#and that’s why it was never as simple as ‘they’re not the real version of [insert character]’

[klobexia]

maddie original is probably not that great of a person considering literally everyone else to exist in her favored sim spends most of their time shown either agonizing over how to escape the deterministic hell of her creation or accept how to live within it and cope to the best of their abilities.

but hey, the other sims that she passes up on for not serving her purposes prove that free will and humanity among UI is actually real when granted autonomy without constraint, it just won’t seem that way in the sim that forgoes autonomy to be specifically curated in order for her and every other UI in the sims shitty lives to play out in a precise way that allows a version of her to meet her dead loved ones again (and then lose them again).

the sim we start in most likely doesn’t change at all from her initial loop around reality as a flesh and blood human, only once she repeats her mistakes from the prior sims ad infinitum with little to no alterations does she realize she can’t just set things up the same to meet her ends and expect them to be different in the ways that she desires too.

the her in the final sim-inside-a-sim we see has to have an option to make different choices from the start in order for anything to change, even if that means some of her loved ones may not be saved or even exist. she just has to trust that the life she has matters anyway, human or upload, original or reconstructed.

[luna-azzurra]

Writing a Morally gray character

Think about their backstory, what shaped them into who they are? What do they believe in? And, most importantly, what pushes them to get out of bed every morning and keep going? These characters aren’t simple good or bad. They’re caught in the middle, in that murky, complicated space between black and white. That’s where they get interesting because they’re constantly wrestling with themselves, trying to figure out the right choice, or if the “right” choice even exists for them.

You need to show this internal battle. Imagine your character being torn between what they believe is morally right and what they actually want. This is where the real drama comes in, it’s like watching them juggle their principles with their desires in real-time. They’ll mess up, and they’ll make decisions that are sometimes questionable, but that’s what makes them human and relatable. One way to really highlight their complexity is by putting them in situations where there’s no clear answer. You know, those moments in life where everything’s kind of a mess, and you’re stuck trying to figure out what the hell you’re supposed to do? Your character should face situations like that. These gray areas create tension because readers won’t know which direction the character will go, and honestly, your character might not know either.

And don’t forget, growth is a huge part of writing a morally gray character. People aren’t static, they change based on what happens to them, and your character should too. Maybe they start off with a strong sense of morality but, over time, that starts to shift. Or maybe they start with shaky ethics and slowly become a better person as they learn from their mistakes. Growth can also go the other way, they could spiral downward, giving in to darker impulses. Either way, they need to evolve, just like people do in real life. That’s what keeps the story fresh and unpredictable. The last thing you want is a character that stays the same the whole way through.

Also, please, no stereotypes. A morally gray character doesn’t have to be a brooding anti-hero with a tragic past (unless that’s your vibe, but even then, switch it up). Give them quirks that make them unique. Maybe they have unexpected motivations, like they’re doing something shady for a cause they genuinely believe in, or they’ve got a weird sense of humor that throws people off. Whatever it is, make sure they feel like an individual, not just a copy-paste character we’ve all seen a million times.

Even when your character makes decisions that aren’t exactly clean-cut or heroic, the reader still needs to understand why. Show their vulnerabilities, why they doubt themselves, why they hesitate, and why they ultimately make the choices they do. It’s all about making them relatable, even when they’re walking that fine line between right and wrong. People might not always agree with them, but they should at least be able to see where they’re coming from.

And remember, every choice your character makes should have consequences. They don’t exist in a bubble. Their decisions should ripple out and affect not only them but the people around them. Maybe they make a selfish decision, and it ends up hurting someone they care about, or they try to do the right thing, and it blows up in their face. One last thing, just because your character lives in that gray area doesn’t mean they don’t have any sense of right or wrong. They might have their own personal code they follow, even if it doesn’t line up with society’s morals. Maybe they justify their actions in a way that makes sense to them, even if other people wouldn’t agree. It’s all about exploring that space where they’re not totally good, but not totally bad either. That’s where things get really interesting.

Think about where your character is going. Is their journey going to push them to become a better version of themselves? Will they fall back into old patterns and never really change? Or will they stay stuck in that moral gray zone, constantly torn between doing what’s right and doing what feels right for them?

[writingwithcolor]

Author with cultural disconnect: How do I write without making it seem as if I hate my own heritage?

Anonymous asked:

I’m a white-passing Asian author, and I’ve never felt all that connected with my heritage. My current story centers on a fairy (re: fantasy-world POC) child and ends with her realizing that her parents are toxic af and her human best friend’s family takes her in. This is the perfect opportunity to sort through my own issues with my heritage and finally convince my monkey-brain that it’s okay to not know how to cook Vietnamese food or celebrate tet or speak Vietnamese… But I also realize that if I’m not careful, this could easily slip into “Hey, I hate my heritage and so should you!” So how can I stop that from happening?

Writing for yourself first, not an audience

I ask you a simple question: why put pressure on yourself to have any sort of non-offensive messaging for a story that hasn’t been drafted yet and is to convince your monkey brain it’s okay to exist as yourself?

That seems like the fastest way to stop the story from being actually cathartic and instead a performance art piece when you already feel hung up on performing as “properly” part of your culture.

As I said in Working Through Identity Issues and Other Pitfalls of Representation, not all stories you write need to be for public consumption. Especially stories you’re using for your own self-processing and therapy, because you’re trying to get a cathartic moment that is rewriting your own story.

At what point does the public need to be involved in that?

I do understand the compulsion to want to post—I have definitely posted some Questionable™ material in my drive to get validation for feeling the way I do, wanting people to witness me and say “same.” It’s a powerful urge. Sometimes it’s worked, but most of the time it’s just made me feel horrifically exposed.

But you really do not have to post in public to get any sort of validation. Set up a groupchat with friends if you want the cheerleading and witnessing—people who will know your story and give you good-faith interpretations and won’t accuse you of anything. Honestly I’d suggest setting up this groupchat anyway; as someone who just got one again after quite a few years without it, my productivity has skyrocketed from being around supportive people.

Let the monkey brain have its monkey brain moment and shut off the concept the story is for the public. Shut off the concept of performing for an unknown audience. It’s for you. Be authentic, no matter how bad it would look to outsiders. They’re not reading it. Part of getting catharsis, sometimes, is being the worst version of yourself, somewhere nobody else can see it.

Deciding to publish the work

If, after you do write it, you find that you actually do want to polish it up and put it somewhere… edit it. Rewrite it entirely if that’s what it takes. Take the story through the same drafting process every story needs to go through, ripping out the unfortunate implications as you go.

Editing can be its own form of healing, as you try to figure out what this character would need to not be hateful. As you realize, once this longform journal entry is out of your head, what was bothering you now that you can see it pinned down on a page. But you absolutely do not need to write with the intention of editing in that healing. When I’ve tried, it’s fallen flat.

The healing will come from being yourself, no public involved, and writing about your feelings in their rawest form. Anything else is extra.

There’s no point in trying to put guard rails on the drafting process, not for a deeply personal piece. And by the time that drafting process is done, you’ll likely have specific scenarios and contexts that you can ask about, and you might even have ideas on how to fix it yourself once the story has a shape to it.

This is 100% a situation where there’s no real sense in idea workshopping something in the plotting stage. You’re doing something for you. Decide if it’s for public consumption later (while acknowledging “no” is a perfectly valid answer), and only figure out how to make the story not overtly harmful if you decide to put it out into the public.

~ Leigh

[oc-ology]

How to get past the fear of OC posting

People should create for the sake of creating but people post to engage with the community. However, posting can be intimidating and anxiety-inducing for a lot of people. It’s easy to say “do it scared” but much harder to put into practice. So, I’ve put together a few steps that lead up to doing it scared. These won’t work for everyone and this is meant more as general advice.

