more horrified. What do you mean this gentleman he looked up to can turn into that brutal murderer? Capable of wiping out an entire culture?

And it shows that humans can be monsters, and that monsters can be human. That he's not a cackling evil maniac like Moebius, but instead a sweet man. That even war criminals have human lives and go back home to their families at the end of the day.

And everything Sarafan Raziel did against vampires, Vampire Raziel did tenfold against humans over the course of the thousand years that he was Kain's lieutenant. Raziel as a vampire enslaved humans like cattle and turned them into playthings out of boredom. I don't see the fandom criticizing Vampire Raziel nearly as much.

And here's the thing. Once he turned into a Wraith, Raziel had a process of unlearning his idea that humanity were lesser beings. He started fighting to protect them just as much as vampires, because they're also part of the world of Nosgoth, a world he wishes to see restored.

You know, if Wraith Raziel was capable of unlearning a thousand years of his vampire self enslaving humans, and start seeing them as equals and worthy of saving, and later on even as noble beings, I like to think the same would be possible for Sarafan Raziel too. Because even if he lost his memories, his personality stays the same across his lives. I he only had more information. He just never got the chance to.

Or, he did, when he became his new self.

I like to think that, in the end, when he was struck with the Soul Reaver and killed by his wraith self, the memories from the future came rushing through, and he had a glimpse of his entire future history. That would probably have changed his views. But alas, he died too quickly to be able to process it.