#guild dissolution

[leiandroid]

yakuza au

ok fam this au is now separated from my previous inohina yakuza/bratva au. had to fly the girls back to japan and they got a whole new backstory ! big wall of text incoming ↓↓↓

-- uchiha clan

a clan that was once powerful but was slowly eating itself from the inside. rife with internal conflict and distrust, key figures sought to strengthen the clan and each had an idea of how to bring about that change, though no two could come to an agreement on a single method. tensions amongst the ranks began to fracture the uchiha.

taking advantage of the power struggle, madara, with the hopes of seizing total control, ignites a spark that quickly turns into a bloodbath. many low level thugs employed by the uchiha flee the compound as each key figure and their loyal followers battle it out until so few are left standing it could barely be called a clan anymore.

the power vacuum left behind by the dissolution of the uchiha has created an extremely volatile environment in the crime world as different yakuza families seek to claim the uchiha’s previously held operations and territory.

-- hebi

sick of the endless politics and weakening bonds amongst the clan, sasuke left to forge his own path. as punishment for leaving the clan itachi takes his eye.

he had never expected that the power struggles within the uchiha would lead to a massacre. so when he heard about the bloodbath occurring inside the uchiha compound, he rushed home to save his parents from a grim fate. but was too late when he witnessed itachi kill them by his own blade.

sasuke quickly enacted revenge by killing itachi and when the dust settled and madara emerged as victor, sasuke turned his blade on him too and snuffed out the flame of the uchiha forever.

karin is an ex-cop that was the uchiha's informant within the police. she brokers deals and negotiations on behalf of sasuke. she is his mouthpiece, so to speak.

sasuke is also seeking two who were once allies/friends. suigetsu who had always dreamed to join the seven swordsmen's guild, and juugo a talented and brutal fighter who dominates the underground fighting scene.

together he hopes to form a small mercenary group for hire.

-- inoshikacho alliance / inoshikacho rengo

one of the first yakuza family alliances ever made going back generations. inoshin yamanaka, chosuke akimichi and shikanazai nara where the first of each clan to join the families into an alliance that has since become one of the strongest and long-lasting alliances in yakuza history.

at the age of 25 each member of the alliance is to have at least two children to ensure the next generation of the inoshikacho alliance grow up together and are trained to take on the mantle for the sake of the alliance's future. this also ensures that at least 3 generations are alive at any one time (if they don't meet an early grave that is).

the yamanaka run brothels, which act as a communication and information network. every girl is hand picked by ino or by trusted subordinates and trained in the art of seduction and information gathering. the yamanaka have large underground garden operations that cultivate plants for poisons with all kinds of effects and traceability, from the quick and painless to the slow and destructive.

akimichi control entertainment districts, money laundering operations and run the largest underground fighting scene. money flowing in and out of casinos and other avenues are fully controlled by the akimichi.

the nara are drug traffickers that control market price and distribution.

-- hyuuga clan / hyuuga kai

the strongest and most notorious yakuza in all of japan. their efficiency in all that they do make them a fierce clan. when the clanhead was found dead, many other groups thought this was finally the crack in the hyuuga shield and made moves to try and see if they could challenge their authority. but the second daughter stepped into place and ordered everyone in within a certain radius of the hyuuga estate dead.

if they thought hyuuga hiashi was a ruthless leader, hanabi, in one day alone, managed to put herself up as one of the deadliest and horrifying yakuza leaders in recent history.

their efficiency in the business and economics sector, as well as having ties within governmental and political bodies, makes them a very powerful clan with many branching factions reaching far and wide across the country.

someone, somewhere, always answers to a hyuuga.

-- neji hyuuga (tian)

after hizashi failed to protect the hyuuga leader's eldest daughter, he had to pay with his life in front of his only son.

watching his father commit seppuku and then swiftly beheaded by hiashi in front of the elders and close family, stuck with neji his whole life. he made a silent vow to exact revenge on hiashi. the bitterness in his heart made living amongst the hyuuga a slow acting poison. his hate for hiashi became stronger than his love for his father and he could never look upon a picture of hizashi anymore because his face was the face of his enemy.

neji bided his time for years and years until one fateful night he murdered hiashi in cold blood and fled the hyuuga estate. he made his way towards mainland china with some aid from a contact in the chinese triads. he disappeared for many years living amongst a guild of killers and started going by the name tian.

his next order of business was to find the abducted daughter that caused the death of his father and kill her himself.

-- hinata hyuuga (makoto)

the abducted hyuuga heir, taken from the hyuuga clan at a very young age. makoto lives her life as a simple woman, adopted by an elderly couple in the countryside, unaware of who she is or where she comes from.

when a 'chinese' man that bears an uncanny resemblance to her shows up at her cottage one day, calling her a name that does not belong to her, her life is flipped on its head and she finds herself plunged into the underbelly of society.

-- chinese triads / pirates

tenten is a weapons smuggler. though she is affiliated with the chinese triads, she smuggles and trades weapons for anyone that buys them, as her true loyalty is to money.

tenten's operations are done by sea and she has control over a small fleet of boats that answer to her. other than a port owned by the triads, she has claimed a small remote island as her home and base of operations.

she was also neji's contact that helped him sail the seas to mainland china after he murdered hiashi.

-- korean mafia

kiba is an animal trafficker. he acquires exotic animals for their ivory/fur/leather as well as selling them alive to the wealthy for their collections and keeps.

he has sold exotic birds to the yamanaka for their gardens. gathered all manner of cervidae antlers from around the world for the nara's collection. has captured the most venomous snakes known to mankind for several organisations, including certain individuals of the uchiha family. has also sold a number of species of animals for tenten for her island.

he is generally in good graces with all kinds of people/groups due to his connections and ability to acquire the even the most endangered and rare species in the world.

-- suna siblings

kankuro and temari own a small medical clinic. kankuro is a general family doctor. people come to him for check-ups and simple treatments and minor operations. temari handles all the logistics, and appears as the clinic's secretary. they have 3 nurses: matsuri, yukata, mikoshi.

kankuro is also a certified surgeon and operates on all sorts of gang members in the hidden basement operation room. matsuri has been trusted to help kankuro with these operations when needed. their practice offers complete discretion and the clinic has become off-bounds for any gang violence, even if rivalling groups happen to meet each other on the premises. they enter a truce for as long as they are within a certain radius of the clinic.

the brother and sister duo are a respected, unaffiliated group, and they also use their operations to get clues on their brother's whereabouts.

gaara was kidnapped at a young age and was tortured to the point that psychosis was induced. he is held in the same place as juugo and both are used in fights that many come to pay dearly to watch and bet on.

-- police

with his parents killed and taken from his home, naruto was raised by a gang who kidnaps boys to beat and torture, and train them into savage fighters. he dreamed for a life where he could see the sun and the sea, to eat a hot bowl of ramen once again.

when a police investigation finally bore fruit, naruto was rescued from the place. he was taken in by iruka, one of the cops, and eventually followed in his footsteps. he made a promise that he would find and save the redhead that had once clung to him down in those dark cells.

tsunade is chief of police. sai is a detective. lee is a chinese detective commissioned by the chinese police to go to japan to work alongside the tokyo metropolitan police dept to follow the chinese triads operations in japan. (or is it the hosting country that commissions?? anyway) a number of jonin from naruto are also police including: kakashi, yamato, genma, anko, etc etc.

-- sakura

sakura is the head of a large hospital that was once tied up with the uchiha who used her as an in for smuggling medical supplies. she was called upon as their emergency doctor to treat key figures when needed.

upon hearing about their massacre she felt total relief that the family threatening her life were finally gone. she thought she was free from them when a certain uchiha and 2 others showed up at her door demanding treatment.

she can't say she was happy to be back in such a predicament but it seemed that this uchiha didn't have a penchant for threatening her life as his family did. and for selfish reasons, she was okay with this arrangement.

