#CAUSE ITS LIKE THE THIRD/FOURTH TIME I DO THESE KIND OF POST LIKE

[multifandomsoftness]

i am ONCE AGAIN asking: what the actual fuck is going on?

[nyxthejinx]

Heya!

I just saw your open for request post and want to commission an Cyno x gn!reader, please? :) a fluffy and spicy drabble would be lovely. Maybe smth like.. the reader is good friends with Cyno and Tighnari but the reader went on a journey thru teyvat and met the Aether (traveler) on their way and since then they traveled together and been thru much so they have a connection ofc and then when the reader and Aether visit sumeru and they meet Cyno - he will get all jealous? Cause he sees how close they are and he fears that he missed his chance with the reader? But obvsly its not like that and yeah. A lil bit of making out at the end, please? cause Cyno needs to let out some steam after his jealously :^)

Thank you for doing requests btw!

FIRST. It took ages but I was able to sell my soul in exchange for inspiration only recently, I'm so sorry. SECOND thank YOU for asking, I wasn't sure about this until the 3am among us potion made it work. THIRD beautiful pfp, akaza bb fr i love him a normal amount I promise. FOURTH it's 5 am, literally I'm not kidding, I tried to proofread and all that but I don't even know what's my name anymore so I'm sorry for typos and shit. FIFTH I hope It makes sense, enjoy 💀

𝐓𝐖: Fluff and obviously spice (making out, vague allusions to the dirty deeds ;) ), use of petnames (dear, love), lemme know if I missed something.

𝐅𝐭.: Cyno, Aether (but he's your homie) - GN!Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.5k

𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨: Rendezvous - Little Mix (god this song is such a banger)

Cyno fears nothing.

"Cyno, this is Aether."

Cyno fears one thing.

He'd felt so happy after reading your last letter. You said you'd be back in a few days with a special surprise, but honest to Archons the fact you'd be coming back to him - for him, he’d wanted to say, but not dared to- was enough of a present.

He surely wasn't expecting that this "surprise" would be none other than the Traveler who's saved Sumeru, though. A charming blondie who drifts a bit too close to you, in Cyno's opinion.

"We met in Liyue, he's amazing." You smile, squeezing the blond's shoulder. "He's a well known traveler across Teyvat, even in regions he has yet to visit!"

"I just help those who need it, not that much of a big deal."

Aether blushes and rubs his neck. Aether blushes. And you're touching him in a way that only close friends do.

It's fine, Cyno wants to think. You're allowed to do whatever you want in your life, he sure as hell won't stand in your way. He already stepped aside back in the days, as you excitedly told him how one of his worst fears came true you were leaving for adventure.

Everything to make you happy.

But his mixed feelings would always get in the way and unleash endless internal conflicts. It wasn't simply about not having you around, it was some kind of longing sitting inside his chest and screaming at you not to go.

It was the distance that made him realise: he was, and still is, far too in love for his own good.

And Aether could get in the way of that.

"We meet again, Traveller." The General nods, pushing down such shameful thoughts. "I'm glad to see you are both fairing well."

"It's all thanks to [Name], actually." Aether nudges you in the ribs. "They're really helpful, no matter the task."

You smirk. "Oh, what an honour. The traveller complementing me, a common, mortal nobody."

"Hey, I'm not that annoying!"

"Maybe. But you sure snore at night. That is annoying."

"Wh-! I don't. I know for a fact-"

No, you don't sound like close friends. You sound like a married couple. What just happened in this handful of months? Did Cyno hesitate too long and lost his chance? Now that he had decided to expose his deepest feelings?

"You guys! Paimon is starving here."

Paimon's shrill voice cuts short the bicker, as the Matra's jaw clenches. Good time, credits to Paimon, but seeing the two of you stroll towards the tavern didn't ease the knot in his chest the slightest.

Your laughter wasn't addressed to him nor to his uncanny jokes. He wasn't the one making you smile.

He was the moon and he'd just been eclipsed by the Traveller's brightest light.

Dinner was... Gut wrenching, to say the least.

You'd known Cyno long enough to tell apart his feelings even as he wears that stoic facade of his. While Paimon and the Traveller didn't have a single clue about the situation, you could feel his dry gaze burning holes on both of your figures, as if the sun had ascended back to the skies and everything around had turned desert.

He was feeling something you'd never quite seen within him.

It took you a bit too long to realise that the fair, lawful General Mahamatra was jealous, of all things.

He was so subtle with it, carefully hid his resentment in his voice and choice of words, in his gestures and mannerisms. But worst of all he didn't propose a single joke during the meal, not even when you laid the chance on a silver platter for him.

That had your mind reeling for the rest of your time together, and even afterwards, as you waved goodnight to Aether and Paimon. As you walked these streets you still know by heart with your dearest friend by your side.

As you choked on the thick air surrounding the two of you.

Maybe you should've left Aether out of it, for the first day, at least. Cyno hadn't seen you in so long, perhaps he didn't like the way Aether inadvertently hogged your attention the entire time when all he wanted was to hear about your adventures.

Yeah, you'd been an idiot for that one.

But, you still had an ace up your sleeve. Quite literally. One that would grant you his forgiveness and hopefully help you say the words to him.

Because of course, it took you less than a week far from him to realise you were smitten for this dad-jokes-spitting being.

You patted your side as you approached Razan Garden in all its glory, and sighed at the feeling of the rectangular box still inside. You could do it, you had to! It took you months of preparation, you wouldn't let it go to waste.

"[Name]." Cyno's voice was soft, as if to match the atmosphere lingering in the marble gazebo. He'd stopped a couple steps ahead of you, but didn't turn to meet your eyes. "My congratulations and best wishes."

You alt abruptly at that. Where the hell is it coming from?

"Uh, thank you?" You quirk a brow. "Did I do something special without knowing?"

He chuckles under his breath. Yes, you are special and he's grateful a being so perfect can exist in this world and is part of his life. But he would never tell you that.

He turns instead. His eyes rich with emotion, gentler. "I'm beyond glad that you found the right person out there, [Name]."

Oh. Oh.

"I only ever hoped for your happiness and well-being, during this period of time."

"Cyno, wait a sec-"

He takes a step forward. "If I had to voice my honest thoughts... I must admit I couldn't find peace of mind knowing you would've been out there alone."

"Cyno-"

"But I see you're perfectly capable of handling your own," the man sighs, shakes his head. A small smile curves his lips. "Just like you've always done."

"Oi-"

And then he's placing loose hands on your shoulders, as if he's in some kind of automatic mode and has to finish the speech at all costs.

For a moment you think he's gone absolutely senile. "Still, I'm relieved you have someone who can watch your back, now. He's a kind-hearted person, level headed, the best you could wish for-"

"Archons' fucking sake, Cyno! Will you hear me out a damn second?"

Cyno almost jumps back, taken out of his weird reverie, but you're quick to trap his face between your hands. You're close, closer than you'd wanted to, unfocused in your frustrated fervor. So much his breath warms the apple of your cheek, as it wasn't burning already.

You take a breath and force more words out before you can cower away from it. "I get where you're coming from, I neglected you today and acted like a shitty friend. And I'm sorry for that."

You lower your gaze to the ground. Now or never. "But it's you, okay? It's always been you! I could travel across all Teyvat and even Celestia, but it's you and just you. So drop that thing you're on about please."

That was disgustingly corny. But hopefully did the trick, you guess.

A beat passes. Then two. You don't see his face, you don't have the courage to take a look at the mess you've made. Him being jealous didn't mean he liked you, not necessarily. Maybe you should've given him the TCG deck and call it a night.

Another beat goes by.

"So... You and Aether are not...?"

He's gonna be the death of you.

You groan, a guttural sound that shouts exasperation from the deepest parts of your chest. All rationality goes to hell as you drag him closer and slam your lips together.

You're kissing him. Archons you're kissing him-

There's no time for Cyno to react. You're pulling away in a frenzy, hoping the ground will open for the Abyss to swallow you right now. You kissed one of your friends only to prove that you're single, and in fact attracted to them. Could it be worse than that? More humiliating and disrespectful to him?

"I'm so sorry!" You wave your hands around. "I shouldn't have without your permission! Are you okay?"

You search his expression for any sign of discomfort; he looks absolutely flabbergasted, but somehow weirdly composed like a bronze statue. His lips -god you'd just kissed them- are parted in the slightest, his eyes wide and yet still. The calm before the storm.

He's showing yet another sentiment you've never really seen him wear.

"Again." Cyno says.

You blink. "Uh?"

You feel his hand slither behind you and circle your waist, as he pushes your body closer. His skin is running hot like the desert's sands and you curse at his choice, or better lack of clothes.

His silver hair falls like a curtain, his eyes sharp. Dangerous, even, if you're not careful enough.

"Please, do it again. I think I've just seen the gates of Celestia." He mutters close to your lips.

That sounds more like him. You can't help but snort at his choice of words, shuddering all the same. The implications of said words dig a flaming hole in your chest.

"How can you be so smart, but dum dum at the same time?" You whisper, one hand traveling to the back of his neck, the other busying itself with stray locks of hair.

And you dip in for another kiss. One you sigh into, one that can be called kiss, actually. It's slower, but full all the same, scorching hot, pushed by feelings that were repressed for too long.

Cyno locks his free hand at your nape, never possessive, although firm. Small sounds bubble in the back of his throat when you bite at his lower lip, then backs just enough to mutter a couple words.

"Can you really blame me? It feels like a dream coming true." He pecks your lips, then presses his forehead to yours and closes his eyes. "I was scared you'd chosen him."

"So, all those pretty words from before?" You exhale a breathy laugh, cradling his jaw.

"I'd give away everything I have and am if it meant you'd be happy. I could only wish you the best and support you." Cyno smiles, pouting after the next words leave his mouth. "But it doesn't mean I would be fully content with the outcome."

Your brain has turned to mush. This man is too dangerous for this world, a hazard for you and your poor little heart that feels like exploding. It's a threat to your common sense and rationality. But most of all, it's damaging your brakes.

What he's telling you should not be legal.

"Archons, come here." And you kiss, and kiss, kiss again and again. You map each other's bodies with your hands as if it was the last time you'd be seeing each other. You press your mouths, clatter your teeth, intertwine your tongues.

You're straight up devouring in the dead silence of the night, in a public space. But as indecent the sounds you're both making are, it feels as if the world around blurred and blended into nothingness.

You've found yourself with your back to a wall, somehow, a couple buttons loose, skin hit by the cold air of the night. You -surely more clothed than Cyno- are an absolute mess, whereas his appearance doesn't falter much even at your hands' mercy.

It's unfair, he's unfair. He has no right to be this damn perfect even in the face of chaos.

"Not here, Cy." You manage to utter. "Let's go home."

His hand stops halfway up your shirt and he detaches from your neck with a small grunt, red splotches forming already thanks to his work. He doesn't sound pleased with your choice, but wordlessly complies, knocking you off your feet and picking you up so easily it's unfair.

