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soy-sauce-and-mothra · 9 months

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Hey! Are there blacksmiths in your story? I'm a hobbyist blacksmith and I'm here to help!

Blacksmithing is one of those things that a lot of people get wrong because they don't realize it stuck around past the advent of the assembly line. Here's a list of some common misconceptions I see and what to do instead!

Not all blacksmiths are gigantic terrifying muscly guys with beards and deep voices. I am 5'8, skinny as a twig, have the muscle mass of wet bread, and exist on Tumblr. Anybody who is strong enough to pick up a hammer and understands fire safety can be a blacksmith.

You can make more than just swords with blacksmithing. Though swords are undeniably practical, they're not the only things that can be made. I've made candle holders, wall hooks, kebab skewers, fire pokers, and more. Look up things other people have made, it's really amazing what can be done.

"Red-hot" is actually not that hot by blacksmith terms. when heated up, the metal goes from black, to red, to orange, to yellow, to white. (for temperature reference, I got a second degree burn from picking up a piece of metal on black heat) The ideal color to work with the metal is yellow. White is not ideal at all, because the metal starts sparking and gets all weird and lumpy when it cools. (At no point in this process does the metal get even close to melting. It gets soft enough to work with, but I have never once seen metal become a liquid.)

Blacksmithing takes fucking forever. Not even taking into account starting the forge, selecting and preparing metal, etc. etc. it takes me around an hour to make one (1) fancy skewer. The metals blacksmiths work with heat up and cool down incredibly fast. When the forge is going good, it only takes like 20 seconds to get your metal hot enough to work with, but it takes about the same time for it to cool down, sometimes even less.

As long as you are careful, it is actually stupidly easy to not get hurt while blacksmithing. When I picked up this hobby I was like "okay, cool! I'm gonna make stuff, and I'm gonna end up in the hospital at some point!" Thus far, the latter has yet to occur. I've been doing this for nearly a year. I have earned myself a new scar from the aforementioned second degree burn, and one singe mark on my jeans. I don't even wear gloves half the time. Literally just eye protection, common sense, and fast reflexes and you'll probably be fine. (Accidents still happen of course, but I have found adequate safety weirdly easy to achieve with this hobby)

A forge is not a fire. The forge is the thing blacksmiths put their metal in to heat it up. It starts as a small fire, usually with newspaper or something else that's relatively small and burns easily, which we then put in the forge itself, which is sort of a fireplace-esque thing (there's a lot of different types of forge, look into it and try to figure out what sort of forge would make the most sense for the context you're writing about) and we cover it with coal, which then catches fire and heats up. The forge gets really hot, and sometimes really bright. Sometimes when I stare at the forge for too long it's like staring into the sun. The forge is also not a waterfall of lava, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Welding and blacksmithing are not the same thing. They often go hand-in-hand, but you cannot connected two pieces of metal with traditional blacksmithing alone. There is something called forge welding, where you heat your metal, sprinkle borax (or the in-universe equivalent) on it to prevent the metal from oxidizing/being non-weldable, and hammer the pieces together very quickly. Forge welding also sends sparks flying everywhere, and if you're working in a small space with other blacksmiths, you usually want to announce that you're welding before you do, so that everyone in a five-foot radius can get out of that five-foot radius. You also cannot just stuck some random pebbles into the forge and get a decent piece of metal that you can actually make something with, Steven Universe. It doesn't work like that, Steven Universe.

Anvils are really fucking heavy. Nothing else to add here.

Making jewelry is not a blacksmithing thing unless you want jewelry made of steel. And it will be very ugly if you try. Blacksmithing wasn't invented to make small things.

If there's anything here I didn't mention, just ask and I'll do my best to answer.

#yes some of this was directed at steven universe #the only thing su got right was bismuth crying when her anvil broke #cus those things are goddamn expensive and hard to transport #blacksmith #blacksmithing #writing #writing prompts #writing advice #writeblr #writer #writer problems #writerblr #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #writers

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apas-95 · 5 months

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The last post you re logged about arrestability and the Palestine Action network is something I've been thinking about a lot, and I feel really stuck on. It feels like any movement in the imperial core that wants to take actual direct action is going to find itself targeted by feds, but the ways that you can protect against that severely preclude it's ability to grow and find new recruits. Like, activism in the labor sphere can do more direct things because it doesn't have to be illegal, but I cant imagine that that will stay the case once a political labor party that's actually shutting things down. How does one make a mass movement that takes direct action but is able to prevent itself from getting shut down? I don't know, do you have any thoughts on this?

It's been done a hundred times before in the face of the same pressures, so the first order of business should be studying and learning from the experiences of successful labour movements.

Putting that aside, the key things are, in whatever words, militancy and deniability. By militancy, I mean the organisational understanding that you are in direct conflict with the bourgeois state (at a higher or lower intensity) and that your immediate priority should be making yourself immune to attack, followed only afterwards by taking offensive action. Militancy, then, means the recognition that the ultimate aim of the movement is the complete material domination and destruction of institutions that currently field armies and police networks. From the very first step, from the organisational nucleus, it needs to be understood that you are engaging in a pitched battle from within the enemies camp - which leads to the second key item, deniability.

Deniability, here, largely means compartmentalisation. Essentially every successful revolutionary movement has had a separation between the aboveground, legal struggle, and the underground, illegal struggle. To a certain degree, this is a genuinely covert or clandestine effort - undisclosed armed groups known only to a select few in the parent organisation, attributed funding through the laundering of the parent organisation. It is both essential that any armed cell is dependent entirely on the wide, integrated mass workers movement and that this cell is not actually widely known; hence, the parent organisation. If the cell were undisclosed but not integrated to a mass political organisation, it would not have revolutionary character, and be indistinguishable in practice from a common organised crime or terrorist group. It's ability to carry out correct actions would be incidental, and not self-correcting. If the cell had mass character but was not undisclosed, it would present a target to the bourgeois state and be destroyed. The strategy of asymmetric warfare is to strike at the enemy's undefended targets and to refuse to provide any defended targets for the enemy - this applies organisationally, too.

What needs to be stated, here, is that, given the connection to the mass movement, everything needs to be done only when the situation is correct. The size of a workers organisation necessary to support and supply even a single armed cell with laundered funding, safehouses, and information is extremely large, and will not be possible until a significant level of organisational base has been built and developed. Even once it is possible to support an armed cell, the political situation will very likely only warrant fairly low-intensity actions, like industrial sabotage. Again, though, the principal task of the militant - and the irregular fighter, the guerrilla in particular - is the preservation of one's own forces, over and above the destruction of the enemy. In real practice, there is no overabundance of caution, only hesitation - and the way to consistently and repeatedly carry out simple acts of industrial sabotage is by having three people work with the support of thirty-thousand. There can and must be a continuum of support, of different levels of action, between simply 'protest-organiser who pays dues to the aboveground labour organisation', to 'union salt who is a source of information on a worksite', to 'directly involved in organising and carrying out illegal acts'. The key metric for correct connection between the underground and aboveground sides of the movement is: if the actions of the underground were revealed, the mass base of the aboveground should be in support of it. The purpose of underground organising is not to go ahead of the people and start shooting cops (until the struggle has escalated to that intensity, and people are demanding that type of protection), it is to avoid providing a target for the bourgeois state.

At the higher levels of struggle, the existence of the underground becomes an open secret, which, with proper growth, coincides with the underground reaching a size and strength that it can begin to take up the mantle of the mass movement itself, and effectively transform itself into the parent organisation of the aboveground legal struggle. Until then, the model is that of a large political party leading a mass movement in every type of legal and semi-legal action under the sun (in strikes, civil unrest, and parliamentary campaigns), fiercely supporting those who do break the law (through legal and bail support, public campaigns, and protection), while the types of illegal actions the movement needs are carried out covertly.

TL;DR: Build a mass movement, or all you'll get are ecoterrorists and activists in prison.

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maxwell-grant · 3 months

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Thoughts on the master of fear, Scarecrow? Also, fave design, he has so many good ones (second BTAS, his trading card one, mistress of fear, Gaslight,, fear for sale, the Arkham Games etc)?

Hey so, do any of you remember Batman Live? It was this really fun, extravagant stage show that touched on a lot of Batman hallmarks and was generally a really fun time as far as I recall. I went to the São Paulo premiere with my family, and I was a little too young to really recall most of it now, but some things I definitely remember like the huge Joker hot air balloon made of performers in bodypaint, or the comedy sequences in the Iceberg Lounge. The one thing that stuck with me the most was when the Scarecrow showed up. Batman goes to Arkham Asylum and the entire comedy camp tone drops dead, as he walks in and finds all these bodies in straightjackets hanging from chains, and the doors open as The Scarecrow walks towards him in stilts, summoning loud smoke eruptions that are poisoning and weakening Batman as he leers over him. That part actually did scare me as a kid, and it was probably the first time I had any kind of feelings on Scarecrow imprinted in me.

I was introduced to The Scarecrow as this uniquely horrifying villain who could terrify through presentation alone. I didn't particularly understand what the fear gas was, I was too taken with that ungainly thing up there with the stilts and all those people turned into cadaverous decorations, lurking from the endless halls of the asylum, who towered over everyone and placed Batman into a writhing breakdown with a few gestures, and never appeared again until the cast roll, completely absent from the rogues gatherings after. Granted, of course that's because the stilts prevented him from joining the fight scenes, but that helped to reinforce his mystery. He wasn't someone Batman was going to punch back, no no, the Scarecrow simply vanished as soon as he was done with disarming Batman, and you'd just have to pray for that unfathomable creep to never show up again.

