#like idk wait until they become more of a myth than a person

[so-much-for-the-seashells]

about ur Logan headcanons…

him n his pregnant wife 🥺🥺

OMG YES!!!!!

Okay okay wait I’m so excited, thank you so much for the ask anon!!

Minors don’t interact!

(Dw it’s not all smut just some of it is <3) (teeny bit of breeding kink given the circumstances)

(Btw I would really really appreciate some comments because my last post got like 800 some (thank you btw!!) likes/blank reblogs and one comment 😭 you don’t have to but it would make my day!!)

-first, he literally will NOT leave you alone. You’re sleeping? He’s laying there too, pretending to sleep. You’re in the bathroom? He’s outside the door- hell, he’d go in there with you if you’d let him. He’s so so scared that your water will just magically break (even while you’re only a month in) and also so so obsessed with the fact that you’re gonna be parents

-that being said, this man would NEVER admit to it but he’s bought like 5 parenting books that he all but knows by heart. He’ll read them when you fall asleep, his old man glasses low on his nose as he does.

-he’s also been writing letters to your future child as the pregnancy goes on, one per month. “I don’t know what your name is yet, kid, but your mom and I can’t wait to meet you.” And it’s in his precious old man cursive and I can guarantee you that when you see it you’ll be crying for seven hours

-he loves brainstorming names with you. I personally see him as a girl dad and wanting a girl, but he’s still thinking of any and all possibilities. And he’s still gonna love it to death if it’s a boy, don’t you worry about him

-but because he’s so old so many of the names he picks are somewhat dated, and it’s ADORABLE. Ulysses, Ethel, Martha, etc.

-he’s been insistent on doing basically everything- the cooking, the cleaning, the building of the baby furniture. Except he usually needs your help, or for you to throw some seasoning on the food behind his back. But he doesn’t want his pretty baby with his baby to have to lift a single finger

-ESPECIALLY in the bedroom. This mf… he believes every single myth he sees on the internet, so he’s SUPER gentle and will always wear a condom, both of which are unheard of prior to your pregnancy.

-which is SUCH a switch from how he was while you guys were trying for a baby…

-see, Logan’s always had this raging breeding kink.

-so after many serious conversations leading into the decision that the both of you wanted to try for a kid…

-let’s just say Logan was more than ready

-the amount of money that had to go into sheets during this period was actually crazy

-look, Logan always fucks

-but when he was able to let his breeding kink take control, he was absolutely feral

-the moment you would get home from work he would pounce on you, ripping off your clothes before you even had a second to say hello

-you’d have already come three times before he’d throw you down, bending you in half into the mating press and absolutely ravishing you, pounding you deeper and deeper into the mattress

-and the mouth on him was FILTHY

-“can’t wait for everyone to see who you belong to.” “You’re gonna keep taking it until it takes, and then I’m gonna make you take it some more.” “Gonna look so pretty with that tummy all round with our baby.”

-he would make you cry and see stars in the absolute best way possible

-and then it took and all of a sudden he was more gentle than a… idk gentle thing? 😭

-the duality of man I tell you

-he’s gets so cuddly and it’s absolutely adorable. He’s always been one to lay his head on your lap of snuggle into you but now?? He’s always pulling you into his lap, his hand is always on your belly

-he loves how soft and squishy you’re becoming, especially your thighs and your breasts

-when you’re achey he’s quick to massage you, when you’re feeling sick he’s right there to hold your hair

-did I mention the cooking? Listen this man is really bad at cooking but he’s trying so hard with Martha Stewart and Gordon Ramsey videos. You can hear him calling himself an idiot sandwich when he fucks up, and it’s hilarious. Meanwhile you’ll be on the couch with one of your pregnancy cravings foods, pad thai with curry from two restaurants from two separate parts of town. Yes, Logan went and got it for you. 🥹

-he literally gets anything you want too, he’s wrapped around your finger. A miniverse, marshmallows and pickles? He’s got you. That very specific lip gloss that tastes really good? Done. Literally anything you want he’s getting it without question.

-he even watches whatever you want with minimal complaint

-he’s also already spoiling the child and it hasn’t even been born yet, the nursery has everything you can imagine. Toys, books, stuffed animals, games, legos, wall decor, literally everything

-and you guys don’t even know the gender so you both just threw a dart at a color wheel and themed the room after whatever color it ended on

-he wants to give this kid the life he never had, and there’s no doubt he will

-Logan Howlett is going to be a wonderful father, and he’s so excited to love on your child just as much as he loves on you

-<3

Xx

If you want your own set of headcanons or blurb fic, hit me up!!

[psalmsofpsychosis]

"#Alfred basically catches a lamb and goes

#''you're a beautiful wolf; i know you are; now you're gonna bite my hand until you draw blood so we both believe it;

#because that's the way we know how to be men.''

#and then 10 years down the line he looks at Bruce and he whispers in horror; ''that's a wolf''

#GIRL YES HE IS; YOU MADE HIM ONE. IT WAS YOU"

Your tags are so- Idk I don't have the words. No wait I DO-

THIS IS FREAKING BEAUTIFUL OMG

The way Bruce wasn't born with sharp teeth and claws to defend himself against the world. The place he was born into removed any need to grow them, but at the same time the place he was born into was the catalyst for him to turn into stone. Hard, unyielding to pressure and with its own jagged edges that you can hit until your knuckels bleed.

But the thing about stone is that you can chip away at it until it looks like what you want.

So Bruce was a lamb at the beginning, possessing talc for a heart, easy to rub to dust, but after the murders, he was molded into something different. He grew teeth and claws so big and strong it became difficult to be gentle, his heart was rubbed to dust and reformed and compressed and rubbed to dust and reformed and compressed until it turned into a diamond.

Alfred taught him how to be a wolf but didn't account on what would happen once Bruce's claws were bigger than his own.

CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT BRUCE AND ALFRED'S DYNAMIC PLEASE? You're literally rearranging my brain chemistry as I'm typing, wow. This feels so freaking strange. Thank you so so SO much

I wish you an AMAZING day

GOOD MAD MONDAY NOON TO YOU ANON YOU'RE KILLING ME. Like i'm over here lying face flat on the ground, head fucking full 99 thoughts per second this ride is going straight to hell—

You actually made them sound a lot like the Pygmalion myth, which is so right and true and also a very delicately apt interpretation of the way Bruce and Alfred's dynamic unfolds, particularly in Bruce's childhood, and particularly as portrayed in the Gotham series (which is my all time favourite Bruce&Alfred dynamic anyway, so excuse me for being annoying and immediately nosedive down that rabbithole)

See, to me the thing is, i dont think Bruce and Alfred understand each other at all. They're cut from very different clothes, and Alfred doesn't understand what Bruce /is/, but he understands what Bruce /can become/, maybe even what he's supposed to become, Bruce is the fifth element to him. Combine that lack of understanding and all the love and affection Alfred holds for Bruce and of course he makes a project of perfection out of him; Alfred molds and makes Bruce. Batman as a persona and as a purpose precisely exists *because of the way Alfred raises Bruce*, this is something that Gotham TV puts extra emphasis on. In many ways Alfred does carve Bruce into an idea of perfection, *his* idea of perfection, and Bruce lets him too. This is where stuff get a bit complicated though; Alfred is someone who struggles with his own humanity and darker side. He's so loving and loyal, but he's also bitter and mean with a vicious bite and he handles Bruce with such cold hands sometimes, and he hates every second of it, he hates his own humanity. So he pushes Bruce to get rid of his too, and they have this constant push and pull because Bruce has those exact traits. they're similar not in what they own about themselves, but in their shadows, when the sun shines on them their flawed humanity has the exact same shape and they both don't want a shadow; eventually the way they resolve this is by standing back to back and protecting each other and now they share their shadows and it's not so scary anymore. The Pygmalion myth as a parallel interpretation of their narrative fits so darn well because you are right, Bruce is made into stone and Alfred sculpts him to something beautiful and almost horrifying, almost inhuman, he sometimes forgets that Bruce is a person and not an idea, and it shows. But Bruce breaks mold, he always does, he forces Alfred to live with his own humanity and Bruce's, and this brings up a lot of grief for Alfred, but he loves Bruce so he finds a way to live with it and he does.

The Lamb/wolf metaphor is a different face to this same transformation process; in the early years Alfred has little space for Bruce's terrifying softness, but neither does Bruce. Bruce is scared of his own vulnurability and tenderness, this lamb *wants* to become something else, something less weak and helpless, something that could've saved his parents. He doesn't want to become a wolf persay, but the thing is, he has the makings. This is the reason Alfred can bring it out of him; he very much has the makings of a wolf. to juxtapose it with the pygmalion allegory; you cannot carve out of the stone what is not already in it. (this does bring up the question wether Bruce was ever a lamb at all, but that's a different topic for another day✨️)

anyway yep, i love your mind Anon, and thank you for the question! Hope you have an absolutely wonderful day too ❤️❤️

[kii2me2ii2]

I just saw a post that was like "rip stede bonnet you would've loved x & y" and like... you know that guy was like. a real person. like most of the time it's like "not my business" w historical rpf but when you say RIP to an actual dead person who was once alive my brain is going to relate that to the actual dead person. no that old man would NOT have loved those stairs !!!!!

[liyuesbian]

✧ pygmalion!au [ningguang]

notes: btw idk how commissions from museums work i just made the process up LMAO and this one's kinda angsty? i mean, it is the pygmalion greek myth so iykyk. also, i describe this figurine of ningguang here but w/o the colour... i've linked it in case any1 needs the reference. (btw, this is not set in ancient greece specifically)

only yesterday had you been commissioned by an art gallery in the capital to create a piece for their up-and-coming collection titled desire, love and identity. yet here you are, slaving away to make the perfect image you had in your head come into fruition. your vision is exquisite once sketched on paper—you can't find any faults in it so you take the risk.

as soon as your chisel meets the marble, a feeling so invigorating dominates your body. no further references are necessary as you place your trust entirely on your hands, coarse from the labour. you find such mindless toil addicting and you work day and night, only stopping for a half-baked meal and the odd collapse into bed.

for months, love streams out of the tips of your fingers and through your sculpting tools to arrive at the stone figure. you sincerely hope the intimate emotion has been reached.

when you finish, you wipe the bead of sweat running down your forehead, rest the other palm on your hip and take slow steps backwards all while maintaining eye contact with the statue. a wave of sweet relief hits you and you fall to the floor, uncontrollably sobbing into tired hands that still grip the hammer and chisel.

it's beautiful.

you stagger, struggling to get up with your bruised knees while clumsily wiping the tears off your stained cheeks. setting the instruments aside, you lift your head to admire your handiwork up close. a woman made of stone sits elegantly atop an oriental chair, crossing her smooth, white legs over each other. her left elbow is propped on the arm of the chair while on the other side, a long smoking pipe is balanced between gloved fingers. around her lies an assortment of objects: a vase containing scrolls, a floor lamp, and a charmingly decorated folding screen.

you see, you had already thought it all out. you'd imagined ningguang's preferences for a life of luxury, her affinity for constructing and sprucing up interiors. she would be a master of the trades and a woman who likes to keep an air of mystery around her. and like how you increasingly project her to be more of a person than she ever will be, there is a creeping concern in the corner of your mind that you will lose your rationality just as quickly.

the sculpture's body is clad in a qipao with a slit that reveals alabaster skin below the waist. the dress—embellished with patterns and neat linings—hugs her figure and shows off a lean build. the extensive train and sleeves of the fabric are shaped curvaceously to mirror the flow of a waterfall. and her face. the section you strived so hard to refine. she stares at you with an imperious expression and a hint of a smirk. her gaze, so piercing, makes you avert your eyes in shyness but you find yourself gravitating back to her profile.

you muster up the courage to draw closer to your creation and unconsciously stroke her cheek with your thumb, captivated. if she were an empress, you'd be a common peasant—undeserving of setting your sights on such a goddess. you can feel your soul being sucked into eyes devoid of emotion—of anything, actually. after all, the woman sitting before you is not a person but an inanimate object.

the weeks following the completion of ningguang—which is the name you've picked up the habit of calling her—are spent in said lady's company. every minute of every day, you surround yourself with her presence as if she is your closest friend. you eat with her, tell her your troubles, even going so far as to decorate her with various types of jewellery and bringing her gifts you think she'd like.

"thank you," you whisper. "for always listening to me." in truth, you're always so immersed in your work that you forgot what conversations could feel like. though, you fear your art would never be on par with something so transcendent ever again.

you become curious, wondering what she would be like if the nymph in front of you were not just a figment of your imagination.

you perch yourself on top of ningguang's stone-cold lap and trace the contours of her visage. you inspect each crease on her lips and the minuscule crinkles in her eyes, applauding yourself for the well-crafted details. you don't know what possesses you but you close your eyes and press your lips against hers, hoping that once you open them, a living being would erupt from underneath the marble. but, of course, as soon as the light hits your retinas, ningguang is as unmoving as ever.

realising what you've just done, you drop off of her thighs and laugh anxiously. however, you could've sworn that you had felt warmth in the lips of your beloved muse.

"i've finally gone mad!" you cry aloud.

hell, you say to yourself, is it even possible to fall in love with such an... an artefact? you dismiss your glaringly obvious infatuation.

"nonsense," you mutter under your breath, sensing your heart breaking slightly. how can something so painfully humanlike also not be human at the same time? you must've caused a tremendous atrocity in your past life to have made the gods harbour a grudge against you. of all things, you'd never have guessed that a lifeless piece of art would be the object of your desire.

you can't bear to look at the handcrafted lady any longer and with an anguished face, cover her with a large cotton cloth. the plan was to wait until you could hand the statue over to the curators and try to ignore its existence until then.

for a few days, you act according to the plan, going about your daily routine but eventually, your stoic demeanour crumbles. you lock yourself in your room refusing to eat or believe that your affection would never be returned.

during the hours of sunlight, you weep under your sheets, drowning in self-inflicted sorrow. and at night, you do the same, lamenting over the loss of what could've been your true love. she would've been so perfect in your eyes, your other half, and the only one who could calm this growing turmoil!

the reality pains you. hence, you do the only thing you can do: you pray. you pray to the gods for a miracle, that the light of your life would stride into your room and pull you from the depths of despair... but she never does.

your last day "cohabitating" with the sculpture has arrived and for the first time in—what felt like—an eternity, you open the doors to your workshop. taking a deep breath, you unveil the stationary maiden.

it's still as beautiful as you remember.

you give it a sad smile, wanting to get its departure over and done with. you manoeuvre about the room to prepare the things for the movers who're due to come in a couple of hours. while you go down your little list of errands to be done, you cough and bat away the smoke—wait, the smoke? frantic, you spin around, eyes darting everywhere in search of its origin until they land on the smoking pipe you so intricately moulded for the commissioned piece.

it's strange, you don't recall colouring the statue. and how on earth is smoke coming out of the pipe? suspicious, you approach the motionless entity and almost stumble when you spot its chest rising.

oh lord! — i really must be descending into madness! you clutch your head, clawing at your hair in hysteria.

"stop, please don't hurt yourself." the sound of a low, worried voice penetrates your ears. you shut your eyes tight.

"no, the gods have cursed me! i mustn't listen to your poisonous words!" you exclaim. your state of agitation is alleviated when the woman caresses your tensed arm.

