#why does it have to be so invasive what do i even do about confrontation

[blossomthepinkbunny]

Charlie as an underdeveloped character

One thing I was genuinely dissapointed by when watching Hazbin Hotel was that they never cared to dive into Charlie's Morality more.

I feel like a lot of people can agree that Charlie felt very flat/sidelined in a show she was supposed to be the main character of and I think that that's because they ran out of Character Moments for her. Her Backstory is pretty much just infodumped at the start so there's nothing you can really explore there (except for her relationship with her parents ig but they only really brought that up and resolved it in one episode). Alastor has the mystery behind him of what his goals really are, Angel Dust has his arc about standing up to his abuser, Vaggie has her dramatic backstory reveal thing and Sir pentious gets focus as the one real guest at the hotel and with his goal to be redeemed.

Charlie really has no conflict at all, which is weird since the whole plot is that her idea is relentlessly mocked and never succeeds until the end. But she doesn't have a personal conflict. All the issues she faces come from the ignorance of the people around her who don't support her, but never from who she is. She never has to change. They try to hint at this with her being possibly invasive and not respecting boundaries in the Angel Dust and Valentino episode. But the episode doesn't focus on her and Angel as they talk it out and she realizes how she might have to change as well (from how I remember it). It focuses on Husk and Angel's relationship instead.

I feel like the easiest route they could've taken for her character was that of a moral dilemma. Charlie believes in second chances and being able to change demons and her opposite is Adam, who doesn't think demons should be redeemed and should just be killed instead. But it's never specified if Charlie truly believes everyone deserves a second chance or if there are restrictions to that. Adam sings a song in the first episode and explaines his reasoning for why he believes demons shouldn't be saved, which is that they had their chance to be good and didn't choose it and now they can't expect another one (I guess the real reason is that he's just an asshole who doesn't care but that's because Vivzepop can't write Villains so I'll just pretend like that's his real reason).

The problem is that Adam is presented as fully in the wrong and I just don't agree with that. I'm not saying he's right with killing random demons of course but the show never takes the time to consider that sometimes people go to hell because they are actually terrible and have done inexcusable things. Like yeah, someone who had an addicition or a mental health problem while they were alive obviously doesn't deserve eternal suffering without any chance for redeemability, but we know that those aren't the only people that go to hell (in the pilot it's literally confirmed that real life criminals like Jeffrey Dahmer are also down there).

The show blatanly shows us characters like Valentino who are shown to do irredeemable things and be purely evil.

My question is just if Charlie would also look at someone like Valentino and say: "Yeah they deserve to be saved and get a second chance". She obviously thinks Valentino sucks, which we see in the Episode were she meets him.

So like, what would she have done if in the second episode someone like him stood at their door and wanted to be redeemed instead of Sir Pentious. Does she draw a line? Or would she have really heard him out? Her morality with this "everybody deserves a second chance" attitude is so underexplored even though it would have been the perfect place to develop her more. If they had confronted her with an actually tough situation, where she is presented with a truly terrible person, they could've had two interesting ways to take her character.

She could've accepted the person and with that she'd have taken her role a fully 'good' saviour for the demons. Someone who is truly without judgement, or atleast believes that there is good in everyone that just has to be brought out. Which would've also given room to think about if people like that are even inherently good, if they can 'excuse' the actions of terrible people and still want to help them. This would have made her a very extreme character in her believes, but something coherent and definitive is actually something Charlie desperately needs for her characterization.

The other way would've had her reject the person and with that she would have to face the idea that maybe Adam isn't fully wrong. In that situation she would have found herself in a similar position to the Angels in heaven, where she basically is the one deciding over what's acceptable and what isn't. This could lead to her having a moral dilemma. Is she even a good person if she's deciding what's moral and what isn't? Can she just be okay with making exceptions to her idea to protect her people? Does she even want to view EVERY demon as her family? Or does she think there are some demons that maybe deserve death?

I'm just really dissapointed that the show takes such an interesting idea and such a difficult topic and then just does nothing with it. What we view as bad and good and which people we judge harder than others will always depend on social norms and the situation. It's a topic with no real right and wrong answer because there are so many things to consider. But this moral grey conflict that is literally one of the MAIN CONFLICTS in Hazbin Hotel is so incredibly underwritten, that it's not even funny.

Instead of acknowledging the difficulty of the subject Hazbin does what it does best and takes the easy route with seemingly clear right and wrong sides. This is especially stupid, since morally grey characters are supposed to be the point of the show. Like there are these demons who have done bad things and who aren't perfect, but that doesn't make them bad people. Its about revealing that a person has layers (which the writing doesn't). This is also a big point in Helluva Boss, where characters like Blitzø or Stolas who mess up repeatedly, are supposed to be shown as still having interests, aspirations, and good things to them.

The easy route which is taken constantly in both shows however makes it so that Charlie is completely in the right and anyone who criticises her is one of the evil people who try to ruin her plan, just like Adam. Who's also such a straw man for anyone who even dares to bring any objection to Charlies ideas, because everyone who does is apparently a hypocrite who just doesn't understand her and would rather side with genocide (I wonder were Vivzepop takes her inspiration from).

Charlies writing was just really dissapointing with almost never any reflection being done on her part. She doesn't have really striking moments, discussions or ideas to her in a show she's supposed to lead. That's just an issue that comes with Vivzepop never really putting as much work into her female characters, even tough they would desperately need it.

I know that only the first season is out so far, but I highly doubt thay they'll bring up a discussion like this in s2. Especially since Adam is dead now and the Angels will probably try to work more with the demons, after Sir Pentious' redemtion and the reveal of the exterminations to them. Also the Vees, Lillith and Alastor will be more of focus from what we can assume by the ending scenes.

I just don’t like that Viv can take interesting conflicts and write them to be completely one-dimensional and boring.

[junosmindpalace]

i saw your dr stone senku oneshot about senku realizing hes inlove and just wanna say i LOVEDDD IT, so i was wondering if i could request a similar thing to that but with kusuo (i dont rlly mind if its a headcannon or oneshot or whatever, anything works!) with like aren or mikoto randomly pointing out that kusuo looks like he likes the reader LMFAOO

hi there! thank you very much for your request! i'm glad you liked my dr stone oneshot!

i tried to mimic the straightforward, fast-pace, absurdness(?) of the show- i hope i did it justice ;,)

warnings: none!

wc: 1.9k

Kusuo, as much as he tries not to, cannot help attracting people into his life. He does his best to avoid socializing and standing out by minding his own business, hoping others will do the same. 

But instead (and seemingly without doing anything), he’s acquired a large group of friends who greatly admire and care for him. It’s undeniable that they could be troublesome, but he still goes the extra mile for them and even those he doesn’t know well. You were in Kusuo’s class and lived in his area, so he often saw you in and out of school, and just like the rest of his friends, you managed to meddle your way into his life. You’ve repeatedly witnessed his kindness and compassion, and each time you’ve confronted him, he’d brush it off and chalk it up as an interference to his peace.

Kusuo was pretty bland to you besides his funky accessories and bright pink hair, but you found he was an easy person to talk to, mostly because (and sadly enough, depending on perspective) the conversations you had with him were pretty one sided. You didn’t think much of Kusuo’s quietness, and took him to be a good listener instead of someone who was disinterested in what you had to say. 

Over time however, whatever irritation Kusuo originally had with you faded as you familiarized yourselves with one another. He found himself hanging out with you and contributing more to your conversations (telepathically, of course) out of his own volition. If he wasn’t forced to hang out with Kaido and Nendou, and maybe sometimes Aren, he was usually spending time with you. He seemed to tolerate you more than anyone else in his life because of your patient understanding nature. You were non-invasive, never forcing Kusuo to do anything he didn’t want to, and covered for him whenever he was confronted by others so as to avoid further attention. For your kindness, he’s subconsciously given you his time and attention and is a little more lenient with allowing you into his life. 

Saiki discovered with time that the two of you actually share a lot of common interests, such as a love for video games and manga. On top of that, he also greatly respected your determination, hard work, and open mindedness. 

“Why does Y/N get to…?!” his other friends would groan out or shriek in irritation when he enabled you over them, to which he’d deadpan, “because they’re not insufferable like the rest of you.” 

Even though you two have always been strictly friends, Kusuo just cannot help getting himself into tricky situations as well, and so no matter how hard he tries to make it seem like the opposite, somehow people are always getting the wrong idea when the two of you are together. 

It’s hard to tell who exactly was the first in Saiki’s friend group to suspect anything, but his friends all at once slowly started acting unnatural when the two of you hung around together or talked about each other.

The people who addressed the elephant in the room first were Toritsuka and Mikoto. 

Saiki and the two were dealing with a dangerous situation, which was surprisingly and maybe even alarmingly normal considering the nature of Saiki’s friends (being psychics and all), when you suddenly approached him in the midst of their chaos.

You called a greeting toward him and his friends and then started rambling about your day, completely oblivious to the danger the group was trying to tame. You brought up a low grade you got, an annoying teacher, and then asked Saiki if he wanted to go out to a cafe after school. 

But Saiki suddenly grabbed your shoulders and looked you firmly in the eyes, catching you and the other two psychics off guard, because they stopped whatever panicking they were doing to watch. 

A beat of silence. “Saiki?” “I’ll meet up with you at the cafe, alright? I’ll even treat you, just get out of here.”

And you’re confused on why he sounds so serious and urgent, on why his grip on you is so firm, but you’re patient, and so all you do is stare at him with a small frown and go “okay.”

You said your goodbyes and headed off with the group watching you do a double take before disappearing behind a corner.

And Kusuo immediately regrets holding onto you when he turns around to the stunned looks on his friends’ faces, who, after a moment of processing the sight, are in his face. 

“I knew it! I knew the two of you were dating! You don’t have a heart of stone after all!” “I wish you would’ve told us, Kusuo! They’re cute, too!”

He’s insanely annoyed by this, obviously, and immediately shuts down the mistranslation. “Quiet! I’m not dating anyone and stay out of my business. We have to continue…”

But from there, the situation only worsened. Everyone was thinking it, everyone was feeling it. It was only a matter of who was finally going to say something about it. And of course, Saiki knew everyone was thinking it, but he truly didn’t think it would escalate into something intrusive. 

And after the psykickers, seemingly everyone decided to speak up about it. 

You were talking to Saiki before class began, and when you were invited over to talk to another friend, Kaidou and Aren appeared by the esper’s desk. “Is it true?! Are you and L/N dating?!”

“No. Get out of my face.”

“I didn’t really see it at first,” Aren thought out loud to himself, ignoring his wish. “L/N’s pretty friendly with everyone, but the two of you oddly enough make sense. You look good together!”

Saiki stared exasperatedly. Saiki respected Aren for being one of the more level headed members of his friend group, but even he was on about this?

“What are you talking about Kuboyasu? My pal’s irresistible!” And now Nendou was joining the conversation, approaching Kusuo’s desk with his hands in his pockets. “Congrats buddy! They’re a real cutie!”

