#more sinned against than sinning ( NARRATIVE 3. )

[her-satanic-wiles]

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Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Titfucking, (Kinktober 2023) PS “Earthly Delight” by @thew0man ART

Glory Hole, (Kinktober 2023) GN

Pregnancy, (Kinktober 2023)

Guess Who? PS

Series

Divine Desires [COMING SOON] PS

You grew up in the Catholic Church as the daughter of a very powerful Cardinal. However, in your early adulthood, the reigning Pope dies, and the title falls to your father. You learn, as the daughter of a Catholic official, that there are two sides to every story. This lesson is taught by your Satanic counterpart, who does his fair share of opening your eyes to the world around you.

One shots

Hate Sex, (Catholic!Reader) (Kinktober 2023) ⛧ Part 2

Public Sex, (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Lupercalia

Bejewelled

Guess Who? PS

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Collaring, (Kinktober 2023)

Medical Play, (Kinktober 2023) GN

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Thigh Fucking, (Kinktober 2023) PS

Double Penetration In Two Holes, (ft. Cardinal Copia) (Kinktober 2023) A GN

Teratophilia, (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+) PS

Guess Who? PS

Series

Dawn Chorus ⛧ Masterlist DF (21+)

When you question the Almighty for a third time, you find yourself on the run and escaping a horde of wrathful angels ready to punish you for your insolence. Whose garden should you fall into than Cardinal Copia’s? And he has more nefarious plans for you.

Hellish Delights ⛧ Masterlist DF (21+)

After a ritual went wrong, you were left to deal with the consequences. Since that fateful night, your moral compass smashed to pieces and you began to feed into your deepest, darkest desires as you continue to come to terms with the traumatic night in question. With the help of two of the people closest to you, you take part in the ultimate sins of the flesh.

Lost in Translation ⛧ Masterlist

As the newly appointed Cardinal Copia struggles with the weight of a looming prophecy, a resilient scholar challenges the narrative, uncovering a conspiracy that reaches beyond the walls of the Ministry. The emergence of a forbidden love ignites a rebellion against a power-hungry Sister, whose thirst for control threatens to reshape the very foundations of the Church. Will the revelation of those schemes lead to liberation or plunge the Ministry into chaos?

One shots

Pegging (Kinktober 2023) GN

Praise Kink, (Kinktober 2023) PS

Olfactophilia, (Kinktober 2023)

Double Penetration In Two Holes, (ft. Papa Emeritus III) (Kinktober 2023) A GN

Free Use, (Kinktober 2023)

Midnight Surveillance DF (21+)

Tulips and Daisies

Guess Who? PS

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Dubcon, (Fan roleplay) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Orgasm Denial (Kinktober 2023)

Deepthroating & Face Sitting (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Mary "Piss Boy" Goore PS

Era 3

Alpha

Series

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One shots

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls & Terzo) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Gale

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls & Terzo) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Moss

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls & Terzo) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Omega

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls & Terzo) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Stream

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Threesome or moresome, (+Era 3 Ghouls & Terzo) (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Eras 4 & 5

Aurora

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Food Play (Kinktober 2023) S

Cirrus

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Sensory Deprivation (Kinktober 2023) S

Cumulus

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Sex Toys (Kinktober 2023) S

Dewdrop

Series

Realm of Souls ⛧ Masterlist DF (21+) A

In the eerie moonlit forest, you are ensnared in a nightmarish game of hide and seek with the malevolent entity Dewdrop, whose demonic force has targeted you. The chilling objective is to survive until sunrise, seeking refuge in the Ministry’s cabin deep within the sinister woods. With the dawn as your only salvation, you must navigate the haunted forest, outwit the relentless demon, and reach safety before Dewdrop claims you as his prize. The race against time intensifies, making the night unforgiving as you strive to survive until sunrise in this twisted pursuit.

One shots

Stuck in Wall (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Panic Attacks and Comfort (ft. Swiss) SFW.

Mountain

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Size Kink (Kinktober 2023) GN

Spanking (Ko-Fi exclusive drabble) GN

Phantom

Series

The Cardinal ⛧ Masterlist

You got a promotion, and a new promotion means a new uniform and your very own Ghoul-in-training! That Ghoul just so happens to be your closest friend, Phantom. However, your new uniform and position does something to Phantom that gets harder and harder to deny.

One shots

Coming soon...

Rain

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Rimming (Kinktober 2023) GN

Swiss

Hellish Delights ⛧ Masterlist DF (21+)

After a ritual went wrong, you were left to deal with the consequences. Since that fateful night, your moral compass smashed to pieces and you began to feed into your deepest, darkest desires as you continue to come to terms with the traumatic night in question. With the help of two of the people closest to you, you take part in the ultimate sins of the flesh.

Coming soon...

One shots

Panties & Lingerie, (Kinktober 2023)

Breathplay, (Kinktober 2023)

Panic Attacks and Comfort (ft. Dewdrop) SFW.

Papa Emeritus Nihil

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Breeding (Kinktober 2023) DF (21+)

Sister Imperator

Series

Coming soon...

One shots

Coming soon...

2023 2024

[strawberrycarat]

Another rant about this episode... I understand that producers can use the "Fire & Blood is a historical novel type so it's not 100% accurate and we can do a lot of stuff with it...." but, come on ! Even Joffrey said Rhaenyra's rests were still down in the red keep. It's clearly they can't fight against the fact that there are actual human remains that are half bitten / half burned by a fucking dragon - so it doesn't make sense that they killed Sunfyre (for all we know he's dead) or that Daemon is still playing in Luigi's mansion with lord Strong instead of bending knees of half the Riverlands and leading small fights for Rhaenyra... as much as we can't know for sure all those details, we know a war happened in real life even if we don't know the specifics - there are records, bodys, graves... Idk... and it should be the same in Westeros...

Producer's creative licence is making the story going so far from the book it's senseless at times + slow in moments that don't help the plot and are somewhat boring + showing preferences for certain actors whose storyline doesn't help the plot in this moment (which is not their fault) + and, worst of all, painfully fast and (sometimes) ridiculous in the most important moments (Exemple : Jace and Cregan’s oath that leads the North going South to end the Dance of the Dragons + the ice and fire pact that leads the prince that was promised + the fight against the darkness and the Others??? But no, let’s give them 3 min of screen time and make Jace leave immediately)

It is true they don't need to show a full ass battle to be interesting, like GoT did in the first seasons. But they at least had a good rhythm, a coherent narrative and plot twists that were actually surprising and logical with the characters and the story at the same time. In here, I think they are just using those "OMG or WTF" moments without thinking about the plot

Exemple -> Cersei and Jamie being discovered by Bran and him being thrown away from the tower? Made sense with Jamie and Cersei's personalities + they couldn't being discovered or Robert would have their heads and their children's, probably - and it was one of the detonating for the Three-eyed raven plot

-> Daemon having sex with his (I can't believe I'm writing this, even if it was an hallucination) mother???? like why???? what does this help to Daemon's storyline? If he had mommy issues, why is this the first time we see it? I can see Aemond having mommy issues in the way his own mother was distant and believe him some sort of monster AFTER Luke's death (kinslayer -> a terrible sin in the Seven's eyes - the religion she follows with passion) and him seeking out an older woman that had some motherly characteristics and with similar hair than her mother + then keeping Alys Rivers (a wet nurse) when conquering Harrenhall is logical to his storyline... but Daemon??? It seemed more like a "let's have a plot twist just for fun and surprise people" kind of thing)

And even when they want to create plot twist that could work in the plot they don't make them really a plot twist....... Like when they wanted to end Cheese and Blood with Alicent and Criston's sex scene. It would've worked........ if they didn't had already show us Criston Cole going down on Alicent in the middle of the episode. WE ALREADY KNEW ! like why ending with that in the episode anyways when there was no surprise - not anymore ?

honestly I don't know how can they save it now - I'm kind of only watching it for Ewan mitchell / Aemond + the acting in general

Anyways, thank you for reading, I needed to let it out.

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - A Psychological Analysis Series Part 13

The Meaning Of Pendragon In The TV Show

The 3 prominent characters in the TV show who bear the Pendragon last name are Uther, Arthur and Morgana.

The name has its origin in the Old Welsh language

The Arthurian legends were mainly written in the medieval age.

However Arthur's literary origins lie in the Dark ages.

The TV creators have already stated it was their intention to reinterpret Arthurian legends using a modern Smallville format which is modern American in its narrative.

Source:

Even though the TV show does not specify the time period it is set in, it uses a lot of medieval imagery such as plated armor, chain mail, carriages etc.. which were all medieval inventions.

So this dark age last name used within a medieval world but portrayed through a modern 21st century American narrative takes a whole new meaning.

The show also gives us a literal meaning to Pendragon as Uther even sent a dragon to the pen ( Kilgaragh is imprisoned underneath the cavern of Camelot )

Here the name takes the overtures of being a TYRANT.

