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boythirteen · 1 year ago

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I finished writing the sermon. I think it will be called Here Comes the Bride.

Hello everyone. Thank you to Rev. Pat for inviting me to preach today, even if she gave me this Sunday with a harsh gospel reading. One that, on the surface, is about an overly entitled bridegroom slamming a door on a group of otherwise supportive women deemed “foolish” because they didn’t, by his standards, adequately prepare themselves for having to wait and wait for his delayed arrival. I think I feel angry about this story. It’s strange that I didn’t know I felt this, or not how deeply, until just now, or just then last week when I began to write this sermon. I thought what I felt was confusion, or consternation. But no, I feel mad. I’m really mad about societal hierarchies and religions of all kinds being used as models to build and fortify and maintain oppressive structures. I’m mad about christian nationalism parading around with it’s oafish, ugly, sanctimonious, cowardly boots just trampling on everything it views as unworthy and defenseless enough to readily mow down, which is everything I value as tender and vulnerable and diverse and interesting and precious and likely foolish as well. I want the bride-to-be to call out to the “foolish” women to just storm the door and flatten the man and rush right in. It’s her wedding, too.

Okay I’ve gotten that off my chest so now we can read the verses from Matthew and talk about them. I haven’t gotten it off my chest, though. I hope that none of us will ever get it off our chests as long as inequities slam doors on vulnerable people. Because what is most troubling to me about this reading, and all of these kinds of readings, is how easily weaponized they can be in the hands of bigoted people who claim God’s favor. How these readings can be used to cast struggling people such as asylum seekers, or anyone else in desperate need, as the foolish bridesmaids who’ve used up their oil and now want handouts from rightfully resourced people such as themselves. And how, in their view, even God shuns those irresponsible ones with their hands out.

So maybe we need to tear these verses apart, or whatever we have to do to find what includes us and uplifts us and loves us, all of us, all children of a loving God.

This is the reading from Matthew:

“At that time the reign of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

So, firstly, the reading begins “At that time,” which implies that the reign of God may be something we will perceive of differently at another time—that our cultural structures and practices will change as we evolve in understanding and awareness. We’ve already changed our perspective enough to say “reign” instead of kingdom for inclusivity’s sake, as maybe it’s a queendom. Or we say commonwealth and move away from notions of a reign altogether. We think of loving community. We think of our earthly lives as worthy and good and not just testing grounds for whether or not we win the prize of heaven. We all get to heaven, or this is my belief and one I feel is shared by many here. Which is why this reading is so maddening with its seeming exclusivity, and why it just can’t be about God saying I don’t know you to people who weren’t ready enough by some divine standard that was never made clear, and one that afforded no room for repentance or second chances. The foolish bridesmaids did manage to find and buy more oil in the middle of the night. They tried to ready themselves after the fact and surely learned something from having been negligent at first, but nothing counted except the original negligence, apparently. And what about the selfish bridesmaids who wouldn’t share, who were actually rewarded for being self-serving and hoarding their oil. How does any of this align with Jesus’s teachings about loving one another, about God being a God of Love who knows every hair on our heads? How could the God of Love who knows us microscopically possibly say I don’t know you to anyone for any reason?

I think I can remember this passage being preached about at different times before, and how the differences in cultural practices and socio-political realities for the people of Matthew’s day, as well as Matthew’s particular personality and tendency to write of fiery pits and gnashing teeth, are reasons for the tone of it being overly severe and difficult to mesh with a gospel of good news, to our modern understanding.

Something I saw on Twitter, or X, after having written this much of the sermon, was a post from Sherrilyn Ifill in response to a video of Netanyahu quoting 1 Samuel as justification for Israel’s retaliatory actions. “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible” was his statement. Sherrilyn Ifill’s response first quoted the rest of the verse, which reads: “Now go, totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men & women, children & infants, cattle & sheep, camels & donkeys.” And then she ended her tweet with this statement: Please. It is 2023. Not 550 B.C.

Yes, surely we’ve evolved, at least a little. But how is it that we still have wars? That we even make rules about how to properly kill and capture and conquer each other? Sanctioned killing of each other. And then we break the rules anyway.

This sermon won’t be able to focus on those horrors, though. But we can look at the Matthew story with 2023 eyes and ask questions.

Do you sometimes wonder why the disciples didn’t ask more questions after listening to Jesus? I can imagine sitting in the circle around Jesus and wanting to shoot up my hand and say wait please will you explain that part a little more? Is God telling those bridesmaids to go away? Is that the final word? And what does it mean to be ready? How do we make ourselves ready enough? Didn’t everyone fall asleep while they were waiting? Isn’t that an egregious thing like falling asleep at one’s post? Why wasn’t that enough to disqualify all 10 bridesmaids, if the point is incessant watchfulness? And was it really so bad to not have enough oil when the bridegroom arrived much later than expected? Is there any accountability for lateness, or is preparedness the only issue? Does the bride get to have a say? Is the bride even worthy of being a character in the story? What happens to the bridesmaids who have the door shut on them? Do the bridesmaids who got in feel bad now about not sharing? Aren’t they kind of like the religious authorities who monopolize their access to God? And isn’t the bridegroom like a gate-keeper who makes generalized assumptions about people and paints them with too broad a brush instead of as individuals with unique needs and histories and underlying reasons for their actions, including systemic ones that make their roads hard? What if a foolish bridesmaid didn’t have enough money for more oil? What if she wasn’t physically strong and couldn’t carry it? What if she was socially awkward and just couldn’t easily navigate the market to buy oil at all, or had no understanding of how much would be enough? Doesn’t a requirement for “readiness” need to account for an individual’s location on their own evolutionary path? Has the person had access to wise instruction? Have they had good role models or bad role models? Have they had shelter and food? Am I taking this too literally? Is the bridegroom supposed to be God? Are we supposed to admire the wise bridesmaids? Is it okay if we find ourselves sympathetic to the foolish ones? Would the door really be shut on anyone? Would you, Jesus, knowing how strange life is, how difficult it is to hold on to certainty about anything, how hard to really know anything, how easy to fall short, how hard we often try, how sometimes we don’t try, how much we hope to be loved and valued—would you really ever shut the door on any one of us? Does anyone in the story have a good result?

Let’s talk about how no one has a good result. If this wedding banquet is heaven, or even if it’s earthly life, is it where you would want to be—an exclusive place with a rigid, authoritarian gatekeeper and stuffy proper guests who selfishly hoard their resources? With no room for people who don’t conform to the rules, or who fall short in some way according to unclear standards that are nonetheless exacting. A place that doesn’t allow for learning or growth but freezes a person at the moment of a perceived shortcoming, thereafter defining the person by this shortcoming and not by any effort they’ve made to overcome it. What do the 5 bridesmaids gain by leaving the foolish ones behind? Whatever their duties are to the bride, they’ve now been doubled. They’re 5 bridesmaids short. And maybe they’ve gotten into the banquet, they’ve been approved of, but at the expense of betraying their friends who were probably the fun, free-spirited ones who would have enlivened the party. And the bridegroom has 5 fewer guests, 5 fewer people to celebrate with him, with the excluded ones being those who’d proven themselves the most dedicated and supportive, having made the extra effort to find oil in the middle of the night. And the bridegroom has revealed an unexpectedly cold side of himself that has no problem standing face to face with the bridesmaids, who are likely out of breath and anxious from rushing and being late, women he surely does know, and saying this most dehumanizing and distancing thing to them��I don’t know you. How awful for everyone. Not to mention the bride who’s shoved out of the story altogether.

So what would need to go differently in the story for it to feel genuinely inspiring and instructive and inclusive of all? I do wonder why the falling asleep part doesn’t carry more weight, since it seems to foreshadow the disciples inability to stay awake with Jesus at Gethsemane, which was something he needed and so wanted them to do. But that part is mostly overlooked, or not what anyone is later held to account for. The most glaring part where the story goes wrong is when the wise bridesmaids refuse to share their oil. And they don’t even need to share the actual oil. They could just let the foolish bridesmaids walk close beside them and share their lamplight. They could each link arms with a foolish bridesmaid, each pair skipping along to the banquet with their single shared lamp. They could be caring and loving and figure it out. Isn’t this what preparedness should be? Willingness to step in, to help, to provide where there’s need. To love one another. And if that doesn’t happen, if the wise bridesmaids miss their opportunity to better love the foolish ones, the bridegroom could wait a moment longer after his tardy arrival to be sure all the bridesmaids are there with lit lamps. He could exercise the patience he requires of others. Then everyone could joyously proceed to the banquet with a collective sense of belonging and worthiness, the wise bridesmaids perhaps with a tinge of regret at not having generously shared their oil, but with supportive assurance from the others that they can always start now to have sharing hearts.

As we can, now in our present time of 2023, imagine new ways to unravel this story and find good news. It’s fun. I think it’s the point. I think we can each find our place in it and better understand how best to participate in the commonwealth. Do you identify with the foolish bridesmaids? I suspect most of us here do. I think they’re the queer ones. They’re the ones who know they won’t fit in and don’t really want to go to the dumb exclusive banquet anyway, but they wear the dumb dresses and try because they want to support the bride and have sisterhood solidarity. And now, after being tossed out, they have lit lamps and extra oil and can just go freely into the night and be themselves and let their freak flags fly. They can celebrate in full confidence that they, too, are God’s beloved, and no gate-keeping christian nationalist can tell them otherwise.

If you ever think of sermons as being overly long, this will be the part where you can say to yourself he could have stopped there. But I will carry on a little longer and think about the lectionary pairing of this gospel reading with the reading from Psalms 63. It says:

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

And this is good to include because what this Psalm does, for me, is recast the readiness or preparedness or watchfulness that seems a harsh requirement in the gospel reading as something far more tender and loving and available to all. The readiness we are called to exercise seems to simply be a deep gratitude for God’s love, and an awareness of ourselves as God’s beloved. The readiness is our whole acceptance of God as always with us. It isn’t about waiting on God. It’s knowing God is here.

Okay, and one last thing which actually is a cautionary thing even though I do believe we’re all definitely beloved by God no matter if we’re foolish or wise. But in preparing to write this sermon, I read back through the chapter preceding the gospel reading, Matthew chapter 24, which includes a dramatically graphic narrative about the end times, which is what our gospel reading from chapter 25 is also alluding to. The description of the end times so closely mirrors what our world feels like today that we might wonder if this is it. But those of Matthew’s day believed that the end was nigh for them, too, so maybe not. Maybe the end is always nigh. Maybe we’re always meant to live like there’s no tomorrow. But something that spoke to me, loudly, in the description of the end of days was in these verses that say:

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The part that struck me was Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Or most specifically, the love of most will grow cold. Because I can feel this happening to me. I can feel my heart hardening. The part about standing firm to the end and being saved doesn’t, to me, mean securing a spot in heaven, but more being saved from the affliction of having a hard heart, which is something contagious that hurts in all ways—spiritually and physically and intellectually and emotionally. It feels, to me, like being squeezed in a vice. I feel it most when I read posts or comments online made by people who are transphobic. I feel hatred for them. I don’t consider, at all, any way of reaching them but am instead immediately on the attack. I come out fighting and name-calling and behaving toward them just as I feel they’re behaving toward me. Which, I know, only solidifies their disdain for me as mine is becoming more solidified toward them, but I seem to take an ugly pleasure in all of it. But later I feel squeezed. And this seems, to me, to be pertinent to this sermon because it feels like a place where I forget to feel beloved by God. I don’t even try to feel beloved. Which is a darkness in me I need to dispel, a place where I do need to exercise vigilance. If readiness is a deep awareness of God’s Love, as I think the psalm is saying, I need to remember to be beloved, to feel God with me. I don’t even know how this might change my interactions because I haven’t practiced it enough yet, but now I am admitting to a void of this kind of preparedness I do want to fill, to have extra oil to shine brighter and longer and more lovingly, and with enough to share.

Amen

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katarafirelady · 2 years ago

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ok it is also cool that pansexual merman's little sister uses a prosthetic tail

and that they didnt completely typecast each mermaid based on her hair/tail colour to an element. Green mermaid is water instead of earth, pink mermaid is earth instead of fire, and some rando who has 1 speaking line in the entire film is air :)))))

the problem is really the plot. it doesnt feel creative or exciting. we dont even KNOW the stakes. some woman who we dont know just says "the fate of our world depends on it ." but she doesnt seem at all concerned or worries or anything. and its like in what way? how will the world be changed if this doesnt go to plan? nobody knows. probably not even the writers.

i think what i really miss is when barbie and her friends had to be clever/creative/industrious in some way to solve their problems. Like Annalise finding that purple geode and using it to revitalize her kingdoms economy. Or even corrine in princess academy who had to figure out that she was the lost princess, and her friend who was a music genius helped fighre out that the Beep beep BEEP Beep of the door code could be deciphered. Now its all just "barbie is kind and a friend to everyone. that (+ magic) solves all her problems the end." but the truth is that being kind to a bully/abuser wont always make them stop being mean? (in fact i would say that a lot of the time it wont work!) barbie rapunzel and barbie nutcracker stood up against the evil people and defeated them.

also the music is bad and the backgrounds/animation in general arent as pretty as they were in video game hero or starlight adventure. They look more on par with backgrounds from princess and the pauper, but without the really loveable characters + compelling plot + amazing music to make up for it. also backgrounds rendered entirely in 3d just dont look as nice as the old more painted style ones.

final criticism is that the conservation of oceans message was really shoehorned in and even then it was pretty shallow bc if a bunch of mermaids can just zap the great pacific garbage pile into nonexistance, they can do it again right? like thats a bad way to show that garbage hurts sea creatures. They should have actually had a seaturtle try to swallow a plastic bag, or had fish get stuck in those 6 pack can connector things, and had barbie and co actually put in some WORK to help, rather than just do a <2 minute "battle" against the garbage and then immediately have a dance party?

ok compliment sandwich i guess their hair looked nice. Very shiny. made me want to look up hair care routines

#barbie mermaid power #barbie #honestly i just wish they would go back to telling classic ballets/fairytales with barbie #like there are a MILLION more ballets out there #that was where the barbie movies were at their peak #also did i mention that the music in this one SUCKED #like it had none of the heart that the old music did #it was just synthetic pop sounds after the second one i just listened to the first 15 seconds or so #and then skipped to the last 15 seconds or so of each song #none of them were even CATCHY synthetic pop #:(#pls barbie make good movies again i am begging on my hands and knees #also introduce more Barbie Robertses #have a san fran barbie and a vancouver barbie and a denver barbie and a London barbie and a paris barbie #make an army of cool diverse women all named barbie roberts #and have them all just call each other by their cities to avoid confusion #and for gods sake give them diverse interests too!#like the two barbies we have are into... music and vlogging and... kindness ig?#i know we have skipper and stacy and chelsea #but make the other new barbies like her friends from life in the dreamhouse #have some who are into various sciences and arts and sports #and for gods sake make one of them a BALLERINA

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dekusleftsock · 2 years ago

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Random observation (and take as long as you need in replying) but I've noticed that people often treat main characters like self inserts, even if that main character has a clearly defined personality. In general, people tend to project onto main characters a lot, making it more difficult to evaluate a main character's psychology. Like, a lot of people call main characters vanilla even if that person has a clearly defined personality and flaws of their own. At this point, I feel vanilla has just been boiled down to describe any character you don't like... I feel like it's particularly unfitting when people call Deku a vanilla character. If they stopped projecting and looked at his actual personality, they'd see that he has tons of personality. You know what I mean?

YES! Oh good fucking god yes this is so common.

I feel like there’s two sides to this. Like, sometimes an author sacrifices the possibilities a main character may react (like ryota from kakegurui) in order to make them more relatable. Their arcs are usually very simple, like getting more powerful or better at the thing. (like gambling or winning over the girl) The women who might be the deuteragonist or simply just a supporting character to the mc may even be more interesting, because the point is for men to project onto the mc so that they can be with “sexy” women or “feel powerful.

That being said… most media outside of a few genres DO MAKE interesting mc. Which is why projecting onto those mc by sharing your own experiences while talking about them (yes I know I’m guilty too, never said I was perfect sidhosjdo) sometimes just doesn’t make sense. They may have relatable ideas but they are not inherently made to be relatable. Sometimes it’s just the authors own personal issues made into a character, or even interesting traits that they like.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, all analysis has bias. Maybe my opinions on Izuku’s anger issues are projection because I too have anger issues. Sometimes bias actually helps us understand characters more because, hey, maybe I’m actually right about it!

I’m confident in my opinions ofc, but while being critical about your pov is important, people sometimes read things differently. There’s no real problem with that so long as it isn’t like, ungodly bad opinions.

There’s some things though that should NOT be read in a different way. For example, the matrix is actually an allegory for being transgender, but because of mainstream media that allegory has been erased.

It solely depends on if you are erasing diversity and importance to that story, or if it is something that could be counted as an HC. (Adding onto canon content that is not exactly specified)

Mis characterization often comes into play because of that bias and our inherent need to project our own feelings onto a character. We have to be aware of that and be able to still look at a character and their relationship to others with a critical eye.

I may not ENJOY todo//deku, just, personally, but that doesn’t mean I can’t APPRECIATE IT for what it is. They have chemistry, a personal and interesting relationship/dynamic overall. I should and do give credit to them for that.

Getting past our biases within analysis is just, so important in trying to look for both the authors intention and the overall message.

