#(in sort of order by least problematic to most)

[randum-famdoms]

Can confirm being part of several problematic fandoms Changed Me for the better

i recommend being a fan of 1 problematic piece of media at least once in your life

[mythalism]

my #1 complaint with veilguard is probably the lack of moral complexity and maturity and how much of northern thedas is sanitized and almost all issues (outside of solas and mythal, which they knocked out of the park imo, but the moral complexity of them as characters and of their relationship makes the lack of nuance in every other faction and relationship stand out even worse) are presented as black and white, good vs. evil. i think the absence of the presence of slavery in northern thedas is the most egregious example of this. the crows are found-family heroes with absolutely no mention of the fact that they canonically populate their ranks with abused elven child slaves and kill them if they try to escape. we know minrathous to be the capital of a massive empire that was built and founded on slave labor and blood magic. the slave trade is baked into every single stone of that city, and it should be everywhere in a disenfranchised area like docktown. and yet.... its nowhere? its like they went, "okay well the factions all need to be GOOD and slavery is BAD so lets just pretend it doesnt exist so we dont have to talk about the way these factions have historically participated in it!" a few codex entries? a few mentions of freeing slaves by the shadow dragons and by solas but its never actually depicted? i think its something a lot of people have picked up on in accusations of the game feeling like something made by marvel or disney, and a lot of people are attributing that mostly to the art style and cheugy dialogue, but i honestly think it is the very simplistic and juvenile presentation of what should be complex issues diluted down to the sort of hero vs. villain, good vs. evil no-nuance conflicts that is creating that juvenile feeling, rather than the art style. past games have always had cheesy-ass dialogue and the graphics have never been the highlight of the game, but neither had the same feeling of playing something incredibly glossy but also incredibly shallow, especially in a franchise that is famed for its complex and nuanced (though, often poorly done and racist - looking at you qunari and dalish) depictions of sociopolitical issues through a fantasy lens.

but whats especially interesting is that the artbook (just the first 50 pages that are free) reveals that... this was present in the early stages of the game. the concept art of tevinter is full of disturbing depictions of slavery, as is the concept art of arlathan. now, to be clear, slavery is not a morally complex or ambiguous issue. slavery in fantasy is often depicted in ways that is damaging and problematic, especially when written by people who have no real understanding of it and its lasting effects on a group of people. bioware has been guilty of this in the past.

however, i think it is the best example of the shallowness of veilguard when compared to both the past games and the concept art. other examples, however, include literally the Qun as a whole suddenly being UNAMBIGUOUSLY EVIL combined with, imo, a super racist depiction of the antaam as mindless and animalistic, absolutely no exploration of racism against elves other than like, one mention from davrin in a game that is basically all about elves, blood magic being unambiguously evil rather than exploring how it is being used and for what purposes, the complete absence of the mage-templar mass incarceration and mass-lobotimization conflict, isseya being afforded none of the empathy that solas is given and instead presented as unambiguously evil and deserves to die, the grey wardens being heroes who definitely do not manipulate disenfranchised people into escaping their lives to join an order that will steal their bodies and eventually their minds and futures from them, and much more. going from a world that was so willing to at least ATTEMPT to depict the horrors of empires that utilized slave labor to build, the way dehumanization facilitates and interacts with these issues, violent class disparities and how poverty forces people into crime, the effects of institutionalized racism even after slavery has been legally abolished, with stories like that of varania and fenris, of zevran and taliesin, to.... finally going to the site of the horrors they faced and to find it to be completely sanitized? and yes, they did not always land, and i have a lot of issues with their execution of some of these representations (the option to give fenris back to danarius and having anders approve??????? HELLO?), but at least they TRIED to tell a story about a man recovering from the trauma of something so horrible and learning to trust again. so what happened in the middle? were they afraid of their own ability to handle the topic due to past criticism instead of attempting to learn from it? instead we are just going to pretend like it doesnt exist? we're not going to talk about it? its literally the most insane elephant in the room. of course fenris and zevran couldn't make cameos in this game, because then they'd have to make a statement on a painful, real, and difficult to discuss topic that actually means something, instead of using a warehouse full of elves being guarded by armed police at the docks as a hollywood-style backlot and depict an empire built on the blood sacrifices of the poor and enslaved as just another fun little area to explore. how does neve fight for the people of docktown but slavery literally never comes up in her story????? we know that blood magic exists but we never see who is being disproportionately used for those blood sacrifices?

i think its especially interesting considering how explicitly supportive of trans people this game is, which is fantastic and i admire bioware deeply for making such a strong and unapologetic statement of their values of acceptance. but that strong statement makes the lack of any other strong statements or exploration of issues even mildly contentious (again, slavery is not even a contentious issue, and i think that's why their fear to depict it at all, much less as unambiguously horrifying, is so insane) leaves the world of northern thedas feeling so shallow and sterile. it is as if bioware doesnt trust me to engage with topics like an adult capable of using critical thinking skills, and did not trust themselves to depict these issues like adults capable of critical thinking skills either. maybe, considering the presence of these things in the artbook, this was on EA for pushing for more mass-market appeal, or maybe it was really the bioware devs backing away from difficult topics due to a lack of confidence to do them justice. idk. but its really disappointing to me

[nothorses]

Let's Talk About Baeddels.

An (updated) retrospective on Tumblr's movement to make gender essentialism trans-friendly.

This post contains excepts from a longer article on Medium. If you have the time, please read the full article! I also request that you link the longer article if you use this as a source.

All links have been updated with archived versions of posts that have since been deleted (and otherwise might be deleted or lost sometime in the future). I have revised some sections, and included more context and examples, in order to clarify and strengthen arguments.

Disclaimer

Transmisogyny is real, and requires much more acknowledgement than it currently receives. The trans community is very much capable of transmisogyny, and often does enact or enable it; likewise, trans people also often enact and enable transphobia against other parts of the trans community. Trans women suffer at least as much as the rest of us, and trans women — as a class — are not privileged, and do not hold the power to oppress anyone else.

If you take only one thing away from this post, take this:

Trans people all need to work on being better allies to each other. None of us can gain anything without the rest of us.

Establishing an Ideology

The first post on Baeddelism was by Tumblr user @unobject, on October 2nd, 2013:

The post was quickly liked by @lezzyharpy, also one of the first to call themselves “Baeddels”.

This post first provided the name and defining ideology of the Baeddel movement. The implication of the post was, essentially, that because the root of the word “bad” was “baeddel”, and because “baeddel” referred to intersex people and “womanish men”, this old English slur was proof that transmisogyny was the worst form of bigotry; and even, perhaps, the root of all bigotry. (It’s worth noting that this interpretation of the etymology has been problematized.)

While @unobject was the first person to make this connection, @autogynephile (“Eve”) eventually became, in essence, the figurehead of the movement. Of the other Baeddels, some of them were explicitly aware and supportive of the ideology behind Baeddelism, some of them were young or newly-out trans women seduced by the personalities involved, and some of them were tangential enough to the movement that their understanding of it was wholly different from the understanding those at the core of the movement held and promoted. Baeddelism was a sort of trend, for a time, and many participants wore the name without entirely knowing what it meant.

It’s important to acknowledge that as much as there were dedicated members of Baeddelism, and as much as there was a unified ideology behind it, there were also individual Baeddels who did not understand — let alone support — the ideology.

The Ideology

Baeddels essentially built upon the foundation of @monetizeyourcat’s ideology that had been gaining traction on Tumblr in the years prior, with some additions that ultimately defined their movement:

Transmisogyny is the form of oppression from which all (or most) other forms of oppression stem.

Privilege is granted on the basis of assigned sex. (“AFAB” or “Assigned Female at Birth” vs. “AMAB” or “Assigned Male at Birth”)

These fundamentals of Baeddelism were essentially a rebranded form of Radical Feminism. In particular, they drew from the Radical Feminist idea that misogyny was the “primary” form of oppression; that which all other oppression stemmed from. Baeddels only tweaked this idea to replace “misogyny” with “transmisogyny”, which led to the rest of the conclusions Baeddels drew:

There is no “transphobia”

All “transphobia” stems from transmisogyny first, and transphobia as it impacts non-trans-women (or, sometimes, non-transfeminine people) is incidental.

There is no “Trans”

If “transphobia” isn’t real, what else is left of the transgender identity?

While this is by no means the dominant understanding of transgender identity or community, the equivocation of oppression to identity is, in many ways, core to Baeddel ideology (and we see the lasting impact of this in still-widely-used “TME/TMA” termingology). By this logic, if transphobia doesn’t exist, neither does trans identity or trans community (though they obviously believed that transmisogyny, and subsequently trans women, do). Therefore, there are no “trans men”, and belief in the existence of “nonbinary people” is highly contingent on whether an individual believes in the oppression of nonbinary people.

“AFAB Privilege”

The idea that within the queer and/or trans community, people who were AFAB/CAFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) receive unique privilege and positions of power that people who were AMAB/CAMAB (Assigned Male at Birth, a counterpart to “AFAB” and “CAFAB”) do not.

Trans Lesbian Separatism

… was what the movement was ultimately defined by, as the logical conclusion of their other beliefs (much like Lesbian Separatism was the logical conclusion of Radical Feminist beliefs).

Baeddels believed that only trans women can understand, or be truly safe for, other trans women; therefore, contact with anyone who was not a trans woman was deemed “dangerous” and highly discouraged.

Trans Men

… also played an important role in Baeddel ideology, and the resulting treatment of trans men is what is often remembered today. Baeddels generally believed the following, either explicitly or implictly:

Trans men are not oppressed, or experience so little oppression that it hardly matters.

Trans men do not experience misogyny, even prior to transition.

Trans men have access to male privilege, or trans men have an easier time passing, and frequently go “stealth”; thus benefiting from male privilege as well as cis privilege.

Trans men are often (or always) misogynistic and transmisogynistic, and are not held accountable for this.

Trans men oppress cis women.

Trans women enacting violence on trans men is “punching up” at oppressors, and therefore not only permitted, but encouraged.

Trans men are inherently violent, or become aggressive and violent when they go on testosterone HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy)

The impact of this ideology is often discussed among transmasculine people because of the depth of harm it caused, directly and indirectly — and it was very much intended to. Harm caused to transmascs was not only permitted or excused, it was often actively celebrated.

Nonbinary People

… are often overlooked when summarizing Baeddelism, but Baeddels did have plenty to say about them. Baeddel ideology relied on the idea that privilege was granted on the bases of assigned sex, and nonbinary people’s genders were thus treated as irrelevent; they essentially did not believe nonbinary people truly existed.

