#ESPECIALLY WITH A BOOK THAT CLEARLY IS AGAINST GENOCIDE

[fuck-your-chickenstrips-hoe]

Just had the most pointless conversations with one of my guardians ( he basically supported isreal with the bible, but was completely shocked and tried to talk this way around Jesus being Palestini.) And it really made me wonder how Jesus is going to act during the rapture ( did i spell that right?). I just know that man is sobbing for his people. And i truly hope he pull some sick shit like letting all of the zionist and zion-sympathizers hear the trumpet, let them wait in line, hell, even open the door for them himself; only to slam his foot down,letting tlthese nasty people free fall, and check them into hell himself. I hope he get to declare their punishment, too.

[shortsweetespresso]

okay, but on a serious note, as someone with a degree in history, this is a terrifying event. not only is this showing that our leaders and former leaders are not safe from an attack, but this attempt also happened against a former president that may will use this to his advantage. this man, a former REALITY TV STAR, knows how to play a crowd. he knows how to put on a show and manipulate people to be on his side. he already has an insane fan base who has ALREADY incited an insurrection attempt on the very government they CLAIM TO LOVE.

history loves a martyr, and a living martyr can make things worse. whether this was real or staged, it will be treated as real by every single news source that matters unless proven otherwise -- which could end up being proven years down the line. the right are already using this as a reason to vote for trump. I can't scroll through my facebook without people in every single group I'm in discussing this. all press is good press, especially to the right wing where they can spread their propaganda.

this night is going to be in history books. unless the American people come together, and EVERYONE who can vote against trump, votes for Biden (god help us), this night may very well be listed in the reasons fascism came to take hold of the United States.

you can read the reasons why World War I and II happened, and you can see the clear picture as all of those reasons are laid out in front of you.

Not to fear monger, but World War III's causes are already being laid out in front of us clearly, unless we can work together to stop it. Ukraine, Palestine, and many other places are already the places of first conflict. take a look around. read the news from all angles.

Vote. VOTE. V O T E. FUCKING VOTE. Biden is the much lesser of two evils, and it literally hurts to say that the president currently funding a Palestinian genocide is the better option, and the fact that I HAVE to vote for him in order to keep trump out of power is breaking me and everything I am inside. biden is funding it -- yet trump said he would help israel "finish the job"

donate to Palestinians. donate to the people of Ukraine. vote democrat in the 2024 election.

I'm sorry that this is not the most eloquently written tumblr essay, but I am terrified.

[opentanie]

Trying to find a way to fix SotR, a short essay by yours truly.

(Mind you, I'm still reading this book but it doesn't matter - we all know how it ends, not only due to reading Catching Fire, but also because this book is almost offensivly predictable in most aspects. So, these are not my final thoughts, but my proposition how the book could be improved in my humble opinion.)

First and foremost, don't make Haymitch a narrator, except for the epilogue. Because Haymitch brings nothing new to the table as POV: he's a boy from the Seam, half-orphan with one sibling who he loves very much or at least we're supposed to believe that because he struggles to find a fuck about anything else than Lenore Dove alas, all we've already seen. We know this perspective. Instead, give us two narrators: Maysilee Donner and Lenore Dove. One for describing the games from the inside, and give us a peek into Capitol 24 years prior to the og trilogy, and one to let us finally take a look into districts when the game is on. Especially since, as someone pointed out, 2nd Quarrel seems like a moment when the anger in districts started to slowly outweight the fear of Capitol - because this time they took almost fifty children, and it's both horrifying and, against Snow's wishes, makes them realize for the first time that the numbers are on their side, not their opressor's. This would also fix the problem of us not knowing much about Haymitch life before the games: because Lenore Dove is part of this life, so what would she do in this scenario? Try to help Abernathys by taking over some of Haymitch's duties in the household? Spent time with their mutual friends, when they're forced to watch the games, so at least they could have emotional support while doing so? Also, having Haymitch as the narrator of the epilogue, outliving both POVs who told the story of the quarrell, matches him being the only survivor of the arena.

Having Lenore Dove as POV could avoid adapting the Covey as some sort of noble savages, who live sort of outside the system, and are so much more aware than others. The Covey we know from TBOSAS are just a bunch of young people who were forced to live in one place, with no adults to take care of them, and by the end of that book they took another blow, losing their unofficial leader. Show us the real Covey, two middle aged, lonely men raising a girl, who clearly romanticizes Lucy Gray - which in itself tells us, how dear her memory is held. Seeing Lucy Gray through Lenore Dove's eyes could even serve as a good commentary on glorification and dehumanization of inspiring figures: something we can currently see with people thirsting over Luigi instead of focusing on his case, and even with the weird woobification some people do to Bisan ("if Bisan die, we riot" etc), as if she isn't reporting on mass genocide for people to focus on the entire situation, not her. It was something only briefly touched upon in the og trilogy, and it was seen from Katniss' perspective, when she was the subject of that, so, unlike what we actually got, it would be something new in SC's commentary.

Don't retcon Haymitch's personality. Let him be cocky and arrogant, it doesn't automatically mean he's a bad person. Hell, he was like that through three books and readers loved him, so it's not like it isn't even a safe option (and SotR chooses safe options for itsplot through and through). Moreover, it's a possibility for another commentary: sexism. Because Maysilee is rude and confident too, but she's treated like a bitch, while Haymitch is a loveable rascal. By keeping Haymitch's original personality, the book would allow them to be each other narrative mirrors - different backgrounds, different lives, but similar personalities. Show us both how differently they're treated back in D12, and how differently Capitol approaches them because of their gender, when they say similar things.

Bring Chaff in. If you don't remember, who Chaff is, don't worry - Suzanne Collins seems to forget as well! Anyways, Chaff is the victor of 45th Hunger Games, and Haymitch's friend, who lives in D11. He could be very easily vowed into the plot by assuming that usually every tribute has their own mentor, so D12 this year gets three: Mags, Wiress and Chaff (and none for Louella, as she still dies in this version before they arrive in the apartament). Not only for the development of his and Haymitch's relationship, but also to give his character some depth. I think Mags and Wiress' relationship with Loose Cannons was actually one of the bright points for the book, so Chaff having interactions with both LC and the other two mentors could work well.

Don't shy away from romance. Not because of fanservice reasons, but because it can compell the narrative and give the story another layer. With prequel like SotR you obviously need some parallels to the source material, but you can twist them - and Maysilee and Lenore Dove are perfect for that. Whether you like Gale or not, Lenore Dove is Gale of this story, even in the og book, no matter how SC avoids this comparison bc people don't like Gale. She already shares emotional connection with Haymitch, she lives life similar to his, she despises the merchant families from D12 (her constant criticisms of Maysilee...), she's open in her hatred for the Capitol - but in the end, all she could do in SotR was to sing some songs, unlike Gale, who was the first one to push for resistance in D12. So show Lenore Dove as this initially strong person, who gets challenged by reality, and it turns out that she isn't as tough as she thought of herself. On the opposite side we have Maysilee, or Peeta of this equation. A merchant kid, conventionally attractive (pale, blonde etc), with implied not-so-pleasant family life (her comment about her mother choosing clothes for her and her sister implies some sort of lack of control of her life even in her household) - but, unlike Peeta, she's angry. And she doesn't try to appeal to people, she bares her teeth at them, which they don't even expect of her, giving her proper looks and cool attitude. The romance doesn't have to be outright spelled out to readers, it can only be implied that Haymitch and Maysilee's trauma bonding is getting into territories dangerous for his relationship with Lenore Dove. Just don't throw that damn sibling line out of the blue and let readers decide for themselves, how they read it. Having said that, I believe that Snow would definitely frame this version of Haymitch and Maysilee as romantic to get on Lenore Dove's nerve, as in his head she's merely a Lucy Gray's proxy.

NO PLANNED RIOT PLOTLINE. We already had that in CF, and it clearly wasn't in Collins' head while writing about Haymitch's games in there for one obvious reason: Capitol would never let Mags or Wiress or Beetee live, if that was the case. Sure, those characters still should provide the tributes with some informations that would be useful later in the plot, but the entire idea of Newcomers is about these kids grasping the reality that they outnumber the enemy. Let them use this and decide to ruin the arena as the one last hurrah from them because they know they're going to die, so might as well show Capitol that they're here. That they matter. We had small act of defiance in the very first book with the berries, but everything after that was some sort of greater secret scheme - so let's go back to the roots, and let the tributes be the initiators. Let their riot inspire the rebellion, be the first spark and the start. Leave. The. Agency. To. The. Tributes. Bonus gain? Avoiding of accidental ableism by retconning Wiress' autism-coded behavior and Mags functioning despite implied stroke as the effects of Capitol torture. Not everything has to be the evil caused by the Capitol! Mags entire arc in Catching Fire was so moving and powerful because it was a woman so old, she couldn't even talk anymore, yet she still decided to save people.

