#<- the campaigns i was in have continued without me simply because i was always late due to time zones

[yinyangle]

im gonna be honest i dont understand rtumblr (lore and the fact i find rping very very difficult) but yall r having fun and i support u all

[the-littlest-goblin]

Something that's stuck with me from the Arch Heart's appearance, which highlights a major underpinning of my frustration with C3, is the "Big Doors don't work" comment.

In what way exactly is the Big Door not working?

The purpose of the Divine Gate was to mitigate the gods exerting undo influence on mortal affairs, and according to everything we've seen in all 3 campaigns up to this point, this was a demonstrable success: the Calamity ended, and despite multiple potentially world-ending catastrophes cropping up since then, it has been up to mortals to deal with these threats. They've often done so with divine aid, but I fail to see how that's overreaching on the gods' part when accepting said aid is still dependent on mortal choice.*

Part of the Arch Heart's reasoning for wanting to "let go" is, as I understand it, because mortals continue to rebel against and resent the gods even from behind the Divine Gate. Which, yes they do, but like... the customer is not always right. Not every complaint needs to be catered to, especially the ones based on faulty postulates.

I get that this is not how the Arch Heart is thinking about it; my issue is not with the roleplay of individual characters, but with the narrative whole and the sheer amount of time it has spent, both in the text and extra-textual framing, sincerely entertaining the base axioms of an argument that is so poorly constructed Ludinus wouldn't make it past round one of a middle school debate club. None of the anti-god arguments have given any tangible evidence for the claim that the gods are an oppressive force or that Exandria would be better off without them that is not either:

A. Aeor, which was pre-Divine Gate and in fact the catalyst for the gods to pull back on interfering with mortal affairs, and therefore not all that pertinent to the current status quo;

or B. an event or action that, while it may be done in the name of the gods (e.g. Hearthdell) or directly encouraged by a god (e.g. Opal and the Crown) is nonetheless still contingent on mortals making choices, and therefore not a convincing argument that the gods are infringing on free will,** nor that removing them would prevent these types of situations.

An ongoing motif of C3 has been showing perspectives which challenge the prevailing narrative about the gods as established within Exandria's lore to this point. As a story enjoyer, I normally would eat up this sort of reversal—I love a metatextual play with in-universe narratives. But to do so convincingly requires more substance than a handful of characters going 'Trust me bro.' I'm going to need to see some peer-reviewed studies on Exandrian metaphysics before I take Ludinus "17 ulterior motives stacked in a wizard robe" Da'leth's word over what I've seen with my own brain over thousands of hours worth of game play.

If the message of the narrative is telling me to question the diegetic information it presents, then I am going to do just that. So far every argument that the gods do more harm than good for Exandria has been rampant citationless behavior. I find it baffling and borderline infuriating that we're approaching the denouement of this campaign and I still have yet to see evidence that the core conflict of the story, the central debate which has plagued every in-game and fandom discussion for a year now, is based on an actual problem. Like, at all.

*If you think Vax did not exercise his own agency and free will in every step of becoming Champion of the Matron, you are simply wrong.

**For real, we know there are magical means of straight-up mind control in Exandria. Like, you don't have to approve of it, but the gods engaging in standard issue verbal manipulation does not constitute a violation of free will, and it certainly doesn't make the argument that they are so immeasurably more powerful than mortals that they should not be allowed to exist.

[nellasbookplanet]

In the wake of FCG' fate I've been thinking about death in ttrpgs, and how it kind of exists on three levels:

There’s the gameplay level, where it only makes sense for a combat-heavy, pc-based game to have a tool for resurrection because the characters are going to die a lot and players get attached to them and their plotlines.

Then there’s the narrative level, where you sort of need permanent death on occasion so as not to lose all tension and realism. On this level, sometimes the player will let their character remain dead because they find it more interesting despite there being options of resurrection, or maybe the dice simply won’t allow the resurrection to succeed.

Then, of course, there’s the in-universe level, which is the one that really twists my mind. This is a world where actual resurrection of the actual dead is entirely obtainable, often without any ill effects (I mean, they'll be traumatized, but unless you ask a necromancer to do the resurrection they won’t come back as a zombie or vampire or otherwise wrong). It’s so normal that many adventurers will have gone through it multiple times. Like, imagine actually living in a world where all that keeps you from getting a missing loved one back is the funds to buy a diamond and hire a cleric. As viewers we felt that of course Pike should bring Laudna, a complete stranger, back when asked, but how often does she get this question? How many parents have come and begged her to return their child to them? How many lovers lost but still within reach? When and how does she decide who she saves and who she doesn’t?

From this perspective, I feel like every other adventurer should have the motive/backstory of 'I lost a loved one and am working to obtain the level of power/wealth to get them back'. But of course this is a game, and resurrection is just a game mechanic meant to be practically useful.

Anyway. A story-based actual play kind of has to find a way to balance these three levels. From a narrative perspective letting FCG remain dead makes sense, respects their sacrifice, and ends their arc on a highlight. From a gameplay level it is possible to bring them back but a lot more complicated than a simple revivify. But on an in-universe level, when do you decide if you should let someone remain dead or not? Is the party selfish if they don’t choose to pursue his resurrection the way they did for Laudna? Do they even know, as characters, that it’s technically possible to save someone who's been blown to smithereens? Back in campaign 2, the moment the m9 gained access to higher level resurrection they went to get Molly back (and only failed because his body had been taken back by Lucien). At the end of c1, half the party were in denial about Vax and still looking for ways to save him, because they had always been able to before (and had the game continued longer it wouldn’t have surprised me had they found a way). Deanna was brought back decades after her death (and was kind of fucked up because of it). Bringing someone back could be saving them, showing them just how loved and appreciated they are. Or it could be saving you, forcing someone back from rest and peace into a world that's kept moving without them because you can’t handle the guilt of knowing you let them stay gone when you didn’t have to. How do you know? How would you ever know?

