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invinciblerodent · 10 months

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About the altered animations in Astarion's first romance scene

I already knew that there's something of a precedent for large updates to change camera angles and facial animations around a little bit, so, on a lark, I loaded in my save from before the first romance scene in my current, Astarionmance playthrough, just to see and compare it to my recorded version, see if there's been any changes since then.

Well... honestly? My feeling is that the two scenes are pretty much only roughly comparable to each other at this point. Like not to be dramatic, but it's kind of almost a case study in how much body language can alter the perception and interpretation of the same dialogue.

In the version of this that I got originally in my game (on october 21st so in patch 3, through high approval, quite a bit before the party), the short conversation before leaving the main campsite has him wearing sort of a... heavy, darkly suggestive, almost predatory expression. He looks, overall, very serious: head pitched strategically forward so he's both leaning towards- and looking at the PC through his lashes (maybe crowding them a little bit, stepping into their space), his eyes are more narrow and provocative, and he's not wearing even a hint of a smile. I think it makes it very clear what the intent here is: to present Desire™, and show a façade that suggests his impending performance of the "ooh, the sexy vampire is now going to steal you away to have his wicked way with you" fantasy.

Comparing this to the latest version (as of the 4th of december, so shortly after patch 5, which from the patch notes I'm guessing is likely what brought these alterations on), it's... very strangely different.

I had not altered my settings, or the shots in any way (beyond cropping and resizing), the lighting just... seems to have been brightened. But, the most obvious change is that his entire body language is sort of... tipped more back and away from the PC now. His brows and eyes are a lot softer and more open, rounded, more like they appear later on in the confession scene, and he's smiling this.... kind of cordial, unsettlingly friendly smile, that seems (at least in retrospect) very obviously fake and plastered on. I think he's selling the illusion of the rakish debaucher, the dashing scoundrel about to rock your world, a lot less convincingly this time around.

Even though the voicelines have not been altered in a way I can detect, his face is saying something completely different, and it recontextualizes a lot of things for me.

[Also in addition, him breaking character momentarily ("I do mean sex, to be clear") now does also lose a bit of its humor for me. Just because this new way, there isn't as large a gap between the capital letter Performance, and the little side note he gives himself in the middle of it. Now it's somehow... less theatrical overall, and so the aside is less like he knows he sounds unnatural and his real self is peeking out from behind the lines, and veers a twinge more towards "in case you're dense and didn't actually notice that I'm seducing you, I'll dumb it down for you".]

Even as he's waiting for the response in that silly "ta-dah!" pose, his face is very different: instead of that sort of blank, "haughtily and hauntingly sexy", determined kind of look, he's now gazing at the PC with what (in motion at least) looks to me like it's kinda... going rapidly back and forth between almost a pained/unsure look, and... a thinly veiled disgust, maybe?

Like, that's... that's straight-up a grimace, man, I don't want anyone I'm considering sleeping with to be looking at me like that.

Within the scene itself that follows, the animation appears unchanged (or at least not changed significantly enough for me to notice without playing them literally side by side), but the following conversation in the morning is... also a bit odd, and has been edited heavily?

In my original recording, he seems to be making sure to look at the PC more, though only over his shoulder, and his features are harder, more severe again, as it is in line with the conversation before. The whole little exchange, before the arcana check and before it'd segue into talking about Cazador more directily, ends on a bit of an eyeroll and a hidden smile that can be construed as conspiratory, or just a bit sly and self-satisfied.

This kinda straddles the line between "hehe, you're caught in my web now" and "hehe, I'm SO good at sex"- the former being closer to what he's likely thinking, and the latter being one of the more obvious ways the PC can interpret that look. A+ on that, no notes.

But now, (first of all the lighting is overall much less warm, the whole scene looks cool and less afterglow-y) he doesn't really turn to face the PC, not even over his shoulder. This keeps his expressions concealed from them, but open to the player, which is an interesting choice, and his expressions are, again, a lot more in line with those from later scenes, when the relationship is well underway: it's less openly performative, and more just a... a sad, unguarded, almost forlorn, private look. My guy looks like he is speedrunning through all his emotions over the span of like 10 seconds here-

-and lands notably on this kind of unsettling shot, of this expression that's, while somewhat similar to the old one for the line "I didn't want to go too far" (that the PC can halfway see), is both more exaggerated, and kept entirely to himself:

I for one find this one a little.... creepy and cartoonish, tbh???? Which, I guess while it's in line with the whole "I'm such an evil mastermind, they've fallen right into my honeypot" way of thinking he is supposed to have in this precise moment, it, uh.

Listen, it just conjures in my mind a violently clear image of Robbie Rotten from Lazytown. Because it's just such an "I'm clearly being a villainous villain with a nefarious scheme and agendas aplenty" expression, he's all but twirling his mustache, and the fact that it's turned right to the player's face rather than being only hinted at for both person and character, makes it look... pretty heavy-handed. Which I guess is more indicative of this man having a charisma score of a whopping 10, but it takes away from the subtlety of the entire exchange, and kind of creates a rift between what the player, and what the PC can know/suspect.

Overall, these new animations look... very different, bit more like they're trying to drive the point all the way home? Now there seems to be a big neon sign that says "HE IS NOT DOING THIS FOR PLEASURE" over his head, rather than letting your figure things out for yourself later on.

Needless to say, I.... personally prefer the old version of this scene over this new one, lol.

(...... One final, mildly notable change I noticed is that they seem to have taken out the little moan they had my character make as he bit into her neck? In my old recording, there was a tiny, barely audible little "a-aah!", and that's just.... not there now. I'm not sure what that's about, if it's a bug or a feature, and I don't know if they had it for other player voices or not, but prior to now, they did go pretty hard into how getting bitten is, to many, quite pleasurable, so downplaying that now comes off as a tiny bit odd to me.)

(I do like how her tits look less squashed though. They perked my girl's girls up a little bit, which is kinda nice lol.)

Editing to say this: it seems like these animations are the same as the goblin party ones, only... in the daylight? Which, it could be a bug of some sorts. I reloaded it once and it was the same once more, but... it could be that my save is kinda weird there for some reason. Idk. Turning reblogs off because it could just be a bug.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 meta #bg3 animation #astarion romance #bg3 patch 5 #uh what else #i can't think of anything else #i'll add more tags if i think of any #squirrel plays bg3

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 3 months

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reading roundup: june 2024

before I get started on June, I have to issue a correction from May: I forgot to include a book!

last year I backed Iron Circus Comics' erotic anthology My Monster Girlfriend, edited by Andrea Purcell and Amanda Lafrenais, and it finally arrived just ahead of pride. My Monster Girlfriend contains 15 stories by all by different artists, and features protagonists who get it on with everything from the classic ghosts, werewolves, and vampires to a reality-warping angel (?) who contains infinite dimensions, a sleep paralysis demon, and an all-consuming flesh monster hivemind.

while I would have liked to see a little more variety in the freakishness of the actual sex, the anthology is a lot of fun and shows off a great diversity of art styles and scenarios in which one might get down to clown with a monster girlfriend. my personal favorites were Feather by Kanesha C. Bryant, in which an intrepid pervert boldly attempts to locate their girlfriend's genitalia; MonsterHER Under the Bed by Bont and Wes Brooke, which puts a cute, sexy little spin on the monster under the bed; Forest Wedding by Otava Heikkilä, which reads like an old timey fable except it ends in a giant forest woman getting crazy fisted by her new trans husband; and Girl Fiend by InnKeeperWorm, which is infinitely jackoffable even though, frankly, the hellhound should have stayed in her more monstrous canine form to fuck.

okay, now onto the June reading! I found myself reaching the end of the month surprised that I had added so few books to my 2024 spreadsheet, and then I realized: it's fucking PRIDE MONTH and I'm a career queer. I spent most of June either busting ass working various events or in a coma recovering from said events; no wonder I didn't read as much as I thought I would. I also gave up on one novel after sinking close to 200 pages in it, which means the list is even shorter, but trust me: the DNF was the right decision.

so, who made the cut for pride?

The Monsters We Defy (Leslye Penelope, 2022) - this book was a romp! it's fun! it's a hoot, dare I say! this is a historical urban fantasy that takes place in the Black society of 1920s Washington, DC. protagonist Clara and her band of ragtag magical misfits have a heist to pull off against one of the most powerful Black women in DC, with their own curses and powers at stake. it's a fun story with a neat magic system and lots of words that are capitalized so you know they're Magical and Important, and it's a read that goes down real easy. strong recommendation if you find yourself in a slump!

Just for the Cameras (Viano Oniomoh, 2023) - my first foray into independently published romance! and it was... fine. the plot's a little patchy, sure, but it's definitely not the worst romance I've ever read, and at least a throuple made for a nice change of pace. AND nobody's seething with jealousy or insecurity about multiple partners? you love to see it. this book was apparently originally intended to be a novelette and it definitely could have stayed that way, but if bisexual Black hotties sucking and fucking is what you seek then you're going to have a great time. TW: 2/3 main characters are British.

Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs (Ina Park, 2021) - to the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, this is one of my very favorite nonfiction reads of the year so far. I cannot emphasize this enough: if you like the way that I talk about STIs and sex ed on this blog then I think you'll really like this book, because having read this book I desperately want to be her friend. she brings so much passion and energy to her work that it bursts right off the page and is - pardon this awful pun - absolutely infectious.

