#I will say a point in her favor was probably that I'm not as attached to joel as I think some people are?

[rotisseries]

you know, when I went into watching tlou playthroughs I knew I wouldn't hate abby, just by virtue of the fact that I already knew so much of the major plot points that I'd already been able to pick up that the Point™ of the story is that nobody is truly right in this situation and if you hate abby but not ellie or joel you probably aren't really getting it, but I did not necessarily expect to love her like I do. like I fully expected to feel maybe neutral or at best mildly positive towards her but I finished watching the playthrough of the second game last wednesday and I have not stopped thinking about her since. her and ellie are in my mind in equal measure I love them both so much

[dyns33]

The Fall of House Harkonnen

I'm not sure what to do with Feyd to be honest.

I'm trying to do dark + fluff but I'm not that good at it. So I started with something short, and not really a Feyd x Reader, since they are twins here. Only platonic, fraternal love here. Even if he's over protectitve and possessive.

It was known throughout all the Imperium that the Harkonnens were cruel beings.

Without pity, without heart.

This seemed even more certain when it came to the young Na Baron, Feyd Rautha Harkonnen, nephew of the Baron and his heir.

True, except with his twin sister.

Or rather dizygotic twin. A strangeness of nature, because if the boy resembled his father and all men born on Giedi Prime, Y/N had taken on the features of their mother and the inhabitants of Lankiveil.

This singularity alone could have been enough to disgust the Baron to the point of making him want to kill the child or leave her with her parents. There was also the fact that she was a girl, being inferior and uninteresting.

It was the older brother who had begged for her to be spared, because even though he wanted to impress his uncle and had no attachment to the rest of his family, he felt a certain sympathy towards his sister.

For this, he had often been punished by Feyd, but it was perhaps also what had saved his life.

Because if Glossus liked Y/N, Feyd adored her more than anything in the world.

As if she were a part of him, a vital, essential part. Extremely possessive, jealous to the point of obsession, he insisted that she be taken with him by the Baron, even though he did not see what to do with her.

“If she doesn’t come, I’m not coming either.”

A refusal was impossible. Vladimir Harkonnen needing a successor, and having clearly seen that only Feyd could be suitable, he couldn't say no.

Marrying her for political advantage was also unthinkable. The Na Baron scared away any suitors who might have been interested, and he would have killed the one their uncle chose for his twin.

There would have been the possibility of letting her choose, because maybe he would have agreed to let her go if she had asked him to. It was rare for him to refuse her something, and in fact people often went through her to communicate with Feyd without taking the risk of being mutilated.

Not right away anyway, because just talking, looking, or thinking about Y/N could be grounds for severe punishment. No one imagined what he would do if someone dared to touch her.

Of course, he was the only one not subject to this ban. The worst rumors ran in the dark corners of the Harkonnens' house, when it was known that the twins shared the same bed.

The Na Baron could have ripped out the tongues of everyone who said such horrors about his sister. They could think what they wanted about him, but not about her.

He also could have just said he didn't want her like that. He had never touched her as he touched his concubines, or any other woman.

Superior to all the others, Y/N did him the honor of letting him put his ear to her chest, rocking him to sleep, a calm and serene sleep. He only slept well with her, listening to her heart, which beat only for him, and thanks to him.

The few times he was alone with her, Glossus Rabban begged her to convince Feyd to be reasonable. It was quite hilarious that such a request was made by the one they called the Beast.

Probably it wasn't really him asking, even if you could see worry in his eyes, the eyes of an older brother.

He never left her, and at the same time Feyd was totally submissive to his twin. It was painful for him when she wanted something that went against what he deemed necessary.

This could have been a means of control. But threatening the young woman would have caused more problems than getting favors. She was untouchable no matter what.

For a time, there had also been the fear that she would use this advantage to torn her brother as she pleased. But if the rest of the family was cruel, Y/N seemed to be the heart of it, the only little beating heart, still a bit human.

It happened that she suffocated a little under her brother's protective love, but she had gotten used to it, perfectly understanding how it worked and knowing that he needed that to feel good.

Feyd didn't know how to be good, but he was doing his best. However, that didn't stop her from teasing him.

“Suppose I meet a charming, kind young nobleman who treats me well…”

“Why do you want to torture me like this, my sister ?” he sighed, snuggling against her. "It's been a long day. Lots of annoyances, stupid people. Don't make me think about these atrocities."

“Me, happily married, is that an atrocity ?”

"Yes."

“But what if I asked you to find me someone ?” Y/N said with a smile, rubbing his back tenderly.

"If there was someone who deserved you, then I would accept. But that's not the case. So you will stay with me, I will become emperor, and you will rule by my side."

"It's not very conventional. And bad for the future of our house."

"The witches will do what is necessary for this. I will take the hand of one of the Emperor's daughters to ensure my power, I will give her a son, then I will not see her again. Maybe I will even kill her, since she will no longer be useful."

"You're so mean. Would you be happy if people talked about me like that ?"

“I will kill anyone who dares.” he grunted, while purring under her hands.

When the Emperor ordered Arakkis to be given to the Atreides, Piter suggested an alliance, before moving on to assassination.

Not that he wanted the Atreides to live, but it was obvious that their deaths were even more desired by the Emperor because of their popularity, who would later seek to attack the Harkonnens because of their wealth.

"The Duke should have had a daughter, who would have married the Na Baron. Since he had a son, it would be possible for us to propose a marriage between him and…"

“Finish this sentence and lose your tongue.” Feyd hissed, never taking his eyes off him, his blade dancing between his fingers, ready to strike.

"I appreciate this proposal, but as you can see, this idea is not a good one. My dear nephew is right to oppose it. The Atreides do not deserve to be linked to any member of our family, nor to have any power over my Dune. We will take it back from them, then we will deal with the Emperor."

Politics had no interest for Y/N. She heard nothing of the plans of the Baron, the Bene Gesserit, or the Imperium. It didn't matter to her in the slightest.

She was only happy with her brother, and it was the same for him. An inseparable pair.

So there was a moment of hesitation when their uncle decided to entrust Arrakis to Feyd. An immense honor, which he had been waiting for for a long time, in addition to which would allow him to further secure his future as ruler of the galaxy.

But Dune was dangerous, so it was obvious that it wasn't a good idea for Y/N to accompany him.

None of them liked the idea, but for once the Na Baron couldn't deny that he shared his uncle's worries. No one would be stupid enough to hurt his sister if she was on Giedi Prime, but she was a target on Arrakis.

"I'll be back soon. Or you'll join me when we've eliminated the Fremen rebels."

"… I have a bad feeling. Stay."

"My sister. My sweet sister." he whispered, kissing her cheek. "You have nothing to fear. You know I am a well trained warrior."

"I don't doubt your abilities. I doubt that these savages are as honorable as you. Can you promise to come back to me ?"

“I have never broken my word, much less the word I give you. We will not be separated, Y/N.”

News of the Baron's death came first.

Then the commander announced to her with a small voice that Glossus had also succumbed.

He was silent for a moment, giving her time to process what he had just said, but Y/N already knew he wasn’t finished.

As she had predicted, young Paul Atreides had not fought by the rules. He should have lost, according to witnesses, but he played dirty, and he stabbed the Na Baron instead of accepting his defeat.

While demanding the hand of the emperor's daughter, he had ordered that a message be sent to the last of the Harkonnens, the only heiress. If she were smarter than the rest of her family, she would be willing to bow to him.

“What should I answer ?”

“Leave me.” Y/N only said without looking at him.

"But he's waiting for an answer… They're going…"

“Leave me.”

"Sorry, Baroness. Call me when you have made a decision."

There was no decision. No word. No Harkonnen bowed their head to an Atreides.

Refusing to be separated, and since he won't come back like he promised, Y/N decided to join her twin where he was. Even though he refused to admit it since they were children, he had never liked being alone in the dark, waiting for her to sneak in his room.

Her planet, her people, their fate didn't matter to her. In this moment, as cruel as the rest of her family, her heart was only for Feyd, and it had no reason to beat anymore.

[chaifootsteps]

just me or is the whole 'saying this is like fanfic is homophobia' framing kind of frustrating? like just to list out the tropes that have come up so far in HH/HB:

female character is written as an evil shrew who gets in the way of the m/m pairing

relationship that starts with rape/dubcon rewritten into true love (this one is probably more common in bad BL manga but I'm willing to bet there's some overlap)

character is the child of a mob family

portrayals of rape/sexual assault treated as titillating / used for drama

portrayals of domestic violence/abuse used mainly to get viewers to feel sorry for a character instead of making them sympathetic on their own terms

abusers/rapists being all powerful monsters solely to torture the victim as much as possible

characters are either Good or Bad and writing is heavy handed about driving this point home

writers has one character they stan and baby above all others and not only the writing but the world bends around them as they eat up more and more screentime while the actual main characters are shoved to the side

writer has one character they hate and they hate other people liking them so they derail them in the most obvious way possible

writer has one pairing they despise and go out of their way to make them seem familial to shame the fans who ship it

writer has intended pairings in mind but they just kinda happen regardless of how much work has been put in to give them real chemistry

the plotlines jump all over the place with no consideration given to the differing stakes each create or audience fatigue when too much is introduced at once/too many hanging threads are left, similar to what happens in unplanned serialized fiction. consistency and worldbuilding errors abound. conversations/events that seem like they should change the status quo kinda don't but there's so little way to tell which one is which that audiences cannot gauge the stakes and either stop being invested or just take the show as it comes since there's no point anticipating anything being done with a lot of its characters & plot points

too many characters, often some of whom don't serve much purpose but the writer is way too attached to to ever cut out (looking at you, Andrealphus & Vassago)

characters are rewritten on the fly. due to the lack of planning their arcs start and stop or get quietly dropped when the writer tires of them

pervasive attitude of misogyny - female characters are underwritten, bitches, dumb or accessories to the men. The world revolves around the (usually white) m/m pairing/s

the main premise is dropped in favor of shipping drama or character shilling

etc.