"what has happened to you? i haven't seen you lately either." the tone is more soft and more tender than you had imagined. you release your grip.

"is it really you, ningguang?" your voice cracks at the end, and the woman you sought after witnesses your features twist into an expression of longing and hope.

"yes, my darling. i dare not go anywhere else."

helplessly, you rush to cup her face to check for heat, for the blood traversing under her skin—anything that would prove that your sweetheart is truly alive and breathing. and when you do get the confirmation, you beam, trying to withhold tears born from elation.

you bend down to kiss ningguang, who is still seated on the chair, once, twice, and three times to rid your scepticism. oh, deities! she's real.

"i love you," you declare.

"i know." you watch as the same creases you'd etched on the corners of her eyes spread into a loving half-moon shape and you kiss her again.

you reach a conclusion: you couldn't give away your lover—let alone a live person—to be displayed as part of a museum exhibition so when the workers arrive, you hide your muse away in another room. you apologise profusely and spin a lie, rambling on about how you had nothing to relinquish for the piece you had prepared had been oh-so-viciously stolen by a mob of trespassers!

the movers share with you their sympathies and ask what the work of art looks like and maybe they could sort something out with the authorities. nodding, you recount—so ardently—the details of your divine maiden. you feel heat rush to your face, chuckling when you realise that you'd run your mouth for too long.

in response to this, the two labourers exchange dubious looks as they peer at the static sculpture standing in the middle of the studio—its appearance unmistakably matching your elaborate description.

[authoratmidnight]

I can’t remember if I’ve done a ‘why you should watch Mairuma’ before on here but I’mma do one anyways.

Do you like found family?

Do you like the concept of magic schools?

Do you like friend group shenanigans?

Do you like isekai (’other world’) types of stories?

Well, allow me to introduce you to Mairimashita! Iruma-kun aka Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun

The title alone certainly tells you some of what you’re in for but here’s the run down.

14 year old Suzuki Iruma has just been sold by his (crappy) parents to a demon for a lot of money. Why? Idk b/c they suck. So what’s a kid to do in this sort of situation? Get adopted by said demon to become his grandson of course.

The demon lord, Sullivan, has no kids of his own, but he sure wants a grandchild to spoil and dote on. So time for a ‘life hack’ (his words not mine) to obtain one.

Which of course means that now, Iruma has to go to school (which he’s never done before b/c his parents basically made his work as soon as he could walk), specifically a demon school. There’s also another hitch. See. Demons consider humans a delicacy (despite the fact that mot of them think humans are just myths) so Iruma now has to try and keep his head down and survive school and ensure no one finds out his secret. But going unnoticed is really hard when your guardian is ALSO the headmaster at the school and draws attention to you at every possible opportunity because ‘look at my adorable grandson!’

It’s a delightful mix of comedy, drama and heartwarming as Iruma tries to navigate this absolutely absurd world, make friends and keep anyone from discovering that he’s not a demon. Which such shenanigans as

-summoning his first familiar (a human using demon summoning magic, what could *possibly* go wrong)

-making his first friends

-learning all about demons/their way of life

-joining a club!

-befriending some upperclassmen

-idols

-nearly dying multiple times b/c he is still a human and lacks many things demons have like wings. and magic.

And including a cast that contains(to list a few):

-a ball of pure chaos

-the biggest Iruma simp ever Iruma’s biggest supporter ever (outside of his grandpa)

-giant jock-nerd with big ambitions (he’s very good tho)

-a subversion of the asshole teacher trope (as in, despite how he acts he /does/ care about his mischievous students, he’d just sooner launch himself into the sun before admitting it out loud tho)

-a manga loving student council president

-a soft senpai

-doting grandpa

-said grandpa’s cat-person butler (also dotes on Iruma, sort of like a surrogate parent)

The anime itself is incredibly bright and colourful and wonderfully expressive. To quote someone else describing the anime it’s ‘early 2000’s anime meets Saturday morning cartoon‘.

It has both a sub AND dub and tbh, they’re both good. Aside from wording choice in a few places they’re basically the same. It’s not particularly long at 23 episodes. Very bingeable. And you can watch it on Crunchyroll!

Oh but wait, there’s MORE!

See, there’s a second season, arriving on April 17th, set to be 22 episodes in length and should contain such shenanigans as:

-Iruma joins the student council

-the introduction of several new characters

-Iruma’s class working together to achieve a simple goal (get a new classroom cause theirs kinda, sucks)

-Fun times at the local amusement park (until it goes tits up)

and more!

We only have a trailer thus far but it looks spectacular and the animation even better than season 1! I know I am excited for it. (we don’t know yet who’s gonna get it for subbing purposes)

And if you still want more after watching everything, there’s a manga as well! With 198 chapters it’s still ongoing (but well ahead of the anime). The art is beautiful and the story is great! While there’s no official english release (yet, at the time of writing this, we’re keeping our fingers crossed) there IS a dedicated translation team and new chapters are released weekly.

So I absolutely recommend checking this series out! :D

[rainbuckets8]

Why you should watch RWBY

TL;DR:

Summary: RWBY is an epic fantasy with themes like found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths: RWBY has unique and memorable characters. The show is smart. It has excellent cinematography and animation. It has representation. It tackles hard topics. It’s got incredible music and it’s free on RT’s website.

Weaknesses: RWBY has some early growing pains, specifically volume 2’s finale, as well as budget and polish. Later on, volume 4 is weaker than the rest. Volume 8's finale is extremely distressing for a lot of viewers (and we haven't seen the follow up to those events yet). The fandom can be bad at times.

Misinformation: The early volumes being bad, the racism plot line, and the animation (not the same as “budget and polish”) are not as bad as you may have heard from YouTube.

Suggested viewing order

Red Trailer, White Trailer, Black Trailer, Yellow Trailer

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4 Character Short

Volume 4

Volume 5 Weiss Character Short, Volume 5 Blake Character Short, Volume 5 Yang Character Short

Volume 5

Volume 6 Adam Character Short

Volume 6

Volume 7

Volume 8

(I did my best to make this spoiler-free. When there are spoilers, they’re worded ambiguously enough that someone new to the show would never guess what’s going to happen just by reading this.)

What to expect

The world of Remnant is filled with monsters called the creatures of Grimm. Warriors called Huntsmen and Huntresses defend humanity. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang go to school to become the next generation of heroes. Together they make Team RWBY (pronounced, “Ruby”)! Joining them is team JNPR (“Juniper”), made up of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. But evils even more dangerous than the Grimm are ready to make their move, and school quickly becomes an afterthought…

(I mention these next two topics specifically bc they can immediately turn someone away based on bad expectations.) There is a fantasy school setting, but RWBY is not a show about school. School topics are not a dominant idea: it seems to resemble a setting like Harry Potter, but the actual focus of the show rarely touches on things like classes or homework or tests, and we quickly move on. There is romance and it has a role in the plot, but RWBY is not a romance show. On the scale of romance in FMAB to She-Ra, RWBY falls somewhere in the middle.

What is RWBY about, then? RWBY is like an epic fantasy or high fantasy, despite first appearances. Perhaps not every genre convention is followed, but at its core, RWBY is about an epic struggle of good and evil.

RWBY contains themes such as found family, the struggle to remain hopeful, the younger generation growing up, villain redemption, and systemic evils.

Strengths of the show

The characters are unique and memorable. One of the cool things is that they all draw inspiration from a real life fairy tale, myth, or something else. They designs are all top notch. One character who died with extremely little screen time even got so much fandom love, they included the character in a mid-hiatus short later. The characters have unique weapons, too; in the world of Remnant, a weapon is an extension of ones’ soul, and they reflect the variety of their owners. They’re also just plain cool; Monty was famous for following the “Rule of Cool.” And their individual stories are all compelling and interesting.

The show is smart. As a fandom, we generally pick up on the narrative hints the creators are dropping. And our predictions usually come true, but not in a way that makes the show predictable and boring. We very rarely guess exactly what will happen, but we have some similar idea of it. It’s just excellent foreshadowing.

RWBY also likes to play with tropes, as an extension of this. Often it will challenge them, or subvert expectations. In other cases, RWBY uses tropes to avoid showing us what we already know will happen. This occurs in both characters and plot. For example…

SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE FOR THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH: Jaune’s entire character arc is about trying to be the anime protagonist, and learning that he doesn’t have to do things alone, and it’s ok to be a support main. The show sets up the narrative in a way that looks like, oh of course the direction it will go is him becoming the main character, but then it destroys toxic masculinity instead.

Our characters are smart, too. Plot-induced stupidity generally doesn’t happen. (A few big mistakes or errors in this regard aren’t actually the fault of the narrative, either, but animation and miscommunication and failure to execute. And those aren’t common.) It goes beyond just “not being dumb,” however. The villains’ plans are incredibly clever, and our heroes sometimes even guess at the usual “plot twists.”

The cinematography is just incredible. There are numerous freeze frames with extreme attention to detail that reveal character motivations or arcs or foreshadowing, there are many effective cuts and moving parts, there are soooo many parallels and callbacks, and visual cues such as lighting and color all are used appropriately to convey emotion and assist the narrative. It is one of the biggest overlooked strengths of the show, imo, simply because a lot of people in the fandom don’t notice these things as much for whatever reason, or else don’t give as much praise about them.

The animation is extremely good as well. Budget issues and technology issues aside (which means a lack of polish), the actual animation? The fight choreography, and all the other parts of animation that aren’t just “expensive CGI” are all wonderful. You can have very shiny, polished turds after all, and RWBY is like the opposite: not very polished, especially early on, but very well animated. All the trailers, volume 1 episode 8, the volume 1 finale, the volume 2 penultimate episode, and basically everything else hold up extremely well even today. If anything, the worst fight animation was in volumes 4 and 5 because of Maya growing pains, and those are an example of being more polished, but not necessarily better animated. Animation of faces has always been good, animation of characters has always felt lively. Aside from a few small actual hiccups (that one person running across rooftops for instance), it’s well done.

There are LGBTQ+ characters. The treatment of one of the recent trans characters, in volume 8, was nothing short of amazing. They worked with a VA who was trans. The moment of canon confirmation was important to the character for backstory, because of course that affects the character’s life, but not the only important thing about the character. The representation is not in-your-face or pandering. And there is a split of representation among the main cast and the minor characters, with promises of more to come (notably they’ve said they’re working on more mlm for future volumes, too).

RWBY is not afraid to tackle hard topics. It deals with things like mental illness, systematic racism, and cycles of abuse. It’s not because the show is trying to earn “gritty and dark” points, it’s because those are some of the topics that real people have to struggle with as well. And the show handles most or all of them very well, in a way that shows respect and an honest attempt to depict these things as best they can. (NOTE ABOUT VOLUME 8: THERE IS A VERY DIFFUCLT CONVERSATION CURRENTLY HAPPENING. I am on the side of, let’s wait and see what happens next because the story isn’t over, so we haven’t really seen the fall out. But I understand why this paragraph feels really difficult to agree with if you've seen the volume 8 finale. I trust the track record of the rest of the show, personally.)

As an example, the show has a theme that villains are rarely evil just because. A lot of villains choose to do bad things because they were hurt in some way. Some lived in poverty; some were hurt by racism; many of them are victims of abuse. But the show doesn’t make excuses for them. It’s possible to be both sympathetic and still choose evil over and over again (that’s called tragic). The ones who eventually do try to do good again are not always forgiven, either.

The music is amazing. I can probably count on my hands the number of times I’ve heard someone say otherwise, which is astonishing when you consider this fandom.

It’s also free on RT’s website. (A paid, “FIRST” subscription removes ads and lets you see new episodes one week early, but they all eventually release for free.)

Weaknesses of the show

Early volumes’ growing pains exist, much like most or all other shows. (Even some of the greatest were not immune to this, like ATLA.) In this case, however, it’s a little bit rougher. A large reason why is that this was kind of the first big thing from RT to ever come out. If you remember back almost a decade ago, their only other big thing at the time was RvB, which was machinima. They pretty much started from scratch with everything, from assets to VAs to animation to writing. Imagine if a random twitch streamer, like Ninja (idk who’s popular these days) said one day, “OK let me just direct something that’s intended to be the next great movie series of all time, like Star Wars, with a $4 bill and an iPhone camera.” Then went out and actually made something. Of course it would be rough…but then it turns out the movie is actually really good. And then you get to watch over the next several years as everything gets better and better until it’s honest-to-god comparable to the MCU. That’s kind of what happened with RWBY.

One specific growing pain was the volume 2 finale. Pretty much everything else up until that point, I love about the show. But the finale just fails to deliver on the build up of tension from other episodes. Some of it is because of later plot developments that we didn’t know at the time; some of it is because of just not great writing; some of it is because of just not great animation; and yes, some of it is budget. Regardless, it’s a low point for the show.

Speaking of, the budget for the early volumes is super small. The infamous volume one shadow people, the infamous person jumping across the rooftops in volume two, and just production quality isn’t high compared to a major release from some established studio. These are real weaknesses of the show that for some people, make it unwatchable, and if that’s you, that’s ok.

One last weakness of the show, the screen time per episode, especially early on, is NOT a full 20 minutes like you may expect of an anime (or anime-inspired-western-media, for those of you who will die on the “RWBY is not an anime” hill). This is a trend that has stuck with the show, a shorter run time per episode, for generally the entire lifetime. On one hand, it means it’s a little less daunting to catch up or rewatch than the number of episodes might imply. On the other, early on, some episodes have a little weird pacing. It also means the writing had to adjust for this, so while RWBY got really good at telling a story within a shorter amount of time, there’s also challenges with that too. Perhaps one of the notable ones is the pacing, with slower moments sometimes feeling like it takes up too much screen time, or not enough. Volume 4 was a particular struggle for the crew, both because they switched animation engines and also for the story.

Common complaints that I don’t agree with

I don’t agree that the early volumes were actually bad overall. Growing pains, yes, but not bad. I attribute that complaint to overly focusing on one character’s storyline, back when it wasn’t clear there was so much more to come and before people realized the show would challenge the tropes instead of falling into them. It’s pretty much just volume 1 when people say this anyway, most of them I’ve heard admit that volume 2 was a lot better (except the finale) and almost everyone loves volume 3. And looking back on it, I do think volume 1 holds up.

Tying into this, the racism plot line is another common complaint. I don’t think it’s actually executed quite that badly. I think it makes sense for there to be regional differences in the amount of racism we see, it just so happened that we only saw a very small and isolated environment, Beacon, for much of the early volumes. (Incidentally, that’s actually similar the environment I myself grew up in.) It’s not perfect, though. But there’s no doubt that the later volumes do a better job portraying this. Again, I attribute it mostly to people not knowing how long the show would run for at the time, so of course if that’s all we saw, it would’ve been bad. But it’s not. I have a lot of respect for Miles and Kerry for even attempting to handle the racism topic in the first place. And for the faults that DO exist in this plot line, I credit them for learning and growing past that too, and doing better in later volumes.

The animation is not bad. I’ve already touched on that earlier, but people confuse “budget and polish” with “animation.” Give me RWBY any day over Michael Bay’s Transformers: no matter how much polish those robots have, they’re still a confusing mess to try and follow. And the polish isn’t even an issue once we get past the growing pains of Maya and get a bigger budget, because wow does this show look good now.