[apurpledust]

Don't tell my friend that I did not sleep immediately (she will scold me XD). But what is Napoleon and Junot about? Gib their interactions, their history, the tension, their secrets, what you thought about them, what is good and bad about them, headcanons, some things that you love about them, anything that will save my curiosity before I go to sleep in 4:30 am 👀

That is all. Have a nice day/evening 😌

HELLO!! sorry for my late reply I have the cold and I was figuring how to write this without sounding too crazy 😭😭 thank you @whatever-whatsoever for reminding me to check my inbox 🤩 YESSS NAPJUNO ASK!!!! THANK YOU ❤️❤️ I'll have to give a super abbreviated version because they had so much history *sniff* 🥺

I may yap more about my personal head canons and why I love them in a separate post hehehe👅

disclaimer: I don't claim to be objective or an historian as this is very napjuno-biased :P English is not my first language so there will be many grammatical mistakes😭

I feel like I should first mention that Napoleon and Junot had a long history of correspondence throughout their lifetime. And Junot kept every. single. letter Napoleon wrote to him. Unfortunately none of these letters exist anymore because Napoleon sent a lackey to have them burned the moment Junot committed suicide. (I WILL NEVER FORGIVE NAPS FOR THIS 😭) so most of what we know about their relationship is secondhand from Junot's wife, Laure Junot's (Duchesse d'Abrantes) memoirs. She's also not the most reliable person so it's possible she might heavily exaggerated on some stuff

As for the letters, it's always been up for debate why Napoleon wanted them gone but my personal headcanon is they must've been written in a very romantic tone... and Napoleon was so heavily trying to suppress his feelings for Junot and burning those letters was a way of burying their relationship once and for all

OKAY, SO A BRIEF HISTORY ON NAPJUNO!!

Junot's fated meeting with Napoleon began in 1793! He was already promoted to a segreant when they met and Napoleon was already a General at the age of 24(!). It was during the Siege of Toulon that Naps had asked for someone who had beautiful handwriting to dictate a letter and Junot volunteered to write what he dictated before a cannon fire sprayed it with dirt. Naps was so impressed by his coolness that he made Junot his secretary and Aide-de-camp, and soon they'd become inseparable

soon after Toulon, Napoleon was accused of treason for his connections to Augustin Robespierre and was jailed. Junot , of course freaking out about this wrote him letter to offer an escape but Naps declined.

^ this illustration by Jacques Onfoy de Bréville represents one of their "leisure moments" together circa 1794-95

so after a little while Napoleon got married and found his fortune, Junot continued to follow him to his legendary Italian and Egyptian campaigns. In Egypt, he was promoted to General but he was actually not too happy with this since this means he'll be away from Napoleon often. There's also this famous (or infamous?) incident where he challenged General Lanusse to a duel ,simply because he opposed Napoleon's leadership , with this words :

«We must fight; it is essential that only one of us survive. I hate you because you hate the man that I love and admire as much as God, if not more»

sounds like a chivalric romance doesn't it? :3 It was also during this campaign there were rumours within the army comparing Naps and Junot to "Hadrian and Antinous" . of course Junot does nothing to dispel those rumours 🤓 Poor guy got wounded in the stomach and Naps didn't visit him until the last minute.

Napoleon wasn't able to take Junot with him when he left Egypt and by the time Junot made it back to France in 1800, Napoleon was already First Consul and the power differences between them already put a strain on their relationship. This was further exacerbated once Naps became Emperor.

When Naps sent Junot to Portugal , he wrote a bunch of desperate letters begging him to reappoint him as his aide-de-camp again and Napoleon once confronted to Junot's wife about the letters he wrote to him (I'm like 99% sure it probably sounded more romantic than the ones he wrote to her) . it got to the point that Laure Junot ahd to admit that Junot possibly loved Napoleon more than her and their children.

Junot was often sent away from Napoleon during from like c. 1806-1810ish? and didn't interact much except by correspondence (I think) I'm going to skip over the Portugal /Spain period

Okay so by the Russian Campaign of 1812, Junot pretty much fell out of favour from Naps and the consequences of Junot's actions almost completely destroyed their relationship. By this time period, Junot's mental and physical health was very, very fragile from his campaigns in Portugal & Spain and Napoleon was no longer the Napoleon he knew back in their youth. Napoleon was furious and even shamed him on the military bulletin. Junot was devastated at this and the thought of losing Napoleon's friendship was unbearable after 20 years of being devoted to him.

After he returned to France from Russia, there are several anecdotes mentioning how he would wanderlessly mutter out loud that  “The Emperor no longer loves me” in his apartments😭 Napoleon's love for him was all that mattered😭😭💔

There's this scene where Duroc (Napoleon's Grand Marshal of the Palace) and another friend visited Junot to comfort him and this happened:

Junot obviously didn't believe the Emperor still loved him of course💔

Soon after spending some time resting and with his family, he was appointed Governor of Illyria. (I think Naps sent him there because he wanted him out of France but Idk). His insanity finally set in and there's this infamous incident where Junot attended the ball completely naked except for his medals and hat and his battle wounds were on full display...

Soon after that, he had to be forcefully be sent back to his father's home in Montbard. It was there where he committed suicide by jumping out the window.

💔

Junot's last letter to Napoleon is heartbreaking by the way....

“I who love you with the affection of a savage for the sun, I who am entirely yours. Well then: This eternal war that we must fight for you, I WANT NO MORE OF IT! I WANT PEACE! I want finally to repose my tired head, my sore limbs … to enjoy that which I earned … with my BLOOD! The blood of an honest man, of a good Frenchman, of a true patriot. I therefore ask, at last, for that tranquility that I earned through twenty-two years of effective service and seventeen wounds from which my blood has flowed for my country, and for your glory. 

Like I mentioned in the beginning, soon after the news of Junot's demise reached the public, Napoleon immediately sent someone to his house in Paris where his wife and brother-in-law were at and forcibly searched through Junot’s home to seize and burn his letters.

Oh yeah there's more but I'll leave it at that for now </3 LIKE WHAT THE HELL NAPS WHY DID YOU BURN THE LETTERS 😭😭Like they must've been fucking crazy man,,, omg sorry this keeps me up at night 😭

they make me so

Junot's ending was sooo tragic.... he was definitely a Greek tragedy-esque figure😢 He possibly died believing Napoleon hated him when that wasn't the case. Napoleon, despite reprimanding Junot very harshly for Junot's actions (non-actions?) during the Russian campaign, he still had a soft spot for him.

