#doesn't necessarily mean the other person will change for you and you can either accept them or let them go

[quietlyblooms]

i’m home and getting ready to crawl on here… i crave tension and yearning and emotional vulnerability so let’s see what i can do hehe

[lcvescountdown]

we can look at "promise me you won't change" + "i won't" + the breakup in many different ways.

one, caitlyn never explicitly promised that she wouldn't change. it might have been implied, but at this point we don't actually know for sure.

two, vi says that everyone else in her life has changed and doesn't want cait to either. however, cait has already changed. ever since jinx pulled the trigger, cait has been different. maybe her grief and trauma hadn't clearly manifested yet at that point, but she clearly was not the same person anymore and was already going down a darker path.

three, most people who are blinded by grief don't even realize they have changed, or they can't see beyond their anger to comprehend the weight of their actions. people don't make decisions based off logic and facts. they make decisions based off emotion. when cait accepted the role, she probably could not even think about anything beyond her mother in that coffin. she definitely wasn't thinking rationally and consciously aware of vi's promise.

i also want to mention that saying invalidating someone's trauma and grief because they come from a privileged background/their trauma is "not as bad" is disgusting. caitlyn's actions are wrong. it's the truth. but saying that her actions aren't necessarily justified because she didn't go through experiences as bad as other characters isn't right. for caitlyn, this is the most traumatic moment in her life. for someone else, it might not be. but just because everyone's life is different doesn't mean her pain and trauma has less value and isn't real. this also plays the theme that no one is inherently evil or good, which is something the show really emphasizes.

[antimony-medusa]

Okay so.

Look. At this point I am old and I am tired and I am pretty firmly coming down on write what you want just archive lock it or something and tag it please. If I am hitting tropes or trends or ships that don't do it for me, I can simply click away and my day is not ruined. Cancellation is not on my radar at all. Okay. So. With that out of the way.

Look. Sometimes, when you are pushing the boundary of platonic possessive and platonic kink-adjacent stuff, if you lead special emphasis on the fact that everybody involved is related, it doesn't necessarily make it magically more platonic. It just gives it extra vibes. Specifically you are like STRONGLY invoking incest as a kink right now, my guys. This is getting dire. Like I'm sorry but if someone is lying down half asleep listening to the "sounds of kissing" and one of the people doing the kissing keeps saying how good of a brother the other person is, like, you can smack a "platonic kissing" tag on that one all you like, and I can even follow you on a faith journey and believe that you intended that to be platonic, but uh, the first reading of that one is distinctly like— man, please. I'm dying here.

In the same way that if you have an interaction— say, you did a cuddle-potion fic, and you say to yourself "man these guys are getting handsy, if they're both dating age this would look kinda sketchy'' so your solve is to make one of them twelve and then suddenly you have made your slightly off-colour fic take on a whole new tone— in the same way that making one of the characters underage isn't a magic button you can press to make something fully platonic no matter what, making your characters related isn't going to make it magically platonic if they are say, all in the same bed and one of the characters is feeling the mattress move as his brother and father cuddle each other and say how much they love each other.

This isn't even an isolated incident. Please.

If you are looking at your interaction and going "man this kinda looks like ship" and you want to make sure people don't think it's ship, aging down the character isn't a magic solve, and making them related isn't a magic solve, not when the rest of the tropes you are pulling from are pulled directly from romance and porn. You just invoked a DIFFERENT kink on top of the first one you had. Like you might not know that that's where the tropes come from but guys. Please. The solve for this scene is either changing it substantially until it no longer looks like ship, accepting that it looks off but you don't mean it that way and go "if people misunderstand this it's not my problem" or maybe considering the option that what you want to write is ship. I keep hitting this stuff and going "are you SERIOUS" and then it gets worse.

Or maybe, idk, you're specifically into all the people being related like that. You do you, the contents of your Ao3 account is not hurting anyone. But in that case please for the love of GOD can you please consider tagging it?

[pomrania]

Smaugust: "from a book"

For Smaugust I am drawing cats as dragons. If you want me to draw your cat as a dragon, reblog this post with a photo of your cat, as well as the cat's name included in the body of the post. Read below the cut for full details; it's the same as in previous years.

This particular post is accepting requests so long as it's still 1 August 2024 somewhere in the world. If it's no longer that date, check my blog to see if there's a current post.

If there's a particular dragon (other than Smaug) from a book, which you'd like me to draw your cat as, tell me what it is, giving enough information that I can look up what that dragon looks like. Otherwise, I shall interpret the prompt ("from a book") however seems best for the image at hand.

One request per person per day, and only one cat per request. It is acceptable, and even encouraged, to make a request for every day of Smaugust.

Cats will be dragonified in accordance with the theme for the day, given in the post's title. I'm using the prompts from @pencilcat's list, although not necessarily in the given order.

Non-cats are allowed so long as you provide reasons why the animal in question is actually totally a cat.

Check the date given at the top of the post, to see if requests are open for it. Unless it's literally impossible, I'll be drawing and then posting every valid request I've received; however, sometimes that gets done once requests are closed for a post. So just because I reblog this post and add art to it, that doesn't necessarily mean it's okay to make your own request (doesn't necessarily mean that it's not okay, either).

One thing that's changed from last year: there won't be a post for every day in August. I'll be deciding each day whether I feel up to making a new post (and thus taking requests) at the moment, or if I need to work on the requests I still have, or take a rest. Since I can't guarantee that requests will be open for any given day, if you know ahead of time that you're not going to be available on certain days but you'd still like to see your cat drawn as a dragon, get in touch with me ahead of time, because I'd hate for anyone to have to miss out.