So my just, overall take on this is self reflection. Questioning WHY you think something and then estimating on the likelihood in which that evidence indicates the conclusion you believe. If it’s for morals sake, especially when it contradicts the story’s messge, (unless it’s something like genuinely terrible ofc, like use your brain lol) then yeah. It probably is projection.

I’m kinda just tired of people not understanding which parts of their opinions are their bias and which is based in logical evidence.

So, FOR REFERENCE TO ANYONE READING THIS: your personal OPINION of a character is your BIAS, and what they’ve done is your EVIDENCE.

Example:

I think that Izuku is boring.

Izuku is perceived to be boring BECAUSE he is not as relatable.

ITS ABOUT EVIDENCE! AND LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS! DIDNT WE ALL LEARN THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD????

#I’m tired #vibing #leftsock rambles #bkdk #midoriya izuku #mha deku #bkdk brainrot #bakudeku #bakugou katsuki #bnha deku #mha analysis

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theangelmojo · 2 years ago

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Okay, so I am not so critical of the race/diversity issue anymore, in the sense of its accuracy to LOTR. I am however, tired of being called racist for not liking the handling of the series. My gripe with them is their lack of creative thinking and the way they have limited the depth of their worldbuilding. So I would like to suggest an alternative critique on the creative choices made with regards to the casting of POC.

And my question regarding that is: if they really want to display some diversity... why didn't they add MORE black elves to the franchise? D:

Like, why didn't they build black elves (and why not some Asian elves too?) into THEIR telling of Middle Earth in a way that makes it more impactful? Instead of just having Alondir be black, make it that the Moriquendi are dark skinned, or maybe the Noldor instead? I don’t know! Make some distinction between the elf clans visually, and play around with whether they are dark/light elves =/= skin tone. MAKE IT CREATIVE AND INTERESTING, AND MAKE IT HAVE A STRONGER CULTURAL IDENTITY

This would build a lot more of importance and identity into the culture of black elves, it would draw FROM the text, the fact that there isn't one mono-culture of "elves". Shit, I really just... I wish they put an ounce of thought into their choices. That’s what I hate most about TROP.

It simply makes no sense to just have one dude be a black elf. In fact, I would argue that THAT is far more racist than anything... it's like, their one black friend is now an elf (yay)... instead of "we've decided to make a visual distinction between actual clans of elves existing in the legendarium, and made the creative choice of showcasing this with skin colour".

For the casual viewer, this would also make the differences between elf clans more understandable at a glance, making it more accessible for newcomers whilst also digging into elven history.

So, this is what I mean by them lacking creativity and respect for the lore and missing out on a really good opportunity to give more depth to their worldbuilding.

This would have been, IMO, a far better way of bringing POC into TROP, and it would be a lot more genuine in diversifying the cast. Instead of being colour-blind, make more of an effort to give those POC characters a community. Even as a Tolkien-lore-lover, I would actually embrace (and ENJOY) this interpretation over the Professor’s descriptions of fair-skinned elves.

(And why not extend this to Princess Disa being black? Make MORE black dwarves too! Reference the different clans of dwarves. Bring her a convoy of subjects, for when she married into Durin’s line. For god’s sake, it isn’t difficult to develop these characters a bit more, and they deserve it!)

#jo rambles #the rings of power #LOTR #elves #dwarves too

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antiloreolympus · 3 years ago

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9 Anti LO Asks

1. LO Apollo being a villain/Antagonist could be interesting if he wasn't so irredeemable and irritating. I mean, think about it. Apollo hates Persephone (for whatever reason. Maybe cause she's friends with Eros and Apollo and Eros have an ongoing rivalry), and maybe Persephone even hates him back (say because he's stuck up). But they're both friends with Hermes and Artemis. Now we've got a hilarious, slightly tense, "glare at each other across the couch" situation where Apollo and Persephone have to pretend not to hate each other for the sake of their friends.

Artemis is all like "I'm so glad my two favorite people are getting along!" and then it cuts to Persephone sharpening a knife while Apollo grips a pen so hard it snaps. And they're both like "Yeah. We love each other soooooo much...."

Bonus points if Hermes knows they hate each other, but just kinda wants to see how far they'll take it!

Anyways, all I'm saying is that I like the idea of an antagonistic Apollo. It could've been good! She could have used Persephone and Apollo's shared relationships to her advantage for comedic affect! Plus we could've had a whole arc about them learning to be like each other and thus strengthening Persephone's relationships outside of Hades. But RS is too incompetent to write anything good adjacent.

2. This was like, ages ago but I cannot get over the fact that RS named random characters stuff like “Brenda” “Jill” and “Hank” like? Hello?? She could very easily just search “Greek names” (even “Ancient Greek names” if she wanted) and pick stuff she liked from there, and if she still wanted to keep the more “Americanized” names she could do names like Sophia, Helen, Nicholas, or even Jimmy (which is just an Americanized Dimitri, if I remember correctly?). Like,,, it’s so easy to use google instead of calling a Greek nymph “”Brenda”” 😐

Note: I am not a native Greek but I do have the classic “Greek-name-opoulos” surname so while I definitely do not have as much say as native Greeks I at least know a *little* bit about Greek names and the way RS names minor non-God characters is.... interesting.

3. Why is Hades’ face shaded like that? Is he about to get fetishized for being gay or smth?

4. Regarding the Americanisation of LO’s Greece: It would be one thing if the Greek pantheon in LO were the only pantheon in their universe. That way, RS could write off the Americanised lifestyle and names in LO as some weird shoehorning of diversity (the Hades games creators did a much better job by making the gods different races and justifying it by saying the gods may be Greek gods but they rule over all of humanity and therefore should be treated as representative of human diversity).

However, RS has established very early on that there are multiple pantheons in the universe of LO (remember how Perse at one point contemplated running away to join the Norse pantheon?) thus making it Impossible for her to justify the Greek gods being so Anglicised since they only rule over Greece in LO…

5. What I don't get it anti-nymph racism (and yes it's racism, Rachel said they're a different race) is so heavy and common place in the series that it's like ... what about Amphitrite? She's a nymph! Is the deal with her that she's well bred/one of the good ones" because if so 🤢🤮

6. Getting caught up on LO and Pfft Polymnia everything shes saying is supposed to be "character assassination" and slander / defamation of character of Persephone according to the title and yet....

Everything shes saying is true... Also "the accused hid like a coward" cuts to Persephone looking comfy just hanging out in Hades arms in ya know, the King of the Underworlds house??! After commiting a second murder / mutilation?

7. Rachel you coward give women big noses too

8. im sorry, i don care how much you might love lo, but yall cannot look me in the eye and tell me hades being wider than spiderverse kingpin is somehow a good look. how does he even walk without falling over.

9. I hate how the plot steam rolled over so much of their actually interesting plots. Hera just got reunited with Hephaestus, let’s see that relationship fester after she just started having nightmares. Artemis and Apollo were looking for each other because she almost put two and two together. Who texted echo to say “hey your roommate is a tree now”. Do any of the gods know Daphne is missing OR Minthe? Do gods actually care when something happens to a non god? (Probs not Hera turned someone into a goat) Eros and psyche??? What’s happening? Idc about the trial plot since persphone isn’t going to get punished

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

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blitheringmcgonagall · 3 years ago

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My Gallant Lad - Part IV

So I got a wonderful anon telling me that this is their favourite Lily Rescues James fic, it’s part of my finished canon marauders fic We Can Be Heroes. But, because it works as a stand alone story, I posted it here in four parts. I hope you enjoy it! Set during the first wizarding war, Lily is very BAMF (but tbh so is James)

TW: angsty and violence

Part I here: After their worst row ever, Lily and James get captured by Voldemort...

Part II here: James tries to save Lily

Part III here: Lily tries to save James

PART IV

(PS this is not pro- Snape at all, quite the opposite, for this to make sense you’ll have to read the other parts, lol!)

Mulciber swallowed.

“Now help me lift Potter, and for fuck’s sake be careful, he’s perilously close to death as it is!” Snape said.

He was so angry his body was shaking in agitation.

Mulciber lifted James’ body as though it were made of glass.

***

“I’ll take it from here,” Snape ordered.

They were standing underneath the main door of the castle, which led into the courtyard.

“I thought we were bringing Potter and his vile mudblood to the Dark Lord?” Mulciber said, frowning suspiciously.

“Change of plan, Mulciber,” Snape said matter-of-factly. “I want to try and get Evans to talk, that way if Potter snuffs it, we won’t risk being beheaded by him.”

“What do you mean?” Mulciber looked at him in bewilderment. “If you attack Evans and manage to injure her also, we’re doubly fucked!”

“I won’t fuck it up, unlike you dithering idiots I actually know what I’m doing!” Snape says angrily.

Mulciber stared hard at him.

“Are you sure you’re Snape?” he said, narrowing his eyes and reaching for his wand. “You’re acting strangely and I-“

“He’s Snape all right, but under the Imperius Curse,” Lily interjected. “Expelliarmus!”

Mulciber’s wand flew into Lily’s outstretched hand.

“You?” Mulciber seethed. “How in Morgana’s hell did you manage to Imperio him? Last I heard you were wailing painfully awful songs from your cell, giving us all a headache! I thought you’d given up!”

“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad,” Lily shrugged. “You just hadn’t experienced the merry part yet!”

“You’re not a man,” Mulciber sneered.

“Ha!” Lily’s face broke into a harsh smile. “What Chesterton didn’t say about Irish women is that when they’re angry, all their wars are won!”

Mulciber stared at her sullenly.

“Not my fault that you consistently underestimate me, Mulciber!” Lily shot back. “You think you’d have learnt by now!”

Mulciber’s face looked like curdled milk.

“Too late,” Lily said. “Obliviate!”

Mulciber’s expression changed slowly to one of utter confusion as he looked between Lily, James and Snape. He hadn’t even seen the spell hit him.

“What happened to him?” he said, scratching behind his ear and staring at James’ body. “Where’s your Head Girl badge? Your uniform?”

“Quidditch injury,” Lily said flatly. “Vicious Slytherin tactics. One hundred points from your House, now back to your common room before I have you expelled!”

“Whaat?” Mulciber said, looking utterly bewildered.

“I’m counting till ten. Ten… nine… eight…” Lily said.

Mulciber stumbled and turned immediately, muttering incoherent protests.

“Not bad, Lily Evans,” Snape whispered with a vicious grin. “Not bad at all.”

***

“Outside! Now!” Snape ordered.

Lily Evans remained silent as she walked outside at a steady pace, Snape following her and dragging James Potter’s body along the ancient flagstones.

“Now, it seems that nothing will persuade Dumbledore’s man to reveal what has happened to the Dark Lord’s precious treasure, a book Dumbledore’s men stole! Potter nearly died refusing to tell us. I’m ordering you to tell me, or I’ll make you kill your own husband!” he called out.

“No, I won’t tell you anything,” Lily said with effort.

“Wow! That’s dope!” Villiers whispered loudly to Wilkes.

The two men were sitting on the battlements having a smoke and peering down with interest at the scene unfolding below them.

“Look what Snape is up to! I never thought he was into that shit!” Wilkes replied. “He usually lets us handle that kind of stuff, says it’s boring!”

They looked at each other and grinned.

“Massive!” Villiers giggled, bumping fists with Wilkes.

Snape picked up his wand.

“Last chance, Miss. Evans,” he said, dragging James closer to the middle of the courtyard.

He was holding two other wands in his hand.

“What is going on here?”

Snape whirled around.

Voldemort was standing at the castle gate, and with him Evan Rosier. Voldemort’s wand was pointed at him.

“I am quite simply trying to establish the whereabouts of your missing book, my Lord,” Snape said. “I thought this might work.”

“Rosier here tells me you have been acting exceedingly strange,” Voldemort’s voice was icy. “He thinks you may be under the Imperius Curse.”

“Rosier is neither observant nor intelligent, my Lord,” Snape said stiffly.

“Be that as it may, Severus, you are not yourself, you would not usually dare speak to me with this much courage,” Voldemort replied, stepping forwards.

“My Lord?” Severus replied.

“Let us see what happens, shall we?” Voldemort said, whirling around at the last minute and pointing his wand at Lily.

“Stupefy!” Voldemort said with a lazy swish of his wand.

Lily Evans crumpled to the ground. Snape stood motionless, as though unsure what to do.

“Ah, the spell fades, I see. I had hoped you would not be so easily overcome by it. You disappoint me, Severus, I thought you were stronger than that. I thought you knew the mudblood well enough to watch out for any tricks she might play? Or were you too enticed by her beauty to focus on doing your job properly?” Voldemort spat out. “You shall pay for this mistake! And the object of your affections will most definitely pay.”

“I’m afraid I underestimated the mudblood,” Snape said, with a condescending smirk at the Dark Lord. “I don’t know her as well as I thought I did. She should perhaps have been sorted into Slytherin. It appears that Lily Evans is a devious little bitch!”

Startling emerald eyes glared at Voldemort from Snape’s face. As the wheels in Voldemort’s mind whirled, Snape removed a leather bracelet from his wrist and tapped it, revealing a large glittering brass key.

“Póg mo thóin, Riddle!” he said, flicking the V at Voldemort (who looked momentarily stunned) as he grabbed hold of James’ arm and apparated into thin air.

“I don’t get it,” Rosier said, looking at Voldemort and rubbing his forehead as though in pain. “Was that Snape? No, hang on.. what was..?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” roared Voldemort, raising his head as his blood-curdling screams carried over the courtyard and into the surrounding forest.

He kicked out viciously at Rosier’s leg sending him hopping around in circles howling with pain. A family of carrion crows, disturbed by the commotion, flapped and squawked upwards from the turrets and battlements.

“Which one of you is the imbecile who allowed Lily Evans to escape?” he screamed at Rosier. “Why did none of you stop her?”

Villiers and Wilkes ducked down behind the walls of the battlements, grimacing.

A splash of white bird dropping landed on Voldemort’s nose. Rosier stared at him.

“You have some…” he said, pointing to Voldemort’s face. “Just there?”

Voldemort looked ready to kill him.

“If you don’t permanently dispose of this group of crows by Salazar’s soul, I will feed you to them myself!” he shouted wildly, waving his wand at Rosier, and rubbing his face furiously with the back of his sleeve.

“A murder of crows, not a group, but whatever,” Rosier muttered to himself, looking peeved, as he aimed Avada Kedavras at the screeching birds.

Voldemort walked over to the body of Lily Evans and stared at the darkening hair and sallower skin, Snape’s eyes looking up at him.

“Legilimens!” he intoned.

The memory was tampered with, powerfully, so that he was unable to see some of the earlier incidents, but he could see the conversation between “Snape” and Avery, Fuck Voldemort, I hate that bastard! Avery running off to hide from him. Seething with rage, he grabbed Rosier’s arm and touched his dark mark.

He watched as all his followers apparated around him, all except Snape who lay half-stunned on the ground, and Hugo Avery.

“Find Avery, bring him to me, now, or you all die!” he hissed, the red veins in his sclera protruding menacingly. “Nooooowwwww!!!!”

***

“I don’t know what happened,” Frank said, his croaky voice difficult to understand in between coughing fits.

“He needs to come with me to the Infirmatory,” Poppy interrupted, looking at Dumbledore and pointing towards the door.

Frank continued coughing and shook his head forcefully.

“We were ambushed… they were waiting for us… they wanted to get Black and Lupin,” he wheezed. “They got Lily and James… I wanted to create a diversion but before I could move, one of them released noxious fumes, no doubt to catch any other Order members, I was knocked out cold… I fell backwards and the thicket hid me from sight… woke up freezing cold a short while ago… I couldn’t find any trace of them whatsoever. I only got back just as Lily apparated here with James, he looks bad.”

The ancient double door burst open as he spoke, and Sirius Black stormed inside, his black jeans soaking wet, his leather jacket still in his hands, closely followed by a haggard-looking Remus Lupin.

“We came as soon as we got your owl. Where are they?” he roared, going straight up to Frank and grabbing hold of his collar urgently. “Where the fuck are they? Tell me!”

Remus found himself unable to utter a single word.

***

The door of the Infirmary flew open, Sirius breathless as though he had just sprinted up five flights of stairs (which he had). He looked at Lily and seeing the pain and fear in her eyes, he forced himself to look at James lying unconscious in the bed behind her - it didn’t look like his brother, the bruised and battered body covered in what he immediately recognised as myriad curses, his usually tanned skin a deathly pale colour. He looked already dead. He looked back at Lily, the darkness under her eyes, her quivering lips.

“Lily,” he tried to say her name but no words came out, caught in his throat.

“I know, sweetie,” Lily’s voice a hoarse whisper.

Then they flung their arms around each other, gripping on for dear life. Sirius felt her chest heave and held her even closer as her quiet sobs filled the silent room, shattering his heart.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered back, his breath still caught inside his chest, trapped.

What could he say, hearing her heartbroken sounds?

“We won’t... we shan’t let him die,” he managed to say eventually, shutting his eyes tightly to stop himself breaking down. He moved to take both her hands in his own, looking down at her with tears in his eyes.

He didn’t even know was he trying to comfort her or was he trying to comfort himself.

“I… I used an Unforgivable, Sirius,” Lily said eventually, keeping her head down.

“I would have sprained my wrist throwing Unforgivables at the bastards!” Sirius said. “I wish I could have done it for you.”

He had badness in him already, let him hold it for all of them.