-- the aburame

a family of assassins. their efficiency and untraceable methods make them a highly coveted group of hitmen whose services are sold to the highest bidder. the aburame have close ties with the yamanaka of the inashikacho alliance as they outsource some of their poisons from the yamanaka gardens.

even though the yamanaka, akimichi, and nara families formed an alliance generations ago, this agreement between the yamanaka and aburame remains a secret from the rest of the alliance.

the aburame are a completely neutral party and the yamanaka understands this. to pay for their secrecy and treachery towards their sworn brothers, the yamanaka accept that if a hit were ordered against their own, it wouldn't affect their business with the aburame.

if u read all this many hugs and kisses mwah

[buggysangel17]

The Winds of the Sea Masterlist

Summary: For he was the greatest swordsman, and she was the greatest weaponry. He was the man infamously called as the Hawk Eyes, and she was called Amihan. They were married, more due to circumstance and necessity instead of love. But as times goes by, who would have ever thought that it was the winds of the sea that could bring them closer together than any of them would come to realize. Characters: Dracule Mihawk x Wife!Female Reader (Amihan). Warnings: AU. Mostly Crack! Fics. Smut. Canon Typical Violence. Mostly Fluff. Some Angst.

Note: The One-Shots are arranged in chronological order of the story.

The Bride of A Warlord

Dissolution

Meet the Cross Guild

[communist-manifesto-daily]

Manifesto of the Communist Party

[ Table of Contents | Next ▹ ]

A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.

Where is the party in opposition that has not been decried as communistic by its opponents in power? Where is the opposition that has not hurled back the branding reproach of communism, against the more advanced opposition parties, as well as against its reactionary adversaries?

Two things result from this fact:

Communism is already acknowledged by all European powers to be itself a power.

It is high time that Communists should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet this nursery tale of the Spectre of Communism with a manifesto of the party itself.

To this end, Communists of various nationalities have assembled in London and sketched the following manifesto, to be published in the English, French, German, Italian, Flemish and Danish languages.

I. Bourgeois and Proletarians*

* By bourgeoisie is meant the class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage labour. By proletariat, the class of modern wage labourers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labour power in order to live. [Engels, 1888 English edition]

The history of all hitherto existing society† is the history of class struggles.

† That is, all written history. In 1847, the pre-history of society, the social organisation existing previous to recorded history, all but unknown. Since then, August von Haxthausen (1792-1866) discovered common ownership of land in Russia, Georg Ludwig von Maurer proved it to be the social foundation from which all Teutonic races started in history, and, by and by, village communities were found to be, or to have been, the primitive form of society everywhere from India to Ireland. The inner organisation of this primitive communistic society was laid bare, in its typical form, by Lewis Henry Morgan's (1818-1861) crowning discovery of the true nature of the gens and its relation to the tribe. With the dissolution of the primeval communities, society begins to be differentiated into separate and finally antagonistic classes. I have attempted to retrace this dissolution in The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, second edition, Stuttgart, 1886. [Engels, 1888 English Edition and 1890 German Edition (with the last sentence omitted)]

Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master‡ and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.

‡ Guild-master, that is, a full member of a guild, a master within, not a head of a guild. [Engels, 1888 English Edition]

Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

From the serfs of the Middle Ages sprang the chartered burghers of the earliest towns. From these burgesses the first elements of the bourgeoisie were developed.

The discovery of America, the rounding of the Cape, opened up fresh ground for the rising bourgeoisie. The East-Indian and Chinese markets, the colonisation of America, trade with the colonies, the increase in the means of exchange and in commodities generally, gave to commerce, to navigation, to industry, an impulse never before known, and thereby, to the revolutionary element in the tottering feudal society, a rapid development.

The Communist Manifesto - Part 1

[ Table of Contents | Next ▹ ]

[broken-clover]

(Over)Analyzing the Cards in Johnny’s Joker Trick (Part 1)

New character, new minute details to overly scrutinize and pretend have meaning!

As of Strive, Johnny’s Joker Trick Instant Kill has been retooled into an Overdrive, and with it, everyone now has a unique card taken from existing card suites. Are they randomly assigned? Or do they fit into some symbolic meaning? Let’s pretend its the latter!

Due to the sheer amount of characters and limited number of face cards, a handful of them overlap. It’s a little surprising that there’s no numeral cards or aces included, as those do have some symbolism based on the numbers, but maybe that in itself is already symbolic, that he views his opponents with relative seriousness, or just that he doesn’t both doing anything less than off the highest caliber.

Also to be noted that a lot of card symbolism is looser than something like tarot and doesn’t necessarily have as much concrete meaning, so I’m not gonna pretend this isn’t anything other than speculation and fiddling around. We’re bringing in some Cartomancy and a lot of the info I found could be a little muddled, if not contradictory

For the sake of cleanliness and coherency, let’s go by hierarchy. I’m also gonna be breaking this into two halves for the sake of length and not having a million character tags

-

The Joker- solely belongs to Happy Chaos. Batman jokes aside, this makes for an obvious one. Happy is the wild card, the unpredictable element. Though it was originally designed to be a trump card for Euchre, not it performs a variety of functions based on the game being played. It can be the highest-ranking, lowest-ranking, or serve some other technical function in a game. The value and usage of a joker card varies wildly based on the context, which fits Happy well (interestingly, Johnny doesn’t use the Joker card despite the design being based on himself)

-

Kings

King of Clubs- Shared between Ky Kiske and Zato-1. Contemporary King of Clubs cards are designed after Alexander the Great, which fits well for both the reigning monarch of Illyria and the former puppetmaster of the Assassin’s Guild. A lot of the symbolism I found involved leadership qualities such as intuition and determination. The suit itself is generally associated with nature, thanks to it being interpreted as a clover or as acorns, which may draw in some motifs about growth and change, which may also have some relevance with Ky’s ascent to the throne and subsequent abdication, and the dissolution of the Guild.

King of Diamonds- Held solely by Leo. In contemporary design this one is based of of Caesar, and while the man hopefully has little to do with the tyrannical behavior or assassination, there may be a form of connection in terms of battle prowess. It tends to be shown a little more negatively, either in terms of his domineering power or his sense of haughtiness. There’s also an association with wealth, which while not necessarily specific to Leo, it may fit in him being a powerful king and his association with the color yellow/gold

King of Hearts- Curiously, shared between Potemkin and Johnny. Johnny’s is an obvious choice, he sees himself as a king of romance and chivalry. Potemkin, however, has never been shown in a romantic light, unless it pertains to his patriotic love for his nation. Generally, the card has motifs of kindness, benevolence, and consideration, and both are shown as relatively mature gentleman-types, who care much for others. In an interesting bit of trivia, the King of Hearts is also sometimes called the ‘suicide king’ as it appears to be driving the sword into his own head. Fittingly, both Johnny and Potemkin both die trying to protect others in non-canonical endings, Johnny being murdered by Testament after trying to protect Dizzy in XX and in the drama CD, and Potemkin getting in the way of an attempted assassination in AC

King of Spades- Shared between Chipp and Bedman/Delilah. Design-wise, the most well-known iteration is based off of the biblical King David, known for his act of singlehandedly slaying the goliath with a stone. Though the two of them aren’t on the same end of the moral spectrum, both Chipp and Bedman are characterized by fighting difficult odds for their own sake and the sake of helping others. The spade suit more generally has an association with violence, as it can be interpreted as a blade (in addition to a leaf or a trowel), and both are known for their usage of blades and get into a lot of physical altercations. Interestingly, Bedman is the only King card who hasn’t held any canonical position of authority. Likewise, Chipp’s is self-bestowed

[blacklegsanjiii]

Hanhawk!Sanji with the crew after he joins. Drawing fish between cooking and taking care of the chores. He starts dating Luffy(of course he does) and they keep it to themselves mostly because the Merry is small and he isn't exactly keen on someone walking in on them. He draws his crew on lazy days and the dishes he makes. The fish and animals he finds. His mom got him into drawing for a good reason so he's going to use it by God.

Sanji enjoying his new friends and being around people his age, even if the mossball makes him frustrated. Everything is still going according to Canon and Sanji knows the two who raised him are from the new world and spent enough time there to not be surprised at what's happening, also they're warlords so like, it's normal. For them it's normal. Sanji knows how to use haki and does, especially when it comes to finding Zoro, his armament can be hit or miss depending on if he remembers it.

Then Sabaody happens and Sanji reads the news about his parents helping Luffy and while he's thankful, he is so fucking thankful. But it was supposed to be the crew. It was supposed to be him. He already has that feeling of being a disappointment for a lot of reasons(giving up swords, his parents not being together because of him, Germa, Judge) so this just compounds on it. He just vows to get stronger and be there in the future. So he does. He learns to skywalk and the attack cuisine and goes through the bridal arts training. He gets stronger and taller.

The crew reunites and still everything is the same. Luffy still loves the idea of sneaking around because it's like playing spies despite the fact they could go sleep in his room. They could do a lot of things in his room. Luffy just loves playing spies too much and Sanji is absolutely weak for the captain. Still everything is normal for the crew as they continue on.