There's probably more but those are the big ones - like s1 wasn't perfect but s2 really does feel like it became fanfic of itself. I understand Viv being frustrated if it seems like a broad dismissive brush instead of specific critiques, but there's a couple of problems here:

when people give specific critiques she either misrepresents their points to frame them as bad faith (tacitly encouraging her fans to do the same), complains people keep making the same point or writes defensive threads about how people just don't get it because, for example, the show totally demonstrates Millie has qualities other than Wife and Violent

when people say something 'feels like fanfic' as far as I've seen they aren't immediately using it as shorthand for 'it has LGBT characters'. usually when they expand on their points what they're getting at is a lack of planning and a lack of experience or competency in the writer that gives the whole thing impression of being done by an amateur who's either young or still learning their craft, or both

it's the same lack of experienced hands that resulted in the opening of Hazbin being so amateurish and lacking the sense of having actual episodes until other staff writers were brought in to clean up the mess

like yeah I don't like the implication that 'fanfic=automatically bad' since I've read some good stuff myself and maybe people could be more specific; but usually this critique is coming from people who actually like fanfic, who've read a lot of it and who recognize the tropes from the worst fanfics out there in Viv's work

Viv's little "Um, actually, fanfic is good and queer and so if you use it as an insult towards my shows, you're homophobic" snit is one of the more rancid things she's said. When you lay it all out like this, it really does go to show how her stories embody all the worst, most harmful tropes bad fanfic -- and bad writing in general -- has to offer.

[brain--drop]

Could I request Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh, and Eddie Kaspbrak [separatly] with a significant other who buys them gifts all the time, and just basically wastes all their money on them.

Richie Tozier, Beverly Marsh and Eddie Kaspbrak with Gift Giving S/O

Richie:

The first time you give Richie a gift, he's pretty touched since he hardly gets anything out of the blue from someone other than his parents so he cherishes the first gift which was another Hawaiian shirt to add to his collection

The next couple times you give him more gifts, he gets pretty confused but still appreciates it. It takes you giving him about 10+ gifts in a month that he questions you about it, making a joke on how much in debt you're probably in

After you explain to him that you just love seeing him happy over the thoughtful presents (and that you are actually okay on money), he shakes his head and laughs at you thoughtfully

"Christ, looks like I'm gonna have to put that wallet of yours behind bars! At least give me a chance to return the favor!"

Beverly:

When Beverly sees the necklace that was hidden in its small gift box, she immediately tries to hand it back to you saying that she can't accept it, but you reassure her that you want her to keep it and put it on her before she can decline the gift again

She doesn't say it, but the more gifts you give her, the more flustered she gets from the pampered affection. In fact, she can't find the heart to tell you to slow down on them

Really, it gets to the point of her not finding much room to keep the gifts in that she gets you to slow down and even starts giving gifts back to you the further you are in your relationship

"Damn, you beat me to it! I also had a gift for you! Let me go get it then we can rock, paper, scissors on who opens theirs first, okay?"

Eddie:

With the first ever gift you give him, he looks at it with genuine but gleeful shock since wow, you really though of him enough to gift him something which was a nice little keychain that he could attach to his backpack or fanny pack

Each time you give him a gift from then on, the shock doesn't go away and the smile on his face shows you each time that he appreciates it, but he does get a bit concerned on the amount of gifts you throw his way after a while

When he asks you why you give him endless presents and hears your reply that you just like seeing him happy, he laughs and playfully rolls his eyes at you

"You bet that I'm gonna start giving you gifts back because I'll start feeling spoiled! ...By the way, we should really get a bookshelf for these gifts, I think I'm running out of space."

[angrycloudloud]

My dear half bloods, I have a theory...

Hi, there's something that's been bugging me since the other day, when I watched the fifth episode of pjo...

Spoilers from here (and a bit of mythology)

When Ares said that he didn't like his children... Okay, I know, I know the gods in this series aren't known for paying child support, but... I think Ares case could be more heartbroken than what we can think at first.

I want to start giving a bit of context in WHY I think there's something really sad behind his words and acts. First, let's talk a bit about mythology...

Ares cares about his children... In his own way.

I'll put a couple of quick examples (just mention something and move back to my point). Ares in Greek mythology it's known for many things and one that I found interesting was that he march in battle with his sons by his side: Phobos and Deimos (fun fact 1 these two are the personification of Panic and Fear, fun fact 2 they are also sons of Aphrodite... Fun fact 3, yes, they are the little "demons" that were the minions of Hades in the Disney movie.) Ares is also known for what happened to his daughter Alcippe, who was 🍇 by a son of Poseidon and Ares didn't took it too well... So he send that son of Poseidon to visit Hades... He unsubscribed that man from the world of the living with his spear... Ares was judged acussed by Poseidon of murder, but the goddesses voted in favor of Ares. (anyway, I invite anyone who is interested in ancient Greek mythology and culture to look up and read about women's rights in Sparta vs Athens, you might be surprised) Now, my point is that he might say that he doesn't like his kids but...

...I mean... he gave Clarisse the spear because he recognized her value as a warrior. It may sound stupid, but I think it was his way of saying that he was proud of her (and maybe he said that to her when he gave the spear to Clarisse, we don't know). What, it's clear, is the fact that she cherished that spear as if he really put all his love in it and said to her "this is my weapon, make me proud"

But why and how does he goes from "I fight with my children by my side in battle" and "don't you f*cking touch my daughter" to "I hate children, even my own"?

And here's when it gets sad, I think he has lose so many of his children in battle, dying too young, that he distance himself from them on purpose to not get too attached.

We've seen, pretty well portrayed in the show, how Ares children are more reckless in battle than Athena's (it's an example because they both are deities of war) so it's more than possible that if those children are in a quest or a battle, they decide to go face to face with the big baddie just to make Ares proud or to prove themselves they are strong enough to be warriors, children of Ares... And if they survived and get older, they are the most likely to end up joining the army... aaand that exposes them to die in battle even when the monsters aren't a problem anymore.

And that's why, I think, Ares had try to detached himself from his children, because he knows demigods don't live long and even if they got to be adults, he knows his children, and probably he knows they'll become soldiers to feel the battle and feel him closer even when they already have earned a peaceful life.

And that is why I think it's sad, because he probably is so proud of them...but also, he is probably so worried about them, that he had to decide if letting himself be vulnerable and care openly for his children or bottle up all his father instincts and detach himself from his children so nobody can weaponize them against him.

Aaaaaand now I'm sad...

[mahs-dumpster]

"Happy 100th Anniversary."

a/n: this was SO FUN. But also. Floyd was incredibly hard to write. I hated every second of it. So it was fun but also not? Anyway. Also no oc x canon content can you believe this?? I didn't mention Kalim ONCE this feels wrong man

cw: maybe OOC Floyd but I did my best! Poor attempts at making this look like a translation post from a vignette

Template for the frames can be found here

Words: around 900

Jeanne: Ah… this place is gigantic, I feel like I'm never reaching the end of it. 

Jeanne: and I’ve yet to see any pictures of the– oh!

Jeanne: there it is! I’ve been looking all over for this one! 

Jeanne: it’s just as incredible as I’d imagine… 

???: Geez Codfishie, I didn't take you as the type to like art.

Jeanne: …and there's only one person in NRC who’d call me by such an irritating nickname.

Jeanne: Floyd. Do me a favor: stop with that habit. Either choose another nickname or just call me by my actual name, is that too much to ask?

Floyd: Who’s this guy? He has a funny looking face.

Floyd: Oh, look, he’s even got a hook just like you!

Jeanne: And now you’re ignoring me. *Sigh* That’s a pirate i’ve admired ever since I was young.

Jeanne: He’s been fighting a fae kid for ages, wanting revenge from the day he made him lose his hand. That’s why he uses a hook.

Jeanne: I know him because my dad used to tell me stories of this pirate, if I made a good job helping him out in his business he’d even give me a children’s book talking about him.

Jeanne: After I lost my hand, I’ve grown attached to his story. I related to his sense of justice, of wanting to make that kid pay for what he did.

Floyd: You never really told me how ya lost your hand, not that I care.

Floyd: But most importantly…

Floyd: A KID? SERIOUSLY?

Jeanne: H-hey! I said the little bastard was a fae!! He was probably years older than he looked!! 

Floyd: Right, right. Codfishie, I had no idea you admired such a loser! Losing his hand to a kid? What is he, an idiot?

Jeanne: Don’t speak that way about my childhood hero!! I’ll cut your throat open with my own hook if you keep that up!

Floyd: Oh? Codfishie wants to fight? Come at me!

Jeanne: You..! Ugh, whatever. When we go back to Octavinelle we will, just so I can make you swallow your words, dumbass.

Floyd: But that’s no fun…

Jeanne: Don’t look at me like that. If Azul catches us fighting in the museum it’s over for me and you so get over it.

Jeanne: I’l beat your ass soon enough.

Floyd: Oh, look at this one. The lighting is pretty intense, I like it.

Jeanne: It looks very pretty, yeah. Isn’t that the mermaid princess from the legends? Who’s the old geezer?

Floyd: I think it’s her father. This is probably depicting when he broke all her stuff.

Floyd: I think she was pretty dumb to go into a deal without knowing the consequences, but i guess she was desperate to leave after this. Doesn’t change the fact that she’s super stupid for that.

Jeanne: No, I get that. Desperate times call for deperate measures.

Floyd: That’s very uncharacteristic of you. You pity her or something?

Jeanne: I don’t, ok? But I was in a similar situation so I understand the thought process.

Floyd: Hm? You were? Why’d you let them detroy your stuff? Ya should've just squeezed them instead.

Jeanne: It was a punishment. I did something an authority figure didn’t like and they destroyed my toys in return.

Jeanne: I’m over it at this point, it’s been years since that happened. But I understand that, wanting to escape that situation. It’s hard to have a father like that.

Floyd: So it was your father?

Jeanne: …

Jeanne: Hey, look! It’s a painting of that warrior who saved her country!

Floyd: Where??

Jeanne: I’m so glad he has a short attention spam…

Floyd: This looks kinda cool. I like how the blade goes right in the middle.

Jeanne: Right? She looks so cool!

Floyd: You’re awfully excited for this one. You a fan of her too?

Jeanne: Hm… I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but she's super awesome, don't ya think?

Jeanne: She pretended to be a man to fight in the army in place of her father. Just the fact that she managed to make people believe she's a guy is incredible, and for so long too.

Floyd: That's not really hard for you.

Jeanne: Did you decide to wake up today and irritate me or something? 

Floyd: She also defeated that dude who tried to invade her country too, huh? Pretty bold. Who would’ve thought such a small thing like her could do all that.

Jeanne: That's because she's got something you men don't have: a brain.

Floyd: Hey now.

Jeanne: In comparison to men, us women have a biological disadvantage. Well, at least with actual humans, beastmen are a totally different story.

Jeanne: In terms of strength, she’d never defeat him, but in terms of wit… unfortunately for him she's incredibly smart.