I also think of like how his life would've been better without meeting Napoleon. But also thinking again how much Junot treasured his meeting with Napoleon.... ough they're so painful sdkjskdljdhljhdjfhdkjhfdj excuse me while I combust

NapJuno was basically like painful unrequited love slow burn over 2 decades . Or maybe it wasn't completely unrequited? I like to think Napoleon was in denial and constantly tried to suppress his feelings for Junot 😔😔😔 anyway Junot was so delulu... (he's my precious delulu cat) he kept hoping Napoleon would still love him like he used too pre-Emperor days. Of course those days will never come back. I guess he was always living in the past while Naps moved on 🥲💔

well even if Napoleon doesn't love him at least I do 😤

as my friend @ promises-of-paradise once said, I think Junot was almost definitely romantically obsessed with Napoleon. Like actual romantic love (I'm not even being delusional this is what I truly believe). Whether they actually did anything together is up for debate, but it’s clear that Junot’s feelings for Naps were a lot more intense than a regular friendship.

also I highly recommend reading these posts regarding Junot and NapJuno's relationship:

The NapJuno bible of course: https://erenow.org/modern/napoleonic-friendship-military-fraternity-intimacy-and-sexuality/4.php

BTW THERE'S A NAPJUNO RPF WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED IN A FRENCH MAGAZINE BACK IN 1926!!!! I JUST NEED TO FIND THE LINK (it's also in French)

and Laure Junot's memoirs! it's available on the internet and she (and imo rightfully) suggests Napoleon and Junot were possibly incredibly intimate during their broke days. Girl was the OG napjuno shipper istg

~~

If any of my fellow NapJuno fanatics want to add info about them more please do so!!! I'm probably forgetting some stuff 😭

[aperfectangelgirl]

tw: mentions of genocide, SA, graphic descriptions of murders, general nihilism and doom & gloom

i’ve always made it my business to be aware of what’s going on in the world.

so i know. i know that the genocide in gaza is one of the most horrific things humanity has ever witnessed. i’ve seen the photos; a little girl’s body dangling from a window, legs blown off. a man who was run over with a tank from the legs up, so he was alive while he was crushed, his insides splattered across the road. i know they are training dogs to rape palestinians. i know that they are raping women and children in front of their families before they kill them. i know that there are concentration camps. i know that the US is arming and funding this campaign. i know that they are getting away with this because most people choose not to see. not to care.

i know that climate scientists believe we will have no fish in the oceans by 2055. i know that this is the hottest summer we’ve ever felt and it will only get worse. i know that one billion people are projected to die, quickly, in the next decade; due to heat, infrastructure failures, lack of food from heat killing crops. i know that AI is consuming so much power that it is an environmental crisis. i know that the bombs going off in palestine are speeding up the process. i know that as the ice melts, ancient diseases we are not prepared for will be released. i know that there are already other pandemics waiting to occur, and we (at least in the US) have proven that we don’t care enough about anyone, even ourselves, to take the proper precautions against these sicknesses. i know that the population has already been weakened from the current pandemic and another one will be catastrophic.

i know that the US is speeding towards fascism; we’re already there. i know that women have lost the right to abortion, and even can be criminally prosecuted for having one, in 15 states. i know that gay marriage and gender affirming healthcare are on the chopping block. i know that tuition rose exponentially over my lifetime because universities invest in weapons manufacturers. i know that rising prices are not just greed, but by design; we are all meant to lose our means of survival, be turned into the streets, and get arrested, because homelessness is illegal. i know that the US’s end goal is slavery for us all. there is no labor cheaper than prison labor.

i know all of these things. i know most people are too apathetic to care. i feel absolutely fucking insane trying to talk to anyone about these things. no one cares. when i mentioned palestine on father’s day, my mom said, “lets talk about something that isn’t doom and gloom.” as if the death of thousands is simply an unpleasant topic, and not something we should care about. something we should be fucking angry about. something we should do something about.

so what am i to do with all of this knowledge, anyway? i can’t do shit. no one wants to care with me. and what good does caring do? it tears me apart. it keeps me up at night.

apathy is what they want so they can continue to kill us all, one way or another; but apathy seems to be the only way to survive without falling apart under the weight of it all.

seriously, what the FUCK am i supposed to do with all of this knowledge. someone tell me.

i wrote this BEFORE chevron was overturned and by god…….

[the-lark-ascending69]

Homophobic Nancy for whom it's not enough to torture herself over her inappropriate feelings for Robin, but needs to take her anger out on her, too.

Of course, she doesn't actually say anything. She doesn't make any direct comments on it. When Robin tells her, hands shaking and heart racing, that she likes women, Nancy simply stares at her without blinking, a tight smile on her face, and her brain short circuits and in that instant she suddenly diacovers the language needed to describe the way Robin made her feel, somewhere between excited, happy and nervous, but also irrationally angry. It was something she'd successfully avoided naming up until that point, the same way you avoid looking directly into the sun, not even realizing you're doing it.

Robin makes her confront a part of herself she doesn't want to face, and Nancy hates her for it.

So when Robin nervously asks why she's not saying anything, Nancy just smiles a little wider and tells her that it's okay. Robin is confused. Just okay? What does that mean? It's okay, Nancy insists. Actually, I don't know why you felt the need to tell me. It's not like it changes anything, anyway. Robin doesn't know how to feek about that. In one hand, she's glad Nancy isn't being outright hostile or violent towards her. She likes the "not changing anything" part. But Nancy's reaction is visibly off and even though she insists, every time Robin asks, that there's nothing wrong, Robin can tell she just made a big mistake. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she calls herself under her breath as she walks back home. She should have known better than to assume this wouldn't be too much for some of her friends.

She talks to Steve about it, and Steve tells her to believe Nancy. If she said it was okay, it was okay. Is Robin sure she's not imagining things? And yes, she's sure. Or she was, at least. But Steve supposedly knows Nancy much better than Robin does, so, maybe she did see rejection where there was none, simply because she was so scared of it.

So she tries to believe Nancy when she said nothing had changed, even if she felt stupid doing so, and asked her if she wanted to have a sleepover on the weekend, like they usually did. Or go for a walk. Or study together. Or simply hang out.

Nancy tells her she has plans with Jonathan.