When WCI happens Luffy convinces Nami to marry him and Sanji as they sale to Wano. She's confused, very confused but does it. Sanji then explains to her they've been together since he basically joined the crew and they weren't necessarily hiding it but the Merry was so small and Luffy loves sneaking around like it's a game so they just kept going like that. Sanji thanks her by making her favorite treat and she smiles happily.

Wano happens and Sanji wonders as they leave if his parents are looking at his bounty and wonder why it's not as high as the others and why his last name is back to 'Vinsmoke' when it should be either Mihawk or Hancock. The crew bids their goodbyes to the other crews as they sail on. Eventually they're teaming with the Cross Guild on Karai Bari and while Boa isn't on the poster she is there. After she got away from the Marines and Teach and that whole thing anyway, after the dissolution of the warlord system.

Boa is swooning for Luffy when they arrive and Mihawk is hiding his annoyance but Sanji is rolling his eyes. They're negotiating their attack on Teach and what they could provide to each other to come to an agreement when Usopp looks at Luffy and his whining that he's bored and just wants to fight.

"What is your future spouse going to do with you?" Usopp sighs.

"Future pouts?" Luffy ask.

"'Spouse', like husband or wife." Chopper clarifies.

"I'm already married?" Luffy answers in a questioning tone.

"You never told anyone because you're you, Luffy." Nami sighs.

"Oh, woops." Luffy laughs as Sanji sighs.

"That's also my fault, I assumed he would tell everyone because he's Luffy." Sanji explains as the meeting room goes ballistic. Luffy laughs as he climbs Sanji and Mihawk looks to Boa.

"Well now that you're both married you can stop acting like that." Mihawk chides his wife.

"Are we not going to talk about the fact our son is married?" Boa asks him incredulously.

"I think we need to have several conversations with our son and his newfound husband and their crew." Mihawk answers as he stacks the paperwork and Crocodile joins into the chaotic yelling at the new information, Buggy leans back in his chair and stares at the ceiling.

"That's what you were talking about Marineford." The clown says blankly as the chaos rages on.

[directdogman]

what was the thought process for making crown a president in the 1960s? it seems so recent in history for a world-changing event like the dialup..or were there events in actual history at that time which lined up with your ideas?

I began writing an answer to this question without considering what I was aiming to describe and wound up writing an essay much longer than this answer wound up being (I went back and checked! I went back to write this!) but I'm not a historian, just a two-bit game dev, so I rewrote this answer to be as concise as possible (while fully answering the question.) I have a tendency to ramble.

The 1960's was a weird decade. In terms of societal/cultural change, I'm not sure any one decade in American history has a greater shift. Vietnam was the first war the US fought and blatantly lost (and with significant civilian opposition during the war, something never seen before, with even wars with significant political opposition (eg Mexican-American + Spanish-American wars) still having the support of much of the American public.) The civil rights movement advanced considerably with the passing of the civil rights act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965. The 50's had significant change too as I'll mention later, though these civil rights acts had support from congress, and from the political party that had opposed previous civil right advancement no less, leading to a gigantic voting demographics shift that has largely remained to this day.

The Cuban Missile Crisis happened, which is the closest the world has come to nuclear war, arguably. MLK and Malcolm X were both assassinated, alongside a sitting US president (in broad daylight.) When cultural leaders get shot, that's a sign that things are really heating up.

The 40's + 50's weren't actually great decades for American counterculture. The tireless work from civil rights activists during the 50's shouldn't be forgotten either ofc, with Brown vs the Board of Education, the Federal government enforcing the Supreme Court's ruling in Little Rock and the Montgomery bus boycotts, but generally, questioning American foreign policy and criticism of capitalism were treated with ruthlessness - civilians were brought before HUAC and actors theorized of having communist sympathies blacklisted by the Screen Actor's Guild (whose head was none other than a young President Ronald Reagan.)

Not only did this keep 'Unamerican' perspectives out of the American media, but America also spent an impressive amount of money on war propaganda in the 40's (with even heavy-hitters like Disney pumping out cartoons to increase public support for the war), making US patriotism very popular before the 50's, which only became further cemented with McCarthyism taking hold by the early 50's. "Under God" was added to the PoA and references to God was added onto the American dollar to further separate US culture from atheistic marxist-leninist cultures like the Soviet Union.

While the 50's saw certain socioeconomic advances, it was also a time of cultural/political regression... followed by a time of mass political unrest/revolution. Think of the 1920's compared to the 1930's, say. This kind of political shift makes for the perfect petri-dish to produce powerful demagogues.

The early 60's is a really weird time because it's perfectly cemented between the dissolution of McCarthyism and the complete reorganization of the American political establishment, including counter-cultural ideas gaining mainstream appeal. Any earlier or later, and Crown's ideas probably wouldn't have had the same momentum. If Crown had ran for office any later, he'd have stopped much sooner, imo. Part of Crown's rise was down to how much his enemies underestimated how large his movement would become and how sweeping his brand of populism would be (with even people like Norm getting swept up in it.)

TL;DR: The early 60's was the perfect period of time for a man like Crown to gain a foothold in mainstream culture without his enemies realizing just how dangerous he was to them... by 1964, they understood all too well.

[snezhik000]

Recently I saw that the anime "Fairy Tail" finally released "The Hundred Year Quest" and again plunged into my childhood. My friend and I created ourselves in this anime. Rita - 18 years old, magic of dissolution and compression of density. She is a member of the guild "Magic Slimes" invented with a friend.

All for fun xD

[the-bar-sinister]

Cracking the Mid-Life Crisis (3960 words) by thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 1/1 Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Gecko Moria joins Cross Guild, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Humor, Humor, Father-Daughter Relationship, POV Perona

Summary: After Moria's punishing defeat by Luffy on Thriller Bark the warlord was discarded by the government and vanished from the world stage. When the warlord system is dissolved entirely, Perona goes on a mission to find her daddy and bring him back into the fold.

She finds him wasting away in margaritaville.

-

It had taken Perona quite some time after leaving Mihawk's castle to track down the man she was looking for, but now she had arrived at Yutsu Island, a resort island in the New World unaffiliated with the World Government and run as a tourist attraction for the elite and dangerous.

The World Government was cracking down all around them, Marine ships prowling the seas…affiliated islands setting traps in their ports as ‘bounty hunters’ and ‘traders’ pressed even deeper into waters the Government had no sway in.

Perona hated it. She hate, hate, hated having to skulk around after the dissolution of the Warlord system. After her own small ship was seized (she’d have to say sorry to Hawky later), she’d slipped away from the stupid marines to hitch ride after ride on friendly and unfriendly boats alike.

But she had to do it, she had to find her adoptive father to make sure he’d survived the beating the Marines had given him during that whole dumb war two years prior.

Her heeled boots clicked against the creaking wood of the dock as she stomped her way across with her parasol open to block out the hated sun. Lucky her, the roving ‘Gamble Pirates’ who’d taken her in for the trip weren’t the type to try to bully her into staying– she could save her energy for dragging her dad back from this overly bright and sunny place. 

The resort area glittered and gleamed just a stone's throw from the harbor– a mass of handsome buildings that glittered with colorful sea glass and some of the more modern architecture on the grand line. The place, she had heard, was run by a branch family of some deposed nobles from the North Blue– potentially related to the Vinsmokes. It was one of the many rumors she'd heard while gathering information about where Moria was.

And all the information she'd gathered said that he would be here; rumors and whispers that the former warlord was wasting away on cocktail island.

She puffed out her cheeks as she walked, her little ghosties leaking out from her parasol to surround her in swirling, lazy arcs that sent tourists stumbling away from their spectral giggling in fear of just what they might do.

It’d been two years…two years without a word while she thought he was dead. If it turned out he was getting DRUNK while Mihawk held his SUPER GOOD wine over her head for TWO WHOLE YEARS…

Well. She wasn’t actually going to complain about her time with the other warlord and Zoro…but STILL.

She was peeved about it enough for her horo horo ghostie friends to be manifesting in wiggly force. Not to mention this place really WAS too bright. “Wish I had sunglasses…” 

The light on the summer island was quite bright and warm, with hardly a cloud in the sky as she made her way through the crowds and toward the resort area. Stealthily she snuck through the lobby without a glance from security who were busy at the counter due to some woman who was yelling at the clerk there.

