#There had to be a reason she stayed
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A third interim Scene(I'm working on the next fic I swear!) little Gabenath angst here.
There was an air of energy in the room that gave Nathalie pause. Gabrielâs atelier had been a placid pool of serene creation for so long that even the smallest eddies felt like tidal waves. The change took her back. Back to a time before Emilieâs passing, before Gabrielâs ascension, before Adrienâs birth. The crisp scent of cold Himalayan air was a ghost in her nostrils. The sticky memory of humid Amazonian jungles prickled her skin.
The man himself was surrounded by screens. He wore news, websites, articles, and searches in progress as a flickering discordant halo. His eyes flicked from one to the next faster than she could even follow. A turn of his head took his face from her and her stomach twisted. Oh how she had missed seeing him like this. His hands danced haptic keyboards. An amateurish Ladybug blog held his attention for a full minute while he scrolled down its entire length. Had he noticed her yet? No. She could leave. She should leave. Interrupting him in this state was sacrilegious. Yet- she couldnât turn away. A much younger Nathalie shoved her from behind. One does not hide from the light long thought lost.
âSir-â she needed an excuse, better than the business trivialities that had brought her. A forgotten collection behind him would suffice. â...you are finished with the Bourgeois collection?â
His head whipped around, those sharp eyes looked through her with lethal intensity before focusing. He turned away and her heart struggled to restart itself. âIt is pointless now, Nathalie. Clearly the girl still has the only thing that matters.â
No dismissal, she dared step closer, into his aura. âIf we are sure sir, will we just take it from her? She is only a child.â
His shoulders shifted in response. He glanced over his shoulder at her. It was not a patient one. âA child, Nathalie, with the power of destruction at hand.â
His gaze turned away again, switching crisply between channels on the news display. There will be more, she has known him long enough to anticipate.
âI have much in my favor, when it comes to a match up. However, the risks that come with failure are too great to balance the scales. If my haste were to be the cause of Emilyâs true death-â
He choked.
That name, that woman, Emilie was a figure nearly as large in Nathalieâs life as Gabriel. She was a dear friend whose name Nathalie cursed in her sleep. She was a sweet sister whose triumphs Nathalie celebrated while praying to any God who might hear for her downfall. It wasnât that Nathalie truly wished harm to Emilie. She just wanted all that the other woman had taken for granted.
Yet if Gabriel desired it, Nathalie would act. âSend me.â
He turned. He looked at her again. Her, not Emilie. âPardon?â
Nathalie stepped closer, raising her chin in supplication while willing him to remember her in camo and canvas, not a suit and heels. âSend me. I have hunted dangerous prey before. I will succeed. Akumatize me, give me the peacock, send me with my bare hands if you must. I will retrieve the miraculous for you.â
His gaze lingered. She could see it in his eyes. He remembered. She had already won the most important victory. That helped ease the sting when he decreed, âNo.â
âBut, Sir!â
The touch of his hand on her shoulder was heavy, the grip insistent. âNathalie, were I to lose you, it would be the same as losing myself. I may need magic to power my plans, but I need you to give them form and purpose. Without you I am an artist without a brush. I will never risk you, not even for this.â
His gaze never leaves hers. The cacophony of information plays out around them, ignored. She is raised up and also denied a chance for more in a single stroke.
Nathalie swallowed. She had forgotten how hot Gabrielâs passions burned when alight. She still wore the scars on her heart, but time softened memory. âYes, Sir.â
The rest piled up behind lips pressed tightly shut against the truth.
He takes back his hand, leaving only a ghost and longing, and turns back to the screens once more. âI will bide my time. We have other tools at ourâŠ.â
Gabriel drew out the sound.
âNathalie, contact Audrey Bourgeois. Ask her if she will be attending the fall review in Paris this year.â
Nathalie flipped through mental notes. âSir, there is no fall review in Paris this year. It is in Madrid.â
Gabrielâs voice carried a chuckle, âThen she cannot possibly be attending, and she will be quite put out about it.â
Her response would be predictable. Nathalie saw the advantage, even as she weighed the cost of having that woman around Gabriel again. It never came to a good end. âYes, Sir. Might I suggest looking into the family life of one Sabrina Raincomprix as well?â
He didnât look, but the softness in the âHmm?â he gave her meant she had provided him with something new.
She explained, âAnother child, Miss Bourgeoisâs only friend besides her connection to your son. Theirs is a⊠complicated relationship. It too might bear fruit.â
Gabriel turned his head back to her. The light from the screens reflected off his glasses, hiding his eyes behind the glare. âExcellent work, Nathalie. This is why I cannot risk you.â
She forced herself not to preen. âYes, Sir.â
He turned away once more. âThat will be all, Nathalie.â
Her dismissal reminded her of the true reason she had come. In the face of things it seemed petty and mundane. Without further word she turned and strode from the room. Mere business decisions she could shoulder herself. Gabriel would appreciate being allowed to focus on the things that mattered.
Appreciation was stale bread and water for her heart, but it held starvation at bay for now.