Floyd: Stop, you're sounding like Azul now.

Jeanne: It’s the truth, physical strength isn't everything. At least one thing Azul got right.

Floyd: Ah, that sucks. Codfishie got boring all of a sudden.

Floyd: I’m leaving. 

Jeanne: Already? You get over stuff to quickly.

Jeanne: Don't lose yourself in the museum.

Jeanne: Ah, another painting of the pirate captain! And he’s fighting that kid too…

Floyd: Piss off.

Jeanne: he should’ve thought twice before he messed with a pirate. I'm sure he’s gonna make that brat pay for ever crossing his path.

[antianakin]

So I've seen a few arguments that Jedi could have relationships with planetary leaders/Senators so long as they're not letting themselves get attached and all parties are aware that the Jedi is going to have to place their duties before their personal relationship. And while I understand the appeal of putting Jedi with characters who can understand the responsibility and duty aspect of their lives, I'm not ENTIRELY certain that this is inline with what we know about the Jedi and their philosophies and values. While there's no rule FORBIDDING those kinds of relationships, I think there'd be a few reasons why the Order would probably heavily discourage them.

The first is straight-up just favoritism or the appearance of it. The Jedi are supposed to be serving, if not the entire galaxy, then at least the whole Republic. This is a major reason why they've chosen to be beholden to the Senate and the Chancellor as a sort-of symbiotic relationship based on a hell of a lot of trust. While FRIENDSHIPS with Senators and planetary leaders is totally fine and probably even encouraged to some degree, romantic or sexual relationships start adding extra levels of expectation and obligation that could end up being a problem.

As an example of this, we see in season 1 that when Padme discovers the Blue Shadow Virus becoming an issue on Naboo, she straight up LIES to the Queen and the Jedi Council in order to specifically get Anakin there by insisting that the Gungans revere Obi-Wan as a hero due to the events of Phantom Menace and so it would make things easier of Obi-Wan were there, knowing that it will mean Anakin comes along as well presumably. However, Obi-Wan is then never asked to speak to the Gungans at any point within the entire two episode arc once he does arrive, nor does speaking to Gungans even ever seem necessary. Padme straight-up takes advantage of the Jedi Order itself just so she can force a situation where she gets to see her secret Jedi husband again. This means the Jedi are now playing unintentional favorites, something they would theoretically try very hard NOT TO DO.

Obi-Wan having friendly relations with multiple planetary leaders obviously DOES come in handy more than once, but Anakin's secret romantic relationship with Padme is something that causes the Jedi themselves to be taken advantage of in a way that could've come back to bite them in the ass later if things had gone differently.

I used to sort-of scoff at the season 3 episode where Padme and Satine meet up on Mandalore and it's PADME who says she has sway with the Jedi Council and can therefore ask them to send a Jedi to Mandalore to provide advice or something, despite the fact that Satine is close personal friends with Obi-Wan. However, if Satine is choosing NOT to call upon Obi-Wan and their personal relationship in order to ask for a personal favor as a planetary leader, this falls in line quite nicely with the way they seem to be handling their relationship in general. As a Republic Senator, Padme can presumably go through more official channels to ask for this favor on Satine's behalf in a way Satine, currently, cannot. The ONLY time we see Satine make use of this connection with Obi-Wan is when her government is being literally overthrown and her life is in danger, so the stakes are a lot higher. Satine waits until there's quite literally no other option for her before she pulls on her relationship with Obi-Wan, and she ASKS for help from Obi-Wan and the Jedi. Padme on the other hand seems to have very little hesitation about leveraging her personal relationships with the Jedi and lying to the Jedi in order to ensure their help comes to her planet. Satine is choosing to be RESPECTFUL in a way I didn't quite recognize before.

The second aspect of this is political agendas. It flows into the first one, obviously, they're connected. The favoritism issue stems from politicians having their own personal political agendas. Obi-Wan even states this outright in Attack of the Clones pretty early on when he's coming up against Anakin's feelings for Padme starting to blind Anakin to most everything else. He reminds Anakin that as much as they might LIKE Padme, as kind and selfless as Padme seems and can be, she is also a career politician which means she has political agendas by definition. It's literally part of the job. Padme is beholden to her people and her Queen and what they expect and ask of her as a Senator.

They can't trust that Padme will not attempt to use the Jedi to push her own agenda. They can't assume that Padme would set aside her agendas just because she's friends with them. They can't assume that their relationship to Padme would be her priority. It's her job to prioritize her people, her system. And it's a GOOD thing that she does so, that's the whole point of having a Senator. But this does mean that Padme's personal political agenda may not always line up that nicely with the Jedi's job of serving EVERYONE equally.

We see a good example of this relationship and the Jedi pushing back against it in the season 1 episode with Riyo Chuchi. Riyo attempts to order Obi-Wan into basically doing Riyo's job for her. Obi-Wan, however, says no. He argues that him stepping in at this point is no longer going to truly fix the problem, and convinces Riyo to do her job and speak for herself. Riyo wants to help her people, doesn't trust herself to do it well, and so tries to ask Obi-Wan to do it for her and won't listen when Obi-Wan tries to protest that that plan won't work anymore. She attempts to order Obi-Wan around specifically because he's a Jedi and she's a Senator. And Riyo's not even in a relationship of any kind with Obi-Wan really, they're barely even friendly acquaintances at this point.

Padme is required to push her political agenda in whatever way she thinks is best. As a Jedi, Anakin is supposed to treat everyone in the Republic (and ideally everyone in the galaxy) equally. Which means he CANNOT prioritize Padme OR her agenda, and he cannot trust that Padme is not at some point going to ask or expect him to do exactly that if they're in a relationship.

I don't think the Jedi discourage relationships of any kind, and are actually generally fine with their members having romantic relationships (and obviously have sex as per Word of God) so long as they put their duties as Jedi first and don't become attached. But that being said, I think they would GREATLY discourage relationships with planetary leaders and Senators, which is why we see Obi-Wan explicitly telling Anakin that while his FEELINGS for Padme aren't really an issue, he does need to keep that relationship strictly "friends." Obviously everyone sort-of knows Anakin's doing it anyway, three members of the Council are entirely aware of it existing and do exactly nothing about it, so it's clearly not explicitly forbidden or against the Code on its own, but I don't think any of them are particularly happy about Anakin's choice there given how dangerous it has the potential to be politically, and they're probably hoping at some point he'll be smart enough to end it.

[presidenthades]

I think you've mentioned before is we really don't know how Rhaenrya would act if Daemon and her actually had a son/ Alyssa was an Aegon by either keeping Jace as heir/disinheriting her unless we get her pov. But daemon seemed to think his son would become heir, only with Jace as his wife despite the age difference if I'm remembering correctly from the handbook, or at least a situation similar to that. In this situation at least I'm pretty sure Rhaenrya would probably run into problems with her own succession if she did disinherit Jace because even if she did say "im heir because my father chose me" and that's not even mentioning how the Velaryons might react or Jace who probably doesn't want to marry her brother whose twelve years younger than her. So I would imagine the green and the blacks tension start floating again, Jace is probably still dutiful and no eloping occurs in this timeline so she's stuck in a an engagement she doesn't want and her inheritance taken from her. So do you think in this scenario Aegon says fuck it I'm becoming king so I can take Jace as my queen and give her rightful position not tied to her younger half brother, and actually makes strides to becoming a half decent ruler. Because to him he's seems Jace tear herself apart since she was seven to become the perfect heiress and suddenly his sister has a son with and uncle he hates and the power and position is rightfully Jace's is torn away and she would become merely a consort, probably an influential one like Alysanne but still a consort at the end of the day. While becoming king means Jace would probably still end up in that postion, it's okay to him because he loves her and he believes he could give her the power she rightfully deserves and she would be married to him at the end of the day. Though I suppose all of this probably means that the golds faction probably ends up forming at the end of the day again because Aegon is unwilling to be his grandfather's puppet and otto after seeing Jcae being disinherited in favor of her brother probably went back to plan B and wants to marry Aegon and Helaena again. Meanwhile Jace is probably torn in between doing her duty and at the end of the day, the resentment she might feel stirring at being passed over. ( and whose to say that viserra being born or visenya even won't become a better option as a bride for and Aegon the younger and she would end up with nothing in the end because she's not even the heir to driftmark.)

At least that's how I imagine a scenario like that might play out because as you've mentioned and showed that at the end of the day what Aegon ultimately wants is Jace and what is best for Jace. And if that means he has to usurp his older sister if that is the only way for him to have Jace then so be it.

You captured Daemon’s thought process in the Handbook pretty accurately. You’re right that Rhaenyra might not be completely aligned with him. In The Golds, Rhaenyra admits she would’ve made a son with Laenor her heir over Jace, but a son with Daemon wouldn’t come with as much Velaryon support. She would be conflicted.

But the kids start plotting the elopement before Alyssa/Aegon III is born. Jace gets fed up with Rhaenyra as early as the Daemyra elopement, because she feels like she has to do her duty while Rhaenyra does what she wants. If Rhaenyra can marry the man she wants, why can’t Jace do the same?

So the timeline is something like Lil Aegon is born, Jace elopes with Aegon soon after, then they all go before Viserys to sort it out. That might be where things change. At this point, Daemon has only known Jace for about 9 months, and she’s been away at Driftmark for 6 of those months. He likes Jace, but he’s not as attached to her as he is later in the Handbook. If he has a son with Rhaenyra, he might push for her to name Lil Aegon her new heir rather than keep Jace, who is now married to a grandson of Otto Hightower.

So there could be some drama where Jace is disinherited ostensibly for marrying Aegon. If she’s disinherited, then she probably stays with him and the Greens in KL rather than go home and wait for three years. Jace definitely has a lot of bitter feelings toward her mother and Daemon about this, and the Greens have renewed incentive to plot to put Aegon on the throne. And Aegon might go along with it if it’s the only way Jace gets to be queen. 🧐

[blue-rose-soul]

A crackish idea had formed into my head. What if Nicaise was Roo in disguise? Meaning Roo is Alastor's mother!?

Give that joke Lucifer made while fighting Adam another perspective, right.

