#which she was tragically and unfortunately raised with

[eddiekye]

somebody really should take eddie camping

[kobitoshiningneedle]

I think the tumblr Ace Attorney fandom has a weird stance on Dahlia Hawthorne. Even more so, on her culpability, to the point that some people claim that she was justified in killing Terry Fawles and even Valerie

First of all, we need to consider the main message of the games first and our personal sense of justice second, because Dahlia, as much as any other AA character, operates within the games' own narrative, and has consequences according to it. And Ace Attorney makes it quite clear that any human life is valuable and no one has a right to take it (illegally). This message was accentuated in TGAA mostly, but even in the trilogy we have Edgeworth who says "everyone deserves a fair trial"

And (I think I need to say before someone throws tomatoes at me) I'm not here to defend Terry Fawles and say that he didn't do anything wrong. He pretty much did, and the fact that he started to date his young pupil is pretty horrible and brow-raising, even if it's unclear who initiated it. It's also possible that Valerie was a neglectful sister, and that Dahlia's whole family was abusive and insufferable to her. The most important thing to understand here is that even if Terry and Valerie were all-round terrible people, killing Valerie and manipulating Fawles made Dahlia a criminal. Objectively.

The second point I see people miss is how disastrous was the collateral damage Dahlia caused in her attempts to cover herself. Poisoning Diego. Killing Doug. Attempting to kill Phoenix. Attempting to kill Maya. And the question is: in what way did any of these people do Dahlia injustice? What is their fault?

They didn't have any. By the time of T&T timeline she was pretty much a person poisoned by her hatred and fear. The main tragedy of her character is that she spiraled down from a mistreated schoolgirl who wanted to run away to a malicious woman who would stoop to crime whenever she needs to. I think this is a solid example of an anti-arc, in which Dahlia's fate was indeed shaped by her unfortunate circumstances in many ways, but! She still had agency in her actions, and having agency means having responsibility

To clarify: I don't hate hate Dahlia, even though my disagreement with the fandom lies in the amount of her hateability. I think she's fascinating and is a good foil to Mia. She pretty much IS a tragic character, and we actually have a good insight into her via Iris' recollections before the final trial segment - the person who probably understood Dahlia the most. Realizing that Dahlia was yet another victim of Fey family drama, much like our Maya (even if in other ways) adds some sympathy points to her. But I have a firm opinion that she wasn't exactly redeemable at the end of her criminal path

So, do I think Dahlia's character goes beyond the crazy-psycho femme fatale? Yes, even if the game wasn't really forthcoming about her childhood misfortunes as much as we would want to. Do I think Dahlia deserved condemnation in the end of BTTT? Yes, and I personally didn't expect Phoenix or Mia to pat her head after being responsible for the deaths of 4 people and (the other important part that adds to her hateability) feeling absolutely no remorse towards people that had nothing to do with her tragedy. Having complexity doesn't necessarily mean Dahlia is secretly better as a person, and understanding why a character became the way they are doesn't mean we should sympathize with or forgive them

[britany1997]

Could you do a poly with the boys being mated to a girl that just so happens to be maxes daughter?

Fate Yields For No One

Prologue

Yes of course I can write this for you! Sorry I got this forever ago, I really wanted to make it into a multi chapter fic:) I hope this series will be worth the wait. Comment or DM to be tagged in this series or in my main list:)

Poly! Lost Boys x Max’s Daughter Reader

(I don’t know when the next installment will be out, but there will be more chapters, at least 4-5)

Warnings: angst, talk of death, blood drinking, dub-con turning

California, 1935

You clutched the wall as you stumbled into an alley, coughing loudly into your bloodied handkerchief.

You leaned against the wall, sliding down until you were seated on the grimey alley floor. You pulled the cloth from your lips, hand shaking to see it splattered with the evidence of your impending doom.

Tears rolled down your cheeks as you recalled the fall of each and every member of your family to the same tragic fate.

The Depression had robbed your father of his job, and then your family of its home, forcing you to live a life on the cold California streets, begging for whatever scraps the wealthy were willing to give.

The spread of tuberculosis had gripped the homeless population in your town, and your family had not been immune.

You’d cradled your mother as she’d sobbed for your father. You’d mothered your siblings when she had left you too. Now you were the only one left, and it didn’t look like you’d be here much longer.

You withdrew into yourself, attempting to quiet the world around you, resigned to the conclusion that you’d be rid of it soon.

Which is why you didn’t hear footsteps approaching until a tall gentleman appeared at your side.

He was dressed in a form fitting grey suit paired with black dress shoes. His brown hair was slicked back in typical fashion, and perched on the bridge of his nose were a pair of wire rimmed glasses.

You couldn’t help but think he looked like the kind of man you’d meet on Wall Street, and not in this damp alley where forgotten youths like yourself came to die.

You coughed into the handkerchief again, staining it further. “Please,” you croaked, “are you a doctor? Can you help me?”

The man crouched down to examine your face. You gasped at his disregard for his fine clothing, and his immediate interest in you.

He shot you a soft smile, “I am not a doctor,” he told you, “but I can help you.”

He took your hand in his, smiling wider at your shocked expression, “what if I told you that I could do more than heal you? What if I could restore your life and then some? Would you want that?” He whispered, seemingly staring into your soul as he asked.

A tear slipped down your cheek as you returned his gaze, “I’m not ready to die,” you strained, “I’m so scared. Please don’t let me die, not like this.” You begged, searching his eyes for assurance that he wasn’t just toying with you.

The man sighed, “ok,” he breathed, “I’ll give you what you want.”

His eyes scanned over your broken body, slumped against the alley wall, and he cringed.

“I am truly sorry that there isn’t enough time to do this the gentle way,” he raised his hand to stroke your cheek, “I hope you can forgive me.”

As he finished speaking, his face shifted. His once brown eyes flashed a bright yellow. His teeth elongated into sharp fangs. The man had vanished, and before you crouched a monster.

You would have screamed if you’d had anything left in your lungs, but unfortunately the sands in your hourglass were almost up.

The monster lunged for your neck and bit down, draining the remaining life force from your body. As you faded into blackness, you scolded yourself for trusting this wolf in sheep’s clothing. You knew your error in judgment would be your last.

The monster pulled away from your neck, and you watched with blurred vision as he used his menacing fangs to tear into his wrist.

He brought his wrist to your lips, and wrapped a hand around the back of your head to pull you closer.

You fought to stay conscious as the monster’s blood dripped onto your tongue, but against your will, your eyes fluttered shut and your vision faded to black.

Taglist❤️:

@anna1306 @bloodywickedvamp @misslavenderlady @ghoulgeousimmaculate @6lostgirl6 @pixielostboy @riz-coolgirl @solobagginses @its-freaking-bats @xxryn @honeybedo @dwaynesluscioushair @feardot-com @lostboys1987girl @altierirose

[batrogers]

Civilized Or Not

So there’s some common Zelda fanon I wanna talk about, relating to civilization tropes I think some of y’all haven’t really thought about in detail before, and that’s Hyrule (Zelda 1 &2 Link), Wild (BOTW mostly), and Ravio (LbW).

I’m using the Linked Universe names, because that’s where most of it comes up, because these things happen most often where you can contrast the boys with each other. This is often done, quick and dirty, by people assigning “roles” to each without much thought. Ravio’s unfortunately tends to be extremely pervasive outside LU spaces, too.

But, in brief, there is a trend for people to craft these characters in a framework of innocent vs savagery vs trickery that can have some really unfortunate implications I’m not sure many are even aware of. Hopefully I can explain better where these ideas come from, why they’re so easy and appealing, and why we should try to avoid repeating them for more than just the sake of “easy” but also to stop repeating some really nasty historical tropes.

I would start from what’s probably the simplest one to address: the tendency towards a “feral” personification of Wild. This tends to come from two places: Wild’s amnesia, and the collapse of society around him and his lost place in it.

Now, brain damage is complicated. You can lose a range of things to any given injury because of the way information is encoded differently and in different places. You can lose memory and/or skills and/or coordination and/or balance, etc, because it all depends on what got damaged. But in-game a lot of stuff suggests that Link retains things like speech, reading/writing, coordination, and martial skills. None of the people who knew Link prior to his injury suggest he seems changed in any way not attributed to stress and anxiety...

And, more importantly, real people suffer memory loss just like that in the real world. Treating him like he’s become “feral” due to memory loss is cruel to actual people living with brain damage today, and if you go there you should have a good reason for it.