And once through the checkpoint she was able to access all the guest areas. The private beach. The restaurant. The casino. The spa. And who knew what else. It was a disgusting lap of luxury.

“And I didn’t even have a vampire maid or a handsome butler to make me bagel sandwiches an’ cocoa.” Perona pouted as she hugged Kumachi’s plush body to her side. Mihawk’s cooking was super good, of course, and Zoro would bring her things if she needled him enough and hung off his shoulders till he did it…but the principle of the thing was important! “This place looks…”

She stared down some well to do couple as they walked towards the beach with a sound dial blasting Uta’s latest single in hand.

“Pricey. And ostentatious. Dontcha think, Kumachi?”

Kumachi didn’t answer.

Perona followed the couple out onto the beach, which was a forest of brightly colored umbrellas and towels spread out over a blanket of glittering, beautiful white sand leading down to the bright blue ocean. People of all shapes and sizes wandered around in beach wear, holding colorful drinks being doled out by bartenders under thatched roof huts.

She sniffed disdainfully as she twisted her parasol over her head, taking to floating gently along instead of walking through the unsteady sand. 

“He couldn’t possibly be at the beach…”

“Horo horo” replied one of her ghosties, to which she giggled.

“I mean, obviously right? We didn’t even have a proper beach on Thriller Bark!” she waved her hand “he’s probably somewhere like the residential graveyard or something. Do resorts have graveyards?”

“Horo.” 

Perona practically tripped over him.

Moria was lying supine over an enormous beach lounge chair under an umbrella with a pair of opaque sunglasses covering most of his unmistakable face. He had a book across his chest, and a drink in the holder of his lounge. There was a sound dial sitting in the sand next to him and a wire trailed from it to one miniature speaker in his long pointed ear.

Tripping startled her once.

His loud snore startled her again.

“GAH!!!” Perona squeaked, stomping her foot on open air. “DADDY!! You IIIIIIIDIOT!”

She drew the attention of several beach-goers, but the moment she started hearing the whispering amongst them she sent her hollows to pass through them. Whispering turned to whines and whimpers of despair as she put her hands on her hips and looked down at the sleeping Moiria.

“....” She raised her leg and delivered a swift kick to his butt. “Wake up!!!” 

The kick didn't overbalance the lounge chair, but the startled jolt that rocked through Moria's body as he yelped in response and instinctively tried to roll away did. Former warlord, book, dial, all ended up sprawled in the sand, the drink splashing on top adding insult to injury.

“O-oops.” Perona looked from side to side. People were staring, but they were nobodies anyway. Nobody who mattered saw that.

She looked down at Kumachi with a sharp frown “Kumachi!! How could you do that? How could you kick dad like that??? When we get home you’re going in the iron maiden!”

Kumachi hung in silent understanding of just what he’d done and how he’d have to atone. 

Moria was already clambering up into a sitting position, wiping the drink off his face, and pushing the offending lounge chair away. He hissed and bared his fangs, looking around.

"Who dares to disturb the slumber of the mighty— Perona?? Whoah, what are you doing here?" His menacing snarl turned immediately into a cheerful grin that really emphasized how much sand and cocktail was still stuck to his face.

Perona clasped her hands together as if she didn’t just kick him into the sand like the Vinsmokes in the “Sora and the Sand-Castle of the Beach King” storyline from the papers.

“Daddyyy!! You’re alive! I’d heard you’d died ya know!” her hollows swarmed around her as she leaned down to offer him a hand up. “Gosh, you got a cocktail all over your face!” 

He took her hand with his large claw and grinned bashfully, trying to wipe off his face as he stood. "Yeah, whoops! Guess I got a little startled somehow."

Moria carefully stood up to his towering height, carefully ducking out from under the umbrella and Perona got a better look at him.

The lanky, long limbed pirate had certainly healed from the injuries she'd heard he'd received two years ago, and the light of the summer island seemed to have darkened the glimmering pale of his complexion just a little. The old stitch-mark scars down his face from where Kaidou had nearly cut him in half didn't show up quite as intensely any more. 

His red hair had grown out– possibly the entire two years– shaggy and loose around his horns, and he looked like he'd been taking care of himself, surprisingly. The muscles on his body were defined– save for the softness around his stomach that was clearly from an overabundance of cocktails.

All that was easy for Perona to take in– since he was only wearing a pair of beach shorts with a pattern of pumpkins on them, and a pair of sandals.

“....” She crossed her arms with Kumachi hanging from them, her lips petulantly pursed as she brushed her long, and now quite expertly curled even in the difficult situation she’d been traveling in, pink hair from her shoulders.

“I can see that! You look…” she trailed off for a moment. “comfortable? Looks like you’re healing up pretty good too! They said the marines blew you to pieces!” 

Moria rubbed the back of his neck and nodded rather limply. "They sure did. But hey! I'm back in one piece, huh? Cheated death again." He grinned but really, he just looked embarrassed about it. "It's great to see you, though! You look amazing! I heard rumors you were staying with Mihawk, was that true?"

“Uh huh. One of the World Government’s superweapons slapped me across the ocean and I crashed into his castle,” Perona put her hands on her hips. "He's been real nice to me, I even made a new close friend.” She emphasized it with a wicked little grin, “it was pretty nice, but ya know what woulda been better?” 

"Uhhhh?"

She pointed towards him. “Knowing my old man was still alive, dummy!!” the hollows around her tittered and laughed. 

"I wish I could have let you know, kiddo!" he said, holding up his hands with another fanged smile. "The government's after my ass though. If they find out where I am they might send a few fleets you know? and I was worried they'd try to use you as bait to get to me."

Perona pursed her lips, cheeks puffed out and her hands on her hips as she floated a little higher. 

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!! What, ya think they’re gonna do that Buddy Call thing of theirs? Or kidnap me? They couldn’t, ya know! I’ve been training with Hawky and Zor—-”

She almost let her special friend slip…one of the straw hats who’d defeated her father and their pirate gang. He wasn’t ready to know.

“Y. Zory.” 

Moria blinked slowly at her with only dim comprehension. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"How about we head up to my room, get a couple of drinks, and you can tell your ol' dad all about it."

Perona glared dubiously at him for a long moment. The nobodies were beginning to talk again. She shut them up with another round of hollows to really ruin their vacations.

“Alright. But only if I get to have sangria! Hawky wouldn’t let me make any with his wine ‘cause he was making Zor…m. Zorm go sober while he trained!”

After a moment she paused and punched her fist “SHOOT! I was calling him Zory! Not Zorm!” 

Moria blinked again.

"Who?"

Fifteen minutes later and Perona had a legitimate guest badge for the hotel and was mixing sangria in Moria's private beach-front suite with a view of the ocean.

“Geeze, papa. You’ve got a real sweet deal here. What’d ya do? Steal the manager’s shadow?” she asked as she mixed the sangria and tested it for taste. 

"I wish!" he laughed, folding himself over the bar and watching her. "You'll be disappointed, but your old man's paying the same as anybody else."

She poured more red wine into the mixture as she looked over her shoulder “with all of our treasure?” 

"Not all of it, obviously!" he sputtered. "But some, of my treasure. Yes."

“Oh!” Perona grinned at him “I mean, it seems to be going a long way, papa!” 

She looked over her shoulder at the immobile Kumachi “hey, Kumachi. D’ya want some sangria?”

He did not want sangria. He was a lame teetotaler like that.

“I hope you saved a bit of it, papa. I think we’re gonna need it.” 

Moria scratched his head, pushing his lengthened red hair back behind his horns, and gave her a curious look.

"You think? I mean, it won't get that much more expensive just to have you stay too."

Perona poured herself a glass of Sangria and turned to lean on the bar as she took a sip “not for staying here, papa! To buy our way into Mr. Hawky’s big plan! Or…I mean, I guess it’s not his big plan. He said somethin’ about…hold on..”

She stomped over to Kumachi and unbuttoned the top of his head to root around in there for a moment.

When her hand came out she brandished a flashy poster at her father with a big, ear to ear grin and a haughty “Horohorohorohoro!!! LOOK!”

The poster, she knew well, was of the Cross Guild. Captain Buggy, the newest of the former warlords before their dissolution loomed his manic smile over crossed swords– Sir Crocodile sneered from the right, Mihawk glowered from the left. 

And in each corner, another of the powerful warlords loomed. Boa Hancock with her cold glare matching the hungry serpent that curled over her shoulders in the upper right by Buggy’s overly prominent face, flanked on the other side by Doflamingo’s manic grin and the trail of strings from his fingers.

