#edit for minor title correction

[dazachi]

Theory time on the whole "ADA member transfers to PM" deal and why I genuinely think this was part of Dazai's plan (loooong post):

Based on what we have, I actually think we can assume that Fukuzawa, Ranpo, Dazai, all of the higher ups in the PM, and the govt. are aware of the deal and that Dazai will go back. Here's why:

Prior to Fyodor's arrest, Dazai had been maintaining an essentially crimeless record (and if he does do something morally questionable, he either had government backing from Ango, or was done in a way that can't be pointed back to him).

However, before anything could progress in S4, Dazai purposely put himself out in public to get arrested. I'd even argue that he had Ango purposely release some of his old crimes rather than it being written on the ripped page of the book (and if it was actually written in the book, then Dazai must have anticipated it in the first place because he knows Fyodor would do that).

This idea is further cemented by the fact that Ango, Mori, and Chuuya are actually aware of what Dazai is doing (more than the ADA even). Dazai had contacts in and out of Mersault ready before his arrest.

To make these plans in the first place, Dazai had to have talked to (at least) Mori and Ango. This would have to be roughly around the same time as when Mori and Fukuzawa made a deal. What if all of this was just one meeting?

Because let's face it. Fukuzawa only saying "except Yosano" was such a red flag moment. If there was anyone Mori would have wanted back in his control, it would either be his angel of death or his demon prodigy. The conversation must not have ended there...

Also, why was this deal even created in the first place? I feel like there could have been a different agreement, and this just looks like an excuse to get Dazai to go back. Fukuzawa agreeing with this deal is weird because he knows what the PM is like. Why would he subject his employees to possibly experience working there?

Dazai may have actually purposely put himself up for the taking in preparation to a future enemy that needed him back in the PM- back in his hometurf with all the manpower he could command and to give soukoku the free reign they had once again (without the limitations of the law on Dazai).

So anyway, now we have Dazai with his crimes leaked, which would have been fine alone because it could be played off as part of what was written on the page, but then he kills some guards in Mersault and commits jailbreak, along with several other crimes in just 30 minutes. In addition, he is clearly shown to be working with Chuuya, a well-known criminal, who has also committed several crimes while there.

Say what you will about Mersault security (which is actually good but just couldn't keep the demons on hold lmao), but they would 100% have records of what Dazai had done there. Even if he could be considered crimeless before, he can no longer be called crimeless again now. His actions here are beyond the manipulations of the book. To have these crimes (in France) erased would require the government to have an agreement with another country and to have Dazai go into hiding for some time again (doable, but troublesome).

That leaves us to the fact that Dazai is back to willingly committing crimes and partnering up with Chuuya as Soukoku for an extended period of time. All of these acts are known to Mori and Ango.

This implies that the choice had been made prior to S4, and this is why Dazai could do all these crazy schemes.

This also clears up why Ranpo and Fukuzawa no longer consider Dazai in the ADA roster recently. Not because they don't care for him, but because he is secretly no longer part of the ADA in the first place, and Dazai's safety is now under the concern of the PM.

Scarily enough, this could also possibly set up Dazai as the next boss of the PM in preparation for the next big enemy. One thing some people in the fandom noticed was that Mori had mentioned before that Dazai would become the boss when he turns 23. This fits in the timeline well because Dazai is several months (or maybe even weeks) closer to his 23rd birthday (or he may already be 23 right now). All of this may have been pre-planned for longer than we think.

Also, as a personal opinion on the other possible transfer candidates, they actually have better hold on the ADA and would not function well in the PM.

The PM would clash with Kunikida's ideals (though it would be interesting to have the future leader of the ADA be put in the PM the same way the future leader of the PM was employed in the ADA)

Tanizaki would be a great candidate, especially for his skills (and it would be interesting to have another redhead in the PM hahaha), but I highly doubt Naomi would take his transfer sitting down (Naomi would probably even attempt to join the PM) and, in turn, Junichiro would hate to bring his sister in the PM as well. Tanizaki's entire shtick involves his care for his sister, and taking that away brings him back to having no motivation to go crazy.

Atsushi is actually my 2nd option. Moving Atsushi to the PM would make him learn more about how the PM functions, and this allows SSKK to spend more time building their relationship. Chuuya could watch over the two of them as an aide to Dazai's mentoring, and this could lead to more character growth for Atsushi. Unfortunately, this voids Atsushi's plans to learn how to fight under Kunikida's tutelage, and the "no killing" deal with Akutagawa slightly lessens its impact because they would now be in the criminal organization rather than the opposing one (I'd rather have Akutagawa join the ADA tbh. This would further cement the "no killing" idea that Atsushi demands of him and build the SSKK partnership.)

Kenji is also a good bet, but the PM already has Chuuya, which makes having Kenji redundant. Kyoka would not return without an all out brawl and would actually waste all the efforts from S2. Ranpo would be insufferable lmao, and he is not made for Mafia types of strategy (he's smart! But he is not here for the manipulation and long chess matches. He doesn't have the patience for that when he can get straight to the point), and I'm not sure who in the PM he would have synergy with yet...he works best as a detective.

NOW, I may be wrong, because who knows what Asagiri will pull on us, and all of this is based on what is shown (I'm not sure if we could trust it lol), but this is the theory I came up with based on my understanding of events. Dazai planned to go back, and the tripartite knows of it.

Before anyone says this is a waste of Dazai's character development, I'd argue that there may be a misconception as to what Dazai is actually here to learn.

Odasaku knows that good and evil does not matter to Dazai. Dazai choosing to save people is not Dazai's character growth because he has ALWAYS been capable of that despite his unconventional means. The real character growth that Dazai needed was that there was a world beyond the darkness that he insists on putting himself in, and that he is capable humanity. Mori realized this too by proving the humanity in Dazai by chasing him out with Odasaku's death. Dazai has also realized this, and is now ready to return to his hellhole as a new man touched by the light. He is ready to be a leader, not the tyrant that he would have been without this lesson. Mori just prevented another insane mafia boss from taking the throne.

In addition, the PM has repeatedly been defined as the organization that protects the city in the dark. Being in the PM does not hinder Dazai from saving people (again, they've done so before while there). This might actually give him more power to move around and defend Yokohama more efficiently.

I guess this is it for now. I may have missed some things, but these are my main arguments for now hehe

[staybabblingbaby]

W.I.P Glossary and Master List

Ok, so, I'm gonna start posting w.i.ps here shortly, but like. As writing process archives? I just think it'll be fun. I'm posting this in advance bc my organization system is a bit weird. SKZ fics will be here at @staybabblingbaby and BTS fics will be at @babyarmybabbles. I may make another side blog for other fandoms I write for, but we'll see. All fics are xReader unless otherwise indicated. Stuff and Things under the cut :D

Bear w me bc I don't usually do text posts and have no practice with formatting yet lol

Glossary:

Attempt - A draft with major changes. Wording changes of a paragraph or more (not including completely new material), changes in POV, setting changes, characterization changes, etc, are included in this. Abbreviated as a(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Draft - A manuscript that has been edited. Even minor edits like grammar and spelling corrections are a new draft. These are labeled, but only saved as new files in intervals of 5. Abbreviated as d(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Addition - A manuscript that has been added to enough to warrant a new post.

My intent is to upload all new Attempts, Drafts in intervals of 5, and Additions in intervals of 1,000 words or more. My hope is something of a progress log? I think it'll be fun, help me keep track of what I've done, and help motivate me.

Master List:

Coordi AU: Current Total Word Count - 5,469

Intro Part a1 d3 - 1,178 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Han Part a1 d4 - 2,190 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan Part a1 d4 - 640 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Lee Know Part a1 d4 - 639 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Hyunjin Part a1 d4 - 854 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Felix Tinder AU: Current Total Word Count - 3,123

Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a1 d1 - 1,543 Words, Posted 7/22/24 Felix Tinder AU (First Date Part) a2 d3 - 1,580 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Fan Day AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,399

Fan Experience with SKZ a2 d2 - 1,399 Words, Posted 5/12/24

Janitor AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,293

Janitor AU (Ambush Part) a1 d2 - 1,293 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Bangchan/Youtuber AU: Current Total Word Count - 1,258

Chan/Youtuber (idea drabble) a1 d1 - 296 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Chan/Youtuber (Discover Part) a1 d1 - 962 Words, Posted 7/22/24

Childhood Friend SMAU (Best Friend Protocol): Current Total Word Count - N/A

Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Intro Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/15/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plead Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/16/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU(Bridge Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/18/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Meet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/22/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Plan Part) - N/A Words, Posted 7/26/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Worm Part) -N/A Words, Posted 7/29/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (STAY Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (SLEEP Part) -N/A Words, Posted 8/9/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Bet Part) - N/A Words, Posted 8/31/24 Best Friend Protocol SMAU (Angst Part) - N/A Words, Posted 9/8/24

Soulmate Garden AU: Current Total Word Count - 6,673

Soulmate Garden AU (Idea Drabble)a1 d2 - 209 Words, Posted 8/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU (Prologue) a2 d4 - 1,308 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU Ch.1 (Dahlia) a2 d5 - 5,368 Words, Posted 9/02/24 Soulmate Garden AU CH. 2(Anemone)a3 d2- 4,218 Words, Posted 9/21/24

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Outline

Outline - a skeletal representation of the sequence of the main ideas in your essay.

The sequence of ideas/topics also serves as a guide for the reader(s) of your paper.

2 Purposes of an Outline

For You as a Writer (this is the “working outline”)

You may draft a working outline in order to organize the sections of your paper as you list the major ideas/topics you plan to discuss.

You may add minor topics and supporting details as your research continues.

In the research and drafting processes, you may need to revise the information included in your working outline as new information comes to light.

For Your Instructor (this is the “final outline”)

The most important aspect of the final outline is that it is truly representative of your actual paper.

If a topic is in your outline but not adequately discussed in your paper, revision is necessary.

To serve as a guide for the reader, the final outline must accurately reflect the content of your paper.

About the Working Outline

The working outline does not need to be written in any specific format.

It is for your own use, an informal rough draft of tentative information that you may use or discard later.

You may write a working outline in whatever form seems most helpful for you.

By the time you have finished your research and begun your paper, you should have a nearly complete outline to edit and use as your final outline.

About the Formal Outline

The standard format for a formal outline includes large Roman numerals for the main headings, capital letters for subtopics and Arabic numerals for the sub-subtopics.

To find specific information regarding correct spacing and alignment, consult your university's handbook.

Example

OUTLINE

Thesis Statement: There are benefits as well as drawbacks to purchasing a home.

I. Benefits of purchasing a home

A. Financial investment B. Personal privacy

II. Drawbacks to purchasing a home

A. Financial commitment B. Costly maintenance

Things to Consider About Outlines

Thesis Statement

Most outlines begin with the thesis statement, aligned to the left and placed directly below the heading (Title) of your outline.

Sentence Outline OR Topic Outline

Consistency is the key to writing your outline.

If your outline is in sentence form, all parts of it (major topics, minor topics, supporting details) must be in sentence form.

If your outline is written in words, and phrases, all of it must be in that form.

The main point to remember is that your outline will be one or the other, all sentences or all words and phrases, not a combination of both.

Paired Headings

If you have a I., you must have at least a II. If you have an A., you must have a B.

If you have a 1., you must have a 2.

There is never a division without at least two headings, although you may have several more than two.

Comparable Numerals or Letters

Like headings are also of equal significance to your paper.

The B or C following an A is of comparable importance to the A.

If the paired headings do not seem aligned, one being a minor point and the other a major area of discussion, you may need to move headings and subheadings around in the working outline to create smooth transition of ideas and information.

Coherence

Your outline will reflect the progression of ideas in each section of your paper, from major topics to minor topics to supporting details or further information.

In organizing your outline, you should find that you have grouped topics in a logical order, and you will be able to see at a glance if you have done so.

