Bond!AU | Wyll & Ansur [Pt. 3]
Part One | Two
Wyll is slightly less surprised when he finds himself in the clearing again after closing his eye beside the smoldering cinders of his campfire. Such a thing happening twice is still circumstantial – albeit somewhat odd – but thrice? That makes a pattern, and Wyll’s life over the past year has increasingly depended on him taking note of those patterns.
He considers the space around him with more interest, now that he knows it to be something more than a mere dream. The pool draws the eye first, filling the center of the clearing as it does. He resists its allure, however, determined to finalize his surveillance before he allows himself to see if his little friend yet remains a part of this confounding dreamscape. The trees surrounding the clearing appear as solid and well-defined as the rest of the clearing, but as he makes toward them, they fade out in time with his steps. By the time he stands before them, they seem like nothing so much as the memory of trees — gray, wavering, and ephemeral.
Beyond them, in the formless fog, he hears the crashing of distant waves, and the furious shrieking of the gulls, songbirds of his youth. He swallows hard, the click of it catching in his throat. His good eye prickles, and his empty socket aches.
He turns away from the far-off call, trying to convince himself it does not make of him a coward. No longer so keen to unravel the mysteries of the dreamscape, he slumps to the ground in his ‘usual’ spot, against the rocks that have supported him twice before. He doesn’t imagine they will mind doing so again. Eager for a distraction, he looks for his little friend. After the last two meetings, he no longer expects to see it in the same form, watching solely for that tell-tale bronze.
He gazes into the pool for some time, inspecting it intently, and finding his breathing unconsciously matching the gentle lapping of the water. He settles into a state similar to what he imagined meditation must be like, when he heard it described as a child. He is aware of every splash and rustle before him, but every one that does not resolve itself in some new form of his friend is noted, then disregarded. Somehow, this sustained focus does not exhaust him — as he is certain it must, were he to attempt it upon waking. Instead, it feels almost rejuvenating, the aches of his body carried away along with the rest. The aching of his mind is not so easily disregarded, but he fancies it too, is somewhat soothed.
After a time, his attention is drawn to a portion of the pool, something about it sticking with him, rather than flowing through. He makes the decision – barely a thought, really – to trust his instincts, and keeps his attention focused upon it. Some minutes later, his patience is rewarded, as a tiny brown snout he had taken for a twig ‘til now pokes further out from the water, revealing dark eyes and a head striped with bronze. Below the water the coloration continues, muted but still visible, as the light reflects off of the angled patterns of its shell.
Wyll smiles helplessly down at the turtle, which cannot be any larger than the palm of his hand. “I hope you have avoided further mishaps, friend.”
The turtle turns its head to stare at him, and, for no reason he can clearly define, he perceives it to be disgruntled. He considers it for a moment, then owns that he does not greatly enjoy having his own blunders thrown back in his face — something the devil he is sworn to is all too happy to engage in, under the guise of “counsel”.
He bows his head to the little creature. “Apologies; that was ill-done of me. I meant only to wish you well, and inquire after your health. Although… I suppose you likely can’t talk, which means that is also quite rude—”
Turtles certainly can’t roll their eyes, but Wyll discovers that mysterious turtles one encounters in a dreamscape can manage a very convincing impression. With a gurgling huff, the little thing clambers its way onto the sun-warmed surface of a small rock, settling in to bask. Its head is still angled loosely in his direction, which he decides to treat as invitation enough. It clearly does not have any great trouble making its opinion known, no matter the limitations of its form.
Wyll has a fair few more stories under his belt now than he did when he first awoke in this clearing, and he shuffles through them in his mind, searching for the best of them to entertain his companion. If they are to meet only sparingly, as seems to be the case, then he will no doubt have plenty more at their next encounter.
Leaning back fully against the rock behind him, he settles upon his choice, and begins his tale.
“So this particular wizard – although those toffs out in Waterdeep would likely take umbrage with him claiming that title – had struck upon the brilliant idea of employing both a choker and a gargoyle as guards…”
27 notes
·
View notes
I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."
I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.
Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.
Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.
18K notes
·
View notes
I am incredibly serious right now when I beg you all, please, and if you have Twitter or Tiktok or whatever to please spread the word: click on an author's profile on Ao3.
You want to know if an author has written more? Want to know if they're still writing? Want to see more from them? Want to know if they've written a trope or kink or sex scenario you enjoy?
Click on their name. And look at their profile.
I cannot tell you how many times in the last six months someone has read a new or newer fic of mine and said they (a new reader who has read nothing else I've done) "can't wait to see what you do next!" I've written 50+ fics and over a million words already.
"I don't know if you're still writing..." click on my profile. I am. I literally wrote a 128k+ fic for that ship last month.
"Would you ever do X?" "Please do Y!" I already did. Click on my name and look at my works.
Archive of our Own is a library. It's an archive. Not social media. It is your responsibility to fight back against the laziness that corporate algorithms have trained into you.
Click my author name. Just click it. Just click it.
Before you demand more, or ask if a writer will do XYZ, or wonder if the author still writing, or anything - click on their profile. Click on the author's profile.
I'm not trying to be mean or condescending or anything like that. I'm just exhausted. It's disheartening and frustrating to repeat myself ad nauseam, because someone couldn't take thirty seconds to do the tiniest bit of work to see if I've written lately, if I've written more for their ship, or scan my works to see if I've written what they're asking for. Please. Please. I'm begging.
