#alli blathers

[arthurwilde]

Sam is the earnest straight ally who strenuously keeps up with every letter in the LGBTQIA+ acronym and continually corrects actual bisexual Dean when he uses the wrong terms.

Cas is canonically In Love With A Man

Gayest Supernatural Character, Quarter-Finals

[lunaatthezoo]

She'll Wait No Longer- Chapter 10 (The End)

SURPRISE, BISHES! I had to rip the band-aid off. I was losing my mind. Here is the final chapter of the work I have been pouring my heart and soul into. I hope you love this HEA for our Seer and Shadowsinger as much as I do. You can read my blathering weeping thank yous in the notes on the chapter, but an extra thank you to everyone here on Tumblr who has shared, reposted, liked, commented, supported me with kind words, etc. etc. You all mean so much to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I am not done writing- not even close! Preview below.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60399079/chapters/155939557

The moment Azriel winnowed into the Townhouse foyer, Rhysand stepped into his path. 

“Get out of my way,” Azriel snarled at him.

“Do not do this, Azriel,” Rhys said in his cool, collected voice.

Azriel felt something snapping within him again. Shadows whirled violently around his shoulders and head.

“Why? Why should that prick sit beside her in her most vulnerable state? How many times does she have to say that she doesn't want him, Rhys? No one has ever listened to her.”

His brother’s face was the immovable mask of the High Lord.

“This Court needs it's allies in-”

“Fuck you ” Azriel seethed.

Rhysand had the good sense to look taken aback.

“Fuck you for saying that, Rhys. This Court needs allies? Elain needs allies. She needs her family to hear her, to support her.”

Rhysand looked stricken at his words, but as Azriel made to step around him he blocked his path again.

Azriel bared his teeth at his High Lord.

“You're such a fucking hypocrite, Rhysand.”

“What,” his brother responded with menacing calm, his voice now edged with violence. Tendrils of darkness were leaking from him now, challenging Azriel’s roiling shadows.

“You heard me. You spout your bullshit about dreamers and freedom and choice to anyone who will listen. But when it comes to your political games, our right to choose doesn't really matter to you, does it?”

[hero-israel]

Breathe.

It is normal to feel pain, alarm, and sorrow, as we see what our world has turned into, as we hear what so many want to do to us. It wouldn't be human to feel any other way. I've been deeply involved in this issue for many years and truly did not expect so much of the goyische world to immediately go full werewolf on the thrill of seeing Jews tortured and massacred in high-res. Many of them are lost to us, and as far as I am concerned, there is nothing they could ever, ever do to regain my trust. They would never even think to give an apology, and even if they did, I would never accept it.

It makes matters all the worse that Israel - this age's morph of the reason to hate us - has for the last ~16 months been run by objectively evil and horrible people. A few of them have talked publicly about "encouraging voluntary resettlement" or claim to have held negotiations with African states. In all cases, less vile people from the same government have immediately denied those stories and said there is no such policy, no such talks, it is all just suggestions. When you have a government run by Internet trolls, criminals, and terrorist sympathizers, that is how they talk. There is no imaginable mechanism for any of this - it is impossible to believe any country would go along with it, or that it is taken seriously by anyone beyond whichever racist asshole is thinking out loud next to a reporter at that time. But even as idle blather, it is immensely dangerous. It represents a threshold we cannot cross. We cannot - as you said - "make that look good." The best we can do is recognize that this particular evil racist doesn't actually have the authority or method for doing it, he's just jerking off, the Attorney-General told them to shut up and stop advocating crimes.

There have been so many times when the world went utterly batshit about Israeli actions that were totally innocuous, about rumors that never even happened. I talk about it here all the time. Part of me is hoping that is an element of this case, even as I'm afraid, this time, it might not be.

And as I'm also afraid that things will get even worse for us if, as looks very likely, Trump wins next time.

So it is okay to feel utterly terrible about things.

And yet, we still have to breathe.

We are alive because Jewish people got through much worse times than these, with far fewer resources and allies than we have today. Everything we know, everything we worry about now, exists because even though They Tried To Kill Us, We Survived.

Confront reality - without despair. We are facing bad times and they may get worse, but we will get through them.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kurt Eichenwald at The Threats Within:

During a Republican debate in 2015 - back when Donald Trump’s candidacy was widely considered a joke, he spewed some evil nonsense that, if there was less ignorance in the world, should have ended his candidacy. “People that work for me, just the other day, two years old, beautiful child went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later, got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic,” he said. When the debate ended and Trump galumphed off the stage, the person - not people - who worked for him was so angry he got in the candidate’s face, balling him out for what he had said. “I was furious,” the former Trump ally told me years later. “The case he was talking about involved friends of mine. And not only did he invade their privacy, he lied about what happened.” Yes, the ally told me, the child had the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (better known as the MMR vaccine.) And yes, the child was autistic. But there was no “tremendous fever.” The child did not become “very, very sick.” The symptoms of the child’s autism showed months before receiving the vaccine. The family had the diagnosis of probable autism long before the vaccine. And after the child received the MMR, the already-present symptoms didn’t accelerate. Nothing changed in the child a week later, a month later, six months later. Eventually, the diagnosis changed from probable autism to autism - long, long after the MMR. Trump never apologized for intruding on this family’s pain, lying about it, or deceiving the scientifically illiterate. Instead, he has continued to ape the blatherings about childhood vaccination from.

[...] But one thing was keeping the coals of a future career burning: The praise of people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaxxer whom Trump has nominated as Health and Human Services Secretary. At a 2015 event where Kennedy appeared with Wakefield, our possibly future head of national medical issues proclaimed to the assembled crowd, “In any just society, we would be building statues to Andy Wakefield.” Trump also jumped on the bandwagon. After his lie during the Republican debate and the resulting condemnation of his repeating the then-disproven link between vaccines and autism, he doubled down as is his wont. In 2016, he invited Wakefield - literally, this universally condemned fraud! - to a meeting to discuss vaccination policy. Wakefield emerged from the meeting saying not only that Trump believed vaccines cause autism, but that he promised to do something about it if elected president. In his first term, as we all know, Trump had a number of intelligent people around him to block his worst impulses. His head of HHS was a former deputy secretary of the agency (and former drug company executive, but what can you expect?) It’s also difficult to believe that he is an anti-vaxxer, given his push to develop a COVID vaccine and his own use of it. But remember: This is not about vaccines for adults like those for COVID. This is about childhood vaccination (Which Trump opposed for COVID.) This time around, with Kennedy, Trump has gone full-blown anti-vaxxer which, if Wakefield is to be believed, is a reflection of the president-elect’s views. Kennedy is just the vehicle reflecting Trump’s own uneducated, uninformed and ignorant beliefs about childhood vaccination. He tipped his hand during a recent interview with Time magazine. It started when he said, “The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there's something causing it.” Why? Well, we should be looking at vaccines, Trump said. And he’d make sure that his people, led by Kennedy - an uninformed, intellectually lazy anti vaxxer - would form a team to look into it. He said his administration would conduct “very serious testing,” on the link between vaccines and autism, after which “we will know for sure what's good and what's not good.”

The normalization of anti-vaccine politics, fueled by Donald Trump (even though he helped get the beginnings of the COVID vaccines off the ground) and RFK Jr., is a disgraceful sight to see. One of the lies anti-vaxxer extremists traffic in is the debunked myth that vaccines “cause” autism.

[atrueneutral]

What about our favorite cambion, Raphael, and his favorite misadventurer, Tav, having ended up in a 'friends with benefits' (allies with benefits?) thing with each other—no strings, no contracts—but then- Whoops! Romantic feelings developed! Now what? But what if it's Raphael who ends up being the one yearning and longing to pursue something more (Tav would be open to pursuing something romantic with Raphael, too, but they were also convinced that the fiend would never be interested in them that way so they didn't dwell on it or get their hopes up, just learned to be content with what they did have with him).

This arrangement between the two of them was meant to be a simple transaction: once a week, he would meet his favorite misadventurer at the Devil’s Den and they would partake in the mutually beneficial act of coitus.

It started three months ago; an unknown person (with a suspiciously-on-the-nose name) had made a late-night appointment, and it was a tipsy Tav who showed up for said late-night appointment. She threw herself into the room with the loud announcement that she would be entreating with him - not Imma Moussé. She went on to further blather that she ‘needed something specific’ and was ‘sober enough’ to make the ‘sober decision’ to ‘seek a certain devil in an official capacity’. When pressed for what it was she so fervently needed, his mouse replied with a less-than-sober sultry stare and made the slightly slurred declaration that she needed him, in bed - raw and undiluted.

It was his infernal nature that took advantage of the offer before him, and it was his infernal goodwill that provided her with what she needed; a raw and undiluted fucking with his infernal cock. He, too, profited from the session for he got to fulfill his own deep desire of laying with the woman he secretly craved (an opportunity he could only previously partake in through Haarlep's ownership of Her form).

In the hours after, when Tav suggested they perhaps make ‘this’ a ‘regular-thing’, Raphael supposed he forwent a contract as a favor for the mouse he was too damnably fond of; she’d given him the Crown, after all, but now that they were months into ‘this’, he could see he made a mistake.