Step One: Why are you scared?

The first step is to figure out what about posting is scary for you. Oftentimes, it’s not as simple as “what if my post flops” or “what if people think I’m cringe”. Once you’ve figured out the surface-level reason, dig a little deeper. If your post flops, does that lead to you doubting the worth of what you’re creating? If you’re worried about what people think, is that because you’ve experienced judgement before or are worried your inbox will be flooded with criticism?

Identifying why you’re scared will not only help you understand yourself better (yippee!) but you can also then work on the source of your fears and anxieties at your own pace.

Step Two: Find ways to lessen your fears

One way of working through anxiety online is to find ways to mitigate the specific source of your fear.

Some fears have easier solutions than others. If you’re worried about people criticising your work, you can turn off anonymous asks (as most people are less likely to be haters when there’s a name attached to it) or turn asks off entirely, as well as limiting replies to those who have been following for a week. This way, if someone does want to be an unpleasant individual, it’s a little harder for them to do so.

A lack of engagement is a little harder to remedy. Here, the only real solution is to try and divorce the idea that engagement = worth. Remember why you’re creating an OC. Because it’s fun! It’s an act of creation! Because you want to find a community…? A community or OC friends will never just drop into your lap. You need to seek them out yourself. Look into discord servers, forums, tumblr networks (are they still a thing?), fandom events and exchanges, and most importantly: go out of your way to send asks/questions to others and build friendships with them! If you’ve got social anxiety like me, this is going to be a big challenge. Which leads to the next step…

Step Three: Start small

It doesn’t matter how small your first step is - so long as that step is forwards! If you’re nervous about OC posting, find the smallest thing about them and post it with the expectation of getting no notes. That’s right, I want you to go in and expect it to flop. Anything over one note is an automatic win. This first post isn’t about engagement - it’s about getting over the initial fear of posting. 

It can be tempting to just go right out the gate with elaborate explanations of backstory, lore implications, power levels, everything. But the trick really is to start small. Most people scrolling tumblr aren’t going to read a few thousand words on something they’re not invested in yet. TL;DR is a curse that I’m sure we’ve all fallen victim to. 

Instead, break up information about your OC into small pieces that can be posted one by one and have some kind of visual piece with it. People are usually more drawn to images than text. For example, which of these two things are more visually interesting?

What Perseus keeps in his bag:

Amulet

Tinderbox

A broken blade

50ft of hempen rope

25gp of silver powder

Waterskin

Rations (cheese, bread, sausage)

OR

Obviously this comes down to personal preference but a lot of people would find the illustrated version to be more interesting. You don’t need to be an artist to do this either! You could make a version of that example in photoshop or a similar program. Picrews, moodboards, edits, game screenshots and photography can all be used to add a visual element to your posts.

Step Four: Why am I still scared?

Fear is not easily stamped out. Anxiety is definitely the kind of thing that lingers. These steps aren’t meant to immediately make OC posting not-scary. That’s something that will only come with time as you get used to it. Again: Do it. Do it scared. Gradually, it’ll be less terrifying and in the meantime, you might be able to make a few friends who also want to talk about your blorbo.

[2-dsimp]

Hey, for your Spotlight Boys, how would they react if they met their Darling and they already had a partner?

Who would take out the competition immediately and who would just want them to be happy? What would they do if there were signs they weren't actually happy?

Cw: jealousy/manipulation/coercion/blackmail/gore/death

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The types who’d take out competition:

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Rashiq the rabbit

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In his version you’re a nun supposed to be serving the lordship. So of course having any type of romantic relationship with the other gender is forbidden.

But if the rabbit hybrid priest finds out that you were having relations with another… He devilishly grin at how much fun he’d get out of ruining that dipshits life. While also getting you into his paws up and far away from that bastard Zebad’s grasp. With a little bit of playing instigation he’d sooner have your partner branded as a cheating heretic and stoned to death as punishment. Of course he’d get his 2 cents in beforehand, what can you say? This rabbit is petty, so what’s wrong with leaving that bloke with a couple bones broken? It’s not like they’d need em anytime soon. Especially if they’re set to die at the stake.

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Quio the Dilf

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Well in his version you wouldn’t be allowed to have any significant others. As one of the requirements for being his nanny would be that you’re completely single. That way your focus would be primarily on his daughter Peina.

But hypothetically speaking, Quio’s the type to act like he’s happy for you but he’s plotting on the downfall of your relationship. When he got the information relayed to him, the A list actors perfect image twisted into one of pure insanity that he kept under lock and key. He’ll bide his time and wait for the moment your relationship reaches its sugar high. Only for him to crash it and burn it to the ground in one fell swoop. It pains him to see you so devastated but at the same time it made him feel such ecstasy. As He’d be the one to pick up the pieces one by one and make you all his by design.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵

Temothy the Bull

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He’d be utterly heartbroken… If he weren’t such a schemer underneath that klutzy innocent exterior of his. Being an info broker on the side of being your assistant. The bull knows everything about what’s happening in his surroundings in real time. So with a simple searches on the internet, He’d fabricate blackmail to prevent anyone. From even getting the idea that you were on the market. That’s why every single date you had was a failure, leaving you to be ghosted the next day. Even if the first date was absolutely perfect. Your assistant would accidentally stigmatize you as a forever alone without even knowing.

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The types who’d just want you to happy:

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Moros the Torturer

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All he’d ever want for his sunshine is for them to be happy. In fact he’s one of the very few men who’d be willing to be in a poly relationship with his darling. But if you already seemed to be fine with a partner of your own he’d stand by the sidelines watching over you like a guardian angel.

On the flip side if you were noticeably unhappy even worse if your partner had been abusing you. That’s when this gentle giant’s shell cracks into a vengeful ogre. He won’t tolerate anyone dimming your shine and would deal with them the best way he knows how. Via torturing them, it’s the job he’s well versed in. Besides that he genuinely wants to know how they were audacious enough. To think that they could break your precious heart. Unfortunately, Moros would never get the answer he so desired. Since his hands would’ve already subconsciously cracked open his victims rib cage with his machete. As if he were splitting open a watermelon. To tear out their beating heart that died out, Before he could even register what happened.

[rainbowfish3iswriting]

So I had another wonderful idea while at work.

We love Peter Parker in Gotham fics where Dick Grayson is Peter’s biological father. Peter has no idea what Gotham is and hates he’s in New Jersey. Meeting the Batfam, finding out his bio dad is alive in this universe, and the angst that goes along with Peter getting to know his dead dad.

Now let me introduce a concept that can crush hearts. ❤️

So what if, before Peter Parker arrives in Gotham, before the events of No Way Home, Dick has a kid, his own Peter. It doesn’t matter how he came to be or who the mom is. Dick has a kid and he loves him. The kid doesn’t have to be named Peter but he’s an alternative version of Peter.

Sadly, Dick’s son dies at a young age. How he dies can be something as simple as a car accident or drowning to something extremely like The Joker blowing up a school and his son was inside.

Dick’s son is dead, taken too soon from this world.

So here comes Peter Parker. Who’s a homeless teenager who is trying to survive Gotham on his own after being thrown out of his own universe.

The Batfam meet Peter in and out of costume and it’s Tim who makes the connection. He’s staring at Peter and thinks: Would my nephew look like Peter if he grew up to be a teen? This triggers a reaction inside Tim, because why dose this kid look like an older version of his nephew?? And the more he studies Peter, the more he sees the resemblance of his late nephew. Same hair, same eyes, same nose shape!