CAFAB nonbinary people are either trans men attempting to invade women’s spaces, or cis women pretending to be trans.

CAMAB nonbinary people are actually just trans women who haven’t accepted it yet. They must transition, or they are transmisogynistic.

Intersex People

Intersex experiences, and intersex history, were often co-opted and erased by Baeddelism. This was often more a byproduct of their beliefs than an overtly-stated idea, but most notably, the term “Baeddel” itself is likely more applicable- if not exclusively applicable- to intersex people, rather than trans women. Making their reclamation of it as a “transmisogynistic slur”, or their claim that the word’s existence means that “transmisogyny is the root of all oppression”, incredibly ignorant- if not actively harmful misinformation.

Notably, Baeddels also believed that intersex people- being “more androgynous” (a harmful misonception)- were able to pass more easily as the opposite assigned sex, and that intersex people (even within transfemme spaces) had “intersex privilege”. Some even believed, and openly claimed, that intersex people were “hermaphroditic”; a slur against intersex people, and typically implying that the individual has both sets of reproductive systems simultaneously.

Trans Women

… did not receive universally positive treatment, either. Baeddelism was very much a cult-like group built around the firmly-held conviction that they were absolutely correct, and that anyone who disagreed with them was The Enemy. Trans women who disagreed with them were generally seen as brainwashed and self-hating, and trans women who did agree with them were expected to subjugate themselves to the ringleaders of the movement.

Within Baeddel circles, trans women were most frequently victimized by the abusers allowed to run rampant because “trans women do not, and cannot, harm anyone else.” — including, apparently, each other.

“They were also bad shitty abusive people in general. “… a bunch of them passed around a pile of smear campaigns and false rumors about virtually any trans woman that they had a even the slightest animosity for. Including the victim of the kinkster rapist. They’ve done other fucked stuff, like chased two twoc off this site for trying to make a zine, but yeah. That’s like, just some of it. I’m not up for going over the messy details of the whole shitparade. “Full disclosure, I made a lot of excuses for these sacks of crap, even while they were out there spreading false crap about me […] I wasn’t aware of the worst shit they were doing until much much later.” - @punlich

Inside the Movement

Though individual Baeddels often existed in vastly different social circles from each other- particularly offline- those who lived through the movement highlight commonalities in their experiences.

One interviewee recounts the manipulation present in their initial involvement with the movement:

“It came to me at a point where I was very quick to weaponize anything anyone told me about their experiences, because I was always a fighter. I’ve been an activist for a long time, you know, and when these trans women would come to me with their experiences I would believe them. I wanted to. But the way they acted didn’t add up when compared to what they were saying. I felt really lonely there, and stupid all the time. I felt like I was being a bad trans person.” […] “Online they were more willing to say things that were, for lack of a better word, stupid. They would say things that lacked any kind of logical sense. But in person, they would go into this kind of toxic femininity- this weaponization of weakness. And I think that’s because online they were often in these echochambers, but in person they had to rely on much more subtle manipulation.” - Vera

It seems at points that the environment created within this movement- and the social circles that composed it- was almost cult-like in nature and in need for control.

“It was very isolating. I didn’t see my friends for a while, I was kind of just living with them, cooking and cleaning for them, starving myself, and slowly growing crazy. I was just being consumed by this weird academia and theory that had no basis, because everything was online and Tumblr-based.” - Vera

Perhaps most chilling, however, are the patterns in their attitudes toward sexual assault. One interviewer recounts being subject to sexual assault, and upon posting about their experience to a Facebook group, being met with hostility from Baeddels present in the group- who quickly used their social influence to have them banned from some of their only support systems at the time.

“I ended up with pretty much no one to talk to about the experience at a time when I was already really, really struggling, and it’s one of several factors that led to me dropping out. “The Baeddel who got me banned also messaged me directly at some point during all of this, and I tried to get her to understand the pain she was causing me. She basically laughed it offand said it was my fault. She seemed to find a lot of joy in how much it hurt me, and blocked me soon after.” - Anonymous

Another recounts sexual consent violations from a friend-turned-Baeddel:

“[My ex-friend] had previously been fetish-mining me for her mommy kink. I was freshly estranged from my own mum, and she stepped in to be like, “I’m your new mum now,” and would pester me to call her “mum” in Welsh- as at that point she was going by a Welsh name. I played along, but it transpired that she was basically using that to get off, and she had a thing for infantilising transmascs and being this mum/mom figure.” - Luke

And yet another interviewee discusses verbal sexual harassment during interactions with another Baeddel:

“I had one [Baeddel] directly tell me that I’m beneath her as a trans man, and that I should “Shut my smelly cooch up” and only use my voice to uplift trans women. I was a minor at the time. “She then sicced her followers on me, and they bombarded me with messages telling me I’d “never be a real man”, that I needed to “sit on the side and allow them to have the spotlight”, and even telling me to kill myself- because I was inherently toxic to them. I was 16 years old, pre everything, and I couldn’t even pass at the time. They didn’t seem to care that I was a minor, or a newly hatched egg.” - Anonymous

While Baeddel ideology itself does not explicitly condone or excuse sexual assault, it’s striking how common these stories are; especially considering how small in numbers actual Baeddels were.

It was, in fact, this exact problem that would eventually cause the movement to dissolve.

The Downfall of Baeddelism

Sometime between the group’s formation in 2013 and their downfall near the end of 2014, @autogynephile (also “Eve”), the defacto “ringleader” of the Baeddel movement, began what Baeddels referred to as a “transbian safehouse”.

This was apparently intended as a place for unhoused trans woman lesbians and trans women who, in general, had sworn off contact with men; the ultimate goal of the lesbian separatist ideology at the core of the Baeddel movement. It was thus also referred to as a “commune” by some, and as a “cult” by others.

One occupant of the “safehouse”- Elle- later posted to Tumblr that they had been raped by Eve during their stay, and detailed their experiences.

The Baeddels, rather than believing the victim and ousting the rapist from their movement, chose to close ranks around Eve instead.

Various reasons were given for this:

The victim must be lying

The victim- and anyone who believed them- was simply transmisogynistic.

Anyone who disagrees with the Baeddels is an Enemy Of The Movement, a “carceral thinker”, and a danger to trans women as a whole.

Trans women are incapable of sexually abusing anyone.

“Standing with Eve” was the ultimate sign of loyalty to the movement, and thus a mark of pride and honor.

It was okay to keep being a Baeddel no matter what, because Rape Accusations Should Be A Personal Matter.

(You can read more about Eve’s own denial of these events here and here.)

Years later, even people involved in the initial group have spoken out against the movement and actions of those involved:

“I was in ~the Baeddels~ for years and like… we straight up did horrible shit. “We harassed anyone that disagreed for any reason, our politics were terrible, our isolationism made an environmental ripe for abuse that I have firsthand experience of, there is nothing in that group worth salvaging or defending. “Also acting like people are just bringing this up out of the blue is silly like… it’s being brought up because people are still trying to defend the shit we did instead of fucking recognizing that it was wrong. “Creating this myth that hate on the Baeddels is just a way of keeping trans women in line is a tacit defense of the horrid shit we did.” - @lezzyharpy

“like I’m sorry but I served my time in shitty awful Baeddel group in early mid 2012s and it fucking sucked ass.” “… Like it’s straight up cult-like the way you build this self-reinforcing network wherein ayone on the outside looking in with any criticism is unsafe, not to be trusted, only there to hurt trans women, and the only people you can trust is this self-selected group of trans women.” - @lezzyharpy

Why It Matters, and Why Baeddelism Never Really Fell

Baeddelism itself has seen multiple attempts at resurgences by various individuals, including documented experiences with self-proclaimed Baeddels as recently as 2018- well after the movement first “fell” in 2014.

Most proponents of “Baeddelism 2.0”, a revival of the original movement, argue that the abuse that occurred within the original movement was either completely fabricated by detractors (sound familiar?) or, at minimum, not actually inherent to the ideology.

And, of course, there are some original Baeddels still active on Tumblr today.

Baeddelism never actually went away.

“Baeddelism” was only one name for a set of beliefs that existed long before the specific term did, and hasn’t gone anywhere since the original Baeddel movement died down.

What the Baeddels did was put a name to the ideology @monetizeyourcat was cultivating before them, and what Cat did was popularize, centralize, and justify a way of thinking that had existed before she ever made her blog.

This ideology has since been referred to, loosely, as “TIRF-ism”: Trans-Inclusive Radical Feminism.

It is rare that anyone actually refers to themselves as a “TIRF”, and there is no real centralized TIRF movement; rather, a loose collection of radical feminist beliefs circulates various transgender spaces. The validity of these beliefs is generally taken for granted: of course (trans) women are The Most Oppressed People; of course (trans) women are Inherently and Unequivocally Victims In All Situations; of course (trans) men are Inherently Oppressors; of course (trans) men are Dangerous and Evil… and so on.

Like Radical Feminism, and subsequently Trans-Exlcusive Radical Feminism (TERF-ism), those ideas are fundamentally dangerous.

The defining tenants of radical feminism are that misogyny is the root of all oppression, and that rather than misogyny being an issue of power and control on a society-wide level, it is instead, or also, a matter of oppression and privilege on an individual level: men are always oppressors, and women are always victims.

These beliefs fundamentally exclude and erase the experiences of other marginalized people.

Namely, people of color and indigenous people, who’s experiences with and concepts of gender do not fall within the strict and rigid lines that white, western, colonialist people’s do.

Radical feminism is not a redeemable ideology. It cannot be reshaped into something good. It is fundamentally broken, and the movements born from it- lesbian separatism, political lesbianism, TERF-ism, TIRF-ism, and Baeddelism- are proof enough of that. They each promote only surface-level variations of what is fundamentally cult-like thinking: only the in-group can be victimized. Only the in-group is safe; the out-group is inherently and universally dangerous. Only the in-group understands you. All members of the in-group are, fundamentally, incapable of abuse.

We cannot allow these ideas to be perpetuated within or without the trans community.

Learn the Signs & Prevent Harm

Here’s what we can do to prevent this from happening again:

Learn what Baeddel ideology and TIRFism look like, even detached from the name.

Learn what radical feminism looks like, even detached from the name. Even from people who claim to oppose radical feminism.

Act on dogwhistles. Call them what they are.

Do not allow people to downplay the harm all forms of Radical Feminism have caused. Remind each other that Radical Feminism is not a redeemable ideology, and seek out other branches of feminism instead.

Remember the harm that has been caused. Remember that it will be caused again if these things are allowed to go unchecked.