______________________________________________________________

Uther:

He fits the classic definition of a tyrant.

I don't even have to list all of Uther's crimes because Merlin as Dragoon literally calls him a tyrant to his face listing all his misdeeds in the following clip:

It is Uther who lends his last name to Morgana and Arthur and all the baggage that comes with it.

______________________________________________________________

Morgana:

It is very telling that the moment Morgana realizes that Uther is her father, she rejects Uther as she does not want to associate with what Uther Pendragon represents.

However the Pendragon traits soon manifests within her as she undergoes the tragic transformation from being a brave and loyal friend who helped a lowly servant by going to his village and helping him defend it to being this embittered villainess who shows dictatorial traits.

Her struggle for self acceptance as a magical being and protesting against the persecution of magic users soon manifests as a crusade against the non magical users based on revenge.

The Pendragon legacy here acts as a genetic pathological mental illness that is triggered through grief and betrayal. Morgana being poisoned by Merlin being the trigger for Morgana as Ygraine's death was for Uther.

______________________________________________________________

Arthur:

Uther is the typical distant and repressive fatherly figure who has channeled all his hopes and emotions on his sole male heir i.e. Arthur.

Arthur had a strict military training who is only allowed to show his masculine, aggressive side

Unlike Morgana, Arthur constantly feels the pressure to live up to Pendragon name. The Sword in the Stone: Part 1 and 2 episodes perfectly highlights Arthur's insecurities.

Merlin who is privy to Arthur's psyche more than anyone in the series, has seen the Pendragon rage manifest in Arthur such as:

Arthur willing to kill Uther (Refer Episode: The Sins of the Father)

Arthur banishing Gwen under the punishment of death (Refer Episode: Lancelot Du Lac)

Arthur vowing vengeance against Agravaine (Refer Episode: The Sword in the Stone Part 1)

Arthur vows to punish Dragoon after Uther dies (Refer Episode: The Wicked Day)

In all the above situations, it is Merlin who provides counsel and/or emotional support to Arthur to exercise prudence and not give in to his rage.

IT IS ONE OF THE KEY REASON WHY MERLIN DOES NOT REVEAL HIS MAGIC TO ARTHUR UNTILL THE VERY END !!!

The dialogue in the scene above is very revealing.

ARTHUR: Why did you never tell me?

MERLIN: I wanted to but...

ARTHUR: What?

MERLIN: You would have chopped my head off.

ARTHUR: I am not sure what I would have done

MERLIN: I did not want to put you in that position

ARTHUR: That's what worried you

Merlin knows the trigger for Pendragon rage is betrayal and grief.

Merlin knows it was his betrayal of Morgana that lead her down a dark path.

Had Merlin revealed his magic to Arthur earlier he would never have earned Arthur's trust to be in a position to counsel him during his darkest moments.

Merlin being the other half of Arthur as stated by Kilgaragh acts a superego for Arthur trying to counterbalance his aggressive Pendragon tendencies .

Kilgaragh had told Merlin it was his mission to mold Arthur into being a great king. (Refer Episode: Dragons' Call)

Merlin's influence on Arthur is really exemplified in the episode "Death Song Of Uther Pendragon" , where Arthur confronts Uther:

Merlin then confronts Uther's ghost, reiterating that Arthur is indeed very unlike Uther.

This episode ends with Arthur rejecting Uther and what Uther stands for, by blowing the Horn of Cathbhadh and sending Uther back to the spirit realm.

______________________________________________________________

In Conclusion:

It was a masterful stroke by the series creators to have Morgana and Arthur introduced to the audience in contrasting light. (Refer Episode: Dragons' Call)

Morgana is shown distressed as a man is executed by Uther for being a sorcerer whereas Arthur is seen bullying one of his squires.

The audience is only privy to the information that Arthur is Uther's son and Morgana is unrelated to Uther resulting in the viewer sympathizing with Morgana and rooting against Arthur.

However as the series progresses and as Morgana's identity is revealed. We see her succumb to the Pendragon traits despite her abject hatred of Uther . Whereas Arthur ultimately rejects Uther and Uther's ideology despite constantly seeking his validation throughout the series.

Morgana ( Hero to Villan ) and Arthur's ( Villan To Hero) character arc ends up in complete opposite directions from where they began.

Both characters are scarred by trauma, loss and betrayals they have experienced compounded by the less than stellar parenting of Uther Pendragon.

It is very poignant that the series ends with Gwen on the throne and not a Pendragon signifying a new future for Camelot.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

To elaborate more on what I mean when I say I am "critical" of some things in Canto 3, it's this: the rhetoric of "sin" and "world of darkness" is completely different because instead of it being Sinclair only perceiving something wrong with him and it being about his growth in terms of forgiving himself and not letting him hold himself back from being himself, instead here the sin is enabling Kromer, who starts off as a friend in this story rather than someone sinclair wanted to impress and made up bad but largely inconsequential stories to try and impress, yes his childhood bullying and abuse were very much bad but NOWHERE NEAR the batshit insanity of Kromer in Limbus. Like here she just straight up murders his entire family. It's not like "oh no I sinned and I will not be forgiven!" over daily mistakes or things that can very much be forgiven, there is a lot more guilt here because his "world of darkness" in limbus company involves an actual fucking genocidal murderer who's motives are truly deranged and terrifying zealotry (yes I do actually really fucking like Kromer in Limbus despite the criticisms I hold because she just feels like such a perfectly terrifying threat, with a very strong narrative presence, oh as I was saying-) the problem I have with this rhetoric shifting is like, it went from a story of growth and self forgiveness from a religiously enforced sense of guilt and compliance, from a story about, just that. All of that. All the horrors of Kromer. Of course it can and will still be a story about growth, one of the main things about Sinclair is that he can't really be removed from the rhetoric of growth, because that's one of the things that define him as a character and make him so powerful, so compelling. But yeah. Kind of gets blurry, despite how heavily I actually DO fuck with N Corp and Kromer as a threat... especially with Kromer and Nagel und Hammer's EGO sort of resonating with the Golden Bough to show that their ideal is a mountain of human corpses. That mass suffering and death is what it takes for the to fully realize their ideals. All of that was easily the most thematically powerful part of Canto 3.

I also have some critical thoughts about how prosthetics are shown, less like disability aids or fascinating methods of self-augmentation, and more treated more in the way you'd hear someone discuss in an obnoxious tone how awesome the new Apple product or whatever is. Like if feels as though the elaboration with Emil Sinclair's family was messily done here because like. The warmth is shown to be ruined by prosthetics in his eyes. Of course this does very well illustrate how his sentiments resonated with that of Kromer in the first place, but like. This never really gets properly rectified. It kind of muddles what they were going for because by default I was fully repulsed by the atrocities committed against those with prosthetics. What I don't like about it is that I think it gets messy when you try to sort of "justify" that, if that makes sense. I doubt I can fully articulate it, and others have probably done it better, but yeah, just trying to get my thoughts out is all. That's all I'm able to put down in text as it stands though. Yeah tons of thoughts to have about Limbus in general, very high praise and a good, healthy portion of critique to sprinkle about, because of course, it's Project Moon writing so in a lot of ways it's really fantastic, but it doesn't really have the same satisfaction of Ruina or LobCorp as of now. Also a lot of things can't help but feel off, and this post is an attempt to try and describe that feeling of it being "off".

[beevean]

When you take everything Surge did and compare her crimes to what the other villains have done, she's only an obnoxious high school bully at the absolute most.

Sonic's most dangerous opponent of all time indeed /s

Surge doesn't even compete with Knuckles in 3&K, who was just a nuisance, but an intriguing one due to his knowledge of Angel Island.

And you know, I could forgive it, if I sensed that this was the intent.

Surge has the blueprints of how to be a Sonic rival, but she sucks at it, like a pet kitten trying to be a feral cat. She's weak (her lightning powers are nothing impressive), she's unexperienced, Sonic doesn't take her seriously at all, she's a big ball of rage that she can't express into anything that actually leaves an impact, and she ends up whimpering and crying when facing the prospective of fighting Sonic and Metal at the same time. She's an underdog that I'm supposed to feel pity for, with her tragic story and identity issues.

Yeah. But then why did she steal the spotlight to the degree that Sonic the Hedgehog didn't feature in the main cover of the first milestone issue of IDW?

Why did we have to spend more than one cumulative year with her, in an arc that amounted to "she stole Eggman's shit to look cooler, didn't work"?

What was the point of all that hype focused on how cool and badass and threatening and scary and toothy she is?

And most importantly...

How dare you think I'd side with her over Sonic?

Oh yeah, a common defense of #50 is that it's shown from her perspective, hence why Sonic looks like the smuggest, preachiest prick in existence, or why that one infamous panel had the light of God shining upon him. It's Surge's distorted perspective, guys! Flynn is such a genius actually!