“We’re gonna join Cross Guild!” 

Moria boggled at the poster. Then he leaned in and squinted at it. Then he pulled back and boggled at it some more.

"What are all the warlords doing on that poster?" Moria demanded. "Who's the kid with the nose?"

“.....” Perona turned it around to look at it before she huffed. “who cares! I mean, if you wanna know it’s Buggy the Clown! He’s…I dunno , an old ex boyfriend of Mr. Crocodile and Mihawk’s or something. He grumbled about him once while he was drunk. They made him a warlord after you were gone, papa!”

"Aw man, maybe I should have been keeping up with the news after all," he grumbled, scratching his hair again. He gave the poster another dubious squint. "They made him a warlord? And now they've what, got some kind of extra club going?"

It was starting to sound as if somehow Moria still hadn't heard that the warlord system had been dissolved.

Perona sipped her sangria. She needed the strength. Oh, by all the powers of the dark lords and evil, did she need the strength.

After her sip she downed half the glass before dropping it on the bar and taking a deep breath….she floated up to grab him by the shoulders and practically shook him as she wailed.

“THEY DISSOLVED IT, PAPA!” 

Moria ducked under the strength of her shout, grimacing and pulling his face away. He held up his hands defensively.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, kiddo! Simmer down! They dissolved what?"

“The whole frickin’ warlord system!!!” she chided “like, they turned on ‘em. A bunch of kings voted for it at their stupid king party and now they’re coming to kill everyone! There’s no more state-sanctioned pirates! Just pirates!” 

He stared at her. 

Suddenly, he was gripping her shoulders.

"They're doing WHAT?"

Half an hour later, they were several more pitchers of sangria in as Perona had brought her 'daddy' up to speed on current events.

“So yeah, we’re gonna need your treasure to buy into Cross Guild so I can join Hawky in this whole war against the World Government they got goin’ on!” she finished with a big smile.

He scratched his jaw thoughtfully and nodded. " You think they'd let me in? They had better let me in! I'd be pretty pissed off if they've started a former warlords club and they didn't want me in it. But…"

“I mean obviously they’ll let you in!” She huffed. “they probably want me there too! You were their buddy, right? I’m sure they’ll let you join up easy peasy!” 

"Maybe," he hemmed and hawed, and turned to lean his back on the bar, staring at his luxurious hotel suite. "But I don't know if I'm even ready to go back to being a pirate. I don't know if I'll ever be ready. I might just be retired."

“Noooo!” Perona stomped her foot. “Papa, that’s lame! Retirement’s lame! We didn’t even do our big plan at Thriller Bark! Luffy and Zor…..d…Zord and everyone else just beat us UP! We’re not done pirating at all!” 

".... wait isn't Zord that friend you were mentioning with Mihawk?" Moria blinked, having forgotten to protest the rest of it. "He was at Thriller Bark?"

“.............” Perona’s eyes widened as she looked at Kumachi for a save. Kumachi had nothing to say, being quite stuffed. “Maayyyyybe?” 

Moria grabbed the half empty pitcher of sangria and downed the rest of it in a long gulp.

Perona dropped her head into her hands. She knew…she knew this was going to turn into a big deal. She could only hope the booze would help rather than hinder her in her grand quest to explain to her father that the guy who cut his minions to ribbons was…like…

You know.

Kinda cool. 

They'd argued about it for hours. About Cross Guild. About the Straw Hats. About Moria feeling less capable now than he had ever felt before. First being destroyed by Kaidou, and then by Luffy– who was now Perona's friend by one remove.

Perona had argued with all her might, likely terrifying the neighbors in the other suites as she gesticulated wildly and sent her hollows flying here and there in her passionate pleas.

Who cared if the Straw Hats beat him up, from the news she’d heard they beat up like…everyone! And if they were friends now, through Zoro, then they’d be safe from Luffy’s violent frenzy.

Besides, it wasn’t as if they were going after the One Piece! She’d argued until she was blue in the face about it, as points flew between them.

At one point she’d accused him of holding onto a negative hollow while she was gone with how DOWN IN THE DUMPS he was about himself. 

"Perona," he said finally after a long silence between them. He rested his head on his arms, his gaze tilted toward her. "I think you're the only one who thinks I'm worth anything any more. Cross Guild would probably be happier if I just sent you back with what resources I've got left. You're young. You've got energy. you haven't been beaten by the world yet. What have I got?"

“Plenty!” Perona puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. “You've always been my hero, you know! You’re the master of shadows! You’re super strong, who cares if you lost twice? I got beat too, and I’m not worthless!” 

"Of course you're not worthless but– I don't know. I just feel like I'm not good enough. Every time I think I'm getting somewhere, I get thrown back to the start!"

It was the same thing of course, that she'd heard had happened to Mihawk. And to Crocodile. And to who knew who else among the warlords. But that was the thing– that was when they were working alone.

“You and the rest of the old idiots of Cross Guild,” Perona crossed her arms. “but you were all going it alone, weren’t you? But Cross Guild’s a bunch of you! All together, working together for something that ain’t the stupid World Government. Maybe together you can fight your way forward and NOT get thrown back to the start, huh??” 

"That's–" he blinked and sat up a little. "That's a good point. If we were actually cooperating. The problem is you never know who's about to throw you in the sea for a little gain in their own status…"

“From what Hawky was saying the whole point of Cross Guild is NOT to do that. Like…it’s named that ‘cause everyone’s on an equal level even with crossed purposes or some pretentious crap like that.” 

Moria stroked his chin. "That sounds like Mihawk. I wonder if we could really do it. If we actually teamed up against the government, we might actually be able to do something…"

Finally thinking about something other than his own self pity.

Perona internally sighed with relief as she pressed her advantage “I know, right? And everyone’s pooling their resources to do some really neat stuff! Like taking bounties out on the Marines! Striking back with the power of the people!” 

"Taking bounties on marines?" He grinned now. "That would sure be a way to put random people in the action instead of always risking your own guys…"

“Exactly!!” Perona pointed at him “and the people are happy because it gives ‘em power! And we’re happy because it’s one less Navy Bastard to deal with! And little by little we weaken the World Government!” 

"Alright. Alright! Damn it!" He slapped his hand on the bar, shaking the several empty pitchers and wine bottles. "I'll at least go and talk to them. ��You know where they are, right?"

“Oh yeah they’re uh…I think they’re still on Buggy’s big clown ship or something.” Perona put her finger to her lips. “Ah well, they can’t be that hard to find right?”

He scratched the back of his neck and shook his head. "Well. We'll make it work, whatever. Hey–" 

Moria reached out a hand toward her.

Perona grinned and leapt forward to squeeze his arm just over his hand. “Yeah?” she asked, hovering as she dangled from his arm. 

He smiled a fanged smile at her, soft, despite the bristle of pointy teeth. "Thanks for coming all the way out here to find me, kiddo. And for talking me up."

“Always, papa! Someone’s gotta be your hype man, and it wasn’t gonna be fucking Hogback!” She squeezed his arm tightly in a hug, her bright eyes and ear-to-ear smile turned his way. “I wanted to look for you for two years, I just thought you’d died– so I came right away to find ya as soon as I heard the whispers.”

Moria chuckled and pulled her into a proper hug. "Guess we've proven it takes more than that to kill me, huh? Alright. Let's take just a little more vacation. I'll show you around the place and when we sober up, then we'll make some plans on getting out of here."

Perona squeezed him tightly with a squee of joy. 

“Alright! Alright! A lil’ more vacation but I’m NOT getting any sun! The sun’ll melt me away!” She grinned widely as she bobbed her head “and then it’s CROSS GUILD HERE WE COME!”

Kumachi was excited. She could tell from the way he slowly flopped over and rolled onto the ground with the weight of his overstuffed head.

"Cross Guild here we come! Maybe third time's the charm with his whole pirate gig."

He put her on his shoulders, and out they went.

Hours of exploration of the resort followed as they let their heads clear save for dreams of the future. With satisfaction, Perona got to experience the absolute bliss of a spa, and of a meal not served on the table because Hogback’s poor assistant was traumatized by plates…and also by being a kidnapped spirit who hated him.

The beautiful resort island was a paradise– but it wasn’t half as perfect as the prospect of their future as part of the powerful Cross Guild. Compared to fighting side by side with Hawky and his friends and taking the fight to the world government…how could a vacation island even hope to stack up?

It was almost depressing against the glaring light of the future ahead. 