Source

[motherofthechickensandwich]

✰ enemy!yord fandar x enemy!jedi!reader ✰ 18+ ONLY!!! minors pls dni! content warnings: smut, unprotected sex, not edited lol, enemies to lovers(?), pre-The Acolyte (2024), star wars cussing™ that turns into regular cussing, incorrect star wars lore, i literally haven't seen the newest two episodes so don't come for me notes: new fic format!!! cuz i'm tired of titling and formatting my fics like my old format was so fugly! also i posted a new masterlist that i will be updating as these fics come out. i have a couple of them cooking up in the notes app so be on the lookout guys! also rip yord and jecki i am still heartbroken. as always, if you have any thoughts or criticism (pls be nice), please slide me an ask! enjoy!

summary: too lazy to come up with a good summary ermmmmm ok so you're a jedi alongside yord but you two hate each other but oops now you're hate-fucking! also you get a purple lightsaber cuz i said so

You would be the first to admit that you were not the greatest Jedi in the Order. While you are pretty well-attuned to the Force, decent with a lightsaber, and can practically recite the Jedi Code backwards, in a handstand, while balancing the most fragile of relics from the library on your feet, you still had yet to learn how to manage your emotions.

You are one to feel strongly. You have always been, ever since you were a youngling. Your oftentimes intense feelings clashed with one of the biggest Jedi teachings of mastering one’s own emotions. Unlike most (maybe even all) Jedi, you are quick to become irritated and have a distinct lack of patience that is typically required for a life in the Jedi Order. Your master had often admonished you during your Padawanship for your “passionate” nature. You aren’t sure passionate is the correct word to describe the common source of your irritability: Yord Fandar.

Growing up, you and Yord were close, proximity-wise, but never emotionally. At best, you both tolerated each other’s presence, but you were never friends. Your masters were good friends, sure, but you two certainly were not. You always preferred the company of Osha, a mutual friend with Yord who often played the reluctant peacekeeper between the two of you, but she had left the Order a long time ago. Shortly after her departure, the small sense of peace between you and Yord had all but disappeared. You both found yourself more and more annoyed with each other. To you, Yord Fandar was a stickler, overachiever, and, quite frankly, a boot-kisser. You couldn’t even begin to count the amount of times you’ve rolled your eyes at the way he practically worshiped the ground Master Sol walked on. Everything he did made your blood boil, and you were not afraid to make it abundantly clear.

Yord had also made it abundantly clear that he didn’t like you, except that he did it in the most Jedi way possible, which made you hate dislike him even more. He would chastise you like a child (as if you two weren’t the same damn age), give you sharp looks whenever you did anything he didn’t like (which was most things), and would oftentimes ignore you in conversation or group settings. That is, until you eventually got on each other’s nerves so much that you would start bickering, which would cause even the most patient Jedi Master to roll their eyes.

Yord drove you crazy in a way that no one else did. You did just the same to him; he had told you as such during one of your spats. It had become so much of an issue that the Council had to have an intervention. After hours of bickering and snarking, Grand Master Yoda’s solution was for you to just avoid each other as much as possible. But the Jedi Temple was only so big.

You’re practicing your lightsaber forms in one of the older, smaller training rooms tucked deep within the Temple. Very few Jedi ever come there besides you. There’s a rumor that the younglings spread around about the room being haunted. But really, no one comes there because the room is subpar compared to other training rooms.

You’re facing yourself in the large mirror, watching as your body clunkily switches from form to form, occasionally striking at an invisible enemy. The door to the room suddenly slides open with a hiss, breaking your concentration. You look through the mirror toward the intruder, and feel your face and mood sour when you realize that it's Yord kriffing Fandar.

You instantly break your form and turn to glare at him. Before you can open your mouth to snap at him, he speaks.

“Your lightsaber is still on.”

You glance down at your hand to see it gripping the hilt of your definitely-still-on lightsaber. You stare at the purple blade before quickly deactivating it.

“Also, you shouldn’t be pointing it at the ground,” he adds. “That’s how you end up injuring yourself or others.”

Yord walks over to a bench, which sits at the other side of the room across from the mirror. You scowl at his back.

“I know that, Yord. It’s almost as if we trained together.”

“Then do better,” he replied smoothly, removing his robes, folding them, and placing them on the bench.

You can feel your blood boiling. You just hate the way he condescends you, as if you’re still a Padawan! You try to think of an insult to hurl, something that’ll really get under his skin, but your thoughts halt as you realize Yord is stripping himself of his shirt. You watch with wide eyes as he removes the beige fabric, revealing his skin. You stare at his muscled back and shoulders, watching them flex as he removes the shirt completely and folds it, placing it on the bench next to his robes. He turns around to see you staring and raises an eyebrow. Your face begins to feel hot, both at being caught and at remembering that you’re only in a bra and tight athletic pants. You quickly turn around to continue your forms.

As you begin practicing again, you ask, “Why are you here, anyway?”

Yord walks up next to you, trying to leave space, but it’s difficult in this small of a room. He ignites his yellow saber and closes his eyes, inhaling deeply.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” he says, opening his eyes and exhaling. “But I’m practicing my forms, not that I need it.”

You roll your eyes at his “subtle” gloating.

“Just don’t distract me,” you say, moving into Form I.

Yord glances at you in the mirror before moving into Form I as well.

“You seemed pretty distracted just a moment ago without my help.”

Your face feels even hotter and you want to scream. But instead you mutter a quiet “whatever” and move into Form II. Yord does the same. The both of you move in sync, but Yord, as much as you hate to admit it, is far better than you. You’re not used to all the forms, having specialized in Form V, but Yord seems to have mastered each step of every one. He quickly goes from I to II, II to III, III to IV, and so on. You, however, are still struggling with Form III. Occasionally you can see Yord look at you in the mirror, and though his expression remains neutral, you know the bastard is feeling smug inside.

Frustration builds as you attempt to go through the forms once more, only to stop at III when you realize you messed up yet again. Yord continues on, gracefully moving like it's nothing. The final straw is when you realize he’s not even breaking a sweat when you most definitely are. You let out a frustrated groan, deactivate your lightsaber, and walk to the bench to put your robes and shoes on so you can go back to your quarters and sulk at being bested by Yord, again!

As you sit on the bench, resting for a minute, you find your gaze drifting back to Yord. He’s staring at himself in the mirror, clearly concentrated, so you’re not worried about him catching you looking this time.

You stare at him unabashedly as his body contorts into the various forms, switching between them like it was nothing. He’s fast and smooth, much like a rolling river. And, like everything he does, it pisses you off.

The words blurt out of your mouth before you can stop them.

“Let’s duel.”

Yord stops and lowers his blade, looking back at you in the mirror. His chest quickly rises and falls. He nods, and you know you’re going to regret this.

You hop up from the bench and the two of you take your places across from each other. Yord bows and activates his lightsaber, entering the beginning stance for Form VI. You don’t bow back. Instead you activate your saber and enter Form V. You both stare at each other. The room is completely silent other than the sounds of your sabers humming. Normally, duels between Jedi are meant for practice. Often, they’re all in good fun. But you want to destroy Yord. You can tell he wants to do the same, no matter how much Jedi restraint he has.

You strike first, which surprises the both of you. Form V is a defense-and-counter form, not one meant for striking first. But you do anyway, and Yord blocks your saber with his own. You continue slashing at him, letting your rage flow with each swipe of your blade. Yord looks almost afraid as you continue your assault, pushing him closer and closer to the wall behind you. You raise your lightsaber over your head, ready to knock him into the wall, when you feel the Force pushing you away. You struggle to find your footing, but when you do, you glare at Yord. He’s standing there with his hand out, saber deactivated, breathing heavily, and glaring right back.

“That wasn’t proper dueling procedure,” he fumes. “You were out of line.”

“I’m out of line?” you almost shout, deactivating your saber. “You’re out of line! You interrupted my practice with your stupid presence.”

“It’s a public training room!”

“So?”

“So, I have every right to be here. Though, given your performance just now, you should be questioning your right to be here.”

You pause.

“What are you saying?” you ask slowly.

Yord huffs. “You are undisciplined, disobedient, bad-tempered, foul-mouthed, and if I’m being honest, completely unfit to be a Jedi.”

His words echo violently through your head, almost feeling like a physical knocking in your skull. You feel your eyes burning. Your whole body tingles. You can’t even think. Yord’s words ring through your head, the only thing you can focus on. Your mind screams at you to say something, do anything!

So you attack.

You lunge at Yord with a feral snarl. His eyes widen as you grab his shoulder and dig your nails into his bare flesh. Yord grabs your waist in an attempt to shove you away from him, but the two of you begin toppling over before he can. You land on your back. Yord attempts to pin you down, but you lock your legs around his waist and flip the both of you over. The two of you roll around the training room in a violent ball of limbs until you finally use all of your strength to slam Yord’s shoulders into the ground while you straddle his waist with your knees on his hands, keeping him pinned beneath you. 

He thrashes beneath you violently. He bucks his hips up in an attempt to throw you off of him, but you slam your hips down to keep him trapped beneath you. Yord lets out a loud moan. You both pause. His cheeks burn a darker shade as you both stare at each other.

“Did-did you just-”

“Shut up!” Yord snaps. “Get off of me, right now, or I’ll-”

You roll your hips experimentally. Yord lets out a groan as his head falls back to the floor. The sound sends a flash of heat right to your groin. On top of that, you can feel Yord’s dick harden beneath you. You roll your hips again a few times, relishing in Yord’s sweet sounds and the delicious friction between your clothed sexes until you realize what you’re doing.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you apologize over and over again as you stop and begin to get up. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I-”

Yord grabs your waist before you can get up and grinds you down against his cock. You let out a tiny whimper as a shock of pleasure runs through your body.

“Don’t stop,” he begs. “Please.”

You take a second to look into his eyes, trying to see if this is something he really wants. For a minute, you’re not even sure if you really want this. Sexual relationships between Jedi are forbidden. If you’re caught, there will be punishment. Ideally, you should get off of him right now and leave, never to speak of this again. But all that rationality goes out the window when he grinds against you again.

You continue dry humping each other, a chorus of groans and moans and whimpers flooding the room. At some point you find your lips on Yord’s chest, biting and sucking at the sensitive flesh. Yord mewls enthusiastically as you mark him. You move up to his collarbone, then neck and then you pull away. You want to kiss him. But it’s almost too intimate, even despite the context of what you were doing. So you dive back into the other side of his neck before he can do anything, drawing out those sweet, sweet sounds.

“Fuck me,” he moans. “Please. I need it. I need you.”

His begging is so fucking good that you can’t help but give in. As you stand, you realize there’s a wet patch on your pants and his, exposing how turned on you truly are. You shimmy out of your pants and bra, leaving you completely bare. On the ground, Yord does the same, sliding his pants down to the middle of his thighs. His tan cock slaps against his toned stomach, hard and throbbing and pretty. The sight makes your mouth water. In any other scenario, you would take it into your mouth and give him the best head of his life, but you’re too desperate. You really want to hate to admit it, but you need Yord inside of you.

You hover above Yord, spitting into your hand and jerking him off. He bucks his hips up into your fist, biting his lip. His hands claw at the ground, desperate to hold onto something. He looks so fucking good beneath you. You angle yourself and his cock so that the tip goes inside of you. You both hiss at the tightness of your cunt as you slowly lower yourself down onto him. The stretch initially burns, but then turns into pleasure. You’re both sweating and desperate. You just want to fuck him already.

Once he bottoms out inside you, you sigh at the feeling of fullness. His cock feels too good within you. You’ve missed this feeling. If you could, you would just sit here forever, full of cock. But you don’t have forever, so you press your hands onto his large pectorals and slowly lift your hips before bringing them down. Yord’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he moans loudly. You repeat the motion until you're fully riding him. The room begins to get hot and humid, with the smell of arousal permeating the air. The sounds of your breathy whines, Yord’s deep moans, and the wet slapping and squelching sounds of your hips meeting fill the room.

You look up and catch your own gaze in the mirror. You watch as you lift your hips up and down, your tits bouncing. You see Yord writing in ecstasy below you, his strong hands digging into your waist.

You look mesmerizing.

Yord’s fingers pinching your nipple brings you back to him. You let out a short squeal as he repeats the motion to your other nipple, alternating between the two. After a minute, his hand finds its way back to your waist in a bruising grip while the other begins kneading the fat of your ass. His eyes squeeze shut as you move your lips back to the junction between his jaw and neck.

