#bullying in the name of righteousness

[vmures]

Beware of gossip blogs and call out blogs, especially the ones run anonymously.

They usually have an agenda that is unrelated to the supposed purpose of the blog.

[watcherintheweyr]

Green stans not understanding the reason alicent attacked rhaenyra at driftmark just proves media literacy is fucking dead.

She literally says it. "Where is duty? Where is sacrifice?" Because she's angry Rhaenyra didn't lay down to suffer alongside her.

To her, Rhaenyra marrying who the crown told her to, to fix Viserys' alienation and insult of house Velaryon wasn't enough. Rhaenyra serving and participating on the Small council for years as heir wasn't enough. Rhaenyra swallowing her terror of childbirth to provide the throne with heirs wasn't enough. Sitting and ruling the heirs seat wasn't enough. Acting as heir and trying to solve problems such as the ep.2 Dragonstone conflict wasn't enough. She SAYS IT in episode 2- tells Rhaenyra, the **named heir** that it is not her place to question the plots of kings and men when Rhaenyra expressed the fear that they are plotting to set her aside and remarry her father.

Because she **cannot stand** that Rhaenyra dared to grasp for power and autonomy while doing these things. She cannot stand that Rhaenyra dared to try and be happy whilst also fulfilling her duties. She cannot stand that she did 'everything right' and 'served the kingdom, the family, the law' and is miserable and alone. She was queen for 20 years and only ever used her power to harm Rhaenyra and her children and to further her own abuse onto her own daughter.

All she used her power for was to protect Cole from the consequences of murdering a knight at a royal wedding. To protect Cole from the consequences of slandering the crown princess. To cover up Larys **murdering his family** because while she acted oh so horrified, it served her needs. To cover up Aegons abuses- and we see even as early as ep 6 that female staff are afraid of him.

To protect Cole from the consequences of **bullying and trying to harm** Rhaenyras sons in 'training.' To instill hatred and treason in her children against their sister. To explicitly allow Argon to bully Aemond as he likes so long as when they're in the public eye, they present a united front.

She did everything right but she's miserable and alone. Rhaenyra made the system that harmed women work for her, and wasn't. And she couldn't stand it. To her, Rhaenyra not accepting the rule and superiority of the men around them was the ultimate betrayal. Rhaenyra protecting herself from Alicent, who was above and all, primarily Otto's creature, by not sharing her secrets, was a crime.

Alicent didn't attack Rhaenyra and Luke for Aemond. She did it for herself.

And now the kingdom saw her for who she was. Jealous, greedy, grasping.

Nothing Rhaenyra ever did would be enough duty or sacrifice to her. Because Rhaenyra wasn't suffering alongside her. Olivia Cooke states as much herself.

She has become a tool of the patriarchy against other women. She ISNT the moral dutiful paragon she presents herself as.

Rhaenyra was right when she fired back with 'exhausting wasn't it? Hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness. But now they see you as you are." Because Alicent played her hand. She revealed the jealousy, the greed and that loathing she has towards Rhaenyra for simply not laying down beside her to suffer and sacrifice, whilst men rule and hold power.

She hates Rhaenyra for not serving men as women should- that's what she means when she calls Rhaenyra entitled. That's what she means when she says Rhaenyra 'tramples it under her pretty foot.'

Rhaenyra being the heir that a man 'should' be- that she wants her son to be, as payment for suffering and doing her duty- is a slap in the face to Alicent and she can't stand it. Nevermond that as shown in ep 2 and ep 6 that Rhaenyra is GOOD at it. That's why she scoffed in ep 6, that's why she dismissed Rhaenyras concerns and place in ep 2.

She cannot fucking stand it. And now they see her as she is.

[lokisprettygirl]

Hot take but i feel like Corlys is the only one who actually understands how Daemon's mind works. Like Daemon is probably the ONLY person from both the parties (up to an extent Aegon as well) that is not hiding behind the cloak of righteousness and plethora of "Oh daddy i have sinned, oh mommy i was bullied, oh kill the innocent guard for me when I need it but how dare you tarnish my name now that I want to sit the throne and make my dead daddy proud"

He doesn't give a fuck , he is staying true to his character.

Daemon is literally doing what he has always done.. getting things done violently if it would benefit him and keep his wife on the throne. We all love a bad boy until or unless the bad boy's actions cost us so I get you queen but like chill, he lost people as well (he broke down on the beach when his brother and daughter died).

I don't condone his actions but you knew who he was when you begged him to marry you a day after his wife died.

Every time I think I'm being too harsh on Criston he proves me wrong. Oh well now after a son for a son and the queen for the son i need team black to send someone to assassinate the King and fail miserably.

Also Aemond should just admit he got hots for his uncle and be done with it..he's so delusional, every time he speaks I cringe viscerally.