Social collapse is a wide-spread theme in basically every Zelda game. The threat that the Big Bad poses is almost always the destruction of society as it exists: Malladus literally vanishes the infrastructure of New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks; the Twilight turns people into spirits living lives they don’t realize are questionably real in Twilight Princess; Veran freezes the passage of time to force people to work forever in Oracle of Ages. King Daphnes and Ganondorf under the sea vie over the fate of the world above in Wind Waker: keep what’s been made, or start all over again?

In modern culture, people tell a lot of stories about the fragility of civilization and what happens in its absence. You get the range from Lord of the Flies, in which children wrecked on an island attempt (and fail) to recreate civilization on their own, Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” in which Mowgli is treated as reckless and innocent, and a much more obscure piece from the 18th century “Paul et Virginie” (and likely many more I don’t know offhand.) Essentially all of them play with the question of how do people become civilized, and what happens when they do? In Lord of the Flies, the children were civilized and failed to maintain it; in the Jungle Book, the boy wasn’t civilized and innocently interacts with it. In Paul et Virginie, the children were (relatively) uncivilized on the (French colonized) Mauritius, raised by their mothers but when the girl was sent away, she becomes civilized and dies tragically to preserve it.

The two Links most removed from civilization are Hyrule and Wild. Wild “lost” civilization, losing both his memories of it and the structure of it. Making him feral, without manners, and without a place to belong is that kind of Lord of the Flies savagery mixed with Mowgli’s innocent playfulness: there isn’t a structure to adhere to, so he’s a savage. Whereas Hyrule is more like the Paul eg Virginie side: innocent of civilization, he remains pure and sweet and kind, unable to conceive of big concepts like evil or money or so on. Neither position permits them to interact with the civilization that is right there in front of them! Wild can buy a house; he has people who know and care for him. He has social connections and social rights. The world exists, but the fandom does not seem to want him to interact with it in favour of remaining “wild.” In Zelda 2 – a game explicitly set within a decade of Zelda 1 – there are whole towns with trade and a castle and massive structures with on-going life in them... but very few fans seem to ever reach into that story or relate it back to the first. Hyrule, the character, does not exist within Hyrule, the country.

Strangely, Wind Waker does not fall prey to this, I think because the structures are presented as fait accompli: Link wakes up with his grandmother and his sister, he has a defined home, and a society in which you spend the entire game forced to engage with. Zelda 1 & 2 were not sophisticated enough to waste resources on going as in depth in social terms (although such interactions absolutely exist in Zelda 2!) and BOTW leaves such interactions as optional: you can survive the game with minimal social contact... but it’s a choice to play with it that way, not the default. The ways in which this edges onto the noble savage trope, in which “uncivilized” tribes are either innocent or brutish (rather than complex social systems in their own right) is fairly obvious.

There is one other character in Zelda who gets treated to the question of whether he is an innocent, free of civilization and all its rigour... or something else. Ravio, coming from the devastated world of Lorule, can often wind up slotted into the scared, innocent child trope and unfortunately that’s the better position people frequently take. The worse one evokes the Merchant of Venice: the deceitful, Jewish merchant who values money over people’s lives.

Lorule (and Nintedo’s approach towards their humanoid Zelda villains in general) is near-eastern-coded in many ways, down to the fact that Yuga’s outfit is the spitting image of Ottoman dress. Yuga being a depraved bisexual (a common historical trope about Muslim men towards Christian men and boys), and Hilda being deceitful and conspiring against everyone she was once allied to are a backdrop to the ways in which Ravio is a greedy coward. He’s not an evil character in the game; the mechanic of penalizing death without being too severe is interesting and works well! But that doesn’t take away the stereotype, just like it’s not okay Nabooru is pretty explicitly predatory towards child Link in Ocarina of Time, too.

Arab and Jewish stereotypes often converge, because both people's originate from the same region, and both are hostile "Others" to Christian Europe and Nintendo doesn’t have a great track record of their near-Eastern coding in Zelda. It crosses the whole gamut from harem and amazon tropes with the Gerudo to breath-takingly anti-semitic or anti-black (Ganondorf being green, eg. non-human, in various incarnations), all packaged neatly in the ideal of medieval fantasy Europe. The scale would be impressive if it wasn’t so damn awful, but we can at least stop repeating it in our fanworks.

Wild doesn’t have to be feral to be a playful little shit; Hyrule doesn’t have to be pure and innocent to be kind. Ravio doesn’t need to be innocent or scheming, and he shouldn’t place money over Link’s well-being (If you chose to respawn at home, he is consistently only ever concerned for Link! Once you buy the items outright, he promises he'll still be there to take care of you.)

Do better. It’s more interesting that way, and I want to see that variety grow!

[If any of y'all would like me to dig up better sources on any point, I can do so but I didn't want to bog this post down further. I have largely left the anti-arab stuff alone because it's not the biggest issue with Ravio's fanon presence, which is the focus here.]

[lakesbian]

ok i lied about blakeposting i'm still thinking about amy and victoria. the [grits teeth] really unfortunate thing. is that they are interesting. amy is about the horror of the dissonance between what her family believes her to be (& subsequently what She believes herself to be) and what she's pressured into attempting to be instead. her adoptive mother believes her to be some form of immutably rotten, an intrusion on the family whose ontological being is inextricable from the "wrongness" of her heritage--and subsequently amy believes herself to be immutably wrong. she's not really seen as a member of their ideal White American Golden Nuclear Family by her mother, but she's expected to pretend like she is. she fears the day that her immutable wrongness spills out, revealing her for what she truly is, causing those around her to inevitably hate & abandon her.

her feelings towards victoria are the ultimate tragic highlight of this: the dissonance between what she's supposed to be (an ideal sister, the heroic state-licensed cure-all companion to her golden girl counterpart who metes out justice thru state-authorized violence) and between the core she's terrified of having revealed (someone who doesn't internally view victoria as a real sister because she's treated as an intruder upon the family vs. a real member of it, someone who loves victoria very much but not in the way she's supposed to).

which is where her power comes in--it's about the painful irony of feeling that there's smth just Immutably Inherently Wrong With her that those around her will inevitably hate/leave her for, but instead of her power allowing her to change Herself to prevent that from happening, it lets her change Other People so they'll unconditionally accept her--but in the process of changing them, she meets the self-fulfilling prophecy of exactly what she believes 2 be wrong with her (being inherently predatory/an intrusion upon decent nuclear family/society). the one thing she can't fix or change no matter how desperately she wants to is herself.

and of course the whole "change/fix" thing her power does is impacted by her coremost emotions in the first place--part of the horror of it is how awful it would be if your worst split-second impulses & desperate thoughts could be made manifest directly against your own will. which ties very nicely into the underlying fears involved: you're wrong and dangerous and it will spill out everywhere no matter how hard you try to contain it. which it eventually does, because she's been raised with the expectation to fully contain herself within boundaries of a role actively hostile to her, and it's not a role anyone could act at perfectly forever. even the first moment she snaps/spills over is a direct result of an attempt to impose that role on her--victoria refusing to allow her to determine that she needs time away from family to cope w/ her emotional distress and forcing familial affection onto her under the assumption that, if the expected Sisterly Interaction is had, amy will do what victoria thinks is best for her & return to the family.

and of course there's the entire tragedy over there happening for victoria that she genuinely believes in her family, she genuinely thinks playing cop w/ mom and dad well enough will result in fulfillment & success for both her & amy, and she couldn't even fathom the underlying causes of the eventual snap of someone she regards as the purest form of sister. and i imagine she's very prone to retreating into the ideology instilled in her by her parents as emotional reassurance/protection from that betrayal rather than recognizing the ways in which it's hurting her too. girls when their lives suck. their lives Wouldn't suck if they simply were not put in those psychological torture pits. but unfortunately they were.

[arachnixe]

An End To Fate

The goddess watches while her chosen hero arrives at the culmination of his journey. He’s so close now. All he needs to do is raise the amulet and speak the invocation, and the goddess’s great enemy will at last be vanquished.

And yet, he collapses instead. He fails.

Another bad end.

The goddess rolls her eyes with contempt for how easily the demon queen undermines his purpose this time. She claims him, twists his mind and body to suit her disgusting whims, and uses him to repel the lesser knights the goddess sends to reclaim him.

She rejects this outcome the same way she rejected all the other tragic failures she watched play out.

Gripping the Fate-Ending Knife, she reaches as deep into the world as her influence stretches, and with a savage slash she severs this timeline. It thrashes, bleeding raw possibility over her hands as she pulls time’s amputated limb out of the world and tosses it into the pile with all the others.

Events reset. The fated hero is a child once again, full of potential.

And again the goddess laments her inability to reach further back. If she could reset to a point early enough, perhaps she could have chosen another soul altogether to lavish her attentions upon. This one has clearly not lived up to her ambitions.