“Hey! What are you gents talking about?” Hairo’s voice boomed out. Him too? Why was everyone so interested in the conversation? 

“Saiki and L/N,” Kaido answered as Hairo joined the semi-circle formed around Saiki’s desk. Hairo's face lit up, immediately catching on just from the mention of your names. “Ooh! So it’s true, huh? I always suspected something! I’m happy for you both!”

“Enough! I’m not dating L/N! Where are you all getting this stupid impression from?”

“What are you talking about?! You two always come in a pair!” Kaido cried out in defense and stared at his friend incredulously. 

“Yeah, everywhere you go, L/N isn’t far behind. You can’t find one without the other.” Aren added almost hesitantly as Saiki stared with his mouth forming a small “o” shape.

This came as a surprise to him. He was always so keen on living a “normal” and peaceful life, finding others a threat to this aspiration and doing his best to block them out because of it. He didn’t socialize or attempt to make friends, but apparently he could live his “normal” life with you in it. You casually followed him-- and him you-- and he found comfort in and outside of your “normalcy”-- your presence, your everyday tasks and conversation; even your uniqueness. You became a part of his normal at some point, his peace.

When did that happen? 

“You bring them everywhere with you, dude. I think L/N’s the only person who can get you to come out of your shell a little.” Hairo commented with a short laugh and scrunched brows as he thought aloud.

Saiki admits that he’s more willing to try new things or do something he initially didn’t want to if you’re there with him. He trusts you, and so if you’re involved, he supposes he doesn’t mind getting involved either. Sometimes when he asked about the two of you constantly tag teaming, he’ll say something like “they wanted to come along” or “Y/N convinced me to go” and Kusuo himself is a little surprised that he never realized how that looked and sounded like to his friends, who knew him to be pretty reserved and introverted. 

“Oooh! Are we talking about Saiki and L/N?” Oh no. Not…

“Teruhashi!” 

“Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but I couldn’t help but overhear you boys talking about L/N! They’re always telling me about you Saiki! It’s so nice how you do so much for them!”

Does he really do a lot for you? Yes, yes he does, and Teruhashi has heard it all. You don’t talk about it excessively or ever make it seem like a brag, but it slips up so casually in conversation that even Kokomi, with all her admirers, finds it endearing how natural Saiki’s urge to take care of you is. 

Trouble at work? Saiki’s on the job. He’ll get your annoying manager to stop bugging you or help you clear out the place faster after a long day. An item you casually mentioned you wanted? Knowing Saiki, he probably goes through hell and back trying to get it for you, but even so he never spends too much time indulging you in the details of how he obtained it. A classmate giving you a hard time? Saiki’s loyalty is more evident than ever. Even Teruhashi is taken aback when you share your experiences with him. 

“I’m so jealous! I wish I had someone like that!” Chiyo groaned out from behind the group as Kokomi and Hairo made space for her to join the discussion. 

With so many of his friends taking notice of these things, Kusuo is forced to acknowledge and reflect on them in that moment, especially when they’re suggesting something beyond friendship. 

He consistently swoops in to save you from bad situations, even when you insist that you can handle yourself. And Saiki knows you can, he doesn’t always doubt you, but he tries to make it seem that way or as if you were an inconvenience. In reality, Saiki never exactly knew what urged him to help you out so much. With his other friends, everything he did felt like a one sided favor. But with you, it was something more. He was okay with taking care of you. 

And he can’t help but smile when he sees how excited you are about something. Saiki’s cold demeanor sticks most of the time, but it’s typically in private or away from his friends’ prying eyes that Saiki’s shoulder relax a little and he lets himself enjoy your presence. With his responsibilities and burdens as a psychic, romance was absolutely off the table. 

But maybe…

“Hey everyone! What are we talking about?”

Both the conversation and Saiki’s daydreams immediately halt as everyone turns toward the sound of your voice. You slowly approach the group with a smile on your face. “Talking about that test?”

Even Kusuo is staring dumbly at you, but before anyone could open their mouths to answer, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. 

As the teacher called everyone to return to their seats and the group broke apart, Saiki briefly looked down and then toward you in the seat across from him, watching you unpack your supplies. 

Good grief. His troublesome friends really got to him. 

BONUS: 

“ImeanitssoobviousyouhaveathingforY/Nwiththewayyou’reconstantlytogetherhowcouldanyonenottellfromthewayyou’realwaysprotectingthemtoalwayshangingaroundoneanotherthoughit’sdefinitelyanoddpairingbutonethatyoutwoseemtomakeworkit’salmostlikeaclincheinaromancefilm!”

Translation: “I mean, it’s so obvious you have a thing for Y/N with the way you’re constantly together. How could anyone not tell from the way you’re always protecting them to always hanging around one another, though it’s definitely an odd pairing but one you two seem to make work. It’s almost like a cliche in a romance film!”

(Akechi cornered Saiki in the hallway right after class.)

[atom-writings]

(Hetalia Main 8 x Reader) Finding out their future S/O likes them through... unconventional means!

(Gender Neutral) Headcanons ~ A/N anon i hope u do not mind i changed the scenario the slightest bit so theyre not all the same. Also ur english is fine dont wrry!! <3 also srry for the wait ):

Trigger Warning: Implications about reader that might be wrong, Ivan is kind of invasive, awkwardness? Other than that, just fluff!

One day, you and one of your closest friends went out to a local restaurant to hang out. You two talked for hours and hours, about everything and anything. Of course, during that time your love life came up. That part of your life has always been complicated, and you couldn’t think of a better person to talk it through with. Lately, you’d become entranced with your good friend Alfred. Everything about him drove you wild, and you could talk about him for hours.

But little did you know, the restaurant you love just happens to be one of his favourites too. So, a couple of booths away, he sat. At first, he tried not to intrude, but he couldn’t help but perk up upon hearing his name.

He doesn’t confront you with this immediately. In fact, he’s gonna keep that to himself as long as he can stand to. Which, probably isn’t that long.

He finds it very entertaining to watch your reaction to him… very subtly flirting. Leaning over your shoulder more than he needs to, brushing hands when you’re walking together, offering you his jacket…

Of course, he knows why you’re blushing, but you don’t know that he does. Isn’t that what makes it so much fun?

Eventually he’ll actually ask you out. But for now, he’ll just enjoy having this… power over you <3

When you decided to invite your friends over to play a new board game, you had no choice but to invite Arthur over as well. Your feelings towards him maybe have been… complicated… but you couldn’t deny that any gathering felt lonely without him. Even if he could easily defeat all of you in any strategy game.

When you began playing, you all began quickly immersed. Your eyes couldn’t leave the game, and even a second away could cost you everything. So when Arthur lost a turn, it was only natural that he was forced to retrieve something for the group. You asked him to grab something from your room. However, that thing just happened to be right next to your trash can. 

When he finally found what he was looking for, it had fallen on top of the trash. As he picked it up, it revealed a crumpled-up letter underneath. Looking over his shoulder, he unfolded it. But scribbled hastily on that letter were the details of your true feelings towards a certain British gentleman…

He’s going to be blushing and panicking immediately. Leaves swiftly with next to no explanation (he’s gonna beat himself up later for that one-)

He’ll bring it up next time you meet. Of course, casually. He doesn’t want to pressure you, especially since he feels a little guilty about how he found out.

But thank god he did find out because he’d be much too scared of rejection otherwise. Asking you out feels incredibly vulnerable, but this way, both of you are happy.

Although it had never been in your nature to reach out… you had come to a breaking point. Your feelings towards your friend, Francis, had become an issue. But considering how embarrassing it was to admit, asking your friends for advice was out the question. You would have to do it anonymously.

So, on a warm Saturday afternoon, you decided to call into a small English-speaking talk radio. You were visiting France, just for him, and hoped that the native Parisian host may be able to provide a unique perspective on how to proceed. Perhaps there was some… cultural barrier between you two?

So when you began describing your predicament, you couldn’t stop. Before you knew it you were gushing about your love for Francis. But in your haste, his name slipped out. You paused, right before on the other end, a familiar voice said your name.

Naturally, as soon as he finds out, he’s all in. He’s immediately asking you out and showering you in all the compliments he’s had to internalize (on air even-)

He’s gonna be a bit awkward just in the way that it’s hard for him to understand any reservations you may have. You’re both head over heels for each other, isn’t that enough?

Of course, it’s not. You hadn’t even planned to reveal your feelings yet, it was just a misunderstanding! Although it’s a dream to him, your uncomfortableness is no surprise. Set some boundaries, and he’ll be the most perfect boyfriend you could ever ask for.

Yao always loved sharing his culture with you. One of his favourite ways to do so was through cooking! You had never been that much into cooking, but with him, it seemed much easier and way more fun. So when he invited you over to teach you a new traditional Chinese dish, you couldn’t say no. Even if you felt a little… awkward around him now.

But you considered that maybe, that day, you could finally tell him how you felt. Maybe then wouldn’t have to deal with that awkwardness, and possibly even end up with him, in a more romantic sense. But if he rejected you… the awkwardness would be ten-fold. You had no idea what to do! Luckily, you could always consult your friends.

So, while you and Yao cooked, you also texted your friends for advice… discreetly, of course. But as you two got more and more invested in your meal, you forgot about all your troubles. And by extension, your friends trying to give you advice. You even got so distracted that you forgot your phone on his kitchen table, and when he picked it up to investigate, he found your friend’s text thread telling you to confess.

He’s going to panic immediately. This isn’t how he wanted to find this out! It makes him feel all guilty… like he invaded your privacy. Obviously, he’s a little excited but still!

So he has no choice but to pretend he didn’t see anything. If you ask him about it, you’ll get nothing but denial. 

As soon as the time is right, and it’s not obvious that he already knew you’d say yes, he’ll ask you out himself. If anything, this incident will just be a little bump in the road to you guy’s eventual relationship. Honestly, he may still deny it even after you’re dating. It’s just… embarrassing for the both of you.

Although you had only been friends for a short time, it felt as if you and Ivan had been together for years. When he asked to come over to your home for the first time, it came as a shock. Not because you didn’t want him to, but simply because you assumed he had already come over! You had spent a lot of time at his home already, so it felt natural

While you gave him the short tour, he couldn’t help himself but ask question after question. It seemed as if he was investigating your whole life based on your possessions. But considering how much you knew about him, you felt completely comfortable sharing. While you regaled him with the stories of your, relatively short, life so far he listened intently. Soaking in every detail and never looking away from you. In fact, he seemed so enthusiastic about you, you started to become flustered. You had been able to keep your feelings under control for most of your time spent together, but this was proving too much. No one else had ever paid as much attention to you as he had.

Soon enough, you had no choice but to excuse yourself from his overwhelming presence. But while you tried to busy yourself in another room, he was drawn to the beautiful journey laying on your desk. Although he knew it to be wrong, he couldn’t help but flip through a couple of pages. Unfortunately for everyone involved, those few pages just happened to detail your romantic feelings towards the Russian reading them.

Ivan, despite the way he found out, will be ecstatic! Absolutely no shame about how he found out about your feelings. Immediately rushes over to you and nearly tackles you to the ground in a hug.