I won't lie and say I haven't ever thought about Roo being Alastor's mother in some form, but at this point I'm very much attached to my image of Alastor's mother, I'm a little hesitant to effectively replace her with Roo. And I also don't want to remove either her or Alastor's Creole heritage. I think if I were to have Roo somehow be Nicaise, it would either be a case of possession, like some theorize is the case between Roo and Eve*, or Roo would have sealed away her own memories and powers as the Root of All Evil, transformed herself into a human child who grew up on Earth raised by a family in south Louisiana, and Nicaise would still be her own identity separate from Roo despite sharing a body. Exact reason, there's one idea I've been chewing on.

A pet theory of mine is that Roo herself started the supposed Satanic cannibal cults on Earth and that over several generations her followers forgot about her as a unique entity and started directing their worship of her towards Satan instead. So perhaps she could have decided to incarnate herself in human form to integrate herself in one of these cults and redirect them towards the right path, or to start anew with a brand new cult. But something went wrong and she ended up growing up as a more or less normal Creole woman.

The main thing I dislike about this idea though is that it makes Lucifer just happening to run into an amnesiac Root of all Evil on his one and only vacay to Earth a hell of a coincidence. I feel like I need to give them a much stronger reason to have found one another.

(*I should also probably point out that I'm not really sold on the theory that Roo and Eve are the same person. I've seen the posts, I've read the arguments in its favor, but none of the things I've seen pointed to as evidence seem all that compelling to me, to be honest.)

[usmsgutterson]

idk if the prompt lists in your pinned still apply to requests or how specific you want prompts/reqs to be but I love the "I hate everyone but you" dynamic, can I request alina x reader where the reader is kind of snarky and cynical but opens up to alina? (kind of also black cat/golden retriever vibes if that makes sense)

Work of Art- Alina Starkov x gn! reader

Hi anon! Thank you so much for sending this in--I love writing for Alina but never get any ideas for fics so this was definitely a treat for me.

For the record, the prompt lists pinned to my profile apply all year round! They don't need to be super specific or anything like that, so you're good!

Fic type- fluff!!

Warnings- mentions of the war, alina is probably ooc

Alina first hears about you during her time in the Spinning Wheel. She hears about you from Mal, who advises that she stay away from you and proclaims the despise he feels for you from day one.

A couple of days pass and Genya reaffirms as much--you're quiet, aloof. She tells Alina about your tendencies towards snarkiness and cynicism, and again says that you might not be worth Alinas time.

She listens to Genya and Mals warnings, but every time you see each other, even in passing, she can't help but notice you.

Sometimes, in that first little while, she feels like she's walking into a museum every time she enters a room with you it. She feels like there are dozens of other people to talk to, dozens upon dozens of other paintings to admire, but you are the only work of art she ever wants to witness.

She takes a shine to walks whenever she doesn't have to do anything--an excuse, she knows, to familiarize herself with the layout and pay Baghra a visit, but still. Walks were good because they gave her time to think, except for when she zoned out and thinking almost went out the window in the monotony of it.

So, that's how she finds herself startled when she realizes that its you she's looking at as she stands on a snowy balcony somewhere outside the dining hall.

She steps toward the railing, notices that you're holding a mug of tea while you lean against it and watch the snow fall.

"Alina?" You asked. "Have I finally been graced with the presence of the honorable sun summoner?"

"You have indeed," she said. "And she's a thirsty sun summoner who might find herself willing to steal a sip of your tea."

"It's gone cold," you said.

Alina shrugged, taking the mug from your hands. "Cold tea is still good."

"I've never been much of a tea person, so I guess you have a point," you offered her a grin, and Alina found herself reflecting on the person you'd been described as by her peers.

To everyone else, you were stoic. You were snarky and cynical and it seemed like you hated everyone you came across.

To Alina, she'd stepped into the museum and was looking at a piece of art that had been defined all wrong by everyone else.

"You fancy coffee better?" She asked. "I'm sure we've got some somewhere--I'll pull a couple of strings."

"You don't need to do that," you said. "Thank you for offering, but you don't. I don't hate the taste of cinnamon tea--it's good with rum, which we seem to have in somewhat of a surplus here."

Alina shrugged. "I'm going to try, at least. With Nikolai, there's no guarantee. Coffee will also help the troops stay awake when the jurda runs out."

You laughed. Genuinely, truly, laughed. Alina felt her heart set itself alight, ready to be carried away from her body at any given moment.

"You really don't need to do that for me," you said. "I can't return the favor and you doing that for me would feel like a debt in need of repayment. I don't like owing people very much."

Alina only shrugged, knowing full well she planned to do it anyway, have Nikolai claim a caffeine dependency and thus remove herself from the equation, remove the obligations you would've felt attached to every sip.

Alina took another sip of your tea, and the two of you settled into silence. It was, however, a contented silence, and one that Alina didn't find herself disdainful for.

-

A few weeks passed. You let Alina in, opening up to her bit by bit, and by the time you were back in the Little Palace, seeing you without Alina at your side or Alina without you at hers was a rare occurrence.

Mal had slowly begun to find you tolerable, but still gave an incredulous huff every time he saw you together, you with a mug of coffee tucked into one hand, the other having been tucked into Alinas the moment she found you in the library and whisked you back to the real world, where meetings and responsibilities and a war in need of fighting awaited you both.

"Night and day," he would say with a laugh. "Night and fucking day. Morning to you both."

"Morning," Alina would say, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as you rested it against her shoulder, still tired from meetings that'd lasted well into the previous night and the lack of sleep they caused.

"Oretsev," you would greet with a nod. He'd nod back at you, and Alina would press another kiss to the top of your head, and then the three of you would proceed to whatever meeting you had to attend.

Genya would offer you a smile and you'd smile in return as you and Alina took your seats at the meeting table.

She'd developed the habit of watching you and Alina when she grew a tad bored in the meetings, keeping her ears open to register the words, but observing how the two of you interacted because the pairing mystified her to what sometimes felt like no end.

You watched Alina like she was the most interesting thing in the room. You looked at her like she was the calm of the storm and you'd been standing in the eyewall for days on end. Genya had doubted it somewhat, and though the love you felt had come up within only a matter of months, it was clear as day to her that it was genuine.

And then Alina would look at you and Genya would feel any of the coldness in her heart melt away.

Alina Starkov looked at you like you were the best thing that could've happened to her.

She looked at you like you were the earth around which she, the moon, revolved, like you were the very reason for the existence of the universe, like losing you would result in her losing herself. Alina Starkov loved you wholly and well and truly, and that was clear as day to anyone with eyes.

Genya noticed it constantly, however, because Alina had become one of her best friends. In the time since their friendship had begun, Genya had seen various looks of love and adoration on Alinas face--the excitement whenever Genya brought by pastries or sweet rolls, the joy she felt when she stepped outside and found herself directly under the glow of the sun.

Genya noticed, however, that the look Alina gave you was all of that combined. It was complete and utter adoration, and while Genya had not known you nearly as long as she'd known Alina, she liked to think that a look of complete and utter adoration, a look of unwaivering loyalty and love and sheer happiness all rolled into one, was easy to spot. In your case, it was.

No matter how cynical you were, you loved Alina Starkov. Even if you felt hatred for everyone else, you loved her.

In Genya Safins books, that made you the best person she'd ever met.

[enkisstories]

John: "Daniel? Do whatever, it's no longer my place to tell you. But first help me bury Zoe, please."

Daniel: "Sure thing! Manipulating the material world isn't easy, though. Even if we dug a hole right here without carrying Zoe to a more dignified spot first, we'd soon be spent."

John: "Right here is inacceptable for a Phillips! But didn't you make friends among the living after your death? Can you maybe call one of those?"

Daniel: "I wouldn't exactly call them friends. I know an android who owes me a favor, and then there's that detective... No, forget about that one. Sophie is probably our best bet in this."

Sophie left the Reed apartment under the pretense of disposing of hazardous waste that she needed to bring to the landfill in person. She arrived quickly.

John: "So, uh, Sophie, is it? A common name and a common android model, but the combination maybe isn't so common. I had a Sophie AX400, that I sold to a college friend of my wife's. One Kevin, don't remember his surname. You wouldn't know anything about her...?"

Sophie: "Mr. Phillips? I don't know what to say, other than this: Your first android is lying on the trash here, the second one you sold to a rat of a human so that you could buy that damn PL600. But now that one is a ghost already, too. Do you really think this Sophie of yours would like to socialize with YOU after all of this?"

John: "Third! Sophie was my third android. Between Zoe and her there was another. An MP500."

Sophie: "My point stands."

Daniel: "So this is my family. My oldest sibling wants us to destroy their body so that they can move on and my sister doesn't even want to talk to you. I wonder what it says about ME, that I'm still so attached to you. - What was my brother like?"

John: "He was the very best."

Daniel: "Oh, sure, say that to my face in the comfortable awareness that I cannot kill you a second time! You... utter..."

John: "And you are the most like me."

Daniel: "...bastard!"

---

Note: Looking back at the various Phillips family saves I played I'd say Daneel and Sophie are most like John, whereas Zoe and Emma take after Caroline. Sylvia has a little of both parents and Daniel takes rather after his other father/predecessor model Paul O'Malley/Paul PL500 (who never appeared on the blog, I think).

[skaruresonic]

"Shadow isn't always an aggro douchebag, look at all these times where he was slightly chill for three seconds in a row! Sure there are just as many if not more examples of Shadow being a raging knob, but I personally do not like those instances and therefore I am going to say they were bad writing and ignore them in favor of the reading of his character that personally appeals to me more!"

What is it about Shadow that makes people be trippin so much? lol

How hard is it for people to just wrap their heads around the idea that Shadows chemistry is different with everybody? He has a MUTUAL competitive relationship with Sonic BECAUSE they have just as much in common as they have differences. Rouge is probably the most trustworthy person in Shadows life currently but it's more like they're co-workers than friends. Amy seems to be able to tug on his heartstrings and get him to do whatever she wants with her earnest personality even while he acts all tsundere about it. Ect.

The way Shadow is isn't mutually exclusive, but folks seem to want to just disregard interactions they don't like because they're different from interactions he has at other times under different circumstances. If your view of Shadow requires trimming fat and going "yeah well that time he was being 'OOC' so I just ignore it" then maybe your view of Shadow isn't accurate.

>>me @ me: the damage is done. you've said your piece. do not drop the Even Spicier Take(tm)

>>me: instructions unclear, failed step one

Tbh, I didn't want to say this because quite frankly, I didn't know how to word it in a way that wouldn't come across as though I was passing judgment since that's not my intention. But… ever since Shadow dropped that "go help your teammates" line in Sonic Forces Overclocked, this general notion has percolated in the back of my mind...

