#I Do Not Understand But I Am Very Frustrated

[milykins]

TMNT Headcanon – Losing Their Virginity

As much as I appreciate that a lot of the NSFW writing on here portrays the guys as being absolute experts at sex… they had to start somewhere. That is where these come in. Keep in mind they are all above 18 and paired with female characters written in a third-person POV. I am going to write one for each of the brothers. Mikey is first because he is my favourite.

Aged-up TMNT at least 18.

18+ Readers only. Contains sexual content

Mikey's Story

Mikey is not only the first of his brothers to get an actual girlfriend, but he ends up being the first to officially lose his virginity. It happens when he’s 18. Mike was actually pretty well-known in the party scene. Patrolling every night and saving innocent bystanders did have its advantages sometimes. Mikey sometimes would stay out until three, four, sometimes five in the morning, much to Leo’s frustration from having his sleep-deprived brother join them for morning practice.

This is where he meets her. Like him she was a free spirit and loved the party scene. He suspected she was doing it as an escape but since it was none of his business he didn’t think to ask her. She’s the first girl in his life to actually respond to his flirtatious ways and actually reciprocates. Naturally he falls HARD for this girl. They play around in a kind of will they won’t they for a bit until she actually makes the first move and invites him back to her place. He goes, not expecting anything to happen but remains hopeful that he’ll at least get to kiss her on the cheek or something.

Much to his surprise, it is so much more than he could have ever dreamed. Cuddling during a movie leads to some gentle touches, which leads to actual kissing to a full-blown makeout session. Even more surprising to him is catching the scent of her arousal. She liked this, and when she brings his hand to touch her breast, he could swears he could’ve died and gone to heaven right then and there. Still, a small part of him knows they need to talk things out before things go any further. After all, he’s still a mutant turtle. There are certain… differences that she needed to be aware of.

Luckily for him, she’s more than understanding about his anatomy and they go no further than second-base that night. He pretty much asks her to be his girlfriend when the night ends and is over the moon when she accepts. From that moment on he takes every opportunity to brag about his beautiful girlfriend. It drives his brothers crazy and by the end of the month they’re ready to kill him.

Mikey is very attentive and sweet as a boyfriend, but he’s hyper-aware of the fact his girlfriend is human and is secretly terrified that sex might not be possible at all due to how different he is. He does voice his concerns one night when things start to become more intense between the two of them. She assures him that no matter what, she still wants to try. The admission makes Mikey feel like crying.

Their first attempt is a week later. Mikey is so, so incredibly careful and doing his best to stay calm when he enters her for the very first time. He gets about halfway in, locks up, and freezes before looking incredibly disappointed and ashamed with himself. He’d finished before they had even gotten started. That night is a lot of reassurance and soft words of comfort from his girlfriend who tells him they can try again.

The next time Mikey is determined to last longer and actually does his research on how to satisfy his girlfriend first just in case they can't go all the way. He successfully reduces her to a flushed and panting mess beneath him while looking very pleased with himself. She playfully tells him to wipe that smirk off his face and tells him she’s ready. Mikey takes a few steadying breaths before pushing inside of her, going achingly slow. Upon entering her completely he’s trembling slightly as he tries to control his breathing and keep his body from getting too excited. Incredibly, she is able to take all of him, and despite feeling the obvious stretch and a slight burn, she's as excited as he is.

Mikey doesn’t move for several minutes, afraid it will be over before it even begins and babbles away nervously, asking her if she's alright and if he's hurting her. She caresses his face, assuring him that no matter what, she wants this, it feels good for her, and she wants him to feel good too, no matter what. He does an experimental roll of his hips and sees her face change into one of awe and pleasure. A few slow thrusts later, and he’s able to get into a steady rhythm. He can tell she’s enjoying it too from the soft sounds of pleasure he hears and the slight tremble of her thighs as he slightly increases the speed of his thrusts. Very quickly, he realizes that he’s going to finish before she does unless he does something about it fast. Luckily he’s had plenty of practice, and with a few circles of his thumb on her nub, she jolts and cries out. She tightens around him, and he’s completely unable to hold back after that. In the aftermath of their lovemaking they’re both breathing heavily and pause a moment before they both break out into giddy laughter together. Mikey doesn’t think he’s ever been as happy as he is in that moment.