ENOUGH OF THE DAMN RETCON JUST TO SHOW THAT EVERYONE ARE CONNECTED. Yeah, D12 is small, the Seam is even smaller, so it's obvious Burdock and Haymitch knew each other and were probably friendly, but WHAT IS THE POINT OF MAKING THEM SUPER BESTIES, WHEN HAYMITCH NEVER MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN THE OG BOOKS? While it's obvious that he could influence Katniss through that the moment he started to care about her winning? How come that Katniss never knew anything about the Covey, if it was still alive and well with her dad apparently having more than one Covey relative? (And how big is Covey anyways? I feel like SC doesn't know either). Just stop with the fanservice ffs. And yeah, Effie totally was in D12 for the last 24 years. Totally. Apparently, Katniss is just an idiot who doesn't understand what she sees.

While we're at it, stop making Capitol look stupid. I can buy Snow letting Haymitch live after the parade because he decided it's a better punishment to have him fear the unknown - but that's as far, as my suspension of disbelief can go. The Second Quarrell was supposed to be the biggest event ever held by Capitol until 75th games, yet there's a fuckup after fuckup. I know it's supposed to show us how neglected D12 is, but I think it could be done without making Snow look like a fucking idiot, who's apparently not feared enough by organizers, if they aren't afraid of screwing something up. That being said, the accident on the parade can still play out similarly to how it happened, simply because accidents happen, especially with 48 people in the chariots. I could make entire bulletpoint just about how badly Snow is written in this book for the sake of reminding people of Snowbaird, but not having Haymitch as POV during their encounter before introducing Lou Lou basically erases this problem. We still could see that Snow is not over Lucy Gray, and will be forever bitter about it without spelled it out in the most riddiculous way possible.

Remember the love triangle plot I proposed? It also helps with Haymitch as a middle-aged man still longing after his dead, teenage girlfriend. It's not romantic, it's creepy - and Suzanne Collins knows it too, because she makes sure to let readers know that he totally sees her in his imagination as if she grew old with him. While never letting that one teenage love go suits Snow, because he's an evil person who never develops emotionally, it doesn't suit Haymitch's characterization; moreover, it doesn't work as a narrative foil for Snowbaird, because Lenore Dove never decided to stay with Haymitch. She's dead, and it's not her ghost, only his fantasy of her. But where's Maysilee's place in all of this, if she's dead too? Well, that's kinda the point. Maysilee, the girl with whom he emotionally cheated with on his girlfriend, and also the first death for which he can blame himself. And when she dies, he promises himself that he'll never let Lenore Dove know the truth, that he will lie about what she saw on tv, especially after learning that Lenore Dove is the only one left for him, because his family is dead too - and then, Lenore Dove dies as well (in this version, still by Haymitch's unknowing hand, but I think it could be executed better), filling Haymitch with regret that he could neither stay loyal, nor save her. The geese metaphor would be fine, if SC did fact checking and knew that geese mourn for a long period of time but eventually can find another partner. Haymitch can still mourn the girl(s) he loved, but the period of mourning ends for him when the war ends, and there won't be any more dead girls like Maysilee and Lenore Dove. Of course, since I hate how Haymitch's entire mourning in the books was retconned into a single target, the girls are not the only ones he mourns, his family, Louella, Lou Lou, and the tributes from the next 23 years are also what haunts him - but his two love interests have a special place in the line because the regret of 'casuing' their deaths is mixed with personal regrets of very grounded teenage mistakes that couldn't reach any resolution. And when the war ends, the world in which his two biggest regrets died, ends as well, so he can finally heal with his family of choice: Katniss, Peeta, and Effie too (honestly, I think even SC believes that movies handled Effie better than her in Mockingjay). We don't need another romance in the epilogue, but we need the spark of hope that it can happen. Not necessarly with Effie, Asterid would be a reasonable narrative choice as well, but don't just leave this man who lived a lonely, miserable life still hanging onto his high school sweetheart. And, for the love of god, if you have to involve poetry, just don't choose the poem that tells you directly that he will never meet his lost love in the afterlife:

Even with all these changes, I think SotR would be a very unnecessary book, but miles more respectful for both the readers and the established characters.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk, I guess.

[kybelles]

Oh, thanks for that anon answer post, it was nice to see it from someone who abasolutely loves the book and can criticize in good faith. I have many thoughts on this, especially also coming from a colonized country, but I’ll not write long.

I die on this hill: Vere vs Akielos is NOT a one sided colonizer vs colonized situation, in this area there’s no much higher moral ground either way imo, YET: it’s unconfortable to see Akielos’ colonizing acts (like “initiating” an invasion of “foreign land”, confirmation they took veretian children as slaves, etc) get recognition in text, but not the colonizing acts of Vere under the same hard light. The lack of akielon culture signs or mentions of mixed people in Delpha is SUS AS HELL, if not a total giveaway, and there’s no recognition of the very possible genocide and other war crime Vere commited there on its conquest.

Although we know by book lines that Laurent went through his deconstruction view on dehumanizing akielons, a lot by proxy on his change of view on Damen himself (I LOVE his vows to Egeria statue also for that closure, he’ll give his life for akielon people, your honor!), BY FAR we don’t get the extended process, many and long paragraphs, we see in Damen’s POV. It’s unconfortable to watch it in details only from the very char who went through the most dehumanizing acts by that nation's court. ALSO YES, I wish we had seen Damen argue more against giving Delpha away, using strong arguments Theomedes surely had plenty; A superficial read can make it sound like “retaking a land that stopped being ours generations ago and veretians deserve to lose it because they suck”, simplifying Theomedes being a warmonger, and Vere a victim of unprovoked invasion.

(I will not even go into how maybe the whole thing influences some racist readers taking veretian racist views AS FACTS instead of the condemnable racism its meant to be taken as. Akielos as less developed barbarian land? I wish Damen had enquired after veretians sewage system too, if the aqueducts were not enough to open eyes.)

OK, i already yapped enough; No need to publish or answer in any way, I'm only nodding my hat at you, have a good day <3

hello lovely quel ❤️ thank you for this insightful and clever message because you make so many good points!

that's exactly the essence of what i was trying to say: "BY FAR we don’t get the extended process, many and long paragraphs, we see in Damen’s POV." SPOT ON! i get that these books are from damen's pov and naturally we're only intimate with his private thoughts but to me this doesn't change the fact there's a certain bias in the narrative. it's bizarre how little damen thinks about the whole "let's give delpha back" thing considering he fought in the war to win it back and is the heir prince and military commander. it's bizarre how even though prior to kr he was fiercely proud of his country and his culture, he has this endless internal shame about the "warmongering" views of akielos in kr as if vere wasn't literally hiring vaskian raiders to attack delpha. 🤨

i'm all for the message that war is something to be avoided as much as possible because it's alway the civillians who actually ends up getting hurt. but why is it always at the expense of akielos? why is the non-white nation always the core of the problem? because pg clearly shows there are some veretian lords who would be pleased by a meaningless war. we are explicitly told damen never thought about the veretian civilian perspective until marlas. fine. but at no point is the reverse applied. veretians never reckon with how their expansionism or aristocratic militarism destroyed akielon lives. the narrative doesn't bother sympathizing with akielons either.

nikandros for example: delpha was his home for the last six years. for him, delpha is more than a military post, it is legacy. a return. something symbolic, not strategic. its recovery is framed by damen himself as akielos’s greatest victory. it is not a conquest, but a reclamation. yet his grief over losing delpha is barely covered. damen doesn't feel a significant guilt over handing it to vere without an argument and even slowly comes to the "realization" that it was the right thing to do all along. if that's not a biased narrative, i don't know what is. 🫠

[hrizantemy]

Comparing evil people like Amarantha, King Hybern and his whole court, Rhysand and all of his IC especially their high lady,(who I feel definitely has turned evil or really bad). Do you think Beron and all of his sons are evil? Do you think some of them are acting and playing the part? Or do you think they all have evil in them from their upbringing of being Beron sons? Myself I can’t help but see it as they are evil-ish, but not the whole court and I even think Beron isn’t evil he just sucks as a husband and father. Then again depending on the reader, not everyone wants to be good and just choose to be evil for different reasons whether it be validated or not. This has been on my mind for a long time now, because I want to know more about the other courts, who is actually good? Who is actually evil? Who is morally grey? We know nothing else of other courts and the HL’s everything is NC and it’s annoying that they have 3 books on them and nothing on any other court, to give us something to know about them. About their true feelings on the human race, about the NC and their sneaky conniving ways!! I just want to pick the mind of other people on these topics.

This is such a great question because, honestly, the way the courts are written leaves so much unanswered—especially in terms of morality, politics, and the actual complexity of characters outside the Night Court. The books spend so much time making the Night Court look like the only progressive place, but at the same time, we’re given very little real insight into how the other courts function beyond surface-level stereotypes.

Are Beron and His Sons Truly Evil?

I don’t think it’s as black and white as “they’re all evil,” but I also don’t think they’re all just playing a part. Beron himself is clearly an abusive, cruel, power-hungry ruler, but does that automatically mean his entire court is evil? No. Does it mean all of his sons are? Not necessarily.

