#condemned witch

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL: Round 2, Group B

Match 6

please use this as a chance to talk about why you like your girl, instead of being negative about either

Propaganda under the cut!

Darklord Ixchel

Shes such a bad bitch look at her

Condemned Witch

She literally could not catch a break during the forbidden items line of cards, but at least she has two gfs to match with her link form stole from God Himself FOUR times. iconic behavior honestly

[supernerddaniel]

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It took 3000 years, but I finally got Witch’s Strike to resolve against another player! It’s pretty finicky about what counts as actually setting it off, but it’s SOOOOO satisfying to just wipe out your opponent’s entire field and hand with it

The fact that I did this to a Magical Musket player just makes it all the sweeter, haha

[himlis]

I had to

totally agree with Donnie

[ghurab-alzilal]

Journey Through Multiverse II

Damian, talking with Batman 666 : So, you gave your soul to the demon and that gave you immortality.

Batman 666: That's right, I can even use a couple of magic tricks.

Damian: Cool.

Raven: Damian Thomas Wayne Al Ghul, don't even think about it.

Damian: What?

Raven: Swear to me that under no circumstances will you sell your soul to the demon.

Batman 666: Too late Witch Girl, he, like me, has already eternally bound his soul to the demon and that is not going to change.

Raven: Not if I can help it.

Damian, confused : Wait what? I haven't even been in contact with a-

Batman 666: *winks*

Damian, looks closely at Batman 666 who is looking at Raven and, after thinking about it for a while, turns to Raven and nods : He's right. My soul belongs to the demon and what's worse I gave it for free. But I do not regret.

*Damian and Raven get into a heated argument*

Raven: I'll find a way to undo it!

Damian: You can't.

Raven: No Damian! Why? At what point did you do it?

Damian: The moment I met you.

Raven: Wait what?

Damian and Batman 666: *smiling with the same smile*

Raven: *blushes*

Batman 666, smirking : The White Witch will never believe me when I tell her this.

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4

Based on this AU by @chaosticbirds

[heitechen]

now choosing your fredric march

[screamingwiththewolves]

I need to remind everybody that the witchcraft trials involved sexual assault as part of the "investigation" part of the trial. I just feel like that's not discussed enough.

[lemmaeof]

every time someone talks about what a "good arc" guel had I think about the fact that the ship he worked on as Bob was named after a fictional dog who abandoned a happy life to go back to its abusive former family at a moment's notice

[arbitrarygreay]

Who has two thumbs and is back on their "defending Alder" bullshit?

Something I love about the show is the way that everything is multifaceted. Most everyone's actions get to be a blend of righteous, self-serving, justified, and both productive and counter-productive all simultaneously, because that's how it is in real life.

In this post we are examining S1, the unavoidable way narrative and world-building intersects, which is that the beginning of the show is a permanent turning point of change in that world. The question then becomes why this specific year? There a relatively stable status quo to be disrupted in the first place, so what changed for it to set the stage for revolution?

Since this is a "defending Alder" post, we must answer the implicit questions in Anacostia's statement from 1x9: "I've known Alder since I was a kid. I've seen her make hundreds of tough calls. But never like this. Never with such disregard for the cost of her actions."

What changed this particular year that was not the case throughout Anacostia's lifetime? Obviously one could assume that Alder was actually this corrupt the whole time and Anacostia just never saw it in person before, but even Petra wasn't perturbed by Citydrop, only moving to action when she learned about Scylla (and, of course, the unit end up making the same call later with Penny). So Citydrop isn't really the thing. Especially when in 1x2 General Clary actually faults Alder for not being more extreme and ruthless after losing her daughter. It's not even the telling of lies to everyone about The Spree executing the hostages, because President Wade made the same call twice (the second being Nicte's execution) to uphold those lies to the public while Alder stepped down. Well, there is Alder's total dismissal of rehabilitating Scylla, but I feel like she has a point because Scylla carried out the damn mall massacre and also Porter's suicide. As with how Wade treated Nicte, a pardon should not have been on the table.

The thing that was almost undeniably corrupt in S1 was Alder puppeting President Wade. Not only was it violating the Hague's laws and the ethics for which those laws were made, but she did it to prevent her retirement, and increased her authority while at it. When combined with the reveals of S2 (Alder keeping the Spree around as a convenient enemy), there are some real "Chancellor Palpatine grants himself war powers" vibes.

And yet. The details that go unsaid in that paragraph. Was there something new that made Alder decide that she could not let her trusted subordinates take up the torch, that she had to handle it all personally? Let's work backwards (and also set aside aforementioned General Clary saying they should move to more extreme methods, does this not apply). What came before that order to retire? Well, before we get to the defense, there is an accusation of Alder hoarding information from the chain of command, which is also extremely fair, and an issue she repeats in S2. There's Citydrop again, which we discussed above.

