#ideally their homelands wouldn't exist

[persistent-wallflower]

Few things I feel more icky about than queer people from rich western countries condemning all people from places with less progressive societies as irredeemably backwards 🤨😒

[sufferu]

Your fantastic writing skills gave me angst I demand compensation. Lol. You gave me a lot to think about and I have to say, in my nearly 9 years of being an avid fanfic reader. A writer never made me THIS invested.

After being abandoned by everyone, do you think subaru will go to Priscilla? She was the only one who saw his side.

I have to say tho I get Subaru's side more. He can't control RBD. If anyone had the power to bring back loved ones they would. I'm sure Ferris wouldn't hesitate to save crush. I think everybody is so upset that they tunnel visioned and didn't do right by him. Everything is outside of his control. He doesn't choose to come back. But he is, so he tries to save more people everytime.

Subaru obviously has issues. And I don't like the way the re zero narrative punishes him for using RBD. Meanwhile, Al is over here spaming reset with no consequences.

The world hates Subaru and the rest of the cast blame him. He is trying harder then ANYONE to LIVE, but they call him a suicidal monster.

I’m so glad that you’re enjoying my fic! That is some high praise right there, lol: I do hope to meet those expectations going forward ;)

Though I will say…I am approaching this from a slightly different angle. For starters — this will be a lot clearer in the actual chapter than it was in this ficlet, but Arc 5 does not go the same way it does in canon, hence how Subaru managed to save EVERYONE and capture/kill literally every attacking Archbishop in Priestella. This is the main reason why everyone is so angry and devastated. If it were canon Arc 5, things might have gone differently. …Then again, Arc 8 DOES exist. So maybe we would have ended up in this situation someday regardless.

But also…well.

Return By Death isn’t JUST a powerful ability that Subaru has access to: it is the epitome of weaponized self-destruction, in which he can literally sacrifice himself over and over again for the sake of those around him whether they like it or not. He is fully capable of taking all their pain on himself, of placing himself in unimaginably horrible situations on other people’s behalf, and doing it for…maybe even all of eternity, depending on how things go. If you’ve ever read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin — Subaru has the potential to basically become That for the entirety of Lugunica. And even worse: if he’s employed as a knight, it is arguably his sworn duty to do exactly that, because a knight is a profession in which one lays down their life for the people they want to protect. What does that turn into when the knight can do that again and again, indefinitely?

The cast of Re:Zero shows every sign that they would absolutely fucking hate the idea of being reliant on something that disgusting. Julius sacrifices his reputation to try and keep Subaru alive, Tivey and Hetaro declare that throwing away one’s life for a cause is a fucking joke, Ferris has this whole thing about valuing life to the point where just a hint of Subaru being suicidal sends him into an actual nervous breakdown, Vincent is raked through the coals for his attempt to sacrifice himself for his country just that one time by both the narrative and the people around him, Arc 4 exists — there’s A Lot that points to most of these characters finding the idea of this cycle of repeated sacrifice bring just AWFUL, and even to the idea that they’d actively take offense to someone attempting to do such a thing on their behalf.

There is one exception to this rule, however, and that is Priscilla Barielle — who actively praises subjects that sacrifice themselves for her, who forces Aldebaran to reset whenever he does something she doesn’t like, who praised Subaru as a brilliant knight when he was (narratively speaking) at his very worst, who symbolizes the mechanisms of fate itself, who’s final moment involved her sacrificing herself for her homeland, and who is in every way the pinnacle of the Sword Wolf that Vollachia praises as the ideal subject (VOLLACHIA, mind you, which is a nation that has the whole Muspel contract going on). Priscilla is an actual monster, an awful personality, and the antithesis of the themes of Re:Zero. So her siding with Subaru in this instance is — completely in character, but it’s one of the most damning things I feel I could have done.

(I am glad that someone was able to actually connect with her though — was afraid that I made her too cartoonishly evil lmao)

As for what’s happening to Subaru now…well, you’re right about the end of that duel being the rock bottom of his character’s state in this fic. But — just because he was fired from his post doesn’t mean he’s being ABANDONED. They can’t afford to abandon a time traveler to be left to his own devices, first of all. But also, even in they’re all Very Angry with him right now…all these people still love him an awful lot. There’s a reason Wilhelm decided to duel him for the position and take the blame for his removal all upon himself, instead of doing something that would leave Subaru more at the mercy of public opinion. And there’s a reason Crusch’s idea of “suicide watch” was basically, “Hey, Wilhelm, do you want a new grandchild?” instead of something like “Let’s imprison him in the catacombs of the Kingdom.” They DO care about him. That’s the problem.

