#it is suffering but it makes the game so fun

[stupditysholy]

I have to get this off my chest because the amount of Curly love on tik tok actually stresses me out and I’ll tell you why:

So to my understanding having experienced the game multiple times, Curly absolutely fails to advocate for/help Anya. She hides the gun to keep it away from Jim because Curly will not allow her to protect herself. He straight up calls her crazy to her face, too: “You never had to get psych evals like the rest of us. I should’ve known” or something along those lines. When Curly confronts Jim before Jim crashes the ship, he doesn’t say ANYTHING in defense of Anya, instead consoling Jim that they would figure it out, and he’d been in rough spots before.

For all intents and purposes, Curly does not see that Jim has done something inexcusable, and rather he has made a series of mistakes. He does not for one single moment consider how Anya’s life has been permanently altered, how her autonomy has been entirely stolen from her.

Until he experiences it himself.

Curly being reduced to a mostly immobile spring sausage is his way of experiencing the pain he allowed to be inflicted upon Anya, full stop. Even more ironic? Anya can’t bare to give him his pain killers, so he is left completely at Jim’s mercy, a fun-house mirror of how Curly could not bare to hold his friend accountable, and therefore left Anya at Jim’s mercy pre-crash.

Curly only becomes Jim’s victim because he allows Anya’s victimization to go on unchecked. He thought he was exempt from Jim’s abuse, and that is his biggest mistake.

Also, I have to say the idea that Curly get’s rescued and lives happily ever after does the narrative no justice. In fact, it completely undermines Jim’s entire character arc. Curly living happily ever after would, in some sense, redeem a little of Jim’s character—redemption he did not remotely earn because he did NOT take responsibility. At all.

Jim putting Curly in the pod at the end is no act of mercy. It’s actually the worst and most selfish thing he could have done. It’s the exact freaking opposite of taking responsibility. When he has his big talk with Polle before the very end, he is spouting complete and utter bullshit. Why?

The crash and Curly are NOT the things he is supposed to be taking responsibility for. The thing he is supposed to be taking responsibility for is ANYA’S TORMENT. That is the thing which started all of this, which lead to the crash, which fried Curly. That is the inciting incident.

That’s the freaking irony!

Anya get’s completely and utterly forgotten in this moment. In my opinion, this is why Polle says:

If all of that is true… why are you still so concerned with him?

Because right before that, Jim is about to say “Our worst moments don’t make us monsters.”

And Polle knows, then, in that moment, that when Jim thinks of his worst moments, he thinks of the accident, what happened to Curly, rather than the immeasurable pain he inflicted on Anya PURPOSEFULLY. Jim completely fucking ignores his worst moment, and that DOES make him a monster.

So when Jim puts Curly in that pod, not only is he righting the WRONG wrong, but he is actively choosing to believe this is what it means to take responsibility. He is making his amends to a man he accidentally hurt rather than the person who suffered the most at his hand.

It’s also pretty evil of Jim to put him in there because he knows: a good captain goes down with his ship. He makes Curly out to be a selfish and pitiful. He may even be setting him up for failure depending on how the authorities reason out what happened.

I just think at the end of the day Jim is the villian of the story, and Curly is a freaking bystander. Obviously post-crash this is inevitable, but that’s almost funny—not gonna do anything to stop him, Curly? Guess what, now you don’t even have a freaking choice.

Anyway please stop glazing the spaghetti man you can love his complexity but he is not a good guy or uwu cutie pie. He sucks. Straight up.

Feel free to start discourse in the comments I’m okay with being wrong about him I guess I just don’t think I am.

[who-is-page]

Greener Grasses and Fossilized Paw Prints: Where (and Why) the Greymuzzles Go

Author: Page Type: Essay Words: 1,229 Summary: Page's personal experience as an adult canine psychopomp, and how it applies to the dearth of older otherkin in general alterhuman community spaces. Answering the question of: where are all the older otherkin? And why do people always seem to eventually leave? Author's Note: The term "greymuzzle" is used within the scope of this essay's title to reference older otherkin who have been active in alterhuman spaces for extended periods of time (a nod to the word's original definition within furry spaces), and is not referring to greymuzzle's most frequent definition in alterhuman groups as a community-given term denoting an individual with noteworthy activity and contribution.