And embarrassing.

You deadpan. "Seriously?"

He finds your eyes, suddenly composed as if nothing happened. "You seemed quite unstable on your legs, dear."

You're audibly gasping at that, whacking his chest and glaring daggers. "You!"

"Let's continue it home, now."

Cyno is really going to be the death of you, in many ways you'd never even considered.

It's almost dawn when you finally let yourselves snuggle up to each other in the peace of your home. More like his home, since yours needs more than a bit of cleaning after months of disuse, but he's made it clear already: everything that's his is also yours.

Cyno traces patterns on the bare skin of your arm, as you card through the knots on the back of his head, formed after... Recent activity. He seems too lost in your touch to even be awake, when his fingers stop.

"What was the surprise, in the end? Was it the confession?"

Your hands still, your face tightening at the question. When did you even... Oh, right.

"Would you be satisfied if I said yes?"

He pinches you.

"Owie!"

"You should know that what has been of this night matters more than anything, to me. Of course I would be satisfied." Cyno raises a thin brow, as his hand starts to descend agonizingly slow, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. "Was I not clear enough about my feelings? Perhaps you need a reminder-"

"Whoa, hold your horses, General." You chuckle, planting a kiss on his forehead before leaning over to your bedside table, where your bag had been thrown previously. "There was no way I'd come back empty handed after all these months, yanno?"

You pull out the wrapped box, place it in his hands. Cyno stares at it quizzically, but opens the packaging with care after you nudge him in the side.

Oh, his expression is so, so priceless. Cute, too cute, so cute you could die right now on the spot for excess of sugar in your blood. He looks like a kid who's just received the toy he oh so wanted and ranted about.

"It's not just any deck," You explain. "It's a deck made of cards I've gathered around from different regions. Some were more challenging to get, but I've been playing with you for a long time, haven't I? Of course I'd win."

Meanwhile Cyno takes the liberty to browse its contents, and just like you said, they're not from Sumeru. He's barely ever seen them, some are literally unknown, and he's ecstatic at the sight. How long did it take? How much effort?

"This is…" there's no right term to describe it. "Wonderful. You are wonderful, [Name]."

He goes for a hug and you feel like your bodies fit perfectly in each other's arms, as if it was meant to be. Right now, all that matters is this. And it will always be for all you care.

You smile into his shoulder, smooch the base of his neck. "Is it too early to say 'I love you?'."

"I would actually say we're late, Love."

"I love you, then, you Dum-Dum."

"I love you."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You are like my asthma. You just take my breath away."

You make sure Cyno slams his head as you throw him off the bed.

Do not translate/rewrite/repost/feed to AI ©2025 nyxthejinx

[ppeasants]

this is kind of a weird post? idk. it has to do with the future of my time hollow au so if that matters then here's this? (I'M NOT DISCONTINUING IT I LOVE THIS SERIES TOO MUCH i am just having some thoughts about some things I wanted to change, and I just needed to get these thoughts out into the void so people were aware, and so I could actually maybe go through with them)

(also if u do care about it please read all the way to the end so i can properly convey what i'm trying to say as well as what's changing, cause if u stop halfway thru then you'll probably come away with the wrong conclusion)

so I started this AU when I had just finished Owl House. I had not yet really gotten into the fandom, and I was still in the throes of the finale. because of this, I hadn't quite yet developed MY actual sense of what I specifically loved about the show (instead of just loving all of it [which I do love a lot of it]), as well as not specifically developed my own HCs and chartacter dynamics.

now that time has passed and I have been a part of the fandom for a while, I HAVE developed a sense of what I specifically love about this fandom, as well as the stories, themes, HCs and dynamics I want to explore deeper.

all that is just kinds backstory to how I have rotated these characters in my mind, and to give some context to where this change is coming from.

the actual change: I will likely be transitioning the sibling hunter and luz dynamic into a modified lavender winter dynamic with amity and willow, and non-romantic hunter and luz (that bit is important).

when I first started getting into the fandom, some of my first fics i read were sibling hunter and luz. I still love those fics, and tbh I still absolutely ADORE sibling hunter and luz. but, I think for the story I want to share with time hollow, i don't think the sibling dynamic works as well as the lavwin dynamic.

btw when I say modified lavmin, I mean it's pretty heavily modified, at least for the purposes of this series. Hunter and Willow are romanitc. Amity and Luz are romantic. Amity and Hunter are not romantic. Willow and Lus are not romanitc. Luz and Hunter are not romantic. They are not platonic. They are not in a QPR. They are not in a secret fourth thing, but a secret fifth thing.

there are two main reasons for this change. one, is that I actually love lavwin in general. i love poly ships and i love messy ships and i love being able to go in deep with character dynamics and and explore those relationships deeply and changingly.

the second reason: its so titan-damned MESSY. it's fantastic! there are so so many dynamics to explore with Hunter and Luz being a secret fifth thing instead of stricly familial. And the way their closeness can interplay with Amity and Willow, either as jealously or care or anything else, and those two maybe finding comfort in each other too, it's all so deliciously messy and I loooove it.

so what's gonna actually change: basically nothing! This was never a romance focused story, and while Lumity and Huntlow were always gonna exist, now they just exist within the context of a messy lavwin. and honestly, hunter and luz were already a secret third thing in this series, it's just now not codified as siblings anymore. it's also not gonna change their relationships with anyone else, like King, or Eda.

maybe there'll be some tumblr posts, or some oneshots that are more lavwin focused, but realistically not much is gonna change. It's just in the way that I've been developing the story, and rotating the characters will have this trauma attachment flavour to it.

i mostly just wanted to get this out there so people could understand where I'm coming from, cause I've been going back and forth on this 'change' for a while, but I realized that if I;m making a series that I don't enjoy, I'm not gonna make a good fic at all. and i think this will make this series all the better for it.

thanks for reading all the way thru if u did <3

[labselkie]

this one’s really short. BUT. i’ve made the obvious observation that my non selfship posts do soo much better than these

so ive decided the most mature and totally normal way to deal with that is to flood her™️ tag again out of spite

anyways this is a normal occurrence for these two. i wish the worst upon them both

The first brushed over Lucielle’s cheek, a segment of it hooking under her jaw. The second latched to her back, its body laid around her throat. The third and fourth followed suit just below, holding down her arms to her torso.

The actuators practically breathed, small pumps of air being sent through the hollow silicone in slow, measured rhythms. Lucielle was perched on the edge of a lab counter, held down by the woman standing right in front of her. Olivia’s right hand was curled in the mutant’s hair, curly strands sticking to the latex of her gloves.

“You shouldn’t have let him taunt you like that,” Lucielle says softly, leaning her head into the hand in her hair, “This was over the top, even for him.”

Olivia’s face hardened, her free hand moving to the counter’s corner as she scowled at nothing. She just got back from fighting Spider-Man, a much messier battle than usual, as he did end up getting away with the stolen materials. The faint smell of smoke clung to her suit, and hints of ash dusted her face.

“Come on… Fisk hates that man too, you’ll be alright-” The mutant coaxed, attempting to lean forward. Olivia’s brows furrowed, and she tugged the tentacles so Lucielle couldn’t move.

The doctor looked upset, her face stony and her hands absentmindedly twisting in Lucielle’s hair. And then, she deflated, she leaned her forehead against the mutant’s after a weak sigh. The goggles resting at her hairline are pushed just a touch higher.

“I shouldn’t be tired of him, but I am-” She cuts herself off, she hadn’t even started the fight, at least not this time. Fighting was like an outlet for her, getting to thrash and beat down one of the people she despised most. But when she lost, she’d usually just lock herself in her office and try to figure out why. The tentacles loosen, the claw on Lucielle’s face pulling back, before they constrict once more with Olivia’s silent insistence.

Olivia leans away, pulling her hands back to her head. It takes a moment of tugging, and a few seconds of pulling her hair through, but she’s finally able to get those green tinted goggles off. The movement pushes her headband back as well, and she tugs it off as well with one hand before placing them both on the counter. She brings her hands back up, resting them on the mutant’s thighs, her thumbs just about rubbing across the denim. A tentacle’s claw gently taps at Lucielle’s cheek, its tapered end pushing up the skin and pulling up the edge of her lip. Lucielle gives a kind smile at the motion.

Olivia was using her lover like a squeaky toy, like a form of enrichment for an exhausted zoo animal. Although, in all honesty, neither of them minded.

Lucielle just watched the tentacle closest to her, worried that she’d freak out if she made eye contact or saw how Liv was studying her. And study her she did, her hazel eyes almost dulled to a soft brown from her exhaustion. The mutant let her eyelids droop, lulled by small sounds of air between them: her breath, Liv’s breath, and the faint pumps of air through the tentacles. It goes on like this for a few more minutes, a quiet time for Olivia to destress if her lover was ever in the room.

“You have less makeup on today,” The doctor mutters, her sudden speaking causing Lucielle to glance up, “I don’t use much myself, but I can see more of your freckles..” The end of the claw on Lucielle’s cheek trails right over her temple, tracing along the soft contours of her face.

Lucielle is just about to speak up, her lips parting in preparation for another compliment, before Olivia spoke again.

“I like that.” She finally makes eye contact with the mutant, and smiles as well.

[auspex]

VtM Fangfest 2024 Prompt 6: The Hierophant

Hello! Here is my sixth fic for Fangfest 2024 :)

All my fics will be about characters that are previously established, so you might not have context for everything mentioned or hinted at within :( Feel free to reach out to ask I love explaining!

I've never really posted my writing before so be kind!

my first fic is here

my second fic is here

my third fic is here

my fourth fic is here

my fifth fic is here

This fic is about the Gangrel from the game I am the storyteller for, Blood and Silicon, which has its own blog run by the player @chiss-ticism here: @sanguineasylum. The starting phone call dialogue is from in game - @vtmgremlin played Blake and BIG SHOUT OUT TO @eric-the-bmo for transcribing!!!

The cold wind blew smoke and sparks from the fire towards Nelida’s face. Repressing a shudder, she composed herself and answered her ringing cellphone.

Nelida picks up after a moment's hesitation. “Hello?” As she picks up, Rico gives her a look, and listens in. Whatever. 

“Hey, it's B! I'm calling from a different number 'cause my other one broke. Sorry for the late-night call, do you remember that guy I was telling you about? That asshole? Hunter?” She didn’t know a guy named Hunter, but the way he emphasized that word… “Yeah, him? A few of his friends are in town, and they tried to start a fight, but we just took off. Just lettin' you know in case he comes by and tries to give you trouble. Probably stay out of the city for a little while. Yknow, Hunter and his crew are somewheres down there- they like to prowl downtown, so.”

This must be Blake calling - a new Gangrel, who had recently visited their little camp in the forest for the first time a week or so ago. “Wait, is- What- Do you think Hunter is coming tonight?” 