Survivor (Octavia E. Butler, 1978) - for those you not in the know, this book is kind of a get. it's the only book of Butler's that was never reprinted, so now you can only read it if you get ahold of a super expensive original edition OR if you, hypothetically, find a PDF online and print off the entire thing on your work printer. and I'm so glad I did the latter, because holy shit this book whips ass. the book was apparently disavowed for its lack of connection to the rest of the Patternist series, which is true but oh my god, the story is SOOOO cool anyway. we've got a human woman named Alanna who grew up feral on Earth only to be adopted by a Christian cult who are GOING INTO SPACE to preserve the human race, but it turns out there are already intelligent people on the new planet and they have Feelings about what the future of these human missionaries is going to be. it's on Alanna to navigate the clashing cultures and tension between the humans and two warring groups of aliens, and it is fucking URGENT. I don't say this lightly but I think this has ascended to be in my top three Butler novels.

No Name in the Street (James Baldwin, 1972) - ooooooh my god you guys!! oh my god!!! I've never read any of Baldwin's long form nonfiction, but within pages I knew that this was going to pretty permanently change my brain. this memoir-ish book delves into, among other things, Baldwin's witnessing of the American civil rights movement, including the deaths of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers. woven around that is the alienating experience of being a Black man with exactly enough cultural cache and social clout to sometimes isolate him from the people he grew up with but not nearly enough to buy acceptance or safety in a white society, emphasized by Baldwin's unfinished struggle to free a friend from prison after a wrongful murder charge. and somehow that's barely doing the book justice! it's so vast and incisive and weary and impassioned and it did, truly, have me jotting down the names of everything Baldwin ever wrote to make sure I can read it all. as much as I bemoan my habit of impulse reserving books from the library, I really am indebted to the Stacks podcast for getting this on my radar.

#bookblr #reading updates

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castielstwigandberries · 11 months

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if the supernatural movie doesnt include a reference to

nevada and georgia turning blue, stop the count, destiel making putin resign, sherlock season 5 rumors, destiel news meme, which political person had to be briefed on what destiel is now?, jensen looks like he was holding back homophobic slurs, weird cuts in the confession scene, which way was dean thrown now?, bury your gays speedrun, gay angels get send to superhell/eeby-deeby/cas plinko, recognizing the confession scene only by the first letters of each word, 'homosexual declaration of love', The Tapes™ (Release them now jensen!!!), meta analysis after 15x18, 'i gripped you tight and raised you from perdition' callback as dean saves cas from the empty, why lamp?, onion field, pizza man montage, parallels be paralleling, dean screaming cas name so loud in one take that people heard it blocks away, dean offering to kill sam if it means chuck brings cas back, the 4 year old son of lucifer becoming god, chuck won theory, 'we explore the nature of destiel in act two', excitement for a long finale which could only be about dean saving cas, right?, the insanity inducing quotes of the day for episodes, 'the night we met' and 'angel with a shotgun' songs of the day on set, filming in a barn, worst finale ever (even worse than game of thrones), weirly short with 11 scenes cut, two thirds montages, carry on wayward son playinf twice, back to back, one a weird cover version, vampmimes, no cas in the finale but instead some random vampire from season one no one remembers, dean finally gets nailed from behind, dean dies from tetanus, party city wig, good cars go to heaven, Car/Cas and Biden/Bi!Dean/Bye!Dean, 'cas helped', blurry wife, misha and jensen are not in the thank you video, everyone was supposed to be at the roadhouse originally but no one was informed of those plans, walker backdoor pilot, covid/capitalism destroyed everything, misha was in vancouver for filming the last episodes and was in less episodes than he was contracted for, misha denies ever having been in vancouver, misha says originally he was supposed to be in the finale as jimmy, misha says cas was supposed to be in the finale and 'sidle up to dean in the roadhouse', heterosexual destiel whose kisses would have created entire universes, destiel reciprocated in spanish, rogue translator, #TheySilencedYou, Jensen Ackles sexy silence, jensen ackles longcon, deanbenny breakup in season 8 script leak, Heller Obama, fake italian dub, misha collins x bill clinton sex scandal, misha addressing the "scandal" and tagging bill clinton and monica lewinski, 'still beautiful, still dean winchester', mishapocalypse 2.0 and 3.0, 'eyes like the sky' beer from jensens brewery rumored to be misha description, cockles anniversay photo, chaos machine jensen ackles' production company, 'rainbow road' beer close to deans birthday, blue green ('destiel') shotglasses from jensen brewery, ash and ellen's actors roleplaying roadhouse reopening in twitter, people think they are planning destiel wedding, disappointment when thats not the case, fans celebrate Destiel Wedding anyway on Valentine's Day 2021, fallout with both actors after one said a 'queer interpretation would damage the integrity of the show',

*takes a deep breath*

jared calling cas junkless and comparing his love for dean to the love he has for his children, misha collins cameo including 'still beautiful, still dean winchester', saileen and midam wedding, spn prequel announcement and subsequent j2 fallout, '@/robbiethompson et tu brute wow. what a trully awful thing you've done #bravo you coward', the prequel being about the least favourite characters of supernatural and a love story disproved by canon, 100000 destiel fics on ao3, misha tweets about that, rumors if mishas secret ao3 account, real italian dub going 'you're kinda okay' instead of i love you, misha tweeting a video of him saying 'te amo' in response to that', jensen saying if there'd been more time he (he meant dean but he used first person pronouns) would have hugged cas and said 'i love you too', first anniversary, misha collins coming out as bisexual on accident and then saying he 'happens to be straight' three days later in a five post apology thread, hot sauce from adam/micheal actor advertised by him playing midam, casbaiting in the winchesters trailer, jarlos shipping by winchester main actors, dean with beard and turtleneck, jensen saying he wanted misha in the winchesters but it didnt work out because of scheduling conflicts but hed be there in a season two shortly before the show was cancelled, death of the rogue translator and destiel getting dragged to the trending page every time there is news

*panting* then i dont want it.

yes this is all i could remember without looking it up

#supernatural #spn #destiel #nov 5th #my post

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jenerousjenocide · 10 months

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Familiar Face

Fifty years had passed since the Netherbrain was defeated; it took Astarion five years after to become the lord of Baldur’s Gate. Within that timespan his old companions departed from the city, following new adventures in quiet hope their paths would never cross again. Only one agreement was made among them, set by the leader themselves that carried the entire team on her back single handily.

“Keep it within Baldur’s Gate.”

A warning, no less, a boundary they set to ensure the entire realm wouldn’t be overrun by vampires, although Astarion would be lying to say the thought didn’t cross his mind every other day or so.

The temptation was always there, and it would be so easy.

As much as Astarion would never admit it, he did respect his dear old friend more than he let on. A/N Nobody asked for this, but here it is I'm back on my BS. Also this is basically a WIP, its eventually going to be sexy. It'll be fine. Feedback is encouraged, I have written anything in eight years and it probably shows. AO3 Mirror - Next

Baldur’s Gate, once a city of innovation and progress, stood as the capital of Faerun. For centuries it was built up from the ground with those in power struggling with balance between right and wrong, the noble and the peasants and ensuring the Upper City and Lower City remained as separate as can be in terms of gold and assistance from guards or authorities.

It was no longer the case after so many decades of building it up, only for it to come crashing down one evening.

Citizens had believed their troubles were over the moment the Netherbrain was defeated, in fact they did have a few months of peace, and all seemed so bright and hopeful for the future. Festivals and parades crowded the streets for days, cheering on the heroes that rescued the city from destruction and the lives of all the innocents threatened by the damage caused.

Strangers worked together to rebuild, fix each others homes and offer food, aid or supplies to anyone in need. Nobles made large donations to better assist the poor struggling to get by and for a while it all seemed too good to be true.

Something in the shadows was lurking, bigger than anyone could have imagined and somehow the true secrets were kept hidden from the citizens for years.

Authority figures began stepping down from their roles seemingly without an explanation, providing vague answers for those with questions that one could only deem reasonable. This continued until only one remained, a new figure that seemed to have risen to power overnight yet was able to make his name and reputation known as one of the heroes that saved Baldur’s Gate all those years before.

Lord Astarion Ancunín.

It was a slow transition at first, but it felt as though his coronation as Lord was the shifting point in which everything seemed to come together. For his benefit, at least.

It began with smooth talking his way into meetings, debunking rumours spread among residents that he was a vampire spawn because why or how would a feeble vampire be able to walk among the living so freely? He saved Baldur’s Gate from disaster; it was easy to gain the trust of majority of the population.

The plan really kicked into gear after inviting each noble he could come across to a private dinner. A bite to eat with life altering consequences, and they soon became his loyal subjects one by one.

Like a puppet master stringing together a performance of a lifetime, they obeyed his every command and retreated to his palace to no longer serve as the nobles they once were, but as servants and spawns as Astarion deemed fit.

Just as the city was changing under his thumb, the palace once owned by Cazador Szarr also changed. The gaudy paintings taken down and replaced with marble statues or fine antiques. Some of which found by servants during their evening hunts for more followers to fall under their master’s spell.

Astarion swore he was nothing like Cazador, the wretched bastard was cruel and unforgiving, embarrassing and torturing those he turned for his own cruel entertainment and ensuring he was able to strike fear into every one of them. No, Astarion didn’t punish his servants for no reason, and he didn’t force them to feed on vermin the way he did for two centuries.

That isn’t to say he didn’t have his rules, and when punishment was due it was carried out carefully and with a message along with it. If the punishments were met with resistance, Astarion wasn’t above himself to deal the final blow, ending the insubordination in it’s tracks before it can pick up traction and spread through his coven like a filthy disease.

He knew they would never be able to overpower him if they somehow managed to lapse free from his command, but keeping the peace was within everyone’s best interest to keep invasive thoughts and memories from clouding his mind.

“Keep it within Baldur’s Gate.”

The temptation was always there, and it would be so easy.

As much as Astarion would never admit it, he did respect his dear old friend more than he let on.