[homielander]

that scene of homelander assuring ryan he doesn't have to do any stupid tv shows was really sweet. (taking that guy's wallet and keys was hilarious 😭) love how he's always asking ryan how he's feeling and making sure to make decisions based on what's best for him, i know people are going to say he's manipulating him but it's wholesome and shows how much hl wants better for ryan!! he outright said the equivalent of "i'm sorry for manipulating you"

i think you're correct in how you interpreted homelander's intentions. he really does want to do better for his son and allow him autonomy. of course, the way homelander is raising ryan is (despite his very best intentions) coloured by a severely warped worldview. homelander genuinely does not see the point in helping regular people as ryan hopes to do. it's clear from past seasons that he enjoys his saves for two reasons: the validation and approval he receives from the people he saves, and the opportunity to inflict harm on the people he should simply be apprehending. and he's resolved to no longer rely on people's approval, so even though he immediately supports ryan's stated goal, humiliating adam is the only way he can conceive of making this moment fun and fulfilling for both of them. and he wants to share everything with his son, after all! so i wouldn't label it deliberate manipulation... more like a misguided bonding attempt. at worst, homelander would say he was trying to ensure ryan saw eye-to-eye with him.

i think what people can fail to grasp when it comes to less-than-ideal relationships in fiction (yes, i know this is an understatement for ryan and homelander) is that there is often love there, and sometimes there is even growth, and acknowledging that does not mean that everyone is blind to the more troubling aspects of these relationships. you can enjoy what positive moments do exist. i support your right to find these scenes sweet!!

[aguineapigcouldntdothis]

im still pissed off at how @xitemo treated jews that I care about and respect as if they were worthless internet trolls whose contributions are worth nothing. which is entirely false in case that isnt obvious.

"protect your jewish friends" my ass

you claim to "protect jewish people" yet stop showing that support the second you realize that we have our own lives, our own communities, our own ideals, etc. you say you wouldn't raise your hand in anger to people who don't want these horrific events in palestine to happen any more than you do, yet you continue to do just that. its pretty fucking clear you give zero fucks about the jewish community.

why is it that you no longer believe those jewish people are deserving of protection when we express beliefs that do not perfectly align with your own? I mean, the vast majority of jews are zionists because we believe israel deserves to exist and remain a homeland for jewish people.

im sick and fucking tired of antisemites like you going after my friends and family in the guise of peace and hurling disgusting shit at them while hiding behind a shield of "but but I care about my jewish friends!!" when that clearly isn't the case. you respect the actions of a man who was mentally ill and suffering more than the actions of alive, coherent, and knowledgeable jews.

im not usually into starting shit like this and I thought about blocking and leaving it alone, but I cant sit around and let people mistreat other jews. our strength comes from our ability to have so, so many different perspectives and I dont want a single jewish person to think their opinion doesn't matter. every jew present in the thread i pulled the screenshots is amazing, and I dont want them to internalize bullshit like that. I also dont want other jewish people to internalize the idea that their opinions are worthless. yall are not trolls, you're not cowards, you're not scum. you're brave as fuck for surviving and being jewish and speaking out against antisemitism.

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

So apparently the "Jesus was Palestinian" bullshit is doing its rounds again, continuing the proud tradition of that fucking pink infograph from May '21 that claimed "the first Christians were Palestinians". I'm not going to go over why this is a load of racist antisemitic a-historical crap, I've already done so in the past (one, two, three, four, though I do feel I could explain it better today... but I'm not gonna do that). But I do believe we need to talk about this a little more. Not about the content of the claims, which is so unbelievably easy to refute by reading literally the first paragraph of a couple of Wikipedia articles, but the reason for the existence of the claims themselves and their structure.

We have to ask ourselves why do people need Christianity in general and Jesus specifically to be tied to the Palestinian identity and what the hell does this have to do with the I/P conflict at all? Because, here's the thing; the topic is the I/P conflict, this is our framework. And yet while talking about a war currently being waged, about cease fires and humanitarian aid, about a massacre and hostages, about politics and ideologies, out of fucking nowhere one side of the debate just throws this claim - "yeah, well Jesus was Palestinian!" / "The first Christians were Palestinians!". You might ask yourself what the actual fuck are they talking about. I mean, I could throw random sentences too, it just wouldn't be a very effective conversation, would it? So why are they saying it now in this context?