Upon arriving home, Mikey knows his brothers can smell what he did. They’re bracing themselves for him to brag about being the first to go all the way with a girl, but he doesn’t. He’s entirely changed from the experience and wants to keep the moment to himself. It’s not like it’s some badge of honour that he needs to parade around the lair. It was special and intimate, and he feels so incredibly blessed and lucky to have had this experience. He’s hopeful about the future and feels a little lighter moving forward in his life.

The End

The others are yet to come, stay tuned!

[tater-tot-jr]

DRDT spoilers below the cut.

So I’ve heard some people have complaints about the new episode? In the interest of starting shit let’s talk about it.

To give the devil his dues, there is a moment in the chapter I find shaky. No one seeing Ace grabbing the tape is the only thing that gave me pause (frankly though it’s more realistic than the actual danganronpa games sometimes). I’m willing to deal with it, but if that’s a big sticking point for you then I’m not gonna say it’s wrong. If this is something that broke your immersion I’m not gonna blame you.

Let’s talk about some of the common complaints I’ve seen.

1. Ace’s character had so much potential! Him dying now is bad writing.

Wrong. False. Incorrect. Killing off a character with potential is not a inherently bad writing. Arei, Min, and Xander all had fuck tons of potential. I don’t see y’all trashing that shit. It’s part of danganronpa. Dev needs to make sure you won’t call their bluff, so they need to mix more disposable characters with interesting characters and switch up who gets knifed. All good fangans do this. Secondly, an inherent part of the tragedy of danganronpa is how much life these people had left to live. Them dying with potential is like… kinda the point. I’m starting to realize some of you forgot what you’re watching.

2. Him being the killer doesn’t fit the themes of the chapter!

This is silly to me. The theme of the chapter is people not being who they say/you think they are. All that glitters and all that. Ace has been viewed as a paper tiger for this entire series. Someone who would make threats and then back out when it got serious. He was assumed to be someone who’d step to someone who’d actually kill him and become a victim, by both the fandom and cast. For him to not just be a killer, but murder in a way that required planning, stealth, and a level of sophistication is very unlike what he thought of him. This is textbook theming that fits the chapter. Y’all just mad because you were tripping out about people “being a good person”. (Side note: I’ve seen people be frustrated with J for calling Ace too stupid for this plan, but she’s essentially making the same argument I am. Just in worse words. She was bringing up the fact that this entire plan goes against Ace’s perceived nature.)

3. Everyone feels so sympathetic for Ace but is so harsh towards Nico!

I actually agree with like… 40% of this argument. I think the harshness towards Nico is very justified and I’m kinda disgruntled seeing people pass the buck on Ace’s actions. This is because the emotions are still fresh, more nuanced conversation will come in time. It’s also because while their motives were both very human, Ace’s is more relatable for a majority of people. Nico tried to kill out of anger, they tried to kill because Ace was upsetting them greatly and they wanted that to go away, they tried to kill because they were reminded of people who hurt them and wanted a form of justice. These are all very understandable and human. Ace killed because he thought he would be next, because he was afraid of everyone around him and he thought they all had it out for him, he killed because he was afraid. Are you seeing the difference? Nico attempted to kill a specific person because they hated him. Nico wanted a form of revenge and to dole out a punishment. If that got them out of the killing game, wonderful. Ace killed very specifically because he thought he would be next, he didn’t want someone to murder him so he murdered to try and get out first. In this was, Nico’s attempted murder is framed as very aggressive and Ace’s murder of Arei is framed as very defensive. All of this to say, murder is wrong. It’s obvious why people are feeling more connection to Ace’s motive, but he still killed one person and wanted to kill a bunch of others. These actions aren’t defensible. His actions are his own, and while outside factors pushed him in a direction, you always have a choice. He made the choice to kill, and that’s on him.

4. No scrum debate! He isn’t the killer!

That’s unlikely. That lack of a scrum debate can be better explained by like… a bunch of different things. Dev themselves said that they have more responsibilities now. It’s very likely they realized the scrum debate wasn’t necessary and decided to kill a darling to make things easier on themselves. Maybe a scrum debate just didn’t fit in the chapter. Maybe there’s a deeper meaning. Maybe it’s supposed to represent how much everyone kinda ganged up on Ace until he broke, how he had no one to consistently defend him. There’s plenty of more reasonable explanations besides a crazy last minute plot twist. …That is also not entirely off the table though.