A written agreement with stipulations should have been created and signed! Were it so, she’d have rules to adhere to as much as he! 

And what was meant to be simple wouldn’t be this chaotic, complicated mess!

What began as a scheduled, single night of the week was now two nights - at her roundabout request…

Where she would sheepishly and quickly leave afterwards, she was feeling emboldened to stay longer - to talk about things that did not at all pertain to what they were there to do and what they had recently done…

She touched him, caressed him too frequently these days! And he allowed it!

At least she had the wherewithal to not kiss him before they began and after they finished…

But sometimes she had that look, like she wanted to… (he wanted her to)...

(No, what he wanted was to own her and keep her to himself!)

It was an aggravation and a distraction to sit and wonder each day if there were others who she had similar arrangements with…

That vampire spawn, the Ravengard boy, the wizard, that druid who slept with everything and everyone in his path… (He should stealthily inquire about any past and present beaus…)

Yes, there should have been a contract! The stipulations being: she would meet him, they would fuck, she would leave, and that would be the end of it until the next scheduled date and time!

A knock at the door stirred Raphael from his thoughts, and he fixed himself to pose charmingly to accept his visitor.

The door to the Den opened and closed as Tav strode in without a care.

“I know, I know - I’m late! Got held up by a brawl that more and more people were becoming involved in - whether they liked it or not…” his mouse said exasperatedly. She spared him a smile and a glance before dropping her pack and beginning to undress. “I narrowly avoided getting involved myself, but one good hook laid the guy out, and his inebriated friends didn’t see who struck him, so they ended up jumping the person behind me...” Tav paused the unbuckling of her breastplate and worry flashed on her face. “Uh oh, I can’t recall if the person behind me was a gnome or a child…” The worry left the moment her fingers resumed their task. “We’ll go with gnome to make me feel better about not stopping to help...”

Oh, she amused him, and he enjoyed her company.

And the contract that didn’t exist would have stipulated: The devil known as Raphael agrees to not enjoy the person known as Tav too much, and the person known as Tav will be responsible in being not at all likable outside of the likable use of her body. 

“I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” she asked with a nervous laugh, standing there with her half-naked, likable body.

Blood flowed to his cock.

“I’m keen to hear more, yet why don’t you save any additional details you may have for after our appointment?” he asked, his hands coming up to undo his doublet.

Her expression brightened before being covered by something more seductive as she shimmied out of the rest of her clothes.

“Then let us commence with our appointment,” she purred. “Come take me, devil.”

The devil shed his doublet and strode to take his prey… his mouse…

(Maybe after, and just this once, he would ask her to stay until the morning…)

(Maybe, one day, ‘this’ would be more…)

[The Prequel]

[eisforeidolon]

Hellers are twisting Jensen's words around because they don't like what he said,

"He doesn't think Cas's confession is something that needs to be solved. Cas said what he needed to say. It was a long time coming, it was heartfelt and beautiful. But there's nothing to solve. Dean took it in and then lost one of his closest allie and friend. The acceptance of that happened when Dean sat on the floor. He lost one of his brothers in arms and one of his closest people. When they come back, it just understood."

First, a sampling of posts with screenshots and links of some of the creative reinterpretations they're already self-soothing with, for context: [X][X][X]

It's bad enough now, because we already knew they were obsessed with cherry-picking things completely out of context and twisting themselves in knots to insist D/C, a totally real most epic romance ever was obviously happening off-screen the whole time. Because that's totally how storytelling works!🙄 So why wouldn't they insist Jensen saying Castiel's dying blather doesn't need a resolution means Dean already turned into the YA romance protagonist from their fanfic realized he was totes in lurve with the angel and reciprocated offscreen! See, no resolution needed! The thing is, though, I believe Purcon is one that has a stricter video policy so I expect this to end up even more broken-telephoned in a couple of months when there's no video to dispute whatever they're making up by that point, which I expect to be pretty wild.

What Jensen reportedly said fits exactly into what Castiel actually said in Misha & Beren's tapdancing on the line of legit queerbaiting the audience Castiel's goodbye speech. The whole climactic reason the Empty could come take the angel away was because he realized that just ~*feeling feelings*~, without having anything come of it, was enough. Regardless of whether you interpret those feelings as romantic love or the kind of all-encompassing self-sacrificing love the Winchesters have, feeling that way about somebody is happiness in itself (even if they don't feel that way about you). So yeah, whatever kind of love you read that to mean? There's nothing to inherently resolve there. Castiel put his feelings out in the universe, and Dean listened and moved on with his life. The thing that was "a long time coming" was Castiel's resolving his struggles as an angel living among humans trying to understand emotions and friendship. It's "clear text" that Castiel said I love you (whatever kind of love you interpret that to be).

Hellers are the only ones who desperately need there to have to be a resolution to that scene, because the only interpretation in which a followup would be necessary? Would be if Castiel's speech was romantic AND Dean also had romantic feelings. They can pretend they suddenly don't understand what a resolution is or that one magically (like the entire rest of their supposedly canon ship) happened off-screen so it'll be already happening in the revival as much as they want. It doesn't change what the scene actually was or what Jensen actually said, any more than the rest of their waffle ever has. They're just happily lying to themselves and each other all over again, setting themselves back up for more eternal disappointment. It's like a Peanuts comic strip, except they are both Charlie and Lucy with the show and creators as the football.

They want to crow about Jensen not explicitly saying the scene wasn't about romantic love somehow being him changing his mind (again), but that's absurd. He knows some people interpret Castiel's feelings as romantic and are very invested in the angel being a queer character. Putting aside whether what's in the text deserves that, going out of his way to tell them they're wrong about someone else's character? Would be a really bad look given the sensitivity of the topic. And he doesn't need to do it anyway, because whatever Castiel's ~*feelings*~ are, it says nothing about what Dean does or doesn't feel. Which he directly says is that Dean lost "one of his closest allies" "one of his best friends" "a brother in arms" "one of the closest people to him". It's pretty clear - if you don't tie yourself in knots pretending he's sending you secret signals about what he REALLY means if you only listen to half the words he said.

[forthegothicheroine]

If I may blather about my own OCs, I never got very good at Warhammer 40k, but I made very detailed stories for my Sisters of Battle army. One character, Cannoness Tamora, had been a female Bill Sykes, raised on Necromunda by a mean old lady loan shark to be a petty criminal, ending up her brutal enforcer. And then, of course, she got religion.

(Me being me, my Sisters army, The Order of the Spectral Flame, allied with the Salamanders, was obsessed with the works Shakespeare, whom they believed to have secretly been the Emperor. Tamora believed the surviving text of The Merchant of Venice to be highly bastardized, because "Old Meg would have taken another pound for back-talk!")

[typh0nas]

The Language of Flowers

NijiEN Fantasy Otome AU

_______________

Content Warnings: will be added to each chapter if there are any trigger warnings.

Character(s): GN!Reader(no pronouns mentioned), Vox Akuma, Ike Eveland, Luca Kaneshiro, Shu Yamino, Mysta Rias, Fulgur Ovid, Uki Violeta, Alban Knox, Sonny Brisko, Yugo Asuma

Authors Notes: It’s here, it’s here! Sorry for the long ass wait HAHA. I have a lot of projects for now, so I’ll try and add everyone’s route as time goes on. 

11/14/2023: Currently have Vox and Mysta’s chapter 1 out! Will add everyone else’s when i have time :)

_______________

You, a royal and the crown heir to the Ninisani Empire. You answer to no one and make your own rules. However, war ravages the country, causing chaos and turmoil. Left with little choice and with much urging from your council, you ultimately decide that the best course of action is to ally yourself with the neighboring Luxiem Regency to help strengthen your army. 

Now, what exactly might you do now?

_______________

You stand tall, faced with a less than appealing choice. But the council is unyielding and unwavering and their decision stands firm. 

"Your highness, you must understand that this is what we have determined will help ensure the longevity of the Empire. As the current acting ruler, you must think about what is best for the people...YOUR people.”

You massage your temples feeling a headache coming on. “I don’t understand why I must be wed to Lord Akuma, are we not merely strengthening our army?” Members on the council look around, and you can hear their whispering from where you stand. 

“This is a matter of politics. This alliance will help strengthen our empire and can ensure that we will have the support we need in the coming days of the war. You have seen the effect it has had on the people. Your Highness...they’re terrified, this is for the best. At most, your marriage with Lord Akuma is only on paper. He has already agreed to these arrangements. Must you be so stubborn?” The head councilman shakes his head at you. 

You feel your irritation grow as you stare down the head councilman and he squirms under your gaze. The silence grows in the room as everyone stares at you with bated breath, awaiting your decision. 

“Fine.” Your voice rings loud and clear within the hollow chamber, and you can hear sighs of reliefs from some of the other council members, but you choose to ignore it.

The head councilman rises, a smile on his face, “Oh wonderful Your Highness! We’ll make arrangements for the wedding immediately.” You wave your hand in his direction, tired of his blathering as you turn back towards the door to leave. 

“Do what you must.” You close your eyes, the weight of your situation sinking in. 

_______________

Who will you choose?

