#he gets the automatic wife rank

[cobrasx]

HEEEEY!!! ✺◟( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)◞✺

I'm a little embarrassed to send my question but I really want to interact JAJSJAKSNS

• Why do you like DTMG?

• Can you make a top 3 of your favorite characters?

¡¡¡¡I love your content!!!!

HOLI HOLIIIIISSSS!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA STOPPPP im literally SHAKING rn HELP I LOVE YOUR CONTENT!!! dude ive been meaning to interact w you too, but omlllll I GOT SCARED LMFAO "SMOOTH" N "SAUVE" ARE NOT IN MY VOCAB N REAL TALK UR JUST SO COOL DAWG 😭💯💯 i also speak spanish, pero no creo q se suficiente para mantener una conversacion completa. es q no quiero sonar tan gringa-- como que se me va el avión al abrir la boca AJJAJJSJSAJAASHSX pero si lo se leer muy bien! no te sientas obligada a enviar cosas en ingles, sientate comoda en escribir en el idioma q quieras <3333

reasons why i like dtmg well UHHRRRRRRMM i quite fancy its missed potential ehueheuhrurhur WAIT LMAO LIKE,,, my fondness for the series stems from what could've been, and as for whats already there, i think its just something i can vibe w. truthfully, bjc is what really got me into it, but what keeps me attached is his bond with spencer. i think what they have is special, and ive always adored that kind of friendship where shit just kinda happens, but you n bro just gotta thug it out. you can be at your worst and there'll b someone who can just see through all that and accept you. doesnt mean theyll always agree with you, and sometimes it feels like they gotta put up with you, but they stay. i feel that way with dtmg in a way LMAOAOA

dtmg is very hit or miss w it's humor, but i can't even complain cuz when it's just me n her, dtmg is the funniest bitch in the club <333 ill laugh at literally everything, but dtmg just happens to have that SAUCE. that, and its poor executions sometimes; like sometimes a character can say smth in a certain tone but they're animated to a completely different vibe and that shit just takes me the fuck out. reading too much into it sends me, and just sitting there enjoying the ride blasts me off into orbit. my humor is so ass, but it's great that i can be that vulnerable w a show :3

SHE SAID WHATS UR TOP 3????? STIMMING AND SKIPPING IM STIMMING AND SKIPPING

IMMMMokayokayokay

SO!!!COMIN IN AT NO.3 !!!

MISS BLAH BLAH?!?!!?

. i love me a woman with short blue hair and pronouns <333 AHHHSHAHSHHH i hate how there's so little screen time for her,, like she doesn't even say a WORD, but her impact is so huge she stole the show for me like DUUUUUDE. i like to think that she's one of the only ppl to see billy for all his flaws. i LOVE that feuding with him makes her so happy cause she KNOWS she's getting on his last nerve. i LOVE that bjc feels threatened and offended enough by her to drop several diss tracks ALL to her name. i LOVE that in a world where billy can end careers at the snap of his fingers, shes REMAINED relevant annnnnd looks to be enjoying her celebrity status thru n THRU LIKE OH MY GODDDD IIII LLLOOVVVEEEEE!!!!! AND BJCs STILL MAD YEARS AFTER HIS OWN PASSING MAAAANNNNNEEE HOW CAN U HATE HER IF SHES ON YOUR MIND??? LORD IK SHE A BADDIE,, STAY PRESSED GRAHHH 💙💋

NUMBAH TWO??? YKKK ITS GOTTA B OUR MANNNN

BUCK

. the chillest mf there is. funny asf, a total nerd maximum geekage (i see them pins bbg), ik he rockin it w the lgbtqs, AND a successful businessman with total wi-fri OWNAGE. a fucking DIVA. a fucking LEGEND. the intercom that suspiciously sounds like the 14 year old that frequents the place says free fish tacos for every flyer RETURNED? and his response is "sure, what the hell" yesss YESSS MY KIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG. REAL KING SHIT. YOU SAW THEM HEELS TOO?? I KNOW U SAW THEM. OUR BOY FRESHHHHH. OUR BOY FLYYYYYYY AND THATS 'CAUSE HES THE GOAT‼️‼️‼️ THE 🐐🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

NOW FURST??? U KNOW I HADDA U KNOWWON

BOBBY

. i think he's pretty tragic as a character; about as tragic as a character can b in dtmg LOLOL!! i like it when ppl r against bjc, and w their own valid reasons. bobby was just a fan who wanted to be like his idol, and in the process he ended up neglecting his own identity to fit the bjc standard. bjc rly set himself up for failure, and i love it when he faces the repercussions of his own actions. billy can't stand to see someone one-up him at his own game, and bobby being so good at being a ghost in such a short amount of time-- YUHHRRRR god that makes me so proud of him. when bobby is great, it's not at the expense of others, and he never showed any signs of intentionally making billy feel bad abt his lack of expertise up until the end of the episode. even then, bobby was never an antagonist for the fun of it. he was able to see the toxicity that billy beared, and i find that him saying "billy's somewhere he can't say mean things about people anymore" speaks volumes for his character. word choice here, "people" instead of the personal "me". he's vile, spiteful and tried to replace billy. he's so FUN. a butthurt and emotionally immature guy, but that's what i find so fascinating. LIKE CHAT THIS ALL COULDVE BEEN A NARRATIVE BEAT

THIS WAS SO FUN!!! thank you for this, i had so much fun talking abt these goobers. hearing from you is always a pleasure pan!!!! KEEP AN EYE ON UR INBOX <33333

[emilsendo]

Can you please make a muzan oneshot, smut with aftercare and muzan being alittle protective of m! Reader...

Thank you! <3

With pleasure I'll make this request! Take care💪🏼✨️👀

Also, I apologize for any errors in the text. I hope you will enjoy it.

_______________________________________

S!Bottom Muzan Kibutsuji

X

Dom!Top Male Reader

warnings: rough sex, brutal scene of torturing someone(Douma), mentions of betrayal, breeding, pain kink, swearing, no preparation, blood, gay/yaoi, etc.

Type: Smut

Request: ✅️

_______________________________________

It was a day like any other, everyone looked the same. You, as a rank 0 higher moon demon, AND as the husband of the demon king, had a wide reputation among demons and humans alike. However, Muzan Kibutsuji didn't treat your strength like the others, he loved you too much to care if you were powerful enough. For him, you were and are his property, which he must protect against possible threats. Mainly rivals created by your handsome appearance. But who would dare to endanger the MUZAN himself? Probably just a real suicide.

Y/N was currently walking through the forest after mercilessly killing a man from the village he was passing by. As an Upper Moon demon, he must eat quite regularly in order for his strength to remain the same or even greater. Even if he sometimes has some signs of humanity in his heart, he still doesn't care much about this feeling. He had long since rid himself of the feeling of guilt in his soul, all in order to be able to kill more effectively and faster. He is about 600 years old, has adapted to living in the body of a creature and killing those who resist his actions. Y/N remembers almost nothing from his past, except for the feeling of weakness... his heart only remembers how he felt then, not what he was like and what his life was like, did he have a family? Did he have a wife and children? Was he someone important? Nothing. Emptiness.

While listening to the sounds of nature, he heard another sound, but of feet pattering behind him and then next to him. It was as if this person was fast enough to somehow teleport. Y/N looked at them, his c/e eyes meeting rainbow ones. It was none other than Doma, who no one likes because... he's the least bit annoying.

— Hello, Lord Y/N~! How is our handsome boy? — he asked with a practiced and false tone of joy, something that was probably the reason why no one liked him. Y/N remained unfazed by his presence, but he felt a certain irritation. Doma moved in on him far too many times, as if he wanted more than a punch to the jaw.

— How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that? Don't you have anything else to do? — he replied with a great show of dislike towards the demon next to him, looking at him out of the corner of his eye with his deadly gaze, which usually made every demon and human bend more than one knee. But not Doma, this type has too much of a disregard for other people's needs.

— Aww~ Ice cold as always, huh? I'm just trying to be nice to Muzan's lover~.... — he said. And his voice and facial expression were like a child who didn't get what he wanted.

—You'll be nice when you get out of here.— Y/N finally looking at the shorter man with his full perspective. However, instead of an answer, he received a kiss, which shocked him. He automatically pushed him away and punched him in the jaw hard enough to tear off half his face, staining his hands with blood. Doma looked at him with a strange look, maybe if his face was intact it would look better... The man smiled slyly as if he was proud of what he had done, lightly touching his newly regenerated jaw.

Muzan won't be happy with the fact that his "property" has been touched and Y/N knows it, which is why he felt a slight twinge in his stomach from the stress. Because he'll get hurt too.

—Who the fuck are you? — a deep and loud voice asked, while the sounds of limbs and bones being torn to shreds echoed throughout the room. The muzzled hand was tearing apart Doma's body, and Doma was not reacting much to any of these harms. The brunette's blood-red eyes scanned the demon in front of him, who was kneeling.

—How dare you disregard my order? How dare you TOUCH something that belongs to me? — he grabbed the blonde by the forehead, his claw drilling a hole in the skull. He then caused his cells to slowly melt Doma's body.

Upper Rank 2 began bleeding from the inside, choking on a red substance. Pulsating, almost purple veins appeared on his skin.

—I should kill you....But you are a useful demon because of your loyalty. However, one more move like that... and I will personally expose you to the sun.— Muzan threatened, letting his brother go free.

—Muzan....I'm sorry, honey. I had no way to react to protect myself from Doma's kiss... I didn't expect it. - you whispered, your voice sounding completely different because of the way the veins that carry Muzan's blood tightened around your weave. You were in a kneeling position in front of your husband, who was sitting on a chair, his chin resting on his hand and his eyes down on your apologetic form. He had you like this for a while now, letting his anger out on you.

—.....— Muzan closed his eyes and then stopped controlling his cells, letting you breathe. His gaze moved to the side, ignoring you. You could see from a mile away that he was still pissed at you.

The moment you gained access to breathing again, you gasped. Coughing heavily from the dryness in my throat and the lack of oxygen. But you didn't have time to feel sorry for yourself, you had to console Muzan somehow, before he will kill useful demons.

You stepped closer to Muzan, resting your head on his knee.

—I love you, you know?— you said, knowing that this sentence would calm Muzan down instantly. The man finally looked at you, his gaze still as cold as ice. But his eyes became less wild, clear evidence that he had calmed down. His hand gently grabbed your chin, stroking it lightly with his thumb.

— I know. I love you too, you're like a toxin that makes me sick. But it is also very....addictive.— Muzan pulls your body up by your hand, he also stood up. Making you both switch positions, where this time you are sitting and he is kneeling.