It should have been him. He should have been there instead of James, instead of Lily.

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Lily’s voice shook. “I did it to save James… it felt wrong, Sirius, it is wrong and disgusting, but I know I’d do it again to save him. Am I a bad person, Sirius? I.. I saw what they did to him, I wanted them all dead… I thought about it... I wanted to. I don’t want to become like them, Sirius, but I wanted to kill them, so badly!”

“Lily, you didn’t kill them. You could have tried to, but you didn’t. You saved James. Merlin, you saved my brother, the only brother I have left, I can never thank you enough,” Sirius’ voice broke.

He wondered what he would have done in her place.

“It was Snape, he wanted to save me, but I had to find James, I couldn’t… he hurt James, I hate him for it,” Lily said desperately, squeezing Sirius’ arms.

“Fuck that creepy bastard!” Sirius said.

“What if Voldemort kills him? What if he dies? It will be my fault!” Lily whispered. “I hate him so much, but I don’t want to get him killed. I wouldn’t care if he died in battle, not now, not after everything he’s done to James! But being tortured and killed for trying to save me? I don’t want that, am I mad?”

“You had to,“ Sirius said, gripping her tightly. “You had to try to save James. You couldn’t leave with Snape, you know that would have been wrong! You are not to blame for anything Voldemort does!”

“I need James too, Sirius, he doesn’t see that, he thought I could manage without him, he’s so stupid, such a stupid, darling, beautiful man,” Lily stopped, her hand over her mouth.

“He can’t die, Poppy won’t let him die,” Sirius whispered back.

Lily nodded, still crying. He saw her sway and grabbed hold of her shoulders.

“Merlin Lily,” he said anxiously. “Sit down immediately! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Do you need Poppy? Will I get-“

“ No, please, Sirius, I didn’t get hurt, James-“ she stopped, unable to continue, and bringing her hand up to her mouth again.

He didn’t think he could handle hearing what had happened.

“Hush, Lily, you’re both safe now,” he heard himself say.

“He... I couldn’t... I tried...” she said. She closed her eyes and swayed again, sitting down suddenly and placing her head between her knees.

“I need some water, and something to eat,” she said, sounding suddenly anxious as her almond shaped clear eyes searched Sirius’ for reassurance.

“I... Merlin, yes of course, Darling, let me get that for you!” Sirius said, relief blossoming at some small task he could do to help. “Do you want a firewhisky instead?”

“No! I can’t drink now I’m ... I’m a bit dehydrated Sirius, I better stick to the water,” Lily said, placing her hand over her lower abdomen in a protective gesture.

“Yes of course,” Sirius said feverishly, throwing his leather jacket on.

“I’ll get it,” Dearborn was standing in the doorway looking at Lily uncomfortably.

“Lily, I know you already had a debriefing with Professor Dumbledore, but he was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few more-“ he continued.

“No!”

Both Lily and Sirius spoke at once.

“Not now, my husband needs me here, Dumbledore can wait,” Lily said, staring at Dearborn with a hostile expression as she swiped at her red eyes furiously.

“Tell him to go fuck himself,” Sirius growled.

Dearborn nodded, recognising defeat.

“You get some food and water for Lily, Caradoc, I’ll tell Dumbledore,” Remus said. Remus stood quietly behind Dearborn, a grim look, no obvious emotions displayed on his tired face.

“Righto,” Dearborn nodded reluctantly.

“Hurry up,” Remus ordered. “We don’t want Poppy to end up with another patient.”

“Righto,” Dearborn said, looking relieved to have an excuse to leave.

*** “You wanted to speak with me, Mr. Lupin?” Dumbledore said, gesturing vaguely towards the chair in front of him.

Remus sat down. The silence made him nervous.

“You feel guilty for swapping your week on call with the Potters. You want to make sure that your friends are protected from danger as much as possible from now on?”

Remus felt his cheeks flush. He nodded, feeling even worse.

“Good,” Dumbledore said. “I can see why you’d think that way.”

Remus swallowed. Dumbledore blamed him too? He wanted to crawl under the floorboards never to re-emerge.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, looking down, unable to meet the Professor’s gaze. “I should have stayed…”

“That’s quite alright, Remus, these things happen, and we have to learn from them,” Dumbledore said.

Remus felt himself slide further down the chair. He wanted to cry. It reminded him of The Prank at the end of Fifth Year. It should have been him. He should have insisted Sirius go with someone else. He felt personally responsible for what had happened, and if James died because of him… if James died…

“What can I do, Sir?” Remus whispered hoarsely. “Tell me there is something I can do to help!”

He looked up and caught Dumbledore looking at him keenly, with an astute gaze.

“Of course there is something you can do to help, Remus,” Dumbledore said, steepling his hands together. “It will be dangerous though, the most dangerous mission I have ever given any member of the Order.”

Remus nodded dumbly.

“It is also top secret. You must not discuss this information with a single soul,” Dumbledore said, his blue eyes assessing Remus coolly. “Not the Marauders, not Lily Potter, especially not Sirius Black. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Remus said, sitting up straighter. “You can trust me.”

“I hope so, Remus,” Dumbledore said. “Most people wouldn’t.”

Remus froze, taken aback.

“I…” he stuttered.

“Luckily for you, I am not most people, Mr. Lupin,” Dumbledore smiled pleasantly. “Lemon sherbet?”

Somewhere in the back of Remus’ mind the words you bastard and what the fuck presented themselves as appropriate responses.

He declined politely.

“I have a singularly important and quite unusual mission, and it seems to me that you are the perfect candidate to volunteer for it,” Dumbledore said, sucking loudly on the muggle sweet and leaning back into his chair.

Somehow the wizard’s eyes seemed beadier in this light. Remus waited.

“I will of course understand if you turn down this opportunity, Remus, that you may be too frightened to go,” Dumbledore said. “Other Order members may be more-“

Remus’ jaw tightened. The words you bastard and what the fuck once more presented themselves as appropriate responses.

“Other Order members have no idea how little I fear most things,” Remus said, his eyes narrowing.

“Yes, of course, Remus, I am well aware that compared to most-“ Dumbledore said, with a placating raise of his palms.

“What mission?” Remus asked.

“A mission to infiltrate Fenrir Greyback’s werewolf pack. I am aware you have already made his acquaintance,” Dumbledore said. “To see if they can be persuaded to abandon their leader and join our side in the war. And to spy on them, at any rate.”

Remus felt a cold shiver of dread run down his spine. His old Headmaster couldn’t be serious, surely. That was a hopeless mission, a pointless waste of life, a …

Greyback…

An ear-splitting scream of terror, his own. Rabid eyes. Massive yellow canines lunging towards him, saliva dripping off them. Laughter and howling.

“Tell your Daddy I said hello!”

A tearing sensation as huge teeth sank into his hip. Another ear-splitting scream, this time of pain…

He felt his hands tremble and gripped the edges of the armchair in agitation.

“If you’d rather not, I am sure I can persuade another member of the Order to pretend to be a werewolf. With some clever Transfiguration spells, which many of our members are particularly gifted at, especially your own friends-“ Dumbledore said.

“No!” Remus said, standing up suddenly and staring hard at the other man, his breathing erratic. “Merlin no! You have no idea…”

His voice trailed off again, his heart hammering wildly against his ribcage.

“So, Mr. Lupin, you don’t feel you can bring yourself to-“ Dumbledore said.

“No!” Remus practically shouted. “I’ll do it! Don’t even think about asking anyone else… I’ll do it, alright?”

“I see,” Dumbledore smiled kindly again. “My deepest apologies Remus, how very brave of you. I should never have doubted you.”

Remus bit the side of his lip. This was akin to agreeing to a suicide mission. Any sane individual would have refused to accept the offer. But surely Dumbledore had guessed he would never allow any of his friends or colleagues to go instead of him, to risk being turned? The bastard must have known all along. Yet he owed so much to this old man, this powerful wizard, the one they were all relying on to beat Voldemort and to win this war. The one who had given him a chance. Who had risked his reputation by allowing him into Hogwarts. Who had not expelled him after the disastrous Prank in Fifth Year. Maybe he was being unkind and unfair to the man. Perhaps this mission was genuinely important?

“No need to apologise, Sir,” Remus said with a small smile, extending his hand out.

“Thank you, Remus,” Dumbledore said, shaking his hand warmly. “I do appreciate your help in this war. I shall contact you shortly with more information about this entire affair. Please remember to keep this top secret.”

“Yes, Sir,” said Remus.

***

He opened the door quietly. The room was dimly lit by the fire and the large candles on either side of the infirmary bed. James looked the same, somewhere between life and death. Lily was sitting on a chair, her head lying on the bed beside him, still fully clothed, the dark shadows under her eyes more pronounced in this light. She was holding James’ hand. Sirius was nowhere to be seen, but at the foot of the bed, on top of the carefully folded blankets lay Padfoot. He was whimpering in his sleep. The shaggy dog opened his eyes briefly, fixing Remus with his mournful grey eyes.

“Sleep, Padfoot,” Remus said quietly. “I’ll stay up. I’ll call Poppy if there’s any change. There’s nothing more we can do.”

Padfoot yelped quietly, turning to look at Lily and James and then looked back at Remus and whined. He was looking at Remus accusingly. Where had he disappeared off to, why hadn’t he comforted Lily? Did he not care?

“I’m sorry,” Remus said.

It sounded curt. Inadequate.

What more could he say?

Padfoot whined once again, dropping his head into his paws, looking dejected. Remus sat on the ground, his head in his hands. He could go over, talk to Sirius, but his boyfriend always knew if he was hiding anything from him, and he was too tired to make up an excuse for what had just happened. Too tired, too traumatised, too selfish…

He stayed where he was.

Padfoot slept fitfully, beset by nightmares. Remus did not sleep a wink. He did not allow himself to sleep. The fear of nightmares kept him awake, as though he were four years old again. Besides, he did not deserve to sleep.

***

PS Póg mo thóin - kiss my ass in Irish

PS To find out if James is okay, and if Lily is in fact pregnant and if yes, what happens next etc, I’m afraid you’ll have to keep reading We Can Be Heroes. If you just want to read on, it’s from Chapter 45.

If you want, I can post more stand alones (Harry’s birth? the Jily engagement? Jily Wedding? Wolfstar first kiss etc??or the next part but it just leads into more stuff!)

#WCBH one shots #BAMF Lily #BAMF James #first wizarding war #defying voldemort #canon jily #canon marauders #angsty #I love Lily Evans #jily #wolfstar #poor darlings #it’s all a bit Angsty

55 notes · View notes

keenmarvellover · 4 years ago

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POSTS FOR YOU - 1

Some links to posts with valuable content you want in one place.(BASICALLY EVERYTHING IS THERE)

Suggestions and Recommendations are appreciated and accepted.

Last Updated : 16/10/2020

NOTE: Some of these post are written in a crude and unruly fashion. But they contain valuable tips, guidance and information. If you can't/don't want to read such posts, then don't read.

Mental Health

Do you need a Hug?

Maybe you’re having a stressful day. Maybe you just need a deep breath. Maybe you just didn’t realize how stressed you are. You can get your comfort here.

Some stuff to help you sleep

This is definitely not a google drive full of the sleep stuff from the Headspace app, including sleepcasts, music, and wind down meditation, that normally costs 17.99 a month, no siree and you definitely shouldnt share this with people

Anti-Anxiety Tools

Some tools to help you before, during or after an anxiety attack

100 Reasons NOT To Kill Yourself

READ IT. SHARE IT. REBLOG IT. Save a Life.

HOBBIES MASTERPOST!!!!!!!!

A really excellent way to reduce anxiety is to pick up a new hobby. Find something you’re interested in, learn it, then use it as a healthy and productive way to cope.

Health

Some very Important Lists for Rating PAIN, FATIQUE AND MENTAL HEALTH

It is MUST share

PSA Rregarding Hospital bills

Also how to pay hospital bills when you are broke.

How to differentiate between COVID-19, FLU AND COMMON COLD

Anyway, as we enter cold & flu season in the YEAR of corona, this will come in very handy.

Treatment for HIV

VERY IMPORTANT. Please Read and Share.

What does the Color of your Period mean?

A must read for individuals who get periods.

How to differentiate between Period Cramps and Appendicitis

A MUST READ

From a Person who is Hard of Hearing

Types and levels of deafness

General Tips for Vagina Health

Some stuff they don't teach in sex-ed.

Undo the damage of Sitting

Are you always sitting down? Then these are some exercise you should probably try out for better health.

Guide to Proper Bra Fitting

Guide to Proper Bra Fit and Measuring. Please Read and Share.

Washable, Reusable Menstrual Pads

(Part II)

Reusable menstrual hygiene product, and are an alternative to disposable sanitary napkins or to menstrual cups.

Artists

Art Masterpost

How to draw *insert whatever you want, its there in the list*?

Book Binding

Some video links to different types of DIY Bookbinding

For Artists who Need Photoshop

If youre an artist who cant afford photoshop, definitely DO NOT go to this google drive to pirate the program, that would be so bad!!!

Do’s and Don'ts of Designing for Accessibility

Please consider this when designing for ANYTHING. For BUSINESSES and ARTISTS.

Writers

Color Synonyms

For both ARTISTS and WRITERS

How to make a Masterlist

Simple but efficient instructions to make a masterlist

ULTIMATE NOVEL WRITING RESOURCE MASTERLIST

This is an ultimate masterlist of many resources that could be helpful for writers.

List of AUs and Ship Tropes

For when you run out of ideas.

AUs

Ship Tropes

Legal sites to get some much needed Info

If there was only a way to find out all of this rather edgy information without getting yourself in trouble…

Resources for Describing Characters

For writing about physical appearances, character traits, talents,and skills and other related stuff of your characters, here is a comprehensive list.

Resources for Describing Emotions

Having trouble writing jealousy, happiness, motivation. Here you go!!

Some Resources for your Writing

Body Language

Reverse Dictionary

Character Traits

Things to Keep in mind when naming Characters

Valuable advice. Trust me

Words to Use when Writing Smut/Romance

This is for smut/romance writers. Kinda like a thesaurus.

Tips to write Pain

How are you supposed to write about pain you’ve never experienced before?

References for Greek Mythology Characters

Link to an extensive site every single detail of Greek Mythology from Gods to Family Trees.

Tips to write Blind Characters

Some tips that might be invaluable when writing character that are near-blind or blind

Things to Remember when writing a Highly Emotional Scene

Just small things that could make a great difference

How to write with Multiple POVs

Tips on how to write multiple POVs with diverse characters

Synonyms and Antonyms

The person who made this list is a blessing to writers. Just saying.

Good Qualities for Female Characters

Females don't always need to be protected and be weak. Make them more realistic.

Words to Use instead of ‘Said’

Every single situation is listed. Check it out.

Limits of the Human Body

All extremities listed

Readers

Legal Sites to Download Literature

From children’s books to rare books, from philosophy and religion to nonfiction. I guess you can find anything here.

The Rights of the Reader

And some (lots of) bashing of Helicopter Parents.(You want to read only the rights. Here it is)

Wet Book Rescue : Steps to save a Wet Book

Valuable information if some of your prized books were affected by recent flooding. The video even shows you what to do if you can’t dry the book out right away.

Cheatsheet to Navigate AO3

Makes your time on AO3 a little more easier and interesting

How to trick Writers into giving you More Fanfic to read

Works for Comics and Art as well.

Get a Book Suggestion

This book website gives you the first page of a random book without the title or author so that you can read it with no preconceptions

Books written by POC Writers

Only POC authors included in the list.

Students

Basic ASL (American Sign Language) Movements

ASL Hand Movements for beginners.

Tips for studying with ADHD/a>

Made by a person with ADHD themself.

Resources to Learn New Languages

Ten fairly useful general language resources

How to properly take notes

It helps. It really helps.

FREE ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES

Here is a masterpost of MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are available, archived, or starting soon. I think they will help those that like to learn with a teacher or with videos.

A Thread of Tips

A thread of tips to help High School and College students academically

LEARN THINGS FOR FREE

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

Google like a BOSS

Some life hacks which make student's lives easier.

625 words to know in your Target Language

If your learning a new language, these words will help you build a strong foundation.(Some tips and sites are include too)

Miscellaneous/Life Hacks

How to add music to your Blog

How to add your very own, custom homemade playlist to your blog?

How to Walk with Purpose?

Some tips on how to hold yourself in public and why.

Cheatsheet for Laundry Rooms

Saves a lot of money in the Laundry Room

How to Gird up your Loins?

A lesson in how to gird your loins.

How to Disappear Online

Please read and spread for the sake of abuse victims or stalker victims.

What to do during a Nuclear Attack

I hope you never have to use it but here are some guidelines to follow in the event of a nuclear attack

How to pull an All-Nighter.

A to-do list

Write a Thank You letter after your Interview

It leaves a good impression on your interviewer and increase your chances of passing the interview.

Laundry Tags: Meanings

A life hack that you’ll definitely need at some point.

Where to find free Movies and Series Online

Lots of sites. Lots and Lots of sites. I am not Kidding. Now go and chill without netflix. (Part II)

How to get a Refund?

Get your stuff or a refund.

HOW TO DO EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH

This starts at the most absolute basics of gardening and planting, provides definitions, and hopefully is easily understandable. This is a MUST-READ. (Farming)

Discuss your wages

It’s your right to share your salary, not doing so could be holding you back.