Listen to and uplift marginalized people. Allow them to speak to their own experiences, identify their own needs, and name their own oppression.

Remember who the real oppressors are, and do not pit marginalized people against each other. The people perpetuating and benefiting from transphobia are cis people- and more specifically, cis people in power.

Build solidarity with other marginalized people. One group of trans people cannot gain liberation without liberating all trans people, and one group of trans people cannot be targeted without the rest of us suffering as well.

Remember that there is no group or identity incapable of enacting abuse, violence, harassment, or other harm against another. Victimhood should not be determined based solely on an individual’s identity.

Remember that there are no acceptable targets for violence, cruelty, harassment, and abuse.

For more context and a list of red flags, read the rest of the article here:

[rabarbarzcukrem]

The eternal opposing relationship between the two sides of a mirror

or: In defense of Shiori

I feel like Shiori is one of the most controversial characters in Utena. Some love her, others despise her. And I don't have a problem with people having strong opinions on her character. What bothers me is the tendency to exaggerate her most negative traits, focus on her most harmful actions, completely ignore any redeeming qualities she might have and then paint her as a one dimensional villainous caricature, a mean straight girl who plays with the lesbian's feelings for the sake of it, without anything deeper going on.

I'm aware of the fact that some people refer to her like that in endearment or in a satirical fashion, and I'm not saying that you can't consider her your favorite problematic evil girl representation. I'm only trying to make people realize that it's her complexity that actually makes her such a compelling character.

I've seen people call Shiori all sorts of names, some of which were baffling enough to make me wonder if they even remembered what happens in the show, and weren't just judging a version of the character that they made up in their head.

So, let's look at the things Shiori actually does, throughout the course of the story.

Disclaimer: I'm only going to take the series into the account here, because I think we can all agree that everyone's characterization and personality differs at least slightly in the movie. Background characters also get a lot less screen time to explain their motivations in order to fully focus on Anthy's journey and struggles, which is understandable.

1. She "steals" the boy from Juri.

This is her biggest crime, which seems to define her from the very beginning. Even though Juri didn't actually have any romantic feelings for him, this action is detrimental to their relationship - it breaks the trio apart, isolates Juri from the pair, is an act of betrayal against her and proves it was done with full awareness that it would hurt Juri emotionally.

Shiori is a deeply insecure person, who constantly feels inadequate and beneath other people. The only reason why Juri seemed to actually like her that Shiori could think of was pity, and even when she found out she was the object of her romantic affection all along, she still struggled to comprehend it. Her self loathing and constant perceived inferiority make her desperate to gain any sort of control over her life and relationships, but they're also the exact reason she feels that the only way she could ever do that is by hurting others. She's always one step below and incapable of crossing that distance, therefore the only way to become equal to people is to bring them down to her level, by humiliation.

When she "steals" the boy from Juri, she achieves that. For a moment, she feels good about herself and leaves Ohtori thinking that she has found the answer, the solution. But she's wrong. From that moment on, it becomes more and more apparent to her that what she did was never out of love for the boy, even though she doesn't let herself acknowledge it fully. Because the truth is, Shiori actually regrets hurting Juri, which she admits herself during her elevator confession.

When the guilt starts getting to her, her confidence high wears off, and she ends up feeling ever worse.

That's why she breaks up with him and comes back. She's not ready to leave yet, not ready to progress. There's still something binding her to Ohtori - Juri, and Shiori's unresolved feelings for her.

2. She tries to set things right with Juri and to fix their relationship.

Even though at this point Shiori still thinks that Juri only ever associated herself with her out of pity, she still makes several attempts to get closer to Juri, who understandably (albeit coldly) turns her down ever time. This is a very clear sign of conflicting feelings Shiori has for Juri - jealousy and admiration, resentment and longing, hate and love. After all, Shiori admits that the two practically grew up together. Their friendship may have always felt fake to Shiori, but she clearly cherished it deeply.

3. The Black Rose Arc.

First of all, we should establish what is the purpose of this arc and how it functions. It explores the motivations of background characters and shows their worst side to the audience. The characters that end up in the elevator are the most unstable, vulnerable ones, with the least power in the system, in unequal and/or exploitive relationships with the duelists and their agency under threat. Mikage offers them a way to gain that power by making them follow their most toxic, negative emotions. And despite all other characters doing exactly that, from what I've seen Shiori is the one that gets the most hate for it. I don't think she should be judged any harsher for what she did under the influence of the black rose than, let's say, Wakaba or Kozue. Especially because the reason all of them ended up in that elevator is because they recognized that these urges were harmful and were seeking help and counseling.

What this arc does do is reveal how Shiori's inferiority complex drives her to act against her own desires. Even though she longs for things to be different, even though she is not happy at all with how her relationship with Juri looks like, she is unable to fix it, because that would require her to consider her own affection for Juri. And she can't do that, because it would mean admitting that she's not stronger than Juri, that she hasn't beaten her, that she's doesn't have control and an advantage over her. Although she tries to keep up this smug, self-assured facade, the reality shines through.

They key to understanding Shiori is noticing that she specifically doesn't want to acknowledge that Juri's feelings are reciprocated, and the obsession is mutual. If you paint their relationship as one sided, you're actually falling for her act.

4. She enters a relationship with Ruka.

Ruka is a handsome (arguable), respected boy who appears out of nowhere and starts showing interest in Shiori. It's obvious that for an insecure girl, who in addition struggles with confusing repressed feelings, this would be something unthinkably wonderful. The affection and praise she gets from him is exactly what her low self-esteem craves. You might be wondering why she didn't perceive Juri's feelings for her in the same way. And a part of the answer might be that, post nameless-boy-incident, Juri was nothing but cold to her. She might have been pining after Shiori from afar, but in the end she's distant and untouchable, and they're divided by their messy past. Meanwhile Ruka is a clean slate, seems openly affectionate, engaged in their relationship and he pays attention to her. But I think the main thing that makes Ruka so different from Juri is the fact that...he's a boy. Because, as Revolutionary Girl Utena establishes, gender plays a crucial role in interpersonal dynamics. Attention from a boy is fundamentally coded as romantic, desirable, necessary and most importantly: increases the girl's worth in society's eyes. It makes one a princess. Meanwhile Juri's advances could only be seen as an invitation to friendship, at best. But Juri's status and beauty make her special, while Shiori is not. Therefore, it can only be pity and mockery.

Of course, Ruka only uses Shiori to influence Juri and dumps her as soon as he achieves his goals. It's true that Shiori could have listened to Juri's warnings, but then again... why should she? From her perspective, Juri's her ex-friend that doesn't want anything to do with her, who only suddenly comes to Shiori when she's finally happy and fulfilled, and encourages her to end it. She doesn't know the wider context of the situation, nor does she remember the Black Rose arc. Juri's warnings don't sound sincere to her.

And so, Ruka gets rid of her in the coldest, most indifferent way, not explaining anything or showing even the slightest sign of compassion. Before that though, he makes an interesting remark, about Shiori putting on an act and polishing somebody else's sword.

Honestly, I don't really know how to interpret it in any other way than Shiori actually having feelings for someone else, despite trying her hardest to conceal it. Are my shipping lenses not allowing me to see any different possibilities? Am I going crazy? I don't know.

Nevertheless, Shiori begs him to stay, devastated. Her life got turned around so suddenly, she found appreciation, status, comfort and stability, and now all that's been taken away from her as abruptly as it was given. It's a public humiliation.

I once heard someone say that this would be the perfect moment for Juri to step in and defend her. And to be honest, although it may be true, I'm not completely sure. It may have been the one display of open care that Shiori needed from her, but it might as well have been interpreted by Shiori as Juri affirming her superiority over her and feeling sorry for her again. We will never know. In my opinion, so much of their relationship is going on in their own heads that the only thing that could ever cause positive progress is communication (which neither of them seem to be a fan of).

Instead, Juri only tries to console her after the fact, when Shiori's at her absolute lowest. In the context of all the assumptions Shiori holds and Juri's previous indifference, it quite understandably comes off as a sneering attempt to gloat.

That's about it. You may have noticed that I've summarized all Shiori's appearances into 4 points, and only one of them includes an instance of Shiori hurting Juri voluntarily, out of her own free will, not influenced by anyone. I'm not saying that she was forced to taunt Juri during the Black Rose Arc, I'm not trying to diminish the suffering she's caused or trying to paint her as a perfectly good person. I am trying to make it clear that she is not some cunning plotter, dedicating every minute of her life to finding ways to make Juri suffer that some people seem to take her for. I am trying to humanize people's perception of her a little bit. Especially considering the fact that last scenes of her include those when she waits for Juri and follows her so that they can go home together, and then joins the fencing club. If this doesn't show that she's capable of change, I don't know what does.

She's not an innocent princess, that's true, but she's not just an egoistical, manipulative liar either. She's a bit of both. After all, if Revolutionary Girl Utena is supposed to teach you anything, then I think it's that we're all just people, and the complexities of human experience make it impossible to fit anyone into a box, assigning them definite labels like "princess" or "witch".

And if you look at a teenage girl who, like all people in Ohtori, struggle under the system of patriarchy and heterosexuality, and all you see is a wicked, sinister witch, then you may have just fallen into the trap that the narrative had set for you.

[dragonagecompanions]

How do you think the Dragon Age Inquisition advisors and companions would react to Child Inquisitor being the child of the Champion of Kirkwall? Also could you make Fenris the child Inquisitor's father?

Cassandra: This is...problematic.

Varric had told her enough of the Champion's husband to know that Fenris will already be desperately hunting for his child, and the Champion...so much of their family is lost, it is unthinkable that Hawke will not be in the same state. Trying to convince them both that the inquisition has not kidnapped their offspring for political reasons will require all the tact she does not have.

And will rely on the very little goodwill she can wring from Varric, who she technically did kidnap for political reasons. She will need to keep Josephine close by at all times.

Solas: For so young a child, the dalen is already a political firestorm waiting to happen. The guilt he carries from having his magic stitched into their very flesh (and the pain this child is feeling from it) was already enough to convince him to stay, but being so close to the power center of both Inquisition and the Champion of Kirkwall is an unexpected boon. He will keep his finger on the pulse of all things anchor related, and keep himself close to the actions that are working to restore Thedas to order.

And by helping this child now, keep himself on the right side of a very angry elf who might be a problem before the Dread Wolf has his power returned.

Varric: Okay so, here’s the most important thing: he should have known.