— However, I want you to make me realize this by fucking me.— he said with a smirk. His tone was seductive and his eyes were filled with lust and horniness. Your member twitch at that sight, you couldn't resist your husband's "request", when it was clearly what you desired too deep down. Before you answered, Muzan already was working your pants off, he rip them off to be honest. Exposing your big and hard length that he loves so much, his tongue licks his lower lip, getting ready to the delicious taste he will have on it by a few seconds.

He opens his lips wide, already trying to deepthroat your dick with his tight canal. Making you hiss from pleasure and tighten your grip on the chair, claws digging into the wooden furniture. Your King sucks every good spots, pulling away for a while to spit on your cock to make it more wet. His tongue lick your tip, kissing it passionately as if making out with it, before going back down to your shaft. Licking up and down, massaging your balls and squeezing them from time to time. Making your head be on cloud 9 and resisting the urge to fuck your husband's throat. He wets your cock so good that it made such a sloppy sounds that made Muzan's mind go crazy, he only wants you to rile him like the last whore and then shower with affection. That's why he grabbed roughly your wrist and put it on his head, signaling you to control his movements.

You didn't waste any time in making him choke and gag all over your large cock, you could feel his nails pressing into your skin on thighs from pleasure and the feeling of your rough treatment. The feeling of a colossal hand gripping his hair, that clearly belong to you made his own dick almost cream his pants from excitement. And when you finally came in his mouth, he swallowed it eagerly like a treasure. His lips all red and swollen from sucking and having his mouth filled with something so thick.

— Take my clothes off. Now.— he damanded, but his voice sounds so needy and almost desperate. While he tried to mask it by cleaning your dick off from the rest of cum. You pull him on your lap with one move of your arm, making him gasp a bit. Before you took off his whole clothes, your gaze fixed on his expression that showed a pure lust. Muzan's mouth instinctively wrap itself around your fingers, wetting them as if he knows by the look on your face what you want him to do.

— Good slut.— you said with a smirk and satisfaction, even if your husband doesn't seem to like this nickname. (He feels butterflies in his stomach but his mind refuse to accept it)

— I am NOT a slut.— he said with serious tone, sounding a bit stern.

— Then I'll have to prove you wrong. Cause sluts like you can take cocks like mine without preparation.— You said, making Muzan look at you in confusion and he understood in a second what you meant.

— Oi, no!— he tried to protest in panic, his eyes widen, a loud scream from pleasure and pain left his mouth as you slam your cock inside him with one, smooth move. You groan at the tightness around your cock, it almost felt like it's sucking you inside.

— Don't cry, honey... I know you like it. Good slut-husbands like you are experts in satisfing your beloved.— you whisper in his ear, wiping his tears off from his cheeks. You looked at his expression that was a mix of pleasure and pain, his teeth clenched from the feeling of you deep inside him, touching his prostate with the tip of your cock.

Muzan was quiet for a few seconds, before he chuckles from esctasy and his red eyes fixed on you. He tighten his gummy like walls around your member to tease you and motivate you into fucking him.

— Of course.....I'll take care of your crotch like a good husband slut.— Muzan's lips kissed your face, starting with you forehead and ending at your lips. He really do love you for agreeing for you to call him this way....

Next thing he knows was you making him bounce like a desperate bunny on your dick, making sloppy sounds from going in and out of his entrance. The sounds of his loud moaning, mewling and your grunts and groans spread all over his office. Muzan's hair were messy and wet from sweat. His eyes unfocused. His sharp nails digging intl your shoulders. His legs shaking. His walls clenched and unclenched from pleasure and overstimulation. You hit his prostate over and over again, making him wanna cry to heavens.... or to hell.

Suddenly, you stand up with him in your arms, surprising him a bit as he got placed on his desk with legs spread. His back met the surface of the wooden furniture, he pants like a dog as he watched you put his legs on your shoulders, making your balls made a contact with his ass. He whimpers from that feeling.

— Fuck me.....Fuck your slutty husband.....fill me with your heirs and have the satisfaction of owning the King of demons~— Muzan said with a smirk, chest going up and down from breathing hard. That words went straight to your cock, twitching inside your lover. Your gaze like a predator, as you move oncr again. Hips snapping back and forth hard and deep, as if you were seriously trying to make him pregnant or break. He grip onto the edges of his desk, almost destroying it with his demonic strength. The pre-cum made it easier for you to go in and out of his warm and wet ass. His entrance sucked you greedy in, as if not planning for you to leave it.

— Such a good slut for me, huh? Your tiny hole seems not to want me to let go.— you said between moans, rubbing his pale waist in your hands.

— Uh-huh.....Haah...haaah...haaah...Not let go....haah...HAAH....HAAHH...— he said dumbly, without thinking twice before saying it. Feeling stupid from esctasy.

Hours passed, it was already morning and you two only just done having sex. You slip your cock out of his hole, making the cum drip from Muzan's ass. You looked at your dear husband that you spent your whole life as a demon. Admiring his appearance that looked so messy. It's kinda sad that the marks you left regenerate faster than you blink...But you still felt satisfaction, because you owned THE Muzan Kibutsuji.

— Very well, Y/N......you kept me satisfy.— Kibutsuji said, his voice breathless but his gaze intense. He pulls you towards him with strong grip, making you lay on top of his body. Rubbing your back and head with his hand.

— But you have to make me a bath with rose petals.— he demand, looking down at you with a smile. You snuggle against his chest, squeezing his nipples between your fingers. Making him glare at you.

— Control yourself. I want bath.—

— Hehehe....— you laughed nervously.

[jcollinswrites]

I just can't stop smiling at Narmer's manner. When he was extremely direct about whether we were interested in him or not, my poor male MC was about to throw himself in the water XD

I just love the fact that Narmer is straightforward about things, it makes my shy MC's life so much easier. Sure, he turns red like a tomato but it makes it easier to avoid paranoia.

I've lost count of how many times I've been frustrated with a RO because he just wasn't direct about his feelings. Like, man, it's not that hard. Just tell me if you're interested or not. Luckily with Narmer I don't run that risk

And I also don't intend to judge his relationship with his wife or anything like that. I just don't like to judge a person based only on part of a conversation I heard and I don't even know the whole context. So suffering on my route? I'll be dodging as much as I can Imao.

Also, from what I understand, he is not officially married to his supposed wife, or is he? Considering that apparently no one knows about this woman except those closest to him or maybe Ahmose if he talks about his mother. I confess that I was a little confused in this part but it's probably because English isn't my first language and sometimes my mind just freezes haha. So I didn't understand if he wasn't officially married or the MC simply didn't know this information.

If that were the case, would we be able to marry him or would we be something like a concubine or something?

If he wasn't, and it was possible to marry him, what would your reaction be if the MC left a ring in your room surrounded by flowers with a little card:

Will you marry me?

( ) Absolutely

( ) Of course

( ) Yes

( ) No (Optional)

While hiding behind the door watching your reaction?

⁄⁠(⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ ⁠⁄⁠)⁠⁄

Anyway, I love your IF please never stop with it 🥹💕 I've never smiled as much with a character as I am smiling right now! I can't wait for the next update. As far as I remember, this is the one where we blocked the route, right? Please Narmer, give me more kisses on the forehead and your hand in marriage 🥹🫴

(I got a little carried away and it got bigger than it should have, sorry XD)

Yes, Narmer wanted to be very straightforward in letting the MC know that he is not uninterested, but it's going to be hard to be in any sort of relationship with him for many reasons. So he (and the partner) are either all in, or no deal.

The wife business was probably confusing because I didn't write in detail yet about the king's marriage rights. This will be explained a bit more in Narmer's route, so things will get clearer later if you choose his romance.

The king is the only person in the country who can have more than one spouse. Narmer is officially married to Nefru, but being married to the king doesn't automatically make someone a queen consort. The king has to give out that title. So Nefru is a consort, but she is not the main consort, and was not given any title, nor does he go anywhere with her in public, so that's why most people don't know about her. Simply for being married to the king, her official rank is princess.

Narmer could technically marry anyone else he wishes without getting a divorce. He can also make anyone else his queen consort. It's his right. (for a male MC, Narmer will figure out another title)

It will be possible to marry him, if you manage to reach at least a neutral ending with him. In the scenario you mentioned, Narmer would smile and say, "Let's not get the word out that you were the one who asked me and not the other way around, but... yes, I've been thinking about it too."

Thanks for the sweet message 🥰 The romance lock-in choice will come in the next public update (probably in a few weeks I think), so not long to wait now :)))

[cinemaocd]

My Revised Ranking of Every David Lean Film

based on how gay they are

Lawrence of Arabia: the reigning champ, the queen of the desert, the only certified canon, 100% gay film in the Lean filmography. Lawrence of Ali are married. There are lots of other romantic subplots as well...

A Passage to India: would it have been gayer, had Merchant & Ivory made it? Yes. It's still, and I can't stress this enough, INCREDIBLY gay...I mean where shall we begin with Aziz and Fielding. They have a meet cute (Fielding is in the shower! Aziz stops by), whenever they talk one of them is usually sitting on a bed, they have a David Lean Train Station Good-bye which is pretty much the gayest thing you can put in a movie and some classic tropes like Fielding covering Aziz as he sleeps, I mean...yeah. Wow. Great movie and I'm in love with Victor Banerjee now so there's that.

Great Expectations: I put this a lot lower on the last list and then people came out of the woodwork to tell me how wrong I was and then started dropping receipts...so I guess I'm willing to admit when I make mistakes. Alec Guinness used his character name from this film, Herbert Pocket, when he was arrested for a homosexual act.

Bridge on the River Kwai: after a rewatch I placed this much higher on the list than last time. There was a lot of stuff I'd forgotten about but especially this scene...

Brief Encounter: yeah it’s practically the template for hetero longing but it was written by a gay man and that checks out: gay men have more longing in their pinky than most people have in their whole body.

Blithe Spirit: Noel Coward again. Witty drawing room comedy where everyone is smashed out of their minds and everyone has slept with everyone…how is this not just gay culture?

Dr. Zhivago: this film is only gay if one day on the 34th viewing your friend goes: wow Julie Christie looks a lot like Peter O'Toole. And then you can’t unsee it and it’s just Lawrence 2: This time they’re in Russia.

Hobson’s Choice: the presence of Laughton alone ups the anti on the queerness of this film. Then there’s the romantic hero of the film. His name is Willie…and he is… just very submissive. Something something metaphor for cock shaming and there’s probably a thesis to be done out of a queer reading of this film.