The deadline for requests on a particular post is "when it's no longer that day anywhere in the world". This is because I hate fiddling with time zones. If you're in the Americas, this means anywhere from a couple to a bunch of hours past midnight, depending on where you live; in Europe, it's longer than that; for the rest of the world, listen I don't actually know where the international date line is (if that's what it's called) and I don't care enough to look it up. In practice, the deadline is "whenever I get online the next day", unless I'm sufficiently annoyed or particular that I'll actually check the date stamps.

I'd prefer for you to only give me one picture per request that you want drawn as a dragon, because then I don't have to choose. However, it's perfectly okay to include extra photos if you just want to show off your cat; I'd just ask that if there's more than two of them, that you put them under a cut so they won't take up too much room on anyone's dash.

[cloversnstrawberries]

oc intro post ! ! older sister figure!platonic yandere!cupid

masterlist | requests open !

warnings; loneliness, Amedea is non-human and therefore doesn't understand humans much </3, kidnapping, imprisonment, soft yandere, this is rather tame all things considered, but if there's any other warnings you think i should add, please let me know!!

additional notes; my second OC!! i was planning to do the next voted character (slasher older brother), but got this idea and couldn't stop thinking about it,, so here she is!! older sibling yans are so underrated,, especially older sisters/sisters in general man :( i gotta change it, i gotta fix it

! ! introduction blurb & moodboard below the cut ! !

After doing something for so long, you're bound to get bored with it. Don't get her wrong-- it's still beautiful, watching love bloom as it does! Even if her domain is familial love, it's still beautiful nonetheless.

Contrary to popular belief, cupid isn't just one being. It isn't necessarily as job title, either; instead, born from one being, there are several different interconnected entities that make up Cupid as we know it. They all have domains to cover more ground, and Amedea oversees familial love.

She's the one in the hospitals, witnessing the looks of absolute adoration as a mother holds her child for the first time. She's the one in animal shelters, making people feel an unexplainable pull to a certain animal.

Amedea loves her position-- it's all she's ever known. It's all she will ever know, after all, it's what she was made for. Literally.

She never grew up, never had a family per se. It's painful, the ability to give this sort of euphoria, the euphoria of being held in your fathers arms as he comforts you after a nightmare,

But never being able to receive it. Never having the means to do so. Yes, her domain expands far beyond simple blood relatives; sometimes, she'll be the driving force between adoptions of both children and pets, she'll be the quiet reason that two friends are always mistaken as siblings out in public.

She can't be seen, though. Always there, sometimes in multiple places at once-- she can create pseudo-clones of herself, pulling pieces of herself to send off and help her with her duties.

Or, she thought she couldn't be seen.

And she really can't, not by anyone but you. She feels awful, the first time you met-- she'd fallen from her perch up in a tree in a local park, and you'd rushed to her aid.

Everybody looked at you like you were crazy-- some whispering cruel things behind your back, believing you to be talking to yourself.

She took your hand, and that'd sealed it. You were the first person, the first mortal being, to be able to see her. Not even animals could do that--

In her mind, that just proved that her little aches and pains of her lack of family was answered. Obviously, you were her younger sibling! Crafted perfectly just for her, for her to nurture and care for.

What do you mean you're already grown? That you don't have an older sister? That hurts her feelings, but she supposes it can't be helped. She's seen this before, this sort of attempt at distancing between ones self and their family.

You were a child to her. Even if you lived a remarkably long life-- hit the very limit of human existence, you'd still be a child to her. She's been around for so long, in different forms, under different names and appearances-- but that doesn't change any of it.

You're still her little sibling, and she'll still care for you. Even if you're a bit mean at first. That's okay. Not everyone can adjust to changes very well-- but you'll surely accept your new home soon, right? It had everything you needed,

and besides, Amedea was here. No matter what, she'd be there for you-- and she wishes you'd stop hearing that promise as a threat.

[titaniumions]

i think it's probably somewhat clear that i see isolde and kakania as lesbians (seems to be a common hc anyway) but i think i want to explore how that'd fit into their respective characterizations, not necessarily only from a shipping standpoint. note that this does get into headcanon territory, still i try to keep it as in-character as i can

i think kakania would actually be pretty open about it. in the 1910s?? i mean sure, she's already a controversy as she is ... an arcanist, an uncertified psychiatrist with unconventional methods, an outspoken member of society who stirs up public opinion. might as well give herself one more reason to be a subject of controversy. those who are set on hating her probably have no intention of changing that, so hey, might as well authentically be herself in every possible way including this. among those who have a more positive opinion about her, i do think this would make her somewhat of an icon. she draws other members of the community toward her. she lets them know that she is there for them and will fight for them. that they can turn to her and she will not scrutinize them for it. she'd tell them, no, there is nothing wrong with being this way. it isn't something you need to be "cured" from

in line with this, i think it would make sense for the "circle" to be a queer safe space. in fact, i like to think theophil himself could've been bi and thus would've accepted his sister's sexuality. but due to her own inhibitions (which i will touch upon later) i don't think isolde would ever have told him.

meanwhile for isolde ... i think it's more complicated. having a sexuality outside of the norm would be a deviation from the socially acceptable definition of the "perfect noble" she tries to be. so even if she were to ever consider it, she would simply end up pushing those thoughts away. no, not a chance. this shouldn't bother her at all. she's supposed to be perfect, yet she already has enough problems in her life as a member of the dittarsdorf family. considering the possibility of herself being anything but straight would lead to more problems, wouldn't it? and that's the last thing she needs. nonetheless she's ... never been attracted to a man either. but she tries not to think too much of it. maybe she just needs to wait it out. or so she tells herself

now to piece it all together ... i do really like the idea of kakania being her ... awakening. in fact i think it would make a lot of sense for her story, what with kakania being the metaphorical key to the doors that have always surrounded and confined isolde ... so hear me out. when isolde started associating with her and the circle she realized that it felt far less suffocating than ... pretty much any other aspect of her life. it's like a breath of fresh air. kakania in particular would fascinate isolde, in a way that makes isolde question things about herself. perhaps she even comes close to having a realization. but again, isolde remembers who she needs to be, and stops herself short.