Next time Robin asks, she needs to study. Next time, she tells her she'd promised El she'd teach her about clothes and makeup. The next one, she'd promised Mike she'd join gim for a campaign at Hellfire. Next one, she's helping Joyce with something, or she's watching a movie with her mom, or she has to clean her room, or babysit Holly, or interview someone, or she's simply tired and wants to sleep. She used to always have time for Robin before. And Robin is growing increasingly worried and feeling increasingly stupid, continuing to seek Nancy out when her instincts tell her to run. Why did she follow Steve's advice? She knew from the beginning. Her gut told her so.

She should have expected it when she went to knock on Nancy's window one night and opened up her whole heart for her, telling her how much she misses her and how stupid she feels and how she thought Nancy said things wouldn't change but they did, and now she's scared it's her fault, somehow, even though she suspects Nancy is pulling away for something she can't control and she feels so stupid for ever telling her something Nancy clearly didn't want to know, and now she's suggesting that they forget everything she said that day and they go back to talking about boys like normal girl friends do, because she'd talk about boys with Nancy even when it goes against her nature if that means keeping her as a friend. She should have expected Nancy to look uncomfortable and hug herself and say "Robin, it's getting late. I think you should go home".

Just as easily, she breaks Robin's heart.

Robin doesn't break down in tears in front of Nancy - she waits until she's home to do that. Instead, she says "I - okay, yeah. You're right" and "Sorry, Nance" before walking back home between sniffles and hiccups. She doesn't call Steve to tell him he was wrong. She was the stupid one here. Neither Steve nor Nancy were to blame. This was the way the world worked, and she was simply bad at surviving in it.

Nancy can't name the feelings and thoughts roaring in her head, but she falls to the floor of her bedroom and hugs her knees, and with one hand she roughly pulls at her own hair as if that will make everything inside stop. She feels like she hates Robin, and that makes her hate herself. Or maybe it's the other way around. She's not animal. She can think clearly, even if doing so in this situation scares her. She knows Robin did nothing wrong. She even knows theres nothing wrong with Robin, because if it had been anyone else, she wouldn't feel this way. But Robin was special. It was her beauty and her laugh and her tenderness and her brilliant, brilliant mind, and the way she couldn't stop her mouth when she felt too many emotions. It was the way she looked at Nancy with such deep trust and admiration. The way Nancy felt something so impossibly contradictory for her. The desire to be always with her and to never see her again. To tangle her fingers in her hair and to avoid her touch. To make her happy and to make her cry. "This isn't for me", Nancy tells herself. "It has to be for someone else. I can't let this be me". She punishes Robin because she needs somewhere to put her anger, and who better than the cause of all this evil?

[eruhamster]

I feel like voteblue people have such insular lives. Because they always treat democrat war crimes as some kind of thing that happens to an 'other.'

I know it's largely racist white people who aren't recent immigrants, but it just makes me wonder.

You know your life could just as easily be ruined by an American war campaign, right? Without a draft.

If you have family, even distant family, who live in another country. If you scrounge enough money to ever go abroad on a vacation. If you have an online friend who lives in a different country than you.

It could be you. It could be yourself, stranded with the US embassy refusing to save you. It could be your family under rubble. It could be your friend, murdered by your own taxpayer dollars.

There is nothing special about Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, etc that makes it specifically bombable. If politics in a region you have any connections to takes a wrong turn, that region would end up just the same.

The US war machine is indiscriminate. You will not find peace from fascism by voting for fascists. Politicians have continued to move right and have continued to strip us of our freedoms. The Democratic playbook is centered on making you think the other is worse, and yet the creation of the DHS and ICE were bipartisan, and the ACA was a Republican plan.

They promise things will get better if you vote Democrat enough, but Obama was at least four full months of a supermajority, but after promising to codeify Roe v Wade his first day in office and having the Freedom of Choice act introduced to Congress, he simply 'put it on the backburner.' Instead, he was the first US president to extrajudicially kill Americans. He did this with a drone strike, murdering Samir Khan and Anwar al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki's sixteen year old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, was killed the same way days later. In Yemen. In a country we were not at war with.

Even when they promise it, even when they have the means to fulfill that promise, even when that promise is sitting right in front of them, Democrats will not act. Because they only care that they use that boogeyman of "Republicans" as a carrot on a stick for votes. And the worse Republicans get, the better it makes them look, the less they have to reign themselves in on actions that would be unfanthomable to even a Republican 20 years ago - Biden has done less to reign in Israel than Bush, Nixon, or Reagan, our three worst presidents.

Things will never get better because a democrat is in office. Things won't even stop getting worse.

But it could be you, who's life is ruined by an American bomb.

It could be you.

[kimtaegis]

i’m here to spread more love for my beloveds! 🎁

bibs, @userjungkook97, for her never-ending sweetness + all her precious content and the palpable love she pours into it every single time that i just can’t help but swoon over.

rafa, @userjiminie, for her skills and adorable concepts that make my heart flutter with inspiration (and total envy) whenever she creates something new + her warmth and familiarity that i’d frankly feel a bit lost around here without.

pat, @jkvjimin, for her crisp and beautifully colored work that has felt like a breath of fresh air since the very first day she started posting in our little community + her newfound friendship i will continue to cherish and nurture.

sky, @jung-koook, for her hard work, undying generosity and help throughout the year(s) + the precious conversations we have as she always takes the time to listen, not let anything i share with her go unheard or invalidated, and shares her thoughts with me with such grace and trust.

and YOU, annie, for constantly keeping me on my toes looking forward to your creations or overall presence on my dash because it always feels so much more alive around here when you’re online. i’m very obsessed with you but we know that 🤍

happy new year to you all 🌹

- kelli x

thank you so much kelli for keeping this little love campaign going and taking the time to send a letter on top of gifting a beautiful gifset, I appreciate it so much 💝

I just kept nodding along to everything you said about @userjungkook97 @userjiminie @jkvjimin and @jung-koook; I hope they know how amazing they are, how much brighter this place gets because of them, and how much we’re looking forward to seeing their stunning creations every time. besides being incredible cc’s, they also simply have huge hearts which show in every interaction. you guys (kelli included) deserve only good things and I can only hope that the new year will be kind to you, that the love you constantly put out into this world will return to you tenfold, and that you decide to keep blessing this fandom with your creativity and effort in the future. I’m sending you all my love 🤍

Participate in Christmas at Annie’s 🎁

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hello

Finished the mdzs book and the protagonist confuses me maybe because all I heard of this novel before I read it was that he was morally gray so I was expecting something else. Just wanted to ask do you think his traits of forgiving and forgetting and to not linger in the past and not let resentment in his heart a bit too unrealistic? Also why do you think he choose to live in the world that pushed him in a corner to the point where he did lose everything? And if he does not hold anything against those people specially jc does that mean their could be a relationship between them again he does ask jin ling about how he’s doing ? Those are questions I have to anser for myself by re reading but would love to hear you opinions.