[Part of the Sol System’s Alterhuman Writing Project for 2024. If you don’t want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedclaws]

When I was a young otherkin, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, I found it difficult to conceptualize why there was such a dearth of older community members, especially those 30 and above. I could understand the theoretics behind the disparity, of course— social media platforms, as we all know, tend to skew towards younger audiences due to generational differences in technological proficiency/preference. Established adults with working lives and families don’t necessarily have the same amount of free-time that young adults or teenagers do, either. But even with all that taken into account, it seemed like the number of otherkin aged 13-21 in comparison to the number of otherkin aged 30+ was less a gradual decline and more an unfathomable chasm of difference. The community had been around for decades at that point, with plenty of ghost town groups and abandoned forums to demonstrate that fact… and unless the Veil was secretly age-restricted, those people hadn’t up and disappeared into thin air. So where were people going? And, more importantly, why?

It was a question I’d never been able to answer in a way that felt satisfactory as a teenager and later as a young adult. But now, feeling the call of the void myself, I finally do have an answer and an understanding that I never could have achieved five or ten years ago: why the fuck would I be online when I could be playing video games or having sex with my hot partners instead?

It’s a crude and simplistic way to put it, but just hear me out. As an established adult, I have access to funds, stability, and freedom that I never had as a teenager or even as a young adult who still felt at the mercy of an uncaring universe’s slightest whims. My support systems in high school and college suffered from the same sort of financial and social precariousness that come with the territory of navigating the world as a young adult, but my support systems now are made up of other established adults; while I’ll never say that everything is always perfect for all of us, it’s much easier to get on your feet and stay on your feet when your arms are linked with people who are more firmly rooted in one way or another. I have access to a type of freedom that I could never have imagined as a teenager, because it was literally outside of the range of what was possible for me and my peers.

And more than just that freedom is the fact that I, as an adult, have a family! “Having a family” has, in my experience, some shitty, heteronormative connotations. As a teen, I always took it at face value as juggling bills, kids, white picket fence, other boring responsibilities that eat up your time, etc. But as an adult, now I know that having a family can be anything you make of it, and I make it extremely, obnoxiously queer. In my case, it’s living with people who understand me on a deep, foundational level, and who love me not in spite of who I am but because of who (and what) I am. It’s not passively being around those people; it’s actively, enthusiastically spending time with them because it’s fun and because I love them too and because they’re my people and I picked them and they picked me. As a kid, I’d never consciously recognized the difference between people you’re passively around because you have to be versus people you intentionally choose to be around and who intentionally choose you right back. In part, this is because as a kid you often don’t get the option to make that choice, while as an adult you have more control over your environment. Too often online environments feel like the former, rather than the latter, even if being within them is, technically, a choice. But here, now, I have people in my household who will go out of their way to intersect their daily lives with mine and ask, “You wanna walk to the park?” “You wanna grab a coffee?” or “You HAVE to see this YouTube essay I’m watching and no I don’t care that it’s 4 hours long on a topic you know nothing about, just trust me!!!!!” and that’s such a radically different and wonderful experience.

As an adult, I live with a group of people who make being alive more fun than I could have ever imagined. I have the ability to make my own fun in ways I couldn’t as a kid, for a variety of reasons. I don’t have to feel like an anxious purse chihuahua 24/7, agonizing over my existence and every possible thing that is liable to go wrong if I frivolously spend money on so much of the thought of a hot coffee. And I finally, finally understand why older otherkin disappear off the face of the Earth. It’s because being an adult nonhuman-identifying person is amazing in a way almost no one ever talks about: the euphoric experience of being known and loved, and of knowing and loving yourself.

There are so many exciting and wonderful things I could be doing in the meatspace with people I have actively chosen to spend my life with, and who fully accept and understand me as someone who’s queer, plural, and nonhuman. There’s so many enriching ways I could be engaging with my hobbies, the environment around me, and my local community. With this all in mind, why the fuck would I ever be in public online spaces where people try to argue with me about whether or not I exist, or if my experiences are real, or if I’m using the right and latest lingo to describe my experiences? Why would I subject myself to that when I could just roll my eyes, close the laptop, and go be a beloved canine psychopomp in the comfort of my werehouse instead?

That’s the crux of it. As adults with families and support networks, we have the option to not subject ourselves to the morifying ordeal of being known by asshole strangers online if we don’t want to. We can stick to just our families and our friend groups, and we will still have people around us who understand and who acknowledge and interact with our alterhumanity. The alterhuman community isn’t the only or even most important place for being our authentic selves; rather, it takes a backseat in the day-to-day life. It’s still something that’s fulfilling and worthwhile to engage with, but only on our own terms (terms that are quickly becoming incompatible with the ways Internet culture is evolving). But more often than not, there’s just more fun things to do.

In some ways, it’s kind of a relief to have had this epiphany. People haven’t vanished from alterhuman community spaces because they collectively ‘grew out of it’ like some anti-otherkin insist, or because the various generations of otherkin are so extraordinarily different from one another as to be oil-and-water. People vanish from online alterhuman spaces because offline life as an adult alterhuman is awesome. As an archivist it’s frustrating, but as a nonhuman, I find it a specific type of happiness that’s worth celebrating in its existence and prevalence. It’s an assurance that life only gets better as you get older: isn’t that grand?