But then. The Tarim. The entire purpose of the meeting from Alder's end was to ask Wade for permission to save the Tarim. Wade denied that permission before she transitioned into everything else. So, when Alder puppeted Wade, yes she blocked her own retirement, and yes, she increased her own authority. But what does that increase actually entail? What did Alder change from her power before? To now be able to take action globally at her discretion. What did she do in the immediate aftermath of that power grab? A disproportional retaliation against the Spree and Dodgers, as she did in Liberia? No. Alder used her new powers to create a Tarim rescue mission, at the risk of causing geopolitical strife with Russia and China. And did she sit back on her throne and let her war meat carry out her will from a distance? No, she decided that for this specific mission, she needed to go herself. Not the decisive and final strike against the Spree that she also made Wade talk about, but this rescue.

So, Alder's desperation to save the Tarim played more of a role in her corrupt puppeting than The Spree. Let's keep working backwards. She set that meeting up with Wade to plead the case for the Tarim mission. What happened before that? She expressed the intent to have that meeting to Khalida and Adil. Before that? She learned about the state of the Tarim from Petra, and then dismissed the existence of the Camarilla. So, at this point in time, Alder really was focused on the Tarim above concerns about Russia/China or the Spree (in the US), much less the Camarilla.

Still working backwards, what's next in that Tarim thread? Alder met Khalida in the greenhouse after she was healed of the Witchplague. Now, this is operating very much on interpreting Lyne's acting in that scene, but there is a vibe that Alder wanted to interact with Khalida as a child, as she does the Fosterlings. When she first tries to sing with Khalida, her demeanor doesn't mirror how witches look when performing military techniques, but instead matches how Alder looks as she sings a lullaby to the Tarim boy in 1x10. Singing with Khalida wasn't just about gaining an asset, but a social activity.

Speaking of 1x10, Alder is specific and consistent in how she speaks about her sharing of Seeds (as she would do with the Tarim songs). She saw that the Veil Of Secrecy state that the Tarim maintained is an extension of how apparently all witches were before Alder acted out on the scaffold. Alder knows from experience that that security through obscurity is untenable. Only by going public could she create the kind of stable witch's place that did not exist in history before then. She permanently changed the paradigm of who did the hunting. It's very hard to argue with the claim that the world is a "better safer world" compared to the counterfactual where all witches continued to act like the Tarim for those 300+ years, despite militarization opening up novel avenues of corruption. Base rate fallacy strikes again! More people die now every second than they did the past, but that's also because we have billions more people now, too. The proportion of people dying now is so much lower (especially infant mortality). I bet, also, that by creating the Hague to regulate the interaction of witch militaries (basically, so we didn't have World War Witch all of the time), they even reduced non-witch losses to armed conflict compared to our world.

But that line of thinking applies to everyone and everything (like, in the future, the Witchbomb as asset). Why, then, is Alder focusing on the Tarim here to the exclusion of other groups that need help? In 1x10, she says, "The Tarim and their songs, they're the last surviving link to something I thought was gone forever." In 1x6, she says, "The songs your people sing remind me of those my own family carried for centuries." This puts her enthusiasm to sing with Khalida in a whole new light. Sharing the song is a way to relive that familial connection (Eliot says as much in After the Storm 1x3).

But if we go further back, there's a startling reversal in Alder's position on the Tarim. She discouraged proliferating any information on them. In 1x4, she told Petra to focus on the Spree (it's only in 1x9 that they learned those hunting the Tarim were the same people who attacked the Bellweathers), that the Tarim were classified. And, of course, we complete our backtrack of this thread in 1x3's Hague council. Ironically, here Alder advocates for what she will puppet Wade for in the future, telling everyone to stand down in order to avoid geopolitical conflict. This is after being told that children and elderly are dying. Yes, Sharma insinuates that it's so Alder can go after them herself, but Alder's later discouraging of Petra to do anything about them shows the truth of Alder's intent. Before that, Alder extremely notably supports the Tarim not be militarized (which therefore shows in hindsight that she did actually learn from the Martyrdom!!!), directly after she exclaims that the Tarim's song was something she recognized on a visceral level ("in my blood"). After hearing their potential military asset rare Seed, Alder was still all for the Tarim's self-determination to die without compromising on their ideals. Not until Adil and Khalida seek their help does Alder decide that they (and their songs) need preservation.

So, we have completed winding back through the season, and what is the seed that will eventually grow into Alder grabbing power by puppeting the president? That she heard something precious, reminding her of her own family. In the 1600s, Sarah Alder destroyed a status quo that had lasted for millenia in order to prevent losing such things ever again. Was that a power grab, too?

[azurescaled]

Last night I thought about Serina tormenting a town when she's burned at the stake.

[papirouge]

there are no words strong enough to express how much I LOATHE this trend of Christians calling any stupid fantasy story "allegory of Christ" just SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUPPPPPP

Wanna see Christ? Just READ YOUR BIBLE for once and ditch those demonic fantasy books and Netflix

[bluarlequinno]

Anthy Himemiya and Elphaba Thropp give me same vibes and i could elaborate, but i won't, hope it makes sense

Also Homura to an extent as well, if analyzed in a certain way she definitely fits within their vibe

I hope this makes sense to someone lol

[deathdxnces]

thinking about this... about the resistance growing so much she no longer recognized everyone following her leadership. about people coming from all over ionia, places she never even heard of, to follow her. about how she still takes the time to address anyone who greets her...