Youtube Tutorials for Basically EVERYTHING

This is a big, giant list of Youtube tutorials that will teach you all the basic life skills you need to know in order to be a functional adult.

Safety

Emergency Evacuation - Items to Gather

A text list of suggested items to acquire in the event of an emergency.

If someone you know is in an abusive relationship

AN ABBREVIATED GUIDE TO ‘Holy shit!!! My friend is in an abusive relationship what do I do’ and what not to do.

Defense Tips for Women

Defense and Safety tips a woman MUST know. (Part II)

An app that informs your Emergency contacts if you are inactive in a set period of time.(Could prevent rape attempts if used correctly)

If a Man gets Physical

How to check if a mirror is one way or two-way

If you are trapped in a smoke-filled apartment: What to Do

How to get out of Hand-binds

How to get out of the bunker of a Car

How to track Anonymous asks.

How to pick a Lock

Traits and Warning signs of an Abuser

What to do if a bigot pulls your Hijab (from behind)

What to do if someone pulls of a Muslim Woman's Hijab? (To do List for both Men and Women)

#safety #health #mental health #writers #readers #micellaneous

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kpop-zone · 4 years ago

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Mafia Itzy meeting their s/o for the first time

*Warning: mentioning of violence, blood, profanities*

Yeji

Yeji huffed annoyed. This nightlife wasn’t as thrilling as it used to be. In the beginning, it was exciting to know that she could have everyone in this club, but by now, she was just bored. People were either scared or worshiped her because of her job. There was no challenge anymore.

“Don’t you like the offer?”

Junghwa, one of her sidekicks, asked with a smirk while pointing at all the people who were dancing downstairs. From the VIP lounge upstairs, Yeji had a perfect view on everyone, but she didn’t even bother to let her eyes wander. It had been months already since somebody had managed to spark her interest. Junghwa, however, didn’t stop bugging her until Yeji sighed in defeat and glanced down.

The club was completely packed. Some people were sitting in the booths at the sides, but most of them were moving their bodies to the rapid techno beats on the dancefloor at the heart of the club. Every now and then, Yeji caught someone staring at the VIP lounge, checking her out. A lot of people that were flaunting themselves down there just wanted to be invited by her to come upstairs. But it had been ages since she had last done that. For a while now, she came here alone and left without company again. If she wouldn’t own this club and use it for her diverse businesses, she wouldn’t even bother to come here anymore.

“I told you, Junghwa. No one can spark my in-“

Yeji was about to curb Junghwa’s excitement, when she fell silent in the middle of her sentence. Her eyes had landed on something, or better, someone that knocked the air out of her lungs.

You were dancing in the middle of the dancefloor, but Yeji had had no trouble spotting you. The way you moved your body was divine and everything on your body screamed perfection.

“Your interest?”

Junghwa chuckled beside her, but Yeji was too focused on you to respond.

“Shall I send someone to get them?”

She offered and Yeji nodded absentmindedly. You had to come up here. She needed to have a closer look.

But what happened next, was unexpected. Yeji observed one of her subordinates exiting the VIP lounge and squeezing himself through the moving crowd on the dancefloor, all the way to you. But after he had leaned down to whisper something into your ear, you simply shook your head and turned your back to him. Perplexed, he looked up at her before giving it another try. But once again, you turned him or better her down.

This had never happened before.

Everyone would kill to get an invitation to the VIP lounge and to get to her.

“What an idiot. Who do they think they are?”

Junghwa growled angrily, already getting ready to take care of you. But Yeji quickly held her back.

“I’ll take care of it.”

She stated calmly before making her way to the exit of the VIP lounge.

Everything about you was perfect. Your looks were breathtaking, and you didn’t seem to be interested in her or her influence at all.

Exactly the challenge that she was looking for.

Lia

“I hate Mondays.”

Lia cursed while lunging behind a car, nearly escaping a bullet that had wanted to bore through her flesh.

The question of sovereignty in this city had been a highly discussed one in the past weeks and after countless passive threats and indirect attacks, her biggest enemy had decided to strike today. She had just left the restaurant after a business appointment when someone opened fire without a warning. Because it had been a peaceful meeting, Lia went in without a gun. Therefore, she was now trapped behind this car completely unarmed while her subordinates were returning fire.

“Miss, watch out!”

A sudden loud voice made Lia flinch but before she could react, a force slammed her to the ground. In the same moment, she heard a bullet passing only inches above her head before boring its way into the car.

“Oh my god, are you ok?”

You were hovering above her with a concerned look on your face and Lia seriously considered if she had just died. You had to be an angel. In complete awe, she stared at you until you ripped her out of her trance by crawling off her.

“This must be some sort of gang war. But don’t worry, we’ll make it out of here.”

Only now Lia realized how your whole body was shaking. You were just an innocent pedestrian that had been caught up in this shoot-out, terrified to die. And apparently you were thinking that the same had happened to her.

“I think we are just targeted by one shooter. Do you see the alley over there? If we are quick, we can reach the alley while they are reloading.”

You proposed breathlessly and Lia nodded absentmindedly, completely impressed with the way you handled this situation. You were smart and she felt herself falling for you more and more with every second.

“Ok, when I say ‘now’ we run.”

Suddenly, you took off your jacket, causing Lia to stare at you in confusion, but a second later, she could reconstruct your reasoning. You threw the jacket from behind the car, resulting in a hail of bullets being directed at the piece of clothing until the enormous noise suddenly stopped.

“NOW!!”

You yelled before grabbing her hand and starting to make a run for the alley.

The two of you were fast, but the shooter was too. Right before you could reach the alley, bullets flew in your direction again, causing Lia’s adrenaline level to rise significantly. After some more steps, however, she managed to reach the alley unscathed.

“That was a close one.”

She chuckled, but when she turned to look at you her demeanor changed immediately. You were looking even paler than before, clutching your stomach while red liquid was seeping through your fingers.

“Oh my god.”

Lia exclaimed in shock, immediately pulling out her phone.

“Pick me up at Manhwa restaurant. I don’t care if you have to get me with a tank. Just get me!”

You were starting to lose your conscious and Lia carelessly threw away her phone in order to stabilize you.

“Ok now, stay with me please.”

Gently, Lia patted your cheek, but you didn’t respond. Nervously, she held you in her arms, rocking you back and forth, waiting for the backup to finally show up. It felt like hours till several armored SUVs finally pulled up and returned fire. Some of her men immediately ran to her to check up on her, but Lia yelled at them to get you into the car.

“To the hospital!”

She exclaimed panicked once they were in safety.

“Don’t you worry now. I’ll take care of you from now on.”

Lia whispered into your ear after pulling you into her arms.

Ryujin

“Let’s just get this meeting over with.”

Ryujin huffed annoyed while hesitating to get out of the car. A customer of hers hadn’t paid in a while, stalling her with stupid lies over and over again, but now she needed to put an end to this charade. Meetings like this were never pretty, but it had to be done. She took a last deep breath before absentmindedly pushing the car door open and stepping outside. Right when her feet touched the ground, a loud screeching sound could be heard, causing Ryujin to reflexively take up a defense stance. In front of her was no attacker, however, but just a common biker who was hanging over the handlebar of their bike, seeming to have made an emergency stop because of her.

“Are you blind??”

You yelled agitated, catching Ryujin completely off guard. You dared to yell at her?

“Don’t you know who I am?”

She scoffed dumbfounded while straightening herself in order to seem more threatening. This was her part of town. Everyone knew who she was, and no one dared to cross her.

“Don’t you know how to read?”

You asked cynically while pointing at the ground. Ryujin followed the direction of your digit finger with her eyes to find a big bicycle sign, indicating that she had stepped onto the bicycle lane without checking first. You mumbled some more incomprehensible complains before shaking your head and speeding off as fast as you had almost crashed into her. Ryujin was completely speechless.

Who did you think you were?

“Should we send someone after them?”

Her subordinates had rushed to her side by now, witnessing parts of this highly unusual verbal duel. There was a clear protocol about how to deal with such impudence.

As much as Ryujin agitated herself over this encounter though, deep down she knew that you had been right to rebuke her. And to make things worse, she was also slightly impressed. Maybe you hadn’t known who she was, but no matter what, you had to be a person who stood up for themselves. And Ryujin liked that trait. A lot.

“Yes.”

Ryujin’s gaze was still fixed on the road, although you were already long gone. You had really sparked her interest.

Two of her subordinates immediately wanted to take up the chase, but she stopped them with a simple move of her hand.

“Don’t hurt them. Just observe. I want to know everything. Where they live, what they do, what they like. But don’t you dare to lay a finger on them.”

Her gaze was ice-cold as she stared down her subordinates who immediately noticed the graveness of this situation. Intimidated, they nodded before rushing off. She hoped for their sakes that they would find you. Her fascination with you was making her skin tingle and she needed to know more about you. Her disappointment if she wouldn’t be able to, would have a deadly outcome.

Chaeryeong

Chaeryeong sighed relieved; finally, some time to herself. She knew that she needed protection as the leader of a clan- she had thousands of enemies after all. But once in a while, she just liked to take a walk on her own. Her subordinates were around her 24/7 and she needed a break every now and then. Of course, she wasn’t stupid though. She always had her guard up and a loaded gun in reach And today that carefulness seemed to pay off. She had been strolling through the streets without a pattern for approximately an hour, when she noticed an abnormality.

You.

First, she had seen you entering a café four blocks from here. After that she had lost you out of sight, but suddenly you appeared again in a park a few streets from there. This could have been a coincidence, but now she spotted you a few steps in front of her, walking towards her, engrossed in your phone as if that could make her believe that you weren’t watching her. When you were only one step away from her, you even looked up from your phone and looked into her face. Your gaze lingered for a while and you actually turned your head a bit in order to keep your eyes on her longer as you passed by.

That was enough.

You had to be spying on her and she needed to find out who she had to punish for that. Abruptly, Chaeryeong changed directions and started following you. To her surprise, you didn’t seem to notice her, and she scoffed.

“Amateur.”

You really were bad at your job. She was sure that she wouldn’t have a problem getting an answer out of you.

When you walked past the next alley, Chaeryeong pounced on you and roughly pushed you into it in order to trap you against a wall. Her fingers dug into your collar and her face was dangerously close to yours.

“Who are you working for??”

She hissed angrily while shoving you even harder against the wall.

“W-what?”

You looked terrified, but Chaeryeong wouldn’t fall for your game. You weren’t the first one who tried to get out of her punishment by playing dumb.

“Quit the lies. I know that you are spying on me. I saw you staring at me.”

Chaeryeong chuckled arrogantly, remembering how easy you had made it for her to catch you red-handed.

“I-I just thought t-that you were p-pretty.”

Your answer caught her completely off guard and she automatically loosened her grip on you.

For the first time, Chaeryeong really looked at you; not through the eyes of a paranoid mafia leader, but really looked at you. You were gorgeous. Due to the closeness, she could study every inch of your face and there wasn’t one flaw. You were simply perfect. And if she really thought about it, you didn’t really fit the profile of a gangster. This could only mean one thing: you were telling the truth.

Ashamed, Chaeryeong stepped back and let go of your collar. You looked at her insecurely, but when you noticed that her anger had vanished, you quickly ran away. She looked after you like in trance. Your eyes had burnt into her mind and she felt a little bit dizzy from being so close to you. She had never seen someone more stunning in her life and she needed to see you again. Chaeryeong didn’t bother to chase after you though.

“I’ll find you.”

She mumbled under her breath while fidgeting with your wallet that she had pulled out of your pocket right before you had run away.

Yuna

“And where’s that damn server?”

Yuna’s closest subordinate Chansung snarled angrily beside her, causing her to roll her eyes.

She loved all the power she had, but sometimes she wished that she had an equal partner, instead of only those dense puppets of hers with anger issues.

“HEY! You! Come over here!”

He yelled at a server who was standing across the room, making anger bubble inside of Yuna. She would make sure to apologize and punish this airhead as soon as they left this building. When the server came over though, they unexpectedly beat her to it.

“Excuse me, sir. I don’t know if you have some sort of mental defect, because otherwise, you would be able to see that you are not the only customer tonight. We are doing our best and I’m sorry if you had to wait but there is no need to be rude. So I’m glad to serve you when you have adjusted your tone.”

With those words, you turned on your heel and stormed off, leaving behind a speechless table. While Chansung started complaining loudly to the others after his shock had died down, Yuna gazed after you in amazement. She was absolutely stunned. You had to serve a table full of people whose shady background was visible from ten miles away, but you didn’t shy back from putting them in their place. That was the most attractive thing that she had ever witnessed in her life.

“...they are going to regret this. They are in for some special treatment of mine.”

The harsh word of Chansung ripped Yuna out of her trance and she looked at him hatefully.

“Please call over the server.”

She asked him with a quivering voice, laced with anger. His eyes widened fearfully, and he raised his arm immediately to catch your attention. It didn’t take long till you stood in front of their table again and Yuna averted her burning gaze from Chansung to flash you a soft smile that you reciprocated.

“Chansung, I believe you have something to say to our server.”

She said sweetly, causing him to look at her in confusion. Apparently, he still hadn’t gotten her point and she needed to give him a hint.

“Kneel.”

Yuna’s order was cold and left no doubt for interpretation. Nevertheless, Chansung stared at her in disbelief and started stuttering some excuses.

“Are you deaf? I said kneel! And apologize sincerely!”

Yuna snarled while slamming her hand on the table, causing everyone to straighten up, except for Chansung who immediately got on his knees.

“I-I’m really s-sorry for my b-behavior. I-I’ll make sure to compensate you.”

He stuttered and Yuna nodded satisfied.

When she looked at you, however, she could see that you seemed to be somewhat distraught. She must have scared you.

“Ok, guys. It’s time for us to leave.”

It hadn’t been her attention to scare you and Yuna knew that she had to remove herself from this situation if she wanted to have a chance with you. She wanted to get to know you better, but she couldn’t reach that if you were afraid of her. Therefore, she threw a bundle of money on the table before leaping to her feet and leaving the restaurant. There would be a better opportunity to introduce herself.

She would be back.

#itzy reaction #itzy #itzy imagine #yeji #lia #ryujin #chaeryeong #yuna #girl group imagine #girl group reaction #girl group #gg reaction #kpop reaction #kpop

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mazekingdom · 3 years ago

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Barbie’s Princesses and Paupers: A Definitive Ranking

You might be wondering, has anybody watched Mattel’s three (so far) “prince and the pauper” themed movies, and positioned them in relation to each other in some way? The answer is yes, this absolutely has been done before, but we have just as many opinions as them and will not hold them back no matter what anyone says.

A joint opinionated rant very sincere and civil analysis by myself and @academicbanchou

Let’s start with the definitive FACTS: The 2004 smash hit “Barbie as: The Princess and the Pauper” is objectively the best one. Its many positive qualities include:

-Objectively the best music. Possibly of ANY Barbie movie to date, but we haven’t watched them all so we cannot say for sure. The soundtrack has leitmotifs for god’s sake! Some actual effort went into this!

-Male characters who actually matter and have personalities. I’m not saying “please let’s take time away from the female leads”, I’m saying “thank you for giving your male love interest something more interesting going on than being a piece of wet cardboard with a winning smile”. Unfortunately this does make this one of the straightest Barbie movies, because the love stories are actually believable.

-It’s the only one out of the three movies that actually understands the intent behind a “prince and the pauper” type story, instead of having it’s plot revolve around “haha isn’t it so fun that these two girls switched places”

-Of all three villains, Preminger is DECIDEDLY the strongest. He could easily kill the other two, no questions asked. Also his voice acting rocks.

-The dresses actually look good.

However, we will be fair. It’s downfalls:

-The solution to the kingdom’s failing economy is to replace one finite resource with another different one and that’s inevitably going to end badly a few decades down the line. Also possible that Anneliese would support fracking in the modern day and that’s upsetting to think about.

-Preminger’s plan to marry Anneliese is kind of cringe and he would have been more successful if he had gone for the queen from the start.

-Anneliese doesn’t immediately ban indentured servitude which means that she’s a fake friend.

-Erika and Dominick have a weak romantic subplot but that’s mostly when compared to Anneliese and Julian, and nobody can surpass them.

Since it’s impossible to commit to whether “Princess and the Popstar” or “Princess Adventures” is the worse movie, next up in the chronology is “Princess and the Popstar” from 2012. It’s few positive traits are:

-Vanessa the dog is the smartest character present hands down (this is also a negative. They give her so much shit and for what)

-Also a good villain. He over-acts every single one of his voice lines to an insane degree but it’s so bad it loops right back around to being awesome. His fashion sense is on point, and the fact that his every-day clothes double as a wing suit is amazing.

-Two decent songs. Unfortunately they were the covers of Hoku’s “Perfect Day”, and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, so this doesn’t say much about the movie in reality, just that those are two good songs that already existed.

-The two main characters could be convincingly gay. They’re both awful people (out of touch rich elites), don’t get us wrong, but they are a couple and that’s equality I guess. Diversity win!

It’s MANY sins include:

-Fundamental misunderstanding of the point of a “prince and the pauper” style story. A princess and a popstar are both elites. Is the difference between these lifestyles really worth noting?

-The plot doesn’t make any sense. The entire conflict hinges on a magic diamond bush that is largely unrelated to the swapping of the girls.

-Objectively bad music. The lyrics are....... well.

