#and there are some interesting interpretations of it

[shakingparadigm]

(this is a reply to @muchanmocha on one of my other posts! sorry for the late reply! I had to put it here, there wasn't enough space in the replies...)

I believe that Ivan and Till have interacted beforehand, and Till made enough of an impression on Ivan for him to take interest.

According to the Anakt Kit entries, Till arrived at the Garden first, with Ivan coming in afterward. Apparently, when Ivan was new to the Garden, Till got into a fight with him.

There's a chance that this incident was their first fight, which could also be why Ivan looks so elated. He's experiencing something new.

Apparently, Ivan had "generously forgiven" Till shortly after this event. Since they had gotten into a fight, I believe that's when Ivan first set his sights on Till. It's hard to ignore such an intense fighting spirit when it's swinging right at you, after all!

The shots that come right after this scene could play chronologically as well. Ivan and Till get into a fight, Ivan becomes interested in Till, stages the incident, and then the rest is history.

(There's also the fact that Ivan and Till saw each other even before adoption, and considering Ivan's association with observation and watching I think this is something he'd remember, especially since Till is involved.)

That's just how I see things though haha I might be off. Sorry for the lengthy reply!

[bringmemyrocks]

Are the gospels antisemitic. Also I remebered one time jumblr went around and said Jesus trashing the temple is antisemitic

Noting first that this is an abbreviated response–scholars have dedicated their entire careers to exploring this question. Christian history, especially but not limited to Western Europe and Russia is rife with persecution of Jews, from the Inquisition to Luther and beyond. It’s worth learning about, but this post will focus on the New Testament. If this interests you, I have bolded resource recommendations where you can learn more, because there is simply too much to summarize in one post. Others are welcome to comment suggestions and I can add them in. 

TL;DR: It is perfectly fine to answer the question “Is the New Testament antisemitic” with “no” because that’s correct in context and also because that question is almost never asked in good faith (at least not on this website). 

Sorry in advance for the formatting. Gone are the days when you could copy and paste from a document to Tumblr, I guess.

No, the New Testament is not antisemitic, especially not in the context of today’s modern racialized antisemitism, which is a modern invention. If you’re looking for a scholarly Jewish look at the New Testament, I recommend the Jewish Annotated New Testament. The Oxford biblical commentaries are also interesting to look at. You didn’t ask about Paul’s letters (also part of the New Testament, along with Revelation and the Gospels), but I also recommend you look up the New Perspective on Paul (largely created by Krister Stendhal, popularized by NT Wright). The New Perspective postulates that Paul never intended to de-Judaize Christianity but rather have Jewish Christians maintain practices like kashrut, circumcision, etc. You don’t have to buy this (and the New Perspective is neither necessary nor sufficient for anyone, Christian or otherwise, to not be an antisemite) but it’s an interesting idea.  - I particularly recommend re-reading the Books of Romans and Galatians with the Oxford and Jewish Annotated commentaries. If you don’t have a copy, send me a DM. The Vatican’s Nostra Aetate is also available online for free and is relatively short, detailing the vatican’s rejection of antisemitism, including the former accusation of deicide (killing God) levied against Jews. 

Christians have used parts of the New Testament (eg. passages from John, Matthew, Paul’s letters) to justify antisemitism, but this does not make the New Testament as a whole an antisemitic document. It was written for a Jewish audience from the perspective of a Jewish offshoot sect during the Second Temple period. Some anti-Christian chauvinists will mock Christians for how they interpret the Old Testament, but then said chauvinists will purposefully take New Testament verses out of context just as they claim Christians do with the Old Testament.  - Re: Jesus overturning tables in the Temple. This story is in the Gospels for a number of reasons, depending on the Christian tradition:  - Jesus as a liberator, rejecting the corrupt religious institutions of his time. Liberation theologians may go further than this, calling Jesus anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian, etc.  - Jesus referring to the Temple as “my father’s house” emphasizing his status as the son of God/divine himself (depending on who you ask)  - Broadly: Jesus forever changing the means by which Christians receive forgiveness from God (prayer, fasting, etc. rather than animal sacrifice) (Jews also changed how they worshiped after the destruction of the Second Temple, but this wasn’t due to Jesus, at least not directly.) - This story is used in antisemitic ways, largely because in the Temple there were people who changed people’s money so they could buy an animal for sacrifice. This was necessary if someone was poor and didn’t have their own livestock, or if they had traveled a long distance and couldn’t keep a living dove in their pocket for months at a time. Money was changed like it is at customs today because the people selling animals around the temple might not accept currency from out of state. Jesus didn’t like this, either the fact that there was money being exchanged, anything being bought at all, or general financial corruption in the temple.   - The antisemitism in this story comes in because in many places in history, particularly in Europe, Jews were forbidden from owning land or practicing trades other than money-lending. Thus the image of the Jewish banker/moneylender became an antisemitic trope, used to push anti-Jewish hatred and generally keep Jews from being fully emancipated members of society. Some depictions of Jesus chasing out the money-changers show Jesus attacking very stereotypically-Jewish-looking people. (There’s also a cartoon of Bernie as Jesus driving out corrupt politicians–a bit tone deaf but imo quite funny.) 

Texts need to be read in context, both historical (current and historical audience/setting, etc) and textual (what comes before and after in the text). Jews who argue the entire New Testament is antisemitic almost never take full context into account. There are verses in the New Testament that can absolutely be read as antisemitic in today’s world. This does not mean that this is how they were intentionally written at the time, and there are plenty of Christian communities throughout history and today that do not interpret them in an antisemitic way. These communities span across the world and different traditions, from theological and political liberals to conservative evangelicals. 

Some Jews argue that Christians believing that only Christians are saved is itself antisemitic. (There are plenty of verses in the New Testament implying universal salvation and plenty that don’t.) This broadens the definition of antisemitism quite a bit, and I don’t think it’s particularly useful, particularly because non-Jewish non-Christians would also not be saved. The Assemblies of God are a conservative evangelical pentecostal Christian denomination, they believe all people must believe in Jesus to be saved, and they put out a statement in 2022 against antisemitism last year (look at the text and ignore the header image). It’s not perfect, but it’s far from the “evangelicals only like Jews because of the rapture/Israel” accusation you see thrown around. You can be an evangelical and a friend to Jews, and you can be a theological liberal and an antisemite. 

Replies/tags on this post are not allowed to blame Christian antisemitism singularly on any one of the following: Catholicism, Protestantism, Evangelicalism, Premillennial Dispensationalism/Rapture theology, Constantine, Augustine, Luther, or Christian/Jewish Zionism. Religion and history are more complex than that. (Zionists f off this post is not for you.)

Feel free to ask follow-up questions. It’s a hard question to answer briefly.

[aroaceleovaldez]

one of the things i'm most disappointed in HoO with is how the series sets up a really beautiful continuity to the first series but now extending from a primary focus on disability to a wider focus on intersectionality (which in itself is a REALLY fascinating place to discuss particularly Percy's character and the overlap between his experiences as a disabled student and how many readers interpret his experiences as him experiencing racial bigotry in part due to his racial ambiguity and how those experiences have overlap and what does that look like for specifically a disabled student of color, etc etc) - like, there is so much set-up for so many things: we have the introduction of a bunch of new major characters, the majority of whom are explicitly not white. We have set-up for queer intersectionality topics (Nico, Jason's bi-coding, Piper being mspec as well eventually). We have set-up for gender intersectionality (all of the girls and the intersection of their disabilities and gender and for everyone other than Annabeth also the intersectionality of gender and race). We even have other forms of disability than just the primary focus of ADHD/dyslexia coming to the table with stuff like Frank having dyspraxia coding, Frank and Hazel both having childhood terminal illness survivor coding, Hazel having seizure coding, Leo having autism coding and Nico's autism coding making a comeback, Percy's book 1 PTSD even gets some references in Son of Neptune, Leo and Nico's depression get big spotlights, also Nico's general grappling with becoming weaker and new physical disability. Heck you could even dive into Jason grappling with gifted kid syndrome and how that plays into his experience with ADHD/dyslexia versus someone like Percy whose same learning disabilities present differently. There's so much set up right at the beginning of the series to dive into...!

...and then Rick does literally nothing with any of that. and it sucks. and then in TOA he does even less with it and just drops nearly all of the disability stuff in general which sucks even MORE. Also it's all made even worse by dropping or magicing-away the existing disability coding because Rick changed his mind about it (Frank's dyspraxia and Hazel's fainting episodes going away, etc etc)

Like, TKC emphasized the themes about how the Kane Siblings grapple with colorism a lot! MCGA talks about queer topics and disability and how those intersect with homelessness! The entire first series has SUCH in-depth metaphors about disability! But HoO and TOA just totally drop the ball about it and don't even try! The most TOA ever gives is the world's blandest directly-spoken-to-the-audience one sentence blurb and pretends that qualifies as representation and that they've fulfilled their quota. TSATS is even worse about the disability erasure and speaking directly to the screen and calling that representation, not to mention how little the TV show erased the majority of references to disability from TLT alongside Percy's PTSD and made Sally an autism speaks mom while they were at it. And while I haven't read it yet I hear CoTG is equally not great about how it handles Percy's disabilities (or Annabeth's).

