#has he actually managed to manipulate people at some point or is it only normal stuff

[worstloki]

Loki simply does not have the wiles to usurp the throne. sorry

[midmourn]

break ups with nct dream

♡ nct dream ﹒ gender neutral!reader genre angst warnings break ups, unhealthy coping, insecurities, some members dont think of themselves very highly, unintentional manipulation maybe ?? ( library )

mark who can’t stop pretending like everything���s fine. mark who is for once thankful of his busy schedule. because when his mind isn’t preoccupied, he finds it always going back to you. now, you only come to his mind late at night when he’s about to fall asleep only to wake up in four hours for yet another schedule. there’s a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach when he realizes the heartbreak is just as fresh as it was the moment it happened. thinks he let you go to easy but also respects you too much to argue. at this time, he’d be too busy talking to you on the phone to fall asleep. something he used to momentarily regret the next day, but now something he yearns for. he turns around and begs hypos to let him sleep.

renjun who wants to scream at the world and god and ask why is this happening. renjun who refuses to talk about it. he doesn’t understand what happened. he thought you guys were doing perfectly fine. you seemed happy, anyway. he can’t tell if he was just too blind to see that you actually were unhappy or if you were just a good actor. he finds himself thinking about what you’re doing, even when he’s busy. he misses you so bad that he’s so angry that you left. he gets even angrier when he sees you with another guy a couple weeks later. but he’s more angry at himself for letting you go. he thinks it’s easier to be angry than upset.

jeno who cries and then gets his emotions out at the gym. jeno who hits the punching bag so hard it manages to fall off the chain. he moves onto the wall next. he ignores the concerned stares from others about the bruises and split knuckles, but is the exact same otherwise. he thinks he’s doing okay, getting his emotions out in the form of his fists, because at least he’s still doing what he needed to do, right? he’s fine, he swears. when he’s laying in bed alone, he can’t help but wonder what you’re up to and type up a message that accidentally seems too much like a booty call. u up? wyd?

haechan who doesn’t have the energy to be his normal self. haechan who is too quiet, blends in with the walls when he’s normally the life of the party. his voice is literally hoarse from crying and begging you to stay for so long. he sends countless messages to you, enough to the point where you blocked him. people wonder where he is only to find out he’s been right next to them the entire time, thoughts consuming him. he spends time overthinking every decision he made in the last six months that led you to break up with him. he can’t find one. it must be him, though. you’d never break up with him without a reason, right? he wasn’t good enough for you, so he has to be better. and with that, he gets off his ass and forces himself into the conversation. he will be better, for you.

jaemin who is so mature when you bring it up. jaemin who doesn’t cry or act like he’s upset about it in front of others. people think he never loved you with the way he acts. that couldn’t be far from the truth. the only way he’ll grieve over your relationship is in his room, alone, with his babies. he accepts your decision, but the what if’s consume his thoughts. what if he hadn’t done that one thing you got angry at him for? what if he hadn’t missed your anniversary date? but he knows he was a good boyfriend, too. he doesn’t think he’ll ever get over you, doesn’t want to, but he knows he has to. he can only hope that you two will find each other later in life.

chenle who fights harder than he’s ever fought. chenle who wants to work it out. ultimately, you win. he cannot help but be a little bit pissed on how difficult you’re being, how you refuse to talk it out and avoid him. he doesn’t even know what happened. he doesn’t think you’re going to stay broken up so he doesn’t even bother shedding a tear. he thinks it’ll be something you two will laugh and then bicker about in fifty years. thinks you’re trying to make him jealous when you try to move on, and it works. doesn’t think before finally cornering you. he gave you your space, now it’s time for you to give him the answers he wants.

jisung who doesn’t understand the concept of space. jisung who has attachment issues. he’ll text you “good morning” and “good night” and tell you about his day without thinking about it because it’s like a routine for him by now. feels so bad and accidentally makes you feel bad for him with his countless apologies. will tweet about you on his priv and forget you’re still on there. doesn’t even want to think about you moving on, and him moving on is out of the question. he truly thought you were his soulmate, but he wanted you to come back to him in your own terms. he’ll spend forever making it up to you, anyway.

[colourstreakgryffin]

Nezuko!reader × Alastor please🙏

Haha! Awww! I am not sure it’s platonic or romantic but I’ll go with what I’m thinking. I think Alastor would have lots of fun with a Nezuko!

Alastor- Bamboo Binds

You’re one of the weirdest demons he’s ever seen. You don’t want to eat demons? What’s the point of being in Hell then if you don’t sin. That’s how Alastor feels and that’s how he thinks as he watches you with the sharpest eye a deer like him can at your entrance to the Hotel

As soon as Charlie checked you in to the Hotel, she begun introducing you around and trying to have you befriend everybody but yet, you somehow clicked the most with Alastor. Nobody can explain it, you just did

Alastor can’t help but view you as an attached kitten, following him around, your off yet cute bamboo muzzle, light pink kimono and long haori covering your body well, light pink slit eyes. You’re so cute, like a child. He can’t help but view you as a child… a naive, easily manipulated little one

Alastor eventually ‘adopts’ you after pretending he doesn’t even acknowledge your presence around him for quite some time. He finds you way too perfect for his own purpose to just ignore your existence further so he goes from ignoring to openly addressing you

Alastor just drags you around when he needs you. He has a tab on you so he can teleport you from place to place with his voodoo magic. He nicknames you ‘Kitten’ so his voodoo entities know the target but he won’t ever explain how he managed to spread his magic onto you

Alastor isn’t the biggest fan of your bamboo muzzle since it’s restricting your ability to communicate so the only way he knows your answer is based on nonsense muffles and your gestures. At least, you’re naive enough for this to work

Alastor isn’t entirely sure what to call you. You’re not necessarily a younger sibling or a child figure to him but he also doesn’t feel comfortable with calling you a servant. You’re just some type of thing he favours and appreciates but also needs for his own selfish reasons

Alastor may pretend he doesn’t truly care for you but he does. He’ll put on your muzzle for you, he’ll crate a shade for you so you can walk in the sun of the Pride Ring without being burnt and he’ll give you a corner for you to sleep in. He does care… in his own way

Alastor also does express that he isn’t a fan of your style but is of your preferences. You’re from the Tashio Era, around his time on Earth so you view technology like him and it makes him feel more appreciative that you get him. You’re his best tool ally after all, he didn’t suspect anything else from you

Alastor is surprised by how sweet and compassionate you are to him, even him where everybody else kinda makes sense. He isn’t a nice man at all, he may believe he deserves a number of things but does he deserve kindness from people like you or Charlie? Not really. He doesn’t want it but once more, he doesn’t care much

Alastor is actually quite impressed and interested in how you’ve basically been brainwashed… through whatever, maybe some old guy, into believing he is your family so you defend him, just viewing your lost siblings through him. He finds it cute how you rely on kickboxing to fight or even argue, he finds you cute. Like a little fawn

Alastor believes you’re a powerful useful tool-ally to him. You keep his threats away, you serve him. It’s a give to and give back relationship you two share. You give him something, he gives you something back as to keep you under his thumb

But really… he’s grown to have a bit of a soft spot for you so he will tolerate giving you and your pretty blank pink eyes a bit more benefits than he would normally dare to

That shrinking power of yours is great at infiltrating Vees Tower and squeezing through hidden areas easier, and whilst Alastor does leave you to do those type of missions solo as a ‘favour’ in exchange for a ‘favour’ back, he likes you too much to let the Vees lay a hand on you so he swoops in when he needs to

Alastor has seen your Awakened Form before. The first time he’s ever been intimidated in this realm. It was triggered during the Exterminator Battle for the Hazbin Hotel. You were kicking around angels viciously, setting them ablaze, almost targeting your own allies out of immense hunger, but Alastor had to restrain you to stop you from going too far and it… was amazing for all that he even stepped in, despite the danger you opposed in this state

Your strength and your healing fire touch makes you become a further valuable item to Alastor, more and more everyday, so it makes him protective and possessive over you. A demon with your power and capabilities must be under his servitude but also being treated like a pampered kitten by him and only him

Alastor legit gets so pissed if anybody dares to put you outside in the sunlight with no protection, even when they don’t mean to hurt you! It doesn’t matter to him!