And I'd say this might be part of why I've never been too big on the fear gas, in part because I was first enraptured by a version of The Scarecrow who clearly didn't need it that much, or at least, could do much more besides it. The Scarecrow is, I'd say actually one of my top 10 DC characters, half of that on the basis of his designs, but he's a character who tends to really, really struggle under a lack of cohesion and being subordinate to his gimmick, much more so than the other rogues. The fear gas is a good gimmick, but it is just that, a gimmick, and one that's usually reliant on how far can the story push the horror and the visuals to at least make it effectively scary for us, otherwise it gets incredibly boring very fast, and it's not even a gimmick exclusive to him since so many other characters have similar mind control/illusion abilities/gadgetry at hand (and to say nothing of Hugo Strange, who first used fear gas and who quite frankly kicks the Scarecrow's ass in terms of quality storylines, although Hugo does that to most of the other Batman villains too)

The Scarecrow has become the go-to character for hallucination sequences / revisiting character traumas, which frequently makes him less of a character and more so a convenient plot device, a problem heightened by the larger issue here that is his inconsistent motivation, or lack thereof. He lacks the kind of "breakout" stories that his fellow major Batman villains have had that usually cement an ongoing characterization, and his most famous/celebrated appearences in mass media don't really do much to combat the assertion that he is shallow and weak and whose only asset is the gas (namely, his boss fights in Arkham Asylum, which are all about the fear gas hallucination scares, and his role in Nolan's Batman, which is very fun, but also purposefully plays him up for ridicule and lack of depth next to the other villains)

These days, the Scarecrow is a tedious pip-squeak. His schemes lack verve, his cruelties stir little in the way of frissons. Haunted by cliché to an even greater extent than the other rogues, he’s often brought low with a single sock to the jaw delivered by Batman, or by finding himself on the receiving end of his own fear-inducing concoctions. He often acts as a pawn in the hands of bigger, badder third parties. He’s ostensibly a stand-in for the figure of the reductive, smug and hypocritical psychologist, nicely bundled up for the audience to humiliate in effigy - TheMindlessOnes's rogue review for Scarecrow

In "Nothing to Fear" it is explained that Jonathan Crane has always had this "thing" for scaring people. (Just as Snidely Whiplash had his "thing" for tying women to railroad tracks, I suppose.) But this is a wan kind of motive. One senses sadly that the real motive for the Scarecrow's behavior lies in the writer's need for someone to do something reprehensible. At the root of the matter may be a difficulty in sorting out the Scarecrow's ends from his means, with a consequent confusion between the goals the Scarecrow intends to reach and the tactics he employs in reaching them.

As a psychologist specializing in phobic disorders, Crane knows how to induce fear and trembling in his victims. But this tells us nothing about what the Scarecrow wants to accomplish. And without a sense or statement of what those goals are, the writer will be tempted to substitute means for end and make the Scarecrow's goal simply the scaring of people. Usually his actions are woefully underexplained - Dreams in Darkness' review by Toonzone

You might think that I'd be advocating for the Scarecrow, then, to disregard a need for a motivation and become as unknowable and horrific as possible, to recapture the awe I felt at his Batman Live self, but no, not at all. For one, I don't think the best version of anything is necessarily the one that made the most impact on me as a kid. Two, there have been some attempts over the years to remove Scarecrow from the toxin or seriously amp him up as a threat, and frankly, most of those have only made the character dramatically worse and more boring (I don't remember the name, but there was a Batman story a while ago where he goes on a big scary killing spree with no toxin just to prove he can and it was fucking terrible). Three, and the big one here, is that this pretty much forces you to get rid of Dr. Jonathan Crane, and I think that does a disservice to the character's potential. I think that's giving up on trying to make him work as a character and I don't think you have to do that.

My preferred characterization for Crane is one that emphasizes his nature as a scholar turned supervillain. The cold and misanthropic and neurotic nerd professor who spent most of his salary on books and took to terrorizing the city as a costumed criminal in part because he wanted money to buy more books. Who takes off the costume mid-crime spree to school his henchmen on specifics of brain chemistry, who gets revenge on those that wrong his students or even employs them as henchmen, still the same guy who thinks there's nothing wrong with firing a loaded gun in a packed classroom as a demonstration. Far less interested in human connections than he is in human reactions, things that can surprise him or that he can catalogue or research or write about. Someone who's not a sadist for sadism's sake, but who doesn't really see you as a person so much as he sees a test subject. I like Crane as a snarky humorous heel who thinks of himself as amoral and mature while doing horribly immoral and childish things, the Herbert West or Rusty Venture of Batman villains (James Urbaniak is definitely the voice I'd pick for him).

My preferred kind of motivation for him is something along the lines of how he's portrayed in most of Kings of Fear, where he puts Batman through the wringer in part as an attempt to get to him and cure him once and for all, or issues #4-5 of The Batman Adventures where he induces city-wide illiteracy in part as a protest against the city's failing education. In Gothtopia he makes all of Gotham hallucinate their perfect ideal lives, eliminating the crime rate but causing the suicide rate to spike up in return, and yes it does turn out to be the set-up for a really generic "fear gas everyone with blimps and make everyone twice as scared" pay off when his involvement is revealed, but I always thought Scarecrow being able and willing to do that, to create these huge and even benevolent-seeming social experiments, as an idea with legs. Fear State was frustratingly halfway there, with the initial set-up of Scarecrow pursuing a theory for fear-based social upheaval, but on top of not being very good, it also wound up that he was just doing the same old thing again and had Batman call him out as someone who just wanted to gas the city and make everyone scared again and never changes and does anything different, which seemed like Tynion defeating his own purpose of trying to make a defining Scarecrow story and address his lack of one, completely failing to address the why the character has that kind of problem and upending itself for meta commentary before doing anything interesting.

Even Kings of Fear, easily the best Scarecrow story of the past decades if not outright ever, kinda ends in a bit of a cop-out where The Scarecrow has to be wrong ("Even when he's telling the truth, he's lying, and even when he's right, he's wrong", Gordon tells Batman to reassure him, to nullify the past 5 issues criticizing and tearing into Batman from every angle imaginable), and he has to be a sadist who just wanted to fuck with Batman and uncover his worst fears because it's what he does. Why does Scarecrow want to unravel people and wrench their worst fears into the surface? Because he's a sadist who gets off on it? I guess that's the canon answer most of the time, but it's such a boring, weak one. Because he wants revenge on the world / bullies? Still weak, done better by other villains even. Because of an unspeakably traumatic childhood that taught him the world was ruled by fear and therefore driving him to become it's master? Okay, but it still doesn't actually answer what he wants to get out of doing what he does.

We know that Jonathan Crane was a fragile youth routinely terrorized and abused by others and plainly traumatized by his experiences. We know that he is learned and brilliant and given to introspection and fantasy.

From this base it is not hard to imagine Crane turning into a man fiercely devoted to solitude and study and capable of a murderous rage when his privacy is violated. It is possible, in other words, to imagine him as a reactive force, in the mold of Freeze, systematically terrorizing and destroying anyone who crosses him but rarely wanting to start trouble himself.

Or we can imagine him as a mercenary, a specialist hired by others for nefarious purposes, but who is not himself strongly motivated by particular rages or desires.

But if the Scarecrow is going to remain a sadist and a sadist only—if he is going to be moved only by the psychotic desire to harm others—we ought to be made to feel the seductive power that sadism has over its practitioners; we should be made to feel and appreciate the hot and sour joy that comes from the purposeful humiliation of another - Dreams in Darkness review by Toonzone

It's kind of a frustrating pattern in a lot of his stories where he gives a reason for doing something, and it turns out to be a cover for yet another sadistic fear gas attack, but his cover reason was a more interesting motivation for him than what he actually was going for. A villain who mainly just gets a kick out of hurting people and concocts bullshit excuses and reasons to justify said hurting? The Joker does that already, but the Joker always clearly states what he wants and has all those ways to make cruelty for cruelty's sake entertaining. If that's all The Scarecrow is also, no wonder he's going to be so incredibly lacking most of the time (nevermind the fact that he's never going to be the guy most infamous for gassing Gotham City).

Yes, he may be sadistic and cruel, he may enjoy what he does too much, and maybe there really isn't any kind of realistic explanation as to why a man would dress up as a scarecrow to commit terrorism and spray innocent people with chemicals to make them terrified, but refer to the guy he's fighting. "Realistic" is the wrong term. The issue here is less "why" the Scarecrow does what he does, and more what is he hoping to get out of it. Granted, this is less of a concern if you're playing The Scarecrow as a figure of horror, someone who's not even really human underneath that outfit. But I think that locks away much of his versatility. The Scarecrow needs Jonathan Crane, and I think there's good stuff to like about that awful man.

I like Jonathan Crane the sardonic pragmatic scientist who still embraces his hopelessly ridiculous life, a guy who's not nearly as above it all as he'd like to be and has wants and needs moreso than he really likes to admit. I like him as a book lover, as a fan of horror, I like him as the kind of guy who'd send fan mail to Elvira and break out of Arkham just to catch a Halloween parade and guest star in a Scooby-Doo movie for a change. I like him as someone who'd have a decent working relationship with the other rogues and pal with the Legion of Doom and get into a physical spat with Riddler over a chess game. Someone who custom-makes his own outfits and equipment, who makes scythes out of animal bones to fight Batman with, who picked the scarecrow motif in part because it was a term of derision his colleagues used on him.

Who pours himself over his research as he records his theories in a tape recorder, the kind of guy who grouses at having to clean another cell because he's getting annoyed at his test subjects killing themselves, seriously guys the cleaning supplies for this batch were as fresh as they could be, and the iguana amygdalas I used should be stopping your neocortexes from overreacting this strongly. Subject #3 over there got over his fear of centipedes yesterday and he hasn't screamed all morning, I'm gonna need the rest of you to stop being such babies, okay?