HoO could have given us so much but it didn't and i will never forgive it for that 😔 also the fandom could stand to talk more about intersectionality cause it's a really interesting topic and there's so much opportunity to explore it in the Riordanverse that does not get nearly enough discussion.

[calusnt]

Things i found in my procreate files

I actually can't really remember what this was made for- if this was made for practice or if this was based on something, or something like that?? It's, KIND of nice though

LMAO this was for an AU i was making which i'm still working on btw >_>

no context <3

way back, originally i was going to incorporate some sort of interpretation of beta Wulf into the AU, which i still think could be interesting? we'll see though...

LMAO PAUSE THIS LAST ONE HAD A PHOTO REFERENCE BUT THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I'VE DRAWN MARK THREATENING VANDAL WITH FIREARMS

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Could you do a reader that’s ends up as a “functional” lycan after combining with the cadou? Functional in the sense of keeping the ability to communicate but with the body, instincts and mind of a Lycan with Donna adapting to the changes?

Yess!!! Thank you for your request!!! Well, I've changed the polt a bit, but I hope you like it anyway!!! Sorry about the language mistakes!!! :))))

Not a human, not a wolf

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Fem, Lycan! Reader

Warnings: Angst, Lycan stuff, but happy ending

Word count: 7,040

Summary: You want to kill, eat, you don't want to love...

N/A: Sorry about the language mistakes!!! Requests are open!!! I'm waiting yours!!! I love you all!!! :)) And if you're wondering about the song, is "Something Stupid" by Frank & Nancy Sinatra (1967) Totally a classic of love songs ;)

"You can’t do anything?"

A strange murmur enters your head as you open your eyes. It’s a voice distorted by the sound of blood flowing through your veins. Everything seems new to you, everything is confusing. You can't think, even if you try. You can't see even if there is light. The only thing you are capable of feeling is hunger, sleep, the desire to run.

It smells like stagnant water, humidity. You are able to perceive that, but you cannot see the figures in front of you. You try hard to calm down, but you can't. Your head only asks you for basic things, your instincts are your top priority.

Kill, eat, sleep

That was the mantra that your mind repeated, one that was confusing and at the same time very clear, very necessary. You move, but you can't walk, something prevents you. A chain surrounds your neck and jingles as you move. You are trapped, locked in, you can't run, you can't fight, you can't kill.

“I'm so sorry, Donna. I can’t,” another distorted voice forces your mind to turn your head. The sound of your heavy breathing is even louder than the jingle of the chains. Donna. For some reason that set of syllables produces a different, familiar effect on you.

Your vision becomes clear little by little. All you see are prey, prey that terrifies you, that makes you retreat against the stone wall of that strange place. You feel bad, you shouldn't be there.

 You should be in the forest. You should be hunting, killing.

A pleasant sound, a cry reaches your tuned ears. The black figure in front of you cries. She cries uncontrollably, but you don't feel anything. You just think about the same words, over and over again.

“The best thing for (Y/N) is to spare her suffering,” the softer voice says. Two prisoners together and you tied with chains, what a waste. You weren't even interested in interpreting the words that came out of their mouth. You only wanted their flesh.

Kill, eat, sleep

“No! There has to be a way to…” The figure in black insists. In her desperation, you find pleasure. Just the way you like prey, defenseless. But no, you were the defenseless one, you were tied.

The hunger begins to be too much and your body moves on its own, lunging towards those two pieces of meat. The pain in your neck when stretching the chain is unbearable. You go back against the wall, crashing with the same force you launched yourself with.

“Come on, (Y/N), calm down, please,” the black figure says again. She was talking to you and you knew it, but you can't understand why, you can't know who or what is (Y/N). It’s probably prey, a delicious piece of meat that is going to satisfy your needs.

“Maybe she's hungry,” says another, higher-pitched voice, making you turn your head as you struggle against the chains. No, it’s not prey, it’s not meat.

“Is it true, (Y/N)?” The figure in black asks. Her features are familiar, her scent is different. It doesn't smell like prey, it smells like flowers. “Are you, are you hungry?”

That question was aimed directly at you. A female figure who was wearing a black dress. Her figure is clearly seen in your eyes, for some reason, you can't stop looking at her. Maybe it was that, or maybe it's just you're really hungry. Hungry, yes, you understand that.

You shake your head up and down, thinking that this way your plea for food would be heard. The figure further back approaches abruptly, looking you in the eyes.

“What did you just do?” That black and gold prey asks, keeping the distance, but watching you.

You can't know what she's talking about. Hunger yes, strange questions, no.

“Are you hungry?” the woman in gold asks, to which your head moves again. Her face now is curious. “Well, well…”

“What's wrong?” The prey with the black dress asks, holding that piece of talking non-meat.

“It's curious. Normally Lycans are not able to communicate, not even with such simple gestures,” the woman explains, you ignore it. You're not interested, you want to eat.

Lycans? What's that? More prey?

“What do you mean?” the flower lady asks. The noises they make when talking make you nervous, you are still hungry.

“Well, I don't want to give you false hope... But you may have a small chance of saving her,” the bird woman says. Yes, that mask is like a delicious bird.

The lady in black smiles, she is happy, you can tell. You would be too if you had someone to eat.

“Please, Mother Miranda, tell me what I have to do,” the lady begs, joining her hands. The more she moves, the more intense the floral scent. That calms you down, but it's not enough. You want to take off your chains and get out of that dark place, you want prey.

“I wish I could tell you, Donna,” that bird sighs. “The only thing you have to do is to hurry, or the Cadou will eliminate any trace of her consciousness, if is any left... Well, and I advise you to feed her, or she will become even more furious.”

The bird falls silent and moves, leaving your range of vision. You can't follow her, you're chained. You roar angrily, struggling with your restraints. The woman in black looks at you, water falling from her eye. She cries, you know she cries and you feel something, you feel... Pity.

Darkness reigns in that place. You are alone, you have no prey. You have nothing, only chains with you fight against to. You're hungry, you're starving.

You can hear footsteps in the distance, footsteps of a prey, which makes you lick your lips, drool anxiously. You can't see beyond that smell, an intense, appetizing smell. The flower lady brings you meat, a big piece of meat, and you fight to escape again. It was not necessary, that prey remained still, waiting to be devoured.

The pleasure you feel when sinking your fangs into that piece of meat is unmatched. You feel alive, euphoric, you want to grunt, you want to call your companions to share that feast. But no matter how loud you roar, no one was going to come with you, you were locked up.

“I will save you, I promise, (Y/N),” that woman says, sobbing, while you only focus on eating, on feeding yourself. You hadn't killed, but at least you had eaten.

Your breathing relaxes after the feast. You are sated, alone and chained. You can't do anything but drop to the ground. Your bloodlust calms little by little and your vision of your own body becomes clearer. You see claws, hair, blood. You feel uncomfortable, as if something doesn't fit, as if you weren't like that, as if you had once been something different.

Those thoughts hurt your head, they make you scream, but you can't do anything but growl. The efforts to escape had left you tired, your body asked you to rest, asked you to lie down and close your eyes.

Kill, eat, sleep...

“Hello, Lady Beneviento, I bring you the fabrics,” you said with a smile.

The day is sunny and there is no hair in your hands, there are no fangs in your mouth, only skin, only a smile on your face.

The lady in black opened the door for you, letting you pass suspiciously.

“Where is the Duke?” She asked, holding the doll in her arms.

You shrugged and shook your head.

“Hasn't he told you? He has hired me as his assistant,” you explained, spreading some cloths on the hall table. “Come on. Tell me which ones you like.”

“The Duke works alone,” the lady in black said, with that mysterious veil on her face. She didn't seem to trust you, and you couldn't blame her for that.

“Yeah, well... He worked,” you joked, cutting a piece of the fabric that she pointed out. “I guess we all need some help from time to time,” you said amused, marking another piece of gray fabric with a pencil.

“Not me,” the woman said, touching the soft texture of the product. You nodded with a smile.

“No? Well, how lucky you are,” you said, avoiding that doll, Angie, from bothering you while you were cutting. “But I understand you, people suck, right?”

“You're very talkative,” she said, annoyed, keeping her hands together in front of her body.

“Sorry, factory defect,” you commented jokingly. “If it bothers you, I'll keep quiet. I don't want you to send me traveling trough the traumas of my past.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Lady Beneviento asked, with an offended tone.

“Well, that's what you do, right?” You said, following her instructions, cutting more fabric.

“Only with people I don't like,” she explained. You couldn't tell if she was joking, she was quite a strange woman.

“Do you dislike me?” You asked with a mischievous look, carefully folding the fabrics.

“Are you hallucinating?” She asked, back. You shook your head, raising your eyebrows.