At that point, he’s not even asking you out. You like him as well, so you’ll agree with no questions asked, right?

Despite that, he won’t take any reservations too personally. He’ll always be happy now that he knows you feel the same as him. Whatever that means for you.

He doesn’t even think about how invasive and uncomfortable it might’ve been for you to have him find out in such a personal way. But he’ll promise to never do it again, don’t worry.

One thing that no one could deny about Italy, was that it was beautiful. Romantic architecture, perfect coastlines, its culture burst at the seams, and you couldn’t get enough of it. You were so possessed by its beauty that you couldn’t help falling into the local superstitions around it. In specific, you found yourself believing in wishes. By your friend Feliciano’s house, there was a beautiful, centuries-old fountain that locals wished in.

Normally, you wouldn’t believe in such things. But day by day you felt more desperate. You were in love with your friend, but you couldn’t risk losing him just because you wanted a little bit more. Although he acted quite affectionate with you, he did the same for everyone. All you wanted was for Feliciano to take the first step, for him to understand without words, or anything at this point!

So you went down to the fountain, bringing just one euro coin to sacrifice. It was in the evening, so only a few people remained in the square, leaving you almost alone. You wished out loud, confessing your true feelings to the world, in a desperate plea for them to come true. But little did you know, Feliciano had come with the same idea.

Oh, he’s definitely confronting you right away. Him being there while you confess has to be fate, there’s no other explanation!

He’s very smooth about it though. He’ll ask you out, but with no strings attached. By the end of the whole ordeal, you won’t feel embarrassed in the slightest. It’s almost like he has practice dealing with this kind of thing…

All he can think is how romantic this whole situation is. It’s like something out of a movie, and a perfect fairytale romance is all he’s ever wanted. Hopefully, you do too <3 

Ludwig had always been a smart man. That was one of your favourite things about him. When you worked with him, it felt as if anything was possible. Even when he struggled, he would comfort you and promise that together, the solution would become clear. So when you had no idea where to start on your essay, he was the first person you asked to help.

So, early in the afternoon, he came over to your home. Laying out his own preliminary research, you couldn’t help but laugh. Somehow, in half the time, he was able to find double the information you could. But he wasn’t embarrassed, simply choosing to ignore your reaction and begin walking you through the writing process.

With his he;[, you couldn’t help but get on quite a roll. Any distractions faded away, and it felt as if every second could be used to it’s fullest extent. So when you needed a specific piece of information you had noted down before, you asked him to retrieve it. But when he grabbed the notebook you had asked him for, he opened it to reveal dozens of notes… about him. Even with little hearts dotting each line! 

He is so excited. I mean, he’s so freaked out about it he feels like he’s gonna pass out, but in a good way! It’s pretty adorable, he’s all flushed and can’t help but start stimming.

Next time you see him, he’s gonna try his best to ask you out and reveal that he feels the same. But, the first time, he might panic and dip out. 

He worried you’re gonna judge him for how he realized you liked him as well, and reject his advances. If you did he’d never live it down-

As much as he loved you, he did not love your friends. Kiku would come to anything you invited him to, regardless of the fact that every time he would end up playing video games alone in your room. While everyone partied outside, he found the noise unbearable. But the fact that you didn’t question his decision to isolate, and even made an effort to still hang out with him alone, was one of his favourite things about you.

But one time, during one of those gatherings, he turned into a side room early. It had been a hard day for him, but still seeing you was his first priority. Right before he put his headphones on, he overheard someone saying his name from outside the door. 

The longer he listened, the colder he felt. Two of your friends were commenting on his behaviour, calling him strange and awkward. One questioned why he had even been invited, remarking that he didn’t fit into the group. He was about to interrupt their conversation when you joined their mean-spirited discussion.

But you didn’t agree with them, oh no. You told them that he was always invited because regardless of their rude opinions. Because, well, you loved him. More than just a friend would.

Oh, this is so awkward for him.  And you. What a situation! He’s so worried about what to do. He likes you a lot too, he keeps catching himself daydreaming about you… holding your hand, kissing your cheek, being in love with each other… but there’s no way you feel the same! He must have misheard!

He’s definitely not gonna bring up what he heard. As far as you’re aware, he knows absolutely nothing. And he’s trying his best to-

I seriously doubt he’d be the one who asked you out first, regardless of the situation. All this has done is make him doubt everything more. Just do him a favour and be direct, won’t you?

[danosrosegarden]

Luv your work! 💖💖

Could you write Rimming with Eddie? Reader can be GN. You inspire me to create my own work :D

dirty little secret - edward nashton x gn!reader headcanons (NSFW) ⋆��₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

{contains: descriptions of anxiety, rimming, and switch eddie if you squint.}

☽ Edward viewed it as nothing more than a shameful porn category he'd scroll through when his room was dark and empty. It made his cheeks burn pink and his stomach flutter, to think of how deeply he enjoyed his filthy secret. There was one specific video he always came running back to. He was stuck like glue on the way the man in the video whined and gripped his bedsheets. It was pleasure-riddled agony painted across his face as his partner's slick tongue plunged in and out of him. His hips would buck and his thighs would tremble and Eddie wanted to know how he felt so badly. He couldn't help but imagine how good you'd look in that situation. But no, gosh, no, he could never share this part of him with anybody. Certainly not you. You'd think he was grimy. Disgusting. A freak. He simply couldn't fracture what you two had going.

☽ Little did he know...uh...he wasn't exactly quiet about his deeds when he was under the impression you were asleep next to him. And what an interesting selection of videos he ran through, you noted while peeking out of one eye beside him. You'd have to confront him sometime.

☽ I say confront, because Eddie really does feel like he's been caught in a spider web when you decide to bring it up one night. He's about to be eaten alive, and not in the way he wants it. (har har)

☽ He's fumbling with his fingers, rapidly cracking his knuckles while he spills it all in a jumbled, tangled string of words. Poor baby. He has no idea, does he? You want to see him happy. And you'd always like to know what you could do to reach that goal. There was no reason to be fearful of it. You tell him so, and the raging thunderstorm pounding in his chest quells when he senses you truly mean it.

☽ But when the moment finally comes, he can't seem to pacify his trembling limbs, twitching with frosty cold fear. But it all circles back to those videos he watched. The men in it groaned. They whimpered. Their hips shook wildly and damn it, they were loving it. So, why was he so anxious?

☽ The position he's in certainly doesn't help. Porn never lets you in on how invasive face down ass up really feels.

☽ There are a million what-ifs for Edward to consider here, frozen solid in this vulnerable position. What if he doesn't like it? What if you don't like it? What if you suddenly decide he is, in fact, a fucking freak, and you don't want him anymore?

☽ His buzzing brain flatlines as soon as your tongue, coated with thick bubbles of saliva, snakes inside of him. Holy fuck. It was weird, but the best genre of strange he'd felt. He's overwhelmed almost instantly.

☽ And he can feel you grin against him as weak mewls drip from his mouth. Bastard. You're enjoying making me crumble, aren't you?

☽ "Please." He's hearing his voice squeak out a plead, but he's lost control of what he's babbling. What the fuck am I even begging for? More? Less? Slower? Faster?

☽ He gives in to the feeling completely, deep groans and laughable whines trickling from his lips like drool. He lets the heat in his belly knot up and rise, his heart crashing like cymbals in his ears. More. More. Just a little bit more.

☽ He'd been dribbling precum as soon as you'd started, and you were doing fucking incredible, but he needed more. He heard you tsk as he grabbed hold of his throbbing dick and stroked himself furiously. In that moment, he couldn't be paid to care about the punishment you'd be giving him later for touching himself without permission. He just needed more, and he needed it now.

☽ A strangled sob is ripped out from his chest as his cum paints the bedsheets. Can you blame him? He just couldn't help it! It was so excitingly new, so prettily filthy...and for a time, it was unfathomable. He planned on taking his dirty little secret to his grave.

☽ "Thank you," he mutters into your neck, cuddling up to your side after the cleanup. He holds onto you tight. "Thank you, thank you."

☽ He may not have been the one doing the work, but you felt a beaming ray of pride shine from your heart. Such a brave boy you got, conquering his fears of expressing his desires. And now, he had no use for those videos anymore, because he just got a fresh stack of masturbation material. The memory of your tongue swirling around his hole would be enough to get him off daily from now on. And let's not even get started on his fantasies of him performing on you...

[garfeildfanpage]

To kind of add onto the Aoiaoi post from earlier I just wanted to include a few things I didn’t mention cause discourse

Akane didn’t strangle Aoi, but he still pushed her over, and proceeded to grab her by the neck and forced her upwards, hence the coughing. That’s still bad, actually!

Tbhktwt is having a moment right now, and I feel like a lot of people are either overblowing / diluting the conflict in the chapter. Akane is being forceful, both physically and not, and that’s not good! It’s obvious to say that in no other situation would Aoi have confronted her issues, but that doesn’t take away from the invasive act of it. He isn’t just forcing her to confront her feelings, he’s distressing her on purpose to prove his point, no matter his intentions he’s still doing something wrong. They’re both incredibly messed up individuals, and Aoi has a lot of blood on her hands as well.

Aoi intended on killing herself, and when Akane got in her way, she took him with her.

I’ve reread Akane & Aoi multiple times and still sit on the conclusion that their confrontation solved nothing. Akane is upset at Aoi for lying to people, but he doesn’t once try to rationalize why she’s doing so. Instead, he puts all the blame on her. He claims to understand her so deeply yet not once does he show her an ounce of grace. All he does is make her problems a “what about me?”, he doesn’t ask her anything, it’s all just what he thinks. “Why do you act like this?” Would’ve been a lot better than just getting in her face to yell, I think. Aoi has reasons for the way she acts, not excuses, but she tells him why she thinks that way and he still doesn’t get it. He repeatedly dismisses her distress, and gets in her space when she doesn’t want him to. She isn’t flustered, she’s uncomfortable. Which should be obvious considering the difference between the expressions she makes when she is! This chapter, and I really can’t stress this enough, is the farthest thing from romantic, and absolutely eons away from being even remotely healthy. This chapter is a hard and uncomfortable read, because of how deeply gross it is.

Aoiaoi is an incredibly complex relationship that shows two people in a toxic codependency, and Akane & Aoi is the absolute breaking point. They’re both fucked up in ways that only being apart can fix, and when forcing them to “confront” their issues, it’s just going to get messy. The objective view of them as peers is muddled when you focus on the imbalance between the two. Aoi has dealt with constant harassment from childhood, and as shown in the chapter, and has assumedly been mostly sexual harassment. And for Akane show such a clear disregard of her comfort is gross in basically every way. That is the rock bottom of Aoiaoi, and I am so tired of people justifying what happens just because they like them.

And I can repeat this a thousand times, every relationship in tbhk is flawed. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the bad behavior in them, and using it as an excuse is exhausted and weird. You can like Aoiaoi all you want, but that doesn’t mean you should justify the bad shit! Every relationship is flawed, but that doesn’t mean they’re all flawed the same. Not everything is toxic yaoi, some things are just toxic, and acknowledging that is really important. Don’t justify abuse or mistreatment! I think!