5. Teruko was so hypocritical for ganging up on him like everyone else ganged up on her during chapter 1!

Yes, she’s a little bit of a hypocrite for not hearing his side better. This is a fact. This is also a character flaw. Crazy to think someone jaded and disillusioned with the world would act like a hypocritical jackass sometimes, eh?

—

I would like to stress that 99% of the people are being fine and reasonable and you’re all great. However, there’s 1% of people whose arguments just aren’t good. I wanted to talk about that. Feel free to make some new arguments, or respond to my points. I’d love to chat.

[livesworthlivingau]

Lives Worth Living Chapter 30

Spoilers for ISAT/Two Hats below! CW: Screaming, Arguing, Mental Spiraling, Mentions of stabbing/murder, Mentions of suicide with intent to loop.

"Sif! Sif just hold on a second, we need to talk about this!" (Isa shouts out after you as you storm out of your room and down the stairs, finding everyone else waiting in front room of the house.)

"You told them?!" (You shout at Nille. She looks at Bonnie with a sigh, they've clearly been crying a lot, sitting on the couch and hugging a pillow.)

"Bonnie had their window open… They heard everything." (You stop in your tracks. Your heart sank as you looked back at Bonnie again. They didn't look back at you, just looking down at the ground. No no no… Why'd it have to be them…)

"Bonnie, I…" (You start to step closer. They pull away, trying to avoid you…)

"Siffrin, we need to talk about this. Please just take a breath." (Odile starts, Isa making it down the stairs after you and crossing his arms, a worried look on his face.)

"But there's nothing to talk about! I'm fine! And it wasn't even their fault! Please, you don't have to make a big deal out of this!"

"Sif… We can't just let this go without at least talking about this, they stabbed you for change sake!"

"… I'm fine."

"People who are fine don't tend to forgive being stabbed so easily." (Odile snaps. Mirabelle joins in to try and help diffuse you.)

"P-Please Siffrin! We're only worried because we care about you! We just want to understand what happened."

"There's nothing to understand! It happened, it's over, it's fine! They won't do it again!"

"How can you be so sure of that? Did you think it would happen the first time?"

"No, but-"

"You're putting us in danger just as much as you are yourself if you don't just talk to us about this."

"N-No! They'd never hurt you! That's not-"

"But they'd hurt you? That's still not very reassuring Siffrin."

"SHUT UP!!!" (You finally snap, gripping your hair and shutting your eye tight. Your heart races in a panic before you feel Isa's hands carefully hold you.)

"M'dame, I don't think your strategy is helping…" (He sternly states as he tries to comfort you. You hear Odile let out a heavy sigh.)

"Sorry… You're right, I'm just frustrated."

"L-Let's just all take a second to calm down and then go from there, okay?" (The question seems to be directed at you. You finally start to calm down just enough to avoid shouting again.)

"… I can't talk about it… A-and I can't…" (You feel a tear start to trail down your cheek.)

"I can't lose them again…" (You start to break down crying before Isa pulls you into a tight embrace.)

"Sif, it's okay… We're just trying to understand. How would you feel if this happened to one of us? You'd want to make sure we were safe as possible, right?" (You sniffle wipe your tears with your arm, trying to calm down again.)

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right…" (You mumble before Nille finally manages to chime in.)

"I care about them too Sif, but this isn't something to just ignore. We just gotta talk this out is all, we're not gonna send them off into the woods or anything like that."

"Of course you'd say that…"

"Bonnie, please just give them a chance to explai-"

"NO! NO I'M NOT GONNA! THEY HURT FRIN!!! WHY ARE YOU TWO OKAY WITH THIS?! STUPIDFRIN! STUPIDNILLE! I HATE THEM AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!" (Bonnie screams, running up the stairs back to their room, tears pouring down their face. Nille starts to follow for a couple steps before sighing out, crossing her arms.)

"Crab… How am I gonna fix this?…"

"They do have a point." (Odile chimes in again.)

"I can somewhat understand why Siffrin would forgive them, but why aren't you more upset by this Petronille?" (She perks up as she was addressed, her expression dropping.)

"… I'm definitely upset about it, but it's got to do with that secret of theirs. It's real hard to explain without it."

"Then perhaps the time for secrets is over. The only way I can see any of this going well is if everything is laid out on the table. If you both hope for them to fit in, we have to know." (You glance over at Nille, who looks back to you with a nod.)

"I think she's right Frin… Vale's gotta get this out, one way or another." (You pause for a long moment, trying to think of a way this can go well, imagining the way to make this easiest on Vale, because they were right. It has to be done.)