Logically there is no way that Varric Tethras-Kirkwall’s author in residence and nominally a captive of the Right Hand of the Divine- could have known that the child of his best friend in the entire world had somehow snuck away from home AND traveled halfway across the blessed world AND infiltrated a highly secure theo-political conclave designed to reign in a burgeoning civil war to enact some sort of temporary peace. He has contacts and resources and keeps an ear to the ground, but that doesn’t mean the Merchant’s Guild can tell him everything the minute it happens.

And yet the fact that a child exists in the world who is half Fenris (impulsive and quick to defend what is his) Hawke (and carries the legacy of that family) really does mean that there wasn’t anywhere else they’d end up. It’s not a comfort to Varric when the Seeker and his best friend’s kid crest the hill toward them, but it certainly changes his standing with the Inquisition. So long as the kid is there Varric’s not leaving-- he owes Hawke at least that much and more. One way or another things are going to have to be put to rights.

Blackwall: Once, as another man in another life, his actions had led to the death of four children. Even then, in the height of his arrogance and conceit, Thom Rainier had stood over those small shrouded forms and would have given his own life a hundred times over to spare them. Nothing could have brought them back, of course, and no matter how many times he had knelt before Andraste's statues and begged for Her forgiveness it was not a burden he could lay down himself.

This child, Andraste's herald or not, is not a replacement for Collier's children. Defending their life will not wipe out the debt he owes to that slaughtered family. But as he shoulders his shield and sword in their defense, it just might be a start to that forgiveness.

That will be enough.

Vivienne: Children are not in a Circle mage's destiny, no matter how high her star may climb. The dreams of children with her perfect bone structure and Bastien's eyes will forever be only that. Madame de Fer has come to accept this, has spent her entire life accepting this. If she is softer with the new apprentices newly torn from their families, more patient with the young mages still struggling with a life behind walls, that is no one business but her own.

The Herald of Andraste is a child. No matter their illustrious parentage or the fame carried by those parents, they are too young to be bandied about as some sort of divine tool to rescue the world. The Game has no minimum age, of course, and Vivienne is not naive enough to think that Hawke's offspring will not have to play it in time, but she will be taking special care to to keep both eyes on the child to whom they will ask so much of.

And a sharper eye on those who would use them. Fenris is not the only one who can glow, when needed.

Sera: Little people need looking out for, and not much littler than a sprog. From the first jump their tiny Herald has an ever devoted guardian, one who ensures there is as much fun as serious herald business, and cookies for all.

When the parents do eventually arrive, her general distrust of all things magic and ardent desire to preserve their childhood will endear her to Fenris like none other in the Inquisition. Someone must look out for the little people, and while their methods are not the same each can respect the other.

Dorian: Vishente Kaffas, this is a child. In the light of that discovery a great many of his opinions on Alexius's plans (mostly on how his mentor is simply desperate to save Felix and not thinking clearly) and brutally altered. This man who wants to murder someone hardly old enough to see over the table is not the man he once knew, and there are no excuses he can make that will make it less barbaric.

By the time they are escaped from that terrible Not-Future Dorian has formed a trauma bond with this young person as profound as any he has known, and their safety is now absolutely his priority. Despite his disinclination for their creation Dorian is not opposed to children, and along with others is very content to take over their education in all things both mundane and magical.

Fenris's arrival is still loud and bright and involves quite a few angry comments between former slave and not yet magister, but in the end Dorian's unshirking resolve toward the young Herald will carry the day. When Fenris eventually finds out that his child is set to inherit Dorian's seat in the Magisterium as the heir to the current Pavus heir, that argument will be even louder.

Iron Bull: The Qun is very clear on the care and feeding of children in their charge, and it has never been in his destiny to be a Tamassran. Nor is the Iron Bull ignorant of the identity of the Inquisitors parents. But seeing how small the Herald is, something deep and protective in the mercenary captain surprises even himself.

(His Tama is both surprised and not to get a letter from her former charge, and if her memories of the little boy hold true he will read her meaning in the otherwise clinical advise on the care and keeping of young children.)

Watching the Chargers adopt the little Herald as one of their own has another lasting effect. There is no decision on the Storm Coast, not with this true understanding o family, and in truth Bull was lost to the Qun long before Gatt came south with an unbeatable test.

Cole: "So young, so bright, wanted to come south to find Uncle Varric, never meant to hurt anyone. You just wanted to help, to heal the hurt and make it whole. I want that too!"

The innocent and ardent desire of children to do good, and the boundless compassion that comes with youth, makes the Herald and Cole perfect companions. This friendship is strained by the arrival of Fenris's Anders driven loathing of abominations, but a more patient Hawke might ease the way there.

Josephine: She has younger siblings, and is currently responsible for the fate of House Montiliyet. The care and feeding of one small child is...well, child's play. If only Cassandra would not keep pulling her aside like some talisman against the Champion of Kirkwall.

If it were less entertaining, their ambassador might have informed the Seeker that her letters to Aveline Vallen have already abated much suspicion...

Leliana: There are one or two amongst her agents who have some experience with children, and she assigns them watch over their Herald. Beyond that, the spymaster keeps a distance. A child need not know all the brutal things done to keep the world turning. That is sacrifice enough.

If, every once in a while, the young herald is soothed after a nightmare with Ferelden lullabyes in an Orlesian accent, few are brave enough to share it.

Cullen: Maker's breathe, he'd thought he left Kirkwall behind him. Like Leliana he assigns soldiers who either are parents or who are good with children to keep a weather eye on the child, and adopts Cassandra's strategy of using Josephine as a shield against Champion and/or Lyrium Ghost rage.

Once was enough.

Mod Fereldone

[l1ve-l4ugh-lov3craft]

Okay here's another installment of my jegulus Queen Charlotte au cos I felt like it and @thatoneslytherinnerd wanted to see I think :) This is their first meeting before their arranged wedding that the two of them have VASTLY different feelings about lol

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regulus Black swore loudly as his foot slipped out from beneath him for what felt like the millionth time. He dangled just by his hands for a moment before cursing again, this time only a fraction more quietly, and dropping back down to the ground in front of the courtyard wall. He scowled at the winding vines which had thus far done him such a terrible disservice in not aiding him in easily scaling the wall and escaping his disastrous situation. Putting his hands on his hips, he let out a long breath as he once again contemplated the potential effectiveness of simply convincing one of the palace guards to let him escape out the back gate. It had once seemed like it could be an option, but now that the fur about the neckline of his cloak had an abundance of leaves in it and the grey of his trousers had become smudged with stains and dirt in awkward places, he wasn’t certain he would look appealing enough to do so. 

Over the wall it was then, for he most certainly could not stay here any longer. Not when he was expected to marry a man who must have either been hideously deformed or horribly cruel for how little anyone would speak of him. And it was not for Regulus’ lack of inquiry; on the contrary,  it felt like all he had done the past week was ask about his husband-to-be, hoping for at least something that would give him a clue as to what sort of man he was to marry. Yet for all his pressing and nagging bordering on obsession, there did not seem to be a single soul both in his court and his betrothed’s who would speak even the slightest whisper about him. 

So, naturally, he must be some sort of horrible monster who would kill him once the vows were said and the two countries’ alliance was assured, and as such, it was in Regulus’ best interest to escape as quickly as possible before anyone had time to miss him. 

He took hold of what looked like a sturdy limb of one set of vines and hoisted himself up once more, hoping this time he would be able to properly keep his footing. It was a slow, arduous process that was in no way helped by his own lack of physical prowess, but step by step he managed to successfully pull himself a good way up the wall. 

Until, of course, he was so rudely interrupted by a voice from behind him. 

“Hello there. Are you…alright?”

Regulus jolted in shock, dislodging himself from his place in the vines and falling none to gracefully back to the ground. Inwardly he cursed his luck, but tried to gather up the remaining shreds of his dignity to look the stranger in the eye.

The man looked concerned but apprehensive, as if he truly didn’t know what to do with the situation. He was clearly some member of the Order of the Phoenix, and a well respected one at that given the finery of clothes, which could prove problematic if he returned to the palace to tell the court where he was. Regulus did outrank him, however, as prince of France and could most likely force him to keep quiet if any ideas came to his mind to rat him out. It would be best, he reasoned, to simply get the man to leave first before he knew who he was and avoid resorting to any of those tactics.

“I am, thank you.” He said in a tone that invited anything but further conversation.

“If I may ask,” the man said. His French held a noticeable accent, but was deep and pleasantly clear nonetheless, “What exactly are you doing?”

Regulus turned back towards the wall, not looking at him, “You may not ask; it is none of your business.”

“But you are doing something?” 

“I am not,” Regulus said curtly.

“You are, though.”

“I am not.”

“You are,” replied the man, audacious enough to even have the slightest hint of a laugh in his tone, “Or does attempting to scale the courtyard wall not count as “something” in France?”

This stranger had a quick tongue about him, Regulus would give him that. It was clear why he apparently held such a high position in the Order; he was charming and surprisingly witty in a way Regulus might have found amusing if they were meeting anywhere else.  

“If you must know,” Regulus huffed, “I am trying to establish the most effective way to surmount the courtyard wall so that I may escape.”

The man did laugh then, just once as if he tried to contain it but couldn’t, “‘Escape’?” He asked, “Whatever for?”

Regulus took hold of another vine branch and began to climb once more, “Because I believe the man I am to marry is a beast of some kind. Or a troll. Possibly both, but of that I am marginally less certain.”

“Ah.”

The man was silent for a long time, long enough for Regulus to realise he had possibly made a grave error in speaking so plainly. This man was clearly close to the king in rank, and thus would be able to tell him exactly what unflattering things the French prince had been saying about his son, and in a time when he was meant to be marrying said son very soon, he slowly came to realise he might have made a grave tactical error. 

Perhaps, he reasoned, he could get this man to help him. If he did, then he would have no way to reveal what Regulus had been doing without first explaining how he knew and what he had done to get the information. It would then be in both their best interests to stay quiet about the current incident. 

He chose to feign a contemplative air, “I think…yes, that should do.” He waved one hand behind him to become the man over, “I think if you were to give me just a quick lift up, I should be able to get to the top and jump down. Come, quickly.”

He heard the stranger laugh behind him, “You are asking me to help you?”

Perhaps he was not as quick-witted as Regulus had initially thought. “That is what I said, yes.” He nodded.

“I will do no such thing.”

Regulus was glad for the way he was facing the wall because he certainly did not want the man to see the way he baulked in utter offence at that before he managed to school his features once more and hop down to face him with his hands at his waist.

“I am a guest in your kingdom.” He said pointedly, “You would not offer assistance to a guest when it is asked of you?”