#miraculous ladybug#Chloe goes back in time AU#gabriel agreste#nathalie sancouer#pining#There had to be a reason she stayed#and *didn't* call the cops#gabenath
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so one of the things that's so horrifying about birth control is that you have to, like, navigate this incredibly personal choice about your body and yet also face the epitome of misogyny. like, someone in the comments will say it wasn't that bad for me, and you'll be utterly silenced. like, everyone treats birth control like something that's super dirty. like, you have no fucking information or control over this thing because certain powerful people find it icky.
first it was the oral contraceptives. you went on those young, mostly for reasons unrelated to birth control - even your dermatologist suggested them to control your acne. the list of side effects was longer than your arm, and you just stared at it, horrified.
it made you so mentally ill, but you just heard that this was adulthood. that, yes, there are of course side effects, what did you expect. one day you looked up yasmin makes me depressed because surely this was far too intense, and you discovered that over 12,000 lawsuits had been successfully filed against the brand. it remains commonly prescribed on the open market. you switched brands a few times before oral contraceptives stopped being in any way effective. your doctor just, like, shrugged and said you could try a different brand again.
and the thing is that you're a feminist. you know from your own experience that birth control can be lifesaving, and that even when used for birth control - it is necessary healthcare. you have seen it save so many people from such bad situations, yourself included. it is critical that any person has access to birth control, and you would never suggest that we just get rid of all of it.
you were a little skeeved out by the implant (heard too many bad stories about it) and figured - okay, iud. it was some of the worst pain you've ever fucking experienced, and you did it with a small number of tylenol in your system (3), like you were getting your bikini line waxed instead of something practically sewn into your body.
and what's wild is that because sometimes it isn't a painful insertion process, it is vanishingly rare to find a doctor that will actually numb the area. while your doctor was talking to you about which brand to choose, you were thinking about the other ways you've been injured in your life. you thought about how you had a suspicious mole frozen off - something so small and easy - and how they'd numbed a huge area. you thought about when you broke your wrist and didn't actually notice, because you'd thought it was a sprain.
your understanding of pain is that how the human body responds to injury doesn't always relate to the actual pain tolerance of the person - it's more about how lucky that person is physically. maybe they broke it in a perfect way. maybe they happened to get hurt in a place without a lot of nerve endings. some people can handle a broken femur but crumble under a sore tooth. there's no true way to predict how "much" something actually hurts.
in no other situation would it be appropriate for doctors to ignore pain. just because someone can break their wrist and not feel it doesn't mean no one should receive pain meds for a broken wrist. it just means that particular person was lucky about it. it should not define treatment.
in the comments of videos about IUDs, literally thousands of people report agony. blinding, nauseating, soul-crushing agony. they say things like i had 2 kids and this was the worst thing i ever experienced or i literally have a tattoo on my ribs and it felt like a tickle. this thing almost killed me or would rather run into traffic than ever feel that again.
so it's either true that every single person who reports severe pain is exaggerating. or it's true that it's far more likely you will experience pain, rather than "just a pinch." and yet - there's nothing fucking been done about it. it kind of feels like a shrug is layered on top of everything - since technically it's elective, isn't it kind of your fault for agreeing to select it? stop being fearmongering. stop being defensive.
you fucking needed yours. you are almost weirdly protective of it. yours was so important for your physical and mental health. it helped you off hormonal birth control and even started helping some of your symptoms. it still fucking hurt for no fucking reason.
once while recovering from surgery, they offered you like 15 days of vicodin. you only took 2 of them. you've been offered oxy for tonsillitis. you turned down opioids while recovering from your wisdom tooth extraction. everything else has the option. you fucking drove yourself home after it, shocked and quietly weeping, feeling like something very bad had just happened. the nurse that held your hand during the experience looked down at you, tears in her eyes, and said - i know. this is cruelty in action.
and it's fucked up because the conversation is never just "hey, so the way we are doing this is fucking barbaric and doctors should be required to offer serious pain meds" - it's usually something around the lines of "well, it didn't kill you, did it?"
you just found out that removing that little bitch will hurt just as bad. a little pinch like how oral contraceptives have "some" serious symptoms. like your life and pain are expendable or not really important. like maybe we are all hysterical about it?
hysteria comes from the latin word for uterus, which is great!
you stand here at a crossroads. like - this thing is so important. did they really have to make it so fucking dangerous. and why is it that if you make a complaint, you're told - i didn't even want you to have this in the first place. we're told be careful what you wish for. we're told that it's our fault for wanting something so illict; we could simply choose not to need medication. that maybe if we don't like the scraps, we should get ready to starve.
we have been saying for so long - "i'm not asking you to remove the option, i'm asking you to reconsider the risk." this entire time we hear: well, this is what you wanted, isn't it?
#where's the word woman in this u might wonder if u suck#good news i am nonbinary and have a uterus so that is something that can happen#im also gender fluid tho which means im immune to certain psychic damage bc if u call me a woman i'll be like <3 okay <3#writeblr#the tightrope of ''ppl need access to this''#and like also#''what the fuck is going on over there'' is like. so difficult as an activist#i was <3 punctured <3 during mine#and almost bled out on the table :) they didn't have anyone standing by bc it's ''just a little insertion''#so i started crashing and i vaguely remember apologizing for the fuss as i heard my heart rate monitor start going <3 tachycardic <3#she wasn't even a bad doctor tbh#ps btw the reason i even HAD a heart monitor is that i have a genuine heart condition and they knew GOING IN that there was a chance#i'd crash on the table#like my heart just likes to do fun little tricks and <3 stop working <3 (i do not want to discuss the specifics ty i am okay im ontop of it#and they were like 'oh u will be fine' and then she did do a puncture thru my uterus . pop!#and im sitting there dizzy and feeling my heartrate start to drop bc it feels almost. beautiful. like. the whole ground just#woosh! out from under you. and shit is like grey's anatomy. i'm looking up at her grey eyes#she's old she wears this nice shawl she's like got Cool Lesbian vibes and people are sprinting into the room#from other parts of the clinic unrelated to me. while the monitor is like a little aria singing#and shes like hey youre okay stay awake stay with me something went wrong we have to keep trying#and i remember thinking - i was trying to think of nice things. i have so many beautiful places that now overlap#with this terrible memory#i became dimly aware that there was too much on her wrists and hands. like#that was too many liters#and then when they had finished all this. i packed up and drove myself home#i have had (bad thing) happen to me. and the same feeling happened after#that numb almost lamblike bleating. you cry without noise. like. ur body is so shocked and ur mind so empty#you just stare at the road and everything everything is happening behind glass and static and you are standing so far away from it#while you hold ur hands at 10 and 2. and something in ur brain is SCREAMING at you - IT WAS BAD AND IT SHOULDNT HAVE HAPPENED#and ur just watching the alarms in your body going off and youre thinking. a little pinch! ha. i think i just lost something important.