[l1tw1ck]

pt 2 of Yandere Al haitham 🙏🏽

(idk much about al haitham and Kavehs backstory so they’re dormmates in this)

kaveh, al haitham’s friend. Both having similar aspects and one of them being their ambitions and intelligence, anybody would expect them to get along but their personality’s being so different they bump heads.. Alhaitham is cold and rational while Kaveh is dramatic and prone to acting on his feelings of righteousness even at the cost of himself. They fight so much and with how much they interact and think of the other u would expect them to know about their secret “relationships” with reader

Reader is a bully to al haitham and how obsessed he is with them and how smart he is he should’ve figured it out that, with the specific student kaveh tutors, always coming back with a hazy look and marks all over him, And even having a cigarette burn that starts with the same letter as reader…

kaveh on the floor of the secluded library, his tie being used as a gag to cover his almost purposely loud squeals and whimpers (maybe to know who’s fucking him..) letting out another squirt of cum as he arches his back, hot tears dried on his cheeks and nose thinking he’ll get a break but he gets slapped on his cunt and starts to get fingered to orgasm for the 8th time…he wants a break but when reader gives him one he begs for another guiltripping them for more.

Kavehs tutoring is probably a way for him to make money but once he saw reader he instead of money gets a certain amount of orgasms from how much he should be getting paid for tutoring reader

when reader was threatened to getting expelled from the akademiya instead of taking notice of his roommates moans and squeals of his darlings name he goes to comfort reader (perhaps a bit more..)

and archons he wish he took more notice as now he’s in this situation..hips stuttering as he rides readers face watching his friend get fucked silly by readers dick, taking notice to a bulge forming in al haitham’s tummy from how much reader came in him:(( fat sobs coming from him wanting it to be him and from the humiliation oh he can’t take this or another orgasm! No it’s not because he likes it he swears but him squirting when Al haitham cums again with his clit being overstimulated doesn’t help.

(can I be an anon too?:3 maybe 🐉anon if it isn’t taken)

aaaaahhh i love thisssss

yes u can!

[dietmountaindewb8by]

I have finally thought of something! Maybe. I don't know, it just occurred to me. So my idea is that the reader is human and considering how the fae like and enjoy belittling and degrading humans - Cardan included - it could reach a point where reader feels as though she can't do anything correctly. So she just kind of curls into herself and she just feels completely hopeless with everyday life. If it's set before Cardan is king and they're all still in school, then it could be a massive declining in her grades and when she has to eat lunch she just doesn't in fear of being judged for it. I guess Cardan will take advantage of that and make her completely dependant on him. So basically, he's the asshole for making her feel like that in the first place but then he "redeems" himself by claiming he'll look out for her and essentially just takes the reigns on her entire life. Hope you're alright!

hi!

warnings: i’m wicked tired so this might be incoherent; food; mentions of food; allusions to weight loss; bullying; cardan actually being cruel; controlling cardan; cardan kinda treating you like a baby in the end

THE WORLD IS OURS

It was no secret that you were intelligent. More than that. You could be considered a genius by faerie standards, never mind mortal ones. 

But it was no secret that your special quality had left you a long time ago, much like the light in your eyes and the love you held for yourself and the world. Everything had become so bleak with the vile words that dripped from his tongue so easily, every sentence branding itself into your head disturbingly.

At night it was all you could think of. And then, you realized, that he was right. Cardan was right, the disgusting boy who could never seem to leave you alone no matter how much you showed him that you were not worth his time. He only fought harder when he heard that.

You saw him less and less now that you had stopped trying. You hid somewhere in the back when you were in school; you no longer ate with the rest of your peers, instead moving somewhere else to mull over your failure. The death of all things good about you.

Every thought turned sour. Every day became rotten.

And it was all your fault.

~*~

It was no secret that you were his.

He had made it abundantly clear from the beginning. You did not respond well to it, turning him away with the smug look that always sat on your face, the righteousness that always hung around you like a cloak. It was addicting.

You were addicting.

You were lovely and smart and beautiful and you knew it, too. But the air of superiority that he wanted to crack, just slightly to worm his way into your heart, had shattered. His weak, weak human. So fragile, like a flower plucked from the ground.

You no longer ate with them. You no longer studied with them. You no longer smiled or laughed or even cried. He pushed you to your limit–even farther, for you had broken long before. It hurt him more than you would know.

Only when he saw how hollow your cheeks had grown, how dull your eyes had gotten had he realized what he had done, the transgressions he had so carelessly committed. He slammed his door when he had gotten into the castle. He had snapped pens over papers in which he had started letters to you, papers which he had just written your name hundreds upon hundreds of times.