Summertime: pretend Rosanno Brazzi is a butch lesbian and this is Carol but they fuck and no one dies.

Ryan's Daughter: Lawrence of Arabia screenwriter, Robert Bolt penned this adaptation of Madame Bovary set in Ireland after the Easter Rising. The schoolteacher is played by Robert Mitchum, rather drastically against type after his Max Cady adventures. Charles O'Shaunessy is a very gay coded character who presses flowers and has a hard time fucking his very hot young wife. Nothing to see here...

The Passionate Friends: the addition of Claude Rains to any cast automatically add a bonus 10 Queer points.

Madelaine: I dunno, a women-centered noir with Psychosexual Themes is usually pretty queer.

The Sound Barrier: Lean's shortest film probably took me the longest time to get through....Even Ralph Richardson can not save this one for me. Similar to The Dam Busters and Spit Fire, but without the press of a hot war to up the tension. It's merely a race against the Americans to go a bit faster. I know scientifically it was a big deal, but the stakes are lower and Ralph plays another mean, cold dad character. :( Also, maybe some gayness between the pilots but I couldn't tell them apart well enough so it might have just been onanism...

[houseofbrat]

Well, well, well...

UK media still circulating stories about W&K taking a romantic holiday these days.

From 10 December 2024:

Princess Kate and Prince William plan to take a "romantic getaway" to a Cornish island after an "incredibly tough" year for the family, a royal insider has claimed. One insider told Bella that Prince William "wants to create memories with Kate, so he's planning a romantic getaway to the Isles of Scilly – one of their favourite places to escape for some quiet time together".

Now in the new year, Will & Kate allegedly are going to renew their vows but not on their wedding anniversary.

Despite all the challenges the Wales family has faced over the last twelve months, there may well happier times on the horizon for in the form of a "romantic" getaway. As reported in The Sun, William has been planning a much-needed treat for Kate, and plans to take her away on a romantic trip, just the two of them, giving the couple some well-deserved alone time, something that the report claimed Kate values above all else. "Wills is ever the romantic - Kate values their alone time, nothing is more special than having her prince to herself. So he's planning a romantic getaway - just the two of them - Wills has set the wheels in motion to whisk Kate away," a source was quoted as saying. The couple may also reportedly be poised to take this opportunity to do something seriously touching - renew their wedding vows. This year will mark 14 years since the couple said 'I do' in front of a packed congregation of 1900 guests at Westminster Abbey - and an estimated 36 million who viewed the ceremony on TV.

Lots of people are speculating about their marriage over the last year, and now stories about how they are SO SO SO IN LOVE!! with each other are getting published.

They're such a team that they're going to allegedly issue royal warrants together!

No Princess of Wales has ever issued warrants, but the pr around Will & Kate is that they are both going to do so, as Kate is lumped in with William every time royal warrants comes up for discussion.

However, it is not even known if William has the ability to issue royal warrants yet.

What's that first sentence of Richard Palmer's article from 2023?

Prince William is expected to be given the right to grant Royal Warrants to companies supplying his household.

William has to be "given the right" to issue warrants by the monarch, King Charles. He does not automatically receive the ability to issue warrants just by becoming heir to the throne.

All the hype about Will & Kate issuing royal warrants is just that.

HYPE!

Wake me when we get an actual announcement that William has the ability to issue warrants, or a public announcement that he has actually issued warrants.

Until that happens, it's all just hype coming from the KP comms team trying to make their boss look like a big man when he can't attend a state funeral in the US with fortress-like security.

It was therefore expected that Prince William, now the same ranking royal, would have travelled to Washington for the service in honour of the 39th president. But with his focus firmly on his family, he reportedly made it clear that he wanted to be with his wife on her special day to ensure it remains a family affair. Instead, Edward will attend the service - although he will not be accompanied by his wife Duchess Sophie. Other notable names who will be there to pay their final respects include all five living presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump.

[adragonsfriend]

"If Anakin had just been able to be open about his family..."

Frankly, if Anakin and Padme had been open about their relationship during the war they would've been that couple that everyone knows is pretty but dysfunctional, and whom no one wanted to invite to parties because of the risk of Anakin publicly trying to get into fights.

Don't get me wrong at all I think Anakin and Padme have the potential to be a good couple that that good for them and the people around him, I love the ship in general (even and sometimes especially for the fact that it's a messy one), I think they're characters with great chemistry and enough overlapping values to work together. That said:

We need to stop with the idea that openly having a family (while simultaneously being a Jedi or not) would've automatically fixed a single one of Anakin's issues.

This is going to get spicy and not be as well written as my usual kind of post, cause I'm tired of this idea. Fight me if you wish (but before you do, think really hard about whether this post is actually mad at you or if it's talking about someone else).

If you're familiar, Jane Austen put it best in Sense & Sensibility in this conversation where Elinor (the main heroine) and Marianne (her sister) discuss Willoughby (the man who played Marianne, unwittingly actually fell for her, then left anyway when an opportunity to marry rich came along, and afterwards came to confess than he was miserable despite his new wealth and now believed he would've been happier if he'd married Marianne and been comparatively poor),

Marianne's lips quivered, and she repeated the word, "Selfish?" In a tone that implied, Do you really think him selfish? "The whole of [Willoughby's] behavior," replied Elenor, "From the beginning to the end of the affair has been grounded is selfishness. It was selfishness which first made him sport with your affections (he intended to play Marianne), which afterwards when his own were engaged made him delay the confession of it (he didn't tell Marianne he actually fell for her when he had the opportunity), and which finally carried him from Barton (he left her when the opportunity to marry rich appeared). His own enjoyment, or, his own ease, was, in every particular, his ruling principle." "It is very true. My happiness never was his object." [said Marianne] "At present," continued Elinor, "He regrets what he has done, and why does he regret it? Because he finds it has not answered towards himself. It has not made him happy. His circumstances are now unembarrassed (he's rich now), he suffers from no evil of that kind, and he thinks only that he has married a woman of a less amiable temper than yourself (he doesn't like his new rich wife). But, does it follow, that that had he married you, he would have been happy? The inconveniences would have been different. He would then have suffered under the pecuniary distresses, which because they are removed he now reckons as nothing. He would've had a wife of whose temper he could make no complaint, but he would've been always necessitous, always poor. And probably would soon have learnt to rank the innumerable comforts of a clear estate and good income as of far more importance, even to domestic happiness, than the mere temper of a wife." --Chapter 47

(Please excuse any mistakes in the quote, I was typing it out from listening to the audiobook)

Point being, circumstances do not automatically change people. We largely create our own realities and our dissatisfactions with those realities. A greedy person who refuses to change themself will be dissatisfied no matter what they gain in life.

And Anakin is greedy when is comes to his relationships. Not for money, but the way he wants people to make him feel. It's the whole arc of his character over the prequels and the originals. He learns to love selflessly from Luke, right at the end of his life. It's so important. It's the most important moment in the whole of Starwars, and to claim that Anakin was loving well before that moment diminishes it. Anakin's love for Padme did exist, and it had its good moments, but it was not selfless or giving like his love for Luke became in that moment.

Being open about his relationship with Padme would not have changed that quality of it. Openly having kids would not have changed the qualities in him.

Could he have found the people and time and motivation to face and deal with his issues while having a family, especially if the war somehow ended? Of course.

But having bio kids wouldn't've fixed him any more than having a padawan did. Being with Padme openly wouldn't've resolved the fact that she has a job she cares about , and is a full person who can't cater to his feelings all the time. ("Nothing matters more to me than the way you make me feel.")

Side note, but the utter hypocrisy of criticizing Yoda for assigning him a padawan and then turning around and saying, "but if he'd just not had to hide that he was having kids..." is wild. A knight raising a padawan is going to get a so much communal help and oversight from the community around them (as we see in clone wars), as oppose to a parent in a nuclear family format. If Anakin was "too young and totally unprepared for a padawan," and "Yoda shouldn't've done that," then Anakin was infinitely less prepared to be responsible for actual infants.

The only way being able to be open about his marriage would've helped him is that someone outside the relationship might've tried to step in and been like "please get help." And frankly, that's not actually anyone outside the relationship's responsibility to do. Also, Anakin displays plenty of red flags that have literally nothing to do with his relationship with Padme that people advise him to deal with, which he does not deal with.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

Anakin could've left the Jedi. He was free to put down his laser sword and have the househusband arc he deserved at literally any point. And frankly, if his ONLY two options (and this is absolutely a false dichotomy) were commit mass murder or "fail" his duty to the Republic by retiring, I think we can all say which of those is better--both for the Republic and, for Anakin's soul or whatever.

When Ahsoka lost faith in the Jedi she was brave enough to make the decision to leave and find her own path. She left and discovered she still wanted to help people, just in other ways. Literally no one (in world or fans) considered her a failure for opting out of being a soldier in the war. Anakin could've done the same, and it was only his own ideas about status and attachment and violence (and yeah some genuine sense of duty too) that stopped him from doing so. In fact, he is the one to yell at Ahsoka that "The Jedi are your life!" Because he wants her to stay in his life.

Romantic relationships don't fix people.

Becoming a parent doesn't fix people.

People can fix themselves. When they do, it's often partly so they can be better to the people in their lives, be those spouses, friends, children, whatever--but the relationships themselves, the presence of those people in and of itself, is not what does the fixing.

It's effort. The genuine effort to act better. To follow their best impulses over their worst. To take themselves out of risky situations. To build good habits.

The idea that Anakin had to have a spouse, or had to have children in his life either to be happy or to not murder people is Hollywood and/or Sith propaganda, and we should treat it no differently than any other, "her magical vagina will cure him of his issues," or, "let's have kids to save our shitty suburban marriage," narrative.

[odyssean-flower]

The Winding Path of Fate Chapter 3 - Spring: An Agreeable Marriage

Masterpost Pairing: Neuvillette x Female Reader Summary: You and Neuvillette decide to get into a marriage of convenience. Warnings: None except for restrictive gender roles, also for some reason Fontaine’s regency england (sort of) now? Note: I update this story on AO3 first so please subscribe to the fic there if you’d like to read it faster Note 2: If you want to be on the taglist for this fic, please make a reply to this post, send a message or send a private ask

Have a pic of Neuvillette staring contemptuously at Venti

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“Monsieur and Madame, I am here today to declare to you that I am deeply and ardently with your daughter, and I would like to ask for her hand in marriage.”

Very nice delivery, you thought. Although, his facial expressions could really use some work.