eventually though, she would learn what kind of person kakania is, and what she believes in and fights for. this only deepens isolde's admiration further and she finally comes to a point of acceptance about her feelings. alright. i can accept this realization now. she no longer pushes it to the back of her mind. there's still a bit of repression and shame left in there but meeting someone who has not only awakened her, but also wouldn't judge her for it, has changed something within her entirely. the feelings overflow and she can deny it no longer. but again, at the end of the day she still needs to be perfect and socially acceptable. she can't just ... exist as freely as kakania does. but it's alright, isolde has feigned compliance for so long regardless of however difficult it might be. putting up with expectations has been a regular part of her life. so there it is, something authentic about this actor that she can't show to anyone else because it doesn't fit the part that she's supposed to play. kakania is allowed to know though, of course she is. it can just be their little secret. and one way or another, she'll figure out how isolde feels toward her. surely kakania would be quite honored to be on the receiving end of the affection of such a wonderful lady. as long as this affection doesn't eventually turn into a catalyst for destruction, right ...

[littlefankingdom]

Talia was soooooo good in Arkham City! And the Brutalia was also good! Apart from the slap, of course, but I'm blaming that on the toxic masculinity of the writers and not on her (comics media be like "men cannot be abused")

Spoilers ahead

I cannot believe Bruce made me fight ninjas and run on rooftops when he could simply have call her and be like "Talia, I'm dying and I need some of your father's blood to create an antidote. This is the only way." She would have helped! She loves him! She tells him he just needed to call her!

When he is like "I'm going to accept Ra's offer and be his heir, and so an assassin", she's worried about him, because she knows he would never do that normally. And after he passes the test, she is reassured, because even though she believes in him, she was still worried, even more with how sick he was when he arrived.

When Bruce is losing to the Joker, she comes to save his ass from being killed. After that, the city is being bombarded but Bruce wants to go save her from the Joker, because he is worried! Bruce is prioritizing saving her over the mission! (This isn't the only time in Batman medias that Bruce has prioritized his loved ones over the mission, but the other examples I have are his close family) He and Alfred have an arguement about it, Alfred and Barbara having vocalize already their dislike of Talia and not giving Bruce the tracker's informations. Alfred tells Bruce "one life against a thousand", to which Bruce answers "If she dies, I will never forgive you". Alfred is like "I don't approve your relationship with her, so sacrificing her doesn't bother me and I will force you to do it", and Bruce, who is a grown ass man that can choose who he dates, isn't pleased at all , which is understandable! And, when they wrote Arkham City's story, the writers may not have planned to do the whole thing with Jason, but with the added context of Arkham Knight, Bruce has already lost someone he loves to the Joker. Pretty heartless from Alfred.

Talia is also called "the only person (Batman) loves" but I forgot if it's the Joker who calls her that or someone else. He takes her as a hostage, and she is like "Beloved, do not come and let him die". I would love to say she is sacrificing herself, but she doesn't look scared at all and we all know she would kick his ass easily. Which she does when Bruce shows up, using him as a distraction to kill the Joker. Of course, Bruce isn't happy, but he isn't mad either, and Talia is like "you weren't going to do it, so I did". I know some people will say that "she had to do his job for him", and I disagree strongly. First of all, I dislike putting responsibility on Bruce or anyone for not killing someone, that's weird. And, secondly, I do not think that's what Talia is implying. Talia respects that Bruce doesn’t want to kill, she doesn't try to change him. Ra's Al Ghul wants to change Bruce, not Talia. She loves him for who he is, which is a stubborn man with strong morals. It's not necessarily that she agrees with them, but she loves him for who he is, and if he were to change his mind that easily, that would not be her man. She killed the Joker because she had enough of him hurting Bruce, and as Bruce wasn't going to do it, she did.

However, it wasn't the real Joker, and she is shot and killed by Joker, dying in Bruce's arms. And then, the most romantic thing happens. Bruce uses Talia's sword to fight the final boss. He wins the fight with her sword. He even starts to attach it to his belt, meaning it is now one of his weapons, but has to throw it to stop Joker from using the Lazarus Pit.

They deserve a good ending and I'm sad. Talia wasn't evil, and even though Bruce doesn't show a lot of emotion in these games, he clearly loved her too.

[rwbyrg]

hi! noticed the ask by the anon about the reactions to rosegarden and i can't help but wonder...

do you think any of them would have some reservations because of the oz in oscar's head thing? i reckon there may be some slight lingering intensity for each member regarding him so there's a chance they could be wary... but more so for ruby and oscar, rather than exclusively ruby

I answered the last ask on the assumption that them becoming canon wouldn't happen until after the war is won and the Oz curse is broken. Simply because I don't think either of them have the time or capacity to tackle that sort of relationship before the main plot is resolved. So in the hypothetical situation that they would get together and it's before the curse is broken, I think there's a chance some of the people around them might be a bit wary. At least Qrow, Tai, and maybe Yang. However, with it being so close to the final fight, it would probably be the least of anyone's concerns at that time. "Seeing as the world might end in three weeks, so long as those two are happy for whatever time we have left, I don't really care if Oz is around for it or not", if you know what I mean?

That being said, I think I am too biased to answer this in a yes-and kind of way. I know you're probably asking in good faith, but in full transparency, I'm pretty jaded by how often this particular topic gets brought up. Since this is not the first time and probably won't be the last, I'm going to take this as an opportunity to share my stance on this idea as a whole.

Ozpin's place within Oscar and RG's stories is one of conflict; which is what all stories revolve around. And it is not, nor has it ever been, a deal breaker for RG's relationship to me. The Ozcarnation curse is an allegory for a few things. The first is simply growing up. RWBY is a coming of age story, and Oscar isn't the only one going through that arc. But this conflict and grief of how he doesn't get to choose the kind of person he wants to be - largely because of the people he's met and things he's experienced - is not unique to him. The curse is just a fantasized and exaggerated version of it.