“Oh. My darling little kitten, are you tired? Come. In this box, where you’ll be in my tower with me as I work. High up, away from the sun and from your belly rumbles. Does that sound good?”

[tizeline]

I’ve never seen a separated au with Leo being raised by big mama, what do you think that would be like? (Since he’s kinda rebellious)

For the record, there are AUs where Leo's been raised by Big Mama, the ones I know of are Gemini AU by tangledinink and True Colors AU by v-albion. I'm not super familiar with either of them, but they're there if you wanna check them out.

That being said-

LEO being raised by BIG MAMA omg I have THOUGHTS

Listen, I don't see enough people compare Leo to Big Mama, but he's quite similar to her. Splinter and BM never got a kid together, BUT IF THEY DID that kid would literally be Leo he's basically just a fusion of the two of them!!

As I've mentioned several times before because I love bringing it up, Leo is strategic, quick-witted, observant and good at talking. In the show (as well as in my own AU) Leo's strengths aren't really recognized, let alone aknowledged for a big portion of the story. Because of that, for a long time he doesn't really get the chance to develop these skills, as much potential Leo has to become a master planner his impulsiveness and inexperience has a tendency to get him into trouble.

BUT! All of these skills also happen to be skills that Big Mama has and would value in Leo. So if he were to actually have to opportunity to not only be raised by BM but also trained by her for his entire life. If he got to properly learn strategy, planning, manipulation...?

... Holy shit Leo would be terrifying.

Think about it, canon!Leo managed to out-smart BM in Many Unhappy Returns without any real experience, just imagine what he could do with a whole life-time of training.... yikes!

Not sure what exactly Big Mama and Leo's relationship would look like. In my opinion she would view him as her son and love him dearly, especially if she knew that he's Splinter's biological son.... it's just that BM has interesting ways of showing affection. ("The love of my life just proposed to me?? Great! I'm gonna lock him up in my gladiator fighting ring for the rest of eternity!") She'd at the very least be quite controlling, I imagine.

As you pointed out, Leo can be quite rebellious, so that mixed with Big Mama's obsessive need to be in complete control of everyone around her would certainly cause some tension. Actually... considering how clever Leo would be in this AU... uh oh.

All of these qualities that BM initially appreciated and encouraged in Leo, what if, as Leo became more and more capable, Big Mama started to eventually view them in a more negative light? If she feels like she's loosing control over Leo, if she interprets Leo's rebellion as not just a normal teenage need for independence but rather him malicously working against her. What if she starts viewing him not as an asset or as a tool, but rather a threat?

If BM has reason to believe that Leo might try to overthrow her and take control over her criminal empire, she might take preemptive action and get rid of him before he has the chance to get rid of her.... Not like murder-get-rid-of, I don't think she'd just kill him, lol! But like lock him up, maybe throw him into the Battle Nexus, I dunno. Anything that would allow her to remain in control of both him and her business.

As for Leo, maybe he would actually try to overthrow BM. Considering he was raised by a literal mafia boss, his moral compass is gonna be a bit wack. Maybe Leo's desire for control over himself would cause him to try to seize control over his mother's business. Oooooorrrrr maybe Leo just wants some independance but doesn't actually want to compete with BM, so when she interprets his actions and behavior as malicious he's not prepared for that at all and, as a result, is more than a little hurt that his own mother would take such extreme actions against him. Who knows?

Hhhhhhh there's a lot of fun posibilities here but MAN I'm not really in the mood to work on an entirely new AU. Maybe I'll create some art for it I dunno, this concept is really fun, but I'm not gonna turn this into a proper Thing, so if anyone else wanna steal this concept and explore it for themselves, feel more than free to do that!

[circeyoru]

Gift = Requested

[Alastor x Cupid!Reader]

The Request

A running gag Alastor would use was that you shot him with one of your love arrows. Then you would firmly deny it and swear that your powers over love weren’t the reason for his infatuation with you. Both of you use it as a playful tease, nothing too serious

You were Cupid, the famous or infamous for your control over love and desire, both for love and hate. Your godly powers can’t be denied and you didn’t have an equal as no one could overcome you and your powers

Mainly working on Earth, you did your job to nudge the soul into the ‘right’ lover. For Heaven folks, you didn’t want to since it was all ‘perfect’ there. In Hel though, well, you saw that the place was already a loss cause so you never even tried. You may have for the pure-hearted ones, like two of the sins that found their love that they would protect for life

Your powers were more like that spark that people would say ‘love at first sight’ or something, you didn’t like the part that you could manipulate love and desire like those stupid love potions (looking at Valentino and Velvette). When you come across one that’s under such influence, you summoned a black arrow of hatred and fired

It was when Alastor witness the play between you and the Vees that he got interested. You had a pair of white wings behind you, but you weren’t an exterminator. You carry a bow with magically appeared arrows and not spears. Your white wings were also much smaller than that of an angels

You didn’t realize you were watched and continued your ‘fun’ sabotaging the love potion produced by the three Overlords. If they wanted to manipulate love, then you can play too. They should honestly be glad you didn’t fire any arrows directly at them

Love is powerful. With a love arrow, you can have the target at your feet, begging for your attention and interest. With a hate arrow, you can have the target self-loath themselves to destruction. You wield power that can be an equivalent to a god’s, but you kept yourself grounded, prefering to interact with the commonality

Since you were holding back, you didn’t realize Vox’s sneak attack. You were that one person and it was one against three! Before Vox could even touch you, he was knocked back by a black shadow that dispersed to reveal a demon in red. You blinked as you stared at your saviour

“Are you quite alright, my dear? That was a close call.” Alastor’s radio voice spoke

You only managed a nod, still shocked that a demon actually came to your rescue. Normally all demons would steer clear of you. Because you look like an angel with your angels and bow. So you were used to the solo travelling and defending

“This has nothing to do with you!” Vox shouted when he got back, he pointed at you, making you hide behind Alastor who proved to be a very very suitable shield. “We’ll settle this later but now,” He gestured to Valentino and Velvette, then himself, “We have a score to settle with that b*tch Cupid!”

“Cupid?” Alastor tilted his head with mild confusion and interest. His head turned 180 and looked down at you, you waved and chuckled, greeting him. He hummed and turned his head back, “Well, I would like some time with the little darling as well! A shame, I don’t like sharing.”

“You used one of your arrows on that f**k face, didn’t you!” Velvette accused, also pointing a finger at you. “Now who’s the hypocrite!”

You peeked your head from behind Alastor, shouting back, “I would never! I don’t even know he was here!”