“Eh, I don't think so. I think for the most part he kinda took off with his buddies, but they're probably gonna be somewhere downtown. Who's to say. I do think the sheriff's probably gonna be looking out for him too, 'cause he knows he likes to cause trouble, so.”

The sheriff? Like this was some Camarilla city? No, he surely just meant kine legal trouble, right? “Um. Can you come over to talk?”

Blake inhales sharply. “Eh- I would if I could, but the problem is I gotta head out tonight, just in case, 'cause I gotta head up somewhere warm for the holidays. Y'know, family and all that.”

“What the hell. Are you talking about?” Nelida may not know much about Blake yet, but she highly doubted he actually had family he could go visit. But it's time to worry about herself, and her pack. If he’s leaving, then perhaps she should too. 

Before Blake can reply, she continues. “Should I head somewhere for the holidays?"

He replies, still casual. “I mean, if you want. I'll just say probably stay out of downtown for a little while. Uh, probably around South Market Street. Probably don't go around there’.

That’s downtown, which he had mentioned before, but this was near where Baron Harrison makes his domain. She didn’t know much else off the top of the top of her head about the area. “Okay... Wasn't planning on it, but thank you? When can we talk more about this?”

“Uh, probably be back in town... sometime next year.” 

“Next year!?”

“Y'know, after New Years!” Blake actually laughs. 

Oh. Cheeky. “Well, you better have a story for me then.” He still owed him one, and now this story clearly was one that involved her. Or at least, one that could. 

“I'm plannin' on it. But y'know, I gotta go and make a story happen first for me to tell you one.”

“What the hell.” She caught herself before saying his name on the phone. “Are you sure you can't stop by really quick?”

“Nah. I gotta head out soon, so- Yeah, just wanted to call and let you know. I don't want this call to go on for too long- I'm sure you need your beauty sleep- so Merry Christmas and all that, happy holidays. Also, probably don't call back this number, 'cause I actually had to borrow a phone from somebody- like I said, my other one broke, so.”

Was he implying he needed help? “Do you need.. assistance?”

Blake had hung up. 

“The fuck was that all about?” Rico stared up at her, crouching over the fire. 

“I’m not sure,” Nelida pursed her lips. “Something odd happened tonight for sure, we may be in danger. Blake must have uncovered something, he did say we don’t have to leave or anything though. Not that you would leave even if the place was on fire.” 

“Nope.” 

“Do you know anything about South Market Street?” 

Rico scratched his head as he replied. “Uh, the Hecata and Harrison had a small dispute over the area once, since resolved, it's a tourist trap area with a cathedral, not much else of note. Why?”

“Blake said to avoid the area.” 

“You gonna elaborate?” 

“He seemed to imply hunters.” 

The group was silent, listening to the crackling of the fire. Nelida began braiding her hair, and then continued. “This wouldn’t be the first time there were hunters in the city.” 

“Nope.”

After a moment's pause, Melinda, one of the newer Gangrel, spoke up. “Uh, mind filling me in?” 

Rico and Nelida looked at each other. 

Nelida’s eyes glimmered looking into the fire. “In the 80s, before your embrace, kindred society San Jose was settling down. The Tremere had accepted that there was no way they could push out the Hecata, and sequestered themselves to the North. A gang of Ventrue took it upon themselves to push down any would-be-upstarts, and so any who called themselves ‘baron’ only laid claim to small areas. Kindred were masters of their own domain.” 

Mel scratched the back of her neck. “Not like now.” 

Rico snorted, and Nelida gave her a small smile. “Well, do you know much about another kindred’s domain? Could you tell me what goes on in the Hecata’s turf, or up north, where the thinbloods are now?” 

She shook her head.

“Right, no, we don’t know much other than what they tell us. And no kindred talks about their own business - we’re secretive, and for good reason. So, back then, no one knew what was going on in the city at all, only across the street from their own haven. There was no coordination to look out for threats. We were all blind. Now - keep in mind, this was the 80s, so kindred did not have to contend with the Second Inquisition. No one was worried about kine hunters.”

Melinda smiled. “Y’all were careless.” 

Rico cut in. “Hey now. Me and Nelida, we were minding our damn business out here. Wasn’t our fault.”

“Yes Rico.” Nelida finished one braid and moved on to another. “But we are still affected by other’s recklessness. Now shh, let me tell it.” 

Melinda spoke up. “Wait, do we not like, need to do anything? Do we have time for this or should we be preparing for an attack or something?”

“No, I think he just wanted to give us a heads up. There’s nothing to be done, unless you have friends that you wish to warn. Now let me fill you in, like you asked.” The winter wind whispered and Nelida lowered her voice. “San Jose was experiencing a population boom. Whatever kine was your preference, it was not hard to find them. The Camarilla was not threatening the area. Unlife was good.” 

“So good in fact, that new kindred were moving in too. Without any centralized leadership, arguments over territory were common. Rico made his place here, and allowed other Gangrel to join him, but other clans were a lot more fractured. The Toreador and Malkavians practically drove each other out.” 

“Harrison is the reason why there’s no Roses in the city?” 

Nelida smiled. “Harrison wasn’t here yet. As I was saying though, there was conflict, and conflict draws attention. There was a Toreador named Miguel, a wonderful guitarist, beautiful, exactly who you are probably picturing right now. He had a penchant for attending concerts within the local music scene, even fraternizing with mortals there beyond one-night-stands. Unfortunately for Miguel, one of his favorite bands frequented venues in an area claimed by a Malkavian at the time named Gloria.” 

“Gloria got sick of seeing him, and despite warnings, he would not stop interacting with kine she considered hers.” Rico looked like he was about to say something, but was silenced by a look from Nelida. “She was known to kine as the landlord, a rather cruel one at that, and Miguel took advantage of this. He spurred those she collected rent from into action, protests and such, and had the bands support it.” 

“But some of the mortals he was supporting dug a little too deep, and found that she had been a landlord for two decades, despite only looking 30.” She looked from the fire into Melinda’s eyes. “If you wish to involve yourself in mortal business personally, your identity has an expiration date.” 

“Two of these kine, a couple, were assigned to keep looking into it. I do not know when they began to suspect something supernatural, but they surely caught wind.”

“Miguel won his fight, and Gloria ceded some territory to him. However, many months later, the couple confronted Gloria directly one night, and she was found staked and beheaded in an alley behind her haven.” 

“Such is the price of making mortals fight your battles - they have their own too. Miguel had put them on the scent. This all caused quite a stir, right Rico?” 

“Oh? Yeah. Yeah we were all freaked out by that. Gloria had been here for a long time, and she had a lotta connections. We didn’t know what those hunters had found by searching her shit. I mean, I wasn't too worried about myself and my pack, but others were. And soon enough, another Malkavian was reported killed, and another.” He stood up as he continued.

“After the third death we all really started to get our shit together. In the end it was actually the Tremere who found the pair. Probably tortured them for info that they didn’t fully share with the rest of us, but whatever. The final deaths stopped. But ever since then, kindred who live in the city or own shit have been a hell of a lot more careful. Plus, some people just started leaving, good riddance. It was getting too crazy here. And I thought things were pretty peaceful, until, well.” 

There was only the sound of the fire for a few seconds, until Melinda spoke. “Until tonight.”  

[swifty-fox]

Still mota hockey au

Do you know who esle is on the team? You were sepaking of Curt (and Crosby?) But is there any other 100th with them

Croz is second string left ( bit of a grocery stick til he gets bumped from third to second with Douglass, then becomes a real Grinder)

Rosie's on first string with Buck (plays hard, passes well just an all around good guy)

Curt, final member of the first string trio (certified goon despite his height, sick dangle, nasty slapshot and his uppercut has claimed many a mans teeth)

^ original post of the AU but since this is no longer just a throwaway post lets talk about what these guys DO and also who else we got.

*cracks knuckles* its education time

So hockey is a pretty wild sport. it's fast paced as hell, few real breaks or stoppages. You can be playing for 17 minutes straight sometimes and this is active play. you are RUNNING (well, skating)

Basic setup of a team:

You've got your starting Goaltender. usually the older more experienced of the two and then a backup. Usually the starting goalie plays the whole game sometimes they switch off halfway through. backup tendy is there in case and injury happens or the starting tendy is playing a shit game. Usually they'll have extra reserves they can call up (One year Penguins had to pull their 4th level backup dude was literally away at college and had to be flown in. he was good but mad inconsistent)

Bucky is starting goaltender, his backup is Jack Kidd.

Then you have your defensemen. All hockey players are big bois usually. these guys are the big boys of the big boys. total number of D-men per play is 2 and usually a team will run the same combos of two because some guys have better chemistry than others. Usually theres 3-4 sets (or strings) of defensemen. They're categorized by skill level. So first string are the best, fourth would be worst/the new guys. Sometimes they'll switch it up and throw a new guy with first or second string so he can get some schooling

I think for Dmen first string we've got Alex and Demarco They're a solid set-up and Demarco plays REALLY well off Bucky they know where each other is instinctually.

Forwards First string are USUALLy the star players of any team. they're generally the faces of the franchise though sometimes the goaltenders fill that role too. Forwards also are a set of 3 instead of 2. Like I said above that trip is Buck, Rosie and Curt. Buck and Rosie are pretty standard forwards but Curt is a little unusual as he's also kind of the team goon (brawler)

generally D-men are the fighters. they don't tend to be high-scorers and yes Curt isn't as high scoring as Rosie or Buck but he's got a high assist score and is in a very respectable spot

(moment of appreciation for my fave Goon Reavo)

youve got two types of fights in a hockey game usually. one is very hot headed spur of the moment brawl. usually this is after a dirty hit and the refs try to break it up. What Reavo is doing here is more of a gentleman's fight. it's something both parties agree too and as you can see the refs still call and end to it but more when sensing when the guys are done. It's conducted in a certain way (holding the other guys shoulder) and hits are really only to the face. Fights are used to motivate the team and the crowd, to settle some tension or to warn a guy off of targeting a teammate.

I like Reaves cause he's a beast but he does it the right way, hes not trying to truly hurt anyone like some guys do.

Thats Curts job on top of scoring. he defends Gale a LOT

So Crosby is also a forward. His narrative is similar where he struggles a lot to find his groove and so he's third string with Bubbles and Murph at first. But part of hocky is knowing how to slot guys together so it's Gales idea to bump Crosby up to second string (so second in skill only to first string rosie curt and buck) and he does better there. He's with Douglas and Blakely

third string is Bubbles, Murph and Brady.

I think Babyface and Quinn are the two rookie defensemen

[ghostfrog28]

Episode 4 Of My Greasefire Life!!

There is so much to talk about from this episode!

First of all, love that each member of the Greasefire trio (that’s what I’m calling them) has Lenna’s phone number. My headcanon is that her and Denny’s shit talk about the customers from their respective restaurants.