_______________

Vox Akuma {👹🧧}

The one you're betrothed to

“As the current acting ruler, you must think about what is best for the people...YOUR people” Those are the words the echo back to you repeatedly, the head councilman’s voice ringing in your head. You weren’t happy with the council’s decision by any means, but if it meant ensuring the safety of your citizens and it truly was for the greater good then you had no choice but to reluctantly go with his decision. Although this arrangement isn’t what you thought you would end up engaged to someone, you find that Vox is gentle and kind. There appears to be more to him then what first meets the eye.

“That blush on your face is absolutely adorable...it makes me want to ravish you. ....I'm kidding! Naturally I wouldn’t do anything unless you were okay with it.”

VOX’S ROUTE: {RED SALVIAS}

{Vox Chapter 1 - [UNLOCKED]} (CW: mentions of being intoxicated)

Mysta Rias {🕵‍♂️🦊}

A lesser lord of the Luxiem Regency, and Vox’s right hand man

It seems that wherever Vox goes, Mysta seems to follow behind him. He’s sort of an odd fellow to you, with the way his gaze lingers on you. But when you catch him staring for a moment too long, he quickly looks away coughing into his fist or brushing his hair back, a faint flush on his face. When asked about it, he deflects with some lame excuse and immediately tries to change the subject. Even with his prickly exterior, Mysta has never seriously pushed you away from him. 

“I guess your company isn’t so bad. Huh? You’re telling Vox about this? N-no wait!”

MYSTA’S ROUTE: {FORGET-ME-NOTS}

{Mysta Chapter 1 - [UNLOCKED]}

Ike Eveland {🖋🔷️}

The court scribe

The ever quiet but meticulous scribe of the court. Ike mainly keeps to himself, whether it’s writing away some important on a piece of paper or his nose stuck into some book. He's can be found in the library copying and translating old texts that practically crumble at your fingertips when picked up. If not there, he could be found seated several seats down from you during council meetings to record each and every word uttered out. Though the two of you haven’t spoken much, you secretly admire how hard he works.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to go through someone’s personal things without asking first?”

{Ike’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - English Ivy}

Shu Yamino {👟☯️}

The powerful sorcerer of the court

The mysterious sorcerer that managed to charm you with his spectacular display of magic. You initially scoffed, thinking it was nothing more than a show of sparkles and nothing more. But to your surprise, he manages to find ways to prove you wrong. On more than one occasion Shu has used his abilities to cure your citizens of what ails them, from an normal everyday fever, to even fixing up an elderly council member’s bad leg. You begrudgingly admit that maybe he is someone that you could rely on.

“Want me to show you something cool? No? Well your loss then.”

{Shu’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - White Jasmine}

Luca Kaneshiro {🦁💰}

Your childhood best friend who has a penchant for getting into trouble

Your ever loyal best friend, a notorious playboy with a string of broken hearts left in his wake, even if it’s unintentional. Maybe it was because of his blinding personality and charming demeanor. You’ve always joked that while Luca is the sun, you’re the moon, the counterbalance to his outgoing nature. 

“Hey hey! I know how much you love the flower fields when they’re blooming, but since you’re so busy and can’t see them yourself, I brought them to you!”

{Luca’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Yellow Acacias}

-----

Fulgur Ovid {⚡️🐏}

The local bounty hunter who comes and goes as he pleases

There isn’t much that you know about him, only the rumors that circulate around the palace grounds, and that he’s one of the empire’s most renowned bounty hunters. From what you’ve gathered, no one knows too much about his personal life. With each lead that you pursue, you find that you’re led on one wild goose chase after another. 

“You’re a strange one. Tell me, why are you so insistent on following me and trying to get to know me?”

{Fulgur’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Edelweiss}

Uki Violeta {🔮🌌}

The peculiar psychic from the market

One of the best fortunetellers in the city, and generally one of the calmest people that you know, with a soft voice and gentle eyes. You’re a regular at his tent every time you sneak down from the palace. He can see things that others can’t and every persons’ future that he’s read seems to have come true in one way or another. Uki can always be found in that same purple tent in the same spot at the market, tarot cards spread over the table. You curiosity to know more and more about him grows with each visit.  

“Come see me again, I’ll show you more about what your future holds~”

{Uki’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Pink Honeysuckle}

Alban Knox {🎭🕒}

The cunning thief you found, trying to steal from Vox's treasury

You couldn’t deny that Vox’s treasury was indeed very vast. You happened to come across him one night while you were trying to deposit some of your own valuables for safekeeping. One step into the massive room and you’re making eye contact with a very smug-looking thief. Before you can yell for help, he leaps across the room without making any noise, coming face to face with you, pressing a gloved finger to your lips, shushing you. You’re left dumbfounded and shocked as you watch him bound back across the room, snatching up a few gems in the process, and then swiftly slipping out the window as if he was never there in the first place. It seemed almost as if that was the last you would see of him. Or so that’s what you thought.

“Hehe you’re an interesting one, maybe I’ll just steal you away instead!”

{Alban’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Morning Glories}

Sonny Brisko {🔗🤲}

The captain of the royal guard

When Sonny became captain of the royal guard, he never expected to become your personal bodyguard, so to speak. But as the acting ruler of the Ninisani Empire, it was only natural that the council would want you to have someone looking out for you at all times, and who better than one of the best guards. And so Sonny would follow you wherever you went, standing silently off to the side. Unassuming until he was required to step in. He would stand guard outside of your room at night keeping an eye out for threats but not daring to step one foot inside for fear of intruding on your privacy. And so he always keeps an eye on you, even if he has to physically restrain himself from chasing after anyone he deems a threat to your safety. 

“It’s my job to protect you and I intend on doing just that. No matter what happens I’ll always be by your side.”

{Sonny’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Coreopsis}

Yugo Asuma {🎧🎶}

The bard at the local tavern

On one of your regular nightly escapades, find yourself seeking shelter at a local tavern to shield yourself from the rain. The bar, although of modest size is lively and it appears to be a hotspot for all sorts of people from the city. Feeling overstimulated and maybe even a bit overwhelmed, you make your way to the back corner where you feel you won’t be bothered. It’s just your luck that you make eye contact with the bard seated on a stool atop the dingy stage.

“I haven’t seen you before. Mind if I play you a song?”

{Yugo’s Route Not Yet Unlocked - Blue Hyacinth}

_______________  

{Tags!}

@hiqhkey @angelkazusstuff @emissaire 

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Back to Navigation {☆}  

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #318: Anastasia & Viy

I hope everyone’s enjoying their farming nodes! we’ve still got three more servants to crank out before we can join in on the fun, so let’s get to it! today on Grailfinders we’re building Anastasia & Viy, the chillest archer we’ve ever made for the summer- though Artoria does give her a run for her money, if only because D&D completely shafted water spells.

while Anastasia is still a Warlock, we had to shift some stuff around. now Viy is a Fathomless, because dear god we were hurting for sources of cold damage in this build. we also snuck in some levels of Creation Bard so she can summon literally any summery thing you can think of. that’s just. a skill she has now for some reason.

check out her build breakdown here, or her character sheet below the cut!

next up: Magic: The Blathering

Ancestry & Background

Viy might be something else, but Anastasia is still definitely a Human of some variation. that gives her +1 Intelligence & Charisma, as well as proficiency in any one skill like Sleight of Hand, and a feat- the Tavern Brawler feat gives her a +1 bonus to her Constitutiton, as well as proficiency with improvised weapons. I don’t care how densely you pack that snowball, it’s still not a dart. it also gives your punches a bit of a boost with a d4 damage die and you can grapple a creature you attack as a bonus action, but we were really just here for the snowballs. most of the snowballs you use are magic, but having the old-fashioned kind as backup might come in handy.

she’s also still a Noble, so that’s another round of proficiency in History and Persuasion. once again, changing your clothes won’t change your backstory.

Ability Scores

your highest score should, of course, be in Charisma. you need it to cast with both of your classes, plus you have to get whomever you just hit with a rock to laugh it off, or at the very least convince them you didn’t mean to put it in a snowball. of course, first you have to hit them with the snowball, so make sure your Dexterity is pretty high too. we don’t need Intelligence too much, but trust me, you do not want to fail those saves with Viy around. archers are at least slightly tougher than casters, so your Constitution should at least be higher than your caster self, right? your Strength was never going to be anything to write home about, but you can also use it to throw snow, so we’re dumping Wisdom. you’re a sheltered kid, and Viy normally takes care of noticing stuff anyway.

Class Levels

1. Bard 1: we could start with either class and not miss out on much, but starting as a bard gives us a lot more magic to work with, plus more freedom with proficiencies, so we’re starting there. the downside is we don’t get any cold spells until level five, and we don’t even get any good ones until we’re a warlock, so if your game’s starting at a low level, consider sprinkling some warlock in ahead of schedule.

that being said, as a bard you have proficiency with Dexterity and Charisma saves, plus any three skills of your choice like Arcana, Deception, and Performance, the first to summon Viy at all, and the others to be a little gremlin.

as a bard, your Bardic Inspiration is a bunch of d6s you can hand out to allies as a bonus action, granting them a boost to an attack, check, or save of their choosing in the next minute. you’re not really a support character this time, but maybe you just made them a nice sno-cone.

speaking of, you can cast Spells using your Charisma. to start off, Vicious Mockery is just you making fun of people. teenagers are mean, they can sense your greatest weaknesses. but of course you also make Friends easily, at least for long enough to take a selfie. you can make people chill out and get worse at stuff thanks to Bane, or dazzle them with snow-blindness as part of a Color Spray. hey, white’s a color. you can also summon Viy as an Unseen Servant to start things off, or use his eyes to make your enemies easier to hit with a bit of Faerie Fire.