• Beron – I wouldn’t say he’s “evil” in the way that Amarantha or Hybern are. He’s not out here committing mass genocide or enslaving entire courts, but he is a ruthless and abusive ruler. He is clearly manipulative and enjoys exerting control over his family. However, I don’t think he’s interested in outright destruction or chaos—his goal is power and maintaining his rule. That makes him cruel, oppressive, and controlling, but not necessarily a mustache-twirling villain. If anything, he reminds me more of the classic corrupt politician—someone who values power and control over morality but isn’t inherently sadistic the way Amarantha was.

• Eris – Now this is where things get interesting. Eris is a wild card in all of this because we know he’s been playing the long game for a very long time. He’s been framed as cruel and conniving, but there have been multiple hints that he’s not as bad as he seems.

• He let Lucien go instead of killing him, despite the fact that Lucien was a threat to his standing in the family.

• He told Feyre and company that they have no idea what he’s had to do to survive.

• He clearly hates his father, which means that a lot of his actions could be self-preservation rather than outright malice.

• I think he’s the closest in power after Beron and most likely the next heir and is scheming against his father, which suggests that at least some people in Autumn are willing to support him.

Eris might be morally gray, but I don’t think he’s outright evil. He plays a role because he has to—because in the Autumn Court, weakness is fatal. He’s an opportunist, yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s without a moral code. He clearly has some sense of honor, even if it’s buried under layers of self-preservation and political maneuvering.

• Lucien – Easily the most morally good of the brothers (at least from what we’ve seen). He’s compassionate, loyal, and genuinely tries to do the right thing. But what’s interesting is that he survived Beron’s court for centuries without being killed, which suggests that he was either really good at staying out of trouble or that his brothers weren’t as eager to kill him as people assume. If Beron’s sons were all pure evil, Lucien probably wouldn’t have made it out alive.

• The Other Brothers – We don’t know much about them, but they seem to lean more toward Beron’s side of things. That said, I think it’s possible that some of them are just going along with the system rather than actually believing in it. It’s a brutal court, and not everyone has the luxury of open defiance.

The Problem with How the Other Courts Are Written

One of the most frustrating things about ACOTAR is that we barely know anything about the other courts. Everything is so Night Court-centric that we never get a truly unbiased look at how the others function. The only information we get is from Rhysand, Feyre, and the IC—who, let’s be honest, are not reliable narrators.

For example:

• Day Court – We know Helion is powerful and progressive, but what does his court actually look like? How do his people live? We’re barely told anything.

• Winter Court – We know they’re supposed to be noble and that Kallias loves his people, but beyond that? Nothing. How do they govern? What are their struggles?

• Autumn Court – We only ever see it through Lucien’s trauma and Eris’s politics, but there are still regular citizens living there. Are they all suffering? Are they all cruel? Or is the court only as bad as its leadership?

It’s incredibly frustrating that five books in, we still don’t have a real understanding of the other courts. Instead, we’re fed this one-sided narrative where the Night Court is somehow the only place with a functional society and everyone else is either “backward,” “corrupt,” or “stupid.”

Who Is Actually Good? Who Is Actually Evil? Who Is Morally Gray?

If we step back from the Night Court propaganda, I think it’s fair to say:

• Amarantha & Hybern → Truly evil. They engaged in mass slaughter, enslavement, torture, and war with zero remorse.

• Rhys & The IC → Morally gray at best, hypocritical at worst. They act like they’re the good guys, but they’ve done questionable, manipulative, and even cruel things to get what they want.

• Beron & His Sons → Somewhere between evil and morally gray. Beron is cruel, but we don’t know if he’s pure evil or just a ruthless politician. Eris is likely gray, and Lucien is actually good.

• Tamlin → Not evil, just deeply flawed and traumatized. He has done bad things, but he’s also been one of the most realistically written characters in terms of regret and guilt.

• Helion, Kallias, and Tarquin → Seem good, but we don’t know enough about them to say for sure.

Final Thoughts

I think the biggest problem is that ACOTAR presents morality in a very biased way. We’re expected to believe that the Night Court is the only place with real progress, the only court worth rooting for, while the others are either evil or irrelevant. But that’s just not good worldbuilding. There’s so much potential for complexity in the other courts, but we don’t get to see it because everything is filtered through Rhysand’s perspective.

So are Beron and his sons evil? Some, maybe. Others, probably not. But the fact that we’re never given the chance to explore that nuance is what’s really frustrating. And until the books actually give us more about the other courts, we’ll just be stuck with this one-sided view that makes the Night Court look like the center of the universe—which, frankly, is getting really old.

[ultra-creepy-fucker-things]

In terms of my choice to view Toffee and his predecessor, Seth, as more reasonable people, I want to make it clear that I am not judging them based on what's implied about them in canon and then coming to the conclusion that they are reasonable from that, I am judging what's implied about them in canon as writing choices made by real human beings, and I am judging those writing choices as bad ones.

For example, based on what's said about Seth, I believe it is reasonable to assume that he is meant to be hateful or even genocidal against mewmens, and furthermore, I believe that the book implies that Toffee agrees with him on this point, and was inspired by his ideals when he assassinated Comet. I acknowledge that the show implies that Toffee is only a spiteful prick acting out of a need for revenge over his finger. So, why do I reject these almost certainly intended interpretations of these characters?

Because it's messed up. Septarians are monsters, which, in Mewni, means that their subjugated by mewmens, and especially the Butterfly family. And the timing of some of these revelations makes the decision to depict Seth as potentially genocidal even worse- when we get our first glimpse at who the septarians and, implicitly, Seth are and what they want, (e.g, that they believe themselves superior to mewmens and wish to subjugate them, that they hold the grudges of their forefathers as if they were their own), it is in the aftermath of Solaria's death, which could be reasonably attributed to the Septarian faction, given they are the only monster faction from that era that's really mentioned.

Solaria was actively committing genocide at the time of her death, and had been for her entire reign. Killing her was the right thing to do, and implying that her victims are in any way as bad as her is tone deaf at best.

And then, there's Batwin, and the fact that he was the one Comet was signing the treaty with, as opposed to another monster leader. Batwin being the successor of an Avarius, and implicitly, the inheritor of the position that Cresenta cooked up as a ploy to control monsters. Considering the existence of Globgor, Seth, and arguably even Toffee(depending on how literally you take "prince") monsters clearly have other leadership, and given this, I find the fact that the show just accepts Batwin as legitimate very odd. (as for the choice to make organic monster leaders evil or violent... Well, that just speaks for itself now, doesn't it?)

So yeah, I am not denying that Toffee and Seth are supposed to be cruel and violent and evil in canon, I am simply rejecting it as a bad writing decision ridden with, frankly, horrific implications.

[darklinaforever]

Daemyra = I support pedophilia, grooming and physical abuse.

Zutara = I support colonizer x colonized relations.

Sylki = I support incest with oneself.

Charlastor / Radiobelle = I erase the canonical sexuality of the characters.

Reylo = I support the Nazis !

Darklina / Alarkling = I support a pedophile, a groomer, a pro-genocide and child killer in his spare time.

Sareth = I support pedophilia !

Sessrin / Sesshrin = I support pedophilia, and grooming.

Persades = I support kidnapping, rape and forced marriages.

Wyler / Weyler = I support psychopathic serial killers ! And grooming too ! (Because apparently for some Tyler is an adult and not a teenager as he is canonically in the series...)

This is usually what I get insulted about for loving these relationships... and it's just bullshit.

Daemyra is not grooming and pedophilia, book and show, I have already explained countless times why and I won't do it again here. And Daemon do not abuse physically Rhaenyra in Fire and Blood.

Zutara is not a relationship of a colonizer with a colonized person. Zuko himself is not a colonizer and the people of Katara were never colonized by the Fire Nation.

Sylki is not a true incestuous relationship, especially not with yourself. Sylki is not shown and characterized as truly the same person but as different people with the same role in the universe.

I'm not erasing the canonical sexuality of Charlastor / Radiobelle by shipping them into the context of fanon.

Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is not a Nazi, I also already explained why. Essentially he has no ideology of his own and has been manipulated since his fetus by hearing voices in his head 24/7 again today, and above all the defenders against grooming keep quiet this time ironically, since Kylo Ren / Ben Solo is actually a victim of grooming by Snoke / Palpatine.

The Darkling has not committed any genocide, he is not a pedophile or a groomer either and is even less a killer of childs specifically...