Second, I want to see more of Ashley’s roommates! They both are very funny and I want to see more of their dynamic with Ash, as well as how they would be with Thad and Denny’s.

Also, it’s kind of cute and funny to think of Ash going home and then just ranting to his roommates about his crush on Denny’s, similar to how girls in middle school would about the boys they like.

Third, Thad is Bi 🩷💜💙!! Love that for our lovable himbo! I do wonder what Duke was talking about when Thad said Duke was always “too much” that that wasn’t the only thing leading to them breaking up 🤔 if that sentence made sense.

Fourth, every time Lexi speaks, my burning hatred for her increases! She is such a bitch, not only for the way she talked about Ashley and how she talks to Denny’s, but what she said about Kelsey and Lin too!(I hope I spelled their names right) Especially Kelsey, cuz I’m not sure if it’s just me but Kelsey gives me lesbian vibes and her and Lin are like the “Straight Friend x Gay Friend” kind of duo. In short, I hate Lexi more now.

Alright! After that little tangent, I have more art for Sophie! (Escaped, these episodes are causing me to draw her so much, they might be the OC I’ve made the most drawings for)

I made Sophie more of a revealing kind of outfit for this episode since they were going to a party so there’s two pictures for this drawing, one showing some more of her tattoos and such and the other with the other clothes on top of it

Here is the first image without the other parts of her outfit. She has a few other tattoos such as a yin yang on her left arm

and on her left leg she has an Irish flower called a Fuchsia

as well as a quote.

"What runs down from the eye is not its water, but a soul which melts and drips."

There aren’t any other tattoos on her right arm but on their right leg they have a red telephone booth for her friend Alyssa who lives in Britain

as well as another quote.

"Crawl inside this body, find me where I am most ruined - love me there."

Also, she does have SH scars that I wanted to point out, since those were a bit more of her lore

I’ll write her story some other time and what led to those scars.

That’s all for that part, here is what the complete outfit looks like.

She also has converse, as well as combat boots. She also has another tattoo kind of peaking out from the cropped tank their wearing but I’ll show that in another drawing.

That’s all for this post, sorry it was so long. Great episode, can’t wait for more!

[juiceedapplee]

LONG ASS POST

Omg I wanna talk about the inconsistencies in rise of red cause ik it’s had to have been a few years since Audrey happened but omg what happened to Jane? Like ik mal, evie, and jay went on a trip but like we’ve never ever heard of anything else outside of the isle and the usa so where in the name of god did wonderland come from?????

Like I’d understand if it was on the isle but it isn’t, and if it was then mal and all them would’ve been aware of said place and they for sure would’ve taken over the isle cause no hate to jay, carlos, and evies parents but they aren’t taking down the queen of hearts

ESP SINCE EVEN IF THEY ALL WENT TO THE SAME SCHOOL THE ORIGINAL VKS ARE OLDER THAN THE NEW VKS

Which implies that either all of them are now old and decrepit, they all had their children a little too early, orrrrr maleficent, hades and hook aren’t actually them.

AND OMG WHERE ARE BENS PARENTS?????

Because the movie or maybe the whole trilogy (cause there’s no way just one movie coming out) is what I speculate to be the reason why villains were moved to the isle in the first place. And if that’s true then everyone or at least the people there at the time (fairy godmother, maleficient, ulyana, hook, hades, etc) would remember the incident although cause of time travel it didn’t happen.

Let’s address the time travel, If there are other incidents after what happens to the queen of hearts then it clearly didn’t affect her personality but it must’ve still affected how belle and the beast saw villains because nothing was said but because nothing was said is why we have to question whether or not villains were still banished to the isle.

If they weren’t then all the original vks stories will be very different especially Mals because in the first movie her mothers goal was to take over Auradon and steal the wand after they were invited to join the school. But if they weren’t exiled then mal is already going to that school and I don’t think her mother would care as much and try as hard as she did to get mal to steal/give her the wand.

If they were then there’s still a separate incident involving ulyanna and her friends. (if Bridgette/the qoh was someone so kind and stuff is that incident the reason she’s considered a vk or will the hearts always be villains?) Which might not affect the queen of hearts as much or as badly as the first one but still affecting auradon either as a whole or just the school and its students bad enough to warrant them being exiled.

The time travel plot potentially erases all of the lore from the previous movies, because if they keep going back and fixing problems, if said problems were the cause for the villains ending up on the isle, then the vks and maybe even the villains won’t be who they are today.

ALSO HOW LONG IS THE TIME GAP CAUSE RENOVATIONS WERE DONE IN BETWEEN THE THIRD AND FOURTH MOVIES AND THE WHOLE LAYOUT IS DIFFERENT SPEAKING OF WHICH WHY WOULD THEY CHANGE THE SCHOOL TO LOOK LIKE IT DID IN THE PAST IT JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSE IK LIKE FILM WISE ITS JUST EASIER FOR THE TEAM TO DO THAT THEN GO BACK TO THE CASTLE AND MAKE A WHOLE SEPARATE SET FOR THE TIME TRAVEL STUFF BUT FROM THE FGM AND THE QUEEN AND KINGS PERSPECTIVE THERES NO REASON TO DO THAT

AND WERENT MALEFICIENT, THE EVIL QUEEN, JAFAR, AND CRUELLA DE VIL LIKE BESTIES DURING SCHOOL WHY IS MALEFICIENT HANGING WITH ULYANNA???

That would imply they are of similar age which just doesn’t make sense because Ursula would then be older than those four but I’m pretty sure all the kids are of the same or similar age, did they have kids at the same time or something cause time wise it’s not clicking for me

ALSO SOMETHING THAT JUST CAME TO MIND BUT I TOTALLY THOUGHT THAT IF THERE WAS GONNA BE ANOTHER MOVIE THEN IT WOULDVE FOCUSED ON THE OLD NEW VKS DIZZY AND CELIA IM HOPING THEY APPEAR BUT ITS REALLY UNLIKELY

[movemnt]

so, this is me rambling through a rundown of most of what they cut from the final version of r.esident evil r.evelations 2. This is all summary of what was gathered from the horrid mess in the data files that a friend datamined and we sorted through about a year after the game released. It's a goddamn nightmare in there.

To make a very lengthy story short, they had the full game set to go until about 2 weeks to the first episode being released, and then basically halved it after delaying it for about another week with no explanation??? Nobody knows why they decided to go this route and we probably won't ever know. they left the game data in a bit of a cobbled mess with those data files still in it (and when I say it's a mess i mean it's a M E S S. it took three weeks to get just some of the dialogue that was missing and then much more to make some semblance of sense of the whole thing and piece it all together. like why not just delete all of it???? unless it was a case of 'if i remove this tomato the entire game will cease to function so it stays in this spot outside of the stage'-) and some dialogue tags and actions have zero context to them in the game in its current state.

i'm also not putting in the dialogue tags and am instead summarizing them because this post will be 10x longer than it is.

I also want to note that as much shit as I'm about to give it I fucking adore this goddamn game, it got me through some very dark times in my life, I even have Moira as my alias for most websites- it's amazing, but the fact that they left this much is kinda bizarre and makes me wonder what could have been. also it's v weird to do this summary again. i've done it once before but some details are missing from what i had in a draft of the deleted post i wrote and the post that a friend wrote so some of this is from memory.

alas.

The first episode is basically the same in terms of story. Claire and Moira get kidnapped, they wake up and Moira is freed after Claire does the first puzzle in the cells. It's much more hyper in pace and intense then smoothed into the more liminal space horror that we get in the prison currently. It was lengthy on both sides with a bit more of a reflection on things from barry's side in reference to Moira and LOTS. OF. PUZZLES. ON CLAIRE'S SIDE. kind of a blessing i'm not going to lie. alex went fucking hard (she literally set all these traps herself with a bit of help from neil) and her dialogue tags are ruthless. the xbox 360 demo they sent to cons and press reflect this.

The second episode... jesus fucking christ my guys.

For Claire's side: So instead of the ending being based solely on the choice you make in the third episode, there were a couple of different choices you can make in the second alluding to different endings where some characters die, some don't, ALL CHARACTERS DIE, all but one live, etc (I'll explain this in the fourth episode). Basically, you can help guide Moira's conquered fear a bit more instead of making it based around this one pivotal moment. It's a nice, slow blend into the root cause of her fear. She even talks more about what happened and Claire encourages her to try to protect herself more, even knowing what happened. Moira seems a bit more sympathetic, though is still angry at Barry for being over"bear"ing (ba dum tiss). It's not a constant slew of 'I HATE BARRY'' 'DOES HE ALWAYS TELL THAT AWFUL JOKE' and teenage-ish angst, there's actually much more of a blended mix of her trying to process what's going on and what happened between her and polly years ago. ( also there's a lot of what I like to call "Burton Joke Moments" lmao )

Also. I must state that the N.eil x C.laire dialogue was not present and actually isn't present in the original script of the game still, either in the old version and in the script in the japanese version. C-usa is notorious for implying things in their translation of R.esident E.vil stories (they got some fucking fire up their ass from Capcom and the development team after this one though, it was BAD.). The basis in the japanese script is that they were coworkers, he's the boss, without him terra save might crumble, and the script went more in the route of Claire being concerned about Neil as the leader of Terra Save as a whole.

Also, CLAIRE ACTUALLY ACTS LIKE CLAIRE. While the moment of Moira and Natalia bonding over the bracelets is still present and connected with the other pieces of dialogue, in the pieces of dialogue we found she is much more presently concerned with the actual fucking child they have tagging along with them. "Natalia, are you okay?" "You can come down" "Can you jump that high?" "Do the monsters scare you?" "You've got this, we'll get you out of here, don't worry." "Wow you're strong!" "do you need to catch your breath?" etc. While some of what was found can also be implied to be towards Moira, all of it sounds much more uplifting towards the kid than what we get in the present version.

Pedro's death is marginally the same, though the dialogue is that much more heartbreaking. That man was so fucking scared and Alex taunting him seemingly pushed him even more and made him an example of what those bracelets can do. Claire is also much more reassuring to him and trying to take charge of the situation before it eventually goes to the hell it turns into.

that's what i remember of claire's side, barry's side-

It was so much more creepy because Alex actually follows and watches you throughout the chapter (tbh a bit of an inside joke between me and a friend is that Alex walked so MR. X could run). There's animations and coding that imply she was supposed to be loaded into each scene in the city. Once you load it with the monster Alex model that's covered, she is permanently Watching you it's really fucking weird and was honestly funny to watch my friend test out (after it took hours to get it to Function). This also goes along with the present implications of her watching through cameras and through the revenants. She is literally Always watching you.