A fight turned into a squabble as the two sides shouted at each other, Alastor finding himself at the center of something amusing sure, but the attention didn’t seem to be on him. For once, the Vees were focused on a target together that wasn’t him. You were an interesting one. Very entertaining

From then onward, Alastor would seek you out when he knew you were merely a visitor in Hell. You home and work was on Earth as ‘Cupid’ though not your real name, it was one that everyone called you by so you just went with it. Humans and their obsession with higher power

You’d let Alastor hang around you as you stroll in Hell, sometimes even finding couples that you helped in Hell happy together. You would see the same in Heaven, but there were more heartbreaks because their other half would be in Hell for ‘wrongdoings’. It wasn’t your place, but you offered them a peace of mind with your third arrow of blankness. To forget the love and desire held to their target. Naturally, you did it with their consent and you’d travel to Hell to search for that target to offer the same path

Through your work and shadowing you, Alastor learned that you were one that took your duty seriously. It reminds him of his fixation with radios and the older times. While he didn’t think of you as a pawn to use, given that you had no soul and aren’t always around, he preferred your company

The best thing out of your relationship with him was your connections. You told him that your powers weren’t purely romantic on the 1-year anniversary of your relationship together. He was puzzled until you listed examples, from love towards work to friendship love, to even familial love

He wouldn’t forget that moment

When your soft finger poked where his heart would be and laid your entire palm over his beating black heart, you were slightly hovering with your small wings lifting you so you could lean over the meal table prepared by Alastor himself. “There’s another love in you that’s strong. I’m not talking about your love to me.”

Familial love. You were referring to his mother. He felt like the world suddenly went deafly silent as his attention focused on the words that came out of your moving lips. You prepared a gift for him, one that his mother wish to gift you as well. You removed the locket from your neck and passed it to him. It was a manifestation of your power, but it was one that meant so much to him because of what held within

You placed the necklace in his hand, forcefully making him cup it so he wouldn’t drop it since he was still in a state of shock. You gave him a quick kiss and thanked him for his preparations for the anniversary. You gave him his space and left

Alastor went to his forest, the necklace in hand. He walked through the forest, calmly and slowly, replaying that moment over and over as if to reassure him it was real. You found his mother in Heaven, you’ve been talking to her, she missed his sweet boy, she was happy to hear he was doing well, she was relieved to hear he had his partner finally. He looked down at the locket

He found a place to sit down, using his shadows to form a barrier. Absolutely nothing must interrupt him right now. Then he brushed over the surface of the locket and it glowed, a female figure formed, his tears threatened to form. “Mother.”

You hummed a tune as you stared up at the red sky. You knew this was when Alastor was contacting his mother. It took a while for you to perfect, but it was well worth it. Besides, it was because the love between Alastor and his mother was that strong that you were able to link the two. While they can’t physically be near each other, you hoped this would do for now

Alastor filled your void and then some, so you wanted to repay him in some way. You saw the way his love shined when he was talking about his mother and you saw the way her love shined when talking about her precious son. The two were separated by the realms, but they still love the other even with all this time and distance. You admit, you admire that because their love for each other was pure and strong

Since you didn’t do anything on your part

“My love.”

“That was quick, how was—” You didn’t get to finish your sentence when you felt yourself hugged from behind. “I’ll take a weird guess and say that you liked your anniversary gift?”

Alastor turned you around, staring at you with that look in his eyes. It was much like that time the two of you first met. Interest and fondness, though now there’s love mixed into it. “My beloved. Your gift to me can’t be compared.” 

He hugged you even tighter, he was scared this was all a dream and you’d be gone from his life or you can’t ever return to Hell to see him. Every time you felt Hell for your duties, he lost all connection to you, he couldn’t sense you or feel your presence. He feared that you’d leave him for Heaven since Hell was no place for a being as lovely as you

The two of you shared a kiss but not before Alastor whispered to you, “You are already a gift to my soul.”

Note: This might as well be a post, but meh. I'm lazy to do it. I'm working on the other requests, will be posted soon I think

Circe Y.

Other works: MASTERLIST

Taglist:

@aconfusedwonderland

@crowleysthings

@donustellaron

[justcallme-ange]

an anon asked me a similar question and i wanted to see your answer! if two of your dreams from any au switched places, how would they react? how would things go for them? - loyal

Oooh that's a good question! @simplepotatofarmer Well, if we're going with my two more developed AUs - CHF!Dream and AH!Dream would have one heck of a time adjusting. Quick premise, in the RivalsChildhoodfriendsAU the DSMP is a roleplay group that performs and livestreams similar to like Critical Role. All the characters are friends, and none of the damage is real.

AccidentalHuman AU is set in the world of the DSMP, timeline adjusted to where Dream was in the prison for a time, but Techno was in on the plan from the beginning and had the plans to bust him out. So no major damage to Dream's psyche happens here - he still has some issues but they're not as bad. He joins the Syndicate after being broken out and joins them on their missions.

------

So CHF!Dream would be hella confused when he drops into the world and the people who he's friends with, and was just talking to hours before not only don't respond to his questions but are actively try to kill him. Thankfully he's not too far from Techno's cabin, which the coordinates are the same in both worlds, and he's super happy to see some friendly familiar faces. That is until he see's Techno... XD I'd think after some explaining, they determine what happened and the poor members on the Syndicate add another weird phenomenon to their growing roster of things to fix. It's a bit of an adjustment, him hearing that this world plays out like his RP but it's real - kind of sends him into a depression for a bit. (He's also super sad to learn that the Exdee of this world is cold and manipulative). AH!Techno would be kind of weird/awkward around CHF!Dream for a bit - mostly because CHF!Dream acts super familiar with him. I think most of the group would be a little weirded out by CHF!Dream tbh, because he's like super normal? Like their Dream is not unfriendly, but he's a little cagey about certain things, and a little more battle-hardened. But this Dream? He's like an open book. I mean CHF!Dream is no slouch, he's still a champion fighter, but he doesn't flinch at certain names, or get upset when Tommy is mentioned. Actually he's super fond of Tommy and Wilbur, which weirds the hell out of AH!Techno for a bit. He's just... lighter. He has a good time in this world all considered, and kind of lifts everyone's spirits just being a little sunshine boy. On the flip side, AH!Dream would be a nightmare for everyone for a bit. He wakes up swinging, and it takes Exdee the better part of the day trying to calm him down. Only for him to go right back to fighting when CHF!Techno shows up. The Syndicate is called in and after AH!Dream sees some more familiar faces he kind of calms down. It's very clear for the people around him that this is not their Dream, and after a lengthy process they manage to get enough info on the situation to start to formulate a plan. (The fact he's lived their RP story and actually went through the things they pretended... kind of horrifies the group). First thing though, they send out a message to the rest of the DSMP that Dream would not be attending some scheduled RP streams due to... "extenuating" circumstances. (Tommy is def not allowed to visit for a while). So in the meantime, AH!Dream ends up staying with the Syndicate, for the other's safety mostly. This time it's his turn to be weirded out, because everyone is so friendly. Phil is super parental to him, and Niki and Ranboo are relaxed and don't seem haunted? Not to mention Exdee being around, and like... fretting over him? At some point he overhears Techno talking to Sapnap and George explaining that something's happened and they'd have to postpone some lore stuff, and wonders how in the world they're in contact. To say he is skeptical about the whole situation would be an understatement. The group makes it a point to actually get AH!Dream some therapy because some gut reactions he has to situations kind of scare them a bit. It takes him a while to believe that he's not actually in danger, that this is not an elaborate trap, and that the people around him are actually his friends. At some point he actually starts to envy CHF!Dream because his life is not as complicated as his.

How they switched and how they get home idk, they do return to their respective lives at some point, but yeah, they're not to dissimilar from each other so I don't think it would be catastrophic, its kind of like if an actor and the character they play were to switch places? (It would be totally different if it was c!Dream dropped in either world...)

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #50 – The Gold Eaters by Ronald Wright

This was the rare book I had literally never heard of before opening it - a birthday gift from a friend, and the rare one not resulting from some sort of conversation about what books we’ve been meaning to read. It’s the first historical fiction I’ve read in year and years, so I can’t really say how it stands in terms of the rest of the genre. Reading it for myself, I had a great time – though the book did seem confused about which part of ‘historical fiction’ it actually cared about.