“I’m so fucking close,” he sobs. Then he begs for something you don’t expect.

“Kiss me, please.”

You sense an opportunity here. You grin mischievously into his skin before pulling back.

“How badly do you want it, huh? Are you gonna apologize for being so fucking mean earlier? Huh?”

Yord opens his eyes, and you see he’s struggling to hold back tears.

“Yes! I’m-I’m sorry, shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I’m sorryI’msorry, please, please, I’m so close, just kiss me-”

You can’t find it in yourself to deny him any longer. His pleading is too fucking pretty. You slam your lips onto his in an attempt to steal his words for yourself. Your eyes shut, not caring to see if his eyes aren’t. His lips feel cool and smooth against your own slightly dry ones. Your lips quickly overlap and you begin sucking his bottom lip, gently nipping as your hips begin to speed up. You break the kiss and he chases your lip, but you give him what he wants and kiss him again. It’s wet and sloppy and hot. It’s everything you want, everything you need.

You pull apart once more, a string of saliva connecting you both before it breaks and drops onto both of your chins.

“Shitttttt,” Yord curses. “I’m gonna cum. Please can I cum? Please, please I need to cum inside of you.”

Fuck. Again, you can’t deny him.

You kiss him again, softer and more intimate than before. Something about the softness does something to Yord, and then he’s there. His body tenses, then he shivers, and you can feel him explode inside of you as he moans into your mouth. Tears of pleasure run down his face as his hot cum paints the walls of your cunt. You continue riding him through his orgasm, chasing your own release. You’re close, but you need something to really send you over the edge. Your thinking ceases as Yord’s hand moves between your legs, finding your clit and rubbing tight circles into it.

“Yes, yes, yes, right there!” you chant as your orgasm creeps closer and closer.

When it finally happens, it’s like a star collapsing. You choke on your moans. Your vision nearly goes white as your gummy walls squeeze Yord’s cock, causing both of you to moan. You rock your hips as he continues playing with your clit, guiding you through your orgasm until your hips stop spasming. 

You collapse on top of him, your tits pressing against his chest. Your face rests between his collar and jaw. Yord’s arms go to wrap around you, one around your waist and the other around your back and mid-arms. You both breathe heavily, letting each other come down from the intense throes of pleasure. It feels good to be held in his strong arms.

After a while your senses come back to you. You should go. But Yord’s grip around you is unwavering. He seems to be in no rush. So you relax in his hold and close your eyes. A voice in the back of your mind asks how you’ll deal with this change event that has undoubtedly changed you and Yord’s relationship forever, but you push your thoughts to the side and wrap your own arms around him in return. When the time comes, you’ll deal with it. But for now, you just want to rest in Yord’s arms.

[jchorsky]

Main theme of ISAT music analysis yaaayyyy yippieeee

big thanks to @ asterythm on discord for the music sheets i am forever endebted to you. here's their post with their stuff! GO GIVE THEM SOME LOVE DICTATION IS HORRIFIC. https://www.tumblr.com/starsalive/755820156323774464/isat-title-theme-piano-sheet-music-for-solo [somebody who actually knows what they're doing @cocoisindecisive responded with corrections, so the edits are gonna be in these brackets!! i couldn't leave this unedited because it felt wrong] Since they've only done the main theme, i'm just gonna pick apart that. Big fuckin text post + absolute raving and ranting!! please tell me there is a functional line break here PLEA

ISAT's OST is very economical in that it constantly reuses one central motif. I want to go on a very brief tangent to cover this motif because I feel like that's worth doing. ---What the fuck is a motif?--- i want you to repeat something with me, okay? deep breaths. A MOTIF AND A LIETMOTIF ARE NOT THE SAME. A MOTIF AND A LIETMOTIF ARE NOT THE SAME !!! PLEASE DONT USE THEM INTERCHANGEABLY MY HEART HURTS EVERY TIME !!!!!! thank you. so, a motif is a little piece of music information - usually a melody, but not always, i think? - that is reused and changed. It doesn't represent anything, really. That's the difference between it and a lietmotif - a lietmotif represents a person place or thing, and a motif just doesn't. ---Great, So what's the motif?--- it has two parts, this first part:

(this is repeated with the last 3 notes moved down a tone.) *[this is a LIE how did i think this, i literally just had to LOOK]*

this is the second part:

(which has the last part change a little bit when repeated in order to resolve.) There's some nice rythmn made with the dotted crotchet and the quaver, but nothing crazy like syncopation. It's mostly conjunct, but there's one or two little leaps in the melody. It's a fairly basic melody -- perfect for changing and adjusting to the needs of each piece.

this is used in every single track in the game! I'm not kidding, it's in every single one, try and listen for it! it's a very smart use of a motif. Onto the actual piece of music!

[to quote directly - "you dont mention that the "second part" of the motif is very similar to the first statement but with it's first measure having it's intervals being inverted (and the final eighth note keeping the pitch of the dotted quarter note). or that the second measure is again similar just that the missing C from the first measure is now the downbeat of this measure, and the B that used to be the downbeat is now and 8th note preceding the new downbeat. (plus the first statement of this second iteration changing the final three pitches so that its a stepwise walkdown from G to E)" - i knew something was different, just not what exactly, thank you for correcting me] --Main Theme--

It uses the motif as it's melody (see above), and while I won't cover that again, I will cover the harmony! The instruments are fairly simple, there's a chiptune piano and some kind of strings (?) helping with the harmony in the background. The two play together throughout.

While the key will obviously change between pieces and songs, harmony is a very important and sneaky way to hide meaning in a piece. Harmonies are also very hard and hurt my brain, so if i'm wrong feel free to tell me. (Also i hate reading bass clef)

[Dsus -> Esus4 -> G (kindanotreally) -> A sus4 -> A // ii -> iii -> V -> VI] A lot of suspended chords - suspended chords don't really hold on major or minor, so this leaves it feeling a bit unstable + airy. But, each suspended chord eventually resolves onto the major of each chord, so it still feels major. The thing that decides if a chord is major or minor is generally the second note in that chord - 3 semitones away from the first note on a major chord, and 2 on a minor chord. Suspended chords have the second note be either 1 (BUT IT'S NAMED SUS2????) or 4 semitones away (sus2 / sus4). This lets it dance around either, and it keeps tension until it resolves into either one. [ to quote directly again - "and then the chord progression you outline seems like gobbeldygook to me. measure 1's downbeat is not a Dsus chord, it's pretty clearly a power chord, and it leads into an F not an Esus4. measure 2 is mostly fine though, only think is that it is definitelly a G chord! if you wanted to be pedantic you could say it's a Gomit5 but i really wouldnt bother specifiying that and whoops your roman numerals are wrong! the big issue is that this 2 bar phrase DOES contain a tonic chord. in fact its the first of the measure! this is pretty clearly in D dorian, but i think you've confused it for C major since they share a key signature. but nope! given that correction and the ones above the roman numerals looks more like a [I -> III -> IV -> V]." YEAH IM REALLY BAD AT THIS I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY 😭😭]

[Dsus -> F -> G -> Gsus -> Asus4 (kind of???????) // ii -> IV -> V -> ii -> ii] this little countermelody continues (i'm not sure if it's because i'm looking at the piano version and OOPS it's too late now, or because there is just a countermelody. what am i saying this would be countermelody either way????) and layers quavers over a crochet and minim harmony. The harmony itself mirrors the same as before - loads of sus chords with occasional, brief resolutions to major chords. But, what's weird is that I haven't seen a single I / Tonic chord yet? there's not a single chord that's just the first note of the key. That's kinda weird - most pieces even start with that. There's something there - technically, we're not at the start of the journey, we're at the very end of it, the very end of this year-long journey that all of the character's have been taking. [ corrections: "closer with measures 3-4 its just that measure 4 is an an Asus4 to A and that adjusting for you being in the wrong key the chord progression is still that same [I -> III -> IV -> V]" ]

[Esus -> Gsus2 -> C -> Esus -> Gsus2 -> C // iii -> V -> I -> iii -> V -> I] WHOOPS I LIED. there's the tonic chord! there's C! There's a good reason for a tonic to appear here, though - we have a perfect cadence, and that is very interesting. Those roman numerals are about the placement of a chord within a key. kind of - it's important for stuff. A cadence is the harmonic ending to a phrase - in this case, a perfect cadence, from V -> I. This sounds "complete" to our ears, it feels like the piece could end there. what's weird is that it repeats twice, and keeps going on the second one. Furthermore, the melodic phrase is ending here, the motif is ending. This would be a far more "complete" ending if it stopped here. But it doesn't.

It changes from block chords to ostinatos (MIGHT BE THE WRONG NAME.), but each of these semi quaver / demi semi quaver progressions return back to one note while playing out a countermelody at the same time, still allowing for some kind of harmony. This change also builds up the pace in the piece, letting it build to the ending - this is the only thing that really drives the piece beyond this point, this building rythmn. Even then, it stops on this little crotchet chord! And then keeps going, into what is probably the most interesting part. [corrections - "a couple of things wrong with this one. first of all i analyzed the chords for measures 5-8 as [Fmaj7 -> Gadd9 -> Amin7 -> Cmaj7-> Fmaj7 -> Gadd9 -> E -> A] with roman numerals: [III-> IV -> V -> V/III -> III -> IV -> V/V -> V]. no PAC here! also, even if this was actually in the key of C major there is no V -> I in the bass and none of the soprano movement need to be an actual PAC. just a bunch of movements by fifth :]. you say the rythym is the only thing pushing the piece forward, and while it sure is definitely a fun effect that's building some nice tension the constant movement by fifth's is definitely also contributing to the tone. be wary of blaming an entire piece's success on one element!"]

[Asus -> Gsus -> G -> Esus4 // VI -> V -> V -> iii] In terms of intrumentation, something weird happens here - the chiptune piano falls away into a far more real-sounding one, while the strings stay the same within this section. in terms of harmony, again! tons of suspended chords, with one or two resolutions that keeps the piece feeling major. This cadence is. Weird. [V -> iii] isn't really a resolution at all, and as far as i could find it doesn't have a formal name the way some others do. some parts resolve (the E notes) but others don't, (the A notes), so it ends up feeling only half-satisfying. This makes sense - the music is gonna loop, because this is game music, so it does make sense to have it not resolve. But. It resolved perfectly eariler - we did have a perfect cadence. So then, why break into this tiny little two bar ending, that doesn't even resolve? That can smoothly go back onto itself, and also back into the beginning of the piece? This part is quieter, the demi semi quavers have rested back into minims, and it feels a little bit like an anti-climax to the build from earlier - it doesn't feel like a dramatic ending that the build was maybe working towards, more like a quiet moment. Despite that, the texture in this two bar section never thins - the piano is never left behind by the strings - the strings don't get quieter either, just the piano. Why is this two bar section here, then? Why end on this, and not on the part before? Two bars, huh. What a strange number to choose. [corrections - "chord progession is: [A -> G -> E -> A]. i'd argue that the previous secondary dominant to the A tonicized the A, placing us in the key of the domimant (A minor). so because of that i''d say the roman numerals are [I -> VII -> V -> I].

maybe pedantic but i dont think its actually that weird or bizzare of a choice for the chiptune melody to be replaced by an acoustic(-sounding) piano. the isat soundtrack consistently uses both acoustic and virtual instruments! this is just establishing that and letting the listener know to expect more of this specific element of the soundtrack. as title themes tend to do!

and the piece is quite resolved by the end actually. if i believed what you believed about the sheet music and never listened to the track i could see how i could think that, but giving the track a listen and using your ear to sus out details reveals how resolved it actually is!" thank you for the corrections im real bad at this]

[jommycham]

Spirit Hunter NG Radio Drama Bonus CD [Ultra Rough Translation]

[Spirit Doctor Yashiki Kazuo's Consultation Room]

An honest attempt at a translation of the bonus drama CD that came with the purchase of NG: Extreme Kaidanchi. Beware of some minor spoilers if you have not played through all the Spirit Hunter games.