It must be terribly liberating for Crane, to transcend mere ugliness and become inhuman. Of all the rogues, he’s easily the one who takes Batman’s “I need a disguise; I shall become a beast of the night” schtick and runs with it the farthest - TheMindlessOnes's rogue review for Scarecrow

And that's for Jonathan Crane, man of science. The Scarecrow, however, is not science, he is unreason incarnate, and to me what most makes The Scarecrow work as a Batman villain has nothing to do with "they both use fear as a weapon", I always thought that was a bit shallow of an angle to pursue (most, if not all, the villains rely on fear, it comes with the whole "crime" thing). The two have a stronger connection via the costume, the theatricality, the becoming a creature of the night angle. None of the other major Batman villains are going into their costumes the way The Scarecrow is. They have their personas and varying degrees of division between them and their "real selves", but few of them are wearing outright identity-separating Halloween Monster Costumes with separate names and personalities they can dip in and out of at their convenience.

And I'm gonna interrupt myself to answer your second question. I couldn't pick just one design, so counting the Batman Live one above, I picked 10. These are not in order and they're not necessarily how I'd design him, I'd say my actual favorite Scarecrow designs are fan-made, but if I was going to pick out of "official" material these are the ones I'd go for. It's time for:

(Left-to-right: George Pratt's Scarecrow pin-up, Phil Jimenez's Scarecrow design, Ed Natividad's concept art for Suicide Squad)

(Left-to-right: His TNBA design by Bruce Timm as drawn by Luciano Vecchio, Alex Ross's design for Justice, and Tim Sale's Scarecrow)

(Left-to-right: Kelley Jones' design for Kings of Fear, Jeremy Raapack's design for Legends of the Dark Knight #25, Scarecrow's design in Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!)

*cough*, anyway: Most of the other rogues with their signature suits or masks or body distortions don't tend to have closets full of different variant Batsuits and scarecrow costumes to choose and devote to their cause and ideal, that they sit at night tailoring on how to make scarier or more loaded with weapons, that they might even have conversations with, things that sit in their closets waiting because both of these brilliant men, men who have (or at least had) different civilian lives, men who could stop doing this at any time, who both decided that becoming a Halloween monster prowling the streets to inflict terror is a necessary, even productive use of their time.

And I think that's the key word I want to end here, productive. I think The Scarecrow needs to be more productive. Because even if he's not aware of it, he is achieving progress via his research, and there is one way he's proved his ideas: Batman walks out of every fight they have stronger. Every encounter they have is a test that Batman resists and walks out of more able to cope with his own traumas, or at least, better able to resist them being weaponized against him. I always wanted to explore the idea that Crane is genuinely convinced he's doing people a favor or at least achieving something via all these horrible Scarecrow campaigns, and one thing he has achieved is that Batman is never not prepared for chemical attacks or assaults on his mind, Batman resists ungodly trials of willpower and determination and courage, in part because he has to deal with the Scarecrow pumping terror juice in his brain semi-regularly.

The fact that Crane loses and gets beaten up and has to retry schemes again and again and kill people and join the costume parade just to lure Batman is fairly inconsequential to him, so long as it gets results. He's not interested in dissecting Batman's brain or being more like Batman, that's Hugo Strange's thing. Hugo Strange needs Batman to be fearless, allmighty and perfect, where as Jonathan Crane wants nothing more than to unearth and study the fears and kinks in the armor, the dead last thing he wants is a perfect man. Hugo Strange wants to crawl naked into the mask of the great and terrible fascist and never come out, where as The Scarecrow wants to crack open all the masks in the world and feast luridly on whatever seeps out.

Batman isn't just the ultimate trial against his fear-ruled worldview (or even affirmation), and he isn't just a breakthrough waiting to happen: he might be his greatest success as of yet. A case study on the success of exposure therapy, proof of potential medicinal applications for his formula, the greatest guinea pig of all time because he won't die no matter what you pump into him, you name it. So what if all those other people couldn't stomach the procedure, so what if those precious innocents are too weak and stupid and useless to not get in the way of research, it's clearly worked wonders for those who could take it.

And if the future belongs to men like Batman, if all of these superheroes and supervillains are the way things are going to be like forever, if the future is Bat-shaped and as vast and uncertain and horrible as the forces shaping it, the future needs to be prepared. The future needs to grapple with it's past and face it's greatest horrors and become stronger for it. There is no such thing as overcoming fear, there is only living with it, embracing it, bowing to the primordial instinct that knows the answer before you do. Mankind grew and developed it's intelligence and tools out of fear, fear of the bigger predators out there, fear of the other cavemen, fear of starvation and death and everything they couldn't understand and master until they learned to fear it. What better knowledge to pass along than fear? And who is better qualified to teach about fear?

Maybe Crane isn't just another monster with a grudge, maybe he isn't another costumed revenge killer, maybe he isn't just a power-tripping sadist bully out to torment others because he can, and maybe he isn't a hopeless traumatized madman who destroyed his professional and personal life in a monstrous quest to satisfy an obsession ruling his soul.

Maybe he is a sane response to an insane situation. Ever heard that one before?

#replies tag #superheroes #batman #dc comics #scarecrow #the scarecrow #jonathan crane #gotham city

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ryuichirou · 3 months

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Today’s replies! One about ABO, a couple about our Prison Warden AU, a couple of random ones.

Anonymous asked:

Reading back on your other a/b/o headcanons, i can definitely see Rook claiming both Vil and Epel, probably in the heat (lol) of the moment. Although those two might have mixed feelings about it, Rook would be the happiest alpha at NRC.

(note: this ask was sent to us before we posted our yesterday’s ABO hcs, so Anon is likely referring to our KaliJami ABO post)

Oh how much Rook would wish to claim both of them! It would truly make him the happiest alpha at NRC lol, I absolutely agree.

Realistically, I think Vil doesn’t allow Rook to claim him _yet_, implying that they would do that after the graduation. And Epel is still so young and has so many things to experience before he is properly claimed…

… but all these reasons mean nothing in the heat (lol) of the moment. Both of them are so wonderful, Rook just couldn’t help himself. Twice.

Anonymous asked:

So how would Ortho feel if Vil escape from prison? Would he be disappointed, angry, or sad? Maybe all with the hint of ready his lasers.

Oh Ortho and his lasers, he is capable of ruining the entire prison in just one emotional moment 😭

Well, I think Ortho would be upset, but kinda happy for Vil. It’s bittersweet. He loved hanging out with him and was looking forward to their little chats every day, but he knew that Vil’s place wasn’t behind bars. I mean, technically it absolutely was, because Vil is a criminal, but Ortho saw Vil as an actor first and foremost, and he kind of wanted him to be free + to see him on a big screen again. The latter thing is kind of naive of him lol

If Ortho really wanted, he could’ve found Vil within an hour after his escape. But with the relationship they formed, he’s likely to mess with the search instead, preventing people from finding him. Breaking the law and defying his programming in the name of love 😔

But he’ll still be upset, sigh a lot and complain to Idia about how much he misses Vil :( Your little brother experienced a heartbreak for the first time, Idia…

Anonymous asked:

Hm...what kind of prison cells some of the inmates are in? Like imagine Lilia having him wear a straitjacket in a high secured cell because how dangerous he is. Funny if Jamil and Floyd ended up as cellmates which Flody have fun messing with him.

For some reason we always envision single-celling, so the idea of them having cellmates haven’t even occurred to me personally, but it would be funny to have Floyd as Jamil’s cellmate lol Because he is the worst person for Jamil to get stuck with. Jamil is so sneaky about the way he acts and presents himself in this prison, and Floyd would see right through his bullshit. But whether he’d get Jamil busted or not depends on his mood, so Jamil would get so paranoid. Did Floyd figure it out? Is he going to rat on him? Floyd won’t rat on him, but it’s because he really enjoys seeing Sea Snake get so nervous… or maybe he’ll make Jamil buy his silence~ Floyd also never lets Jamil sleep in general: he is verrrry friendly. And talkative!

Lilia would be someone to get into the isolated secured cell from time to time due to disobedience; just because he felt like having fun that day lol He would look gorgeous in a straitjacket. But that’s not always the case.

I feel like Rollo would constantly be in a straitjacket though, he is the “don’t give him anything flammable or anything at all for that matter” type of guy lol

Floyd could’ve also ended up in a secured and isolated cell, but Azul works hard on not letting it happen: he had to bribe someone to keep Floyd easy to bail out whenever it’s needed + Floyd would be kind of useless if he couldn’t get around the prison and do his mission (if he has one).

Anonymous asked:

Fellow being an inmate for scamming and well...mass kidnapping. I'm unsure about Gidel given he is a child and felt that he could be in a juvenile hall or being taken care of by someone outside.

We haven’t seen the event so I can’t say anything about these two, but I will say that Gidel has a vibe of someone who is capable of coughing out a lock pick that Fellow could use to escape… so if he gets away with stuff scot-free because of his age, all he needs to do is to swallow a lock pick and visit Fellow once lol

Anonymous asked:

after going thru ur art (GORGEOUS btw, i especially love your coloring! and i love all your ideas/hcs as well!) i reread fairy gala 2 with a new oruvil perspective and honestly i rly like it! so now i have a new spin on one of my favorite events bc of u! :D (iirc you haven't watched it, i highly recommend it! it's very very fun. and gay)

Thank you for your kind words, Anon!! <3 I am very happy to hear that you like my art and our ideas, it means a lot. Especially the colouring part hehehe.

Yesss giving people OruVil perspective YESSSS I am so glad that this is a thing now. We still haven’t watch either of the Fairy Galas, but hopefully we will in the future. I am so ready to dive into these two’s relationship in this one… and to draw Ortho’s Fairy Gala gear

Anonymous asked:

How does Idia act when he gets a crush on someone? Is it easy for them to tell? Conversely, how would he act if he found out someone had a crush on him? Embarrassed, in denial, grateful?