Between these three complaints I hear about often, I think those are the biggest ones. And they’re all generally done in bad faith, based not on just those but on other more provocative statements people also make with them. That’s part of my issue with the fandom, specifically the vocal but small parts of the fandom, because they’re just repeating these things from early days that aren’t true. But YouTubers gotta get those rage and hate clicks somehow, right? Unfortunately it discredits the show a lot and influences other people’s opinions into not giving it a fair chance, because it’s become a narrative of “RWBY IS BAD” when they all won’t shut up about it. So yeah, fandom can be bad, join at your own discretion. (Of course, all fandoms have annoying parts, and my interactions with the fandom have been good overall, otherwise.)

Onto other complaints, some say the cast is bloated. I don’t agree, but I don’t think this one is in bad faith. I think we get the important characters as much screen time as we can, and the minor characters don’t actually detract from that; one of the differences between good minor characters and bad ones, is that bad ones take up too much time. RWBY has a ton of characters but many of the minor ones don’t actually take up too much time. So it appears bloated, but actually I don’t think it is.

Finally, a small word on the no-no topics. Adam, and Monty. Adam is like the champion of the Monty topic. Which essentially boils down to “Miles and Kerry are ruining Monty’s vision for the show.” Toxic fandom is truly awful and I have no respect for anyone who says anything like that. Shame on all of you. This isn’t really anything negative about the show, but the fandom, and tbf all fandoms have toxic parts. But toxic fandom can be a real and valid reason to not watch a show. Thankfully they seem fewer in number these days, but I think they’ve evolved into hiding behind other characters or topics, so you know. Beware. Again, it's not too hard to avoid them or block them, and my interactions otherwise with most fans have been good.

[unstoppableforcce]

dark side

—PROLOGUE: the first mistake

“we are rarely proud when we are alone”

pairing: Javier Peña x reader (narcos)

next part | masterlist

a/n: ooo so this is the first part, but idk if I’ll keep writing more for him or not. all I know is that narcos is a damn good show, I’m enjoying my rewatch and I love pedro pascal

The second Stechner got up from the stool next to him, he knew he needed something more than just whiskey to quiet his mind for the remainder of the night.

He knew coming back to all of this was going to take its toll, hell, his dad had practically foretold it that night, sat in the truck halfway up the driveway. He expected the weight to pull at his shoulders, he expected there to be some form of consequences for all the bad he had done in a futile quest to do some good, he just didn’t know exactly how much it would all hurt his head to have it all drudged back up.

Every street he passed looked remarkably similar to the one Carrillo had dragged the young boys into, pulling the trigger to make a point. Everywhere he turned, he was reminded of the souls that met their end a part of a war that spiraled too far out of control far too fast. And everyone in the embassy seemed to know that it was all his fault.

Half wouldn’t say it, too busy regarding him as more myth than man. The dashing DEA agent who took down Escobar...

The other half only spoke of it to hold it over his head. The man who is responsible for setting los pepes out on Colombia should be in jail...

And they brought him back for what exactly? So Stechner could use him as a pretty face and solid name for the surrender he already had organized before he even signed the forms to bring him back down? What was he even doing there?

Was he just paying his dues? Was there enough money in this disgusting world to even cover the debt he created when he played his role in bringing down this country’s most notorious drug lord? Was there enough good left to be done to make up for all the bad that bloodied his hands?

Staring at the whiskey in the bottom of his glass, it was hard not to see a phantom hand, bruised and bloody, grasping the glass just over his own hand. He had been so naive back in Texas to think that coming back and jumping straight into what he left behind would somehow make the ghost constantly looking over his shoulder disappear.

No, he needed more than whiskey for any sort of reprieve from that haunting spirit.

He glanced around the bar, searching for someone to help and surprisingly found many candidates on what had been a pretty slow night when he first walked in.

There were women dressed like they were looking for what the same thing he was, there were women who worked at the same place he did, but there was only one woman in the whole bar who sat in the same silent suffering he did. Furrowed brow narrowed at the bottom of the glass in hand, giving the brown liquid an occasional swirl around the ice for no reason other that to occupy the probable onslaught of thoughts within the mind for a second longer than even the whiskey bought.

You were the only person in the whole bar who looked like you were going through something even close to what he was currently working through. All of which made you the only one he wanted. At least, that was what he told himself as got up and made his way towards you and settled onto the stool next to you, nodding to the bartender for a fresh drink for himself and for you.

“No thanks.” You waved to the bartender first, then turned to him and repeated the sentiment still in perfect Spanish.

“Sorry,” he nodded, still accepting his new drink and keeping the stool next to you. “You looked like you could use some company.”

That brought an almost heartless chuckle from your lips as you brought your glass back up to down the final sip. “I prefer my company silent”

He returned the same cold laughter, “funny.” You glanced to him and quirked your brow but he just continued, “me too.”

And silent was how the two of you stayed until he finished off the rest of his drink, laid money on the counter and offered to take you home. There was nothing silent about the two of you once he got you pressed up against the door to your apartment however.

Each sloppy kiss he trailed along your neck line seemed to echo in the dimly lit hall, each grab of his hands along your body causing the keys in your hand to rattle despite your desperate grip on them to keep them silent. And by the time you turned and began working on the locks, his groans against your skin had become anything but silent despite his best attempts to muffle them, his hands still pulling your hips back into his while you worked to undo the several locks you had.

And in the morning, he was going to wish he had paid more attention, but in that moment, all he cared about was that the taste of your lips was making him forget for the time being.

All he wanted to do was forget.

His suit jacket hit the floor the second the two of you stumbled inside, quickly followed by yours as he kicked the door shut with his foot and found the nearest wall to press you up against. Your hands found the bottom hem of your shirt before he even considered making a move for it, your body leaning back from him to whip the shirt off and over your head before reconnecting your lips to his.

The disparity of your touch was nearly familiar, though he was all too sure he would remember if he had ever met anyone like you before. No, this was a different type of familiarity, one that was more like looking in the mirror than it was seeing someone again after such a long time. As the tips of his fingers danced down your arms and stomach, he caught a few scars here and there and took that to be the only explanation he needed.

In the morning, he was going to wish he paid more attention. He was going to wish he thought with his head and not the quickly hardening length between his legs, but in the moment, he didn’t even have access to the part of his brain he needed to think that rationally.

The need to forget was too strong, overpowering everything in its way as he placed his hand above your head to steady himself while your hands moved for his belt and saw the same bloodied phantom hand grasp around it.

It was easier to bury it into your hair than to look at it for too long.

He repeated that over and over as he moved you to the nearby couch and settled your bare legs over his lap. It was easier to lose himself in you than to really look at you. He said it again and again as your silence turned to hushed moans into the side of his face. It was easier to feel you than to think about why he was so desperate to.

And as his hand reached up around your throat to coax the final string of curses from your lips as you clenched around him, he reminded himself again, that this was easier. He could deal with the real consequences later.

Except the consequences didn’t come later, they came much too quickly.

When he woke up still pressed against you on the couch a few hours later and got up to search your apartment for a cigarette, he found a badge and gun in your purse, which both you and he had tossed so carelessly aside the night before, instead of a smoke. He couldn’t stop himself from flipping the leather foldable open to reveal your face, which he only barely recognized, and three very important letters next to it.

CIA.

“Fuck.”

His brain still muddled with whiskey could sadly still read, and now all he could think about were all the things he had been so quick to ignore in favor of forgetting. The locks, the scars, the same look in your eye that he often found in himself when he stared at the bottom of his own glass of whiskey...

You were even in the bar where Stechner found him to catch him up on the plan he was working to bring to fruition... what were the odds that this whole night was a fluke?

What were the odds he went home with a CIA agent out of a sea of women who would have gladly filled their beds with him? What were the odds that it was some of the best sex he had in years? What were the odds that this wasn’t going to come back to haunt him...

Stechner was hell on two legs and all the badge said was that you worked for him, you were apart of the organization playing games with a country on the verge of a crisis. He was organizing a surrender for the leaders of a murderous empire and you... he glanced back to the couch where you laid, still alseep and half-wrapped in a blanket where he left you, unsure of everything he ever knew.

There was no way this ended well for him if he stayed.

And he almost forgot, while still holding your purse in his hands that he didn’t find a cigarette. A lighter but no cigarette. Why the hell was he trying to quit again?

Rubbing at his brow once, he shook his head and sat your purse back onto the counter, moving now to collect the clothes strewn about the entrance to your apartment.

He was out the door before you even stirred awake with the name he got off your badge repeating over and over in his head all the way down the stairs and back to his apartment.

It was a stupid mistake, and while a part of him held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that once he left he’d never see you again, every other part of him knew it wasn’t true. That just wasn’t the kind of luck he had. Not when he had done all the things he had done and damned his karma to hell ages ago.

So walking to the ambassador’s office the next morning and finding you waiting just outside with Stechner at your side, it really just felt like he deserved it.

It was just his luck, wasn’t it? This was just what he deserved...

“Fuck.”

—

tags->

(if anyone is interested in being added let me know)

[arysthaeniru]

Hi! Idk if it’s too late for the Drabble requests, if it is then please feel free to ignore this!!! But I wanted to ask for some majima/nishiki? Either before or after nishiki goes apeshit, I’m really not picky. I just love the idea that they interacted after their fight in yakuza 0! Especially since I feel like their situations are kind of similar, even if how they coped was...very different lol. Thank you 🥰

Thank you so much for this request~ I LOVE majima/nishiki as a concept, especially in that nebulous ten-year-period where Kiryu’s gone, it’s really fun to think about. This is like a beginning of a fic where they both go entirely off the rails and turn the entire Tojo Clan upside down, I hope you like it! 

The thing is, Majima should leave this well alone. He knows he should. Shimano had as good as told him to leave this hornet’s nest alone, with one quirk of his eyebrow, and Majima’s nothing if not an obedient dog. But the thing is—it wasn’t an explicit order, and he feels the itch of his conscious twinging inside him, the same part of his heart that starts bleeding every time he sees a lost cause, everytime he sees somebody pure and good, bleeding out from the injustice of the world.

He wishes sometimes that Yasuko and Saejima had been stoned-hearted people. Maybe if their internal voices guided him away from this, Majima wouldn’t drag himself into quite so much trouble, saving beautiful people with puppy-dog eyes.

But he had loved them for their love. Their open, bleeding hearts had taken him in, and he’d destroyed them, and now Majima will destroy himself over and over, to repay even an ounce of their kindness into the world.  

So even if it’s a bad idea, even if it’ll destroy him and probably Nishikiyama too, he walks up to the newly crowned patriarch at the Tojo HQ. Nishikiyama’s leaning over the scenic bridge staring at Chairman Sera’s koi pond, so, with a casual, dangerous saunter, Majima drawls, “Ya ever hear that story about why koi fish are so damn red? It’s ‘cause they drank the blood of the battlefield to grow all big and strong. But they ain’t never satisfied with that, so they just kept swimming.”

Nishikiyama looks up from the pond, eyes narrowed, body tense, as if he’s one misstep away from simply bolting. Cute. He’s got something of a survival instinct, then.

“...that’s sakura, Majima-san.” he says, finally, turning his gaze away from Majima and back towards the koi. “Sakura trees are buried over the battlefield, and their blossoms are stained red with blood, because they absorbed that blood.”

“Haw?” Majima demands, with a scowl. Well, maybe not that much of a survival instinct. He’d slap one of his family members down for that kind of backtalk. But Nishikiyama’s not a subordinate anymore. A Patriarch in his own right—no matter how stupid Majima thinks that decision was. “Then wassa myth about koi, then?”

“Koi swim up the waterfall, endlessly, futilely.” Nishikiyama says, a bitter curl to his mouth, and he reaches into his jacket, pulls out a cigarette packet. He pauses, as he’s about to tuck it away, and offers one to Majima, stiffly, as if he’s not used to having to think about it. Majima accepts, pulls out his own lighter, and lights them both up. Majima makes sure to aim the ash away from the pond though. He doesn’t abide by littering, and he respects Sera too much to fuck up his shit.

“Seems like a waste of time, don’t it?” Majima asks, low and amused. “Shouldn’t it just swim wherever the fuck it wants to?”

The cigarette smoke makes Nishikiyama’s taut face a little more hazy, blurry, relaxed. Younger too. Majima had thought his becoming Patriarch at 25 had been a transparent move on Shimano’s part, an admission of his own weakness, an admission of how he was dependent on Majima’s mercy, an easy bribe and reward and leash all at once. Even though Nishikiyama’s 27, he seems younger than Majima had been, back then, and the move to make him Patriarch only shows the weakness of Kazama’s hand more clearly.

No wonder Shimano’s gloating so much. Any way you cut it, trying to replace Kiryu with Nishikiyama is a futile decision. But still.

Majima remembers the man who’d fought him in the bar seven years ago, eyes blazing and skin glowing. Not Kiryu, not by a long shot. But something different, something bright in its own right.

Nishikiyama looks at him, confused and puzzled. “I—what the fuck do you want?”

Majima grins, wide and mad and crazed. “Just seems a waste, is all. Dogs are chained, leashed, but koi can swim anywhere. Why try for the waterfall when the ocean’s just as wide?”

Nishikiyama blinks for a moment, and then scoffs, puffing out a breath of resigned, irritated smoke. “Koi are stupid. Can’t hold more than one or two thoughts in their heads. What space do they have for dreams of the distant ocean?”

Majima’s enjoying this, he can’t help it. Kiryu’s never had much patience for the metaphor, but Nishikiyama’s willing to hold this conversation in a space away from where either of them have to admit what they’re doing. It’s refreshing, sometimes, to dance above the lie, an electrifying, terrifying thing. Majima leans his elbows back against the edge of the bridge, turning away from the fish, to tilt his gaze upwards towards the overcast sky.

“Even if yer gonna do something pointlessly, endlessly, ya gotta dream. Doesn’t the koi dream of becoming the dragon? Does it want it? Or is it just doin’ it because it thinks it should?”

Nishikiyama looks away. “Does it matter?”

“It’s the most damn important thing in the world.” Majima says, seriously, and he thinks about who he’d be if he hadn’t had the dream of Saejima and Yasuko and their happy family to tide him through the Hole. He’d let the madness into his soul, he’d had to change in order to survive. But the dream had kept him on the right track. He knows more than anybody, how important it is to hold steadfast to it.

But that’s always been his problem. A loyal dog, too loyal for his own damn good. Once he gets his teeth into something, he can’t ever let go.

Nishikiyama looks down, a stray strand of hair falling down into his eyes. “The ocean just seems so far away.”

Majima snorts. “Then it’s gotta find something’ to tide it over. Somethin’ smaller, something closer. Dream small first, and then ya’ll get better at it. And ya can dream big. Dream about the freedom of the wide ocean.”  

There’s a loud booming laugh from the other side of the garden. He and Nishikiyama both glance over, to where Shimano seems to be making some big joke with the Shibata and Kumigawa Family heads. A reminder of how dangerous this game Majima’s playing is. He rolls his neck out and tries to look as infuriating as possible. Nishikiyama, not nearly as stupid as he portrays himself to be, curls his shoulders inwards, as if annoyed, but there’s a thoughtful edge to his gaze anyway.

“Didn’t think you were the type to dole out advice like this, Majima-san.” Nishikiyama says, puffing out some smoke.