“My sweet angel,” he whispered, tracing the familiar letters of your name over again with his finger, blackened with ink. “I will not allow you to languish. I will atone for my sins just as you have for yours. I swear.”

~*~

You did not expect to see Cardan Greenbriar sitting on your picnic blanket with a basket, free of his usual posse, but not free of a scowl. 

It was not a welcome sight.

“What are you doing?” you asked, looking down your nose at him, lying on his side, lounging in your sanctuary. While it was open, it was still yours. He would not take that too.

“What are you doing?”

“That–I’m sitting down. On my blanket. Yours is over there, Cardan.” Your eyebrows furrowed and your arms crossed defensively. He only smiled, ironically soft. You could not look angry if you tried. You were too tired, too weakened for a show of strength. You knew that better than anyone.

“Nicasia can keep it company. Have you eaten today, darling?” he asked, turning away from you, opening the basket. He put his hand inside, but turned to you before he could. He shrugged, his eyes widening comically. “Well? Sit down, won’t you? Lunch doesn’t last forever, dearest.”

You ignored the pet name, sitting down at his command. Ridiculous, you thought. It was your blanket.

“This is my blanket,” you said again. You mentally slapped yourself. Dumb. No wonder he thought you were dumb.

“I’m well aware of that. Now eat something, won’t you?”

“I’m not hungry.” You were. But you would not eat in front of him. You would not be compared to an animal again.

“I wasn’t asking.”

~*~

Cardan was suffocating. Once upon a time he had despised you. Now he was treating you like he would someone under his care.

At the beginning of the day, just before you left for school, he would be there, holding food and demanding you take his arm. Then, you two would share a blanket during your lessons. His arm would be around your waist and he would ask if you were too cold. Then you two would eat together. There would be more lessons, and then he’d walk you home. He’d leave you with a kiss on the forehead.

But he would not quite leave. Not really.

He would return later in the night. He would spend hours with you. He’d rub your back as you fell asleep. Sometimes, he’d even sleep with you, leaving you in the morning.

He was always there.

You had not known a moment without him. Not a moment without you being taken into his arms, being told that you were the most exquisite creature to roam the Earth, not a moment without his lips leaving your skin.

It needed to end.

~*~

“Cardan, why can’t you just hate me again! It’s suffocating! You despise me, what are you doing?!?”

The crown on his head was tilted, but it did not take away from the poise he oozed. He had given up drinking months before, becoming colder to the world. But he never seemed to not soften when you walked into the room, demanding you sit with him.

“Darling–”

“No. I’m not your darling. You need to stop, King Cardan.”

“You are really referring to me as king when you are queen?” He had stolen the crown that sat atop his head. He had killed off his brothers when they had threatened you. His father died and he had stolen that bloody, jeweled crown. “Stop this nonsense, dear, and sit with me. It’s getting late, and you’re not thinking straight.” He got up from his throne, swiftly moving toward you. He gathered you up in his arms, pressing his lips to the top of your head. “Come on, darling, you must be tired.”

“I am thinking straight.” You struggled in his hold to no avail. “My head is more than clear. You hate me. Go back to hating me. There are far too many reasons for you to hate me rather than treat me like this.”

“You deserve everything I offer you, sweetness. You deserve every ounce of affection I give you and more. The world will be yours whether you want it or not.”

“I don’t want it. I want to go home. Cardan, please–”

“You are home.” You were swept off your feet. “Now come on. We should go to sleep. It’s been a long day.”

[daenerystemper]

sorry i just realized i'm mildly annoyed by rhaenys asking when the dance of dragons really started by questioning, "that is one answer. or was it when the child was beheaded? or when aemond killed luke? or when luke took aemond's eye?" when the actual reason is as soon as otto hightower began pressuring his daughter to visit viserys & pressured viserys to remarry

& when otto tried to use the propoganda of the white hart to convince viserys to name aegon his heir instead of rhaenyra, leading to a swirl of unfortunate events. otto convinced his daughter that rhaenyra would kill her children which in turn caused alicent to convince her children since they were old enough to understand that rhaenyra would want to kill them when rhaenyra's only crime was being emotionally indifferent to alicent's children

or perhaps, if we want to consider the events of driftmark, when it was uncovered that alicent > aegon > aemond were self-righteously attacking rhaenyra's children for being bastards despite the important figures, laenor & viserys & corlys, accepting those children as legitimate (thus preventing any reason for legitimization because their bastardy is a RUMOR), alicent ignored the king's command & stole his knife in an attempt to maim luke & actually maimed the heir to the iron throne with no other consequence than viserys telling her to drop it the next day because he was too exhausted (after being poisoned for a majority of his adulthood)

everyone has turned the dance of dragons into a situation over aemond being bullied throughout his childhood (events that were often lead by aegon who roped his two younger nephews into it) when it remains written & canonized that the dance of dragons is a story about misogyny with the rightful heir to the iron throne being usurped because they hid her father's death from her while they prepared aegon's coronation

misogyny which is proven by the way in later episodes where alicent's opinions & counsel are shunned because she is a woman despite her experience ruling