You and Neuvillette were currently sitting in the small parlor of your family home, facing your parents, who were staring at Neuvillette like he had just grown a second head. Which perhaps would be less shocking than the fact that the Chief Justice of Fontaine had just declared his intentions to marry their daughter.

“What!?” you hear your sister scream out from behind the closed parlor door. Your parents had wisely made her wait outside when Neuvillette made his visit.

“P-Pardon me, Monsieur Neuvillette?” your father finally spoke, blinking rapidly like he was still convinced this was a dream. You couldn’t blame him. “Could you please repeat what you just said?”

“Certainly, sir,” Neuvillette proceeded to do just that.

“I-I see...” your father said. “So, just to confirm, you wish to marry our oldest daughter, is that correct, Monsieur?”

“Yes, sir. It is my dearest wish. My heart yearns for it,” Neuvillette nodded.

You heard your sister squeal behind the door. This must be like one of those pulpy romance novels come to life for her. Although, I wish Monsieur Neuvillette look less like he’s informing my parents of a death.

Your mother brought her hands to her mouth. “Monsieur Neuvillette, do you truly mean what you say?”

“Yes, I do. Every word of it.”

“Might you tell us...why you want to marry her? I don’t mean to question your judgment—my husband and I raised both our daughters to be fine ladies of good character, though our oldest can be a bit stubborn in her ways at times—but as you probably already know, we are not a particularly wealthy or influential family, so it is quite shocking for us to hear that you, Monsieur, would choose our daughter as your wife.”

Neuvillette was silent for a moment. Oh no, perhaps he hadn’t anticipated this question, you thought. Maybe he just assumed that my parents would automatically agree and ecstatically give their blessing. I can’t say I blame him, I expected the same thing--

“In my humble opinion, Madame, wealth and rank are trivial when it comes to love,” Neuvillette said, looking straight into your mother’s eyes. “I was drawn to your daughter for her wit, sensibility, and devotion. There is no other person who I would choose to share my future with.”

Okay, now he’s overdoing it. You watched as your mother blushed under Neuvillette’s intense gaze. There was muffled screaming coming from You would probably be blushing too, but thankfully, you had become rather adept at controlling your facial expressions over the years.

“And you, dear, how do you feel about this?” your father addresses you at last.

You cleared your throat and straightened up.

“As Neuvi said--”

“Neuvi!?” your parents, as well as your sister, exclaimed in unison. You could feel Neuvillette suddenly turn to look at you and had to resist the urge to bury your face in your hands. Your family’s shock was understandable. You never used nicknames for anyone except your closest family members and friends.

This was all calculated, of course, after a long and fraught brainstorming session.

“Ahem, as Neuvi said, he is in love with me, and I reciprocate his feelings wholeheartedly. I believe this marriage will be a beneficial one for our family, which is just one of the many reasons why I accepted his proposal immediately.”

As explanations for marriage went, this wasn’t the most romantic or heartwarming. But then again, you were never much of a romantic, and if you had said something about your “love for him being as boundless as the ocean” or that you’d “die if you weren’t allowed to be with him,” that would surely set off alarm bells for your parents.

You were once again proven right when your parents nodded without probing any further.

“Well,” your father said, standing up with your mother. “Your mother and I would like to discuss this amongst ourselves for a little bit. This is very sudden, after all.”

“But of course,” Neuvillette said. “Take all the time you need.”

Your parents left the parlor, blocking your sister from rushing into the room as they did so.

Now it was just the two of you.

Next to you, Neuvillette calmly took a sip of tea. You couldn’t help but feel how surreal it was to see the Chief Justice sitting on the worn couch you used to play pirates on with your sister. The entire past week had felt like a dream, like you were watching yourself from above.

You decided to voice what was bothering you. “Monsieur Neuvillette, I must apologize my earlier discourtesy.”

“Discourtesy?”

“Yes. I referred to you by a nickname and didn’t tell you about it beforehand. It must have caught you by surprise.”

“It did,” Neuvillette admitted. “But it wasn’t discourteous in the least.”

“Ah.”

Another silence fell between the two of you. It wasn’t exactly awkward, but you felt some strange need to fill it. After all, this was a scheme plotted by the two of you. Surely there should be more communication? Feedback, perhaps?

“Your speech earlier was very good,” you said, grasping for a topic. “If I were my parents, I would have believed that you truly meant it. I never knew the Iudex could lie so well. If there is one critique I have, it’s that your facial expression should match your words better.”

You had meant that half-jokingly, but Neuvillette nodded like he was seriously taking your words into account. “My apologies. I have often been told that my lack of expression has caused misunderstandings. It’s something I have been struggling with for a long time, so I must continue to work on it.”

Now you felt angry at yourself. You had also been told by many well-meaning people that you should smile more and look friendlier, and it had never failed to annoy you.

Just as you opened your mouth to apologize, Neuvillette added, “Also, not everything I said was a lie.”

You stare at him in shock. “What--”

Your words were cut off when the parlor door opened and your parents walked in, with your sister leading the way. It seemed that she finally convinced them to let her in. Your mother’s eyes looked puffy. She must have been moved to tears of joy over the fact that her daughter, who seemed destined to a life of spinsterhood, finally found a match, and with the Chief Justice no less.

Your father looked at you both, then smiled broadly. “Your character is impeccable, Monsieur Neuvillette, and if our daughter wishes to marry you, we have no reason not to trust her judgment. We give you two our blessing.”

Your sister squealed and clapped her hands, and your parents looked upon the two of you with warm eyes. They were probably expecting hugs or even a kiss between the two of you.

After no such thing occurred, your mother broke the awkward silence and turned to you. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so happy that you are finally going to experience matrimonial bliss for yourself! Now you don’t have to waste so much time and effort on all that governess nonsense!”

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes.

“Oh, is that how you met?” your sister said, her cheeks flushed like she was the one getting married here. “At the Palais Mermonia? I knew it, there was something going on between the two of you at the opera house!”

“The wedding...” your mother started to pace. “There is much to be done for preparations. Now, we are not exactly wealthy, but a wedding with the Chief Justice needs to have a certain gravity and extravagance to it. Don’t worry, we’ll see what we can manage...”

“There’s no need to worry about that, Mother,” you interrupted. “Because there won’t be a wedding.”

“What?”

You stare at Neuvillette in disbelief, completely forgetting to be polite. Did you hear him right? Neuvillette didn’t seem to be the type to joke around, but you dearly hoped he was doing that right now.

“My apologies, I understand that it is a great shock to hear this so suddenly,” Neuvillette said, his voice even and smooth as though he didn’t propose to you out of the blue. “But after hearing your story, I think this arrangement can be of great benefit to the both of us. You require a place to stay, and I am in need of a spouse.”

“You are?” You weren’t up to date with the latest gossip, but even you knew that Neuvillette, in all his long years as the Chief Justice, had never looked for or even expressed interest in having a spouse. “Why now?”

For the first time since you’ve known him, a flicker of annoyance appeared in Neuvillette’s eyes, but it didn’t seem directed at you. He let out a long-suffering sigh that sounded suspiciously similar to the kind your mother would give you. “Furina--the Hydro Archon—has been getting increasingly insistent about me, in her words, ‘experiencing the joys of matrimony and companionship,’ to the point where it has become difficult for me to work uninterrupted.”

You hadn’t been expecting that answer. It was hard to imagine Neuvillette feeling pressured by anyone, but the Hydro Archon most likely would be one of the few people in this nation—maybe even this continent—to be able to do that. You wondered what their relationship was like.

“It can be a temporary arrangement, just long enough for Furina to lose interest, and for you to get your license and find a new place to live. Don’t worry, I will do everything in my power to maintain the privacy of you and your family. We can perform the marriage quickly and discreetly to avoid any attention from the press.”

Your mouth hung open as you listened to him, but what was shocking you even more was that you weren’t immediately standing up and leaving. “You...have certainly put a lot of thought into this already, Monsieur. How long have you been considering this?”

“Since we ran into each other at the Palais Mermonia,” he admitted. “But I hadn’t initially planned on asking you because you were so set on your own goals.”

Goals that were now completely up in the air. “How convenient for you that I have fallen into this predicament, then, Monsieur.” A thought just occurred to you. “Wait...you didn’t have anything to do with me being placed on the waiting list, do you?”

“I can assure you, I had no involvement, nor would I ever use my power in such a way. In fact, I will swear it upon my position as the Iudex of Fontaine.”

The certain, resolute look in his eyes made you believe him. Neuvillette was well-known to be a principled man, but you knew that even the kindest façade could hide a dark underbelly.

“This isn’t some scheme to make me your, your, um, kept woman or anything, is it?” The words sounded absurd as soon as they came out of your mouth, but you had to ask. “Because if it is, then let me tell you, Monsieur, I may be of an inferior status than you, but I do still have my self-respect, and--”

“Please, Miss [Name],” Neuvillette interrupted you. The horrified look on his face took away the rest of what you were going to say. He looked deep into your eyes. “I will once again promise you that I have no such intentions towards you, nor will I ever. If you need further assurance, we can sign a contract that will stipulate that I never lay a hand on you.”

You were taken aback by his intensity. Luckily, there was no one sitting near you two, or else this would be all over the papers tomorrow.

"I think that’s going a bit too far...” you said a bit weakly. And how would it even be enforced? You thought.

There was one thing that was still bothering you. “So, why me? I’m sure there are plenty of people that would be a better candidate than me. I am not exactly the most prospective match for a man of your status, and we hardly know each other.”

Neuvillette stroked his chin thoughtfully as he stared at you. For a moment, you feared that he was going to say something encouraging, but instead, he said, “I don’t see what makes you unfit. Neither you nor your family are involved with Fontaine’s political factions, you don't seem to be romantically involved with anyone,” he paused for confirmation here. You nodded, and he continued. “You have a pleasant temperament that is well-suited to my own...and I enjoy your company. Is that not enough for an agreeable marriage?”

You found that last part a bit baffling. Thinking back to your few interactions, you came across as considerably curt and disinterested. Plus there was that one time where you rambled on about history for around fifteen minutes... Did that qualify as enjoyable company for him? You found it hard to believe. There must be some other ulterior motive behind this. However, you were in no position to ask him about it.

“I suppose it is,” you said. Neither of you brought up the subject of love.

You licked your dry lips. Solely relying on someone else’s sympathy was unbearable for you. “You said this arrangement is temporary... I assume this arrangement will last until I obtain my license?”

It was stated in the requirements for becoming a licensed governess was that one must be unmarried at the time of receiving the license. There was also a strong preference for schoolteachers to be young and unmarried, though it wasn’t a hard requirement. If you divorced before that time, though, you wouldn't technically be breaking the rules.