The book (primarily) follows Waman, an adolescent boy just coming of age in a nowhere coastal village on the edge of the ascendant and seemingly world-spanning Inca Empire, the demands and products of which are the only outside intrusions upon his life. Feeling stifled at home after his father returns from a period of conscription building roads and bridges in the highlands, he runs away to have some adventures and become a man on a trading ship. And in a stroke of truly cosmic misfortune, on his first voyage they run into a scouting expedition run by one Francisco Pizarro, investigating rumours of a strange land called Peru and its cities of gold.

Waman is abducted and conscripted into service as the Spaniards guide and interpreter. He spends the next decades of his life with an unwilling front-row seat to History unfolding, making and losing friends and endlessly searching for his family and childhood love as the whole world is overthrown again and again around him.

The great strength of the book, I think, is how it manages to portray the civilizations of the past as both familiar and awe-inspiring. The Spanish and Inca Empires are both portrayed almost like fictional kingdoms in a fantasy novel, simultaneously defamilirized and made new and strange, and presented from the point of view of someone whose ideas of normal are at least as strange to us as any of the peoples he meets. More than that, it never stops feeling like a world where people actually lived and worked, one that made sense on a human scale where all its inhabitants could find a place for themselves (or else be forced into one). It was never exactly confusing either -even if it does feel a bit like cheating to jump between points of view to ensure there’s a wide-eyed foreigner needing things explained to them wherever it’s required.

Wright is apparently a historian by trade, and has mostly previously written nonfiction. Given the sheer cornucopia of details about both daily life and the exact sequences of events that led to Spanish dominion, I entirely believe it.

As history, the two things that I most took away from the reading experience were the portrayal of the Inca at their peak as a really vital, world-shaping imperial society on the one hand, and just how drawn out and contingent the process of conquest was, on the other. The book does a great job getting across just how incredible the road- and bridge-building projects and the great imperial cities were, and how rich and organized a society it was (without ever entirely falling into portraying the Inca as some prelapsarian utopia, either, which is how a great many works in the general space seem to screw this up). It then also does an excellent job getting across just how apocalyptic the smallpox epidemic that swept through the empire was, and how ruinous the wars of succession that followed. Pizarro triumphed because he was facing an empire that was a death-choked ruin at war with itself, manipulating and extorting an emperor with many enemies and not much way in the way of skills or legitimacy except that everyone ahead of him was dead.

The other thing that did strike me is that – the historical narrative as I have always received it is that the Spanish conquered their American empire in one single, cataclysmic moment of contact, disease and violence and simple shock leaving them ruling the better part of a continent before anyone even realized what was happening. Which I’d intellectually known was false, but the book really does an amazing job dramatizing the fact that the building of the Spanish empire was a multi-decade – multi-generational, really – affair, and far more a matter of politics and logistics than initial shock an awe.

My main complaint with the book is the matter of genre – it spent the entire back half continuously changing its mind about what it wanted to be. Is this Waman’s story, a man coming of age and scrambling to form a life for himself as the tides of history destroy and remake his world around him and buffet him hither and yon? Or is he just a convenient POV to what’s essentially a rationalized history of (the initial chapters of) the fall of the Inca, improbably standing at the side of and sharing drinks with one famous personage after another to hear their thoughts and see their pivotal deeds? The book never quite settles on an answer, and so Waman’s own arc and personal concerns shift from feeling like thin connective tissue to the emotional core of the story and back several times. The issue gets worse in the latter parts of the book, where it just outright shifts into omniscient exposition of historical events at times.

Also on goodreads this is tagged as a romance and – okay so there is a romance in this book. But it’s the third or fourth most important relationship at most. For the vast majority of the page count it’s just a childhood crush Waman nurses as motivation to get home. If you come in expecting this is mostly be a love story you are going to have a bad time.

But yeah! I should read more historical fiction.

[ryleektv]

Lorenzo Berkshire Headcannons

Part 2

Warnings: suggestive content (i think?? i don't remember), language, diving deep into toxic Lorenzo, not proof read

again, don't come after me if you don't agree

WC: 646

• quidditch keeper. practices a pretty normal amount unless he makes some stupid mistake during a game, then you best believe his ass is out there forcing theo to help him practice for the next 3 days

• definitely plays football (soccer 😔✊) and is actually good at it

• thinks he is the shit. this dudes ego is dangerously inflated and someone desperately needs to tell him no, reject him, lead him on, literally anything to humble him because he truly thinks he can just play God

• however i solely believe someone will at some point manage to somehow break his heart and that all will come absolutely crashing down

• ofc that'll only last about 0.02 seconds and then he'll be in his rebound kick and worse than ever but at least there was a small sliver of time when he realized that he is not in fact the shit and he's actually just a hot wannabe frat boy that got semi lucky in life

• also somehow really good with kids?? and obviously that's really attractive but how is he good with kids?? why does it make sense?? 

• gives off the kinda vibe of finding him holding some random baby at a family reunion (fuck knows not his family 😬) and having no clue who's it is but lowkey enjoying the baby snuggles (as he should) 

• will not admit to enjoying the baby snuggles.

• if he wasn't attractive, your mother would hate him, but he also has a major flirt personality and knows damn well he's gorgeous therefore is great at faking the niceties for parents so your mama won't bat an eye at the total asshole aura

• 50/50 chance your dad hates his guts and sees right through him (if you have no dad though you're just shit out of luck in terms of getting actually good relationship guidance because there's no way he's not making a "i didn't know you had a sister" comment.)

• Knee Socks is actually him???

• would own a blue lacoste?? would be attracted to the knee socks?? yes

• i feel like he would suffer from major summer depression. being away from school distractions, away from school in general, away from his friends, stuck in a gloomy ass manor, constantly surrounded by reminders of his shit parents. bud is not doing well

• more than likely has issues with attachment too (huge contrast to the commitment issues). does not do well being away from his close friends but would rather cut off his dick than admit it

• cannot be alone. lonely is no go. he is a people person, he doesn't have to like you to need some company and use you for it 

• this does in fact feed into his whole womanizer persona 

• off of the sad bit, he is a real genuine sweetheart to Narcissa and Narcissa only. 

• cissy may not always be the best parental figure, however compared to his other options it's like comparing shit to candy. candy is a million times better even if its not always good therefore he definitely emotionally attached himself to her

• yelled at her once and had a mental breakdown

• maybe if you're dating him and you're lucky, she might talk a little sense into him and make him just a smidge less of an asshole

• speaking of, buddy has flings and situationships. dates for a few weeks at most every once in a while but it's mostly that ridiculous unofficial dating situationship that makes you want to bash your head in 

• it gets talked about a lot too, specifically around the girls because they all think they're smart enough to be with him without getting caught up in his messy self

• king of manipulation and surprisingly doesn't realize it half the time. he knows he's outstandingly good at manipulating everyone he just doesnt always notice when he's doing so 

• overall just a toxic babe

[ashenquill]

Hello Tumblr, I am back with more headcanons!!1!1!

Beware of Hermitshipping in this one (it's not the focus but it's mentioned)

Bdubs. He doesn't have a full legal name, he's just Bdubs. On paperwork, he will sometimes put "Bee Double", but it's no more than a formality. It's pretty well-known that "Bdubs" is technically a nickname, but whenever someone tries to ask okay, but what's your real name?, he just keeps talking like they never said anything. Most people brush this off, but anyone who is highly-attuned to and proficient in magic will realize that, although Bdubs seems like an open book, they don't actually know that much about him.