2. Bard 2: as a second level bard, you’re a Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency bonus to every skill check that you wouldn’t normally put it in. as a noble of house romanov, you probably had a tutor for every subject.

you can also perform a Song of Rest, adding an extra d6 to the healing your party does over a short rest. it’s not much, but I don’t think a sno-cone can compare to open-heart surgery. while on the topic of barely useful features, your Magical Inspiration lets your allies add your inspiration die to the damage or healing their spell does, though if it’s a group spell it’ll only affect one person.

speaking of spells, you can cast Feather Fall now to slow down your fall and avoid damage. Viy’s pretty big, he can probably catch you.

3. Bard 3: at third level you final graduate from the college of Creation, which gives you a Note of Potential. with this, your three base inspirations come with additional effects- when added to an ability check, the user gets advantage; when added to an attack, they deal thunder damage around them; and when added to a save, they gain temporary HP.

more importantly, your Performance of Creation lets you spend an action to create any nonmagical item you wish, so long as it costs less than 20 times your level and is medium or smaller. you can make one item at a time, and while the first one’s free every use afterwards requires a second level spell slot or higher.

oh right, speaking of, you have second level spell slots now! Kinetic Jaunt will help you skate through your enemies and stay out of melee, upping your speed and preventing opportunity attacks for up to a minute.

one last thing, your Expertise this level doubles your proficiency in two skills like Deception and Persuasion.

4. Bard 4: use your first ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger everything. easy pick. that being said, you still need spells, and even with the ability to summon everything summery, I admit these are a bit of a stretch.

Prestidigitation has a lot of uses, but the key one here is its ability to summon tiny objects for free- if only for a round. you can eat a lot of sno-cone in six seconds though! (why do I keep going back to sno-cones??)

as for your actual levelled spell… Nathair’s Mischief mostly works? every turn for up to a minute after casting, it’ll mess around with a 20’ cube with one of four randomly picked effects. snowblinding and difficult terrain are easy enough to imagine snow and ice doing, and even slipping around and incapacitating people, but I just don’t see how charming people would fit in here. still, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad, so it’s good enough to last us for now.

5. Bard 5: fifth level’s always a great time for bards- your inspiration dice grow up, and you become a Font of Inspiration, letting you use them more often, what with them recharging on short rests instead of long ones. plus, you get third level spells, like the first cold-based spell on the bard list, Glyph of Warding!

… okay, yeah, it’s not exactly great, but it does fit with your prankster aesthetic, doesn’t it? plus, that’s just your explosive rune- you can even throw other spells in the glyph too, and pick specific targets to trigger them. it can be great if used creatively- it’s just a shame it’s so expensive. good thing you’re the tsar’s daughter!

6. Warlock 1: okay, that’s enough goofing around. let’s get coldhearted. when you bounce over to warlock, you get access to Pact Magic no matter who you strike up a deal with- that means you can finally get an offensive cold spell like Frostbite! it’s a start! you can also Create Bonfire at will- nothing’s more summery than a camping trip!

for more ice, pick up Armor of Agathys- your swimsuit isn’t exactly armor, so any extra defense you can get will be super helpful. finally, Viy popping up can definitely Cause Fear in a target, making it harder for them to hit you!

oh speaking of Viy, we still have to talk about what they are, huh? this time around they’re a Fathomless, giving you a Gift of the Sea for free waterbreathing and a faster swim speed! that floaty in your final ascension’s just for show. you can also summon a Tentacle of the Deep as a bonus action. when you create it, and each bonus action afterward, you can make the Viytacle attack a nearby creature, dealing cold damage and slowing it down. you can summon Viy this way proficiency times per day. Fathomless warlocks also get an extended spell list to use, but we’ll bring that up when we actually use it.

7. Warlock 2: at second level, warlocks get Eldritch Invocations to help you make the most of your summer vacation! you get two this level, but since we’re swapping one out next level anyway feel free to use it as you like for now. as for the permanent option, Devil’s Sight grants you darkvision that can even cut through magical darkness! Viy really is cool, huh?

you can also cast Illusory Script, writing something that looks like something else to people you don’t want seeing it. this one’s more of like, a regular prank you could pull, giving an innocuous-looking message to someone that’s actually super embarrassing for them to hold onto, or something.

8. Warlock 3: at third level we can finally get Viy’s usual body by taking the Pact of the Chain to summon a cool familiar! we can make it even cooler with the Voice of the Chain Master giving us ways to see through Viy’s eyes. with this, you can see through Viy as long as you’re on the same plane, and you can speak through Viy as well! now Viy is a walky stalky talky!

you can also cast second level spells like Cloud of Daggers to… I guess make really sharp hail? yeah, the spell stretching didn’t stop just because we made it out of bard, sorry.

9. Warlock 4: use your second ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC and more accurate snowballs. you can also apply ice to the wings of flying enemies now with Earthbind, and Viy can Toll the Dead, dealing more necrotic damage to enemies who are already hurt. say what you will, but they’re great at taking advantage of an opening.

10. Warlock 5: fifth level warlocks get third level spells, and it’s time to turn up the AC again. with Hunger of Hadar, you can freeze your enemies in place, creating an area of pure darkness that is difficult terrain and deals damage to creatures starting and ending their turn inside.

if the heat’s getting to you, you can also stick yourself in the Tomb of Levistus, creating a big ice cube you can shield yourself with- be warned though, you won’t become unfrozen until your next turn, so if you’re fighting a red dragon, you’ll probably still end up taking more damage than you would by just standing there. this isn’t quite how your invincibility skill is supposed to work, but it’s pretty dang close, and it’s on theme.

11. Warlock 6: sixth level fathomless warlocks have an Oceanic Soul, giving you resistance to cold damage and the ability to speak with submerged creatures. your Viytacles are also now Guardian Coils. when a creature you wish to protect takes damage near Viy, you can use your reaction to reduce their incoming damage. he attacc, but he also protecc.

speaking of attacc, you can now summon a more direct version of Viy with Summon Shadowspawn. this one uses your concentration to maintain, but it frees up your bonus action, which might be helpful later.

12. Bard 6: congrats, later is now! Countercharm is whatever, but we’re here to put on an Animating Performance! now you can bring pretty much any inanimate object to life to fight on your behalf, using your bonus action to command the resulting creature, though you can also inspire using the same BA. you can do this once per day for free, then by spending a third level spell slot.

while that’s cool, it’s not why we’re still in bard. now you can create Leomund’s Tiny Hut! look, somebody had to be on tent duty, and it only made sense for you to do it since you can make them out of thin air.

13. Bard 7: the real reason we stuck here for so long was, of course, for the fourth level spell Phantasmal Killer. the tentacles and shadowspawn are nice, but they’re all… pretty mortal. Viy is not. when you summon a phantasmal killer, you force a creature to make a wisdom save- if they fail they’re frightened until they succeed, and also take plenty of psychic damage each turn they keep messing up.

14. Warlock 7: seventh level warlocks also get fourth level spells, so pick up Elemental Bane to further enhance your cold-slinging with a way to deal extra cold damage and make a target lose resistance to cold damage for up to a minute. if they fail a constitution save.

you can also use Viy’s Ghostly Gaze to see through solid objects for up to a minute once a short rest. vidi, vidi, vidi!

15. Warlock 8: we’re almost out of ASIs, but we have enough for a detour, I think. pick up the Crusher feat to round up your Constitution score as well as put a nice wallop in your snowballs. now when you hit a creature with a bludgeoning attack (while solid balls of ice are cold, they hurt more than they chill) you can knock the creature back five feet. plus, your critical hits give your allies advantage for a round! now that’s what I call a concussion!

we’re also falling back to level three for one of the extended spells, Sleet Storm! this one doesn’t do damage, but it will trip up your enemies something fierce. it’s also one of the tougher spells to concentrate through.

16. Warlock 9:  ninth level warlocks get fifth level warlock spells, like Cone of Cold from your extended spell list. with this, you can blast plenty of people with a ton of cold damage in one sitting, freezing them into statues if you kill them this way. it’s probably the most direct analogue to your Noble Phantasm.

if you’re sick of getting hit, good news! we finally have enough free time to pick up the invocation Armor of Shadows, giving you free mage armor. as a bard you do have access to medium and light armors, but now you can show off your swimsuits!

17. Warlock 10: tenth level fathomlocks have some Grasping Tentacles- once per day you can cast Evard’s Black Tentacles for free, and it’s added to your spell list. on top of that, you get temporary HP whenever you cast it, and this spell’s concentration can’t be broken by damage. the spell in question is another big area denial effect, creating a bunch of tentacles that can bludgeon enemies and leave them restrained. it’s not super icy, but it’s a good option for freezing people still.

you also don’t get a regular leveled spell this time! that being said, I’d still check out your new cantrip Eldritch Blast. just because you’re not a caster any more doesn’t mean you can’t use caster balls.