For Sareth basically... Everything that happens in the movie is essentially a representation of the desires / fantasies of teenage Sarah. Jareth is the reflection of her dreams, he literally acts according to her. He is the product of his fantasy. Please note, I'm not saying that what Sarah experiences in the film is literally a dream. No, I'm saying that the film, through its story and especially the character of Sarah, is in a way a representation of the adolescent's desire / dreams, and also a bit of hormones / sexual awakening. Without forgetting the fact of accepting to grow. That's why everything in the maze is in Sarah's room. That's why Jareth's universe is in this book, and also why the way to defeat Jareth there is. This is why Jareth is “in love” with Sarah. That's why he looks like a walking sexual fantasy with his tights on. Why there is a snake, a cane. Why does everyone at the ball wear masks with horns and long noses (= just falic / sexual symbols) Brief. There's nothing wrong with shipping Jareth with Sarah, since he's literally her personal fantasy and he's acting on that. (in the sense that he takes the role she gives him in the story)

Sessrin / Sesshrin is also not a relationship based on pedophilia. Sesshomaru clearly didn't feel anything romantic or sexual about Rin when she was a child. As for the accusations of grooming, they are unfounded because there is no proof. The fact that Rin gave birth to twins at 18 is not proof of this. Inuyasha takes place in the feudal era where a girl under 18 is seen as an adult. Essentially, Sesshomaru simply fell in love with Rin as she grew up. And he came to see her from time to time from the moment he left it with Kaede as a child. He was not responsible for her education. That was Kaede. He wasn't her father figure either, that was Jaken.

And Hades and Persephone must be read in the context of the time when the myth was written, otherwise you lose its true meaning. I have already reblogged excellent analyzes on the subject, I invite you to go and see them. Hades, essentially, is not the true villain in this myth.

No. I don't support psychopathic serial killers. The proof, I hate Laurel. The real psychopathic serial killer. Tyler is a teenager who she manipulated and enslaved for her cause. Literally, Tyler is a hyde, implying a personality disorder, but more than that, canonically, he must obey and approve of what his master does. Tyler is a victim. Not a bad guy. Moreover, once again, a real case of grooming under the arms. Yes, Laurel groomed Tyler, I've written lots of articles on this subject, you can go and see them. But once again, ironically, no one talks about it, and what's more, the antis will try to say that Tyler groomed Wednesday by inventing a new age for him...

[wingsdippedingold]

just discovered Leigh bardugo is Israeli-American and even if she isn’t pro-Zionism, with the entire storyline of the darkling being wrong (for his incredibly justified actions might i add as someone coming from a marginalised group who gained freedom through violent means) and not speaking up on the Palestinian genocide does not leave me with high hopes that certain internal *biases* did not slip through while write sab

Like oh my god, the minority group this guy is a part of has been persecuted for hundreds of years so he starts a violent uprising that wasn’t even that violent and the only people he killed were people actively trying to kill his community and novokibirsk (bear with me if that is wrong, I have not read the books in quite some time) but yeah. What the fuck Leigh? So people standing up against their oppressors to stop a genocide against the people is now a bad thing? I - can’t even with her bullshit

Anyway, if it wasn’t clear yet, this Tumblr User stands with The Darkling

I’ve already heard about some of the tone-deaf content in her series so I’ve never been interested in reading it, but this brings me back to the point that all books are political in some fashion, wether it’s actual policies or not. They all reflect the author’s views on something.

I’ve always found it obvious to tell an authors stance especially in modern romantasy literature and… they’re usually not good😭😭 people who say that it’s fiction clearly don’t understand how fiction is created, it doesn’t come from nothing

Not to mentioned she’s friends with SJM

I have noticed tho that a lot of authors actually *do* like rebellion and the oppressed standing up to their oppressors- of course that’s under the caveat that the oppressed fit their standard of who actually deserve freedom.

They’ll often write their characters who would be privileged in the real world (typically young, white, cis, straight, etc. aka a reflection of them) having that kind of oppression and struggle. But when it comes to people who are actual minorities it doesn’t really matter, I’m too lazy to actually write a post on how they treat white vs poc insurrection but I’ll find one post that does it really well

Also send me an ask or something so I can follow you because I think we’d have similar views!!

[sonik-kun]

Friendly reminder that canonically Jiang Cheng DID vouch for the Wen siblings at first, but was ultimately shut down after doing so

Most of the CW were against the Wens. Vouching for them was political suicide and yet he still attempted to defend them. He received backlash for it.

Lan Xichen, a more respected leader than JC at the time, was also shouted down too. Clearly, there was no room for arguments where the Wens were involved.. You were either with them or against them. The sect leaders had to take that into consideration during the deliberation. Nobody wants a target on their backs, especially when they are responsible for an entire sect.

Not saying the Massacre was right, neither the discrimination but be fr here.

Plus, Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue had trauma from all the shit the Wen clan did. They're hardly going to be so forgiving or trusting for that matter.

Furthermore, Jiang Cheng wasn't conscious when the Wen siblings saved him. He never fostered the same bond WWX would have. Remember, this is a genocide survivor we're talking about here. Forgiving and thanking members from a sect responsible for his family's demise isn't going to be easy. And yet there he was at the sect meeting, making an attempt to stand up for the Wen siblings in front of all these powerful leaders. So much so that it baffled Nie Mingjue.

Jiang Cheng (although afraid and begrudging to let WWX go in fear of might happen to him), initially allowed WWX to be with the Wens. He grew to accept that that was his path. He was happy to let him live in peace with them so long as WWX was safe and happy. But it didn't work out for them like they had hoped. And it all came to an end when his sister died, his brother in law too, and that all resulted in the Siege.

But I ask, can we really blame him for it? If he was anything like he was after his parents' deaths, the destruction of LP, and the core loss, he most definitely wouldn't have been of sound mind (he most likely wasn't for some time after either, if you remember the scene where both JGY and XY laugh, calling him a mad dog. Which makes me question the other sect leaders, if anything. It seems they were the ones more willing to jump in at any chance to finish off the Wens if they were willing to follow a "mad dog" into battle? But eh, that's speculation. We're not given the full story regarding the siege. So ig it's unfair to pin sole responsibility on one person..). He may have led the Siege, but he ultimately wasn't the one who orchestrated it with some huge, wicked end game in mind.

The persons responsible for it are all spelt out for you in the book. And yet I find it interesting that it's Jiang Cheng who is blamed and hated for everything when the real villain is right there *looks at the Jins*

[theoreticallysensible]

I cannot help but compare Aaron Bushnell’s poignant protest of the genocide in Gaza to the ideas presented in the book Catch-22, especially given the mainstream media’s craven instinct to frame his self immolation as insane, rather than a sane protest against an insane society, and especially given his role as a US airman, the same as the characters in the novel - a role he chose to highlight in his protest.

(This is not to say that we should all self immolate - sane reason can demand many different things of us depending on our position, skills, and character. Such self destructive tactics are never categorically necessary, and in a major sense Bushnell’s death is inescapably tragic and horrifying, but the conviction and symbolic power of his soberly deliberate death can be respected, even revered, nevertheless.)

Catch-22 contains several references to sanity and “craziness”. Its central concept, which entered into popular consciousness, is the eponymous Catch-22 described in the following passage.

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.

Catch-22 is a study of how one can become overwhelmed by one’s own sanity when faced with a world and other people who have all seemingly gone mad. This is the experience of seeing so many of our authority figures, in particular the supposed reporters of truth in the media, deny the fact that Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, a genocide that is - and has always clearly been - a direct and necessary consequence of the process of Zionism as conceived as the establishment of a Jewish state through colonisation.

Throughout the novel, the main character, Yossarian, is appalled and disoriented by the fact that his valuing of his own life and freedom is considered insane by his comrades, but when he tries to claim that since he is insane he is unfit for combat, he is told (rightly) that this is fear of dying is actually sane, and so he is perfectly fit for combat.

Life in the military is one where you are expected to be willing to lay down your life for a cause, usually “the good of your country”. This is never, in the mainstream, considered to be insane, but rather noble - except, as Shaun pointed out in the video he released today on the Palestinian crisis, in retrospect, such as when Wilfred Owen’s poems lamenting the brutality and pointlessness of WW1 are taught and venerated in schools.

But what about when someone decides to lay down their life for a cause not endorsed by US hegemony? Is that, like that of the military hero, considered “sweet and fitting”? No. As we have seen, the voice of hegemonic values, the mainstream media, cannot conceive of a logic outside of its own framework. Anything that is outside of it, especially that opposes it, is “insane”, “disturbed”, probably dangerous.

Throughout most of Catch-22, Yossarian’s rebellions against the military machine threatening his life are ineffective. He never changes his circumstances or anyone else’s. Aaron Bushnell, unlike Yossarian, did not spend most of his time fearing for how his military career could endanger his own life; instead, he was outraged that his career made him complicit in the killing of others. His abnegation of that, his total rejection of it to the point of ending his life, was supremely selfless. As we now know, it was a result of serious deliberation borne out of a selfless commitment to emancipatory politics also reflected in his engagement with mutual aid and other anarchist actions in his local community.

It is notable that at the end of Catch-22, when Yossarian finally decides to desert and at last we have a glimpse of hope as he is able to convince others of the rationality and nobility of his rejection of the military, it is because he is now acting for the benefit of others. He turns his reasoned analysis outwards. He refuses to be complicit, in this case with the US military forcing Italian citizens out of their homes.