Good day, anon. I will break your ask down a bit since there are several questions here! I will place the rest under the cut since this is a bit wordy (my apologies).

All I heard of this novel before i read it was that he was morally grey so I was expecting something else

This is a fandom misconception, as the title itself, is supposed to be a red herring and falling into the in story lies of what was spread about Wei Wuxian. The author herself has stated as such that Wei Wuxian was always meant to reflect a moral and right stance in his ideals and thoughts. Now does this always mean "no mistakes ever", not at all. That simply isn't human, but, he reflects on the actions that he had gone through himself, and his only regrets are, feeding into the cruelty and pushing Lan Wangji away years ago, and, not saying anything of his own sufferings out of the obligation of appearing ungrateful for the help he had received from others.

Meaning the Jiang leaders, being sheltered by Wen Qing during the Sun Shot Campaign and Wen Qing having successfully transferred his core to a despondent Jiang Cheng). In each of these instances there is the underlying theme of honor and duty that he tries to fulfill, due to the unsaid stipulations placed upon him from several parties and his own ethics telling him he cannot leave them in such dire circumstances, or say no as he was raised as a cultivator despite his status as an orphan. He is simply not morally grey or questionable aside from his fall when he tortures Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu further with Jiang Cheng. He knows then, that Lan Wangji was not condemning him, but worried about how he was driven to those lengths of hate, and if he was able to actually pull back from that brink.

He was, but not without a lot of continued consequences of his actions. It is meant to reflect the daoist principles of life. There is no redemption in Daoist Buddhism, there are actions, consequences, and reflection to overcome the sufferings of human life. You learn and move on with that enlightenment of life lessons.

Do you think his traits of forgiving and forgetting and not to linger in the past and not let resentment in his heart a bit too unrealistic?

No, I do not think this unrealistic. Simply because, this is a lesson my own mother has told me time and again, and still does to this day when I get upset. Hate is the suffering of the world. Let it take over, and what else is there for you in the end when you have achieved whatever revenge you want? Or, hold on to that hate so much nothing can make you happy or satisfied because you compare it to everything you do not have or achieved?

Forgiveness as well, does not mean that you forget, it just means you have moved on, and no longer will let the past dictate the happiness you can have in the future. You also do not need to invite that situation within your own life again, other than saying "I learned for the better, and I don't need to resent that."

Wei Wuxian chooses to live in a hurtful world, because we all live in that. There is going to be hurt in the world, I myself as well would choose the happiness I can gain, without spite. Dwelling on the hate and what if's of better that you do not have, without actually choosing to reach for it, is useless and hypocritical. We make our own unhappiness (at least if we go by Buddhist principle). Wei Wuxian knows what continued hate does to people (Madam Yu), and it is not a way to continue life as he tries to encourage Jiang Cheng to look towards the future that could have been happier for the both.

If he does not hold anything against those people specifically jc does that mean their could be a relationship between them again he does ask jin ling about how he was doing?

Forgiveness as I have said, does not mean forgetting or always a restart to reopen anything. You can close a chapter of your life, without needing that person in your life again.

For example, I have an estranged relationship with my father, but, this does not mean I will not ask my family in contact with him how he is doing. I'll ask, I get an answer, he is the same as always, that's all I need to know. I am different, he is different, we do not have the same wants, it is better that way without needing more. There are still complicated feelings. They will always be there, but, I have as much of an answer and closure I will ever get, it has to be enough. I cannot dwell on the what if's any longer when my own life has happiness, and I don't need him in that. My happiness is not mandated any longer on his wants or expectations.

Wei Wuxian, does not need Jiang Cheng personally in his life, but will care about him, as he was a significant part of his past. We do not stop caring, but we choose to let go.

[y2kbugs]

Today on Tumblr continues to be the worst website for anyone with moral OCD; I cannot decide or even be concerned if some of these palestine blogs may be scams (out of pure natural skepticism for anything I read online, I always double check to verify no matter what it is. If it was a gofundme for a white person living in Ohio who needed money for their cat's vet bills, I would still double check.) or if they are genuine and I am personally trying to play safe and believing them to be genuine, I've not been reporting anyone, I do want to help and everything, I don't want to be told I am evil for maybe having a small doubt that can be double checked and quelled with verification.

I am aware this seems both very selfish and privileged of me, because the only issue I have is a mental health one and I can simply just click off Tumblr while Gazans on the other hand are in the verge of genocide and literally cannot afford to lose anything at all. So please don't comment on that. I 1000% know, and all I can really do at this point is reblog posts and boost them and donate.

I just also think it's not healthy or productive to promote this infighting, it is not healthy to enable people with OCD's fears and tell them that if they don't do this or if they believe this, that they are no better than a Nazi. It is not productive to attack with guilt and shame tactics if all you want to do is help people. It actually causes more self doubt in people and will just drive more people away from supporting the cause.

People like writing-prompt-s have done damage for thinking without nuance that every palestine blogger must be a scam or bot, but this isn't what most other people are doing, trust me.

Maybe I'm being selfish, but maybe I just think the answer isn't resorting to manipulation tactics to vilify people who might be skeptical at first glance but are willing to help out however they can.

[not-poignant]

Wooooheeee merch!! Me is excited!!! Food for thought, maybe you could start a kickstarter campaign or something to cover publishing costs? I know they have a publishing category 🤔 I don't exactly know their policies so it's best to check further but I've definitely seen erotica books/art campaigns on there. Might be a good idea?

Hi anon,

I think this is a cool idea if you're a) American and b) can get to a post office, lol.

The thing is, I can't do anything that would involve me fulfilling orders from my house.

Firstly, there's simply too many books to cover (Game Theory would have to be broken down into 4 volumes, with the possibility of a 2-part release later on). I don't want to run complicated and stressful Kickstarter campaigns every 6 months forever. (Not to mention, frankly, that most Kickstarter campaigns fail to earn the amount they need, and I'm still figuring out how to make minimum wage via Patreon).