She picked him up from the side of the road after he pulled a knife on her, didn’t immediately drive a stake through his heart when he attempted to bite her while she slept. She listened to him prattle and complain about his troubles and concerns, his trauma and story behind the ugly scars that adorned his back.

She promised to stand by his side and help him take down his cruel master in the place he called home. She fought battles that weren’t even hers to fight and with obvious hesitance helped Astarion ascend into the powerful lord he was. Even within his power drunk mind that day, he knew the dynamic of their relationship changed completely and would never be the same again.

He could see it in her eyes when they would speak following the ritual. A look that once projected adoration and love now turned fearful, pleading and cold.

With an offer of immortal life by his side, their relationship ended completely.

Of course, he was insulted by her rejection, but he had no real need for her any longer if he were to become as powerful as he needed to be to bring the city to its knees. He thought she was in it for the long run, but he ended up getting exactly what he wanted in the end.

Perhaps his initial plan of seducing her to ensure she never turned on him worked too well, but with the consequences of their actions it was obvious that becoming a vampire spawn was not a life she wanted to live. Even if it meant being by his side for all of eternity until the world came crashing down around them.

It didn’t hurt entirely, but the sting was still there as he pondered what could have been had she said yes.

Nonetheless it was too far gone in the past to even bring it up anymore, the golden days were long gone and so were his companions. Astarion couldn’t spend his time pondering what everyone else was up to, they wouldn’t dare return to Baldur’s Gate, and he decided to keep things slow and steady while building his coven from the ground up.

It had been so long, surely she was old or dead by now, judging by human lifespans.

The idea of it was enough to make his usually composed expression cringe with a slight pang of his dead heart. She could have lived forever young, but the possibility she was long gone did bring up a familiar sting.

Not that she was his anymore, he internally scolded himself for allowing himself to linger on the memories and possibilities for too long.

There were more pressing matters to focus on, especially with his ascension anniversary coming up and the grand extravaganza he did annually for the mortal citizens of the city to commemorate the day he gained true freedom and power.

The preparations were going smoothly, his spawn working endlessly to ensure everything was perfect down to the last detail. Roaming the halls, Astarion could only give his directions and opinions regarding where things should be, he wouldn’t dare lift a finger to help decorate.

The sound of his footsteps echoes through the ballroom hall, vampire strung about doing their job to get the preparations completed and keep their dear master content with their efforts. He pretended not to notice how a few of them wince when he walked closer, chalking it up to pure respect and that a little reminder of who’s in charge doesn’t hurt.

Everything was falling into place; the stage was set and soon the ballroom will be filled with people immortal and mortal alike. A subtle feast for those less fortunate to be cast under his vampire spawn’s charms, but a night to remember for the remaining attendees to keep face as lord of the city everyone loved once before.

-------

The Golden City stands before you, imposing and tall like all those photos and stories you’ve heard before. It didn’t quite live up to expectations, a menacing storm overhead unmoving, as if warning those trying to enter to turn away and never return.

There had been no news of Baldur’s Gate for years. Everyone you spoke to mentioned it was still populated and ruled over by one man, a man who helped saved the city from destruction long ago, but regarding progression or innovation there had been little word. You always dreamed of seeing the city with your own two eyes, but as you stand before it you can’t help but feel a sense of dread tug at your heart.

You draw in a deep breath, as if preparing to hold it in your lungs to avoid any toxic fumes the air might have lingered around. Despite the darkness, you do see citizens wandering about and going on with their daily business.

Perhaps you spend too much time reading and listening silly fairy tales.

You travelled a good way to get here, fleeing from your home in Waterdeep and avoiding any questions regarding your adventure. You’re positive nobody witnessed your escape due to the lack of yelling and restraint being placed on you.

For the moment you’re free to explore, get your fix of the city and get back home before anyone is the wiser.

The first step into the city was easy, navigating was a whole other ball game.

One big difference between your hometown and the city is how big it makes you feel. Waterdeep was familiar, you had your family and friends and somehow everyone knew everyone’s business at some point or another- In the City it’s the complete opposite, the feeling of being so small and insignificant imposing itself on you until it feels like it’s the only thing you do know.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such an awful idea to turn back.

“Don’t forget the Palace doors open at sundown! Our Lord would be honored to have any and all citizens come join the festivities taking place. A night of dancing, drinking and mingling with Baldur’s Gate’s finest.”

The voice was coming from the center of town, a well-dressed man standing in the middle handing out invitations to residents walking by. The practiced smile on his face greeted everyone who made eye contact with him, he was charming to say the least.

Before you even realized your feet were already moving you towards the center, reaching out as the young man offered a warm smile and the invitation. Noting the smile didn’t reach his eyes, you take the invitation and read the contents.

Midnight Masquerade Come one, come all! Lord Astarion invites you to a night of dancing, drinking and dining.

It couldn’t hurt to have at least one night in the city, in fact you were taught that it was rude to decline invitations. You could pop in for a little food and wine and leave before the night was even over.

You tuck the invitation into your pack and adjust it steadily on your back. You needed to find an outfit to fit in, and quickly before the party was ready to start.

#baldurs gate 3 #Astarion #astarion x reader #bg3

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fangedprinx · 1 year

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The more I think about the Dracula novel the closer I get to wanting to dismantle the story and put it back together again in a way that would kill Bram Stoker if he wasn't already dead

He's not getting any less dead though so my antagonistic approach to the text can't kill him

When I say antagonistic I mean:

A story inspired by thoughts of how the Queen should get snacked on by Dracula along with the British aristocracy, actually, because for all the xenophobic imperialist mental backdrop of a book where the enemy is a spooky foreign dude, the British empire was bloodier than one single vampire in a silly little castle (even if we focus just on the imperial core, there's plenty to zoom in on with the British industrial revolution, e.g. "the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers", the poverty and deprivation of the working class, everyday exploitation with the added bonus of young men being asked to go off and die in wars because people in silly hats are having a pissing contest). Once Dracula is finished using them as a juicebox he should get beheaded in a worker's revolt because he would underestimate the courage and resiliency of the lower classes and expect to just rule over them. And he doesn't have an iota of awareness of how to manipulate the levers of power in a complicated post-feudal social system he ate most of the rulers of. (For context, I am Irish and a socialist and I will go toe to toe with the fear-laden mental landscape of one of the most famous Dubliners to ever write a novel where British aristocrats are some of the good guys.)

Dracula creeping on Jonathan Harker is spooky in the novel but I also don't respect Stoker's intent there. The overtones of unsavoury interest as supposed to imply some sort of homosexual proclivities was then part of the horror especially for audiences of the time, and I don't want to unquestioningly reproduce this dynamic because sincerely fuck that. The fact that Dracula is queer-coded as a villain as part of what makes him villainous is not something I care to take at face value and reproduce. Potentially writing Dracula/Jonathan Harker where Dracula isn't a manipulative creep engaging in subtle psychological abuse and torture of Jonathan is completely contrary to canon characterisation but there's been a long line of Dracula adaptations with a tenuous relationship to canon and I want to break free of the confines of the text and upend its assumptions. I want an aggressive reading/transformative work that disregards the author's intent to create something different from it, and maybe if I have time I will do it myself. Move over fear of the other we have fear of the self (as being attracted to the same gender) to tangle with and then overcome.

The least antagonistic to the text would be fun little bad ends where the failure of the heroes' mission is part of the enjoyment. I'm gonna write a bit of spooky sexy turning characters into evil vampires who are gleeful about being horrors of the night, as a treat.

I enjoy(ed) reading Dracula but I also want to explode it into its constituent atoms and reassemble them in a configuration that suits me more

#Dracula #Bram Stoker #Harkula #Sometimes fandom is a conversation between you and a long-dead author where you are insulting him #Dracula daily #1897 novels that make my brain rattle against the confines of my skull

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milfygerard · 2 years

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ok 2 theories on why they didnt play vamp $

1. gerard likes skipping songs w relevant lyrics i.e. no heaven help us during tears of blood look, no mastas during the cat look. its a little tease they do to keep it sexy and fun (however they did play vampires tonight so....hm)

2. tonight was a reclaimation of vampire imagery as something symbolizing mcr, while vampire money was mcr rejecting vampires from their imagery as something that defines them and their aesthetic, turning vampires into a form of capital. not playing vamp $ was a rejection of that rejection, and a return to the classical gothic ( and gay and kinky and countercultural) vampire that truly spoke to and defined my chemical romance as a character and symbol. bela lugosi's dead but at least we got gerard

#barry.txt #also thank you to olivias dad for pointing out gerard also looks like the guy from The Damned whose name escapes me #my brain immediately went to mel brooks dead and loving it. which i havent even seen so i have no clue why #but yeah thats my thoughts and i love ending on a melodramatic statement on the Meaning of mcr #so you ge tthat too. i need to go to bed

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gardenofshadcws · 1 year

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Dracula Daily Day 86

IT’S THE BIG ONE

Dr. Seward’s Diary

Renfield nooooo I’m so upset

Dracula how dare you beat my boy like this I’m in PAIN

AND NOW YOU GO AND BLAME HIM FOR THIS? LIKE HE DID IT TO HIMSELF???

Dr. Abe this is so not an accident what are you talking about

Arthur and Quincey heard the plot needed them and who are they to refuse?

Can we save his life because he’s a human and a good bean and not just because he has information? Like please?

HE’S ALIVE!!!

“What’s wrong with my face?” I’m DISTRAUGHT

DON’T DIE

“I must go back to death - or worse” DRACULA HOW COULD YOU

The way Renfield capitalizes He like Dracula is a god, or on a level with God is so telling without saying much at all

Ugh this poor thing has been a victim this entire time. And Jack just looks at him like a science experiment.