This is a weak defense, because 1) the beginning and ending of the issue are focused on Sonic, so there is nothing that suggests that his section is not from his POV like literally every story with him, and 2) Flynn himself confirmed in August 2022 that the events of #50 can be seen only from Sonic’s point of view. (I love having the FAQ on my hands <3)

But that doesn't change that the entire point of Surge and Kit's existence is to have other people still yelling at Sonic for his big sin of conceding freedom to everyone. See, it's his fault that he didn't kill Eggman and Starline when he had the chance (when?), which caused Starline to turn against Eggman, which caused him to think of a way to surpass his idol, which made him create those two. If Belle is the dragging corpse of Mr. Tinker's plot, Surge is the rotting zombie of the deconstruction of Sonic's supposed Principles, and this is why I'm meant to take her seriously, and pity her, and find her cool and badass and so #deep and #relatable.

I reiterate:

Surge is a narrative mess masquerading as clever meta commentary. Oh wait, I can't call her meta - that is reserved for the Pontaff games :^)

[utilitycaster]

I'm surprised you think Travis and Jake's characters fall outside the boundaries of traditional masculinity, if anything they're the popular AP players I'd be the most comfortable saying I can always count on playing a traditionally masculine guy in some way. What makes them fall outside of that in your opinion?

In case "both embody and yet still fall outside the boundaries" was insufficiently clear, they do fit, on paper, the qualifications of traditional masculinity, but any reading beyond the most surface level reveals that they are constantly failing to measure up (and are struggling with that).

Hardwon was teased as a child, was dumped, is a virgin well into his 20s, and constantly craves approval and platonic affection; in his appearance in Campaign 3 he is utterly distraught at the death of a friend, retreats into a several year depression and regresses 11 levels, mechanically, as a result. Henry Hogfish is the shortest of the group and is a sad sack divorcee whose son is turned against him. Calder is the baby of his family, cannot make fire, and is the quiet intellectual compared to the more boisterous and melee-oriented Sol and Callie.

Grog is unintelligent (the bounds of traditional masculinity are ever-shifting but also very narrow; being too bookish and being too stupid are both sins), his closest friend is a woman in which he shows no sexual interest, and his arc is entirely about fear and vulnerability. Fjord is physically extremely unimpressive, romantically inexperienced, narratively propelled entirely by his silver tongue (mechanically, even his swordsmanship is dependent not on strength but on charisma), and his authoritative front early on is a cover to a fairly emotionally brittle interior; he also very directly explores the idea of performing an even more traditionally masculine front by putting on the voice and mannerisms of Vandran, believing his own to be insufficient. Chetney is small, weird, old, and has a high voice, wore a dress to a ball without blinking, and is also one of the most emotionally mature characters in the party. All of Travis's characters are united by being incredibly good listeners as well; they can be relied on to actually pay attention to what is being said rather than project their own beliefs back onto the speaker (consider: Grog asking Scanlan his mother's name; Fjord consistently being willing to allow the rest of the Nein to be vulnerable with him without pressing; Chetney being the "weird core" per the most recent 4SD.) Fjord and Chetney have also both unironically, though not necessarily without other motives, flirted with men.

Both Travis and Jake are also some of the players who most embrace failure and will gladly sacrifice dignity for story or for the bit; they will gleefully drop all gravitas and stoicism at the slightest provocation.

The post this is in reference to is ultimately about how Traditional Masculinity is a performance just as much as any other gender, and as I said above, a punishingly narrow and rigid one. Travis and Jake consistently explore that and show the work being put into that performance by playing characters for whom that masculinity is, ultimately, a tenuous facade at best.

[crowleyholmes]

Concerning the Metatron's "offer"...

So I've had some thoughts about season 3 and I've hesitated to post them because a little voice in the back of my head kept piping up telling me it's a bit fanficion-y, but, like... was season 2 not fanfiction-y? I feel like with the jane austen ball dancing and the match-making, and the "oh..." moment and the dramatic angsty kiss-and-immediate-break-up, anything is fair game.

So here's what I've been thinking about - it centers around the Metatron's offer to let Aziraphale reinstate Crowley as an angel.

So at this point we're all in agreement that the Metatron knew perfectly well that Crowley was never going to accept the 'invitation' back to heaven, right?

It was only a clever ploy to get Aziraphale to really consider it and to make him finally accept the 'promotion', so they could bring him back to heaven and use him for whatever it is they really want him for, without Crowley, because I think separating the two was a big part of why they want Aziraphale back in heaven. Maybe because their combined miracles are so incredibly powerful and heaven is worried about what they might get up to once they realize?

Anyway.

I don't believe that getting Aziraphale to heaven was the only purpose of the 'offer' to reinstate Crowley as an angel – I think it was a very calculated set-up for further manipulation. And I'm stepping from in-story facts to meta now, because what is it that Aziraphale needs to do next season? He needs to finally and irrevocably separate himself from heaven, right? If he wants to be with Crowley (which we know he does, more than anything), then he can not be with heaven (at the very least not as it is right now).

But heaven, for some reason, needs him to help bring about the Second Coming. So heaven needs to make sure of 3 things: a) to keep Aziraphale away from Crowley, b) to keep Aziraphale in heaven in general, and c) to absolutely turn Aziraphale against hell. Which he already is, but I don't think he is quite strongly enough against hell to satisfy heaven and to be willing to bring about Armageddon #2 and destroy them all. They need to re-brainwash him, fully.

The need to keep up and REINFORCE Aziraphale's desperate believe in heaven as unquestionably The Good Guys, and hell as irredeemably The Bad Guys. And what's the easiest way to Aziraphale's heart? What's the easiest way to manipulate him? What is the most important thing in the world to him? What could we possibly use as a tool to get this little angel to dance to our tune? What would make Aziraphale hate hell with a divine fury?

Mhm.

Something Bad is going to happen to Crowley (either arranged by heaven and convincingly blamed on hell, or done by hell but arranged at LEAST partly by heaven).

And THEN the Metatron can tell Aziraphale 'look what they've done/they're doing to your friend. Look how he's suffering, isn't it awful? He could be here with us right now, safe and sound, because we were ready to forgive him for all his sins and take him back, if only he had accepted our kindness, such a shame...”

I'll go off on a bit of a tangent here but...

This also works very well for another reason that is extremely important narratively: Aziraphale needs to be the one to rescue Crowley from something - it's happened the other way around Too Many Times, there's an imbalance there, a big one. Crowley gives and gives and gives and sacrifices and compromises over and over and over, and Aziraphale has been taking him for granted.

Now don't get me wrong, I know that Aziraphale would come to his rescue IMMEDIATELY the second he got the faintest whiff of there being any NEED for him to. He has, in the past, offered to do things for Crowley, asked him what he could do for him.

It's just that, so far, in his eyes and as far as he knows, Crowley has never needed rescuing, or given Aziraphale any kind of reason to believe that he cannot simply get himself out of whatever situations he might get into. In Aziraphale's eyes, Crowley is incredibly strong and unafraid and capable of anything and does not need him. Or at the very least, does not need his help.

And it doesn't help that Crowley is way too proud (and protective of Aziraphale) to ever admit that he needs help. Hell, he doesn't even tell Aziraphale that he's living in his car because he lost his flat.

Which brings me back to the Something Terrible that is going to happen to Crowley. Aziraphale will see him in whatever horrifying situation, suffering and completely alone, and he will DROP EVERYTHING to get him out of there as fast as he can.

I don't think this will go over well, because at this point Aziraphale will probably already be quite re-brainwashed and while he will likely get Crowley out of any immediate mortal danger, I don't think the two of them will reconcile there already – unless Aziraphale realizes during the rescue that what happened to Crowley was (at least in part but probably in LARGE part) heaven's doing and he'll finally be back on Their Side instead of heaven's or hell's, for good this time.

But even if he doesn't realize that yet, and sticks with heaven for the time being, I think it will be enough to show Crowley that he is loved. Really loved. That Aziraphale asking him to come back to heaven with him was never about making Crowley be an angel again. That was never the part Aziraphale cared about, not really. The part he cared about was that it meant that they would be together and they would be safe, Crowley would be safe.

Because, while I do think that Aziraphale never thought of Crowley as someone who needs saving from anything, Aziraphale isn't stupid. He is very aware that Hell deals out harsher punishments more frequently than heaven does, and he knows that Crowley does not deserve ANY punishment – has never deserved any punishment, beginning with the Fall itself. All he wants is justice and safety and happiness for Crowley, and I think after Aziraphale rescues him (for which, in order to do it, Aziraphale will have to make compromises and sacrifices himself, most likely to Heaven's detriment), Crowley will understand that. Aziraphale loves him exactly as he is. And loves him more than he loves Heaven.