...Well. I think this idea of Shadow as modern fandom conceives him is... made up. And that's the lightest way I can put it.

Over time, I've come to suspect that fandom's constructed this mental image of Shadow as a noble protector archetype, soft-spoken and who always strives to fulfill his duty, and they've become quite attached to it to the point of rejecting other aspects of his character… like the pettiness and the bullheadedness.

It's possible the reason for the backlash against Sega's current portrayal is because the image doesn't match reality. His canonical pettiness chafes against the grain of who he "should" be. I'm not sure how well I'm explaining myself, but I hope the sentiment is received in the spirit in which it's intended.

That's not to say the archetype or the better parts of his personality are necessarily wrong in every circumstance (mandatory disclaimer that I am speaking in generalities and am not personally knocking your fic), but rather, insisting that noble side is all he is and lumping the less palatable traits under that umbrella paints an incomplete picture of his character. Although nobility and pragmatism do inform important parts of his character, they aren't his only traits.

It's like if people took umbrage with Sonic saying "I have no master except the wind that blows free." What, precisely, is there to take umbrage with? If part of the character's personality rubs you the wrong way, that doesn't necessarily have to indicate OOCness, especially when the character is supposed to be an anti-hero.

I have no legit idea what folks even mean by "Vegeta!Shadow" anymore because, for one thing, never watched DBZ, and for another, he gets slapped with the label regardless of his behavior. I can't isolate the offending variable because there doesn't seem to be one, aside from "Sega sucks." Forces!Shadow is relatively chill but still Vegeta!Shadow because Reasons. Flynn fucks up issue 19 so therefore his portrayal is evidence that Sega wants Vegeta!Shadow, because that's how logic works I guess. Shadow goes on vtube and his rivalry with Sonic gets acknowledged? Vegeta!Shadow. Like, is there no sense of scale or degree with which people apply the label? These are three different portrayals. I don't understand.

Obviously I don't want to be all "you must have a high IQ to understand Shadu Le Hedgehog(tm)" because that's very not much the message I want to convey. Lol and lmao I would be so far up my own ass if I did.

But it is interesting how discussing him specifically results in particular problems of communication. The issues with discussing Shadow appear to be that A.) folks tend to think your personal opinions and gripes are indicative of those of all Shadow fans AKA the SA2 fan problem, and B.) you're always going to miss some nuance that someone else is going to point out, and sometimes you have to decide to take the L for the sake of conserving energy.

I've written about his character at length, sometimes embarrassingly so (he rotates in my brain like a TV dinner. hehe Shadow go brrrr). And I think anyone who follows me at this point knows my attitude on Shadow is always changing in subtle ways, because there are as many ways of looking at him as there are facets of his character.

On the other hand… I get that people flanderize him, and his multiplicity can be difficult to capture in the limited space a post can permit. But also, there are times where I'm tired and can't English(tm) and I just don't feel like including footnotes every time I'm like "hehe Shadow's kind of an asshole <3," you know what I mean? It should go without saying that Shadow's character allows enough berth that "hehe Shadow's kind of an asshole <3" does not inherently preclude those moments where he's not-an-asshole. Or less-of-an-asshole. Whichever. You know what I mean.

Despite being frustrated with fanon, I'm not trying to pass indictment and say This Is How Shadow Ought To Be Characterized Forever. Rather, I'm just expressing frustration at how fandom continuously refuses to accept the most baseline traits, like (checks notes) "annoyed by Sonic sometimes."

Like it or not, he does have some rough edges. It wouldn't be fair to sand down the bad boy side of Sonic, and indeed some subsects of fandom complain about its erasure. So why is it okay to do to Shadow?

[catchyhuh]

LOVE YOUR HEADCANONS SO MUCH YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT ALL OF THEM. very curious, what do you think each of their favorite flowers are? thank you, have a nice day 👍

if there’s one thing i like more than talking for hours on end only semi-comprehensibly, it’s being right about the bullshit i'm talking about! so thank you!! i did no research for this whatsoever! i’ve never actually thought about this before, so i just thought about basic flowers i knew, checked my animal crossing shit, and this is what we have now!

lupin: insists it’s some grandiose shit like some highly symbolic rare orchid or chocolate cosmos but really he just likes forget-me-nots. they’re cute, and he usually favors such intense colors that their soft blue is really eye catching just by NOT being eye catching, if that makes sense. that said he’s kind of a sap about flowers in general. knows flower language and shit, but men rarely receive flowers, so when he gets them he doesn’t give a shit what they are, he’s just happy to have them. the meaning could be “i’m going to fucking kill you” and he’d be like “oh wow, what a lovely shade of yellow!! jigen clear off the windowsill by the counter these need a special sunny spot”

jigen: not a flower per se but i think people put it in bouquets so. rex begonias (disclaimer i did have to do a little research here because i could not for the life of me understand why the fucked up leaves weren’t popping up for me when i was JUST searching for begonias) because these things look prickly and even scary at a glance but when put next to the right stuff they just enhance the whole ordeal. plus he likes unconventional shit. symbolic cough

fujiko: tells people its roses to seem uncomplicated, really prefers dahlias. the poof is nice. honestly, she probably is sick of roses by this point in her life, and any other type of flower seems sweeter and more genuine, and honestly, just better to smell and look at. roses have so much associated with them, both in general romance and not to mention the whole different colors mean different things and she hates having to overthink receiving a pretty gift. so just… do anything else! but really, if you really wanted to make her smile, some fluffy pink dahlias would do the trick

goemon: if you asked, i don’t think he’d say he didn’t have an opinion, but he’d really have to think about it, and almost struggles trying to find an answer because he’s WAY overthinking this. i think he likes lilies. you know? he seems like a lily guy. specifically water lilies, just kinda floating along the river. they’re pretty! and despite what he says about the sanctity of training or whatever, it’s nice to have something pretty to look at, just slowly swaying against the water.

zenigata: honeysuckles :) the color sticks out, and it’s such an easy but memorable name that he can actually REMEMBER what they’re called. maybe some of them like. grew by his house when he was a kid or something. some personal attachment. cuz you know you can sip the nectar out of those and honestly it’s NOT bad honestly. it’s not something he’s constantly thinking about, or even thinks about every month. but when he passes some hes like oh! honeysuckles! that’s nice

[lonepower]

oh I did NOT expect this many new followers from my silly dog post, holy cow! hello!

I told Tater Tot she's very popular on Tumblr and she sneezed on my face. I'm not sure what that means but probably "thank you" or "treats?"

A couple people mentioned Brittany spaniel and I thought that too when I first saw her, esp. from the markings, but now I don't think so. Her mom was definitely an Aussie so that part at least is certain, but her quietly observant & attached behavior, her floofy drop tail, and the slope of her back all say "livestock guardian" to me. We have a feral cat who comes by every day and is not sold on the new addition, but Tater Tot doesn't show any interest in going after her the way a herding dog or gundog would. She's also big (~50lbs), bigger than our last Aussie!

She actually loves hugs which is unusual for a lot of dogs, so everyone who asked me to give her a hug has been obliged (and now I am covered in giant white hairs - another point in favor of Pyrenees) (◡⌣◡) 

We probably would have named her something else, but she came with "Tater Tot" and it fits her so perfectly (plus she already answers to it) that we're keeping it. Her littermates were Pancake and Hash Brown.

Not dog related but @ the 5 teenagers among you: Hello! You are perfectly welcome, my blog is strictly PG-13 - I will post the occasional pinup/artistic nudity (such as what you'd see in any art history class)/suggestive content, but it's always tagged, and I never reblog anything explicit. I also try to keep politics, discourse, and heavy topics off as much as possible. That being said: I SHOULD NOT KNOW HOW OLD YOU ARE. I can say I'm a safe adult and absolutely mean it, but you have no way of verifying that! Go take your ages out of your bios! Always lie to strangers online! Be safe out there, kids! 

To the one person who said my dog was "gross", idk, that sounds like a you problem. 

To everyone else: thank you so so much for your kind words!!! she's a very good dog and she will definitely be very well loved here (:

[weavercobra]

The Burden of Divinity

This story follows up events that happened in one of our games. And if you're familiar with Pathfinder lore, then it probably requires a bit of explaining about some of the changes in our settings.

So first off, Maya is a snake goddess we've invented for the setting. She's the mother of Ydersius.

Speaking of Ydersius, there's been some adjustments there for a number of reasons. Evil gods in Pathfinder(And other similar settings) often suffer from a problem I like to sum up as: "Who the fuck would worship this guy?" Setting aside any personal opinions, I can't think of any deity considered evil by their followers outside of some extreme edgelord cases. In fact, the idea of an evil religion worshipped by evil idea has more often been an attempt at discrediting others. So we've been going through the pantheons with a surgeon's kit and a saw to rejigger things.

And as for Ydersius being evil, well, hard to find any information on the fan wikis of what he's done that's so evil or which of his creeds that are so bad. Really, I guess he's evil because he's the patron deity of the sekmin, aka the serpentfolk.

So let's talk sekmin. They are evil. Their wiki pages contains sentences like : "it is unknown how many races the serpentfolk exterminated for pure pleasure.", "view all non-telepathic creatures as slaves or food," "They feel no love or attachment towards other serpentfolk, even their own mates or children." I mean wow, laying it on thick here aren't we?

Now, I'm not saying the sekmin empire wasn't problematic. Empires tend to be problematic. No doubt the sekmin, even removing their inherent evil alignment, would have a sordid history. But if they aren't inherently evil, well...

Here's a line from the wiki I find relevant. "The destruction of Azlant caused by Earthfall saved the remaining serpentfolk from complete elimination."

And if the serpentfolk aren't inherently evil, then you might have to call this what it actually is.

An attempt at genocide.

Which brings us to Azlant and Aroden. And I'll be honest, our read on both of those don't paint either as good guys. Azlant had Xin banished for daring to suggest they had anything to learn from non-humans and we have no reason to doubt it was an isolated case. The fact their descendants turned into space Nazis in Starfinder seem like a natural conclusion.

And Aroden, beloved hero of humanity. The list of things he's fucked up, both before and after divinity is quite long. There's the stuff he did in Arcadia with the Veins of Creation. Stole the aeon orbs from the xulgaths because humanity would use them better, condemning the land of Vask to death by radiation. And his patronage of humanity is probably why you can't throw a rock on Golarion without it landing in a human country. So our conclusion is simple.