[zhvakinnn]

Can you do what it feels like to be the crews younger sibling pls?

Stay beside me.. please

Mouthwashing character x sibling reader (platonic)

A/N: im not sure who's crew but im assuming this is mouth washing is not I could totally write different, and finally something that is not romantic

Warnings: jimmy

Fluff and angst (yes)

✳️as always i don't know much English so if something is wrong correct me✳️

Daisuke

Fluff

His mere exited for you to be there, since he could talk to someone while still not being close to anyone

He brought many things like jigsaw puzzle, chess, monopoly etc

Your duo troupe is either yapper x listener or yapper x yapper (his always the yapper)

It's fun to be around him your surrounding won't be silent even in a second

And I think his the type of brother who laughs before helping you if you get stuck on something or fell

But his the only one who can mock you he will not fight the person physically but in words his definitely a trash talker

Okay now back to the ship, he was the one who introduced to Swansea and Anya

If you ever got your brothers personality Swansea is double pissed

He loves you and his showing it by cheering for you like praising the things you did "you did pretty good there little dude" "that was cool! Im proud of you"

His a pretty cool brother

Angst

You were there to where Swansea killed him

You looked down to your brother who was suffering

Swansea made you back away not letting you watch the scene

You even tried to stop Swansea to kill him but Swansea said it's the only way to stop his suffering

You kept on making excuses for him to save

You argue back that if cpt. Curly can survive daisuke can too

"(name)! FOR FUCK SAKE GET OUT OF HERE" he shouted making you cry seeking for your brothers comfort but he can't

Daisuke was coughing loud "I love you bro" you run and run till you reach the nurse room

His a pretty cool brother

Anya

Fluff

She's the sister who always and will take care of you

Even a little scratch she's putting on alcohol, disinfectant spray,betadine and more hijibigibis before slapping a bandaid

She's the nurse after all

She's a calm and beautiful woman and sometimes you wish to be like her one day

If you ever need a shoulder to cry she'll let you lean, need a hug she's there open arms, need to spill all your problems after bottling it up she has two ears to listen

But sometimes you wonder what is going on with your sisters head, you tried to let her talk to you about her problems but she shook her head saying she's fine

You didn't believe her you were patient taking each step for her to get it out of her

And when the crash happened she finally let it out of her

You stared at her as your fist curled she stopped you from attack it (jimmy)

You calm down and nodded you head but you never stop staring daggers to Jim

But then again I think she's the type of sister who wants to do some of TikTok dance and mostly sleep over

And if you two are playing some kind of board games and if she lose she would stare at you wanting to strangle you

But she still loves you don't worry

Angst

When you went to check on the room since cpt. Curly was making noises, once you open the door your heart sink's

Seeing your sister sitting there blood on her mouth

You ran up to her and drop to your knees you cried out for help while cpt. Curly was there to watch the scene

You held your sister close to your chest not caring about the blood

"captain what happened to her" you cried looking at him he groans and landing his eyes on the bottle of pills you looked to where his eyes looking at seeing the bottle

You picked it up and it was all empty making you cry more

She always tells you that "don't keep everything bottle up to yourself or else you'll die drowning"

Yet she couldn't even tell you and you didn't know she was hurting to much

You swear on your life you'll take avange of your sisters death

I couldn't finish this but I'll make a part two for the rest of the characters

[solace-saphylos]

I've started this challenge, and I will now unceremoniously use this reblog to reminisce about my progress so far. One of my personal goals this game is to socialize with all of the Sims 4 townies and get to know them better, so in order to ensure nobody ages away, dies or generates new whatever ones I set only my active household to age. That also means that every generation kept living will keep living even though the legacy goes on. I think I like it that way.

Lae'zel started out as a fresh alien ready to make her life in Grimm's Quarry, Evergreen harbor. She had great compatibility with Bess Sterling, the entrepreneur scam lady, so I first aimed for her as Wyll's other parent. This was shortly messed up by Bess asking to stay over a couple of days. It was a merry time of flirting with Bess and beating the ever loving shit out of Jules (Bess' boyfriend). I should have seen the Evil trait coming, but I embraced it with surprise. This is officially Vlaakith route Lae'zel. I promptly picked a fight with Santa, beat him up, and then erased his memory with alien powers. Life was good!