Speaking of! Fun Fact that I love just bc of its creepy factor- Alex is literally watching you through the revenants, but even this mechanic seems a bit faulty, or it's faulty on purpose? They don't seem to see Natalia, but heaven forbid they touch Barry if he's hiding it's an immediate grab (npc controlled or not). Oddly enough this is kinda the same for Moira in Moira's dlc chapter. They see her but also kinda dont? i'll explore that in my own hc for her later. Makes me wonder if they have this whole system of snuffing out who's infected and who's not it's really fucking cool. Or if it's glitchy. I'm gonna go for the former option bc it's cool.

anyway- that is most of what i recall from his side of ep 2, i think there was more with the pedro fight but it was mostly repeats of his scared rant in claire's side, if i remember more i'll add on to this.

episode 3-

i dont remember much about anything before the big neil fight, so im not sure if much of it changed aside from the aforementioned script stuff with claire and neil. there was a bit more talk about barry from moira following the encounter with evgeny and it's much more defeated than the high strung nature we get from her in the first chapter. "i didnt have to be told i did something bad" or smth turned into something like "i just wished we could have talked more without being stubborn". like honestly it seems less that they always fought, but were more complacent and silently tense until one of them poked the bear. kinda like a "not causing a fight for the family" sorta deal???

the fight though- i think it would have been so much stronger with the dialogue that was taken out. like i am not saying i dont like 'WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE PEOPLE IT'S IN THE GODDAMN NAME!' but, claire is really going in on what neil has been doing, she's much more reactive after she has gotten some more clarity on what neil has been doing.

there's also like this document found in the chamber where you can find the dead butler, and it talks about albert and his visits and how ppl would just look really weirdly at this dude dressed all in black leather and telling them not to mind him lmao

barry's side didn't change much. barry's discovery of evgeny and then of moira's phone hit me like a goddamn brick wall and i dont think it changed much aside from the little different bits of dialogue you can hear from moira in episode four (i'll explain this in episode 4's piece)

now. episode 4.

holy shit on a shitstick-

some of this will be a mish mash of what i remember, what is missing, what is in concept art pieces, and what we had to gather from all of the above.

Starting with Claire's episode. So, there's a massive reason why claire episode 4 is only 10 minutes long as opposed to the other chapters, in short, there was a LOT cut out of it and connected to other pieces that were cut out, etc. I'll start with smaller bits of info and go up into the rather massive thing that we could only piece together and theorize about because, quite frankly and as much as this might make no sense, what we found makes no goddamn sense unless we connect it to scene stuff.

so, little weird things first- moira was supposed to get a katana from the tower at one point. for some reason alex kept one around, highly suspected to be albert's but i don't know. there's also a silenced pistol that implies that claire was supposed to silently shoot at the glasps that are released once the tower starts to go into self destruct mode. There's supposed to be more puzzles strewn about the lab, and more sight seeing around it too. Like you were supposed to see around it a lot more and not just from the confines of a glass box.

and then you get to moira's death.

you were supposed to hear her voice recording to barry as claire is walking away. that's fucking heart wrenching. like there's a reason why she has her phone in hand but not doing anything with it- she was about to record her final words to her dad, thinking she was about to die.

Now the big thing.

When you take the camera away from the insulated box they have you in with claire and moira and go beyond alex, you can find some bits and trinkets: two hospital beds (of which you can already see) some tricell equipment and purple tubes with rocks. Close inspection shows that they look a hell of a lot like lava rocks. Now hold on you may say, would that imply alex was trying to clone a certain brother of hers- i don't believe so. However, it implies that she had his dna. It's also implied that she was testing out what she was doing with natalia to see if she could do the same with albert's dna. which. makes a lot of other things make sense. Honest to god the one thing i hate about the way they did this is all the disconnected plot lines, like the one that "you were right albert it's not enough to live i want to transcend" alludes to. Like they left that in there and just didn't bother to explain why and let you assume he just rambled on about it to her one time and he continued that ramble into 5- yeah just. ugh.

another thing to ramble about before going into the brief discussion about barry's episode 4- the ending of barry's episode 3 (among other things) is just so. so unclear without the piece that is missing from claire's episode 4. alex grabs natalia and there's a brief moment where alex shows genuine fear, that's because her experiment worked, but only half way. See, half of her escaped and transferred into natalia and now lays dormant, the other half, however, is cursed to stay into the mutated form she is in. The only problem is this half in natalia is the worst half. this is where the "true or false, you, natalia, are false, i alone am true" thing and her raging hatred for natalia comes into play. only thing is they didnt show this or explain it.

and then barry's episode 4.

so, the multi-endings bit kinda comes into play here. Right now we have only two endings, a good ending and a bad ending. However, there's parts that make it look like the ending was supposed to be split up. Barry and Moira were supposed to work together for a bit (like when they escaped the area the first boss fight with alex happened in, it just cuts to them somehow running outside even though this cave was DEEP into the ground), there's some lines for evgeny (even though he dies which is honestly really curious).

that's honestly all i can recall at the current moment and as i dive into old files i might find more. hope yall enjoyed my ramblings.

[gorillawithautism]

the autism in me can't tell if you're trying to be snarky about it or if you're genuinely asking so if this backfires on me i'll just block and move on but i'll try to act like you were being genuine and not just giving sass to a palestinian for no good reason :)

olly (a palestinian) made a post is discussing the fact their culture is just that: a culture. it is rich and it's meaningful. it's nuanced and diverse. however, olly has also noticed that some people who aren't palestinian take this culture and flatten it. they appropriate it. they wear it like a costume. using aspects of the culture to signal in a two dimensional way that they are Morally Upright by (theoretically) Supporting Palestinians. however, it's impossible to tell how much someone truly supports palestinian liberation and decolonization from just a garment of clothing or something similar. that means that these people are not doing anything substantial for the cause by appropriating the culture in this way. they oversimplify and misrepresent it. and this behavior ultimately harms palestinians. because olly is palestinian, they know exactly how much this hurts them, their people, and their liberation.

now that i've so kindly explained what cultural appropriation and virtue signalling are, we can move on to how your responses were unhelpful at best, and actively antagonistic at worst! :) isn't that exciting <3

you posted "No. Stop this. When a culture is on the receiving end of a genocide, that is not the time to stop and consider the purity of your intentions. Of course it is important, but wouldn't you agree that celebrating any shred of Palestinian culture is what is important right now? Liberals love making perfect the enemy of good. Get out of your head and do whatever you can. This isn't the time for this kind of nonsense."

in the first two sentences, you commanded them to stop. you positioned yourself as more powerful and more knowledgeable than olly. this established two things right off the bat: that you do not know anything at all about olly and that you believe yourself to know better than them despite this. in the third sentence, you act as though it is unquestionably impossible for nonpalestinian antizionists to truly have pure intentions when engaging palestinian culture, community, and liberation. there are people out there who listen to palestinians when they speak. there are people out there who believe that being kind to palestinians is just as important as ending their genocide. there are people out there who know that just because the nature of genocide dehumanizes its victims, that does not mean we must also treat them as though kindness is not a priority. in the fourth sentence, you pose a question. a question that acknowledges that kindness and sensitivity is important in one breath but then acts unkind to olly in the next. you act as though "celebrating any shred of palestinian culture" is a service, regardless of whether that celebration is a respectful one or not. you act as though respect is not important, despite starting the question itself with "of course it is important" which tells me that you don't really believe that yourself. respectfully engaging with palestinians as though they are real people living real lives with real families and real cultural history is clearly not as important to you as being a Good Person who (theoretically) Supports Palestinians. that is exactly the sort of virtue signalling discussed above, both in olly's original post and when i (a nonpalestinian white person) re-explained it. perhaps some part of you realized that olly's target audience was people like yourself. or perhaps you missed that entirely because you weren't willing to try listening to them. either way that's kinda embarrassing ngl. i can see why you might get defensive instead of doing any amount of self reflection. finally, we come to the last bit of your initial reblog. honestly it's not that important to discuss bc i think i mostly covered everything but i do want to point out that it's kinda funny that you called olly a liberal. and you said that they are making "an enemy of good." who's the "good" in this? is it supposed to be you? are you the good guy here? is being disrespectful to palestinians on the internet something that good guys do?

anyway hopefulaly you now see that there was not a single person saying anything about "hesitation and inaction" since i was so gracious to do an analysis of olly's post :) one that you should have done yourself :) and next time, if that analysis is something that's difficult for you, i recommend asking questions instead of immediately jumping to being a dick. as long as you're cordial about it, i'm sure people won't mind explaining a couple things

palestinian culture isn't something for you to "consume". buying as many "palestinian themed" things as possible isn't being an ally. please focus on real life decolonization rather than being a performative ally. pay attention whether you are actually appreciating the culture or just consuming it for your own self interest and gain.

[endversewinchester]

I think Rebel Alliance soldiers vs Galactic Empire make a compelling anti war story than Acolyte. Further more as Rebel Alliance soldiers can take it to far to the extreme as shown in Andor and Rogue One if they are pushed too far. From the Galactic Empire said we can see from a point of view how they are also bad with the crimes they commit related to historical matters. This is why I think Star Wars Acolyte story does not hold weight as it doesn't make a convincing the jedi are bad as it isn't well written as the kind of story knights of the old republic and especially its sequel game have done showing the bad sides of the Jedi. Everything in Acolyte seems rushed, the main character Osha is far too similar to Sabine Wrens handling in live action Ahsoka or should I say repeating the same mistakes as Sabine Wren had done in Ahsoka. New Star Wars writers post The Mandalorian and Andor think women heroes in star wars committing far more selfish acts of evil make strong compelling characters. Am I not the only one who noticed Sabine Wren and Osha are portrayed as inexperienced and easily corruptible manipulated good aligned force users? This is bad writing for the women of Star Wars. Ahsoka who is a no nonsense hard fought rebel morally grey Jedi should have been more focused on training Sabine Wren to control her emotions first before using her force jedi powers as mental health is just more important with the power of friendship, sympathy, and empathy than power itself. I do not like how dehumanized Sabine Wren became now I hate how dehumanized Osha is as well. I believed Osha was going to be on a path like Luke Skywalker optimistic willing to do some good as he would in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope but the terrible direction writing is causing Osha to receive hate from negative critics.

So you’re saying you’d like more on the OT era. That’s valid! I think between the OT, Kenobi, Andor, Tales of the Jedi, Star Wars Rebels, The Bad Batch and Rogue One we have a lot of content in that era. It’s understandable that lucasfilm wanted to do something different as for the stories not to get repetitive.

I don’t think the point of the acolyte is the Jedi are bad, anon. The show went through great lengths to establish that Sol made a series of mistakes based on the information he had at the time rather than the actual truth. Fandom is treating it as “Jedi bad” but the show really didn’t go there. Instead they are criticizing the entitlement of the Order in believing they know best about everything.

Second, I don’t agree Sabine and Osha are alike? Lol. Sabine has a much stronger personality than Osha ever did, and she renounced being a Jedi because she couldn’t get a hold of the force. Osha otoh is already force sensitive and she was “expelled” from the Order for not being able to put her past behind her. It’s not the same arc, but you are allowed to dislike one or both of them.