18. Warlock 11: from here on out, instead of getting bigger spell slots you get Mystic Arcana, spells that you can only cast once per day like the regular plebians. your sixth level spell is, of course, Investiture of Ice. with this, you’re now immune to cold damage and resist fire, plus you make difficult terrain around you, which you can ignore if it’s snow and ice. you can also use your action to create a weaker cone of cold as part of the spell. in addition, it slows down any creature who fails their constitution save.

19. Warlock 12: use your last ASI to maximize your Charisma, and pick up your final invocation, Otherworldly Leap! there’s no real reason to have this, but the tripled jump distance gives you an excuse to cast feather fall, plus most servants have crazy physicality anyway.

20. Warlock 13: our final level gives you your final spell, the mystic arcanum Finger of Death. with this spell, Viy pokes someone for massive amounts of necrotic damage, and if they die they come back as a zombie under your control. as we learned last year, nothing’s more summery than horror movies, and you can make anything summery. have fun with your army!

Pros & Cons

Pros:

this build is another one that shines brightest through your own Creativity- with your performance of creation, combined with spells like Glyph of Warding and Illusory Script, you can pull of some absolutely bonkers stuff if you think outside of the box.

AoE effects usually have one weakness: people have to go into them. but thanks to your snowballs knocking people about, your spells become more effective, as well as a lot funnier. you’d have to be pretty cold to pull something like that off, but I’m sure you can do it.

even if your perception’s dogshite, you’ve still got some special eyes that make it a lot easier to see things coming. seeing through darkness and walls, as well as through your familiar, makes it a lot harder to hide from you, a great benefit to have in a snowball fight.

Cons:

you eat through spell slots pretty dang fast- glyph of warding can use two at a time, and you have multiple features that only work once a day unless you’re willing to spend slots. having so many warlock slots is nice, but it also gives you less to work with at any one time than you’d have normally as a bard. also, spending a fifth level spell slot to make a takoyaki cart is probably not the best use of your magic. just being honest.

again, while splitting your caster classes has its benefits, it also locks you out of high level spells and features completely. I don’t think Anastasia has a need to be able to teleport up to a mile away at any given time, but it would be cool to have, right?

you have too many friends. both tentacle of the deep and animating performance use your bonus action, so you can only have one up at a time. the redundancy can be nice, but if you’re running into that many fights in a single day the rest of your party probably won’t be able to keep up. and if you use a shadowspawn/animation combo to have both versions of Viy at once, then you have to deal with the fact that they’re both very mortal. the animated object only has 45 HP, while your shadowspawn has, at most, 65. add in their okay at best AC, and you’d probably be better off with just your tentacles and regular spells.

[hanna4869]

Obama ally pushes Raskin plan for Congress to nullify election, install Harris: 'Insurrectiony' | Blaze Media

Send Oduma back where he came from 🤬

[talesfromeorzea]

Delving

FFXIV Write 2024 Day 2 Prompt Horizon

*Note this is a crossover story with Legend of Zelda*

"Link, Link look this is the horizon that delineates the beginning of the War of the Magi!" Zelda called excitedly as she gestured toward the new layer of excavation that she and the pair of Elezen historians just unearthed.

Ever since they had cleared the keep of its demonic denizens the historians that normally investigated Issom-Har had shifted their focus to the keep since the strange occurrences in the depths of the old city were making it too dangerous for civilians to traverse.

They had petitioned the Adventurer's Guild for protection in case there was still some dangers within the keep and Miounne knowing Zelda enjoyed studying history suggested the two of them go to be the protection detail.

Zelda had at first been hesitant but Link convinced her they should. Reminding her that nothing really pressing was going on at the moment with the destruction of Castrum Meriadium and the defeat of the Ultima Weapon. After all of that chaos they both deserved a bit of rest and knowing they had cleared the place it was completely safe and a chance to be a bit self indulgent.

He then smirked as she began babbling about the exact details that indicated this was when the occupation of the keep began. It was good to hear her be able to just blather about subjects that interested her again. She had taken the fall of the Waking Sands and the death of so many of the Scions quite badly and had been prone to bouts of silence similar to what she had shown whe she had seen the full extent that the Calamity had wrought on Hyrule.

He had hated seeing it and done his best to try and keep her from blaming herself but he knew it was a struggle since his own mind was telling him the same thing. That the attack had been their fault, if they hadn't allied with the Scions they wouldn't have been targets. The penchant for blaming themeselves for foul things happing to those around them was still lingering scars from the Calamity and the Upheaval. Both were aware of it and both tried to resist the dark thoughts but it was difficult sometimes.

Zelda then added, "This is a huge discovery Link, thing of all that can be learned about that forgotten time, how much of the lost history can be found!"

He nodded again and she beamed at him then dove back into the excavation excitedly talking with the Duskwhight pair the three scholars eagerly discussing the fine details about this layer of the excavation and finds within it.

He was so relieved to hear her falling back into old habits and being herself again their strange journey here, the unintended separation and then the mounting dangers that had happened since arriving in Eorzea had been a strain on both of them both mentally and physically. They still did not have complete answers as to why they were dragged here to this besotted realm. Why the pair of them in paticular were needed to become Warriors of Light.

While many of the things these Ascians summoned and they themselves resembled dark powers similar to what Ganon had commanded. Neither these beings or their Voidsent seemed to be directly tied to that ancient evil that had once plagued Hyrule. Injuries taken from them felt a lot like Gloom it was not it directly and from the meager information that Lahabrea and the Emissary had revealed they did not serve anyone they called a Demon King nor had they any recognition of the name Gannon or Gannondorf.

So this left still many questions as to why Hydaelyn had needed Zelda and Link so desperately that she had reached out to her fellow Light Diety Hylia to pull the pair from their home to her realm. So this definetly left the pair still confused as to why they were here specifically but defintely did not stop them from doing what they both did best, save a realm from immense dangers.

Link kept his vigilance watching over the scholars making sure that nothing disturbed their work even as he prepared a cookfire and pot for food. When the sun began to set he gave a whistle to the trio and they looked at him confused at first before realizing how late it was and the smell of food reminding them how hungry they were.

Zelda and the Elezen pair then sat down and began eating still discussing their findings around the fire and Link listened to what each had to say. While he did not share Zelda's fasination with the past he was always willing to listen and learn because you never knew what information could be gleaned. He had to admit just the structure of the keep itself without knowing the specifics of how the ancient Amdapori's culture told him all he needed to know about how well they could defend themselves.

The keep was sturdy and built to last, several places had carvings that Link could only assume were glyphs for wards against magic since the scholars had explained that in that time magic had been in a heightened state in Eorzea. The three major political powers all being built literally on magic prowess of varing degrees.

So the Amdapori had built this keep to be a bastion for defending their land and had intended it to last. Which given how much of the structure still stood even after the disastorious flood that had been that ancient Calamity that brought their fall, they had suceed.

As they continued their meal one of the Elezen, Irielle asked soflty, "Lady Zelda are you sure you want to continue to delve this site with us? I feel that we are imposing upon you since what you were hired for was protection not excavation.."

Zelda laughed, "You have done no such thing to be honest studying history has always been a passion of mine and to be able to get the chance to indulge in that so far from my homeland is a welcome relief."

"Truly?" Irielle asked joy in her voice at hearing such

Zelda nodded and Link softly added, "You should have seen back in Hyrule how often she would be absolutely covered in grit and grime as she joined the Sheika in their excavations of the ancient machines…"

He then fell silent as the shadows of the memories of what those excavations lead to flashed in both their minds and Zelda cleared her throat before stating, "Aye I enjoy work such as this and we are no less protected with me helping both of you. I have no doubt Link here can handle any threat that may still be lingering.

"Understood tis truely a relief," Irielle stated understanding the unspoken request to not delve into the details that caused their mood to change, "It just feels like this work would be beneath such distuinguished heros as yourselves.."

Link then gave a bark of a laugh and said, "Miounne suggested it to us directly knowing full well Zelda here would enjoy the opportunity,"

"And given what we just recently went through with dealing with the Empire and destroying that weapon its a welcome respite so please do not concern yourself so." Zelda added

"I see, well then I think I shall endeavor to do so, it is nice to have another scholar around who is willing to listen to the two of us instead of just ignoring us because of what we are."

Zelda nodded and Link growled once again annoyed with the rampant racisism that seemed so prevelant in this realm. At the growl the other Elezen Rolandix gave him a questioning look.

"People should be treated as people," Link stated softly, "It shouldn't matter what you heritage is. In our homeland all of our peoples work together to help rebuild it from the Calamity and following Upheaval that we suffered."

"So your land suffers from Calamities as well?" Rolandix asked

Zelda nodded and then began to explain Hyrules history in detail to the pair as Link just quietly took the empty bowls and began cleaning them and ensuring the fire was stoked before returning to his watchful vigil over the scholars.

[anthonybialy]

Take Sides Elsewhere

Bias in action is the core output of one industry that should grind to a halt.  Prosperity would increase.  Blatantly lying about the worst sort of conduct is how reporters dedicate themselves to truth.  Guardians of information tacitly align with Jew-hating lunatics whose response to marauders beheading any members of one particular religion they could find is to call for Israel not to exist.  You may notice a pattern.