I always think about his conversation with Crimson Muscle in ch6, but also his conversation with him in Idia’s vignette, both of these feel like great examples of how Idia acts when he has a crush on someone. But this is a crush in its purest form: he trusts Lilia, he is comfortable enough around him not to openly confess of course, but to at least express how he feels about him. He gets giggly and happy, it’s almost like you can feel the butterflies he has in his stomach when you look at him. But he is still shy and awkward and anxious that he would say something wrong or that he said too much and annoyed his crush, but yet he is very eager to share his favourite things with him and spend as much time with him as possible… he is almost 100% emotionally domesticated by Lilia, this is why he is such a kitten when he talks to him online.

Eye-to-eye though, I feel like Idia is a bit of a tsundere lol If you know, you know, but for some people it’s kind of subtle. I feel like Idia’s love language is quality time, so his go-to is to share his favourite things with the person. That’s why he brings games to play with Azul and brings music to him, granted, he doesn’t probably even think that he has a crush on Azul – it’s kind of complicated between them, but he clearly wants to get closer to him… sometimes. For some, it would be an obvious sign of Idia showing interest. For Azul it’s just Idia being Idia lol He is a little slow when it comes to crushes.

Now, if someone had a crush on Idia, he would absolutely be in denial about that. He would refuse to even consider the possibility that this is someone’s earnest feeling and that they are serious about being drawn to him. Idia can’t really imagine someone having an actual crush on him, so he wouldn’t be ready. Even if it makes total sense and he felt it even before the confession (and he could have, because Idia is actually quite good at detecting these things), he would probably feel the urge to make fun of either himself or that person because wow you have terrible taste. It’s difficult with Idia, so thank god all of his potential boyfriends are very stubborn.

#replies #prison warden au #our aus #oruvil #azuide #lilidia #rookvil #rookepel #flojami

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acesofspadess · 5 months

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Winner of Hearts

a/n: this late upload was not planned I'm so sorryyyy, but updates will be like everyday again so yay. and get your tissues ready.

Next week quickly turned into 2 months. One Direction was in the Finals. Over the past few months the band had become a family., with you all deciding to stay in your tiny room over splitting up. You couldn’t imagine life without all 5 boys in it. Of course the nicknames stuck and you really enjoyed each of the boys having their own nickname for you - though you think they liked it more than you.

“Hey bug, can I draw you?”

“Bow, why are you still in bed?”

“Only Petal can have my food.”

“Bear? Can you play with my hair?”

“Oi! Bunny’s cheating! How does she always win?”

Bentley and Beverly came to visit with your Nan and Pap a few times. You were so proud of how far Bev had come in her schooling and was soon gonna be an apprentice for some designers. Bentley had changed career paths and decided being a model was truly what he wanted to do. He had the looks, and the height, he just needed the connections. He had one job for a local clothing shoppe that you made sure Bev sent you pictures of.

The bakery was even better. Nan and Pap had got so many people to come in (they know it was because of you) that they had to hire people to help around. They still did most if not all the baking but they definitely had help and you were thankful. They were only in their late 40s, (47) after having your mom when they were 16, and then your mom having you when she was 16. They were around the same age as the other mothers in the band, but to you it felt like they had lived two lives.

Being able to go out and see everyones old lives was a special moment for all of you. You were glad something was arranged for Niall after the weather prevented from you all heading to Ireland. Louis' old school definitely was the biggest surprise. He had you stay by his side the whole time claiming ‘ I need my best friend by my side’. And you were more than happy to be there with him and the rest of the boys.

Seeing where Harry grew up was so special. Over the course of the past two months you had definitely gained feelings for him and Niall and it seemed to you that they were in the same boat, but you knew it wouldn't go anywhere for a long time. Harry made sure you and Niall were holding onto him as the mass of people around his front drive were mad. You and Niall found a picture of baby Harry and asked the fan if you could steal it, to which they screamed and showed the paper into your hands. You knew how much Harry missed his mum and Robyn and it was so special watching him reunite with them.

Next was your home town of Hazel Grove. You knew you wanted your first stop to be the bakery. Swarms of people - more than the other boys- were waiting outside of the bakery and as you and the boys stepped out the cheers could have made you go deaf. They were chanting your name and had signs of all different things, even baby pictures that you knew all the boys would try to sneak pictures of.

Seeing Beverly, Bentely, Nan, and Pap all together again was too much for you to handle. You knew that after this that there would be a ton more people waiting to get to this bakery. “A free pastry on me!” you yelled standing on a chair by the front doors to everyone who was standing around. “But only if you promise to come back!” They all screamed and laughed and the boys helped pass out pastries to everyone in line.

You finally made it to your cottage a little while away from the bakery and the boys marvelled at how perfect the cottage reminded them of you. The Williams parents had moved to Australia and had lost connection with the three of you, but Beverly and Bentely were unbothered as they knew your grandparents treated them like their own. After Beverly and Bentely helped show all of your baby pictures to the boys -especially Niall and Harry- you went and stayed in your room for the night before you were off to Bradford.

“Oh my god.” Zayn muttered next to you holding onto your hand tightly. You giggled at his reaction to all the people. Zayn’s outcome was so special knowing he was really a quiet kid and that seeing all these people where he used to go for fun was such a shock for him.

Last but not least, Wolverhampton. We had a gig there and Simon joined you guys for the last leg. The performance felt so real and it made you all really want to win this.

The next big thing after that was your birthday and the boys made sure to cause havoc on your birthday, starting by waking you up super early.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUTY!” they all screamed pulling back the privacy protector. You knew they were going to pull something so you decided to get them back. “Except today isn't my birthday.” Your voice was scratchy and you saw all but two faces drop. “No today 9 December you were born, Bear.” Harry now whispering informed you. “Yeah Petal, today's your birthday. You’ve got a picture of you and Beverly with balloons and cake that say ‘9 Dec’.”

You couldn't help but smile and open your eyes to see all them smiling at you with party hats. “Thank you lads, but it's still dark outside.” you whispered with a shaky laugh at the end. They joined you laughing quietly. “I will ask you where you managed to find those party hats later. But right now i'm going back to sleep.” they all laughed and Liam, Zayn, and Louis kissed your head before getting back in their own beds. “Wait Petal.” Niall and Harry were now sitting at the edge of your bed. “We want you to open your gift now.” Harry handed you the small -decently- wrapped gift. You opened it sluggishly and smiled widely when you saw what it was.

“We remembered you saying you needed a new one. So we put our money together and got you one. Do you like it, Bear?” You looked at it in its full glory. A new bonnet for your hair… with Niall and Harry’s faces on it. “Where did you manage to get this?” you chuckled while switching it with the one you had on. “We’ll tell you later. Go back to sleep Petal.” They were getting ready to get up but you stopped them. “No, stay with me.” You slid into the middle of your small bed and patted either side of you. They each chose a side and you snuggled into them both while Harry pulled your blanket over you all.

A few hours later Liam and Louis woke Zayn up, and when they went to wake you up (you had to wake up Niall and Harry. They only ever woke up if it was you) they saw you with both boys heads snuggled into your neck and chest. “I'm calling it now. Those three are getting married.” Zayn pointed out and the L’s agreed. “Let them sleep a little longer.” Louis spoke softer than he would ever admit looking at the tiniest hint of smile on his best friend's face as her boys snuggled further into her. “Bunny, do we have a lot to catch up on.” he spoke to himself getting back in this bunk on top of you.

Then it was the Finals. The first performance was so exhilarating. Seeing the winter wonderland come together and hear all the harmonies under the solos. It was perfect. The second performance was even more magical, being able to do a duet with Robby Williams was even better. You all sounded so good and looked even better in your best dressed.

But, besides everything joyful outside of X-Factor, inside was getting more serious.

It was the morning of 12 December and you were all sitting between you and louis bunk, and Harry and Nialls. “We’ve come so far… what happens to us if we don’t win?”

The topic had never been discussed yet and by the way everyone's face turned, you knew it was one that needed to be held.

“I guess because we made it so far I didnt think about what happens after.” Liam offered up as everyone was sitting in silence. “So what do we do if we don't win?”

“We stay together.” Harry spoke up with no hesitation. You looked up at him to see the desperation in his eyes and softly pulled his head into your shoulder, you knew he needed comfort in this situation. “We stay together.” you confirmed and you felt Niall's head nod against your lap while looking at Liam and Louis also nodding their heads.

“Then we have a final performance to get ready for.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We are so so happy to be in the final. It’s unreal. We can't believe we're here.” You all sat around Liam as he spoke. “It's kinda crazy to believe we all came in as soloists. So much time has passed.” You added on.

“I think if we won our lives would change forever and we’re ready for our lives to change.”

You and Liam had the first Solos

I thought I saw a girl brought to life

She was warm, she came around like he was dignified

She showed me what it was to cry

Well you couldn't be that man that I adored

You don't seem to know, or seem to care what your heart is for

I don't know him anymore

Then you all sang together for the last chorus

I'm all out of faith

This is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed

Lying naked on the floor

Illusion never changed

Into something real

I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn

You're a little late

I'm already torn

Torn

You walked down the stairs and when you all got down you couldn't help but hug each other like it was the last time. As the judges talked the audience cheered the band's name and you couldn’t help but smile. “Only formed a few months ago, you know, pretty much put together for this show, and knowing now you're all best mates. How does it feel to be here on Finals night, Louis.”

You looked at your best friend from across the group as he answered. “You know it's an absolute honour to be here and that song that we did, it was the first song we ever did together. It was- it was just great. Perfect.”