Majima cackles, loud and amused. “Gotta switch it up sometimes. Get you all soft and mushy, and then I’m gonna attack out of nowhere, when yer least expecting it.” He fiddles with his sleeves, just long enough to flash Nishikiyama the knife he always has on his person. Nishikiyama’s eyebrows rise, but he doesn’t react, not like Kiryu would have.  

“And I suppose the hand that holds the leash is close by.” Nishikiyama says, coolly, something of a smirk touching his lips as he looks away from Shimano and back towards Majima. “The dog’s never thought of turning backwards?”

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, amiright?” asks Majima, lazily, but he feels his heart start to beat a little faster, as Nishikiyama tugs at his own tie, loosening it a little.

Nishikiyama’s eyes lid, and he looks somewhat torn, conflicted. Has Majima hit a sore spot here? Has Nishikiyama got second thoughts about hitching his wagon to Daddy Kazama? Ha. Majima’s been <i>there</i>, too. He understands that much. Nishikiyama licks his lips, stubs his cigarette out against the side of the bridge. “What if it’s stopped feeding you? What then?”

This is the problem with metaphor. So easy to get lost in it. Nishikiyama’s difficult to read, not like Kiryu, who’s an open book, whose every expression gives him away. Majima doesn’t know what their conversation is about anymore. Are they talking about Majima and Shimano? Or Nishikiyama and Kazama? Or more dangerously, are they talking about both?

“Shit if I know! Wonder how long a fish can go without food? ‘Cause a dog’s got patience. It’ll wait forever. It’ll wait until it dies.” Majima whispers, quietly, so quietly he’s not even sure he’s saying it. Majima’s in this for the long game. No matter what, he has to survive, like the bleached, wizen plum tree in the back of his yard. Only one person can kill him, and neither Shimano nor Kiryu nor Nishikiyama can get in the way of that.

This is dangerous. Nishikiyama’s dangerous and he’s playing a dangerous game. Turning away from your expectations is one thing, but betrayal is entirely another. Majima shouldn’t bite. He knows the consequences of betrayal. It has been burned into his bone marrow, he is a creature shaped entirely by betrayal’s fallout. But he’s a stupid thing, and the naked plea in Nishikiyama’s expression is maybe the only thing in the whole world.

He’s always been a sucker for beautiful, broken things.

“I’ve been hungry my whole life, Majima-san.” Nishikiyama whispers, and his gaze has moved down to Majima’s lips, still closed around an almost-burned-out cigarette. Nishikiyama’s tongue flickers out over his lips, leaving them wet and shiny in his wake. “I don’t know how much longer I can go.”

Majima shuts his eye and thinks. If this goes wrong, they’re horribly fucked. The Hole will be nothing compared to what Shimano will do to him now, now that Majima is in a place of real betrayal. If this goes right, on the other hand....

When he opens his eyes, Nishikiyama’s still looking at him. Majima pulls the cigarette out of his mouth, and puffs the smoke out, straight into Nishikiyama’s face. To anybody looking, it would be an act of pure antagonism. But Majima whispers, “Wait a little longer, then,” and it is a promise shared between the two of them. Two left-behind, shattered things, desperately trying to survive. Trying to find meaning in a world devoid of it.

...this is madness. But he’s the Mad Dog of Shimano. Madness is his specialty. The ocean in which he thrives. He’ll join hands with Nishikiyama, against his better judgement, and throw himself into the whirlwinds of chaos, of forging a new path entirely.

[theunsinkablesappho]

Thoughts After Finishing AC: Valhalla

Under The Cut Out of Respect

Knowing now that Eivor is Odin really explains all those visions Eivor had where she disagreed with Odin after killing folk. It also makes me feel a lot better about my Eivor consistently disagreeing with him.

Holy fuck my feelings. All my friends *sobbing* All of Eivors little Saxon baby Kings.

The moment where Eivor rebukes “Odin” in Valhalla, stating that she needs “everything else” is just... MY CHEST HURTS.

Fuck Basim so hard but also like... God damnit Layla. But also like... if Odin was reborn once then in theory Odin and Tyr should have continued to be reborn? So there should still be an Odin out there somewhere? Also like... Eivor and Sigurd don’t remember who they were until it is pointed out to them so... how did Basim discover he is Loki?

I know that people hate the whole “alien” thing behind AC but tbh, I find it kind of fascinating. I’m more annoyed by the premise of the Animus, especially since clocking back in at the end as Basim instead of as Layla really felt like... a violation? I was pretty uncomfy with that. I plan to resolve it in fanfiction (by literally ignoring the existence of the Animus :D )

So Eivor is Odin. Sigurd is Tyr. Basim is Loki. Aletheia is Angrboda. Is Svala actually Frejya? Or is that just how she envisions herself in Valhalla? (Okay I wiki’d this and apparently yes, Svala is confirmed to be Freyja. Interesting that only her physical appearance changes in Valhalla.) So if Svala is Freyja, and the games seem to be ignoring the existence of Frigga/Frigg, I wonder if Randvi is an Isu at all. The wiki says that all 8 of the Norse Isu Gods uploaded themselves to be redistributed, so it is possible. (Nvm, the Wiki acknowledges Frigg as one of the Aesirian Gods, which makes me wonder why Freyja is then Queen of the Aesir. Since in most Norse myths that acknowledge Frigg - there is some dispute that Frigg and Freyja may be the same Goddess - she is usually listed as Odin’s Queen. Anyway, I suppose this means Randvi could be Frigg?) If I am remembering correctly, the Norse Gods we are introduced to or who are referenced in the game so far consist of: Odin/Havi, Freyja, Tyr, Thor, Baldr (deceased), Loki, Angrboda (jotun, but confirmed Isu), Njord, Skadi, Heimdall, and Idunn/Idunna. The game also acknowledges other non-deity Isu immortals like Fenrir, Jormungandr, and presumably, Hel/Hela, as the children of Loki. (No mention of Sleipnir and The Builder didn’t have a horse this go round so...Ubisoft didn’t want to figure out how to animate an 8 legged horse, let’s be honest). I suppose Randvi could be Frigg/Frigga, Idunn/Idunna, or potentially unnamed as  Jörd/Fjörgyn/Hlódyn, lover of Odin and mother of Thor. It is unlikely she would be Skadi, since Skadi was Njord’s wife and it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to then connect her to Odin.

Of course, Randvi might just be a normal Norsewoman as well, but that idea is much much less fun than the idea of them finding each other over and over again across time.

Also like given that we now know that it was Isu manipulating some of the earliest members of what would become the Assassins, and that they were doing it for their own means... Is the Assassin Order the bad guys now? Like, are they still supposed to be the heroes? I am extremely confused (I have only played Odyssey and Valhalla, and no, I won’t be going back and playing the older games, you can’t make me). Is this somehow going to get twisted around that Loki is a hero figure? Cause tbh, his motivations - while somewhat understandable - still appear to be very selfish in nature. Is the legend of Ragnarok still true? Is the world going to end if he frees Fenrir? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

Where is Eivor’s story going to go from here in DLC? Because tbh, there’s not a lot of *positive* material to be hand in that Aelfred storyline. I mean... Aelfred the Great won - he drove the Danes/Norsemen from England and unified England. So unless they are going to rewrite that history in a massive way, which doesn’t seem to super suit the series from my understanding, all that lies in that direction is a whole lot more of the devastation we saw in Hamtunscire. And I’m just going to say this right: I waited THE ENTIRE FUCKING GAME to get my hands on that Randvi romance. So... so help me god if all the DLC content is meant to be within current plot confines. I swear to fucking God I will SCREAM bloody murder. I need post-plot content that INCLUDES more romance development for Randvi and Eivor. I love myself some slow burn angst, but fuck off for real.

Speaking of Randvi and Eivor... they seem to fuck in the Map Room like... a LOT... and Sigurd and Randvi’s old bedroom is like... right there. There isn’t even a damn door. (There also isn’t a door to the rest of the longhouse so like... at LEAST one villager is gonna get an eyeful.) So my question then becomes... how do the logistics of the game work out. The game itself does not acknowledge this but I am left with many questions. Just because Sigurd is cool with me smashing his ex-wife doesn’t mean he’s cool with being IN THE NEXT ROOM while I do it.

For me, the most practical solution is to move all of Eivor’s stuff into the Jarl’s bedroom and move the other stuff into Eivor’s old room and let Sigurd stay there. I say move their stuff because idk, if I was gonna get with my brother’s ex-wife I would be really opposed to doing it in THEIR OLD BED. Just move Eivor’s bed in. And Sigurd can take the old bed into Eivor’s alcove, unless he moves out of the longhouse altogether (which seems unlikely because it would appear he is still Jarl? That begs another question: Is Jarlskona supposed to be a female version of Jarl or is it like “The Jarl is gone so this person is taking over in their stead” and if it is the latter then... hasn’t Eivor basically been Jarlskona the whole fucking time? Google isn’t helping me here, jarlskona appears to be a word invented for the game. Best I can find, a woman Jarl would... still just be a Jarl.)

[prairiedust]

Gimme Shelter livewatch under the cut.... I was on my phone when I wrote it so apologies for the typos

“Patchwork Community Center: Care Given to All” with a huge, lurid heart. Hmmm.... patchwork having two meanings here.....

Pastor (?) has 2 Timothy 2:22 tattooed on his arm! “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (NIV) Are we looking at growth and found family in this episode?!?

Oh that’s the alleyway!

Hitting mythology themes— Connor is an Anglicized version of an Irish name— Conchobar mac Nessa is maybe the most famous bearer of the name, from Irish mythology— he’s the king who lusted after Deirdre and had her locked up until she came of age, which is probably neither here nor there as far as this poor Connor is concerned...

That thing has a big lurid heart on his overalls better run lol— Oh shit it’s an evil Teddy Ruxpin!!!! Thanks Davy Perez!!!!

That’s the thing animal control uses to manage aggressive animals??? Is this saying something about the Patchwork people?

And that’s it for the cold open.

——

The uh, the mcfuckin what, the Camelot Palace Casino? Is this a tour of the legends of Ireland and Britain all of a sudden? What’s with hitting this theme so hard so fast?

Uh-oh the whole Highway to Heaven reference has me side-eyeing Dean’s suggestion for Cas snd Jack to leave the bunker... Dabb even “spoiled” that line in a tweet lol... in that show the cop and the angel got their (vague) assignments from the big guy.......

Oh SHIT “we’re standing in what I call ‘the trap zone’” Perez is coming for my whole life with this episode!!!! And they’re doing highkey “season one totally-normal Winchester investigation questions script” I love it!!!!

“Slasher flick” Oh we’re revisiting Mint Condition. This is fine.

AND TOMBSTONE THIS IS NOT FINE DAVY! We’re running the good times backwards what did I say about this being the flipside of Last Holiday!

H2H again but this time it’s sus... plus I’m with Zack, I totally want the cozy murder spinoff I imagined Adam and Michael doing plz

Oh the Cas and Jack dynamic here is so sweet.

Pastor just leaving his door open like there’s no such thing as a thief bless his heart. They must be torn up about Connor but Pastor was the last one to talk to him so he’s sus I don’t make the rules.

Oh no Red’s a THIEF!!! Who ever would have guessed. Okay I did NOT expect that jumpscare because of the way Connor’s murder primed me, that was masterfully done.

That’s vaguely an Ohio Star quilt square on the sign behind her except um I forget what that tilted square in the center turns it into? It’s chiming with something... I’ll have to look that up later.

“Divide and conquer” no never split up in a slasher movie that’s how you get murders use the buddy system!

Gonna stop a sec because I just realized that Zack is two-faced. The British dandy was an act. The killer is wearing a Cinderella mask. Ok I’m gonna make a prediction that Zack is actually the killer, a la the demon in Repo Man...

Okay there was definitely a beat after Dean said “Glad soneone’s taking charge” [ofHell] and the focus shifted to Sam. Hm.

“We’ve got to set her up for her own death” so meta, these writers are gonna shred us.

I love being shown how much Castiel has changed throughe Jack not understanding the Kool-Aid reference. And the cats line lol. That’s both amazing and poignant.

That’s a log cabin pattern in the cafeteria. Home. Makes me think back on other quilts we’ve seen this season and if “weaving” is the right metaphor for writing lol. I mean, the action of “patching” is synonymous with “mending” or even healing, but patchwork is also a craft with a long, long history in America (idk if quiltmaking is called patchwork everywhere) of taking a few often mismatched fabrics and cutting and sewing into something beautiful. There are generally two kinds of quilt tops— patterns, like we’ve seen so far in this season, which are carefully planned and involve precise measurements, and “crazy quilts” which also require skill but are often more freeform and piecemeal. But both aspire to be beautiful. That’s an interesting way to conceptualize a serial text... as both creating and mending....

That prayer was sweet and not at all what I was expecting.

I get the finger-cutting for Valerie (stealing=sticky fingers) but not for Connor? Tenuous connection still betw lying and writing? It’s evocative of Se7en but the killer seems to have the same MO for all the killings (I attended CSI for a while.)

Snow White is making me uneasy. Oh she’s the preacher’s daughter... we’ve seen that in early days, too.... oh.... oh....

It’s not the AV guy despite having seen all the AV equipment around Valerie. That’s too easy.

“A saint is a sinner who keeps trying-“ no scroll back, the important part was “we all have to take care of each other.” That’s a theme in the series.

She’s all in pink....

dean and amara on the same wavelength about food lol

Ha ha inversion of “oh you’re a fan of religion? name all seven gods then.”

Castiel’s testimony just wrecked me.

“Members serve the gift of food” hmmm the signs in this episode are tip-top

Gonna just watch for a while.

Oh crap “each is a finger” oh it’s about the sins of the father— No Cas no, you’ve fallen for the misdirection!

Oh okay good, Chuck’s not done snuffing worlds. That had me REALLY WORKED UP ha ha because Amara has no reason to lie right?

That was a really good conversation.... and implying that Former Death bent the truth...

Oh fuck I’m gonna cry “I wanted younto see that your mother was just a person” YES! DISMANTLE THIS MYTHOLOGY AMARA!!! Name it!

THE MYTH THAT YOU’D HELD ON TO FOR SO LONG did they just— THEY DID

rigging the game— ftfoh with the casino metaphors already we know the house always wins except when it doesn’t

Lying, lying, lying,

Do we even know Snow White’s name yet? And why was Connor a liar? Because I think we can make a guess at this point.... ah ha ha her name is sylvia— “forest spirit” she’s Mrs Butters— and she’s after hypocrites— but the killing isn’t supernatural, just churchy?

Oh shit SHE IS A DEAN MIRROR IF SHE STABS JACK I’LL FLIP A DAMN TABLE

....

....

prairiedust.exe has encountered an error and must be restarted

....

....

Okay so “Dad” steps in and stops Sylvia’s attack on Jack...

Why is that Zack? What????

“I’ve been lying to you” oh here we go

Oh it would be death #3, remember what Dabb said about threes a long time ago, two attempts that are unsuccessful and one that satisfies the parameters— but no he’s a jack :((((

I have to stop watching for a while.

Okay I finished it. Holy cats do I have some Thoughts about this episode.

