#I have a group project I have to work on and it’s evil I do not enjoy the class and it’s not very lgbt slay girlboss of me

[scholarhect]

it’s funny how un human zoom group work is, i’ve been trying to be prepared to get on this 3:15 call all day & we get on there & we’re like “ok we should do some research. let’s all look this topic up & reconvene tomorrow to write our thing up” & we log off within 10 minutes. nobody wants to be doing this

[pebblezone]

Living life yay huzzah yay

[orcelito]

Really is a coping kinda night huh lmao

[eowyntheavenger]

Americans, these are things we are NOT saying in 2024:

"Voting blue won't solve anything." Yes it will: if enough of us do it, it will solve a problem called Trump's second term in the White House. We unfortunately live in a two-party system. If you refuse to vote, you're effectively voting for Trump. I shouldn't need to explain this to people, yet here we are.

"It doesn't matter who's president. Both candidates are the same anyway." No, they are REALLY not. Biden was never my first choice, and his shipments of arms to Israel are despicable, but don't try to tell me even for a second that a second Trump term would be the same for the world as a second Biden term.

"But voting blue won't fix [fundamental underlying problem in America]." Voting for Democrats cannot fix every issue, this is true. But by saying this and ONLY this you are discouraging people from voting by making them feel hopeless. Voting is one of many tools in our arsenal, not the only tool, but an important one, and it does matter.

"You shouldn't vote blue, you should do [other thing] instead." See above: you can vote and protest and organize at the same time. It's not either/or. You can do it all. Stop discouraging voters from exercising their rights under the guise of leftism.

"Voting is just legitimizing government power. It makes you part of the system." Literally just shut up. Women and people of color didn't fight for their voting rights to have you say things like this. If you live in America and you can legally vote, then you should fucking vote, and vote blue. There is no neutral option.

"Voting blue just makes you complicit in [this bad policy]." Inaction, and allowing Trump to have a second term, is worse for the entire world than any Democrat policy. Yes, even that one. Voting is not about finding a perfect unproblematic candidate. It is about choosing the lesser of two evils.

"Voting doesn't work because—" STOP IT. STOP DISCOURAGING PEOPLE FROM VOTING.

You know who wants you NOT to vote? Trump supporters, that's who. You should be suspicious of ANYONE who is suggesting that your vote doesn't matter, or that both candidates are the same, or that Biden's policy on XYZ means you shouldn't vote for him. Trump supporters aren't trying to get your vote by saying, "Vote for Trump!" They're trying to get your vote by DISCOURAGING YOU FROM VOTING AT ALL.

I don't like Biden either, but Trump is unequivocally worse. Voting doesn't fix everything, but it is the minimum fucking requirement of living in a democracy. Voting for president has real, tangible, immediate impacts on people's lives, and choosing not to vote is not the rebellion you think it is, it is just relinquishing your voice. So fucking vote. THIS IS A GROUP PROJECT AND DAMN IT WE ARE NOT FAILING BECAUSE OF YOU.

[prokopetz]

I have all the usual criticisms of the Always Evil Species Who Are Ontologically Okay to Kill trope in RPGs, but I have to admit a soft spot for RPGs that do this trope, except there's only like six of them.

Like, they're explicitly identified as a species, with a name, and they have their own language, culture, clothing fashions, architectural styles, etc., all clearly distinct from any of the setting's mainstream cultures, but to all textual evidence this entire species and culture consists of half a dozen people. There's no indication that they're a remnant of a once-greater civilisation, and in fact they're often depicted as either immortal or very long-lived in a way which precludes that possibility.

I know I'm putting a great deal more thought into it than the authors of the games in question ever did, but I have to wonder how that works. How do you get an entire fully realised culture out of a group of people whose total population has evidently never exceeded a single digit? Is this like an art project for them? Are we dealing with a bunch of evil theatre kids? Was there a discussion about the skulls?

[lexawritex]

aeri uchinaga headcanon

meangirl!aeri x dancer!fem!reader

⚠️ smut, light bullying, lots of swearing

★ aeri sees you differently after seeing you dance.

a/n: rushed, im so bad at writing smut, did not proofread

- you lived a normal life—good family, good friends, good grades, and a decent reputation on campus. but among all the good things in your life, one flaw stood out: your bad eyesight. you blamed it on the countless hours spent staring at screens, whether working on projects or losing yourself in games.

- that's why when you forgot to put on your glasses and rummaged to find it in your bag, you bumped into a person causing them to fall on the ground.

- you heard a yelp as the person hit the cold floor, followed by gasps echoing around you. scrambling to find your glasses, you slipped them on, only for your heart to sink and your breath to catch in your chest at the sight of the person sprawled on the ground.

- the long, bright pink hair made it impossible not to recognize her. aeri uchinaga. she was on the ground, glaring up at you while her crew of three girls stood behind her, their faces frozen in shock.

- your voice caught in your throat, the apologies you wanted to spill refused to come out. instead, you bent down to her level, extending a hand to help her up, only for her to swat it away.

- aeri looked at you with such a sharp look that if looks could kill, you were stabbed mercilessly everywhere.

- "are you blind-- given your glasses, i think you are! watch where you're going next time and wear your glasses if you're so blind, gosh!"

- the pink-haired woman exclaimed sharply before standing up and brushing past you, intentionally bumping your shoulder. all you could do was watch as she and her crew walked away, vanishing into the sea of students crowding the hallway.

- ever since that encounter, aeri never left you alone. it seemed that incident triggered something in her, making you her next victim. unfortunately, most of your classes were with her, turning school into a daily struggle. her endless teasing made life miserable—hiding your belongings during class, shoving you against your locker as she passed, or sticking out her foot to trip you during lunch.

- however, the teasing came to a halt when you stopped attending regular classes and started frequenting the gym. you had the privilege of being excused from classes to prepare for an upcoming dance competition, representing your school.

- you'd have your peaceful lunch outside the campus, away from the four disasters in your precious school life.

- but that peace didn’t last long. now, you found yourself making eye contact with the devil herself—aeri—sitting on the bleachers with her crew. she stared at you with her usual evil smirk before breaking eye contact, her gaze trailing down to scan you. the intensity of her stare left you feeling self-conscious throughout your entire practice.

- forcing yourself to ignore her presence—which surprisingly worked—you managed to finish the last day of practice successfully. after freshening up and ridding yourself of the sweaty state from earlier, you bid goodbye to your group and headed out.

- what you thought was a peaceful walk home turned out to be wrong.

- "hey there, y/nnie." your heart stopped at the sound of that familiar, mocking voice as its owner stepped out from the corridor.

- aeri, all alone, wore that smirk that seemed permanently etched on her face whenever you saw her. she strode confidently toward your almost retreating figure. how ironic—it was you who was taller, yet every time you crossed paths, she made you feel as though she towered over you.

- "didn't know you could move like that. why didn't you tell me you could be sexy, hm?" she said, her tone raspy and laced with something you couldn’t quite place.

- before you could even respond, she stepped closer, her hand resting lightly on your shoulder as she leaned in. her warm breath brushed against your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

- "take care out there, sexy," she murmured, her voice low and teasing, before turning on her heel and walking away.

- ever since that weirdly hot and confusing night, aeri became unusually touchy whenever she was near. she would brush her hands against your body as she passed by, her touches lingering just enough to leave you flustered. it didn’t help that, despite her past mistreatments, you couldn’t deny how attractive you found her.

- on the day of your competition, you stood on stage, preparing to perform. as your eyes scanned the loud, cheering crowd, they landed on a familiar head of pink hair. your eyes widened in surprise—you hadn’t expected her to be here.

- you managed to survive the entire routine, pushing aside the way her presence made you feel self-conscious. instead, you focused on the music and the rhythm, allowing yourself to enjoy the time you had on stage.

- upon reaching backstage, you were greeted by the cheers of your teammates, all of them struggling to catch their breaths, which you mirrored. despite the exhaustion, you all huddled together, sharing a group hug—celebrating your successful performance.

- now, you were at a club with your team, celebrating your victory. it was clear that your team had won, and to mark the occasion, your leader had dragged everyone out to the club with the promise of covering the drinks.

- aeri happened to be at the same club, and upon spotting your tall figure vibing freely on the dance floor, a smirk crept onto her lips. she watched you from a distance, her gaze never leaving you.

- she watched as you transformed from sober to wild on the dance floor, clearly drunk from the drinks you'd had. your movements became freer, and she couldn't help but smirk at the sight of you letting loose.

- "she knows how to party, huh?" karina, one of aeri's friends, remarked as she observed your drunken movements. aeri nodded, her gaze lingering for a moment before she shifted her attention back to the group she was with, who had now started playing cards.

- however, as soon as she took her eyes off you, a girl approached and began dancing dangerously close. your bodies were almost touching as the slow music played, the rhythm urging her on. she eyed you with hooded, intoxicated eyes, matching the haze of your own drunkenness.

- one of aeri's friends, winter, noticed the scene and slapped a hand on the pink-haired woman's arm. "holy cow, ain't no way that loser bagged a hot chick before me!" she exclaimed, standing up quickly and jogging toward the dance floor.

- aeri whipped her head around, her eyes landing on your figure as you danced dangerously close with someone. a flash of irritation crossed her face—she didn’t like that one bit.

- she downed her drink in one go, slamming the glass onto the table before strutting toward your drunken figure with a determined stride.

- upon reaching you, she discreetly pushed the woman aside and grabbed you by the shoulders, pulling you close as she moved in sync with the slow music. her eyes mockingly glanced at the woman, who only rolled her eyes before turning and walking away, clearly unimpressed.

- slightly sobering up from the proximity, you stopped dancing and looked at aeri with confusion, unsure of what was happening. "aeri? what are you doing?"

- the woman rolled her eyes, pulling her hands from your shoulders and gripping your wrist to yank you toward the bathroom. confused and drunk, you stumbled after her, feeling powerless in the situation, and let yourself be pushed into a cubicle.

- "w-what are you doing, aeri?" you nervously asked, your voice shaky as the woman stood close, her hooded eyes fixed on you with an intensity that sent a shiver down your spine.

- "i don't know either but one thing for sure is, you made me so fucking hot and bothered and you need to fix it right now." pushing you back onto the covered toilet seat, she straddled you without hesitation and placed her hands firmly on your shoulders. her touch was electrifying, and her gaze held you captive.

- your frustration gave way to a rush of desire as you leaned in and claimed her lips, the taste of her mouth sending a rush of satisfaction through you. a soft hum of satisfaction escaped her chest as your lips moved in a hungry dance, eagerly exploring every contour of each other.