Tim decides to look up Peter Parker, mostly to end the nagging thoughts that the homeless teen is his dead nephew. Peter seems like a private person, doesn’t talk much about his personal life. All they know he’s a teen from Queens, New York whose family is all dead. But when Tim looks him up, he can’t find anything on this kid! No social media! No obituaries about his dead relatives! He finds Peter’s birth certificate (didn’t help he has the same birthday as his dead nephew’s), social security number, and other legal documents that are all fake! They’re forgeries and they’re really good forgeries! Tim almost passed them off as real.

This is bad! This kid has fake documents! Why would a homeless teenager have fake documents??! Why dose a teen who looks like his dead nephew have fake documents??!

Holy SHIT! Someone must of cloned his nephew!!!

No this can’t be right? Who on earth is sick enough to do that!? (A lot of people) Tim meets Peter again and gets his DNA without the teen noticing. This will prove once and for all this kid isn’t a clone of his dead nephew, his fears can be put to rest, he can focus on more important matters. Like why dose Peter have fake documents?

It’s 100% match, Tim cries.

Tim gets the familiar together and explains his findings. Everyone is freaking out. Dick is angry and devastated, that someone took his child’s DNA and cloned him. He also feels hope. Even through the kid may be a clone, it’s still his son at the end of the day. this could be Dicks only chance to have his son back, even if it’s not his real kid.

Fast forward to the Batfam managing to take (kidnapped) Peter to the manor where the reveal everything to him. ( Doesn’t help that his dead dad is alive and in front of them) The news confuses and overwhelms the kid.

Clone?? They really thought he was a clone??!

After Peter recovers from the shock, he finally tells them the truth. That he’s not a clone, but is from a different dimension. He explains his whole life story to the bats.

It ends with Dick and Peter getting to know one another. Their share lose of family not only helps them bond but also heal wounds that they never realized were there until now.

[mywitchyblog]

I just wanted to say your takes on age and shifting have been really helping me. I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy my teenage years and I feel like everything is falling apart in my adult life, so I really want to age myself down and experience life as a teen again. However, tiktok constantly made me feel like a creep and I was even starting to doubt myself and my motivations, which is crazy. So thank you for standing your ground and having our back lol and stay away from shiftok yall

AS.YOU.FUCKING.SHOULD.

Girl, keeping your distance from ShiftTok? Absolutely the right call. That place is less of a community and more of a cult with a superiority complex, stuffed with self-appointed “moral guardians” who’d rather police everyone’s shifting practices than actually understand a damn thing about shifting itself 💅. They’re too busy gatekeeping, throwing their tired opinions around, and stirring up drama to realize just how hypocritical they look. Chile, the irony is thick enough to choke on, and trust, we see it 👀.

And don’t even get me started on the anti-age-change crew. These people couldn’t argue their way out of a paper bag without leaning on the same three tired-as-hell logical fallacies, dragging them out every time to keep shifters in check without an ounce of actual understanding or empathy.

Ad Hominem – This is anti-age changers’ go-to move when they’re out of actual arguments. They skip right over any real discussion and dive into calling people “pedo” or “creep” just to shut them up. Rather than taking the time to understand why someone might genuinely want to experience being younger again, they grab for the ugliest insults they can think of and throw them like confetti 🎉… only it’s confetti made of trash 💀. Example: A shifter explains, “I age down in my Desired Reality because I had a tough youth and want to relive a better version of it. Plus, I want to experience a healthy, innocent romance from my teenage years.” But instead of even thinking about the idea that there might be something healing and meaningful in that, here comes an anti-age changer with: “If you want to age down to date, you’re a predator—plain and simple.” Here’s the kicker: these critics don’t care about the reasons. They’ll weaponize shame to make shifters look like villains, ignoring the fact that not everyone who age-shifts and dates does it for predatory reasons. Many want to experience that sweet, teenage love they didn’t get in this reality, to relive the simpler emotions of that time without adult complications. But the anti’s? They’d rather throw accusations than try to understand even a sliver of the truth. They’re using the “pedo” card because they know it’ll silence some people, and honey, it’s a sad attempt at control through fear 🙄.

Straw Man Fallacy – Here’s where things get especially messy 🥴. Instead of listening to what you’re actually saying, they twist it into something completely off-base, creating a fake argument to attack. They don’t want to engage with your actual reasons; they’d rather paint you as something you’re not so they can feel good about their so-called “moral high ground.” 🙄Example: Imagine a shifter saying, “I age down because I missed out on a carefree youth and want to date someone my age in that reality. I want to experience young love in a non-sexual, simple way.” The anti immediately twists this into, “Oh, so you’re saying you’re an adult wanting to act like a teenager to date kids? That’s sick.” See the problem? They’re creating a whole new argument based on something you never said. This shifter just wants a clean, innocent experience of being young again, complete with those little flutters and first dates that only make sense at that age. Some shifters may even explore young relationships with some intimacy, but it’s coming from a place of reliving a time they missed—not about attraction to minors or anything predatory. These critics twist the intention, making it sound like a fetish when it’s about pure curiosity, nostalgia, or healing. They’ve crafted their own horror story and are trying to pin it on you 👑, and honestly? It’s lazy, transparent, and completely off the mark.

Hasty Generalization – This is when anti-age changers pull out the big, sloppy brush and slap the same, tired accusation onto every age-changing shifter. Because they’ve heard one example of someone age-shifting for sketchy reasons, they assume everyone who does it must have some secret, shady agenda. Girl, the logic isn’t even there 🤦‍♀️.Example: Anti-age changers will say, “Oh, I heard about this one person who aged down to act out some weird fantasy, so clearly all shifters who age down to date are predators.”This is their way of weaponizing a single, extreme case to invalidate every other shifter’s unique, personal reasons. There are countless reasons people age down and engage in romance, and most have nothing to do with predatory behavior. Imagine someone who wants to experience a first crush all over again, or who never got a chance to date as a teen and just wants that innocent thrill of hand-holding and kissing at a school dance 🕺💃. Some might even explore sexual intimacy because, for them, it’s about curiosity and filling in experiences they missed—not some twisted attraction.Let’s get real: most age-changing shifters just want to feel what it’s like to be young again, to make memories that heal, to have those butterflies and firsts they missed out on. The antis are so obsessed with scandalizing that they can’t imagine a reality where someone wants to age down without any creepy motives. This broad-strokes accusation is not only unfair; it’s lazy as hell. It paints every age-changing shifter with the same brush, and it does nothing but create stigma and misinformation. Like… maybe sit down and breathe for a second instead of trying to stir up a scandal? 😒

Here’s the reality: these fallacies are tools they use to twist, shame, and silence. They’re not here to have a real conversation about why someone might age-shift or date in that reality, or to understand that those desires can come from totally normal, even therapeutic places. They’re here to make it sound twisted, full stop.

The next time they pull out these tired arguments, just remember: they’re not about facts, they’re about control. They use moral panic as a blunt weapon, hoping people won’t look closer and see right through their paper-thin accusations. Keep doing you, stay fierce 🔥, and don’t let their fallacies dull your shine.

[otomes-and-tears]

it’s meeeeeeeee i’m shiloh enjoyer #3!!!! revolving him around in my brain every day like it’s a microwave 😭😭 i know you’re busy with a lot of other asks at the moment but i’m eagerly awaiting the lizzie post!! and all of your other writing ofc <33 you brighten my day :D

HELLO TO THE MYSTERIOUS SHILOH ENJOYER #3! I think we're all here now haha I'm glad you enjoy my analysis posts! NOW BUCKLE UP, BUCKAROOS! THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE LOWKEY SAD: Elizabeth is perhaps the most complex and defining relationship in Shiloh's life.