The next one isn't so much an allegory as it is plainly stated in the text, but it's a story about choice. It's about how even when we are irreversibly changed by things outside our control, we can still choose who we want to be. Even when it's hard, even when the influences are strong, even when it's downright traumatic. Oscar's story is about self discovery and self acceptance; about choice and change. Regardless of if Oz fades into the background, or his curse is broken, or they become a blendy merge of the two of them, Oscar is still going to remain his own person in some way by the end of it. Because this is ultimately a happy story and that is the main driving conflict of his personal arc.

The assumption that Oscar is going to get absorbed or overwritten by Ozpin being such a common take in this fandom never ceases to confuse me because of that. It also confuses me because the show - while it doesn't fully explain the extent of the merge mechanics - has told us that Oz has had families in his previous lives by "learning to live with the souls with which he had been paired".

The other allegory I'll mention - of which I am not the first, nor necessarily the best, to be pointing out (here is a great example from a little while ago) - is one for plurality. Some of the friends I've made in RG spaces have DID and have spoken to me about how they interpret the Ozcar situation; how it's similar or different to their own experiences. Hearing those stories, once again, makes it really hard for me to see Ozpin as any sort of deal-breaking barrier to a rosegarden relationship. This idea that Oscar must be isolated from his friends and constantly scrutinized when showing interest towards any romantic partners because of Oz's presence lacks both imagination and compassion for me. Oscar never asked for this curse, he didn't do anything to deserve it, and to condemn him to a lonely life because of something like that seems really antithetical to the themes of this story and to the characters involved. While some characters within the story might have some doubts about the relationship, at the end of the day it is not up to them on what Ruby and Oscar decide to do for themselves.

Again, this isn't aimed at you, Anon. I just wanted to say my piece on it given how pervasive this topic is. I truly look forward to the day where folks can talk about RG without this being the first thought or argument that everyone jumps to.

[princelylove]

Rohan is the prime example of could vs would. There’s plenty of things he could be doing, but his pride gets in the way. He doesn’t feel like he needs safety wheels on his relationships- he’s Rohan Kishibe, mangaka of Pink Dark Boy, artist of the modern world. Why would he, of all people, need to do such a thing? 

Truthfully, Rohan struggles to socialize. It’s not that he lacks social awareness- he’s aware, he just doesn’t care. His abrasive nature normally drives people away, and Rohan isn’t going to change himself for a stranger, especially when there’s no guaranteed reward for it. 

His darling should not only read his works, but have a general understanding of manga. Ideally, they read him regularly, and have some sort of memorabilia for his works- he'll accept a figure, poster, even just a small collection of some of his manga. He'd love if you had more than one volume, ideally you'd have the whole thing and practically worship him, but an issue of Shonen Jump is... fine. It's fine. You can work on it. He's happy to provide some if you cannot afford it, he could even sign it for you...

Rohan, notably, wants to be understood. He wants people to read him through his works. The point of publishing is to be read, maybe not to be necessarily known, but to be read. Writing itself isn’t necessarily the same- neither is drawing, or creating in general. You just create to create, that’s what hands are for. But to Rohan, all of his art is meant for one thing: it's meant for being appreciated and looked at.

He doesn't see the point in creating if it's just for himself. Rohan wants to be a part of the society he adores, he wants to be in the history he's obsessively read over and over and over and over again. Even if it's 'just' manga is where his name is repeated the most, Rohan's happy to be discussed at all.

Rohan struggles to understand the fact that his darling not only doesn’t know him, but has no interest in him. He’s the most interesting person he knows! No one is more interesting than Rohan Kishibe- it's like you've never picked up a magazine in your life! Rohan has multiple fields he works in- Art! Writing! Photography! Manga! How much of your own culture is entirely foreign to you??? Rohan struggles with the idea of anyone not finding him interesting because he has spent the majority of his life entertaining himself and living for himself- he knows no other way of life, and finds it silly to make jokes for other people’s amusement. His gags in his manga are for him, despite the manga itself being purely for others.

He isn't discouraged by his darling not knowing him previously, but he does find himself... upset, might be the word, with his darling not finding him fun. He won't change himself, but he's not going to just give up either. Surely you have some interest in him. He just hasn't found your niche yet, but he will! He will, even if he has to stay up for a week straight studying what normal people like to talk about.

He doesn't get it. He doesn't get what you see in your friends, doesn't get the activities you choose to spend time on... and he loves it. You're an enigma that he gets to discover! If you'd just let him, already.

Maybe a safety feature is necessary. What's the harm in writing in a small note, like "Wants to open up to Rohan Kishibe about their interests"?

No, no, that's cheating, and cheating means that he can't obtain what he wants naturally. Rohan is too good for things like that, but while he has your book on hand... some light reading is alright.

[moniquill]

You’ve dealt with your share of Evangelical Christians on this website, and you tend to be right about things, so can you give me your thoughts on a pet hypothesis I have on Christians (particularly Evangelicals) and lack of empathy?

My theory is like this: Christians believe that anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord (anyone who is a Christian) goes to Heaven, and everyone else goes to Hell. This means that good non-Christians, including people they interact with every day, will be tortured forever in the afterlife. This is distressing for most people, because they naturally empathize with non-Christian people who they have positive interactions with. Most people can extrapolate these good interactions to the billions of strangers in the world who aren’t Christians. If they have empathy for these people, they can put themselves in their shoes, and the pain of their eventual torture in the afterlife weighs on them.

This pain that is caused by empathy can be resolved in two ways: either the Christian dedicates the rest of their life to evangelism to save as many souls from the fires of Hell as possible, or they just cut off empathy to non-Christians so they can stop feeling this pain. Most Christians aren’t missionaries, so they just stop caring about other people. This doesn’t mean that they necessarily become cruel or impolite to other people, they just stop putting themselves in other people’s shoes/imagining life from another perspective, because that would be painful.