“Mmm, no, I don't think so.”

"Well, so this is the answer,” she finally said, handing you a bag of coins and turning to turn her back on you. “Tomorrow I want the white fabric lace that I asked for.”

“Tomorrow? Tomorrow I have to go to the factory to…” You said confused by that request. It wasn't on your list. “Could it be that you just want to see me again?” You asked jokingly, with that audacity typical of you.

“Maybe,” she whispered, disappearing from your field of vision like a ghost.

Maybe…

That voice reverberates in your head over and over again as you open your eyes again. Everything you had seen in your mind fades away when your instincts wake up, when you wake up. The chains are still attached to your neck and dried blood decorates your fur. Had you dreamed?

A terrible thirst makes you forget all those confusing images. You've woken up, it's just another day, or so you think. You have to kill.

Kill, eat, sleep...

The very sound of heels disturbs you, makes you alert, get up. The sound of the chains hurts your ears.

But it is not a piece of fresh meat that appears. It’s that woman in black, the same one you saw in your dreams. In her arms she carries what looks like a bucket of water. Water… Yes, yes, you are very thirsty.

The lady leaves it in front of you and you go for it, putting your head inside of it, eagerly drinking the liquid of life while she watches you. Her eye is red. You know how to recognize sadness when you see it, but you don't know why. You are not able to feel anything else, you cannot think about anything other than escaping, running, jumping through the forest, hunting. Yes, those are your only thoughts.

“It was my fault,” the woman in black murmurs, leaning against what looks like a small stone wall.

The smell of stagnant water comes from there. It looks like an old well. Little by little that place stops seeming strange to you.

You look at her, leaving the bucket empty, letting yourself fall to the ground. You're hungry, but not too hungry. That woman seems curious to you, she still smells like flowers. It's not meat, but it's nice, you feel good.

“Please, (Y/N), tell me you're there...” She says, looking into your eyes, eyes that stung, that were surely red, like hers. “Tell me it's not too late for you to recover.”

You don't understand her. You don't know what she wants. You only see her as the prey that brings you food and water. There is nothing else on your mind, not even that strange dream.

Your gaze is lost in her figure and your breathing is calm. The woman turns away from the well and walks slowly towards you. Your instincts become alert, but you don't move, you can't. The smell of flowers is pleasant.

“Remember me? Do you know who I am?” She asks, moving closer, reaching out her trembling hand toward your paws. You get nervous, the sound of blood returns to your ears.

Don't come any closer.

Her skin makes contact with your claw. You feel the need to tear her arms apart, to devour her, but you can't do it. You stay still, fighting your own anxiety. The woman looks at you pleadingly, waiting for an answer, something to tell her that someone is inside of you. No, no, no, no. There is nothing inside of you, only bloodlust, only death, only prey.

You get more nervous, you shake your head confused, not knowing what you are, who you are. Questions that your mind can't process, that doesn't want to process. You growl, menacingly, baring your teeth at that cheeky piece of meat. You want to devour her, kill her. You want the smell of flowers to disappear.

You move quickly, attacking the woman, managing to scratch her skin, tearing the black fabric of her dress. Blood, that prey bleeds, and you like blood. She screams and falls to the ground, looking at you in horror.

Why are you looking at me like that?

“Donna, Donna!” That shrill voice comes to her aid. It was the puppet of your dreams.

Donna… What a strange and familiar word.

The woman steps back and pulls something out of her dress, crying, her arm hurt. You have done that, you have caused her pain. You shouldn't feel bad, but you do. The doll takes the sharp object and fights against your spasms, against the desire you had to break that porcelain into a thousand pieces.

You feel a sting in your neck and you claw at the air. Your strength gradually decreases, as if you were sleepy, but you just slept, you shouldn't feel like that.

Your legs give out and you fall to the ground. You can't move, you can only see that woman bleeding, approaching you again and collecting your head in her arms.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, tesoro...” She whispers into your weak ears, unable to process nothing but her voice. Your sense of smell was saturated with the flowers and the tiredness is getting stronger, making you weak, making darkness loom over you.

“Checkmate, Donna, she's KO,” that insufferable doll murmured.

Checkmate…

“Checkmate,” the lady in black said, knocking down the last piece left on your board. You growled furiously, but amused, crossing your arms.

“You don't get tired of winning, huh?” You joked, sighing in defeat. She laughed through her veil.

“You don't think things through, (Y/N),” she said with a soft voice, rearranging the pieces on the board.

“I don’t? Well, I've always been told that,” you murmured, leaning your back on the couch. “Maybe if I thought things through, I wouldn't be here with you instead of neglecting my obligations.”

“Is it a bother for you to be with me?” She asked, offended. You shook your head hastily.

“What? No, no, it was just a joke,” you said confused, used to her insecurities. “Anyway, I think I should go home, before the Lycans devour me…”

“But it’s too soon,” she said, getting up from the couch, with a broken voice. “Could you, could you stay for dinner with me.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” You asked amused.

“No, I...” Donna said, fleeing from that accusation, a well-founded accusation.

“No? Well, then I guess I’ll leave and…” You whispered, standing up. A hand on your wrist stopped you from moving and you smiled victoriously.

“What would you tell me if I asked you on a date?” She asked nervously, keeping her hand on your skin.

“I would tell you why you haven't asked me before, Donna.”

I would say why you haven't asked me before, Donna...

Abruptly, you open your eyes. The pain in your head is unbearable, your temples throb and your hunger calls for help again. You growl, annoyed by that dizziness. So you can't hunt, you can't kill. You are weak and the black figure in front of you was responsible, that overwhelming perfume of flowers. Donna. That name spins around in your head. You can't help but relate it to the lady in black.

“She has woken up! Give me another syringe,”  Angie doll squeals. You hadn't realized how close she was until she disappeared. You want to destroy that doll, you want your prey.

“No, Angie, it seems like she's calm,” Donna said, yes, Donna. You're sure that's her name. Since when do preys have names? Maybe it's not prey, maybe the prey is you.

The irrational fear of fainting again makes you recoil, teeth bared threateningly. The lady in black has a bandaged arm. You recognized the smell of your attack. You smile seeing how you managed to hurt her, but you didn't want to. You're hungry, you're hungry again.

“(Y/N), please, comes to your senses. I know you are there, somewhere,” the woman says, approaching her doom again. You don't feel like attacking, but you are hungry, very hungry.

You groan and shake your head. You have the need to respond, something inside you is dying to come out, but no, you can't, you have to kill, you have to hunt.

Kill, eat, sleep...

“Gods...” That Donna murmurs, her eye crying again. Preys don't cry. Preys flee, they scream, they bleed to death, but they don’t cry, they don’t smell like flowers.

The lady disappears and you scream, roar, flee. Hunger drives you crazy, loneliness is not a problem, but you need to eat, you need to take off those chains.

Fortunately, another piece of meat arrives just in time. Donna brings it, Donna feeds you. She is not your prey, she brings food, blood. She takes care of you. Does she take care of you?

You senselessly devour that raw meat, feeling how your body relaxes, how your instincts calm down. You don't care, you're eating. That's the most important thing.

When only the bone remains, you throw it with a grunt across the dark room. A grateful feeling settles in your mind, your eyes drift to the lady in black, who seemed focused on some kind of book. She gets scared when you throw the bone, she looks at you carefully again.

You sit, sated, drooling, dried blood matting your fur.

“Have you finished?” She asked kindly. No, preys are not kind, preys flee.

Your hand plays tricks on you. You extend one of your claws towards her, you don't really know why. You don't feel like killing, you want to reach your prey, but not devour it, just touch it.

She avoids you, but she can't seem to do it. She grabs your claw with her hand. Your eyes are lost, staring at the bandage on her arm. You did that, you hurt your prey, Donna.

“D…D…” Some clearer sounds come out of your mouth, tripping over the blood that was still between your jaws. Your throat struggled to pronounce a word, that word that had been floating around in your mind.

“Do you want to say something?” She asks, looking at you carefully, with curiosity, surprised by those strange noises.

“Do, Do... Donna,” you finally say, making a superhuman effort. No, you're not human, not anymore.

“Yes, tesoro, yes, I'm Donna, do you remember me?” She says with a broken voice, with her eye shining, excited.

You nod, not sure if you're telling the truth, you don't even know what telling the truth means. You once knew it, now you don't.

She cries excitedly, putting your claws on her face. You wanted to tear her apart, but you couldn't. Her name still echoed in your head, looking at her smile made you calm down.

But that's where your moment of lucidity ends. Your instincts attack again, causing the lady to flee from you, your prey to escape again.

The days go by and you remain the same, perhaps more hungry, more thirsty, perhaps more growling, more desperate attempts to escape. Donna is still with you, she is always with you, even at the risk of you killing her, of devouring her as your body asked. No, you didn't, you didn't speak again either.

“Come on, say something, I know you can,” the lady in black asks you, with her faithful squire Angie covering her. If by chance your desire to attack increased, she would stick that strange spike in you that made you fall asleep. You didn't want that. “I'm really trying, (Y/N), I'm trying to save you.”