Blather about occupation gets more than equal time.  The legitimately aggrieved party is not targeting civilians, unlike the demons they target.  If you want to know what Israel will be accused of doing, check what Hamas is actually doing.

Don’t start a war.  They’re bad for items and people.  And those assaulted might return the favor.  Righteousness is the key difference for anyone confused about cheering.  The best advice for avoiding civilian casualties is to not annihilate civilians.  Report that.

Somehow, the press gets more shameless.  New stories ask if Israel does enough for safety without noting where they’re aiming.  Oh, and very responsible broadcasters also leave out why the nation that lost numerous citizens for the crime of attending a music festival is responding in the first place.

The news is the place for fantasies.  Imaginary sob stories about who could be harmed if the prey fights back are the most shameful way to shame.  Copy and paste a paragraph noting collateral damage has been a component of every single conflict ever, including righteous ones.

Nuking Nagasaki for fun is our darkest moment.  Woke maniacs who don’t understand cause and effect think Harry Truman was just one of countless American presidents who should’ve been arrested for war crimes.  Disregarders or active cheerers of diabolical mayhem claim they resisted during the Fourth Reich that was the Trump administration.  Meanwhile, honorary Axis members would’ve condemned D-Day as an unnecessary escalation even if they enjoyed making others ration.

Taping asterisks to terror onslaughts is not the best way to achieve objectivity.  Liberal hacks who claim some stories only have one side mean pretending civilization is rendering Earth uninhabitable.  Attacking Charlie Hebdo got worse in the worst possible way when excusers of murdering artists accused them of putting of hate speech in their doodles.  Similarly, blaming cartoonists in Texas because of the religious figure they chose to draw was no way to defend the West, which was the point.  And asking why terrorists would hate America so much that they’d use planes as missiles was the all-time example that’s merely the most notorious moment of lame massacre justification leftists wish you’d forget.

The media applies the same tendencies to every situation.  Consistency by applying a formula does not necessarily equal super results.  Lying about Israel being an oppressive genocide colonizer is even worse than excuses for inflation.  Blatancy is so obvious that it looks planted, which means finally discovering the profession’s core mission.

The media is careful to avoid noting which religion has a terror problem.  It’s not the one with a functioning republic in the worst neighborhood.  Fighting back against barbarians doesn’t count.

Terror allies marching in support of their favorite team is shockingly normal.  Every Arafat-inspired rampager currently wreaking havoc on city streets and campuses just like their heroes would claim to oppose Nazis, by which they mean Ron DeSantis.

Praise for those demanding destruction is limited to liberalism’s pet causes.  Hamas Fan Club meetings might seem rather strident in their demands for that one Jewish entity to no longer be.  But Israel’s been mean about removing those trying to exterminate it, so there’s your balance.

Covering gatherings is about what’s not shown.  Hiding gets trickier with social media, which shows not only what correspondents refuse to cover but how the job can be done in the free time of people with worthwhile careers.  Very disinterested observers noted Black Lives Matter conflagrations were mostly peaceful aside from the flaming cities.  You may not be surprised to realize secret and open PLO admirers think America is a racist hellhole.

The same professional protesters uncannily also claim the country where they live sits on occupied land.  They never vacate, of course.  To very fair reporters on the scene, the important part is that nobody demands a flat tax.

The middle ground isn’t worth sharing with people who want you dead.  Treating the two-state solution as some sort of presumed necessary compromise only seems fair if you’re not checking if one Super Bowl participant slaughtered babies.  No super important anchors seem willing to inquire why the actually tolerant country should have to cede some of the land that’s either always been its property or that it won in previous wars from intruders to an invented group that elected Hamas.

It’s sort of a bad sign when it takes lying about a cause to make it appealing.  That’s coincidentally the only shot Joe Biden has at holding the title of president into his late 80s.  There’s totally not an invading army of uninvited American guests just because it seems to be happening, and if there were they would only be here to take advantage of job opportunities created by a booming economy and not the generosity of Democratic politicians with funds seized from productive people with valid paperwork.  Everything’s terrific despite what you notice, which is practice for acting like terror victim Israel is the terrorist.

The media shares truth about themselves by lying regarding everything else.  It’s easy for journalists to do their jobs, which is the field’s appeal.  Participants major in the easy college choice so they don’t have to spend full shifts doing math.  Their dedication to inserting their own deluded views means they’d selflessly rather spend extra hours making up tales of how they’re true than cover reality and head to Applebee’s for dollar margaritas a few hours early.  The only thing more mortifying than pretending a war on civilization has two valid factions is siding with pillagers.

[starsscarmyceiling]

Gimme some of that Clone Wars AU pls! Stirring the Sky

Hoooo ohhh man, Abby! The origin story to this one is actually pretty funny…and I know I’ve blathered on to you about my fics…BUT for everyone else…so a few months ago, an anon asked me if I had any sort of fic prompt ideas floating around in my head, which you can find here. And what do I do ofc??? Why, write out 5k worth of prompt ideas because a bitch over here can never stfu. And ONE of those ideas…I honestly got really attached to it and I was like…well oh NO I am going to have to write this, aren’t I?? It’s from the “Canonverse Divergent” section, I thought of this Clone Wars AU, and this is the original prompt I wrote:

“Clone Wars AU where Cal and Jaro are assigned to try and recruit the Nightsisters to try and get the upper hand in the war with Dooku (lol I wouldn’t say exactly a Dark Disciple route but that’s up to you). Merrin is voluntold (the opposite of volunteered) by Mother Talzin to try and become allies with the Jedi (they could have their own shady Nightsister ulterior motive going on as well), and Merrin reluctantly goes with the Jedi. And oooooooOoOooo wow the shenanigans that can ensue from that. (Merrin also has to try really hard not to lose her shit over leaving Dathomir for the first time in her life). I’d imagine a lot of frustrations from both parties. The clones mercilessly make fun of Cal and his Nightsister gf (but they also have to tell him what’s up). He thinks she’s unreasonably obtuse and rude, and she thinks he’s frustratingly smug/arrogant. Merrin could prove to be a definite asset in battle. Cal probably thinks it’s hawt 😳 OH NO SHE’S HOT SEE LOOK HOW WE GOT HERE WE LIKE TO HAVE FUN HERE.

Now suddenly she’s mysterious and complex, and he’s frustrated that he wants to know more. He’s actually the sweetest person she’s ever seen and she’s angry about it. She constantly has to check in with her sisters and it’s getting harder and harder to go behind his back or deny that she maybe might not hate him anymore she maybe even may want to smooch him WOAH who knows. They bond over feeling used in this war. Come on. You got it from here right?”

Soooo, YEAH…I gots a little too overindulgent in my thoughts and started writing THIS…but I am so very excited because it’s just the two of them being endlessly frustrated yet hotted up for each other at all times. All the clones ship it HARD. Merrin starts to grow attached to some of the clones that are very welcoming to her…actually fun fact…if you’ve read my fic “what’s grown between (surgery scars)” when Cal told Merrin about his clone trauma…I literally pulled what he was saying from this WIP…HEH…

ALSO, I honestly just want to live my best life and push forward my personal HC that I have of if Cal were older during order 66 or it never happened, him and Jaro would 100% have Jake and Holt energy from Brooklyn 99 agenda.

And I am so very excited to explore a lot of these themes that I’ve brought into my Merrical writing in a setting like this. Cal contemplating his feelings, his so naturally compassionate and empathetic spirit that wants to take care of everyone else before himself, and then someone like MERRIN steps into his life??? OOF I am gonna have some fun with this and the psychometric Jedi and space witch of it all. GOODNESS I am so excited for it.

AND SO…here is a long ass preview because I honestly didn’t know where to cut it off…Cal is answering a comm from their commander, Zand, on his and Jaro’s ship and well he may have sensed a presence while doing so…😏😏😏

When there was nothing there still, he turned once again to his original direction, but as soon as he did, there was a flash of green light and smoke, and suddenly, there was a figure there before him.

“There is no need to brandish weapons or administer threats Jedi,” she stated with her voice laced in malice, which ironically enough did feel like a bit of a threat.

Cal severely balked at this sudden interaction, “Who are you?”

The woman crossed her arms with still a severe expression on her face, “Does it matter? We are all just—unsettling to you anyway.”

His eyes narrowed as he put the pieces together in his head, “Were you—spying on me?”

Her expression changed to that of incredulity as she raised an eyebrow, “You left the door to your ship open.”

It was a bit shocking, her audacity as he bristled all over again, “Are you seriously blaming me for you trespassing onto my ship and listening in on my private conversation?”

This woman, who Cal only now after processing the last several moments did he start to take in her appearance, did give off such an intense energy in the force. Cal felt her ire, her disdain so much so that it almost made him feel dizzy.

A short breath escaped him as he shut off his lightsaber, and all she did was continue to glare at him. She was short statured with light gray skin and intense brown eyes. Her soft features on her face were adorned with tattoos that lined her forehead, her cheeks. And it was all coming to a head, feeling her emotions, his emotions of frustration, accost, but now he was also flustered, bewildered, and definitely anxious.

He hated to think, though it was sad, but true, that he thought she was astoundingly beautiful.