Hybrid-wise, Bdubs is a fae creature of unspecified origin, although he's most akin to that of a nymph (specifically a dryad) or a gnome (this isn't just a short joke, it's a short joke with a purpose). He is closely connected to the earth, and can manipulate anything that comes from the earth, though he doesn't do it often. He is also able to make illusions and move at higher speeds than should be possible, which makes it very easy for him to confuse and disorient people, especially those who don't know him.

Bdubs is a very devoted and hard-working person, and he is proud to boast that he works an impressive seven jobs. These include: owning and operating a coffee shop called "The Muhd Cafe" (or simply "Muhd"), Construction Supervisor & General Contractor, owning and operating a headshot shop (he does both pictures and paintings), owning and operating a plant nursery, owning a demolition company, part-time Scarland employee, and the esteemed Royal Advisor/Jester/Butler etc. Bdubs technically works part-time for all of these businesses, and co-owns most of them with other people. He has to keep busy to not become restless, and it shows.

Some details for each buisness:

Muhd - Co-owner: Etho Slab. Affectionately nicknamed "Wet Dirt" by Etho and most employees. Bdubs hates this nickname. Bdubs uses his hybrid abilities to make coffee faster than any gunslinger in the Wild West, and frequently leaves his customers disoriented. Because of this -- and despite his protests --, he has been banned from working the counter unless there's a rush. This is Bdubs' "favorite" job (he swears he doesn't have a favorite, but he comes here most frequently), and he lives in an apartment above the coffee shop.

Bdubs' Head Shop - Sole owner: Bdubs. Sourced from a van with all of his art and photography supplies, and only appears on occasion. Bdubs has a glowing reputation, and any time the shop appears in the city, he gets heavy foot traffic.

Moss O Menos - Plant nursery located near Muhd. Bdubs is technically the sole owner, but the store's manager, Gemini Tay, runs the place in his absence and is basically a co-owner at this point.

Boomer's Demolition - Co-owners: Tango Tek and Impulse S-V. Their office is located in a tnt factory, so they typically do business over the phone or through emails. They have a terrible reputation and don't get many customers, so all three have other jobs.

Other details about Bdubs:

Smell = earthy, mossy, and also the unholy mix of his ten thousand jobs (coffee, oil, paint, gunpowder, churros, etc.)

Hybrid: forest nymph/gnome type of thing (connects to nature easily, can move faster than normally possible, often causes small-scale abnormal events)

Book smart - Special knowledge of customer service, architecture, and color theory

Likes: Etho, working, Etho, helping people, keeping busy, Etho, Etho, Etho

Dislikes: minor inconveniences 

Passions: brightening someone’s day, serving others

Habits/other details: thinks he has street smarts but could get conned by a shady guy in a trenchcoat, this is actually how he ended up marrying Etho, no I will not elaborate

Active in his environment - hates being idle, needs constant change to not get bored, and is willing to make it EVERYONE’S problem

Perfect sleep schedule, major early bird, gotta shreep

[zaebeecee]

Re: Blitzø’s self loathing and Apology Tour

tl;dr I hate when writing gets stupid and turns characters into assholes because the writers have to keep characters miserable for story purposes

I understand that part of Apology Tour is showcasing how mentally and emotionally exhausting it can be to continually try and prop up someone who is so determined to be self-defeating. But, while I appreciate the message, it kind of fell flat for me at this point in HB and I’m gonna tell you why because I’ve been thinking about this a lot:

Zero people outside of Cash and Barbie know all of the reasons that Blitzø hates himself, and the fact that Stolas acts like he understands is bullshit.

Stolas never met Cash, and he wasn’t privy to the conversation where his father bought Blitzø for $5 and a slim fit condom. The other members of I.M.P. know Blitzø was in the circus, but they might not even know it burned down, let alone how it happened. Fizz doesn’t know Tilla was killed in that fire, and might not even know that she’s dead at all.

Blitzø was sold like an object for “whatever Paimon’s butler had on him”, and then was emotionally manipulated into committing a crime that he would have been executed for if he was caught. He inadvertently caused that fire because he was extremely upset after watching his father (who clearly abused him at least emotionally and was constantly forcing him to prove that he loved his own family) give his best friend/crush a card that said he wished Fizz was his son (‘instead’ heavily implied). And no, this is no excuse for Blitzø’s behavior as an adult, but it is very clear that he was abused as a child and no one outside of his immediate family either noticed or cared.

And can we talk about the fire for a second? Obviously, the most tragic part is what happened to Tilla and Fizz; the fact that Blitzø believes he murdered his mother, one of the only people who has ever known him and loved him simultaneously, and mutilated his best friend because of some subconscious jealousy bullshit, is enough to break a normal person. But that isn’t all that happened. That circus was both the livelihood and the home of everyone who worked there. The fire completely destroyed the lives of everyone there. And what about the circus animals? How many of them died because the employees were too busy getting themselves and each other out to even bother with the animals who were likely locked in cages?

Don’t get me wrong, Blitzø needs to talk to someone about this. He needs therapy, very badly. But that isn’t what’s upsetting me.

The two things that are upsetting me are the fact that Stolas was so dismissive when Blitzø actually managed to admit he had self loathing issues (he didn’t manage to say it to Fizz), and the fact that Stolas treated Blitzø like he was being an asshole for not treating an annual party dedicated to hating him and burning him in effigy like it was proof people care about him.

During the first scene of AT, Blitzø asks if Stolas wants him to admit that he struggles with apologies because he hates himself, and Stolas says “well, yes” like this is old ground that they’ve trodden many times before. But it isn’t. Blitzø has had very few moments of emotional vulnerability in the show (crying on the couch in front of Loona, apologizing to Fizz, and confronting Barbie in front of Moxxie are the only instances I can think of). But the rest of the time, he presents himself as the most self-assured asshole you’ve ever met, someone who’s too full of himself and too arrogant to consider that other people might have feelings or that he himself could ever be wrong. And this is very bad, but Blitzø’s problems stem from the fact that everyone thinks he is the literal opposite of self-loathing.

The closest Stolas got to seeing real vulnerability from Blitzø was when he was terrified of going on camera, but that was stage fright, and Stolas never even asked why he stopped performing or became scared of doing it, and Blitzø got over it very quickly once he was out there (as is typical of performers and stage fright). The Full Moon was the first time Stolas saw that level of emotional vulnerability from Blitzø, and by the very next morning, he was acting like they’d already been through this a thousand times.

I don’t know what’s being suggested here, because they’re both kind of terrible. Either Stolas never noticed that Blitzø hates himself and, once Blitzø admits it, he doesn’t really care; or Stolas noticed before the admission, and he did absolutely nothing about it.

And, my god, fuck the sentiment of “this house is full of people who cared so much that they throw a party every year dedicated to hating you”. Not only was Blitzø’s point that he was struggling to believe royalty could care about someone as socially “low” as him (as well as someone like Stolas caring about someone who is as much of an asshole as Blitzø knows he is), there is nothing affirming about being hated. Some of the people at that party had interacted with Blitzø for, like, 30 minutes, and we know this because he made out with Dennis once and then rejected him and this was apparently enough to get Dennis to the party. If Stolas actually does care about Blitzø and knows that he hates himself, why would it be anything but a terrible idea to point out to him “yeah, your self-loathing is completely warranted, because this party is fucking packed with people who also despise you and they didn’t even need to know you for more than a few minutes to decide you were so awful that getting together every year for the express purpose of hating you was a good idea”?