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despite Laios low self esteem making him think that if heâd been eaten, Chilchuck and Marcille wouldnât have helped Falin,
theres a small part of me that thinks the reason Chilchuck stayed with the party and went back in the dungeon in the first place was because he didnât want to leave Laios alone. That Laios was moreso the reason he stayed.
#dungeon meshi#chilaios#OK SORRY. THE DEMONS. I REALLY DID NOT WANT TO LIKE THIS PAIRING. I DIDNT. BUT. HHH. FHFHJFJV. I FEEL CRAZY. LET ME EXPLAIN.#Pre canon it seems Laios is the person Chilchuck is really the closest to#He gets along with Namari and they are probably way better as buddies than he and Laios but#He and Laios seem *closer*#If that makes sense#Laios calls him his first name enough and without any issue or hesitation from Chilchuck#That I sort of inagine its not like. A misunderstanding. Laios is on a first name basis with him for a reason.#He also worries probably more than anyone about Laios#And his biggest criticism of him is that hes ârecklessâ#heâs comfortable around Laios in a very specific way and so is Laios around him#and in the series he shows many times that heâll risk his life to protect Laios#Like staying with him to confront the elves because he was worried Laios would say something stupid#Hes the first one to run up to him when Falin punches him#I mean I think he was also going back for Falin like its not like I think he doesnât care about her or anything#He clearly does#But I donât know if heâd have gone back if Laios hadnât#And if Laios had been eaten I think he wouldnât have even had to be convinced by Falin#I also think Marcille wouldâve gone back for him but probably more bc Falin was going back#Like sort of a reversed thing#AGAIN not that I donât think she cared about Laios at the beginning either#But she before the story she was mostly Falinâs friend who knew Laios through Falin#She only really got to know him when Falin got eaten and they had to do a team building exercise#Though now I sort of want to see an actually reversed scenario#Bc we also know that Chilchuck is sort of uncomfortable around Falin (said in relationship chart)#So I would love to see them be forced into a team building exercise to find a person they both love the way Laios and Marcille were
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Minthara says âin Her nameâ when you first meet her and sheâs following the Absolute but when you recruit her and she expresses that she no longer follows any god, but she still has an intact paladin oath, and she says âin your nameâ occasionally because sheâs no longer Lolthâs paladin or the Absoluteâs paladin, sheâs your paladin
#đ#she might not think youâre a god or whatever but youâre the only one that ever came to save her#and if you let her read your mind youâre the only one she knows has no intention to hurt or use her#like I feel like what Minthara wants most of all is to not have to look over her shoulder or wait for the shoe to drop#like every relationship sheâs had as a lolthsworn drow has come with the caveat that everyone will take her out if they have the chance#and if it benefits them even a little#lolth literally encourages this so long as you arenât obvious about it#and lolth will 100% punish you the second she has an excuse to#and then the absolute like while she was being controlled probably felt more like genuine love than Minthara ever experienced#but it came with Orin and punishments for failing#and her being literallly mind controlled into her#so itâs still violent and threatening even if the extent of that is only realized after sheâs pulled out of it#but then thereâs you who pulled her out of that#who can clearly and plainly show her that you have no intention of hurting her even if it benefits you#and who went out of your way to rescue her when no one else she was devoted to ever would#and you offered her the means to not only stay safe from the absolute but to get revenge on it#of course itâs âin your nameâ now youâre the only person that gave Minthara a reason for her to follow you#that wasnât threats of violence and suffering#you literally gave her the opposite#sheâs YOUR paladin it doesnât matter if arenât a god#you could be tho#Minthara#minthara baenre#bg3#baldur's gate 3
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Bruce Wayne was never Batman.
So! The night that Bruce Wayne's parents got shot, he developed an Unbreakable Resolve. He needed to get rid of the Crime that had taken his Parents away from him, no matter what.
But that night, he also developed a deep-seated fear of Death. He was face to face with his own Demise and instead of dying himself he saw his Parents die instead. He was Terrified of ending up like them.
But he still needed to stop Crime. He couldn't just let criminals go unpunished, and while he was still using his wealth to try and prevent it before it began, he knew there needed to be something to stop crime After it had been committed. And the Cops were useless on that Front.
He eventually found a solution while looking through his Parents Family Heirlooms.
Ancient Books dating back to the founding of Gotham and even before then, telling of a Creature from another world who his Ancestors had helped in the Past. A Being of Fear and Shadow, who owed a debt to the Wayne Family. He needed that Being. A Monster of Shadows and Fear was exactly the answer to scaring criminals away from committing crimes and punishing those who did.
But he needed to find the Being from another world first.
So he left home, traveling across the Globe training with the best Magicians and Demonologists in the world in search of the Monster who owed his Family a Debt. His travels took him far, from the streets of LA where he met a man named Zatara, to the Snowy Mountains of Nanda Parbat where he learned of the Lazarus Pits and the Demon's that came out of them.
While studying the Lazarus Pits, he was trained by the organization who guarded them. They despised Weakness, and while their leader was in awe of his Intelect he was less impressed by his body's conditioning. If he was to study the Lazarus Pits, he would first have to earn the Right in Combat.
He eventually managed to pass their Tests and eventually left them, having handed over a Copy of his research as the price for being allowed to Study the Pits.