"… Okay… Okay, let's go get them…"

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

"... You really think this is a good idea?" (You ask with a sigh.)

"Not exactly, but I'm not sure what other choice we got..."

(You and Nille stand in the hallway of the Inn's second floor, speaking softly to not disturb anyone. Your thoughts begin to drift towards the idea of looping, but you quickly shut those thoughts out. No! we can't start relying on that again...)

"So... Who should say it?"

"For the love of Change, You and Vale really are the same." (She half jokes with a roll of her eyes, knocking on the door to stop you from stalling.)

"Hey Vay, You up?" (You hear a bit of shuffling from behind the door. A few moments later it opens wide to show Vale with a bright yet fake smile plastered on their face. It cracks as they spot you, especially with the expression that must be on your face right now...)

"... What is it, Stardust?"

[hedgiwithapen]

SG-1: Instead of breaking the time loop, Malikai succeeds in figuring out time travel, and SG-1 wakes up just before the beginning of the series.

(episode: Window of Opportunity) “I lost my son,” Jack said, pity winning more than his anger, more than his frustration. “I know…and as much as I…I could never live that over again.” He looked at Malikai. “Could you?” “Yes,” came the answer, but not from the alien scientist. Jack turned to stare down Daniel. Daniel was not cowed.  “I could. For another minute, just one minute even… one more chance to tell her I loved her.” “You understand. Help me,” Malikai pleaded. “Daniel,” Jack warned. Daniel  ignored him. “One shot’s all we have, he’s going to be very grumpy about this,” Daniel said. “ let me see these markings-- I think-- this one… maybe?” “No, no, I’ve tried that one,” Malikai said. “But not in conjunction with these two, am I right?” Daniel beamed, touching the buttons. “So all we have to do is--” his hand came down. The alter lit.

Teal’c turned over in a bed he had not slept in in many months. His body remembered it better than his mind. He sat up, breathing in the smell of Chulak’s trees. They were like the trees of Earth-- of Tauri.  But they were not the same. He was home. And yet he was not. “Teal’c?” his wife asked, leaning up on her elbow. “You are troubled?” “I am not,” he said. It was a lie. “I am confused.” he amended, sensing that she had sensed his deception. “By what?” she asked. He paused, then plunged. “ I feel as though I have slept for many days. What is today?” She told him. Teal’c bit his tongue. He would be called soon, to go up past the Chappa’ai. Apophis still thought him faithful, and would send him to guard and choose from the captives that would be brought. Select a host for Amaunet. Kill the rest. His friends. They were not yet his friends, if they did not recall. What if they had not been affected as he had by the machine of Malakai?  But then, it would make logical sense for Jack O’neil to recall, as he too had been within the loop. And should he not… Teal’c would have to hope. “My love,” he said, quiet. Thinking. How he had longed for the chance to see things different. “I must ask you to do something for me, and tell no one of it.” “What?” she asked. “I go to attend Appophis.  When the sun is highest, take our son and wait, concealed, near the Chappa’ai. Stay back from it. Then you must wait for me, and trust me.” “Why?” “I cannot tell you why. All I can do is ask, and if you have any love for me, you will do this. Do you understand?” “I do not. But, for you, I will do this.” Teal’c leaned his forehead to touch hers. “I love you. I will return.” He might save his wife and child, and still doom his neighbors. But no. This time, the Stargate program could be aware of the threat the system lords would pose to Chulak. They might intervene. They would intervene.  All he had to do was wait, and hope.  The prisoners from Abydos would arrive soon. And from there… The gods were false, so there was no one to pray to that the people he had once considered family would risk their lives for a woman who was not Sha’re of Abydos. He had killed her twice. He could not do so again. 

[aro-culture-is]

I've been questioning if I am aro or not for the past year, previously I identified myself as a lesbian because I dont have an interest in men, and I usually feel more comfortable on women. However when I try to imaginr myself in the future I dont see myself being in a relationship in the future, like I am wondeeng "how the hell does one manage a relationship"

But I dont know if I am really aro because when I was in middle school I had a sort of "crush" on a person but I was mostly thinking "Hey this girl is really nice and the only person that understands me maybe I have a crush on her" and I really love the idea of romance and shipping characters and seeing other aromantic people being repulsed by the idea made me question even more.

hi! thanks for reaching out. since it's been a while since I've answered stuff like this, reminder that all asks of this nature are filed under the tag 'am i aro'

Your first paragraph is such a common experience in a-spec communities - initially, most folks start from "well, i'm not attracted to x gender, so I must be attracted to y?" or "well, I'm equally attracted to all genders, so I must be bi/pan?" when the problem is, 0 attraction to one gender is not related at all to how you feel about others, and 0 = 0. You're in very, very good company among a-spec folks, including yours truly - who rotated through the whole of LGBTQ before realizing aromanticism was an option that actually fit very well.