I could restate the whole end-part of the original Aoiaoi post but I don’t feel like it. Uhmmmm I don’t hate Aoiaoi I just personally think they should be treated by the fandom at large with more tact and care. They’re volatile and in a lot of cases I see people just, ignore the toxicity, in favor of a cute ship and that’s not great. Understanding flaws within characters is important, don’t be dense, don’t be misogynistic! Cause Aoi hate is usually that! Akane hate isn’t though as much as I love him he has his,,,low points (this entire post) and deserves getting thrown through multiple stained glass windows

Uh ninja out bye

[rriavian]

Why a Vortex? - The Corinthian in 1x10

This was intended to continue my last post about the Corinthian being smart about how he handled the fight with Dream but it got derailed so. Yeah. Still writing part 2. I'm gonna have to reorganise my blog to make things easier to find. As always this is show based because while I know comic spoilers I haven't read them yet. Is this also technically part 1 of a series of posts discussing the final convention confrontation?

Erm. I’ve already had to shift the theme of this so it might be.

I’m focusing on the plan to use Rose to fight Dream because I’ve always thought the plan itself was more than a little stupid. It might be because we never really understand enough about what a dream vortex is (which yeah I have thoughts about), but the whole ‘replace Morpheus as the heart of the dreaming’ always felt like an assumption rather than a truth. Rose can pull down barriers between dreams and, when taught to, restore them but she can’t control the dreams themselves. She can’t replace Dream. It's made very clear that her powers would destroy her too, eventually, alongside everything else.

This is a bit of an aside from the main point but, while I think the existence of a vortex is a massively unfair and sadistic phenomenon, I do think it serves to show what Dream is quite nicely. He’s not only managing the incredible amounts of information in the subconscious but he’s keeping it separate. Distinct. Preserving individuality.

He allows privacy.

You can yearn in peace, fear in peace, not alone but…protected. The most innermost self is allowed to remain hidden. But the vortex strips that away. It’s an invasion, a deconstruction.

But back to the main point.

So the Corinthian may (in my opinion) have a stupid plan. But it’s indicative of his own perspective and interpretation of Dream and links directly to why he’s rebelling in the first place. I don’t actually think he entirely believed that Rose could replace Dream. I think he thought she could wound him, maybe even kill him, but not become him. The Corinthian’s final taunt about being regretful he won’t be around to watch Rose destroy Dream is—interesting to me, because I never believed she really could, and I think even for the Corinthian it’s a lovely fantasy that he’s enjoying.

He wants Rose to force Dream to feel how he feels.

The Corinthian wants to set Dream up against his own terrifyingly powerful opponent. His own inescapable threat. He wants Dream to try and fight someone who’s already decided they’re against him and will not be swayed. Which is also interesting because it’s concentrating on the result, allows for an interpretation to go either way, compatible with both positioning Dream as wrong, or Dream as right. If Rose is right to destroy Dream then it suggests the Corinthian does understand why he’s being uncreated. But if Rose is wrong to do it, just as Dream is wrong to do it, then perhaps he wants Dream to understand that through the threat of a vortex.

Either way it’s an attempted lesson.

An attempted nightmare - at giving Dream one of his very own, to prey upon something the Corinthian thinks needs fixing in his creator. Arguably a nightmare that started the moment he decided to ensure Dream would remain trapped by Burgess for a significant length of time.

For all he told Lucienne she would be unable to change Dream, the Corinthian is still seemingly acting to argue his own case.

Perhaps deciding whether uncreation is right or wrong in the traditional sense isn’t the point at all. Or not the whole point. In the context of the rest of the exchange at the convention the Corinthian's original intent might have been a mix of critiquing Dream's reasoning as well as his chosen method of punishment. The core of that might be that it’s not actually about the morality of the decision (that’s a conundrum for the one making the choice) but more the feeling of the one being acted upon. To me, his point is more 'your reasons make sense to you but your actions in response to them are still wrong' and I've got a 100 year long thesis on why I am actually still performing my function perfectly.

Here is my presentation on my conclusions so glad you can attend.

But Dream's response, while giving more of an explanation as to why those conclusions are wrong, essentially is 'yeah no you haven't proven what you think you have, you may have actually proven you're worse, and I'm still going to uncreate you'

So the Corinthian is like fine.

Here's my back up thesis have fun dealing with a vortex.

So then we get the 'I'm only sorry that I won't be around to watch Rose do the same to you' line.

You could say that when the Corinthan's attempt at demonstrating why he's right doesn't work he closes the attempt at a dialogue entirely. The nightmare/lesson he's set up will still come to pass though. Last words are important, and these are the one's the Corinthian chooses. He’s making his rejection clear by supporting Rose, but also still wants Dream to understand him, chooses words that allow him both. Even if his creator still doesn't understand his position, the Corinthian has found someone else who is going to make him understand it.

In the end he at least wants Dream to see that whether right or wrong it's a position of complete powerlessness.

No agency, no recourse to alter one's fate; it’s uncreation, it’s complete destruction, and that’s what really matters about it. The Corinthian wants Dream to really feel that. To feel something other than what he sees as ‘just another Tuesday as the ruler of the Dreaming’ because to the Corinthian that final moment is everything. Right or wrong it’s wiping away all that he is. The last line is his way of being like 'see how you like it'.

It’s ‘you destroyed me’.

It’s ‘You destroyed me and I wish I could stick around long enough to finally watch you understand the desperation of what that feels like’.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for working to bring a neutral faction into a war?

My faction has been in a pretty awful war with an opposing faction. If the other side wins, it will mean the end of pretty much everything we know. And the truth is, right now, it’s not looking so great for us. Even if we come out on top, this is promising to be a potentially long and brutal war, and we’ve already lost a lot of people. I’ve come to realize that maybe the only thing right now that could really turn the tide would be if a third faction, who are currently neutral, instead join the war on our side. 

So, enlisting the help of a local “tailor”, who we’ll call G, I had planned to try to bring this neutral faction into the war by giving them a falsified data rod showing our enemies secretly plotting an invasion of the neutral faction’s homeworld. But unfortunately we ran into a problem: the Senator we gave the rod to spotted that it was a fake because of imperfections in the forgery job. I was sure it was all over and the Senator was going to go back to his homeworld and tell them what we’d tried to do. But next thing I know, the Senator’s ship has been blown up. It seems like our enemies are responsible. A lot of my crew start talking about how with the enemy assassinating the Senator, it seems like his faction really will enter the war on our side. I know what’s going on. I go to confront G. I slapped him (I still think this was justified, not why I think I might be the AH) and confronted him about whether this was his plan all along, whether he knew the rod wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny. He tells me he really did hope the rod would stand up to the test but that, yes, he was prepared to do this and then admitted to also killing the criminal who helped make the rod. I yelled at him and told him it wasn’t worth it because there’s still no guarantee the other faction will enter the war. He pointed out they’ll still discover the rod with the recording of the plans for attack, on top of thinking their Senator was assassinated by our enemy. I reminded him that they’ll see the rod is a fraud, and he countered that any of the imperfections in the rod will now be blamed on the explosion. 

Now, I admit, I can’t argue with him about that, but still- he was going against my plan, and I never asked him to do any of that. When I said as much to him, though, he told me that he thinks the reason I went to him for help in the first place was because I knew he could do things I wasn’t capable of doing, and therefore knew something like this might happen, and that I should just soothe my conscience by reminding myself that I may have just saved everyone, and all it cost was the lives of one Senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one officer, and I should consider that a bargain.

That formally neutral faction has now declared war against our enemy. This is a huge victory for the good guys and might even be the turning point for the entire war. So, I lied, cheated, I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men, and am an accessory to murder. But here’s where I really think I may be the AH: I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. So does that make me the asshole?

[neopoliitan]

Volume 3, Volume 8, and Stakes

So I’ve always been vocal about my criticisms of Volume 8, and I thought I’d hone in and focus specifically on the Fall of Beacon vs the Fall of Atlas, and why the former sticks the landing when the latter doesn’t.

By rights, the destruction of two cities and the displacement of their citizens should be the higher stakes finale of the two, but for some reason RT’s description of V8′s final episodes as “traumatic” don’t stick to me. I find that this is for multiple reasons.

Lack of Stakes

The primary reason Volume 8 seems to fall flat is its lack of stakes. Volume 3 was a truly ‘traumatic’ event in the series, whilst Volume 8′s finale mostly pays lip service to the concept but doesn’t fully commit. Let’s break down exactly what was lost from the protagonists’ angle in each climax:

Volume 3:

Pyrrha, a character who had been in the show from the start and was one of the immediate secondary cast.

Penny, another character who had been in the show, since late volume 1.

Yang’s Arm, temporarily robbing one of the primary characters of their health and/or ability to fight.

Team RWBY, with the team fully disbanded by the end of the Volume.

Ozpin, the headmaster and protector figure - with his loss there’s an increased vulnerability for the cast.

Beacon, the primary setting and safe place for the cast.

The Fall Maiden

Volume 8:

Penny, while a popular character, had already died once reducing the stakes and impact of her demise.

The Relics, which are important but ultimately MacGuffins and the villains already had one of them.

Vine Zeki, one of the Ace Ops, arguably the one with the least focus and a rival force to the heroes up until an episode before the finale.

Atlas and Mantle. Like Beacon they were the primary setting, but were constantly portrayed as a troubled society - leaving the question of whether they are worth saving in the back of the viewer’s mind. Robyn even refers to them as a ‘chunk of land’.

“Team RWBY & Jaune” - almost not even worth putting on the list as the viewer instantly knows these "deaths” are moot and won’t stick.

It’s clear that Volume 3 cut much deeper with its choice of character deaths & repercussions, while Volume 8 took a much lighter path, killing off a character who had already died once (Penny) and another who had barely any presence in the show to begin with (Vine). V8 also committed to things telegraphed from a mile away such as the relics. Let me stress that I believe in sticking to your guns even if fans predict it, but it does neuter the impact somewhat - and do fans really care about the relics most of the time?

Plus no one really predicted Beacon to fall so violently, while we all knew that Atlas would drop the minute we found out A) it was a floating city and B) the staff of creation was holding it up.

Antagonists

To start, let’s do the same thing as before, except with what the villains lost.

Volume 3:

Cinder - though there was a big, bold question mark over her fate.

Roman Torchwick - A popular but obvious arc villain who outright states how small-time he is.

Volume 8:

James Ironwood - Volume 8 makes the decision to triple down on making James an unlikable antagonist to the point he’s the primary threat despite Salem having made landfall. By the time his death arrives, I’m pretty sure a lot of viewers are sick of his rapid decline and him overall.

Arthur Watts - One of Salem’s top lieutenants, killed unceremoniously like Ironwood.

Hazel Rainart - Another of Salem’s top lieutenants, killed off after a wobbly ‘redemption’ arc.

Monstro - Salem’s secondary base of operations and the crux of her invasion.