I also don’t think either one of them are easily corrupted force users? Lol WHAT. Just because Qimir upset her doesn’t mean she will turn into a Sith and go around slaying everyone in her path. And Sabine was selfish, yes, but Ezra and her are extremely close and she made a choice to protect someone she loved.

Guess which character we spent the entirety of tcw watching who forfeited being good for the sake of his friends and family?

And yet I don’t see you or anyone else say that’s bad writing, or that he’s weak. So we’ll agree to disagree there.

Third: I personally dislike force sensitive Sabine as a plot, however you are forgetting Ahsoka didn’t want a padawan. We see her refuse to train Grogu. She wasn’t ready because she had a lot of Anakin-related trauma which is very valid and was only resolved on screen in episode 5 of that show. A little after that is where Sabine learns how to use the force. It’s called character development. To say they are done dirty because they need to go through growth in their arcs is certainly a take.

And fourth: people are review bombing and using bots to bash the acolyte without even watching the episodes. (Seriously. The ratings go down before the episodes are even out). The hate isn’t legitimate. They are doing it because of women, people of color, space lesbians. It doesn’t have anything to do with writing and I would not waste my time worrying about the people running those bots if I were you.

[wordsofrowan]

From Ashes to Embers

Chapter 11 - One Scoop for Two

I sat on my bed, tears streaming down my face. It had been a couple of weeks since that movie date with Luka, and the constant juggling between school, Shadow Moth's relentless akumas, and my duties as Ladybug was taking its toll on our relationship. As I scrolled through Luka's most recent Instagram post, my heart sank at the sight of him standing with a stunning girl, her multicolored hair exuding an aura of confidence and charm. A wave of sadness washed over me as I couldn't help but feel like I was losing him.

In the photo, Luka looked so happy, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was happier with her than he was with me. The thought of all the times I had to abandon Luka on our dates because of my responsibilities as Ladybug made my heart ache. I loved him deeply, but it felt like I was constantly letting him down.

As the tears continued to flow, I couldn't help but blame myself for the growing wedge between us. The weight of my duty as Ladybug and the burden of keeping my identity a secret from Luka were taking a toll on our relationship. I knew he cared about me, but I couldn't shake the fear that he would eventually get tired of my constant disappearances and broken promises.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette. I'm sure this must be hard for you," Tikki said, her tiny form hovering close to my face, radiating warmth and comfort. "Maybe if you talk to him and explain that you're going through a hard time, he'll understand?"

Despite Tikki's kind words, the overwhelming guilt continued to weigh me down. Tears flowed freely as I tried to articulate the depth of my remorse. "No, Tikki, you don't understand," I managed to say, my voice trembling between sobs. "I fear that Luka must hate me by now. On our second date, a sentimonster appeared, and I had to run out on him. I left him standing there, telling him I needed to get napkins quickly to prevent the ice cream from melting. But by the time I returned, the cart and the ice cream were already gone."

My words were filled with regret as I poured out the painful memories of my mistakes. "Then, on our third date, an akuma flew by, and I made him stop so I could help a friend. It was a weak excuse, considering we had planned our date. And on our fourth date, he was excited for me to watch him perform with Kitty Section. But I was late due to an akuma attack and absurdly told him about mosquitoes on the boat, claiming I needed to go back home for insect repellent. I didn't even have any repellent with me, so he must think I'm a liar. I hate this, Tikki. I hate how I'm hurting him."

With each confession, the weight on my chest grew heavier. My heart ached, knowing that my actions were causing me anguish and tarnishing the love that Luka and I shared. I longed for a way to make things right, to mend the fractures in our relationship, and to prove to Luka that he meant everything to me.

Tikki's comforting presence reminded me that I wasn't alone in this struggle. She fluttered closer to me, offering a gentle touch of support. "Marinette, we all make mistakes," she said with unwavering kindness. "Luka cares about you deeply, and I believe he'll understand if you talk to him and share what's been weighing on your heart. You two have a strong connection, and he'll appreciate your honesty."

Before I could answer, my phone started ringing, interrupting Tikki and me. I glanced at the screen, and Luka's name flashed brightly. Without hesitation, I answered the call.

"Hey, Luka, what's going on?" I asked, trying to sound composed despite the lingering traces of sadness in my voice.

Luka's voice carried a hint of excitement and anticipation. "Marinette, do you think you can come to the Liberty? There's someone I want you to meet."

His request surprised me, but curiosity quickly replaced the heaviness in my heart. "Of course, Luka. Let me just freshen up a little, and I'll be right there."

The call ended, and I retreated to the bathroom, seeking solace in the cool water that cascaded over my face. As I gazed into the mirror, my own reflection stared back at me, a testament to the strength and determination that burned within me. I wiped away the remnants of my tears, refusing to let them define me.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my wardrobe, carefully selecting an outfit that spoke volumes about my intentions. I chose a vibrant, colorful ensemble, adorned with patterns that mirrored the kaleidoscope of emotions swirling within me. Each piece of clothing symbolized my resolve to mend the fractures in my relationship with Luka, to rebuild the trust and understanding we had once shared.

The white eyelet sundress hugged my body gently, filling me with a sense of elegance and confidence. I then gracefully slipped into a pair of delicate white lace stockings, their soft fabric caressing my skin like a gentle breeze. For the shoes, I chose white criss-cross espadrille sandals, their comfort allowing me to walk with assurance.

I turned my attention to my jewelry collection, selecting a simple rose-gold heart necklace with my initials on it, a ladybug charm anklet, and a charm bracelet that held sentimental value from my parents. Each accessory carried a piece of my heart, a reminder of the love and support I had in my life.

Finally, I completed the look with a cropped pink knit cardigan, its softness wrapping around me like a warm embrace. As I swung my pink heart-shaped handbag over my shoulder, I motioned for Tikki to stay safely inside.

With every piece in place, I felt a renewed sense of determination, ready to face whatever awaited me at the Liberty. This outfit wasn't just a fashion choice; it was an armor of my feelings, a declaration of my commitment to make things right with Luka. As I stepped out the door, I knew that the journey ahead wouldn't be easy, but my love for Luka was worth every effort.

Arriving at the Liberty, a rush of emotions overwhelmed me, mixing dread with a tinge of jealousy. There stood Luka with the girl from his Instagram post, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of insecurity. She was undeniably beautiful, and even though I wanted to dislike her, her captivating presence made it difficult to harbor any negative feelings. Her dark rainbow hair flowed like a mesmerizing waterfall, and her edgy outfit exuded confidence and style. The black leather jacket paired with a fitted black dress, fishnet stockings, and knee-high lace-up boots created an aura of allure that was hard to ignore. Each accessory, from the striking silver statement necklace to the ornate hairpins and dark red nails, added to her enigmatic charm.

Luka's gaze towards her was filled with warmth and affection, and it only intensified the pain in my heart. The love and care he displayed made me yearn for a chance to regain his trust and affection. I wanted to be the one he looked at with such tenderness, the one who held a special place in his heart.

Feeling a mix of determination and vulnerability, I knew I needed to make things right with him. I didn't want to lose him to the shadows of misunderstandings and mistakes. I wanted him to see how deeply I cared for him and that I was willing to work on our relationship with every ounce of my being.

With a mixture of trepidation and determination, I mustered the courage to approach them, my footsteps cautious as I inched closer to overhear snippets of their conversation.

"Do I actually need to meet her, Lulu?" The girl's voice carried a hint of skepticism, and her question piqued my curiosity. Who was she, and why did she seem so possessive of Luka's attention? My heart raced as I waited for Luka's response, hoping to gain insight into their relationship.

Luka's reply was steady and composed, a testament to his calm nature even in the face of doubts. "Come on, Noemi. She is my girlfriend. Can't you give her a small chance, at least for my sake?" His words resonated with a gentle plea, and I admired his determination to bridge the gap between us.

However, Noemi's response sent a pang of hurt through me. "Why should I? From everything you've told me, she doesn't exactly sound like the best person." Her doubt lingered in the air, and her words cut through me like a knife. I knew why she thought that, but I couldn't help but feel hurt and broken by that comment. The weight of her words bore down on my already burdened heart, making me feel as if I was being judged solely based on my mistakes.

Hearing those words, an instinctual reaction surged within me, and I instantly wanted to turn and run away. The desire to escape from the pain and judgment overwhelmed me, but I fought against it, reminding myself that running away wouldn't solve anything. Instead, I took a deep breath, finding strength in the face of my vulnerability.

“Hey, Luka,” I said, plastering a smile on my face as I turned to look at Noemi, “Hello, I’m Marinette, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.” As I greeted Noemi with a smile, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of unease in the air. The tension between us was palpable, and I wondered how this encounter would unfold. 

Mari! I'm so glad you're here," Luka said enthusiastically, introducing me to Noemi. "Marinette, this is Noemi, my best friend in the whole world. Noemi, this is Marinette, my girlfriend, and the one I've been telling you about."

As the words left his lips, I saw Noemi's eyes narrowing slightly, her gaze fixed on me. I felt a knot forming in my stomach, unsure of how she would react to me in person. Trying to ease the tension, I extended a hand towards her. "Well, hi, Noemi. It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, attempting to maintain a friendly demeanor.“She sure seems really cool.” 

But before I could say anything further, Noemi interjected, correcting my assumption. "They," she-they said firmly, emphasizing their preferred pronouns, "I'm Nonbinary, my pronouns are they/them."

"It's nice to meet you, Noemi," I said with a slight smile on my face, trying to maintain a friendly demeanor. "Luka hasn't really mentioned you before."

Noemi's guarded expression softened slightly, but skepticism still lingered in their eyes as they replied cautiously, "Well I’ve definitely heard about you." As the words left Noemi’s lips I couldn’t help the glare that settled on my face as I looked at them. 

 "I understand that you may have reservations about me based on what Luka has shared. But I want you to know that I'm genuinely trying to be a better person and to make things right. Luka means the world to me, and I would never intentionally hurt him."

Noemi's response came out with a scathing edge, cutting through the air like a sharp blade. "Sure, that's why you constantly ditched him, consistently neglected him, and left him hanging high and dry." Their tone was filled with accusations, and I felt the weight of their words pierce my heart.

Luka's expression shifted from surprise to concern, his eyes searching for a response from me. I felt a mix of emotions welling up inside me – guilt, shame, and frustration at myself for hurting Luka repeatedly.

"It's not like that," I tried to explain, my voice tinged with regret. "I never intended to hurt him. It's just…”

“Just what Marinette?” They asked and I couldn’t bring myself to answer, “That's what I thought.  Excuses," they retorted, their voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know, Marinette, actions speak louder than words. Luka deserves better than someone who prioritizes everything else over him.” 