[fairytail-whathesays]

Could I ask you to please feed me some Laxus x Cobra headcanons? Both sfw and nsfw ofc

Do u want to get married real quick --

sorry.

Anyway, yes, of course. Anything for my one true pairing.

I elaborated here that Cobra and Laxus fit together well because they can understand each other without the need for words, something especially beneficial to guys that aren't good at communication.

They're both involved, but a little on the outside too, not able to match the energy of the main roster of characters. They get each other because they're of the same inbetween space that's trying to be a decent dude and not always sure of how to go about it.

I've also said that Cobra is very possessive and jealous, and this is where that comes in. Cobra is intensely aware that despite not always being easy to get along with, Laxus is well-liked and respected, and could basically have anyone he wanted. It's not nearly as cute as with other relationships, since Cobra can be pretty bitchy and temperamental given his insecurities. But they work through it.

Cobra and Laxus have a tense early relationship, because Laxus' instinct with a guy he's dating is to have an arm around them at all times, whereas Cobra disdains and deters being touched. There are silent arguments that arise from Cobra feeling like Laxus is trying to make some pretty little girlfriend out of him and Laxus feeling like Cobra is disgusted by or angry at him.

Among those insecurities I mentioned is Cobra's body. Cobra was raised an underfed and abused child slave, then raised by Brain in a guild with him and two other skinny guys, and then underfed in prison for seven years. Despite Laxus genuinely thinking he's sexy, he's often uncomfortable thinking about how Instagram-ready Laxus is, and how much bigger and well-built Laxus is than him. That, on top of the slashed-out eye, leads Cobra to believe he's going to lose Laxus to someone else because he isn't attractive. He's wrong, of course.

Despite everything I've said, these two are attracted to each other and fond of each other, and when they're getting along, they're really getting along. Laxus will think of some smart remark he's barely holding back and Cobra will laugh, or Cobra will bluntly call a spade a spade and Laxus will smile. They'll be having an argument and Cobra will make some remark about Laxus being such a bitch because he's into him, and Laxus will silently respond, and Cobra will blush--actually, genuinely--and then punch him in the side.

I cannot stress this enough, Laxus thinks Cobra's giant snake, dragon scaled arms, and eye scar are legitimately badass and sexy. Like, he's so into Cobra's aesthetic. Cobra obviously wants to come off cool but, after the dissolution of the Oracion Seis, isn't sure how to feel about someone thinking he's cool for him.

At first Cobra thinks Laxus is just one more Fairy Tail wizard, and then Laxus just starts casually talking about that time he punched Master Hades in the face, and Cobra stops short with the most stunned look on his face.

Laxus is the perfect lover for Cobra because he understands what it's like to be angry, and prideful, and wrathful, and not understood well by a lot of people. Loving Cobra is like loving a wounded, scarred animal that will lash out if you move too quickly, and he wouldn't rather love anyone else. He is so real with Cobra when he needs it, and so tender with Erik when he needs it.

NS/FW:

I also said here (in the tags) that Cobra is the one guy who could make Laxus consistently bottom, and I stand by that. There are plenty of tops Laxus could date and conceivably coax into adjusting, but Cobra is not one of them. And as with Gray preferring a more intimate sex life, Laxus is just as amenable to Cobra being strictly on top.

Cobra is very dominant and domineering. He needs absolute control in the bedroom because he is that against feeling any kind of vulnerability or intimacy. Laxus takes it well, even though Cobra is very rough sometimes. Even though Cobra is scared of vulnerability, he's also very against doing anything he thinks Laxus might not like, so he keeps very careful track of Laxus' thoughts and bodily reactions to make sure he's fucking Laxus in a way he likes.

Laxus might be a top in the average day-to-day, but Cobra very quickly works out the right ways to get him moaning and gasping. Not even the mighty Thunder God is immune to a good dicking that makes him see stars.

There is, as with most dragonslayer ships, a lot of biting. It's different with Cobra, though, because his fangs are longer and sharper than average, and kissing him can be a dangerous game if he doesn't keep control of his powers. Laxus loves that risk and loves taking it, and savors every kiss Cobra gives him and every bite mark left on him.

Cobra accidentally lost control and went dragon force mid-fuck once. Laxus was thrilled and thought it was the hottest thing ever.

There are, very rarely, occasions where Cobra bottoms. He still needs absolute control, and he's very slow and cautious when he goes cowboy. But Laxus loves it because he gets to actually see Cobra, feel him, and Cobra loves it because he can hear all the lustful ways Laxus is thinking of him, seeing his body and genuinely finding it sexy.

Cobra'd probably be more amenable to bottoming if Laxus' dick weren't so damn big

Laxus treats Cobra's body like a work of art, got it? Whenever he gets the opportunity, his hands are everywhere, his lips and tongue everywhere, every scar gets kissed. Cobra is treated to blowjobs so good they send him to the shadow realm for a few minutes.

After they get done, so out of breath and fucked clean of any bad feelings, they just lay there, and they both sleep away all their exhaustion and wake up with the strangest, yet most secure contentment ever.

Laxus has no ability to read thoughts. But after he gets bent over, face pressed into the pillow, and fucked vengefully while hearing "Don't - you - ever - leave - me - got - it?!" he figures out what's really up and calls Cobra out on trying to avoid saying "I love you". It's the one compromise he won't make for Cobra's sake--he makes him say it, right then and there, and when he does, he tells him he loves him back and kisses him.

[slowthinkingreader]

The Claw of The Conciliator - Gene Wolfe

(Started May 27th, 2024, finished June 6th)

Monkey men! Green men from the future! Huge alien men! Robot guys from the future, maybe! There is, above everything, no shortage of strange and multitudinous guys in these books. There is no ink spared on the matter! Every man Severian meets is cool as hell; the women...

I shouldn't have waited several weeks to write my review of this book, clearly, but frankly, the latter part of it left a sour taste in my mouth and I've been stewing over how I feel about it. I think there's something very skillful going on with regards to what's happening with Severian in this book with regards to his misogyny and his relationship to women, and I'm interested in seeing where it goes (even if my presentiment is that it's not going to be very interesting to me) but at the same time, I'm finding it hard to look past the misogyny as I read, and to enjoy thinking about what the book has to say about it. Mainly, because Severian as our narrator is so disinterested in the internal lives of women unless it revolves around him, the effect is that I just don't care! To me, that's boring! I'm bored of Jolenta and Dorcas being nothing-characters treated like nothing. But then, that's also what the book is about.

About men... I like the contrast between Severian as complemented by Jonas, and the Severian we're stuck with after he leaves the narrative. The book spends a lot of time showing how much they care about each other. They help each other. Severian looks up to him, clearly, and considers him a good friend, and some part of their relationship is also tinged by the fact that Jonas appears to be much older than Severian, who is still (implied to be? Explicitly? Unclear if I missed a detail) very young. There's a feeling to their relationship that is partly mentorly slash brotherly. Jonas doesn't quite bring out "a side" of Severian that is "better", if you will, but in the absence of women he appears kinder, and less tinged with so many complications regarding what he wants. It's clear that what he wants from men is community, regard, belonging, etc.; from women he expects other things, mostly the high of lording power over them. It's pleasant in a way these books haven't been since the earliest chapters of Shadow, where he's (notably) surrounded by other men of his guild. When we lose that sense again, it's frustrating, in a way that's both interesting (in the sense that it feels purposeful) and sad.

I am DEEPLY interested in the fact that he appears to share a mind with Thecla now. Possibly the most interesting thing to have happened so far. I don't know why I didn't expect this to happen when we learned about the corpse-eaters, but it's so good. It's so good. The moment where Thecla inhabits his body in the prison/waiting room, walking in the dark, and a child "mistakes" his steps for a woman's? Could talk about this for ages. I want to take a transgender hammer to this whole concept but I'll abstain for now; I don't know where this is really heading. Possibly nowhere. The book doesn't seem interested in questioning the border between what is Severian and what is Thecla, at least not purposefully enough, and maybe that's not where Gene Wolfe is taking things. I don't expect it, but it would be incredibly sick if they merged to the degree where they can't tell which thoughts belongs to whom; some real dissolution of personhood. Let Thecla eat HIM, in their beautiful mind palace, right back!