With regards to the second paragraph - first of all, mood! Personally, that "crush" was something we'd later identify as a squish, or friendship crush. Hilariously, we no longer like this particular person at all, as becoming friends led to us discovering our specific neurodivergent flavors interacted to constantly frustrate us. Enjoying - or not enjoying - romance and shipping is not at all something inherent to your attraction.

Plenty of outwardly aro folks talk more about our experiences with romantic repulsion and frustrations with shipping culture because we are in aromantic spaces and talking about the sociological implications, but - personally? I adore shipping, dislike seeing irl romance, and think it's mostly interesting to talk about how romance interacts with expectations and laws in society. I don't like to call myself romance repulsed, romance favorable, any of that - I think those are personally limiting to my identity and how I interact with those subjects. Other folks find it useful as a shorthand to explain how they feel, and that's great too!

I can't tell you what your identity is, but I think it's useful to say this: you've described to me a very, very common story to many a-spec folks. You're seeking advice from me, which tells me it probably matters a lot to you, and I wouldn't be surprised if, in some ways, you feel like you need permission, or verification, or any of those sorts of things.

I think, rather than relying on that - what would happen if, privately, you give yourself permission to explore what it feels like to say "I am aromantic", or "I think I'm aromantic"? How do you feel? Nervous, anxious, bubbly, weighed down, vulnerable - those are all common. But the thing is, if I think of an identity I am 100% sure I do not belong to in that way - I certainly don't feel a little flutter of hope. I don't feel like I might be onto a scary new journey. I just feel like I've said that the world is shaped like a rabbit - nonsensical and wrong. If you feel like there's a possibility - does it hurt you to say, "I might be, and what does that change?" The worst that happens is, quite literally, you learned something about yourself.

-- mod axel

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[abirddogmoment]

today's hot take for dog people: management is not the same thing as training.

[bookwyrminspiration]

me, of my own free will, clocking into the kotlc tag every morning to see what we’re arguing about this time

[the---hermit]

Not me adding annotations to a book to make it more accessible for my mom when she will read it

[rollercoasterwords]

[wonder-worker]

"Among their complaints [in 1460, the Yorkists] specifically blamed the earls of Wiltshire and Shrewsbury and Viscount Beaumont for ‘stirring’ the king [Henry VI] to hold a parliament at Coventry that would attaint them and for keeping them from the king’s presence and likely mercy, asserting that this was done against [the king's] will. To this they added the charge that these evil counselors were also tyrannizing other true men* without the king’s knowledge. Such claims of malfeasance obliquely raised the question of Henry’s fitness as a king, for how could he be deemed competent if such things happened without his knowledge and against his wishes? They also tied in rumors circulating somewhat earlier in the southern counties and likely to have originated in Calais that Henry was really ‘good and gracious Lord to the [Yorkists] since, it was alleged, he had not known of or assented to their attainders. On 11 June the king was compelled to issue a proclamation stating that they were indeed traitors and that assertions to the contrary were to be ignored." - Helen Maurer, "Margaret of Anjou: "Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England"

Three things that we can surmise from this:

We know where the "Henry was an innocent helpless king being controlled and manipulated by his Evil™ advisors" rhetoric came from**.

The Yorkists were deliberately trying to downplay Henry VI's actual role and involvement in politics and the Wars of the Roses. They cast him as a "statue of a king", blamed all royal policies and decisions on others*** (claiming that Henry wasn't even aware of them), and framed themselves as righteous and misunderstood counselors who remained loyal to the crown. We should keep this in mind when we look at chronicles' comments of Henry's alleged passivity and the so-called "role reversal" between him and Queen Margaret.

Henry VI's actual agency and involvement is nevertheless proven by his own actions. We know what he thought of the Yorkists, and we know he took the effort to publicly counter their claims through a proclamation of his own. That speaks louder than the politically motivated narrative of his enemies, don't you think?