Dermot had watched the live stream from Louis' hometown of Doncaster and everyone was screaming to vote for One Direction.

````````

“Please lets welcome back the finalists and the judges.” You walked out when Dermot called you guys and the anxiety in your chest made you want to run back to the dressing rooms. You stood next to Niall and Zayn and could feel them both fidgeting while Dermot talked. “I will now tell you the two acts with the most votes and will compete head to head for the X-factor title. The act who has received the fewest votes, finishing third, will be leaving the competition tonight. Good luck to everyone.”

You could feel everyone holding their breath around you. “The first act going through to the next stage of the final is…”

You were happy that Matt got through, but that meant you were only one spot away from staying or going.

“So, One direction and Rebbeca. One of you has made it into the top two. And one of you has received the fewest votes from the public and is out of the competition.” You held your face in your hands anxiously and Louis reached over to comfort you the best he could.

“The second act who will be in the final is… Rebbeca.”

You didn’t know what to do. You all just stood there before the cheers around told you that Rebbeca had won, and she was a friend. You all walked over to her to congratulate her before Dermot was calling you back. “We're gonna talk to you in a second but first let's watch your time on the X-factor.”

You could barely watch through the tears. The blurry images of all you coming in as soloist to when you were put into the band flashed first. You guys getting through the judges round and your first Live performance, followed by all of your excursions and meeting Emma Watson and your final performances. Louis and Zayn hugged you a little harder when they saw you wipe your tears.

“I can tell by all of your faces you're absolutely gutted, but how has this experience been for you?” Since Louis was closest he answered first. “It's been absolutely incredible. For me the highlight was when we first sang together at the Judge’s House. It was incredible and unbelievable and you know we’ve done our best, we worked hard." Everyone cheered at Louis' answer and Dermot moved onto you.

“Autumn, the only girl in a boy band.” that gave you a laugh and Zayn shook you softly as a tease. “What's gonna happen to One Direction now?”

You looked at all the boys before answering.

“We’re definitely gonna stay together, and this isn’t the last of One Direction.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you have any ideas for what you want to write in future my inbox is open!!!! i would love to hear what you guys want to see happen in the trios future

tags:

@youcan-nolonger-run @ravenclawdirectioner

@luxiorchive

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miralines · 2 years

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actually I also want to talk about the mechs’ approaches to the concept of good and evil and why literally none of them are anywhere near good

under the cut because it got so so long

I truly believe there was a point in Jonny’s life when he wanted to be good. That time was a decade past even by the time he met Carmilla. I think Jonny learned pretty early on that good was not an option for him, which soon morphed into a deeply-held belief that good is not something he is capable of. In reaction to this, he leans heavily into being terrible (see Interview Transcript). He believes there are good things and evil things (and plenty of ambiguity as well), and he finds good admirable, if uncommon and more than a little naive, but I think he fundamentally believes that any part of him that might have once been good was broken beyond repair before he became a teenager.

Nastya, on the other hand, views herself as capable of goodness. Sometimes. If she’s lucky and not missing anything and nothing goes wrong (see the storming of the Winter Palace). She even tried, post-mechanization, to continue to be good. But between the events leading up to her death and the unending horrors that followed, she came to the conclusion that good is not worth it. Good gets you hurt or killed or blows up in ways that make things even worse. She keeps to herself, looks out for herself and her own, and will actively hurt anyone else (because given the chance, they’ll almost certainly eventually do the same).

In a similar vein, Ashes probably figured out “good” doesn’t get you anywhere by the time they were eight. Good got you taken advantage of or killed. They do value loyalty-- if you’ve formed a relationship with someone and you value it, you will help them out, or at least not sell them out (cough mickey). This is honestly more pragmatism than anything, though-- they had no issue leaving Daedalus to die, despite having a “deal.” Mostly it applies to people they’re stuck with. Not betraying people makes things much easier when you have to spend a lot of time around those people. Do they care, in some weird way, deep down? Yes. Are they personally hurt by betrayal? Also yes. But for them, it’s the consequence of picking the wrong person to do business with, and bad things happening is as natural a force as stars shining-- including when they’re the person doing the bad things.

I think Ivy actually values good and sees it both as a desirable trait and one she’s capable of. She just has... a really skewed view of what constitutes good. A combination of trauma, personality, and the inevitable corruption of immortality have led her to an extremely utilitarian set of ethics (”for the greater good”). The “greater good” is very often preservation of knowledge, and that comes above everything else-- human life, continued existence of planets, etc. I firmly believe that at least once, the mechs have been on a planet where some authority was trying to destroy Terrible Knowledge before it could make it into the hands of their enemies, and Ivy brought it to those enemies for the sake of keeping it known. This may have led to the destruction of the whole planet, but at least the survivors fleeing from the wreckage still had the records! Ivy’s perspective is so zoomed out that most petty immoral actions (murder, theft, whatever the hell “neuro-arson” is) don’t really register as important one way or another.

Brian. Brian is a master of moral justifications. His two settings correspond to the most extreme possible version of the moral philosophies they represent: EJM Brian might destroy an entire planet to prevent the possibility of an interplanetary epidemic, whereas MJE Brian might give corrupt authorities the information that leads to mass arrests and executions because it would be wrong to lie to them. Also I think he enjoys coming up with these justifications and playing with being the moral equivalent of the monkey’s paw.

As far as the Toy Soldier is concerned, it’s not a person. Good and evil are person things. It’s exempt. I very much read its backstory as it slowly coming to reject humanity and all the things that come with it-- emotion, responsibility, even pronouns that don’t traditionally refer to objects (the latter of which can absolutely be read as voidpunk, but there is certainly room to criticize the other two). TS does what it wants, because it doesn’t see itself as part of the group obligated to follow moral rules.

Tim had a moral compass at one point. Maybe even a decent one. But then the horrors of war, etc. Tim believes and behaves as if all of his goodness died with Bertie. He can do whatever he wants now, because what’s the point?

Raphaella does not believe in good and evil. At best, it’s a nice fairy tale, at the worst, it’s a fiction designed to repress freedom and independence. Like Ivy, Raphaella is driven by knowledge, but where Ivy preserves it, Raphaella discovers it-- at any cost. Nonconsensual human experimentation poses no issue to her, because it will yield knowledge. Of course, being rude or hurtful exists, and doing bad things without sufficient reason may be rude or hurtful, but it’s not evil or wrong. Mostly in those cases the main problem is that other people don’t like it.

I’m going to be honest, I’m still very shaky on my characterization of Marius beyond Funney Man (death of byron von raum WHEN), but at the moment I see his crimes as falling under impulsivity or revenge. He feels like killing someone? Sure. He’s really annoyed at someone so constructs an elaborate plot to drive them to madness? Sounds fun. He might have felt bad about it at one point, but by the time he settles into immortality he cares more about A) whether it made him personally feel better and B) welp, can’t change it anyway. In this way, he can be a bit like Jonny, but while Jonny will do bad things for the sake of doing bad things, Marius most often has at least some reasoning, or something he hopes to gain.

If you’re still here thank you for reading and I’d be very curious to hear other thoughts

#the mechanisms #the mechs #jonny d'ville #nastya rasputina #ashes o'reilly #ivy alexandria #drumbot brian #the toy soldier #gunpowder tim #raphaella la cognizi #marius von raum #this ended up being 1k words somehow #character analysis

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morally-grey-girlbosses · 8 months

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Lucretia Propaganda Post

Did she erase her family's memory? Yes. Was it for the right reason? Yes. What is a good thing to do? No. Did it ruin all of their lives? Yes. Did she found a mysterious organization and make who everyone call her The Director? Yes. Did she save the world because of it? Yes. Does she live in constant guilt and regret and will for the rest of her life? Absolutely

Erased the memories of her closest friends, who were practically family and had traveled through the multiverse together for a hundred years. But she only did it because she couldn't deal with their grief over unleashing deadly artifacts upon the world. She also erased the entire world's memory of the violent conflicts over these artifacts. All so she could collect the artifacts and enact her own plan for fixing things, which her friends had voted against because it was an objectively bad plan. She ran a shadowy organization on a secret moonbase for this purpose. She recruited her amnesiac friends and manipulated them. One had been forced to forget his own twin sister. One was left a shell of himself, only able to say his own name. This whole plan also relied on keeping a baby creature locked away from its parent. She's definitely morally ambiguous, but I also love her because underneath it all she's a dork and a girlfailure who just wanted to protect everyone but was set on doing it her way.

First Multi-Paragraph Submission:

short answer: literally the boss of a magic secret organization on the moon. does some very morally dubious stuff with people's memories, indirectly caused some deaths, full of hubris. but also had very good intentions. and i love her so so so much.

long answer (heavy spoiler warning:) she and her found family made magical relics/weapons of mass destruction to keep a plane-eating evil at bay. this partially backfired, as the damage from people using and fighting over these relics was immense. she decided that they needed to retrieve and consolidate those relics and use their power to cast a barrier to protect the world from the evil. her found family told her that that wouldn't work and forbade her from doing that.

but she couldn't accept that. so she decided to straightup erase their memories and go ahead with her plan anyways. one of them was forced to forget (and cease his search for) his missing twin sister. one of them forgot everything but his own name and lost the ability to speak or think clearly. one of them found a loophole so that he could keep his memories, so she painted him as a villain.