Emerald Sustrai - Switches sides (to me her arc feels heavily truncated and a little unearned, likely due to how much v8 threw at the wall)

The Hound - Supposedly the biggest Grimm threat and slasher villain in the show so far, killed almost comedically by a statue.

Jacques Schnee - With ne’er an actual confrontation between him and Weiss.

Neopolitan - Betrayed by Cinder and cast into the void, though like RWBYJ her supposed “death” is transparent.

Volume 3 is almost a unanimous victory for the villains, and what losses they do have are nixed by the introduction of Salem at the end of the finale - her arrival implies that anything her side suffered is small-time now that the Big Bad is here.

Meanwhile, Volume 8 significantly trims down a bunch of long-standing major antagonists to the point Salem only has three lieutenants left. Where the losses are weighted on the heroes’ side in Volume 3, Volume 8 has a much more even balance. Compounded by the severity of Salem’s losses compared to the protagonists’, she basically came off worse.

Now let’s consider the lack of consistency on who’s supposed to be the villain of the volume. Here’s a sheet of who the main antagonist is of each episode in Volume 3 contrasted with 8:

While Volume 3 has Cinder as a consistent primary villain practically the entire time - Mercury, Emerald, Roman and Adam all working to fulfil her plan even when they’re focused upon - Volume 8 has no less than three antagonists battling for control of the narrative. Salem, who is supposed to be the main villain of the show, is killed nine episodes into the volume. She gets better, but taking her out for so long and posting Ironwood and Cinder back into the position of primary villain makes it feel like the series could just as easily function without her.

It’s clearly a method to A) Have Emerald switch sides, B) Kill Hazel instead of doing anything with him, C) Reveal the power of Ozpin’s cane, but I can’t help but find the concept of killing off the Main Villain of the Entire Show In Episode Nine So You Can Focus On The Secondary Villains For The Climax utterly ridiculous. There’s no world in which it shouldn’t have been the opposite way around.

And while Volume 3 kills off a villain like Roman whose role in the show was effectively complete and introduce a roster of more threatening ones in Volume 4, Volume 8 can’t wait to sweep Hazel and Watts under the rug - leaving them both feeling like characters the writers made, promptly decided they wanted to do nothing with for four years, then killed off callously when they had potential to make Salem’s team a true threat.

I’m running out of steam now, but that’s my general thoughts on why specifically the finale and ultimate outcome of Volume 8 fall flat in comparison to Volume 3′s, and why this synopsis for Volume 9 feels... unjustified at best:

[deusexlachina]

Cheeseaged Exocolonist Age 18: Use my compassion and mental health literacy to set up a coup and crush my enemies

In which we fill the hole in our friends' lives with logs and eggs, use ill-fitting clothes to convince my people to make me their queen, and thwart an alien invasion by being the world's best barista.

CW for discussion of domestic abuse.

Having done most of the work needed to get a perfect ending, you'd think year 18 would go by pretty quickly. However, I now have the power to give gifts every month instead of once per season, and with great gift power comes great gift responsibility. After all, we're nearing the end of the game. I deliver a gift to every single friendable character each month. So I will dedicate this log to my friends. The virtual ones.

Nomi is self-conscious about being an artist and asks what I want to be when I grow up. I give the same answer I have given everyone else: I want to be in charge.

I've been throwing cakes at Vace, in hopes that his terrible attitude is caused by low blood sugar. Vace sees that I've been grinding friendship with his girlfriend, and he doesn't want any grinding going on with his girlfriend. He threatens me, telling me not to make him worry about me hanging out with his girlfriend.

I reassure him there's nothing to worry about, then immediately go talk to Nem and tell her to break up with him. Telling people they are in an abusive relationships is always a hard conversation, but she's ready to have it now because I have fought valiantly by her side, heroically tried to save her brother, but mainly because I have given her dozens of eggs over the course of this run. I use my teenage drug-slinging psychotherapist skills to diagnose Vace with being a dick.

Because I have high friendship with Vace, I get him to open up about his problems, discovering that his girlfriend suddenly broke up with him. Rallying all my baristastic expertise and courage, I suggest this is because he's an abusive dickhole. Vace does not put two and two together and realize that I tanked his relationship, so we can keep befriending him in our cynical ploy to manipulate him into becoming a better person, like a blue-haired Christmas Wraith.

After these therapeutic successes, I have a therapy date with Tangent. She asks for extra-strength blep tea, which I do not give to her because that will Help Tangent. Recall that even one Helped Tangent will trip the flag for the Engineered Plague. This girl is a cup of very strong tea away from wiping out all non-terran life on the planet. I love her.

I start getting people to 100 Friendship. Marz tells me about her plan to overthrow Lum, and I promise to keep her on her toes.

I decide the best way to keep her on her toes is by running as her opposition. This requires 50 Persuasion, which I have from equipping the Emojiproji (+10 to social skills), the Brain Trainer (+15 to everything) and, in a real stab in the back, Marzipan's second-hand jacket (+20 Persuasion). This is such an audacious Ides of March that Marzipan can't help but be impressed.

It also requires you to have consistently shown opposition to the existing authority, to the tune of 70 Rebellion. This is why I have been talking back to my mom so much. Now it's time to confront her. I spend the month farming, solely because the other Geoponics jobs will all give me events that will override the event where I meet my mom. I explain to my mom that I'm not a bad kid, I was just grinding Rebellion to go for the golden ending. She finally understands and promises me her full support in overthrowing Lum.

Immediately after this, I get an event where I have to save Socks from being put down, because this event happens in Geoponics starting in year 17 and, since saving her the first time, I've put off working in Geoponics for so long that the game has gotten impatient with me.

The same month, I use my baristatherapist skills to talk down Dys from planting a bomb on our walls as part of a deal he made to become an alien and live happily ever after with his alien boyfriend Sym. This is a very strange deal that gets even stranger when you learn that he made this deal with Nocticulent, not Sym.

Having gotten my mom's approval for the first time in my eighteen years, I then move on to recruit Seeq, the administrator. They agree that Lum needs to be deposed, but, showing no solidarity with their fellow trans person, demand a bribe in the form of kudos. To make clear how utterly preposterous this is, we are living in a mostly communistic society, where kudos are the currency given by adults to children for good deeds, spendable exclusively on luxury items in the Supply Depot, which Seeq is in charge of.

Because I saved Eudicot's life, she shows up to rebuke Seeq, making them the first person in this planet's history to attempt to bribe themselves and fail. This is good because I have spent all my money on overpriced accessibility devices, spa days and plying Vace with baked goods.

I then recruit Rhett by reminding him of how Lum nearly got some of us killed in a stunt to look cool, and Instance with a persuasion check.

At the end of the year, the enemy is ominously waiting just outside our walls. We know from past lives that they're waiting for Dys to blow up the bomb, not realizing that I have turned him to good with the power of coffee and medicinal roots. For their trouble, they get Socks sicced on them.

In the final year, because of my talks with Sym, the Gardeners will negotiate peace with humanity. I like to think that has something to do with them just having suffered the most embarrassing defeat in the history of their war with humanity. And I owe it all to being a barista.

[bye-bye-firefly]

Goood evening!! What’re your thoughts on dream sequences?

Welllllll you know meeee.........i write a lot of dream sequences. if im not writing dream sequences the character is falling in and out of sleep. BUT i do understand how that can get annoying. overall dream sequences should be able to convey something to the reader, that there is something going on in this character's psyche that they cannot face in the narrative right now or ever. what can you gather from a dream? and at this point i fall off the deep end soooo. more under the cut

they can be very important to the story Ya Know. most of the time im having a character confront some kind of mental block or real life issue in a dream. dreams communicate fears. dreams communicate mounting pressure- dreams can BE that mounting pressure. dreams can also communicate acceptance. dreams can be characters in and of themselves!! but dreams have to consistently represent something. i would suggest like. maintaining one or two different meanings for dreams but this generally goes for ALL symbols. telling a story is inherently enforcing some kind of narrative. joan didion's belief was that writing was a hostile act, describing it almost as if it was violating the reader. to be specific, she said:

In many ways writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. It's an aggressive, even a hostile act. You can disguise its qualifiers and tentative subjunctives, with ellipses and evasions —with the whole manner of intimating rather than claiming, of alluding rather than stating—but there's no getting around the fact that setting words on paper is the tactic of a secret bully, an invasion, an imposition of the writer's sensibility on the reader's most private space.

do i necessarily completely agree with joan didion? No. but i do think she was getting at something and it was something very important about writing. when you are telling a story, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, there is some underlying narrative going on there. there will always be some hidden meaning because people dont walk around without them. even the nihilists have a hidden meaning they want to share with you: there is NO meaning. writing is a philosophical experience and a deeply self-analytical one, which didion also believed was part of the reason why she wrote if not the sole reason she was a writer. she described it like she didn't know what she was thinking until she wrote it down. she didn't know what was happening with her mental state until she wrote it down. i dont believe she did that expressly to impose a narrative upon a reader, to persuade them necessarily, but YES there is a part of every writer that wants to make you see it OUR way.

but this feeling is not specific to authors. other forms of art find themselves trying to make you see what they see, whether it be simply through their own memories of an event or a scene, or quite literally an artists interpretation of politics and history. an artist trying to convey to you what an event did to them through their medium of choice. a piece i love so much is félix gonzález-torres' 175 pound piles of candy that guests are encouraged to take from, forcing them to participate in the art piece. not only do you get to view it, but to get the full experience, you must participate and pick up a candy and eat from it, the representation of félix's and his lover's body, both taken away by aids. the horror of it is forced on you and that visceral emotional reaction feels like an invader suddenly entering your body. everything about it hits you like a freight train while you're eating a cellophane-wrapped candy. what can you get from that? what exactly can you interpret from it? what thought does the author have? can you feel it being forced on you?

i mentioned this before in a note but i said that at the time, i was following the oscar wilde method of writing, which was to write without communicating a moral to the audience. while i still identify with this- in no way am i trying to teach you some kind of lesson when you read nameless- there is a mix here that i think is important when talking about what you choose to write and what you choose to symbolise. dreams are not just a gateway into a character's mind but YOUR mind and what you associate with certain things. writing is displaying art and because of that, people can interpret your art in any way they want and there is no wrong way to view it in my personal opinion. even if you put it out there with a vision and a goal, people can choose to make it personal to themselves and there is NOTHING you can do about that. this is part of the medium. you dont control how people interpret it if they feel deeply about it.

a good example of that is sun yuan and peng yu's "can't help myself." you probably already know about it: a machine that sweeps up liquid that looks like blood. sun yuan and peng yu intended for this to be a more political piece, trying to evoke imagery of war, surveillance, and land disputes. these concepts were not just randomly chosen for a random exhibition; the guggenheim museum specifically sought out yuan and yu for the "tales of our time" exhibition, which had a focus on locations and geography. where the artists lived, their idea of utopia, an interpretation of modern borders. even the title was a play on lu xun's book "old tales retold," which, as it says on the tin, retold old tales but in a way that critiqued society and highlighted issues specific to the era. so, when "can't help myself" was created, it was an interpretation of the state of border politics.