Once you’ve cut of empathy to a group of people for one reason (religious differences), it’s easier to cut off empathy for other reasons, or even to become bad at empathy through lack of practice.

Anyway, that’s just my hypothesis from being raised Evangelical. And I want to emphasize that this hypothesis is about empathy, not compassion, though they are related.

This all follows logically, and may apply to some individuals, but I don't think it can be relied upon in a diagnostic sense, if you get me?

The 'why' of what's going on in any given person's head doesn't matter to me unless that person is a close and personal part of my life, someone confiding in me because they want to better understand themselves and/or want to change and grow. I don't really feel motivated, personally, to explain the motivations and rationale of another person's bad behavior - I care about making the behavior stop and preventing it from happening again.

The only value in understanding why someone arrives at a place of diminished humanity (because that's what Evangelical Christianity does, really) is in either helping them regain it (applicable only in close personal relationships) or if it in some way guides a policy that prevents their diminished humanity from hurting others.

"You told Sally she's going to hell; we do not do that here. If you do that again, you will not be welcome here. Sally is not required to associate with you or accept an apology even if you want to give one."

is more important to me than

"You told Sally she's going to hell; why did you do that?"

The above is useful in understanding, as a person who's been hurt, why those people hurt you. It's a self-healing technique and entirely valid for that.

It's not useful for fixing the problem of evangelicals who think this way or preventing them from doing harm.

[tutanchanup]

Was the real Vlad III. more of a sadistic choleric or tragic antihero? You'll be surprised

Disclaimer: As Vlad III. still refuses to pick up my calls, note that this is, once again, MY OPINION ONLY! It doesn't necessarily need to be the correct one!! And I am afraid that until Vlad picks up the damned phone, we'll never know for sure how he really was like.

So please, do not in any way despair if Vlad in your works acts differently. Your take is as good as mine!!! I do not wish to criticise anyone's work!

The purpose of this article is only to compare various psychological approaches, and compare the two most depicted ones to mine, because a lot of people are wondering why does my Vlad look so different from what they usually see.

I'm not saying my approach is necessarily better!!

I am not some divine authority to tell you how you should write him from now on! You do you!!

I simply wanted to show how I approach him, and what can you expect from me in my works, including the story I write, Io, Draculea.

~°~°~°~°~°~

I still can't believe that my prediction about Vlad learning sewing out of boredom was confirmed by history!! Hah! 🤩🥰😄

You see, while writing about Vlad as a vampire, I wrote that he learned sewing when he was slowly getting bored by eternal life. I wrote this 3 years ago.

And few days ago, thanks to @voievod and @vladvodashitposts I learned that we actually have a preserved testimony from the 15th century that says that Vlad the Impaler learned sewing out of boredom while in Visegrád prison!

Btw 2 years ago in my story I predicted that Corvinus would let him see his family while imprisoned and the text confirmed that too!! Ahhh I can't believe it!!!!!

Now, I'd like to tell you how I came to this prediction. Because I am actually not a fortune-teller. How then could I have possibly correctly predicted something as improbable and crazy sounding as Vlad the Impaler learning sewing? I understand you have your doubts about this claim of mine.

So I'll tell you my secret 🤫:

I approach his personality a little bit different from the two most abundant ways found in literature, who depict Vlad either as an angry choleric, or the tragic antihero.

I noticed he went through horrible hardships in life, but I also noticed that it never broke him. That means he never let fate make him into a victim.

And then I realized that I know what such a person looks like.

Because I am surrounded by people like this.

I live in Czechia, which was under harsh communist rule for some 40 years. For many people - my family included - it was hell on earth. But many Czech people survived that because they didn't fall down the victim mentality route, instead they accepted that which couldn't be changed, and found ways how to cope otherwise and make use of what they can do - it's no coincidence that during these hard times one of the best comedic films were made, or that Jára Cimrman was born (a way how to make fun of communism in a way that would circumvent censorship), or that we perfected the art of finding legal loop-holes during that time.

My father, whose whole family was imprisoned just for being intellectuals, and who couldn't get into university because of where he came from, is a person with a brisk sense of humour. My mother, when she was diagnosed with cancer, still heartily laughed every day, and now that she's okay, she helps other cancer patients to keep their spirit up. I also knew a Jewish person who had actually survived concentration camp as a child (he saw all his family die there and went on the "death march" when he was 10 yo!) - and he was one of the most humourous and good spirited people I knew! (RIP Mario P. 🥲)

This is the mentality of survivors who were not broken down by fate: pragmatic, not wallowing in grief over fate they cannot change, instead grabbing every chance to enjoy their life in those short moments when they can and use their hardship to their advantage.

And you know what, that's exactly what the real Vlad would be like as well!

When he found himself in a situation he couldn't change, he didn't fall down crying like a tragic antihero, neither did he yell at heavens like an angry choleric. (Well, I am not saying he NEVER did cry or swear, he surely had moments like these too, I am talking more about the general approach to life).

Instead he accepted that which couldn't be changed, and made the best use of what he could do. See when he was imprisoned by the Ottomans at the age of just 11: he didn't break down, instead he found out that while he was there already, he can learn their battle tactics, and so he did and then used them against the same Ottomans later.

Thus I can totally see that while imprisoned by Corvinus, he would try to occupy his mind with something useful so he wouldn't go mad with boredom, even if it would come down to sewing.

But enough of boring talking, let me illustrate it (literally), that will be much more fun!