Wyll came to be after meeting Marcel Price at the neighbourhood brawl. Great compatibility, and a lot of micromanaging later, we were best friends and made a science baby. Boy on the first try! Lae'zel used up all of her parental leave to absolutely baby the infant, marvelling at how cute a human baby (objectified) can be. No will of their own, just... Adorable. Christmas came and she beat up Santa for presents, memory wipe, just like last time.

After an exemplary toddlerhood, Lae'zel was getting bored of parenting on her own. She made the impromptu main character decision of moving into Bess and Jules household, with the explicit goal of keeping up the romance with Bess and completely ruining Jules' life. It took some renovating to their house, and Wyll's room was a minimal closet type place with a bunk bed and a desk. Still, as a sociable child he enjoyed the extra faces to talk to.

The bane of my existence was picking the Commander career path, since it requires to level charisma. The socially awkward trait made this sloggingly slow, and I hated it. In order to make this suffering less serious I made sure to level Wyll's charisma too, to get that out of the way for his play as an adult. His teenage years became distinctly uneventful, as both him and his mother spent time yapping at mirrors and chasing confidence moodlets. Oh, Christmas was awesome for everyone in the house, even if Lae'zel beat up and memory wiped Santa again.

Life in the Bess-Sterling house was falling apart though. It was funny to give Jules the jealous trait, so that he would suffer, but on a whim I gave Lae'zel it too when prompted? The bitter resentment toward Bess, who honestly was the unfortunate victim of this love triangle, all of it made the relationship un-salvageable. It got to the point where Lae'zel beat Bess up, memory erased her, just to start over. It didn't work. They still despised each other.

So Lae'zel took her son and left that house, moving closer to work in Strangerville. With the half million simoleons she had stolen (split 50/50, Bess won the lottery once, I think that's why they were so rich??) Lae'zel built her own modern-cosmo luxe McMansion of moderate size. The charm point was the detached gym and a barely hidden rocket platform on the gym's roof. Truly a woman-cave to spend her retirement days in. Since she completed the bodybuilder aspiration, that retirement was bound to be long.

I wish there was more exciting things that happened in that house. They mostly grinded away at their skill leveling, Wyll completing both charisma and dance before Lae'zel got that damn 10 charisma for the final promotion. Since Lae'zel's evil trait had made her so mean, their relationship slowly deteriorated to a nice neutral in time for Wyll's birthday.

He invited all his friends. Even Bess and Jules were there. His dad, his half brother, the nanny who became his first best friend, it was just awesome! As soon as he's aged up and gained the good trait, he felt confident to take on the world! ... If only his evil alien mom didn't start arguing with him so soon. Their relationship sank like a stone in water, and after getting beat up Wyll immediately moved out. The party had barely finished before the took a measily sum of money and got himself that one haunted chef's apartment in San Myshuno. With only 213 simoleons to his name, he was ready to start his leg of the legacy!

Lae'zel was not quite finished with hers though. I played her for an extra week, where she gracefully aged up into an elder. Almost as soon as Wyll left she finally got that last bit of charisma. It was time to build the rocket on the roof. I purposefully left it 75% done, just to get that ominous scaffolded look for all the neighbours to worry about. Is she going home? Coming back with reinforcements? Or just bored of this earth?

Too bored can't be true. She admittedly had some flirtations with Marcel, Wyll's dad, after the platonic science baby had been made. Since Bess was shot, Lae'zel initiated a new sweet relationship with the man who had been there all along... Or rather, continuously showing up unceremoniously, somehow never concerned to hang out with his own family of six. I love this game.

Throughout her career Lae'zel has had work-pop ups for nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing but her social awkwardness. The final week of work to promotion edged me, continually sending me down with medium loss too many times. Friday finally made her Grand Marshal. She laughs manically, heading off to her detached gym to spar with her robot or to build on her rocket. She's finally done!

This is my first legacy challenge, but I get it. I really get it. Now I'm off to ruin Wyll's life before fixing it again. I have a Mizora stand in in mind for him <3 Judith Ward!

So I was surprised that there hasn't been a Baldur's Gate Sims 4 Legacy Challenge made yet, so I made one. This only includes the BG3 companions and custom characters. You're welcome. Let me know if I forget a pack.

Required packs: Get to Work, Realm of Magic, Strangerville, Snowy Escape, High School Years, Cottage Living, Get Famous, Seasons, Get Together, Cats and Dogs, Discover University, Growing Together, Spa Day, City Living, and Romantic Garden Stuff (optional)

Generation 1: Laezel

Socially Awkward, Genius, Active

Start as an Alien; you are not allowed to disguise yourself

Complete the BodyBuilder aspiration

Reach max Fitness skill

Reach level 10 of the Military career, either branch

Become Woohoo Partners with a sim and achieve Best Friend status without any romance bar

Have at least one Science baby with your best friend (No Try for Baby or Adoption)

Generation 2: Wyll

Self-assured, Proper, Good

Complete the Social Butterfly childhood aspiration

Complete the Friend of the World aspiration

Complete the Diamond Agent career track

Reach max Charisma and Dance skills

Have a negative relationship with Lae'zel and leave the house as a Young Adult

Have one child with an Evil, Mean, or Jealous sim, who will be Karlach.