It is only through selflessness and solidarity that we can turn our private analyses of personal injustices into social analyses that people can rally behind and collectively act on.

The last scene of the novel contains this exchange between Yossarian and another character:

'I can't do a thing to stop them but embarrass them by running away. I've got responsibilities of my own now, Danby. I've got to get to Sweden.'

'You'll never make it. It's impossible. It's almost a geographical impossibility to get there from here.'

'Hell, Danby, I know that. But at least I'll be trying. There's a young kid in Rome whose life I'd like to save if I can find her. I'll take her to Sweden with me if I can find her, so it isn't all selfish, is it?'

'It's absolutely insane. Your conscience will never let you rest.'

'God bless it.' Yossarian laughed. 'I wouldn't want to live without strong misgivings.’

Yossarian is still called insane, but Danby supports him both morally and financially, finally recognising the sanity of his insanity. But rather than linger on this book too much I’ll end on the words of the present, of the final statement made by Aaron Bushnell:

"My name is Aaron Bushnell, I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal."

He died shouting “Free Palestine!” until his body was no longer capable.

[avatar-legends-confessionblog]

"You are kinda coming across as a Zuko disliker who blames his stans for the bad takes even when they are clearly influenced by another sub fandom."

This is fair and i'm well aware of the zutara/zuko fan overlap and I should have probably included a disclaimer in hindsight but my statement still stands. Most zuko stans tend to be zk fans as well. While most katara fans tend to either be multishippers (generally ship both ka and zk/less popular pairings) or kataang fans. If you're a fan of a popular character you're most likely to find yourself in spaces with the most popular preferred pairing and adopt talking points most rampant in that community. I mean look at your response for example, i didn't even attack zuko as a character or imply any distate for him personally yet you assume that my critique of his stans solely is an attack on his character. Zuko is one of my favourite characters. He's quite literally a fandom favourite for a reason.

Acknoweldging your point tho I hardly included the genocide denial that took place mid summer this year because zuko stans refused to acknowledge cultural/ethnic genocide in the swt as a legitimate subset of colonial practice, so affected sokka and katara approoriately. I didn't mention the insistence that zuko's aggression against the gaang especially in season 1 is no different than their aggression against the fire nation (both are framed contextually and innately different on purpose) right below this exchange. I also didn't mention, like someone pointed previously in this blog, the fandom's decision in painting zuko's absence of his mother and katara's death of her mother as having the same narrative weight. Or the weird ways they choose to interpret Katara's valid aggression towards Zuko in book 3. Again most of my issues with the zuko community in this fandom stems from how they talk about katara, and if there's an overlap there with fans who prefer her as a partner for him then that's just a predictable statistical coincidence.

X

[ripplespate]

Hello lm hamdi ,I humbly ask for your support by reblogging this post on your account to help me and my family. As newcomers to Tumblr and GoFundMe, we are in desperate need of your kindness and support. 🙏🇵🇸🍉😔Please donate 🙏🏼Let's reach the goal as soon as possible .

Vetted by association! Hamdi is a cousin of @/mohammedyasers (shared by 90-ghost).

Not a problem, my friend, and while I'm at it I'll take the time to give some information about the history of Palestine for those interested, especially with how the annexation of the land and displacement succeeded despite the countably many obstacles the left wing Jewish working class posed to it at the time.

This kind of information is buried and not often addressed even in left wing circles- it was only until recently that other sections of the left have come around to support Palestinian liberation, previously it was only us socialists and the Arab community at least in my country because other activists wouldn't touch such a topic even a 10 foot pole.

So the British mandate of Palestine was set up right after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East being carved up by the winners, mostly Britain and France taking sections and drawing arbitrary lines across the desert. No care for culture, history, language, or ethnic differences, but its not like those harsh divisions that exist today were are prevalent then either.

It was around this time that the Zionist movement was also looking for a territory to host a settler-colonial state, especially following the pogroms that were tearing through Russia from before the Tsarist regime fell. The Zionist movement founders formed their doctrine on the state based on the shadow of the slaughter and anti semitism that was stoked by European leaders, even well into the massacres of World War 2. It's quite literally built off of the foundation idea that non-Jewish people have an inherent anti-semetic bias, which is of course, not the case!

In the words of Abram Leon in his book, "The Jewish tavern owner or “farmer” of sixteenth-century Poland thought as little of “returning” to Palestine as does the Jewish millionaire in America today." The question of solving the problem of bigotry through a racially segregated homeland was such a new and honestly unpopular concept amongst the Jewish diaspora at the time too.

The figures, even within WW2 times, were as high as 50% of Jewish refugees migrating to the Soviet Union over Israel's settlements. These mostly working class Jewish refugees very well knew that going to Russia meant internment camps, that much was obvious even from those leaving the Allied forces countries, being forcibly deporting and them closing the borders to Jewish citizens. The reality then was that, despite being faced with torture in Soviet Russia, the Jewish population wanted nothing to do with a colonisation project like the settlements in Palestine.

The Jewish working class wasn't radicalised against their neighbours at the time, but actually against the imperialist countries that began the pogroms to stamp out the question of revolution after the first world war. These citizens, who took part in liberation struggles in countries like Russia or Germany (the two major revolutions that ended WW1), were self identified socialists, so how exactly did the colonial state get people on board with a very clearly expansionist and genocidal state?

Stay tuned I guess for when I get another to reblog! Please if you can, donate to this person, or any other that is vetted by an organisation, or share too ofc!

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Bookstore

Looks like Guillaume le Million... that hair poster.

PLAISANCE - "Hello again, esteemed officer," she keeps reciting like a robot. "And welcome to Crime, Romance, and Biographies of Famous People."

3. "Plaisance, I have something to tell you... I've found the actual source of doom."

PLAISANCE - "What do you mean the *actual* source?" She clutches her pendant anxiously. "Are you talking about the... *Third Presence*?"

INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] - She remembers. Good.

"Yes, the Presence, the Entity, the malicious Energy -- however you may want to call it…"

"My investigation has led me to discover a two-millimetre entroponetic hole in reality. That's the source of doom -- both in the commercial area *and* in Martinaise."

PLAISANCE - "She Who Has Many Names..." she nods solemnly. "I imagine things must be rather bleak for you to return to me. Tell me, what have you found?"

"My investigation has led me to discover a two-millimetre entroponetic hole in reality. That's the source of doom -- both in the commercial area *and* in Martinaise."

PLAISANCE - "A... a what?"

"A tiny hole... in reality. It may be connected with pale, an origin point of sorts. It would explain why historically so many things have ended in failure here in Martinaise."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Ma'am -- what he's saying is true. We found an entroponetic anomaly in the Small Pinewood Church down the coast. I don't mean to be an alarmist -- and more research *is* needed -- but... it's not looking good."

PLAISANCE - "But... but... *that's* not in any of the ancient texts! How am I supposed to protect my bookstore from *that*?!"

"You can't protect it -- not against *pale*. Close up the shop and try to get as far away from this thing as possible."

"You can protect it with hope, by refusing to give up. That's what people have done in the past -- by building a church, a place of worship around this thing."

"You'll have to find your own answer. I've spent too long on this quest as it is."

PLAISANCE - "You're *right*, officer. I mustn't lose faith -- especially now that Annette is finally settling in at school and making friends." She looks at her daughter, quietly studying in the corner of the shop. "No, we can't just leave!"

"Besides, didn't I have some Seolite hope catchers around here somewhere...? I must find them; everything will be alright if I can just find them."

"Thank you for your help, in any case. You're welcome back here anytime."

Task complete: Inform Plaisance about the Source of Doom

+10 XP

3. "Farewell for now, book peddler!" [Leave.]

You know, since we're here, and we already have more money than we can possibly spend...

MOUNTAIN OF BOARD GAMES - A small mountain of colourful board game boxes. There are numerous types of games for all ages. A lot of shelf space seems to be taken up by Wirrâl-related merchandise.

4. "I want to buy the *Suzerainty* game."

PLAISANCE - "Wonderful choice, sir." She smiles at you. "A wholesome *family* game."

4. "I want to buy the *Wirrâl* game."

PLAISANCE - "If you say so." She gives you a curious glance. "But you better stay away from those immoral occult rituals."

4. [Leave.]

BOARD GAME "SUZERAINTY"

A civilization-building board game where you get to choose a nation and set off to colonise and exploit other cultures. A star-shaped note on the box proclaims the game now includes a completely new "Genocide" option.

>INTERACT

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - In your hands you hold a brand new copy of the game 'Suzerainty'. It's snugly wrapped in a skin of plastic...

The cover features a charming illustration depicting a mass of grinning labourers loading goods onto a ship while a richly dressed administrator oversees their work.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - The exact location and time period are left deliberately vague, but it's clearly meant to represent the economic relationship between the Revacholian Suzerainty and its many vassals.

Shake the box.

Remove the plastic wrap.

[Leave it perfect and undisturbed.]