Aziraphale only chose heaven at the end of season 2 because it was, in his eyes (and to be fair, also in my eyes) the right thing to do (as painful as it was), and Aziraphale's most FUNDAMENTAL character trait is that he always strives to do what is right, even if it goes against what Heaven tells him is good.

He chose heaven because he believes it can be saved, and Aziraphale would never give up on anyone or anything that he believes can be saved.

I think in the end, Aziraphale will either actually manage to make a difference, or he will realize that heaven can NOT be saved and that is when he will give up on it and realize that the only place for him to be is With Crowley.

[rynnthefangirl]

My Top 10 Favorite Breaking Bad Universe Characters

1. Howard Hamlin - this one is kinda silly bc he is much less developed than other characters, but I can’t help it. His tragedy hits so hard, it took a character whom I didn’t really care about and made him my absolute #1 fave. Rest in peace Howard you deserved better🥺💔

2. Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman - Gilligould really took a look at their whacky comic relief lawyer in Breaking Bad, and said “hmm, what if we made him the absolute most complex and fascinating character in our entire fictional universe”. And then they did.🙌

3. Jesse Pinkman - God his story hurts. He had one of the best hearts in the whole show, yet he suffered more than ANY other character. His character goes from loveably silly to absolutely heart shattering. I hope he found some peace in Alaska.❤️

4. Walter White - I just can’t help but love this horrible horrible man. He’s goofy and ridiculous, but also insane and egotistical in the most entertaining way. What a great protagonist, he’s compelling when I am rooting for him and compelling when I am praying for his downfall.

5. Chuck McGill - IMO, the best antagonist in the whole BrBa universe. The Jimmy vs Chuck storyline was TOP TIER, Chicanery was a masterpiece of an episode, Lantern and Winner are just dripping with tragedy and sorrow and what-if's. And it's all because of Chuck. Rip Chuck, you may have been a prick but damn if you didn’t make this show the brilliant piece of television that it was.

6. Kim Wexler - no character gives me more mixed feelings than Kim. I always liked her in the early seasons, then I despised her in s6a, then my heart broke for her in s6b, and now I retroactively have so much more love and sorrow for her earlier self because there was so much good there and she could have been so much better and GOD Kim is such a tragic, amazing, well written character.

7. Skyler White - oh my god, my poor wife. You deserved so much better than what the audience gave you all those years. You were a queen, and so right about everything, and I am so sorry I didn’t see it before but now I will defend you until my dying day❤️❤️❤️

8. Lalo Salamanca - he’s just so insane and silly and entertaining. He steals every scene he’s in, and in my opinion added some desperately needed charm and charisma to the cartel side of the show. Legit was rooting for him against Gus, even though he killed my boy Howie and I knew he was doomed to fail.

8. Nacho Varga - Like Jesse, he went through so much despite having one of the most decent hearts on the show, and it all culminated in such a tragic yet powerful death scene. And I love love love the idea of the curse of Nacho Varga dooming Gus, the Salamancas, and the Cartel for their sins. His ghost looms over Breaking Bad, and makes both shows much richer as a result.

9. Cheryl Hamlin - she fascinates me, we see very little of her and yet I loved her scenes and want to know more. I'll also not tolerate Cheryl slander, we don't know what was going on in her and Howard’s marriage, and in the end she stood up for him when nobody else did.

10. Mike Ehrmantraut - to be honest, I'm not the biggest Mike fan. Not because there is anything wrong with his character per se, but I find it a bit annoying how the fandom idolizes him as a loveable grandpa/moral criminal when he actually is kind of horrible and not all that different from Walter. That being said, I do love what they were going for in BCS, showing his slow corruption as he keeps going back into the world of crime to avoid dealing with his grief for his son's death, culminating in that amazing scene where the show calls him on his hypocrisy and Manual Varga tells him 'you gangsters and your justice, you are all the same'. I just wish it was explored more explicitly in the narrative and fandom the way that Walt and Jimmy's moral corruptions are.

[gryficowa]

I'm no longer surprised why Poles don't like Jews so much, seriously, many of them (I'm mainly talking about you, Zionists) consider Poles complicit in the Holocaust and claim that they created concentration camps

No matter how you dispute it, these idiots still believe it

They will insult you because of your origins, or they will try to convince you that your family killed Jews, thank you for the anti-Semitism that you caused with your behavior and your shit <3

You spread propaganda and blame Poles, and then you cry that Poles are anti-Semites, go fuck yourself, it's your own fault at this point

I'm not surprised that Palestinians don't like you, not only are you murderers, but you're propaganda shit

I understand Palestinians why they don't like you, because you are fucking colonizers, you spread propaganda, you blame the victims because it was because of "Them" (Read: One rotten from your origin) that your family died, etc…

You guys are shit, you don't deserve fucking anything

If your ancestors, who were your parents or grandparents who were victims, knew what kind of shit would come out of you, they would go back in time to have an abortion or use a condom, because damning sin is better than having shit like you in the family, you are a stain for the victims of the Holocaust, you are a stain for other Jews, you are shit and nothing more

There is no respect for shit like you, don't use the "Anti-Semitism" card when people hate you for all the shit you do, because you are only making the real victims of anti-Semitism suffer the fuck because of you, because you have destroyed the entire seriousness of this word

I had to get it off my chest because I've had enough, I defended Jews in my country, I reacted to anti-Semitism in Poland and publicized it, and you Zionists made me understand, in a small percentage, why Poles don't like you very much, because of this propaganda about the fact that Poland she was guilty of the holocaust, thank you very much, Jews from other countries are suffering because of you, because you show Jews in a bad light (Even fitting into Hitler's fucking narrative)

You are the one to blame for the persecution of Jews in other countries, because you are the one who promotes the narrative that Jews are a threat (What? What you are doing to the Palestinians says so), it is you who promote that the Jews rule the world (What? Israel is supported by many countries and strikers are attacked because of you)

You're the one attacking other Jews for supporting Palestine, you're the one attacking other Jews for saying how much shit you are, you're the fucking problem

You're the one spreading fucking propaganda about Palestine and Poland, you're the one who's rotten, I hate you for being a Jew, I hate you for being fucking shit

I hope you pay for the crime against everyone, even those you say you care about, fuck you zionists

[hurremsultanns]

It's interesting that the 'villain Hürrem' narrative that is so prevalent seems so much more gendered to me than Kösem's corruption arc. And I think there are a number of reasons why. 1) Hürrem is referred to with very gendered language (e.g. how often she gets called a 'witch'. Whereas Kösem isn't.

2) The 'Madonna-Whore' thing the show does with her and Mahidevran. The retroactive minimisation of the things Mahidevran did to Hürrem as 'just a small mistake' for example when referring to multiple murder attempts in order to paint Hürrem as the sole aggressor and the only one out of the two of them in need of/not deserving true forgiveness for her sins. Not only is Kösem treated far more sympathetically in this regard, but she is explicitly the character who the audience is meant to root for far more than Hürrem is. Mahfiruze felt far more 1 dimensional than Mahidevran did for example. Or even Firuze.

3) Hürrem's character type is rooted in a specifically female villain archetype whereas Kösem's character arc is based heavily in that of male antiheroes like Michael Corleone. She shares explicit parallels with him.

4) The 'wicked stepmother trope' is one that is applied to Hürrem whereas Kösem specifically avoids it. Even though you could argue that MC subverts it because of what Hürrem's motive is. And the fact that said motive is strongly validated. Especially in the leadup to his death. It's still not enough for a lot of fans to see her as anything other than just the villain in Saint Mustafa's story.

5) There are male characters in MC:K who are allowed to be just bad people and bad rulers (ie Murad) without any female coding or women copping the blame. This is not the case in MC. Even Cihangir's sickness and eventual death get blamed on his mother. MC has this underlying narrative of the scheming female influence (Hürrem and Nurbanu mainly) corrupting and bringing down the representatives of male military heroes. Where MC:K villifies its most militaristic character. And we're squarely on Kösem's side against Murad (and for good reason - he's the worst! But why is there no such scrutiny applied to a slaver like Barbarossa in MC? Why do HIS crimes get romanticised?)

7) Overall Kösem's motherhood and her grief at the loss of her children gets treated far more sympathetically than Hürrem's. We see the decisions that Kösem makes as understandable whereas the show gives no end of blame to Hürrem. Kösem's case gets treated like a tragedy. Hürrem's feels like 'the seed is bad': Her kids have the original sin of being hers and so they suffer for her 'evil'. While she gets more sympathy than this textually, fans who take this reading have an unfortunate amount of textual basis for doing so.

[thatdebaterguy]

Usually I would go anon but I am at the point where I don't care what people think anymore. I would rather be honest and have these people off my blog than keep doing it in secret.

Anyways, I was scrolling through a post (because I hate myself). Tumblr wouldn't let me put the link for some reason:

This isn't the whole post, but 2/3 of it. It's about how Israel was "tricking" children into picking up bombs that looked like food cans. Someone corrected this in the comment section.