You look at her confused, tilting your head, making her huff and pace from side to side. You were calm, you had just eaten.

Kill, eat, sleep, D…D…

Sighing, you laid down on the ground, feeling comfort in your fur. You didn't want to continue listening to that woman. To sleep was your next step.

“Please, say something, anything, (Y/N), please let me know that I haven't lost you,” Donna says, moving closer, knowing that when you were sleeping, you were almost defenseless. Her voice sounded very close, and her scent was intense. The flowers were pretty, they were not prey. She was pretty.

You growl in annoyance, pushing her hand away from your hair in an unpleasant manner. She backs away, but she doesn't seem to want to give up.

Don't bother me anymore, Donna. I don't want to devour you.

“Please, say something, I know you can... Please, (Y/N),” she insists, hurting your ears, making you squirm and the sound of the chains muffling her voice. “I don't care what you say, please, even if it's something stupid...”

Her words have no effect on you. You want to sleep, you need to sleep. Donna sobs and turns away from you, walking up the stairs, running away from you. You breathe a sigh of relief for having freed yourself from her annoying presence and curl up on yourself, sleeping.

Something stupid…

A strange music begins to play in your head, a familiar melody... A voice you didn't know...

Then afterwards we drop into a quiet little place

And have a drink or two

The music surrounds that strange atmosphere. A room, a song, a dance, two dresses moved by turns, two lovers.

And then I go and spoil it all

By saying something stupid like, "I love you"

Your hands rested on her shoulder while your eyes admired her smile. Donna danced with you, you danced with her. That romantic melody clouded your senses. Your hand in her waist, her hand in yours in soft movements, with looks of love.

The record was spinning in the player. The sun came in through the windows, making your shadows dance too. The smile on your face was impossible to look at, the smile when looking at hers, when seeing her beauty without that veil.

Your heart was pounding as you touched her dress, her skin. Donna smiled and rested her head on your shoulder. You wanted nothing but to keep dancing, even if the music ended. Your smile was camouflaged as you lean in to kiss her, to feel her lips on yours. Donna sighed, joining that kiss, running her hands over your waist, over your chest. The music continued playing, her hands wandered over your body, yours over hers.

“I love you, (Y/N)” her lips whispered. Yours smiled. “I want you to live with me, I want you to never leave.”

You nodded, playing with her hands, not missing a beat, giving her a spin before taking her firmly in your arms and bending her over slightly, holding her back.

“I love you, Donna,” you said, kissing her romantically. “I would love to live with you, spend my life with you.”

She kissed you again, cupping your face in her hands emphasizing the happiness those words brought her. The kisses became hot, her hand grabbing yours, saying nothing, dragging you towards the elevator, towards the bedroom.

The music was still playing. The song was ending, just like your dream.

I love you,

I love you…

Your eyes open again, it's another day. Thirst and hunger are no longer a problem. Donna made sure you had everything you needed. Your neck hurts. You have wounds, probably from having been trying to escape. Curious that you hadn't realized it until now. Your instincts scream for you to listen to them, but eating or sleeping are no longer the only things your body asks of you.

Kill, eat, sleep, Donna…

That melody of your dreams is still in your head, it continues sending images, memories to your heart, if you still had one. The piece of meat that you had in front of you calls you, but you are not able to pay attention to it, you are hungry, eat.

You extend your claws, but when you sink them into the flesh, you withdraw them in fear, why were you afraid? You don't want to eat, you're not hungry, or so you think. You're scared, you need Donna. You look for her.

She is there, far from you, far from your attacks, from your ferocity. You try to call her but you can't, you cry from helplessness, you put your claws on the metal collar, you feel the sting of your wounds.

“D, D... Do... Don,” you murmured, your voice hoarse, but clearer. You fight with your damaged vocal cords, but it's useless. You can't talk. You're a Lycan, now you know.

She doesn't listen to you. She's lost in her books. You have to roar, you have to scream, you have to make her listen to you.

“Do, Do, Donna!” You scream in a guttural, heartbreaking voice, one that scares the lady in black and makes Angie take out the usual syringe.

“(Y/N),” Donna murmurs, running towards you, crouching down to observe you, as she did lately, observe you, look at you.

Her eye goes from your face to the intact piece of meat. Her expression becomes confused, her brow furrows, and she looks back at you.

“You're not hungry?” She asks, nervously playing with her hands. Yes, she was afraid of you, she was your prey. She already was.

You shake your head sharply, putting your hands on your head, trying to make that strange pain go away. Donna doesn't come closer and you want her to, you need her smell of flowers on your fur, you need her hugs, the ones you dreamed of. But she fears you, you attacked her, you scratched her arm, you were going to devour her, she was your prey, she still is.

Your words are the only thing that seems to calm her, you had to speak, you had to try, but you couldn't pronounce anything, only that song played again in your head.

“I… Practice… Every… Day,” you murmur, the song guiding your actions. It was the only thing you could say, the only thing in your head. Donna looks at you confused, shaking her head, stepping closer. “To find some clever lines to say…”

The lady in black crouches next to you, looking at you strangely, looking for the hidden humanity in you, the one that made you sing that song that meant so much to her, and to you.

“But then I think I'll wait, until the evening gets late...” Donna sings, with a soft voice that numbs your senses. You try to smile, you really want to.

Kill, eat, sleep, Donna, I love you...

“And I'm alone with you,” you two whisper in unison.

Donna cries again, she smiles, brings her hand closer to your hairy, blood-stained face. She's not afraid of you, you don't disgust her, she loves you, you love her. Now you know, now you remember. You haven't died yet.

“(Y/N),” she sobs, throwing herself into your arms, hugging your beastly body. You are confused, you should want to kill her, devour her, but the only thing you can do is to hug her, is to feel the heat of her hug in your hair, in the worn parts that remained of your dress. You were not a Lycan. You were a woman, a human being. You once were the woman Donna loved, the one who made her happy, the one who made that smile.

Her tears should alert you, tell you that your prey was weak, but they didn't, they made you feel bad. No, she was no longer your lover, nor your prey, you were no longer her love, you were a monster.

“Gods…. (Y/N)...” She sobs again, without letting you go, letting you also seek comfort in her arms. The perfume of those flowers never seemed so pleasant to you.

“I... I love you...” You whispered with difficulty, with your fangs preventing you from speaking clearly, from appearing human, you weren't, you would never be again.

“My love, my tesoro...” The doll maker murmurs, broken with pain, letting herself be embraced by the weapons that were your arms, your claws, burying in your skin.

“Donna...” You say, rubbing your head on her body, wanting that comfort that only she could give to you. But no, you weren't going to say something nice. You are aware of what you are. The images of how you got to that situation became torture in your mind.

One night, cold, wolves, bite, you get sick, you die, you wolf now.

You knew Miranda had experimented on you when you were a little girl, but the Cadou didn't develop until that bite, until that unexpected attack from the Lycans. You were just like them. You would never be (Y/N) again.

“Kill me...” You ask with a hoarse voice, your decision clearer. She looks at you, pulling away from your chest, her eye shining, red with tears.

“What? No...” She sighs, those words hurt her, they hurt her and you don't know why. You weren't going to come back. If you couldn't love her, you didn't want to live. You didn't want to be a monster. You didn't want to see her as your prey. Either love, or death.

“Kill me,” you insisted, with an irrational rage beginning to build up in your guts. The hunger had returned, but you had to fight, take advantage of that small moment of humanity. You want it to end, you want the suffering to end. You want Donna to be safe, from you.

“No, no, (Y/N),” she says, shaking her head, holding your chin, cupping your jaws with her hands. The smell of the flowers is starting to be annoying again. “I'll save you, I, I'm working on a serum, I'll save you, (Y/N).”

“Kill me!” You roared, causing her to fall to the ground. The ferocity had returned and the smell of that intact piece of meat was becoming unbearable.

Pushing the lady in black again, you dive into your food, forgetting about that song, those desires to die. You wanted to eat, you needed to eat. Not even the desire to die was strong enough to make your hunger disappear.

“How is she going?” A strange voice wakes you up, that appetizing bird woman. Your hunger calls you, but, as always, you have your food in front of it, you go for it.

“She's better, or so I think,” Donna says, her voice breaking. Her appearance is pitiful, even a Lycan like you realizes that.

Kill, eat, sleep, Donna, I love you, I want to die...

Instincts speak for you. Your conscience is locked under bloodlust. You didn't speak again. You were no longer capable of even grunting something close to her name. Only sometimes, when your lucidity allowed it, you wanted to stop existing, stop being a monster.

“It doesn't seem like it,” Mother Miranda murmured, yes that was her name, she did that to you, but you don't hate her, you admire her, you owe her loyalty.

“She spoke a few weeks ago, she said my name,” Donna says, holding her guardian Angie, the prick doll, in her arms.