*There was some truth to these criticisms. For example, Wiltshire (ie: one of the men named in the pamphlet) was reportedly involved in a horrible situation in June which included hangings and imprisonments for tax resistance in Newbury. The best propagandists always contain a degree of truth, etc. **I've seen some theories on why Margaret of Anjou wasn't mentioned in these pamphlets alongside the others even though she was clearly being vilified during that time as well, and honestly, I think those speculations are mostly unnecessary. Margaret was absent because it was regarded as very unseemly to target queens in such an officially public manner. We see a similar situation a decade later: Elizabeth Woodville was vilified and her whole family - popularly and administratively known as "the queen's kin" - was disparaged in Warwick and Clarence's pamphlets. This would have inevitably associated her with their official complaints far more than Margaret had been, but she was also not directly mentioned. It was simply not considered appropriate. ***This narrative was begun by the Duke of York & Warwick and was - demonstrably - already widespread by the end of 1460. When Edward IV came to power, there seems to have been a slight shift in how he spoke of Henry (he referred to Henry as their "great enemy and adversary"; his envoys were clearly willing to acknowledge Henry's role in Lancastrian resistance to Yorkist rule; etc), but he nevertheless continued the former narrative for the most part. I think this was because 1) it was already well-established and widespread by his father, and 2) downplaying Henry's authority would have served to emphasize Edward's own kingship, which was probably advantageous for a usurper whose deposed rival was still alive and out of reach. In some sense, the Lancastrians did the same thing with their own propaganda across the 1460s, which was clearly not as effective in terms of garnering support and is too long to get into right now, but was still very relevant when it came to emphasizing their own right to the throne while disparaging the Yorkists' claim.

[vivispec]

.

[topicaltropic]

oops! all wips

[blueskittlesart]

me, thinking that i have at least a base level understanding of botw: :)

blue, about to write a 1,000+ word essay that is going to completely revamp my understanding of the game and interpretation of its events: bada bing bada boom

i dont know how you do it. i am incredibly impressed and using all of this for fic inspiration. keep writing

every time someone asks me how i do this shit i have to regrettably inform them that the real genuine answer is that i am fucking insane. my 2 passions in life are writing and video games and the place where the 2 converge fascinates me to no end and i am that special kind of crazy that is capable of latching onto something and not thinking about anything else for 10 years. so. the only thing i have cared about deeply for the last several years of my life has been the way video games are written and constructed. and zelda is one of the most interestingly constructed franchises i have found to date. these games are just like. the absolute perfect story for my brain to work with and i truly do not know who i would be without them. and i am genuinely incredibly grateful that ive been able to build a platform where people like. CARE about what i have to say and take the time to ask me to think about the games because like. i would be doing it ANYWAY but knowing that there are people who actually read my analysis and appreciate the amount of thought i put into this stuff makes me really happy lol

[chushanye]

"my interpretation is more meaningful than yours" this "___ piece of media is objectively bad" that. yeah, well have you considered I'm having fun? 🤨 have you considered that I strive to be joyful rather than striving to prove the worth of my opinions? 🙄

[rawliverandgoronspice]

for no fucking reason: real life dictatorships in the 20th and 21th centuries are almost always allowed to thrive because of some empire's interests. If not, they get heavily demonized then dismantled by said empire over a relatively short period of time (unless exceptional circumstances, tho it's almost always applicable). the examples are countless; please read declassified reports and interviews from the CIA/KGB/other intelligence agencies across the world to lose your mind about it, especially those involving what happened during the Cold War and what happened in the Middle East (and still does).

characters like ganondorf are the epitomy of the fantasy that colonized/"exotic" countries naturally spawn evil incarnate and must be controlled/stumped/imprisoned/destroyed by the "responsible ones" while the perfect good place is perfect and utterly blameless about what went down and how the local population suffered (which, in real life, the empires of the world are most definitively not that --the amount of dictators that were ushered into power by western interests is staggering and we fucking love to see it don't we). And also, a blameless victim to whichever retribution eventually comes back their way.

It is a rethoric that denies interconnectivity and historical responsibility.

this is what I criticize about the narrative choices of a fictional conflict that *does not exist in real life* and has been entirely made up by human beings: the cowardice of blamelessness, and what little this kind of narrative brings to the table --especially today when we should be looking at the root cause of broken systems of violence instead of endlessly scapegoating minorities.

and well, especially given how effective this narrative apparently seems to be.