[alex-multiverse]

Dumb concept for a magical girl

So, yesterday i decided to watch "The magical revolution of the reincarnated princess and the genius girl" and after realizing that anis is "a little messed up actually" i wondered, has there been any darkness themed magical girl that wasnt a villain? (Only one i kinda know is sailor saturn but i really dont know any other so please feel free to tell me if theres any non-edgy MG show with darkness as a main power going on)

SO, i decided to try to come up with something: A sailor moon-ish ripoff magical girl concept except the main girl's main powers are darkness and demon themed and shes the hero. Also totally not heavily inspired in persona 5 because i cant help myself

Note: this is all made for fun and kinda sorta goncharoved a whole ass franchise while i was at work today, enjoy

SUMMARY :D

Our protagonist is a 16 year old girl named yosuru yoruhime (because pun names are fun) who one day can turn into a magical girl by quite literally making a deal with a devil to protect her best friend from an angel-like monster. Armed with a trident, and using shadows to bind the creature, she killed the monster and saw it morph back into a girl (she was a bully shown earlier in act 1 of the episode), something something using darkness to purge corrupting light from her heart.

(shittyly made concept art of mc yosuru, drawn in paint)

were this made into a show, it would be a 24 episode season that slowly introduces the side characters, which include the other 4 members of her entourage of magical girls themed around other monsters (ie, a fire girl that is a red oni while theres also an ice girl that is a blue oni) and her bestie who ends up being manipulated into turning an angelic magical girl and ends in a gay magical girl fight a la symphogear. most of the show would be a monster of the week scenario with slow hints of the big bad group themed after the inner circles of angels, the monsters are "angelized" people who get so deluded in their self righteousness they turn into people who think are allowed to smite anyone who disagrees and can turn people into a mob that adore them. Most of the non fight part of the show would feature yosuru doing stuff like, being lazy at school, getting sent to detention, going to her friends important events and being gay with her best friend/future rival Gabrielle

(even more hastily concept art)

around episode 15 there gabrielle should be introduced as a "rival" for our group, and on the course to the end of the series it should have a "best friend girl/crush is betrothed to some anime man who is obviously evil and she has no real choice about it but she doesnt want to be there" plot. which most of the climax before their fight revolves around them in an aquarium school trip that ends with yosuru revealing her identity on accident to her and leads to the fight

something something 3 episodes before finale they fight except not really because yosuru cant harm her bestie, and ends the fight crying over her in a hug, and in the finale they join forces along with the other side girls to kill the giant monster version of the fiancee who was the true mastermind of the whole operation with a light/darkness magic combo. final scene of episode ends with a kiss during tanabata in summer, and a season 2 stinger in the post credits....

THEMING

The overall theming of the whole series is about the repression of the individual for the sake of societal order and the conflict that lies within, with yosuru being a vigilante that constantly fights monsters who want to make the world bend to their wills and how everything should work, and how we should never bow down to anyone else's desires but ours, and live our best lives with the ones we love.

also, like, magical girl yuri guys. its not that complicated

OTHER DETAILS

The gang are the typical 5 men gang, with a fiery bancho girl with a heart of gold, a sarcastic icey bookworm that is tsundere for the bancho, A straightforward thinking gun user (a la mami from madoka) and a hikikomori lightning girl who is both fascinated by the gun girl, and also dumbfounded (basically the dynamic that yusuke and futaba have in p5, but with lesbians) And of course all their names are pun names:

Yosuru yoruhime

Gabrielle hikariyama

Himeko atsui

Honsuki kanrei

Yumi ite

Kairo denki

AND for autenticity's sake, i also made them 4kidz names for funsies:

nancy nightley

gaby highgraces

Hestia Heatmore

Libra colden

Carol electra

(Yumi doesnt get one because im not smart enough to make "bow shoot" into a pun name in america)

I could come up with more stuff but i would have to come up with it first.

Anyway please enjoy the mad ramblings of a man who liked symphogear and has a fondness for the tropes of magical girl stuff

(Special thanks to @lolapinta for also enabling my brainrot a bit)

Thanks for reading

[mxtxfanatic]

Of the thousand gathered here, only a handful of twenty people or so harbored personal grudges against Wei WuXian. The rest had all came here without a second thought the moment they’d heard about the siege. They’d come here out of the righteousness of their hearts to support the leading forces, intending to slay a few fierce corpses along the way, make a few names or stories for themselves down the road. But when it came down to sacrificing their lives, not many were actually willing to pay the price. 