“Mm, that doesn't mean anything. The total transformation is different for each specimen,” the blonde says, looking at you out of the corner of her eye. “It's a lost cause, Donna, you should stop trying.”

“I can’t stop. I already have an almost ready serum, it could work,” the lady in black protests. You don't listen, you just eat. You just tear the meat from the bone. “She, she said that she wanted, that she wanted me to kill her.”

“Mm,” the witch murmurs again. She seemed to have no feelings, like you. “It could have been a cry for help, don't you think?”

“I know she is there, somewhere, I have, I have to help her...” Donna comments.

Don't insist, you are my prey.

“Maybe helping her is fulfilling her last wishes,” Miranda says, getting a little closer.

I can't kill you, you are my mistress, I owe you loyalty. My body says it, my hunger says it. I can't eat that bird.

“What do you mean?” Donna asks, approaching the bird.

“Donna, you're putting yourself in danger,” Miranda states, observing in disgust your voracious hunger and the constant drooling you made when eating. “I have given you a whole month to solve this. I can't let you.”

“But, but,” the doll maker protests, with a sad, scared look.

 Yes, yes, you are scared.  You are my flower-smelling prey.

“Enough, Donna. I’m very sorry that this has ended this way,” the bird interrupts, untouchable bird.

“Please, Mother Miranda, let me try, please,” Donna begs, kneeling before the bird. You look at her curiously, licking the bone that was left from your meal, grunting in satisfaction at your satiety.

“Mm, you said you had a serum,” the blonde comments, an omnipotent bird.

“Yes, but, but it's not finished,” Donna says, nodding, getting up from the ground. Her doll nodded as well. “I need more time, just a little more.”

Miranda shakes her head and you groan in confusion. They are talking about you and you didn't realize it.

“Give it to her,” the bird orders, to which the lady in black shakes her head again. “You've already wasted too much time. It's the last chance.”

“It's not finished,” Donna says, scared again.

Flowers…

“I don’t care! Obey, Donna,” the blonde screeches, echoing off the walls and causing an horrible damage to your ears. “You are lucky that I give you that opportunity. If your serum doesn't work, (Y/N) will die, I will end her suffering.”

Who is (Y/N)? Another prey? I'm thirsty.

The lady nods with a sad look, disappearing up the stairs.

When she returns, she is carrying something in her hand, a jar with a strange liquid. It's not blood, you can't smell blood.

Donna approaches you slowly, cautiously, uncovering the jar. The smell is horrible. You couldn't smell the flowers anymore. Frightened and helpless, you back away, shaking your chains.

“Please drink it, please,” Donna begs, extending the jar towards you. Miranda sighs listlessly.

“Do I drug her? Do I drug her?” Angie asks, shaking her usual syringe in her hand.

“No, Angie, if you do it it won't work. She has to be awake,” Donna explains, trying to get you to drink from that horrible jar. You squirm, you kick, you shake your claws, until you couldn't do it. Something prevents you to.

The bird looks at you, as if concentrated. You look at your claws, stuck to the wall, held by black roots.

“Obey, drink,” the bird whispers, something that makes you react. She is your master, you owe her loyalty.

The liquid burned your sore throat, the taste was horrible, you preferred blood, meat, you wanted prey.

Nothing happens, time stops, the two women look at you and your throat continues to hurt. You're angry. You can't defend yourself. The taste of that liquid was horrible, you wanted blood. You drool while you show your teeth at Donna, she was the culprit, not Miranda, she was your owner, you her servant.

You want to kill Donna, devour her, but before you could feel that fury, a burning pain begins to burn your insides. You run your hands through your fur, trying to get rid of that internal fire, the fire that consumed your skin from within.

You roar, roar like never before as you stand up, tightening the chains that keep you pinned to the wall.

The pain is unbearable, all your skin burns, your eyes hurt, your legs hurt, but you have to escape, you have to kill. You couldn't stop roaring, wailing, moving your claws erratically until they landed on the collar on your neck.

Screaming again, with all the strength you had, you managed to break that collar in two and you moved triumphantly, howling in a terrifying way. The women look at you scared. The bird narrows her eyes, as if wanting to give you some orders. Her lips are moving, she is talking but you can't hear her. The pain is stronger, the pain is your master now.

Locating the perfume of flowers, you run on all fours towards the lady in black, who tries to flee, in vain.

You grab her, push her against a wall. The pain is strong, but you lick your lips, she is yours, your prey. The voices in your head cry out for your attention. You have to kill, tear apart, she has caused that horrible pain. Donna has caused it.

You roar in her face, making her close her eye. She doesn't fight to get away from you, she knows she can't. You double over in pain, but you keep her against the wall, you have to kill.

Kill, eat, sleep, Donna, I love you, I want to die

Kill, eat, sleep, Donna, I love you, I want to die

Kill… Eat… Donna, I love you, I want…

Kill… Eat… Donna… I love you.

Ki… Ea… Donna… I love you.

K…E… Donna, I love you.

Donna, I love you.

Your pain becomes strong and voices confuse your mind. Something wants to come out and you must let it go. You let Donna go and clawed at your head, roaring, roaring until the sound coming out of your mouth was more like a scream.

You scream in pain, you scream in the burning. You're screaming, not roaring. Donna looks at you scared, but she doesn't run away from you, she is no longer your prey, she is no longer... She is... She is...

Your mind overflows and you become dizzy, letting yourself fall forward. Warm arms pick you up. You no longer see anything, only darkness.

Only darkness

Your whole body aches, you move slowly, waiting to feel the hard rock beneath your feet. No, it's not rock that you feel, it's comfort, it's a soft surface, you are comfortable.

You open your eyes. There is no more well, no more meat, no water. There is no hunger, no thirst, no prey, just that smell of flowers that came from the sheets you were under.

Frightened, you sit up and see your hand. It was a human hand, soft, without fur, without blood, without claws. You bring that hand to your face, to your body. There's nothing, just soft skin, just some wounds.

Run your tongue over your teeth, there are no fangs. There are no instincts, there is only you. (Y/N), that's your name, you're human again.

“She's awake, she's awake!” Angie screams, jumping on the bed. You can't help but smile. That whole atmosphere was so familiar. Despite the pain in your body, you are happy.

“A... Angie, is that you?” You ask, extending your sore arm towards the doll, which nods fervently. Yes, Angie, it's Angie.

“Hello, hello!” She squeals again, shaking your hand as if she just met you.

Hurried heels reached your ears. That noise no longer hurt you, it no longer sounded loud. It was no longer an approaching prey.

“Gods, (Y/N)!”Donna screams, smiles, cries, she throws herself into your arms. You, confused, but happy, hug her back, remembering how good her warmth felt on your body. “(Y/N), tesoro…”She sobs against your bare skin, grabbing your face with a look of pure happiness.

“What…? What happened?” You ask, having vague memories, something in your body that asked you to eat meat, although the part that prevented it was still stronger. “Have I died?”

Donna shakes her head, with a wide, sincere smile.

“No, no, my love, you're alive... I've saved you,” she says enthusiastically. You put your hands in hers and smile. Yes, it's Donna, your Donna. You are alive, she has saved you.

“I'm a bit... Dizzy,” you say, enjoying her caresses. “But I'm glad to see you.”

“You've been asleep for three days, I thought you wouldn't wake up,” she explains, lying down on the bed and placing your pillow. Her gaze darkens, you remember why.

“Well, I guess I'm back,” you comment, smiling at your love, at your everything, at your Donna. Yes, she saved you, in too many ways. “Maybe, maybe you don't believe me but... I haven't stopped thinking about you all this time.”

“I know,” the lady in black responds, nodding and leaning towards your lips, kissing them, making you hug her even tighter. You don't want to lose contact.

Laugh, cry, love, Donna…

You separate, as if it were a dream, you caress her pale skin, her black hair. You drown in her flower perfume. You were back, and you were happy. She cries and so do you. You were back, you would never leave again.

“Donna, I love you,” you say loud and clear with your human voice, one that spoke without problems, that said everything it wanted to say.

“I love you, my love...” Donna responds, burying herself in your aching body. You laugh, knowing that the previous month was nothing but a nightmare that you didn't want to remember again.

“Hey...” You sigh, with an amused look. You were always too much of a joker. “I'm hungry.”

[twistedastrology]

you cannot run a subreddit like a fucking dictatorship.