What I loved: Revisiting Dean’s anger, BUT the parental mirror here (in retrospect, at least for me) was a John mirror-- all the mothers (exc for Rowena) in this episode are dead. And Pastor Joe didn’t apparently embrace his wife’s faith until she had died, and then his vision was radically different than his wife’s was-- much like John’s reasons for becoming a hunter were vastly different from Mary’s... but much like “patching” this subtext was possibly even more “healing” than having John back in the 300th ep... This was... looking at a child’s anger when they’re in the middle of their own family mythology. Am I implying that Dean’s anger is immaturity? Eh, it’s... unripeness. I have an old meta in my drafts about the heroine’s journey and why Mary’s story conformed to it while feeling totally unfulfilling in her actual character arc and I’m so glad I sat down and examined that rather than finish it. I have a lot I want to say about Cas’ testimony too, but that has to sit a while. ALSO also, Cas has already thrown away his shot by making the Empty deal, right?....

LANGUAGE! Cas saying “I found myself lost” is a bonkers sentence, right? It’s like when people say someone “turned up missing”-- AND it does not have the same meaning as “I realized I was lost”-- you get a double whammy of the connotation “to search for.” I loved loved loved how language was such a big deal in Last Holiday and then again here, I need to rewatch while paying closer attention to Sylvia and things she says... but these two were sister episodes in so many ways, that when I said there was a “lack of narrative mirrors” in Last Holiday, that’s only because the lens for that kind of reading is Gimme Shelter. That is not the first time spn has played with a “coin” or paired structure-- I think the first time I noticed it was Fan Fiction/Ask Jeeves but I was a transfer student from another fandom at the time lol. But of course, we get a huge truth bomb at the end of the episode, and again that splashy cymbal all over lying...

What I got wrong-- Zack wasn’t the killer but he’s fishy as hell-- he stole Sylvia! Is this part of Rowena’s “people generally end up where they deserve to be” except she’s built in an express lane? “Do you need a driver” is that his actual job now? Taking unripe souls to Hell Orientation? What’s up with him being there... the other shoe did not drop. So there is a third episode out there somewhere where this might get wrapped up? The conversation between Dean and Cas can easily be something that happens offscreen, and I don’t think that it would be the first time we miss an “important” conversation, especially since we know roughly what will be said and how it will wrap up-- it’s an “open text” of a sort. Maybe a fanfiction gap lol, I can’t wait for the codas.

Also, the fingers thing being Sylvia’s father’s favorite analogy is where she got her MO, something that I definitely didn’t see, although it fits right in with her father’s slightly pithy character. I think it’s interesting again how we’re playing with threes and fours. Three fingers got cut off but it was apparent that Valerie (valorious one) wouldn’t die until finger #4.... Jack really seems to be our last hope.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Wisdom, Warfare, and Useful Crafts (Son of Athena! Ironkid Headcanon)

Requested by anonymous for “ I just thought of a cool concept (idk if it’s any good actually). What about the reader being the son of Tony Stark as well as Athena? Like imagine the reader having the combined intelligence of Tony and the goddess of wisdom (as well war)”

Tony met her at a Stark Expo. He normally can’t stand the people who he meets at these things. Business execs looking to ambush him into deals. Screaming fans trying to touch his goatee.

But she was none of these things. She was staring at him during his presentation, but in a way that made him feel like she was judging his very thoughts. He found her afterwards, staring at a prototype Iron Man suit with her storm-grey eyes.

“Impressed?” he asked with a smirk, holding out his hand when she turned. “Tony Stark.”

She looks at him disdainfully. “Not particularly. I’ve been around the block a few times. I’ve seen a lot more done with a lot less.”

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Athena. Athena Pallas.”

“Palace?”

“Pallas.”

“What is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She smirks, and Tony feels electricity surging through his soul. “It’s Greek, in fact.”

Somehow he wheedles a date out of the strange woman. It’s a match made in heaven. 

She’s wicked smart, and immediately understands any concept thrown at her.

Tony normally is a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, but it’s different with Athena. There’s desire, but a desire to be around her. It’s a meeting of the minds.

And eventually she vanishes without a trace. Tony has Pepper try and track her down, but it’s as if she never existed, like Athena was only ever the goddess of wisdom from Greek myths.

But then she appears once more. And Tony knows something’s weird because she’s dressed in full armor and riding in a chariot pulled by giant owls and carrying a bundle in her arms.

And after she explains herself, she gives the bundle to Tony, and he finds himself enthralled with the little baby inside. You.

“Our son,” she says. “He will be a great man, but it will be up to you to teach him to be a good one. Teach him well, Tony.”

Tony’s still not sure how he explained it to Pepper.

He was so unprepared for you, but later he’ll come to wonder if anyone could really be prepared for a kid like you.

When he was little, they labeled him a genius and wunderkind by the time he was out of diapers. You... there was an intelligence in your gaze that had no business being in a newborn’s eyes.

By the time you can talk, it seems like you’ve had a million ideas, and get frustrated at your inability to communicate them.

Tony indulges you - he doesn’t care what the parenting sites he’s researched say about giving you a normal childhood - your mom’s a freaking goddess, after all. Normal, he doesn’t care. You happy is what he wants.

So if you want to wander into the workshop and give him mechanical pointers and draw up technical blueprints on his white boards, go ahead.

You wanna alter the architectural plans for Stark Technologies facilities so that they’re more environmentally-friendly? Have at it, kid!

You wanna ask him to develop an e-textile for you so you can personally weave a bulletproof vest that can redistribute kinetic energy and send bullets back at their source? He won’t sleep until he’s found the best possible material for his little genius.

He’s also set a small robot to exterminate any bugs that attempt to enter your home - because you’re deathly afraid of spiders and in the absence of spiders, other bugs try to enter. (Yes, it will be difficult when you meet Spider-Man)

Maybe you don’t feel like using that big brain of yours today? All you need to do is ask, and he’ll take the day off to spend it with you. Often, this will lead to you both spending all night in the lab and inventing until Pepper makes Tony make you go to bed.

You don’t go to school, because not only are you in danger of monsters because you are a powerful demigod, but because you are in danger from mortals because you are Tony Stark’s son. And also because you’re so smart, the only possible teacher for you is JARVIS, who handles your education, tailoring it to your specific needs.

Tony’s loathe to let you go to Camp Half-Blood, but allows it on the condition that during the rest of the year, he gets you. He misses you terribly when you’re gone, but knows he can’t always keep you all to himself.

You, of course, help him with the Avengers

It’s a bit disconcerting for him how you excel in battle tactics and strategy at such a young age. But you become the best tactician, even better than Steve and Natasha.

“You been teaching the kid military strategy, Stark?”

“No. I think he gets it from his mother.”

“Who’s his mother?” Steve asks.

“Greek goddess of wisdom.” Tony says, blandly.

Steve honestly isn’t surprised. He has a threshold of weirdness, and it’s permanently at 100%

Thor immediately senses that you are not completely mortal and makes it his duty to protect you from particularly vicious monsters. Occasionally you’ll see a column of rainbow light in the distance as Thor descends to destroy a monster that might head in your direction. Heimdall has been instructed to turn an eye in your direction occasionally to make sure you’re safe.

Banner gets used to the three of you being in the lab together. And teaching him how to weave has significantly improved his ability to stay calm. Tony’s terrible at it, which also gives Banner the opportunity to tease him.

And yes, Nick Fury does consider recruiting the Greek gods into the Avengers.

During the Battle of New York, you called in Camp Half-Blood to help defend Olympus, and they arrived. While Cap directed the Avengers, you directed the campers, Party Ponies, assorted Amazons, and unfortunate vacationing Roman demigods, who swarmed the Chitauri army with the mundane metal weapon edges you designed, which attached to their Celestial bronze swords, spears and arrows, allowing them to damage the alien force.

And then they all disappeared after the battle, making sure the media didn’t notice a group of kids, women warriors, and horse-people with weapons trudging around New York. And you refused to tell Fury where they came from, earning a high-five from your dad.

And finally, you design your own suit, which takes inspiration from Ancient Greek armor while incorporating the full body design your father uses.

Imagine an Iron man suit with one of those plumes Greek armor has, then imagine it even awesomer

It’s only a pet project you and your dad have plans to someday make. But one day you two walk into the lab and it’s waiting there, perfect, to your exact specifications, with one difference. This one comes equipped with a spear made from Celestial bronze-and-vibranium alloy painted red and gold to match your and your father’s suits. There’s a note taped to it, neat and precise. It’s on stationery, with an owl-symbol letterhead. Written in crisp grey script are seven little words.

I am proud of you, my son.

[vagrantblvrd]

Okay, but. Seeing as AH put out a new Thief Simulator video?

A different Thief Simulator AU with Thief Ryan, his little brother Trevor and this Jeremy kid they pick up somewhere along the way?

Because reasons.

Half-brother AU where their parents are killed in an accident and they’re about to be separated and that’s just a big hell no. (Their relatives want to split them up - there’s this major divide between their paternal/maternal relatives and each side gets one of them Because Plot Reasons.)

Or maybe they just have shitty parents.

OR foster brother AU where they’re placed in a shitty home together and ~bond, because dorks.

Whichever one it is, Ryan realizes he has to get Trevor and himself out of that situation (Because Plot Reasons) and he’s got this sad savings stash, right?

Grabs that and Trevor and gets as far away from their living situation as they can on his savings, which happens to be Los Santos.

They have enough money for a crappy motel room or something for a few days/week, but after that they’re flat broke.

Ryan can’t get a legit job because paperwork/IDs and all that, and look, okay, look.

They’re both idiot kids and maybe Ryan saw things coming long before he took Trevor and ran. Maybe he gave up his pipe dreams of theater and Vinewood because some things (people) are more important than that. (And anyway, he wasn’t that good, according to the shitty parents/foster parents/whoever.)

SO.

He did a few...less than legal things where they used to live, unsavory things that paid well enough. More than some part-time job at a fast food joint anyway.

Enough to get him and Trevor half-way across the country in a city where people who don’t want to be found won’t be. Enough to pay for a place to live until he finds something better here, so. (You do what you got to do and all that.)

Trevor knows Something Is Up (beyond the obvious, because he’s not that dumb, even for a kid) but all Ryan will tell him is that a buddy got him a gig out here, right?

Things will be tight until Ryan gets paid, so just hold on until then.

And then Ryan goes out and Thieves, while Trevor is left to his own devices.

Ryan sets him up at some community center or some such. Something with enough scienc-y shit to keep him occupied enough he won’t think to ask too many questions about what kind of work Ryan’s doing and so on.

Trevor is Not Fooled, but ooh, hey, is that a model rocket kit???? (And so on.)

Ryan breathes a little easier knowing Trevor’s safe(ish) because the community center is the right kind of sketchy.

(They know Something Is Up with Ryan and Trevor, but whatever trouble those kids are in, it’s not anything on Ryan’s end. Trevor’s a smart kid, no way in hell would he adore his brother the way he does if he was a bad guy, and there’s something too familiar about how twitchy Ryan is when it comes to looking after Trevor, so. Safe-ish.)

One day Trevor wanders away from the science-y shit to the gym area.

No one’s supposed to be down there this time of day without someone to supervise, but he’s stumped on something or frustrated with Ryan’s vague non-answers and needs some time to think. Not about to throw himself at the exercise equipment and so on down there, you know?

Just. Thinking room, right?

Only someone’s already there.

Short kid, maybe around Trevor’s age - he’s short, it’s dark with most of the lights off and it’s hard to tell.

This kid is pounding away at the punching bag or using the gymnastics equipment like he’s trying to tire himself out. (Demons of his own, or who even knows.)

Trevor is like “Oops, so sorry, I’ll just get out of your way, sorry again,” but the kid is like,

“Get out of here!”

Which -

“Pardon me?”

Trevor should leave, but the kid’s just being rude and it’s uncalled for and honestly, who the hell does he think he is?

And the kid, it’s like a reflex. Not really thinking about what he’s saying, but he says it anyway because it works on most people. Has them heading the other way without more of a fuss, but this tall lanky asshole just gets this bitch-face.

And that’s how Trevor and Jeremy meet, and Trevor may or may not give as good as he gets when Jeremy sasses him, right? Tries to get him to get out of the gym so Jeremy can work off his anger/frustration, but Trevor is Not Having It.

Somehow, Jeremy finds himself showing Trevor how to box, or walking him through basic gymnastic...things. (Warm-ups/super basic routines, idk, something if we’re going the gymnastics route.)

Ryan finds them like that when he comes to get Trevor, one of the community center’s employees/volunteers with him because they thought they lost Trevor and oh shit, that’s a Problem. isn’t it?

And oh, oh, oh, if it’s the boxing/fighting route they walk in on Trevor punching Jeremy in the face by accident, right?

Trevor focused on throwing a punch the correct way, and Jeremy looking over when he hears the gym doors open, and it all ends in Jeremy getting punched in the face, okay?

Trevor’s aborted ‘woo-hoo!’ when he realizes oh shit, I punched Jeremy, oh shit he’s bleeding?

“Why are bleeding you ass you said you knew what you were doing!!! RYAN HELP.”

Ryan and the employee/volunteer rushing over because Jeremy’s a sweet kid but he’s a loner - got all this anger to him and pushes people away - and they think Trevor and Jeremy are fighting and it’s a mess -

Up until they realize Jeremy’s laughing.

Nose gushing blood with Trevor fluttering over him all genuine concern and terror and these two Adults (semi-adult in Ryan, but close enough) rushing over and it’s so ridiculous? (Because he’s a little confused by Trevor still, okay. Thinks he could like him but mostly ??? because Trevor is Odd.)

And now Jeremy’s going to get into trouble - doesn’t matter if he and Trevor were getting along or anything, he knows what this has to look like.

Jeremy’s a Trouble Kid and the guy he doesn’t recognize (Trevor’s brother?) looks pissed. (Worried.)

The employee/volunteer looks annoyed - no one’s supposed to down here, let alone fighting - and he knows how it looks, so yeah.

But then Trevor’s babbling about breaking Jeremy’s nose and “Ryan, Ryan, I didn’t mean to and oh, God, I broke his nose. Who does that, Ryan? A bad friend, that’s who.“

This “Ryan” stops short, blinks at Trevor who is still babbling and then at Jeremy and -

“Well, I mean,” Ryan says, looking at Jeremy who’s trying to stop the bleeding while the community center employee/volunteer veers off to get paper towels or whatever now they know Trevor and Jeremy aren’t trying to kill one another. “Doesn’t look like you drove the bone into his brain, so that’s good?”

What the actual fuck.

Ryan gives them this tentative little grin, because Jeremy’s mind is off the pain - no seriously, what the actual fuck - and Trevor is just ??? and !!! at Ryan and the thought he could have killed Jeremy???

“Okay, no, no,” Jeremy says, voice all weird because nose and bleeding and ow. “That’s a myth. You can’t actually kill someone that way. Please stop thinking you almost killed me Trevor, omg, no.”

(Jeremy knows this because little kids and fascination with morbid shit. His boxing instructor/whatever he had before his life turned to shit was a Good Person who was fast to quash that one before his students broke each other’s noses trying to see if said myth was true, jfc what is wrong with these little monsters???)

And Ryan, okay.

Supposed Responsible Adult Ryan looks almost disappointed by that news.

Which.

Again, what the actual fuck.

And that’s how Jeremy meets Ryan.

And then!

Guilty!Trevor insists he and Ryan stay with Jeremy until his guardians or whoever pick him up even though Jeremy is trying to get them to NOT do the thing?

But they do.