Note: Only did this for fun, and I am not fluent in Japanese, so inaccuracies are expected.

Disclaimers:

This bonus CD is an edited version of Yashiki's Consultation Room that was originally broadcasted on the EXP channel. Some questions sent in by viewers have been altered. What occurs in the Consultation Room should be treated as a parallel universe to the main storyline— therefore all comments made in these sessions are NOT canon.

(btw, Yashiki's title here is "Kai Ika" (怪医家)— or literally "Strange Doctor," which is probably where the "Spirit Doctor" came from.)

✄--------------------------------------------

I did my best with my (admittedly) shoddy translation, and cleaned it up a bit to have it sound more coherent. Again, I do not speak or understand much Japanese, so despite my best attempts, portions can be wrong (though most of it should be reasonably correct). I will highlight those unsure sections accordingly. There are also very small parts I've omitted, either due to it being too difficult to understand (for me) or to smooth the flow of the translation. 🙇‍♀️Thank you very much for your understanding and putting up with my impulsive DM brain rot.

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

This CD features Yashiki and Mashita answering the audience's concerns/worries. Yashiki receives these burning questions through occult magazines. This time, however, Yashiki specifically calls Mashita in due to a request from OOPArts, much to Mashita's chagrin.

☕︎ Late for School Reader: This question is basically taken from EXP 4th Season #3 Voice Drama (where it's Yashiki, Moe, and Mashita) regarding the viewer who couldn't get up early.

Yashiki: Moe has answered this before, and I suggest rather than buying a cat, to take supplements, don't accumulate stress, go to bed early, get plenty of sleep, and have yourself plenty of coffee and sugar as soon as you wake up.

Mashita: Well, I guess that's the sort of advice you'd give. At my previous job, I'd take a shower or wash my face with cold water.

Yashiki: Even if someone else wakes me up, I still have to put in majority of the effort through the rest of the process.

➥The answers to this question are a lot more fleshed out in the actual livestream VD, such as the cat thing, the supplements being part of Mashita's answer, and Saya mention for the "someone else."

☕︎ Bug Hater Reader: Also a question taken from the above mentioned Voice Drama about a reader asking about how to handle cleaning the house while bugs are roaming during the summer.

Mashita: You're the type of person who doesn't hesitate to pick things up and put it in your bag. You (the reader) can also try hiring someone or contacting a cleaning company.

[Yashiki is concerned that Mashita also doesn't really like touching gross things and asks if he's okay.]

[Mashita explains that both of them are basically in the same line of work, so it's not like he hesitates either to touch things.]

Yashiki: That's true.

☕︎ Summer vacation is almost over, but my eldest daughter hasn't finished her homework. What should I do, Mr. Yashiki? What did you do with your homework during summer vacation?

Yashiki: The Kujo Family already finished their homework early into summer vacation. How about you, Mashita?

Mashita: Well, it's kind of a hassle, so I tried to finish it early. But I always remember not being able to finish my literature essay/book review until the last moment. It was the only part I didn't fully understand.

*TERROR SOUND EFFECT*

Yashiki: I loved reading books and I don't remember having difficulties with them. Shou doesn't do his in the first place. Moe and Tsukasa seem to be the types who get it done first thing. Suzu seems like she'd get it done unexpectedly early. Eita probably does it early, too. Ai seems the type to get it done and put the rest of her energy into her hobbies.

Mashita: If your parents are willing to help you, it might not be a bad idea to plan your hobbies and leisure activities for the latter half of your summer vacation and finish the homework by then.

Yashiki: And if you don't finish your homework...

*dramatic sound effect*

Yashiki: ... you'll die at dawn. Well, if you can imagine a curse like that/wouldn't be surprising if there was a curse like that.

Mashita: Tch, I wouldn't want that.

➥ The term Mashita uses here is "Dokusho Kanshoubun," and I am not familiar with the specifics of what summer homework consists of, so the closest thing I went with was a book review of sorts.

➥ I got kind of lost on his descriptions, so I honestly wasn't sure who was being described, so the details may be mixed up.

☕︎ I'm waking up in the middle of the night with the need to go to the bathroom. But there are times where I get scared and don't want to go. What should I do in times like these? If you have any tips or advice, please let me know!

Yashiki: Actually, come to think of it...

Mashita: Wait. Just turn on the lights, that's the answer.

Yashiki: What's the hurry, Mashita? I was just trying to...

Mashita: I'm trying to keep you from making an ill-advised comment.

Yashiki: Was it going to be that terrible?

Mashita: No doubt. With this, we're done with the question.

Mashita: Tch, who was the one who chose this question? Maybe they were half-asleep at the time. Well, off to the next one.

➥ I could not tell if Yashiki was asking if his answer was going to be that awful or he was saying "that's terrible (coming from Mashita)." I went with the former to be safe.

☕︎ One afternoon, I was taking the bus to the hospital, and the bus stopped at a bus stop. It was on a main street with only cars and a few pedestrians passing by, making it look quite deserted. The bus driver opened the doors and stared outside. I watched from the back seat as the driver repeatedly, with an impatient tone, asked someone if they were getting on or not. The driver gave up on asking and started driving off. As the bus drove away, I kept looking outside, but didn't see anyone at the bus stop or on the sidewalk of the main street. I wondered who the driver was talking to, or if he had talked to anyone in the first place.

I suddenly remembered this recently— what exactly happened, and how would you interpret it, Mr. Yashiki?

There's a section where Mashita goes into a short explanation in regards to this particular question. I am not sure if he is talking about the reader's question or their reply— but basically either this question has been submitted before (didn't make it into the actual Consultation segment) or it has been replied to, but the reply was not published. Therefore, the editorial department has requested this question be submitted/replied to again.

Yashiki: I remember this question. My original reply was that since it was the driver's actions, it's technically not a paranormal phenomenon.

Mashita: Well, if we can't be sure, we still need to interpret it from that angle (?). What do you think about the situation?

Yashiki: I think it might be someone from the future who came to your rescue, and thanks to them delaying the bus' departure, a major accident was avoided.

Mashita: You're still naive as ever, but worse. No matter who that person was, in the end, you're the one who created that anxiety. You shouldn't willingly go with their plans.

Yashiki: By interpreting the situation in a way that doesn't make me anxious, it allows me to avoid getting swallowed up by fear.

➥ The specific phrase Mashita uses is "お花畑," or "ohanabatake," which means a field of flowers. It seems to be used to describe someone who is carefree or blind.

➥ The answer sort of starts leaning into the more philosophical side towards the end? At least on the basis where my interpretation of "that person" is the imagined time traveler of Yashiki's explanation. If not, I'm terribly sorry.

☕︎ At my previous workplace, there was a tree (?) that always made a ringing noise at night. It was close to a residential area, with an apartment building and a small community center in its parking lot. For some reason, it doesn't bother me on my way to work, and I only hear it on the way home. It also doesn't bother me during early shifts, so I assume the noise only occurs at night. The sound is different every time, ranging from the metallic sound like that of gold or a sandstorm. On bad days the ringing in my ears causes headaches and anemia. I had heard from a friend that the place was haunted/visited by spirits; so I started wondering if it was a paranormal experience.

Yashiki: I answered this question at the time it was originally submitted, but it remains the same. I can't deny the possibility [of it being a paranormal event]. I'm pretty sure the advice given to you was to sing a song. There's also the option of keeping an omamori and listening to your favorite music through earphones. I don't know how effective it is, but as I have said previously— try to avoid feeling anxious as much as possible.

☕︎ I'm an idol who loves the occult, and I love reading about them. I want to consult Mr. Yashiki, as there have been many instances of paranormal sightings in H City. There are also rumors of new sightings circulating on message boards as of late. I'm a bit nervous about investigating it by myself, so can you please help me out? I wonder if the rumors are true or not...

Yashiki: I don't recommend investigating it, because there's a chance you could die.

Mashita: But I guess they can't just leave it be.

Yashiki: This is a difficult question...

Mashita: In any case, I would like to have some more information so I can do some research on this.

Yashiki: I'm sorry, but I'd appreciate it if you could send what you know to the editorial department. I recommend you never investigate matters like these alone.

Afterword

Yashiki: Alright.

Mashita: I think this is enough, about 10 minutes.

Yashiki: I’ll hand the audio recording to Moe later today.

Mashita: I'll leave it to you.

Yashiki: I hope this helps someone with their troubles.

Mashita: Perhaps.

Yashiki: Will you be willing to help out next time?

[Pause]

Mashita: ... Tch. Hm.

Yashiki: Please look after me./Thank you in advance.

➥ The phrase is "yoroshiku tanomu yo," which I've seen can be translated into "please look after —" or just used generally for requesting a favor. I was debating using "I'm counting on you" since it sort of made better sense in this context, but Yashiki ended it with "よ" which is much more casual/polite than "ぜ." I ended up opting for a more... gentler way of phrasing this? I genuinely didn’t know how to write it in a way that conveys how he spoke other than this ( ´_ゝ`).

Spirit Doctor Yashiki's Consultation Room: In addition to our regular consultations, we are also accepting everyday troubles. Please contact us here.

Thank you very much for sticking til the end here. ヾ(´ー`)ﾉ゛ I've been going through some pretty severe rot and this helped to alleviate it somewhat (despite how piss poor my efforts are). It's interesting to see different sides to characters even if it's not entirely canon.

As a lil bonus, I want to show those of you who haven't watched Nezuka Ryo's voice over for the entirety of DM1— Kawabata Yoshiaki's (Mashita's VA) introduction! The gap is... actually really cute in a way???

[inficetegodwottery]

So. Werewolf 5th Edition.

Werewolf 5th edition sucks. A lot.

Edit- I made some errors in my initial edit of this post that were fuelled entirely by being underinformed and almost insensible with anger, disappointment, and anxiety.

Some very informative responses have been made that I intend to incorporate into a much better and less rambling post with those updates and corrections. I'll probably delete this one soon as I type that one together, so folks only see the updated version.

Sorry for any mistakes I made on this old version, again, I was in an extremely poor place mentally and thoroughly dispirited by the total butchering of what was supposed to be a less shitty and mean-spirited version of a setting I care deeply for despite its foundational flaws and 30+ year history of exactly this thing happening.

I'm still very, very angry. But it's important to be angry and correct. This post was not made by someone informed of all the facts, and I intend to correct that.

Paradox Interactive has made the brave decision to reboot the controversial Werewolf the Apocalypse setting entirely rather than try and fix it, and have somehow done a worse job than the games studio that released an RPG book titled an ethnic slur.

It's taken me almost a month since this came out to be anywhere near mentally prepared enough to even collect my thoughts on it.

Man, it is rare to see an edition of ANYTHING that pisses off old players, new players, players who want to keep the lore the same, players who want to change the lore, conservative players, radical players, and even powergamers.

How do you set out with the intention of making an infamously dated and poorly researched/outreached setting LESS uncomfortable and racist from a modern perspective.... and end up with something EVEN MORE racist and uncomfortable, but also suffocatingly tonedeaf, insincere, and deeply sinister and corporate in its erasure of existing issues rather than addressing them whatsoever.

We made the Get of Fenris irredeemably evil because some of them in the past were nazis and also nazis like Germanic mythology, so the viking werewolves are all nazis now.

Okay, I understand why you did that from a modern political perspective even if its kind of heavy hand-

The Native American werewolf tribes have been removed entirely and replaced with American Murican werewolf tribes. Renaming and rewriting them to be more respectful was just too much work! Now they're more inclusive. :)

The Irish werewolf tribe is now the Nature Werewolves tribe, like every other tribe of Werewolves also is, but also stripped completely of celtic origins.

The Red Talons are openly genocidal ecofascist malthusians and somehow NOT IRREDEEMABLY EVIL like the Get of Fenris are.

Also the feminist all women werewolves are no longer all women or even feminist. AND ALSO SOME OF THEM ARE SOCIAL DARWINISTS AND THATS SUPPOSED TO BE A GOOD THING!?!

Also we entirely dropped the themes about how forcing children to be a part of a war they barely understand while also lying to them about the crimes their ancestors committed that led to the current crisis is fucked up and evil.