Achieve soulmate status with another sim and stay with them until you die.

Generation 3: Karlach

Goofball, Hot-headed, Self-assured

Complete the Rambunctious Scamp childhood aspiration

Join the Football Team and become Football Captain

Complete the Joke Star aspiration

You must reach the Comedian branch as a Young Adult, but quit for the Manual Laborer part-time job until your death

You must have at least one child with a friend or lover in your household

Die as an Adult having completed all requirements

Generation 4: Shadowheart

Gloomy, Noncommittal, Snob

Be raised by a sim that is not your surviving parent. You are not allowed to interact with your original parent until you become a Young Adult.

Complete Friend of the Animals aspiration

Reach level 3 in the Criminal career, and then max out the Detective career

Own at least one barn and one chicken coop

Have at least one child

Optional: Have your child through the Wishing Well

Generation 5: Halsin

Love the Outdoors, Romantic, Animal Enthusiast

Become a Master Llamacorn Scout

Complete the Serial Romantic aspiration

Have at least 5 children with all different sims, one of them a spellcaster (Gale)

Own at least two barns, one chicken coop, and one garden plot, including Shadowheart’s barn and coop

Generation 6: Gale

Ambitious, Bookworm, Good

Must be born a spellcaster

Complete the Creative Genius or Whiz Kid Childhood Aspiration

Join the Chess team as a Teen and become Chess Team Captain

Become an A Student in Grade School and High School

Go to the Magic Realm as a teenager and train with a spellcaster. Have a romantic relationship and break up with that spellcaster as a Young Adult.

After the breakup, perform the Rite of Dissolution. (RP that this was forced.)

Complete a University degree

Max out the Professor career track and have at least one non-spellcaster child with a different sim

Optional: Become a Spellcaster again after completing your studies and reach Virtuoso rank before your death

Generation 7: Astarion

Paranoid, Kleptomaniac, Unflirty

Complete the Slumber Party Animal childhood aspiration

Join the Drama Club and become a Junior Artiste as a Teen

Join the Law career track and reach level 3

Be turned into a vampire by Straud as a Young Adult and move into his household

Seduce 10 sims and lure them to Straud’s mansion, turning at least 5 of them into vampires. You can only control Straud to turn sims; otherwise, you must primarily control Astarion. You cannot have a job and can only leave the mansion to pursue victims as long as Straud lives.

Make at least 3 friends

Kill Straud in your lifetime and take over his mansion

Achieve soulmate status with a non-vampire

Max out Vampire Lore skill

Have at least one child

Cure yourself of vampirism OR turn your soulmate into a vampire

Generation 8: Minthara

Self-absorbed, Evil, Ambitious

Can be a vampire or human, but must identify as a woman

Finish the Mind and Body Childhood Aspiration

Join the Cheer Captain activity as a teen

Complete the Leader of the Pack aspiration

Only women can be members

Reach level 10 of the Business career

Have at least 5 enemies

Generation 9: Dark Urge

Erratic, High-Maintenance, Gloomy

Complete the Public Enemy aspiration, then the Friend of the World aspiration

Max out Mischief and Wellness skills

Make 5 enemies, then repair all the relationships to Friendship level

Reach level 10 of any career

Have at least 1 child

Generation 10: Tav the Bard

Cheerful, Good, Creative

Complete the Artistic Prodigy Childhood Aspiration

Complete a University degree

Complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration

Reach level 10 in the Acting career

Max out Guitar (Lute) skill

Write 9 novels that correspond with each previous generation

[kala-mies]

Everyone's favorite cosmic joke!