“I don’t care for the pale people” AAAHH MINA

Everything hurts and I’m dying

He tried to SAVE her BABY RENFIELD AAGHGH.

Oh cool we’ve gotten what we wanted so we’re just ditching im I guess.

Quincey I love you but I think saving her from becoming a vampire is more important than silly Victorian propriety

DRACULA GET AWAY FROM HERRRR.

It’s truly disgusting how many adaptations saw this scene with Dracula drinking from Mina and decided “romantic? Sexy? Soulmates???”

BUT THE SUITOR SQUAD GOT THIS FUCK OUTTA HERE

Noooo Mina ;~;

This part is destroying me

Jonathan seeing his wife distress and immediately going “I’m going to kill the fucker” is glorious

Mina and Jonathan are relationship goals

“I much touch him or kiss him no more” “aww hell no” Jonathan is the most ride or die ever. Given the choice between Mina or God and he chooses Mina I LOVE this sweet boy

NOOO THE RECORDS. But it’s okay, Mina’s the best and saved everything

RENFIEEEEELDDDDD

PTERODACTYL SCREECH

BABYYYY NOOOOO

Quincey and his bats, man.

I’m so upset

The story of Dracula slipping in to attack Mina is just as horrifying the second time around

“A little refreshment” ewww

“What have I done to deserve such a fate” NOTHING MINA YOU’RE PERFECT AND WE’RE PRIVILEGED TO HAVE YOU HERE

And there goes Jonathan’s hair

Jonathan Harker’s Journal

Jonathan stressing makes me stressed

God’s not helping you, your friends are helping you

RENFIEEEEEELLLLLLLD

He tried to save Mina and this is what he gets

This attendant sucks at his job and now my SWEET BOY IS DEAD.

Nothing should have been kept from Mina in the first place dammit

“I shall die!” MINAAAA.

Van Helsing’s right for once, that’s not actually going to help anything.

Yes, lockpicking, much better than breaking in.

At least Mina doesn’t have fangs yet, that’s a good sign

Way to go Van Helsing, you made Mina cry again.

And then you burned her head. You’re handling this extremely poorly, man.

Poor Mina :( Girl just wants to live her life

“She shall not go into that unknown and terrible land alone” AWWWW. JONATHAN YOU ARE THE SWEETEST.

This is so romantic it’s melting my black dead heart

“I have written this in the train” Just like the beginning of the book, that’s a beautiful callback.

“The place smells so vilely” perhaps that’s because you just lit a cigar, Art (yes, I know it’s Vamp Stink)

Dr. Seward’s Diary

It always seems like a long wait when we’re waiting for Arthur and Quincey.

Jonathan babyyyy

Yeah, Jack, you’ve got nothing on Jonathan I’m sorry

So, if Dracula was a scholar, are we… condemning the seeking of knowledge over faith? Is that what’s happening here?

The zoophagous patient had a NAME, dammit

Jonathan is out for BLOOD. And not in the vampire way

There’s Dracula, it’s battle time!

Jonathan where the HELL did you get a kukri

Damn. SO close.

All this and Mina’s still trying to put on a brave face

Can we stop talking about Mina’s purity because that’s giving off some really icky Madonna-whore stuff

These two love each other so freaking much

Stoker’s letting his boys cry again you love to see it

I am also in tears by the way if you even care

Jonathan Harker’s Journal

I too thought today would never end

“My poor wronged darling” awww

It’s okay, guys, Quincey’s here to protect you :’)

#dracula #dracula daily #dracula liveblog #books

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orewing · 2 years

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Top 5 sexiest anime men to you?🎙 a very hard hitting question

anon. you could have made this question so much easier for me by asking for my top 5 most aesthetically pleasing anime men or my top 5 poor little meow meows but "sexiest"? my god. alright. okay. for the purposes of this category I will not be showing my entire ass by picking my personal favourites but instead judging based on a mix of subjective bias and who I think would actually be decent partners

HONOURABLE MENTION: Nagoriyuki (Guilty Gear)

look. I know he's not technically an anime man. but guilty gear is anime-adjacent enough that I at least have to mention him. beautiful noble vampire samurai?? hand in marriage?? hand in marriage sir????

5. Kusuriuri (Mononoke)

I WANT HIS GENDER. that's all

4. Shouta Aizawa (My Hero Academia)

I know he's a little rough around the edges but he's a genuinely very caring person at heart who always does his utmost to protect those entrusted to his care and I think that's deeply admirable!! and he has a nice voice (junichi suwabe characters my BELOVED)

though this pick may partly be the competency kink talking ngl

3. Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs)

I've joked before that everyone in bsd has a traumatic backstory, except for kunikida, who is currently in the process of acquiring one. he looks well put together but he goes through so much. please god let him rest

2. William James Moriarty (Moriarty the Patriot)

if kunikida is the guy who would die for you, william is the guy who would kill for you. ruthlessly efficient and a staunch ally of the underprivileged and downtrodden. he wants to overthrow the noble class and I think that's very sexy of him. he's also not afraid to get his hands dirty and can handle his own in a fight, which I respect.

1. Kento Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

despite not being my #1, #2 or even #10 blorbo in jujutsu kaisen, nanami definitely ranks as its most eligible bachelor. he's got a good head on his shoulders and is one of few characters in the series that could be classed as a responsible adult. he's also one of few characters in the series I can say I actually respect. commentary on capitalism (beloved)

also he has really big... shoulders.

#fuzz replies to asks #anonymous #i dedicate this list to my good friend KR

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thatstormygeek · 1 year

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The husband of a college friend has been fighting stage 4 colon cancer for a couple of years now. My friend recently posted a caring bridge entry about the various treatments they are trying and considering. It contained this:

She is a dentist. He is a youth pastor. They have two teenage boys. If you buy what it says on the tin, these are the exact type of people the American Dream is supposed to work out for.

And yet.

I'm thankful they are in a position to move forward despite the cost. But this is not the kind of equation a person should have to figure.

The only exceptional aspect of the US healthcare system is how well it serves as an example of what not to do.

#this is my brain on life #us politics #representative government my ass #fuck all stages of capitalism #capitalism is the least sexy vampire #trashpool says fuck this shit #us health system #cancer

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rametarin · 2 years

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An explanation about Kuei-Jin, the 90s and other World of Darkness stuff.

Sooo. Yeah. If you watch H:tP stuff, you may have heard in the audiolog where Marckus goes pubbing that the resident weeaboo (”Grimmaline SMITH from NORFOLK, EYUU KAAYY”) is wrong about the, “special cool Asian vampire” type.

First, the bad/ Why Kuei-Jin from classic World of Darkness are so fucky.

It was the mid-late 90s. I believe, about.. 1997? 1998, maybe? Definitely between 98 and 2000, that-odd. While the more wealthy kids and more connected, worldly kids had more access to Japanese media in the US and Europe, the rest of us had no real interaction with it, and wouldn’t, until the mid-late 90s. The Sci-Fi Channel’s Saturday Anime block slowly helped introduce the idea of a translated Japanese animated phenomenon where it’d show movies and series’ of the time, going back to the 60s and 70s. The language barrier was bigger then, and sources to learn that stuff were fewer, and farther between. There wasn’t the big market for it, like today.

To most Westerners, especially former European colonies and Western Europe, Hiragana and Katakana were completely alien. The language itself was entirely incomprehensible because it didn’t function the way an Indo-European derived language worked, at all. That only added to the foreign mystique. It was like an entirely unsolvable puzzle. And in an era where the internet was just arriving at lower income bracket households because access was limited to using your phone lines (making you choose between having a phone and using the internet for hours of the day) and before the era of easy file sharing like Napster, Limewire and such, the world of anime was just plain not in everybody’s common vernacular. It wasn’t on TV, it wasn’t in most stores, nobody knew what the fuck you were talking about if you asked for it, and you had no basis of even asking for it, since it wasn’t around you.

But the culture was here, with some enlightened few even having access to Dragon Ball manga and anime translations or at least, subtitles, in the early 90s.

So in the span of a relatively VERY short amount of time, 7 years, culturally, the world of Japanese media and its misc. tropes became things western audiences became more familiar with. And, really. Speaking as someone that was a teenager in the 90s, it was a godsend. Violence and sexual themes were somewhat suppressed, socially. Legally speaking, you could have scantly clad 90s girls and guys everywhere, and hyperviolence had little to no taboos in western comics that children could read, outside how realistic it could look. But the sexual taboo remained. Yeah, the taboo among the western religious fundamentalist types, of course..

But also, western feminists.

The same western feminist that would demand free and exposed nipples on a thing because the female body was not an object to censor, would also say you weren’t allowed to ‘objectify’ and depict female bodies as a source of tittelation and fingerwag at “western society” for “sexualizing” the female body, “for profit.” They weren’t as openly criticial of capitalism for the sake of capitalism, at the time- they knew that was a hill that they’d die on trying to fingerwag morally and spread their message to other girls, so they kept it to being about female class autonomy and bodily integrity and how evil men were “exploiting iconic femininity for their own profit,” so it was kind of a tangential thing. The invisible conclusion. Instead they focused on how all the sexy female bodies (and they focused EXPLICITLY on THEIR bodies, female bodies, because transgenderism was not even in the conversation yet, because they didn’t care about male bodies but also ‘because WOMEN are the oppressed sex!’) were drawn and depicted by “cigar smoking old white MEN in a male dominated, female hostile, Old Boys Club industry.” And that meant those whom sentimentally agree but don’t do anything but regurgitate other peoples objections and vitriol would parrot those lines. That meant if you were a young lad buying a comic book with some big Lady Death boobies on it, and anybody in your community saw you buying it, they could assassinate your character by gossiping about how you were buying those, “sexist booby kids books” and that was their signal to lower your standing on the grounds you were a “sexist.” (synonymous with misogynist.) This war on comic boobies and the readers that enjoyed them drove a massive wedge between many young comic readers and comics, and it’d be some time before that stigma lifted.