Both Stolas and Blitzø were terrible in Apology Tour, but Blitzø was at least the same kind of terrible he’s been for most of the show, with the added benefit of seeing that it’s a mask that’s quickly cracking. And no, obviously, Stolas is under no obligation to either listen to Blitzø or forgive him, clearly. And Stolas was well within his right to go dance with or fuck that handsome incubus. But for Stolas to listen to his vulnerability and then dismiss it, for him to listen to Blitzø apologize and then ignore it, for him to refuse to acknowledge that Blitzø put himself in a very physically and emotionally dangerous position by coming to that party just to talk to Stolas, is bullshit. And, outside of the song in the episode, Stolas also seems to be doing absolutely zero self-reflection on what parts of the Full Moon conversation going wrong might have been his fault.

As someone who sometimes struggles with self-loathing, I understand that it can be difficult on my loved ones and I’m not saying Blitzø shouldn’t own the parts of this struggle that are within his control. But I really need Stolas to recognize that he doesn’t understand, he doesn’t know Blitzø the way he thinks he does, and that if he wants to have any chance of understanding he has to at least try and listen before Blitzø stops trying to open up to him.

I know this is a writing problem. I know the writers are trying to maintain the status quo of their breakup, and apparently the only way they can do that and still have them interact is by making both of them unbearable. But Blitzø confronting and dealing with his feelings about himself is one of the core themes of the show, and it’s infuriating to see his love interest be so flippant about it from the moment he even learns about it.

[regretevator-headcanonss]

hm.. Enough showing our headcanons.. (Only once) Now show US your HEADCANONS!!!!!

My regurgitator headcanons some sad some random

Mannequin Mark

• Hyperfixated on wood and will not hesitate to yap about wood to the point your ears bleed

• Woodtism

• Got the hyperfixation a while after getting the woodworking job

• Hates Glevil

• Silly

• Gets sent memes from ifunny by Jimmy and laughs because he also somewhat finds them funny and just so Jimmy won't feel bad. Also ocaisonally references some of them

• Has made some BAD wood puns. Very bad puns..

• Self harms with one of his carving knives.

• Attempted before.

• Suicidal.

• BE TRANSGENDER!!

Wallter

• Objectum and posic

• Suffered from Mark's wood yapping (OH GOD WHEN WILL THIS MAN SHUT UP ABOUT WOOD???)

• Drinks grey stuff when he misses Mark

• 30 - 56 or smth (oldass man /silly)

• Does not want to go to a therapist

Lampert

• AuDHD

• Torn between his two friends (OH GOD WHEN WILL THESE TWO STOP ARGUING)

• Not their child!!! ^^

• Dreams about a pure clean land with no ounce of germs in it. Though when Folly was still invading people's dreams she would come in and spread germs on which would basically give Lampert a panic attack (sorta canon but whatever I'm still labeling this as headcanon)

Jimmy

• AuDHD

• Sucks at understanding social cues but can understand them sometimes when its more in his face or smth

• Contradictory to the previous headcanon, He's also street smart ish.

• Probably some form of chronically online in a young middle aged dad way

• Has a few repressed memories

• Skates a bit (based off the soap shoe thing)

• Decent skating skills

• Silly

•Thinks he's cool and epik

• Shows Mark memes from ifunny because he thinks they're funny and cool and would get a bit sad if Mannequin Mark said they weren't that funny

• Tries to laugh at some of Mark's bad wood puns (he doesn't actually find them funny he just doesn't want Mannequin Mark to go into a deep depression again)

• Tried to be supportive and comfort Mark during the divorce despite misunderstanding the topic a bit and saying some things that were a bit inappropriate for the tone. Still managed to make him feel better!

• Has pica and eats wood which is technically cannibalism and also sometimes gnaws on Mark's arm (<- adopted headcanon. I think you know who i stole this one from)

• Stims by biting his arm

Glevil

• Homophobic /hj /j

• Internalized homophobia and homophobic prejudice (either interchangeably or at the same time. Depends how i wanna depict em)

• Drinks tree sap

• Rude

• Hates Mark's guts and thinks Jimmy is stupid and useless (hey!! That's rude 😡)

• Evil but not very gleeful!! Oooooo!!!!!

• The glitchy face is a factory defect

• Controlling and manipulative (oooh!! Spooky!!!!!!!!)

• Hates non-mannequins and the ones that left the hivemind

• Alcoholic (<- adopted headcanon)

• Their voice is their charisma ig idfk

• Wants to and will cannibalize someone

Boots

• Boots/Bootsself and They/She/He/Any

• Flexes their height and Boots ALOT.

• Would probably have boots' worldview shattered if they saw someone taller than them

• Kinda self centered

• Has beef with the other mannequins ocaisonally.

• Wine aunt

• Gay. Gay as hell

• Would step on someone. Not in a kinky way

Kai

• He/They

• Dry but secretly the silliest guy ever

• Has counted how many times Glevil has killed someone with chalk

• Would've acted just like Manequinn :3 if it weren't for the fact he occasionally witnessed probably the most fucked up shit in their life and stuff

• Born to be a yapper but forced to listen to Glevil

• Boring!!

Timmy

• Ignorance is bliss.

• Can sharpen his lollipop into a spear

• Doesn't realize some of the shit he witnesses is fucked up and thinks strangling people is normal

• 5-10 years old or smth

• Loves his lollipop!!

• Happened to be manufactured smaller than the others.

Manequinn :3

• They/Them

• Poob but if you made them a mannequin and turned their annoyingness up to 11

• Screw it. This one has ADHD too and i say so

• Born a yapper.

• Full name: Manequinn Quinn :3 bla catty Mane Mannequin

• GEEK!!

• Likely a weeb and a MHA fan

• FURRY!!!

• would type :3 or a variation of it at the end of every sentence (like 3: if they are sad)

• Silly

• would have a jar.

• And a figurine.

• Insane in a way

• Would be a wattpad user..

All of the mannequins in general

• Can range from non-sentient, sapient and sentient but usually non-sentient. (mostly due to the cult-hivemind thing yadayada)

• The ones in glevil's room are depressed as fuck

• Bleed tree sap

• At some point weren't all mostly part of a hivemind. Glevil just fucked up shit a little bit (BOO!!!! TOMATO TOMATO!!!)

• The reason some mannequins have funny faces is because the workers at the factory use markers and draw silly goofy faces instead of the usual face craved out on them. Though Glevil's face wasn't a result of the workers goofing around. It was more of a defect

• The company agreed to throw their regular and defected mannequins into the wood chipper to help the Regretevator staff. Some mannequins who get spotted moving infront of people get sent to the crusher. However Mannequin Mark is an exception.

Gnarpy

• Struggles with love and trust similarly to Folly: Being hurt so many times they don't want to get too close to someone so they don't get hurt again (Trust issues 🤑🤑)

• Gifted child ahh mf

• Raised to be this way

• Committed multiple war crimes

• Won multiple wars!! (and may have killed a few species to extinction)

• Distracts xemself from guilt and trauma by using a gun and killing people

Also I'm coming out. I'm cherriezkin lol and yes i did terrorize hat one headcanon blog

[ungodly-amounts-of-godly-trauma]

wotw round 1

propaganda under the cut!

jonathan sims:

He literally eats people's trauma and makes them relive it every night and also intentionally made a number of people mad and everybody's all 'don't hurt the poor boi.' They even go so far as to hate the characters who yell at him like Melanie for being mad but when he's mad it's fine because his life is just so hard.

the fandom takes his very complex character and boils him down to "stupid" or ignores any wrong he's done in favor of viewing him as wholly good when that's literally against the point of the story

kokichi ouma:

This is more of a fandom problem, as the actual game doesn’t woobify him. The woobifying has a lot of reasons, such as his true motivations being for the sake of ending the killing game, his motive video and even some inconsistent writing with how others treat him (not gonna get into that bc this poll ain’t about it) the fandom started treating him as someone who was unfairly hated by the cast, someone selfless who had no other choice to do the awful things he did, which…

It is completely normal to hate the guy who claims to like the KILLING GAME you’re all in, said guy who is not only rude all the time, but also later on manipulated one of the kinder characters into murder. Just because Kokichi intended to end the murder game doesn’t mean that the cast should have somehow GUESSED that he’s some good guy who’s coping, and they shouldn’t have to forgive him even if that was true. Kokichi had plenty of other choices, he chose to sacrifice two people for his and his plan’s sake, especially because he makes sure to rub it in in the most cruel way possible to the person he manipulated.