First of all, it's one of the few we see glimpses of throughout several steps in his life-- we see how he idolises her as a child, how he acts towards her when they reconnect in his teenage years and glimpses of how the different versions of him act with her in adulthood. It's likely the oldest relationship he maintains that isn't familial, and I think that's incredibly significant when we take into consideration what I believe to be one of the paradoxical cores of Shiloh's character: Connections and relationships are disposable to him, but Shiloh is only Shiloh as long as there’s someone there. He still feels lonely.

I talked a little before about Shiloh's childhood. How the social dynamics he established as a kid ended up influencing his behaviour as a teenager: He sees Lizzie as the obvious leader, since she's older and more assertive than him and MC, and follows her around and obeys her every whim because of it. Whether he genuinely likes her or not is up for debate, but I don’t think it matters to Shiloh. What she means to him is something that can far supersede any simple likes or dislikes that he might feel at that age:

She provides stability and purpose. She’s his anchor against the mean kids, the teasing, the isolation. All he has to do is stay in her favour. Lizzie is his first encounter with a power dynamic he can rely on and emulate as he grows, and therefore she becomes someone he idolises.

Shiloh doesn’t need to be honest, or even be himself, as long as he’s useful and needed. He understands social hierarchies all too well, knowing what happens to people at the bottom. It’s why he insists he isn’t “different” and loses it when Cove calls him “weird.”

He was probably one of the kids who got picked on, so he’s always scrambling to stay just above water and not sink to the bottom with the rest of the “outcasts.” MC doesn’t mean much to him, but in Lizzie’s absence, he sticks to them just as obediently, as they’re the next best thing. Cove, on the other hand, is mostly just a mild annoyance but does give Shiloh a bit of relief because, for once, he’s not the one at the bottom. And it’s not like Cove was ever going to be Lizzie’s favourite anyway.

Whenever Shiloh gets ignored, he panics and tries to wedge himself back into the conversation however he can. And as soon as Lizzie shows up again, he immediately runs back to the safety of their old dynamic.

I think that while most of him admires her at that age, there's a little part of him that resents not being like her. Not being able to be a leader and being relegated to a follower, feeling aimless when she isn't around. As a kid, he's more prone to lashing out when angered, unlike older Shiloh who acts with fake cheeriness and this strange, eery coldness when annoyed. And that's why he pulls her down with him into the water in Step 1.

If he isn't willing to voice these things because he doesn't want to rock the boat and cause issues, he expresses it more subtly.

Shiloh’s just scared—a scared little kid who figured out a way to fit in. And because that method kept working for him, through moving out of state and getting through life without Lizzie, he never really had a reason to change, even if it did a number on his very sense of self.

He got better at these tactics over time, making sure he’d always have a way to fit in, but it cost him a real personality and genuine social skills beyond the manipulation tactics he fine-tuned throughout the years. Eventually, he started taking control in small but crucial ways: He’s the one who walks away from relationships, now. Removing himself from them becomes a choice. It’s not only about leaving when people cease being useful to him but about imposing a sense of control that he felt like he lacked in childhood since he moved schools and states a few times and was likely used to being the “new kid” in different places.

He learned to hide his feelings better, so he wouldn’t blow up the way he did when he was seven. That’s why his relationship with Elizabeth—and the times he had to start fresh somewhere new—were so essential to shaping who he is: Lizzie set the standard for the kinds of relationships he’d chase, and moving around gave him fresh slates and new people to practice on.

That brings us to the serendipity moment in Our life and what we know from him in Xoxo droplets. Now, I know a lot of people haven’t actually played XOD and only have a cursory knowledge of it and the fact that a few characters from it cameo in the Our Life series! But did you know that Liz is mentioned by name in Shiloh’s route?!?

Yes! Back in 2017 we actually had Shiloh mention the events of Serendipity, which I think is a crucial scene to understand Shiloh’s character.

But before we talk about that, Let's talk Serendipity!

After Jeremy brings up “Shiloh’s famous memory” and Liz realizes he lied about not remembering her in the Step 3 prologue, Shiloh actually goes ahead and explains why he is the way he is. His explanation lines up with what we know about him from XOXO Droplets and how he acts in Step 1.

I don’t think he’s lying. Not about all of it, at least. Some of the only concrete information we have on Shiloh’s character and how he functions comes from his childhood, and I think that what he’s saying is a natural progression of that information. He only does things for his own benefit, he’s afraid of being left out and he asserts his sense of control through his relationships with others. But it’s really important to remember that Shiloh doesn’t do things without it benefiting him. While I believe in the core of what he’s saying, the fact that he’s divulging this information at all (how he’s going about it, by putting Liz and her feelings on the matter first, and framing his choices as being mistakes he made out of care for an old friend and by reiterating that they’re too good and putting himself down for pity points) instead of trying to dodge the conversation again, he’s employing a few of his known manipulation tactics: the real me strategy.

Shiloh knows that this new information is hurtful to Liz, and like in Step 1, her opinion is really the one that matters to him. He knows that there’s a limit to how much he can play dumb before they snap, and by Jeremy revealing part of his MO, there isn’t a lot he can do to smooth things over, so the least destructive path is to do exactly what Shiloh does to JB during his route in Xoxo droplets: He feeds Liz little bits of truth because he knows he’ll damage their relationship if he doesn’t. He gives her enough so she feels like she knows him better, like she’s got some new, special insight into the “real” Shiloh that nobody else has, which keeps her around. He pretends to drop his manipulative schtick because by telling her this, she has “figured him out” and there isn’t a point in trying anymore. That itself is a manipulation tactic.

But why bother? He’d be gone again by the end of the afternoon regardless of her forgiveness or not.

It comes back to what I mentioned earlier: Shiloh is the one who exerts control over his relationships. He is the one who decides when they start, and when they end, and by Liz being upset and deciding she doesn’t want to be around him, not only does he lose the control he craves, but Shiloh loses it with the person he based all of his subsequent relationships on.

In the few hours that he spent in Sunset Bird, they all fell back into their old dynamics even though it had been so long since Shiloh stepped foot in that town. He still remembers that she prefers popsicles over ice-cream sandwiches, and even though he’s better at including MC and Cove, Shiloh in a lot of ways fell back into their old routine, looking back to Liz as his leader and following into step as her sidekick. It doesn’t matter if Liz isn’t an active part of his life any longer, what would it mean to him to have those memories tainted? For that perfect template to be ruined?

But Liz stays. 

And because of that choice, we get to see the ultimate consequences of it. Shiloh isn’t a good person. As pitiful and as tragic as he might be, he simply isn’t one. And I think that can be encapsulated perfectly in how he frames his interaction with Liz to his girlfriend in Xoxo Droplets.

He glosses over what he did wrong, he casually exploits that event to garner points with his girlfriend. He ultimately doesn’t care if she takes his and Liz’s relationship the wrong way and frames it as being romantic, even if that’s far from the truth. Even with Elizabeth being miles away and already hurt by him, he still finds ways to use people and spin narratives to his advantage. 

I do believe he holds Liz in higher esteem than most (and arguments can be made that JB, the main character in XOXO droplets and his love interest, and Elizabeth share similarities in both appearance and their strong-willed, confident personalities), since she was his “idol” by his own admittance, but this is a tiny way in which he asserts his control over the situation. It doesn’t matter if Liz believes she holds the reins. If she’s older, admirable and if he still follows her around like an obedient puppy when she’s around.