So you had to leave it up to omission when dealing with girls your age. If they thought you read, “those childish, juvenile, nerdy, maladjusted comic books written by old, perverted, misogynistic white male trash,” then you were as good as a fedora wearing Nice Guy today. The stigma against Marvel and DC comics readers as pre-teens and teenagers as things explicitly for maturity stunted manchildren was rampant as a sentiment, and was impressed on those girls that wanted to seem mature for their age.

So, that meant you walked a minefield whenever you spoke to girls about comic books and many videogames, because all it took was a sort of verbal bee-dance from one before suddenly girls you knew that a few weeks ago LIKED those things, after meeting with the Problem Glasses and hearing her mean spirited tangent about how NO western comics were good because they all disrespected women and were run by men, would perform outrage and hating them now, and everybody that liked them. Whomever they knew liked them were given a silent grace period of omission from judgement before they might circumstantially check in to see if they’d, “grown up” in that time, and stopped actively buying or consuming that media, and if they happened to be in a situation to learn about a persons literature buying habits and learned you still bought comic books, or “bad videogames,” they’d de-person you and avoid you for a while. The same as they’d avoid someone they thought was a Ben Shapiro listener or a Mens Rights Awareness person. Whether or not that was true.

It was very rough. ANY depiction of a woman doing anything in a comic could net criticism and an eyeroll and hostility, whether it was playing to an unflatteringly vague trope, or it was upending and breaking the trope, it was “misogynistic white men” again. You couldn’t color inside the lines, that was wrong. Deviating outside of them, they’d call you out as just being the same evil creature trying to “lure unsuspecting women in by false change.” The absence of women in higher positions of writers or CEOs was all the proof they needed that western comics and media was misogynistic garbage, and they would not hear ANY word of the opposite.

But then something magical happened.

Japanese media. Where many mangakas were women, none of them were white, and as it was indigenous foreign media, you could not attribute that absolutely horrible sense that all misogyny and patriarchy they attributed to, “western society.” They could not aikido flip foreign comics because of their depictions of women, because, “that’s their culture.” They couldn’t patronize the story or source for just being inertia from judeo-christian western hegemony, because these were stories and arts explicitly from outside that trap. They couldn’t say Japan was “colonized,” and perpetuating western -isms and ignorance, because Japan objectively isn’t. Any objection they might have with Japanese culture, they’d have to raise as being purely criticisms of Japanese, and thus, Asian cultures. And they weren’t prepared to do that.

And then the icing on the cake; Japanese media’s depictions of femininity, the saccharine sweet, rainbows, crystals and girlish wands and big neotonous eyes, was eaten the fuck up like it was a vitamin that western women were deficient in. That nauseating Rainbow Briteness mixed with unrepentant Lisa Frank 3-Ring Binder style girlish femininity. Where if western comics did that, it was shit on as being patronizing and condescending to women, based on whom produced and created it.

Suddenly the rabblerousers that wanted to perch on media and hoot about capitalism and evil patriarchal white men objectifying women to iconically depict their bodies for profit and give them eating disorders and insecurity, and everything else rooted in cigar smoking Old Boys Clubs run by white men, had to do the unthinkable; White girls weren’t allowed to criticize foreign cultures, non-white people and especially not foreign cultures with indigenous populations and languages that they didn’t even know. They couldn’t speak from a rightously indignant and smarmy condescension about the cultural roots, because they opened themselves up to that aikido flipping and having their guts torn out around the water cooler, or at the swingset, by some other social clout jackal in a race to the bottom over whom could be the most progressive and conscientous and protective of oppressed minorities and their good name in the face of ignorance, that’d get on a soap box and point at her, make an effigy of, “her kind”- speak broadly about, “those kinds of western white people that just disregard foreign culture because it’s not English speaking, white or done by men,” and it didn’t matter the ACTUAL gripe of the person, the nodding group would collectively decide calling out a cultural supremacist white person was what was taking place here, that’s how they were going to perceive it, that’s how they were going to remember it, and at this point the person complaining about Japanese misogyny could do one of two things: 1.) Keep talking, insist they were right, try to explain themselves as in the right, and doubledown while everybody around them just saw them proving harder and harder that they just, “hated foreign cultures and non-whites,” and considered them inferior 2.) Stop talking, possibly talk about how they were going to see the error of their ways and, “be better” from now on.

The rabblerousers that would shit on and stigmatize western comics, were at a loss on how to shit on Japanese media, its often sophmoric and infantilizing depictions of female characters and femininity, and not seem like hypocrites in doing so. Plus, a lot of the stuff was so cute and pretty.

The voices quieted by the stigma of whites not being allowed to even comment on the prejudices and insensitivities of non-white foreign cultures because they weren’t European or necessarily patriarchal, and an entire population of folks that liked Japanese media in the west, flourished. They still retained the right to party poop on Marvel and DC and demand unless more women got to be western comic writers and artists and hammer at the industry from the inside for their values, but they could do absolutely nothing about the bottom shelf accessible, dime store hyperviolence, sexy Japanese manga and anime that any pre-teen could reach and enjoy under the noses of their parents.

Well that’s a big mouthful, but where do the Kuei-Jin fit in?

I’m getting to that.

So Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth and a bunch of anime made it cool and acceptable, even in the niche cartoon loving community, to like foreign media. First among the sort of hip and with it kids that could just watch foreign media because of close proximity to it, and then when some of them got the bright idea to slowly introduce it to primetime American broadcasting. First with things like Sci-Fi’s Saturday Anime, and then with Cartoon Network’s Toonami and Adult Swim.

So you had a culture where suddenly the sexual ratio of female roleplayers and writers got much larger and more fun. Anime was by nature more cavalier with how you could safely depict female bodies and sexuality- and by nature, it could get away with a HELL of a lot more things than western culture was allowed to do- socially. Not legally, in the tolerances and sentiments of the readership and audience. Norms in manga and Japanese comics and why it was okay in one thing, were different than norms from western ones, where a more, “critical lens” (wink wink) would be used, and conscience would scrutinize the legitimacy. The same kind of “boobs pop out” joke that was funny and cute and harmless and innocent in a Japanese comic book, might reap a frown and a casting down if it was so cavalierly done in a general audience western comic.

It was an unspoken atmosphere and a hypocrisy. Everybody knew it. Talking about it was not something that was going to be easy, or occur in any sort of centralized place, since many didn’t even want to acknowledge that there was a double standard and different tolerances and expectations. Because that’d admit racism was taking place here, where everything west was wrong and evil and because of “corporations and business and greed,” to be avoided, but anything Eastern was wholesome and valid and made with the best of intentions.

Enter: The Rationalizer. Powered by white guilt and a love of naked nipples in their cartoons, “very cultural” despite the fact the only other culture they care about is Japanese, they try to maintain that western feminism was right and appease them and their theories and their broadbrush generalizations of patriarchal cultures, while also stanning and steelmanning Japanese media, hard. By talking about how just so much better and more honest and more valid it was. Boob jokes in the west? Degrading, sexually objectifying, misogynistic trash poopoo immature yucky. Boob jokes in Ranma 1/2 and Tenchi Muyo? FUNNIEST SHIT I EVER SAW.

And they were just like that about everything and wanted you to know it. Sorta superfan that’d take up doing tai chi in a public park just to be watched and witnessed and asked about what they’re doing, so they can talk with authority about tai chi in the park. Because y’know, they’re so worldly. And in some cases, picking up Buddhism, Taoism or Shintoism, because they’re just, so spiritual.

Enter the whole, “superior Japanese culture,” meme, and using the katana as an example of the artisanship and romantic combination of world and spirit that was their manufacturing process. “Superior Nippon steel, folded a million times! They could cleave armor to pieces, not like crude European steels that weren’t folded at all and took no care in their creation!”

Yeah. An entire generation of young people went through this Cringy Culture Obsessor fan stage. Together. Superfans of Studio Ghibli, Shonen Jump and more.

Year of the Lotus was World of Darkness’ foray into this mental space when they tried to make like D&D and put Oriental Adventures into their otherwise urban fantasy modern roleplaying game. Where they took a million different names from a million different Asian cultures, languages and communities and made these Frankenstein’s Monsters of the Kindred of the East.

Kuei-Jin are not Cainites, per se. They’re not descended from Caine. Instead, Kuei-Jin in World of Darkness are more like Wraiths in form and function than western Vampires, but they’re also eaters of flesh, blood and soul, like vampires. Zombies and ghosts and why they exist and how they operate are very different from ones derived from European folklore and mainstream religious interpretations, in countries largely rooted in majority headspaces of Buddhism, Shinto and Taoism.

So Kuei-Jin have elements of the Hopping Dead, hungry ghosts and similar, simultaneously being different creatures from different folklore. They can spend the energy gained from drinking blood, like western vampires, but more painly can shift between Yin and Yang with time and experience to be more alive or more dead and reap the benefits of such. They can’t ghoul mortals (far as I know?) and they aren’t Embraced the way western vampires are. Rather, a mortal has to die to come back as a Kuei-Jin, and go to hell. Their own personal hell. Where their soul bisects itself into a self-destructive shadow, and the humanity. They claw their way back to the material world, inhabit their old body, and then hunt for flesh for the vital energies of the human living. Where other Kuei-Jin retrieve them and civilize them.

They aren’t like western vampires, at all, and they aren’t like Cainites in World of Darkness games.