Aroden was a racist, imperialist douchebag who favored humanity at the cost of all other sentient beings and the universe is better off without him. And Azlant was a empire morally no better than the one it sought to eradicate from existence. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

If you managed to make your way through all that opinionated rambling, thank you and here's the story. Oh, and if you happen to notice any similarities to plot points from Paizo's Serpent's Skull campaign, then that's because I borrowed liberally from it to set up our own campaign in Saventh-Yhi.

Unconsciousness had been a mercifully numb experience. Her mind had just floated through the void, briefly unburdened by memory, by sorrow, by duty and by anger. For the first time in a long while, she was at peace, cut off from anything that could hurt her. But then reality slipped painfully into her mind, like a white-hot dagger between her ribs. Awareness of how her body ached bedevilled her, from the tip of her tail to the fork of her tongue, every muscle pulsating with an unpleasant aching. And as her pain dragged her mind kicking and screaming out of the numbing depths, thoughts started to flow in. And with them, the ceaseless memories. The memories of the invasion, seeing wounded after wounded be dragged in from the frontline, watching five of her countrymen bleed out in the time a healer could mend the wounds of one. She remembered offering words of encouragement to those going to and arriving from the battlefields, but towards the end, her sermons had sounded hollow and deceitful even to herself. And she remembered the fall, the devastation and the evacuation. Helping seal her fellow sekmin in stasis chambers, promising they would be safe, promising they wouldn't be found. All lies, of course. It was a desperate gambit and there was no certainty. She had half expected never to see the light of day again as the magic of the pod took hold, sealing her in dreamless preservation. She remembered her awakening alongside others of her kind, their confused staggering into a new, alien world, so different from the one she had left behind. She remembered the mission, to resurrect their empire now that their hated enemies had vanished from the surface of the planet. And how she had been sent out to gather information about their lost capital. It had been a harrowing journey. Everything had been so different and she had to apply all her skills and powers to pass herself off as a human scholar. She knew the future of her kind hinged on the success of her work. It had gone well, until the island. She had managed to get off the accursed rock, but her mission had depended on the kindness of a human. And they had let her go. She felt that was only the case because they didn't know the truth, but still, she had remembered it. And she had tried to warn the human's fellows, that only death would await them in the jungle and the lost city hidden therein. They had ignored her warnings. She had been anxious. And angry. For with them had travelled a being, a serpent, an avatar. An avatar of her. The one who had abandoned them in their hour of greatest need. And then they had finally met face to face. And Aethaxise had unleashed all her frustration, pain and feelings of betrayal in once venomous tirade aimed at the divine figure.

And Maya had smote her in response.

That was the second time she slipped in the dark expecting never to wake up. So the return of her consciousness was as surprising as it was unwelcome. Slowly, her eyes began registering the sunlight shining down on her. She hissed weakly and turned her head to avoid the direct glare of the overhead light. It took her a moment to ponder the oddity of the sunlight, before realising that the roof was missing. She groaned and tried to move, her body protesting the action. Her neck slowly bent, giving her a chance to observe what was left of her surroundings. Most of the walls and the roof had been blown clear out, even taking with it some of the adjacent outer masonry, exposing much of the inside of the structure to the outside. Her inner ear began registering the distant sounds of birds and bugs, alongside other noises of the jungle. She rolled over on her belly, splaying out her limbs to soak up the warm rays, feeling its heat sink into her body, slowly helping her wake up. Her tongue darted out of her mouth, catching nearby scents and delivering them into her mouth, letting her register them. She could smell that Krathus was nearby, though she was uncertain of his condition. Mingled with it was the smell of his companion Xantheithes. They were really close, by her estimate. She hoped they had survived. But mixed in was another scent. One she had only gotten familiar with very recently, but that none the less immediately filled her with rage. Her anger fuelled her strength, allowing her to plant the palms of her hands against the stone floor, pushing her upper body upwards, straining her neck to lift her head up and slowly turn it, while uttering a hoarse and exceedingly venomous: “You.”

The person she was speaking to looked like a giant cobra, her scales a pure, alabaster white, her eyes a vibrant purple save for the black slit in the middle. The pale serpent had been eyeing something in the distance, but upon hearing the utterance, had turned her attention to the speaker. Maya took a moment to note the sekmin's appearance, that of an emerald-scaled snake with arms and legs, before addressing her with: “So you're awake, little one. I trust that you will have learnt to behave, at least enough to have a civil conversation. Otherwise, I am more than capable of banishing you into unconsciousness again as many times as I need to make my point clear.”

Aethaxise responded with a growl, as she slowly rolled over on her back, trying to eye the other two in the demolished room.

She noted Krathus nearby. A sekmin like herself, though his scales were a combination of red and black. He was lying up against the only remaining wall in the room, one containing a detailed genealogy of the invading humans, which he had found amusingly interesting. Still protectively wrapped around him was the massive ophidian Xantheithes, a great white cobra. One that in many ways resembled Maya's current form. Not too surprising, as Xantheithes' species had been sacred to her faith, empowered over many generations by the divine waters of her temples. They were a clever species, with more than a few developing full-on sapience, Xantheithes being one of them.

Maya followed her gaze. “Your companions are both alive, little one, that I can assure you. Though painful, that attack could not have killed a fly, much less any of you.” She paused, her tongue flickering in and out. “And it seems they are waking up too.”

The prone form of Krathus stirred slightly. Reflexively, his tongue darted out of his mouth and his limbs twitched. He managed to roll the back of his head along the scales of his serpentine companion, giving him a chance to inspect the room. There was a moment of quiet, before he with a dry voice stated: “We're alive I see.”

“That you are,” the divine serpent confirmed. “And I have no intentions of killing you. All I want to do is talk.” Her voice took on a sharper edge, as she added: “However, as I informed your friend, I am more than willing to demonstrate what the wrath of a deity feels like if a polite conversation is too much to ask for.”

Krathus weakly held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I'll vastly prefer that we have a polite conversation.”

Aethaxise hissed angrily, but said nothing.

The red-and-black scaled sekmin leaned to the side to inspect his ophidian companion. With the inability to close his eyes, it would have been hard for a human to see whether Xantheithes was awake or not, but for one who shared many physical similarities like Krathus, it was easy enough to detect the tell-tale signs that the massive cobra was slowly beginning to register his surroundings. The entire length of the ophidian's body jerked slightly and with some effort, he managed to lift his massive head slightly. “You hurt?” he managed to croak, still dazed.

“No. The pain is merely superficial.” Krathus twitched slightly as he moved his tail. “But ever present. I suspect it shall pass very soon though.” He turned his gaze to observe the avatar. “So, you wanted a talk.” “In a moment, little one. My own companions will be with us shortly,” Maya said, looking to a nearby set of stairs going down. “I'll advice that you gather your strength in the meantime.”

“Oh, and what exactly would we be gathering our strength for?” Aethaxise pointedly inquired.

“Mostly sitting up. But if you prefer to lie on the floor as you do now, far be it from me to tell you to do otherwise, little one,” Maya replied. She turned away again. “And there he is.”

Yet another oversized white cobra slithered up the stairs. To one unfamiliar with dealing with serpents, he might have seemed identical to Xantheithes, but for everyone present, the exact pattern of his scales was different enough to mark him as a completely unique individual. As he slithered across the ground, the back of his hood became visible, upon which the colouration of his scales formed an insignia of a snake holding an arrow in its mouth, encircling a bow. He made his way over next to Maya and curled up in what among snakes passed for a sitting position. “I've checked up with everyone else in the building. Nothing serious for most of them. Though Random has taken some considerable damage, including massive cracks in her exoskeleton. It'll take some time to heal.”

“I gather she also managed to dish out some considerable damage,” Maya commented. “I was concerned Yaras might develop spheksophobia. But I digress. Good job, Lechaim.” She refocused on the others. “Now then, I guess saying you have a bone to pick with me would be an understatement.”

“You... You...” Aethexise managed with no small amount of venom, as she struggled to push herself off the ground. “You abandoned us. We were slaughtered by the hundreds and you were nowhere to be seen. Even when your own son died you... You weren't there. Am I supposed to be grateful because your priests ran around trying to fix things? AM I SUPPOSED...!” “AETHEXISE!” Krathus managed. “Calm... Calm down. I do not want to be blasted again and if I have to get Xantheithes to gag you, I will. I've already been punched by a deity once today, I do not care to repeat that experience.” The other sekmin growled, her claws scraping across the stone floor. Silence reigned for a while. “Where were you when we needed you?” she finally managed to ask, her voice barely a whisper.

Maya sighed. “Little one, I did everything I could. But if I had stepped in more than I had, what would the results be? You think their gods would have sat on the sideline? No. Had I stepped in, I would have ignited a divine war. It would have been a catastrophe.”

“Some would say it already was,” Xantheithes commented grumpily.

“True. It was grim,” Maya agreed. “The fact that things could be worse is, I understand, little comfort for all of you.”

“And what about your son?” Aethexise managed venomously, slowly getting up on her feet. “Even if all our suffering meant nothing, shouldn't his death have meant something?”

Krathus winced, almost prepared to eat another bolt of divine retribution from Maya.

Indeed, the ophidian avatar's tail swayed dangerously and her hood flared slightly at the provocation. But she took a deep breath and continued with: “Despite what you think, the harm done to my son has been a painful memory beyond description for all these passing aeons. It would be arrogant of me to claim that my pain was greater than what was felt by any of you, but it was there. And while I wanted nothing more than to bathe them all in poisonous vapours until their meat dripped from their bones, I am subject to responsibilities far beyond your reckoning. For one thing, we deities have an agreement among us that limits our ability to directly influence the mortal world. Even this avatar, which I created to circumvent that, is pushing against what is considered acceptable. Had I interfered more than I did, and I did everything I could, I would have started a divine war with the Azlanti pantheon, which would have benefited no one, not even you. And no, little one, I do not expect that to suddenly make the attempted genocide of your people seem less severe. I am merely trying to get you to understand the position I was in and to some degree, still am.” “But the Azlanti Empire fell,” Krathus stated inquisitionally. “According to the history books, they're gone. Not that I ever believed you owed us anything, but why not aid us in the aftermath? It cannot have passed you by that we barely managed to survive.”