she went to retrieve one of the relics herself but this went terribly. she lost decades of her lifespan and had to abandon her hired assistant to lose his body and be stuck in a place of torment. so she created a secret organization to help her collect the relics, and wiped the existence of her organization and the relics from the memory of every non-member in the world. but this still didn't quite work out that well, and members of her organization kept getting corrupted by the relics and/or getting killed. so she decided to try hiring three of her memory-wiped found family members to collect the relics for her. all the while keeping their memories wiped and making up lies about why the relics were created. they did successfully get all the relics for her (despite getting very hurt and temporarily dying) but her consolidating the relics brought the plane-eating evil back and the world nearly ended (but things ended up mostly okay after everyone got their memories un-wiped and they came up with a better plan to destroy the evil once and for all).

but at the same time, her intentions were good. she wanted to prevent the world from being destroyed, either by the relics or the universe-eating evil. her wiping her found family's memories wasn't just to prevent them from stopping her, but to take away their pain. she didn't want them to bear the guilt of knowing that they created the relics that were destroying the world, and she didn't want them to grieve their lost member. she set them up with as good of lives as she could. she tried to bear the pain alone, literally unable to to tell anyone what she was going through.

i love her so much and can't think about her for too long without wanting to start screaming and sobbing.

Second Multi-Paragraph Submission

SPOILERS for The Adventure Zone: Balance. Like Serious Big Deal Ruin The Entire Big Twist Spoilers.

Lucretia and her found family spent one hundred years running across the multiverse from a universe-ending entity intent on eating them, and when they finally landed in a world where they could put that on hold, the group comes up with two imperfect plans; they choose the plan that Lucretia didn't support. They spend about a year abiding by the plan they all voted on, but then one of the other members of her family (Lup) goes missing trying to stop a terrible thing that they put into motion with the plan they're executing. After a few months of watching the rest of her family despair and watching their plan slowly destroy the citizens of the world, Lucretia makes the decision to stop their current plan and execute the plan that she proposed instead.

To do this, she alters the memories of the entire rest of her family (and the world below), including erasing their memories of Lup and the hundred years they all spent together. She then deposits three of them (Magnus, Merle, and Lup's twin brother Taako) in places on the world where she hopes they'll be happy, while keeping one of them by her side because her altering their memories made him (Davenport) forget almost everything about himself. The last of her still-living family (Barry, Lup's husband) partially escaped her memory wipe and spent his time hiding from Lucretia and trying to find Lup while he could remember.

Over the next several years, Lucretia tries and fails to stop their initial plan on her own while preparing herself to execute her own plan. When she realizes she can't do it alone, she forms an organization focused on stopping what they'd put into motion, carefully telling half-truths and gaining the loyalty of her employees while rebranding herself as "The Director", rarely ever using her real name. Her organization's headquarters is on a secret floating base that looks like a second moon, and she altered the minds of everyone on the world below to make them think that there had always been two moons there.

Eventually, the three family members she'd found new homes for make their way to her moon base, and she employs them to stop the plan that they had wanted to put in motion, making them think that Barry (who occassionally pops up to try and stop her or get them to realize the truth of what's going on) is evil and that they should never listen to a word he says. When Barry (who partially escape the memory wipe because he's a lich, a highly unstable undead being made of magic who is driven entirely by strong emotion) learns that Lucretia has made his family afraid of him and mistrust him he almost loses himself completely, but he pulls himself together and keeps on trying to stop her (and by extension, them, even if they don't realize what they're doing is wrong). When everyone regains their memories, Taako almost kills Lucretia because she made him forget his twin sister (they were each others' only constants growing up in a tumultuous family) and all Lucretia can focus on in that moment is convincing him that her plan will save the world.

In the end, Lup is finally found and a third plan saves the day and everything is hunky dory, but that was some Extremely Morally Gray Girlbossing on her part! Like, don't get me wrong I ADORE Lucretia!! But you have to admit there was some fucked up behavior on her part, even if it was for a good cause!!! I support women's wrongs <3

#propaganda #lucretia #taz lucretia #lucretia taz

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call-me-strega · 11 months

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Analysis/Call-Out of the Spider Society

The whole situation with everyone chasing Miles is astounding to me because most of these guys didn't even question why Miguel was telling them this. It also stuck out to me that the Spiders that learned about canon events seemed okay with finding out that some deaths were supposed to happen which lead me to think about it more critically.

No one can tell me that the vast majority of Spiders don't have a guilt complex a mile high. They also tend to feel like they are outcasts or some other form of isolation from family and friends due their secret identities. They all have gone through thoughts of "it's my fault bc I didn't use my power/I failed/I'm Spider-(wo)man, etc"' and "I can't tell anyone about being Spider-(wo)man bc they wouldn't understand/it would endanger them/it would endanger me". All the Spiders want the same things Miles did in the movie: To be able to talk to someone who gets it. Who understands the guilt, the powers, and the struggle of a double life. The only difference is that these guys are able to get it and Miguel was the one to give it to them.

Their loyalty to Miguel mostly comes from the precieved solution he offers. Not only does he have the power to give them access to a multiversal base, to people who understand, but he also has an explanation that plays into a Spider's guilt complex: "Your Uncle Ben/Aunt May/Parents/Best Friend/Captain/etc were always meant to die. That's part of what made you Spider-(wo)man. There was nothing you could have done about it because it is something that needed to happen for the good of the multiverse and you are better for it." Which essentially boils down to "It's not your fault" something a large majority of these Spiders need to hear. Additionally, it's basically canon that every Spider is a huge nerd so the fact that there is some sort of scientific force outside their control that causes this may come as a comfort to some of them.

Then we also have to examine what Miguel has them doing in the Spider Society. His mission is to maintain the balance and stability of the multiverse, something that sounds like a mission any Spider can get behind when it's on paper. Then they also have to witness what happens when anomalies pop up in the wrong universes. Not only do the cause mass destruction and mayhem but the universe who are unable to get them under control fall into ruin. This helps build the mentality that all anomalies alre inherently bad and that Miguel's mission is objectively correct through experience and observation.

Moreover, I highly doubt that most of these Spiders even know who Miles is much less what the big deal about him is. They've probably been left out of the loop in regards to how Miguel is approaching him and the realities of his situation. They don't know because it's not their job to worry about these things. The Spider Society to them is a place where they can interact with peers and protect more people. They even acknowledge that their are certain deaths they can't prevent because of the laws of multiversal balance. They aren't doing a good thing by chasing down Miles but the don't really know any better.

Which brings me to the why. As I said before most of the Spiders don't know Miles' situation so here's what they do know. Miguel gave them a place to belong. Miguel has a noble cause and wants to help people and maintain stability of the multiverse. The anomalies they've been dealing with endanger the multiverse ergo, anomalies are bad. Miguel says this guy is an anomaly and danger to the multiverse and he wants us to stop him. Miguel hasn't given us a reason to to trust him so far. Furthermore, there is an underlying fear of "I don't want to lose the place/people who understand" that comes from a precieved threat to the multiverse that comes into play here. If you take in these facts it seems only logical that the Spiders would chase down Miles on Miguel's orders. And as for the Spiders who are in the loop, they've already decided to side with Miguel because they think he's right.

Now I've reached the call-out portion of the rant. It upsets me that none of the Spiders stop to think critically and examine what they are doing. This anomaly is another Spiderman, one that has no ill intent and is just a kid who looks terrified by what's going on. Nobody thought there was something fishy here? And why are they chasing him blindly too? It is incredibly easy of Miles to trick and lead them away from the base. None of them could stop for one minute to think of a better plan? Send one person to talk him down or maybe set a trap? Or even just try to understand where the guy is coming from and not chase him down.

Also the part of the portion where they just accept that some people can't be saved is off to me. Even if you can't save everyone doesn't mean you stop trying. That's the essence of what Spider-man, and honestly super heroes in general, stand for. To try and save everyone, no matter the odds, no matter how hopeless it seems. Even if some Spiders took comfort in the idea that it had to happen and it wasn't their fault doesn't mean they should lie down and let it happen. Miles' question is right "If you knew this before Uncle Ben died would you not try to save him still?" A supposedly destined fate isn't an excuse to stop fighting back and trying to save everyone. That's just it: why do you let the fear of consequences let you submit to fate when it is the essence of your character to fight and protect against the odds?

Yes it's valid that you have some fears but since when have you let them hold you back from helping people. Helping people is a call that the Spiders literally can't ignore so why would they let it happen. There is no way that every Spider-person should have just accepted it. They shouldn't have blindly taken part in a manhunt for a kid who didn't accept that he shouldn't try to save certain people. Nor should they have failed to think critically on better ways to approach the situation.

I sincerely hope that their will be more internal conflict in the Spider Society in the next movie. I want there to be people who are more critical of Miguel and those who are willing to fight back. There has to be a number of Spiders who get where Miles is coming from and are willing to support him. Here's to hoping this is elaborated on in the next movie.

#atsv #across the spiderverse #spider society #movie analysis #call out post #miles morales #miguel o'hara

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affront2god-affectionate · 10 months

Text

My dear Kit

A Bat Coven LLC production

Warnings: not really, there is swearing, discussions of mortality, mentions of people having sex. Otherwise it's quite gen.

My installment into the Paradiso-verse by @alwaysyourshenry and @the-bats-who-simp, it's my prequel fic for their "The Priest You Want" fic. (they're multiplying, oh no)

The whole text is just letters between David and Kit Marlowe in the spring of 1593.

****

"My dear Kit.

You’re being ridiculous. Can I be honest with you? I’d like to be very honest with you, since you were nothing but brutally honest with me in the past. You’re being Ridiculous, I emphasise.