"I... I never meant to hurt him," I stammered, my voice wavering with emotion. "I care about him so much, but it's just so complicated.”

Noemi's expression remained unyielding, unmoved by my attempt to justify my actions. "That may be true, but you also have a choice. You can choose to prioritize Luka and your relationship with him. But it seems like you've already made your choice."

Tears welled up in my eyes as I felt the weight of their words. I had made choices, and they had consequences. I had hurt Luka, and it was a painful truth I couldn't escape. Noemi's presence only served as a reminder of my failures. I took one more look at Luka, my vision blurred by tears threatening to spill.

"I..." I started, my voice choking with emotion, "I have to go." I managed to say as tears streamed down my cheeks. I turned away, unable to bear the pain of facing Luka and Noemi in that moment.

As I ran, my heart felt heavy with regret and sorrow. The conversation with Noemi had opened my eyes to the damage I had caused, and it was overwhelming. I didn't want to face Luka until I could sort through my feelings and find a way to make things right.

In the midst of my tears, I heard Luka's voice calling after me, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. My emotions were in turmoil, and I needed time to gather my thoughts and find a way to fix what I had broken.

XoXo Rowan

[anotherwarriorcatfan]

My First Ever Post!

I plan to create a original Warrior Cat world of my own, and post it here for anyone to look at who may be interested! This is my first time doing this so It might be a little bit of a mess, but I'll try my best. This won't be posted according to a timeline or anything like that, though I do plan to make a timeline once I post enough things here.

Here are three important characters:

Sol (Sun in Latin) They are one of the leaders from when there was only a single clan, in the very beginning. They became leader near the end of this era, and they are often considered the reason this era ended. They were cursed from the beginning, their sibling were supposed to take their place. This change is what doomed the First Clan, and others after. They are a living omen, their rebirth signaling the often bloody end of a era. While they embody destruction they are not without conscience or suffering. They wish to save those around them, to end the suffering of those around them, but no matter how hard they try they never will be able to. They are doomed to watch the destruction of all they knew and loved, be reborn, repeat history all over again, and remember it all. Eventually this desire to save those around them will fade, but never fully leave, they will forget about those they once knew, and they will begin seeking The Immortals complete destruction. They will do whatever they need to do to achieve this goal, no matter how cruel or bloody. Though once again, they do not lack a conscience, no matter how they may claim otherwise, or appear on the outside.

(The Immortals are pretty much my worlds version of StarClan, except they are worse than StarClan, and aren't all powerful. I'll talk more about them eventually, its very important for my world I'm making. Also yes I'm heavily inspired by Warrior Cats, this will be its own thing I promise-)

Maan (Moon in Afrikaans, can sound like mon when pronounced, I'm pretty sure at least-)

They are Sol's counter part. They were supposed to be leader instead of Sol, but because of the cat that was leader when Sol and Maan where young, that never happened. He created a group that ultimately destroyed the First Clan, and made it split, creating the Second Clans. They are often a cruel cat, but are not rotten to the core. They were kind, but they had to bury that kindness to survive. That kindness still exists, no matter how hidden it may be. They like Sol will be reborn, but won't remember their previous lives unlike Sol. They will often play the role they played in their first life. They destroy the clans, and Sol tries to save them. Though nothing will stay the same forever, for everything changes eventually.

(He was originally a kitty pet, along with Sol. That's why I let them have names from other languages. Makes more sense if a human named em then a cat.)

(The Second Clans are the clans that come after the original one, the same goes for the Third Clans, the Fourth, and so on.)

A forgotten leader: (Ash)

They are the one that actually doomed the First Clan. They chased off Maan, and made it so Sol ultimately became leader. He is one of countless cats forgotten, blinded, and corrupted by The Immortals. They betrayed their brother, killing him to become leader. In life they lacked a conscience, they saw all their actions as needed, justified, and what The Immortals wanted, but death may change this. They were punished by The Immortals for their actions, and are forced to follow Sol and Maan to see the consequence of their actions as a ghost. They cannot interact with the living world, so they can never fix their mistakes, its not like they could even fix them, but they are forced to see them all constantly. They are forced to see what they caused.

(Fun Fact: A judge is what gives out punishments from The Immortals. More info will be given on them eventually.)

[tboyautism]

[image IDs: first image is of a tweet by @/TheQueerQuirk. It reads "We're officially the 🔌 (plug emoji) to get HRT style pills without a doctors note. the tweet also contains a link to the product "I cant believe its not estrogen". The second image is a screenshot of the description for "I can't believe it's not estrogen" on the seller Estrolab's website. It reads "And let's talk about the benefits! 'I can't believe it's not estrogen' is like your very own magical, hormone-boosting fairy godmother. Wether you're hitting high notes in the voice pitching app, or casually pursuing r/traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaans while sneaking glances at your developing chest bumps, these estrogen enhancing essentials are just the right spice to add to your transformation stew. So go ahead, let 'I can't believe it's not estrogen' lead the cha-cha-cha of your life. After all, who needs a fairy godmother when you've got Ashwagandha by your side?" The third image is of another product on Estrolab's site, called "Femboy tummy pills", being sold for 44.95 USD. The pills are white and unmarked, and are the laxatives the poster is referring to. The third and fourth images are both screenshots of a reddit post by Dr Will Powers, with a link to Estrolab's website, followed by text reading "This website is selling a product they call 'I can't believe it's not estrogen' and the marketing is clearly such that it is targeted at transgender women who do not have access to hormone therapy. There are testimonials claiming how well it works and all kinds of other nonsense. Ashwagandha as a natural root/drug raises your normal levels of LH. Luteinizing hormone acts on whatever gonads you have to increase their output. As a result, a pre-hrt transgender women taking the supplement would literally produce more testosterone on it than they would normally produce, inducing the literal opposite effects of what is advertised. This has been sent to me now by both a friend and a patient asking if it was a good idea for them to take to help with their transition. It is not, not only is it for an MTF that's pre-hrt, it's just a flat-out evil and cruel thing to do. Normally I don't make warnings on stuff like this but this is trending on twitter right now and I want to make sure that nobody that comes here is ever fooled by some nonsense like this. Please be very careful when it comes to taking supplements that can alter your hormones. This post they have made, it's been viewed over a million times. I shudder to think how many people who don't have access to gender affirming therapy or who have lost it in states like florida will be fooled by this and end up making their situation even worse so that someone else can profit off their suffering. The fifth image is a continuation of the text on the fourth image, reading "Supplements that claim to boost your estrogen often do the exact inverse effect if you are an MTF because the way that they function is to increase the output of gonads. So for cisgender women, yes, that is exactly what it will do. But if you have testicles, it's just going to make you make more testosterone." He then includes a link to the original twitter poster and an edit that reads "Edit: finally twitter is showing some evidence that this would do the exact opposite of what it's claiming to do." END IDS.

I also feel the need to include this addition, this shows the purposeful maliciousness. This was meant to be evil and cause harm from the start. https://www.tumblr.com/tboyautism/719604175696281600

This site has been going around Twitter trans accounts quite a bit lately, so just pointing out here too that it'll do fuck all, they're exploiting trans people at a time when hrt is particularly hard to access and please don't give them your money

[coffeefueledmachine]

Social Issues in the Philippines and Why are We Still Suffering From Them

By Rubie Ryan G. Cabigas

Hi guys. It’s me again, the author of the blog posts entitled “A Day In My Life” and “What I Learned in ED Tech.” Today, we will be talking about a topic that hits and rubs us in the wrong way. Our case will focus on our country's most common, redundant, and tragic social issues that have been with us since immemorial. And these social issues are also constantly evolving with time. I hope you are all prepared to get triggered and hit with all I’m about to spill. These social issues are in no particular order since they are all interconnected. And I will tackle five social problems that are, in my opinion, the most crucial and needs immediate and lasting solutions.

The first one that we will discuss in this list of social problems, and the most “hard” to deal with, is poverty. We are all affected by this social issue. And it’s getting worse, especially with the rising inflation rate. You may be wondering (or maybe not) why this issue persists. The causes of poverty are so diverse, complex, and interconnected with one another. And because of this, many other social problems pop up and remain.

The second one is inequality. This social issue has been with us since the old times, and we haven’t got rid of it. It presents itself in many ways, but the most common and evident is the gap between the rich and the poor. Those who have monetary powers will receive privileges. And those who lack that power are usually exploited and given little to none pushing them to extreme and risky ways of survival.

The third one is the lack of access to education. It is one of the most crucial social issues in our country. It leaves our poor citizens at a disadvantage, especially in finding a good paying job, and they are prone to exploitation. Many Filipino children do not have access to education, and some are incapable of finishing elementary education. It is a consequence of several factors, including poverty and distance from schools. The lack of access to education leads to increased rates of unemployment (and poverty), as well as an increase in population (lack of sex education), decrease in life expectancy and increase in morbidity rates.

The fourth one is about crime. When I say criminal action, it is not just the big ones like murder or the illegal drug trade. It also includes petty crimes, like pickpocketing and stealing food from a grocery store. You see, people commit crimes for various reasons. One of the prominent reasons is poverty. Most of the suspects are usually people who are in the poverty line index in our society. The hungry ones, the desperate ones, and the ones who want “easy money” for their family, these people are the ones who are susceptible to exploitation and are “easy” to convict due to the lack of power and lack of access to true justice.

The last one on my list of social problems is corruption. Let’s admit that corruption is already a big part of our society (and ourselves) and one of the most difficult to address. It is evident in many ways, but the most visible is the disparity between rich and poor. Some rich people use their money to grow their influence and manipulate things around them, while the poor get exploited. This situation escalates tension, conflict, and desperation among those who feel their life will never improve. It also leads to mistrust towards the government and its institution, causing decreased efficiency and effectiveness.

Now that we have finished describing these social problems and their effects on us, I will now point out two main reasons (in my opinion) why we are still suffering from these:

Greed. Let’s admit it, we all have it inside of us. We are all controlled by it, ruled by it, and manipulated by it. We tend to choose the easy way out to achieve what we want, which results in our demise. Well, we all have our reasons to justify our greedy actions. Some do it for the sake of their families. Some do it for power and influence. The latter is the scumbag kind of people.

We never learn. Yup, you read it right. Even though we experienced being deceived and exploited, we tend to believe in lies that will do the “right” thing. Guess what? They’ve done it again while laughing at our faces saying, “Naniwala naman kayo?” We are easily swayed by their sweet words and false promises, only to end up in a messed-up situation.

Now that I have laid out all my opinions about these social problems and the reasons why we’re still suffering from them, I hope that this blog post of mine will open up your eyes and give you a couple of hints on how we, citizens of this country, can make a change. It doesn’t just involve the government and institutions. It needs us, citizens, to get involved and start the change within ourselves so that it will resonate with the people around us and be the agents of change in our country and society.