[vynnyal]

Turns out Sunlit Trail isn't quite done just yet, so after all that they just send you to a dead end 😂

[oatm3al-c00kies]

everyone shut up i need to tell suzanne collins directly that the only part of 'the ballad of songbirds and snakes' that got an actual extended period of laughter in my theatre was the "tuberculosis on legs" joke, a joke made at the expense of a young, suffering, dying, sick tribute as she's about to accidentally ingest poison and kill herself because she's so thirsty and sees water and thinks it will make her feel better. this girl who's so sick because of the living conditions in her district, who was doomed as soon as her name was called, who was probably just so relieved to see an un-smashed bottle of water she didn't think anything of it, too exhausted and dehydrated to think anything of it.

a joke made by the capitol host of the hunger games to try and make capitol citizens laugh and make the horrific things happening in the arena better tv because they already don't see the tributes as people who have lives and who matter and maybe we're so close to her dystopia that we can actually fucking taste it

[umbraastaff]

umm uhh. suffering game wonderland but it's taskmaster

[befuddled-calico-whump]

cw: aftermath of whump, implied abuse, fantasy slavery, violence, manhandling.

based on this prompt by @howls-ghost

"Trite details bore me. I'll leave it to you to complete, and complete quickly," said Prince Acacius.

"I've had enough of your dimwitted blathering. See yourself to the door," said Prince Acacius.

"Remember your place," said Prince Acacius.

Laith was sick of it. Sick of the arrogant little brat prancing around the palace like he was already king. They hated Acacius and his cold, dismissive attitude. The spoiled twat didn't know a thing about running a kingdom, and wouldn't know humility if it bit him on the nose.

The only reason the country wasn't already in ruins was due to the competence of Laith and the rest of the high council. Even the regent, as good a man he was, was taken out of commission by Acacius, forced to keep the aloof young man at his side at all hours for supposed education. Not that Laith believed Acacius absorbed any of it. He was a horrid prince, and he'd make a horrid king.

And Laith intended to do something about it.

It started as something small and reasonable; a daydream about teaching the prince a lesson, of having him whipped for insolence, or beaten in the streets, or simply pushed off the balcony.

But none of those were realistic dreams, and none of those were enough. Acacius needed a punishment that would stick, something scarring, something humiliating.

The thoughts danced across Laith's mind through all their waking hours, turning sharper and more creative with every insult from the rotten prince.

But then, they thought, why bother with a mere punishment? Why not be rid of the arrogant heir for good? Death was too quick for his poisoned heart, but there were alternatives. Slavers in the West and enemies in the North, and either faction would jump at the chance to own the pretty prince. Should Laith's goal be realized, it would do more than sate their need for justice; it would spare the kingdom from a heartless ruler.

They'd lock him in a cell with no sunlight for a year. They'd remove his acrid tongue, put out his disdainful eyes, somehow they'd hurt him in a way that mattered.

They took their time making the arrangements; letters delivered in secret, coded messages, quiet plans and plots to cover the prince's upcoming disappearance. At last, the hour was drawing near. At last, Acacius would get all that he deserved.

But of course, Laith would have their fun with him first.

They came upon the royal in the dead of night. Laith had been making note of Acacius's movements, and by now they knew to expect the young man's midnight journey to the library. Too good to be seen there in daylight hours, when servants were dusting and lesser lords were reading. Too good to even peruse the shelves alongside those he deemed as unworthy.

Laith fell upon the prince as soon as he reached the library doors, wrapping their arm tight around a torso clad in a loose silk shirt, their other hand clamped over Acacius's mouth to dampen his startled cry. The prince made fearful noises beneath their hand, but there was no time to savor the sound. Laith knew they must move swiftly or risk alerting the night watch.

They slammed the prince's head into the heavy oak door behind him. Once, twice, and then their royal prisoner's struggling lessened. Laith forced him to the ground, stuffing a wad of cloth into his mouth and tying it in place with a cord. That same cord trailed down from the prince's head to wind around his wrists, then back up again to circle his throat, forming a makeshift collar and leash to better Laith's control of him. He tugged harshly at the rope, and the dazed prince stumbled to his feet, whimpering softly from behind the gag.

There was no haughtiness in his eyes, only something meek and fearful. It was nearly enough to make Laith second-guess their plans, but their memories of the man they knew Acacius to be strengthened their resolve.

They would not fall for this docile ruse. They knew the truth.

Laith delved deeper into the castle, making for one of the secret passages in the stone that would lead them outside the keep. There was a cottage at the edge of the woods, overlooking the river that ran alongside the castle's walls. A peasant girl had sighted it after Laith offered her a penny to find a covert location. It was perfect; well away from anyone who could hear them, and the river would make an easy path for the slavers' skiff.

They hauled Acacius into the cottage, unable to resist giving the prince a sharp kick in the back that sent him tumbling to the ground. The slavers weren't set to arrive until just before sunrise. Laith had nearly an hour to get revenge for every petty insult that had ever been flung their way.

Laith dropped a knee into the prince's chest, holding his head in place while he removed the gag.

Acacius's eyes were teary and pleading, but Laith refused to let the act sway them. If anything, it only fueled their fire. How dare this impudent brat act like this was unearned? Now safe behind a closed door, Laith let their fury burn, raining fists and kicks down on the prince's helpless form, relishing every muffled cry. No, they shouldn't be muffled. They wanted to hear Acacius plead for mercy.