"We will of course do everything the proper way,” Neuvillette, observing your silence, seemed to be trying to grasp what you were thinking. “We will ask your parents for their blessing and obtain a marriage license, and hold a wedding ceremony, if you like--”

“No ceremony,” you said immediately. “I don’t care to go through all that trouble.”

Neuvillette nodded. “I’m very glad to hear that. To tell you the truth, I share your feelings on that matter, and my schedule this month is already too busy.”

You nodded. “It would be best if this whole affair is as quiet and low-fuss as possible.”

“I agree. Ah, my apologies. I don’t mean to imply that I’m ashamed of marrying you, or to pressure you into an agreement, for that matter, I know this isn’t part of your plans--”

“I never implied anything of the sort,” you said, sounding harsher than you meant it. You were starting to get a good idea of what kind of person Neuvillette was. “And I haven’t said no, have I, Monsieur? I accept your proposal.”

The corners of Neuvillette’s mouth lifted. “Thank you, Miss [Name]. I will do my utmost to ensure that everything goes smoothly.”

The two of you shook hands. You proposed a toast with the Fonta, but he politely declined. Despite the clouds from earlier, it did not rain that day.

It was a fine spring day. The skies were clear, and warm sunlight fell upon the land. Flowers were blooming, the once-naked trees were dotted with green shoots, and the singing of birds could be heard everywhere. It was a good day for a wedding.

Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be able to experience it, because you and Neuvillette were getting a civil marriage.

The marriage services office was tucked away in a quiet corner of the Palais Mermonia. By the time you arrived there, Neuvillette was already sitting on a chair outside the office, waiting for you. He was wearing something similar to his usual outfit, which was already plenty formal. He looked up when you approached.

“Good morning, Monsieur Neuvillette,” you curtseyed. “It’s a lovely day today.”

“Good morning, Miss [Name],” Neuvillette responded, standing up. He paused, taking you in. You were wearing your nicest dress, a white muslin with a deep blue sash, as well as a silk bonnet trimmed with blue ribbon and garnished with lilacs. You had bought it with the money your mother had insisted on giving you to buy something nice for your marriage. Even though you didn’t like the long-winded extravagance of a wedding ceremony, you still wanted to look nice for your first and last marriage.

Neuvillette was still staring at you. You shuffled your feet in discomfort. Was there something wrong with your appearance? Maybe you should have just dressed normally; this was just a marriage of convenience after all.

However, he surprised you by saying, “Blue looks good on you.”

You blinked. Then blinked again. You could feel your cheeks warming. Having a non-family member or friend compliment your appearance was a rarity for you. “Th-thank you, sir.” You were about to say that he looked good in blue as well but stopped yourself when you realized how dumb that sounded. He always wore blue.

But he did smell different today, you noticed. Did he put on cologne? Should you mention that? But before you could say anything, he held out his hand. You stared at it for a few moments before you realized that he wanted you to take it.

Silently, the two of you walked through the office door. The license had already been purchased by Neuvillette, and all that was there was left to do was to sign the registry with a witness. Your parents couldn’t make it, so your witness was a Melusine named Liath. You had expected the Hydro Archon to serve that role, but perhaps she was too busy.

The clerk in charge of the office was trying very hard not to stare too much at the both of you. Neuvillette had promised you that the marriage would be kept as private and lowkey as possible, but you knew that it was only a matter of time before it got out.

“Monsieur Neuvillette, Miss [Name], welcome,” the clerk said. “The marriage registry is on this desk. Please feel free to sign it whenever you like.”

The clerk’s voice sounded too loud in the quiet room.

A thought suddenly struck you. This was going to be the last time you would hear yourself be called “Miss.” From today onwards, you would be “Madame Neuvillette.”

It’s only temporary, you reminded yourself.

Neuvillette stepped forward and picked up the pen, then wrote down his name with a firm hand. He then passed the pen to you. You took it with a surprisingly steady hand.

You wrote down your name, right next to Neuvillette’s. The black ink stood out starkly against the white pages. You wondered if your names would be crossed out or painted over with white when you divorced. There was so much you didn’t know about the marriage process.

The clerk signed their own name next to confirm that the marriage had been witnessed and approved. “Congratulations on your marriage!” they said with a bright smile. “I wish you two all the happiness and bliss in your married life.”

“Thank you,” you two said in unison.

There were no bells, no cheers. But it didn’t matter.

The clerk looked at you two expectantly, probably for a kiss. The two of you just stared back at them. They cleared their throat awkwardly and began to rummage through the large filing cabinets behind them.

“Shall we go, then?” you asked Neuvillette—your husband. You were supposed to be moving into his house today, and you had to return to the boarding house to get your things.

“Wait,” he said, and took out a small box from his pocket. He opened it, revealing two unadorned silver rings. The color of his hair, you thought. “May I help you put it on?”

“Okay,” you nodded and held out your hand. He grasped it between his fingers. He’s doing his best to not touch me too much, you realized. You watched as he slid the band carefully down your ring finger. The cold metal sent an involuntary shiver down your spine. The ring fitted perfectly.

You took the other ring and asked him to hold out his hand. It was gloved, so you gently pulled it off. You slid the ring down his finger, willing your hand to remain steady. You could feel him watching you. What was going through his mind right now? Was he feeling relieved? Resigned to a year of being bound to a near stranger?

After you were finished, you stepped back and looked at him. It was over. You were now married to this man.

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Taglist: @just-simping-over-genshin, @xalphafox

[pippin-pippout]

Now that I’ve been through all of Dressrosa I have questions on the fandom’s view of Senor Pink and his fight with Franky.

People seem to LOVE their fight and rank Senor Pink’s backstory as one of the most heartbreaking, which is unusual for such a relatively minor character.

I can definitely see the tragedy in the backstory and I 100% teared up when he got his wife to smile.

However he was such an icky character in the present day that I had trouble taking his and Franky’s fight seriously. And although I can see how his backstory led him to be who he is now, I also can see how it could lead to him being a lot of different ways - many of those alternatives would not lead him to be someone who surrounds himself with pretty girls and rips their tops off in public to blow his nose on (I know what kind of anime this is but watching anything like that still makes me uncomfortable and automatically makes me dislike their role and skip their scenes).

A lot of his fight with Franky, outside of maybe the final moments where they each agreed to one final all out hit and we got the backstory, was pretty silly? Franky all of a sudden embracing the “hard boiled” machismo in order to fight man to man with Pink.

I can kinda see that fitting Franky’s character in the way that hard-boiled can mean tough and not someone who will leave a fight to others. But he doesn’t normally fit into the “too cool for emotion” aspect. I honestly thought he was doing it as a bit in order to get everyone else to stay out of the fight, but towards the end he seemed quite serious and like he really valued the hard boiled nature of his opponent.

What do yall think? I feel like I’m missing something for why everyone seems to like their fight and Senor Pink’s backstory so much.

[xiyouyanyi]

Interlude: We Need to Talk About LBD

Originally, I just HC her as a powerful Ghostly immortal——one of the Five Kinds of Immortals mentioned in JTTW, as well as the Zhonglv Daoist traditions, which I talked about in this post: On the Origin of the Five Kinds of Immortals

Then I had a big brain moment: what if LBD is Su Daji. The girl, not the fox who ate her soul.

Basically...in this AU, the fox only consumed portions of her soul, not all of it, and she was trapped in the Underworld as a ghost for the entirety of FSYY.

After Huang Feihu was deified as King of Mt. Tai, Judge King of the Dead, he looked up what happened to his old friend's daughter and found her stuck together with the nine-tailed fox in one of the Hells.

He wanted to send her back into the Wheel of Transmigration, but the incomplete nature of her soul meant that when the reincarnation happened, it would automatically result in a lower birth; instead of being reincarnated as another human, she might become an animal or a plant through no fault of her own.

So, out of pity, she was given the job of a minor ghostly attendant where she could, hopefully, gather enough merits to rise up in rank and get out of the Underworld to become a ghostly immortal working in the mortal realm: a goddess of the land/city.

And rose up in the ranks, she did. Despite the inner turmoils. If your own dad blaming you for a tyrant demanding you as his concubine and nearly killing you wasn't enough, getting stuck with your completely unrepentant murderer for years would certainly create some doubts in your worldview.

Like, the naive Su Daji thought if the fox didn't steal her identity, she could have stopped King Zhou from the series of bad decisions and murders that ensued by being a good, proper wife. The fox, who loved King Zhou because he was the most yaoguai-like human she had ever met, just hollered.

"Really, little girl? Really? You thought one wicked woman could ruin a truly upright man, with nary a thirst of power and desire to crush his inferiors in him? If that was true, I wouldn't have to make Bo Yikao into meat patties." "If I didn't take your place, he would have found you a total bore, just like his queen, and you'd spend the rest of your life in some isolated wing of the palace, alone and forgotten, unworthy of even being a pawn in the game between king and vassals!"

No. The fox was lying, like she always did. If she was in its place she wouldn't have done all these horrible things. She'd have made him a better king, and bring forth a virtuous reign.

In fact, she'd prove it, now that she was an Underworld official working her way up the ranks. She would become a proper goddess of the land, granting bountiful harvests and protection to the people, giving advice to one local leader at a time and using the power of their faith to do good...

...Long story short, she set out to prove the fox wrong by being the Good Wife and Good Minister, only to find out over the span of centuries that it didn't work, become disillusioned with the myth of "noble kings" in general, and believe the only way to fix a fundamentally broken world order is to raze it to the ground first. 

Also, her obsession with Fate and Destiny is en pointe for a FSYY character, to the point where even other veterans would get tired of her shit.

"Yeah, seen that, heard that, fought for that, now would you please shut up! No, seriously, if everything is Fated to Be, I guess we should've all just lied back and waited 28 years for King Zhou to drink himself into an early grave, huh?" ——Prince Bingling of the Three Mountains "Divination only shows you one endpoint, not how you get there, or what will happen after that. In fact, to take it as gospel is how fools absolve themselves of responsibilities when they absolutely could have done something on the way there." ——Ziwei, Great Emperor of the North Star "Oh darn! Haven't heard that in a thousand years. So very nostalgic. Still, I'll give you the same response I once gave to these Chan asshats: Go shove your Fate and Destiny up where the light doesn't shine, m'lady." ——Unidentified Thunder Bureau official

Appendix: The Bone Mech

The show gives no explanation whatsoever about why the assembly manual for a MMD(Mech of Mass Destruction) could be found in the Cloud, so I would over-explain it for fun.

With all the Oracle Bone scripts around its associated seals, I think it would be neat if it was actually a Shang dynasty creation, specifically, a weapon built during the War of Investiture.