Their powers are just so much more elegant. Unlike western vampires, they can harmonize with nature and the supernatural world around them. They don’t go from the hierarchy of how close they are to Caine for their ultimate power, they go from another kind of ladder entirely. The concept of their own personal enlightenment; their Dharma. And it functions like a Mage’s Arete.

A Kuei-Jin gaining a level of Dharma is like Pyotr, lowering his generation through Diablerie. Their chi pool gets bigger, how much they can burn in a turn gets bigger, the ceiling of mastery for their Disciplines gets larger (so rather than being limited to a 5 in a discipline, they can hit 6. Or higher, depending) and in all ways, a Kuei-Jin as depicted, is capable of more harmony, enlightenment and general spiritual goodness than any evil western poopoo Cainite foreign gaijin vampire..

And that’s kind of why people didn’t like them much. They overachieved making them so different that, quite simply, they made Asian lands dominated by a different set of supernatural rules. They made Asian Vampires and Asian Hungry Dead (wraiths) and Asian Changing Beasts (Hengeyokai) so much better than the evil, barbaric and stupid European counterparts. Talked about how Western Vampires were like that partially because the Consensus of Reality, made up of different cultural majorities and time giving regions their own cultural spheres, were limited and stifled and stagnant because of how oppressive and dogmatic and wrong Judeo-Christianity is compared to how spiritual and pure and wonderful cultures that practiced Buddhism and Taoism and Shintoism, how more Asian cultures were easier on the enviornment and the spirit world- and it was only western modernity, industry and “western style pollution” that was ruining Asia.

So after the Year of the Lotus, after the fans kind of played for a while, worked through the self-hate they were being fed from the high muckedy mucks in the counterculture (whom are, ultimately, no different from the mainstream muckedy mucks and their Disneyfication of social matters, they’re just indie and hipster about it and opposed to capitalism, durrdurrdurr) folks started complaining about how they couldn’t really mix the splats of Asia with the non-Asian ones, because when you mixed the fantasy spheres, the Asian ones always look like they have sunshine flying out of their assholes and are just more spiritually pure compared to the gothic horror and fuckups of everywhere else.

White-Wolf kind of walked back from Year of the Lotus material and made the creative decision to be agnostic about mixing the splats again, but they couldn’t totally walk back from what they made, so they just sort of marginalized the Eastern material and do what they could with it.

Now, having said that..

Yes, Year of the Lotus was an entire generation of pulp readers and gothic urban fantasy/horror readers cringy Weeaboo Phase, written by Alpha Weebs and consumed by westerners. Today we regard it as very culturally insensitive tripe, written and produced by privileged assholes that had no idea how terrible they were being by using the names for religious and spiritual concepts and characters without having been born in and raised by that culture or being part of it.

But many of the names and titles in it are NOT like plucking up names from Native American Mythology. You can’t gatekeep “evil westerners” from depicting, say, Makai and traditional Japanese ghosts, because the Japanese depict those in their media. And similarly, many Easterners that are part of a religion like Buddhism and Taoism would not object to comic books depicting their mythology, be they whimsical folklore ghosts or tales from their religious texts, would not say doing so is bad purely because the foreigners doing it are not of their religion, or aren’t Asian, making it bad.

Kuei-Jin could use a rethinking, I quite agree. While Hunter: the Parenting has chosen to completely eliminate them from their depiction of the franchise (as is their right to do as creators of their own story, using elements of World of Darkness lore as the basis) that’s quite a large step.

And ironically, this is one of those 90s things that happened through overcompensation and, attempts at representation, if you can believe it. Because ghosts and walking dead across Asia, with their historically dominant folklore and belief systems and magic, are most definitely different from classic European concepts of death, life and unlife. When Kindred of the East were first conceived of, they weren’t Kuei-Jin. They were Cainites, the same as any others.

However, they didn’t like the very Eurocentrist idea that all vampires should have to be descended from Caine, as their initial concept depicted. That would mean Vampires could be no older in mythology than Hebrew myths, which themselves were only a few thousand years old, compared to many Asian civilizations, which were comparatively older and had their own cultural myths of genesis and originators and founders. And instead, tried to make the Hopping Dead of Asian myths their own distinct creature, not bound by the ideas of western irredeemable sinners and unlife. More Buddhism, more Shintoism, more Taoism in the functions of how they functions.

In short, they wanted to do what they did with Christianity for Vampires and elevate Eastern religions to as important to the meta story and the metaphysics, as Judeo-Christian ones operating with V:tM. Believe it or not, this was an attempt to humble and marginalize the very Eurocentrist, Judeo-Christian perspective on being undead and supernatural, with the Eastern religions’ views on redemption and the difference between life from the supernatural.

And the mishmashing of names? Western ignorance, but with the intention of applying the same consolidation ignorance and insensitivity to Asian folklore and culture, that they did to European ones. The vampire clans of V:tM are all different cultures’ different and distinct depictions of vampires and blood drinking supernatural creatures, blended into one animal they decided would arbitrarily be descended from the first vampire, Caine.

We recognize what was done to Asian cultural diversity and myths and religion as a travesty, making salad out of so many different peoples folklore and naming conventions and merging things that shouldn’t be made the same creature. And yet a great many of you fuckers that say Europe has no culture and that whites themselves have no culture, would not say the same thing about combining a German Nosferatu with an Eastern European/Slavic Strigoii into the same creature, making them just variations with differing mechanics of the same kind of creature. A vampire.

You cannot reconcile the two. Either what was done to European myths of the walking dead was insensitive exploitation of culture, or what they did to different Asian myths wasn’t. If one is acceptable, so is the other. And at the end of the day, just because something is culture, does not make it untouchable or beyond criticism. Especially not if you say, “Well, white people don’t get to criticize Asian culture/mythology.”

So it’s okay to dislike the Kuei-Jin/Kindred of the East. Absolutely. They mix thematically with the rest of the World of Darkness like putting X-men in the same toybox you’d find Goku and Guyver, and to similar and predictable results of trying to play with them together in the land of make believe. The conflicting way they operate is just irreconcilably different.

But please keep some idea in mind exactly what your issue and problem is with the Kuei-Jin/Oriental Adventure type stuff. If your issue with Kuei-Jin is that they weren’t created or balanced in the meta with the rest of the World of Darkness, and seem more like some bridge towards the Exalted tabletop game that’s hinted to be related to World of Darkness spiritually, okay.

If your complaint is that white people shouldn’t be allowed to put Umbrella Ghosts from Japanese mytholgoy in their games or stories, or depict elements of Yokai or Makai or any religious figures from Buddhism, Taoism or Shintoism, kindly be quiet, the adults are talking. Your race and your culture should not be able to stop you from putting fictional creatures in your fictional work. Some dude in Japan shouldn’t need Europe’s or any sort of European group council’s permission to add a Slavic or Medditeranian monster like a vampire into their videogame or manga, any more than Fred from Ohio should need Japan’s official Ninja school’s permission to have Ninjas in his dime store comic book. And the fact some of those characters and mythological creatures play into real life religion’s figures means nothing; European style mythology and folklore about the Fey shouldn’t mean we refuse to make fiction about the Fey, and the reason that’s okay for us is NOT because, “well we’re colonizers and we colonized the world so that’s their culture anyway. So they can write stories about the Sidhe but we can’t write about Rakshasa.” I reject that nonsense. Unless you also think non-Christians shouldn’t be able to make demons in the vein of European mythological demons (animal horns, hooves, red skin), kindly walk back this terrible point of view.

Anglophone fans of World of Darkness that live in and descend from Asian cultures and populations, living in Asia, would be especially helpful to reimagine Kuei-Jin so they can retain the thematic folkloric elements and the blending of cultural and religious spirituality, without losing anything. It’s kind of what they’re doing with their reimagining of the Assamites into the Banu Haqim from the less than flattering interpretation of Arabian assassin vampires, and the very problematic Ravnos- previously described as “Gypsies” and now tied tentatively to Romani and India.

At their core, they’re just humans that died, went to a horrible netherworld and afterlife, and came back from the dead by splitting their soul into a self-destructive part and their own humanity. At the game’s core, Kuei-Jin are just supposed to be affected by the religion and culture of where they came from and what surrounds them- which is what shape regional depictions of supernatural creatures native to a region in the first place!

And at the end of the day, all of these depictions of folkloric monsters are rooted in ethnographic culture anyway. A Greek vampire will not be the same as a German vampire. And similarly, a Laotian Kuei-Jin may not be the same as a Viet Namese Kuei-Jin. How they’re named and the funny mechanics and nuances of how they work will change, but in spirit, they’ll be the same creature.

To be honest, I think the choice might be interesting. For those that think they’d rather Cainites just be the standard kind of vampire in the World of Darkness. Whether they play normal Cainites, or whatever name that will be chosen in place of Kuei-Jin that’s more culturally relevant and sensitive. Some people may prefer that no such creatures as what the Kuei-Jin are, exist, and everything just be more compatibly V:tM, but set in Asia. Others may like the idea of the vampire as depicted as a returned from the dead creature with a more Buddhist or Taoist point of view. Some people would just like to be included and not have the baggage of Asia just being obligatory Kuei-Jin territory.

Whatever the solution, we kind of need more game fans internationally. People that know their own homeland and language and geography and regional folklore and what sort of metaphysics and mythology it’s based on, and if they’d prefer the conventional antediluvian vampire clans, or the Hungry Ghost types.

To date, the reason why V:tM avoided even talking about Cainites even going further into Asia is because of the stigmas associated with Westerners writing fiction in Asia- to do so opens the author up to all sorts of criticism, real or knee-jerk, that they’re just doing it wrong. Sometimes by actually doing it wrong, sometimes it’s considered wrong on the basis of it being a white person doing it, whether educated and culturally sensitive, or not.