“We only joined the bandwagon cause we thought it was a great get-famous-quick scheme; we didn’t know that we’de actually have to risk our lives!” What a bunch of losers, but I guess they do so love that mob mentality: bullying the weak (”weak” in wwx’s case) and outnumbered while singing your own praises.

—Chapt. 79: “Core” Part 1, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

[donnerpartyofone]

Recently I followed a bunch of people who are from a pretty different place on the politic spectrum with the intention of hearing apparently-smart people speak about issues in a way that's starkly separate from my own habitual thinking. And I mean SOMEtimes it works, SOMEtimes they reblog something that appears sound to me, and they add a string of questions that I wouldn't have thought of because it's not part of my own social training, and that's great--even if I don't wind up agreeing, at least I'm challenging myself. But a lot of the time that's not really what happens, and the main thing I've learned is that a lot of people who are passionate about politics and sociology are more fixated on civilians with wrong opinions than they are on the actual structures and officials in question, so there's just a lot of people with a lot of viable brainpower wasting it on emotional reactions to one another. When this happens in the lower eschelons where things are less academic it's very obvious, with a lot of stupid memes and name-calling and stuff, but then if you parse a lot of the academic rhetoric you find this undercurrent of emotion that's full of resentment about perceived whineniness and preciousness entitlement and jealousy and like brute selfishness versus moronic idealism and all this other stuff that's very people-based and really just a huge distraction from whatever the real issues might be. To be frank, as much as conservatives are fairly annoyed by hyperbolic lefty moralizing, I always think I detect this woundedness in the conservative voice, at least among the smart kids. It's like, ground zero for political development is the recognition of the fact that the world is a sadistic unfair meat grinder, and then there are two main directions people take:

1. Trying to dismantle and replace the meatgrinder, which at its worst takes the form of reductive fairytale optimism and self-righteousness. 2. Trying to prove that the meatgrinder is the natural, non-negotiable state of things so the right thing to do is ingratiate yourself to it, which at its worst takes the form of exaggerated Nietzschean posturing, poor readings of martial philosophy, and the patently ridiculous, materially impossible fantasy of enjoying a life of luxury by going Galt.

The people who have taken path 2 often just sound really hurt to me, under all their bravado about running with the proverbial bulls. Like they know we're all trapped in a fucked system and they can see how it's hurting people around them and even themselves, and the only thing they can do about the trauma of being so totally compromised is to double down and do things like, every day pick a random lefty talking point--even one that's backed by science and statistics and highly visible forms of destruction--and do your lawful-evil processing thing to it to prove that the intuitively obviously conclusions are all wrong, and what's right is just whatever happens to support increased resource-hoarding and institutional violence. Of course some of these people are dyed in the wool assholes, but some of them sound really traumatized to me, like people who have convinced themselves that their own bullies are right because it hurts less to believe that things make sense and life IS fair even if it's painful. Following these guys hasn't been as educational as I hoped. To some degree it helps me check myself, but mostly it's just sad.

[ramshacklefey]

I am here to request more Mormon facts🎤

Your wish is my command! I'll even sort them into categories for you.

Amusing:

The fact that there weren't horses in the Americas until European settlers has caused serious problems for their claims that their book is historically accurate.

This has led some to speculate that when the book says "horses" it means "tapirs."

All Mormon men think they're Paladins: at age 12, every amab person is inducted into their priesthood which is supposed to literally bestow on them the power to do miracles in the name of God as long as they are acting in accordance with God's will and living righteously.

They make a big deal of their "sacred secrets" in the temples, mostly so the members don't find out that they're just masonic rituals with the serial numbers shaved off.

Actually their whole structure is basically just a more bizarre version of the masons.

Their mythology makes free will impossible (something I figured out when I was 12, much to the consternation of my youth group leaders)

They believe that the righteous (men) will eventually become Gods and get to start their own universes.

Their supposedly eternal and absolute rules about what constitutes modest dress have nevertheless semi-consistently been updated to keep up with contemporary fashion.

Less funny:

Salt Lake City, Utah, is an unbelievable hotbed of multilevel marketing schemes. Women trapped at home keep getting into them. I guess if you're caught up in one, it's easy to buy into another...

They're well known for community support within their group, but the Church itself is an international multi-billion dollar organization and never gives significant aid to members.

Everyone in the church is required to pay 10% of their (pre-tax) earnings directly to the church.

Every young man in the church is required to serve a 2 year, volunteer mission. They have to fund these themselves.

Church leadership is supposedly called by divine revelation, yet somehow they're almost all from the same enclave of families whose roots trace back to the founders of the church.

My youth group leader once tried to tell me that rock music was spiritually bad and instead I should be listening to musicals and opera. Because the lyrical content was more spiritually pure.