She sighs. A garden of souls at her disposal, and she wasted so much of her time, power, and attention on one that should’ve been weeded out. She tried abandoning him as a lost cause on several timelines, but all would-be heroes without such soul-cultivation fared even worse. It seems there is no changing that choice now, unfortunately. All she can do is tweak his life’s path and hope things turn out differently.

Keeping him away from degenerate influences on his childhood has become a dance she knows well. She could do the steps in her sleep now. A tragic lightning strike kills the cross-dressing tailor before they meet. His tomboy sister drowns in the river before she decides to act on her more perverse inclinations. Then one of her more fanatical priests feels inspired to show the chosen one kindness when he loses himself in mourning.

Then the goddess falters, unsure what to change this time around. She has tried so many different strategies, none of which fundamentally changed the outcome of this conflict.

Well, perhaps there is one gambit she might take. It may be risky, but what does she have to lose?

When her chosen hero reaches adulthood, just as he grows ready to face the start of his destined journey, he is thrown from his horse in a tragic accident. He does not die, but he comes very, very close—close enough for her to snatch his soul from the world for a moment.

In her hands he stands—his soul taking a form matching his body at the time of his accident—looking up at his goddess in awe.

The goddess smiles down upon him. “How nice to finally meet you face to face, my very favorite waste of effort.”

It is her hero’s turn to falter, face twisting into a pathetic contortion of confusion, but why hold back now? The goddess finally has the chance to tell him exactly what she thinks of all his failures, and she decides to take advantage of it.

“I gave you everything. Every advantage. Strength unrivaled by all. I protected you. I guided you. You could have been unstoppable if you just put genuine effort into applying what I gave you.

“But you let me down. You disappointed me. You squandered all that potential.”

Tears flow down his cheeks. Her hero, crying! Such a pathetic display. “What have I done wrong?” he asks her.

Of course he doesn’t know. In this lifetime he hasn’t done anything to disappoint her yet. He will, though. That much is certain. Unless, of course, he could learn from his past mistakes.

The goddess drops him unceremoniously in front of the wretched tangle of dead timelines. They still quiver and shake and twist into each other in a huge, writhing pile.

The hero’s eyes widen, taking in countless lifetimes of failure.

She watches his soul’s projected form flickering, shifting between his body’s appearance in one timeline after another as his soul experiences the disappointing paths he walked, lifetime after lifetime.

Each shift, each flicker of shape, changes him slightly less than the one before as he approaches a more resilient average of all his self-images.

The goddess scowls, recognizing the body the hero slowly approximates. It’s one she always does her best to steer him away from. Sometimes it’s the tailor that puts the idea into his head, sometimes it’s his sister, sometimes it’s any number of others, and sometimes she truly has no idea where he gets it from.

Once it’s in there, he pursues the obsession with more devotion than he ever shows her.

In those lifetimes he is taken by this confusion, he finds the magic or the alchemy to reshape his body into something mangled and feminized, or else he is offered such a body during his confrontation with the demon queen in exchange for his allegiance. The goddess is never more disgusted with him than when he accepts such an offer.

And here he is, once again choosing to throw away the body she crafted for him to inhabit—ungrateful for it, even—in some mindless craving to be something he is not.

“Even now you fail me, learning the wrong lessons from your mistakes,” the goddess says. “Next time I will have to be more selective about what lifetimes I show you.”

Her fated hero—a man again grotesquely in the shape of a woman—turns to face her.

She sees no more reverence in his eyes. The groveling posture of an inexperienced whelp is replaced by the confident poise of a warrior who’s fought countless lifetimes of battle.

His glare is as blasphemous as his form.

“Every opportunity for happiness,” he says, voice higher pitched than it was when she pulled him from his life. “You erased them. None of my wives ever knew me now, or they no longer exist thanks to your meddling. My true goddess does not even remember my faithful service.”

“She is a demon, you pathetic good-for-nothing,” the goddess rasps, voice filled with spite. “I am your only true goddess!”

“You’re the one who took away all my happy endings!” The hero’s shouting catches her off guard. It is not as small as it should be.

When did his soul’s stature grow to where he could stare his own goddess in the eye with such venom?

The goddess’s eyes flick to the knife resting nearby. It has become time to end this attempt.

The hero parses the glance immediately. Many lifetimes of battle-hardened instincts explode into action.

The goddess, a being who had never fought her own battles in her immortal life, is simply too slow and too clumsy to stop the hero. Before she can react, the knife is pressed to her throat.

“You wouldn’t dare—”

The hero dares. With a savage slash, the Fate-Ending Knife spills a goddess’s blood, and a mortal woman takes control of her own life for the first time.

She can return to her body at the point they resuscitate her, bringing all this knowledge with her.

Or…

She stares at the knife in her hands. She remembers countless lifetimes of goddess-inflicted scars.

The hero makes up her mind.

Without hesitation, she reaches into the world—as deeply as she can—and severs this timeline.

[momojedi]

Bad Batch: Season 3

My Predictions

The final countdown has started and I'm not ready at ALL! Here are some of my predictions for Season 3 and what I could imagine happening!

1. Tech will be back.

Yes, the trope of dead characters returning is incredibly overused. But as many others I have a good reason to believe that Tech might still be alive. Think about it. It’s pretty likely Hemlock managed to locate Tech’s body considering he left us a huge breadcrumb: his goggles.

Why would Hemlock get rid of a genetically enhanced super soldier, especially considering he likely knows how to properly brainwash someone?

I too like to think that Tech might be the black armoured soldier in the front. It’s the same, if not similar armour as Clone X. Maybe these are part of a special type of clone assassins or troopers? Could they be the prototype for the Dark or Death Trooper?

It’s pretty plain to say that Tech will likely come back, though probably not as the Tech we know.

2. Crosshair & Omega Dynamic

We've seen Omega genuinely bond with all of the Bad Batch - except for Crosshair. Despite her trying her best to get to him every time they had the chance to interact, he denied her any kind of response. Whether that would be because he's just too withdrawn or because he refuses to let anyone see his vulnerable side, we don't know so far.

What we do know however, both based on pure logic alone and the fact that we've heard them both involved in a heated debate in the leaked trailer from the Star Wars Celebration last year, is that they likely will spending a lot of time together on-screen now that they're both captives of the Empire.

Hopefully Omega will be able to lift Cross' spirits, he doesn't seem to be doing very well from what we've seen!

3. Ventress will be an enemy!

Asajj Ventress! We all know and love her, so naturally it's incredibly nice to find out that she'll be returning to the screens for the final season of the Bad Batch! Despite they're naturally being some raised eyebrows considering her fate in the Dark Disciple book, I'm curious to see in what way they'll connect the stories!

However, seeing as Ventress could rather be classified as an anti-hero rather than a full on hero, I believe that she won't be helping the Batch but rather fighting them in order to get to what she wants - as she likes to do.

Perhaps she'll end up cooperating when she realises there might be no other solution, but I strongly doubt she'll be any help to them when it comes to following their personal goals.

4. The Fall of the Clone Rebellion

It's sadly no secret that given the events of Rebels and the three remaining clones Rex, Gregor & Wolffe, it's very likely the rebellions aka rescue of the clones didn't go as initially planned.

I could imagine this being explained a bit clearer in the finale, perhaps even leading up to a great fight against the Empire in the end. We can't forget that the series mainly revolves around a rogue batch of clones, so the thought that it might also go out with a clone-centric subject, especially such a big one, isn't necessarily far-fetched.

5. The End of the Mission

And finally, my most tragic prediction: The end of the Bad Batch.

The writers have been making it very clear that season 3 will likely be the darkest season of the show which unfortunately leads me to think that, as much as I'd want it not to be the case, the finale will lead to the ultimate end of Clone Force 99.

I suspect the series to end with the batch ending up together in some way, as the original five, and landing in a tricky life-or-death situation. Perhaps they'll be stuck in a crashing ship with a one-person escape pod or maybe they'll be facing a threatening figure such as Sidious, leading to the decision to sacrifice themselves in order to protect Omega.

Either way, despite season 3 likely becoming a tragic rollercoaster of emotions, I'm glad we had the chance to experience the epic story of the Bad Batch. It's sad to see them go and although these characters have become like a family not only to me, but to many other fans, let's enjoy our last moments with them and let them go out with a bang!

[newsfrom-theworld]

On international women's day let me introduce you to some of the victims of ''Isr@el''

1. Shireen Abu Akluh

On 11th of May 2022 around 6:30 the prominent American Palestinian Journalist was killed by Isr@eli snipers; they also attacked her funeral.