Now its actually awesome to be a child soldier born into a repressive apocalyptic death cult with a siege mentality and everything is cool about that actually, you're the Good Guys, and no amount of covered-up historic genocides or internal/external bigotry will ever change that! :)

Also we solved the way people were uncomfortable with the idea that werewolf society is transitioning messily from being horrible ableist assholes that discriminated for centuries against those they view as deformed, disabled, or sexual deviants to new generations that don't care about that stuff, by removing disabled werewolves entirely! Problem solved! No more discomfort or moral conundrums! We are the liberal-est!

There's just something so unbelievably fucked up and suspicious about erasing entire minorities from a fictional universe because they were handled poorly in the first edition, rather than talking to writers and outreach specialists FROM the real world equivalents to those minorities to try and rewrite them.

Don't worry, we removed the group the setting was bigoted against! Problem solved! Just remove the minority!

I've written my own post on why the Metis/Crinos-born should be renamed and probably rewritten, but as a severely disabled individual with multiple hereditary disabilities that severely impact my QoL, outright removing disabled characters in a work of fiction because the prejudice other characters showed them in-universe made people uncomfortable makes me want to tear out someone's throat with my teeth.

Sure, completely remove my ability to play disabled a character fighting back against prejudice and bigotry, rather than rewrite the most uncomfortable aspects of YOUR FUCKING PORTRAYAL OF THOSE CHARACTERS to make it more clear who the sympathetic one is supposed to be.

It's just so unbelievably cowardly and whinging and wretched.

So fuck it, I guess!

Fuck the deeply applicable themes of being born into a well-intentioned but deeply flawed and bigoted society, and trying to create the better world your parents always told you your ancestors fought for, while dealing with the fact that your world is built on mass graves those ancestors helped fill.

Fuck a game that deals with intergenerational trauma and the ethical hellscape that is a highly religious society devoted to the very same ideals it often violates just to win fights against the enemies it created through its own arrogance and prejudice.

Fuck a game that lets you play someone born different, born strange and sickly, bouncing constantly between people who pity you and people who view you as subhuman, before finally finding the people, the family who love and accept and fight alongside you for a world that has never accepted you, but WILL FUCKING KNOW YOUR NAME.

That's not relevant to the real world at all!

There are no kids born in deeply flawed and hypocritical societies, who grew up on stories of the glorious future their society would create, forced then to reconcile the hopeful dreams of a better world with the comprehensive list of horrific things done in the name of that future.

There are no children born confused and alone in their navigation of the maze that is past atrocities, ethnic conflicts, religious prejudice and dogma, or modern propaganda attempting to erase the histories of all of those things.

There are no disabled teens who spent their lives believing they didn't belong in the world, kept going only by the connections they forged with other outsiders and people who fought back against the kind of wretched bigotry that suffocates children to death, who found homes and families they could trust outside the pissant communities they were born into.

Apparently those people don't need a game! They don't need to explore those feelings!

Just throw some more nazis in, so we can pretend we care about social issues or understand the redeeming threads of a deeply flawed gameline, ostensibly so we market it to leftist youngsters, but while we also erase the entire point of a game WHICH IS ALL ABOUT BEING PUNKASS YOUNGSTERS DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND THE REDEEMING THREADS OF A DEEPLY FLAWED AND PREJUDICED SOCIETY THAT CONSTRAINS THEM, FINDING A WAY TO REBEL AGAINST BOTH THE EVILS OF THE RACIST BASTARDS WHO RAISED THEM AND THE POMPOUS SHITHEADS WHO WANT TO DESTROY THE WORLD OUT OF GREED.

No! We want a squeaky clean, sterile white game that AmericanTM parents can be proud of their kids for playing! A marketable game, that advertisers will gladly pay Revenue to put their products in! Play the good guys, everyone! You're the good guys! Be a big werewolf UwU!

Don't worry about historical atrocities or the flaws of the society that raised you! That's Pentex propaganda!

Fighting bad guys means you can't do anything bad yourself! The Emperor told me so! Deus Gaia Vult!

A hollow, performative, offensive jizzstain that should've been scrapped in its crib. I have no idea how this edition got past a quality assurance team.

Hell I have no idea how it got past a legal team, given the number of real peoples' likenesses they used without permission.

Devoid of artistic integrity or merit.

[stars-and-clouds]

hi res download

This is just my understanding of the Ishgardian power hierarchy as I gathered from the game and the undermentioned sources.

some notes:

The church’s power mostly ‘technically’ spans over the orange blocks but some of the green blocks too. It should be noted, however, that Ishgard is a theocracy and religion practically rules over everything. Some examples of lose church power is that, the ruling houses seem to always have some cardinals appointed inside the church from their own house. It is, of course, not clear that it is forced upon the houses or the houses do it to have power inside the church. I wish there was a clearer explanation of this.

In regards to the lose connection between the inquisition and the ruling houses, it seems the houses do fear the authority of the inquisition officers and the inquisitor even by high standing lords (and knights) like Haurchefant and Francel. This is odd since nothing suggests they are above the ruling houses as it is my understanding that the ruling houses are basically a council of rulers in Ishgard, so, they shouldn’t be beneath the vault technically but they seemed to be practically. Religion rules.

I did not find examples any knights sworn to the minor houses, so it seems only the ruling houses have knights sworn to them and the minor houses sends their members to be sworn to the ruling houses, something like bannermen. This might not be for life, however, as seen by the knight Ser Carrilaut who used to serve house Haillenarte but has moved to serve house Dzemael when we meet him for the quest ‘The Rose and the Unicorn’.

*I apologise for the typo in the infographic: Next to the block of ‘minor house,’ the noble title should be ‘Viscount/Viscountess,’ not ‘Visount/Visountess’ lel

edit note (221214): If a clergy member is particularly young, newly admitted or is beneath a pastor, they can be referred with ‘sister/brother’ titles.

As always, respectfully correct me if I have made some mistakes.

Hope this helps people =D

Sources:

Haillenarte on tumblr

Ishgardian Lore Document

Encyclopaedia Eorzea- I by Square Enix

[wandering-feather]

The Chain

Larissa Weems x Female Reader

Explicit no minors!!!!

Reader is a Normie who is married to Larissa. After the event with Crackstone the new mayor hired Reader as a communication liaison between the school and the town. Larissa and her have been drifting and Larissa seems to put her second all the time. After forgetting a work function of yours and chooses work again, Reader leaves and is  in an accident.

I just edited this a little more with just fixed wording, grammar and typos. I have issues with getting over excited and posted this a little too soon. I cleaned it up and made it smoother. 

AN: I have not written in a long time and this my first time writing for this fandom. This story came to me in a moment and was written pretty fast because I could not stop. It might not be great but it’s a start. Also this is me getting ready for my series that I posted about. Also the title of the work is from the song The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.

Warnings: angst, smut, car accident, blood, wounds, hospitals. 

You were sitting at your vanity, finishing up your hair and make up. You were excited to be going out with your wife even if it was for a work function. After what happened the year prior the new mayor hired you to be the communications liaison between the town and school. Even though you are a normie you were married to the Principle of Nevermore and with your degree in communications the job was a perfect fit. Ever since you started your job though you both have been busy and seem to be drifting apart. You stop for a second from putting on your earring and frown, the more you think about it it seemed you were the only one trying. You reminded yourself that the last school year was very hard on Larissa and she doesn’t want it to happen again. Sighing you finished up at the vanity and stepped in your closet and slid on your favorite dress and quickly slipped on your heels and grabbed your clutch. You stepped out of your shared chambers and stopped at seeing Larissa working at her desk dressed in the clothes she had been wearing all day. You looked at your watch and it dawned on you she forgot because there is no way she had time to get ready.

“Larissa?” You spoke trying to get her attention. 

Larissa looked up and smiled noticing how beautiful and fixed up you were but then her face turned to confusion as to why you were dressed up. The moment you saw her confused look you knew you were correct she had forgotten. 

“Darling, Why are you so dressed up? Not that I’m complaining, you look beautiful.” 

You shake your head feeling tears in your eyes. Larissa noticed this and became concerned.

“I have the work thing tonight that you promised you could make it. I reminded you last night.” 

Larissa feels her stomach drop. She did it again and it killed her to see that the tears in your eyes were caused by her. She quickly jumped up and walked over to you, placing her hand on your shoulder. She felt the slight pull of your shoulder and pulled her hand away.

“Darling, I'm so sorry things have been crazy and Wednesday seems to be up to something again. I have been overworked.” She said softly trying to get you to understand. 

You took a deep breath and hoped that maybe tonight could be salvageable. “I could go ahead so I won’t be late. You can get ready and then I will tell them you had something come up and will be a little late.” You looked at her with pleading eyes.

Larissa sighed she wanted to say yes but if she didn’t get these emails out tonight a disaster could be happening by tomorrow with upset parents.  When you heard her sigh you knew what was coming.

“Darling, I’m so sorry but I won’t be able to attend, with what happened today I have to get these emails out.”

You took a step back and blinked rapidly to stop your tears and not ruin your makeup.

Larissa stared at you noticing you were on the brink of either sobbing or yelling. She wanted to wrap you up in her arms but she wasn’t sure if you would let her. She heard you whisper something.

“Darling, I couldn’t hear you.” She said 

You looked up wiping at your eyes carefully, you were done crying over this and being looked over again. Not being able to be your wife’s first choice. You never have been anyone's first choice. What you were doing was helping the school also.

“Larissa, I’m tired of being second to everything in your life. You do this all the time lately. I have been patient and hear me when I say this. I love you with all my heart but I can’t keep doing this. It’s breaking me.” You said this calmly which scared Larissa even more as you have thought about this a lot. These were not just words being said in the moment of anger.

“Love, that is not true please you know how important the school is to me but you are my everything.” She pleads with you.

Shaking your head and huff, “Larissa that is not how it seems. We haven’t even had sex in two weeks and it was like just getting off no romance. You used to send me little notes, have flowers sent to my office. I still do these things I still try but you don’t” your voice was getting a little louder.

You watched as Larissa’s eyes turned to anger and you knew she was upset because you were right and now she was defensive.

“When we got together you knew how important Nevermore was to me.” She said with a curt tone and stood at her tallest height. “I'm sorry you think my love making is lacking and if we are being honest you are just too needy at times.” 

You took a shocking breath at her last words. She knew how insecure you are about being a bother to others. Larissa saw your face and instantly regretted her words. She quickly took a step towards you to gather you in her arms and say she was sorry but you took another step back putting your hand out. “Don’t” you could feel your whole body sake. “Just stay here, do your work and I will go do mine. Please don’t come.” You looked her straight in the eyes, “I mean it this isn’t me saying please surprise me and everything will be better.” You turned and grabbed the door knob and without looking back you spoke softly.

“Larissa one day I might not be here, almost losing you last year showed me we don’t have forever. Just know I don’t want to be apart from you.”

You opened the door as Larissa spoke but you didn’t hear her words after she said sorry you had heard that word enough. You walked through the school towards the front doors pushing it open. You wondered if Larissa in fact did follow you but you would not look back. You don’t like to play games like that if you tell someone something that is what you want and you knew Larissa knew that. You got in the car and drove off towards Jericho where the party was being held. You finally put your foot down, you were not going to make her choose you would never do that to her but she needed to know that you can’t keep going like this either.

You arrived at the party letting everyone know that Larissa had something unexpected happen. You worked on moving around the room greeting everyone and you felt your social meter deplete quickly so you excused yourself to your office and sat in the dark thinking. You were not wrong Larissa has drifted you even wondered if she loved you less. What was said had to be said. But you did just tell her why you were upset with her and left instead of trying to talk. You took a shaky breath finally letting the tears fall. If she was falling out of love with you then you would let her be free you would break the chain and let her go. Sometimes love is not enough to keep people together. You held back a sob placing your hand over your mouth. You needed to get to her to let her know you do love her and that the two of you could figure this out together. This can’t be it. You stood up grabbing your bag and keys and thankfully seeing your assistant you told her you were not feeling well. She let you know she would let everyone know. You hoped you didn’t look too bad after crying. 