- you boldy bit her lower lip, causing the woman to release a moan. using this opportunity to slip your tongue and claim dominance as your tongues danced against each other. when your lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, you pulled away, creating string of saliva.

- aeri chuckled and whispered, "that's so fucking hot." you smirked and claimed her lips once more, this time much more aggressive. your hands made its way to her hips, gripping it, pulling her closer. her arms snaked around your neck as she slowly grinded against you. the action made you pull back to release a groan. aeri chuckled at this reaction and continued grinding against you, loving the sounds you made.

- your hooded eyes mirrored her lust-fille ones as she moved, never breaking your eye contact. deciding to break the eye contact, your head moved to her neck as you left wet kisses on the her soft skin.

- aeri moaned and tilted her neck, giving you more access. your wet kisses turned to soft bites and gradually, harsh ones—sucking and kissing. it would leave very obvious marks but aeri was too sexually drunk to care.

- pulling away, you looked at the marks you made and smirked in pride. aeri paused, her gaze lingering on your proud smirk before she rolled her eyes and gently slapped your cheek, pulling your attention toward her.

- she took a good look at your face and chuckled. "fuck, you're actually so damn hot. i think i was the blind one for not seein that." she said, causing you to laugh.

- "really? you're only saying that after we made out?" you shook your head. aeri looked at you before smirking.

- "wouldn't it be so fucking hot if you fuck me with your glasses on?" she whispered, licking your earlobe which sent you shivers down your spine.

- you chuckled at her idea, "i wouldn't be able to see you then 'cause the fog would block my vision." aeri rolled her eyes and groaned, pushing her head back.

- "i almost forgot that you can be such a nerd—a hot nerd." she said, causing you to laugh. despite the situation, you were still in the same position, oddly finding it more comfortable than you'd expected. maybe because you got used to her touch.

- after that hot scene in the bathroom, you and aeri were never the same as before. instead of pushing you against your locker, she'd push you into the janitor's closet and make out with you. in some cases, she'd go to the gym, waiting for you to finish your training before pouncing at you once you both were left alone.

- as much as you liked the attention aeri was giving you, it made you confused. what were you two called? not friends, but also not lovers. maybe fuck buddies but you were starting to fall for the woman and it wasn't helping at all.

- on a cold saturday night, you trapped yourself in your dorm. you were all alone, left with your raging thoughts and the slight pain whenever you thought of the pink haired woman. she probably just considers you as a good fuck and you're here catching feelings.

- a notification popped up on your phone, and your eyes caught sight of aeri's picture on the screen. it was a message from her, inviting you to a party at her house that night. your hand instinctively moved to decline, but then an idea sparked in your mind, and you paused, contemplating the opportunity.

- why not use the party as an opportunity to confront aeri and clarify your relationship? it could be the chance to finally get something out of her and calm the storm of confusion that’s been swirling in your mind.

- you pulled up into her house wearing the sluttiest clothes a woman like you could wear, a leather jacket barely covering the sports bra underneath and a baggy pants that were slightly sagging down to show off your calvin kleins. you also decided to wear your glasses, feeling lazy to put on contacts.

- it seemed your outfit caught the attention of the women, who immediately crowded you and began making advances. noticing the commotion, aeri watched from a distance, her brows furrowed in reaction. she strutted in, "what the he—" she was cut off upon seeing you in what she believes is the most hottest thing you ever wore.

- she bit her lip as she approached, her presence immediately causing the women to back down in defeat. your eyes met hers who wore the familiar dark, eyes clouding in lust.

- "did you dress up for me, sexy?" aeri whispered as she led you to her kitchen, grabbing a drink for you. graciously accepting it, you took a gulp, noticing her gaze lingering on your neck, a quiet intensity in her eyes.

- you decided to ignore her advances, hoping to frustrate her and get a reaction. as aeri led you to her group, introducing you to her friends, you acted oblivious to her touches. her brows furrowed in subtle frustration as you continued engaging with her friends, seemingly unaware of her hints.

- aeri had never felt so hot and bothered in her life. she desperately wanted to dump her cold drink on you, but quickly dismissed the idea—it would just make you smell like beer, and she didn’t want that. she watched you, grinning like a fool at one of her friends, her gaze narrowing into a glare, frustration building within her.

- winter noticed it and chuckled, shaking her head "just date her or something, stop glaring at her like a bitch." the woman whispered. "can't blame the women though, they said dancers are a good fuck." winter added to which aeri rolled her eyes but the former was right. the amount of strength, agility and breathing control you must have, aeri felt a pool between her legs as she imagined you and her again.

- aeri eventually stormed off to her room, trying to cool her hot head and the heat in between her legs. she was already horny the moment she saw you in that clothing and ignoring her only worsened her situation.

- she sat on her bed, contemplating whether or not she'd call you but you were busy having fun out there. she'd look like a dog in heat begging to be fucked by you.

- with a groan, aeri opened her legs as her hand crawled in her soaking panties. a moan escaped her lips and eventually, your name as she pictures you pounding her pussy whilst wearing your glasses. gripping the sheets, she was close to her climax as her fingers moved in and out at a fast pace.

- in search of aeri, you found yourself outside her room listening to her moans and your name being called. your immediately felt heat in your core as you listened to her reach her climax. the moans stopped and the door opened, revealing a blushing aeri.

- her eyes widened at the sight of you and you mirrored the same expression, having been caught listening to her mastubate. however, you were too turned on to care about being caught so you pushed her back in and locked the door behind you. a hungry gaze locked onto hers as she stepped back, never breaking eye contact.

- "tell me you want it, i'll give it to you." you whispered, approaching her figure who stood just at the edge of her bed.

- aeri lifted a hand to caress your cheeks. your hand held hers, leading it to your lips as you gave it a soft kiss whilst sharing an intense gaze.

- "i want you, y/n."

- that's what all it takes to push her on the bed, your figure hovering on top of her. lips colliding to share a passionate kiss which soon turned into one of hunger, eager to fill the hole in each other.

- your jacket was now discarded, leaving you in your sports bra and your pants whilst aeri laid almost bare underneath you. her matching lace underwear made her more desiring as if she already isn't with her sounds that were music to your ears.

- aeri watched as you unbuckled your belt, lip biting as her eyes trailed down your lean build. taking the pants off, her eyes widened at the noticeable bulge on your crotch. her eyes met yours and you chuckled at her reaction.

- "i'm wearing a strap, cutie." you casually said.

- soon you found yourself thrusting into aeri with an almost animalistic pace which sent the woman into a moaning mess, her nails digging into your skin. the bed creaking, aeri's loud moans and your name being called like a chant, it was music.

- you paused just as aeri was about to reach her climax which she yelled a loud, "fuck!" you only chuckled and gripped her hips, turning her on her stomach.

- the woman, almost automatically, lifted her butt, her face planted on the pillow. you entered her, eliciting a loud moan from her as you thrusted into her already wet pussy.

- aeri felt like she was in heaven with how you good you fucked her and you were wearing your glasses, you looked so hot pounding into her with your fogged up glasses.

- the rest of the party was spent in aeri's room, the both of you doing every position you knew in every corner of her room.

- however, the thick fog hanging over your relationship remained, and aeri was determined to clear it. she couldn’t stand seeing other girls throw themselves at you as you gradually gained popularity on campus.

- aeri walked toward you with determination, her hands gripping tightly onto your arm as she pulled you away from the girl you were talking to.

- "aeri? what are you doing?" you asked, but she didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on the girl you had been talking to. the girl, sensing the tension, met aeri’s glare with equal intensity.

- "i'm still talking to her, can't you see?" the girl said, her tone sharp, but aeri only smiled mockingly, her eyes never leaving the girl.

- "and I'm talking to her now, so." aeri said, making a dismissive gesture with her hand, her smirk never wavering.

- "just because you're popular and all, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want," the girl shot back, but aeri just rolled her eyes, clearly unfazed by the comment.

- "blah, blah, blah. I'm pregnant and she's the father, so don't intervene between couples," aeri said nonchalantly, leaving the girl stunned and confused. without waiting for a response, aeri dragged you toward the empty gym.

- you, equally as confused, looked at aeri before asking, "you're pregnant? with who?" aeri slapped you gently, her eyes narrowing as she made you look at her, only leaving you even more confused.

- "you're the only one who fucked me, that's impossible. anyways, i am pregnant yes, but." she held a hand up, stopping you from speaking.

- she continued, "that was love we made that night and now i bore love and obsession towards you and you have to take responsibility for it." she said with a grin, observing as your expression shifted from confusion to sudden realization.

- "oh...oh!" aeri nodded.

- your eyes met hers and it was looking at you with softness you've never seen before. it made you feel warm and fuzzy that it made you giddy. smiling like a fool as you looked down, your cheeks reddening. aeri marvelled at the sight and laughed heartily at your reaction. her laugh echoed in your ear, it was genuine and infectious and you love to hear it more.

- "can i court you then, miss aeri uchinaga?" you asked, looking up to meet hers.

- aeri nodded, and you both shared a long hug, the insecurities between you dissipating as the thick fog in your relationship finally cleared.

♡

[infiniteglitterfall]

Two Palestinian activists give their perspectives on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Hamza Howidy

Hamza Howidy is 25. When he was just 19, he co-organized massive human rights protests in Gaza. He did it again when he was 23. Hamas imprisoned and tortured him both times, along with hundreds of others. He now lives in Germany and advocates for peace and human rights in Gaza. He is the most amazing activist I know of.

On this Holocaust Memorial Day, we take a moment to honor the six million Jewish men, women, and children who tragically lost their lives during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of others who suffered persecution and death at the hands of the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

This day stands as a poignant reminder of the unfathomable horrors of genocide, the destructive power of hatred, dehumanization, and demonization, and the remarkable resilience of humanity in confronting profound evil. This day serves not only as a remembrance of our history but also as a pledge to create a future devoid of antisemitism, racism, and intolerance.

As someone who identifies as Palestinian, it really bothered me to witness certain individuals and groups making the Holocaust a political topic, not to mention who started with projection, describing the war in Gaza as a Holocaust, which is absolutely wrong. And what's even more concerning is how some pro-Hamas folks, who claim to support Palestine, are indirectly promoting antisemitism by intertwining it with the Palestinian cause and the conflict in Gaza.

I just can't wrap my head around why these people are doing this or why a certain president is getting involved and making it all political. It's truly baffling to me.

I often grapple with guilt over my ignorance of the Holocaust until my twenties, especially considering the close ties and shared future we are meant to have with our Jewish neighbors. Our educational systems have failed to adequately address this crucial topic, leaving us without a proper understanding of their history and suffering, which ultimately hinders our ability to connect with and empathize with one another.