There's a lot of moving players now. Agia. The Pelerines. Jonas. Vodalus and his bitch wife, eating corpses. The autarch has appeared and he's up to something, whilst looking androgynous. The lovecraftian horrors are real and BRIEFLY ON LAND, trying to lure Severian down there with them, in what was (in my opinion) one of the better scenes of this book. Hethor appears everywhere; he's implied to be terrifying, because the things he says and does are terrifying, but I actually love him; his comedic timing is too good, I can't hate him for that. Agia tries to kill Severian for a third (?) time. The Claw of the Conciliator is very useful, even if it's very ominous to me.

What else. I don't care about the play in the middle of this book, unfortunately. Or the story about the giant. I can't follow it at all. I don't understand how it fits into the narrative so far. In all honesty, I'm getting a little fatigued from trying to figure out what's happening on any of these pages. Even though this might be intentional, I feel like I get faint hints at bigger pictures moving around and if I paid more attention I would enjoy them better, but I also don't care enough about them to do so. I have a certain disdain for works that demand your attention to the point where it takes you out of the actual work itself, just to entertain an idea which is not interesting enough to be explicit about in the first place. It's not rewarding to me. I'm not sure how else to put it. I get tired of these games!!

Very mixed feelings on this book. Needs more Jonas. 5/10

[stealthkills]

CODENAME: BREAKER.

LEGAL NAME: Vanya Steele NICKNAME(S): BREAKER. BIRTH DATE: jan. 3rd 1975 (01/03/75) AGE: forty-nine (49) as of 2024. GENDER/PRONOUNS: trans male. (he/him) ORIENTATION: bi0sexual. NATIONALITY: russian-american. ZODIAC SIGN: capricorn.

CURRENT RESIDENCE: lives in the small town down the mountain from the Guild base. has a semi-permanent residence on the base. EDUCATION: high level university education with a focus on toxicology and chemistry, eventually hired by umbrella to study the destruction of BOWs. OCCUPATION: BOW specialist on base, focusing on the development of methods of destroying BOWs.

EYE COLOR: dark blue. HAIR COLOR: pale white-blonde. HEIGHT: 6'5". BUILD: not a physical fighter, tends towards underweight due to mental health issues. SKIN: fair skinned. tends to cover up to avoid blemishes on his skin. SKIN MARKINGS: a beauty mark under his right eye and a few scattered markings on his upper shoulders and arms. though he doesn't bear any significant scarring from his BOW studies, he carries a hefty number of self-harm scars up and down his limbs in various states of scar aging. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: vanya wears glasses and is basically blind without them. he tends to wear a heavy duty lab coat, and a specialized belt made to carry toxins if he is ever brought into the field.

BIOGRAPHY.

born the eldest of twins, vanya keeps his personal history quiet and close to his chest whenever possible. what is known is that he has family that live in alaska and that he once worked on the umbrella r&d teams regarding BOWs, having been stationed in the arklay laboratories for a brief period of time before the destruction of raccoon city.

following the dissolution of umbrella and a series of mental health breaks and hospitalizations, vanya was offered a chance to join the new umbrella company - an offer he declined at the time because of his dwindling stability.

he eventually sought out opportunities that were disconnected from umbrella and found himself in the presence of luke ferraday, following threads from a number of BOW weapon patents. when he saw the work, he offered his services to further improve their deadliness against the creatures and has taken up a contract position with them.

since then, he has used to solitude of the yukon base to work on his own projects, which include cryogenic applications to prevent c-virus mutations and a toxin that kills golgotha virus.

[communist-manifesto-daily]

The Communist Manifesto - Part 15

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B. Petty-Bourgeois Socialism

The feudal aristocracy was not the only class that was ruined by the bourgeoisie, not the only class whose conditions of existence pined and perished in the atmosphere of modern bourgeois society. The medieval burgesses and the small peasant proprietors were the precursors of the modern bourgeoisie. In those countries which are but little developed, industrially and commercially, these two classes still vegetate side by side with the rising bourgeoisie.

In countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed, a new class of petty bourgeois has been formed, fluctuating between proletariat and bourgeoisie, and ever renewing itself as a supplementary part of bourgeois society. The individual members of this class, however, are being constantly hurled down into the proletariat by the action of competition, and, as modern industry develops, they even see the moment approaching when they will completely disappear as an independent section of modern society, to be replaced in manufactures, agriculture and commerce, by overlookers, bailiffs and shopmen.

In countries like France, where the peasants constitute far more than half of the population, it was natural that writers who sided with the proletariat against the bourgeoisie should use, in their criticism of the bourgeois régime, the standard of the peasant and petty bourgeois, and from the standpoint of these intermediate classes, should take up the cudgels for the working class. Thus arose petty-bourgeois Socialism. Sismondi was the head of this school, not only in France but also in England.

This school of Socialism dissected with great acuteness the contradictions in the conditions of modern production. It laid bare the hypocritical apologies of economists. It proved, incontrovertibly, the disastrous effects of machinery and division of labour; the concentration of capital and land in a few hands; overproduction and crises; it pointed out the inevitable ruin of the petty bourgeois and peasant, the misery of the proletariat, the anarchy in production, the crying inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the industrial war of extermination between nations, the dissolution of old moral bonds, of the old family relations, of the old nationalities.

In its positive aims, however, this form of Socialism aspires either to restoring the old means of production and of exchange, and with them the old property relations, and the old society, or to cramping the modern means of production and of exchange within the framework of the old property relations that have been, and were bound to be, exploded by those means. In either case, it is both reactionary and Utopian.

Its last words are: corporate guilds for manufacture; patriarchal relations in agriculture. 

Ultimately, when stubborn historical facts had dispersed all intoxicating effects of self-deception, this form of Socialism ended in a miserable fit of the blues.

C. German or “True” Socialism

The Socialist and Communist literature of France, a literature that originated under the pressure of a bourgeoisie in power, and that was the expressions of the struggle against this power, was introduced into Germany at a time when the bourgeoisie, in that country, had just begun its contest with feudal absolutism.

German philosophers, would-be philosophers, and beaux esprits (men of letters), eagerly seized on this literature, only forgetting, that when these writings immigrated from France into Germany, French social conditions had not immigrated along with them. In contact with German social conditions, this French literature lost all its immediate practical significance and assumed a purely literary aspect. Thus, to the German philosophers of the Eighteenth Century, the demands of the first French Revolution were nothing more than the demands of “Practical Reason” in general, and the utterance of the will of the revolutionary French bourgeoisie signified, in their eyes, the laws of pure Will, of Will as it was bound to be, of true human Will generally.

The work of the German literati consisted solely in bringing the new French ideas into harmony with their ancient philosophical conscience, or rather, in annexing the French ideas without deserting their own philosophic point of view.

This annexation took place in the same way in which a foreign language is appropriated, namely, by translation.

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[wagahai-da]

In countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed, a new class of petty bourgeois has been formed, fluctuating between proletariat and bourgeoisie, and ever renewing itself as a supplementary part of bourgeois society. The individual members of this class, however, are being constantly hurled down into the proletariat by the action of competition, and, as modern industry develops, they even see the moment approaching when they will completely disappear as an independent section of modern society, to be replaced in manufactures, agriculture and commerce, by overlookers, bailiffs and shopmen.

In countries like France, where the peasants constitute far more than half of the population, it was natural that writers who sided with the proletariat against the bourgeoisie should use, in their criticism of the bourgeois régime, the standard of the peasant and petty bourgeois, and from the standpoint of these intermediate classes, should take up the cudgels for the working class. Thus arose petty-bourgeois Socialism. Sismondi was the head of this school, not only in France but also in England.

This school of Socialism dissected with great acuteness the contradictions in the conditions of modern production. It laid bare the hypocritical apologies of economists. It proved, incontrovertibly, the disastrous effects of machinery and division of labour; the concentration of capital and land in a few hands; overproduction and crises; it pointed out the inevitable ruin of the petty bourgeois and peasant, the misery of the proletariat, the anarchy in production, the crying inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the industrial war of extermination between nations, the dissolution of old moral bonds, of the old family relations, of the old nationalities.

In its positive aims, however, this form of Socialism aspires either to restoring the old means of production and of exchange, and with them the old property relations, and the old society, or to cramping the modern means of production and of exchange within the framework of the old property relations that have been, and were bound to be, exploded by those means. In either case, it is both reactionary and Utopian.

Its last words are: corporate guilds for manufacture; patriarchal relations in agriculture.

Ultimately, when stubborn historical facts had dispersed all intoxicating effects of self-deception, this form of Socialism ended in a miserable fit of the blues.