-Tori’s solution to “everyone in this city is too poor to have fun because a massive drought has ruined all of their livelihoods while you weren’t paying attention” is to throw a free concert which Kira does all the planning for (even though the whole point of Kira being a princess was so that she could have a break from planning her own events). But don’t worry, in the last 15 seconds of the movie she says that she’s installing irrigation systems so that problems like the drought won’t happen again, we totally didn’t forget about that plot point and Tori’s totally a good ruler we promise.

-The dresses were bad and they wouldn’t even add a white belt in between all of the pink and blue so that we could make trans jokes.

-Literally rips off “To Be A Princess” from The Princess and the Pauper but in a way that makes it worse, which is a CRIME.

Which brings us to the final movie: The 2020 (we’ve entered the pandemic era of Barbie movies. What does it all mean?) moving picture experience “Barbie Princess Adventures”. Like the previous, this one also has its few choice pros:

-There is one FANTASTIC musical number and that is “King of the Kingdom” sung by the Side Character Guy Squad. It slaps and no one can convince us otherwise. Also in a stroke of narrative genius, the main villain reprises a few lines from it when he reveals his evil plan. Incredible storytelling A+

-Songs were competent if not memorable.

-The animation looked decent which is all we can really ask of Mattel at this point.

And now on to all of the stuff around hit musical number “King of the Kingdom”:

-The evil plan doesn’t make sense. When he reveals his evil plan he doesn’t say shit because he doesn’t have one besides “steal the crown”

-It is written in LAW in this country that if the heir to the throne is late to their coronation whoever’s just standing around can claim the crown for themselves. I don’t even know what to say about this other than hello????

-Amelia just straight up takes advantage of Barbie and no one really realizes or cares. This makes it the least gay of all three movies despite the 2004 one being the most straight, because we would never trust Amelia to respect Barbie’s boundaries in a relationship.

-Pick any one still frame from this movie and I guarantee you there will be an inordinate amount of loud obnoxious colors in it. I know that this is because it’s supposed to look cheery and fun to the eyes of children, but my god does it hurt to look at. Somehow the other two movies do not have this problem.

-Now time to fry some truly big fish. The castle is the worst looking piece of animated movie architecture that we have ever laid eyes on. The inside, the outside, it’s all bad. Why are there so many different colors that all clash with each other? Why is everything marble? Why does the outside look like can town from Homestuck? Why does the horse stable have marble columns inside? We could go on, it’s the ugliest building in the world, but we will stop here if only because it’s very late at night.

-The story somehow manages to forget that it’s a prince and the pauper adaptation. Amelia spends half the film having a nice time in the city by herself and we don’t see any of it and the movie doesn’t care.

-At one point Barbie abducts a small tourist child and leads her around the castle while singing a song about seeing the world in full color. Who is this kid, where are her parents, oh my god let her go home.

-Hamfistedly tells you on repeat that the theme of the story is “be true to yourself :)” but neglects to actually show that thesis in action.

Anyways the point of all this is that Barbie Princess and the Pauper is a good movie and the other two are equally strange and forgettable but in different ways so it’s impossible to rank them accurately against each other. Signed, sealed, and delivered, have a nice day it’s like 2am

#talk tag #max liveblogs #not technically a liveblog more like a zombieblog #YES THERE IS A DISCLAIMER HERE in case it wasn't obvious this is our personal opinions based on biased perspective etc and is just for fun #please don't @ me about barbie opinions I am truly not that invested in this and my opinon probably won't change

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milkpuddjng · 3 years ago

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sex education s3 thoughts!

oh my god. so many thoughts. i’ve never been too into sexed just cause. but i have SO many opinions about this season and they NEed to be heard. i think i’ll also be making a post about young royals later on so. yes.

i think i’ll just. start off by saying. what the fuck was that? the only enjoyable characters to watch this season were Adam, Ruby, Aimee and the adults. the rest of the cast (that I had originally really enjoyed watching the first two seasons) were absolutely butchered and made to serve extremely boring, there-for-the-sake-of-it ideas. like?? huh?

for one, Otis felt like. an absolute loser this season. not just because he is the archetypical “loser”, but also because he was just so. bland and had such little zest. i understand that the whole point of the season was that he had no more clinic and couldn’t help people and therefore felt like a dampened version of himself, but wtf? his excuse was terrible. that in no ways would make you as different from your original self as you are in this season! the way he went about his relationship with his mum was good though - that was quite nice to watch. but his friendship with Eric this season just felt.. forced. it didn’t feel like it really did anything with the narrative, they were kind of just there for each other as fodder. and and GOD the character just flip-flopped between being spineless and an asshole, and it really didn’t read well with me. I thought the delicate kind of balance and characterisation of Otis they had in the first two seasons really fell through and it’s honestly a shame they let him ‘develop’ into this in this season.

and don’t get me started at ALL on Eric. to me this was the worst and most cruel character DECIMATION this entire season. my reading of Eric was as someone who had only recently developed into his gayness. he had only recently reclaimed his own identity and found pride in his gayness and flamboyance. this being a way-too-overdone gay trope aside, I had originally rooted for him lots in the first two seasons because it felt like he was doing it at his own pace and slowly getting comfortable with that. in s3 though, it feels like he is condescending BECAUSE of this confidence, and frankly that really just did not sit right with me. they made Eric out to be cruel, tone-deaf and insensitive. throughout the entire s3, even in his scenes with Adam, he’s uninterested, and really doesn’t show much interest in Adam apart from wanting a relationship and all its physical and social perks. he’s so preoccupied with having a Perfect gay relationship and takes no interest in actually knowing more about Adam, and that honestly really rubbed me off the wrong way, especially with the way their relationship was portrayed as being more emotional and something vulnerable in the last seasons. Eric this season felt like he was making use of Adam the whole way, and what was originally something I was looking forward to a lot in this season ended up being the thing that disappointed me the most. and i’m not sure if it’s the writing or not, and the lack of material for them to work with, but the chemistry between them this season was so lacklustre. really really disappointing.

fk i hate tumblr. i wrote a whole thing about adam and how much i love that his line was written in a delicate and sweet way, but it got deleted. rip. anyway i liked his relationship with Rahim, Ruby and interactions with Ola far more than his relationship with Eric, and I enjoyed how he became sweeter and more delicate towards Ms Sands and his own mother! to me this season was about him unlearning and trying better to relate to the people around him, and connect with himself on a deeper level and it was really very sweet to watch as that panned out. would have loved to see more interactions of him and Ola and them confiding in each other, but I swear if he and Rahim’s friendship develops into a romantic relationship I would lose it. ok but i love stoic boy learns emotions for people around him trope and the scene of him crying on the bridge really fucked me up :”) OH and i also enjoyed how the entire Groff family had their own individual developmental arcs this season, and i really hope that means something for them as a family unit later on and their reunion as a healthier, albeit un perfect still family.

on the topic of people who deserved more! i think viv for sure. i frankly don’t understand the point of giving her a hot boyfriend and of not exploring her friendship with Jackson more. not TO mention the own blandness of Jackson’s character,,, god. they had so much to work with and truly just abandoned it all. it made sense to me that she would engage in such ‘treasonous’ behavior with Hope and all, but I didn’t understand what the sexy boyfriend and sexting did for her character. i would have much preferred deep emotional talks between Jackson and her, and of the three of them solidifying as a solid friend group. would also have appreciated her becoming better friends with Cal but. wtv. very disappointed with her character this season, especially because her and Jackson’s friendship last season was done so well.

and on Jackson and Cal, i like Cal lots. really. but i really didn’t see the narrative function of their character in the show this season. while I really respect and enjoy the show’s decision to have more diversity of representation etc., i thought Cal as a character was quite unnecessary, especially because this season proved that the writers were struggling a lot to develop everyone’s characters and their backstories etc. Cal, while fun, just distracted from existing relationships and characters the show would have benefitted from exploring more. and i just didn’t see the chemistry between them and Jackson, idk at first I felt it but after a while it didn’t seem very genuine or legit to me and it felt even a bit forced. idk if this is unpopular but i honestly really enjoyed Jackson with Maeve a lot more. this was in my opinion, quite a disappointing match-up. also i missed Jackson’s mums - thought it would have been nice to spend more time thinking about that and showing that relationship as well. also didn’t think Jackson doing drugs was like. necessary. it was nice but like. ? i didn’t see the character development with that.

Maeve and Isaac. i really started off season 3 hating Isaac’s guts, but i thought that as the season went on, I really saw the chemistry between them which I truly thoroughly enjoyed. I also don’t know. why and how Maeve is still attracted to Otis - frankly, Isaac understands her way more, and allows her that much independence that I felt was necessary for her growth. Oh but I did like Maeve’s growing into accepting help and setting down her pride - especially in her relationship with Anna. i felt Maeve was more or less stuck in the same place as last season save for her letting down of her pride though. although her and Aimee as usual! were very enjoyable to watch.

ok i think this is all i have to say for sexed for now, when and if I do find more to talk about i will uPdate this!

#sex education #sex ed 3 #sex education season 3 #maeve wiley #jackson marchetti #otis milburn #eric effiong #adam groff #netflix #sexed #sex ed #sexed 3

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toomuchdickfort · 3 years ago

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arson rocks! but i wanna more about the warlock talk, how do people connect to magic in general? can they be born with it? is there wizards schools? since elysur seems SO diverse (and thats a good thing) is there different kinds of magic energy? this ia probably like too large to coverbut like. magic mechanics.

Thanks! I'm going to put this under a cut, because I have a Whole Lot of love for magic <3

And, so! Everybody starts producing their own magic, but some people either simply have a resistance to magic or want more magic, so they will start drawing from another source. Anybody can give their magic to somebody else, which is very helpful when you have one healer and a lot of people who need help, but in most cases, the act of holding that connection is draining in itself. People like Arson, though, can already carry that bond without stress, so they're very helpful when people with very little magic stores are drawing from very powerful patrons. People can also learn magic, but that requires a certain attunement to the plane, and if someone is having too much trouble doing that, they need to go to college level mages to het help in that front, no matter how much they want to work that skill. There are many different kinds of magical abilities, most of which are passed down through bloodlines, and that is actually how someone gets their last name- it follows the magic. There is usually a primary ability set and a secondary effect, although most folks only bother to track the primary abilities for the sake of a last name. For a couple examples, Arson's primary ability is shapeshifting, but their secondary ability is being good at channeling magic. Lucky's primary ability is that she can magically enhance her strength, and her secondary power is that she's just... very lucky.

Speaking of Lucky! Since travel between other universes is as common as it is (which isn't very, but enough to be a point of interest), sometimes someone lives on Elysur after coming from a non-magical world. And they end up developing their own magic! This wasn't always the case, but the first time reality tore open, the hole was patched up by reducing most of the gods into like... the most magic that could be drawn from them. Oversaturated things and pushed the hole closed enough to be duct taped, essentially. It was very far from a perfect fix, and stress would eventually tear it open again later, but it did work for a time, and the saturation of magic meant that people's abilities were considerably more present after.

Most people aren't able to draw directly from the power of the dead gods, or they're not willing to, but those who do usually belong to the college of the Div, who mark themselves with a god's symbol to tie themselves to that power. Div are usually frowned upon, though, because not but a few years after the gods were sacrificed, an offshoot of their college tried to take their place, and... trying to become gods usually draws the ire of the Five that guided the creation of the universe. It has long since been forgotten by history, but this is one of the things that led to the extinction of the Lyrime (ancient titans that were nearly entirely forgotten across the continent). There are still echoes of the Lyrime, here and there, but either they're no longer able to live as they did before, or they aren't willing to leave their (relatively) small haven. (If I mention titans, this is them)

Usually, magic is just labeled as what it's associated with, although this leads to some overlap between innate and learned magics. Innate blood magic is tied to curses and healing, but learned blood magic is drawing power from and controlling blood. Sometimes someone will lean into both forms, but more often or not, you'll find just one or the other.

Blood magic is also one of the types of visceral magic- learned magic that is fueled by pieces of the body. Blood, bone, flesh, etc. This is frowned upon in the vast majority of areas, since... the main way to get ahold of large amounts of that is through the dead, and that's not great. Please leave the bodies where they are.

Speaking of, innate and learned necromancy are nearly identical, although in this case, having this branch of magic from birth gives one a head start on getting a handle on things, since they have a closer connection to it from the beginning. The most powerful necromancers are usually born with the ability, because of this, and they usually find themselves somewhat lonely, since it's much easier to raise the dead on accident.

Resurrection abilities are fairly rare and varied, seeing as it's easier to keep someone dead when you bring them back than it is to return them to the domain of Life, although people with these abilities are paid well, if they make a living off of it. Or they're found by someone who is willing to threaten them for their work.

There are also folks who have the ability to tap into the potential of something. Originally, these were only enchanters, but after reality tore, a magical mutation began to pop up. Originally, they were called the Borrowers, as their abilities let them draw from the emotions most closely tied to something, or the emotions most present, so that the item will radiate that aura, although it does use up the item in question. So they usually would only take small samples, for example, a little hair from a beloved childhood plush, so one can feel home in a new place, or they can mimic someone's magical abilities with a bit of hair or blood. The Borrowers were unofficially renamed to Harvesters, when the gods were sacrificed. It hadn't been considered, that they could do this to people, before, and the realization was horrifying. Some people still call the event the Harvest.

There are still enchanters, of course, and some people specialize in enchanting people. Tweaking a person's essence a little at a time, until it more closely fits the end goal. This sort of enchanter can give someone healing abilities, or deeper magic stores, or a different inherent magic entirely, although the process is very time consuming and fairly unpleasant. These enchanters usually learn on themselves, also, as it's considerably harder to tell what you're doing on someone else, when you can't feel it as deeply. And beyond that, it's easier to just... stick to traditional enchantments. Imbue healing into a ring, rather than re-threading someone's being.

On a different note, in the same way that people can give their magic to others, some people have the secondary ability to steal magic away from someone else. This is fairly uncommon, and is nearly as unnerving to be on the receiving end of as it is to have one's magic cancelled entirely by someone with angelic blood. Magic is a whole other branch of feeling, and just... having it taken away? Is a thing of nightmares for some

There are a bunch of other types of magic, but these are the most general ones that come to mind :D

#anon i am blowing you so many kisses i hope you know that i love you for letting me talk about this #character rambles #elysur #if youd like me to start talking about specific abilities just let me know <3 #because each person has a slight variation of their branches of magic #also! the more one uses their magic the stronger it gets! like a muscle!#people have their limits of course but one can certainly work to get stronger!

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thatpinkbetch · 4 years ago

Text

Bkdk Fic Rec

I’ve been inspired to write a fic rec! This one goes out to you @lonely-rabbit

At like, the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 I stayed up until 4am every night reading fics, and because I’m such a loser, I made a word doc to keep track of all of them so I wouldn’t forget them.... I tried organizing it by length but it got messy cause I’m ridiculous and cluttered, so sorry! (I’ll save my own for the end alskdjflsdkfj gotta self promote you know). This is going to get...really long, so I’ll put it under a read more! Also, just a heads up, these are all on ao3, in case that’s important to anyone!

Disclaimer: Any fics with mature or explicit content I will add a bolded warning for, even if it’s only a little bit. Normally most fics will be tagged as such, but some fics that are rated as teen I’ve found to be more suggestive than some of those rated as mature, so I will try to point it out where it feels necessary, for anyone who wishes to avoid it.

Fics under 1k:

Illuminate by TheQueen (269 words)

Summary: Bakugou watches the first firework launch and fights to keep his face neutral

Very short, plot is about a case of amnesia, also very cute and well written for that length! Not angsty at all imo

sweaty hands holding secrets - shounentwink (563 words)

Summary: Someone said Midoriya holds secrets in his hair.

It’s not true: He holds it tightly in his hands. Bakugou’s seen it.

I really like this writer! You’ll see quite a bit of them in this post alkdsjfalskdjf

Fics 1k - 10k:

Many sunflowers later - Jeka (2395 words)

Summary: Scholar Midoriya Izuku comes back to the person he left behind after his journey through the kingdom, the mighty dragon clan leader Bakugou Katsuki.

Day 1 of Twin Stars Week 2020: Fantasy AU.

First of all, fantasy au!!! Second of all, jeka!!! (I need to read more of your stuff!!) Anyways, so cute, such lovely, pretty writing, wonderful story telling, and they’re so in love TT_TT

Boom Badoom Boom - warschach (3429 words)

Summary: Izuku's working the kissing booth at the school fair, it just so happens Katsuki has been crushing on him since the first grade.

“Did you—“ Izuku parted his mouth with no sound leaving it, “Did you pay?”

“Yea.”

“For a kiss?”

This one’s a little silly but I love it still. It’s got a “kids in the 80′s over summer vacation” vibe, I think. I love warschach! I should read more of their writing... They have SUCH good bakudeku content! *It’s rated teen but there’s some suggestive content, just a heads up!

Hopeless Ramen-tic - lalazee (7155 words)

Summary: Midoriya is a cute guy who works at a ramen stall and Bakugou is thirsty as hell, but has to hide it by being an asshat. Another love story.

Ah, so good TT_TT so much sass, such good plot development and story telling for a simple concept *It’s rated as teen but again, it can be suggestive at times!

I’ll share this with you, so leave it behind - yabakuboi (3508 words)

Suammry: For the sake of the story, All Might is never in need of a successor, and, when Izuku saves Katsuki from the sludge monster, encourages young Midoriya down a different path. Thus, Katsuki and Izuku part ways after junior high, as Katsuki enters U.A. and the Midoriyas move overseas. It’s later that Katsuki realizes that there’s something missing, that he drove that something away.

