#abd has a place in the narrative

[just-trying-my-best-everyday]

I hate how children's media being adapted into live action is no longer child-friendly. I like the Percy Jackson show, but why are the episodes 40ish minutes long? There's a reason why kids shows usually have 20min episodes, you know? Not to mention it could've helped you to pace the story better and have more episodes, which would keep people subscribed to Disney+ for longer too. Why is the live action ATLA "darker" than the show? It was originally meant for kids and it was perfectly mature and deep enough.

Bring back child-friendly media, especially if you're making something ORIGINALLY INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.

[sunflowerwizard]

We Don't Talk About Abdel: the ""Canon"" Gorion's Ward and Why I Hate Him

If you've only played Baldur's Gate 3 you may have heard of Abdel Adrian. The Hero of Baldur's Gate, late Grand Duke, and Bhaalspawn who died, badly.

There is, unfortunately a lot you might not know. Spoilers ahead for the original Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, and Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal. And their shitty novelizations you should not read.

Your choices matter. Allegedly.

There are many ways to handle continuity in a series of choice-heavy RPGs with custom main characters. There's the approach the original Fallout games did, by setting the second installment long enough after the first, that your player character can be vaguely alluded to without much friction. There's the Bioware approach, of uploading your save data from previous games to slightly effect the world in the next one. And then there's the Baldur's Gate series, which splits the difference and makes the worst of both worlds: a century has past and there's no cheeky vagueness to transplant your own player character as the Hero of Baldur's Gate. It is Abdel Adrian's world and we are merely living in it.

I'd argue there's one thing that very clearly separates a Commander Shepherd from an Abdel Adrian, and that's serving a role in a game that lines up with the story being told.

What's the deal with Bhaalspawn?

I'd like to get one thing out of the way first. Bhaalspawn =/= The Dark Urge. I only mention this because I've seen some people assume all Bhaalspawn operate on the "sleeper cell turbo murderer" framework that the DU does. The majority of the first Baldur's Gate game, the player character themself doesn't know they're in any way unusual. You get ominous dream sequences as the story progresses, up until the Big Reveal.

At which point, one of the themes reveals itself: nature versus nurture. Your PC is a 20-something year old young adult who lived inside a walled town, and had their entire support system torn away the second they left. Unless you've chosen to roleplay that way, they may not have ever felt a particular inclination towards violence. This is in stark contrast with Big Bad, your half-brother Sarevok whose upbringing was filled with struggle and violence.

It's even more apparent in Throne of Bhaal, when you're confronted with it outright: what if your places had been switched? Maybe you would've committed even more atrocities than your half-brother.

We now have to talk about the books. Unfortunately. Canonically the novelization of Baldur's Gate is the origin of Abdel Adrian. He is Philip Athans' brainchild and there's fuck all we can do about it. Unless I get a word of god response from Wizards of the Coast or story beats are directly contradicted in other BG-related media that has come out since, I am treating the events of the books as canon.

A narrative treadmill of a character arc

The game starts out in relatively bog-standard hero's journey fashion. It's morning in Candlekeep, you're leaving home for the very first time with your adoptive dad, and he's been very cagey about the details other than "we need to leave, I'll explain later."

Abdel Adrian, has already left Candlekeep at the start of the novel. He's already in his mid-twenties, and has been traveling the Sword Coast as a sword-for-hire for nearly a decade (presumably cornering the child soldier market). He also really likes killing people, hence his line of work. The big inciting incident with Gorion happens because he sent Abdel a letter about needing to talk, at which point Sarevok shows up, kills Gorion, who tells Abdel to seek out Jahiera and Khalid with his dying breath.

I'll break down my issues with this point by point. -Abdel is very clearly not a level 1 character. Perhaps this is a petty point, but isn't half the fun of this style of fantasy story watching the protagonist grow in skill, until they can eventually face off against the seemingly indomitable Big Bad? Spoiler: Abdel is already at the peak of his Swordsmanship Power™ and we will not see any growth on that front.

-What are the stakes, actually? We went from "everything I know and love has been torn away from me. I'm a level 1 adventurer in a big, dangerous world and cannot go home." to "I'm a big tough fighterman with a penchant for murder who's going to avenge the father figure the book tell-not-shows you I cared about" Like my previous point, we have no baseline, no sense of what the main character has truly lost. I'm much less interested in watching someone start from the middle and fight their way to the top, than seeing someone from rock bottom getting there.

-His Bhaalspawn heritage manifests itself as murdergremlin tendencies. If you've not encountered a player with murdergremlin tendencies while playing a ttrpg, you've almost certainly heard horror stories about them. The guy who loves to escalate encounters into combat, who threatens and maims because "it's what my character would do" and often times view themselves as the main character.

If that sounds exhausting, this is the character whose head we're trapped inside. A guy whose two big motivators are murder and sex, whose external moral compass is his love interest (Jahiera deserved better). AND EVEN THEN by the end of the second book, the only growth he has experienced as a character is "maybe sometimes I won't murder everyone who makes me angry" when he just point-blank refuses to kill the antagonist of BG2. Oh, but not before he had sex with and violently murdered the other main antagonist who was also a woman.

"Okay the books are awful, but why be angry at Abdel?"

Because by virtue of WOTC continuing to use "Abdel Adrian" as THE Hero of Baldur's Gate and a canon character, those books are still canon. SOME elements had to be retconned for being incongruent with the games (did I mention in the first novel Abdel leaves Khalid to die during a fight in the first novel?) but otherwise? I've seen no revisions to his base character. And now every piece of Baldur's Gate media is built on this shitty, rotten foundation.

Are these points somewhat petty? Yes! Either Wizards should've come up with an entirely new stand-in Bhaalspawn to wash the shit taste of those novelizations out of everyone's mouths, or they should've written future material to only vaguely allude to BG 1&2's protagonist. The Bhaalspawn saga was wrapped up perfectly fine in Throne of Bhaal. Either he should've stayed dead with Cyric taking on his domain, or find another way to bring him back. Abdel Adrian having .0001% Bhaal Juice still in his blood and thus turning into The Slayer is a "Somehow, Palpatine returned" way of doing it.