Whether you prefer Kuei-Jin or some more modern, cleaned up, less Weeaboo version of them as they are, or you’d like to see more Cainite style vampires making history in the World of Darkness across Asia, and supernatural night life across Asia, we could definitely use more Asian player and gamers input on this. The vast majority of the writers and staff for this western game will, unavoidably, be white and derived from Europeans. Just by virtue of the majority population where they live, and whom are already fans of WoD. But this just means fans internationally are needed now, more than ever. If only to put your input into it, and if you like it, rubber stamp the initiative. The loudest voices that will decry a thing will be doing it largely because it’s a western depiction of anything Asian in culture, and reason it can’t be done properly, only exploitatively and abusively, based purely on that fact.

That’s kind of the problem the game faces right now, and it’s one I think we, in the era of social media and multinational tabletop gamers, fiction and pulp readers and appreciators from a plethora of backgrounds, can work out.

But that’s the issue the Kuei-Jin face in modern WoD, and kind of what worked up to why they didn’t function with the rest of it. It can’t all just be attributed to insensitive white westerners. Some of it was just being swept up in a trend, some of it was well meaning respect towards native folklore to not justmake it Eurocentrism elsewhere, some of it was limitation of experiences.

Hope this helps. It’s by no means definitive and I encourage further research on your own about the subject.

#Kuei-Jin #World of Darkness #Vampire: the Masquerade #90s #old games made modern

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korraly · 2 years

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Out of My System

Idea One: I’ll Be Anything You What You Want Me to Be

Narcisse Lebohang Baarsma - True Shapeshifter

Maddeson - Wood Elf?

Bunnie - Jackalope Spirt Shifter

Background: Beginning

Alrun School for The Magically Attuned, established in 1632 by Minke (m) Vossius and Henny (f) Barlaeus. It served to educate the children of any race with a spark of magic in their veins. It was a little shocking that the Vossius family played a part in running the school, but it was later explained when Minke Vossius and Henny Barlaeus had children and produced a few Spirit Shifters, shifters capable of magic. Or at least, that was what those of the more modern era understood of the school’s history. And, I was sent there when I was 12.��

It was sometime in 2014 when Vine captured the sight of something unimaginable. A teenage boy’s older brother turned into a giant dog. The kid was named Haze Sanna and he was a mildly popular creator on the platform. A funny guy with an above average face. I remembered watching a video of his once or twice as I was only in the 6th grade when the news broke out.

The media went into a frenzy for weeks. Some claimed that it was superb editing, many messaging the kid for a connection to who made the alleged “man turns into giant dog” effect. All of the jokes and speculation turned into dead silence when the Head of the U.N. stood alongside a stout woman and introduced her as the Procurator of the Concilium and the Primum Nomen Eius of the Order of Seers. It was later reiterated to me that it was fancy talk for head honcho to a council of every Other species on Earth and that she was a very old and very powerful oracle.

I didn’t think that something like that would affect me much. Didn’t care to think how the world would change because of it. I was still a kid. Still carrying around daydreams that some sexy vampire would fall in love with me someday and I’d live out my own Twilight. And most of my peers didn’t think much differently. The romantics held similar dreams like mine. About turning into shifters or becoming magical. A fantasy world come to life. The more pessimistic would pull up articles that speculated on the dangers of these Others and even more were still taking it all in.

Things only felt different after my entire collège was forced to watch a broadcast. The Procurator of the Concilium, Madame Deianira Barr, addressed the Norms:

“Hello, my name is Deianira Barr. A name is something which is sacred in my world, so I hope you can understand the importance of my speech. Your leaders have already given addresses concerning their prior knowledge of our existence and you’ve been introduced to a few ranking members of the Concilium. While I understand the outrage and confusion this truth has caused the world, I am not here to address those concerns. I am here to explain what will be happening in the coming months.

In the past, it was your connections and your bloodline that gave you power and status. It has changed to be money as the rise of capitalism has spread across the world. But, the revelation of my people has added another source of power and status some will seek to find.

I am talking about the existence of Magicae which is inherent in all of my people to varying degrees and displays. Some will find ways to illegally obtain which they don’t have. Instead of denying outright the access to Magicae the Concilium and I have decided to screen for it.

This will not be mandatory but highly suggested. This test will allow us to inform anyone of their Magicae potential or if they have a genetic compatibility for new statuses such as becoming a shifter or a vampire. This test will be equal parts magicis and scientific. The magicis part of the test will allow us to connect you to established members of my community, who will have the option to contact you and invite you into their fold. This will ease the transition for those who wish to connect to their Magicae side. And for those who test positive but do not wish to change their status, you will be directed to a specialist who will help you lock away your Magicae. There are no side effects to this operation and will be done for those who wish to legally remain as a…Norm as the media has termed it…”

There was much more to the speech, but it devolved into technical speak and introducing the heads of the main races. The palatable ones to the Norm population. There were even Hunters in the meeting. Those dedicated to eradicating the Other population. They would no longer be able to hunt freely without just cause. The ones that were known for only hunting Improbos, an Other who had broken the Lex of the Concilium, were announcing the establishment of their private and public services. There would be new departments in police stations and the training would be handled by the Hunters. Some of the guilds, many of which masqueraded as private security, would be announcing their specialized skill sets publicly in the next coming months.

All of it setting up a new normal for Others and Norms alike to live with. The beginnings of these transitions were crystal clear. I felt it was only once it came to people’s doorsteps that they began to understand how different the world was becoming.

A paper was sent home with me after school that day. A permission slip for my testing to be done at school. My mother and I talked at length about it. There was a sense of hesitation in my mother.

She didn’t know much about her family, and didn't know much about my own biological father. All my life it had been the two of us, settled comfortably on the lower end of middle class. I went to a decent public school and my mother worked a 9-5 job. Nothing too special or extraordinary. I wanted to be tested, my brain conjuring up daydreams of fairies and magic. I wanted to become a real life Elsa. My mother, on the other hand, was inclined to allow it. A chance to connect us to her unknown family or even my biological father.

I believe now that she only signed the permission slip because of that. On the off chance that she had mothered a child that was Other even if she was not. In the hope that I would be a ticket to the family she thought she didn’t have.

The day of the testing was…stressful. The atmosphere of the school was filled with chaotic energy. The adults were uncomfortable by having Others near them and knowing about it. My classmates and I radiated different degrees of emotions causing one major headache for those sensitive to it. Some were excited. Some were fearful. Some were apprehensive. The entire school was being tested save a few individuals who skipped completely. It made sense since the school decided to dedicate an entire day to the event.

We all stood outside in the hallways in a line. Entering in one at a time for the DNA swab. My eyes were glued to the doorway. My nerves or something else entirely had me hyperfocus upon it. I noticed how some would enter and exit within moments before gathering in loose clumps. Others would take several moments that felt like hours before being escorted by a teacher to another area. It was a clear signal. Those who came out quickly didn’t have any Magicae potential and those who did were escorted elsewhere.

I wanted my results to be that I had Magicae. That I was someone special and different. All through elementary school and the 6th grade, I felt dreadfully average. It didn’t matter if I was smart or charming. There was always someone who had some quirk about them. Something that made them stand out to teachers and friends. I suppose my predicament was due to my standoffish shell. Something I learned to use when confronted with strangers, people I wasn’t sure would be good to me. Or perhaps, the mere fact I wasn’t happy with myself. That seemingly silly feeling some grew out of in collège or didn’t.

I wished we had been allowed to talk whilst waiting. It would’ve made the next moments of my life easier. In fact, I sometimes wonder if it would’ve made the next six years of my life easier. But what ifs and maybes can only be useful for drunken stupors and daydreams after all.

When it was finally my turn, the hired security officer opened the door and the teacher across from him gave me a reassuring smile. I nodded back at the teacher before being ushered in. The testing was being held in the gym and I looked to my left to see the pop-up lab they had constructed over the past week. There were a number of officers guarding the entrance to the gym and the lab. All of them seemed…different to me. It was the first time I had been that close to an Other and I could feel it. I didn’t know if everyone could, like it was some buried natural instinct in humans. The thought only made me more nervous. Nobody had talked about what would happen afterwards.

It was easy to think that if I didn’t have any Magicae potential that I would return to my classmates. A few jokes, a little bit of teasing were to be expected, but in the end I would return to being me. A simple 6th grade girl with fewer daydreams clouding her head.

It really wasn’t until I stood at the entrance of the gym that I began to think about what it would mean to have Magicae potential. To be one of the few students escorted back to some unknown location. Knowing the only promise we had been given was that at the end of the day we would return home.

I didn’t realize I had stood frozen in one place for several minutes until a woman in a lab coat approached me. She knelt down in front of me and I sensed that similar…offness that radiated from the bulk of the guards. Surprisingly, she didn’t make me nervous. Perhaps, it was the gentleness in her gaze or that she wasn’t in uniform like an officer. That was the first time I realized the power of clothes, the power of one’s image. I know now that she was capable of more harm, magicae wise, compared to the protective instincts which ruled the mostly Shifter guards. However, those wouldn’t be lessons I learned until years later.

She was patient with me. Talking to me like I was a sheltered animal, unsure of myself. And I was. I had enough conviction at 11 years old to go through with the testing, but I was nervous about the results. The excitement and the beauty of possibilities paled in comparison to the raw realness that was in front of me. Magicae was something real. Something that could be felt. Something that could convince me that everything would be fine. It took the shape of a woman who knelt in front of me.

I never did get her name, at least not her actual name. In Other society, it is common for everyone to have knowledge of your nickname and your family name. Your True Name was something sacred. Something that could give certain Others control and power over you. She had a shiny name tag with the name “Dr. Noa Hisakawa” printed in a looping font.