Years after, Katsuki finds him in the last place he looks, in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store of their childhood neighborhood.

So soft, so sweet, so good if you just want to curl up in a comfy blanket and drink hot cocoa and feel warm and cozy and a little in love

The Secret Deku Box - yabakuboi (2241 words)

Summary: “Y’know, Bakugou never, ever talks about girls,” Kaminari says, his voice thoughtful.

“And I wonder why that is.” Ashido rolls her eyes.

“I’m just curious!” Kaminari whines. Kirishima drags the box out, unlabeled and unassuming, the lid not even fully clasped over the edges. “The guy has to— Whoa, what’s that?”

Kirishima realizes a little belatedly that this is a serious breach of privacy, and Bakugou will actually murder all of them. “Nothing!” he cries, attempting to shove it back under the bed, but Ashido snatches it away.

“Please be his porn stash!” Kaminari whispers as she whips the lid off.

Cute, funny, in canon, in character, and a must read I would say!

daisy bunches and heather branches - halcyonwhispers (5862 words)

Summary: izuku falls in love with the foul-mouthed tattoo artist next door.

Not another flower/tattoo shop au.... aldskjflaskdjfd Okay but punk!Bakugou is ALWAYS a smart move imo

the best part of me (is the worst I can give) - halcyonwhispers (5668)

Summary: Whole sentences usually make up people’s Words, but Katsuki got stuck with a name instead.

Izuku’s name.

I am such a sucker for soulmate aus when it comes to these boys TT_TT *There is some mature content, just a heads up!

Hard to Say - halcyonwhispers (8390 words)

Summary: Izuku is a Halfling, born after his faerie father spirited away his mom and then left her behind. Never quite fitting in with the humans or any of the supernatural beings in his small town, Izuku hoped that going to a diverse college in the big city will help him finally make friends.

Katsuki’s family has been powerful witches for generations, and he’s no different. Talented and a proclaimed genius to boot, he knew he shouldn’t waste his time on this dumbass (disgustingly cute) half-blood.

Or,

two idiots fall in love and don’t get that the other’s awkward cues are just a result of romantic tension.

I am ALSO a sucker for fantasy/mythical creatures au and I LOVED this one - Bakugou absolutely unable to handle how cute Midoriya is? Perfection - but it’s unfinished, and I don’t think it ever will be continued, unfortunately TT_TT

lots to unpack (throw away the whole suitcase) - shounentwink (4315 words)

Summary: “How’d you know?” Midoriya asks.

There’s a hunch to his shoulders that wasn’t there three hours ago. Freckled shoulders are kissed sunburnt and red: he looks like someone ran him over and left him like roadkill in the sunlight. Bakugou’s working with insurance today, but he could see the sparks of green lightning even from his elevated position in their shared agency. Midoriya’s holding his thumb, cracking it over and over — it looks like he’s rubbed it raw.

“Dunno,” Bakugou says. “Maybe you’re just easy to read, nerd.”

I love this one so much, it was one of the first ones I read, it’s so good, and it’s another that really affected how I view their relationship! Idk this one just hit for me

hang the moon from us (it’s a no from me) - shounentwink (1200 words)

Summary: Midoriya’s gonna get sick of Bakugou one of these days, and then the whole ruse will be over, and the balance of power will tilt beyond salvation, but that day isn’t today and it looks like Bakugou knows it.

What an asshole.

Once again, I’m a sucker for the fantasy au... But even more, the diction, the details, the imagery...it’s absolutely all stunning here. I wish I could write this pretty

In Which Bakugou Finds His One Tru Luv - Erina (5862 words) This is the first one of a series called The Misadventures of Explodo-kill Agency!

Summary: Welcome to the Explodo-kill agency! We can destroy your buildings, crash your cars, and help you solve one of the seven mysteries in life: who is Bakugou Katsuki's mysterious boyfriend?!

I’ll admit I’ve only read the first three but by god they are the funniest fics I’ve ever read in my life. I see that Erina has added more since the last time I checked it out! Tbh I was only interested in reading the purely bakudeku ones... (My favorite was the second one!! SO funny and cute!)

i still do - raeryn (9646 words)

Summary: He’s losing him to pieces, but Izuku still tries to make them count. In which a battle leaves Bakugou Katsuki with amnesia, and Izuku finds himself picking up the pieces.

So, this one makes me cry. TT_TT

One Thing Straight - winningshot (9899 words)

Summary: They totally aren't.

Hints of their relationship is found in all of their friends’ social media accounts, but majority of their fans still think that Katsuki and Izuku are in relationships with anybody but each other.

It was amusing up until it became sad.

Lmao it’s a little salty but I guess I can be too. This is a social media fic! There’s multiple ships in this one, too

A Demolition Boy & his Cryptid BF - kewltie (8472 words)

Summary: Bakugou of the Demolition Squad is famous for running one of the most popular Youtube channels on the web that regularly blow shit up and jumped off a perfectly good building for shit and giggles. He's also famous for his Cryptid BF™, never appearing on camera except for a few bodyshots and all information on him is kept locked up tighter than Fort Knox, therefore drawing all sort of attention and curiosity toward his mysterious boyfriend.

Deku from Deku Explains is a hopeless chatterbox who is known for uploading 20-30 minutes video that talked about his favorite shows and comics and have one of the most devoted following on Youtube. He also can't seem to shut up about his boyfriend Kacchan, who regularly make his presence on the channel as a disembodied voice.

They should theoretically have nothing in common except a shared platform to host their content and an army of fans with an endless curiosity and devotion to their Youtubers. Vidcon is where we lay our scene and the internet is about to get a rude wake up call.

Okay kewltie is SO GOOD and very creative! The formatting is phenomenal, it’s like you’re actually experiencing a social media melt down in real time lol

be my good luck charm - writedeku (6785 words)

Summary: See, the thing is, Midoriya Izuku had been born with a curse. It’s not a curse that’s particularly visible. He doesn’t have horns, or a tortured face, and it’s not the kind of silly curse like a friend of his had way down south in Diagnor, wherein the girl had been born without the ability to say the word duck. Midoriya Izuku is just extremely unlucky.

(Or the AU in which Izuku's the world's unluckiest travelling merchant, and Katsuki is someone who may be able to help him. For a price, that is.)

Oh I adore this one! It’s so cute and such a good narrative! Nice and warm, and Bakugou trying his damnedest to be suave, and it somehow working because Midoriya is just as flustered. *Another one rated as teen but some suggestive content.

Smells Like Victory - majjale (2377 words)

Summary: Bakugou takes two steps into the room and stops, clapping a hand over his nose. “Ugh, what stinks like Deku in here?”

"Good afternoon, Bakugou. That would be the amortentia."

I must admit, not a fan of HP, but majjale...TT_TT majjale writes these two boys so well. This one is really, really good!

Cherish Me - Justaperson1718 (2376 words)

Summary: “What?”

Izuku looked back down at his menu and flipped the page, a small smile on his face. “Nothing.”

Katsuki glared at Izuku from across the table. “If it was nothing then you wouldn’t be staring at me.”

“It’s just a little funny watching you try to look your best for our date when you always look great anyway,” Izuku explained. He wouldn’t look up from his menu while he spoke, but his words remained ingrained with confidence nevertheless. He considered what he was saying to be fact, and nothing else. “Even when you’re not trying in front of the cameras, it’s still hard to take my eyes off of you.”

This is a sequel to a fic that’ll be in the next section, because it’s longer, called Manage Me. Please read that one first before this one! (Not part of a series, but they’re the same story line)

Fascinating - Justaperson1718 (1556 words)

Summary: “I’m not staring at you,” Izuku replied, his eyes focused intently on Katsuki. He’s still wearing his pajamas, sitting on his knees in their shared bed. He was awake moments before Katsuki, and waited eagerly for the other to awake.

Katsuki glanced over his shoulder after his shirt was on and glared. “You’re fucking staring at me right now.”

Izuku shook his head, humming his disapproval quietly. “I’m watching you.”

“That’s the same damn thing,” Katsuki said while searching for a pair of pants in the dresser. “Your eyes are fixated on me like I’m your life’s fucking goal or some shit.”

“I just like watching you get dressed.” Izuku tilted his head to the side and smiled softly at Katsuki’s confused stare. “I know, it’s weird. But I like it.”

*There is a little bit of implied mature content, but overall, it’s just so sweet and intimate, and I just simply adore this one.

in a place once filled with gold - dorenamryn (9226 words)

Summary: It felt strange to remember such details, for they were things a friend should know, and as far as Katsuki was concerned, he and Deku hadn’t been friends in a very, very long time. He could admit, with reluctance, that they were on the path there, now, even though they would never make it. Katsuki would die before they could get the chance.

or: There is a garden growing in Katsuki’s lungs, and he is helpless to stop it.

“Hanahaki disease” okay, I can explain myself. Okay, I can’t. In any case, you got angst with a happy ending if that’s what you’re into!

Kaleidoscope - DPRenFTW (5141 words)

Summary: Izuku is a witch. He just needs to find his familiar. Enter a boy that is a wolf, and a wolf that is a boy - with wild red eyes and sharp smiles.

And Izuku thinks:

"Oh, it's him."

Just as beautiful and fascinating as the name implies! I seriously recommend for the beautiful writing, the gorgeous world, the mythical creatures au, and the lovely bakudeku romance!

Learning Curve - sensiblysilly (4222 words)

Summary: Deku and Katsuki’s first kiss goes rather differently than planned.

And Katsuki’s quickly learning that relationships can be unpredictable - especially when taking into account the variable that is Midoriya Izuku.

This really is just a careful handling of a teenage romance where perhaps one of them may have shit they’re still working through. It’s really sweet, and a careful study at boundaries and the building of a relationship. I actually stumbled across this while looking for another with the same name and ended up pleasantly surprised. Kacchan can has a little validation, as a treat.

4/20 is a national holiday - Ereri_Garbage (

Summary: Izuku is a drug dealer that doesn't really accept the fact he's a drug dealer, Katsuki is hot as hell as shouldn't be allowed a facebook.

Happy (Late) birthday Katsuki and happy (late) 4/20. I actually half assed an edit on this one so it took longer to post than I thought it would.

Uummmm lmao yes I have a sense of humor. ;ALDSKJFLSKDJF Okay, I say that, but this is not a crack fic, it’s a good story that I enjoy with good writing, and *it has mature, content, obviously for multiple reasons here. It’s rated as mature but there are borderline explicit moments imo. It’s a fun fic and funny, too! And, ngl, it really does remind me of college... But forget about me, the bakudeku is wonderful too of course :)

Drinking Watermelon - warschach (8906 words)

Summary: For whatever reason, maybe divine fate, Izuku turned and looked over his shoulder and waved to them.

Katsuki’s heart full on stopped right then, and his fingers forgot their duty on the rails, and his body neglected its job to keep Katsuki balanced.

Izuku’s summer sweet smile fell into concern as Katsuki went airborne and cracked his skull on the porch.

or Katsuki works as a camp counselor, and Izuku is a boy made of summer heat and sunlight.

Love it when people have Bakugou as absolutely enamored with Midoriya; it’s so good and true. Anyways this one makes me like summer camp story lines. It’s funny and also cute and great writing! *It’s got explicit content, just a heads up. Warschach stories just have this youthful 80′s vibe, I don’t know how else to explain it.

there are listed buildings - semiautomatichearts (3309)

Summary: Katsuki first sees colors bloom when he is only three years old. It is timid Izuku, hiding behind the cover of his mother's leg who looks upon him with wide eyes, and Katsuki's world explodes in shades of greens and pinks and blues, and he is so startled, he begins to cry.

His life is then on defined in color, in shades his peers can't see, by the forlorn, timid stare in Izuku's eyes that always lets off more than he is willing to tell. There is a schism driven between himself and his fated other, and Katsuki strives to be better than fate, better than what is defined for him. He is more than the written pages of a book, to be cracked open and read by the gods.

He wonders if it is possible for colors to bloom for someone who will never love you back.

Ah...soulmates :) So interesting how bakudeku fits into soulmate aus like this one when they’ve known each other as kids! And when they’ve had this complex push and pull thing going on all their lives! The writing is beautiful, and so is the story!

Promise Ring - bkdkwritingsdump (3579)

Summary: The midwest in the 1950′s is no place for boys who like kissing boys: something Izuku and Katsuki know all too well growing up there. However, the undeniable bond between the nervous science geek and the aloof delinquent will still find a way to blossom in such a desert.

Cute, sweet, makes my gay heart ache. Longing not just for the one you love, but just to feel right loving them. Very pretty story line, lovely story telling!

Fics 10k - 30k:

Fishy - warschach (19417 words)

Summary: Izuku’s convinced his hot co-worker/neighbor, Katsuki, is a mermaid-or merman- you gotta consider genders even with mythical creatures- and plans to prove it.

(or this is kinda like the show ‘Monster Quest’, except Izuku actually finds said monster, falls in love, and have sexy times.)

Another warschach! I love this one, I love how they write bakudeku, particularly as college students, their stories (at least, the ones that I’ve read) always feel so warm, like a summer’s day, but not a lazy one, one that’s playful? If that makes sense? *This one is explicit, another heads up!

Manage Me - Justaperson1718 (10756 words)

Summary: Izuku caught himself moving forward, his head tilted somewhat to the side, and his eyes shot wide open. His gaze met Katsuki’s half-lidded eyes now that he was no longer in a dreamlike state, and seeing the way Katsuki was looking at him—waiting for him—made him realize Katsuki would’ve let him do it. He might have even wanted him to do it.

“You’re both doing fabulous!” the photographer called out to them, packing his camera into his bag and getting ready to leave. “I just got word that what we have now should be good, so we’ll stop there. Thank you for your time! Lock the door on your way out after you change.”

The pair stayed frozen in place, with Izuku’s arms around Katsuki’s neck and Katsuki’s hands resting on Izuku’s waist, while the photographer and his supervisor left.

“Kacchan,” Izuku cooed once they were gone. “Did you want to…?”

Love the story, love the bakudeku! Very, very good bakudeku TT_TT very sweet *There is some mature content in here as well

point to a map (we’ve been there) - cosmicfuss (10589 words)

Summary: Serendipity / sĕr″ən-dĭp′ĭ-tē Serendipity is the occurrence of an unplanned fortunate discovery. Two men find themselves on a subway, hot coffee on one while the other is in the middle of a screaming match. After that they can't seem to stop finding each other, no matter how far they go.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; this fic owns my entire soul. I love the story, the ease of their relationship, just how lovely they are together. It’s another kind of nice, fluffy fic you’d read on a bad day where you come home and curl up in a blanket and listen to a ten hour video of thunderstorm white noise. *Again, some more mature content in here

Partners - tsukithewolf (13619 words) Another series! Two parts to this one this time

Summary: It is said that in Musutafu there is a charm that one can buy at a temple that will lead you to your destined partner. They say that if the charm works, you would be able to follow the red string of fate to the person you were meant to be with. And if the person returns your feelings, they would be able to see the string as well, proving that both were meant to be.

Three-year-old Katsuki and Izuku misunderstand what the word "partner" means and discover the charm and the rumor behind it is not only true, but more than expected.

Gets a little heavy, depression, bullying, suicidal thoughts, etc. But it must get worse before it gets better, that kind of thing. I also just adore the second part (called Bond) - maybe because it’s much fluffier, what about it?

Learning Curve - iknewaman (10304 words)

Summary: “Izuku.” Uraraka repeats as she motions at the person stood next to her. Green curls, average height, and, well. Up close, not such a bad smile. Uraraka points a thumb at Bakugou and enunciates slowly, “This is Bakugou. He can speak sign language too.”

Wait. Sign language?

The stranger— well, Izuku— looks at him with a raised brow. Their free hand lifts up as they make a slight motion of the hand.‘

Really?’

Bored out of his mind at a house party one night Bakugou is introduced to Izuku, a deaf student who offers to help teach Bakugou sign language in exchange for a favour-- or well, is prompted into asking for a favour.

Ah, I really want to explain this one a little bit? I’d never been into fanfiction ever, only really getting into it with these boys. This was the second one I read, I remember, and it caught me off guard, and it intrigued me. It really surprised me as to what fanfiction could be. Ngl I had biased perceptions of fanfics - I used to be one of those people who thought fanfiction could never be good writing - and this one slapped me in the face with it’s subtle beauty and creative story and heart melting capabilities, and very, very real relationship and growth. Anyways it’s so cute how happy Deku is to teach Kacchan sign language TT_TT Make sure to read the tags!

The Keeper and the Sun God’s Heir - SurelyHeavenWaits (12746 words)

Summary: The Titans' have stolen something important from Izuku, heir of the Sun God, and he wants it back.

This one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one this one- Oh my god this one. Okay so what, I was a Percy Jackson kid, what about it? I love the mythical aus, particularly the god ones. But beyond that, the writing is so beautiful, just like the world, and the imagery. The bakudeku...absolutely stunning. The story itself? Incredible. Cannot recommend more. *There is explicit content in this, though I will say, it’s all in the last chapter, and all of the story is in the first two chapters. There’s also a second part as it’s a series and it’s short but it’s cute and sweet TT_TT

seven days - aaAAAaaahhhhHHHHH (10094 words)

Summary: There’s something about the green haired boy, an aura that just drew Katsuki in before he even knew his name.