Years later, he finally returned to Gotham, fully equipped to Summon the Being that owed him a Debt.
Bruce drew up the Summoning Circle as perfectly as he possibly could, he had one shot at it.
A drop of his blood and a splash of Lazarus Water later, and the Circle began to glow an ominous Green. Slowing, a shifting shadow began to emerge from the Circle, at first only a mass of writhing darkness before their form Solidified.
The Books he had found on the Spirit said that it would take the form of the Summoners Greatest Fear, which just so happened to be Bats for Bruce. The Form that the Spirit chose reflected that, with large Dark Wings falling over their form as if they were a Cape, and horns looking like the Ears of a Bat. From the Darkness, two glowing eyes appeared.
"Spirit, hear me. My name if Bruce Wayne, and I am calling in the Debt owed to my Family centuries ago. My City is plagued with crime and malice, rotting from its Core. My efforts to prevent Crime from the side of the Light have been in vain, Crime persists despite my efforts. In order for my vision to be fulfilled, the Criminals of this City must have their hearts pierced by Fear. Fear of Retribution. Fear of Consequences. Fear of Vengeance."
Thoughout bis Speech, the Shadowed Figure stayed silent.
"That is why I have called you here. I want you to stalk these streets, punish the criminals of this City and strike fear into their hearts from the shadows, so that they know to stay in the light. I don't want you to Kill them, never kill them. Let them live with that fear in their Hearts until their final days."
After he finished his speech, the Figure finally spoke.
"Your Quest is an Honorable one. You seek the betterment of your people's, and are unafraid to resort to drastic measures to achieve that goal. It reminds me of my Liege's resolve." It Spoke, it's voice low and rumbling. "Very Well. From this day forth, I shall protect your City from the Darkness in its own Heart. I shall be your Dark Knight."
...
Had this idea out of nowhere and needed to write it down. In this AU, Bruce still wants to protect his City from crime, but is understandably traumatized from seeing the Deaths of his Parents. He has a deep-seated fear of Dying, so he chooses to forgo fighting crime himself.
Instead, he finds out about a Spirit that his Ancestors helped long ago, and decides that the most logical next step out be to Summon a Demon to protect his City. Instead of training his Body for a decade to become Batman, he trains his Mind and Studies as much about Magic and Demon's as Possible.
He still knows how to fight because he trained with the League. He approached them with an offer to study the Lazarus Pits and give them his findings, and they accepted. But Ra's didn't want a weakling on his Base so he also required Bruce to train his body. He saw his potential for combat, and was so disappointed that Bruce had chosen a different path. He could have been Great!
Bruce still has a thing with Talia that produces Damian, he is still a point of interest from Ra's since he is insanely smart and has huge potential, and he knows how to fight pretty well. Albeit not as well as in Canon.
Bruce becomes the Benefactor/Guy in the Chair for Fright Knight (who is the one he summoned if you couldn't tell), who looks like a "Bat Man" because of Bruce's fear of Bats. Fright Knight agreed to this because 1.) He had a debt to pay, 2.) Bruce reminded him of Danny, and 3.) He respected Bruce's ballsyness to Summon a demon and command it to protect people.
Bruce still adopts his Kids, but there are some changes.
Dick is adamant about fighting Crime, and eventually Bruce is forced to let him go on patrol with Fright Knight, who has started going by Batman. Thankfully Frighty managed to give him some blessings so he had minor powers and would be safer.
Jason is mostly the same, and he is so excited that Robin actually IS Magical. When he dies, Fright Knight, who had gotten attached to their Family, goes into the Zone to search for him. He is unsuccessful unfortunately.
Tim is kind of funny. He figured out that Dick was Robin, and Jason was the 2nd Robi , but assumed that Bruce was Batman. When he approached Bruce about becoming Robin so he would stop going down his violent Cycle, Bruce Redirected him to talk to Fright Knight, who was not taking his failure to find Jason well.
Damien grew up knowing that his Father was a Genius, and the Master of the Batman, which gave him a bit of an Ego. At first he thought of Fright Knight as a Servant, and tried to command him like he did with Alfred. Frighty corrected him quickly enough.
Any more ideas for this AU? I have so many, but I think I need to stop for now.
#Dpxdc#Dp x dc#Dcxdp#Dc x dp#Danny Phantom#Dc#Dcu#Fright Knight is Batman#Bruce Wayne is not Batman#8 yr old Bruce Wayne saw that his family had a Demon/Monster/God of Fear on a Debt and decided that it was a great idea to use it#Bruce is basically Fright Knight's Sugar Daddy#Since Fright Knight usually stays in the Cave and occasionally the Manor when it's not Nighttime#Bruce buys him things for no apparent reason#Bruce basically adopted Fright Knight into the Family#As a Brother not a Son#Just thinking of the shenanigans this could lead to#Steph gets up from a nap and opens her door only to see a Wave of Pure Shadows pour down the Hall being chased by a pissed off Alfred#âI don't care if you don't need to Eat! You are going to join us for Family Dinner and you will like it!â#Cass likes to hide in Frighty's shadows#He let's her#She's the favorite niece#I wonder how his interactions with the Justice League would go?#How would that even work actually?#Would Bruce just put on a costume and pretend to be him?#Or would they JLA have to deal with an Eldritch God of Fear sitting 2 seats down every time they want to have a Meeting
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Not to be that person, but if Kamala Harris were a white man with the exact same ideals, positions, and beliefs, it wouldnât have even been a competition. Realising that the worst thing you can apparently be is a woman, is truly devastating.