They're in the "we are fighting a literal war against the Forces of Evil" category of evangelicals, but it was to my immense disappointment that this did not mean there were any sexy demons around.

If they took their own morals seriously, they'd all be communists.

Not Remotely Funny:

The church has a truly massive endowment, and their fingers are in a lot of corporate and political pies.

When California was voting on gay marriage back on 2008, the church organized a concerted effort of members buying property in the state so they could vote against it.

Seriously, I cannot stress enough to you how much money and influence the church has. They just don't wave it around as much as some groups.

Joe Smith and his successor, Brigham Young, were pedophiles who used their church doctrine to force teenage girls to marry them.

They're one of the groups that believe peace in the Middle East is a harbinger of the apocalypse.

Yes, they really are that racist.

They encourage members to adopt Native children in order to "save them" from the curse of their ancestors.

They have one of the largest genealogical databases in the world, and they mostly use it to perform proxy baptisms on dead people, including massive numbers of holocaust victims.

Their culture normalizes and even valorizes child abuse by men. All of the most respected men in my congregation growing up regularly beat their kids. This was considered normal and even funny.

Abuse and bullying are rampant for young men on missions.

They're also ableist in the weirdest way. They believe that everyone's soul is a "perfected" version of their body, see. Any neurodivergent or mentally disabled people are "normal" souls trapped in defective bodies.

BYU (the church-owned university) has a rampant problem with suicides among queer students.

Utah has one of the highest rates of depression in the country, especially among women.

[saehaerys]

About Laugh and Forget (1)

Sooo unfortunately I have to work overtime the second day of work. And most of that time I need to be waiting... for experiment to run, so I feel like I could be writing a bit about how Laugh and Forget, Laugh and Forget! came about.

A bit under a year ago, one day in February, I had a horrible idea that Jaehaerys had coveted Saera and in his terrible covetousness he messed it all up, sending her away for cold repentance, and she fled from his face in mischief and utter disillusionment of their bond. It became increasingly unbearable for me to regard this passage of faux history. What if Saera intuited his intent for her, which he himself had yet recognized in its full monstrosity, and pressed her golden head into the burning window of the house of conflagration... Since the first day this has been a story coloured in gold. Gold as in the Era of Reconciliation, as in the people's colouring, as every emotion at play, as how she's thought by many, her siblings even to be best conditioned for his tyranny. I have certainly abused gold in symbolism in the words I churned out so far. It's blatant irony I know. I was under the same influence when I chose the name of the series, Ketoret, a sweet incense burnt on the God's golden altar, over the temple's blood reek of slaughtered sacrifice.

When I started this story, I wrote with whims and only had a very vague plan for where this shall go - I mean, the ending is already written :/ And I think it would hardly end any differently, whether Saera approached Jaehaerys or not. Worse case scenario is that his monster arose and he caged her for life, having crafted a more cunning gaol for her out of half-dignity and ardor, to keep her within his reach. As I proceed, the inconsistency or rather evolution of stylistic things started to disconcert me. Same happened for Saera's characterization, and till now I can't be sure whether her recollection of earlier fantasy of Jaehaerys makes sense when placed next to Ch2, but let's see if as story unfurls.

In Ch1 Alyssa tracked her down. Alyssa is a funny character. She was "bawdy as a barmaid" but there's no scandal of hers along the same vein as Saera's. She wanted of her own accord, to birth many children for Baelon. She and Baelon in many ways are the true golden children of their era, the mini Jaelysanne that they are. She taught Vaegon o the bully of Daella a good lesson, making her a very dutiful big sister with a welcome sense of righteousness. Saera and Alyssa share quite a few things in common. Perhaps exactly because of Alyssa's attachment to Baelon did she manage to evade Jaehaerys's undue favour. The two siblings are too complete together. In loving remembrance to his marriage with Alyssa, Jaehaerys never saw Alyssa in the complex light he saw Saera: doting, pitiful, worried, pained. Had Alyssa been alive, she would've taken on the duty of searching for Saera in her naive conscience despite being so much her parents' daughter.

The title of the story, Laugh and Forget, Laugh and Forget! is self-explanatory as it moves forward. Saera sat down with Alyssa who strove for an answer and had only seen hints of what had transpired when Saera was at court, and told the story between her and her father, which inspired no laughter unless who listened was cruel, and which could hardly be forgotten unless occurred to one heartless. Saera does have one though. But if gods were merciful, perhaps she does not remember what Jaehaerys looked like anymore as years went by, only the vague image of a very calm man who promised her confusion and hell.

Oh also! Stir The Blood by The Bravery is entirely my musical inspiration for anything saehaerys.

[dollarbin]

Nickel Bin #21:

J.D. Souther, RIP

Wow, he just died. Poor John Dennis!