Karl Marx – The Communist Manifesto

[goldyke]

if you have the time, what are your favorite ttrpgs? I'm interested in getting into the genre but dnd is kind of hard to break into. Again, you don't have to answer if this would take too much time to explain. Thank you!

So I’ve played about 35 different games, mostly one shots. I’ve had the benefit of playing with people I trust which can greatly influence game play. Below I’m going to include the full list of games with brief descriptions, but favorites first.

I definitely prefer non-traditional, narrative, and gmless games, so that will be a running theme.

Tales From the Loop has to go first because it’s the game that made me fall in love with ttrpgs. This game has Stranger Things vibes. You play a preteen in the 80s in a town where weird shit is constantly happening. This game is more on the traditional side. There’s a GM running the story, you roll for skill checks, there’s probably a specific story playing out that your gm will try to hook you on to. This game uses only 6 sided dice. There is a sequel listed below for teens in the 90s.

Fall of Magic is a narrative rpg with at most 3 dice rolls in the entire game. FoM is played on a beautiful, handmade map. Your characters progress through the cities on the map as you collaboratively tell the story of your journey to the birthplace of magic. Every city on the map has locations in it with a narrative prompt. Each player decides what location to visit and acts a scene at the location answering the prompt. Anything you say becomes true. There are no rolls. Nothing makes me want to write an epic fantasy more than a good game of Fall of Magic

Pasión De Las Pasiones is a PBTA game, which is one of my favorite systems. In it you play a character from a long-running telenovela. I suggest only playing with a gm familiar with the genre who can do justice to the setting. There’s lots of scandal and intrigue. In fact one of the possible characters to play is the secret evil twin of any of your fellow players. PBTA gamesone are closer to traditional with dice rolls and a gm, but emphasizes the narrative more. Rolls are based on you committing to certain tropes and are boosted by narratives rather than any sort of character skills. (I also suggest checking out other PBTA games.)

A Quiet Year is a map drawing game. All you need to play are a deck of cards, a printout of what the cards mean, and drawing materials. You tell the story of a community rebuilding after a harsh winter, answering prompts from the cards for each week of the year. As you build the village and create the story, you draw a map to show all you have done. No artistic skill is necessary. You do not play a character in this game. There is no gm. There are no dice rolls. This is the map from my last game. (I prefer to use wrapping paper for more space)

Dialect is a language building game in which you collaboratively make up new words that become completely normal to you through play. You play as members of an isolated community of any sort (lost mars colonies, online message boards, a thieves guild) which breaks down over the course of the game. You play out the evolution and eventual dissolution of your joint language. Each turn comes with a prompt for which you create a word and then play a scene. This is great as a stand-alone but I love the idea of using it as worldbuilding for a larger campaign.

I will hopefully do another post talking more about someone games tomorrow

(Warning for q slur used once below cut)

This is a list of all the games I’ve played with a short description for each. I do not recommend all of these, but feel free to ask more about any of them. I’ll talk more about some of these in future posts.

Masks (teenage super heroes. PBTA)

Paranoia (dystopian bureaucratic comedy horror)

Weave (app based multi genre. Left very little impression for me)

Tales from the loop (80s teenage horror mystery. D6 based game)

Things from the flood (90s teenage horror mystery. Sequel to above)

Descent into Midnight (map drawing game. psychic underwater entities in a community fighting an influence. PBTA.)

Dream askew (queer enclave as society falls PBTA. Book also contains a jewish companion game set in a shtetl, Dream Apart)

Rippers (dark Victorian. supernatural hunters)

Pasion de las Pasiones (telenovela the rpg. NDNM)

Fall of magic (map based, gmless, story telling game. High fantasy. I own but have not yet played their second scroll game City of Winter)

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Fiasco (multi genre heist-gone-wrong game. Gmless. D6 based)

Inspecteres (ghostbusters-esque, bureaucratic comedy. Some mockumentary elements.)

Dnd (we all know this one)

Quiet year (map drawing, gmless game on the growth of community)

Dialect (linguistics based game telling the story of a collapse of community)

Microscope (world-building game played over the course of an era. Great for works building for a larger campaign)

Lady blackbird (single scenario game- helping a noble escape arranged marriage. Steampunk)

Lasers and feelings (Star Trek, basically. One pager. Great for new players and gms. Good system to build a home brew based on)

Castle falkenstein (steampunk+fantasy adventure)

Headspace (cyberpunk, anticorp. Emotionally intense/triggering)

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Mouse guard (mouse fantasy adventures)

Numenara (science fantasy adventure game. Earth based, 1000 years off)

Manifest (sci-fi western)

Damn the man save the music (employees try to save their dying indie record store and achieve their personal goals. 90s)

Ryutaama (npcs travel and experience the joy of existence)

Dead Halt (a hotels AI has gone rogue. You work there. Try to survive. Horror-ish but in a campy way)

Knave (a very simplified fantasy adventure game)

Thirteenth Age (similar to dnd with a few unique interesting features. Made by creators of dnd 3&4)

Anomaly (tarot based gmless game about a sinister organization investigating supernatural anomalies)

Visigoths vs. Mall goths (conflicts and romance between the warriors who sacked Ancient Rome and 20th century spooky teens. Takes place in a mall in 1996)

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Arcana Academy (magic school game. Don’t play with strangers because they will fall into HP tropes)

Alice is Missing (silent game played over discord or similar. A mystery is solved through texts and group chats

Worlds Without Numbers (large world fantasy adventure game. OSR. Similar in concept to dnd but with plenty of differences. More human centric)

Nahual (Mestizo shapeshifting angel hunting underdogs)

Sign (sign language building game. Deaf children develop their language collaboratively in a new school setting. Played silently.)

[caliblorn]

So what do you think of elves from later eras? Or Nerevar and the Tribunal

This is a very broad question to answer, but I think in general, as we're getting closer to the end of the Kalpa, elves (and maybe all of Tamriel) are slowly losing their magical element. The dissolution of the Mages Guild and the destruction of the Worm Cult are surely some of the greatest contributors to this. Then we have the end of house Telvanni and the destruction of Vvanderfell's settlements at the start of the fourth era. Lots of Dunmer refugees (which I personally consider the elves with the most widespread magical culture) that are going to eventually lose contact with their roots and magic. Strictly talking genes... Altmers, as they were known before the opening of the Summerset Isles, are probably getting wiped out, which just means more crossbreeding with other elves, which also MIGHT mean smaller magicka pools in their genes. Could be one of the reasons why the Thalmor (the straight-up white supremacist of the TES world) got more and more aggressive in their politics. I mean, we literally have people like this irl crying out "White genocide", lmao. Not less important, the death of a great number of important centuries-old elven mages, lifespans seemingly getting shorter, and the LITERAL TWO-YEAR GAP IN A GENERATION OF KHAJIITS (yeah, I do consider them elves). Don't think I need to mention what happened to the Snow elves and I'm not considering the Maormers since they live on another continent and we don't know anything about them from the first century of the third era.

tagging @saltymaplesyrup in case you have something to add (counterpoints included)

Nothing to say about Nerevar or the Tribunal that wasn't already discussed over and over again. Just an appeal to tesblr to remember that if someone enjoys producing content for a certain aspect of a character, that doesn't mean they don't appreciate or understand all their facets.

[lazy-l]

Fairy Tail Young Blood AU Ages

Characters who went to Tenrou in the original timeline, but in this AU they are getting old because I say so

_____________________________________________________________

Wendy Marvell

Before = 11 // After = 18

I always thought that Wendy was 12 years old until the one-year time jump after the dissolution of Fairy Tail, and then she was 13 years old... No, she was 12 years old after the one-year time jump. Girl never grew up.

_____________________________________________________________

Panther Lily

Before = 15 // After = 22

Total age headcanon, but I like the idea of Lily being an older brother to Happy and Charles. Why 15 years old? He's old, but not that old.

And also, Exceed could have a different age to humans, like 30 years in Exceed age is just 15 years in normal age (another headcanon)

_____________________________________________________________

Lisanna Strauss

Before = 17 // After = 24

Siblings doomed by the narrative. Poor Mirajane and Elfman, they only had Lissana for a few weeks, and then it was their turn to disappear for 7 years, these siblings can have a break.

_____________________________________________________________

Bickslow

Before = 22 // After = 29

Friends doomed by the narrative. The reason he was left in the guild is that he went on a solo mission and didn't return in time.

_____________________________________________________________

In the next post, I will talk more about character dynamics and other things.