(Ryan is suspicious as to why Jeremy’s so insistent they not bother - has a Bad Feeling about it because he’s very much Not Concerned at Trevor and Ryan meeting his Guardians, you know? The way Ryan is whenever anyone asks about parents and the whatnot.)

They wait and wait and wait, but no one comes to get Jeremy and eventually he’s like, well shit.

The buses stopped running a while ago and it’s a hell of a long walk (through Bad Neighborhoods) to get home and goddammit.

“Hey,” Ryan says, because Trevor is giving him The Eyes, all Concerned about his new friend and Ryan is likewise Concerned, but also trying to be Cold-hearted, Totally Not His Problem. “We’re not that far away from where the two of us are staying.”

Just an observation, definitely not an offer or anything.

Same goes for this all-night diner next to the motel, and the food he gets for them. (Accidentally orders the wrong thing, but tells the waitress not to worry, but could he also get this other order too? Slides the “mistake order” to Trevor - he’s a growing kid, gotta eat and all that, and if he splits the extra food with Jeremy none of his business.)

By the time they get to the motel it’s too late for someone Jeremy’s age to be walking around at night alone, so he can share with Trevor and Ryan’s got work in the morning, so just keep quiet, okay?

(If they happen to stop by the diner again in the morning on the way to the community center and Ryan orders too much food he foists off on the others, well. They’re new to town, how is he supposed to know how big the portions are at this particular diner??? Don’t waste the food, brats.)

And then Jeremy just kind of gets lumped in with Trevor when it comes to people Ryan will protect to the death and all that and so on and so forth.

Problem is, as Trevor and Jeremy become better friends it means trouble for Ryan.

First in the shenanigans they get into together, and then when Trevor mentions one of Ryan’s bosses - he has a lot of part-time jobs or some such, whatever it is Ryan tells Trevor - and one day he mentions a name Jeremy knows.

Has Jeremy being all oh no because it means Ryan is up to Shady Shit and Trevor doesn’t know. (For certain.)

Can’t keep it to himself for forever - Trevor picks up on it faster than anyone would like - and they confront Ryan.

Trevor angry and betrayed - not that Ryan’s doing illegal shit, that he’s...kind of okay with, just. More that Ryan didn’t trust him with the truth when Trevor’s the reason they’re in Los Santos at all.

(He’s not, at least the whole reason, but Ryan couldn’t leave Trevor behind knowing what he’d leave him to, and anyway, he could have done this better. Gotten Trevor somewhere he’d thrive, get to live his life the way he’s supposed to but he fucked up and now everything’s fucked and just. Fuck.)

Poor Jeremy is nervous and scared - Trevor and Ryan gave him his first real safe-ish space he’s had in a while and he fucked that up - because hey, way to go, Dooley.

There’s a lot of blame and recriminations being thrown around - misunderstanding and the like - and Angst until someone is like wait, wait.

Because Trevor, no, this isn’t your fault. And Ryan, no, Trevor doesn’t hate you. And Jeremy, no, no one’s mad at you.

Lots of Talking and Listening and Feels and then like.

“Okay, no. I’m taking you two with me to work, for fuck’s sake.”

Because Ryan is out Thieving and dear God, no, Trevor and Jeremy are too young for that. (He wants them to go to school and better themselves and like hell is he getting involved in his shit.)

But you know, stubborn assholes.

So.

Compromise???

When he has spare money he rigs up a comms for them - something like that anyway - where they can listen in and backseat Thieve with him while he’s out working. (Something he upgrades as he gets better at his job and can afford better equipment.)

In return Trevor and Jeremy do the School Thing, but mostly to appease Ryan and learn things to help Ryan get better/one day help him out.

Because Plot Reasons.

Everyone kind of knows what’s going on - Ryan’s not that stupid but at least they’re not in the thick of things (yet) and maybe he can go back to a legit job some day? (???)

And then!

And then they find out Ryan’s met Other Thieves. This Gavin prick and his friend Meg and Michael’s out there too and idk, just. People who give Ryan shit and kind of coo over how adorable he is when it comes to his little brother and his asshole friend. (Also, they watch Ryan’s back and the like, helped him get out of scrapes here and there and vice versa.)

Also, also, how hard it was getting him to admit to having a little brother, that’s how closemouthed he was about it. (How serious he is about keeping Trevor, and then Jeremy safe.)

And when Jeremy’s shitty guardians enter the picture it’s thanks to Gavin and the others that things don’t turn into a shitshow - Ryan’s great, okay. Protective as hell but he’s still new to the city, doesn’t know the people they do or have the favors they can call in, and anyway, anyway.

They get Jeremy out of his living situation and with Trevor and Ryan and a decent place to live and everyone’s better off than they started.

Maybe Ryan continues with his life of crime with Trevor and Jeremy following along behind, or maybe not, idk which I like better?

But everyone gets the happily ever after they deserve whichever way things go for them.

...and then, of course, at some point Matt happens.

Either Trevor and Jeremy find him somewhere along the line, or Ryan stumbles over him in one of the houses he burgles.

This kid who is like “Oh, hey. A burglar. Cool.” and does absolutely nothing to protect himself. Doesn’t even run to safety, what the fuck Matt? What if Ryan had a gun?

What if he was one of those assholes who didn’t care who they hurt? You stupid asshole.

And he brings Matt home - look, idk, it happens at some point, okay. Maybe Ryan keeps “burgling” Matt’s place to check up on him and his parents are never home? (Rich assholes off on business trips and the whatnot too busy/self-absorbed to bother with their kid. Maybe they’re legit, maybe they’re involved in one of the crews around town, who knows.)

Ryan fucking steals him too, along with the routers and alarm clocks and busts and drops him on Trevor and Jeremy and is like, “He’s your problem now.”

The two of them are Rightfully Concerned because RYAN, NO but then they get Matt’s story out of him and are like okay, no. Never mind, RYAN, YES and that’s how Trevor and Jeremy get their Myatt.

ALSOALSOALSO: Imagine the romcom matchmaker shenanigans the Stream Team get into RE Ryan and his ~coworkers, okay.

Ryan being like, NO STOP OMG NO while they try to set him up with Gavin, or Gavin and Meg, or whoever else.

The misunderstandings in which they try to set him up with someone he’s actually NOT interested in in a romantic way - and vice versa on said person’s part - but goddamn does said person think it’s hilarious when they find out what’s been going on.

(The way Ryan kind of hates to say worked when he does get together with whoever he does like in a romantic way knowing the Stream Team will never let him live it down.)

...not to mention the way “Stream Team” works really well for what Trevor, Jeremy, and Matt call themselves while they Backseat Thieve!Ryan via coms/~magical tech? (lololol /o\)

And like.

Everyone’s in here at some point, like.

OMG.

Cop/fed Fredo and his kid sister/whatever Fiona who befriends the Stream Team and the shenanigans from that because hey, Ryan’s kind of on the Most Wanted List as this Infamous Cat Burglar and Fredo’s part of a task force to bring him in and lolol Fiona figures everything out and pretends not to know anything just to fuck with them.

Fredo also figures shit out and is like.

DENY EVERYTHING. (And omgomgomg, he and Ryan have a thing??? IDK, I’m all over the place with this but I am dying at the potential for the whole ~star-crossed romance bs, I kid you not. /o\)

[evangelineartemiasamos]

have you read the dragon republic? what do you think of it?

Sorry this took me so long, but I didn’t want to reply with “haven’t read it yet, but I plan to”, so I waited until I’ve finished the book.

I’m somewhat disappointed with it, mainly for two reasons. Spoilers!

1) Rin is quite an irritating protagonist. It’s strange when she claims to be morally right in the first place given that she is a woman who committed genocide, but even worse is that she doesn’t have a moral compass but rather a moral rollercoaster. First she says one thing, then the other, depending on wholly subjective, unreasonable standards. Like, she is more angry that some people have to eat but not that other people have to starve in the first place? Like, she’d rather all people suffer equally???

Her motivations are an even bigger conundrum. First, she just wants to survive, then she wants to die, then she wants to lead, then she wants be ordered around, then she is pissed off when people don’t agree with her opinions, then she feels guilty about what she has done, then she stops feeling that way, only to feel guilty about something else that isn’t even her fault etc etc. And later on, she complains (again) that people pick a side just to survive as if she hasn’t done the same thing. IDK what the destination of her character is, all comes down to being angry because she needs to be angry about something, just because. Probably Kuang wanted to write a a character who is rightfully angry but the way she wrote Rin as always being angry just erases the cause of her rage: It doesn’t matter anymore if something is unjust and wrong when you’re angry for the sake of being angry because you begin to contradict yourself and you stop to care about the things you claim to be angry about. Rin’s anger isn’t rightful, it’s part of her mental illness. You can blame the Phoenix for it, though the book claims she stops hearing the Phoenix at some point, so make of that what you will.

All in all, Rin’s sole conflict is whether “to burn or not to burn” which is also her main military tactic: kill as many people as possible or necessary, she has never other advice when she takes part in war meetings. As if she didn’t go to a military academy and learned warfare and strategy! She doesn’t deserve to be treated like having literal firepower is the only thing she can contribute to war. This is esp. frustrating in the middle section where she loses her superpowers so The Guys™ (more on that later) can talk actual strategy while Rin is only supposed to ask where to run and who to kill. It’s like Rin lost her brain because of her mental illness and the possession of the Phoenix that burns up her character. It’d be different if the book recognized that but I don’t really see it in TDR; it acts like it’s a natural progression that Rin is reduced to anger and her mental illness nothing to be concerned about.

And her whole, “I don’t care about democracy, I don’t care about politics��-attitude really made me question why I should root for Rin of all people in the book, and not someone who knows what to strive for. 

I also don’t like that she wants Nezha to become a shaman although the book makes it abundantly clear that being a shaman is totally shitty apart from the superpower. Like, the book never stops reminding us that shamanism only brings madness and death. Nezha wants to remain sane, is that so bad? I also think that Rin should consider that - trying to care for her mental health instead of reducing herself to a soldier who is a living mass-destruction weapon. That she and everyone else only consider her as that is sad, not making her important. BTW, Nezha suffering from constant pain which never stopped him from being a capable fighter? Talking about ableism …

2) The book is disturbingly sexist and violent to women. Here are some examples. There is no relevant female character besides Rin who isn’t a villain, and all female side characters are equally villified or raped or killed off or described as weak and incompetent. Even the empress is called weak and the narrative likes to point out that the empress only made it this far because her deity is so strong and because she is sexy enough to seduce people to her side. Repeat: The empress isn’t powerful because she is competent but because she is beautiful. She isn’t clever, but has a sexy body. It’s peak sexism to code a female villain this way. In contrast, male beauty inspires loyalty?

When the empress uses a cruel strategy costing innocent lives, she is a vile monster that has to be stopped, when a male general applies the same strategy, it’s ugly but necessary. This is most apparent when it comes to Jinzha: He is often called cruel but his deeds are shrugged off and accepted as okay and when he dies, it’s portrayed as the tragic loss of a good leader. What?

Otherwise, it’s disturbing how Rin reacts when women are killed: She rather feels with the murderer or the man suffering a loss (sometimes the same person!!) than with the woman who dies. There’s a scene when Rin hears of a myth about a goddess whose suitors drown in the pursuit of her. The goddess is called “a bitch” for letting those men who harassed her die. Seriously. And is there any reason why the Sorqan Sira and Qara have to die??? Oh, I suppose it will matter in the next book but still: That cemented the book’s sexism for me. A female leader isn’t allowed to stay alive and in power. I felt like I was in an sjm book.

But hey, even though the other female characters are treated like shit, we still have Rin as the female lead, right? Well, that’s what I thought in the first book. But with book 2, I’m not so sure anymore. First of all, Rin’s gender doesn’t play a role in her story, but okay, that’s not a must. Yet on the other hand, I don’t think her story is written as empowering in general.

Rin never gets to be right from the start. She is always wrong somewhere, she comes to false conclusions, acts rashly, and makes mistakes and then she has to be corrected, to be chastised, to suffer abuse, only to learn and start again from a weaker position. Her fate revolves pain, abuse and destruction, period.

She also never gets encouragement. No one tells her she is more than a weapon, that she doesn’t deserve to be dehumanized, called insults and used like a tool. No one protects her against (verbal) abuse. Actually, being called useful are the only moments when she feels worthy of respect! Duh, I said I don’t agree with her often, but that is too much. To me, it’s clear the narrative wants her to suffer and nothing else. If the only empowering moments for her are when she uses her superpower, it’s not empowerment at all, because she still isn’t respected for herself (note that I believe superpowers are overrated as metaphors for empowerment in general because they are unrelatable for real life people compared to learned skills. EG in Captain Marvel, Maria flying through the canyon will always be more inspiring than Carol suddenly being able to crush spaceships with a wave of her hand).

What I like the book though is that - once you’ve steeled yourself for the grimdark, violent content - it’s rather easy to read and never boring. Naval battles on rivers are something fresh, too. It’s creative too that Kuang made-up a western country and religion instead of picking and adapting one european country and branch of christianity - not that they wouldn’t deserve it. It’s still the same bullshit in different words and a strong call out of the horrors of colonization, social darwisnism, white supremacy and christianity.

Also, the last hundreds pages make up for some of my frustration as finally, the characters realize what goes on behind the scenes and begin to doubt and act on their own. On the other hand, I don’t get what stopped the characters from figuring out that shit in the first 550 pages as many readers will certainly wondered EG about Vaisra’s real plans. I hope in the next book, Rin will show more of her leading skills now that she’s a general and see herself as more than a weapon (please).

I’ve read by now that Rin is supposed to become a dictator like Mao Zedong and that makes me excited, tbh. I’d like to read about a villain protagonist but please let it be one with a brain and a purpose.

[theoi-crow]

Hello! Um, idk how to exactly explain what I want to say, but you seem like a really kind person so I think you will understand. So, I am a 14 year-old-girl that has been a Christian for as long as I rememember. The environment I live is quite religious as well. I didn't have a problem with it for, as you see, I was a kid and didn't think too much of religion in general. ~Um, apparently I reached the world limit so please wait to write the rest in an other ask XD *sorry* ~~

~~um, still me XD~~ But since last May or April, I became interested in the ancient greek culture. I actually DO live in Greece, so it was pretty easy to visit many of the gods' temples and other ancient places. I fell in love with them and, I should not lie, I felt like home around them. You have no idea, how much I wanted to touch the exhibits or walk into the temples. Tho, I didn't think too much of it. ~~ ugh, still have a lot to say. Sorry sorry!! :/ ~~

*again me*While I was on Naxos, the sacred island of Dionysus, I visited the temples of Demeter, Apollo and Dionysus. In the temple of Dionysus, I LOVED the aura around me. Even if it was the most plain in comparison to the other two, I had liked it more. Short after, Dionysus' name was popping on my head all the time, alongside Ariadne. Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her. But Dionysus? *oof I AM SORRY, i need an other one*

*I don't exactly remember how, but suddenly for some reason, he started feel more "real". To be short, judging from his followers' post on Tumblr, he was "calling me". "Who me?" I thought. I was not a witch. Nor a pagan. Why? And most importantly why me? You see, I was never the girl who partied a lot, the social, extroverted, confident girl. I was always the shy, introverted, sensitive and insecure girl who would much rather stay at home on Saturday night. *ok, AGAIN i am sorry ;-;*

*There was a time that my intuition told me he was present, in some way I did not understand, in my room. I felt he was talking inside my head. He was gentle I have to say, but I was terrified. TERRIFIED. I had read all the stories about his "madness", and while they seemed cool, being REAL had me spooked. I told him in my head to get out and I almost shakily said that I would never be able to work with him, for the reasons I said. I felt I was not worthy enough for someone like him. *oof, again*

*The last thing I heard him saying was "But you do have a flame of madness. And it is ok to be shy". But you see, those things clashed with my religious beliefs and I called him a demon. I didn't know what to do. I felt so young for all of this. Days after, I had to persuade myself that it was not real. I think that he was trying to reach me more slowly but, again, I was terrified. However, I could not refuse that everytime I thoughg of him I felt more confident and that my anxiety was dying. **

*To finish, even I had tried to sweep it off, even if I never had any other episodes, I kind of felt that some gods' like as Dionysus, Apollo and maybe Aphrodite were watching over me (in the good way). Today, I scrolled through your blog, and I read all the asks you had answered to people sharing simiral experiences and you saying "it is ok to feel scared". Something in your tone made me believe you. The gods didn't feel so scary suddenly. And more real.