The man seemed to contemplate this a moment, tilting his head to the side. “Normally it would be my honour,” he mused, “but at present I’m afraid we are at a conflict of interests.”

“I beg your pardon?” Regulus asked incredulously, “I am a prince and a guest in your country, and we have a ‘conflict of interests’?”

He took it back; clearly this man was just as mad as the king he served. Anything he might have initially found charming about him was immediately washed down the drain from sheer shock at his audacity. 

And because of course this man had absolutely no shame, he had even found it in himself  to smile.  It was a sort of sly, knowing smile, bordering on patronising, as if he was in on some sort of hilarious joke that Regulus had not gotten the punch line of yet

“Indeed. A conflict of interests.” He nodded, still smiling.

Regulus crossed his arms bitterly, “And what exactly might that be?”

The man cleared his throat, at last schooling his features (though it seemed just barely), “Well you see it would be a touch contradictory to assist my own groom in escaping our wedding, wouldn’t it?”

His- What?

Regulus felt the blood drain from his face immediately. Of all the times he had to run his mouth about his distaste at his marriage, it had to have been to his betrothed? He felt it was even more essential to get over the wall now, that way he could throw himself off of it and possibly spare himself the embarrassment in death. 

The man -the bloody prince of England- took a step towards him and somehow Regulus did not see what he expected to see on his face. He had expected irritation, at worst rage, or perhaps even disappointment, all of which would have been admittedly justified emotion. Instead there was an amused uptick to his lips and he looked, if anything, like he might laugh.

“Hello, Regulus.” He smiled, “I am James. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohooo boy this looks so much longer on tumblr than it does on google docs I'm sorry...Hopefully it was worth it

[alairroux]

Hiii! Your lovely author again. I'm still not doing my best, but I really wanted to write something as long as I have a motivation to do so. Hope you all have a great time! It's not really that much longer than the last chapter but I hope it's enough.

Chapter XII

"Reality without you"

Time Variance Authority halls were still raging with alarms when help finally arrived. Everything slowly died down as the stench of blood filled the air. Many soldiers lost their lives there against that unstable Lumithra. The only good outcome of all that was that it was sent out into the Void where it belonged. No being of that kind should walk this or any other Earth in the multiverse. Right now, one of the workers was trying to pull doctor Mazur out of her weird state, almost like a trance one. 

“Doctor Mazur. Doctor Mazur, can you hear me? Please answer me if you can hear me right now.” 

Instead she was just staring at the wall, eyes wide open and completely unresponsive. Whatever that creature had done to her, was a greater damage than they had guessed at first. Which was, obviously not good, tragic even. They just lost one of their most reliable employees due to some attack. No one really expected it to fight back so much and with such ferocity, also none of the reports had any information about the necklace being some kind of weapon to be used however she desired to. It took them by surprise and that surprise had a very expensive price. 

“I’m afraid she’s still in shock and needs a proper recovery to be able to communicate with us again. “

The doctor said with a sigh, getting up and motioning at the medical staff to take the woman to somewhere safe and have her monitored at all times. They really didn’t expect something of that kind to happen. Sure, they knew they’re dealing with otherworldly creature of great power, but usually the mutant they had dealt with were a lot easier to handle, maybe it was up to what variant they were or something like that, after all they’ve sent countless amounts of them into the Void before. Even Cassandra wasn’t as problematic as this one specimen. Sure, it had its name but in their eyes, something like that shouldn’t bear a human name. That’s why it was just referred to as a specimen or simply “IT.” 

They still had to check the footage to learn about its fighting abilities and movements, try to understand it, in case that it’ll show up in some other universe and will need to be contained as soon as possible. The order was simple. Not let it live at all. No matter where or at what time, its place was in the Void, and the Void only. Under Cassandra’s directive, even better if dead because of that telepathic maniac. There was a lot of work awaiting for them, and they could only hope that someone would make Pyro talk, just like Paradox used to before he got fired, so they had someone bring them news about Cassandra and her ruling over the land of trash and useless people. It was a great way to have this strong mutant in control, give her a fake sense of being someone important, a ruler of some kind, over something big, while in reality, she could’ve as well rule over a trash dump and it’ll have the same significance. They were lucky to send her there while she was still an infant, so she didn’t understand that yet. 

In the meantime, Wade and Logan were both sort of losing their minds. Alice wasn’t back like she usually was. Sure, a walk after an argument like that was definitely something nice and refreshing for a tired mind, but this was getting out of hand. She was out for way too long. Whole night was at least seven hours too much of being away without any sign of being alive anymore. It was somehow even harder to handle without Dogpool being around, without that little pitter-patter of her paws against the tiles, heavy breathing, snoring and barking for no reason. The whole house felt absolutely empty, even if it was just the two of them there, close, cuddled up on the couch. They haven’t slept at all that night, both their minds going to some dark places regarding what could’ve happened to their little Solace. Her last name was sometimes like a joke from the universe itself. It was also no secret that they were treating her like their daughter, so now they were two worried dads. 

“I think she won’t come back on her own this time.” 

Wade was first to break the silence. He’s been thinking about the things he learned from Alice in the past, the struggles she had. He was scared it won over her that night and she attempted to take her own life. He really hoped to be wrong this time. As paranoid as it sounded, he would probably tear the world and then himself apart if he wouldn’t be able to protect her from something like this. 

“We should go and look for her. I have to apologize.” 

It was weird to hear from the mighty Wolverine that he has to apologize to anyone about anything, but Wade couldn’t agree more. There definitely needed to be said something about the argument that blew up. He just wanted her to be back here. To find a way to get Dogpool and Laura back as well, to have that family again. It sounded almost insane in his mind, to have a family back. They weren’t bonded by blood in any possible way,  well maybe excluding Logan and Laura, but they were like a family. Missfit pieces put together to form something new and honestly beautiful. 

“Let’s go. Maybe you’ll be able to still pick up her scent. Need to sniff something of hers first?” 

“Don’t ask stupid questions like that ever again when we’re in a rush.” Logan grumbled, looking at Wade in his arms. “ No. I don’t need to. I can sense it even after days of not seeing her.” 

He shook his head, getting up and putting Wade a bit to the side, to get himself something warmer to wear. After all they left when it was the end of summer and there was a cold beginning of spring again. He hated that sudden and unstable change, but also couldn’t care less. Sure it was because of Alice, but she was as terrified as them, and he blew up at her like it was all her fault on purpose. Not very a mighty Wolverine, THE X-man of him. It was pretty pathetic actually. Yeah, he had quite a lot of time to reflect about what he did and how he handled that situation, which he obviously did horribly. 

Soon they were ready to head out and look for their lost pup as Logan sometimes referred to Alice. She was like a puppy honestly. Awfully clingy, loud and first to pick up play fights only to back down from them screaming for help because she realized she can’t win. He didn’t mind though. She was nothing like Laura, but at this point they were both like his daughters to him, oh how much he’d give now to have them both back. First they need to figure out where Alice is, then they have to find a way to get Laura back. And Dogpool. Gosh, Wade will probably tear the whole universe apart if he has to survive a few more days without Mary Puppins. 

Unfortunately, even outside, he had a hard time picking up Alice’s scent, for some reason it was already way more vague than it should be at this point and after just a few hours. Just like someone easy trying to mask it away from him or anyone else that might look for Alice at all. He didn’t plan on giving up anyway, obviously. As long as it was anywhere to be found, he’ll try. What he was worried about was how cold this morning still was. Cold and moist, so if something happened to her and she was unconscious, she was at the risk of hypothermia, which is obviously very bad. Dangerous. She could be in danger. He was passing by people, for the first time in what seemed like forever, really ignoring Wade’s yapping. It could wait. It and other people could wait until they find her. Now he was focused on keeping an ear out for her name, for her voice, any mention of Alice. 

But it was like trying to find a needle in a stack of hay. No one said her name, nor did he hear her voice anywhere. It was like she disappeared from the face of the Earth completely and for forever, which was obviously very worrying to him and Wade. People don’t disappear like that, unless they were kidnapped by someone or killed. No, if someone would kill her, he'd pick up the scent of blood. What if she was strangled? Then there’s no blood. Right, he didn’t think of that, now getting even more anxious about that possibility becoming the truth and what  really happened. He maneuvered through the crowd, before getting to the crosswalk. Here the scent was the strongest, so she had to be there for the longest time, but it was like it also ended there. She didn’t cross the road, she didn’t walk into a different direction. She disappeared from here.  He looked towards Wade. 

“The trail ends here, I can’t pick up her scent anymore.”

He muttered, seeing the worry grow in Deadpool’s eyes. People around looked at them weirdly for what Logan said, but he couldn’t really care less, at least not right now, when her life was in danger. 

“Try again, try to get anything. People don’t just dissolve into thin air, so she had to go somewhere. Try to pick up anything.” 

Wade said to him, rushing him into trying again. And Logan knew it will happen again and again and again, until they finally get anything leading them towards the next point, next possibility over where Alice was right now. Logan took another deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to get anything other than the stench of people around. Ugh, they really should learn about the existence of deodorants, because that was just crazy. 

He caught something, a scent that he hasn’t had the possibility of smelling for a long time. Ink, paper, bit of mechanical grease and that weird thing he just called bureaucracy. It was always smelling the exact same way as right now. Also sweat. Old sweat. Was it really that hard to wash one's clothes and body? Jesus Christ, he wasn;t the cleanest person alive, but he didn’t smell as bad as those guys. TVA. Time Variance Authority. The same guys that put him and Wade through a wild ride, well, because of Wade’s wrong understanding of what he was meant to do, but the point still stands. 

“Those time freaks took her.” 

That’s all he needs to say, for Wade to understand. Well it looks like they’ll have to pay a visit to their old friends place again and go over some things. 

[sixthsensewulf]

What I love about the side quests of dimension 20.. (the smaller campaigns in between the Intrepid Heroes campaigns)...

Is that at least one of the intrepid heroes and/or Brennan is a player. Which is soo nice. I think only 5 of the Side quests don't have an Intrepid hero involved.. but dmed by Brennan. (tiny Heist, the Seven, Escape the Bloodkeep, Dungeons and Drag Queens and also Pirates of Leviathan).

Pirates of Leviathan and The Seven are campaigns set in the world of Fantasy High, so it does make some sort of sense that no IH would be involved.