More than anything, though, is how a lot of fan work make him so…bland. Where is his flavor? Where is the little shit liar that I love? What happened to the guy who is an incredible manipulator who perfectly manages to masquerade his true feelings over the situation? Why do so many fan works defang him and make him bad at lying the moment someone asks if he’s sad? That’s not my boy. His whole character is confusing the player with lies and his intentions.

[red-velvet-0w0]

boo. tell me about your ocs

oh dear this is going to take a while.

honestly im pretty tired right now so i might not go as into detail as i might normal but heres the gist of it

5 teenagers get trapped in a time loop mystery trying to figure out who trapped them in a time loop while being hunted down by a cult, the US government, and a varied collection of eldritch gods

to be more specific basicaly the five are trapped in a timeloop and loose most of their memoreis between loops, only really remembering their relationship with the people around them, though each have a special ability allowing them to remember one thing

the characters are:

(heres an old lineup i made of them for reference) (need to remake this at some point)

in order we have

Amelia Augur: genderfluid lesbian artist with an interest in the supernatural and a pet raven named Ray who keeps all memories throughout loops but struggles to communicate anything due to being a bird

Jane Hare: lesbian transfem writer in an abusive relationship with an eldritch mirror god who wakes up with a lymeric every morning crypticly outlining what happened the loop before

Ida Vidya: pansexual aromantic journalist who is obsessed with knowing everything even if it kills her (and it has killed her, many, many, many, many times) who has a camera that keeps 10 pictures over to the next loop

Jack Edmund-Kang: bisexual former jock son of the Mayor with self hatred issues, a dead mother, and a dad he wishes was dead, who has the ability to keep all physical changes to his body between loops, meaning he can grow muscle and learn muscle memory, but also keeps so so so so so many scars. also he can remember all the blood hes seen in any loop

Blake Payne: gay emo transmasc drummer with mommy issues and a knife, who can remember things based off of sound

Special Agent Booker, CIA: a secret agent sent to figure out what is going on in this one town and is given all the government resources and manpower she needs, only to immediately become worsties with a furry

Mayor Kang: jacks father, the mayor of the town, and also a secret cult leader who has lived for hundreds of years protecting an ancient magical artifact called the Pentagramic Pocketwatch that he was planning on using to revive his dead wife, only for it to get stolen and used to trap everybody in a time loop, and him assuming that his son had stolen it and trying to kill him

The Day: Minor god of days who dies every night and is born every day, who was the actual one who stole the Pentagramic Pocketwatch to try and escape having to die over and over agian, though thats not revealed until pretty late in the story

The Mask: Minor god of manipulation who dresses like a furry and manages to immediatly become enemies with the first two women dressed in blue it can find. its by far one of the physicaly weakest characters, but is just really smart and good at outmanuvering everyone so that it can get its hands on the Pentagramic Pocketwatch

The Beast: Minor god of hunting wants to steal the watch for itself and has toxic old man yaoi with the mayor

The Reflection: Minor god of mirrors who is by far the worst person i have ever created.

basicaly the plot is split up into 5 arcs of

the main five find themselves in a time loop oh no

they find out that actualy theres some other weird stuff going on in town

oh shit magic and gods and shit is real?

hey i wonder who actualy stole the pocketwatch if it wasnt us

hey the day has the pocketwatch lets get our hands on it before any of the other people manage to get their hands on it

anyways if you want more clarification you can ask me for specific details later, otherwise heres a link to a different post where i explain everything far more in depth

[blackberry-command-cap]

SWTOR OC catalog 🧀🧀

yea ok I don't have energy for fancy formatting but have some rambling descriptions (I guess it's fine tho bc if I gave introductions in real life it would not be any more coherant (more often than not I go to introduce someone and turns out I had their name wrong for WEEKS) )

but yes here are all my SWTOR OCs

Ga’eon Kachymov AKA Glen Iruusi AKA Lord Srije Narakati AKA TBD (Yes I like coming up with names why do you ask)

tagged oc: worst sith ever (+ anxiety)

Male Mirialan Sith Warrior. Complete cinnamon roll and worst possible person to be a Sith (affectionate). Baras took advantage of his inclination to trust (AKA gullibility) and messed him up big time. Anxiety and Imposter Syndrome made worse by the constant threat of death. But he’s got Vette and the Force and his love for plants, so it'll probably be okay?

Hopefully going to end up married to Jaesa Willsaam (but in my head she’s a totally different person) with two+ Mandalorian kids but either of them could definitely mess that up between here and the end of the class story.

Currently playing through Corellia (home stretch let's goooo)

A’la’zena AKA Cipher Nine

tagged oc: a'la'zena

Female Twi’lek Agent. My best attempt at Chaotic Good. Arrogant, contrary and despises feeling controlled more than anything else (Act II was nearly enough to turn her genocidal and it probably would have succeeded if not for bugboi). Always does the right thing but by her standards, not anyone else’s. Enjoys luxury and partying with her BFF Kaliyo. After Act III, took the Black Codex and disappeared. Now she runs a grassroots Space Illuminati 2.0: Chaotic Good version. Yes, it’s probably going to fail spectacularly. Yes, she’s pink. Don’t tell her.

Happily married to her emotional support bug with one adopted kid who will have no hope of a normal childhood. Shae’zena’s sister.

Currently done with the class story, with no intention of doing the expansions and plans to do a second playthrough.

Master Periflynn AKA the Bar’san’thor AKA area man officially so done with this

tagged oc: periflynn (tired)

Male human Consular (HC him as near human species that lives far longer). Practical above all else and duty bound to the Jedi. The only sane person in the entire Republic and very tired of dealing with everyone else’s messes. There to get things done and has no patience for pointless rhetoric or stupid people. Please stop putting him in management.

Proficient deadpan snarker, slicer, mechanic, and swoop bike pilot. Geeks out about software with Theran Cedrex. Nadia drags him to all the important ceremonies he’s supposed to appear at. Despises impractical ceremonial robes more than anything.

Diligently following the Jedi “no romantic attachments” policy and completely fine with that.

Currently done with the class story, with plans to play through the expansions at some point.

Captain Shae’zena

tagged oc: chaotic woke ✌️☮️����

Female Twi’lek Smuggler. Biggest ray of sunshine ever who also kicks butt. Flower child california hippie vibes. Takes nothing seriously except when innocent people are getting hurt, and then she's deadly serious. Founder of the Feminism Brigade; supports #killiklivesmatter

Largely exists because all my other OCs are very polite and serious, and I wanted at least one chill snarker who can say all the things that the others would think but not say.

Corso Riggs and *sigh* Doc currently under consideration for the position of bf. Depends on whether he (either of them) learns to respect her or not. Theron is also a definite possibility :D

Currently on Alderaan, with plans to play through at least KOTET.

Other, less developed OCs/OCs I may or may not actually play

Ffeud - Male Chiss Agent. Manipulative bastard who also somehow exudes the overwhelming impression that he is a trustworthy friend who would never lie to you and never did anything wrong. Unclear how he does it, because every aspect of that impression is completely wrong. Potentially force sensitive? A’la’zena immediately hates his guts.