"N-nnh please... Please don't," the shaky words left Acacius's throat with the balled-up cloth. Laith answered him with another blow, and the prince squeezed his eyes shut. When they opened again, there was a distant look to them, tears trickling from the corners.

No matter. Soon they'd be rid of him for good.

Small whimpers and gasps left Acacius's throat as Laith continued the beating, but aside from a few weak pleas, the prince didn't speak, or even look their way. Like he was only waiting for it to end. Their blows slowed, the enjoyment fading as the royal seemed to detach himself from the moment. Laith huffed. Even bound and beaten, Acacius was still ruining their day.

Ignoring the blank look on the prince's face, Laith drew their knife, cutting away Acacius's clothing. Even if that didn't get a reaction, it served the practical purpose of making things a shade easier on the slavers.

The prince lay very still, his breaths small and shaky as Laith removed the ruined clothing. And underneath the silk... Laith was unprepared for what was underneath the silk.

Old bruises covered Acacius's torso, scars layered beneath, some fresher than others. The wounds didn't stop there; more scars scattered the prince's legs, some framed in a sickly yellow-green.

"What is this?" Laith whispered, the question half-directed at themselves. Acacius didn't answer, staring up at the ceiling with eyes that looked glazed over.

Seeing another wound on their prisoner's shoulder, this one oddly shaped, Laith grabbed Acacius's upper arm and rolled him onto his stomach. The prince answered the action with a startled cry.

"N-no, please, please don't---"

"Shut up," Laith hissed, taking in the prince's back. It seemed the brat had been whipped before, and on more than one occasion by the looks of it. They couldn't say whether the dark feeling welling up in them was more akin to pity, or bitterness that they hadn't been able to witness the lashings themselves.

Starker than the whip scars was the image burned into Acacius's back. An intricate pattern, asymmetrical and varied in color, like its artist had begun months or even years ago and was still perfecting it. The newest mark was still a bright, skinless red, as if it had been smouldering mere hours ago.

Laith let out a disgusted sigh, turning their back on the sniveling prince. It seemed Acacius had been getting what he'd deserved for some time now, but it had done little to improve his attitude. Who had done this to him? Could it have been the regent? Why was pity seeping into them, like poison from a soured wound?

Acacius didn't deserve their pity. Wounded or not, he still paraded the palace ground like a bejeweled goose, hissing and biting at anyone he seemed lesser.

But why? came a small voice inside them. Why put on such an arrogant mask?

It didn't matter. Wounded or not, the prince should have better respected Laith and their peers.

There was a sharp rap on the door, and Laith pushed it open an inch to peer out into the darkness. A pale woman with a shaved head stood on the other side, wearing clothing that was clearly foreign, despite its simplicity.

"Here to collect your gift?" they said, and the woman smiled.

"Aye. The North'll pay a pretty penny for your little heir."

"Wonderful," Laith said, but the word felt insincere. They couldn't let themselves doubt their plans now, the deed was nearly done. They opened the door further. "Take him then. Let's have this over with."

Acacius lay still on the ground, though his hands were trembling. He'd ceased his begging and was now crying softly and hells, Laith couldn't stand to hear it.

They bent over the prince, grabbing a fistful of his hair and roughly stuffing the gag back into his mouth to muffle that damned pathetic noise.

"Take him," they said again, more insistently. "Take him and be gone."

"S'wrong with his back?"

"I don't know." Laith shook their head. "Take him."

"Not a word of me," they said. "You'll make a fortune off him, all I ask is my name and face remain unknown."

"Alright, alright." The woman seized the rope, the leash Laith had formed, and tugged on it, forcing the prince to his feet. Acacius's eyes were teary and pleading, but Laith turned their back on him.

"Your wish is my command," the woman chuckled, leading the prince towards the rocky shore, where her boat lay waiting. A sob escaped Acacius as he passed the threshold.

"Wait." Hells, what were they saying? They wanted nothing more to do with the royal. They needed him gone, but when the prince turned back to look at them, the flash of hope in his eyes wrenched in their gut.

Those damned eyes. Those haughty, arrogant, judging eyes.

"Remember your place," said Prince Acacius.

"Nevermind," Laith said quickly. "Go. Get him out of here."

The woman tugged on the leash, nearly causing the bound royal to stumble. Fresh tears wet Acacius's cheeks, but Laith looked away, pretended not to see.

They could pretend a lot of things. Surprise at the prince's sudden disappearance, sorrow and outrage at his captivity in the enemy North. For themselves, they'd pretend they were satisfied, that they'd never seen Acacius's scars.