looking at it with this perspective, the "blood" the machine cleans up leaves red streaks across the floor as the only evidence it was ever there. the machine gets little breaks and dances and interacts with the audience like a nation's figurehead on tour, waving to citizens in the audience before immediately returning to the bloodshed. and when the blood gets too much, they dont have as much time to appease the crowd or to do a little dance or wave. theres too much to mop up, and then the blood becomes the centrepiece. no matter how much the robot sweeps up, there is always more. and the machine sweeps up blood until it cant anymore, and then the blood is left to sit for everyone to see. its the inevitable end of empires. it is what war will do to a nation. when the power struggle that leads to wars that leads to death en masse become too much, people will be unable to ignore the bloodshed and there is no amount of dancing or waving a nation can do to save them from their demise. the machine lays down and dies. the empire falls.

or...or its exemplary of a country trying to control immigration. it pulls the blood back in, but there are streaks left of it on the floor- people still get out and they never come back. blood gets spattered on the walls and is, therefore, unable to be swept back up. what is a nation without its people? and that is why borders and the inherent function of the machine is important. the machine is not leaking the fluid; the fluid has been poured into the space and the machine sweeps it into an arbitrary border. when it flows outside that border, its sensors go off and drag the fluid back in. that brings in the idea of mass surveillance. bringing those who step out of line back in. its an orwellian image of a machine dancing and waving to the audience, putting on a jovial performance, before punishing its subject for stepping out of its contrived boundary in front of its company.

the art piece briefly fell out of public knowledge before being discovered again through what little video we have of it while it was being shown. and some of the people who found it were not given the context of the guggenheim exhibit, nor did they get to view it during the time it was in action. some were not residents of china, yuan and yu's home country and the area-specific politics "can't help myself" was reflecting on. because of these holes in knowledge, people began to interpret it as a rat race sort of commentary. the fluid representing money, or the machine's life force, or joy flowing out of the machine and trying to be gathered back up by this anthropromorphised version that was created. it dances and waves and puts on a brave face, all while fighting to maintain these important things. some people interpretted it as people pleasing, where the machine would dance and then go right back to struggling to stay alive, perhaps struggling with depression or other kinds of mental illness. it would wave to make people happy and interact with the audience, all while bleeding out on the floor. people felt for it and identified with it.

and while you could argue these interpretations are "tainted" because they don't know what the piece is actually about, it doesn't make any other interpretation any better. in fact, my interpretations of "can't help myself"- even with the assistance of context from the guggenheim website or my limited knowledge on chinese policy and history or the assistance of the artists themselves, articles from people that saw it in person, what few translated articles i could stumble across in my early search- is tainted by the fact that i have only ever lived in the west. i don't truly know what chinese immigration policy looks like or what the chinese government is telling its citizens, what narrative is trying to be pushed. i only know what narrative my country is pushing. i am assuming that, maybe, the chinese government is saying the same things as the west, but i don't truly know and i won't know until i meet someone who lives or lived there, but i haven't. as logical as my interpretation is, there are likely holes because of my view on the government which has been shaped by living where i do, just as this piece is shaped by sun yuan and peng yu living in china.

and even if they don't know the context, that doesn't make their interpretations any less evocative. there is something to be said about the performance the machine puts on because its an important part of the piece. there's something to be said about how you are an observer peering into a glass box at the spectacle that is happening. you can stand there and have blood flung at you because of the work the machine is putting into maintaining its borders. there is something to be said about the way the machine appears to be bleeding, even if that's not what's actually happening. these are amazing things to think about and the fact that people think about it at all is amazing! i think thats fucking beautiful!!

and you want to know why that's so amazing? because art like this is MEANT to be provacative. it's MEANT to spark a reaction. it could be reactions in the political sense, like inspiring people to be activists or to question their governments and representatives, or reactions in the emotional sense, like fear or intrigue or sadness. "can't help myself" is poking at you and begging for a reaction. the machine dances and waves and tries to entertain you between sweeps as if it's begging for you to look at it, to analyse it, to figure out what it's doing and why it's doing it, and why you are trapped behind the glass, stuck watching it. regarding "can't help myself," sun yuan told artsy, "we see how the robot and the liquid finish by torturing each other."

with this, we return to didion and her belief that writing was a hostile act. sun yuan and peng yu went into this project hoping to communicate a strong political message that was essential to the museum that commissioned them. the museum wanted the view they could provide. from the start, this is about politics and geography and borders and immigration- so how did people end up seeing themselves in that machine? its a matter of the artists releasing the ability to maintain context. even with people learning the context of the piece, there are still those that identify with it because their interpretation means so much to them. this piece has a life of its own outside of what the artists intended for it and this inevitably happens to every piece of art. those who care about it will interpret it in a way that relates to them. if they are politically minded, they might interpret it in a political way, and for those who aren't, the piece becomes deeply emotional.

i might try to insert a piece of myself into every piece of writing i do, but there is nothing i can do to stop people from interpretting my art however they please. i find IMMENSE joy in this because its so interesting to see what i wrote and finding different versions of it inside the people it touches. dream sequences can be deeply personal for the character, but you will never know because you will never be them. for the simplest of dream sequences, the most straightforward, the most complicated, the strangest, there is an interpretation out there that blows my expectations out of the water. im constantly searching for different interpretations of stories ive read in the hopes i will find a deeper understanding of it, which is really all this post is about. dream sequences are good and people's interpretations of them make them even better and IN FACT every single piece of writing is made better by being able to turn to other people and ask them what they thought of it. understanding a piece is understanding the people around you and how the art affects them, not what the artist specifically intended by making the work.

[poachedeggssocool]

Going to write a few things on of the best asian dramas I have watched in 2022.

Love Between Fairy and Devil.

This drama surprises in many ways and let me just say Donfang Cinqang is probably the antihero that we all need to understand that ML does not necessarily have to be a glorified hero all the time.

What surprises me with his character is not that he's violent. Despite having to remove all his emotions, we do witness a few moments where we can see his compassion and empathy towards things that he cares for. He wages war not because he is power hungry like The Fairy Realm ruler. He rages with war because he wants his tribe to be protected and look up upon. For thousands of years Moon Tribe have been misunderstood, misjudged and discriminated as barbaric and uncilvized. So when he brought Xiao Lanhua to Cangyan Sea, it was probably, to me, one of the best decision, cause who else need to see the true story other than the fairy realm person herself. His goal for being a ruthless leader is pretty much very clear to show what kind of person he is in the core.

I wasn't expecting this drama to touch a lot on the struggle of wars and civil wars and these are aspects of the drama that I appreciated a lot when watching it. Wars often happened due to power struggle (civil wars within Cangyan Sea) and power monopoly (big power like Fairy Realm trying to start war with any reason available just so they could suppress people around them). I love how this drama highlighted with struggling region like Moon Tribe, war have costed them a lot. People losing families and loved ones to the battles, having to be on toes at all time as their support system is gone bit by bit. Dongfang Cingqang knows this, emphatizes with this situation even, by making this as one of the main reasons he rages wars with all 3 realms; to save his people from being stepped on by the power like Fairy Realm. He knows very well his people need him to survive and they just simply could not survive another invasion. He had no other way other than to take the war onto his hand rather than waiting for it to come for them.

This drama have very well showcased diversity in terms of showing gender is not correlated with power. The fact that everytime the realm needs to be saved, the ones that will save it, is always female trult solidifies this point; Lady Chidi, first goddess of Xilan, goddess Xi Yun, Xi Lan Hau, Fairy Dan Yin aiming to be God of War - it's truly a long list of powerful woman whom have carved or decide to carve, their own fate and destiny to save the realms, despite the emotional struggles that they are dealing with. I think it is one of the important things to show in a drama - that women are not only worth portraying as a damsel in distress to move the plot. Women can be emotional and also heroic when needed to. This dual aspects to me are just chef's kiss.

Lastly I would like to talk about the character progress for both ML and FL. FL starts as someone who is ignorant, but as the episode goes by, she is showing more understanding on complexity and fragility of the situation. It is simply not about her siding with Fairy Realm or Moon Tribe. In a way she's maturing in terms of having a wider perspective of the situation. She, later on, understand perfectly why giving up on war is not something on the table for Dongfang Cingqang. At the end of the day, she chooses to be with the person she loves, realizing that home is not a place, but rather a person. For the ML he starts of with full of hostility and eventually progresses with more compassion and consideration towards people that he cares about. It is not just about FL changing him. He progresses because of the more awareness that he regains and learns from being with the FL. I love that there are certain aspects of the ML that are always consistent no matter what circumstances and situation are being thrown at him - his priority for his people despite having confronted by Xiao Lanhua multiple times, his nature to protect people that he cares about regardless of the ways that it needed to be executed, and his willingness to understand things rather than just attacking on impulse.

Of course for the romantic plot, I LOVE how everything started with the heart curse and spirals into an actual life and emotional connection. I want to mention here, the fact that Dongfang Cingqang acknowledges and understands how much Xiao Lanhua has to sacrifice for him, is just top grade. Not only that, he makes an effort, multiple times, to not put her in a difficult spot for choosing him. I personally don't see this a lot in many period cdrama because more often than not FL is expected to sacrifice for ML (unconditionally) when it comes to overcoming hardship.

Best to say this is one of the well written xanxia drama for 2022. I rate this 8/10. (maybe it will be a bit higher if the ending wasn't too rushed lol). Believe it or not, I think there are so many life lessons that can be taken from this drama. There is no black and white in real world and I think this drama have successfully portrayed this in many of the characters - people are not inherently bad. There are only bad choices and decisions. Make sense when you think about why ancient evil God Tai Sui is actually the biggest villain in this drama.