[stylistic-nightmare]

Angel Witch - Condemned

[mossy-opal]

The flames lick at my feet

Their hearts full of hate

What they don't understand, they condemn

What they can't comprehend must meet its end

But I won't scream, won't give them that satisfaction

No, I won't confess my false interaction

As I breathe deep and prepare for my passing

I hear them chant, "Burn the witch!"

[lucybellwood]

Lemme tell you a gay little story about an eagle.

Our town (~9,000 people) has a couple garages, but there's a big one on the main drag. My family has been going there for decades. I drive past it every day.

There used to be a huge pine tree on the corner of their lot, but last year it became a hazard and had to be taken down.

Shortly thereafter I drive by and see they've hired a guy to chainsaw sculpt the stump into a bald eagle.

Birds own my heart, but nationalism makes me twitchy. I withhold outright condemnation of the eagle, but I'm skeptical. (The original owner—an objectively Good Dude—sold the business to a younger couple a few years ago, and I don't have any knowledge of their whole deal.)

Then it turns out someone on staff is really into making costumes for the eagle. Every holiday. Every month. Stuffed turkey, witch costume, menorah headpiece, bunny ears. These people love to dress their bird.

The changing of the eagle suit becomes a source of joy every time I drive through town.

Until June, when the eagle is bare.

Now look, maybe I'm expecting too much asking my garage to celebrate Pride. But this is a small town. Every time I drive by that stupid eagle—this thing that has previously brought me so much joy—I feel hurt. I feel reminded that there are plenty of people in my liberal bubble who don't consider my community worthy of celebration. I drive to work, I feel bad. I drive home, I feel bad. The eagle is mocking me.

Then my A/C quits working.

So I book an appointent to bring my car in—and realize what I have to do.

I pick all this up at a thrift store for under ten bucks. I print the shirt with some weird heat-transfer fabric crayons I find in a cupboard. I loop gold elastic around the sunglasses and pray they'll fit on the eagle's head. (It is also important to draw your attention to the price of the feather boa.)

(Nice.)

My reasoning is thus: if I show up with a complete costume ready to go, someone will have to look me in the eye and say "We don't believe in that," at which point I'll be finding a new garage. But if they let me dress the eagle, then people in town get to have the joy I've been missing since the start of the month.

I listen to a lot of hype-up jams on my way over. I hate confrontation. I also don't wanna have to find another garage. I want to believe that this decision isn't actively antagonistic, but I'm not particularly hopeful.

I talk through the A/C issue with the guy at the desk, hand over my keys, then take a deep breath.

"Who's in charge of the eagle?"

"Oh, that's all Dylan. Second bay from the end."

I walk down the row of hydraulic lifts and find a disarmingly smiley middle-aged man pouring fluid through a funnel. I introduce myself and explain that, since the Pride parade is this Sunday and the eagle seems to be missing a costume, I have taken the liberty of making one myself, and can I get his blessing to go put it on?

Dylan grins this absolutely giant grin and goes

"Oh hell yeah."

So that's what's up now.

Happy Pride.

[abigailunderthemoon]

The Professor would have believed Luke about his gender and helped Susan and Peter get there while Edmund was being a transphobe and trying to get them to reject him.

“How do you know,” he asked, “that your sibling’s story is not true?”

“Oh, but -” began Susan, and then stopped. Anyone could see from the old man’s face that he was perfectly serious. Then Susan pulled herself together and said, “But Edmund said she was making things up.”

“That is a point,” said the Professor, “which certainly deserves consideration; very careful consideration. For instance - if you will excuse me for asking the question - does your experience lead you to regard your brother or your youngest sibling as the more reliable? I mean, which is more truthful?”

“That’s just the funny thing about it, sir,” said Peter. “Up until now, I’d have said Lucy every time.”

“And what do you think, my dear?” said the Professor, turning to Susan.

“Well,” said Susan, “in general, I’d say the same as Peter, but this couldn’t be true - all this about gender not being determined by outward appearance at birth.”

“That is more than I know,” said the Professor, “and a charge of lying against someone whom you have always found truthful is a very serious thing; a very serious thing indeed.”

“We were afraid it mightn’t even be lying,” said Susan. “We thought there might be something wrong with Lucy.”

“Madness, you mean?” said the Professor quite coolly. “Oh, you can make your minds easy about that. One has only to look at them and talk to them to see that they are not mad.”

“But then,” said Susan, and stopped. She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn’t know what to think.

“Logic!” said the Professor, half to himself. “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sibling is telling lies, or they are mad, or they are telling the truth. You know they don’t tell lies and it is obvious that they are not mad. For the moment then, and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that they are telling the truth.”