And in response to the correction (there was more than one person correcting):

This is a massive issue I've seen with that side of the conflict. They don't care if the information they spread is true as long as it fits the narrative of "Palestine = weak, helpless, 100% good and pure victim. Israel: evil, colonists, eats Palestine babies for breakfast." And it's almost scary the lack of critical thinking to make sure everything fits into this mindset.

I once corrected someone's mistranslation on Pinterest of all places, where someone said a Hebrew translation was ""May this (bomb) lands on innocent people". It was just the company name. I was attacked and told I was a "genocidal zionist" and there was my favorite, "well it doesn't matter if it's true or not, it's what they mean".

So basically, "yeah it doesn't matter if it's fake information, it fits with MY beliefs, so it's okay."

I hate the Pro-Palestinian cult.

It is genuinely depressing to see blatant misinformation spread, for example I've been given the link to a site that takes supposed quotes from Israeli officials completely out of context, half the time a complete lie, and told it's some kind of proof Israel is the epitome of moral sin, despite being the most equal state in the middle east. I saw this post and saw another one debunking how the imagine has been altered in a misleading way, just as I saw a post of a server room that's linked to a Hamas database under an UNRWA facility, and someone said it powered a solar panel. Keep in mind they didn't lie for the Palestinian civilians, that was to straight up cover for Hamas.

The screenshot of someone calling Hamas 'freedom fighters' is actually scary.

this is the first thing you see when you search for the ideology of Hamas. Yk the worst part? This would be called zionist propaganda just because it says Hamas have committed terrorism, and October 7th happened. These are literal facts though, Hamas are proud of October 7th, proud of killing thousands, kidnapping hundreds, committing acts of terrorism. If you have any sense of morality, you cannot defend Hamas, even if you see them as on the right side or as freedom fighters, their methods alone make them a monstrous organisation. They wear plain civilian clothes in war, a war crime, they have been verified to use civilian buildings for cover, a war crime, they've killed thousands of innocents purposefully, a war crime, they've openly called for the annexation and occupation of Israel, a sovereign country with millions of ethnic Jews who would be 3rd class citizens in a Hamas ruled Palestine.

Israel doesn't want Gaza. They don't want to destroy it, to own it, they wish they never had to hear about it again, let alone invade it to remove Hamas from power. And the fact that people are scared to voice their beliefs against a literal terror group, against misinformation, is insane. You know, the only reason I'm on Israel's side is because when it comes to debates I follow the science, the figures, the statistics, a fixed code of morality and logic, and that leads to me to Israel because they've never instigated a conflict in their entire history, they've voluntarily surrendered land in pursuit of peace, aided the countries that have invaded them, they're by the definition not committing genocide, they're legally and factually in a war of self defence to topple an extremist dictatorial government, the figures show as far as modern urban warfare goes, the civilian-military death ratio is lower than most conflicts, they factually have a historical claim to the land, they built Tel Aviv, built Jerusalem, 400,000 Jews lived the region of Israel before its existence as a modern state, it just all points to Israel.

But I support the people of Palestine, I empathise with them, I want them to be free of the dictators who lead them to this war and suffering they must endure, and I pray they'll get the liberation they deserve. They deserve better than the nightmare of a government that rule over Gaza. And yet none of the Palestinian supporters protest Hamas. They don't realise, protesting against Hamas doesn't weaken the right for civilians to receive aid, because they're forced into this mindset that the Palestinian government and movement has always been one of perfect ineffable morality and one that you must be insanely villainous to even have any contradicting thoughts on. I'm a more conservative guy who's best friend of 4 years recently told me that they're genderfluid, in a polyamorous relationship with a trans man, and have a 'fursona' but since I know they're a person with good intentions in life I support them in finding happiness and getting better. I'd say that makes me fairly open minded, without tooting my own horn too much. But I will never be open to the idea that Hamas have ever wanted what's best for Palestine. Their actions are selfish, their goals are psychopathic, their behaviour is unwarranted, and their care for being a successful governing body is minimal. Gaza, whether prospering before October 7th or not, was legally an independent, sovereign region of the nation of Palestine, who have their own government, constitution, voting system, currencies they operate with, culture, freedom of movement, unless it's to Israel of course, and have been so since Israel pulled out of Gaza.

Israel actually occupied Gaza once. It was better maintained, the people were more looked after. In the years before Israel pulled out of Gaza, the Palestinian economy grew by the largest margin in at least 20 years, and then under Hamas, became incredibly stagnant, with foreign aid being the only thing propping it up. They let unemployment skyrocket despite the opening of more high tech facilities, once again thanks to foreign aid. Now, Israel doesn't want Gaza back, nor should they have it, but when the people of the nationality that Hamas wish to destroy, governed their land even better despite not even being the sovereign owners of that land and just the occupiers, it says a lot. Don't be afraid to speak out against Hamas, since you have no love for the Palestinian people if you don't want them to be free from the suffering Hamas has brought.

[bestworstcase]

a present, for you- another salem meme! (also ironically while rewatching this episode to find a good enough screenshot i thought of salem as cain while listening to the brothers telling her about her curse; but i'm not actually a christian so you probably know what possible allusions she could have better than me)

HRGDHSJCJ

oh the less said about the christian perspective on job the better <3

BUT LISTEN

LIIIIISTENNNNN

the book of job begins with the deity and the satan making a wager on the matter of job’s faith, because the deity points him out to the satan like ‘isn’t my servant job the most righteous man alive’ and the satan goes ‘of course he is, you’ve given him a charmed life, take back your blessings and see how long it takes him to curse your name’ and the deity is like ‘bet.’

so the narrative conceit here is the deity gives the satan free rein to torment job so as to reveal whether his faith is true or not: all of his wealth (livestock) is brutally wiped out or stolen by raiders who put most of his household to the sword, all ten of his children are killed, and finally he’s struck with a debilitatingly painful affliction. then his wife tells him to curse god and die and several of his friends come to sit with him in his ABJECT MISERY and that’s the end of the prologue.

the narrative proper is largely a series of discourses between job and his friends on the subject of whether or not he Deserved This.

his friends (eliphaz, bildad, zophar, and elihu) hold a belief in the absolute justness and rightness of the deity which demands that job’s suffering is either punishment for some grievous wrongdoing or else discipline meant to teach him something important.

job’s position can be summed up as “fuck you, there is nothing i could possibly have done to deserve this, i am being unfairly persecuted and because NONE OF YOU ASSHOLES BELIEVE ME I WILL MOUNT A LAWSUIT AGAINST GOD TO PROVE MY INNOCENCE”

and i just—

quotations are from edward greenstein’s excellent translation (read it it fucks)

JOB!

[3:20–22] Why give light to one in travail?

Or life to those bitter of spirit?—

Those waiting for death, but there is none,

Though they dig for it more than for treasure!

Those singing for joy at the mouth of the tomb,

Who are glad to be reaching the grave.

JOB!!

[7:17–18] What is a mortal that you treat him as important?

Why do you pay him any mind,

Take account of him each morning,

Test him every minute?

[19] Why can’t you just look away from me,

Let go for just a swallow of spit?

[20] If I’ve sinned, what can I do to you,

O Watcher of Humankind?

Why have you made me your target?

How could I be a burden to you?

[21] Why can’t you pardon my transgression,

Commute my punishment?

For I’ll soon be lying in the dirt—

And when you seek me, I’ll be gone.

JOB!!!

[19:21] I am innocent—I care not for my self;

I’m fed up with my life.

[22] It is all the same.

And so I declare:

The innocent and the guilty he brings to (the same) end.

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

[10:1] My entire being despises my life.

I would prepare a complaint on my behalf,

I would speak in the bitterness of my being;

[2] I would say to Eloah: “Do not condemn me!

Let me know of what you accuse me!

[3] Does it do you any good to do wrong?

To reject the effort of your hands?

While you shine favor on the schemes of the wicked?

[4–5] Have you eyes that are of flesh?

Do you see as a mortal sees?

Are your days like the days of a mortal?

Are your years like those of a man?

[6–7] When you go looking for my crime,

And investigate my sin,

You know very well I am not guilty—

But no one can rescue from your hand!

[8–9] Your hands formed me and made me,

Put me together—then destroyed me!

Mind now, it is you who made me like clay,

And will return me to the dust!

I WILL TAKE MY FLESH IN MY TEETH

[13:13] Keep silent before me, so that I may speak—

Whatever may come upon me!

[14–15] I will take my flesh in my teeth,

And I will place my life-breath in my hand.

Though he slay me, I will no longer wait—

I will accuse him of his ways to his face!

SO YOU OBLITERATE A MORTAL’S HOPE

[14:18–19] And yet, a cliff will fall and crumble;

A mountain will be moved from its place;

Rocks are worn down by water;

A torrent sweeps away the earth’s dust;

So do you obliterate a mortal’s hope.