But anyway, Brennan getting his regular players involved in side campaigns is nice. You can tell they are having fun. In case you are wondering (AS PLAYERS):

Coffin Run - Zac

Mice and Murder - Ally

Fey and Flowers - Lou, Emily and Brennan

Burrows End - Brennan and Siobhan

Ravening War - Brennan, Lou and Zac

Never Stop Blowing Up - Ally

Mentopolis - Siobhan

Misfits and Magic - Lou and Brennan

Shriek Week - Ally (has a problematic GM)

That list is not in order chronologically.. just what I remembered. But also surprisingly shows me that Lou and Ally are most likely to be involved in a side quest.. they are in 3 side quests.. Brennan is in 4 as a player.

This list also shows that Murph is the only IH not involved in a side quest. . so far..

[aeternallis]

I should probably keep my mouth shut about this, but I can never shut up, so I will say something, even if I won't think about this again until the next four or five months.

For those who don't know the context: the cover artist, Billy Balibally, for the KinnPorsche novel that was recently licensed by 7Seas has been getting harassed online due to their participation of the publication. Besides the (ongoing) issue between Poi and Build, it looks like they were also accused of condoning the alleged groomer behavior DAEMI had displayed towards Barcode during the time of filming, as well as their behavior towards the other actors.

Well, the first thing I'd want to comment on is why in the world this statement was posted so damn late. The translators and interior/cover artists were announced back in March or April of this year, and they have been continuously harassed by randos online that need to touch grass for the past...six to seven months?

While 7Seas and Pinsin Books posted their statement on Twitter/X to get the word out and make their stance known, I do find it hella suspicious that Space Agency's statement was posted only on Facebook, but not on Twitter/X, where a large chunk of the harassment had most likely taken place.

And before I say anything else, incidents like this is not limited to KinnPorsche alone. Suto, the cover artist for the Erha publication during the release of the volume 5 cover, was also harassed to no end and they were essentially forced to log off Twitter/X for awhile, for the well-being of their mental health.

To be perfectly honest, I will never understand the so-called fans' lack of common sense when it comes to this sort of thing. Why in the world it is so difficult for those people who harassed these artists to understand that an artist's contribution to a piece of written work ≠ condoning the author's actions or beliefs, continues to remain an enigma to me. These artists need to make a living, and in essence, they are contract workers for the publishing house. Once their contract is signed, they do need to fulfill their end of the bargain. And in this day and age where genAI is starting to flourish now more than ever before, where artists are getting replaced, yet our work continues to get stolen in order to feed these soulless machines, yeah--right now, the future of artists isn't exactly looking bright here.

If these ridiculous fans think they need to take up some sort of half-assed banner to defend their fave(s) and act as their saviors, then they ought to take it up with the company, not the individuals who have absolutely nothing to do with the drama that took place in the past, nor were even aware of it when it was happening.

Or better yet-they ought to talk with their wallets by choosing not to open it when it comes to controversial publications like KinnPorsche.

And already, I can hear others saying, “Well, it’s 7Seas’ fault for choosing controversial titles, they ought to do their research, these authors are controversial and problematic” and to those people, I would say think about this sentiment one more time, and maybe you can figure out the inherent problem with it. I refuse to say anything else on the matter, lest idiots put words in my mouth.

At the end of the day, these fans who harassed these artists need to get off their high horse, look inwards, and touch some grass. Harassing these artists does no one any favors, least of all for those who are faultless, and makes them no better than those individuals they claim to not support.

[lord-squiggletits]

One of my least favorite parts of how JRO wrote Optimus is that he wanted so badly to continue his dark and gritty world building making the Autobots problematic, but evidently couldn't reconcile this with Optimus being a Heroic Paragon, so instead he leaned way too hard into "oh Prowl was the one who did this and it was behind Optimus' back" which if anything I think makes Optimus look worse, not better. Because then it's like, okay I know Optimus trusted Prowl a lot as his friend but you CANNOT TELL ME that over the course of 4 million years, Optimus as the leader of the Autobot army who literally would have access to 99.9% of all the records they produce, would never notice or question where some of these odd/inconsistent details were pointing. It just seems really inconsistent with how a real military would actually function, especially regarding Optimus' character, who is incredibly thorough and responsible and wouldn't neglect to keep up with all the details of his army.

Hell, Optimus knows who the Wreckers are and had them on call for tricky operations when he needed them (Stormbringer) so he's literally not at all ignorant of/averse to the use of special wartime units composed of dubious individuals. He's the fucking commander of an entire army, of course he knows that War Is Hell (TM) and no one's hands are clean. That's not even getting into all the stuff he got up to in phase 2/3, I mean everything from the annexation of Earth to OP breaking humans out of prison against Council orders shows that Optimus is no stranger to immoral and/or unlawful means.

It also leads to a lot of annoying fanon where people write Optimus (sometimes unintentionally, sometimes not) as like some sort of ignorant fool who's unaware of the machinations of his own army or has some sort of naiveté of "b-but we can't use bad tactics against the enemy! I would never condone the use of morally gray means in war!" No, IDW Optimus knows perfectly well all of the bullshit he's enacted/condoned for the sake of trying to win the war. Some stuff is definitely out of character for him and was only machinated because of Prowl, but I think this fandom REALLY underestimates Optimus' personal agency/responsibility as the commander of a whole ass army and ESPECIALLY underestimates Optimus' capacity to condone morally gray Bullshit Of War while still being a good person individually as well as, comparatively, the lesser evil compared to Megatron/the Decepticons.

Anyways what I'm saying is JRO may be a good writer but he's really hesitant to make Optimus morally gray and does some asspulls sometimes to justify most of the bad things the Autobots did as "Optimus just didn't know," and since the majority of the IDW1 fandom only reads JRO's stuff they go running with this premise of ignorant/uninformed Optimus when there's evidence elsewhere in canon to show that Optimus is, in fact, very highly aware of the bullshit he's allowed "for the greater good" and the only stuff he was "unaware of" was the stuff he would literally never agree to the ethics of, like bombing innocent neutrals disguised as Decepticons to get them to join the Autobots.

[skaruresonic]

Honestly, as fun as it was to go "Jesse what the fuck are you talking about" at the absurdity of fandom tourists who refused to engage with canon in good faith, it still felt like people explaining the nitty-gritty of how and why Freemance "didn't count" as pedophilia were giving the antis too much ground. Like they were implying there was a point that any given HL ship could be considered too problematic to defend.

As someone who ships Valhoun, which could arguably be considered more problematic than Freemance in this system of moral checks and balances by mere virtue of Barney actually being in his forties or so (although even that is debatable tbh), as opposed to Gordon's Schroedinger's Creepy Old Man Status, needless to say, I found the whole thing ridiculous.

To me it doesn't really matter even if Gordon was 47, because Half-Life exists in a context where real-life social mores don't apply as stringently. Humanity is on its last legs and Eli wants grandkids, yo. I have argued in the past that age gap squicks would likely lessen out of necessity following the Combine's breeding suppression. People need to procreate in order to repopulate the species, after all, and beggars can't be choosers. Kleiner said "get busy fuckin' or get busy dyin'" for a reason.

However, I'm not terribly keen on Freemance because Gordon's blank-slate status means I'd have to make up his characterization in my head, and it just doesn't seem worth the effort. I always feel like I'm shipping a dozen different versions of Gordon rather than Gordon himself. He also... just doesn't react to Alyx, making their chemistry incredibly lopsided. At least Barney goes "Eugh" when Alyx teases him about "not being an animal person"; Gordon just presumably stands there like :I when she cracks her Zombine joke.

Despite lifting somewhat in recent years, fandom has an ironclad "Barney is Alyx's uncle/big bro" fanon, which is just as annoying as "Shadria is incest" because it basically sprang out of nowhere. Canon seems to imply that Barney and Alyx are acquaintances at best, not terribly familiar with each other outside of their faintly overlapping social circles. Kleiner is honestly their only link. Barney, in fact, has less reason than most other older male characters to be considered one of Alyx's honorary uncles. At the very least Alyx suggests the possibility Gordon may have seen her once as a child; no such equivalent exists for Barney. The idea he babysat her is also hilarious considering he never even directly addresses Eli in HL2. On top of that, there's the issue of infantilizing Alyx, which I could rant about for hours. Yes, Valhoun may be just as "fanon" as Uncle Barney headcanons, but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking in terms of the series' overarching context. I view Valhoun as a sort of push-pull dynamic between Barney and Alyx, duty stifling love and placed inside a pressure-cooker of sexual repression. Hot. Plus, there's that forbidden fruit aspect of rebel/Metrocop lol. And while I would in a perfect world like to see the two be together, given HL's bleak world, realistically, I don't see it working out. Not even in an "Alyx dumps his ass for Gordon" kind of way, necessarily, but in a "they break up out of fear for each other's safety but there are still lingering feelings if they gaze in the other's wake for too long" kind of way. I have also argued that all three major HL ships bear imbalances. Valhoun does not suffer the experience gap that Freemance and Freehoun would; Barney and Alyx would have shared roughly the same life experiences under Combine rule that Gordon lacks.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Which final antagonist (Bakura/Zorc, Nightshroud, Z-one, Don Thousand, Z-arc, or Ai) was your favorite or do you find most compelling?

Getting this ask made me realise that I don’t actually like any of the final antagonists that much apart from Ai and sort of Darkness. But I'm gonna talk about them anyways because I enjoy doing these all series posts and declaring which series did the best at a particular element. Because yes. All series. I’m a Bridge era fan so I’m including Otes from Sevens. Though no one from Go Rush since we don’t know who the final antagonist will be yet. This is also a long one (3 pages long in Google Docs) with spoilers and critique for every series so I'll put the wall of text under a read more:

Zorc is boring. I have nothing else to add.

He’s just a giant monster for the heroes to defeat with no personality. Which is perfectly fine for the story but not very interesting on its own as a character.

Bakura meanwhile upsets me.

It's not because he’s necessarily a bad character though. It's because of how the narrative treats him, and the fact that his story has elements that I find incredibly problematic and upsetting. I am not saying Bakura was right for wanting to destroy the world, let me make that clear. I am saying that the narrative of a villain who the narrative deems as irredeemably evil and “must die” having the backstory of his entire village being murdered before his eyes as a child to in order to create weapons of mass destruction for the corrupt monarchy who ordered genocide on said village in the first place because everyone in it was “pure evil” and thus “deserved it anyways” is a narrative that I raise an eyebrow at. And if anything, it felt pointless to throw on. Bakura would have been completely serviceable as just pure evil with no backstory for me. He would’ve lacked substance on his own, but the way he was built up throughout the series and affected the other characters, like some later villains I’m gonna discuss, would have been compelling enough to at least be serviceable. This backstory though just adds all this complexity that the anime clearly wasn’t equipped to handle and in my opinion, fumbled completely. I still enjoy the final arc overall but THIS is one of those things that bothers me the more and more I think about and feels like an instance of the writers not realising their implications. Which as a writer myself, absolutely can happen by accident. I am not accusing anyone on the writing team of anything malicious here. But as a result of this, Bakura's character to me, especially as someone who doesn’t go back to the OG Duel Monsters that often, is unfortunately just tied to this issue for me.