By choosing to stay, she tipped the scales in his favour. He is the one in control once again, and he's able to continue his interminable cycle of holding people at arm's length while playing the part of a devoted companion.

[teecupangel]

If you wanna use this as material, go ahead, but have you played warframe? The 1999 update, and all it implies might make good inspiration.

I have to confess, a highschool friend of mine suggested I play Warframe since, in his own words, I enjoy grinding.

The only real reason why I have never tried Warframe is because I have enough gacha games already hahahaha.

However, I do have an idea of what the 1999 update/expansion is supposed to be and we can spin it into a time travel setup.

The first idea I thought of is a simple “Desmond time travel into the past after dying” where Desmond returns to 1999 and screws the timeline up by making the current mentor understand that Cross is a sleeper agent sent by Abstergo.

And then there’s the more convoluted second idea I came up with because I love the Terminator/Terminator 2 vibes of the 1999 update.

We set this on September 1, 2012. The day Desmond Miles was supposed to be captured.

But he doesn’t. Instead, he’s saved by a young man in a hood who took down the men with Cross, almost taking down Cross too who managed to escaped with a bleeding neck that wasn’t deep enough to be fatal but will definitely leave a nasty scar. Desmond tries to run away because it’s obvious that the man who saved him is an Assassin but the man manages to stop him and get him to follow him.

Desmond may or may not have made a joke of how the man missed the chance to say “come with me if you want to live” and the man did not get the reference.

He leads him into some kind of warehouse near a port where two more hooded men are waiting with… uuuhh… Desmond is pretty sure the woman they had with them was someone he had a one night stand with and-

Is that her kid?

Why does her kid look a lot like…

Oh fuck.

.

Abstergo, during this time, is having the corporation-version of panicking all over because they got a good look of the man that saved Desmond as well as two unknown men who attacked an Abstergo clinic around the same time someone saved Desmond Miles. Ransacked the whole place and took meds and supplies like they were going to go for a long drive or something similar.

But that wasn’t the important part.

The important part was the man who saved Desmond Miles? He looks too much like Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad to be a coincidence.

And one of the men who looted the clinic?

He looks exactly like Ezio Auditore.

.

The plot would make it seem like the three old Assassins (Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton (who Abstergo didn’t recognize)) have a lot of knowledge of future events and appear to have come to save Desmond. They also have a plan to save the world without sacrificing Desmond but they’re keeping quiet because they don’t want to tip Juno off.

The plot twist though is that they aren’t from the past, they’re from the future. To be more exact, they’re descended from Elijah, though from different children. The future was so fucked (like more fucked up than watch_dog legion) that what remains of the Brotherhood pooled every resources they had to bring the three to the past with the aim of saving Desmond Miles as they believe Desmond Miles has the highest possibility of changing the fate of the world.

And their plan to save the world AND Desmond Miles? Take his place and sacrifice themselves since, if Desmond Miles does live, there’s a possibility they would cease to exist (they’re not sure of which time travel rules their world is governed by)

[literaila]

I was re reading ATF and I saw you said listen to be acoustic version-hozier (ur so real for that) and I was wondering what hozier songs you would give to the characters in ATF?

yay! my powers finally come into play! i love hozier and i loooove musical comparisons so fab, lit, etc. you better listen to all of these and completely take them in before moving on. this is a threat.

reader and satoru are obviously damage gets done.

see: literally anything they’ve ever done. the two of them struggle so much (and mostly due to outside circumstances) but when they’re all grown, they’ll look back fondly and wish they could do it all again. because, as mentioned, if the world offers so much pain just to bring them to each other, it’s all worth it in the end.

the tank was always filled up only enough for their getting there btw

(honorable mention: wasteland baby and moments silence (common tongue) shhh)

satoru’s song is from eden

satoru is always positive, always the strongest, but he would flee eden—a garden of all paradise—for anyone he loves. he would give up his mantle, give up his life for all of these kids, and more importantly—for you. he’s made all of these plans and they may never come to fathom, but at least he tried.

and he continues to try, to crawl to his family and protect them with all he’s got. he’s not afraid of abandoning paradise, as long as there’s something waiting there for him.

satoru might not be human, but he’ll damn well try to be.

and there is something so precious about this, babe. and something so broken about this too.

reader is it will come back and no plan

maybe it’s because of her childhood, maybe its always been apart of her, but if satoru can’t see himself as human, reader can’t see herself as worth it. her parents brushed her—and her monster, her curse—aside, and from that point forward, she was alone and content with being so. she doesn’t want to contaminate anything else, doesn’t want to scare anyone away.

it’s a kindness you can’t afford, she might whisper to satoru, but he’s obviously not listening. and just as she comes to depend on him, and their family, they begin to depend on her as well.

and why would you make out of words a cage for your own birds?

why should she see her talents, her techniques, her stubbornness as something to fear? her own mind was a prison for so long—but she’s going to crawl out, day by day. and when that finally happens—everyone will be waiting for her, smiles on their faces.

the harder the rain, the sweeter the sun, after all.

tsumiki is first light

tsumiki sees everything very clearly. her life is a simple thing, something to be grateful for, even if there’s sadness, even if she’s got those blank spaces in her heart (the ones reader taught her about), she understands that it’s simply fate. nothing to be too concerned about.

she is sweet because she wants to be, laughs because she wants to. she finds a home wherever she goes.

and sure, darkness finds you either way, but the sun always comes up. and the light will feel brand new—but it’ll be there all the same.

megumi is hard to choose, but ultimately i think he’s abstract (psychopomp)

he’s said it himself: he’s not a hero, he’s not dictated by normal morals, but he is human. he always has been. he makes stupid decisions and he knows it. and he can’t see the positivity his father, mother, or sister do.

and still, for whatever reason he still watches the world shine. he can see the memories of all of you, and he can’t turn away from that happiness, no matter how dark it gets. love and terror go hand and hand, after all, and megumi is overwhelmed with both.

but, that’s fine, though. it’s not like he can choose who he loves, anyway.

for a little bonus: megumi and satoru are both arsonists lullaby

they’ve both got responsibilities to their bloodlines, to the people around them, and their own legacy’s to fulfill.

jujutsu is simple. don’t tame your demons, just keep them on a leash.

[ctheathy]

Hi I love your story and I read your secret histories story and I love it, I wanna ask if your not busy how about a yandere secret history tails x reader where she is a kind and sweet person who never judge someone by their appearance and she dotes and pampers him a lot

Yandere Secret History Tails w/ sweetheart!Darling

Secret History Tails x Reader

Yandere Headcanons

Short Concept

Author’s note : Why hello, Nonnie!! Of course you may, my darling, hope you’ll be able to enjoy<3<3 My apologies for slight inactiveness, I assure each and every one of you that more headcanons of our lil ol’ psycho and other characters are also coming up; things have just been a teensy tiny bit busy for me lately, but I do try keeping up with the requests. Don’t want to let yall down💞

Quick note that I do not write for gendered Readers much though!! Accidents can happen when requesting, and I promise I am not upset, but just so everyone understands that gender is not something I’m going after.

Due to the request describing identical characteristics for the Reader as the one in my A Once Innocent Act of Tenderness fic and no specified choice of content was asked for, headcanons with that particular darling were chosen =} Just see it as a minor backup continuation of the story.