*I have edited some of the points here

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

i hope I’m not bothering you by asking but i was just wondering about if they didn’t forget that dan and jenny were siblings in s3 (but still without changing the actual plot of the season tho, so like extra scenes) how do you think they would interact and scenes w/ them would be like? because i’m literally thinking about any time they ever interacted in s3 and the only two i can think of are a) in the episode of everyone trying to stop jenny from losing her virginity (which is weird) dan talks to jenny for two seconds before going over to vanessa and b) dan punching ch*ck (which was v satisfying to watch but like, any scene of them actually talking beforehand would’ve been great, thanks)

hiii you're not bothering me at all! i'm a bit late to respond to this because of like, medical reasons (all good now!) but i did want to respond to this eventually. i feel like i have already said something about the humphrey sibs but it's genuinely been so long that i barely remember what i said.

disclaimer that it is fuck o' clock in the morning so im not sure how coherent this ask is, also disclaimer that i havent watched gg in a while so i may be a lil out of touch.

trusting my mutuals to respond if anything i said makes no sense though kldfhgfdkl y'all know who you are you are the real ones

i think it'd be complicated but interesting if the humphrey sibs were there for each other consistently, because s3 is features queen jenny, and dan & vanessa being closer-than-before in uni, so i think there is some amount of distance in both their lives in terms of like. wondering why the other is doing whatever it is that they're doing. they're not both in high school any more, hell, they don't even live together any more, and dan for the first time in his life is a popular kid! jenny seems to be on top of the social hierarchy but of course nothing comes without a price! so there's like an inherent newness to both their situations which is unrelatable to the other. like however much dan wants to help jenny, or jenny wants to understand dan, they're both living thru stuff the other hasn't been through & so on. theyre in different eras of their lives, etc etc.

which isn't to say that they can't support each other, but it is to say that what that support would look like would be messy and confusing, i feel. they would have to actively learn how to be there for each other, or whatever else. there would be a learning period and also a "oh, you're not actually happy? i thought you were finally thriving what's wrong" kind of thing from dan @ jenny, possibly. because s3 is sad like that, it's a good time for dan (mostly??) and a horrible time for jenny.

i do think dan would not be okay with the way everyone is being oddly sexual towards jenny re: her virginity but like we see in 1x05 where he tells her off in front of her friends for wearing a dress that he compares to a cocktail napkin, sometimes he just .... does not realise that he is doing more harm than good/being misogynistic, etc. but as an anon once pointed out on here to me, comparing s1 dan to s3 dan isn't fair, because by the time we reach s3 dan HAS grown a lot as a character, and i honestly headcanon him to be far more feminist & thoughtful in how he treats the women in his life at that stage, compared to s1. so while i DO think he would take serious offense at how everyone treats jenny, i don't think he would fight for her in an obvious, confrontational way?

like. vanessa would. vanessa would literally SAY "what are you doing this is weird and invasive and creepy" but dan is non-confrontational to a fault. i do think he would like... do something about it in some other way, best case scenario talk about it to serenate alone, later, and tell them off, worst case scenario, classic gossip girl revenge plot where he gets them to break up or something silly like that. idk. don't look at me.

another thing that i think would be important / interesting is like. examining how all these relationships interact keeping the sibling bond in mind. because there was sooo much serena vs jenny tension in s3 and i feel it would've been interesting to actively explore how that was impacting both eric AND dan.

from an extra scenes perspective, i think honestly there would be? should be? conflict AND support. jenny's whole thing this season is that she is lashing out at her support system, isolating, trying to prove a point to the people around her. dan, as her big brother, is going to be extra protective probably, maybe even in ways that bristle her and piss her off. but at the end of the day, dan will drop anything & everything to be there for jenny (this is literally what we see of him in the pilot, in 1x01, so i think it's a foundational aspect of his character) so i think even if she tries to get him to fuck off, he will always love her & be there for her. unlike rufus humphrey, which im stil salty about.

oh, and that too. that's something i think about a lot. dan is caught in a strange space where his dad is civil to him but shitty to jenny, and... how does he navigate that? so much of jenny's behaviour in s3 makes sense to me when we look at the things she went thru in s1 and s2. so, for an interesting humphrey sibs arc i think the cumulative effect of all that keeping in mind how dan was / where he was at different points in jenny's story? and vice versa? those are things that can be layered and emphasized on to add more depth.

so yeah, sibling fights, sibling reconciliation, "what the fuck are you doing with your life" followed by "im sorry i did/said that, it was out of line for me" and maybe some gg schemery of taking down girls who are mean to jenny or getting georgie to leave dan alone together.

hope this answers it !I i am aware it is all over the place, hehe. whoops.

[ohbutwheresyourheart]

52 for Ada if I can? :3 And I have been meaning to ask you about Unquiet Bones stuff, so 54 for the main cast of Unquiet Bones? :'D

Ooooh, these are such good questions, thank you for asking! :D

(also my 'v' key is choosing this moment to fuck up again so if there are any weird typos, including but not limited to 'ergil', that's why lmao)

52. Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Ada does her best to wait and get a grasp on the full facts before acting. Growing up as a human (albeit one trained in combat and magic) around demons has taught her a lot of caution over the years just to stay alive, so she would prefer to analyse a situation and come up with a strategy before diving in.

On a personal side, having seen the clusterfuck of "for the love of sparda why will you two motherfuckers not just TALK to each other with your WORDS" that was Temen-Ni-Gru, Ada tries not to jump to conclusions about possible misunderstandings with her loved ones. She's a pro at taking a deep breath and counting to ten before replying, even when she's seething inside.

On the downside, sometimes this caution comes across as holding her cards too close to her chest. In my AU where Ada raises Nero with Dante post-DMC 3, Nero and Ada have a fair bit of tension and spark off each other as Nero grows up and figures out there's a lot Ada isn't telling him, especially about his father. It's not meant out of malice, Ada is just trying very hard how to figure out how to talk about Vergil and Sparda without creating another Vergil if she fucks up and plants a seed in Nero's head that he's safer embracing his demonic side.

This is all adult Ada, however; as a teenager, with all those teenage hormones running through her, PLUS the stress of her boyfriend possibly kick-starting an apocalyptic demonic invasion and/or being murdered by Mundus? She... definitely said some things she really regrets to Dante just after DMC 3: blamed Dante for Vergil's death (so they thought at the time), for not going with him to stand by him, and to an extent even for Temen-Ni-Gru as a whole, because why wouldn't Dante just be the bigger person and TALK to his brother???

Dante, filled with self-loathing and guilt, and more than half-convinced she was right, just took it at the time. Eventually he explained, and Ada apologised, and he forgave her, but... it was a deep wound, and it never quite goes away entirely.

Hence why now Ada is much, much more careful about what she says and does.

(Putting the rest under a read more because Unquiet Bones deals with a lot of dark topics, including suicide and child/religious abuse)

54. What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

Antanasia/"Tansy" - As a secret necromancer keeping the king alive since they were both young children, Tansy got comfortable with asserting herself early. This was not entirely intentional (the previous king and the High Priestess of Ysa-Munda the goddess of death would have perhaps preferred her more malleable), but when you take a child, tell them they have special powers and the entire fate of the kingdom and possibly the continent rests of their shoulders... Well, in Tansy's case you get someone who learns the meaning of "immovable object" real fast.

King Damian is not exactly happy with the resurrection carousel that is his (un)life, so Tansy often goes toe-to-toe with the king himself to ensure he gets the care he needs (in her opinion... it's highly debatable whether what she's doing is ethical in the slightest). So in most verbal confrontations, Tansy goes cold and stern and tries to assert herself with logic. She does know when to fold 'em, but usually that means just abandoning the head-on approach and finding a more sly solution.

In a physical confrontation, she would probably be more inclined to flee. Tansy is very tall but thin as a reed and has little to no muscle; she'd go down fast and easy in a fight and she knows it.

Lucia - By the time the story opens, a combination of freeze and fawn. Lucia is intentionally coded as autistic in Unquiet Bones, although it's not explicitly called out in the text, and is based off my own experienced as a neurodivergent individual in an academic setting.

Lucia has a defining childhood experience where she was physically and emotionally bullied to the point of exploding (metaphorically and... kind of literally). The backlash she got for reacting as she did, even when it was to protect herself, was so harsh -- from family, friends, and authority figures -- that she became terrified of ever losing control to that extent again. This means that she has trained herself out of a fight reflex, but at the cost of being so afraid of conflict that she either fawns and tries to resolve the situation ASAP, even when she is the wronged party, or just shuts down altogether and waits for the storm to pass.

Damian - Damian vacillates between fight and freeze. As a king, he's simultaneously aware he holds ultimate power and he has a very specific set of behaviours he's supposed to follow for the good of the kingdom. As someone with what is essentially a deteriorating chronic illness, he's also become normalised to docilely allowing people to do things to him that he doesn't want because it's "for his own good".

So his preference is to roar and fight and defend his boundaries as well as he can, but it's also a question of whether he a) has the physical and mental energy to do so, b) is in a situation where he won't damage his own reputation or undermine the strength of his position by setting a boundary, and c) believes that the person/people he's arguing with will even listen to him, or just disregard what he's saying and physically overpower him.

Sometimes it's easier to just let whatever is happening, happen, and pick up the pieces afterwards.

(And that's not even going into the bodily autonomy horror of being a deeply closeted gay man who is married to a woman and expected to get an heir as soon as possible -- in fact, that's the main reason you're being kept alive, so your bloodline doesn't die out with you.)

He also fights (verbally) much more often with people he trusts, at least subconsiously, not to leave him. His wife from a political marriage gets cool, polite interactions. Tansy and Beladon, both of whom he's known intimately since he was a young child, get the brunt of the yelling and harsh words.

Varnius - Varnius was actually the hardest to answer this for! Partly because he's the least developed so far, I think.

Varnius joined the priesthood of Ysa-Munda, Goddess of Death, when he was thirteen. At the time, the Mother Superior of the priesthood took the word of Mother Death very literally, especially concerning that Her devoted worshippers were considered dead to the world when they took their vows. Varnius experienced very harsh conditions in the priesthood during his initiation and throughout his teenage years, leaving him with a profound lack of self-worth, and a conviction that his only reason for existing was to help others.

This means he avoided conflict as much as possible during his younger years. Questions were punished. Failure was punished. Crying because you were tired and cold and hungry and wanted to rest was punished. So he learned not to complain. He learned not to question the will of Ysa-Munda. He learned that he was as good as dead, a vessel who existed only to tend to the dead.

Then one day he met a priest of Xenith, the God of Life. Emil was warm; he was kind; he was patient; and, little by little, he put the shattered pieces of Varnius's psyche back together until he felt like a person again.

The upshot of this was that Varnius started questioning the priesthood again. Started considering if he could maybe one day find a way to leave. Then Emil died, and the resulting mental breakdown of grief that was then swiftly suppressed to fester turned Varnius into a man who looks far, far more mentally stable than he actually is.

Nowadays he still hates conflict and avoids it as much as possible, but he will stand his ground when it's for the benefit of others, especially those under his care at the convalescent home he founded, and where he defends his patients' rights to decide when, how, and if they end their lives.

Beladon - Beladon has been raised to be a chevalier parfait, the epitome of a chivalrous knight. He serves King Damian as a counsellor and close friend, pays the expected level of chivalric adoration to Queen Saveria, excels at the joust, writes heartfelt poetry... etc., etc.

Beladon keeps himself on a very short leash. Self-control is his primary virtue. He identifies the correct way to act in every situation and does not allow himself to deviate from that. His inclination is to fight, and he will throw down with anyone who insults his king and queen, but even that is done very correctly: a verbal warning, a threat of repercussions, and finally a formal challenge to a duel (to someone of his own class), or removing them from his presence (to someone of a lower class who does not merit a duel).

Interpersonally, however, Beladon fawns and fawns hard. He has been Damian's best friend and confidant since they were ten years old, and knows more about Damian than anyone else. He has been in love with Damian for a not inconsiderable number of the years they've known each other, and he cannot bear for Damian to think badly of him. So if he ever senses he's annoyed Damian, he immediately backtracks on whatever he has done or said, trying to please him.

Unfortunately for Beladon, Damian finds this habit infuriating, and would respect Beladon far more if he stuck to his guns and was prepared to have an honest argument from time to time.