Disclaimer: I do NOT want to criticise or make fun of other authors! This is just a thought experiment depicting various psychologies. The text is entirely made up by me. It's NOT made to mock any existing work, I just wanted to show you how I write Vlad in my own story, Io, Draculea. If you like writing Vlad as the tragic hero, I am not here to stop you! 😉 (okay I am a little against writing him as the angry choleric, because we've had 500 years of that already 🙃)

Actually I wouldn't even be that much happy if you were to copy my approach, I want my story to be original 😆

Now let's do a little experiment of how the most common depictions of Vlad would deal with a situation where fate surprises them with something cruel and unexpected, like Corvinus imprisoning them in the middle of war:

Vlad the Choleric:

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison impaling mice and rats

Vlad the Tragic Hero:

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison starring out of the window contemplating his fate

Vlad the Survivalist:

(and also how I approach him):

-> this Vlad spends his time in prison trying to find out whether he can succeed in building a model of Târgoviște from the hay his bed is made out of

Now, I hope you all don't hate me now 😅. I really didn't made this with the intention to mock anyone. It's only that I realized that maybe I can give an insight which is a little bit different than what can usually be found on the internet, so I wanted to create some material which talks about the less known perspective, for it to be accessible out there as well.

Do not in any way hate on other writers (or yourself) if their perspective is different!!!!

The thing is, that every approach offers different advantages. The "Vlad as angry choleric" served the purpose of depicting him as a sadistic tyrant (which was extremely useful to his enemies). The "Vlad as tragic antihero" serves the purpose of humanising him, and lets a modern person realise the hardships Vlad went through. And that's incredibly important and useful work!!! Please continue!!!!

My way is that of someone who has almost never - or extremely rarely - read or seen an adaptation of Vlad (although my knowledge there is limited, I admit) that would reflect the "Vlad as survivalist" approach (which I think would be more historically accurate, but that's just MY OPINION, it doesn't have to be necessarily the correct one!!)

So I took it as my role to depict Vlad like this. I am prepared to be alone on this path 😉

[chosen-confessions]

Hey there. Never made one of these "Rotomblrs" so bear with me.

You can call me S. He/him but I don’t really care. Made this blog because I recently found out there are others like me and my friends out there across the multiverse and, not really surprisingly if I'm being honest, shit sucks for them too.

Since it doesn't look like there's any therapist out there centered around working with (mostly) children who have saved the world and deal with divine responsibilities, I thought at least maybe making a blog like this would help. Feel free to come here to vent about any of your chosen-related frustrations. You’re not alone.

More info under cut.

QnA:

“What’s a chosen?”:

To sum it up, someone who has some sort of special connection with a Legendary Pokémon. The… details of what this entails varies from universe to universe.

“How do you know if you’re a chosen?”:

Like I said, varies heavily from universe to universe. Owning a Legendary doesn’t automatically make you one necessarily, but like, it could depending on how things work where you’re from. I wouldn’t know. In most circumstances I see, telltale signs of being a chosen are usually: Telepathic communication with your patron deity, the appearance of powers, fleshing out, having SOME kind of duty that involves working with your patron in one way or another, etc. Again, these might not be the case at all in some universes, or maybe some are and some aren’t. I really have no way of knowing. Either way, if you think you might fall under this umbrella in any sorta way, you’re welcome here.

“What’s fleshing out?”:

(Warning, this one is gross. Discussions of blood and vomiting ahead.)

Basically the process of… becoming a demigod, for lack of better word. ‘Least that’s what we consider it in my world. Not every universe has it I’m pretty sure, but who knows. The most common symptom of this is… ichor or “god’s blood” appearing in your veins. Which means evicting whatever’s in there right now. Through your mouth, typically. THAT part usually lasts about a night. (I think I’ve seen universes where it also involves growing new body parts similar to your patron’s, but we don’t have anything like that in mine.)

If you have any other questions, let me know. My knowledge is, once again, mostly restricted to my universe, but I’ll try and help the best I can.

About me:

I won’t try and go too much into my personal life, but I’m an adult. Chosen of Lugia, I helped save the world with it when I was a kid. It’s still with me, but still goes off to tend to its own deity business now and then. I’m a Elite Four member, and I have a husband who I love very much. He’s a chosen of Celebi and a Pokéathlete. You might see him on here from time to time, call him E.

I also like Weavile a lot, which explains the profile picture. Might change it to something more fitting later.

Anyways, some general rules: While I might have some decent life advice here and there, I’m not qualified to give out professional therapy advice. Please keep that in mind. I won’t be adding my two cents on most submissions anyways, unless I really think it might be needed. This is mainly a vent zone.

Confession posts will be tagged with #confessions.

OOC:

hi! @scrappyscales here again. thought this type of blog would be fun and relatively easy to run, especially since I have a lot of characters who are heavily involved with the chosen side of rotomblr.

also: I’d like to credit my friend Deerly so the “fleshing out” concept! it something me and a lotta other folks on the chosen discord accepted into our canons, but you don’t have to if you don’t want

same universe as @pinkpoweredpunk !

Pelipper Mail/Variants: ON

Mystery Gift: ON

Magic Anons: OFF

Union Circle: ON (ask me first)

[bloggingboutburgers]

cw: discussions of bullying and aphobia

Hearing aroace peoples' existential crises over their friends discussing crushes, as someone who was socially isolated and severly bullied for their whole childhood and most of their adolescence so had NO friendgroup until adulthood and NO community or inclusion in literally anything (and when it came to sex and romance the other kids explicitly considered my potential involvement in either to be impossible / laughible because of how "weird" they found me (my autistic traits before I even realised I'm autistic)), felt like starving while listening to someone else complain about the food they're actively eating.

Food intolerances and dislike of different foods (as metaphor for being aro/ace) ARE important and difficult to grapple with when you're expected to eat specific foods in specific proportions at different times - but man did it sting until I realised why I felt that way and gave myself a talking to since my trauma doesn't justify belittling the very real struggles of aroace people.