At some point during the Shang-Zhou conflict, the losing Shang forces decided to create a vessel for one of the Kings of Ghosts and unleash the wrath of the ancestors on their enemies. However, its activation demanded both powerful treasures as cores, and the sacrifice of a sufficiently powerful being; either a captive immortal, or a full-blooded yaoguai.

The last one was out of question bc many of their Jie Sect allies were cultivated beasts, but none of the immortal acolytes they did manage to capture could power the weapon long enough for it to turn the tides of battle——it wasn't the body that was needed, but the souls, and the sort of souls powerful enough to keep it running were pretty much all destined for the Investiture upon death.

The brief moments they did get it working, however, still resulted in horrifying destruction. As a result, one of the first things the Chan/Zhou side did post-war was to melt the weapon down and execute its chief architects, leaving only a single schema, sealed inside a cave together with all the other TMDs (Treasures of Mass Destruction).

The problem is? They had done their job too well, and fast forward a few thousand years, not even the two divine generals who guarded The Cloud, Thousand-Mile-Eyes and Wind-following-Ears, remembered that the place had a hidden basement.

[theplayersau]

Chapter 7: Sleuthing

Third-person perspective

Firenze, Italia- 2001

A clunky laptop with a green case over it sat half-hazardly abandoned on the coffee table of La Squadra's headquarters. It belonged to none of the hitman, and seeing as it was unfamiliar to all of them, it was obviously Althaia's. The first to come across it was Illuso, who, while curious, mostly ignored it. The next to join him on the couch was Formaggio, who was having himself a drink and watching a sports game on the TV. And finally, after bickering in the kitchen, Melone and Ghiaccio sat on the other couch opposite to them.

The first to bring it up was Illuso, mostly in a joking manner. "Heh, you guys see that?" He gestured to the laptop. "I think that's Althaia's... Doesn't look like any of ours."

Formaggio only glanced at it and spoke with his lips pressed to his can of soda, his voice muffled with a tinny quality. "Probably. Doesn't matter, though..."

"Why would she leave out something so important when she barely knows any of us? Do you think she's stupid? Maybe she has no sense of security," Ghiaccio began, interest piqued by the concept of it rather than the laptop itself.

"Or maybe that Greek goddess of ours is testing us... Perhaps she wants to see if her belongings can be trusted with us," Melone countered. "On the other hand, maybe this is actually an invitation to open it up and learn more about her... I'd love to learn about her genealogy."

With that, Melone was now convinced by this delusion and practically salivating at the thought, which the other men grimaced at.

"What is wrong with you? The world isn't out to seduce you, y'know..." Formaggio said.

"He brings up a good point, though... We hardly know a thing about her, and this is the perfect opportunity to learn." Illuso leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and zeroing in on the laptop.

"What if she can't be trusted? Or maybe there's a big conspiracy here. I mean, why was she sent here of all branches?" Ghiaccio rambled. "So she can automatically get a higher rank than 'soldado'? And it seems like she has an in with some big names."

"You make a good point..."

"Then I say it's settled! Well snoop through her laptop," Melone declared.

"What?" Formaggio looked around at the three other men, setting his soda down. "Are you guys outta your minds? Look, we're all into some shady stuff but she's supposed to be our teammate. That's crossing a line."

"Aw, are you scared?" Illuso snarked. "You don't know a thing about her. Why are you defending her? You got a crush or something?"

"God, would you shut your mouth?!" Formaggio furrowed his brows and punched him in the arm a bit. "So, I gotta want something outta her just 'cause I'm trying to respect a woman's privacy? There's nothing in it for me, I'm just trying to be... y'know... not a total scumbag for once in my life..."

He had learned a lot of lessons from his wife and one of them was: if you violated a woman's privacy, she had the right to violate your face with her fist. Besides, if she knew he hadn't stood up for an innocent girl then he knew he'd be in the doghouse. He knew better.

"You're a hitman. That ship sailed a long time ago..." Melone muttered in response.

"'The ship has sailed'... Finally, a damn metaphor that makes some sense." Ghiaccio crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back.

"You guys are a bunch of idiotas. It's just a laptop, plain and simple. Not an invitation. You guys were raised with manners, right?" Formaggio retorted.

"Hmph," Illuso huffed in amusement. "Be a coward all you want to, but the rest of us are going to get to the bottom of this."

Melone quickly seized his opportunity and grabbed the laptop, opening it and accessing the login screen with ease. Ghiaccio looked over his shoulder and Illuso quickly moved to stand on the other side of the arm rest he was sitting against.

"Damn," Melone cursed, tapping away at the keyboard, "it's password protected."

"Obviously it would be, dumbass," Ghiaccio gruffed. "Even if she was stupid enough to leave her laptop out, she wouldn't leave it without a password."

"That's probably why she felt comfortable leaving it out," Illuso added.

"The hell are you guys doing?!" Formaggio exclaimed, standing up. "Are you seriously trying to go through it?!"

"If I could just bypass the password prompt with a back-end command, I could probably-" Melone was cut off.

Formaggio grabbed at the computer, trying to tug it away from Melone, but he wouldn't let go.

"Drop it, Melone! I'm trying to save your ass!" Formaggio grunted in effort, gritting his teeth.

"It'll be over and done with before she ever finds out!" Melone said with a strained voice, yanking back on the laptop.

The push-and-pull went on for a few more seconds before Melone's gloved hands lost grip and the laptop jolted in Formaggio's direction. Since he had been pulling so hard and the resistance was suddenly removed, the laptop went flying out of his hands and hit the floor off to the side, a loud crash emanating from it.

All four men stood there in silence with shocked expressions, bodies rigid and tense, looking at the damage they had done to it. Some keys had popped off and the top of the keyboard plate had a dent and gap in it now.

"Well, look what you've done! You dumbasses, now she's gonna know we messed with it!" Ghiaccio yelled.

"Good going, Formaggio..." Illuso huffed.

"Me?!" Formaggio gestured to himself before pointing at Melone. "He's the one with the weak grip that let go like that!"

"None of this would have happened if you'd just have let me have five seconds with it and not ripped it out of my hands!" Melone spat out in a fit of panic.

"No, this wouldn't have happened if you guys didn't try to snoop through it, you assholes!" Formaggio shouted.

"I told you to lose the damn gloves, smartass!" Ghiaccio swatted at Melone.

Illuso went and picked up the laptop, inspecting it. He pressed the space bar, and when the screen still lit up, he grinned a bit. "Hey, it's not all bad. It still works."

Ghiaccio began to tap his foot impatiently. "Well, that's great and all, but she's still gonna know we even touched it!"

"God, we're screwed..." Formaggio groaned, covering his forehead with his hand.

The bickering went on for several more seconds, though Melone had his eyes closed, his hands clasped together in a thoughtful manner. Sure, he knew his way around a computer software wise, but this was a whole different issue. And, fortunately, he had the name and number to the best in the business when it came to the tech world.

Just at the height of the angry shouting voices from the others, Melone cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"Gentleman, settle down..." he interjected with a calm voice. "I have a solution. I just have to call someone."

*

After about 45 minutes, there was an odd knock at the door. Melone hadn't given the others much more information past the fact that he knew someone who could fix it, and the group was on edge, afraid Althaia would be home any moment.

Melone quickly answered the door and before him stood a fair-skinned woman with long, wavy wine-red hair, red eyes, crimson lipstick, and a shimmering red sort-of jumpsuit on with a dark cardigan over her shoulders. More curiously, she was wearing a dark, lace eye-mask across her eyes, and she had a pair of gold forearm crutches attached to her arms.

"What do you want, idiota?" the woman said in a smooth, aloof voice.

"Ciao, Marsala... As I said over the phone, I need you to quickly repair a laptop," Melone explained in an almost nervous manner.

Marsala rolled her eyes a bit before stepping inside. "Why am I always fixing laptops for you?"

The three other men looked this mysterious woman up and down, and now that she was standing right beside Melone, something became glaringly obvious... They looked similar. Extremely so. Even down to the way their hair was parted.

"Melone, who is this..?" Formaggio finally asked, gesturing between the two of them.

Melone rubbed the back of his neck and spoke in a voice much less confident than usual. "Ah, right... I'd like you all to meet my twin sister, Marsala..."

In almost perfect unison, the men exclaimed, "Twin sister?!"

"Yes, unfortunately..." Marsala confirmed, then carefully made her way towards the laptop, using her crutches to walk. She inspected it from afar before shrugging, her face completely expressionless. "Should be an easy enough fix... Melone," she began.

"Hm?"

"Go get my tool bag from my car. Fretta." She snapped her fingers, not even looking up at him.

Melone rushed out the door and towards Marsala's car. In the brief silence that followed, the other men studied the woman in front of them. How the hell could Melone have a twin sister? Why did she seem so... normal? How come they didn't already know about her?

"So, growing up with Melone..." Illuso trailed off.

Marsala pulled out her phone and began typing on it, disinterested in the people in front of her. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ah. Right..." Illuso uttered awkwardly.

Geez... She was hard to talk to. What an ice queen...

Soon enough, Melone returned with a tool bag full of computer repair items, and without prompt, helped Marsala into a chair so that she could begin working, and even set her crutches off to the side. It's like he was a completely different person with her, and it astonished the others. He seemed... like a regular guy. Considerate, patient, cooperative, respectful. Usually he seemed like he was compelled to act like a total creep around women, but, thankfully, he behaved as an average brother should.

The room was tense, silent, and awkward with Marsala around, and Melone could feel the many questions rising within the other men as they waited. Marsala was nimble with her gloved fingers, and was wearing a magnifying glass spectacles as she expertly mended the damaged laptop.

After a cruel 30 minutes of dead air, Marsala finally spoke, and the men took a sigh of relief they didn't know they were holding.

"It seems like the case absorbed most of the shock... I'm almost done. You're lucky the screen didn't crack, or I'd have to take it back to my workshop."

"Oh, that's great news!" Melone cheered.

Formaggio closed his eyes and finally relaxed a bit. "Thank God..."

"Which one of you does this laptop belong to?" she asked.

The men looked around at each other, silently deciding what lie they should tell, but ever intuitive, Marsala caught on.

"This doesn't belong to any of you, does it?"

"Uh, no..." Melone replied.

"Then whose is it?"

"Our colleague's... But it was an accident, I swear!" Formaggio answered.

Marsala rolled her eyes before gesturing to Melone. "This one tried to play sleuth and dig around in it, didn't he?"

Illuso did a double take. "How'd you know...?"