A Once Innocent Act of Tenderness ➷

[Gender-neutral Darling|Female Darling|Male Darling]

Potential ⚠️TWs⚠️ :

Delusional mindsets • Obsessive + Possessive behaviour • Murder + Torture mention • Forced relationship • Co-dependency • Kidnapping • Worship • Psychological abu$3 • Brainwashing trauma [On Tails’ part] • Tails may as well get his own TW tbh

Outwardly there doesn’t seem to be all too big of a difference between yandere Secret History Tails and his neutral version. They’re both still very much sociopathic, show clear signs of unhinged behaviour and may get obsessive streaks from time to time, are manipulators at heart, can remain atleast somewhat delusional about both of your relationship with one another and they too view you as something much more above than any other mobian that might have their ways in their pathetic unworth of a universe. And although he normally could have recovered from this mindset slowly with the help by his side, his full on yandere form however, does not. And all honestly speaking, it wouldn’t even be likely to occur in the first place without a specific darling that is kind and has been there from the very beginning; when his trauma of brainwash has developed into something else ...and certainly not something in a positive light. It’s safe to say that this version of his may even be more disturbed than the sanity of his usual self, and that information alone is enough to bring in that you’re going to be stuck on quite the bumpy ride.

While his usual worshipping behaviour would hold nothing malicious behind it, this case is a little more ... interestingly different to say the least. Unlike his casual form who most easily said puts you in the place which was originally meant to be taken by Sonic after you’ve came along and properly earned it; this state of his and his already existing delusions have caused him to literally believe you to be his own personal guardian angel, being there for him in order to protect him from all the wrongs, misery and injustice in this existence. Unlike usual, at an early point he knows that the “real” Sonic of his dimension doesn’t want him, just letting the hedgehog take advantage of his seemingly non-lucid state and torment him to no end; causing him to both grow incredibly touch starved for any kind of gentle offering and worsening his already unstable mindset. And the one simple change that makes all the difference between the two is how he’d normally find himself giving in over time torwards your doting nature with him in particular, while this version of his had already emotionally snapped before he even got the chance to do so. Now the only motivations being left to linger in the back of his mind being the one entity that’s been sweet to him right from the start, and the desperate desire to just take them in as his own--His property. The others have been able to keep you and your dearing behaviour all to themselves for far too long by now, it’s only fair.

As information that’s been given before, a darling like this has him fairly taken aback, the sweet demeanour being, quite sadly said, totally foreign to him. On one hand he wants to give in, wants to achieve the gentleness that’s right on the end of the line and so easily accessible, the desires for the consideration and care becoming close to unbearable to him; but right at the same time, he feels suspicious torwards the close to angelic aura around them, feeling as if it’s nothing more and nothing less than some mere act. This distrust being caused by the harassment he’s got back when he wasn’t even in this position as Sonic’s best friend, despite the lack of memory from it. You’re too sweet for your own good, too perfect; of course it couldn’t be genuine. Another thing potentially stalling him is the fact how Sega has quite literally made him believe how his existence is meant to be surrounded by Sonic, it becoming closer to convincing him farther how it holds absolutely zero meaning without the blue hedgehog being in the picture. But even despite these thoughts of protest, the fox can only take so much. there’s gonna be some point where he cannot suppress these feelings anymore.

Even though his usual self is no exception to causing deaths of those that just so happened to cause immense discomfort or pain to you; another thing that can be written off as a big change is that he’s a whole lot more violent torwards any potential rivals, quite literally going off for torture right off the bat, unlike his casual self who just wishes to get the job done with by blowing the said mobian into hundreds of little bits by his excellent yet dangerous explosives. His yandere form however ... Is absolutely not comparable; his actions now being much more similar to how he treated his victims at the end of secret histories. The two-tailed fox absolutely has zero restraints over himself and is often completely out of control when doing so, the blood of his nemesis covering the floor and walls and psychopathic laughter filling the air. Another important aim being how unlike he would have behaved with Sonic’s case, he would be a whole lot more secretive about the entire murder thing around you. He wouldn’t want to upset his precious and divine admirer now, would he? You’d slowly notice those around you starting to disappear into thin air, each and every acquaintance vanishing only to never see the light of day ever again.

Something else I could picture is that he specifically holds immense grudges against any other Tails counterparts of his, going as far to just take care of the little issue almost immediately after notice. Despite being the filthy imposters they are, he’ll likely feel as if their chances with you rival his own, knowing just as well that they’re close to identical in appearance and intelligence. And if anything, he likely feels the most threatened by them, knowing they could all charm and lure you in all the same way you were captivated by him to begin with.

As for his behaviour torwards his darling after legitimately cracking and taking them in out of said ‘‘protection”, it could mostly be written down as both having a rather clingy and worshipping attitude, yet surprisingly distant right at the same time; not wanting to scare them off. You’re not going anywhere, he knows that much, but having them dreadfully fear him to no avail in improvement over time would absolutely crumble the fox to pieces. He absolutely doesn’t mean any kind of harm torwards his darling, to the point of quite literally not daring to lay a finger on them; but if it wasn’t already obvious before, he has clear limits to his patience. Although not directed torwards them, he can be found growing aggressive due to the lack of emotional touch and is often one to take it out on the unfortunate bystanders nearby, gifting you their still beating hearts as his own little way to show his graciousness torwards you, not realising in the slightest how terrified it truly makes them.

Don’t get me wrong, he adores you with your entire being, he really does; but he has never learned to express them the right way. And I cannot really help but see him as a whole lot more repulsive and abominable as a yandere due to one particular reason. The core of his delusions stop him from thinking properly while it causes refusal torwards the evidence literally laying in front of him; being blinded by unrealistic beliefs and inflicting them onto his poor darling in a sense of purification, all while holding them hostage in a cold and dusted basement. He’d also be a whole lot less obedient to what his darling has to say, feeling as if he’s protecting them despite their protests. You’re silly, of course your naiveness wouldn’t let you catch up with all the potential threats--those rubbish imposters just wandering around you throughout the day. And although the confidence in his beliefs has caused them to become close to being the actual truth in his own unhinged headspace,

that hasn’t stopped him from psychologically harming his darling over and over again.

[olderthannetfic]

A lot of these discussions about colonizer romance or slave fantasies or similar just feel like the race version of the way certain feminists keep wringing their hands about rape fantasies and the “problem” of them. Like, sure, there are certainly people in the “privileged” group in question who enjoy those in the more “problematic” way that might speak to something concerning about how they view any real-life partners or sex (“might” being a key word here)… for instance, the slavery isekai anime trend seems to be most popular with gross dudes who really do think having a slave woman who waits on you hand and foot and also has sex with you is desirable and wish they could have that irl. But I think the bigger reason these “problematic” fantasies persist is that a lot of people in the equivalent “marginalized” group also really like it in their own ways. They like eroticizing that experience that is so troubling irl. It’s clear some of the people who like these “colonizer” romances are colonized people just as a lot of women love rape fantasies.

Idk, I don’t think the discussion is as simple as saying that what porn or romance you are into has *zero* effect on your IRL sexuality. I think it’s hard to argue that if you’re getting off to something a lot, it doesn’t impact the rest of your life in at least some way, the brain doesn’t draw firm walls around these things— and there’s just the objective fact every young straight woman I’ve known has observed that a lot of younger straight guys have had their expectations of women and sex warped by the unrealistic stuff they’re seeing in porn. But I think like with any other “how does the media affect us?” question: it’s almost never an exact 1:1. Different media deals with these topics differently, and even the same media can affect different people different ways, or even the same person different ways at different points in their life. That’s the issue with “anti”-style thinking, not that fiction can never affect real life. It’s that it’s never as simple as just making a list of bad things no one can like. One person’s trash is another’s treasure and v.v., and what can be irredeemable hateful garbage to one person can be cathartic to another. Just like how the kinks that your abuser used to justify abusing you can be used by another person as their lifeline to help them enjoy sex again after abuse. Rape fantasies or racial fantasies that may seem objectively bad when framed around how privileged people view them… well, that’s not the only framing (and maybe we should stop centering privileged people all the damn time?)