First of all, let’s begin with the less recent one: I’ve seen, with mine own two eyes, you leaving IN THE MIDDLE OF A RITUAL in quite a rude manner, breaking the circle, just because the result was not to your immediate satisfaction. Dr. Dee was of a better opinion of you, I had to apologize on your behalf. My opinion about you as a person hasn’t changed, I’ve always thought of you as too dramatic for your own good, that doesn’t prevent me from being your friend. My opinion of you as a witch, however, has indeed suffered. Whilst I’m still holding you in high regard for your POTENTIAL, for your capabilities and insights, it seems to me you are a LAZY FUCK, my friend. Lazy, lazy, lazy. As a cat that ran into a fish shop and ate so much he can’t move.

Which brings me to the point that is causing this letter to appear on your doorstep later today. What are those sexcapades you’re conducting? Not your regular ones, mind you, I’m talking about Eleanor and James. You can distract yourself with anything you want for however long you need, I know your priorities are with your writing, and keeping your mind distracted helps you not getting stuck. I respect that. But you’re keeping them distracted too! Last full moon you had them for three nights in a row, probably for days too; I had to perform all three of our jobs myself, creating substitutions for them out of some rocks and twigs, like a peasant, (which I am). Why is this? Jamie’s energy is off the charts, kudos to you for that, but I’m not sure Nora can perform anything really, barely standing up straight, poor lass. I would’ve had envy, but I’m mostly concerned.

I’m happy for your happiness, all of you, but don’t impose your disorderly attitude onto others. Some of us has to work, you know.

And what is it that I’m hearing about you wanting to leave the workings entirely? With all my love and affection, sincerely, fuck you. You are very frustrating, my dear friend. Please explain yourself even if you’re not planning on improving the above situation.

Your very annoyed, David."

****

"My darling David!

Your annoyance is highly amusing for me, I don’t know what are you so excited about. Both Jamie and Nora are grown-ups and can make up their own mind. If you cannot understand someone being in love, don’t complain about sour grapes and let people be happy. That being said, I’m sorry I got you so riled up, and I am terribly sorry you cannot stop working even for a couple of days. A nice drinking binge would do you plenty of good, hear my advice, otherwise you’re starting to sound like a priest, and not a fun one like our dearest James. Sorry we missed your mass, padre. Full moon happens every month and is not going anywhere, and human bodies only live for for so long. Those are the priorities, not the words themselves or my whimsical muse.

You’re also always welcome to join our “sexcapades” any day you want. I promise you that you won’t be walking straight either. My door is always open, et cetera.

As for me leaving… Please understand that this is very difficult to me. I am calling and calling, again and again, and I don’t feel like I’m being heard even, let alone gratified with an answer. I am watching our good Doctor conducting his summonings while I myself am unable to see those who he’s talking to. I am making bloody sacrifices and hearing only silence. This is very easy for you, in your tower of privilege, to orate about The Work and commitment and allegiance, but you are so, so loved. You never knew the disapproval of the “other side”, you don’t know what it feels like to not be worthy of Devil’s attention. I was hoping that at least my play would speak of my worth, would be beneficial somehow in gaining an audience, but all I got was one dream and oh so short resolution on a piece of paper. It was approved. How nice. When I am gonna be approved? What do I have to do? Do you even know how utterly terrifying the silence is? Have you ever heard it?

Don’t give me your lectures and wise words when everything you do is made of gold and burning like a thousand suns. I don’t even want to be you, you may be surprised about it, but I’d rather be myself. I don’t want to be Jamie or Nora either. Can I just walk my own way, will you bestow that gift upon me? I’m sorry if I’m harsh, but you really are getting quite insufferable, darling. Go touch some grass maybe, hug a tree. For a witch in close connection to Mother Nature you seem so utterly disconnected. People have lives. Not everything is a ritual or serves a higher purpose. Do you know the joy of being purpose-less and care-free? You should try it.

The lack of response is what making me want to leave and live my silly human life to the best of my ability. Does that explanation satisfy your highest standards?

Your very disillusioned, Christopher."

****

"My dear Kit.

Your letter has annoyed me even more by breaking my heart, whatever has left of it, but it also helped me to gain some insight on the matters that were eluding my attention before. I thank you for that.

I still, however, think that you would gain a lot of favor just by simply working. That is all that ever counts, truly. I saddens me that you just seem to be not liking the process so much and only seeing it as the means to an end. Which is fair, not everyone is in love with the magick itself. I really thought you were, though. Well, that’s just unfortunate.

Have you tried to ask Jamie about it, though? You’ve barely mentioned him in your letter, but he is powerful beyond your wildest imagination, and very naturally so. While Dr. Dee takes a scientific approach, which I admire, he lacks the conductive properties our good pastor has. Jamie does have a direct line to the places you wish to reach. Have you tried asking him? Or could it be that your sensual obsession with him is in fact an attempt at communicating, which you’re avoiding to tell me?

I wish I could help, but the only advice I ever have for anyone is simply “work more”, and it’s not very helpful for you in this situation. I’m sorry. I wish I could.

Please join the circle this friday, if possible. You are missed.

With best regards, your friend David.

I hate you."

****

"David, I really wish you would open the door just once so I won’t have to spend precious paper and the time of my life writing to you all the things that could have been just simply said out loud. Your habit of never opening to anyone knocking is really getting at my nerves. I know you hate talking and you know I hate writing more than necessary, seems that this predicament is unsolvable between us. One day I’ll begin either breaking your windows or scream my messages to you from the outside, for the whole street to hear.

Nevertheless.

David, you inept fuck.

While I do love you and hold you dear to my heart, you are completely unable to see anything further than your own dick. Do you really think it never once occured to me to ask father James to connect me with his contacts? Do you really think I would complain so pathetically, squirming as worm, if my goals were within my reach? I will relay to you what had happened, even though I would wish for you to guess. And you shall be able to guess, rightfully so, in one take. “It is very dangerous,” – he said. “You do not know what you wish for,” - he said. “Don’t open the doors you don’t know how to close,” - he said. Do you seriously suggest I push the protector FROM demons to connect me WITH demons? Because I tried, Lord knows I tried, and despite all his power his alignment won’t let him help me. I don’t know how do you tolerate that man. He is worse than you when it comes to his work. Maybe that’s what you have in common, Lord help me.

I’m not joining your silly circle of pundits, I’m done. I wish you would join our circle, instead. You could at least provide us with some frankincense fumes while we’re doing the deed. You’re good at being a substitute priest while Jamie is busy otherwise. That is one thing I gotta hand to you. And I know for a fact that Jamie misses you, even though he is too proud to admit it. Your refusal to participate is ridiculous. Am I so repulsive to you? Ah, who cares really. I am almost done with this kind of magick too.

I am going away soon. One might even said I plan on dying within a month. I’m sorry if I’m not leaving you the forwarding address: I want this getaway to solve the problem of your immortality and me getting older. That is the thing I wanted to tell you in person earlier today, if only you’d opened your damned door. I am vain, and the though of getting older while my lovers are forever young pains me. And I won’t be joining your coven, for the reasons I hope you might understand, for I don’t wish to explain them to you. So there’s that.

Please give me a good funeral. The particular arrangements are left with you-know-who you-know-where.

Very tired of your bullshit, but still with affection, Christopher."

****

"Oh, Kit.

You are severely overreacting and I am very tired of dealing with your hysterics, so I feel like your departure will be for the best. Please know that I will miss you and will grieve you as if you were truly dead. You are one of the very best friends I’ve ever had yet, if only you were not so unbearable.

If you truly made up your mind about remaining mortal, I won’t stop you. I also won’t be stopping you from enjoying your love for as long as you’re planning. I don’t think you need me there, not really, but for the sake of parting on good terms I will hold a candle and burn some incense near your bed, I owe you at least that. You’re not repulsive, you’re just very tiresome and I see you more like a brother, and you know this perfectly well. I find it amusing how your self-deprecating humour rather shows how utterly in love with yourself you are, that even slightest disagreement puts you into the spiral, Void forbid someone don’t comply with your wishes. You are but a baby. I could not possibly handle an eternity by your side. I still wish you would join us. But the decision is made, so be it.

If there ever will be a day when you would wish me to bury you for real, I will do this. I will hold your hand and guide to the other side. If there ever will be a day you decide not to leave the mortal plain after all, I will provide you with a suitable stone to bind your spirit. That way we can keep getting tired of each other for centuries more until you decide to go finally. There are ways of dealing with mortality one way or another, find me if you ever decide on something.

I am not going to solve your problems any further, since it seems to me that you yourself have no intention of solving them. You love your problems. You love your drama. Have fun with it.

Cheers, mate.

With best regards, David."

****

"My darling David.

You hurt me with you words. I am offended and upset. If you saw my eyes behind your window yesterday, it was me standing in the rain to reproach you for being so harsh.

Jokes aside, I never actually asked you to solve any of my problems. That is your weakness, you always try to solve everyone around you, but ever once did I see you solving yourself, darling. Sincerely, shut the fuck up and please take a good care of yourself, and leave my bleeding to me. My troubles do not need solving, they are my bread and butter, they are what makes me great. I thrive on the heartbreak. My latest heartbreak is over the Devil himself, for I am indeed very ambitious. But at the end of the day it is just something to make my days more interesting.

If ever get bored of being mortal, I’ll find you. Don’t hold your breath though, because I find you just as insufferable as you find me; I hate you, you little righteous Hell-obsessed freak. Leave me be, Jamie and Nora need you much more than I do. Take a good care of them too, though; otherwise I will come to haunt you.

I’ve set the date for my departure, so if you still want to join us I suggest you hurry up, your time is running out. The moon is gonna be full again soon. Let our last dance to be a magnificent one.

Very benevolent today, your very mortal Christopher."

#bat coven llc

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jdetan · 9 months

Text

"For the Good of Hyrule"

Two months after defeating Calamity Ganon, Zelda goes for a medical checkup with Purah, and seven years later, she finds herself doing the same exact thing for a slightly different reason.

Two months after the defeat of Calamity Ganon