"He's always been the sneaky type with like, zero boundaries."

Melone wore a sheepish grin while the other three glared at him.

"Wow, glad to know he's had no character development over his life..." Ghiaccio butted in.

"Whose laptop is this?" Marsala repeated, getting back on track.

"Uh, her name is Althaia..." Melone said.

"You four were trying to snoop through a woman's laptop? Tch. No wonder you don't get laid."

All the men but Formaggio bristled up and wore befuddled expressions.

"You don't... know what you're talking about, lady," Illuso murmured bitterly.

"Well, I was trying to stop them. I was pulling the laptop away. That's how it broke. Hah! Looks like I'm sittin' pretty in this whole matter..." Formaggio wore a shit-eating grin and rested his arms behind his head.

"It's the bare minimum but... at least you have some dignity," Marsala huffed.

"Hey! I have dignity! How would you even know anything about us?!" Ghiaccio roared.

Marsala held her hand up, as if to stop him, meeting his eyes with a completely calm expression. "Please, I don't have the energy, nor the care to entertain your ranting, Ghiaccio."

That took the wind out of his sails, and he blinked a few times, lowering his voice. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm logged into the Passione network," she explained. "I have access to everyone's Member files. I know your name, age, birthday, birthplace, height, incidence history, Stand logistics, spoken languages, any job you've ever botched, you name it... None of you are a mystery to me."

"Wait, you're a mafiosa?" Illuso asked, dumbfounded.

"Psh. It's not that glamorous. I'm a glorified IT worker. But I'm the best of the best. And I know everyone's dirt, so don't test me."

"Right, right, moving along..." Melone tittered. "How far off are you from fixing the laptop?"

"Almost done."

"Damn, if Althaia walks through that door, we're done for..." Formaggio glanced over at it.

"Your rambling is not helping me focus," she said, squinting a bit and holding the keyboard to the base with a pair of pliers.

"Geez, alright..."

-- Chapter End --

🍷🍷🍷

[nottherailtracer]

Finished part 5 vol. 5 and *deep breath* Fuck him up Rozemyne! Drag him! Take him for all he’s worth!

I think Rozemyne and Adolphine should team up to beat up Sigiswald. Anastasius and Eglantine can fuck off too, as of right now Adolphine is the only royal I respect (I guess I can forgive Hildebrand for being stupid seeing as he’s like 8. Magdalena could have been up there if she hadn’t badmouthed Ferdinand). Is it bad that one of the first things I thought of when it was decided that the royals would take Rozemyne was “great, now Wilfried loses her support and will no longer be automatic Aub. Charlotte for Aub!”? It was interesting to get more information about the Liesegang perspective through Bonifatius in the prologue, especially what they think Rozemyne should be focusing on. Especially, especially with what Sieglinde (and presumably the other higher ranked duchies) thinks a first wife’s job should be, i.e. connecting to other duchies, which also demonstrates that Rozemyne would be a better first wife than a second wife (handling intra-duchy politics) by Sieglinde standards. Immanuel is super creepy, ambushing Rozemyne and her retainers, giving me Bezewanst/Bindewald vibes. What the fuck are you up to Raublut? That last side story made me a bit worried for Hortensia.

[teruthecreator]

norm for the askgame ^^

PAPA NEEDS HIS SILLY PIIIIIIIIILLS

Sexuality Headcanon:

bisexual but he’s too busy being like 39 and the sheriff of dialtown so absolutely no time to unpack dat goku

Gender Headcanon:

cis guy. tho any and all butch norms i accept with open and loving arms. sometimes a man can be so butch do you understand

A ship I have with said character:

(looks pointedly at my mingus ask) uhhhhhhhh ANYWAYS other than normingus i also rlly rlly like normgingi!!!!! probably my second favorite gingi ship (first being oliver and gingi) and definitely one i think about often. the like immediate blood bond they forge over the course of ch3 is insane like norm goes from wanting to kill gingi dead to DOING IT ALL FOR THEM WAHHHHHHHHH WAHHHHHHHHHHHH. also dare i say he’s a little yandere for gingi??? i don’t mean that seriously me and my friends just like to call him yandere. he has a yandere face and everything it’s great. anyways idk if i’d call normgingi wholly romantic but it’s certainly something. norm already had a wife but maybe he now has a second one??? in the form of a trash goblin??? idk i dont think they have a label for what they are and it confuses norm but he’s decided just to roll with it for now

A BROTP I have with said character:

norm with the rest of the dateables cast is so fucking important to me. literal besties squad. like the dialtown tool friends epilogue series made me just become OBSESSED with all of them interacting casually. and like every aspect of it is funny and good. i have a hc that norm builds a house just behind the funfair (like in a semi secluded spot) and that house is the hangout center for the entire polycule. karen is over there painting the scenery, olivers hosting movie nights, randy just Comes Over whenever shes too scared to stay at the ticket booth, fucking BIGFOOT drops by sometimes to hang. it’s just kind of beautiful the life norm leads post ch3 like going from being a hermit and wanting to stay secluded to having this rich tapestry of friends?????? genuinely brings a tear to my eye i LOVE NORM AND HIS FRIENDS WAHHHH

A NOTP I have with said character:

i dont really like norm/callum To Be Quite Honest. just isn’t my thang. also don’t care about norm/mr. dickens seems like we are filling a Yaoi Quota with that one but also you could probably convince me of it if u were compelling enough

A random headcanon:

(stares openly at tryt) so i have some opinions about norm’s family… HJGNFHFJFBFJ in seriousness tho i have this whole backstory devised about norm’s wife and the child they have right before he gets shipped off to space and the life that his widowed wife and child lead after he’s gone. his wife’s name is betsy and his child’s name is sylvia-grace but she goes by sylvie and they lead a relatively normal life in arizona until sylvie’s old enough to move out and then she goes to california. betsy dies long before norm makes the jump to the present, but sylvie is still kicking! she has a wife and two adult children of her own by then. i don’t think norm would ever get to really Meet them but that’s for very specific reasons that i map out in my fic The Road Yet Traveled, so if this idea intrigues you feel free to read that or just send me an ask! i could talk about this little family forever

General Opinion over said character:

norm has very quickly climbed the ranks in terms of the dateables. like i adore karen and oliver and randy, but norm is just….ohhhhhhhh he’s norm allen!!!!! he has such an interesting outlook on life and again i think he kinda brushes up with mingus in terms of like . characters i think deeply about. i mean i literally wrote a 30k fic that is Mainly about norm’s reconciliation with the past in forging his future. he’s just a guy i think about often!!!! also i do a voice for him and i will randomly pull it out in vcs just to make everyone laugh, which automatically means he’s one of my favs :-)

i turned his face into a penis one time. dont remember why i did that

[krakerjaksstuff]

as your friend i’m allowed to put bullshit in your ask box >:3

so it’s your turn to rank your five favourite BoB characters :)

Wow! Another ask from you that I haven't replied to! I don't even really need to answer this since you already know it from all our conversations but I shall anyway.

5. Harry Welsh

I didn’t know I loved Harry this much until I was thinking on who to put as my number 5 and my mind was chanting Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry incessantly. He’s just so awesome! He’s the integral third wheel to Winnix, he loves his wife and he’s a badass! What more can you want???

4. Ron Speirs

He's so weird <3 Also one of the best character arcs in Band of Brothers. It's subtle but it's so very there! Him going from the "you're only hope is that you're already dead" to him smiling (although still such a freak smile) and just saying "finders keepers" in reply to Vest's remark about the war ending. AND THE SCENE WHERE HE DOESNT SHOOT THE MAN FROM I COMPANY AND HIS HAND IS TREMBLING?? Also of course there was the run in Foy which automatically makes him top 5

3. Carwood Lipton

I honestly feel bad putting him in number 3 since he was my og boy when I got into BoB. He's such a freak as well <3 and he cares so much!! He's always there for the men and just !!! I love him <33

2. David Webster

I cannot believe David Webster outranks Carwood on my ranking. But he's such a guy okay. His first instinct right after getting shot is to berate himself for being cliche. He thinks Van Gogh was born in Nuenen. The entire first scene of the last patrol where he lacks all ability to read the room. I love him so much <3 He's also so kind. When he gave the chocolate bar to the kid? My heart was melting (also because that kid was so flipping cute, like he was so adorable). And also his anger towards the Nazis and then his refusal to shoot the Kommandant. I was first really fucking confused about that but after thinking on it more, it just makes me appreciate Web as a character more. (now was this inconsistent characterization purposeful? who knows but I will 100% read into it)

1. Joseph Liebgott

If you told me months earlier that Joe Liebgott would be my favourite character in BoB, I would've looked at you so confusedly because I wouldn't have even known who Liebgott was. I legit didn't realize he showed up before Crossroads because he just merged into the blur of the crowd for me. It wasn't until after the Last Patrol that I became invested and then when I started rewatching BoB, I realized so many parts I liked featured him and was like !!! FOR EXAMPLE I WILL NEVER BE OVER HIM BEING SO GENTLE WITH TIPPER. OR HIM COMFORTING TALBERT WHEN HE'S STABBED. HE CARES SO MUCH OKAY. HE FEELS SO MUCH AND WHEN HE CRIES IN LANDSBURG I HAVE TO CRY WITH HIM BECAUSE GOD YOU CAN JUST FEEL THE PAIN. Ep 9 should've been from his point of view, sorry not sorry Nixon

[paperanddice]

Boreas is a powerful elemental spirit of wind and ice who dwells in the northernmost reaches of the world. With no physical body of his own, he manifests an avatar to rule his land and spread his edicts. Wild and gaunt, his hair and beard long and crusted in ice, with eyes so blue they seem to glow, he is temperamental and destructive without restraint.

Also known by his subjects as the Devourer, he is served by frost giants, elemental spirits, and fey beings of the cold. He consorts with the lords of the giants to plot the downfall of smaller mortals, and courts powerful beings of cold and ice to be his wife, including the queen of the frost giants and the faerie queen of witches. His plans and courtships are often interrupted by intense bouts of fury however, as his own daughter seeks to sabotage his goals by encouraging mortal heroes to provoke his rage by stealing treasure or rustle his winter wolves. This rage often leads to the deaths of the provokers, but to his daughter's eyes that is better than the much wider scale destruction that would occur if her father wasn't distracted.

Pathfinder

Boreas rules over a portion of the Crown of the World, his followers occasionally descending to the south to harass the lands to the south of him. Northern Avistan and Tian Xia have dealt with the Devourer's rages before, though rarely does descend too deeply before the comparatively warm weather saps his anger and he returns to his frozen home to brood off the rest of his fury.