I guess since the choice between 'stay alone or conform' was never really a choice because I was rejected no matter how cis straight or allo I was it taught me to go "fuck it" and accept myself regardless of what other people do or say (which ironically has lead to me becoming dramatically popular all of a sudden at uni, which has been weird to get used to since I have literally no experience with any of this - platonic or otherwise - which did lead to some advantage being taken of me but f*ck it we ball ^^'). And I guess it's just been difficult understanding why anyone would care so much about whether they're "normal" or not? You really have nothing to gain from that, safety is not guaranteed in conformity so best to live aroace and damn all aphobes to hell if they have a problem with that.

It's a mindset I'll never understand and that's only ok now insofar as that lack of understanding no longer results in misplaced anger at people who, for a time, I had once considered spoilt, ungrateful and out of touch. Basically, I'm full of sh*t and to every aroace person reading this you deserve good friends that actually respect you for who you are and do not even TRY to get you to change your mind about sex or romance. Have a lovely day x

Sincerely,

An aggressive emotional support anon

I'm genuinely sorry for all the hardships you went through. I don't mean to equate at all, truthfully from reading you and considering I WAS asked some of those questions as a kid regardless (the "who's your crush" bullshit and whatnot), it definitely sounds like I had it less hard than you did, but... I was bullied in elementary school and middle school, also not necessarily because I was aroace (I don't know why it happened really, I don't know if anyone ever knows, I boil it down to... me being me and there being something fundamentally wrong with me ig), and I definitely also get some of those feelings of "oh boo hoo you call that struggle" boiling in me when people discuss their own past struggles sometimes, so... Yeah, every one person's experience is unique, but I can at the very least very much sympathize.

I think a way it manifests in me is that I now have that compulsive, debilitating fear of being "othered" in any way, shape, or form, so I guess being aroace doesn't help my case. But at the same time... Well, like you brilliantly put it, when you're in a situation like that, no matter what you do, you won't be accepted anyway, and having that knowledge back then is probably also what lead me to figure myself out as aroace so early in life. Because I was treated as this much of an outsider, I ironically had that much room in my own head to form my own identity, far apart from others and the need to conform. Yeah, that identity may include a "piece of shit that doesn't deserve to be supported of part of a group" side that's been forced in, buried deep down and can't be erased, but... It also includes asexual and aromantic, and it's been cemented so hard from so early with such self-affirmation that later down the line, it saved me from a lot of stuff. I never had to force myself into a romantic or sexual relationship because I was undoubtably aroace – and people saw me as an outsider and an eyesore anyway. I spent years of being scared to go to school or out in the street every day, but later down the line, somehow, I feel it saved me from doing so many things I wouldn't have wanted to do.

...Bleh, sorry, didn't mean to turn this into me-me-me crap when you had the courage and sincerity of not only showing your experience, but finding the strength to show more love, understanding and support than a lot of people probably cared to give you for so long, despite all the pain you felt for so long. I guess I just wanna say... This take is definitely inspiring, so thank you on behalf of myself and others I'm sure, but also... I hope that, for yourself, you're also managing to own what you lived through in a way that allowed you to affirm yourself more strongly (it sounds like you are, I hope it IS the case), and most importantly, I hope you're in a much better place in your life now and you'll never have to return to that level of loneliness again.

[light-wynd]

Random Melusine info/headcanon dump

Because why not.

Everything under the cut because it's a bit long ^^' Most of the canon facts hopefully aren't super common knowledge, and are ones that I don't think I've brought up before either!

Canon random facts about Melusines

They are "the finest example of a new sort of Hydro Vishap species" according to Neuvillette.

They all seem to be drawn to shiny mechanical components, not just the ones living in Merusea Village who pretty much use them as currency. Sigewinne has apparently collected so many that she's running out of storage space in the Fortress, and Xana (the one you can exchange them for items with in the village) plans to build a giant machine out of her own collection.

Aeval's token that she was born with is a shard of a sword, which she thinks represents courage. This also means that their tokens don't necessarily have to be mechanical parts, just seemingly anything that could've pierced inside Elynas during the blast.

The rain feels warm for Melusines, and so most of them enjoy being in it. But Sigewinne for one is concerned about how Neuvillette is feeling whenever it rains.

They tend to find humans adorable, and even know how to take care of human babies (as was the case with Emilie when she was little, apparently).

They're very sensitive to sour-tasting things such as Bulle fruit.

There is a Melusine philharmonic orchestra that performs at the Opera Epiclese.

A lot of Melusines are into astrology, and so Neuvillette basically made up a constellation for himself (from my understanding?) because he didn't have the heart to tell them that he doesn't actually have one.

An Amurta scholar was once expelled from Fontaine for treating Melusines like they were animals (touching and recording them without their permission and trying to feed them, among other things) while trying to study them.

Sigewinne's eyesight is closer to that of humans than Melusines - and when they meet up in her infirmary, sometimes she describes scenery as she sees it for others like Ottnit and Menthe to draw.

Headcanons about Melusines (that gradually get more baseless and/or silly)

They didn't just start studying human expressions and behaviors in order to be able to understand them better - they also wanted to try and learn how to act more like humans in order to make them more likely to accept Melusines. Originally, they used to express themselves quite differently, but that gradually changed as they integrated more and more closely into human society.

Sigewinne has written a guide for hospitals/doctor's offices to have on hand about how to properly care for any sick or injured Melusines, since their constitution is different from that of humans and she can't always be there to personally see them since she's pretty busy at the Fortress.

Their feelers and/or tails (depending on which is wider on the Melusine in question) store excess water. If a Melusine is getting dehydrated, you'll notice these thinning and/or drooping.

Every time Blathine is assigned to patrol her usual area in front of the Opera Epiclese, she has to actively resist the urge to bathe in the Fountain of Lucine like it's some Melusine-sized water park pool (cause you know. Her whole fascination with fountains and all).