Nightshroud, or Darkness as I know him in the sub meanwhile, is probably the most effective villain to me out of this set.

He's just a pure evil monster so again like Zorc, I'm not interested in him as a character but as a being of pure evil who represents and spreads all the terrible things in the world he works well. Also the impact he has on the characters, especially in season 4 where Sho, Asuka, and Manjome are essentially torturing themselves with their own graduations anxieties in Darkness's world is one I find to be incredibly compelling. So Darkness as a character is not interesting but what he represents and the effect he has on the other characters is very compelling, as is the Judai vs Darkness duel of season 4 which is subjectively, my favourite final boss duel of the franchise.

Z-One is huge missed potential.

I think even the die hard 5Ds fans agree on that one. He was initially set up to be this older jaded version of Yusei from the future who had to turn to more destructive methods to save the world and that concept, as much as I famously do not like time travel, is GREAT. It’s the same plot The Lego Movie 2 later did, in my opinion, to great effect. But 5Ds chickened out of this amazing concept. They couldn’t commit to making Z-One that future version of Yusei (who wouldn’t exist after the ultimate ending of 5Ds anyways so it wouldn’t have even destroyed Yusei’s character) and instead just someone who looks like him which is not nearly as interesting. So. Z-One. Great concept that 5Ds chickened out of. The duel itself was decent though and a good finale to Ark Cradle, if just for Yusei on a flying motorcycle.

Don Thousand is certainly a guy who exists.

He’s kind of like Darkness but without the profound impact on the other characters or any representation of a deeper concept. The way he uses Vector is mildly investing and the way he twisted the Barians’ lives to lead to them becoming his pawns is very interesting and pretty much the sort of thing I want Studio Bridge to do with the Creator and the Velgearians in Go Rush come to think of it but anyways, back on topic. Other than those elements, Don Thousand feels a bit underdeveloped and is ultimately just there to be this big bad that all three warring factions of the show: Earth, Barianworld, and Astralworld, put aside their differences to defeat which is really cool conceptually and it's a fun duel so I can forgive Don Thousand being boring on his own.

Z-Arc’s god awful overly long duel is my villain origin story.

I like Zarc’s story in the flashbacks we see. I think conceptually he’s a great idea. So the honestly flat character we get in the duel, lacking all of the depth those flashbacks gave Zarc, was very disappointing. And the actual duel being so overly long drove me up a wall. Also de-aged baby Layra being a vessel for Zarc is one of the worst instances of a show, let alone Yugioh or even Arc V, committing character assassination that I’ve ever seen. Z-Arc is a great concept, and that scene of Yuya being able to relate to and understand him in the final duel is phenomenal, but the duel and the character in it is just terrible to me.

Ai by contrast to all these other guys is my favourite character in Yugioh VRAINS and definitely my favourite of the characters in this set by a wide margin.

I firmly believe Ai is a comic relief character done right as IN THE SUB he’s actually funny without taking away from the seriousness of any scene, while also being a character with depth, complexities, and motivations of his own outside of whatever the protagonist wants. His final duel with Playmaker is very emotionally impactful and definitely the objective best of these final boss duels, even if it isn’t exactly “fun” to rewatch due to how hard-hitting emotionally it is, and other problems I personally have with VRAINS that aren’t relevant to this discussion. Point is that the series set up the characters of and connection between Playmaker and Ai so well that by the time the series develops Ai into Playmaker's final opponent, it feels earned and the emotions really hit. Ai is just very well set up as the final antagonist in general. It’s potentially a surprise to the audience when he has his turn to villainy but it adds up with what the show presented us about his character beforehand. He’s well built up to. Unlike the next character-

Otes

Okay, that’s a bit misleading. I think there are sufficient hints before the finale to hint at Otes being a villain, and that it was a good idea on paper. The problem is how it happens. Pacing wise, it comes out of nowhere and unceremoniously cuts off another villain, Yuga Goha’s, arc, and not even through something that might be understandable like a duel. No. They duel and Yuga Goha DEFEATS Otes. And seemingly steals his memories to prevent him from being a problem. Only. Nope! Surprise! Otes is later revealed to be immune to the memory erasing effects of Monster Reborn because he apparently created the card (a revelation that may not even be true anymore) and kidnaps Yuga Goha, abruptly putting an end to his villainy to make way for Otes’s. Yuga Goha isn’t even brought back as a villain again later or made Otes’s underling or anything like that. His siblings, who he previously betrayed and stole memories from multiple times, just save him. That's a bit rushed, but it’s a nice moment so I can forgive it personally. My problem is that immediately afterwards, Yuga Goha simply agrees to join his siblings in their less relevant than the main cast’s contributions to defeat Otes, who by that point is left only a few episodes to be a full-blown villain. Yuga Goha and Otes would have both made great antagonists if it was paced better. But instead, Yuga Goha is suddenly shafted and redeemed (even if he still has a dark streak, it’s really only used comedically) at the speed of light and Otes barely gets any time to be a villain so they both just end up feeling like wasted potential. That said, Yuga vs Otes is a great duel, probably my favourite final boss duel in the franchise after Judai vs Darkness.

And that’s all the final bosses of every complete Yugioh anime so far. Overall I’d say that Z-Arc and Bakura are the only ones I don’t enjoy. Zorc is just a boring means to an end. Z-One and Otes (and Yuga Goha if you count him) had potential but while their duels are fun, they ultimately lacked substance. Don Thousand and Darkness are not characters, just means to an end but Don Thousand does his job serviceably and Darkness does his exceptionally well. And Ai is just the best one of this set in every single respect.

[gemsofgreece]

hi ! I apologize if it is a weird or rude question, but as a history buff and mediterranea lover, i'd love to visit greece one day as everything about her seems fire, plus you have great historical relationship with my country, france. The thing is that im muslim and half north african, and i look very arab (plus i have like the most cliché arabic name, so no one would probably see me as french), so im a bit apprehensive about going in greece, because you dont have the most cordial relationship with muslims (i understand tbf), and that in a lot of countries know for their "hospitality", it is actually only for white people. I know that you have a lot of tourists and immigrants but that doesnt really means the average greek tolerate them (like france for exemple were there is a lot of muslims but french dislike them). So i wanted to ask what do greeks think of north africans and women wearing the hijab and how they are treated, bc i wouldnt be comfortable being somewhere where half of the population would be glad to see me suffer. Im sorry if i sound ignorant, racist or rude ^^'

Hello! Before I go into detail I think you should not be concerned about this or allow these thoughts to fill you with stress that could affect your enjoyment of your vacation in Greece.

While Greece is part of Eastern Europe where there are more racist beliefs towards muslims compared to West Europe (or at least so it was, but I am currently seeing far right rising in the west exponentially), Greece is also one of the most visited countries in the world at this point and during the last decade it has been receiving tourists from all around the globe, people of all skintones and faiths. A huge number of Greeks work in the tourism sector and are perfectly acquainted with providing tourist services to everybody without exception. In fact, we also get a lot of tourists from countries with less than ideal relations with Greece and I have never heard reports of something going wrong or of Greeks being unfriendly to them.

Now a few words about racism in Greece in order to help you develop a better understanding of it. First of all, I am sure extremely problematic individuals who usually express the dark side of themselves on the Internet do exist in Greece, however the likelihood of stumbling in real life onto a Greek who would like to see one "suffer" on the basis of their skincolour or religion is incredibly slim. This is neither a prevalent nor even a considerable let alone a normalised behaviour in Greece at all.

Racism in Greece is usually very... contextual. Greeks foster negative feelings for specific nations first and foremost and it usually has to do with historical trauma, about which I assume you know some stuff since you said "I get it tbf". Greeks also may have negative feelings for nations who are traditionally allies of aforementioned nations. The second thing that can ignite racist behaviour amongst Greeks is the religion indeed but not so much due to the religion itself but because a religion may be heavily associated with any of the nations that are on their black list. This sometimes causes biased stances towards all believers of the religion in question, even if they have nothing to do with those few nations. Skincolour comes last in the possibility of triggering racist behaviour in Greece, especially when it comes to tourists. But again I dare say even in an 80% of the cases it is because it is associated with countries that might be viewed as unfriendly to Greece or Christianity than any sort of rhetoric about inherent superiority or inferiority based on skincolour. Again, I am not saying there are no individuals who think this way - there definitely are - but it's not the primary type of racism encountered in Greece and it is exremely unlikely to interact with such a person in your vacation. We had such a type of political party but it was outlawed and its leaders got imprisoned. Meanwhile, the West was screaming nonstop that bad Greece has such a political party and now they are putting theirs in their parliaments or letting them govern. The irony.

Several Greeks are against the immigrants but it is primarily due to the financial and unemployment problems the country has even without a constant influx of new-comers and then because most of these immigrants are again viewed as nationals from countries unfriendly to Greece and secondarily Christianity that only arrive here as a necessity and not because they want to live and contribute to the Greek society. Then there are also many Greeks who rally for the immigrants' rights. But racism in Greece is really SO contextual that a dark Muslim can melt away a suspicious Greek's reservation, if they express feelings of appreciation or understanding for Greece, within the course of five minutes! It's kind of amusing.

Now, you being a woman actually minimizes your chances of an unfortunate racist incident way more. Exactly because Greek racism is founded so much more on past historical trauma or perception of extremist movements in nearby parts of the world rather than ideologies of superiority, nobody considers women as part of the problem or views them as a threat. The worst that can happen to you is to notice that someone may be initially neutral or indifferent to you until they hear your french accent and your positive perception of Greece and instantly warm up or something. But someone could be neutral or indifferent for just about any reason, including having a bad day. I honestly don't think you could get a worse reception as long as you are a considerate polite tourist. The hijab is indeed an uncommon sight in Greece but the worst thing you may get is looks, mostly out of curiosity, not hatred. And that is if you are in a more remote or less touristy location. In the largest cities or the busiest islands people won't care.

Now there's also the other side to all this. Greeks are known to often make good friends with people from the "black list" countries. Greeks are friendly and sociable and they usually only expect from you a positive outlook on their country to discard their reservations. Greece also in fact has very good relations with many Arab countries. Politically, Greece has very good relations with Egypt, Libya (supported the progressive side in the civil war, the House of the Representatives and the National Libyan Army), Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE. So, a great part of the Arab world. In fact, Greeks and Arabs are believed to be friends in general. Now, this does not apply to every single situation or to what every single individual thinks from either side but I am just saying it to dispute any potential misunderstanding that Greeks supposedly have some sort of major feud with Arabs or some Arab-centric racist feelings.