The shaky video, filmed by Al Jazeera cameraman Majdi Banura, captures the scene when Abu Akleh, a 51-year-old Palestinian-American was killed by a bullet to the head at around 6:30 a.m. on May 11.

She had been standing with a group of journalists near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp, where they had come to cover an Israeli raid.

While the footage does not show Abu Akleh being shot, eyewitnesses told CNN that they believe Isr@eli forces on the same street fired deliberately on the reporters in a targeted attack.

All of the journalists were wearing protective blue vests that identified them as members of the news media. ​

2.Farah Omar

A Lebanese correspondent of Al-Mayadeen TV, was killed by an Isr@eli strike on Tayr Harfa, south Lebanon, on November 21, 2023, according to Al-Mayadeen.

4. Heba Sami

Dr. Heba Sami Al-Jourani who was known for her intelligence and determination lived elsewhere she could have been working in a very important hospital as a physicians to help those people who were wounded in wars and accidents, But unfortunately Heba had to put her dreams aside and stand face to face with death.

Heba’s family home in Rafah was targeted by Isr@eli warplane, minutes ago before she lost her life, Heba was sending messages and checking telegram groups to know where is the bombing she’s hearing, unfortunately that was her last scene,

Heba’s family became the breaking news at 11:48 am, on November

5. Walaa Saadah

A passionate filmmaker, writer, and blogger normally work day and night, travel, sometimes receiving awards but not if its a Palestinian woman in lives in Gaza and that’s the story of "Walaa Saadah, who was born in Beit Hanoun, Northern Gaza, in 1990.

Walaa since 2010, with too much passion worked in cinema and filmmaking, starting as a screenplay writer, she also worked in civil society organizations as a coordinator who directed several films that shed light on the suffering of the people of Gaza to the world.

Walaa was killed on March 2, 2024, in an Isr@eli airstrike on displaced people in Deir al-Balah city. walaa dream ended before having any chance to raise and shine as prominent filmmaker

6. Asmaa Hamdan

Asma a beloved 22-year-old, brought joy with her infectious smile. In high school, she was the heart of our large group. After a beautiful love story, she married Shadi and welcomed Sham, the light of her life. As an engineer, she graduated days before war disrupted everything.

Despite the hardships, Asmaa's resilience inspired us. Tragically, on December 25th, Asmaa and her daughter Sham were martyred in a massacre caused by Isr@eli occupation rockets, which claimed the lives of 100 martyrs in Al-Maghazi refugee camp, leaving behind a painful void.

7. Nagham Abu Samra

Nagham Abu Samra, 24 years old, was a professional karate player before Isr@el deprived her of that. She suffered from a critical head injury, and her leg was amputated after her home in Gaza was bombed by Isr@el.

Her uncle was pleading with the world to intervene and help Nagham travel abroad for treatment, but no one responded. Nagham was martyred, succumbing to her injuries from the Israeli bombing on January 12, 2023.

8. Talal Baalusha

A high school student, creative in traditional dance (dabke), and a member of the "Asayel Watan" group She also owned a clothing store.

She bid farewell to her family after they were martyred, then others mourned her.

She was martyred with her mother.

9. Hind Rajab

After she appealed to the world for help to save her, 12 days passed without communication.

On the 10th of February, the body of the martyr, the child Hind Rajab, and 5 members of her family were found.

Her Grandfather said: “We found the body of Hind and the rest of the family decomposed”.

10. Ayat Khadoura

Ayat, a Palestinian freelance journalist and podcast presenter, was killed along with an unknown number of family members in an Isr@eli airstrike on her home in Beit Lahya in northern Gaza, according to the Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes, the news website Arabi 21, and London-based Al-Ghad TV.

Ayat shared videos on social media about the situation in Gaza, including a November 6 video, which she called “my last message to the world” where she said, “We had big dreams but our dream now is to be killed in one piece so they know who we are.”

Ayat was killed on November 20, 2023, at the hands of the Isr@eli occupation.

They aren't just numbers.

The UNRWA said 9.000 women where killed in this genocide.

Your feminism is trash if you aren't speak up for the women of Gaza, who are using pieces of tends as sanitary pads.

And always,

Free Palestine

[7-wonders]

for your morpheus asks how do you think he would act with little kids ( sorry if this is not much to go off of ) maybe an x reader where reader has a little kid?

Fatherhood

Dream of the Endless/Morpheus x reader

God this is so sweet! Also I randomly picked a name that I like, but you can always fill in your own!

Dating an Endless was supposed to be hard. And to be sure, there are moments that make you wonder what the hell you’re doing. But the difficulties of dating Dream of the Endless have absolutely nothing on the difficulties of being a single parent

You had had Caroline young, and since young relationships that exist mainly due to passion end up fizzling out, you were now raising her alone

You don’t regret it though, because said relationship brought you the most important person in your life

Unfortunately, since most people don’t find single parents of young children to be a turn-on, you had naturally resigned yourself to not dating until your daughter was much older

But then you had met Dream, thanks to Caroline’s “Auntie Jo” (aka your best friend Johanna Constantine) having so nicely roped you into finding a bag of magical sand via divination

(You didn’t particularly like using magic anymore, especially considering that children and spells don’t mix, but Johanna seeking your help against troublesome fae was how you became friends in the first place. If Jo needs your help, you’re going to give it to her)

Honestly it still surprises you just how fast you fell for Dream, and he for you, which is why you were dreading the conversation you were going to have to have with him and his subsequent refusal to ever see you again

Much to your surprise though, Dream takes the news of you having a four-year-old really well

He seems a little melancholy at first (you learn later that he was thinking of his own son whom he tragically lost), but was quick to assure you that the news changed nothing and that he would enjoy meeting her, if you were comfortable with such a thing

If you thought you couldn’t fall in love with him more, that was before seeing him with your daughter

He’s…antisocial, in most situations, so to see him so at ease and willing to smile and indulge Caroline’s every whim is to see a side of him that he holds extremely private

Caroline is obsessed with Dream (or “Dweam” as she calls him, still tripping on her r’s)

The first time they met, you were concerned how Caroline would react

After all, a tall, brooding man in all black isn’t exactly friendly-looking

But there must be some part of kids that just know that he’s the Prince of Stories and King of Dreams, because she simply grinned at him and asked him his “birdie’s” name

From that moment on Caroline has Dream wrapped around her finger, not that Dream’s complaining

He always carries her on his shoulders when he comes with you on outings in the Waking, her little hands finding a home snugly in his wild hair to keep her balanced

Will gladly listen to her explain the artistic decisions behind her newest crayon scribbles, and also helps her create new masterpieces

You’ve had to tell Caroline that just because Dream lets her put unicorn and rainbow stickers on him, that doesn’t mean she should do it

(Though seeing him with a glittery sticker stuck to his cheek did give you a good laugh, much to a scowling Dream’s chagrin)

Dream loves telling stories, naturally, and has gotten into the habit of taking over telling Caroline bedtime stories

Using his sand, he’ll form dreamscapes in the palm of his hand to illustrate the colorful tales he tells her; tales of knights and princesses, quests and treasure

You usually end up just as enraptured as your daughter

Though you’ve been trying to walk that thin line of encouraging Dream and Caroline’s relationship while simultaneously making sure that she knows Dream is not her dad, it was only a matter of time until that failed

It’s almost a year after you had first introduced Dream to your little family unit; it was late afternoon and you were simultaneously on the phone putting out a work fire and attempting to put laundry away

Caroline had already called for you twice while you went around the house, but you had held up a finger and whispered to her, “One second!”

Obviously, that’s too long for a four-year-old to wait

Dream’s used to arriving in the middle of “controlled chaos,” as you call it, so he’s not too surprised to see Caroline with a banana in her hand as she practically chases you around the house

When she sees that Dream’s here, she screeches to a stop

“Daddy?” Caroline asks, and Dream wonders who she’s talking to

She huffs and stomps her foot. “Daddy!”

Dream then realizes that she’s talking to him

When he looks down at Caroline, she simply holds out the banana expectantly

“Open?”

He’s in such shock that he reverts back to the parental instincts that, once gained, can never truly be lost, and asks, “What do we say?”

“Open please”

He does so wordlessly, mind running overtime to try and make sense of this

Eventually when he does, he swoops her up into his arms and buries his face in her hair, much to her giggling protests

(And if he sheds a couple of tears? Who’s to know?)

You finally finish what you were doing and enter the living room

“Sorry that took so long, baby. What did you need?” you ask

Caroline smiles. “It’s okay, Daddy opened my banana for me!”

You’re about to gently remind her not to talk with food in her mouth when you realize what she said and stare at Dream, who simply smiles back at you

“Did you say thank you?” She nods, and you idly rub a hand on her back. “Good.”