I grew up with an uncle named JD. Unlike Souther, my uncle never suggested that Linda Ronstadt invite him over and cook him dinner (she, righteously, made him a PB&J). Nor did he found a terrible band with Richie Furray and Chris Hillman, nor write largely mediocre hit songs for The Eagles. Rather, my uncle JD collected archaeological tidbits from around the globe and worked as a chemist for a hospital until he died, relatively young.

I also grew up idolizing an altogether different JD: JD Fitzgerald, author of The Great Brain books. Did you read his books too? If not, turn off your computer and start reading them. Right now!

Uh oh, I see your still reading this instead. Okay, that's weird. But, I'll carry on...

Unlike JD Souther, my uncle JD and JD Fitzgerald did not retire at age 35 and then decide, “I had done what I wanted to do musically. And I just thought to myself, ‘All the men in my family worked until they died, and I’m going to take a few years off and build a great house and have a life.’”

Wow, that sure sounds nice. My uncle worked till until he died; so, I imagine, did JD Fitzgerald; after all, he wrote a whole bunch of books.

And I may not be named JD but today, when I am 13 years older than Souther was when he decided it was high time to hang up his songwriting boots and commence to forever appreciate the good life, I principaled a high school, taught 6 hours of classes on 12th Night, The Inferno and The Brothers Karamazov, cooked three family meals, shopped for hummus and sauerkraut at the ridiculous neighborhood grocery store my wife prefers over Trader Joe's, justified my existence in that store by picking up a six pack of hopefully gluten free beer, prayed for my Dodgers, had my dreams for them come true despite their troubling dirth of pitching as they crushed the Marlins, pet and fed the cat while dealing with its feces, typed this nonsense in my kitchen while simultaneously applauding the Schitt's Creek episode taking place in the family room, watched 7 glorious minutes of Neil Young shredding on stage in Japan in 1976 and read 20 divine pages of Ursula K. LeGuin.

And J.D. Souther? He apparently spent the last 44 of his 79 years retired and the other 35 years as either a child or as a guy who wrote songs for others and dated famous ladies. Plus he played occasional shows and did a little acting on the side. Sounds rough.

Wow, I sure sound bitter, don't I? Butdon't get me wrong: I enjoyed my day and I'm prepared to praise the recently departed JD Souther. But first we need to talk about JD Fitzgerald.

I note, by the way, that you have not stopped reading this and done as I directed: you are not currently reading The Great Brain books. I will take the high road and assume that you are not a lazy bum; rather, I will embrace the fact that you already know those 6(?) or 7(?) titles all too well: that you read them to all your children when they were young, or plan to do so once they are born, and that you keep copies of the books, like I do, conveniently about your house.

But just in case I'm wrong, and you are indeed a lazy bum, here's a run down on Fitzgerald: JD grew up 100+ years ago in a Utah nowheresville with a Mormon mom and a non-Mormon dad and an older brother who was a born confidence man, i.e. a swindling preteen who did everything from selling tickets to view his family's water closet - the first in their town; come, see it flush! - to using his great brain help the town's lonely and angry queer girl learn how to read and fend off the bullies. The younger brother in question grew up to write stories about said older brother and each novel is a Stone Cold Classic and is surprisingly unproblematic - there's no racism or homophobia! progressive thinking around religion and migration abounds! - even by today's probably not lofty enough standards.

I'd say J.D. Fitzgerald did more than all right for himself.

And J.D. Souther? He did all right too. After all, he passed this timeless, swaying song to Linda Ronstadt (and he even contributed some choice backing vocals).

And Faithless Love is just about equal to a lifetime of very good work...

[trashy-corvian]

Hey, what was the name of the if?

"To death i embrace " was the name. Anon, so sorry but i'll use your ask to vent

It was great premise for a story and author were about to start beta testing for a demo. But then they answered an ask about hogwarts houses and some fuckers decided it was ok to bully and send death threats over it.

I myself can't trust anybody whos still likes this book. But i just unfollowed the blog wishing author goodluck

And now few hours later their blog is gone. Congrats to the people who sent this hate, you're bullied someone and forced them to leave. Are you feeling proud? Are you done with you daily dose of activism? Do you feel like some kind of trans rights defender? Or are you just a pathetic maggot who will use any excuse to feel any resemblance of "righteousness"?