-------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I am not Greek, have never been to or lived in Greece which is a completely different country than my own with different rules and history, so the only information I can draw from are the internet, articles, Wikipedia and intuitive nudges from my gods.

Please understand that the advice are all personal opinions and everyone is free to agree/disagree with it. I don't mean to offend anyone who is actually Greek or was raised in Greece. These are all viewpoints from an outsider who works with Greek gods in the USA. So keep that in mind as you continue...

Hello!

Thank you for calling me a kind person, my goal in life is to become a teacher and help as much as I can, so thank you for that. 🤗

There is no need to be afraid but I understand why you are nervous. The gods are reaching out to you and it's a new experience.

From what I've read, Greece seems to be going through a spiritual transition. We're talking about a place where having "Greek Orthodox" as a religion labeled on your I.D was mandatory until 2001: (LINK)

I also noticed that the separation of church and state has been a very aggressive issue and fought in Greece for the last 10 years. Just a couple of years ago the Hellenic Polytheist religion dubbed Hellenismos was officially recognized by Greece in 2017: (LINK)

Needless to say, things are happening in Greece (and all across Europe, the West and the world.)

This spiritual turmoil is intense. Your feelings are valid.

You are loved and the gods understand.

The reason why it took me so long to reply to this ask was because Apollo wanted me to tread lightly on how I would reply given that you live in Greece and are 14.

I have been told that Greece is a spiritually charged place. You can feel the gods there, but it's not a safe place to be out and about as a Hellenic Polytheist: (LINK)

But there's hope! More and more Greeks are beginning to worship the gods (especially younger Greeks like you): (LINK)

Because you posted a lot of information, I'm going to quote you and reply to that just so I can be sure to really answer any questions that could be bothering you or things you could be wondering about (I apologize if it gets very literal but I want to make sure to give you as much information as possible so you can make a more informed decision):

"since last May or April, I became interested in the ancient greek culture. I actually DO live in Greece, so it was pretty easy to visit many of the gods' temples and other ancient places."

Greece is a very spiritual place and the gods still live and visit their own temples because even though the majority of Greece is now Christian, I'm told they still have a very special place in the Greeks' heart and culture.

The gods know about the religious politics that no longer worship them in a religious setting but they stay with their Greek people through stories and customs.

My classical studies teacher says that although the majority of Greeks no longer worship the gods, they still value them and are defensive of them. She went to the Theater of Epidaurus by Asclepios' Temple. In the theater there is a special section traditionally reserved for the gods and seen as a kind of altar to them. When she was there, one of the actors stepped on it and got booed off of it by the Greek viewers who were deeply offended.

These reactions warm my heart because you can tell that even if they are no longer viewed as a worshipping option, they still care about the gods.

I sense the gods also go to their temples to hangout with, not only the locals, but curious tourists, Mythology fans, history buffs and Hellenic polytheist visitors.

A lot of pagans who worship them go to Greece on a pilgrimage to visit their gods (like me and my wife who will be visiting Athens this coming January.)

"I fell in love with them and, I should not lie, I felt like home around them. You have no idea, how much I wanted to touch the exhibits or walk into the temples."

I sense they have been watching you and as much as you wanted to touch the exhibits and walk in their temples, they wanted to further connect with you.

You are very important to them and feel like you are home because you are, you are connecting with gods who are older than Christianity. Gods who have been around for so long and have been worshipped by your ancestors. Ancestral connections can be very strong.

"While I was on Naxos, the sacred island of Dionysus, I visited the temples of Demeter, Apollo and Dionysus. In the temple of Dionysus, I LOVED the aura around me. Even if it was the most plain in comparison to the other two, I had liked it more."

I feel like Naxos is sacred to him, so it makes sense for him to be more present. A lot of Apollo followers who have visited Greece say they can feel Apollo the most in Delos.

"Short after, Dionysus' name was popping on my head all the time, alongside Ariadne. Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her........why me? You see, I was never the girl who partied a lot, the social, extroverted, confident girl. I was always the shy, introverted, sensitive and insecure girl who would much rather stay at home on Saturday night."

You said it yourself: "Now, I understood the reason I liked Ariadne; I saw a lot of myself in her" sometimes the gods like us because we remind them of those they love. For example, I know Aphrodite first began to love me because I reminded her of a tiny version of Ares. I was aggressive and when it came to fight or flight, I always chose to fight.

Sometimes the gods connect with us because we need them and they are trying to help us become a better version of ourselves. When I first met Aphrodite, you could mop the floor with my self esteem. Now, I am better about loving myself and teaching others to love themselves too.

Sometimes there's a previous connection. When I first met Ares he told me my ancestors knew him as Mars. My real last name is Roman and it literally translates to "Child of Mars." There is a lot of Roman and some ancient Greek in my ancestry (it's not necessary to have Greek in your ancestry to worship the gods but your ancestry can be the source of your connection).

Ask Dionysus directly and give him time to respond. You may be surprised with what he tells you.

"I don't exactly remember how, but suddenly for some reason, he started feel more "real". To me short, judging from his followers' post on Tumblr, he was "calling me"."

The gods are unique in the sense that they are portrayed as fictional characters because they are in timeless legends and myths, and so beloved that they have been readapted countless times like wheat that has gone through so many processing procedures, that it no longer looks like wheat.

It's easy to forget that these are gods that were once worshipped by Nations, empires and can be found in the Bible as the "false idols" of Kings who tried to get rid of Christ or oppress Jewish people.

The gods became nameless beings in cultural ceremonies you no longer understand but still do because they are now apart of your heritage, for example: in my culture we celebrate day of the Dead which was originally an Aztec tradition that didn't venerate the Dead but worshipped the queen of the underworld. Our own version of Persephone. The Spanish tried to erase her and put a Catholic spin when they couldn't get rid of the tradition and it worked but those who work with La Santa Muerte now, recognize it as her holiday because they know it originally was: (LINK)

So it's not that the gods were once fake but you are now beginning to recognize them in your own culture and traditions.

"There was a time that my intuition told me he was present, in some way I did not understand, in my room. I felt he was talking inside my head."

Those are Godphone moments. Feeling the gods, sensing them with your energy. Hearing them talk in your head. Those are all the methods I use to hear the gods. I sense the energy shift. He was definitely present. And he was definitely talking.

"He was gentle I have to say, but I was terrified. TERRIFIED. I had read all the stories about his "madness", and while they seemed cool, being REAL had me spooked."

The gods always know how to best approach their new or potential followers. Apollo is very gentle when he interacts with my wife because he knows they react best when he's gentle. He's very stern with me because he knows I work best under pressure.

The part about him having you spooked because of his "madness" reminds me of when I was 12 and I learned that my "imaginary friend" was actually the "blood thirsty" god of war, Ares. Him being real had me spooked. Even though he had been teaching me how to fight and survive since I was 5, I called him a demon and told him I didn't want to work with him because of this one dimensional idea I had read about him versus his actual personality as an amazing father and protector. He's playful and very lovable.

The myths can help us with gods but they are written by flawed humans who don't understand the complex nature of the gods. Everything you've learned about Dionysus is 4% of what survived history. And a lot of that 4% has been tainted and rewritten by the Romans and Christian monks trying to demonize the gods or make them look bad.

A lot of Apollo myths will have you believe he is a monster who likes to chase women and smite unfortunate beings who look at him but his actual followers know he's nothing like this. To me, he's cool and collected, loves reason and philosophy. The best way to learn about a god is by researching their information, epithets, followers and working with them.

Here is a list of Dionysus followers compiled by @thepastelpriestess : (LINK)

"I told him in my head to get out and I almost shakily said that I would never be able to work with him, for the reasons I said. I felt I was not worthy enough for someone like him......"

"Not worthy enough" is a problematic feeling a lot of followers have. I see this a lot amongst potential Aphrodite followers who are confused as to why the goddess of beauty would want to work with them when they feel they look ugly. The gods know what they are doing and they know you are worth so much more than you realize.

"The last thing I heard him saying was "But you do have a flame of madness. And it is ok to be shy".

He would! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh I love Dionysus!!! He's such an inspiring god! And he's right. There is something about you he loves and it is 100% okay to be shy.

"But you see, those things clashed with my religious beliefs and I called him a demon. I didn't know what to do. I felt so young for all of this."

He understands you were scared when you called him that. He knows because a lot of gods are portrayed as demons in the Bible. He knows you were scared and if you ever feel like contacting him and working with him, know he is available and will gladly do so.

I called Ares a demon when I was 12 and didn't talk to him for 15+ years. When I finally did, he immediately forgave me, said I was little and ask was forgiven because I was speaking out of fear and fear is confusion. You have every right to go about ignoring the gods and continuing your family's religion but if you change your mind, Dionysus and the gods will be there.

"Days after, I had to persuade myself that it was not real. I think that he was trying to reach me more slowly but, again, I was terrified."

Awww he knew you were scared so he was giving you time and reaching out to you occasionally.

"However, I could not refuse that everytime I thoughg of him I felt more confident and that my anxiety was dying."

Dionysus is AMAZING when it comes to fighting anxiety. In ancient Greece he helped people (especially women) overcome societal rules and follow him. Just like how he causes madness,he also helps others heal from it and since anxiety can be a type of madness caused by fear, he is definitely helping. And that may be why he wanted to work with you.

"To finish, even I had tried to sweep it off, even if I never had any other episodes, I kind of felt that some gods' like as Dionysus, Apollo and maybe Aphrodite were watching over me (in the good way)."

They are.

Apollo has been helping me answer this ask because he knows you are nervous and wants to let you know that whatever you choose it's okay. Even if you silently honer the gods in cultural settings with traditional events, they are and will continue to be with you.

They love you.

"Today, I scrolled through your blog, and I read all the asks you had answered to people sharing simiral experiences and you saying "it is ok to feel scared". Something in your tone made me believe you. The gods didn't feel so scary suddenly. And more real."

It is 100% okay to feel scared. And it is okay if you decide you'd rather not work with the gods at this time. They understand. They still love you, but they understand.

Just your curiosity was enough to make them come down and introduce themselves to you. You matter to them and no matter what you choose, they will be there for you.

I hope this helps.

May the gods remind you of your roots, remind you of your power and remind you of their love because they will always be with you.

[petertingle-yipyip]

Right Here, Right Now - Klaus Mikaelson

//Requested:  hello, idk if you do crossover but could you write imagine where used to date dean winchester but later they broke up and she moved to new orleans and klaus takes a liking in her? thanks //

//Disclaimer: I don’t watch Supernatural so this is simply a name drop. The anon who requested it is OK with it so let’s proceed.//

//Warnings: Some talks of a breakup. Tag List: @simonsaysyasss @akshi8278 @aomi-nabi//

//Part Two//

Things were never simple, especially when you were with Dean. He wasn't a normal guy, and neither was his brother. Together, they were a supernatural hunting team. And sometimes, it put you in harm's way. Dean swore that he would protect you, that nothing would ever hurt you, but you couldn't risk it. After all, Dean was human. He could die just as easily as you could. So you left.

You left Dean and left your old home to move with your cousin in New Orleans. You knew a change of scenery would be the best option for you, or else you'd run back to Dean the first chance you got.

You sat on the patio of your cousin's work, waiting for her shift to end. She was a bartender at the local hot spot, Rousseau's. Everyone loved her and everyone was her friend. And you weren’t at all surprised. Growing up, she was always the better of you two. The sugar to your spice. Over time though, your spice didn’t kick the same.

“Bit lonely out here, isn’t it Love?” Someone suddenly asked, snapping you from your day dreams. Without necessarily trying to, you were thinking about that last day with Dean, the day you broke his heart. But you knew you couldn’t look back. You couldn’t let yourself reminisce anymore.

“Huh?” You said as you look up, taken aback by his looks.

He was effortlessly beautiful. His eyebrows were quirked, a smirk of amusement tugged his lips. His hands were neatly clasped behind his back and he radiated confidence. His eyes were a mesmerizing blue-green, seemingly hiding some mischief behind them. You were intrigued to say the least.

“May I?” He asked, gesturing to the seat next you.

“By all means..” You replied, sitting up a little straighter. “God knows I need to take my mind off things... I’m Y/N, by the way. Even though you didn’t ask..”

“Klaus.” He nodded with a small smile. “You’re not from here, are you?”

“That obvious, huh?” You chuckled. “But no, actually I’m not. Well, kind of. I grew up here with my cousins before my parents decided to pack up and get out of New Orleans.. It’s always been my favorite place to be though, no matter how far away we went.”

“Your cousin?” He questioned. “Is that who you’re staying with?”

“Mhmm. She’s the bartender here.. Camille? You know her?”

He laughed a little, glancing to the door and back to you. “I do, actually. She’s a friend of mine, believe it or not.”

“Wow.. Never would’ve guessed that, actually.”

“Well, now I’m offended.” He said with mock offense. “Is it cause I’m devilishly handsome? It’s a curse really.”

“Oh yeah, I bet it is.” You teased. “No, I just meant that you don’t seem like you’d be friends with her. She’s everything good about the world rolled into one soul, y’know? But you... You’re different than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I’m not sure.” You said honestly. “For all I know, the devil takes human form in Klaus...” You trailed off, hoping he’d fill in the obvious blank.

“Mikaelson.” He nodded proudly.

For some reason, that name was familiar. Klaus Mikaelson. Was he an associate of Dean’s? Was he someone Dean had hunted? Should you know that name? But then it hit you like a ton of bricks. You had read that name in one of Dean’s thousands of books. But he was a myth... Wasn’t he?

“Niklaus Mikaelson, commonly under the alias ‘Klaus’, the equivalent to the devil’s darkest desires, walked the earth when the earth was new. He is said to have more power than any creature in existence, for he is a whole new beast. No man will conquer the Hybrid.” You quoted the book and watched his ears perk up, his eyes widened. 

“Ah... So you’ve heard of me?” He smirked devilishly.

“You were a myth... A vampire-werewolf hybrid was a myth.” You explained.

“I’m quite real, Love. See?” He said plainly, taking your hand as if to prove he was actually sitting in front of you.

“That’s...” You paused, searching your vocabulary for a word that could do this feeling in the pit of your stomach justice. “Amazing.” You settled on.