Valkerie Beausoleil - Female Human Inquisitor. Literally and figuratively the black sheep of the Beausoleil family due to her ✨raven black hair✨ and strong force sensitivity. Disowned by her family, she becomes Sith anyway, determined to free the Empire from the rule of old complacent traditionalists set in their ways.

[skaruresonic]

"Lanolin is interesting because even the sonic series needs moments of negativity every now and then"

Somehow I don't consider the equivalent of an overly bossy store manager to be more emotionally moving than when an entire tribe got wiped out by their god

Lanolin doesn't add anything new. She's just annoying.

You know the character is unpleasant when you love kuuderes and assholes and even you don't want to be an apologist for them lol.

Apologies for the Half-Life talk - how people claim Lanolin is disrespected on the basis of gender reminds me of how Judith Mossman is actually sidelined and disrespected on the basis of her gender. Not only within fandom, but within certain parts of canon too.

Mossman is another strait-laced, uppity mom friend character. She, like Lanolin, has few quirks to speak of. The only thing we know about her background is that she lost a job to Gordon Freeman and likely resents him for it even 20 years later.

Few HL players actually like Mossman and care to examine their reasons for why. It's pretty much a reflex for most players to dislike her, often upon the very moment of meeting her for the first time.

While some of this dislike can be chalked up to Mossman deliberately emitting two-faced vibes, it can't all be attributed to just that. Otherwise you'd have people glibly writing "let's pop a cap in Breen's ass" fics as well. Her gender does factor in.

Mossman frequently rubs people the wrong way. If you pressed them on why, they'd probably say it's because she's duplicitous and hides her real emotions behind a fake smile (much like Lanolin's "plastic smile"), but here's where the double standards emerge. While Mossman occupies roughly the same roles as Barney Calhoun and Dr. Breen, neither Breen nor Barney are nearly as maligned as Judith. Which begs questions of why.

Dr. Breen is so two-faced that it's laughable, and he doesn't receive half as much disregard as she does. Probably the difference is that Breen is eloquent and someone you love to hate while you listen to him bluster on about nothing, so we give him a pass.

Honestly, I suspect that the likeliest explanation is that Mossman reminds people of an evil stepmother archetype. Some authority figure who spoils your fun through strict adherence to rules. That one teacher in childhood that used to piss you off by being so uptight. They're not really looking at her so much as whatever mental proxy she stands for.

It doesn't help that she's the "no fun allowed" guy, literally telling Alyx "the zero-point energy field manipulator is not a toy." And since we're inclined to befriend Alyx, we're inclined to dislike whoever she dislikes.

However, there's more to Mossman than simply being an austere traitor who sugarcoats her words. She shows glimpses of vulnerability, of reconciliation with Alyx, and once she stands up to Breen, she's on our side for good.

There's a lot of potential for depth and complexity with her character and her motivations, which makes it unfortunate that fandom seems more interested in writing 10K-word angsty Barney Calhoun character studies instead. Especially since Barney was created just to be some rando.

Coupled with the way Marc Laidlaw practically forced Alyx to stuff her in the fridge in Epistle 3, these are all reasons why I am the biggest Mossman apologist ever. Normally I would be in the camp that's not too hot on her, but her treatment makes me protective in a way that's simply not present in my feelings on Lanolin.

You mean to tell me we're given the choice to mercy-kill Breen, motherfucking Breen, but Alyx lugs a tortured Mossman around, blames her for Eli's death, and unceremoniously pops one between her eyes once she's outlived her usefulness? Nah, Marc, you're too drunk to drive. Give me your keys.

...Anyway. My point is that you can have negative Nancies, but they need to not be so goddamn dour all the time. Unlike Lanolin, you can see bits and pieces of Judith's humanity peek through the hardened crust of insensitive character writing. That alone makes it worth suffering through the fridging and undercooked portrayals.

Lanolin, on the other hand, doesn't really give us any glimpses, if at all, of a personality to offset her unpleasant demeanor. Assholes aren't assholes 24/7, but it's like every time you see her on the page, she's sneering for no real reason.

[solarbird]

Many people, including myself, have been talking about how Truth Social’s stock is a bribery system, existing to launder bribes given to Donald Trump.

($DJT stock hit the a level so low on Wednesday, by the way, that literally no one who has ever bought it in open trading is above water. This doesn’t actually matter for this purpose, and might even make it a little easier for lower-tier multi-billionaires and smaller sovereign wealth funds.)

There are multiple ways to go use $DJT for bribery; we’re going to talk about one that can be fairly public while maintaining a superficial outer layer of legitimacy. It also maintains the illusion of a wall between Trump and those who want to bribe him.

It’s a simple game for three players: Trump (as a larger entity, meaning Trump and his inner circle), a trusted intermediary, and the persons and/or organisation who want something in exchange for a bribe, who we will refer to as Some Fucker.

Some Fucker calls in an intermediary – there are plenty of options, it doesn’t matter specifically who – whose job is to ‘lobby’ Trump for an opportunity to exercise or acquire ‘influence,’ on a superficially-legal level. They may even register as a lobbyist, it doesn’t matter; the intermediary and Mr. Trump’s inner circle negotiate, obliquely, with Mr. Trump himself involved as little as can be managed, but with direct influence on the numbers.

If Trump and Some Fucker’s terms can be reconciled and a deal can be made, Mr. Trump issues a sell order of $DJT stock at a price $X. This price will be clearly outside whatever the current trading range of the stock might be.

For those who don’t know, this is a perfectly normal trading action, something done routinely by anyone who actively trades stocks. It lets you cash out a position when you’ve reached at particular profit, without having to micromanage anything. It raises no red flags.

Once Some Fucker sees the conditional sell order, they then start driving up the stock price through a combination of purchases – some direct, some options – and churn. They maintain that price long enough for Mr. Trump’s sell order to go through, plus a little after that to make it look like a natural rally.

At that point, Mr. Trump has his money, and the bribe has been – indirectly – tendered.

This kind of bribery is useful for both sides, as Some Fucker will end up with some overpriced stock, but overpriced stock which still has value as long as the scam continues, and which may even be worthwhile to hold onto until the next group does the same thing. Depending upon how it goes, Some Fucker may well be able to cash out at minimal overall expense – if not a small profit.

This bribery system creates a sustaining price for $DJT stock independent of its theoretical value (Truth Social), based on its true value (bribery). In turn, this allows Mr. Trump – and those who bribed him already by investing in his farce of a social media network originally – to cash out over time without crashing the trading price. Once he and his first-round-funder bribes are out completely – once he’s sold all his stock – he doesn’t have to care anymore, its only value will be Truth Social, and it can go to zero.

This – like most things Trump does – is a scam. Like many scams, it is explicitly illegal. It is not a stock market hack; it is illegal market manipulation. This is why Mr. Trump has to be president and to have had his way with Project 2025’s personalisation of the bureaucracy. That way, no one will be allowed to investigate it, or even question it.

Preventing this is, obviously, critical – particularly with that broad presidential immunity ruling, which his stacked court will expand as much as is necessary to cover him. If you want that ruling narrowed, you want Harris in office immediately, because wow will they start hacking it back if she’s in charge.

But if he’s in office, the dictatorial sky will be the limit.

Explain this to your family and friends. Truth Social should be at zero; it has absolutely no worth as a social media site, no users to speak of, and not even its own code base. (It runs a somewhat modified and old version of the Mastodon server, under the hood.) It’s without value.

But as a bribery conduit? It can work wonders, and have all kinds of value.

And that’s why it exists.

Let’s drive this thing to zero, folks.

60 days remain.