Let's go back to that OG pink infograph, because I do think it's the most revealing. "The first Christians were Palestinians". This is an equation - x equals y, first Christians = Palestinians. First is important here, it speaks of precedence, of date. Christianity as a whole and Jesus in particular are an incredibly convenient thing to date historically. They are also very ancient. This is about establishing an ancient anchor to the Palestinian identity.

But the sentence isn't actually complete, is it? There's something missing from it. A silent part at the end of it - "the first Christians were Palestinians, as opposed to Jews". This is the context. This is, and always was, about denying the history of the Jewish people. It's literally an attempt at erasing Jewishness from history itself and replacing it with a New and Improved one that is Western-Leftist Approved.

This is the single saddest thing I've ever heard in my goddam life. What they're saying, what they're actually saying, is that the Palestinian plight, suffering and right for self determination only exist if their identity is ancient enough. Ideally - more ancient than that unbelievably annoying people who won't shut up about how ancient they are. What they're saying with their "post-colonial" rotten brains, with their cruelty and their absolute wickedness, is that suffering is only worth acknowledging and fighting if it neatly fits their "colonizer/colonized" dichotomy world view. Palestinians have no right in the leftist world unless: 1) their identity is ancient enough for them to join the oppressed club, 2) the Jews' identity isn't.

And it is just so unbelievably funny. Again, I'm not going to repeat the explanation of what "Palestina" actually is, you can read my previous posts about that. What I do have to say is just how unfathomably historically funny it is to me, not just as a Jewish woman but more importantly as an archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, that they would use a Jewish man preaching Jewish things to Jewish people in the remnants of the Jewish kingdom of Judea, almost a thousand years after its establishment, barley more than a century before its final destruction and the end of Jewish autonomy in their ancestral homeland for the next almost two millennia, to establish an ancient anchor for Palestinian identity.

And by the way, when I said that Jesus and Christianity are "very" ancient - I lied. I can't begin to explain to you how "new" that is to an archaeologist of the Ancient world. I literally haven't seen the other side of the zero in like a decade. So, on top of what I said in my previous posts, along with many other people online, the thing that is even more fucking funny is how every evidence we have for the origin of the word (just the word! not the identity! which didn't exist yet!!!!) "Palestina" positions it in the Greeks' hands around 500 BCE, which is still almost 500 years after the establishment of Judea. Can you do basic math?? Can you fucking do it???

You Westerners (and non-Westerners and Palestinians to be perfectly clear) want us so badly to be foreign invaders who stole precious lands from poor little woobified natives, but we're fucking not. You are incapable of holding more than one fucking thought in your tiny little rotten minds so you try to change history, to change reality itself to fit your warped perception of the world. You do that because you hate Jews, not because you give even a tiny little shit about Palestinians. Because you don't, and you prove that every single day with every single lie that comes out of your mouth.

We are at war for maybe more than a century at this point. They killed my people, they butchered them, they literally live on the ruins of my ancestors. But I care about them because I care about everyone in the world and I am capable of looking beyond my own rights (which fucking exist) and recognize that my enemies are just as human and deserving of life and joy and safety as me. I don't need them to be more ancient than me to recognize their grief, their suffering, their right for self determination, because apparently I have a fucking heart and a working brain, something I genuinely can no longer say about most of you.

[ferrocyan]

15 lines of dialogue

Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

15 feels like too few haha! i'm picking these mostly from finished fics, with a couple of wips at the end. feels like i could go on forever otherwise

tagged by @improvised-finish (tysm!!) and tagging @pillowfriendly and @worldoshaking i wanna read more of your wols pls pls pls (*>∀<*)

(duo)

"I've never heard of such a name before! From which fair land do you hail, friend?"

"Coer--" C'astarhte said something and promptly bit her tongue. She covered her mouth, then quickly added, "Pardon. Meant to say... I come from the Exarch's homeland."

---

C'astarhte looked distressed. She glanced around at the rest of the bar, then at Reeq, and whispered intently, "But this worked before... Crystarium people don't ask about the Exarch."

(detour)

"So we've never really fought together, no? When you say we're partners, I'd like it to be earned."

---

"Doesn't need to," Tart shrugged. "What matters is we do it together. No more objections, right? Surely not." She stuck out her tongue at Lue-Reeq, then headed to the stairs.

---

"You know," Tart said, "you're not bad. I don't know much about archery, but your technique is very clean. Efficient, no wasted movement, very well timed. I was amazed how fast you could nock arrows and have shots lined up perfectly. It was nice to fight with you. Good job, Reeq."

(drown)

She just had to kill Andreia. All would be well if she killed Andreia. Remember what she had done to Alisaie, to Alphinaud? Blackguard. Scum. Bitch. Just kill her and get it over with!