“You’re not afraid?” He asked curiously. You couldn’t tell if he wanted you to be afraid or if he was relieved that you weren’t. Either way, you weren’t. You wondered if maybe you should’ve been, but at the same time, you knew you had no reason to be. You hadn’t wronged Klaus in anyway. He had no reason to hurt you. So what was there to be afraid of?

“Are the stories true?” You asked eagerly. “Did you really wipe out an entire pack and then some back East to build a hybrid army?”

He chuckled and released your hand. One hand came under his chin and the other waved through the air, as if to say it was no big deal.

“That is badass!” You exclaimed in excitement. “I always thought it was impossible to mix a werewolf and a vampire.” You said in a more modest tone of voice. “So how did that happen?”

“My mother had an affair with a neighboring tribe and the man happened to be a werewolf. So, I was born as not only the bastard, but a werewolf. She created us vampires through a spell, to protect us from said werewolves.” He explained simply.

“And the curse has to be activated, right? Take a life and become a ‘slave to the moon’ and all that?” You asked, putting air quotes around a few words.

“Yes, and once I fed for the first time, it triggers the other part of me. My mother did yet another spell on me to force my wolf side to lay dormant until I freed it.” He finished  and glanced at your face to gauge your reaction. Maybe he was hoping to scare you off, or entice you into his life more.

“Dude..” You said in awe. “There are so many people that won’t even say your name in public. They act like you’re Beetlejuice or something.”

“Nonsense.” He shook his head with a small smile. “I’d never wear such tacky stripes.”

“Could you imagine?” You laughed. “Oh my god, yeah, I don’t think you’d look good in blocky, vertical stripes. Sorry, buddy.”

“What do you mean? Devilishly handsome, remember?” He joked.

You burst out in laughter again, genuinely happy. You didn’t think you could happy after you left Dean, not this soon at least. Something in your eyes must’ve given that away because the next question from Klaus practically called you out on it.

“What are you running from?” He asked, more to himself than to you, as if he was still trying to figure you out. “So, what brings you to New Orleans?” He asked, a little louder than before.

“Dean Winchester.” You sighed, a smile staying on your face when remembering him. “He was my boyfriend, of a long time. But I broke up with him... He was great, don’t get me wrong. But I couldn’t stand by him and live his lifestyle anymore. I couldn’t have him worrying about me over himself anymore.”

“What was he?” 

“A hunter... Anything and everything supernatural, alongside his brother. The family business, I guess... I don’t know, at the end of the day I loved him and I still do. It’s just... exhausting being with someone who knows they’re mortal but who acts like they’re invincible.”

“Hey, Y/N/N.. Oh, Klaus...” Camille said, suddenly at your side. “Is he bothering you?”

“Not at all.” You smiled genuinely. “He was keeping me company, actually.”

“See, Camille?” He said with a joking smile. “I’m great with new people.”

“You hate people.” She argued with an amused eye roll.

“Nonsense, I love people.” He shook his head.

“Anyways. I’ll be done in a few minutes, I promise.” She told you.

“Take your time, Cousin. Klaus isn’t too bad.” You replied as she was called back inside.

“How do you know Cami?” You asked once she was out of earshot.

“My friend, Marcel, had a bit of a crush on her not too long ago. We invited her to a family party for him and they didn’t really spark anything exciting. In my efforts to get her to notice him, her and I became friends.” He explained.

“Cause that happens, all the time.” You nodded, trying to keep your sarcastic smile back.

“You’ve got your wits about you, don’t you?” He said in amusement.

“Cami was always the sugar, I was the spice.” You shrugged, slightly proud of how quick you could combat with your words.

“You know, I think you’d get along well with my younger brother, Kol. He’s an absolute ass but I think you two would be great friends.” He said with some admiration. 

“Cause I’m an absolute ass too, yeah?” You joked.

“Seems that way.” He teased in return.

“Oh, that one hurt.” You faked offense. “Maybe you’re really not a people person.”

“Poppycock!” He exclaimed and you tried so hard to maintain a straight face.

“Who says that?!” You managed through your laughter.

“You know, Y/N,“ He said gently. “I’d love to see you again.”

“Are you asking me on a date, Mr. Big Bad Wolf?” You teased with a smile.

“Seems that way.” He smiled in return. “You’re not like anyone I’ve ever met before...”

“Well, since I’m oh so special, I’d like that.” You nodded and exchanged phone numbers before leaving the patio with your cousin. As Klaus returned to his house, he couldn’t help but look at the new contact with your name and smile. He had the most mundane exchange with the most extraordinary girl.

She talked your ear off all night with what she knew about Klaus, both what he had told her and what she had figured out on her own. She said he was troubled, closed off, and had plenty of emotional baggage to spare. But he was interested in you. And apparently, he wouldn’t stop until you either told him to buzz off or he has you by his side. Either way, you were excited to see where it would go.

[cannabisrefugee-esq]

(via The Welfare Gnome! It's Like a Sock Gnome Except This One Can Actually Kill You. Ft. Joker (Again))

The Welfare Gnome!  It’s Like a Sock Gnome Except This One Can Actually Kill You.  Ft. Joker (Again)

Cannabis Refugee, Esq.

Advertising / Media / Cultural Conversation

Capitalistic Patriarchal Medicine

Crohn's Disease Stories

Euthanasia / Suicide

Law / Legal / Benefits

December 20, 2019

According to the internet, a “sock gnome” is a mythical creature that pilfers socks.  Presumably it lives in or around the dryer where you put an even number of socks in and get an odd number out.  Sometimes it gets tricksy and spits out an even number but the pairs don’t match (meaning it’s pilfered one from more than one pair) but the usual evidence that you’ve had a sock pilfered by a gnome is that there is one left over that doesn’t have a mate and the missing sock never reappears ever.  This is a real thing (if not a real gnome) and everyone knows what this means.

Well, there appears to be a similar creature that lives at Social Services and pilfers sick and poor people’s applications for welfare benefits.  Or something, idk.  I assume these creatures are related but maybe not since this gnome doesn’t play games: it’s goal seems to be to drive you insane before it literally kills you.  I wrote here before about an application for benefits that went missing, along with a half a dozen other boondoggles that have wasted my spoons and left me scrambling to repeat some administrative process I was barely able to complete survive the first time.

Because while a sick person’s literal inability to jump through bureaucratic hoops is actually the best evidence that someone is extremely ill, someone has decided that only those who are well enough to sing for their supper (or pursue benefits) deserve to eat, as it were.  The first application that went missing was for food stamps, while today I found out that my application to get on a 4 month waitlist to see a doctor went missing 2 months ago and has not been since heard from: although my disability advocate hand-delivered it, the application was never received.

I didn’t know it had never been received since I was instructed to wait for 2-3 months for a phonecall from them whereupon they would then tell me that I had to wait another 4 months to see a provider.  Now I get to start the whole process over again.  Of course, the clock starts, again, from zero: 2-3 months for the application to be processed and another 4 months before I will be seen. And as both Crohn’s disease and high functioning Autism are untreatable and incurable, the only reason I’m even trying to get in to see a doctor is that I need up to date records of medical compliance (not actual therapeutic medical care since none exists) to support my claims for disability.  As if sick people have the time and energy for that.

Just “apply for benefits” then keep applying indefinitely or forever!   Just get showered, dressed, don’t eat or drink anything though because Crohn’s, get somehow transported across town, pretend to act human for a several hours while you are being humiliated, interrogated, starved and otherwise tortured in public, then somehow get a ride back home.  And do all of that without “acting” sick.  Easy peasy.

And truly, bureaucratic incompetence (or a welfare or Social Services gnome) isn’t even worth writing about and I wouldn’t bother writing about it except that it had an unsettling effect on me: I literally wondered, if only for a second, if I had hallucinated the whole thing and therefore wondered if my new disability advocate who had hand-delivered the applications himself, Dave, was even real.  Jesus Christ that was disturbing.  Around Halloween of this year, Dave had helped me complete numerous applications, some online, while he mailed some hardcopies out of town and hand-delivered the rest; the 2 applications that were both hand-delivered were supposedly never received.  One would be understandable, if not acceptable, but both of them?  I was shook.

Very shortly thereafter I realized that the only proof I even have that Dave came to pick me up several times, completed applications for/with me and took me home again is that one application we did online was actually received and has his name and information on it.  Much to my chagrin, they initially returned that “online” application to me in hardcopy to review, sign and return (WTF) but as it turns out, that bit of bureaucratic fuckery actually saved me from something awful — a literal break from reality — and was the only proof I had that Dave and our interactions were even real.  Also, my old disability advocate told me about Dave in front of another person and they both remember it.  (!)  So yeah, I’m legit losing my mind by now but at least I’m not delusional (that I know of). Everything about this is fucking terrifying.

Wait.  Is Dave even real?  Let’s review.

  At some point, I know my readers are going to get sick to death of hearing about this shit and I wouldn’t blame them.  Hearing about how the system truly victimizes people is unpleasant and predictably leaves those who don’t have to deal with it (yet) with the strong impression that disenfranchised people are “victims” experiencing “victimization” which is always, always read as a character flaw, or it is eventually, especially if it goes on for a long time and it often almost always does.  And this material is about as appealing to read as…idk, a book of vintage recipes where the first and second ingredients in every dish are Jello and fake mayonnaise?  Maybe.  There’s a trainwreck quality that’s hard to look away from, it’s interesting (at first) to see how all the various parts fit together (or ultimately don’t) and I suppose it’s possible to have compassion for the vintage cooks who were trying so, so hard to be resourceful and whatnot.

But eventually that person’s judgement will probably come into question and the blame will fall squarely on them if they consistently choose to participate in such insanity, in that case, preparing and serving Spaghetti-Os and sliced hot dogs suspended in savory Jello, or a canned ambrosia Yule log.  (I just watched a video of someone making a canned ambrosia Yule log from a vintage recipe, you can watch that here). Or in the case of a vulnerable person seeking benefits, choosing to consistently be relieved of their dignity and even being (seemingly) willingly neglected and abused.  The comparison is kind of a reach but what I’m getting at here is that it’s not pretty.  The things I discuss on this blog aren’t pretty.

So do I have an actual point?  Actually I have 2.  The first point I will make via another anecdote and is something I learned as a young attorney who was becoming seriously ill: I had been seeing a chiropractor/nutritionist for months to attempt to treat what was becoming unbearable chronic pain and GI issues when my health insurance company started denying his claims.  The “doctor” wasn’t being paid but I was still in disabling pain and his treatments were working.  Kind of. Until they stopped. We had to have “the discussion” which drew out our competing interests: my interest in continuing treatment without a lapse versus his interest in being consistently paid.  (Really, this is where the myth of the compassionate Western healer is always undone: the issue of money.  But that’s a post for another day.)  This discussion is never pleasant and as I learned, is absolutely meant to be ugly.

As a seasoned provider with decades of experience in the insurance game, the “doctor” calmly explained to me that part of the game is to pit the doctor and patient against each other so that they can’t provide a united front against the real enemy: the insurance company.  The goal is to have the doctor and patient part ways angry so that there is no reason to pursue an appeal and the treatment — whether it’s medically necessary or not — simply ends.  From the insurance company’s perspective, the problem (of exposure to liability) just goes away: if the doctor and patient part ways it doesn’t have to expend resources reviewing appeals and no further claims will be made, their exposure drops to zero, and they win.

Get it?  Bad guys 1, good guys 0.  And this, I think, is the dynamic playing out when people get fed up (and fired up) with hearing about what sick and disabled people go through — regular, relatively powerless people blaming and judging other regular, relatively powerless people for being “victims” instead of providing a unified front against our common enemy.  In this case, against our corporate and governmental overlords who spend billions if not trillions annually on “corporate welfare” and destructive black budget programs while reducing, eliminating or otherwise making inaccessible benefits that real people need to live in this shithole they created, not us.  And Big Medicine torturing sick people and deliberately (or leastwise predictably) making us worse.

We all have a choice, don’t we, to pick the correct side and to not fall into this deliberate trap set by the elite, to not go against our own interests, to decline the invitation to support our oppressors while undermining ourselves and our ilk, our own people.  Choose correctly.  It matters.

My second point is this.  I can only speak for myself when I say that I absolutely never wanted to be a “victim” and I spent my entire life and literally everything I had to try to ensure that didn’t happen.  I have written about that before if anyone wants to revisit that part of my journey, but what I haven’t directly said is this: once I had exhausted every resource I had accumulated over a lifetime (which wasn’t much), after I had asked everyone I knew for help and they all declined, after I had failed to cure myself of an incurable disease, I knew what was coming for me because I had spent my entire life trying to avoid it.

My experience as a benefits attorney only underscored what I already knew, which is that there is nothing there to catch most people when they fall, and there is no bottom to the abuse and neglect one will suffer, and literally endless opportunities to be victimized, once anyone, especially an unresourced, unsupported female, is no longer able to control her outcomes and sick women can no longer reliably control their outcomes.  I knew the benefits system would be inaccessible or inadequate, I knew I would be abused and neglected by doctors if I let them, I knew I could end up sick and homeless at the same time, I knew I could end up sick and homeless and raped and pregnant at the same time if there was nothing I could do to stop it, and I knew that once I got sick there was, in fact, little or nothing I could do to stop it.  I knew there would be no end to my suffering as a sick woman under capitalism and patriarchy.

I saw this coming a mile out, and to avoid that outcome I knew I didn’t want and knew I couldn’t handle (and shouldn’t be expected to) and to fulfill a lifelong promise I had made to myself to never “allow” myself to be victimized in this way, I attempted suicide.  4 times.   Four fucking times I took action against myself that was so incompatible with life that by all rights I should have died at least once if not every time but I didn’t die.  Each time I woke to this nightmare that won’t end and I had to go on, dealing with the same shit and with the same hideous constraints only even more sick and even more traumatized than I was before if that was even possible.  And it is possible, isn’t it — it is bottomless.  There is no end, there is absolutely no end to how bad this can and will get for me and for everyone in my position.

And to be clear, I started this blog after what ended up being my final (well, most recent) suicide attempt which was 2 years ago by now.  Get it?  Every single post on this blog was written after that and therefore was very nearly not written at all.  What I am documenting here, I think, is a fairly common experience that is almost always lost to time and tragedy: what it’s actually like to be this seriously, hopelessly ill, how “the system” works against sick people and sick women at every turn, and what it really looks like to have no options.  And while this surely happens all the time, every force in the universe, it seems, is working against most people actually knowing about it.  In fact, the most relateable thing I’ve ever read, the only thing that I have ever seen address these points and describe an experience nearly identical to my own was left behind by an activist/writer/seriously chronically ill woman in a suicide note.  I wrote about that woman, Anne Örtegren, and her suicide note here.  

In my own case, and this is the only reason you are hearing about it, I happened to be a seasoned researcher and writer with a specialized interest in dissecting the insane system of patriarchy, I had a preexisting platform on which to advertise this project and an audience that was open to hearing about it, and despite my best intentions and efforts, and those of everyone and everything else for that matter, where those intentions and efforts were not compatible with life, my life, I didn’t fucking die.  Not yet anyway.  I suspect that many women who experience what I and Anne Örtegren and others have experienced go down for the third and final time before anyone even hears them scream.  And if any of this sounds a little crazy to you, that’s only because it is.  It is completely, completely insane.