On the off chance anyone is morbidly curious about the terrible novels, me and some pals did a live-reading not too long ago. If this post gets 100 notes I will make a Greatest Hits compilation of terrible moments. Spoiler: one of them includes the "spider in her cleavage" scene.

[starlightshadowsworld]

I love Percy and Annabeth but they should not have been in Heroes of Olympus.

Because they overshadow everyone else.

People even say they skipped other characters povs just to read there's.

I love them but I think they shouldn't have been as prominently apart of the story.

Because yeah I love them but I've had 5 books of these guys, I'd really like to know the rest of the seven.

Hell Jason's birthday is the day they fall into Tartarus soo...tell me they aren't overshadowed..

Jason's our main character and he constantly gets pushed aside and is not written well and constantly compared to as being Percy's lesser version.

Which isn't fair.

And he's not given a chance to change that.

He's not allowed to exist outside of Percy because of course he isn't.

Percy's right there.

Also give them a break.

They just fought a war.

Personally would love if the lost hero started with a snap shot of the battle of Manhatten and zoomed out to the Roman part of the fight.

Jason leading the charge and just "Yeah.. That's me, your probably wondering how I got here."

And takes us all the way back to a mysterious woman giving Jason up and the wolves coming for him.

With us learning from kid Thalia demanding to know where Jason is that this Jason is her Jason.

Jason Grace.

We see the wolf house we watch Jason try to survive and absolutely break our hearts hearing someone so young think he's so alone and no one loves him.

Lupa becoming more motherly to him but that fear Jason has always remains that she will turn on him one day.

Jason wandering the streets to Camp Jupiter.

Jason's situation bring the reverse of Percy's.

Being out casted immediately and than put on a pedestal once he's claimed.

Jason immediately hating it.

Jason being pushed into this good soilder narrative but he doesn't fit it at all.

His upbringing has left him wild, less bothered with proper fighting techniques and more on survival.

He fights to kill.

He fights to live.

And no one else gets that.

Except one camper, Octavian, who's older than Jason abd the Augur.

Everyone after reading the Pjo series seeing Octavian...I got my eye on you Mr.

Who insults the elders and is the first to get Jason to laugh.

And encourages Jason to stand up for what he believes in.

Giving Jason the courage to deny his place in the 1st cohort and join the 5th.

This

Pisses everyone off.

Mostly the 1st.

Who are downright offended because you don't turn down the first cohort.

And Jason's like, but I just did.

The 5th have no idea what to make of Jason but in time they become friendly.

Dakota becoming a friend to him.

Jason knows this because he shares his kool aid with him sometimes.

He does get in trouble for squaring off with and scaring off some bullies of the upper cohorts.

Because Jason hates bullies and he recognises the kid, Frank being picked on.

Apparently they stole his stick and while Jason has no idea it's importance, it made Frank sad soo he goes after them.

Ends up on probatio and friends with Frank.

Who admires Jason's bravery and wishes he could be too.

So the rest of the leigion kinda miffed some 5th upstart is embarrassing them.

And so when the next quest is given its to him.

Quests are different here to Camp Half-blood.

Since they don't have a true oracle, specifics are never mentioned.

Leaving the leigion to give the prophecy to whoever they want.

And they want to knock Jason down a few pegs and so they send him.

Jason picking Frank and Dakota.

Neither of the two are hopeful because the day a 5th is sent on a quest is the day their funeral is held.

Not the case though and they do in fact succeed and do it well.

Frank even opening up about his stick and showing that he is as brave and courageous as he wants to be.

It's through that act of bravery Frank is claimed as a son of Mars.

And though he's not exactly sure he should be one, Jason and Dakota both tell him it suites him well.

They both even do the "all hail Frank Zhang, Son of Mars" speech.

Which makes him smile.

On the way back though they do find Reyna.

Jason gets the short straw and has to do the oh the Roman God's are real but she knows and that she's a daughter of Bellona.

And they all head back to camp together.

And while Reyna has her guard up she does genuinely seem to enjoy her company with the others.

She's also the only other person to truly understand how Jason fights and his instinct to survive.

Though she doesn't share why.

Octavian greets them, proud and Reyna is on probatio until they can see what cohort she fits into.

Though she remarks after seeing the egos of the 1st that the 5th might be better afterall.

Celebrations are held and Jason wonders if the quest is really over.

Also all or us wondering if Octavian was genuine about what he said to Jason to follow his dreams.

Or if he did it to take Jason's place in the 1st.

Can't tell me after Luke anyone of you guys wouldn't be mad suss of an older blonde boy befriending Jason.

Fool me once.

Shame on you.

Fool me twice...

Damn...

Also reading the series prior and than this means everyone agrees with Jason.

Like we saw Percy fight for his life over and over and are just like... Oh you bitches gonna have a rude awakening when you face real monsters 💅🏽.

I have no idea what the quest would be but I'd want them to all line up to the next big prophecy.

Instead of it coming out of nowhere.

Hazel does come around but later on because of the doors and with her so does Nico.

[alaskan-wallflower]

I don’t think the fandom as a whole is exactly what we think - outside of tik tok - it’s actually insanely normal .

I always see a lot of mature comments on Instagram and Reddit and Facebook .

People who talk about things like absences and rumors and nonsense- comes from the immaturity that is that platform of tik tok - and I think it should be reported and taken down- bc it’s very much a harassment tactic at this point

Don’t let people who are trying to continuously be vile take you from liking something- or sharing things about who you like on the show.

It’s funny bc those tik tok commenters on that particular video saying how Brody was mean at the stage door- are really trying to start some type of narrative that is not true -

Bc I can speak only for me- but I met him- and I thought he was insanely beautiful and kind - and very genuine with his time- and we had a very nice conversation about singing and my goal to become better than what I am now.