[20] You assault him continually—and he passes on;

You disfigure him—and then you dispatch him.

AUGH!!!

[16:6] If I speak out, my pain will not be spared.

But if I desist, how will it leave me?

[7] By now he has worn me down;

You have devastated my entire company.

[8] You have shriveled me, and this has become a stigma;

My gauntness stands up and testifies against me.

[9] As his anger rages, he strikes a hostile pose;

He gnashes his teeth at me;

My enemy sharpens his eyes at me.

[10] People’s mouths gape at me,

They strike my cheeks to shame me;

They all form gangs against me.

I JUST—

[19:21] Have compassion, compassion, you my friends!

For the hand of Eloah has afflicted me.

[22] Why do you like El persecute me?

Why can’t you get your fill of my flesh?

HE SWEARS OVER AND OVER HE ISNT LYING

[27:3–4] So long as there is life-breath within me,

And in my nostrils Eloah’s spirit,

I swear that my lips will speak nothing corrupt,

And my tongue will utter no deceit.

JOB!!!!

[30:26–28] For I hoped for good, but there came bad;

I expected light, but there came darkness,

My insides roil and can’t be still;

I’ve been greeted by days of affliction.

I walk in gloom without a sun;

In the assembly I stand and cry out.

SORRY I LITERALLY CANNOT READ JOB WITHOUT BECOMING DERANGED. (BUT DO YOU SEE. WHERE I AM GETTING THE SALEM CONNECTION)

anyway in chapter 30 job makes an oath of his innocence and (after a very! lengthy! interjection from elihu) the deity turns up in chapter 38 to answer job’s lawsuit by going, in essence, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I’M GOD! whereupon job is literally like

[40:3] Up spoke Job to YHWH and he said:

[4–5] Lacking respect, how can I answer you?

My hand I place over my mouth.

I have spoken once and I will not repeat;

Twice—and I will (speak) no more.

“ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION IM NOT GOING TO REPEAT MYSELF”

who else is doing it like job

then the deity goes LOOK AT THESE AWESOME CREATURES I MADE. CAN YOU TAME THE LEVIATHAN, JOB? HUH? EVEN GODS TREMBLE BEFORE HIM

and then—well the standard translation reads job’s final statement as repentance but this is notoriously a difficult passage, and as a matter of narrative and the context of the chapter as a whole i think greenstein’s reading makes considerably more sense—anyway job goes:

[42:1] Up spoke Job to YHWH and he said:

[2] I have known you are able to do all;

That you cannot be blocked from any scheme.

[3] “Who is this hiding counsel without knowledge?”

Truly I’ve spoken without comprehending—

Wonders beyond me that I do not know.

[4] “Hear now and I will speak!

I will ask you, and you help me know!”

[5] As a hearing by the ear I have heard you,

And now my eye has seen you.

[6] That is why I am fed up;

I take pity on “dust and ashes!”

(in 42:2 job is echoing the language the deity uses in genesis 11:6 in reference to the builders of the tower of babel; ‘dust and ashes’ is an epithet for wretched humanity and also occurs in chapter 30.)

I TAKE PITY ON DUST AND ASHES.

WHO IS DOING IT LIKE JOB

imagine being so DONE that you have the wherewithal to be scathingly sarcastic TO GOD’S FACE

and then the deity praises his honesty, scolds his friends for bleating platitudes instead of speaking the truth, and restores everything that was taken from job and more THE END.

/lies down

read job. theodicy of all time

one day i am going to calm down about job enough to finish my actual. coherent salem-as-job screed instead of just firehosing out half the passages that make me DERANGED but DO YOU SEE. DO YOU SEEEEEEEEEEE

horrific torment at the hands of divine beings for the pettiest of reasons. unspeakable anguish. isolation and exile! desolation! absolute certainty that his suffering is cruel and unjust! utter scorn for deceit and falsehood! he cannot rest because the deity will not let him die no matter how he begs for death! his wife his friends his community all turn against him, repulsed by his agony! he sues god!! he tells god i hear you, i see you, i feel fucking sorry for all of us who mean nothing to you!!!

[skaruresonic]

On top of SatBK not being 1:1 with French Vulgate Arthuriana, I think the game has more decorum than to imply Lancelot will cuck Sonic. Plus, simple logic forbids it. If Sonic is Arthur, and Sonic left........... there is no king for Lancelot to cuck.

The French romances have some really fucked-up stuff in them, and although it is funny to think about said fucked-up stuff happening to colorful three-foot tall anthros, I don't think it should be taken this literally? Galahad's conception, for instance, would be considered rape by deception today.

In the French Vulgate, yes, the Battle of Camlan (in Welsh, it's spelled with one N) was largely the result of interpersonal strife. Agravaine and Mordred shoved Guinevere's adultery in Arthur's face, forcing him to punish her. Mordred further made power plays through treachery, coercion, and deceit, pitting Gawain and Lancelot against one another and lying about Lancelot and Arthur's deaths.

The narrative focus on chickens coming home to roost reflects the French romances' Christian notions of sin. Arthur tried to destroy the evidence of his incest, therefore it comes back to bite him in the ass much later on when Mordred snatches the throne. Guinevere pays for her adultery by being burned at the stake. So on and so forth.

However, Welsh sources are more concerned with Camlan's material causes, which may have reflected some version of a historical memory.

Just as volcano activity is speculated to have served as inspiration for the prophecy of Ragnarök, it could be inferred that the dramatic global climate change incurred by the massive volcanic eruption in 536 AD could have informed the cause of the Battle of Camlan according to the Welsh Triads.

In another Triad, we hear how Mordred showed up at Arthur’s court in Celli Wig in Cornwall, ate all of Arthur’s food, drank all of his wine, and dragged Guienevere off her throne and beat her. Arthur repaied Mordred’s insult by visiting his court and similarly taking all the food and mead.

1.) The dates align. The Annales Cambriae give 537 AD as the year in which the battle occurred, whereas the volcanic eruption occurred in the previous year. An apocalyptic year's worth of famine and gloom (the sun was said to have an eerie, bluish glow) would have deeply impacted the ancient psyche, causing the conditions necessary for war. 2.) Plague often follows famine, which would also track with the Annales Cambriae's claim that "there was plague in Ireland and Britain" following "Arthur and Medraut fell."

3.) Devoid of context, eating all of the food in the king's court and subsequently repaying your enemy the same favor seem like cartoonish things to do... unless that was the only food you had left.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 8 Review

- This’ll take a while and have a lot of feeling and my own experiences, so please do keep in mine. Content warning for suicidal thoughts.

- Let’s start from the happier moments shall we?

- Secelia and Rouji have doomed the narrative. Secelia by standing and Rouji by speaking more than 3 lines. But still, they put the students lives first and act to save them. Secelia giving the new suit to Chuchu and Rouji interrogating Martin shows that they put a lot of importance on their jobs as school leaders. With the school now in shambles, I hope they move on to supporting the resistance against both the Space League and Prospera

- Kenanji is once again a pretty interesting character. He’s clearly suffering from some type of PTSD with Gundams as he was holding onto his arm to stop it from shaking. Also it’s cool that even though he’s moved up higher in the ranks, he’s still a talented pilot. But just when I was starting to like him again, his squad committed the ultimate crime. I will not forgive him

- Felsi and Chuchu claiming best pair of lesbians in the series, I’m sorry SuleMio fans. Felsi going out there to protect others and ultimately teaming up with Chuchu, despite their prideful and angry personalities. I expect Felsi to pilot the canons on the back of Chuchu’s new suit, the two working in tandem to save lives and kiss each other.

- Nika has finally returned to her true home, and while there’s definitely tension, right now she has to focus on saving others. Big props to Martin for standing up and be willing to hear her side. He’s really grown

- I like that Shaddiq’s harem squad weren’t OP. They’re still students, and even if they are talented, they don’t have enough experience compared to the actual professionals. A shame none of them died though. Okouchi plays cruel jokes on us

- Shaddiq is the biggest loser of all time. His pathetic white knighting for Miorine is sickening. He doesn’t see her as a person, he just sees her as an object. And the same goes for everyone else. Shaddiq has a savior complex, either something he developed or something that was drilled into him when he was young due to his talent. He has a point about how Earthian lives are more expendable, and I can sympathize, but the actions he takes are too horrible. He released Norea on purpose to get her to kill everyone. If Spacians are evil for killing innocent Earthians, then he is evil too for getting innocent Spacians killed. The end may justify the means, but that doesn’t mean what he did was good.