I feel a profound connection to the significance of this day. In my quest for peace and coexistence, I have come to realize that acknowledging the suffering of others is the crucial first step toward fostering genuine mutual understanding.

The Holocaust represents not only a deep tragedy for the Jewish community but also a poignant reminder for all of humanity. It is a cautionary tale that underscores the catastrophic repercussions of unchecked hatred, dehumanization, and indifference.

We are dedicated to educating future generations, combating bigotry in all its manifestations, and striving relentlessly for a future where such atrocities belong firmly to the past.

Twitter Instagram

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib spent most of his childhood in Gaza. Now he lives in the United States, writes about international politics and public policy, and advocates for peace and human rights issues in Palestine.

Why I too choose to memorialize the Holocaust:

When I left the Gaza Strip as a teenager and headed to the United States, I knew nothing about the Holocaust, its details, or its contemporary implications.

The dismissal of the scale of the Holocaust or denying the scale of the slaughter and its true grotesque extent were unfortunately commonplace in Palestinian society, mainly as a defense mechanism – because it was believed that the acknowledgment of the Jewish people’s suffering automatically minimized the hardships that Palestinians experienced themselves under occupation or displacement. There was only space for one or the other.

There were, however, those who worked inside Israel and had close relationships with Israelis, providing them with access to a different narrative that educated them about some aspects of the Holocaust.

Once I was in the US, I developed a close friendship with a Holocaust survivor of French origin whose parents had been murdered in Auschwitz.

A.H. was a steadfast ally who made a point of connecting with Palestinians in general, and young Palestinians in particular, to share her story, offer friendship and comradery, and build robust alliances.

She was instrumental in saving my life by bringing me back to the US when I was stuck in Egypt after the cultural exchange program ended and I was unable to return to the Gaza Strip due to Hamas’s abduction of an Israeli soldier and a mini war that followed.

She financed my return to the US and helped me get started at a private school that offered the documents necessary to obtain a student visa before I was able to apply for political asylum in 2007. We have kept in close contact now that she’s in her late 80s, and she has been horrified by the disaster that has been unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

Two months ago, she made an anonymous $50k donation to a major medical NGO that was saving lives in my honor. A.H. even promised to help my family rebuild their destroyed home in Gaza City if and when that time comes.

I am sharing this because it is easy for people to politicize the Holocaust and its Remembrance Day, as well as to forget the immense human toll it had on real human lives.

Importantly, what people choose to do with the memory of the Holocaust, regardless of their background or individual feelings and views, is just as important.

This terrible tragedy should be transformed into an impetus for the betterment of humanity and the human condition; compassion, bridge-building, radical pragmatism across our differences, and holding space for multiple sufferings and pains can all be inspired by honoring the Holocaust and its victims.

For some, this will be a long journey, and it will take them a while before they get to this place. The goal should not be shunning them but inspiring and encouraging them to see something else.

I look back at my days as a young teenager coming out of Gaza, carrying the weight of my trauma and that of my parents and grandparents and, indeed, the entire society, and how difficult it was to create space for other people’s histories and traumas.

But I realize that we are truly only complete if we are part of a broader network of nations, groups, backgrounds, and peoples who, despite their differences, share the common thread of humanity, empathy, and the desire for safety and self-determination.

Twitter

And for the actual remembrance part, six quick things I've learned recently about the Holocaust:

(Graph is from a 1992 paper by Jewish demographer Sergio DellaPergola, called, "Major Demographic Trends in Jewry: The last hundred years.")

There are still fewer Jews on earth today than there were in 1939. There were 16.9 million Jews on earth before the Nazis began their industrialized genocide. 80 years later, there are 15.7 million.

Throughout the Holocaust, German corporations like Daimler and Mercedes-Benz requisitioned slave labor from Nazi camps. There were dozens of companies doing the same thing.

The Holocaust did not come out of nowhere. Germany had two "dress rehearsals." From 1904-1908, it set out to crush the Herero people in Namibia. It killed 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nema. It forced them on death marches into the desert. It created death camps. In one, “people were subject to rape, medical experimentation, no shelter, no food, in cages on the beach.” Doctors sent severed heads from these experiments back to Germany, to be used as examples of racial inferiority. One of those doctors went on to teach Dr. Josef Mengele.

The second "dress rehearsal": Before the death camps that were the Nazis' solution to the "Jewish Problem," Germany transported 70,000 autistic, chronically ill, mentally ill, and elderly people to death camps... and up to 200,00 more after that. They literally called them "useless eaters," because they couldn't make money for anyone.

Hyper-violent antisemitism also had a "dress rehearsal." From 1918-1921, up to 250,000 Jews were killed in incredibly violent pogroms across Ukraine. These included massive numbers of systemic, even public rapes, one common hallmark of genocides.

If we're calling those dress rehearsals, there was also a curtain call: After WWI, a fascist little rich man called Amin al-Husseini found that instead of being an up and coming leader in the Ottoman Empire, he was now expected to treat Jews as equals and share political and social power with them. So he spent twenty years inciting anti-Jewish massacres and becoming a MASSIVE Hitler fanboy. He attempted a pro-Nazi revolt across the Middle East, but only managed to incite the Farhud. Then he ran Arabic-language propaganda for the Nazis, and was so successful that between about 1940-1970, every single country in the Arab World, from Morocco through Afghanistan, ethnically cleansed 90% or more of its Jews. (The map below begins in 1948, but I can hand you a list of laws and pogroms that shows how much earlier it started.) As far as I can tell, this is the largest ethnic cleansing event in history, both in total population and in geographic range. And yet I had never heard of it before.

Off-topic, but bringing it back around to the two activists I started this post with:

I cannot recommend the two activists above enough, along with others in my Palestinians to platform tag. I beg everyone to google and follow people like Hamza Howidy, Moumen Al-Natour, Mo Ghaoui, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Ahmed Al-Khalidi, Bassem Eid, and the Center for Peace Communications. It's past time to center and platform Gazan activists.

[sea-of-dust]

You gotta be kidding...

5wirl x GN! Reader

Summary: They make a reference to something personal between you two while performing live. Almost putting a spotlight on you.

Notes: Modern AU, mention of irl video game and band: Remmber Sports (they're good recommend Tiny Planets),

Warnings: suggestive humor, swearing, never expect proof reading

He met you before he was an idol. High school to be exact. You two were in the same music class bonding over how much you dreaded your music teacher. "He sounds like a divorced mom.." "isn't he married?" "Exactly" you flop onto your desk

You two have been in almost every class together years afterward, just so you didn't have to work with a stranger for group projects. People would would find you two around school alot and walking home together. "And they were roommates," one of your classmates giggle as you two casually hold hands while speaking to eatchother, in reality, you both didn't notice

He was always so calm but also somehow could smell your problems?!? "Ughhhh" "Lemme guess they chewed gum loudly again?" You spring up placing your head back down. "Stop knowing based off my grunts!" "And you're mad at me for not noticing something earlier" "HA!-" "nm it's because I didn't let you sleep in" "...I genuinely despise you"

He started catching feelings midway through your first semester of the new school year. You did notice he sometimes hugged you tighter, looked at you a little longer, he even got small trinkets for you, noticing how fond he looked when you casually wore them.

It was by the end of the year he had told you he got a scouted as an idol, it took alot for him to tell you but it worked thank god you didn't ditch him like he thought.

"So uh..." "?" "I got scouted" your eyes widen, he thought all his fears came to life before you hugged him tightly and squealed. "I TOLD YOU YOU HAD A NICE VOICE!!" "You didn't have to yell" "Shut up you cry over stuff like this!" Now you were the one that oddly knew things about him...you were right...he did cry...alot like the whole group knew the next day.

The group try to hype him up into asking you out. "DUDEEEE COME ON THEYRE NOT GOING ANYWHERE" "I can ask to hangout" he mutters holding his phone in his hand "COME ONNN" venti and heizou sync up kazuha speaking up "ask them to go for dinner" his cheeks turn pink almost instantly "UH MAYBE NOT COME ON- WHAT IF-" "and sent" "WHEN DID YOU TAKE MY PHONE?!" "You'll live" Xiao rolls his eyes as aether bickers with him, his phone noti goes off. "Sure what time?" There's a silence in the room as Xiao gives him the phone. "At 4?" "bet ☆" you and those star emojis how are you like this. "ITS A DATE!!" "YEAAAAAAA" they sounded like a frat house.

He gets all giddy on that date and when you two finally go on one you finally hit the maybe were dating phase but you both don't wanna admit it to eatchother. So the rest of 5wirl planned something for you two. "Alr we know he likes them nowww...." "we...." "Why don't we perform for them" "on their friend ani?" "How do you know that..." they turn to heizou "because he saved it on his calander" "..." and so they planned out your ani for you two.

And so their evil plans acted out perfectly, you two went out on another date and later that day you dropped him off at the concert. What you didn't expect was heizou dragging you to a seat. "Stay right here and don't move alright" you watched them get on stage aether seeming to be looking for you, they get to performing when one of the lyrics hit you. "Hey why don't you meet me at four?" An almost slured pronunciation followed by aether finally finding you. His eyes so tender yet teasing. You felt your heart skip a beat a small wink only making you more bashful.

To think the performance would end there nope. As you tried to get off your seat aether greets you with a cheeky smile a small ring in his hand. You turn around quickly. "I guess I flustered you more than he ever will" he leans on you wrapping his arms casually around your waist while you continues to fluster you. "He was just a small crush..." "enough to have you gush for 4 months about it" he laughs softly kissing you cheek. "When did you even gain this much confidence" "small words of advice" your mind immediately goes to Heizou. "Alrighty then..." without a warning you pull your face closer forcing him to slouch over you. "Did heizou tell you what to do incase of this situation aswell?" Thank god that concert hall was almost empty and the seat you were at made it almost impossible to see you two because the next thing you see and hear are a bunch of idiots going YEAAAAAAAAAAA. Aether x y/n shirts and a poster held up by Xiao. They ship it.

You made cute accessories! He's seen your work on social media and reached out. "You're accessories are so cute do you have a store?" "Nah I only sell locally near my college" turns out you both went to the same college he's never did a double check so fast in his life. As soon as he saw you he cupped one of your hands, his eyes sparkling in pure joy. "GIMMIE EVERYTHING IN STOCK!" "HUH?!"

Number one fan he's following you around. He'd be your personal advertisement always wearing your stuff and flexing it to others. He WILL be the most annoying person on campus

When you tell him to stop he just kinda tilts his head until he realizes what your saying as if he finally loaded. "Oh! Alright!" That's when you make an almost massive mistake "I did enjoy your support tho but youre-" "SO YOU LIKE HAVING A FAN?!" And so began the simping. He's all over you. Every class your with him? He's leaning into you, whispering random stuff in your ear. Your eyebags got darker everytime he did this but he was more chill than your online fans.