Another person I spoke to - told me how they felt he was probably the most genuine at the stage door than a lot of actors they had met

when you say ‘people said brody was mean at stage door’ i think it’s more likely than not because he doesn’t always take pics with fans. i seriously doubt he’s mean at stage door, esp since even the little experience where he saw my cane and leaned a bit closer and kinda gestured to the stage made me think otherwise. that’s just me though.

and yeah, i am trying, it just gets insanely difficult when im being gang piled by numerous anons abd people messaging me and it’s been like that for six months. i think im going to take a step back and just make fanart and stuff for the musical. the fan base honestly has ruined the musical for me and running my other blog has made my mental health worse but i frankly feel trapped because i know that blog is the main place people want to ask questions and i dont wanna take away the asks and anon because i know people may have questions, but its so draining and mentally i just cannot handle it anymore. and im trapped.

i really am only one person at the end of the day. and it’s insanely hard to try and keep doing this, because i don’t know when it’s going to end. i don’t know when i’m going to stop getting these messages because it does take a toll on my mental health, which i hate saying because that makes me sound like a victim, and i’m not, but i just wish i was able to help outside of tumblr

[tanadrin]

Shoemaker points out in his book that the narrative of the Quran being compiled under Uthman is, when you dig into it, only one of many narratives about the compilation of the Quran from early Islamic tradition (and one that Shi’a sources long contested), and a composite one at that. The first chapter is an extended argument that 1) the literature of early Islam was far more heterogenous than the traditional narrative has it, with no clear distinction between hadith and quran (i.e. between divine revelation and teaching of Muhammad), 2) different proto-Muslim communities sometimes had very different texts they used, and 3) the final compilation probably took place in the reign of Abd al-Malik, specifically under the direction of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the governor of Hejaz, decades after Uthman, and thus after a long period of cultural cross-pollination with the Christian and Jewish communities of Syria and Iraq.

[ramrodd]

COMMENTARY:

The "we" passages are the best textual debunking of Jimmy Tabor's axoim that Harmonization is the enemby of the Truth and as a devestating exposure of the Pro-Life bullshit of Evangelical Calvinism, If you didn't have dicks and exhibited the breadth of imagination it takes to pee in the woods without getting your shoes wet, you would have made a connection between Luke as a Greekitrained physicain and the woman with the uterine hemorage in Mark 5:25 - 34,

Luke has a huge Jewish gynecological market for his services. Women are never unclean for him and Paul probably ran into him in his trade as a tent maker and the Jewish women in the market place who he employed to identify and enter Jewish congregations. He ran into Luke along the way and it is not entirely improbably that there were casual lovers, Paul being as queer as a South Beach drag queen, The important thing is that Luke gave Paul entry into any jewish community from the distaff side and Luke found it congenial to sustain the relationship for his own reasons, The dropping in and out of the narrative after they hooked up was just a function that they both had stuff to do on the side that didn't require constant commentary,

In addition to that, Luke was accustome to journal his activities in the manner of a man of science. Jesus employs wicca in at least two of His healings, the deaf-mute man whose tongue He spits on and sticks His fingers in his ears and the man whose sight is restored wfter a two-step operation,

I practice wicca some, myself and, when I came to DC after Vietnam in 1971 there was a very substantial wicca community in Northern Virginai, i was taught to read palms by a woman who had been struck twice by lightenin and could make a pentagram appear in her palm. I think the Nazification of the Reagan administration has largely dispersed that community, but I'm here to tell you, you guys have led very sheltered lives.

Luke is the leading edge of scientific medicine in the Bible, That's why the Holy Spirit assigned him tow books in the New Testament, He is like Quelle: his was a contemporary eyewitness to an evangelical process that closed the loop with the Roman Christian society of the Italian Regiment of the Praetorian Guard

Get tiyr egads iyt if tiyr Oist Niderb Gustiruc Decibstryctuib asses abd reconsider your data in terms of literature instead of broken pottery

[semi-imaginary-place]

5.0 rambling and 5.x adventures

when was it established that summoned being return on death of the summoner. also if you're tearing into the rift shouldn't bringing and sending be equaally as easy/difficult

elidibus seeing zenos walk up sword drawn and running away is so funny. he just noped out of that situation. not sure why they cut the scene at gaius attacking zenos, zenos has way too much plot armor to die by gaius.

oh hey amurot and all it's people are still hanging around. would have thought with emy's death they would have all dissipated and the city returned to ruin. i think it has something to do with how the game is coded. just like how the garleans didn't disappear after 2.0. if anything making amurot an instanced area might have been a better idea would have really hit home the transcience of everything that this place was like a liminal space. but unlike other areas after msq progression dialogue does not change here although this effect is lessened since in like 2.0 and 3.0 they didn't change much either.

Ok time to look things up. Right 7 calamities, 6 elemental, bahamut, and the doom timeline #8. G'raha awoke then went to the first 100 first years ago just in time for the Flood. I wonder how many source years that was would be would be. The wods went back tot he first in patch 3.4. actually they were on the source for a while since 3.1 at least. How much time passed on the first. Ironworks timetravel might have actually been pretty accurate in their rewind. G'raha was sent 100 years ago into the First's past but that might have only been a few months ago source time.

Looking at everything i think the devs just wanted g'raha back and then wrote a timetravel plot point to bring him back into the story. And there were so many ways to kill him off in 5.0 like if emy hadnt shot him and he'd actually died on gulg or the timeline dissolving thing (could also mean the 8th rejoining could still happen but let's be real, it's because g'raha is the dev's favorite i mean i got spoiled he's now a scion and is in dawntrail. The devs just want him to continue being a part of the main plot.

Sundering happened to break up zodiark and seal him

Wonder what the advertisements for ascians was like we heard varis about a true glorious humanity. Wonder how lahabrea, elidibus, and emet-selch got the others onboard because the ascians in general (thanks arr) seem pretty bwahaha kick puppies evil.

So the 13th was never rejoined so um real calamity of darkness. So 7 calamities + the first + the failed 13th + the source. Only 3 other intact shards.

arr and sb were both about geopolitics, war, military power, and garlemald. hw and shb meanwhile were more sentimental narratives that had less to do with the mainplot. good thing i like both. idk what dt is about seems like a beach episode.