----------------------------------------------------------

im pissed as hell rn so im gonna bitch abt this real quick bc im a gemini and bitching is my specialty- and i cant do a workout yet so 😵‍💫

recently I've been very active in the r/astrology subreddit, primarily answering people's questions bc it's my favorite thing to do

I answered one person's question about the difference between the ascendant, chiron and north node, i was incredibly happy to answer bc i love helping people, especially with "easier" questions like that- (i use quotes to be respectful bc i am of the belief that no question is a stupid question)

i will give the mods one thing, they DID have a rule about self promotion even if the thing you're promoting is free- that one was my bad (i offered to look at someone's chart) and i will (and did) own up to it.

the one i will NOT own up to is the one that was not written in the fucking rules goddamn anywhere.

for reference, this was my comment that they took out back and shot:

just from this shit alone i was fucking pissed off because no goddamn way you're gonna sit here and tell me "degree theory has absolutely no basis" DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH OF ASTROLOGY AS A WHOLE IS JUST THEORIES AND INTERPRETATION.

there's a reason astrology and astronomy are separate. one is based off of actual, provable mathematical equations, and the other is INTERPRETATION.

i replied, and then they did too:

"we caJT pUt eVery PoSsIblE tHiNg iN tHe RulEs" YOU HAVE 6 FUCKINH RULES. YOU CAN ADD ONE ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE SO PISSY ABOUT IT. what are you allergic to the number SEVEN???? is it because it's a LIBRA DEGREE? $! #?? #? #

and the fucking "and I'd encourage you to study them" id encourage you to study my fucking ass while i fart in your face motherfucker u wanna find out how korn got their fucking band name? $! #? #? #? #?

you dont believe in degree theory??? Fun fact: your north node of destiny is in 26° MY ASS and your mercury is in 3° BULLSHIT- and your ass and my foot are in a 0° orbit conjunction 🥳🥳🥳

motherfucker degree theory is a T H E O R Y. you can't just remove someone's fucking comment yapping about it because you think it has no "basis in real astrology"- way to promote critical thinking, asshole!!!!!! you would burn the library of alexandria if you didn't agree with one fucking book in it.

this is why i was kind of afraid to go on reddit because people are so high and mighty with their astrology there that they are just about allergic to any other interpretations- and the r/astrology subreddit, at least some of the mods, seem to be exactly like that

like im sorry but my mercury in an aries degree of gemini makes perfect fucking sense to me- and the only other thing i have in aries is my venus which ISNT EVEN IN ORBIT TO MAKE A SEXTILE!!!! and these people definitely dont believe in cranking the orbits so i cant even say that 😒

not to mention dodecatemoria and decans are Technically degree theory- not in the sense of 1 degree = aries, but in the sense of "section of degrees = sign", especially dodecatemoria which is literally 0 - 29° of any sign

here's a chart in case anyone's interested:

dodecatemoria is also literally BABYLONIAN. that shit is OLD. granted egyptian decans and such are older, but that's still DECANS. AND DE GR E E S.

im not coming for everyone on the subreddit as a whole, just whoever appointed this dumbass fucking rule- why have an astrology subreddit when you can't even talk about certain astrology topics. fucking shit yourself loser i hope you burn.

to the people that dont know me that well btw i am not actually actively wishing harm on anyone- i just get very dramatic when im pissy 😒 anyway ill probably do a post on how i use degree theory soon in spite of this so keep an eye out!!! 🥳🥳

[nalyra-dreaming]

I think that a lot from the DM fans’ disappointment comes from the fact that they’ve kind of… set themselves up for disappointment, in a way? Don’t get me wrong, I’m including myself here and I definitely want it to happen more than anything in the show, but a lot of these theories (like DM having happened in the 70’s/80’s, Alice = Armand, etc.), haven’t even been confirmed by the show, the actors or the producers, it’s just the fans taking these so called “clues” and interpreting them in ways that fit their preferred headcanons. So many fans were convinced that there would be a past DM reveal in the finale full of flashbacks or at least a very explicit clue re: it having happened in the past 100%. So when the show goes in a completely different direction no one could’ve ever have predicted, they’re either angry or feel gaslighted when in fact, the show never promised them anything. Not Rolin, who seems kinda lukewarm on them atm, not even Eric or Assad who seem very into the idea and are looking forward to exploring it but are also clear about not actually knowing. And there’s Jacob whose comment about Louis leaving Armand for periods of time in America is interesting but it’s really just a headcanon for now and doesn’t actually confirm anything. Hope I’m not sounding too harsh, but if people are putting all of their eggs in the “70’s/80’s Devil’s Minion is real” basket in order for them to actually like their story in the show and the changes they’ve made… I feel like it might be counterproductive in the long run. I’ve been in other fandoms and whenever these theories gain so much weight in fan communities to the point they’ve become accepted as “canon” and then the show ends up not doing it… the backlash is brutal. And I feel like this is be the direction DM fans might be headed to, with some people acting like they definitely had an affair in the past which not only confirms DM in the show but also explains their motivations going forward. Like, no. Idek I’m scared!!! I just want everyone to stay positive yet realistic and work with what we’ve got you know?

We should definitely try to enjoy what we’re given, true.

Personally I think there were plenty of hints in the show already, and I do get the disappointment, because the way it was done was definitely not expected. Which is probably the point. 😅

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

Hey in you villian au I had a few questions about Kai if you don't mind.

First you talked about kai and him being a cult leader, whats the gist of that, something similar to chen? A death cult, a fire worshiping soceity, a volcano conclave?

And secondly, whats his relationship with his sister, ambivilance, getting along in the 'Oh lets go on a pilaging and raid together thats sounds like top tier sibling fun' sort of way or a bipolar could be fun or could be fatal depending on the way the wind blows kinda way?

Finaly (and sorry for being long winded) you talked about his main thread / power came from societal manipulations, is this more cloak and dagers or populism / manipulation, the steel in the dark vs the gilded spider web so to speak?

PS fun au, realy cool designs my favourts are probaly kai pixal and jay, all just fab :)

Disclaimer: long ass ramble about my Villain AU.

so many questions today, not that I'm complaining! I love to talk about my aus. Kai's an interesting one too.

Kai's cult doesn't actually have a big base or anything, at least not in it's fully developed form. It's not ironed out but, I have the thought that the basis is that by joining the cult, you protect yourself from the end of the world snake of fire (definitely not it's actual name lol). By joining, you get into it's good graces, it won't eat you when it returns to Ninjago. By worshiping Kai, who presents himself kind of like a human-form of the snake, you fully ensure your safety. It's a complete lie of course but by the time the AU officially starts, it been over 200 years since canon, so it's had a long time to marinate. That's another thing, because of that time span the cult is huge. Functions more like a society than a small-time cult. Whole generations of families have been born into the cult, it's really soaked into the population. One thing I like to think about how you could walk into a random, harmless looking town and be completely unaware it's cult territory. That everyone in it is a member. I like to call them snake-dens (also what they're called in story).

(also note: since you mentioned Chen, Kai's cult does actually have similar snake imagery if that isn't clear lol.)

As for Nya, well, that's kind of complicated. See, Nya isn't a villain in the same way Kai is. Most of the art I've posted about her have been of her post-reformation design. Essentially within the two centuries since sea-bound, she'd developed into a sea monster. More akin to a destructive force of nature than a traditional villain like Kai. A lot of her destructive stemmed from anger, people abusing and polluting the ocean. Namely, Zane's kingdom would throw a lot of oil, trash, and broken/old tech into the ocean before an event where Sea-Nya had thrown it all back over the walls of the kingdom down onto it through a huge wave (hugely destructive, had a death count, just plain disgusting). Sorry for the ramble about her but I thought some context would be important lol.

So, Kai and Nya didn't actually talk like at all during those two centuries. Pre-seabound but post ToE their relationship was -- very bad. Nya was very, very angry at Kai for leaving them behind and becoming so awful. They never resolved that before Seabound. Kai felt guilt about that, what happened to her and that he never went to fight for hr or save her. But he never changed, so how bad he really felt is -- up to interpretation. it's a big part of why he and Jay fight/fought so much. After Nya had returned to (mostly) human, their relationship is interesting. Nya kind of hates him but it's -- muted. She can't stand the person he's become, how he threw everything away and never changed. That he had a real choice when she didn't and he used it to be -- a violent, cruel cult leader. When he comes around, she doesn't tell him to go away. She thinks he's pathetic. Kai wants his sister back, but he's not willing to change. They're complicated.

I'm going to say it's a 'gilded web' type thing but it also is very shady. He has a lot of connections and is just a plain focal point within the underground crime scene (or overground because this ninjago is really fucked up and dangerous lol, the entire land. ninjago city itself is completely gone). For instance, in Zane's kingdom, up in the ranks an advisors runs a smuggling operation for citizens to 'escape' (before Zane was de-overlorded anyways, after that he opens up the borders). Only about 50% of the time would those citizens actually get out of the city, the other 50% of the time they'd be sold to someone/somewhere or killed. Kai's allies with them (I haven't figured out exactly who that is yet lol). Another ally is Wen Xia (oc talk sorry) who's just a general power. Usually runs a fighting ring(s) but does a bunch of other stuff. Very dangerous and very rich. Kai just has a lot of connections and a strangle-hold on a lot of ninjago. MAN this got LONG. thank you for the questions I love the chance to info dump, haha!

(and TY!! Jay's one of my favorite designs too)

[chaoticcorvidium]

Okay more on my feelings about edwin!!! These are my personal interpretations about his relationship with Charles. So, I view it as quite a one sided romantic interest on Edwin's part, with Charles really just seeing him as his best friend. This does not mean their friendship is any less important than it being romantic though, and I quite love that. So often we see romantic relationships being held higher than platonic, and its sad cause things would be lonely if you only ever focused on a romantic partner, not even mentioning those who are aromantic.