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - The box has a nice heft to it. You hear the rattle of individual wooden tokens and feel their weight shifting back and forth...

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - What treasures wait in store for you?

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - Even before you open it, you can tell that this will be a meaty game of grand strategy and complex player interactions.

2. Remove the plastic wrap.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - The plastic wrap rips off as easily as a bodice in a tawdry historical romance.

Open the box.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - There's a hiss as the lid slides off. Inside you find a thick, full-colour rulebook and more than a dozen pouches of various wooden components.

PERCEPTION (SMELL) [Medium: Success] - Ahhh! Savour that new board game smell! A mix of wood, paper, and ink, all wrapped in the sweet must of cardboard.

Read the rulebook.

Examine the components.

"Hey, Kim, wanna play?"

[Put the game away.]

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - 'Welcome to Suzerainty: A game of economic strategy for the whole family!' The rulebook is sumptuously illustrated and thick as a Graadian novel.

'Economic strategy'? More like rapacious plunder and exploitation.

Keep reading.

+1 Communism

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - The colourful illustrations depict cheerful workers picking apricots, hauling marble sculptures out of crumbling temples, and harvesting a strange, magenta-leafed plant. Everyone is smiling.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - You begin to suspect there may be a *political* agenda to this so-called 'family game'. Only one way to find out...

Keep reading.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - The instructions are opaque at first, and introduce many concepts you're not familiar with. Fortunately, there are many diagrams and examples throughout...

You soon figure out the basic conceit: Each player represents an administrator for the *Suzerain of Revachol*. Your objective is to increase the suzerain's wealth and renown by accumulating *victory points*.

How do you accumulate victory points?

Fuck the suzerain, what about *my* wealth and renown?

I've read enough. (Put the rulebook away.)

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - There is no path to wealth and renown but through the suzerain. As one of the suzerain's trusted administrators, your very function is the glorification of Revachol...

That's where the suzerain's vassals come in. The game features four vassal nations, each one home to an economically important resource...

Each turn the player collects resources from vassals where they've placed workers. They may then rearrange their workers, fulfil contracts for coin and bonuses, or build structures back in Revachol...

REACTION SPEED [Easy: Success] - As you leaf through the pages, your eye catches on a sidebar labelled 'ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS'.

Read the advice.

Ignore it. Just tell me how the winner is determined.

REACTION SPEED - "Remember, there are many paths to victory in *Suzerainty*, but successful players will find *one* strategy and commit to it wholeheartedly."

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Success]- Boring, boring, BORING. Tear up this rulebook and commit some old-school atrocities!

How is the winner determined?

Isn't there any way to invade or commit atrocities or anything fun like that?

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - Suzerainty is a family game. The only 'atrocities' you'll be committing are against the social standing of your rival administrators, as you bring in ever more resources and power for the suzerain. Speaking of...

The actual scoring system appears infinitely complex, with a series of tables and appendices required to compute each player's final victory point total. You skip that part for now.

2. Examine the components.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - You open up a number of pouches containing wooden tokens. There are also several punchboards with other cardboard components that will need to be punched out before you can play.

Punch out the cardboard pieces, one by one.

Check out the wooden tokens.

Put the components away.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - Each cardboard token makes a satisfying *chhhk* as you pop it out. Soon a neat pile of cardboard coins and counters has accumulated before you.

KIM KITSURAGI - "What, you're not going to offer to let *me* punch any of them out?"

2. Check out the wooden tokens.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - In addition to the worker and building tokens used by each player, there are also several piles of colourful resource tokens, each representing one of the game's four principal resources...

From the Empire of Safre: orange apricot tokens. From Ile Marat (the ancestral name of Iilmaraa): gray marble block tokens. From the Semenine Islands: white sacks of sugar tokens. And from Supramundi and Saramiriza: magenta tokens for unprocessed cocaine leaves.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Oh, those are nice." The lieutenant picks up a sugar token and admires it.

3. Put the components away.

SUZERAINTY: THE BOARD GAME - You hold the open game box before you.

3. "Hey, Kim, wanna play?"

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant looks over the rulebook before he sees something that makes his eyes go wide...

"Holy shit, the average playing time for this game is one to six hours…"

"I'm not sure we can afford to set aside *that* kind of time for a *game*."

EMPATHY [Formidable: Success] - So he says, but his gaze lingers a moment longer on the rulebook than is strictly necessary. He could *make* time, if he really wanted to.

This unlocks a Suggestion check to convince Kim to play the game, but let's not get stuck into that now.

4. [Put the game away.]

BOARD GAME "WIRRÂL"

A high-pasternal *fantastique populaire* board game, illustrated with bucolic vistas and featuring odd-looking humanoid creatures. It's the 3rd edition mega-setting supplements module and can't be played without the main game.

>INTERACT

WIRRÂL - Large letters on the front form a title: "Wirrâl." The colourful box is illustrated with bucolic vistas. The cover art also features odd-looking humanoids, some short, some taller, some with pointy ears, others with ephemeral wings.

Examine the box.

Open the box.

Put it away.

WIRRÂL - Text underneath the title, in smaller typeface, reads: "Third Edition, Mega-Setting Supplements Module." The side panel adds: "A sword and sorcery adventure board game. With new maps and miniatures."

Shake the box.

Look at the back.

Enough inspecting.

WIRRÂL - Mysterious things rattle inside. What could they be? Dice? Plastic miniatures? A fantastical alternate world full of magic and wonder?

None of that witless Man from Hjelmdall fascist dross hidden behind faux-realistic allegory. Wirrâl is no cliché-ridden apologia for colonial violence. Wirrâl is pure *imagination*.

RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - Yes, the Wirrâl setting is known for its complicated system of political alignments. But if you're not into that you can just hack your way through dungeons in search of loot. That's what most people do.

2. Look at the back.

WIRRÂL - A blurb on the back reads: "Tired of the tedium and toil of modern life? Escape to Wirrâl! Leave behind isolas and nations with their petty squabbles. Discard electricity, magnets, and boring technological widgets..."

"Succumb to a world of high-Pasternal fantastique, unleash your imagination and create an adventure of endless possibilities. Discover the terrible secret threatening Wirrâl -- can your band of adventurers save the world?"

Yes, we're ready to take on this challenge.

I'm not sure I can handle all this responsibility.

Definitely not, it sounds too dangerous.

WIRRÂL - Man up, this is about having structured fun! All you have to do is read an intricate rulebook, study an assortment of maps, unfold the illustrated gameboard, and start rolling dice.

In no time you could be romping through grasslands with low-level characters, hunted by iyskel riders… or battling unspeakable monsters in endless dungeons fraught with danger and despair, conjuring up forceful maegics to aid your quest.

DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Don't forget heated arguments escalating to physical confrontation with your friends.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - And beer. Lots of beer.

DRAMA - And most importantly, never forget to rage-quit if the dice don't go your way!

2. Open the box.

WIRRÂL - You pry open the box. Inside you find a folded-up map, a small booklet, a 24-sided die, and a little plastic figurine.

Look at the map.

Look at the booklet.

Look at the die.

Look at the figurine.

Close the box.

WIRRÂL - A reprint of a crude hand-drawn map. The top left corner reads: 'Lands of Wirrâl.' The map features both small villages and mid-sized towns (with odd names), in addition to meadows, forests, hills, lakes and seas (also with odd names).

It doesn't seem to correspond with anything you've seen thus far. It's not a very helpful map.

2. Look at the booklet.

WIRRÂL - A quick guide to the maegical races of Wirrâl. Create your own hero choosing from any of these completely unique and fantastical backgrounds.

The options are, in order of importance: the welkin, the dweorgr, the humans, the faerie folk, and the pygmies.

Read about the welkin.

Put the booklet away.

WIRRÂL - The welkin -- tall, lithe and graceful, with long flowing hair and pointy ears. They're known for being powerful maegic users, but can also hold their own in a brawn-driven fight.

The welkin come with a variety of exciting sub-races: high welkin, forest welkin, lake welkin, and snow welkin. But if you're not feeling experimental -- a basic welkin will always do.

Read about the dweorgr.

Put the booklet away.

WIRRÂL - A grand race of industrious mountain people. They're short, stout and muscular, and enjoy digging for gold and other precious minerals. They're also well-versed in the art of combat, where they prefer to use axes and hammers.

The dweorgr also come in a few different sub-races: hill dweorgr, shield dweorgr, and dark dweorgr.

Read about the humans.

Put the booklet away.

WIRRÂL - They're just humans... what else is there to tell? They're average in all stats and jacks-of-all-trades.

Read about the faerie folk.

Put the booklet away.

WIRRÂL - A very small race of flying people, known for being mischievous, full of trickery. They often lure people into their maegical traps. There are no sub-races for the faeries.

Read about the pygmies.

Put the booklet away.

WIRRÂL - The least popular of the Wirrâl races, the pygmies are short, rotund and dim-witted. Pygmies live in small villages made of shoddy wooden dwellings. They spend most their days tilling the earth and smoking their pipes. There are no sub-races for the pygmies.