Another plot point lost is that the devs could have made the crystal exarch the g'raha tia of another shard instead of doing timetravel. Yes yes the game game would have to be remade im not talking about that, im talking about when the devs storyboarded abd outlines shb they could have done this differently. Now with multiple timelines any character that dies (hades) can also timetravel back into the story. Narratively it means no one ever ends. And between this and zenos im never going to believe a character is gone for good. The wall has been broken.

Was thinking about Ardbert and emy again. Ardbert was 1/14, death, and so faded he'd sort of hlf forgetting himself by the time we meed him in the story. In addition whenever he's with wol-chan it's like the sun covering up the sky no was you are going to see some faint star. No way Emet-Selch saw him around the wol. And he'd have no reason to notice Ardbert outside of that context. And even if he did I don't think emy would care.

Azem is the title. Sidenote let's be real because the devs cycle names like lahabrea (and maybe even emet-selch) were likely originally intended to be names. The writers for shb likely retconned them to be titles. Like what do lahabrea, and emet selch even mean is there an ancient language and these are just untranslated? And then you can tell azem was conceptualized later with its connections to azemya and azim. I did get ew spoiled just bit as bad as shb for ew it's like i have to deliberately not put the pieces together because im very good at putting the pieces together. Anyways ancient names seem to be greek inspired like hylotheu...s the talking shade or hades is straight up mythology. Venat is an import character from ffxii where she seems to do the exact same thing and play the same role? (I'll get to ew eventually... probably...). So if azem with their sun connections follows the pattern then they'd be something related to apollo or helios. The devs are never going to confirm an azem personal name because this fandom runs on wol ocs and people would riot over their special little baby.

i saw a pixie die. maybe

ok actual moral dilemma in the qitari we don't have enough information to tell what is the truth what actually happened. instead the game is asking the player what story should be told. if this was irl the father's story would be more likely but this is a videogame and ffxiv loves it's historical twists (im looking at you ivallice raids) so who knows what is actually true the devs probably never decided. so the question is of what effect each story will have on the future if the ronkan emperor is framed as a subjugator would this act as a cautionary tale about power? if the son's interpretation is enshrined would this be about the benefits of encountering different cultures? im probably overthinking this.

for some reason the player is given the choice on which interpretation of history will be recorded. not enough info is given to be able to tell which interpretation is better supported by evidence. so it becomes a moral question of what history should be remembered. that's the qitari's first contact with the ronkas was conquest and slavery, or as saviors and and protectors of the weaker

oof this is the hardest decision in the game. because I'm on the side of truth what I would do is not restore the stela and leave it as be open to interpretation and then like write competing academic analyses. but there is no truth here only the story we want to tell. i keep going back and forth. the ronkan empire seems to generally have a favorable reputation, the vii are still loyal to them but we don't know about it's formation or relationship with the qitari. also i dont like empires the inherent nature of conquest and satellite states.

the twinning: ah back to the crystal tower trapped in there for 76 years in alliance raids. DOOMED TIMELIME IRONWORKS MADE A MINI ALEXANDER that's how they did the timetravel! i just connected 2 dots. and we learn why g'raha is crystalized, he was merged with the tower to survive the "infinite chaos" of the rift and this was done somehow by studying how omega could?? does that mean omega's world and the omega raids were in the rift???

i think it could have been cool to play in a rejoined world. obviously this wouldn't work because of player customization and what not but i personally like the idea since i have little attachment to my player characters.

[closed-third-eye]

Luke and jace participated in one prank but aegon was his only bully. He was the one who will lead to aemonds sexual assault at 13. Even alicent knows aegon bullies aemond and rolls her eyes when he tries to blame velaryon brothers, not sure why you are blind.

So weird these people list down what I'm guessing they think are "achievements" of young teens when in narrative it is supposed to show how these children are burdened by their roles and place in the world. Dany raped by a 30 y/o made to perform to make it easier for her> she tops drogo because pain started to become unearable for her, sansa a prisoner and abused by the court members, robb being made to head a war.

And aemond was 10 years old you are right, but the fact you used book age for all of the other character and show age for hotd ones is such a funny way to make aemond more of a victim when in book he wasn't. Just like the show runners.

In book, he was ten while jace 6 and luke 5, jace had only brought a wooden sword abd luke knew that wasnt going to help him make ameond get off of jace, he was punching jace over and over, and would have beaten him to death, till luke had no choice but to intervene. In the show too aemond would have probably killed jace but again luke intervened

Luke did not dig his own grave, he got caught up in an ego trip of a maniac who was never taught restraint. He killed not just a as child but an envoy a huge issue in westroes and real world.

A maniac who will go on to mass murder for no reason, lukes murder was just a taste of what's to come. And I'm not sure if age wasn't an issue in the show they would have ever shown a size and age comparison between the two to show how much of a disadvantage luke has and when aemond, being the psychopath he is, chases him

Luke dug his own grave

I like Luke but the fact that they make him an “innocent child” does not negate the fact that he dug his own grave. “He was only 14”, “he didn’t know how to fight” and Aemond was 10 when he lost his eye, and even less when cousins and brothers bullied him. Robb stark was 14 when he had to fight in his father’s place; Sansa was 11 when she had to stay by Joffrey’s side to keep from dying; Arya was 9 when she had to learn to fend for herself after fleeing Lord Stark’s execution at King’s Landing; John Snow was 14 and had to make do after Lord Stark’s death because he knew no one would help him for being a “bastard”; Dany had to be khalessi aged 13 and fuck a guy older than her; to get an army to go back to westeros and still got pregnant.