You stepped out feeling the breeze hit your skin and a few raindrops hit your face hurrying to your car you got in as the rain picked up a little. You took some deep breaths trying to calm down. Maybe you should ask your assistant to drive you home but you didn’t want to ruin her night too. Turning the car on you took the road that headed to Nevermore. You turned the radio on to distract yourself and laughed lightly at the song playing The Chain by Fleetwood Mac. Both because it's her favorite band and the meaning of the song.  Feeling some tears slipping from your eyes again you quickly punched the station button hearing heavy metal blaring out. You wipe your eyes and that’s when you see the deer standing in the road. It was not raining that hard but it made the road slick. Screaming you grab the wheel swerving. You felt your car lift and roll to the ditch leaving you hanging upside down. Before you slipped out of consciousness you thought about how you never told Larissa you loved her when you left.

You didn’t stay unconscious for long, your eyes snapped open and you could feel the rain pouring around you. You looked around thinking about how your body felt and where it hurt, which was everywhere. You felt something warm dripping down your head and you touched it confirming that you were bleeding. You felt like you could move your body but that doesn’t mean nothing is not broken. You take a deep breath thankful that you felt air moving okay it did hurt to breathe a little. You reached over for your seatbelt and waited one second before unbuckling it and falling to the roof of your car. You cried out as you felt something slice into your leg above your knee. You bit back the pain and looked around for your clutch that had your phone seeing it you reached for it wincing in pain. Quickly getting your phone you groaned because there was no service. It was always crappy in this area and with rain it was impossible to make a call. You thought about writing a note to Larissa so she would know you loved her just in case. 

Before you began typing on your phone you saw lights. You knew it was dark. They might not see your car and you begin to climb out of the car ignoring the little cuts you’re getting from the glass. You finally got out of the car and crawled to the road waiving seeing the car slow down you collapsed on the road crying of relief. A person jumped out of the car and came running toward you yelling your name. The last thing you noticed was Vlad before you lost consciousness again.

***

Larissa stood there in shock as you walked away not even responding to her when she told you she loved you. You guys never left without saying you loved each other even if you were upset.  She wondered what you meant by one day you might not be there? Were you going to leave her? The tears and sobs began. She collapsed on the floor grabbing at her hair pulling pieces out of the pins. She knew you were not asking her to give up Nevermore but to just show you that she loved you. She was not doing that and she hated herself for that. She cried like that for what felt like ever. She noticed it had began to rain and now she was worried because she hated the fact you were driving out in the rain. She also couldn’t help but know if she kept her promise she could drive instead. 

Getting up she headed to the bathroom and was shocked by her appearance. She pulled the pins out of her hair letting the rest fall as her curls fell around her shoulders. She started to clean her face but before she could get all her makeup off she heard a knock at the door. She wondered if it was you but knew that it was too soon. Walking towards the door she opened to find the Astronomy teacher who was taken back by Larissas’s appearance. 

“Professor Wilson is everything all right?” Larissa could see fear in the teacher's eyes.

“You need to come with me, Vlad called me, Mrs. Weems has been in a car accident. Vlad found her and she is at the hospital. He asked for me to bring you.” The older lady was frantic at this point.

Larissa felt her world stop at first she didn’t move but when Professor Wilson snapped for her to hurry she grabbed her coat and bag and went with the professor. She was numb. She might have lost you just like you said and she was so stupid she should have been with you. You were not needy and you were neglected by the one person who should have never had. She felt tears fall down her cheek. As they pulled up to the hospital she jumped out of the car running up the steps into the hospital as fast as she could. She ran to the nurse's desk.

“My wife was brought in, she was in a car accident. Weems is her last name,” the nurse looked up and before she could say anything Vlad called out.

“Larissa, she's going to be okay. They are running tests.”

Larissa walked over to Vlad and collapsed in the chair putting her face in her hands. She did this, this was all her fault. She felt Vlad sit next to her and place his hand on her shoulder. “She kept saying for me to tell you she loved you every time she was awake.” Larissa began to sob after a few minutes she used her handkerchief to clean herself up as she saw the doctor.

“Mrs. Weems, your wife is going to be fine. She suffered mostly superficial wounds. Surprisingly nothing is broken, her wrist is sprained. She has a lot of small cuts that will heel up just fine. She does have a head wound but it’s not serious. Though she did have a large deep wound on her thigh it's been sewn up and she is resting. She can go home tomorrow if she stays stable.” 

Larissa breathed a sigh of relief thanking the doctor and rushed towards your room but quietly entered in case you were sleeping. Her heels grabbed your attention though and your eyes caught Larissa’s and she stopped when she saw your eyes filling up with tears and her heart broke for the millionth time that night. She was scared you didn’t want her there. You noticed her hesitation and reached your hand out letting her know it was okay to come close. She quickly closed the gap between the two of you grabbing your hand. You both stared at each other for a moment crying before Larissa spoke.

“I’m so sorry I should have been with you and you’re not needy. I have been neglecting you. I love you so much and…” you placed your hand on her cheek.

“Larissa, it doesn’t matter, I mean it does but we got this second chance to have time to work on us. I love you. I should have stayed home and talked to you. You are my everything too. I know you have other priorities but we have to take care of each other too.” You winced as you moved and Larissa quickly went to help and you grabbed her hand intertwining your fingers with hers. “I’m fine, I should have not been driving while I was upset. I let my mind get to me and told myself that you must be falling out of love with me. I just wanted to get back to you.” You touched a strand of her hair smiling lightly noticing she had left the school not put together. 

Larissa shook her head frantically as more tears fell down her beautiful face. “Darling I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. That is not true. I love you so much more than my own life. I forgot my priorities and that is going to change.” She leaned in to kiss you but hesitated seeing the small cut on your lip but you broke the distance and kissed her lips ignoring the slight pain. 

When she pulled back you smiled at her, “I love you too forever.” You laid there like that for a while you knew you both had to work on a few things but you didn’t mind because your love was too strong to let the chain break.

***

It has been a week since your accident. You forced Larissa to go back to work today because poor Vlad was about to lose his mind. She had promised she would be home at 5pm sharp. Her first promise she made since you were home. You got in the shower and cleaned your wounds which were much better. Your bruises were fading and your wrist hurt a lot less. The only issue you had was the gash on your leg. Getting out you dried off and put on your silk robe and went to the bed. Sitting down you begin to dress your wound on your leg. Before you could finish the job you heard the door to your room open and looked up to see Larissa who had kept her promise. You smiled at her as she smiled back at you.

“Hey I missed you today,” She said, noticing you changing your dressing and frowned quickly coming over to help you. “You should have waited till I got back.” She took over wrapping the gauze around the wound. “Did you think I was going to break my promise?” 

You heard the hurt in her voice and put your hand on her cheek making her look at you as she finished wrapping the wound. “First, I missed you too, and no I trust you. I did it by myself so we could have more time to relax together.” You then leaned forward and kissed Larissa’s lips softly.

You could feel her tension relax and she smiled at you as she kissed you back. “I’m sorry today has been hard being away from you after everything.” She said as she stood up and began to remove her heels, earrings and jacket. She then began to undo her hair. 

“No wait, stop let me take the pins out please.” You smiled and she nodded and unzipped her dress stepping out of it leaving her in her slip. She walked over to you and sat in front of you as you stood up by the bed. She shook her head and softly grabbed your good wrist to pull you back to sit on the bed. You shook your head this time.  “I can stand up for a bit Larissa.” She sighed “ I know I just worry.” She says smiling. You began to pull the pins gently from her hair hearing her moan at the relief of her hair being free. Her curls now fall down her shoulders and you run your fingers through it, smoothing it out hearing her moan again. You squeezed your thighs together feeling your desire run down your leg. It has been too long and you couldn’t help a moan escape your own mouth.

Larissa’s head snapped up towards you and quickly helped you to the bed thinking you were hurt. She stands up frantically. “Where does it hurt?”

You laughed and shook your head. “Larissa, it's okay I’m not hurt.”

She looked at you with such confusion in her eyes. Has it really been that long you thought. “Then what’s wrong?” she asks.

You blushed and looked down, “Its been a long time and when you moaned it just well turned me on,” You felt stupid for being so shy. You also felt like everything was new and to be honest it felt amazing.

Larissa put both her hands on your face and smiled, “Oh darling I have wanted to so badly, I have wanted to show you how much I love you, but you're hurt and I can’t hurt you worse.” She kissed your lips.

“Larissa please I will let you know if you’re hurting me but I need to feel you that way again. Please touch me. Show me.” You pleaded.

Larissa knew she could not deny you not with everything that has happened and she didn’t want to. The things you were saying and the emotion your eyes were showing. What you said in the office broke her heart but it was true she hadn’t really truly touched you in awhile. She nodded, “Alright but this is about you and me showing you how much I love you, we can worry about me later.” She said climbing back on the bed. She helps you lay back against the pillows  and being careful to not hurt you she spreads your legs apart. You gasp at the cool air hitting your core. Larissa stops looking into your eyes to make sure you're okay. You smile and place your hand on hers, your way of always telling her you're okay. Larissa smiles and carefully lays between them supporting most of her weight to not hurt you. Normally you like the pressure of her on you but at this moment you were thankful. You smile at her as she kisses you deeply and your hands go up into her hair and she begins to kiss down your jaw and to your throat, “I love you so much Darling you're so beautiful.” She says and she reaches for the belt to your robe untying it and letting your robe fall to your sides. She looks at the old bruises and looks up at you as if she’s asking if it’s okay to kiss them. She wanted to remind herself of how close she lost you or to make them go away. You nod as she then places soft kisses on the bruises each time thanking the stars you’re still here. She kissed back up to your chest kissing right over your heart ,"I'm so sorry." She whispers looking straight at your heart. You saw the tear fall out of her eye and you reached up to wipe it with your thumb. “I’m here Larissa, it's okay.” You said as she reached up catching your lips in a passionate kiss you moaned into the kiss running your hand down her arm. She pulled back looking into your eyes with so much love you knew the look she was in love with you today just as she was in the beginning.

Larissa began to kiss down to your chest taking your breast into her mouth your head fell back as you moaned laying your hand over hers squeezing letting her know you were okay. After giving your other breast attention she licked from your sternum down to above your throbbing core. She smiles seeing how wet you are, that it’s for just her and no one else. She carefully wraps her arms around your legs being careful as she runs her hand carefully over your bandage placing her hand above it she kisses the bandage. You watched her with your mouth partially open. You place your hand over hers keeping your eyes on her as she kisses on your thighs. Moans were escaping your lips and you couldn’t help but buck your hips a little. She chuckles as she looks up at you catching your eyes. Then with a smile she runs her tongue along your slit keeping her eyes on you. You arch your back as much as your body would allow and it was like an explosion came about your body. The sounds you were making were letting Larissa know what you wanted and she began to suck on your clit and while making sure you're staring into her eyes she slid two fingers inside you and began to curl them like you love so much. You were moaning and panting and an utter mess but you kept your eyes on Larissa’s blue ones with your other hand on her head.  You knew you were getting close and you knew Larissa knew because she replaces her mouth with her thumb on your clit and climbs up kissing you still keeping her weight off of you. When you guys were like this she wanted to be close to you when you came looking into your eyes. 

“Larissa I…..” You took a deep breath trying to get your words out as your head was spinning.

“I know baby it’s okay cum for me.” She whispered in your ear as her fingers moved faster. You felt the sensation start in your stomach and spread throughout your body while keeping your eyes on hers. You let out a sound you have never heard before and kissed Larissa as you came. She pulled her fingers out and you gasped at the motion with how sensitive you were. Larissa pulled back and moved some hair off your face. “I love you so much my darling.” She said kissing on your face running her fingers through your hair.

She laid back and softly pulled you up to her side as you laid your head on her chest. “I love you too.” You whisper. She reaches down and grabs your bad leg resting on her thigh. She rests her hand lightly above your bandage, again something to remind her you're here. You run your finger along her collar bone and smile. It was silent, all that could be heard was your labored breath. It was like all the words you could have said were said in the way she made love to you. You felt your eyes flutter a little as sleep begins to take over. Normally you would be ready to show her but you were to keep your promise also and she wanted tonight to be about you. Also your body was still healing.