The days you also leaned into him are the days you've never seen someone more flustered. "Hm?" You lift up your head watching him cover his face quickly. "Venti?" He turns away from you even more. "Don't look at me! Where did you even learn that-" "I mean you do that to me all the time" "don't say it outloud-" "did you just whimper?" He stops suddenly using is braids to cover his face as he mumbles to himself. You bring that up to traumatize him

He had to get used to you showing affection, you weren't even dating yet! Come on, don't do this! Even a small smile he'd tease you for it but he'd definitely scream into his pillow about it.

He only asked you out when you made your feeling for him known. A small note under his door telling asking him to meet up at an amusement park later that weekend was where it clicked he looked and sounded like a little girl you could hear his "YEAAAAAAAA" from your room.

He's doing everything he's on a call with the others he just needs them to hear his my story animated from start to finish. "Can you not play that effen punk music main stream shit can barely hear you" "Shut the fuck up hot topic this is important!" "This is why you fucked up your eyeliner" "I DID?!?!" He checked in his mirror realizing he didn't and mostly argued with Xiao. "If they ditch you you deserve it" "quit being a downer! Good luck Venti!" They all mostly wave at the camera before hanging up leaving you and him alone for the evening

He loved it. He was like a child pointing at things he wanted. "Do you have the money?" He looks away pounting "not an actual question I'll play for it" his eyes widen almost sparkling. You two left flexing your carnival game knowledge and venti covered in plush prizes you won for him.

As payback for the newfound plush army, he invited you to a concert. "Oh so you did have money" "Shut up" "hehe" your teasingly small laugh is so cute stop doing that. What you didn't know is that he strapped some keychains you made on his belt, and he NEVER STOPPED WINKING, if you had to drink everytime he found you in the audience and winked you'd have five drinks...per song. It was cute seeing him smirk whenever you slightly blushed at him.

"Y/n!!" He smiles as you wait for him outside the concert hall. "Lets go to another amusement park!" He giggles embracing you "right now?" "Yea!" He nuzzles his face into your chest "sure..when you take off all of those keychains Jesus how much did you-" "200 bucks" "...VENTI" "THEYRE CUTE I KNOW YOU EYED THEM!" You blush slightly smirking "I did...they look adorable on you" you struck him right in the heart leaving both of you flustered. "The amusement parks a few blocks away" "LETS GO!" as if it never happened you both headed to the amusement park.

You beat him at a rhythm game he liked. You got first in a video game event he liked since then him he's declared you his rival. "Who the hell is this guy getting in the way of the number one spot" he grits his teeth checking your profile. "347 full combed songs...300 all perfects...and maxed out cards" he rolls his eyes

He wanted to let off some steam at an arcade only to find out he got beat in that game also! With the same name tag as the rythum game champ. He nearly smashes the machine when he notices you step up to it. "Shame, this games kinda better when I'm kicking someone's ass..." You sigh only now, noticing him, smirking at this chance you take it. "You mind playing this with me?" You perk up. Thinking this is a good way to let off steam, he accepts. "I won't go easy." "Alright!" You let him pick the song and almost immediately grab the handbar

Strange, he thinks he doesn't need it. As soon as the song starts, he hears your feet absolutely slam on the board. He's shocked but doesn't look over he's focused on his side of the screen. By the end, you huff heavily, looking up. "You won." You put your fist up for a fist bump. "Ah that songs so annoying~" he dosent give you one back putting in his names for national ranks. That's when he noticed that you put in the name the person on every rythum game had and as soon as you pressed confirm he nearly pounces on you. "SO YOURE THE ONE TAKING THE NUMBER 1 SPOTS EVERYWHERE!" "Yea what about it-" he looks at you angrily, calming down a bit before turning back to you. "I declare you my rival" "well...If you wanna we could rematch sometime gimmie your number?"

Ever since then you two have skeduled days to go to the arcade to whale on eatchother and going out to eat afterword. "I'm pretty sure you'd like it reminds me of your face ☆" you say as you point to a horrible cgi skeleton. "Screw you" "heh". You'd eventually open up to him more and invited him out to places more often. He didn't wanna say it outloud but he genuinely enjoyed those moments

One of the times you two went, you try to teach him gutair hero, he kinda mumbles to himself. "You can just play on your lap" "hmmhmm mhm em You can't be this msm hm" "what-" he realizes he said that outloud and covers his face nearly dropping the gutair. "I didn't hear that last part" he sighs in relief "but do you think im cute?" And so he's even more ashamed of himself. "Context clues" you scratch your cheek in a bit of embrassment "I think you're pretty cute too" you embarssingly laugh leaning away

you're pretty sure you could see his heart skip a beat as he looks up at you, his face nearly entirely pink. Peaking at you through his hand. You decide to tease your friend. "Seems like you wanna date me~" He moves back quickly, covering his mouth to hide his blushing. "I'm fine with that ya know~" you lean into him him still covering his face. He looks away looking back at you,his eyes softening "I'm fine with the thought of kissing you..well maybe a little more than fine but-" your words were cut off as you feel his lips touch yours. Quick yet soft, his hands wrapping around your shoulders. You lean back trying to catch your breath "...how long have you've been waiting to do that?" "...a few months now" "That's kinda adorable Xiao" you lean in for another kiss. You two recount that day as your first date

Ever since then he's more willing to hang out a little more clingy too. Whenever he had a show he would ask you if you were busy that day before sending you the ticket link. "Hey are you busy on the 14th?" "No why?" He'd send you the link without a secound thought "you know I'm not really into idols that much" "I'm in the group..." "...bought"

He actively looks for you in the audience. You would text him where you were sitting beforehand, yet he'd still look like a lost puppy. As soon as he finds you, his eyes sparkled. He forced himself to calm down before giving you a small wave

It was by the end of the show where he was performing the last song and you noticed something about their dance it kinda looked like what you would do on a song you knew well. It was then that you realized Xiao made a dance routine inspired by your sweaty gaming dance. You covered your face in embrassment but peaked through your hands. You couldn't believe he paid that much attention to you. He smirks noticing this

As the show ends, he runs over to you, "That was...a little embrassing" you blush a bit. "..." "dosent mean I didn't like it tho!" Trying not to offend him further you mumble on of how great the performance was. At first he's pretty stiff with his arms crossed you'd think he was annoyed till he kissed you again leaning in to hug you. "I'm glad you liked it" he whispers ever so softly in your ear.

He offen saw you working on projects for bands he likes and decided to commission you. He invited you to a studio and you both began to focus on what he commissioned you on. "I'm looking for something calm yet something someone would listen to in the morning to wake them up..." "hmmm" you play a calm chord progression on your gutair. "Speed up a bit" he taps his foot as if keeping pace as you speed up your playing. "That's pretty good! Sounds like a Remmber sports song" " YOU LISTEN TO THEM?" "Yea?" "Oh my god I thought you wouldn't catch that-" "they're a bit of a guilty pleasure"

You two always worked together after that whenever he would be lost in thought you'd just play hall of the mountain king behind him. He'd turn around slowly as your playing got more intense. "You think of something?" "..."

You pretty much became 5wirl's offical gutairst after kazuha recommended you. They'd make fun of him for how long you two stayed at the studio together. "Kazuha~, you left us sleeping in the shopping cart again!" Venti grins ear to ear "must really like that gutairst." Kazuha smiles."They're just a friend I find it easy to get along with" he thinks about what you two were talking about his eyes softening as if it were an old fond memory "and he's doing it again" heizou sighs jokingly

A few months of performing together, they treat you as family, almost apart of 5wirl. As soon as Kazuha ever left the room they'd turn to you in a heartbeat. "You sure you don't kiss when we're not looking?" "Eh?!" "Does kazuha usually get all mumbly around you" "he does but-" "I KNEW IT" "dose he show you his unironic leaf collection" they all lean in expectingly. "No wha-" You made sure kazuha was too far to hear what you were about to say "...OK so this one time..." they listened to you like their lives depended on it.

The day you told them about that is the day you regret the most, they always looked you and kazuha up and down. Snicker to themselves. "How much you wanna bet they might kiss today" "CAN YOU TWO CUT IT OUT" you let out a sigh walking into the recording studio to practice, a familiar humming following you in a few secounds later. You two sing together and when you finish he finally speaks up. "You know... this the song I was playing when I first realized I was into you" "heh really" you stop strumming, realizing what he said "wait what-" he laughs softly at your reaction placing a hand on your cheek. "That songs kinda special to me..." he holds your hand tenderly with his unbandaged hand. "Reminds me of how much I love you" your eyes widen a bit as he looks at you with the most soft eyes. "I love you too kazuha" you smile gently, letting him lean in to kiss you

All of them noticed you two were dating it was odvious, the way you two acted around eatchother gave litterally everything away. "You two give eatchother less personal space than before are you dating?" "What?" "And you smell like him-" "how do you know what he smells like" "so you're dating?!" "How did you come to that conclusion?!" You and venti would bicker trying to hide your relationship with kazuha after he forgot to tell you he already told them.

Finally a show came along a small gig surprising a popular idol group would show, but still nice. You looked at the music sheet for the song looked up at him, sighed, and looked back. He looked so pleased giving you a few riffs and you look down to see another reason to go to therapy.

What he didn't put on hell on paper was a very veryyy familiar cord progression. He played it himself and put it in post. Making another version so if you ever asked you wouldn't notice, and a few weeks later they went live

You watched them in the audience, hearing the song you helped on and felt your smile fade into a straight face as you heard your solo along with the memorable melody gutair. He saw this trying to avoid a giggle while performing, he's suffering from you brainrot the rest of the show, some fancams caught him getting kicked by heizou or Xiao.

"So how did you like the show~" "Xiao almost kicked you off the stage..." There's a silence. "He dosent kick hard enough for that...but at least you enjoyed it" he smiles, pinching your cheeks and rubing your face, you look away hearing him giggle at your behavior. "I'll make you a coffee-" "don't you dare make a reference" he smirks at you "hehe"

You were online friends usually playing main stream games or random stuff you found. Youd always play together though, never single player! He hates that

"Are you playing a single player game..." "no-" "LIAR ITS ON YOUR STATUS" "SHIT- I mean I have no idea what your talking about" "...atleast stream it" he always got all pouty when he couldn't play with you

He'd definitely randomly interrogate you because you found something out on someone you both knew. "IS IT ABOUT-" "shush shus shu stfu quiet" "oh come on dude what is she gonna hear you?" "We're in a public call" "oh...LMAO" "DUDE"

When you combine both these loves, his love for you playing a co-op detective game with you has become the best thing for him to ever experience. "Who will be first to solve this?" "We're supposed to work together heizou" "oh...oh 😏" "nevermind I'm gonna play hitman without you" his avatar suddenly turns to face you and emotes a shocked reaction "OH COME ON"

He started catching feelings for a while. Ever since you two got on a call for the first time, your voice kinda intransted him. "Your voice Is so nicee" muttering into the mic yet you heard him clearly. "Thank you?" "It really is" its like you can see him currently slumped over his desk just day dreaming about you.