[Sometimes your mind forgets, but your heart remembers]

Heed my warning: DON’T read this in front of other people. I bawl every time I read this one TT_TT I know I said I don’t like angst but AJLSKDFJALSKDFJ it has a hopeful ending! I mean yeah you’re gonna cry but...hope? :’) (that username really says it all tbh)

Fics 30k+

Notice me, nerd - useless_donut (40000 words)

Summary: Bakugou is in love with Midoriya. He doesn’t hide it, in fact it’s so painfully obvious that the entire class of 3-A has him figured out in a matter of months (days, in some cases). Too bad Midoriya is the most oblivious motherfucker out there, and Bakugou is too damn stubborn to actually ask him out.

Will the class of 3-A survive the sexual tension? Who will snap first? Someone put Bakugou out of his misery, please, before everyone else dies of second-hand embarrassment.

(a love story as witnessed by the class of 3-A)

Love the idea of Bakugou being brazen and brash, cause yeah, he is. So fucking funny though how that translates to him flirting. Gotta say, thought I was gonna cringe, but his “I’m gay af” outfit really ended up being A Look. Love the mutual pining, it really is strong in this one. *Okay, mature content in this one lads.

While You Were Sleeping - Belkacaramelka (71197 words)

Summary: The one where quirkless fanboy Midoriya Izuku rescues Pro Hero Todoroki Shouto, gets mistaken as his fiancé while he is in a coma, and gets caught up in the most unlikely fake engagement... until his childhood enemy and Todoroki's classmate Bakugou Katsuki tries to catch him out, and they both end up discovering a lot more about each other than they'd expected.

Quirkless AU based on the film; endgame BakuDeku. -- Katsuki didn’t know when the change had happened: how he had gone from asking why Todoroki chose Deku of all people, to wondering why it was Todoroki that Deku chose. Troublesome Deku, who cooed like an idiot at cats, tripped at a random catcall and sang badly. Who, despite everything, proved that it wasn’t the quirk that defined a person. Deku, who was too much, not his, and undeniably off limits to begin with.

Update: Epilogue added

*This one has mature content. If you can, please, for the love of god, read this fic. It’s like, tied with my favorite bkdk fic perhaps ever. It’s based on the movie of the same title, a nineties romcom with Sandra Bullock, but Belkacaramelka has so effortlessly made it into it’s own story, fit it so perfectly inside of the bnha world. I definitely stayed up until 6:30am reading this one. It’s got such good badass Midoriya, who is also sweet, and really really good reconciliation between bakudeku.

All Gifted - fitzefitcher (39129 words)

Summary: The thing about gifts is that they're meant to be given, they're meant to be shared; so Izuku will take his gifts, so freely given to him, and share them with all he holds dear.

Izuku is born without any gifts, as his kind often are, to a witch mother and salamander father, on one sweltering night in July.

This one is unfinished...and I highly doubt it will ever be. But what has been written is incredible. Once again, I’m a sucker for the magic/mythical creatures aus. But the relationship is great! The characterization is great! The found family trope that was building up is great!

under a hollow sun - umbrage (40572 words)

Summary: Midoriya is cursed with emptiness.

Misfortune leads him to a man of ancient magic and endless rage.

To stop an unfathomable evil, their mismatched halves must become whole.

Uuuggghhhh this was so good! I don’t think it’s going to be finished either :( Once again, fantasy au, more amazing writing, on point characterization, incredible pacing, makes you hungry for more story.

all the savage soul requires - majjale (58032 words)

Summary: Bakugou seems to have exhausted his patience for words and no longer acknowledges that Midoriya exists, so Midoriya crosses his legs, stares down at his hands limned in firelight, and makes a list of things he knows.

One. His name is Midoriya Izuku.

Two. He is a Godmarked, future god of life, heir to the divine throne.

Three. The gods have been fighting Death for eons, and now he's coming for recompense with everything he’s got.

This is majjale, so of course, the writing is more than beautiful; it’s absolutely breathtaking. This may be my favorite fic ever - unfortunately I don’t think it will ever be finished either TT_TT There’s the gods/fantasy au, which you know by now I love. But the characterization of our two boys is absolutely perfect, and I mean that as literally as possible. And the story being crafted between the two, the memory loss, the obvious history muddled by it all, it was so dense, and the PINING, so incredibly written, flowing so naturally. It wasn’t even close to being done, but it was wonderful, still is wonderful.

My Writing: (You can skip this if you hate shameless self promotion)

You’re too damn flicking cute (1815 words)

Summary: Bakugou is certain his shitty boyfriend is instigating kisses. Maybe it doesn't help that he keeps giving them away like it's a damn going out of business sale, but the stupid nerd is too fucking cute. Either way, like everything else, this is a competition, and he's going to win it.

Please don’t read this unless you’re going to the dentist afterwards! I’ve been told it’s so sweet it’ll give you instant cavities >_>;;;;

Bakugou Katsuki, you smooth motherfucker (10118 words)

Summary: Everyone around him knows that Bakugou Katsuki has a very special way with words. To the untrained ear he is loud and crass; to those that speak Kacchan, he is caring and inspiring. Yet there are rare moments, moments so fleeting you blink and you miss them, where Bakugou’s words pierce straight through Midoriya’s chest, and surprise everyone around him.

Goddammit, if only he would say them to Midoriya’s face.

Or, the five times Bakugou said something nice about Midoriya, and the one time he said something kind to him (but that was too long of a title).

I think most would consider this my best published fic; it’s one of those snapshot fics, “the five times where x did this, and the one time where they didn’t.” The recurring comment I get on this one is both of them being super in character, so I think that’s it’s defining characteristic! Bakugou and Midoriya have never known a life without the other, and in a perfect world, they never will.

Here, let me fix that (11247 words)

Summary: Bakugou honestly never thought he’d see Deku ever again. And now that they were together in this tiny compartment, alone for the next two and a half minutes, he had no clue what to say. He’d just apologized, right? So perhaps he could leave it at that and carry on with the original plan to never see the green-haired man that reminded him of dense forests, late night adventures, and tear-stained faces, ever again.

Ha! Who is he kidding? These bitches are soulmates.

I’ve gotten some critiques on this one, so sorry in advance if it’s not to your liking! Basically, what if Midoriya never got his quirk? Obviously, life would find a way to put them together because, as previously stated, these bitches are soulmates.

Plenty of Time (16654 words)

Summary: Bakugou found what little sleep he got restless and filled with nightmares that he forgot the second he opened his eyes. Tonight was the first time in a long time where he just had a normal dream - and it happened to be about Deku.

How fucking typical.

In other words, two dorks realize they have feelings for each other but don't know what to do about said feelings.

Ah, my first fic. Very simple, boys being boys, kinda like a slow burn? Idk how to explain this one, just boys figuring out their feelings and trying to figure out what to do about them. Been told these two are a little stupid but I think that’s valid.

We’re all time bombs waiting to explode (39223 words)

Summary: We have now entered the slipstream of time, into an alternate dimension where it neither is, nor isn’t, the 80’s. Two teenagers, burdened with the weight of adolescence in the modern world, find themselves struggling side by side, in part because of each other.

Bakugou, the most popular boy in school, has everything he could possibly want; status, power, and an unbreakable will. Having been dragged along behind him all the way to the top, Midoriya can’t help but wonder how (and why) he ended up standing beside his childhood friend-turned bully-turned friend again, weighed down by their complicated past and present. As the tension between them grows every day, and the arrival of a new, pretty face causes it to peak, it won’t be long before something - or someone - snaps.

I am...very bad at titles, and summaries apparently. This was my Heathers au, but it very quickly diverges from the original (I don’t do sad endings....) *This one has mature content, including implied sexual activity, drug use, and underage drinking, along with other heavy topics; please read the tags! Though tbh Midoriya is 17 for a couple weeks before it hits his birthday halfway through, so keep that in mind I guess? I kind of went heavy with this one, but I think the pay off was immense. This is the one with the most amount of comments stating it’s their favorite bkdk fic ever (and I cry). It’s a rough start, with a rough journey, but so is bakudeku! There’s a lot of petty drama, and then all of a sudden it’s Not That Petty and very much Far Too Real. Many have cried reading the ending, I cried writing it. My sister says it’s her favorite of mine. Now, I did kind of push this out without polishing it so much because I was losing my willpower, so if it feels lacking, that’s one hundred percent my fault.

Okay that was a lot! It took me a couple days...I hope I wasn’t too annoying with all my opinions! Please have a nice day. and enjoy some good reads, even if they aren’t the ones in this post!

#bakudeku #katsudeku #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #mha #bnha #bkdk #fics #my writing #god i really hope i didn't fuck up any of this #i spent a long time on it alksdjflaskjdflkasdjf #this is 39 fics without my own #and 44 including mine #i can tell i've forgotten some but #idk it's hard TT_TT #anyways it's 2:30am #if i go to bed at 4am one more time i'm gonna throw myself down a flight of stairs #i hope this is good enough as is!#most of this was written very late so I hope it doesn't sound...crazed

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crowsent · 4 years ago

Text

a fuckton of things i want in da4

a few words censored bc tumblr will swallow this in the void if i dont. long ass fuck list ahead

a romanceable dwarf

more romanceable elves/qunari

more elf/qunari/dwarf companions

consistent writing for once

more nb representation

good hair. please just give me good hair options. give me long hair. give me luxurious flowing locks. give me braids. give me good fucking hair options

let me shittalk the chantry

dalish elf npcs that impact the plot in unique ways

dalish elf companions that are proud of being dalish

if it is set in tevinter maybe uh. maybe address the issue of systemic oppression (and slavery) of elves???????

a return of the friendship/rivalry system in da2 but improved. maybe instead of a friendship rivalry sliding scale its friendship/rivalry/animosity sliding scale. bc rivalry is more like. two people pushing each other to be better than they were before. friendly competition. hes an idiot but hes my idiot kind of deal. animosity would be just regular disapproval. i liked the crisis cutscenes in dai so high animosity would be the same as low approval and might make the companion leave still, but theres more variety with high approval. high approval “friendship” would be the “were best friends and we share many opinions and agree on almost everything” while high approval “rivalry” being “we disagree on almost everything but goddamn it youre my friend and ill follow you into the fade if i have to” so you can have a high approval with someone instead of being a kissass

actions and choices having consequences again

multiple endings again (epilogue slideshows dont count)

dialogue wheels with descriptions that match what you actually say

characters from rivain, antiva, anderfels, etc

gifts. bring back the gifts. i want to give my companions gifts

maybe. maybe a focus of non-andrastian religion for once?

let me shittalk the chantry

i know its a stretch, but maybe. diverse skin colours. please?

nd characters that are written respectfully and treated w dignity

please bring back the talent wheel from dao and da2

more bi romance options

more wlw romance options

more mlm romance options

ace romance options

nb romance options

background romances

let me shittalk the chantry

far fetched but maybe a polycule?

i lowkey LOVED the fast-paced feel of da2s combat so maybe bring that back in some form? maybe improved to mesh with the tactics of dai to give players absolute freedom of playstyle whether they want to be like me and rush into every encounter or play more strategically

companions with unique companion abilities

would be nice to explore cities

would be nice if the open world were a little smaller so it doesnt feel empty all the gd time

more mage spells. mages felt like just another class of fighter to me in dai. they dont really have any awe-inducing wow factor like in dao or even da2. if the narrative wants me to believe that mages are powerful and dangerous and that it takes multiple templars to hunt down an apostate, maybe show that? give me strong mages

remove the jump ability. its pointless

a narrative that addresses the oppression that the chantry and templars perpetuated please

bring back the attributes

make the choices in dai matter. mages governing themselves? i wanna see that

let me shittalk the chantry

please bring back the healing magic for fucks sakes

multi-class system between rogues and warriors?

multiple specialisations that feel like specialisations and not just skill tree+

player-only skill trees

hardening

companion quests that affect their abilities and further dialogue

actual morally grey choices instead of this stupid mage freedom vs templar oppression narrative that is in no way morally grey but is presented as such and thus leaves the conflicts and narratives set up by dao and da2 to be fucking meaningless

bring back the tactics

would be nice to have an origins-esque prologue again. maybe one that would determine future events in game just to give your character better narrative cohesion with the plot

an approval/disapproval system but for companions with other companions. bringing certain companions together may bring them closer or make them pissed off with each other which affects banter maybe quests maybe combat

give me a fucking mabari bioware. give me back my fucking mabari

day/night cycle

a nightmare mode where you have to finish the main quest on a time limit. it is absurd that dai expects me to believe that i have all this time to do wartable missions that can take literal real life DAYS to finish and still thwart corypheus’ plans in time. bullshit

that said. no more wartable missions. waiting for a countdown to finish isnt very fun

let me shittalk the chantry

kal-sharok. ive been hearing about it since dao let me fucking see kal-sharok

dwarven politics

politics in general. my fav dao quest was the succession crisis plotline in orzammar/the landsmeet and wewh in dai

npcs i can talk to. even with generic dialogue like in dao. makes the world more alive

using the environment to your advantage. far fetched but i would love to be able to pull down boulders if were in the mountains or freeze water to get to places as a mage

home base customisation but the customisation choices you make actually. mean something. and do something. or at the very least give more companion dialogue/banter/approval change

laconic and ergonomic codexes. like. sorted by what kind of codex it is, etc etc but then you just get a brief summary of the codex and the option to read more about it so i dont spend eternity scrolling through cards looking for a specific codex entry. cool aesthetic dont get me wrong but real irritating to deal with. also. maybe. the pc making comments about the codex if you do read more about it? like a dalish elf saying “they got it all wrong” when reading a codex about dalish elves written by a human??? that would a) give character to the pc b) incentivise people to actually read the codex to see what was so wrong about it c) summarise the codex for people who want to learn the lore but dont want to spent the entire game reading text

maybe have the merchants in your home base close to crafting stations so you dont have to take a fucking hike if you miscounted the amount of elfroot you need?

let me shittalk the chantry

avvar companion maybe??? interesting lore right there

bring back stat requirements for weapons and remove the class restriction for most shit. obviously a dagger would be better for a rogue than a longsword and a mage would do better with a staff than a sword and shield but its not about efficiency. its about the roleplay. its about the options. give me the option to make a mage with wildly inappropriate stat distribution

bring back sustained mode abilities

traps. bring back traps. bring back the option to stealth into an area, trap the fuck out of it, and go from there

have the three available classes in kind of a rock paper scissors scenario. warriors do real well against rogues who do real well against mages who do real well against warriors. so you can plan your party depending on who/what youll face AND how much their approval will change during the quest you take them on

let me shittalk the chantry

actually resolve the plot points introduced in dai

a more threatening villain. the inquisitor thwarted every attempt made by corypheus in dai. he was not threatening at all

queer characters. background, companions, etc. queer characters

mounts were meh in dai. maybe. make them faster? or less cumbersome? or have your companions on mounts too so theres still banter?

i liked the armour tinting. let me have armour tinting from the beginning

i would really like mages to move and attack at the same time bc lowkey standing in one spot is uhhhhhhh kinda boring

let me check companions friendship/rivalry levels

would be nice if the narrative acknowledged that elves suffered greatly at the hands of the chantry and stopped victim-blaming them

more taverns. specifically like tapsters in dao where theres a dwarf just reciting something in a language i cant understand and if you look its a ballad/poet about dwarven culture and that was a real nice touch let me have that

dalish elf clan. dalish elf clan that does not get murdered please and thank you

meaningful quests. more cinematic dialogue

make found gear / quest reward gear more valuable than crafted gear

game modifiers like in dai were real nice. i want more

let me shittalk the chantry

quests that can be resolved in multiple ways. like connors fate in dao. and for those ways to impact further quests

companions with varying moral alignments

companions that are mutually exclusive (like alistair and loghain) but are both good companions so itd really make you think

a pc that IS NOT a “chosen one” vanilla da2 is my fav dragon age game for one reason and one reason only and that is because hawke is just some random refugee who escaped lothering. no chosen one magic at all. just an ordinary person who is a real good fighter. and that appealed to me more than this “you are the only one who can do it” narrative

let me meet more elvhen gods

if the setting is in tevinter, GIVE ME FUCKING ARCHITECTURE. give me the high spires, the archways, the buttresses, give me statues lining city gates and magic infused into the buildings. tevinter is a land ruled by MAGES give me magical architecture. give me floating buildings. give me fire floating as orbs above the streets like lamps. GIVE ME ARCHITECTURE

SHALE

let me shittalk the chantry

PIERCINGS GIVE ME FUCKING PIERCINGS BIOWARE

more main quests, longer main quests

if it is set in tevinter maybe. maybe address the fact that tevinter has been at war with the qunari for a while? on and off war is still war. and maybe give us the option to influence the outcome of that war?

more voice options. instead of just american voice or british voice, do the thing in dao again where there are multiple voices of different tones to further cement the pcs personality

more armour designs

biased but uh. can. can taliesen jaffe va a character?