I do not have the spoons to think about dealing with the shipment costs (let alone the fact that I can't drive or catch public transport and therefore get to post offices) of extremely heavy, chunky books. But what I do know is that a lot of readers will be extremely put off by shipping costs easily in excess of $50-100 alone - not including the books or the tax on the books. Australia has one of the highest tax rates for books in the world, we have some of the must punitive shipping charges (some of your favourite Australian artists use drop shippers and this is why), etc. I used to ship small original pieces of art internationally, about half the size of a piece of paper, and extremely light-weight, and the *starting price* for shipping was around $30 USD. For heaver books it shoots up immediately.

For this reason, I actually have zero confidence in how this is actually going to work out without using a drop-shipper and distributor like IngramSpark. Mosk Kickstarters don't fulfill out of Australia wherever possible. And I have no intention of paying thousands of dollars to put books in my tiny cottage, only to realise I've shafted myself and all my international readers (which is...nearly all of you) by forcing everyone to pay an extra 10% GST on the book itself along with the extortionate postage prices for what will be, honestly, heavy books (postage is calculated by weight). Not to mention that I then can't get to a post office, and am completely dependent on other people to help me with that! And then on top of that, I don't believe many books will actually sell, so I'd prefer to use third party vendors wherever possible so I can be not miserable about it. When people can always read the ebooks for free, the only folks who are going to dish out money for paperbacks/hardbacks are going to be the really hardcore fans (I do not have a ton of these, though I love every one of them), or folks who hate ebooks.

Even if I had money at my disposal, I could never use a system like this (Kickstarter / paying for the mass printing of books), and almost no Australian author would, tbh.

On the other hand, aside from the book cover fees, I could technically list a book today on IngramSpark and my only fee would be the ISBNs.

And that's way less stressful than a Kickstarter. ;) And if I get booted for my content, that's just gonna be how it is. It possibly leaves Lulu as an option, but I'd prefer not to go that route mostly because it dumps more of the cost on you folks, and it also eats more profit margins for me.

The biggest issue is and has always been tbh the editing and the fact that chunks of Game Theory need to either be completely rewritten, or removed (the spanking chapter is incredibly OOC), and working out the covers because if the story has to be broken into multiple volumes, continuity in design is vital.

[jessicajagg]

Why I love Sonic Adventure

Picking favorite video games has always been a challenge for me. There are so many games that I like that narrowing it down has always proved difficult. However, there are a select few that always spring to my mind without fail whenever the subject comes up. And one of those games is Sonic Adventure.

I didn't always love it, as a kid my first 3D Sonic was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on gamecube. I held it's Sonic speed stages in very high regard which only grew when I got older and became nostalgic for it. So much that I initially dismissed Sonic Adventure upon playing the PS3 port, simply because it was not SA2. But I eventually grew out of that bias and upon revisiting SA1 with a more open mind, I found a game that I would grow to love more than any other in the series.

What immediately springs to my mind when I think of Sonic Adventure are the zones. Alot of Sonic games will usually have "that" level I'll dread revisiting but in Adventure there's not a dud in the bunch. I love the sky road in Windy Valley, the snowboarding in Ice Cap, the Nights pinball machine in Casinopolis and ofcourse the iconic run down the side of a building in Speed Highway.

Emerald Coast in particular has a special place in my heart. It's bright blue skies, white sand, it's hard to describe but I can't help but smile whenever I think about it. It genuinely puts me at ease somehow and I think about it alot when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

Something I didn't find appreciation for until recently were the hub worlds connecting these zones. I used to think they were a bit of a nuisance, especially unlocking the next zone can sometimes be cryptic. It was only after a recent playthrough where I decided to slow down and take everything in that I found them to be really chill spaces to just hang out in.

Alot of the NPCs have their own little stories that progress as you make your way through the game. They're small but really cute and amusing. I got way more invested in them that I thought I would and honestly I think you're not getting the full SA experience if you don't talk to everyone.

Among the Sonic games that shuffle between multiple characters and play styles I think Adventure 1 did the best at structuring it all. Each character has their own campaign so if you only feel like playing speed stages you can just do Sonic's story and be done with it.

Tails is handled best here than in any other 3D game, I love the idea of having you play levels again with an OP character that just breaks them.

The three playstyles that differ the most from the core Sonic gameplay, Knuckles, Amy and Big are the shortest campaigns. Which keeps them from getting too monotonous, especially when it comes to Big's unfortunately clunky fishing controls.

Ofcourse every moment and stage in this game is punctuated with one of the most memorable soundtracks in the entire franchise. I'm not much of a music gal, so all I can say is that the music fucking rules.

I know as a game there's alot wrong with Sonic Adventure. The presentation, the voice acting, the odd physics, re-using content but none of it really bugs me. If I fall down the floor, I just shrug in an "oh you" kind of way and continue on. It's one of those games where I'll plow through the entire thing in one sitting on a whim.

In the end all I can say is, I love Sonic Adventure.

[lisxdumbr]

Yeah lately things have been pretty weird with how HappyEle has been doing things and it's like... hmmm. I assume they have a plan and a reason for why they're doing this. But they have also been/are making things easier for us with the way they're handling the events.

We get 50 whistles for each climax event, which I do understand and it makes sense since, well, 100 whistles is usually given for special celebrations/campaigns. And when it comes to the climax events that are supposed to be really important, it makes sense that they're gonna put them all on equal grounds rather than some getting 100 whistles while others get the usual no whistles. And maybe 50 whistles might not seem much, but damn, they will really help and make grinding a little easier and cheaper.

Not to mention that supposedly the album announcements will coincide with the climax events like Crazy:B album does with their climax right now. Personally I am still suspicious of that theory, so we'll have to see if it holds up in the future. Though considering the album *does* contain the climax event song, it's very likely that the theory will hold up. Which will also make things easier for the players since, if they are going to announce a new album every broadcast, it will (in most cases) give a bigger timeframe on knowing what event is coming than the timeframe of a tsukisuta guest announcement. Which means more time to prepare and grind dia. It will keep (f2p) people from pulling on gachas bc they know what event is coming.

No anni cards makes it easier too because nobody will spend dia on it because they simply don't exist.