Before I end this blog post, I hope you learned something about these social problems from my point of view. Adios, my readers. Stay safe, and God bless you all.

[makeste]

BnHA Episode 122, a.k.a. NOBUHIKO YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN

THEY CAN'T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!

oh my god.

so first off, let's just get the one big major criticism out of the way: this episode was definitely not up to the same high quality standards as the first third of this season. and hey, I get it! you're doing 24 episodes in all, you're on a time crunch, and you've only got so many animators to go around. and the quality of some of these earlier season 6 eps (118 and 119 especially) was seriously some of the best this series has ever had. by contrast, chapters 284 and 285, while still easily ranking among my favorite chapters of all time, definitely do not go as hard with the visuals as some of the other War arc chapters (that very last 285 page being the one standout exception).

anyway so yeah, it was still a slight disappointment, but I'm fine with it. it does mean Deku vs Kacchan 2 will still retain its crown as my all time fave, but the real meat of this episode was never going to be about the flashy visuals -- it's all about that sweet, sweet character development.

two more very minor criticisms before I get to the OMG nonstop gushing part of this post! one, they did cut out this scene from ch 282 where Tomura originally had TWO quirk-be-gone bullets in his possession and Kacchan actually destroyed the second one.

YOU THOUGHT WE WOULDN'T REMEMBER, BONES. BUT WE DID. so for everyone who is giving Kacchan his well-earned love, praise, and admiration today, don't forget to also give him props for saving Aizawa's other leg, or whichever other appendage this doubtless would have hit. my boy out here lowkey saving his sensei from being ReDestro'd.

and then one final nitpicky little quibble, which is that the anime subtitlers declined to use the "Catch-A-Kacchan" translation, despite it being the single cleverest translation of all time, and by far Caleb Cook's biggest and most important contribution to the BnHA canon. alas, twas not meant to be. BUT ANYWAY NOW ON TO THE GUSHING.

okay so first off, we all know that Aizawa is an absolute badass and the most metal motherfucker in this entire series, and that Shouto has by this point all but perfected the art of swooping in to save the day at pivotal moments, and that the U.A. kids all need ALL OF THE THERAPY GODDAMMIT, and that Deku is a COMPLETE LUNATIC who thinks that HAVING FUNCTIONAL ARMS IS OVERRATED ANYWAYS. yes and yes and yes and yes. and if you wish, you can read all about my thoughts on these things and more, here and here and here and here.

but you already know what I actually came here to talk about today.

first of all, YOU GUYS. the music. THIS FUCKING MUSIC, THOUGH. they used the exact same OST track that was used for the "why was I the one who ended All Might?" speech all the way back in DvK2. THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE "TIME FOR NOBUHIKO TO FLEX HIS VOICE ACTING CHOPS" MUSIC. A TRADITION HAS BEEN BORN.

anyway so if anyone needs me I'll just be sitting here playing this scene on repeat until the end of time. no big deal though. I can quit at any time. not like I'm obsessed with it or anything. I definitely love this scene and this character a perfectly normal amount.

All Might talking about how Katsuki understood from the get-go about how OFA was a secret that could put other people at great risk really hits hard in hindsight. especially when you realize that Katsuki really did know right from the start, and he willingly accepted that risk with no hesitation, and he absolutely did suffer consequences for it (it was his knowledge of OFA that led to him following Deku and subsequently getting involved in this battle). and I don't doubt that he has absolutely zero regrets.

okay but can we seriously just talk for a sec about the way Kacchan's anxiety is practically boiling over when he starts to ask All Might about the Fourth's cause of death?? I feel like this is one thing that kind of got overlooked at the time in the manga because we were so completely distracted by EVERY SINGLE OTHER DAMN THING IN THAT CHAPTER lol. but hearing it again here, you feel how worried he actually is about Deku, and idk why but it all of a sudden just hit me so damn hard.

"I'm worried about him. you are, too." because that truly is what this whole conversation is really about. or at least that's the driving force behind it. behind this whole episode, in fact. it's simple, when you get right down to it: Kacchan is afraid that Deku is going to die. it's literally been the biggest fear on his mind ever since Deku unlocked SIXQUIRKS. right from the start, his mind was immediately going to the worst case scenarios. he immediately deduced that OFA might have a deeper connection to AFO than any of them realized (shoutout to Kacchan for being the original "Deku is a horcrux" truther lol. ONE DAY HORIKOSHI WILL FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH AND PROVE US RIGHT). he instantly zeroed in on the sobering fact that all of the previous OFA users died young. and as he reveals here, he took particular notice of the fact that All Might seems to be hiding something about OFA IV's death, and he is goddamn PRESSED about it.

and I absolutely LOVE the way that Nobu voiced this part of the conversation. when he starts to question All Might, his breathing starts to pick up a little, and his voice starts to get louder, and the words start to spill out faster and faster almost like he's in a rush to get it all out, and his voice starts to crack just a little, and he goes from not looking at All Might to hesitantly, almost fearfully glancing at him from the side, and then finally turning to face him head on with his eyes all wary and his teeth gritted like he's bracing himself for the very worst (because he is).

and then he finally just asks him, "was it because you realized something?" and then he takes in this achingly hesitant little breath before finishing with, "...about One for All?" and just. the whole scene is just SO well done. like, he's seriously so fucking scared about this, though. but at the same time he just needs to know, and just. oh my god. and Nobuhiko manages to emote all of this so clearly, and that is such a difficult line to walk when you're dealing with a character like Katsuki who's always so hesitant to show his vulnerability. he has to portray these two separate layers of Bakugou at the same time -- the part of him that is trying his hardest to be nonchalant and matter-of-fact in order to hide his fears and emotions; while at the same time also portraying said emotions which are clearly seeping through anyway, regardless of his efforts.

anyway so yeah. I could talk about this for eighty years and never get sick of it honestly but let's move on.

let me tell you guys, I've been bracing myself for this scene for two full years, and it still kicked my ass. THIS SCENE HAD NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. literally RIGHT IN the feels. direct hit.

"he's always been that way." no, but guys. the regret when he says that. the way he states it with such simplicity and clarity. almost profound. this is just a truth of the world. this is just how Deku is. this is something that took him so long to understand, but now that he does, he can't fathom how he was never able to see it before. and then that ever-so-slight bitterness that creeps into his voice as he goes on to describe how he fucked it all up. ;_;

and then last but not least!!

"ijimeta." one word, in Japanese. it all comes down to that. and his voice gets so quiet. this whole last part of his speech is so quiet and so soft. but when he says this very last part, his voice wavers perfectly on that last word, and it just. sounds so resigned, somehow, but also just... almost faltering, for just a moment. you can hear the regret as clear as day, but you also hear the fear once again as he finally reveals this fact -- literally his biggest shame; the worst thing that he's ever done -- to All Might. his hero. just, damn.

anyway. so needless to say, despite my expectations being SKY HIGH, this scene absolutely met all of them and blew me away. as expected from the best fucking voice actor in Japan, according to me, a single lone person, whose subjective opinion is absolutely definitely not biased in any possible way.

back to the action! and Nobu getting to do his very best Deku impression lol.

can you believe this kid. one single nerdy analysis speech was all it took for him to start emitting such powerful Main Character Energy that even Endeavor got taken in and was just automatically following orders lol.

awesome choice of music here while Deku and Tomura continued to battle and Bakugou laid out his plan. you know it's good when they still manage to make you feel the tension even though this is basically just a generic action scene, and you additionally already know exactly what's going to happen.

I have no idea why, but that part with Deku's "Kacchan... my 'Deku' means 'you can do it!'" speech juxtaposed against the image of him going all out against Tomura with such fierce determination hit me like 100x harder than it did in the manga. I was NOT expecting that to be as powerful as it was. damn near gave me chills.

literally the only time I've ever been on board with the whole "FUCK YEAH, I'LL JUST BREAK ALL MY BONES AT YOU!!" deal lol. it literally makes no goddamn sense but this scene is just so raw.

THEN WE YEET THE ENDEAVOR!!!!

SO ON-BRAND. NO DEKU-INSPIRED PLAN IS EVER TRULY COMPLETE WITHOUT A GOOD YEETING.

and then the next few moments are some of the most legitimately unsettling of the entire series, as we have Tomura screaming at the top of his lungs while being burnt to cinders (and I mean, I love Tomura dearly, but I get it; he literally just Thanos'd tens of thousands of innocent people), followed by AFO's creepy fucking ghost hand reaching out all "LEND ME YOUR BODY~~~" which is a scene that absolutely NO ONE ASKED FOR but okay.

but then right afterwards though! when AFO finally did take over, and you hear that "TV shutting down" sound effect all of a sudden? and then the next few scenes with all the BKDK flashbacks are also weirdly TV-themed? I could not for the life of me figure this out at first, but now I'm actually thinking it could be a reference to the chapter 306 color page?

OR MAYBE NOT? I actually have no idea. anyway though it may have been random af but it worked for me, what can I say.

AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH AT LONG LAST.

THIS ACTUALLY IS SO PRETTY THOUGH?? LIKE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT COLOR COMBINATION AT ALL?

AND IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY!!!!??? YOU BARELY EVEN HAVE TIME TO BLINK?!?!!

oh. my. god.

THE WAY THE MUSIC SUDDENLY GOT QUIET. THE WAY HIS NARRATING VOICE CAME ON AND, PRAISE EVERYTHING, IT REALLY WAS DEEPER. THAT REALLY WAS THE ADULT HIM. SAME AS DEKU. MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW.

AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS!! THE SCENES OF THEM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!! AND GROUND ZERO!! AND THEN CUTTING TO THE TWO OF THEM AS LITTLE BABIES, AND THE TV SCREEN ALL OF A SUDDEN SWITCHING TO COLOR??? AND THE HANDS??? THE REACHING?!?!

AND THEN?!?!?!

"HEY MAKESTE, IF WE GO AHEAD AND ACTUALLY MAKE THE VOLUME 29 COVER CANON, WILL YOU FINALLY FORGIVE US FOR ALL OF THE HALF-BAKED PAINFULLY OOC FILLER EPISODES AND OVAS?" WELL, STUDIO BONES, YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, BUT HOW CAN I POSSIBLY REFUSE.

AND THEN THEY FULL ON MURDERED ME!!!!!

that's right bitches. DREAD IT. RUN FROM IT. THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARRIVES ALL THE SAME.

holy shit. and then THE END CREDITS oh my freaking heart. words can't even describe.

Studio Bones out here not resting until they've succeeded in making EVERY SINGLE PERSON feel the MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SADNESS THAT A HUMAN BEING CAN SUSTAIN. their callousness truly knows no bounds.

anyway so there we have it! part one of the spectacular season 6 Bakugou Katsuki Redemption Saga. I laughed, I cried, I cried, I cried, I cried a little bit more, and then I cried a little bit more after that. final verdict: yeah, it was pretty good.