Didn't stop your offline friend for teasing you about him too. "Ooo he's into you~" "nuh uh nope nope!" The tips of your ears turn a pink. "And you like him back might aswell seal the deal" "STOP IT!" Blushing heavily you slam your hand down. Unsurprisingly Heizous in a simular situation 4nemo teasing him over just how much he talks about you. "Ohhh they're so cool" "they smell nice" "stop mocking me" he huffs "then get with them" they say in sync "stop weirdly harmonizing" he sits down covering his currently pink face.

Didn't help when you two first saw eatchother. "What the hell you live so closeby" "I know right what's next you're at my favorite Cafe conveniently the next table over" you turn over your shoulder seeing someone smile at their phone turn back and type "you mentioned before you had moles under both eyes right?" The persons face dropping looking around."Yea?" Without typing back, you walk over sitting infrot of him. "Bro, someone's sitting at my table, hold on" you smile at him typing back "oh sorry lemme just leave then my mistake 😔" "WAIT HUH?!?!" his eyes widen as he grabs your wrist "y/n?" small tears forming in his eyes pulling you into a hug with desperation. "Heizou" he hugs you tighter when he hears his name come out your mouth. "You're as pretty as I thought you'd be..." patting his head as he nuzzles into your chest. "You wanna go back to mine after this" "Yes!" With sudden enthusiasm, you two talk about your irl lives while bullying his drink of choice. "Pumpkin spice.." "oh my god shut up my again" "it's nasty" "it's good to me!!" "Shut up mom with 2 kids living in a van"

He's been going to your house at least once a week now "we should play together" he overbites his lip "I barely charged my secound controller" you overbite your lip back at him "then let's just hang out then I got news bby" visibly cringing at that last bit you let him in with him near instantly showing you a picture of him being accepted into an idol group. "Ohh you're gonna have real fangirls now" "Shut up!" "I'm gonna lead them just to make fun of you" "you're the only fangirl I'd date" "..." You visibly cringe "OH COME ON" "HAHAHA"

And so you were invited to the hell known as a debut concert and dear god was it near impossible to not be as hype as the crowd. Especially catching the fancams with him winking at you. Anyone could tell he was super inlove with whoever he was winking at especially after the group stopped in between a song witch you were barely paying attention to until you heard "I hope you guys never have to play solo!" Could have swore you felt him glare at you "speaking of solo the next songs title is-" all you paid attention to yet you look like you just woke up from a really loud noise.

"Y/n! Did you see it! Did ya like my moves" he smiles at you like a happy little dog. "It was surprisingly great Heizou" "surprising huh?" He pouts as if saddened by that comment. "But the show was amazing Heizou I'd go again" that bright glow of a smile you had is something hell never let go of, without hesitation he holds your hand "marry me" "come again?" "I mean it we should date!" Accidental slip up. He's screwed, you're gonna reject him so blatantly he's never gonna bother you again. "Heizou...that's so sudden" your eyes meet warmly "but I've been thinking the same" kissing his cheek you walk off letting him process what just happened. "WAIT WAIT WAIT YOURE NOT DITCHING ME AFTER SAYING THAT" "MAYBE I AM!" You had to run home that day but it was worth it laughing at him trying to keep up.

[mareastrorum]

Hello! I’ve been looking at your blog after Critical Role episodes for a couple of weeks now and I have to agree with you wholeheartedly about pretty much all of it. I wanted to ask you your opinion on the idea that a majority of us are calling Bells Hells the bad guys because all they’re doing is ‘wanting to dismantle the oppressive force that aims to destroy an entire established society of innocent people’. I’m having trouble understanding what oppressive force that is?

Thanks for the ask! There's two parts to this, so I'm going to address them separately.

First, there is no "oppressive force that aims to destroy an entire established society of innocent people." Like, the only group that came close to that in this campaign was the Weave Mind and the Imperium, which intended to take over Exandria in its entirety and subject the entire population to hivemind slavery--but Bell's Hells did little to oppose them. Vox Machina (backed up by an army) demolished the Imperium's main forces at the Exandrian base of the bloody bridge. The Mighty Nein killed the Weave Mind and then started mopping up their allies that remained on Ruidus. Bell's Hells did nothing to support that rebellion other than assist on a scouting/sabotage mission and then flee.

Otherwise, there is no force aiming to destroy society. Ludinus wanted Predathos out so it could eat the gods, and there was no intent about anything other than that. He did not care one way or the other about collateral damage. Predathos doesn't either, but it wants to eat, and we do not know what level of divinity is too small for it to prioritize. And let's be serious, unless a god flees and lures it away, there's no reason for Predathos not to look at a planet full of life and think, "Hmmm, it might not taste good, but I am so fucking hungry."

A good while ago, when the Hells had initially reached Vasselheim, I saw discussion of whether Vasselheim and other Exandrian forces intended to wipe out all Reilorans and other Ruidus-based species. I think Evoroa's plea and assistance made directly to the leadership of Vasselheim has already prevented that potential result. Of course, the Exandrians are working together as a collective of dozens of factions, and each of those has untold numbers of individuals working for them. It's possible some of them will insist on war anyway, but given the actions of the three campaign parties, I don't see that happening on an organized scale. Regardless, Bell's Hells aren't focusing on that right now, and nothing they could/would do with Predathos would affect that either.

The only other faction that comes close to that idea is the Betrayer Gods, but they don't care about society. They want genocide. They want to murder every single mortal in existence, and then torment their immortal souls for all eternity. I literally cannot overstate the disdain the Betrayers have for mortals. They are Exandrians' ultimate enemy. The Divine Gate is the only thing protecting mortals from the Betrayers, and it requires every god to unanimously agree to drop it. That is phenomenal protection. There's been no serious threat to it since its creation.

In particular, I want to highlight that "the gods" as a category of entity are not a united faction. The gods don't rule anything on Exandria--not even Vasselheim. That's a purely mortal project! Mortals decided to build a city dedicated to the gods, and given that it's filled with their followers, the gods have historically spent particular attention to protecting it. That makes perfect sense, and it doesn't mean the gods are in charge of it.

Obviously, there will be other factions across Exandria that could fit that bill, but Bell's Hells hasn't had to deal with them in this campaign. Like, chaotic evil factions exist, they're just not in this story right now.

Next, whether Bell's Hells are villains, bad guys, etc.

I've written up how I assess villains in my pinned post. That's my general approach to any type of story, whether it's interactive, written, oral, etc. It's a very broad overview of when is a villain an effective narrative device? I am rather harsh in my criticism of villains: if they didn't improve the story, they should not have been included at all.

We could cherrypick through the various episodes to come up with an argument that Bell's Hells are the bad guys, but my problem with them is that they aren't effective villains. A villain's primary purpose is to highlight a theme in the negative: what is the wrong thing to do in these circumstances, and why is that? The reason they aren't effective is that they don't have a motivating purpose.

Bell's Hells are a chaotic faction that consistently deviates from whatever is requested of them. They claim to be for the people, then denigrate and oppose every faction they've encountered. They claim to have changed their minds about some of the gods (the Matron and the Arch Heart in particular), then repeatedly ignore or contradict the plain statements told to them, but they still seek out the gods' instructions regardless. This carelessness or apathy makes it impossible to map a philosophy onto the PCs other than "I felt like doing it in the moment."

None of them have been able to articulate a reason that they chose this path. Maybe the players will come up with some hamfisted excuse next episode, but it's still going to be unsatisfying from a narrative viewpoint. This stream had hundreds of hours to show that and instead needs someone to say it in the last episode. It's terrible storytelling, and none of them could claim that it was impossible to see this confrontation coming. We've known it was coming since Ludinus successfully bridged Exandria and Ruidus. There was time, and it was not spent wisely.

Going beyond dialogue, there's no consistency to Bell's Hells's actions except the desire to kill Ludinus. That muddled any potential message that could be conveyed about them as villains in a story except "kill Ludinus in particular." We can't even say they oppose any existing hegemony because none has been established in Exandria. There's no racial, economic, social, religious, etc. group dominating the world. Again, as said above, the gods don't rule anything, and they're stuck behind the gate.

Any potential to build Bell's Hells into worthwhile villains was squandered. Everyone but Orym had an explicit, tailor-made opportunity to lean into their darker personality traits, and every one of them chickened out--except Ashton, who gave into his desire to be special and have power to lash out at people standing over him. Unfortunately, Ashton's attempt to absorb another shard of a primordial would have also broken the game on a D&D level, so that got reversed and reworked into a character moment that also had no lasting impact on his character arc. Ashton hasn't bothered exploring it since. That's really the core problem: every time the PCs had the option to pursue a villainous path, they ran the fuck in the opposite direction, then dithered about what to do.

Without conviction, villains are merely bullies. They're just here to be mean, stop other people from getting what they want, and jeer at others when they get their way. We saw that in this latest episode. There's nothing Bell's Hells wants. They don't even want to be involved. They're just doing it because they can't even commit to going home--because they're player characters in a D&D game, and the players didn't want to switch to new characters.

That makes for a terrible villain story. Like, once we see the final episode and all the PCs have had an opportunity to take action and speak on their own behalf, we'd be able to revisit this with more definitive statements. Unfortunately, I can't think of a single way this could go that would correct the flaws I've already listed. It's far too late to correct the characters' lack of direction to develop a coherent villain arc for any of Bell's Hells.

[gojinka]

Hehe may I ask about evil Callie?

(The evil/brainwashed) Callie here functions a bit differently… as I also use her to explore what exactly mud mouths are… and the octarian’s relationship with their ally, Salmonids…

Explanation under the cut. 🚧

Due to constrained relations between them and the other main dominating species— (salmonid/octarian vs inklings)— most Inklings, namely younger generations, are more desperate to fix and mend the relationship.