- Guel is the biggest gigachad of all time. Gives a cool speech shooting back at Shaddiq, disarms his suit, and then front flips outside of the exploding Darilbalde. While Shaddiq has grown complacent, Guel has seen the horrors of war up front. His father died by his hand, and an innocent child died in his arms. While Shaddiq can pass off his actions as the right thing, not harboring any guilt, Guel has taken on the pain of his sins and moves forward because of him. He knows the true pain of taking a life, which is why he leaves Shaddiq alive. He knows that if you’re dead, you can’t make up for all of the suffering you caused, that you can’t become a better person. He recognizes that Shaddiq has suffered just like him, and that it would be unfair to take his life for such a thing.

- Also the fact the fact Guel keeps performing better and better when more odds are stacked against him is crazy. Shaddiq was fully going in for the kill, with his handicap off, and Guel still beat him with just green beams. RIP Darilbalde, you saved your master.

- The fact that Sarius still refers to Shaddiq as his son, he really does love him. Best parent

- Lauda really going through it, huh? Imagine finding out your sibling killed your parent. Like, how do you even function after that? He put his brother up on such a high pedestal, but it’s all come crashing down. But will Guel be able to explain the situation, or will Lauda have his Joker moment before he can talk to him. With the phone call he received at the end, I don’t think Lauda will be sane enough to listen to anyone. Either he fights his brother or Suletta, possibly in the Schwarzette

- Petra…my sweet child. Her talking about all the things she wanted to die with Lauda reminded me of Sophie’s lamentations before her death. Her wants were so basic, but that just makes them even stronger. And you can tell Suletta realized that she wanted the same with Miorine. But sadly, while helping others, Petra gets caught up in the attack and is buried by rubble, dying. Maybe. I’ve seen some people say she might be alive and get the GUND prosthetics, which would make me extremely happy, but I’m too sad to hope. Some others have been saying she’ll be uploaded to the Schwarzette and while I find that far-fetched it would be pretty cute to have either Lauda or Suletta pilot it with her help.

- All right, this is the heavy part. Norea and El5n. Because he deserves a name, his real name preferably, but this is the best I can do right now.

- Norea, once again reminded of the fact that her and her people’s lives are played with by the upper class and that they’ll continue to hurt them, breaks and goes on a rampage. With no care to how much harm she’s causing, she acts out, because she herself is hurting. She’s carrying the burden of thousands of dead and suffering Earthians. Her howls of pain resound throughout the school as she lashes out, dying her hands red.

- But even still, despite all the pain she’s caused, El5n believes she can live a better life. He wants to believe that. Even if she carries the pain of all Earthians and the sins she commits, he wants to share that burden with her. Just as he believes he can live a happy life despite being just an experiment, he believes she can do so as well. He wants to see the world she lives in. He wants to see the girl who drew that beautiful lakefront. So he rushes out to stop her in Sophie’s Gundam, even if he might die.

- He tries to plead with her but she can’t accept it. She sees no meaning in her life if it isn’t being used to help others (save Earthians.)

- I’ll be honest, I experienced the same sense of emptiness Norea has. The feeling as if you have no future left. I remember near the end of middle school, I was given an assignment to choose what college I wanted to go to and what I wanted to major in and research it all, and like, I didn’t even think I was going to make it pass high school. I didn’t do the project because I genuinely didn’t believe I had a future. I distracted myself with anime and manga, much like how Norea focused on her drawings. It’s taken a lot of work to get where I am today thanks to having people care for me similarly to how El5n cared for Norea.

- His profession of care for her, saying he’ll stay by her side and that she wants her to show him the beauty of Earth, it all melted my heart. He spent almost his entire life locked up in a facility to be experimented on and had his very identity stolen away, but he finally found someone who feels just like him. Someone so desperately looking for a purpose after being shat on by the entire world. He reaches out to her and holds her hand, and Norea is reminded of Sophie, her best friend and only family.

- Finally, Norea puts down her weapons. Her rage isn’t gone, but the idea that someone cares for her makes her stop hurting others. But just when she can finally smile, her life is cruelly stolen away by a sniper shot. She’s shot straight through, the bracelet she and Sophie made together burning away, and El5n is left mourning.

- Just when he finally found someone who he could relate to, someone he wanted to explore the world he was sheltered from for so long, she’s gone. The one person who cared about him. Suletta only saw El4n and Belmeria only felt bad for herself. Norea was the first to see the suffering and lonely child behind the mask El5n put on and she dies.

- This is the very first moment activates his Permet by his own will, and it’s not to battle. Instead, it’s a manifestation of his grief and rage. He takes control of the GUND bits and uses them to kill the men who took Norea away, and then he leaves, because what else can he do? His entire life has been played with in order to serve some higher power. But he won’t back down after all this. Peil better sleep with one eye open, because he’s coming for all of them.

- While Guel showed great skill this episode, El5n, in my eyes, is the undisputed best pilot of the children. Able to keep up with a Permet 4 Norea in an unfamiliar suit and immediately hijacking the Gundvolvas and using them. He’s showing prowess on the same level as the Aerial, though I don’t think he’ll ever climb to her level. El5n will use these talents to carve his existence into the world. I hope he retakes his original name as he does this. No matter what you do El5n, I will support you.

- Suletta continues to move forward. Even though she doesn’t have Aerial with her, she spends hours removing rubble to save others. She couldn’t do anything during the attack, which is why she moves herself now to help others. And her persistence emboldens her friends, who jump into work just as she did. She survived, and now she has to choose what she wants to do. Does she want revenge? Does she want to help others? Or will she go see Miorine? No matter what she chooses, it will be her own choice made by her own will. No one can control her now

Where do we go from here? The Space League is moving now, ready to start a war. Prospera will be theif to fight Ochs Earth and start Quiet Zero, all just for Eri. But what will the young ones do? What can they do?

Well, that’s for next episode to show.

On this day remember to think about the millions of children who die in wars, conflict, or because of horrible circumstances. Let us work for a better tomorrow

[calfrxca]

uhh penny for your thoughts (if that's how you even use the phrase) about anything in your continuity that you want to talk about? it's so cool 🥺

AHHH HELLO

sorry for responding to this almost a week late, tumblr didn't give me a notif 💀

but that aside, thank you !!! im not sure if you mean by personal oc continuity or my SG continuity but it's been, a really long time in the making 💀💀💀 (3 or smth years and im still on my first draft 🧍‍♂️)

it's definitely taking a lot of inspiration from IDW2005 and tfp since tfp was a childhood show of mine and IDW as a whole was one i got into a few years ago but it was definitely an instant hit for me

it's definitely more overtly queer than the source material where a lot of my own characters have to grapple with their own sexualities in the wake of war and how that conflicts with their factions and their own personal interests

i think one of my favourite story arcs to write so far has been tacet's (the guy below), he's a bit. Intense since he takes the narrative role of judge, jury, and executioner towards decepticons and autobots; for neutrals he definitely has a more inquisitor type deal going on where he has "sinners" admit to their sins and convert before ultimately killing them

for decepticons who he feels have betrayed the cause he goes a bit medieval and just burns them at the stake (💀), i took inspiration from the inquisitorial trials of i think the jesuits though i could be very wrong, but they had the townsfolk actually participate in the trials against sinners and actually let them go (if that's the right phrasing) if the town determined them as innocent. if the townsfolk found them guilty the inquisitors actually offered them repentance rather than punishment

the autobots trigger a reaction that's more adjacent to how the conquistadors behaved towards their colonies, especially the aztecs where they forced them to admit their sins then kill them

for tacet and his crew specifically, it definitely started out like that before it developed into a kangaroo court where the townsfolk still participate in the trial but it's a fixed trial; if tacet deems the defendant guilty then theyre guilty regardless of what the townsfolk rule, if the townsfolk rule then innocent then theyre killed alongside the defendant, so it's a matter of survival vs what you personally believe is true/right

i have so many OCs i dont think i could fit it all in a tumblr post LMFAO so i'll shut up, but yeah, it's definitely more of a psychological and body horror focused story than anything out of the source material save for maybe last stand and the grindcore arc of MTMTE

if you didnt mean my personal continuity feel free to drop me another ask for my shattered glass au!

[symphonyofsilence]

i feel like mdzs doesn't have a happy ending at all, or like doesn't feel "complete". wwx runs away from the past but is reminiscing constantly and that never gets solved. the whole premise of gossip and mob mentality also doesn't get solved because jgy was guilty and so it was justified?? like... i don't know how to feel about this book. is it badly written or purposely incomplete? are the main couple so nonsensical in their displays of love because it's commentary or because it's actually romantic?

I agree that it doesn't have a happy ending. The only character that I can think of that got an actual happy ending is Mianmian. And maybe LWJ. WWX is happy and satisfied at the end of the novel on the surface but just as you said, he keeps reminiscing and he didn't get closure for all of the considerable trauma he went through -up to and including dying. And he clearly wants to go back to Lotus Pier. I think it's supposed to be a bittersweet ending.