Extra memorial coins though? I think that's just to give players more of a chance to get the cards they want because it's been some time and theh probably estimated that people are more likely to grind a lot for the climax events, so they want to reward that. Probably also to give potential new players a boost as well since we seem to be at peak enstars or smth.

So??? What *is* HappyEle doing here. Whistles, album, no anni cards. It's all very strange. They're being awfully kind here. Are they swimming in money this much that they can afford to be nice? That they can afford to continue making the reminiscence anime adaptations as well? All without repercussions? It just seems a little too good to be true, all of this. I also don't think they're gonna end the game just yet, but all this generosity makes me very suspicious of their intentions.

As for the climax events themselves? To me they always seemed like they were going to be the events that will give every unit TRUE development. The development that's needed to keep the story going and have new options open up for the writers. Like idk if it's just me and my Trickstar tunnelvision, but it feels like we have gotten nowhere lately in terms of development and story. Of course we have had Yuta's hairstyle change and we have had Ryuseitai's change, but what has really happened?? We continued the godfather plot, but where are they actually going with that now? Speaking as a TrickstarP, what the fuck is going to happen to them. They haven't really done much either, there's been some things dropping, but nothing that really brought them to a changing point. And it's been for a lot of characters that way, dropping some things here and there, but never tying up the loose ends. We have had Obbligato, but there's still a lot more that they can do with it, will they do anything with Kaname? Who knows!

I guess one thing they finally addressed though was Makoto with Portrait. You know, after 7 years. But still, there's a lot more to just conclude or reveal than just Makoto's trauma. And speaking of Portrait! It's been 7 months since then. It's been 7 months since our first and only look back scout. The scouts that were supposed to happen periodically like circle scouts. Well I have yet to see it!

Though I would assume that they are cooking up those look back scouts as much as they are cooking up those climax events... I hope...

But you know what worries me? All of these climax events are going to be this rotation. I worry that there's going to be sooo much happening so shortly after another that everyone is going to explode with information. You could say that the SS was also a lot, but those were 8 events, climax is going to be EVERY unit which is 14 fricking events. 14.

Everything has been so weird lately and I trust HappyEle is just cooking a 14 course meal for us, but part of me just wonders what the actual plan is.

.

[gaybabeyjailbreak]

This is certainly such a self-serving cope of you specifically wanting to reason you not being a bad person for not doing more than vote.

You are complicit in allowing a fascist regime commit genocide overseas and inside the country without even a passing mention, since you actively refuse to be more politically active than go to a voting booth and handing it to the person who asked.

In that sense you're correct, you're doing nothing while pretending to have the moral high ground and that's pathetic.

There's a disconnect where you say america is so deeply tied to Israel, and no candidate will be as critical as you want them to be, and then proclaim Kamala is somehow the better option.

1. You are actively living in a democracy where both of your options are colonial fascists. Neither of them is a lesser evil or a better option.

2. You cannot mitigate damage by electing a colonial fascist, it's outright insulting if you think someone willing to let tens of thousands of muslims die will somehow be nice and considerate to you lot when you ask nicely, it's also very white.

3. Specifically Kamala will not be damage mitigation to anything. The administration handed Israel 20 billion dollars worth of genocide equipment just last week, and you think a promise to a ceasefire is going to work out. With a settler state committing acts of genocide and inhumane torture, one that has just received resources to continue the genocide.

Well I guess it certainly is damage mitigation if by the time she'll efficiently do anything about it Gaza will be dust and the Palestinian population will be fully dead and displaced. Also ceasefire won't fucking help, ceasefire will not remove the israeli settlers, the israeli settlements, and the purposefully vile and heinous treatment of the populace, but i guess it would make them stop killing for like 5 days. What a win. For collonial violence, specifically.

At this point Trump would be better for Palestine because he at least wouldn't be lying about wanting Israel to finish the job, and wouldn't have sent so much money there way since his admin needs to embezzle it so much.

4. And you think the incredibly cop friendly top cop Kamala will be easier to organise under? You're telling me you, who doesn't organise under Biden think it's going to be easier to organise under someone who supports The US law enforcement this heavily, thinks it will be easier? Putting aside the fact that that is delusional, the people who actively do organize the most, aka PoC will not have an easier time standing against a system that actively kills them as is today and you think it will be easier.

Cool, really shows me the trustworthy expertise you portray that definitely isn't just myopic complacent racism.

The question didn't change or became anything new. It always was whether or not you were willing to realize what system you live in, and what you do about it. And you opted to be blind to it, and upkeep its principles and values without question.

If you knew what you're dealing with and still realized you still want to work within the system, you would be doing the actual damage mitigation, joining and contributing with Campaigning groups grilling the democratic party into committing to their word and holding them accountable for the absolute shit they commit now. Act like your vote has the value you proclaim it has in the least.

Even then, while better, is still playing into the ruleset of a fascist government, the reality being that your governing body who asks you to vote, gives you a selection of a fascist and a fascist liar, and it's simply by the notion of your privilege that the system you have doesn't dissuade your comfort.

If you want to change anything, change that first.

It’s wild the number of posts I come across where people act like voting for or supporting Harris and Walz in the election is tantamount to implicitly supporting genocide. You know what actually helps genocide? Doing nothing while pretending you have the moral high ground. America is deeply tied to Israel and there will be no candidate who is as critical of their actions as we want them to be. We as private citizens do not have the power to make the USA suddenly cease all activity with Israel and demand an uncompromising ceasefire deal. Instead, we have to get our hands dirty and decide what path forward will mitigate as much harm as possible. You have one presidential candidate saying Israel needs to finish the job and another saying that we can’t ignore the tragedies in Gaza while vocally supporting a temporary ceasefire. These are your two picks. Thinking any third party candidate has a shot when none have any wide-reaching name recognition less than 100 days before the election is a fever dream.

The question then becomes, are you willing to say you voted “correctly” by voting for someone who has no shot of winning but is most closely aligned to you? Or are you going to vote for who will do the least harm? The idea that voting for a president involves liking them is a fairy tale. The establishment will always be the enemy of civil rights and safety. You’re voting for which opponent you want in office. The writing is on the wall about which candidate will be less of an uphill battle to fight against, and sidestepping the responsibility of making that decision by throwing away a vote isn’t moral or intellectually groundbreaking - it’s cowardly.