Well l, i'm trans and you need to defend yourself from my fucking hands when i get you

[thatstormygeek]

However, there is someone who looks a bit like Eichmann in this experiment: Milgram himself. The volunteers were pretend torturing people and experiencing acute stress. Milgram, though, does not appear to have experienced any stress while actually torturing people. Milgram’s researchers psychologically bullied and abused their volunteers, to the point where they stuttered, panicked, and again, in some cases actually experienced seizures. Terrorizing people into experiencing seizures is reasonably described as torture. Milgram’s experiments can’t be reproduced because psychologists today recognize that it is unethical to torture people, even if you are torturing them in the name of better understanding torture. ... Milgram’s experiments suggest that the main source of evil is not obedient bureaucrats indifferent to morality, but powerful leaders convinced of the righteousness of their actions. Milgram and (presumably) his research assistants and colleagues believed that they were doing important work in understanding fascism. That trumped concern for their own volunteers—volunteers who the study itself was designed to reveal as weak, unthinking, and morally flawed. Milgram was the important knower, and what he set out to know was that his own volunteers were inferior. Add in Milgram’s own career ambitions and incentives, and you have a formula for violence, abuse, and a cover-up of that violence and abuse. Milgram set up an experiment to prove that the unquestioning immorality of flunkies is the chief danger facilitating fascism. But what he ended up demonstrating instead is that arrogant leaders in the grip of ideology and self-aggrandizement can excuse just about any violence directed at those they consider inferior. The mix of ideological conviction and entitlement is extremely dangerous.

So, like the Nazis before them, Trumpists want to install fanatic loyalists who believe they have the mandate of heaven (literally) to torment and torture immigrants, women, LGBT people, labor unions, and political opponents. MAGA understands, unlike Milgram, that people are not drones, and will not just implement evil because their boss said so. But they also know, as Milgram demonstrated, that if you tell people they have a righteous cause, and that they are entitled to advance that cause at any price, you can enable atrocities.

[pleasantviewrainfall111]

I'm starting to miss the days when the sims community was just that - a community for sims players and creators.

Folks came here to have fun and enjoy themselves and just generally chill and get away from life for a hot minute.

But now? Tsk.

People are dragging real-life politics and what not into this community, and that is so, so incredibly idiotic.

It's a fucking game! That's what this community should be about!

But no, since the rise of tiktok activism, people run about yelling and yapping about things they do not understand - and most of them don't because their main source of information is a fucking onesided sixty second clip that a dude named Greighson filmed in his bedroom before gulping down noodles his mummy made fae tea - and think they are single handedly healing the world of it's flaws.

Hot news: You're not. All you're doing is being toxic and disgusting.

Just look at it. Folks are banding together to bully fucking cc and mod creators because they have different opinions than you. They did it with Zer0, they did it with Missy and now, with the Israel/Palestine conflict I'm sure a few more modders will be added to that list because people love being disgusting in the name of righteousness.

And I don't even give a fuck about whether or not I or you agree with any of the creators that are facing heat. I don't because they're entitled to their opinion, you're entitled to yours, and I'm entitled to mine. Can't handle theirs? Then I'm going to stop using their mods and be done with it.

It's a concept called live and let live.

But, nah. I see how some people are treating those they disagree with. I've read the comments and posts people made, and so many of them are just being disgusting and hostile.

And while they are probably busy patting themselves on the back and being celebrated by the loud cheering of those of similar disposition, the rest of us see you for what you are.

A big fucking looser.

That's all.

But sure, celebrate your bullying and tell yourself you're saving the world.

[sincericida]

The thing I dislike most about what I’ve seen of Kate is not that her values she pretends to have are a performance, that’s not unusual. If she wants to think of herself that way, that’s her own self delusion.

It’s the complete contempt, self righteousness. bullying, judgment of those who don’t support her views or orthodoxy. She complains of bullies but she is quite the bully herself. She knows best and everyone must agree with everything she says in order to be good and is unafraid to be hateful or mean in how she speaks about others or the ideas she shares.

The Reddit post referenced her providing absolution for other white women as long as they paid extra, while she pretends to be the good ally holding “white supremacy” accountable. She’s an opportunist. She’s using the pain of others as “activism” for her own gain while charging a lot in the name of “anti capitalism”. I don’t think she sincerely believes the magick she’s selling, she found an easy gig without needing a real job. Which is worse when you can see it’s a real con.

It’s preying on the impressionable and emotionally vulnerable who are looking for meaning, going through a hard time desperate for solutions, or really want to better the world around them. Even if clients have a lot of money, it’s selling “easy fixes” like “I cast the wrong spell so that’s why my house won’t sell!” Or “I just need to pay for five more courses so I can manifest the perfect partner!” I feel terrible for people who deplete their savings for stuff like this.

Some will admire the hustle like they might admire influencers. I don’t, I think people like this take advantage of others purposefully and there is underlying cruelty and condescension to it with a very unhealthy ego of the perpetrator.

I wish Andrew and others would develop better radar on how to pick up on these types.

Dear anon, his words on this subject were perfect. Seeing everything about this woman and her conduct makes me think that the world is unfair in its smallest details. I swear to you, I’m really tired of this woman and her dishonesty in the form of "magic".