Don’t come using Luke’s age as an excuse, he knew he was making fun of Aemond and that it wasn’t nice. “he was defending Jace” they both got involved in a fight that only belonged to Daemon and Laena’s daughters

[jackedspicer]

ok ok ok in regards to betty grof i think the way it all ended was the only way it could have, given everything about her character BUT theres a little creature in my brain who still wanted to see magic betty and ice king become best friends and do stupid shit

[tenkasato]

Hi hi😁 im really glad to catch ur requests open. Ten, would it be alright to adk for a comfort fic with Akashi and his insecure fem! best friend in their 20s? Like sure akashi is perfect abd all but with each other they can share their ups and downs as young adults navigating through life. They experience heartaches and breakups and drunk nights and happy moments, victories, failures, anxieties, hilarious moments etc that theyll remember forever. Theyve fought too and made up throughout the years. Theyre both confused with their careers and perosnal lives. Akashis more sure definitely but she doesnt know where shes going. I thinj this has thr potential to br a funny story hahaha. They just sypport one another always! Maybe they end up together in the end or just implied? Lots of fluff please!! Thank u so much. If it's too vague mayve just akashi tirelessly motivating her and believing in her always never once doubting her potential? You can of course tweak all the details to ur liking judt this general vibe is more than okay. Really need this one! (me im confused 20 something lol) thank you so so much this would mean the world to me.

Hi anon! Let me start by saying how much I adore this idea. I was thinking of how I could incorporate the scenes you listed. At first I was thinking of writing headcanons, but I think writing a narrative of Akashi’s POV will allow him to be more expressive. Anyways, without further ado… ^^

Pairings: Akashi Seijuro x bestfriend!reader

Akashi Seijuro knows what your every breath meant.

He watches you furrow your brows, pucker your lips and make a sharp exhale as you scan the list of entrance exam passers on the board. He waits for you to find your name (there, in the middle of the people sharing your surname. He’s seen it minutes ago), and when you finally did, he observes your sigh of relief.

A radiant smile stretches your lips.

“I passed,” you announce, as if he didn’t know yet.

“Of course,” he answers. His voice brims with confidence. If there’s anyone who could put her mind to something she wanted, it was his best friend.

“Come on, I’ll treat you!” you enthuse, hooking an arm around his as you walk away from the crowd.

Your breathe trembles. Excitement zapped in with flavors of anxiety. 

Even so, he’s glad you’re going to college with him.

– 0 – 

There are times when Akashi wishes you saw yourself with his eyes.

Your hair sits like a worn-out mop on your head. Light make-up smudged at the wrong places. Eyes rimmed with exhaustion, hurt and self-contempt. 

“I should’ve know,” you release a long-drawn groan. “I should’ve know he was a good-for-nothing jerk who just wanted me as some sort of a trophy!”

Akashi’s quiet gaze falls on your drink—warm milk, before a smile captures his lips. Who gets drunk on milk anyways?

“Am I not good enough, Sei?” you mewl. Your eyes are huge and watery, begging him to disagree. 

He sighs. “I warned you early on that that boy was nothing short of trouble. Did you at least heed my words?”

You wince and lay your head over your folded arms. With another groan, you snuggle to the side of his arm. “I need my best buddy right now. Not a father.”

“And a friend I am,” he says. He thinks it over, and then, “He is blind.”

“What?”

“You are a supremely flawed human being. We all are. Needless to say, you are a definitely a cut above many.”

You hear the tease in his voice, narrow your eyes and huff. “Is that your way of comforting me?”

Akashi remembers the time you lightheartedly prepare a meal for your now ex-boyfriend. He recalls the genuine emotions dancing in your eyes. He hears your hopeful voice, the one that carries a song of future promises. 

He wishes you’d see yourself through his eyes.

“No, it’s my way of telling you the truth.”

– 0 – 

Akashi thinks you’re like the moon. Meek and fluctuating.

When you were kids, you always shied away from the adults. You preferred to play with him at the garden or in his room. 

Whenever he invited you out to one of the family busines dinners, you begrudgingly tagged along. The polite smile on your face never left, but he could see hints of unease in the way you kept close to him.

When with his friends or teammates in Teiko, you’d exchange pleasantries, indulge them in small talks and even spill supposedly embarrassing things about him. He’d feel you stealing glimpses of him as you looked for reassurance.

“I think you’re like the sun, Sei,” you tell him one time, during the heat of an argument he’d rather not have. It was one of those times when you two walk home together in the swell of the night, university work keeping you both out longer than normal. 

You’ve stopped on your tracks, and instead, you’re glaring at him. 

“Pardon?” he says.

“I said, you’re like the sun. It’s like you’re meant to rule the skies. You’ve got everything figured out. You’ve got your path laid out for you, and all you need to do is walk over it.”

Akashi finally faces you. It’s then that he notices the slight glimmer in your eyes. Tears from you are rare, and that is why seeing them adorning your gaze makes his chest ache.

“I meant no offense,” Akashi explains. “All I am trying to say is that this indecision might deter you from realizing the things you really want.”

“But what can I do about it? I’m not so sure what I want to do. You think shifting courses is easy?”

He shakes his head. “I did not say that. But you need to start making choices that you wouldn’t second think at the last moment and waste valuable time.”

Your eyes flare at the jab. “Someone like you won’t understand what it’s like to be unsure and lost. You’re talented, smart and versatile. On the other hand, I have to work thrice as hard just to get by each day. I bet you’ve never experienced feeling empowered and ready to take the world one second, only to run out of fumes the next moment.”

A choked noise rumbles your throat as you inspire some air. 

“And unlike you, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon up my ass! Stop pretending as if you understand me at all!”

The hurt etches itself on his face, you realize too late.

“Ah… Seijuro, I didn't mean to…” you begin, but he walks ahead of you.

“Let’s go home,” he tells you, not wanting to talk further.

The silence of the aftermath kills you, but it also kills him too, knowing that he could’ve told you about how he thinks the moon glows brighter at nights.

– 0 – 

Akashi knows he isn’t infallible.

He’s been beaten by you in a game of cards multiple times when you were seven. He’s fallen a flight of stairs once, and just when he thought no one saw, a blast of laughter emanated from you. He’s worn clothes that were 'outrageously heinous’ according to you. He’s made you cry before, many times—sometimes because of the most mundane and pettiest of things such as eating your dessert accidentally, but sometimes because of almost irreparable damages such as when he told you he needed no one else but himself.

It was a lie of course, and you knew it.

So when he went home after Rakuzan’s defeat at the hands of Seirin, you were there, perched on his bed. Glowing with warmth. 