#us elections#us politics#kamala harris#politics#if you want to read my little think piece just go on my page#and to the men who said this is a reductive take#youâre either too dumb or too ignorant to realise that it is a privilege that you canât imagine people would refuse to vote a woman#simply because she is a woman#misogyny isnât just a silly thing tumblr users complain about for the sake of complaining#itâs real and happening and dismissing its prevelance is just as misogynistic as the people refusing to vote a woman into the white house#and iâm also not saying it was the only reason she lost but i dont think itâs wrong to note that misogyny as well as racism played a part#also fuck you if you canât acknowledge that your fuckass country is full of white supremacists and violent misogyny#you can stay performative all you want but she did not lose because of policy america has always voted based on vibe#fucking trump got elected the first time because they wanted an authentic outsider#because in case you didnât know he had zero political experience#plus#contrary to popular belief i actually do have a more nuanced opinion on harris than this#but i still stand by my very basic observation that america is a racist and misogynistic country#and anyone refusing to believe this is delusional xo
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There are multiple gods in the game that you can directly interact with and they all have ties to the narrative. You can interact with Shar via Shadowheart. You can interact with Mystra via Gale. You can interact with Myrkul via Ketheric when he takes on the avatar form. You can interact with Bhaal via Durge and in the fight with Orin. You can interact with Bane after killing Gortash and using "Speak with Dead" in which the soul you speak to is not Gortash, but Bane himself. I would include Vlaakith in this list but Vlaakith is not a god, she is a lich presenting herself as a god. And, of course, there is the Absolute which doesn't really become a god until it ascends into the Netherbrain (although that is debatable).
But, did you know that Lolth will also interact with you? As far as I am aware, Lolth is the only non-story related god in which you do have interactions with. One of them is only available if you are a Lolth-sworn drow, and the other is only available if you are a Cleric of Lolth (you do not need to be Lolth-sworn for it).
The first instance is in the goblin camp with the spiders in the pit. This does require that you are a Lolth-sworn drow and that you have the ability to speak with animals. When talking to the spiders, you will have the option to present yourself to the spiders as Lolth herself. If you fail the persuasion check, Lolth gets pissed off as she was listening to you and is not happy that you tried to present yourself as her. And she tells the spiders you are an imposter and they attack you. But if you succeed the check, Lolth doesn't do anything and the spiders will think you are Lolth. So, Lolth doesn't really have a problem with you pretending to be her. But if you are going to pretend to be her, you better do it right. If the spiders think you are Lolth, you can ask them about what's going on in the goblin camp and the spiders only talk about one thing. They immediately tell you that there is another drow in the camp who has forgotten her way and that she is forsaken. And, as I said, Lolth is here. She heard the spiders admit this. Lolth does nothing about it.
The second instance is in the Underdark with the Phalar Aluve. When you interact with the sword, you have two different checks, a Strength check and a Religion check. If you do the Strength check, you can just pull it out of the stone and be on your merry way. If you perform the Religion check, the narrator will tell you different things depending on certain conditions. If you are a Lolth-sworn drow and/or a Cleric of Lolth, the narrator will tell you that the religious rite to pull the blade from the stone is blasphemous as it pays honor to the weak. If you are of any other race and/or cleric of any other god, the narrator will tell you that the sword is of Eilistraee and the rite pays honor to the fallen. The religious rite is that you spill a little bit of your blood and the sword will rise out of the stone on its own. If you do this as a Cleric of Lolth (you don't need to be Lolth-sworn) you will feel hundreds of spiders crawl all over you as Lolth is warning you not to do shit like that ever again. Not only did you perform the religious rite of another god, you performed the religious rite of a god she hates. And she is letting you know how much she hated that.
These are the only two instances in the game that I have found in which Lolth interacts with the player but there are plenty of other moments in which Lolth could interact with you, but doesn't (such as with the Phase Spider, the baby spiders in Grymforge, Kar'niss, or the dead spider in the Gauntlet of Shar). Of these two moments where Lolth does interact with you, one of these instances is in the goblin camp, and the other is in the Underdark not too far away from the goblin camp. I don't think it is much of a coincidence that these two interactions occur in close proximity to Minthara. Almost as if Lolth has a reason to be in that area specifically to watch and monitor things, and you just so happened to be there. And the only things that compel her to interact with you is because you pissed her off. But, as long you don't piss her off, she will do nothing and she will say nothing.
When Minthara was being tortured by the Absolute, she prayed to Lolth and begged Lolth to give her the strength to fight her enemies. But Lolth does nothing and Lolth says nothing. In fact, that was the full extent of Lolth's "punishment" for Minthara, nothing. All Lolth did was not answer Minthara's prayers and not show up when Minthara needed her the most. Lolth did not torture Minthara like the Absolute did, Lolth did not turn her into a drider, nor did Lolth eat her. All she did, was nothing. And yes, Lolth is known for abandoning drow and no longer interacting with them. A drow has to do something incredibly awful in order for Lolth to just back away from them entirely. But you cannot convince me that Lolth is going to let one of her Baenre's go so easily. It's not as if Minthara has done anything truly awful either to make Lolth that mad.
According to Minthara, she herself has sinned against the Spider Queen, but it's not as if she chose to abandon Lolth, she was forced away and mind controlled into being devoted to another god. But would this make a difference to Lolth? Does it really matter if Minthara was compelled to have faith in another god besides Lolth? It isn't until Minthara is freed and feels the absence of Lolth that she chooses to no longer follow Lolth. Minthara even mentions how turning against Lolth is a big no-no in Menzoberranzan. Minthara herself at one point has hunted down and killed those who turn their backs from Lolth so she knows the same will be done to her if she were to ever return home. In fact, if you are a Lolth-sworn drow or a Cleric of Lolth, you are given unique dialogue options with Minthara to kill her because she is a traitor to Lolth and these options continue to show up until you recruit her into your party and she joins your roster. Despite all of this, Lolth does nothing. Minthara spews anti-Lolth rhetoric left and right, and Lolth does nothing. If you take Minthara to the tabernacle, she will spit on a shrine to Lolth, and Lolth does nothing.