(ask of me)

"No," Tart cuts him off. "Don't want to stop, just... want you to stop pretending I'm not here."

"Am I?"

"You're not touching me, not saying anything, not even looking at me! What's with that, Reeq?" she pouts.

---

"Reeq, you like it when complimented and told you're doing a good job. I feel the same. So, not asking for more, you're giving back to me." She smiles, putting her hand on his. "I like you. Always want more of you. If you're having a good time then so am I. Wouldn't know that if you don't tell me, though, so let me hear it, yeah?"

(focus)

"you're scaring me a little, right now."

she smiles. "is that bad?"

"not at all. i quite like it."

"good."

(wurm)

"Say, remember when you asked, would I still love you if you were a worm?"

Reeq snorts. "Why yes, I do! I remember perfectly well," he pinches her cheek lightly, "when you told me that you would feed me to your chocobo."

(peel)

The man is ecstatic, so very amused that he cannot hold his giggles back. His feet kick as he laughs and his tail thumps on the floor, shaking with glee. Unable to wait for Reeq to finish his sentence, he fills in with an exclamation:

"Tart!"

Tart only makes himself laugh harder.

(division)

"ishgard has ways of denying certain people's existnce. mean really, completely erase them, unlike the shite that bishop was spewing about himself. my family no longer exists. how dare he accuse me of not understanding how it feels to be rejected? and how dare you take my prey?"

---

tart holds his focus in his right hand, blade in the left. his tail flicks uneasily. "go easy on me, won't you?"

"what? oh my, i never thought i would hear that from the warrior of light!" aymeric laughs as he readies his own sword.

"i'm ill, you blackguard."

"then maybe you should rest properly."

"hasn't helped. this might, so stay still and let me cast magic at you."

(out to the cold)

"--get it, i get it. zenos wanting me makes me a liability. now that you all have the dragon scales' protection, i am not needed anymore. you--they're setting you up as my replacement. no. no, they can't. won't allow it. can't let that happen. oh--you--you're here to kill me. you can't replace me! i'll kill you first! you're dead, estinien wyrmblood!"

(aphelion)

"not that i want to die, g'raha. just... wish i'd died back there. it wouldn't've been good, but it would've been perfect. my life could've ended perfectly. haven't you felt that way too?"

[blurrymango]

For the record I don't support Zionism (in an ideal world it wouldn't be a thing) but I understand it. Ancestral homeland of Jews + pretty much the whole world hates Jews so they need a place that doesn't hate them. That's really the main one. Every other country is hostile to Jewish people. It's baffling.

I wish I saw more people who supported Palestine without supporting Hamas or calling Israelis white colonist settlers. Or just straight up being antisemitic.

Two-state solution is the most reasonable solution. Palestine and Israel both have a right to exist. I'm hoping this conflict ends soon because. People are dying. Palestinians and Jews are being killed and it needs to end y'know.

I don't like talking about this war because I feel that as an American who isn't like. Affected by it I shouldn't be giving my opinion on it. But my opinion is this- you should support Palestine, not Hamas. And you should stop being antisemitic.

[russiasredguardian]

❛ are you saying you care about me? ❜

go back a handful of years and he might have spat back a knee-jerk response. barked a laugh at her inference perhaps. scoffed at her question or slung back a litany of sarcasm or vitriol.

but it wasn't back then - this was the now and present and maybe there was a psychological thread that needed pulling about them having become staples in each others lives, about being the certain presence when others came and went ... but he definitely wasn't about to tug on that thread.

the whole fucking thing might unravel if he went picking at a loose end.

did he care about her?

love had been there before - back then. but that love had died a tragic death and he'd filled up the chasm of grief with the martyrdom of the red guardian. hadn't that been the ideal back then? sacrificing your personal life in order to better the prospects of the homeland. a throw-back the stalinistic mantra of not one step back.

he didn't use the l-word now. he'd used it before and he had allowed himself to be vulnerable and that whole life had been torn away from him with no closure. there was probably another psychological thread to be tugged at there too - a shrink would have a fucking field day picking him apart; pointing out how he chose not to use that particular word because if love didn't exist, then he didn't run the risk of having that person or thing taken away.

he hadn't answered her question and alexei could feel her eyes lingering on him - not a glare. no, that felt different. this wasn't accusatory, it was hesitant. a brief pause that had her wondering if she should have asked that question to start with, but he wouldn't ignore it. because those years had also taught him that she found just as hard to be vulnerable as he did.

' — i care about what happens to you. '

@taliaromanova