His mind tried to do a complete turnaround because that was very much besides the point, and he did his best to keep his mental shields up, having no idea what she was capable of as she finally continued to speak.

“Though Mother Talzin invited you here Jedi,” she said again with such derision to her words, “do not hold the false notion that you are in any way welcome.”

Cal almost wanted to laugh at her statement, his own ire stacking up again in his mind, and he actually welcomed it as it was much easier to process in the moment than anything else he was currently grappling with.

An exhale escaped his nostrils harshly as he kept up his glare, “Believe me,” he stated with his own contempt, clipping his lightsaber to his belt again, “I would like to get off this force forsaken planet as soon as possible.”

She tilted her head at him, seeming to descry in her own way, which caused the fringe of her silver blonde hair to slightly cascade into her eyes as they scanned over him. It made him—exceedingly uncomfortable for a multitude of reasons he really couldn’t dwell on at the moment.

“That is at least something we can agree on Jedi,” she uttered in a flatter tone than she had before, but still possessed an air of intolerance.

“I have a name you know. Don’t know how I’d get around the confusion of actually just going by the moniker of Jedi,” he stated in what was a mockery of her sardonic tone of voice.

She stood there still for several moments as she raised an eyebrow at him, which to him translated into some form of her being through with his banthashit.

“Jedi…the Jedi?” The Nightsister questioned with a genuine air of perplexment to her voice.

Honestly, once she said it out loud, Cal really wasn’t sure what he was even trying to accomplish. Was he trying to make a joke? Was he trying to be a smartass? Was he trying to break the tension? If Jaro was asked, he’d probably claim that Cal would try and accomplish all of the above.

“What, are you attempting to be clever or snide?” She asked as she began to take careful steps circumventing him, “Or just insulting? You think you can come to my home and disrespect me in such a way?”

Cal crossed his arms as he scoffed, “You’re the one who snuck onto my ship first, Nightsister.”

If she was going to address him in such a way he’d do it right back. He was feeling that petty.

Though, he very much resented himself when his mind flashed with the title ‘Nightsister, the Nightsister,’ and he had to hold back a stupid smirk.

She was temporarily out of his view, though he still felt her, always felt her as she too laughed humorlessly, “You are extremely full of yourself, aren’t you Jedi?”

The way she said it this time seemed to give off the same amount of snark he was emanating.

Cal waited until she was there in his vision again as he slightly upturned his chin to her.

“I bet you’d like to think so, wouldn’t you? Profile me, put me in a box of whatever your false perceptions of Jedi are,” Cal almost barked at her. Force, he didn’t even remember the last time he’d been so irritated with a person.

“And you are not doing the same to me? Making your own assumptions and insulting something you don’t even understand.”

Another scoff was in his throat, “Yeah, and let’s still not forget how you acquired such information from me.”

Her glare was fierce again as the disparagement was almost palpable on her face now, “I only was scoping out the situation because I have my people’s interest in mind.”

Cal realized he was flexing his arms now as they were still crossed over his chest out of sheer frustration, “You could have just asked me you know; I would have been more than willing to speak with you about any such matters that occur with my order.”

“And how was I to know this? All I have heard about Jedi is that they are liars and selfish thieves!” She exclaimed.

Again. He was taken such aback again at the gull.

“And where in the hell did you hear that? A Separatist the people The Republic is trying to stand against?” He said, but then he already had another retort on his tongue, “And for that matter, we were the ones that were invited here and ever since we arrived, all we have gotten from you is blatant disdain when we hadn’t even done anything!”

“None of us wanted you here!”

“That’s not my problem! Don’t take your misplaced frustration out on me!”

His statement seemed to give her pause, and Cal hadn’t even realized that they’d somehow managed to step closer and closer to one another in this skirmish and were definitely in one another’s personal space.

Kriff, how did I end up here?

Her eyes were narrowed up at him as he still found that anger, but he also cornered something else in them that was not easy to place.

“You should have never come to Dathomir Jedi,” she admonished in a strained tone.

A short sigh fell out of his mouth.

“Cal.”

For the first time, he found actual confusion on her countenance, “What?”

“Cal, my name is Cal Kestis, not Jedi. Again, I don’t go by Jedi the Jedi.”

Honestly, he wasn’t exactly sure why he said it. At this point he recognized they were both being assholes to each other.

Her eyes were all over him again though as she leaned back to cross her arms, “Do you think you are exceedingly hilarious, Cal?”

He didn’t know what it was. The concept of his nomenclature was always simple, straightforward concept in his mind, but there was something in the way that she said it, the timbre of her voice, that drove him insane.

And that sort of insanity seemed to have many faces right now, many of which were irritation.

Still, he crossed his arms all the same, “I am starting up my own comedy tour, actually.”

And never in his life, as he was already trying to convince himself that it wasn’t true, had he ever been so…aroused by the utterance of his own name.

This…he needed to get himself out of this situation now.

Her eyes scanned him again, “I do not find your antics the least bit entertaining.”

“Well, I guess I won’t be reserving the cranky Nightsister a seat, now will I?”

A narrowed gaze in his direction now. And he wasn’t sure how he felt—about being under her scrutiny.

“You are extremely arrogant and insolent,” she declared, her eyes still fierce, “but it is not as if that really matters, Cal.”

He was very much resenting the shiver that was sent down his spine.

SOOO YEH, hope you guys are as excited for this one as I am!!! I literally think these two don't even have the ability to be around one another and NOT be super horni right off the bat for each other haha.

SHENANIGANSSSS

[theculturedmarxist]

While it’s been a while since yours truly has posted on the war in Ukraine and our determination to mix things up with China, we seem to be in an intermediate phase of sorts. Major country leaders in the West remain focused on the conflict. The Collective West is trying hard at the G20 to muscle more countries in line, after an embarrassing fail in a similar exercise with Global South invitees to the Munich Security Conference. Biden and then Janet Yellen went for Kiev photo ops with Zelensky. That Biden trip, which made the Administration neglect of the East Palestine toxic train blast more galling, gave Republicans, most of all Trump, an easy win.

But there are more signs of anxiety and erratic behavior by key players. While the structure of the system looks the same, more and more energy is being pumped into it. Either it will be released somehow, say by an aggressor de-escalating, or the pressure will keep rising until we have a state change. And state changes means the system becomes chaotic. The September 2008 financial crisis was an example.

While we won’t dwell on China escalation today, the over-the-top, paranoid response to Commies under the bed peregrinating balloons looks like big-time displacement activity. We are in no position to whack China so we’ll whip ourselves in a frenzy over something we can (eventually) destroy.

Then the US and its NATO stooges went into effrontery overdrive at the Chinese presenting a high-minded napkin doodle and overselling it as a peace plan. Mind you, there were cool-headed ways of saying China has no nexus to this conflict save via its burgeoning friendship with Russia, and the latter means it can’t pretend to be a fair minded interlocutor.

Instead, the ham-handed outrage made the West look anti-peace, as opposed to anti China trying to play nicer hegemon. And then we have the conveniently-timed reheating of the lab leak theory on shoddy “new” evidence, and the House launching a “cut China down to size” committee.

The most charitable interpretation is China demonization is being readied as the next shiny object to divert attention from the coming Ukraine defeat, which will be very hard to ‘splain away. But there are competing interests at the top, with the Atlanticists very much committed to breaking Russia, not caring what the effect might be on the China project.

While arms makers theoretically make out no matter what, they can’t deliver quickly enough to make a difference in Ukraine, and they run the risk of having Russia demonstrate that our super-pricey, over-fussy weapons aren’t very effective in combat. So even more demand for hardware is not necessarily a boon. To fight an industrial war, we need lots of comparatively low tech munitions that they don’t regard as lucrative enough to interest them.

Mind you, the fact that principals are trying to increase pressure does not mean that they will succeed. Propaganda and optics and arm-twisting off and on allies only goes so far. A realistic trajectory for the Ukraine conflict is Western support will fizzle out as the Russian campaign continues to drain Western weapons stocks.

In keeping with that possibility, recall all of the drama of the buildup to the “anniversary” of the launch of the Special Military Operation last week. Western pundits and the press blathered on about how Russia was going to launch its over-anticipated offensive, even though Russia has insisted that it does not have a timetable for this campaign. Oh, and Putin’s overdue State of the Unions speech was not on the date when Russian forces moved into Donbass, but when Putin announced Russia was recognizing the breakaway republics.

Biden tried to upstage Putin with his trip to Kiev and then a speech in Warsaw. But Putin refused to play to demands of warmongers by stating that Russia was not going to full militarization. He delivered an otherwise informationally dense and long talk, treating his zinger, the suspension of Russia’s participation in the START treaty, as almost an afterthought at the end.

Not only did Russia not meet escalation expectations last week, Ukraine didn’t either. Zelensky had promised a big speech for the anniversary of the invasion, and Ukraine boosters expected something more, if not an offensive, at least a stunt, as in a headlines-getting jab that made Ukraine look like it was on the front foot even if in the end it would not affect outcomes. The Kerch Bridge bombing and the misuse of the grain corridor to attack the Sebastopol naval base are examples.