“It’s for the good of Hyrule.” Zelda said, simply. “An educational system is vital for the populace– more people can read, more people can develop multiple skills, it frees up time from the parents and standardizes the information the children learn…” “Oh Farore, no!” Link cried from a few feet away as a black plume emerged from the cooking pot. “Oh no… that turned out badly…” He lifted up a gelatinous mass, green and purple, and smelling awful. “Oh well, waste not, want not.” He shoved the mass in his mouth with a loud ‘nom’. “Hey, it’s not bad, actually… oh no my organs.” “And it prevents them from having to be self taught, which…” Zelda blanched as Link quaffed a fairy potion while groaning in pain. “Can lead to some less than ideal outcomes, as you can see.” “Well, I can’t argue with that.” Reese mumbled as Link frantically tried to chisel the remnants of the food out of the cooking pot. “Miss Lucina, we’ll build your school.”

---

“Whatever happened to that goo you made earlier today?” Zelda asked as Link whipped out a much more appetizing meal for them. “It looked corrosive.” “I declared it ‘Dinnerblight Ganon: Scourge of the Cooking Pot' and threw it into the Death Mountain crater.” Link answered with a shudder. “Along with the cooking pot itself. It was unsalvageable.” Zelda cracked up and laughed loudly as she took a bite of food. “The funniest part is that I know you’re serious!” She hummed happily as she ate her meal. “Your regular cooking is wonderful, though– you’ve been practicing, haven’t you?” “Every day.” Link admitted with a blush. “I wanted to make sure that anything I made for you was of the highest quality.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling lightly. “You deserve the best, after all.” Zelda damn near tackled Link to the ground and kissed him for saying that. Instead, she bit her lower lip hard, and repeatedly reminded herself to exercise control. “You’re far too kind, Link, especially when I can’t cook nearly as well as you do.” “I could teach you.” Link offered. “It’s really just timing and math, at least for established recipes, which is what we’d start off with. Then it’s more just learning the flavors and how they interact and meld together.” Link waggled a fork at her. “Really, cooking is just science!” Zelda raised an eyebrow at Link, her fork stuck in her mouth. I could push you to the ground and ravish you right now, you beautiful man. Her internal monologue was getting spicier– readjusting to having hormones again after a hundred years without them was its own set of challenges– but instead she just smiled. “It’s a date, then! Lunch tomorrow?” “Sounds wonderful. But be warned: you eat what you make!” Link chuckled lightly. “Unless I have to throw it into Death Mountain, of course– but I’m sure whatever you make will be delicious.” Zelda blushed, a light glow playing across her skin– a sure sign she was truly happy, Link had found– and finished her plate. “I’ll do my best to reward your faith in me, oh Good Sir Knight.” She said with mock pomp. “But now I fear I must go to my doom… and have my two month medical checkup with Purah.” “Want me to walk with you?” Link asked, tossing the plates into the sink. “Sure. Just remember that the checkup is…” Zelda waved her hand around, trying to find a polite way to describe the procedure. “EXTREMELY private, alright?” Link laughed. “Gotcha. I’ll run off and play when you get there.”

Read the Rest on Ao3!

#fanfic #legend of zelda #zelink #cuteness #fluff #please share #gremlin purah #mad scientist purah #zelda tears of the kingdom #breath of the wild #MEDICAL CHECKUP

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leastdatablebracket · 9 months

Text

ROUND 2, MATCH 24

Propaganda under the cut!

Dys

Propaganda

great character shitty boyfriend theres two paths to get a happy couple ending with him peace ending (with prolific parent career ending or dys dating both solanaceae (player character) and sym with sol being the unfavored in the polycule) or becoming a gardener (mass interconnected ai that both is n takes care of the planet the game's set on. he wants to become a sentient tree basically) with him (assisting in helping him bomb the colony or helping him become a gardener after he bombed the colony) all the other endings where he and solanaceae are dating Arent Great with peace ending (without prolific parent or polycule) in particular standing out to me especially in comparison with his friendship peace ending in that solanaceae is implied to be his sole source of emotional support (even if you get him and tangent to reconcile during the game) as in his platonic peace ending hes noted to have made other lifelong friends and has become a part of the community which is absent in his romantic ending and instead replaced with solanaceae stating that dys' love feels draining n dys' self destructive habits are a frequent topic in the couple's conversation but its just kind of brushed aside cause solanaceae's like "well theres parts of myself (referring to the timeloop) that other people wouldnt be able to deal with so its fine" n then also ur not really allowed to get mad at him for bombing the colony (resulting in an unspecified amount of injuries and deaths) and if you choose to say "because you cant!" as a response to finding out he set off the bomb to become a gardener (btw dys' only leaves a goodbye note if ur dating but never makes any attempts to prevent solanaceae from potentially also being killed by the bomb like you cant die during the game but he still doesnt show any level of concern that the four people he likes in the colony couldve been killed even if hes dating solanaceae) dys' response is something along the lines of "who cares what you think cause you'll be dead in 60 years" which (once again) doesnt change even if youre dating him n like the bomb thing and him always eventually leaving to become a gardener are like nonfactors in this aside from when they align with his shitty boyfriend moments such as his seeming disregard for his romantic partner's life if they dont like what hes doing i literally went into the game's files to read all of the storylines n events to see if i was missing something but no man's just a shitty boyfriend

Peter King

Propaganda

Oh I could go ON AND ON but here’s a list: He’s a stalker, he showed up late to a date HE REQUESTED, he killed either your landlord, roommate, or coworker (depending on route) and stuck them in a freezer, lied to the police about it, followed by a car ride either consisting of traumadumping about his family (valid tbh) or him talking about how much he wants to fuck your brains out, then you finding a bloody knife in his glove compartment, asking about it, and him smashing your head into the window to shut you up while he takes you to his house. He is The Worse Datable, as well as The Only Datable because well…he killed the others…and kidnapped you….

FUCK THIS DUDE!!! Country Human looking-ass bitch, I want him dead and obliterated

Many violence, Yandere behavior, cut your leg off in a semi-canon series of illustrations, smashed your head into the passenger side window of his creepy van, chloroformed you in your own house, brought you flowers that were probably tainted with his own blood, given context from another route. Generally a terrible person. Also just very strange to look at :/

He knows what he did….😒

He broke into Y/N’s house and chloroformed them. Generally a really creepy and perverted guy. TK is better :/

#round 2

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min-pathologica · 2 months

Text

🍉 rant

wow i’m pissed as fuckkkkkk. i’m sick of people saying the “israel-hamas conflict” (genocide of palestinians) is a ‘complex multifaceted issue!’ and ‘neither side is right!’ like okay. go sprout flowers with your pure mind and adjust your scale of holy fairness why don’t you. cause ‘there should be a balance’ and you ‘don’t take sides’ and you’re ‘so neutral’? just ignore a literal genocide cause you can only look at it from your western lens of religion, american politics, and years of being taught from a covertly islamophobic and white supremacist curriculum? you can’t look at the death tolls and tell me who’s dying and who’s not? you can’t read one history book and tell me who took whose land? you jumped to defend ukraine and ‘do everything you could to help’, but when it comes to palestine it’s a ‘complex issue’ and there’s ‘not much you can do ‘cause they’re across the world’. i heard some classmate say this stuff, thinking she was better for it. do the children being killed not count because they’re middle eastern? do you believe the israeli propaganda of the ‘savage hamas terrorist’ because you only grew up learning about how middle easterns are terrorists? you never questioned it? that bias just stuck, and when those people get brutally mass murdered you turn a blind eye?

is that the issue, or are you just ignorant because israel was your ‘status quo’? you never knew about any conflict that wasn’t america, britain, france some decades ago, so you assumed everything was fine everywhere else so long as no headlines were made? you thought the ‘war’ started october 7th when hamas attacked israel? and that israel was ‘defending itself’ from hamas? when this has been happening for 75 years? you never knew, but when you learn, you think again that this is a ‘complex issue’ somehow.

or do you still think the conflict has anything to do with western politics? that palestine equals hamas, judaism equals zionism, anti-zionism equals antisemitism, etc., really, that anything has much to do with jewish people? no, the problem is with zionism, a problematic political belief, which can exist separately from judaism, a valid religion like any other. zionism being the support of israel as a ‘jewish homeland’, which is occupied palestinian land. a quick skim through history shows this. zionism believes that they need more, so it wants to eliminate palestine and its people. hence, violence. it kind of resembles the ww2 german concept of ‘lebensraum’ (‘living space’). but see how it can be separate from judaism? which means the inverses are separate as well. but in western politics, concepts like these are merged, and once again the mass killings of children is turned into a political conundrum because it’s apparently anti-semitic to want israel to not commit a genocide. even calling their actions a genocide is considered very political for the same reason, when it should be a basic application of the u.n. genocide convention’s definition - “a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part”. the same convention lists the criteria for a genocide as “killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group, preventing births, and forcibly transferring children out of the group”. it’s pretty clear that, as stated by several first-party accounts, israel intends to wipe out palestinians. zionism also applies for reasons i described earlier. as for the five criteria - a quick look at any source ever shows israel is killing palestinians, this isn’t disputable. the second criteria, serious bodily or mental harm, can be checked off for the same reason. same with the third. the fourth is trickier, but like. newborn babies are killed, hospital bombings, everyone’s seen a few baby corpses by now. the fifth point can mean different things - it can mean stealing children and forcibly assimilating them, or experimenting on them, which was frequent during ww2. in this case, it would be applied with the child hostages. and the stuff that happens to those hostages. and generally, a lot of children are being killed. israel��s actions can easily be applied to the criteria for a genocide, but for whatever reason it’s “too complicated”. it’s ‘a conflict’. and there’s the point of euphemisms and distant language in media coverage. the thing of ‘minors vs children’, ‘dead vs killed’ that is everywhere on this topic. it’s not that complicated, and staying neutral is just as bad as supporting israel. see ‘first they came’ by martin niemöller, or ‘terrible things’ by eve bunting. see also the ten stages of genocide.

i would elaborate but honestly i’ve had a bad headache the whole time writing this so ahhh. night

#minxiety #tw rant

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