“I figured you want to watch movies with me?” you said with a wry smile. You gestured at the cups of hot chocolate by his lamp.

He wasn't perfect. He won't ever be, but he figures that that's okay.

– 0 – 

Akashi can tell when you're nervous.

"I'm so nervous, Sei," you verbalize his thoughts out loud, going over the mirror to strip down to your underclothes.

Akashi ducks, keeping his eyes back to his phone. "Will you please change in private?" he asks, peeved.

"What," you stick out your tongue, putting on that long, cream dress. It falls until your ankles. "We used to run around buck naked in the river when we were younger."

"Emphasis on the younger."

You try to pull the back zipper up, but it proves to be challenging given the low level cut of the dress. Instead, you walk towards him with your hand holding the fabric behind your back. With the other hand on your hip, you ask, "Well? Classy enough?"

"They say it's a trick question when a woman asks about how she looks."

"I'm serious," you hiss.

"You look presentable," he gives in, smiling a bit.

You beam at him before turning back towards the mirror. As you pick up a tube of lipstick, Akashi notices the journal sitting atop your desk.

"Hey, thanks for agreeing to this," you say all of the sudden, unknowingly disrupting his train of thoughts. "I just needed someone to be my date for this event. Otherwise, they'll accuse me of wasting a free ticket… that or, they call me unsociable. That's going to make me feel like crap again."

Akashi sighs for the umpteenth time that day, staring down at the yellowing cover and multi-colored marks of your worn-out journal. It’s the notebook he gave you a few years ago. Hands hovering above the worn out notebook, he says, "You need not to feel like crap just because there are scrutinizing eyes watching you."

"You don't get it," you reply. "This is huge for me and my career. If I screw up—"

"You will rise back," he completes the sentence for you. Akashi holds your nervous gaze, then adds, "Adversaries are meant to defeat us until we gain enough strength and means to overcome. Don't be daunted by the possibility of failure.

"Refrain from holding yourself back, and start believing in people when they tell you about how amazing you are in your own rights."

The monumental pause and gawking you give him is enough to make him grin.

Turning away before he sees your eyes glisten, you harrumph, "Always so flowery in your words, Sei. Whatever. Help me pull this zipper up, will you?"

Grin widening, he ambles over to you to do just that. 

– 0 –

There are a number of things Akashi constantly wonders about.

For example, he wonders why you always make a fuss about him. You were also like this before. When he lost his mother, you did everything to fill up the gaping hole.

“Hmm, should you use this tie?” you ask, placing the said clothing article over his chest, “or this black one? I think the black one fits you better than this red one, hmm?”

You toss the chosen tie on the chair before he can let a word out. You proceed on rummaging through his closet, muttering under your breath about how rich Akashi is and how having too many clothes to choose from is a bother.

Akashi chuckles and grabs the tie you selected. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?” you repeat, incredulous. “You’re going out on a date! You have to look your absolute best, otherwise you’re going to live down that regret for the rest of your life!”

“An exaggeration,” he remarks. “And to set the record straight, this is hardly the first time I am going out to dinner with someone.”

“Damn right, it's not. But you wouldn't know if you’d actually be dating your soulmate, right? Better make a good impression.”

He wants to argue that he doesn't at all consider it a date. It was a dinner meeting his father set-up, one with the heir of a promising business partner. And still, you frantically run around his room like a madman who is at her wits end. 

He looks at your back fondly.

Here you are, young adults venturing out on new chapters of your life—still going hand in hand, inseparable. You have always been there to keep him grounded. And he, in turn, never fails to guide you back when you seem to stray away. 

"Please get it right this time," he hears you mumble as you finally emerge from his towering closet. "Your dates never seem to work out, for Pete's sake, Sei. I'm starting to think you're the problem here."

"I just do not like being in a hurry."

"Yeah, sure," you reply, completely unconvinced. "But it is weird. You're like the best, ideal guy out there. No one compares to you!"

You stare down at him as he stares back with a painted gaze. Giving up, you sigh and shake your head, shooting him an affectionate smile as you hand him his gray dress shirt.

"Bachelor of the year, they say. I wonder why the hell you're still single," you laugh.

He wonders too. 

And he wonders whether it has anything to do with that saccharine smile of yours.

Taglist: @shakethatsassyass

[deadpresidents]

I'm interested in hearing any new reading suggestions or updates on what you've been reading lately?

My reading tastes have been all over the place during the last two months, but here's what I've been reading since Labor Day or so:

•The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama (BOOK | KINDLE) by Gabriel Debenedetti A fascinating look at one of the closest relationships between a President his Vice President in American history, why their dynamic was so successful, and how the Obama-Biden partnership was sometimes much more complicated than we realized.

•Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America (BOOK | KINDLE) by Maggie Haberman It's no surprise that Maggie Haberman was able to fashion her top-notch reporting and unparalleled access into one of the better overall biographies of who Donald Trump is and has been his entire life -- and how it has helped tear our country apart.

•The King: The Life of Charles III (BOOK | KINDLE) by Christopher Andersen

•United and Independent: John Quincy Adams on American Foreign Policy (BOOK | KINDLE) by Patrick J. Garrity & Ben Judge [Editors]

•The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson (BOOK | KINDLE) by Jeff Pearlman Pearlman's sports books are always difficult to put down, and it was easier to tackle the legendary Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl than it was to put down this in-depth biography about him.

•James K. Polk and His Time: Essays at the Conclusion of the Polk Project (BOOK | Kindle not available) by Michael David Cohen [Editor]

•War Songs [Library of Arabic Literature] (BOOK | KINDLE) by 'Antarah ibn Shaddad

•Salman's Legacy: The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia (BOOK | KINDLE) by Madawi Al-Rasheed [Editor]

•Nasser: The Last Arab (BOOK | KINDLE) by Saïd Aburish

•The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition: A Compendium of Knowledge from the Classical Islamic World (BOOK | KINDLE) by Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab al-Nuwayri

•A Gift of Joy and Hope (BOOK | KINDLE) by Pope Francis

Beginning in July, I also decided to try to read as much of Sir Richard Francis Burton's complete works, in unabridged form, as I possibly could. Last year, I read the three-volume, unabridged edition of his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah -- originally published in 1855 -- and it was pretty challenging, but also an extremely captivating account of his journeys and observations, and finishing the series felt like an accomplishment along the lines of climbing a mountain or something. So, I set out to try to read as many of his other (many, many, many) books. I've finished a couple of them over the past couple of months, but let's just say that the overall goal is a work-in-progress. As long as "progress" isn't defined as actually completing my goal anytime soon.