She was the one who guided me through all the procedures, the entire time treating me like a startled foal prone to running away if pushed. I held a begrudging amount of awe and dislike for her during those initial moments. Here was this shining brilliant woman, but she held herself too far from me. Another thing I experienced for the first time, an Other who believed themselves inherently above me. Above any of the people brought beyond the veil during those initial years. In retrospect, she had the decency to be polite about it in front of a kid.

Background Part 2:

The exact procedures that they used in order to test for magicae and the gene capability are lost to me as it has been over ten years since it happened. Despite that, I can clearly remember the exact moment when something strange occurred. I was sitting in front of Dr. Hisakawa as she waited for my results on a computer when she seemed to freeze. As a child, I didn’t recognize the subtle emotions that flickered in her gaze, but I understood that something made her different.

No longer was she this refined woman, this creature of otherworldly power and grace that stood above me. She didn’t look at me like that. She looked at me like I was the different one, the one that was an unknown entity to her normal life. Dr. Hisakawa called over another one of her people. In an instance my hearing was obstructed. It was like someone held my head under water as any sound that managed to enter my ear was echoed and unclear.

I strained to hear them talk as my heart threatened to beat out of my chest. I didn’t know what was going on and I came to realize that the fear of the unknown was one of the worst to experience. I was only able to hear the pair of them mention words like “improbable,” “fey,” “bloodline,” and “Alpha protocol.” And, I can say to this day I still don’t understand the specifics of it.

Dr. Hisakawa made a hand movement and I winced as my hearing returned to normal. I stared at her as my body started to come down from the earlier adrenaline rush. I wanted to ask her questions about what she said to the man, but that previous flicker of emotion kept me from speaking then. She turned from the computer and I noted the hesitation she had as she walked towards me.

We both stared at each other for the longest time. I didn’t have a single clue as to what was happening and she didn’t have any inclination to inform me. She broke eye contact with me and walked away. I was left alone for what felt like eternity before another person in a lab coat approached me. The air that they had was much more comforting to me, but I subconsciously couldn’t observe them too closely. As an Unawakened Other, this phenomena meant that that person’s magicae was similar to mine but due to them being extremely powerful my self preservation prevented me engaging them. This was apparently something that should have happened with Dr. Hisakawa and me.

This other person escorted me through another exit of the gym. I didn’t leave the way I came. They were about to leave me in an empty classroom with a couple of guards when I somehow found the courage to ask. “What does Alpha protocol mean?” I had my gaze fixed on the wall, unable to look at them despite seeking answers.

“Alpha protocol here means that you need to be secured for your own and other’s safety,” they explained.

By the time, I was able to move my gaze from the wall to where they once stood. The other person was gone. I stood there and felt a shiver run up and down my spine. It was suddenly extremely cold and I felt exposed standing out alone in that hall. One of the guards guided me into the empty room and made a vague mention of waiting for my mother to arrive.

#trashbin #writing #abandoned #Subducere

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dizzydancingdreamer · 4 years

Text

Men who I think would be soft for their baby for no other reasons than because I want them to be, in no particular order but still numbered ten to one because I like countdowns...

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I really do be out here exposing myself for a few of these men but I don’t care I don’t need “proof” or “common sense” or “just plain survival instincts” I just need men who are uncharacteristically soft for their babies

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Don’t come at me this is for FUN

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Part two

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10. Gally

Did some bad things, some were his fault and some weren’t, who is rough around the edges, has superiority issues, and needs a therapist more than a girl

STILL SOFT FOR HIS BABY

Higher up in a revolutionary movement and still goes to bed early to cuddle his baby

She sits on his lap during meals and he fights everyone who says anything

Fights anyone who even looks at her wrong

Tells her he loves her at least three times before he leaves on missions without her

When she goes with him he’s literally next to her the entire time

Does not let her go for hours when they finally get back to base

So fucking soft for her and only her

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9. Finnick Odair

Good guy who feels like he has to be bad in order to stay alive but falls a little bit in love with it for a little too long

Begged her to move in with him after his games

Let her decorate the entire house however she wanted

Writes her love notes before every time he goes to the capital

Cries to her when he comes home every single time

When she has to go into the games he volunteers immediately even though he technically isn’t allowed and pulls strings with President Snow to be able to fight

So he literally kills for her

And makes sure she never has to fight

Marries her and tells Coin he won’t fight, stays alive for his baby

10/10 soft as fuck

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8. Stephen Strange

Narcissistic doctor Avenger who uses the phone while driving

This is the one I have the least proof for but I’m 110% sure when he isn’t wearing the cape he has his baby wrapped around him like a backpack

Crumbles for his baby, I’m talking to his knees, overwhelmed by how pretty and beautiful and wonderful she is, hugging her around the waist

Loves the feeling of her fingers through his hair

Brings her to every Avengers Gala and practically begs her to leave early so they can go cuddle and eat pizza

Gets so scared whenever he has to do something dangerous

Drops what he’s doing when she calls him, has told off Steve and Tony (don’t start with me) and everyone else

Peter called him a simp once and after he googled it he looked him dead in the eyes and agreed and then packaged one of the donuts Bucky brought in for his baby and then took it and left

Man is SOFT

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7. Vincent Griffith

Reformed witch who frequently gets addicted to dark sacrificial magic and makes choices that are just this side of morally corrupt

Has skipped so many meetings as regent that he probably shouldn’t even be regent anymore

The king of date night, dancing, fine dining, jazz music, picnics, midnight rituals

Plans every little detail and gets Josh and Davina to help him

Uses magic to close down entire restaurants for the perfect night

Always holds her hand and sits her in the front row of his coven meetings and pauses the meetings accidentally when he glances over to her and she gives him a thumbs up and he has to literally stop and smile

Holds her purse without her having to ask, will go to seven different restaurants when she changes her mind on where to eat, hexes people who harm her

Big softie

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6. Indiana Jones

Literally a womanizing grave robber with very few morals

Has filled museums with all the things he has STOLEN

Would still protect his baby from booby traps though

Dresses her up and takes her out everywhere

Cancels class whenever she asks and more often than not when she doesn’t

Would be closer to the snakes so that she won’t have to be

Wouldn’t even think about yelling even when in mortal danger, even when it’s her fault for putting them in that situation

Answers every question even though she’s asked the same question a thousand times

Can’t sleep without her at all

I’m not sorry, he’s soft

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5. Will Turner

Most feared and ruthless pirate on the sea

Torched a town once because his baby was treated a little too cold by a few too many people

Literally would and has fought a life altering curse for her and won

Kills so many people and still goes to bed early to cuddle in the captain’s quarters

Lets her walk all over the ship in his shirt and watches from behind the wheel, has thrown a man or two overboard when they stare too long

She didn’t even notice

Plays with her on the beach whenever she wants even if it hinders the plans of the crew

Softie alert

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4. Elijah Mikaelson

A one thousand year old+ elitist vampire with slight anger issues who has zero reason to fall in love with a plain mortal woman

But there is no way that is going to stop me

Would rip literal hearts out for his baby until he is soaked with blood

Oh, she stubbed her toe at the bar?

The bar is now torched to the ground along with everyone inside

It’s for his baby

Rebuilds the bar for her, puts it in her name, now it’s her bar and she’s making a shit ton of money

Buys her so many things, even when she says no, especially when she says no

All she has to do is pout and it’s game over

Has left so many business meetings for her that it is insane

Once bought her a chair seat at Disney because she said she liked Tangled one time and now she makes important decisions she is not qualified to make

He’s soft, soft, soft

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3. Eric Coulter

A leader of a terrorist radical government who has outright anger issues and hates people who are different from him

BUUUUUT wouldn’t yell at his baby who is probably from Amity and probably got tricked into being in Dauntless

Lets her sleep in his room because fuck the training quarters that’s sus as hell (even though he’s the one who arranged the training quarters)

Lets her skip all the fighting and does not give a fuck when he gets called out for it, will literally abuse all special privileges

Would probably do the training simulation for her and tell her how to beat it

Trails behind her wherever she goes, holds her hand in the cafeteria, has her on his lap when he gets tattoos

Lets her visit home whenever she wants and threatens anyone who says other wise

HE’S SOFT I JUST KNOW IT OKAY

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2. Kylo Ren

Kinda evil Supreme leader of the galaxy who has killed many people, including his dad, some who deserved it and some who did not

But wouldn’t even yell at his baby-- would cry if she cried

She sleeps in his bed and when Hux calls him out on it he breaks a desk and then almost kills him

She walks around the ship and he follows her like a puppy and chokes people out when he hears them call him a puppy in their heads

Gives her everything she wants and more, surprises her all the time

Surprise trips to beach planets and fancy events

Once he gave her a whole ass planet

Always hugging her no matter who is around and what is going on,

The softest supreme leader in the galaxy

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1. Thomas Shelby

A literal deadly mob boss who shoots first and asks questions never

Would 110% kill for his lady (and has killed for his lady)

Sexy as fuck, looks good covered head to toe in blood

Yes, that deserved a point

Soft as fuck for his baby, would shoot a gun and then turn around and listen to her talk about what she wants to knit for their baby

Has paused important mob meetings because his baby wanted to gossip about what Dolly said to her at church four Sundays ago that she forgot to tell him

Keeps her as far removed from the lifestyle as possible even when that means he has to remove himself from it at points to be with her

Has skipped so many poker games without being asked purely because he wants to go home and hug his wife

He is the MOST SOFT

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#thomas shelby #elijah mikaelson #kylo ren #stephen strange #indiana jones #gally tmr #gally #eric coulter #will turner #vincent griffith #finnick odair #The Hunger Games #the vampire diaries #the originals #star wars #the avengers #divergent #the maze runner #the pirates of the caribbean

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