i already said qunari companions but specifically saarebas companions

blood magic

FINISHING MOVE ANIMATIONS

please do not let it be as long as inquisition. inquisition was a SLOG in later playthroughs

body sliders. what if i want a tall but lanky qunari? what if i want a buff as shit elf? body sliders

more eye options

let me call out companions

btw bioware. if you really wanted cullen to be a good guy. maybe handle his fucking redemption arc a little better instead of retconning all the terrible and creepy shit hes done in the past k thx

can female walk/run animations not have. so much swaying hips? no one moves like that

personality dialogue that affects future dialogue like in da2 but meshed with the wider range of emotions introduced by dai

keep the race/s*x lock on romance candidates like in dai. keep the fact that some characters can only be romanced by certain races or s*xes

nb and genderqueer options for the pc

cutscenes of companions interacting

ngl i lowkey liked the random encounters of dao so maybe bring that back

my fav quest in dao is the landsmeet / orzammar succession crisis questline but you know whats my second favourite? the rescue mission if the warden gets captured and you have to play as your party members. give me that again

more creepy/dark shit. dai was too lighthearted for me esp after da2 and dao

let me shittalk the chantry

broodmothers. in hd.

red lyrium broodmothers. in hd

companions with different backgrounds. different faiths. different statuses. different families. etc

maybe make the pcs appearance make an impact on the story? like how bull says he likes redheads, but even if you are a redhead, he says nothing about it????? maybe keep track of which slider the player picks so that can affect the story?

i love my inquisitors but maybe. dont. bring the inquisitor in as anything more than an advisor/npc in this game? let me fall in love with a new pc???

if theres gonna be a homebase like skyhold where youre not in armor. maybe give us better clothing?

a kind of gear skin mechanic similar to ac:odyssey where you can change how the gear looks but keep the stats. so you can equip that higher level armour and keep the look and aesthetic of your old armour and you unlock the skins/looks of the armours you discover/make so you can be both powerful AND aesthetic

i enjoyed the nobility/underworld/arcane/etc knowledge in dai unlocking more dialogue options so maybe keep/expand on that but make it more accessible by side missions or companions or something that isnt the abysmal perk system in dai

let me shittalk the chantry

customisable walking animations. does the pc walk straightbacked? slouched? with a swagger? please

since there will undoubtedly be an obligatory fade sequence, maybe have an option for nightmare demons that ARENT spiders. thank you

slap on subtitles and conlang some languages. i want to hear elvish. i want to hear tevene. give me the languages

more dragons. esp if they look vastly different

more bard songs

i am completely biased here, but i would like to hear laura bailey as a va for a character. preferably a voice option for the pc

hey maybe have the true ending actually included in the base game and not in a dlc (tresppasser cough cough)

better val royeaux

please remove the had to do it to em idle animation tis distracting

on that note, more idle animations. maybe some unique to companions?

very trivial but. unique stair climbing/descending animation

bring back talking to companions on the road. maybe with some dialogue that can only be said on the road???

if banter is interrupted, make like rdr2 and pick up where the banter left off

more vallaslin designs please?

if theres another formal scene like dai maybe. give us. decent clothing. or better yet, decen clothing OPTIONS. i wanna decide how i look in a ball full of haughty orlesians

mage vs templar conflict resolved and addressed please. it is NOT resolved in dai. what we got was sequel bait and a slideshow. resolve it please

let me shittalk the chantry

a pro-mage anti-circle circle mage companion like anders

religious person who doesnt victim-blame elves in the codex or in game or anywhere please

characters more like leliana who question the chantry and acknowledge its corruption and greed

unapologetically sapphic companion

idc if its tevinter i dont want to fucking see queer people being disrespected

a true tal-vashoth companion, one who escaped from the qun

have quest decisions affect whether or not a companion will turn hostile to you or not

if IF solas will be redeemed, please do the redemption arc right

more horn options for qunari

an apostate mage who doesnt use me for their personal agenda whilst hiding something from me (morrigan, anders, solas) thanks

i really dig the whole “leader of an army” thing dai was trying to go for. but you didnt actually. lead. anything. would be nice to have that option. command soldiers. send them places that affect further quests. would even use the wartable for its intended purpose. planning wars. battles. like. you get sent word that there are bandits harassing villagers. you can set up an ambush with your soldiers or confront them headon, and theres a new mini-location on the map like the manor you meet vivienne in where you can go deal with the bandits and depending on your choices, there are actually soldiers with you in a field, or traps in a narrow pass, or even in a city. id rather the wartable shit dont return but if they have to, at least this way youre not just waiting real life time for a bunch of text to appear

i am real fucking excited for the possibility that da4 companions can just fucking die on you. good shit. give me that angst

missions that certain companions would refuse to go with you to. you know. so you actually have to use other members of your party instead of the same 3 (three) people all the goddamn time

disabled characters (i want a character who suffers from the same chronic bad leg disease as i do is that too much to ask)

kinda touched on by the da2 combat point but let me do close combat damage with the staff

no multiplayer. and if there is a multiplayer, dont tie it with achievements

let me fucking explore weisshaupt

(i dont think solas will be the endgame villain of da and i dont think da4 will be the last da game but still) again. for emphasis. resolve the plot points dai brought up

full-body scars and tattoo options

companions and npcs changing their opinions about things over time. eg: a pro-circle mage wanting instead for circles to be abolished after a specific side mission or a main quest decision etc

keep the multiple companion quests. and maybe change what kinds of companion quests are available further down depending on choices made in previous companion quests

please for fucks sake give us more characters of colour

let me shittalk the chantry

#dragon age #dragon age 4 #da4 #long post #its 3 am and i am once again putting on my clown wig bc bioware will fucking disappoint me again

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scarfdyedshadow · 4 years ago

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On the Decline of Mage Characterization in Ancillary Type-Moon Works (or On Magi Getting Flanderized Into One-Dimensional Evil Arrogant Sods) Part 1: The Matter of Magi Themselves

Yes, I am dumb enough and obsessed enough to basically write an entire essay on this. Yes, the title is pretentious as all hell.

A disclaimer before we start though, this is not directed at or meant to condemn or call out or mock or invalidate the many a Tumblr shitpost on evil arrogant magi getting owned by Guda or various other characters. It may not be humor personally up my alley, but I understand the appeal, and it’s not like there isn’t some grain of truth to them. Likewise this isn’t meant to in any way condone anything Nasuverse magi. A fair amount of them are evil regardless of mitigating circumstances, a lot of the ones that aren’t outright evil have capacity to be evil because of ethos and mindset, and the acts they commit are certainly evil. I am not condoning them, or dismissing them as not evil. I simply urge a more nuanced rather than simplistic analysis of that evil. This also unfortunately omits Mahoyo, which probably has quite a bit of insight, because I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, thus rendering me a fake fan you should not listen to. Thank you for your consideration. Also, spoilers.

This first part is primarily concerned with the inhumanity of magi and misconceptions about magi and their ethos as a whole, while the next part will actually go into the history of magus villains in Type-Moon works and what I feel is their decline, and build upon and further points of this part. There may be a potential third part on the Crypters, Gordolf, and Olga, the modern faces of Nasuverse magi and the greatest illustration that magi are far more nuanced, complex, pitiful and yet admirable, than they aren’t, and Nasu’s thesis statement on the power of love and life.

(Note: Okay my theme is actually pretty eyesearing to the point I recommend you read this on dash, I’ll go get it fixed)

"Do you know what it is that magi are aiming for?"

After a moment of blankness, Gray replied with a difficult expression.

"Umm...I heard about it in class. What was it...the Spiral of Origin?"

"Right. The Spiral of Origin, or more simply the Root. Sometimes it's referred to as「」, the thing for which there can be no reference. It is the source of everything, the 'zero' from which all matter and phenomena flow. Ah, but now that I'm trying to put it into words, I'm realizing that's not a good idea. After all, even the idea of 'zero' has baggage that makes it unsuitable as a comparison."

"Regardless, the goal of magi is to eventually reach that place. Of course, there are also those who simply derive pleasure from touching the supernatural, or from being superhuman. Because we are weak, we fall to that diversion. But in the end, that's not our ultimate goal."

For modern magi, most understood that reaching the root was something that just wasn't possible for them. After all, even though magecraft itself had been in a state of continuing decline since the Age of Gods, there were no reports of anyone facing that past and trying to return to it. Likely, the appearance in the Far East of the fifth - and often called the last - Magician was the same as the gate to the Root being all but closed to everyone else.

Even so, we didn't give up.

Anyone who would give up in a situation like this would never have become a magus to begin with.

Ironically enough, despite opening up with a quote from Lord El-Melloi II Case Files, which I’ll have some critique for, the crux of my thesis is this. As originally presented in Kara no Kyoukai, and generally only kept up to a meaningful degree in other Nasu written works like Stay Night, Clock Tower 2015, and Grand Order, magi were the piteous, tragic, inhuman not as in inhumane but as in a broken machine product of an impossible ideal and a broken system. They were the villains, yes, unambiguously so, but at the same time they were sympathetic and nuanced to an extent that would decline down the road.

You see, Araya. A mage always lives hurriedly. What for? If it was for themselves alone they wouldn't bother with the outside world. So why do they intrude upon the rest of the world? Why do they rely upon it? What will they achieve with that power? What will they save with the Ars Magna (Ars Magna: Meaning 'great secret technique', it stands not for a technique that is not learnt through study but for a mystery that is secretly passed down)? If that was the case it would have been better for them to become a king instead of a mage.

You think people live foully, but you yourself would not be able to live like that. You would not be able to live while accepting the fact that you know that everything is worthless and base. You would not be able to live without the pride of knowing that you alone are special, and that you alone can save this crumbling world. Of course, I was like that too. But that sort of thing has no meaning. --- Accept it, Araya. We chose the path of transcendence called magecraft because we are weaker than everybody else.

Magi were presented as absurd, as farcical, as maddeningly helpless and hopeless compared to those living normal lives. This will come up in Part 2, especially as pertains to Touko and Gordolf and the like, but normal everyday life, not superior thematic superpowers or an army of Servants, is what is truly far more powerful than any magi.

"... I'll just ask one thing. What do you mean when you say that secrets are kept even within that Association?"

Unexpectedly, I hear something from the sofa.

Over there is Shiki, who has been sitting there since before without a word. She's the type of person who doesn't get involved in a conversation that she's not interested in, so until now she had been staring at the scenery outside the window.

"--- There is that. A mage won't reveal the results of his experiments even within the Association. What the person next to them is researching, what their goals are, and what they have obtained are all a mystery. The only time a mage will reveal the results of their work is when they are passing it on to their descendants just before they die."

"Studying for their benefit alone, yet not using that power for their own sake? What purpose is there in a life like that, Touko? Is it that the goal is to learn, and the process is to learn too? If the only things you have are the beginning and the end, that's the same as having a zero."

Their pursuit for the truth is maddening. It is greedy yet at once devoid of greed. It is selfish yet at once devoid of selfishness. Their ethos and methodology are not fundamentally inhumane, but inhuman. Magi are an odd sort of creature indeed, and it isn’t the case that they’re all evil in their absurd quest. Indeed, virtually all early Nasuverse ancillary material, and this is still said today despite the opposite being true in practice, is that the vast majority of magi are shut ins who stay inside researching as opposed to eating babies.

The everyday life of a magus is mostly spent conducting research. Magi who use magic outside of a research capacity, such as those who use magi to work and profit for themselves, are few in number. People who treat magic as a tool, such as assassins, are called “spellcasters”, and are looked down upon with disdain by the magical establishment.

Furthermore, it is precisely because they are magi that few magi use magic in their daily lives.

Practically speaking, for every mage you see committing mass murder or fighting the mass murdering mage with superpowers, there are ten who we certainly can’t call conventionally moral, who we certainly can’t call normal humans, obsessively striving towards a seemingly impossible goal inhumanly but not inhumanely. Because Type-Moon does action series this has never been tenable to properly depict besides the minority, but it is the truth regardless. This is from a later work I actually have some measure of criticism for, but Strange Fake actually illustrates that point perfectly.

"A mage's mage," he muttered disgustedly to himself, eyes narrowed, "is no different from a hard-working corrupt politician." What about me? He wondered as soon as the words were out of his mouth. As long as corruption stayed hidden, it was difficult for the public to tell the difference between a corrupt politician and an honest one. In which case, mages, who never entered the public eye to begin with, probably ought to be lumped in with them. There were exceptions, but from the standpoint of the general public, mages were generally evil.

Other Nasu written works like Stay Night and Clock Tower 2015 also touch upon it.

Magic is just what it sounds like… magic. I don't care if you get ideas like abracadabra or whatever. You can just think of us as people who do strange things by casting spells. Oh, though it's not like we fly around on brooms or make stars appear with a wave of a wand. …Well, we could do that, but we don't bother as it's kind of meaningless. We're basically heretics who hide ourselves from the world. We're prohibited from standing out and even if we weren't, we would rather be at home studying magic.

Clock Tower 2015 especially hits it up by depicting what might be called the ideal magus, the point of being a magus that is often distorted by human concerns but that all of them are to some extent, not an inhumane monster but an inhuman man who has dedicated his life to magecraft.

"Ahhh, the life of a magus is so brief. It would have been great if I were born with just the brain and nothing else." Like what you just saw, Leiv was a pure academic magus. All his efforts were poured solely into his theory and magecraft. He cared naught of any other responsibilities, the application of his magecraft, his lineage, or building his faction. From Leiv's perspective, those magi were the same as the plebians that were "normal people". If one were to decipher the mystical, then he must sacrifice his humanity. A magus was a creature with nothing but magecraft on his mind. There was no room for burdens such as "life".

So to begin with, what we call magi are far from all arrogant murderous sods, and if anything arrogant murderous sods are the minority. They come in all manner of varieties, united simply by the pursuit of the impossible, by the desire to reach the truth, by the desire to transcend. Even more so than just that, they do have their values and ethics. They are often cruelly distorted, to the extent “magi parents” is a phrase that might as well be an oxymoron, but I would opine that as a product more of recent years than anything.

"Keep those for me. They are some awful cigarettes from Taiwan but I only have those now. Of course there isn't any company that made them, it's a famous item that some eccentric master made only one box of. Yeah, out of all my possessions that is the second most valuable thing I have." Leaving behind some strange words, she turned around and walked out. ... Perhaps her most valuable possession is herself, that kind of thought popped into my mind so I asked her, but she only turned back her head and answered. "That's rather rude. I know it's me but even I don't treat people like possessions." Like herself when she has her glasses on, she pouts as if she's sulking. And then, returning to her usual cool expression Touko-san continued talking. "Kokuto. Those people called mages, with an apprentice or other people they are close to they feel like parents. Since they are something like their offspring, they often fight desperately to protect them as well. ... Well, it's like that so relax and wait here. I'll bring Shiki back tonight." Thock thock, the sound of her walking away. Unable to say anything to her back, I let the brown-coated magician go.

That magi value their children, their apprentices, their legacies, even if only as a next step on the path to the Root, is also a truth echoed at the same time that it’s often contradicted. But then, magi are in of themselves contradictory creatures. After all, despite pursuing an inhuman ideal, despite throwing away their humanity, they themselves are still human. That contradiction between reality and ideals, best exemplified by Fate/Stay Night, is one of the themes at the heart of Nasu’s work.

So, to repeat it once more, magi as a whole, magi society as a whole, is not fundamentally inhumane but inhuman. That inhumanity often lends itself to the inhumane, but not necessarily, and indeed I opine that should be considered on a deeper level. That inhuman society is by no means a good thing, but to simply call it evil and magi evil and call it a day is to do a disservice to its nuance. There are arrogant murderous magi as well, sure, but they too are products of a tenacious ideal, they are the long shadow cast by lineages stretching for thousands of years.

In reality, what really forged the magus of the modern day was not a supernatural power or transcendent conscience, but a tenacity built and reinforced over generations. Clinging to a shadowed, intense ideology for hundreds, or in some cases even thousands of years, developed its own sort of extreme power. Even if science were to exceed magecraft in all other respects, as long as that ideal survived, magecraft itself would be ineradicable.

But what then of Souren Araya? What of that bastard Zouken and worst dad of the year Tokiomi and that arrogant asshole Kayneth? Rest well assured that I will cover them in exacting detail in the next part of whatever the hell this is, and everything I say about them will build upon this. That may seem contradictory, since this part is mostly devoted to showing that magi are far more than just evil sods, but believe it or not Kayneth is going to be mightily relevant to how pitifully weak magi in truth are, and Tokiomi is going to be relevant to how magi value their children in ways that don’t have to be inhumane, but can be inhuman. Until next time, all I can ask is to consider that while magi are indeed monsters, monsters really can be quite interesting creatures.

Things in this world were all like that.

It wasn’t limited to magecraft. It wasn’t limited to those beyond humans (monsters). In a world of common sense (the obvious), it was something everyone understood.

If you said that misunderstandings, miscommunications, disagreements, and false understandings are what connected them, then...

“We are misrecognition. Our world itself is misunderstanding. We can experience a multitude of truths, not just one single reality. No matter how wise you are, or how much time you are given, you will never reach something like a single truth. Magi may just be those who continually reject that fact.”

Speaking as if in self-deprecation, my master had pursed his lips at that.

He had finally realized that his words and the objective that all Magi pursued, known as the “Spiral of Origin,” were in contradiction.

Sources: Lord El-Melloi Case Files (TL by TwilightsCall), Kara no Kyoukai (TL on baka-tsuki), Fate/Stay Night (TL Mirror Moon), Clock Tower 2015 (TL by food), Fate/Strange Fake (TL by OtherSideOfSky)

#type-moon #fate series #fate grand order #fgo #fate stay night #kara no kyoukai #knk #fsn #fate meta #magecraft #lord el-melloi ii case files #case files #garden of sinners

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