3. Look at the die.

WIRRÂL - It's made from some sort of wood and has been decorated with peculiar plant motifs.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - You don't know much about dice, but this one looks pretty damn fancy.

Level up!

4. Take the die.

Item gained: Standard Wirrâl Die

WIRRÂL - You place the die into your pocket. It's always good to have luck on your side.

3. Look at the figurine.

WIRRÂL - You see a man in ragged clothes wearing a lopsided hat and wielding some sort of a firearm.

KIM KITSURAGI - "Huh, interesting. A communard."

"A what?"

"What's so interesting about that?"

"That doesn't sound very Wirrâl-like."

KIM KITSURAGI - "A communard. One of the leftist revolutionaries in the Antecentennial Revolution."

2. "That doesn't sound very Wirrâl-like."

KIM KITSURAGI - "It is not. The communards are not a part of the game setting... I guess someone misplaced it during the packaging process."

"Does this mean we can't play?"

"Maybe someone should make a role-playing game set during the Revolution."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Hmm. Good luck finding people who'd want to play as communards."

4. Take the figurine.

WIRRÂL - You pick the figurine up by the base to meet your gaze. The little plastic man stares back at you, his face contorted into a disturbing shout. Then you pocket it.

Item gained: Figurine Set "Revolutionary"

3. Close the box.

STANDARD WIRRÂL DIE

This basic 24-sided role-playing die can be used to get results for several dice. It's made of East-Semenese Snakewood and embellished with plant motives. It reminds you of plain- and hill-welkins. NOTE! Look at the MAP tab in Journal to see which White Checks have opened.

This die is not actually useful to us at this point in the game.

FIGURINE SET "REVOLUTIONARY"

What a nice little figurine! A turn-of-the-century leftist revolutionary in ragged clothes. On his head lies a lopsided hat, seemingly an ushanka. In his hand he carries a little musket.

I guess we could also give this to Dolores Dei... if we ever figure out what that actually means.

[lil-oreo-crumbles]

Hey, got any thoughts about Seth?

Oh, do I ever!!

Seth is an incredibly fascinating, dominant, and looming presence in the Magic Book of Spells with the potential to be one of the most intriguing characters in the entirely of SVTFOE… that was tragically underutilized, slapped in the face, and is who I believe to be the source of the biggest missed potential in the entirety of canon.

But I do not trust the writers at all to have handled him in the show proper.

The Septarians are notoriously treated like absolute dirt. Any and all of the Septarians we meet have either been humiliated, turned into a joke, villainized beyond any humanity, and overall treated awfully. They’re portrayed as this unfeeling, violent, monster species with no (biological? cultural?) ability to forgive or forget the countless atrocities the Mewmans committed against innocent people. GEEZ, It’s not like the Septarians have enhanced longevity and experience time differently than almost EVERY OTHER SPECIES ON MEWNI with most of them FIRST HAND experiencing the atrocities other species of monsters and ESPECIALLY Mewmans see as “bygone eras of the past!!”

And even with the book alone, Seth is also lumped into this stereotype, and may be one of the worst offenders. Globgor can’t stand him and has intense bias against him (I know he talked about “Septarians” but my god we all know he means Seth to some degree. Seth is very clearly a prominent figure if not the leader of the Septarians and he’s pictured/alluded to twice in Eclipsa’s chapter), bitch Crescenta smeared his name into the DIRT in a rigged election campaign and destroyed his reputation, and Comet refused to take him seriously whatsoever (but then again it’s Comet so what are we really expecting??). He was even on the Magic High Commission’s radar, labeled as an “extremist” (which just about anything is labeled “extreme” in the MHC’s eyes so they’re not reliable narrators). He’s spat upon and repeatedly villainized. He gets no breaks or even a glimpse of humanity and everyone in the fandom after the book came out was hyping him up as this huge villain.

So, yeah, I don’t think the show would have bothered to give him any humanity or depth if he was introduced in the show proper and would have made egregiously worse the show’s already bad problem of making monsters, the historically marginalized and colonized group of people, the bad guys. (Seriously, Meteora wasn’t a “real” threat until she was revealed to be half monster. That makes me frustrated.)

I love Seth. I think he would’ve had amazing potential if put in the right hands. There’s so much to do with him and I’m mostly glad he’s been left alone so fans can interpret him in any way they want.

Now… what are my opinions and headcanons about him? What’s the story I’ve concocted?

Thankfully Seth is a character I can talk about without worrying about AU spoilers… mostly (thank god).

In my mind, Seth is someone who actually didn’t see the Great Monster Massacre first hand, hatching about 200 years afterwards (due to my timeline and how I’ve designed Septarian aging). But that doesn’t mean whatsoever that he hasn’t seen the atrocities of Mewmans. In fact, he’s been put in several situations where— while not Moe levels of genocide— he has seen the cruelest and most inhumane levels of Mewman aggression against monsters. He’s a victim of it first hand and spent 80+ years through torture after being ripped away from his homeland before finally uprising against it with his sister (oh yeah he has a sister in my AU)

He is someone who wholeheartedly earned the respect and adoration of his people. He was a leader that they wanted, not because of blood or any ties to the throne he had. (He’s by blood the Prince of Septarsis, but by the time he came back to Septarsis not many people remembered him since he had changed so much). He completely changed the governmental system and put Septarsis into its golden age.

Now this is what may get me in trouble, but stick with me… I don’t think the reputation he’s acquired is completely unfounded and blatantly untrue. YES the Mewmans and MHC are incredibly biased and we can’t take what they say at face value. They have villainized him beyond comprehension and made lies about him, but some things he’s known for have some truth to them. Seth is someone who I see as extremely trigger happy in his youth.

While a great leader and delegate, he actively seeks violence and war against Mewmankind. He is NOT, I repeat, NOT genocidal… but if Mewmans happened to disappear one day you wouldn’t see him complaining. This makes him a fun foil for Toffee’s mother in my AU, Mylanie, who’s someone who strives to end the conflict and seek lasting peace.

In the early days he was active in battle and loved fighting against his adversaries. In fact, he was the one who killed Solaria with his bare hands, dismembering her and spreading her was far as he could while keeping her head. He’s not afraid to get messy when protecting monsters or his homeland, and the stories about his violence is NOT unfounded. If anyone is perpetuating ideas about Septarian stereotypes, it’s our buddy Seth.

But here’s the important distinction, he is not going out of his way hurting innocent people. He’s not this bloodthirsty monster who’s trying to commit genocide, he’s not Solaria AT ALL, he’s just someone who sees violence as the solution and thinks peace is a waste of time.

It wasn’t until the election that his priorities changed and he actually calmed down.

However, the smear campaign with Crescenta was a huge blow. It really got him to think and consider how his actions were affecting monsters as a whole but especially his own people. He knows how much influence he has over how his people are perceived… and that’s when he pulled back. He was still active, don’t get me wrong, and gets along diplomatically with the few surviving monster civilizations, but he took a lot less of a widespread role than he used to. He took a backseat and focused on his people first and foremost, and even if he was always great at strategy, he focused on playing the long game rather than just jumping into violence. Peace with Mewmans was still firmly off the table though and is still that way to this day.

When Comet sent the invitation, he genuinely planned to ignore it. He had no intention of going to the banquet— as last time he played along with Mewman rules he got screwed— but did allow Toffee to be a representative after Toffee offered to go in his place.

Under one condition: No harm was to come to the Queen

And we see how that went…

I’d gladly go into his relationship/dynamic with Toffee but this post is long enough :). Maybe in another post!!

His “death” was a stunt to fully get him out of drama and focused on the homefront, and he was especially glad he perpetuated that lie because of how pissed he was at Toffee after Comet’s death. He’s alive and well and still in charge of Septarsis, he’s just out of the public eye because everyone thinks he’s dead (except close allies).

Overall I see him as someone who reflected what his reputation said he was until he got a huge ego blow and actually matured enough to stop being so trigger happy. He was always a great leader over Septarsis and did whatever it took to protect his people, but he had some growing up to do as well.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. My AU goes into him a lot deeper and really fleshes him out. He’s a four dimensional character with layers and depth to him. While he seems like a Mewman hating “radical” on the surface, he’s humanized and he has layers and reasonings for his beliefs and actions.

I just love Seth. A lot. He’s so silly. He’s so fascinating and I love that everyone has a different perspective of him.

Also he is Rasticore’s dad you can’t change my mind !!

Dude I could literally make a whole other post on him I love this character so much—

[manuscripts-dontburn]

The Silence Factory

Author: Bridget Collins

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★☆☆

What a stunning cover! While The Silence Factory is not AS good and enchanting as Collins´ previous two books, it is still a pretty solid Gothic historical fiction. It is not, though, a magical realism book, which I imagine lets some people down, because it was advertised as one. I also admit I expected the story to be a little more twisty and bendy because it is quite straightforward and the atmosphere and the plot had strength to hold...well...more.