It's illustrated more by the conversation between Niko and Edwin at the beginning of episode 8 : " I told the boy I liked that I liked him.....he did not feel the same way but I think we are better friends because of it"

Also on a less analytical note I love some good angst and unrequited love is a really hard hitting form of it lol.

[sehtoast]

cw for sexual assault

Firecracker ignoring Homelander's boundaries feels like a miserable continuation of the things that happened with Stillwell. Stillwell groped him when he doesn't want to film his fake origin story. Their sex scene felt more like assault than anything.

yeah, i'm really not thrilled with the way this went. when the voughthq spoilers dropped and said he actually had no attraction to her and that it was just about the milk, i had a nasty feeling that this was going to be another person using him for something, be it gain, stability, protection, etc. i felt like it was going to be predatory. i didn't expect to see a full disregard of him asserting that he wasn't interested in what she was cooking up (but after the whole statutory thing, this tracks for her), and i'm really tore up about his face in that scene riiiight before the milk shot.

this, to me at least, is the face of dissociation and resignation to the fact that it's going to just happen. and i really hate that. i hate that we know homelander has sexual trauma from the labs (and i do still stick w the theory that 'squirt' was scratching the surface), bc it makes this shut down a lot more disturbing imo. i hate that firecracker pushed all the right buttons, going right for his need for love with the "you mean everything to me," shtick and then springing the milk, which (again, my opinion) is much more of a depressing concept than the joke the show wants to make it out to be (seeking maternal bonding, mourning stillwell, all the other facets of it). it's the way she knew the exact buttons to push that just... really compounded with how uncomfortable this was.

stillwell pushed his buttons very similarly, knew exactly how to tug that leash until he outgrew it. i do think his sex scene w/ stillwell had some uncomfortable undertones, but i don't think it was necessarily non-con entirely as he was definitely seeking her. but i also think there's a ton of nuance with what we saw of them that's open to individual interpretation. i've begun to see it as more disturbing than i did when i initially watched s1, especially after the reveal that he is psychologically conditioned to seek approval and love the way he is.

i do just want to thank the people in my inbox who have been expressing similar takes on this scene and what happened. i really thought i was going to be riding solo on this because there was a lot of hype surrounding this. if he would've been receptive from the very start, i think this wouldn't have disturbed me the way it did.

but he wasn't, his tender spots were poked and prodded, and i can't imagine this is going any further than him being used to cement firecracker's position in the seven/vought's media and giving her full protection from whatever she thinks sage is cooking up against her.

[saltynsassy31]

Ngl

It is a major whiplash to be looking through the hank and Connor tag (like, no implied relationship, just the two) and see one post about how cute of a father son relationship they have, all their cute familial moments

And then right underneath it, there is legit an animation of the two making out sloppy style XD

To be perfectly, and incredibly clear

This isn't an attack in any of the hank and Connor interpretation. I prefer father/son, that's my favourite interpretation and what I prefer in my own, personal taste

But I don't mind the ship, I'm not for or against it. You do you boo. I've had problems with some, but only those who treat Connor like a child and have a clear father son situation, but then make them kiss lmao

And even then, people, for the most part, don't do that disservice to connor XD (even father/son, i don't like people treating connor like a child, he's young, but also a full grown man lmao)

Edit: I just wanna clear up something. Yes, do tag properly, everyone! But my post was just talking about the general #hank and Connor tag, I was legit just scrolling through that tag cuz it was recommended to me and I was looking for a post I found interesting, but I just thought the large difference in posting on the general tag was funny 🥲

[tossawary]

I think I may have mentioned this before...? But I do semi-regularly turn reblogs off on some of my posts! Sometimes, it's because I didn't express myself and my idea well. Sometimes, it's because I realized in hindsight that my information was wrong or my concept was OOC and I don't want the idea to spread. Sometimes, it's because the post has become too popular and I don't really want the activity notifications or strangers taking me out of context. (I really don't want to become any kind of "Big Name Tumblr Blog".)

(I don't even really want to be taken as a "Big Name SVSSS Fan"! I am delighted and flattered when people like or respect the things that I make for fun, but I also do not want my headcanons, interpretations, characterizations, or AU concepts to be treated with authority above any other fan who has read the exact same books. The more interpretations, the merrier!)

So, like, if you have an addition to any of my posts that you don't want to potentially have the reblogs turned off on someday, I encourage you to make your own post. (If you don't care either way, carry on.) You can @ me or link to my post - or not, it's not required in the least - as you please. Additions are often fun and delightful and interesting! I don't like the idea of cutting off circulation of something cool, some idea or writing that you may be proud of, because it's my post and I have awkward hermit tendencies.

[schraubd]

Losing Your Chevrons

Somewhere, an environmentalist wished upon a star: "I hate big oil. It's a blight on the universe. If only Chevron would disappear forever!" and a monkey's paw curled once. I was steeling myself to write about Loper Bright and my official welcome on behalf of the Con Law professoriate to the Admin Law professors joining the "burn all your lecture notes and start from scratch club", and then Trump v. United States came down. Even though the latter is a more immediate big deal and is closer to my expertise wheelhouse (I've fielded far more inquiries from former students asking "what is going on!" with respect to the Trump decision than any ruling in my entire career, Dobbs included), I really don't have all that much to say at this moment. That may change -- in fact, it almost certainly will, as I try to work this blog post into an essay -- but for now I'm going to lay off and just write what I planned to write about the demise of Chevron. My short version take is this: in many, many cases, we'll see little difference between before and after. This prediction, however, should not be confused with sanguinity. Rather, it is a recognition that judges are human, with the normal assortment of human interests, talents, and vices.  In most deep-weeds administrative law cases, where judges neither know nor care about the difference between, say, nitrogen oxide and nitrous oxide, they aren't going to actually do a deep dive review of the law from scratch. These issues are hard enough for a team of subject-matter experts with Ph.Ds in the hard sciences grinding away for months. For a judge with a J.D. from Hofstra who last took a statistics class in 11th grade? Forget about it. In practice, no matter what the doctrine purports to demand or what they claim to be doing on the opinion pages, judges will end up deferring to reasonable agency interpretations of the law unless they're howlingly off-base -- which, of course, is why we ended up with Chevron in the first place. Any objective observer of courts sees this sort of thing from judges all the time -- there are all sorts of cases where nominal "de novo" review is the furthest thing from, because judges simply find the topic boring, repetitive, or impenetrable (you can usually spot these cases by their use of the phrase "after careful review ...."). This will be what happens for many if not most cases on obscure rules in unremarkable issue areas. What will change is in those administrative rules on hot button issues of high-salience. Here, Loper Bright doesn't make judges any smarter, but does give them a green light to start substituting their judgment for expert agencies who at least have some measure of accountability to the political process. In other words, Loper Bright won't universally result in the substitution of inexpert judicial policymaking for the judgments of administrative agencies; rather, it will result in that substitution on an ad hoc and arbitrary basis whenever the judge who happens to be draw the case has an idiosyncratic or ideological hobbyhorse to ride. The administrative state will be able to carry on, with a cutaway for partisan judges to meddle more openly whenever partisan proclivities instigate an urge. So there's your consolation about the end of Chevron. Feeling better? I thought so. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/ow8Pq4G

[eldenringslut]

I feel like people are getting a bit too angry at the whole Radahn final boss thing. I’m not saying you have to like it, but I’ve been seeing a lot of rage that feels a bit misplaced in my opinion. Also as usual this is just my opinion so feel free to disagree with me.

In terms of gameplay, Consort Radahn has a new moveset and fight tempo that, despite calling back to his original fight with some moves, feels pretty distinct to fight in my opinion.

In terms of lore, I’ve also seen people saying that Miquella’s description of Radahn basically makes him reddit ‘Chadahn’. I disagree with this.

It’s important to remember that this is Miquella giving his personal view of Radahn, and that he is an unreliable narrator. Radahn still has all the same flaws and complexities as before, the evidence for that from the base game isn’t gone. The only difference is that we now know Miquella’s (in my opinion childlike) perspective of him.

Additionally, although we know that Radahn fought against becoming Miquella’s consort in the end, we have no idea if the vow was initially one sided or not. Maybe Radahn rejected it from the start. Maybe he initially agreed because he thought Miquella (as an Empyrean) wanted to become the Erdtree’s god rather than supplant it’s order. Maybe he jokingly agreed to Miquella’s childish request not realising that Miquella would never be anything but a child. We simply don’t know, and I personally think all of these interpretations are interesting in their own right.

Adding onto this, a lot of people seem to be hating on Miquella’s character for becoming the ‘villain’ of the DLC. But think of it like this. If Miquella is an eternal child who had always had the ability to compel love and affection, why would he see love as anything other than a tool. It probably doesn’t even occur to him that maniputating others with magic is wrong or sinister in any way.