And there’s evidence that Ukraine is closer to the end of its rope than the press would have you believe. Brian Berletic has been relentlessly chronicling how US weapons deliveries to Ukraine have been falling, to the degree that the US has stopped putting numbers on many items. The commitment that Biden made in his Kiev trip was meager. Dima at Military Summary pointed out that Ukraine shelling has fallen markedly in the last week, suggesting Ukraine is forced to ration ammo. Dima has also been pointing out that the daily Russian “clobber lists” have almost no tank kills on them, contrary to earlier in the war, and instead mainly features destroyed armored and too often, passenger vehicles. That suggests that either Ukraine is hoarding its remaining tanks for its long-touted counter-offensive, or is really pretty much out of them. Big Serge, in a new piece, mentioned (as Dima has) rumors of a few of the Polish Leopard tanks having been deployed to Bakhmut. If true, Big Serge argues that would be proof that Ukraine is unable to accumulate reserves for a later offensive.

To use the new Big Serge piece as a point of departure, I have to differ with one of his high level points. He contends the Russians have been slow to launch their big offensive because they are having to make a very large reorganization from a military optimized for fighting small wars to one able to engage in a large scale, protracted conflict (Douglas Macgregor recently said Russia is now planning for an up to 30 month war).

It may very well be true that Russia is finding the process of changing its military organization to be time-consuming, but Big Serge, like many others, particularly those from military backgrounds, seem impatient for Russia to launch a big attack. Again, remember Russia has repeatedly disavowed having a timetable. The one thing they have promised, per General Sergey Surovkin, is to wage a grinding war, for among other reasons, to preserve Russian lives. This isn’t just politically sound; Russia also has comparatively few professional troops and needs to risk them only when the potential payoff is high.

Yours truly has opined that Russia’s moves are going to be even more reactive to events than one might normally expect in a war. Part of that is due to Russia facing layered opposition: its immediate combatant is Ukraine, but as we all know, it is fighting the Collective West. Russia is pressing and testing the West across all lines of combat: military, economic, geopolitical. For instance, it is too often simply not admitted that Russia controls Ukraine’s future. Only Russia can restore Ukraine’s grid; the West cannot begin to afford a rebuild. Russia does not need to point that out; it will come into play in due course.

So I hazard that the principles that are guiding Russia’s actions in the near-term in Ukraine are:

Paraphrasing Napoleon: “Don’t get in your enemy’s way when he is making a mistake” Don’t make sudden moves around crazy people

As Big Serge and others have pointed out, Ukraine’s strategy, such as it is, is close to ideal for Russia. Admittedly, Russia is in the midst of the difficult process of cracking Ukraine’s extensive fortifications without wasting Russian lives. That is why Russia is faced with the embarrassment of Ukraine still being able to shell civilians in Donetsk.

But thanks to the partial mobilization, Russia has hardened its positions all along the very long line of contact, which is also comparatively easy to keep supplied. Due to Ukraine’s need to maintain coalition support (mentioned as a major objective by Alex Vershinin in a late December 2022; Big Serge expands upon this idea), Ukraine is desperate to maintain the appearance of success. As many have pointed out, that translates into a refusal to make tactical retreats (save trivially) to preserve men and materiel. Worse, as we see particularly in Bakhmut, Ukraine keeps pouring forces and weapons into doomed positions.

So why, at least for now, should Russia do anything more than let Ukraine keep breaking its military on the shoals of Russians at the line of contact, and also keep pressing on as many potentially exploitable targets to force Ukraine to keep those positions defended and limit their ability to redeploy forces?

As frustrating as it is for war-watchers, Russia could keep the meat-grinder approach going until the Ukraine forces really do start collapsing, as in run out of ammo, are unable to send in reinforcements, and show other signs of serious inability to execute. Mind you, Russia still has a lot to do just to accomplish its immediate goal of clearing the Donbass and forces stationed close enough to shell it. Russia has also vowed to take all of the oblasts that voted to join the Russian Federation, so “liberating” the rest of Zaporzhizia would seem to be high on the list (the timing of Kherson would seem to be more up in the air due if nothing else to Kherson City being in an undesirable location).

The dealing with crazy people part also argues for making the war as boring as possible, and a slow grind serves that end too. The way to give the West an off ramp is to provide them the space to move the war off the front pages and then rationalize the abandonment of Ukraine (via greatly reduced support).

Putin’s biggest obstacle here would seem to be domestic hawks, who seem to get share of mind out of proportion to their numbers due to being both highly vocal and very good sources of day-to-day information on Telegram. Putin seems at least for the moment to have persuaded most Russians that not pursuing a war-time economy is the soundest long-term approach and I suspect he’ll continue to prevail in that debate. As long at the Russia public isn’t demanding a faster resolution of the conflict, the Russian leadership ought to have a fairly free hand with pacing.

Ukraine, despite being weakened, still has agency. And the US, with the Nord Stream bombing, has demonstrated it can be ruthless and utterly unprincipled.1 So far, all we have seen are failed or pinprick attacks that nevertheless get coverage, like the rumored but apparently never happened attack on a Russian plane in Belarus, or drone attacks meant for Moscow that didn’t get there.

Big Serge, along with many others, has discussed the rumor that Ukraine and Moldova will cook up a pretext for Ukraine to move on Transnistria. On paper, it’s not well enough defended to stand up to a determined Ukraine attack, and too far from Russia for it to readily send in reinforcements. So this could be a very big bloody nose for Russia and a huge morale booster.

The wee problem with this picture is the huge ammo dump that Russia is protecting. Russia could and presumably would blow that up, which per Moldovan (as in not Russia friendly) sources would be a nuclear level blast. On top of that, as Scott Ritter discussed long form in a recent talk with Garland Nixon and Andrei Martyanov, Russia’s Foreign Ministry made very clear that if Ukraine made a move on Transnistria, that would be an act of war against Russia. That would give Russia license to do things (to the mystery of Western military types) that it has refrained from doing, like taking out the Ukraine leadership. The noisemaking about that scheme seems to have died down.

But Russian officials have warned of intel on other provocations, such as chemical weapons and drums of radioactive material (along with hazmat gear!) being moving into Ukraine to stage false flag attacks that would be attributed to Russia. So until the US and NATO get over themselves, we could still see a lot of nasty developments.

And we keep seeing far too many stories in high profile Western outlets about how Ukraine can or must win, despite the lack of realistic ideas for how that happens. So expect if nothing else for the press to try to keep the emotional dial turned up to 11 even if the battlefield action remains a slow, bloody slog.

_____

1 Even if you do not believe Sy Hersh’s account, there is no way it happened without US approval and support in that Sixth Fleet lake called the Baltic Sea.

[kokorowoutsu]

-- RP: @skullboneandunown

skullboneandunown:

Baloo growls softly, Ogerpon reminding him of his own cubs, all grown up but the memories make him smile. Donovan nods to Lucky, shruging as he watches Baloo bond with Ogerpon. "Yeah, genetic stuff is more up Mewtwo's ally. But it's a sound theory." He's still surprised that Blathers became a Hisuian Decidueye due to the Unown causing a distortion, but he'll call that a happy accident. He offers Ashe a small smile, and a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. There's tera crystals all over the place, that might play a factor." He snaps his fingers, and his camping equipment sets themselves up. "Who knows? You might have been here before in a previous life. Reincarnation is a thing, if that Darkrai that hangs around Ecruteak City is to be believed. But that's a whole 'nother can of Wurmple."

"Maybe... but this kinda nostalgia only pops up when I go to places like Castelia City... back when I was... well, before I became a Changeling." She admits. "I guess... this place reminds me of that life before this one. There's... something homely about it that make me feel startled, but also at peace. It's... odd? I guess?" That being said, she pauses and notes that there's no real sound in this forest. The pokemon are as quiet as the environment.

That usually meant something was on the prowl or that something was about to happen.

"There's no sounds... Kinda weird."

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 38 of 2023

Title: To Vietnam in Vain Authors: Edward A. Hagan ISBN: 9781476623689 Tags: US USA MI Army Military Intelligence, US USA United States Army, VNM RVN ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam, VNM RVN ARVN RF/PF Regional Forces/Popular Forces (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Advisory Teams (Vietnam War), VNM US MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975) Rating: ★ (1 Star) Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Advisor

Description: American military advisors in South Vietnam came to know their allies personally—as few American soldiers could. In addition to fighting the Viet Cong, advisors engaged in community building projects and local government initiatives. They dealt firsthand with corrupt American and South Vietnamese bureaucracies. Not many advisors would have been surprised to learn that 105mm artillery shells were being sold on the black market to the Viet Cong. Not many were surprised by the North Vietnamese victory in 1975. This memoir of a U.S. Army intelligence officer focuses on the province advisors who worked with local militias that were often disparaged by American units. The author describes his year (1969-1970) as a U.S. advisor to the South Vietnamese Regional and Popular Forces in the Mekong Delta.

Review: If you want to know what it’s like to listen to an old man blather about his life, this book is for you! It’s a lot of blather, a lot of whining, a lot of crap about everything and anyone and everyone. He embodies the literal worst aspects of that really bad professor you had in college... which it turns out, is exactly what he is. You rarely get snippets of his time in vietnam, the snippets you do get aren’t really worth reading at all, and 90% of the book is about his life growing up irish in NY. The title, the cover, everything about this book is misleading and bullshit. 

AVOID