[adamnablelittledevil]

I usually just reblog here and don't speak much, but I've been reading too many different takes on this and wanted to say this. This is a Gothic horror about monsters, yes. You can't watch this show thinking is a Disney animation and they'll be basically perfect all the time. There's murder, physical assault, sexual assault, there will probably be incest at some point and more. Everyone that decides to still watch the show is willingly signing up for it. Nobody is forcing them to watch it, it's their call and they should recognize that. And, yes, the show isn't about moral codes and punitivism. It's about exploring the depths of existence and immortality, how high and deep down they can go, if they're condemned to suffer forever or if they can evolve, forgive each other, forgive themselves and find some sense of peace. If you want characters to be condemned and die for their crimes and mistakes, there wouldn't be anyone left to tell the story. Sure, you can still watch it anyway, because the writing, the acting, the score etc are phenomenal, but know that's not happening and that's never been a promise the cast or crew has ever made. Know that certain wishes for yours won't be granted. You can still have a lot of fun, but you know what to expect and that you'll never be fully satisfied.

That said, this doesn't mean the characters should always get a free pass to do whatever the hell they want and everyone should always accept it either. Even on the show, their actions have consequences, the characters get disappointed, hurt, angry, remorseful etc. They break up. They need to make up for each other and gain their trust back. Yes, they're vampires and their bodies and minds work differently, but they still have pretty human feelings and that conflict is one of the premises of the show. Not to mention how a lot of their problems are pretty human too, and stuff that hit close to home for a lot of individuals, so their audience made of real people will react in different ways. If somebody isn't counting the days to see rape, sexual exploitation, incest or any of these heavy topics, it's their right. They may even have traumas with it and, honestly, they shouldn't reveal their personal stories so people learn how to be sensitive and stop calling them weak or mocking them. But if people don't have problems watching that kind of content, or even like some characters known for such actions (focus on some because I don't know how they'll adapt them and if/how they'll be redeemable), that doesn't necessarily mean they support or do that in real life themselves. Perhaps don't make assumptions about strangers without having a pretty good reason to.

People have their own tastes, experiences, triggers and boundaries and they know what's good for them or not, when they can keep watching something or when they should drop it. And that counts for people of color, women, people who are queer, disabled, neurodivergent, part of any minority and/or have a history of being abused. You may be in one of more of those categories, but other people may react different and have different opinions too. People aren't a monolith. We can talk about it and this should be a healthy place for anybody that feels safe to talk and share their opinions and experiences. But if you ever have an impasse, you can mute, blacklist, block words and people. There's nothing wrong in respecting your own personal boundaries and you should never risk your own peace of mind for something that is supposed to be entertainment. Just don't go to people's Twitter/Tumblr accounts to bother them, change their minds or make insensitive jokes, maybe? It's really not that hard.

[velvetvexations]

That sounds a lot like my interpretation of Boys Will Be Bugs~!

I bent over backwards and crafted an elaborate theory as to why Eminem's Abracadabra isn't too terribly transphobic, I can't judge anyone for making excuses for the media that's important to them.

I don't think characters just being heroic and sympathetic necessarily covers getting something like this badly wrong, but a lot of other Velveteers also chimed in, including this anon:

(Just realized this is pretty silly, feel free to ignore me/not answer this, I just saw One Piece mentioned and the hyperfixation jumped out.) But just to go to bat for One Piece a smidge as someone who is trans and read all of it, while yeah Okama(Queen Ivan) leaned very transmisognistc(which was made worse in the anime for some reason??) the intention for him, his subjects, and the other gender fluid character, Bon Clay, was meant to be good. It fell HELLA short, but there was an attempt at least. However!! I did want to add, the comic has been going on for a long time, and by one of the more recent arcs with two new, very clearly openly trans characters, things are MUCH better! The transfem one, Kiku, says outright when asked that she's a woman at heart which is accepted by everyone, and her story was really sweet and made me tear up(her anger is never treated as predatory or masculine, she's allowed to just be a woman who is also a samurai), and the other transmasc one, Yamato, is referred to as a boy by everyone despite him not changing his presentation at all, which is pretty rad imo given how hostile people can be to transmasc people with breasts, and both characters are allowed to bathe in the baths that match their genders at the end of the arc. They were still a little messy in the "yeah this wasn't written by a trans person" way, and certain misogynistic/transphobic parts of of the fandom on reddit get a little weird about Yamato, but I didn't see anything glaringly wrong with the way either of them was written like with Okama or Bon Clay. The vibe I got from the comic was that early on Oda meant well and included some characters who were intended to be positive rep but were messy and fell very short, but as time passed he figured it out and the more recent ones are genuinely phenomenal rep. Ofc that doesn't mean you need to read/watch OP(especially since again the transmisogny is worse in the anime?? still don't understand what happened there but Oda had no control over it) like god I would never tell anyone to do that lol, but I did want to just chime in and offer a perspective from someone who read it and felt like the more recent rep was really good and worth mentioning. Oda has his issues for sure, and has a lot to make up for, but based on what I've read he IS making up for it.

And, honestly, that makes me really happy! Oda always seemed like a cool guy and it's great to know he is in fact a real cool guy. According to @changelingfangs in the replies, he's friends with people in the subculture he based a lot of those characters on.

They're now just openly accusing me of not being a trans woman because trans women don't identify as AMAB and I'm apparently hostile to every trans woman that talks about transmisogyny.

...no?

It's a good theory and I think that plays a part in it for sure, but I think mostly it's just thinking it's the worse thing because it's their group's oppression. It again kinna goes back to that Lennon/Ono song with the n-word in the title, that's just how radical feminism works, trans/misogyny is the only thing that really matters.

Still, interesting thread to have spotted here and I think it's in that soup somewhere.

imagine thinking using a meme format is asserting a cultural claim to it

like seriously, has any Black person ever said that there was something wrong with "deracializing" either or even both characters in the Dis _ Look So Mad meme by substituting them with white characters?