“Again, it comes back to divine politics. Any attempt by me to help you would be opposed by... The Last Azlanti,” Maya managed grimly. “By the time there was a world worth coming back to, he was a deity. He did not dare move on you because I would visit retribution, but the same was also true the other way around. And even after he died, there was still limits to what I could do. In fact, I've searched for an opportunity such as this for a long time.” She paused. “I think Ydersius has given you the wrong impression of the burden of divinity. You were his creation, his children. He cared only for you and was with you through thick and thin. You might have come to expect similar levels of attention from the rest of us. But my concerns go far beyond you. If I had acted out of hand, even if I had shielded you with all my divine power from retribution, others might have suffered. For example, by targeting my followers among the skittermanders.” “The... What?” Xantheithes managed to ask, utterly perplexed.

“They're not even native to this solar system,” Lechaim replied. “Cute fellows. If silly.” Aethaxise just stared.

“I have followers across the entire universe,” Maya continued. “I must always consider how my actions will affect all of them. I am not saying this to diminish your suffering. Only to enlighten you to the burden I carry. My followers number more than you could count in a lifetime and every single action I take can have consequences for them. That is the true cost of divinity. And that was why I couldn't throw everything away to help you. That is why it has taken me so long to find a way to help at all. Didn't matter what I wanted to do, because I had the responsibility to care for all who worship me. And even for the world beyond my faith, for surely a divine war could have rend the planet in two and that is at the small end of the scale. You think you know what devastation looks like, little one? I have witnessed what happens when gods and titans make war, when entire clusters of stars are vaporised by stray shots and the very fabric of time and space buckles under the blows of warring combatants. I would not wish that on anyone. Not even the Azlanti.” She went quiet, her head lowering slightly. “But I am trying to make things better and that is why I am here. I truly just wish to help.”

Everyone was quiet for a while.

“Well... I guess... Maybe I understand,” Aethexise managed, her voice hollow and drained. “But we don't need your help.” Maya shook her head. “No, little one, you do. I know what you and yours are planning, and if it would work, I would be more than happy to stay out of your way. But you are about to make a grave mistake that could very well create the type of disaster I was trying to avoid.”

“So you know of the operation we've started then,” Krathus surmised running his claws along his lower jaw in a contemplative gesture. “Fascinating. And you're saying there is some sort of flaw in this plan then?” “Indeed. But before we get to that, I know someone you ought to meet.” Maya returned her attention to Lechaim. “Is she ready?” “She is,” the other white cobra confirmed.

“Alright then.” She turned towards the stairs. “You can make your entrance now.”

Silence reigned in the ruined room, as the sounds of someone ascending the stairs was heard. A figure made their way into the light of the distantly setting sun, a human woman. Her head was framed by short-cropped brown hair, her body clad in dull coppery plates of metal that looked like they had seen their fair share of wear and tear. A torn leathery cloak enveloped her and a massive sword was sheathed on her back. Bandages were wrapped tightly around the left part of her head, obscuring one of her eyes, and her left arm hung limply in a sling.

The patient quiet in the ruined room immediately changed character, taking on a grim and cold mood.

Krathus tried to jump up with a hiss, only stopped by Xantheithes protectively curling around him, the serpent's hood flaring open.

Aethexise was not so hindered. Instead, motivated by a burst of adrenaline and unyielding rage, she leapt from the floor and galloped forward, claws outstretched and fangs unfolding in her mouth, deadly venom dripping from their tips. She leapt, ready to tear the woman's face off, only to find herself caught in mid-air by Maya's tail, which quickly wrapped around the struggling sekmin. “Let me go,” the green-scaled cleric hissed furiously. “Why is she here? WHY IS SHE HERE!? WHY ARE YOU NOT DEAD!?”

“Well, that went about as well as expected,” Lechaim muttered.

The woman, for her part, stood unfazed, though with a forlorn expression.

“I must concur,” Krathus hissed, finally untangling himself from his aide. “Don't tell me you brought her of all people back.” “Oh no, little one, this came as quite the surprise to me too,” Maya said, shifting her tail to maintain her grip on the furiously screaming Aethexise. “But I brought her here because she has something important to say.”

“So, what, we hear her out and then kill her?” Xantheithes venomously commented, bundling up behind the red-and-black scaled sekmin.

“If that would fix anything, I'd tell you to go ahead,” the woman said. “But as it is, I suspect it would make things much worse.”

“Indeed. So, are you willing to hear her out?” Maya inquired.

Krathus eyed his fellow sekmin. Aethaxise was now little more than a pair of serpentine eyes glaring murderously from atop the rim of the avatar's pale coils. “We're not getting much choice here, are we?” “No.” “So be it.” The sekmin wizard sat back down, leaning against the piled body of Xantheithes. “This is not a case of mistaken identity, right? You are Savith, the very same one who lead the campaign against our people. The one who murdered our deity.” “Guilty as charged,” she said in a tone of voice indicating that she indeed thought it something to be guilty of. “As for how I survived, I'd say barely. After my fight with Ydersius, the divine backlash left me on the brink of death. Your people found me before my fellow Azlanti did. Dragged me away from the site of battle and stuffed me in one of your stasis pods. I figure it was to interrogate me later. Or punish me. Probably both. Either way, they never came back for me. And I was never found by my comrades.” She went quiet, as she began to pace. “Once I was freed from the pod by happen-stance I began wandering this new world. That's how I ran into the Mystical Peacekeeping Society and through them, Maya.” She paused again, looking contemplative. “Well, first of all, I feel I owe you an explanation for what happened. From your perspective, our campaign must have seemed quite unfounded.” “What? No apology?” Xantheithes sourly inquired.

“Could any apology I could come up with ever truly suffice?” Savith asked. “I am sorry, but I can't imagine that means much to you.”

The serpent didn't respond, instead just lowering his head as he kept observing her.

“So as I was saying, Azlanti seers predicted that enemies of our people were gathering to unleash a devastating weapon upon us. Our leaders determined that those enemies had to be your people. I was asked to lead the campaign. And I did. Because I was convinced I was protecting my people from a grave threat by doing so.” She shook her head. “I've had many centuries now to contemplate how foolish that was. Me and my squad were, well, for us the goal was strictly military. To take out any part of your empire that could be used against us. But for most of my fellow Azlanti, that translated into making sure none of you were left alive. And I claim no innocence here, because I paved the way for those that burnt your cities and butchered your people. And I let it happen, because ultimately, I valued Azlant more than anything else. That's as bad as if I had done those deeds myself. And to make things even worse, turns out the whole campaign was founded on animosity. Our leaders had picked you as the target, not because there was any actual evidence of you preparing to attack us, but because our nations had had... Issues getting along.”

Maya heard a murmuring from her coils. She shifted them slightly, allowing Aethexise to get her entire head out. “It was the aboleths, yes? I've read all about it,” she hissed venomously. “They uplifted you and then decided to cast you down again.”

“Can't say I blame them,” Savith admitted. “But yes, that was the case.”

“So why are you here?” Krathus pointedly asked. “Think you can somehow make up for your actions?” “No. I can't imagine what I would have to do to accomplish that,” the Azlanti general replied. “I could do good deeds from now until the end of time and I don't think it would make up for the blood I have on my hands. But that is not going to stop me from doing the right thing. And the right thing to do is helping you people not unleash a disaster upon yourself.” “Really? The Azlanti general wouldn't want to see the sekmin self-destruct,” Aethaxise commented. “Why do I find that hard to believe? Even if what you said is true, which I doubt.” “As I said, I've had a lot of time to think.”

“What do you mean by that?” Xantheithes inquired.

“The stasis pod was flawed. It stilled my body, but not my mind. I've had the passing of many centuries to think and I've come to realise that, as different as we are, a lot of the things I looked down upon the Sekmin Empire for were the same sins that the Azlanti committed,” Savith explained. “Azlant is never coming back. And that's for the best. But your kind has a chance and your current plan risks snuffing that out.” “Enough with the vagueness,” Krathus demanded. “What is it you claim to know?”

Savith sighed. “Alright. Sorry. You're planning to resurrect Ydersius by reconnecting his skull with his body, which you lot managed to preserve in one of your hidden vaults. But it's not going to work. At least, not in the way you think it will. The thing is, you have his body and you might find his head, but what you don't realise is that a piece is still missing. His soul. The Ydersius you'd resurrect would be a divine being without thought, without memory, a soulless wild husk. Barely a wild beast, but with the power of a god. Such a being could wreck a horrendous amount of havoc.” “That's nonsense,” Aethexise hissed. “His soul is still among us. My connection may have faded, but I can still call upon his power.” “As could Tovkuc and he was a recent initiate,” Krathus added.

“The charau-ka?” Maya added, her hood vibrating slightly. “Yes, you sure taught him well. Between the attempted human sacrifices and generally unpleasant demeanour.”

Aethexise harrumphed indignantly.

“To get back to the subject,” the human added, trying to disarm the brewing conflict. “You are right, but his soul did not lock itself away in his skull or his body. It instead fled into a nearby vessel, one that was not dying. It...” She paused and sighed. She grabbed the bandages around her head and began unwrapping them. As the bandages gave way, stunned silence filled the ruined room. Underneath, her hairline had receded and much of her skin had changed into brown scales, her left eye a softy glowing orange orb, the pupil slightly misshapen. Taking the opportunity to continue, she unwrapped her arm, revealing more scales and that her nails had twisted into semi-sharp claws. “The nearest vessel,” she stated with finality. “Was me.”

Krathus looked like he was trying to say something, but he only succeeded in moving his jaws.

Maya looked to Aethaxise and slowly let the stunned sekmin loose. The green-scaled cleric slowly stumbled over towards the human, seeing in her alterations fragments of her deity. Carefully, almost as if she was afraid to break a pleasant dream, she reached out and laid a hand on Savith's scaled arm. Immediately, she retracted the appendage, as if she had gotten an electric shock. She stared, first at Savith, then her hand.

“Well?” Xantheithes asked. “You have the closest connection to him. Is it true?” “I... Yes. I could sense him,” Aethaxise said slowly, utterly befuddled. “But... How?” “As I said, I was closest. I am not chosen or favoured by Ydersius if that's what you're worrying about,” Savith said. “It's sheer coincidence. But we've had the passing of millennia to get to know each other. And Ydersius would very much like you to not resurrect his body without his soul present. So I need you to contact your fellows and tell them the news.” “Well, that is amazing,” Krathus said. “Ehm, slight problem. We can't.” “You can't? Of course you can't, that would be way too easy,” Lechaim sighed. “So what is it?”