(There is plenty more to this! But I don’t want to make this come across as far more convoluted than it needs to be, so here have this for now:📒)

Octavio contacted Callie directly, albeit in secret, telling her that he has plans that would be a step forward in ending the tension between the Inklings and Octarian-Salmonid groups. What he had introduced was a new type of “ink” that would make their species “salmonid friendly”, and he wanted Callie to be the one to be the first public appearance with this new Ink in hopes to reach a wider audience…

Most of that isn’t true— but to Callie— who is a direct descendant of a war leader, was raised as an agent, and lives in a fairly dangerous city zone that floods, that sounded like a better step towards a better life, and she went for it.

This ink is known as MUD— and this “ink” isn’t technically ink at all, as mentioned in a previous post, most inks are a synthetic toxic poison, designed for warfare, but this ink on the contrary, wasn't designed by Inkfish, it was designed by Salmonids.

MUD is a slimy corrosive ink designed to rival Inkfish’s ink, namely in salmon runs and Ink Wasted territories, one that blends into the grounds and spreads out quickly and efficiently much like Inkfish ink, but one that corrodes Inklings by absorbing into them, and leaves salmonids completely safe from any burning effects.

The Octarian were the ones tasked with creating this new bio-weapon, as an added benefit being it would not affect their species, (they would be safe from it regardless, considering Salmon-Runs are an Inkling exclusive event, and Octolings were surprised when they learned about them.)

They tried different methods of testing it, and ultimately, the project failed— Mud uses both Salmonid and Inkling DNA in its creation, and when Mud was being developed, it melted Salmonids like Ink typically does due to its hyper-corrosive nature, but because it carried Inkling + Salmonid DNA, the salmonid’s skin would attempt to mimic the properties of inklings and constantly try to reconstruct itself into the “swim” form, which made Salmonids a walking (or rather, squirming) sludge, these monsters became known as MUDMOUTHS, and are not truly considered alive, since they run exclusively on the Running Instinct that exists in Salmonid DNA.

And in turn, when the ink was absorbed into Inklings— the previously noted “running instinct” would have an almost Kraken-Esque affect on inklings before corroding and splatting them.

The running instinct would work as intended, everything they eat immediately converts to growth in preparation for an arduous journey, they’re extremely aggressive, and they have a desire to return to the salmonid birthplace.

Mud would splat inklings upon prolonged contact, but Inklings who were test subjects for mud were slowly injected with Mud over a course of time. These subjects were disoriented and had a sort of “positive” aggressive attitude that didn’t falter even in the face of family or friends.

They are easy to persuade and it’s unclear if this is due to the pain of getting the ink-content in their bodies replaced by this synthetic fake-ink, or if the running instinct muddles their thoughts. It’s probably a healthy mix of both.

Dj Octavio, kept Callie by his side, since in her current state her mind would be too fogged up to dispute or make sense of what he’s making her do.

He planned on using Callie to stir up trouble in Inkopolis solely for the sake of rising tension. Octavio is constantly searching for reasons to make Inkling’s an enemy in the eyes of everyone who sees them, and painting Callie— a well known public figure; a known descendant of Captain Cuttlefish— as vicious would do wonders for allowing most people to view the Octarian as a force that would more desirably be backed up, it would reinforce their armies. And make them overall stronger if people felt they had reason to target Inklings.

He didn’t get this far due to Agent Four’s interference.

But, he got to accomplish many theft missions using Callie— which included robbing Inkopolis of some of the Zapfish Generators, which are giant machines that are powered thanks to the Zapfish, and thanks to the Zap-Ink— ⤵️

(Above image is from here) — Octavio was able to use said generators to restore power to many of the war-affected bio-domes that have been obsolete for decades, WITHOUT the need for a Zapfish.

But his reasoning can still be dumbed down to a petty move on Octavio’s part— who despite having a safer ground in the domes due to a good trade relationship with Salmonids and a vast space away from water— he still feels bitter about losing the remaining lands. And because of this the Octarian are plenty more war driven, and they are more likely to easily fall to the fervor of these schemes and battles.

[drdemonprince]

ok fine cis men aren't the bad gender it's all men and we're all exactly like that anon who admitted to having abused women even if we don't know it. are you fucking happy now? is this the solidarity you want us to feel with cis men, that we're all just as mich rapists and murderers of women as they are? you have some fucking nerve to be throwing vague jabs while calling an admitted abuser "brave"

Normally I don't platform asks like these, but I'm moved by the genuineness of your emotional reaction here. I think you're hurting, and you've been hurt, and that the belief that abuse and violence are located within one gendered group (to which you don't belong) has felt like a way of organizing your world that has helped you make sense of things, and given you guidelines for how to act and whom to trust that have helped keep you safe. I think a lot of assault survivors feel that way when they're not cis men and their attackers were cis men.

As someone who has experienced a ton of sexual predation at the hands of cis women, cis men, and even other trans people, I don't feel the same way. There is no "bad gender" I can chalk up my abuse to. I find there are no easy means of categorizing entire people as abuser or as victim either -- I have known so, so many people who have occupied both roles depending upon the power they wielded and the social context of the moment. Hell, one cis lesbian that I knew who was infamous in her community for raping trans men would always tell her victims that her acts were those of "trauma recovery," of her "reclaiming" her power after men had stolen it away.

Even she, I don't think, is irredeemable or ontologically evil.

I'm an abolitionist. That's a core value through which a lot of my political action and beliefs flow. If you're not on board with the project of abolitionism, you'll find much to object to here, and most of your objections are things I will refuse to entertain, because I do not believe human beings are disposable no matter what they do, and I don't believe that anyone should have the authority to deem another human being as disposable.

An abolitionist politics is incompatible with the idea that some people or some groups are inherently bad. It's incompatible with the belief that abuse and violence comes from evil. It's a worldview that holds that people do harm because of social structures and networks of power that must be destroyed -- systems like the patriarchy, cissexism, anti-Blackness, ableism, capitalism, and more. And I think one of the ways that we conquer such oppressive systems is by raising the consciousness of all the people trapped under it -- so that we can topple it together. I want trans men and cis men alike to realize they have some skin in the game.

You don't have to associate with the men you don't want to associate with. If, because of repeated abuses at the hands of men, you can't ever trust them, well, those are your feelings, that's your life, that is your business. But when your personal feelings of safety are used as a justification for developing and promoting a worldview with transphobic, transmisogynistic implications, I'm gonna talk shit about that on my stupid little blog. And I'm gonna continue conducting my life in the way I feel I should.

And for me, that means forging common ground between trans men and cis men, and pushing both groups to take women's concerns seriously (especially trans women's concerns) and to stop centering themselves in feminist dialogue. There's a place for both trans men and cis men in the gender revolution, but we gotta do a lot of work on ourselves to stop getting in the way. It's work I'm emotionally equipped to do and find rewarding, and it's fine if you don't. There are lots of other people who need support that you can focus your energies on -- other survivors of abuse and assault that you perhaps find it easier to relate to. That's important work too, and I wish you well in doing it. Just make sure you're not excluding trans women in that work or I'll continue to be annoying about it on my stupid little blog.

[astroyongie]

𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆ Christmas Male Idol Tea 𓍢ִ໋☕️✧˚ ༘ ⋆

Note: Hello everyone and Merry Christmas Eve/ Happy Yule to everyone who celebrates theses days! for today we have a little gift. This is a tea post done through tarot, so please take it lightly.

-> Questions regarding who X is won't be answered. You can however send in theories about who you think X is but there won't be denial or confirmation from my part.

-> Each X is one member from the group. Female idols post to be posted next!

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

NCT 127 

X has been giving money away to associations. it seems like this act of kindness is also a way for him to be ‘forgiven’ about a few things he has on his heart

X wishes to not renew his contract with SM the moment the opportunity presents to him. it seems like they want to leave korea as well 

X has been working on their inner self and their own courage. you might see him next year speak up about things that other male idols dont speak about 

x is in a very stable relationship at the moment

ever since X has been in a relationship with someone where the cycles keep repeating themselves. it is not very healthy 

Next month, X might travel out of korea for a project he has been collaborating in

X will have a solo in 2025

X will also have a solo in 2025

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

NCT Dream 

X might take a new direction with his career. Acting happening in 2025?

X is still in his healthy relationship and it seems that so far things have been doing well for him

X is in a good state mentally and physically. he is happy and he is genuine when he shows it to his fans 

X will give you news about solo projects that he has been working on 

It seems like X wishes to go as a soloist once the contract with dream ends

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Stray Kids

X is in a relationship but he has not been faithful as he is texting another person through text/instagram and the texts are rather suggestive 

X will go through a whole physical change in 2025

X baby scare

expect some changes in X career in 2025

X will be traveling soon for a solo project 

X went to see a shaman in order to remove some evil eye he had on his shoulder but also to cut ties with someone who has been obsessed with him

Solo music for X in 2025

X is frustrated with his life because he has been stuck in the same pattern for the last months and he is unable to come out of it 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Monsta X 

there wasn’t much i can say about X other than he has been living his life happily

X is truly kind, and lately he has been trying to be more kind with the people around since he know he has made people suffer 

X is in a relationship with someone that korea consider like one of the most pretty/female celebrities in korea

X has been dealing with addictions and lately it has been worst 

X will show a new phase of himself with a new solo in 2025

X will make collaborations for 2025 when it comes to music. he will also be more active in social media and raise his community

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

TXT

X has been trying to be positive with their life but it's not easy when there’s so much going on with his mental health

Xs energy is completely chaotic. a lot of anger, a lot of despair and overall negative red emotions. all because they haven't been active 

X is currently dealing with some serious health issues related to his stomach/digestive system/ habits of eating

X has been at peace for the last three months. a good relationship as well, he is happy and content 

X has been physically active, which also has impacted his sexual life. he might have caught something that he didn’t wanted to because of the lack of protection 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Seventeen

X has recently decided to take the big step with his partner (probably private marriage)

X is single now after a long relationship. he has won a lot in wiseness and he is mourning that relationship 

X is happy and determined to take control of his life and welcome all the blessings that he has been receiving lately 

X has been talking with 4 different girls and they all learnt that he was flirting with them. the moment he learnt about it, he dipped 

X is very humble and he understands and accepts critics about himself when it comes to his career. not when it comes to his personality 

X has met his forever person a few days earlier 

Since April, X knows that the person he is with isn’t his forever person but he doesn't know how to end a relationship this long 

X is patient and he believes that love and fortune will come to him in the rightful moment 

X has grown in maturity in this year, and he is now prepared to take a further step onto his personal life 

X has been waiting the right moment before he can maybe start a solo career 

X has been turning to his faith lately in order to be able to deal with the issues and the problems he has in his own life. faith helps him a lot 

X has introspected a lot about his life. he knows he has a purpose but it's not always easy to deal with intense feelings like he does

X has also been developing his spirituality. he believes in a lot of things, and he has been opening himself to it in order to hold into life 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