Click the author's name, and explore before you ask.
3K notes
·
View notes
ICJ Ruling
Okay, let's get into this.
First of all, I get the frustration at the court not ordering a ceasefire. I was disappointed and frustrated at first too, since a ceasefire was the biggest and most important preliminary measure South Africa was requesting - and of course we just all want this horror to finally end for the people in Gaza. So I get the frustration and disappointment, I really do.
However, I do think this ruling is still a major win for South Africa, Palestine, and international law as a whole and here's why:
The court acknowledged that it has jurisdiction over this case and completely dismissed Israel's request to throw out the case as a whole. It will now determine at the merits stage (that will probably take years) whether Israel is actually commiting genocide.
The court acknowledged that Palestinians are a "distinct national or ethnic group and therefore deserving of protection under the genocide convention". Pull this out next time someone tells you "there's no such thing as Palestinians, they're all just Arabs".
The court acknowledged very unambiguously that "at least some" of Israel's actions being genocidal in nature is "plausible". South Africa has a case, officially. Israel is accused of genocide, in a way the ICJ deems "plausible", officially. This is huge. (And seriously, how freaking satisfying was it to hear all of those genocidal statements by Israeli politicians read out loud and used as justification for this rulling?)
The court might not have ordered a "ceasefire" in those words, but they did order Israel to "immediately end all genocidal acts" (which includes killing and injuring Palestinians) and submit proof that they actually did. How are they going to comply with this ruling without at least severly reducing or changing what they're doing in Gaza?
In fact, this wording might actually be more appropriate for a genocide (vs a war), as author and journalist Ali Abunimah notes on Twitter:
He's completely right. Israel lost today, by overwhelming majority (I mean, 15 to 2? I heard people predict the rulings would be very close, like 9 judges vs 8, but instead we got 15 to 2 (and even 16 to 1 on the humanitarian aid). Holy shit.) The court disimissed almost everything Israel's side of lawyers said, while acknowledging that South Africa's accusations are "plausible".
And this is important especially because of Mr Abunimah's second tweet there^. Because the question is, where do we go from here?
This ruling means that Israel is officially /possibly/ commiting genocide and that should have huge international consequences. The rest of the world now HAS to take these accusations seriously and stop arming and supporting Israel - and if they won't do it on their own, we, the people, have to make them. This is THE moment to rise up all around the world, especially in the countries most supportive of Israel (the US, the UK, Germany): Protest, call your representatives and demand a ceasefire and an end of arms deliveries to Israel.
We now have a legal case to back our demands: If Israel is, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" commiting genocide, then all of our governments are, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" guiltly of aiding in genocide. And we need to hold that over their heads and demand better. We need to do that right now and in huge numbers. Most politicians only care about themselves and saving their skin. We have to make them realize that they could be accused of aiding in genocide.
(As a German, I'm thinking of Germany here in particular: After South Africa's hearing, our government dismissed their case as having "no basis" - how are they going to keep saying that now that the ICJ officially thinks otherwise? Over the last months, people here have been arrested at protests for calling what's happening in Gaza a genocide. How are the police supposed to legally keep doing that now that the ICJ has officially deemed this accusation "plausible"? I used to be scared to use the word "genocide" at protests or write it on my protest signs - not anymore, have fun trying to arrest me for that when the ICJ literally has my back on this one 🖕🏻.)
So yeah - don't be defeatist about this, don't let Israel's narrative that they "won" (they didn't) take over. This might not be everything we wanted, but it's still a good result. Don't let what the court didn't say ("ceasefire"), distract you from the very important things that they did say. Let this be your motivation to get loud and active, especially if you live in any country that supports Israel. Put pressure on your governments to not be complicit in genocide, you now officially have the highest international court on your side.
6K notes
·
View notes
This is one of my favorite minor details in Dungeon Meshi, firstly because what in the femme fatale, but also because it's one of those little things that raises so many questions about worldbuilding.
The Occam's Razor defense attorney in me says that Ryoko Kui gave Kabru a boot knife because she wanted him to escape from his bonds here. And Kabru is a very competent swordsman, why wouldn't he have a boot knife, sure. He's already got a dagger, he can have this too.
And yet: the implications. Kabru, why do you have that? That is not remotely something that could be easily accessed or used in combat. Nobody is pulling out a pen knife from the heel of their boot during a fight with a monster. It's useless in the dungeon ... unless you're the type of person who isn't just worried about monsters.
I've mentioned this before, but I consider one of Kabru's functions in the narrative as being the character who fully brings the idea of human ecosystems into the story. There's a reason why he's always connected to large groups of people (Toshiro's party, the Canaries). He (along with Mr. Tansu, briefly) introduces the reader to the social and political forces working on the dungeon, showing us that none of this is happening in a monster-filled vacuum. His confrontation with the corpse retrievers, who very nearly kill Kabru's party permanently with their reckless murder-for-money scheme, reminds us that monsters are not the only things that prey on humans. Kabru understands the ways the dungeon causes people to put profit over human lives.
We only get hints of it in the story, but like any gold-rush-style economic boom, it's implied that there is a lot of crime and corruption surrounding the dungeon.
So yeah, it really makes me wonder why Kabru keeps a tiny knife in his boot, meant to be carried on him even in situations where he would otherwise be unarmed. Stored exactly in the place where it's easy to reach, even if, for some reason, your hands are tied behind your back.
2K notes
·
View notes