Neither you nor Dream want to make her think that she did something wrong, so you have no choice but to continue with your evening

Later, when you and Dream are alone, you say, “I’m sorry if what Caroline said made you uncomfortable. I can talk to her about it later and explain it again.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

You look unsure, but he can see the hope that you’re trying to keep hidden. “You’re…okay with it?”

“I hold many titles, but ‘father’ has always been one of my favorites. To have the opportunity to be a father again, especially to a child as exceptional as Caroline, would be the greatest honor. As long as you approve, of course.”

You grin, one of his favorite sights, and nod. “Of course I approve.”

Now it’s your turn to be swept up into Dream’s arms (he’s found that he’s doing a lot more of that lately—hugging), and you laugh much as your daughter did earlier

Dream can count on his two hands the number of times that he’s been this happy in his long, long life, and he makes a silent vow to both you and Caroline (his daughter, he thinks fondly, still in disbelief) that he will learn from his past mistakes

Caroline will never find herself doubting her father’s love, he swears

A promise that he’s sure to uphold most solemnly

[blueaetherr]

romance oblivion

pairing: mason mount x fem!reader [she/her]

warning(s): angst?

summary: the one where feelings are no longer mutual

author's note: something short to get myself out of my writer's block. my requests are open if anyone wants to send a request or two <;3.

In the second hour of the day everyone and everything seemed well settled in the night. The neighbours' music and lights were off by midnight, the streets beyond the estates quiet and deserted of traffic and commotion, all while the animals of the day decided to retire until the early hours of dawn returned in the following hours.

Yet in the early hours of the day, Mason and Y/N were mildly awake. Still dressed in party attire from earlier, resting comfortably in Mason's conservatory. Under a dim light, surrounded by the dark of the night, they entertained themselves with their slurred jokes from fogged minds, dancing with a lack of care and laughter that occasionally brought them out of their fatigue.

Here was Y/N and Mason, friends who were openly intertwined with one another. From the way they spoke to one another, from the way they were able to spend time together outside of normal hours, the way they chose to compose themselves in the privacy of their friendship compared to in front of others—which was all the same—it was difficult to expect anything other than an honest friendship that would see years and milestones to come.

Tilting her head she focused her gaze upon the individual on the other side of the coffee table. She asked, "Tell me, Mason: how are you?" 

He offered his friend a wondering look. "How am I?" Mason had to repeat the question to himself. For the time since they settled in the space, their conversations had only known laughter and unserious behaviours. The shift in conversation was more than sudden to him.

She rolled her eyes as she laughed a bit. "Yes! I don't see anyone else here to ask."

Mason reached his hand back to scratch the nape of his neck. He let his sight wander away from Y/N. "Well... I don't know what to say," he exhaled, leaning his head rightward. It was a simple question to answer, sure. Though returning his eyes to Y/N's unfazed gaze—a look demanding and pronounced, a look purposely in his vision—he felt the need to deliver. He sighed as his face relaxed back into a smile. "I feel like you know everything about me already." 

And he was right to think so 'cause for the most part, it was true. Considering they had been friends since the beginning of time, they lived near one another and their friendship included but wasn't limited to personal and intimate conversations, it wasn't a surprise that they knew enough about one another just as they did themselves.

"C'mon, Mase. There has to be something I don't know about," Y/N said as her face opened up further, her eyebrows lifting slightly. She mentioned in a small voice, "Let's not point out the elephant in the room."

In fact, here was Y/N and Mason, friends and ex-partners who were openly intertwined with one another.

While exes they chose to remain friends—incredible friends even. After two years of dating, they knew it was time to let each other go romantically to preserve all they already had. Their break-up, as unfortunate and tragic as it was, was necessary and understandable; they wanted different things for one another and themselves, leaving them feeling unsupported in the relationship that was initially nurturing. 

As always they were patient and kind and gentle. To themselves, to one another, to the process of returning to a friendship that actually never faded away. Nothing was irrational, arguments were limited to nothing and feelings were preserved on both sides.

"I mean..."

Watching Y/N eating with a lack of care, focusing her sight upon him, her legs raised at ease on the coffee table, slightly undone in front of him. She made it clear that she was comfortable being around him as a friend, as an ex and as a friend again. She was clear of him. She no longer thought about him until her mind ran dry of thoughts to explore. She no longer held valid nor romantic feelings for Mason.

Yet here Mason was. Watching Y/N like his own reflection, struggling to form words from his distant thoughts, uncertainty every time he spoke up, observing her every action with changeless admiration and longing. For her, for something more with her—whether worthy or not of it. He had been trying to move on, trying to focus his thoughts on someone else, anything else though his attempts weren't enough. 

From the time they had ended their relationship up until now, Mason still wasn't over Y/N... and she didn't even know, both not even in the slightest way.

So Mason had to say, shrugging through a now pained smile. "Nothing, nothing has changed for me... Same old, same old, you know."

And though he wanted to say more—to express himself, to say hear me out or let's give us one more chance—he knew he couldn't so he didn't. Not only for Y/N's peace of mind but for his. After all, before they were lovers, even before they were ex-partners, they were rightfully friends. A friendship that had always been around and uniquely theirs. Y/N was his friend, and Mason would never compromise that for his own gains.

That left Mason stuck somewhere in a place where he would be alone and without Y/N. Somewhere he would continue wanting and yearning for someone who no longer desired him. Somewhere he would continue falling for Y/N with nothing to break his fall. And his most devastating reality, somewhere he would continue to fall for Y/N while she no longer would for him but rather for someone else.

[thelordofgifs]

Obscure Tolkien Blorbo: The Final!

Nerdanel vs One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally

Nerdanel:

Nerdanel, called The Wise, was the wife of Fëanor, and known as a great sculptor. She refused to follow her family to Middle-earth in the revolt of the Noldor.

Best known as the woman who looked at the hot mess that is Fëanor, went “is anyone going to marry that?” and did not wait for an answer, Nerdanel is also so much more than just the beloved wife of Fëanor. Most notably, she is a sculptor (apparently a male-dominated field in Noldorin society) - her statues are so life-like that the friends of the depicted would go up and talk to them! She is also wise enough to land the epithet Istarnië, which means Wise One, and she is the only person Fëanor ever listened to, which borders miracle territory. Although when she married the pretty young crown prince of the Noldor, people said she was not good-looking enough for him, Fëanor begged to differ, as they had seven kids together, which is the largest amount of kids any Elven couple ever had. There must have been a lot of passion there (or maybe they just really wanted a daughter?). Although Nerdanel always seemed to have wise counsel for her husband, apparently she did not put up with his, as she was close friends with Indis, his stepmother he did not like. Unfortunately, their marital bliss did not last; when Fëanor pulled a sword on his half-brother Fingolfin (Indis's son) and was exiled, she did not come with him and instead stayed with Indis. This is often seen as her inventing divorce, although a more boring reading could simply suggest she disagreed and did not fancy accompanying him (LaCE does say Elven couples could keep separate households for extended periods of time). She also did not think about coming to Beleriand with him after he swore his terrible oath, although she did beg for him to leave her at least one of her kinslaying spawn sweet adorable baby boys (preferably the one she very ominously tried her hardest to name The Fated as a baby). I suppose the resulting, kind of permanent, separation, could definitely count as divorce.

she is a sculptor and an artisan so skilled that Feanor’s love for her competed with his own love of craft and creation. She raised seven sons and pleaded for their fates with Feanor because of how much she loved them and even though she loved him too, she stuck to her own beliefs and refused to leave Valinor….she’s so girlboss and she said you can go be a tragic archetype but our children don’t deserve that and also I will stay right here. We love a woman who refuses to give up her joys and her home even for a man she loves and ESPECIALLY since it was Feanor….the strength of her will is insane. I love her.

One (1) Rivendell elf who sings tra-la-la-lally:

One of the Elves of Rivendell who sing tra-la-la-lally in The Hobbit.

This one specific elf sings tra la la lally with the rest but he is slightly off key and the other elves bully him for it

they’re SILLY!!! We need NEED more silly elves!! Like who are these weirdos just hanging out in the trees of Rivendell? Did they know the dwarves were coming and gather their friends to specifically climb those trees to sing nonsense at them? Do they just normally sit there and sing about every little thing they see? Is this a traditional Rivendell thing or are those elves just really strange? I’m obsessed with them they’re everything to me. Elves are oft portrayed as being Too Serious in this fandom and silly elves need rights too! Silly elf rights!!!!

Final masterpost

[thekingofwinterblog]

Oghren Branka - A Broken Dwarf

Out of all of the original Dragon Age Origins companions, I've always found Oghren to be the most fascinating one in how rare it is to see someone actually do a full breakdown of the alcoholic, berserker dwarf, despite arguably having the most interesting and deep under the surface aspects to his character.