[thefishesbite]

Diary Entry: 10/17/2024 || Romance is not included

God, having a crush is terrible. Currently, I have a crush on one of my friends called Luca. He’s a senior and currently one of my close friends in the friend group- considering he is always on our group calls, which means that when I’m there (which is almost all of the time) he’s there too. He’s also a part of a D&D campaign that a few of the friend group has had for a few weeks now- it happens every Saturday, from 2pm to 11pm.

I do not dislike having a crush due to the amount of time I’m around him. I love hanging out with him, if I must be honest. I don’t like having a crush because nothing is coming from it. Luca and I are quite physically affectionate with each other- we essentially act like we’re dating, without truly discussing feelings or doing immensely romantic things like kissing and going on dates.

The worst of our seemingly platonic affection is Oct 2. It was a Thursday when we didn’t have school due to rosh hashanah. A small part of the group ended up hanging out that day- that being Luca, Nick, Carlos, Owen, Javi and I. We went to Lucas house and ended up spending most of the day there- going out only to get lunch.

There was a time where I was getting sleepy, which happens often for some reason. I made a joke that I was going to go sleep in Luca’s bed, to which he followed me to his room. When I laid down, he joined me on the bed. It was a small bed so I laid on my side and pushed myself up against the wall so he could have all the space- he’s quite muscular and naturally much taller than I am so he obviously would take more space. Instead, he rolled onto his own side and pulled his arm over me.

He began to cuddle me, pulling me in closer to him. I was quite surprised because there were others in the house- and I wasn’t meaning to actually go lay in bed for very long. But he continued to pull me close as we both attempted (terribly I might add, since I kept on almost laughing) to take a short nap. Later on, I realized that quite literally the day before he refused to take a nap- because he “doesn’t take naps”. When I asked him about it, he said that he was just tired.

This was not the first time I’ve cuddled him. The first ever time was at a D&D campaign, where I had gotten sleepy near the end (sensing a pattern yet?) and went to lay on the bed in the room we were in. He joined me, though laid simply flat on his back next to me. I got a sudden burst of confidence and threw my arm around his chest. I don’t know exactly what happened but it evolved to us cuddling closely. Then, when we had to go back and focus on the actual D&D, he continued to rest his hand on my thigh- or even put it on my waist to pull me closer to him, since I was sitting next to him.

We actually cuddled a second time, much later and for much longer, where he slid his hand into the back pocket of my jeans. Someone in D&D took a photo of us- which was quite silly. I was expecting much more poking, prodding, comments and photos. But everyone let us be, minus a few comments, and continued just talking in between themselves since it was downtime.

This is not the first time we’ve had physical affection that could be easily misread as romantic. It certainly won’t be the last.

I’m confident enough to be physically affectionate with the people I have crushes on, but never confident enough to actually ask them out. Luca is not the first case of this happening- where I like someone, pursue them, and they may like me back. Luca is not the first limbo case- where the two of us are in a perpetuating cycle of being almost romantically involved but neither saying anything to actually pursue more.

Soon is homecoming and I wanna make a much more confident move with Luca- instead of pretending we are just friends who cuddle in his bed and rub each other's lips (yeah! He actually did that to me once, when I had laid my head on his lap while we were watching a show. He had put his arm on my chest and began, possibly subconsciously, rubbing my lips with his thumb). I’m getting tired of us running in circles, but I’m too nervous to do anything myself. I just wanna kiss him but I just can’t muster up the courage at the moment.

I hope, in some way, something comes out of this crush that's possibly not just a one-way street. Unfortunately, it's not truly confirmed if Luca likes me back- but it’s quite probable that there's at least something. When I admitted my crush to two new people today (so far only Carlos knew for a while, but now Brian and Nico do as well), Nico immediately shrugged. He began muttering something about how Luca always attempts to protect me.

That’s also not including the lip rubbing, ass touching and cuddling. Which really sounds like he really likes me when written out.

I wish he could just get the memo, but at the same time he probably won’t. He’s quite dense and very autistic, so he might have issues with being able to tell my physical affection- although limited to him somewhat- is an attempt at romantic affection. I do not truly limit the touching to him, since I do terribly enjoy being physically affectionate with everyone- though it’s only him who I do the more blatantly romantic affection.

This isn’t even all the complications of my love life with Luca, but the basis of “will he, won’t he?” is irritating me and I need to say something.

[sipandshare]

Joe-Moi have gone too far.

They’ve incited this hate and harassment campaign on a normie that everyone knows has nothing to do with joe. Kate has never said she knew joe, she’s never interacted with anything to do with Joe. She is a normie who doesn’t need to release a statement for a handful of fans to say ‘I do not know him.’ As she said on twitter, she doesnt owe people anything.

People are desperate for an excuse to hate her and this is just the latest. She insinuated that the rumors she is JQGG is why she divulged her cancer diagnosis, not because she ‘wants sympathy’ (which is what Joe-Moi claim shes doing) she literally said she wants to be left alone. She also said to another twitter account looking into JQGG (rumoured to be a girl called kristine) that she is sick of being dragged into this.

Joe Moi has no evidence, they never had and never will because she isn’t behind it. They did the same thing with Alicia, they said she orchestrated everything, was submitting anons etc. They’re actually delusional and have the gall to call people living their normal lives psychotic.

Joe-Moi is now deleting asks and blocking users who disagree with them for they can continue their hate campaign. They should be ashamed. Their blog is ‘all for fun’ yet today alone they’ve forced the hand of a normie going through cancer and lost all creditability on tumblr as a gossip account.

I think they’re embarrassed they’ve fallen for a manipulated screenshot, or lies from someone Kate used to be friends with (lorn/kez - who suspiciously always seem to be at the centre of drama).

you can't accuse someone of such insanity by simply saying "believe me, it's true" without providing even the slightest evidence. i don't know how people don't see any problem to do that.

and people just believe them because they want kate to be the evil, that's all. they act as if everyone thought of it on their own and now it's the first time someone is saying it out loud and they're all "wow that's what i was thinking!! that must be true then!!" girl, no. you're feeding each other for months and now you're feeling validated by nothing but another anonymous person. nothing was revealed. no one has caught. literally nothing has changed since yesterday. they just all suddenly started to act like they've solved a big case, it's actually insane. they live in their own reality and never realize how crazy they look.