This also explains why he so coldly abandons Malenia, despite his obvious affection for her. He does genuinely care for her, he just has an extremely skewed perception of what love and affection is. He probably thinks something like; “Oh, but I’ll be able to make her feel happy and loved when I come back so it’s fine that I’m abandoning her for hundreds of years 😊”. I personally really like what the DLC did with Miquella’s character, even if it’s different from what we expected.

Now that’s not to say I like everything about what the DLC did with the lore. In particular, I don’t like how Malenia’s motives in Battle of Aeonia is simplified. Instead of it being a clash of ideologies, a fight between two mighty demigods that deeply respect each other’s strength or a desperate attempt to free the stars from stasis, Malenia is reduced to a brainwashed attack dog. This also cheapens Finlay’s sacrifice in my opinion (although you could also see it as enhancing the tragedy of it all by making her sacrifice less meaningful).

I’m also still unsure as to why Miquella would embed himself in the Haligtree before making Mohg kidnap him. If that was his goal from the start why embed himself in the first place? He could have just gone with Mohg in his normal form?

One possible explanation for this is that he didn’t initially plan to get kidnapped by Mohg, and wanted to enter the Land of Shadow by using his Haligtree to form a counterpart in the LoS like the Scadutree? Maybe he switched his plan and brainwashed Mohg after being kidnapped? We know from the War Surgeon set description that Mohg already has a propensity for kidnapping so idk.

Anyway that’s enough rambling for now I think. As usual my reccomended lore youtuber is Smoughtown.

[rahuratna]

HI!! I love your reasons on why Nanami speaks to you on a personal level sm!! It’s so interesting because you pointed out a different perspective I’ve never thought about before. The reason why I started liking Nanami was because of his journey of finding a sense of purpose. If I were to drop myself into the JJK verse and had the option to convince Nanami to stay as a sorcerer instead of a salaryman, I wouldn’t. Because then he wouldn’t have known if being a salaryman and, like you mentioned in some of your fics, having a simple and more ordinary lifestyle made him more fulfilled.

Then your insights on identity comes to play: no matter what you choose to do with life, it doesn’t completely define you because we also have to consider the emotions and experiences that make us human. What we never got to see was what Nanami did in his free time and, excluding the value/service he provided for others and the short clips from “Where our blue is”, what memories and experiences that made him happy and loved. That’s also why reading your works is so good and comforting 😭 😭

You also talked about lack of self-preservation which I think makes a lot of sense given the pressures Jujutsu society. For Nanami, I think he feels like there’s barely a choice in what he can do. Both being a salaryman and a jujutsu sorcerer means being “exploited” by the higher ups. As a salaryman, he was “making the rich richer,” and as a sorcerer, he and his peers were being sent out to risk their lives to kill curses instead of the powerful elders doing it themselves (particularly with his best friend’s death). The higher ups in society do not care or value his life because there will always be more sorcerers and salarymen to replace him in terms of the job. THATS WHY I LOVED WHEN YOU POINTED OUT THAT YOUR JOB DOESNT DEFINE YOUR IDENTITY AIDHNSJDNBDKS. I think that’s what might have influenced Nanami to have a lack of self-preservation like you said. Yes because being a sorcerer requires it, but also because the only semblance of meaning that society could provide him was providing value to the innocent and weak which ultimately costed his life.

IT MAKES ME SO SAD BECAUSE HE DESERVES THE MOST AND HES SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT *sob sob*… tysm for all the character analysis you do, it makes me so happy talking about it :) Please add on if you have any more thoughts 🫶 🫶

Firstly, this is what I love about writing fanfic. These conversations with fellow fans who appreciate the same things about the series and characters is just golden to me 💛💛. I'm so, so flattered and glad that my interpretation of Nanami provides these different perspectives and I love hearing your ideas on it too!

So, I really liked Nanami's character to begin with, but there was one particular scene, where he wipes away the tear of the transfigured human, that really made me sit up and take note.

When the show got into his background, I immediately picked up on how much he values others over himself. It ties in with what you said about how there could possibly have been a happier reality for him if he'd simply chosen the path of a 'normal' life. Maybe he could have eventually retired and lived that peaceful existence.

And this is where he truly becomes a tragic figure for me. I feel like the world he lived in would never have allowed that peace. His compassion, desire to protect and serve others and his strong beliefs always shine through. Jujutsu society favours the ruthless, the predators, the ones who can detach and operate without thinking too hard about the cost, like Mei Mei, for example.

Nanami is not an apex predator. He's very strong, but a foot soldier, and one who fully acknowledges his own weaknesses. While his compassion and heart make him a sterling human being, they don't grant him safety, or survival.

To reiterate what I said in my previous post, he does define himself by how well he can serve others. Which is his job.

You also pointed out something really important, which was that Nanami's search for purpose makes him so interesting. I think that the trauma he suffered from the death of his friend, along with possibly the survivor's guilt, is what actually led to him under-valuing himself like this, and also prioritizing the younger sorcerers. He thought so hard about his own purpose, but was also so blind to his own value as a human being, with qualities that made him so much more than JUST a salaryman, or JUST a sorcerer.

Yaga said something to Yuuji which always stuck with me; that in their world, being a sorcerer requires a certain level of insanity, an ability to detach yourself so that you can face the horror of the curses with reckless bravery.

Nanami had his own brand of insanity, one that allowed him to actually remain attached to the value of peoples' lives, to express kindness and compassion, and STILL go out there and face the dangers of his job with a straight back and steady heart. It wore him down terribly, but his powerful belief in his own principles allowed him to do his job, day after day.

That unique madness was what tore away any sense of self-preservation and self-value he had, but also served as one of the strongest inspirations to those who he left behind. Their value of him, their grief and their loss, speaks volumes about the man he was.

I love writing those same aspects you mentioned, the little things that give him happiness and pleasure, the healing and understanding of his own importance, the simplicity of his needs being met.

Cheers to plenty more fanfic! And always feel free to drop me your thoughts, even if you had a random 1 am musing! I love hearing them!

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Do you feel comfortable with us recommending your blog to others or...?

Because there are blogs dedicated to analyzing homestuck and they are usually very good but the moment they talk about Eridan all the magic disappears and, I just want to know if it is acceptable to recommend you as like, homework i guess (?).

In the style of, if they are going to talk about complex characters then they should do their due research.

It's okay if you're not comfortable with the idea, maybe I shouldn't be that interested either, it just hurts to know that they can do better, and they are not (on the contrary, its just worse).

Unfortunately, not with that attitude!

I actually have a pretty strict rule to never go out into the fandom in search of fights, and to never answer asks asking me what I think about another fandom member's interpretation of canon ("official"/semi-official works like PQ are exempt). This is because, if I go onto some other guy's blog with zero intention to change my opinion, and say "you're wrong," that makes ME the asshole.

Nobody likes it when someone rocks up to the discussion to tell them they're wrong and try to own them with facts and logic. It's actually kind of a dick thing to do! That's why I contain my takes to my own blog, which, thanks to the block button and blacklists, means that nobody has to engage with me if they don't actively want to.

I've had several instances on this blog before of either having to dismount a conversation where neither side will change their mind with "agree to disagree," told people I can't/won't comment on something because I don't engage with the fandom overall, or straight-up blocked people. I do this because I've made the mistake before of trying to be Correct on the Internet, and the truth is it's an unwinnable battle that makes everybody involved look like a clown. At the end of the day, we're all squabbling about what a webcomic "means," and it's impossible to be 100% correct. God knows I've been wrong, sneakily edited posts, and hoped nobody noticed (if you did, thanks for not saying anything).

If you like my posts and agree with my opinions - great! I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't like the ego boost. If you don't, I'm usually willing to hear people out, but I'm pretty egotistical and we'll most likely agree to disagree. I pretty exclusively reserve actual retaliation for people who rock up (especially while hiding behind anon) pretty much just to tell me I'm wrong. Like I said, the person who does that is an asshole! I try not to be that asshole.

If someone's takes are so "bad" to you that you can't stand seeing them, you have the power to banish that person from ever appearing before you again. Block they ass. You literally don't need a reason. But if you want to do the hard, thankless, joyless, unrewarding, and nearly always futile task of changing someone's opinion, then step one is to take a deep breath and trying not to think about it in terms of enemies and allies, right and wrong. This person is another human, just trying to make a living on this shitty earth, talking about this thing you both like. The vibe should be excitement that you can share an insight they haven't considered, not a tribal monkey instinct to hit another monkey with a big bone club.

If these blogs already do a lot of Homestuck analyzing, chances are, they're receptive to Homestuck. Instead of using me (some rando on the internet) as a source, you should use the comic itself. Lucky for you that I cite my sources, or at least make it easy to look up the parts of the comic I'm talking about. It's a little more legwork than just linking an essay, but you're trying to perform the nearly impossible task of changing someone's mind, so put some elbow grease into it.

And if that doesn't work, welp. Agree to disagree! Haha.