So like even aside from the fact that “colonizer romance” does not have a single objective definition and that people are putting a wide swath of stuff into that label, and it should be used as the start rather than end of a conversation… are we even sure that everyone is coming at it from the POV of the colonizer? Are more people really viewing themselves as John Smith or as Pocahontas? And so when looked at that way, isn’t it really more another version of the eternally-popular-among-women “I can change/fix him!” narrative? (Which itself can be critiqued, particularly in how often patriarchal media sells that to women and why… but that’s a different conversation from the usual “colonizer romance” conversation.)

Or maybe some people are just inherently drawn to cross-cultural romances in general, and those people also like ones that don’t have a colonizing aspect to them?

Like, there’s a lot to unpack here that isn’t in these conversations. We can’t just make this the new buzzword, thought-terminating cliche.

--

[anderstrevelyan]

wip wheneverday

Tagged by @cleric4vampire to share a wip (thank you!), so here's the draft segment of the I-guess-my-version-of-Gortash-invented-lighters thing I was talking about yesterday—

(It's fundamentally a durgetash first time fic, but it has the setup of durgetash-attempt-a-murder-together)

Skie Silvershield could be considered a beauty, maybe, though her father’s reedy frame and angular features did her no favours. Unique, a suitor might say. Rare. Soft-tongued attempts at obscuring the true motivations in their plays for her hand, more interest in a fulsome dowry than a pretty wife. She knows it, too, it’s why she’s out here in the cool air rather than dancing in the arms of a some shiny boy from a shiny family—and she’s always liked a bit of a scoundrel.  He’s found her passable, the other times they’ve spoken on nights much like this. The only reason Enver’s stayed away, really, is how he finds women some decades her senior more loose with their gifts and their coin. He studies her—dress hiked up so she can lean against the wall with one leg, thoroughly ignoring him, focused on something small in her hands—and looks for his opening. Finds it, and runs a hand through his hair, turns his face into the mask and his mind into the weapon he’ll need to see this through. “Can I light that for you?”

She startles, brown eyes wide with a quick flutter of fear, but relaxes when she looks up into his face. Promising, that she hadn’t realized it was him. That she’d been ignoring just an anonymous figure fresh from the house. There’s even a sparkle of invitation there, he thinks; at least, he’s going to proceed as if there is. “You won’t fare any better,” she says despite it, but he plucks the small lighter from her hand anyway. It’s a Gondian thing, meant to house a flame cantrip on demand, and it’s pretty in its silverwork, but they’re notoriously unreliable. It must have belonged to her father, from his days parading around as the head of Gond’s church, and it’s much like the ones Enver’s taken apart, studied, put back together again, between hours observing the cantrip’s properties across Valas’s fingers. “I mean it,” she says, a laugh in her voice. “Gond himself would struggle to master that thing.” He’s tempted to smash it to the ground, if he thought she’d take it in jest. But perhaps not—he’s not sure how fondly she thinks back on her dearly departed father, how much she knows about who he really was. He imagines she must have expected at least something, living under the same roof, but they do have the most extravagantly large estate in the Gate, and there’s a common naivety, he’s found, to the idea that adherents of the darker faiths walk around in one’s midst. He hands her his glass instead—she accepts it after shifting her pipe to the other hand—and digs through his pocket for his own prototype. She takes a long sip of his wine as he does, her eyes never leaving his, not until he leans against the wall by her side and shows her. His is in gold, the metal more intricately carved, but the real beauty lies in its function. “It was a good idea,” he says of the Gondian lighter, sliding it into her dress’s pocket, “but the magic tends to fade, and they don’t make a reliable spark. But if you use cerium, a metal simple enough to import from Chult, and mix it with iron—” He flicks the mechanism, and a flame appears: almost blue, solid and strong, unwavering as a cleric’s faith. “You could sell these,” she says, then leans forward to light her pipe.  He’d expected a little more awe, or praise of his ingenuity; he wouldn’t have shared the secret behind how it works otherwise. He shouldn’t share such a thing, not with anyone, beyond the Bhaalist who watched him do it, not if he wants to keep the credit for himself, and not as he works to find deadlier uses for metal so adept at producing flame. But, of course—it’s not like she’ll live until morning. There’s a small thrill, at the images he can’t ignore. At the thought of Valas’s violet eyes bright in his manor’s dark shadows; of the tension in his muscles as he waits, watches, springs; and his look of relief and exultant release in the aftermath. At how Enver will cup his chin, still warm and wet with her blood, and force him to look into his eyes, to understand the favour, the gesture, the debt tying them closer together. “Perhaps,” he says, taking back his wine. Slowly, so no brush of emotion shows through, and with intention, his fingers lingering against hers. He takes a sip and considers complimenting her.

[writingwithcolor]

Creatures of Folklore Who Represent Cultures Preventing Wars Throughout History

Anonyomous asked:

Hi! I’m writing a story which is set in a fantasy version of our world. The main difference between our real world and my fictional version is that the spirits and fairies of each culture and folklore exist, and that the majority of them basically stop war from happening because they react very badly (and potentially violently) when invading forces etc try to start battles. 

I’m doing a lot of research into the histories of the various cultures that will be featured in the books set in this world so I can hypothesise how they might have developed without, for example, violent colonialism, and where trade and so on might have flourished in its place. However, it’s possible for colonialism to happen through more insidious ways, such as assimilation. In one of my books, I’m intending to use this as part of the plot, where Japan will try to colonise the Ryukyuan Kingdom through assimilation, but will be stopped by the Ryukyuan Kingdom making allies with other nations (amongst other tactics), but I was wondering if you had any advice for respectfully handling the colonialism that very much did happen in real life in a fantasy setting where it didn’t manage to occur, without erasing the history and ramifications etc of what actually happened?

Do fox spirits have citizenship? 

You mean well with this concept, but there are multiple key problems. 

One major issue with cordoning off spirits and folklore creatures by “patron” culture and have them fight said patrons’ battles is that there’s a lot of overlap. It’d be hard for there not to be a conflict of interest. 

For example, everyone knows about the kitsune fox spirit from Japan. But the story of the fox spirit was introduced to Japan and Korea by China, where they are called húlijīng. These foxes are remarkably similar, with their characteristics and stories almost borrowed wholesale. Are they all the same “species?” If so, when small differences emerge in the countries’ folktales, how do you resolve this? Do these spirits also morph and specialize, or does one interpretation win out? How about when kingdoms are unified, like the Korean Three Kingdoms–do separate versions of the kumiho reverse-evolve into a single variant? What side do they pick when these kingdoms and empires try to battle? If they live apart from humans or aren’t very friendly with them, why would they have a reason to care about invasions when they have no reason to be allegiant to said borders, or whatever name they’re called in whichever country whose land they live on?

Folkloric beings are never static, and are influenced over time by cultural shifts and exchanges, including shifting borders. Human history is stuffed cover-to-cover with events of what we called “conquest” then and “occupation” or “colonization” now. And through these changes, cultures diverged and came together, creating new stories. In other words: not even fairy tales are immune to colonization. 

Leigh can explain the rest. 

~ Rina

The Problem with Retconning War

A very simple question for you:

How are you going to rectify every single historical war that’s ever existed?

Like, the whole plot of the Trojan War as we know it is that the gods of the same culture were on different sides! And the gods made the war last as long as it did. Alexander the Great was a colonizer. Romans were definitely colonizers. Ottomans and Mongols, also colonizers. It wasn’t to the scale of modern colonialism, but it happened. If you look at census records from the 1800s of Indigenous populations in North America, you’ll find that the men 20+ have way lower numbers because they died in war! 