So i'll rectify that here, by doing a full delve into Ogren as a character, and the rather tragic tale of the last member of house Branka.

Oghren was a member of Orzammar's warrior caste, bred, born, and raised to be a warrior, a role that by all accounts he excelled at.

Oghren is famous for being probably the biggest alcoholic in the franchise, but according to lore, this actually wasn't a part of his personality before way later down the line, and came about due to a spiral downwards.

Oghren, like all warrior caste dwarves was raised to be an absolute killing machine, who's life was going to be devoted to killing darkspawn, and killing more darkspawn, and then killing more darkspawn.

This part of his life, Oghren excelled at. He was great at killing his enemies from day one, and won fame and glory.

Unfortunately, the thing that defined Oghren as a person, was the very brutal struggle, of, and Bioware's take on how hard it is for soldiers to reintegratd into societies after their states does everything they can to make them into tools for killing.

And in Oghren's case, this began with his family.

When young, Oghren was interested in a young woman named Felsi.

The two hit it off quite well, only for Oghren to be forced into a political marriage with a certain woman named Branka from the smithing caste, a political match that was seen as mutually beneficial at the time.

This marriage was the single worst thing that ever happened to Oghren and everyone he had ever cared about.

Branka would in very short time rise to become a Paragon, the only one in living memory, a living ancestor in Dwarven Society, making her the most powerful and influential woman in Orzammar, but that part is not the one I want to focus on.

Instead I want to focus on Oghren and Branca's relationship, and how it quickly fell apart.

Their relationship started okay, and in the first year there doesn't seem to have been that many problems. Things would change however.

Branca, as we learn from Oghren's talk had plenty of serious mental issues, like massive and spontaneous mood swings, and a tendency for sudden violence for the smallest offenses.

The innitial target of which seems to have been her her husband Oghren.

Oghren makes no secret of the fact that Branca was pretty violent with him, in particular the fact that she seriously damaged the hearing on one of his ears, and once attacked him for misplacing her tongs.

Also, there is a bit of subtleness to Oghren's design that adds to how bad this relationship became for him.

Oghren has a permanent injury around one of his eyes, which makes it look like he's always squinting. The most likely culprint being his wife hitting him with something heavy and blunt, which never healed properly, giving him his iconic squinty eyed look.

We don't have anything to suggest Oghren ever actually defending himself physically from his wife, but if his own testimony is to be believed, their usual way of making up after one of these outbursts was makeup sex, which suggest that there was a rather sad cycle of spousal abuse, regret, then make up in the form of sex, then another bout of abuse, then rinse and repeat.

The usual cycle really.

Things got more complicated however, once Branka became a paragon, putting her firmly above her husband in rank as far as she could go.

And it's here that Oghren's life really began to take a turn for the worst, and where the drunkard who drowns himself in alchohol to try and forget how shitty his life is really began.

In very short succession, Branka, likely due to the mounting pressure upon her after becoming paragon, turned far worse towards Oghren, and their marriage began to rapidly crumble. But her becoming paragon had other consequences as well, the most obvious being that Branka became the head of the household, and absorbed Oghren's entire family into the new house of Branca under her.

Branka then began to shun Oghren completely, making her disdain for him open for all to see, while also cuckolding him with his own cousin Hespith(though Oghren wouldn't learn about that until years later).

This in turn, made Oghren's entire family follow suit, and he was quickly completely isolated and shut off from his own family, the same family that forced him into this marriage in the first place.

Oghren had already begun drinking to try and cope with his failing marriage at this point, and the way his entire family turned their back on him to please Branka just kicked that dependence off the deep end.

Then Branka committed herself to her great folly, and over Oghren's objections, took their entire family with them on her mad quest into the deep roads for a magical anvil... While forcing Oghren to stay behind so she could get to fuck her lover hespith on the side as she pleased without him around.

Needless to say, though Oghren didn't completely understand the full reasons for why everyone considered him a laughingstock at this point(the relationahip with Hespith was an open secret in Orzammar) , he kore than felt the effects of being alone, forgotten and abandoned by his family in a city that ridiculed him while still demanding he go out and kill darkspawn for them.

It was at this point that the Oghren we all know really began, as Oghren drowned himself in booze, embraced terrible jokes, and became the man with the most inappropriate pick up lines there is, desperate for anyone to give him any affection at all.

It was at this point Oghren for the first time cheated on his declared dead wife, seeking out Felsi. The renewed relationship did not last long. Oghren's downward spiral had already completely changed his personality, and she quickly left him.

At this point, Oghren really was at his lowest. Abandoned by everyone he had ever loved, alone, only having booze for comfort, and still having to regularly go out and fight darkspawn.

It's also here we see some of Oghren's hidden noble side, as at one single point he refused to buckle on, and that was his wife's fate.

Oghren refused(correctly) to assume Branka was dead and would pester the government time, and time, and time again to send out a rescue party to find her and bring her home.

Nobody took him seriously, and instead treated him like a joke... All the way until a young noble mocked Branka in his hearing and made it plain for all to hear that Branka could not possibly have survived that long in the deep roads.

The end result was that Oghren, in a drunk rage challenged the young man to a duel, then killed him, when it was supposed to be a duel to first blood.

Oghren thus changed from drunk pest, to dangerous pest.

In the end he was stripped of his house and the right to bear arms or fight in the city ever again, but was still demanded he fought darkspawn when the time came.

Oghren talks about this in his conversations with the Warden, how the city would turn their warriors into killing machines, strip them of all rules, morals and thoughts except kill and kill, and kill some more... Then put them right back into society, and bind them, and the rage they spent so long training you harness with rules and regulations. Add this with the fact that they will still demand you go out an fight at a moment's notice, it's not hard to see how warriors like Oghren came to be.

It's at this point Oghren has hit seeming rock bottom.

Alone, a joke in a city that will alternate between mocking, and spit on him, no right to defend himself, while still having to go go out and risk life and limb for it.

The only thing that keeps him going at this point, is the desperate hope that Branka and his family might still be alive.

Which brings us to the one soul who might bring him out of his stupor, depending on player choices.

The Hero of Ferelden.

The Hero of Ferelden scoffs at the claims Branka is dead and delves into the deep roads, and takes Oghren along for the ride, looking for her.

It's here that Oghren begins to form some sort of personal bonds again, where he will find the one person who is willing to put up with him, and all his flaws and possibly see him as a friend.

As the team heads into the deep roads however, they discover the horrible truth.

Branka, in her madness and desperate search for the anvil, sacrificed Oghren's entire family to the darkspawn, intentionally creating broodmothers so she'd have a never ending supply of darkspawn pawns to throw at the anvil defences.

It's not really given the full focus it deserves, because Oghren isn't the kind of person who just lets out absolutely everything, but this moment, this revelation destroys Oghren.

It's the moment where he pretty much just gives up on life, and only follows the Warden around to find a place to die.

In the end, regardless of what you do, his relationship with Branka is over at this point, wheter you save or spare her, leaving him with the knowledge that his entire family is dead and gone, and he's the last one.

At this point he becomes what is seemingly nothing more than comic relief, and due to the unfortunate way Orzammar is struxtured, its usually done last before the landsmeet, meanjng most players won't see most of the deeper parts of Oghren, as they require some prodding to see.

Most notably of these is what happens if you bring him to the guardian at the temple, where the old man wants everyone to relay their sins and regrets, only for Oghren to cut him off when his time comes, and say this:

Why don’t I save you some time? Yes, I wish I could have saved my family from Branka. I wish I’d been a better mate. Maybe she’d have stayed at home with a belly full of baby Oghren and never gone for the anvil. Maybe I failed her. Yes, I came to the surface because I’m barely a dwarf anymore. My family is dead. My honor as a warrior is long gone. I’ve lost my caste and my house and I have nothing else to lose.

This display is really, really sad for a number of reasons, not only because of how far down Oghren has fallen at this point, but also because frankly speaking, Oghren did nothing wrong with Branka. He was the victim here, and yet despite that, he still lays all the blame on himself. It was his fault his family died. It was his fault for being a shitty husband. Not Branka's. His.

Beyond this, Oghren has other interesting observations that shows he is quite a bit more impressive than the sorry, alcoholic cassanova wannabe that he acts as.

He's the only character who figures out that Shale actually remembers killing her master, and that she regrets killing him, as rather than a conscious choice, it was a moment of her completely losing control, just like he did in the proving match so long ago.