13th Age

While Boreas' realm sits well beyond the boundaries of the Dragon Empire, this distant being is an Icon of far off lands, and his influence may occasionally extend into the empire during his rages. Heroes seeking to travel far to the north may find an entire new collection of Icons to contend with, their connections to the icons of the empire having less sway and influence.

Inspired by the Tome of Beasts 1. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

Pathfinder 2e

Avatar of Boreas Creature 17 Unique Medium Elemental Air Cold Perception +27; darkvision Languages Auren, Halit, Jotun Skills Athletics +34, Deception +28, Intimidation +31, Nature +33, Occultism +31, Stealth +31 Str +7, Dex +6, Con +6, Int +4, Wis +4, Cha +5 Items +2 greater striking longspear, +2 striking composite longbow (20 arrows) AC 39; Fort +29, Ref +29, Will +27 HP 315 (regeneration 20 (deactivated by fire)); Immunities cold, electricity, poison, sonic; Resistances acid 15; Weaknesses fire 15 Chilling Presence (aura, cold, magical, primal) 150 feet. Nonmagical fires are extinguished after spending 5 rounds within this aura, and water freezes within 1 minute. When a creature enters the aura while affected by any magic that protects against the cold, or attempts to cast a spell that protects against the cold, the avatar automatically attempts to counteract it (counteract rank 9, counteract modifier +30). Speed 45 feet, fly 100 feet Melee longspear +32 (cold, magical, reach 10 feet), Damage 3d8+17 piercing plus 1d6 cold Melee fist +30 (agile, cold, magical), Damage 3d4+13 bludgeoning plus 1d6 cold Ranged composite longbow +31 (deadly d10, magical, propulsive, range increment 100 feet, reload 0, volly 30 feet), Damage 2d8+13 piercing plus 1d6 cold Ranged whirlwind blast +32 (magical, range 120 feet), Damage 3d12+16 slashing Primal Innate Spells DC 38, attack +30 ; 9th storm of vengeance; 8th chain lightning, polar ray, wall of ice, whirlwind; 7th dispel magic (×3); 6th baleful polymorph, heal (×3), restoration (×3); 4th invisibility (×2); 3rd wall of wind (×2); 2nd speak with animals (at will); 1st create water (at will); cantrips (9th) detect magic Constant true seeing Primal Rituals DC 38; 9th control weather, word of recall Change Shape [one action] (concentrate, primal, polymorph, transmutation) The avatar of Boreas can shift between a humanoid body and a body made of wind and mist; it can never be forced to shift forms. In wind form, it can make whirlwind blast Strikes, but cannot make weapon Strikes, and in humanoid form it can make weapon Strikes but can't make whirlwind blast Strikes. It can cast spells in either form. Freezing Armament (primal) Any weapon gains the effect of a greater frost property rune while the avatar of Boreas wields it (cold damage dealt by these attacks ignores resistances, and on a critical hit the target is also slowed 1 until the end of the avatar's next turn unless it succeeds on a DC 34 Fortitude save). North Wind's Glare [one action] (incapacitation, primal, visual); Frequency 1/turn; Effect The avatar of Boreas makes and Intimidation check to Demoralize one creature it can see. On a success, the target is slowed 1 in addition to the normal effect. On a critical success, the target is petrified until the start of the avatar's next turn. The avatar can use this effect even against a creature temporarily immune to being Demoralized by the avatar, though the target cannot be frightened by that use of Demoralize. Whirlwind Movement [two actions] (cold, magical, polymorph primal, transmutation) The avatar erupts into an icy whirlwind. It Flies without triggering reactions. Each creature within 20 feet of the avatar at any point during its movement takes 14d6 cold damage (basic Fortitude DC 35). Any nonmagical fire within 20 feet of the avatar at any point during its movement is extinguished, and it attempts to counteract any magical fire within that area (counteract rank 9, counteract modifier +30). The avatar can't use Whirlwind Movement again for 1d4 rounds.

13th Age

Avatar of Boreas  Double-strength 12th level troop [elemental]  Initiative: +19 Vulnerability: Fire Icy Tipped Spear +17 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 60 damage plus 30 cold damage. Natural 16+: The target is also hampered or stuck (avatar’s choice, save ends). R: North Wind Longbow +17 vs. AC (2 attacks, targeting nearby or far away enemies) - 45 damage plus 30 cold damage. Natural 16+: 1d4 enemies nearby the target take 20 cold damage. C: Lightning Storm +17 vs. PD (1d6 nearby or far away enemies) - 60 lightning damage. Natural 18+: The target is also stunned until the end of its next turn. Limited Use: 1d4 times during the battle. C: North Wind’s Glare +17 vs. MD (one nearby enemy) - The target is hampered until the start of the avatar’s next turn. Natural 14+: The target is hampered and weakened instead. Natural 18+: The target is stunned instead. Quick Use: 1/turn, as a quick action. Whirlwind Flight: Whenever the avatar flies, each enemy it’s engaged with before or after the flight takes 10 cold damage, and any nonmagical fires nearby at any point during its flight are extinguished. Resist Cold, Lightning, and Thunder 18+. AC 28 PD 24 MD 23 HP 788

[craftercat]

Who are your favourite female regents of Ancient China throughout the eras you know? Could you explain why and order them in accordance to your favourites? Sorry if this is being demanding.

My ranking of powerful empresses in the era I know (I'm expanding it to empresses who had political relevance)

Wu Zetian (Tang/Zhou), if we'll allow female emperors. Self-explanatory. She wasn't exactly a nice person, but god was her life epic.

Empress Dowager Feng (Northern Wei) - She created the equal field system which lasted into the Tang dynasty, encouraged the sinicisation reforms, and she basically shaped the cultural and economic policies of the Sui and Tang dynasty.

Empress Dugu Qieluo (Sui) - I think her political contributions were mostly positive. She did promote Yang Guang as crown prince, but I've already explained he did seem like a better option.

Empress Zhangsun (Tang) - I like her for her strength of character, giving honest advice to Li Shimin and helping with the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

Empress Liu E (Han Zhao) - Basically an early version of Empress Zhangsun.

Empress Lou Zhaojun (Northern Qi) - She seems to have tried her best to balance the conflict within her family, and she was able to advise Gao Huan.

Empress Dowager Luo (Cheng Han) - Fighting in battle kind of automatically puts you high on this list.

Empress Duan Yuanfei (Later Yan) - She had the intelligence to realise Murong Bao was not that good. However besides that she didn't do much.

Empress Liu (Shi Le's wife): She helped in military decisions and tried to plot against Shi Hu.

Princess Qi (Dai) - Ultimately we know nothing of her actual rule, only her scheming to get there, but the 女国 thing is cool.

Empress Liu Jingyan (Chen) - She ruled as regent for a short time for Chen Shubao. Given how incompetent Chen Shubao turned out to be, she was probably better than him.

Empress Chu Suanzi (Jin) - I've already explained her regencies. She did promote some decent officials, but her lack of action against Huan Wen puts her down.

Empress Zheng Yingtao (Later Zhao) - She didn't do much as empress dowager besides not wanting Ran Min to be killed.

Empress Liu (Later Zhao, Shi Hu's wife) - She did become regent but she was killed very quickly.

Empress Lu Huinan (Liu Song) - Like the ones mentioned above, she didn't do much politically. Also she might have been having an affair with her own son.

Empress Fu Xunying (Later Yan) - She didn't do much politically, but the extent to which Murong Xi favoured her is quite frankly completely ridiculous.

Empress Kezuhun (Former Yan) - She was corrupt and Former Yan declined during her reign. Empress Kezuhun's poor rule was a major factor in Fu Jian's conquest of Former Yan.

Empress Hu (Northern Wei) - I've already explained her in a separate post, but she wasn't competent.

Empress Jia Nanfeng (Jin) - She is described as having a terrible moral character, even if it's partly slander, and her political regime was unstable.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: If Millia gave official Risk Ratings (outside of her mid-match victory pose where she ranks you) to the Guilty Gear StrIVe cast, including herself, would she;

Keep the old ones for the existing cast or would she update the ratings for them? (The characters from X2 and Accent Core)

Which risk ratings would she give the ones who originally/previously didn't have a Risk Rating? (Ramlethal, Leo, Giovanna, Nagoriyuki, Goldlewis, Jack-O', Chaos, Sin, Bedman?, Delilah, Asuka, Asuka R# and Elphelt)

Since past "old" P.W.A.B. ratings systems are based on criminal activity and espionage towards civilians, Millia would automatically have dispensed with them (since she herself gave up on the life of being an assassin).

This activity ranged from kidnapping, smuggling, experimentation, and even drug manipulation, and more heinous acts... which I doubt King Daryl, King Leo, or King Ky would ever condone (not even during War Time).

The true ORIGINAL PURPOSE of the Postwar Administration Bureau was to support those Knights (and Bounty Hunters) who survived after the war, giving them good honest work and a means to live for themselves with their families, like the Veteran's Association.

It's not a perfect process, and there are still management and bureaucratic issues to resolve, but Millia is doing her best given her new role as Chief.

Rather than list people by "Risk Management", Millia rates them by Talent capacity, including people with potential as information consultants (a list that has already been compiled by Ramlethal recently in the Mobile Brigade).

While there probably are still some "criminal elements" out there that are given criminal records and such... that is now primarily Leo Whitefang's jurisdiction (similar to the role of a Circuit Court Judge).

Leo is technically Millia's "boss" and so it follows that she is privy to any and all information Leo gains, but again, her task is very different from Leo's on the home front.

Now it is more Millia's job to scout people to work for the Illyrian Government.

As a side note: Zappa has been working for them for a while (so he is occasionally asked for consultation as well). May, Faust, April, and Sin have already been recruited (Dr. Paradigm has also assisted from time to time behind the scenes).

It might be worthwhile to look in to Baiken, Izuna, Kum Haehyun, Jack-O', A.B.A. (though she's eccentric), and maybe even Leopaldon!

Anji Mito might also be worthwhile, though he works with Chipp in Eastern Chipp Kingdom alongside Answer... they have invaluable info as consultants!

While there "was" a point when Millia considered ranking individuals by raw strength, not only did Sol Badguy turn that whole concept on its ear, but Dizzy would almost always be at the top of that list (despite being King Ky's Wife in Private, which is considered classified Royal information). Axl Low is also a tough individual to track and get a hold of (due to his powers).

Aside those, Millia has a tough enough time keeping Slayer's fighting hobbies in check, alongside Zato who gives her his own types of problems... she's very busy right now, in case that's not obvious!