Minthara is also able to walk through the Gauntlet of Shar, which is in the Underdark, and Lolth does nothing. Sure, you could argue that its connection to the Shadowfell and the fact that Shar is there via Shadowheart is enough to keep Lolth away. The lore of DnD does not make it quite clear what the relationship between these two goddesses are. But I am willing to bet that Lolth is smart enough not to step on Shar's toes because Shar would annihilate her. However, there is a small little section of the Gauntlet where it actually does spit you out directly into the Underdark and into Lolth's territory. Minthara can walk right out there just fine, and Lolth does nothing.
But most importantly, Minthara's default ending is her returning to the Underdark with the sole purpose of destroying House Baenre and then killing Lolth. Destroying House Baenre could lead to a chaotic and political disaster in Menzoberranzan, and Lolth does nothing. Minthara quite literally wants to kill Lolth and has intentions to do so after taking House Baenre, and Lolth. Does. Nothing!
If Minthara goes into the Underdark and destroys House Baenre, this will cause chaos and death. And the Baenre's won't be the only ones she has to destroy, but any and all allies of House Baenre in which they do have a lot. And Lolth will feed off of all the death and carnage and chaos that Minthara is about to bring to Menzoberranzan because Lolth loves chaos more than she hates traitors.
Maybe, Lolth has not abandoned her as Minthara thinks she has. Maybe, Lolth has done nothing and said nothing because Minthara has not actually upset her. Maybe, Lolth has done nothing and said nothing because Minthara is already doing everything Lolth wants her to do. And all it took, was making Minthara think that Lolth abandoned her. There was no need for Lolth to answer Minthara's prayers, because Minthara always had the strength to fight her enemies.
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#minthara#minthara baenre#evil murder kitten#this game is all about the cycles of abuse and the characters choosing to break the wheel or continue the cycle#minthara is an example of someone who continues to cycle because she doesn't see that there is any other option#and the alternatives leave her vulnerable to abuse or death#she has had enough abuse in her life and most certainly does not want to die#when presented with the opportunity to rebound - either through bhaal or the absolute#she will choose it in a heartbeat as it is all she knows and she's familiar with it#if lolth ever speaks to minthara again - and welcomes and embraces her with open arms#i think minthara would completely relapse and devote herself once more to lolth because it is all she knows#and she expresses missing lolth and not knowing who she is or what to do without her#the only things that can pull minthara away from this relapse is you and her devotion to you#you are the only thing that can stop her from going back to lolth or embracing any of the other gods out of fear#because you are her reason to stay on the surface and you show her it is possible to defy the gods and live#you show her it is possible to have an identity outside of godly worship and that it is possible to live for one self#and to be devoted to one self#if you go with her to the underdark and successfully conquer house baenre and make your own house in its place#she's doing it entirely for the two of you#and i don't think she would accept lolths embrace and would continue to defy her
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words cannot describe how happy i am that heket remains lamb's #1 hater in the entire world even after her cleansing
#i haven't drawn anyone from this game other than monch in so long. lmao#the new update has infused me with so many THOUGHTS!! it's driving me CRAZY#i had to draw this scene because this dialogue makes me sooo . happy. i love how angry she is. i love that she STAYS angry.#while everyone else feels more at peace she's still pissed off and i love that for her. heket they could never make me hate you#i think. while i don't much care for the bishops overall because i'm an npc enjoyer until the end. i think this solidified#heket as my favorite bishop . like I wish they didn't heal her voice for whatever fucking reason BUT. i can ignore mm's stupid ass decision#and focus on the less stupid ass decisions. <3#ok i'm done talking now. i drew this impulsively i can't stop thinking about this scene#cult of the lamb#cotl#cotl heket#cotl lamb#cotl unholy alliance#cotl spoilers#clamart
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I love how Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse said âAnyone can be Spider-Manâ. I love how it inspired everyone to imagine their own Spider-People, saving the day in their own universes, with all kinds of cool, interesting personalities and aesthetics and mutations and life stories and relationships. We all put pieces of our soul into these homemade heroes. We had fun. We found community. And then Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse said, âWow, great job! Youâve really taken our message to heart. Well, get ready for even more of everything you liked from the first movie and a new message to complement the first. Anyone can be Spider-Man⊠and anyone can be pulled into a cult.â
So now we all have to contemplate whether our lovingly crafted heroes would ever be on Team Mandatory Trauma Because Martyr Complex or not and why.
#i for one made a second spider-person (diving belle) right after watching atsv#who IS on team mandatory trauma for reasons that make sense given her moral code and its context#her world has eldritch horror elements that give some of her enemies a sharper edge#and she has had to use lethal force#in a âstays true to her strict morality based around compassion nonethelessâ way like wonder woman#sheâs used to tough utilitarian decisions#sheâs learned that no hero can save everyone from intensely traumatic brushes with mind-breaking corruptive power#so when miguel gave his big speech she was âyeah okay. i get it. sometimes shit just happensâ#it was actually very enjoyable going through the character creation process#from the starting point of âWOULD chase miles and restrain him by forceâ#and then working toward âotherwise a genuinely good person and superhero who could be the star of her own seriesâ#atsv#spider man across the spider verse#across the spiderverse#spider-verse#smatsv#sm: atsv#spiderverse#spidersona
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REST OF THE WOMEN (and birdie mac) RAHHHHHHHHHH
We love women here and I like drawing boobs. Everyone wins!!!!!