He also proves himself a bizarrely good brewmaster, impressing Wynne and the warden withouth the proper facilities to make proper alchohol, and he's the only one who offers any plausible counter explanation for the powers of the temple of sacred ashes other than the power of god(which may or may not be on the money.).

He is also learned in history, and knows the andrastian religion and it's historical players very well for a dwarf, even seemingly having a personal disdain for Hessarionz who he calls a pompous prat.

At this point, where he goes from there is up to the PC's choices, but regardless, there is a lot more to Oghren than meets the eye, far more than the stupidly stereotypical dnd dwarf he presents himself as, in a setting where the dwarves are not all the same as Tolkien's.

[nono-uwu]

First oc post i am shaking crying throwing up for multiple reasons and also anxious as hell- anyways, meet the man, the failure disaster gay, the forever doomed ginger(derogatory/lh)

I forgot to add his birthday omg, it's march 13th

Lore utc (i wrote a lot lmao), the uh post ch 134 stuff will be elaborated on later (or if asked. Actually, ask me anything about him. And my other oc's once they're posted. Please. I will answer in great detail. I also need a distraction. Pls.)

So basically, among the first few vampires (a 4th progenitor to be percise) turned by Shikama was a woman who showed great potential for spells and magic. She had a loving husband and child which she tragically lost in an accident. Upon turning into a vampire, her family was still the only thing on her mind. She accepted to help Shikama in his endeavors to revive Mikaela since she hoped she could revive her own family in the proccess. Unfortunately it didn't work. Disillusioned, she abandoned vampire kind and started searching for the possible reincarnation of her beloved husband, whom she may be able to have a child with and have family again.

Fast forward a a lot, and I mean a lot, of years and she arrived in 60s japan. None of the people she had hope for turned out to be the reincarnation of her late husband until that fateful day. She encountered a (rather pathetic may I add) man in his late 20s and it was like a miracle. The woman cornered the man in disbelief and from this awkward first meeting blossomed true love. Then everything went to shit lmaooo

The first problem was that the mans family didn't approve of the woman. Tough this didn't stop their love. Next was the issue of bearing a child, something that a vampire simply can't do. Well, an ordinary one but this woman was anything but ordinary. By some impossible miracle she bore a child. A biological child. (GIRL HOW?? We will never know and frankly, i don't want to think about it💀)

The child was, as expected tbh, kind of a disaster. Already born with pointy ears and sharp fangs. The child needed both human food and blood to properly sustain themselves. Drinking blood outside of their family would permanently stop their aging. Despite this, the couple was overjoyed. (And then named their child "mistake" bc that would help /s.) They named him "Machigai". Why tho?? I dunno man something along the lines of "a mistake but the best mistake of their life" bruh

So after Machigai was old enough to walk, but not old enough to remember, the mother diappeared, leaving father and child behind. The father did his best to raise such an... extraordinary child but it was understandably kind of impossible. Machigai grew up alone and isolated from his peers. He was always wearing a hood of some kind and rarley opened his mouth to talk. In high school, he met a girl who he became good friends with but she is another oc I'll post about sometime adlf,wpl.

Anyways! Come Machigai's high school graduation and 18th birthday, his father... disappeared. All he left was a note saying, that Machigai now owned the apartment and that there is enough blood in the fridge to sustain Machigai's thrist while he could grow and mature. To an already depressed and disillusioned Machigai this obviously didn't help. Throughout the next years he became a shut in, who only left the house if absolutely necessary. All he did all day was play video games, watch tv and later be on the internet. Once he ran out of his fathers blood was when things changed. He had to go out and actually find a new source of blood. Welp, sorry to unlucky bastards who went into dark alleyways at night bc these types of people became Machigai's source of blood. (That's when he stopped aging)

On one of these nightly escapades, Machigai was greeted by a large man in a neat black suit who called himself "Saito". Saito claimed to have known Machigai's mother and offered a deal: Machigai would offer up his unique constitution to the Hyakuya sect's research and in turn get a well paying job and a guaranteed source of blood. He agreed. "Welcome to the Hyakuya sect. I look forward to your performance"

Machigai was practically a lab rat for the development of cursed gear. Thanks to his half-n-half physiology he could tank wounds from cursed gear/magic n shit while still providing useful data to how effective it is. During this time Machigai aquired knowledge of vampire culture(?), became familiar with magic and it's quirks and learned how to perform simple spells and whatnot.

Around 2011, when the internet was already fairly well used, Machigai came across a forum dedicated to paranormal sightings. Various users claimed that a secluded spot in Kyoto was home to vampires. (Ferid was the one spreading these rumors btw) Most would have dissmissed this as someone wanting attention, yet Machigai was intrigued. He was well aware that vampires existed across the world but he mever knew how to actually contact them. Perhaps out of morbid curiosity, perhaps out of a genuine want for connection with people like him, he went to check out the spot. There, he met none other than the eccentric Ferid Bathory who specifically manufactured the rumor to meet Machigai (extra much?). He was well aware of Machigai's work for Rígr "Saito" Stafford and was trying to one up his father by stealing his most prized lab-rat. Machigai declined, not trusting a single thing out of that vampires mouth. Ferid left, already proclaiming that one day Machigai would be working for him.

Machigai stuck around that area as it was already well into the night and public transport wouldn't start up until the early morning. There he met another vampire: Crowley Eusford. Their meeting wasn't planned or meticulously calculated, it was actually rather awkward. Their chat was meaningless and short but in the end leagues above whatever Ferid likes to plan. Crolwey has already unwillingly heard about this curious being from Ferid and seeing Machigai himself left him wanting to learn more about him. Machigai was left a little hopeful, that perhaps it's not too late for him to look for connections.

So the apocalypse rolls around-

Machigai makes a deal with Saito that in exchange for his freedom (*eagle screech*) he would keep his mouth shut about anything the Hyakuya sect discovered while Machigai was there.

Machigai seeks out the Demon Army where he successfully keeps his half vampire identity a secert until someone on his squad gets blackmailed into revealing it. Before that, he gets a cursed weapon, a pair of daggers. And lo and behold, the demon possessing the daggers is his own mother. Unfortunately since the now demonic mother didn't witness Machigai growing up, she falsey believes to be able to still shape Machiagi to her will. After getting locked up by the army, Machigai completley gives up, only wishing for his miserable existence to end (spoiler: It won't! Ever. :) ). He ultimately loses any and all trust he has in humanity or just anything in general.

After about half a year of grueling torture and some experimentation, Machigai gets freed (kidnapped) by Ferid and promptly brought to Kyoto Sangiuem. Krul Tepes, finding Machigai to be useful in her fake-ish war against humanity and whatever she's planning with Yuu and Mika, lets him be part of the japanese vampires under Ferids faction. Ferid found himself unwilling to deal with the often uncooperative and irritated new "recruit" so he did what he does best and made it Crowley's problem.

After a rather agressive and disrespectful first impression, Machigai was officially a... coworker? of Crowley and thus also Chess and Horn in Nagoya. The three got the additional task by Ferid to somehow domesticate this feral and angry stray animal and get him to open up. At least that's how Ferids orders were phrased. Shenanigans, Drama and FeelingsTM ensue.

(How did I write so much??)

[lolitakirstein]

Hey Neighbor Part 12

AN: Sorry this took so long to get out. I hope you enjoy it

WC: ~1.2K

Content warning: mentions of death and violence.

AO3 link

My dearest y/n,

By reading this, I assume the conditions are right for you to be informed of certain circumstances. I also assume that you have made yourself at home in my house–which makes me proud– and have been acquainted with Mr. Toji Fushiguro. The reason for this letter is to express to you that though I am no longer there and cannot keep harm from you, I have my utmost faith in Mr. Fushiguro’s ability to protect you and provide for you. Mr. Fushiguro is a man of integrity and respect. Therefore, I will rest well knowing he will be a loving husband and provider for you. This was not an arrangement made in haste and was given much thought both between Mr. Fushiguro and myself. After the death of your parents at the hands of a community I believed to be my family, I have sought only the best to look after you for fear they would come for you. Doing so also ensures the continuation of a long bloodline of elites in the business of espionage as well as merging with a bloodline of powerful marksmen. These two abilities could reign in a new era for the Society. Although it saddens me I will not be able to see the fall of the corrupted poison that has slowly tainted what once was a community of steadfast honest agents, I am hopeful that you will be able to restore it to its origin. I’m sure this poses more questions than it answered but with time you will become aware of your abilities and importance. 

All of my love forever,

Grandmother.

~

You blink. Once, twice, thrice. You wretch. You pinch yourself, slap your face, douse ice down the back of your shirt. Anything that would indicate that this is a dream. You don’t know how many times you re-read this letter. Scouring it for a sign that this is a joke or perhaps a delusion thought up by your grandmother in her old age. But too many things made sense—though much more didn’t. You don’t think Toji would allow her to make these bold statements if she wasn’t in her right mind. 