BTS

X has no intentions of keeping his career alive. Whenever he does solos it's because the company asks him to. in 2025 it's probably that he wont do anything because he simply doesn't want to 

In mars, X will take a drastic decision concerning his career that will shock the public 

X has been thinking a lot about the mistakes he has done on his past and he hopes nothing will be published 

2025 will be a creative year for X and he will be doing a lot of things for his carer 

This winter has been very hash for X because he just doesn’t know what do do with himself and his career anymore that doesn't feel forced

X is under the company's protection after the scandals that HYBE has been involved in. X has been involved in a few things as well related to that 

X has been taking refuge in a lot of things. alcohol, his home, his friends, his family. anything is enough to hide the feelings he bares

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

EXO

X has been struggling with his mental health a lot although he doesn't show it because he doesn't want his fans and his members to be worried about him

X is protected by SM after some shit and rumors have been going on around. X believes he doesn’t need that protection because whatever happens, he will drag the company with him

X has been dealing with quite a few ghosts it seems

10 days ago, X realized that he is not ready yet to do what he truly wants. X has been working toward something that he holds dear but he needs to wit before exposint it 

X has been doing very god despite fans thinking that he isn't okay 

X is a strong man and he has been making sure to keep himself and his family away from the spotlights

February will be a complicated month for X because a lot of things will be requested out of him

X has cheated on his partner and he has been lying to people around him about the reasons for their separations. he hasn't been honest with fans either 

X has been introspecting on his life because he has been very anxious lately about the world in general 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Ateez

X doesn't show it but he hides his feelings a lot from the others. there’s some comments about him that hurt him a lot. specially about his physique 

X wil be doing a solo project in 2025

X has been thinking about moving out and having something in common with his partner but he doesn't know how to make it happen while benign discreet

X has gave up from therapy which he had been following this year 

X is having some heavy family issues and he unfortunately cannot do anything about it. he is caught in the middle 

X misses his dad a lot and hisses his grandparents a lot too.

wait 7 days so you fan can receive X little gift 

X will take a while new unexpected turn with his career in 2025 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

The Boyz

ever since X’s last travel that went wrong, he has developed heavy symptoms of anxiety 

X has been gathering courage to assume himself, to be the real self after years of denying a specific part of himself 

X will have an amazing 2025 year, with a lot of recognition and solo works alongside special collabs 

X has been rejected 

In order to fight his anxiety, X has been focusing on living the present moment 

seems like X will make a new meeting with the love of his life in the next days 

X has been searching something, seems like love with someone, but the other person hasn't been giving him what he wishes 

no one knows or is able to see that X has been very alone and lonely lately 

X is in a toxic relationship with someone and he has been trying to write about it on his lyrics 

X is dating an idol who is currently blonde, they have been together for the last 1 months and half 

 X is dating but he isn’t aware that there’s a third person in the relationship. his partner isn't cheating but this 3rd party sure wants to break them up 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Enhypen 

X’s self esteem is so high that he doesn’t believe when people say on internet that he is ugly for example or when they criticize his physique 

X is another idol who has spent his days instructing about himself and how to become a better idol for the public 

X has bad intentions toward another member of his own group 

X has been dating his partner for the past 15 days 

X has been very active with people around. his masculine is at peak and he uses that to affirm himself 

X is going through a process of healing after months and months of bad mental health 

X wants to leave the group. Seems like 2025 will reverse a few surprises for the group 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Treasure

X will leave korea for a promotion/project he has been doing with his sponsor 

out of all members X is whom has the idol person more genuine and lose to his real personality 

X is dealing with codependency in his relationship but also substance abuse it seems 

This winter was a good cycle for X who has found their person, and he seems to be very in love with them 

X has a good intuition when it comes to know people's intentions toward him and others

two months ago, X has broken up with his partner but it seems like he is the one suffering from that choice 

X will take an important decision for his carer in 2025

X has met someone new that he ha been developing a crush on

expect X to b able to show a new side of himself and to be the center of attentions in 2025 and on his group 

X has true child-like behaviors outside the stage. some members get annoyed that he lacks maturity 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Zero Base One

X misses his family terribly and he would give up his career if it meant going back to his family 

The issue with X is that he is unable to forget about the rumors or the scandals about himself which also does not allow him to move with his life 

X has been trying to get away from a saesang, it has been one year since he is dealing with this obsession and its tiring him 

X’s money that he has been winning, beside the debts he has to pa to the company he has been giving it all out to his family (brother) 

X and another member from the group have made peace after an argument 

X is slightly ore balanced emotionally after a debut of year quite complicated 

expect X to have a new contract in 2025

there’s days where X wonders why the hell does he wake up if its to live these things 

2025 will also change X career

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Boys Next Door 

X is in a way better mood than what he was before. his mental health has improved

X takes medication for his mental health but it seems like he has been developing some type of addiction to it 

X got in a relationship this december 

X might go through mourning 

Bet that X will have quite a good festivities this end of the year as he is planning to enjoy every drop he gets

X has been treated unfairly compared to the other members and even exploited 

♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡♡➳༻❀ ☕ ❀༺➳♡

Riize

X has been suffering from deep and annoying headaches. his body is telling him that it's giving up but it seems like he doesn't understand it 

Solo for X in 2025

The anger that X has in him is no joke and i am scared that one day he won't be able to contain it and it just explodes on the wrong people 

solo opportunities for X as well in 2025

X will accidentally spill some information that will fire up the internet 

X energy has been improving a lot but he still needs to be careful who he calls friend 

[sarahreesbrennan]

I remember reading in one of your blog entries (years ago??) that in the new book you were writing, the main character's *sister* had cancer. Does that mean that Alice was originally the main character of Long Live Evil? Was she going to go into the book to save Rae, instead of Rae going in to save herself?

How extremely kind of you to remember!

No, that was actually a YA murder mystery that I wrote while ill, revised while recovering, and sent out into the world where it died on submission. (Which means we sent it out to about 12 editors and the editor either said no, or said yes and took it to acquisitions - a group of people at the publisher including sales and marketing - and acquisitions said no.)

One editor told me she really wanted and really tried to buy it. Another person who worked in publishing (and has since changed jobs, or I wouldn’t share this) said the response at her acquisitions was - if you like this writer, find the next her (implications about health and youth were made).

I was terrified my agent was going to ditch me too, but she said ‘We’ll sell that one day, for now let’s write the next thing.’

I remember another writer telling me she missed my work that wasn’t a tie-in, and I felt ashamed to tell her it wasn’t that I wasn’t writing other things - it was that I couldn’t publish them.

The tie-ins meanwhile were paying the bills (they still are tbh!) and I was and remain so grateful for them. But I also really loved writing them - especially my Sabrina tie-ins, you don’t forget the first, and it reminded me I want to write horror and poly one day - and how they got me to love and sympathise with so many fandoms.

I see the burnout of caregivers all around me, and I wanted to write the story of one. But maybe I also wanted to take a step back from cancer. I didn’t think I did, at the time. I had a whole lot of things I tried writing before Long Live Evil, and I think some of them were really good. One of my critique partners gave me a lipstick with the same name as someone in the murder mystery. There was a romance novel another critique partner said was her favourite thing I’d ever written. But none had someone with cancer at the heart of the story.

And even though Rae isn’t much like me, maybe I had to start there. You can’t make real magic using someone else’s liver. Maybe I had to wait to be brave enough to use my own liver.

I do get requests for advice on how to cope with rejection of your writing, and I always worried I didn’t have anything else to say, but I suppose my example says - if you can, (and I know it’s hard, you feel so terrible at writing and so useless) (and you love the work you’ve done so much and you don’t see a way forward to loving the next thing) (but still, if you possibly can) write the next thing.

Even if the first thing sells, you’ll want the next thing one day. Writing the next thing is more writing practise, so it’ll make you better. Write the next thing.

Ultimately I’m really glad Long Live Evil was my comeback book. I think it needed to be. It took the time it took.

But maybe it was a shade of that past book (where the heroine’s sister with cancer was six, so not much like any of the Time of Iron characters) that made me think of the YA version of this book, which I always had in my mind as something I was intentionally hewing away from - a more straightforward book, a book that might have sold better - in which shy reader Alice was the hero. She’s the one with the suggestive hero name - Alice through the looking glass - the heroine looks, and the more projectable-upon personality. She’d get called annoying less often (though still some, because she’s a girl), partly because she is (with love, Rae knows I’m right) a genuinely less annoying person. Much kinder, much sweeter, and much better at in-depth reading! Her sister being in trouble would’ve been a backstory, a catalyst point, and - you’re totally right - a great motivation for her to get the Flower. Saving a family member is a much more sympathetic and heroic motivation than saving yourself and one I do love (the Hunger Games, Labyrinth, Mahy’s the Changeover, and I write it a lot!). I think Snarky While Tragically Dying Rae would’ve been a pretty popular side character, too. I think it would’ve been a good book! Just not mine.

I love your question because I love thinking about POV, and all the decisions that are the building blocks of a story. To me, the Alice centric Time of Iron is a version that exists. As are several versions of the Lia centric Time of Iron. And versions centring other characters exist to me, too. (Eric, absolutely.)

Speaking of POV musing, I think Rahela the wicked stepsister featured more in the musical than the book. If the Time of Iron series ever became a TV show (and at this point in time I think I’d rather a movie because it wouldn’t… get cancelled…) and I got to write it (don’t know why I would…) I would start with the beginnings for three characters about to go on a journey to somewhere strange to them: Key in the Cauldron, Rae in the hospital, and Vasilisa in the icelands. There are so many possibilities! And I really wanted the sense that there were so many possibilities, too.

But I wanted the chronically ill one to be the centre of the story, and for it to be her villain origin story, and to ask a lot of questions (hence a lot of villains!) about who gets villainised and why. And I thought hers, to my mind, would be the most fun of all the possible stories.

So that’s the one I made. But Long Live Evil has a lot of origins. Thank you for remembering one of them! I don’t think I would’ve dared tell the story, if things hadn’t worked out for me (so far, fingers crossed).

And I also tell it to be clear my publisher was taking a RISK with me and Long Live Evil, and I really appreciate that, and I’m so happy it’s worked out for them (again so far, early days, fingers crossed, etc).

I hope some writers - whether in the process of submission, rejection or making the choices that are the building blocks of story - find this helpful, and some readers find it interesting.

Let this be one of the universes in which your story is told.

[jm-2406]

Hi! I saw that your requests are open and I read your rules. Can I request a Theordore Nott with a Hufflepuff reader? A Hufflepuff who is quiet, but not shy. Like she speaks when spoken too or whenever she deems it necessary. Maybe they get grouped together in a project or something where they cross paths. Preferably fluff. Thanks love

You're feisty.