#punch out wii#punch out#punch out!!#punch-out#birdie mac#peter punch#king hippo#soda popinski#the name stays the same cuz i feel it cam work either or#don flamenco#bald bull#whether or not shes actualy bald under the headscarf is up to you#erin ryan#oh and i couldnt decide on a tjing for her#so shes just so hardcore about boxing that she got a masectomy#that or she had it for unrelated reasons and was like#well now i dont gotta wear a shirt#and they cant punch a tit#L bozos#doc louis#i dont think that name is sticking but i wanted somethinf with the same syllables and like#way of saying it if you know what i mean#mr. sandman#I FORGOT HIM LMAO#yeah i couldnt tjink of a good name cuz yknow.#mister#sandman#cant girlboss through that one
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One of the biggest arguments Iâve seen used by the Ob*d*l*s against Anidala, is that scene in the ROTS novel where PadmĂ© says she could trust OW with the secret of the rebellion and was hesitant to tell Anakin and I just wanna say:
Padmé wasn't an idiot. She was an extremely intelligent and competent woman, perfectly able to understand that loving Anakin and thinking that he could be trusted with a certain politic-related matter were two very different things and reducing her choice regarding who to trust with an important political matter only on the basis of her feelings of romantic love diminishes her professionalism, and this is why I say y'all could never understand her.
PadmĂ© didnât have to "love" OW or even like him at all to know he was the perfect Jedi to ask for help in a secret political matter.
That's the point being made in the novel, sheâs hit with the realization that Anakin in this particular moment could not be told this piece of info because of his relationship with Palpatine, and PadmĂ© specifically mentions in the Junior ROTS novel that she didn't want to make Anakin âkeep a secretâ if he didnât agree with their stance because itâd be âunfair.â So this also played a part in why PadmĂ© didnât think it best to inform Anakin about the Rebellion. It honestly had little to do with her actually lacking trust in him, and more to do with the circumstances she was in not allowing her to be open with her husband and her not wanting to make him choose between his wife and his âfather figure.â
However, PadmĂ© knows OWâs political ideas aren't tied to ONE particular person but to a philosophy, one which is closer to her own, at that point. None of this was ever meant to be hinted as âromanticâ or even remotely insinuated as romantic. Itâs strictly professional and even the tone of the scene makes that so abundantly clear.
All Iâm saying is that, some of these proshippers are doing the most out here to try and prove their ship, like my loves? You forgot a very important thing called âš context âš and regardless of her rational thinking, PadmĂ© still went out of her way to try and talk out all of this Rebellion secrecy stuff with Anakin when she confronted him in the scene where she asks if he ever thought they were âfighting on the wrong side.â PadmĂ© didnât trust OW in the same way she trusted Anakin (with her entire self and being) she had the level of trust and love for Anakin that was only meant for him.
Mixing up her unwavering faith in Anakin as her husband with her trust in OWâs devotion to duty as her comrade/ally is purposely deluding yourself, because the two arenât the same and therefore canât be compared. An example of this is: PadmĂ© constantly putting more value to Anakinâs words over OWâs in the end of ROTS when he came to tell her of Anakinâs âcrimesâ. She completely disregarded what OW had claimed about her husband and instead made her way to where Anakin was herself, to ask him directly. Despite what the truth was, this is proof of her trusting Anakin unconditionally, and I didnât even think I had to spell that out because itâs as clear as day.
In conclusion, PadmĂ© didnât trust OW more than Anakin, she just knew the circumstances she was in didnât exactly make it easy for her to openly talk with her husband about these matters and thatâs part of what played into the issues they had in ROTS, itâs exactly what Sidious wanted.
#star wars#anidala#anakin skywalker#padmĂ© amidala#sw novels#revenge of the sith novelization#revenge of the sith junior novelization#avoiding tagging and using full character names because I donât wanna attract those weirdos on my post#haters dni#anti ob****d*la#iâve seen shippers claim that ow and padme would make a better couple simply because they both value duty and share some of the same ideals#even though padmĂ©âs strong sense of duty doesnât define her personal identity#sheâs always wanted to leave behind her responsibilities to live a simple happy life with her husband#she stays out duty and care for peace and justice in the galaxy#which is actually a trait she shared with anakin not ow#anakin is loyal and dutiful because he cares about helping people and thatâs padmĂ©âs aim too#ow stays to help people because of his devotion to the jedi#thatâs not the same#saying sheâd be more compatible with ow is like the punchline of a bad joke#in every way padmĂ© shares more in common with anakin when it comes to the core of her personality#and relationships arenât built off sharing ideals mind you#itâs about connecting and sharing core values which is what anakin and padmĂ© always had#thereâs a reasons why padmĂ© and ow argued a lot in wild space#padmĂ© says the one thing her and ow can agree on is loving anakin otherwise their mindsets clash way too much#compatible? never in a million years.#padmĂ© herself disagrees#and apart from the fact that canonically padmĂ© never shows romantic interest in him#nor does the narrative include ow as one of padmĂ©âs love interestsâŠ#holy god my tags deserve their own posts
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Re-design of my un-named Beetlejuice OC from back when I was thirteen
Original Reference under the cut:
#my art#beetlejuice#toonjuice#beetlejuice cartoon#beetlejuice fanart#beetlejuice movie#procreate#I donât really make OCâs for fanwork anymore⊠but the ones I had when I was younger almost never got named đ„Č#When I first made her I really really liked her- and her story was very self indulgent#Looking at it now is almost way too weird for me⊠(and honestly a little unintentionally homophobic???)#Basically she was one of the girls from Danteâs inferno⊠except she got kicked out because she only had attraction to girls#(This was BEFORE I suspected that I was a lesbianâ mind you.)#Yeah but anyway she went to the Deetz/Maitland house looking for a place to stay but drove everybody crazy#She was super flamboyant- loved everything pink n fluffy- and was well meaning but did more harm than good trying to do nice things for the#She had this one sided crush on Delia??? Like musical Beej and Adam except less perverted and more flirty/sappy? I was an odd kid- okay? đ„Č#Anyway⊠the old design didnât really do much to show off her personality⊠so I ended up upheaving the whole thing#It was okay for what I knew at the time- but I know what I was trying to say then and now I have the knowledge to say it better#Alsoâ the reason I gave her horns here is so silly.#When I was younger I was in a Christian school where I wasnât allowed to draw witches-ghosts-demons-etc.#So even though I based her on the Dante girls⊠I refused to give her horns because I thought that was âtoo sinfulâ#I even remember having so much guilt while looking for references of the Dante workers#I couldnât even look for more than five seconds!#Anyways⊠she really pushed the boundaries for me at the time and itâs fun to see how Iâve changed and grown since then.