“We have no way of contacting our leader in the depths of Ilmurea,” the red-and-black scaled wizard explained. “We were to set up an outpost and gather local resources and subjects in order to dissuade intruders into Ilmurea. But for safety's sake, we have no way to contact them, to minimize risks of them being tracked if, say, we were to be killed.” “And even if we were to get into contact with them, what do you think they'll believe? Your ridiculously improbably story, or that you're there to finish the job and has managed to brainwash us?” Aethexise asked. “Or, what, you gonna let every single priest we've got feel you up to confirm our Lord of Coiling Poison's presence?”

“I would have preferred that over having to storm your sacred sanctuary. Again,” Savith sighed exasperated. “Sicva must be blessing my journey, because you're making it sound like I'll have to storm in there and jam Ydersius' soul back into him myself and that every single one of your people will throw themselves at me to stop me. Again.” “That is an accurate summary of this stupidity,” Xantheithes commented. “Of course, you're also forgetting that you have no way to actually getting to Ilmurea. And even if you got there, you alone would not be enough.” “That is true, little one,” Maya agreed. “However, I am sure we can gather allies to help us, with a little luck. And as for a way down, we'll just have to keep an eye out for opportunities.” “Great. Seems like it's gonna be war all over again,” Savith noted in a tired voice, as she sat down on a piece of the wall. “I came here to help, not to fight you.” “Sadly, you Azlanti managed to impart on us the importance of not trusting humans,” Aethexise noted. “So, what now?”

“We need a plan. First, we must canvas the city. No doubt the Azlanti made many changes during their occupation,” Krathus noted, looking back to the wall with the genealogy.

“You do that, little ones. For now, I have someone else I'll need to talk with,” Maya said, as she moved towards the stairs, Lechaim following her. “I trust that I can leave you be without you all attempting to kill each other.” Aethaxise emitted an annoyed low hiss, as the two serpents slithered downstairs.

The avatar and her companion made their way through the repurposed ruin, finding in the middle of it a massive structure like an oversized wasp-hive. Maya observed it for a moment, turning to her companion and asking: “She's in there?” “I presume as much. I tended to her wounds out here, but I wasn't going to shove her into the hive,” Lechaim replied.

“I see.” The divine cobra turned back to the hive. She noted a faint buzzing sound. “You can come out, little one. I merely wish to talk.”

From the dark depths of the hive, several crimson hexagons lit up, outlining two massive compound eyes. “Forgive me if I don't feel in the mood to entertain any more intruders.”

“My apologies. But I had little other way of talking with you,” Maya noted. “I gathered from the others you put up quite the fight. I saw the wounds you inflicted. You're skilled. And I respect skill. To keep things short and sweet, I wish to for us to cooperate.” “Cooperate?” came the doubtful, thrumming reply. “You invade my home, strike down my children and now you want to cooperate?” “Well, you made a deal with the sekmin. Surely you understand the benefit of working together?” Maya explained. “And your children are alive, if dazed. I dare say we did our best not to cause them undue harm. But I get you. You want something more from me. And I'm willing to provide. After all, this ruin must impose certain... Limits. What if I offered to help secure you a better nesting ground?”

There was a pause, followed by a clacking sound as a massive wasp crawled out of the hive, her cracked exoskeleton wrapped in gauze. “You have my attention.” “The Mystical Peacekeeping Society, the ones who I'm helping and whom you fought, could use the assistance of a powerful predator like you. And they in turn possess a lot of territory, a lot of which is unsettled and which I can guarantee you they'd be willing to hand over to you in exchange for assistance,” Maya explained. “How does that sound, Random?”

The mutated wasp queen named Random paused as she mulled it over, her wings twitching occasionally. “I can see little reason why you'd lie,” she admitted. “You'd all just have killed me when you had the chance if this was to get me out of the ruin. And I admit, it is getting kinda cramped. I could do with a bigger nest for me and my brood.” “Sounds like a yes to me,” Lechaim commented.

“Yeah. But if I find out you lied to me, the last thing you'll see before I puncture your eyes will be my stinger,” Random asserted. “So, when do we start?” “When can you start?” Maya asked.

“In a while. Some of my brood has been out hunting and I'd like to do a full head count before going anywhere.” “Good,” Maya noted, coiling up slightly. “Should give us time to go over some of the finer details.”

[gunsli-01]

What do you think it means that Mu's shoe was off during her murder scene in it's not my fault? Because it's definetely something she didn't want us to see since in after pain the grass covered her feet too

Personally, I believe it's just a different angle of the scene. However, since it's become such a prominent talking point in regards to Mu's situation I'll try to give a fully formed opinion.

I've seen people saying that her shoe being off supports what her having Otome Dissection as a cover song and the noose within the hourglass she's trapped within in After Pain slightly alludes to.

That Mu was contemplating taking her own life. Then using it to assert that she was still defending herself from her victim because she believed it was either that or suicide. I don't believe that is the case. For a multitude of reasons.

However, when taking the shoe into consideration, given the distance between Mu and her victim compared to Mu and her shoe. It appears to be exactly what was displayed to us in After Pain Mu lunging at her victim and her shoe slipping off as a result. Presumably, it fell off when she jumped forward to grab the victim's arm when she was chasing them down.

It's probably nothing more than that. I'm saying the shoe here probably means nothing because if the shoe does mean something, that is far worse for Mu's case. Firstly, in After Pain, there are many discrepancies, I'll be the first to admit that. I mean, when Mu confronts her victim for hurting her, the eye color of the victim contradicts what we see in It's Not My Fault.

Something that remains a consistent error throughout After Pain up until,

The victim is stabbed. However, it is illustrated to us in this video of discrepancies exactly why the indoor shoes are not important to investigating Mu's case. Take these pictures for example.

The first picture is of Mu's victim wearing her indoor shoes as she gets ready to leave and Mu chasing after her. The shoes are shown to be identical, and that is one of the reasons the socks are highlighted more so than the shoes.

The only reason I can personally think of for Mu to not wish to disclose that she was wearing her indoor shoes or cover up it falling off in her MV is maybe this brand of indoor shoes is specific to her school, or she messed them up while killing her victim getting blood or other evidence on them therefore needing them replaced. Yet ultimately, neither of those things would sway people too heavily away from favoring her. In fact, the shoe falling off in the heat of the moment lends more credence to the idea that this was a spur of the moment incident or a crime of passion.

Logistically, there would be no reason for Mu to switch out of her own indoor shoes and into the victims either. Because these are just generic indoor shoes. So, doing such a thing wouldn't even help her make the story that the victim attacked her any more believable. Unless, they all write their names in their shoes or something.

One of her other friends is even shown wearing the same exact shoes. Meaning Mu very well might have worn these shoes because she just didn't want to get her normal ones dirty, and disposing of them after would be easier.

It falling off while she was chasing them was just an inconvenience, if anything. However, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with her being suicidal. This literally just seems to be the most efficient course of action. Because it would probably be easier to dispose of generic school shoes than risk dirtying a pair that is directly tied to her. They'd more than likely be cheaper to replace as well.

Plus, since they're tied to every girl in the school that happens to share Mu's shoe size, it would be hard to attach them to one student. Unless Mu's the Cinderella of murderers.

To me, it seems as though throughout After Pain Mu projects herself onto her victim, whether this is due to regretting her actions or to endear herself to the audience is unknown. I believe it's because of the first reason due to the lyrics. As the song is titled After Pain I believe it's Mu's response to the pain she caused and her part in the situation and her attempt to try to understand her victim and what she put them through.

When the victim dies at the end of After Pain their eye color is still off,

Tying into the continued repeating of the line, "If I was gone, if I had just disappeared. I overheard, I found out how much I’m not needed." It's a direct response to after the incident because even if Mu weren't held accountable by common law her classmates still would take issue with her even in the case of the death being ruled a suicide.

They'd still have feelings of if we didn't do this for Mu then this may not have happened and misgivings around being her friend or even wanting to break ties with her. She'd still take the fall in a sense regardless of the narrative spun.

This very well could have led her to internalizing this guilt and feeling as though she was being judged constantly with no way of defending herself. Because "I'm sorry won't reach anyone." It can't reach anyone because for it to be able to she would have to admit what she had done. Having to keep all of this to herself could have led to her internalizing the idea that it would've been better if she died instead or even wishing it was her who did for a point of time.

This is why I believe Mu backslides so hard after being voted Innocent during the first trial. Think about it she vaguely admits she killed someone and is then immediately told what she did was okay and she was just as much of a victim as the girl she killed. Of course, she would feel over the moon after keeping it to herself that entire time and immediately having her feelings validated after expressing them. Otome Dissection even alludes to this idea with her given the lines,

Because Mu did this in secret the weight of not being able to discuss it, not being able to have people validate her choice to do it eats away at her. That's why the hourglass breaks in It's Not My Fault because she's free now she was able to talk about it and I'm sorry did reach someone her apology was accepted.

It was never about feeling Guilty with Mu it was about not having anyone to listen to her problems and validate her response to them. No one was there to give her honey. Or for those who like to point out how sloppy the official translation is and put the more direct one on a pedestal.

"That's right, that's right, because it's not my fault. I'm just as innocent as everyone wants me to be. What a relief. Can't be helped then because I was always meant to be pitied in the end."

For someone to be pitied there must be people around to pity them. To be pitied by others one must share their circumstances with them. The hourglass didn't represent her isolation due to bullying. That glass represented that she could no longer whine to people about her issues and be given the validation and external support she needed to feel good about herself.

Because admitting what she did was more dangerous than staying quiet. Yet, staying quiet meant she would never truly know if what she did was wrong or not because no one would be able to tell her if it was. So, for once Mu was stuck with herself and people who bully others usually need more external validation because most of the time they're just as critical of themselves.

This is why the board for her in After Pain is like that because it's what Mu thinks of herself just like how people were saying since she's an insect in It's Not My Fault she must have a poor internalized self-image. Yet, for some reason most do not want to extend that same logic to any part of After Pain which is so funny considering how many visual inconsistencies it has not only in the area we know is apart of Mu's mind but everywhere else as well.

There's no number of shoes slipping off that can change how Mu's behavior comes off and I don't think she was intentionally trying to hide the shoe but more so attempting to best highlight her hurt when it came to After Pain. The shoe just wasn't important to what she wanted to tell.

That's why I don't really understand why it would be necessary to discuss it. Because it makes Mu's crime look more premeditated than it already was. Plus, with how I've seen people attempt to warp this point in her favor, it seems incredibly disingenuous to even use it as a talking point at all.

Especially since we see her chasing her victim down like she was in the track team in shoes that are specifically made for being indoors . Of course, one of them fell off. However, that's just my opinion on it.