I think the gossip and mob mentality never gets solved because realistically it will never get solved. All it can be is addressed and warned about. And I think where we get this is precisely when JGY was guilty of some sins but what the people gossiped about was exactly what he wasn't guilty of. Immediately after his death, people started to gossip about how he was so narcissistic that he made a statue of himself to be worshipped. While that statue was actually his mother's. WWX here notes that:

But there was no use in saying all that. Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe him. Anything related to Jin GuangYao would be given the most malicious conjectures and passed through the mouths of the crowd

WWX draws parallels between himself & JGY the moment the crowd turns against JGY & asks WWX for help, too. Then in the inn, WWX overhears people speculating about why JGY left Sisi alive. And this goes so far that even people who were gossiping eagerly at that table feel uncomfortable. But the crowd still goes on shamelessly. Noting that nobody knows who they are here. Indicating that they know what they're doing is shameful, but they don't care. Even the phrase "what goes around, comes around" which at the beginning of the story was used for WWX by the people at the inn, is used for JGY too at the end.

But we're given a glimpse of hope for the future of society through the next generation. Children who saw the notorious MXY and trusted him accepted his help and advice, and eventually accepted him, Children, who gave the Yiling Laozu and the ghost general a chance to prove themselves and when they did, they changed their minds and defended them. Children who started shipping Wangxian before WWX himself did-or knew that he was gay. Through JL helping MXY escape from JC even if he was still weary of him because of the previous scandal that got him kicked out of the Jin Sect, giving him a second chance, supporting his relationship with LWJ, overcoming his internalized homophobia, and JL who saw that even if JGY, WWX, and WN gave him reasons to hate them they also gave him reasons to love them, and chose to not choose hate, and chose to mourn JGY, JL who when scolded for mourning JGY by the most notorious gossiper of the old generation in the story he told him off.

I do agree that the story is sort of incomplete. But I think it's incomplete in a complete way-...I'm not making any sense. what I mean is that I think it's narratively complete, but the story of the characters still goes on. But they each do get a closure, for better or for worse. and that's where we leave them. Right after they get their closures. But what they will do with the rest of their lives is left unsaid. But it didn't need to be said. The main story that the book told; the Sunshot Campaign, The 5 great sects, 3 Zun, Yi City Arc, and Wangxian all came to their ends. no subplot was left without a resolution and no character was left with an unknown fate. NHS's years-long revenge plot came to fruit and he saw the demise of the man who killed his brother, that was the end of the 3 Zun and NHS's only goal for many years and he achieved that, but now he's left with the dusty hat of his san-ge, and a sect that he's more or left driven to ruin, and none of his family and friends. He will come to be the next Xiandu, but he will be the loneliest social butterfly. LXC finally found out the truth about JGY's deeds and how his other sworn brother got killed, and he chose to still love JGY, he chose to die with him, and when he was saved by JGY in the last minute, he knew that his love was returned. and now he's the only one left of the 3 Zun, and with the knowledge that A-Yao would never move against him. Maybe one day he can go back to be Lan-Zongzhu, maybe one day he can wield Shouyue and not see A-Yao's blood on it, maybe one day he can celebrate his brother finally getting together with his beloved, maybe he can still not end up like his father, but not today. LSZ now knows about his Wen heritage, he now has an undead biological family member & he will reconcile his Wen and Lan heritage and honor what remains of his long-gone sect. Along with Wen Ning who now has a last-living family member, and will try to find his new purpose in life...or death. SL goes around the world to continue his quest with XXC now with XXC's sword and the hope to one day see his reincarnation again. JL has almost all the truths and he has decided what to do with it, He will not choose hatred & anger, he will give people second chances. he will mourn what's to be mourned and move on with his life. Being a sect leader at his age is not easy and he's still struggling and stumbling & he needs to learn to ask for help more. but he's doing his best and he has his uncles and his friends to help him. JC now knows what WWX has done for him, why he needed to do what he eventually came to do, how he honored their sect, and why he left, even if I think WWX didn't correctly communicate to him that he loved JC personally and what he did wasn't only out of duty, and JC with his insecurity and unshakable belief that he's unlovable wouldn't reach this conclusion, he more or less got closure and he can now step in the path of healing. He who was continuously after WWX in both halves of the story in the end stopped JL from following WWX and said "Let everyone go back to where they belong." He would go back to being Jiang-Zongzhu and JL's jiujiu and since what he most cares about is his sect and family I think as long as those two are fine he would be content, if not necessarily happy, and maybe one day, he and WWX will reconcile, too. And Wangxian have each other. WWX has someone who he knows will catch him if he jumps down from a tree. and LWJ will not let thousand-year rules dictate to him what is wrong and what is right, won't see the world in black and white, won't let his sect stand between him and happiness, and will love someone flawed freely and untamed, and flawed. And maybe one day WWX will go back to Lotus Pier and drink Lotus Wine with JC and know that he had always had and will always have a home and a family there.

The ending of MZDS is I think above all, realistic. and in reality, life goes on. and every ending is a new beginning. we left the characters at the end of the story but there is a whole universe still going on inside the book where the characters will go on with their lives after the storm, and they will live on inside our minds as well. I think the way their stories are not entirely complete is actually a very incredible way for the characters to forever live in our minds. For instance, if JC told WWX about his sacrifice the Yunmeng Shuangjie fully reconciled and went back to what they were we wouldn't have this much collective brainrot as we have now. And realistically, WWX's and JC's relationship couldn't go back to what it was that quickly, it needed a whole book of its own.

It's also one of the reasons that I think WWX's issues being unresolved is intentional. BC realistically people stick to the coping mechanisms they know and if WWX thinks that repressing, ignoring, running away, and pretending that everything is fine has worked so far for him, then he wouldn't let it go. Especially since overconfidence is also one of his character flaws. He knows best. (so much that he even makes decisions for other people. And assumes their feelings and thoughts without ever asking them about them) If he thinks it's fine then it's fine. And the way he had to face his repressed emotions about the core transfer when JC made him talk about it for the first and only time, how he quickly turned away from JC after the Guanyin Temple before he could say anything, and how he kept repressing his emotions and yearning for LP & his remaining family (he stops himself before asking more about JC & JL from the Juniors in the extras), and is maladjusted in the CR show that MXTX hasn't just forgotten about it. She does see it as an unresolved issue. And when MXTX truly wants to give her characters growth she will do it. [Spoiler for TGCF & SVSSS] like how Shen Yuan finally comes to embrace his feelings for LBH & his own identity & his emotional- openness and breaks away from the way the system wants him to act and becomes his true self. And the way Xie Lian finally lets go of his guilt over Wu Ming and learns what he told HC is also true for himself, too ("what matters is you, and not the state of you.") And he gets free from his shackles. He has a real, genuine talk with MQ & he reconciles with his two best friends. He even forgives Jun Wu. And everyone except Beefleaf and Junmei gets a happy ending.

about Wangxian...well, I honestly don't know what's with all this romanticizing non-con in the romance genre. I don't really think it's in the book to be criticized. What MXTX does is that she acknowledges that those are wrong things to do with LWJ being distressed by what he's done when he kisses WWX without his consent, and WWX feeling guilty after he kisses LWJ when he's drunk but not enough to stop doing that and then feeling guilty again when he does the do with him when he's drunk after that (until LWJ just fully goes for it without asking for consent or paying any attention to WWX's protests AGAIN but now skips the guilt phase), Fengqing being horrified by HC's stalking and obsession and HC feeling ashamed, too, and LQG & SQQ being horrified by LBH's obsession, stalking, imposing and non-con advances. But then it all gets solved by the good ol' "jokes on you they're into that". (Except for SQQ I think) So I guess those are there in the story to, as what some with those specific kinks would say, spice things up.

And as for the lack of communication, MXTX does satirize it in SVSSS where LBH's advances are seen as murder attempts by SQQ but I think in MDZS it's there to create drama and slow-burn and highlight the depth of LWJ's love when LXC finally explains to WWX that all this time LWJ has believed that WWX knows that he loves him, has rejected him & his flirtings are only mocking his feelings but still has chosen to dedicate himself to WWX & follow him around everywhere for the rest of his life (and we know this kind of devotion and following one's loved-one everywhere and helping them whenever necessary but never undermining their decisions is how MXTX depicts true love with HC saying to XL "I'm forever your most devoted believer", SQQ saying to LBH "this time, wherever you go, this master will accompany you." And SQH saying to Mobei Jun "My king, please let me follow you the rest of my life!". Usually, there are supporting characters who are also loyal and loving towards the MC and used to always follow and help them (JC, FX & MQ), but due to some other concerns, they had to leave the MC. But the love interest's priority is always the MC & nothing can set them apart.) the lack of communication is very in character for both of them as both of them are people who would rather (literally) die than talk about their feelings. And WWX just DOESN'T understand when people show their love for him with acts of service. So I'd say it depicts two flawed people in love with each other.