[secular-jew]

Arab Historian Admits there is No Palestinian People

One of the biggest, most stubborn and costliest untruths of our time is the notion that the jihad waged by Arabs in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza against Jews in Israel is a national struggle of an indigenous people for independence.No matter the facts, the lie persists to the tune of billions of dollars in international aid and political prestige, which makes it increasingly difficult for anyone involved to admit that the whole thing is nothing more than a propaganda stunt.Unlike the fairy tale of ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, everyone pretends to be blind and deaf when it is pointed out that the emperor is naked. In fact, if the emperor himself were to stand up and yell, ‘I am naked folks, go home!’ the crowd would go on complimenting his non-existent garments.Last week the naked emperor did just that:“Before the Balfour Promise, when the Ottoman rule [1517-1917] ended, Palestine’s political borders as we know them today did not exist, and there was nothing called a Palestinian people with a political identity as we know today”, historian Abd Al-Ghani admitted on official PA TV on November 1.“Since Palestine’s lines of administrative division stretched from east to west and included Jordan and southern Lebanon, and like all peoples of the region [the Palestinians] were liberated from the Turkish rule and immediately moved to colonial rule, without forming a Palestinian people’s political identity.”In 1917, says this Arab historian on official PA TV, there was no such thing as a Palestinian people. This statement amounts to saying that the whole narrative of an ‘indigenous Palestinian people’ was made up at a later point in time.As Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security Fathi Hammad speaking on Al-Hekma TV said in March 2012: “Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? We have many families called Al-Masri, whose roots are Egyptian. Egyptian! They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Dumietta, from the North, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians…”There is a reason, why the “Palestinian National Museum” is empty of historical artifacts.The Arab historian’s admission corroborates the observations of 19th century travelers to the region, who notably had no specific political agenda when they visited, unlike so many visitors to Israel today:”Outside the gates of Jerusalem, we saw indeed no living object, heard no living sound”, wrote French poet Alphonse de Lamartine about his visit in 1835.”The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population.” wrote British Consul James Finn in his 1857 description of the Holy Land.”Palestine sits in a sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that withered its fields and fettered its energies. …Palestine is desolate and unlovely….It is a hopeless dreary, heartbroken land.” wrote American author Mark Twain in his description of his visit in 1867.Nevertheless, the Arab propaganda machine gets away with publishing fantastic falsehoods, such as this one on the Palestinian Authority’s tourism website: “With a history that envelops more than one million years, Palestine has played an important role in human civilization. The crucible of prehistoric cultures, it is where settled society, the alphabet, religion, and literature developed, and would become a meeting place for diverse cultures and ideas that shaped the world we know today”.The international community not only approves of these falsehoods, it happily pays for them.Historian Abd Al-Ghani’s declaration on PA TV was a historic, highly newsworthy admission that ought to have made the headlines everywhere, considering the importance the issue is given by political leaders, diplomats, the media and other establishment figures all over the world.After all, if the Arabs themselves admit that the ‘Palestinian people’ is an invented entity, should not the consequence be that the countless UN projects, billions of dollars in international aid, and the endless campaigns against Israel cease and be used for more noble purposes?The answer is yes, but no one is paying attention.We live in a post-factual world. Facts no longer have any currency, unlike feelings and ideological posturing. The truth has been reduced to a troublesome inconvenience and if it happens to stare you in the face, nothing could be easier than closing your eyes or simply looking away.

https://en.mida.org.il/2017/11/09/arab-historian-admits-no-palestinian-people/

[dimensionhoppinghybrids]

When the Gengar had made his revelation of how to end his torment, he had not been idle. The events that had taken place had been several weeks ago, abd things had started off small.

Just a missing human here and there. Nothing that really was too concerning. It happened, tragedy struck and no matter how much Rangers or other people looked, they found no trace of them. It happened on occasion, and accidents or bad luck played a key part in such events.

But then Pokemon started to go missing too. Sometimes a particular half of a forest. Like the Pokemon had all fled.

Then the bodies started to crop up. The Pokemon had died in violent ways. An aftermath of a fight, yet it didn't look like it was from a battle of territory.

No, the more that the bodies appeared, the more that the Rangers that patrolled that area agreed. This was done out of pure malice and hate. Nothing more or less.

Abd it had been picking up. Law enforcement was growing worried, because whatever this was, it was going from place to place, and now had stopped somewhere. They couldn't pin point it because their Pokemon refused to go.

Whatever this was, it radiated so much malice, so much hatred and bloodlust that the Pokemon fled and refused to go anywhere near it.

It left them honestly stumped, because if their loyal partners and friends refused to go, then they couldn't do much more then heed their warnings.

It was getting so bad that they'd take anyone willing or brave enough to take it.

The only lead they could get was that the threat had nested somewhere in the west, where hills and mountains rose up, and where an old private property had been left abandoned for years as far as the locals knew.

That was where the intrepid advebture('s) would need to start their search.

----

Event start. (2/3) slots taken!

Hello y'all! This is the start of the event as you've seen me post it. If you want to participate, please let me know through the messages, or if you have it, my Discord.

I only have three slots, so this is a first come first serve scenario.

To give a bit further info.

This will be a linear story and I'll do my best to guide the narrative. I'll even give information where I can freely give it, but whoever gets a chance can figure out more if they want.

None of my relevant characters will be involved. There is no Joseph to the rescue in this case, no matter how much he'd want too. This is a story I'm trying to tell, and I want to tell it as well as I can.

Thats all I can think of being relevant. Good luck!

One slot has been taken by a friend that was invested in the idea!