Larissa ran her fingers through your hair, “Sleep darling we have later for more.” You hummed and you let sleep take over. Larissa looked down watching you sleep. She had been doing that a lot lately. She furrowed her brow at the about watching you sleep. It seemed creepy. However, right now it doesn't matter she couldn't keep her eyes off of you like you would disappear if she did. She almost lost you and she made a promise to herself and you that she would not do that again.

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Part 55) [Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb, sexual coercion of minors implied, a minor offering sexual favors, fire

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted (and possibly some future content), look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54

Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce more and more quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intention,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the cardamom.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it’s a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said. The ‘but I can’ was implied.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the main kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already vanished before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in violent flames. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand, at that very moment, decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to look at them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

[thefollow-spot]

A Leap of Faith by Misery_C_Epicaricacy & Ynnéalay

Merlin confesses his magic, upending the trust between him and Arthur; when he goes missing from Camelot, a conflicted Arthur must reckon with his fears and prejudices as Merlin’s life is put at stake.

Fandom: Merlin (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Category: Gen Relationship: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon, Minor Gwaine & Arthur Pendragon, Minor Gwaine & Merlin Words: 40,475

Fanbinding of A Leap of Faith. Process, commentary, and additional pictures under the cut ♥

First of all, thank you to all the lovely folks from the @renegadepublishing discord for enthusiastically encouraging me to fanbind my own work, though this is not entirely just-mine. This fic was co-written with the awe-inspiring @whoawhataconcept (Misery_C_Epicaricacy on AO3) and this binding is as much a love letter to her writing, her mind, and our creative collaboration as it is to my own contributions.

On: Textblock & Typesetting

I've bound a couple fics at this point, but was saving Garamond for this one because I fell in love with how these particular words look set in Garamond. The headings are done in a simplistic all-caps Calibri with expanded spacing to pay homage to how many hours editing this damn thing were spent looking at the font in question. I've also used font 'Merlin' for the front title page—which I got linked out of the @merlinbingo discord server—and Felix Titling for the interior title page.

The body is printed on EarthChoice colour cream paper, and stitched with red crochet thread.

On: Endpapers

The endpapers were a tricky one for me! They are prints of my own fanart which was not the correct aspect ratio to use as endpapers for a book printed on letter paper. This was also the first large map I created, and if I could go back, there are things I would do differently. But in the end, I decided to use it as-is because I'm proud of it. To fix the sizing issue, I up-sized the map so the width was correct for a letter-sized print, which left a border on the top and bottom of the image—this I filled in with black and red checkerboard pattern to match the banners and standards of Camelot.

Originally, I wanted it printed on this textured, pearl-finish linen paper, but then the print shop I use didn't have it in a large enough size to do endpapers on and I was heartbroken. I ended up using topkote gloss paper by Oji.

On: Endbands

Hand-sewn in red and gold crochet thread. I redid these like three times to find a core I liked, and ended up doing them over tightly rolled paper.

The Dust Jacket

I'm not a graphic designer, so the jacket design is simplistic. It includes a cover, back cover (with a 'praise for' section), and two inside flaps (which contain the fic summary and author bios). I took some cues from this dust jacket post. It's printed on a thicker weight of topkote paper by Oji, this time with a dull finish.

Closing Thoughts

I'm so proud of how this turned out! It's my best work yet in terms of straight-ness of the spine/cover paper, and I learned a lot about printing. Lots of firsts for me here, and I feel that every time I make a book, I improve. I've gifted this copy to my co-author, Misery. Seeing her flip through it, and seeing it on our shelf, is giving me a lot of joy today!

[babyarmybabbles]

W.I.P Glossary & Master List

Ok, so, I'm gonna start posting w.i.ps here shortly, but like. As writing process archives? I just think it'll be fun. I'm posting this in advance bc my organization system is a bit weird. BTS fics will be here at @babyarmybabbles and SKZ fics will be @staybabblingbaby. I may make another side blog for other fandoms I write for, but we'll see. All fics are xReader unless otherwise indicated. Stuff and Things under the cut :D

Bear w me bc I don't usually do text posts and have no practice with formatting yet lol

Glossary:

Attempt - A draft with major changes. Wording changes of a paragraph or more (not including completely new material), changes in POV, setting changes, characterization changes, etc, are included in this. Abbreviated as a(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Draft - A manuscript that has been edited. Even minor edits like grammar and spelling corrections are a new draft. These are labeled, but only saved as new files in intervals of 5. Abbreviated as d(#) [e.g. Title a(1) d(4)] Addition - A manuscript that has been added to enough to warrant a new post.

My intent is to upload all new Attempts, Drafts in intervals of 5, and Additions in intervals of 1,000 words or more. My hope is something of a progress log? I think it'll be fun, help me keep track of what I've done, and help motivate me.

Master List:

Run Army AU: Current Total Word Count: 5,245

Run ARMY! (Teaser Part) a2 d1 - 446 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Run ARMY! (Arrival Part) a2 d2 - 1,836 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Run ARMY! (Arrival Part) a3 d2 - 1,862 Words, Posted 5/26/24 Run ARMY! (Meet Part) a1 d3 - 1,095 Words, Posted 5/13/24 Run ARMY! (Meet Part) a1 d4 +155 words - 1,250 Words, Posted 7/22/24 Run ARMY! (Cooking Part) a2 d3 - 733 Words, Posted 5/13/24 Run ARMY! (1st Game Part) a1 d2 - 954 Words, Posted 5/13/24

Barista Soulmate AU : Current Total Word Count: 3,044

Barista Soulmate (Café Part) a1 d3 - 2,010 Words, Posted 5/12/24 Barista Soulmate(Dream Part)a1 d1 - 1,034 Words, Posted 5/12/24

"Okay" : Current Total Word Count: 1,129

"Okay" a1 d2 - 1,129 Words, Posted 8/9/24

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Since the end of this month is approaching with lightning speed, I'm in the middle of the final edits of the two chapters of Can You Hear My Heartbeat that are scheduled for May and I'm having a hard time holding myself back with spoilers and teasers, but I want you to know that the chapter titles are:

The man who took Viktor Nikiforov from the world

The Eros-off-ice programme

Do with that what you wish. You're welcome.

(final edits = fixing minor issues like poor wording, grammar and spelling mistakes, and incorporating comments and corrections from my beta and my sensitivity reader)

[mannatea]

Light Does Not Stay, a Final Fantasy IX ‘fic

Chapter: 1/3 Word Count: 6,517 Summary: [1771] When Burmecia attacks the small Alexandrian town of Steenvorde, Adelbert Steiner’s life is turned upside-down. Pairing/Characters: Adelbert Steiner, Original Characters Warnings: Relatively minor violence, description of death, war. Rating: T Genre: Gen, Family, Friendship

The title is the link to Ao3 for Chapter 1.

The other two chapters are already written and edited; I’ll be posting them soon.

“Artwork” (if you can call it that) was done by me. Thanks to @trash-god’s bad influence, I’ll be attempting to do one piece per story. This story will have two because I thought it’d be nice to have one at the end, too.

I have a handful of notes, so bear with me.

Title of the story is from “We Have Not Long to Love” by Tennessee Williams.

Title of the series is from “Owl and Pussycat, Some Years Later” by Margaret Atwood.

I’m going to write ADHD and autism into this series quite a bit, so if you see symptoms and signs scattered about, it’s very intentional. <3

This story has a lot—and I do mean, a lot—of original characters. I’m usually not an OC writer, but this is an “origin story” and there was no way around that. Expect some of these characters to make a return eventually.

Steenvorde is Danish for “to become stone” (or something similar). I found an alternate spelling of this on some fantasy-names site and thought it sounded fitting for a mountain village.

Credit for the idea of Adelbert’s hometown being a mountain village goes to ffvogt. Read their ‘fic: Splendor, Might, and Honor.

Credit goes to Baknami for the idea of giving Adelbert a sister. They gave him a lovely sister in their fun Prince Consort ‘fic, and while the sister here will be a very different character, after reading their story I literally couldn’t imagine him not having a younger sibling.

Credit for the concept/idea of posting little illustrations along with the story goes to Ennywey. I was so charmed by their Fire Emblem story “Five Days” and the illustrations they posted that I’ve always wanted to try it myself…even though I’ve scarcely drawn in years.

Also, I want to credit LostBackground with some of the inspiration for this story. I really liked how they wrote Roses and Rust as a long story that was basically a collection of interconnected one-shots, and I decided I wanted to do that, too—but in a series format instead (so that I can do short chaptered stories & reshuffle the series into the correct timeline order if I ever need to).

According to the Ultimania guide, Steiner was born in March, 1766, and became a war orphan in 1771 when he was five years old; during the battle that killed his parents, his own life was saved by an Alexandrian Knight. This story takes place around September/October, so Adelbert is closer to 5 ½ here. I point this out not to sound like one of those “my 47-month-old” mothers, but because half a year of life experience at that age makes a pretty big difference. Adelaide is four years old in this story, by the way.

Let’s talk about names. Adelbert means “noble/bright” and I thought it might be cute to keep the theme running with his mother and sister, so “Alida” means “of a noble kin” and Adelaide means “of noble kin” as well. Varik means “honorable defender”—suitable for his role in this story.

We don’t really get any more canon information about Adelbert or his life growing up, so details like his father being a schoolteacher are just what I decided to roll with here. Basically, if you see anything and you’re like, “I don’t remember that,” then it’s probably just something I made up for the sake of telling a well-fleshed out story.

Whirlybirds are those little maple tree seeds. You might know them as “helicopters.”

Since Steenvorde is a more farming-oriented community, I imagine most kids leave school at around 13 to 15, which is why most of the kids I depict here seem on the younger end. Why do they listen to Adelbert? He just kind of takes charge and in the midst of chaos you’d be surprised how people latch on to any voice of reason.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

AccountableGOP launches an ad campaign in a group of swing states. [Robert Scott Horton]

* * *

Looking forward

July 1, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

Here’s where we are on Monday, July 1, 2024:

Joe Biden is president. He has won the delegates to be the Democratic nominee. The day after the debate, he said he would not resign or withdraw. Early polls show the debate has had no effect in swing states. Trump remains an existential threat to democracy.

Under the circumstances, the sensible path is to stay the course with Joe Biden. It is also the best path to victory for the Democratic Party.

I don’t have a precise empirical basis for saying whether the readership of this newsletter agrees with the statement that staying the course is “the most sensible and best path forward.” Still, I can give you some data suggesting that the overwhelming majority of readers believe Biden should remain the Democratic nominee. But there is a strong and passionate minority of the newsletter readers who believe he should step aside. The divided passions of the readers of this newsletter reflect the debate roiling the Democratic Party.

Most editions of this newsletter are opened approximately 100,000 times. The newsletter following the debate (titled, “Joe Biden is going to win! Buck up!”) was opened approximately 200,000 times. The next newsletter (“Debate follow up”) was opened nearly 250,000 times. That dramatic increase in “opens” suggests that subscribers who agreed with the view Biden should remain in the race forwarded or posted the newsletter to share that message with people who do not subscribe to this newsletter.

I also received a couple hundred emails from readers who insisted with varying degrees of passion that Joe Biden should step aside. I received about five times as many emails (1,000-ish) thanking me for standing up for Joe Biden. (Yes, I spent nearly my entire weekend reading emails.)

This issue isn’t going away for several reasons, mostly because much of the media has concluded that Biden should go—after failing to challenge Trump in the same manner for his corrupt and treasonous conduct over the last seven years.

Let me get to the bottom line: People are entitled to their feelings and beliefs about the debate and the correct path forward. But having a public discussion about whether Joe Biden should remain as the Democratic candidate damages Biden because it presumes the result and weakens Biden’s candidacy if he stays in the race (which he will and should).  