I’m not of the opinion that the basic state of humanity is war and we are barely contained by base instincts. But I’m also not so far in the other direction that I believe humans lack any sort of warring instincts. It shows up in chimps and other primates, so it shows up in humans.

In a way, it sounds like you’ve taken a very Christian-fundamentalist-centric view of things, which is: humans need religion to be “contained”. That humans are amoral without some sort of religion or folklore or spirits telling them to not do a “bad thing.”

This is ignoring how people have been using religion to justify wars since religion was invented. As Rina said, there can be overlap in groups’ beliefs and deities so there’s the side-picking issue, which as I mentioned is the whole plot of the Trojan War. Even when humans write about gods meddling in war, they have the gods not all be on the same side.

Humans have war. Humans try to take over other groups because they want the resources that group has. Alliances shift. Territories shift.

This is also treating humans as a monolith—there are populations within the colonized groups that agree with the colonizers because they get benefits. Claiming that all colonized groups hate all aspects of their colonialism all of the time is deeply ahistorical and flattened. Sometimes the benefits were only for a small group, but sometimes the benefits were far-reaching. It’s in the India tag on WWC, varying views of the Mughals. 

Also, how will you handle the Christianization of Europe? How will you handle all of this folklore that only got written down via monks and nuns making notes and modifying beliefs to fit the Bible? Will any area with only Christianity’s records written down not have folklore? 

And how will you handle folklore drift? Religions are not static. If you look at Greek myths, there are ten to thirty versions of each story and those are just the ones that survived. Each city-state had its own mythology, using the same gods, modified to fit the local needs.

And what about folklore that deals with war and thrives in war? What about the gods of war and destruction? I know Norse mythology is Christianized beyond recognition, but even in its Christianized form half of it is about war. Would the Valkyries, whose whole purpose is to find valiant soldiers slain in battle, not want war? Their whole purpose is war.

Also, on top of it—how will you handle revolution?

You say yourself, colonialism could still happen subtly. Colonialism and injustice can still happen. Will these subjugated spirits force an already disadvantaged group to exclusively use a rigged system to try and politely ask for their rights back? Or would these spirits want to be free and support the means necessary to take it back?

War has happened to upend the divine right of kings. War has happened to free slaves (Haiti). War has happened for basic workers’ rights (some union strikes have resulted in war). 

You’re basically removing a whole toolbox in the fight for a better world. Yes, not being able to colonize because of fantasy AU sounds fine, until you realize that pretty much all of human history from the Romans has been created via war to some degree.

You’re basically just saying “violence is bad and humans need fantasy babysitters to not dive into it”, which really doesn’t sound that great once you sit with it. It removes human agency, removes human nature, and ignores the entire history of the planet.

-Leigh (Lesya)

Marika interjecting here:

We had an ask (Linked here) envisioning a story set in a de-colonized Hawai’i and the socio-political issues with that. Same problem.

[quillkiller]

what does fitting into the male gaze mean? Like is there a certain look to girls that men like?

hello!! :~)

no that’s not what it means, but rather the male gaze refers to the objectification of women for the heterosexual male desire; and orginates from how women are depicted in media as a passive sexualized object whose only real purpose/reason for existing is to motivate the active male hero in his character arch.

however the male gaze is not only limited to how women are depicted in media, but extends beyond the screen and into real life dynamics between men and women. men are not the only ones with male gaze goggles and i’d argue that most of us do in one way or another. few simple examples being how women want to be or feel smaller than men/want men who can overpower them, dress up for men without even understanding it (gendered clothing, shaving, make-up, etc), or how we just subscribe to gender stereotypes generally. <- would love to point out the memes of ’im just a girl’ meaning women can’t do things. or ’girl dinner’ or ’girl version of the roman empire’ or ’girl math’ and don’t even get me started on ’bimbocore’ or joking about how its awful that women have to work now. i get that they’re all jokes, but it’s 1. not funny and 2. counterproductive and men are never laughing with us even when they claim or think they do. we’re actively reinforcing gender stereotypes and GOD am i tired of this wave of dumbing women down / house wife culture coming back in full swing

anyway!!! lost my train of thought!!! the main idea of the male gaze is that women are passive/submissive while men are supposed to be active/dominant. like laura mulvey said: ”woman as image, man as bearer of the look”. therefor her only purpose is what she inspires in the male hero.

bringing it back to media, the male gaze is, in that way, not only limited to the male protagonist of the film but also extends to the viewers and therefor to the women in the audience who don’t have a choice but to relate to the way women (themselves) are being depicted on screen. the audience, women included, are looking through the protagonists pov and therefor we’re all guilty of looking at women through the male gaze and subscribing to male gaze ideals. another great example of this being how we romanticise harley and the joker (which is why i love birds of prey so much), basic instinct, megan fox in transformers, charlies angels (voice of god is a man who’s behind the whole operation, controlling these girls and how they’re portrayed so male viewers don’t have to feel so uwu uncomfortable about the lack of penis), and i’d even go so far as in include poor things in this because it’s a male director trying to make a film from the female gaze pov but failing miserably and instead thinks it means that women who don’t subscribe to societal standards/patriarchal views would just be rude, apathetic and hypersexual (but still have to be sexy!).

anyway. my favorite article, that i’ve quoted more times than i can count in my film essays, about the male gaze and the passive woman/active man is ’visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ by laura mulvey, which was published in 1975. you can read it for free here!

[livingfandomly]

About Lebanon….

First of all, I fucking hate the Winchester parents for the simple fact that they’re very bad at being parents. I’ve always found every version of them to be very inherently self-centred people.

Let’s look at the more obvious one first. John only ever lived for Mary, even after she died. Especially… after she died. He didn’t care what his actions did to his kids, he didn’t fucking think about the fact that his kids could very well die because of the danger he put them in again and again. I never saw him trading his soul for Dean’s as his way of “saving” Dean because he knew what was coming. Fuck, he TOLD Dean that he’d have to k*ll his brother, the one person that he’s spent his whole life protecting. How the hell is that “saving” him in any way??? I mean, I could go on forever with regards to what a bad father he was and why every molecule of me hates him. Moving on…

We don’t know a lot about pre-death and post-Dean Mary, right? We just know that she was someone Dean has pie eating memories with but Dean was fucking 4 years old. How much can a kid even remember from so far back? And the Mary that came back in S11 pissed me the fuck off. I understand that it’s verrrrry discombobulating for her but you’re telling me that a mother gets the chance to see her sons, who have been traumatised by life every second since her death, and she chooses to run away with a British psycho maniac???? And she tells Dean that she’s always “mom” but she never behaves like that...

To clarify. I 100% understand Mary and John as John’s love and Mary’s love. I understand them as individuals. I understand them as people grieving for the life they never had. But I will never ever understand them as Sam and Dean’s parents because they never took on those roles. Sam and Dean were the only parents and guardians and protectors that each other had.

Now to come to my point. Lebanon.

That episode is NOT John Winchester from S1. This is NOT the John that Sam and Dean grew up with. This is the John that Dean always wished he was. This is the John that would’ve been a loving father, who let his sons know that he loves them and cares about them and that he’d do anything to protect them. This is the John that Dean needed for closure. This is the John that Dean wishes Sam had. This is the John that says everything that Dean wishes the real John did. This is the John that never existed.

Gosh that episode broke my heart a little more for Sam and Dean. They’re literally each others souls, the light in each others life. S15 is not going to be fun for me at all.