@positivesurge

@night-gladion-and-their-ghosts

[apenitentialprayer]

Friends of God, Mystic Visions, and Saintly Translationes

In addition to Ṭalḥa’s undecayed body itself, other narrative features of its discovery also echo late antique hagiography. Within the variant versions of this narrative found across several texts, Ṭalḥa’s exhumation is almost invariably occasioned by his appearance in a dream. This dreamer sometimes goes unnamed, as in 'Abd al-Razzaq's report of a nameless relative of Ṭalḥa receiving a visit from Ṭalḥa. Often, however, Ṭalḥa’s daughter ‘Ā’isha is specified as the one who receives Ṭalḥa’s message and who, as a result, unearths her father's body. For example:

‘Ā’isha bt. Ṭalḥa b. Ubayd Allāh saw her father -​Ṭalḥa b. Ubayd Allāh- in a dream. He said to her, “O daughter, remove me from this place! The moisture has annoyed me.” She reported this thirty years or so after [he died]. She removed him from this place and he was fresh with nothing changed upon him.

In another version, an unnamed man describes his dream of Ṭalḥa complaining about his flooding grave to ‘Ā’isha bt. Ṭalḥa, who uncovers the body and finds that “he had not changed, except for some little hairs on one side of his beard or head.” While the dreamer varies, all these versions depict Ṭalḥa’s body being uncovered as a result of his appearance in a dream, demanding that he be moved to a new location. This recurrent theme strongly recalls late antique relic inventiones, in which a deceased holy person commonly appears in a dream or vision to guide someone to his or her relics in order to translate them to a new location. For example, the Passio of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste recounts how -after their charred remains are dumped in a river- the forty martyrs appear to a bishop and tell him, “Our relics are hidden in the river: come at night and get us out!” In the Syriac life of the Mesopotamian monk Benjamin of Nehardea, Benjamin visits the famous monasteries of Mount Izla, where the buried saint Mār Awgin (the traditional founder of Mesopotamia monasticism) appears to him in a vision, saying:

The foul heresy of Nestorius and Bar Sawma -servants of men, not of God- will, in the future, hold rule over our monastery and the land of the east. So take my body and the bodies of the ten blessed ancients that lay buried with me in my monastery on Mount Izla. Take them and place them in the monastery of Mār Solomon, below the monastery of Noṭpo, near Mardin, towards the east.

The saints’ expressed reasons for wanting to be moved vary in these different texts, ranging from the Forty Martyrs’ desire to be saved from a watery grave to Mār Awgin’s heresiological concern about who might have control of his burial place. In all these cases, the movement of the saint’s relics is precipitated by a dream or vision, demanding that a new location be found for the endangered saintly remains.

- Adam Bursi (A Holy Heretical Body: Ṭalḥa b. 'Ubayd Allāh's Corpse and Early Islamic Sectarianism)

[carefreemisery]

Can I just point out the irony that the love triangle is meant to centre around Archie with focus placed on whether he’ll chose Betty or Veronica, but right now, in Riverdale, somehow it’s all about Betty and if she’ll chose Jughead or Archie.

And honestly I think that the answer is pretty telling, based on what we know about the show, and not just the origin of the comics.

If Riverdale truly focuses on Archie as the main character, as it does, then it’s clear that at some point Barchie will get together. Jughead may be the narrator of Riverdale, but he’s narrating Archie’s story. If you listen to a lot of his voice overs, especially the one’s that cut into monumental scenes, they focus on Archie and his relationship with Betty, as if it’s the story of how Archie found love with Betty.

It was not one heart that broke that night, it was two.

The boy looked out at the girl next door as if for the very first time.

Considering that Archie is the focus of Riverdale (like lol nothing makes that more clear then his self titled band ‘The Archies’) it does not suprise me at all that they blocked his path with Betty in the very first episode of the very first season. The reason for that is very simple. If they were to go straight into their relationship it would get stale after a few seasons, and honestly that’s how I feel about Varchie and Bughead. To me, they’ve lost their spark. Instead they’ve built Barchie slowly. Even Jughead echoes how tenuous he feels about his relationship with Betty when it’s compared to the one Archie and Betty have built prior to and across the show.

It also doesn’t suprise me that Archie only takes on something serious with Veronica only after Betty gets involved with Jughead. Yes, he had trists with Valerie and Miss Grundy, but none of them had any substance. They were always doomed to end. It’s almost as though Veronica and Archie could only work if Betty was out of the picture. This goes double for Bughead. Betty could only be with Jughead if her feelings for Archie had been realised, expressed and, for a lack of a better term, rejected.

In both occasions, Veronica and Jughead are used as a means of blocking the way of Barchie getting together. If you really focus on the narrative it becomes somewhat apparent that they’re relationships are being used as plot devices as a means to further tensions, drive forward the mystery surrounding the plot, and as a means of keeping Betty and Archie apart until it’s time to ‘bring them together’.

The fact that we get hints of them together throughout the seasons reinforce this. If they never intended them to be together, they wouldn’t have sprinkled their devolopment throughout each season. Another point that eludes to this is that in most cases that Bughead and Varchie break up, Barchie always find their way back to each other. Not only does this highlight that Veronica and Jughead are the barriers to which Barchie have to overcome, and are the grand ‘problem’ ranging across the seasons, but that there is most likely no intention of keeping their respective relationships with Betty abd Archie alive. This has been abundantly clear with the lack of spark Varchie has had this season, which has acted to spur Archie towards Betty. Likewise Betty’s desire to move away from mysteries in the last episide, the one thing that joined and kept Bughead together in the first place, foreshadows a similar fate for the couple.

It’s also telling that originally it was not a question as to whether Betty loved Archie, but as to whether Archie loved Betty. As the seasons progressed it has now created a parallel that drives the relationship development between the two as we are now certain of Archie’s love for Betty, but are made to question Betty’s love for Archie. Honestly if you compare this with season one, it depicts a massive amount of growth and devoloment that you rarely see in couples unless they are the intended outcome, or ‘endgame’.

Essentially, while Betty and Archie aren’t dating, they are endgame.