If there is to be such a discussion—and I do not believe such a discussion is necessary or appropriate—it should take place in private with Biden, his family, and his advisors. It’s a free country, and people are entitled to express themselves. However, posting doubts on social media about Biden’s competency reinforces Speaker Mike Johnson’s claim that President Biden’s cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from the presidency. That cannot be a goal that any Democrat supports.

But even more damaging is the rampant speculation on liberal media outlets like MSNBC and Pod Save America about Joe Biden stepping down. (Lawrence O’Donnell is the exception on MSNBC.) They shroud their discussions with pundits in somber, caring tones, denying that they are advocating Biden should step down, claiming only that it is a serious question that deserves to be discussed—on cable news shows and podcasts.

Saying that the question of withdrawing should be discussed publicly is exactly the same thing as saying Biden should step down. Don’t delude yourselves into believing otherwise.

Sadly, Rep. Jamie Raskin went on a Sunday talk show (MSNBC) and said, “very honest, and serious and rigorous conversations taking place” in the Democratic Party following President Joe Biden’s performance at the presidential debate on Thursday. I love Jamie Raskin. He is an American hero. But he does not speak for the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, or the 80 million Americans who voted for Joe Biden. What was he thinking?

There are several aspects of this discussion that deserve to be highlighted—and are being ignored.

First, no one seems to acknowledge, much less care, that Joe Biden's forced removal would disenfranchise millions of voters who supported him during the primaries. It is disrespectful to the voters and the democratic process to assume that none of those votes matter and can be tossed out at the whim of a small cohort of party insiders.

Second, hundreds of thousands of volunteers worked to support Biden in the primaries and donated to his candidacy. The “Biden should resign” cohort seems willing to ignore those volunteers and donors with no acknowledgment or concern for their immense investment of time and resources to support Biden. Those volunteers are being taken for granted, treated as fungible worker bees who will turn on a dime to a new candidate. Many will; some might resent being treated like chattel by the pundit and consulting class that presumes to make decisions for 80 million Democratic voters.

Third, without dismissing the concerns of individual Democrats, the rush to remove Joe Biden is being driven by the media and pundits. The NYTimes had a large role in helping Trump win in 2016 and seems intent on doing so again. Are we really going to take the lead of the NYTimes—and by extension, a media that has been anti-Biden during the entirety of the most successful presidency in the last 75 years?

Fourth, removing Joe Biden is the outcome Donald Trump hopes for the most. Is granting Donald Trump his fondest wish something that sounds smart?

Fifth, the process of selecting a replacement would be anti-democratic. Under scenarios suggested by many, a small cohort of Democratic party insiders would presumably choose the next nominee. Oh, perfect. Who? How selected? How representative would they be? What process would they use? Worse, fantasies of an “open convention” risk mutually assured destruction. We cannot assign a zero probability to that risk, but that is how it is being treated by those who want to oust Biden.

Finally, comparing Joe Biden to a hypothetical “player to be named later” is unfair and will result in unpleasant surprises when the player to be named later turns out to be a flesh-and-blood human being with a political history and warts. Don’t traffic in fantasy. Every “replacement” candidate polls worse than Joe Biden in a head-to-head matchup with Trump. Many readers respond, “But the replacements haven’t had a chance to campaign yet and will increase in popularity.” That might turn out to be right (or wrong), but it is speculation. Speculation is a thin reed on which to base such a consequential decision.

Although the situation is still in flux, there are signs of a backlash developing against the media and pundits for demanding that Biden step down while giving Trump a pass for the last several years.

A few examples:

The Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial that mirrored and trolled the NYTimes by demanding that Trump resign: Philadelphia Inquirer, To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race | Editorial (inquirer.com). Subheader: “Biden had a horrible night Thursday. But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.”

Lawrence O’Donnell devoted twenty minutes on Friday evening to explaining why it is silly to believe that Biden can replaced at this point. Twenty minutes is a long time; this issue is important. It is worth your time to watch the entire episode: Lawrence: We live in a country where most commentators declared the liar the debate winner (youtube.com).

Lucian K. Truscott IV wrote a stirring defense of Biden in his post on Substack, Grow a spine, Democrats. Brilliant, profane, but entirely satisfying. Read it!

Allison Gill, also on Substack as Mueller She Wrote, posted a similarly stirring call to back Joe Biden: Joe has my back, and I've got his. Gill writes,I think it’s a mistake to call for Joe to stand down because facts and history tell me he’s the best chance we have to defeat Donald Trump, AND because he’s the best person for the job based on the past 3.5 years of incredible leadership.My support for the Biden/Harris ticket is unwavering, and I’m proud that I’ll never have to walk back comments on any of my podcasts.

Although I am not certain, I assume that Allison Gill’s reference in the above paragraph to “never having to walk back comments on any of my podcasts” is a reference to the SNAFU at Pod Save America.

The Pod Save America guys spent the first part of their show after the debate dumping all over Biden and the second part explaining how he could be replaced. They were shocked—shocked!—to learn that their fan base was outraged by their shabby treatment and seeming abandonment of Joe Biden—after encouraging their listeners to donate and volunteer for Biden. Jon Favreau then disparaged Democrats who believe that public conversations about dropping out are damaging to Biden. (He described their position in profane language.) Favreau called their loyalty “Maga sh*t” and said, “That’s how the GOP turned into a cult.” Later in the day, Favreau issued a stingy apology that finally got around to saying this:Like we've said on the pod, that's their call [to stay in the race], and if they stick with it, we'll certainly keep doing everything humanly possible to help re-elect the President - including encouraging the hundreds of thousands of @votesaveamerica volunteers who helped elect Biden in 2020 to again donate their time and money to winning in November.

Concluding Thoughts

The 2024 election is not merely a choice between Biden and Trump. It is a choice between democracy and tyranny, liberty and subjugation, dignity and debasement, safety and mayhem, global stability and chaos, climate crisis mitigation or acceleration, retirement security and insecurity, justice and vengeance, science and ignorance, decency and depravity. If we cannot convince voters that the choice comes down to those polar opposites, it does not matter who the candidate is.

I support Joe Biden because he is a great president, a good and decent man, and a skilled politician who achieved great things with bare majorities in the House and Senate. His performance in the debate does not define him. I believe Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Trump. If he is forced out by a media-driven frenzy and a cabal of unnamed insiders and pundits, it will be the greatest miscalculation and tragedy in American politics in a century.

I am not giving up and I won’t be pressured into apologizing for Joe Biden’s imperfections in a world where every politician is imperfect. Shadowboxing with unnamed party insiders and pundits is a waste of time. We have real work to do. Let’s get to it!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[pudding-parade]

Rusalem by AnnetStore

Welcome to the inaugural World Overview Wednesday, wherein I have a look at some of the nice, mostly old, and perhaps obscure worlds I have tucked away in a massive archive of them. My purpose is to give these worlds a little love, to give as much info about them as I can, and to give you a link to them, both to the original upload if it still works and to a re-upload in case the original vanishes into the ether. That way, you can download them if you want to. I have almost 900 worlds in said archive, so we could be here for the next 17 years. Literally. I did the math.

Anyway! My first victim is Rusalem by AnnetStore. I really like this world, though I've never played in it. Think "Jerusalem" without the "Je," and it really does look a lot like that part of the world. I mean, look at that thing! It's beautiful in its stark desert-ness. It's a big world, beautifully terrain-painted, decorated with a nod toward authenticity with date palms, olive, and cypress trees, fully built/furnished, has a distant terrain, and it's populated. It is what I think Al Simhara should have been, except that it'd need pyramids for that, I guess.

This world was uploaded to the Exchange in December of 2011, and you can download it here, in case you missed that the title of this post is also a link. :) And if you do not wish to deal with the Exchange and/or sims3packs and you don't feel like converting it yourself, I have also uploaded the .world file I made here. You just plop that in your install files in the folder at GameData > Shared > NonPackaged > Worlds. No need to screw around with the launcher.

But before you do all that...more pics and info behind the cut.

Aside from the fact that it's 2048x2048 and comes with 45 residents (which I'm assuming is correct; I certainly didn't count them), there is zero info about this world. That said, I am pretty certain that it needs all of the EPs that had been released when this world was made, which means up to Pets. I noticed objects from all of the EPs up to Generations, and the world does generate minor pets, which I think means that it needs Pets, too, but I'm not sure about that. I take pics of these worlds in a save that has no store content installed, and I have only the High End Loft stuff pack, and I didn't notice anything missing on any of the lots, so I think it only needs the EP stuff. It neither comes with nor requires CC.

This world has basement rabbitholes on all of the rabbithole lots. Of course you can edit them and use rugs instead if you don't like the basement rabbitholes thing.

The world has all spawners (other than the Island Paradise and Into the Future ones, of course), and they are placed in a well-distributed way throughout the world.

Older worlds sometimes have weird issues because, for instance, EA breaks shit with patches. While taking pics of this world, it ran for five simdays. During that time, I sent my sim all over the place and the pre-made population was running around, too. I noticed no weird issues (like sims walking on water), had no notifications about stuck sims (except for a wild horse once, but they always get stuck), and generally saw no issues or lag. So, I think this one's OK in an up-to-date game.

Now let's take a look at the lots and stuff.

This is the main area of the world. It's up on a rise, and it's where the majority of the rabbitholes are as well as a good number of residential lots, many of which are unoccupied so you can move in plenty of your own sims even if you keep the pre-made population. Here's the Edit Town view, so you can see what's what with that:

Now let's take a look at some of these individual lots. Can't look at all of them because we'd be here until next Wednesday, but some of them.

This is the science lot. The building is mostly empty, but it does have an inventing station, and though you can't see them in the pic there are also scrap piles to collect scrap from on the lot. If you've got an inventor sim, this is where they'll need to go to get scrap if you don't want them to buy it because there isn't a dedicated junkyard in the world. There are also harvestables on the lot so that science-career sims can work on their Gardening skill before or after work, if they don't have a home garden. I would add the science objects from University Life, too, because of course that EP didn't exist when this world was created.

This is the city hall, which is quite fancy outside but almost entirely empty inside. So, there's three stories of space to add stuff, if you want to.

This is the fire station, which is nice but, oddly, doesn't come with a fire truck, so you'll need to add one. Or two, since there's two parking spaces of appropriate size.

This is the ziggurat-like library, and this...

...is part of the town's big park (and there are numerous smaller ones scattered throughout the world). It is not a seasonal festival lot because Seasons didn't yet exist when this world was made, but it would be easy to make it so, if you wanted to. You can also see the lot at one end of this park, which is set up as a wedding venue, with the arch and guest seating on the rooftop and a buffet table, bars, and tables/chairs inside the building.

This is the house where I placed the sim that I move into these worlds when I'm taking pics of them:

I have to say, the residential lots in this world are quite cute and match the theme very well. They are also all different, ranging in size from small starters, to moderate family homes, to expensive villas, to one honest-to-pie palace. They are all fully, albeit usually basically, furnished. Here's the furnishing in one of the starter-priced homes, which is suitable for a family of four:

And here is one of the expensive villas:

And here's the freakin' palace, which has a curtain wall with four towers and comes with two sports cars:

It's occupied by one of the pre-made families, but if you want to have your sims live in it, just annihilate/evict them. :)

Here's Edit Town views of the other smaller neighborhoods in the world:

Here's one of them in regular gameplay:

Most of them have their own little park/playground for the kids, and the one that's fairly far from "downtown" has its own grocery store and diner.

Here's one of the moderate family homes in one of the smaller neighborhoods:

Many of the homes in the world have outdoor living spaces, both covered patios as well as rooftop space. This particular house has both.

Now, about the pre-made population...Ehhhhh, I don't think they fit very well for the theme. Here are two of them:

Me, I'd nuke them and make my own families that would fit the theme better. But, I guess that's up to the player

The only other thing that might be a problem with this world is that the creator of it is Russian, so unless your game is also in Russian, you'll have a lot of dialogues and lot names/addresses/descriptions and such that look like this:

It's easy to change sims' names with Master Controller, but I don't think it's possible to change lot addresses. So, there's that. But, it's pretty easy to figure out what's what.

And we'll finish off with some more scenery, including sunset pics plus a nighttime one of the "downtown" area.