Summary - a study session ends with a confession.

Pairing - Theodore Nott x Hufflepuff! reader.

Word count - 775.

Note - I think I strayed a little and my work is rusty, I've written after a long break. I hope you like it.

Warnings - none.

Requests - open || find my work - here.

Being in hufflepuff was a good as well as tiring experience. Your housemates were cheerful and had a positive vibe, most of them were smart and badass but to others, you guys were portrayed as a bunch of smiles and laughs. The most common assumption that other houses had regarding you was that they thought you were shy, sweet and naive but you are not, you are just quiet and enjoy your alone time. It was a given that most of them who tried to bother you or make fun of you were pleasantly shut down and put into place. And on such days, your friend Hannah would find you in a sour mood.

“What happened now?” She asked curiously after seeing your grumpy expression. You shook your head and mouthed ‘potions’. That was enough for her to guess what might have happened. You shared potions with the Slytherins and one of them always bothered you because he considered himself as an expert in the subject just because of his house when in reality he was not. As you guys were about to sit down and relax, someone's footsteps caught your attention. To your left stood Theo, the boy with whom you were paired up, courtesy of professor Snape.

“Need to discuss something.” He said plainly and turned around. You didn't know what he was expecting but still stood up to follow him. Hannah looked at you with wide eyes and a smirk, knowing well about your crush on the tall boy. “Out of my league.” You would say but she was convinced that he liked you back.

Theodore led you to one of the quiet spots in the library. You took a seat in front of the windows while he wandered off to select the books needed for the potions assignment. After a few minutes he came back with not one but three thick books making you chuckle and the tall Slytherin graced you with a rare smile of his own. It made your heart flutter.

“All good, badger? You sure this is a study session and not a tutoring program for yourself?” A nasty voice interrupted your study session. You were too deep in the books to notice him the first time.

“What do you want, Codnor? We're busy here.” Theo said to his housemate. The boy continued to stare at the two of you until you finally snapped.

“Codnor, please go to madam pomfrey and get your eyes checked. They're stuck at our table, I think that might be a serious issue.” He looked at you with a very displeased expression but before he could retaliate, Theo had gotten up and made him leave.

When he returned, he saw you mumbling and couldn't hold back his laugh. “Stop it.” You whispered angrily. Theo raised his hands in surrender and took his seat. “You know [Y/N], there's something about you that I might've guessed wrong.”

“What?” You looked at him confused.

“I thought that you were one of those shy ones but you're not. You're feisty. I like that. I like you more now.” An awkward moment followed after his unexpected words. Theo cleared his throat and tried to find the right words.

“What do you mean, Theo? You're not teasing me, are you? Because that's a little evil considering you know how I feel.”

“No. I'm not. I'd never.” He reassured you. “And I know about how you feel.”

For the first time since you reached Hogwarts, you saw Theo at a loss of words. “Are you saying that you feel the same?” You asked him quietly, hesitantly.

“Merlin! Yes. I am not good with words but I'll try. [Y/N] [Y/L/N], i am infatuated with you, your personality and intelligence add to your charm. Will you do me a favour by being my girlfriend and making me the happiest man alive?” He forwarded his hand, palm up, to you.

You blinked in shock then did a little dance while sitting on the chair because you couldn't shout in the library. “Yes. A thousand times yes.” You placed your hand in his. He brought it up to his lips and placed a chaste kiss at the back of your hand.

The rest of the afternoon went away peacefully and by the end of it, you ended up in Theo's lap, sharing your first kiss.

THE END.

[hermitadaymay]

WELCOME TO HERMIT-A-DAY MAY!

A challenge inspired by Hermitober, but with a twist: instead of theme prompts, we focus on a specific Hermit every day!

THE RULES: There aren’t any! Participate as much or as little as you want, doing any type of fanwork you want, as long as it features or is inspired by the Hermit of the day! Use Wednesdays to catch up or do bonus challenges, which are explained below the cut. Tag your posts with #hermitaday to have them reblogged to the blog, or you can submit them directly!

WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE? To show love to every Hermit, from the most to least subscribed, from those who have been on the server from day 1 to those who only joined last season! And because challenges are fun.

WHO’S RUNNING THIS? Hi! My name is Luna! You can use she/her, he/him, or ze/hir pronouns for me. My main blog is @as-if-unreal.

BONUS CHALLENGE WEDNESDAYS

FAVORITE BUILD - May 3rd The Hermits have built a lot of wild stuff over the years. From cute starter bases to massive organic structures to groundbreaking redstone contraptions, they’ve put thousands of hours into their builds. Which one has inspired you?

FAVORITE “ALT” HERMIT - May 10th Evil clones, camera accounts, NPCs, and alter egos abound on and off the Hermitcraft server. Show your love for Renbob, Evil Xisuma, Helsknight, the Demise spirits, or any other characters the Hermits play on this day!

FAVORITE PET(S) - May 17th Scar wouldn’t be the same without Jellie. Joe wouldn’t be the same without his armies of dogs. From the in-game Gigapies chicken farm to the real-life friends we see on @mcyt-cats, animals play a big part in the Hermits’ lives! They deserve a day all their own!

FRIENDS OF HERMITCRAFT - May 24th Hermitcraft doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The Hermits are constantly working on other projects with other amazing creators featured in the Life SMP, MCC, Empires SMP, and beyond. This is the day to appreciate all the cool friends from off-server that enrich the non-Hermitcraft content the Hermits make!

FREE SPACE - May 31st Got an idea that didn’t fit on another day? Want to wrap up the month with a big group photo? Inspired to make something for a Hermit after their day has passed? Get it all in on one final day!

[annabelle--cane]

I guess the thing that makes me not so fond of Jon's addiction allegory is that it's only coherent to a certain extent? Like I think people sometimes forget that he's actively violating these people

anon, through no fault of your own you have accidentally hit upon my sleeper agent trigger phrase. I have layers of answers to this.

so first off, yeah, it's not a 1:1 direct metaphor, it's a soupy dream logic fantasy plot device with flavors of a lot of different things. there's quite a lot of addiction in there, there's some abuse of power, there's some cyclical nature of trauma, there's a dash of disability, there's a few notes of gendered violence, there's a good bit of just. violence violence and being kind of a motherfucker because goddammit it feels good to be an active agent about something in your life, even if it's just choosing to be a worse version of yourself than you strictly need to be. a lot of tma's worldbuilding is very allegorical, but apart from aspects of individual statements nothing really matches up quite 1:1 with a real world counterpart, and if more things did then it probably wouldn't be a fantasy show anymore.

secondly. okay to contextualize this answer a little bit I have a kind of hypothetical video essay project about vampirism and addiction that I like to spend a few hours thinking about every so often but am almost certainly never going to make because the full research burden required is a lot higher than I actually have the time to properly do. but because of that I've spent a lot of time sorting through why framing vampires as addicts really works for me in a way that it doesn't seem to for everyone, and I think a lot of my thoughts on that also apply to jon. there's going to be a bit of a detour here before we get back to talking about tma, but we'll get there, I prommy.

I've seen a lot of people take issue with various paranormal addiction allegories because, a lot of the time, the act that is meant to metaphorically represent the act of use itself is something that is directly and inherently harmful to others, e.g. drinking human blood, handing over power to your hedonistic Evil alter ego, holding the cursed amulet and going crazy going stupid, slurping trauma out of the head of some guy you ran into on a boat to norway, etc., and yeah, I do get that. substance use is not inherently harmful like that to anyone except sometimes the user themself, and addicts are not inherently fucked up and destructive people; those are dangerous stereotypes that often lead to the demonizing of a whole group of sick people.

here's the thing for me, though: those are definitely truths I want explored and represented when it comes to portrayals of non-allegorical actual addicts, but fantasy fiction isn't for showing the world as it is, it's for showing a subjective fun house mirror version of reality where certain aspects are minimized and magnified depending on how it feels to live through it. and yes, absolutely in real life drug use is not an inherently evil act and it does not make you an inherently evil person, but... doesn't it kind of feel like that? sort of? absolutely no one is living their best life nor on their best behavior while experiencing any kind of major mental illness episode, and when it comes to addiction you've got a very clear tangible symbol of when The Episode is happening that it feels like you have much more control over than when it comes to other illnesses. it's also a thing where people are a lot more likely to be openly angry and distrustful of you if they find out it's happening. so you mix together the ideas of "I know I get worse as a result of doing this one specific thing" + "I act less like myself when I'm using, it rearranges my priorities and I care less about hurting people because that's what happens when you're experiencing The Horrors" + "society at large/people directly around me are pretty quick to say that doing this is evil," and you get the subjective emotional result of "I hurt people by using and it makes me monstrous." I tend to respond to those kinds of paranormal allegories like they're just cutting out the middle man of those subjective fears. "using makes me monstrous" -> "using is monstrous."

anyway. jon archivist.

don't get me wrong, I totally understand if this aspect of metaphor doesn't gel for some people and they only like taking it exactly as far as the text explicitly makes them, but I really get a lot out of reading jon's connection to the fears as addiction precisely because he does genuinely awful things to people as a result of it. he's a person in a very bad physical and mental place with little to no support who is constantly being told by both allies and enemies that he's already a monster just by being alive, and he copes with that by secretly falling further and further into an compulsive act of consumption that skews his priorities and makes him care less about hurting people because at least sometimes getting to be the cause of pain makes him feel a little bit less powerless when he has to be the subject of pain the rest of the time. then he's found out and is made to stop, and he has to grapple not just with the physical toll of withdrawal but with knowing there is a not insignificant part of him that will excuse any act of malice if he knows he'll feel better afterwards.

the end of tma is very explicit in the fact that the rules of its world are shaped by the subjective worst fears of those who live in it, it's "an exercise in unreliably reality" as jonny sims put it once, and I think that principle extends backwards in some ways to apply to the rest of the show. I don't think the fact that there are only entities of fear and not hope or love is meant to be a full commentary on the total nature of the real world, it's a reflection of what fear and suffering can make the world feel like. eric and melanie both go to really harsh extremes to extricate themselves from the fears and live peaceful lives, and in both cases something happens that foils their plans (getting murdered + the apocalypse, respectively), but I don't think the intended message is to say that is definitively how real life works, they are metaphors for the limits of individual agency in larger systems and represent two types of worst-case-scenarios. similarly, I don't think reading jon as an addict implies that addiction inherently involves violence or that the reactions of those around him were completely unjustified, it's just a subjective exploration of the kinds of fears that can come with addiction dialed up to 100.