In short, you should not be concerned about it : you are a woman, you are a tourist genuinely interested in Greece, everyone will pick up on your french accent lol and you can freely mention your North African Arab background. Obviously I cannot guarantee nothing will ever happen 1000% but it is not more likely here than it is in France.

[dufferpuffer]

Dufferpuffer Lupin fiend… I want to know what you think: do you think Lyall knew about the Order of the Phoenix? Do you think he knew what his son got up to after graduation?

I believe he’d be very eager to support his son (financially, offering him a home), and Remus would be very eager to decline that support - but would he eventually say “it’s fine dad, I actually don’t need a job because I’ve been camping out at my rich friend’s house, which became a headquarters for a guerrilla, which I fight for full time, so don’t worry about me”?

I have a small obsession with Lyall and I am a Lyall survivalist (I believe he lived to bury his son). The reason for my obsession is because I hate the old overused children’s adventure trope of dead parents! I think it’s delicious to try to make sense of a relationship that could be very complex and problematic.

Could he have been someone like Andromeda and Ted, not an order member, but a distant supporter? Or would he disapprove completely? Or would he be completely ignorant?

it is I, the Loopy Lupin Fiend I too am a Lyall Survivalist - I wrote a little thing ages ago, just a tiny little story about Lyall walking up to accept Remus' Merlin of Honor on his behalf while being haunted by what he has said about werewolves in the past. Just a silly thing :) Maybe needs a rewrite idk, i'm no writer. I'm a yapper. I yap.

Remus is the sort of man who cuts off those he cares about most. If it weren't for the war he would have NEVER spoken to Harry, Sirius, Albus... anyone ever again. He would have fled when Tonks showed any amount of love for him. He would have fled Arthur's unwavering support and Molly's kindness despite her fears and prejudice.

He would have held their positive feelings in his heart like treasured memories and not dared ruin them with the disappointment he would surely bring. Leave them happy.

That is what I think he did to his father. He 'killed' his mother, after all. Just a sweet accepting Muggle, and she died earlier than she should - after his childhood left her thin and weak from stress. (of course he DIDN'T kill her, but the stress parents show when looking after disabled children... it hurts us. Speaking as a disabled child, it hurts a lot seeing parents suffer from being unable to help. it feels like it is our fault for being unwell, confusing and hard. Remus is the type to REALLY blame himself.)

He didn't want to put financial or social strain on his father, who already would have been a target: Specializing in the study of Boggarts and Dementors and such - the exact Dark Creatures Death Eaters use... alongside the fact he insulted Fenrir personally...

I don't think Remus told him shit. I think Remus cut contact completely, at least for the war - maybe, hesitantly, letting his dad know he was alive afterwards... But the best thing he can do for the people he loves is let them live without him - and I think he truly loves and idolizes his dad. He knows Dementors inside and out, and the first think he caught and taught at Hogwarts was Boggarts. His dads specialty.

I think Lyall would be supportive of the whispers of an 'Order of the Pheonix', a secret group maybe perhaps curated by Dumbledore. An underground illegal militia working outside the Ministry. He may have worked with the ministry himself sometimes - but he has seen their incompetence first-hand and experienced their lack of support for the most vulnerable in society.

But if he knew Remus was a part of it all he would do was worry, even if he was proud of his son... so Remus wouldn't tell him. If anything - just let him know he was safe and well (even if its a lie) and he wasn't being pulled in by Fenrir's nonsense.

I like to think he wrote to Lyall telling him he was going to work at Hogwarts. Albus hired him - he was going to be a professor!!! That every time he wrote to his dad it was good news, and Lyall treasured the fleeting contact with his son - even if he knew if he ever wrote back "Come see me sometime!!!" Remus wouldn't respond.

[emblemxeno]

This ask is going to be kind of long, but your platform is really the only platform where I feel comfortable having this conversation. You don’t have to post this if you don’t want to, I won’t feel any sort of ways about it, but I’ve got to get this feeling out of my system. The way the fandom treats Fates compared to the other games in the franchise, makes them completely unbearable. I don’t think I can forgive the fandom for it even if they did somehow start giving Fates its overdue credit. Treating its fans like shit for almost a decade is unacceptable. I don’t know how so many people can justify their behavior in regards to this game. The fans of this game have literally done nothing to the fandom other than love it unapologetically, and we still get condescended to about it. You dare offer your opinion about a take in the series and it’s like, “You’re a Corrin fan, you have no right to talk about anything.” I have never seen a group of fans that have to literally HIDE the fact that they cherish a game in order to appease its larger community, it’s so disgusting. I don’t care if I’m being harsh with this ask because I have witnessed and dealt with this condescension for years. I don’t care to spare any feelings at this point, and I think the fandom certainly doesn’t deserve any of our grace either. Calling out the elitism, cliquish behavior, and hypocrisy is the right thing to do no matter how much some people soften/normalize these issues.

Hope you don't mind me posting this anon.

It's certainly an unfortunate situation. While Fates has its problems--I say this as a diehard fan--I agree in that it's in a singular situation where it's just met with derision initially and only given praise in backhanded manners. Think "Fates sucks but it does have great X and Y" and including an obligatory compliment towards Conquest. Which, don't get me wrong, Conquest is fucking amazing in the gameplay department, but half the time I'm just like... all right, I think you're just pretending to like anything of Fates just because you feel obligated to like one of the most acclaimed gameplay centered entries in the series.

There was just the perfect storm of controversy and unmet expectations that people had towards the game: the woefully inaccurate conversion therapy accusations, the romance options, the sales model of having multiple versions, the story not being liked, Corrin not being liked, the cast being seen as tropey, the fanservice hatred, etc. Its reputation from pre-release to nearly a decade after release is just a swamp of negativity.

And, in risk of sounding defensive and deflective, Awakening did most of this first. Awakening used being gay as a constant punchline especially in DLC (but people are reclaiming that now as something to be praised cuz of course), Awakening had problematic romance options (Nowi, any of the children but especially Nah, Donnel, Ricken, and Lissa are still underage, Aversa is technically your sister and she's written in the M!Robin support to tease that aspect, Tharja in her entirety), Awakening's cast was the de facto tropey cast before Fates, its story was criticized for the same things Fates was (poorly explained lore and world, pacing issues, convenient plot devices, pandering to a previous game, and had its exclusive issue of being inconsistent with Archanea's lore), Robin was criticized for being an all loved player insert with too many powers/importance, it started the oddly designed armor designs for fanservice reasons, and while it didn't have multiple versions, it was the first game with a ton of paid DLC.

Don't get me wrong, I love Awakening to pieces. But that game started pretty much everything Fates gets shit for. Yet it gets retrospective love or at the very least a pass cuz... Fates does it worse/more and because it was gonna be the last game in the series? Wouldn't it be fair then, to give slack to Fates for following in the footsteps of the most well received and successful game in the series by replicating it while trying to improve on what some felt were lacking? But I guess at that point, people think it utterly failed in improving on the story and characters so :/

I think you have a point regarding Fates fans as well. We're pretty much the only FE fans that get unironic negative labels, at least by casual aduiences. Apparetnly we're "coomer, porn brain freaks who don't know what good games are." Though, that's about it in terms of the elitism thing, otherwise I think it's just fans of older games being out off by the direction newer games have gone, and most make no distinction and criticize all of Awakening, Fates, 3H, and Engage. Still, Fates fans are the ones getting the most accepted flak.

To end this off, let's be honest: If Fates is the example most people give of the worst game in the series, FE fans have it pretty fucking good lmao.

[adobe-outdesign]

i know you covered the points in the shelmet post but i would love to hear the full anti trade evolution rant tbh

Alright first off, it goes against the point of the entire series. "Form strong bonds with your Pokemon!" and then once you do you have to take an action to get rid of them in order to evolve them. what the hell

Kind of tying into the above, but it's also counter-productive. If you want to keep your 'mon, then you have to undo the action you just did in order to get it back. what the hell kind of logic is that

There is literally nothing in place to prevent your Pokemon from getting stolen. really loved that Pokemon? tough shit, turns out the other person isn't gonna trade them back. finding people to trade with online helps with this but only a little

and god help you if you find a shiny

since trading is now online, it requires an NSO online subscription, effectively paywalling those Pokemon and potentially completing the Pokedex. trading through HOME normally is a way to get around this but whoopsie doopsie, Pokemon don't evolve when traded in HOME

(You can trade locally, but that requires you to have friends that own Switches with that specific game)

It also screwed people over when it was link cables as well, because you had to know a person IRL, softlocking most trade evos unless you were lucky

GameFreak's solution to the online thing seems to be to make trade evos available in-game in some fashion (such as through raids in SV), which at least fixes the 'dex issue but ignores the bond thing once again. I don't want to replace my beloved Haunter with a random Gengar, I want to evolve my Haunter

This is a minor quibble but the lore around it has never been explained and most Pokemon seem to outright ignore it. For example, Slowpoke canonically evolves into Slowking when bitten on the head by a Shellder, yet for some reason you have to trade it with a random (non-Shellder) Pokemon while holding a King's Rock

I think the Karrablast/Shelmet line is the only line to have a "reason" that they evolve via trade, with the 'dex acknowledging they evolve when both Pokemon are bathed with electric energy. still nothing about that requires trade however

The Pokemon that evolve via trade, Karrablast/Shelmet line not withstanding, are completely random. why does Machoke need to be traded to evolve? because shut up

(I guess you could argue the same thing with most item evos, but at least there's a rationale behind the items if not the Pokemon themselves, and item evos aren't even half as problematic to being with)

And what's frustrating is that PLA has a linking cord item that evolves trade evo because it's meant to be a single-player game (you can still evolve via trade as well if you prefer that). it's literally THAT easy of a problem to fix

Another option would be to have an NPC that will basically trade your trade-evo Pokemon back to you. Maybe you have to bring them a certain item or something for each trade so it's not overly easily

I also think GameFreak hasn't made a trade evo since like Gen 5, implying that they know it's an issue but are too cowardly to fix it

I feel like Palafin is sort of a "modern-day" trade. it's still an issue because you still need to either pay for NSO or know someone to evolve it with, but at least you only need the person to enter your game via multiplayer to evolve it instead of needing to trade it off, which is slightly better

thanks for coming to my TED talk