Franklin's Flying Bookshop

Author: Jen Campbell

First published: 2017

Rating:  ★★★★☆

I was happy to find this book at a school fair and immediately snatched it for a baby girl in our family. Of course, first, I had to read it myself! It is a sweet, short story about the love of stories and books and how that love can bring people closer. I read the Czech translation and I imagine some of the verses were smoother in English. The illustrations are extremely cute, generously large and colourful.

Company of Liars

Author: Karen Maitland

First published: 2008

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Not great, not terrible. Or rather: it kept me entertained well enough throughout the whole thing and sometimes that is all you need from a book.

The Lights of Prague

Author: Nicole Jarvis

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I reached for this book mostly because I am always curious about how foreigners present my country. As a debut, this is not bad. You can really tell there is talent in the use of language, creating the atmosphere. Where it limps quite badly is the depth of the characters, their gradual development and especially the relationships. Some of the names and words chosen (never ever have I heard anyone call a vampire "pijavice" - literally a leech) sounded strange to a Czech, but I have seen and read so much worse before that I waved this away. The plot was very straightforward and the ending bored me, unfortunately.

My Salty Mary

Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★☆

After the last instalment that was really just "mid", My Salty Mary returns with the easy wit, fluffy characters and some really funny (really well-timed) jokes. Perfect if you want to clear your head.

Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom

Author: Norman Finkelstein

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

An extremely important book, now more than ever. Norman Finkelstein simply slaps you in the face with fact after fact, there is nothing sentimental or pleading here, just bare and naked reality, meticulously backed by sources. Finkelstein focuses on the Israeli violence against the people of Gaza between the years 2002 and 2014, and you can see that everything that is being used by Israeli (And US) propaganda has already been used multiple times and, just like today, with no evidence to back it up. Most importantly it is clear now that every operation undertaken in the past twenty years has only been a dress rehearsal for the currently ongoing genocide of the Palestinians AND the attacks against Lebanon. Every page of this book made me feel sheer fury. Mostly because when you read it now you already know that the worst is yet to come for the Palestinian people.

The Lady and the Unicorn

Author: Tracy Chevalier

First published: 2004

Rating: ★★★★☆

Though at first I disliked pretty much all of the characters and did not understand the point of the story, it eventually grew on me to the point where I was looking forward to spending time within the pages of this book. You get to see the souls of the characters and love at least one (Ailienor, though I may have spelled that wrong), you learn something about the making of tapestries (which was surprisingly interesting) and see how our lives resemble tapestries with many threads that get pulled, with parts that need to be re-done and the fact that when we are gone, our meanings and intentions may not be clearly interpreted by the future. If the future should ever notice us at all. That all probably sounds terribly complicated, but that is the feeling I am leaving with.

The Shape of Darkness

Author: Laura Purcell

First published: 2021

Rating:  ★★★★★

The book has a slow start but when it grabs you, it is really difficult to put it down. Laura Purcell is brilliant in walking the tight rope between the supernatural and the real. Just when you think you have it all figured out, she is able to throw something at you that again makes you doubt your conclusions. She is also very skilful in creating a dark, Gothic atmosphere. Last but not least I appreciate her ability to tell the background story in pieces and insinuations rather than laying it all out for you at once. So yeah, this was good.

Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives

Author: Alice Loxton

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★☆

A wonderful non-fiction book for a young reader. By creating short and very readable cameos of actual historical figures, Alice Loxton had offered an entertaining yet educational and even inspirational album of fascinating live stories. And thought focused on the young, it can be enjoyed by the old as well :D

Songbirds

Author: Christy Lefteri

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★☆

I really, really like Christy Lefteri´s writing style. Much like her previous book, Songbirds is more of an exploration of souls and relationships than a thrilling adventure. Indeed the plot is very simple: a domestic worker goes missing and those around her are left to both try to look for her as well as to realize who exactly the woman was and what are their own lives without her presence in it. There are also musings on motherhood and what we are willing to do to better our existence, as well as commentary on social hierarchy and prevalent racism many migrants keep experiencing. I wished for a little more mystery when it came to Nisha´s disappearance, but perhaps the sad banality of it was necessary as a reminder of reality.

Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain

Author: Amy Jeffs

First published: 2022

Rating:  ★★★★★

This was such a curious book. Part mythology/legend retelling, part memoir and non-fiction to explain context and details, and if you listen to it on audio, also quite a banging folk music album. Gorgeously written, no matter which kind of genre it chooses to be at a given moment, I was surprised by how rich it felt, considering this is quite a thin volume.

A Dowry of Blood

Author: S.T. Gibson

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I´m not mad about this book, just kind of... disappointed. Great idea with some pretty good writing, but I felt that the characters never evolved, staying the same no matter how many centuries they have gone through. They also never seemed to be doing anything interesting besides a bisexual woohoo a few times. And I felt that the possibility of showing the immortals reacting to the ever-changing world around them was not explored at all, though that is one of my favourite things about vampires. Furthermore, these vampires felt altogether too human.

Garlic and the Vampire

Author: Bree Paulsen

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★★

I needed something soft and sweet and uncomplicated to close off October. This was a perfect pick for me. Also, I always knew celery was the lesser vegetable.

[sorcerous-caress]

Just a lil check in to say hi and see how you’re doing. So how are you doing? I hope you’re doing well! Are you itching to write anything in particular lately?

-ex lurker

I'm doing alright, I'm learning how to manage myself and emotions better.

I have been more leaning towards sfw works recently, I still like smut as the next guy, but there are so many other ideas I want to explore first.

Angst, fluff, drama, character studies especially. I want to show more attention to Laezel, Minthara and Karlach. I feel like I've been focusing on Gale, Shadowheart and Astarion too much recently.

Oh but also dragons, and alternative universes! I've been storming a couple prince Wyll ideas but haven't came up with anything yet.

Thank you for checking in anon, I saw your message too and it made me feel better. How are you doing? I hope you're doing well and all, i hope you're staying safe and healthy.

Real Life events and vent below.

I've been preparing for my niece's birthday, i got he the most beautiful cinderella dress I could afford. Which isn't much but It's something that I hope she likes. Also I never realised how hard it is to get your hands on bts merch until 5 of my nieces suddenly became hard-core fans of them.

My dude it is a major struggle, each time I want to order something then look away for a second, it's suddenly sold out.

But it's eating me up, how my niece gets a safe and happy birthday while newborn children are being taken off life support and forced out of hospitals in Gaza. That video of the kids playiny and sliding on the gaint hole in the street previously made a rocket. I don't think I have the right to call myself human anymore, it's beyond horrific what's been happening to them.

Funny thing is, I have always known about the Palestine conflict, we literally read about it in our history books in schools. I remember being in middle school and going home to ask my parents about it, i remember the teachers tearing up when bringing it up. I remember the clear discussions of the horrors happening right now there.

And all of that was softened up and watered down as much as possible for a kid to comprehend. Much like I had to learn about the major world wars, the Palestine history and the many many treaties that were broken by their colonisers took a whole chapter or more out of the school book.

I can't even begin to describe how important and how aware the middle east is of Palestine even before the current genocide intensified. It's straight up embarrassing and shameful how little the current middle east cares or sends aids for Palestine. After all that history, after all those talks and promises.

The rich ones are pandering to the west for a speck of dust of acceptance, ereasing their own culture just to become nothing more than a vacation spot for foreigners.

If you're wondering why the Palestine people have no-where safe to go to, is because all their arab neighbouring countries closed off their borders to them. So they can deep throat the coloniser's dick more I assume.

As much as my own country is corrupted and fucked up, the one right thing we did is that we never recognised Palestine's colonisers as an actual country and never will.

I learned english as a kid on my own to be able to read uncensored books, Agatha Christie ones. The arabic translations clearly had a lot of plot holes and cut content and it frustrated kid me endlessly.

But I didnt realise it would come at the cost of my own culture. I feel like It made me no better than the arabs who suck up to westerns and put english on a pedestal. The same goes for the rest of my generations, we are all young adults and we couldn't have been more disconnected from our roots.

That's why the westernisation of the middle east was barely met with any resistance from us, the young adults who were supposed to be the front line of defence against corrupt governments. The second I saw them fully celebrating Christmas and using fake snow to pander to the west is the second I realised just how doomed we are. They don't even actually celebrate anything, they're playing dress up with someone else's religion and history.

We have our own celebrations, even our own calander with our own new year yet it's forgotten just for us to act out what we saw in Hollywood and Disney movies.

Our own princess, fairytales and folklore. Yet I still bought that Cindrella dress for my niece.

To add insult to injury, the closet thing to a traditional arab princess dress in that store was akin to a caricature of a bellydancer dress.

I'm not better than them. Indirectly or not, all of our combined actions had a hand in dooming Palestine, in dooming our brothers and sisters.

And Christmas will come, and the same arab countries who didn't allow women the legal right to drive a car until 2017-2018, would celebrate it alongside the world. Pretending it's one of them, pretending it's not like its "terrorist" sister countries so please please pick me up foreigners!!