And as they watched the skiff disappear on the dark waters of the river, they pretended they had no regrets.

[restinpeacesensei]

suggesting something,,

[theskymother]

animal jam is a lot more fun when you're rich

[teabutmakeitazure]

Dissimulation Childe casually "missing" a mail smelling blood. Come on boy- Either you need to take vacation because your nose is clearly too used to blood either you just want to scare your darling. We do not need to see fingers for that. Between you and assignment deadline, life is already scary enough-

But he sure have his way. I would totally won't let him go if I just received fingers by mail.

by 'missing' that piece of mail, he was sending a message. "this is what will become of you if you do not have me at your side," he says. "so don't even think about leaving me."

dissimulation darling is pretty lax i would say. the implications aren't lost so conflict and discussion is avoided. it is better to ignore and learn lessons quietly than suffer and learn them loudly. the scene with the gun at the market taught a LOT. any and all unfavourable things that happen to darling is because of childe. he purposely lets them occur so that a taste of a possible fate is given and he is painted as a saviour, which he is when in the new part he says he tame and darling thinks "yup. he's right."

he is not tame. one dip of the toes into the ocean of his thoughts and you would either go as red as a tomato over the sheer obscenity or recoil in disgust over his thoughts. they might not even be lewd (not that they aren't). he's just down bad, come on cut him some slack

[thedrotter]

as a little treat i am sharing with you little Aya doodles I've done over the last few days to unwind ww just little expressions based on lines in-game because those are always fun to draw. nothing too special just biscuit

it's Aya because upon doing bizarrely throughout playthroughs of the game for still unspecified project purposes I've gained a soft spot for her she's my daughter now my mental tier list on my favorite characters is so confusing right now

[simcardiac-arrested]

no actually I’d like to hear your thoughts on the isat ending

Like i said it felt really tropey and by that i meant that it’s just Everything Good Happens forever and…..that’s it ? like idk we were building up to this huge catharsis sort of thing and then we got to it and it was so sudden and not a good payoff and just kind of nothingburger of an ending . the fact that everyone just forgives siffrin bothers me, or at least the fact that they don’t confront them about the shit they’ve said and done. call me a mental illness villainizer but i think if you’re a fucking asshole and doing the most insensitive things to the people you care about then hey, i think those ppl have a right to fucking tell you off for it. likeeee idk being at your lowest point …… not an excuse …. not feeling it chief ……. like sure the message is to move past your mistakes or whatever but ? that doesn’t mean just getting away with it ??? and i just really don’t understand Why everyone forgives him. honestly at the end of the day the ending is just one problem, the root of which are the characters. everyone feels like trope cardboard cutouts. oh, this is the smart one. this is the smol bean. this is the himbo. and they all care for each other btw. Did u hear that? they all care for each other. we’re not really going to explain to you why these people are so close or what they went through together but just trust me man they’re sooo found famy. like …. okay. i’ve played 30 hours of this game and not once did i buy that any of the characters really cared about each other. like??? why???? You’re telling me everyone super cares about siffrin even though they barely know them?? you’re telling me siffrin cares about everyone sooo much even though he never even bothered to find out their problems before ? Wat ? and this just breaks the ending more because literally whyyy do these people care about him so bad. and then it’s just whyyy does siffrin Have to tell them anything he doesn’t even seem to know them that well. everyone feels like colleagues and Just Friends at best. and so the ending just seems really forced. like it was written by that type of tumblr user who’s always talking about aww why does the found family have to break up after the end of the journey :( which is like fiiiiine. i guess. but u guys know that u have to build up to it right?? you can’t just tell me they’re Family Members(tm) 102829 times and that they super care about each other source: trust. you can’t just do that and then expect me to believe it ….. It feels unearned. the ending feels unearned and i don’ttttt understand what i’m supposed to take away from it . that it’s ok to fuck people up because you’re traumatized and insecure?? that you have to talk about your deepest problems with people you barely know??? i just dont know. Like i said if im being honest the problems with this game’s writing are more than just the ending, it just stands out so much because there’s a lot of build up and then just …… That

[astranauticus]

Rolling With Difficulty as texts I have saved on my computer for some reason

(i drew every day for like a month straight and burnt out so have this nonsense instead)

[nonstandardrepertoire]

feeling especially exhausted today by the parallels between "cis male trans 'activists' whose trans activism seems to start and end with hating 'transphobes' (often sliding seamlessly into just outright hating women)" and "non-Palestinian goyische pro-Palestinian 'activists' whose pro-Palestinian activism seems to start and end with hating 'Zionists' (often sliding seamlessly into just outright hating Jews)"