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The hate from, primarily, straight women in regards to Michael being turned into Michaela is disgusting because it really shows how poorly they, not only, treat wlw ships but also have internalized misogyny because the way they are also talking about Benedict and Sophie but so clearly in a way that's borderline fetishizing--- I can't, especially because what do you mean Francesca's infertility plot is erased now that she's in a sapphic relationship? Like, you don't think that wlw relationship can't struggle with this as well? Be so for real.
#bridgerton#francesca bridgerton#michaela stirling#michael stirling#benedict bridgerton#sophie beckett#bc from I've been told sophie's story is dependent on her being a woman bc of the oppression she faces while michael's isn't#and the only reason these people are bringing this plot point up is bc they only value male centered ships to the point of fetishizing them#like ngl i had to stay off twitter when ben was confirmed pan and his scene with that couple bc the way these people were talking about it-#like the homophobia is so rampant in this community that they viewed any queer scenes on this show as âfan serviceâ#don't even get me started on the transphobia either like its pride let us live!#tw infertility#âthe queer oneâ THE WHO? nah imma need you to take a seat in the corner acting like multiple people can't be queer like đ
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Day 37: Truck (Sonictober day 8)
PLEASE! Donate to save Muhammad Shehab's family! Main Post | GoFundMe
#oddly enough i do actually have a backstory for this#I headcannon Amy having been in a public orphanage prior to her going to Little Planet#part of this is becuase what parent would let their kid just disappear off to a nearby planet#but also cuz ykno#most sonic charas dont have parents for one reason or another#and Amy has her own apartment by adventure 1 im p sure#which is strange on it's own but would be more werid if she had a family to live with#I dont think Vanilla adopts Amy but I do think Amy ends up staying with them for a little after the events of CD#Amy has a truck here becuase the orphange was crowded and underfunded so the kids didnt get many toys#I feel like it wasn't cruel or anything though#but it was crowded enough that when a little girl runs off to follow her tarot reading all the way into space no one really noticed#amy rose#amy rose daily#sonic#sth#sonic fanart#please donate!#sonictober 2024#day 37
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I'm laughing so hard why is ianto such a snitch
ianto: hey boss! check out this sexuality crisis!! "Interesting."
What a critter bro. MIND UR BUSINESS YOU WEIRDOâŒïžâŒïž literally wait like a week and you'll be having some revelations of your own gayboy
#âits his job to make sure torchwood stays secretâ he had not a SINGLEE reason to cc Jack in on this one#ianto is literally THE teachers pet smh (said as a ianto kinnie) i love him so much#is it torchwood that makes the strangest people alive or are people who end up joining torchwood just Like That#also please dont let this distract you from how hilarious tosh is shes my favorite person ever#âare you following this Auntie?â shes the best oh my god#torchwood#ianto jones#toshiko sato#torchwoodspoilers#rusty goes on a dw rant
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MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.
#act 3 come through please đ#I don't think it can salvage some of the things I have contentions with but still... please...#don't ask me about the silco vander flashback with jinxs + vis mom#or the bizzare choice to do so much of the storytelling through this weird music video format they've got going on#completely stripping it of the weight these plot beats could've had if they were... normal scenes#and also missing the point of how the music was used in season 1 and what made it so effective#bc it was complementary to instead of replacing the storytelling#seriously don't ask me about these things I will spontaneously implode on the spot#whyyyyy would they recontextualize season 1 like this with that flashback#to me it kind of ruins the character dynamics and themes in s1. it just makes me so sad you have no idea#also what even are they doing with Jinx rn for real#aaarghhhh just... so many things that are making me scratch my head#also I'm so terribly sorry but I could not care less about Isha sorry lol#like i get that its sad conceptually but she was such a non-character that i struggle to feel impacted at all#same with sky tbh. i thought her role in s1 was alright but there is so much emotional weight put on her now#in terms of her relationship to Viktor but that was barely established so it's weird to have her around#and clearly you're supposed to care but they haven't given me much reason to#isha and sky were non-characters just there to die to further the development of other characters#they didn't really have anything going on on their own and that's just a type of character and plot device that does nothing for me#also i thought the war between zaun and piltover + internal struggles in zaun bc silcos gone would be the main focus#but that stuff seems so sidetracked rn#also sorry i dont like what they did with vander and warwick either. that man should've stayed dead lol#it honestly just makes his death feel less impactful and i dont know what this is supposed to do for the story or the themes???#that just feels like a pointless plotline that is taking up time that could've been spent on other things#i just... i could go on like this for a while like there are so many things that just puzzle me#it's so weird considering how tight and thematically consistent season 1 was#let's see where act 3 goes but... i kinda have a bad feeling about it ngl#obv im glad others are enjoying it and this is just my opinion! also a lot of this are probs just my personal tastes anyway#arcane spoilers
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