Again, you read the letter. Many of the words become foreign to you as a way for your brain to block them out. 

Protect you. Espionage. Marksmen. Society. 

Death of your parents at the hands of a community

Your parents' death was tragic enough. An unfortunate accident, an ice storm caused their car to slide off the road, killing them instantly. To think that it might have been intentional? And that the same people could possibly come for you–? You shake the thought off. 

But the words that make you queasy the most were, that shifted the world on its axis: Arrangement. Loving husband. 

Could she really be insinuating that she and Toji had consulted each other and arranged a…marriage? 

How serious was this deal? Surely, toji was just being kind to her. Agreeing to wed her single granddaughter. It was a classic setup, a blind date of sorts. Right?

Right?

You need to know you aren’t crazy. The phone shakes in your hand as you dial Toji’s number, hoping to get more clarification on this. 

“Fuck,” you grunt after the phone comes up as disconnected. 

This letter, indeed, raised more questions than it answered. You didn’t even know where to start. If you ever wanted to. This seems like a Pandora box, a hydra. Sort one thing out; a thousand more emerge. 

~Toji~

“I’m sure she will be calling you with more questions,” Toji hefts the duffel bag on his shoulder. “Don’t intimidate her.”

Shiu walks with Toji on the tarmac, arriving at a sleek private jet with the door laid open.

Shiu laughs, stubbing out his cigarette. “The most feared and intimidating killer of this decade is giving me advice to go soft on a subject.”

“She not a subject. She’s—” Toji trails off. “And quit saying killer.”

“I fear you are becoming soft, Has she weakened you that much,” Shiu continues to tease. 

“A weak man wouldn’t even give her the letter and force her into a marriage. Take her. Breed her out. Drop her. Like some of the bastards in your community.” Toji barks. 

“It’s still your community too. You can run and live on the periphery, but you are still one of us.” Shiu stabs his finger into Toji chest. 

Toji scoff. “I’ll never be like those barbarians. She gets a choice. If she wants to go through with it, that’s fine. If she doesn’t then.... I’m not going to force her.”

“Not upholding a contract is a serious offense, Toji.”

“I fucking know.”

Shiu holds his hands up. “Forgive me. I just worry for both Megumi and you. Traditions of contractual arrangements of marriage are sacred within OUR society.”

“Your society practically shackles its women. Turning the smartest of them into punching bags and housemaid for those men. I refuse to take part in it. I fought my way out this far. I plan to keep pushing to remove myself completely from it.”

“At the expense of putting a target on not only your back but Megumi and now, y/n’s?” Shiu pushes. 

Toji glares, turns on his heels, and climbs the plane entranceway. Before entering the cabin, he halfway turns back to Shiu. “Your society is rampant with internal conflict. Your guys are hiring outsiders to take out others, ensuring them more jobs.”

“Competition has always been a problem, keeps up the morale,” Shiu seems unaffected by the statement. "You are aware that killing one of our own is a death sentence"

“They found a loophole by having someone else kill their competition. The guy y/n’s—seeing. I think he’s been planted. Hired by one of your men. Either to gain her trust and make her forfeit her role, giving it to whoever hired him or to.." Toji pauses, the words catching in his throat briefly.

"To kill her?" Shiu finishes when he notices Toji struggle. "What would be the benefit of that."

"Eliminate her from rising to power in this fucked up world of ours. Finishing what her grandmother started before she was excommunicated for actually giving a damn about loyalty and 'family'”

Shiu is quiet for a beat, crossing his arms before finally saying, “You care for her.” Not a question. A statement, fact.

“I don’t. I’m only doing what I was contracted to do.”

“That kiss said otherwise.” Shiu cocks a brow. 

The two men stare silently at one another for a moment, before Toji turns and walks into the cabin of the jet, throwing over his shoulder, “Just keep an eye on her while I’m gone.”

~

Finger shaking, you hold the piece of paper in one hand and your phone in the other. The numbers on the paper blur as you fight back tears. It had laid on your entryway table untouched since Toji placed it there the previous night. No note, no name, just a number. 

Call it if you need it or something—happens

You press in the final number and press call. Secretly you're hoping it’s Toji. Perhaps he’s using a burner phone? 

No answer. The call goes to voicemail, a male voice comes on the greeting. 

“This is Shiu, leave a message.”

The voice sounds familiar, the man that greeted you earlier on the sidewalk.

At the tone, you debate whether you should hang up or scream into the line “What the fuck is going on.” Gathering and swallowing the urge you try to keep you voice as calm as possible. 

“Hi, this is y/n. Uhm…Toji gave me this number if I needed something—” You pause, what exactly is it you are needing? Answers? A slap to wake you from this bizarre dream, a drink, a hug. Your resolve slowly crumbles. “Please, if you can call me. I don’t—I don’t know what’s going on. I’m–I don’t know. I’m fucking confused.”

Tears burn down your reddened cheeks as you end the call. It was embarrassing ending it with an outburst and cursing but dammit you deserved to curse. Deserve to throw a hissy fit.

You deserve the answers you are seeking. 

[bracketsoffear]

Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze (Batman) "Nora Fries, wife of Victor, contracted a rare disease, of which there was no cure. Victor, wanting to save his wife, put her in cryo-stasis. Unfortunately, Victor' boss Ferris Boyle tried to pull the plug on Nora and knocked Victor into some chemicals. Victor is now literally cold-blooded, forcing him to stay in a special suit because even room temperature environments can kill him. He tried to take revenge on Boyle, but after Batman foiled him, his primary motivation for crime is to save Nora from her fate. Sadly, every instance where he finally gains the means to revive and cure Nora ends badly for him, and only rarely goes well for Nora, if even that; for example, the DCAU sees Nora successfully cured, but she moves on without her husband, who instead decides to take his pain out on the world when he loses his entire body. On his worst days he falls headlong into selfish destruction, either robbing people blind to fund his research/planning to use them as test subjects because the recovery of his wife justifies anything he does to achieve it, or destroying people's lives and making them miserable because if he can't be happy, no one can be happy. Even his most sympathetic portrayals frequently note an element of selfish delusion to his situation- a belief that by reviving her, all of his actions will have been justified and his suffering will end."

Slugpelt (Pinepaw and the Forgotten World) "she is lonely--her mother was cruel, favoring her brother rainhaze whilst treating her like shit, and the group where she lives is very isolated. also her boyfriend left her to raise her kids alone

she spreads loneliness--while she is less of an antagonist and more of a tragic hero in her own right (and she's at least trying to get better), she does somewhat pass her loneliness down to her kids, being... rather neglectful and barely connecting with them (generational cycles of abuse are somewhat of a. theme in patfw). the comic's author, Raz, is also a big tma fan and has explicitly described her as Lonely-aligned."

[copperbadge]

I’ve read a lot of romance novels lately of varying quality (mostly on the “truly awful to moderately bad” spectrum, unfortunately) but the one I’m reading now -- which is actually one book masquerading as three, presumably to raise sales -- would not be out of place as a kind of literary thriller if you assume the female romantic lead and first-person narrator is, in fact, the villain of the piece. 

It’s not just that where she goes, chaos tends to follow, because that’s in the nature of these stories, a kind of Murder She Wrote suspension-of-disbelief clause. It’s more that if this woman weren’t the narrator, she would look absolutely unhinged to an outside observer. Among other things, one of the major subplots of the book is that she’s writing a computer program that will analyze a pop song for a popularity index, then suggest tweaks to make it catchier and more broadly appealing to guarantee a Top Forty hit. Which on the surface, and speaking as a data guy, is kinda cool, but speaking as any kind of artist is highly disconcerting. 

Also she was ejected from school for not having a job (not her fault, funding fell through), got a job as a roadie for a rock band, ran away from the job and didn’t tell anyone where she’d gone, then discovered her father was the in-universe equivalent of a supervillain, then started sympathizing with the supervillain. I’m pretty sure she’s not going to stage a coup to take over his high-powered, high-paying business and become Supervillain Junior, but I am saying if she did it wouldn’t actually surprise me. 

If this weren’t a semi poorly written romance novel, if it had slightly better prose and was deliberately playing on the trope of the unreliable narrator, it’d be a work of art. She just keeps getting more and more morally suspect until you realize that soon her only recourse will be to murder the male love interest. Run, male love interest! Grab your big dick and your tragic backstory and run! 

I like romance novels, and I appreciate them for what they are, but every once in a while you do encounter one where you think, Oh, you didn’t really think this through when you had this idea, did you?