[dapg-otmebytheballs]

noticing traits in somebody else that you also see in yourself and discussing those similarities as they relate to gender non-conformity or neurodivergence isn't something to be demonized.

there's been a few instances in my personal life that i've speculated about a friend potentially being in the closet because i saw myself in them! their behaviors reminded me of my own behaviors that cishet people probably wouldn't take note of, but i saw them because i saw me.

i don't think speculation and discussion are wrong in his situation. i didn't confront/harass my friends about my thoughts in the same way that the people on here who i've seen talking about dnp gender or neurodivergence wouldn't confront/harass them about it. (i also didn't discuss my speculations about my friends with anyone, but there's a difference to me between talking about a friend with other people who know them and having a conversation about a public figure.)

discussion about aspects of ourselves that we see in dnp isn't dangerous. no one is out here making accusations or demands; it's speculation in the most neutral sense ("to review something idly or casually and often inconclusively," webster's dictionary). people aren't speaking in serious definitives or being invasive in any of the discussion that i've seen. in actuality, the only negative thing i've seen surrounding the discussion is people being belittled or shamed for the grand crime of...recognizing similarities between their own experiences and what we've seen from someone else? i'm not sure when we all agreed that the only acceptable action is to assume someone is the 'normal' option unless they've stated otherwise.

i think you're right to prompt people to look inward about what exactly it is that might be making them uncomfortable about these conversations.

sending you love <3

100% what you said and actually, thank you for bringing up the difference in how we engage with public figures (who understand that their lives are being speculated about by a much larger number of people than your average Joe) vs how we engage with our peers (whose lives are intertwined with our own hence making any discussion or gossip about them immediately spread within our insular groups/communities and often being seen as having more truth than celebrity gossip bc it's a more grounded relationship with people we see regularly, rather than a parasocial one)

It's interesting, when I was studying Philosophy at college we had an entire section in a lesson just talking about the ethics of "Gossip" (esp wrt celebrity culture) and how it's inevitable and even human nature to speculate about and be interested in each other and with public figures it involves a lot more people so how do you navigate the ethics of that? And back then I thought "this is surely common sensical, surely we don't need to dedicate lesson time to discussing the ethics of talking about public figures vs random people in our lives" but I suppose this is exactly why people have needed to properly discuss and discourse these topics from an objective lens of what is ethical, because you need strong basic principles and understanding of ethics to build upon particular situations. And this is maybe what is lacking from a lot of discourse:

we are expecting our personal feelings and discomfort to do the work that academic inquiries (ie, rational systematic breakdown of any situation, not even in a classroom just in your mind) are supposed to do.

You won't reach the answer to "is this okay to do?" by thinking in terms of "how does it feel? Does it feel right or does it feel wrong?" because genuinely you gotta put in the work to ask "what is leading to this situation, whom if anyone does it harm, what steps do people already take to mitigate this, how can we create an environment that causes the least possible harm to all parties included, what does this particular thing mean for us socially and politically?"

It's okay if people don't have the time to engage in these introspections but the trouble is too many people thinking they should preach their opinions on these ethical matters without actually doing any ethical reasoning on their parts instead of moralistic ones.

Thanks for the love, anon! ❤️ This was a good one to receive and discuss

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 6: I spy a spider in the fog

Chapter 6 starts out with Riev and Novala discussing plans to capture Eirika.

Novala uses this interesting expression in Japanese that I was unfamiliar with. "(Like) A mouse in a bag". It seems kind of similar to the English "Like shooting fish in a barrel". Basically, Novala is convinced that Eirika is trapped with no way out.

Oh, and here is Novala's name in Japanese: "Nobera"

Or maybe "Novela"? Is he named after Spanish-language, daytime TV???

Anyone who has played this game knows that Valter is creepy, especially in his interactions with Eirika. But here, Novala also creepily opens with "As beautiful a woman as rumored..." before demanding Eirika's bracelet.

And again, Seth insists that Eirika not hand over her bracelet, even though he has yet to explain why it's so important.

So Novala shows his hand and reveals that he has captured some Renais civilians that he will kill if Eirika doesn't hand over her bracelet.

So why am I spending so much time introducing this one-off villain? Well, this chapter's opening has always stuck in my mind. I like what it does with the situation, and with Eirika's character.

Here, after Eirika expresses her shock at Novala's actions, he belittles her for not understanding that "this is what war is" and that "in war, you can do whatever you want to your enemies".

This scene nicely illustrates what I like about Eirika's character, which is that she is at heart someone who believes in the goodness of people, and in fairness. She shows shock at Grado's sudden invasion in the beginning of the game, and then here too when she is confronted with an enemy willing to mercilessly sacrifice civilians.

However, she is not a naive pushover. Once it is clear to her that Novala has no interest in negotiating in good faith, she declares that she will not allow evil actions like the ones Novala is taking. She is willing to fight when needed, even if it is not her first instinct.

I also always found this line chilling for how real it is. Here, Novala tells the villagers that, if they want to be mad at someone, they should be mad at Eirika for forcing his hand. This kind of blame-shifting excuse is not uncommon to hear from people who do bad things in real life.

The three villagers end the scene by asserting that "someone" will surely come to rescue them.

This is the team I'm thinking of using. There are some hard choices to make here.

I wouldn't mind having Natasha in order to have a second healer, but I don't feel like I need one so badly that I want to use a slot on that.

I'm bringing Colm because he'll help me see in the fog.

And I've dropped Garcia in favor of Ross. I think I do want to use Ross, but I haven't leveled him up much yet, and it's going to get harder the more I put it off.

I wanted to bring Neimi since I like her, but I feel like I already have enough squishy characters deployed, so I'm leaving her out for now.

I also use the dragon shield I got on Vanessa to raise her defense by 2. In Fire Emblem games, usually it's better to raise stats for characters who already are good in that stat since leaning into a gimmick typically pays off better than having a well-rounded character. But I feel like my two tankiest units, Seth and Franz, have enough defense already, and Vanessa is pretty much the next closest after them.

Since she can fly around (and there's only one archer on this map to watch out for) she also may spend some time on her own, and it's good if she can be self-sufficient.

I give Lute the secret book to raise her skill because

LUTE!!!!

She deserves all of the nice things.

Finally, here's the layout of the map. We can't see much due to fog. All of the enemies are to our right / upper-right, but after a couple of turns, some reinforcement cavalry will appear right about where we are starting, I think around where Franz and Joshua are now.

There isn't much straight up in this map, so everyone is going to head right. Notice the hills to the right of Joshua, those can make a useful choke point for dealing with the enemies who are right and up from our starting position.

This is to the right of the above picture, and I think the boss is right around where I've left the cursor. Defeating the boss ends the map, which is important since rushing the boss can potentially save the villagers before they're ever in danger.

Down from the above photo, and due right from our starting position we find the villagers. A giant spider will head at them from the mountains above. You have quite a few turns to finish the map (or potentially rescue them out of there) before the spider reaches them.

In the past, I've often sent Vanessa flying over to save them, but she can't really do much against the spider, so I'm thinking that this time I might just have her stick with everyone else and help rush the boss.

And we've come clockwise back around almost to where we started, so this photo is to the left of the one above. I don't remember what's in the village, but I remember it being something disappointing. Aside from the hills above that I pointed out in one of the photos above, the scattering of forests to the right of our starting position, and the fort all are useful in handling the enemies since they hinder movement and give avoid.

While Sacred Stones is overall not a very difficult Fire Emblem, especially on normal mode, this map does have a bit of a jump in difficulty from the ones before. If nothing else, the fog makes it much easier to make a mistake, and it's early game, so most units are doing well if they can take even two hits without dying.

To be continued!

[wanderingnork]

Military Horror Movies

So this one was a tricky one, because there just aren't a lot of military-focused horror movies out there. But I did manage to find a few! Here they are.

Predator (1987): A group of Vietnam veterans is sent into a deep South American rainforest in an attempt to deal with a Soviet-backed invasion. Things take a turn for the horrifying when they discover that there's a nearly-invincible alien threat hunting them. The characters are cut off from any kind of support. Even their most powerful weapons are useless. Humans are hunted by an unstoppable malevolent force, even more terrifying than a slasher or a demon. It's pitched as a sci-fi action thriller, but I believe that--despite the grand-scale violence, explosions, and hammy shouting--this is the most straightforwardly standard Horror Movie on this list.

Sputnik: Two cosmonauts return to Earth with an extra passenger. The movie focuses on how the Soviet military handles that passenger. Considering that this takes place during the end of the Cold War, you can imagine just what the military might want with a potential alien weapon. Also, the movie was released in 2020, six years after the Russian invasion of Crimea--two years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Given that, the timing of a Russian movie that criticizes military excesses and misuse of power is...interesting.

The Lair: In which a team of American/UK soldiers and allies, stationed in Afghanistan, unintentionally awaken unsettling alien creatures in an abandoned Soviet bunker. Full disclosure, this is a movie I vastly did not like. It's very enthusiastically in favor of western militaries invading Afghanistan (despite the best and most complex character being a member of the Taliban, I loved Kabir so much and his actor pulled that role off so well), among other issues, and that was enough to put me right off. However, it is very definitely horror, and the handling of the alien creatures themselves is good. Plus they use practical effects which. Always lovely.

28 Days Later: Taking a completely opposite perspective here on the military, soldiers in this movie take advantage of the chaos of a zombie apocalypse to misuse their power and weapons to commit atrocities. While containing what might be one of the most tense and frightening scenes in horror fiction (the opening walk through silent London), it manages to also turn the military characters in a more viscerally awful threat than an entire zombie horde.

Godzilla (2014): This falls under a little-discussed and controversial genre called "epic horror." The existence of the genre is debated. Classic horror tales with ghosts and serial killers are up close and intimate, taking place in closed, small-scale settings where ordinary characters become extraordinary by confronting or even surviving the horror. Epics are big, lengthy stories about extraordinary deeds and characters whose exploits take place on a great scale, maybe even confronting gods or other cosmic entities in their adventures. Epic horror, then, is about extraordinary characters on a wide stage confronting vast and malevolent beings which they may not be able to defeat, or only defeat at a dreadfully high cost. I'd argue that Beowulf's first two sections (Grendel and his mother) qualify as an epic horror on their own, and even the attack of the dragon has elements of a horror tale. Stephen King's The Dark Tower series is frequently cited as a modern example. This entry to the Godzilla franchise, dealing with heroic soldiers in desperate and perhaps futile battles against massive entities of unknown origin, would definitely count as an epic horror.

Food for thought: Why are so many of the threats in these movies alien or alien-adjacent? What role do guns play? Do they make the horror (alien, zombie, kaiju) less threatening, or does the type of weapon not matter? Does horror have to be intimate and small-scale in order to be truly considered horror? If yes, then what do you think about movies like Nope, Cloverfield, or any movie involving large-scale zombie hordes? Do you think that "epic horror" is a genre, or do you think that it's a bit absurd? How much would you agree with the statement that, in The Lair, the real monsters are actually the movie's main characters?